Rep Ranges, Build Length and First Cut Tips for Women

Nikkiey: What's up? We're back. Hey, you guys. I hope that you can hear me now. Happy Wednesday. Here we are live for our Wednesday Q&A time together, and I am super excited to be here with you guys. Same thing happened last week, and it happened again. My audio was off, so I just fixed that, so you should be able to hear me now. Welcome. I'm stoked to be here to do this live Q&A to answer any questions that you have regarding my podcast, macros, mindset, any kind of tough love, realness, rawness, anything that you need to help you along your journey. That's what my Wednesday Q&As at this time, 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, are all about: any way that I can help you in your journey moving forward.

So we've got my Facebook followers here, and we've got my WarriorBabes here inside the community as well. So we're coming together. If you are not a WarriorBabe, you're going to be able to see how I jive, how I answer questions for my WarriorBabes in the community. You're going to hear our lingo. And if you are WarriorBabes, what's up? I'm super stoked to be here with you. I love coming here on Wednesday nights and kicking off this Q&A and answering any questions pertaining to macros, workouts, mindset, anything that's going to help you in your journey moving forward.

As you're tuning in, let me know that you're here. Comment in the comment box, give me a wave emoji, something so that I can see that you're tuning in. And the plus is, the more that you comment right now, the more this pushes the video to the top of our Facebook group community so that all the other WarriorBabes can see that we're live and hop in and hang out with us. And for those of you on my Facebook page who follow me, share this and comment, because the more you share it, it puts us on your feed and other women, maybe your friends who are into fitness too, can join in, hang out with us and gain some value and knowledge from this live Q&A.

Cool, I see tons of you saying what's up. Hi, Yana. What's up, Kate? Hi, babe. What's up, Melissa? Hello. Loud and clear, you can hear me. Awesome. Karen, I'm new to the group. Nice. Marisol, hey, Nikkiey. What's up, babe? Now, if you're tuning in after this is done live, remember to do the hashtag replay. Kate Holly, who you see there in the comments, is our community manager. She will come in and answer any questions that were left after this was done live. So please, if you're coming in afterward, do the hashtag replay and leave any questions that pertain to this Q&A in the thread, because we will come back and answer them.

So the way we operate on this Wednesday live Q&A: it's kind of like an ask me anything that pertains to fitness, workouts, macros, tough love, anything that you need for the journey you're embarking on, whether you're just starting, in the middle or advanced. I can cover all spectrums here for you. And what's really cool is WarriorBabe is a massive community, plus I have about 60,000 followers on Facebook. So with these Q&As we can all come together, and even though it's questions in the comment box, we're here supporting each other, providing value, providing knowledge, providing support, empowering everybody to be lifted up along their journey. That's what I'm about, and that's what WarriorBabe is all about. So start firing off your questions in the comment box, and I'll kick this off in a couple of minutes as I see more coming through.

What's up, Janet? What's up, Charity? Marisol, thank you for sending me stars. What's up, Arlene? Hola. Rebecca, Marie, what's up, babe? Tagging Cheryl, she's here. I love that. Siobhan, what's up? Danielle, thank you for sending me stars. You're already firing off with the questions. Awesome.

We'll get started in just a second, but first, you know at the beginning of my Q&As I've got to give a huge welcome to all of my new WarriorBabes. Our community is growing super fast, and it's so cool to see everybody who is joining this program and becoming a WarriorBabe. You are part of a community of thousands, soon to be 10,000, soon to be 20,000 babes on a journey to become a stronger, more confident version of themselves. And what's so inspiring with our community of thousands of women is that everybody knows everybody, and we're all supporting each other and lifting each other up. WarriorBabe is where strong is the new sexy. And it's not just about macros and workouts and giving you a diet plan. It's helping you get the mindset down pat, because the mindset is what's going to carry you through to sustainability, to something realistic and long-term, the longevity of your entire journey, something you can sustain two, three, five years to come. When you get this right, everything else will follow.

So welcome to all of the new babes. If you are not yet WarriorBabes, be sure to check out WarriorBabe.com. You can look at our programs, check out the reviews and look at the interviews I've done with some of the WarriorBabes. You can filter and find women your age who are part of the program and absolutely loving it.

I'm seeing some questions coming through already, so let's kick off this Q&A.

Jennifer asks: I was told if you're able to do more than eight reps in a set, you're not lifting heavy enough, and the ideal range is five to eight before failure to get the best results for muscle growth. Is this true?

