Why Fad Diets Don't Work

I would think that people by now would realize how gimmicky fad diets tend to be. Surprisingly enough, people STILL follow these diets with fancy names promoted by charismatic salespeople who are selling the "next big thing".

It seems easy enough to understand how dieting REALLY works. But yet, it's still very difficult to convince some people of this simple concept that dieting is merely a numbers game. It is even more difficult to make that statement into something that is marketable. 

Many a sleazy businessman or businesswoman will have you believe that it's much more complicated than that. There are many people who may even mean well - and they just want to help - but have no clue what the hell they are talking about.

Those people possibly have not taken the time to understand the concepts and basic principles behind fat loss themselves.

 

Or maybe the guy trying to sell you this bullshit was trying to win a set of steak knives at work because he just got a tongue lashing from Alec Baldwin who was possibly going to fire him if he got third prize in the monthly sales contest.

Maybe YOU even started listening to some of these people. $149.95 later, and you've got yourself a bag of useless supplements, useless juice cleanse packets, and a book filled with 'magic fat burning foods" that will 'boost your metabolism.' Maybe you even had complete adherence this time with your diet, and you listened to everything this person or diet guru told you to do - but the diet still didn't work. Because this person who sold you all these pills and packets was full of shit the whole time.

Let me tell you a little secret about fat loss plans...if the person selling you on a fat loss program doesn't mention anything about HOW MUCH food you are supposed to be eating, then kindly get up and hit the ole' dusty trail. It is the HOW MUCH that matters on a fat loss diet - plain and simple.

What Diet Should You Do?

Diets are so individualized, and trying to have a one size fits all approach for everyone doesn't end well.  Not everyone should eat the same exact daily diet. There are various reasons for this including cultural backgrounds, individualized digestive enzymes, stress levels caused from socioeconomic or employment factors, and many other reasons. From a health perspective, one should not tell you what YOU should eat just the same as someone shouldn't tell you:

1. who to date

2. what music you should choose to listen to

3. or what clothes you decide to wear.

It's none of their damned business. Also, not everyone has the same goals. If your goal is to lose fat, and your fat intake is already high, I wouldn't advise you to eat more avocados or almonds because they are "healthy". If they cause you to overeat your daily allotment of calories, the healthy factor has gone out the window.

I really do feel that overeating "clean" foods (such as too many bananas, avocados, cashews, rice, and organic nut butters) is more unhealthy than eating a moderate diet of fruits, veggies, lean protein with a little bit of ice cream mixed in to satisfy the sweet tooth. The clean eating camp and Paleo movement missed the boat on this, though they have gotten some things right. Eating wholesome foods is great, but not when you eat too much of them. Overeating calories is what causes fat gain, and holding excess body fat causes many negative health effects.

Eating whole foods is important, but if your diet is strictly fruit, veggies, nuts, seeds, meats (or meat substitutes), oils and simple starches - that is going to be a pretty boring diet. You need to enjoy your diet or you just won't stick to it.

In 1906, the Italian economist named Vilfredo Pareto discovered that 20% of the pea pods in his garden produced approximately 80% of the peas. When you start to delve into personal and inner development, you start to see this 80/20 ratio pop up in various aspects of life. As for diet purposes, a good rule of thumb is to have 80% of your diet consisting of wholesome foods (fruit, veggies, lean protein, legumes, etc...), and the remaining 20% should be left for foods you enjoy that keep you within your goals. (a piece of chocolate, a little ice cream, a small bowl of popcorn)

Sidenote: Another useful 80/20 ratio in fitness would be achieving your caloric deficit 80% through the diet, and 20% through exercise.

Restrictive Diets

Restrictive diets cause people to cave eventually. Also, restrictive diets can cause unnecessary stress because:

1. Following a set of strict rules can set you up for failure by causing undue stress

2. Many people do not have the financial means to buy everything organic

3. Sometimes buying organic isn't the best choice when you factor in shipping costs, the fuzzy standards of organic foods. Also, organic foods don't make you lose weight any faster than non-organic if they have the same amount of calories. Check out this article on this very subject.

4. Depriving yourself of the things you really enjoy almost never works in the long run.

Many times, just knowing that you can include something that is considered "junk" will keep you more adherent. You may not even want to have that food on a regular basis anymore, and may only want to indulge when the cravings are strong.

For myself, I use to be this way with pizza. I would try to fit pizza into my diet more frequently, but eventually it wasn't worth the sacrifice of what else I would have to forego. If a more nutritious choice presented itself such as a bowl of oatmeal or an omelette, that started to win out on a much more regular basis. Eventually, when I had the cravings for pizza again, and let myself indulge - it wasn't as enjoyable as it used to be because I realized other foods made me feel better.

Conclusion

It's not what you eat that makes your diet work in terms of fat loss. It's HOW MUCH you eat. If you take only one thing away from this post, please let this be it.

References:

http://www.fnic.nal.usda.gov/dietary-guidance

https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2012/09/little-evidence-of-health-benefits-from-organic-foods-study-finds.html

Emotional Eating and Negative Self Image

Why are we so bad at dieting?

When it comes to fat loss, I'd say that most people do understand the concept of how this stuff works. You eat a bit less, and you lose fat. You eat a little bit more, you gain fat (or maybe muscle if you're lifting heavy weights). Now it's not ALWAYS that simple, but even if we broke down all the numbers, and had it down to the T with the exact calories, we'd still have a major issue. And of course that issue is ADHERENCE.

So we know exactly what to do, so why don't we do it?

1. Many times, there is an emotional element that stops us from taking that first step, and that comes down to the way we perceive ourselves.

2. We are afraid to shed the identity we created for ourselves up until the present moment - even if that 'self' is not helping to achieve the things we want out of life. 

This happens at all levels - even with people who are well past the beginner's stage, and into the intermediate to advanced level of their fitness. Don't let anyone fool you. We all have shit to deal with, and the truth is that abs alone aren't going to make you happy. If you traded bodies with someone who you felt had the perfect physique, do you really think that would change anything? Now, if I asked you this question in person, you might give me a b.s. answer of "Yeah. I'll take the perfect physique!"(insert nervous laughter). But deep inside, you would know that it wouldn't change the core of who you are.

Aside from that, if you didn't work to achieve it, I can almost guarantee that you would be right back to where you started within a few months to a year, maybe even less. This is because you wouldn't have established the necessary dietary and lifestyle practices to maintain that state.

This would be similar to winning the lottery, and trying to manage those finances without the necessary financial skills. According to a 2015 Camelot Group study, 44% of those who have ever won large lottery prizes had lost all of their money within five years. Check out this article on that subject. In summation - if you haven't earned it, chances are that you won't appreciate it, nor will you be able to maintain that kind lifestyle in the long term big picture.

Me feeling pudge-y

Body image

Body image issues tend to begin in the adolescent years of our development, and this is largely due to our sociology-cultural factors, and images on social media that make it seem that perfect bodies are everywhere.  Many times these photos are either:

1. Photo-shopped

2. The people in the photos are 'roided up liars pretending to be natural

3. All the photos were taken in a one week period before normal weight gain occurred. Not to mention that the lighting was spot-on.

Television ads, Instagram photos, and giant billboards of fitness models with washboard abs are everywhere. So now, these 5% (or probably even less) of the population who is holding body fat percentages in the single digits is now perceived as the norm - which creates a false or unrealistic expectation for people just trying to get in decent shape so that they feel better. Unfortunately, within the young adolescent population among women, these body image dissatisfaction issues increase over time.

We tend to focus on what we don't have, instead of what we already have in our lives that makes us happy. We also tend to think that if we obtain those things that we don't have, it will make us happy. Of course, this is not true. 

Due to the setup of this existence on this planet, we have to continue working to stay afloat. There is no end to this work - whether we like it or not. Our bodies take work to maintain and improve - just like our minds, our business, inner self image, etc...

I think many people have the wrong idea of what's really important - and the thing that we should really focus on is our overall health. To be honest, abs really shouldn't be your end goal when you are focusing on your body, as there could even have potential health risks once extremely low levels of body fat are achieved. I've heard nutrition expert Lyle McDonald say something to the effect of, 'The problem with reaching an extremely low level of body fat is that once you gain any (marginal) weight, you feel fat as hell.' You really don't want to become a slave to your abs because that's no way to live.

Don't get me wrong, I'd rather have abs than not have them - but really, the process of obtaining them itself is where you get the enjoyment. Knowing that you have the control to shape your body into what you want, and making a game out of the process is half the fun. But all in all, you really should be focusing on how you feel. Using that as your motivation will often keep you in the game much longer. If you stick with the process long enough, then the abs will probably show up anyway.

"I can't believe it! I blew my diet again!!!!"

Emotional Eating

So when we get into the topic of emotional eating, let's first understand some of the reasons why this occurs:

1.  Falsely thinking that we are not good enough to achieve our goal(s) (i.e. binge eating everything in sight out of self hatred)

2. Having false expectations of how long the process will take to accomplish our goal(s), so you inevitably give up too soon out of impatience (i.e. giving up after 1 or 2 "bad" days of eating because you "fell off the wagon")

3.  Not spending the time to get to the root of the problem - hence not figuring out WHY you started in the first place.

4.  Trying to be like somebody else. You will never have someone else's body. You can only have your own.

5. Having a negative self-image.

Transcending our Negative Self Image

Everything we have done up until this point has led us to where we are today. Once we finalize realize that, we can take responsibility for our actions and the consequences that were a result of those actions. If your self image does not change, you will continue to perform the same actions on a daily basis - therefore you will continue to get the same results. Nobody is coming to save you, and unfortunately (or fortunately - however you want to look at it), YOU are the one in control. Obviously, there is plenty of help out there as well, but only when you're ready.

So once you start to see yourself as the type of person that takes care of their diet, and makes good choice after good choice - it is only at that point where you will start to get the results that come from those choices. If you don't make the necessary changes, nothing will change. This is not groundbreaking news or anything, but you MUST change your self image to start getting the things you want in life.

Now this is not an overnight process, but if you continue on the path for long enough, those changes will now be the norm. This is where the science comes into play, and your body set point will start to correlate with your daily practices. Check out this cool video from the super knowledgeable Eric Helms from 3DMJ. In this video, he talks about finding your body-fat set point - and whether it is a set point, or a "settling" point. There is a lot of rad content about bodybuilding on his pages, and Eric also talks a lot more in depth about various subjects.

Emotional Eating

Many people use food as a coping mechanism for their sadness. If they are having a bad day, or feeling "lowly", they will temporarily try to make themselves happy by eating something they know in their heart will not make them feel good. They know they are already satisfied with the amount that they have eaten - but they still find themselves in the fridge or cupboards going for another scoop of peanut butter, ice cream or whatever else they can find.

I've gotta be honest - I was one of the worst dieters ever. I still find myself eating more than I need to on occasion (even though I know better). I have worked at getting much better at dieting over time by establishing daily practices such as intermittent fasting, meal planning, and following consistent diet structures. I really do feel that dieting is one of the hardest things to master - because you can't just not eat. (forgive the double negative grammar nazis, but it makes more sense to say it that way)

Also, eating is a pleasurable experience, however taken to an extreme - it can make you feel like crap. The pint of ice cream may have made you feel good for 5-10 minutes, but soon thereafter the guilt sets in, and that's when you start beating yourself up, thinking your self-worth is less than it really is, and you just give up on the "diet."

If you're an alcoholic, you can just stop drinking. That's much easier of a decision than trying to make sure you don't go over your daily calorie allowance by 500 calories that day in order to stay within your goal. Even people who have tracked their diets for several years can still be off by 500 calories easily by guesstimating. It's really not an easy thing to do.

That is why the decision making part of knowing what to choose in the given situation...is SO important!!! You are the product of your decisions over time. Everything you do is an investment, whether it is your time, your energy, your nutrition choices, your exercise regimen, your social life, etc...

