Gaines for Girls with Riley Gaines - I Stopped Doing Crunches： How I Actually Got My Abs Back ｜ Riley Gaines

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00:00:30.000 I feel like in another life, I was meant to be a fitness influencer as opposed to the media

00:00:41.920 personality activist that I am. It's just really what I love. It's what I feel very passionately

00:00:47.940 about. I think part of that is being a division one athlete. You can't really make it to that

00:00:53.860 point without caring about your fitness and your health and your wellness. I'm going to share with

00:00:57.820 you guys a little bit of my personal experience. And I'm going to give you guys five tips that have

00:01:02.700 helped me to continue to prioritize my fitness, especially being postpartum now, and to get back

00:01:08.800 the bounce back, if you will, which I get a lot of flack for saying that we'll touch on that.

00:01:13.520 The bounce back to feeling like myself again, while still being the best and most present mom

00:01:19.380 that I can be. I'll preface by saying, I don't know everything about fitness. I am not claiming

00:01:24.580 to know everything about fitness, I am merely going to share with you guys what I do, what

00:01:29.540 works for me, the benefits that I see and the things that I enjoy. And you can do with

00:01:34.400 that what you will. Uh, maybe some of you can relate to this, but I don't feel like

00:01:40.400 I've always had the healthiest relationship with working out and with exercise and body

00:01:45.960 image. It's pretty common, unfortunately, uh, especially among women, especially among 0.87

00:01:51.320 female athletes. Uh, I've gone through it too. I've gone through the restricting yourself of

00:01:56.240 eating, of enjoying sweets, of not feeling like you're exercising enough that the need,

00:02:01.980 the necessity of excessive exercise, you know, burning 800 to a thousand calories and work one

00:02:08.400 workout. Uh, I've gone through depriving yourself of sleep or social activities, uh, really having

00:02:15.100 your life revolve around when you can get into the gym. A lot of that came in the pretty immediate

00:02:20.740 following being done with collegiate swimming. But now being six months postpartum, I feel like

00:02:28.300 I'm in a really healthy spot. It's kind of weird, like your perspective, at least my perspective,

00:02:33.880 it shifted when I was pregnant. And it's kind of like immediate, right? In the first weeks of

00:02:39.460 finding out you're pregnant, and now being postpartum, I understand, or I understood at the

00:02:44.380 time that my body, it's changed entirely. It was a hard realization, don't get me wrong.

00:02:50.740 Uh, it's hard to deal with when you're going through pregnancy and you have no control

00:02:53.700 over the involuntary growth and the involuntary weight gain, uh, how your body holds on to

00:02:59.960 fluids a little differently.

00:03:01.240 Uh, I felt like my face got a lot fuller and my arms were retaining fluids.

00:03:05.640 They looked a lot fuller.

00:03:07.600 Uh, I wasn't changing a lot about what I was doing.

00:03:10.460 I was still blessed enough to be able to feel great, to be in the gym, to work out, to run

00:03:15.840 throughout the entirety of my pregnancy.

00:03:17.300 I will say I did give into the pregnancy cravings a little more, but my perspective shifted at that

00:03:24.440 point into recognizing that my body, it was like a vessel. It was a vessel for a whole nother human

00:03:30.820 being. I was creating life. Like how miraculous was that? It was kind of like an involuntary shift

00:03:38.200 in perspective. And once I realized that, which came around the time really when you could feel

00:03:45.480 are moving and kicking. And you could feel the little hiccups, again, the signs of undeniable

00:03:50.000 life. You recognize the growth and the physical changes that your body is going through as a

00:03:55.660 beautiful and miraculous thing. And while I did appreciate it, I was ready for the bounce back

00:04:00.520 after I gave birth. And like I said, I do get pushback for saying that I posted a photo or a

00:04:06.400 video on Instagram. I'll do the B roll. You can see it here of me. I think it was either five or

00:04:11.480 six months, five months postpartum at the time, uh, and talking about, you know, how great I feel

00:04:16.840 and how I was ready to get back to my body. And I had moms in the comments, I'm imagining it's

00:04:22.540 moms who maybe feel insecure about their bodies, or maybe haven't found that same motivation to

00:04:28.020 get back into the gym, or maybe it's, it's just not realistic with the kind of ecosystem that's 0.98

00:04:33.680 around them. Maybe they have more than one kid, maybe, you know, time is a constraint, whatever.

