Not Seeing Changes in a Build Phase? Macro and Lifting Q&A

Nikkiey: What's up, WarriorBabes? Hey, everybody. Nikkiey here, and welcome to our WarriorBabe Wednesday live Q&A time together. What's up, you guys? As you're joining in, let me know by commenting, saying, hey, what's up, or giving me the wave emoji.

As you're joining in and commenting, that pushes our video to the top of our community. The more comments we get, the more it pushes our video to the top of the Facebook group so that all the other WarriorBabes know how to join in to this live Q&A. They'll see it, they'll tap on it, and then they'll be able to join us in here. What's up, Heather? Hello, babe. If you're tuning in at a later date or time, then do the hashtag replay, and leave any questions you have that pertain to this live Q&A right here inside this thread so that Kate can come back and answer anything that was left after this Q&A was posted live.

What's up, Cheryl? Hey, babe. What's up, Shannon? What's up, Michelle? What's up, Emily? What's up, Marissa? What's up, WarriorBabes? She's saying hello to everybody. I am stoked to be here with you. I love coming live on Wednesdays and hanging out with you guys and answering any questions that you all have.

What's up, Narcissa? What's up, Valerie? What's up, everybody? We'll get started in a few seconds with this live Q&A. If you have questions, you can start commenting your questions below this video, and we'll kick it off in just a few minutes. But before we do, I want to give a huge welcome to all of our new WarriorBabes who have joined us this week. If you're new, give a little wave emoji or something to signify that you're new. Say, I'm new, this is my first live Q&A. That way I'm able to welcome you into this community.

I'm really good with names. Well, really good with seeing recurring names, like these babes who are saying hello. They're always active in here. And the more you're active in here, the more you're immersing yourself with WarriorBabe, the more I'll see your name popping up inside this group. So welcome, babes. You are all part of a community of thousands of women who are getting toned and becoming a stronger, more confident version of themselves.

You guys, WarriorBabe is where strong is the new sexy. So if you're new, oh my God, there's a bee. Okay, it went away. If you're new, welcome. I'm stoked that you're here. This community you're a part of is so inspiring, so motivating, and we're all in it together. We're all working towards a common goal of building a body, getting toned, and becoming stronger, more confident versions of ourselves.

It's so cool because we're all working at it together, and we all have a support system working towards that same goal. What's up, Nilda? Madeline, what's up, babe? Did anybody join in on Madeline and Mai's live workout today? Let me know in the comments if you joined in and how you're feeling. My glutes, I think it was from that superset we did with the fire hydrants and the glute abductions. My glutes are on fire right now. So let me know if you joined in on our live workout.

We do those live workouts every single Wednesday at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Next week we already have the muscle group we're going to be working, which is arms and abs. So mark your calendars. Every Wednesday we're going live at 1 p.m. Eastern on my IG or Madeline's. Sometimes we do it together. It depends on the weather and our time frames. But mark your calendars and join in. They're so much freaking fun.

Keisha, hey, girl. Keisha's new. What's up, babe? Awesome and loving it. So cool. Pamela, hey, girl. Shannon, yes, love the pace. Yes, guys. If you tune in on our live workouts, we keep our chitchat very minimal and just keep the intensity rolling, one superset after another. By the time you're transitioning into the next superset, that's like 30 seconds going by.

Michelle: oh my God, arms and abs, my two favorites. Yes. So we'll be hitting that next Wednesday, 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. If you have any questions that pertain to our Q&A, drop them in. Oh, okay, so you're going to ask me on the Blueprint Q&A. Cool. I love this accountability in here, how Cheryl's tagging a babe to make sure her questions get answered. Anyway, if you have questions that can be answered right now, we can dive into the Q&A in just a few seconds.

But one thing I do want to talk about: if you're new, Keisha, or any new WarriorBabe listening to this live Q&A, please make sure you're going through the WarriorBabe blast-off sequence. That blast-off sequence is made to transition you into this lifestyle. There are so many of you coming in who have done keto or low-carb or intermittent fasting or all these fucking fad programs, and either your metabolism is shot or you don't know the mindset tactics of developing a goal and developing new habits that set you up for long-term success and sustainability inside this program.

