How to Get Next Level Fitness Results in the Next 90 Days
Getting in the best shape of your life is one of the most effective ways to level up your life.
It's also hard.
If you already work out, eat “pretty healthy,” but still don’t look as lean and defined as you want, you're probably knowing your head thinking "you can say that again".
How do I know that? My clients are smart, high-achieving women who work hard and they want to see results, too!
Here’s the truth: getting lean and “toned” is hard work. But it's not a guessing game. It takes the right strategy + a good amount of effort + a strong mindset.
Real transformation isn’t about quick fixes, but you can do a lot in the next 90 days if you dial in your focus and commit to making these shifts.
Use the clear plan at the end to start seeing definition, strength, and confidence—with less frustration!
Tip #1: Workout to build strength, not burn calories
This goes out to all of my cardio queens! I see you. I understand you. But please trust me on this one.
Why choose strength over calorie-burning as your primary lever:
Tone/Definition/sculpt = shape. Shape = muscle.
Overall energy use vs. short-term burn: Cardio is fantastic for heart health and during-the-workout calorie burn, but it doesn’t build muscle and it doesn't have a major effect on TDEE. Strength training builds lean mass, which raises resting metabolic rate, improves body composition, and preserves muscle during a fat loss phase.
Weight loss is a misguided fitness goal. We don't want to lose any old weight. We want to lose fat mass. Working out to build or at least maintain muscle while adjusting nutrition to lose fat results in a leaner appearance with better definition, even if the scale doesn’t drop dramatically.
The functional health and quality of life benefits of being strong far outweigh the benefits of being skinny. Strength improves posture, bone density, insulin sensitivity, and daily, pain-free function—benefits that support career performance, energy, longevity and quality of life. #levelup
Regular resistance work supports healthier hormones, better sleep, and improved stress resilience—critical factors especially for women.
Real steps for real results:
Give your workout plan a glow up. Prioritize strength training 3-4 times a week. Balance that with mobility work and small amounts of cardio for general health, recovery and pleasure.
When writing your workouts:
Focus on compound lifts: squat, deadlift/hinge, push, pull, lunge.
Gradually increase load, reps, volume, difficulty of exercise or range of motion to slowly and consistently progress week to week.
Don't skip your rest periods! Boot camp, OrangeTheory, circuit training classes - these are great examples of resistance training turned into cardio. They are bad examples how to lift to build muscle and strength.
Work hard enough to finish each set with only 1-3 reps left in the tank. This sends an effective signal to your body to get stronger and that signal is the only thing that triggers adaptation and the results you're after!
(You don't have to leave it up to chance. Book a strategy call below and I'll make sure that every rep, every exercise and every workout has purpose.)
Tip #2: Fuel your progress
Honestly, this was one of the hardest mindset shifts to overcome in my 20s - which is why it's up here at the top of my list.
What if I told you that eating to get incredible results is like building a bonfire?
The best fires start with good wood (fuel) and fed regularly. They burn hot and long. They'll even burn subtly over night if you do it right.
The worst fires start with scraps and trash from around the yard. That kind of fuel doesn't light quickly. It flares up in weird colors and the dies off quickly.
Your metabolism is like the fire.
The question is: what kind of fire are you building?
Fueling your body for better results is quite simple:
Find out what your maintenance calories are. The easiest way to do this: track everything you eat and drink every day for at least 1 week, ideally 2. Get an average.
Track your weight daily or every other day. If your weight stays the same, you can reliably assume you're eating - on average - at maintenance.
Decrease intake by 250-500 calories per day.
Keep protein intake high: .8-1 gram of protein per pound of goal body weight.
Fill in the rest of your plate(s) with complex carbs and fats.
Did I say simple?
Mathematically speaking, this is simple.
But in real life? It can get complicated, I know.
Here's my advice for turning words into action:
This article is about the next 90 days. Commit to 90 days. Start by tracking your intake. You will learn a lot from that exercise alone.
