2765: How to Start with Strength Training as a Beginner

Summary

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Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth

Episode 2765 – How to Start with Strength Training as a Beginner

Hosts: Sal Di Stefano, Adam Schafer, Justin Andrews, Doug Egge
Date: January 5, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this actionable and myth-busting episode, the Mind Pump team cuts through the confusion surrounding how beginners should approach strength training. Drawing on decades of fitness industry experience, the hosts explain the science-backed benefits of resistance training, the evolving public and medical perspective, and provide concrete guidance on how to start—without burning out or getting caught in quick-result traps. Their tone is straightforward, motivating, and unapologetically honest, aiming to empower anyone new (or returning) to the gym with practical steps and realistic expectations.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Rise of Strength Training and Shifting Fitness Trends

• Longevity & Health Benefits:

  • Strength training isn’t just about aesthetics; research now shows it’s one of the most effective ways to improve longevity, lower disease risk, and maintain independence in later life. (03:32)
  • Sal: “If you want to live a long time and you want to be healthy for a long time, strength train.”

• Growing Medical Support:

  • Doctors like Dr. Gabrielle Lyon and mainstream medicine are increasingly recommending resistance training for long-term health.
  • Sal: “We now have the medical community promoting [strength training]. All the data is coming back showing that if you want to improve your longevity ... strength training is at the top.” (04:13)

• Distinction: “Using Weights” vs. “Actual Strength Training”

  • Many group classes use weights, but their circuit style mimics cardio, not true strength training.
  • True strength training focuses on building muscle and strength with straight sets and rest, not on endurance. (04:36)

Ozempic, Weight Loss Drugs, and the Importance of Muscle

• Ozempic’s Side Effects on Muscle Loss:

  • As GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic become more popular, so does the risk of significant muscle loss due to suppressed appetite and reduced calorie intake.
  • Sal: “Some of the studies … [show] 40% of the weight is muscle.” (07:08)

• Why Muscle Matters:

  • Loss of muscle undermines metabolism and longevity.
  • Sal: “Muscle is a longevity tissue, it’s a longevity organ.” (07:37)

• Doctors Now Recommend Strength Training for Ozempic Users:

  • Strength training is crucial to maintain muscle while on appetite-suppressing drugs. (08:11)

How Much Strength Training Is Enough? (And How Little Is Actually Needed)

• Don’t Overcommit:

  • Beginners (especially in January) tend to do too much too soon, leading to burnout and failure to sustain routines. (09:58)
  • Adam: “People often overcommit themselves to a plan that sets them up for failure.” (10:06)

• “Less Is More” Principle:

  • Two days per week of proper strength training yields 80% of all possible results; three days per week approaches 90%.
  • Sal: “Two days a week of strength training will get you 80% of all the results you can ever expect from strength training.” (11:37)

• Progress is Individual:

  • Adding more days doesn’t mean faster results; the body needs time to recover and adapt. (12:55)

• Muscle Soreness & Adaptation:

  • After time off (even for experienced lifters), expect much lower workloads to be tiring at first—progress is rapid with consistency.
  • Adam shares: “Three sets of 135 [lbs] and my hamstrings are sore for like three days ... even allowing yourself to progress up to those two full hour workouts is more ideal for people.” (13:35)

Warm-up & Priming for Effective, Safe Lifting

• Warm-up vs. Priming:

  • Priming is a more targeted approach than just loosely “getting warm”—it prepares joints and muscle firing patterns for quality movement and fewer injuries. (15:18)
  • Sal: “Priming is very specific. Priming gets my body to move in the right way so that when I do my strength training, my joints are moving optimally.” (15:19)

• Practical Priming Tips:

  • Wall Press for upper body and 90/90 for lower body are great general priming drills.
  • Adam: “If you were to give out two generic type of movements … those are two for sure.” (18:13)

Stability Ball: An Underrated Beginner’s Tool

• Benefits:

  • Forces better posture, core activation, and technique compared to traditional benches (especially for those new to training). (19:06)
  • Sal: “If you don’t have good posture and activation, you’ll fall off the ball … It just encourages better technique.” (19:07)

• Misunderstood but Useful:

  • While sometimes overused (e.g., standing on balls for circus tricks), as a bench replacement for dumbbell work, they’re highly effective for beginners. (20:19)

Tracking Progress: Strength Over the Scale

• Focus on Getting Stronger:

  • Increase in strength is the primary signal that your program is working. Physical changes lag behind strength gains—but will follow. (21:21)
  • Sal: “If you’re getting stronger, if you could lift more or do more reps, you are moving in the right direction and the visible effects of that will follow.” (22:12)

• Don’t Get Stuck on Rep Counts:

  • Too many people stay with the same (often too-light) weight because they’re fixated on a rep number from the program.
  • Adam: “Giving them the permission … it’s OK if you only get nine reps. Yes, it’s okay. Challenge yourself.” (23:41)

