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Episode 39: Should You Go On a Cleanse?

To burn fat and get healthy, the most important thing to do is to nourish your body through consistent, healthy eating habits. Short term extreme diets often lead to temporary weight loss due to water loss and dehydration, which can ultimately harm your metabolism and overall health. Instead of taking drastic measures like not eating for a week, I advocate for making gradual, sustainable changes to daily food choices to support long-term fat loss and health goals. The key is to balance enjoyable foods within a generally healthy diet, avoiding the mentality of deprivation.


Hey there! 👋 I'm Jayd Harrison (Jaydigains), personal trainer and host of the Coaching Corner podcast. In this episode, I talk about whether or not going on a cleanse or detox might be right for your body.

To burn fat and get healthy, the most important thing to do is to nourish your body through consistent, healthy eating habits. Short term extreme diets often lead to temporary weight loss due to water loss and dehydration, which can ultimately harm your metabolism and overall health. Instead of taking drastic measures like not eating for a week, I advocate for making gradual, sustainable changes to daily food choices to support long-term fat loss and health goals. The key is to balance enjoyable foods within a generally healthy diet, avoiding the mentality of deprivation.

For additional support, consider joining the Gains Club membership on my website! I post new content every week for improving your health and fitness--including meal plans, workout routines, fat loss tips, recipes, and more. Check out jaydigains.com to sign up.

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Episode 38: 9 Tips to Relieve Tight Muscles

Muscle tightness is a common issue that can be caused by various factors like exercise, stress, poor posture, and inactivity. In this podcast, I discuss effective strategies to relieve muscle tightness.


Hey there! 👋 I'm Jayd Harrison (Jaydigains), personal trainer and host of the Coaching Corner podcast. In this episode, Hey there! 👋 I'm Jayd Harrison (Jaydigains), personal trainer and host of the Coaching Corner podcast. In this episode, I give 9 tips for relieving tight, stiff muscles.

Muscle tightness is a common issue that can be caused by various factors like exercise, stress, poor posture, and inactivity. In this podcast, I discuss effective strategies to relieve muscle tightness. Key recommendations include prioritizing a proper warm-up with moderate-intensity cardio and dynamic stretches, using self-myofascial release techniques like foam rolling and lacrosse balls, staying hydrated, maintaining a nutritious diet, incorporating movement throughout the day, ensuring adequate rest and sleep, and utilizing heat or cold therapy. Additionally, seeking professional help for massage or assisted stretching and addressing the root causes of muscle tightness (such as poor posture or exercise technique) are also super important.

For additional support, consider joining the Gains Club membership on my website! I post new content every week for improving your health and fitness--including meal plans, workout routines, fat loss tips, recipes, and more. Check out jaydigains.com to sign up.

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Episode 37: Not Ready to Join a Gym? Build These Healthy Habits!

In this episode, I'm sharing tips for how to improve your health and get in shape without even stepping foot in the gym. Living a fit lifestyle is all about building healthy habits, one by one into your life. Start with simple, manageable habits that are easy to add, like drinking more water to ensure proper hydration, using a journal or app to become more aware of your eating habits, or increasing your daily activity by setting step or movement goals. If you want to start working out at home, focus on building core strength and doing stretches to improve your posture and flexibility. These foundational habits will make it easier to transition to more structured workouts and dietary plans in the future.


Hey there! 👋 I'm Jayd Harrison (Jaydigains), personal trainer and host of the Coaching Corner podcast. In this episode, I'm sharing tips for how to improve your health and get in shape without even stepping foot in the gym.

Living a fit lifestyle is all about building healthy habits, one by one into your life. Start with simple, manageable habits that are easy to add, like drinking more water to ensure proper hydration, using a journal or app to become more aware of your eating habits, or increasing your daily activity by setting step or movement goals. If you want to start working out at home, focus on building core strength and doing stretches to improve your posture and flexibility.

These foundational habits will make it easier to transition to more structured workouts and dietary plans in the future.

For additional support, consider joining the Gains Club membership on my website! I post new content every week for improving your health and fitness--including meal plans, workout routines, fat loss tips, recipes, and more. Check out jaydigains.com to sign up.

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Episode 36: What to Do If You Hate Cardio

In this episode, I'm sharing tips for people who hate to do cardio. It's important to maintaining health of your cardiovascular system (i.e., the heart and lungs) because it helps prevent common illnesses like heart disease and high blood pressure. Doing cardio as part of your workout routine is a great way to improve your cardiovascular system. For people who are trying to burn fat, it can be a great way to burn extra calories. In the episode I share a few options for people who find steady state cardio to be boring, including cozy cardio, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), and circuit training.


Hey there! 👋 I'm Jayd Harrison (Jaydigains), personal trainer and host of the Coaching Corner podcast. In this episode, I'm sharing tips for people who hate to do cardio.

It's important to maintaining health of your cardiovascular system (i.e., the heart and lungs) because it helps prevent common illnesses like heart disease and high blood pressure. Doing cardio as part of your workout routine is a great way to improve your cardiovascular system. For people who are trying to burn fat, it can be a great way to burn extra calories. In the episode I share a few options for people who find steady state cardio to be boring, including cozy cardio, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), and circuit training.

