6 Fitness Habits Holding You Back
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I know one reason why you’re here, listening to this podcast, is that you want to build the body you want.
I also know that many of you are frustrated because you feel like you are putting in the effort, yet are still not seeing the results you want to see.
And I get it, it's frustrating and it can feel hopeless. That’s why in this episode of Embrace Your Real, I want to share with you 6 habits that you need to watch out for.
These habits may be the very thing holding you back from seeing the results you want to see. But if you break these habits, you can push past your plateau and finally build the body you want. Are you ready?!
P.S: If you want to start resistance training, or you are resistance training but need to start switching up your workouts, you can get a 7 DAY FREE TRIAL inside my Movement With Julie workout app by clicking here.
Plus, if you want to do yourself a favor by nourishing your body with what it needs, head over to macrocountingmadesimple.com to get your customized macros + learn all the ins and outs and hacks of macro counting.
TRANSCRIPT:
Hey there, beautiful human. You're listening to Embrace Your Real with me, Julie Ledbetter, a podcast where I empower you to just be you. With each episode, I dish you a dose of real talk and actionable advice for building your confidence, honoring your body and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned if you're ready to embrace your real. Let's get in, let's go.
Hello and welcome back to the Embrace Your Real podcast, or maybe welcome if this is your first time tuning in. I am so grateful that you are here, whether it's your first time or your 207th time, though, so glad that you are here. Today we're talking about six fitness habits that could be holding you back. And I know you might be tuning into this podcast because you want to build the body that you want. You might feel frustrated because you feel like you're putting in the work, yet, you're not seeing the results that you want to see. But why aren't you seeing the results? I get it. It can feel frustrating. It can feel super hopeless. And that's why I hope that these six fitness habits can give you something to work on, or maybe something to think about so that you can push past that plateau and finally build the body that you want.
But before I share these six habits, I wanted to share the super sweet review. It comes from Sierra and she gave a five star review. She said, "I am 14 years old. And my mother introduced me to this podcast because she really liked it. The first episode I listened to was seven positive affirmations and I have been a fan ever since. I used to hate my night chores, making my lunch, packing my bag, et cetera, but listening to your podcast makes it more enjoyable. Thank you for creating such an uplifting podcast." First of all, the fact that you're 14 and listening to podcasts is so amazing. Kudos to you. You are incredible. I love hearing these reviews just because I get to visualize this whole community and I'm so grateful for each and every single one of you. If you could scooch over to Apple Podcasts and leave review, I would greatly appreciate it.
It helps us and the growth of this podcast so much so that we can reach more women. Okay, so let's dive into the six fitness habits that could be holding you back from reaching your goals in 2022. Habit number one, over training. This is honestly one of the biggest mistakes that I personally ever made. I thought more was better. The more that I worked out, the more weight I would lose, the skinnier I would become, the better I would look and the happier I would be. Oh boy, was I wrong? Honestly, over training was seriously one of the worst things I could have done for my body. And really guys, unless you are a professional athlete who has professional guidance, like maybe multiple different teams that are working with you on multiple different things with guidance on nutrition, recovery, training plans, you do not need to work out more than five days a week, and you do not need to work out for more than 45 minutes at a time to build the body that you want.
Now, of course, if you want to have a longer workout, you absolutely can, but be smart with it and rest and recovery is so important. Remember that over training without an adequate amount of nutrition, recovery, and strategy, you will break your muscles down, which can prevent muscle growth. It can also cause hormonal imbalances and in some cases, even hold onto more weight because of those hormonal balances. Working out too much, you guys, is not healthy.
And I want to get that through your head because I wish I would've had someone told me that back in college because I would've saved so much time and so much stress. I was actually scrolling on Instagram the other day and this girl that I followed for a while, she's done a lot of really hard, intense workouts and she actually was talking about how recently she's been swapping some of those hard workouts for just a simple walk three to four times a week and that has actually helped her build the body that she want. And has made her feel more comfortable and confident in her body more than ever before. And when I saw that post, I felt that so much.