Daily Movement: Why Steps Matter

• Structured Strength Training is Not Every Day—But Movement Should Be:

  • Aim for 8,000 steps a day for general health.
  • Sal: “Just make sure you take 8,000 steps a day. The data shows 8,000 steps is where you’ll get most of the benefits you’ll get from movement.” (24:23)

• Cumulative Calorie Burn:

  • Day-to-day activity impacts calorie burn more than single gym sessions. (26:58)

• Coaching to Steps:

  • Tracking and gradually increasing steps is an easy, sustainable way to improve health and affect body composition, especially for those new to structured workouts. (27:40)

Fat Loss: Why Strength Training Beats Cardio Alone

• The Metabolic “Snowball” Effect:

  • Building muscle with strength training bumps up your metabolic rate, so fat loss eventually accelerates (as opposed to cardio-plus-dieting, which can hit “plateau hell”).
  • Sal: “Fat loss with strength training starts off slower but has a snowball effect … you end up in a place where you’re not working out a ton … and you’re just getting leaner and leaner.” (28:22)

• Motivation and Expectation Pitfall:

  • Many quit when the scale doesn’t budge immediately, not realizing they’re likely trading fat for lean muscle with no net weight change—but significant compositional improvement. (30:04)
  • Adam: “The next big hurdle you’ll have on this journey is … you could be doing all the right things … and the scale stays the same, yet you’re moving as fast towards your goal as you possibly can.” (30:04)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Sal:

  • “Strength training is a bit complicated. We’re going to break it down so you can do it the right way and get the best results.” (01:32)
  • “Traditional strength training is gaining a lot of popularity … We now have the medical community promoting it.” (04:14)
  • “More than the right amount [of training] gets you worse results … your body’s going to spend more time healing than it will adapting.” (11:13)
  • “If you’re getting stronger … you are moving in the right direction and the visible effects of that will follow.” (22:12)
  • “Just make sure you take 8,000 steps a day … Just walk. Make sure you walk throughout the day.” (24:23)
  • “Fat loss with strength training starts off slower but has a snowball effect.” (28:22)

• Adam:

  • “People often overcommit themselves to a plan that sets them up for failure.” (10:06)
  • “Three sets of 135 and my hamstrings are sore for like three days … just this reminder of how little I have to do.” (13:35)
  • “Giving them the permission … it’s OK if you only get nine reps … Challenge yourself … That’s one of the most common things.” (23:41)

• Justin:

  • “I think the tide, hopefully now people are understanding like muscle is a vital part of this whole process. The only way to really build and develop muscle is to strength train.” (05:17)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:32 | The benefits and recent popularity of strength training | | 04:14 | Medical community's endorsement and difference from other forms of exercise | | 05:17 | Ozempic, rapid weight loss, risk for muscle loss, and new emphasis on building muscle | | 11:13 | How much strength training is needed? The two and three days per week principle | | 13:35 | How “less is more” works in practice—even for former lifters returning after time off | | 15:18 | The value and method of priming versus traditional warm-ups | | 18:13 | Universal priming exercises: Wall press and 90/90 for upper and lower body | | 19:06 | Why stability balls are ideal for beginner strength trainers | | 21:21 | Measuring progress: Strength as your primary metric | | 24:23 | Daily movement, step goals, and the metabolic power of staying active | | 26:58 | Real client case: Movement outside the gym burning more calories than workouts | | 28:22 | How fat loss with strength training is unique: The “snowball” effect | | 30:04 | The hardest mental challenge: No scale movement, but real body change |

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Practical Beginner Takeaways

• You only need 2–3 days/week of structured strength training to see biggest benefits—add more only if you genuinely want to and can recover well.
• Prioritize getting incrementally stronger (adding weight, reps, or control)—not just finishing preset rep counts.
• Focus on good technique, not lifting as much as possible; use stability balls and priming exercises for better movement quality.
• Walking and general movement every day (8,000+ steps) is as important as gym workouts.
• Be patient: Early changes may not show on the scale even as you gain muscle and lose fat—the visible results will come if you persist.
• Use programs tailored for beginners (e.g., MAPS Starter) for safe, guided, and sustainable progress.

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This episode is a must-listen for anyone feeling lost about where or how to begin with strength training. The Mind Pump hosts are both supportive and realistic: their advice empowers beginners to keep it simple, effective, and sustainable—for life.

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Transcript

[A]

If you want to pump your body and expand your mind, there's only one place to go.

[B]

Mind Pump. Mind Pump.

[A]

With your hosts, Sal Destefano, Adam Schaefer and Justin Andrews, you just found the.

