3570: How Do I Know if I'm Sleep Deprived AND Fitness Myths Dispelled by Chalene Johnson on Strength Training

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[00:01:26] Except on Fridays. That's where I usually answer your questions. Now, today is Wednesday, and like I do every Wednesday, I'd like to share a little bit of inspiration with you, and I really like today's quote. The only bad workout is the one you didn't do. Anonymous. And today's quote actually applies really nicely to the second post I'm going to read to you. So, like I said earlier, I've got two posts instead of the usual one, and I do this when each of the articles is on the shorter side.

[00:01:54] So, with that, let's get right to today's two posts and start optimizing your life. How do I know if I'm sleep deprived? By Chalene Johnson of chalenejohnson.com I'd always heard that adults were supposed to get eight hours of sleep on average, but when it came to me actually getting sleep, it was a different story.

[00:02:20] Between work and family, it seemed like there just weren't enough hours in the day. I'd work during the day, then want to spend time with my family in the evenings, which meant late nights. And of course, I liked my early morning gym time, so the alarm would sound off at 5.30am, and I'd be slow and groggy, but I'd get up and do it all over again. It wasn't until I became more conscious of my health that I focused on my adult ADD.

[00:02:46] I'd always had trouble focusing without a routine or schedule, but I met a doctor who studied ADD in depth and had ways of diagnosing it, as well as setting up a treatment plan. I was on board and excited about what we might find. After brain scans and thorough testing, the results were severe adult ADD, and brain findings that looked like I'd been exposed to high levels of toxins.

[00:03:11] It turns out that my brain was actually altered in its appearance because of my chronic sleep deprivation. Chronic sleep deprivation is when your body, most specifically your brain, doesn't get enough sleep day after day, week after week. The brain gets rid of toxins while you sleep. It processes and stores everything like memories, thoughts, and feelings. The brain does all the organizing during the sleep cycle, kind of like a caregiver who cleans the house while the children sleep.

[00:03:39] But if you don't get enough sleep, those toxins build up. Mine had built up so much that my brain looked like it had been exposed to toxins similar to people who go through chemotherapy. With this information, I knew I had to change everything about my current routines and needed to start getting more quality sleep. But I loved my routines. I liked getting up early and hitting the gym, spending time during the day working, hanging out with my family and catching up, and spending late nights getting work wrapped up.

[00:04:09] With these results, I knew I had to be honest with myself about my sleep and the fact that I was only getting 4-5 hours at most, most nights. Now that's chronic sleep deprivation. I had been sacrificing sleep because that's how I thought successful people did it. Something had to be cut, and I chose to cut sleep. Looking at it now, it wasn't a smart move, and I had to change everything. Once the science was staring me in the face,

[00:04:36] I had to change everything to accommodate more sleep in my lifestyle. It hasn't been easy, but I've changed my routine so I can get more shut-eye. I stopped teaching a class at the gym. I still work and spend time with my family, but I get into bed much earlier, and remember that things can wait until tomorrow. Sleep has to be a priority if I want to live a full and healthy life. I'm glad I see that now, and with better sleep, have been feeling more alert and active throughout my day.

[00:05:08] Fitness Myths Dispelled by Chalene Johnson of ChaleneJohnson.com This fitness myth is so strongly held that I believe it is the reason why one of the most effective programs I've ever created never took off on TV, and that is Chalene Extreme. It's a program I developed around heavy strength training. Now, I didn't mention the name so you would go out and buy it. I just want to tell you that this program was created with a ton of support from science,

[00:05:37] and the results that people have from this program were, like, jaw-dropping. So, it's a good thing. Astonishing. Not true. So, the fitness myth is that when you lift weights, you'll bulk up. In particular, this myth is strongly held by many who identify as female. Now, I know that this myth is erroneous. I know that by lifting heavy weights, I've been able to completely transform my body. It's how I've been able to keep my body fat lower, and to make working out much easier.

