Menstrual cycle and Exercise

That dreaded time of the month, comes around too quickly! When your feeling grouchy, lethargic, bloated and craving all the carbs and sugar you can get your hands on to, the best thing to do is move! Yup that’s right get that ass off the sofa/bed and get moving. Even if its a short walk out in the open, studies* have shown that even light exercise can help mood, mensuration cramps and fatigue.

Lets talk about how the month goes in a mensuration cycle.

Planning your training plan that aligns with the menstrual cycle can be beneficial for optimizing performance and recovery.

The menstrual cycle typically consists of four phases: menstrual, follicular, ovulatory, and luteal. Each phase is characterized by hormonal fluctuations that can impact energy levels, strength, and recovery.

Menstrual Phase (Days 1-5): Winter phase

• Focus: Light to moderate-intensity workouts.

• Recommendations:

• Incorporate activities like walking, yoga, or light stretching.

• Listen to your body and prioritize rest if needed.

• Stay hydrated and maintain a balanced diet. Foods that help reduce overall inflammation, are a great for long term solutions. Focus on roasting, slow cooking, eating root vegetables and eating foods with magnesium, zinc, antioxidants, iron, complex carbohydrates, fats such as nuts, seeds and avocado.

• Dips in oestrogen and progesterone in energy levels.

Top tips, take a walk in nature, make something warming and nourishing to eat!

I personally love a vegan mac and cheese, a hearty soup or a nice fiery chili

Follicular Phase (Days 6-14): Spring

• Focus: Increased energy and strength.

• Recommendations:

• Introduce more intense workouts, strength training, and cardiovascular exercises.

• Experiment with new exercises or increase training volume.

• Emphasize protein intake for muscle repair and growth.

• Use lighter cooking methods like steaming or sauteing

• Try adding in fermented foods like Kefir, miso, yogurts or prebiotic foods like apples, avocado, chives, garlic

• As you increase intensity, you may want to include more anti-inflammatory foods to help improve recovery. Some examples are blueberries, leafy greens like spinach or kale.

Top tips, it’s a good time to take on physical challenges, challenge yourself to lift heavier or increase the resistance in different movements.

For further reading on this please see here :https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK542229/

Ovulatory Phase (Days 15-17): Summer

• Focus: Peak strength, endurance and confidence.

• Recommendations:

• Capitalize on the increased energy and stamina for challenging workouts.

• Incorporate high-intensity interval training (HIIT) or heavy lifting.

• Pay attention to hydration and nutrition for optimal performance.

• Maximise your strength training, try and push for a personal best, the rise in oestrogen will give you a super energy boost!

• Add in some HIIT training or conditioning

• Focus on light cooking methods like steaming or sauteing.

• Eat fresh fruits, raw vegetables and salads.

Top tips pay attention to longer warm ups and mobility in this phase and be careful not to over stretch.

For further reading on this see here: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9958828/#:~:text=Peak%20estradiol%20is%20associated%20with,an%20increased%20risk%20of%20injury

Luteal Phase (Days 18-28): Fall

• Focus: Modified intensity and recovery emphasis.

• Recommendations:

• Adjust intensity as energy levels may fluctuate, due to and increase in progesterone.

• Try higher reps with less load, this can help you maintain progress without pushing yourself too much.

• Emphasize recovery strategies, including rest days, active recovery, and stretching.

• Consider activities like swimming or cycling that are easier on the joints.

• Manage stress through activities like meditation or mindfulness.

• Hydrate and stay cool

• Listen to your body, do you want warm and cozy meals or light

• Add in plenty of fibre rich foods, with protein and complex carbs, like peanut butter on wholegrain toast.

Top tips avoided fasted training, due to the rise in progesterone its has been shown to suppress gluconeogenesis ( which is a cellular process to utilise energy stores in the body)

General Tips:

• Listen to Your Body: Adapt the intensity and type of exercise based on how you feel during each phase.

• Nutrition: Pay attention to nutritional needs, with a focus on balanced meals, hydration, and potentially adjusting caloric intake based on activity levels.

• Recovery: Prioritize sleep and recovery strategies, especially during the luteal phase.

