Q&A: Defining “Lifting Heavy”, Handling Negative Body Comments, Being Sick + Feeling TOO sore
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Welcome to another episode of Embrace Your Real, where I answer your real-life questions on the intricacies of the health and fitness journey. In this candid conversation, I address the not-so-glamorous aspects, offering valuable insights and practical advice.
Join me as I dive into the questions that resonate with the shared experiences of the diverse community in my Movement With Julie app. From understanding the concept of lifting "heavy" to dealing with post-workout soreness, navigating sickness-related setbacks, and handling judgmental comments about your body—this episode covers it all. By the end of this episode, you'll not only have practical solutions to common challenges but also a renewed sense of empowerment on your health and fitness journey.
What I discuss:
Q1: What exactly does lift “heavy” mean? I always see people saying “stay consistent and lift heavy”. I understand that heavy is subjective, but is there a weight where your mind says “I’m lifting heavy”?
Q2: I’m not sure if I’m alone in this but I find most weeks I’m so so sore from lower body on Monday that I struggle to function let alone complete the remaining days that involve lower body! What do I do about this?
Q3: I’ve been sick for the last 2 weeks so I haven’t been working out. I’ve been binge eating because food makes me happy. I’ve been really consistent before I got sick so I wish me getting the flu didn’t happen because it has thrown me way off. What should I do?
Q4: My mom is really judgmental and comments on my weight a lot. What’s the best way for me to navigate this?
If you loved this episode, be sure to tune in to…
Episode 13 - How Much Weight Should I Be Lifting
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Transcript:
[00:00:00] 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 issue 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 it, let's go. [00:00:21][20.3]
[00:00:26] Hello and welcome back to another episode on the Embrace Your Real podcast today. I'm really excited. We are answering real life questions on navigating this beautiful health and fitness journey that we are in together. And while it's beautiful, it's not always glamorous. And that's why I want to take some time to answer some questions that I know are going to be very relatable to so many of you guys listening. I'm going to dive into what it actually means to lift heavy and how to know if you're lifting heavy enough and how to know if you're too sore, what to do about it, how to navigate staying on track when you're sick and not feeling just well and you're feeling guilty for taking time off. And also how to navigate negative comments about your body made by loved ones. [00:01:09][42.4]
[00:01:09] So that's what we're going to be diving into in today's exclusive Q&A. These questions were all asked by Movement Julie subscribers inside our private Facebook group, which you get exclusive access to if you are an active subscriber inside the app. And every single day women are asking questions like this. And so I'm excited to be kind of taking some of the things that are, you know, questions that are being asked and answered inside the community and bringing them to the public. But if you want more questions and answers, there are, you know, every single day Joshua and I on our team are in there. We're answering questions, we're supporting you. And it's truly a special group of women. And honestly, one of the best things about the movement with Julie Community is the actual community of being able to see women on a daily basis, you know, powering through their workouts and sharing their triumphs and sharing their struggles and all doing it alongside a community. So that is exactly what we're going to be talking about in today's episode. Before we dive in, though, I want to share this review. It comes from Barb Mu, I think I pronounce that right. She gave a five star review and said, my new favorite. Listen, I found this podcast when I set out to increase my steps and needed a new listen. Julie is a breath of fresh air and it feels like you're sitting on a porch having a good discussion with a friend. Thank you for all the wisdom and knowledge. I love this so much. I too, when I set out earlier this year to really increase my steps and be productive. So I typically their work or I listen to podcasts or I do all of the above while walking and man, it is just so helpful to have a podcast or to have something to listen to while you're doing that. [00:02:42][93.1]
[00:02:42] So I'm so grateful that you chose to tune in to the podcast while you're doing that. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to send in this review. If you guys could scooch over to Apple Podcasts first, make sure you subscribe so that you never miss an episode. We release them on Monday and Thursdays. And then second, all you have to do is scroll all the way down and leave a rating interview. So if this podcast has helped you in any way, shape or form, I would love to hear about it. Our team would love to hear about it, and so you can go ahead and leave a reading interview. I appreciate you guys so much in advance. I know that it takes a couple of minutes out of your busy schedules, but it really does help us out and we appreciate you so much. Okay. [00:03:16][34.0]
