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7 Travel Hacks To Maintain Your Weight Loss

7 Travel Hacks To Maintain Your Weight Loss

by | Aug 21, 2022 | Blog, Mindset, Travel Workouts

There is nothing better than going on vacation. But it is often where we feel like we sabotage our results and our diet and exercise routines go to die.

I wanted to share 7 tips to help you stay on track while you travel so you can keep moving forward toward your weight loss goals. However, I also want to mention that I believe vacations can, and should, be a time to relax and enjoy. Diets often fail because we force restriction at times when we do need to embrace a balance.

We end up not really being able to diet on vacation while also not really allowing ourselves to relax. And this ultimately backfires.

However, if you travel for work or just travel often and want to find the lifestyle balance right for you, these tips can help you stay consistent with your macros and your workouts while not at home!

Do not feel guilty about not using every time you travel as an excuse to splurge. I know sometimes our friends or family can make us feel awkward for caring, but we need to stay focused on what also makes us happy in our progress toward our goals!

Because we can’t just always make the excuse that this is a once in a lifetime experience if we’re traveling all the time!

So what are the 7 travel hacks to help you stay on track?

#1: Save calories.

I hate saying it this way but it is also the SIMPLEST way to state it…sometimes when on vacation if you know there is going to be a bigger meal or even cocktails at dinner, things you’ll want to enjoy, you want to “save” calories for that meal.

This means you will want to focus on eating lighter, and even increase your protein intake earlier in the day. This can help you find that balance so you don’t go into a huge surplus and you even hit some macro minimums you set.

And while a longer fast can also be an option if you do intermittent fasting already, please don’t turn saving calories into starving yourself or you’ll end up overeating at that later meal.

Just think about going lighter with a protein focus earlier in the day to strike a balance!

#2: Find a few restaurants in the area for go-to healthy meals.

When on vacation, it can be fun to try local spots. And depending on where you’re traveling to, there may be some great local places with super macro friendly meals. Or even meals they can tell you the portions on. Many restaurants even list macros on their website so it never hurts to check.

If you can’t find the nutritional info, even try logging something similar to get an idea of macros. You can often find recipes online that give you an idea of the breakdown.

Also, look for chain restaurants. While yes, we want the best quality fuel, many chains do have nutritional info listed on their website. And if you find a dish or two that really works for you at those places, it can be easy to use that any time you travel as that chain may be everywhere!

But planning ahead to have some options to strike that balance can be key and let you play around with logging the meal to hit any calorie intake or macros you’ve set.

#3: Bring protein powder.

Supplements are supplemental, but protein powder is one of the best things to have with you when you’re on the go as it is generally easier to snack on carbs and fats and harder to eat easy, not refrigerated, protein options.

With a protein powder, you can keep it in your backpack or purse and be able to mix it in a water bottle, coffee or even anything quick you can pick up from the store.

Such an easy way to increase your protein and even save those carbs and fats for that later meal you don’t have as much control over with the family or co-workers.

#4: Don’t buy bulk snacks.

Often when we go on a trip, we buy snacks at the airport. And a bigger bag than we should eat in one serving.

Or we buy snacks for the hotel room or AirBnB for our family even.

And while it can be helpful to have snacks if we don’t know when we will get to eat or if the meals provided us will really work for us, we need to be conscious to not just have extra around as it will be tempting to eat it when you aren’t even hungry!

It’s easy to mindless nibble and let those calories add up.

So be strategic with your snacks especially if you’ll have them around you all the time! Even portion out things so you aren’t as tempted to keep snacking!

#5: Plan in short workouts.

Instead of trying to force yourself to maintain the same routine you would at home, plan in some workouts you can get in even in your hotel room if you’re super short on time.

That plan to do something may lead to you doing more if you can find a gym or end up with more time. Not to mention often you can find gyms with quick class options if that will help with accountability to get moving!

But simply doing something will also keep you in a routine and habit and mentally make you feel good.

And often when we stay consistent with one habit, we want to stay consistent with others!

So even if it is a 5 minute mobility routine so you feel good when you get back home to train hard, the consistency will pay off…and even reverse some of the aches and pains we get from travel postures!

#6: Get out and walk!

Even if you can’t workout, often you will have little breaks in the day where you can get out and walk.

Not only is this a great way to stop mindless snacking, but it does get you moving and can even allow you to explore the area more!

Even if it is just to get a coffee or grab food, try to move as much as you can during the day! Finding ways to be more active will even help you want to do the other healthy habits and routines you want to maintain.

#7: Increase your intensity AROUND the trip.

In preparation of your trip, it’s not a bad idea to occasionally go a bit more intense with your programming prior, especially so you could even use the trip as a de-load workout week or recovery week.

This may be a time too you are slightly more aggressive prior with the calorie deficit, not extreme but aggressive, and also using more intensive cut macro ratios over easier ratios to hit.

You can then move to minimums on your trip, tracking to stay even just accountable.

And then when you come back, you may go back into things with a bit more intensity even just in your macros before relaxing back into something you can fully be consistent with.

This 1 week before and after just can help with damage control and also mentally make us feel balanced when being a little less conscious of those healthy habits while traveling.

