How to Start Strength Training as a Beginner | Mind Pump 2765

Key Takeaway

Start strength training with just two days a week to get 80% of all possible results. Focus on getting stronger each workout—track your weights and reps, not just the mirror. The goal isn't burning calories during the workout; it's building muscle that speeds up your metabolism 24/7. Start with stability ball exercises and simple movements. Track daily steps (aim for 8,000) on non-training days. Progress beats perfection—if the program says 12 reps but you can only do 9 with heavier weight, that's better than easily hitting 12 with lighter weight.

Episode Overview

This episode breaks down how to start a strength training program for beginners, covering optimal training frequency (2-3 days/week), the importance of progression over perfection, priming exercises, equipment recommendations like stability balls, and how to integrate daily movement. The hosts emphasize that strength training is the most time-efficient exercise for longevity, fat loss, and metabolic health.

Full Transcript

Transcript of How to Start Strength Training as a Beginner | Mind Pump 2765 from Mind Pump Show. Auto-generated from episode audio; may contain minor errors.

By now, you probably know that strength training is an incredible way to exercise. The data proves it. It's great way to burn body fat, of course, build muscle and strength, speed up the metabolism. It's also now been shown to be one of the most effective ways of exercise for longevity and health. You want to live a long time and you want to be healthy for a long time, strength train. Here's the problem. It's a bit complicated. So, what we're going to do in today's episode, we're going to talk about how to get started with strength training.

If you haven't done it before or it's been a long time, we're going to break it down so you can do it the right way and get the best results. Before you get started, maybe uh maybe Doug can look up some numbers for us. It would be really cool to uh let's give a prediction on because we're we're we're it's the new year right now, right? So what does uh this year's like flow of traffic and people getting into fitness always January is you know everyone's coming back to New Year's res.

It's always a top top two New Year's resolution resolution resolution and so do you guys predict the highest rate of people strength training than before? Like what's your take on that? There's going to be an uptick a little bit right after coming back from all the COVID stuff and then people getting back to the gyms. I feel like there's energy in that direction. Yeah. Well, what the the the last few years um what's that magazine? Is it Ursa? Ursa? Ursa? Uh that yeah that they report like fitness trends fitness trends fitness trends and strength training for the last few years have been at the top like traditional strength training.

Uh whereas before it was you know other forms of exercise, Zumba, Pilates, yoga, whatever. Traditional strength training is gaining a lot of popularity. Part of that is because uh well it's taken time for people to really figure out it that it's such an effective form of exercise. But the other reason I think this is the big one is we now have the medical community uh promoting it. Uh all the data uh is coming back showing that uh like if you want to improve your longevity longevity longevity Mhm.

If you want to reduce your risk of dying, uh your risk of cancer, uh your reduce your risk of breaking a bone or or just frailty, strength training is at the top. When you consider the amount of time you need to commit to it versus the return, for sure it's at the top. You actually you you it requires little time to produce uh significant results in comparison to other forms of exercise. But you've had a lot of doctors now like Dr. Gabriel Lion who Yeah. who preaches uh strength training.

Um and its popularity among women has exploded and now what we're seeing is uh in people in older populations are really starting to adopt it. But it's different in the past because in the past people would say strength training, but it wasn't strength training. It was just using weights. And there's a difference, right? You could use weights in a way that's not strength training like a like a class or a circuit style workout. It's really more like cardio than it is strength training. Strength training is a very uh has a very um there's a there's a very clear way to do it.

Uh it's typically straight sets with rest in between sets with the goal of building muscle and building strength. Not endurance, not stamina, although you'll gain some of those as a side effect, but it's literally a form of exercise that just the goal is let's get stronger, let's build muscle, and then all the downstream effects of that. I wonder though too if like Ozek and all that had a massive impact in terms of the messaging going forward from here too because it's not just about losing weight and I think that's been stressed for so long is like you just got to lose weight and everything you know your health markers and all this it was not the case people are finding they've they lose the weight they'll stall the plateau uh they keep going and they're going to be in an unhealthy place and and so I think the you know the tide hopefully now people are understanding like muscles is a a vital part of this whole process and only way to really build and develop muscle is to strength train that okay I didn't even think about that Justin that you just brought that did I tell you this I don't know if I told you this off air I was hanging out with uh I won't say the names but old friends of ours that you go back to our early 20s and stuff all like uh meatthead guys not gym not fitness guys like they're not personal trainers or didn't work in the gym industry but kind of meatthead dudes lifted forever and stuff like that and we all used all of us used to hang out in our 20s there was five of them and their wives and we hadn't seen each other in like pro some of them like a 10 years and we all got together and had a barbecue and everything like that.

