7 Ways to Take Your Fitness to the Next Level and See Better Results
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Hey, sister! Frustrated you're working out regularly and still not seeing the results you want?
I know it makes you think you need to start over-exercising and under-eating to take your results to the next level. And I know you think you need to start doing complicated workouts, eating a specific diet, timing your meals strategically, and taking a thousand supplements.
I have great news for you...
Taking your fitness to the next level isn’t as complicated as you may think, and I'm here to share seven simple ways you can easily begin to ramp up your results to finally build the body you want!
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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 it, let's go.
Hello. Welcome back to the Embrace Your Real show. So grateful that you clicked on this episode. You are listening, wherever you are tuning in, whether you're walking, you're jogging, you're cooking, you're cleaning, you're working out, you're doing the dang thing. I'm so grateful that you are showing up for yourself to improve yourself, to improve your mentality, to encourage yourself, to become the best possible version of yourself, to serve other people in the best capacity possible. If you are ready to take your fitness, take your movement to the next level, but not sure how, I have great podcasts led me down the road of self-love and becoming the healthiest I've ever been. Through IIFYM, if it fits your macros, positive morning routines, and essential positive self-talk, I have truly never felt more joyful and happy where I am and where I'm going. Thank you so much, girl. Can't wait to hear your new post tomorrow.
Thank you for being such a beautiful woman of the Lord, and thank you for being such a positive influence. Thank you so much for the review of the day. Again, I love connecting with you guys in the DMs, so if you do send a review, please, please, please let me know, so I can personally thank you. Let's dive right in. Seven ways to take yourself to the next level with movement. Number one, girl, you got to dial in that nutrition. Now, if you are a listener for a long time, you have probably heard me talk about nutrition so many times, and it's because it is such an important factor of your health and fitness journey. Nutrition and fitness do go hand in hand, and if you truly want to take yourself to the next level with fitness, you're also going to have to take yourself to the next level with nutrition.
I know that that can be super overwhelming and confusing for many people, but it doesn't have to be. Nutrition is a key player in muscle recovery, muscle growth, and fat loss, which means it doesn't matter if you're consistent with your workouts and have perfect programming for those. If you are not fueling your body properly or correctly, you will not see the results that you're looking for. Now, so many people that I have seen and talk to, they think that they need to eat these super fancy foods, these non-GMO, these organic, and I'm not saying there's anything bad with those, but you have to understand that just eating this high quality of food, if you're not fully understanding how much your body needs, you're still not going to see the results. It's truly not complicated as you may think, right? So, what does it look like to dial in your nutrition?
Number one, you've got to eat the right amount of calories for your body. Eating more calories than your body burns will cause you to gain weight, and the same goes for eating less than your body burns. This will typically cause your body to switch into a fat storing mode. Number two, eating the right macro breakdown for your body. When you gave your body the exact amount of protein, carbs, and fats that it needs, you're priming it for optimal fat burning and muscle growth, which is what we are all looking for. Right? Number three, not over restricting the foods that you are giving your body. If you are following a diet that is over restricting, let's be real, it's more than likely that you're not going to remain consistent with it longterm. You have to remember that this is a longterm game. We are playing for the long haul.
We are playing for three months, six months, three years, five years, seven years. Think about that. Is what you're doing truly going to be sustainable for you in five of years? Asking yourself that question really gives you the reality to ask yourself, honestly, if what you're doing is truly going to be serving you longterm. You've got to remember that you've got to focus on consistency over perfection. Consistently counting your macros while imperfectly fueling your body with the foods that it needs to thrive, you'll see, you'll be able to take your fitness to the next level. So, if you are curious about macros, I will put a link down in the show notes and post on my blog, which if you didn't know, all of the podcasts have a full transcript, as well as all the links that I always talk about. So, if you go to julieledbetter.com, click on the podcast, you'll see every single episode that we've ever posted, so be sure to check that out.