Also, check out the the Gains Club membership on my website for more details and tips for improving your health and fitness. I post new content every week, including meal plans, workout routines, fat loss tips, recipes, and more. Check out jaydigains.com to sign up.

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Episode 35: Struggling with Motivation?


Welcome to the Coaching Corner podcast! I'm Jayd Harrison (@Jaydigains), a personal trainer and wellness coach. I created this podcast to share helpful tips to help you make gains in your fitness journey 💪

It’s normal to struggle with motivation to work out. In this episode, I talk all about how to handle periods of low motivation in your fitness journey. Many people start their fitness journey with the aim of losing weight or achieving a specific physique, but this mindset often leads to unsustainable habits and yo-yo dieting. I advocate for building a fitness lifestyle that includes consistent healthy habits (like daily physical activity, eating vegetables, and consuming enough protein). These foundational habits not only help in achieving initial fitness goals but also in maintaining them over the long term.

I also highlight the importance of adapting your fitness routine to stay engaged and to avoid burnout. This includes setting micro-goals, changing workout routines, and focusing on skill development.

Ultimately, the key to sustained fitness is patience, consistency, and viewing it as a lifelong journey rather than a temporary fix.

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Episode 34: New Downloadable Workout Plans


Welcome to the Coaching Corner podcast! I'm Jayd Harrison (@Jaydigains), a personal trainer and wellness coach. I created this podcast to share helpful tips to help you make gains in your fitness journey 💪

In this episode, I talk about my new initiative to make workout programs more accessible to beginners. Starting in January, my website now features downloadable PDF workout plans designed for those who find traditional gym routines and spreadsheets overwhelming. These plans include step-by-step instructions, video demonstrations, and optional tracking sheets.

The programs cater to various fitness levels, from complete beginners to those seeking more intermediate challenges.

Additionally, I offer a 28-day "Ready, Set, Fit" program with daily 10-15 minute workouts to help build foundational strength and flexibility.

For those wanting more personalized guidance, I also offer options for using my programs on the ABC Trainerize app and one-on-one coaching.

Get started today!

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Episode 33: How to Start Your Fitness Journey


Welcome to the Coaching Corner podcast! I'm Jayd Harrison (@Jaydigains), a personal trainer and wellness coach. I created this podcast to share helpful tips to help you make gains in your fitness journey 💪

In this episode, I offer tips for beginners who are starting their fitness journey and for those looking to regain their former fitness levels.

The key to starting (or restarting) your fitness journey is to keep it simple—especially in the beginning. Start by increasing your daily activity, especially if you have a sedentary lifestyle. Set a daily movement goal, such as 10,000 daily steps or 150 weekly exercise minutes. It’s also important to focus on building core strength and stability with activities like Pilates, yoga, and balance training. Flexibility and mobility work are crucial for safe and effective workouts as you get stronger.

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Episode 32: 3 Tips to Reduce Belly Fat


Welcome to the Coaching Corner podcast! I'm Jayd Harrison (@Jaydigains), a personal trainer and wellness coach. I created this podcast to share helpful tips to help you make gains in your fitness journey 💪

You may be wondering where I have been these last few months. I’ve been busy! I took the last few months of last year to develop a ton of new services and products that are launching this year. The first is my brand new Gains Club membership program! This membership (available here on my website) is packed with content to help you burn fat, eat better, and get in shape. In future episodes of the Coaching Corner podcast, I’ll preview some of the content you can find in the Gains Club.

In this episode, I’m returning to discuss effective strategies for reducing belly fat (a common concern among clients). I cover:

  • Measures for healthy body fat

  • Tips for burning belly fat like:

    • maintaining a calorie deficit

    • avoiding refined sugars

    • increasing soluble fiber

    • reducing alcohol consumption to enhance fat loss

For more in-depth guidance, check out the Gains Club membership page.


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Episode 31 Mythbusting: Will Tracking Your Food Give You an Eating Disorder?


Welcome to the Coaching Corner podcast! I'm Jayd Harrison (@Jaydigains), a personal trainer and wellness coach. I created this podcast to share helpful tips to help you make gains in your fitness journey 💪

In this episode, I discuss the common misconception that tracking food intake can lead to an eating disorder.

Tracking involves logging what you eat and drink every day either in a food journal or in an app like MyFitnessPal.

This strategy can help you identify your eating habits and become more self-aware. It can also help you to stick to your diet plan to ensure you're eating the right number of calories and macronutrients every day.

Some people find tracking to be a trigger for obsessive behaviors (i.e. eating disorders). As a tool, tracking can be used healthily or unhealthily, depending on your existing relationship with food and with your body.

In this episode, I give some tips for how to tackle a disordered relationship with food and alternative strategies that you can use if you find tracking to be triggering.

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  • Legion Athletics Supplements use code Jaydigains to get 20% off for new customers - Double loyalty points for returning customers

  • Hello Fresh: Use code POGHF140793 to get 10 free meals and 1 free appetizer in each box for life

 
 
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Episode 30: Tips to Lower Your Stress and Optimize Your Gains

In this episode, I suggest a few strategies to identify key stressors in your life and make changes to reduce triggers. These include practicing mindfulness and relaxation techniques, maintaining good boundaries in relationships and work, and prioritizing sleep. There are many options, but it's important to find what works best for your brain to relax and feel regulated.


