I’ve always felt 1-Leg RDL variations are difficult to master for most people. They’re an advanced exercise, and not something most people can pull off on day #1.
(AHEM: Which is why I wrote THIS post showcasing how to progress the movement).
It takes a lot of balance and coordination to pull off, and frankly, let’s be honest: Most people can barely make a peanut butter sandwich without falling over…😉😂
Kickstand (or B-Stance) variations, however, still give off the “vibe” of isolating one leg (the front leg is still doing 80% of the work), but also still providing the support or balance many people need to perform well.
In short: You get “most” of the benefit of performing a 1-leg variation, without the annoyance of grace, balance, athleticism, and genetic superiority resembling a drunk pirate.
Who Did I Steal It From? – The adding the band part was a tip I stole from Joel Seedman.
What Does It Do? – I explained the “kickstand” rationale above. Adding the band to overload the ECCENTRIC (lowering) portion forces the lifter to stay tight/engaged and to control the descent.
In this sense, you’re “accentuating” the yielding component of the lift, which, not coincidentally, is also the part of the lift where we can handle the most load.
Too, controlling the lowering portion emphasizes time under tension…an important factor in muscle growth.
You’ll also notice I add a “hover pause” about an inch or two above the floor.
This is a nifty trick to 1) help people stay tight and not lose their upper back position and 2) make you or your clients hate life.
Key Coaching Cues – Don’t die. That’s pretty much it.
Add this drill as an accessory lift on your lower body days, for say, 3-4 sets of 5-6 repetitions per leg.
Today’s guest post comes courtesy of good friend, colleague, and past contributor to this site, Kim Lloyd.
If you’re a coach/personal trainer you’ve likely experienced what Kim describes below…
…being “fired” by a client.
It never feels good. But did you take it as an opportunity to reflect, learn, and grow or to just shrug off, turn the page, and repeat the same mistakes?
A funny thing happened on my way to losing an online training client.
By funny, I mean I rocked in a corner for two days eye-opening.
Regardless of the industry in which you work, failures hurt.
This client was an acquaintance I’d met when I lived in Boston, and after following my blog for a few years, she decided that she wanted to ditch Zumba (not that there’s anything wrong with Zumba) and start strength training.
Win.
We hopped on a phone call, got down to the nitty gritty, and after talking through her goals, injury history and why Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks is one of the best vinyl records ever, I set her up with a program and off we went.
Except…well…we didn’t.
After a few weeks, she very kindly sent me the break-up email that no one likes to get. It’s not you, it’s me, I just need more space, Keene shoes are not a fashion statement…
Ultimately, she was too overwhelmed to even start the program, and she was headed back to Zumba (again, not that there’s anything wrong with Zumba).
But in the breakup email, she very graciously offered me a breakdown of all of the challenges she had in trying the program I’d written.
Her reaction to the cable machine was perhaps the most telling:
“I have never used the cable pull-down thing. That’s in the boy-area, and one feels one should be carrying a gallon container of blue liquid to even be admitted. How will I approach it? How do I change the weight? How long can I stay on it? I will completely break into the boy area, of course, I don’t care, but it’s somewhat intimidating unless someone shows you first.”
I was disappointed to lose a client, sure. But once I got over myself, I also came face-to-face with all of the nuances about strength training that I take for granted.
I forgot what it felt like when I first started to train seriously.
What it felt like to walk into the free weight room (not the Nautilus room), with a bunch of dudes who were all getting after it and panic about where I should put my gym bag and do my warm up and why is that man in the corner wearing a pro wrestling costume? (This really happened.)
I forgot what it felt like when I couldn’t get the bar off of my chest that one time in the weight room when I was 24. What it was like when I couldn’t press 15lbs for more than three reps during a softball practice when I was 15.
I forgot how long it took me to grasp how to read and understand a program. Sets, reps, tempo and wtf is a Pallof Press? And a Landmine? And what do I do if my gym doesn’t have one?
When it comes to strength training, I live in a bubble and this client reminded how difficult it is for many people to get over the humps that I got over so many years ago. Worst of all, I forget that there are those humps.
I try to give people a roadmap, but sometimes forget that they don’t know how to drive the car.
What I want most is for people to fall in love with strength training the way I fell in love with it.
Because it’s good for them.
As a coach, I think the worst thing that can happen is for someone to be interested in the idea of strength training, to be bought in to trying it out, only to feel so intimidated, defeated and frustrated by the process that they quit before ever getting started.
My client’s break-up email reminded me of the people out there, especially women, who are trying to figure out what good information is in a world full of Insta-trainers and infomercials.
Who are battling old feelings of inadequacy every time they set foot in a gym environment because 7th grade gym class experiences are never as far away in our brains as we think they are.
I’m grateful to this client for so many reasons – but perhaps most of all for reminding me as a coach that I have to help clients understand how to drive before I send them on their way.
