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 Food3
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.
Today’s guest post comes courtesy of United Kingdom based strength & nutrition coach, Harry Archer.
He took my subtle hint from a few weeks ago when I made note of the dearth of nutrition content on my site and how I tend to not touch it with a ten-foot pole.
Not because I don’t know what gluconeogenesis is4, but because I know my where my expertise isn’t and I respect scope of practice.
Nevertheless, he reached out and offered to provide some nutrition-related content for the site.
Let’s face it – as a lifter and fellow enthusiast of all things getting Yoked, chances are you wanna be jacked/strong and lean all at the same time.
Admirable goals friend, join the Swole Club.
Unfortunately our physiology doesn’t really like us doing all three at once, so it’ll make excuses and half ass any adaptations and responses to lifting.
IKR, ffs, c’mon physiology.
Fortunately there’s a groovy nutrition concept that allows us to maximize training adaptations over time so we can indeed get massiver, stronger-er and more shredded..
It’s called Periodizing Nutrition, and I’m going to take you through it today.
All aboard the Gainz Train.
What Does Periodizing Nutrition Even Mean?
“The planned, purposeful, and strategic use of specific nutritional interventions to enhance the adaptations targeted by individual exercise sessions or periodic training plans, or to obtain other effects that will enhance performance longer term” – Juedenkup
In bro-terms it’s organizing what you eat around the type of training you do to get the best results.
You can’t maximize (<– note key term here) both strength and hypertrophy at the same time very well, nor can you do either of these things whilst dieting down to single-digit body fat at the same time.
This is why training periodization exists – we can logically and systematically create training stimuli to produce different physical adaptations. We can lift heavier loads to create neural/strength stimuli, or we can lift moderate weights a lot of times to create hypertrophic stimuli, and we can do a load of cardio to help lose fat.
(Just kidding on that last one – don’t be THAT person).
The central idea of Nutritional Periodization is to match what you eat/how much you eat/specific macro ratios to the goal of your training block.
If you’re getting jacked, we can use calories and macros strategically to maximize gains.
If lifting heavy is your thing, I feel you homie, we can use certain nutrition protocols to maximize that.
If you’re #teamnogains, then certain dieting nutrition protocols can attenuate losses in fat-free mass as you’re dieting so you can hold onto your gains as you spend time choosing to deliberately catabolize your gains.
Developing Your Very Own Periodized Nutrition Plan
Why not just eat “well” or eat “good foods” or have seven protein shakes a day?
Because, whilst that’s lifting nutrition’s most ok-est advice, we’re more interested in our goals than “just eating right.”
What happens if your “just eating right” doesn’t support the hypertrophic goals you have and training in a hard volume block doesn’t result in the desired muscle gain?
What happens if “just eating right” doesn’t support the maintenance of lean muscle tissue during a deficit?
What happens if “just eating right” isn’t a sufficient amount of carbohydrates to offset perceived exertion during exercise leading you to feel like you’re the weakest dude in any gym that ever gymed?
You put a limit on how much progress you’ll make. Let’s not do that…
Training x Nutrition Periodization
If we look at training periodization, we have different training goals for different blocks. Each goal has a different objective, to produce a certain physiological adaptation or response so we normally use three different phases:
Increased Load = hypertrophic adaptations
Maintenance Load = Context dependent – could be transitions, could be a strength block after hypertrophy training
Decreased Load = usually transition between different blocks of training e.g. hypertrophy to strength or strength to deload
So, we can manipulate our nutrition to match the goal of the block right? Like so:
Increased Load = ideal for gains, so ideal for a surplus!
Maintenance Load = maintain body weight
Decreased Load = ideal for a deficit
So how do we plan nutrition around our block of training?
I Wanna Bulk Up
Ok, now we’re talking. So how can we periodize nutrition for them sweet gains?
The goal of hypertrophy blocks is to accumulate maximum recoverable volume (MRV) at a sufficient intensity to elicit muscle hypertrophy.
Basically?
Recover from lifting enough weight, enough times, multiple times a week so you get jacked.
