Why You're Lifting But Not Gaining Muscle (And What to Do About It)

00:00You shouldn't be finishing a set thinking like, man, that was easy. If that is the case, you're not lifting heavy enough. And I get that the idea of being injured or hurting yourself runs through your mind, but the more that you pick up a heavier weight and you see that that's just a story that you're telling yourself that's not actually a fact, the more you will trust and believe yourself that you can lift heavy. What's up, you guys? Hey, everyone. Welcome back to The WarriorBabe Show, or if this is one of your first episodes, welcome to the show with your host, Nikkie Stott, co-founder of WarriorBabe.

00:40And on this podcast, we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident. Today, my friends, welcome to episode number 281. And what we're going to dive into is a topic that I feel like so many women are frustrated on. And that is you are wondering why, like you're lifting, you're doing all the work, but you aren't seeing the muscle definition that you want.

01:10Like you're doing the thing, you're showing up multiple times a week, you're checking, tracking your meals, you're tracking your macros, you're watching the scale, you're taking your progress photos, and yet nothing looks different. And like, you want the tone, but it's not showing up. And the definition, you feel like it's still buried under layers and layers of fat. And it starts to maybe feel like, dude, this isn't working. Let me just say this, like, if that's where you are right now, I 100% see you, I understand you, that frustration is 1000% real.

01:44You feel stuck, you feel defeated. Maybe you feel even embarrassed because you're doing everything quote unquote, right. And the payoff just isn't there. And then you start to spiral and you you're watching like other women transform or you're seeing other women's successes. And you're thinking like, well, dude, what's wrong with me? What's wrong with my body? Why am I not seeing the progress I want? First off, nothing's wrong with you. What's wrong is the understanding that most women are given about how muscle growth actually works.

02:18So what I want to do in this episode with you guys today is like, throw out the old expectations of what muscle growth actually looks like in order to obtain. And I want to teach you guys on like what actually really happens. So first, before I even dive into this, you guys know in all the episodes, if you've listened to many before, and if you haven't, this is your first one that I want to let like remind you all. There's been 20,000 women that have gone through our program at Warrior Babe. And that's why I can say like, I understand the experiences that you are having because me personally, I've coached over 1000s of women and I've heard and listened to and helped like virtually wipe tears off of women's faces because they have been in this position.

03:01And they've been frustrated and they've been defeated and they've been like, what is going on? Why isn't this working? Or they are going from program to program to program, they're coming to us and they're feeling all of these things. So I want you to know like that what you are feeling is entirely valid and the experiences that you are having is what you have had experiences up until this point. And I want to be able to like share you share with you the way to get past it and the way to get through it. But I want you to know like that is basically me being like, I hope you listen to what I have to say in this episode, because it can truly, truly, truly, truly help you.

03:34If you take it and you apply some of the tactics that we'll go through today, or even just some of the understandings that we go through today. But first, I want to get really, really, really, really, really clear on what it actually takes to build visible muscle. Let that word sink in like visible muscle. You guys want to be quote unquote toned, right? Like that is like the hottest word in the fitness industry. I want to be toned. I want to show more muscle definition. Basically, what toned is, is you having muscle mass and decreasing the body fat around it.

04:14Okay. So in order for that to actually happen, one, you need tension and stress to that muscle, to muscles in your body that you want to be able to show. Whether it's your arms, whether it's your legs, whether it's your glutes, whether it's your chest, whether it's your back. Like muscles only grow from resistance, not just by movement. So when I've seen women say, I go to Pilates or I do F45 or do Orange Theory or I do whatever.

04:44That type of movement isn't going to get you the toned look that you want. You need to put actual physical stress and resistance on the muscles in a way where you're going to create metabolic stress so that they grow. Like lifting needs to be challenging enough to create. You guys have heard me say this all the time in the episodes. If you listen prior before, if not, it's your first one. You break down muscle in the gym. You build muscle in the 24 to 48 hours afterwards.

05:14So you're not building muscle in the gym. You're breaking it down. You're creating these micro tears in your muscle fibers when you are lifting the weights, really challenging yourself. You're doing, and I'm going to get to progressive overload in the fourth one, but you're really challenging yourself here. You need tension and stress in order to build visible muscle. The second thing, you need nutrition. You need fuel, period, end of story.

