REBUILD: WEEK 3 LUTEAL
MOVE.
The luteal phase of your cycle is special because it’s kind of like two phases wrapped into one - with strength training being key for the first part of it, and flexibility being key for the second half.
In the first half of luteal, you still have a lot of energy to burn since estrogen and testosterone levels are high, with progesterone entering the picture now too. This first part of the luteal phase lasts roughly 5 days. But your energy in this phase won’t be enough for those high intensity workouts you were doing in your follicular and ovulation phases. Instead, use this time to maximize lean muscle gains by focusing on strength training. Bust out those weights and lift them the Bodies After Baby way! Video demonstration located a little further down.
Studies show that the most important thing you can be doing for your mombody is to continue strength training with bands and/or lifting weights. As we age, our bodies will lose muscle mass and fat will continue to proliferate in its place - a process called sarcopenia. But this doesn’t have to be the case if you know what to do to reverse it!
There is a trap that most aging people fall into. This particular trap is the one that tricks aging people into believing they-look-the-same-way-they-did-back-in-high-school MYTH. You often hear people say, “I weigh the exact same number I did when I was in high school”. This myth tricks us into believing we MUST be the same size if our clothes fit the same way they used to. And we MUST be healthy if we can button up those jeans we wore back in high school. Do not fall for this trap.
The truth is, there is a much different story going on inside your mombody. If you could magically open up your mombody and look inside of it, you would see your ratio of fat is growing much faster than your muscle mass. This process makes your skin appear looser, your strength to steadily deteriorate, and your metabolic rate to plummet. So even if you weigh the same number that you did in high school, just know that without weight training, you have surely lost muscle mass and replaced it with fat. Not as healthy as you think! So, of course, the answer to reverse sarcopenia is to lift weights. Remember, “Muscle mass is our wellness currency.” Dr. Ackey
Most people don’t know this but lifting weights increases strength, power, muscle mass, endurance (very surprising!), connective tissue (fascia), and lessens body fat. Compare this to aerobic training which actually causes you to lose strength, power, muscle mass, and connective tissue. Strength training may be the perfect workout for you as long as you are working your muscles to the point of failure - and the good news is, this doesn’t take long to do once you get the hang of it.
Watch the video to see the best way to lift weights while keeping your mombody core engaged. FYI: Some moms like to lift weights all month long and you certainly can do that if you want to. But, hormonally speaking, the first part of your luteal phase is your sweet spot for lifting weights. There is more text to read under this video, don’t miss the rest of the information this week.
So yes, weight lifting is great for the first half of luteal but not so much for the second part of it. This is because all three reproductive hormones (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone) begin to diminish in concentration and you are no longer in muscle building mode. In the second half of luteal, your time is better spent working on flexibility with workouts like: barre, pilates, and gentle yoga.
A recap of exercise during the two parts of luteal phase:
First half of luteal (testosterone is still high) - strength training with BAB breath core engagement (plus mantra for rewiring mombrain), or intense yoga.
Second half of luteal (testosterone is diminishing) - pilates, barre, gentle yoga, kinrgy
CARVE TECHNIQUE
Ok, now that you know which exercises are best in luteal, it’s time to move onto the good stuff. It’s time to get that slim waistline your mombody wants!
You are about to learn a game-changing technique for fixing and beautifying your mombody core. Trust me, this is the only way to naturally get the stomach, pelvic floor, butt, and thighs you want to have outside of very expensive mommy makeover surgery. Are you ready?
The CARVE technique combines the beauty of breathwork, core engagement, alignment, and fascia - all things you have a clear understanding of at this point in the program.
Check out the videos below to see the CARVE technique I created for all moms wanting to use these health philosophies to literally change the shape of your body. I know you have always been told that you can’t spot reduce an area of your body - that you have to lose body fat overall to see a change but that’s just not true. Fascia is like butter - think about how easy it is to spread butter on bread when it is room temperature vs. when it is still cold out of the refrigerator. When you heat up your body, you can reshape the lines of fascia. If you want a slimmer waistline, you can get it. If you want to reshape the way our thighs look, you can. If you want a butt that is more pronounced, you can have it. CARVE is the fastest, most powerful way to change the shape of your body, and fix a leaky bladder for good.
Why is CARVE so important? Because we know that when you mombody is healthy on the inside, your outside is healthy too. In other words, when you have good alignment, good breathing patterns, and healthy fascia…your inside is healthy too.
When the inside of your mombody is healthy, you FEEL amazing because everything is working as it should be (no leaking and no pain). But, you will LOOK amazing because your skin is plump, there’s less cellulite, and you will love the shape of your body. CARVE is your answer to all your physical mombody problems.
CARVE TECHNIQUE
Ok, guys - now that you know what the CARVE technique is all about, here is a video that puts all of the pieces together. Sidenote: I’m not showing you warming up or icing your body after it’s done in this video but those are important pieces you will be doing on your own.
And remember, once you get the hang of it, you can use any workout video you like for the exercise part of it (pilates, barre, Tracy Anderson, or this link is great too: Core & Ab Pilates Home Workout | 20min REAL TIME workout - YouTube) just as long as you are engaging your BAB breath properly.
Always, always “Lift and Cinch” on the exhale. Never on the inhale.
Here are a few more of my CARVE workouts without all of the pre-warmup and post-workout action. These are great for getting your inner core a major workout.