Categoriescoaching Nutrition

The Future of Fitness: Principle Based Coaching vs Plan Based Coaching

The fitness/health community isn’t much different than every other community out there.

It’s just as “tribal” as the next.

There are factions who feel that heavy back squats cure everything (except herpes1) and that not including them in a program is sacrilegious and that it’s impossible to add muscle or get stronger without them.

And at the opposite end of the spectrum there are those who think if you even look at a barbell you’ll turn into He-Man.

The same dichotomy plays out in the nutrition realm as well. One week dietary fat is the enemy, and the next you’re the spawn of Satan if you offer someone a Diet Coke.

In both cases many are failing to recognize that the key to long-term progress, and progress that sticks, is the concept of focusing on PRINCIPLES.

  • In order to lose weight you need to elicit a caloric deficit. There are myriad ways to to do so.
  • In order to gain muscle you need to elicit progressive overload. Squats. There are myriad ways to do so.

In today’s guest post via Michigan based trainer, Alex McBrairty (whom you may recall from THIS spectacular read), he elaborates more on this concept. 

 

Copyright: niroworld

The Future of Fitness: Principle Based Coaching vs. Plan Based Coaching

The fitness industry is failing.

After a decade of working as a fitness professional, I see firsthand how many of the most popular products and programs leave people worse off—with the only benefits going to the people selling the products and services.

But I believe this is changing.

Slowly, a new approach to fitness is emerging. It’s one based in sound reason, eliminating the need for marketing gimmicks and fads. It’s called principle-based coaching.

Principle-based fitness coaching uses practices and strategies informed by first principles—ideas, concepts, and information that we know to be objectively true. The most base layer knowledge; Ideas and insights from psychology, human physiology, nutrition, and exercise science.

It’s the type of information that most traditional fitness plans cherry-pick to sell their particular spin on fitness.

  • Paleo tries to limit processed foods.
  • Keto tries to limit carbohydrate intake.

In reality, both of these diets work because they limit calorie intake.

Healthy products for paleo diet

The first principle being applied in both cases is calorie management. To lose weight you need to eat fewer calories than you’re expending. Both of those diets approach this problem in a different, hyper-focused way.

This more traditional style of coaching is called plan-based fitness coaching. Plan-based coaching, as the name suggests, uses specific plans to help users see the intended results. The main pitfall of plan-based coaching is the extra leap these plans take to reach their conclusions.

Plan-based coaching takes the objective facts of first principles and then makes additional assumptions about them to reach different conclusions.

If calorie management is the first principle, a Paleo plan jumps to the conclusion that processed foods are the reason you overeat.

A Keto plan jumps to the conclusion that carbohydrates are the reason you overeat.

Plan-based coaches make unverified claims to leap from first principles to their principles.

This results in fitness plans that are rigid, inflexible, and disconnected.

For someone following a Paleo or Keto (or other) plan, there is a rigid structure for selecting which foods are “good” or “bad.” This leads to a lot of black and white thinking.

via GIPHY

“Good” Paleo foods are unprocessed, whole foods that our caveman ancestors consumed before agriculture. “Bad” Paleo foods are foods we didn’t begin to consume until we began to grow our own crops, including anything processed and produced in the modern era.

“Good” Keto foods are foods that are low in carbohydrates. High-fat foods like butter, bacon, cheese, or red meat are green-lit. “Bad” Keto foods are anything with carbohydrates. Don’t even think about consuming bread or pasta. Even fruit is considered bad in the Keto plan.

In each of these plans there is no room for nuance. There is good and there is bad. Pick a side.

It’s because of this rigidity that these plans are inflexible and less effective for most people.

The plan pays no attention to the accessibility of the good foods. Say you want to follow a Paleo plan but live in a food desert, where access to fresh, natural foods is scarce or nonexistent. In this reality, how can you stick to the tenets of such a rigid diet?

Just try harder.

At least, that’s the prevailing advice. And it isn’t much help.

Imagine that you attend a dinner party where you’re excited to see your friends. The food offered is a spread of vegetables, a bit of meat, some potatoes, and a fruit pie for dessert. If you’re following a Keto plan, instead of enjoying the company of your friends and eating sensibly, you spend your evening upset that the only thing you can eat is the meat.

via GIPHY

The specific rules of the diet force you into inflexible eating patterns, causing even more stress and deterioration in your relationship with food.

Because these plans are rigid and inflexible, they remain disconnected from the real lives of the people they attempt to serve.

They may be helpful for some individuals, but that list is very short. Plan-based coaching might help give people more direction and a clearer focus on how to achieve their goals, but it is a far cry from addressing the complexity of human lives.

Even worse, what happens if the assumptions of the plan are wrong?

What if cutting out carbohydrates leads to additional stress and strain in navigating our carb-rich world? You find yourself giving up your favorite foods, avoiding social events, and worrying about your diet all day, every day. What if, after all of that, you come to find that carbohydrates were not the real problem the whole time?

Would it have all been for nothing?

This isn’t just a risk of eliminating carbohydrates. It’s the inherent risk of following a plan that is rigid, inflexible, and disconnected. It’s the risk of any plan based on unverified claims, a plan not based in first principles.

Principle-based coaching results in a program that is adaptive, flexible, and integrative.

Unlike plan-based coaching, which builds on additional, unverified assumptions about what is true, principle-based coaching begins with all the base-layer information that is objectively true:

Ideas like calorie balance, progressive overload, and self-efficacy.

The principles allow coaches to evaluate what must be true in order to see results, and then gauge how the program can be adapted to the needs of the unique individual in front of them.

If two individuals need to improve their calorie management, the principle-based program does not limit one from enjoying carbohydrates while the other decides they’d prefer to eat fewer carbohydrates. Both can coexist and see great results.

via GIPHY

Principle-based coaching does not put every individual in the same bucket, nor make the same assumptions about each.

This ability to mold the program specifics to the individual makes these programs adaptive.

Because the means of achieving the first principles is non-specific, they are also inherently flexible to changing circumstances.

If you live in a food desert, where access to fresh, natural foods is scarce or nonexistent, you are empowered to make alternative choices based on what’s available. Not only are you empowered to make these changes, but you can do so and see the same (if not better) level of success as following a rigid plan.

If individuals find themselves at a dinner party, a social event, or traveling across the country, they will be able to adjust the specifics of their plan—the particular foods they choose or the types of movement they do—in order to satisfy the first principles.