Cue This Is Why I Wrote a Book Portion of the Article
Believe me when I say this: I feel a bit timid being all like “and that’s why I wrote a book,” even though the truth of the matter is…
…that that’s exactly why I wrote a book.
I did so not to self-aggrandize1, but to legitimately help people (particularly women) that are too intimidated to ask for help, much less step foot in the weight room.
I wanted to show them that they CAN, but in a way that meets them where they are.
Note From TG: It’s a fantastic guide and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone interested in learning in’s & out’s of lifting weights in a safe, efficient, and results driven manner. Kim is a phenomenal coach.
After spending her first two decades out of college working 29 different jobs (English major for the win), Kim Lloyd settled into a career in fitness and is an ACE Certified Personal Trainer as well as an Online Certified Trainer. She coaches full-time at Spurling Fitness in Kennebunk, Maine and trains online clients through Kim Lloyd Fitness.
You can find Kim and her plethora of inflatable costume videos HERE.
Today’s guest post comes courtesy of regular contributor, Shane McLean.
It should come as no surprise I’m a firm advocate of fit pros having the ability to write and write well. Doing so can easily be a way to separate oneself from the masses (as well as opening up opportunities to develop alternate revenue streams).
Suffice to say: Writing can be an intimidating space. Shane provides some excellent advice to get started.
(NOTE: I make a bit of a cameo toward the bottom in case you’re interested in what I have to say. And you totally are. Read it. READ IT!!!!!)
Plus, when I was a newly certified personal trainer in 2009 a veteran personal trainer had to teach me how to teach clients to squat because I had no idea. Having no idea was a theme of my first few years as a trainer.
But outwardly, I was faking I knew it all.
These are perfect qualifications for becoming a Professional Freelance Fitness Writer, right? If you said no, you are wrong. Go straight to jail and do not collect your $200.
Don’t you hate when this happens?
Anyhow, I’m not going to reminisce about the many times I kicked butt at Monopoly. That’s a tale for a different time. So, let’s get back on track about writing as a fitness professional.
Why Should You Listen To Me?
Okay this is the part where I brag. If you don’t like bragging, you can skip this part and trust you know what I’m talking about. Because Tony doesn’t allow hacks to be published here.
Here are a few of my writing accomplishments.
Tony first took a chance on me herealmost seven years ago and I’ve been featured on his site this many times.
I’m part of a team of five at The PTDC who put together the weeks best content for trainers. What does that mean? It means I read a crap-ton of fitness content.
Plus, I’ve published an article a week on my site Balance Guy Training for the past six years. Not bad for a person who failed English.
Okay, bragging over.
Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
With me not being entirely qualified to talk about writing, this article isn’t going to be about the X’S and O’S on the skill of fitness writing. I’m assuming you know how to put together a few coherent sentences and your knowledge of the human body and coaching is up to snuff.
What this is about is overcoming your imposter syndrome and it has all been written before so why the hell should I bother syndrome. I feel those two things hold a lot of fitness professionals back from putting their content out there.
And when doubt creeps in and imposter syndrome puts negative thoughts in your head, here is what you should do.
Hopefully, the suggestions below put these thoughts to bed to help crush your content.
Impostor Syndrome
Imposter syndrome is the feeling of doubting your abilities and feeling like a fraud. And it doesn’t matter how many abbreviations you have after your name, most people have a feeling why in the hell do people listen to me, buy my services, or read my articles.
When these negative fears and thoughts take over, your productivity will plummet among other things. I’m no shrink (obviously) but when these thoughts start to take over and you’re getting sucked down into a deep dark hole, here’s some suggestions to pull you out of your nosedive.
1. Write Something, Anything.
It doesn’t have to be fitness related but writing helps get your creative juices flowing and usually sometime during this process you realize you do know something. The act of doing is powerful.
2. Remember Your Successes.
Whether it’s a client reaching a long-term goal, or your article had lots of eyes on it, it helps to remember your successes. This reminds you that you do know something.
3. Lift Something Heavy.
Not only do you get out of your own head but the process of thinking about your technique, the cues you use to get yourself in lifting position helps remind you that you do know something.
Imposter syndrome is going to haunt you like Casper the friendly ghost. This in my experience is normal. What is not normal is letting imposter syndrome take over your thoughts and feelings and completely bogging you down. Instead of stewing, get to doing it because doing is imposter syndromes kryptonite.
A short note on its been written before so why the hell should I bother. Sorry, there is not much to counter this one because it’s true. It has all been done before.
But this shouldn’t stop you because it hasn’t been done with your perspective, your know how and your thoughts and feelings. Your clients and audience need to know what you think. We will get into this below.
7 Tips For Getting Better At Fitness Writing
This is a murky area because what works for me mightn’t work for you. Plus, your thought processes are different from my thought processes.
So, I’m taking the view from 10,000 ft which you can apply to your own work. Some of these suggestions may seem obvious, some not, but it is my hope you can apply this to your own work to get more writing confidence.