See where your protein lands. If you are close - within 25 grams - congratulations. That's a huge win. Simply add 1, palm-sized portion of protein - chicken, fish, lean meat, shellfish - and you've hit your protein goal. If you are further away from your goal, add that same 1 palm-full a week at a time until you've worked your way up.
Combine that with a major effort to eat mostly whole foods and you'll see changes.
Last piece of advice: book a Diet Reset. I'll do the analyzing for you and hand over an easy-to-follow, built-for-you plan to get you on track for the best fitness results.
Tip #3: Follow a program consistently
Muscle doesn't grow from "keeping your body guessing". Muscle grows from well-executed, properly-planned effort and tension, progressed over time.
Put it this: a deadlift is a skill. The more you practice it, the better you get at it. More comfortable in the movement pattern. More confident in your ability to lift weight. Quicker to active the right muscles.
Perfecting the skill = better results.
Program hopping never allows the opportunity to perfect the skill. Follow a program for
Worried you'll get bored?
Here's how to beat boredom:
Remember that you're here to get in incredible shape, to improve your health, longevity and quality of life. That's usually enough to realize you can suck it up and keep going. But if that doesn't work...
Adjust your rep range up or down.
Change exercise order.
Swap secondary exercises.
Change the variety of the movement. For example: Smith Machine Squat to Hack Squat, Ling Leg Curls to Seated Leg Curls.
Tip #4: Create a preventative stress + recovery management routine
Now it's time to prevent burnout.
Up until this point, my fitness tips have been about taking capital-a, ACTION.
This tip is more about, well, not.
Stress management and overall rest and recovery tend to be a hidden bottleneck en route to the best fitness results.
Why?
Because we overachievers have the tendency to think we should always be doing something - if not MORE. But high stress and insufficient sleep blunt fat loss and recovery, no matter how hard you train.
Speaking of training...while exercise is a great stress-management resource, it's also a source of stress (physical and physiological) itself.
3 pillars of a great stress-management routine
Sleep: aim for 7-9 hours per night. Set an alarm 1 hour before bedtime as a reminder.
Self-care: pedicures and spa days are great but not necessary nor necessarily feasible every day. I wish. What is feasible: 5–10 minutes of breathwork, 10 minutes of journaling, nature walks, or spending time on hobbies that don’t involve screens.
Scheduled deloads: intensity and effort are important - but so is recovery. In fact, it's during recovery that you actually build the muscle. Every 6-8 weeks, program a 3-7 day deload period. During this time, lifts intensity and volume decrease to allow your muscles and nervous system to fully recuperate.
Hate the idea of taking time off? Practice active rest: more stretching and mobility, light yoga, plenty of walking.
A practical 90-day plan for better results
Ready for better results? Here's how to get them:
Weekly framework [daily action steps]
Strength training: 3-4 workouts, full body or upper/lower splits
Conditioning/light cardio: 1-2 days, zone 2
Daily steps: 7.5-10k
Daily protein: .8-1g of protein, spread across the day
Stress/Recovery: 7-9 hours of sleep every night, 10 minutes of self care every day
Sample week:
Mon: Lower-body strength + walk outside
Tue: mobility + 30–45 min walk + mobility
Wed: Upper-body strength + core
Thu: 30-minute zone-2 cardio outside
Fri: Lower-body strength + core
Sat: Upper-body strength
Sun: Rest, breathwork, meal prep
Conclusion
Hopefully, these tips and this action plan have helped. Even if you're anticipating a crazy 3 months, you can create massive change - no need for perfection.
That's not to say that you won't hit bumps or plateaus. This is a great plan but life is life! It doesn't run according to an organized template. However, this is action plan is a great place to start if your goal is to get better fitness results, see visible change to your body and create a routine that fosters long-term fitness results.
I'm proof that you can do this! It doesn't requiring wizardry, just a commitment to yourself and to change.
There will be moments when you feel like you've lost track. That's okay! Hope back on track quickly and easily with my 7-day reset.
What's your process for steady results? Do you have any tried and true tips or tricks that I didn't mention in this post?