The ability to adjust strategy, without negatively impacting results, makes these programs flexible to changing life circumstances.

Since principle-based coaching adapts the program to the unique individual and inherently allows for flexibility in how to achieve optimal outcomes, these programs integrate very well into the lives of those who follow them.

No matter the goal or phase of life, because these programs are rooted in objective truths, they can be molded to meet the needs of the individual as those needs change over time.

Another advantage of the adaptability and flexibility of these programs is that they allow for greater adherence and consistency—two important variables for successful outcomes. Greater levels of adherence and consistency lead to better results, both in the short- and long-term.

Principle-based coaching allows individuals to integrate good behaviors into the fabric of their lives, ensuring permanent success.

via GIPHY

Fitness programming began as a way to educate people on how to live healthier lives. As time went on, we began to realize it wasn’t working. As the fitness industry grew, so too did the obesity rates.

The solution was to begin making assumptions about what people were doing wrong.

That led to the plan-based model previously described. That model is the most pervasive model for fitness programming that we currently have. The result?

Obesity rates continue to climb.

As of 2018, over two-thirds of the U.S. Adult population was overweight or obese.

Clearly something isn’t working.

And that’s because education is not the problem.

Sure, most people could benefit from a little more information about healthy lifestyle practices, but not in the traditional way of what’s good versus bad. If we’re going to educate people, educate them in first principles.

Because what we need is more action.

We need people to learn how to practice healthier habits consistently, not sporadically. We need to eliminate the prejudice around good and “good enough.” We need to empower people to make change, even if their life circumstances are less than ideal.

We need fitness programs that are adaptive, flexible, and integrative.

We need principle-based fitness coaching.

About the Author

Alex McBrairty is an online fitness coach who owns A-Team Fitness in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Obese as a child and teenager, he blends fitness and psychology to help his clients discover their own hidden potential.

He has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Michigan and is certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine.

His articles have appeared in Breaking Muscle and The Personal Trainer Development Center, and he’s contributed to Muscle & Fitness, USA Today, Men’s Fitness, and Prevention.

Website: ateamfit.com
Facebook: facebook.com/alex.mcbrairty
Instagram: @_ateamfit_

DietCategoriesNutrition

Diets Don’t Work: Why Restrictive Eating Plans Fail (and What You Can Do Instead)

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Minneapolis based personal trainer and nutrition coach, Megan Schall. Megan’s been a distance coaching client of mine for a number of years (I write her training programs), but is someone I’ve referred many other clients to when they have any nutritional needs or questions.

She’s an awesome coach.

I’m always excited when I can provide sound and accessible nutrition based content on the site and I think you will appreciate Megan’s down-to-Earth approach and tone.

Enjoy!

Diet

Diets Don’t Work

According to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, the word “diet” has a few different definitions:

  • Food and drink regularly consumed
  • A regimen of eating or drinking sparingly so as to reduce one’s weight
  • To eat according to prescribed rules
  • (Added by TG) Doing everything in one’s power not to throw their face into an ax after avoiding carbohydrates for a week.

I’m guessing for most people, hearing the word diet brings up thoughts of the latter two definitions (excluding Tony’s brief interlude) – eating and drinking according to certain rules and/or with the aim of losing weight.

And when you have goals relating to your health, wellness, physical performance, or aesthetic appearance, what you eat is certainly a key player.

It would seem that if following a certain diet is going to help you reach your goals, you’d be motivated and excited to hop on board, yes? Shouldn’t it be easy to stick to a diet, see results, and keep it up?

Um, no.

If you’ve ever followed (or attempted to follow) a diet before – whether that means eating or avoiding certain foods, counting calories, points, or other numbers-based programs, or eating according to a specific schedule, you’re probably well aware of the challenges that come up.

Close Up Of Man Using Fitness Tracker To Count Calories For Post Workout Juice Drink He Is Making

(Of course, some people will need to follow certain “diets” to manage conditions or diseases, or for ethical or religious preference – being gluten free if you have Celiac for example, or avoiding animal products etc. For the purpose of this blog post, I am NOT referring to these kinds of diets. There will always be exceptions to any rule!)

So, why do diets routinely fail to produce results? And what can you do instead?

In my view, diets are problematic for several reasons:

1. Diets Are Inherently Restrictive and Create a Deprivation Mindset

As I mentioned, the very definition of the word diet is to eat sparingly or according to rules – to restrict your eating.

When you create restrictions or try to follow a rigid plan, your brain is in a state of stress and anxiety.

And when your brain is feeling stress and anxiety, it’s not just an uncomfortable place to be, but it’s also extremely difficult to make or sustain change.

Plus, restrictions – and the stress and anxiety they produce – usually result in a feeling of deprivation. Which creates more stress and anxiety.

Have you ever had the experience of trying to avoid a certain food, only to find that all you’re doing is thinking about the food you’re supposed to avoid?

Your brain is in a negative feedback loop: Restrictions  –> anxiety and stress –> deprived –> anxiety and stress etc.

When you’re caught in this negative head space, it’s a pretty miserable place to be. And being miserable does not bode well for forward progress or positive change.

2. Diets Take Away Your Autonomy

Diets are telling you what to do. No one likes to be told what to do. And when you are told what to do, what usually happens? You rebel and do the exact opposite.

Individuality going a different opposite direction

Having a sense of autonomy and control over your choices is key when it comes to behavior change that lasts. Giving away your autonomy to a diet plan is almost always going to backfire in the long run.

Not only that, you’re essentially outsourcing your hunger and fullness cues and food enjoyment to your diet plan.

You’re letting a diet dictate what you eat or when you eat or how much you eat, and it’s easy to lose touch with what your body really wants and needs.

This often leads to less enjoyment of food and eating, and you may feel unsatisfied even if you’re consuming more than enough.

It’s a lose-lose situation.

3. Diets Are Unsustainable

I think we’ve established that there isn’t a lot of enjoyment in a diet. And when there is no enjoyment, there is no sustainable, lasting change.

You might be able to follow a diet for a certain period of time – and you might even see great results – but eventually the restriction, stress brain, and lack of autonomy is going to catch up with you.

The whole idea of being “on” or “off” a diet makes it clear that these approaches are not built for the long haul. They may provide a quick fix, but they’re not helping you create long-term strategies that last.

5. Diets Don’t Factor in Your Real Life

This is a big one that I think gets overlooked: Diets are not meant for the actual life you are living.

