The Women's Strength Collective

Loving what your body was able to achieve in growing & birthing a human is so easy.

However, loving your post partum body isn’t. & I think that’s something that is incredibly hard to go through, & even harder for others to understand.

It’s a constant wave.

Appreciation, mixed with discomfort.

Admiration, mixed with insecurities.

Confidence, mixed with something that’s often kept quiet. Repulsion.

I see your emotions, & I feel them too.

I’ve been pretending that I’m okay with it for too long. & I can’t keep it up. I don’t feel authentic. You may have noticed I haven’t posted about body image for a while, & this is why. I couldn’t be my authentic self because I wasn’t being honest about how I was feeling. I felt like I “couldn’t” feel these emotions.

The post partum journey isn’t an easy experience to describe at the best of times. The main point of this post is to acknowledge that it isn’t a breeze.

It’s a physical & mental battle. Not helped by sleep deprivation, the biggest hormonal dump anyone can ever experience, bleeding, post partum poos, partner envy & learning how to be a mum.

There’s pain, tears, frustration & discomfort.

Clothes don’t fit & that WILL cause a meltdown at some stage.

When you’re pregnant, & if you breastfeed, you lose a lot of muscle/fat from your glutes. This means you get a bit of a flat bum.

& if I was to bottle all my emotions down to one moment that heightened my insecurities in my new body - it was when I realised I was no exception to the b***y shrinking rule.

I don’t feel like I look strong anymore. I feel like I don’t even look like I train. This is a particularly emotional thought when your life is in the fitness industry. I don’t often feel anxious, but this sends me spiralling down the imposter syndrome well.

I don’t want you to tell me “I look great”, I really don’t. It won’t change how I feel, it will probably make me feel worse because you’ve missed the point of this post.

The whole point was to acknowledge that you’re allowed to feel uncomfortable, & you aren’t ‘failing’ or a poor role model because of it.

& if one person feels less alone after reading this, then I’ve achieved what I set out to do.

Repeat after me: eating less isn’t the answer.

There is so much more to achieving a result than dieting or being in a calorie deficit.

The food you consume is your energy. If you’re an adult, consuming the caloric intake of a toddler, how are you expecting to be able to perform brutal workouts and recover? How are you expecting to be your best self?

It’s this mentality that sees rebound weight, binging, injuries, poor relationships with food and devastating obsessions with scales and training.

Don’t fall prey to the beautifully laid trap. It’s not healthy, it’s not sustainable.

But please don’t think you’re alone in feeling like this is the only answer. I fell for this too! Over, and over again.

I made these mistakes so you don’t have too.

I fell for the promises of losing X amount of weight, and dropping X amount of body fat too - the world of marketing is full of genius’s who know exactly how to make you feel like they have the answer for your problem.

But there’s a better solution. And it’s one I’ve used with my clients time, and time again.

And it’s super simple:
✨ eat MORE: protein, whole foods, healthy fats, non-processed carbs
✨ move MORE: follow a training program, hit a daily or weekly step target

Does this mean my clients don’t track macros? Yes and no, some choose too. It’s a great learning tool, but you can’t do it forever.

If you’re doing a challenge where you’re being told to eating 1400 calories, opt out. Walk away. Quit.

There’s a better solution - let’s have a chat.

❌More does NOT equal better ❌

I see this too much. Women thinking that they have to push themselves to extreme limits to ‘tone’ or lose body fat, often doing 1-2 high intensity classes a day PLUS a session in the gym.

And NEVER eating enough food to sustain this high energy output.

They sleep like s**t.

They recover like s**t.

They don’t reach their goals because they are consistently undernourished, over worked and under recovered.

Am I saying you shouldn’t do circuit classes? No. Not at all, if that’s what fits your lifestyle and you enjoy it - movement is movement, and I always encourage people to do this!

What I’m saying is that you should understand that extreme behaviours don’t mean extreme results.

And we need to stop chasing that.

The fitness industry is the worst for it. Promoting short term commitments for ‘fast’ results with no education around how to maintain it.

We are so conditioned to receiving everything ‘now’ that most people can’t fathom the thought of a weight loss, fat loss or body compositional goals not being achievable and/or sustainable in a matter of weeks.

So, if you can unlearn one thing today - let it be this.

🚫Extreme behaviours don’t equal extreme results.

🚫More does not mean better.

✅ Sustainable practices equal sustainable results.

The quote isn’t about a journey of 10 miles, it’s “a journey of a THOUSAND miles starts with a single step” - take the time to make your results stick, let your body grow and thrive.

Not sure where to start? Neither did I when I started! Let’s have a chat 🤍

Losing your period to over exercise, extreme weight or fat loss, and calorie deficits is not okay.

It’s not just “what happens”.

It’s definitely not something that can be ignored.

