Sara Rudd Coaching

Ladies you need to be consistently repeating the same exercises in order to achieve your goals.

Variety, boredom and exercise hoping is killing your gainz.

If you want to see progress in the gym, in your performance and in your physique you need to build muscle and strength 💪

So pick exercises that you enjoy and help you work towards your goals e.g., if you want to improve your back squat 1RM then back squat, if you want to build your glutes then exercises like hip thrusts, RDL’s or kickbacks might be a better play 🤷‍♀️

You should be working to include progressive overload in your programme. Week on week look to complete more reps at the same weight you did last week or gradually increase the load you’re lifting.

Side note: fuelling your body correctly is a really important factor here so if you find your weights are plateauing in the gym or you’re just not seeing progress it may be that you’re not consistently completing the same exercises, implementing progressive overload correctly or your fuelling is off.

If you need some help and support getting strong as f*** and working towards your physique goals then DM me the word coaching and I will be in touch.

This is one of my favourite rowing exercises for building muscle and developing good posture.

The benefits of the chest supported row are many.

Not only will it help you build muscle in your back and biceps it may also be the perfect rowing exercise to help reduce strain on your lower back.

Other rowing exercises such as the barbell bent over row or pendlay rows can add more pressure to the back whereas the chest supported row isolates the upper back muscles.

This is also a great rowing movement for posture.any of us will be affected by poor posture as a results of sitting at a desk or in the car and this tends to get worse as we age. The chest supported row is a great way to strengthen the back muscles in order to support improvements in posture.

So this is definitely one to add to the programme ladies.

Complete 3 sets of 8-12 reps to maximise your muscle building potential.

My name is Sara and I help women build strength and their dream physique. So if you want strength training and nutrition tips then follow along for more.

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 .

I was pretty gutted 6 weeks ago when I messed up the 1RM testing I had been waiting for since the start of the year.

On reflection I’m grateful I failed because progress is never perfect and it’s made me work harder over the past 6 weeks.

Failure humbles you and reminds you that you can always work harder. It builds resilience so that you don’t let set backs stop you from achieving your goals. It also builds confidence that when things go wrong you can handle it.

I love failing, because it means Ive found and worked to my limits.

I actually failed 102.5kg the first time I tried it (not shown above) but now I’ve built so much resilience. I took the weight off the bar, re racked and reloaded it and tried again. Although it was a messy rep I definitely reached my limit and that’s something I’m proud of!

Ladies if you’re anything like me then the first thing you worry about when you’re heading into a cut is loosing strength.

So this is how you can navigate your cutting phase in order to avoid seeing your performance decline in the gym.

Aiming for a moderate deficit. 10-20% below your maintenance calories in order to lose fat whilst preserving strength and muscle mass.

Consuming 1.6-2.2g per kg body weight of protein to ensure you’re allowing your muscles to recover and build.

Keeping carbohydrate intake high. Glycogen is your main source of energy and so it’s important that you’re not cutting carbs out or down allot in order to cut weight.

Timing your meals around exercise. Ensuring you’re consuming slow release (low-GI) carbs a few hours before training e.g., oats, quinoa or brown rice and…

Consuming 1g per kg body weight of simple carbohydrate’s (high-GI) as a pre workout snack e.g., rice cakes, breakfast cereals, bananas, dates, honey etc.

Keep taking your creatine 3-5g per day.

Happy and strong lifting ladies 🙌🏻 💪

Your squat depth is killing your glute gains.

If you’re not getting depth on your squats, your glutes aren’t under the tension they need to grow.

So a great alternative is the goblet squats.

A goblet squat will force you to stay upright, sit deeper into the squat, and actually use your glutes instead of your quads in isolation.

Focus on:
– Sitting breaking at the knee and hip joint at the same time
– Keeping the weight close to your chest
– Hitting depth with controlled movement’s

Once you’ve taken 8-12 weeks to master the goblet squats and used that time to progress the load. I can guarantee that you’ll feel allot better under a barbell doing back squats.

Practicing the goblet squat will lead to better depth. Better depth will lead to better glute growth and also better performance and movement mechanics.

So save this and give it a try.

This is exactly why trusting the process matters.

If I only ever lifted what felt comfortable or what I thought I could handle, I’d still be stuck at the same level. Strength doesn’t come from playing it safe — it comes from stepping outside of your comfort zone.

You’re capable of far more than you give yourself credit for.

So ask yourself:
How many times have you talked yourself out of adding weight?
How many times have you decided “that’s too heavy for me” before even trying?

That hesitation is the only thing holding you back.

As coaches, we don’t guess. Your programme is built from real data, baseline testing, and proven principles. It’s also designed for you, your goals and your needs.

So if you’re fuelling your body properly, the only thing left to do is trust the process, show up and train with intent.

Because the truth is — you have the ability,
you just need more belief.

And sometimes, you just need someone to remind you what you’re capable of.

I’m Sara and I’m a female online strength coach who posts daily strength training and nutrition advice. So if you’re a woman who feels abit lost in the gym right now and wants to build a stronger physique then follow along for more.