Uh getting caught up find out all five guys plus all five wives all in Ozic. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, I was so blown away and the just the amount of people that are just getting on it just to lose weight weight weight as a or using it as a strategy. These are because we're I'm not talking about anybody in this group is obese at all. like most of them, you know, 15 maybe maybe 20 pounds need to lose or something like that. So it was really interesting for me to see somebody in my within my immediate circle like that that are going down this pathway.

And so that it makes me ask what you were just alluding to Justin is are we going to see a rise in see are we going to see a rise in strength training or because of that's why that's why that's why oh you think it will that's a big part yeah because doctors are recommending it because um GLP1's one of the main mechanisms that um through which they work right that make you lose weight one of the main mechanisms is they reduce your appetite significantly so you drop your food intake and you're going to lose weight but the way the body adapts to that is it pairs muscle down because is it tries to lower your metabolic rate to meet the new caloric intake.

Right? So, if you are eating low calories, you'll lose weight until your body learns how to burn those low calories and that's it. Then you'll stop losing weight. You'll plateau and then you keep losing weight. You have to eat even less, right? Uh and so what they're finding in the data with the GLP1 is what you would expect if you just ate less and didn't strength train. A significant percentage of the weight is muscle that they lose. So, it's like 40% some of these studies of the weight is muscle.

And so doctors are like, "We got to stop this because number one, you'll lose weight, but you'll lose muscle, which isn't good because muscle is a longevity uh tissue. So it's a longevity organ. We know this. In fact, some of the best studies or best ways to predict all cause mortality are related to muscle. The strength test like a grip strength test is one now that they're that they're saying is a gold standard single test that will predict all cause mortality. It's connected to muscle. It's just a it's just how strong you are with your grip, which is a proxy for uh overall body strength.

Um but if you lose muscle, uh the weight loss will plateau because your metabolism slows down and also you lose enough muscle that you're not in a better place. better place. better place. No, now you're brittle and yeah, you're going to have uh all kinds of problems. So they're recommending traditional strength training uh as a result. So it's just gaining popularity in that in that regard. Uh but also just it's look it one or two days a week of strength training, proper strength training gets you a lot of results.

It really does. Like if you want a bang for your buck form of exercise, strength training does it better than anything. And it's not because it burns a lot of calories. This is where people uh will sometimes debate this. Well, an hour, you know, once a week or even two hours a week, twice, you know, 1 hour once a week. If you compare strength trains like running, it doesn't burn that many calories. So, what are you talking about? How can this possibly produce great results? It's not the calorie burn.

It's it's how it changes the body. It's the adaptations it induces. And then those adaptations, what do those do uh for the rest for for your health and your body? As you build muscle, you speed up your metabolism. So, your body learns to burn more calories uh on its own. You also improve insulin sensitivity. You also make your testosterone more effective because you increase androgen receptor density, meaning where your testosterone attaches to, it has more places. Studies also show it can raise testosterone reliably uh at least in comparison to other forms of exercise.

Um it's uh great for skin. It's great for joint health. If done properly, it's the best. Mobility, I mean, lack of mobility is almost always a result of just either tightness, which is weakness, uh or just weakness. So, it's this great form of exercise. The challenge, however, is in the complexity, right? So, like riding a bike, basic, swimming, basic, you know, do a class, listen to the instructor. Well, strength training is individualized and there's like a million one exercises. How do I know how to do it right?