We need to normalize the fact that more is not better when it comes to working out. Of course, I will always encourage you to honor your body with movement daily, but please do not feel like you have to crush a workout every single day. Every single workout, every single day is going to look different and that is normal. You're not going to PR every single day. You're not going to have the best work out every single day. Of course, consistency trumps, and overall, just remember that consistent imperfect action over time will lead to results. Habit number two, under training. On the flip side, you absolutely can under train.
And this is where you're not consistent enough to actually see results. Like maybe you're going to the gym once a week, or you're doing a workout once a week and you're working your legs. And then maybe the next week you're working your upper body and then the next week you're doing a HIIT workout. And then the next week, maybe you're riding your bike, or you're going for a jog, or something. That's only four workouts total. And you've only worked muscles once or twice in the entire month. Just remember to see optimal results, you have to work each muscle group at least one to two times per week.
And that's why inside my Movement With Julie workouts, if you're inside with the weekly workouts, you can be confident in knowing that you will hit every muscle group and you will build the body that you want because you're doing it consistently.
Following the weekly workouts, like I said, will also help you find that consistency because you have the accountability right from following the plan. On the days that you maybe want to skip it, try asking yourself if you'll feel better working out. And 9 times out of 10, if you're honest with yourself, the answer is yes. And the biggest hack that has helped me stay consistent over time is just to commit to 10 minutes. So I personally work out in my basement. Many of you guys know that. If you follow me on TikTok or Instagram, you guys see that my workouts are in my basement. But for me personally, if I'm having a day where I'm just really struggling to get my workout in, I'll ask myself, "Will workout make me feel better." And if I'm answering honestly, it is always yes. And then I'll say, "Okay, I'm just going to give myself 10 minutes and see how I'm feeling. And if I want to go more, I can, but if not, no shame, no guilt and I'm going to be satisfied with what I got."
And a lot of the times, you guys, that 10 minutes turns in into a 20 minute workout, which turns into maybe a 30 minute workout. And then at the end of it, I am so glad that I moved my body. So start with 10 minutes and ask yourself honestly, if you want to go for another 10. And then in 10 minutes, ask yourself honestly, if you want to go for another 10 and make it a 30 minute workout. And sometimes the answer's going to be, "No, I don't want to do another 10 minutes." And that's totally fine. Celebrate what you did. And just remember that, again, consistent, imperfect action will always lead to results. Habit number three, only doing cardio. Oh my gosh, you guys, so many women and I'm including myself for so long, they think that cardio is the only way to get a good workout in.
And some of the reasons why people choose cardio over weight training, or at least the ones that I often hear and the ones that I used to believe is either intimidation of weight training, like you don't really know what to do or how to do it. You might associate the sweat that you get from a cardio workout versus a weight training session and think that you're not getting a good workout in with strength because you're not sweating as much, which spoiler alert, sweat truly does not dictate if you get a good workout in or not. Some of the best workouts that I have gotten recently have been very little sweat, and then the next day I wake up and I am sore four days. I can just tell that I really pushed it hard in my strength training. Or the last reason why a lot of women choose cardio over weight training is simply because they're not educated on the actual benefits of strength training.
So if you're in that last category, I want you to listen up. There are so many positive benefits with strength training, besides losing fat and building muscle. Having muscles can actually help you improve your performance, your balance, your functionality, such as like carrying kids up and downstairs, getting groceries in and out of the car, other daily tasks that you're doing.
It can also improve your cardiovascular health. It can lower your resting blood pressure and your LDL, which is actually known as your bad cholesterol. Strength training can also reduce lower back pain and reverse aging factors in muscle. But the most important, positive benefit of strain training in my opinion is that the more muscle that you have on your body frame, the more you're actually able to burn calories throughout the day, including rest, because muscle burns more calories than fat. In fact, research has shown that one pound of muscle burns about 7-10 calories, while one pound of fat only burns two to three calories. Plus, when you build more lean muscle mass that can actually lead to changing your overall body composition, which will lead to making you appear stronger, leaner and more athletic.
