From Flab to Badge

Struggling with push ups?

A lot of agencies tend to include push ups in their PAT. Both before you get into academy while you’re in the hiring process and after you get in. One of the agencies I’m applying for has a requirement of 20.

I essentially had to go from being able to do ZERO push ups to 20 in a fairly short timeframe.

First, I started at incline/bar push ups. I had some chest and core strength already. I’d place the bar about belly button height and just bust them out in a controlled manner, after I was able to do 12 of them over multiple sets without struggling, I lowered the bar one notch, so on and so forth.

The programming helped, but being consistent with them was the key. I actively work on push ups at minimum 5 days a week, no matter what day it is and what I am working. Eventually, bar push ups became easier and I graduated onto the floor.

Now I’ve managed to get 8 decent reps in push up position within two months of consistently training them.

Tie these in with regular chest workouts such as presses/benching, make sure you’re working your stabilizers and keeping up with your mobility to prevent injuries, and DO NOT ignore core workouts. I know a plank minute is the longest minute of our workouts, but they’re necessary.

A lot of women psyche themselves out with things like push ups because we’re naturally not as talented as men in upper body strength, but with CONSISTENCY… push ups become easier.

PROGRESS.

In the time between these two screenshots, I’ve:

Gotten a tattoo
Quit a job
Gained 20lbs (and lost 20lbs)
Went through periods of… well, consistency being hard.
Went through periods of doing literally the bare minimum to maintain.

And a whole bunch of other “life be life-n” moments.

But, the one constant variable was that I never quit. So….this 1.5 mile time might still be slow to some, but I’m pretty proud of it.

My next goal is 15:00. Aiming for summer.

Some days, it feels unattainable. Sometimes, it feels uncomfortable, hard, your wheels feel like they’re spinning, but you’re not anywhere near your destination.

Keep going, keep reaching for and striving for it. Sometimes you’ll need to switch up your routine and try something different, because it is true when they say “if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got”.

It doesn’t matter if your plan looks absolutely insane to everyone. Be obsessed and insane about your goals, because obsession and insanity are the only two factors that will help you survive in a world that thrives on being just average.

I made it a requirement to get some movement in today, regardless of how “meh” I felt. Today was my last run, last interval session of 2025!

2026 will be a huge year in terms of winning.
It can be that way for you as well. If you’re part of the New Year’s resolution crowd, make sure you’re setting your goals with INTENTION, make sure you know your internal reason(s) WHY, and most importantly….. and I wish I could say this louder, make your goals realistic. Yes, one big goal is amazing, but don’t forget to set a few small goals along the way as well, mainly to keep yourself engaged and for accountability. Remember that your larger goals can, and often do, change. You might start off with wanting to lose 50lbs by the end of summer and get into running, but you may find out that you love the gym and want to start chasing muscle gains even more (i know this from experience). The great thing about fitness and movement is that there are multiple ways of getting intentional movement in, you don’t need to spend hours in a gym. You don’t need to spend hours and miles running outside if you prefer not to.

Develop a plan, and stick to it to the best of your ability. I’m always here for those who need the push.

I have my goals locked in sight for 2026, do you? And if so, what are your goals?

Happy 2026 fam, see you next year 💙🚔

Holiday leg day burner:

10 calories on echobike
10/10 lunges (can be any type; reverse, forward, walking, split squat)

For 10 rounds

If you don’t hate life, you’re not doing it right 🥰

My opinion on “junk volume”:

There’s been a LOT of use of the word “junk volume” in the gym world today. It’s misused quite frequently by those who utilize the lower rep, higher weight programs.

They spread misinformation by saying junk volume is anything over 12 reps. It doesnt matter if you feel the burn at that point, it is still junk. This is SO FAR from the truth. “Junk reps” are literally if you hit rep 15 and feel absolutely nothing and can easily plug away at another 15 reps.

Not everybody wants to develop massive amounts of power or train like a powerlifter/maximal strength. While those are important for some clients, keyword being some, they’re not necessary for all.

Often, you’d benefit from a well rounded program that had both a mix of deload, hypertrophy, and strength/power blocks. Deload weeks are great, you’ll see a lot of lighter zone 2 cardio in there as well as stretching, mobility, and some use of lighter weights. Muscular endurance and hypertrophy are both vital aspects of overall wellness and body composition, these blocks THRIVE on high volume/high reps.

Make sure you do your own research before relying on TikTok influencers 💓 only training low reps and heavy weight is a sure fire way to end up burnt out and injured.

Training tips with Nikki:

If you’re training for a law enforcement physical exam, I highly recommend doing a majority of your running outside… but, if you’re like me and get burned out by running the same route for weeks on end for every type of run, or you prefer intervals on a treadmill vs outside, a treadmill does come in handy.

We invested in a manual treadmill earlker this year that has been seeing a lot of love from me recently. There’s no amount of Christmas inflatables and lights that’ll make outdoor running easier at this point… a treadmill is better than nothing, just don’t become too reliant on it. Your 9:50 mi pace can turn into a 10:30 mi pace on test day if you don’t consistently expose yourself to the elements.

I was following a plan for 11 weeks, last week was the last week of the plan; so I took most of the week off last week mainly due to traveling and recovery reasons. That week did me well, my pace is faster and my mind stays engaged longer.

Don’t forget that recovery weeks are crucial to your success, especially when you have to shave 6 minutes off of your mile time. There is a thin line between being an overachieving (maybe slightly overtraining) queen, and being a dipsh*t. Don’t be a dipsh*t. Take a week off every so often- I usually recommend once every 4-6 weeks depending on your training load and your current fitness level.

I thought I’d reintroduce myself. Just a warning, this is pretty long lol.

