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To get leaner, you might have to do the opposite of everything you've ever done. Focus on building muscle first, or what I like to call muscle first fat loss. But this is honestly easier said than done, both mentally and physically, because the approach that actually works goes against almost every instinct and every habit you've built around fat loss. And even when you know it's right, it kind of feels wrong. There are seven mistakes I have personally made that sabotaged my results for the longest time, and they're honestly still really tough to avoid. And most women I've met and worked with, they're making at least five. So go for a walk, listen as you meal prep, or get comfy on the couch, because by the end of this, you're going to know exactly what's been preventing you from building muscle and looking leaner and why the approach that feels the most wrong might finally be the one that works.
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So let's dive into the seven mistakes. Number one being you don't recognize how uncomfortable building actually is. And you sort of shy away from the pain. And I bring this up because we think of fat loss, we think of the discomfort of restriction, we think of the discomfort of being hungry, of feeling depleted, of feeling low energy when we've done extreme cuts, if we have done extreme cuts. So we're kind of comfortable being uncomfortable in that way. Even if training harder, I'll have clients be like, "Well, I can just train as much as I need in the gym to out exercise my diet." We're comfortable being uncomfortable in that way. But building muscle first requires us to be uncomfortable in a new way. A lot of times it requires us to actually retrain our body to eat more, which means that we're eating when we're full and not feeling hungry.
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We can feel a little bit bloated with the extra calories. We can feel uncomfortable with the scale going up. We can feel uncomfortable with doing less in our training and doing less cardio and feeling less worked from specific sessions. So there's this weird discomfortability, I like to say, with building that we're not used to, but we've got to embrace how uncomfortable it really is. And part of that discomfort is even pushing progression in our workouts in new ways where I can tell you during some of my muscle building focus phases, I have almost not wanted to train. I've almost felt burnt out from training where I'm like, I don't want to be uncomfortable in that way, pushing the weight, just because that's what's required to push that progression. So I think really reminding ourselves that there's a different discomfort and that a lot of the discomfort even comes from having to do the opposite of what we've always done is super important.
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And we might have to see that scale go up a little bit, but we might have to feel like we look a little fluffier, puffier as we retain a little bit of water weight and carbs in the process of retraining our body team more to ultimately, yes, look leaner, but only through going through the hard can we actually see those results. And so a lot of these mistakes tie back to this. So I want you to remember that as you might even feel that mental pushback against doing some of these things where your body or your mind goes, "No, I don't want to do that." Remember that part of this is actually then having to fight against this to be uncomfortable in a new way. And off of that, before I dive into tip number two or not tip, but mistake number two, which is very much tied into this, I want to just let you know that muscle building results are very slow.
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So yes, when we're seeking fast weight loss on the scale, we can deplete our lycogen sores, we can lose water weight, we can see quick drops. Even fat loss happens a little bit faster than muscle building does, especially the more advanced a trainee you are. I know those scales can fluctuate very quickly in terms of what we see, but that's a lot of hydration in terms of muscle being gained or lost and fat creeping on or off. So we have to take this with a grain of salt, which I guess there's some joke in there. But I bring this up because the more advanced in exercise you are, the more forms of progression you've actually adapted to, the more it's going to require you to be precise in some of avoiding these mistakes to see the results that you want. But the more you also have to recognize that muscle gains are slow.
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Gaining a pound of muscle over the year, while it doesn't sound like a lot, can be a huge impact on your reccomp and the way you look, but it might be that slow process, especially if you are trying to lose fat and not put on fluff during it, which is in my opinion, the focus. Muscle first fat loss means you are looking leaner while gaining muscle because most of us want that ultimate goal. We want to feel stronger, we want to look leaner. So just recognizing how slow the process is and that you might not see the results visually right away and you might actually feel like you went backwards for a little bit because of what your body has to do to gain muscle with storing glycogen, storing the extra calories, storing water weight is very important. And that's part of the discomfortability. Number two, letting go.
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So I slightly touched on this already with part of why the building process and focusing on muscle first to ultimately get leaner, have that metabolic health, maintain our results long term is so uncomfortable is because we're letting go of a lot of the processes that even got us success or to the point we might be slightly comfortable at or even wanting to maintain. So if you've gotten lean, a lot of those processes that probably got you there if you're not doing the muscle first approach, they're not what you do to maintain it and they're not what you do to build, but they got you success and they got you to looking the way you wanted. So it's really hard to let go of them, but they're going to ultimately sabotage you. And they tie into all the other mistakes that I'm going to talk about.
