Cori (00:00):
Hey guys, this is Cori from Redefining Strength. Welcome to the Fitness Hacks Podcast. This is the show where I share all my free work on and nutrition tips. I’m not going to ever fill this episode with sponsorships or ask you to buy anything. All I ask in return is if you’re enjoying the podcast to leave a review or leave a five star rating or even better share it with somebody you think it might help. This will only take a few minutes and would mean the world to me and possibly change the life of someone you know. So let’s jump right in Training at home and worried you won’t see as good a result as if you were at the gym. Well never fear. We’re going to discuss all the different training techniques, tools, ways you can get the most out of those body weight movements training at home. And here to join me is Michelle who told me selfishly she wanted do this one because she wanted to even find more ways to use her personal home gym to her advantage. So Michelle, thank you so much for joining me today.

Michelle (00:52):
Thank you for having me. I’m excited. I know I’m going to learn probably just as much as anyone else, so thank you.

Cori (00:58):
Well, and Michelle is a fabulous trainer herself, which she isn’t giving or telling you guys, but talking about the home gym. So Michelle, I want to go over a little bit first starting out, just like if someone doesn’t have any equipment, I know we can jump to what tools can I add to my arsenal, but I think that’s not valuing what we already have on hand enough because there are times where we might be traveling even or something comes up and we don’t have any tools and I think it’s really important that we still see the opportunity in this. So your go-to is when training without anything, what do you like to try and use that might be around the house?

Michelle (01:34):
Well, first and foremost, it’s going to be my body weight, right? That’s going to be your biggest tool. And a lot of people, I don’t think you can get a lot of results from just using your body, but that’s going to be a big one. And then for me, it’s really about having those everyday items because as you said, sometimes you are traveling, sometimes things come up, sometimes you’re not where you can get to a gym. And the more you can keep those excuses of like, oh, well I just wasn’t able to find some dumbbells or do anything like that and it’s not worth it, the better you’re going to be just not just with consistency, but actually seeing those gains. So things as simple as towels, chairs, cushions, all those can really make a good body workout even better.

Cori (02:19):
I love that you started with, you use your own body weight because I think we still undervalue just our own body weight in terms of a way to progress moves even. And we turn to fancy tools, we turn to loads because they are easy ways to create progression. And I 100% value lifting heavier. I love lifting heavier personally. However, I always return to body weight movements. Even when I’m at the gym, I’ll use them because there’s so many different ways that you can really learn to activate, establish that my body connection progress those moves through tempos, through ranges of motion, even through instability, going for a unilateral versus bilateral move. And if we don’t value those things, a lot of times we won’t even get more out of the tools that we do add. So not only do you want to think about the different training techniques you can use with just your own body weights and those other methods of progression, but then yes, there’s so many household items and I actually thought this was a really fun challenge personally when I would start out with clients of, they’d be like, well, I’ll get any tools.

(03:15):
You tell me. I’m like, nah, let’s use what you have around the house because as you mentioned, there are so many things from cushions of couches or chairs or whatever else, pillows that you can use for instability towels so that you can reduce the resistance. Even your kitchen is full of different weighted items and awkwardly weighted items that you can use. I mean if you think about farmer’s carries this activity, we do, and I know I always used them in Boston because I wanted to carry as many groceries back from the grocery store as possible. You could pretend that you’re doing, your farmer’s carries with your grocery bags and walk around a little extra. Your neighbors might laugh at you when you’re walking back and forth from your car extra times, but there’s so many different things that we can really use. What’s one of your favorite household items to use for different movements and what movements do you even like to do with it?

Michelle (04:00):
So I really do like the cushion because everyone has something, whether it’s, like you said, a couch cushion, a pillow because it creates that instability kind of like a basu ball would. So you’re standing on it and your muscles are having to contract, they’re having to help you balance, and because of that you’re actually activating more muscles than what you used to. So not only are we working on balance, but now all of a sudden we’re activating more muscles as we are just simply standing on a different surface. And I think that one is probably my most favorite because one, truthfully I suck at it. My balance is not always the best. So I find it really challenging, but it also just helps me stay engaged and in the moment in that move, I will be the first one to, I think MINDBODY connection can be so hard, and this is one, if I notice I’m kind of getting lazy or not quite paying attention to my form as well, I’ll actually stew the move on that pillow or that cushion because now all of a sudden I’m paying more attention.

Cori (05:05):
It helps you to focus in on what you feel working. And what we don’t recognize is that so much of strength, so much of power, so much of our reaction time in everyday life is about that neuromuscular control. And so when you add that instability in, all of a sudden you’re having to make your brain work harder to really recruit muscles to stabilize. And this is where that ability to recruit the correct muscles to the correct extent in the correct orders really pays off for functionality in everyday life. And then even when you do add in weights or other types of progression, you are able to recruit muscles more efficiently to be stronger, to be more powerful, to react more quickly. So I can’t say enough about that either. And it makes you take ego out of things sometimes where you’ve tried to progress moves too fast, and then even using the unilateral moves, you’re using another form of progression with that off of this, one of my favorite is using the towels or even paper plates on carpet because they act as sliders because you can buy sliders, you can buy furniture movers, but these things are great tools to have on hand that you can easily also I guess clean your floors potentially if you really want to during it.

(06:05):
But they can be used in so many different ways to reduce resistance from side lunges to doing fly pushups so that you can work your chest a little bit more to doing even side lying, side lying slides where you actually end up working your lot unilaterally. But there’s so much diversity you can do with towels in terms of progressing lower body, upper body, and even core movements that we don’t often recognize off of this. What other tools do you use? And I can think of a whole bunch with, as I mentioned, the grocery bags, the wall, the doorway. What other tool do you really like to use?

Michelle (06:40):
So I know I shared this in my post, but I have a long board. I’ve honestly had it since I was 16 and I probably have used that more for my ab roller and for lunges and things like that than I probably have actually written it in that amount of time. And it does, it stays in my gym because I use it so much for various moves and I know not everyone’s going to have that, but as you said, paper plates, even furniture movers, anything that’s going to help you kind of have that slide back and forth is going to be something that you can utilize in a lot of different ways. And so that’s probably a big one that I actually utilize a lot just in my own day-to-day activity. And a lot of times people have said, well, why aren’t you just going to go get one?

(07:25):
I was like, because this does the job. Like you said, if you can find items that are doing a good job at what your end goal is, it’s not necessary to go out and just get every single tool. And there’s a lot of tools for gyms and they can be exciting and make things fun, but you don’t have to have a lot. So that’s going to be a big one. And then one that I know everyone has is just a chair. Just being able to have a chair that’s sturdy that you can either step up on or do dips on or something along those lines. You all of a sudden have a lot of different moves that you can add to your workouts.

Cori (08:04):
It’s not only progressing moves, but also modifying moves, especially when we’re starting back where we might usually sit to a bench for our squat, you can use a chair for that. Even stairs if you don’t have a chair or a chair is too high, you can use stairs to create that deficit split squat. So increasing the range of motion or as a lower step up if the chair is too high. But all these different tools can be used to not only progress moves, but also modify moves to fit our needs. And I love the longboard because you can do extensions on there, you can do glute bridge and curl on there. It’s a fabulous tool. And the chair is something where you can do bent over rows on, you can do planks off of it or pushups off of it, or if you have a bench or table, all those things.

(08:40):
Again, it’s not only progressing moves, but sometimes modifying them or if you want to progress the pushup, right, instead of doing the incline, you maybe do the decline with your feet up on it. But it’s all these household items that can be used in so many different ways if we really see the opportunity in them and we even get creative with them like caustic squats where you’re trying to sink down deep into that side squat and it’s a very hard move, having that little hand assist on the chair might be what you need to do that movement versus you wrote it off as too hard for a little bit. There’s ways to even, as I said, modify moves. Then going off of this, I mentioned I like the wall and I like the doorway, or you can even use a banister, but this way you can work your back.

(09:20):
And I think that’s an often underworked area of our body when we’re thinking about home workouts. We do pushups for our chests and triceps. We can think about lunges and squats easily for our legs or single leg squats to the couch, the chair. So we have some of those things, but we’ll be like, well, how do I work my back? I don’t have a pull bar, I don’t have any of these things. A doorway row is a great option and I will even link out to that video in the comments. But the doorway row is a great option. Scapular wall holds are a great option. You can roll off a banister. There are so many different ways to even get in that back engagement. I even like doing lying moves where you’re doing some of those backies and really focusing on what you feel working.