Diet plans might work when conditions are ideal – when you don’t have a lot of other stressors going on, when your life is fairly stable and routine, and when you can put a lot of energy and effort into it.

But this is not reality for most people most of the time. Not everyone has the luxury to be able to make free range kale smoothies made with organic acai berries grown using unicorn tears and almond milk harvested from Jesus’s belly button.

Healthy Smoothie

You have jobs and families and responsibilities and crises…and that’s on a good day!

Real life is not counting calories or macros. Real life is work lunches and dinners with friends and family barbeques and birthday parties.

Diet plans don’t tend to fit seamlessly into real life. And if something doesn’t fit naturally into your reality, it’s not going to last.

6. Diets Ignore Underlying Factors

Another important consideration that diets miss are the many underlying issues that prevent people from making better nutritional choices, or really just implementing any change in the first place.

For example, if you’re chronically sleep deprived, it’s going to be extremely difficult to make the choices you want to make around food and eating, or movement, or whatever else in your life.

If you’re unable to manage stress appropriately, it’s going to affect those choices as well (not to mention make it hard to get good sleep! Cue the vicious cycle).

Diets work on the assumption that these other key factors of your health and well-being are taken care of, but at least in my experience, that is rarely the case.

Just like you can’t out-exercise a poor diet, you can’t out-diet poor sleep or stress management.

Addressing the foundational principles of good health needs to happen first.

Ok. Diets Don’t Work. Now What?

Perhaps you’re wondering:

If diets don’t work, what am I supposed to do? What are my other options?

I’m so glad you asked!

In a nutshell: You want to find what works best for *you* and fits into *your real life*, by developing skills and strategies that you can implement consistently over time and adapt as needed.

Instead of relying on a diet plan to tell you what to do, you can learn how to create your own path by building your toolbox and practicing the steps that move you in the right direction.

Learning and practicing the skills you need to get you where you want to go will be far more valuable -and get you far better results – than following a set of strict rules ever will.

  • Instead of trying to follow a certain diet plan, you could practice eating more slowly and noticing your own hunger and fullness cues.
  • You could try noticing and naming other factors that affect your food choices (sleep, stress, exercise etc.), and see if making changes in those areas is an effective way to change your eating habits.
  • Instead of counting calories or macros or points, you could experiment with what portion sizes work for you, and learn how to adapt depending on your hunger, appetite, or activity levels.
  • You could take note of how different foods make you feel or perform, whether that’s in the gym, at work, or just life in general.
  • Instead of restricting foods, you could practice enjoying meals without feeling guilty or overeating.
  • Instead of following a meal plan, you could develop planning and prepping strategies that fit into your life – so you can create your own meal plans that adapt to life’s ups and downs.

Meal prep concept. Glass airtight containers with cooked food veggies

Obviously, this all takes time and effort, and may feel like it will be way harder than being given a set of diet rules or a meal plan to follow.

But by making small changes over time, you can build the skills and strategies you need to make the best choices for you, your lifestyle, and your goals. (Hint hint: having a coach can come in handy!)

This approach is the opposite of an extreme diet: It’s sustainable, it gives you autonomy, it’s not restrictive or depriving, and it takes into consideration underlying issues and the context of your real life.

Ditch the diets.

Build skills that will last for the long-term.

Get results without hating life.

Dominate the world.

(Ok, I can’t guarantee that last one – but if it works…you’re welcome.)

About the Author

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.
YouTube: HERE

 

 

 

CategoriesNutrition

Math For Gym Bros: How to Set Up Calories For a Mass Gaining Phase

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 Diamonds Why 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.

It’s good.

Enjoy!

Copyright: Roman Stetsyk

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.

via GIPHY

So Give Me Like A Number Of PrOtEiNz To Eat

  • – 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.

How many calories do you need for a surplus?

How To Calculate Your Massing Calories

Step 1: Figuring Out Your Maintenance Calories

I use a simple formula, courtesy of Martin MacDonald:

  • 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:

  1. Sedentary (little or no exercise) Maintenance x 1.15
  2. Mostly Sedentary (office work + 3-6 days of lifting) Maintenance x 1.35
  3. Lightly Active (Active job + 3-6 days of lifting) Maintenance x 1.55
  4. 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.

  1. New lifter = 2% per month (>6 month of lifting)
  2. Novice = 1.5% (Progresses training loads weekly)
  3. Intermediate = 1% (Progresses training loads monthly)
  4. 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.

To figure out your Surplus Calories:

Step 1: Maintenance Calories = 24 * 80 (bw/kg) = 1920

Step 2: Activity Multiplier = 1920 x 1.35 (activity level) = 2592

Step 3a: Calculate Surplus (1%) = 80kg * 1% (0.01) = 0.8kg per month (0.8/0.45 = 1.7 * 2500 = 4250 additional calories per month)

Step 3b: Calculate Daily Surplus = 4250 (additional calories per month) / 30 (average days in month) = 141 cals

Step 4: Add It All Together:

  • Maintenance (1920),
  • *Activity Level (35) = 2592
  • + Desired Surplus (141)

= 2733 Calories per day

Brain hurt yet?

Here’s the fun(ner) part:

Calculating Protein Intake:

You’d take off your protein intake from your calorie Range:

Step 1: 176 (from example above) x 4 (4 cals/g Protein) = 704 calories

Step 2: Daily Calories (2637) – Protein Calories (704) = 1933 (to split between fats/carbs)

Calculating Carbs and Fats:

Fats are typically set at: 15-40%

Carbs are set at: whatever’s left

Step 1: Set Fat Intake: 0.30% * Total Calories = 791

Step 1b: 791/9 (9cals/g Fat) = 87g

Step 2: Protein Calories + Fat Calories = 704 + 791 = 1495

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.

CategoriesNutrition

The One Simple Trick that Can Change Your Eating Habits, Improve Your Food Choices, and Help You Lose Weight and Feel Your Best. No, Really!

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.

Enjoy!

Copyright: Evgeny Atamanenko

The Trick 👇 👇 👇

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.

via GIPHY

2. Slower eating = Better Digestion

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 Food2

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.

via GIPHY

It. Is. So. Hard.

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.

Website: HERE                 YouTube: HERE

CategoriesNutrition

Why Gym Bros Should Periodize Their Nutrition

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 is3, 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.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Copyright: tverdohlib / 123RF Stock Photo

Why Gym Bros Should Periodize Their Nutrition

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.