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But I bring this up because you have to recognize when you're clinging to something that used to work and worked for one goal, but not owning that now the tools you need to build to the next are very different. A bigger deficit or specific macro breakdowns might really help you lean down fast when you were trying to lose the weight. But now if you're trying to gain muscle, things need to evolve and shift. The card you included, the workout routines you did, all these things have to evolve. And that's not a bad thing, but what you do to reach a goal is not what you do to maintain it. And if you get caught up in what worked for one goal, you're ultimately going to sabotage your success for building to the next. And to see lasting recomp, I mean, I like to try and even take this approach to start with the fat loss phase, but there is more focused fat loss.
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You have to choose and recamp. Am I focusing on fat loss while retaining lean muscle or am I focused on building lean muscle as I don't gain on more to fat? And so when you're shifting into that muscle first approach to the fat loss and really focusing on building muscle to look ultimately leaner and to maintain your results long term, you have to embrace letting go of some of those strictly fat loss approaches and tools. Now, one of those things or a few of those different things are seeing the scale go up because it will go up, especially as you're not in a deficit any longer. You might have to drop the cardio. And mistake number three is not eating enough. And I will tell you that mistake number three is something that's very hard to go against because you've been eating in that deficit.
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And at some point that deficit oddly enough, or not oddly enough, but it doesn't become as much of a deficit. Your body has adapted. It's why we hit those plateaus. It's why we hit those stalls and it's why we feel like we need to cut calories further. But if you stay in that deficit, you might actually notice that you stop looking as lean the more extent you stay in it, even though it's no longer a deficit and you're no longer losing. This is why understanding that maintenance is a process and taking this muscle first approach is so key because at some point you have to start retraining your body to eat more. That's how you build the muscle. It's how you avoid those metabolic adaptations and even improve your metabolic health. It's how you correct any hormonal imbalances. It's how you avoid all the things that a deficit creates because at some point your body adapts to the deficit you're giving it to try and survive.
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So it is very hard to start coming out of that deficit because you're going to see the scale jump just from the fact that you are no longer depleted. No longer depleted. Guess what? Your muscles are therefore going to store the excess calories, especially if you're increasing carbohydrates, which increase the carbohydrates that get stored in your muscles and they also bring with it water weight as well. So by not being depleted, you're going to see the skill jump. By increasing your carbs, which you might also have to do with muscle building, you're no longer going to be depleted. You might feel like you even see a little bit of the definition go away to start, but your body adapts to this as it learns that it can actually trust that it's going to be getting this extra fuel to build. But you have to let go of the deficit.
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If you don't and you even think, well, 1200 calories is not where I need to be at, you're going to sabotage yourself. So you got to eat more, even though you're going to see some things you don't want to see happen, happen. Number four, not training with enough intensity or progressive overload, going through the motions. And what I mean by this is it's not that you're not working hard in your workouts. It's very easy to be like, well, I felt worked with the weight, but did you? And I bring this up because I'll have clients, and I've even done this in the past where I did 12 reps with a weight and it felt hard. It wasn't fun. It felt like there was a burn, but was that truly the rep I had to stop at? Could I have done 13, 14, 15, or even 16 if I really thought about it?
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And it's not that we want to be going to failure or drop in weights or can't lift it, but we need to really assess, am I truly pushing that progression? And if you can get, let's just say in an eight to 12 rep range, the 12 reps, go up. And if you only get 10, great, stay there and then try and get the 12 or maybe do rest pause technique. But we truly have to push that intensity. And this is where I think people get a little confused too, where they think intensity means feeling slaughtered, means feeling really sweaty, means feeling really out of breath. That's not intensity. Intensity means strategic progression every single week. There really shouldn't be a week where you didn't feel like you improved in something. And sometimes that's just more quality reps because you can't go up and weigh. Sometimes it is using that rest pause technique to eke out an extra rep.
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Sometimes it's a little bit bigger range of motion, a little bit slower tempo or a very tempo. Sometimes it's using a different tool or posture position. There's lots of ways to create progression. And the more advanced an exerciser you are, the more you have to use those other ways. But you've got to be pushing it to the point where you are feeling kind of burned out after a progression with workouts. There have been progressions with builds where I'm like, I don't want to go do that move with the weight that I have to do it with. I just don't. Don't. And that mental burnout, obviously then you can take deload weeks. You might even need to recognize, okay, I actually need to feel more because that's part of it. But that pushing a progression is necessary if you want to build muscle, especially the more advanced you are.