When training load increases, guess what else should increase? If you said “calories, carbs and my biceps” you guessed right! Periods of high volume massing just need higher total calories and higher amounts of carbohydrates.
If we don’t periodize calories and carbohydrates to energy demands of our training, then very bad, super non-awesome stuff happens like overtraining, injuries and worst of all, you can’t fill out your Gymshark stringer Vest.
Topless gym selfies won’t be the same again.
How Fast Should You Gain?
When massing, we want to keep muscle:fat gain ratios favourable right? Keep rates of gain between 0.25-0.5% of your body-weight per week.
How Long Should You Gain?
You could probably make enough gains in 6 weeks, however, longer massing phases would see better results so push it to 12/16 weeks.
Is there a limit?
16 weeks. Outside of this, we run the risks of desensitising ourselves to training, the ratio of muscle:fat starts tipping in favour of fat, we start running into health issues and ultimately it means longer, and more frequent dieting + maintenance phases as you’ll have accumulated too much fat that you don’t want to keep.
Macros For Gains Phases
Calories = 30-45 kcals/FFM (fat-free mass)
Protein = 1.6-1.8g/kg
Fats = 0.2-0.4 % of total calories
Carbs = whatever’s left (calculate other needs first)
Bit Fluffy From Your Last Perma-Bulk? I Got You
The goal of fat loss blocks shouldn’t really be to lose as much fat as possible. Instead, productive fat loss phases should really centre on maximizing FFM/LBM during the dieting phase, pushing close to MRV and promoting recovery from training load.
There’s mixed opinion on training volume when dieting. General bro rules dictate trying to keep MRV (max recoverable volume) high to keep lean muscle mass during your dieting phase. There might be drops over time due to recoverability factors but cross that bridge when you get to it.
How Long Should This Phase Be?
Typically between 6-12 weeks, depending on how aggressive you want your deficit to be/how much you can handle. 6 week diets aka “Mini-Cuts” open themselves up to more aggressive losses, although these are typically fluctuations in water/glycogen and salt which aren’t fat.
Still, you can look pretty decent to your gym crush.
Longer dieting phases give us a better chance of retaining FFM due to slower losses, as long as you regulate training load. Otherwise, whilst you’re losing fat, you’re also increasing FFM losses, increasing injury risks and generally having a miserable time of it.
Proposed Rate of Losses?
Losses between 0.5-1% of total bodyweight per week is sufficient. Whilst a more aggressive approach may initially increase those %’s, most of that is water/glycogen and salt fluctuations. Higher rates of loss will come back to kick your ass with stuff like poor muscle retention, being hungry all the time, low sexual desires (what’s the point of looking decent if you can’t get laid?) and generally being a bit of a dick to everyone ‘cos you’re moody.
Is There a Limit?
There’s a concept of “Single Phase Limits” – up to no more than 10% of total body weight loss is recommended for a single dieting phase. The goal isn’t to hit maximum fat loss per phase, the goal is to retain maximum muscle mass and recover from training loads per phase. Always has been, always will be.
More aggressive losses are a wild ride. For most, lower rates of loss will be easier to mentally and physically manage which honestly increases your chances of sustaining your fat loss efforts. I mean, don’t go so slow that you can’t see any results because that’s not fun for anyone but keep it psychologically and physiologically sensible.
Macros For Fat Loss
Calories = 30-45kcals/kg FFM
Protein = 1.6-2.4g/kg
Carbs = whatever is left
Fats = 0.2-0.5% total calories
Ok, You’re Shredded. Now What?
Now your gym crush is following you on Insta, now is the time to avoid rebounding post diet.
Here’s where maintaining gains comes in.
Maintenance blocks are important as you don’t really wanna go straight into a bulk, rebound, and regain all of the layers of fat you’ve just spent months slowly peeling off now do you?
The goal here is to keep lower body weights stable, and to reduce any diet fatigue. It takes a while for your body to recover from dieting, so maintenance blocks should be about as long as the dieting block.