(09:58):
You can add in soup cans if you want to add weights, right? There’s little ways that you can really modify and progress moves, but it’s also thinking about all the different muscle groups and how you can work them. And then even going back to your like, why would I get more tools if I have the longboard? It’s even using the tools that you have in ways that they’re not necessarily meant to be used. So going into some of the equipment we might want to get for our gym, I want to open it up to you and what you might use, but it made me think of the rower. Okay, so if you don’t have a suspension trainer, you don’t have the ability to use towels or paper plates for whatever reason. If you happen to have a rower in your workout space that can be used for AB extensions, putting your hand on it, that can be used for the side lunges that you might do on the slider because you’ve put your foot up on the seat and slide in and out. It could be used for the GL bridge and curl. So it’s also even getting really creative with some of the equipment you might have that you only use for one purpose. So in terms of what you have in your home gym that you bought that you found very valuable, what tools have you included?

Michelle (10:54):
So for me, some of the big things that I’ve used have been, I mean, I wish I would’ve bought one sooner, and I actually saw even someone put post in Facebook as well. They’re like, if I was to do one thing, this is what I wish I would’ve bought sooner. And it was probably the rack. And I’ll be honest, it does take, I mean it’s a bigger piece of equipment, but I use it. I do my pull-ups there, I do my dips there, my bench is there, so I can do all these certain different moves off of that. And then like you said, if I need a suspension thing, which I’ll be honest, I do have a suspension thing, but before, because it’s actually even broken at one point and I had to fix it, I did just use the rack with some Taos and that’s what I was using for kind of that TRX to be able to do those moves off of that. So just having, and it sounds so silly, but having a good solid rack that makes a big difference in your gym.

Cori (11:53):
And I love having the rigging, but I even go the other way of when someone asks me, what do you want in the space? As much as that, if you have that space that is everything can be contained. You can do back, you can do chest, you can do all the different moves. So it’s a great thing if you have the space. I even like clients to start with a mini band and resistance bands, and I’m not talking about even dumbbells or any of those other things. And I like those two things because the mini band we think of as glued activation type stuff, but there are single arm rows. You can do backies, you can do tricep, push downs, bicep curls, all these different things with even just the mini band. But on top of that, resistance bands, and I like resistance bands because you can use them in the doorway anchored.

(12:30):
You can use them not anchored around anything. You can anchor them around a railing or banister that you have, but you can anchor them in so many different ways to create tension from different angles to work your back in different ways, to work your legs in different ways. But those two tools to me are so easy to just throw in a corner, throw underneath something, and they add that resistance and apply resistance in a unique way that you can use whether you do have something sturdy, whether you do have any space, whether you are traveling and even want something that goes with you. So those are actually my go-tos. And I love the rigging and can’t say enough about it, especially if you do want to add some weight to your home gym. But I think that those other two things are often undervalued too.

(13:08):
As we see resistance bands is somehow less than weights, but they’re great. And then if you do get any weights, you can even do the two different types of resistances together. So if you’re limited on the dumbbells that you have, you can use resistance bands and dumbbells together to even create tension in two different ways, but progress moves without having to add more dumbbells to your space. And then I love that you use the towels off the rig when you didn’t have the option because I think that just shows how much we can get creative with what we really do have.

Michelle (13:37):
And I love what you were saying too because I think the most important thing is progression is you’re wanting see continual gains is that you do need to progress. And yes, mini bands, you are always going to add that extra level of difficulty to a move and even using them differently. So like you said, you may have one around your legs and you may be using some to even add resistance because you don’t want to be just purchasing more weights constantly. And I think that’s a big thing too. And it is so huge that people, like you said, people underestimate them and they think dumbbells are the key, but you can do a lot of work with just the bands.

Cori (14:20):
And it’s even remembering that the more advanced you are, the more ways you have to find to create progression because you aren’t just going to be able to add five pounds every single week, week after week. There is a point where you’re going to hit that max load where ego is going to start to take over and you’re going to start trying to add weight where you really can’t recruit muscles correctly. And at these points, it is time that we really find other forms of progression and there are three drivers of muscle growth. And when we’re only thinking about loads, we’re only really utilizing one of them, maybe two. But by using these other forms of progression, we’re establishing that my body connection, we’re using not only muscle tissue damage, but mechanical tension and metabolic stress to our advantage. So it is thinking creatively not only in the household items that we have, thinking creatively in the ways we use the tools that we might have, again, going back to even the rower and using that more than just a rower, but it’s also using different forms of progression with whatever we do have on hand.

(15:12):
And I brought this up a little bit when you were talking about the pillow, the cushion, but it’s thinking unilaterally, can I take a bilateral squat? So if the basic body weight squat is easy, can I take that and make it unilateral? Maybe I don’t have a chair I can sink down to on one leg or I can’t do the full pistol squat, but can I do an 80 20 variation where I’m putting 80% of my weight on one leg and sort of staggering just on the toe of the other foot to make it a little bit harder? Can I slow down the tempo? Can I change the tempo to be slowed down and quick up? Can I add in that jump? Well, we don’t necessarily want to make everything cardio, but that plyometric could be valuable at some point. Can I even twist and turn and move in different directions?

(15:49):
Can I add instability? Again, going back to the cushion, but how can I create progression in different ways? And I thought of this when you brought up the mini band because you might be using a mini band around your legs as you’re doing that goblet squat to help you activate your glutes better as you’re using two different forms of resistances to make sure that glute medias is working as you’re really working your legs, but you can combine different things in different ways to really see that full benefit. In terms of this, when you’re using, let’s just say you’re using your rig, what would be one of your favorite moves to do that might combine different training techniques that you’ve learned or implemented with clients?

Michelle (16:28):
I mean, I’ll go back. I do love using it kind of as the TRX system because I am one. We are adding that resistance, but they’re doing their body weight and sometimes just being able to see have them do moves that they’re like, oh, I didn’t realize I could move my body weight like that. It just gives a bigger win versus actually using it as, I mean, my favorites are going to be things like squats, which I say they’re my favorite, but I actually really don’t love squats, but I know they’re so good for you and I love seeing the gains that come off of that. But as you said, just having even those squats where they are using a band as they go down makes such a big difference. And I see that even in myself as well. So those are probably my two favorite ones to go to. But I mean, it’s kind of hard because I really do feel like the options are just so endless of what you can do.

Cori (17:25):
And that’s a great part, seeing the opportunity in it versus letting your brain come up against the heart of like, oh, well, I don’t have the traditional things I use. And I love that you brought up the suspension trainer system because I think so often we think about it as just adding instability or even sometimes in modifying moves, but it can help us work through even a bigger range of motion. And that range of motion being increased can be incredibly useful. Going back to when I mentioned the stair, if you put that front foot up, when you do that traditional split squat, so just sinking down and up in the lunge and you put your front foot up, all of a sudden you’re increasing the range of motion, which is going to make it harder. It’s going to improve your mobility. And I bring this up too, because even if you’re usually training the gym or you like training with loads and you’re not able to, some of these other things can help you get back to lifting more when you get back to the gym.

(18:08):
It can keep you moving forward instead of saying, eh, well what’s the point of doing anything? I can’t do my ideal progression. If you have that day where you’re short on time, you can do 15 minutes at home. And going off of this in terms of how you create the workouts, I know there’s lots of different training techniques we use because when you don’t have loads, you do have to think of progression in different ways. And so this is where using maybe a compound move followed by an isolation move or an isometric followed by a move with reps or even using intervals instead of just counting reps or using a little bit more training volume or those time circuits tweaking the way that you’re using workouts can be really key. Michelle, are there any training techniques specifically that you find more enjoyable when you are training at home?

Michelle (18:52):
I mean, it goes back to utilizing the stabilizers. And I’m going to kind of use this as a little bit of a tangent, so bear with me. But I find when people, like you mentioned are kind of like, oh, well I can’t get to the gym. I was only able to do this at home, and I was like, you were able to can get a good workout in 15 minutes at home. But one thing I do think people fail to recognize is oftentimes I find that there can be a lot of injury prevention that these move to allowed because when, like you said, for me it’s the stabilizing and I know I’m the hiker, the runner background, that was kind of what first introduced me into kind of the workout world. But because of that, I know how important those joints, those ankle, the ankle stability, and how many times have people just walked off the curb wrong and rolled that ankle or had something happen where their balance was just a little bit off.

