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Dive into the joy of fitness with Lindsay and other guests exploring how it goes well and beyond the gym floor, the number on the scale, the size of your waist or the calories you're counting.
Lindsay: Welcome, welcome to
the Lifting Lindsay Podcast.
Guys.
Today I'm excited to talk to you a little
bit about the rates of fat loss, muscle
growth, and what really is realistic.
I'm I, I'm going to be talking
to you about like, why aren't
you seeing your body change?
And we're gonna have a really
good but hard discussion.
Okay.
I'm gonna share, um, some things
that I've noticed in coaching people.
Some personality traits or mindsets of
those who just never see their goals.
We're gonna dive into that a little bit.
So first and foremost, I'm just
gonna kind of give you guys a little
recap of what's been going on.
For those of you who are interested,
I will make it fast so that I'm
not boring to death people who
are like, I don't care about I.
Your reproductive system, Lindsay.
I'm just kidding.
I'm not gonna, I mean, I'm not kidding
because, you know, I wouldn't blame you
for not getting, but, um, just for those
who have been following this journey with
me a little bit, on the 25th of January,
we did do a transfer of two embryos.
Now keep in mind with my history of
in vitros, , our fourth in vitro that
finally took, they put three embryos in
me and I got Hazel and my fifth in vitro,
which took, they put two in me and I got
link, and that was a frozen transfer.
And this is also a frozen transfer,
so they pulled both of them out.
If you've never Googled.
Or watched a YouTube video on
like the freezing process and the
unfreezing process of these embryos.
It is science fiction, weird slash cool.
Like my husband kept talking about like, I
feel like I'm in the Jurassic Park movie.
I'm like, okay, hun.
Like it was so funny.
This time we had two frozen ones left.
That was it, just two.
And we pulled 'em out and
put both of those in me.
And so if, history repeats itself, we, you
know, may only get one if it works out.
Now, keep in mind, every single time I do
in vitro, I actually do get, get pregnant.
But because of the, egg quality issue,
the baby could only grow to a
certain point, and then I would
miscarry and my miscarriages were
usually around 12 to 13 weeks.
So usually when people are
celebrating like, yeah, we made it,
now we can start telling everybody.
I'm like, oh, wait, another.
I'll wait another two to three weeks.
So it's usually like 15, 16 weeks
that I feel good about telling people
and, and usually, as I broadcast
this online, like, so, yeah.
Now it's obviously a little
different with my business
and, and I'm trying to be open.
I actually do you know
what's really funny?
I, it's, it's hard for me to be open
about the in vitro, uh, because it's
such a tender topic, but I decided
this time around I was gonna be very
open and I'm so glad that I have been
because it is connected me with other
people who are going through this and
it feels good to know you're not alone.
And it feels good just to find
somebody who knows how it feels and
just kind of mourn with them and
maybe, hope with them too, right.
So it has, although it's, it
has been, harder to be a little
bit open because, you know.
Not everybody is sensitive in the way
that they, message me and handle this.
Most people are, most people are, as my
dad says, most people are normal mammals.
I love them.
My, my dad says that I just grew up with
him being like, that was like the highest
compliment you could give somebody.
He would meet somebody I was dating and
he goes, Hmm, seems like a normal mammal.
I'm like, thanks, dad.
That's, that's a big deal.
So most people.
are thoughtful, they really are.
But once in a while I'll get some
comments that are like, huh, no
one's gonna leave me wondering.
I I actually go, I'm just gonna share
one that I thought was kind of funny.
I'm like, I don't, I just don't
even know how to respond to this.
When I was saying like, you know,
it's, I'm gonna share about my
in vitro, we are gonna be doing
in vitro in a few weeks and.
And it, it's, it can be a very hard
thing, you know, going through.
And I was kind of explaining the,
the heartache of it, but ultimately
we do wanna grow our family.
And, and I had this one woman write
me and she goes, I don't get it.
You have three kids,
why would you want more?
And I was like, huh?
Like, I'm.
I guess some days I wonder the same thing.
Three seems like enough today.
Why do, why do I want more?
So I, I chose to kind of look
at it that way and laugh.
Uh.
She didn't really mean it that way
because of some other things she said,
but I was just like, you know, you're
not white people and that's okay.
Not everybody has to be right, so,
so anyways, sometimes opening up.
You do, you, you open yourself
up for both good and bad.
And that's, that's okay.