[B]

Most downloaded fitness, health and entertainment podcast. This is Mind Pump. Today's episode we talk about strength training as a beginner. How do you get started? By the way, we have a program designed to specifically for beginners who want to try strength training. It's called Maps Starter. And right now for this episode, it's half off. Go to mapsfitnessproducts.com, use the code newyear50 for that discount. Now, this episode is brought to you by one of our sponsors, Element. This is an electrolyte powder you can add to your water. No sugar or no artificial sweeteners. That's high enough in sodium to make a difference. Most electrolyte powders don't have enough sodium. This is a thousand milligrams per serving. What do you notice from it? Better pumps more energy, especially if you do whole foods diet or a low carb diet. Everybody, if you have a low carb diet, you need to add more sodium to your diet. Element is a great way to do it. Go to drinkelementte.com mindpump on that link. You'll get a free sample pack of their most popular drink. Mix flavors with any purchase. All right, all right, real quick.

[C]

If you love us like we love you, why not show it by rocking one of our shirts, hats, mugs or training gear over atmindpumps store.com I'm talking right now. Hit pause. Head on over to my pumpstore.com. that's it. Enjoy the rest of the show.

[B]

By now you probably know that strength training is an incredible way to exercise. The data proves it. It's a great way to burn body fat, of course, build muscle and strength, speed up the metabolism. It's also now been shown to be one of the most effective ways of exercise for longevity and health. You want to live a long time and you want to be healthy for a long time. Strength train. Here's the problem. It's a bit complicated. So what we're going to do in today's episode, we're going to talk about how to get started with strength training. If you haven't done it before or it's been a long time, we're going to break it down so you can do it the right way and get.

[D]

The best results before you get started. Maybe, maybe Doug can look up some numbers for us. It'd Be really cool to. Let's give a prediction on because we're. It's the new year right now. Right. So what does this year's like flow of traffic and people getting into fitness. Always January is, you know, everyone's coming back to New Year's res. It's always a top, top two New Year's resolution. And so do you guys predict the highest rate of people strength training than before? Like, what's your take on that?

[C]

It's gonna be an uptick a little bit, right?

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

After coming back from all the COVID stuff and the people getting back to the gyms, I feel like there's energy in that direction.

[B]

Yeah. Well, with the, the last few years. What's that magazine, is it Ursha? That. Yeah. They report like fitness trends and strength training for the last few years have been at the top, like traditional strength training. Whereas before it was, you know, other forms of exercise. Zumba, Pilates, yoga, whatever. Traditional strength training is gaining a lot of popularity. Part of that is because, well, it's taken time for people to really figure out that it's such an effective form of exercise. But the other reason I think this is the big one is we now have the medical community promoting it. All the data is coming back showing that if you want to improve your longevity, if you want to reduce your risk of dying, your risk of cancer, reduce your risk of breaking a bone or just frailty, strength training is at the top. When you consider the amount of time you need to commit to it versus the return, for sure, it's at the top. You actually. It requires little time to produce significant results in comparison to other forms of exercise. But you've had a lot of doctors now, like Dr. Gabrielle Lyon, who preaches strength training, and its popularity among women has exploded. And now what we're seeing is in people in older populations are really starting to adopt it. But it's different in the past because in the past people would say strength training, but it wasn't strength training. It was just using weights. And there's a difference. Right. You could use weights in a way that's not strength training like a, like a class or a circuit style workout. It's really more like cardio than it is strength training. Strength training is a very. Has a very. There's a. There's a very clear way to do it. It's typically straight sets with rest in between sets with the goal of building muscle and building strength. Not endurance, not stamina, although you'll gain some of those as a side effect. But it's literally a form of exercise that just the goal is let's get stronger, let's build muscle. And then all the downstream effects of that.

[C]

I wonder though too if like Ozempic and all that had a massive impact in terms of the messaging going forward from here too because it's not just about losing weight. And I think that's been stressed for so long. It's like you just gotta lose weight and everything, you know, your health markers and all this. It was not the case. People are finding they've. They lose the weight, they'll stall the plateau, they keep going and they're going to be in an unhealthy place. And. And so I think the, you know, the tide hopefully now people are understanding like muscles is of a vital part of this whole process. And the only way to really build and develop muscle is to strength train that.

[D]

Okay, I didn't even think about that, Justin. That you just brought that. Did I tell you this? I don't know if I told you this off air. I was hanging out with. I won't say the names, but old friends of ours that you go back to our early 20s and stuff, all like meathead guys. Not gym, not fitness guys. Like they're not personal trainers or didn't work in the gym industry but kind of meathead dudes lifted forever and stuff like that. And we always, all of us used to hang out in our 20s. There was five of them and their wives and we hadn't seen each other in like probably some of them like at 10 years. And we all got together and had a barbecue and everything like that. Getting caught up. Find out all five guys plus all five wives, all in Ozempic. Yeah. I was so blown away and the. Just the amount of people that are just getting on it just to lose weight as a. Or using it as a strategy. These are because we're. I'm not talking about anybody in this group is obese at all. Like most of them, you know, 15, maybe, maybe 20 pounds need to lose or like that. So it was really interesting for me to see somebody in my. Within my immediate circle like that that are going down this pathway and so that it makes me ask what you were just alluding to, Justin, is are we going to see. Are we going to see a rise in strength training or because of.