SUMMARY:

Remember vacations shouldn’t the time you stress about your diet, but finding a balance especially when we travel more often can be key!

Focus on doing the minimum even just to maintain those results so you can continue to build when you are back home and in your element!

Ready to dial in your diet and your workouts to fit your lifestyle, needs and goals?

–> The 3 Step Recipe To Results

The Most Underrated Bodyweight Quad Exercise

The Most Underrated Bodyweight Quad Exercise

by | Aug 14, 2022 | Blog, Bodyweight, Exercises, Functional Fitness

The best muscle hypertrophy results happen when we include both compound movements and isolation movements to target the muscles we want to strengthen and grow.

But when we don’t have a lot of equipment it can be hard to effectively target specific muscles, like our quads, with isolation moves.

Often when we think about exercises to isolate our quads, we think about the leg extension machine or some sort of cable extension or maybe even band extension.

That’s why I wanted to share one of my favorite bodyweight moves to really isolate and target those quads.

This move is deceptively hard when done right.

And if you have knee pain currently limiting your knee flexion or your ability to kneel, I will go over modifications to still get in bonus quad work!

But do not just demonize this move because of the kneeling or knee flexion.

While not every move is right for every person, lean backs, also often called Reverse Nordic Curls, have even at times been used to rehab specific quad or knee injuries.

Our knees are meant to flex and extend and controlling this movement is key to actually keeping our knees healthy and happy!

Plus this move may be a great way to specifically target the rectus femoris quad muscle because the hip stays in an extended position during knee flexion.

But before I go over modifications and other quad isolation options, what is this amazing bodyweight quad move?

It’s the lean back!

How To Do Lean Backs:

This move looks super simple. But it is deceptively challenging for those quads!

I mention this because, in an attempt to extend our range of motion, often we cheat without realizing it.

To do the Lean Backs, start kneeling with your knees about hip-width apart.

While you can point your toes, I highly recommend starting with your feet dorsiflexed to provide that solid foundation and help with activation. This gives the added bonus of working on foot and ankle mobility. However, if you find it painful you may keep your feet plantar flexed.

If you do find you struggle with calf cramps while keeping your toes pointed, just remember you have the other option too!

Come to that full kneeling position up nice and tall and squeeze your glutes as you brace your abs.

You can reach your hands out in front of you to help with balance to start.

Keeping your glutes engaged, lean back. The movement is coming only at your knees.

While tempting to sit your butt back toward your heels, make sure to keep your glutes engaged and hips extended.

Bracing your abs is also key as it is tempting to just lean back from your lower back.

You’re working your quads to control that lean back and knee flexion. They are working to control and even decelerate that knee flexion.

You are basically using your quads to slow down the eccentric portion of the movement.

Allow yourself to lean back as far as possible with the movement coming at your knees.

Then pull yourself back up to kneeling, feeling your quads working to pull you back up.

Repeat the movement, slowing down that lean back to make sure you’re controlling it.

To advance the move, work through the biggest range of motion you can control and even slow down the tempo further, even including a pause when you’ve leaned back.

If you do have loads, you can always add them to the move to advance it, holding a weight in at your chest or by even using a band anchored behind you so that you have to work harder to press forward and even fight the band pulling you to lean back.

Modifications:

While we need to stop demonizing moves with kneeling or knee flexion and stop stating they are “dangerous” for our knees, they may not be right for people with specific knee injuries, especially to start.

You may seek to build up to the lean back eventually or you may find you never include it because it doesn’t match your needs and goals or fitness level.

If you can kneel but don’t yet have full control of the lean back, you can modify the lean back, by using a band anchored in front of you to assist or even even by holding on to something to control the range of motion.

But if you are looking to improve your quad strength, and find that kneeling or active knee flexion is tough right now, consider including isometrics in your routine to start.

These moves are a great way to really improve your mind-body connection and start to build that strength endurance.

Do not just hold with these moves but actually focus on really feeling those quad muscles work as you even try to engage them harder during the hold.

Moves like the basic wall sit or even bulldog hold are a great way to improve your quad strength endurance while eliminating active knee flexion.

They are a great way to make sure you can engage muscles correctly while even allowing you to strengthen muscles to improve your joint stability.

If you are looking to include some active knee flexion to start, you may even consider seated quad flexes. You can start with just bodyweight and focus on holding harder or even begin to add ankle weights, bands or cables as you feel ready.

Just remember that sometimes we need to regress to progress.

And instead of demonizing moves, simply find the ones that match us where we are at.

SUMMARY:

No matter what tools we have available, there is often a way to find a movement to match our needs and goals.

So if you’re looking for an amazing quad move, give these lean backs a try. They are great to include after a compound moves like lunges or squats to isolate those quads and really make them work!

Learn how to dial in your workouts and your nutrition to see the amazing and lasting results you want…

–> 3 Steps To Results

9 Tips For Faster MUSCLE GROWTH

9 Tips For Faster MUSCLE GROWTH

by | Aug 7, 2022 | Blog, Diet, Exercises, muscle-featured

Gaining muscle, especially without gaining fat is not an easy process. Especially if we’ve usually just focused on weight loss, it can require a very different focus for our training and fueling.