00:04:38.160 I understand. But there was a lot of moms who were like, shaming mom shaming me for prioritizing

00:04:46.320 my health. Everyone is different. Of course, everyone's situation is different. But I don't

00:04:51.540 see anything wrong with wanting to achieve the healthiest version of yourself, no matter what

00:04:56.520 stage of life you're in. Don't take what I'm saying as anything more or anything less than

00:05:01.460 that. If you have to ask yourself in this episode at some point, well, what about don't do the

00:05:05.900 what about ism? I'm not about it here. I'm just trying to use my influence to influence you to

00:05:12.700 be healthy. Okay. That's what I'm going to spend the rest of this episode on speaking specifically

00:05:17.500 to my postpartum fitness levels. Um, I could speak to what I did in college. I could speak

00:05:22.800 to what I did after that prior to conception, I could speak to what I did during pregnancy,

00:05:27.460 but I'm going to spend this episode talking about postpartum fitness. Um, I only took about three

00:05:33.460 weeks after the labor, uh, before I really started moving around. Uh, of course I took it light. I

00:05:40.000 was careful and I listened to my body, but it was about three weeks, um, where I was outside walking

00:05:45.180 and doing light dumbbell exercises, which it's kind of another bone I have to pick specifically

00:05:50.680 with the medical industry and how we treat women, women who are pregnant, women who have had

00:05:56.520 babies. I just feel like there's almost this one size fits all model. Uh, it doesn't matter if it's

00:06:02.940 me, a division one athlete who has a lifetime of body awareness and prioritizing health and

00:06:08.940 fitness, or if it's a woman who's over 300 pounds with a chronic illness and no intention of

00:06:14.780 prioritizing her fitness. Both of us are told that we need to wait six weeks before exercising

00:06:20.500 following the delivery. But the truth is everyone heals differently. Every journey is different.

00:06:26.560 Every birth and recovery is biologically unique. Some women have vaginal births. Some women have 0.65

00:06:32.220 C-section. Some women tear, some women have episiotomies or preeclampsia or twins or triplets 0.87

00:06:38.200 versus, um, just one single baby. Do you call it a singlet? I don't know. Uh, it depends on how old

00:06:44.640 you are. If, if this is your first kid or your second or third child, all of these things are

00:06:49.640 factors when considering when to get back to exercising and moving your body. So this whole

00:06:54.820 six weeks clearance, and then you can resume normal activity blanket model given to women 0.69

00:07:01.980 is just so archaic and it is so outdated. Science, well, really specifically the technology that is 0.97

00:07:09.280 used in science and in medicine has evolved so much. Think about the past like 20 years,

00:07:15.300 how, whether, you know, going to the dentist even has changed. Now they don't put that gunk in your

00:07:20.340 mouth anymore. They have every, like all these virtual scans and new technology. So it has

00:07:25.900 evolved for the better, for the betterment of the human species. But for some reason,

00:07:30.840 when it comes to women and literally bringing life into this world, we're still stuck using

00:07:37.040 the same old standardized, antiquated, obsolete, one size fits all timeline. I'm not a doctor. 0.76

00:07:45.700 I'm not an OBGYN, but I feel like postpartum care should be a process with services and support

00:07:54.140 tailored to each women's individual needs, not just one six week visit following the delivery,

00:08:00.020 Which leads me to another point I just thought of.

00:08:02.420 Why aren't insurance companies covering pelvic floor therapy?

00:08:07.180 Maybe some do, but as I understand it, at least the experience that I had,

00:08:11.580 it's hard to come by with your insurance plan,

00:08:13.940 especially if you're not paying an arm and a leg for health insurance every single month.

00:08:18.680 Or maybe on the off chance that your insurance does cover this or some form of physical therapy,

00:08:24.300 it's hard finding a pelvic floor therapist that will even take your insurance.