I know we live in a P.C. climate where it is socially unacceptable to say how being overweight is bad for your health. Fitness models are even sometimes ridiculed for being "too skinny" (and I do agree that many times, it is taken to an extreme).

I never like to make someone feel badly about their body weight, and I really don't like to come across that way. But the reality of the situation is that carrying excess body fat is just not healthy, and my goal here is to try to help people who are struggling with their weight to get on the right path.

Nearly 1 out of 10 Americans is diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. More than 2/3 of the adult population in the U.S. is clinically overweight. I'm sorry, but we just need to do better than that. You are not alone out there, but ultimately it is YOU that is in control. Work on slowly improving your diet over time, and that excess body fat will soon be a thing of the past.

References:

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, 15(4), 451–477. Society for Research on Adolescence

http://fortune.com/2016/01/15/powerball-lottery-winners/

http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/statistics/

http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statistics/Pages/overweight-obesity-statistics.aspx

 

My Current Lifting and Diet Plan

With the summer approaching, it’s time to put my money where my mouth is with all my diet talk and really show how effective a slow and controlled fat loss phase can be.

There are so many conflicting approaches out there in the fitness world, and many of the people giving advice are taking massive amounts of drugs. If you're not taking drugs, it is unlikely that you will be able to train the same way as them. 

Instead, please see the value in the more moderate approach over the course of time. You have to train at your own level, and you want to keep progressing in some way each week. Pretty soon, those days and weeks turn into months and years - of more experience (and more muscle). One intense workout isn't gonna cut the mustard.

So with that diatribe out of the way, let me get into my own training programming so you can see how I am approaching this fat loss phase, and to see why it is laid out the way it is. For those who may say I'm already lean enough, that sounds like a defeatist attitude. Plus, now that I'm getting a lot better at the dieting aspect, I want to get rid of that last 3-4 lbs so I can start eating more and grow more lean dense muscle.

Muscle grows much more efficiently (with less fat gain) when starting from a leaner state. This is because nutrients are used more efficiently, meaning that extra calories consumed above a maintenance level are directed towards building muscle tissue rather than creating fat. This occurs in conjunction with progressive overload in training, and proper nutrition.

And those who say I'm not that lean, you are even more obsessive than I am - and just plain mean. But I guess when you put yourself out there, you do invite the ridicule of internet trolls.

Anywho, here's the training plan.

4 day training week

Currently, I am training on a 4 day a week plan that fits around my work schedule. Sunday workouts are my most fun day, and I take my time and rest a bit longer in between sets as chest has been a lagging body part. During the week, I will train during my lunch break, so those particular workouts have to be kept shorter because of time constraints.

The weekly workouts are more of the ole’ in/out variety.

My overall program looks something like this:

Sunday

Incline Bench Press – 3 sets of Reverse pyramid style progressions

Flat Bench Press – 3-4 sets of Reverse pyramid

Incline Dumbbell Curls – 3 sets of 8 (lighter weight)

Skull Crushers or Tricep Pushdowns – 2-3 sets x 8-10 reps

Calf Raises - 3 sets 15-20 reps

Hanging Leg Raises 2-3 sets 10-12+

Tuesday

Upright T-Bar Row – (standard pyramid) – 2 sets 5 for warmup (2 minutes rest in between)

Romanian Deadlifts (standard pyramid) – 4 sets – 3, 3, 3, 8-12reps (3 minute rests in between)

Weighted Chin Up – (Reverse pyramid) – 2-3 sets depending on time. 2-3 minute rests in between

Weighted Dips - 2-3 (reverse pyramid) sets depending on time. 2-3 minute rests in between

Thursday

Standing Military Press – Reverse pyramid. 3 sets (5, 7, 8)

Incline Barbell Press - 3 sets of 8 reps

Seated Military Press – Reverse pyramid

Seated Rear Delt Flyes – 3 sets 12-15 reps

Friday

Front Squats – 6 sets of 3 (explosive)

Leg Press – 3 sets of 5-8 reps

Incline Dumbbell Curls – 3 sets reverse pyramid

Barbell Holds – 45-60 second holds

I really would prefer to have a little more time on my weekday workouts, but if I exercised after work, I would get home way too late, and have less time to work on other stuff. If I lifted too early, it would throw off my diet routine, plus my joints and muscles don't feel lubricated enough in the early mornings to lift heavy weight.

As is the case with many busy people, I have to work within my time budgets, and a less ideal program sure is better than the alternative (which is no workout at all). More importantly than anything, I've shifted my training around to fit my personal preference.

I'd rather have a less than ideal program that I WILL be able to follow than a perfectly laid out "masterpiece" plan that is unrealistic with my lifestyle. It's still a solid program with all the main exercises I want to progress on. It's got everything I need, with very little b.s., and I've been progressing on my key lifts which is my main focus. Time is the main issue.

My purpose is to be efficient, rather than adding a bunch of nonsense exercises. I shy away from a lot of isolation movements unless I start to notice a glaring weakness. Recently, I have been working more on my grip strength to set myself to do more deadlifting after the summer.

I am also trying to lift as heavy as possible on each set, so the demands on my body are right at the tipping point. I always like to train RIGHT at that level.

I want to push myself in each workout, but I also want to make sure I come back recovered for the following workout. Sometimes when I just don't have it, I will leave room for improvement for the following week. Sometimes I notice that one particular exercise is wearing me out more than others, and causing the other lifts to suffer. If that's the case, I will do that exercise less often, or maybe just work on form so that it doesn't tax me too much. This basically is like planting a seed that I get to harvest in the future.

As a NATURAL weightlifter, you have to train smart and think long term, as being natural will not allow as quick as recovery time as being a stacked up steroid user. If I wanted to JUST get stronger, I'd eat way more - but then, I would end up gaining a bunch of fat in the process - which would take months to lose. That is just exhausting. It's much easier to stay on point all year around and eat a moderate amount, and a little more when I feel I can use a bit of extra food for my training.

Monthly goal - lose last 4-5 lbs of fat

How do I plan on doing this? 

Currently my weight is around 164-165 lbs. I'm aiming to get rid of those last 4-5 pounds of fat (which is equivalent to the last inch of fat on my waist line), so this is pretty much the nitty gritty. I don't want to suffer through these as the body starts to fight back when you start getting really lean, so a slower approach will make it more enjoyable and tolerable.  

I will be setting my calories to about 2200-2300 calories per day and will try my best not go over that number. The main thing not to do is stress about the number though. If I am feeling pretty beat up from my workout, sometimes I will have a bit more extra food. I'm not trying to destroy myself, and generally I like to listen to my body when it tells me it needs something. It's learning to distinguish between when hunger is valid, and when it is based on boredom or negative self-image. That's the hard part to master. Numbers are easy.

Because I am generally pretty active, and do some daily walking - this calorie range will be enough to slowly lose fat, while still fueling my workouts so I have enough energy to keep hitting personal records (PR's) each week, or at least maintain strength.

Losing fat is not an easy task for me as I am naturally a mesomorph, so I have to be more crafty - as I really hate suffering through a low calorie diet. This is why I do actually incorporate a decent amount of "cardio" in my training, though it is mostly just walking (since that affects my training and hunger levels the least).

Even if I don't hit PR's each week - if I'm able to maintain strength while dropping body fat, then I am getting stronger for my body weight (relative strength). In turn, I will have a higher lean muscle to fat ratio, which makes my body feel and look way better.

Lean muscle > body fat

Here is the current diet layout:

Calories - 2200-2300

Protein - at least 140g

Fats - at least 50g

Carbs -  whatever is remaining (usually around 225-300g)

Diet Staples:

Hot Sauce! (I don't discriminate)

Oatmeal

Potatoes

Green Veggies/mushrooms

Eggs

Low fat cheese

Bananas/apples/frozen berries

Protein powder

greek yogurt

dark chocolate

Chicken/tuna/salmon - I have been trying to eat less meat, but when my body tells me I should be eating it, I will oblige.

Overall, it's a pretty basic bro-ish diet, but it really does make hitting your numbers a lot easier. I will be flexible whenever I'm craving something more adventurous, but I realllllly enjoy every morsel of food that I ingest. If I go out to eat, I'll just try to be somewhat cautious of what I order, and will typically order less saucy meals, and I usually stay away from bread, pasta and rice dishes. A side of sweet potato fries is usually in the cards though...

I don't eat breakfast, nor do I really eat a big lunch. I go for long walks during my lunch breaks at work to give myself a little more wiggle room in the diet - and help nutrition partitioning.

This also helps with overall conditioning so I have the stamina to endure my workouts.

Many people will tell you that you should be constantly adding volume to your training. This is true to a point once you get to the higher ends of intermediate and advanced levels, but it doesn't need to be taken to an extreme. Your body will tell you how much you can handle. Pushing past that just to prove a point may help your ego that day, but if your next workout suffers because of that, do you think it was worth it?

Isn't 2 weeks of continual progress better than 1 week of intensity followed by a crap workout next time. You can't make up for lost time in one workout.

You need to learn how to toe that line. Always train intensely but be smart. 

I like to train in a very time efficient manner. No matter what happens, I would like to be able to keep up with my training plan throughout my entire lifetime. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reverse Pyramid Training

REVERSE PYRAMID TRAINING

When I ask some people in or outside of the gym about their training, many of them don’t seem to get that fired up about it - even if they have been diligent, and haven't missed a workout. I often wonder why that is.

Many times, it is because they are only maintaining their strength, and/or not making any kind of improvements. So I agree with them, that is nothing to get excited about.  It also makes me a bit sad because I love watching people improve. It's actually one of my guilty pleasures.

However, I will admit that it is frustrating to see someone who is unwilling to change, especially when things aren't going quite as planned. How's that for a life metaphor.

If you are making great progress with your current routine, then it’s best not to mess with that. Heck, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.

However, if your training is stalled, and you are feeling unmotivated or frustrated, I know it is time to make some sort of slight change. It doesn't have to be drastic. It could be a change in exercise order, exercise variation, repetition ranges, or just a new MINDSET.

Mindset is probably the most important factor, but there’s no reason that all of these examples of change cannot work synergistic-ally.

So, if things are feeling stale, and you feel you need a fresh new perspective on how to train, then I think this is going to be a very helpful read for you. Many people I speak with do not follow this type of training I will be talking about in this post, nor have they even heard of it. So I feel that it’s my job to spread the word.

….and now for Reverse Pyramid Training

Reverse Pyramid Training follows the principle of lifting your heaviest loads when your body is freshest, and then progressively lifting lighter loads on your successive sets. As far as time efficiency goes, I don’t think there’s a better way to train. If you are a business professional with little time on your hands, then this is going to be a perfect way for you to get the most out of your training in the shortest time period. You can get a lot out of 45 minutes to an hour of training with just 2-3 heavy sets on each exercise.

If you are a natural weightlifter, or someone who has a lower body fat percentage, this is going to be the best form of hybrid training out there. It is very conducive to making consistent strength gains without having to put on a bunch of body fat in the process that will later need to be dieted off. You get a little bit of everything, and you get to make continual progress in your compound lifts.

Now by no means is this a way for you to lazily go about your workouts. You will still need to train at maximum intensity to get results. But instead of being at the gym for 2 hours pussyfooting around, you can get the same amount of work done in half the time – which leaves more time to focus on other things like spending quality time with your children (if you’re into that kind of thing), and/or working on your business or your own personal projects, etc….

I prefer this style of training because no matter how busy I am in life, I should be able to carve out 45 minutes to an hour 3-4 times per week to continue with my programming. I don’t feel as taxed after each workout, so there is a higher chance of making progress each week because my recovery period is much quicker.  

How this training style works

Instead of progressing up on each set with your lifts like most styles of training you will see, you will be pyramiding down after doing your heaviest set first.