Those first 14 days inside the WarriorBabe Revolution are set up to transition you into this lifestyle, to set your foundation, to set the goals you want to accomplish. Write down your goals. What are your goals? Why do you want to accomplish them? Shit, asking yourself that should be able to fire you up on a daily basis to show up with your macros and show up for your workouts.

Your why should be something that motivates you and drives you to accomplish these goals. One of the main ones would be your kids, being a role model for your kids, or being a better partner or spouse or co-worker. That should be your why. Then you can think about it when you don't want to show up for your workouts. You ask, is this really a priority to me? Are my kids really a priority? Being a role model for them? Yes. So you'll dig into setting your goals, setting your whys, workouts, macros, everything in those first 14 days. It's just one video, one task to complete each day for the first 14 days, and it transitions you into this lifestyle.

Now, really quick, before we dive into the Q&A, I want to say this out loud to all you new WarriorBabes, or any veteran who's still doing this, though I highly doubt you are. Don't be the person who pops into our community asking a question that can easily be answered inside the application.

Myself, Kate and the veteran WarriorBabes are just going to tell you to go to that section of the application to learn for yourself how to navigate the app. Take the time to search in there. Play around. Click around. There's a whole navigational video on the Start Here section showing where to find everything inside the application. There are golden nuggets everywhere. If the question you're seeking can't be answered inside the app, go to your home screen and click Need Help. That takes you to the Frequently Asked Questions resource page, an entire platform we've built with common questions we've seen over time, with articles, pictures and descriptions answering the question you're looking for.

If the question can't be answered inside the app or the FAQs, then head to the Facebook group and tag Kate, who just said hello to all of you. She is our community manager, and she is absolutely amazing. She's inside our community two times a day answering questions, but you have to specifically tag her or she won't see them. She's in there providing support to answer any questions you have about your journey here.

She always tags the calls and the call structure, and she's making the workouts of the week inside the application now. So everybody, say what's up to Kate, because she's an amazing community support manager. The last place you should go to answer fitness or nutrition questions is support. You have so many other avenues. Support is the last stop. Don't go to support asking nutrition or fitness questions, because they're just there for technical support and membership support.

All right, let's kick off this Q&A, babes. Narcissa asks: Nikkiey, is it best to do 20 reps and lighter weights or 15 reps and heavier weights? You guys know how I feel about the weight. It doesn't really matter how much weight you're using. It comes down to the resistance you're creating on the muscle and the tension you're creating to get that mind-muscle connection.

What I can recommend, if you're still at home, is to do the 20 reps, keeping more time under tension, more tension on the muscle. You may find you need a slightly lighter weight to complete those 20 reps. Same goes for 15 reps: just find a weight that fulfills that rep range. The only difference between a 15 and a 20 rep range is more time under tension. Think about it. If you've got a superset with 20 reps and 20 reps, that's 40 reps right there.

That's a lot of freaking reps. So sometimes you'll find a superset with 20 reps and 12 reps, or 15 reps and 12 reps. You have to think about how those rep schemes come into play with the specific exercises you're doing. But typically, if you're doing 20 reps, you'll need a lighter weight to fulfill those 20 reps. If you're doing 15 reps, you'll find you can use a bit heavier weight.

Pamela: Getting ready to go on vacation in a few days. Helpful tips to keep my ass on track? I'm showing small gains and don't want to lose them. I'm taking protein powder, will be hitting a grocery store, and I'm taking my food scale. Any other ideas? That's already awesome. But what I can say, and this is something I explain inside the Blueprint, is allow yourself some grace while you're on vacation. I don't want you worrying about tracking your macros every single freaking day. Allow yourself some grace. Understand that you'll probably gain a little water weight.

Once you're back from vacation, you'll hit it hard with the macros you were using right before you left. That's pointer number one. Number two: if you're bringing this stuff and setting yourself up for success while you're away, and you're going to track your macros and hit the grocery store, my best recommendation is, again, allow some grace. Track your macros for the first portion of your day, up through your workouts, your pre-workout and post-workout, your snack and breakfast.

Then maybe at the end of the day, allow yourself to just enjoy your vacation, being aware of the food choices you're making but allowing yourself to have that meal. So you still have some structure to your day, and you make sure you're hitting your workouts wherever you're going. If it's nice, get outside. Track throughout the day, then allow that grace at the end of the day to have a meal, while paying attention and developing awareness around the meal you choose.

