Girls, Gains and Growing Pains
Get ready to start working smarter and harder to achieve your fitness goals. In every episode, we break down common health and fitness questions in a fun and relatable way. Whether you’re a beginner or far along on your fitness journey, this podcast is for you.
Girls, Gains and Growing Pains
Honey, I Shrunk the Waistline
Ever wondered if your fitness path is truly in your hands? In this episode, we affirm that armed with the right knowledge, you can sculpt your physique. As we peel back the layers of fitness myths, we celebrate the power of weight training to transform our bodies. We're talking strategic workout splits, the misunderstood relationship between body fat and muscle, and why doing fewer ab workouts might be your ticket to a tight, drawn-in waistline.
Follow us on Instagram @gggp_podcast and contact us by sending a direct message or emailing girlsgainsandgrowingpains@gmail.com!
This is Girls Gains and Growing Pains, a podcast about working smarter and harder to achieve your fitness goals. In every episode, we break down common health and fitness questions in a fun and relatable way.
Speaker 2:Whether you're a beginner or far along on your fitness journey, this podcast is for you. I'm Rachel Johns, a bikini bodybuilder, nutrition certified from Precision Nutrition and NASA certified personal trainer.
Speaker 1:And I'm Julia Ross, just a regular gal trying to get healthier and lose weight.
Speaker 2:It is important to note that neither of us are medical professionals, and the views expressed on this podcast are those of the host, so today's topic is something that I'm excited to talk about, because I think it's something that not everyone knows is a thing, because I didn't know it was a thing for a long time.
Speaker 2:And, julia, I talked to one of my friends who was a bodybuilder and I was not bodybuilding at the time, yeah, but he taught me about this concept of shaping your own body, which is like super cool, because I think people just assumed that whatever they're born with is kind of what you're stuck with.
Speaker 1:I mean people being me, I absolutely thought that that was just the way it was going to be. I was like, wow, how do all of these people have these perfectly sculpted bodies, their genetics, my chefs get so lucky.
Speaker 2:Coming from your girl with the tiniest waistline. Julia, you have a great natural shape. I've told you that, though I've always said that.
Speaker 1:I often forget.
Speaker 2:That's okay, but the thing you can do is accentuate it. This is true, which we've been working on. We've been working on that successfully, actually yes, successfully, very well. So, basically, what we want to talk about today is how, what you do in the gym, because a lot of times we talk about outside of the gym, what you can do for yourself. This is kind of a fun episode because it's what we can do in the gym, like that everyone can do. That just comes around how you're programming your workouts or what your trainer's programming for you, what I'm programming for you, whatever that looks like to get the physique that you're looking for.
Speaker 2:And so when we say physique, we also mean what your actual physical shape looks like with your basically your muscle, like how your muscle is shaped on your body and how the proportions look, the size of different body parts look, and so we're going to kind of go into that. So I have pretty wide shoulders. I mean they could be wider essentially, but they're about a little bit wider than, I think, the average female, and I have a fairly small waist and not too large of hips for my shoulders. So I'm pretty like proportional in that you have a bit wider hip, a little bit of a closer shoulder and a really tiny waist. And so something that I do with my clients is ask them if they have like a visual representation of a goal.
Speaker 1:Oh, I, remember this day when you did this to me and I was like what do you mean? I just want to be skinnier, I guess, I don't know. And you're like no, like, pick like someone's body that you want to be like. I was like you can do that, like it was just such a foreign concept to me. I was like wait, what?
Speaker 2:A lot of people are confused when I and a lot of trainers do ask that, because that does really kind of shape around our training. Because, essentially, you have a goal that you want to look like and, yes, we want you to get healthier and make big changes and, you know, work out and get healthier for all of the essential reasons, but at the end of the day too, you also want to feel and look good. I have said this before, I'll say it again like we care about what we look like and that's a big motivator and it affects our confidence, it affects our everyday. So there's a few things that we can do, and one of the things is genetics. Like genetics play a factor.
Speaker 1:We must lay the genetics out there Like this is your being tall or short?
Speaker 2:also affects how you're. I'm not going to make you taller.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm sad you could get shorter. I mean, at the rate I'm going, we're shrinking by the day.
Speaker 2:I have a client when he lost weight he actually got like four or five inches shorter.
Speaker 1:Don't say this to me, isn't that crazy? Don't say this to me, I don't. I don't think he started out pretty tall, okay.
Speaker 2:That's not our problem no. Yeah, so you, there's some things you can't fight genetics of, and if you do want to fight your genetics, it could take a lot of work. But there are ways you can embellish your genetics. Yeah, a little genetic embellishment and program your workouts to fit what you're kind of looking towards. Some people come in and they're like I don't look like the Kardashians. Okay, the Kardashians have super small-ways, massive butts.
Speaker 1:Well, and we had to have a big conversation about like plastic surgery too, because when I sent you some pictures, I either fully sent them or I sent them to you at a different time and I was like I wish I looked like this. And you were, like that is surgery, yeah, that is surgery. And like, yes, we can achieve similar results, but like just know that that on that person is surgery, and that was something that I mean. I'm from Northern California. We're doing this out of Southern California right now and plastic surgery is way less prevalent where I'm from. Like I'm from like Sacramento shout out credit girl wig Like it's not as common.