Or at least until you stop fantasizing over food more than your gym crush.
If you want to sequence several fat loss blocks together (Rule of 10%) then diets with maintenance phases are very necessary as each period of dieting becomes a little bit more difficult
Each maintenance phase should progressively get longer than the dieting period as you’ll accumulate diet fatigue across each phase, life sucks when you diet a lot and dieting gets super hard and takes longer as you get leaner.
Choosing how to sequence your very own periodized nutrition plan is going to depend on where you’re currently at.
If you’re looking to pack on some size, then maybe string a few massing cycles together – with the appropriate maintenance blocks obviously, and see how you grow.
If you’re looking to shift a bit of timber in time for 6 Pack season, then sequencing dieting:maintenance cycles could be a good choice for you right now.
Ultimately you’ve got to decide what you want to achieve and then periodize your nutrition to match the goals of your training blocks.
Now, go get strong, jacked and shredded.
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.
There’s only one more week left to register for my Virtual Coaching Competency Workshop.
I figured chances would be high many attendees would be fighting off the urge to commit seppuku staring at their computer screen for seven straight hours so made the executive decision to spread things out over three consecutive weekends:
3 Hours on 3/7
2 Hours on 3/14
2 Hours on 3/21
The course has been approved for CEUs via the NSCA and all attendees will receive a recording in case Eastern Standard Time doesn’t bode well for your schedule.
You can now purchase CORE @ Home for whatever you want to pay.
During the first quarantine I started a platform where I’d deliver 20-40 minute workouts that could be performed in everyone’s living room using minimal equipment.
In all I filmed 36 workouts 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.
Let me start by saying there’s a TON of nuance here and I truly believe there’s no clear cut “winner” to this controversial topic.
If I’m going to be honest: There’s parts of each side of the argument I agree with.
Regardless of what side of the political debate you’re on I think it’s important to be exposed to varying facts (even if you don’t agree with them) and opinions.
And that’s why I am sharing this article here.
This is a fascinating read by Malcom and I encourage everyone to take the time to check it out.
However, a few weeks ago I received an email asking me a question I really do hate answering. No, it wasn’t asking me to send money to a Nigerian Prince. Instead it was from an editor of a website (I don’t recall which one) asking me if I’d be willing to send over a few thoughts regarding “what I felt were some of the best innovations in strength & conditioning heading into 2021?”
I’m sure I could scour my email’s trash bin from the past decade and find a similar email from an editor or freelance writer asking me some iteration of the exact same question.
I’d be remiss, if not come across as the ultimate curmudgeon, if I didn’t recognize that there truly has been some fantastic and innovative advances in strength & conditioning/personal training since I entered the industry in 2002.
The internet, for one thing, has made it infinitely easier to run one’s business and gain access to a wider array of clientele. When I first started offering remote coaching services I had clients mail me a check via the actual mail and had to use a digital camera to take & upload videos onto my computer, which then took three hours per video (give or take a week) to send via email.
Now there are entire websites and resources that make the process seamless. A one-stop shop of fitness-business prowess.
There’s an endless tapestry and selection of exercise equipment, specialty bars, and the like that we can choose from to hone in on specific goals and even body parts.
We also have a vast array of gadgets that bleep and bloop and do everything from measure one’s bar speed to offering feedback on technique to using heart-rate variability to help dictate one’s readiness to train on any given day.
I am not against innovation and stuff that’s new and exciting. I’ve had my fair share of leaning into the latest, brightness, and shiniest new thingamabobbers out there.
That said, I’d also be remiss not to note that we often get far too carried away and miss the forest for the trees. We’ve gotten to the point where technology sorta handcuffs us. We’ll renege on a workout because some app told us a rainbow didn’t appear in Mississippi today.
Okay, I’ll admit I’m being overly facetious here…
…but I am not too far off the mark.
Old Shit Still Works
What worked in 1985, still works today.
More to the point, barbells and dumbbells still work.
Then again, maybe I really am a curmudgeon and today’s fitness crowd requires a bit more gamification in order to be incentivized to exercise?