Do I just go in there, beat myself up? Uh, so this is uh this is typically the challenge. Well, you you bring up how much does, you know, do people need? I also uh think that this is one of the biggest mistakes in the new year that's made right here. right here. right here. Yes. is many people will come out of the holidays and you know enter into January New Year's resolution top two resolution almost always and highly motivated right you feel amazing yeah you you did all the eating and the enjoying and the vacation okay now it's back to work lot and everything else going in my life and it's now here's my New Year's resolution and so people people often uh overcommit themselves themselves themselves to a plan uh that sets them up for failure not only is it uh and then and I can't help but think in during this time of like the introduction of these GLP1s.

So you have people that are already eating less food, right? And then you in addition to that, they just they come off of a layoff because of the holidays and they're like, "Okay, time to to turn it up." And they turn it up while simultaneously reducing these calories and it really sets up um you for failure. I mean maybe the in the immediate week or two you see weight loss but eventually a hard plateau and this is where people get I'd argue that this is one of the number one reasons why no one follows through on their resolution resolution resolution 100%.

So so the question how much do I need? Well number one uh strength training needs to be appropriate for you. Okay so if you're a beginner you don't need much to get the body to move in the right direction and anything beyond that doesn't get you to move there any faster. That's the most important part of what I'm about to say. It's not just that the right amount gets you great results. It's that more than the right amount gets you worse results. Uh now, why is that?

Because strength training is a stress on the body. It sends a signal that says we need more muscle. We need more strength. But part of sending that signal is the stress. And stress causes damage that you need to heal from and then adapt to. And if you're just getting started, you don't need much. And above and beyond that means you're gonna it's your body's gonna spend more time healing than it will to adapting. And so you just get sore, you get beat up, you go back to the gym, but you don't ever really progress much.

What strength training does is it causes measurable strength gains. This is how you know uh that it's really working and you don't need much. Here's what the data shows. Two days a week of strength training will get you 80% of all the results you can ever expect from strength training. So, think of the best possible shape you can get from strength training. You'll get 80% of the way there with two days a week. Now, that doesn't mean that your body your workouts are going to change are not going to change in that two days a week.

You're not that's you're progressing by adding weight to the bar, getting stronger, making things a little harder, but you don't need to add more days for a long time. 3 days a week gets you close to 90% of all the results that you would ever get from strength training. No other forms of exercise uh really produce this. That's good news for most people because most people I mean, you know, having as daunting as you think it is, having, you know, scheduled time to work out, the most we could ever uh really demand from people for the rest of their life is a couple days a week.

This is my experience training people. Most people are not fitness fanatics. So, let's and and and again, the good news is that's plenty. That's going to get you a great result. result. result. I mean, I would argue it's it's it's more than enough, especially at the beginning. I mean, I'm in the middle of of you know, I've been off now this layoff, right? So, after I went through all my stuff, it's it's been I think I'm coming up on 45 days. I'm I'm back in the rhythm of things.

And, you know, I'm always reminded when and you're talking about this is like a 30-day layoff of not like 6 months or a year been years. Yeah. Yeah. It's like it's it's a it's a slight layoff, but it's a layoff, right, of of not hitting my protein consistently and not lifting consistently. So, I'm back in in into that rhythm again. And I'm always just reminded of like how little y I have to do even in those couple days that I go to the gym to elicit some sort of change.

I mean, it just I was I was deadlifting 135, you know, 135 is like what I would consider a non set or warm-up set in the past and three sets of that and my hamstrings are sore for like 3 days. And so it's just this reminder of like and I know and it's hard because especially being a dude who's lifted a lot more weight than that on the bar. I'm lifting it going like I know I can lift way more than this. But I'm also reminding myself yeah but you haven't deadlifted it in a while.

It's like this. like this. like this. And you're going to progress. Yeah. And I'm going to progress. Like it's like I'll next week I'll slap on another 10 pounds or whatever. Then the week and so reminding people that are getting back into the swing of things. Not only is two to three days going to get you 80% of the results, even allowing yourself to progress up to those like two full hour workouts or so is like okay, in fact, probably more ideal for people. That's right.