[B]

That's why.

[D]

Oh, you think it will.

[B]

That's a big part. Yeah. Because doctors are recommending it because GLP1's one of the main mechanisms that. Through which they work. Right. That make you Lose weight. One of the main mechanisms is they reduce your appetite significantly. So you drop your food intake and you're going to lose weight. But the way the body adapts to that is it pares muscle down because it tries to lower your metabolic rate to meet the new caloric intake. Right. So if you are eating low calories, you'll lose weight until your body learns how to burn those low calories and that's it. Then you'll stop losing weight, you'll plateau, and then you keep losing weight, you have to eat even less. Right. And so what they're finding in the Data with a GLP1 is what you would expect if you just ate less and didn't strength train. A significant percentage of the weight is muscle that they lose. So it's like 40% some of these studies of the weight is muscle. And so doctors are like, we got to stop this because number one, you'll lose weight, but you'll lose muscle, which isn't good because muscle is a longevity tissue. So it's a longevity organ. We know this. In fact, some of the best studies or best ways to predict all cause mortality are related to muscle. Their strength test, like a grip strength test, is one now that they're, that they're saying is a gold standard single test that will predict all cause mortality. It's connected to muscle. It's just, it's just how strong you are with your grip, which is a proxy for overall body strength. But if you lose muscle, the weight loss will plateau because your metabolism slows down and also you lose enough muscle that you're not in a better place.

[C]

No, now you're underweight, brittle and yeah, you're going to have all kinds of problems.

[B]

So they're recommending traditional strength training as a result. So it's just gaining popularity in that regard. But also just it's look, one or two days a week of strength training, proper strength training gets you a lot of results. It really does. Like if you want a bang for your buck form of exercise, strength training does it better than anything. It's not because it burns a lot of calories. This is where people will sometimes debate this. Well, an hour, once a week, or even two hours a week, twice, you know, one hour, once a week, twice a week.

[D]

Calories.

[B]

If you compare strength trains like running, it doesn't burn that many calories. So what are you talking about? How can this possibly produce great results? It's not the calorie burn, it's how it changes the body. It's the adaptations it adduces. And then those adaptations, what do those do for the rest, for your health and your body? As you build muscle, you speed up your metabolism, so your body learns to burn more calories on its own. You also improve insulin sensitivity. You also make your testosterone more effective because you increase androgen receptor density, meaning where your testosterone attaches to it has more places. Studies also show it can raise testosterone reliably, at least in comparison to other forms of exercise. It's great for skin, it's great for joint health. If done properly, it's the best mobility. I mean, lack of mobility is almost always a result of just either tightness, which is weakness or just weakness. So it's this great form of exercise. The challenge, however, is in the complexity. Right. So like riding a bike, basic swimming, basic, you know, do a class, listen to the instructor. Well, strength training is individualized and there's like a million and one exercises. How do I know how to do it right? Do I just go in there and beat myself up? So this is, this is typically the challenge.

[D]

Well, you, you bring up how much does, you know, do people need? I also think that this is one of the biggest mistakes in the new year that's made right here.

[B]

Yes.

[D]

Is many people will come out of the holidays and you know, enter into January New Year's resolution. Top two resolution, almost always. And highly motivated. Right. You feel amazing. Yeah. You did all the eating and the enjoying and the vacation. Okay. Now it's back to work and everything else going in my life. And it's now here's my New Year's resolution. And so people, people often over commit themselves to a plan that sets them up for failure. Not only is it and then, and I can't help but think during this time of like the introduction of these GLP1s, so you have people that are already eating less food. Right. And then you, in addition to that, they, they come off of a layoff because of the holidays and they're like, okay, time to, to turn it up. And they turn it up while simultaneously reducing these calories. And it really sets up you for failure. I mean maybe the, in the immediate week or two, you see weight loss, but eventually a hard plateau. And then this is where people get. I'd argue that this is one of the number one reasons why no one follows through on their resolution 100.

[B]

So, so the question, how much do I need? Well, number one, strength training needs to be appropriate for you. Okay. So if you're a beginner, you don't need much to get the body to move in the right direction. And anything beyond that doesn't get you to move there any faster. That's the most important part of what I'm about to say. It's not just that the right amount gets you great results. It's that more than the right amount gets you worse results. Now why is that? Because strength training is a stress on the body. It sends a signal that says we need more muscle, we need more strength. But part of sending that signal is the stress. And stress causes damage that you need to heal from and then adapt to. And if you're just getting started, you don't need much. And above and beyond that means you're gonna, your body's gonna spend more time healing than it will to adapting. And so you just get sore, you get beat up, you go back to the gym, but you don't ever really progress much. What strength training does is it causes measurable strength gains. This is how you know that it's really working and you don't need much. Here's what the data shows. Two days a week of strength training will get you 80% of all the results you can ever expect from strength training. So think of the best possible shape you could get from strength training. You'll get 80% of the way there with two days a week. Now that doesn't mean that your body, your workouts are going to change or are not going to change that two days a week you're not, that's, you're progressing by adding weight to the bar, getting stronger, making things a little harder, but you don't need to add more days for a long time. Three days a week gets you close to 90% of all the results that you would ever get from strength training. No other forms of exercise really produce this. That's good news for most people because most people, I mean, you know, having.