I, I knew I would be so, um, but
right now are the princess days.
So after a transfer, they
have you do princess days.
Now, back in the day when I first
did my first in vitro princess
days, you had to lay flat.
You couldn't move.
They didn't want you doing anything.
Um, you know, food delivery.
It was kind of nice to be honest.
Just kidding.
Actually, it was miserable.
It was because one, I
am a mover, I am a doer.
To have me just lay there,
uh, it was really hard.
And then you have to wait 10
days before you go in and do.
blood work to see whether
it's taken or not.
And so that, that was always very
stressful, but just laying there.
I know some women have expressed
how much they loved it.
I hated it and I dreaded it and,
and people would be like, oh,
watch this show and watch that one.
And I'm like, my mind
just works differently.
Like, I, I can't focus on this.
I remember.
One thing that did help me, it actually
wasn't TV and shows, it was uplifting,
uplifting talks and like TED talks and,
uh, spiritual talks and scriptures, and
I would just listen to those and books.
I would listen to those for hours.
To give me hope and just to give
me through those first few days.
And then as soon as I started, could
move again, I felt so much better.
So I'm, I actually was
very, very grateful.
And I remember with Link too, they,
they started coming around more too.
You can move around more.
Just don't be doing intense workouts.
Right.
Don't be working out just.
Kind of chill out a little bit and,
and I do actually remember talking to,
um, my doctor at the time, uh, when I
was doing the in vitro with link and
saying, is it really necessary that
for like 10 days I don't work out?
Or these two days I just lay there?
And he goes, to be honest,
it is mostly mental.
We tell women this really just.
So that if it doesn't work out, they're
not just kicking themselves over the,
well, if I hadn't done that, if I
hadn't, I mean, I remember, a sister
who miscarried and she was convinced
it was because she went outside
and was sweeping up some leaves.
She was absolutely convinced.
The reality of it is sweeping is
not gonna cause a miscarriage.
And so him saying like, no, that's we,
we really do it just to calm women down
and to, I'm like, but what if I'm on
the opposite side of this spectrum?
I'm like, let me move.
This is not calming me.
But anyway, so he actually did clear me.
He is like, after those two princess
days, go back to working out.
And like go back to your normal routine.
You're used to it.
This is not you, like never working out.
And then all of a sudden after
in vitro you decide you're going
to, um, and, and I got pregnant
with Link and Carrie just fine.
And um, anyway, so it, it is interesting.
I, I have such a hard time just sitting
here, so now I'm so excited that
they're like, no, you can move around.
Just be really careful
about what you're doing.
We don't want, you know, spiking
your heart rate for long periods of
time, doing intense workouts and,
you know, move around your house,
be a little bit more active, but,
you know, try to take it easy.
And so.
I think it's really good that everybody
just listen to themselves and their body
and, and what their body and mind needs.
So I'm grateful that I've been able
to walk around a little bit more.
That's the update about
what's going on with that.
And to be honest, even in 10 days,
if I get a positive, it's like cool.
Let's wait another 15 weeks.
I mean, it, it really is usually around
like 13 to 14 weeks is kind of my safe
zone of, okay, now we can get excited.
Now, now this, because my pregnant or my,
uh, miscarriage is usually around, well
anywhere between, um, eight and uh, 13.
So anyways, with that being said.
Let's dive into today's topic.
I'm really excited to talk about this.
You know, when I talk to women and they
get frustrated because they're not seeing
the changes in their body that they want
to, and today we're gonna be discussing
both fat loss and putting on muscle.
Sometimes I'll listen to them
and I'll ask, and then I'll
start asking 'em questions.
'cause I don't wanna just
jump to conclusions, right?
So I'll start asking them questions.
What do you mean when you see
your, say your body's not changing?
Like, let's look at how, like how
long have you, what's your plan?
I usually ask him that.
What's your plan?
Okay.
What has been your compliance to that
plan, and how long have you been doing?
That plan.
And so I'll usually go over a few
questions with them and, and I'm not
gonna lie, 99% of the time, the, the woman
kind of starts putting pieces together
herself, starts realizing, oh yeah, I
haven't really been following the plan.
Oh, it's, it actually
hasn't been that long.
Even if it was three months, it's
like, oh, but it's been three months
of actually not following the plan.
So oftentimes they'll say,
well, I've been following it.
I've been really, really strict.