00:08:29.380 to speak to my own experience, I did go to pelvic floor therapy and I would say the last probably

00:08:34.740 six weeks of my pregnancy. And if I'm being totally honest, it was kind of hard for me to

00:08:39.380 buy into at first prior to delivering. Um, you know, you go there and you learn how to breathe

00:08:45.760 and you learn stretches and different techniques to, to open up your hips. It felt very elementary,

00:08:51.140 but I actually did find myself in the moment it felt elementary, but I found myself resorting,

00:08:56.600 resorting to some of the techniques that I learned during that time when I was actually

00:09:01.780 giving birth. Um, and I learned some core movements to do following delivery to strengthen

00:09:07.120 the pelvic floor muscle. Again, again, I just say that to say I had a good experience and I

00:09:12.300 didn't have complications and I did value pelvic floor therapy. Um, I did have some tearing during

00:09:17.800 delivery, uh, but it was very, very minor, nothing that really bothered me. Um, and because of that,

00:09:23.080 I was really eager to start moving my body. Uh, I was about eight weeks postpartum when I did the

00:09:31.940 turkey trot on Thanksgiving, Louie moved Louie married into a turkey trot family. It's like a

00:09:37.980 little, we just did the little 5k race. Um, I ran it in about 21 or maybe 22 minutes. Uh, so not too

00:09:44.660 shabby at that point at eight weeks postpartum, I was already feeling pretty good. I do think

00:09:49.540 genetics maybe has a little bit of a play in it, but I think a lot of it is fitness levels prior

00:09:55.360 to conception and maintaining that as best as you can throughout pregnancy. So my routine now,

00:10:01.360 what am I doing at six months, almost seven months postpartum? I'm going to share my routine with you

00:10:06.720 guys. And then I'm going to give you five tips that I have found to be useful, things that I

00:10:11.080 have kind of clung to in my fitness journey. My routine, it varies by week. If I'm being totally

00:10:17.200 honest with you because I spend so much of my time on the road and traveling, but even still,

00:10:22.280 even when I'm on the road, um, I make it a priority to get in a workout, whether it's a

00:10:27.520 hotel gym, whether it's going on a run, uh, it's a priority of mine. I run typically three to four

00:10:32.680 times a week and I lift three to four times a week. So what does that look like? Okay. For my

00:10:37.360 running, I try to run somewhere between five to six miles each run. Uh, if I'm in town for the

00:10:43.560 full rate week. I'll run Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday was Saturday being a longer run.

00:10:50.000 If this sounds scary to you, just know running five miles, six miles, sometimes even for example,

00:10:55.860 this morning, I ran about eight and a half miles. If that sounds scary to you, I was right there

00:11:00.400 with you. Like not that long ago. Okay. Um, don't let it discourage you. It sounded scary to me too.

00:11:06.800 I was not a runner by any stretch of the imagination. Actually, it's, it's pretty common

00:11:11.100 knowledge that those who excel in aquatic sports, such as swimmers typically are not good at land

00:11:18.140 sports. That's why we do the aquatic sports. And that was definitely the case for me, but I started

00:11:23.480 at low mileage at a slow pace and I just gradually increased. Um, I didn't like it at first. It took

00:11:29.660 me a while to enjoy it. I liked the idea of being a good runner. So I stuck to it. Uh, so if you

00:11:36.400 begin to run, or if you are a runner, you already know this, the first mile getting started is

00:11:42.220 always the worst. But if you can push past maybe the first 10 minutes of running without stopping,

00:11:47.540 then I promise you, you will feel better. The run, that individual run will get better.

00:11:53.320 And with practice and consistency, of course, it will only get easier for you. Actually, Louis,

00:11:59.780 he has run with me the past three weeks in the first mile. Again, he's cursing me the entire

00:12:04.520 time. Like, I hate this. Why are we doing this? But once he gets into the groove of it, so his

00:12:09.480 stride, his rhythm, even your breathing pattern, um, all of that gets regulated. Then he feels

00:12:14.980 really good. Um, I'm not interested in running overly long distances or being super competitive

00:12:21.980 and running, but I like this form of exercise because it's cheap and you can do it anywhere.

00:12:28.100 So no one has an excuse not to be able to go outside and run so long as you are physically

00:12:33.320 able to do so. Now for lifting, I try and do three to four days a week where I am in the gym.