• Hydration: Maintain good hydration levels throughout the cycle, adjusting intake as needed during more intense phases.

It's crucial to note that individual responses to the menstrual cycle can vary. Some individuals may experience little impact on their training, while others may notice more pronounced changes. Regular tracking of the menstrual cycle and corresponding training adjustments can help tailor the approach to individual needs. Consulting with a healthcare professional or a sports nutritionist can also provide personalized guidance based

The time is now!

How to set achievable fitness goals………

As we edge closer to the end of the year, I find myself reviewing goals achieved, goals not achieved and asking myself what I can do for 2023!

I know this can be overwhelming for some, and can be struggle to really get to bottom of your WHY!

So I am here to get you started and hopefully set you on your way to setting some great goals for 2023.

First up:

What is your overall aim, the more specific you can be here, the more likely you are to achieve!

Try asking yourself the following questions to get you started:

What do I want to accomplish?

Why is this goal important?

Who is involved?

Where is it located?

Which resources or limits are involved? 

Next, your goal must be quantifiable, which means instead of saying i want to run further, how far, how often? This could be written instead as, I will run 30 mins over 3 days next week…

How much?

How many?

How will we know when it is accomplished?

By making your fitness goal measurable, you more likely to achieve it! Plus, it also makes it easier to track progress if you have a quantifiable goal to work towards.

Moving on to making your goal an attainable one, that your willing to push yourself physically and mentally towards is the next stage of goal setting.

How can I accomplish this goal?

What methods need to be adopted for this goal to be achieved?

How realistic is the goal, based on other constraints such as financial factors?

Making your goal realistic and relevant to you is the next important phase of goal setting Does this seem worthwhile?

Is this the right time to work on this goal?

Is this goal applicable to my current lifestyle and financial situation?

A good goal, must be something that really matters to you, so that you more likely to be motivated to follow your programme.

Having a realistic time frame, plays an important role as to whether your goal will be achievable or not. This element of goal setting can also help to prevent everyday tasks. activities from taking priorities over long term goals.

For example, if you have a busy working week, planning and setting out your sessions means you can factor this in to your weekly schedule and therefor more likely to stick to and attend sessions.

Ask yourself the following questions:

When will I have achieved the goal?

What can I achieve 6 months / 6 weeks from now?

What can I achieve today?

A good example for a time bound goal ss “I want to fit into a size 10 pair of jeans within the next 3 months”, rather than just “I want to fit into a size 10 pair of jeans”. 

With all this being said, you should also remember that goals can be changed! Whilst it is good to stick to a goal, at the same time, you should be flexible and willing to change it if it transpires that it is actually unattainable.

If your looking for some advice on where to get started with your fitness and wellbeing goals, then look no further I will be offer free taster sessions and workshops to help you on your way.

I will be adaptable and flexible to help you achieve your goals.

I will motivate you to push through and embrace any hurdles and failures along the way.

I will help you consider your current lifestyle and commitments so that we can fully commit to your goal.

Are you ready to take on the year new and see some fab results?!

Merry Christmas and Happy Healthy New Year!

Love F x

The muscle of the soul..... the Psoas

Psoas muscle is probably one of the most important muscles for many different reasons, as part of the iliopsoas muscle it helps us to the do all of the below actions:

Psoas flexes the hip

Laterally rotates the hips

Abducts the hips

Laterally tilts the pelvis

Laterally flexes the spine

Because of all these movements it can contribute to  a lot of other symptom’s such as:

Pain, tension, spasms of the lower back

Lumbar disc problems

Sciatica

Tension in back, bum, pelvis, groin, hips

Idiopathic scoliosis

Function leg discrepancy

Hyperlordosis

Pelvic rotation

Snapping hip syndrome

Shallow breathing

Stress processor and breathing

The Psoas muscle is linked to the diaphragm, the diaphragm and psoas are connected along the same vertebrae in the lower spine, so when the psoas is tight, we cannot fully extend the diaphragm, leading to not being able to take a full deep breath.