And then as I keep pulling
information, they're like, well,
but on the weekends I don't track.
Like, oh, okay.
So, so just so you know, when you
are in a calorie deficit, your body
starts making some alterations.
It starts adapting and, and there
are some changes to your hunger cues
and your satisfaction signaling.
And one of the things that actually
happens is that your hunger increases.
And so if you spend a short amount of
time during the week tracking and then
you spend two or three days not tracking.
Your hunger signals have gone up.
So at maintenance, your hunger
signaling is usually a lot
more balanced than normal.
Uh, it's not going to
naturally cause you to overeat.
Usually that's going to be our food
choices and using emotional eating that
will cause us to overeat or even just
habitual patterns in our lives of well,
um, you know, I'm going to eat out a ton.
Well, when you go and eat out a ton,
usually people wanna clean their plate and
usually that plate is like 2000 calories.
And for most women, um, sitting in
healthy body fat percentages, um, that
is really good near maintenance for them.
So that means if they've had a decent
sized breakfast and a decent sized
lunch, now all of a sudden they go out
to eat and that's well pushing them over.
So there are these other things
that can, you know, one, we maybe,
maybe never learned to listen
to hunger or understand hunger.
Uh, we've never really learned about, uh.
Feeling satisfied and, and where to
stop eating because our culturally,
our foods today, it is so incredibly
easy just to overeat or maybe
you're just a speedy eater, right?
So actually getting signals from our body
saying that you're full does take time.
So if you sit down and scarf
something down in five minutes.
You're not even giving your body enough
time to tell yourself that you're full.
So have you ever just sat down and
ate something really, really quickly
and all of a sudden you're just like,
oh, I feel it's not just full, you
feel stuffed and almost feel sick
because you ate so fast and you far
surpassed the needs of your body.
So that is why so many really, really
good coaches are gonna tell you one thing
they're gonna say, slow down when you eat.
Slow down.
Give yourself and your body time to
even communicate with your, with you.
It's, and I've used this
example a million times.
It's the same reason why your
children will sit down, they'll
scarf their meal down and then look
at you and say, I'm still hungry.
Make me another sandwich.
And while you're making
their sandwich, what happens?
They get a signaling saying, I'm full.
And then they don't want the sandwich that
you just barely spent your time making.
It's annoying, isn't it?
I think it's annoying.
So actually whenever my kids say
that to me, I say drink water.
Give it 15 minutes, and if you're still
hungry, then we can have a side of fruit.
So that's just kind of my way of
naturally teaching them, give yourself
time, give yourself time to get
those signalings from your body.
So you go through these periods where
you're eating in lower calories.
Your body starts making
these AP adaptations.
One of them is, it, it generally
will increase hunger signaling.
So you spend this, you know,
your, your weekdays in that
setting, and then you move to the
week end where you don't track.
But guess what?
Your hunger is a lot higher.
So your chances of overeating and
just landing back at maintenance
are pretty much guaranteed.
That's what 99% of people are gonna do
when they try to track steadily during
the week, but not track on the weekend.
Most people cannot mindfully eat on
the weekends in a calorie deficit.
So because of that, then
people are like, oh, oh, okay.
As soon as I explain that to 'em,
they're like, oh, that makes sense.
That makes sense.
Why me only tracking three days a week?
I'm not seeing progress.
Now.
Maybe the first two weeks
you did see progress and so
you thought, I can do this.
For the next, you know, nine
weeks or 10 weeks or however long
your, your calorie deficit is.
But the truth is, those first
two weeks, your body was just
beginning to make those adaptations.
And so the likelihood of you after
that period, um, to mindfully eat in
a calorie deficit on the weekends.
Pretty much next to none
for most individuals.
So I do like diving into these questions
and asking women, and they kind of
realize, oh, like you are right.
I haven't been as dedicated as I
should be for the results that I want.
Now, another thing that I wanna talk about
is expectations as far as results go.
So right now we're just talking about
fat loss, but we will be talking about
muscle gain as well, because I think
that this is really, really important.
So what should you expect as far
as how much body fat reduction
to see from week to week?
So there are some graphs out there that
we'll show you when you're doing like
an extreme approach of 25, like a 25% or
more calorie deficit, then they'll say
for a woman, she should be seeing one and
a half to two and a half pounds, being
lost for a man, they should be seeing
two to three uh, pounds down, or maybe
let's just go by body fat percentage.