If you check out my Instagram, babe, and go to the one where I'm in a red sports bra doing a shoulder press, I explain metabolic stress, and when and how to put yourself into metabolic stress. When your body is in metabolic stress, that's where you're going to stimulate growth. That's what matters most. So to answer your question, it's not that if you're lifting eight reps, you're not lifting heavy enough. What matters most is that you're finding a challenging weight that you can do for the prescribed sets and reps. If it's five reps, what's a challenging weight that's going to get you to that five-rep max? If you're doing eight, what's a challenging weight that's going to get you to eight? It's probably going to be lower than your five-rep weight, because you're doing more repetitions. You're putting more time under tension, more fatigue on the muscle, and you're getting into that metabolic stress, which I explain in that Instagram post.

So it's not that you're not lifting heavy enough. It's: are you lifting a challenging weight for you? Are you getting fatigued at the end of that set, at that eighth rep? Do you feel it's a challenge? Could you do more? If you could do more at the weight you're using for eight reps, then pick up a heavier weight. When you do five reps, you're going to be lifting heavy weight, but that's not going to be the same weight you lift for 15 to 20 reps. Completely different ball game, completely different methodologies with lifting lower reps versus higher reps, and the weight is going to be completely variable.

Danielle asks: How long do you recommend staying in build macros and cut macros?

This is a question I get in every single Q&A, and I know I've answered it. If you follow me on Instagram, there are tons of IGTV stories. There's also the YouTube channel with all of the broken-down Q&As; we take this Q&A I'm doing with you now and put it on YouTube. So how long do I recommend staying in a build specifically? You may not like this. It's not going to sound sexy, because everybody wants results like yesterday. But building muscle takes time. My recommended length of time to be in a build is no less than six months, and you can push it to a year, 18 months, maybe even two years, depending on how much muscle you need or want to put on your body.

So I don't recommend anything less than six months in a build, because it takes a good amount of time to put on muscle. Then, and this is case sensitive to you, when you feel like you've met your goal, you're seeing changes, you feel bigger, you look bigger, you feel stronger, it would be time to turn it around, start putting yourself into a deficit, start cutting your macros down and reveal the hard work you've put into that build.

Because I'll be honest with you, building and putting on lean muscle is a mindset. And it's not for everyone, because you will look fluffier. You will put on some body fat, but you're also putting on lean muscle in the process. And the hard work doesn't show until you come back down into a deficit and lose a little bit. I'm not talking about tons of weight, like 50-plus pounds. I'm talking about putting on some weight and then cutting back down, and you're going to preserve the muscle you've built. You're doing it the right way with your macros, and you're going to reveal the build and the muscle you've put on. You're going to show all your hard work. What we like to call it is unwrapping a Christmas present.

Melissa says: Hey, girl, getting ready to start my first cut on Monday. Any golden nuggets of info that are a must or super important for success? Thank you as always.

Yeah, babe, I've got a few for you. My number one golden nugget would be to be hella consistent. When you're in a cut, consistency is your biggest advantage. Staying on point every single day. That's my biggest rule of thumb for any type of transformation you want to have with your body: consistency.

Number two: when you feel those hunger pains and hunger cues, which you will have when you're cutting and going into a deficit, it's completely normal and completely natural. Drink more water. Now, Nikkiey, how much is enough water? A gallon of water, sometimes even pushing it to a gallon and a half. "Oh my God, Nikkiey, I'm not going to be able to sleep at night. I'm going to be up peeing every five minutes." I know, I get it. Stop drinking water at around 6 p.m., a decent amount of time before you go to bed, but make sure you're drinking that significant amount throughout the day. Sticking with number two still: the hypothalamus in your brain controls both your thirst and your hunger. So say you have a hunger cue. Are you really hungry? You can test that by downing lots of water and checking in with yourself 10 minutes later. "Ah, I was just thirsty." So that's my number two.

Number three: eat quality food, quality macros. Outside of your workouts, don't go for things like simple carbohydrates. Go for more complex ones: oatmeal, brown rice, sweet potatoes, wheat bread, wheat bagels. That's going to make you feel fuller longer. And make sure you have protein in every single one of your meals, distributed appropriately, because that's going to help curb cravings.

