Episode 144. Fearing The Gym and Burning Calories in a Workout.
Episode 144. Fearing The Gym and Burning Calories in a Workout
This week on the podcast we discuss how you can begin to feel more comfortable in the gym using the concept of exposure therapy, why focusing on calories burned in a workout is a waste of your time and the three most important things to focus on when your goal is to build muscle.
As always thank you for your support and engagement, it means the world to us!
Please enjoy!
Notes:
Feeling uncomfortable in the gym.
Confession: sometimes, I still feel uncomfortable in the gym. But the process of going over and over again has taught me to develop methods for managing this discomfort.
If you practice avoidance behaviours and completely avoid the thing you fear, the fear only grows bigger. If you want to feel more comfortable in the gym, exposure to it in small doses will help you to move past it.
Not necessarily forever, but certainly in a way that will stop it from impacting your goals and confidence.
Exposure Therapy:
Exposure therapy is a type of cognitive-behavioural therapy that is commonly used to help individuals overcome anxiety disorders, such as phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and panic disorder. The goal of exposure therapy is to help individuals confront their fears and anxieties in a controlled and safe environment.
The therapy involves gradually exposing individuals to the situations or objects that trigger their anxiety, starting with the least anxiety-provoking situations and working up to more challenging situations. Exposure can occur in a number of different ways, including imagining the feared situation, looking at pictures or videos of the feared object or situation, or confronting the actual object or situation in real life.
The idea behind exposure therapy is that by facing their fears, individuals can learn that the anxiety they experience is not dangerous or life-threatening. Over time, the anxiety response is reduced and eventually eliminated as the individual learns to confront the feared situation without experiencing intense fear.
Burning calories through exercise.
Herman Pontzer PhD, Burn: New Research Blows the Lid Off How We Really Burn Calories, Lose Weight, and Stay Healthy
“Pontzer's groundbreaking studies with hunter-gatherer tribes show how exercise doesn't increase our metabolism. Instead, we burn calories within a very narrow range: nearly 3,000 calories per day, no matter our activity level. This was a brilliant evolutionary strategy to survive in times of famine. Now it seems to doom us to obesity. The good news is we *can* lose weight, but we need to cut calories. At the same time, we must exercise to keep our body systems and signals functioning optimally, even if it won't make us thinner.”
What should I be focusing on to build muscle?
There are several ways to gain muscle, but here are three key strategies:
Progressive overload: This principle states that in order to gain muscle, you need to gradually increase the load, volume, or intensity of your workout over time. This means gradually increasing the weight you lift, the number of reps, or the number of sets you perform.
Adequate protein intake: Consuming enough protein is essential for muscle growth. Aim for about 1.6 to 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, and try to include a source of protein with every meal.
Adequate rest and recovery: Gaining muscle requires hard work in the gym, but it also requires adequate rest and recovery. This means getting enough sleep, and allowing your muscles time to repair and grow. This can be achieved by taking rest days and allowing enough time between workout sessions for the same muscle groups.
It's important to note that gaining muscle is not only about the workout and diet, but also about consistency and patience. Building muscle takes time, and it requires a combination of consistency in training, proper nutrition, and adequate rest and recovery.
Show Notes:
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Transcript
Speaker 1
What is up. Everybody will come back to the Institute Health and Fitness podcast. Our goal with this podcast is to give you everything you need to take control of your health and fitness and live a long, healthy and happy life. Does lifting weights bulk you up?
00:00:30:14 - 00:00:34:14
Speaker 2
That depends. Right. Writes on many things.
00:00:35:00 - 00:01:03:04
Speaker 1
So selfishly, I want to do this topic because it just always I guess when you in it, you don't realize that these people certain people have these thoughts or a skater lifting weights because it's going to bulk them up because we know that it doesn't. But you sort of forget that other people don't know. And again, as always with social media, social media and all those other platforms, you sort of get the idea of if you if you lift weights, you bulk up.
00:01:03:17 - 00:01:25:19
Speaker 1
So I want to dive right into it and talk about it. So when a client or somebody we have a chat with somebody that says, I don't want lift weights because of bulking up, we can go listen to this. But I also wanted to add in, so I'm going to give you three fight, three words to describe a body type.
00:01:25:19 - 00:01:51:23
Speaker 1
And I want everybody listening at home as well, doing this as well. What comes out, what body type comes into your mind when I say these words? So when I say bulk bulking up or bulky or automatically a image of somebody's body pops into your head. If I say getting lean or lean body, another body, somebody whose body popped in your head and it's a completely different to the bulky one.
00:01:52:12 - 00:02:22:15
Speaker 1
And then, let's say shredded. So you get shredded. All these all those words are very commonly used on social media, YouTube, all that sort of stuff to do to describe a way of working out or a body type. And we all have different ideas of what those body types are. But at the end and here's the thing I'm trying to get back to, exercise plays such a little role in all those three, but exercise is put on the pedestal for reaching those goals.
00:02:23:14 - 00:02:36:06
Speaker 1
So when I said shredded, you got an image in your head and you're like, okay, well, I need to do this type of exercise on a day, do CrossFit or a 45 or some sort of bootcamp style workout to get that shredded body. And it doesn't work like that.
00:02:36:17 - 00:02:38:18
Speaker 2
Oh, I wish it worked like that. Right?
00:02:38:23 - 00:03:09:04
Speaker 1
It'd be so much easier. And it worked. I was actually having this thought when I come up with this topic to bring up. It's so funny because it works two ways. So Figo has it works one way and girls it works another way. So when you say an influencer lifting weights on social media and they have got a good amount of money, muscle money, you think, Oh, they got there because of this, do they?