Speaker 1:So I get really spoofed when I come down here and I look around and I'm like dang, I got a hip thrust more. And you'll look at me and go, no baby, no, no, there was some assistance there. So I think I want to throw that in with the genetics conversation too is like there's also surgeries often involved, and not as much, like I would say, in the fitness world, but I think at least at the gym I would say.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean definitely there's some surgery stuff happening, Like a lot of girls get their breast done, which you know.
Speaker 1:I'm also horrible at catching those too. Yeah, man, and you'll go, julia, those are not real. Those are not real.
Speaker 2:You know, though, I am not the kind of person that would ever judge someone for getting surgeries like that oh power to you yeah. Because I totally get that. Now, what we're going to talk about, though, is how we can do that through our workouts that we're already doing to get healthy anyway, so why not cater it to what we?
Speaker 1:Maximize it.
Speaker 2:Maximize your results towards what you ultimately think you want to look like, because, yes, your genetics play a role, but also how you lift can shape that. So there's a few things, and I just thought of another thing I would like to bring up with that. So one thing that I hear a lot, because obviously I am a trainer and I do a lot of consultations, I guess I would call assessments with people and I ask them and mainly towards females, but males too I say what is your goal with how you want your body to look? And a lot of them are like I want to smell waste and I would love a big butt, because there was one point where big butts were not the priority.
Speaker 1:I lived through heroin cheek.
Speaker 1:The 90s and early 2000s was so different. It's really interesting. And just looking at body shapes historically too, because I know when I especially when I was heavier I would go to the museum and I would look at these just like decadent, like lush women splayed out over couches and they were the epitome of beauty and they're sexy as all get out. And that was an interesting thing for me too. Like when I sent you my progress photos or not my progress photos, my inspo photos I was really looking for more muscle than I thought I was originally Like. At first I was like, yeah, no, I want to look very like. You know I'm using feminine and air quotes because my definition of femininity has changed so much over the last year but I wanted to look dainty here, whereas when I actually sat down and thought about what was possible, I was like, wait, no, I want to be a muscle mommy.
Speaker 2:Hear me out.
Speaker 1:Like let's be muscular, so just the possibilities are endless and don't feel like you need to conform to whatever body shape is trending right now. Like do what's going to make you happy, because the body shape will always change. That's the nature of capitalism. Like don't get attached, it's going to change.
Speaker 2:So you kind of have to pick. You just pick something that like when you look at it you're like, oh, that's yeah and don't pick it for someone else. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Don't be like oh well, my partner likes this celeb, so just make me a copy of her. That will make me that will. That's my trip. Don't do that Like. Don't do that. So pick yourself. Yes, pick yourself what makes you the happiest, because you will see this body more than anyone else.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean I go through Ethan's always like he. He always tells me he likes me when I am off season like a bit thicker and I'm like, no, no, no, I like when I can see my abs. I enjoy that, but so. So basically, people come in and they tell me what their goals are, what they want to look like, and a lot of times it's tiny waist, bigger butt, like kind of like. Toned legs yeah, toned comes up a lot and toned arms yeah, and like okay, cool.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:And then we start doing so. I don't tell them necessarily like everything about my game plan, because usually they will reject it. I've learned that from experience.
Speaker 1:Rachel keeps the goals for me in the vault in her head, so I will. I don't get to know them yet, so I'm not immune to this either.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, because people like, try, they tell me what they want, and then I start to give them the tools to get to where they want and they don't want with their bodies and they're like, but I don't want to do this and I'm like no, no, no, you do, just wait.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just wait, I might be patient with me here.
Speaker 2:And then you know, down the road they're like oh, oh, my gosh, it's my favorite, I love it. So so I, especially with my men, will to grow like their glutes. You know it, it is shocking how heavy you have to lift to grow your glutes.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:That is a perception. That's people are hard for people to grasp is how heavy it is. But also people are like okay, I want a big butt and I want a small waist. And then I start doing back exercises with them and there I cannot tell you how many times I have had girls be like I don't want to do back, I don't want to, I don't want my back to grow, because I just feel like it already gets too big. And I'm saying that, looking at this person, I'm like no, no, no, your back is not too big. I was like, but you told me you would like a tiny waist. And they're like yeah, so shouldn't we be doing core? And I'm like no, no, no, no no, no, no let's talk about this.
Speaker 2:So that's what we're going to talk about today. Is that shaping? Because typically most people want to like this hourglass shape like, from what I've noticed, and it's also a very strong shape to have that kind of like X looking shape, but classic when you work shoulders and back and those are two components that a lot of females fight me on is when I say we're going to do shoulders back, because they immediately associate that with like a masculine figure. I could see that is like I don't want like broad shoulders and I don't want a big, wide back, and I'm like no, no, no. If we tone your, if we like, add some tissue to your back, it's going to expand a little bit wider, but that is going to accentuate your waist yeah, a lot more. And then you know, the shoulders even more so. In creating a round shoulder is so, so, so essential to that physique to look overall.
Speaker 1:Mm, hmm. This beautiful shape and I fought you on that. I fought you big time.
Speaker 2:If you listen to other episodes, you know for three months you didn't do her shoulder exercises.
Speaker 1:No lateral raises for me. No, no, it's okay, we make up for it.