Here is how it would look:

Flat Bench Press (i.e. 1 rep max of 200lbs)

·      Start with proper warm-up

·      Heavy set – 170lbs x 6 reps

·      Second set – 155 x 7-8 reps

·      Third set – 140 lbs x 8-12 reps

 

You will need to figure out your 1 rep max first. If you have a 1 rep max of 200 lbs on your bench press, then you would aim for 6 reps on your first working set at 170 lbs, which would be 85% of your 1 rep max. Then, on your next set, you would pyramid down by dropping 10% of the previous total weight off the bar, and aiming for another 1-2 reps. For example, your second set would have you lifting 155 lbs (rounded up to easiest weight to load on the bar), and you would aim for 6-7 reps on that set. Each successive set, you would follow the same kind of progression.

How many sets do I do?

Depending on your training level (and if you're actually pushing yourself in your training), you could get results from 2-4 total sets. In most cases, I would advise 3 working sets to be the best for making consistent weekly gains. You have to listen to your body though.

 

Your max effort set should be on your first work set. That is the set you want to progress on first and foremost - so if you're gonna go "balls out", that's the set to do it. On your second and third sets, your goal should be to get an additional 1-2 reps from the previous set.  However, once your form starts to go to crap, that should be the end of your set.

Train at your Capacity, Not above it

Don’t go for ego reps. That will either get you injured, or will make recovery take longer from workout to workout - as you would be causing more stress to your nervous system.  You want to leave enough room in the tank for next week’s workout to make another progression.

 

With enough training experience behind your belt, you will start to learn your limitations and will be able to train by feel.

REMEMBER, your muscles will still need to recover within AND after the workout. If you beat yourself up too much, your next workout might suffer. Think long term, but push hard. Does that make sense? It will in time once you start the process.

Once you have reached the top end of these rep ranges, you can move up slightly in weight the following week. Micro-loading is a great way to do this in smaller increments. You cannot go up in 5-10 lb increments forever, especially when the weights start to get heavier. 1.25 or 2.5 fractional plates are best for micro-loading. 

Rest Periods

For RPT style training, I recommend at least 3 minutes of rest in between each set. It takes the body 2.5 to 3 minutes for creatine phosphate/ATP stores to replenish between bouts of intense exercise. When you start to lift heavier weights, you may need to increase your rest periods. Your body will tell you if you are recovered. You are much better off resting longer if you still feel winded. A fatigued set isn't going to do you any good except wear you out.

How Do you Know When to Increase the Weight?

There are certain days when you are going to be stronger, and your lifts will be easier.  I have no idea why this is the case, but many times it comes to erratic training practices, diet, sleep, and stress levels. So if that “strong day” is not your norm, you should not base your progressions on those lifts – because then you will likely end up making strength regressions instead.

Instead, worry about making solid progressions with good, clean form week after week. If you are tracking your workouts and your nutrition, your strength progressions should be somewhat predictable from workout to workout. This is why it’s good to track everything instead of hoping that it magically works out. You may get away with that in the “newbie phase” but that won’t last forever. Nor will cold November rain.

Why This Style of Training Works

Reverse pyramid training has been around since the 1970's and was popularized by former Mr. Olympia Mike Mentzer, but for some reason, people don’t use it often enough. It has recently been brought into the online fitness mainstream by Greg O’Gallagher (Kinobody) and Martin Berkhan (Lean Gains); both follow Intermittent Fasting protocols for their diet structures.

The main driver of muscle growth occurs when you achieve progressive overload, or the gradual increase of stress placed upon the body. With this style of training, you have multiple chances within each workout to reach progressive overload, as you can improve on the successive sets from the previous workouts. For example, if you don’t get a personal record on your first set, you still have another 1-2 sets to beat last week’s 2nd and/or 3rd sets.

For example:

Week 1 work sets

Flat Bench Press

·      Heavy set – 170lbs x 5 reps

·      Second set – 155 x 6 reps

·      Third set – 140 lbs x 7 reps

Week 2 work sets

Flat Bench Press 

·      Heavy set – 170lbs x 5 reps

·      Second set – 155 x 7 reps

·      Third set – 140 lbs x 8 reps

Not only does this keep you mentally in the game of training, but each week you are getting slightly stronger (even if it’s only on your second and/or third sets). Those slight improvements will eventually carry over to your first heavy work sets in time if you’re patient enough.

Ultimately. LIFTING HEAVIER LOADS leads to a greater neuro-muscular response for muscle growth - more so than doing high volume pump training.

What good is it if you have a bunch of pretty looking muscle that isn’t functional to lift heavy loads of weight? Also, it is much easier to progress from 5 to 6 reps doing heavy weight than it is to progress from 15 to 16 reps on high volume pump training. It makes sense when you think about it logically. People want to train like Ahhhhnold, but the fact of the matter is that Arnold was on steroids, so you don't expect the same results without the juice.

With that being said, there are times when either higher volume training or lower volume power training may be the right call.  As far as power training goes, you will likely need more time to do these workouts as there are generally longer rest periods, and more sets per exercise.

However, working in the lower rep ranges of 1-3 is usually not enough volume to grow lean muscle. 6-12 reps per set seems to be the sweet spot for gaining strength and maintaining a lean physique. You have to pick your poison. I prefer being lean AND strong rather than packing on a bunch of body fat just to improve absolute strength. (that comes down to personal preference)

In terms of overall effectiveness and efficiency, I think reverse pyramid training is hands down the best choice for getting a little bit of everything. You get your strength reps. You get your hypertrophy reps. And lastly you get your muscular endurance reps. If your nutrition, sleep, and stress levels are dialed in, you can continue to make strength gains for a very long time before needing to switch to another style of training.

In the end, whatever training style you prefer the most (that allows the most personal progression) is going to be the best style of training for you. However, if you are stalled – then trying something new will almost always be the answer. You can always return to the style you prefer, but you should milk out as much results as possible on your new style of training before doing so.

For more on reverse pyramid training, check out these sites:

 

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/randy2.htm

http://www.thinkeatlift.com/reverse-pyramid-training/ 

http://rippedbody.jp/reverse-pyramid-training/

https://kinobody.com/workouts-and-exercises/reverse-pyramid-training/

How to Count Macros for Beginners

How To Count Macros for Beginnners

Counting "macros" is a shorter and lamer sounding way of saying that you are counting macro-nutrients.

A macronutrient is a food that provide nutrients for the body (i.e. fats, protein, carbohydrates)

For our bodies to operate at its fullest potential, it should be fed a balanced ratio of these macro-nutrients to meet all dietary and hormonal needs. When your diets is dialed in, it starts to feel like you are on cloud 9. Your workouts are better and you generally have much better energy levels throughout the day. For those new to this process, I wanted to give you a few simple starting points to get you on your way.

Simple Steps

1)      Determine your maintenance calories

To be clear, your maintenance calories would be the amount of calories you would need to consume to stay at the same current weight.

Here’s a good starting point if you are unsure what your maintenance calories should be:

• Take your body weight x 15 = maintenance calories

• If you lose weight slowly, multiply by 14

• If you lose weight easily, multiply by 16

For example, a normal 170 lb male would have a starting point of 2550 maintenance calories. This is just a ballpark estimate, and the only way to find out your true maintenance calories would be to track and experiment with your diet.

2)            Determine goal weight/body fat percentage

Safe and sustainable body fat percentage levels can vary, and different methods of determining body fat percentages can yield different results. There are several methods of determining body fat percentage(s) such as body fat calipers and DEXA scan, but the mirror is usually the best way to figure out an estimate. 

• For healthy males - 8% to 17% would be a good range.

• For females, 15% to 24% are good healthy ranges.

Any lower than these percentages is treading on dangerous and unhealthy territory. Abs aren't very cool if they turn you into a walking skeleton, and if they have no strength behind them.

• To gain weight (more specifically muscle) – add a 10% surplus to your maintenance caloric requirements

• To lose weight (more specifically body fat) – subtract a 20% calorie deficit from your maintenance caloric requirements

  Caloric deficit – the amount of calories under your maintenance calories. This is what causes fat loss over time.

3500 calories = 1 lb fat

A surplus of 3500 calories over the course of time should result in about a pound of fat gain.

Conversely, a 3500 calorie deficit over the course of time should have you losing about a pound of fat.

A safe and healthy range of fat loss should be approximately 1 to 1.5 lb per week. Any more than this, and your body may start to see some negative hormonal responses. These numbers are relative as everyone's body size and type is different.

3)  Determine Ratios of Protein, Fats, Carbohydrates

Once you complete step 2, figure out what percentage of your calories will come from proteins, carbs and fats:

Macronutrients

Fats = 9 calories per gram

Carbs = 4 calories per gram

Protein = 4 calories per gram

General health requirements (according to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies)

• Protein  - 10-35% of daily caloric intake * according to International Society of Sports Nutrition

  • (.82g per lb body weight or 1g per lb of lean mass)

• Fat – 20-35% of daily diet to maintain proper hormonal functions

• Carbohydrates – 45 to 65% of daily diet (the rest)

My Recommendations (in order of importance)

1. Set Protein calories first

   • Get at least .82g protein per pound of body weight. Any more than 1g per pound isn't necessarily going to help your weight training, but it may help you stay full on your diet. Protein is generally more expensive, and usually causes more harm to living creatures. I think you'd be better off using those extra calories for more carbs, unless you are really struggling with your hunger.

2. Set Fat calories

   • Get at least 20% of daily calories from fats. If you want to go lower in fat calories, I wouldn't advise going lower than 15% of your total calories, as you will likely take a big hormonal hit. More than 30% in my opinion is unnecessary. It doesn't help weight training as much as carbs, so you're much better leaving those extra calories for carbs. 20-30% seems to be the sweet spot but all of these percentages are relative to the individual's goals.

3. Set Carbohydrates last

   • Whatever calories you have left, use them all for carbs! Carbs for days!!!

   • Carbohydrates are our bodies main source of energy, though interestingly enough it is the one macro-nutrient that we could actually live without provided we had enough protein and fat in our diet. Life is weird. 

4)   Execute each day (that includes weekends)    

Figure out your desired macro-nutrient percentages, and then come as close as possible to those numbers while eating whatever foods you prefer. The more wholesome the food choice, the more likely you will stay full and satisfied - as well as getting the proper vitamins and minerals.  However, you want to enjoy your diet as much as possible to maintain dietary adherence.

Sometimes the "whole food" choice may even cause you to go over your calories whereas the "junk-food" option may actually be the better choice in terms of fat loss. For example:

1) If you had 250 calories left for the day, and you had a choice between a bag of Skittles and a cup of oatmeal with banana (300 calories for the oatmeal + 120 calories for the banana), the bag of Skittles would actually be less calories and would be the "better" choice in terms of achieving quicker fat loss. Now this is not factoring in hunger or satiety levels. It is also not factoring in how long these carbohydrate sources will stay in our bodies for future use. The bag of Skittles is a more concentrated form of sugar that will be placed in the bloodstream for a limited time, whereas the bowl of oatmeal would still likely be in your system the following day for training or general activity purposes. 

I encourage clients to incorporate some of their favorite foods into their diet as long as they can stay within their calorie goals.

5)  Crush your Goal and Get Great Results    

Be consistent with your numbers and have fun with it. Adjust accordingly to fit your body’s needs and preferences. If you are following a weight lifting protocol, you should monitory your diet a bit more closely for optimal results.

Use these free apps to calculate your macro-nutrients, and track your food intake. The mental aspect is the hardest part. That is where coaches like us come in:

 

Mike Vacanti's OTR Macros App

 

My Fitness Pal

Get Ripped for Summer

The Best Way to Get Shredded

1)   Make the decision

It really depends on the individual how you get it done, but the first step is to just make the decision. Your life is immediately simpler once you do this because you have eliminated the mental ping-pong match that has been draining your willpower.

“Should I put on size? Should I lose fat?” (going back and forth in head)

“I’ll lose fat.” (decisively determined in same head)

"Ok" (next decision)

Different Approaches

If possible, give yourself extra time so your daily calorie deficit can be more modest. You don’t want to crash diet. They just don’t work in the long run and they are unhealthy. Give your body what it needs and it will be kind to you in return.

