This week the ADOFitness trainers will be addressing some of the most common topics we get asked about. Coach Trista explains why you should have two seasons for building and cutting.

Many people have the same goal – “I want to build muscle and lose fat”, however, to optimize one or the other, it is best to have two different programs. While it is possible to simultaneously gain muscle while leaning out, the rate of muscle growth is very slow in comparison to a program structured for just that in mind. If your protein intake is adequate muscle tissue can be synthesized in a deficit. When you’re in a deficit, your body is burning more calories than you are consuming, so placing the expectation for muscle growth on top of that is quite demanding.

Your body needs protein + energy (glycogen + triglycerides) in other words- carbs and fats to synthesize muscle tissue which costs energy in itself. Having your body in a surplus of energy creates a better opportunity for muscle growth. Many might be fearful of gaining fat during a building phase but as long as your intake is controlled by numbers you can minimize fat gain by adjusting your macros/training as you progress.

In turn, if you go to implement a cut to lose body fat your body needs to be at a deficit in order for your fat stores to metabolize. This means you will have less stored energy making it harder for muscle growth to occur.

During a cut, you would also be increasing cardio to aid in fat loss, this would be counterproductive to gaining muscle mass and therefor hinder that process. For competitors, implementing two different seasons for these processes will be the best approach for bringing your true potential to the stage. Look at any pro and I guarantee you they took plenty of time in an “off season” to build muscle before starting a cut to make it to stage. Like many things- it takes hard work and patience to achieve your best physique. Changes in body composition during any program will also be dependent upon training method/volume, sleep, stress, water intake, and macronutrient ratios and timing.

This week the ADOFitness trainers will be addressing topics we get asked a lot of questions about. This week coach Joey Guz explains and defines what a refeed is.

We get asked a lot about what a refeed is and why it is so important for your body. A refeed is different then a cheat meal or a cheat day in that is a day that is fully tracked. Having a refeed is a strategic way to achieve results you want, but without causing you to have a complete day of binging and eating unhealthy foods. Even though the idea of dieting may sound appealing because you will lose weight and get the body you want, being in a caloric deficit for a long period of time can make you feel a little crazy and have some negative effects on your body. Not only will you have food cravings, become irritable, and feel tired, but your body will begin to adapt to the lower calorie intake by slowing down your metabolism. This will make it harder to shed body fat. The point of a refeed and increasing your carbs for the day is to allow your body to stabilize your Leptin levels, which is the hormone that makes your body feel hunger. Normalizing Leptin levels can boost your metabolism and help alleviate cravings. It’s also a mental break from your diet, which can make it easier to stick to your plan for the long haul. How much you should intake on a reefed day and how often you should reefed depends on many things like your body fat percentage, how long you have been dieting for, and how your body is responding to your current macronutrient ratios. So it’s always best to do your research or ask your coach before implementing a refeed.

This week the ADOFitness trainers will be addressing some of the topics we get asked a lot of questions about. Coach Jennifer Ann NPC Bikini Competitor explains what reverse dieting is.

Let’s talk about reverse dieting. I’m sure you’re seeing a lot of posts talking about it. After a competitor comes off a calorie restricted diet one way to avoid metabolic damage and post show rebound is to slowly add calories back in at a rate that minimal weight gain occurs. Reverse dieting helps prevent fast weight gain since the body is in a fragile state post show. This can prevent depression and the individual can maintain a body their comfortable with. What’s neat is anybody ( not just competitors) on a calorie restricted diet can benefit from a reverse diet. Most people cannot sustain low calorie intake for a long period of time. Putting them on reverse diet and increasing their intake will allow them to live life normally be happy and eat more food. If weekly adjustments are made and the individual adheres to the plan their metabolism can recover, more food can be enjoyed and with minimal fat gain. Reverse diet for the win?plus it’s so fun feeding people? ???????????

This week the ADOFitness trainers will be addressing new years goals and how to stick to them. Coach Trista
shares her story.

For myself, the one and only goal I have is to take any steps necessary to be healthy. As I have discussed before I have many hormone/GI issues that are still unresolved. My goal is to be proactive in making choices that are going to help me and not worsen my condition. How am I going to stick to this? I am choosing not to compete for the first part of the year to give myself a chance to work with a naturopath and possibly look into Chinese medicine as recommended by @taracarlton_fit Lol (so if you know of any good places in the Portland area please comment! ) This is going to be tough! The temptation will be there to say “oh screw it I’m gonna prep and I’ll figure this out later” as I have done in the past, but I don’t want to be 3-5 years down the road and STILL letting this get me down and affecting my everyday. I love competing, but, I have to tell my self no. I have to look a the bigger picture and realize how I live my day to day is more important. This will not be easy, but I want to have memories where I look back and remember I was happy and enjoying the moment, that’s very hard for me to do as I am always in discomfort and needing to lay down. This is my motivation to stick to my goal. For many ,it is a weight loss goal, and they may be unhappy with where they currently are- I know it takes discomfort and patience to get on the other side of your goal. Because any big change is going to be uncomfortable, but we start feeling a little better as we go. We have a taste of what getting closer to our goal feels like and it keeps us going- “oh this feels amazing- I want to feel more of this” until one day you wake up and you’re 30 lbs lighter! You get a little momentum and keep your motivation! Just like I hope to do with feeling better everyday, feeling like myself again. I think one of the biggest contributors of getting yourself to stick to your goal is knowing it will bring a liberating feeling of empowerment, knowing you can accomplish something you set your mind to that’s going to better your life. Just decide.

