“I workout constantly, but my body never changes! Why?!” BAF Newsletter august 2025
August 1, 2025
First off, thank you all for showing up and training with me these past few months! It’s been amazing to witness your progress and to be part of your fitness journey.
We are in the dog days of summer, and it's tempting to stay inside where the AC is blasting. HOWEVER, there are still beautiful moments to be outside, which are so important to keep us grounded, both physically and mentally. Remember, we can live in harmony with even the harshest environments with the right mindset and preparation. Despite experiencing the hottest days of the year, there's this magical window before noon: the dew point drops, the wind picks up, and the sun hasn't yet baked the heat into the ground. I'm often surprised at how pleasant it is--and I am so grateful to share that time in a movement practice with you.
The concept of "Going Beyond Adaptation" is rooted in intention and applied daily in our choices. "Making space" for ourselves is bullshit--We have to carve it out. Expect resistance. Going Beyond Adaptation means to make proactive changes in life despite setbacks or hardships. We view every obstacle as an opportunity to rise to the occasion. Not only do we weather the storm, we learn to dance in the rain.
What's Coming Up
•• I've been developing a new Functional Implement Training Block—think sandbags, gravel, water-based implements… real superhero/Sarah Connor/badassery type stuff. If you’re ready to enter your bad bitch era, I'm here to help you put your big girl pants on--one leg at time. Just say the word.
The upcoming Weekend Warrior Series in City Park (Fri-Sun @ 11AM) will start to integrate some of these workouts. Don’t worry, it’s nothing you can’t handle!
“I work out all the time, but my body never changes… why is that?”
This is one of the most common frustrations I hear—and it’s valid. You’re showing up, you’re moving your body, but your physique looks the same. What gives?
Here are a few of the most common reasons:
1. You can’t out-train a bad diet.
If you're consistently eating more (or less!) than your body needs... or not fueling with the right macronutrients, no amount of training will make up for it. The kitchen matters just as much—if not more—than the gym. (See nutrition discussion below.)
2. You’re not training as hard as you think you are.
Just because you did 5 sets of 10 reps doesn’t mean your muscles are being challenged. If you stop well before failure or use weights that are too light, the stimulus just isn’t strong enough to promote real change.
A good rule of thumb: train until you’re about 1–2 reps away from failure—this is called "Reps in Reserve" (RIR). Pushing to 0 RIR (true failure) is effective too, but not necessary every time. If you're not familiar with what that level of effort feels like, your body might just be coasting.
3. You’re not training the right way.
Strength training doesn’t feel like cardio. You might not be dripping sweat or gasping for air. And that’s okay. We’ve been conditioned to think “hard” equals “high heart rate,” but when it comes to muscle growth and strength gains, the stimulus needs to be mechanical—as in heavier weights, not just more movement.
That means:
Fewer reps (often under 10)
Longer rest periods (yes, you might work for 1 minute and rest for 2)
Slower sessions with more focus
Ironically, when I stopped chasing high-volume, high-intensity circuits every day, my body changed dramatically—for the better. I got significantly stronger, and my muscular tone went to the next level. It felt like I was “cheating” because I wasn’t killing myself… but the reality? Lifting heavier with more rest actually allows for greater training volume over time. That’s how you get stronger and reshape your physique. *** This doesn't mean bulky*** It takes an incredible amount of effort and just plain genetics to build enough muscle to look bulky. This is why people who want to gain a lot of muscle resort to taking steroids. You will not look bulky.
4. Poor form means poor results.
If you’ve trained with me, you know I’m a stickler for form. Not just for safety—though that’s huge—but because good form activates the right muscles. If your form is off, you may be relying on the wrong muscles. If the target muscle isn't even FIRING, you're just going through the motions. This is called junk volume. Yes, you're moving some weight around, and you might get fatigued doing so, but it's just not doing anything productive.
So how do you fix it? Use a mirror or film yourself. It’s not vain, nothing to be embarrassed about. Seeing yourself from a different angle can help you SELF-CORRECT and can make a huge difference in your results. Want even better feedback? Hire me as your trainer!
5. Not all “hard” things drive visible change.
Cardio can feel brutal—and it is great for your heart and endurance. But cardio alone won't reshape your body. You might lose some weight, but if you’re not building muscle along the way, your body will look like a smaller version of the same shape. So if you are pear shaped, you will be a smaller pear. Apple Shaped? A smaller apple.
