Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - How Legion Coaching Helped Wendy Get Her Best Body Ever In Just 90 Days

Starting point is 00:00:00 I felt like if I could just have somebody to guide me where I could get over the hump where I may just quit, and then I could actually start to see the results, and the results themselves would create that motivation loop for me. And that's exactly what happened with your program and working with Jill. And I'm so, so happy that I did it. Hey, it's Mike from Muscle for Life and Legion Athletics. Welcome to another episode of the podcast. And this time around, I interview Wendy Dinkins, who is a recent graduate of my 90-day transformation coaching service, which helped her cut fat, gain muscle and strength, and significantly transform the shape of her body, which was something she was very surprised about in just a few months. Now, before finding her way to me and my work, she had been working out for years and she had tried many different things. Most

Starting point is 00:00:56 recently, she had spent nine months working with an in-person trainer only to see no real change in her body, which of course was incredibly frustrating and disappointing. And even more so at that point, she feared that maybe she would never have the type of body that she really wanted. Maybe she just didn't have the genetics or maybe, you know, she's 46 years old. So she thought maybe that was the problem. Maybe age was working against her hormones working against her or some other kind of boogeyman was in the way. Then though, she found my book for women, which is Thinner, Leaner, Stronger. She gave it a read and she liked what it had to say, even though she thought it was probably more true for maybe women in their twenties and thirties than women in their fort 40s, 50s and beyond. But she decided to

Starting point is 00:01:47 find out more about me. She learned about my coaching service and signed up, figuring that, hey, she might as well go all in. If she's going to try it all at this point, just go all in. And that doesn't mean she didn't have doubts though. She did have doubts after signing up. She was actually pretty sure that it wouldn't work because everything else she had done hadn't worked, but it also was very different than everything else she had done hadn't worked, but it also was very different than everything else she had done. So she decided to hang in there and just see how it goes, see how it pans out. And as you will hear in this interview, my team put together a custom diet and exercise program for her and her goals. And within the first three to four weeks,

Starting point is 00:02:22 she realized that she had made a very good decision because she was actually starting to see real changes in her body, the changes that she had been chasing for years really and she knew at that point that all she had to do to reach her ultimate goal was to just stick to the principles, stick to the program, keep showing up,

Starting point is 00:02:39 keep putting in the work, keep working with her coach and in this interview, Wendy is going to walk us through her whole story and she's gonna share the big lessons that she learned along the work, keep working with her coach. And in this interview, Wendy is going to walk us through her whole story and she's going to share the big lessons that she learned along the way, including how she overcame her initial reluctance to go to the scary side of the gym, the free weight section with all the smelly, sweaty, grunty guys. So if you are in the middle of your own transformation, then I think you're going to find this interview encouraging and motivating. This is where I would normally plug a sponsor to pay the bills, but I'm not big on promoting stuff that I don't personally use and believe in. So

Starting point is 00:03:16 instead, I'm just going to quickly tell you about something of mine, specifically my one-on-one coaching service. So the long story short here is this is the personal coaching service that I wish I had when I started in the gym many years ago. Every diet and training program that we create for clients is 100% custom. We provide daily workout logs and do weekly accountability calls. Our clients get priority email service and discounts on supplements, and the list goes on and on. Furthermore, my team and I have also worked with hundreds of people of all ages, circumstances, and needs and goals. So no matter how tricky you might think your situation is, I promise you we can figure out how to get you results. If I have piqued your interest and

Starting point is 00:04:06 you want to learn more, then head on over to www.muscleforlife.com forward slash coaching and schedule your free consultation call now. I'll tell you, there's usually a wait list and new slots fill up very quickly. So if you're interested at all, don't wait, go schedule your call now. Alrighty. That is enough shameless plugging for now, at least let's get to the show. Hey, Wendy, thanks for coming on the show. I appreciate it. My pleasure. All right. So let's start this conversation with a little background information on you. And can you just tell me and tell the listeners

Starting point is 00:04:46 where you were at before you started the coaching service, what you had also done previously, what had worked for you, what didn't work for you, and why you wanted some help? Yeah. So basically, I had decided that I wanted to get in shape. And it was probably like maybe the 12th time I decided I was going to get in shape. And it was probably like maybe the 12th time I decided I was going to get in shape. And this time I mean it. I had tried different stuff. I had done the bar method, worked with a personal trainer for like nine months at a gym. Wow. I know. How did that go? Not good. Not good, actually. I spent a lot of money and I really, I couldn't see any difference in my body at all. And each week it was something different.