Habit number four, avoid picking up heavy or heavier weights. Please, please, please, it is 2022, we do not avoid going heavier in our weights. It is something that you should not be afraid of because it is a myth that weight training will make you bulky. If you're nourishing your body with what it needs and weight training, it's very, very, very unlikely that you will get bulky. That takes a lot of intentionality, that takes a really large caloric surplus over time for you to even build muscles. So please get that out of your head.
I know for me, for a decade plus of my life, you guys, I believed that myth. For a decade plus of my life I believe that myth and no more, I am here to shut it down and tell you that we are here to pick up that heavy weight and not fear it. Instead though, as I mentioned earlier, you will change your body composition through picking up those heavier weights. You'll actually appear leaner because muscle is more dense than fat. So don't be fooled by those myths out there that you'll get bulky and don't be fooled by the number on the scale going up. Just because muscle weighs more than fat, does not mean it will make you bulky. You will look leaner. And there are so many different side by side photos that I've posted over the years of me, for example, at like 130 pounds versus me at 155, which is where I'm at right now. And I look so much leaner now than I did at 130 pounds.
And that's simply because I have so much more muscle, I've changed my body composition. But again, if you continue to pick up the same weights for the same workouts week in and week out, your body will eventually plateau and it will stop changing. So please don't be afraid to challenge yourself with heavier weights. Heavier weight can actually build the body that you want. I'm not saying that you need to go from 10 to 30 pounds on bicep curls. Absolutely not. Even just a two pound increase can get you on track though. You're slowly over time building that strength. If you work out at home and you only have one set of dumbbells, there are so many other ways that you can increase progressive overload. And if you're not familiar with what progressive overload is, essentially it involves increasing the demands in the musculoskeletal system to continue to make gains in muscle size, strength and endurance.
So simply put, in order to get stronger, you must continuously make your muscles work harder than they're used to because our bodies get very adaptive. But if you only have access to a limited amount of equipment, especially women who are working out at home and maybe you don't have access to a whole set of dumbbells, there are so many ways to implement progressive overload. You can decrease the rest time, you can increase the overall volume, the sets, the reps, all of those things. I'm actually thinking an in depth progressive overload podcast episode would be really helpful. So that will be coming in the next couple weeks. But in the meantime, just know that you can also, for example, if you don't have access to other equipment, you can also change the tempo. So maybe the tempo on the bicep curl is, as you're pulling up the dumbbell for the curl, you're counting 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and then maybe you're holding for two seconds, and then you're slowing that tempo down, you're going 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, on the way down.
There are so many different ways that you can implement things to switch it up and to keep your muscles guessing, for a lack of a better term. Habit number five and not eating enough before you work out. I know so many women, and you guys, I'm putting myself in this because this was me for so long. I thought that I didn't deserve food until after I worked out. So I see women go throughout their workout and they're not eating anything before, or they're eating like the tiniest snack. And then they're feeling extremely fatigued in their workout. And as a result, they're not able to lift heavier, they can't finish their workouts, they're having a hard time pushing themselves simply because they don't have the energy. Here's the thing. If you want to build a body that you want, you have to push yourself in your workouts and you need to properly fuel your body in order to do that.
So I encourage you to eat a proper snack before you work out. You will not only see better results from your workout, but you'll actually enjoy your workout so much more because you aren't suffering through them because you actually have the energy to crush the workout. Some ideas for a pre-workout snack are berries and Greek yogurt, oatmeal and peanut butter, a protein shake, a protein bar. You can have almonds in peanut butter or whatever it is that fuels you. Personally, I love to have a legit meal, at least one to two hours before. And then sometimes I'll even have a snack right before my work workout. Because I just know that I feel so much stronger when I have food in my belly and when I have food in my stomach.