[00:03:16] So let's dive into today's Q&A. Question number one, what exactly does lift heavy mean? I always see people saying stay consistent and lift heavy. And I understand that heavy is subjective, but is there like a weight where your mind says, I'm lifting heavy? This is a great question. You are 100% right. Lifting heavy is very subjective. And while there is kind of a way to look at that, that makes it not subjective. And that's kind of how I want to define it to you today. So if your last few wraps and when I say last few, I mean 1 to 3 are slow and strenuous while still able to maintain proper form. You feel out of breath, but you're again may able to maintain that proper form. But they're very difficult. They're very challenging. Then you probably are lifting heavy enough for that specific movement based on the number of reps that are programed. If you find yourself flying through the last few sets of reps. So you know 1 to 3 reps and they're just as easy as all the others, you're not breaking a sweat and I don't really like to go off of breaking a sweat because sweating is very genetic. There are some people that sweat with everything and then there are other people where it takes a lot for them to sweat. So I don't want you to get too nitty gritty into, Oh, well, I'm not sweating. That means I'm not lifting heavy enough. But you should be out of breath. You should be finding it very challenging. They should likely be very slow. Like I'm thinking, you know, when I'm going heavy enough on bicep curls like that last two one, two, two reps. I am like, it is slow. And I'm like, Let's do those. Come on, let's go, let's go, let's go all the way up. And so that's kind of how, you know, you're lifting heavy enough. But if you're just flying through those last, you know, reps and they're just as easy as the others, you know that it's time to go heavier and that you're not lifting heavy enough. Like a rule of thumb is this when you want the last two reps to be very strenuous while still being able to maintain proper form, therefore, it's better to lift heavy and be able to perform less reps than left lighter and perform more reps. And so that's what I want to encourage you. Like if you really want to focus on building muscle, at least be getting those 6 to 8 rep range. But if you're like, man, you know, I really want to push myself, then find that weight where on the seventh and eighth rep. You're really it's it's strenuous. Like you're able to maintain that proper form, like I mentioned, but it's difficult. And so that's kind of a great rule of thumb to go with if you're wanting to lift heavier. I also do have some episodes that talk about, you know, I understand that a lot of you guys inside the movement with Julianne are lifting with what you have available at your house, and that's great. And there are other ways to increase, whether it's volume, whether it's changing the tempo are different types of things that you can do to ensure that you're still challenging yourself without the heavier weights. And if you don't have access to that, like whether you're traveling or you just don't have access to that at home, that's totally fine. I will say one hack that is super helpful that I've told many women inside the group is they're called July Body and basically they're a little two, two and a half pound clips that go on two dumbbells. So they're great because you can move them, you know, if you have a few pair of dumbbells, let's say you have a £10, you think you could maybe go up to £12, but you don't have that available if you put on, you know, one of those two, two and a half pound clips, you're able to immediately go to 12 and a half pounds for that specific dumbbell. And so those are really great to have on hand there. On my Amazon storefront. You can also just Google July body clips and you'll be able to find them. That's a great way to kind of, you know, knock at the other, knock at all these different pairs of dumbbells, but still being able to go up in dumbbells in terms of weights. I also talk about in episode 13, I kind of dive into how to select the right amount of weight and how to properly move up in weight. And that's a really OG episode. I did it, you know, three years ago, but I really think that you'll find that beneficial. So I will go ahead and link that in the show notes. But again, we want the last two reps to be really strenuous while still being able to maintain that proper form. And if you follow that rule, you're lifting heavy. And again, this is really only applicable if your form is proper. If it's correct, the second you compromise your form, you're lifting too heavy form is way more important than the amount that you are lifting. And I want someone to hear that because I think so often we let our ego take, you know, take the control, the driver seat, and we're like, Oh, no, we can do this. And then you realize or maybe you don't realize because you're you're in this mindset of like, I just want to lift heavy that you're actually even not working the proper muscles because you're compromising your form. So again, really take this to heart. And I want you to know that it's a slow and steady race like no one is. We