Q&A - What Workout Plan Is Right For You? & Should You Progressive Overload?

00:00Progressive overload allows you to continually make progress and reach your fitness goals over time more and more. Always, period. End of story. What's up, you guys? Welcome back to The WarriorBabe Show with Nikkie Stott, co-founder and brand personality of WarriorBabe, where we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident. I am your host, Nikkie Stott, and welcome, you guys, to episode number 16, where we're going to dive into another listener Q&A.

00:37So a couple weeks ago, I dropped on my story again on Instagram, which if you guys don't follow me, go follow me, at Nikkie Stott and at WarriorBabe. And so I dropped on my story asking you guys to participate in another one of these because we just launched our first one, what, a couple weeks ago? I forgot what episode that was. We're getting into the episodes, guys. Wow, we're down 16. This is awesome. So really enjoyed doing that Q&A before. And so now we're going to kick off round two of the listener Q&A. You guys asked some really good questions.

01:08It was hard to just choose one. So I chose two, and they're worthy of long answers, which I asked you guys when I posted on my story to ask me questions that were worthy of long answers to take to the podcast. So here we are. Let's break them down, guys. I'm super excited. So to dive right into it, question number one that I'm going to answer was what workout plan is right for you? So I'm going to speak to four different styles of training methods in this answer.

01:45However, I want to remind you that nutrition is key and exercise is queen. So get your nutrition right and you'll gain results from whichever workout program you follow that's in alignment with your goals. And like I put that plug in there because so many people just have no problem working out, right? They go get their workout done. They do it every week. Like they're hyped to get their workout done. But like they're failing to do a big freaking key that is a part of their entire transformation, and that is nutrition.

02:21So just to put that plug in there. Like nutrition is king. Exercise is queen. Get your nutrition right. You'll gain the results from whichever workout program tickles your fancy that's in alignment with your goals. Okay? All right. Let's talk about number one, CrossFit. So these are, I'm going to dive in. And like I said, the four different styles of training methods that I feel like is very prevalent with the people that listen to this podcast, the people that I serve, the women that I serve. So I'm going to dive into CrossFit, bodybuilding, Olympic lifting, and powerlifting.

02:53So one, CrossFit. What is CrossFit? So CrossFit is a fitness program that incorporates a wide range of exercises and movements, like including weightlifting, including gymnastics, including cardio. Maybe you guys have done this before. I've actually recently incorporated CrossFit into my routine once per week. And hella is a cardio. But anyway, so CrossFit workouts are typically performed at like a high intensity. Like a couple weeks ago, it was a Saturday. It was with a group of my friends.

03:24And we did a CrossFit workout. It was me and Emily together. It was guys versus girls or guys versus our boyfriends or girls versus our boyfriends. And so, holy shit, what's this high intensity, guys? Like we had to do like a 50-meter row to open it up, split the calories between – or I'm sorry, a 50-calorie row. Split the calories up between me and Emily to start. And then we had to do 10 rounds, five each of 12 deadlifts, 105 weight, and 10 over-the-bar burpees.

03:59And so, I would do a round. Emily would do a round. I would do a round. Emily would do a round. And then we had to close it out. We had to do 10 rounds of that. And then we had to close it out with another 50-calorie row. Split the calories between me and Emily. Guys, we did this in 16 minutes. The guy – we beat the guys. But that was a high intensity. And I'm sure you guys, if you're listening and you've done CrossFit, you know exactly what I'm talking about. So, they're designed to challenge the body in new and variety of ways. The aim is to improve strength, flexibility, cardiovascular fitness, coordination, all that jazz,

04:31rather than just building muscle or improving performance in a specific sport. So, that's CrossFit in a nutshell. Like I said, if you've done CrossFit, you know. And it's very fast-paced. It's more to the sport than it is just to building muscle. And so, I know I speak to a lot of you guys that do CrossFit and you love the atmosphere. You love the whole intensity of it. But keep in mind, if you're wanting to build muscle, I would incorporate CrossFit a couple times a week.

05:05And I've spoken to my worry-beams about this. But, like, I would do a majority and bulk of your workouts in this next one. So, I would recommend bodybuilding. And this is a style of training the workouts that I've done majority of my entire career. So, bodybuilding is, this is number two. So, it's a style of strength training focused on maximizing muscle size and definition. Keyword definition. So, bodybuilders or, you know, bodybuilding style workouts use a variety of, like, weightlifting and resistance training techniques to target specific muscle groups and increase muscle mass in those groups.