I actually think that that's
a better one to go by.
Body fat percentage, they should be
seeing a reduction in about one to
one and a half percent of body weight.
Why do I think it's better
to go off of body weight
percentage versus actual pounds?
Well, because if, if I have a woman who
comes to me and she weighs 125 pounds.
And she just wants to get shredded.
She's already in a healthy body fat
percentage for her bone structure,
her muscle mass, all of that.
'cause 1 25 is small.
This is a small individual.
Maybe she's shorter and she wants
to push into aggressive, like
she really wants to get shredded.
Telling her she's gonna lose two and a
half pounds a week is pretty outrageous.
She's not going to, okay, even
in extreme cut two and a half a
week, no, that's not gonna happen.
That's unrealistic telling somebody,
a woman who's, let's say five six,
who weighs over 200 pounds, that in an
extreme dieting approach, she could lose,
you know, two and a half pounds a week.
Okay, that's, that's a
little bit more realistic.
Right?
So that's why I think it's better,
instead of just throwing out random
pounds, people should lose a week.
Maybe we go off of percentage instead.
Okay?
Now all of a sudden, that woman who
weighs 125 pounds, you tell her, Hey,
you're prob, you may lose a close to 1%.
That's gonna be like, okay,
you're, you are going to be maybe
dropping down about a pound.
Maybe especially the first week because
you will see a lot of water weight,
but even these numbers of percentages
that they may or may not lose.
I, I still struggle with this because
the body is not some calculator.
It's not some machine that you
put in an exact input and you're
gonna get this, this exact output.
There's so much going on.
I mean, even, you know, weighing
yourself first thing in the morning
before you've even gone to the
bathroom, you can lose a pound that way.
I mean, there's so much going on.
Maybe, um, you had a little bit more
salt and water one day or maybe less
water the next, so there's a little bit
more water retention and, and so going
by these numbers of, well, you should
be losing X amount a week, I actually
don't believe that that's healthy.
I.
So sometimes women will come to me
and they'll say, well, I was told I
should be losing this much a week.
Why?
Like, why?
Like what was their reason?
What was their basis off of that?
Had they worked with you before even then?
I will tell you, I have worked with some
women who we've taken them through a
calorie deficit and then we've even had
them sit at maintenance for a while,
but life has changed and they can't put
The same amount of time and energy into
it may be the second round and just life
circumstances and stressors, and they're
not sleeping as much, and all of these
things have changed, and their response
to a calorie deficit the second time, and
they're leaner now, so they're starting
out at a leaner place is much different.
And they're like, oh, it's
not working this time.
I'm like, no, no, no.
It's working.
It's just your body and
your situation is different.
We have to adapt to that.
Now also, keep in mind those
percentages and numbers that I'm
using saying that, you know, this
was given by Precision Nutrition.
They were saying a realistic
rate of fat loss per week.
If we're looking at body, uh, percentage
of body weight is somebody who is doing
a more extreme approach, but also.
Who is doing closer to 90 to a
hundred percent consistency with
that extreme approach will tend to
see a reduction in 1% body weight.
So keep in mind that that number actually
includes the consistency of the person.
Another thing that they, they said,
they, they give another example.
They say, and, and I really like these
three examples because it's, it's based
off of, this is realistic rate of fat
loss per week, but it's based off of
an extreme approach plus consistency to
that extreme approach and a reasonable
approach that's, you know, a little lower
with consistency and then a comfortable
approach.
So they give these different things.
So they say, do you know what?
Somebody who's doing extreme approach
of, you know, 26% calorie deficit
plus, and they're being like 90 to a
hundred percent consistent with that,
they're going to see closer to something
like 1% reduction in body weight.
Now if somebody chooses a little bit more
of a reasonable approach, and I'm kind
of giving these numbers here, a little
bit more reasonable approach, I'm giving
numbers as far as like what I would
say is, you know, maybe they're doing
a 20% calorie deficit somewhere around.
There like a, um, I shouldn't
say 20 for reasonable.
I would say maybe like a, a 22 to 24% and
they're about like 85, 90% consistent.
Then they're saying like, they'll
probably see like a half a
percent go down a week on average.
So these are averages.
A comfortable where you're maybe around
20, maybe anywhere between like a 15
to 20% calorie deficit and you're being
relatively consistent to that, yeah,
you're probably gonna see, you know,
half a percentage and less a week.
So they're kind of
giving these these rates.
