In general, we have an oversimplified understanding of our energy intake and our energy expenditure. Only thinking about calories in and calories out does not assess your daily energy needs from a complete point of view. There are many nuances that go into the energy balance discussion for athletic women, and this episode is the place to start.
If You Want to Understand Your Daily Energy Expenditure Better, You Should:
Where Women Athletes Go Wrong
Often times athletic women get into trouble by trying to match a low daily energy calorie intake with a high energy output of training. This approach to fueling is where athletic women tend to go wrong and see negative outcomes.
Your metabolism and your energy consumption need to work together in order to find the energy balance that is right for you and your training. Understanding how your energy is influenced when you are at rest when you are breaking down your food, and when you are engaging in non-exercise and exercise activity is the key to getting into balance and moving past oversimplification.
The 4 Pieces of Total Daily Energy Expenditure
There are four key pieces that affect your total daily energy expenditure. How your body processes energy during these four phases is the key to being in energy balance and avoiding an energy deficit. Your resting energy expenditure, the thermic effect of food, your non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or NEAT, and your exercise activity thermogenesis, or purposeful activity, all play a role in how your metabolism works together with your body.
Maintaining an appropriate energy balance is the only way to see the improvements you are looking for in a sustainable and healthy way.
Do you feel as though your energy is in balance? Share your thoughts with me in the comments on the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes
“Of course, you are a biological system, and when we strip biological models of all of their complexity and nuance and strip them down to pithy one-liners like ‘eat less move more,’ this simplicity at best can lead you astray as an athletic person, and even at worst, do some harm to your health and wellbeing.” (9:03)
“Saying a calorie is a calorie is like saying an inch is an inch or a pound is a pound. It quantifies things, but it doesn't qualify things.” (11:29)
“It is important to understand how metabolism and energy balance and so on work together, specifically when we are talking about why building muscle is so freaking important, and how does that affect our basal metabolic rate.” (20:44)
“I am not here to teach you intentional fat loss. What I am here to highlight is some of the ways we go astray in our thinking.” (22:01)
“I think it is important for you to understand how some of these factors are going to affect your training and why my primary goal here is to get you to understand that eating enough food is so incredibly important to your training and your health and well-being.” (30:42)
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FYS 388: Why You’re Struggling with Motivation to Workout
FYS 391: What is Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S)?
Properly fueling yourself as an athlete, especially if you are an athletic woman over 40, can have a huge impact on your training, strength, and overall health and well-being. Understanding RED-S, or Relative Energy Deficiency in Sports, is a key piece of educational information I think every athlete needs to know about.
If You are Concerned About RED-S, You Should:
Understanding RED-S
You don't have to be an Olympic athlete to deal with RED-S or the implications of low energy availability. RED-S transcends different populations and athletic individuals. This is why it is so important to gain a clearer picture of how RED-S is defined, the signs and symptoms of low energy availability, how it impacts your performance and health, and what you can do to fuel yourself for the best success and performance possible.
Fueling Properly Is Not Optional
I want to challenge you to think about the amount you are fueling yourself in comparison to your training schedule. By the time you account for the energy you have spent through exercise and how much you are eating, there are a lot of cases where we don't provide our bodies enough energy to facilitate even basic bodily functions.
Fueling your body with enough energy to recover from training is incredibly important to basically every system you have in your body, from hormones to metabolism to menstruation. Low energy availability, or RED-S, doesn't just affect what is going on in the gym; it also has serious implications for your overall health and well-being.
What did you think about this topic? Have you ever struggled with low energy availability? Let me know your thoughts in the comments on the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes
“We are trying to fuel, we are trying to eat better and fuel our performance. And at the at the same time, it is revolutionary, talking about actually eating enough as female athletes.” (2:53)
“RED-S is more inclusive in terms of what the physiological implications of low energy availability happen to be. It is more expansive in terms of how this could potentially be affecting someone's performance and also their health and wellbeing.” (9:18)
“The physiological impacts when it comes to under eating, especially if we have a high amount of physical activity and exercise, can accumulate quite quickly.” (17:00)
“We just need enough energy in order for us to get the output in our training so that we will see the beneficial adaptations.” (23:57)
“You need to eat enough to cover your training and also your basic bodily needs. And that includes both protein and non-protein energy.” (28:41)
Featured on the Show
Schedule A Call About Strength Nutrition Unlocked Here
IOC consensus statement on relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S)
National Eating Disorders Association Website
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I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!
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FYS 388: Why You’re Struggling with Motivation to Workout
FYS 367: 5 Strength Nutrition Lessons I Wish I Learned a Decade Ago
FYS 350: Are You Eating Enough? Low Energy Availability in Sport
Strength conditioning as an over-40 athlete can be challenging enough on its own, but when you add in the dimension of being a postpartum athlete on top of everything else, special attention is warranted. Bridging the gap between rehab and performance requires an undefined timeline that is unique for you but will ultimately get you back to doing the things that you want to do.
If You Are Thinking About Your Postpartum Training Needs, You Should:
Returning to the Sport You Love
Brianna Battles is the Founder of Pregnancy & Postpartum Athleticism and CEO of Everyday Battles LLC. She is a relentless advocate and relatable resource for women who want training during pregnancy and to make a sustainable return to performance, lifestyle, function, career, and activity postpartum because postpartum is forever!