05:39So, the workouts are more often performed using, like, isolation exercises such as, like, bicep curls or, like, leg extensions or, like, glute ham raise or, like, lat pulldowns. So, to isolate and to work a single muscle group at a time. Doing this helps to improve the appearance of all of the muscles. Right? So, CrossFit, and, like, let me allude to the goal for CrossFit and the goal of bodybuilding. So, CrossFit, the goal is, like, someone with a goal of improving overall fitness and preparing their body for, like, real-life activities.

06:13Like, they want to go out for a four-mile run, they're going to be able to easily do that because of the cardiovascular fitness that they've built up by doing CrossFit. But, like, so, that's, like, a well-suited arena. Like, it's, like, all-encompassing. Like, CrossFit is awesome for, like, an all-encompassing fitness atmosphere. But, like, you may see some CrossFitters that don't have an aesthetically pleasing body. You know what I mean? Like, they go get the workout done, they smash it. It's awesome. But, like, the big thing, guys, too, is, like, I already alluded to is, like, your nutrition. You can be a CrossFitter, have bomb nutrition, have a bomb body.

06:46You can do CrossFit, have shit nutrition, have a shit body. So, your nutrition is what really is going to pull out the aesthetics of your body. And, like, something, though, with bodybuilding. So, the goal is, like, someone with a goal of maximizing muscle size and definition. This would be well-suited for body-to-bodybuilding workouts. So, what I mean is, like, you're focusing on single muscle groups at a time. CrossFit is pretty much a full-body workout. And maybe only doing deadlifts one day and, like, you know, next workout is maybe deadlifts again with, like, shoulder presses.

07:18You know what I mean? So, like, bodybuilding breaks it down to, like, specific muscle groups at a time. And doing isolation exercises, which is really going to shape and break down that muscle and shape it and get it toned and get it all that jazz. So, that's what I mean by doing, like, you know, it's cool to do deadlifts. But let's back it up with some accessory. And let's do some hamstring curls. Let's do some kickbacks, right? Because you're isolating those exercises to target the single muscle group at a time.

07:50So, it's bodybuilding workouts. So, like, cool. And this is, like, too. Like, you can do all of these. Really, like, maybe at a more advanced level. For me, for example, like, I do majority of my workouts around bodybuilding-style workouts. And like I said, I incorporate, like, one CrossFit per week. And then I incorporate, like, one run per week, right? But, like, to start bodybuilding is what got and helped get my body to where it is. The bodybuilding-style workouts. I've dabbled in the fourth one I'm going to talk about, which is powerlifting.

08:20So, like, it's whatever suits your goals is what I'm trying to allude to. Like, whatever speaks to your goals. It's in alignment with your goals. And, like, follow that program. They're all great. It's just what speaks to you the most. Hey, hey, just want to drop a huge appreciation to you guys listening to this show. It means a lot. I hope you guys are enjoying it. And there's so much more to come with it. If you are enjoying it, hit the subscribe button. I'd appreciate that tons. And also, it would help this podcast reach others who need to hear these messages, too.

08:51Thanks so much, guys. Let's get back to the show. Okay, so number three is Olympic lifting. So Olympic lifting is a type of weightlifting that involves a performance of two key major lifts. And that is the snatch and the clean and jerk. You try and get me to do one of those? I look like a freaking horse trying to kick your feet back and wailing everywhere. Even though I'm a professional in this space, this is not my type of exercise. And my form is just like, you know, a baby trying to walk.

09:23It's just, it needs improvement. So Olympic lifting, it emphasizes what this workout does. It emphasizes speed, power, and technical proficiency. And it's a sport in its own right. And so it requires a precise technique. It requires a significant amount of practice to master. Like, Olympic lifting workouts typically include the performance of, like, the snatch and the clean and jerk, as well as, like, accessory exercises to improve strength and technique. So, like I said, it's a sport in itself.