Hey there! 👋 I'm personal trainer Jayd Harrison (Jaydigains), personal trainer and host of the Coaching Corner podcast. In this episode, I discuss how to handle stress and cortisol levels for fitness.

Not all stress is bad stress. Acute stress can be beneficial to help us get up and out of bad situations. But chronic stress can have negative impacts on your health and fitness by suppressing the immune system, impairing cognitive function, and increasing inflammation. All of this can hinder muscle building and recovery from workouts.

In this episode, I suggest a few strategies to identify key stressors in your life and make changes to reduce triggers. These include practicing mindfulness and relaxation techniques, maintaining good boundaries in relationships and work, and prioritizing sleep. There are many options, but it's important to find what works best for your brain to relax and feel regulated.

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Episode 29 Mind Over Muscle: Strengthening Mental Health on Your Fitness Journey

In this episode, I talk about how having low self-worth contributes to the most common struggles that I see in clients as a personal trainer. I also give some tips for how you can work on changing your beliefs and improve your self-esteem through cognitive behavioral therapy, EMDR, mindfulness, and shadow work. We'll dive deeper into these and other strategies in future podcast episodes.

 

Hey there! 👋 I'm personal trainer Jayd Harrison (Jaydigains), personal trainer and host of the Coaching Corner podcast. In this episode, I discuss the importance of focusing on your mental health while working towards your fitness goals.

Many people struggle to stay consistent and prioritize their health due to low self-esteem and limiting beliefs. To stay consistent and make gains, it's important to examine the beliefs that you carry.

In this episode, I talk about how having low self-worth contributes to the most common struggles that I see in clients as a personal trainer. I also give some tips for how you can work on changing your beliefs and improve your self-esteem through cognitive behavioral therapy, EMDR, mindfulness, and shadow work. We'll dive deeper into these and other strategies in future podcast episodes.

 

 

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Episode 28: How Often to Change Up Your Workout Routine

To avoid hitting a plateau in your gains and fat loss, It’s important to keep your muscles challenged with novel stimulus. But that doesn’t mean you have to change your workouts up every week!

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To avoid hitting a plateau in your gains and fat loss, It’s important to keep your muscles challenged with novel stimulus. But that doesn’t mean you have to change your workouts up every week!

Welcome to the Coaching Corner podcast! I'm Jayd Harrison (@Jaydigains), a personal trainer and wellness coach. I created this podcast to share helpful tips to help you make gains in your fitness journey 💪

In this episode, I discuss the importance of introducing novel stimulus to your workout routine to avoid plateauing.

Our bodies are smart machines. They’re highly adaptable and are geared towards making things you do regularly as efficient as possible. This means that your body will spend less energy (i.e. calories) doing things you do often.

So when you keep the same training and exercise routine over an extended period of time (more than 6-12 weeks), your body will start to burn fewer calories during your workouts. You’ll also build less muscle as a result of your workouts than you did at the start of the program. This is bad news if you want to continue to burn fat or make gains!

So to continue making progress, it’s important to keep introducing a novel stimulus in your exercise routine often. Novel stimulus is anything that challenges your muscles to do something they aren’t used to doing. This could involve adding more reps or weight, changing the type of exercise or stance, adjusting rest periods, or adding more training days.

If you don’t introduce a novel stimulus often enough, it’s easy for your body to adapt to your training and hit a plateau (where your body changes very little or not at all for an extended time).

Some people try to avoid hitting a plateau by doing different exercises every time they train, rather than sticking to a training routine. There’s nothing inherently bad about doing this. It can keep you from getting bored in your workouts, and it certainly introduces novel stimulus. However, the downside in this approach is that it can be difficult to track your progress over time without the consistent data that following a 6-12 week training program provides.

I usually keep my personal training clients on a consistent routine of workouts for 6-12 weeks, during which we work on the same exercises. I follow a general rule of two when it comes to progressing their workouts and introducing new challenges in their program: if my client can do the same exercise with the same weight and the same number of reps two sessions in a row, then it’s time to add a novel stimulus. For that, I’ll gradually add more reps or weight to the exercise—this approach is called progressive overload (giving the muscles progressively more volume or resistance over time).

It’s much easier to know when to add more weight or reps by keeping the training program consistent over the course of 6-12 weeks versus always doing random exercises every time you train. Otherwise, you can find yourself always using the same weight and reps on an exercise without realizing it—which can in itself cause a plateau.

Regardless of how often you change your workout routine, it’s important to track your workouts (including what exercises you do, what weight you use, how many reps you do in each set, and how difficult each set was) and take body measurements frequently. This will help you to monitor your progress and identify when something needs to change. Check out my Fitness Journals (available on Amazon) to help you track your progress!

Links:

 

ABOUT JAYD HARRISON

Jayd Harrison (Jaydigains) is a personal trainer and content creator. She helps people to build muscle, burn fat, and clean up their diets with her online coaching programs and social media content. Check out some of Jayd’s coaching videos on Youtube, or join Jayd live on Twitch and follow on social media:


 

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Episode 27: Tips for Healthy Eating While in a Bulk

You don’t have to eat a ton of junk food to meet your daily calorie goal while bulking.