But once again.
These are based off of averages.
These are not based off of an
individual, but averages of populations.
So what I mean by that is
it's not based off of you.
This is just average.
This is about what you're gonna see.
But people hear these numbers
and they get so fixated on them,
they, they don't hear me saying.
1%.
They hear what I said at the
beginning, which is, well, this one
diagram says you should be losing,
you know, 1.65 to 2.5 pounds a week.
And, and they, they forget everything
else I said, and they grab onto that.
And they move forward and, and if they
don't see that drop one week, then oh,
something's wrong, something's wrong.
I need to add more cardio.
I need to cut my calories.
I need to go at more extreme.
I need to take out this and that.
And maybe, uh, gluten
is what's killing me.
Or you know, maybe it's
the, the, these nut oils.
That's, that's it, that's what's doing it.
It's like they go to some crazy
extreme and they forget that I
actually spoke a lot in gray area.
A lot of, no, this just depends, right?
So, one, I really do like these, uh, you
know, realistic rates of fat loss a week.
If we can interpret them correctly.
One, they are based off generalities.
Two, go by body fat per, or not body fat,
but go by a percentage of body weight.
That about, and also go off of averages.
So we're not gonna see this week
to week, but after a month we
should see some sort of average.
And then obviously this all has
to do with compliance to the plan.
That is really, really, really important.
Okay.
Let's shift gears here and
now let's move on to realistic
rates of muscle gain per month.
Now, just like the, the fat
loss where we're looking at,
okay, there are realistic rates.
It actually depends on
a few things, right?
Let's just kind of maybe recap this a
little bit with VA loss, it depends on
how aggressive an approach you choose,
and how consistent you are with that
approach over a given amount of time.
I am gonna plug in one more thing
here that I didn't talk about earlier.
I'm actually gonna say, and it
also depends on how, how healthy
your body is going into this.
Now that may sound funny for some,
but if somebody has been consistently
eating too little for too long, um,
your body does adapt to your lifestyle.
So for good, her pat,
it really does adapt.
It's just kind of its way of surviving.
So if you have been yo-yo dieting a lot
and just tend to just kind of eat like
a bird, then more than likely you're
not going to be in a really, really
healthy place for your body to even
see some really good, healthy fat loss.
So.
It's interesting because people who come
to me who have never dieted at all, they
usually see really good rates of fat loss.
And that could even be somebody who's, 30
or 25% body fat percentage and they want
to drive down to closer to, you know,
20, 21%, some kind of a more athletic.
Uh, body fat percentage.
If they've come to me not ever
having diet, it is amazing
how well their body responds.
If somebody comes to me and maybe
they're even at like, you know,
25% body fat, but they're always
they're just not, eating a whole lot.
I've explained it like this
before, it's kind of a sweet
spot where you're not eating
enough to have your body really
thrive, but you're not eating in
enough of a calorie deficit to
actually see changes in fat loss.
And so it's people who usually kind
of just bird-like eating patterns
and binging patterns and constantly
trying to yo-yo diet and mentally and
physically, they're just actually not
in a healthy place because of that.
So we've talked before, and maybe I
need to do a full episode on all of the
adaptations that your body actually does.
A calorie deficit, or even when it's just
kind of low energy availability coming in.
So there are these
adaptations that happen.
Your metabolism isn't broken
or anything like that.
It's just adapting.
And it's becoming more
efficient with less food.
Um, it's kind of slowing you
down so you don't move as much.
There's all of these different,
thyroid adaptations that can happen
too, where it's not, your body's just
not in a healthy, thriving place.
So that's why I tell people after you
diet, go into a post-recovery phase.
Uh, some people refer to that
as reverse dieting, backup to
maintenance, but sit there.
For a good three, four months, allow
your body to thrive again, and then
go back into a calorie deficit because
then you know you're going back
into it in a really healthy place.
I kind of went off on
a, on a tangent there,
but just like with, we're gonna be
talking about this with muscle because
this also has to do with muscle, where
your body can't just always be in a
fat loss phase mentally and physically.
And so it's really important
and healthy to just go back into
maintenance and just sit there.
A lot of times people think
that maintenance is some wasted
time, waste of space, and it's
not, think of it more like this.
Think of it as an archer.
in order for the arrow to fly
forward, what does it need to do?
It needs to pull back.
