The 30-Day Strength Reboot You Need to Follow in January

 

Hello beautiful human! This episode is for you if January feels heavy and you’re already feeling pressure to do everything perfectly. If you’ve ever started the year excited, motivated, and ready to change everything, only to feel exhausted and discouraged a few weeks later, this conversation is for you.

Instead of chasing extremes, intensity, or all-or-nothing plans, we’re focusing on building strength habits that feel realistic, supportive, and sustainable for real life.

I walk you through a simple 30-day strength reboot designed to help you rebuild momentum without burning out. This is not a challenge or a dramatic reset. It’s a way to come back to the basics, simplify your workouts, and create consistency you can actually maintain. 

We talk about strength training frequency, workout structure, daily movement, and fueling your body in a way that supports progress without adding stress or unnecessary rules.

Here is what you will learn:

• Why strength training three days per week is enough to see real progress
• How to structure your workouts so they feel simple and doable
• Why 30-minute workouts still count and move you forward
• How compound movements and progressive overload build lasting strength
• What daily movement should look like without adding more stress
• Why focusing on protein supports recovery without overhauling your diet

If this episode resonated, you may also enjoy: Episode 556: 5 Mindset Swaps That Made Motivation Irrelevant

If you want more from me, be sure to check out… 

Website: www.juliealedbetter.com

Transcript

 (0:00) Hey there, beautiful human. You're listening to Embrace Your Real with me, Julie Ledbetter, (0:05) a podcast where I empower you to just be you. With each episode, I dish you a dose of real talk and (0:12) actionable advice for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally loving (0:17) your authentic self.

Stay tuned if you're ready to embrace your real. Let's get in. Let's go.

(0:27) January can really feel like everyone expects you to completely reinvent yourself overnight, (0:32) like all of a sudden it's new workouts, it's new nutrition rules, it's new routines, (0:37) the whole pressure, like we have to have it all figured out immediately. And what I see happen (0:43) over and over again is that women try to change everything at once. They go from doing very little (0:47) to trying to do it all.

And they commit to way too many workouts, way too many rules, (0:52) way too many expectations. And then two weeks later, three weeks later, they feel exhausted. (0:57) They feel sore.

They feel frustrated. They're very disappointed in themselves. And they start (1:01) wondering why consistency feels so hard.

If that sounds familiar, I just want you to hear me (1:06) clearly. You are not lazy. You are not broken.

You do not need more willpower. You need a plan that (1:11) actually fits your real life and helps you build momentum in a way that feels sustainable. So (1:15) today I'm going to walk you through a very simple and very attainable 30 day strength reboot.

This (1:21) is not a glow up plan. This is not a challenge designed to push your limits. This is a reset, (1:27) it's a way to come back to the basics, to rebuild your confidence, to create a routine (1:31) that you can actually stick with long after January is over.

The premise of this reboot (1:36) is very straightforward. I want you to keep it so realistic that you can follow through. I want you (1:42) to keep it repeatable so that you do not have to consistently start over.

And I want you to keep (1:47) it focused on consistency because consistency is what creates results that actually last. (1:52) In over the next 30 days, you are going to focus on a few key habits that support strength, (1:58) support recovery, and support momentum without making your life feel harder. You're going to (2:03) learn how to structure your workouts in a way that feel very simple, and you're going to prioritize (2:07) progress over perfection.

And you are also going to prove to yourself that you can do this without (2:12) burning out. Before we dive into today's episode, though, I want to share this review. She gave a (2:17) five star view and said, I am a smarter, wiser woman listening to this podcast.

Hi there. If (2:21) you're like me and get so much joy from exercise and eating healthy, but may have found yourself (2:26) on the border of having an unhealthy transactional relationship with movement and food during your (2:30) journey, I highly recommend listening to this podcast. I'm so grateful I found Julie and (2:35) Embrace Your Real.

I could not do this without her. Thank you so much. I am so grateful that (2:41) you have taken the time to send in this review.

It really does mean the world to me and our team. (2:45) Just kind of know how the podcast is helping you. Maybe it's a specific episode or just in general.

