Is your metabolism functioning at its optimum potential? Amy Hudson opens this episode with that question, then introduces the Metabolic Comeback as a two-part approach built around whole-effort exercise and whole-food nutrition.
Dr. James Fisher explains why the exercise component should not be reduced to calories burned during a workout. The goal is to create a broader metabolic stimulus through high-effort strength training, muscle-fiber recruitment, real-time performance data, and coach-led progression. The approach is deliberately efficient: rather than spending hours in the gym, the episode makes the case for a demanding, evidence-based 20-minute strength session that can be sustained over time.
The second half turns to nutrition. Amy describes a 30-day whole-food challenge built around a clear playbook, community support, and habits that can continue after the challenge ends. The episode closes with a client testimonial that brings the two pieces together: after combining the workouts with the nutrition plan, the client reports visible body-composition changes, better sleep, easier everyday movement, and a stronger sense of well-being.
We put all of these together into one whole body, whole effort exercise. That’s really the big initial component of the metabolic comeback. This creates a powerful one two punch. We’re not only addressing half of the equation, this is really becoming the other half of the equation. Welcome to the Strength Changes everything podcast, where we introduce you to the information, latest research, and tools that will enable you to live a strong, healthy life. On this podcast, we will also answer your questions about strength, health, and well being. I’m Amy Hudson. I own and operate three exercise coach studios.
My co hosts are Brian Sagan, co founder and CEO of The Exercise Coach, and Dr. James Fisher, leading researcher in evidence based strength training. And now for today’s episode. Welcome to the Strength Changes everything podcast. I’ve got a question for you right out of the gate Is your metabolism functional its optimum potential? So, for the record, metabolism refers to the sum of all the hormonal processes and chemical reactions that take place in a person’s body every day. We know that the influence of exercise and eating has a great impact on metabolism, specifically two areas: wellness and weight control. In reality, we are always. Either on a positive or a negative metabolic trajectory, and our weight gain or loss will really be a pretty good indicator of the path that we are currently on. The metabolic comeback, which we’re going to talk about today, is designed to turn around weeks or even years of a negative trajectory and put you on a path to sustained optimal wellness and a healthy weight. So, if this sounds intriguing to you, you’re going to listen. You want to listen to this whole episode. We’re going to talk about the metabolic comeback and how it works today.
And what it is, the metabolic comeback is uniquely designed to address the two areas, exercise and nutrition, to create success for anyone in these areas, regardless of their fitness level. Additionally, the effect that the metabolic comeback will have on individual metabolism too is very positive. So anyone who’s over 40 years old will very much welcome this metabolic assistance. The Metabolic Comeback is a product of years of research and experience, and we’ve worked with thousands of clients. And we’ve come up with a tried and true proven combination involving two categories whole effort exercise and whole food nutrition, which we say creates a whole new you. Wouldn’t it be great if you’re listening today to make this next year of your life your healthiest year ever? I think it would. And that’s exactly what will happen with the metabolic comeback. We’re going to break down the two components of the metabolic comeback today to share why it’s been so Effective for people who need to see better results and who don’t have the time or inclination to become a fitness fanatic. So, the first part we’re going to break down today is the component of whole effort exercise.
So, Dr. Fisher, how are you doing today? And can you break down the component of whole effort exercise and why this is so important in somebody making a metabolic comeback? First of all, thank you very much. Amy. I’m doing very well, and I hope you are too. I actually want to touch on two things that you highlighted in the introduction there. First of all, you said trajectory, so either on an upward or a downward movement. So I think that’s really important that we recognize that we don’t have to be at the highest level we can be, but we can be aiming to get there.
So trajectory can be really important. I like that. Verbiage. The second one you said is optimal. So I might look at myself and think, hey, I have a great metabolism, I’m healthy, I’m fit. Blah, But actually, what I They are fit, blah, But actually, what I can think of is how do I fare against my optimum? I might be fit, I might be healthy, I might have a good metabolism, but is it the best metabolism I can have? Am I as fit as I can be? Are there things that I could still improve? And we don’t know whether we’re at our optimum until we’ve maybe tried different things and kind of gone through these processes like the of World Equation, and hence my involvement in it this coming September. So, I really love those two phrases that you use. So, I just wanted to touch on them before I answer the question. So, the first one you said was, or the first point is whole effort exercise. And I think it’s really important that we recognize that this is an evidence based approach, it’s science based. So, workouts at the exercise coach are based on this evidence base that links our metabolic trajectory with our muscle fiber physiology.
