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I'm Hormonal | PCOS, periods, gut + hormone health insights
If you're looking for information on women's hormone health, PCOS, perimenopause, estrogen excess, hormonal acne, gut support, and overall how to feel your best--look no further. I'm Hormonal host, Bridget Walton, provides you with the information you need to get your hormones in balance so you can feel your best. Long-form episodes come out on Tuesdays and you'll get a mini episode on Thursdays.
I'm Hormonal | PCOS, periods, gut + hormone health insights
Strength Training for Hormonal Balance with Coach Liv | Ep. 83
Today’s episode focuses on how strength training can significantly impact women's hormonal health and fitness. We discuss actionable steps for starting strength training, nutritional tips to fuel workouts, and the importance of understanding hormonal fluctuations during the menstrual cycle.
Today's guest, Coach Liv, is a registered dietitian and fitness coach who supports female athletes in achieving optimal performance while keeping their hormones in balance.
• Exploring the connection between muscle building and hormone health
• Overcoming intimidation in the gym with strategic planning
• Crafting a manageable strength training routine
• Importance of fueling exercise with proper nutrition
• Understanding how to measure progress beyond the scale
• Tailoring fitness to align with hormonal changes throughout the cycle
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Welcome to I'm Hormonal, your source of information about women's hormone health and how to support your body. Naturally, I'm your host, bridget Walton, and I'm a certified functional hormone specialist and menstrual cycle coach.
Speaker 1:I am on a mission to hold these hormone conversations with as many menstruators as possible, because you deserve easier access to accurate information about what's up with your unruly menstrual cycle and with your fertility mysteries. Don't you think it's time that we figure this out once and for all? Hey, team, thanks for listening to this episode of I'm Hormonal. I'm your host, bridget Walton, and today I'm going to bring you a conversation that I had with Olivia Young, aka Coach Liv. You are going to love this episode because we talk through what you need to know. If you are just getting into strength training, if you are somebody out there, you know that, okay, my hormones are going to be better off. If I'm building muscle, you know that it's good for your long-term health and wellness overall as well then you're in the right place, because you know, sometimes we just need a little boost to get started. Right. Change can be hard, but we broke it down and tried to make it easy and actionable for you. If this is something you want to start building into your weekly daily schedule, then you're going to walk away from this episode with some good tips on how to do so. I'll tell you more about Coach Liv in just a second here, but I want to say thank you for listening today and a special welcome to those of you who are listening to the episode or to the podcast, rather for the first time today. I know you guys have so many options, so it's not lost on me that you are here listening and also, if you have been here before, thanks so much for coming back. I love hearing from you guys on Instagram, getting a DM with a question, or if there is something that you'd like to hear me talk about, send me a DM. I would love to cover it for you. You might already know the rundown here, but what you can expect here at I'm Hormonal is a long-form episode early in the week. That's when I will have an interview. If I'm doing an interview or it's just otherwise, a longer form conversation, a deep dive into a topic. Then in the second half of the week you can expect a mini snack size episode where I'm really just breaking it down in super short form to make it extra actionable, practical or otherwise deep diving into something that I touched on earlier in the week. So that's kind of the lay of the land here for us.
Speaker 1:Now, coming back to today's episode with coach Liv. I mentioned that she's a registered dietitian and fitness coach. She's on a mission to help women break free from diet culture and really fuel their bodies for optimal performance, all while having better periods every month and you know that we love better periods around here. I'm hormonal. She's here to challenge the old narrative that you need to eat less to feel better about your body. As a female, thank goodness. With a background as a collegiate athlete, coach Liv combines firsthand experience with evidence-based knowledge to help female athletes achieve their goals, so you're in the right spot. If that sounds juicy to you, you can catch up with Coach Liv on Instagram, find her at livebeyondthetable or check out her website livebeyondthetablecom. And Liv is spelled L-I-V.
Speaker 1:All right, I won't hold you up any longer. Here is my conversation with Coach Liv and I will see you on the other side. A lot of listeners out there are familiar with the fact that muscle building is really important for our hormone health, but maybe some gals out there don't have the experience of actually getting in the gym. Maybe it's been 10 years, maybe just you know things have changed. So I'm really excited to talk to you and get your perspective on where are some of those best starting points. To make it more salient, right For folks who say I know that I want to build more muscle, I know this is good for me, but where do I start? So that's kind of a big question. But I'm curious to hear from you what comes to mind first and what would you want to call a listener's attention to, or what direction should they head in first and foremost?
