Start Strong: Fuel, Recovery & Why Doing More Isn’t Always Better

In this episode Emma and Laura talk about one of the most common mistakes with training & nutrition - trying to do everything at once and expecting better results from doing more. 

This episode covers fuelling your training properly, why under-eating often shows up as fatigue or low mood and how sleep, stress and recovery all affect how much training your body can actually tolerate. 

In today’s episode we cover:
 • Eating to support training 
 • Why under-fuelled training leads to fatigue & feeling flat
 • The role of sleep in recovery and load tolerance
 • Stress and its impact on performance and progress
 • Finding the balance between challenge and burnout
 • Making training part of a lifestyle, not a short-term push

A great listen for anyone who feels tired, stuck, or frustrated despite trying hard, and wants to understand how to train in a way that actually supports energy, strength and long-term progress.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Hello and welcome back to And Bloom Unfiltered where we are focusing on a six-week little program to help you to bust some myths and really focus on one thing each week so that you can get the results that you have always wanted. Stay consistent and just listen to us and get some advice week on week. Now, last week we spoke about the all or nothing mindset and how progress actually lives in the middle. And this week we're building on that because one of the biggest mistakes we see women make, especially when they start training again, is that they try and do everything once and that never ever gets results. Women tell us all the time how do I get more energy? How do I correctly fuel my training? When shall I eat? And these are all the exact questions that we're going to answer today. So, Laura, tell us what's the difference between someone that gets results and still feels happy and energized and actually enjoys the process compared to someone that doesn't.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

I think, like you just said, the people that fly in and try and do everything at once, so really reducing your calories, trying to fit so much into your schedule, pushing yourself really, really hard in your training, it's not sustainable. So you might be able to keep it up for a week or two, but then you are probably going to crash and burn at some point. Um, and it is still something we see in long-term members, whether they are training for something, whether they're just pushing a little bit too hard, or they are burning the candle at both ends. So if they're stressed at work or they're not eating enough, or things are happening uh in their lives. Um, compared to someone that does get results, we normally see people that take it a little bit slower, they allow their body time to adjust. So if you're starting a new program, you're probably going to be a bit sore, you're probably going to need a little bit more fuel. Um, focusing on your sleep is going to be a big one. Reducing your stress where possible is obviously huge. We only have a certain tolerance for load, and that load can come from so many different areas. So it's not just how hard we're pushing in our sessions, it's how we feel mentally outside our sessions, it's the stress outside of sessions, it's how well we're sleeping, and again, how well we're fueling our bodies. This all has such a compounding effect. Um, and I think that's a big thing we will cover today is how all these things affect each other.

SPEAKER_00 2:36

Yeah, it's no one thing, right? It's never going to be one thing. And by this time, if you're following the six-week program and you are into week three, then hopefully you've got an element of enjoying your training and actually thinking, Oh, this is something that I can see myself doing long term within a really supportive environment where it's coach-led. But I think when we are in that environment and it's easy to see long term, then we know that actually we're more likely to get results. Whereas if we're just doing this and we can't wait for a six weeks to be over, then it's less likely that we're going to stick to or get those long-term results.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

