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How To Train Like A Woman, Part 2: The Guidelines

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Last week I wrote up an introductory piece for my female readers on to How To Train Like A Woman. I had planned for this to be a 2-part series, but I have received a few questions over the last few days and want to make sure that everything is explained thoroughly; this will now be a 3-part series. To recap the take-home points from Part 1:

- The female sex hormones (estrogen and progesterone) which are extremely important in regards to fat storage and burning, fluctuate greatly due to the menstrual cycle.

- Cortisol and insulin must first be regulated in order to control these important sex hormones.

- Progesterone and cortisol are manufactured in the body from a common precursor (pregnenolone). If cortisol is high, progesterone will be lower, especially relative to estrogen levels, which will cause the body to store more fat. Increased insulin levels due to a high-carbohydrate diet only compound this situation.

- As women have relatively low levels of testosterone, it is human growth hormone (GH) that drives muscle-building and fat-burning in the female body.

- Birth control medications alter the levels of female sex hormones in the body, typically leading to more of a fat-storing state. More research needs to be done on this subject.

- With this information in mind, let’s explore the recommendations from Part 1 of How To Train Like A Woman:

  1. Weights over cardio
  2. High-protein over high-carb
  3. Controlling cortisol

Why women should primarily lift weights instead of doing cardio

First of all, I understand that this is counter-intuitive. As a society we have been brainwashed into thinking that cardio burns fat and that calorie in=calorie out. Well, it’s crap. It’s all crap. The human body is not an abacus. It is an extremely complex structure with hormones and catalysts and precursors and enzymes, and in the end, we are simply animals with a body programmed for survival. Running is stressful. It is hard on the joints, and ultimately leads to quite a few injuries. Scientifically, as cardio is increased, cortisol levels rise, progesterone levels shrink, and the thyroid starts to shut down (the thyroid is responsible for controlling metabolic rate, how the body uses energy, hormone sensitivity, etc.) All of these factors put the body in a terrible state for fat-burning, and ultimately creates the opposite effect: the body slows its metabolism and holds on to fat for dear life.

Some people absolutely love cardio however, so if you are one of these people, you can certainly keep doing this inefficient steady-state exercise for enjoyment, but please don’t complain about a lack of results. Cardiovascular activity is generally healthy; it’s just not good for fat-loss. Excessive cardiovascular activity however (read: several bouts of over 45 minutes of steady-state cardio per week) is just downright silly. I apologize in advance to all my marathon-running readers, but from an exercise point of view, this is about the worst thing you can do to your body. You’ll lose lean muscle mass, store fat whenever possible, likely develop some sort of chronic injury and your cortisol levels will be through the roof, leading to all sorts of other hormonal issues. Run if you must, but understand the consequences. For more great information on this topic, read this article.

Enter, weight-training. Lifting weights will build lean muscle mass, which will lead to a high metabolic rate (read: increased fat-burning), and create a more favourable hormonal balance within the body. Additionally, if your goal is to burn fat and get that “toned” look, lifting heavy weights for low reps will get you the best results. Much like the myth about cardio, we’ve also been trained to think that lifting heavy things will make us bigger so we should lift lighter weights for more reps to prevent growth and increase tone. Well, this is again completely false. As I explained earlier this year, lifting heavy weights for lower reps (<5) builds strength and lifting lighter weights for more reps (8-15) leads to hypertrophy (aka muscle growth). You won’t always want to lift heavy weights, but lifting relatively heavy should be the core component of weight training for women, should the goal be fat-loss and muscle tone.

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In part 3 I will lay-out a general workout template for women, which can be modified according to individual schedules and lifestyles, and will take into consideration the hormonal fluctuations of the menstrual cycle. I’ll do my best to explain progressions so that it can be tackled by women of every physical activity level. It should also be noted that although I don’t encourage steady-state cardio, I do encourage women to walk as often as possible, to incorporate activities like yoga, and to engage in recreational team sports. Not only are these activities good for overall cardiovascular health, but they are also important for stress-reduction (read: cortisol reduction) as well as mental health.

Why should women eat more protein and less carbohydrate?

For starters, let me reiterate something that I’ve said many times in the past: everyone, man or woman, should be consuming at least 1 g of protein per pound of body weight every day. For people lifting weights, more is better.

So what are the advantages of protein?

  1. Increased muscle synthesis and increased GH levels, leading to greater fat-burning and better body composition.
  2. Increased thermic effect of feeding, ie, the body burns twice as much energy digesting protein than it does carbs or fats. This means greater fat loss when dieting and less fat gain during overfeeding/muscle-building.
  3. Increased Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1) in response to exercise and feeding; as women have extremely low levels of testosterone, other anabolic growth hormones (like IGF-1) are more critical to muscle-building.
  4. Reduction in cardiovascular risk — Several studies have shown that increasing the percentage of protein in the diet (from 11% to 23%) while decreasing the percentage of carbohydrate (from 63% to 48%) lowers LDL cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations with concomitant increases in HDL cholesterol concentrations.
  5. Improved weight loss profile; reducing the carbohydrate ratio from 3.5 – 1 to 1.4 – 1 increases body fat loss, spares muscle mass, reduces triglyceride concentrations, improves satiety, and improves blood glucose management.
  6. Increased protein turnover — All tissues of the body, including muscle, go through a regular program of turnover. Since the balance between protein breakdown and protein synthesis governs muscle protein turnover, you need to increase your protein turnover rates in order to best improve your muscle quality. A high protein diet does just this. By increasing both protein synthesis and protein breakdown, a high protein diet helps you get rid of the old muscle more quickly and build up new, more functional muscle to take its place.
  7. Protein has a mild effect on insulin, especially relative to carbohydrates. If you want to control your insulin levels, eat more protein and less carbohydrate.
Eat me!