05:47If you are lifting, but you're not eating enough protein or enough calories, you are basically, what you're doing is you're under eating. And if you are under eating, then what you want to see visibly in your body is going to be like swimming up a river when the river is just like rapidly flowing and you're trying to swim up it. It's not, it's going to be really hard to do if you're not fueling your body properly.

06:17Your body doesn't have the raw materials that it needs to rebuild anything that you break down in the gym if you're not fueling your body the right way. And look, I'm going to touch on this right now is like if you are being under fed, what is happening here is your thyroid function is going to lower, your stress hormone is going to rise, your metabolism is going to slow down. You may not be feeling those things internally, but trust that is what's happening when you're not giving your body the right nutrition.

06:53If all of those things are happening, the last thing your body is concerned about is building muscle. It wants to make sure that all of the other organs and systems of your body are doing what they need to do to survive. And then while you may not be feeling that, what you may be feeling is you may be tired all the time. You may be cold. You may be puffy. You may just feel stuck because while you're doing, you may feel really strong in your workouts, but you feel stuck because of progress that isn't there.

07:24And this is why what's happening here is your body's basically like, whoa, this person, I don't know when I'm going to have enough protein or I'm going to have another meal. I don't know when I'm going to be fed enough calories. So what it's going to do is protect your body and store it in X for the time that you may need to tap into it in the future because you're not consistently giving it what it needs on a regular basis. It's plain like guesswork with you.

07:55And what's happening here is our bodies are going from surviving. And what I wanted to go to is thriving. And there's been so many women inside of Warrior Babe that maybe this is you, right? And you're feeling all the things that I just said and you're just starting out in Warrior Babe or you're just starting off in a program and you're trying to do things the right way for yourself. You're not going to go from surviving and thriving in a week, in two weeks, in one month, or let alone even three months. It takes time. Or if you're somebody that's been a part of Warrior Babe for a while or you've been at this, you've been listening to this podcast and you've been doing things on your own through this podcast or 280.

08:30If you're doing episodes and you're getting amazing results, then you will know that at one point your body was probably in this mode and you're probably shaking your head. Yeah, Nikki, you're right. Because it had to take time to get out of surviving and get into thriving. And I want you all to be into thriving. But what you have to do is you have to fuel your body the right way. And especially, I'm going to circle it back, if you want to build visible muscle. If you are trying to show more muscle to, let me throw this at you. As I was saying earlier, when you need to decrease the body fat around it, how do you think that muscle stays intact without being tapped into while you're decreasing body fat and weight?

09:09By you having enough protein. Because protein basically maintains and holds onto and protects your muscle mass. So while you are going into a deficit, you're decreasing body fat, what a lot of people do when they're trying to lose weight, lose weight, they will eat slash their calories. And they will not have enough protein intake, but they'll slash their calories. But what the body will do is it'll go and tap into that muscle store first and muscle stores first and foremost.

09:45And you'll lose the muscle along with the fat. So on the flip side, which you guys know, I've talked about this in episodes before, the difference between fat loss and weight loss is when you're trying to lose body fat, you want to hold on to that muscle, which means you need to be eating enough protein and enough calories so that you don't tap into that muscle mass. But you can decrease the body fat around it. Okay. Nutrition guys is like, dude, it is literally one of the hardest things to do.

10:16But I promise you, if you can get the nutrition aspect right, it will open up the full floodgates for your progress. It is, you guys have heard me say nutrition is king. Exercise is queen. You guys can exercise all you want, but you can't out exercise a bad diet. Period. Okay. And then what else your body needs to build visible muscle growth is the third thing is recovery.

10:49As I've said, and just said, your growth happens outside of the gym. You building the muscle happens outside of the gym during rest, during sleep, during fueling your body, during time away from the weights. Because again, you break down your muscle in the gym, you build it afterwards. So recovery is so important for you to build and show that muscle. And then the fourth thing is progressive overload. If you are doing the same weights week after week after week after week, that is not overload.

11:26That is you maintaining your muscles. So if you are someone who wants to build more muscle, but you're just doing the same weight over and over and over and over and over again, you're going to get more of what you have right now. Your muscles need to be challenged and they need to be challenged consistently in small but strategic ways. I have multiple episodes on progressive overload. If you guys want to go and you can go to the macrohour.com and you can literally, if you're on your computer, hit control find,

11:57type in progressive overload and find any episode that I have in progressive overload. I don't know how you would be able to do it on your cell phone, but I'm sure there's a way. If it matters to you that much, there's a way. And also, here's a truth bomb for you guys, for someone right now listening to this. Like, you might be lifting, but you're not lifting heavy enough or with enough intention. Like, you might be in the gym and you might be showing up for your workout, but you could just be going through the motions.