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So there has to be this clear measuring of your progress in the gym to push that performance week over week. And again, that's where you even switch progressions to use the same but different so you can keep pushing as hard without hitting that mental burnout as well. But that's even again, a sign that maybe you do need to eat more. A lot of these things can be signals of whether you're being successful in other areas or whether you're falling prey to some of these other mistakes. Now with that too as well, I do want to just touch on training frequency and even types of movements. With pushing progression, that doesn't only mean lifting heavier loads. And I slightly mentioned that, but I want to bring it up too because you want to use not only compound movements, but also isolation movements when you're trying to build.
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When we're in a more focused, just straight fat loss, not thinking about muscle preservation, which I honestly hope often we're not in, we're always focusing on that muscle first because that is what leads to longevity, improved health markers, also long-term body recount. But if you are in more of a focused fat loss phase, there are going to be times where, especially if you're short on time, you're only doing compound movements. But now if you're really focused on that build, using isolation movements for stubborn areas to work muscles fully to fatigue, to recruit more muscle fibers can be incredibly important, especially if those are some of the prime movers that might not get fatigued during compound moves as other weaker, smaller muscles do fatigue. So it's key that we don't sort of rule out any types of progression and sometimes even use isolation moves before compound moves to create that progression or as burnouts that post-exhaust afterwards, the compound burner sets where we use the isolation move after the compound burner to fully fatigue muscles.
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So use combinations and also use training frequency to your advantage. And this is where some of that mental burnout I found can even come into play where I've done progressions where to build muscle in my legs or target specific muscle groups, there have been frequencies of like three times a week for areas, even on very extreme cases I've tested out for. Don't recommend four unless you're really controlling for volume. But the point being is that you're going to have to hit a muscle group potentially more frequently, which again can make you feel like, really? I have to work this muscle group again, but you've got to push progression. There are lots of tools to do it. Now number five, and people are going to hate this one, fearing carbs. You cannot fear carbs if you really want to strategically build, especially the more advanced a trainee you are.
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And this doesn't mean that if you don't have specific health concerns, you don't have to use carbs in a different way. But often with fat loss, and I even promote this, and I still promote high protein when in a build because that's what helps you also avoid gaining unwanted fat. But too often we don't really appreciate the value of carbs, not only for creating that anabolic environment, but for being protein sparing, helping create the hormonal balance even too. We think a lot of fat for that, but carbs are also key for this. But they are that immediate energy source because you can be going into your training feeling like you're giving 100% intensity and not actually giving a true 100%. Carbs help make sure that you have that immediate fuel to do this. They also help you build and repair afterwards. They keep your thyroid healthy.
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They have such a huge impact that we don't recognize. And so often for fat loss and especially because when you do increase carbs coming out of that calorie deficit to build, you are going to see some of your muscle definition to start go away because of the glycogen storage and because of the water weight coming on. That actually will adjust and adapt, especially as your metabolic rate increases. As you build that lean muscle, you actually see the definition come back and in a more sustainable way as you're eating more and you're actually feeling better and you're seeing fewer cravings. So there's lots of benefits, but again, that's part of the discomfortableness, the uncomfortable of building is that you're going to potentially feel like you lose progress right away. It's not fat. It's just all the other things, but you need those carbs to create that anabolic environment.
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It's even why with taking creatine, if you've ever taken creatine during a build, you can look a little puffier. And it's because you're storing water because that is part of the process that allows you to actually see better muscle hypertrophy from your training. And if you're putting in all that intensity and you're working so hard that you're even hitting that little mental burnout in your training, you want it to pay off. And the more advanced you are, and I keep bringing this up because there's newbie gains, but the more advanced you are, we often think, "Oh, well, I'm really experienced in the gym.This should be easy." No, it's a lot slower because you've adapted to a lot more. So you have to optimize a lot more, which is why under eating, if someone's training really hard and not seeing results, you're probably undereating or you're undercarving or you're not paying attention to one of these other areas because all systems have to work together.
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Now number six, doing too much cardio while trying to build. This is just competing as a stimulus. And I say this because I actually think cardio is incredibly important, but we're talking about specific goals here and we have to own the cost and reward of everything. So if you are an endurance athlete and trying to build muscle, you have two training types that are really fighting against each other. So you have to be very strategic in your fueling. You also might want to consider when you're timing your build with your mileage. And that's just something you have to own. And it doesn't mean don't do your sport, but if you're going to be crying over not seeing muscle gains and that muscle first fat loss and you're not seeing your body recomp change, well then you got to assess what do you really want? And so you have to recognize that when you're doing that steady state endurance type cardio, it is fighting against your hard work in the gym.