You brought up warming up. So, let's talk a little bit about what this would kind of look like for people getting started. Today's giveaway is maps aesthetic. If you want to win, leave a comment below this video. The first 24 hours that we drop it, subscribe to this channel, and turn on notifications. If you win, we'll notify you in the comments section. Also, because of this episode, because this episode is about strength training for beginners, we took our beginner strength training program, MAP Starter, and we made it 50% off.

Go to mapsfitnessproducts.com, mapsfitnessproducts.com, mapsfitnessproducts.com, use the code new year50, and get half off. Here comes the show. Uh, you want to have uh a smart uh priming um session in the beginning of your strength training workout. And I use the word priming uh on purpose. So I we could call it a warm-up. So everybody knows what a warm-up is, right? You go in and get the body warmed up. Helps prevent injury. prevent injury. prevent injury. But priming is a little different. Priming is very specific. Priming gets my body to move in the right way so that when I do my strength training, my joints are moving optimally.

Sequence of firing. That's right. And this could be quite individual. So a good example would be um I'm going to do, let's say, a barbell squat. More kind of an advanced exercise, but let's just say this where you're going to start. And let's say for me, holding the bar on my back is difficult. I don't have the shoulder mobility. I can't really bring my shoulders back and get in that position. My priming is going to be to activate those muscles so that when I get under the bar to do my set, right out the gates, I feel good.

Or let's say I have a little bit of knee pain or ankle pain or hip pain or back pain, my priming is going to uh target the areas that I need. need. need. Y Y Y so when I get into my workout, I get into my workout and I feel good. And the reduction of injury is just the that's the that's the the bar. Above and beyond that, better connection, better results, better movement patterns. Essentially, my sets are far more effective because I'm going in feeling great and my body's moving.

moving. moving. It's just a smarter approach and it's just something that like we hope people evolve into this. And you know the warm-up itself was always stressed us like ah you know like we kind of dismiss it but um you know even just getting that blood flow does have some impact but like to be specific and you know think of those positions that you're going to be in through your workout and set yourself up and go through those uh sequences and contract those muscles really feel your way through that just a little bit just to get them lit up and then get into your workout makes a massive difference.

I I think the reason why people have been so ah about the warm-up is that because typically the warm-up used to be this, you know, just aimless. just aimless. just aimless. Yeah. Aimless jumping jack, windmill, uh get on an elliptical, which is a little better than nothing. Yeah. Like just a little bit though. And I think that's why flapping your arms. And I and I think that there, you know, I I know we've tried our best to like really communicate priming, but I still think there's a lot there's a a lot there for us to continue to talk about because we still get it within our own community.

I see it in our in our private forum sometime where someone will ask a question like, "Hey, what are the best exercises for me to prime before I do a bench press?" Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And the answer to that is like, it depends on the person. It depends on exactly what's going on with them. And it's not it's not per exercise, it's per person person person that like the way the warm up. warm up. warm up. Here's what we're going to here's what we're do just so cuz if you're listening to this and you just want some good examples there.

I'll give you one for lower body and one for upper body that generally works well for a lot of people and we have free videos on this on our YouTube channel. A wall press is great for upper body exercises. Most people need that kind of priming. And then a 9090 uh is a great way to prime agree for lower body exercises. So we have free videos on that on our YouTube channel. We'll make sure we link go wrong with those two and you could do those and it you know it take you five minutes and then you get into your extra it makes a big difference.

Yeah. difference. Yeah. difference. Yeah. I I totally agree with that cuz even though uh that's a general statement I would argue that 90 plus% of my clients would benefit from would would benefit from both. Those are mine. Yeah. Those are the ones I benefit from the most. most. most. The same thing. So I I think that if you were to give out two generic type of movements, one for lower body, one for upper body, that is probably going to benefit most all people significantly. Those are two for sure.

Totally. All right. Uh let's talk a little bit about the stability ball. So I, you know, I've been in the space, all three of us have been in the space for a long time. So remember, we remember when they became a big thing. These are the yoga balls, right? The big big inflatable balls. And they went, people went crazy with them. They got so popular, people were doing everything with them, which took them outside of what they were good for and then started applying them in areas that weren't necessary.

