It’s a New Year! Or almost a New Year depending on when you’re reading this. So Happy New Year to you, dear reader or happy almost New Year! A new year means it’s time to start setting your goals and crushing them! You’ve got the extra motivation to get it done and you want to start the year off right and productive. Often you hear convictions of people saying they don’t believe in new years resolutions or they’re not into setting goals. That’s fine if that works for you. I believe New Year’s Day marks a new beginning and it’s a mental fresh start to accomplish your goals. Let’s go through some ways you can maximize your abilities to achieve those goals.
Writing Your Goals Down
Before the new year starts, I write down all of the goals I wish to accomplish. I either grab a notebook or use Google Sheets and mark down all the goals I wish to achieve in the New Year. Depending on the goal, I usually set up more “mini” goals.
Mini Goals
A mini goal is a smaller goal that helps you progress to completing the main goal. As an example, if my goal was to lose 30lbs this year, I would make a goal to lose 2lbs in the next 2-3 weeks. I would keep building upon that until I’ve lost the 30lbs. I personally do this with weight lifting. My goal for this year is to hit a 400lb deadlift. I’m going to try reaching small PRs(personal records) throughout the year until I meet my goal. Using this technique also helps because it guides you from getting discouraged and allows you to stay focused and on track.
Logging Your Days
It’s easy to be bombarded with tasks to do throughout the day. You may not get a chance to be as productive as you want to be. Maybe you forgot to complete tasks that you were supposed to do simply because you were too busy or it wasn’t on your mind. To fix this, you should start logging your days.
What I mean by logging, is keeping track of everything did for the day as well as seeing what still needs to be done. This is a bit different from just making a task list of things you wish to get done throughout the day. The reason being is that when you log everything you do throughout the day you can start to see where you have or don’t have free time. You can also see if you’re giving yourself too many tasks. This is extremely beneficial because you will know just how busy you are, where you have free time to get certain tasks done, and you can see if you need to scale yourself back and give yourself more free time.
In terms of fitness, you can use this technique more in-depth. In addition to just logging your days, you can also be logging your food intake and your weight lifting/cardio progress. You’ll be able to see if you’re eating too much or too little. You’ll get a gauge of how strong you’re getting or if you’re plateauing. I track my workouts and my food intake daily and it’s helped me progress in tremendous ways.
Ask Yourself One Question
I like to ask myself this one question every day, and that is “Am I one step closer to reaching my goals?” It’s a question to see if I’m headed in the right direction or am I falling behind. It’s a way for me to summarize my day and say to myself “Great, keep doing what you’re doing” or, “Alright, I gotta get myself back on track tomorrow.” I like this question because it puts things into perspective. If things aren’t going right, I’ll check my logs and do some time management rearrangement to see where I’m able to fit in extra tasks.
Get Disciplined
If this isn’t already on your list of goals, I would add “get disciplined”. Being more disciplined in your own life will help you take better control of yourself and your goals. You’ll notice that you’ll get more done and you’ll be completing more goals. To read more, check out this article I wrote Forget Motivation, Get Disciplined. I also recommend, checking out Discipline Equals Freedom by Jocko Willink.
Final Thoughts
New Year’s resolutions are great to set. It’s a great way to set new goals and challenges for yourself for the upcoming year. The problem usually lies within following up with these goals. All the tips I’ve mentioned above have helped me to achieve my goals at exceptional rates of time. These tips don’t have to be applied to just fitness goals either, you can use them for pretty much anything. Keep track of your goals, keep yourself inline, and be honest with yourself on where you might be slacking and where you need to fix it. Go crush your goals!
Exercising is a physical activity. We are sometimes mindless during the process. Being more mindful during your workouts can give you a bigger boost in strength and hypertrophy!
WHAT IS BEING MINDLESS?
We usually lift weights and workout and don’t really concentrate on the movement. We throw weights around and lift them up without really thinking too much about, which is fair because exercising is a physical activity. You shouldn’t have to think too much about it except to make sure your form is good. You’ll still see results, but it may feel like you’re lacking for the amount of weight you’re lifting. This is where being mindful comes into play.
BEING MINDFUL
When you’re working out, you should be mindful to some extent to at least ensure your form is good. If there is one thing you should be mindful of, that should be it. However, being mindful of the actual movement and contraction itself can play a huge benefit in your results.
For example, if you were going to do curls of 25lbs,it could be very easy to just kind of use momentum to get your arms up and down. It’s fairly easy to do and you feel like you’re lifting some pretty good weight. Now if you lift that same weight and focus on the muscle contraction and the eccentric of the movement, you’ll notice that the exercise is more difficult and you may have to lighten the load just a bit.