Speaker 1:We did. Yeah, I've made a comeback journey, but it's true, like I was like wait, why I have a limited amount of time in the gym and I want a big butt, so I'm just going to do leg day every day and that's going to grow my butt and as I lose weight, everything else is just going to work out perfectly. And this is why no one pays me to personally train them, because that's not. That's not how that works. And when you explained to me, I still didn't listen. But then I watched your shoulders grow and I was like okay, nope, I get it. I yep like usual. Rachel is correct.
Speaker 2:And when she tells you like she watched my shoulder grow, she talks about my shoulders all the time, like you know not, not that my glutes have grown like twice the size. It's my shoulder. She's like you can't cover the shoulders. Oh my gosh, your shoulders look so nice.
Speaker 1:It's true, I have my shoulders biggest fan. But, like when I went into my fitness journey, I was like ass, ass, ass, ass. And then when I saw your shoulders, I was like wait, nope, recalibrate it. Yes.
Speaker 2:So I have gotten that from a few women where they are like, oh my gosh, like I want to now have nice shoulders because, it. I think having nice shoulders does not have to be like this mask and look. I think it's a very feminine on most women Like it has been well received.
Speaker 2:It's a beautiful, nice, round, like style to it and it also accentuates the rest of your arms, being like more toned, like it accentuates your biceps and triceps and a very like fit, because my biceps are not huge, like that's not part of my goal to make them huge and they're pretty nice, but they're not like overpowering.
Speaker 1:No, no, no.
Speaker 2:And so it makes everything else looked more toned on the arm, and most people tell me I want toned arms. Well, how do you feel that, if you never do, arm shoulders are a part of your arms? No, it's so true, and so I'm just like, yeah, we have to still work the deltoids, which is that muscle that goes over your shoulder, and I'm like also, though something, something just like a little off is, shoulders are also kind of a fragile joint, and people get injured a lot with their shoulders Moms carrying around their kids whatever people putting stuff up.
Speaker 2:It is very essential to still strengthen your shoulders. You need to protect that joint, because that joint get get it's injured a lot as people get older, my dad had his own like full shoulder journey yeah. So it is always good to strengthen that, but it's also it adds a nice roundness to your figure. That also accentuates your waist more.
Speaker 1:Well, and I want to add here too, especially if you're newer like me, I can lift heavier doing bicep curls and I have more fun doing bicep curls, but you have to lose a lot more weight for your biceps to pop out, whereas your shoulders, like, they're just like you don't put a lot of body fat yeah exactly they're.
Speaker 1:I was like they just they sprout, for lack of a better word Like if you're in, if you're one of those people where you're, like I just need like a result right now like what's like one of the easiest, and obviously it's different for every person. But, I yeah, from everyone I've talked to. Shoulders is where you get the fastest results and it's very well received. People like the shoulders.
Speaker 2:And one thing too, with that is so I used to work out with this girl at the gym in Rancho, and she had never done sports never really been to weightlifting and we did a lot of shoulders and chest and for the first time in her life she saw her collar bones come out.
Speaker 1:Yes, queen.
Speaker 2:And that for her was a really really big moment. And I was so excited for it because I was like yes, like that is a, that's a big change, so excited and so even doing shoulders adds to this like nice, what's that deck? What's that called?
Speaker 1:Um the decolletage, Something like that. I don't know what it's called.
Speaker 2:That creates such a pretty physique up here where you highlight your collar bones and everything like that.
Speaker 2:So strapless dresses you feel more confident in and it just it feels very pretty and also, too, if you kind of tone out that front deltoid, it creates a nice shape there. So you're creating yourself this really pretty shape to accent that small waist too, cause if you look at girls who do have that round shoulder, you're going to be like their waist is tiny, but it's probably not that tiny, it's just that accentuation. It's an illusion. Yeah, because I know as my shoulders have grown, I tell my coaches all the time I'm like gosh, my waist looks so small and I'm like my shoulders are probably, like I don't know, like half an inch wider on each side.
Speaker 2:Easily, which is a full inch wider, which makes my waist look a full inch smaller and it still looks like normal Isn't the right word?
Speaker 1:but it looks like perfect.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it doesn't look like oh God, our shoulders are big.
Speaker 1:No, you don't like meh meh meh walking in the room.
Speaker 2:People don't notice the the wideness of my upper body. They just notice the slimse of my, of my waist. And that's, that's how. When you're doing your fitness journey, it's not always about like, oh, I just need to be skinny. It's like let's strengthen these other muscle groups, play with it.
Speaker 2:Which is very healthy for you, because once you're putting on active tissue, which is good for your body in general, and if you're trying to lose weight, that's also good for that. But I mean, muscle is the longevity organ, as we say, and so you're just accentuating your figure and you're adding to the longevity of your body.
Speaker 1:A win is a win. Is a win is a win? Yes, it's like, let's go. I know.
Speaker 2:That's why, when girls tell me they don't want to do shoulders in back, I'm like, come on, please. Sometimes I do this, I'm like just for me, just today. Just do it for me today and we'll get. We'll get through it.
Speaker 1:You did that to me and I was like whatever, oh my God. And then I did it and I was like wait, okay, actually. Well, and this is not the topic of the episode, but building my shoulders has for some reason changed my perception of how strong I feel, like I am. Like I don't know why it's just like yes, it looks nice, but physically I feel like it's easier to lift stuff, just that's. That's my little plug for training your shoulders.