That’s why I wanted to share 9 tips to help you dial in your workout routine and diet to see the best muscle gains without doing a dirty bulk, causing you to ultimately gain a ton of fat you just have to lose later!

#1: Use All Three Drivers Of Muscle Growth

There are 3 drivers of muscle growth – muscle tissue damage, mechanical tension and metabolic stress. So often we try to rely just on muscle tissue damage, lifting heavy and seeking to be sore.

We even skip those silly looking pumper exercises with mini bands that have small ranges of motion and really burn.

But when we don’t use these different moves with different ranges of motion, different points where the muscle is under the most tension, we miss out on using all three drivers of muscle growth.

We have to remember that soreness not a great indicator of how hard we’ve worked, we also may constantly be beating ourselves down, instead of using all 3 drivers to allow for the best results as quickly as possible.

Don’t only just focus on those heavy compound lifts and heavy weights.

You don’t just want to use big range of motion movements that load the muscle most when stretched like squats and deadlifts. Also use moves like hip thrusters, where the muscle has the most resistance applied where it is strongest (mechanical tension). And even use moves that create that pump and burn to benefits from the hypertrophy created by metabolic stress. Think mini band moves and smaller ranges of motion where the muscle is constantly under tension!

#2: Don’t Fear Protein and BCAAs

Protein is the building block of muscle. We need to make sure that we’re giving our muscles what they need to repair and rebuild.

And especially as we get older, we become less able to utilize protein efficiently.

It’s why timing even more protein, and specifically amino acids, right around our workouts can be key to create that anabolic environment.

This is extra essential for any women in menopause. It’s why you may find it essential to supplement with BCAAs prior to, or during your workout, while following up your workout with a quick protein shake or lean protein meal.

With hard training sessions, and our changing hormone levels, we are actually at risk for catabolizing muscle mass if we don’t get sufficient fuel to support growth even while focusing on lifting.

So using this timing around workouts, and optimizing everything with a BCAA supplement can help us get better results faster by making sure you get your muscles the fuel they need to repair when they are primed to do so.

#3: Stop Cutting Down Your Rest Times

Too often we try to make our workouts harder by cutting out rest between moves. But the more we reduce rest, the less we recover which means we may be able to lift less each and every round.

When driving toward muscle growth, we want to avoid just turning our workouts into cardio by eliminating rest. We want to focus on making each round through moves or supersets or trisets as hard as possible through how much we lift and maximizing each rep so we NEED the rest to recover for the next round to keep maintaining, or even increasing the weight.

The heavier you lift, the more you should want and use that rest to recover between rounds.

So as you change from even weight loss as your focus to gaining muscle, consider increasing rest and upping those weights!

#4: Focus On A QUALITY Calorie Surplus

I know we see these bulks where people chow down on all sorts of crazy delicious foods, but these extreme calorie surpluses don’t lead to better results faster. And often they just lead to a ton of unwanted fat gain we have to deal with later.

Instead focusing on a moderate surplus of even 100-400 calories is enough. Starting smaller and increasing based on your results can even be a good way to go if you’ve been more focused on weight loss previously and haven’t maintained your current level of leanness for long.

It can also be key to keep the calorie surplus smaller, or even a very small deficit of just 100 calories, if you aren’t as lean as you’d like to optimize fat loss while gaining muscle. Just make sure that you’re focused on increasing that protein.

And of course, the more quality our fuel, the better our body will function. So while it’s super tempting to eat a ton more…well…not so whole, natural foods, remember to stick with your 80/20 balance.

We want to enjoy the foods we love, but also still make sure our body gets not only the macros, but micronutrients we need.

#5: Focus On Compound Lifts First

When lifting to gain muscle, you want to think about working in multiple rep ranges to not only create muscle hypertrophy or growth but also build strength. Let’s face it, the more you can lift, the better your muscle gains will be.

So when you’re freshest, start with your biggest, heaviest lifts. Focus on big compound moves for slightly lower reps with longer rest periods at the start of your workout.

You can even separate these lifts out to be done on their own before any supersets, trisets or circuits.

Think even about working in that maximal strength rep range of 1-5 reps for 3-5 sets. Consider rest periods of even 3-5 minutes.

If you aren’t as advanced a lifter or really don’t enjoy getting near those max attempts even 5-8 reps can really be a great way to go!

But use those heavy lifts to help you gain strength to then be able to lift more as you do other more accessory compound moves in the 6-12 rep range for 3-4 sets, with more like 1-3 minutes of rest.

Lifting heavy will NOT make you bulky but will cause your muscles to have to repair and grow!

#6: Cut Back On Cardio

If you’re an endurance athlete, I’m not asking you to stop your passion. BUT you do want to recognize that steady state endurance cardio can be catabolic to muscle tissue and make it harder to gain muscle.

So if you can reduce your mileage for a time, it may be key to making better muscle gains more quickly.

We also don’t simply want to turn our lifting sessions into cardio workouts. If you want to optimize your muscle growth, now is not the time for more metabolic strength workouts. It’s not the time for tons of high intensity interval training.

