Female Fitness tips and facts that arnt well known because the health industry is male dominated

Not here to discuss whether the health industry being male dominated is good or bad or why – but it is; and that leaves alot of information about the female Fitness journey out of main stream discussion.

1. If you are an average height / sized woman it is highly unlikely you need protein powder to hit your protein goal

Protein powder is a supplement meant for people who are struggling to hit their protein goal, it is not meant for people who are already hitting their protein goal through their regular diet to just add on protein for the sake of it. Before you touch that whey protein do you even know what your current protein intake is? Because if you’re going over 2g per kg of your body weight you’re causing more problems then benefits.

And I know people are reading this thinking “2g per kg of your body weight is really hard there’s no way anyone is doing that on accident” – when youre 60kg or under it’s very, very easy. Especially if you base protein intake on just lean body mass for alot of women they do not have to eat much. For a 70kg woman – 20% body fat = lean mass of 56kg that’s 112 grams- if you have 2 chicken breasts, and 4 eggs in 24 hours you can’t have literally anything else without going over. You don’t even need 2g per kg unless you’re seriously advanced lifting. If you’re an average gym goer just trying to build a lil muscle- 1.6 grams. If you need 20g protein powder to hit 80 grams your diet must be hot ass. What in the medieval peasant did you have to eat today that you still need 20g whey protein to hit 80 grams?

1. The reason why mothers gain weight after childbirth and it has nothing to do with letting yourself go-

When you are pregnant and when you are breast feeding your calories exerted per day goes up by 300 while pregnant to 500 -700 while breastfeeding. 700 calories exerted is like skipping for 30 minutes flat every single day. Your body over the course of 9 months pregnancy + 1 Yr to 2 yrs of breastfeeding becomes accustomed to your habitual calorie intake minus the extra 500 you’ve exerted to breastfeed. That becomes your maintenence calorie intake even if its below 2000 because you’ve been in that caloric intake for so long.

So what do you think happens when you keep your diet the same but suddenly lower your calorie exertion by 700 by not breastfeeding? You go over your maintence and gain weight. That’s like going from skipping 30 minutes every day to suddenly stopping and wondering why you’re seeing changes in your body. Alot of women who gain weight after child birth and breastfeeding actually didn’t change their diets or level of activity at all- no, they didn’t eat more, and no they didn’t get lazier. Its just breastfeeding put their body in a catabolic state and suddenly their daily calorie exertion dropped by 700 during weining making them gain weight despite not changing any of their life style habits.

1. As a woman no you are not going to get visible abs without training them or “working core through compound movements.”

Everyone has abs. And yes if you reach a low enough body fat percentage they will become visible. But as a woman you cannot drop to the same body fat percentage as your male peers without effecting your menstrual cycle and fertility. A healthy fat percentage for a woman MINIMUM, as in just boardline it being a problem is 20%.

To have your abs show through man or woman at 20% body fat your abdominal muscles have to be very developed. You are not going to get abs at 20% body fat without core exercises and just doing compound movements. The idea of obtaining abs just by getting lean and sustaining that really only applies to men because as a woman you’re going to hit health problems if your plan is to not work them out and just get skinny enough to see them.

1. Eat your fibre

What’s one of the biggest hormonal factors for female weight gain? Say it with me- excess estrogen. What nutrients binds to excess estrogen to facilitate their removal through the digestive system? Fibre! We love our estrogen, it makes us feel bonita, gives us those curves but it also wants us to hold onto our weight and increases fluid retention to keep us nice and plump for baby making and baby incubating. That’s why you gain weight on birth control by the way, it’s causing high estrogen production and fluid retention.

High fibre foods? Dates, Chia Seeds, avocado’s, nuts, fruit in general, oats and the list really goes on forever.

1. Core engagement matters more for women then it does for men during majority of upper body weight exercises

One of the main reasons women struggle more with press ups, pull ups and general calisthenics then their male counterparts is the fact we have different body weight distributions. Women keep their weight in their hips while men keep their weight in the chest. Women struggle to do pull ups for a similar reason your local Mr tickle struggles to bench and sasquatch has a disproportionate deadlift- body composition. Women have to pull or push majority of their body weight further away from the working mechanism then men do.

Obviously as a woman between your working mechanism (your arms) and your centre of gravity (your fat dump truck) you have your core. Men can get away with not contracting their core on a pull up and crossing their bent legs behind them. Women? No. Legs should be infront, core should be contracted or you’re not going to be moving much.