Speaker 2:Like where do you hold your dumbbells with your arms? What's, what's a part of your arms? Oh no, the shoulders. It all comes back to the shoulders and along with that, too, is is your back. So I recently was just chilling at the gym and one of the trainers walks in and he goes Rachel, I'm going to make your day. And I was like okay, Try me.
Speaker 2:And he's like. My client saw you working out the other day and she told me that she saw the blonde trainer me working out and said you can see every muscle on that girl's back. That is so impressive.
Speaker 1:Yes, and I was like yeah, and you know what no part of her made a comment of like oh, that's gross.
Speaker 2:She was like that's awesome, and I have seen her now since then and whenever I'm doing anything where, like I'm doing everybody, I noticed she kind of like observes and I'm like, and I've seen her more at the gym since then, which is cool.
Speaker 2:And the people underestimate how pretty a strong back can look and it's not masculine. I don't think I've ever seen a girl with a strong back and been like that looks like more masculine, and I'm someone who observes bodies for a living, pretty much as a trainer, and never have I ever seen a girl and been like she should tone down her back. It always looks amazing.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh. And then low back dresses and open back, oh my god. And again.
Speaker 2:So you have lat muscles, basically where people are, like my bra fat. You know that area. Yes, your lat sits there right. So when you tone that out and expanse a little bit, that just creates even more of an angle down to your waist and some people have wider rib cages that sit a little bit lower.
Speaker 2:So if you still widen up near your armpits, it's going to still accentuate your waist. So even if you're like, oh, I kind of have a wide rib cage, Like you can still accent your body very well and still have that nice small waist feeling if that's what you're going for. So the shoulders and back are super, super essential. And then I do want to talk about working your core muscles.
Speaker 1:Oh yes.
Speaker 2:Because I constantly have people come in that are like I just want to do glutes and core and I'm like, well, why do you want to do core? And they say, well, because I want to have abs and I want to have a skinny waist, and I said OK. So I asked them this question. I say what happens to someone's biceps when they do bicep curls every day? What happens? They get bigger, they get bigger. Yeah, so what happens if you work your core muscles every single day?
Speaker 1:They get bigger.
Speaker 2:Right. So then, what's going to happen to your waist? No, it's going to get bigger.
Speaker 1:Oh my God, you're building muscle tissue in an area.
Speaker 2:No wait, that's so true though.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So people who do a lot of weighted things, their cores are going to work, so, like, crossfitters, typically have a square waist. Yeah, because they are bracing really hard and doing a lot of weighted sit-ups, they do leg raises, they're working their cores a lot, so, therefore, their waist expands, and that's what they need, though to create stability for their shoulders. Great, I started getting a boxy abdomen when I did crossfit and then, when I pulled out of crossfit, it reshaped back.
Speaker 2:And I actually talked to my friend about this way before I ever started even bodybuilding, and he told me too, he's like Rachel, I don't do any core that's directly up sit-ups and things like that Because typically we let our bellies out and it will pooch out as we do the core exercise, which causes our muscles to grow in the way that we're shaving them. So the way you're working them, they're probably going to grow that way, oh my gosh. And so he was like when you do core, always have your belly button tucked in and down, and in Pilates they tell you to breathe like that. This is not a secret, yeah, but it's something we don't think about Because we're just doing all these core workouts on Instagram.
Speaker 2:There's so many core workouts on Instagram Like let's just promote, like you could do planks to keep your core strong and just engaging your core.
Speaker 1:That's what you have to do.
Speaker 2:That's going to work your deep core, yeah, and then you're going to still maintain strength within your core, but you don't need to do it every day, because, also, when you're doing all these other lifts, you're really engaging your core as well, and I always tell my clients I'm like engage the core. Engage the core, because then you don't need to do an hour of core every day and people are so obsessed with doing that. I'm like that's not the way that you're going to get the physique you're looking for. Because I know some people have been like oh, that sounds like superficial, that you're focusing on a smaller waist, but that is typically the overall goal of a lot of people. That is not uncommon at all, and so, therefore, that's why I teach people how to keep their waist small, because that's what they like, and you can have a strong waist. You can have a strong, deeper core without expanding it, and that is super, super important. Also, too, working your obliques and doing rotational core exercises can help shrink that waist into, because your obliques are coming together.
Speaker 2:So it'll kind of pull in those muscles and create that nice accentuated look. And so if you go to your trainer every day and say I want to work abs, I want to go work abs, I want to go work abs, it's like maybe take a step back and do other exercise and just engage your core during those. Because if you think about it, if you're doing squats with like 45 pounds on each side right, that's a lot of weight and you're embracing your core, right, you're pulling it in, keeping it nice and tight. Think of the amount of tension on your core during that, versus doing 20 sit ups with no weight.
Speaker 1:Well, you're going to have a lot more fun doing the squat Right.
Speaker 2:No one has fun just sitting on the ground doing core all day.
Speaker 1:Core is the cardio weightlifting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's just like I don't know. It's a lot, and so people ask me all of the time I love this question. So how often do you do abs? Because I typically have a decent stomach.
Speaker 1:You do this is true.