Your first week can either be more aggressive to kick-start the process, or you can ease into the diet by progressively eating less. I like going aggressive initially because you see those immediate results, and you can get rid of a decent amount of water weight that you have been retaining. This will make your body feel more comfortable. In terms of aggressive, I'm talking about a 20% caloric deficit under your maintenance requirements.

If you’re psychologically struggling with getting the ball rolling on your diet, a more gradual approach can also be a good way to do it. This gives you a chance to work out the kinks and slowly start to make daily improvements. I usually mess up the first few days of a cut, so this helps to take the pressure off the diet. You should see some immediate progress as long as you don’t overeat and you have been somewhat active.

"Think long term and what is sustainable for you.

Adherence is so much more important than perfection."

Changing your mindset from ‘weight loss’ to ‘fat loss’ is also very helpful. If you are new to the ‘fat loss specific game’ – you should learn the distinction. Anyone can lose weight, but losing fat and retaining/gaining muscle in the process is the way to go. Muscle takes a long time to earn, so just carelessly losing weight without being mindful of what you are actually doing to your body can potentially make you unhealthier.

2)   Be realistic

Be realistic on how long it will take you to get "ripped". It is great that you are motivated to get in your best shape, but if you set unrealistic expectations for yourself, then you might get discouraged and quit too early. Motivation is fleeting.

In terms of how long it will take, you are better off erring on the safe side, and giving yourself more time than needed. If you have 2-3 months to get ready for an event (i.e. wedding, photoshoot, beach season), and you have 40-50lbs to lose, then the only way for you to get to your goal will be a completely miserable undertaking. You will have very little margin of error, and if you're new to this, that might be too much for you to handle.

Nobody is perfect, and the occasional slip-up is going to happen. If you recognize that you struggle with binge eating sometimes, you will likely need to give yourself even more time to allow for those slip-ups. You're better off starting the process and factoring in those mistakes - rather than not starting because you don't think you can be perfect. Nobody's diet is perfect - and yes, that even means the leanest people out there.

Don't let those guys and gals with shredded abs fool you. It is highly unlikely they eat perfectly year 'round.

Give yourself a good time frame to get it done. The sooner you start, the less miserable the process has to be.

It’s better to start in February than March, but March is still better than April, and now is better than never.

How Fast Can I Lose Fat

True fat loss generally can occur at 1 to 1.5 lbs per week. If you have more fat to lose, it can go faster. The simple rule of thumb is 3500 calories for a pound of fat. Dieting is simply math. If you haven't figured that out yet, then figure it out soon.

So find a way to decrease your weekly consumption of calories by 3500, and you should see about a pound of fat loss per week. You can either subtract 500 calories each day, or use whatever math as long as you reach your weekly goal. Simple, right?

First you will need to determine your maintenance calories. If you are not sure what calculation to use, here is a good starting point.

Determine daily calories for your goal here

Once you have figured out your calorie goal, just have one simple rule to follow. Don’t go over that calorie number. Don’t complicate it any more than that in the beginning phases.

3) Take the time to develop your own system

If your daily dietary practices are not developed, you will need to start with the basics. I think starting each “cutting” phase should start with this anyway.

If you don’t drink enough WATER, that is your first problem.

 If your lifestyle is erratic and you don’t SLEEP enough, that should be your next focus.

If you don’t eat enough PROTEIN, try increasing your protein levels to stay full and maintain your muscle.  Higher protein diets have much better success rates than lower protein diets because they keep you full and help to preserve muscle.

That being said, carbohydrates and dietary fats are not evil. You don’t have to avoid them as they both serve the body’s energy and hormonal needs. Just be conscious of how much you are consuming.

Next on the list is being MINDFUL when you are eating. Every bite of food counts, despite whether you are counting those calories or not. This is why I don’t advocate snacking in between meals as it rarely does anything to actually satiate your hunger, and just packs on unnecessary calories.  Eat what you need and then call it a day.

People are way too concerned about having their metabolism “slow down”.  For those people, I do have bad news for you. Your metabolism is going to slow down when you lose weight. If you weigh less, your body’s energy needs will naturally be less as it will not need to work as hard to maintain its current state.  You cannot continue to eat the same amount of food and lose fat unless you are moving A LOT more. Thermodynamics is real whether you like it or not.

This is where your exercise comes in, and why it’s generally a good idea to stay more active than being sedentary. Just don’t overestimate how many calories you are burning and then try to eat back those calories because you will constantly be beating your head against the wall. This is why intense exercise for fat loss can backfire, and why taking a more moderate approach can make things much easier.

If you go on long walks and burn a decent amount of calories, it almost doesn’t even seem like exercise. But your body still would’ve been burning calories if you were otherwise moving, fidgeting, cleaning or walking around your house – so take those calories burnt walking with a grain of salt. Being more active is generally the better route.

How Hungry Will I Get

You also have to factor in how your exercise is going to affect your hunger levels. I’ve found that the more intense exercise make my hunger levels go through the roof, so I have an easier time staying lean by just walking than going balls to the wall all of the time. I like to look at the long term as well, and being in my mid-30’s – I have to do something I can keep up with inevitably. It’s way harder to get injured walking than running. In the end, do what you enjoy and be consistent with it.

Avoid mindless snacking

Any snack foods that you eat should be consumed in controlled amounts, and eaten at the same time every day to establish structure. Develop your structure and nail that down first. Eventually you can be more flexible, but you will need to earn that flexibility with better practices. 

10 things you can do to crush your goal of getting ripped for Summer

1)   You don’t need a complete diet overhaul if you generally make good food choices. Just eat a bit less.

2)   If you generally don’t make good food choices, just start to pile up the good food choices and make those the norm.

3)   Go for daily walks OR do some shorter interval training for 20 minutes 1-2 times per week. Running, biking, swimming, and rowing are all good options. 30 second all out bursts with 60-90 seconds of rest in between each interval will be plenty challenging. This will also shred fat as long as you don't overeat later.

4)   Buy less processed “junk” food. The less nonsense you have around to eat, the easier it will be to avoid temptation. Don’t make things harder than they need to be.

5)   Buy snack options in single servings if you need to satisfy cravings.

6)   Try saving up most of your calories for later in the day and then eat a more satisfying meal for dinner. Intermittent Fasting can be an easier way to do this. (check out my previous post on this topic - Basics of Intermittent Fasting )

7)   Don’t snack in between meals. Drink a tall glass of water when you want a snack, and then wait 20 minutes.

8)   Eat more fiber if you don’t already eat enough. That’ll keep you full and regular.

9)   Heavy compound weight lifting kicks cardio’s ass in terms of faster fat loss. Don’t be a cardio bunny. There’s a reason why people who do a lot of cardio are rarely ripped, often hold higher levels of body fat percentage and have less muscle tone. Too much work for little reward.

10)          Track your progress in some way. Log your food, track your waist measurements, and focus on getting stronger each week. Your visual progress will keep you wanting more!

Be a boss and crush your goal!

Strategies for Losing Weight Without Counting Calories

Losing Weight by Winging It

If you want to lose weight by just winging it with your diet, here are some helpful strategies for reaching a calorie deficit without directly tracking calories. You will most likely reach quicker results by tracking, but to each his/her own.  I bet you can see immediate results by following these simple rules.

1)   Drink more water to stay full.

2)   Don’t drink your calories when trying to lose weight. Just drink non-caloric beverages such as water, black coffee or black tea without sugar/milk.

3)   Stop eating when you are satisfied, not when you are full Louis C.K. - Eating Habits

4)   Increase your daily activity levels with some 45-60 minute walks, 2-3 mile runs, or whatever activity you enjoy the most (2-3 times per week). Note: don't eat more because you exercised or you will negate the calorie deficit.

5)   Put your fork down between bites to create awareness of what you are eating, and to slow down your eating process.

6)   If you are in a group setting, find the person eating the slowest, and match their pace.

7)   If you have a bad eating day, don’t punish yourself with extra exercise, as this will create an unhealthy relationship with food and exercise. Just try to do better the next day.

8)   Don’t snack in between meals.

9)   Try skipping breakfast, and just drink water and black coffee/tea until lunch. You will be able to eat bigger and more satisfying meals. Check out this blog post on Intermittent Fasting.

10)                   Plan healthier meals in advance, with less cooking fats, less sauces – and stick to no more than 5 ingredients within each meal.

Bonus tip:

11) Pick a consistent time each night to stop eating. Late night snacking can easily eliminate any kind of caloric deficit you may have achieved throughout the day. 

My Mission Statement

Some people may not be sure what the hell I am up to these days, or why my mind shifted so far over to this weight loss since I am not overweight myself. Most people probably aren't wondering anything, nor do they care what I'm up to, and that's completely understandable. Well besides music, I have always had a strong interest in the health and wellness world - and have experimented with all sorts of diets and fitness approaches to find out what works and what doesn't.

As I start to get older, I realize that time is going by at an alarming rate. I know that I can't sit in a cubicle my whole life wasting my energy. I realized I should be putting my energy into something that I really enjoy - but something that can also really help people ...their health.

The holiday season has now ended, and the season to overeat has passed. Now tis the season to cut for the summer. New year's resolutions have failed already, and it's time for another crack at it. Those resolutions almost never, ever, ever seems to work....can I put enough ever's before you get the point. Here's some stats on how likely resolutions are going to stick (with an 8% success rate which is even higher than I thought it would be).

Obviously, these surveys are not going to completely accurate as you can't survey every single human on the planet. But regardless, crash dieting is not the way to go about it. When people finally get fed up with the way they feel, and take action on a random day of the year, the likelihood of them sticking with their plan seems way more likely. You can also tell who is going to succeed when they start smart, and implement some basic steps to get them started with the process. For example, starting with some simple increases in water intake, quality sleep, and morning meditation rituals, as well as decreases in snacking and/or alcohol intake usually will get the job done. Then, they can start with calorie or macro-nutrient counting, or some other advanced methods. When I say advanced, this usually just means trying to hit exact numbers within calorie and macronutrient ranges ...

There is an epidemic going on in terms of overweight people in the United States, where almost 1/3 or more of people are now obese, and 2/3 of the population is either overweight, or obese. People are dying much younger than they should from heart-related diseases and strokes - at even more than double the rate of respiratory related diseases resultant from smoking.  These stats are downright frightening, and I've seen it happen to people around me and within my own family.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death, with strokes being second in line.

Overeating has become more dangerous than smoking, or even violence. I don’t like to see this, as it can easily be solved. I am not saying to put down the donut, and pick up the gun or cigarette – but there’s gotta be a way to nip this problem in the bud before it becomes increasingly worse. 

Throughout this past year, I have to say that I’ve become more and more confident with my dieting and fitness approach, and I keep trying to figure out ways to shout out to the world that things don’t need to be so complicated. There is a ton of misleading, dishonest, and downright harmful information being sold out there to get people to lose weight – as people will always try to make a buck taking advantage of people who are just trying to make the right choice.=

Perhaps my marketing strategy could use a re-haul (and I will gladly take suggestions), but the reality is that it’s difficult to market something that is so simple, and possibly just so boring and unsexy. It is also a touchy subject, and not something that you are going to call people out on, and even if you did (which you shouldn't), people will only listen when they are ready.

Things don’t neat to be fancy to be effective, but a nice shiny package will at least get people to open it, so here:

I’m not sure how to convey my message effectively, or who even NEEDS to hear it. Since I’ve never been obese myself, and have never been more than 15 pounds overweight, I can understand why people would think I can’t identify with their struggles. But this is far from the truth.

For a long time, I have kept a close eye on my nutrition and exercise activities because I know how hard it is to lose weight once you gain it. Even though I was paying attention to my diet and exercise routines, there were many times when I was just going through the motions (excluding the period of time when I was actually training for specific races in my running days).