And so many times I watch women and
figuratively speaking, it's like
they kind of pull the arrow back and
then let go, and the arrow just falls
straight to the ground and they're
like, how come I can't go anywhere?
How come I can't?
Because you are not allowing yourself
to thrive and recover in maintenance.
And don't go there for two weeks.
Okay?
That's just like you pulling the,
the, the string back just an inch.
I want you to grab that string and I want
you to pull it way back that you, that
that moment of you pulling back is the
time you are spending at maintenance,
thriving and building muscle, and becoming
free mentally and physically being fed.
And think about it that way.
Maintenance is not a waste of time.
It is literally you taking that arrow
and that string and pulling it back
so that when you let it go, that arrow
can actually take off and go somewhere.
Okay?
So now, um, let's dive back into
realistic rates of muscle gain per month.
And this depends the rate at
which somebody gains muscle
really, really just depends.
I had somebody come to me and they
were saying, I'm really frustrated
because my body isn't changing.
I've been eating at maintenance
sometimes a little bit in a
surplus, and I'm not seeing the
gains in muscle that I wanna see.
Why is that?, There really
could be a few reasons.
One, most people do not push
themselves hard enough in the gym.
And this is not just my opinion, this
is, we literally have research showing,
and I've talked about this before, but I
just really wanna emphasize this again.
We literally have research showing that
people do not know where failure is.
They think.
And also I was just barely
reading new research.
Um, I believe it was new or research done.
Meno was talking about this, or maybe it
was stronger by science that was talking
about this, but, they recently did a
study trying to see if people knew how,
heavier light to of, of weights to choose.
And generally speaking, when you do less
reps, when you do like six to eight reps,
you're gonna use a lot heavier weight.
But what they also noticed was when
people were doing, you know, 15 to
20 reps, people will often say,
well, then you use lightweight.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
Be cautious of that.
The weight may be lighter,
but it should not be light.
Okay?
You should still be hitting failure
anywhere between that range of 15
to 20 for higher rep hypertrophy.
So don't just be using quote
unquote light, because remember I
spoke about this in, in, um, in a
podcast episode a few weeks ago.
If you want hypertrophy with light, her
weights and higher your reps, you still
need to be getting closer to failure.
Uh, it seems that the degree
that somebody works to failure
is what is causing hypertrophy.
And so we, this recent study
was saying people just don't
know how to choose weight.
They are choosing way too light, whether
it's in the lower rep range or the higher,
they're just choosing too light of weight.
And so I spoke of this on another
podcast episode recently, but
we were doing a one more rep
challenge in my Be Strong membership, and
not only were people saying I was able
to squeeze out 1, 2, 3 more reps, but
other people were also saying, you know,
I realized after I was able to do 5, 6, 7,
8 more reps, I wasn't going heavy enough.
I'm like, yes, yes.
I love these discoveries.
It is so, so, so important.
But anyway, so I, I do believe
that when people are like, I'm not
seeing the changes that I want to
in my body, I've been eating around
maintenance or a little bit above.
I'm just not putting muscle on.
I do think it comes down to two things.
One, this is a hard realization
to make, but you're not
working hard enough in the gym.
You're not pushing yourself
hard enough in the gym.
So I did a video for my Be Strong
members and I said, look, imagine
I am literally standing above you,
or everybody in this community is
just circling your machine and we're
watching you, and we're saying to you.
One more rep.
You think you hit failure
And we're like, Nope.
One more rep.
And I loved the response of
these women saying, I was able to
pump out like five more thinking
of you just standing above me.
I'm like, you know what I, I've
been there, I've done that.
I've been thinking, I've
been working towards failure.
And then I go to a biomechanics camp
with somebody who I consider a mentor
standing over me, and all of a sudden
I'm able to do way more weight.
I'm able to go longer and harder, right?
Because I have somebody who I
really respect who's looking
at me saying, one more rep.
I just love it.
So there is that truth.
There's that truth that maybe
the changes are not coming, not
because your training program's bad.
I mean, maybe it is.
Maybe it is poorly written.
I don't know.
Or maybe you aren't working hard enough.
That's a hard realization to take
in, but another part of the puzzle
is that people just don't understand
how long muscle growth takes and
what it looks like when it comes on.
So let's break this down.
First off, let's talk about the
rate at which muscle mass goes on.
There, there's actually a men and a
women's realistic rate of muscle game.
