345: Stress Incontinence Solutions

345: Stress Incontinence Solutions

The other day I overheard a conversation between two women at the gym. One woman was complaining to the other about her stress incontinence, or, as she described it, leaking urine during her workout.

The other woman shared that she has the same problem and they attributed it to having kids and talked about how there was no solution other than surgery.

That’s not true.

In today’s episode, I’m talking not only about stress incontinence but about how we ignore problems instead of fixing them. That has got to stop.

We power through workouts without regard to what is happening with our bodies. We do nothing about aches, pains, incontinence, headaches and other symptoms instead of looking to identify & resolve the underlying issue.

Whether you workout or not, whether you experience stress incontinence or not, I strongly recommend you listen to this episode, and to your body.

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Resources:

Summer Fat Loss Fast Track Wait List

How To Leave A Rating & Review (thank you!!!)

Becoming A Supple Leopard by Kelly Starrett

Find a physiotherapist in your area:

USA: http://www.womenshealthapta.org/pt-locator/

UKhttp://www.csp.org.uk/your-health/find-physio/physio2u

Australianhttp://www.physiotherapy.asn.au/APAWCM/Controls/FindaPhysio.aspx

New Zealandhttp://physiotherapy.org.nz/about-physiotherapy/find-a-physio/

Year of Push 3.17 Supple Leopard

If you listen much to the Primal Potential Podcast, you know that I’m always asking people to evaluate if what they are doing works for them. It’s a huge mistake to blindly follow a way of eating that doesn’t give you the results you’re looking for. Like I said yesterday, it really doesn’t matter if it works for someone else. It doesn’t matter at all. All that matter is if it works for you.

While this is an important thing to keep in mind related to what, when & how much we eat, it’s also really, really important related to how we move.

I would dare say that the majority of people who workout don’t ever really evaluate what is working for them and what is not.

Are you getting stronger?

How do you know?

Are you getting leaner?

Are you getting more mobile?

Are your pains & discomforts improving?

Too many people just go through the motions of working out the way people go through dieting. They’re following someone else’s strategy, or rules or program without paying attention to their own bodies.

Guys. Working out is not the endgame. Improving your body is.

If you have pain or discomfort, you should be working to resolve it, not to ignore it or power through it.

If you have limited mobility, you should be working to improve it, not to avoid it.

If you have a weakness, you should be looking to improve it, not just endure it.

I talk about this a lot more on tomorrow’s podcast (episode 345) but please do not spend more attention on working out than you do on body work.

Everyone, whether they workout or not, needs to prioritize body work.

What’s body work?

Working on YOUR body. Not for aesthetic gains but for healing, mobility, flexibility, alignment and stabilization.

I’ve shared before that I go into the gym 30 minutes early and work at home on my body every day. This has nothing to do with my workout. It has to do with my body work.

I work on breathing exercises. I work on flexibility. I work on my posture and alignment.

If I have pain, I work to fix it. If I have weakness, I look for the root cause and monitor my improvements.

I’ve recently been re-reading Becoming a Supple Leopard by Kelly Starrett (it’s very textbook like, for those of you who are considering it) and it’s a powerful reminder that we will not drift to optimal health.

You can’t just show up at the gym and do what you’re told and expect to live in your best body.

Honestly, I think body work should be prioritized over working out because your workout benefits will be minimal if you aren’t taking care of your muscles, joints, pelvic floor, alignment and breath control.

Where can you start? Posture. Stretching. Foam rolling.

I am not a body work expert and I don’t play one on the internet but my point today is this: is what you’re doing working for you? Is your mobility increasing? Are you becoming more flexible? Are you resolving your pain? Is your stress incontinence going away?

If those things aren’t happening, it’s time to make a change.


Today is a crazy day. My schedule is all out of whack and I’m getting things done later than normal. I’m kinda bummed…this is the first day that I’ve been in town and unable to get to the gym. While I could focus on the obstacles and not workout, I choose to focus on the opportunities and get a workout done at home.

In addition to lots of stretching & foam rolling, I did 5 rounds for time (RFT) of the following:

  • 20 med ball thrusters
  • 20 push-ups
  • 20 cal bike

I would have preferred to get to the gym, but even when there’s a lot I can’t do, there’s even more I can do.

 

On the food front:

Since I worked out later in the day, I had more of a “breakfast” meal today – a shake made with collagen powder, almond milk, cacao powder and greek yogurt.

I was feeling pretty hungry around noon time but had a couple of conference calls and wasn’t able to eat right away. Per usual, the hunger faded and I was far less hungry after the calls than before. I love noticing those things. I think it’s really empowering & helps me be less reactive to hunger. When I had the chance, I had steak frites (with sweet potato fries) from Paleo Power Meals.