Those are my three tips for anybody transitioning into a cut. Consistency. When you feel the hunger cues, which you're going to feel, drink more water. And quality macros, quality food. None of the "I can fit Pop-Tarts into my macros." Sure, you can have that once in a while, but make sure you're getting quality macros: lean chicken, sweet potatoes, good complex carbohydrates, some fiber in there. That's going to make you feel satiated.

I love answering these questions, you guys. Anita says: Newish to lifting. When lifting, how many days do you do upper body and lower body? I'm trying to do cardio maybe two to three days per week, but I'm more curious about the lifting split, as that's where you burn more calories. Also, how long should a lifting session last?

For anybody starting off, I would typically do two lower body days, splitting your legs up: one quad-focused and one hamstring-focused. Then upper body could be back and biceps, chest and triceps, and shoulders. That would be a great split: back and biceps, shoulders, chest and triceps, and two days of legs. Don't put the two leg days back to back. Maybe this is what I would do: Monday, chest and triceps. Tuesday, shoulders. Wednesday, hammies. Thursday, back. Friday, legs, quads. Or put hammies on Tuesday to put a little more time between those two leg days. And the lifting sessions should be no more than about an hour for upper body, and maybe your lower body takes an hour and a half because it's a bigger muscle group.

Yana asks: Ever heard of warm lemon juice in the morning to kickstart your metabolism? What are your thoughts?

There are so many fancy things: apple cider vinegar, lemon juice. I've done it, I've tried it. I think if you can just stay consistent on a daily basis with your macros, your metabolism is going to jumpstart naturally and normally, without anything fancy. That's just my two cents.

Marisol says: I'm only in week two of my journey, but I'm having surgery in three weeks. I'm planning on sticking to upper body workouts, but no lower body and no cardio. Should I still cut my macros while I'm down and out?

Yeah, you probably should. I would probably recommend cutting anywhere from 25 to 50 grams of carbohydrates. If you're inside my programs, I mention this in section four about sustainability with macronutrients. If you're injured or having surgery, I talk about how to adjust your macronutrients inside the WarriorBabe Blueprint program. So if you're inside there, definitely check out that module so you know exactly what to do.

Lindsay asks: Is it wrong if I go over my macros?

The rule of thumb with macronutrients is that you want to be plus or minus five grams with your protein, fats and carbohydrates. Plus or minus five with protein, plus or minus five with carbohydrates and plus or minus five with fats. Say you go, just for easy math, 10 grams over in your fats. That's 100 calories right there. If you go 25 grams over in carbs, that's 100 calories right there. So keep that in mind: if you're going over in macros, you're going over in calories. Calories are macros. Everything you eat has calories, but the specific foods you eat have protein, carbohydrates and fats. So you don't want to go over. Keep to the rule of thumb of plus or minus five in each category.

Karen says: I do the workouts you recommend, but this is my first live. Nice, babe. Welcome, Karen, glad you're here. Every Wednesday, 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, I'm hanging out with you, answering any questions you've got.

Yana asks: Will you ever do your bonus workouts again? This question has come up a couple of times. Not sure; it's not on my radar right now. Madeline, that's funny you just put that message there. What's up, babe? Madeline and I were doing live workouts during COVID over the summer, but it's not on our radar right now. Plus, working out outside in the cold is just not our jam. But maybe we'll pull something together.

April says: I need tips on lightening cellulite on my legs and booty. I work out six days a week and eat clean. This damn cellulite sucks. I know it won't go away completely, but some improvement would be nice.

Honestly, babe, it's just about applying. Just keep going. Strength training will help. Now, eating clean and eating enough are two completely different things. You want to make sure you're eating enough of the right types of foods, which is going to help facilitate fat loss and bring more tone to the body. And guys, I have it too. I have a little bit on my butt back here. Just be okay with loving your body no matter what, but always know that you can do better. Don't beat yourself up. Don't put yourself in a negative mindset. Don't tear yourself down. Love your body for everything it does, because you've been given a body that's able to do all this. So love it for what it is and just do better. Keep working at it. Keep applying consistency. Keep showing up. Keep strength training. Make sure you're eating enough of the right types of foods to facilitate the goals you want to accomplish, whether that's toning or building muscle, because those are different strategies than just eating clean and eating healthy.

Angela asks: Once I finish building and go back to a cut, what would happen to my body if I kept doing the build workouts but went to cut calories? I just love the build workouts that much.