This week the ADOFitness trainers will be addressing how they personally handle social events around food and staying balanced through the holidays. Coach Jennifer shares her story.
The holidays can be a stressful time when you have a weight loss goal. Personally for me strategic planning and being organized help me stay on top of my game.

I plan my main family dinner as my re-feed and save my macros during the day. This allows me to enjoy family time and food and have lots of macros to spare. When I’m in the offseason I wouldn’t even stress if I went over my macros but now that I’m on prep I will make sure to stay within my numbers. I love #iifym because I’m able to try a little of everything, moderation is key!! It’s important to allow yourself a break from your normal foods and enjoy the flexibility that #iifym allows you. Plus taking a break from your everyday foods can actually speed up your metabolism. If I have other dinners to attend during the holiday I just make sure I track well and over estimate for homemade dishes. Again I have a goal in mind so this method may not be for everyone but really helps me stay on track! Prepare to plan or plan to fail!

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and enjoys their family time ❤

?” An open minded diet philosophy that creates sustainability for the individual”
ADOFitness ?

This week the ADOFitness trainers will be addressing how they personally handle social events around food and staying balanced through the holidays. Coach Joey shares her story.

So the holidays always bring about all of the lovely cookies, cakes and of course good homemade meals. During the holidays I find it VERY important to make sure that I keep myself balanced with sustainability. Following #IIFYM works perfectly for this. If I know I have a gathering at a families home or restaurant I always make sure to save room in my day for that occasion. Now do I sometimes go over my macros during this time? YES, I do! You can’t deprive yourself of everything that you around all of the time. I mean I guess you could, but if you truly want a bite of something why not have it? If you are eating within moderation and you really want something you should have it. Again this is with moderation, that is the key! I don’t do this often and honestly if I am up a pound or two it isn’t the end of the world. You need to live and you need to not restrict yourself all of the time because this is what causes us to binge and then totally fall off of our plans. No one wants to end the holidays having to lose that extra 10 pounds that they gained from the holidays. Quite honestly if you have these goodies in moderation that is enough to satisfy your craving. Strategic planning during the holidays really help you to achieve your goals as well as enjoy your time with your loved ones.

This week the ADOFitness trainers will be addressing three insecurities that they’ve dealt with – whether it be physical, mental or experiences we have faced.

I think its important to be open and honest about our personal insecurities. In an industry that is filled with images of “perfection” its important that we as trainers and REAL PEOPLE show the imperfections that make us human just like everyone else. Although most would never know, at a young age I was bullied pretty bad. I hated middle school with a passion. I wasn’t the popular girl and I didn’t come from a family with money. I wore clothes from goodwill, wore my hair up in a bun practically everyday, and wore the same neutral colors in order to not stand out. I was embarrassed to have friends over because I didn’t have a nice home or nice things. In 8th grade, I was told by a boy that I was so ugly I should kill myself. I had a lot of insecurities from this time in my life that stayed with me for YEARS. I still hate to wear my hair up because I was made fun of so much at such a young age. Its crazy how childhood experiences can shape us into adulthood. Along with this, I was an athlete from a very young age. I played every sport I possibly could and was a tomboy. Being so athletic at such a young age and developing muscle tissue so quickly in my legs led me to develop stretch marks on my hips and legs. I absolutely HATED that I had stretch marks in middle school and high school. I wasn’t overweight by any means but refused to get into a bikini because I never wanted anyone to see them or wonder why I had them. I thought I was ugly and my body was ugly. Even with my stage photos from past competitions in the last few years, I have felt embarrassed to see the stretch marks on my hips and have hated some of the professional photos due to my eyes going there first. Along with this, I remember growing up and hating my freckles. I even asked my mom to buy me some super expensive spot remover cream for my face because I didn’t want freckles any longer and thought I could get rid of them. It probably didn’t help that my oldest brother used to tell me it looked like “Someone threw shit at me through a screen door”. Skipping to more recent years of my life I have been through situations that have created insecurities through pure embarrassment. To be publicly humiliated and cheated on by me ex fiancé was one period of my life I will never forget. Not to mention having to hide physical abuse and a scar on my face from the situation. I felt embarrassed for a long time about the circumstance and felt weak for having it happen to me. And although I do know it wasn’t my fault, its still something that has been hard to talk about or accept that it actually happened to me. The point is I was a VERY insecure little girl and had many experiences along the way that created anxieties into adulthood. Meeting my husband and having him love me for all of me has helped dramatically. But from time to time I do still feel insecure about many of these things even at 30 years old. We all have a story and we all have insecurities. Today you may see a “fitness model”, someone who seems to have a “perfect life” or someone who is “so confident” on the social media screen, but behind the photos is still a girl who was broken many times but refused to let her past define her or her beauty.