00:03:09:19 - 00:03:30:12
Speaker 1
Generally they have some sort of workout plan or they do some sort of exercise routine to get to that body type and guys will see that and go, Well, I need to do that to get that body type. And girls are like, Well, I'm not going to do that because I'll get that type of body type. And it's just so different how male and female bonds work.
00:03:31:14 - 00:03:38:11
Speaker 1
But I said exercise has very little to do with it. It's all about lifestyle and nutrition.
00:03:39:14 - 00:03:57:16
Speaker 2
Yeah, 100%. So just to put in perspective of a real world case of this happening to me last week, if someone saying to me in the gym, it's my sister, I'm just going to add it, She doesn't listen to the podcast, so she wouldn't know. But I took it to the gym when she visited us and she doesn't usually go to the gym, but she does want to stop.
00:03:58:04 - 00:04:17:04
Speaker 2
And we were lifting weights. She was lifting relatively light weights because she's not very experienced and we would do certain arm movements or upper body movements, and she's like, I don't want to do that one because I don't want to look bulky, I don't want bulky shoulders. And she didn't. She's like, like you, but not like you. She's like, I don't want to look like you.
00:04:17:12 - 00:04:42:02
Speaker 2
And I don't think that I'm bulky, but that's what she was afraid of. She's like, I can't do that one because I'll get bulky, like thinking, if I do this, set these reps in this session, I'm going to have big shoulders. And she repeatedly said it and I repeatedly explained to her that you don't eat enough food, let alone enough protein for you to actually build muscle in the gym.
00:04:42:04 - 00:04:50:19
Speaker 2
I was like, You end up looking like tight. And I tried not to use the word toned, but even then it's going to be hard to just get that right.
00:04:51:08 - 00:05:13:15
Speaker 1
Yeah, it's so funny how people for the first time, like when you're not experienced with lifting weights or even exercising and you get that sort of muscle burn from doing certain exercises. Just a bicep curl is a good example because it's the easiest one to get that muscle burn. And people like because you bicep gets very stimulated. There's a lot of blood there.
00:05:13:15 - 00:05:38:08
Speaker 1
You get the so-called pump happening in your bicep and everybody freaks out. And it's grown. It's grown. It's it is not growing just because you're lifting weights in that moment, you're not if it's not growing. So the growth actually comes from what you do outside of the workout. So, yes, you want to and here's the thing, most people aren't working it in a way that is going to stimulate muscle growth.
00:05:38:22 - 00:05:57:07
Speaker 1
It's yes, workouts and lifting weights stimulate muscle growth. But there's even more to it than that. Maybe if you're your newbie and you're just starting out and it's just starting with weight, it's a brand new stimulus on your body, you'll get some good results just no matter what you do. But as you progress, you find it's harder and harder.
00:05:57:23 - 00:06:20:16
Speaker 1
Once you're over three years in, you fall on. That's very hard to put on muscle mass, even if you are dealing in everything else outside the work out. But the first one I did want to touch on is what you said protein. Most people aren't eating enough protein to grow muscle. So protein is the building block for your body.
00:06:21:01 - 00:06:27:02
Speaker 1
So if you're not eating enough building blocks, then you can't build muscle. It's that it's no problem.
00:06:27:02 - 00:06:28:15
Speaker 2
Build a one on one, guys. Yeah.
00:06:29:00 - 00:06:35:05
Speaker 1
But it sounds so simple and stupid. But it is that so? It is. It is that simple.
00:06:35:06 - 00:06:35:13
Speaker 2
Yeah.
00:06:35:20 - 00:06:49:08
Speaker 1
So obviously there's a lot more to it. And you still need carbohydrates, fats to do all their work as well. But protein is the most important thing. And you would you say you eat enough protein through the day?
00:06:49:10 - 00:06:50:07
Speaker 2
No, no.
00:06:50:07 - 00:07:11:06
Speaker 1
Right now it may as well. But at the moment, I'm struggling to get enough protein and muscle growth is extremely hard. And I have everything else stored in We sleep properly. We did a whole episode last week on sleep, so you need to do all that in. We hydrate, we make sure we get some sun, everything else.
00:07:11:13 - 00:07:13:03
Speaker 2
Stress. That's a big one.
00:07:13:03 - 00:07:33:15
Speaker 1
Matt Try and manage stress. It's a bit hard to do all the time, but yeah, all these things come into play. So yes, you could do the best work out in the world, but what comes after work out is the most important thing when you're trying to build muscle, lose body fat, get shredded, get lean, like all those words mean the same thing.
00:07:33:15 - 00:07:52:17
Speaker 1
But it's just you've got to understand what happens. I said outside the out is important. So protein is the most important thing. Second, I would say calorie calories. Yeah. So if if you haven't counting calories before, definitely give it a go.
00:07:53:06 - 00:07:55:21
Speaker 2
Just for fun. Not fast enough to be serious about it.
00:07:56:11 - 00:08:14:04
Speaker 1
It's not that scary. You've just got to have an idea of what you're putting into your body, how many calories you're putting into your body, because that is a fuel for your body. So if you're eating too much fuel, then you put on weight. If you're not eating enough, then you or if you're eating below maintenance, you'll lose weight.
00:08:14:16 - 00:08:34:11
Speaker 1
Okay. Obviously, there's a lot more nuance in there, but that's the basic gist of it. Yeah. So, yes, you can go to the gym and lift as much weights as you want, but if you're not in a calorie surplus, then your body hasn't got enough energy building blocks to build muscle. So yeah, I.