(19:47):
But if you’re able to actually train with some of these stabilizing muscles because you’re using the cushion, because you’re using those bands, that’s going to force you to have to use your stabilizers more in your ankle and of course your core, you’re actually going to be able to prevent future injuries better. And that’s probably my favorite kind of, I guess, training technique for what I’m doing is actually utilizing that. But I don’t think we give it the recognition it deserves because we just think, oh, this is what I have, so this is all I’m able to do. When sometimes there’s some moves that you can actually get a little bit more out of by using some of these techniques at home.

Cori (20:27):
I couldn’t agree more. We do get ego in the loads in progressing in using fancy equipment over going back to those basics. And the basics are really what build results. And we have to remember the fundamental principle of if it challenges you, it will change you. And so often we only see challenge in one way, and we see it only in the way we’re honestly comfortable being uncomfortable, and that really limits us and seeing the full progress as fast and efficiently as we possibly could. I can tell you more and more as I’ve gone through even at the gym where I have gobs of tools, I will take things back to basics with body weight and constantly include them. I will drop heavier loads and go back to different forms of tools. So I’ll use cables over just dumbbells. I’ll use resistance bands over dumbbells.

(21:12):
I switch it up in that way because I’ve realized the value in progression in these different forms in different tempos and different stability. So I’ll do a single leg deadlift, one progression, and the next progression, I’ll do a bench single leg deadlift, and then I’ll do a cable single leg deadlift. Even though in some ways I have to sometimes go back in loads or I’ll add more instability to something, I’ll have to go back in load. So check my ego with that. And you can feel like, oh, well, I’m not lifting as heavy. How is that going to be beneficial? But it is because it’s not just about those weights that challenge our muscles to create progression. Again, we have all those different drivers of muscle growth and sometimes what is not a clear progression forward ultimately allows us to become stronger, to have that better mind body connection, to lift more and do more and do harder variations down the road, which is what then keeps us moving forward faster versus as you even brought up, if we’re out with injury, we can’t train hard.

(22:02):
If we don’t have those stabilizers strong, we aren’t going to be able to lift more. We aren’t going to be able to keep progressing. We’re going to end up putting ourselves out so that we can’t keep moving forward in the way that we’d like, and we’re going to hold ourselves back a lot longer than if we had taken that time to rebuild. Now, one thing we haven’t talked about and probably something that I think is the most important thing to have in a home gym. We talked about what tools we get, the rigging or the resistance bands, the mini band, what do you think I’m going to tell you everybody needs in their home gym no matter what, and I’m putting you on the spot here, but I realize we hadn’t covered it yet. I mean,

Michelle (22:35):
I would say the Cory response would be some foam rolling,

Cori (22:40):
Ding. Yes. Bingo. That is correct. I would say the one thing that I really do think is essential is that I think you get a great workout, which is your body weight. Anything you have around the house, you can make use of it. I make use of it all the time with clients. You can just do that, have a great result. But I do think if you do not have a lacrosse ball, a tennis ball, a dog toy to use an edge of a counter that you can foam roll out on a corner of a wall that you can foam roll out on and see, I’m even getting creative with that. I think having those foam rolling tools can be really beneficial because I do think it is an often overlooked part of that pre-app process that helps us even get more out of the body movements to then move through a full ranger motion. And Michelle, I know that you have a love hate relationship with foam rolling. What benefits have you seen with including some of the prehab work?

Michelle (23:23):
Yeah, so I’ll be honest, I was always the guilty party of like, oh no, I’m a mom. I’m busy. I have stuff to do. I’m going to skip that and I’m going to go straight to the workout. I need to get that workout in. And that was my mentality for a really long time. And honestly, it was you who kind of shifted my perspective on that because I was like, I’m going to do it all. I’m going to let me see what this program is about, let me actually do it how it’s attended. And I’m the type of person that when I jump into things, I am always like, oh yeah, I’m in good shape. I can just jump in. Which I would always tell people to take it slow. But what I found was the amount of, because I would always judge if I got a good workout in based on my level of soreness.

(24:09):
What I found was my soreness went way down, which meant I was more likely to get in more gym sessions. I was more likely to push and progress faster, and I could have those deeper ranges of movement like we’ve already talked about. But the biggest thing was I just felt a lot more energized for my workouts, which sounds weird, but I think it just prepped my body. So I was ready, but also warm up, cool down, definitely a step. Don’t be like me, learn from my mistakes and actually put it forth because you’re going to get so much more out of your workouts. And we always talk, and I talk to people about this on the nutrition side, part of being able to build muscle and break down fat is actually increasing. Even blood flow and foam rolling helps with that, which sounds silly, but it does. So you’re able to get those nutrients, Ashley, even better to the areas that you’re getting ready to activate.

Cori (25:08):
It’s all the little components, not just what we do in our workout that really yield the results. And we could go on and on about that forever. But I love that you’ve seen the benefit of foam rolling and that you brought all of that up. Because I think too, when we’re training at home, when we think about heavy loads, we think a little bit more about prepping our body, whether or not it’s using lighter loads to build up body weight moves to then build up. But when we’re doing more body weight based training, we often take for granted that we still need to warm up because we think, oh, well, I’m not really challenging myself, but you are. And you can challenge yourself more if you’re warm from that very first rep of the moves that you’re going to do. Versus so often when we skip our warmup, we’re wasting time in our workouts warming up, increasing that range of motion, not getting as much out of it, and not necessarily utilizing muscles to the fullest. So even if you’re training at home, do not skip your warmup, get in that foam rolling, make sure you’re doing that stretching and activation. You’ll be surprised by how much more you truly get out of these moves, and you can even progress ’em in ways using tools around your house. So Michelle, any closing thoughts for someone training at home looking to get in their best workout?

Michelle (26:07):
So I think the biggest thing is, as you’ve already mentioned it, is get creative, look around and share what you’re doing because there’s been so many times where I was like, oh, I never even thought to use it like that. I’ve been known to even use my treadmill just before I had my rigging to even use that as dips and things like that. I use the arm rails. So actually utilize and look around and be like, Hey, this is something that I can use as you put it in even multiple ways and share, because I guarantee you if you share something, someone else is going to be like, oh, I never thought of that. Or you’ll even get more of that from someone else as well. So that’s something I really want to say just even in Facebook. Please comment, what are you doing now and read other people’s comments. You probably are going to pick up a few tips in there as well.

Cori (26:55):
I love that challenge. What tools around your house are you using as equipment that aren’t really technically equipment? And what equipment do you even have in your house that you’re using in creative ways that it wasn’t truly meant for? Thanks for listening to the Fitness Hack Podcast. Again, this is the place where I share all my free work, workout in nutrition tips. I’m never going to run sponsorships or ask you to buy anything. All I ask in return is if you’re enjoying the podcast to leave a rating review or share it with somebody you think it might help. This will only take a few minutes and it would mean the world to me and possibly change the life of someone I.

(00:00):
Hey guys, this is Cori from Redefining Strength. Welcome to the Fitness Hacks Podcast. This is the show where I share all my free work on and nutrition tips. I’m not going to ever fill this episode with sponsorships or ask you to buy anything. All I ask in return is if you’re enjoying the podcast to leave a review or leave a five star rating or even better share it with somebody you think it might help. This will only take a few minutes and would mean the world to me and possibly change the life of someone. So let’s jump right in. You will not always be motivated, plain and simple. Motivation is fairly fleeting, but we need to capitalize on it when we can, and there are things we can do to ultimately create motivation. And I want you to hear me out with this because I think it’s really key that we understand that we have some control over how motivated we feel.

(00:52):
Now, motivation relates back to the pain of staying stuck. We are motivated when we have a lot of pain, so to speak, in where we’re at right now. We don’t like how our clothes fit. We don’t like how we can perform in the gym. We don’t like our health markers when we get some sort of bad news or have that sort of our face pushed in, something we don’t like, we are motivated to want to make a change, usually after the holidays and some weight gain from the cookies, those different things in January, we’re like, yes, let’s kickstart things. So that’s what motivation is. The pain of staying stuck is pushing us forward. And when we start to make changes, a lot of times because we have more motivation, we are willing to make more sacrifices, endure more pain of change, we’re willing to do more habits.