Definitely. And I was actually speaking to a friend the other day. Um, he is an athlete, and the club make all his meals for him, so every meal is made to what his body needs. His sleep is looked at, he look at his nervous system, they look at his stress, and it all revolves around the fact that he needs to be primed and ready to be an athlete. And I think we throw ourselves in this training, like having that expectation of ourselves, maybe not necessarily being an athlete, but that we should be able to handle all this stuff. But there's no one there making our meals, there's no one there monitoring our stress, there's no one else looking out for us in those other areas, and I think that is what people miss is that if all of that was calculated for you, we probably all have the have the potential to be a prime athlete and never feel rubbish and have loads of energy. But if we can allow ourselves a bit more space, our nutrition's never probably going to be perfect, athletes probably never be perfect because we all have busy normal lives, so we need to adapt our training to that. And what does that look like? So I think it is taking it one step at a time, getting to know your body is a massive thing, and it's something that we talk about quite a lot with clients in terms of understanding how to coach yourself, not just from a gym perspective, like we're there to talk you through your session. You need to get in your own head and figure out how your body's feeling, what your stress outside looks like. So if you've had a really busy week at work or your boss is on you, or you're a bit anxious about something, it's gonna put a lot of load on your nervous system and you're gonna be in that fight or flight. So then, if you go and throw yourself into a really heavy training session or a really hard hit session, or you go to a METCON, it could potentially push you over the edge in terms of you might not then feel great. Whereas if you go into that session, you're very mindful, you slept well, the kids are behaving themselves, like you're not stressed at work, you're gonna tolerate that session a lot better.

SPEAKER_00 5:21

Yeah, having an idea of what else is going on in your life at that time, and therefore how how much you've got to give. It's all about that cup analogy, right? How topped up is your cup, and then how much energy have you got to give. But what if someone was sat there going, yeah, but my cup is never topped up, and actually coming to the gym is something that does top it up.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

I think it's then taking a look at the load you're putting on yourself in sessions. So, for example, your deadlift PB is gonna feel much better on the days that you aren't like your cup is a bit fuller. If you go in knowing that you've got all those things on your plate, can you turn the weight down a little bit? Like, we have had a progress month in the gym recently, which just means that you are testing where you're at with your weights. And this week we're out of progress month, and a lot of people have said to me in sessions, why am I not hitting my PB? Like, why am I not meant to be pushing to my PB? And you're not meant to be pushing that weight all the time, you're not meant to be pushing to your maximum all the time because your body can't handle that, it's not meant to be able to handle that. We are trying to gradually make really small increments. If you are turning up to the gym and lifting 50% of your max, you will get results still.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

It doesn't have to be that max all the time, and that brings us on to like not have not feeling we there was a massive transition probably about four or five years ago now, where I think we we started to educate women more on the fact that you shouldn't you shouldn't have to come out of every session feeling like you're completely done in. And I know some people like that feeling, but realistically, your training should be something that you can maintain and something that can be consistent around your lifestyle. So no matter whether you've had you know hardly any sleep last night, or no matter whether your nutrition hasn't been perfect, you're still able to go in and have a really, really good session. That by the time our next progress block comes along, you're still pushing on those PBs, but you might not have trained them for the last four weeks. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_01 7:34

Yeah, and I think it's really interesting to look back because I don't know if you remember like the insanity boot camps and like all of those things were huge, and the reason they were huge was because you left feeling so tired, and like you'd really, really worked yourself hard, and it was like that no pain, no gain mentality, but they didn't last, like I'm sure they're still around and people still do them, but there's a reason that strength training and progressive overload and following a proper program has lasted and is like what we do today, is because it does work, and there's a reason that Ash will program lift 20% less than your PB, like it's all done for such a specific reason when we train you.

SPEAKER_00 8:17

Yeah, absolutely. So I'm a woman that comes to the gym and I train twice a week. How can I eat to support that?

SPEAKER_01 8:27

So you want we all talk about balance, and it is obviously all about balance. Um, you want to make sure that you are getting enough protein. Um, if you're not sure how to calculate that, just message your coach, we can always help you figure that out. It's fairly simple, it should be roughly 1.2 to 1.5 kilos, uh no grams per kilo of body weight um spread out throughout the day. So per mil your body can actually only absorb, I think it's between 30 and 40 grams. So you don't want to just have 50 to 60 grams of protein because it's probably going to upset your stomach a little bit, and it's better to have it spread throughout the day. Um, you want to make sure you've got good sources of carbohydrates in there, carbohydrates help you feel a lot stronger. Um, we have quite a few people that come in that obviously it's a preference to eat breakfast. Well, not eat breakfast, but if you train early, some people really notice a difference if they actually do have a bit of toaster or banana before because you are going to be able to lift that bit heavier because you've given your body a little bit more. Um, and I think one thing people misunderstand is you get hungrier when you start training, and that's actually a really good healthy sign because it means your body is actively telling you you're working harder, you actually need a few more calories now. So don't mistake that hunger as a negative thing, it just is a sign from your body that you may need to fuel a bit more. It doesn't mean you have to have a whole extra meal of the day, but maybe just top your plate up a little bit more than you normally would on the days that you're training, or potentially the day after, or the day after that. It depends when that hunger shows up.