When you want all the chocolate and none of the fitness! Let’s talk about getting your monthly hormonal cycles to work for your goal, and not against them.

There are some women who are incredibly sensitive to their hormonal fluctuations and PMS is an all-out nightmare. But then there are some who can just breeze through the month with hardly a blip on the radar. But every healthy woman in her reproductive years should be having a regular monthly (if not near monthly) cycle. And it’s more than just having your body be ready to conceive a child. Your entire system is altered by the changes these waves of estrogen and progesterone each month. And some of these changes directly impact your energy levels, metabolism, and your likelihood of injury.

So we’ll use a month for basic understanding, even though some cycles are more like 18 days and some are more like 40. The week prior and the week of your period is when most women feel their worst in the month. Your progesterone is coming off a big high and your serotonin is low. This is when your body is actually primed to burn more body fat and use it for fuel, primarily in the PMS week. And your body really wants to counter that by causing an increase in sugar cravings. But hold out and stick to your metaphorical macro-guns! Yes, that drop in progesterone that happens right before you start PMSing is what’s causing you to hold on to more water and electrolytes, so the scale shoots up 3-5lbs and you just feel like skipping the gym entirely. Understand that’s just your body being low on serotonin that’s making you feel extra crummy. So get in a great workout and you’ll feel better.

Many women say that the week prior and the earlier part of menses is when they feel the weakest in the gym. If you’re among that crowd, I advise you to make your workouts a little more cardio-based by dropping rest times lower and aiming for a really great burn in your muscles. Once that time passes, strength levels return and potentially in a big way!

Now, the two weeks or so after your finish your period, your body starts ramping back up again and this is the time you’re primed to kill it in the gym! Your body makes a huge surge of estrogen right before the halfway mark in your month as it prepares for ovulation. Estrogen has been shown to actually boost endurance and performance. And you get two of these hormonal bumps. Right before day 14 of your cycle and a smaller bump right around day 21. So, as much as your body is set on beast mode, one thing to consider is that joint laxity is negatively affected by estrogen, you’re actually at a higher likelihood of injury. So make sure you spend extra time priming your joints with proper warm up exercises and sets before going hard on your plyos and lifts.

And lastly, our body is more sensitive to these hormonal fluctuations when we are less consistent with exercise and when we are carrying more body fat. But to be so over-trained and/or lean that you don’t have a cycle isn’t good either. Balance is key for a healthy hormonal system.

~ ADO

Sources:
The Female Body Breakthrough by Rachel Cosgrove
https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/2015/03/planning-your-exercise-around-your-menstruation-cycle/
http://running.competitor.com/2014/03/training/running-around-the-menstrual-cycle_67117
https://www.metaboliceffect.com/female-phase-training-training-with-the-menstrual-cycle/

This week the ADOFitness trainers will be addressing three insecurities that they’ve dealt with – whether it be physical, mental or experiences we have faced. Coach Trista shares her story.

One of my most prominent insecurities I have is a scar on my forehead. I got hit in the head with a rock while I was camping about 6 years ago. I ended up getting stitches and the way it healed it is very noticeable and all I focus on when I look in the mirror. I actually feel stupid as I am writing this expressing that I am so concerned with a scar- but it’s my honest feelings and something I can’t control. For the longest time I would edit it out of my pictures any chance I got! But just recently I decided to stop doing that because everyone has something that makes them unique and REAL. Perfection is boring, vague, and un-relatable. Scars show you have lived and you have a story. It makes me feel really sad at times and wish it hadn’t happened but I take every experience as a sign and a guide for what I am supposed to learn in life. Another insecurity would be by distention of course. I have spoke about this many times but aside from the frustration it brings, there are times when I feel I have to wear loose fitting clothing to hide my stomach. In my mind – I picture someone looking at me thinking “oh that girl is so fit but she has a belly?!” ? it can really take a toll on my body image. I feel really grateful for @_star_fox in that he never makes me feel un pretty or undesirable from my condition, it doesn’t bother him and I can be completely comfortable (with my appearance) when my symptoms are bad. But for the others who may see this and not understand, it can look really odd. So yes, even though I spend hours in the gym, eat well, and take care of myself I STILL struggle with feeling like I have to cover myself up at times.
And lastly, the biggest one I would say is more of a personality trait that sometimes can be a weakness or insecurity of mine. I am a HIGHLY sensitive person. I am a Cancer, and my moods change from hour to hour as my day flows. I feel everything. I’m very sensitive to energies and things that go on in this world especially with animals. I can see or hear something disturbing with animals and it will affect my mood for the rest of the day. With people, I am easily drained and often need time in isolation to regain my energy and clear my thoughts. (Introvert) I am an over-thinker to the max and make things complex when they don’t need to be, I am always looking for meaning in anything. I really struggle with this but I am aware of it, so awareness enables me to stay rational. Being a soft soul creates hesitation or an insecure feeling with living in such a rigid, faced paced world, at times I wish I was more “fierce” and unaffected by things but we have to have all types to keep our world balanced ?