Speaker 2:Yeah. No, I think this is so important and I always try to encourage my clients when I'm talking to someone at this spot in their health and fitness journey is to follow the path of least resistance. Because if it seems very overwhelming I know when I get overwhelmed I tend to just procrastinate and keep like kind of kicking it down the road but you're at this point and you're like, okay, I need to make a change. I want to make a change for my health. Pick that thing that seems the least daunting and I think you know we're both coaches right, so it can be really helpful to just hire a coach and have someone kind of guide you in that plan, even if, say, you know, you haven't ever lifted weights or strength trained.
Speaker 2:You know, on your own you don't really have much of a background, maybe outside of high school sports or maybe just a little bit of exercise that you might've done when you were younger or in a different phase of life, um, and you just want to kind of know what works now.
Speaker 2:And you know science and training is always changing and you know kind of getting new evidence about what works for people and things like that. So I think having an in-person trainer, even just for like a month, could be really helpful to kind of show you the ropes and help you gain your confidence. Really helpful to kind of show you the ropes and help you gain your confidence. I think that's why a lot of females specifically just like to do cardio, because it's kind of that path of least resistance. You can walk outside, you can just go for a run, put on running shoes it doesn't take a lot of equipment or you can just go into a gym and feel at peace in your own little bubble on, you know, a cardio piece of equipment. But then we get a little bit more intimidated when we venture out to the weight section, right? So I think it can be helpful to have a coach or some kind of plan to follow, to be like okay, this is what I'm going to do, I'm going to try it and see what works for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, such a good idea, because I totally feel that, like probably a lot of listeners out there, when you go to the gym for the first time, I look around and I'm like, oh my gosh, I know what to do with those dumbbells over there, hypothetically.
Speaker 1:But there are two people on the two benches and I don't want to have to like play this weird shuffle game with them.
Speaker 1:But anyway, back to what you were saying probably what 90% of gyms maybe that I made up that number will have a coach who you can work with or a trainer who will you know, you can do a couple of sessions with, even just to get your you know main what three workouts or something down and then building the confidence, which is the most important thing, cause if you're not feeling good, then you're not going to actually go to the gym.
Speaker 1:Even taking a step back before we're talking about going to the gym for somebody who you know when I think of okay, I'm going to start working out at home muscle building, maybe I'm going to look up a YouTube video that just uses body weight exercises. Or I'm going to look up a YouTube video that just uses body weight exercises, or I'm going to get in my air squat and push up and you know Russian twist exercises. What do you think about those starting points, or is there? Are there any particularly better beneficial exercises that somebody can even be doing at home if they're not ready to venture out to the gym yet?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think body weight exercises are great and definitely something you can start with at home. I do find that, um weights can be sometimes more beneficial. Um, I don't know if that's the right word to use, but when you know push ups are hard, that's like a really hard movement. Like some body weight movements are actually very challenging because you're thinking about moving your entire body weight and some people might not be able to get into those positions correctly, whereas using something like the machines at the gym, they kind of put you in a um easier posture or easier, um, yeah, just kind of like a movement pattern where you can start strength training before you're strong enough to do some of those um, harder, maybe more challenging body weight movements. But I think that that's great If you're able to do that and that's a good starting place. You don't need equipment for that and could definitely do something like that at home.
Speaker 1:That's a really good point, because, or when I'm just thinking about, yeah, if you are doing exercises like kind of the wrong way, maybe you're getting you're not feeling the best and you're not seeing results, or you're just like getting you're feeling uncomfortable I don't know why I was hesitating to say injured, but anyway that's not going to be very encouraging and continuing through that path. So, um, good point and distinction that working out in the gym with those machines, oftentimes, like you know, the learning curve is removed because you were just doing the movement that the exercise machine allows you to.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, exactly, and yeah, it doesn't have to be too hard. I think a lot of gyms too like, when you sign up for a membership, sometimes they have like one or two complimentary sessions with a trainer that it might be worth signing up for in that first month of using your membership, just to kind of get acclimated or see what it's like to work with a trainer and see if it's worth investing in that for yourself, if you enjoy that aspect of things.