(01:39):
We go on that 30 day kickstart that’s really intensive, doing six days a week of training, cutting out all the foods we love and we’re motivated to do it. The pain of staying stuck outweighs the pain of change. However, after 30 days, after six weeks, depending on the results we’ve seen to keep the motivation going, depending on how much habit overload we are suffering, at some point the pain of change starts to outweigh the pain of staying stuck. Maybe we’ve even sort of hit our goals. And so the motivation fades and we don’t think about what the next steps are to really maintain our results, but that motivation fades because we are no longer in as much pain, and often the pain of the changes we’re making starts to outweigh it. So you think, oh, well, I’m not motivated. And the habits that you built maybe that have become more second nature you’ll keep doing and that can help you sustain the results for a little bit.

(02:30):
But a lot of times, because we went so all in and we did all these restrictive things, we tried to create schedules that weren’t even realistic, that pain of the change completely sabotages us. And we end up repeating that yo-yo dieting cycle thinking, well, I don’t have the willpower, I don’t have the discipline, I can’t do this. All the other excuses, not enough time schedule, genetics, all these things start popping up. And so we think, okay, well I just have to wait until I’m motivated again to move forward. But we can control the motivation we feel. And part of this isn’t that we necessarily can create more pain of staying stuck. At least we don’t necessarily want to, don’t go gain more weight on the scale. We don’t want to injure ourselves so that we’re more motivated to train in the way we should, right?

(03:09):
We don’t want to do those things, but what we can control to help create motivation is the pain of change. We can control how we are making habit changes and the environment that we’re creating and all of this can impact how we move forward. So if you’re really motivated, as tempting as it is to make all the changes all at once, embrace more sacrifices. If you don’t have a game plan to shift back towards sustainable or if you don’t assess that you’ve always done this pattern and this is always what sabotages you and makes you run out of willpower and self-control, you are going to end up in this repeating the same pattern and losing motivation and feeling like you don’t have discipline and willpower again. So this time and with the shift in seasons, whether or not it’s going in the holiday season, whether or not it’s going fall, summer, whatever else it is, you always have an opportunity to reassess what you need right now because results are built off of meeting ourselves where we are at right now.

(04:02):
And so if you’re motivated, great, you’re going to be willing to embrace a few more sacrifices. However, if you’re not as motivated, you can still make changes. You just have to own that. The pain of staying stuck is only going to outweigh a certain amount, and this is where you control what you can control. So you need to adjust the pain of change. And what I mean by this is the fact that we always have that all or nothing attitude. Doing all the different changes at once, going to the six days a week of working out, going to intensive macro breakdowns of making more sacrifices, cutting out foods we love. But instead of doing this, we have to say, Hey, what habit seems almost so silly, simple. What workout schedule seems so manageable that I can do no matter what? And when we start with this, we reduce the pain of change.

(04:48):
I call it setting the minimum, doing the minimum because when we do this, we’re meeting ourselves where we’re at. If we’re right now not even tracking the food we’re eating, maybe we just start by tracking our food. No, this is not a change that’s going to result in overnight weight loss. It might lead to some because we become more conscious, but it’s one habit change that we can build off of. Maybe we just start by adding in more vegetables instead of cutting out the dessert. We really like if we’re not training at all, instead of going to six days a week, maybe we start with five minutes a day or three times a week. But the key is meeting ourself more where we’re at because this will allow that change to not give as much pushback. I think it’s like Newton’s third law, right? Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

(05:29):
And so if we are thinking about this in terms of the pain of change, when we’re motivated, we are more motivated, so we’re going to do more, but in doing more, we’re going to get more pushback against it. And so we have to see if we can handle the pushback with the motivation we have. And when we don’t have motivation, if we can create less pain of change, we’re going to get less pushback against that. And in this less pushback, we’re going to be more able to maintain the routines and habits. And through maintaining these routines and habits, we’re going to feel better about what we’re doing. And this is where we can create motivation through the success mindset. Think about your ideal schedule, your six days a week. If you only do three days of the six days that you plan, you feel unsuccessful with that and you are way more likely to then fall off that routine, not keep doing those things.

(06:11):
However, if you set it at doing three days and you did those three days, all of a sudden it’s a completely different mindset. You’re successful with what you set out to do. And even though you did three days, both times a design probably for the time you have, so the three days design for three days is going to be better. But B, you also now feel successful. Like you’ve accomplished what you set out to accomplish versus feeling like you didn’t do what you were supposed to do, that you didn’t hit that ideal. And that success mindset that we build with hitting what we were supposed to hit helps us want to do more and continue forward faster. So we have to realize that that’s what creates the motivation, meeting ourselves where we’re at, doing what we can and seeing that build from that because we feel successful.

(06:51):
The more you do, the more you do. And this can be in a positive direction or in a negative. Again, if we do three days when we plan six, all of a sudden we’re feeling like we don’t have the willpower, we can’t do what we should, and we start doing more of less and we snowball the other way. So with creating motivation, a lot of it is owning how motivated am I actually? How much pain am I in to make a change? How can I capitalize on this to start making changes but also not do too much so that the pain of change doesn’t start to outweigh it? And when my motivation does start to fade, that initial pain I felt, how can I then adjust the pain of the changes to make sure that I keep moving forward? And it’s going to those minimums, it’s saying, Hey, what schedule is realistic for me right now that I know I can for sure do?

(07:33):
Maybe it’s not my ideal, but what do I know? I can for sure do. Hey, I have been tracking intensive macro breakdowns, but I’m feeling really demotivated and I don’t want to do anything. Okay, well what’s something I can still maintain? The more we can back off and take it back to those basics, because in making changes we add on, I’ll call it a lot of fluff, a lot of fancy shiny decoration that yes is beneficial, yes, is those 1% improvements. But at the same time, if we strip some of that away and take away some of those things that are taking our attention and go back to those basics, we can keep moving forward. We can maintain our results and in that, see our motivation build again. So sometimes you have to strip things back to those basics and do the minimum you have to go say, Hey, I’m only going to track protein and calories and not worry about where my carbs and fat fall.

(08:15):
Hey, I’m going to do three days a week over six. Hey, I’m going to do 30 minutes over an hour. You have to strip back some of those things in order to keep moving forward because this is really how discipline is built because in making these changes, we’re unlearning old habits, habits that are almost, or often even unconscious as we’re sort of bringing them to light, we’re making them conscious, so we have this control over them, and then we’re consciously trying to put in new habits over them. That’s a lot of willpower, a lot of self-control, a lot of attention focus that we are using, which is why we can see that motivation fade with doing all these changes at once. But in this process you have to say, Hey, what’s a small habit? I can focus on unlearning this? How can I replace that behavior?

(08:57):
And this is where changing your environment can be so helpful to creating that motivation because our environment influences the actions that we take when we think about it. What do you do when you get home? You put your purse down, you put your backpack down, you put whatever down, and you might go and do whatever habits you normally do, which might be going to the cabinet. If you struggle to go to the gym, you might look over at the tv, you might get caught up looking at the mail, you might do all these other things. How could you change your environment to help you go to the gym and not just go to the cabinet and snack and read your mail and get caught up doing other things, and all of a sudden it’s late at night and you’re like, okay, now I’m not going to work out.

(09:33):
You could change your environment by putting out your gym clothes, the first thing that you see, or by even bringing them in your car so you don’t go home in the first place. That’s changing your environment. So you instantly go to the gym instead of going home. But if you can’t, you put ’em out at home. But the point is, you’re changing the environment. You’re changing that routine or pattern so that you can trigger new actions, and that can help make it easier to bring those unconscious patterns to light while implementing a new learning process of new habits that you want to do. But it takes less willpower, less control. The more we try and rely on discipline. We say, I’m in this habit of going to the gym and then we don’t put out our clothes for the first time. The more you’re going to see those habits slide because you don’t have that visual reminder.

(10:12):
So as silly as it can seem, make changes to your environment that will help trigger those new habits because that will make you have to rely on discipline, on motivation a little bit less because it’s something that will hold you accountable. That’s a visual, even as silly as it might seem putting on the cabinet, Hey, I have these habits. These are my macros. This is the day that I planned out already in my tracker to eat. That’s that reminder and that little extra accountability so that you aren’t so much saying, well, I could do it or I couldn’t do it. It’s adding to that motivation. It’s creating that motivation. So again, going back to sort of summarize, when we’re trying to create that motivation, it’s recognizing that the pain of staying stuck has to outweigh the pain of change. But we can’t change staying stuck, so we have to change the pain of change.