are not in this to beat each other. We're not in this. We're only in competition with ourself. And that's why I love the history inside the apps. If you're logging your workouts, I'm a huge believer. I know that for some of you guys, it's it just doesn't come natural. And I get it. When I first started logging, weight was like I would just wasn't used to it. But I'm telling you, the more that you do it, the more it just becomes second nature and you'll be so thankful that you do, because the more you stay consistent, you're able to kind of look back at that history and be like, Man, I started out, you know, doing bicep curls and I was doing £3 and now I'm able to do £10 or I'm able to do £12 or £15. And it's just really encouraging to see that. So that is also so important. And to look at that if you are inside the app. And then also there are instructional videos, I give cues in the exercise notes, so be sure to read those. But the instructional videos should be helpful for you to be able to look at it. And again, this is, you know, if you're just starting out or you're coming back after a long break, you're likely going to be looking at those instructional videos a lot more with, you know, more detail. And it's okay. Like they just loop for you so you're able to look at it as many times as you need to. The more that you do this that you'll likely, you know, you'll become used to and accustomed to proper form and know what that looks like. But that is definitely something that I hope helps because this is a common question that I get asked. [00:09:13][356.3]
[00:09:13] Question number two, I'm not sure if I'm alone in this, but I find most weeks that I'm so, so sore from lower body on Monday that I struggle to function, let alone like complete the remaining days that involve lower body. What should I do about this? So when it comes to exercise and muscle soreness, there really is a fine line between a healthy amount and too much. And here's kind of a breakdown to help you understand. So a healthy soreness you should be experiencing, you know, mild to moderate discomfort rated, you know, 1 to 3 out of ten on a pain scale. And this will vary, especially if you're just coming back after a long break. It might be like more like a 5 to 6, but your soreness will typically peak around 24 to 72 hours after the exercise and then ease within a few days. You should be able to perform daily, you know, activities without significant difficulty, although some stiffness or limited range of motion might be present. So that is more of kind of guidelines for healthy soreness. So unhealthy soreness, you know, the pain is very severe. It's, you know, a four, five, six, seven on a pain scale. And again, this is going to vary if you're just coming back after a long break. But soreness that lasts, you know, more than a week, it doesn't improve with rest you are likely you know, experiencing. Significant difficulty performing daily activities, including walking, going upstairs, lifting objects. What does that mean if you classify, you know, unhealthy soreness? You're constantly getting extremely sore after lower body workouts. That might be a sign that you're pushing yourself too hard or not allowing enough time in between recovery or both. And so I want to talk about pushing too hard for. So sometimes when you haven't worked out consistently in a while or you're new to resistance training, your body gets shocked from the low that you're placing on it. And even though you can perform the exercise with the amount of weight that you're using with perfect form, your body just isn't used to the load and can't keep up with the demands that are being placed on it. So kind of my encouragement to you is to kind of ease back on the weight on the reps if needed, until you kind of reach that healthy range of soreness. But with that, you also need to make sure that you are recovering correctly and things that helped the most in terms of recovering from muscle soreness. You know, our number one, hitting your daily protein goals, this is so, so important. So at least making sure that you're hitting, you know, 0.7 grams of protein per pound of body weight. I aim 4.8 to 1 one gram per pound of body weight. But just, you know, being mindful of that and making sure that you're hitting enough protein, also making sure that you are hitting your hydration goals, you're stretching after your workouts. You know, you are doing Epsom salt baths. If that's something you are getting enough sleep. Oh my goodness. I cannot stress how much sleep is important. Now I understand I'm talking to a wide range of women. Some women are in a newborn stage, some women are in a sleep progression stage. I get it. Do the best that you can with what you with what you have. And if that's the case, you know, if you are not consistently getting enough sleep in the season of life based on, you know, you have a baby, there are other stressors in your life and you're just, you know, your sleep is just lacking that. I wouldn't encourage you to take this season of life in terms of your workouts and push hard, hard, hard, just because that's going to limit just your overall, you know, day to day, you're not going to be able to do everything that you can and you're going to feel, you know, discouraged because you're not able to