Um, but there's a lot of value with stability balls, especially for beginners. For beginners, I love stability balls because they require you to maintain good posture, maintain good technique, keep your elbows under your hands, keep your shoulders in right alignment because if you don't have good posture and activation, you'll fall off the ball, the ball, the ball, right? A bench doesn't do this, right? If I sit on a bench, I'm leaning on the bench, I'm using the bench, but if I have, give an example, like a just a traditional shoulder press.

If I have someone sit on a bench with the backup, they're going to lean up on the bench and do the shoulder press. But if I have someone sit on a physio ball, well, you have to like balance, stabilize, activate my core, my elbow has to stay under my hand because if my hand goes in front of me, I'll roll back. back. back. And it just encourages better technique. So, stability balls for beginners are great. like this is what you should use for a lot of your bench exercises, especially anything laying down uh that you'd normally do on a bench.

It's just it's such a better way to train that even leg drive for bench or something like that. Like it if you can activate your legs and anchor yourself into the ground or like really use your glutes to kind of help support um you know a rigid body like all of that contributes to the overall strength output. So, it's like it too it it teaches you to be more um stabilized, secure, and and it it translates so well to anything uh else you're going to do.

Well, it addresses stability, balance, and core. We just did an episode recently where you talked about the five ways for all all cause mortality. Yeah, the five tests. And one of those is is balance. Y and so it was a staple go-to first thing that I used as a tool with almost all of my clients when we started a program is to address that address core stability posture all those things are benefited from that and so and I agree with you it's one of those tools that unfortunately got bastardized and then we kind of like threw the baby without out the with the bath water type of deal where it was like oh this is stupid people are balancing on it on their feet and squatting and doing ridiculous So it became this tool that trainers talk about and then unfortunately then the general pop goes, "Oh yeah, know those things are dumb.

I heard people talk about it. My trainer told me about how stupid those are." It's like, "No, it's an incredible tool. It's just been used improperly for so long." But when I think back to a client who's getting started, especially in the beginning of the year, coming off a layoff, or have never started before, stability ball is 100% in in our training program. put it puts you in better position and better form. It just does it just kind of forces it. forces it. forces it. Uh so it's a great tool.

The plus side of it is it's inexpensive. So it's way less expensive than a bench. So if you're just getting started, like what do I do? Physio ball, dumbbells, like you're set. Uh it's actually a better way to strength train when you first get started. Later on, you could use benches, benches, benches, but when you're first, especially the first few months, uh stability ball is the way to go. Um the the next thing to really understand about this is because people will say well how do I measure progress?

Is it by the mirror? Is it by the scale? Uh I mean you can measure progress with those. But the best way to measure progress is strength with strength training. I mean I know it sounds funny but you would be surprised at how many people don't even pay attention to this. They get started on a strength training program. They do it for 6 months and they've used the same weight the whole time. Yeah. uh if you're getting stronger, if you can lift more or do more reps, you are moving in the right direction and the visible effects of that will follow.

It's a trail. So, what what you first see is strength gains, strength gains, strength gains, then the body starts to visibly change and follows that. If you continue to get over a 3-month period, if you what you if you're just getting started, do this right, you'll get stronger consistently for a while, but definitely for the first three months, your body will look different so long as you continue to get stronger. That's the thing you should aim for. I've been trying to communicate this with some of my family that are doing like an at home dumbbell type of routine and trying to wrap my brain around why this is tends to be pretty common.

One of the things I think I've narrowed it down to is for sure one I don't think this is all-encompassing, but I definitely think this is one of them is that they'll open up like let's say a mass program and it'll say, you know, 10 or 12 or 15 reps it calls for. And so they choose a weight that they know that they can get to get to that many reps and they're so hung up on getting to 12 reps or like that. And so they just choose a weight that they they feel confidently they can always do that and and hope in hoping and thinking that instead of challenging themselves.

And so the thing that I've always I find myself communicating a lot at least to family and friends that are running like one of our programs and they see that is giving them the permission of hey if last week you did that with the you know 15 pound weights and you know you're you're back to that exercise again maybe try 20 and it's okay if you only get nine reps. nine reps. nine reps. It's okay. Yes. Exactly. strength. Trying to get stronger is so important and part of getting stronger is challenging yourself with the weight.