Short breaths and shallow breaths stimulate the sympathetic nervous system, so when we are stressed out, the nervous systems revs up to deal with this then calms back down - the rest and digest , which is regulated through the Parasympathetic nervous system. The Psoas muscle registers this stress in our body and it contracts or tightens to flee or fight whatever the threat.

When the Parasympathetic is offline we are unable to properly digest, absorb food nutriments and our immune system is not firing properly. A tight psoas muscle can mean our overall health and wellbeing are impaired!

Crazy huh!

Releasing the Psoas

First off you can’t just release your psoas, this is part of a larger pattern of tension in the core of your body which can involve lower back, abdominals, glutes, and hip muscles.

We need to release the entire group, to keep the psoas released!

Static stretching does not work!  Static stretching triggers the stretch reflex which actually makes the muscles tighter. It doesn’t change the messages sent to the nervous system, it still tells them the muscles should stay tight

Here is a few tips on how to release your Psoas muscle:

• Self massage with a massage ball

• Hip flexor release

• Maintain muscular balance

• Strengthen glutes

• Focus on adding stability to support your hips

If this is an area that you fell gets tight and want to reach out, do drop me a line!

If you’re experiencing psoas muscle pain, begin with the self-massage technique and avoid over-stretching the hip flexors in general. Many times, over-stretching can worsen the pain.

Love F x

Prenatal nutrition - the essentials

Looking after you and baby!

Breakfast and hormones .....

What should your breakfast be made up of to rebalance your hormones either around that time of the month, or perimenopause, or post menopause, to make you feel ready to boss the day and leave you feeling satisfied?

Do you often feel a mid morning dip, brain is foggy, feel hungry, need a caffeine boost…?

Then this blog is for you.

Being more mindful what you are putting on your plate at the start of the day can impact the rest of your day with mood, fatigue, hunger and hormones.

Here are some tips to help you feel more connected, more grounded, satiated, and more energised:

• Protein, Fat and Fiber, your breakfast should include all three, to balance out sugar lows, to help curb that sugar, caffeine slump in the afternoon and try to break the habit of reaching for the sugary items. So think avocado, eggs, fish, pastured meats, nuts, hemp seeds, chia seeds, Greek yogurt, any veggies/fruit….to name a few.

• Try to avoid processed foods where possible, so real/ fresh foods.

A few simple breakfast ideas to try could be:

• Overnight oats with chia seeds, berries and nut butter

• Tofu scramble / or scrambled egg with avocado, sauerkraut and kidney beans

• Blueberry protein shake with frozen blueberries, banana, flax seeds, almond/oat milk, and spinach ( optional add nut butter )

Let me know if you start changing up your breakfasts and how you feel moving forwards.

Happy breakfast ladies :) and hope this was helpful.

F x

Why are glutes are important?

Bottom muscles! A.K.A the glutes. What’s the big deal anyway! So recently in one of my sessions, my client asked me a good question why do we need bottoms?! Well, the main obvious reason is we need them to walk!

To begin let me explain the structure of the booty; there are different sections to the glutes; three to be exact:

gluteus maximus

gluteus medius

gluteus minimus

All of these muscles work hard and are responsible for hip extension (opening and lengthening the front of your hip), internal rotation, (twisting inward movement of the thigh form hip joint) and abduction of the hip (movement of the hip away from the midline of the body).

The glute medius and minimus work together to promote hip abduction and prevent hip adduction (movement of the hip towards the midline of the body)..These muscle in particular help us to balance on one leg.

Glute maximus, the king of the bottom, is the primary hip extensor muscle, and also the biggest of the three gluteal muscles.

Strong glutes are important for proper pelvic alignment, power and force during running, and single limb stance support. Strong glutes also help to support the lower back during lifting motions, and prevent knee injuries during lifting and running exercises. Having strong glutes is fundamental to properly executing many lower body exercises like deadlifts, squats, and even walking.

3 Reasons Strong Glutes are Important:

1. Reduce Back Pain:

Your glutes are responsible for hip extension, and also its reverse action. When the feet are fixed on the ground, the motion your glutes assist with is raising the chest up from the ground, like as in a deadlift. Therefore, strong glutes are essential to lower back health, since they assist with pelvic and trunk motions as well. When your glutes are strong, you have a stable pelvis and better support for your lower back, so any load can be more evenly distributed through the lower back and lower extremities. A sign of weak glutes is rounding of the back during a deadlift.