walk up a flight of stairs without like, you know, stopping halfway through. And so that's important. One other thing that I want to mention is I know it sounds counterintuitive, but walking really does help. Like if you are feeling sore the next day or the day after DOMS delayed onset soreness, I would encourage you to get some steps in. I know it might sound painful at first, it might be a little painful, but the more that you're doing it, you'll start to realize, Oh my gosh, this actually feels really good. And this is a great topic that I can dive way deeper into. So keep your eye out for an entire episode focused only on this specific topic in terms of soreness in the New Year, because that's something that I'm going to be really saying. But again, remember that some soreness is normal when you're, you know, challenging your muscles, but it should improve as your body adapts to your workouts as you stay more consistent to them. However, excessive or prolonged soreness, that can be a sign that you're overtraining or you have improper recovery. And so kind of adjusting your routine and incorporating these tips should help you to manage the soreness and continue on with your fitness goals. [00:13:38][265.3]
[00:13:39] Question number three I've been sick for the last two weeks and I haven't been working out. I've been binge eating because food makes me happy. I have been really consistent before I got sick, so I wish I didn't get the flu and I wish that it didn't happen to me because it has thrown me way off. What should I do? Well, first of all, remember this. It is better to just rest when you're sick and not try to still work out. And I know that this is really hard for some people. They feel like they're failing. You know, they are saying really consistently and now they're frustrated. But here's why. Your body needs all of its resources to fight off the infection or whatever sickness you're dealing with. And working out really diverts energy away from your immune system, which makes it harder for you to recover, which can prolong your illness, which is not what you want. Right? This means that you'll end up, you know, having to skip even more workouts than you would have otherwise if you would have just rested for, you know, 1 to 3 days. And here's another important thing to remember that missing 1 to 3 weeks of your workouts, you might experience a slight decrease in strength, but muscle mass will largely remain unchanged, missing 4 to 6 weeks of workouts. Moderate muscle loss can occur with potential of, you know, 1 to 3% of muscle mass per week that is decreasing. So missing 2 to 3 weeks of workouts due to being sick, that isn't really in the grand scheme of things isn't going to set you that far behind. Now to address kind of the overeating. One sec. Well, first of all, oftentimes when we're sick, our body is experiencing like an increase in our metabolic rate. And this is because your body's metabolic rate is increasing as it works to fight off the infection. And so this means that you're likely burning more calories and requiring more energy, which is likely leading to an increased hunger. And plus, when you're sick, your body breaks down pretty. For energy. So this can also contribute to feeling hungry as your body tries to replenish the lost protein stores. So if you feel more hungry when you're just lying around being sick, that's probably why I don't want you to deprive yourself or your body of food because you're not moving or you're not exercising that much and will make it harder for your body to recover. You need to give your body what it needs in order to help you heal. So really just don't digest your macros, keep them the same because your body needs the nutrients. Now if you already like overdid it and you overeat while you're sick, what's done is done. Like don't beat yourself up. Don't sit in your regret. Just make a plan for next time. If it's a common theme that you overeat when you're sick or when you're not moving or when you're not staying consistent with your workouts, plan for next time. Open up the notes section on your phone, make a new now and title it my plan when I'm sick or my plan when I'm not consistent with my workouts, and then write down a list of foods that would be great options for you when you're sick because I don't know about you. But oftentimes when you're just, you know, you're feeling you're not feeling your greatest, you're not thinking your greatest, you don't really think clearly. And so, you know, you're not thinking about the foods that can actually help heal you and foods can heal you. And that's a beautiful thing. I'm just so grateful that God created food because I'm like, there are so many healing mechanisms in food. And so it's awesome. And so having that as a resource can really be helpful for you. And you know, you're able to look at that next time you're feeling sick and not literally not have to think about it and just say, okay, I'm going to go to the store, I'm going to get these foods, you know, and there are tons of foods that are lower in calories but higher in quantity, like volume, for example, eating, you know, a huge bowl of popcorn, making a huge salad, eating a big bowl of watermelon. Like there are so many things that have higher volume as they're just more volume. So you feel fuller and you are able to eat more. But it's, you know, lowering calories. So just remember that that can be very helpful. And when you're done being said, just get back to your normal routine. Don't go work out harder to make up for the lost time or don't eat less because you're trying to make up for your overindulgence is just go back to your normal routine and your body will find its way back to normal as well. [00:17:40][240.8]