Speaker 2:And I'm like never.
Speaker 1:Never.
Speaker 2:You told me that and it blew my mind.
Speaker 2:It was everyone's mind, and I'm like most people who their focus is their physique, don't really do a ton of core because it's going to expand it. So therefore, you're going to throw up your physique. I'm going to have to get wider shoulders if I do that, and I'm already. It just like it keeps building up Right, and I'm always very focused on that Pilates breathing. I have a Pilates instructor that I work with to teach me and continue to reteach my body how to pull my ribs in, how to squeeze my core in nice and tight.
Speaker 2:So my deep core is getting engaged. So everything's coming up and in and that's how they teach you to breathe in pilates. Those are Pilates instructors. Have these tiny, tiny weights. They know how to work their cores appropriately. It's awesome, they're fantastic and they will never let your core pooch that's what I call it come out, Because that's what it's going to grow to look like. We don't really want that, to be honest. I mean, most females don't Males also. I guess I've never met someone who's like yeah, let me just widen my waist.
Speaker 1:I guess I've never heard anyone tell me to be able to widen my waist. No, that's so true.
Speaker 2:Yes, but it is very cool how you can shape your body and how the exercises you do are shaping that, and it's just important that you engage your core in other sizes. I think planks are excellent because it's a great way to do that belly breathing and pulling the ribcage in and practicing that in a place where you're creating tension on your core. And I do that with a lot of clients, because some people just have weak cores and that's also why their lower back hurt.
Speaker 1:My hand is raised.
Speaker 2:And maybe they're not doing heavy lifting. So I'm compensating the core strength with something where they can engage belly button up and in and create that shape for their core and strengthen it without putting them in a place to jeopardize their form, and it works very well. Planks are great Plank dips. I know you've done those.
Speaker 1:Yep.
Speaker 2:If you don't know what those are, maybe we'll post them on the story.
Speaker 1:I do not volunteer to do those. Well, hi, julia, record the video, yeah.
Speaker 2:So there's definitely, it's really, it's just cool. I love it because as a trainer, I'm kind of molding the body of my clients and I'm getting to see them get excited because they're like, oh my gosh, this looks really cool and this looks really cool.
Speaker 1:I've seen this progress.
Speaker 2:I love them people. My favorite thing I think still to this day with my clients, especially my females, is when they go from Rachel I am not working back and shoulders to back and shoulders are my favorite Like that transition. And I know you're not. I know you're not there yet. That's OK. I hang my head in shame. No, it's OK, because I hate legs.
Speaker 2:Everyone knows that I hate doing legs, people who, women, who realize how great it feels to have a strong shoulders and back in, what that looks like, especially going into the summer, we underestimate how we'll feel about our bodies when we have actually worked on our upper body versus just our lower body, because the overall physique looks so balanced is what we call it where the upper body matches the upper body, you feel really good.
Speaker 2:I told you earlier I have a client right now who she's worked really really hard over the past probably about since you started and she has two kids and she's got a six pack. Her waist looks super tiny, like her shoulders, like everything is just super balanced. But when she came to me to train, it was I want to grow my glutes, yep, and I said OK, but I need to do upper body for me.
Speaker 2:Like that was a discussion we had and now she's posting pictures with her shoulders and I'm like your shoulders are amazing. She's like I know yes. People are making, telling her they're like your shoulders look so good. Like other moms are noticing my shoulders and stuff and when I tell you this, she has amazing body shape but we've kind of built it, which is so so cool. And it exudes this confidence now.
Speaker 1:And it's amazing.
Speaker 2:And it's very eye-opening for people to realize that they are not stuck with a certain physique. You can absolutely pick and choose kind of what you want to do which is crazy, isn't that crazy?
Speaker 2:I don't think we think that way, and I didn't think that way until probably three or four years ago, when I was like, oh my gosh, like yes, people start out Like you see, we talked about this in the transformation stuff on. One of the episodes Is we see these before and after weight loss photos. But we can also see people who started at one place and come to another and they look completely different. But that's because they've done this body changing re-comp. We call it a re-composition where you're changing from body fat to muscle but we're putting muscle in specific spots. So cool.
Speaker 1:I mean if you're listening to this and you're not hype like now is the time to get hype. It is so exciting when this realization hits you, but it is in your control. It's crazy.
Speaker 2:It is in your control. It's kind of nice to know you have control of that. Yeah, like, for me, my upper body grows easier than my lower body and for my competition I need to have larger glutes and hamstrings, mm-hmm. So if we do more of that and a little less upper body, yeah, so we're shaping my body to be proportional and people forget that you can do that even if you're a lifestyle client. Like you do not have to be a bodybuilder to create a physique that you like. Yeah, yeah, if I just talked to this, talked about this to a guy at the gym because I saw him day in, day out doing upper body.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:And me, being the honest girl that I am, is I walked up and I was like mm-hmm. So when he hit in legs and he was like yeah, he's like I know, I really don't do those very often and I was like, yeah, like you know, it's good to still do upper body and lower body. He has a massive upper body. This man is dense with muscle. He's like, yeah, I'm really sick of. I don't remember who. He said like someone who has a small lower body.