00:12:40.500 The split is typically one day legs, one day back and bicep, and then the third day chest,

00:12:46.000 shoulders, and triceps. If I make it to the gym the fourth time that week, as I said, three to

00:12:51.080 four times, then I just do whatever muscle group feels like it didn't get enough attention that

00:12:56.280 week. We have dumbbells and just a squat rack in the garage actually of my house, which is typically

00:13:02.380 where I do that. Um, if you guys are interested in looking at what a specific breakdown of that

00:13:09.980 looks like would be more than happy to do it. You guys have to let me know. I don't know if I'm

00:13:14.520 being like cringy posting fitness content content. Again, it's what I enjoy. Um, but would be curious

00:13:20.360 to see if you guys want to see more of that. So if you do leave some comments down below, reach out

00:13:25.620 over, um, over on the Riley gain show or my personal Instagram. Um, in terms of group fitness,

00:13:31.840 I've talked about this before. I also have an F45 membership, which I know this is getting

00:13:37.280 excessive and crazy, but that one's really special to me because that's where my family

00:13:41.320 works out. Um, I mean, my mom, my dad, my sisters, my grandma, even all of us. So, uh, we do that

00:13:47.720 together. If you don't know what F45 is, um, actually I think it stands for functional 45.

00:13:52.560 It's like 45 minute workout class. It's kind of like the hit training model. So high intensity

00:13:57.840 interval training, everything is timed. You have instructors who tell you what to do. There's TV

00:14:01.780 screens on the wall with the movements, all the equipment is laid out for you. Now's the time

00:14:07.900 when you're probably thinking, you know, Riley, you're able to do all of this because you have

00:14:12.620 a flexible job or you have a nanny, which let's debunk those things. Yes, my job is flexible in

00:14:18.860 a sense where it's not a standard nine to five. And I really do appreciate that. I could not

00:14:23.240 imagine working a nine to five or sitting behind a desk all day. So God bless the people who do,

00:14:28.540 especially those of you who are moms who have to spend time away from your babies. You guys are

00:14:32.520 superheroes to me, but I don't have a nanny. So how am I able to do this? This is the first tip

00:14:39.240 that I want to give you guys because I win the first hour of every single day. That's my first

00:14:44.040 piece of advice for you. I know I might be in a different place than you. I'm a new mom with just

00:14:49.640 one baby and a fantastic husband, which I'm going to get into that support system in a second. It 1.00

00:14:54.520 feels like even when I don't have a lot going on, my day is just somehow entirely consumed by I

00:15:01.460 don't I don't even know what even when I'm at home with the baby, it just feels like my day

00:15:05.120 flies by. I take that first hour of the day when I wake up very, very seriously. It feels like when

00:15:12.020 I even when I don't have a lot going on, or if I don't have many things on my calendar for that day,

00:15:17.640 even still, my day is just somehow like entirely consumed by I don't even know what when I'm just

00:15:23.900 at home with the baby, my day gets away from me. There's just always something that needs to be

00:15:28.140 done or there's something that somebody needs from you. That 5 a.m. hour is the time that I

00:15:34.920 just carve out for myself. If that sounds scary to you, don't make that drastic of a step. If

00:15:42.080 you're waking up at 8 a.m. now, I would encourage you to increase it by 30 minutes every single

00:15:46.940 morning or maybe a week at a time until you're at a place where you have an hour to yourself

00:15:52.340 before the rest of the house wakes up. I love the concept of already doing so many things,

00:15:59.060 so many hard things before most people even hit snooze on their alarm clock. My husband works,

00:16:05.000 so I have to have everything done, all of the exercises and classes and gym and running and

00:16:10.560 things that I do by seven or eight in the morning so I can come back home and be with the baby while

00:16:15.620 he then goes to work. And I find in doing that and exercising early in the morning,

00:16:20.500 it just like boosts my energy it feels like my focus is improved i feel like you know yes of

00:16:26.200 course it strengthens your body physically but also just the mental resilience of training

00:16:30.980 yourself to wake up to show up to push through and to follow through on commitments it like sets

00:16:36.280 your tone for the whole rest of the day and that mindset of you know i can do hard things

00:16:42.100 it carries into work or to relationships or into decision making etc and so my pro tip for you

00:16:49.140 if you are someone who struggles with waking up early, but you want to make it a priority to get