I'll tell you the men's, but, but
we'll be focusing mostly on the
rate of women since it's mostly
women that listen to this podcast.
But for beginners, for men, they will
see one to one and a half percent
body weight increases in muscle.
That's about one and a half to
two and a half pounds of muscle.
Women, they will see beginners, keep
in mind, will see about 0.5 to 0.75%
increases in body weight a month.
Okay.
With muscle that can be a
half pound to a pound a month.
That's actually a big deal.
That's awesome.
That is not what the rest of us see.
So the problem is as you become
more advanced, that becomes
slower and slower and slower.
Your rate of muscle growth becomes
slower, slower, and slower.
And what I actually think happens
is people, they hear that, but
they don't digest that information.
And so they get frustrated and they think,
well, I'm not putting it on fast enough.
And, and what they're doing is they're
comparing to the rate of muscle increase
that they saw their first few months.
And you cannot do that because that
rate, especially the first few months
of lifting weights, will be higher
than any rate you will ever see
again unless you get on steroids.
That's just the way it is.
So you cannot compare your rate two years
in of muscle growth to the rate that you
were putting muscle on your first year.
You just can't.
You cannot do it.
We also have studies showing that just
different people put on rate differently.
There really are easy gainers.
There are hard gainers, meaning there
is a gradient of how fast somebody puts
on muscle compared to other people.
So some people literally walk
in and will put on muscle mass
a lot faster than other people.
And can I, can I just be honest?
The cream usually rises to the top right?
Those that are easy muscle gainers
are usually the ones that are seen the
most on Instagram and social media.
So you comparing yourself to an easy
gainer is probably one of the stupidest
things because you're not them.
You don't have their genetics, okay?
So if you feel like it's slow,
you're not an easy muscle gainer.
You're probably average.
Maybe you're hard and,
but it doesn't matter.
You just are what you are and you have
to deal with it, accept it, and then
take it step by step like the rest of us.
So, at a beginner level, that's
usually the rate that we see.
So after a year, you know, somebody
could easily put on eight to 10 pounds
of muscle if they are training smart,
training hard, and are a beginner.
You will never see that rate again.
After your first year of serious lifting.
Like that's great.
Great job.
You have now graduated into intermediate
and you will never see that rate
again, and you have to accept it.
So what's the next step?
What's the next rate?
Well, it's usually an increase of,
for women, or I'll start off with men.
The next increase is usually
0.5% to 0.75% increase.
For women, it's point, uh,
2 5, 2 0.375% per month.
So let's just take 125 pound woman, and
if she were to have a really good month,
she were to increase that month at a top
percentage, she would be barely putting
on half a pound of muscle, barely.
But keep in mind one thing, have you
ever seen that where people show like,
what five pounds of fat looks like it's
really big, you know, and then five
pounds of muscle, it's a lot smaller.
It's a lot more compact.
Right?
That's five pounds, half a pound.
Imagine, imagine taking that
and seeing half a pound.
Then take that half a pound and
evenly distribute it on your body.
And by the way, that is you maximizing
that month, barely a half a pound,
evenly distributed, relatively
evenly distributed on your body.
How noticeable is that gonna be?
You wouldn't.
You wouldn't.
That's why when people are like,
well, I'm doing a mini build.
It's for four weeks.
I'm like, well, that's stupid
because that is going to bring,
even if you were to get your maximal
potential, which would be somewhere
around half a pound for that month.
That is not even noticeable
to bring any changes.
It did bring change, but
not noticeable changes.
That's why when people are, do those
mini builds, I'm like, that is so stupid.
Even, and, and by the way, guys,
that is you optimizing everything and
getting optimal returns in return,
which that's, that's not the real world.
That's not what most of us are seeing.
So let's just say you're 125 pound
woman and you're seeing more realistic,
you're working really, really
hard at, and it's at maintenance
because you're intermediate now.
So you realize that you're not gonna be
building your best in a calorie deficit.
You are gonna be at maintenance
or in a surplus, and let's just
take a more realistic approach.
Okay?
So that would be for you.
Point three pounds a month.
Okay?
And over a year, if you were to
really, really optimize everything,
work hard and be blessed to get all
of those gains from month to month
to month, let's just say over a year,
that's like three and a half pounds.
Now that's a little bit more noticeable.
Does that make sense?
Now, three and a half
pounds evenly distributed.
You're gonna be like, oh, I'm noticing
a little bit more on my delts.