You Are an Athlete
Many women disqualify themselves as athletes. Brianna believes that if you are consistently dedicating yourself to movement, whether you are running, doing yoga, dancing, swimming, or anything that requires physical output, you are an athlete. While you can be an athlete in all seasons of your lifetime, how you interact with your athletic ability will change over time based on your body's needs. As a female athlete, especially if you are going through pregnancy or postpartum, you are not fragile, but you are also not invincible, and the way you train needs to reflect that.
Bridging the Gap Between Rehab and Performance
Because of the common male-dominated approach to training, birth is not given the same considerations when it comes to rehab and recovery as other events. Postpartum women are not a special or unique group of the population, and postpartum women deserve a more hands-on and substantial approach to their training.
Like in jiu-jitsu, you need to be a white belt before becoming a blue belt. The same can be said for training postpartum. While pregnancy and postpartum can act as an incredible catalyst for learning about your body, it can bring out many of your vulnerabilities. If you can give yourself patience, rest, and grace, you can learn how to work with your postpartum symptoms and get to the point that you want to be.
Are you showing yourself grace while you battle postpartum? Share your thoughts with me in the comments on the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes
“There are so many things about our body that changes during that season [of pregnancy and postpartum], and exercise has to adapt to meet the body where it is at.” (13:50)
“Fitness is a great baseline in general, but it is not a guarantee for anything.” (15:56)
“If you are consistently participating in fitness, you are an athlete. Its not about being a size or an ability, its honestly just an expression of dedicated physical output.” (19:35)
“Postpartum requires a rehabilitation period, a rebuilding period, and then an undefined timeline of what is that going to look like for you getting back to the things you want to do.” (23:29)
“If you can give yourself those seasons, and take it slow, take it gradually, get the support and resources that you need and not push boundaries, you are going to get what you want a hell of a lot faster than if you tried to push boundaries before your body or your brain or your lifestyle was ready for it.” (25:56)
“I think that it is a very real possibility when we are talking about women's core and pelvic health needs across all sports. It is becoming anticipatory and being able to react where you are not able to think about it or worry about it.” (42:58)
Featured on the Show
Join Strength Nutrition Unlocked Here
Pregnancy and Postpartum Athleticism Coaching Certification
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Follow Pregnant Postpartum Athlete on Instagram
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I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!
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LTYB 281: How To Exercise Intuitively w/ Steph Ondrusek
LTYB 345: How To Give Yourself Radical Permission w/ Hayden Dawes
FYS 372: Recovery Trackers, Training, and The Menstrual Cycle w/ Emily Capodilupo
Introducing a strength training element into your walking can have major benefits, especially as a woman athlete. A way to make your walking a bit more challenging is through rucking. Rucking is a great opportunity to take the foundational movement pattern of carrying and incorporate it into your training routine easily.
If You Want to Start Rucking, You Should:
Understanding the Comfort Crisis with Michael Easter
Michael Easter is an author, professor, and adventurer. He approaches movement and training from a scientific perspective, helping others to integrate modern science and evolutionary wisdom into their lives to expand their potential. He is the author of The Comfort Crisis and is personally a big fan of rucking and all of its benefits.
Controlled Discomfort is a Good Thing
Often we think about exercise as a 30 or 60-minute period of our day when we go hard. But being stagnant for the other 23 hours of the day has no benefit. Michael wants to challenge you to find ways in your daily routine to introduce some controlled discomfort into your life.
As the world has become more comfortable over time, we have lost certain things that help to make us healthy. Lifting heavy things while in motion can have huge benefits, especially for women. Walking with weight on your body, or rucking, is usually the best option if you want to see big results.
The Benefits of Rucking
Scientific research shows that strength training is crucial to longevity, especially in women. Rucking works to put your spine in a better position while lifting, avoid intense pressure on your joints, and is uniquely good at improving bone density.
If you struggle to integrate carrying into your fitness routine, which is an essential part of the seven functional movement patterns for building strength, rucking is a great option for you. Getting started is easy and incredibly simple.
Are you ready to get started with rucking today? Share your thoughts with me in the comments on the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes
“[Carrying] is kind of like the thing that most people aren't doing that would help them the most. Strength wise, fitness wise, cardio wise, and also just being protective against injuries.” (10:46)
“I think that rucking is a great way to add a strength stimulus for women.” (20:22)
“Women really were the people, as we have evolved, that kept us alive.” (22:48)
“Only 2 percent of people, when they have the option of stairs or an escalator, will take the stairs. Now, if you back up, it's actually those very small decisions that we make every day, whether to take the stairs, parking farther away in the parking lot, picking your kid up and moving them, carrying your groceries. All these little ways of adding activity back into your life, those add up over the course of the day to a greater calorie burn and stimulus than a workout.” (28:01)
“You know what is more risky than exercising? Not exercising at all.” (33:25)
Featured on the Show
Join Strength Nutrition Unlocked Here
The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter
Follow Michael on Instagram
Follow Steph on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Pinterest
I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!
Podcast production & marketing support by the team at Counterweight Creative
Get 20% off Legion Supplements with code STEPH
Rate and review on Apple Podcasts
LTYB 281: How To Exercise Intuitively w/ Steph Ondrusek
FYS 385: How To Build An Athlete Mindset Over 40
FYS 384: Making Mobility Practical w/ Coach RT3