252-SYNCPodcast_HIITFinal

[00:00:00] Jenny Swisher: Welcome friends to this episode of the Sync Your Life podcast. We are coming off of a very exciting launch week. Last week, we launched a virtual consults with Dr. Paige Gutile, and we also launched the Sync Fitness Nutrition Program. Now, both of these things have been on my dream board for a very long time.

[00:01:15] Jenny Swisher: Years ago, when we launched the Sync course and the Sync podcast, This was all part of my eventual vision. I wanted to be able to be a one stop shop for women so that we could really serve them on a deeper level. And the number one objections that I’ve been getting over the years has been, well, finding the right doctor is impossible, right?

[00:01:31] Jenny Swisher: Or finding the right doctor who listens to me and understands bio identical hormones and just perimenopause is really difficult. Well, we’re taking the guesswork out of that for you. And we’re bringing Dr. Page to the table. Likewise, women will say, well, how do I know what workouts to do when? And what style of training to follow, right?

[00:01:48] Jenny Swisher: And what food should I be eating in different phases of my cycle? Well, we’ve taken the guesswork out of the equation for that too, with the SYNC fitness program. So I will make sure that I link up those in the show notes for you in case you haven’t checked them out already, but I am super excited for where we’re headed.

[00:02:02] Jenny Swisher: All right, my friends, today we are diving into the topic of high intensity interval training, also known as HIT for short. We’re talking about whether or not it’s conducive to weight loss, endurance training, and overall health for women, or if it’s detrimental. Is it a fad and a trend or is there credible science behind it?

[00:02:20] Jenny Swisher: Today, we’re diving into all things pertaining to HIIT to help you be better informed about what we know works and what doesn’t work for women. Remember, most research is done on men. In fact, when I was researching for this podcast, I went to PubMed and the majority of the articles, I think all but one, pertain to research done on men.

[00:02:37] Jenny Swisher: Or mice. So I’m here to say that it’s very hard sometimes to find research done on women. Hasn’t been until the last decade or so that we’re finally starting to see that emerge. But it’s not news here on the podcast that oftentimes even doctors recommend that women in perimenopause especially cut back on calories.

[00:02:53] Jenny Swisher: They’ll say, Hey, you should go low carb and even work out harder in order to break their weight loss plateau. If I had a dollar for every woman who has told me that their doctor told them that their labs are normal and they should just work out harder and eat less, I would be swimming in money. The truth is, I find in working more directly with women in the fitness and nutrition space, that most women are actually under fueling for their activity level.

[00:03:15] Jenny Swisher: And in some cases, especially for those women, much like me, who are really into fitness, they’re also often over exercising. At least as it pertains to Zone 3 cardio training. Women can easily fall into a state of LEA, Low Energy Availability, which I have seen time and time again. Whether it’s the more sedentary female falling victim to processed foods and not enough good quality foods, or the highly active woman who simply isn’t eating enough or is cutting back on her carbs when in fact she needs the carbs for energy.

[00:03:44] Jenny Swisher: We need all three macronutrients to thrive, and we also need micronutrients, which are found in our quality meats, fruits, and vegetables. the nutritional voids that our bodies need, we’re left with cravings, low energy, fatigue, blood sugar rollercoaster, and oftentimes, this can even impact our cortisol levels and even our menstrual cycle.

[00:04:05] Jenny Swisher: Remember, our four legged hormone chair is highly connected, and imbalances in one leg of the chair can certainly impact everything in our endocrine system. So what is the best form of exercise for women? Well, we know that muscle is the key to longevity. We also know that muscles atrophy with age. In order to not only build, but to sustain our muscle mass as women, we need strength training, resistance or strength training in the form of lifting heavy weights, dumbbells, kettlebells, resistance bands, or gym equipment can help us maintain muscle, especially in our thirties, forties and beyond.

[00:04:38] Jenny Swisher: But what about the cardio? What about those ellipticals and the gym classes, right? The ellipticals that most women go ham on at the gym or the half marathon training or the HIIT classes can all be great in moderation. Everybody deserves a cardio day every once in a while. But daily exertion and heart rate zone 3 is almost inevitable that a woman will see repercussions in her hormone health.

[00:04:59] Jenny Swisher: This is why I advocate cycle syncing. Leveraging the times in our cycle when we are best equipped for strength training, and the other times of our cycle when we are best equipped for that high intensity work. It turns out the best combination for longevity is actually a dominant focus on strength training, and With plenty of walking, which is a functional human movement, as well as mobility work, whether that’s through primal movements or yoga.

[00:05:22] Jenny Swisher: At the age of 40, I am seeing my parents and even my husband’s father live out their mid 70s, and I’m seeing this firsthand on a daily basis. This desire to stay sedentary and not climb the stairs or walk across a parking lot or be active, this can actually be what sends us to the nursing home.

[00:05:38] Jenny Swisher: Sarcopenia, or muscle loss, the inability to get up and down off the floor, is the number one reason for nursing homes in the elderly. That is crazy. So while six pack abs may have been all the rage in my 20s, longevity and hormone balance and proper energy is all the rage in my 40s.