00:16:54.380 to the gym or to have that hour to yourself, my pro tip is to lay out your outfit. Uh, you got

00:17:00.460 this like cute matching workout set, lay it out the night before. Uh, that way the morning when

00:17:05.520 you wake up, all you have to do is throw it on. Um, it's laid out for you. You put it on,

00:17:10.560 you're ready to go out the door. Um, pro tip. My second piece of advice for you is to find

00:17:16.140 an accountability partner. When you're a mom, you already feel like the weight of the world

00:17:21.340 is on your shoulders. So that solo motivation, it fades really, really fast, especially when

00:17:27.460 you're sleep deprived and when a whole nother human being relies on you, like solely you for

00:17:33.520 the most part, especially if you're breastfeeding. So find a friend or find an online mom group or

00:17:38.200 your husband or reach out to me over Instagram DMS or post about it online, find something or

00:17:43.960 someone or some way to keep you accountable. Uh, when you have someone who is following up with

00:17:50.100 you, who's checking in, who's celebrating your wins, it makes it easier to show up every single

00:17:54.540 day. For me, it's my husband and it's my family. Uh, and I actually have one college teammate,

00:18:00.280 uh, a training partner of mine when we were at university of Kentucky, who has now moved to

00:18:05.360 this area in Tennessee that I live in. Um, so she's a fantastic accountability partner for me.

00:18:11.200 Um, even if this person isn't going to the gym with you, just finding someone who makes it easier for you to be able to prioritize that again, my family here cannot be understated. They are the village. They are the village to me. I cannot imagine how moms do it without having their family nearby, being able to leave my baby with my husband in the morning.

00:18:34.440 or if we both want to go to the gym together, being able to leave my baby with my parents,

00:18:38.500 it is a very, very big blessing that I don't take for granted. Uh, and last thing, I guess,

00:18:42.920 when it comes to having an accountability partner, tell them your goals, uh, like attainable and

00:18:49.580 measurable things. It could be something like walking 20 minutes every day or getting 10,000

00:18:54.860 steps a day, or, uh, you know, lifting three sessions a week or hitting 100 grams of protein

00:19:00.200 daily. These are all wins that you can track. And I promise you they stack up faster than you think.

00:19:05.640 And the bonus of having an accountability partner is it turns fitness into something

00:19:11.880 that you can do together as opposed to like a chore or a burden. It is time for Y Refi student

00:19:19.160 spotlight success story. That's a lot of alliteration. I love these. Today's spotlight

00:19:23.680 is on Sydney Barta. She is a track star at Stanford. Sydney is the first Paralympian to

00:19:29.080 compete for the Cardinal. But her story is really about her intellect and her heart and her

00:19:34.760 character. She's a bioengineering major. Okay. Props all while being a D1 athlete, a bioengineering

00:19:40.960 major who wants to use her experience to innovate new ways for people to move and to thrive.

00:19:46.480 Why refi believes in that kind of vision. They know that your future shouldn't be stalled by

00:19:51.360 debt. They work with you to help you find a path forward so you can chase your biggest dreams,

00:19:56.440 just like Sydney is doing at Stanford, because at the end of the day,

00:19:59.860 it's about your family. It's about your goals. It's about your future. Why refi can help you

00:20:05.400 achieve that. Okay. Third tip for you guys, protein, protein, protein. Yes, it's true. No,

00:20:13.680 it's not a fad. Protein is what builds your muscles and keeps you lean. The simple breakdown

00:20:18.880 here. Basically when you eat protein, your body breaks it down into amino acids. These are like

00:20:25.080 the brick and mortar for repairing and growing muscle tissue. And if you don't have enough of

00:20:31.820 them, enough protein, then your body cannot effectively repair the tiny tears that happen

00:20:37.240 during strength training, which is the good kind of damage that leads to stronger, more lean muscles

00:20:43.100 that then triggers muscle protein synthesis, which is the biological process where your body

00:20:49.260 uses those amino acids to create new muscle proteins. Uh, if you are not eating enough

00:20:55.060 protein, then you're kind of fighting an uphill battle. Uh, you'll have more breakdown than build

00:21:02.040 up. It's, it's really a simple model here. Um, and outside of the physical and the strength