I know, I’m as gutted as you are.

via GIPHY

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

Nutrition Periodisation by @feedthebarbellntr

I mean, just eat right?

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.

Bringing It All Together

via GIPHY

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.

 

CategoriesFat Loss Nutrition

Calorie Cycling Strategies For Fat Loss

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Nevada based strength & conditioning coach, Travis Hansen. 

Travis has contributed several articles to this site in years past and he always impresses me with his diversity in knowledge.

(FYI: His ebook, The Complete Speed Encyclopedia, is one of the best resources on the topic I’ve ever read.)

NOTE: 👆👆 Not an affiliate link.

Anyway, he also knows a thing or two with regards to helping his clients/athletes shed fat and the “minor” nutritional tweaks that they may need to consider; like calorie cycling.

Check it out.

Copyright: vladimirsoldatov / 123RF Stock Photo

Calorie Cycling Strategies For Fat Loss

We humans are cyclical creatures in terms of our overall behavior, and when it comes to nutrition and our calorie intake there are no exceptions.

The fundamental reason for why we need to cycle calories over the course of weeks and months when attempting to lose weight/fat is because of natural adaptations and guaranteed reduction of our metabolic rate and calorie burn that naturally occur when calories are lowered below a certain level necessary to cause effective weight/fat loss.

Fortunately for you, all guesswork for how to cycle calories will be eliminated for you through a specific diagram provided for you shortly.

Cycling calories is so powerful and essential that our body literally fights back and sets our body’s natural weight range, otherwise known as our “metabolic set point,” higher when we attempt to keep our calories fixed aggressively too low for too long.

So the take home message here is that cycling calories is inevitable and there is a very specific way you can approach this nutritional law and have it work to your advantage so that you maximize all aspects of your results and feel physically and mentally satisfied in the process.

via GIPHY

Some of the most notable evidence supporting the idea of cycling calories in the “short term” centers around the hormone, leptin.

According to Lyle McDonald and his research on the matter, leptin levels drop dramatically within the first week or so of dieting.

The drop can be as much as 50%.

For the non-nerds reading, leptin is our primary metabolic regulator, acting on several areas of the body. So in theory, if we cycle our calories during the week we can boost leptin and keep our metabolism higher.

Note From TG: For a more thorough discussion on the topic of Leptin and it’s affects on metabolism you can check THIS out. Grab a cup of coffee. You’ll need it…;o)

Moving forward I want to break down three categories of structured eating that will need to be built into your collective nutrition plan that feeds into (<—HA, see what I just did there) and supports the concept of calorie cycling.

  • Free Meals
  • Structured Refeeds
  • Full Diet Breaks 

Free Meals (Cheat Meals)

Free meal(s) can be considered structured eating where calories are higher and you overfeed more.

Key Word: Structured. Also, meal (as in singular).

This is basically where you pick one single meal of your liking, set aside all the rules, and you enjoy some pizza or tacos.

Or both…;o)

To note: There’s really no inherent physiological benefit happening here. One single meal isn’t going to break or make a dietary approach or be the panacea of success.

It can’t help, nor can it hurt you in terms of actual fat and weight loss, so you shouldn’t worry much.

Rather, the main benefit here is psychological.

The feeling of complete deprivation of desired and enjoyable foods for weeks and months on end can become very stressful and completely depressing.

A free meal is one method that provides a “light at the end of the tunnel” per se.

Research has shown consistently time and time again that flexible dieting strategies are far more effective than extremely strict and rigid approaches both in terms of overall results and healthy eating behavior.

Structured Re-feeds

A structured reefed is simply a 4-5 hour window where you don’t count calories and you deviate from both the quantity and type of food that you are eating with your normal fat loss diet.

Moreover, carbohydrates are supposed to be higher during the re-feed.

It’s also worth noting that carbohydrates are highly “anti-catabolic” in nature.  Meaning they prevent muscle tissue and others from degrading or breaking down through the increases in insulin production.  For example, a recent study from Campbell et. al  2020 found that a two day reefed in resistance trained individuals preserved RMR, and FFM a.k.a muscle mass. 2  .

Lastly, in my experience re-feeds should generally come in the evening for two reasons.

1) It’s psychologically much easier to resume normal dieting and healthier eating at the start of the next day where you interpret a clean slate rather than attempting to pwn a industrial sized bag of Skittles in the middle of the day and then attempt to get back on track after the fact.

2) It just seems to work well and mirrors normal human behavior.

A good general rule of thumb is to reefed from 5-10pm.

This works well since structured re-feeds are programmed on the weekend where a majority are partaking in social activities and get-togethers where higher food consumption is almost guaranteed to occur.

SIDE NOTE: It’s also ideal to perform a workout at or near a re-feed so that the carbohydrates and other nutrients are automatically soaked up in the muscles. This is especially true for those who are overweight or have sensitivity issues to carbohydrates.  When you eat your carbohydrates around intense lifting times you are conditioning your cellular components to better handle and manage carbohydrates to help limit potential feelings of hunger and overeating.

Full Diet Breaks

Just as the name states, full diet breaks are periods lasting as high as two whole weeks where you increase calories to maintenance levels and are allowed much more leniency with food selection.

Recent research has also supported that intermittent calorie maintenance may be ideal for faster fat loss.

Not only from a psychological standpoint, but also in terms of feelings of “confidence” that you’ll be able to stay on track once stricter eating resumes again.

Another huge potential benefit to diet breaks is that they can programmed around periods of vacation or special events.

Anecdotally, it has been shown that breaks from dieting can be viewed much more positively by dieters, since it’s actually part of a strategic plan, and people report an easier time returning to diet once the break is over.

General Diet Breaks Guidelines

1️⃣ Raise calories by 500-1000 calories daily.

2️⃣ Keep weight training hard and regularly and maintain at least 50% of your cardio work.

3️⃣ Don’t worry about counting macro’s until the end of the break.

Body-Fat Percentage
(Men / Women)

Diet Break Frequency

<10% / 18%

Every 6–8 weeks

10-15% / 18–23%

Every 8–12 weeks

>15% / >23%

Every 12–16 weeks

(I.e., the leaner you are, the more frequent “breaks” you can get away with).

(Chart courtesy of Andy Morgan, RippedBody.com “How to Use a Diet Break for Fat Loss to Get Shredded Lean”)

About the Author

Travis Hansen  has been involved in the field of training for over a decade, and he has over 60,000 hours of hands-on training experience.