Now is the time for focused lifting and longer rest periods!

#7: Strategically Finish With Isolation Moves

After you’ve focused first on those heavy lifts, you can strategically use isolation moves to capitalize on all 3 drivers of muscle growth and really target those stubborn muscles to fully fatigue them.

If you’re short on time, compound moves should be your focus, but if you have a lagging muscle group or an especially stubborn area, isolation exercises that hone in and target this area are super key for better results faster.

When you include these moves, use them at the end to fully fatigue the muscle so you don’t compensate in earlier moves. Consider higher reps even for many of these movements (12-20) and just a couple of rounds 1-3 at the end. This will encourage more muscle fiber recruitment for better results.

And ladies, working to fatigue for muscles may actually be even more key for you to see the hypertrophy results you want!

#8: Don’t Fear Carbs

Especially when trying to lose weight, many will cut out carbs. But when we train hard, and our focus especially shifts to gaining muscle, we need those carbs to create that anabolic environment and serve as immediate fuel for our sessions.

While it can be hard if you’ve recently lost weight to see the scale slightly increase as you increase carbs, it is truly key to embrace the process.

To start even, you may not increase carb intake overall for the day, but simply time them more around your training sessions as you transition into a gaining muscle phase.

Some complex carbs prior to your training to make sure you have full glycogen stores followed by some simple carbs post workout to replenish depleted stores can really help you make sure you’re fueling growth!

But do not fear those carbs! They truly are key to optimize hormone levels and fuel that lean muscle growth which will increase our resting metabolic rate and even help us look leaner while being functional stronger!

#9: Increase Your Training Frequency

We see so many bodybuilding programs with body part splits, training areas even just once a week. But you may actually get better results by increasing your training frequency, especially for stubborn areas.

Consider designing your workouts progressions to work areas even 2-3 times a week. While this may mean not doing as much per session, this increase in training frequency can really pay off.

Hemisphere splits or upper/lower splits and even full body training sessions may be helpful, especially if you don’t have as many days to train.

But if you’ve got a lagging area, don’t fear working it multiple times a week as long as you’re working it in different ways and still giving the muscle time off to repair and rebuild!

Bonus reminder:

While it can be tempting to try to train more to get results faster, there will be a point of diminishing returns. A point at which we are beating ourselves down and NOT rebuilding. We do NOT want to waste effort and hard work doing more than is needed, especially if it actually holds us back!

I know it can be hard to take a day off, but you’ll only see the results of your hard work in the gym if you give your body time to repair! Dialing in our recovery, from our fueling to making sure we get enough sleep, is so key if we want results as fast as possible.

Remember to design your workout progression so areas get rest over the week and you’re not constantly beating down your body!

SUMMARY:

Use these 9 tips to improve your muscle gains and see better results faster without the unwanted fat gain often associated with traditional bulks!

And if you’re looking for help and guidance to get the best results as fast as possible, check out my 1:1 Online Coaching!

–> Apply To Coaching

10 DUMBBELL CORE Exercises You’re Not Doing

10 DUMBBELL CORE Exercises You’re Not Doing

by | Jul 31, 2022 | Blog, Core, Exercises

Looking to spice up your core training routine? Then these dumbbell core moves will help! Whether you want to target your abs, obliques or glutes, there is a move here to help. And these exercises will help you improve both your rotational and anti-rotational core strength. Plus they can be done from a variety of different postures, whether you want to do something standing or get down on the ground.

Pick a few of these moves to start implementing into your programming based on your needs and goals!

1: Turkish Hinge:

This core move is based off of one step in the full Turkish Get Up and is a great way to improve your hip and shoulder stability. It is an amazing way to target those obliques and especially that glute medius.

When you do this exercise, you want to focus on that lateral hinge, really pushing your butt to the side. This allows you to load and use that glute to hinge and come back up to half kneeling. It also helps you keep your weight centered so you could technically hinge over without having to put any weight on that hand on the ground until you’re ready.

If you simply just lean over, you’ll lose your balance and really struggle with stabilizing that raised shoulder. So focus on loading that glute as you hinge over then using that glute and your oblique to pull you back up!

Make sure as you set your hand down to the side as well that you aren’t reaching out wide but setting it closer to your body.

If you can’t kneel on the ground, you can do a similar move called the Windmill standing. Just make sure to start with a light weight for both to focus on stabilizing that raised weight!

2: Plank Pull Throughs:

This anti-rotational core move is a must-do plank variation. It is a great way to really work everything from your shoulders to your knees down not only your frontside but also your backside!

As you do this move, you want to focus on keeping your core still and your hips level. You want to pull the weight fully across without rotating. Don’t rotate just to pull it further. And make sure to brace those abs and glutes to fight that rotation! It’s key you also make sure your hands are under your shoulders as you set up. This will help you avoid overloading your neck and shoulders to better engage your back to support your shoulders and fight that rotation as well.

Move slowly. While it is tempting to rush if you feel unbalanced, DON’T!

To modify this move, you can start with a reach over pulling a weight. You can also place your hands on an incline and pull the weight on the bench or stair.