Speaker 2:He's like yeah, I'm kind of sick of it. Like you know what I'll do legs tomorrow, yeah.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I said, okay, cool. So when I saw him again yesterday and we were talking and I was like, how's legs going? He's like it's fine. He's like I do it once a week. And I was like, how often do you do upper body? He's like three days a week because you know he does like shoulders, he does back biceps and chest triceps kind of thing. And I said you know, you expressed to me that you were not happy with how everything was looking. Yep, and I was like, have you ever considered changing your routine to do maybe two days of upper body and like two days of lower body, or even just one day of upper body and three days of lower body? Yeah, Until you can proportion yourself out to give you that balanced look. And he was like, oh, like, I just didn't even think about that.
Speaker 2:Like that I could change how I was feeling like change what I've been looking like, just based on changing my workout split.
Speaker 1:Because that's how I do it. I just changed my workout split.
Speaker 2:Yep, like I talked to my coach about it, I'm like, hey, I told him probably like three or four months ago. I was like I think we need to keep building my shoulders more, and he said, okay, we'll throw them on our shoulder day. Yeah, then they grew more and if he feels like my glutes and hamstrings aren't growing enough, we throw in a day of that and it's just, you just modify your programming, yeah. Or you talk to your trainer about it and you're like hey, I noticed for my progress pictures that my quads are growing great. Like you're a quad dominate girl.
Speaker 2:Yep, you understand, your quads are growing on. You don't have to get down my quads. You also have big hamstrings. It's your glutes that we're still working on, yeah. And so for you it's like, okay, let's do more glutes, let's take a little rest from doing so many quads and we still need to work shoulders. So it's like, okay, let's program that out so those things balance each other more. And it's like, great, yeah, like it doesn't really affect you that much. But then you start to notice changes and you're like, oh, okay, I like this.
Speaker 1:I do want to add a note, though, on it not affecting me. There, there's like a morale shift that comes when I log into the app where Rachel gives me my training sizes.
Speaker 1:I know I changed the split, the other race I changed the split and I look and I'm like where's my quad day? Where am I to quad? And it's just like there's, the quads are gone. It's just like because it's if a muscle isn't being paid attention to, the longer you put off paying attention to that muscle, the more painful it's going to be when you get to it.
Speaker 2:Okay, but still, we haven't even talked about this. Yeah, what is your cardio right now?
Speaker 1:45 minutes on the Stairmaster at like six, six speed.
Speaker 2:Okay, what muscle are you using on the stairs? My heart, your legs, oh, yes, yes. So every day, you're still getting quads. So they're still getting engaged, or still? Getting blood flowed to them, but right now they are over, they are. They are larger than your glutes are.
Speaker 1:So they're overly enthusiastic yeah.
Speaker 2:They're overly enthusiastic. So if we pull back from this a little bit, give your glutes time to catch up. Your quads are still going to pretty much maintain what they're at. We're just catching your glutes up, so then we can work them all together again.
Speaker 1:So, it's.
Speaker 2:You're still working them. You're not going to like you know.
Speaker 1:I still have you squatting, you're still good. It's more like if you're like, okay, I'm going to put off doing shoulder back day, cause like I always cycle between you.
Speaker 2:You will do quads before you do shoulder and back day, and now you don't have the option.
Speaker 1:No, it has been taken from me, I mean back day in particular, just which is wild to me.
Speaker 2:I love back day. It's my favorite I. In my back days I'm like picking out my specific clothes. That that like extension your little holter tops oh my gosh Also fun fact, I choose my outfits based on what muscle group it is for that day, which is so fun for me, cause I'm like, okay, it's shoulder day, okay, I need to wear this turn top. It's back day. I'm going to wear like my halter top, like it's. It's awesome.
Speaker 1:That's how granular you can get with this. Folks Like you can really hone down on this.
Speaker 2:Well, I talked to my guys. I'm like, look, it is great to feel good at the gym, yeah.
Speaker 2:And you want to accentuate you know, what you're working on and whatever's comfortable for you, and it's a great thing. It's like you get yourself excited, like I think I always. Whenever I put on my gym clothes I'm like, okay, I'm good, I'm gonna go. Yeah, it gets you there, it gets you moving, it gets you into your routine and it's also just nice to show off your progress for yourself. Yeah, also, I do always encourage people to watch themselves when they lift to make sure they're doing everything right, make sure the right muscles are moving and stuff.
Speaker 2:So it is easier to do that if you can see the muscle group you're working.
Speaker 1:This is true. That's just like a training tip.
Speaker 2:But so anyway, back to our body. Shaping is one more thing I really wanted to touch on is that I get asked a lot. It is a common question for me to ask about when people are going to start seeing their abs at Julia. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I was like guilty.
Speaker 2:Uh-oh, Julia sends me a picture, like every day. She's like are they coming in? She's sending me a picture.
Speaker 1:I'm like, I'll be like are these abs or is this my fat contouring? Is fat contouring also abs?
Speaker 2:I know it's so funny. Sometimes I get your messages on my watch when I'm like, and I'm like, yeah, that one can wait. Ouch, I'm like we had this conversation yesterday. I don't know what happened from last night to this morning.
Speaker 1:Your watch is having PTSD from me texting all the time.
Speaker 2:Are my abs here yet Are they here, yet I think I will always give you affirmation in it, so no worries.
