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.
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.