It’s about 15 years I’m training people of all walks of life, but no matter who comes through the door, it always seems like the same questions come back time and time again. Half of my clientele are females so I’m seeing a lot of hormonal, lifestyle management, never their fault, it’s because of my husband, it’s the time of the month, the kind of remarks I learned to deal with. Through research, in speaking with my coworkers, and ongoing accumulated data, I’m still learning everyday how to deal with some of these female issues. I’m going to share with you some of the issues that I’ve come across throughout the years by making a little collage of answers for the most asked questions by my female clients.
1. No matter what you do, train like hell, eat like a bird, do hours of cardio, etc. If you don’t get your sh... together and eat a balanced nutrition plan, that fits YOUR needs, You will
never get the results you want, end of the line.
Case #1. Lory did hours of cardio when she was 20 y.o. and weight trained 5 hours a week. Nonexistent daily stress, life was easy. Mom was cooking the meals, no boyfriend; the only stress was school, studying and where their next evening out would be. Shape wise, couldn’t be better, felt great, could stay out all night and drink the amount of booze they wanted with no repercussion the morning after.
10 years later, things are different, a lot I might add. With an executive job, payments, a routine and responsibilities, life hits hard. Let me tell you something, if you were to do the same workout program you did 10 years ago, and had amazing results, thinking you would have the same results 10 years later you would be mistaken. You are 10 years OLDER, it’s a fact that your metabolism slows down; your stress levels aren’t the same as before. Stress has the biggest impact on your ability to lose weight/bodyfat. So adapt your lifestyle with your conditioning program. Some people can do 2-3 hours a week and some could do 5 hours a week. Instead of doing more, try to do less. And again, if you don’t change your eating habits, forget it.
Case#2. Alexia had an accident that left her with minor pain in her back for at least 3-4 years. She tried everything, from Chiro, physio, light aerobics to strengthen her lower back but nothing seemed to work and the pain seemed to get even worse. Every time there is a nagging pain, your body has inflammation, and this is a usually the result of acidity in the system. You can compare the body to a pool. When the body has some sort of foreign bodies, or allergies, it raises it`s acidity levels and produces inflammations where it needs too. So by taking out sources of food allergies, you take out, or at least reduce the release of cortisol and inflammation. An allergy doesn’t always result in sneezing, watery eyes and bad reactions; it can go silently for months. There are also other symptoms, like water retention, unexplained rashes or secretions, bloatedness, bad digestion, bad breath, mental fog, inability to lose weight, etc.
Man made food are the main culprit, so eliminate, foods like pasta, breads,and some nuts. If nuts are eaten repeatedly for a long period of time it can produce allergies without big reactions. That’s exactly what I did with case#2 Alexia and with fast results, in less than 4 weeks; her back pain was almost nonexistent.
2. Weight training is for everybody, and woman should weight train as much as men, without the fear of gaining muscle mass. Men have the ability to gain mass because of one thing, TESTOSTERONE. Some woman have shown to have a very, very small amount of this hormone but not near enough to build muscle as fast as men. Because of this they usually end up having more hair on their arms, face and lips. Unless you take steroids, you will never have big muscles, and even if you did take them, it would take years of training and dieting, it’s no overnight results, even with steroids.
When you weight train, it helps you burn fat for as much as 72 hours after your workout. A pound of muscle mass helps you burn 50 more calories a day, so gaining muscle mass is a must as it speeds up your metabolism. Gaining 5 pounds that won’t even show on your body will not only change your overall shape, but will help you burn an additional 250 calories a day, that’s the equivalent of a small meal.
To calculate your basal metabolic rate (how much calories you burn in a day, use this formula.
BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years ). Then you base your caloric needs by multiplying your activity factor;
• If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
• If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
• If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
• If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
• If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9
So for Juliette, with a BMR of 1285 Calories a day, with an activity level of 3-5 days a week, she would need 1992 calories a day to maintain her weight. When I want them to lose fat, I take out between 300 to 500 calories of those 1900 calories a day. So a nutrition plan with the bio-signature protocol of 1500 calories a day would be ideal for keeping one`s lean muscle mass and losing fat in those unwanted places. Following a plan like this for 12 weeks, would give you more results than you’ve ever imagined.