(2:50) We love, love, love to hear from you. All right, let's get right into it. So step one in your 30 (2:56) day reboot is to strain train three days per week and keep that structure very simple.

The first step (3:02) in this 30 day reboot is really committing yourself to strain training at least three days a week. (3:07) This range I have found is the sweet spot for building strength muscle without overwhelming (3:13) your body on a schedule. And if you haven't been consistent with working out three days a week is (3:17) the perfect place to start, in my opinion, to get started and commit to.

And also it's not going to (3:23) compromise your results. Like here's kind of the breakdown. One thing that most women do not realize (3:28) is that training three days per week gives your muscles enough stimulus to adapt and get stronger (3:32) while still leaving space for recovery.

They think they need to go from zero to 100 in January. (3:38) And that goes from like zero workouts to five to six days a week. And that is just not going to set (3:43) you up for success long-term.

For one, three days a week is realistic to commit to. And number two, (3:48) it gives your body enough recovery without overdoing it. Recovery is actually where your progress (3:52) happens, especially if you're juggling work, family, stress, sleep.

That's not always perfect. (3:58) This frequency is also going to fit into your real life. So you can stay consistent without (4:02) feeling like your entire week revolves around your workouts.

Structure matters just as much (4:07) as frequency and simple structure is what makes consistency sustainable. Inside my movement with (4:12) Julie community, which is my demo only workouts, the easiest and most effective setup is going to (4:17) look like this. You're going to complete one lower body workout each week and one upper body workout (4:21) each week.

These two workouts create a balanced foundation by training all the major muscle (4:26) groups and supporting long-term strength development. Now your third workout here is a (4:30) choice workout. And this part is intentional for the third day.

You're going to choose the option (4:34) that you feel most motivated to do that week. That could be a cardio and core workout. That could be (4:39) a full body workout, or that could be the shoulders and glutes workout.

Again, you can find all three (4:44) of these workouts program each week inside my movement with Julie community. That's my weekly (4:48) workout. So every single week I give you five brainy workouts.

All you need for my workouts (4:53) genuinely is a few pair of dumbbells in a small space. If you have a bench amazing, but I always (4:58) give no bench alternates. And if you have the gym, that's great.

But I will tell you the majority of (5:03) my women workout from home, whether that's in their basement, that is outside that's in their (5:08) garage gym, that is in their living room, that it's in their spare bedroom. Like it is really (5:13) all over the house. And it's amazing because you really don't need a lot to complete these (5:17) workouts and feel good.

But again, you can find all these workouts. So five brand new workouts, (5:22) every single week programmed, and they release on Saturdays at 12 PM mountain standard time. (5:26) But I just want to remind you that motivation changes week to week and giving yourself this (5:31) option is going to help you keep showing up.

Even when your energy is low, this approach works (5:35) because consistency beats perfection every single time. When you enjoy the workout that (5:39) you're doing, you are far more likely to complete it, right? Showing up matters more than checking (5:44) every box perfectly. And if you have the capacity for a fourth strength training day, that's great.

(5:49) You can absolutely add it in. If you do not three well-structured strength workouts per week are more (5:54) than enough for this reboot. And I want to say this again, because it's important.

The three (5:58) intentional, well-structured strength workouts per week are plenty to rebuild strength confidence (6:04) and just help you to gain momentum over the next 30 days. September two in your 30 day reboot is to (6:10) commit to a 30 or 60 minute workout and just stop stressing about the length for this reboot. (6:15) I want your workouts to fall somewhere between the 30 and 60 minute range, right? This range is very (6:19) intentional because it gives you the flexibility while still providing enough time to train with (6:25) purpose.

If you have the full 60, which typically it's, it ranges anywhere from 45 minutes to an (6:30) hour. That's amazing. But if you only have 30 minutes, this is still absolutely something that (6:35) will count and move you forward.

A shorter workout done consistently is far more effective than a (6:40) longer workout that you rarely complete. The goal here is not chasing the longer workout possible (6:45) or trying to hit some arbitrary time requirement. The goal is showing up for the workout that you (6:50) plan and completing it with focus and intention.

