399: Why I Almost Quit The Podcast

Introduction 

You're listening to Biceps After Babies Radio Episode 399.

Hello and welcome to Biceps After Babies Radio. A podcast for ladies who know that fitness is about so much more than pounds lost or PR's. It's about feeling confident in your skin and empowered in your life. I'm your host Amber Brueseke, a registered nurse, personal trainer, wife and mom of four. Each week my guests and I will excite and motivate you to take action in your own personal fitness as we talk about nutrition, exercise, mindset, personal development and executing life with conscious intention. If your goal is to look, feel and be strong and experience transformation from the inside out, you my friend are in the right place. Thank you for tuning in. Now, let's jump into today's episode.

Hey, hey, hey, welcome back to another episode of Biceps After Babies Radio. I'm your host Amber Brueseke. And I mean, at this point, you've already seen the title of this podcast episode, and I'm going to dive into all of the specifics, but I want to open this episode with a story. And I promise you it is a relevant story. 

First CrossFit Experience and Misjudged Pacing 1:09

I started CrossFit back in 2018 and I did my first WOD because my friends invited me to. At the time I did not know that they were inviting me to a Friday night lights of the CrossFit Open. That didn't mean anything to me, back then. And if that doesn't mean anything to you now, let me just kind of explain. So every year the whole, all of CrossFit does what's called the CrossFit Open. And it is where there are three weeks in a row that we do the same workout, week one, week two, week three, they are released on Thursday afternoon. Everybody has to finish and complete that workout by Sunday evening. I'm actually saying it's Monday morning and you then can submit your scores. And what's really cool is then there's a huge leaderboard of the entire world that has done this exact same workout. And you can compare yourself, you can see how fit you are compared to other people in your age group and your, and you know, your stage of life or whatever it is. 

So it's really fun, but it's also, they also tend to be pretty challenging workouts. And little did I know that what my friends were inviting me to was a Friday night lights where the whole gym was coming together to do this really hard workout for the CrossFit Open. So that was my first, very first CrossFit workout. And I walked into the gym fairly fit and confident. I came before this, I came from a background of doing powerlifting. So I was fairly strong. I was good with a barbell. I knew my way around a gym. I was like, dude, I got this. Like this is, this is no big deal. So the workout for that night was, it was something in like the 10-minute-ish range. And I all I remember was that it had cleans and burpees. It may have had something else in there, but I just remember it had cleans and burpees. And I was like, dude, I, I got this burpees. No big deal. Cleans. I do those all the time. Like this should be pretty easy. 

And so I went hard out the gate. I like started flying through the burpees. I was crushing those cleans. And I was like, dude, I got this. This is easy. This barbell is not even that heavy compared to what I am used to. And I think you probably know where this is going because I rushed out the gate and about four minutes into the workout, I looked at the clock to see how much minute, how many minutes were left. And there was still six minutes left. And I realized that I had made a terrible, terrible mistake and completely misjudged this workout. And those last six minutes were a brutal, brutal and my legs were burning. My, I felt like I couldn't catch my breath. Like time slowed down. And I really just was like freaking trying to survive this stupid workout. And at the end I was like laying on the floor dying and was very humbled by that experience. And I still came back and still did more of it. 

The Lesson of Pacing 3:57

Um, but this was my experience when I first started CrossFit is because I did not understand pacing. I would go hot out the gate because I knew that I could, but then I was not able to really hold on. And I remember I saw a post that kind of changed everything for me and it was a post on Instagram and somebody was comparing Brooke Wells, who is a famous CrossFit athlete. It was comparing her times in two different CrossFit games doing the exact same workout. The first time she did the workout in the games, her first round, like it was a five rounds. And so her first round was fast and then it got slower and slower and slower and slower, right? Like every round she slowed down a little bit. And then the second time she did the workout, her first round was way slower than it was the first time, but she was able to keep a similar pace for all five of the rounds. It's like it had her splits. They were all very, very similar. And it compared her finishing time in each of those scenarios, her going hot out of the gate, but then still having to slow down versus continuously having the same pacing throughout all five rounds. And you know, much to my surprise, her time was way faster on the rounds when she paced appropriately from the get-go. 

Applying the Pacing Lesson to Business and the Podcast 5:15

And that was an aha moment for me of recognizing how important pacing is that a steady pace is going to win every time that just because it feels good to go hot out the gate and just because you can go hot out the gate doesn't mean that you should. And maybe you're getting where I'm going with this, this, this scenario, this story that I'm telling, because this time we're talking about my business, this time we're talking about the podcast. So something that you may not know in the end of towards the end of 2025 is we had some shifts in the team and in the team structure. And that meant that I had to take back on some of the things that other people used to handle in the business. And I am a very productive person. I'm a very can do it person. I'm a very bring it on. I got this type of person. And I often want to think that I am Superman and I can do everything. And I know myself and I'm learning this about myself that just because I can do something for a period of time doesn't mean I should, or doesn't mean that it's going to get me to where I want to go. This was the story or the lesson that I learned in CrossFit was that pacing, going slower out the gate actually means a faster ending time.