12:30And you going through the motions isn't going to create that tension and that stress that your body needs. It's not you challenging your muscles the way they need to be challenged. So, you could be being like, oh, I'm going to lift. Guys, I was filming contact with my team last week. And I'll never, this girl was sitting on the, I think it was the leg extension machine. And she was on her phone the entire time. But she probably told her friends, hey guys, I went to lift today. Bro, that ain't lifting. She was on her phone probably for a four-minute rest period and then would do her set.

13:05Maybe even longer. Because I remember I was talking to them. I was like, guys, like, this is how you don't build muscle. And then I felt like five minutes later, I looked back and she was still in the same position. So, you could be quote-unquote lifting, but you're not lifting heavy enough. Or you're not even like, you're on your phone the entire time. You're not there giving it enough intention. You might be hitting your macros, but not your protein. Like, anybody could follow a 1,400 calorie diet, 1,500 calorie diet, 1,800 calorie diet. If they're just focusing on calories, I guarantee you they're not focusing on how much protein you're getting.

13:40And you could be training five days a week, but your body is like chronically stressed and it's just under-recovered. Hey, while you're listening, if you're getting value from this episode, take a moment to tap that review button or share this podcast with a friend. It's a small gesture that goes a long way in helping more women find their way to feeling stronger and more confident in their skin. I appreciate you so much for taking the time to support this show. All of this to say you might be feeling like you're doing the right things, but if what I just said in terms of like the science,

14:16like the way to actually build visible muscle, if any of those are out of alignment for you, then I hope that you just take one of them and start putting more better focus on it. Because then when this physically starts happening, then the emotional side of it comes into play. And that's when like the true disconnection shows up because you start to question your body. You start to think that you're broken. You start to compare. You start to spiral. And then you're like, I'm quitting. Or worse, you start like lowering or shrinking your goals because you think that like you're just asking for too much.

14:52But really, you guys, what you need, what a lot of women need is education. Because understanding how muscle works, that is the bridge between like your current frustration, where you are right now, and then your future body transformation, where you want to go. Because a lot of women don't have the education that I'm preaching in all these episodes of what we teach inside of Warrior Babe. That's why we do what we do to get more education out there.

15:26And if you don't obtain this education, you're just going to continue to be frustrated. And you're going to get more of the same of what you're currently experiencing on a daily basis. But if you obtain this education, you learn this, you implement it, you try it, you fail, you take messy action, that is literally the bridge between you getting to where you want to be. Okay, so tactical takeaways, as I do in every episode, what is your, here's what your body is actually craving, what your body really, really, really, really needs.

16:00You already know. Or maybe you don't, because maybe this could be your first episode. You need one gram per pound of body weight of protein. That is an absolute non-negotiable. Now, somebody could be like, well, Nikki, I weigh 300 pounds. You want me to eat 300 grams of protein a day? No. That siloed group of people that are overweight, what I would tell that individual is like, hey, what is your goal weight? Like a realistic goal weight. Like, let's not be like, I want to be 150 pounds, but I'm 300 pounds now.

16:32It's like, hey, I want to hit 250. Okay. Maybe 220, 250. All right, we're going to probably aim to be 220 or maybe even around the 200 because it's going to be a lot of protein out of the get for you to be eating. Maybe even like a 180, but we can work our way up so we don't over stimulate your metabolism. That's where you should be at. But no matter what, you should be eating. You should not be eating 60 grams of protein, 80 grams of protein, 100 grams of protein, especially someone who could be 100 pounds.

17:05You probably need more muscle on your body, so you need to be eating more protein to build that muscle. That could be like 1.2 or 1.1 per pound of body weight, gram per pound of body weight. But no matter what protein is non-negotiable, protein is the king and cannot be a king of macronutrients. And dude, it cannot be ignored. It's so important. You need to be eating enough. Like you need calories, but you need the right breakdown of calories.

17:37You guys know or should know that macros basically come from a calorie number. Okay. Let's just, for example, you're eating 2,000 calories in a day. All right. Well, 40% of that. Actually, it's right behind me if you're watching it on the video. 40% protein, 35% carbs, 25% fat. That is enough to support. Like you need enough calories to support the repair, the rebuilding of the muscle, helping them grow. You, your body has lived in, for a majority of people, has lived in starvation mode for a very, very, very, very, very, very long time.