I see so many women skip workouts altogether (6:55) because they think that if they cannot do a full hour, it's just not worth it. And this mindset, (6:59) you guys creates unnecessary pressure and turns this all or nothing situation into a consistency (7:05) problem, right? Skipping entirely does far more damage to your progress than completing a shorter (7:10) session will ever do. 30 minutes of focus strain training done three times per week is enough to (7:17) build strength, to improve energy and to rebuild that momentum.

Those sessions add up quickly when (7:22) you are staying consistent. And inside my movement with Julia community, I have each workout of the (7:27) that in there that scheduled again, that's five workouts a week. And every single workout has a 30 (7:32) minute variation or a 60 minute variation.

So when you go into the workout, you can select the one (7:36) that works best for you. Both of them are extremely hard. Both of them are extremely effective, (7:40) time effective and efficient in terms of muscle building and strength building.

And both of them (7:45) are just going to help you to see the results that you want. So for the next 30 days, I want (7:48) you to make the commitment to yourself. If you cannot get the 60 minutes still show up for the (7:53) And I want you to know that I don't want you to ever look at that 30 minutes and be like, (7:57) it's the only I'm only doing the 30 minutes.

No, the 30 minute workout is specifically programmed (8:03) for 30 minutes. So it means that it is going to challenge every single muscle group, it is going to (8:07) give you that balance so that you are getting as much bang for your buck in that time. So I want (8:12) you to know that is it is a full and complete workout is not just half of the workout, because (8:17) it's half the time.

Okay, so I just want you to kind of reframe your mind in that. And also just (8:22) remember that consistency comes from removing the friction and lowering the barrier to entry, (8:27) not from adding pressure or unrealistic expectations. When showing up feels doable, (8:33) it actually becomes something that you can repeat week after week after week.

Step number three in (8:38) your 30 day reboot is to focus on compound movements and progressive overload. And this is (8:42) where the strategy of the reboot really comes into play. Because what you do inside your workouts (8:47) matters just as often as how often you show up right during this 30 day reboot, your workouts (8:52) should prioritize compound movements.

compound movements are exercises that train multiple (8:57) muscle groups at the same time, such as squats, deadlifts, presses, rows, lunges, these movements (9:02) mirror how your body naturally moves and allows you to build strength in a more functional and (9:07) efficient way. And compound movements are powerful because they give you more results in less time (9:12) they help you to build strength faster to stimulate more muscles at once and increase overall energy (9:17) expenditure during your workouts. They also help to improve coordination and stability, which also (9:22) better supports that movement pattern both in and outside of your workouts.

Alongside compound (9:28) movements, though, I also want you to focus on progressive overload and progressive overload (9:32) simply just means that you are asking your body to do slightly more over time. And this might look (9:38) like increasing the weight that you're lifting, completing an extra rep or two slowing down the (9:43) tempo to improve control or just improving your form while using the same load, your body adapts (9:49) based on the signals that you give it. So when the signals stay the same week after week after week, (9:54) your body has no reason to change.

But when the signals gradually increase, your body responds (9:59) by getting stronger. And inside the movement with Julie with dumbbell only weekly workouts, (10:04) this process is built in for you, right, you can see what weight you're using, and what weight you (10:08) actually logged in a prior workout. So when you click on the movement, you can actually click on (10:15) the history tab.

It's the one second from the left on the bottom. And you'll be able to click that and (10:23) you'll be able to see what you logged in your last session. And so that will help you to give you the (10:29) information to guide you kind of in your next session as to what you want to do in terms of (10:33) reps or weight, because you're going to see both of those.

So instead of guessing you're making (10:37) these small intentional improvements from week to week. And inside the app, you don't have to (10:42) stress about implementing compound movements, because it's already done for you. Every single (10:46) workout that I program has compound movements.

So you can rest assured that you are not only (10:51) doing compound movements, but you have the ability to implement progressive overload. (10:55) This approach removes a lot of unnecessary noise, you don't need brand new exercises every single (11:01) week, you don't need random workouts that leave you feeling exhausted, but unsure of what you (11:06) actually accomplished. What you need is consistency with key movements and a clear plan to progress (11:12) over time.