But I do have a free macro ebook, and inside the ebook is 30 plus pages, and I really try to break down everything that you need to know about how to properly fuel your body. So, absolutely 100% free. All you got to do is click that button in the show notes or on my blog and type in your email address, and I'll send it directly to you. Number two, stay hydrated. Now, when you're working towards taking your fitness to the next level, it's not only important how you feel your body, but it's also important how you hydrate. If you have been around here around this community for a while, you know I am a huge advocate for hydrating your body. Honestly, you'll be shocked at how drinking enough water daily can truly change you.
Now, staying hydrated helps your muscles recover faster, which helps to reduce your feeling of overall soreness. It also helps to speed up your metabolism and digestion, which will lead to more fat burning. It also does help you, which sounds counterintuitive, but it does help you get rid of extra water weight. It helps reduce inflammation and bloating. Again, this sounds counterintuitive, right? Drink more water and you'll be less bloated, but try it. I'm giving you a seven day water challenge. Try to drink the amount of water that your body needs, which I'll give you the calculation, if you don't know, it in a second, and see how much energy you have, how less sore you are, and how less bloated you are. It is incredible. I've been doing this long enough that I know on the days and weeks that I am not hydrating my body, I can see it. It's like, I can see it in incentive from a mile away because I just know what it's like to properly hydrate my body, and I also know what it's like when I am not hydrating my body enough.
Here is kind of a basic rule of thumb when it comes to water intake and what it should be. I'm about 150 pounds. I don't weigh myself. I just go off of that. What you want to do is you want to put your body weight in pounds. So, for me, 150 times 0.67, and that will be the ounces of water that you should be having minimum every day. So, for me, it's about 100 ounces of water minimum every day. Then, of course, for activity, if you do 30 minutes of activity, you want to do anywhere from 12 to 18 ounces of water. Now, like I said, if you've been around this community a while, you know I talk about hydration a lot because it is so, so important. It's easy to say, it's hard to do.
What helps me drink enough water each day? Sparkling water. I love the new AHA. If you guys have been following me on my Instagram, I found this new brand. I think it's a Coca Cola brand, but it's I think that's how you say it. There's a watermelon lime. It's so, so good, you guys. That really helps me. Also, getting fresh fruit in your water really helps me, and just being more mindful of it, setting those alarms on your phone to remind you, "Hey, drink 12 ounces of water right now." It's like, "Drop down and give me 10," right? You hear that all the time, "Drop down and give me 10 pushups." Drop down and give me 12 ounces of water, girl.
Set some alarms on your phone if you need to. But prioritizing that hydration. Number three, recovery, recovery, recovery. It is so common for people to think that if they work out more, they will see better results. Often times you see these people that say, "No days off," that say, "Two a day workouts." Believe it or not, working out this much will prevent you from taking your fitness to the next level. You need to give your body time to recover between those workouts if you want to see the results. This is sadly something that I did not learn soon enough on my fitness journey when I first started. I was in that mentality of no days off, two day workouts, and I quickly burned myself out and I realized that I was not seeing the results that I wanted because I was not prioritizing recovery. Recovery is just as important as your workouts when it comes to reaching your goals.
So you might be asking, "Okay, that's great, but why is it so important?" Right? Muscle growth doesn't happen during your workouts. It happens when you're at rest. When you think about that, you're actually breaking down your muscles when you're working out, which means the more you do that, the more your muscle gets broken down, and the you rest the less, the muscle will repair and grow, right? That's a simple way of putting it. So, you can work as hard as you want in the gym, but without rest, you will never get to truly where you want to be. So, what does recovery look like? For me, it looks like sleeping more, at least getting seven, eight hours of sleep per night. It means taking one to two days fully off from weight training.
For me, I do weight training. It means stretching and foam rolling. I am sadly not as great as that is as I wish I was, and I'm trying to get better. I just got on the foam roller last week and I was like, "Girl, you got to do this more," because it hurt. But it was good. I needed to do it. Staying hydrated, eating enough protein and giving your body an adequate amount of time between working your muscle groups. Now, I know for most of us, those things are at the bottom of your to do list, because you think the more you work out or the more you move, the faster you'll see results. I'm telling you, you've got to make resting a priority. If you do, you will see your body and you will see your fitness go to the next level.