He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Fitness and Wellness, and he holds three training certifications—from the ISSA, NASM and NCSF.

He was the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Reno Bighorns of the NBA D-League during their 2010 season, and The University of Nevada-Reno golf team in 2015.

He was the former Director of the Reno Speed School. He has worked with hundreds of athletes from almost all sports, ranging from the youth to the professional ranks.

He is also the leading authority on speed development for the International Sports Sciences Association. Check out his website HERE.

 

 

Categoriescontinuing education Nutrition

The Top 2 Mistakes Trainers Make With Nutrition and Recovery and How to Fix Them

It’s one thing to get a client on board with lifting heavy things on a somewhat regular basis and how it can have positive effects on their overall health and well-being.

It’s another thing altogether to get them to commit to the nutrition & recovery side of the equation and how that too plays a significant role in the grand scheme of things. I’ve often joked that I’d rather wash my face with broken glass than attempt to get a client to try some kale.

That being said, it behooves any trainer/coach/fitness professional to have a system in place to address their clients’ nutritional & recovery needs. My good friend, Dr. Mike T Nelson, has opened up his Flex Diet Certification to my readers only this week. It includes 30 hours of continuing education and covers anything and everything as it relates to nutrition coaching

You can click HERE to sign up for a FREE 1-hour webinar and to learn more about the certification and whether or not it’s a good fit for you.

(Ahem: you should also check out his guest post below)

👇👇👇👇👇

Copyright: lightwise / 123RF Stock Photo

Top 2 Mistakes Trainers Make With Nutrition & Recovery…and How to Fix Them

The old saying is true. . . at best you are only with a client for one hour a day and they have the other 23 hours to hose it all up.

This is reality.

You are not going to follow them around to their workplace and bat the doughnut that coworker Betty brought into work out of their hand.

What you do with clients in the gym and online for programming matters tons, but what are you providing them for the time when they are not with you?

Here are the top 2 mistakes I see trainers making in this area.  A big reason I know this is that I’ve made these two mistakes in the past and wish someone would have grabbed me by my undies, dragged me to the curb and showed me how to do it better.

Mistake #1: Prioritizing the Wrong Items

I know you.

You love to spend time working on getting better at your craft.  That is commendable and kudos to you.  The fitness world needs more people like you, and Tony G will even give you a virtual high five.

Note From TG: Better yet, I’ll toss over a “bearded Robert Redford playing a lumberjack (?)” head nod of approval.

via GIPHY

The downside is that everyone is pushing the latest and greatest nutrition/ recovery item you should have your clients do.

“No way Bro, you have to be doing keto esters between every meal to recover and get ripped.”

“What, you don’t need any veggies. Don’t you know they have these nasty ass compounds in them to prevent other animals from eating them, so they are bad for you.  Just eat more meat you, wimp.”

“You are missing out Bro-ette since this corset is what you really need to get toned in your abZ.”

You get the idea.

Much of what you read is walking BS on a stick and easy to spot. But even legitimate items can be overwhelming from veggie intake to protein to breathing techniques to sleep.

How do you know where to start with a client?

Here is where the concept of leverage can be helpful to figure out what interventions may be best for your clients.

You remember the concept of leverage from Physics class right? In case you slept through it, leverage allows you to amplify a small input for a much bigger output.  It was also a semi-ok now defunct TV series . . .

If you have a big enough lever, you can move huge amounts of load with less effort.

Think of the concept of the kingpin.

If you’ve ever looked at logs going down a river all jammed up. It looks like a mess, and you would need massive effort to get them flowing again. Then, suddenly some crazy ass lumberjack removes just one log and instead of being all jammed up, all of the logs seem to flow much better.

That one log had a lot more leverage than the other logs around it.

This concept can also be applied to when you’re working with clients to determine what kind of intervention should you do on the recovery side on nutrition and different aspects related to that.

In regards to your client’s other 23 hours, sleep is something that’s trending now, which is great, but most conversations about sleep with clients does not end well.

We know that sleep is an absolute requirement for survival. We know that if you don’t sleep for several days, you’re going to have a whole bunch of physiologic changes that are not going to be good, right?

All sorts of things that kind of go offline with sleep on the physiology side. I can make a huge argument that sleep may be near the top.

I did a lot of discussion about sleep and why I think they should get more sleep. And the short answer is, and again, if you’re a trainer, you’ve run into this, I absolutely guarantee it was excruciatingly hard to get clients to make large changes in sleep.

via MEME

Most client’s response when you tell them to sleep more

The reality is at the end of the day, having someone who only sleeps five to six hours and trying to get them up to maybe a seven to eight hours of sleep was very difficult.  I felt like I was beating my head against the wall because I had all this data, all this research to show how important sleep actually is.

But the mistake that I made was I was only rating that on the physiology.

And as you know, when you work with clients or even yourself, I rarely find that physiology is the main rate limiter. It’s definitely a factor for sure, but I find the psychological ability to change as the biggest thing that will limit your results.

I took my physiologic rankings, and I put them on just an arbitrary one to 10 scale, kind of based on the research and what I had found.

via MEME

Severe restriction is not the answer

Next, I took the same interventions, and I ranked them on the client’s ability to change (psychology). This was primarily based on my own experience, from talking to a lot of other trainers and polling trainers at seminars and education.

Coaching Leverage = Physiology Effect x Client’s Ability to Change

Back to topic of sleep, the psychologic ability to change with sleep is very low despite a very high physiologic effect; thus, our coaching leverage score for sleep turns out to be crazy low.

The concept of coaching leverage is a cool way to then rate all the different interventions that you can do.

When I set up the Flex Diet Cert, that’s exactly what I did . . . I ranked all eight possible interventions in order with the highest coaching leverage being the first one to focus on and the lowest one being last.

My recommendation is to start with the higher ranked items first.

Here is a clue, eating more dietary protein ranked as #1.

Rig the system in your client’s favor.

Allow them to see some change, some positive wins, and try to do the things that are easier for them to change and have an also bigger physiologic change.

This allows them to see results with less effort.

Mistake #2: Not Using a System

You use a system for training right?

What system do you use for the other 23 hours a day for your clients?

Many trainers don’t have a system and just lob 30-day challenges at clients with a dash of “hope and pray.”

There are lots of great systems out there, and of course I am biased to the one I created (cough… Flex Diet Cert…cough cough).