SPEAKER_00 9:57

And I think it's about zooming out and and showing the bigger picture, right? If you come in for a some of our ladies do a 6am session, like making sure that you have a really balanced dinner is going to be really important for that 6am session. That is the fuel that you are literally going to use. That's like saying I'm gonna drive from Gatwick to Manchester and on an empty tank, you know, there's there's no point not filling the car up the night before. So it's about having that consistency of okay, you might like I'm not someone that enjoys eating breakfast before I train if I train early, but I do make sure that I've had a decent meal of protein, fats, and carbs before I go to bed.

SPEAKER_01 10:37

Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 10:40

So is there any limit on how often I should eat before I train or how far away?

SPEAKER_01 10:47

Um, so if you're eating like an actual proper meal, I'd give it four hours. Um, your digestion requires blood flow, and when you train your muscles, they obviously require blood flow. So people find they get slightly bloated when they train, it's because the blood flow is going away from your muscles, uh going away from your digestive system because you need to prioritize using those muscles. So you don't want anything heavy in your stomach that needs digestion while you're training, probably could feel a bit sick too if you eat too close. Um, anything from 30 minutes to two hours, I'd say something carby if you are gonna eat. Avoid fats, fats are quite hard to digest, same with protein. So anything that's easy to digest. Um yeah, any like some toast, a banana, something quick, nothing too high in fibre. Again, just think digestion, keep it quite straightforward. It is individual, so some people find they feel really sick if they eat at all before they train. I would test things out. We always say this to people before we do breast cancer. Um, test a couple of things and see how they sit. Don't throw yourself into a METCON and eat half an hour before if you've never done it before. Maybe try it on a strength session first where you're less likely to feel sick.

SPEAKER_00 12:05

Hmm. Yeah, and I would also note that just remember that we have a 28-day cycle. Most most women, 28 to 30 days, it's just will depend on where you are on. So don't go into a session and go, oh, I've just eaten a banana and it's made me feel crappy. And knowing that you're you know due on at the same time, and then completely rule out bananas. Like we are complicated beings, us women, um, and therefore we have to test things multiple times over a month, and so don't rule anything out straight away. What about then after we've trained? Is there anything that we should note on nutrition after we've trained?

SPEAKER_01 12:41

Um, just refuel. So most of us won't just unless training very late, you're not just gonna go straight to bed. If you have had quite a heavy session, you're probably gonna need a little bit of energy to get yourself through the rest of the day. So just a balanced meal. You might not be hungry straight away. Again, that blood flow hasn't gone straight back to your digestive system, so things aren't working as they normally would yet. Um, some people find they're starving as soon as they finish training. Just see how you feel, but get some carbs and some sort of protein in you, whether that's straight after or a bit later in the day.

SPEAKER_00 13:13

Yeah, it's really good to eat within two hours of training. It's just our our body needs that refuel to keep those that energy level highs, but it also replaces then what we if what we've used essentially and helps us to recover better. So DOM's great feeling, but you know, it's going to really really help with those DOMs if you're eating nearer to the time where you've trained rather than you know leaving it four or five hours. So that ticks off food then. What about sleep? Is there anything that people should be mindful of um with their sleep when they're training?