WHY?
When you establish a mind and muscle connection, and do it effectively, you’ll notice that your strength will go up and you will make hypertrophy gains (gaining muscle). Studies have shown that having a mind-muscle connection helps activate muscles more during the movement. When you’re activating more muscle fibers, you’re fatiguing them faster which leads to hypertrophy and strength gains. From various people I’ve encountered, the one pivotal part of their lifting experience was when they started focusing on the movement. Once you master it, you’ll reap extreme benefits from it.
ESTABLISHING A MIND AND MUSCLE CONNECTION
Let’s walk through a proper way of establishing a mind/muscle connection. For the example we’ll be using the bicep curl as our movement.
Take the weight in hand. Feel free to lighten the load just a bit since it may be difficult to do at first.
When lifting the weight concentrate on the contraction of the bicep. Try to make sure you’re only using your bicep to lift the weight up. Don’t use your back or rely on momentum to lift the weight up.
When lifting, make sure you’re going through the whole movement,not just a half rep. Lift the weight all the way up to its peak without messing up your form or exaggerating the movement.
When settling the weight, don’t just throw it down. Concentrate on the eccentric (when the muscle in lengthening under load or when bringing the weight down) part of the movement and feel your muscles stretching back out to its original position.
Repeat.
This same method applies for all exercises. If it’s a compound movement like squat, bench, or deadlift, you’re focusing on more then just one muscle group,so it’s a bit more difficult. I want to reiterate that if you need to, lighten up the weight. There is no shame in it. Having perfect form and concentration during an exercise with less weight will always be superior to performing an exercise with higher weight and bad form/ no concentration.
FINAL THOUGHTS AND EXTRA TIPS
Having a mind and muscle connection can help you reach a new level in your results. I specifically remember when I started to establish a connection because I hit a new level in strength and mass really fast. I was using muscles I wasn’t normally using and it was easily noticeable the muscle gain I was getting from this too. If you’re having trouble establishing a mind/muscle connection I would recommend trying time under tension movements.
TIME UNDER TENSION
Time under tension (TUT) means how long long your muscle is under strain during a specific movement. For certain muscle groups I had a problem establishing a proper connection with, I would use TUT and It would help me establish a more mindful connection. To perform a TUT workout follow these steps:
Lighten the weight for the exercise you’re going to perform.
When contracting the muscle go at a steady pace of 6 seconds.
When you hit the peak, focus on the eccentric part of the movement for a pace of 6 seconds as well.
Repeat.
You can change up the amount of time, but I would recommend 4+ seconds. You can also do something like: 6 seconds up, and 4 seconds down or 4 seconds up and 6 seconds etc. Experiment with it and see what works best for you. After doing TUT exercises, you should have a easier time establishing a better mind/muscle connection.
NOT THE END ALL BE ALL
I want to clarify that even though I do think a mind-muscle connection is extremely important, it doesn’t mean you have to have that connection every movement. When you’re lifting heavy weight, you would want a more explosive movement. Explosive movements also recruit a great amount of muscle fibers and fatigue you fairly fast. A mind-muscle connection during a workout should be something you use during your workouts, but it doesn’t have to be every exercise. It should be a tool for you to use when needed.
For example, if it was leg day and I had to do a compound movement like squats, I would use more explosive movements. However, if i’m doing something like leg extensions or leg curls, I would make sure to contract the muscle and use a more TUT approach. Experiment with it and see what works best for you!
The glutes are some of the most powerful muscles we have and use. We usually tend to overlook these muscles in terms of mobility. However, tight glutes can cause plenty of issues down the line including, lower back pain, hamstring pain, and much more.
The Glutes
Your glutes are primarily made up of 3 different muscle groups. The gluteus medius, minimus, and gluteus maximus. You also have another muscle called the piriformis that is underneath the glute. When your glutes are immobile or weak it can cause a wide array of issues. Usually, a common issue lies at the piriformis muscle. The piriformis muscle helps with rotating the hip as well as stabilization in the hip joint. When the piriformis gets tight it can cause issues that are similar to the ones mentioned above. We are going to go over how to overcome some of these issues and increase mobility.
Stretches and Mobility Work for Tight Glutes
There are various movements you can do to increase mobility within your glute muscles. Here is a compiled list of stretches/techniques I use to help with my mobility.
I want to first say that if you’re experiencing any pain whatsoever you should visit your doctor/physician or a sports doctor. I’m not a doctor. These are just some helpful stretches and mobility work that I do that has helped me out in the past. If you’re experiencing any type of pain, you should go see a physician.