Uh it's more important than getting to that exact rep that you're programmed. And so, I don't know about you guys, but that's something that I have found is really common. And it's like this light bulb goes off and I'm like, "Oh, I thought I had to get to that 10 or 12." And so, I was just worried that I wasn't sure if I could get there where it's like, "Yeah, go ahead and put five more pounds on or 10 more pounds on." And if you're and the goal is to aim for 12 and you fall short and you get nine, that's okay.

It's like I'd rather you push the strength and and do that than to pick a way that you know you're always going to get 12 at. And I think that's one of the most common things. things. things. Agreed. 100%. All right. So, next uh is daily movement. We got to talk about this because for two reasons. One, if you're listening to this, you may be thinking to yourself, "But I thought I needed to do something every day. The studies shows or the studies show that daily activity is really good for me." That is true.

What we're talking about is structured strength training. A couple days a week, you're great. You know, three days a week, amazing. Daily activity is different. That's just movement. And the best thing for most people to track or measure or pay attention to is just your steps. Just just make sure you take 8,000 steps a day. In fact, the the data shows 8,000 steps is where you'll get pretty much most of the benefits you'll get from movement. So, you're doing your strength training and you're doing that.

You're like, "Okay, I want to do the activity part." Just walk. Make sure you walk throughout the day. It's easy. Doesn't require to change into workout clothes. You're not going to get hurt doing it. And you get so many benefits from doing it. So just walk. Just just move. A lot of times it's the real subtle things that Yeah. We always talk about like just parking a little further away, taking the stairs, but you know, adds up. up. up. Yeah. It's just it's it's like not sitting, you know, for me it's like really like just intentionally, you know, throughout the day.

It's like when I normally just sit down, I'm like, I have to relax or I get home, first thing I want to sit down. Don't sit down. you know, extend that out for just a little bit longer and you'll be surprised how many more steps. If you wear a step counter, it'll tell you. you. you. It makes such a huge impact. I know uh longtime listeners probably tired of hearing the story, but I just I love sharing the stuff that was um massive epiphies for us or changed the way we coached and trained.

And we always talk about when this is long before Aura Ring and and Fitbit and all that, that one of the first ones ever invented was called a body bug. And this body bug was like the first like real accurate uh you know uh step counter and metabolism reader, right? Like it it did a pretty good job. And so now all a sudden I had and I had all I mean I remember when it came out I I like really pushed all my clients to to wear it so I could really pay attention to you know what what their activity levels were and how you know how effective were our workouts and the you how unique every individual was.

And one of the biggest takeaways I got from all that data that I was collecting with my clients was how impactful the days they weren't seeing me were. You know, when I'd have these clients that because I could get on and I had access to all their profiles and you know, I'd look and I'd be like, "Man, Sharon, what did you do on Saturday?" Cuz we didn't train. Did you go to the gym? She's like, "No, I just, you know, I went grocery shopping and then I cleaned house and I worked around the Yeah.

And it was and it was the difference in the calorie burn, you know, in a day compared to a day where she went to work or did her normal thing and saw me even if she worked out, right, working out with me was almost double. And it was it was so mind-blowing to me. And I know we we we don't like to teach the clients to chase calorie burn, but it it it blew me away that just being mindful of your activity level on that much could make a difference of a double the amount of calorie burn in a single day.

It was this big aha moment to me where it's like that's literally when I began uh you know coaching to steps. it like from that point on I was like oh wow I can significantly impact my clients by giving them step goals every day and it doesn't feel like it's a it's a huge reach for them or a big ask like it's not like I'm asking them to go it's like hey hey hey I track your week you average you know 5,000 steps uh a day on average so our goal next week when we get going here is uh 7,000 a day so just you know take a look at it by the end of the night if you're still not there go for a nice leisure walk for 20 or 30 minutes to make sure you get over that number and let's just be consistent with that.

And it was such an easy thing. And then the the amount of total extra calorie burn that I got in the entire week was compounding. It made a huge difference in in creating that caloric deficit that we're trying to create. And so huge fan of just just teaching you how to move more. Which speaking of which, you know, fat loss is what most people's goals are, right? So they hear us talk about building muscle, building strength. All right. What about fat loss? Like how does this uh connect to fat loss?