You don’t have to eat a ton of junk food to meet your daily calorie goal while bulking.

Welcome to the Coaching Corner podcast! I'm Jayd Harrison (@Jaydigains), a personal trainer and wellness coach. I created this podcast to share helpful tips to help you make gains in your fitness journey 💪

Let's talk about the importance of keeping that calorie surplus in check for muscle building. In this episode of the Coaching Corner podcast, I'm diving into the impact of good nutrition on muscle building and fat loss. It's all about fueling your body right to achieve those goals.

In this episode, I share tips for avoiding the pitfalls of "dirty bulking," which involves resorting to unhealthy, processed foods to meet high-calorie targets. Instead, I give tips for adding nutrient-dense options (like avocados, nuts, seeds, and olive oil).

For more information on my content and services, check out jaydharrisonfitness.com.

 

ABOUT JAYD HARRISON

Jayd Harrison (Jaydigains) is a personal trainer and content creator. She helps people to build muscle, burn fat, and clean up their diets with her online coaching programs and social media content. Check out some of Jayd’s coaching videos on Youtube, or join Jayd live on Twitch and follow on social media:

 

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Episode 26: 5 Ways to Save Money on Healthy Eating

Healthy eating doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, it can save you money! Here’s how…

Healthy eating doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, it can save you money! Here’s how…

Hey there! I’m personal trainer Jayd Harrison (Jaydigains), and in this episode of the Coaching Corner Podcast, I share 5 tips for saving money on healthy eating. Listen or watch the episode on Youtube below .

 

5 Ways to Save Money on Healthy Eating

1 Cook at Home

According to a 2023 survey by US Foods, Americans spend an average of $166 dining out each month and orders delivery 4.5 times per month.

The largest portion of consumers spent between $11 and $20 per meal going out to eat. Compare that to a meal cooked at home of chicken breast, rice, and broccoli, totaling less than $3 per serving:

  • Chicken breast ($2.67 per pound, $0.57 per 4 oz serving)

  • White Rice ($0.92 per 16 oz not cooked, $0.06 per 1 oz serving)

  • Broccoli ($1.16 per 12 oz, $0.77 per 8oz serving)

  • Olive Oil ($0.462 per oz, $0.23 per tablespoon serving)

  • Kosher salt ($0.14 per oz, $0.01 per 1/2 tsp serving)

  • Pepper ($1.38/oz, $0.05 per 1/4 tsp serving)

  • Seasoning ($0.99/oz serving)

  • TOTAL: $2.63 PER SERVING

2 Keep it Super Simple

Another way to save money on healthy eating is to keep things super simple. You don’t have to create super complicated meals using exotic ingredients to eat better.

I save the most time and money by preparing simple meals using 5 ingredients or less. This includes salads, meal prep bowls, slow cooker recipes, and stir fry recipes. It’s ok to use pre-prepared items from the grocery store that are already cooked to save time in the kitchen—just try to minimize the amount of highly processed packaged foods.

3 Avoid Ultra-Processed Foods

Many so-called “health foods” are just ultra-processed junk food with added fiber or protein. Highly processed foods like breakfast cereals, crackers, chips, and other similar items tend to be pretty expensive per serving. They also usually don’t have nearly the number of nutrients that fresher foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and fresh meat & dairy provide. They also tend to be packed with added sugars, sodium, and other preservatives that add extra calories and can cause inflammation. Try to minimize or eliminate these foods from your grocery shopping.

4 Use Canned and Frozen Foods

If you tend to buy fresh produce that goes bad before you use it, consider using canned or frozen items instead. These can save you money by avoiding waste while also saving you prep time in the kitchen (since these items are often ready to eat straight from the package). Make sure to select “Low Sodium” canned varieties to keep your blood pressure low and your heart healthy.

5 Buy in Bulk

You can save a lot of money on groceries by buying them in bulk from wholesalers like Sam’s Club and Costco. With a membership, you can buy larger amounts of food for a reduced price per ounce or pound. This works great for food items that you eat a lot of. Just make sure that you either eat or freeze the food before it goes bad.

Links:


ABOUT JAYD HARRISON

Jayd Harrison (Jaydigains) is a personal trainer and content creator. She helps people to build muscle, burn fat, and clean up their diets with her online coaching programs and social media content. Check out some of Jayd’s coaching videos on Youtube, or join Jayd live on Twitch and follow on social media:

 

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Episode 25: Boost Your Heart Health with Cardio

Improve heart your health for more energy and to recover better from your workouts.

Improve heart your health for more energy and to recover better from your workouts.

There are many ways to boost your cardiovascular system, some of which don't even require doing traditional workouts.

The key is to find activities that motivate you to move. In the episode, I'll introduce a variety of exercise formats to get your heart rate up, including activities of daily living, steady-state cardio, circuit training, and high-intensity interval training.

In addition to moving more in your everyday life, you can also improve your heart health by doing things like eating a healthy diet, limiting alcohol intake, staying hydrated, managing stress, and getting regular health checkups.

 

Best Ways to Keep Your Heart Healthy

Healthy Diet

Consume a balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins (such as poultry, fish, beans, and legumes), and healthy fats (found in nuts, seeds, avocados, and olive oil). Limit intake of processed foods, red meat, sugary beverages, and foods high in saturated and trans fats.