If you’re looking for more superior glute exercises, no better workout than the squat. Check out my article on squat tips that may help alleviate your cause of tight glutes.
Cardio is known to most weight lifters as evil; it ruins all the gains and would cause setbacks in strength and hypertrophy. The question is, how true is this? Most people hear this from word of mouth or “bro-science”. We’re going to dive deeper into it and see the real results.
WHERE DID THIS ORIGINATE?
Since the dawn of the gym, it has always been said that if you do cardio you’re going to ruin any gains (muscle gains/hypertrophy) you may get. It’s also believed that you may also lose out on any strength benefits from your resistance training. You do resistance training to gain strength/muscle mass. You do cardio to lose weight/fat. Thinking about this logically, it almost seems counterproductive to do cardio and resistance training together. It makes sense, which is why this is believed amongst lifters.
DOES CARDIO DETEREMENT GAINS?
There are different forms of cardio. There is high-intensity training (HIT) and there is also moderate-intensity endurance training (MOD) (There are more but this is what we’ll be focusing on.) A study conducted in 2016(1), it showed that people who combined MOD and regular resistance training (weight training) saw a slight increase in mass, mainly in the lower body. However, combining HIT and resistance training didn’t show much of an increase in mass. The difference wasn’t too significant though. Overall, resistance training solely had the best outcome of hypertrophy gains. From that study, the upper body and total body growth didn’t increase to a significant amount.
DOES CARDIO DETEREMENT STRENGTH GAINS?
Strength is different from just ordinary muscle gain. Strength is defined as “Physical strength is the measure of an animal’s exertion of force on physical objects”. When we workout, we usually test our strength by performing a one-rep max. Doing so, we can determine how strong we are. From the same study from 2016(1), people who incorporated HIT or MOD into their resistance training saw a lower increase in strength vs people who only did resistance training. If you’re looking to increase strength, your best bet is to limit the cardio as much as possible or at least do something not too intense.
DOING TOO MUCH
If you’re in a caloric surplus and you’re doing resistance training, you’ll most likely experience hypertrophy and strength gains. However, when you add cardio into the equation you’re increasing your workload and you’re expending more energy than normal. If you keep the same diet and keep your caloric intake the same, you’re bound to either maintain or even lose mass. It’s very important that if your goal is to gain mass/strength and you’re doing cardio, you must consider that factor and increase your caloric intake even more. If you don’t know what your caloric intake and what factors to consider, click here.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Cardio definitely has an effect on your muscular gains and strength. However, from the research I was looking into, there are some variables I would like to see that weren’t taken place, such as swapping when cardio was done and when resistance training was done during the workout (the people who were doing this experiment were doing cardio first, then resistance training.) If more information becomes available, I’ll make sure to revisit this article and give additional information. If you’re looking to make muscular gains or strength gains, you should limit the cardio. If you need to do cardio, make sure to keep it at a low level, and to increase your caloric intake.
You want to start a new workout program. You buy new gym clothes, get new supplements, and you’re reading all of these motivational tips to get you hyped up to go get your workout in. You’ve got your favorite tunes on blast and you’re amped up! You’re motivated to get that workout in! You go get some, and you’re feeling on top of the world! A few weeks pass by and you’re sore and decide to take it a bit easy. You start easing up on the pedal. Eventually you kind of stop all together. Then the infamous “I don’t have any motivation to workout” comes into play. You do all the same stuff you used to get yourself motivated but nothing is really helping. It takes you a while, but then you find that motivation again… but the same loop falls into place once more. It’s time to forget about getting motivated, and it’s time to get disciplined.
MOTIVATION AND WHY IT DOESN’T WORK
Motivation is a good tool whenever you’re starting a new venture. Usually most new ventures start with motivation and a goal. You feel that flame inside of you burning and you’re ready to take this venture on full force. The problem is though, that motivation slowly fades away. You’re going to have days you just aren’t feeling motivated to do something and that’s completely normal.
When motivation starts to go away, no matter what we are trying to accomplish we may just not want to do it anymore. Then we stop whatever it was and we wait for motivation to come back. It’s literally a loop that constantly happens over and over again and leads us into the spiral of “needing to get motivated”. It’s normal to lose motivation though! When motivation is lost, that’s when you need to get disciplined.
WHY DISCIPLINE CONQUERS MOTIVATION
You see people all the time devoted to certain things and you wonder “Wow, how do they manage to keep up with that task all of the time?” It’s because they’re disciplined. Where motivation fails is where discipline takes over. Discipline is what will get you through ANY task at hand. Not just in fitness, but in any goal you wish to achieve. Discipline will get you the results you want and discipline will help you achieve your goals.
