110: Sadie Lincoln: Why “Brave Space” Training Changes Everything
Why "Brave Space" Training Changes Everything: Sadie Lincoln on Ditching Shame-Based Fitness
Discover why brave space training beats "no pain, no gain" every time. Barre3 founder Sadie Lincoln shares how to shift from shame-based workouts to sustainable strength and confidence.
If you've ever left a workout feeling like you didn't do enough, pushed hard enough, or weren't enough, this one's for you. The fitness industry has been selling women the same tired formula for decades: grind harder, sweat more, push through the pain, and maybe then you'll finally be worthy of the results you're chasing.
Spoiler alert: that's complete bullshit.
In this episode of Broads, Tara sits down with Sadie Lincoln, co-founder and CEO of Barre3, to dismantle everything you thought you knew about effective training. With over 200 studios worldwide and 17 years of teaching experience, Sadie's built an entire movement around one radical idea: what if working out didn't have to feel like punishment?
This conversation is a masterclass in rethinking fitness from the ground up. From the comfort-brave-fight framework to why modifications are actually the smarter choice, Sadie breaks down how to build strength, confidence, and longevity without burning yourself out in the process.
The Shame Game: Why Fitness Culture Keeps You Stuck
Let's start with the uncomfortable truth: shame sells. The fitness industry has built a multi-billion dollar empire on making women feel like they're never quite enough. Not strong enough, not lean enough, not dedicated enough.
But here's what they don't tell you: shame-based motivation never sticks. You might white-knuckle your way through a few brutal weeks, but eventually, you'll crash. And when you do, you'll blame yourself instead of the fundamentally broken system that set you up to fail in the first place.
Sadie calls out this toxic pattern and offers something radically different. Instead of motivating through fear and inadequacy, what if we approached movement from a place of curiosity and self-compassion? What if the goal wasn't to punish your body into submission but to discover what it's actually capable of?
This isn't about lowering the bar. It's about ditching the shame spiral that keeps you stuck in an endless cycle of all-or-nothing thinking.
The Comfort-Brave-Fight Framework: Where Real Growth Happens
Here's where things get interesting. Sadie introduces a framework that completely redefines how we think about challenge and growth: comfort, brave, and fight zones.
Your comfort zone is exactly what it sounds like: movements and intensity levels that feel manageable and safe. This is where you build your foundation.
The brave zone is where the magic happens. It's that sweet spot where you're challenged but not overwhelmed, where you can still breathe, think, and make intentional choices about how you're moving. This is where sustainable growth lives.
Then there's the fight zone: that red-line, white-knuckle, teeth-gritted intensity where your form breaks down and your nervous system goes into survival mode. Contrary to popular belief, this is not where you build strength or longevity. This is where you burn out.
The fitness industry has convinced women that they should be living in the fight zone, that real results only come from pushing past your limits. But Sadie's calling BS. Real, sustainable transformation happens in the brave zone, where you can challenge yourself while still maintaining awareness and control.
It's the difference between working smarter and just working harder.
Why Modifications Are Actually Power Moves
Let's talk about one of the biggest myths in fitness: that modifications mean you're doing less, that they're the "easy way out" reserved for beginners or people who can't handle the "real" workout.
Wrong. Dead wrong.
Sadie flips this narrative completely. Modifications aren't about doing less, they're about training smarter. When you modify a movement to match your body's needs on any given day, you're not taking the easy way out. You're making an intelligent decision that allows you to keep training consistently over the long haul.
Think about it: what's more badass, grinding through a workout with terrible form and leaving with an injury, or making smart choices that allow you to show up again tomorrow? The answer is pretty damn clear.
This is especially crucial for women who've been taught that their worth is tied to how hard they can push. Learning to modify isn't weakness, it's wisdom. It's understanding that your body's needs change day to day, and that honoring those needs is what builds real, lasting strength.
Movement Snacks Over Marathon Sessions
Here's another game-changer from this conversation: you don't need one massive workout to see results. In fact, breaking movement into smaller "snacks" throughout your day might be even more effective.
Sadie shares how incorporating short movement breaks, whether it's a quick stretch session, a few minutes of intentional breathing, or some bodyweight exercises, can completely shift your energy and mindset. These micro-sessions add up, both physically and mentally.
This approach demolishes the all-or-nothing mentality that keeps so many women from moving at all. If you can't carve out 60 minutes for a full workout, who cares? Ten minutes here, fifteen minutes there, they all count. They all matter.
The key is consistency over intensity, showing up regularly in whatever capacity you can rather than waiting for the "perfect" time to go all in.
Tuning In: How Body Awareness Quiets the Inner Critic
One of the most powerful shifts Sadie talks about is learning to tune into your body's actual sensations rather than the running commentary in your head.
That inner critic loves to show up during workouts. It tells you you're not doing enough, that everyone else is working harder, that you should be able to push through. But what if you could quiet that noise by focusing on what you're actually feeling in your body?
When you tune into sensations, like muscle engagement, breath, balance, you get out of your head and into your body. You stop comparing yourself to the person next to you and start making choices based on what you actually need.
This is where mindfulness meets movement, and it's transformative. It shifts the entire purpose of exercise from external validation to internal awareness.
Community Over Willpower: Why You Can't Do This Alone
Let's be real: willpower is overrated. You know what actually creates lasting change? Community.
Sadie emphasizes that growth doesn't happen in isolation. Having people who support you, who get it, who show up alongside you makes all the difference. This isn't about needing someone to hold you accountable in a drill-sergeant kind of way. It's about being part of something bigger than yourself.
When you're surrounded by people who are also choosing brave over comfortable, who are also learning to modify without shame, who are also figuring out what sustainable strength looks like, everything shifts. You stop feeling like you have to white-knuckle your way through alone.
The fitness industry loves to sell individual transformation, but real change is a collective effort. Find your people. Train with them. Grow with them.
Progression Over Perfection: Redefining Success
Here's the final piece: it's time to redefine what success actually looks like. Forget the before-and-after photos, the weight loss transformations, the rigid progress metrics that reduce you to numbers.
Sadie advocates for measuring progress by how you feel, how you move through your day, how your relationship with your body evolves. Can you do things today that you couldn't do six months ago? Do you feel more confident, more capable, more connected to your body?
That's progress. That's success.
It's not about achieving some fixed endpoint where you're finally "done" and everything is perfect. It's about showing up, learning, adapting, and growing continuously. It's about building a practice that serves you for the long haul, not just for a 12-week challenge.
The Bottom Line: Work Smarter, Not Just Harder
The fitness industry has been lying to you. You don't need to grind yourself into the ground to see results. You don't need to punish your body into submission. You don't need to live in the fight zone to be strong.
What you need is a smarter approach. One that honors where you are, challenges you appropriately, and builds sustainable strength that lasts. You need brave space training.
If you're tired of the shame cycle, if you're ready to shift from grinding harder to working smarter, this is your permission slip. Modify when you need to. Take movement snacks throughout your day. Listen to your body. Find your community. And for the love of everything, get out of the fight zone and into the brave zone.
That's where real transformation lives.
Ready to ditch the grind and build sustainable strength? Work 1:1 with a Broads Coach to get custom programming and nutritional guidance that actually supports your goals. Learn more at Broads.
How are you getting out of the fight zone and into the brave zone this week? Pick one workout where you'll practice tuning into your body and modifying as needed. See what shifts.
