In other words, your signals are broken. Your body doesn’t get the message to let sugar in, so your body releases more and more insulin because blood glucose stays high. So what does all this mean when it comes to training?
It’s easier than you think to create big problems with your hormones by doing the wrong types of exercises. As women, when trying to lose weight, we seem to go for the long ends of cardio. Trust me, I get it. For years I listened to the “experts” on the Internet and to people who didn’t understand hormonal disorders. I did workouts that included light to medium weights, full body workouts with no rest periods, instead jumping around doing plyometrics to “burn fat.” I did high intensity metabolic workouts on the days in between, went low, low carb and high fat. All I got was swollen, tired, angry, and no weight loss.
You can absolutely overdo it with long cardio sessions like running which can trigger the stress hormone (cortisol) which is what I was experiencing. You have to think about how your body handles stress and if you have any hormonal issues then stress is something you want to reduce to slow down the cortisol rise. Your body doesn’t know the difference between good and bad stress, therefore exercise can be seen as stress. All your body feels is a fast heart rate, heavy breathing, and anxiety, so we need to change what the body is experiencing and make it a less anxious event.
This is where walking comes in for most of your cardio sessions. I used to think it was the most boring thing to do until I started paying close attention to taking at least 10,000 steps a day and noticed an immediate difference in my inflammation. It became a game of making sure I took my steps every day. I used it as an opportunity to slow down from my normal busy and fast-paced schedule, get outside, clear my mind and really started to enjoy these times.
Walking is a hormonal stabilizer and a movement that our body must do every day.
Weight training:
Your muscles are where excess glucose is stored, and by increasing your lean muscle mass, you help solve your insulin problems, resulting in a healthy body composition. Which translates to a slimmer, firmer body, which is the goal here.
But how do you gain more lean body mass? This is where weight training comes in, but I don’t mean Barbie bells, ladies. Don’t be afraid to lift heavy weights. To increase the amount of muscle your body has then you need to challenge the muscle with weights and the only way to do that is by lifting heavy weights.
I’m not saying walk up to the dumbbell rack and grab the biggest weights off the rack; you need to lift what is heavy for you right now. BUT… keep in mind that this should change every workout. Challenge yourself in each workout by pushing one more rep or lifting a little more weight. Your body will respond and you will begin to see some beautiful changes. You should keep in mind that we are trying to keep our bodies calm, which means you should also pay attention to your rest periods between your training sets.
Remember earlier when I mentioned that I wouldn’t sit still between my sets, but instead perform plyometrics.
Well, this is where you need to take 1-2 minutes to rest your muscles. I know it looks boring, it took me a bit to get used to it, however it serves two purposes. First, it allows your muscles to recover so you can lift heavy objects on your next set. Second, you keep your body calm so it doesn’t feel stressed and start producing more cortisol.
If you start following the tips I’ve included here, whether you have PCOS, diabetes, Hashimoto’s disease, or menopause, you’ll start to see the changes you’re looking for in your body.
If you need help with a training program, contact me. I provide one-on-one private training at home and in our private studio, as well as online training programs that include demo videos of all exercises. Our programs are tailored to your goals and the fitness level you are at.