Oh, check out my biceps.
Oh, my butt seems to be a little bit,
once again, that's just like a sliver.
That's just like a sliver of a difference.
Three pounds.
Okay.
Relatively evenly distributed.
This is why I tell people muscle
growth takes so much time and it's
really years of working where we
really start seeing the benefits.
Let me use one more illustration to drive
this point home, and you've probably
seen people do this with fat loss.
They take.
A, like a, a toilet paper roll
and they're like, okay, one month.
Or one week of, you
know, following the plan.
And they'll, they'll take off
one square of that toilet paper
and they're like, see, okay.
It doesn't seem like
that big of a difference.
But if you keep being consistent and
keep taking off a square here, a square
there, a square, then pretty soon after a
year, you're a totally different person.
The reverse is same true with.
building muscle.
It it is that.
Now though, instead of
taking off, we are adding.
So after a month or two of working really,
really hard, you put on one of those
squares of toilet paper, you're like,
okay, may not mean much today, but after
six months, you're a little bit stronger.
Right?
You're starting to notice just,
just a hair of things differently.
Now remember, this is intermediate.
Beginner.
It happens a lot faster.
That beginning year you see the
biggest changes, and if you keep
wanting to see changes, then no, it's
not gonna happen in your second year.
It's gonna be as you go
from year to year to year.
My husband was really funny.
He was like, every year, you look a little
bit better and a little bit younger.
I'm like, that's the goal.
That's the goal.
Except for I would add stronger in there.
That's actually something that's become
more important for me as I age, is my
strength and capacity and confidence
that comes with weightlifting.
Now, let's move into advance.
Let's finish off with Advanced.
Advanced.
It's gonna be less if
you're an advanced lifter.
now we're talking about per month.
Um, for men it's gonna be 0.25,
2.37, 5% increase in body weight.
Women, you're looking at
a 0.125%, 2.18, seven 5%.
So we're looking at.
Um, realistically a month, you
know, like 0.16 or maybe 0.2 pounds.
And, and once again, remember what
0.2 pounds is gonna look like.
You're, it's not even gonna be
noticeable, but it's the compound
effect and you keep going and you
keep going and you enjoy the journey.
And that's why I always tell people.
You cannot obsess about the look.
You have to obsess about the process
and feeling strong and loving that
strength because that keeps it going.
And pretty soon the compound effect, it
builds and builds, and your glutes start
looking the way you want or you're adult.
Start looking the way you want.
But all of this has to be combined with
eating enough food and working hard.
Gym.
Okay.
So hopefully I gave you a very
realistic, very, very realistic
approach to what fat loss looks like
and what building muscle looks like.
So next time you're about to
complain that it's not happening
faster, just join the club.
Join the club, but also remember.
Let's get your expectations in check.
Okay?
Let's get some realistic real life
expectations and not be looking
at those cream of the crop.
Genetically blessed,
they're at their at the top.
Instagrammers, barely have to
try, or I shouldn't say that they,
these guys are working hard too.
They're working hard too, but
their genetics are not yours.
That's usually why they, they,
they get big fast on social media
is because they are the outliers.
There's nothing wrong with
looking up at the outliers and
being inspired by them, right?
Just as long as you don't fall
under the trap of comparing to
them because you are not them.
Okay?
You are more than likely
what I just barely explained.
As far as realistic expectations
for fat loss and realistic
expectations for muscle growth.
Thank you so much for joining me
today on the Lifting Lindsay podcast.
You guys are awesome.
I really do love and appreciate
each one of you, and I am so
grateful for each one of you.
If you have any questions,
go ahead and DM me.
At lifting lindsay.com.
If you wanna join me and my community
in learning how to train smart,
train hard, you know, if we're gonna
optimize this process, let's do it.
Then Go ahead and click on
the link in the show notes to
join the Be Strong community.
We would love to have you.
We love bringing in
like-minded women who are.
Positive and happy.
Not, not unrealistic, positive and happy.
We, we get on there and
we're like, oh, this is hard.
Oh, today sucks.
Like, we're just gonna say it how it is.
Oh, I'm struggling today.
And we all get on there and be
like, oh, I had that yesterday.
It's hard.
What are you doing?
Oh, I don't know.
This is what I'm doing.
It.
That's, that's what we need.
We need people who are in
the trenches with us, right?
So come, come join us in the trenches.
We'd love to have you.
You guys have a great week.