2. Reduce Knee Pain:

Your gluteal muscles create pelvic stability. This is important because your lower extremities function in a closed chain. This means that if something goes wrong at the ankle, it can cause imbalances at the knee and further up the leg at the hip. The same can occur if an instability arises at the hip, it can lead to excess forces on the knee and ankle. This can lead to knee discomfort or pain. Instability at the hip can cause excessive medial rotation of the femur, which in turn creates lateral patellar tracking. Lateral patellar tracking (or kneecap shifts out of place as the leg straightens or bends). This can be a common source of knee pain along with other knee issues.

3. Increase Power & Athletic Performance:

We already discussed the importance of strong glutes in athletic exercises like deadlifts, and that it can assist in forward force during running (by creating explosive hip extension). Therefore, it is obvious that the glutes are essential to many athletic pursuits: acceleration, jumping, and even heavy lifting. It goes without saying that the glute maximus is one of the largest and strongest muscles in the body, therefore it has a lot of influence over the explosive nature of an athlete’s performance. If you let your glutes get weak, you may find yourself less powerful, and efficient as some of your competitors.

Here are some great exercises for a healthy perky bottom:

Hip thrust

Single leg hip thrust

Back squats

Banded Romanian deadlifts

Rear foot elevated split squats

Curtsey lunges

Cable glute kickbacks

Lateral lunges

Reverse lunge

Step downs

Of course that is just a few, there are lot more, however just master the basic moves with a few isolation exercises to get you going!

Happy glute building :)

F x

Summer tips for the school holidays

3 Pregnancy safe Transverse Abdominus isolation exercises

How can you train the core safely and effectively during all three trimesters……………? You need exercises that create spinal stability and gently compress the core muscle along the obliques .

Heres 3 simple exercises that can help you maintain and increase strength in your TVA ( Transverse Abdominus):

Posterior Pelvic tilts - First trimester these can be performed in supine position ( on your back) then in second and third you can do these standing or seated.

How to perform:

• Lie on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.

• There will be a natural arch in your low back- it is normal if your low back does not make contact with the floor. The goal of this exercise is to flatten out this curve so that your low back makes contact with the floor.

• To start, focus, on driving your belly button down toward the floor, and letting your tail bone rotate up toward the sky.

• Hold for 5 seconds.

• As subtle as the movement is, you should feel your transverse abdominis muscle activating.

• Repeat.

For second and Third perform standing:

• Stand with your back against a wall with your feet at least 6-12 inches away.

• Make three points of contact with the wall, your head, your upper back, and your butt.

• Again, there will be a natural arch in your low back. The goal of the exercise is to flatten out this curve so that your low back makes contact with the wall.

• Focus on driving your belly button back toward the wall while tilting your pelvis posteriorly.

• Once your low back is flat against the wall, squeeze your ab muscles and hold this position for 5 seconds.

• Repeat.

Diaphragmic Breathing

Here’s how:

• Sit on the floor with your legs crossed.

• Relax your shoulders so that you aren’t holding any tension in your neck.

• From here, inhale as much as you can by expanding your belly to it’s fullest capability.

• As you are inhaling make sure that your shoulders do not move- you want the entire movement to come just from your belly.

• Hold the inhale for 1 second, and then slowly begin to exhale.

• Exhale, as much as you possibly can over 5 seconds.

• Focus on squeezing your TVA muscles at the fully exhaled position for 3 seconds.

• Repeat.

Cat/cow

Here’s how it looks:

• Get into a all fours position with a neutral spine.

• From here, begin inhaling as you arch your back and draw your head up toward the sky.

• Hold this position for 2-3 seconds. Be careful here not over street the belly, move with your own range.

• Then, reverse the movement by exhaling and completely rounding out your back and tucking your chin to your chest.

• In this fully rounded position, focus on drawing in your abdominal muscles and hold this position for 2-3 seconds.

• Repeat.