(10:56):
That means sometimes going to the minimum, it means embracing changing our environment and it means creating that success mindset because the more we do, the more we do. And all of this comes back to you guys always assessing where we’re at right now because things don’t stay constant. Our priorities shift, our schedule shifts, and we need to own this. So at points we need to step back and say, Hey, why am I feeling demotivated? What’s going on in my life right now that has shifted my priorities or made me feel burnt out with some of the habits? And again, this is where we can strip away some of those things. It’s where we can change our schedule. It’s where we can change our environment. Or even in doing that assessment, you might just say, Hey, I need a new focus. I need a new goal to work towards.

(11:38):
And that can help you refine the motivation. But as much as we can’t necessarily just magically make motivation appear, we can create it by addressing what we need right now and by changing the habits to create that success mindset. Because again, the more we do, the more we do. So I really hope that helped. And if you’re finding that you are a senior motivation fade as you’re even going into the holidays, and I bring this up to going into a holiday season or even a summer where I mean honestly, it can be anytime of year, but where we might have some vacations coming up or holiday parties we’re going to go to, we start to worry about doing the thing we should be doing on the day that we should actually be enjoying. And we have to remember that if every day is legendary, no day is legendary, but we can make more legendary days by embracing on other days, we can make sacrifices.

(12:31):
So whether it’s the fall, whether or not it’s the spring before or summer vacations, do it now. Make the changes. Now use the motivation of making those days legendary and not depriving yourself on the days that you really care about and want to enjoy. Use that motivation to motivate you to do something. Now we can create motivation even by reminding ourselves of what we really want out of things. And having that long-term focus isn’t always easy. But I also think recognizing that we sabotage ourselves by worrying about dieting on vacation, worrying about dieting on the holidays, over focusing on the 300 some odd other days of the year that we can make changes. So sometimes saying, Hey, I’m going to do this. Now, to have those other days be legendary can be really helpful and it can help us embrace sacrifices because that could be even the change in your environment that you need.

(13:14):
Having that calendar with the days that you truly care about that you don’t want to have to worry about the habits that you’re doing. You don’t want to have to worry about a missed workout on focusing then on those days that you want to make legendary over depriving on those days, you can use all the other days to your advantage and even sometimes create that motivation to move forward now over waiting. So off of that, I did want to see if there were any questions, comments, or concerns in the group. And if you are watching the replay, do not hesitate to comment afterwards. I will go back through and try and help out with anything that I can or link to any other helpful tips and tricks. It doesn’t look like there is anything. But guys, I really hope this did help because I know it can be very frustrating when it feels like we’re motivated, we make all these changes and then we can’t sustain them, but we have to recognize that motivation is fleeting and we can only create it through adjusting our habits to keep moving forward.

(14:03):
And as tempting as it is to do that all or nothing, go all in, make all these sacrifices. That’s also what keeps us stuck. It might give us fast results and it make us really good at dieting down, but it doesn’t make us good at maintaining the things that we need. So we need to really recognize how we’re making habit changes because if you go in saying, well, I’m cutting out dessert, and then all you’re thinking about is how much you can’t wait to have dessert again, you are basically telling yourself, Hey, I’m making all these changes, but ultimately I’m not going to maintain them because I want to add that back in later. So recognize when you’re going all in to try and see fast results and try it out exercise and out diet time, which is also what’s kept you stuck and depleted your motivation even faster to make smaller changes that can really build, so that you can see those results be maintained.

(14:46):
And yes, it really frees you up to accept the normal human dips and live life because you need to. And I think so often we don’t recognize how much in trying not to live life, we ultimately sabotage our own consistency. Because if you were to really look at your year and how many days you do all the habits you’re fighting against, it’s going to be a lot more the more you resist because you’re going to feel deprived. You’re going to think you can’t have something. And I can tell you a lot of times we’re like, oh, I can’t diet. I have to diet on Thanksgiving. I have to eat. Well, I can’t, whatever. And then ultimately we don’t. And yet we have this feeling that we were deprived on this day when we weren’t really deprived, and then we feel guilty for that day and then we do more things off track, and then it takes us longer to get back on track because we felt so deprived with it when we didn’t even deprive in the first place.

(15:30):
So we’ve created this whole negative association and mindset when we didn’t even necessarily do anything that was moving us forward in the first place. And so the more we embrace that, we can have those legendary days and dial in at everything around it, the more we really strike that balance, the less we try and strive for someone else’s ideal, someone else’s version of Eat Clean. We find our own balance, and that really is what the habit build is all about and moves us forward towards our goals in a way that we can maintain and maintaining our results is really what we want. We don’t want to look great for a day. We don’t feel great for a day. We want to feel great for years. And that’s about meeting ourselves where we’re at and realizing that we can create the success mindset that leads to us feeling more motivated overall and even when we’re not motivated, relying on the discipline that we’ve actually built through changes in our environment, doing the minimum, assessing what we need right now. Thanks for listening to the Fitness Hack Podcast. Again, this is the place where I share all my free work, workout, nutrition tips. I’m never going to run sponsorships or ask you to buy anything. All I ask in return is if you’re enjoying the podcast to leave a rating review or share it with someone you think it might help. This will only take a few minutes and it would mean the world to me and possibly change life of someone.

Cori (00:00):
Hey guys, this is Cori from Redefining Strength. Welcome to the Fitness Hacks Podcast. This is the show where I share all my free workout and nutrition tips. I’m not going to ever fill this episode with sponsorships or ask you to buy anything. All I ask in return is if you’re enjoying the podcast to leave a review or leave a five star rating, or even better share it with somebody you think it might help. This will only take a few minutes and would mean the world to me and possibly change the life of someone. So let’s jump right in. We often think about shifting our habits, our diet, our workouts, when we have a new goal we’re working towards, but we also have to remember that we might need to shift it over the course of our year. It’s not just when our goals change, when our body changes as we get older, but every season might require a slightly different lifestyle balance, and that’s why I’m super excited to dive into how we can adjust our fall routine, specifically in this case, but our routines in general over the course of the year to really meet us where we’re at with my fabulous dietician, Brooke.

(01:00):
So Brooke, welcome and thank you for joining me today.

Brooke (01:04):
Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for having me. Excited to be here.

Cori (01:07):
So let’s talk about shifting those habits with the seasons. Why is this so important and where can it even add value if we are finding that we’re working towards our goals and maybe things are becoming stale or it feels like something’s just not matching what we need right now?

Brooke (01:24):
Absolutely. I love, love this topic. So seasonal shift, depending on where you are in the country, the seasons are starting to change, right? Next week is September, which is literally insane to be thinking about Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas. So the seasons are changing, which honestly for me is so sad. I’m in Kentucky and last week it was in the fifties and sixties. This week it’s a little bit hotter, but as the seasons start to shift and change, I really want us to think about what our routines look like right as we exit out of summer, as we exit out of May, June, July, August, these hotter months. What are our routines going to look like headed into fall? Because I think, well, I don’t think with working with a lot of clients, I have seen this, and I even see this in my own life, it can become a big struggle headed into the colder months to follow our routines that we had throughout the summer, right?

(02:22):
It’s much more motivating to go outside and get in a lift or get in a walk when it’s hot outside and it’s sunny and it’s nice and it’s like, oh, this is so great. I’m getting a tan while I’m lifting or on my walk. But oftentimes when we head into the colder months, it can become really difficult to continue on with the same routines and the same habits that you once had throughout the summer. So I really love this topic solely for the purpose of, I think it’s important to really dive into not creating new routines necessarily for the colder months, but what can you do differently and what do you need to shift and adjust and change that might look a little bit different than what you did during the warmer months? So even for me, as we head into the colder months, seasonal depression is a real thing.