SPEAKER_01 13:53

I think sleep is a huge one, and we probably underestimate it. It's not always in our control how well we're sleeping. If you've got kids, if your head's a bit busier than normal, if you are menopausal, it's probably going to affect your sleep. You don't have to stop training, but it is going to impact your recovery and how capable you are of taking on more load. So if you are going for a period where sleep isn't amazing, just pull back on your training slightly. Um see how your energy is session, session, it may change. Some days may feel better than others. Um, just try and work on your sleep hygiene. So we all know that screens for bed aren't amazing. Um, try and make sure you are in bed to be able to get eight hours. If you don't get the eight hours, you obviously can't help it. Um, but if we are more consistent with our sleep hygiene and sleep routines, it can really help.

SPEAKER_00 14:49

Yeah, absolutely. And we know that most women do struggle massively with their sleep, and we go through so many stages within our life where sleep is not really an option, whether that's having children or whether that is uh going through menopause and being woken up early, the better, the more level we can keep our blood sugars, we know the better we will sleep. Um, blood sugar spikes can wake us up in the early hours of the morning, um, and therefore, the more level we've kept them throughout the day. So, eating those four meals that we're talking about, making sure there's loads of fibre on our plate, making sure there's protein on our plate, making sure there's a little bit of fats and some really, really great carbs, um, that's all going to help you. Training also is known to help people with their sleep. Um, we have women that go, Oh, finally, I've had a good night's sleep because your body does need it to rest and recover from that draining session. So you might find that you do sleep for a little bit longer after a session. But it's also then, as Laura said, to be mindful of actually last night, like I didn't sleep great, so therefore, I'm not gonna push maybe as hard in sessions today. I'm still gonna turn up, I'm still gonna get that penny in the jar, but I'm not gonna go all out and try and get my PB just to impress my trainer because you know my body is still recovering if I've not slept properly. And then I think something also to note is the fact that our energy um our nutrition needs a lot of attention when we're not sleeping. Sleep gives us energy, food gives us energy. If we're not getting energy from sleep, we will look to food to get energy, right?

SPEAKER_01 16:29

Yeah, definitely. I think it's when people start craving those that quick carbs, like the chocolate, the pastries of bread, that is normally a signal that you're either under eating or you're a bit sleep-deprived.

SPEAKER_00 16:44

Yeah, absolutely. So then what about stress? How can that affect us getting good results?

SPEAKER_01 16:50

So, stress is a load on our body. Um, stress can come from so many different areas, and we may not even realise without stressed. Um stress, obviously, we know from like things like work and home life and looking after elderly parents and all sorts. Um that can be quite obvious, but then we need to figure out what our stress tolerance is. So if you already have all of those things going on, your body is not going to be able to tolerate low calories, less sleep, and training as well. Training is stress, it's normally a good stress in our body, but we need to be cautious of how much stress we've already taken on in other areas. So if you know that you're very stressed in other areas at the moment, I would keep your calories at maintenance or like around that. Try and really focus on your sleep and just tick your sessions off. It is not a time to be reaching for PBs, it is not a time for really pushing ourselves. Whereas if you know your stress is pretty low, life's pretty chilled at the moment, and you can put a bit more energy into really pushing your training, go for it. Um, we are looking at making this a lifelong thing, so you're gonna go through phases. There are gonna be phases where you're gonna be able to push harder. You can't expect yourself to push hard all the time because life doesn't quite work like that.