Either way, here’s my “recipe” for fitness innovation:
1. 3×52
Whenever I teach workshops, especially to other health/fitness professionals, and I go out of my way to expound on exercises I drills I like for this and that, I’ll inevitably be asked…
…”So, Tony, why do you insist on presenting with your shirt off how many sets and reps do you suggest?”
My answer is always 3×52.
If you can motivate yourself (or your clients) to workout 3 times per week, 52 weeks a year, some cool shit is bound to happen.
My bias is toward simple stuff like using easily accessible equipment (barbells and dumbbells), but if it has to entail a super attractive instructor taking you through a workout on a $3000.00 bike/screen in your dining room while listening to Daft Punk go for it.
Consistency of exercise matters more than the mode.
2. Strain a Little
You don’t need to shit your spleen in order to make a workout effective.
Conversely, if your workout consists of 5 lb weights while you watch an episode of Real Housewives you need to try harder.
There has to be a degree of strain in order to force the body to adapt to a stressor.
Keeping things as simple as possible on this front, this is why I’m such a fan of a 5×5 approach for most people. Pick an exercise, say, bench press.
Choose you weight you KNOW you can do for 6-8 reps (but not 10 or more).
Chances are the first 1-3 sets will feel quite doable if not easy. Once you enter the 4th or 5th se territory, that weight is going to become more challenging (as fatigue sets in).
You may find it will look something like this:
Set 1: 155 x5 Set 2: 155×5 Set 3: 155×5 Set 4: 155×4 Set 5: 155×3
The objective would be to stay at that weight until you’re able to complete 5 sets of 5 repetitions.
Once you do, you can then increase the weight 5-10 lbs and start the process all over again.
Easy training is good training. This approach ensures progressive overload without crushing your soul.
3. Make Sure Nutrition Matches Your Goals
One word: Keto.
Just kidding.
Tha fuck outta here.
But seriously, I won’t belabor this point, it’s just common sense.
4. Go to Bed
It amazes people will spend hundreds (if not thousands) of $$ on supplements, Theraguns, fancy boots, and contrast showers that use distilled water filtered through the beard of Jesus in the name of optimal recovery…
…when the cheapest (and best) thing they could do on that front is just go to bed at a decent hour.
Four days later my wife, Lisa, accompanied me to the gym.
The workout wasn’t anything crazy. There were no burpees, no deadlifts, no squats; hell I don’t even think there was a barbell involved.
If anything, the field trip served as more of a rendezvous back to normalcy for us.
Our world had just been knocked the fuck upside down during the previous 96 hours, and, after the shellacking we had been taking, a lifetime in Azkaban would have seemed a better alternative.
So yeah, heading to the gym, even for 20 minutes, was exactly what we (she) needed.
Lisa’s first postpartum workout, if you want to call it a workout, wasn’t anything to write home about. I think I had her do some deadbugs, side planks, a few Pallof Presses, bodyweight step-ups, and, yeah, okay, there was a barbell involved…
…she did some light bicep curls.
To her credit Lisa trained all throughout her pregnancy.
While no where near the same intensity she was accustomed to, she deadlifted, swung kettlebells, performed hip thrusts, and even used natural progressive overload (her growing tummy) to crank out her chin-ups.
At the same time, she remained cognizant it was imperative she listen to her body. If at any point something felt off or “wonky” she stopped and we made the appropriate adjustments.
I wholeheartedly believe that it was her dedication and diligence to strength train throughout her pregnancy which resulted in a smooth and seamless birth.6
NOTE: For a more detailed article expounding my approach and thought processes on the topic of women and strength training through pregnancy go HERE.
Fast forward several weeks and I posted this video on my Instagram page of Lisa hitting a bench press personal record:
During her maternity leave we took advantage of having more time to workout together, and I was proud of her for staying proactive during this time.
She listened to her doctor, she listened to her body, and she was able to regain (some) of her pre-baby strength levels rather quickly (in no small part because she stayed consistent with it during her pregnancy).