Ah, nice. Katie: the workout of the week kicked my ass today. I love it. That's awesome.

Shannon: I'm a skinny babe, 5'3", 120 pounds, and it's hard for me to gain weight. My macros are, I'm just going to round, 150 protein, 250 carbs and 45 fats. I follow my macros, but I'm still hungry throughout the day. Wow, that's dope. Do I need to eat more calories so I don't lose weight?

I do my cheat meal and it holds me over for like two days. I just want to make sure eating my macros is enough without watching my calories. Yes, absolutely. You don't need to worry about calories as long as you're hitting your macros 110%. Now, Shannon, watch your progress on a week-to-week basis. If you're maintaining your weight, that's great, because you can still change your body composition while your weight doesn't change. You'll notice in pictures that your body composition is changing and you're developing that muscle and that tone.

If you gain up to five pounds, I'm not even worried about that. So focus first on taking your photos. If you haven't taken them, take them, because they'll probably be your best indicator of progress. If you're still feeling hungry, go into the app, go into Transform, click WB Basics, then click on the printables at the top, and you'll find the refeed calculator. What I'd recommend for you, babe, is not only having that one cheat meal, but also

implementing a refeed, and seeing how your body does with that refeed too. So a cheat meal and a refeed each week, plus the macros you're eating, and it's so freaking amazing that your food intake is that high. That's great. That will help you build, because in order to build muscle, you have to eat food. And if your weight is maintaining, that means you just need more food. That would be my first go-to with what you're describing.

Michelle: I'm in my first week of maintenance macros, loving the food, but ready to lose the last bit of fat on my legs and abs now that I'm at my goal weight. Is it best to stay at maintenance a bit or go right into a build? Will that lean me out? Okay. As you gradually increase calories and eat more, understand, Michelle, that building muscle is a process. As fast as you want it to happen, it's not going to happen as fast as you want it to.

Building muscle is not an overnight process. Building muscle takes time. Shaping your body takes time. So if you're at your goal weight and maintaining that weight, I'd recommend the same thing I just recommended for Shannon: steadily, slowly increase your macronutrient numbers. If your body can maintain that amount of food, your body will absorb that food and help build the muscle you want and shape the body

you want to have. That's one thing I'd recommend. Slowly keep increasing your macros, as long as you're staying in a good weight range. If you gain five pounds, that's probably some fat and some muscle. You will gain fat in the process. Understand that. Now, you cannot spot reduce. But if you want to focus on your lower half, or on your shoulders or arms, let's say, for example, you're dominant in building muscle in your lower

half but you want to work on your upper body, then make a split with your workouts. This is something I teach inside the Blueprint, because it's more individualized to you. You can do one leg day a week, because your legs naturally grow, and then do a four-day split of upper body, meaning maybe two days of arms, one day of shoulders, and one day of back and chest. This is something I teach inside the Blueprint.

Obviously you won't get that in the Revolution, because the Revolution is an application where we update workouts for you on a monthly basis, which is hella great. But if you want something more individualized to you and your workouts, the Blueprint is probably your avenue, because you can talk to me on the calls. I told one of the babes last week, hey, I see your legs growing. You don't really need two leg days a week. Why don't you just do one and make the rest upper body to focus on building your shoulders?

And I'd recommend the same for you, Michelle. If you want to focus on building legs and toning and shaping them, do two leg days with another accessory day for glutes: one day quads, one day hams, and then maybe a shoulder and glute day or a chest and glute day, like we did today on the live workout. You can customize those workouts to you and your individual goals, and you'll be able to do that more inside the Blueprint. Guys, those are some bomb nuggets right there.

So if you're looking to do the same thing, that's what I'd recommend. If you're in maintenance and focusing on building and changing your body composition, you will do that by eating more food gradually over time. You will build muscle gradually over time. You're consistent, you're working out, you're doing your best, you're putting in the work. That just takes time. And the way to make it more individualized to you is the splits I was just talking about.