[00:05:55] Jenny Swisher: While there’s still most definitely a place in our fitness regimens for endurance training and improving VO2 max and even power and plyometric movement. Getting into the habit of this every day might be endorphin releasing, but it can also be hormone crushing. I say this with love and unfortunately with experience.

[00:06:12] Jenny Swisher: You see, in a textbook 28 day menstrual cycle, which I realize almost nobody has, but we’re going to roll with that today as a baseline, our follicular phase, which is the first two weeks of the cycle leading up to ovulation, is when our bodies are most able to lift heavy. After ovulation, when progesterone is on the rise and we become more catabolic, we’re better equipped for a bit more of the high intensity interval training before we taper in our final week of the cycle.

[00:06:35] Jenny Swisher: And we had more toward that eccentric work and mobility. You see in the new sync fitness program that we just launched, we take the guesswork out of this for you. I’m going to say it again, 28 days of workouts aligned to your cycle with a meal plan for each phase and guidance from both me and Dr. Paige Gutile.

[00:06:49] Jenny Swisher: It’s a comprehensive program to help you reach maximum energy. And I can’t wait to see the results. According to Dr. Stacey Sims, quote, Where we run into trouble is when stress becomes chronic from factors like poor sleep, demanding jobs, family lifestyle, chronic dieting, and low energy availability. Hm, there’s that phrase again.

[00:07:07] Jenny Swisher: And overtraining under recovery. This chronic stress leads to dysregulation of cortisol, which in turn is associated with many chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and so forth. For midlife women, perimenopause can also be considered a form of chronic stress because the body is upregulated to a greater sympathetic, fight or flight, drive due to the fluctuation of sex hormones and the change in receptor regulation.

[00:07:31] Jenny Swisher: This is why you’ll sometimes, too oftentimes really, hear that perimenopausal women should not do high intensity exercise or sprint interval training because it adds to our already stressed out state. But again, exercise is not the enemy here. And when done well, it’s really the hero of this story, end quote.

[00:07:48] Jenny Swisher: So there is a place for high intensity interval training, my friends. It’s when we overdo it that we get into trouble. So let’s define HIIT training. High intensity interval training is typically no more than eight, maybe 10 minutes max as we push our heart rate to zone three. I’m going to say that again, eight to 10 minutes max.

[00:08:08] Jenny Swisher: My question is how many of you listening have been marketed a 20, 30 or 60 minute hip workout or class? Exactly. Commercial fitness has taken a concept and turned it into a way of life for many women. Oftentimes when women come into my sync digital course and they learn how to leverage their hormones, they’re blown away with how much more effective their workouts can be because of it.

[00:08:29] Jenny Swisher: Because they rest for two days on their period. Their day three lifts are crazy good. It’s amazing. Because they prioritize ovulation, their week three power workouts are gold. Living and training in alignment with your hormonal ebbs and flows is an empowering thing. It really is. There are multiple benefits to various forms of HIIT training.

[00:08:48] Jenny Swisher: These can include increasing metabolic rate, fat burn, improving VO2 max, lowering blood sugar, and boosting aerobic and anaerobic performance. It’s when we layer the HIIT days next to HIIT days that we start to see repercussions. While HIIT might increase metabolic rate, so does strength training.

[00:09:04] Jenny Swisher: Leveraging the fat burn and high progesterone phase can be a powerful way to leverage HIT at a time that our bodies are primed and ready for it. While HIT can lower blood sugar, which can be a good thing, we also have to remember that cortisol and blood sugar are a teeter totter, they oppose each other.

[00:09:19] Jenny Swisher: So it can also raise and eventually deplete cortisol levels. According to Sims, quote, Once released into the bloodstream, cortisol helps the body respond to stress by increasing fuel, blood glucose, alertness, cognition, and improves cell responses to inflammation. All in anticipation of the body having to run or fight, end quote.

[00:09:39] Jenny Swisher: Oftentimes, approaching our fitness from a muscle centric approach and complementing this with strategically timed HIIT sessions that don’t overdo it, along with functional yoga and walking, this is exactly what our bodies crave. Yet the endorphin rush of sweat sessions and high calorie burns can be a true mind game for many of us.

[00:09:58] Jenny Swisher: And it can keep us coming back for more and more of a problematic plan. You guys, for five years I’ve been wishing for a comprehensive plan and we now have it. I now have the ability to tell you one place to go to get exactly what you need to train the way women should train. So if you haven’t already, dive into Sync.

[00:10:15] Jenny Swisher: You can go to sync. jennyswisher. com slash fitness to hop into the program. You get lifetime access, guidance from both myself and Dr. Page and a plan that aligns with your female physiology. And before you ask me the question, well, can I add cardio to the workouts?

[00:10:30] Jenny Swisher: You know, my answer from this podcast, the answer is no, you shouldn’t need it. You should require the recovery. You should be able to crush these workouts and lift heavy. I’m so excited for this. I’m so, so, so, so excited for this. I’m so excited for the testimonials that are about to come our way with this program.

[00:10:44] Jenny Swisher: I can’t wait to show you how to hit and not burn out. I can’t wait to show you how to get toned and stronger. And I can’t wait to show you how to reach that maximum energy. All right, my friends, thank you so much for tuning in until next time. Bye bye.