And the approach uses specifically designed protocols. That delivers the most through muscle activation. We’ve talked historically about the eccentric loading and type 2 muscle fiber recruitment. So we’re really getting everything we can. And therefore, they deliver the greatest total body results. So we know we’re recruiting, you know, as many muscle fibers across as many muscle groups as we can. Now, the acute disturbance to our energy metabolism increases post exercise energy expenditure in the acute environment. But then over time, this repeated exposure can contribute to improvements in body composition, glucose regulation, and insulin sensitivity. And so it’s not. To be reduced to something as simple as the calories that we burn during exercise. And many people think about that, and that’s when they think about going for a run. And they might go for a run and then think, I burned 400 calories or whatever it might be, but it’s a wherever it might be, but it’s about creating a metabolic environment that’s adaptable and that stimulates sort of longer term changes, both in building muscle and increasing our insulin sensitivity and so forth. Yeah, this isn’t just any exercise that’s being combined with whole food nutrition.
This is powerful exercise designed to really rev up that metabolism because we’re focusing on that strength training. And so this creates a powerful one two punch. You know, we’re not only addressing half of the equation, this is really becoming the other half of the equation, I think. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And then, of course, our workouts are data driven. You know, the fact that the exobotics devices give us real time biofeedback. So we know exactly the numbers based on force production and the workouts themselves. So it’s, you know, it’s the most, it’s a 21st century workout.
I can’t, I feel like I’m constantly saying the same thing over this, but, but, you know, dumbbells and barbells have been around for hundreds of years. And we’re actually using 21st century technology that helps us to track the workouts to make them optimal for the client. And that’s so important. Yeah. Yeah. And it’s motivating too, right? Because we’re seeing progress, it is tracked. And so if we want to succeed in anything, we have to track it to know that we are actually making the progress. That we’re after, right? Yeah, absolutely. And then we can start to move into a couple of other factors around the workouts.
We talk a bit about kind of this idea of fat burning. You know, we’ve passed these ideas of long, drawn out workouts and being in the gym day in, day out to try to burn fat. It’s not about that, it’s about building strength. You know, there is there is an element of fat burn and based on the intensity that’s being delivered within the workout, both through the strength component and concentrated cardio component. But it’s about that muscular recruitment and that high effort level that’s boosting our metabolism and making the session short but demanding. But the key is it’s optimal, it’s effective, and it’s efficient efficient Workout. And many people who aren’t clients of the Exercise Coach might be listening to this and saying, no, 20 minutes is not enough. I know you need to spend two hours a day in the gym, five days a week, or so forth. And that’s just not true. As we’ve said, this is evidence based. And 20 minute workouts now are absolutely efficient and are absolutely effective in creating the stimulus that we need for our metabolism, for our strength improvements, for our functional capacity improvements, the array of other health benefits that we’ve talked about.
You know, a good adage in this sense is that you can either train long or you can train hard. And if you’re thinking two hours a day in the gym, five days a week, that’s 10 hours. But what are you actually achieving in that 10 hours? That cannot be high enough effort if you’re able to be in the gym for two hours. You know, trade that in for something that’s 20 minutes, that’s effective and efficient. And then probably the most significant area from my perspective over my research in the last 10 years is the supervision component that our workouts are coach led. So, knowing that you’ve got science behind you is great, but knowing that you’ve got a coach by the side of you who’s removing all the guesswork, who’s tracking progress, who is looking at the data and making amendments to the workout on the fly, day in, day out, workout to workout, customizing the workouts along with that smart technology.
And is then there to educate clients, to answer questions, and to support the client in reaching their goals is absolutely key in this workout, this whole effort exercise component. As I said published a number of research papers around the importance of supervision within within exercise and within strength training. Specifically, there’s no doubt that it improves numerous resistance training outcomes from strength, functional capacity, body composition, muscle hypertrophy, across a number of ways: safety, adherence, technique, progression, and effort level. So we put all of these. Together into one whole body, whole effort exercise delivered in 20 minutes. And that’s really the big initial component of the metabolic comeback. Totally. Thank you for breaking those down for us. I mean, the workout itself that is being combined with whole food nutrition is powerful enough in and of itself and extremely effective. I mean, the components you just broke down, it’s science based. So we’re not just doing anything and everything, you know, in conjunction with healthy eating, something proven to work data driven, fat burning, right? If we’re going to clean up our nutrition, we also want our exercise to be optimally fat burning, 20 minutes and coach led.
