Sara Rudd Coaching

The other day one of the girls said to me “your calories must be really low in your cutting phase” and it got me thinking…

This is one of the main reasons I love building muscle and why you should make this your No.1 priority.

If you build muscle there are a few things that happen that mean you can eat more to maintain your physique.

Not only do you get to lift heavy s**t in the gym which is so much fun but you also get to eat more as a result.

Why?

Because muscle burns more energy at rest than fat does. Your body needs more calories just to keep your muscle alive as it is active tissue.

So if you have more muscle your resting metabolic rate increases meaning you burn more calories doing absolutely nothing compared to what you would have done before building muscle.

Think of your body like a car engine.

The more muscle= the bigger the engine.

The bigger the engine= more fuel required even when resting.

So ladies, strength training should be your main priority especially if you love eating as much as I do 💪

I spend years building my strength and increasing my calories to around 2500. Which now means I’m cutting weight in a 2000 calorie deficit. Which is still allot of delicious food it just requires being a little more mindful😍

You just can’t stop your knees caving in when you’re loading up your back squat.

Here’s how to improve your form before building back up the weight.

1. Mobilise your ankles and hips. The Kettlebell adductor stretch is a great stretch to lengthen the adductors and work on your ankle mobility simultaneously.

Complete 2/3 rounds of 6-8 reps on each side.

2/3. Activate your hip stabilisers- your glute med and glute max.

Using exercises such as glute clams and banded lateral steps will help activate the glutes in order to help stabilise the hips and avoid knee valves (knees caving in). Strong hip stabilisers will help your knees track over your toes.

3 sets of 8-12 reps each side

4. Perform some Back Squats. You don’t want to avoid back squatting all together in fact it’s the best thing you can do if your goal is to improve your squat.

So reduce the load and ensure you’re performing the squats correctly without your knees caving in. Focus on driving your knees in line with your toes and keeping your weight through your mid-foot throughout the squat.

3 sets of 6-8 reps each side

5. Accessory exercises are so important!

A great exercise to strengthen the hip stabilisers and improve your squat is a banded tempo goblet squat.

The band is in place to encourage you to drive your knees out against it therefore activating the hip stabilisers and all the muscles required to perform the squat.

3 sets of 10 reps

My name is Sara and I am an Online Female Strength Coach so if you want more nutrition and training tips then follow my account .