A couple hours later I had a mini meal of grilled chicken and my early dinner was a cobb salad. My preference is to be done eating as early in the day as possible to maximize that overnight fasting window. Today I was done eating around 5:30pm. I love that!

PS: If you’re new to these posts, listen to this podcast episode to get the scoop on what changes I’m making in my life and you can start back at my first daily post here.

Year of Push 3.16 Tim Ferriss Was Never A Fat Girl

I got the best card in the mail yesterday. One of my client-friends (it’s not fair to call her a client because she really has become a friend in the process) sent me a fantastic thank you note. In addition to being super thoughtful, it made me laugh & I knew I had to share the story with you guys!

As you can see, she suggests that when I write a book there should be a chapter titled “Tim Ferriss was never a fat girl.” I think she’s exactly right & I’ll tell you why.

The client who sent this card is a rockstar. In the past couple of years, she has dramatically changed her body, her health and her whole life. I’m not sure how much weight she has lost, but I’d guess somewhere between 50-80 lbs.

At some point in the past couple months, however, she began to struggle. She wasn’t as enthusiastic about her goals, she was getting bored with food and she stopped doing a lot of the things that had created her success and momentum.

She reached out for some guidance and I suggested we hop on the phone and chat about it. I asked her what kinds of things had changed – what things she had stopped doing that she knows worked for her in the past.

One change she mentioned was the incorporation of “cheat days“. It wasn’t something she had done before but, after a tremendous amount of progress, she read The 4-Hour Body (by Tim Ferriss) and decided to adopt his idea of a cheat day where you can eat anything you want for a day.

After the cheat day, she was struggling to get back to fat loss friendly choices. Since introducing cheat days, she was indulging in more things, more often. Her progress stalled and she didn’t feel in control of her choices.

After listening to a bit more of her predicament, I told her that I too had read The 4-Hour Body and I have no doubt that Tim’s strategies work for him. But, Tim Ferriss was never a fat girl.

Tim Ferriss didn’t struggle with obesity, with food obsession or with the things that go along with both.

Just because it works for Tim, a white guy with a lean build, doesn’t mean it will (or even should) work for you.

I’m not picking on Tim Ferriss – this is true for anyone. Just because a particular food strategy works for that beautiful fitness model you follow on Instagram doesn’t mean it will or should work for you.

Here’s what matters: is it working for you? Are you getting the results you want with that strategy?

In the case of this client-friend of mine, she could be totally convinced that there’s merit to a cheat day and she can find 1,000 people who swear it works for them. None of that matters. It wasn’t working for her. So, it’s not for her.

Don’t distract yourself with what works for other people. We have different backgrounds, different mindset, different metabolisms, different hormonal imbalances. All that matters is what works for YOU.

Not what should work for you, not what could work for you, what DOES work for you.

What gets you results, makes you feel amazing and is sustainable.

Got it?

Unapologetic non sequitur…

Today’s workout was absolutely awesome in all the right ways!

“Hang Tough”
AMRAP 4:
27 Hang Power Cleans (115/80)
27 Wallballs (20/14#)
27 Calorie Bike
Rest 4:00

AMRAP 4:
21 Hang Power Cleans (115/80)
21 Wallballs (20/14#)
21 Calorie Bike
Rest 4:00

AMRAP 4:
15 Hang Power Cleans (115/80)
15 Wallballs
15 Calorie Bike

The 4-minute cycle was just enough to allow for speed & intensity while being able to recover before going hard again. I loved it!

I also did 5 rounds of a 100-cal cycle on my Airdyne bike throughout the day at home. I’m so glad I got my new toy!

On the food front:

I had a couple cups of cold brew coffee before my workout and then picked up a coffee with a splash of heavy cream on my way home from the gym.

I forced myself to get through a couple work projects before having “breakfast” which was a smoothie with almond milk, cacao powder, coffee & raspberries.

Why fruit in the morning? Because I really pushed hard on those hang power cleans today and I thought it would be a nice recovery meal. Golden Rules = carbs at night OR post workout.

I had steak and veggies from Paleo Power Meals in the early afternoon & dinner was a cobb salad with grilled chicken (I added extra chicken).

PS: If you’re new to these posts, listen to this podcast episode to get the scoop on what changes I’m making in my life and you can start back at my first daily post here.

345: Stress Incontinence Solutions

344: 6 Critical Strategies To Crush Your Goals

A couple weeks ago I went up to Albany, NY to watch one of the CrossFit regional competitions. All of the athletes were highly skilled and wanted to win. However, being highly skilled and wanting to win wasn’t enough.

As I watched the competition, I paid close attention to factors that made athletes struggle & falter as well as common factors that set athletes up for success.

In today’s podcast, I’m sharing with you 6 critical strategies that will help you crush your goals based on what I observed at the regionals.