Speaker 1:Okay, so answer the question, though Will I see my abs? What are they coming?
Speaker 2:Because that really it can vary from person to person but, it does rely on body fat percentage.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Because, like you're, they're not just going to magically like grow like outward as like a bicep way.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You do have to have a lower body fat, because we do store fat in our abdomens. Everyone stores fat in their abdomens. That's not like people who see their abs have lower body fat percentages. Yeah, like you don't see someone with a six pack and then, like love, handles, back here.
Speaker 1:That's so true.
Speaker 2:I mean when you look at someone who has a six pack, typically their entire physique is a low body fat because you can't target reduced fat.
Speaker 1:That was a hard lesson to learn.
Speaker 2:I know I so. It hurts my soul when people are like can we just do the adductor machine, the one where you close? Your legs, because I would like to lose fat in that area.
Speaker 1:Like adductor being inner thighs.
Speaker 2:Yeah, your inner thighs, yeah, and I'm like okay, I'm going to burst your Babylon. That's not how that works. Actually, we're just growing that muscle, like that's. The thing is like you cannot target where your fat goes away.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Some people lose fat immediately in their arms. Some people lose fat in their legs. Some people it's a full like body just gradually all leans out.
Speaker 1:Nope.
Speaker 2:I. I lose fat in my upper body so easy. My lower body? I don't know what's happening down there.
Speaker 1:So it, just it's, it's attached. It's doing what it's doing.
Speaker 2:Like my, everybody will tone out and I'm still like, where are my hamstrings? Like, why is that not?
Speaker 1:We'll be at the gym and you'll be like, okay, get in real close, get a video, can you see?
Speaker 2:them.
Speaker 1:I hope you like are the hamstrings in the room with us now.
Speaker 2:Are they here? I know I'm like why can I see my abs but not my hamstrings? I asked my coach that all the time I'm like, are they there? Give it to me, he's probably gonna say that, yeah, he for him, it's the circle of annoyance yeah.
Speaker 2:So so yeah, it's, the body fat percentage plays such a huge role in one muscle groups. You're going to see it is going to vary from person to person. Essentially, like you're going to have to get it to a certain point of being low that you're poor. You see your abs. I mean, that's like that's just the gist of it, and like people are always like, well, what if I just keep doing abs more and more? I'm like great, Okay, but you're just going to grow your waist. Yeah, Like well, people, that's not going to get you happy.
Speaker 1:Like people will say, like I've always heard this is like oh yeah, I have abs, they're just, they're protected you know they're under a little layer, but then we don't like keep the logical progression of that thought going like you can't just like burst through the protective lid.
Speaker 2:That's not you have to lose.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's the thing with like, because you've lost weight in your upper body, like body fat in your upper body.
Speaker 2:So you see your shoulders more and more, you see your triceps more and more and and I noticed too with a lot of my clients when they start to lose some weight, their backs really start to get defined, because that's typically the upper back is a place where people don't hold a ton of body fat which is wraps around to the shoulders anyway, so it's easier to see that shape and so and that that's also part of creating this physique that you would like is like finding out what body fat level you feel like really good and comfortable at, because you don't want to be so low that you feel like, oh my gosh, I have to like eat so little calories to stay here.
Speaker 2:Like find a place where you feel really just comfortable at where you can live every day today at that, because I know for me, like I'm going to get to a real little body fat for my show, like and I'm going to love that I can see all my muscle groups, but like that's not sustainable, like that's not going to work and then you know I'll gain some weight and I'll feel like a nice level of like. Okay, this is where I sit, happy at.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And you kind of have to feel that out for where that is for yourself, because some people sit really happy at like 25% body fat as a female. Males are a little bit different. Some people sit happier at 19. I'm 19% right now and I love where I'm at right now, yeah, and some people are like I would rather be like 17%. I used to sit at 17% and now I look back and I'm like, oh, I feel like that wasn't a happy place for me, like I feel like that was me teaching six cycle classes a week and really grinding it
Speaker 2:out, yeah, so I'm at a very good place where I can eat the amount of food that's like good and I feel good and nourished. I'm like getting good workouts and I'm still lifting heavy, yeah, and I'm happy where my physique is out there and I just work now on shaping myself and then when I get a prep, I'll lose my fat. But, like, I'm happy where I'm at and our goal with you is to continue bringing down that body fat until you feel like okay, until you're not coming up to me being like what about this?
Speaker 1:You know, until you're okay.
Speaker 2:And then all we do is just keep building muscle mass. Yeah, it works out. So so, yeah, shaping your body is a really really cool thing because you have really really great control over that and you can have guidance from a coach or just doing your own progress photos to see what's growing and what's not. That is like one easy way for anyone to see where they need to modify the programming. And programming also just means like your weekly workouts that are going to lead to a goal. Yeah, so like you program. It's like when you code a program on a software, you put like all the elements that need to be in it to get to an end result. So I just know some people don't know what program?
Speaker 1:Well, can you explain what a split is to?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and we should definitely do like a mini episode on that would be kind of fun is. That's what days you're doing what muscle groups. So I'll, for example, I'll give my split, which my split is very kind of weird because I'm in the bodybuilding phase, but I do hamstrings and glutes, shoulders and back glutes. Sorry, you're watching like that just sounds painful Like I can't.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry for you.