Starting point is 00:05:29 I guess they call it muscle confusion. I felt like it was more like client confusion. And she had me doing like a lot of high reps with really light weights. I didn't see anything. And we never really talked about diet. And I think diet is a big component of getting. I don't know why that is. That's just so common with,

Starting point is 00:05:47 I mean, I see it in the gym that I go to now. I have not heard a single trainer say anything about diet once. And I, I just don't understand that at all. Yeah. Or, or I mean,

Starting point is 00:05:57 in the past, if they have spoken about diet again, I mean, I'm just as generalization obviously, but the vast majority of the time, it's something very kind of just vague. It's kind of like an eat clean kind of thing. Like, yeah, just, you know, eat, obviously, but the vast majority of the time, it's something very kind of just vague. It's kind of like an eat clean kind of thing. Like, yeah, just, you know, eat, don't eat sugar and just eat clean foods, whatever that means.

Starting point is 00:06:13 Right. Yeah. Get a little protein with your breakfast type thing. So yeah. So basically I probably was spending 600, $700 a month. I couldn't tell any difference in my body. And so, $600, $700 a month. I couldn't tell any difference in my body. And so I quit that. And then, you know, fast forward, probably like nine, 10 months. I was like, oh, I really, I need to do this. I need, you know, I just, I didn't feel good in my skin and the way I looked. And so I went to my local gym. It was a different one, actually, than where I was working out with a trainer. I didn't have a plan. I was basically just kind of bouncing around from machine to machine. And this girl walks in, and she looked amazing.

Starting point is 00:06:51 Like, I was like, I want to look like her. So she walks in, and she walks right by me and all the machines. And she goes over to the corner, and she starts warming up on the squat rack. And I just watched her. I was just kind of mesmerized, like, wow. And she put on the squat rack. And I just, I just watched her. I was just kind of mesmerized, like, wow. And she put on some big weights, like she had 45s on and she's doing squats and she wasn't big. Like she just looked great. And I thought, well, maybe I need to learn how to lift weight. So, so I leave the gym, I go home and I hop on Amazon and I start looking for

Starting point is 00:07:22 videos or books specifically about women and weightlifting. And I found your Amazon and I start looking for videos or books specifically about women and weightlifting. And I found your book. And I read it like a novel. It was really well written. And I was all super charged about it. And I was like, I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. And then I found out that you had the program, the 90-day program.

Starting point is 00:07:41 And I signed up right away like that night. I'm like, all right. I know myself. I need the accountability. And I didn't want to mess around. I just was like, I want somebody to guide me through this. I don't want to have to like figure anything out. Even though the book, you lay it out really, really well. I just, I felt like in the past, I, even though I thought maybe I knew what I needed to do in the past and I don't know, I mean, obviously I didn't do it. So that kind of spoke to my motivation level. And I felt like if I could just have somebody to guide me where I could get over the hump where I may just quit, and then I could actually start to

Starting point is 00:08:15 see the results and the results themselves would create that motivation loop for me. And that's, that's exactly what happened with your program and working with Jill. And I'm so, so happy that I did it. Yeah. I mean, that point of needing accountability, tell me more about that. Because I know that that is a big reason why people want to be coached. Even people that very much know what they're doing, but they still want to have someone to work with. How has that helped you?

Starting point is 00:08:44 Well, I think for me, and this actually probably will explain it the best. So like, you know, of course I, you know, I read the book. I'm really jazzed. I signed up for the program. I get connected with Jill, but the day before we actually were officially to start, I had so many doubts. Like I was, I was like, ah, I don't think this is going to work for me. I like to eat. What if I'm really hungry? You know, I'm 46 years old. This was really written for girls in their 20s and early 30s. Like all these doubts started going through my head. So I probably would have quit right then. But Jill, she was great. Basically, she just said, you know, trust the process. It will work for you. You know, I'm here. You know, we'll tweak things that we need to like this, you know, just trust it, it's going to work. And when she's saying that, I was like, you know, it's like