–> VIDEO OF ALL 10 MOVES BELOW <–

3: Glute Bridge with Cross Body Chops:

Our lats and glutes must work together efficiently if we want a proper transfer of force and power through our core. This keeps not only our shoulders and hips healthy but also promotes better pelvic stability.

That’s why this move is an amazing one to include in your routine!

Holding the dumbbell in both hands you want to reach overhead to one side then chop the dumbbell across your body down outside your other hip. And you want to maintain that solid bridge hold as you perform the chop. Make sure as you hold the bridge, your glutes are powering the hold. Use that posterior pelvic tilt to avoid overloading your lower back. And focus on driving your knees toward your toes so you aren’t just pushing yourself backward as you hold, which can lead to your hamstrings taking over for your glutes.

As you do the chop, across to your hip, really feel your lat pulling the weight down from overhead. Move slowly with this move!

To progress this exercise, you could even do an 80/20 or single leg variation!

4: Rotational Lunge:

Don’t want to get down on the ground to work your core? Want an amazing rotational move you can do to target those abs, obliques and glutes? Then try the Rotational Lunge

This move is a great way to work on that rotational core strength and learn to not only accelerate and power rotation, but decelerate and control that rotation.

When you do this move, you want to treat the lunge as more of a hip hinge than focusing on sinking that back knee toward the ground. You really want to load that front glute so you can drive off that foot to power the rotation and come back up to standing before lunging back on the other side.

Even focus on that exhale as you drive out of the lunge to help you brace those abs and protect your back. Make sure to focus on loading that glute so you don’t twist too far and load your lower back. Make sure too that you’re not caving or rounding over to try to reach back further, but really only hinging at the hips.

To modify, you can adjust the amount of knee flexion you include, especially if you have knee issues. Do not step or lunge back as far to start!

Speed up the movement too as you feel ready over moving at a slower pace to start.

5: Seated Ab Presses:

This move is deceptively hard and a great way to work your abs and shoulders. You will also feel your hips working as well as you hinge but do not solely rely on your hip flexors. Focus on that c-sit curve as you lean back, rounding through your spine.

This rounding helps you brace and use those abs over just making this a hinge at the hips, which can lead to you only feeling your hip flexors.

Press the weight out as you hinge back to work your shoulders and even counterbalance the movement.

To modify this move, or if you can’t get down on the ground, you can do this move off a bench.

You can also vary this movement by performing a unilateral press over holding the weight in both hands!

6: Two-Way Raises:

This is another great anti-rotational plank variation to really improve your shoulder health and core stability. Because this is really targeting that shoulder, start with light weights.

While holding the plank position, you will raise one weight straight out overhead. Lower down, then fly the arm out to the side. Keep your elbow soft but your arm straight. And really fight the urge to rotate as you perform the two raises on one side.

You can then make the move harder by alternating sides where you have to fight rotation as you stabilize to raise the other arm out both ways. Or you can modify slightly to start by sticking with all reps on one side.

You can modify the plank position further if you find your hips sagging or butt going up in the air by performing this move off a bench or incline. You can also start with a raise without the weight.

Just make sure you don’t rush or shrug your shoulders as you do this move. Make sure to really engage your back to support the shoulder of the hand that is down to keep that shoulder unshrugged.

And if you feel unstable or uncomfortable on the weights while holding the plank, place your hand down on the ground instead while performing all reps on one side.

7: Pull Over Crunches:

This is a killer crunch variation that will work your abs, quads, lats, triceps, chest and serratus anterior. But it is also deceptively hard because of the weighted extension overhead. Make sure your lower back down not arch and ultimately become overloaded. Focus on that posterior pelvic tilt to brace your abs as you do this move.

When you perform the reach overhead, your elbows will be slightly bent but do not turn this into just flexion and extension at your elbows. You want the movement to come from your shoulders, reaching overhead to then pull the weight down over your body and in front of your knees.

Focus on feeling your lats and the muscles around your ribs really working over the course of the reach overhead and pull down.

As you extend your legs out, you can kick out higher to modify. Just make sure you engage your abs and even your glutes as you fully kick out.

To modify this move further, you can perform a bent knee tuck instead of a straight leg kick out. Or you can even keep your feet on the ground to start.

8: Extended ROM Lying Lateral Raise:

Changing the range of motion on an exercise is a great way to progress a movement.

In this case, the extended range of motion allows you to put the glute medius under more stretch during the exercise while also adding load with the dumbbell to advance it.

With this move, you want to make sure you’re really focusing on that glute medius and not letting the TFL compensate. If you struggle with feeling that TFL, which is also a hip flexor, taking over for your glutes, turn your toe down toward the ground as you perform the lateral raise. You can also slightly kick back as well. And then don’t rotate open to try to increase the range of motion and lift up higher.

Also, make sure to fully lower your leg down to get that extra stretch on the muscle at the bottom.

If you don’t have a bench, you can do this movement from the side plank position as well to still get that bigger range of motion and even the oblique work bonus.

9: Standing Dumbbell Chop:

This standing unilateral, or one sided, exercise is a great way to work on your rotational core strength and glute power. If you’re a tennis player, baseball player, golfer or any athlete wanting a powerful rotational swing, you want to include this move in your strength work!

