Your FREE 21-day science-backed plan for nutrition, movement, and mental health is here

Work smarter, not harder.

Hello friends!

Since today is a holiday and I hope you’re spending it as device-free as possible, I decided to re-release one of my most popular episodes of all time: 9 Quick Microhabits to Get Happier, Healthier, and Wealthier.

Since we originally ran that one at the top of the year, I want to re-share our FREE 21-day science-backed plan for nutrition, movement, and mental health—coincidentally (or not), this is also our top Substack post. And stay tuned: We’ve got a brand new mid-year reset coming your way this coming Friday. Happy Labor Day!

Xo,
Liz

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Wow, am I excited to share this with you! I’m actually a big fan of using the New Year as a time to create real change in your life (read the science behind why here, and also make sure you download this 13-page workbook that lets you reflect on the past year and create and stick to goals that bring you closer to your dreams).

BUT! So many New Year’s plans aren’t really set up to change our lives.

They’re maybe set up to help us lose some weight, which studies show will likely come right back (in next week’s podcast, we talk about how to achieve real, sustainable weight loss, if that’s a goal for you—make sure you’re subscribed on Apple, Spotify or YouTube so you don’t miss it). They’re set up to make you feel stressed and a little superior for a few weeks, before falling right back into old habits. And very few of them actually utilize the latest research around what’s best for our bodies or our minds.

Which led me to develop 21 Days To Change Your Life: A Science-Backed Plan For Nutrition, Movement, and Mental Health.

For 3 weeks, you’re going to see the latest science come to life in downloadable plans that you can easily integrate into your days.

Over on The Liz Moody Podcast, you’ll get deep dives into the research that shaped the plan—on today’s episode, we got into The Science Of Putting Together a Workout Routine To Hit YOUR Goals with Evlo founder Dr. Shannon Ritchey to go with Week 1 of the plan, which focuses on movement. We get into if and how you should incorporate stretching, how to prevent injury, how to know if you got a “good” workout in (hint: it has nothing to do with muscle soreness), where pilates and barre fit into a workout plan, and so much more. You can listen on Apple, Spotify or YouTube—it’s an all-in-one guide to answering every workout question you’ve ever had, and I hope you love it.

From this week’s episode:

“The reason cardio is not going to have a huge effect on fat loss is because the way we burn calories is constrained, not additive, meaning we don't just burn and burn and burn. People think, oh, I burned 500 calories in my workout so I can eat 500 more calories, but what we see from more recent studies is that we plateau at a certain amount of overall energy expenditure. And that plateau tends to be around 800 active calories per day. This includes your exercise, but the majority will come from non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or NEAT—moving around, talking, getting ready, showering, doing chores.”

Here on The Takeaway every week, you’ll get a downloadable PDF with day-by-day instructions. The plan is additive, so on January 7, we’ll send you out a downloadable PDF with the 7-day nutrition plan, which you’ll add to the movement plan foundation that you will have already begun. And on January 14, you’ll layer on our 7-day mental health plan. At the end of the 21 days, you’ll have more energy, less stress, more strength, better relationships, and higher levels of happiness—and you’ll have made a true investment in your physical, mental, and emotional health.

I wanted to start with movement because I think this is the biggest game changer in terms of energy, and that energy is a necessary foundation for any other changes.

Liz Moody Podcast 21 Day Plan Week 1

958KB ∙ PDF file

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A quick note: an original version of this PDF had a missing page in the beginner plan, day 5 & 6. This is the updated version. Thanks Jennifer H for the quick catch!

The base plan will be free each week for subscribers, and paid subscribers will be able to access the second half of the newsletter—there's something extra you'll want to see every week like follow up questions with podcast guests, in-depth meal plans, workout plans, and so much more. We work hard to make it really worth it for you, and you’ll get two of these bonuses every single week in your inbox! Paid subscribers can also comment on posts, participate in the chat, access Q&As with me, and more.

I hope you love this plan—we worked incredibly hard to bring you real science that would genuinely help you feel your best immediately and in the long term. I’ll be over in the chat all month long answering additional questions and cheering you on (and I hope you all can cheer each other on too!!).

xo,

Liz

Today’s paid subscriber content is a bonus Q&A with Dr. Shannon Ritchey, this week’s podcast guest and founder of the amazing Evlo fitness app (which is free for the month of January, if you’d like to try it out!).

Below, Dr. Shannon shares her thoughts on how to make certain muscles look toned (ie how can we change the way our butt or arms look?), decreasing back pain, how to know how much weight to lift, and more.

Dr. Shannon, thanks for taking the time to answer a few more questions. First of all, a highly requested listener Q: are there any moves you find disproportionately effective for body composition?

Dr. Shannon: In general, working larger muscle groups will have a greater effect on improving body composition (in that larger muscle groups have a greater impact on lean mass, fat loss is primarily diet).

The largest muscle group is the quads, then the glutes, then the hamstrings, and then the shoulders. Work all your muscle groups, but if you have more time to commit to training some muscle groups but not others, prioritize those.