00:21:07.580 aspect of it, if you're breastfeeding, you need even more protein. Uh, your body is literally

00:21:13.680 making a whole human's worth of nutrition in your milk. And that pulls from your stores. If you

00:21:20.880 don't eat enough, what I try and do, I try to have one gram of protein per pound of body weight

00:21:26.300 every single day. So if I weigh about 135 pounds, I try and have 135 grams of protein every single

00:21:32.880 day. Now I know that is a lot. I try and keep it about 40 grams of protein per meal, plus my

00:21:40.100 snacking or maybe like a protein shake throughout the day. Uh, some good things for this. I love

00:21:44.680 Greek yogurt, eggs, chicken. I love red meat. Um, I don't know if you guys know, like the

00:21:50.620 chopsticks, uh, Costco even has a cheaper version. I think it's like the Kirkland's version. Uh,

00:21:56.640 they have those little beef sticks. They're really, really good. A fantastic source of

00:21:59.940 protein, especially for, you know, a snack, uh, for protein or for the energy drinks. I like those

00:22:05.720 Nuri drinks. I think that's how you say it. Uh, again, those are found at Costco, which by the

00:22:10.380 way, Costco is a fantastic place to shop for any of the things that I mentioned. Or if you're

00:22:14.500 interested in meal prepping, highly recommend going to Costco. They have awesome foods and

00:22:19.420 ways to make it really easy for you. Um, and no women protein, eating protein, high levels of 1.00

00:22:26.140 protein is not going to make you bulky. I hear that all the time from women. They're scared of 1.00

00:22:30.460 protein. It's not true. Myth busted. It will keep you lean. You will feel fuller for longer as

00:22:36.700 opposed to snacking throughout the day or eating how you would feel if you eat a heart, a high carb

00:22:41.840 diet. Energy levels are better. And again, your milk supply stays up. My husband and I, we tried

00:22:48.060 the carnivore diet for a few weeks and I found that the high protein, high fat, it increased my

00:22:54.320 milk supply tremendously. So you guys should try bumping your protein this week and telling me

00:22:59.720 how you feel. Um, let me know in the comments if this is something that you do, because I want to

00:23:04.480 hear your wins. Um, consider me your accountability partner this week. Okay. Number four, I have you

00:23:09.920 guys commenting on my posts all the time asking about my ab routine or my core. What workouts do

00:23:16.440 I do to get my core to look the way that it does? I should actually insert photos of, um, kind of

00:23:23.000 the place I'm at now. Again, I post some of this on my Instagram, maybe sometimes on my TikTok.

00:23:26.760 Um, I try not to often because again, I don't know if it's cringy or not. I don't know

00:23:31.680 Uh, but i'll insert a photo on screen of kind of just where i'm at currently with my core

00:23:37.920 Um, again, I do think genetics unfortunately

00:23:41.100 Maybe fortunately for me, maybe you're listening to this and you feel as if you weren't blessed in this area

00:23:46.100 I do think genetics plays some sort of role in this

00:23:49.100 But that's not to understate the hard work that does go into it

00:23:52.860 Uh, you guys might be shocked by this, but I don't actually do a ton of core specific exercises.

00:24:00.280 Instead of that, I try to engage my core in full body movements, uh, maybe a hot take,

00:24:06.820 but I think the best ab exercise that you can do is back squats. So I'm very, very mindful and

00:24:13.080 intentional about engaging my core, whether it's shoulder pressing, whether it's running. Um, I

00:24:18.560 think, especially with being postpartum, I've realized that your deep core and your pelvic

00:24:23.280 floor, first of all, they got stretched for nine months. Uh, they kind of need to be retrained

00:24:28.360 on purpose with intention. So in every single exercise that I do, I think about drawing my

00:24:34.400 belly button toward my spine and gently lifting my pelvic floor. Um, I brace myself with my core

00:24:41.160 every single time I do a glute bridge or squats. Uh, you know, one actually kind of silly thing

00:24:47.980 that I do, and I've done it for a long time now actually, is every single time my car stops at a

00:24:53.380 red light, I engage my core. Like I contract and flex my abs. So it's almost like you're training

