The Psyche Behind the Physique

Maddy Michielssen
  • 5.0 (4)
  • Fitness
  • Updated Weekly

Welcome to "The Psyche behind the Physique," the podcast led by IFBB Bikini Pro and Team MPowered Fitness head coach, Maddy Michielssen. Aimed at lifestyle and bodybuilding athletes, this podcast offers tips, inspiring stories, and practical advice to enhance your mindset, physique, and preserve your longevity as an athlete. Whether prepping for a competition or pursuing a healthier lifestyle, join Maddy and guests as they share experiences and insights to keep you motivated & connected. Tune in and become part of a community that celebrates our journeys and inspires your limitless potential. Join team MPowered HERE Follow Maddy's Pro Journey HERE on YouTube | Find Maddy on IG HERE

  1. 1d ago

    Built to Last: What Lifelong Health Actually Looks Like

    What if your healthiest body isn't the smallest body you can create? And what if the best measure of a health routine isn't whether it produces a result—but whether you can actually imagine living that way for decades? In this episode of The Psyche Behind the Physique, Maddy sits down with Sheena DeRocker, whose mission centers around embodying lifelong health, for a conversation about what sustainable wellness actually looks like when you stop treating your body like a temporary project. Sheena represents something Maddy believes is missing from much of modern fitness culture: strength without an obsession with smallness, discipline without constant restriction, athleticism without sacrificing recovery, and health practices that still leave room to participate fully in life. Together, they explore why a woman's healthiest body may not be her leanest body, how to distinguish restraint from restriction, and why maintaining an impressive physique means very little if the behaviors required to maintain it consume your life. Maddy also shares her own evolving definition of longevity—from pulling back on extremely high training volumes and accepting a few healthy pounds of weight gain to eating significantly more food, protecting her hormonal foundation, expanding her identity through female friendships, and finally getting rid of the clothes she'd been saving for the day she “locked in” and returned to a smaller body. This conversation isn't about abandoning discipline. It's about building a version of discipline that can grow with you. Because lifelong health should support a very big life—not require you to continually make your life smaller in order to maintain your body. 🎯 Inside 1:1 coaching at MPowered Coaching Collective we blend physique strategy, functional nutrition, training, lifestyle support, and deep body awareness so you can stop chasing a body at the expense of your health and start building one that actually supports your life. Join HERE. 📲 Connect with @madsmichiefitness on IG with your biggest takeaway or topic requests 🔗 Find Sheena here

    Built to Last: What Lifelong Health Actually Looks Like

  2. Aug 30

    The Gift of Being “In It”

    What happens when you finally get the thing you wanted... and then realize it comes with challenges you never anticipated? In this episode of The Psyche Behind the Physique, Maddy explores the idea of being “in it” — a phrase her mom used throughout her childhood as a ballet dancer whenever the dream she had worked toward started feeling harder than expected. As a little girl, Maddy spent years waiting to get on pointe, audition for bigger roles, take partnering classes, and perform more frequently. But once those opportunities arrived, so did painful feet, endless pointe-shoe sewing, more classes, longer rehearsals, missed time with friends, and responsibilities she hadn't imagined while watching from the outside. Her mom's reminder was simple: “Madison, you're in it.” And that same idea applies far beyond ballet. We spend so much time wanting the relationship, the career, the business, the fat-loss phase, the competition prep, the reverse diet, the next level, or the opportunity that we can forget something important once we finally arrive: Almost everything meaningful has an opportunity cost. In this episode, Maddy talks about why difficulty isn't automatically evidence that you've chosen the wrong path, how to distinguish normal discomfort from genuine misalignment, and why perseverance should never mean remaining stuck in the exact same strategy indefinitely. She also explores how patience, support, communication, timelines, and a willingness to pivot can help you remain committed to what matters without white-knuckling a method that isn't working. This episode is a reminder that you can be grateful and frustrated at the same time. You can love something and acknowledge that it requires sacrifice. You can stay committed without staying stuck. And sometimes the very challenge you're complaining about exists because you've finally made it into the season you once wanted so badly. 🎯 Inside 1:1 coaching at MPowered Coaching Collective we blend physique strategy, functional nutrition, training, lifestyle support, and deep body awareness so you can stop chasing a body at the expense of your health and start building one that actually supports your life. Join HERE. 📲 Connect with @madsmichiefitness on IG with your biggest takeaway or topic requests