Speaker 1:Is there a good rule of thumb for somebody who's starting off by saying, okay, let me do three strength training exercises a week, or what is the sweet spot between challenging yourself and also, you know, not overdoing it, not over committing such that you know it's too lofty of a goal?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I have like two pathways when I think about someone starting with strength training, that they could go and it could be helpful either way, just kind of depending on their schedule, their ability, um, or what their kind of goals are for themselves. One path, I say at least two full body days of strength training in the gym, so that way people are hitting all of those necessary big muscle groups that they need to upper lower body both in the same week. That's kind of the gold standard of what evidence shows for maintaining or building muscle is to hit all of those muscle groups twice in a week. So I would say, do two full body days of 30 to 60 minutes in the gym, some kind of circuit, whatever that might look like for you, and that's a great starting point, you know.
Speaker 2:Or the other path that I like to encourage people is you're trying to create a habit. So even if you can just commit to like 15 minutes five or six days a week of going to the gym and just creating it as a habit in your lifestyle or working out at home, if you're choosing that aspect of things you're creating that habit of. This is important to me. I'm going to make room for 15 minutes in my day of just going and doing that movement and just picking like two or three exercises to do. You don't have to do like a long, you know drawn out workout for it to be effective and help you just create that habit of adding it into your lifestyle.
Speaker 1:I love thinking about how we can best form habits so that they actually stick, because, just like you said, yeah, if they don't, if we're not doing the thing, then it doesn't even matter if we know how to lift or if we know what we want to do, if we're not getting there. I don't know why I sort of defaulted at some point to, when I'm working with my clients and they're trying to build a habit of exercising, saying, okay, your goal for this week will be, or for whatever amount of time will be, to exercise for six minutes. Of course, when you get to that six minute mark, if you truly are like, okay, this isn't for me right now, you can be done with it. But just six minutes is so manageable that it's hard to say, okay, I can't do that or I don't have time for that, and you're and you're just building that good muscle, the mental muscle and that one.
Speaker 1:I want to come back to what you said about two full body days, because I would love to like make this more salient for somebody. So right, a listener out there who is like, okay, let's do this two full body days a week. How do I know what to do in that? So we kind of isolate movements into upper body, lower body and core, or at least that's how I think about it. And is this like we should have two different upper body exercises, to lower body and to core? How do we further break it down when we're looking at a full body exercise?
Speaker 2:Love this question. So whenever I'm even creating workouts for myself or my clients, I try to hit all those major muscle groups, so kind of just thinking like head to toe, um, we have our arms, our, you know, front half of our body, our back half, so like chest back, and then we have legs, which then you have glutes, hamstrings, quads, calves, like all those kinds of muscles. So I would pick two lower body exercises and two upper body exercises and then, for sure, if you want to throw in a core movement, I think that's great. Some of our like more functional movements where you are maybe doing some kind of body weight movement with some kind of weighted kettlebell, dumbbell, whatever you're using a barbell, sometimes those are already engaging your core, so you might not have to do another core movement on top of it unless you want to.
Speaker 2:But kind of going back to your original question, I would say I love any kind of like squat movement. I think is great. Um, overall, just always in a full body, I'll put some type of squat, um, there's lots of different variations. And then I like to break things down into some kind of like a single leg or side movement as well, just to make sure that we're working both sides of our body but more isolating them at the same time, to just get a little bit more engagement. And then, yeah, upper body. I think it's really just kind of what you like or maybe what you're trying to focus on a little bit more, whether you go like more of a shoulder and a bicep exercise or if you do more of like a back and a chest exercise. Really up to the person there.
Speaker 1:Okay, perfect, and so maybe somebody has a couple ideas of what exercises for those specific muscle groups are, or I'm sure there are 100 gazillion different options on Google or ChatGPT. To say, yo, chatty, give me five exercises that are two for legs, two for upper body, one for core and hitting as many muscle groups as possible. And I bet, yeah, chatgpt can come up with a decent starting point to get you some variety and help you figure out where it is that that you want to start. Do you have any thoughts about chat GPT? Or like, do you, do you think that chat GPT gives okay recommendations? The one thing that comes to mind too, and then I'll let you actually respond would be, um, probably not a lot of guidance on form, and that could be problematic, for sure. But what are your? What are your thoughts?
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I think chat GPT could be a great place to start and just get some like basic general recommendations. Of course, obviously, if you have some kind of previous injury or something going on that you would need a little bit more help with, I would recommend, you know, getting a program or a plan specific to you or from someone credentialed would be helpful. But I think that's a great place to start and I'm sure, too, if you wanted to get more specific with each of those exercises that chat GBT gives you, you could always say like hey, you know, break down this exercise and how I would, you know, complete it with good form, and I'm sure that it would give you a detailed response for that too.