1. Find Your Voice
There are tons of great writers in the fitness space who are more qualified than you, smarter than you and have a larger audience than you. But none of them have your voice, your perspective, and your set of experiences. You need to use this to find your voice and the only way to find it is to write more.
Don’t worry if it’s any good, just write.
When I started, I admit I wanted to be like Tony. I wanted to be funny, informative, and basically copied the way he wrote. But slowly along the way I developed my voice and my way of being entertaining and informative.
If you’re struggling to find your own voice, read a writer, you want to emulate and imitate him/her in tone (not in words) until you feel you’re developing your own style and not just copying theirs.
2. Read More
Not just fitness articles but everything you can get your hands on. The act of reading is like osmosis for your brain. You pick up vocab, style, ideas to write about and increase your general knowledge.
This will only help your writing.
3. Develop Relationships
With the advent of social media, it is easy to develop online relationships with other coaches and writers. A major reason (I think) Tony let me write for his site seven years ago was I left comments on his webpage and Facebook posts.
(Note From TG: Yes, it was. That, and Shane always commented on how pecy my pecs looked. Flattery will get you far).
Plus, when I read anything that catches my attention I reach out to the writer and tell them how much I liked it, and this starts a relationship. Which brings me to my next point.
4. Seek Opinions
When I started getting published on the world-wide web, I’d basically harass other coaches on their opinions on my work. Granted I had a relationship with most of them, so It wasn’t a shot in the dark. I figured what’s the worst they could say?
When you’re too close to your work, you don’t see your opinions rubbing people the wrong way or you may have your facts wrong. Or you made some grammatical whopper errors.
I’ve lost count of the amount of times my writing has been criticized for style, grammatical errors, opinions, or my lack of facts to back up what I wrote. I have received tons of solicited and unsolicited feedback some great, some not so great. The main thing is to try not to take it personally.
If you made a mistake, admit it, learn from it, and move on.
For example, when I started writing for Barbend my editor sent me an email with the subject in all caps saying “YOU ARE A PROFESSIONAL WRITER” about a litany of errors I made on an article.
Those mistakes haven’t been repeated since.
6. Stay In Your Lane
Otherwise known as not extending into territory you know nothing about. For instance, weightlifting, nutrition, and training athletes I know little about, so I don’t go there. Sure, you can Google it and write about it, but you’ll come across as a fraud.
Better to stay in your lane and until you develop the knowledge to come across as an expert. When you write about what you know (and you can back it up) and write about how you feel, I feel you cannot go wrong.
7. “Hire” Me to Help
Developing writing confidence is a process and I’ve made my share of mistakes along the way. And I’m bringing those hard knocks and experience to my new writing service Fitness Flow Writing Services to give personal trainers and coaches the confidence to hit the publish button.
I offer SEO, editing, rewriting, opinions and suggestions services to help take your content to the next level. And as a special offer for Tony’s readers, I’m offering your first service free to see if we are a good fit.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
A Brief Cameo From Tony
Oh, hey.
Tony here.
I’m the guy who pays the hosting fees for this site you’re reading (and I occasionally summon enough mojo to muster some decent ideas to write about too).
Shane did a splendid job outlining things and providing some sage advice for aspiring fitness writers. There’s isn’t much I can add (although I am going to try). Massive apologies up front if anything I write seems repetitive. Then again, if it is repetitive, but it’s coming from two dudes who make part of their living getting paid to write fitness content, maybe there’s a reason…;o)
Whenever I write something (and just after I press the “publish” button) I have to battle my inner negative self-talk:
1. Did I provide enough actionable content?
A statement I default to often is…
“…don’t bark at something if you’re unable to provide a solution.”
People, but fit pros in particular, have an innate superpower to bitch a whine about anything and everything.
Quick Writing Tip: Read what you write out loud. If it doesn’t make sense out loud, it’s going to come across as Elvish on paper.
3. Was I Able to Convey My Message Succinctly & Clearly?
(Another) Quick Writing Tip: Write whatever it is you’re gonna write. Then, go back and edit 20% of it. Getting rid of superfluous jargon will make your writing more readable.
Nevertheless, there’s seemingly a smidgeon of self-doubt I’m always playing an unabated game of tug-o-war with.
But then a cool thing happens.
People (usually) like my shit!
Random people will reach out and say how much they enjoyed something I wrote or say how they picked up a number of gems and tidbits they’ll be able to apply toward their training (or that of their clients).
I want to hug them.
Or at least Predator handshake them to death (or, to be more germane to the current state of affairs: Fist bump them to death).
1. You DO NOT have to reinvent the wheel when you write. When in doubt keep things simple. What makes things new or novel are YOUR experiences, YOUR insights, and YOUR voice.
2. You’d be surprised. Many fitness professionals can wax poetic on complex concepts but are unable to figure out how to regress an exercise for someone with limited thoracic mobility or even name a hip flexor.
Or coach a squat well for that matter.