There are many days I don’t feel like going to work out. I’m tired. I don’t feel like getting up early. I’m sore and my body is killing me. I think of how nice it’ll be to just get some rest and take a nice day off. I know I don’t have any motivation to get my workout done. When all these excuses start settling in and I know I can easily just not do anything. I make the more difficult choice and do it anyway. I go do the task at hand even with no motivation whatsoever. It’s easy to just say “I’m not feeling motivated to do this. I’m going to take a break”. That’s not the right answer though. You get up and do it anyway. It may suck, but you’ll finish the task at hand and you’ll be glad you did. You’ll be one step closer to reaching your new goal. You will not have any regrets about getting that task done vs if you just decided not to do it. Discipline breaks you out of the motivational loop and keeps you moving toward your goal.
HOW TO GET DISCIPLINED
You know discipline will break you free and get you to achieve your goals. However, you may be wondering, just how do you get disciplined? Honestly, my most simple tip is just doing whatever it is you don’t want to do. Don’t take the easy way out and just not do it. Now I know… that’s not very practical advice, and may be extremely obvious, but in the end, this is what it comes down to. However, there are things you can do in your everyday life to get you become more disciplined.
GET UP EARLY/MAKE YOUR BED
Getting up early has been one of the most beneficial things I’ve done to get more disciplined. Not only do you have more time throughout the day to get more done, but you will feel that much more productive. You’re starting your day off right. Personally, when my day starts at 4:30 am it’s hard to be less productive throughout the day. You already got that “one win”.
Another great thing to do is to make your bed when you wake up. It’s a great way to start your day by completing a task and getting your day started by being organized. Doing these 2 things when you first wake up will keep you more productive throughout the day. Making this a routine and sticking with it is building discipline. You’ll notice the positive effects of reaping into your other activities throughout the day as well.
TAKE A COLD SHOWER
Taking a cold shower every day is brutal. It’s uncomfortable, difficult, and well… cold. It’s not an ideal situation, but that’s the whole point. Taking a cold shower takes you out of your comfort zone. Just like discipline. Discipline isn’t meant to keep you in your comfort zone, it’s meant to break you out of it! Taking a cold shower is a mental and physical challenge, but once you build a routine around it, you’ll feel like you can take on any challenge.
BREAK A SMALL HABIT/BUILD A NEW HABIT
If you follow some of the routines above, you’ll build a routine around them and will instill discipline. However, the same goes for breaking a bad habit. Maybe you smoke? Or bite your nails? Whatever the habit may be, go about giving it up for 90 days. For me, I usually go cold turkey when it comes to trying to break a bad habit. Some people have an easier time of letting it go gradually. For example, stop smoking for 2 days, then 5 days, then 1 week, then 2 weeks etc. I find stopping all together works better for me but pick whichever method works best for you to break the habit.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Motivation is a great tool to have. It usually is what starts the journey to a more productive and fulfilling life. The main problem is that motivation will only last so long and discipline needs to take over. With discipline, you will accomplish your goals and push yourself further than ever before. Discipline will be in your everyday life and you will know that you can take on any challenge that comes forth.
The Squat Bible is a powerful book written by Dr. Aaron Horschig and Dr. Kevin Sonthana that will teach you how to master squatting in every way, shape, and form. You’ll learn various methods of squatting. These methods include the front squat, high bar squat, low bar squat, and the overhead squat. After teaching the techniques in great detail and going over every step of the squat, the book discusses various issues people face while squatting. Referred to as the “joint-by-joint concept”, Dr. Horschig goes over mobility, stability, and joint issues all the way from the foot to the shoulders. The book wraps up by going over all the real science of squatting and biomechanics behind it.
The Squat is a Movement First.
In the Squat Bible, the first chapter details how squatting is a movement first and exercise second. Most of us view squatting as trying to move the weight off from top to bottom and trying to move the highest amount of weight. However, squatting (or all exercises in that matter) is not simply just about moving the weight, but about the movement itself. If you can’t perform a 225 lb squat with good form, then what’s the point?
The continuation of this bad form will lead to constant injuries that will hold you back and may possibly even end your lifting career overall. A squat of 135 lbs with good form will always be better than a squat of 225 lbs with bad form, and this is what Dr. Horschig tries to emphasize. The book reviews many examples of athletes getting injured in various ways.
After giving examples of athletes who suffered the same injury the book states, “They could not squat well. They could not perform a deep bodyweight squat with adequate ankle and hip mobility, proper joint alignment, or muscular coordination.” This is something most individuals don’t emphasize. We need to master the basics before attempting the squat with actual weight. The chapter continues on to give proper and detailed examples of how to perform a proper bodyweight squat.