There are so many programs out there that feel extreme to people that require a lot of time and a lot of thought and a lot of dedication, a lot of effort, a whole like health overhaul. And this is something that people say is doable, fits into their life. They already know that they can attend their workouts and they know that their coach has their best interest in mind. So it’s easy in this sense to succeed with the exercise. Perfect. Yeah. And sustainable. So manageable over the long term. Yeah, absolutely. Okay. So then the other component of the metabolic comeback, the one two punch we were talking about, is whole food nutrition. And there’s really three components. That help clients succeed in this area. One is a proven playbook. So all exercise coach clients receive the nutrition playbook, the exercise coach nutrition playbook. Our co founder, Jerry Ann Zeigen, assembled this really easy, user friendly guide all about the principles of nutrition kind of under one roof. And it references what foods can help us and hurt us in our metabolic health. If you want to learn more about what that is we’ve actually recorded episodes with Jerry Ann on this exact topic in episodes 60, 61, and 62 of the podcast.
But it’s an easy to understand way to think about our nutrition for this 30 day period and beyond. So we start with providing us easy to read information. Number two, the second component, a powerful kickoff. So we offer nationwide metabolic comeback challenges for 30 days focused days to combine whole effort exercise and whole food nutrition. And we’re challenging clients to focus on staying true to these two things for a minimum of a 30 day period in order to establish habits that will keep, you know, returning on investment into their metabolic health, to really rev up their personal initiative, to quickly see some turnarounds in a sluggish metabolism. To optimize their hormone health and underlying health factors that lead to fat loss over time, and strongly encourage participants over these 30 days. So, this is a community endeavor led by studio coaches and national figures to really help keep you on track, which is very motivating for a lot of people when it comes to any nutritional changes. And then the third piece of the whole food nutrition is a practical journey. So again, any. We make changes with our nutrition, it’s not just about doing something extreme that produces fast results.
I think we’ve all known people or been that person ourselves who does something extreme to lose, you know, 20 pounds in two weeks or something like that for a wedding. But we all know that that doesn’t lead to sustainable long term health and wellness. So, we’re not looking to do something like that. We’re looking to help ourselves be healthy and well for years to come. What we’re going to guide you through gonna guide you through during a 30day metabolic comeback challenge is designed to teach you how to eat well as a lifestyle. So not only will you maintain your results, but from time to time, you’re able to then reach new levels of achievement with this.
We’ve worked with thousands of clients who’ve described these two things as completely doable, much easier than they thought. They’ve also been surprised with the results that they’ve been able to achieve in doing something that feels so holistic and positive. For them. It’s not deprivation. It’s not extremes. It’s not something unsustainable. They’re delighted with how sustainable it feels and how empowering it feels. We’ve got a metabolic comeback challenge coming up soon. And I hope if you’re listening to this, that you’ll consider participating in our upcoming 30 day metabolic comeback challenge to combine these two things in an intentional way for yourself and join us in this next nationwide metabolic comeback challenge.
As we end today, we’re going to play you a test from a client who had the experience of combining whole effort exercise and whole food nutrition. And I’d love for you to hear his story. We’ll see you next week on the podcast. Until then, we hope you remember strength changes everything. So, when I was doing my workout and I was a couple of months in, I was wondering why my abs weren’t changing. And Jess said to me, Abs are made in the kitchen. So that day I went home and I looked around in my kitchen to see what I could find.
I couldn’t find any ab maker. And the next day I came in and I said My abs aren’t changing. I looked in the kitchen, like you said, abs are made in the kitchen. And after Jess laughed and kind of gave me that wink, that is that a joke, Steve? She said, You really ought to participate in the metabolic challenge. So, what’s that? So, they gave me a book and I went home and I started to read it and started to do all the things that were in the book. After 30 days with intensive workout and eating pretty close, but not perfectly, when they came back in and did my test again I realized everything had changed in my body. My abs were finally forming. My sleep was improved. Overall, I was a funnier guy than I was when I started, which is a great side benefit of the program.
And I felt significantly improved better and easier getting around, getting up, getting out of bed, walking around the house, picking things up, going up and down the stairs, and just generally felt good about my life and my lifestyle. The test showed statistically. What happened from a data perspective, but what was more important is what happened up here and what happened in here. So I highly recommend it. It was a phenomenal experience and I can’t wait for the next one. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please share it with a friend. You can submit a question or connect with the show at strengthchangeseverythingcom Join us next week for another episode and be sure to follow the show on Apple Podcasts.
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