00:08:34:12 - 00:08:37:22
Speaker 2
Feel like you covered it. Yeah, you're looking, you're looking at me. Figure three assurance.
00:08:38:06 - 00:08:50:11
Speaker 1
It, but it's just I'm looking it for reassurance because I'm even me saying it. It's so simple to understand, but I feel like I need to explain it more because everybody just.
00:08:50:17 - 00:09:09:02
Speaker 2
I feel like also that's why we've stopped. We haven't stopped talking about it, but that's why we haven't spoken about this topic or just calories in general, because we spend so much time repeating myself with clients. I don't want to. I feel like I don't want to give you guys like basic boring information, but every new client we get doesn't know.
00:09:09:02 - 00:09:19:08
Speaker 2
So there's a reason we have to keep regurgitating it because it's not always common knowledge. Great. If it is common knowledge for you guys. But if it's not, then that's what we're here for. Yeah, right.
00:09:20:00 - 00:09:34:15
Speaker 1
So I guess to wrap this all up is there anything else that you think is important when you lifting weights? Whether so, whether you want to lose weight or build muscle? You've done your work yet What comes next? Anything you've missed.
00:09:34:18 - 00:09:46:05
Speaker 2
I would just not I think this is like an Internet saying I'm the maid in the kitchen, right? So I think that nutrition is the biggest pot of building muscle. But also, what about the program?
00:09:47:00 - 00:09:54:15
Speaker 1
Yes. I didn't want to dive in that too much because like I said, there's just so many variables for.
00:09:54:22 - 00:09:55:07
Speaker 2
So many.
00:09:55:07 - 00:10:18:06
Speaker 1
Goals. Yeah, so many goals. Bulking up, shredded, getting lean. It's all the same thing. So we could have three people with each of those goals doing exactly the same program. It comes down to their lifestyle and what they eat is what the goal is going to get so you can get lean. Doing the same program is somebody trying to bulk up.
00:10:20:05 - 00:10:35:10
Speaker 1
It just comes down to what you eat and how much protein and all that sort of stuff you're having. And again, I'm not sure what lane means to you listening at home, but it could mean something for everybody. So it's like, I can't really give a good program.
00:10:35:21 - 00:10:49:08
Speaker 2
Yeah, for one thing. Also, what about genetics? Like if someone listening is like, lean is the one that I want, but their body type is not in favor of becoming lean, then they're chasing a goal that they're never going to come close to it. Yes.
00:10:49:16 - 00:10:57:16
Speaker 1
Yes. Good point. I should have thought of that about that. Yeah. And I always forget about that because genetics genetics are a big deal and.
00:10:57:16 - 00:10:58:14
Speaker 2
You can't change them.
00:10:58:14 - 00:10:59:18
Speaker 1
If you're not changing.
00:10:59:18 - 00:11:00:05
Speaker 2
In stone.
00:11:00:05 - 00:11:35:05
Speaker 1
So if you're looking at some sort of athlete that is, I don't know, maybe a marathon runner or some sort of Ironman or something like that, where they do a lot of cardio, generally they're a lot smaller build. Yeah. Link Again, slender is the word I'm going for if you're got wide shoulders, big hips, big, you know, well-built legs, then you're not going to be even if you go into all means, you're not going to be you're not going to look like an Ironman at the elite level.
00:11:35:17 - 00:11:49:19
Speaker 1
So unfortunately, all the time we see these elite people, but they're just genetic freaks because they're at the top of their field. Yeah, they might be enhanced in some way, but that enhancement isn't what got them there, it's their genetics.
00:11:50:05 - 00:12:12:19
Speaker 2
So so I think that a lot of athletes obviously go for the sport or whatever it is that they are genetic, like it is genetically in their favor. So a lot of the time like, oh, being a triathlete has made them look like that. But realistically, they probably already sort of looked like that. Maybe their parents were like long distance athletes.
00:12:13:05 - 00:12:42:09
Speaker 2
So it's in their genetics to be good at that kind of sport. So they're more likely to do it. So it's not always the sport or the type of training that causes the body type, right? But generally the body type who chase whatever fits them the best because that's what they can perform the best in. Yeah. Why would you want if your bike spilled solid, why would you want to try and compete in something that is in favor of slender people when you could compete in something that is in favor of well-built people and do much better?
00:12:42:14 - 00:12:50:18
Speaker 2
Yeah. So I think like a lot of people forget that often people chase what suits their genetics as well, and then they post it all over social media.
00:12:52:01 - 00:13:17:14
Speaker 1
Yeah, I actually heard a conversation the other day about a couple of fathers talking about their sons and daughters going into sports and that exact topic. So and that's the thing. They're going to be doing it for since they're young. So sometimes they might do sports that don't suit their genetics and don't realize. But occasionally kids will start doing sports that suit their genetics.
00:13:17:19 - 00:13:40:19
Speaker 1
They start winning, they start getting prizes. All they do is focus on that. And that's the one thing that they do and their kids. So by the time they're 25, they're at the top of their game. They're smashing it probably 20. But obviously they're going to go, Well, if you do this, you'll get this result because that's what they've been doing their whole life as well.
00:13:41:15 - 00:14:09:09
Speaker 1
And that could be for bodybuilding as well. Bodybuilding technically is a sport. Uh, it, it's no different out of the sport. You go in that you train for a certain goal. It's just you're training for looks rather than performance. Same thing, just different world. So even bodybuilders you find Arnie the probably the most popular Arnold Schwarzenegger. Everybody knows his name.
00:14:09:18 - 00:14:30:17
Speaker 1
Everybody knows he's a bodybuilder. He started doing it when he was in his early teens and he was just very genetically gifted that he started winning comps and started performing. So obviously, he is a big proponent of the way he trained because he got those results from that. So it just you just got to be smart about it.