If you lose your period from one of the above reasons - something has been mismanaged in your programming, your diet is not supporting all of your bodies systems and it’s time to stop and reevaluate. If you have a coach, talk to them - if they dismiss it or tell you it will ‘come back’ one day, LEAVE THEM. They have just shown you that your results are the priority over your health.

Getting shredded, jacked or lean with the consequence of losing your period is never worth it.

Losing your period = no ovulation.

Ovulation is orchestrated by the brain, and your brain is incredibly in tune with it’s environment.

So if you’re over training, not eating enough calories (particularly from healthy fats), losing too much weight/body fat and consistently staying in a calorie deficit - your body is not going to feel safe in it’s environment. This lifestyle will be seen as harsh and dangerous, and your brain will step in to block ovulation because it’s unsafe to ovulate and (potentially) allow you to fall pregnant.

To get your period back you need to let your body know that it is SAFE. That you have removed yourself from a harsh and damaging lifestyle and environment.

This means:
🩸ease back on training BIG time.
🩸INCREASE YOUR CALORIES and be sure to include plenty of healthy fats (avocado, coconut oil, activated nuts, seeds, salmon)
🩸ensure you’re getting adequate sleep
🩸cut ties with anything/anyone who is pressuring you to live this way.

If you have lost your period due to this environment please feel free to reach out about how we can implement smart, and safe steps to helping your body feel safe.

I need your HELP!

This is pretty big for me, I’m usually a “I’m good, thanks!” kind of person because I like to do things myself. Up until now, every single program and exercise I’ve ever used I’ve tested out myself.

But, I know that if I was to do this I will probably burn out - so, I’m calling my current work load where it is.

Which is where YOU come in!

I’m needing to trial lower body (glute focused) workouts and I want YOU to do it for me!

And the best bit? It’s 100% free, you only need to invest the time into 2 workouts per week.

So if you:
✨ have the ability and the means to workout at a gym twice per week
✨ are injury free and have no contraindications to exercise
✨ are currently pregnant/have given birth but have clearance to exercise from a women’s health physio therapist

. then you fit the criteria to apply!

All I ask in return is:
✨ written feedback after each workout (how you found it, how long it took, if you have to modify anything, if anything was too challenging).
✨ before and after photos.

That’s it!

So, want some free workouts for 12 weeks?

Head to the link in my bio and click on the link to ‘apply for the 12 week lower body testing program’.

Applications close this Friday 5th November at 5pm and the workouts will be starting from next week!

Can’t wait to hear how much you love them 🍑🔥

Read the post.

Ladies, your cycle MATTERS.

Tell your friends, daughters, mothers, sisters, aunties, cousins. Tell everyone.

Nothing is more powerful than knowing when the push, when to pull back, when to rest, when to socialise, when to hustle, when to train hard, when to recover.. the list goes on.

Just read the post. It’s all in there 🤍

Want to learn how to work around your cycle, including your training?

I have one FINAL coaching spot available for 2021, slide on in to my DM’s if you want to learn how it can be yours 🤍

LINK IN BIO 💜

Short answer, no.

Long answer, you should include it in your training routine because the heart is a muscle so it needs to be trained 🤍

But, if you’re goal is to change your body composition (or ‘tone’) and/or lose weight/fat, it’s not the answer.

For some reason running is everyone’s go to for this? And idk where this came from. Most people can’t run properly and do more damage than they do good, but that’s another rant for another day 🤷🏻‍♀️

Most women come to me ticking many of the following:
▪️under eating
▪️only doing cardio
▪️are stalled in their weight/fat loss journey
▪️stopped seeing any body comp changes
▪️ALWAYS stressed
▪️poor sleep/recovery
▪️over caffeinated
▪️never hydrated
▪️poor digestion
▪️think weight training will make them bulky

The thing with everything in the above list, even if you only check 2 of those boxes, they’re red flags.

Particularly if you undereat and only do cardio, you’re putting your body in something called a sympathetic state or ‘fight or flight’ mode. Where your hormones are hijacked, you won’t recover well, you’re constantly in a stress response, your digestive system is in distress and you’ll have a difficult time losing weight/fat/changing your body composition because you have no energy to spare.

So, for the women who come to me ticking any of those red flags - I suggest the following:

1️⃣ Bump up calories to baseline.
2️⃣Replace 2 cardio sessions, with resistance training.
3️⃣ Prioritise water over caffeine and sleep over social media/Netflix.

And you know what? Most women will see a drop in the scales in a matter of weeks, and they will feel the best they have in years.

Why?

Because their body is no longer in ‘fight or flight’ mode. We have switched over to the parasympathetic system, or ‘rest and digest’. This means: hormones are able to start a balancing, you’ll have better quality recovery, your stress response is under control, your digestive system will be less inflamed and you’ll be able to lose weight/body fat/change body composition because you now have every to spare.