Starting point is 00:09:28 this piece kind of came over me. And, and then I think that was like the moment where I really was like, all right, I'm jumping in with both feet. And I really gave it 100% because I want I really wanted it to work. And at what point did you see like, oh, wait a minute, this is actually working? Like, how long in did it take for you just psychologically to be like, oh, wait a minute, this is actually working? Like how long in did it take for you just psychologically to be like, oh, wow, I was, I guess my doubts were, I guess I didn't need to worry. Look at this. Right. Well, so the interesting thing was I was not hungry. Probably like a couple of days and I was like, wait a second, I'm not hungry. And actually I felt I had more energy. So that

Starting point is 00:10:03 was like right off the bat. So I think for whatever reason I was, I probably, my blood sugar wasn't like staying like where it should. And I probably wasn't eating enough protein. So that was like immediate physically, like looking in the mirror, like probably three, four weeks. I was like, Whoa, you know, I've got some muscles popping here on my, you know, my arms and this. It happens very fast. It's so good to have somebody there to just because I knew every day I was checking in with her. I wanted to do like a good job for her and for me. Absolutely. Hey, quickly, before we carry on, if you are liking my podcast, would you please help spread the word about it? Because

Starting point is 00:10:46 no amount of marketing or advertising gimmicks can match the power of word of mouth. So if you are enjoying this episode and you think of someone else who might enjoy it as well, please do tell them about it. It really helps me. And if you are going to post about it on social media, definitely tag me so I can say thank you. You can find me on Instagram at muscle for life fitness, Twitter at muscle for life and Facebook at muscle for life fitness. And tell me a little bit about like, so how, what kind of program did you guys put to, or what was, what was put together for you? Um, actually don't have it here on the document or I would, or I would know that. Uh, so like how many, how many days a week were you training? Cause what I want to get at is I want to know, okay, so what did you set out to do in the beginning?

Starting point is 00:11:37 And then did you have to make changes along the way, both, I guess, on the diet and on the training side, did you run into obstacles in the gym or outside of the gym? And how did you get around them? Yeah, so basically, you know, in your book, you said five days is optimal, three to five days. So, you know, I'm like, all right, I'm going to do it five days. And I wasn't sure that I could do that because I was like, oh, that's a lot of time going to the gym. But I actually really look forward to going to the gym now. Like that's kind of my like meditation, so to speak. It was five days of training. Some of the days, you know, they're just really quick, you know, the body parts are different, like legs and butt is, you know, a little longer for me.

Starting point is 00:12:20 As far as obstacles, there was a couple exercises. I had like a shoulder injury, so I was like hesitant. I didn't want to like hurt that and I mean you know my knees I had like issues with my knees and so um so for the shoulder injury we just came up with some alternate exercises that would work to do shoulder exercises those work great I don't have any problems with that and ironically for the knee is like once I started squatting I don't have knee issues now like my body feels the best now than it has like in a really long time. I used to have to get a lot of massages because I, you know, everything kind of like was hurting and didn't feel good in my back. And now, you know, I don't need to do that. that can give you knee pain, like in the patellar tendon in particular, but, or if your hip flexors are too tight, that can pull on your back. Like if you don't have actually some form of arthritis, like there's nothing structurally wrong really with your knee. It could have been due to whatever

Starting point is 00:13:15 you were doing in the past. Like for example, a lot of people's lower body training and leg training tends to be a lot more quad dominant than hamstring dominant. And that alone can cause knee problems. And also having a weaker lower back because, you know, a lot of people don't, they don't deadlift or do good mornings or do really much of anything for their lower back muscles. So, simply having like stronger leg muscles, especially stronger hip muscles, but weaker lower back muscles like that can cause issues. So, you know, it's not surprising that by getting back to basics and kind of doing exercises that increase whole body strength more proportionately, as opposed to, you know, more isolating one particular muscle at the expense of another helped with that. Yes, I totally agree. I think that was exactly what

Starting point is 00:14:05 was happening. And on the diet side of things. So you mentioned that you like to eat and you're afraid of being too hungry. And that wasn't the case. So how did that play out? What kind of meal plan was put together for you? And how did it work? Did you make any changes along the way? Yeah, so Jill put together a meal plan for me that had me eating like much more frequently than I was. And it was a little bit more protein than what I was originally probably consuming. I probably was, I mean, really, I wasn't tracking it before, but my guess was I was probably pretty heavy on carbs, fat, then protein would have been the third one that I was consuming. So, this was a change for

Starting point is 00:14:43 me. But what I found is my cravings... What kind of proteins, by the way? Because what sources of protein did you like to eat? Because I just having experience working with a lot of women that yes, that go exactly from that a higher carb, higher fat, low or very low protein diet. Oftentimes, it's because they don't really like to eat a lot of meat. I wouldn't even say we have to get creative, but we just take that into account. Like, okay, so if we had, let's say we're just going to have one serving of maybe four ounces of chicken a day. But there are, of course, many other sources of good protein. It doesn't have to just be meat or it doesn't even have to just be animal products either. Right. Yeah. Actually, I do. I actually like eating meat.