    The Gift of Being “In It”

  3. Aug 16

    You Don't Have to Hate Bodybuilding to Outgrow It

    What happens when the lifestyle that built so much of your identity no longer fits the person you're becoming? In this episode of The Psyche Behind the Physique, Maddy sits down with her former client and fellow bodybuilding competitor Miki for an honest conversation about the rarely discussed transition away from physique sports. They unpack the strange middle ground between being a competitor and figuring out who you are without prep, macros, check-ins, cardio targets, and a physique goal dictating your daily decisions. Miki shares what the transition looked like mentally and physically, how her relationship with food and body image evolved, what she had to experiment with before finding a healthier middle ground, and what she would approach differently if she ever chose to compete again. Maddy and Miki also explore why athlete identity loss isn't exclusive to bodybuilding — but why physique sports create a particularly complicated intersection between food, appearance, control, performance, and self-worth. They discuss: • How bodybuilding can shift from something you choose to something you're afraid to stop doing • The identity vacuum that can happen when competition ends • Why eating without a plan can initially feel harder than following one • Moving from structure and rigidity toward flexibility • The importance of intentionally practicing intuitive eating • Navigating weight gain and body changes after competition • Why changing your wardrobe may be an overlooked part of rebuilding body image • Whether athletes in other sports experience the same post-competition identity crisis • What coaches could do differently to prepare athletes for life after the stage • What Miki would change if she ever competed again • How to keep the best parts of bodybuilding without allowing them to control your entire life This isn't an anti-bodybuilding conversation. It's a conversation about recognizing when a season has served its purpose — and learning that changing direction doesn't erase the person, athlete, or discipline you built along the way. 🎯 Inside 1:1 coaching at MPowered Coaching Collective we blend physique strategy, functional nutrition, training, lifestyle support, and deep body awareness so you can stop chasing a body at the expense of your health and start building one that actually supports your life. Join HERE. 📲 Connect with @madsmichiefitness on IG with your biggest takeaway or topic requests 🔗 Find Miki here

    You Don't Have to Hate Bodybuilding to Outgrow It

  4. Aug 2

    The Cost of Never Feeling Done

    What happens when being productive stops feeling like a strength and starts becoming a state your body cannot escape? In this episode, Maddy explores why so many driven women struggle to leave tasks unfinished, tolerate empty space, or accept rest without first earning it. What appears to be discipline, ambition, and high capacity can quietly become self-created urgency, chronic activation, and an inability to recognize when enough is enough. Maddy shares the personal conversation that forced her to recognize how often she was overwhelming her own schedule—and what happened to her HRV when she began setting stronger boundaries. She also examines how constant pressure can affect mental clarity, digestion, sleep, exercise recovery, relationships, body-composition goals, and menstrual and reproductive health. This episode discusses: • The difference between a demanding life and self-created urgency • Why accomplishment may provide relief without satisfaction • How positive qualities like discipline and dependability can become overextended • The relationship between total stress load, recovery, and female physiology • Why more supplements, tracking, restriction, or optimization may not solve the underlying problem • How to define “enough” before continually moving the finish line Sometimes the most supportive thing you can do for your health is not add another protocol—it is allow something to wait until tomorrow. 🎯 Inside 1:1 coaching at MPowered Coaching Collective we blend physique strategy, functional nutrition, training, lifestyle support, and deep body awareness so you can stop chasing a body at the expense of your health and start building one that actually supports your life. Join HERE. 📲 Connect with @madsmichiefitness on IG with your biggest takeaway or topic requests #WomensHealth #FunctionalNutrition #StressManagement #HormoneHealth #MenstrualHealth #ExerciseRecovery #HighAchievingWomen #PerfectionismRecovery #NervousSystemHealth #ThePsycheBehindThePhysique