That’s why strength training is essential for body recomposition. Want to look “toned”? You need muscle. Want to change the proportions of your physique? You need muscle...You need resistance training. Simple as that.
Nutrition Talk—Let’s keep It Real. if you are thinking about dialing in your nutrition, here are a few pointers.
Ask Chat GPT to calculate your BMR (basal metabolic rate) based on your age, height, weight, sex, and activity level.
Use MyFitnessPal to track your macros. You don’t have to do this everyday unless you want to, but I like to use it like once a week when I am meal prepping so I can just make a bunch of meals that I can individually portion out for the week, so I can grab a meal quickly before I get a chance to snack on something else. Plus chopping up vegetables every day is tedious, messy, and lame.
If you’d like to be more intuitive about your choices, you can elect to cut out processed foods from your diet since whole foods tend to be less calorically dense than processed foods. For example, instead of bread or chips, switch to root vegetables, which have high volume, high satiety as well as higher in micronutrients.
When in doubt, focus on your protein intake and hydration.
On average, a person engaged in strength training should be eating 1g protein per pound of bodyweight. This is well above the recommendations of American Heart Association (60-65g/day)…. This may seem like a lot of protein, but the good news is that protein has high satiety, and is more thermogenic than carbs and fat (it requires more energy to digest it). By focusing on what you CAN have, and being in the mindset of seeking out food, as opposed to depriving yourself of food, this will feel like less of a “diet” and more of a shift in preferences.
Alcohol is tricky because it is fun, and cutting it out of New Orleans social life is difficult and can be awkward sometimes. If you choose to imbibe, I recommend to allow yourself 1-2 times a week to enjoy a drink (notice how I didn’t say “restrict” yourself), and when you do drink to choose something that is lower in calories and causes less inflammation in the body. Tequila is one of the “cleanest” alcohols out there. But you shouldn’t deprive yourself of anything, so if you enjoy a nice red wine with dinner, go ahead and have it! (Just incorporate it into your meal plan so you don’t blow your macros for the day). It's also a good idea to go to bed SOBER. Alcohol interferes with the hormones that help with muscle repair when you sleep. So have your last drink at least 2 hours before bed time. I can testify that once I cut back on my alcohol consumption a few years ago, my physique better reflected the hard work I was doing at the gym.
Some of my favorite ways to add protein into my diet
Greek yogurt + protein powder
Oatmeal + protein powder
A peanut butter and jelly sandwich on a high protein sprouted bread (like Ezekiel bread) has almost the same macros as a standard protein bar, but is far more filling and significantly less processed. I will make 6 or 7 for the week, and keep them in my fridge so I can grab one on the way out the door the same as I would a protein bar. Add a protein shake to that? Double whammy protein.
3 boiled eggs (210 cal, 15-18 g fat, 18-21g protein) has fewer calories than MANY protein bars, no processing, and are very filling. Even with the price of eggs today, this is cheaper than 1 protein bar!
Batch Cook Chicken breasts... cut them up, and portion them out for the week. You can grab this when you’re feeling snacky instead of chips or cheese.
replace starches (think rice, pasta, bread) with high protein alternatives (Ezekiel Bread has 5g protein per slice!)
Some of My Favorite Protein Powders
Free range organic whey protein (flavorless)
SunWarrior Plant Based Protein (amazing b/c it lists the amino acid profile)
Hydration & Electrolytes!
If you are one of those people “who doesn’t sweat” and gets easily overheated it is likely because you are dehydrated. Dehydration causes
increase in core body temperature,
decrease in blood plasma volume, and
increase in heart rate and perceived exertion.
The recommended Adequate Intake of an adult female is 2.7L of liquid a day (this includes coffee, tea, juice, etc as well as fluid in food).
Please be sure PREHYDRATE before exercising, and add electrolytes to your hydration strategy this summer.
During prolonged activity in hot weather, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends sport drinks containing:
• 20 to 30 mEq of sodium (460-690 mg NaCl) per liter
• 2 to 5 mEq of potassium (78-195 mg) per liter, and
• Carbohydrate (YES, you read that correctly) in a concentration of 5% to 10%.
→Something like a packet of Liquid IV dissolved in a liter of fluid is perfect for this.
If it were that easy, everyone would be walking around with their dream body...
Real progress takes strategy, consistency, and feedback... but it's not as impossible as you think!
Don't sell yourself short. You can achieve this! It's never, EVER too late to start taking your health back.
If you’re stuck, get some help... That’s what I’m here for :)
Peace & Love,
— Coach CJ