Starting point is 00:15:23 I think I just was being lazy. And so, like, it's just, you know, I get hungry and I'd be like, oh, I'll just I actually like eating meat. I think I just was being lazy. And so like, it's just, you know, I get hungry and I'd be like, Oh, I'll just have like a bagel or so I wasn't really being very mindful with eating. So the stuff that I was eating on the program was chicken breast, I learned how to make really good tender chicken breast that was important. Turkey, fish, egg whites, I loved legumes, beans, occasionally tofu. As far as like changing it up, I really liked the cheat meal. I thought that was brilliant and was really helpful. What was your go-to? Actually, it was funny. I was pretty good even with my cheat meals. So like I would do like a

Starting point is 00:16:00 lobster roll. Of course, the bread had like kind of put that with butter in the fry pan or like trout, like a smoked trout salad on like bread. And I never like pretty, pretty tame, pretty tame. Yeah, I never completely went to the dark side. I didn't do like, you know, cheesy pizza or stuff like that. And did you find that you didn't really feel a desire to because you weren't generally hungry or didn't feel restricted in your day-to-day eating? Both. I was not hungry and the cravings really went away for me. This is like one of my things I used to do, which kind of sometimes grosses people out. But like I had this really strong like craving for, have you ever had Kerrygold butter? Do you know what that is? That's my wife's chosen. That's the the brand she likes Kerrygold unsalted oh my gosh so like I just think that's like tastes the best so sometimes I would

Starting point is 00:16:50 just like go in the fridge and just take off like pretty good not gigantic but definitely like we're talking probably like a tablespoon of butter and that I would just eat that so so that's you're the first person that I've ever known that likes to eat butter straight up my son might be he might he likes butter i've never seen him do it but that's something i could see him doing just because he likes butter and he's random oh yeah well you know and what i think was happening and i i kind of was like curious like why would i be craving butter and it was salted butter and i think it was a little bit of my adrenals and my blood sugar. So what I guess I'm getting at is once I got on the diet part of it that Jill created for me, I didn't

Starting point is 00:17:31 have those cravings anymore. I didn't like right now, like I'm talking about my, my past craving for butter, and I have no desire to run to the fridge right now. So so that was a good thing. Yeah. And also previously, your dietary fat intake may have been too low or all over the place, or maybe your saturated fat intake may have been too low. So, you know, there are other reasons why you might've been gravitating toward butter. Yeah. Who knows? And so you're going through the program and is there anything else just in terms of obstacles,

Starting point is 00:18:01 anything that maybe not even physiological, but psychological, or was it more or less kind of getting through the first few weeks and then seeing the results and being like, cool. So now this is, this is what I do now. Yeah. So like I, one of the things that was, I think hard for me, and I think it's hard for anybody starting something new is you just feel like, oh, I don't know what I'm doing. Like, I'm going to look like a doofus in the gym and people are going to know I'm a beginner. And, you know, and I started off like for my squats with just the bar. You know, there's all these accessory muscles that kind of come into play with some of these exercises. And some of those aren't strong enough yet. So like the bars like doesn't look really smooth and fluid as I'm doing my squats. And I'm very aware that maybe somebody's looking at me and, and you just get over that.

Starting point is 00:18:50 You just, I think the other thing was, is, you know, being back at the free weights, there are not a whole lot of women back there. I mean, there's definitely women, but I mean, the majority, 90% are guys. And I had this feeling like, you know, some guy was just going to come up to me and be like, woman, look, you're on my bench, you know, go get a mat, go get your Barbie weights and, you know, lay down over there and do your thing. Like, but you know, nobody did that. They were actually really nice. Like the guys were like, you know, can I help you with that? I'm like, no, I got it. You know, but, but yeah, it was just, you know, anytime you do something

Starting point is 00:19:21 new, there's a learning curve and sometimes you're outside your comfort zone. But I think just get over it. Yeah, you know, it's, again, I've heard that many times just speaking with and working with many women. And I totally understand. But the vast majority go through the same experience where one, they realize actually most people are more just staring at themselves more than anything else. It's pretty much their phones and themselves.