And just because I can do all of these things in my business doesn't mean that I should. And so as we were wrapping up at 2025 and moving into 2026 and I was thinking about all of these things that I have on my plate, all these things that I'm doing that are taking up time and energy and brain power. A lot of them that, again, have been on other people's plates that I've taken back on myself for the time being. And I started thinking about the podcast and I am not going to lie. It felt really heavy to sit down and start back up again. And I felt a lot of resistance. I felt a lot of like not excitement about wanting to do the podcast. 

Considering Pausing the Podcast and Internal Resistance 7:25

And so I really sat with that and had some, you know, good come to Jesus moments with myself about what I really wanted to do in 2026. Where did I want to put my time? What was the most important things for me to be doing and prioritizing inside of my business? And I decided that I was going to pause the podcast and that I was going to come on here, pause the podcast. And I don't know when I was going to pick it back up because all the other things that I got going on, that wasn't looking like it was going to happen anytime soon. And so then I needed to record this podcast episode because I didn't want to just ghost the podcast. I wanted to explain what was going on. And every time I thought about sitting down to record it, I just was like, I'm not ready to talk about this yet. I haven't processed this enough. I haven't gotten this clear enough of my mind about why I'm doing this or what, what is happening? And so I had deadline after deadline after deadline that kept coming and I would pass of like, okay, you need to record the podcast episode. And then that deadline would come and pass. And then I would say, okay, I really need to do it by this time. And then that deadline would come and pass. And then I'm like, no, I mean I really need a podcast episode to come out the first Tuesday in January. So like you gotta record the podcast now. And that date came and passed. And it's just because I haven't known what to say or how to say it or, or what my decision really even was. I think that was more, it is like I was still waffling on, on this decision. 

The “Middle Ground” Aha Moment 8:59

And just this morning I had what is kind of a silly aha moment. And it was the aha moment that I have been wrestling between two binary choices. The choices that I've been presenting myself with were to pause the podcast, take a step back, focus on all the other things that you have to do. And you know, pick that back up when, when you want to, when you're ready to or keep going at the pace that I'm going at, which is releasing one podcast episode a week and just keep up with that pace. And that's the choice that I have been going back and forth. And I realized that just like most humans, I was really defaulting to all or nothing. Keep the same cadence with the podcast or pause it. And I had the seemingly silly aha moment this morning that I could actually find something in the middle. Why can't I do something like every other week? Or what I came up with was every other week ish, meaning most of the time every other week. But if I, if it's every two weeks, one or two times a month, that's going to be okay as well. And what I realized in that moment was that would serve both sides, right? That would serve giving me a little bit more breathing room. So I don't, I, that's helping me and giving you two podcast episodes a month is better and more than giving you no podcast episodes a month. And this is something I tell my clients all the time, that something is better than nothing.

Commitment to a Sustainable Podcast Cadence 10:41

But it's so funny how I found myself still following, falling into that trap of feeling like I had these two binary choices that I had to choose between. So that's what I'm committing to right now is every other week ish, I'll be dropping a new podcast episode. Now I have almost 400 podcast episodes previously. So there's plenty of content for you to catch up on. But this feels like a pace that I can maintain. It feels like I'm a pace, a pace that I'm excited about maintaining. And I've learned over and over again that bringing my excitement, not feeling that resistance is really important when I'm creating content. So sustainable is always better than going hot and heavy and then burning out. And I've had that experience way too many times. And I'm finally learning the dang lesson myself and not repeating it again. So that is one change that you are going to see on the podcast moving forward. But there's another change that I want to talk a little bit about. And that is the content that you're going to see on the podcast. You might just start to notice a little shift in the content. No, don't worry. I am well known for providing aha moments, for digging deep into some of the stuff that's even below like the science, more of the mindset stuff. I'm well known for taking complex topics and making them a lot more simple. My how-to content is really popular. So that kind of stuff isn't going anywhere. But what I'm also going to integrate more of into my content is more of me. 

AI Integration and the Shift Toward Authentic Voice 12:13

And here's why. It's no surprise. Nobody's going to be shocked to be hearing this, that AI has become much, much more integrated with our lives over the last couple of years. In fact, I remember the very first time I heard about ChatGPT in the winter of 2022, I was actually at a mastermind and someone was like, have you heard of this ChatGPT thing? And they brought it up and they used it to create a poem about our facilitator. And it was wild. Anyway, it was the very first time I ever saw it, but AI is everywhere these days. Another side note, this is a total detour, but I actually got an aura ring for Christmas and I've been wanting one for a while just to be able to track my stress levels and track my sleeping. And I love all of that kind of data and stuff. And so I got this aura ring. I kind of went back and forth on whether I should get it. It's kind of expensive. And I ended up getting it for Christmas. And my husband around the same time downloaded this app called Bevel and it does a lot of the same things that the aura ring does, but it has a lot more AI integration with it. Meaning it has this like AI assistant that can chat back and forth with you about your data and kind of what it's seen and it reinforces things. And it actually is really, really good. I've been surprised. So I've been using Bevel and I actually think I might return my aura ring because Bevel is just like the same monthly subscription as the aura ring, but it can use my Apple watch. Anyway, side note, so if you're looking for something to like track your data and your stress and your workouts and your sleep and you have an Apple watch, I really, really highly recommend Bevel. It's, it's been really cool. So anyway, that was my side note about like how AI can do some really cool things. So AI is everywhere. And to be honest, like I use AI a lot, like I'm not going to pretend I don't, it's made me more productive in my business. I can create social media content faster. I can create ad content faster, emails, webpages, like it, it's so much faster and cheaper than it ever was before. 