00:14:30:17 - 00:14:49:21
Speaker 1
And just when somebody is telling you to do it, if you train this way, you're going to get these results. You listening? You've just got to be smart enough to go, well, anyway, and you've just got to step back a little bit and think about what it actually takes to get those goals, because we've all been there. You see those on social media?
00:14:50:02 - 00:15:05:03
Speaker 1
Oh, I do it as well. And I know this stuff like, Oh yeah, maybe if I do train that way, I'll get that results. But then you sort of stop and think about it, you know, like I probably won't actually. I just probably end up injured trying to change my genetics through training, which doesn't happen.
00:15:05:20 - 00:15:09:23
Speaker 2
Extremely unmotivated because you're not looking like that person.
00:15:10:03 - 00:15:36:07
Speaker 1
Yet. And that's a whole nother topic of people getting into the fitness industry, chasing a certain image and then, you know, not even getting close and then go, well, exercise doesn't work. You have to do that anymore. So again, to wrap that whole conversation up, lifting weights doesn't bulk you up. It's everything outside the workout that bulks you up or lain you down or get you shredded.
00:15:36:07 - 00:15:47:04
Speaker 1
So focus on what you do outside the workout. Yes, the workout is very important, but also focus on everything else to achieve those goals. The workout makes up about 25%.
00:15:47:15 - 00:15:48:13
Speaker 2
Of the whole picture.
00:15:48:13 - 00:15:49:10
Speaker 1
Of the whole picture.
00:15:49:21 - 00:16:10:03
Speaker 2
I really wanted to talk about what to do when you fall off the health and fitness wagon, because we always talk about how to start, how to get into it, what to do when you're in it. But I feel like we don't really talk about what to do when you fall off. And it's so common to fall off multiple times a week, a month, a year, however long.
00:16:11:03 - 00:16:38:02
Speaker 2
And I think in Australia we are coming into winter. It feels like winter in Melbourne, we're ready, but it's not apparently. And this is definitely the time when people start to feel less motivated because it's cold, it's dark, you won't want to close anyway so no one can see your body. Who cares, right? And I just thought it would be a good time to maybe give everyone a little bit of motivation how to, like, stay on the wagon for the duration of winter.
00:16:38:02 - 00:16:43:21
Speaker 2
Right. Because at the end of winter, it's too late to stop trying to get your summer body in quotation marks.
00:16:43:21 - 00:16:47:02
Speaker 1
Yeah, well, what do you consider falling off the wagon?
00:16:47:02 - 00:17:13:19
Speaker 2
A lot. Yeah, that's. I really want to talk about that as well. For me personally, I don't think I've fallen off the wagon in three years. Yeah, so I've taken like, ten day long breaks, like being sick, being busy, like, just being sick in the gym, whatever it is. But I think if I'm thinking of people that I know a month plus off the wagon, like a month.
00:17:14:04 - 00:17:32:05
Speaker 2
So I don't know. In the beginning I remember being all in or out and I feel like that's very common when you start, right, like I would be. I'm eating extremely healthy, I'm training, I'm running, I'm doing all of the things, too many things probably. And then all of a sudden I'm like, This is way too hot. I don't have the time.
00:17:32:05 - 00:17:42:15
Speaker 2
It's so cold. I get sick and I would just stop for months and revert back to my old habits. Yeah. So I would consider that falling off the wagon personally, but obviously it's going to be different for everyone listening. Hmm.
00:17:42:19 - 00:18:00:12
Speaker 1
That's I was going to say, that's probably the most common one. I see. Yeah. As a trainer, some like somebody super consistent coming into the gym, hitting all their workouts. I miss one and it's. Oh, that's, that's done. Yeah, I failed. It's like, well, you just missed one workout. You're being consistent for the last four weeks. What is it like?
00:18:00:14 - 00:18:19:12
Speaker 1
It doesn't matter if you missed one workout. If you got time, just go for a quick 20 minute walk. That's that's good enough. But a lot of people are that all or nothing and they add all this stuff in and I'm eating healthy, I'm doing all this and there's cookies at work. And I had a cookie thought to quit, I'm going to be fat.
00:18:19:23 - 00:18:44:20
Speaker 1
And it's just like it does not work like that. It's it's consistency. So one cookie or one cheat meal or, you know, it's not going to wreck your routine and it's not that is not falling off the wagon. I feel like if you if you just stop completely for whatever reason and don't start again within a month, then you're off and you need to get back.
00:18:44:20 - 00:18:45:16
Speaker 2
On the wagon going.
00:18:46:04 - 00:18:46:12
Speaker 1
Yeah.
00:18:47:01 - 00:19:25:20
Speaker 2
So I think the most powerful thing to prevent you from falling off the wagon when you do something small, like eating a cookie or missing a workout is to have pre set your self minimums. We have spoken about this in the past, but I always get my clients to do it. So setting an exercise minimum. So if you have the worst day imaginable, like time wise, schedule wise and you cannot get to the gym, what is the absolute bare minimum amount of exercise that you can do every day regardless of what life throws at you and setting that is so motivating, powerful.
00:19:25:20 - 00:19:54:17
Speaker 2
I don't know because like maybe you missed your workout. Say like, okay, I'll go for an hour run. Maybe you missed your run. So like, man, maybe I'll do yoga at home. Maybe there's screaming kids at home and you can do yoga at home. What is the absolute minimum you can do? And I suggest ten minute walk, 20 minute walk if you can, but make it so you want to make it so small, so achievable that you would feel stupid not doing it like it needs to be so, so easy.