Building muscle makes your body a a more effective fat burning machine. It just does. But here's what fat loss looks like with strength training. It's different than when you try to burn body fat just by doing tons of cardio and cutting calories. It looks different. Fat loss with strength training starts off slower, but has a snowball effect. So, So, So, typically what people do is they want to lose weight, they lace up the running shoes, and then they just start eating less. And they initially see this fast weight loss on the scale.

A lot of it being muscle, a lot of it the the the weight they lose is muscle. And then they plateau real hard. So they'll lose weight, plateau real hard. I got another 15 pounds to go. Gosh, I better run more. I better eat less. And then they end up in this really unsustainable place of eating very little, doing lots of exercise they don't like so much. And then they end up giving up. And this is what ends up happening. With strength training, the muscle builds as you get stronger.

The metabolism starts to boost. You look different already because through that process, I mean, muscle shapes your body. You'll lose a little body fat in the process, but then as the metabolism kicks up, fat loss starts to come off your body with the faster metabolism and you end up in a place where you're not working out a ton. You're actually eating a good amount and you're just getting leaner and leaner and leaner. This is the plateau free way of burning body fat is by focusing on building the fat burning machinery, strength training.

So although initially on the scale you won't see a lot of weight come off initially even though you'll start to look different. People will probably tell you you look different. The fat loss starts to happen as the metabolism boosts and it keeps happening without that plateau. that plateau. that plateau. This may be the greatest mental challenge of this entire thing that we we've been talking about. Now this episode is brought to you by one of our sponsors, Element. This is an electrolyte powder you can add to your water.

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All right, here comes the show. Highly motivated. You clean up the diet. Maybe you even heard us talk a lot about go after your protein, just hit your protein goals, try and get stronger. Okay, check, check, check. I get all that stuff. The next big hurdle that you will have on this journey is a lot of times when you're doing all the right things, the the progress, especially when you're measuring the scale and your goal is fat loss, is to see that happen right away, right away, right away, right?

And and you could be doing like you could be hitting the protein intake, you could be walking like you're saying, you could be getting stronger, you have this perfect balance where you need to be, and the scale stays the same. that you're moving as fast towards your goal as you possibly can. But because you have this beautiful exchange of you build a pound or two of muscle, you lose a pound or two of fat, you build a pound, and at the end of say 30 or 45 days, it looks like no movement on the scale.

And so clients get really discouraged that they're doing things the wrong way or this isn't working fast enough when in reality they're moving really fast. They're in the what we call the Goldilock zone where they have this beautiful exchange of sometimes they're a little bit in in a surplus and they build muscle because they're strength training the way they're supposed to. And then sometimes they're a bit in a calorie deficit because they're moving a lot like they're supposed to and they don't eat as much. And so then they see this uh fluctuation uh maybe on the scale of up and down and a month goes by and they've they've actually changed their body composition quite a bit but the scale didn't move much and they get discouraged and they and they quit.

you just stick to it cuz as that metabolism starts to kick up, the fat starts to come off your body and you're eating more than you ever have before when you've when uh in previous times when you've lost weight and this sets you up for sustainable effective fat loss and a body that is sculpted, not just skinny. Look, uh we have a a beginner program. I actually have two great beginner programs. So, if you want this all laid out for you, you're just getting started, we have two programs.

One's called Map Starter, one's called Transform. They're both great beginner programs. Starter is one that you can do with dumbbells and just a physio ball. And they're great because you go in there, you click on the exercise, there's a video demo. It tells you what the exercises are, how to do them, how much weight to or how many reps you need to do, how many sets. It's basically all planned out for you. Both programs or sorry those programs plus others. We also have naps, anabolic, and performance which are more advanced.

But starter is a great beginner program. It's 50% off. Because of this episode, because it's a new year, you can get it for half off and it gives you everything you need. Go to mapsfitnessproducts.com, use the code new year50, and that you get you 50% off. You can also find us on Instagram. It's at Mindpump Media. We'll see you there.