As Mike Boyle once eloquently stated: “The industry is quick to disregard basic/general principles in lieu of fancy schmancy shenanigans (<— italics mine).
This is nonsense.
The basics are still legit. And, to be candid: Is an area most fit pros could use a little refresher in.
Lean into it. There’s an audience for everything.
About the Author
Shane “Balance Guy’ McLean” is an A.C.E Certified Personal Trainer working deep in the heart of Louisiana with the gators.
I could sit here and wax poetic that what separates a “true” fitness professional from someone who’s pretending to be one is that the former actually practices what they preach.
Meaning: They 1) actually workout and/or 2) actually DO the workouts and exercises that they espouse on their respective websites and social media feeds.
Or they don’t.
I mean, I could make the case that a “true” fitness professional is less likely to post asinine videos of circus-act like exercises (that they’d never do themselves) in the name of accolades and attention.
You can spot the fake trainers from a mile away. They write the most ridiculous looking routines.
A1. Trap Bar Deadlift Contrast Tempo Set vs. Chains (From a Deficit): 5×10 A2. 1-Arm Landmine Press w/ Contralateral Ossillatory Facilitation: 5×10/side
B1. Barefoot Walking Lunges Over Broken Glass: 2×400 m B2. Or Until Your Pancreas Fails (whichever comes first) C1. Pull-Ups: 10×10 C2. Ice Bath: 10x30s
I’m obviously going out of my way to be facetious here, but therein lies my point.
As my friend and colleague, Nick Tumminello, has so succinctly stated in the past:
“A master trainer (I.e., someone who’s a “pro”) can also be referred to as an Exercise Prescription Specialist.”
He or she has a high level of expertise doing the following:
Exercise Individualization
Exercise Application
Exercise Prioritization
1. Exercise Individualization
This can simply be boiled down to figuring out the correct stance for someone on their squats. For example, despite what most textbooks would insinuate, not everyone is going to have the luxury of having the “correct” anatomy to squat with a narrow stance and their toes pointing straight a head.
NEWSFLASH: People don’t live in textbooks.
Hip anatomy tends to have the most variance given a broad swath of the population. Things that come into play are:
Hip socket depth
Hip socket orientation – retroverted (outward facing) or anteverted (forward facing).
Femoral neck orientation (retroverted vs. anteverted)
Femore neck angle
Femur length
Amongst other things
There are a bevy of variables to consider and to expect every person to fall into one set pattern or way of executing a lift is a bit of a stretch.
In fact, there’s a number of permutations that manifest when you allow for individualization of squat stance.
Exercise individualization can also come down to figuring out the correct grip for someone to use during their bench press. Someone with sub-acromial pain syndrome (SAPS) will often have pain in the front of their shoulder. Conventional wisdom would suggest that such an individual should adopt a narrow(er) grip during the bench press to “protect” the shoulder.
However, a narrow grip will require more glenohumeral extension, which for these individuals can be problematic. Instead, a wider grip may be more germane to reduce the amount of GH extension required and to place more stress on the pec muscles.
A “pro” leans into and pays more attention to these sort of things.
2. Exercise Application
Should everyone squat to the same depth?
Short Answer: No. Tha fuck outta here.
A Less Short Answer: As I noted above, hip anatomy varies person to person and it shouldn’t be your expectation that everyone, all the time, with no exceptions, should squat to the exact same depth.
I have some clients who squat ass to grass.
I have others who squat to parallel.
And, indeed, I have others who squat above parallel.
Come at me, bro.
They all still count as a squat.
Depth is more or less arbitrary and is contingent on one’s goal(s), unique injury history, ability level, and, in case you haven’t picked up on the theme, individual anatomy.
No one should get demerit points because they don’t fit some fictional standard.
Moreover, what about when the conversation switches to sets and reps?
What’s the determining factor between prescribing 3×10 for any particular exercise or 5×5?
What about 8×3? 6×4?
4×6?
Are you using a dartboard to ascertain a client’s set/rep scheme or intelligent program design catered to the needs/goals of the athlete/client?
A “pro” knows the difference.
3. Exercise Prioritization
Which exercises should be done first in a workout?1
The eloquent answer is past the scope of this blog post. However, a fitness professional can easily provide a “why” for each example.
In Short
What really separates a true fitness professional from the IG PhD is that the former knows how to DESELECT things. What makes a great chef isn’t the fact they have every ingredient in the bowl. They’re great because they know what ingredients to (de)select, they understand what order they need to be applied, and they know how much of each to use.
Examine.com is the world’s leading un-biased nutrition and supplement resource. It’s a website I have used often in the past decade to better educate myself.
They’re currently putting their two best products on sale at a significant discount to make their 10-year anniversary.
Keeps you on top of the latest research – 150+ new studies are summarized as every month and deep-dives on the most important studies. Plus, a big-picture view via our Study Database.
Saves you time, money, and headaches – Examine analyzes nutrition research full-time and nothing else, so from screening to curating to summarizing to reviewing to copyediting, it’s all taken care of you.