Heck, even if you opt to not use my system (you crazy person), please pick one and implement it. Your clients will get better results, which makes you look even better.

Summary

Above you have two mistakes that many trainers are making and two solutions to fix them.

To make your life even easier, I have opened up the Flex Diet Cert for only 7 days exclusively for fans of my buddy Tony G.

Go to the link below to learn more today and implement solutions to your clients other 23 hours a day for better results.

 Flex Diet Cert <— learn more

About the Author

Mike T. Nelson, PhD, MSME, CSCS, CISSN, is a research fanatic who specializes in metabolic flexibility and heart rate variability, as well as an online trainer, adjunct professor, faculty member at the Carrick Institute, presenter, creator of the Flex Diet Cert, kiteboarder, and (somewhat incongruously) heavy-metal enthusiast.

The techniques he’s developed, and the results Mike gets for his clients have been featured in international magazines, in scientific publications, and on websites across the globe.

In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his wife, lifting odd objects, reading research, and kiteboarding as much as possible.

 

 

CategoriesNutrition

6 Nutrition Tips to Follow When You Don’t Want to Count Calories

There are many things I’d rather do than spend my days meticulously counting calories. I understand its importance given certain individual’s goals. Whether it’s to shed “x” pounds of fat or maybe for health related reasons, counting calories is often a necessity for some people.

That said, speaking personally, and in no specific order, I’d rather…

  • Talk about me feelings
  • Get a face tattoo
  • Attend another parent’s kid’s clarinet recital

…than count calories.

My feelings and preferences don’t matter much in this scenario, however.  Today’s guest post by Toronto based coach and nutritional practitioner, Marc Capistrano, helps to shed some light and offer a few bonafide nuggets of practical advice for those who are kinda in the same boat as myself, but would rather refrain from the face tattoo.

Enjoy!

Copyright: dolgachov / 123RF Stock Photo

6 Nutrition Tips to Follow When You Don’t Want to Count Calories

If you’ve ever been around a group of people talking about nutrition, then you’ve probably found yourself caught in the middle of a debate between the macros crowd (people who count macros and calories) and the “every other diet in the world” crowd.

Here’s what a typical argument in the gym locker room probably sounds like:

Bro #1: “Bro, in order to get ripped, you need to go keto, cut carbs, then at night go vegan.”

Bro#2: “Bro, it doesn’t matter what you eat, as long as you’re in a caloric deficit.”

Bro #1: Bro.

From a macros standpoint, the idea is that whether you’re following a keto, low carb, paleo or dim sum diet, you’re basically manipulating macros that either put you in a caloric deficit or surplus.

This is the foundation of weight loss and weight gain.

There’s definitely more to this statement (including food quality, digestion, and hormonal profile), but for the purposes of this post, let’s just stick with the basics and agree that counting macros is the most sustainable (depending on who you talk to) and precise way of gaining or losing weight.

However, what if you find weighing your food time consuming and you’re simply looking for a set of habits that keep caloric intake modest without having to carry your food scale with you everywhere you go.

 

The thing is, there are a lot of us that don’t want to spend our time counting calories and weighing our food.

With that being said, here are a couple of rules to implement that can naturally keep your caloric intake modest and consistent.

1. Prioritize Protein and Vegetables

The good thing about protein and vegetables is that it’s hard to overeat on these foods.

For the majority of us, we can all agree that it’s harder to overeat on a steak and some veggies than it is with a bowl of pasta or pizza. Not only does protein and veggies offer more volume of food without a crazy amount of calories, but they also provide the body with amino acids and fiber (both essential to the body).

A general guideline is to eat about a palms size of protein at each plate along with 1-2 fists worth of veggies at each meal.

2. Lift Heavy Things

This is especially important to implement on days where you know you’re going to eat something heavy/calorically dense.

Movements like squats and deadlifts promote insulin sensitivity (this makes our body more efficient at utilizing carbohydrates when we eat them).

Regular exercise creates “more space” calorically.

Think about it like paying your credit card off before making another big purchase. If you’re really dedicated, try implementing your own routine before heavier meals.

Maybe 100 Kettlebell Swings before the buffet?

 

3. Let Your Activity Level Dictate Your Carbohydrate Intake

This rule is simple.

If you’re not as active on one day, then there’s no need for as many carbs.

I always think of carbs as an expensive fuel. When we need to run the body like a Ferrari (think high performance), then put the expensive fuel in. Otherwise running primarily on veggies, fat, and protein is as efficient as running the body like a hybrid car.

Disclaimer: There are a lot of benefits to increasing carbohydrate intake (especially from a recovery standpoint), so don’t think carbs are inherently bad, we just don’t need as many as people think (especially when activity levels don’t warrant it)

4. Make Alcohol and Refined Sugar a Luxury

I’m not suggesting you cut these foods out, but instead, make it worth it when you do consume these things.

That means instead of wasting your carbs on low-quality sugar during the week, opt to save your carbs for a time where you’re at a restaurant that’s known for their sourdough bread or pasta.

Another example is alcohol.

Instead of having a beer at home by yourself while watching 90-Day Fiancé and arguing with the TV, save it for a time when you’re out with friends and make alcohol an experiential thing.

The reason for this is that these things are easy to over-consume. Placing limitations on these things make it easier to keep intake moderate.

5. Drink More Water

This nutrition tip is an overused one, but it’s an important one.

Weight loss in relation to drinking more water works on a couple of levels.

Hydrating with water promotes more satiety; it’s essential to overall body metabolism function and it also supports your performance in the gym. A general rule thumb when buying an expensive double vacuum sealed water bottle is to buy three because you’re bound to lose the first two in one month (speaking from personal experience).

6. Sleep as Hard as You Train

Our metabolism determines how effective our body is at taking in and expending calories.

Someone needs to write a version FOR adults

Sleep is the process that up-regulates body metabolism along with many other hormonal processes. Sleep helps maintain fat-free body mass and can make fat loss difficult to achieve despite being in a caloric deficit.

Before You Troll Me…

Before the hate starts in the comments section, let’s make something clear.

These principles are not bulletproof.

Despite following all these rules, you can still screw things up as far as caloric intake goes. These rules simply provide some structure that provides you with a buffer from the effects of overeating. If you have specific body composition goals or are eating for performance, then I highly suggest you quantify your food by hitting specific macro and caloric goals.

Even if this isn’t something you want to do long term, there is still some benefit in having a rough idea of what food looks like calorically at each meal.