Starting point is 00:19:44 And that's 80% of their attention for their entire workouts. And then to that second point, you know, with how are the guys going to act if you're encroaching in their territory and find the same that it ranges from not having, you know, just no interaction, good or bad, to let me help you to let me hit on you is the more annoying. That's the, that's the, really the, I would say the only potential that could be annoying, but that's also easy to avoid by just avoiding eye contact. That's the key to that. You have your, you keep your headphones in, you avoid eye contact and it's very unlikely that you're going to be interrupted.

Starting point is 00:20:18 It still happens. A guy has to be bold. He has to be pretty bold to come up. Yeah. It's really, it is funny. Yeah. I have the head, you know, headphones on and you just kind of keep your head down, but actually it's either everybody's really nice. So it's not a problem. Yeah. And at what point did you start feeling like you, let's just say a little less self-conscious because yeah, in the beginning of anything, it kind of sucks to suck and you just, you

Starting point is 00:20:40 can just embrace it. I mean, of course it's just a matter of being like, yeah, I suck at this. I probably do look kind of, kind of silly, but so has everybody else. We've all been here. So whatever, who cares? I'm just going to do my thing. And then though, as you start to gain some proficiency, you just lose that thought altogether and it just becomes a part of your routine. How long was it within that first month or so? Yeah, definitely within the first month, it goes away pretty quickly. Probably like the first two weeks that you're very aware.

Starting point is 00:21:08 By that time, you've kind of gone through the routine twice. I really went back and I watched the videos and I was, I guess I'm a little anal. So I like, you know, had my husband videotape my form. Like I wanted to see like, okay, yeah, no, I'm doing this right. And this feels good. And each time I was in the gym, like I was getting stronger. Like that was, it kind of reminded me of kindergarten and the gold stars. Like I was getting gold star every time I went into the gym because the weights were going up, the reps were going up. And that was another kind of feedback, motivating feedback

Starting point is 00:21:37 loop. You know, this is working. Like last week, this was hard. This last rep was hard. And this week I crushed it. Yeah. That's again, I think the majority of the motivation, especially in the getting comes from that comes from results, comes to what you see in the mirror, comes from what you see in the gym. And then it becomes something like you said, where you're looking forward to your workouts every day, because you know that you're going to get that gold star. And to that point of working on camera, that's a very important point. And it's something that actually I'm going to make a note because I'm going to be working on third editions. I want to update bigger, leaner, stronger and thinner,

Starting point is 00:22:07 leaner, stronger. I mean, they're in really good, in really good shape, but I do, I do want to add some information and see if I can actually trim them down there a bit long. But that point of working on camera is a hugely beneficial with any sort of physical activity, actually, where there's a technical aspect to it, whether it's weightlifting or golf. I'm going to say that personally, because I've played a lot of golf and that was a huge part of building a good golf swing. I don't think it would have been possible if I didn't work on camera. Obviously a golf swing is more intricate than a squat, but I don't know if this was your experience, but what you generally find, especially in the beginning, and I would say probably on

Starting point is 00:22:44 your, on your squat overhead press, deadlift and bench press, kind of like your big movements, what you think you're doing when you're doing it is not what you're doing when you look on camera and you have to make some adjustments that actually feel weird at first, but are correct and adjustments that you probably wouldn't have otherwise made because it just would have felt weird. You, you know, you start out doing those movements, however you do them for whatever reason you're, it's your best attempt at duplicating what you see. But then when you see what you're doing, you're like, Oh yeah, that's, that's, uh, it's, it's okay, I guess. But you know, we make some big changes. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Cause I think like for the squat, like

Starting point is 00:23:22 am I parallel? Wait, Oh no, I didn't, you know, I didn't go to parallel. And I only know that after I'm looking at the video and then I can make, make the adjustment, but the video, like, so I use that pretty frequently in the beginning. Cause I wanted to make sure I wasn't creating like a bad habit. And then I like to just, you know, once a month, just check in and be like, Nope, that still looks good with the video. Yeah. That's smart too, because as you get stronger and you start pushing yourself, I'd say the likelihood of your form slipping a little bit goes up, especially when you're getting down to those last few reps and you're starting to get fatigued. And there's actually research on this that shows that