Number four, have a plan. Do you ever show up to work out without a plan and just kind of wing it as you go? You go through some Instagram saved workouts, you're like, "Eh, I like this one, but I don't like this one." Right? Maybe you start off with some abs to warm up or you go do some squats, or why not do some pushups, or whatever. You're just kind of flowing through your workout. I know for me, for a long time I did that. I just kind of went through randomly saved workouts that I did on Instagram. No matter how much work you put in, you won't take your fitness to the next level without regularly working the same muscle groups each week and developing certain strength in those exercises. It's so important that you have a tried and true program that you're following.
I don't care if it's mine. I don't care if it's somebody else's. I just care that you are following a program, because I know what it's like when I don't have something to follow. I go off of my emotions, and we do not build the bodies that we want by just going off of our emotions, because our emotions will tell us, "You don't need to do this," or, "Play it safe today, Don't do that." Or your body's going to be like, "Go to the extreme," and they're going to be constantly overworking one muscle group and not giving any sort of attention to other muscle groups. So, it's just important that you have a plan. You know if you've been following me, if you've been around this community for awhile, you know I have a weekly workout app. It's called Movement with Julie. I have five weekly workouts. These are the exact workouts that I do.
Every week, we have a lower body and upper body, a cardio and core, a full body, and a booty blaster. So, for example, in my lower body workouts, you will see me programing quads. You will see me programming hamstrings, calves, hitting every major muscle group on the lower body. Same for upper body. I program these specifically to make sure that we are hitting the muscle groups. I know for me, if I don't follow a plan, I typically go with things that I am either better at, or I'm more comfortable with. So, I have to have things that push me out of my comfort zone. I will tell you, I have done workouts without a plan and I have seen results on a plan now, and it is incredible how much more, not only motivated, but how much more result you see when you're following something that is constantly pushing you outside of your comfort zone.
So, again, if you want to check out the app, feel free to do it. We'll link it up in the show notes, but I don't care if you work out with me. I don't care if you work out with somebody else. Have a plan though, because that will help you get outside your comfort zone to ensure that you are properly working every muscle group. Number five, you've got to stay consistent. If you want to take your fitness to the next level, you have to be consistent. People always ask me, "How do I build the body that I want?" They think that it's some magical solution. You scroll on Instagram, you see all of these fitspos, and I think oftentimes we look at something like that and we're like, "What do they have that I don't?" The fact is, 99.9% of them have consistency.
But I have to bring this up first, because you are listening to the Embrace Your Real show. You are seeing highlight reels on people's pages. 95% of what you see on Instagram of a person's abs or a person's butt or a person's lean, toned, arms, or whatever it is, you are most likely seeing a very highlighted reel as a cover photo. You are also most likely, most likely seeing someone at their best. All right? So, just remember that, and remember that we don't all walk around with 11% body fat and shredded abs. That's just not the case. So, just remember that. But consistency trumps perfection. Consistency is what you need to get. I am 100% dedicated to honoring my body with movement daily.
Now, does this look like a workout every day? No. If you've been around here for a while, you know that I don't work out every day. Sometimes it's cleaning. Sometimes it's walking my dog. Sometimes it's playing at the park. Sometimes it's playing softball. Sometimes it's biking, but what I am dedicated and committed to is moving my body. Once you have a plan, you've got to remain consistent with it. Now, I see oftentimes people are like, "Great. I'm going to buy this workout planner. I'm going to enroll in this challenge," and they think because they have the plan in hand, that the results are just going to come. I have to tell you that you've got to hold yourself to standard of consistency, no matter what program you have in your hand or have access to. If you are not putting in the work, you're not going to see progress. All right?
Just remember that. So, while I do find it extremely helpful to have workouts scheduled in my calendar, you have to remember, even if it's scheduled in calendar, if you're still not doing it or if you're not putting effort into those workouts, really pushing yourself, then you're ultimately not going to see the results most likely that you're looking for. So, remember, consistency, consistency, consistency. Number six, you've got to embrace discomfort. Now, staying consistent with your workouts is so important for taking your fitness to the next level. But if you're consistently picking up the same set of dumbbells each week, you're not going to get there. Simply by going through the motions of each movement or never challenging yourself outside of your comfort zone, that might be the reason why you're not seeing the results.
