What to do if your workouts feel too easy
Feeling like workouts are a waste of time.. we get it, we've been there.
Coach Ariel here to tell ya, you get to choose how hard your workouts are and how much results you get from them!
Hear me out..
It was during high-school softball that I gained my first experiences lifting weights and working out for a goal.
Our exercises were all supersets, we did jumpropes, heavy med balls, weight machines and barbells.
It was a decent set up for the sport, time available and amount of kids lifting in a small space.
But.. We lifted way too fast, did not focus on mind-to-muscle connection, had terrible form and not enough education.
After high-school lifting I ended up having beliefs like:
- Running is the BEST exercise
- Being so sore you can't walk is cool
- Faster is better
I believed these things to be true until I became a certified fitness trainer and found out:
- Running is great to improve your cardiovascular health,
but you don't have to do it to lose weight or get toned
- Soreness is not a great indicator of a good workout.
Soreness can happen when you change your workouts and if it hurts other areas of your life like being able to play with your kids,
then it's not worth it to chase it by adding more movements.
- Faster usually means less controlled movement.
That results in less time under tension- which is what tells your muscles to grow.
You need to slow down, feel the muscles working and brace yourself properly!
When you are lifting heavy enough, using RPE 7 or 8 then you will feel like you are working out hard!
That intensity will help you grow stronger, build confidence & be able to carry all of the groceries in one trip! 😉
If you're still confused on RPE check out this free guide explaining it: https://www.loom.com/share/2810ad1b25bb44beaf0ebdd0ecebd021
STRETCHING BEFORE WORKOUTS IS KILLING YOUR PROGRESS
This is why implementing a dynamic warm up with a series of dynamic stretches specific to the muscle group you are lifting is the best warm up.
Here are my top 3 reasons you should skip stretching and start dynamically warming up.
1. Improve your athletic performance (more power output, you lift better which can mean more muscle and strength)
Stretching has been shown to DECREASE athletic performance, runners run slower and lifter lift less after stretching vs dynamic warm ups. It's great for flexibility not for warming up.
2. Reduce injury risk. Lubricates your joints and gets them ready to go.
Static Stretching has not been shown to reduce injury risk.
3. Increase blood flow which limber up your body and helps your body get ready for the exercises.
Static Stretching actually tires out your muscles, so in turn will leave less for your lifts.
Stretching is out and dynamic warm ups are in!
Here are same great dynamic exercises for your next leg day.
Leg swings. Stable your body by holding onto something and standing with your weight on one foot. Swing your leg forward and back to warm up your hips and legs for 10 to 20 reps. Repeat on other leg. Then switch back to starting leg and Swing side to side repeat 10-20 reps each leg.
Air squat and internal/external rotations. Squat down as low as you can, it’s okay if you need to hold onto something. Turn one knee in as far as you can then turn it back out, repeat 5 to 10 reps and switch legs.
Body weight hip thrusts. Laying face up on the ground bring your ankles close to your glutes, knees facing the ceiling. Squeeze your glutes to bring your hips up into a bridge position then back down. Repeat 10 to 20 reps.
For a full dynamic warm up check out my Instagram dynamic warm up guide. Www.instagram.com/ariellynnfitness
Real Self Care. No, not face masks and wine.
You already are doing some sort of self care if you are searching for self care tips. You realize the importance of taking care of yourself, filling your cup and feeling good.
Self care isn't just face masks and pedicures.
It's more about caring enough to change your behaviors, habits and routines to become more productive with your health.
Self care can include
- creating and sticking to a nightly routine that gets you to bed at a decent time
- limiting your screen time and choosing to do something productive with your time instead
- drinking more water and electrolytes to stay hydrated
- setting boundaries at work and socially so you stop spending your time working or doing things you don't actually want to do
- checking in with where you're spending your time and energy. Time audit.
- getting outside more and getting more sunlight
- establishing routines for your days, weekends and exercise.
- creating something. Be creative in the ways you love
You see, a face mask and a glass of wine can give a temporary feeling of self care, but true self care keeps on giving you energy. Imagine a month from now after keeping your night routine and getting more sleep.
You're going to feel refreshed, have more energy and get more shit done.
What self care activities are you going to try?
3 Reasons You're Not Seeing Results
These 3 reasons are related to macro tracking accuracy. Our bodies are smart. Our bodies know exactly what we are putting into them even if we aren’t tracking our food correctly or at all for that matter.
Too much variation of these following discrepancies can cause your intake numbers to be off quite a bit which can contribute to you seeing no changes week to week. Before you go changing your macros or adding in more cardio, make sure you’re not doing these 3 things.
Self awareness check ✔
1. Eating higher processed foods and having incorrect food labels.. the FDA allows up to 20% error on food nutrition labels. If all your foods are packaged that could be a huge amount of error in your intake. And some companies have HIGHER errors but haven't been caught yet. This especially happens with "diet and low cal" labeled foods. Watch out for 100 cal snacks they are a bug culprit of this.
2. Not using a food scale. Using a food scale will increase your accuracy and for a lot of people makes tracking WAY less time consuming. Toss your bowl on the scale and zero it out to measure each ingredient... less measuring cups and spoons you have to clean after.
3. Eating out and getting frustrated when a meal is hard to track or not in myfitnesspal. The same with food labels, restaurants calories are usually underestimated and it'll depend on the chef which can cause big fluctuations if you're always eating out.
If you find yourself eating out often try picking more whole food options from the menu and ask for no oil or steamed veggies.. much easier to track correctly. Don't worry about this on untracked meals but remember just because you don't count it doesn't mean your body doesn't count it.
To mitigate these discrepancies in tracking we can:
Choose to eat more whole, less processed foods that are entered correctly into my fitness pal
Double check by googling the nutrition facts.
Using a food scale and measuring in grams.
You don't have to always be right on, but going over 10 to 20g of a food can make a difference if you're doing it all the time. 5g of oil is 45 calories but 10g of oil ends up 90 calories and doing that 4x a day ends up an extra 180 calories a day which could put you back to your maintenance range and no weight loss would occur.
Being honest with yourself.
If you eat something and have to guesstimate.. guess the serving size a bit higher especially if your goal is fat loss. If you're underestimating every guess food you throw in you're more than likely eating OVER your daily calorie goal.
Overestimate meals you eat out if your goal is fat loss.
Track your drinks correctly.
From Avatar nutrition: You can either count your alcohol as a substitute for carbs, fat, or a mix of both depending on what your macro plan for the day is.
Take the total calorie content of your drink and divide it by 4 if you’re going to count it towards your carbs, and divide by 9 if you’re going to count it towards your fat. This is because carbs have 4 calories per gram and fats have 9… Simple as that.
As an example, let’s take a look at a 5-ounce glass of red wine – we’re not even going to worry about the macro content at all, just the total calories. You’d do the same for hard liquors, beer, or any mixed drink as they are almost universally NOT going to have protein or fat content.
Bites and tastes still contain calories. Even if you don't swallow the food the calories are still being ingested.. look at gum nutrition labels. If you're eating right you won't have huge cravings or FOMO on foods. If this is you we need to talk about it and audit your current food choices to see how we can work on this together. It definitely happens and is nothing to be ashamed of and there are ways we can help to lower these feelings.
Which of these sound like you?
If you’re ready to see results and need help along the way, schedule your FREE consultation!