Starting point is 00:23:57 our perception of what we are doing with our body and with our limbs tends to become distorted as we get fatigued. So, it's just a good idea, yeah, to check in. And especially, again, on your bigger lifts and on your working sets and making sure that you're getting your last few reps because, you know, oftentimes what you'll find is your first, say the first half of your set will be very good. And then things can degrade from there to where maybe your last rep or two are not terrible, but you know, are not where you would want them to be. And so then that's like, I'd say the second phase of ingraining proper form is when it starts to get

Starting point is 00:24:36 hard. Yeah, it does. And I think for me, like my squats have continued to go up. I, there was like a two week period where they kind of stayed about the same, but like, and I still look forward to like day, but maybe not as much as I used to, because, you know, I basically I'm getting spanked each time I go in. Cause I'm really at like, I'm, you know, I'm adding the weight, like maybe, you know, five pounds every couple of weeks instead of five pounds every time I'm going in. Yeah. And it slows down as, as time goes on, you have to work harder, uh harder to continue making progress. But one of the motivating factors of that, even though is depending on where you want to go

Starting point is 00:25:12 with your physique, I would say for most women, if we're talking weightlifting in particular, it's probably maybe a year and a half or two years of steady work and they're pretty much where they want to be. And then it's a matter of, at least in terms of muscular development. And then it's a matter of just, um, getting down to the body fat percentage that they want, which again, in my experience seems to be somewhere around 18 to 20% is where most women seem to be happiest, not just with what they see in the mirror. Cause that's the point where you have abs, um, you have muscle definition in your arms, you have muscle definition in your legs, but you don't look jacked. You know what I mean? You look more athletic. And it's also, you still get to eat a fair amount of food. And especially if you stay active, as opposed to trying to be very lean.

Starting point is 00:25:57 So as a woman, if you're trying to maintain, let's say something like 14, 15%, you have to almost just be neurotic with your food intake. You're going to always be measuring everything. You're going to have to stay very active. You're going to not really probably want to go out to restaurants much. And you know, it's just, is that lifestyle? Yeah. It's just, there's a trade-off there. Like if you really like being shredded that much and you're willing to sacrifice all that, then that's fine. But I'd say also, I just don't generally recommend it because psychologically, I feel like that tends to lead to eating disorders and body dysmorphia. I wouldn't say more often than not, but it can become a slippery slope. So it's just all around better to take the athletic look and be happy and enjoy your life as opposed to, you know, living for

Starting point is 00:26:46 Instagram shots. Not even that you can't be on Instagram, you can look great on Instagram. But you know, it's just the bar is so high on social media, because you have so many people that are just kind of mentally ill about it. And then you have a lot of drug use as well. So it's easy, sometimes you can get into that trap where you're looking, you're like, Oh, shit, like, that'd be cool to look like that. But you don't realize really what that is going to entail. Yeah. And I mean, I guess everybody's got their own idea of what, what they want to look like, but that was never for me looking really that ripped. I like the softer curves with the athletic look and the muscles. Yeah. And so where do you go from here? So what's, what's your plan now?

Starting point is 00:27:31 Well, so I maintained after the program with Jill and then I decided that I wanted to do a bulk. And so I signed up for the continuation program and I'm working with her now. I'm only like two weeks into it. It's good. I felt like I told her again, I'm like, I, it feels so good. Cause I, I just know I'm in good hands and I don't have to like, not that I don't have to like think about it at all. I mean, I am thinking about it, but I don't, it's just, I know it's taken care of. So yeah, so she created a new, a new diet for me and I'm just still hitting it hard in the gym, trying to get my weights up and we'll see, you know, in a few months where I am. Nice. And are you, are you feeling the extra calories yet? Yeah, a little bit. It is a lot of food. I think it's totally doable, but I feel actually stronger

Starting point is 00:28:10 too. So we'll see. Yeah. That's what you should notice fairly quickly. Like within the first two or three weeks, your workouts should, uh, feel just a bit easier. Yeah. Well, let's say that was supposed to say this, the weights you've been working with should feel a bit easier. The workouts themselves actually might not feel easier because you are now progressing a little bit faster than you were previously. But you notice like, ooh, I have more energy and this was pretty heavy a few weeks ago and now it's not so heavy. Yeah, exactly. That's exactly what's happening. And so it's always interesting speaking to a woman that just because bulking tends to be more of a guy thing because a lot of women are afraid of gaining any fat.