An easy source of content – for health pros, many use our study summaries to create new content for email, social media, and more.
Luke Worthington and I developed our 6-week digital mentorship last Fall because 1) we felt between the two of us we had a lot of expertise and insights regarding assessment, program design, coaching, brand building, and business we could offer to other fitness professionals and 2) because there’s a fucking pandemic going on that’s prevented us from doing these sorts of things in person.
Nevertheless, we had a great experience (and group of fit pros take part) the first go round and we’re excited to open it up this Spring.
You can now purchase CORE @ Home for whatever you want to pay.
In all I filmed 36 workouts during quarantine last year using nothing but bodyweight, bands, and kettlebells and/or dumbbells. With many people still reticent to head back to their regular gyms (not to mention the scarcity of gym equipment out there to purchase) I figured this would be a nice opportunity to help.
Whether you want to spend $1 or $99 (FYI: the latter enters you to win a 5×7 shirtless pic of me), the workouts are ready and available to start.
We’re programmed to find strength in struggle. Keep our heads down, no complaining, do the work, and ask for zero help.
There’s a degree of respect and fist-bumping that comes with that mentality.
However, it shouldn’t be that way. Instead, we should be emphasizing the synergy of effort; which, as Trish notes, implies a level of ease though the path is not easy.
Nick begins this course separating the difference between an assessment and an evaluation.
Assessment (Process Oriented) = What best fits the individual; not comparing them to anyone
What’s the best squat stance, how wide, what exercises should we eliminate?
Evaluation (Product Oriented) = A bit more objective. Where does someone compare to a standard or relative to averages? What do you need to hit them? What do they need more of, less of?
What’s your relative strength level (compared to averages).
Nick’s SSE program is what’s missing in the industry. How do you know if what you’re doing with any one client is working? What’s your mid-course directions?
I just started taking myself through this course and I am learning a ton. If you’re a personal trainer/coach I’d highly recommend checking it out HERE.
Without going too far down the rabbit hole (and without a PubMed reference in site), I have been “caught” saying a time or two that 99% of the shoulder issues I come across – whether working with an overhead athlete or Martin from Tort-Law-R-Us1 – has it’s roots in what the shoulder blades are (or in most cases) are not doing.
For a myriad of reasons most of us have been programmed to think that “shoulder blades together AND down” is the end-all-be-all of shoulder health.
It works splendidly when 1) you’re working with someone who’s stuck in a more flexed/rounded/computer guy posture and/or 2) the goal is to lift as much weight as humanly possible.
I.e., good luck bench pressing (or even squatting/deadlifting) appreciable weight with shoulder blades that aren’t “set” in a more stable position.
That being said, too much of anything can have its inherent drawbacks.2
The “together and down” cue can lead to overactive lats and a more extension-based pattern where the shoulder blades get stuck or “cemented” together – making it all the more challenging for them to freely move about the rib cage (which they’re designed to do).
The scapulae are meant to move:
Upward/downward rotation
Protraction/retraction
Anterior/posterior tilt
However, they often get “stuck” in a more downwardly rotated and retracted position from all the “down and back” cueing we’ve been inundated with.
One drill I have been using to help “un-glue” the shoulder blades is this one:
Band Assisted Scapular Upward Rotation
Who Did I Steal It From? – Dr. Michael Mash from his excellent Barbell Rehab course.
What Does It Do? This is such a simple drill to implement and works well with pretty much everyone. Except Orcs (for obvious reasons).
The pulldown trains scapular downward rotation and retraction, which is all well and good. I’m not a hater. It’s the reverse action, though, using the accentuated eccentric to emphasize scapular PROTRACTION and UPWARD rotation (with the assist from the band) that makes it a truly unique exercise to considering using.
This drill helps improve the full spectrum of scapular motion as well as to help gain “access” to overhead range of motion in general.
Key Coaching Cues: Attach a band to the top of a squat rack (or anything that doesn’t move) and sit directly underneath. From there, pull down as you normally would, but then SLOWLY resist the pull of the band as you allow it to pull your arm fully up overhead.
Today’s guest post comes courtesy of United Kingdom based strength & nutrition coach, Harry Archer.
Harry wrote a popular article for the site a few weeks ago titled Why Tony’s Pecs Can Cut DiamondsWhy Gym Bros Should Periodize Their Nutrition that you can check out HERE.
He’s back with another edition of “Gym Bros Nutrition,” this time going into the weeds on caloric intake when attempting to put on muscle.
Math For Gym Bros: How to Set Up Calories For a Mass Gaining Phase
So you’ve decided to get jacked.
You, my friend, have made a very very excellent decision because let’s face it – being jacked is awesome.
Filling out T-shirts from the Traps/Shoulders/Chest down instead of gut-up, walking sideways through doors and generally having massive biceps – being Yoked is an awesome feeling.