This week ADOFitness trainers will be addressing their biggest weakness both physically and mentally and how they over came it. Coach Tara shares her story!

As most of you might already know about 4 years ago I was diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Raynauds Phenomenon. This is by far my biggest weakness both physically and mentally. Lupus or SLE is an autoimmune disorder where your own immune system mistakenly attacks its own healthy tissues in many different body parts. Some people have Lupus that only affect their skin known as discoid lupus and some have SLE. Unfortunately for me, I have both. As of now it has affected a lot of areas of my body including some internal organs. If I go in the sun without sun screen I end up with a terrible rash which also causes a flare in my body that can lead to kidney failure, also causing my hair to fall out. It affects my eyes, inside of my mouth, causes terribly itchy skin getting out of a hot shower, kidney damage, rapid heart rate up to 160 BPM at rest, ulcers on my toes and fingers from lack of circulation from the Raynauds, joint paint, muscle twitching, extreme tiredness, nausea, and migraines to name a few. I see a Rheumatologist, a neurologist, a nephrologist, a urologist, a cardiologist, a dermatologist, and of course a primary care doctor. I currently take 9 different medications (was 10 but I just got off of one woo hooo) which is 20 pills a day and get my blood taken at least once a month. Needless to say here I am today trucking away and most people have no idea what I go through on a daily basis.. but the reason for that is, I don’t really care to share my story unless it’s for the sole purpose of motivating or inspiring someone else battling issues of their own.
When I first got sick Im not going to lie and tell you that I was tough and totally ok.. people around me might have thought that I was, but I spent countless days laying in bed feeling terrible, feeling depressed, not understanding why God would do this to me, and fighting the fact I didn’t want anyone feeling sorry for me. This went on for months until one day I was sick and tired of it.. I told my parents to stop asking me how I was feeling because even on days I felt fine I would second guess myself and think that maybe I was missing something and honestly got caught up in the fear of “what could happen to me” instead of focusing on all the good that was happening in my life and the fact I was alive! I mean at that point I might have just as well been dead since I was not “living” at all.. I was stuck inside my own head, feeling helpless and sorry for things I couldn’t control instead of focusing on what I could control and helping myself!
How I overcome this feeling on a daily basis is practicing gratitude and living with a “half glass full attitude”. At first it was pretty hard. I remember telling myself to think positive and the only thing I could think of at the time was “Well at least I’m not dead?” I guess that’s kind of positive… but it wasn’t really doing the trick. I mean it’s really freaking hard to be positive when you feel like dirt everyday haha Then I remembered this quote a coach told me one time “The body achieves what the mind believes.”.. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to give that a shot.. So everyday I wake up and pretend I don’t have lupus..now that doesn’t mean I don’t take all necessary precautions when it comes to my health, it just means I don’t focus on the negative things and just deal with them when they arise. Instead of looking for symptoms or diagnosing myself on web MD thinking I all of a sudden have a brain tumor when really its a head ache haha I just wake up, tell myself I’m full of energy (even when I’m not) and go through the day. When you only focus on the negatives your life will be full of unhappy thoughts and disaster after disaster will happen… But when you focus on the positives, big problems seem minute and little problems don’t exist..Instead of fixating my thoughts on how many workouts I missed last week I focus on how many awesome workouts I had last week..and if they weren’t that great I focus on the fact I was able to workout period!
Now don’t get me wrong.. I still get caught up on the negatives sometimes as I am FAR from perfect.. but I know I have people in my corner that will pull me through even the toughest of days and remind me of how strong I am.. I could NOT have done this without the support of my family, boyfriend, and amazing friends.
It is soooo hard to be grateful for things in your life when everything seems to be going wrong…but maybe things seem to be going wrong because that is what you are focused on instead of all the wonderful things right at your finger tips. Start today by writing down 5 positive things in your life and feeling truly grateful for them, you won’t regret it!