Performing the Squat
The second chapter of the book details how to perform a barbell squat. The barbell squat and bodyweight squat are obviously 2 different things. This chapter outlines the difference and details how the barbell squat requires more demand on the body and therefore has to be performed differently. The chapter also goes over fundamentals before you even touch the bar, such as core stability and proper breathing. What makes this very important and makes this book so great is that it teaches aspects that are often overlooked but will cause issues in the long run. It also follows a logical order of how techniques should be mastered hierarchically rather than scattering everything around and making it confusing to follow.
The chapter goes on to teach how to perform various squat positions with a barbell in a continued logical and highly detailed order. All squats follow the pattern of how to unrack the weight, the proper stance to have before you squat, and the actual movements of descending into the squat, bottoming the squat, and returning to ascent.
Surprisingly, the book does not cover how to re-rack the weight. I’ve seen people have issues before and would expect the book to cover. Each component of the squat is discussed in great detail with an easy to follow process of how to perform the movement and any accessories you may need. This chapter covers the high bar squat, low bar squat, the front squat, and the overhead squat.
Preventing and Overcoming Injuries
Where The Squat Bible really shines at is with Chapters 3 – 10. The Joint-by-Joint Concept (chapter 3) goes over mobility and stability and how our body must “move and flow in a united matter”. The concept isn’t revolutionary, but Dr. Horschig and Dr. Sonthana do a spectacular job breaking down the concept and additionally breaking up parts of the body into categories of stability and mobility.
After chapter 3, chapters 4-10 cover a different body part. Each chapter breaks down how each body part relates to the movement, how you may suffer certain issues from this body part, and how to fix it. Mobility chapters even have checklists of exercises you may pass or fail to check your mobility and how to overcome or fix anything you may have failed (or get better at the ones you passed). I can’t emphasize enough how insightful each chapter is and how it has personally helped me overcome a couple of injuries myself, and I’m sure helped to prevent plenty as well.
Dr. Horschig testing for scapular instability. (Photo taken from the book)
The Real Science of the Squat
The final chapters of the book spend time debunking squat myths and discuss the real science of the squat. Squats already get a bad reputation, and it’s good to see the book address a lot of these myths and stating why they may be false, or why the myth may exist. The chapter, `The real science of the squat` presents all of the biomechanics of the squat and truly helps you understand how your body is working and maneuvering while performing the squat with or without weight.
Dr. Horschig showing different angles of the squat. (Photo taken from the book)
Final Thoughts
The Squat Bible is one of the best books I’ve read on the topic. I know there are plenty of people who will ask, “Does there really need to be a book just about squatting?” and the answer is yes. Squatting is a very complex movement that can lead to severe injuries if not performed correctly. The Squat Bible manages to address how to perform the squat properly along with issues you may encounter when squatting and much more.
At the end of every chapter of the book, there is a list of references to prove that what they are preaching has been studied, looked at in great detail, and proven to work. If you’re new to squats I suggest you pick up the book. Even if you’re an expert lifter of 10 years, I still suggest you check out this book. You’ll learn something great if you’re a novice or an expert. I give The Squat Bible a perfect 5/5. You can follow them at @squat_university or YouTube underSquat University. Also, check out their website at Squat University here. If you’re looking for additional tips to help your squat, check out this post on tips to help your squat
Training. It’s difficult to make yourself to go train. You’re putting your body through hell. Destroying muscle tissue, fatiguing yourself and depleting almost all of your energy. It’s difficult and challenging which is why most people don’t like it. Yet training is what will make you better. Training will make you faster, stronger, give you more confidence, and overall make you better.
YOUR BODY
Your body is what carries you around day to day. On a daily basis, your body is working to make cells, fight viruses, digest food, repair and build muscle tissue, and so much more. Your body is what keeps you alive. Your body protects you from all the harmful things you encounter on a day-to-day basis. Once something goes into your body, it can easily kill you. It would make sense to prevent such things from happening to you. To do this, you must train.
When you train, you’re improving yourself and protecting your body. As a result, your body builds new muscle tissue to repair damaged muscle tissue, which will make you stronger and faster. If you ever played an RPG (role playing game) before, I’m sure you’ve tried getting the best armor set in the game at some point, that way your character wouldn’t take as much damage and it would even make you stronger in some senses. I like to think of muscle as my armor. Muscle is extremely dense and makes it harder to penetrate. Now it won’t protect you from everything, but having more muscle will make your body tougher and harder. It will make you stronger and faster. Working out and training is practically maximizing your physical attributes as if you were playing something like Skyrim.