Before you start eating everything in sight for the gains there’s a few things we need to go over to help you optimize your Massing phase.
Important things, like what to focus on to maximize your hypertrophic potentiation during your deliberate hyper-caloric overfeeding stage, and using individualized nutrition protocols to accrue muscle protein synthesis at a maximal rate of gain whilst preventing muscle protein breakdown and attenuating increases in adiposity.
Stuff like that.
How Many Calories?
You might have heard before that total calories are the most important variable for slabbing on some size.
It certainly helps, but total protein intake is actually the real MVP.
“Once individual protein requirements are met, energy content of the diet has the largest effect on body composition” – Rozenek et al, 2002.
See inadequate calorie intake doesn’t actually undermine muscle gain if protein is adequate. You can still gain size if your protein intake is on point EVEN IF you’re not eating enough calories (although this is less ideal)
Gaining muscle comes to the relationship between Muscle Protein Synthesis (MPS) vs Muscle Protein Breakdown (MPB). MPS is the process of building our muscle tissue, MPB is the process of breakdown muscle tissue.
Think of it like this:
MPS = good for gains
MPB = bad for gains
We wanna promote the muscle building process (MPS) and fend off breaking down muscle tissue as much as possible.
We can do this two ways:
Stimulate the shit out of Muscle Protein Synthesis via lifting weights
Stimulate MPS by eating enough Protein – namely, Leucine – often enough
Lifting weights is a pertinent stimulus for muscle protein synthesis. So let’s assume you’ve got training to a T – you’re doing all the big lifts, hitting that sweet progressive overload each week/month and generally being a badass.
(If you’re not, you really need to do something about that…HERE)
As your lifting is taken care of we need to look at stimulating MPS via your protein intake.
Muscle Protein Synthesis occurs on a cycle throughout your day:
You’ll stimulate it (by training & eating Protein)
You’ll get a “Muscle Full” effect after 1-2 hours
You’ll hit our Refractory Period after approx 2 hours
You’d then stimulate it again (by eating Protein)
So as you’re trying to keep MPS stimulated, and prevent gains catabolism, you need frequent protein feedings to keep MPS stimulated. You can do this by eating enough protein every 3-4 hours.
So What’s Enough Protein?
To optimize muscle gains we’re looking to create what’s called a “Muscle Full Effect” – this is where there’s enough protein to saturate the muscle tissue which helps it grow bigger.
Like all good things anabolism only lasts a short-time so we need to constantly stimulate it.
Now, you might be thinking “yeah but Harry, what if there’s still amino acids leftover, from our previous protein intake, can’t my body just use those to keep stimulating MPS for all eternity?”.
You’d think that would be a groovy thing to do, but unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that dude. We need a constant supply of Leucine and nitrogen to keep synthesizing new muscle tissue.
– REGULAR servings of protein — 4-6 “feeds” per day
– Meals 2-4 x 0.4-0.5g/kg (do the math = bodyweight in kg x 0.4 or 0.5)
– Post-exercise recovery shake 1-2 scoops
– Large Bolus before bed
So if you’re 80kg (<— Note from TG: ~175 lbs for us Americans)
You can realistically eat three meals per day, with a shake post-workout and a bolus before bed:
3 Meals of 0.4g/kg protein per meal = 0.4 x 80 x 3 = 100 (rounded)
2 Scoops PWO shake = 35g (+100)
1 Large Bolus = 30-40g (+135g)
= 165-175g protein per day, spread evenly throughout the day (as above).
Calories, FTW
Once protein intake is sorted, it’s ideal if we’re eating in a calorie surplus.
WTF is a calorie surplus?
A calorie surplus is the principle of consuming a certain amount of calories above your maintenance calories.
See, a calorie surplus is what huge biceps are for Instagram likes – the most important thing ever.
This is a period of deliberate overfeeding of our body (aka Massing or Bulking or Getting Swole), coupled with resistance training, in order to optimally synthesize muscle tissue growth.
Whyyyyyyyy?
‘Cos it’s the best chance you have of off-setting muscle protein breakdown of course.
A surplus is one of the most effective ways to off-set muscle protein breakdown because you literally have enough calories to make sure muscle protein breakdown doesn’t happen.
Eating above your maintenance caloric intake is how you’re going to get the most out of your time building muscle mass.
I mean sure, whilst you could build lean muscle tissue in a deficit (eating less than you expend), or in maintenance (maintaining bodyweight), you’re just going to build more mass, quicker, AND have a higher overall potential growth rate if you eat in a mild surplus.
Which is the goal right?
Synthesize as much new muscle tissue (whilst keeping fat gain to a relative minimum preferably) as your body will allow you to.
Calculating the Gains
To grow new muscle tissue it’s best practice to eat in a surplus.