[C]

Daunting as you think it is, having.

[B]

You know, scheduled time to work out, the most we could ever really demand from people for the rest of our life is a couple days a week. This is my experience training people. Most people are not fitness fanatics. So let's. And again, the good news is that's plenty. That's going to get you great results.

[D]

I mean, I would argue it's, it's, it's more than enough, especially the beginning. I mean, I'm in the middle of, of, you know, I've been off now, this layoff, right? So after I went through all my stuff, it's, it's been, I think I'm coming up on 45 days, I'm back in the rhythm of things. And you know, I'm always reminded when and you're talking about it, this is like a 30 day layoff of not like six months or a year.

[B]

Been 10 years.

[D]

Yeah, yeah, it's like, it's, it's a, it's a slight layoff, but it's a layoff. Right. Of, of not hitting my protein consistently, not lifting consistently. So I'm back in, into that rhythm again. And I'm always just reminded of like how little I have to do. Even in those couple days that I go to the gym to elicit some sort of change. I mean, it just, I was, I was deadlifting. 135, you know, 135 is like what I would consider a non set or a warm up set in the past and three sets of that and my hamstrings are sore for like three days. And so it's just this reminder of like. And I know and it's hard because especially being a dude who's lifted a lot more weight than that on the bar, I'm lifting it, going like, I know I can lift way more than this. But I'm also reminding myself, yeah, but you haven't deadlifted it in a while. It's like.

[B]

And you're gonna progress.

[D]

Yeah, and I'm gonna progress. Like, it's like I'll. Next week I'll slap on another £10 or whatever. And then the weekend and then so reminding people that are getting back into the swing of things, not only is two to three days gonna get you 80% of the results, even allowing yourself to progress up to those like two full hour workouts or so is like okay. In fact, probably more ideal for people.

[B]

That's right. You brought up warming up. So let's talk a little bit about what this will kind of look like for people getting started. You want to have a smart priming session in the beginning of your strength training workout. And I use the word priming on purpose so we could call it a warmup. So everybody knows what warmup is, right? You go in and get the body warmed up. Helps prevent injury. But priming is a little different. Priming is very specific. Priming gets my body to move in the right way so that when I do my strength training, my joints are moving optimally.

[C]

Sequence of firing.

[B]

That's right. And this can be quite individual. So a good example would be I'm going to do let's say a barbell squat. More kind of an advanced Exercise. But let's just say that's where you're going to start. And let's say for me holding the bar on my back is difficult. I don't have the shoulder mobility. I can't really bring my shoulders back and get in that position. My priming is going to be to activate those muscles so that when I get under the bar to do my set right off the gates, I feel good response. Or let's say I have a little bit of knee pain or ankle pain or hip pain or back pain. My priming is going to target the areas that I need. So when I get into my workout, I get into my workout and I feel good and the reduction of injury is just the, that's the bar above and beyond that better connection, better results, better movement patterns. Essentially my sets are far more effective because I'm going in feeling great and my body's moving away.

[C]

It's just a smarter approach and it's just something that like we hope people evolve into this. And you know the warm up itself was always stressed us like ah, you know, like we kind of dismiss it but you know even just getting that blood flow does have some impact. But like to be specific and you know, think of those positions like you're going to be in through your workout and set yourself up and go through through those sequences and contract those muscles. Really feel your way through that just a little bit just to get them lit up and then get into your workout. Makes a massive difference.

[D]

I think the reason why people have been so ah, about the warm up is that because typically the warm up used to be this, you know, just aimless. Yeah, aimless jumping jack windmill, get on.

[B]

An elliptical which is a little better than nothing.

[D]

Yeah. Like just a little bit though. And I think that's why arms and, and I think that they're, you know, I know we've tried our best to like really communicate priming but I still think there's a lot, there's a, a lot there for us to continue to talk about because we still get it within our own community. I see it in our, in our private form sometime where someone will ask a question like hey, what are the best exercises for me to prime before I do a bench press?

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

And the answer to that is like it depends on the person. It depends on exactly what's going on with them. And it's not, it's not per exercise, it's per person. Yeah. That like the way the warm up.