00:19:54:22 - 00:20:13:09
Speaker 2
Because if you're having the worst day and you do that minimum thing, it's still a sense of achievement. You're still done something for yourself. You're still doing something to stay on track with your goals, right? And it's just it's going to help you keep that motivation to just get back into it tomorrow and then you can do the same for food.
00:20:13:09 - 00:20:50:05
Speaker 2
So like, what is the absolute minimum requirement you want from your self for healthy eating like it could be? You need to get three colors like so an apple, I don't know, broccoli and butternut. The color hung in three colors in your day. Like that's the minimum. If you have a bad day of food so you can still get like if you have to get takeout for two meals or you miss a meal, it's super easy for you to just at least get those three colors and you're at least still trying to progress and build better habits.
00:20:50:05 - 00:20:51:00
Speaker 2
And you can see that.
00:20:53:13 - 00:21:15:03
Speaker 1
Yeah, look, real world scenario for me personally, it's as long as I get out and go for a little bit of a walk each day, That's my minimum. Yeah, we spoke about that heaps on the podcast. So generally it's about 30 minutes. Sometimes it's broken up into two different lots. But 30 minute walk, that's the minimum. Anything else on top of that is an added bonus.
00:21:15:03 - 00:21:25:07
Speaker 1
Obviously if I'm chasing a physique goal or something like that, I've got to get into the gym and do those workouts so I can get those goals, but that's on top of my minimum walk.
00:21:25:17 - 00:21:46:18
Speaker 2
But yeah, but also I think that your minimums will progress as you progress. So in a beginning it might be a ten minute walk. That's the minimum. If you're more experienced and you are chasing a serious goal, your minimum might be an hour in the gym and your minimum might be eating three clean meals a day. And I don't know, having a cookie.
00:21:46:20 - 00:21:51:06
Speaker 2
Yeah, like can progress. It's like a spectrum. As I say. Yeah.
00:21:51:16 - 00:22:22:15
Speaker 1
And then like, obviously for food for me anyway, it's making sure I have 20 plus grams of protein in breakfast and then that's my main goal for the day. But generally everything else falls into place for us because we've been doing it for so long. Yeah, and we have those habits. But again, that that is still my just simple goal for making sure I have that I properly is just making sure I hit more than 20 grams of protein in breakfast and then everything else falls in place.
00:22:22:15 - 00:22:42:13
Speaker 1
But I know if you know at the moment lost busy things is starting to get a bit of traction and things are happening and of miss meals or of snacks. Something else that I shouldn't have eaten. But I know that it's fun because I've had my 20 to 30 grams of protein in the morning. So that's just my one.
00:22:42:13 - 00:22:49:08
Speaker 1
It's I think that's probably the simple and the most effective one for most people. Make sure you get 20 plus grams of protein in the morning.
00:22:49:10 - 00:23:20:06
Speaker 2
In the morning. Yeah. Okay. The next thing I want to, I guess, discuss with you is that every single moment is literally another chance for you to start again. I really hate when as soon as people miss something, like you said at the start, everything's ruined. But if you can try and change your perspective that every single moment, literally is another chance for you to begin again.
00:23:21:02 - 00:23:39:18
Speaker 2
Like, who did I get that from? Paris. Begin again. Right. So maybe a cookie in the office or six cupcakes or whatever it is. Once you've eaten it, it's done. You can't change it. So there's no point dwelling on it. There's no point stressing over it. There's no point making yourself feel guilty. Just make the next meal better.
00:23:40:08 - 00:24:06:21
Speaker 2
Just make the next snack better like that. There's so many moments every single second, every minute, every hour of the day, you can choose to change, pivot the direction you're going in, right? Yeah. I think it's really, really important that you try your best not to forget about it. If you have to begin again on your hand. I've done this in the past and it works a treat because I don't really use it for food and stuff, but more for productivity and concentration.
00:24:06:21 - 00:24:25:11
Speaker 2
So if I'm trying to get on an hour and see done and then I go to my phone and I scroll on social media and then like while I'm distracted, I might as well try again tomorrow around that stressful time of like exams and assignments being due, I begin to get on my hand and it's like, okay, I scrubbed social media for the last 25 minutes.
00:24:25:20 - 00:24:32:16
Speaker 2
Let's just start again. Like no one's stopping me from doing that. And so I think just just try that. It's very, very useful.
00:24:32:16 - 00:24:56:11
Speaker 1
And I think a lot of people get anxiety and stressed and then that just overwhelmed this of decisions. Yeah, because I don't dwell too much in the past, but I think everybody thinks it's a future or I've got all this stuff to do. But then it's like they're really thinking about all the things I should have been doing so that you can get to this and you're in that position.
00:24:56:11 - 00:25:19:11
Speaker 1
So just take a breath, start again and do the best you can. So a lot of times with my clients, we've we've said this in the past to clients. We work both worked with. Yeah, you stuffed up, you had a bit of takeaway. Just begin again. It's no big deal like it's happened. You can't change it. But also what did you learn.
00:25:19:18 - 00:25:39:18
Speaker 1
Mhm. So a lot of people, a lot of the time you need to learn from your mistakes. So if for some reason 3:00 every day you'll just go in for those chocolates and it's like how did it begin again. But then it happens the next day. Yeah. There's obviously something happening that you've got to learn from to improve those habits.
00:25:40:01 - 00:26:02:18
Speaker 1
So if you do all of a sudden go to a takeaway and order three bags and just smashing. Think about what you did. You get you 20, 30 grams of protein in the morning. No. Well, that's probably why you're so hungry. Or have you been drink? Are you hydrated? A lot of people dehydrate themselves and mistake a hunger for dehydration.