24 x body-weight in kilograms (bw/kg) = Maintenance
Men expend approximately 1 calorie per kilogram of bodyweight per hour (24 hours in a day)
Step 2: Figuring Out Activity Level Demands:
Sedentary (little or no exercise) Maintenance x 1.15
Mostly Sedentary (office work + 3-6 days of lifting) Maintenance x 1.35
Lightly Active (Active job + 3-6 days of lifting) Maintenance x 1.55
Highly Active (Super Active job + 3-6 days of lifting) Maintenance x 1.75
This gives you an idea of how your activity level influences your maintenance weight.
*MAC Method for Calculating Energy Intake, Martin MacDonald.
Adding In Mass Phase Calories
Now we’d need to add in a surplus.
This will depend where you’re at as to what kind of surplus is necessary for you to start bulking on. All listed are calculated based on monthly bodyweight gains.
New lifter = 2% per month (>6 month of lifting)
Novice = 1.5% (Progresses training loads weekly)
Intermediate = 1% (Progresses training loads monthly)
Advanced = 0.5% (Progresses over multiple months/years)
To calculate growth rates:
Target Rate of Gain: Recommended (as above) * Body-weight in KG
g. Intermediate Lifter, 80kg bw x 1% = 0.8kg per month
(Bear in mind, it takes approximately 2500 calories to gain 0.45kg muscle tissue (1lb) and we’d be looking at that over a month).
Putting It Together
Let’s say you weigh 80kg (or 175 lb for the ONLY country in the galaxy that doesn’t use the metric system).
You’re an intermediate lifter, you’ve been lifting 5x per week in your home gym, but you’ve got a sedentary job due to being sat on your ass on Zoom now because a global pandemic forced you to work from home.
Step 3: Total Calories – Protein + Fat Calories = 2637 – 1495 = 1142/4 (4 cals/g Carbs)
Step 4: Carbohydrate Calories = 285g (what’s left after you’ve accounted for Protein + Fat)
So all putting that altogether, you’d start with:
Calories: 2796
Protein: 176g
Carbs: 285g
Fats: 87g
This is based on recommendations for protein intake, maintenance calories, activity level and surplus based on desired rate of gains.
It’s worth mentioning that initial calculations are….guidelines.
Energy balance is fluid, as our energy intake and expenditure usually fluctuates every day, however, it’s a useful starting point.
We’d usually monitor progress variables and make changes off of that data anyway.
So figure out what you need using the step by step formula (or have someone do it for you), and track bodyweight changes over the month so see how you’re getting on vs desired rates of gains.
You can change and adjust every 2-4 weeks, depending on growth rates/activity level.
About the Author
Harry Archer is a Strength and Nutrition Coach based in Bedford, UK.
Having worked in the fitness industry for nearly a decade, he’s worked in commercial gyms, private gyms, performance gyms, health clinics and more recently online (thanks COVID), with a variety of clients, ranging from helping the John’s from Project Management get Jacked With Abs, to coaching Strength-Sport performance athletes attempting World Records.
He’s usually happiest when lifting and eating, and when thinking about lifting and eating. Follow him on his Insta HERE.
Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Minneapolis based nutrition coach, Megan Schall.
Megan contributed a guest post to the site a few weeks ago that ended up being very popular, and today she’s back with another gem that I feel can help a lot of people.
Nutrition can be a highly confusing and convoluted topic to write about. Countless books have been written saying fat is the enemy; no, protein is; oh, wait, actually, it’s carbohydrates. May you forever be sequestered to the depths of Mordor for having the audacity of partaking in an apple.
Asshole.
Facetiousness aside, Megan has a unique ability of recognizing that it is a mess out there, that information is uncannily biased (book sales over common sense!), and that, more often than not, it’s the simple things that most people need to focus on.
Spoiler Alert: This blog post is *not* going to be about how you must never eat bananas or how, if you stop eating after 6pm, all your dreams will come true (although, if either of those things are working for you – that’s cool! Keep doing your thing!)
This one trick is going to sound stupidly simple and maybe even too good to be true. It’s something you can do anywhere, with any food, and it costs zero dollars.
What’s the secret?
Eat slowly.
Yes, you read that right. It may not be sexy but slowing down when/how you eat can be a complete game changer.
If you’re thinking this sounds a little too simplistic or basic to be of any real use, I get it. But before you close this tab and go back to watching hilarious goat videos, let’s break down some of the reason why this works:
1. Eating Slowly Helps You Register Your Hunger and Fullness Cues
You’ve probably heard it takes about 20 minutes for your brain to register that you’re full.
When you take your time and eat more slowly, you give yourself a chance to actually feel when you’re no longer hungry vs. wolfing down everything on your plate.
If you eat super fast, it’s very easy to eat more food than you need.
Taking your time to relax, breathe, and chew your food well helps turn down the stress and activate your ‘rest and digest’ state. This means you’ll not only taste and enjoy your food more, but you’ll also experience better digestion.
Win-win!
3. Eating Slowly Can Improve Your Food Choices.
When you slow down and really savor your food, you can pay more attention to the taste and texture.