It’s key with this move, you work on that powerful drive from your glute to power the swing up and across. And you want to make sure to brace your abs to prevent rotating too far as you swing the weight up and over your shoulder.

To load your glutes to power the rotation, you will sit back slightly and to the side the weight is on. It’s a very small hip hinge. As you drive forward to propel the weight up and across, pivot that foot. Don’t simply just come up on your toes, really rotate as if squashing a bug under the ball of your foot to better power the swing and use your glute.

Focus on that exhale as you rotate to brace your abs and avoid twisting too far!

Your elbows will bend more as you twist the weight over your shoulder.

10: Side Plank Row:

Target your obliques, abs, glutes, back and biceps with this great side plank variation.

By adding in the row, you not only work your back and bicep but also really force your core to work hard to stabilize as you hold that plank position.

Make sure that as you lower the weight toward the ground in front of you that you keep your back engaged to support the standing hand. You will rotate slightly toward the ground to protract that shoulder blade, bringing it away from your spine, before you row the weight up and retract your shoulder blade, or bring it back toward your spine.

You want to focus on the row not just coming from your arm, but instead focus on that scapular movement to really use your back.

Do not let your hips drop toward the ground as you row in that side plank position.

To modify, you can do this move with your hand up on a bench to start, even off of your forearm if you do have wrist issues!

SUMMARY:

Use these moves based on your needs and goals. You can combine a few into a quick finisher to a workout or even just select one to include in your circuits or trisets based on what you’re trying to target!

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–> Redefining Strength On YouTube

Want A Strong Back? (Do This Back Exercise!)

Want A Strong Back? (Do This Back Exercise!)

by | Jul 24, 2022 | Blog, Exercises, Functional Fitness, Pain Relief

Too often we waste exercises by not actually working the muscles intended.

And then we wonder why we aren’t seeing the results we want.

But we have to remember that if we don’t feel the correct muscles working, those muscles aren’t reaping the benefits.

For example, if you feel your lower back during ab work, your lower back is what is being worked, not your abs. So all of that ab work isn’t going to pay off the way you’d like.

And it may even result in injury as your lower back becomes overworked and overloaded. This can even lead to your lower back engaging when it shouldn’t in other compound moves and lifts.

So not only is the muscle group we want benefiting NOT benefiting, but we may be creating recruitment patterns that can lead to other issues and injury.

The same thing goes for those back exercises you’re including in your workouts.

Tend to feel your neck or shoulders or even your biceps working instead of your upper back during rows or pull ups?

Struggling to feel like all of that back strengthening work is leading to the results you want, like improving your pull ups so you can do that first full one?

Then you need to make sure your back is actually what is powering your pulling moves.

And if it isn’t, you need to potentially modify so your arms can’t compensate.

You need to start by addressing your scapular mobility and stability to actually get your back powering the pull!

That’s why I love this amazing move – The Back Shrug.

While we need to include mobility work and that full prehab process of foam rolling, stretching and activation in our warm up routine, we can’t out mobility work improper movement and recruitment patterns when we lift.

It’s why we need to be intentional with moves and see every exercise as a a chance to assess.

And it’s why, when the correct muscles aren’t working, we sometimes need to modify moves and even try other variations to improve that mind-body connection.

It’s why if you struggle with with using your back during rowing, you may want to switch to the Back Shrug to start focusing on that scapular retraction to engage your back and power the pull.

How Do You Do The Back Shrug:

This move boils the row down to just that initial scapular movement to learn to control that back engagement.

When you row, the movement should start because you’re you’re drawing your shoulder blade toward your spine to use your back to pull.

This movement isolates just this component of the row, removing any elbow flexion that may lead to us compensating and using our bicep instead.

Too often with rows, we end up performing a bicep curl, curling our wrist in toward our chest over driving the elbow down and back as our shoulder blade moves toward our spine.

That’s why focusing on just that scapular movement to start can be key.

To do the Back Shrug, hold a dumbbell in each hand and hinge over standing with your feet about hip-width apart.

Let your arms hang down and unshrug your shoulders while keeping a neutral spine. Make sure you’ve hinged over to load your glutes while keeping your knees soft.

From this bent over position, you are going to try to pinch your shoulder blades together while letting your arms hang down.

Draw your shoulder blades toward your spine. Don’t just shrug your shoulders. Focus on that scapular movement.

Do not bend your elbows or start to row.

Just pinch the shoulder blades together, pausing, then relaxing the weights back toward the ground. Do not shrug your shoulders up toward your ears as you retract!

You will be able to add weight as you can fully control and feel the movement on both sides.

This is a small movement. Don’t try to make it bigger by standing up or bending your arms. Make sure to keep your neck long. Your only focus is on drawing the shoulder blades toward your spine then relaxing them away. Even pause as you do the pinch over rushing.

Variations:

There are so many ways you can then vary this move based on the types of rows you general include in your training and even the other muscles you want to target and tools you have available.

You could do this with a band instead of dumbbells. Or even off a suspension trainer. All of these are great to include to prep your body to row using these different tools and postures.