18:14So like I said earlier, we need to switch from surviving to thriving. And how you do that is by giving your body enough calories and enough protein. You should be lifting heavy. Yeah. Even if you are 57 years old, even if you are 62 years old, even if you are 48 years old, you should be lifting heavy. You shouldn't be finishing a set thinking like, man, that was easy. If that is the case, you're not lifting heavy enough. And I get that the idea of being injured or hurting yourself runs through your mind.

18:47But the more that you pick up a heavier weight and you see that that's just a story that you're telling yourself that's not actually a fact, the more you will trust and believe yourself that you can lift heavy. Seen thousands of women have that same thought process, break down the story, change the narrative into a more supportive one. And now they're lifting heavier than they ever have before. They're doing pull-ups or doing push-ups. They're not even like that. That isn't even a part of the vocabulary anymore.

19:19Okay. You need to sleep seven to eight hours. Oh my goodness. When I was speaking at that conference in DC and I asked how many hours people got to sleep at night, I would hear like a four hours, a five hours. And I would look at the individual and I'm not judging. I can just understand how that person's, what that person's lifestyle is. Ladies, are you feeling frustrated with body changes you're experiencing during menopause?

19:53It's time to take control. If you're between 45 and 65 years old and tired of struggling with body fat and muscle loss, Warrior Babe is here for you. At Warrior Babe, we've helped over 18,000 women just like you lose body fat, build toned muscle, and understand their bodies better with personalized plans based on hormone and thyroid testing and more. Imagine knowing exactly what your body needs to see real results and results that last.

20:23Look, don't wait anymore. Take charge of your health and join our community of strong, empowered women. Visit warriorbabe.com forward slash apply today to start your transformation. That's warriorbabe.com forward slash apply. All right. Let's get back to the show. All right. They were overweight. They have bags in their eyes. There's probably hormonal things happening internally. Like you need to give your body seven to eight hours of sleep because your growth hormone peaks

20:58during the deep sleep hours. If you guys have ever heard what, how important deep sleep is, that's literally where your muscles recover the best. So when I have an aura ring, love this thing. Had it before. It was even cool, guys. I've had this thing for probably like seven years now. I'm on the most up-to-date generation. They've done so many incredible improvements to it. It's an awesome product. And I love it because I don't have to wear a watch to bed. I can just wear a ring. That doesn't bother me.

21:28But whenever I open up the app in the morning and I look at it and I just, I always look at my REM and I look at my deep sleep and I just make sure that I got enough of both. And there's other things that also go into play with muscle recovery. But this is really important. What your body is craving. It wants seven to eight hours to nine hours of sleep. Don't rob yourself of results by skipping out on getting enough sleep. Okay? So what I want you guys to do leaving this episode today is I want you guys first to

22:00like audit your training. Like are you progressively increasing your weights or reps? Like on a, I would go to weights first. Like are you on a weekly or bi-weekly basis? Like are you at least going up five, depending on the exercise, anywhere from five to 10 pounds? Like are you at least increasing the weights? Or are you doing the same thing over and over and over and over and over again? Because if you are literally doing the same workout from six months ago, your body, your

22:38muscles have already adapted to that workout and nothing is really changing in that. So that's why on either four weeks, six weeks, depending on the individual that we work with in Warrior Bay and Man, you're getting a new plan every four weeks, every six weeks, or every eight weeks. So just ask yourself that. Are you doing the same thing over and over again? Are you progressively increasing your weights? If not, and if you are doing the same thing over again, that needs to be reevaluated.

23:09I would say the data is king for you checking in on your protein. If you have no idea how many calories you're eating right now, and that's, oh, first of all, that's okay. But to bring more awareness to it, data will tell you that. So get on MyFitnessPal, track for a week. And by the way, oh my gosh. So when I was at this conference, somebody was talking about Cal AI. It's an, basically you can take a picture. I'm going off on a rant because of MyFitnessPal. So you can take a picture of your food and it literally tells you the macro breakdown

23:42of the food that's on your plate. I thought it was a cool concept until I actually downloaded it and put it to work and it's a crock shit. So stick with the old trust in MyFitnessPal. I literally did this for probably five days and I had to, it wasn't accurate. It would tell me that I had like 12 grams of protein on my plate when I, it was like a five ounce chicken breast. And I know that there's at least 30 to 32, 33 grams of protein. And see, this is where it's really important. People were barking up this wall about this app at the, at the conference.