Try eating a processed “food-like” item slowly and mindfully and you’ll likely find it to be rather disgusting. Or you may discover certain foods make you feel not so great, while others leave you feeling like a rock star. That oatmeal you’ve been eating for breakfast for the last ten years? You might discover that you actually kind of hate it (true story from one oatmeal hating client).
4. Eating Slowly Can Be Done In Any Situation Involving Food1
You don’t have to follow a certain meal plan or eating window or count points or macros.
Whether you’re alone or in a group, you can eat slowly.
If you’re eating out (remember when we did that?) you can eat slowly. If you’re at home or traveling or eating while you’re working or driving, you can still eat slowly (although maybe try not to eat while driving).
But How?
Now that we’ve established that eating slowly is a good thing, how do you actually go about it? While eating slowly is a simple thing to do, that doesn’t mean it’s easy – a deadlift is a simple motion but takes a lot of practice and is always a work in progress.
Eating slowly is no different.
If you don’t believe me, I’ll challenge you to try a little experiment: At your next meal, start a timer. Eat normally. See how long it takes. (Don’t worry if it’s an appallingly small amount of time. This is totally normal.)
At another meal, set a timer for 20 minutes. Sit down at the table. Do not get up until your timer goes off. Try to make your meal last that long.
Luckily, there are many strategies you can employ to make it easier to practice.
Setting a timer and trying to stretch out the number of minutes it takes you to eat is a great place to start. Maybe try adding 1-2 minutes to each meal.
You can put down your utensils between bites, or take a few deep breaths or a sip of water.
Put away your phone, turn off the TV, and sit down at an actual table. Eliminate distractions and focus only on your food. It’s much easier to eat quickly and mindlessly when you’re also.
If you’re eating with other people, try pacing yourself with the slowest eater (and if you’re eating with small children even better! Kids tend to eat quite slowly and can be great pacers).
Engage in conversation with your eating partners. Take a pause from eating to listen to what they say.
Pick a time when you know you can schedule a slow and mindful eating experience and go all in. See how long you can stretch it out.
Set an alarm on your phone or put a post-it note somewhere you will see it with a reminder to eat slowly.
Or, if you really want to go all in you could do what I did and get braces as an adult. Not necessarily the first strategy I’d recommend, but it is ridiculously hard to eat in general, much less to eat quickly.
Again, just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it’s easy.
In our world of constant distractions and noise, it’s really hard to sit for 15-20 minutes with no interruptions and just focus on eating. Our culture doesn’t exactly support the concept of slow and mindful eating, so it may take some practice and no one is going to be able to eat slowly all the time.
But it’s worth taking the time (literally) to give it a try and it’s something you can always return to if you feel your food or eating habits are getting off track. Even if weight loss is not your goal, being able to tune into your hunger and fullness cues and notice how food is affecting you is a useful tool to have in your tool belt!
If you’re trying to make changes to your nutrition habits, becoming aware of what’s happening when you are eating and how that is affecting your choices is a great place to start. And you can’t observe what is happening unless you slow down.
Try a slow eating experiment and you just may be surprised by the results.
About the Author
Megan Schall is a certified nutrition coach and personal trainer located in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Through her customized online nutrition coaching programs, Megan helps you clarify your goals and take action to address all aspects of well-being: nutrition, sleep, stress management, movement, mind-body awareness, and more.
By building skills and routines that fit into your real life, Megan will help you make changes to your nutrition and self-care habits to meet your health and wellness goals and create sustainable, lasting results.
I’m often asked if I’d ever think about starting my own podcast.
My answer generally ranges from “I’d rather jump into a live volcano” to “no.”
Why?
1. Time. Between a brick and mortar business, workshops, travel, writing responsibilities, and a wife & kid I’d like to hang out with on occasion I simply don’t have the time to pull it off with all the logistics involved.
2. In terms of sharing content my strengths are tapping away on my keyboard while my cat nestles next to me and being in introvert heaven. Being the host of my own podcast, while I think I “may” be good at it, just isn’t my bag.
3. Besides, I’m fortunate enough to be popular enough to be invited onto 1-2 podcasts per month anyway. So, I kinda already do do a podcast…😂
To that end, my latest podcast appearance is one of my favorites of all-time.
Dr. Michelle Boland & Dr. Tim Richardt invited me onto their show recently, and what I really dug about the experience was that there as a theme rather than them asking me about my “fitness journey” or “my top 5 reasons to deadlift on a Thursday.”
In this episode we count down “The Top 3 Things We’ve Changed Our Minds About in the Past 5 Years”. 🤔
Whether you’re a fan of rehabilitation semantics, sub-maximal training, or obscure 1980s Superman movie references, this show’s got something for you.
💥BONUS CONTENT; stick around for the back half, where Michelle and I solve all personal trainer’s financial problems in 30 minutes. 💸
HERE‘s the direct link to listen on the More Train Less Pain website.
Megan Schall is a certified nutrition coach and personal trainer located in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