The methodology behind these two kinds of workouts is that the strength and build workouts will make you a little bit bulkier. You're putting on muscle, and you're going to keep that muscle. When you're doing the tone and shape, the cut workouts I provide, you're getting your body into a different zone with your heart rate. You're putting more time under tension and going with higher reps, so you're entering into more metabolic stress. So they serve different purposes. You could start your cut and stay with the build workouts, but as you go into a calorie deficit and keep going lower to get the results you want, you're going to want to do the burn workouts, the cut workouts I have, because you won't have as much strength as you do in the build when you're eating in a surplus. I do agree, building phases are the bomb. They're so much fun. Madeline is killing hers right now. But it's a different ballpark doing the build workouts versus the burn and tone and shape ones.

Alicia asks: If you want to build muscle and also need to lose fat, do you suggest going into a build phase first or shedding fat first?

Honestly, it depends. If you have a significant amount of fat to lose first, I would focus on doing a cut and shedding that fat, then reversing your way up, being happy with where you are with your body, and then transitioning into putting on more lean muscle. If you don't have a lot of fat to lose, you can sit in maintenance and then slowly work yourself up into a surplus and focus on changing your body composition.

Now let me tell you, when you're focusing on that and you're in maintenance, you won't see a lot of movement on the scale, but you will see drastic changes starting to happen with your body composition. That's why pictures are so important. At any stage of your journey, pictures are so important, because the scale doesn't tell you the big picture, especially when you're focusing on fat loss. Weight loss is different; fat loss is what we're talking about here. So it depends; it's case sensitive. You can absolutely sit in maintenance and focus on eating a little bit of a surplus, eating more calories, more food, which is going to help you build muscle. And when you're putting on that muscle, your body fat can decrease. That's where you're going to see the body composition change. You're putting on dense muscle, and this is where your body weight may stay close to the same, if not drop just a little bit.

Tracy asks: Is doing your build, doing your muscle program, going to hurt a type 2 diabetic's sugars?

No, it shouldn't, as long as you've got fuel in you and you're eating right. For type 2 diabetics, and even type 1, it's really more the nutrition side.

Melissa says: You seriously rock. That was exactly what I was looking to hear. Thanks, babe. You're so welcome. Those are the three tips. Am I super behind? Oh no, we're good.

Cynthia asks: Macros for weight loss?

Join WarriorBabe. It's so case sensitive, I can't answer that question. There's so much more that goes into it than just saying, "Hey, Cynthia, here are your macros, start following these and you're going to lose weight." That's why WarriorBabe is what it is. We prescribe this for you, and then there's hands-on support making sure these macros are working for you. If not, we adjust, and all that jazz. It goes way beyond just saying, "Here you go."

Next question: I have a hard time getting my lats to engage. Any suggestions? I find it very hard to gain any traction with that muscle group because I overcompensate with my arms and upper back.

Yeah, girl, I totally know what you're talking about. When I first started working out, I didn't even know what lats were. I didn't even know they were part of our back. I would do lat pulldowns, pulling all the way down, and I'm like, I don't feel anything. So here are a couple of things I can recommend. Number one, go to a lat pulldown and just start doing the motion with no weight, just to get the motion into place so you can start feeling your muscles engage. Then slowly add a little more weight and feel the activation of your muscles. The lower the weight, the more emphasis you can put on the muscles that need to be engaged in your lats. If you're overcompensating, you're probably lifting too heavy, so your biceps and upper back come into play and your lats are completely out of play.

Number two is something I recently learned from my chiropractor, because I'm extremely trap dominant and sometimes my lats don't always engage. If you have your significant other, a friend or your child, have them pull your index fingers while you try not to let them pull you; you pull back. You're going to feel your traps engage. Then ask them to pull your pinkies, and you're going to engage your lats. So when you go into lifting, hold whatever bar you're using, but release your index fingers and pull with your pinkies, and you're going to activate your lats. Hands down. Give it a try.

Marisol says: Yeah, I already watched it twice, although I just wanted to make sure I should still cut since I was still going to be doing upper body. Got it. Yep. Thank you, babe. Good luck with surgery as well.

Kate asks: What training do you recommend when I have a knee injury? And another funny little question: are you ticklish? If so, where? Oh God, that's so weird. I'm just going to answer the knee one. I would just do upper body stuff and let your knee chill and relax. No need to do more if you're injured.

Yana asks: Superman, where are we supposed to feel this? You're supposed to feel it in your lower back, right here.