YOUR MIND
Training doesn’t just improve your physical attributes, but also your mental attributes. When you exercise, dopamine, endorphins, and serotonin are released, all of which make you feel good. Best of all, you’ll gain confidence. You’ll feel better about yourself and about your day. You will be more productive and willing to get more done.
Exercising is also a struggle. I believe that in the day and age we live in, we aren’t truly challenged enough. Most things are automated for us and and we complain about things that truly aren’t a big deal. Training is physical and mental challenge and when you overcome it, you feel accomplished. You’ll feel like you can take on anything.
MINDSET ON TRAINING
Personally, I see training as a way of being prepared and ready for anything. Training will help me survive and overcome external obstacles, whether those obstacles have to be overcome with brute force, speed, or a strong mentality. Training improves all those aspects. You will be better prepared physically and mentally in any situation. Instead of seeing exercise as something on your list of “things to get to” you should make it one of your priorities throughout the day. It will be the one thing to keep you going and keep you healthy and mentally prepared. Why wouldn’t you make it one of your main priorities?
FINAL THOUGHTS
As I stated in the beginning, training is difficult. I get that, which is why it’s very easy to avoid. However, it’s one thing that’ll keep your mind and body healthy.
I know finding time for training can be fairly difficult. Even though it may be difficult to make time for it, it doesn’t mean you should skip it altogether. Even if you just do 30 burpees, you’ll be in a better place than before you did the burpees. Personally, I take a note from Jocko Willink and get up at 4:30am to head to the gym and get my workout in. I don’t have too much time throughout the day to workout, so I make the time. If you really want to do something you’ll make the time for it. So go make time to go train.
Counting your macros can be one of the most beneficial things you can do and can change your results tremendously.
WHAT ARE MACROS?
Macros or Macro Nutrients, are the categories of what makes up your calorie count. This counts mainly as Protein, Carbohydrates, and Fat. If you look at a nutrition label you’ll see that food is broken down by its macronutrients. You’ll mainly find protein in meats, carbohydrates in bread and starchy food, and fats in the oil, meats, nuts, or even some fruits like avocados.
When consumed macronutrients react a bit differently from another to supply your body energy.
WHY ARE MACROS IMPORTANT?
So why are macronutrients important to follow? Well, they play a big factor in your results and how you feel on a daily basis. Getting in the proper amount of protein can lead to better recovery and the amount of muscle gained/maintained. Also getting in the proper amount of carbohydrates and fats will affect overall fullness and energy levels. Let’s go over some examples of how following your macros can help your maximize your goals.
For our example we’ll be using Christopher Nolan’s Bane.
Bane is making it his goal to lose some extra weight. He’s been exercising and has been eating a pretty healthy diet but for some reason is still having a problem losing weight. Bane initially cut carbs from his diet and he was feeling a bit sluggish but the weight was coming off pretty fast. After some time, Bane stopped losing weight and was getting frustrated with his results. Bane then went on a binge and gained a great amount of weight back.
Now this isn’t ever single person’s case, but I see this specific scenario happen way too many times. Most people deprive themselves in one specific category. Once they start to plateau they get frustrated and start to gain the weight right back.
Depriving yourself in one specific category is usually not the best answer. I say usually because depending on certain health issues, something like a low carbohydrate diet may be more beneficial. I’ve done low carb diets plenty of times and it leads to that specific scenario. Just for reference, I’m not saying Low carb diets don’t have its benefits. However, it really depends on your goals and what you’re trying to achieve.
Going back to Bane now.
Bane has decided he’ll be cutting his calories and making sure to calculate his macros accordingly.
For Bane to maintain weight he needs to eat 2100-2300 calories a day. Since Bane wants to lose weight he’ll be cutting his calorie range down to about 1700-1800 calories a day. He’s having 131 grams of protein 130 grams of carbs, and 87 grams of fat per day. Bane follows his diet plan and does his daily exercise. He checks in after a week and notices he’s lost a bit of weight. Not a drastic amount but a healthy and adequate amount. The best part about it? Bane was feeling good the entire week. Bane didn’t feel deprived of foods/nutrients. Banes’s energy levels were good and little to no muscle mass was lost. He continues his diet the way it is and slightly cuts back on calories and his macros any time he may have hit a plateau. What’s also great is that the macronutrients above aren’t too strict. Meaning that the most important factor is the amount of protein he took daily. The number of carbs and fats he was in taking could vary depending on how he felt. This allows more wiggle room to fit in foods that you wouldn’t eat on an ordinary diet.
IF YOU FOLLOW YOUR MACROS, YOU CAN STILL HAVE ALL THE FOODS YOU WANT AND LOVE.