SPEAKER_00 18:14

Yeah, it's remembering that your nervous system can only be challenged so much and can only be put under so much pressure. Um, and like you say, stress uh training is a stress on the body, it's a good stress, but actually, by adding if you've got a lot of stress going on elsewhere, then adding that stress in and it being a real big stress on the body, i.e., doing a METCON or pushing really hard to get your PB, then um that is definitely going to implicate it. But I would also then note as well, I think a lot of women will resonate from the times when when they are really stressed or when they are really tired, that's when they tend to stand in front of the mirror more and dwell over what they look like more, and maybe you know, say to friends, like I don't feel comfortable in myself. Um, I think when our nervous system is at its high like that, that tends to be when we pick about our body a little bit more. Um, so it's just something to be really mindful of, like, you know, and I I've had to do it setting up a gym recently. I've had to say, right, I'm not my my main priority right now. I've I have to put myself to one side for six weeks, and then once those six weeks are over, it's like okay, this is all about rest and recovery for the next two weeks. Before then, I go, right, what do I need to do to get the results that I want to get, or to be able to, you know, perform in battle cancer later down the year. But you have to honour yourself that time, you cannot be switched on all of the time. And if there is something really stressful happening at work or at home, or you're not sleeping great, then honour yourself that time to say, I am getting the penny in the jar, I am, you know, doing things to move myself forward, but this is not my main focus at the moment, and actually, it's just a bit of box ticking to get me to the point where I'm then ready to go, right? I'm gonna look at my nutrition or right, I'm gonna look at my training and go a little bit harder. So I think it's breaking it down and having that 360 approach of what else is going on in my life that is gonna add to this.

SPEAKER_01 20:21

Yeah, definitely. And I think, like you said earlier, it's definitely worth taking to account your hormones. So, whether where you're at in your cycle, where you're at with menopause, perimenopause, uh stress tolerance with everything will change depending on how hormones are feeling. So just try and be a bit kinder to yourself. If you are feeling like you just haven't got it in you, that's fine, just take it easier.

SPEAKER_00 20:43

Yeah, absolutely. And then what if someone's coming into the gym and they're a bit anxious to push? Like, what would you recommend to them?

SPEAKER_01 20:53

I think it's important that we make ourselves slightly uncomfortable sometimes. Ash talks about this really well in terms of we do need to hit failure in some things, and I think hearing failure people get really scared of, but reaching failure is where we will get stronger, it's where our muscles will grow, it's where our body will adapt. So we do need to reach that point where we are pushing our bodies. If you are consistently picking up the same weights, you're not going to get stronger, fitter, healthier. So, same with cardio, you've just got to find that small bit of discomfort every session. That doesn't have to look like absolutely like roasting yourself completely out on the floor. You just need to find what feels slightly uncomfortable for you, and that is going to look so different for everyone, and look different at different points of the month, different points of your life. Find a point that things feel a little bit challenging, and just keep pushing from there.

SPEAKER_00 21:51

Yeah, absolutely. And it's I said it uh recently in a presentation, but it's like knowing that energy creates energy and knowing. That the the more that you do push out your comfort zone, the easier next time that will be. Um, and so you know, when people do come to me and say, I really want more energy, what supplements should I take? I'm like, actually, there's so many things that we can look at that are going to give you more energy. Like coming, you and I trained together yesterday. I was falling asleep at my desk yesterday, wasn't I? And you grabbed this was Monday actually, and you grabbed me and went, right, we're training. And afterwards, I was like, Right, I've got so much energy. Chloe did the same to me earlier. She was like, We've got a meeting, should we go for a walk? And I was like, perfect. Came back and I had loads of energy. So I think it's it's also remembering that sometimes we do need to push and do the things that we don't want to do in order to then feel better about ourselves as well.

SPEAKER_01 22:46

I think that's a massive thing I see in the people that do get the best results with us is that even when they don't want to, they still do it. It's not necessarily pushing to the max or when they are completely flat out, they really push themselves in the gym. But like you said, it's just ticking those boxes, it's going for that walk, it's giving yourself that energy from training, from just getting out and about.

SPEAKER_00 23:09

Yeah, absolutely. And that brings us on so nicely to week four, where we'll be talking about what do we do when motivation dips. We hope this has been beneficial. Please leave us a comment below if this is something that you resonated with, or if you have any questions at all. Even if you're not a member of our gym, we still are here to support all women. Um, so if you ask us any questions, we will respond. Thanks so much, Laura, and thanks so much for listening.