I say “some” because we made it a point of not pushing the envelope with other movements such as deadlifts and squats.
Nevertheless, there was a woman who chimed in with her own concerned, if not bordering on scathing remarks and comments on the matter.
“It takes a lot longer than 2-3 weeks to retrain the postnatal core! And wouldn’t she still be bleeding at this stage? That’s an open wound that needs time to heal/ and she needs lots of rest to repair her DRA and PFM tissues, especially if there’s additional birth trauma. I would get her to see a women’s health physio or pelvic PT first, if you care about her recovery. What postnatal courses have you done?”
Oh-no-she-didn’t.
It was all I could not to go into an all-out Beyonce “Lemonade’esque” rage.
“I DON’T CARE ABOUT HER RECOVERY?” – grabs baseball bat.
“WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT 2-3 WEEKS?!” – smashes windshield.
In the woman’s defense what she (probably) read and saw was some meathead bragging about his wife hitting a heavy bench press a few weeks postpartum.
How could she have known that in the weeks leading up to that Lisa had also been performing a plethora of diaphragmatic/positional breathing drills, deadbugs, birddogs, carries, hip stability drills, and many other exercises that don’t equate to near the engagement on social media as a bench press?
#mostboringexerciseever
#actuallymaybethisismoreboring…zzzzzzzzzzzz
I kindly reiterated that Lisa was cleared by her doctor, that she had been taking things slow up until that point, had been using appropriate progressions, and that she had a pretty smart strength coach (and the world’s #23rd ranked tickle fighter) in her corner writing her programs.
The same woman also stated:
“There’s nothing badass about being a victim to the social pressure to get your body back, it’s stupid really.”
Given no one ever came close to mentioning anything about social pressure or being a victim, at the time, I didn’t have much of a response. She was likely projecting based of experiences in her past, and I chose to ignore it.7
I mean, my wife’s been lifting weights since she was 13 years old, it’s part of her DNA. What’s more, we were engaged in an activity we enjoyed doing together (working out), and she really loves benching, why should I have to defend that?
However, upon further reflection I could see where this woman was/is coming from.
Don’t get me wrong: I still feel there was an exorbitant and egregious amount of “assuming” on this woman’s end.
Like, who in the flying fucks of fucks was she to assume we didn’t take all the precautions in the world? But, deep breaths Tony, I could see how my initial post may have been triggering and come across as a bit too braggadocious.
Moreover, I can see how the message could have been misconstrued.
As oxymoronic as it sounds (and this is likely why this particular woman called me out), women that exercise through their pregnancy are often at MORE risk for postpartum issues. Many feel pressure to head to the gym as soon as possible after giving birth because they actually feel “okay.”
To be clear: This was not the case with my wife. It had everything to do with not wanting to throw an ax into her face from cabin fever.
However, this mentality can often lead to dire circumstances because their body is still healing. Just because someone may want to perform kipping pull-ups paired with sandbag carries through a grenade field for AMRAP doesn’t mean you should.
You CAN still exercise postpartum, but it’s important, nay, crucial, to respect the notion that your body still needs time to “catch up.”
I guess maybe I should have said that from the get go when I originally posted that video of Lisa bench pressing.
That said, it was something the woman said in her initial comment to me that really struck a chord:
“What postnatal courses have you done?
Shit.
None.
Now, I’m not an idiot.
I understand, to the best of my Y chromosome having abilities, the intricacies that coincide with helping a woman train through her pregnancy, as well as how delicate matters are in the months postpartum.
The first few months are all about rebuilding the base (specifically to address the pelvic floor and diaphragm, to get the “core” connected, working, and to progress from there).
After that, a person’s capabilities and foundation matter more than whatever time frame it takes to get them deadlifting appreciable weight again.
As far as the BIG no-no’s to avoid immediately postpartum:
Plyometrics – burpees (please, stop), jumping, stairs, and running.
Anything coming close to max-effort loading.
Front abdominal exercises (planks, sit-ups, push-ups, leg lifts, or anything that makes the abdominals bulge anteriorly or uses the core to support a lot of bodyweight).