[00:17:40] Question number four My mom is really judgmental and comments on my way a lot. What is the best way for me to navigate this? First of all, this is so freaking hard. I'm really sorry that your mom is doing this, making you feel bad about your beautiful body. She might honestly just be projecting her own insecurities on you, which is not fair to you by any means. She might also be completely unaware of just how deeply she's cutting you and what it actually does when she makes these remarks. That's why I just recommend being open and honest with her. And that's honestly one of the only ways to change things like these. I would find an appropriate time to calmly, yet assertively, just tell your mom that her comments are hurtful and they're unwelcome and let her know exactly how you feel about your body, that you're working on building a healthy relationship with her and tell her that, you know, her comments are not helping and be specific about the comments that are bothering you. That way she knows exactly. She's able to pinpoint that. And if it is something that, you know, she is projecting her insecurities, then hopefully she would take a look at that and take a look at your feedback and take that to heart and say, you know, that isn't something that I want to project to my daughter, that isn't someone that I want to project in, someone that I love, or if she's just completely unaware of what she's saying, that hopefully that will remind her the next time, you know, that thought comes out before she speaks it out that she'll stop herself. And again, just being as specific as possible can be super beneficial. I would also prepare like responses. Think about the thing about what you want to say to your mom in advance so that you can respond calmly and effectively in the moment. It's best not to lash out at her or create any trauma. Like the best way to get through it, you know, is to just be reasonable and be calm. [00:19:25][105.2]
[00:19:26] And most importantly, though, I just want to remind you to not let your mom's negative negativity define you. Remind yourself that you are on this journey of, you know, working on building a healthy relationship with your body. And it's not determined by your weight, it's not determined by your appearance. And it should not be a factor of other people's opinion. The only opinion that should matter and I'm speaking from, you know, a person who believes in God and believes that God's opinion and what God says about us is the only thing that is true and the only thing that we should actually take to heart. And so if you are a faith believer, I would encourage you to take some time and just journal and read God's Word and allow it to saturate in your heart and in your mind and just pray for your mom, Pray for the people that are making these comments. I know it's hard in the moment. It's so hard in the moment because all you want to do is lash out and say, I can't believe you're saying these things, but we can't control other people. The only thing we can. Control is how we respond. And so remember that and just remind yourself of those things and that you are not determined by your weight. You're not determined by your appearance. [00:20:33][66.7]
[00:20:34] So there you have it. That is our Q&A for today. Again, these questions were all asked by Juliette subscribers inside our private community group. And this is something that you got an exclusive access to when you are an active subscriber in the app Every day. Again, women are asking questions like this and we're having great conversations, deep conversations, informative conversations. And so if you do want to check that out, head over to Facebook, type in Julie and you got to make sure you are an active subscriber. If not, you will be declined just because it is only for active subscribers in the app. If you want to gain access to the app and want to learn more about my demo only program, you can head over to sale. That's as a l e demo which Slate.com to learn more and sign up. I will include that in the show notes. And then the other episode that I mentioned in today's episode is episode 13. How much weight should I be lifting? So I will go ahead and link that episode as well. I hope that you found this helpful if you have a friend, a coworker or someone in your life that you feel like would really benefit from this episode, I just ask that you share it out with them. You can always copy the link, send it to them in a text message. You can also screenshot this and post it up on your Instagram story. But that is all that I have for today's episode. I love you so much. I mean it. I'll talk to you next time. [00:21:44][70.0]
[00:21:50] 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. Julie, A Ledbetter. Yes. It's with an A in the middle where 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. [00:21:50][0.0]