(03:08):
When it gets cold outside, all jokes aside, it can become really difficult to get motivated and stay disciplined, and oftentimes I see that’s when we start to fall off our habits, our consistencies, our routines. So I really want to start being proactive the last week of August headed into September. What can we do these last couple months of 2024 to really, really hone in on our goals and get to our goals and get to that end result and get to see that progress that we want to see without just slipping into that old habit of, oh, it’s getting colder. That’s okay. Maybe my workouts will decrease, my nutrition’s going to look a little bit differently, but get out of that head space and really get ourselves motivated to finish out that you’re strong,

Cori (03:55):
Strong. It’s owning our reality and owning the evolution of it, and you hit on something that’s so key. It’s a pattern. We’ve often repeated even whether or not we’re aware of it, we try and force a habit mold on ourselves that worked at one time of year on another. And I mean, I 100% agree. I even said to Ryan this morning, I’m like, it’s already getting darker when we’re supposed to be getting up and walking the dogs, and it makes it so much harder to get out of bed and in owning that our habits over the months where it’s darker earlier do change. And the more we’ve owned that and adjust for it, the better off my results have been, but also the better lifestyle balance we’ve created. So I think this really is an opportunity to say, Hey, what habits might work for next summer, but don’t work for this fall or this winter or next spring, and how can I constantly evolve over the course of the year and make 1% improvements that really do allow things to snowball over trying to force ourselves into some ideal mold we had out of habits at a different time that now doesn’t fit, makes us think we just don’t have the willpower makes us fall off.

(04:56):
Then we have the holiday habit slide even further and we’re starting over in January. So going off of that, what opportunities do you really see with pausing to assess right now going into the fall?

Brooke (05:08):
Yeah, absolutely. I think it’s key going off that a little bit to remember that this is for everyone. This is not for a certain population. This is not for one group of people. If you are listening to this, if you’re in this Facebook group, this is for you, right? This is for everyone. Whether you’re a stay-at-home Mom and your kids just went back to school and you’re like, yes, freedom. I have so much time now. Or if you’re a CEO of a company and you’re working from sunup to sundown, reassessing the habits that we had over the summer headed into the fall months, this is for you. So definitely don’t kind of count yourself out like, oh, my fall looks the same as it did in the summer. If it does, great, how can we build off those habits? But for most of us, a lot of that consistency and habits, they change with the seasons. So one thing that I really like to do, and this is just something that I’ve evolved in working with clients, is what can we do headed into September? That’s why this is so pivotal, the end of August to really focus on this the last couple months. So one thing that I think is going to be really important, kind of changing up or shifting gears if you will with the seasons is reigniting your motivation.

(06:15):
The season’s going to change whether we want it to or not. It’s something that we can’t control. It’s out of our control what the weather is doing outside, but what we can control is going to be really important. And a part of that is finding ways to reignite our motivation. We need to switch things up. This is very similar to a workout routine. You’re not going to stay on the same four week progression. You’re not going to do the same workouts your entire life. Why? Because our bodies change. Seasons change, life happens, things change. Same thing with the season. The season is going to change. You’re not going to do the same thing or what you’ve always done if it hasn’t worked for you. So I really think starting at the base and really starting there with, Hey, this is out of my control, whether I like it or not, the season’s going to change. How can I really reignite my motivation right now today headed into September to stay on track and get me to my goal? So I think the first thing is really focusing on how can we reignite that motivation,

Cori (07:17):
And this will be the case with so many different changes in life. You mentioned that maybe you don’t think the seasonal shifts will apply to you and maybe it doesn’t with necessarily fall, spring, winter, but there’s going to be changes in career changes in lifestyle balance. Maybe you were single and now got married or you had kids. There’s so many different evolutions in our life that might make us need to step back and reassess, and at that point we do have to step back and say, what will keep me motivated to keep moving forward because of the other priorities that might’ve come into play and reassessing that motivation. We might find like, Hey, during the fall because of other things going into the holidays, maybe I’m not as motivated to hit my weight loss goal. So now what could I do to keep in the habits that would keep me focused on the goal ultimately, but also add more motivation to what I’m doing, motivate me to get up out of bed when it’s still dark, or maybe say, Hey, if I don’t have this motivation, how can I change what I’m doing to then still want to implement that habit?

(08:11):
It’s assessing the pain of staying stuck and making that outweigh the pain of change. However, you can’t necessarily make that pain greater. So then you have to say, Hey, how can I make the pain of change less so to speak?

Brooke (08:26):
I love that. Yes, a hundred percent. Even when you touch on it getting colder outside and the sun starts to change, right? Maybe you don’t want to get out of bed as early and get your workout in, great. That’s okay if it works with your schedule, how can we readjust and get that workout in later in the day? So I think definitely that motivation’s going to be key, but when motivation fails us, what are we going to do then? So focusing on what’s inside your control is going to be key here as opposed to what is outside your control, which is the season’s changing. Another big thing that I really like to focus on with clients and myself is reevaluating what hasn’t worked for us in the past. We talk about this all the time, but if you can reflect back on last year, September to December, what did you do?

(09:10):
What did your habits look like? What did your workouts look like? What did your nutrition look like? And reevaluating what worked for you and what didn’t work for you, and moving into this new fall season with new goals, in alignment with your goals, maybe what you did last year during the season didn’t work for you, so you’re going to kind of start fresh with those habits. Maybe what you did last year you loved and it worked for you, so you’re going to continue to build off of that this season. But I think really reflecting is going to be a huge part in setting you up for success moving forward into these next couple months and figuring out where you’re at. One, meet yourself, where you’re at today, where are you at, what are your goals these next couple months? And then reflecting on what’s worked for you in the past and what hasn’t worked and slowly starting to build off that.

Cori (10:02):
I think you hit on something that’s so key. It’s meeting yourself where you’re at and reflecting on what did and didn’t work. Because I think so often we just think, oh, well, it was X plan that didn’t work, and we jumped to some new ideal plan instead of saying, Hey, okay, this plan worked for X, Y, and Z reason, and I like these things and it didn’t work for X, Y, and Z reason. So now can I think or look for some other program that has something that addresses the problems but also still has the good points, and that meets me where I’m at because so often we are just jumping from ideal to ideal versus truly reevaluating and owning where we’re at right now. And off of that it can be a struggle to make changes because we do get stuck on that ideal. How do you help someone embrace potentially doing a minimum or doing less than they think is perfect when a season calls for that?

Brooke (10:54):
Yeah, such a great question. I think, yeah, we all can learn from that question and just the reflecting off of that. So what do you do when that motivation fails you? You have to start somewhere, and I know we already touched on it, but the first thing that’s going to be important there is meeting yourself where you’re at. What is doable for you today? Is it tracking your macros and nailing your macros? Is it just increasing your water by five ounces, right? Start somewhere and continue to build off of that. So I think when we’re looking at, Hey, I’m overwhelmed, the season’s very overwhelming for me. I really don’t know how to set these goals in place. Well, stay tuned. We’re definitely going to dive into that, but the first thing you got to do is meet yourself where you’re at and focus on what you can do.

(11:39):
Right now, I have the star of water. I do struggle with water. If I don’t keep a class of water next to me throughout the day, I will not drink a thing of water. So I constantly have to remind myself to sit a glass next to me. That’s a habit that I’ve created. I didn’t start like that. It started by me realizing, Hey, I don’t drink any water and I’m sweating a lot throughout the day, so what can I do to increase that? So for you, maybe water’s applicable for you because headed into the colder months, it’s very easy for water to slip. If you’re constantly bundled up and freezing, what’s the last thing you want to do? Drink water. That doesn’t sound very nice. So focusing on those habits over time can be really key. So I think the biggest thing in a roundabout way of me saying all of this is meet yourself where you’re at and focus on one thing that you can do today, whether that’s starting with a protein minimum, right? Hey, I’m going to nail 15 grams of protein at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Or maybe you’re along the path of already eating a lot of protein. You’re like, Hey, I’m going to nail 30 to 40 grams of protein at every meal. Meet yourself where you’re at and then continue to build off of that, especially headed into the colder months.

Cori (12:52):
It’s focusing almost less on what you can’t do that maybe you’ve done in the past and more what you can still do consistently that is better than what you did at this same time last year. It’s the 1% improvements over the seasons over the years versus comparing it to other times of year because we get good at what we consistently do, and the more we create that success mindset through being successful in our actions, the more we want to do, the more motivated we stay, the more changes we ultimately make and the more we see results snowball. We don’t recognize that sometimes by trying to force an ideal that we can’t maintain it in a specific season. We’re setting ourselves up for failure because we ultimately do less. I’ve seen it happen myself where I’ll have a routine where I’m like, okay, I’m going to do five times a week of working out, and then I do three, and I’m like, I only did three. It was a failure this week, and then all of a sudden next week I’m doing even less and then I’m falling off and I’m like, oh, I just need a break. Instead of saying, oh, well, I can only do three, and then I did three and built off of that, and it’s like, I still did three workouts either way, but it’s the mindset it creates because I do think so often we don’t think about what can I make myself feel successful with to want to do more of?