    The Cost of Never Feeling Done

  5. Jul 19

    Eat More of the Right Things: Nutrition Made Simple for the Active Woman

    What if the way you’ve been trying to “eat like a woman”… has been quietly working against the athlete you actually are? In this episode of The Psyche Behind the Physique, Maddy sits down with Nikki Corrine, founder of Edibowl in St. Pete, Florida, to explore how bowl‑style meals, smarter sourcing, and more diversity on your plate can completely transform the way athletic women fuel their bodies. So many high‑performing women train hard, work hard, and try to “eat clean”—but underneath that often lives under‑fueling, low energy, gut symptoms, hormone imbalances, and a constant fear of eating more. This conversation unpacks why those patterns aren’t random—and how shifting from “shrinking” to fueling can change everything: from performance and recovery to mood, digestion, and long‑term health. Maddy shares her own bowl strategy as a functional nutrition practitioner—including the thumb‑fat / carb‑base / protein‑fist / cupped‑color framework—and Nikki breaks down how Edibowl thinks about macros, micronutrients, fiber, diversity, and sourcing to create meals that actually match a woman’s output. Together, they dive into the practical side of fueling for female athletes—from under‑eating and over‑training to mineral status, seed oils, and how to build balanced bowls across different cuisines. This episode will help you understand: The difference between “eating like a female” and fueling like an athletic womanHow to build bowls using a simple visual framework (fat thumbs, carb base, protein fist, cupped color)What polyphenols and minerals are—and why they matter if you trainWhy dietary diversity and fiber matter for gut health, hormone balance, and long‑term resilienceHow to think about lean vs. fatty proteins for both performance and hormone healthSmart ways to use tools like Clean 15/Dirty Dozen without getting obsessiveWhat to look for when sourcing meat and fish to better support your bodyPractical ways to fuel well at home and when you’re ordering outIf you’ve ever felt hungry multiple times per day, train hard, and still feel like your plate is “too small” or “too beige,” this episode will help you build meals that finally match the woman—and the athlete—you really are. 🎯 Inside 1:1 coaching at MPowered Coaching Collective we blend physique strategy, functional nutrition, training, lifestyle support, and deep body awareness so you can stop chasing a body at the expense of your health and start building one that actually supports your life. Join HERE. 📲 Connect with @madsmichiefitness on IG with your biggest takeaway or topic requests 🔗 Find Nikki/order Edibowl here

    Eat More of the Right Things: Nutrition Made Simple for the Active Woman

  6. Jul 5

    Finding Peace at a Number That Used to Rob Me of It

    In this solo episode, Maddy opens up about the mental and emotional shift of stepping away from bodybuilding, releasing old “safe” scale numbers, and learning to find peace in a body that supports hormone health, cycle restoration, strength, and true food freedom. She shares what it looked like to move from rigid tracking and physique-driven metrics into a more intuitive, grounded relationship with food — while still honoring nutrition, protein, fiber, performance, digestion, and body awareness. Maddy also breaks down how old neural pathways around weight, body image, and control can keep us stuck in goals we no longer truly want. This episode is for the woman navigating body changes, learning to eat intuitively, rebuilding trust with herself, or realizing that her healthy body may not weigh what her depleted body once did. 🎯 If you’re in a season of stepping away from dieting, rebuilding trust with your body, restoring your cycle, learning how to eat intuitively, or wanting to pursue physique goals without sacrificing your internal health, we would love to support you inside MPowered Coaching Collective. Our 1:1 coaching blends physique strategy, functional nutrition, training, lifestyle support, and deep body awareness so you can stop chasing a body at the expense of your health and start building one that actually supports your life.Join HERE. 📲 Connect with @madsmichiefitness on IG with your biggest takeaway or topic requests

    Finding Peace at a Number That Used to Rob Me of It

  7. Jun 21

    Training for Life: Running, Rest, and the Mindset to Say “Yes I Can”