00:25:01.120 your muscles to contract without having to do the crunches or the planks or the sit-ups. I think

00:25:07.340 that you guys will find that your abs will literally be sore if you are very intentional

00:25:12.060 about how you are using them in your full body exercises and movements and just in your daily

00:25:18.120 life. So that is my best advice or what I have found to be useful on how to get a really strong

00:25:24.520 and defined core. Last tip for you guys, number five is to be consistent. It is consistency

00:25:31.640 that turns these hard workouts into real results. I feel like it goes without saying that progress

00:25:39.000 does not come from one brutal leg day. Uh, it comes from showing up again and again and again,

00:25:45.020 so that your body can adapt and learn. That's how you build strength and endurance and resilience

00:25:50.500 without consistency. You're just like repeatedly starting over. Uh, how many times have you guys

00:25:56.940 said like diet starts Monday and maybe you make it to Wednesday and then you're back to unhealthy

00:26:01.220 eating habits. And then you tell yourself, you know, diet starts again, Monday, you're really

00:26:04.440 not doing anything. Actually, uh, you're confusing your body. You're not creating real results by

00:26:09.700 that. You're throwing off your hormones and your endocrine levels and your nervous system.

00:26:13.500 Physiologically, your muscles, your, your cardiovascular system, your nervous system,

00:26:17.760 they all improve through repeated exposure. Uh, so one tough workout that might leave you sore,

00:26:25.240 but it's 10 consistent workouts. That's what makes you stronger. It's the difference between

00:26:30.280 strain and growth. Plus it also protects you. Consistency does because when you train regularly,

00:26:35.540 your body just becomes more durable, uh, your joints, your tendons, your movement patterns,

00:26:41.100 they all get more efficient. Uh, and so if you only go hard occasionally, you're more likely to

00:26:46.560 get injured because your body is just not prepared for that sort of intensity. Uh, and it's good for

00:26:51.440 you mentally. Uh, it's that consistency that builds discipline, which turns into confidence.

00:26:58.660 You stop like negotiating with yourself and start identifying as someone who follows through and that identity shift is really powerful and it carries into every area of life, which matters when you are a mom.

00:27:12.500 So the key here is that consistency does not mean perfection. It just means you keep showing up even when the workout isn't your best or your favorite, even when life is busy, even when it means you have to wake up really early or when your motivation

00:27:28.300 dips, uh, because it's in that intense training that you realize that it's not the hardest day

00:27:35.140 that defines you, but instead it's the hundreds of ordinary days, uh, that you chose not to skip

00:27:41.480 again, reiterating the point. I'm not a doctor. If you're dealing with something or if something

00:27:47.180 doesn't feel right, uh, don't push yourself. Don't, don't take it from me. Of course, I would

00:27:51.860 encourage you to consult your physician or your OBGYN or your primary care doctor.

00:27:56.380 I just want to use my platform and whatever influence that I have to encourage healthy habits.

00:28:02.480 That's all this episode was, uh, being fit is good for my physical and mental health. Um,

00:28:09.640 but most importantly, it is good for my baby. Um, healthy habits are realistic. They really are.

00:28:16.180 Uh, and it's your habits that create your baby's future. Uh, I'm actually doing something really

00:28:21.900 exciting with pertaining to my health, um, this week with Louie and I'll try and vlog that we're

00:28:29.220 going to have an ultrasound done of every major organ and several other things. Toxicity screenings

00:28:34.300 are genome tested. I'm really, really excited about this. Again, this is something that like

00:28:38.380 peaks my interest. If you guys are interested, we'll vlog it and put it on the YouTube channel.

00:28:43.100 Uh, we appreciate you guys. Thank you for tuning into this episode of the Riley Gaines show.

00:28:47.640 if you have questions, if you are increasing your protein, I want to know about it. Let me

00:28:52.760 know in the comments down below. See you guys next week. Thank you guys for watching today's

00:28:58.920 episode of the Riley Gaines show. I hope you loved it. And if you did make sure you subscribe,

00:29:03.060 you can do that right here. So you never miss an episode. We'll see you guys next week.

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Gaines for Girls with Riley Gaines - April 21, 2026

I Stopped Doing Crunches： How I Actually Got My Abs Back ｜ Riley Gaines

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