00:26:03:04 - 00:26:26:03
Speaker 1
So did you drink enough water? No. That's probably why I'm eating so much so. And a lot of time when you're dehydrated or hungry, your body is going to want to go for those high calorie foods. Then that's what our body is designed to do in those times of being hungry. So in those times, you've just got to make sure that you do learn from your mistakes.
00:26:26:08 - 00:26:47:22
Speaker 1
So yeah, it's like, yes, you've done it, you've eaten a couple of burgers, take a breath, move on. You haven't fallen off the wagon. It's not the end of the world. You can just continue to eat better from there. But also think about why you stopped working. Walk down to the Takeaway. Got three burgers and then just smash them.
00:26:48:10 - 00:26:55:08
Speaker 1
So just taking a second to think about it as well. Don't beat yourself up about it. Just think about the process of why you end up doing that.
00:26:55:10 - 00:27:31:08
Speaker 2
Yeah, Another thing that we don't really talk about, but I think is really important, is like checking your internal narrative. So what I mean by that is when you start healthy habits, if you've tried in the past, it's likely that you're telling yourself you're probably going to fail, you're probably going to stop at some point. So I just think that it's really important to try and remember that every time you start a new diet or a new program, it's not going to be the same as the last time.
00:27:31:10 - 00:27:49:12
Speaker 2
Yeah, right. You've already changed since the last time you've done it. You've already maybe you've implemented like a few habits you haven't even noticed. Maybe take the stairs now. Maybe you drink two liters of water now, so you are a different person to the last time that you tried a program or a diet. And I think that we always forget that, like, I tried and I failed.
00:27:49:20 - 00:28:03:10
Speaker 2
So I'm probably going to fail again because I just fail at health and fitness. Just check it. Is that what you're saying to yourself? Is that what happens every time that you try something? Because I feel like whatever you repeatedly tell yourself is going to happen right?
00:28:04:21 - 00:28:09:06
Speaker 1
I hate this idea of passing fail.
00:28:09:15 - 00:28:09:23
Speaker 2
Yeah.
00:28:10:11 - 00:28:18:13
Speaker 1
It's so stupid. So no. And I'll go on a little tangent, but skip forward 2 minutes if you need to.
00:28:18:21 - 00:28:19:05
Speaker 2
And.
00:28:19:23 - 00:28:37:06
Speaker 1
Sorry, and I'll come back to it in a second. But it's passed and force is bred into us from kids. You go to school, what happens? You do tests, you pass, you fail. If you pass, then you're good at that subject. If you fail, you're not good at that subject. And then obviously those habits are beaten into you.
00:28:37:09 - 00:28:58:05
Speaker 1
For what if for the first 18 years lost? Yeah. So then when you go into life, it's not like that at all. So there's no pass or fail. But you can't say I failed at a diet like that. It does. No, no one's giving you an exam. There's no test.
00:28:59:02 - 00:28:59:22
Speaker 2
It just wasn't right.
00:29:00:00 - 00:29:15:10
Speaker 1
You. Yeah. Just move on and just continue with work out. So if you did a work out and you hated it, it's not a fail. It's just find a different style of training that you enjoy that's going to keep you coming back to the gym that you're going to keep doing. Rant over stream back in.
00:29:16:10 - 00:29:38:00
Speaker 2
I guess directly on that topic. I think that everyone needs to remember that you are doing we are doing health and fitness for life, not for 12 weeks, not for three months. We're doing it forever, right? So there should be no point where you pacify all because there should be no point where you stop unless you fall off the wagon and you're here.
00:29:38:00 - 00:30:01:04
Speaker 2
So you need to get back on the wagon. But yeah, I think it's very powerful to remember that it's forever because you might give yourself a bit more grace. I guess when you do do something that's out of the plan, because the plan isn't going to end in 12 weeks. The plan is going for your entire life. So just put it in perspective, like eating one bad meal across your entire life.
00:30:02:06 - 00:30:14:00
Speaker 2
What does that matter? Yeah, right. So it's much easier when you think about like that to just begin again the next meal because you're like, Yeah, it happened. It's just one meal. I've got however many thousands left to go, right?
00:30:14:03 - 00:30:36:07
Speaker 1
Yeah. So just on that real quick, probably back in January we did that topic of why Chow chow health and fitness challenges are so bad for you. So I go back and listen to that. It will be back in January this year some time when we released it. But yeah, putting an end date like it's like I've got this goal, I want to lose ten kilos, I've got six weeks to do it.
00:30:36:20 - 00:30:45:23
Speaker 1
And if I don't do it in that six weeks out cycle again, no, you didn't fail. It's just going to take you a little bit longer. Or what? That challenge just wasn't right for you.
00:30:45:23 - 00:30:54:05
Speaker 2
Yeah, but and also, once you get your goal, you work so hard for six weeks to lose weight. Look good in your bikini or whatever it is when you stop.
00:30:54:06 - 00:30:54:13
Speaker 1
Yeah.
00:30:54:21 - 00:30:57:08
Speaker 2
So what makes no sense to me?
00:30:58:06 - 00:31:06:19
Speaker 1
Fitness challenges. You pretty much lose either way. You either don't reach a goal and you've failed or you've reached your goal and you stop and you fail.
00:31:07:02 - 00:31:08:00
Speaker 2
You go back to where you were.
00:31:08:00 - 00:31:16:08
Speaker 1
Before and then you go to do it again and again. So yeah, that's go back and listen to that episode. A rant on a rant. A fair bit on that one.