Habit number six, you're not eating enough overall. I know so many ladies who are super consistent with their workouts. They're doing everything right in terms of working out. They aren't over training. They're picking up heavier weights, they're resistance training, but they feel frustrated because they aren't seeing the results that they want. And when I actually look into what's happening, 99% of the time, it's because people don't know how much they're eating. And more specifically, oftentimes they're not eating enough protein and maybe they're eating too much of another macro. First of all, in order to build muscle, you actually need to be in a caloric surplus. And second of all, protein is important. So you at least need to be eating 0.6 at the very minimum to 0.7 of protein per pound of body weight. I personally eat one gram of protein per pound of body weight. I find that I feel my best, I feel my most satiated and overall, I just have the most amount of energy. And oftentimes, when I don't eat enough protein, I just find that I'm snacking more.
I find that I'm lacking the energy and the strength in my workouts. And I can just immediately tell, simply because I've been doing this long enough, without enough food though, specifically protein, your body will not have the nutrients that it needs to repair the muscle that you break down in your workouts and build more muscle from your actual workouts, which means that you're wasting energy in your workouts by not fueling your body properly because you're putting in the effort, but working against yourself by not nourishing your body. If you guys are unsure of how to nourish your body, I do have a Macro Counting Made Simple online academy that teaches you step by step how to properly nourish your body and we set you up for success so that you know exactly what you need to do. We guide you in this. And we are actually in the process of changing up this course.
We are making it more comprehensive. We're adding some amazing new things. But if you want to get in at the low price that it is right now, the price will be increasing when we launch the new course, the new updated version of Macro Counting Made Simple. You can go ahead and purchase it now at macrocountingmadesimple.com. That's macrocountingmadesimple.com. And if you purchase before the new course launches, you will get automatically upgraded to the new course, which is amazing. I'm telling you guys, this new course is going to be epic. Essentially, we are creating the new updated course so that you will never have to buy a nutrition course again. It will be the last nutrition course that you will ever buy, simply because it has every single thing that you need. So if you want to get in for that upgrade without paying the updated price, I encourage you to head over to macrocountingmadesimple.com right now.
And we will be updating that course in about a month or a little bit less than that. So definitely head over there if you want to learn how to properly nourish your body. Because like I said, you could be doing everything right, but if you're not properly fueling your body, you're actually working against yourself. So there you have it. Those are the six habits that you need to break if you want to build the body that you want in 2022. I'm going to recap them as I always do for those note takers and those list people like myself. Habit number one, over training. You are over training. You're training too hard. You're not resting. You're not recovering enough. Number two, you are under training. You are not consistent enough in your training. Habit number three, you're doing cardio only. So you're not implementing strength training into your weekly workouts.
Number four, you're avoiding picking up heavy or heavier weights. You're not implementing progressive overload. Number five, you're not eating enough before you work out. And number six, you're not eating enough overall. Again, if you want to learn all about the nutrition aspect, go to Macro Counting Made Simple Online Academy. If you want to learn more about my resistance training program, my weekly workouts, where I give you and program five brand new workouts every single week. For every single day, you have two options. You have a full workout which takes 45-55 minutes, or you have a 30 minute variation of that. So if you're low on time, but you still want to get a quick workout in, you have options for you. Video demos for every single movement. There are alternate exercises. So maybe you don't have access to a bench. You have an alternate exercise that doesn't utilize a bench. Or maybe you don't have access to a dumbbell, or maybe that movement is too hard with a dumbbell. I always offer body weight exercises and alternatives for you.
You can head over to sale.movementwithjulie.com. Again, that's sale.movementwithjulie.com to learn more. We are still running the 50% off your first month for those who are brand new subscribers or reinstating your subscription. So again, go to sale.movementwithjulie.com. Sale.movementwithjulie.com. Thank you so much for tuning in. I am so grateful for you. I hope that this episode helped you. I hope that it gave you some information, some things to think about and maybe start implementing so that you can start actually building the body that you want in 2022. Also, be sure to screenshot this. You can post it up on your social media. Tag me, Julie Ledbetter, tag Embrace Your Real. We love connecting with you guys and I'll talk to you in the next episode.
All right, sister, that's all I got for you today, but I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you are not already following me on the Gram, be sure to do so, juliealedbetter. Yes, it's with an A in the middle, for that daily post workout real talk, healthy tips and tricks and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing, be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcasts to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world, and I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace your real, because, you're worth it.