09:54And it comes from those two key lifts, which is the snatch and the clean and jerk. And so, like, that's up your alley. Then, like, go do Olympic lifting. And then do accessory exercises, which is, like, more of the isolation exercises I spoke to with bodybuilding. So, like, you combine the few. But, like, for me personally, I'm not going to be doing snatches and clean and jerks. Maybe I'll incorporate that into my bodybuilding routine, one of those exercises. But I ain't making my whole routine around those two things. All right? And so the goal, if this is, like, if this sounds like it's your goal,

10:28then I would recommend Olympic lifting. So the goal is with an interest in Olympic lifting. And it's a desire to improve your speed, your power, and your technical proficiency, like I alluded to. And if that sounds like that's something that you want to be able to do, then go do Olympic lifting. But make sure you have the right nutrition backed behind it because that's going to get the aesthetically pleasing body that you want. So I'm just going to keep putting that plug in there. Okay. The last one of the what's the workout right workout plan for you and the four different styles of training methods

10:58that I said I would share in this answer is powerlifting. So maybe you are somebody who has done powerlifting before. And so powerlifting is a sport that consists of three main lifts. And that is the squat, the bench press, and the deadlift. And so the goal of powerlifting is to lift as much weight as possible in each of these lifts with the objective being to lift the most weight overall. Right? So you probably have seen, or maybe you've done this, or you've seen people go into powerlifting meets and like they prep for it in those three key lifts,

11:29the squat, the bench press, the deadlift. They have all of these like percentages that they're trying to hit and then do it based on their max rep and yada, yada, yada. I did this. I loved it. It was great, but it was a lot of, a lot of... Ladies, are you feeling frustrated with body changes you're experiencing during menopause? It's time to take control. If you're between 45 and 65 years old and tired of struggling with body fat and muscle loss,

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12:35That's warriorbabe.com forward slash apply. All right, let's get back to the show. Stress to my body, okay? My body didn't really like it as much, but I also didn't give it enough time for it to be adapted to this style. I did it for a couple of months. I just... Bodybuilding is just my jazz. Like, I've tried everything, guys. I told you that I've shared with that in previous podcasts. So bodybuilding, I just always come back to it. But powerlifting, so it requires strength, power.

13:08It also requires that professional, that technical proficiency. And it typically involves lifting heavy weights for low reps. And this is where, like, I love incorporating a little bit of powerlifting too with a little bit of bodybuilding. So, like, you could open up a workout doing a squat and focusing on percentages of a squat. And I've programmed this for myself. I've programmed this for my clients. And then you go into... And you do low reps. And then you go into more isolation work, like leg extensions and sissy squats and walking lunges that are just going to target more of the quad in an isolation fashion.

13:42So, like, when I say isolation, those are isolation exercises. You're also hearing me say maybe compound exercises, which is the bench press, the deadlift, the squat, shoulder press too as well. So powerlifting workouts, they typically involve, just like bodybuilding does, like free weights, barbells, dumbbells. And then they involve the performance of the three main lifts, like I already spoke to. As well as, like, what I alluded to, accessory exercises to improve strength in those lifts. So you'll see powerlifters do accessory exercises after they work on their main lift

14:15to improve the strength for that lift, right? So it's pretty cool. Like, I've just spoke to combining powerlifting and bodybuilding together. Definitely done that before. And I like to just cycle through different things. But if I was to pick out of these one to four different techniques that I just alluded to, again, it has to speak to your goal. So for me, my type of goal is to have an aesthetically built body. You know, I look like an athlete. I'm tone-defined. I have muscle mass.

14:45I look strong. It matches my inner personality. That's my goal. So the way I'm going to do that is I'm going to have one CrossFit. Majority of my exercises in the week or training methods in the week is bodybuilding. And maybe every so often in the months, I'm putting in the squat, the deadlift, and the bench press at the beginning of my lift, and then finishing it with a bodybuilding style workout, okay? So that's what I would recommend. But which one is right for you? And like I said, each style of workout has its own specific goals.

15:17It each requires a different set of skills and attributes. So it's important to choose what style of workout that aligns with you and your fitness goals. They're all great. But like I spoke to, the goals, which one aligns with you the most? Then do that one, okay? And then make sure your nutrition is par. It's up there. You're focused on it. Because you ain't going to get the body aesthetics by doing these workouts when not backed with proper nutrition. You can do all these workouts, but you're like, shit, you're going to have a shit physique.

15:47Do these workouts. Eat good. You're going to have a bomb physique. Okay, so that answers question number one. And I hope that answers question number one for you. Question number two. Should you progressive overload? So I'm going to break this down into what progressive overload means, why it's important, and how you can implement it into your routine for optimal results. So first, what is progressive overload? So it's a gradual increase of stress placed on the muscle during physical exercise in order to continually challenge the body and promote muscle growth and adaptation.