Starting point is 00:28:46 Even though, of course, when you do it right, you don't have to gain very much fat. So, psychologically, where are you at in that? Are you just like, you just don't care about gaining fat? Or why did you choose to bulk? Well, I think what was such an amazing thing for me in the program, the 90-day program, was the shape of my body really changed. You know, I tried like dieting and cardio and yeah, I could get thinner and in my clothes people were like, oh, you lost weight. But I'd be like, oh gosh, I wouldn't want to be in a bathing suit in front of you because I kind of, I felt like I had a little bit of that skinny fat and like the shape

Starting point is 00:29:18 hadn't changed. So after the 90-day thing, I was like, wow, like my shape, it really, Mike was right in his book, you really can change the shape of your body. So and then I was just kind of looking at myself. And I was really pleased with what I was seeing. I still really am. I'm so glad I did it. But I was like, I wonder if where I could take this, like, what, you know, what could it look like? So I talked to Jill. And yeah, I was a little worried. I'm like, oh, I don't want to get fat. And, but then I was, you know, I thought about, I was like, it was so easy to drop the weight the first time around with the, in the 90 days. Like I know what I need to

Starting point is 00:29:55 do. And even if I like get chicken, I, you know, I've got Jill in my quarter to help me. So, and ideally, you know, we're, we're creating a diet that is going to give me a little bit of a surplus, but not crazy. I don't think I've put on like a lot of excess body fat at all. And I'm hoping just, and you won't, I mean, you'll, you'll notice, I would say you'll probably after the first month or so you'd be like, Oh, I guess I look a little bit softer. And that's kind of just how it's going to progress. Like every month, you'll be like, man, I look a little bit softer, but it doesn't get out of control unless you let it get out of control. Right. And that's where the pictures come in with, you know, once a month, I'm sending my

Starting point is 00:30:36 pictures to Jill. So, you know, she can also just make sure and we're doing the measurements. So, yeah. So, this is new and I'm going to see where it takes me. Yeah, it's great. And just for everybody listening, what she said, this is new and I'm going to see where it takes me. just really isn't that hard. Then you're just like, okay, who cares? Because you have a purpose for gaining a little bit of body fat, which is of course just gaining some muscle. So then it becomes even kind of fun where you're like, okay, cool. So for the next three, four, whatever, however many months, I'm going to be in a slight surplus and I'm going to have good workouts. And I mean, in general, you're just going to feel a little bit more energetic and you'll probably notice other beneficial changes more related to just because your hormone profile is generally at its best in terms of

Starting point is 00:31:30 in a dietary context, at least when you're in a slight surplus, just because you have, you know, your anabolic hormone profile in particular is kind of optimized. And then there are just downstream effects from there. So all around you can enjoy the process and then you get to see two or three months of cutting and you get to see now what did that get you and, and compare your pictures and compare your measurements. Right. Yeah. It's like unwrapping a present. Like, so, and I think, you got to wrap it first. And one of the things you were asking like challenges,

Starting point is 00:32:02 like another thing that came to mind is I have a tendency to be a little, you know, perfectionistic. And so, you know, in the past, like when I was just doing cardio and dieting, it felt like I was just on that hamster wheel. And like, you know, heaven forbid, I have a week where I don't want to do, you know, freaking cardio. Whereas with this, the perfectionistic tendencies kind of disappear because I'm like, all right, you know, I'm in the gym. I'm building that muscle. That muscle's there. It's not going away., all right, you know, I'm in the gym, I'm building that muscle, that muscle's there. It's not, it's not going away. So, okay, you know, I'm bulky. I'm going to add a little fat, but I'll just take it off. And then, you know, we'll see what we've got underneath. Absolutely. And when you know that you can lose fat and not muscle, cause that's also a common fear, um, which I understand because a

Starting point is 00:32:40 lot of people have experienced that even speaking to the skinny fat point that you made, where a lot of women have experienced that where sure you can lose weight, but if you go about it incorrectly, a fair amount of that weight is going to be from muscle. You can get to that where people, sure, you look a bit skinnier in your clothes, but you're just not happy with what you see in the mirror. And then you're stuck like, so what then? Am I just genetically fucked? Am I always going to have a body that I can't, I can't change how my body looks then. Is this it?