Outside of those times periods, I saw no real (or very little) results in my overall fitness, and it’s a wonder I kept exercising at all. Once I started tracking my diet and exercise routines – I started to really see the benefits of mapping things out.

This led me to discover why things were previously not working, and even why certain things did work from time to time when I was accidentally doing the right things. This was an eye opening experience, and somewhat demoralizing as I realized how far I really was from my goal despite all of my efforts over the years.  

The main things that I learned were:

1)   When I overdid it, I felt terrible.

2)   When I didn’t eat properly, I felt terrible.

3)   When I had some extra jiggle on my waist, I didn’t like it. Even holding onto an extra 5 pounds just feels really awkward to me, and I don’t like the feeling.

4)   When my body is not functioning at its potential, it just makes many things a lot more difficult than they need to be. I don’t have as much energy, and even simple tasks can seem to be daunting.

5)   When I actually figured out what worked, it seemed so obvious that I wondered how I could have been confused in the first place. 

6)   When I didn’t track my progress, I didn’t make any.

7)   You have to do the right things to make progress

 

Trying to eat healthy, but having no idea how much you are consuming is going to make you spin around in circles, and inevitably give up. Even if you are trying to make the right choices (which is still progress in the journey just so you know) - trying alone will sometimes just not do it unless you are doing the “right” things.

 

What are the right things to achieve your dietary and fitness goals?

If fat loss is your goal, it mainly comes down to finding a nice modest caloric deficit (calorie consumption under your body’s maintenance level), and just being a bit more active. You don’t want to be in a caloric deficit forever as it will eventually wear on you, and slow down your metabolism. So the idea is to learn HOW to eat for your current situation, and how NOT to overeat.

 

I’m not trying to sell you anything, and to be perfectly honest; I just want to find a way to let people in on this secret of fat loss. It doesn’t have to be so difficult. You can literally figure out you caloric numbers in less than 5 minutes, and then you just have to execute the plan. At that point, you can take it as far as you want, and adjust accordingly. At no point in this am I saying that it is easy, because that would be a mean way to mislead people. Anyone who tells you that it’s easy is being dishonest, and you should not trust what they are trying to sell you.

 

Simply put, it isn’t easy, BUT it also isn’t as hard as you think.

 

If your goal is to get down to a healthy weight so you can have some more energy to play with your kids, get up and down the stairs easier, etc… – you can get to your goal faster than you think, and then carry out a maintenance plan indefinitely. This also does not mean excluding foods that you enjoy, and I actually encourage that you don’t take a very restrictive approach.

 

When you develop the proper skills of learning the basic function of life (EATING), it won’t take too much to maintain your goal unless you are planning on getting under 10% body fat as a male, or under 17% body fat as a female.

 

There is nobody on this planet exempt from the law of thermodynamics, so once you accept that law, you will be one step closer to your goal.  From a basic standpoint, you eat a little bit less, and move a little bit more over the course of time.  Then, eventually you get to eat a little bit more. That’s it.

 

What I really want to instill in people’s minds is that weight loss shouldn’t be made more complicated than it needs to be. People do all sorts of researching to inevitably come back to the same point of energy balance. If you are 300 pounds trying to lose 100 lbs, or 130 pounds trying to lose that last stubborn 5 – energy balance will still be the answer.

 

Determine your caloric numbers, how you get to your numbers, and then hit your caloric numbers for the week – and you will experience results. Those numbers could indeed fluctuate based on your current activity levels, your current situation (whether you need to gain or lose weight), hormone changes, or what particular activity you are training for – but it is all about numbers.

Once you figure out your sweet spot, it is a very liberating feeling.

When you start implementing your newfound skills into various life situations, and can get by in the worst of circumstances (in terms of temptation – i.e. vacations, weddings, etc…), you can surely thrive within more optimal scenarios in day-to-day life. This is why routines and practices should be developed. That’s where I will be there for help.

Sometimes you have to use a little willpower to get through the times when results aren’t so immediate. Eventually, you should use less and less willpower as your skills are developed, and things will start falling into place.

Willpower is a pretty crappy resource to rely on constantly as it will wax and wane from day to day, no matter who you are. You cannot strictly “will” your way towards fat loss, or you WILL fail in the long term.

I strongly advise anyone who is struggling with weight loss to simply take the time to figure out the most personally enjoyable method to get to your goals. This may take a year of dedication of figuring out that sweet spot. Isn’t one year of your life worth the feeling of being healthier for the rest of your time on this weird planet?

Things like personal preference, current life situations, stress levels, etc… could all be determining factors for the various approaches that could work for you. Some examples would be:

1) Placing the bulk of your calories in the a) morning, b) afternoon, or c) evening depending on when you like to eat

2) Having more protein in your diet to keep you fuller for longer, to build/preserve muscle. Eating more carbs when you are more active, and less carbs when you are less active (BUT NOT BEING AFRAID OF CARBS!!) Not overdoing dietary fat, but having enough to be satisfied, and to be compliant with your body’s endocrine (hormone) functions.

3) Learning to eat more on days when you are hungrier, and less on days you aren’t

4) Finding quick and effective ways of exercise to fit your schedule, as opposed to lonnnnnng, drawn out forms of exercise that leave you hungrier, more exhausted, and getting the opposite results that you are seeking.

5) Learning how to prepare in advance, and how to improvise when things don’t go according to plan.

As I said earlier, I’m not trying to sell you anything here, and I’m actually giving you all the answers you need because it is indeed that simple. If you are still unsure where to start, please email me at ProgressiveMetalFitness@gmail.com, and I will be able to guide you along to the next step.

Vegan and Vegetarian solutions for Making Strength Gains

Vegan / Vegetarian Dietary options for Weightlifting Purposes

In the U.S.A., overall meat consumption has steadily increased from 1965 to 2015 from from 178.4 to 213 pounds per capita. Most of this increase is from poultry as opposed to steadily decreasing amounts of red meat.

Many people are even afraid to even have one meal a day without meat, for fear of losing “muscle”, despite their growing waist lines and increased cholesterol and heart rates.

From an overall health perspective, I think that many people can benefit from a reduction of meat in their daily/weekly diets. From a spiritual side (if you’re into that kind of thing), I think the less suffering that goes into the food that we eat, the better off we will all be.

That being said, I do not claim to be perfect in any way, and I am not a vegetarian anymore for various reasons, which include the stomach issues I faced with the increase of fiber, and poor protein alternatives (ultra-processed and laden with preservatives and too much soy).

Also, I must admit that I do like eating meat from time to time – though I’m trying to make a conscious effort to consume less of it these days. My goal for each week is to eat lacto-ovo vegetarian style about 4-5 days, and then leave the other days for meat if the option presents itself. For myself, this takes away the restrictive mentality, which would usually just lead me into an all out binge. (side note - I don’t like restrictive diets, and I don’t follow them).

While having many vegetarian and vegan friends, I’ve had countless hours of ethical and moral discussions about the meat and dairy industry, I have tried to find a healthy balance of keeping my body running efficiently, while minimizing the amount of harm I inflict on living creatures in this world. It is difficult to do this without supplementation within the diet, but there are some ways around this. That being said, I’m not trying to enter any moral or ethical debates regarding this, because I know there is no perfect way, and I mainly just try to do the best I can within the realms I know that I can handle.

In this post, I wanted to offer some suggestions regarding some useful methods of getting in protein on a meat restricted diet.

Some of the vegan alternatives that are often mentioned are quinoa, beans, broccoli, buckwheat, hemp seeds, chia seeds, sunflower seeds and various nut sources (to name a few). Those who make these suggestions fail to mention or consider the high levels of tag-along carbohydrates and fats that are included with these options. Also, the protein levels in these sources just aren’t very high, and they are usually better sources of carbs and fats than anything.

It is pretty much impossible to have a perfectly balanced diet – even if you measure and weigh every morsel you ingest. 

When adding ethical equations to the mix, it can become even more difficult. Here are some alternatives to at least make the best choices possible that you can while minimizing the amount of meat that is consumed.

1)    Pea Protein + Rice Protein (Vegan)

 

This is the overall best protein source for vegans in terms of getting complete proteins.  When combining these isolated protein forms together, you will get the best bang for your buck as they are very complementary to one another.

When attempting to balance your macronutrients, and build/maintain muscle on a vegan diet, I really think combining these is the best way to get there. Many other vegan protein sources are much higher in carbs and fats, which leave a lot less room in the diet for other delicious foods.  

 

Pea protein is rich in lysine and a number of other aminos such as arginine and glutamic acid, as well as branched-chain amino acids isoleucine, leucine, and valine, which have been shown to contribute to muscle protein synthesis and muscle preservation. Another benefit of pea protein is that it is hypoallergenic.

Rice protein isolates are high in cysteine (relevant to hair, skin and nails) and methionine (aids in the synthesis of other proteins, such as carnitine or melatonine). Methionine has a fat-dissolving effect and reduces the depositing of fat in the liver – Amino Acid studies)

Mixing these with protein shakes/smoothies, or even just throwing a scoop or two in your oatmeal, can be a great “whey” (get it?) for vegans to get in complete proteins, and still managing their waist lines. There are other vegan protein sources out there such as Vegasport, Sunwarrior Warrior Blend, or Bodylogix. Some of these can get very pricey, so buying the pea and rice protein in bulk separately may be the best way around this if you’re looking for a long-term solution that doesn’t break the bank.

2)    Farm Raised/Cage-free Eggs

While the dairy industry is not too much better than the meat industry in terms of ethical practices, cage-free farm fresh eggs are a better solution for those who include eggs in their diet, and still regard the quality of life of their furry friends. As my good friend Josh pointed out to me in one of our ethical discussions, spending the extra buck or two on cage-free eggs vs regular eggs sends the message to these industries/distributors that ethical practices are important to the general public. Hopefully, this will nudge them to act accordingly. So while some of these “cage-free” eggs do not come with perfect ethical practices from their providers, at least it is sending a message for better practices in the future. If possible, local farm raised eggs are usually the way to go.      

Eggs and egg whites are about as good as you can get your lean protein sources on a vegetarian diet.

3) Green veggies and mushrooms

There’s only so much protein in broccoli, which is generally among the higher protein sources among vegetables (about 5 grams per 2 cups of raw broccoli). For an adult male vegetarian in the 150lb range, it would take about 123 grams of protein to maintain lean muscle. That’s about 50 cups of broccoli. If there was a human alive that would be willing to take the challenge of eating that much broccoli in a daily period, his/her colon would be none too pleased. I assume you get what I’m getting at. These options shouldn’t be your primary sources of protein, but can be good additions to the diet to get some micronutrients and some additional protein (*1).

Mushrooms can also be a decent source of protein at a 1:1 ratio of proteins to carbohydrates. (*2)

4)   Beans, Rice and Seeds

Beans are cool and all, but you are getting a ton of carbs with every serving. It is about a 3:1 ratio of carbs to protein (with red kidney and black beans having slightly better protein ratios, and less fat than garbanzo beans). You should easily get enough fiber with these bad boys, and they are tasty options when mixed with rice, but with too many scoops, calories can pile up quickly though with a few hefty spoonfuls.

Pumpkin seeds and hemp seeds have some decent tag along protein levels, but also have much higher levels of fats, so there are often overvalued as great protein sources for vegans.

Again, I’m not saying these are unhealthy foods by any means. Just taking into consideration the amount of calories that are coming from each macronutrient – I just don’t think they are the greatest overall protein source for vegans and vegetarians if they are your primary sources of protein.

 

5)    Greek or low-fat yogurt

 

Ok, so I know the dairy industry can be pretty ruthless in terms of ethical practices, but some people may still want to include dairy in their non-meat based diets.

Yogurt can be another way of getting in a lot of protein, especially the lower or non-fat options. It also provides gut micro-flora and micronutrients including B and D vitamins, and calcium.