Speaker 1:True, yeah, all about the prompting. One question that's on my mind, so a little bit of a pivot here, but I'm thinking about what are the pitfalls that you see your clients go through or that you hear you know other gals talk about. You know, maybe it's thinking that starting to do yoga every day will really build muscle, and maybe that's something that could be a misconception. Or I don't know what comes to mind. Are there other misconceptions that you're like? All right, girl, let's. Let's refocus on something that makes more sense.
Speaker 2:I think the thing that I hear the most when I'm talking to people about what they're doing in the gym or when it comes to strength training or getting started or anything, is finding random workouts on the internet and just doing a random workout for the day, or doing like saving their favorite influencers workouts in a folder on their Instagram or something like that and then just following those.
Speaker 2:There's no progressive overload to that and so if that's what you're doing, you're probably not going to see results. It's going to be a great starting point If you're. If that excites you about like getting into the gym for your first one to two months, I think that's totally fine, but at some point we need more of a program that's actually going to get you results so you're not getting frustrated Like why am I doing all these workouts? And like not seeing what I want to or the results from it. And the second thing I would say on that same line is that, um, you don't want to program hop either, um, and you don't always have to keep changing up your exercises. Sure, variation keeps it interesting and fun, um, but at some point you probably do need to keep doing the same exercises and routine for four to eight weeks at a time to actually see if it's working or allow that progress to be made weeks at a time to actually see if it's working or allow that progress to be made.
Speaker 1:Okay, interesting. So once you have a program, stick with it for four to eight weeks so that you can just measure your own progress and, ideally, probably increase weights if you're using weights which brings me back to you mentioned progressive overload. I imagine that has to do with increasing your weights, but can you elaborate or clarify what is progressive overload?
Speaker 2:Yeah, of course. So progressive overload is built within a program of increasing either volume or increasing the intensity level at which you're working at throughout a program, so that way you can see that progress of you. Know. If the program has written three sets of 15 reps in the first week and then the next week either goes up in reps or maybe goes up in sets, so then you would do four sets of like 12 reps or something where you're seeing that volume increase over time and you're working in different rep ranges, but it's allowing you then to increase your strength and muscle building capabilities too.
Speaker 1:Okay, perfect. That's really helpful, then, for me, because that's something that I could definitely do a better job at. I'm certainly, unfortunately, in a mode right now where I just do the same thing each time. I would not say that I'm doing something harder and harder each week at the gym, and so good note for me to get it together, figure out a program that escalates, escalates, escalates, to see some progress, and that makes me think or go ahead.
Speaker 2:I was just going to say. On top of that that's why I also like to encourage clients or people who are starting their fitness journeys in the gym is to either record their own sets of exercises on their phones or cameras, or also keeping a journal, whether that's a note in their phone or an actual notebook, that they take to the gym with them so that they can record and they can understand oh, this is what I did last time or oh, this is what my form looked like. It felt hard to me, but actually, looking at it, my reps don't slow down at all. My form isn't looking like it's getting any worse from my first set to my last set of that exercise, so I should actually try to push myself a little bit harder, okay, perfect when it comes to goal setting.
Speaker 1:so, along the same line of maybe picking a program or just getting your plan together, do you have any other thoughts on setting realistic goals? Like, how do you, how does somebody kind of know where the sweet spot is, where to start, and then, kind of on the other side of that, what are the metrics or feelings, or what is it that is most helpful and productive to measure as progress?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that's really sometimes a hard question. It's obviously going to be. It depends for everyone what is realistic for them. I find that it's helpful, when you're just starting something, to set a goal that you absolutely know you can achieve, because that's going to create the confidence of like, okay, if I said that I'm, my goal is to just get to the gym one time this week, I can do that, I can go at least one time, and then the next week it's like okay, I went that one time, let me try and go two times this week.
Speaker 2:Or, like we had kind of talked about before, is setting a very small goal of like your six minute idea which I think is great, of something that you can do every day. It's not something that's going to be overly taxing, but hey, I'm going to try and do activity for six minutes every day this week and just you know, kind of wrap your head around. It's only six minutes of your entire day, right? So I think finding something that you absolutely know that you can achieve at first to create that consistency and confidence in yourself and then slowly make the goals a little bit more challenging over time, rather than starting with a big, lofty goal and then not kind of breaking it down to what are the actual steps I should be doing on a daily or weekly basis.