I’m Nikki, in 2015, I started my weight loss journey at a whopping 325lbs by adopting a healthier lifestyle full of movement and not eating like an as***le. I had many wake up calls, but none of them prompted me to change like that one morning in May of 2015 where I woke up and decided that I didn’t want to feel that way anymore. I was (and frankly still battle with this) addicted to food, because food was the only constant in my life. I thought of food as my friend, and I spent every waking moment of my life wondering what my next meal or snack would be. I would eat fast food meals in my car to not feel shame, I would hide wrappers, etc. I was 23 years old with numbness in my left arm and my left leg, back pain, I probably wasn’t ovulating (no periods), I’d be out of breath complete with chest pains just standing there existing… I had many people try doing an intervention, including past bosses.

In June of 2015, as I was doing a clients nails, this client just so happened to be an NHP trooper (Nevada highway patrol). I remember telling her that I wanted to be a trooper, and she stated that “it won’t be easy, but it’s worth it”. I talked about my journey and all that I’ve done so far. I completed her service, she said “good luck, don’t give up”. Since then, I’ve held a variety of positions. I lost sight of my goal and dream for quite some time because it seemed overwhelming. I went from one extreme to the other, from wanting food 24/7 to being too afraid to eat… and i spent a good portion of 2015 eating a vegan diet of no more than 600 calories a day. Burnt out and not seeing anymore progress, I hired a personal trainer in late January of 2016. His name was Chris, he helped me gradually increase my calories and become more consistent with strength training. During one of our sessions, he mentioned that I should become a personal trainer…. And I kinda chuckled. Me? Be a personal trainer? LOL.

But….. in October of 2016, I purchased the NASM CPT course, and I started working for 24 hour fitness as a membership counselor. My entire life was spent in a gym, and I loved it. I was a terrible sales person, but I loved the environment. I eventually started a part time gig at Fitness19 (my home gym) as a childcare attendant, to be hired as a personal trainer there when I passed my CPT exam. I left 24 hour fitness in April of 2017, and started working more hours at Fitness19. I passed my NASM exam in May.

Fast forward to November of 2017, I had been working as a personal trainer already for a few months, I left that gym and I packed all of my belongings and moved to Arizona. I had $500 to my name and no idea where to start looking for work…. I tried LA fitness, anytime fitness, etc. I was getting denied and redirected many times… feeling a little under pressure and stressed, I applied to The Fitness Institute of Arrowhead, where I met Greg. Greg is the owner, and our interview went great… this was my first gym being a legit trainer (and not selling memberships, or pestering members to buy personal training sessions). I was SO grateful, the amount of knowledge and experience I gained in my 3 years of tenure is still unmatched in 2025. Although I didn’t appreciate it then, I do realize the weight of it now. Covid happened, and unfortunately…. Life kinda derailed from there. I started at Amazon, and ultimately working full time overnight and Amazon and trying to juggle training was almost impossible, so I stopped training. I was focused more on becoming a law enforcement officer than anything, so I just saw Amazon as a temporary position.

I fell into depression, and went from my leanest at 165 in 2020….to my heaviest in years, at 250, in 2021. I was still stuck at Amazon, incredibly miserable, and always in pain again. I never stopped lifting or working out, but the food addiction had come back full force. In 2022, I had a scary and really painful back injury that resulted in a shot in the butt, a doctor visit for potential surgery, and 2 months of PT. I was unable to really lift or do anything, so my weight was pretty stagnant. I was able to start pushing real hard in 2023 and thought I had a shot at finally making it, much like 2024 and of course 2025… but life had a different plan.

It has been quite a few years of ups and downs in terms of weight, more ups than downs unfortunately… but I’m closer to accomplishing my goal than I have ever been.

While I’m not going to go too far into detail about the last couple of years, I just want to prove to anyone that’s currently in the position I was in… that you’re human. You’ll have seasons where you’ll do great, you’re consistent on all bases, and you’re seeing results that just keep the fire burning. And of course, you’ll have seasons where nothing is working, you lose control, and you resort back to bad habits. Those seasons are not failures in and of themselves…. Failure is what happens when you give up entirely. Where you have one bad month and decide that living healthier is too hard and you’re fine just the way you are. Failure is when you run away from hard things because you’d rather have the instant gratification of comfort, so you sit on the couch watching TV after work eating junk food for the next 30 years of your life.

I have empathy, I know how it is….but I’m also brutally honest in the sense of: if you want it, if you want it to not be painful just merely existing…. You’ll do what it takes to change your narrative.

This lifestyle is not easy, but it most certainly is worth it.

-Nikki

Yesterday was day 73. I’ve dedicated and given my absolute all for 73 days… when I wanted to throw the towel in and give up for a little bit, I persevered. I just kept going.

On day 73, I failed. It was a busy day and I kept putting off my ten pages of reading, I ended up falling asleep and waking up 45 minutes too late; and I failed. I contemplated my life for 5 minutes after my alarm went off at 1am. “You failed bitch, just sleep in. Your workout is not that important”

But I got up anyways and did my usual Wednesday sweat session. I did my 11 hours at work, came home and got ready for my run before I had enough time to talk myself out of it.

I might’ve “failed” at day 73, but this round of 75 hard has changed me. I’ve learned so much about myself… the habits I’ve built in these last 70 days have been so far ingrained into my brain that I’m carrying all of this momentum with me until my next round.

The only way you fail is if you just stop completely… don’t let your inner bitch win.

Yesterday was day 58, I started day 59 strong with a tempo run.

Also just a side note, I submitted my background packet to become a volunteer sheriff for MCSO to kinda gain more on the job experience while I’m training hard. I’m excited, I chose (of course lol) the patrol division. I’m just waiting for my background investigator to get back to me to schedule the next step in the process.