    What if the strongest version of you isn’t the one who always pushes harder—but the one who knows when to pause, pivot, or rest? In this episode of The Psyche Behind the Physique, Maddy sits down with Brandee, founder of Pinellas Run Club in St. Pete, Florida, to talk about mindset, running, and redefining what it really means to be “mentally tough.” Brandee didn’t grow up loving to run. In high school and college, running was tied to punishment and weight loss. Training for her first half marathon, she hated the process and walked away from the sport for years. It wasn’t until later in life—after moving to St. Pete, finding community through run club, and doing a lot of inner work—that running found her again in a completely different way. Together, Maddy and Brandee explore: How revisiting something later in life can feel empowering when you’re equipped differently mentallyWhy mindset is more than “just push harder”The power of 1% better, instead of chasing dramatic overnight changeHow to tell the difference between a discipline problem and true fatigueWhy rest can actually be the more mentally demanding “rep”Showing up when there’s no big, time-sensitive goal on the calendarThe importance of pause, quiet, and nervous system safety in deciding what’s nextBrandee’s race story—rolling her ankle mid-marathon, choosing to keep going, and discovering she was far stronger than she thoughtIf you’ve ever hated something the first time you did it (running, dieting, lifting, prep…) and wondered if it could ever feel different—or if you’re in a season where you’re tired, between goals, or unsure what’s next—this conversation will help you see mindset, rest, and identity through a completely new lens. 🎯 Inside 1:1 coaching at MPowered Coaching Collective, we don’t just focus on your physique—we help you rebuild your body, your hormones, and your relationship with yourself from the inside out. Apply to work with us 1:1 below. Join HERE. 📲 Connect with @madsmichiefitness on IG with your biggest takeaway or topic requests 🔗 Find Brandee/follow her journey here Local to 🌴 St Petersburg? Check out PRC here

    Training for Life: Running, Rest, and the Mindset to Say “Yes I Can”

  8. Jun 7

    When You’re No Longer Training for Something: Staying an Athlete Without a Target

    What happens when the race you’ve built your life around… ends? In this episode of The Psyche Behind the Physique, Maddy sits down with her friend Corin, a seasoned marathoner who went into her 13th marathon at the Glass City Marathon in Toledo, Ohio fully believing this would be the one that qualified her for Boston. She trained smarter, managed an injury well, tapered intentionally, and focused on mindset—only to have race day derailed by unexpected GI issues from new gels. But this conversation isn’t just about a race that didn’t go to plan. It’s about what came after. Maddy and Corin unpack the emotional crash that followed: low motivation, not wanting to leave the house, skipping workouts she’d planned, and feeling unmoored without the structure and identity of marathon training. They explore the fears so many women face after a big goal or intense season—whether it’s a show, a Hyrox, a wedding, or a major fat loss push: Who am I if I’m not “the runner” or “the fit girl”?What if I lose this level of fitness and conditioning?Can I actually trust myself to find a new rhythm I feel proud of?Maddy breaks down how the brain’s Reticular Activating System (RAS), Default Mode Network, and amygdala can trap you in a loop of “I’m failing,” even when you’re actually doing the hard, necessary work of transitioning. Together, they talk about redefining what “hard” really is—how, for an endurance athlete, it might be easier to override your body and keep grinding… and far harder to slow down, honor recovery, try new forms of movement, and let your athlete identity expand beyond one sport. This episode will help you: Normalize the post-race / post-show / post-goal crashSeparate your identity from any single season, sport, or physiqueUnderstand how your brain’s filters shape what you see as “evidence”Gamify a new chapter so it feels exciting, not like a downgradeSee rest, variety, and pivoting as growth—not failureLean on community and the right people when you feel lost between chaptersIf you’re in that weird in-between—no longer in the peak, not yet in your next thing—this conversation will remind you that you’re still an athlete, you’re still allowed to evolve, and you don’t have to navigate the “after” alone. 🎯 Inside 1:1 coaching at MPowered Coaching Collective, we don’t just focus on your physique—we help you rebuild your body, your hormones, and your relationship with yourself from the inside out. Apply to work with us 1:1 below. Join HERE. 📲 Connect with @madsmichiefitness on IG with your biggest takeaway or topic requests 🔗 Find Corin/follow her journey here

    When You’re No Longer Training for Something: Staying an Athlete Without a Target
See All (63)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Welcome to "The Psyche behind the Physique," the podcast led by IFBB Bikini Pro and Team MPowered Fitness head coach, Maddy Michielssen. Aimed at lifestyle and bodybuilding athletes, this podcast offers tips, inspiring stories, and practical advice to enhance your mindset, physique, and preserve your longevity as an athlete. Whether prepping for a competition or pursuing a healthier lifestyle, join Maddy and guests as they share experiences and insights to keep you motivated & connected. Tune in and become part of a community that celebrates our journeys and inspires your limitless potential. Join team MPowered HERE Follow Maddy's Pro Journey HERE on YouTube | Find Maddy on IG HERE

Information

  • Creator
    Maddy Michielssen
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    63
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © MPowered Fitness LLC 2024
  • Show Website
    The Psyche Behind the Physique

You Might Also Like