At Ascend, we work with a lot of clients who’ve done the right things—they’ve trained hard, tracked macros, and followed calorie deficits or surpluses—yet they still haven’t seen the results they expected.

Whether it’s stubborn fat, lack of muscle gain, or unresolved health conditions, the missing link we often find is chronic systemic inflammation.

What Is Inflammation, Really?

Inflammation isn’t inherently bad. It’s your body’s natural healing response to injury, illness, or stress.

But when it becomes chronic, that healing process gets stuck in overdrive—and that’s when it becomes a problem.

Chronic inflammation can:

• Suppress immune function

• Damage joint tissue

• Break down the gut lining

• Slow recovery

• Disrupt hormonal balance

• Make fat loss and muscle gain incredibly difficult

What Causes Chronic Inflammation?

Most of the time, it's not one thing—it’s a collection of stressors building up over time. Some common drivers we see include:

🔁 Poor Blood Sugar Regulation

If you get shaky, irritable, or sick when you go too long without eating—your blood sugar balance is off.
This rollercoaster effect increases inflammation and disrupts energy balance.

🍟 Processed Foods & Omega-6 Overload

Omega-6 fats aren’t bad—but in excess (especially compared to Omega-3s), they skew the body toward an inflammatory state.
Processed foods and cheap oils are a huge culprit here.

😰 Chronic Stress

High stress = high cortisol. And chronic cortisol leads to… you guessed it: chronic inflammation.
It also suppresses immunity and disrupts gut health.

🛋 Sedentary Lifestyle

Lack of movement compounds inflammation. It reduces blood flow, weakens mitochondria, and slows recovery.

How We Approach It at Ascend

You can’t out-train chronic inflammation. So here’s what we recommend to reduce it systemically:

1. Anti-Inflammatory Nutrition

Focus on:

• Wild-caught fish (Omega-3s)

• Bright-colored plants (polyphenols)

• Removing highly processed foods and oils

2. Better Blood Sugar Balance

Use protein-forward meals and longer gaps between eating to stabilize glucose levels over time.

3. Train Smarter, Not Harder

Emphasize:

• Zone 2 cardio

• Moderate resistance training

• Recovery over volume

4. Manage Stress & Sleep

Breathwork, walks, sunlight, journaling—whatever helps lower your baseline stress, do more of that. And prioritize sleep like your results depend on it (because they do).

5. Support With Smart Supplementation

We may also use:

• Curcumin (anti-inflammatory)

• Fish oil (Omega-3 boost)

• Gut support to repair intestinal lining

You’re Not Broken. You’re Just Inflammatory.

If nothing else has worked, inflammation might be your missing link. And the good news is—it can be reversed with the right plan.

Need help figuring it out? Get in touch with us at Ascend, and we’ll tailor a strategy that’s built for your root cause.