Maintain a Healthy Weight

Aim to achieve and maintain a healthy weight by balancing calorie intake with physical activity. Excess weight, particularly around the abdomen, increases the risk of heart disease and other health conditions.

Manage Stress

Practice stress-reducing techniques such as meditation, deep breathing exercises, yoga, or spending time with loved ones to help lower stress levels. Chronic stress can contribute to high blood pressure and other risk factors for heart disease.

Get Quality Sleep

Aim for 7-9 hours of quality sleep per night. Poor sleep quality and insufficient sleep have been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, and other health issues.

Quit Smoking

If you smoke, quitting is one of the best things you can do for your heart health. Smoking damages blood vessels, increases blood pressure, and raises the risk of heart disease and stroke. Seek support from healthcare professionals or smoking cessation programs if needed.

Limit Alcohol Intake

Moderation is key when it comes to alcohol consumption. Limit alcohol intake to no more than one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men. Excessive alcohol consumption can increase blood pressure and contribute to heart disease.

Regular Health Check-ups

Schedule regular check-ups with your healthcare provider to monitor your blood pressure, cholesterol levels, blood sugar levels, and overall heart health. Early detection and management of risk factors can help prevent heart disease.

Stay Hydrated

Drink plenty of water throughout the day to stay hydrated. Dehydration can strain the heart and affect its ability to pump blood efficiently.

Know Your Family History

Be aware of your family's history of heart disease and discuss it with your healthcare provider. Genetics can play a role in heart health, so knowing your family history can help determine your risk and inform preventive measures.

Regular Exercise

Engage in regular cardiovascular exercise, such as brisk walking, jogging, swimming, cycling, or dancing, for at least 150 minutes per week. Also, include strength training exercises at least two days per week to improve overall fitness.

Types of Cardiovascular Exercise

Moderate-intensity cardio is any activity that gets your heart rate up into a moderate-intensity zone (between 64% and 75% of your max heart rate) for an extended period of time.

Click the button below to calculate your personal target heart rate zones, and make sure to write these down so you can reference them later!

>>Calculate Heart Rate Zones<<

You can split your 150-minute total however you like, although most people prefer doing between 3 and 5 days per week of 30- to 50-minute cardio training sessions.

Activities of Daily Living

Many activities of daily living also may count as cardio if you stay moving long enough (such as mowing the grass, vacuuming, tidying, or gardening). Even weight training can become a cardiovascular workout if you do many repetitions and take short rest periods. Honestly, any time you get your heart rate up, your cardiovascular system will get some benefit.

Steady State Cardio

One of the easiest ways to get in a cardio workout is to do what’s called Steady State Cardio, which involves doing something that gets your heart pumping at a consistent pace for at least 10 minutes. Choose an activity that involves moving the big muscles in a rhythmic pattern like jogging, biking, hiking, or using a cardio machine at the gym (i.e., treadmill, elliptical, rower,  stair climber, etc). 

Circuit Training

Circuits are another popular style of high-intensity training, although you can certainly do circuit training at moderate intensity as well. In circuit training, you alternate between a group of exercises for a set number of rounds. For example, you can do a circuit like the one below 5 times for about 9 minutes:

1) 25 seconds Jumping Jacks, 10 seconds of rest

2) 25 seconds Bodyweight Squats, 10 seconds of rest

3) 25 seconds Mountain Climbers, 10 seconds of rest

High-Intensity Interval Training

One popular style of high-intensity cardio is high-intensity interval training (HIIT). For this style of training, you alternate between periods of vigorous activity with your heart rate in the high-intensity zone (between 76% and 93% of your max heart rate) and periods of rest or active recovery bringing your heart rate back down into the moderate zone (between 64% to 75% max heart rate).

You can turn any exercise into a HIIT workout! For example, you can do a HIIT speed-walk workout by alternating between 30-second periods of speed walking and 2-minute periods of slower walking for a total of 20 minutes. You can also do what’s called a Tabata, alternating between 20 seconds of any exercise (like jumping jacks or squats) and 10 seconds of rest for 8 rounds.

Monitoring Your Intensity

Use a heart rate monitor, a fitness tracking device, or track manually while you are exercising to ensure that your heart rate is in the right zone. Check your heart rate every few minutes while you exercise.

Alternatively, you can monitor your exercise intensity by doing what’s called the Talking Test. For the talking test, try speaking a nursery rhyme, the pledge of allegiance, or talk with a friend. Then try to sing a few lines of a song.

👉 At the moderate-intensity level, you should be able to talk in full sentences but you should not be able to sing.

👉 At the high-intensity level, you should be able to talk in just a few words at a time (if you can’t talk at all, your intensity is too high–slow down or use less resistance to come back to where you can talk again).

A note on high-intensity

Keep in mind that doing too much high-intensity exercise can keep your body in an inflammatory state and weaken your immune system—making you more susceptible to illness. Experts recommend no more than approximately 40-50 minutes of intensity above 85 percent per week, and not more than 30-40 minutes cumulative time per week with your heart rate above 90 percent to prevent symptoms of overreaching.