24:16Well, they're barking up the wall in the wrong way because they don't know what it actually looks like. This is why it's so important. I think I need to go on a whole rant on the pros and cons of the things that are out there helping people get supported. Oh, I think that's gonna be a great podcast. Along a fitness journey. For example, Cal AI or online calculators or XYZ or apps by fitness influencers to do workouts in. Anyway, I digress slightly. Let me go back to the Cal AI.

24:48They, they think it's right. And they're taking it at face value because they haven't spent months, years, weeks, actually taking the food, putting it on a scale, weighing it and being able to mentally take a picture of like, oh, this is five ounces of chicken. This would equate to 25 to 30 grams of or 35 grams of protein. Or this is a half a cup of oatmeal. This equates to 27 grams of carbs. Or this is 16 grams of peanut butter.

25:21This equates to, or I'm sorry, this is 32 grams of protein. This equates to 16 grams of fat and peanut butter. They're, they're just like taking a picture, accepting that the macro breakdown is true. And they're logging that. And they're going to wonder why in maybe three to six months, maybe we see some progress, but not the progress that they could be at. They were accurately tracking the right things because they're either under eating or overeating with that kind of error. So I digress slightly there.

25:54Anyway, track your protein in MyFitnessPal most accurately because you can scan the barcode, you can implement, you can, you're weighing and you're, you're, you're inputting the data in there and just ask your question, ask yourself, are you hitting your protein target? And then another one would be like, sleep check yourself, set a bedtime alarm. Just, just like a wake up alarm, like set a bedtime alarm at like 930 at night, knowing

26:27that it's, Hey, it's time to go to bed now. Just as much as you set a 630 o'clock, 630 AM, whatever you guys wake up alarm, because that'll allow you to be like, all right, I need to shut down everything. I need to turn off the TV. I need to turn off the phone. I need to go to bed and to get ready. And I need to go to sleep. Prioritize your sleep. Like your results depended on it because literally like if you can improve this aspect, that like your sleep really, it truly depends on it, on you getting the results that you want. Those are the three main things like your training, your sleep and your nutrition.

27:02And then I would say, dude, if, if you are triggered by the scale, measure your progress differently, take photos, um, focus on your strength PRs. Cause that's you getting stronger. And that always is the muscle. Like I've said before, and when I've talked about the scale, the, the scale isn't telling you how much muscle mass you put on. It's just telling you how much weight you gained and trust that muscle is denser than fat. So while you could be building more muscle, the scale might not be fluctuating as much

27:32because that's, that's the density that you're building. That's being weighed in the scale. Okay. So focus on measuring your progress differently because those are your wins, not the scale. All right. So overall guys, those are just some tactical takeaways. Measure your progress differently. Uh, track your protein intake, review your protein intake, audit your training, really question yourself. Am I really pushing it in the gym? Uh, log your sleep. If you've heard all of these episodes up to this point, and like, maybe you've done the

28:06other three things that you haven't done to sleep, then this is your chance to really focus in on your sleep or whatever it is. Take one thing and implement it. And that's all I ask is that you guys do something with this episode, like walk away and change something because that's going to help you start to progress towards that future transformation that you want. Current frustration, you're learning this stuff and you're working, you're putting into action. You're going to start getting to the future transformation that you want. And know too, that you're, you're not broken. Your body's not broken. It's just missing this, like these right formulas.

28:40So whether, while I know that many of you are frustrated, don't let that feeling of frustration win. Don't let the mirror lie to you about all the effort that you're putting in. If you are lifting, if you were eating, if you are resting and you're still not seeing change, then check these gaps that I just talked about. Educate yourself and then course correct, but course correct by being kind with yourself, not being frustrated with yourself. I know it's easier said than done, but leaving this episode, like you're not starting over.

29:11You're just stepping into like, oh, I need to fine tune this. I need to fine tune that. I need to fine tune this. And you're being way more kinder to yourself rather than being frustrated with yourself. Okay. All right, my friends, I hope this helped you guys. I love you guys. And I will see you in the next episode. Real quick. If this episode resonated with you or gave you the push that you needed, I'd love for you to pay it forward. Drop a quick rating and review, share the podcast with someone who might need it and help me keep spreading the word. Your feedback not only helps to show grow, but it might just be the nudge someone else needs

29:46to kickstart their transformation. Thank you so, so, so much for your support.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.