Valerie: Since I started the program, I've been doing five sets of 15. Is it okay to drop to four sets of 15? Yeah, absolutely. I know we're supposed to stay consistent week after week, but some days time is a factor. I just want to make sure I'm not confusing my body or being inconsistent. Yes, babe, absolutely. This is where I might recommend a higher set scheme for you, and I explain this inside the Blueprint. I've also explained it inside the Revolution, in your application. If you go to the workout section and read the ground rules, it's explained there. The only reason I say to do higher sets is, say

for me, for instance, my legs are pretty freaking big and my back is pretty freaking wide. To make sure that muscle group is getting an effective freaking workout, I'll sometimes up the set range to five, because it's more time under tension. I'm putting more work on my muscles in a five-set scheme. So sometimes, in my VIP programming, I may program somebody to do five sets on legs and only three or four sets on upper body, or vice versa.

So those are some ways you can really individualize this to yourself. Shannon, you're welcome, babe. Cheryl: hey there, better late than never. Yes, welcome, babe. Glad you're here.

Michelle: So go into a surplus? Michelle, I'm not too sure, and this is why I need to start keeping the Revolution Q&As just Revolution and the Blueprint just Blueprint. If you're only inside the Revolution, Michelle, and you bumped up to the Blueprint,

which I'd highly recommend given where you're at, you'd know exactly how to transition yourself and make macronutrient adjustments based on where you are. If you're in maintenance, you don't necessarily jump up into a surplus. You make an adjustment that gradually increases your overall caloric intake by around 200 or 300, with a specific macro breakdown for you. Then you see how your body adapts and adjusts to that. If you're doing pretty solid, holding at your body weight and measurements, nothing happening too fast,

not gaining too much weight, then you can bump it up again. A surplus is pretty individualized, because it depends on your overall caloric burn in your day. That's when you'd go into a surplus, if you go beyond that. I don't know what that is for you. I don't know what that is for Shannon, for Kate, for Valerie. It's so individualized. That's something I have you work out and understand inside the Blueprint, and the Blueprint is about to get even more beastly.

So if you want to bump up to the Blueprint, I'd highly recommend doing it now, because that program is about to get even more intense in terms of valuable information, so you understand exactly how to program something individualized for you and learn why you're programming it that way.

Pam: On the dip, should your hands always be at shoulder width apart? Is there a wide grip also?

No, I wouldn't go wide, because then you're putting more tension in specific areas that may cause injury. I'd just keep it at shoulder width, because that's more of a focus on your triceps. If you go out wide, you're bringing your shoulders into a weird stance.

Next question: I've been using the WB program for about six weeks now. I'm curvy, 5'3", 155. My macros are 103 carbs, 130 protein, 85 fats. I've been very consistent with both macros and workouts, and I'm not seeing any progress in weight or measurements. I have good muscle tone, as I've been working out a long time, but I have this layer of fat covering my muscles that I can't get rid of. It's so frustrating. Any recommendations on where to go from here? Yes, 110%. This is something I can explain for you curvy babes. The reason I recommend a lower calorie, lower carbohydrate intake for

you is because a lot of curvy babes are coming in from bad diet experiences. They've gained that weight from bad fad diets, which is not their fault; it's the fad diets you were all part of. You were losing the weight and then going back up to the weight you were trying to lose, and vice versa. You've just been on this roller coaster. And sometimes in that process, your body can become extremely resistant to carbohydrates,

extremely resistant. In that case, that's why I recommend keeping carbohydrates down. But for some individuals, exactly as you're sharing, you have muscle tone, you're not necessarily extremely overweight, you have that muscle tone structure and you just want to reveal it more and decrease the body fat around it. Oh, there's a bunny right there. Squirrel brain. Hi. How adorable.

Okay, squirrel brain. Anyway, with the body type you're describing, you may not have a resistance to carbohydrates. Your body may be doing really well and functioning really well using carbohydrates. If that's the case, and this is something I do inside the Blueprint, I literally have my calculator out all the time on these Blueprint calls, I would take down some of those fat grams and put them toward your carb grams.

Let's take you down to 65 grams of fats. Jesus Christ, never 65 grams of carbs. 65 grams of fats. You're taking away 20 grams of fat. That times nine is 180 calories. And 180 calories divided by four is 45. So you add 103 plus 45, and that's 148.

So I'd sit you at about 150 carbs, 130 protein, 65 fats. You're in the same caloric intake range; your distribution is just a little different. That's exactly what I would do, and it's something I talk about on the Blueprint Q&As: if something isn't working, how to adjust it and see how your body responds. So that's exactly what I'd recommend you do.

