Welcome to Wellness Wednesday where in-house nutrition coach, Coach Diana Leigh, answers YOUR questions about health.
Got a question you want to see answered here? Submit it on the AMA form.
Before we get into today’s post, I want to tell you about an upcoming free coaching opportunity!
I’m hosting the Food Freedom Challenge June 1 – June 3 on Zoom at 5:30pm PST each day.
The Food Freedom Challenge is a 3-day virtual challenge that helps active individuals achieve confidence in adopting a more balanced and lifestyle-driven approach to nutrition through improved eating habits, understanding of portion control, and a plan for successful implementation.
Over the course of the 3 days, I’ll be digging into what mindful eating is and why it matters for a solid nutritional foundation, how to determine appropriate portion sizes and create a well-balanced diet, and my best tips for setting yourself up for success every week.
To join, register at rebrand.ly/foodfreedom. Even if you can’t make it live, registrants will get access to the replays!
**As a note, I will not be releasing a Wellness Wednesday post next week. If you want your weekly wellness dose, you gotta show up to the FFC!**
Q: Is there an “optimal time of day” for certain types of workouts? My friends are in other programs that are strict about light cardio in the morning and lifting in the evening…. is this a thing? THANKS!
A: The most optimal time of day for workouts is the time of day you can be most consistent with it and feels best for your body.
I know it’s not a sexy answer, but it’s true – there’s no need to get super specific with workout times other than figuring out what specifically works best for you.
I prefer to exercise in the morning. I get it done and out of the way and I find that I’m more likely to be tired in the evenings and potentially skip a training session or not train as hard. I’ve heard others tell me they prefer evenings because they feel it’s harder to warm up in the mornings and they perform better at night. Neither of us are wrong, it’s all about preference.
I’m of the firm belief that if you are not a professional athlete or looking to go pro, there is no reason to get hyper specific with your training or nutrition. Instead focus on:
- What feels best for your body?
- When can you consistently commit to moving your body?
- What activities do you enjoy doing?
By focusing on these 3 aspects, you’ll set yourself up for training success without unnecessary rules or gimmicks.
Q: How much mobility is enough mobility? It’s hard for me to motivate myself to do more than just the stretch at the end of the workout. How do I incorporate more mobility into my life?
*Insert Mean Girls quote, “The limit does not exist!”*
As you can guess, “how much mobility” is a question that cannot be answered with a catch all answer. It depends on your current level of mobility, your age, how frequently you exercise, the level of intensity, etc. But what I will say is ideally you should be mobilizing every day.
Why do we need mobility in the first place?
- Reduce risk of injury – When you aren’t mobile, you may load your body with weight incorrectly leading to injuries. Being mobile allows you to get in the correct position and use the proper muscles when exercising.
- Improve performance and strength gains – To piggyback on point one, lacking mobility can negatively affect our results from our hard work in the gym due to improper form, technique, and muscle activation. You’re never going to get a stronger overhead squat if your mobility is crap.
- Improve recovery – By mobilizing after a workout we increase blood flow to the muscles which helps us recover faster allowing us to train more or harder.
When you connect to your WHY it becomes easier to get motivated. You need to understand how mobility is actually going to move you forward in your training goals, otherwise you’re not going to be motivated to follow through.
Now that we’ve covered the WHY, let’s tackle the HOW.
I’ve learned I am more likely to mobilize when I have a plan or some sort of guidance, and there are tons of tools out there to help you with this. Currently my favorite tool has been GOWOD – this is an app targeted towards CrossFitters that provides mobility routines based on your individual needs. Here’s what I love about it:
- Your usage of the app begins with a mobility test to assess your current mobility and it uses your results to tailor recommendations to you.
- There are pre and post WOD mobility routines that you can do tailored directly to the workout movements programmed in your day. I’ve been using these as my warm ups and cool downs.
- There’s also a daily stretch option which I also use at the end of a training session or on an off day for guided stretching and mobility.
- You can select how much time you want to do each. I think customizing the time commitment is so important to having a sustainable mobility routine.
A few other options I’ve liked and tried in the past:
- Down Dog Yoga (app) – I use this app and the restorative yoga feature for guided stretching but with more of a calming yogic effect.
- ROMWOD – Also targeted towards CrossFitters with daily guided stretching routines. What I didn’t love is that it can be hard to commit to with limited time commitment options (~12-15 min or ~30-50 min depending on the day). I did see amazing results when I was consistent with it.
- Stretch and Move SD – For bigger mobility issues it’s been amazing to get help from Lauren and Johnny with fascial stretch therapy. I feel this is an amazing addition to my regular mobility routine to speed up results especially for issues I’ve had for a long time. I’ve been able to resolve pain in just a few sessions with them!
So if part one of the HOW is getting a guided program to follow, part two of the HOW is implementing it into your schedule.
- Start small and set minimums. Aim for something reasonable such as 10 minutes of mobility 3 times per week. You should be fairly confident you can make this commitment happen. Once you regularly hit your goal, push your comfort zone a bit ie. 10 minutes of mobility 4 times per week. Slowly increase until you’re practicing mobility DAILY. The beauty of setting minimums is that you can always exceed them. So if your goal is only 10 minutes but you have time to get in 15 minutes – go for it!
- Anchor the habit. I found this one to help me the most – my workout habit is already ingrained, so I attached my desired mobility habit to it. I found that I was more successful to follow through on performing my daily mobility by doing it immediately after my workout.
- Schedule it. Physically write down what you want to achieve and when you will do so. Create the time and make it a priority by giving it a slot in your calendar. By doing so you will hold yourself accountable. Better yet, mark off each time you complete the task to reinforce the behavior.
- Call out your wins. Acknowledge how your consistency in performing this habit is creating wins. It could be noticing improved recovery, improved form and technique, PRs after plateaus, reduction of pain, etc. Reinforce the behavior by noticing how it’s improving other areas of your life.
I know this is a lot to take in so quick recap on action steps:
- Connect with your WHY
- Find a program for guidance
- Set a minimum and hold yourself accountable; build from there
- Call out your wins to reinforce the behavior
Coach Diana Leigh is a Precision Nutrition certified coach who uses habit-based coaching to help her clients get stronger and feel amazing in their bodies without the restriction and overwhelm of dieting. For more helpful tips, follow her on Instagram @coachdianaleigh.
Want to work with Coach Diana Leigh? Fill out her application here.