Tina McInnes Coaching

05/09/2026

Many women are capable of moving impressive loads in bilateral, symmetrical, closed kinetic chain exercises like squats and deadlifts, particularly when range of motion is shortened and stability demands are low.

But then you ask them to perform a split squat, step up, or lunge and suddenly things look very different.

Why?

Because unilateral work exposes frontal plane instability and weaknesses that bilateral lifting can often compensate around or hide.

Exercises performed with both feet planted on the floor allow us to rely heavily on symmetry, rigidity, and global force production. But single leg and split stance work demand something more: the ability to stabilize and control force through the foot, pelvis, and trunk while resisting movement side-to-side.

That requires adequate strength and coordination from muscles like:

glute medius and glute minimus
deep hip external rotators
adductors
lateral trunk stabilizers
intrinsic foot musculature
These muscles matter enormously for knee control, pelvic stability, balance, gait, running, climbing stairs, and ultimately the quality and longevity of your heavier lifting too.

This is why single leg work belongs in almost every strength program.

05/01/2026

Common misconception: women—especially in perimenopause—need to “lift heavy sh*t.”
No. Lift appropriately challenging and build the capacity to go heavier over time.

04/16/2026

Most women are not failing because they lack effort. They are applying effort in the absence of the conditions that make it productive.

A training foundation has psychological and phsyiological components.

Psychologically, it is consistency over time. Months and years of learning how to show up regularly enough to build a base level of capacity.

Physiologically, it is pain-free movement proficiency. The ability to control position, access full range of motion, and load patterns without compensation.

It is readiness for structure. The point at which following a progressive training plan becomes meaningful rather than overwhelming.

And it is the patience to allow progression to unfold over time, rather than trying to accelerate it through intensity.

What often happens instead is that these steps are skipped. Intensity is introduced early, under the assumption that harder work will produce faster results.

It doesn’t.

Intensity is not what builds capacity. It is what expresses it.

When it is layered onto something solid, it becomes precise, targeted, and productive. When it is not, it becomes unsustainable. It does not build in a progressive way, and it increases the likelihood of both psychological disengagement and physical injury.

This is where training starts to work against you.

In the next post, I’ll show you what this looks like in practice.

04/16/2026

Are you doing plyometrics too early in your training cycle?

It's one of the most common mistakes we see — athletes jumping straight to bounding and box jumps in search of more power, skipping the steps that actually make plyometrics work.

In his latest piece, FasterSkier's Jim Galanes breaks down where plyometrics actually belong within a periodized training program and why the sequencing matters more than the exercises themselves.

Hint: They come last. Not first.

Read now on FasterSkier, link in comments.

04/15/2026

Most training advice being marketed to women right now skips the only things that actually matter. 👇

There is a popular trend in the fitness space to prescribe training to women based on stage of life, and hormone status, and it is often presented as evidence-based advice.

The reality is, that isn’t how good training is actually written.

Gender, hormones, and stage of life definitely influence things like oad tolerance, recovery capacity, and the speed and magnitude of training adaptations. But they do not change the fundamental principles of how good training is structured.

Programming decisions have always been built on something more fundamental. What you are trying to achieve, what you have actually done before, and what your current capacity allows.

When those pieces are overlooked, the training rarely has the best outcome. It becomes less sustainable. It stops delivering the results you are looking for.

And this is where intensity gets misapplied.

Not because intensity is wrong.
But because it is being layered onto something that isn’t there.

In the next post, I’ll show you where this starts to break down for most people.

03/25/2026

Wanna build muscle with me this spring?

Spots open in April to join my online women's lifting program: Women Who Want Muscle (WWWM). Registration window March 28- April 5. Don't miss out!

More info at: www.coachmcinnes.ca or send me a message at tina@coachmcinnes.com

03/17/2026

There are many misconceptions about strength training for endurance sport performance including how to program safe and effective training that matches the specific needs of masters' athletes. I am presenting this talk to the Cascades Club Women's Competitive Dragon Boating team this spring and it is a new offering that I am extending to other clubs and teams in the Ottawa area and beyond.

03/08/2026

The major takeaway is at minute 17:30

Is creatine actually worth the hype or is it just clever marketing? Three doctors break it all down.Dr. Spencer, Dr. Karl, and exercise physiologist Dr. Laur...

02/18/2026

02/17/2026

This is not your typical race report.

It’s not about splits or podiums.

It’s about every midlife woman who feels like she lost herself in work, parenting, caregiving — and quietly stepped away from sport.

I used to tell myself I didn’t need competition. That life already felt like enough pressure.

The truth? It was fear.

I grew up believing you narrow your focus and excel in one lane. When that lane shifted (career → motherhood), I felt unmoored. I had no parallel identity. No outlet.

I started skate skiing at 40. I was terrible. It was humbling. I kept going.

This weekend I lined up beside FIS athletes, varsity athletes, elites — and the imposter voice was loud.

"You don’t belong here."

But I stayed.

I raced hard.

And I was reminded of something I now believe deeply:

Sport is not for kids.
It’s for life.

When adults stop moving, we model that adulthood means self-erasure.

When we keep training, competing, showing up — we model resilience, balance, and capacity.

You don’t need to become an athlete.

But you do need something that is yours.

Reinvention is possible at any age.

Keep going.

I want to finish with a special thank you to the person who shaped me as an athlete long before this weekend.
When I doubted myself, he never did.

He has always seen strength in me — and he makes sure I see it too. This weekend he quite literally dragged me around that course, shouting at me to push because he knew I could.
Thank you to my number one coach and the love of my life

01/22/2026

Lift 🏋️‍♀️ to make you better at the things you adore and the things you want to be doing for decades to come.