Speaker 2:Yes, okay, let's start over with that one glutes and hamstrings, shoulders and back glutes, and one quad exercise, shoulders and arms, and then glutes and hamstrings and then a full leg day. So I do six lifting days a week, yep. And then one day, the seventh day, is not the day of rest, it's the day of just cardio. But you know what that seven day, I find so much joy of going to the gym and just having to do that and then walking out I'm like okay my gosh.
Speaker 1:I feel like I always feel like I'm forgetting something. On just cardio days, I'm like do I have my keys? Do I have it? Like, am I really just leaving now?
Speaker 2:Those are good days where, if you want to like, if you go to like a gym where they have like a steam room or a sauna or something like that those are good days to do just recovery stretching, stretching and foam rolling. We go to a gym that they have like these foam lures that like vibrate, and it's amazing they're like the best things.
Speaker 1:They are the greatest gift to mankind.
Speaker 2:Amazing. We still need to buy them, but yeah, it's. I hope that this episode kind of gives you a sense of like okay, like I can make changes, even on my own or with a coach that is going to not only get me closer to my my personal goal of whatever that looks like, but like I can have big goals in mind and work towards those and they are actually more feasible Because you look at people now, given people with surgery and stuff, that's a little bit harder.
Speaker 2:But you know Carrie Underwood oh my god, that woman impacable physique and she just trains correctly, yeah, and, and she focuses on the body. She has great quads.
Speaker 1:Yes, she does.
Speaker 2:She focuses on those Yep, she's got great arms focuses on those. So you can focus on the areas of your physique that you want to build and create this. You know small waist, if you want a small waist, or you know Big butt if you want to be butt, whatever that looks like. And it's awesome. And Julie is experiencing that as we speak In real time.
Speaker 1:In real time.
Speaker 2:Julie is experiencing that and she's experiencing the change of her split. Didn't know what to do so much I knew you wouldn't be happy. It's funny because I changed your split and someone else's split and you don't like your split and she was like oh my gosh, I love this.
Speaker 1:Can't relate. I don't feel comfortable complaining to you what I'm saying you should complain to me.
Speaker 2:You should tell me Now, given I'm not going to change it back.
Speaker 1:No, no, but I will listen. Yeah, I'll hear you out. You'll be empathetic about it. Yes, service with a smile.
Speaker 2:Yes, service with a smile. Yes, my clients love me. That's what I hope. That's what I hope for. So, yeah, do you have any other final thoughts that you would like to discuss before we wrap this up?
Speaker 1:Just that. I hope, if you're listening, that this gives you hope, because this conversation, when I first had it with Rachel, was what really inspired me to focus on my splits, because before, if I was out of the gym for four plus days, I would do just a. I'd call them a. What did I call it? Oh, a playground day where I'd just go and I'd do the gym and I'd do just whatever made me happy, which there is a time and a place. Give yourself a playground day.
Speaker 2:I did that twice last week.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like you can do it. Sorry I'm making, I won't tell it's okay, shoot, he's probably the most okay, we're busted, but like that was the first time I'd done that in six months, by the way, really Okay. Well, as someone who does that more frequently, I noticed a difference in like satisfaction, performance, results, everything. When I do follow those muscle grouping splits and just yeah it's. If this conversation doesn't get you excited about going to the gym, like I don't know what will. Like we talk a lot about nutrition. We talk a lot, but like the gym is fun.
Speaker 2:The gym is fun. It's fun it is. It's a place that you can just like, just build yourself. Yeah, like it's really cool, like you can see changes, you can feel changes, you can like customize.
Speaker 1:Like build your own God. Complex, it's amazing. Truly no seriously, you want to feel delusional? Just go and feel the power of like your blood pumping to your muscles and then checking yourself out in the mirror as you're like.
Speaker 2:Oh, lift the empowerment. Oh my God, I always encourage the gym selfies checking yourself out in the mirror guys do it. That is totally fine. Yeah, I tell my clients all the time I'm like dang, like look at, look at your shoulders, wow. Or like that's really like that's important.
Speaker 1:It's exciting, Like give yourself the space to get excited about the possibilities that are waiting for you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, One of my clients went to work and someone told him they were like wow, your shoulders, you're looking broad, you know that looks good. And I remember he came back to him. He's like I didn't even know how to respond. He was like they just noticed that I was changing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I was like like a beautiful butterfly.
Speaker 2:I was like I love that for you, no, and so, yeah, I think that's a great place to stop. If you guys have questions on that or want us to dive more into anything with workouts, programming, splits, whatever that looks like, please let us know. We'd love to talk about that.
Speaker 1:Julia's been experiencing all the changes of that and what that looks like, so we can offer both perspectives, and you can follow us on Instagram at gggp underscore podcast. Comment, share, like, like, please Like, validate me please, but no, we love to interact and it's nice because you know, when you record a podcast it's easy to feel like you're just like talking into the abyss, so interact reach out to us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, get turned on the notifications for the podcast, please, because, pretty please. We want you to be able to know when we post them, because we post them every Wednesday. People have asked me that actually when we post them Every Wednesday, every Wednesday, and then our email is Girlsgainsandgrowingpains at gmailcom.
Speaker 1:Yes, perfect so this has been another episode of Girls Gains and Growing Pains.