Too Old to Get Toned? Cheryl's Build and Cut Story at 60

Nikkiey: In this video, I'm going to uncover how one of our WarriorBabe clients went from this to this, and I'm going to break down the number one barrier I see within the fitness industry: women think they are too old to get toned.

Back in 2019 or around 2020, a star child came into the program. Her name was Cheryl, and she was 57 years old when she started. She came in doing things that were not really in alignment with building more muscle and being toned, which was the end result she wanted to get to. She was doing container-sized meals and no carbs, and she was not really incorporating an appropriate strength training routine.

The biggest thing was that, even at this age, she had the mentality of knowing that whatever she was doing needed to change, and she was willing to be coachable. Working together for three to four years now, she has completely transformed her entire body: building way more muscle mass than she had before, decreasing her body fat, and looking way more toned at 60 years old.

I'm going to dive into the structured approach we used with Cheryl, the things we did to get her to that result. Then we're going to talk about her consistency through all of the different phases we went through, and the mindset she had that enabled her to get the results she did.

I know we're only a couple of minutes into this video, but if you are a Cheryl and you feel like you are struggling with the same things, we are here for you. Definitely check out the links below this video, dive into warriorbabe.com and check out our VIP one-on-one coaching programs.

The structured approach that Cheryl and I implemented was, first and foremost, that she understood getting from where she was starting to where she wanted to be wasn't going to be a 12-week journey or a six-month journey. She understood that she was starting out skinny fat, without much muscle tone on her body. She wanted more muscle tone, and she knew that was a journey to go on. She accepted that it could take 18 months, a year, two years, three years to achieve that kind of goal. So out of the gate, she had the mental frame of: I'm here, and I'm here for the long haul.

She understood that there needed to be a phase of going through a cut, which is a deficit, a phase of going through a build and eating more food to give the muscle the food it needs to grow, and then going back into a cut to reveal the hard work she put in, moving through different phases in order to achieve her goal.

Let's dive into the detailed strategies Cheryl used along her journey to build way more muscle. As I already mentioned, she came in with the mentality of understanding, and being coachable to the fact, that if she wanted to get to that result, she had to eat more food and build more muscle.

So we kicked off her journey by going immediately into a build, meaning she was eating around 3,000 calories, and she gained about 20 pounds initially out of the gate. As a coach, that's super exciting to witness. But to a client, maybe not one with Cheryl's mentality, that could be very scary. Gaining 20 pounds out of the gate feels like you're going in the opposite direction. However, that 20 pounds isn't necessarily all fat. There was a lot of muscle being built in that process.

Then, moving out of the build, we went into a cut. And what was really cool is that she pretty much lost all of that weight, but along the way she held on to the muscle she had built. So she was already starting to show more of the muscular body composition she was hoping to accomplish.

After the first cut ended, she was satisfied, but she said, "Nikkiey, I want more. I want to build more muscle. I'm getting closer to where I want to be, but I'm not there yet." So we moved back into a second build, and this build was a little more tame. She didn't gain as much weight.

Some of the strategies I used with her training and workout routine were different from what we would have done in a cut. Her strength training was more focused on progressive overload and low repetitions, and we cut way back on her cardio so she could just focus on the muscle-building process. She was eating about 2,800 calories, and we spent a decent amount of time in that second build.

Then the coolest thing was when we finally moved out of the build and put her back into a cut. This is where we saw all of the phases compound into the most incredible result yet. She was honestly the same weight as when she started her first build, but she looked drastically different, because she had put on so much more muscle mass and decreased the body fat around it. It led to a completely different body composition.

Getting back to the strength training, Cheryl was training four to five days a week. She was doing a bro split, chest, back, legs, shoulders and arms, which then transitioned into a full body routine.

Along her journey, we also focused on testing her one-rep max, which helps me calculate exactly the weight she should be using for a squat, deadlift, shoulder press and bench press. Getting into that kind of data is really the most accurate way to know exactly what resistance needs to be placed on your body at the load you can handle. Being able to do that with her was a game changer, because I think it definitely amplified her ability to get the results she got.

Something else I want to touch on: a lot of women look at strength training and think that if they start lifting weights, they're going to get bulky. That is not going to happen unless you're eating a huge amount of food at a huge calorie surplus, or you have more testosterone in your body, like men do. So I want to completely debunk that myth. You will not get bulky by lifting weights.

Another common mental thing a lot of women will resonate with is that they just don't know how to build a strength training routine: what order to put the workouts in, which exercises to hit, and how to do it consistently and consecutively over time.

Now let's talk about the patience and consistency Cheryl implemented. This is something so important that, if you want to be like Cheryl, you have to understand it and apply it. Cheryl's level of patience is unmatched, but most importantly, so is the level of consistency she had throughout the program.

What has taken her three and a half years to accomplish is all due to the patience and consistency she implemented. Without that patience and consistency, it would have taken at least double or triple the time. It could have taken her upwards of nine to 14 or 15 years if she had been impatient, seeking results quickly out of the gate, wanting to see a 10-pound drop within two weeks, or being six months in and frustrated. Because you're frustrated, you may turn the corner and start eating all this food that sets you back for two weeks. A lot of people I see can't nail down the consistency, and that group will take double the time to get the results they want.

I want everyone to be like Cheryl and just accept: I'm signing up for this. I'm going to do this. So I need to put in the effort that is required of me to get to where I want to be. I'm going to be patient along the way, I'm going to trust the journey, and I'm going to stay consistent with what I'm told to do, because that's what's going to get me the result I want. That's exactly what Cheryl did, and that's why she was able to accomplish her goals in three and a half years.

So if you're listening to the end of this video and you find yourself where Cheryl may have been before she started her journey, and you want to be like Cheryl, I highly encourage you to get support, be held accountable and have a plan to follow. You can get that by joining WarriorBabe and getting into our VIP one-on-one coaching program. Everything I'm sharing with you will be put together for you and your unique needs to get you to the goals you want to accomplish. So check out the links in the description below.