[B]

Here'S what we're going to, here's what we're doing just so. Because if you're listening to this and you just want some good examples, I'll give you one for lower body and one for upper body. That generally works well for a lot of people. And we have free videos on this on our YouTube channel. A wall press is great.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

For upper body exercises. Most people need that kind of priming. And then in 90. 90 is a great way to prime, I would agree. For lower body exercises. And so we have free videos on that on our YouTube channel. We'll make sure we go wrong with those two. And you could do those and it, you know, it take you five minutes and then you get into your extra. It makes a big difference.

[D]

I totally agree with that. Because even though that's a general statement, I would argue that 90 plus percent of my clients would benefit from.

[B]

Would.

[D]

Would benefit from both.

[B]

Those are mine.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Those are the ones I benefit from the most.

[D]

Same thing. So I think if you were to give out two generic type of movements, one for lower body, one for upper body, that is probably going to benefit more. Most all people. Those are two for sure.

[B]

Totally. All right, let's talk a little bit about the stability ball. So I, you know, I've been in the space, all three of us have been in the space for a long time. So remember, we. Remember when they became a big thing.

[D]

Yes.

[B]

These are the yoga balls. Right. The big, big inflatable balls. And they went, people went crazy with them. They got so popular. People were doing everything with them which took them outside of what they were good for and then started applying them in areas that weren't necessary. But there's a lot of value with stability balls, especially for beginners. For beginners, I love stability balls because they require you to maintain good posture, maintain good technique. Keep your elbows under your hands, keep your shoulders in right alignment, because if you don't have good posture and activation, you'll fall off the ball.

[C]

Right.

[B]

A bench doesn't do this. Right. If I sit on a bench, I'm leaning on the bench, I'm using the bench. But if I have given examples, like just a traditional shoulder press, if I have someone sit on a bench with the backup, they're going to lean up on the bench and do the shoulder press. But if I have someone sit on a physio ball, well, you have to, like, balance, stabilize, activate my core. My elbow has to stay under my hand because if my hand goes in front of me, I'll roll back. And it just encourages better technique. So stability balls for Beginners are great. Like, this is what you should use for a lot of your bench exercises.

[C]

Especially anything laying down that you'd normally do on a bench. It's just, it's such a better way to train that even leg drive for bench.

[B]

Yes, like that.

[C]

Like if you can activate your legs and anchor yourself into the ground or like really use your glutes to kind of help support, you know, rigid body. Like, all of that contributes to the overall strength output. So it's like it too. It teaches you to be more stabilized, secure. And. And it, it translates so well to anything else.

[D]

Well, it addresses stability, balance and core. We just did an episode recently where you talked about the five ways for all cause mortality.

[B]

Yeah, the five tests.

[D]

Yeah, the five tests. And one of those is. Is balance.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

And so it was a staple. Go to. First thing that I use as a tool with almost all of my clients when we started a program is to address that, address core stability, posture. All those things are. Benefited from that. And so, and I agree with you, it's one of those tools that unfortunately got bastardized. And then we kind of like threw the baby without with the bathwater type of deal, where it was like, oh, this is stupid. People are balancing on it, on their feet and squatting and doing ridiculous stuff on it. So all of a sudden it became this tool that trainers talk shit about. And then unfortunately, then the general pop goes, oh, yeah, those things are dumb. I heard people talk about it. My trainer told me about how stupid those are. It's like, no, it's an incredible tool. It's just been used improperly for so long. But when I think back to a client who's getting started, especially in the beginning of the year, coming off a layoff or have never started before, stability ball is 100% in. In our training program.

[B]

It puts you in better position and better form. It just does. It just kind of forces it. So it's a great tool. The plus side of it is it's inexpensive, so it's way less expensive than a bench. So if you're just getting started, like, what do I do? Physio ball, dumbbells. Like, you're set. It's actually a better way to strength train when you first get started. Later on you could use benches. But when you're first, especially the first few months, stability ball is the way to go. The next thing to really understand about this is because people will say, well, how do I measure progress? Is it by the mirror? Is it by the scale? I mean, you can measure Progress with those. But the best way to measure progress is strength with strength training. I mean, I know it sounds funny, but you would be surprised at how many people don't even pay attention to this. They get started on a strength training program, they do it for six months and they've used the same weight the whole time. If you're getting stronger, if you could lift more or do more reps, you are moving in the right direction and the visible effects of that will follow. It's a trail. So what you first see is strength gains, strength gains, strength gains. Then the body starts to visibly change and follows that. If you continue over a three month period, if you're just getting started, do this right, you'll get stronger consistently for a while, but definitely for the first three months your body will look different so long as you continue to get stronger. That's the thing you should aim for.