Does the Blueprint have different workouts than the Revolution? No. The Blueprint does not have different workouts. The Blueprint doesn't do monthly workouts. The Blueprint teaches you how to build your own, exactly as I'm explaining right now and as I was explaining for Michelle with the split differences: how to build out the hypertrophy side of things, and how to build a fat-burning workout program for yourself. The Blueprint does not update workouts. It teaches you how to build your own based on your unique body type and

your goals. And we do give you examples. There's one month of examples now, and to make it even more beastly, I plan on adding more examples so you can see the technique and style and build your own. Now, I get it. A lot of you are like, well, I don't want to build my own. If you want to make it unique to yourself, you're going to have to program it yourself, or you jump up to the VIP and we do it for you.

But in the Blueprint you'll learn exactly how to program your splits, muscle-building workouts, all that kind of stuff. That's what the Blueprint does, and it does so much more than workouts. You go into macros, and we're going to be adding tons more modules inside there.

Pamela: Does it matter how you weigh food, grams or ounces? So many recipes use grams or measurements. Those are the two ways I would do it. A couple of months ago, one of my team members brought this to my attention: when you measure with cups and stuff, you're not truly getting an accurate amount. You could be packing it in, and it could actually be more dense if you're packing it in. So the cup side of things isn't really 100% accurate.

But when you start measuring your shit in grams, that is an absolute freaking game changer. So what I recommend is grams and ounces. You'll probably find you're weighing your chicken, turkey, ground beef and things like that in ounces, and things like rice, oatmeal, peanut butter, jelly, yogurt, I'm trying to think what else I measure, in grams.

Anyway, grams and ounces is what you want to be using.

Melissa: Hey, Nikkiey, I'm currently in a build but feel like I'm only maintaining. How long should I wait before I increase food again? I've been in the build for about a month and haven't gained any weight and don't see any change in photos. I might do cardio once a week, but that's about it. I'm doing one cheat meal a week. I know muscle building takes time, so I wasn't sure if I should hang here a bit longer or add food.

I've been doing the WB at-home workouts with heavier weights. Current macros: 280, 170 and 85. Yeah, so I would probably add more carbs, Melissa. I'm not sure if you're inside the Blueprint, babe, but this is something you'd know exactly how to adjust using our macronutrient adjustment calculators. Can you guys tell? You wouldn't even have to ask me this or be on this Q&A. You could save time by going inside the Blueprint, going to the calculator, and adjusting this kind of stuff.

But yes, I would increase the carbohydrate intake. And understand, you guys, when you're in the building phase, you may not see a lot of changes because, A, you're looking at yourself on a daily basis, and B, the muscle you put on will be revealed once you go into a cut again. You may not be able to tell you're building muscle, but you most likely are building muscle underneath the fat on your body,

because you have to have body fat in order to build muscle. Sometimes you won't be able to see that kind of progress while you're actually in that phase, and it can get really daunting and really frustrating. I've been there, and I've heard it from thousands of other women. So know that this phase really comes down to the workouts, the eating, and making sure you're consistent. Because if you're doing that, you're putting on muscle, and that muscle will be revealed once you come back down into a cut.

You're welcome, babe. Jill, what's up? Yes, Melissa, just eat more sweet potatoes, it really helps. All right, you guys, keep it rolling. Who's got more questions for me?

Michelle: If you join VIP, do you get all the calculators and knowledge to build workouts that you do in the Blueprint? Or is it necessary to have both programs? In the VIP, we do it for you. In the Blueprint, you learn to do it yourself, so you don't need a coach forever. If you're somebody who just needs it done for you and you don't want to learn, then the VIP is what I'd recommend. But the Blueprint is more like, okay, I want to do this on my own. I want to know my body.

I want to put myself in control of my body for the rest of my life. Then I'd recommend the Blueprint. Jill says you all need to become VIPs, game changer. Yeah, the VIP is a close-knit community full of amazing women who are building relationships with each other. It's a very strong community, I'll say that.