A note on fat Loss

If your goal is fat loss, keep in mind that some activities burn more calories than others depending on how much effort you exert or how quickly you move. Click here to see a list of different activities and the number of calories they burn.

No matter what activities you do for your weekly cardio, try to find something that you enjoy—or at least something you don’t hate! The more you look forward to your cardio activity, the more likely you’ll stick to doing it consistently.

Links:


ABOUT JAYD HARRISON

Jayd Harrison (Jaydigains) is a personal trainer and content creator. She helps people to build muscle, burn fat, and clean up their diets with her online coaching programs and social media content. Check out some of Jayd’s coaching videos on Youtube, or join Jayd live on Twitch and follow on social media:

 

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Episode 24: Functional Training to Improve Your Posture

Want to improve your posture and move better? Taking a functional approach to your fitness routine can help!

Want to improve your posture and move better? Taking a functional approach to your fitness routine can help!

Any exercise or training style can be considered "functional" as long as it serves the end goal of helping you move better.

Learn more about the functional exercises I use with my personal training clients in this episode.

 

ABOUT ME

Hey there! 👋 I’m Jayd Harrison (Jaydigains), and I’m a personal trainer and health coach. I help people build muscle, burn fat, and clean up their diets with my online coaching programs. Check out some of my coaching videos on Youtube, or join me live on Twitch and follow on social media:

 

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Episode 23: How to Respond to Body Shaming in Relationships

 

Has anyone ever given you unsolicited criticism about your body?

In this episode, I address the comment of one of my Twitch chatters, whose girlfriend shamed him for growing his leg muscles “too big” (um…that doesn’t exist). This was a great start to a discussion on body shaming and dealing with people when they give unsolicited feedback about your body. My strategy for dealing with anyone who criticizes your body is to challenge them with questions like “what makes you think that’s an appropriate thing to say?”

I also highlight the importance of setting boundaries and not allowing others to dictate how your body should look. Value yourself and work on healing unhealthy beliefs about yourself.

Trigger warning: This episode contains a discussion on the impact of unresolved trauma and relationship abuse on self-worth.


ABOUT ME

Hey there! 👋 I’m Jayd Harrison (Jaydigains), and I’m a personal trainer and health coach. I help people build muscle, burn fat, and clean up their diets with my online coaching programs. Check out some of my coaching videos on Youtube, or join me live on Twitch and follow on social media:

 

Sign up for updates ✉️

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Episode 22: Why You Should Eat a High-Protein Diet (And How to Do It)

 

How much protein you eat is a huge influence on your gains.

In this episode, I discuss the importance of eating a high-protein diet for fat loss and building muscle. I also give guidance for figuring out how much protein you need to eat and some actionable tips for reaching your daily protein goal.

Why Eat High Protein Diet

I always recommend that my clients eat a high-protein diet, regardless of whether they are trying to lose weight, build muscle, or just eat healthier. In today’s message, we’ll talk about how eating a high-protein diet can help you to grow muscle and get stronger.

Firstly, let's understand what a high-protein diet is. A high-protein diet is a diet that consists of more than 20% of daily calories coming from protein. 

Numerous studies have shown that a high-protein diet can help promote muscle growth and enhance strength gains.[1,2,3]

Proteins are made up of amino acids, which are the building blocks of muscles. When you do strength training or other forms of resistance exercise, your muscles undergo a process called muscle protein synthesis (MPS), where new muscle proteins are created. Consuming an adequate amount of protein supplies the necessary amino acids for this process, facilitating the repair and growth of muscle fibers. 

Eating plenty of protein will help your body recover more effectively. Intense workouts induce micro-tears in muscle fibers, which need to be repaired for muscle growth to occur. Protein plays a crucial role in this repair process. Adequate protein intake also helps minimize muscle soreness, allowing you to bounce back quicker from intense training sessions.

A high-protein diet can also help you lose weight and maintain a healthy body weight. 

When following a calorie-restricted diet, there is a risk of losing both fat and muscle mass. However, a high-protein diet can help mitigate this loss by preserving lean muscle tissue. This is particularly important for individuals looking to shed body fat while preserving their hard-earned muscle.[4]

Protein also has a higher thermogenic effect compared to carbohydrates and fats, meaning that your body burns more calories during digestion and absorption. Additionally, protein-rich foods are often more filling and satisfying, reducing hunger and helping control overall caloric intake.

How to Eat a High-Protein Diet

To eat a high-protein diet, aim to have at least 20% of your daily calories from protein. You can also base your protein intake on your weight–aiming to eat between 0.7 and 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day (1.5 - 2.2 grams per kilogram per day).[5]

As a rule of thumb, I recommend aiming to get at least 25g of lean protein in every meal and at least 10g of protein in every snack. You may need to aim for more protein per meal and snack, depending on your daily protein goal and the number of meals/snacks you eat. Take your protein goal and divide it by the number of snacks and meals that you generally eat–that will tell you roughly how many calories you should aim for each time you eat.

Remember that the majority of the protein that you eat should come from lean sources–meaning the foods are low in saturated fats. This includes low-fat cuts of meat, white meat (like chicken breast or turkey breast), fish, egg whites, low-fat dairy products (like Greek yogurt & cottage cheese), and vegetables like soybeans, lentils, and black beans. Reduce your consumption of proteins that come with a high amount of saturated fats, and avoid trans fats altogether.