I know for me, I programmed burpees into almost every single week of Movement with Julie, some variation of burpees. All my MWJ ladies listening to this right now, they're like, "Yep. I can attest. I do so many burpees." It's because I personally hate burpees. I hate them. I hate them. So, I try every different variation, but I know that if the burpee is on the plan, I got to do it. Drop down and give me however many burpees it says. Right? I've got to challenge myself. So, when I started challenging myself to incorporate those burpees, which by the way, I wouldn't have done the burpee if I didn't have the plan. Do you see why it's so important to have a plan now? Sometimes it takes the emotion out of it, because I know for me, if I was just scrolling on Instagram and going through and doing saved workouts, I'm going to go through and hand picked my favorite movements, and it's not going to challenge me.
So, you've got to remember to push yourself outside of that comfort zone. Your body adapts to the stress it is regularly placed under, which is often referred to as the SAID principle, specific adaptation to impose demands. For example, let's say if you do four sets of 10 and you always use 15 pound dumbbells when you are bench pressing, or when you are double pressing, you will most likely never challenge yourself with heavier weights, more reps. At first, this may have been extremely difficult for your body and you will have ignited change, but if you are consistently doing the same thing over and over again at the same weight, your body's going to adapt to that. It will figure out how to adapt to this new stress by recruiting more muscle fibers and building more muscle. So, as you continue to use 15 pound dumbbells, your body is so used to that amount of weight, it doesn't need to adapt and build more muscle to handle the stress that you're placing on it. Does that make sense?
This means that you need to constantly be challenging yourself to step outside of your comfort zone with each workout. If you feel comfortable with the weights that you are using or the reps that you're performing, it's a clear sign that you're most likely not pushing yourself hard enough, because the last two to three reps in each set or circuit should feel extremely uncomfortable. So, you need to be giving it everything when you are finishing any given set. Now, if this isn't how you feel, then most likely you're not going to be able to take yourself to that next level. If you want to change your body, you need to be willing to step outside that comfort zone. The moment you embrace discomfort is the moment that you will ignite change in your body.
If you are curious about this specific topic about how to move up in weight, check out episode 13. It's how much weight should I be lifting. In this episode, I gave you kind of a clear step by step guide, explaining to you how to know when you're ready to increase the weight that you're lifting, as well as how to know how much weight you should increase by, et cetera. So, be sure to check out that episode if that is something that you're curious about. So, simply put, if you feel comfortable throughout your entire workout, you are not taking yourself to the next level. Remember, discomfort equals change.
Number seven, set weekly and monthly goals. Now, the best way to take your fitness to the next level is by setting these goals. It's going to give you the motivation that you need to show up for your workouts and push past your comfort zone, because without this goal, you'll be less compelled to push harder and lift heavier. So, how do we set weekly and monthly goals? Now, I like to kind of work backwards when it comes to setting goals. So, start with your overarching goal. What is it that you want to achieve? Once you're able to answer the overall goal that you want to achieve, then you're going to want to ask yourself, "What is it going to take to get there? What are the habits that I'm going to need to develop? What are the action steps that I'm going to need to take? The things that I'm going to need to accomplish in order to achieve the big picture goal?"
Make a list. I'm a list person. I love lists. I think that lists, no matter if you are a type A, type B person, I'm actually more of a type B person, which is pretty funny, because I'm an Enneagram number three, but definitely more of a type B person. But I love a good list. Then look at that list and attach a monthly goal to each one, right? So, you have your overall goal, then you break it down into small specific actions that you need to take, habits you need to develop, and things that you need to accomplish, and then you can set that to, "All right, this month, these are going to be my three main things that I focus on." Then break that down. "If I want to focus on these three main things, this week I'm going to focus on this. The next week I'm going to focus on this." Right? Break it down and turn those monthly goals into smaller things.