[D]

I've been trying to communicate this with some of my family that are doing like an at home dumbbell type of routine and trying to wrap my brain around why this is, tends to be pretty common. One of the things I think I've narrowed it down to is for sure one, I don't think this is all encompassing, but I definitely think this is one of them, is that they'll open up like let's say a MAPS program and it'll say, you know, 10 or 12 or 15 reps it calls for. And so they choose a weight that they know that they can get to get to that many reps. And they're so hung up on getting to 12 reps or like that. And so they just choose a way that they, they feel confidently, they can always do that and hope in hoping and thinking that instead of challenging, instead of challenging themselves. And so the thing that I've always, I find myself communicating a lot, at least to family and friends, friends that are running like one of our programs. And they see that is giving them the permission of, hey, if last week you did that with the, you know, 15 pound weights and you know you're, you're back to that exercise again, maybe try 20 and it's okay if you only get nine reps. Yes, it's okay.

[B]

Challenge yourself.

[D]

Yes, exactly. Strength. Trying to get stronger is so important. And part of getting stronger is challenging yourself with, with the weight. It's more important than getting to the exact rep that you're programmed. And so I don't know about you guys, but that's something that I have found is really common. And it's like this light bulb Goes off, I'm like, oh, I thought I had to get to that totally 10 or 12. And so I was just worried that I wasn't sure if I could get there where it's like, yeah, go ahead and put 5 more pounds on or 10 more pounds on. And if you're. And the goal is to aim for 12 and you fall short and you get nine, that's okay. It's like, I'd rather you. You push the strength and do that than to pick a way that, you know you're always going to get 12 at. And I think that's one of the most common things.

[B]

Agreed? 100%. All right, so next is daily movement. We got to talk about this because for two reasons. One, if you're listening to this, you may be thinking to yourself, but I thought I needed to do something every day. The study shows, or the studies show that daily activity is really good for me. That is true. What we're talking about is structured strength training. A couple days a week, you're great. You know, three days a week, amazing. Daily activity is different. That's just movement. And the best thing for most people to track or measure or pay attention to is just your steps. Just make sure you take 8,000 steps a day. In fact, the data shows 8,000 steps is where you'll get pretty much most of the benefits you'll get from movement. So you're doing your strength training, and you're doing that, and you're like, okay, I want to do the activity part. Just walk. Make sure you walk throughout the day. It's easy. It doesn't require to change into workout clothes. You're not going to get hurt doing it, and you get so many benefits from doing it. So just walk. Just. Just move every times.

[C]

It's the real subtle things that, yeah, we always talk about, like, just parking a little further away, taking the stairs.

[D]

But, you know, adds up.

[C]

Yeah, it's just. It's. It's like not sitting, you know, for me, it's like really, like, just intentionally, you know, throughout the day. It's like when I normally just sit down, I have to relax or I get home, first thing I want is sit down, don't sit down. You know, extend that out for just a little bit longer, and you'll be surprised how many more steps.

[B]

And if you wear a step counter.

[D]

It'Ll tell you it makes such a huge impact. I know longtime listeners probably tired of hearing the story, but I just. I love sharing the stuff. That was massive epiphanies for us. Or changed the way we coached and trained. And we always talk about when this is long before oura ring and Fitbit and all that of the first ones ever invented was called a body bug. And this body bug was like the first, like, real accurate, you know, step counter and metabolism reader. Right? Like, it, it did a pretty good job. And so now all of a sudden I had, and I had all. I mean, I remember when it came out, I like really pushed all my clients to, to wear it so I could really pay attention to, you know, what, what their activity levels were and how, you know, how effective were our workouts and the, how unique every individual was. And one of the biggest takeaways I got from all that data that I was collecting with my clients was how impactful the days they weren't seeing me were. You know, when I'd have these clients that, because I could get on and I had access to all their profiles and, you know, I'd look and I'd be like, man, Sharon, what did you do on Saturday? Because we didn't train. Did you go to the gym? She's like, no, I just, you know, I went grocery shopping and then I cleaned house and I worked around the moving, you know.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

And it was, and it was the difference in the calorie burn, you know, in a day compared to a day where she went to work or did her normal thing and saw me. And even if she worked out, right. Working out with me was almost double. And it was, it was so mind blowing to me. And I know we, we, we don't like to teach the clients to chase calorie burn, but it, it blew me away that just being mindful of your activity level on that much could make a difference of a double the amount of calorie burn in a single day. It was this big aha moment to me where it's like, that's literally when I began, you know, coaching to steps. It like from that point on, I was like, oh, wow. I can significantly impact my clients by giving them step goals every day. And it doesn't feel like it's a, it's a huge reach for them or a big ask. Like, it's not like I'm asking them to go gym. It's like, hey, I track your week. You average, you know, 5, 000 steps a day on average. So our goal next week when we get going here is 7, 000 a day. So just, you know, take a look at it by the end of the night, if you're still out there. Go for a nice leisure walk for 20 or 30 minutes to make sure you get over that number. And let's just be consistent with that. And it was such an easy thing. And then the, the amount of total extra calorie burn that I got in the entire week was compounding totally. It made a huge difference in creating that caloric deficit that we're trying to create. And so huge fan of just teaching how to move more, which, speaking of.