Speaker 1:Okay, I like that and I'm thinking too. When it comes to measuring progress, probably, you know, using the scale as a measure of success is not going to be. It's not going to work for most people, because if you're lifting weights the right way, you're going to be going up on the scale, which isn't what most most people are maybe looking for. So I would love to hear your thoughts on what we can all do to have maybe a better relationship with this scale, or like what should that relationship even look like to begin with?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think this is a great question and you know, even back to the previous question you asked of just like how to um kind of measure progress or what is helpful in that realm, again, it's really different person to person on like what your goals actually are. You know, you might say that your goal is weight loss or wearing a specific type of swimsuit in the summer, or, you know, maybe you have a trip or wedding or something coming up that you want to feel really confident for. So I think then we should adjust how we're measuring progress than to be aligned with that specific goal. And what I find whenever I talk with clients who maybe do say that their initial goals are some kind of weight loss goal, I say okay, so tell me a little bit more about why this goal is important to you and why that weight loss matters to you so much.
Speaker 2:We can kind of get to that deeper reasoning and kind of have a conversation around the scale and their relationship with the scale and that that number may have some type of meaning for them or how they felt at a certain time when they were that number on the scale, and then helping them understand that you know what all of the different variables that go into what the scale says, so that way they can maybe have a healthier relationship with the scale. Things like sleep and when we're building muscle, you know our muscle fibers actually break down and tear and the act of rebuilding them creates inflammation and stress in your body. So you might hold on to a little bit more water weight while those muscles are recovering and so kind of looking more at an average number of your scale weights for a week or a month can be more helpful than looking at like a snapshot of your weight in time and only doing that like once a week or something you might not see all of those changes in your body composition as well.
Speaker 1:That's really interesting to me. I didn't know that, as your muscles are repairing, that you're more likely to hold on to that little bit more water. And, of course, right, you and I both work with our clients a lot around hormones and their cycle and so certainly you know just tying this back to what you said about looking at maybe an average throughout the month, because, yes, all of our weights will change from one day to the next or one week to the next, and so just looking at it from the big picture view of what you said to you, like, what is the why behind it? What's the big picture?
Speaker 2:instead of making so many like micro measurements, I guess yeah, yeah, I mean I was just talking to an older woman yesterday at my gym and she was saying like, oh, I just don't even like to look at the scale anymore because it fluctuates so much.
Speaker 2:And I was like, well, like what is a lot, you know, because I think that is a misconception too, that your weight shouldn't change day to day.
Speaker 2:But it's like when you have all of these variables that are going into your life, like it's not just about the food that you eat and how many calories that you burn through exercise that affect the number on the scale, it's your stress, it's your sleep habits, it's if you consumed alcohol or more water intake or sodium or all of these different things that show you what that number is on the scale.
Speaker 2:And so it's very normal to have a fluctuation of anywhere from a half of a pound to three pounds in a day or a week time span. And then you know even more for some of our females who are working with us to improve their hormones. You know I've had different females and myself, whenever I was working through my health journey and my hormones, to see that my weight fluctuates, sometimes up to 10 pounds throughout my cycle because of all the water, weight and the stress and the inflammation that was going on, that I had to like understand that that was kind of you know an inflammation, um, you know way of my body kind of trying to heal and protect itself, rather than looking at and be like, oh my gosh, like why is my weight fluctuating so much like and getting frustrated with it that reminds me a similar but different experience.
Speaker 1:I, when I finished a like relatively stressful career or job or I don't know I'm being coded like. So, once I got out of the military and I had this kind of transitional month where I was like moving and before I started my next job, just like not being in that stressful work environment, I just my weight went down without having to, you know, do what I you know, without trying to like really work out every single day and do all this hard stuff. And I guess, even as an extension of that I'm just thinking, you know, when you're over exercising, potentially that's another form of stress, right? And that kind of brings me to my next thought of you know a listener out there who's like okay, sick, I'm ready to go.