Yes you heard me right. If you’re counting your macros properly you can still eat all the foods you know and love and still see amazing results!
On my latest cut, I had to consume about 1800 calories a day. I was consuming around 130 grams of protein, 173 grams of carbs, and 65 grams of fat.
My diet looked something like this:
Morning – Protein Shake and Milk
Post Work – Protein Shake and Milk
Lunch – Chicken, and rice with broccoli or quesadilla.
Snack – Clif Bar or Starbucks Latte
Dinner – Burger and Fries or Chipotle Bowl
I had to have some of my favorite foods and I never felt truly deprived that I had to binge eat.
The best part about it, I went from 12% body fat to 8.5% body fat and only went down maybe 1 – 1.5 pounds of lean body mass.
Last time I went on a cut and dropped that much body fat I weighed about 112 pounds. Currently my Lean body mass is at 120 pounds and I weigh about 132 pounds.
You can achieve great and superior results if you follow your macros appropriately. If you’re on a cut, you can manage to decrease the amount of muscle you lose, and still lose weight without feeling like you’re depriving yourself.
If you’re in bulk and trying to gain weight, you can gain an optimal amount of muscle and limit how much fat you’re gaining and better recovery time.
BREAKING DOWN MACROS
Macros are broken down into Protein, Fat, and Carbohydrates. Each macronutrient acts a bit differently and how it makes you feel and your body responds to it.
CARBOHYDRATES
Carbohydrates are mainly sugar and starch. However, Fiber is also a carbohydrate and one of the most important forms of carbohydrates.
Carbs are mainly sugar and are usually the first thing your body breaks down in your body. Did you ever realize that you can have a whole can of soda (which has 150 calories and is made up of all sugar which is 41 grams of carbs) and still not really be satisfied after about an hour? However, if you had 41 grams of the worth of beans, vegetables, or oatmeal you’ll be full for a good amount of time. Fiber (Soluble) actually binds to cholesterol and sugar which slows down carbohydrate digestion. Fiber also helps with stabilizing your blood sugar levels and protect against heart disease. Carbohydrates are broken into 4 calories per gram.
Oh here comes Bane giving us a tip…
PROTEIN
Protein is possibly one of the most important macronutrients. Protein is responsible for building, restoring, and maintaining muscle. It’s also responsible for creating healthy blood cells, enzymes, hormones, and much more. Protein is made up of amino acids. There are 2 categories of amino acids, essential amino acids, and nonessential amino acids. Essential amino acids can’t be made by the human body. You can only get them from food. Non-essential amino acids can be made by the human body. Taking low amounts of protein can lead to muscle loss, weakness, the possibility of getting sick more often. On the other hand, taking too much protein can be broken down into sugar and can lead to weight gain. The recommended amount of protein to make sure you’re not in a deficient is 0.8 grams per kg or 0.36 grams per pound. For someone who works out regularly you want around 1.5-2.0 grams per kg or 0.65-1 gram per pound. Protein is broken into 4 calories per gram.
FAT
Fat has to be one of the most confusing macronutrients. Let’s get this out the way first, fat is not bad. Also fat does not make you fat. Unless you know… you consume way too much of it and you’re going into a calorie surplus. Anyway, there are healthy fats and unhealthy fats. Unhealthy fats are Saturated fats and Trans fat. Healthy fats are monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats. Saturated fats can raise cholesterol or LDL (Low-density lipoprotein) levels. This can lead to heart disease and other health risks. You can find saturated fats in foods that contain dairy or meat. Trans fat is worse than saturated fat in the fact that it raises your LDL (bad cholesterol) and lowers your good cholesterol or HDL (High-density lipoprotein). Trans fat is usually found in baked foods, fried foods, and oils. Now onto the good fats! Monounsaturated fats as you can imagine does just the opposite of trans fat and saturated fat. It raises your HDL levels and helps lower your HDL. This lowers risks for heart disease and cholesterol. You can find monounsaturated fats in foods like olive oil, nuts, and avocados. Polyunsaturated fats include omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Polyunsaturated fats can help reduce blood pressure, lower triglycerides, and improve blood vessel functionality, lower LDL, and raise HDL. You can find polyunsaturated fats in foods like flax seeds, salmon, tuna, and tofu.
FINAL THOUGHTS
To summarize everything, counting and keeping track of your macronutrients can lead to better results, higher energy, and a possible healthier lifestyle. Most people deprive themselves of one certain macronutrient category and find worse results and it leads them to frustration like Bane. Counting macros usually eliminates these issues and gives you more freedom in the foods you eat and allows for you to continue on with your goals without feeling deprived or having to binge. Be on the lookout for more articles about subtopics going more in-depth with each macronutrient and more benefits of counting macros.