If you have the means to purchase organic, this is probably the better option in terms of sending the right message to the suppliers. The quality of life for cows on organic farms is slightly better.

There are some vegan options for yogurt out there such as almond, soy, chia, but they generally have lower levels of protein in terms of their ratios to carbs and fat – plus many of them are highly processed. As for soy in general, I think there are far more negative estrogenic effects to substantiate adding this into a diet – as there are already so many foods out there in the food industry that include soy. This is especially true for males as the effects of soy on their hormonal levels is less than ideal. When you start paying attention to food labels, you will start to see it in so many foods. No thanks on the soy.

Conclusion

There is no perfect diet, and there is no perfect solution to anything. However, you can still make progress in the gym without consuming mounds of meat all of the time. It is just silly to think that you can’t build muscle on a meat restricted diet. It just takes a bit of extra work and dedication. The benefit of going lower in protein is the extra amount of carbs that you can use as fuel for your workouts. I'm always a fan of eating more carbs, and lifting heavier. Work smart in the gym and the kitchen, and you can continue to make gains.

Once you’ve figured out your system that works, you can just do that indefinitely, though it's good to switch things up strategically when gains start to stall. I’ve always just tried to listen to my body when something isn’t working. It can take some self experimentation to figure out what works, though I’ve always found that to be a fun goal.

Just do your best to make the best choice you can to make the best possible choice over and over again, and you will be striving towards something at least.

 

References

 

http://blogs.wsj.com/numbers/how-much-meat-do-americans-eat-then-and-now-1792/

 

http://www.aminoacid-studies.com/amino-acids/methionine.html
 

http://growingnaturals.com/knowledge/our-proteins/why-rice-protein/

 

http://greatist.com/fitness/protein-supplement-nutrition-guide                                 

 

http://www.nationalchickencouncil.org/about-the-industry/statistics/per-capita-consumption-of-poultry-and-livestock-1965-to-estimated-2012-in-pounds/

 

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/80/2/245.full

 

 

* 1 = According to Nutrition Data, broccoli is very low in Saturated Fat and Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Protein, Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Thiamin, Riboflavin, Pantothenic Acid, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Selenium, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Folate, Potassium and Manganese.

*2 = According to Nutrition Data, mushrooms are low in Saturated Fat and Sodium, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Protein, Vitamin C, Folate, Iron, Zinc and Manganese, and a very good source of Vitamin D, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Pantothenic Acid, Phosphorus, Potassium, Copper and Selenium.

Staying Fit and Lean on Vacation

 

So if you have been going to the gym, watching your diet, and seeing great results, what could be the problem?

Well, now you're going to be away for a couple weeks in a foreign place, and you don't know how to keep up with that progress.

So this week's post is concentrated on some tips and methods to keep you on track during vacation.

Here goes...

Good luck

 All kidding aside, here is are some actual tools and tips to use while on vacation to mitigate some damage at the very least.

If you are not the one in control of the dietary decisions on the trip (like the position I was in on my recent Brazil trip), there are still a few tools you can use to at least not do so much damage. 

Intermittent fasting

 If you haven't tried this before, try pushing your first meal until a little later in the day. Essentially, this just means skipping breakfast. During this early period of the day, just drink lots of water and a couple cups of black coffee or tea to blunt hunger. This will give you some more room to work with later on when temptation starts to loom.

 If this idea scares you, you can try eating a protein heavy meal earlier in the day to fill you up, and then save your bigger meal for later. Skip the carbs on your early meal, especially if you know you are going to have some drinks later in the day. If you know that you're going to be drinking that day, I would suggest going slightly lower in carbs/fats that day anyway. The extra protein will help to keep you full.

 An example would be having some eggs for lunch (or egg whites for lower fat if possible), turkey bacon (or another lean source of protein) and/or Greek yogurt. This kind of meal will also help you to get closer to your protein numbers for the day to preserve muscle, as you don't want to completely go off track with your overall diet.

If you can get by with a smaller meal early on, stick with that and then drink some water to hold you over until your bigger meal, which is generally going to happen at night anyway.

Don't force yourself to eat when you're not hungry

If you aren't hungry one day, just don't eat as much. Vacationing doesn't have to purely be about food - it should be about experiences as well. People will keep trying to feed you and make you drink. Say no a little more, and it will add up. Don't worry about missing a meal, especially if you're not even hungry. You will not wither away, I assure you. If your group wants to get a big lunch, and you know you are going to have a big dinner later on, you can either go off on your own and get in a nice walk. If you don’t want to be so anti-social – join the group, but just have some black coffee or tea. A sparkling water will also help to fill you up for a bit. You don't have to eat every waking hour of the day just because you are on vacation.

Walk more

A little extra walking should help to offset some of the extra calories you'll likely be consuming on vacation, but it could also help with some creative thinking. There are so many benefits to walking such as decreased chances of diabetes, boosting immune functions, burning fat, improving balance, improving heart health, and decreasing stress.

It is also the cheapest form of transportation. Why pay money for a cab if the place you're going is close enough to just walk? Picking a vacation spot that includes lots of walk paths and/or hiking trails can ensure that you don’t gain a bunch of weight while away on vacation. All your daily movement adds up, whether it is taking the stairs instead of elevators or escalators, parking your car further away, or just being more active overall throughout the day. Even fidgeting throughout the day has been shown to burn a significant amount of calories.

Being more active could be the difference of coming back from vacation with 5-10 lbs of weight gain, when you could have come back with only 2-3 lbs of weight gain. Usually most of this is water weight unless you really went nuts on that trip!. Or if you're really on the ball, you could come back even leaner!

 Check out this article on the benefits of regular walking.

 Drink more water and less beer

 Okay, before you walk out on me, I'm not saying that you can't drink at all, but if you are going to consume alcohol on the trip, here are a few ways to incorporate that into your diet. First, drinking a lot of water throughout the day should keep you fuller for longer. I would advise to drink beer sparingly (especially if you prefer heavier craft beers), and stick to hard liquor with no calorie chasers such as seltzer water or diet soda. Soda is already terrible for you anyway, so you might as well not waste calories on the real stuff, especially if you don’t make a daily habit of having diet sodas.

Studies seem inconclusive whether diet soda causes long-term effects, but logic alone would advise us that a chemically driven zero calorie substance is probably not the healthiest choice. If you're going to weigh the pros and cons, holding excess body fat seems way unhealthier to me than the occasionally chemicals in those diet sodas, so sometimes you just have to pick your poison. (But that is a topic for another discussion) 

 As far as beer vs liquor goes, you could be talking about a 125-200 calorie difference per drink between a 1 fluid ounce pour of hard liquor (such as vodka, gin, rum and tequila at roughly 100 calories a pop) and a heavier craft beer such as Lagunitas Sucks (239 calories per 12oz or Founders Breakfast Stout - 270 per 12oz). If you plan on consuming multiple beers, stick to lighter ones, though I’d personally rather have one or two really good ones than a bunch of crappy ones. One decent beer with one whiskey neat, and you will be in decent shape calorically, and will likely be less obnoxious than if you have gone overboard with your consumption.

Preparation before the trip

I think preparation for the trip is also key. If you eat less the weeks/months in advance and set up your strength training program to have a deload week during your trip, you will be likely be ready for an easier week anyway. Then, you can just focus on maintaining your strength so you don't come back really weak after your vacation. You can also use your vacation as a planned reefed period to ramp up your metabolic rate, especially if you've been in a caloric deficit for a decent amount of time. Your body may get just what it needs. Check out this article on planned refeeds from Lyle McDonald (flexible dieting expert).

Generally, going on vacation is not the best time to be "dieting" anyway (or trying to achieve a caloric deficit, so it's best to not go into your vacation with that mentality because you won't have as much fun. Just do what you can, and try not to do so much damage. Personally, I never actually ENJOY losing complete self control with my diet, but a healthy break can be very beneficial psychologically, as well as physically.

Grocery shopping for some healthier options

If you planning a long vacation stay, and can do some grocery shopping - then you can pick up some healthy and simple foods. It is likely that you will be getting more sodium and cooking fats if you are dining out a lot, or even if someone else is cooking (and doesn't pay as close attention to caloric ingredients).

At the store, choose some fibrous and protein filled options such as lean meat, cottage cheese, green veggies, and other anti-inflammatory foods that will fill you up and will soak up some of that sodium. Bananas are another good source of potassium to balance out some of the excess sodium. Just don’t go overboard with the bananas, as they are somewhat calorically dense.

Do what you can

Basically, you will need to do what you can while you're on vacation. If you are going to be on the road fairly often, you would need to implement more long-term methods, though they generally aren't much different than what I've suggested here. It's just a matter of getting better at it over time.

Hopefully your trip will incorporate a little bit of all of these tools so that you can still enjoy some of life's finest treats, without the expensive receipts that come with overdoing it.

Try to keep fats lower, while protein and carbs should be higher to spare muscle development - especially if you have been on a strength training program prior to the vacation. You don't want to lose hard earned muscle on your trip, and have to come back to the gym weak as f_____ because you completely threw caution to the wind.

Conclusion

If you do a little here and there while on vacation, it will definitely add up. I ate of ton on this past vacation, and had really no way of tracking most of what I was eating. When I came back, the first day I thought I gained 4 lbs, but after a day or so, though I realized most of that was water. Two to three days later when the water weight subsided and the dust settled, I was only up a half a pound since the beginning of the trip. Not too bad for completely going off track of my usual diet plan, and I even made some nice strength gains on some of the workouts.

I think my body was actually ready for the increase of calories in order to increase my leptin (hunger-hormone) levels. Raising leptin levels after long periods of calorie restriction actually helps to increase basal metabolic rate, so that the body will burn more calories at a resting rate.

I followed all of these tips myself, ate a lot of food, and wasn't able to be as active on this particular trip.

Yet, I still found a way to make it work. Hopefully, these tips can help you when you go on your next trip. Thanks for reading.

Continue below for some sample impromptu workouts that I came up with on the fly.

Sample workouts

You’re not always going to have the same kind of options you have at home. That fitness center with all the equipment you need for your workout may or may not have an equivalent in your vacation locale.. Here are some suggestions to keep some level of maintenance, so that you don’t come back from vacation completely weak and unable to complete your workouts.

On my recent vacation to Brazil, I was in several different cities and locations. With each arrival to a new city, I was faced with another uncertainty of how to get in a workout, but where there’s a will there’s a way.

Here's some quick sample workouts that I did there 1) with a crappy little hotel gym (which only had one 30 lb pair of dumbbells and crappy useless machine), 2)  with no gym at all, some random pull-up bars that I found while walking around on the beach/waterfalls, and 3) some other random gyms that were serviceable at best. If you have access to an actual gym, then you are good to go and can proceed as you normally would. But if you don't have that access, have fun with some improvisation, and use your own body to get in some impromptu workouts. This will also be a fun way to see what you can come up with, and to get some creative juices flowing.

 Workout 1

Crappy little hotel gym (which only had one 30 lb pair of dumbbells and crappy useless machine)

 Pistol squats with 30 lb Dumbbells

2 sets of 5-6

 

Handstand push-ups

2 sets of 5-6

 

Cable pulls downs on crappy useless machine

3 sets of 10

 

Push-ups with girlfriend laying on your back

As many as you can do so you don't get in trouble later

Or

2 sets of 10-12

Last set followed by max body weight push-ups, or elevated feet push-ups

 

Capped with laying leg raises

2 sets of 20-30 or as many as you can do

 

Workout 2

 

Find an exercise bar or sturdy tree branch to do some body weight exercises. If you don't have a weight belt or weights to use, then do some more rest pause training (shorter rest periods) to simulate having more weight. 

 Muscle-ups -. If you can do any of these, congratulations!!!! If you can’t and are able to do some pull-ups or chin-ups, here’s a nice little workout to do.