Speaker 1:I've like got my plan. I'm going to do my two full body workouts a week. I'll do one at home, one in the gym, get a trainer, whatever, whatever feels right. Well, now that we're growing muscles, you know we need to support our body through these transformations. So what are the maybe top three things that someone can think about when it comes to really fueling your body and using food as a tool instead of like as your adversary. What nutrition wise should we be keeping in mind?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love this. I think it's so important when you are starting a strength training program to think about fueling your muscles and what that actually looks like. So this is so, so perfect. I think one of the most important things you can do is start with the nutrition around your workouts, because this is a what's going to give you energy and fuel your body in the gym, but then also help those muscle tears and things that you're doing in the gym to then recover with the appropriate nutrition. And so I'd say, make sure, especially if you're a morning person, make sure that you're having some kind of like quick digesting carb, something I would not recommend working out fasted. Um, I know that there's a lot of controversial things on the internet, but my take is that I would rather have energy to fuel my workout so I can push myself harder in the gym, than feeling like this is the worst workout ever. I'm dizzy, I'm lightheaded, I'm starving and I don't want to really be here, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's going to be a no for me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, exactly. So definitely, um, having some kind of carbohydrate before their workout or, if they're working out in the afternoon or evening, making sure that they do have some kind of afternoon snack that's going to give them some kind of good fuel and energy prior to that workout.
Speaker 1:Okay. So just to make sure I've got you and I know that on your website too, which I'll link in the show notes, you have a freebie with like good snack ideas, so maybe one of those would be fitting for a pre-workout snack. But it's mostly like is there anything we should be focusing on post-workout? Is that like okay, have your protein or whatever post-workout? Maybe we're going to get to that anyway here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I was no. And thank you so much for bringing up the snacks freebie on my website, because I just revamped that like a couple months ago and really kind of broke it down into, like you know, different sources of nutrients and snack ideas, but then also into more for our hormone girlies who are trying to heal their hormones and put the right nutrients at different times of their cycle. You can see that listed out of some snack ideas that would match those parts of your cycle, and then also the pre and the post workout snack ideas as well. So, yes, definitely go to my website and grab that if you're kind of struggling with what to eat for snacking.
Speaker 2:But to your question of post-workout protein definitely important. I definitely recommend at least 20 grams of protein. But if you do have more of a specific protein goal for your whole day that you're trying to meet, if you are working with a coach or have some more specific nutrition goals, that then you would maybe want to adjust that more specifically to your goals. But at least 20 grams of protein is good post-workout. And then adding those carbohydrates in there as well Again, something that is going to be more quick digesting, like rice or fruits, are going to be great. Nothing that's like super, super high fiber, because that slows down the digestion of your carbohydrates, but some kind of protein and carbohydrate source that is going to help recover your muscles.
Speaker 1:Interesting. Okay, so is this? Because I'm trying to think like what's going on inside your bodies and why you'd want the quick digesting carbs. It's just because after a workout, muscles are like coach live or bridget, like give me some, give me some glucose, like I need it right now. Is that what's going on? It's just really getting that energy source to the cell, or what's the rationale behind it? Because normally last part of my question normally I'm thinking about talking about how we can have our blood sugar stay more stable and so kind of um, not like be afraid, obviously, of those faster digesting carbs, but anyway, you see where I'm going with it. What are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I love that you brought this point up because it is kind of counter um, intuitive or what you see on the internet of okay, like talking about blood sugar, like we want to keep it very balanced and controlled and we don't want those spikes in our blood sugar.
Speaker 2:But actually before a workout and after a workout is when we do want those blood sugar spikes because that helps move the glucose into the cells. Because then it's saying, oh, we have so much, you know, sugar in our blood that we can move it into the the cells. Because then it's saying, oh, we have so much sugar in our blood that we can move it into the cells and then that's what helps start that muscle repair so much faster than if our carbohydrates are taking a really long time to get to those cells. Because it's not spiking your blood sugar. Because there's fiber and there's more protein or fats or something at that meal, then it's taking longer for those nutrients and the blood sugar. Because there's fiber and there's more protein or fats or something at that meal, then it's taking longer for those nutrients and the blood sugar to get to a certain point, to move it into the cells. So we do want that quicker digesting. Hey, blood sugar spike, let's move it into the cells quickly to start that recovery process faster.
Speaker 1:Okay, perfect, that makes total sense. And maybe just I know you and I are on the same page but, for the sake of clarification, we're talking about like whole fruit, not sour patch gummies. We're talking about like, what are these whole food products that, yeah, have a little bit more sugar punch to them?
Speaker 2:For sure.
Speaker 1:Totally. What else is there when it comes to hormonal fluctuations throughout the cycle, and is there any? Do you have any kind of rules of thumb for gals who are like, okay, how should they change their workouts, if at all, as they go through the different phases of their cycle?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think this is a good question.