Because we can struggle with that scapular retraction in different positions, it can be key to include a diversity to make sure we’re initiating those rows with our back.

And if you find you struggle even with proper mobility and strength on one side, you can even make this movement a unilateral exercise, working only one side at a time or even doing rounds or reps on only one side.

If you don’t have any equipment, you can even do a unilateral variation called the Single Arm Scapular Push Up. This is great as an activation move in your warm up before any strength work even.

But as you really work to translate that activation to the full row with weight, consider the these variations to prep the body to initial that pull with that proper scapular movement.

SUMMARY:

Moves are only as good as their implementation. And if we want to get the full benefit of an exercise, we need to make sure we’re actually engaging the correct muscles to power the movement.

If you’ve struggled with feeling your back during rowing exercises, try this scapular retraction focused back exercise to really isolate and work on that initial back engagement.

It can easily be included as part of your accessory work for a few rounds of 10-15 reps! Focus on that scapular movement over just going heavy, but don’t be afraid to progress the movement by adding loads as you can truly control that retraction!

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INTERMITTENT FASTING – Yay or Nay?

INTERMITTENT FASTING – Yay or Nay?

by | Jul 17, 2022 | Blog, Diet

I actually personally don’t consider Intermittent Fasting to be a “diet.”

It’s a meal timing. One that can be used with a variety of dietary preferences and macro breakdowns.

You can be Keto and use it. Or high carb and use it.

And it’s actually personally a meal timing strategy I’ve found not only useful but freeing over the years.

But as much as I personally enjoy it and find it to be a useful learning experience for many of my clients even if they don’t stick with it long-term, I don’t believe that Intermittent Fasting is right for everyone.

That’s why I want to discuss what Intermittent Fasting is and when and who may benefit from it so you can decide if it is right for you.

Because from our meal timing to our calorie intakes to our macro breakdown, the systems all have to work together to get us results.

And we have to be willing to adjust and change as our needs and goals change over time.

You may even find that things like Intermittent Fasting work for you to reach certain goals but fight against you when your goals or lifestyle change.

And we can’t be so married to something we aren’t open to shifting!

So before I dive into whether IF is right for you, I want to give a bit of background on what it is…

What Is Intermittent Fasting?

There are a few different types of Intermittent Fasting:
– Time Restricted Eating – A daily set eating window
– The 5:2 Method – Two days of a 500 calorie cap
– 24 Hour Fasts – Once to twice a week of a full 24 hour fast.

Basically Intermittent Fasting is restricting when you eat.

While there are different length fasts you can include, a very common form of IF is the 16/8 time restricted fast.

You will fast for 16 hours and then have an 8 hour eating window.

For many, this is really just skipping breakfast.

While technically you can skip any meal, the key is that you’re keeping all your meals into a specific shortened window each and every day.

If you do one of the other set ups, you may have a calorie allotment or full day you aren’t eating over just skipping a meal.

So Why Is Intermittent Fasting So Popular? What Are The Benefits?

Intermittent Fasting has gained mainstream attention over the years as not only a great thing to do for your health but also for fat loss.

And part of the reason why it became so popular is because people claimed you didn’t have to change what you were eating at all to see results.

You just had to ONLY eat within this set window and POOF magically the weight would melt off.

And having a set eating window does to some extent often help people get started losing weight – it creates a calorie deficit for many without them having to track just like cutting out a food group can often do with other forms of dieting.

It can help cut out mindless snacking and when you are restricted to only a set amount of time, it is easier to fill up when eating your daily calorie intake in a condensed period.

Plus for many it can feel more satisfying when in a calorie deficit to have this bigger meals over more frequent snacking. You can slightly get that “eat till you’re full” feeling.

Not to mention there simply isn’t as much meal planning to do which can make it easier to stick with the healthy habits.

So many find the simple lifestyle change sustainable while leading to the habits they need to lose weight.

From a more “scientific” perspective of why some believe IF to be so helpful for weight loss….

It is argued that it can promote stronger insulin sensitivity and increased growth hormone secretion – both of which also can help with gaining muscle, which in turn leads to better fat loss results.

The more we are able to focus on muscle mass retention, the less metabolic adaptations we suffer from as we lose weight. Muscle mass is metabolically costly, meaning it needs a lot of energy to be maintained.

In a deficit, we can often end up using muscle mass for fuel, especially if the deficit is too great.

So by promoting an anabolic environment we can prevent metabolic adaptations and burn more calorie at rest by promoting better muscle mass mention and growth!

It can also lead to better fat burning results, especially when at the end of a longer fast, part of why that 12-18 hours is recommended for IF. Some even argue it is especially helpful when you have that last little bit you want to lose off of stubborn areas.

The argument for this is that the low insulin levels reached during a fast, and the more time spent in this low insulin state, equates to a great time spent where fat can be mobilized from stubborn areas. And this state is different than the one seen with a low carb diet because triglycerides inhibit HSL or hormone sensitive lipase in a similar manner to insulin. HSL is basically activated to shuttle the fat out of the cell to be burned off.