What trainers actually mean when we say engage your core......?

You’ve probably head this phase a lot if you have attended fitness classes, so i’m here to explain what us trainers are referring to, so that next time you understand and are able to ge the most out of your exercsie!

So you may or may not know that the core muscles are made up of the following:

• Glute muscles

• Adductor muscles

• Lower back muscles

• Abdominal muscles and hip flexors (including the pelvic floor)

• Spinal erectors

• Diaphragm

• The core refers to all the muscles that wrap around the torso and support the pelvis and the spine.

The abdomen is made up of 4 sections of muscle: the transverse abdominis (TVA), the internal and external obliques and the rectus abdominis.

The TVA is the deepest core muscle and acts like a corset and stabiliser to the lower back.

Next you have your internal and external obliques which are shaped like a criss cross, they assist in twisting movements like the Russian twist, or to put into contact turning around in your driver seat to reach behind you, lifting a baby out of a car seat.

Next we have the “six pack muscle”, the rectus abdominis, which assists the upper body moving forward and sideways, like crunching movements, or getting out of bed.

With these muscles in mind, to engage the core we need to think of all 4 sections bracing together and stabilising the spine.

How to we do this I hear you say?

Well the simplest way to think of it is to either to imagine you are taking a hard punch to the stomach, then take a breath into your stomach. Another way is to initiate a cough or a laugh and you should get an idea of your core engaging.

Try not to suck in your stomach and hold your breath, this is not at all engaging, try to think about pulling your belly button up towards your spine. When you do this you will instantly feel the difference, your abs will tighten and you will still be able to breath!

The best way to achieve this is to be in all fours position, , pull your abs up and in towards your spine and keep your torso still and spine in natural whilst you exhale.

Your breathing is a super important part of how to engage your core correctly, and if you ask any of my clients they will tell I bang on and on about it!

You can’t engage your core whilst holding your breath, so it’s important to keep breathing normally whilst holding your abs. The TVA will engages naturally as you exhale, so you can use your breath to engage your core every time you exhale. If you pull your belly button up and in during the exhale, the movement should naturally pull your stomach in and lift your torso.

Why is keeping the core engaged important?

When training specifically with lifting it is very important you know how to engage your core to prevent injury. . Keeping your core engaged will also help with posture and again prevent from any undesireable pains and aches.

What can you do to keep your core strong?

Theres so many different exercises you can try, but here are a few:

• Bridge pose

• Planks

• Deadbug

• Bird dog

• Paloff press

• Squats

• Farmers walk

If your struggling with core strength or have a reoccurring injury that could be due to a weakness in muscles form the above list, then please do focus on some of the above, pick 3 and aim for 10 reps of 2-3 sets depending on your fitness level. Failing that drop me a line and il be happy to help, guide you through!

Engage and be safe!

Love F xx

Easy Vegan Protein ideas

Do you get enough protein? Do you just eat beans? Are you not always hungry? What do you eat? Don’t you miss cheese?

Just a few questions I always get from people when they find out I am vegan!

The truth is, its easy and cheap to be plant based/vegan!

Here a few simple things I do to up my protein and make my food exciting:

Add nutritional yeast - two tablespoons of nutritional yeast contains 9g of protein plus all nine essential amino acids and your RDA of vitamin B12. I like to add it into homemade hummus, homemade cheese sauces, sprinkle on salads or add into my tofu scramble.

Eat grains: quinoa is my go to, there is around 8g in 1 cup serving, its high in fibre and is a complete protein ( it has all 9 amino acids ) Its higher in healthy fats too.

You can also try buckwheat and wheat berries. You can get pre made packets of these in the supermarkets and they combine quinoa, brown rice and wheat berries for a ultimate protein hit.

Add in your legumes: a few beans here and there added to your plate, or peas, lentils and broad beans will also add a nice protein pack as well as adding to your daily fibre intake.

Choose fortified plant based milks so that you get your B vitamins and calcium.

These are just a few things to do if your considering changing your diet to include more plant based options or if your just wanting a little inspiration. There are plenty of other ideas but these are just simple easy ways without to much thought!

Peace out!

F xx