But here's what I've also noticed is I feel like it's watered down my messaging. And maybe you've noticed the same thing where it's like everybody starts to sound the same and all the emails sound the same and all the social media posts on the same and everybody's using AI to write their scripts and it just sounds all the same. It's all smooth and polished and generic. And you know what? I like I'm getting a little sick of it and I want to stand out and be different and I don't want to be, I use AI to like water down what it is that I want to talk about.

Commitment to Sharing More Personal, Human Content 14:49

And so I am really challenging myself and this is one of my focuses in 2026 is to really commit to sharing my voice and my thoughts, not just what the algorithm wants to hear, not just all the fancy hooks that everyone says that you're supposed to use, but to really share what I'm thinking, what I'm going through, what I'm integrating into my life, what is hard for me, what, what is challenging me? What are, what am I going through? That's what I, I guess that's what I'm craving more of in 2026. And so that's what I want to put out more of. And so you're going to see it, you're going to see it in my emails. You may have even noticed this shift. I kind of started making it at the end of December of really writing more personal emails, sharing more about my daughter and us baking cookies together and my husband's holiday party that we went to and just sharing more of the personal things that are happening. So you'll notice it in my emails, you'll notice it in my social media. I'm going to be starting to do more. They call them talking heads of just talking about concepts and things that I'm thinking about and sharing insights and details into how I'm processing things. Uh, and then, you know, every other week ish here on the podcast, obviously this is where I, I don't have a script. I'm just talking unfiltered. I'm just sharing how it is that I'm thinking about things. And even as I was going through and kind of planning out my content for the first quarter for the podcast, I'm leaning more towards personal stuff. Like what, again, what am I thinking about next week or in two weeks from now, I'm going to be recording a podcast on some of my goals for the year and how I think about goal setting and how I think about new year's resolutions. 

And that's my goal. Just to share more of me in whatever I do, plug more of me into my emails, plug more of me into my social media, plug more of me into the podcast and really just show up as myself. So if you're craving authenticity, you're craving something other than like AI generated content, then you're in the right place because that's something that I'm really committed to this, this year as seeing what it looks like to just be more open, to just share more about myself. If you're not on my email list, I would highly recommend getting on because like I said, that's where I'm going to share more personal stuff. I'm really having fun writing emails. Like I'm writing about two emails a week these days and it's been really fun to just tap into what am I thinking about? What am I struggling with? What do I want to share? What's on my heart this week? What happened in my life? What's going on with my kids that I, that is relevant and I can relate to you. So if you want to get on my email list and you're not getting my emails yet, you can go to bicepsafterbabies.com/subscribe and then you'll get those, those musings as I, as I have them. And then of course Instagram is just Biceps After Babies. I'm also on TikTok. I don't know. We'll see how Tik Tok goes this year. Uh, and then Facebook, it's just Biceps After Babies everywhere. 

Podcast Cadence, Flexibility, Commitment, and Shorter Episodes 17:57

So the TLDR is I'm moving for the, for the time being to every other week ish with the podcast. That's what you can expect in terms of cadence. And I don't know, maybe I'll get super inspired and super excited and have some things off my plate and be able to come back every week. We'll see. We're going to take it, you know, a week at a time. And then the second thing that you can expect is just more of me, more personality, more sharing, more openness, more what am I struggling with? What am I thinking about? And that's really what I'm committed to when it comes to the podcast, my social media, my Instagram, my brand, my account in 2026. So if that's what you would like, keep following along. 

The last thing that I'm committing to as I'm looking here at like the time that I've been recording the podcast is I'm committed to some shorter episodes. I've kind of had it in my brain that like my podcast episodes need to be 45 minutes to an hour. I don't know where I got that idea, but I'm challenging it because I can provide value in less than that amount of time. And I think sometimes that's one of the things that prevents me from putting my mic in front of my mouth and speaking is because I feel like I have to fill this time and that's not good for anybody. It's not good for you. It's not good for me. And so I am allowing myself the space to have these podcast episodes be a little shorter and maybe that'll make it easier to listen on your end as well.

So that's it. I'm not going anywhere. I'm slowing my pace down to a pace that I can maintain and sustain. I'm thinking about pacing just like I did with CrossFit. I'm pacing myself with the podcast so that I don't have to quit it and I don't have to fizzle out because I tried to go too hard at the beginning and I hope that you'll follow along this year. That wraps up this episode of Biceps After Babies Radio. I'm Amber. Now go out and be strong because remember my friend, you can do anything.

Outro

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