So, if your overall goal is, "I want to just feel more energized," or you have a wedding coming up, or you, I don't know what it is, whatever big event it is or something that you want to accomplish, you've got to break that down and say, "Okay, if I want to feel my best by this day, that I'm going to need to start getting more consistent with my training and nutrition. If I need to get more consistent with my training and nutrition, then that means that I need to set a schedule on how many days I'm going to commit to movement, and that means that I also need to figure out what I'm going to be eating and how I'm going to be fueling my body."
Do you see how once you start to break it down, it becomes a lot more manageable? Because I think oftentimes when we're sitting in this place of feeling frustrated because we have put off our goals or we have not stayed consistent, it can feel super overwhelming to be like, "I don't even know where to start." Right? Just identify it, and then go in small increment goals. When you consistently hit your weekly goals, you'll ultimately reach those monthly goals. If you're consistent with reaching your monthly goals, you'll over time reach that big goal that you initially set. So, that was number seven. I have two more bonus ones for you because your girl just wants to continue to give you some value. Okay?
Bonus number one is you've got to love what you're doing. If you want to stay consistent with it, you have to love what you're doing. Sure, it's going to be hard. Sure, it's going to be uncomfortable. It's going to push you outside your comfort zone, like I was talking about earlier, but you got to find your drive, got to find that movement that makes you excited. That can be a couple of different things. I think oftentimes we think we are so defined by we are a weightlifter and we don't do anything outside of weightlifting. I see people all the time inside my app incorporating yoga, incorporating running. It's a beautiful thing. You have to find your things that you love. I love hiking. I love biking. I love things outside of weightlifting, and you've got to find that.
Now, I know for me, for a long time, I loved working out inside a gym. Then last year is when I decided, "You know what? I think it's time for a change. I think I need to start working out at home," because I was just getting burnt out. So, if that's kind of where you're at right now, where you've been doing something for a long time, but you're just not fully loving it or you're kind of scared to step into a new realm, check out episode seven. It's talking about getting out of your fitness funk, and I really kind of help break it down for you and give you some good things to think about when you are finding yourself in a funk, because oftentimes, if you find yourself putting an offer, you find yourself being burnt out, that just means that you need to change.
We are constantly changing as human beings. We are evolving as humans, as the years go by, as things happen in our life and whatnot, which means that our form of movement, our form of therapy, which is what I love to say movement is, that has to change too. It has to serve you in that season. So, ask yourself, "Is this movement that I'm doing serving me?" If it is, great. Is there anything else, any other movement that you can incorporate on a weekly basis that will serve you as well? It's okay to do multiple things. Bonus number two is reward showing up, not weight loss.
Now, I think some people have gotten the idea that they need to reward themselves for losing weight and gaining muscle. I totally disagree. I think you need to reward yourself for showing up and exercising and honoring your body with movement regularly. There are so many ways that you can lose and gain weight in unhealthy fashions, so don't attach a reward to that. Reward yourself by showing up to your commitment to health, commitment, to honoring your body with movement. Those are my seven tips to help you take yourself to the next level. I'm going to recap them for you. Number one, dial in your nutrition. Number two, stay hydrated. Number three, prioritize that recovery. Four, have a plan. Five, stay consistent. Six, embrace discomfort. Seven, set weekly and monthly goals. Bonus one, you've got to love what you're doing, and bonus two, reward showing up, not weight loss.
I would love to hear which one of these or which thing really stuck out to you in this list. What was beneficial? What was interesting from this podcast? Be sure to screenshot this, post it up on your story, tag me, Julie A. Ledbetter. I love seeing their faces. I love seeing where you are tuning in from. If you are listening on Spotify or Apple podcasts, there's three dots somewhere on your screen, if you look at your phone and you can click that. It will say copy link. You can post it up on your socials, you can share it with a friend and a text message. If this was beneficial in any way, I would just love for you to share it with your tribe. That is all that I have for today's episode. I love you so much, and I will talk to guys in the next one.
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're not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so, Julie A. Ledbetter. 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. 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.