But because of this fatty acid mobilization and the fact that some studies have shown fasting to increase specifically abdominal subcutaneous blood flow, the argument has been made that IF can promote better stubborn belly fat loss as well. Which may be a reason for women especially during menopause to consider trying IF while dialing in their macros as estrogen levels decreasing during menopause can lead to more stubborn belly fat accumulating.

And while many turn to fasting for the weight loss benefits, other benefits people tout with fasting include….

* Reduces your risk for cancer.
* Decreases triglycerides and LDL as well as cholesterol and inflammation markers.
* Reduces blood pressure.
* Improves cardiovascular function.
* Improves your brain functioning and can even help prevent conditions such as Parkinson’s, Dementia and Alzheimer’s.

But as we know, nothing is a magic pill.

And part of the benefits often associated with fasting studies have shown may be achieved by simply creating a deficit and then maintaining a healthy weight overall regardless of your meal timing.

We have to remember that one size doesn’t fit all….

So….What Are The Downsides?

Now a downside is NOT that your muscle will melt off if you miss a meal.

And you do NOT need to eat every two hours and 6 small meals a day to keep your metabolism humming.

And no, breakfast is not the most important meal of the day and you’re doomed if you skip it.

So in terms of huge negative consequences from fasting, I just don’t really see that there are any, especially when it comes to weight loss.

But that still does NOT mean it is a magic pill or right for you.

You can’t just eat whatever you want in whatever quantity you want just because you are only eating in a set window.

Macros and calories still matter.

If you dial those in, any meal timing that fits your lifestyle is going to work.

Forcing a meal timing that doesn’t fit your schedule or lifestyle will backfire no matter how magical it is even touted to be.

And that’s all too often the main reason why Intermittent Fasting doesn’t work for people.

They’re forcing a meal timing that isn’t realistic or sustainable for them and then they don’t know how to truly dial in their nutrition to match their needs and goals when they take out the restriction of an eating window.

If you train first thing in the morning, trying to fast until the afternoon probably won’t work out. And while you can make your eating window earlier, many don’t find that lifestyle sustainable as it means you’re eating dinner earlier than you’d like to maintain.

For others fasting ultimately results in overeating. They become so hungry they end up overeating even though it’s during a set window. And they find that their cravings increase.

So if you aren’t finding that fasting makes your life EASIER, there is no point in doing it. Especially because you can simply achieve the same benefits through a calorie deficit and by dialing in your macros.

And if fat loss isn’t your goal, fasting may NOT be the ideal meal schedule, especially if you aren’t training late enough in the day to break your fast before your workout.

While fasted training can potentially help our fat loss efforts, it may backfire when we are trying to gain muscle.

Having full glycogen stores to create that anabolic environment and help your body repair and rebuild can be key, especially if you’re a hard gainer or advanced lifter who won’t see those newbie gains. Gaining muscle is a slow process and for many of us it requires really creating the right environment and having fuel readily available.

Not to mention fasting may mean your energy levels are lower than ideal so you can’t push your training in the gym as hard as you’d like to create that progressive overload.

Now that being said, many will still love IF even while trying to build muscle.

So now the question is….

Should You Do Intermittent Fasting?

There are two main reasons I most often use it with clients:

1. To help them better understand their true hunger cues because so often we just get USED to eating at set times over really understanding what our body is telling us.
2. To work around their schedule to make hitting their macros and feeling full and satisfied easier.

If this meal timing feels right for you, great. Use it.

Everything we include in our lifestyle should be focused on our needs and goals.

And for many of us, fasting allows us to eat when we are hungry and maintain the macros and calories we need to feel fueled while seeing results.

It gives us a freedom to adjust our meals around whatever works even that day.

But whatever your fitness goal, no meal schedule is going to get you results if your calories and macros aren’t in line with your needs and goals.

You still need to focus on overall macros and calories for the day. If those aren’t in line, you’re not going to see results PERIOD.

You can still overeat eating within a small window.

So it isn’t some magic fat loss fix.

Not to mention, if your goal is gaining muscle, and you’ve found you’re really struggling, sticking with IF no matter how much you loved it for fat loss, may work against you.

Change requires change and you may find you need to adjust your meal timing to help make sure you’re creating that anabolic environment.

While this could just mean a pre-workout meal to break your fast instead of eating first thing after, you may find you do need to swap to a longer eating window and more meals.

The key is finding what works for your current needs and goals!

And ladies, you may find you respond differently to IF than you men do.

Studies have shown potentially fewer benefits from IF for women, and even more adverse effects in terms of adrenal stress and even muscle mass loss in pre-menopausal women.

So it may be good, if you aren’t naturally a meal skipper, to start with a shorter fast and only build up to a longer length if it feels right.

However, for females, because of the changes we go through in menopause, Intermittent Fasting may become a more useful tool as we get older. Because we can develop insulin resistance during menopause and lower estrogen levels can lead to more belly fat being gained, IF may be a nice complement to changes in our macros to help us avoid that dreaded menopausal weight gain.

SUMMARY:

The key with IF is to realize that our meal timing needs to match our needs and goals. Experiment to find what feels best for you. But realize results come from all systems being dialed in focused on what you need. And that meals your meal timing, calories and macros all need to work together and you need to be willing to adjust over time!

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