On The Liz Moody Podcast, you said the goal is to do nine exercises (one for each muscle group) with four sets of each of them per week. If we do those all on a single day or do them spread out throughout the week, is there a difference in real world results we'll experience?

Dr. Shannon: I do recommend choosing various exercises for each muscle group, but you technically can see muscle growth by choosing one exercise for each muscle group and performing four sets (at a minimum) close to failure each week.

The research shows that frequency (number of workouts per week) is less important than overall volume (amount of sets performed over the week).

On the other hand, there is some literature that suggests that you don't want to wait too long before loading a muscle group again.

So, in real-world applications, it would be ideal to load most muscle groups 2x/week so you’re stimulating muscles often enough to keep protein synthesis high.

How do we do four sets to failure with our abs? How do we increase weight load on our abs?

Dr. Shannon: Ball crunches are the best way to load the abdominals from home. You know you're close to failure when you almost feel like you get "stuck" at the bottom of the movement. If performed properly, many will approach failure in a ball crunch in under 30 reps for years.

However, to increase the load and challenge, lean your trunk back further (bring your head closer to the ground) or use something smaller behind your back like a rolled towel or small pillow. That declines the trunk less and increases the load to the abdominals.

Can we spot train if we want a specific area of our body to look different (like our butt or our shoulders)?

Dr. Shannon: Unfortunately, you cannot spot-treat fat. Fat loss happens systemically, and we can't choose where we lose fat. So, the viral Instagram posts that claim that “these four exercises will tone your arms” are misleading.

You can build muscle in any area of your body, but the “toned” effect involves losing fat (mainly diet) combined with building muscle. I don't recommend working a certain area every day (even abs!)—if you're training close to failure (the stimulus required to physically change your body), muscles require at least 48 hours of recovery.

What are the best exercises for strengthening your mid and lower back to decrease pain and stiffness? Are there other muscle groups we should be working like hamstrings, shoulders, or abs?

Dr. Shannon: Back pain is complex, so it's difficult to recommend exercises for the general public. One exercise may help one person, but it may also make another person feel worse. Pain should be assessed by a practitioner who will give you specific exercises.

However, to feel good and keep your joints healthy, you need to train each muscle group. I think people make the mistake of assuming their abs or glutes are weak, work those more frequently, overuse them, and exacerbate the issue. General strength training (training each muscle group) and prioritizing proper recovery will improve joint health and keep you feeling good.

Can you dive more into reps and rest time? Say we're doing bicep curls with the goal of 15 close to failure. How long should we rest in between sets and what would be the best way of knowing you've reached your last necessary rep? Is it reaching failure in five or 10 reps, just try to get through four sets, etc?

Dr. Shannon: Muscular failure means you cannot physically complete another rep. Studies show you don't have to reach true failure, but rather get a few reps shy. This is called keeping “reps in reserve.” In general, you want to estimate that you have 2-4 reps left in reserve.

It's best not to train all the way to failure in each set, as this will significantly impact recovery. If you accidentally get to failure, it's okay!

But understanding when to know if you're close is helpful in knowing when to stop your set.

You'll know you're close to failure when you rep speed slows - you're trying to complete the movement quickly, but you physically cannot. Once you have a significant decrease in velocity, you're close to failure. Try doing another rep or two with clean form, then stop the set.

I think one common mistake is telling yourself, “I'm going to do three sets of 10 reps.” The reason this can be ineffective is that you may not get close to failure by your tenth rep, meaning your set won't be very effective. We don't count reps for this reason. Just choose a challenging weight, and keep going until you have that significant decrease in velocity—whether that takes you six reps or 25, doesn't matter! Approaching failure is what's important.

As far as rest time, you want to rest for at least 1 minute between sets, preferably longer. While you're resting one muscle group, you can work another muscle group. In the circuit above, you could do all the exercises listed in order, then repeat from the top. By the time the glutes get worked again, they will have had minutes of rest. In general, the more fresh and rested a muscle is going into a set, the better.

If we've reached a point where we're no longer reaching failure in our standard amount of reps at the same weight, is there a set interval we should be increasing our weight by?

Dr. Shannon: I always say—don't overthink the reps. Just keep going until you're close to failure.

Progressive overload can happen by increasing the number on your dumbbell, or by increasing the amount of reps you're doing. Since muscle growth can occur with rep ranges from 6-30, you can technically use the same weight for a long time and simply increase reps.

But how do you know it's time to go up in weight?

If you're not getting close to failure in under 30 reps, it's definitely time.

I like to go up in weight when I can easily do more than 15 reps.

If you're ready to increase your weight, try to increase by five pounds. You'll likely do fewer reps than you could do with the lighter weight, but as long as you're approaching failure, that's what matters!

Thank you Dr. Shannon! You can follow her on Instagram here, and be sure to check out this week’s episode of The Liz Moody Podcast on Apple, Spotify or YouTube for even more of her wisdom.