About the Author

Marc Capistrano is a Certified Nutritionist, fitness enthusiast, and content creator. He currently works out of downtown Toronto and maintains the Live It Holistic Nutrition blog. His work has been featured on CBC Life and Stack Magazine. As a University of Toronto graduate, he completed his BA and went on to achieve his Certified Nutritional Practitioner (CNP) designation in 2016. Marc is also a self-proclaimed buffet connoisseur and listener of Drake.

Website: www.liveitholistic.com

YouTube: HERE

Instagram: HERE

CategoriesNutrition

Why You Can’t Out Train a Poor Diet: A Simple Explanation

Intro From TG: Anyone who’s read Simon Sinek’s book Start With Why will understand the significance and power behind the word “WHY.”

Before you can get at the crux of the HOW of any situation or goal (I.e., how can Tony better remember to not leave dirty dishes in the sink every night?) you need to have a firm grasp of the WHY (because he wants a happy marriage, and so that his wife doesn’t murder him in his sleep).

We’ve all heard the phrase…

…”You can’t out-train a poor diet.”

But why?

Why can’t we?

Today’s guest post from Boston-based personal trainer, Patrick Jennings, should help shed some context.

Copyright: zahar2000 / 123RF Stock Photo

Why You Can’t Out-Train a Poor Diet

There are many sayings out there that hold merit within the health and wellness industry, one of which is the aforementioned ‘You cannot out train a bad diet’ and despite its popularity it’s often lacking the substance needed to drive home its importance.

When we exercise we place the body/ muscle under acute mechanical stress.

For example a squat (with adequate load and reps) will break down the muscle tissue with the overall goal of the muscle then adapting to the stress and being rebuilt better able to deal with the aforementioned stress (you get bigger, faster, stronger etc.)

In order for the muscle to adapt and grow it is a NECESSITY for it to have the adequate materials to build from.

You cannot expect someone to build a brick wall if all you provide is a handful of feathers, the same way you cannot expect a muscle to grow if you do not provide the necessary nutrients.

This is the exact reason why you can’t out train a bad diet.

I always tell my clients we are building a body you love not destroying one that you hate.

And with that in mind, we need to determine what does the thing I love need?

Day to day living coupled with an intelligent exercise program will require a diet that facilitates the energy requirements dictated by the body.

But what is a good or bad diet?

It can certainly be difficult to separate the truth from fiction and avoid information overload and paralysis by analysis. I have been told to avoid sugar, only eat fats, avoid fats, aspartame will make me grow horns and dairy will make me sexually attracted to cows!………

Note From TG: uhhhhhhhhh

What I believe is that a good diet adheres to the following fundamental principles:

  1. Balanced Kcal consumption appropriate to goals and individual.
  2. Inclusion of all macronutrients (albeit at varying percentages and preferences).
  3. Inclusion of all micronutrients.
  4. Consistency. 

(*The only exception to these rules are anomalies, rare conditions or allergies)

One dictates body composition/ weight adhering to the scientific principles of Energy balance, two and three form the foundation of ‘vitality/ energy’ whereas four determines level of success and longevity.

When I sit down to discuss ‘diets’ with clients I am not necessarily referring to protocols, approaches or even the type of food you eat, but more so the current total composition of everything consumed and how this fits into the four foundations mentioned above.

My goal as a coach is to improve the health and wellness of each client with weight loss, improved physical adaptations and psychological adaptations being a positive byproduct.

It must be understood that, yes, you can work out and not have your nutrition dialed in and see results, the same way you could travel 10 miles walking in a straight line for 3.5 hours or do indirect loops and circles and eventually get there in 10.

A bad diet just slows down progress and in some cases counteracts the hard work you may be doing in the gym where as an intelligent, manageable and appropriate diet can streamline the journey to desired results.

What will ultimately determine success is having a true understanding of how badly you want to get to your ‘destination’ or desired state and how you willing you are to focus for an extended period of time to get there?

About the Author

Patrick is the head coach at Boston Based CLIENTEL3 personal training studio. Patrick takes pride in his ability to talk to anyone about anything and takes this diverse approach into fitness coupling the fundemental principles of improving health with clients individual needs and preferences.
For more information find Patrick on Instagram @performancehealthandhappiness
Or email [email protected]“
CategoriesNutrition

Does Vegan Nutrition Make You a Better Athlete?

Humans are very tribal, and especially so when it comes to their nutritional preferences: Paleo vs. Keto vs. Vegan vs. Jets vs. Sharks vs. Decepticons.

It’s crazy out there.

In lieu of the release of his new book, Athletic Nutrition 101, regular TG.com contributor, Travis Hansen, sent me this fantastic blog post the other day I think you all will enjoy.

Copyright: saschanti17 / 123RF Stock Photo

Does Vegan Nutrition Make You a Better Athlete?

Before we dive in I want to make it clear that my sole intention with writing this objective article is to just be, you know…objective.

There is no denying that there are some profound emotional ties with various types of diets and nutritional approaches and although the information and science presented may trigger or ruffle up some feathers, please understand that is not my intent at all.

The purpose of this write-up is to simply look at some of the brief scientific literature as it pertains to proper vegan nutrition and its role on athletic performance outcomes to either confirm or disprove its credibility as a reliable dietary strategy for athletes.

That’s it.

I think it’s best to start by breaking down specific topics of discussion aimed at providing a conclusion into whether or not utilizing a vegan approach could support you or an athlete you train into becoming a better performer on the field or court.

Here are the most common areas of concern as far as the research is concerned on vegan nutrition and performance:

  • #1-Supplementation factors-Vitamin B12 deficiency
  • #2-Adequate protein intake
  • #3-Iron and Creatine levels

Supplementation Factors

Vitamins and Minerals are absolutely critical to so many biochemical reactions and functions in the human body.

Vitamins are stimulatory in nature and satisfy specific roles responsible for improved athletic performance measures, or a lack thereof. According to one study, supra or mega-doses of vitamins does not seem to have any increased benefit on sport performance.

“In general, vitamin supplementation to an athlete on a well-balanced diet has not been shown to improve performance. However, additional research with certain vitamins appears to be warranted, such as with the vitamin B complex and fine motor control, and with vitamin E and endurance at high altitudes. Moreover, research with mega-dose supplementation may also be necessary.” (1)

Unfortunately, there is some concern regarding a vegan approach and whether or not it can deliver proper doses of Vitamin B12 without supplementation.