And that's how strength is built. It's not flashy, and it doesn't happen overnight, (11:16) but it works. Step number four in your 30 day reboot is add daily movement without turning (11:21) it into more workouts.

So the next plan here is to daily movement, right? And this is where I (11:28) really want you to shift how you think about being active. Daily movement is not always just about (11:32) adding more workouts or pushing your body harder. This is about honoring your body with movement (11:36) that supports how you feel how you recover and how you move throughout the day.

So for the next (11:40) 30 days, your daily movement goal is about 30 minutes of movement outside your strength training (11:46) workouts, right? So this movement can be gentle, it can be flexible, it can be spread throughout (11:50) the day, it does not need to be structured or intends to be effective. But daily movement can (11:54) look like walking, stretching, cleaning your house, grocery shopping, playing with your kids, (11:58) running errands, if your body is moving, it counts. And this is movement that works with your body, (12:04) not against it honoring your body with movement.

This to me means choosing activities that promote (12:08) circulation, reduce stiffness, support recovery, it helps your nervous system settle and allows (12:14) your muscles to recover so that you can show up stronger for your next train session. When daily (12:18) movement turns into a more high intensity workout, it oftentimes stops being supportive and starts (12:24) creating more stress and that stress can interfere with recovery making consistency harder to maintain. (12:29) So I want you to remember this during your 30 day reboot.

Daily movement is how you honor your (12:36) body between workouts, right? It should support your strength training, not compete with it. (12:41) And step number five in your 30 day reboot is to hit your protein goal and stop worrying about (12:46) everything else. Okay, so the final step in this 30 day reboot is nutrition.

And we are (12:50) intentionally keeping it very, very simple. So it feels doable, and it feels sustainable. (12:56) So for the next 30 days, your main nutritional focus is hitting your protein goal each day.

(13:02) Protein plays a major role in muscle recovery, in strength gains, in maintaining steady energy (13:07) levels. And when you are strength training consistently, but not eating enough protein, (13:11) progress can feel slow, workouts can feel harder and recovery can take longer than it should. (13:16) Prioritizing protein is going to give your body the building blocks that it needs to repair muscle (13:20) tissue and adapt to the work you are doing in your workouts.

It also helps with satiation, (13:25) which can make it easier to feel balanced and feel throughout the day without constantly (13:29) thinking about food. Inside one of my programs called the Macro Ketamine Simple Online Academy, (13:35) you can actually calculate your personal protein goals that you know exactly what you're aiming for. (13:41) And inside here, we're going to do that for you.

You're going to fill out a simple questionnaire (13:45) form and we will help you with that. And we'll send it back to you and then show you step by (13:49) step how we did it so that you don't just feel like, oh, just the coaches know how to do it. (13:53) No, we want to empower you so that you know how to do it.

But having a clear target is going to (13:58) remove the guesswork and also help you just make you feel more confident around food choices from (14:02) day to day. And as for this reboot, that's really all I want you to focus on. You're not tracking (14:07) every macro.

You're not tracking carbs. You're not tracking fat. You are not overhauling your (14:11) entire diet.

You're not adding new food rules or restrictions. You're simply just making (14:16) protein a priority and really practicing consistency. And this approach to me removes (14:21) a lot of mental noise and overwhelm.

I've also found that helps it to help with so many other (14:26) women as well, because it allows your body to adapt to your strength training without competing (14:31) stress from your constant dietary changes. When fueling and training work together, progress feels (14:37) more supportive and far less exhausting. So over the next 30 days, simplicity is your advantage.

(14:42) When nutrition feels manageable, consistency becomes much easier to maintain. Before we wrap (14:48) up, I want to slow this down for a second and really talk to you because this part matters so (14:52) much. I know how January goes.

I know how tempting it is to feel like you have to overhaul your (14:58) entire life all at once to create this super intense workout plan to suddenly train every day (15:03) to completely change how you eat, to follow some extreme diet or set a bunch of rules and tell (15:09) yourself this time I'm going to do it perfectly. I just want to be super clear with you. This is not (15:15) what you need right now.