16:22So that is progressive overload. Is it important? And why? 100% it's important if you have a goal to build strength, muscle, and see your body composition change. If that is your goal, you should be incorporating progressive overload into your routine. I'm going to share a little bit of how you would implement it into your routine in a second. But first, I want to share why it's important. So progressive overload, it promotes muscle growth and adaptation. So when the muscles are subjected to progressive overload, they undergo microscopic damage.

16:54I've talked about this before. You're breaking down the fibers of your muscle in every single workout that you do. This damage stimulates the body to repair and strengthen the muscle fibers, resulting in muscle growth and adaptation. So as you continue to increase the stress placed on your muscles, the body will continually adapt, resulting in ongoing progress that you want to see with your body and gains in strength and muscle mass. It's so important. Like if you're just continually doing the same thing over and over and over again, you go into the gym, you're going through the motions, you're not progressive overloading,

17:24you're not going to get to the type of goals you want with your body composition of making progress and seeing strength and increasing your muscle mass, which increasing muscle mass is what gets you toned, you guys. So progressive overload promotes muscle growth and promotes adaptation. Number two, it increases strength. So progressive overload gradually increases the weight or resistance used in a given exercise. And this challenges the muscles and forces them to work harder. So like you've probably heard people say choose challenging weight, choose challenging weight, choose challenging weight. What does that mean?

17:54Well, maybe one week you're going to go in, you're going to do an incline chest press at 40 pounds. And then next week, you're going to try and go for 45. You ain't going to try and go for 60 next week. That's just silly. Don't try to be stupid like that and increase it by 15 pounds or 20 pounds. That's not, that's not progressive overload. It's making small gradual increases to the weight of the resistance in the given exercise, which is going to challenge muscle and force them to work harder. So as the muscles adapt to this increased stress, it becomes stronger. And allowing you to lift heavier weights and perform more challenging exercises.

18:28This is what's going to stimulate the growth. This is what results in ongoing gains and in strength and making it possible for you to continue making progress even after months or years of training. For more advanced people, you probably have, you know, your newbie gains are out the door. It's really easy for you to build muscle in your first couple of years if you're doing it the right way. Now you need to make, really focus on progressive overload and pay attention to this because your body needs continual adaptation to continue to get you more and more results that you want to see.

19:00Okay, number three, it prevents plateaus. So if you continue to perform the same exercise as I just spoke to with the same weight and resistance, your body will eventually become too comfortable with the routine and stop making any progress. And I'm pausing here for a second because literally this is probably the majority of people. They're getting too comfortable. They're going through the motions and they're in a plateau, quote unquote, because they're not continually trying to progressive overload, to increase stress, to challenge the body, to put it through adaptation.

19:33All of this, yeah. So progressive overload ensures that the body is continually challenged and forced to adapt, preventing plateaus and ensuring ongoing progress. And then the fourth reason why it's so important to progressive overload is because it supports overall physical fitness goals. So whether your goal is to build muscle, increase endurance, or improve your overall fitness, progressive overload can help you reach your goals by continually challenging your body, promoting growth and adaptation. It's so important, you guys. By gradually increasing the stress placed on your muscle, progressive overload allows you to continually make progress and reach your fitness goals over time more and more.

20:10Always, period. End of story. So how do you implement this, Nikki? You're telling me all this good stuff. I'm totally bought in. Progressive overload. I'm going to get a tattoo on my butt. No, I'm just kidding. But seriously, how do you implement this stuff? So there's a variety of ways you can implement it. I'm going to share seven tactics of how you can implement it. So number one, the most obvious is increasing resistance or weight. So gradually increasing the weight using a given exercise is one of the most common forms of progressive overload.

20:42That's why it's important to track your weight. Okay, so one week you go in, you're hitting. And every week is not going to be the same, guys. So it's okay that maybe one week it's off and you didn't hit it. Maybe even the first two weeks you're still at the same weight that you were the week prior. It's okay. It's a gradual increase. Don't be trying to go up. And then at some point you're just going to stay there for a significant amount of time. So your body gets used to the weight. And then you'll be like, damn, I'm getting stronger. My muscles are getting bigger. I can increase it by five pounds. That's what I mean, by five pounds.