One great way to increase your overall protein intake is to learn what foods are good sources of protein and add them to your diet regularly. 

Here’s a quick reference guide of the protein per serving of the best sources of protein to keep on steady rotation in your diet:

 
 

ABOUT ME

Hey there! 👋 I’m Jayd Harrison (Jaydigains), and I’m a personal trainer and health coach. I help people build muscle, burn fat, and clean up their diets with my online coaching programs. Check out some of my coaching videos on Youtube, or join me live on Twitch and follow on social media:

 

Sign up for updates ✉️

Sign up to get notified whenever new episodes drop. Opt in for more tips on training, fat loss, and nutrition by filling out the form below:

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Episode 21: The Benefits of Building Muscle (And How to Get Started)

 

Resistance Training is a style of exercise focused on improving the health and strength of your skeletal muscles. 

As we age, our muscles naturally decline in size and strength. This, in turn, negatively impacts our coordination, balance, metabolism, and cognitive health. 

The best way to stay healthy and keep your muscles strong is to live an active lifestyle–meaning your muscles are stimulated with exercise on most days. Experts recommend doing resistance training to challenge the muscles on at least 2-3 days each week.

In general, muscle gets stronger when it is challenged. 

The goal of resistance training is to challenge the muscles by making them perform a movement against some kind of resistance (weights, bands, machines) to the point where they get tired and start to give out. As your muscles get tired, microscopic tears form in the muscle tissue, which the body then repairs and fortifies after your workout while you’re sleeping.

Over a long period of time doing resistance training 2-3 times per week, you will get noticeably stronger. The exercises in your workouts will become easier and you’ll be able to perform more repetitions, use more weight, and do more overall exercises without tiring as easily. You may also notice that your physique and appearance change as certain muscle groups become more defined and visible.

It’s important to keep a few basic principles in mind so that you can get the maximum benefit from your resistance training workouts:

👉 Learn Your Muscles

👉 Use the Right Weight

👉 Practice Progressive Overload

1 Learn Your Muscles

Knowing the names of different muscles and understanding their functions is essential for getting the most out of your workouts.

Taking time to learn your muscles will help you to perform your exercises correctly. Knowing which muscles should be fired up and where you should feel “the work” will allow you to know whether you’re doing an exercise correctly or not.

Knowing your muscles will also help you to maximize muscle engagement during the exercises so that you can fatigue the target muscles more effectively.

You don’t need to learn the names and functions of all 600 muscles in your body, however you should learn the major muscle groups that are in your lower body (legs), upper body (arms/back), and core (torso region).

Over time, you’ll be able to connect with your muscles better and fire them up more easily–a skill called proprioception or “mind-muscle connection.” Improving your proprioception will improve your coordination and exercise technique over time. It will also help you in the future when you learn new exercises!

Check out the charts below to see the major muscle groups in the body:

When you do your workouts, be mindful and pay attention to what it feels like to stretch and contract the major muscles.

2 Use the Right Weight

Remember: your muscles need to be challenged in order to grow stronger. 

It’s not enough to just go through the motions of the exercise. You have to actually fatigue the muscles by using the right amount of resistance (i.e., weight or band level). 

How do you know whether or not you’re using the right weight or band? You should feel the target muscles for each exercise burning at the end of each set within the recommended number of reps.

For example, if the recommendation is 8-12 reps per set, then use a weight or resistance level that has you feeling the target muscles starting to burn at around rep 8, 9, or 10. When you feel the muscles burning, keep going until you feel like you could only do 1 or 2 more reps before your muscles give out. 

👉 If you’re able to easily get to 12 reps and feel only a little burn, you need to add more resistance (either use a heavier weight or a heavier band). 

👉 If you can barely get to 8 before your muscles give out, try a lighter weight or band in your next set.

It might take some time for you to find the right weight to use during each exercise. But once you do find the right weight, use that weight again during the next workout and try to do more repetitions. Once you’re able to do the top number of recommended reps easily, increase the weight again until you feel the muscles burning and fatiguing within the recommended range again. This is how you can practice the principle of progressive overload

3 Practice Progressive Overload

Every time you train, you should give your muscles more work than what they’re used to. Otherwise, it’s very easy to hit what’s called a training plateau (a point where your body doesn’t change much and you aren’t getting stronger or building muscle). 

To prevent a plateau, you’ll need to always train with a form of what’s called novel stimulus–that is, a new challenge for the muscles that triggers the repair and growth process.

One way to get a novel stimulus is to do more repetitions and use more resistance (i.e., weights or bands) over time. For example, in Week 1 of a new training block, you may feel challenged doing sets of 10 repetitions of Biceps Curls with 5lb in each hand. 8 weeks later, you should be doing the same exercise either for more than 10 reps per set and/or using heavier dumbbells.

Another way to challenge the muscles is to try different exercises and new variations of exercises. For example, if you spend one block doing Goblet Squats for your legs, try doing Barbell Back Squats in a new block to give your body a novel stimulus.

Experts recommend changing up one or more aspects of your training every 4 to 12 weeks to keep your muscles challenged with novel stimuli.


Work out with me 🏋️‍♀️

Build strength and tone your body with expert-guided workouts by Jayd Harrison.