 Wide grip pull-ups (body weight rest-pause style workout with shorter rest periods) 

Set of 10

Set of 8

Set of 6

 

Chin-ups (body weight rest-pause)

Set of 9

Set of 6

Set of 5

 

One-arm push-ups

3 sets of 8-10

 

Workout 3 (found a gym. YES!!!!) 

 

Standing military press

Warm up set with ½ your desired weight at 6 reps

70-80% of your work set for 3 reps

4-6 reps of your max heavier weight (training just below failure), followed by 1-2 sets of 90% at 6-8 reps each (reverse pyramid training style)

Incline press (Dumbbells) (reverse pyramid training style)

Cable pull-downs (reverse pyramid training style)

Dumbbell Bicep curls (reverse pyramid training style)

 End with 15-20 minute of 30-40 second intervals at 85-90% effort on treadmill, followed by 60-90 second rest period. This form of HIIT training should help to increase your resting metabolic rate a little.

Feel free to switch up the rep schemes based on your current training goals, though vacation should usually be a maintenance period

 

Workout 4 (found another gym in different city)

Incline press (reverse pyramid)

Bent over anterior delts (reverse pyramid)

Seated rows (reverse pyramid)

Weighted chin-ups (reverse pyramid)

 15-20 minutes interval training

This workout was pretty random, as I was mainly focused on just finding fun exercises. I've been trying to increase my incline presses, so I've been doing more of these to perfect my form.

Workout 5 (found a different gym – muito crowded)

 Pistol squats

2 sets of 6

Incline press (close grip - reverse pyramid)

Smith machine press (not a great exercise, but you do what you can with what you've got) 

Single arm tricep extension

Ab wheel rollout

15-20 minutes of interval training

 

Workout 6 (no gym, found a pull-up bar at a beautiful waterfall location)

Pistol squats

2 sets of 6-8

Attempted muscle-ups (not happening)

Rest pause pull-ups

3 sets of max reps

Random swimming in waterfall

Progressive Overload

The Secret to Strength and Lean Muscle Gains

As with anything else in life, you cannot progress without a tangible aspect to measure. If you are building your finances, you will need to find ways to progressively acquire more money. If you are trying to lose weight, you need to track your calorie intake to lose fat. If you are training to gain muscle, you will need to get stronger on your lifts each workout. Tracking your progress in all of these areas is what will lead to your success.

I've witnessed people in the gym who do the same exact workouts day in and day out, and they wonder why they don't get results. The answer is almost always that they are not progressing on any of their lifts, or exercise activities.

Progressive overload is the gradual increase of stress placed upon the body during exercise training. This is how you build strength and lean muscle. Seems pretty simple and obvious, yet most people in the gym are still not following this protocol.

“Without PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD your body does not need to adapt and therefore will never get bigger or stronger beyond a certain point.” – www.bodybuilding.com

BASICS OF PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD

1) Start with perfect form. Then, each week add weight to the bar, or add reps. Train JUST below failure. Once you get to your desired rep range, then you should add weight to the bar.  –

If your form is suffering, you will eventually get to a point where your body will not let you progress. Then, you will have to decrease weight, and start a couple steps backwards. This is okay, and is a good learning experience. But if you take some more time in the beginning stages to implicate proper form with lower weights, you will save yourself a lot of wasted time. 

2) Micro-loading

This is a very effective method of achieving progressive overload. A great way to do this is to add fractional plates (1.25 lb or 2.5 lb plates each week depending on the exercise). Because it is difficult to increase the load by 5 lbs every week, you will eventually need to use smaller increments. You may need to get craftier to micro-load on dumbbells, but where there's a will - there's a way.

Some exercises such as incline chest press  (which involves the clavicular portion of the pectoralis major - a stubborn muscle to develop) will be better suited for (2) 1.25 plate increases.  Weighted dips/pull-ups or dead-lifts will be more receptive to the 2.5 plate increases (especially as a beginner) as the back and leg muscles tend to grow quicker than chest. Simply put, this is mostly because pushing movements like chest press are unique to our daily lives, whereas our legs and back are used more often on a daily basis, such as bending over to pick up a pencil, walking, carrying groceries, etc....

3) Track your workouts

This can be done with a notepad, app, or your smartphone notepad. Visually seeing the progress is psychologically important, as well as knowing your starting point for each successive workout. You don’t want to be wasting time in the gym futzing around on the same weight all year long. You must track your lifts!

4) Add weight, get stronger.

"The body runs on three energy systems; phospagen, glycotic, and oxidative/aerobic. The energy system in use is primarily determined by the intensity of the exercise, and secondly by the exercise duration" - NSCA's Performance Training Journal

When you are strength training, adding weight to the bar is generally more effective than adding repetitions. There is a sweet spot where you should be getting in sufficient repetitions to drive neuro-muscular adaptations, but there comes a point where adding more and more reps is going to lead to bad form, and possibly injury. Plus adding more volume will end up making your workouts longer and longer. This time way more time than just focusing on simple strength adaptations.

5) Be patient and practical with your training

It is impossible to progress on every lift indefinitely each week, especially after the "newbie" phase. Even a marginal increase each week of 2.5lbs on certain lifts would be a 130lb increase over the course of the year. That is just not realistic to achieve across the board. You will get to a point where you will need to stay on a certain weight until you get to a certain rep range. This may be over the course of a few weeks, and as frustrating as that sounds, it is the reality.

Eventually, you will need to jump into a different phase of training by changing up the rep scheme (i.e. switching to hypertrophy based training), changing your exercises/routines, just removing certain exercises that are causing you to stall on some of your compound lifts, or just focusing on form.

If you are cutting weight, it will be extremely difficult to progress on all of your lifts in a calorie deficit, or even at maintenance level calories. Eventually you will need more food, so progress will depend on what stage of the game you are at currently. If you are in a calorie deficit, then certain body-weight exercises like weighted dips/chin-ups will see nice gains with the plates each week, whereas exercises like dead-lifts and incline presses will stall. That being said, if you are lifting the same amount of weight and losing fat in the process, your relative strength to your body weight is increasing.

As long as you are progressing in some way, you are on the right track.

The Secret of Fat Loss

The Secret of Fat Loss

The concept of losing weight is actually quite simple. All of the research, fad diets, and extreme exercise programs just make it more complicated than it needs to be. 

 Plain and simple, in order to lose fat, you have to be in a calorie deficit. A caloric deficit means that your body is burning more calories than is being consumed. For fat loss to occur, it takes a 3500 calorie deficit to lose one pound of fat.

 

You generally can't reach a 3500 calorie deficit in one day unless you are an ultra-marathoner or Michael Phelps. Therefore, a more moderate approach will be required to make this happen, and it will not happen overnight. A consistent and moderate approach over the course of time will get you there.

 If you are unsure of what your caloric goals should be for the day, there are free fitness/diet tracking apps like MyFitnessPal, MyNetDiary, or Mike Vacanti's OTR Macros App, all of which will give you a good starting point. Once you have a general idea of where to start, then you can focus on a realistic goal.  Another simple way to figure out your estimated total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) is to multiply your body weight x 14-16. If you have a hard time losing fat, then aim towards the lower end of this spectrum, and then work backwards. I wouldn't suggest going too much lower than 500-750 calories under your TDEE per day, or you may see some hormonal side effects.

I feel that it is very important to hit your caloric numbers in the most enjoyable way possible to keep diet adherence. Sure, you can try to get there faster - but if you rush it, then once you lose the weight, you will not have developed the necessary skills or sustainable methods to keep the weight off. This is why most people yo-yo back and forth. Keep the diet simple, try to enjoy it as much as you can, and don't do anything too extreme.

Trying to dispute this fact is like trying to disprove gravity, or that the earth is round....I mean flat.

Anywho, that is the secret to fat loss. Hooray!!!!

Now go do it. (One day at a time of course)

 

Top 7 Easy Foods to Overeat

1.     Peanut butter

PB is just too damned good. It always keeps you going back for more...More and more calories. That hefty tablespoon may or may not be 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons. I usually measure 2 tbsp for each semi-heaping tablespoon cuz it’s just so dang easy to under-measure and over-eat. If you really want to find out what an actual tablespoon looks like, go here:

2.     Hummus

I used to eat tubs of this stuff from Costco until I realized it was one of the main reasons I couldn't lose weight, and I just can’t stop once I start. When coupled with chips or other high calorie dipping sources, this can easily make you go way over your calorie count for the day. An actual serving size isn't too bad at about 50 - 80 calories for 2 tablespoons, but if you're not careful...those tablespoons can easily become half cups, and full cups before you know it.

One of the other common mistakes make is people thinking that hummus is a good source of protein. At 1g per tablespoon, you can surely find a better source of non-animal protein - such as hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, nutritional yeast, or even just some good ole' green veggies. Hummus is okay in moderation (like anything), but don't confuse this with a healthy option for getting your protein levels up for the day. If you are a vegetarian struggling with weight loss, this could be one of the biggest culprits.

Solution: Stick to the serving size, and just buy a small container if you know you'll overeat with the oversize container.

3.     Cookies

Depending on the cookie, these can be roughly 100-150 calories a pop (or more), and they are so easy to just keep eating when a plate is starting you in the face. I can eat them like Pringles. Just can’t stop.

This can be a dangerous snack in terms of overeating calories, and it's so easy to scarf down 5-6 things in a row mindlessly. Can you really just have 1 or 2? If not, it may be wise to pass for something that has a fixed amount. A big plate of cookies wins many a battle.  You know that going in, but for some reason, you let it defeat you. Cookies are okay if you make the room in your calories for the day, and count these towards your fat calories. Just be aware of how much you are consuming. It's always the 'how much' that'll get ya....

Solution: don't buy a big box if you know you'll crush an entire sleeve. It may be more money per cookie buying an individual or duo pack, but you'll save yourself some room in your jeans.

4.     Ice cream

        – I just can’t give this one up, though I opt for frozen yogurt (or fro-yo as the kids like to call it) because it's considerably less calories than regular ice cream, plus I've actually started to prefer that taste.

Recently, there have been some of those low calorie pints (ie Arctic Zero, Halo Top) so you can put away a pint at a meager 150-300 calories without feeling too, too gluttonous. If this is going to set you off in an eating frenzy, it might not be the best solution for you.

If you leave about 20% of calorie room for some ice cream or chocolate, you will be more likely to stick to your diet in the long run. Find what works best for you.

5.     Candy

        – Put a bowl of candy in front of me, and chances are I’m gonna want to eat it. 10 calories here, a handful here there, an easy 70-80 calories….there goes my calorie deficit…..I’d rather just have a piece of fruit which at least has some nutritional value and fiber that’ll help me feel full.

         - Willpower sucks, so don't rely on it, and don't test it. Constant temptation will lead to inevitable binges. If you struggle with this, and want some candy, get a smaller size bag so you don't do as much damage.

Solution: Aim for candy that has a fixed amount of calories, like a small chocolate bar. You will most likely end up eating less than by eating a bar of chocolate than having a piece here and there, and here and there, etc... You will likely be more satisfied as well.

6.     Chips

         – tortilla chips was one of my biggest weaknesses when it came to snacking. If you put a bag of Tostidos in front of me, I could easily put away the whole bag in one sitting at a whopping 1400 calories plus dip(s).  I’ve since recognized this as a food I simply cannot partake in.  Ok, maybe just a handful….

7.     Nuts

       -  one of the easiest ways to crush calories. This “healthy” snack can easily put away about 750-1000 calories in the duration of a Bohemian Rhapsody listen, or even before the heavy part of the song kicks in (you know the part…Scalamoosh, scalamoosh, can you do the Fandangoh-oh-no I just blew my diet!

A handful can turn into 4 handfuls in no time when you have a big bowl or container to tempt you. With that kind of calorie neglect, you can easily surpass a giant bowl of ice cream's worth of calories by trying to eat healthy, when you would've consumed less eating the ice cream. This is why labeling foods healthy and non-healthy doesn't really mean anything to me anymore.