“On the other hand, questions have been raised by some investigators regarding unique risks of the vegetarian diet, including oligomenorrhea and amenorrhea, iron deficiency, vitamin B12 deficiency, vitamin D deficiency, and impaired mineral status.” (2,3)

However, if athletes remove deficiencies and restore normal Vitamin B12 levels then there doesn’t seem to be an issue in terms of performance.

Adequate Protein Intake

The next issue deals with protein intake. This topic definitely seems to be the most detailed and alarming, but again, if

athletes supplement and consume adequate amounts of vegan protein sources they should be just fine.

Here is a short excerpt from my nutrition book that puts it into perspective and then afterwards I want to share some important information and a diagram you can check out from the infamous Boirie study which will help you appreciate why you need to attempt to overcompensate and consume more protein than normal to ensure an adequate anabolic muscle building response in the body.

“Adequate protein intake, although more perhaps difficult to come by for vegans vs. non vegans, does seem attainable to support proper athletic development.

For example, a study from van Vliet, 2015 found that plant protein is typically less anabolic than animal protein for several reasons. 132

Some include a reduced amount of essential amino acids, in particular Leucine. Greater excretion rates, proposed digestibility issues and more. However, the author did state that several strategies could be used to improve the anabolic response of a protein based meal primarily derived from plants. Including a higher variety of plant based protein sources, supplementing the amino acids leucine, lysine, and methionine, and eating greater amounts of plant based protein sources. Gorissen et. al agrees that compensating for reduced functional protein content by eating higher quantities of plant based protein is one way to go.133 “

So, the research clearly states that it is possible to ingest enough protein if you are a vegan, but you need to be particularly aware of the types of protein that you are consuming with a strong emphasis on getting in more than normal to overcompensate for any issues in amino acid content, increased removal of this type of protein, and digestive issues associated with vegan protein sources.

The amino acid Leucine is a key regulator in muscle growth via the MTOR pathway and lowered levels of this Branched Chain Amino Acid will cause reduced muscle growth levels, so you may need to supplement here if you are electing to be vegan.

Another issue that was brought to attention compliments of leading researcher Lyle Mcdonald, is the extremely poor digestion rate of vegan based protein sources.

According to the Boirie study chart, our digestive network has an absorption rate of 3.9 grams of Soy Isolate based protein per hour!

This is insanely low compared to meat based sources.

The unfortunate reality is that protein digestion rates are markedly slow to begin with and Soy based products compound this issue and make it even more difficult. Not to mention you have to be very concise with your vegan protein food combing selections if you aren’t consuming a vegan based protein supplement.

Here is another helpful excerpt from my book:

“Let’s first take a look at a limiting factor with regards to vegan based protein sources, comparative to animal based proteins dense with complete protein. When we eat meat, eggs, and other animal sources of protein then there is no need to fret about fulfilling a complete amino acid profile. Plant based sources, on the other hand, lack one essential amino acid and need to be complemented by another source to deliver all amino acids.

For example, plant based protein sources are often guilty of being unable to deliver a single amino acid known as the ‘limiting amino acid.’

“For example, grains’ limiting amino acid is lysine, but grains are high in the amino acid methionine. Therefore, grains match well with legumes, which are low in methionine but high in lysine.”

So greater consumption of complimentary proteins becomes essential to make sure that all potential deficiencies are accounted for, while also giving some extra supply of amino acid’s since plant based proteins are only 85% digestible, compare to animal sources which scale around 95%.” 2

And here are some combination strategies if you are going down the vegan path of nutrition to ensure you get a complete arsenal of amino acids to build all of your proteins….

Plant Based Meal Combo’s:

  • Stir fried vegetables and tofu over rice (soy and grains)
  • Vegetable chili with cornbread (legumes and grains)
  • Oatmeal with nuts and soy milk (grains, nuts, and soy)
  • Spinach salad with vegetables, garbanzo beans, and sunflower seeds (legumes and seeds)

Iron & Creatine Levels

The final concern for vegans trying to optimize their nutrition and athletic development deals with keeping Creatine and Iron levels.

As many of you already know, Creatine phosphate is the primary metabolic driver for literally any activity performed at or very near maximal intensities, and Iron is critical to any aerobic based activity.

But what about the upside to a vegan approach on performance?

This wasn’t directly mentioned in the research, but upon observation it’s obvious that vegan based diets contain higher levels of carbohydrates. This topic is another article series in itself, but if you are interested in how and why carbohydrates are essential for ANY athlete looking to perform better, here is a quick primer series below, and my book goes into even more detail if you are interested.

Vegan diets do a great job of prescribing the proper amounts and types of carbohydrates which many other nutritional approaches lack, so kudos to Vegans on this front!

1. 5 Scientific Reasons to Eat Carbs – HERE

2. 5 More Scientific Reasons to Eat Carbs – HERE

3. Even More Reasons Why Athletes Should Eat Carbs – HERE

Final Thoughts

In closing, there is no magic cure for nutrition for any athlete.

Rather there is a broad range of diets you can experiment with and see how you and your performance responds.

A vegan approach, although more difficult for the few reasons I mentioned above, does seem to work, contrary to what many people say. Also keep in mind that there are indeed absolutes that need to be considered when it comes to nutrition, and once you begin to learn and understand these timeless principles it will make you and your athletes life much easier.

For example, overall energy intake regulates so much of our metabolic system and needs to be set at certain levels for proper functioning. Researchers have dialed down precisely how much protein our body’s can assimilate per meal and per day along with governors in our body that have been developed in the liver and through fullness responses. There are different ways to go about nutrition and some subtle differences between individuals, but then again there seems to be FAR more similarities and that helps simplify the topic to a high degree.

Athletic Nutrition 101

To pick up a copy of Travis’ book, which is priced at a steal given the amount of information he provides and the depth at which he goes into, you can go HERE.

Scientific References

#1-Williams, MH. Vitamin Supplementation and Athletic Performance. Int J Vitam Nutr Res Suppl, 30: 163-191, 1989.

#2-Barr, Susan I, and Candice A Rideout. “Nutritional Considerations for Vegetarian Athletes.”Nutrition, vol. 20, no. 7-8, 2004, pp. 696–703., doi:10.1016/j.nut.2004.04.015.

#3- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12534-009-0017-y

#4- https://bodyrecomposition.com/nutrition/what-are-good-sources-of-protein-speed-of-digestion-part-2.html/