FWIW: Any sort of Fight Club is out of the question during this time as well.
I’m also aware that the postpartum “phase” doesn’t just refer to weeks or even months. Women can present with postpartum issues years after the fact, and it’s imperative to respect that and know how to assess and program accordingly.
But, to go back to the woman’s comment (what postnatal course have you taken?) that was a massive mea culpa.
I had taken none.
She got me there.
At that point I felt it was my responsibility to remedy the situation.
In recent years whenever I am asked by other health/fitness professionals what course I’d recommend they look into my immediate answer is Dr. Sarah Duvall’s PCES course.
It’s without hesitation the most valuable continuing education resource I’ve come across in the past four years, and it’s also had the most impact on my own coaching.
Every pregnancy is different.
Every woman who is postpartum is different.
There are a LOT of women out there and you WILL undoubtedly need to know this information and know how to apply it.
As it happens, Sarah just revamped the entire course: PCES 2.0
34 hours of content loaded with a tsunami of lectures, videos, and case studies.
CEUs available
Save $150 off the regular price through Wednesday (2/24). Access to the course CLOSES on March 5th.
FYI: Payment plans available.
This course will teach and show you the appropriate assessments/screens to use as well as the corrective strategies to implement to address everything from pelvic floor dysfunction to incontinence to rectus diastasis. In addition, and this is what I dig the most about Sarah’s approach, is that strength training can and should be a part of the process.
Remember: You only have till midnight on 2/24 to SAVE $150 and access to the course shuts down on 3/5.
I’ve always prided myself in my ability to recognize (and then attempt to address) my knowledge gaps.8
Understanding functional anatomy? ✅
Peeling back the onion on the importance of breathing mechanics? ✅
Having a better understanding of how to appropriately program plyometrics? ✅
Long division? ❌
One of the best things I did for my career, however, was to better educate myself on the topic of training clients’ through pregnancy in addition to having a better understanding of the intricacies working with postpartum women.
Anyone who works with women – which is pretty much every coach, ever – should consider investing in this area. I can only speak for myself, but studying this topic in more depth has given me much more confidence as a coach.
I’m also speaking for myself when I say one of THE best courses I have ever taken – not just on the topic, but ever – is Dr. Sarah Duvall’s Pregnancy & Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist course.
34 hours of content (legit, everything is covered: The only thing not covered is showing a live birth).
CEUs available (the total # will depend on your certifying body).
Payment plans are available too.
I cannot express enough how valuable this course has been in helping me not only become a better coach, but also gaining the confidence/trust of my female clients. I have little reservations in saying that investing in this course will pay for itself tenfold.
Below is a repost of an article I wrote last year sharing some of the things I’ve learned taking the course. But for those who prefer to skip the foreplay, you can go HERE to purchase. REMEMBER: The discounted price only lasts through Wednesday (2/24).
Outside of that, you should totally read my article (pretty sure it’s Pulitzer worthy).
4 Things to Consider When Working With Postpartum Women
1. Once a Woman is Postpartum, She’s ALWAYS Postpartum
This is a powerful quote and something Sarah stresses over and over again in her course. Whether you’re working with a woman who is very recently postpartum or she gave birth three years ago, you still need to do your due diligence as a coach.
Just because some time has passed doesn’t mean she’s out of the weeds yet. Some women exhibit significant Diastasis Recti years after giving birth and shrug it off as “meh, that’s just the way things are.”
Likewise, some women view incidents such as incontinence (urine leaks) as equally “normal” and shrug worthy years after the fact.
NEWSFLASH: they’re not.
In light of that, it’s important to ask questions and to peel back the onion on a woman’s (reproductive) health history to glean as much information as possible.
Now, I get it: I’m a dude.
There’s a high degree of professionalism at play here.
“So, where you from?”
“Born and raised in Boston.”
“Awesome, do you have any major injuries I need to be aware of?”
“Nope, none I can think of.”
“How many kids do you have? Did you have a natural birth or c-section? Oh, and do you pee when you squat?”