00:31:16:08 - 00:31:18:22
Speaker 2
That's good. Okay, should we do the three things?
00:31:19:01 - 00:31:23:08
Speaker 1
Yeah, let's wrap it up. All right, So three things to improve your life.
00:31:23:08 - 00:31:23:16
Speaker 2
Okay.
00:31:23:21 - 00:31:25:11
Speaker 1
Bring. Have you got it?
00:31:25:12 - 00:31:27:21
Speaker 2
No, don't have a title. I did in the email, but I forgot it.
00:31:28:00 - 00:31:33:19
Speaker 1
Okay, so one thing to listen to, one thing to watch and one thing you should try.
00:31:33:22 - 00:31:43:17
Speaker 2
Yeah. Okay, so let's go with watch first. Okay. Last night we finished the TV series on Netflix called Beef. Oh, it's wack, but it's so good.
00:31:44:12 - 00:32:06:04
Speaker 1
Yeah, it was very well produced. Very well shot like h e It's a bit slow to start with, and you're like, What the hell's this? But the last few episodes make the first couple of episodes seem better. Like, I don't know how they did that, but the first couple of episodes you just like, yeah, like, you know, whatever.
00:32:06:04 - 00:32:17:10
Speaker 1
But then it just gets better and better and then the first couple of episodes make more sense. Yeah, it's just and it's just a good way to sort of the last episode is just.
00:32:18:13 - 00:32:19:04
Speaker 2
Like, what?
00:32:19:19 - 00:32:21:19
Speaker 1
Yeah, you don't really expect it.
00:32:21:23 - 00:32:45:02
Speaker 2
If you have watched everything everywhere all at once. Yeah, you probably like it. So it's like Korean directed, Korean produced Korean actors. I just really love watching creative, creative shows and movies, you know what I mean? That aren't mainstream, aren't just fully white cast doing superhero shit. Yeah. So it's just interesting like that.
00:32:45:06 - 00:33:01:20
Speaker 1
And it's just ten episodes and that's it. It's they just do it all in ten episodes. It's not like this. There's a next season coming out. So I do enjoy that as well because I hate when they could have just wrapped it up and they're like, Oh, let's drag it out for another season. So it's just ten episodes.
00:33:02:01 - 00:33:03:14
Speaker 1
It just really gets you thinking.
00:33:03:19 - 00:33:04:06
Speaker 2
It does.
00:33:04:06 - 00:33:05:02
Speaker 1
Entertaining it.
00:33:05:02 - 00:33:09:13
Speaker 2
Isn't it? And it really does like, especially the last three episodes really get you thinking just about why.
00:33:09:17 - 00:33:17:17
Speaker 1
Yeah. And, and the choices you make. Yeah. And how the choices you make impact you, but not just you, but like a ripple effect. Yeah.
00:33:17:23 - 00:33:43:16
Speaker 2
So great show. Okay, the thing to listen to is an audio book by Grace Beverley, and it's called Hard Working Hard or Hardly Working. It's a pretty short book. I think it's only 3 hours. I'm about halfway through. I've been listening to it in the gym. Anyone that has a business is an entrepreneur is working, trying to work their way up the corporate ladder.
00:33:44:02 - 00:34:07:14
Speaker 2
Is a millennial Gen Z. It's for you. It's probably the first productivity self-help, but not really a self-help book that I've read that is post-COVID and talks about COVID because COVID shifted the world, it shifted the frickin world, and we just forgot about it. Like it's done. Like, what was even that what happened in those three years? I don't know.
00:34:07:14 - 00:34:29:18
Speaker 2
But it's a lot of things and we just move past it, right? Whereas Grace speaks about how it has dramatically changed, like the work scene. Right? And I feel like I definitely feel like there's this big pressure. I don't know if we've put the pressure on ourselves or society has all social media has all of the above. But I feel like this is big pressure to have a job and a job that you love.
00:34:30:01 - 00:34:48:03
Speaker 2
And if you love your job, you should want to and you should be working 24 hours a day. All of the waking hours, right? It's like our job is now our purpose to be alive, which I like, but it's not necessarily for everybody. And I feel like there's this big pressure. If you have a 9 to 5 job, then you should have the side hustle.
00:34:48:03 - 00:35:06:18
Speaker 2
Because if you have 4 hours spare in the day, you could be making money, right? I feel like that's the societal pressure at the minute. So anyway, Grace just talks about that and how that's not really true and how COVID sort of cause that because we're working from home. So you can work all of the time if you're at home.
00:35:07:15 - 00:35:38:06
Speaker 2
And then she just goes into a lot about productivity and time management and focus and stuff like that, because she did complete a music degree while starting a health and fitness app, like a workout app that is like a multimillion dollar company now and a sustainable clothing brand friend while at uni like that blows my mind. I just love finding people that are like kind of that have done what I want to do.
00:35:38:06 - 00:35:47:11
Speaker 2
No, I don't want to build those businesses, but I'm trying to build a business while studying. It's very inspiring. Great book. Short to the point. She now writes it, which is even better. Yeah. Okay. To try.
00:35:47:18 - 00:35:53:19
Speaker 1
To try. Normally we've been talking about foods. To try.
00:35:53:23 - 00:35:54:12
Speaker 2
Oh, okay.
00:35:54:12 - 00:36:04:07
Speaker 1
But I never really set that in stone. I just we just started talking about foods that you should try because we love it. Yeah, sure. But this week I'm going to give you an exercise. Try.
00:36:04:10 - 00:36:06:02
Speaker 2
Oh, well, that's a good idea. Yeah.