What your body actually needs is not more intensity. It needs consistency. (15:22) It needs predictability.

It needs you to get back to the basics and stay there long enough for them (15:28) to actually become habits. This 30 day reboot is not missing anything. You are not underdoing it.

(15:34) You are not taking the easy way out. This is the foundation. Strength training three to four days (15:39) per week, moving your body daily in simple, low stress ways, using compound movements, progressively (15:45) increasing the weight that you move, hitting your protein goal, and keeping nutrition simple.

(15:50) That is enough. Let me repeat that for the women in the back. You do not need to add more to make (15:56) this work.

The women who see the best long-term results are not the ones who go hardest in January, (16:02) you guys. They're the ones that start small, that stay consistent, and they build from there. They (16:06) master the basics before layering anything else on top.

If you can commit to these five things (16:13) consistently for the next 30 days, your body will start to respond. Your strength will improve, (16:19) your energy will feel more stable, and most importantly, you'll stop feeling like you're (16:23) constantly starting over. So let me quickly recap the five steps in this 30 day strength reboot.

(16:29) First, your strength training three to four days per week and keeping the structure very simple. (16:34) One upper body day, one lower body day, and one workout you actually feel motivated to do. (16:40) Second, you're committing to a 30 or 60 minute workouts, and you're showing up even when you (16:45) only have those 30 minutes.

Let's say you've committed to the 60 minutes, but you only have (16:49) 30 minutes one day. You're still doing it, and you're not feeling guilty. Just remember that (16:53) consistency matters more than the duration, and both workouts are enough.

They are complete. (16:58) Both of those workouts are complete workouts that are going to give you results. Third, (17:03) you're prioritizing compound movements and progressive overload, meaning that you are (17:06) focusing on big movements that work multiple muscle groups and gradually increasing the (17:11) weight that you move over time.

Fourth, you're adding daily movement without turning it into (17:15) more workouts, walking, stretching, cleaning errands. Just move your body for at least 30 (17:20) minutes each day without stressing it on top of your strength workouts. And last but not least, (17:26) fifth, you're hitting your protein goal and keeping nutrition simple.

No extreme diets, (17:30) no overhauls, just fueling your body to support the work that you're doing. (17:34) That's the plan. That's the reboot.

If you want help executing this exactly the way that I laid (17:39) it out, that is why I have my moment with Julie app. That's what it's designed for. (17:43) It is dumb only workouts for women.

It gives you the structure. It gives you the progression (17:47) opportunity for you to do that and implement that. It gives you the flexibility so that (17:52) you're not guessing what you're doing.

And if you need support around fueling, (17:56) macro cutting means simple. That's going to walk you through calculating your protein needs and (18:00) building meals that actually support your strength training without feeling restricted (18:04) or overwhelmed, right? I will link both of those in the show notes below. If you love this episode, (18:09) I know you will also love episode five, five, six, five mindset swaps that made motivation (18:15) irrelevant.

It's a great kind of followup episode and also will help you to stay consistent (18:20) throughout your 30 day reboot. Even on the days when motivation feels low, you don't need a (18:26) dramatic reset. You just need a plan that you can follow.

Thank you so much for being here. (18:31) If this episode was helpful, make sure that you're following along the podcast on apple (18:35) podcast or Spotify, leaving a rating or review helps so much and also sharing it with a sister (18:40) or someone in your life who needs kind of a more grounded reset to the new year. But that is all (18:46) that I have for today's episode.

Let's get it. Let's go. I love you so dang much.

I mean it. (18:51) And I'll talk to you in the next one. All right, sister, that's all I got for you today, (19:03) but I have two things that I need you to do.

First thing, if you are not already following (19:08) me on the gram, be sure to do so. Julie a ledbetter. Yes, it's with an a in the middle (19:12) for that daily post-workout real talk, healthy tips and tricks and honest accountability to keep (19:18) your mind and heart in check.

The second thing, be sure to subscribe to apple podcast to never (19:24) miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world.

And I'm going (19:30) to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life (19:34) are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. (19:41) Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface.

So go out there and embrace your real (19:46) because you're worth it.

 
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