To help stave off any awkwardness, I’ll send all prospective clients a questionnaire to fill out a head of time with pertinent questions related to this part of their health history.
If they’ve never given birth then they can skip and move on to the “Favorite Movie of All-Time” section (which is TOTALLY a thing by the way. I find it’s a great conversation stimulator and helps break the ice). And if they do have kids I ask them to fill out that section which has a handful of follow-up questions.
They can then go into as much detail as they feel comfortable with with 1019% less awkwardness.
That’s the order of things you’ll almost always want to prioritize when working with postpartum women. I’ve had a crush on the importance of positional breathing drills ever since my days at Cressey Sports Performance.
We found there was a lot of efficacy towards their use with getting athletes into a better position prior to training; specifically nudging toward a canister position (Zone of Apposition, I.e., the act of bringing things together or in proximity) as opposed to a scissor position.
Canister Position = diaphragm and pelvic floor stacked on top of each other.
Scissor Position = the opposite of that.
The latter tends to be a much more UN-stable position and can (not always) result in a fusillade of things we’d rather not see happen:
Poor breathing mechanics.
Lower back pain.
Shoulder pain.
Many of the things I’ve already noted above: DA, pelvic floor issues, etc.
Global warming
Another Transformer movie.
Honing in on breath can help “glue” or connect things more efficiently. Making sure someone is getting 3D expansion of their rib cage (and not just breathing UP into their chest) can be a game changer and helps to set the stage for everything else that follows.
If you don’t own breath, you’re not going to own “position” during exercise.
Something as simple as the Deadbug exercise – done correctly, with emphasis on the breath – is a great example.
It’s important to note that everyone is different and every birth is different. I can’t stress enough the importance of encouraging a woman to wait until she’s ready before implementing any mode of exercise. However, it’s important to note that it only takes 14 days of bedrest to notice atrophy of the Multifidi and surrounding spine musculature.
Encouraging small walks in conjunction with very basic breathing drills can help offset this.
Reiterate – from the rooftops – that a woman’s core is GOING TO BE WEAK FOR A LONG-TIME and that it is okay, normal, and 100% human for this to happen.
It still behooves them to set in motion – when they’re ready – these mini interventions that will pay HUGE dividends down the road.
3. It Takes Time
Women who train during their pregnancy are often the most vulnerable. They want to revert back to their “normal” training schedule often times before they’re close to being ready.
The pelvic floor (and other places of trauma) need time to catch up.
A good rule to keep handy:
“9 months to grow, 9 months to recover.”
This is not to imply that a woman can’t start lifting weights or exercising more vigorously prior to nine months, however it’s just to toss in a bit of expectation management.
The kipping pull-ups and heavy squats can wait.
FIRST FOUR MONTHS = rebuilding solid base (get the pelvic floor and core working with a ton of breathing drills).
But even this approach can be tempered to that of the client and her capabilities.
As an example I have a current client who gave birth less than a month ago who has just started to come back to the gym to train. She had been working with me for two years prior and knows her way around the weight room.
Here’s an example of her first week of training back:
D1. Box Jumps – AMAP x 2x30seconds
D2. Just kidding. The fuck outta here.
Again, everyone is different.
The umbrella theme to remember, though, is to TAKE THINGS SLOW!
4. What To Avoid in the Early Stages
On that front, here are some thing you’ll likely want to skip altogether in the early stages of working with postpartum women:
Plyos – burpees, jumping jacks, stairs, stop it.
Running – just an accentuated plyometric.
Front Abdominal Exercises – planks, sit-ups, push-ups, leg lifts (or anything that makes the abs bulge in front or uses the core to support a lot of the body weight).
Ninja Fights – Probably best to avoid ninjas at all costs, actually.
And That’s That
There’s obviously a lot more to consider, but that’s a pretty good start. For much, MUCH more on this topic check out the Certified Pregnancy & Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist 2.0 course HERE.
Your face is going to melt so hard you’ll learn so much.
Megan Schall is a certified nutrition coach and personal trainer located in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