Eat me!

What about carbohydrates?

  1. The purpose of carbohydrates is to provide energy. If ingested carbohydrate is not used immediately, it is stored as fat.
  2. Glucose is essential to life- the brain and Central Nervous System (CNS) prefer glucose to other fuel and function best with a constant supply- but the human body is capable of fuelling basic metabolic functions through ketone production and also by manufacturing and providing the minimum amount of glucose needed daily (~50 g) through the natural process of gluconeogenesis (ie, you do not need dietary carbohydrate in order to survive).
  3. Carbohydrates largely dictate insulin secretion in the body; the higher the carb on the glycemic index and/or the amount of carbs in a feeding determine the size and length of an insulin spike. Insulin will drive ingested nutrients either into muscle for energy or repair, or into fat cells for storage; unless you have just exercised intensely, insulin will promote fat storage, which is why the timing of carbohydrate ingestion is critical for fat loss.
  4. Chronic ingestion of carbohydrates, especially sugar, will make cells more resistant and less sensitive to insulin. The body will therefore compensate by secreting even more insulin in the presence of carbohydrates. Eventually, this will lead to the development of type-II diabetes; this is incredibly important for any women who suffer from low progesterone levels (ie, women who are extremely stressed out or post-menopausal women), as high estrogen levels (relative to progesterone levels) can lead to insulin sensitivity. These women are at an elevated risk for health problems and should absolutely make the appropriate exercise and nutrition adjustments.

For the reasons listed above, women should seriously consider lowering their carbohydrate intake and increase their protein consumption. Dietary protein is required for nearly every metabolic function in the human body, whereas carbohydrates are necessary for… nothing. Enough said. In Part 3 I will go over nutrition in a bit more detail with foods to target, foods to avoid, macronutrient breakdown and nutrient timing.

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Controlling Cortisol

We all have cortisol, and cortisol isn’t always a bad thing (it is catabolic and therefore needed to burn fat, we just want to control it so that it doesn’t burn valuable things like muscle). Now, I’ve already mentioned a few things about cortisol, but I wanted to touch on subject close to my heart. Despite all the love that I’ve given to caffeine in the past, it appears as though excessive coffee intake can indeed be detrimental to the fat-burning process in women. I swear, it hurts me to write this, because caffeine (and especially coffee) has many great benefits. However, caffeine does increase cortisol levels, which is bad for women for 2 main reasons:

  1. High cortisol leads to lower progesterone levels (due to the common precursor)
  2. Coffee intake has been linked to higher estrogen levels (the cause is undetermined, but it could be due to the acidity of coffee), which leads to a larger estrogen-progesterone imbalance and puts the body into fat-storing mode. If carbohydrates are added to this equation (read: insulin spike), it is a fat-storing recipe for disaster. NOTE: Increased estrogen-progesterone levels are not only bad for body composition, but also make women more susceptible to PMS symptoms, infertility, osteoporosis and several types of cancer.
Just try to stick to 1 or 2 cups...

Just try to stick to 1 or 2 cups…

Now, I still fully encourage my female readers to start the day with a black cup of coffee (with coconut oil for optimal results) because despite high cortisol levels first thing in the morning, insulin levels are also low, GH levels are high and caffeine also causes the release of epinephrine, further promoting fat-burning. In other words, although this could negatively affect the sex hormones, the body is still in such a great fat-burning state in the morning that coffee should still help you capitalize on this window. NOTE: The very WORST thing that you can do first thing in the morning is wake up and immediately eat carbohydrates, as insulin will ensure that you store fat instead of burn it. If you eat first thing in the morning, stick to protein and fat and save the carbs for post-workout. Aside from this morning coffee however, it is likely advisable for women to avoid coffee for the rest of the day. This extra caffeine will increase cortisol at inopportune times, skewing the sex hormone balance and leading to more fat storage. Have a black coffee first thing in the morning, but stick to herbal teas later in the day. Oh, and don’t forget to make sure to try to drink high-quality coffee; and yes, it makes a difference.

So, how do we control cortisol levels?

  1. Sleep as much as possible. 8+ hours a night is ideal. Naps shouldn’t be overlooked, but regular, uninterrupted sleeping patterns are important.
  2. Reduce the stress in your life. Here are some tips.
  3. Exercise. Either with weights, or high-intensity interval training (ie, sprints, bike intervals, metabolic complexes, etc., lasting less than 20 minutes total)
  • Long story short: Cortisol (stress) induces the release of epinephrine and increases gluconeogenesis, releasing glucose (sugar) into the blood. Low-intensity aerobic exercise will not efficiently burn through this fuel. High-intensity exercise will burn through this glucose and force the body into an anaerobic state, signalling the release of testosterone and GH. When combined, these ingredients will make you burn fat and build muscle. When the workout is over, there will be a feeling of energized relaxation (if you’ve ever had a great workout, you know the feeling!) and the body’s perception of stress is positively altered. Jogging, biking, running, walking, yoga, etc., can lower cortisol levels to a certain degree, but not even close to the same degree as an intense workout.

If you can combine these factors with the appropriate nutritional interventions, you’ll be well on your way to a better body composition, a decreased risk of injury and disease, and an overall improvement in quality of life.

So, as I mentioned earlier, Part 3 will come sometime in the next few days. I plan to include all the details you’ll need to improve your body composition and overall health, including a workout template that you can tailor to your own schedule.

If I’ve left anything out, or if there is something that you’d like me to elaborate on in the interim, don’t hesitate to send me a message!

Happy Monday!

- DW



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