REFERENCES
Siri-Tarino PW, Sun Q, Hu FB, Krauss RM. Saturated Fatty Acids and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease: Modulation by Replacement Nutrients. Current Atherosclerosis Reports. 2010;12(6):384-390. doi:10.1007/s11883-010-0131-6.
Lattimer JM, Haub MD. Effects of Dietary Fiber and Its Components on Metabolic Health. Nutrients. 2010;2(12):1266-1289. doi:10.3390/nu2121266.
Dashti HM, Mathew TC, Hussein T, et al. Long-term effects of a ketogenic diet in obese patients. Experimental & Clinical Cardiology. 2004;9(3):200-205.
During the day even without doing any activity, your body is always burning calories. It’s always using energy. The human body is always doing something that requires energy. On a top level, it’s activities like breathing, blinking, and even critical thinking. On a deeper level you have other things going on like your body creating new cells or breaking down nutrients. There’s plenty more that your body does that we don’t usually take into consideration but the in the end, your body is utilizing a great amount of energy per day and there is a specific amount you need just for your body to operate properly and that’s your basal metabolic rate (BMR).
WHY DOES BMR MATTER?
We have a basic understanding of what BMR is. However, why does it matter? Well with our BMR calculated we can now identify a couple of things. We know for one how many calories we need per day for basic functionality. In addition to that, now we can calculate how many calories we need to intake to either lose weight, gain weight, or maintain weight.
As an example, let’s say my BMR was 2000 calories a day and I was living a sedentary lifestyle. I can conclude that if I wanted to gain weight, I would add around 500-700 calories to that number coming up with 2500-2700 a day, since I required 2000 just for my body to function and would be burning those throughout the day. In that range, I would be gaining roughly .5 – 1 pound a week.
Same thing goes for losing weight, I would subtract around 500 calories from that number and be at 1500 calories a day. Depending on your lifestyle and how active you are, things change up quite a bit though. If you want to find out your BMR and how many calories per day are ideal for you, click here to calculate it.
WHAT LIFESTYLE DO I FALL UNDER?
Once your BMR is calculated. You now have a baseline understanding of how many calories you need to function. The example I gave above is for someone who has a sedentary lifestyle though. What happens if you have an active lifestyle? Or you’re an athlete? Well there are different ways of measuring your lifestyle. Usually “lifestyles” are broken up into 5 different groups: sedentary, lightly active, active,highly active, and extremely active. For a better of understanding of where you may fall into one of these categories, let’s break it down a bit.
SEDENTARY
Someone who gets little to no exercise per day. You don’t have an active job that requires a lot of moving or you may even be sitting/bedridden for the most part.
LIGHTLY ACTIVE
You may be exercising 1-3 days a week. You may not be too active but you at least take a couple of walks or jogs. This can also mean that you’re walking a bit everyday and having to commute.
ACTIVE
You’re exercising 3-5 days a week. This may also range in jogging or going for a run couple a times a week. You may have a slightly active job that requires you to do physical work but it may not burn you out.
HIGHLY ACTIVE
You’re exercising 6-7 days a week. This may also range from bike riding, running, jogging almost daily. Your job or daily work is physically active which requires you expend a good amount of energy.
EXTREMELY ACTIVE
You’re exercising 7 days a week or doubling up on workouts per day. This may range that you do multiple runs or bike rides a day. Your job is extremely active and you’re expending a great amount of energy per day.
A Wilks formula allows a person to measure their strength. A wilks score is typically used amongst powerlifters to measure their strength against one another. The formula was created by Robert Wilks. What makes the Wilks formula so great is that even though (especially in powerlifting) you may be in different weight classes from someone else, you’re able to compare your strength. It’s also a great tool of measuring where you’re at in terms of strength in ratio to your body weight.
Examples of strength
There is usually a misconception that solely, whoever can lift the most weight is stronger. That seems like the most logical scenario but what’s often not taken into the equation is the person’s weight. Let’s say we have 2 males named Jerry and George. Jerry and George can both squat 350 lbs, bench 235 lbs, and deadlift 400lbs. However Jerry weighs 140 lbs and George weighs 190lbs. Jerry is significantly stronger than George. If you use the Wilks calculator you can see that Jerry has a Wilks score of 362.37 whereas George has a Wilks score of 291.87.
Gender plays a huge role in it as well. Sticking with the same numbers, but changing to it a female, you’ll see that a woman who at 140 lbs lifting the same amount has a Wilks score of 476.96, and a woman at 190 lbs has a Wilks score of 393.51. These 2 women would both be stronger than Jerry and George.