We all want something, but that doesn’t mean we consistently do the work to stay focused and achieve our desired outcome. Today’s episode will help you crush your goals and move from wanting to win to actually winning.

Listen Now

Download Episode

Resources:

Summer Fat Loss Fast Track Wait List

How To Leave A Rating & Review (thank you!!!)

Year of Push 3.15 Inconsistency from Instability

Today, while driving home from the gym, I had an “ah-ha!” moment. I freakin’ love those. I was thinking about something completely unrelated – a video on pec tears of all things – and realized that the problems leading to this particular injury are why so many people struggle to reach their goals.

Seriously – one of the factors responsible for rampant pectoral tears is closely related to why so many people struggle to be consistent with good choices. It’s about instability. 

First: this has nothing to do with fitness.  Hang with me through the fitness talk for just a minute, okay? Let me explain how this started.

During this year’s CrossFit regionals, an uncanny number of men tore their pectoral muscle during a particular workout. From the last numbers I saw, about 26 men tore their pec. That’s kinda crazy…

Of course many people jump to the conclusion that there was something wrong with the workout if one particular injury was so common. The CrossFit community was full of chatter about poor programming, but it doesn’t seem that’s the problem. Kelly Starrett, one of the most knowledgeable physical therapists in the fitness industry, put together a 30 minute video explaining why these injuries happened.

This video is what triggered my aha moment (please note that you have to be a paid MobilityWod subscriber to watch the full video).

While he discussed many factors, one of them was the difference between using barbells & gymnastic bars versus dumbbells and gymnastic rings. In the regional events, there were no barbells and these injuries happened on gymnastic rings.

In short, dumbbells & gymnastic rings require better form and muscular stability from the athlete than barbells and gymnastic bars do.

With a barbell or gymnastic bar, you can create your stability by bracing against an object (the barbell or bar) that provides you with stability. With a dumbbell or ring, the object provides no stability which means the stability must come from your form. It has to come from you.

Essentially, without a fixed or firm object during the competition, some athletes created their own stability and others did not. Without something to brace against for stability, they weren’t as stable in their movements. They could have been, but they weren’t. In their training, they had relied upon external objects for their stability and, when faced with events without such objects, they weren’t stable.

See where I’m going with this?

As I was driving home thinking about how great this explanation was, I realized how many of us rely on external factors for our stability.

For example, if we go to a party and no one is eating or drinking, we follow suit and find it easier not to eat or drink. If, on the other hand, we go to a party where everyone is drinking and over-indulging, we really struggle to make good choices.

Like the athletes at the CrossFit Regionals, you have a choice. You can get your stability from external factors (your environment, what other people are doing, etc) or, you can create your stability from within, allowing you to be successful and productive no matter what is around you.

If you rely on outside factors for your stability, you will routinely be in a situation where that stability isn’t there for you. The instability creates inconsistency.

Because other people weren’t making good food choices, you didn’t either.

Because your schedule got screwed up, you didn’t make time to workout.

Because someone said something you choose to fixate on, your feelings are hurt.

If your stability comes from within, you’ll be consistent.

If your stability doesn’t come from within, you’ll be inconsistent.

Practice structure. Practice internal stability. Practice making the choices that are right for you regardless of external factors.

That’s the path to consistency.

So yeah. That was my moment. I was excited to share it with you.

In other news, here was today’s workout:

“Front Nine”
AMRAP 18:
18 Calorie Row
15 Box Jump Overs (24/20″)
12 Toes-to-Bar
9 DB Front Squats (50’s/35’s)

I loved this workout. I’m so glad I got up and got moving this morning. When my alarm went off at 4:45am I didn’t want to get up and I started debating going back to sleep and working out this afternoon, but I knew I’d feel better about my day if I got up, got moving and crushed the workout early. I was so right!

On the food front:

I was out of town this weekend & got back late last night. You should have seen the look on my face when I sleepily opened the fridge at 4:48am only to realize that there was no cold brew and no more butter coffee from Picnik. No coffee. Sure, I could have made some cold brew but it wouldn’t have been ready before my workout. This sort of thing can’t happen!!! Fortunately, I had an energy drink from Zevia in the car so I dashed out in the rain to get it. Crisis averted.

After the workout I headed right to Starbucks for an Americano. All is well with the world.

My favorite thing about Mondays is that it’s Paleo Power Meals delivery day! Now I have a fridge full of yummy meals for the week!

I had grilled chicken strips around 11am, flank steak with mixed veggies around 3 and a cobb salad around 5:30pm, all from Paleo Power Meals. If you want to give them a try, you can hear my thoughts about them here and here – and be sure to use the coupon code ebprimal20 to save 20% on your first order!

PS: If you’re new to these posts, listen to this podcast episode to get the scoop on what changes I’m making in my life and you can start back at my first daily post here.

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