And they're doing the work we're programming, because you have a personal coach to work with. Then you have the community, where you're on Zoom calls and support each other. My words can't even express the kind of Zoom calls I've been on, seeing the support coming from one another. It's amazing. So if you're looking for something more intimate and more accountable, having a coach and having women on the same journey as you

in a more intimate setting, that's the VIP. The Blueprint is like, okay, I want to learn, I want to do this myself, and I want to be able to check in. The check-ins hold you accountable on a weekly basis, because you have two check-ins with me every week inside that community, where you can talk to me in a Q&A.

Shannon: Why did you change the name from Alpha Females to WarriorBabes? Just curious. That's a great question. In 2018 we rebranded, and I had to rebrand because somebody else had that trademarked name, and I was on the verge of being in legal trouble for presenting a business as Alpha Female, which sucks. I'm still mad to this day because, A, that name is dope and I really loved it, and B, that chick ain't doing nothing with that name compared to what we would have been

doing with it. So that's why we had to rebrand to WarriorBabe. Jill: we cry, maybe just I cry. Oh, babe, it's all supportive measures though.

Michelle: So in the VIP, you don't learn how to do it or get the tools? In the VIP, you have your own app. We program your workouts. We program your macros.

We do your adjustments for you. You learn by coming to Q&As, asking questions, and having me provide that real-talk education on the Q&As. We also have coaches' huddles, where you meet with your individual coach, go through a Q&A there, and gain knowledge through those Q&As too. Cheryl: I'll be joining my first Zoom call tonight.

Yes, babe, welcome. I'm stoked for you to be up inside the VIP. I was watching your progress here in the Revolution while you were climbing up there. Super exciting. Melissa: I have the Macro Accelerator. Okay, awesome, babe. Next purchase will be the Blueprint. I love it. Shannon, I know. I know. It sucked. Alpha Female was getting ready to be really well known,

but now it's WarriorBabe. That name came to me when I was bawling my eyes out because Alpha Female was being taken. I had to rebrand everything, and that was a really, really hard time. I was bawling my eyes out in a Starbucks. Couldn't even contain myself. Yes, I do cry, you guys. And WarriorBabe just came to me. I was like, well, I'm a fucking warrior. I'm going to break through this. This is a learning thing. And I call everybody babe. I literally call everybody

babe. Everybody. I'm always like, what's up, babe? Hey, babe. So WarriorBabe just came to fruition.

Janet: What's up, babe? I'm back after a few months MIA. I had a lot going on in my life and work, but I'm back. I lost myself for a while and I started from scratch with macros. Good, smart move? Making sure that's what I should do. I keep telling myself I can do this. I can hear your voice in my head.

That's awesome, babe. Yes, start from scratch. Just rewrite your new journey. Don't even attach yourself to your old journey or the things you were doing before. Completely rewrite it and move forward. Shannon: got you in your feels. Thanks, babe. And Michelle, you're welcome. Shannon: Just know you're amazing, and everyone in WarriorBabe. I

now have a healthy relationship with food because of this group and your guidance. Awesome. I love reading that. It's because of you guys. I show up on a daily basis because of you guys. I wasn't going to just give up when I had to rebrand everything. You guys inspire me and motivate me to keep going, because so many more women need to hear about this, find that healthy relationship with food, and not look at this as a diet. Look at it as a lifestyle and embed the habits that create that lifestyle,

because macros are a skill that will serve you for the rest of your life. All right, you guys, on that note, I'm not getting any more questions, so it's a great way to end this Q&A. Shannon, you got me in the feels and you got me excited about this community. You all light me up. You all motivate me, so I hope I can do that for you in return. Keep showing up for yourself, keep moving on up with the goals you've got in mind for yourself.

Keep working on a daily basis. I promise you, compound effect. You're putting in the work now, and six months from now you'll be thankful for where you are in your journey. If you put things into practice right now, every single day leads up to the big goal. These small wins lead up to the big goal you're working towards. Jill, I am still... look, guys, see this notification on my phone? I'm ending on this.

This notification on my phone, there's a two, but there's really supposed to be a one there. That one is my order still being fulfilled to be mailed to me, the merchandise I ordered to test out the quality of our swag. It's still not fulfilled because the fulfillment system we're using is backed up due to COVID. So it's coming, guys. It's coming.

All right, I'm going to tune out of our live Q&A. Keep up the good work, keep showing up for yourself, and like I said, small wins over time lead up to your big win. Compound effect. Bye, everybody. Have a good rest of your evening.