[B]

Which, fat loss is what most people's goals are. So they hear us talk about building muscle, building strength. All right, what about fat loss? How does this connect to fat loss? Building muscle makes your body a more effective fat burning machine. It just does. But here's what fat loss looks like with strength training. It's different than when you try to burn body fat just by doing tons of cardio and cutting calories. It looks different. Fat loss with strength training starts off slower but has a snowball effect. So typically what people do is they want to lose weight, they lace up the running shoes and then they just start eating less. And they initially see this fast weight loss on the scale, a lot of it being muscle, a lot of the weight they lose is muscle. And then they plateau real hard. So they lose weight, plateau real hard. I got another £15 to go. Gosh, I better run more, I better eat less. And then they end up in this really unsyste sustainable place of eating very little, doing lots of exercise they don't like so much, and then they end up giving up. And this is what ends up happening with strength training. The muscle builds, as you get stronger, the metabolism starts to boost. You look different already because through that process, I mean, muscle shapes your body. You'll lose a little body fat in the process. But then as the metabolism kicks up, fat loss starts to come off your body with the faster metabolism and you end up in a place where you're not working out a ton of you're actually eating a good amount and you're just getting leaner and leaner and leaner. This is the plateau free way of burning body fat is by focusing on building the fat burning machinery, strength training. So although initially on the scale, you won't see a lot of weight come off initially, even though you'll start to look different, people will probably tell you you'll look different. The fat loss starts to happen as the metabolism boosts and it keeps happening without that plateau.

[D]

This may be the greatest mental challenge of this entire thing that we've been talking about. Highly motivated, you clean up the Diet. Maybe you even heard us talk a lot about go after your protein. Just hit your protein goals. Try and get stronger. Okay, check, check, check. I get all that stuff. The next big hurdle that you will have on this journey is a lot of times when you're doing all the right things, the. The progress, especially when you're measuring the scale and your goal is fat loss, is to see that happen right away. And. And you could be doing like, you could be hitting the protein intake, you could be walking like you're saying, you could be getting stronger. You have this perfect balance where you need to be, and the scale stays the same, yet you're moving as fast towards your goal as you possibly can. But because you have this beautiful exchange of. You build a pound or two of muscle, you lose a pound or two of fat, you build a pound. And at the end of, say, 30 or 45 days, it looks like no movement on the scale. And so clients get really discouraged that they're doing things the wrong way or this isn't working fast enough, when in reality they're moving really fast. They're in the go, what we call the Goldilocks zone, where they have this beautiful exchange of. Sometimes they're a little bit in a surplus and they build muscle because they're strength training the way they're supposed to. And then sometimes they're a bit in a calorie deficit because they're moving a lot like they're supposed to and they don't eat as much. And so then they see this fluctuation maybe on the scale of up and down, and a month goes by and they've. They've actually changed their body composition quite a bit. Bit. But the scale didn't move much and they get discouraged and they. And they quit.

[B]

You just stick to it because as that metabolism starts to kick up, the fat starts to come off your body and you're eating more than you ever have before when you've. When in previous times when you've lost weight. And this sets you up for sustainable, effective fat loss and a body that is sculpted, not just skinny. Look. We have a. A beginner program, actually have two great beginner programs. So if you want this all laid out for you, you're just getting started. We have two programs. One's called Map Starter. One's called Transform. They're both great beginner programs. Starter is one that you can do with dumbbells and just a physio ball. And they're great because you go in there, you click on the exercise, there's a video demo. It tells you what the exercises are, how to do them, how much weight to or how many reps you need to do, how many sets. It's basically all planned out for you. Both programs or, sorry, those programs plus others. We also have Maps, Anabolic and Performance which are more advanced, but Starter is a great beginner program. It's 50% off because of this episode. Because it's a new year, you can get it for half off and it gives you everything you need. Go to maps fitnessproducts.com, use the code newyear50 and that you get you 50% off. You can also find us on Instagram. It's mindpumpmedia. We'll see you there.

[A]

Thank you for listening to Mind Pump. If your goal is to build and shape your mind, dramatically improve your health and energy, and maximize your overall performance, check out our discounted RGB super [e-mail] the RGB Super Bundle includes Maps, Anabolic, Maps, Performance and Maps Aesthetic. Nine months of phased expert exercise programming designed by Sal, Adam and Justin to systematically transform the way your body looks, feels and progress performs with detailed workout blueprints and over 200 videos. The RGB Super Bundle is like having Sal, Adam and Justin as your own personal trainers, but at a fraction of the price. The RGB Super Bundle has a full 30 day money back guarantee and you can get it now. Plus other valuable free [e-mail] if you enjoy this show, please share the love by leaving us a five star rating and review on itunes and by introducing Mind Pump to your friends and family. We thank you for your support and until next time, this is mindpump.