00:36:06:02 - 00:36:25:12
Speaker 1
So I want everybody listening and watching to go out and do a squat. Yeah, if you're on YouTube, I'll put it over so you can see me doing a demo. But basically you just send in your knee into as much contraction as possible. So think about standing up and lifting your heel to your bum. That's your knee contracting as much as possible.
00:36:25:16 - 00:36:27:10
Speaker 1
So that makes sense. Give you a good picture.
00:36:27:12 - 00:36:29:19
Speaker 2
Well, I know what it is, so it's hard, hard, hard tonight.
00:36:30:05 - 00:36:54:23
Speaker 1
So we all know the stretch. So when you hold onto the wall and grab one ankle and pull it and you bombs and you're you're bending that knee essentially is as far as you can. So sissy squat just does that but under load and tension because I bring this up because this week I've seen a lot of people with knee pain and a lot of people not squatting below the hips.
00:36:55:02 - 00:36:55:08
Speaker 2
Yeah.
00:36:55:16 - 00:37:19:18
Speaker 1
So when you're squatting with especially if a barbell back squat, your aim should be to squat through as much range as possible while staying in control. Okay, So that's going to be different for everybody. It's going to look different for everybody, but you should be doing as much range as possible and when you only squat halfway down, so when your knees are level with your hips and knees aren't really bending as much as I possibly can.
00:37:19:20 - 00:37:40:18
Speaker 1
Yeah. And even if you have great mobility, great control under the barbell, doing a back squat, even if you get down deep as possible, knees probably aren't still bending as much as I possibly can and there's not much tension in the bottom. The squat anyway. So sissy squat just hold tension through your knees as you bend them as much as you possibly can.
00:37:41:14 - 00:37:58:18
Speaker 1
And you might be thinking, That sounds crazy and you might be watching it on YouTube going, How the hell am I supposed to do that? There's obviously if you go, I'll link to the demo video in the show notes so you can actually go through or talk out of progress it and all that sort of stuff. It just promotes good health.
00:37:59:06 - 00:38:20:02
Speaker 1
It's just it blows my mind that people still don't bend the knee through ranges, maximum ranges and the load and wonder why they have knee pain. It's because if you are only squatting halfway down and that's all you've ever done, especially if lunges and that sort of stuff. So with lunges, split squats, I only got one half, half the range that you can.
00:38:20:14 - 00:38:37:18
Speaker 1
As soon as you go into that range, a little bit further of caution is going to hurt because I'm not used to it. Yeah, it's pain is just your body saying I'm not used to this range. This is new, this is new. What are you doing? It's not a bad thing. It's just you got to stay in control and slowly build it up.
00:38:38:06 - 00:39:06:22
Speaker 1
But just I guess the takeaway from that whole rant is just send your knee and it goes for every joint in your body through as much range as possible, because it's going to promote good health through your joints, good strength. It's going to help with arthritis, all those joints, degenerative diseases later in life. So do squats. Send your knees through as much as possible.
00:39:08:23 - 00:39:36:17
Speaker 2
Yes, I did sitting squats yesterday because I all I'm just think squats. I hate them and I'm always injured from them. Whenever I get a good run with squats, I end up injuring myself because I don't even know my glutes, my hip flexors. They're just they're not friends. Right? So I did sissy squats yesterday because I get almost like this itching, aching sensation in my brain, probably that I need to put my knees into full flexion.
00:39:36:17 - 00:39:57:13
Speaker 2
Right. Because it feels like we do a lot of walking stairs, like getting up, getting down. But if I don't put my knees in full fledged, like, if I'm not squatting, I can feel that I haven't put my knees through that range. So I'm like, I need it almost. Yeah. Which is kind of cool to know that once you do it, how good you feel afterwards, right?
00:39:57:14 - 00:40:01:22
Speaker 1
Yeah. And how healthy you feel. Yeah. Once you start doing it also.
00:40:01:22 - 00:40:09:14
Speaker 2
So what's the connection with your hip flexors? Because did make because obviously when you go down you stretching your quad hip flexor.
00:40:12:20 - 00:40:39:07
Speaker 1
It's basically stretching it all out. So the so a squat is going to target your quads but because a CC squat puts you into as much contraction in the knee and then flexion in the hip at the same time, you're almost stretching it out as you activate. So it's going to activate basically from your knee all the way up into your core to keep it simple.
00:40:39:17 - 00:41:03:21
Speaker 1
So it's just going to activate all those muscles while stretching, if that makes sense. So it's really good for that health as well. There was going to be another point there, but I've forgotten what I was going to say. Oh, so for people like Makin can't squat or can't not, can't squat, but struggle squat to dip again, everybody squats differently sometimes make up of your hip won't allow you to squat to depth.
00:41:04:05 - 00:41:27:00
Speaker 1
So still do squats, but add in something else that's going to send your knee into as much contraction as possible. That's yeah. So I still do the squats, do all that sort of stuff. But if you can't get the range out of those exercises adding something like a CC squat, it's just going to give you that little bit of extra range and it does help you build nice, good looking quads as well.
00:41:27:15 - 00:41:46:13
Speaker 1
Cool down. Awesome. Thanks again everybody for tuning in. Obviously, if you've lasted this long, you've got something out of it and you've enjoyed the show, so please share it to a friend or family member. Just copy this show link. Whether you're on YouTube or wherever you listen to the podcast, copy it. It takes 5 seconds to copy that show link.
00:41:46:19 - 00:42:21:05
Speaker 1
Send it to one friend, family member, anybody. It helps us out. It helps them out. So they're going to get great health and fitness goals and they're going to thank you for it. Win, win, Awesome. Thanks again. Everybody will see you in the next episode. I know.