Sherry says: First time increasing my calorie intake. I want to gain more lean mass. I'm hypothyroid and afraid of gaining fat. I'm certified in nutrition and PT, but taking my own advice is so hard.

Let's go. I know. It's just like when I was a nurse: we're the worst patients. For me personally, I just recently broke up with my coach, but I had a coach for the longest time because I just wanted somebody to tell me what to do, so I didn't have to think about it or overthink it. And it worked wonders. So sometimes it's good to open up and allow yourself to hire somebody so you don't have to think about it. Now I'm in control of everything, which I actually feel really good about, but it took me a couple of years to be okay with doing things myself, for myself. I'm so much better at doing it for everybody else. But that's awesome, babe. You've got it. Trust yourself and put in the work, and if things aren't working, adjust some things, or check out WarriorBabe if you're not already in it. If you are, hop on a Q&A; we've got one in 27 minutes and we can chat more.

Tracy, thank you, you're awesome. Becky, thank you for sending me those stars. I appreciate it. Cynthia says: Thank you, I need to learn more. Yeah, babe, if you're not already inside WarriorBabe, check out WarriorBabe.com. You can see our programs, check out reviews from other WarriorBabes and how they've enjoyed the program, and check out resources and videos where I talk more about this kind of information.

Someone says: I'm new, how do I join? WarriorBabe.com. I've got two programs. There's the Blueprint, which is more of an education-based program. It teaches you how to put yourself in control, understand macros and be in control of your body for the rest of your life. But there's also support. In about 26 minutes, I'm helping out with the Blueprint community and we go through Q&As where I'm actually able to talk to you and help you even more, back and forth, in a group setting. We do this four times per week. So you have a program that helps you get all set up, and what we're big about at WarriorBabe is an insane amount of support and value on the back end. Inside the program, you're going to learn how to do this all. You're going to have the workouts, your macros, and you'll learn tons along the way. And we have the four Q&As a week where you can chat with me or the coaches on the team, who will help you even more and make it more personalized for your journey. That's the Blueprint.

Then there's VIP, where you have a coaching team of eight coaches and it's more one-on-one. We do the programming for you. We set up your macros and your workout programs. You do an onboarding call where we dive into your history, what you need and your goals, and we set specific expectations. Then you check in with your coach weekly, giving them your progress and where your weight is. They make adjustments if needed and give you new workout programs monthly. You have a big community of women, and once a month you meet face to face with your coach outside the weekly check-ins to talk about progress, your journey and what needs to be put into place. That's VIP. Way more hands-on.

Low-key dying on the inside about the tickle comment. Right? Anyway, Stephanie, thank you for sending me stars. Yana, oh my God, me too. Janet, thank you for sending me stars, I appreciate it. Yeah, please don't ask again. That's so weird.

Cheryl, what's up, babe? "Support is insane." Janet says, "Awesome program, love it." I appreciate you guys. Don't just take it from my words. I'm biased because I created the program and we have tremendous team members and an amazing coaching division of eight coaches. Take it from the babes inside it. Take it from the reviews on the website. These women are loving it, they're getting results, and their results are sustainable and they can keep them because they know exactly what to do.

Crystal says: I started your free workouts last week. Holy cow, pretty sure my hamstrings were not aware they were muscles. All the other workouts went well and are totally awesome. Thank you. I love that. You're welcome, babe. That must have been an email that went out for the free workouts, because we have six-week programs and I think we're offering them for free right now to check out. But other than that, we don't have any free trials to get into the program. We learned that free means people don't take action. When you start paying for something, you're serious about it and you show up more, and that's what we're all about. We want to get you results, but we can't do it if it's free. You show up more when you put more money into it. Yana, thank you, babe.

Okay, cool, you guys. I'm going to close down this Q&A, as I have another one to hop on in 22 minutes with the Blueprint community. I get to speak with the community in a group setting so I can actually hear these babes back and forth, rather than just reading comments and doing my best to answer. But I still love hanging out with you on Wednesdays. Come here every Wednesday, 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, and ask me any questions you have pertaining to nutrition, macros, workouts, mindset and tough love. I'm not going to answer anything like whether I'm ticklish. But I will see you next time for this Q&A. Mark your calendar, set your alarms and show up here. I'll be here next Wednesday. I hope you all have an awesome week. Keep showing up for yourself. Do what you've got to do to get on track and get to where you want to be with your body and your goals. Bye, guys. Have a good one.