[00:06:05] I don't always have to be doing cardio. I can burn more calories by putting what I call that secret weapon in my body, which is muscle. Muscle is like the fountain of youth. It allows us to naturally generate human growth hormone. Muscle helps us to move and gives us shape. It gives us a lift. However, it is a very strongly held myth that you're going to bulk up if you lift heavy. You would be shocked how heavy I lift. I lift as heavy as I possibly can,

[00:06:34] and when I say that, I try to select the weight that I'm going to fail, meaning I can't lift it, after 8 to 15 reps, depending on what periodization I'm in. What those that identify as female mistakenly think. Bulky fitness myth. But for many that identify as female, they believe that if they lift heavy, it's going to bulk them up or make them look manly. Unfortunately, those fears are perpetuated by the stuff that's in the media.

[00:07:01] I'll never forget the year I created Chalene Extreme. Mariah Carey had gone on Oprah and was showing Oprah how she toned her arms, and she was showing her the exercise that she did. I was like, oh no, oh no. Now millions of people are going to believe that's really going to tone your arms. She lifted her arms out to the side, and then twisted her hands side to side as if turning doorknobs. Oh my goodness, this is how stuff gets perpetuated.

[00:07:30] That's not what gave her toned arms. That doesn't build any muscle. It doesn't do anything, except waste time. Sorry, hashtag not sorry. Hormones. Those born female can't bulk up because they don't have the muscle building hormone at the level that those born male do. And of course, the muscle building hormone that I'm talking about is testosterone. Yes, we all have testosterone, and some have lower testosterone, while others have higher testosterone.

[00:07:59] Those with a higher testosterone level build muscle easier, whether they identify as male or female. Those with a lower testosterone level may have a very difficult time putting on muscle. But you see, the cool thing about muscle is this. It's gradual. It always cracks me up that people are like, oh, I took that class, and now I'm afraid I'm going to bulk up. Really? Really? Like you think you're going to wake up the next day and go, oh no, my biceps are huge. How did this happen? I have huge biceps. It just doesn't happen that way.

[00:08:29] I love the size of my shoulders and roundness of my booty. Maybe I want it a little higher, so I'm going to continue to lift and lift heavier until the muscle lifts that booty up the way I want it to look. But it's gradual. I wish it wasn't. I wish I could just go really hard for a week and wake up the next week and go, whew, look at all those muscles. But it's super gradual. So you need to lift weights in order to reduce body fat, in order to have a higher calorie burn while your body is at rest,

[00:08:57] and in order to look younger and to feel stronger. So no more twisting light bulbs in the air to tone your arms. You just listened to the posts titled, How Do I Know If I'm Sleep Deprived? and Fitness Myths Dispelled, both by Chalene Johnson of chalenejohnson.com. And I'll be right back with my commentary. Pink Pantheress here. Coach and Spotify are teaming up to bring music and style together,

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[00:10:21] I'll spend this time talking about Chalene's second article, The Myth of Getting Too Bulky by Lifting Weights. Look, if this myth was true, that weightlifting or resistance training regularly made people too bulky or too muscular, we would probably have fitness classes all about how to decrease muscle. If building too much muscle was really a problem, there would likely be someone trying to sell a product all about how to decrease your bulky muscles. But the truth is, being too bulky isn't the problem.

[00:10:50] The opposite is true. We actually lose muscle as we age. Oh, and getting too muscular takes a lot of work. I'll repeat, a lot of work. Think about how insulting it would be to walk up to someone that looks to be in great shape. Think six-pack abs, shoulders that look like boulders, and so on. And say to them, So, getting that impressive physique didn't take you that long, right?

[00:11:16] I mean, it's easy to bulk up, so I should be able to achieve that in no time. How crazy does that sound? And again, how insulted would that person be? They probably spent hours, weeks, months, years of their life trying to get into that shape. I think I've made my point. I'll stop crying now. But hopefully, we can put an end to this myth once and for all. All right, that'll do it for today. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you for being a subscriber of the show.

[00:11:46] Thank you for sharing this show with someone. I hope you have a great rest of your day, and I'll see you back here tomorrow, where your optimal life awaits. Thank you so much for watching. You're welcome. Take care of yourself. Bye.