Brooke (14:00):
Yeah, absolutely. I love that. I think a big part of that as well is just staying grounded. Like you said, consistency is key here. Consistency truly is the backbone To accelerate you forward, you’ve got to be consistent. But for a lot of us headed into a new season, that consistency feels all over the place. It’s like, yes, I got my new workout progression set up for next week. I’m going to nail six out of the seven days a week. And then when you lose sight of that and then you miss one and life happens and work gets busy and the kids need, you count that as a failure, but completely reversing that and staying grounded and saying, Hey, no, that’s a huge win that I worked out four times this week. Did I hit all six days? No, but that’s okay, right? I can refocus and next week head into it, nailing four to five workouts and just continuing to build off of that. So really staying grounded and giving yourself shout outs for those wins because those daily wins of even adding five ounces of water to your day, that’s a win. Count it as a win and really focusing on staying grounded around that so that you can continue to build that consistency over time.

Cori (15:09):
Now, the question, how do we do all of this? How do we meet ourselves where we’re at? Because there is always an excuse going into fall, oh, well, it’s dark outside and I just want to stay underneath the covers. It’s so warm and the puppies are cuddling with me. Or in the summer, my excuse, oh, well, it’s so nice outside. I just want to have a margarita and just relax. Who wants to do these things? So obviously at every time of year we can make these excuses, so how can we really meet ourselves where we’re at and address any seasonal shifts that we need? That’s actually hard to say, but seasonal shifts that we need.

Brooke (15:42):
No, I love that. So a big thing that I want to dive into, and it was a challenge that I put out in the post on Monday, and it’s something that I really want to focus on now, is creating a mantra, as silly as it sounds, creating some type of phrase or sentence that you are always going to fall back to when that motivation fails you, when you don’t get all your workouts in, when you don’t eat how you thought you wanted to, what can we fall back to? And I think headed into the season a fun way, if you will, of doing that. Maybe a cliche way of doing that is creating some type of mantra that you have written down that’s on your bathroom mirror, that’s on your phone, screensaver, whatever it may be. You have some type of word or phrase that you always fall back to that keeps accelerating you forward.

(16:31):
And I honestly loved reading through Monday’s comments. You all have some awesome mantras that you’ve already been thinking through. It looked like headed into this fall season. But a big part of, Hey, where do I start with this? Right? The season’s changing. I know I need to reflect. I know I need to set new goals and habits for myself. Where do I start? I want to start with a mantra. So really setting that intention right now today, this week, whenever you have time to sit down and you’re listening to this, you’re like, okay, I need to really think through this. Sit down and think through it. I think it’s going to be really important headed into these last couple months of 2024, but starting with setting that intention, take some time to reflect on what you need most. What do you need most this season headed into September next week? What is it that you need? Is it more self-care? Do you need more consistency in your workouts? Do you need a renewed focus on your nutrition habits? Whatever that is for you because it’s going to be different for everyone, whatever that is for you. Identify that core focus for this challenge. Start there with that core focus, and that is how we’re going to build on this mantra.

Cori (17:43):
I think the mantra hits on so much more than we even realized too, in that it can help us assess the struggles we’ve had in the past. It can help us assess what we need as a reminder for the future, but it’s tying us back to our why we really feel this is important so that we keep prioritizing it during a time where maybe other priorities have shifted slightly. I think it’s also really key that you mentioned putting it somewhere you can see, because it’s not just the phrase that we can remind ourselves of or even repeat to ourselves daily. As silly as it might feel to say it every morning when you wake up to make sure that you’re focused on the things you want to accomplish, the priorities you want to have. But I think that visual is a super key thing to highlight because it goes back to environment.

(18:23):
Our environment triggers so many of the patterns that we repeat good and bad. And so by changing your environment with this mantra someplace you can see it, you are triggering a new action. You’re reminding yourself of the habit. It’s the same thing as putting out your clothes that you remember to go to the gym. It’s the same thing as having that water bottle out so you remember to drink the water. It’s a change in environment which triggers a pattern. So as you’re thinking about the mantra, think about what would trigger that pattern to be a positive thing. Think about how you even maybe self sabotage in the past and think about how you can oversell the negative of those things to create a mantra that will help you move past that. But I think really focusing your intentions on your why and changing that environment is so key to helping us handle the habit changes that we might need to have even.

Brooke (19:09):
Absolutely. And after we identify that why, that’s the base, right? Fully get into pyramid, the base of that pyramid, the largest part of that pyramid is your why. What is your why? But when we head into fall, identify that core focus that you want to focus on for yourself. Maybe you have a lot going on externally. Maybe your kids need you 24 7. Maybe you’re in communities that constantly just need stuff from you. How are you going to focus on you first to then go and serve and pour out on those other people? So identify that, why, identify that core focus and then start to craft your mantra right on Monday. Like I said, there was a lot of comments of people already putting their mantras out there and what they want to focus on, find what resonates with you. And maybe it’s you taking a mantra from someone else that you love, you’re like, that’s what I’m going to focus on.

(19:59):
But really start to craft this mantra, keeping in mind that you’re prioritizing yourself. This is for you to continually work and grow on yourself. I have a couple things that I want to throw out there, a couple mantras that I think are going to be helpful for people. I personally do fall in terms of the cozy vibes. I don’t love the weather. I’m not going to lie. So a lot of these are around cozy vibes, but some of these that I think of that I’m going to take for myself, so take it or leave it. One is harvest the best version of yourself. Find strength in the stillness. Embrace cozy, but stay active. Gratitude and growth, harvest, wellness, reap vitality. So as cheesy as those are as funny, honestly, they’ll probably make me laugh every day that I look at them, but that’s okay because they go back to my why. What do I need to be reminded of on a daily basis to motivate me, to accelerate me forward? Same thing for you. Craft your mantra around what you need to be reminded of on a daily basis to accelerate you forward and to get towards your goals and building those routines, right? We can’t build routines, establish consistency. If we don’t start with our why and crafting that mantra of going back to our core focus,

Cori (21:20):
It’s having the mindset in place so that we can then create the daily actions we need and have a reminder of why we’re doing them and also what we’re driving towards with them. So in terms of crafting those daily habits and routines, where would you recommend that someone start?

Brooke (21:38):
Yeah, great question. So go back to your why. So if you’re sitting down right now listening to this, or you’re in the car driving and you are around a pen and paper, or you’re just thinking through this, start writing it down. Start with number one, why? What’s my core focus? Number two, how do I craft my mantra? Then it goes back to that core focus. So let’s say you’re focused through the next month, two months, three months. The rest of the months in 2024 is to consistently hit three days in the gym. You have to start setting up that goal for yourself now in order to build off of those habits. So you have to start with your why. Maybe your why is headed into 20 20, 20 25. Wow, I almost said multiple numbers there, 20, 25, which is crazy. Maybe you are one that’s like, Hey, I don’t want to just let these last four months go to waste and start the new year with all these goals, and then by February I would’ve failed them.

(22:37):
Maybe you’re like, Hey, I’m starting that resolution now so that I head into the new year totally taking grasp and grip on my goals so that I don’t feel like I’m restarting the new year off like I do every year. Maybe you’re going to start that right now and make that a change for yourself. So kind of taking what you would’ve done in the past in terms of, Hey, new year, new goals, start now. New season. What are your goals? Where are you right now today? What is your why and what can you do to build off of that over the next couple months?

Cori (23:11):
It’s thinking about those silly simple habits that we could do that almost take no thought. I like to think of this as an opportunity to even strip away any fluff that I might’ve added to my routine that doesn’t necessarily need to be there. That while good might be a 1% improvement, also adds more willpower that I’m using or more energy that I’m expending or more mental space. So I like to think of this as a chance to say, Hey, how can I strip things back to those basics, make sure that I’m really good at those basics again, and then build off of it from there based on what the season allows. Because I do think a lot of times we adding in more as we go through and then we hit this point of overwhelm because we’ve been chasing new things, which isn’t bad. It’s potentially even why we’ve seen results happen, but we get distracted and we feel like we have to do all of these things when really if we go back to those basics, we can at least maintain our results, which might need to be our focus for that time of year.