21:12Okay, it's not going to be like 10 or 15 or 20 the next week. It's like, no, it's gradual increases. It's like, okay, maybe the first two weeks, here I am at like 40 pounds on incline. I'm feeling good on my second week towards the end of the week or my third week towards the end of the week. I'm going to try and increase by like five pounds. That's progressive overload. So that's number one, increasing resistance to weight. Number two, adding reps or sets. So increasing the number of reps or sets performed in a given exercise can create progressive overload and force the muscle to work harder.

21:45Number three is decreasing rest time between sets. So reducing the amount of time taken between sets can increase the overall demand on the muscle and promote growth and adaptation. So going from like two minutes on a back squat rest period in between sets one week to the next week going to one minute, that's going to help to create more overall demand on the muscle, promote growth, promote adaptation. So just playing around with rest times. So number three. Number two, increasing the speed of movement.

22:16And like, hold on, let me pause for a second. You don't have to do all of this at once. Try one of them. Incorporate it into your routine. Try another one. Incorporate it into your routine. First one, definitely increase resistance or weight over time. Then try and play with your sets and your reps. Then play with your rest time. Don't try and do this all at once, please. Okay. Number four, increasing the speed of the movement. So by performing exercises at like a faster pace, you can create a greater demand on the muscle and promote progressive overload. So that's number four.

22:47Number five, using different equipment. I mean, just switching to a different piece of equipment, such as like going from barbells to dumbbells, can create a new and more challenging stimulus for the muscle. Going from dumbbells to cable. Awesome. Okay. Number six, variation in exercises. So varying the exercises you perform can target different muscle groups and create new challenges for the body, promoting growth and promoting adaptation. So for example, drop sets. This thing was in the question that I got asked on what kicked off to do another Q&A.

23:21But for example, yeah, drop sets can be considered a form of progressive overload. So drop sets involve performing a set of an exercise to failure and then immediately reducing the weight and continuing to perform additional reps until failure again. So this creates an increased demand on the muscle and forces them to work harder, which promotes growth, which then, you know, promotes adaptation, all that jazz. And then by continually increasing the stress placed on the muscle, drop sets can be used as a form of progressive overload and totally help to promote muscle growth and to promote your strength gains.

23:55So that's a variation in exercises. That's a great form. Drop sets. Incorporating that. Again, you don't have to incorporate all of this at once. Start. This is like I'm giving you some golden nuggets here, you guys. It's just like add one or two of these into your routine. Add one, then add another, then add another, right? Over our time span. And then the last one that is a way that you can implement progressive overload is eccentric training. So focusing on like the eccentric or the negative portion of a lift. For example, this is where tempo work is great and placing more time under tension.

24:30So like you've heard probably tempo work of like four zero X zero, right? Or like four one X one. And that's meaning you're spending time in a negative of four seconds. You're then a pause exploding up and then a pause for a second at the top. That's what four one X one means. And this can be more effective in inducing muscle damage and promoting growth too as well. So that was extensive training. That was the seventh way that you could implement progressive overload. So again, just to recap how you can implement it is increasing resistance or weight, adding reps or sets,

25:05decreasing rest high between sets, increasing the speed of a movement, using different equipment, variation to your exercises, and eccentric training. So those are ways you can implement progressive overload. But I know you guys are totally bought in. I know you're now going to start progressive overloading, which is freaking awesome. Do it. It's going to get you to the goals of building strength, muscle, and seeing your overall body composition change in congruence with proper nutrition. Okay. So like I opened up saying, nutrition is key.

25:37Exercise is queen. All right, you guys. So that wraps up another listener Q&A. Freaking love doing those. I'm definitely going to be doing more of them. So if you don't follow me, please go follow me on social Instagram at Nikki Stott at Warrior Babe. I put on my story periodically here and there, asking questions what you guys will want me to answer on the podcast and providing me good questions that's worthy of long answers. So go follow me and I'll see you guys in the next podcast. Real quick, the only ask I could ever have of you guys is to help spread the word so we can help more women lose body fat, build muscle, reach their goals, and feel insanely confident.

26:17And the only way we can do that is if you rate, review, and share this podcast. So the single thing I ask for you to do is if you could leave a review. It will take you 10 seconds and it will mean the absolute world to me and may change the world of someone else.

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