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And especially the more energy you're also devoting to that, the less energy you have to push that progression in your lifts. So if you are timing things or strategically designing things, make sure that you're always lifting first before you're doing any of your endurance cardio, because that at least is going to make sure that you're getting the most energy going towards those things. But just note that the cardio is going to impact your recovery. It's going to impact how many calories you actually need. It's going to impact your carb ratio. So just recognize the cost and reward of everything you're doing. This isn't to demonize anything, it's just to recognize it. Now in terms of the cardio that is most valuable, I still love keeping in walking and I still love keeping in some power work. So doing more of that sit protocol, but even as power work before even lifting, to work on that explosive muscle fiber recruitment that my body connection, which then even helps you lift a lot stronger, it also has a lot of value for muscle hypertrophy.
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So I will instead of doing it in sprints after, include maybe eight to 12 seconds of an explosive movement with like three to five times the work, if not a little bit longer, with very explosive movements to really make sure that I'm getting in still some of that conditioning, that power work. But that's how I use it. You can include sprints still maybe one to two times a week because they actually have been metabolically shown to be very beneficial and they even improve your muscle gains. So that's not bad, but again, it goes back to how are you fueling? What are your carbs looking like? How much of a hard gainer are you? And how burnt out with just pushing that progression in your workouts are you? And how many times even a week can you train? And number seven, the least sexy of all the mistakes, but also the least sexy of the fixes, I guess you could say too.
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But not treating sleep and recovery like they are the training modalities that they really are and as important to the whole process as they really are. You can only train as hard as you can recover from. You rebuild when you take that time off. And we all logically know this, but it is so hard sometimes to take that time off. And especially when we're eating more, if you've just lost weight too, you can be like, "Oh no, I'm not burning as many calories. Is this going to sabotage me? You're telling me to eat more and I'm doing less." Yes, because what we are trying to do is increase our resting metabolic rate. Using meat from walking can be very important too, to making sure that you're still keeping your metabolic rate higher throughout the day. You burning more calories even at rest. But if we don't go through this process, we won't burn as many calories at rest.
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We'll actually see a decrease in our metabolic health and ultimately we're going to end up gaining fat while under eating. So all this to say that we need to make sure that we're taking that time off to recover and rebuild. And if you are really pushing that progression in your training, you should want that. You should want the sleep, you should want the recovery. And if you're seeing a negative impact in stress levels or sleep as you're pushing hard, look at your fueling. Are you fueling truly to recover? If you're constantly sore and you're not mixing things up randomly, which you shouldn't be, you should not constantly be sore, which means that your recovery is off. And while I know it's hard sometimes to impact our sleep, I will put a link to actually a webinar I did on sleep and stress and five strategies to really help because there are things we can do to change our routines and habits, which only help us improve the quality of our sleep because it is like a little vicious cycle.
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If we're not sleeping, then we're not training hard. We're reaching for craving things that we shouldn't reach for. And while we do need more calories during this, that isn't just a free for all. A lot of times what happens is we're like, oh, we're going to be doing a build or I should be building. And then we just overeat and we're not paying attention to macros, and then we end up getting them more fat. And then we think that eating more doesn't really work. But we weren't eating more strategically the same way that if we try to lose weight, not strategically, we wouldn't be controlling for losing fat over losing muscle. But we somehow forget that the strategies still need to happen when we're going in the opposite direction. But we need to make sure that we're actually fueling it in the correct way. But all these things are connected, right?
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If you're reaching for things that you have cravings for, then you're going to end up gaining weight and you're also going to sleep worse. And then because you sleep worse, you reach for the craving rate, the stress levels rise. So it's all connected. And if we don't start to control, we can control without adding more stress on the controlling these things, the better off we're going to be. So these are the seven mistakes I found myself really making and the more I focused in on trying to correct them, and some are easier said than done. And I can tell you still too, sometimes when things fit a little tighter if I'm in a focus build, there is that desire for me to even cut calories lower, shift my macros, whatever else it is. You're going to find that those things draw you back. So really going back to the fact that this is uncomfortable in a different way and that you've got to let go of what got you to one goal if you want to hit that next level are two of the most key things to remember.
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Love to hear which of these mistakes, and if you're like me, guilty of all seven. Also, if you are looking for help with that body reccomp, check the video description or show notes. I am going to link to my free body recomp guide, which can help you really make sure that you're dialing things in because we want that muscle first approach to fat loss. I
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