Starting point is 00:33:07 Yeah. It did feel like that. It was like the carrot at the end of the stick. It just wasn't fully attainable. That's how, you know, it felt up until this program. Totally. Okay, great. Well, I mean, that's everything I had on my list.

Starting point is 00:33:20 Is there anything else that you wanted to share with, uh, with me or with the listeners? Yeah, there was one thing I should just remember. So like a year ago, I did one of those DEXA scans for bone density, and it showed that I was actually starting to lose bone density. I was, I forgot the term. It's like the precursor to osteopenia, I think. I did another one, and I'm no longer in that state. So like, I would just really encourage all women, especially women who are older, lift heavy weights. Like do it for yourself, your self-esteem, but do it for your bones.

Starting point is 00:33:53 Like it really, it does reverse that. And it's pretty amazing. Yeah, it's a good point. Yeah, osteopenia is like, so you have sarcopenia, which is muscle waste and osteopenia being, or osteopenia being bone wasting. And just to that point, that of course makes sense because myself, I've looked at a few studies that show that's exactly what happens when you lift heavy weights is it makes stronger bones.

Starting point is 00:34:16 And that matters, like you said, it matters less to a 20-year-old person than to a 40-year-old person, but it matters less to you than it does does where it really is going to pay off is, you know, 30 years from now, you're not going to be falling down and breaking your hip. You're going to have strong bones. You're gonna have a strong body. Right. Love it. Thank you so much. And, oh, and one other quick thing. I was just thinking you had a quote in your book that really spoke to me. I'm probably not going to get it verbatim, but basically you said, you know,

Starting point is 00:34:42 in 90 days, when you look in the mirror, you're going to be like, I'm so glad I did this. Are you you going to say, I wish I had. And it was always the second one for me up until, until your program. So I really appreciate you and I appreciate Jill. And I'm really glad that you wrote that book and, and that you're doing this. So thank you. Absolutely. Thank you. I appreciate the support and I appreciate taking the time to do this. And if you, Mr. Or Mrs. Listener would like to follow in Wendy's footsteps and get on the fast track to building your best body ever, head over to muscleforlife.com. That's just muscle, F-O-R, life.com slash coaching and schedule your free consultation call today. Talk to my director of coaching, see if this program is a good fit for you. And if it is, then we would love to help you. So again,

Starting point is 00:35:30 head over to musclelife.com slash coaching, check it out, learn about the program. And if it sounds good to you, then schedule your free consultation call and let's go from there. Hey there, it is Mike again. I hope you enjoyed this episode and found it interesting and helpful. And if you did and don't mind doing me a favor and wanna help me make this the most popular health and fitness podcast on the internet, then please leave a quick review of it on iTunes

Starting point is 00:35:58 or wherever you're listening from. This not only convinces people that they should check the show out, it also increases its search visibility and thus helps more people find their way to me and learn how to build their best bodies ever too. And of course, if you want to be notified when the next episode goes live, then just subscribe to the podcast and you won't miss out on any of the new goodies. any of the new goodies. Lastly, if you didn't like something about the show, then definitely shoot me an email at mike at muscleforlife.com and share your thoughts on how you think it could be better. I read everything myself and I'm always looking for constructive feedback, so please do reach out. All right, that's it. Thanks again for listening to this episode,

Starting point is 00:36:39 and I hope to hear from you soon. And lastly, this episode is brought to you by me. Seriously though, I'm not big on promoting stuff that I don't personally use and believe in. So instead, I'm going to just quickly tell you about something of mine, specifically my one-on-one coaching service. So the long story short here is this is the personal coaching service that I wish I had when I started in the gym many years ago. Every diet and training program that we create for clients is 100% custom. We provide daily workout logs and do weekly accountability calls. Our clients get priority email service and discounts on supplements, and the list goes on and on. on supplements, and the list goes on and on. Furthermore, my team and I have also worked with hundreds of people of all ages, circumstances, and needs and goals. So no matter how tricky you

Starting point is 00:37:33 might think your situation is, I promise you we can figure out how to get you results. If I have piqued your interest and you want to learn more, then head on over to www.muscleforlife.com forward slash coaching and schedule your free consultation call now. I'll tell you, there's usually a wait list and new slots fill up very quickly. So if you're interested at all, don't wait, go schedule your call now.

Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - How Legion Coaching Helped Wendy Get Her Best Body Ever In Just 90 Days

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