Speaker 2:We kind of tried it a little bit before this.
Speaker 2:I'm just like our you know opinions to cycle syncing on the internet and everything, and I think first and foremost, when I'm working with clients individually, is really helping them understand their hormone fluctuations and their cycles, because everyone's symptoms and how they feel throughout their cycle and different phases is different beyond what you might see on, you know, the internet of like this is what happens and this is when you have the most energy and different things.
Speaker 2:Like I've worked with lots of different athletes at different ages now and lots of different women at different ages and their symptoms are different and where they get those energy bursts in their cycles is different. So I think, first and foremost, educate yourself on your cycle, your lengths, your phases, and really understand your own hormones, get the different testing done to understand where your levels are at, why you might be having certain symptoms, and then work from there, Because then I think that you can get more specific into understanding. Hey, when do I feel really good to be able to push my body and work at that higher intensity in the gym or maybe have more energy to get a longer workout in or more exercise or more steps in my day or something like that, versus when I naturally feel a little less energized and maybe want to pull back from my typical four or five days a week of exercise to just two or three and allow my body to recover but still be able to get in the gym.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think we're really very well aligned on the whole cycle. Snaking is a great tool, but it's not necessarily going to fix things. It's really a good tool to learn and reflect on. Okay, how do I feel? What is the exercise that's right for me today? What do I need? One question now.
Speaker 1:This is getting maybe a little bit nuanced, but for somebody who's like okay, well, I just, you know, found my program where I'm going to, you know, do more reps or higher weight each week, should they like, continue on with their program? I know this is so specific, so hopefully I'm not going down a rabbit hole. But, you know, maybe you say, okay, well, this week I'm still going to pull down from four workouts to two, because this is the week that I'm on my period and I just don't have the same energy. So should they redo that week, the next week? I mean, I know this isn't like the world's not going to end if the workouts are a little bit out of order, but let me know if that makes sense and what are your thoughts on that, so that you can see progress, stay on track, but also listen to their body.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for sure. I mean, even for anyone like say you bought a program that's like a five day a week program but you're actually only going to go to the gym four days a week, I think that's totally fine, like just work through the program in its order of workouts and how it's kind of designed. I wouldn't necessarily skip that fifth workout every week because you might be missing certain muscle groups then and never getting them in. So I would say, just kind of pick up where you left off. If you only got two in this week, then hit that day three the following week and work through those workouts and then you know again during that phase that you feel a little bit more energized, like maybe you get an extra one in the week because you're like oh, I just like feel really good or I have more time to get into the gym. I'm going to add an extra session, perfect.
Speaker 1:As we get ready to wrap up, what is there that we maybe haven't touched on, that is really important for us to call attention to, or if there's anything that we even want to come back to, to just really emphasize what's top of mind for you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I just, I really think, um, the importance of consistency and kind of following that path of least resistance and really honoring your body and what feels right to you, I think is really important because there's so much, you know, noise on the internet about what you should be doing or when you're talking. Especially this time of year we're recording, you know, early February of you know people are talking about their diets or their new exercise programs or whatever, and it's fun to get excited or, you know, join someone on their journey and what's working for them, but also remembering that you are an individual and it's okay for you to do something different that is working for you and that you can see progress and success with as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Everybody's path is going to be individualized. I like that as a as an area to wrap up on. It's been really good to have you. I'm glad that you joined me to help kind of really paint the picture and make it clear for listeners of how they can get into the swing of things. Where can listeners connect with you after this?
Speaker 2:yeah, most. I'm most active on Instagram, so you can find me just at live beyond the table and just slide into my dMS and let me know that you listen to this podcast episode and something that stood out to you, or if you have any questions about a program that you're looking at or something with your training, I'm more than happy to answer your questions. And then, of course, grabbing that freebie on my website and that's just live beyond the tablecom.
Speaker 1:All right, gang, this is where we are going to wrap it up for the day. Go ahead and check out coach lives website live beyond the table. Live in this case is just L I V beyond the tablecom. Connect with her on Instagram. Send me a message, too, if you have any questions on anything that you heard today that you want clarification on, or, of course, if there's another topic that you want me to address on the podcast. I would love to hear what is top of mind for you Now. Thanks again for listening. I'll look forward to seeing you back here later in the week for our mini episode, but until then, be well.