ABOUT ME

Hey there! 👋 I’m Jayd Harrison (Jaydigains), and I’m a personal trainer and health coach. I help people build muscle, burn fat, and clean up their diets with my online coaching programs. Check out some of my coaching videos on Youtube, or join me live on Twitch and follow on social media:

 

Sign up for updates ✉️

Sign up to get notified whenever new episodes drop. Opt in for more tips on training, fat loss, and nutrition by filling out the form below:

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Trainer Tips, Nutrition Jayd Harrison Trainer Tips, Nutrition Jayd Harrison

Episode 20: The Simplest Way to Eat Better: Follow the Healthy Plate Model

 

Healthy eating doesn’t have to be complicated or overwhelming. Learn how to keep things super simple with the Healthy Plate model.

One of the easiest ways to clean up your diet and eat healthy is to follow what I call the Healthy Plate Model.

I built this model a few years ago as a visual guide to help my clients put healthy foods on their plates at every meal.

This model is based in large part on the USDA’s MyPlate model which was published in 2015. It shows what your plate should look like at meal times according to four major food groups: vegetables (veggies), fruit, protein, and grains/starches.

Click below to download a printable version of the Healthy Plate model to keep in your kitchen as a reminder:

 

Know Your Food Groups

What I love most about the Healthy Plate model is its simplicity and adaptability. Keeping the Healthy Plate graphic in mind, there are infinite combinations of healthy meals that you could create. All you have to do is know your food groups:

Veggies (Vegetables)

On half of your plate, include 1-2 servings of veggies. Veggies (or vegetables) are plants (or parts of plants) that you can eat. Fruits and grains are also plants, but we usually reserve the term “vegetable” for specific parts of the plant like the roots (like carrots and turnips), leaves (like lettuce and spinach), stems (like celery), bulbs (like garlic and onion), and flowers (like broccoli). Veggies are a great source of carbohydrates and healthy fats (i.e., unsaturated fats).

Fruit

Fruits are plant products that tend to be higher in sugar content, giving them a sweet taste. This group is optional and can take up 1 portion of the vegetable side of your plate. They include things like berries, cherries, apples, grapes, pears, and mangoes. The higher sugar and calorie content of fruits make them a food to be eaten in moderation–no more than a quarter of your plate at meal times. 

Protein

On at least a quarter of your plate, include a lean source of protein. Protein is both a source of energy for your body and a building block for your body tissues (like muscle). Eating a high-protein diet will help your body to more efficiently build muscle and keep your metabolism boosted (high-protein in this context means 20% of your daily calories come from protein). Prioritize lean sources of protein–items that come with little to no saturated fat like white meat (chicken breast & turkey breast), egg whites, fish, plant protein sources (tofu, tempeh, & edamame), and lean cuts of red meat.

Grains/Starches

On the remaining quarter of your plate, include a grain or starchy food. Grains are essentially seeds and include foods made from wheat (bread & pasta), rice, quinoa, and oats. Try to include whole grains as much as possible (things like brown rice, oatmeal, whole wheat, quinoa, etc) in place of refined grains (white wheat, white bread, or white rice). Whole grains are more generally more nutritious, having more vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber than refined grains.

Some vegetables (like potatoes, corn, yuca, and plantains) are high in Starches (complex carbohydrates). Starchy vegetables tend to be high-calorie, and may not be suitable for every diet (for example, people with Type II Diabetes may want to avoid them). These kinds of vegetables should be limited to no more than a quarter of your plate, especially if you are trying to burn fat. 

 

Tips for Building a Healthy Plate

When you first start to practice the Healthy Plate model, you’ll likely need to experiment a lot to find what recipes you like and what works best for you.

Cookbooks are a great resource that may already be in your kitchen or bookshelf at home. General cookbooks like the Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook and Betty Crocker’s Cookbook have entire chapters devoted to vegetable-based dishes, meat, breads, pastas, and more. Specialty cookbooks like the America’s Test Kitchen Complete Vegetarian Cookbook are full of recipes dedicated to one of the major food groups.

Online recipes are another easy and accessible resource. The MyPlate Kitchen website has tons of recipes, videos, and other resources to help you build healthy plates at home. Another great tool is allrecipes.com—a site that allows you to search for healthy recipes using whatever ingredients you’d like to use. It also has plenty of cooking tips and meal ideas to browse and is updated pretty regularly!

You can also check out my recipe collections available here on my website. I update these collections every few months according to the most popular or requested recipes.

For more guidance on building a healthy diet, check out my Healthy Diet Makeover program. This short course can be done in as little as two weeks, during which you’ll learn more about building a healthy plate and how to eat to reach your fitness goals. Click below to learn more!

 

Clean up your diet in 5 simple steps!

 
 

 

ABOUT ME

Hey there! 👋 I’m Jayd Harrison (Jaydigains), and I’m a personal trainer and health coach. I help people build muscle, burn fat, and clean up their diets with my online coaching programs. Check out some of my coaching videos on Youtube, or join me live on Twitch and follow on social media:

 

Sign up for updates ✉️

Sign up to get notified whenever new episodes drop. Opt in for more tips on training, fat loss, and nutrition by filling out the form below:

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