Don’t be scared to lift weights, ladies 🤍

Want some help? My FINAL online spots for 2021 are still available 🤍

LINK IN BIO

This is seriously GAME CHANGING when it comes to women’s performance.

This is what I do with my clients, we learn how their cycles affect them as individuals and then we optimise their training around it.

It’s honestly fu***ng magical.

If you don’t do it, you really should.

If you want to do it with an epic training program - reach out.

Link in bio 🤍

Believe it, or not, but I started out just like you.

I was in your shoes. A little overwhelmed, but determined.

I was also vulnerable to all sorts of advertising that preyed on my insecurities.

I can’t tell you how many times I was suckered into buying some product that would ‘give me a flat stomach’ or ‘get rid of cellulite’. I’m pretty sure I took every fat burner or ‘hydroxycut’ under the sun.

I didn’t think what I ate mattered, just how much. How much determined what I ate the next day, or how much cardio I needed to do.

I under ate and over trained, consistently. I would do double sessions if I felt like my first wasn’t ‘good enough’.

I was obsessed with being skinny, and terrified of gaining weight. So, naturally I’d weigh myself every day, and if I’d put on 0.1kg my day was ruined. It was a miserable cycle.

I thought I had to squat, so I squatted every session. I squatted so much that I injured myself, so I couldn’t squat at all.

I had no period, and I didn’t think that was a problem.

I was skinny, but I wasn’t healthy. My muscles never grew and I didn’t get stronger.

I have made almost every rookie error possible - but, I learnt a lesson from every single one.

And the best bit? I’ve been through it all so you don’t have too.

Let’s chat - I have some online places available 🤍

LINK IN BIO 🤍

If there’s one thing I see consistently in the goals section of my clients questionnaire, it’s that they want to grow their glutes 🍑

My number 1 thought is “girl, you’re in the right place! 😍😍”

Followed quickly by, “I wonder how much she’s eating”.

To which I will then skip ahead in the questionnaire to look over their food diary.

And, no word of a lie - I’d say over 95% are UNDER eating. Some so chronically I don’t know how they are able to function.

Muscle growth is expensive for the body.

So, when we aren’t fuelling ourselves properly every day, it’s NOT going to want to spend that precious energy on muscle growth. It’s going to give it to your daily bodily functions instead.

I like all my clients to be eating MORE for a minimum of 6 months if they’re after muscle growth. You don’t have to track your calories to do this. (If you’ve had disordered eating, or you’re easily obsessed, then macro counting is not route I suggest for you until that relationship with food is healed).

If they’re tracking, I like to bounce in and out of a surplus and maintenance calories. If they’re not tracking, I like them to keep a food diary so I can help them with food suggestions if I want them to bump their calories up, or down.

The biggest thing you need to know is that YOU WILL PUT ON WEIGHT, and that’s ok! The scales aren’t worth fixating on when growth is the aim of the game! Use photos, or measurements, as a way to track your progress.

But ideally, work with a coach who understands that eating more = growth, hormone health, better recovery, better nourishment, better flexibility for living life, better sleep, better digestion.

And hey, I have a couple of spots available for women who are ready to GROW 😍🤍

Link in bio 🤍

WIN ONE MONTH OF FREE COACHING! 😍

I’m giving away one month of STRENGTH coaching and one month of FATLOSS coaching for FREE to 2 lucky female followers!

How to enter:
1️⃣ Must be following .strengthcollective
2️⃣ Like this post!
3️⃣ Comment either ‘strength’ or ‘fatloss’ (and tag your friends for extra entries!)
4️⃣ For more entries share this post to your stories (make sure to tag .strengthcollective so we can see!)

Enter as many times as you like! 🤍

Entries CLOSE on 27th October and the TWO WINNERS will be announced on 28th October! 😍

Squats CAN help to grow your glutes - but, you do need to manipulate them.

Glutes need a neutral spine to be able to produce their maximum amount of force.

When we squat ass to grass, our pelvis ends up being flexed (or tucked). And while this is ok if you’ve been trained correctly, this is not optimal if growing your glutes is the aim of the game!

This tucked position removes the ability to maintain a neutral spine, and means that you’ve taken your glutes out of their active range (the part of a movement where a particular muscle is being used).

Swipe across to see images of a squat with glutes in their active range, and a squat where the pelvis is tucked.

It’s worth noting that BOTH these squats are ok! And if you’ve been squatting ass to grass, you haven’t been doing anything wrong. Hell, sounds like you’ve got some pretty epic range of motion!

This post is just a reminder that exercises can be manipulated to suit your goal 💪🏻🍑

Want some help with your training? I’ve opened up a couple of sneaky spots 😎

LINK IN BIO 🤍