Measure your portions in advance and take them with you in small bags if you want to incorporate these on a fat loss plan. Because fat equals 9 calories per gram, you need to be mindful of the portion sizes.

Bonus Track

8) Avocados/Guacamole

Avocados are another one of those "healthy" foods that will do some damage on a low calorie diet. Because they are a good source of mono-unsaturated fat, people think they are a great healthy choice...However, if you are on a fat loss plan, and don't have too many calories to work with in the first place, you really have to be careful with the amount of avocado you are consuming. Heck, even one a day will put you 250-350 calories in the hole for the rest of the day depending on the size.

This holds especially true if you are making it into a big bowl of guacamole that is oh-so-tempting, and hard to stop eating once you start. Save this for when you are in a maintenance phase, and you have a tad more calories to work with...They are not great to include on a fat loss plan, but are pretty good for bulking or maintaining.

Conclusion:

Not all foods that you think are healthy are good for diet adherence. Some of these examples are obviously higher calorie, but they can actually be incorporated into a diet if you're crafty enough. The fun part of dieting is plugging in that 20% of your daily calorie goals with foods that you enjoy. If you have struggled with diet adherence in the past, realize that there's light at the end of the tunnel. Just remember that dieting is a numbers game.

The Basics of Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting has transformed the way I view my approach to eating, exercise, and even life in general.

For those of you who have never heard of intermittent fasting, it is when you go through a period of fasting throughout the day (including your sleep time), and then you give yourself a shorter window of time for your daily eating.

Think of it as saving up to spend more later. 

Popular Approaches

IF has been popularized by programs such as Martin Berkhan's Lean Gains where you fast for 16 hours and shorten your eating window to 8 hours. (aka the 16/8 method) This approach focuses on higher protein, and more strict training.

The Warrior Diet by Ori Hofmekler focuses on eating very small portions earlier in the day, and then having bigger feasts later in the day to model the eating practices of our ancestors. This diet focuses on food combinations and finding the ideal foods for optimal health.

Other IF protocols include Brad Pilon's Eat Stop Eat in which you do two 24 hour fasts per week. For instance, if you stop eating at 8pm the night before, you would not eat until 8pm the next day. Generally, the Eat Stop Eat method lends itself to eating less calories throughout the day on those 2 specific fasting days, enhancing your weekly calorie deficit. In addition, this fasting period allows your body to perform its other functions, and your digestive system is given a well-deserved break. Eating every 2-3 hours is not kind to your digestive system.

Some other IF protocols can incorporate longer periods of fasting (up to 36 hours), though I do not find those methods to be sustainable in the long run, as they involve way too much willpower. Making things harder than they need to be will ultimately lead to long-term non-compliance.

Putting into Practice

During the fasting period, you do not consume any calories and only drink non-calorie beverages such as water, black coffee and/or tea. Some people will use non-calorie sweeteners such as Stevia, Sweet n’ Low, or have energy drinks like Rockstars, etc…, but some research has shown that the body may still experience insulin spikes due to these alternate sweeteners, so it is best to stick to black coffee or tea if possible for optimal fasting benefits.

Essentially the IF approach comes down to skipping breakfast, although you can experiment with your eating window to have a shorter or longer window based on your preferences. (In other words, a 16/8 fast to feed ratio, or 18/6, 20/4, etc... to whatever adds up to 24 hours)

If you like eating gigantic meals, then maybe a shorter window would fit you better. Ultimately, everyone is different so you need to experiment to find out what method works best for you.

You might say, "I've always been told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Isn't my metabolism going to slow down if I don't eat every 3 hours?!" The simple answer is that there is no conclusive research to prove that eating every 3 hours increases your metabolism more than eating 1 or 2 big meals at the same amount of calories.  

The overall daily caloric intake is the main thing that matters in regards to the metabolization of energy. Whether you eat twenty 100 calorie meals or two 1,000 calorie meals, you will still end up with the same result, so why not find the most enjoyable way to get to that calorie mark. 

If you're still skeptical, think about your hunter/gather ancestors and how they ended up finding food. They didn't have the luxury of eating before they went out to find their meal for the day. They were in a fasted state, and once they found their food, they would have their feast. Our bodies are primed to function in a fasted state, and you’d be surprised at how much energy and alertness you will have not eating. Think about how tired you get after your lunch or after a big meal. (Think post Thanksgiving meal)

Once our bodies are fed, we experience an insulin spike that puts us in a more relaxed and sleepier state. Therefore, we can eat minutes before bedtime, and so long as your body is in a calorie deficit, you will experience fat loss. Don't be fooled by all of the diet myths (i.e. breakfast is the most important meal, you should eat 3 hours before bedtime, calories don't matter, etc…). 

Calories do ultimately matter in regards to fat oxidation, and your intake is going to be indicative of meeting your goals whether that goal is losing weight, gaining weight or maintaining your current weight. (the Law of thermodynamics does not lie)

IF has been shown to decrease the hormone leptin, which basically tells our brain that enough fat is stored. When this hormone is decreased, human growth hormone levels are increased. Therefore, our strength levels are not diminished and we can actually get some good strength gains in a fasted state. It really comes down to personal preference on how to get the work done with your diet and exercise routine.

The hunger hormone ghrelin, which is the hormone that alerts the body when it’s hungry, also stimulates the hippo-campus, which is the region of the brain that affects memory, focus, alertness and memory. Everything seems to work synergistic-ally in these wacky bodies of ours.

How to Implement Intermittent Fasting

Self-experimentation to see what works best for the individual is an important thing to consider...but Intermittent Fasting is another tool in the arsenal that has been proven to work time and time again.

In summary, why IF works:

1)   By skipping breakfast, you get to eat more later in the day (making for more satisfying meals). Also, this frees up more time in the morning to just drink some water, and head right out the door or right to work. Simplifying your life in any way possible is so invaluable.

2)   While your digestive system gets a well needed break, your body taps into your fat stores for fuel instead of muscle. Fasting also has been proven to increase human growth hormone levels. For these reasons, you can still increase strength gains on a cutting (fat loss) program.

3)   Fasting makes it easier to be in a calorie deficit which is what causes fat loss (aka the law of thermodynamics)

4)   Fasting helps to keep you aware of what you are eating, and can make you appreciate food more, by waiting longer for it

5)   Fasting creates a sustainable eating lifestyle in the long term. You only want to lose that weight once!

Rah Rah, Shiska-bob

Try Something New For Once in Your Life ;)

Give it a try if what you're doing isn't currently working out for you. If you don't like it after a couple weeks, then go back to your normal habits. You've got nothing to lose, except maybe some pesky pounds that have been hanging around without the invitation. 

I think it's an approach that is worth the experimentation.  

Here's my results thusfar if you don't believe me....

Top 5 Common Diet/Fitness Misnomers

 1)     Endurance running is the best way to lose weight

•    the amount of eating you need to do to keep up with training can get absurd. Once your race is done, and/or you’re injured, and/or both, it’s easy to get stuck in the gluttonous eating pattern you developed while training, and any weight you may have lost will quickly come back with a few 3-4000 calorie days.

 • Your endocrine system is also being affected by the excessive cardio, which causes stress on the body, and raises cortisol levels. This causes you to store more fat, and slows down your recovery time...not to mention all of that hard-earned muscle that gets burned up instead of fat stores.

Photo by Robin Dell Maccaro

    2)    Low carb (ketogenic) or low-fat diets are the answer

•    It always comes back to the same thing with fat loss. You HAVE to be in a calorie deficit. In other words, you HAVE to consume less calories than you burn in order to lose fat. Period.  Find the best way to achieve this to make it enjoyable.

Fats are still important to hormonal health, so you don't want to go too low. Carbohydrates are the primary fuel source for activity. Try to get a balance of the 3 macro-nutrients (fats, carbs, protein) for long-term fat loss results and adherence.

    3)    Doing high reps at a lower weight will get you toned

    •   This theory is completely backwards, yet I see the concept being misunderstood again and again.
    •    Lifting heavy weight at low reps = lean muscle.  Once you start doing higher reps at a lower weight, you are pumping more blood into your muscles, which will cause a puffier look. This is called sarcoplasmic muscle, which is developed through hypertrophy training. Typically, these rep ranges would be between10-14.

    • Myofibrillar muscle development (lean, dense muscle) is the byproduct of strength. Stick to 4-8 rep range and lift heavier if you want to get lean muscle. Progressive overload (small increases in weight and/or reps with heavy weight) with each successive workout will lead to this kind of muscle. You would also need to have low levels of body fat for the muscle to be visible.

• That being said, be careful with the higher reps with heavier loads of weight. This can lead to injury. Start with lower weight in the beginning and focus on your form. You will thank yourself later.

  4)    Training more frequently will get you faster results

    • Your muscles and nervous system can only withstand a certain amount of training intensity/volume in one session. If you never give your muscles a chance to rest, you will constantly being training in a fatigued state, and will never make any progress in your lifts/activities. Therefore, you will not make any progress. (remember progressive overload)

•  There are no extra points for training more except the exhaustion that comes with it. Slowwwwwwwwwwwwww down, and develop some patience, grasshopper...

5) You need 1 gram of protein (or more) per pound of body weight to maintain or grow muscle

•    Studies have shown that you only need .82 grams (possibly less) of protein to maintain/grow muscle. This gives you more room for fats and carbs which are also necessary for muscle and hormonal development. All that extra protein is most likely causing you to spend more money, eat more calories than you need, and deprive yourself of the other 2 important macro-nutrients (fats and carbs).  

Start Now

I'm starting this blog right here and right now. Small consistent steps are the way towards achieving your goals. If you don’t start something now, you’ll forever be in the same place no matter where you are. This applies to whatever you are trying to achieve.

1)     Pick a goal and start with the most basic step that you can

If your goal is overall health, try drinking 5 glasses of water for 3 days straight. If you're really ambitious, aim for 7 days in a row.

If your goal is to get in shape, put on your sneakers and go for a walk. (This is how I rebounded from a bad injury, and it’s become the cornerstone to my fitness approach. Fitness doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, the less complicated it is, the longer you can keep it up)

2)     Find the most enjoyable way to keep you on track

-        You don’t need a perfect strategy to start. Just do something you will enjoy so that you won’t give up. If you want to start an exercise regimen, find some exercises that you like doing and just stick with them for a while.

Perhaps you like doing push-ups, or there are certain machines or free weight exercises you like doing. Stick with that and find small ways to improve each week.

-         For example, start a push-up program to build up to doing 50 in a row. Track your progress(on paper or using an app) so you can visually see your improvement. For example:

1)     find out how many pushups you can do in a row – write that number down

2)     then, start your program of doing 5 sets of pushups (3 – 4 times per week)

3)     each time, do 1 extra rep per set and write down your workouts (paper/pencil, apps, or notes on your phone all work just dandy for this)

4)     find some way to improve each workout, such as doing more overall pushups, or doing more consecutive pushups each time. Any kind of improvement is still improvement.

5)     Once you get to your push-up goal, then you will most likely want to move onto something else, and perhaps start a pull-ups or dips program, or perhaps lift some weights, or something similar...you see how this works?

3)     Expect mistakes

- I've made some huge ones in my life, but I try to find out how to learn from them to get to the next goal. Looking back will hurt your neck. When you make a mistake, accept it, learn from it, understand it, dust yourself off, and then get back on track. 

4)     Dont be afraid to ask for help, but also know when it's time to just make it happen yourself

- Build a support system and keep yourself accountable, but ultimately you are the one who will control your own destiny. Stay away from the people who doubt you (and give you bad energy), and surround yourself with people who believe in you (and give you good energy).

5)     Have fun learning throughout the process

-        Even within your mistakes, you will figure things out quicker each time. That is still progress.

-         You'll never know it all and that's half the fun. Believe in yourself and always find ways to get better. Getting to the goal isn’t half as much fun as the journey to get there itself.