3. Fat does not contract....So spot reduction is a matter of diet, not the exercise you are doing. I see so many woman doing hip abductions (lifting your leg sideways with your ankle attach with a low pulley, or lying on your side and lifting your leg with a weight attached to your ankle). The problem is that it adds bulk to the gluteus medius, the upper side of the buttock, in other words, more junk to the trunk.
What I use for spot reduction is a system called Bio-SignatureTM. Extensive research done by world renowned strength coach Charles Poliquin has shown that our bodies are ruled by the hormonal system, and depending on where you store your bodyfat, it indicates a condition or a problem that your body may have. For example, woman who retains more fat on their triceps will have problems with their progesterone while others will have excessive amount of estrogen and retain fat around the hips and legs. Your nutritional habits will greatly influence your hormonal profile. Eliminating manmade foods and high glycemic index carbs will help balance and boost your metabolism 10 folds, while losing those love handles.
4. Cardio makes you fatter!! Read the sentence again....Cardio makes you fatter!!!Doing cardio for extended period of time wrecks havoc on your sympathetic system which elevates cortisol. And when cortisol is high, the body does not function properly, digestion, growth hormones, metabolism,etc. If you can’t digest your food properly, nutrients won’t help you recuperate from your workout, and everything starts to fall from there. Adrenal fatigue is usually the final step, but unfortunately, when it happens, it’s too late. We are talking of a 3 month timeline. That’s the reason why so many people fail to continue their membership at the gym for more than 3 months when they sign up. They do so much cardio, thinking that this will get rid of the weight faster than the weights, that after 2 weeks they are exhausted and the motivation is gone. I’ve been in gyms for 20 years, seen people coming and going. People who do weight training regularly, get the most results, and are very successful in and out of the gym. So next time you go to the gym cut down on the cardio and hit the weights harder.
5. Do not starve yourself....Let me put it this way, would you rather lose 10 pounds on the scale or 10 pounds of bodyfat, but no weight loss on the scale? Let me explain to you what happens in those 2 different cases.
You lost 10 pounds on the scale; Wow your weight went down, but you didn’t lose on your tummy, your bum is falling down, you lost energy, can’t stay focused, always have cravings, why? You simply did not eat enough calories to maintain your lean body mass (muscle). Being in starvation mode tells your body that he needs energy and pronto. Unfortunately he won’t go automatically dig in your stored bodyfat for energy; he usually goes for the muscle mass. The first sign your body burns muscle mass as energy is sagging muscles, and the first one to go is the buttocks. That’s why you see a lot of runway models with no ass; they are all champions in the starvation categories. On top of that, you slowed down your metabolism so much by losing those 10 pounds of muscle (remember, gaining 10 pounds of muscle would speed your metabolism by 500 calories, but losing them would slow down your Basal Metabolic Rate by 500 calories, that’s huge) that when you’ll resume your normal eating lifestytle, I can bet you anything that you’ll gain more than your 10 pounds back, and feel even sicker, depressed and fatter.
You didn’t lose on the scale but lost 10 pounds of fat; you feel like a freak, in a good way. You are asking yourself why you have so much energy. You are so focused that even your boss noticed it and complimented you on it. Your life has changed for the better, in every aspect of it, and you don’t even feel like cheating, you turned on your metabolism as well as your husband. What I’m telling you is not fiction, its reality. You just told your body to function at 120% and he likes it. On top of that, the scale didn’t go down but your clothes fit you nicely and you even have to throw some away because they feel too loose. I think you get and feel the picture.
The one special thing about my career that is so rewarding is seeing someone come in my office, with the fire in their eyes, full of joy because they have succeeded in changing, not only their shape, but improved their quality of life, performance at work, relationship at home with the husband and kids. In my eyes, it’s priceless.
