The missing key to your knee pain?

 At its most fundamental, good nutrition is quite simple.

Find the correct balance between calories in versus calories out.

Then there’s the macronutrients. Aim to eat between 1-1.5g of protein per kg of lean body weight, eat a good supply of fat, and pack the rest of your calories with carbs.

Include plenty of leafy greens and fibrous veggies to help with fiber.

Drink plenty of fluids to stay hydrated.

And eat when you’re hungry, and don’t when you are not.

I was on a podcast a few days ago and I was asked what’s the one piece of advice I would give anyone who was struggling with their nutrition.

This leads me to my first topic today.

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My #1 piece of nutrition advice…

Is to have repeated meals throughout your week.

Why?

In my experience, it increases adherence to one’s diet. I know this is true for my private clients and myself, so I know it works.

For some, the idea of this is boring, but I think that’s just an excuse to make poor nutritional choices in the future.

Yes, it may not be the ‘sexiest’ piece of advice you will ever hear, but I guarantee that if you are currently struggling with your diet, implementing this simple change will result in major improvements in your nutrition.

It’s funny when we were chatting during the podcast recording, we both had the same approach when it came to breakfast.

I said I pretty much eat the same thing for breakfast every morning. 

Oats, protein powder, and some nuts. Recently I’ve gone a little crazy and added in chia seeds and 99% dark chocolate 😂

I know that it’s packed with what I need and I couldn’t care less if it’s ‘boring’.

He proceeded to tell me that he had eaten the same breakfast for a year.

Clearly both cut from the same cloth.

But it’s what gets results.

Talk to any professional athlete or anyone serious about their workouts, I can tell you now that you would probably class their nutrition as ‘boring’,

But when it comes to your health and fitness…

Boring works best!

Oh and if you are cooking the meals yourself, it can also save you time.

All you simply have to do is cook a bit more and have it again during your week.

Not only are you getting another nutrient-dense meal, but you are also saving yourself valuable time that you can spend elsewhere.

Boring, repeated meals for the win 🥇 

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10 minutes to lower stress

Stress is part and parcel of life, and there’s no getting around it most of the time, especially if you’re a busy entrepreneur. 

Therefore having the ability to manage your stress levels is extremely important.

High stress can impact your ability to burn body fat, and it will increase your chances of picking up an unwanted injury.

I shared a protocol on my socials a few days ago on how to instantly lower your stress levels in just 10 minutes and it had quite a positive response, so here it is again if you missed it.

•  Find a quiet space with no distractions and sit or lie down.
•  Set a timer on your phone for 10 minutes.
•  Breathe in through your nose for 5.5 seconds, then exhale through your nose for 5.5 seconds.
•  Repeat this cycle until time runs out.

Breathwork is an amazing tool for managing stress levels and returning the body to a more relaxed state.

For instance, if you find yourself in a position where you are stressed before an important meeting, this could help calm you down and get you thinking clearer.

It is also brilliant after a long day of work, helping you get to a place where you can be more present for your family at home.

So, next time you feel like your mind and body need to decompress a little, give this a try.

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The missing key to your knee pain?

Knee pain sucks!

You can’t run, squat comfortably, or jump without grimacing.

I’d be confident in saying that half the people who read this newsletter have struggled with some sort of knee pain in the past.

But it’s far from a life sentence and I’ve helped a lot of clients eliminate their knee pain.

When it comes to addressing knee pain, 2 elements need to be looked at.

One is below the knee, while the other is above.

•  Ankle mobility
•  Hip mobility 

See, the joints in your body work in a chain-like fashion, with the joint being impacted by the joints above and below it,

What we coaches call the Joint-By-Joint approach.

For instance, if you squat and your right ankle is super stiff and therefore you can’t move correctly, this can cause poor movement with the knee above. 

Which if repeated over time can lead to knee pain developing.

So, when someone comes to me with knee pain, I don’t just look at the knee itself, I assess the ankle below and the hip above.

What is it exactly I’m looking for?

I’m looking to see whether or not these joints have the sufficient level of mobility that is needed to move correctly.

This can be done with numerous different movement assessments, with two of my favorites being:

The 5-inch test for the ankle.

The Thomas test for the hip.

If I can see a limitation in either of these areas, that’s a pretty good indicator as to where the knee trouble is starting.

Going forward then the goal would be to increase the mobility in the given joint, on top of modifying the exercises in their workout program to ensure the knee doesn’t get irritated.

Quote For The Moment

“Success is not the absence of failure, it’s the persistence through failure”

- Aisha Tyler

You will probably have heard me talk about how I’m a big advocate of ‘failing your way to success’, and this quote sums it up perfectly.

Your health and fitness journey isn’t going to be all plain sailing.

It’s foolish to think otherwise.

When you ‘fail’, use it as a lesson to learn from so you can get better next time.

There’s ZERO shame in failing, the same can’t be said for quitting.