(24:01):
And then from there, build towards whatever other goal we set. But I think it is taking this opportunity to strip away some of those things. Go back to your why. Go back to the habits that matter. Even assessing previous year habits to say, Hey, what did and didn’t work as you mentioned, and then say, Hey, how can this now build into the new year so that I don’t feel like I’m starting over? Because that is the key in life. There is no starting over, right? We’re just moving forward. So we’ve got to find a way to keep building and assessing what we need right now. Now, all this is all well and good. We put the habits in place, we have our why, but knowing isn’t doing, having that plan isn’t actually implementing it. How can we get ourselves to do all the things that we need when sometimes it’s a little bit harder and priorities have shifted and excuses are popping up while valid. There are always excuses, but how do we overcome those things?

Brooke (24:52):
I love that, and I think that’s huge because we can sit down and talk about goals and be motivational all day long, but the implementation, if that’s not there, it means nothing. Essentially. You can have all the knowledge in the world, but if you’re not doing it, what’s the purpose? What’s the point? So really taking time, yes, to set a game plan, you need those action steps. You need that game plan. That’s key. But now we’re in this phase. It’s like, okay, now you’ve set your mantra. Hopefully you have why you have your core focus. Now what are you going to do with that? Right? That implementation can be hard for a lot of people, including myself. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve headed into the colder months being like 6:00 AM I’m getting my workout in. I’m going to get up and get it in before the sun comes up.

(25:39):
Come on Brooke, let’s do it. And then what happens at 6:00 AM it’s cold. The sheets feel nice. I feel cozy, I feel warm, and I don’t want to get up because my warmup is going to take longer because I’m cold. I am prone to make excuses so I could make all the excuses in the world. But again, if that implementation isn’t there, it means nothing. So one thing that I highly recommend is something called a daily check-in. So ending the day, reflecting, oftentimes reflection, we learn more through reflection than we do through the actual process. So I’m a big believer in reflecting on things. Something that I always recommend to clients is a daily check-in. And for those in our coaching program, you get a lot of check-ins with our coaches, with myself, you are constantly being asked, how are you feeling? How did your goals go today?

(26:28):
Which is so key. So that accountability can be huge. But oftentimes if you feel like you don’t have that accountability, what can you do to really make sure that implementation step is being executed? And it’s really a daily check-in. So going back to yourself at the end of every day and be like, how’d the day go? Right? How did the routines go today? How did my workout go today? Did I get in a walk? How did my nutrition feel? How do I feel overall mentally? Did I enjoy the day? Did I have energy? There’s so many reflection questions that we could dive into, but the biggest thing here is just that you reflect and if you feel like, Hey, the day did not go as planned. I didn’t get my workout in and life got busy, set yourself up for success the following day. That’s the power of checking in at the end of every day is maybe you crushed it. Maybe you had the best day ever. Great. How can you repeat that? Or maybe you didn’t have a good day. Like I said, how can you set yourself up for success that following day? So really those check-ins and accountability and having a coach can be extremely pivotal in the next couple months and honestly throughout life. But really that daily check-in is going to be key.

Cori (27:38):
Reflection, helps us take ownership. And I think that’s such a key thing to remember. It’s not condemning yourself if something didn’t go right. It’s not even praising yourself if something did go right, although you definitely should, but it’s just helping you take ownership of your reality. And I think that’s what it comes back to with meeting yourself where you’re at shifting with the seasons, it’s all about ownership of your reality because in reflecting on what you did and how it worked out, you can see things that maybe you are not embracing fully. And so they might not feel sustainable right now, but they ultimately are needed. They are a sacrifice, a cost to get the reward that you want to have to own, that you have to find ways to embrace the changes. Or you might say, Hey, this is a habit or routine that I’m forcing on myself that simply is not realistic for me.

(28:24):
I’m not taking ownership of who and what I am and owning my reality. And I can tell you right now also that the reason I thought of this was because I know there is no way in the winter I am getting up at 6:00 AM and going to work out. Uhuh not going to happen. I will set myself up for failure. However, I know during warmer seasons, I am ready to get up, get out of bed, and get going. And so right there, I could say, oh, well, is this something that I’m just not embracing the sacrifice to get the reward? Or is there something I can own in my lifestyle, my reality that can make it something I need to adjust? Right? Okay, I’m going to shift my workout to later in the day and try that. Okay, is it not really the timing? Is it just that other priorities are creeping in? Is this now a suck I have to embrace, as I like to say, embrace the suck, or did switching the time actually help because I own my reality? So that reflection allows us to determine, is this a sacrifice we need to make and we need to own the hard or is this something we’re trying to force that really is just draining our willpower and not sustainable and not going to move us forward because it’s not matching where we’re at right now?

Brooke (29:25):
Absolutely. Yeah, I love that. Embrace the suck is a huge one. And oftentimes, I mean even in just coaching clients, it goes back to one, do you have the time in the day to complete the things that you want to do? Because that’s honestly one of the biggest excuses that I hear often is, well, there’s not enough time. If I don’t want to get up at 6:00 AM to get my workout done, it’s cold. Well, I need to do it later in the day. Well, I don’t have time. And often I go back and ask a question of like, Hey, almost all of us have the time in the day, but how are you actually managing your time? And that’s pushy, but honestly, it’s something that I often reflect on because I can be prone to that. I don’t have enough time in the day. I don’t have time to go meal prep.

(30:04):
I don’t have enough time to go do my workout in. Okay, well, let’s look at your schedule. What do you have time for? And oftentimes one a part of that. Yes, embrace the suck. Maybe you have to do a 6:00 AM workout and yeah, that sucks, but at least you’re getting to your goals, right? That’s all that matters. But a big part of it is also just, Hey, let’s look at the schedule. Let’s look at how much time we do have in the day. How can we better manage the time to get in the things that you truly want to prioritize? Because if it’s a priority for you, you’re going to find time to fit it in over anything. So honestly, overall, as we think about headed into New Seasons, creating these mantras, please throw your mantras in the comment section so we can go through them.

(30:49):
Honestly, I’ll probably steal some of them for myself because mine were pretty cheesy. But overall, really focus on your mantra. Go back to your why, what’s your core focus? And then really write out the things that you want to get out of this next season. Maybe it’s, Hey, I don’t want last season to become this season. I want it to be different. Okay, well, how do you want it to be different? What do you want that to look like for yourself? And slowly start to write down the things that you want to change and the goals that you have and continue to build those habits. Continue to build that consistency. Reflect on them daily so you can build them. But please, please throw your mantras in the comments as well, just so we can continue to empower and build each other up as we head into these next couple months.

Cori (31:33):
With all this, I have to admit, I was thinking about my own and someone actually asked in the unicorn group about what you need to hear this week. And one of the things I’ve been telling myself with this new season is obstacle or opportunity you decide, and I bring this up right now too, not only to share what I’m sort of keeping as my focus, but also because as you’re shifting habits, there’s always pushback. There’s always a pain to change. And as I mentioned, you can’t change the pain of staying stuck at times to make you more motivated, to want to conquer some of the challenges that you’re going to face and the changes you’re going to face. But you can always change that pain of change. Maybe you have to work out at that 6:00 AM despite saying, this really doesn’t feel good for me, but I just know I won’t get it in at other times.

(32:16):
And maybe you say, Hey, this is too hard right now in this form. So maybe you shorten your workouts or you do slightly different workouts, or you work out from home because it’s too much to go to the gym. Find different ways to meet yourself where you’re at while working within the parameters that you have, but also see that you always have a choice in how you choose to perceive the things that you’re faced with. They can be obstacles or opportunities. The is really yours. You just have to step back. And I say this as someone who is very stubborn, has a hard time sometimes pausing the brain, but the more we do reflect, the more we can always be moving forward and meeting ourselves where we’re at. Brooke, thank you so much for joining me today. I can’t wait to see all the different mantras. Make sure to share yours guys. Really looking forward to how you are shifting with the seasons. Thanks for listening to the Fitness Hack Podcast. Again, this is the place where I share all my free work, workout, nutrition tips. I’m never going to run sponsorships or ask you to buy anything. All I ask in return is if you’re enjoying the podcast to leave a rating, review or share it with somebody you think it might help. This will only take a few minutes, and it would mean the world to me and possibly change life of someone.

*Please Note: this transcript is auto-generated and there may be some errors in the transcript