training

HOW TO SEE RESULTS IN THE GYM PART 1: THE SKINNY BOY SOLUTION

November 23, 2020 By GURJOT Leave a Comment

NOTE: THIS ARTICLE IS AN OVERVIEW ONLY. IN DEPTH CONCEPTS WILL NOT BE DISCUSSED TO LENGTHY DEGREE! (Coaching opportunities coming soon).

Right folks, let’s skip the pleasantries and get right down to brass tax.

YOU WANT… NO DEMAND RESULTS from your training efforts.

After all, you don’t go to work and expect NOT to get paid. (Unless you voluntarily work on the basis of charity).

SO WHY IN THE HOLLY HELL, would you invest all this time and energy in the gym and “not get paid” for your labor?

Why are you not getting the results & desired outcome?

Put simply, there’s 3 key factors that dictate to results of lack thereof.

Training
Nutrition
Recovery

If any of these pieces of the puzzle are out of whack/alignment then kiss your dream bod/ fitness goals goodbye.

Lets break down and dissect these three pillars and figure out exactly why you’re not seeing the progress you’d like and surely deserve.

Now we’re going to approach each scenario from two different ends of the spectrum.

Scenario A: “THE SKINNY BOY SOLUTION”

Scenario B: “THE FAT GUY FORMULA”

Note: For the purposes of this post we’ll focus completely on the first scenario and make it all about the “Skinny Boy.”

Let me preface this by saying,

When referring to “Skinny Boy’s” I’m literally talking about individuals that are essentially slim, frail looking with no muscle tone or definition whatsoever.

Don’t get it twisted… “Wiry but lean & ripped” (which I consider the warrior build) isn’t what we’re addressing. You still need some muscle and definition to achieve that look… No, no, no

We’re talking about a complete “bag of bones” here. No muscle tone & no fat mass.

Anyways, I’ve dragged on long enough.

So without further ado, I present to you…

“THE SKINNY BOY SOLUTION”

Training

Skinny, under muscled and lacking in strength. The quote “98lb weakling .”

People in this category need to emphasize heavy, big, basic compound exercises and really focus on getting as strong as they possibly can. I need to drill this point home.

“The sole purpose of your training should be dedicated to making your entire body as strong as possible.”

The key here is to build a solid foundational base of strength, which will lead to the growth and development of bigger muscles overtime.

I don’t care what anybody says, to a great degree a stronger muscle is a bigger muscle and vice versa.

Bottom line is, if you’re skinny and want to get muscular and strong, the workouts you perform need to be designed with the priority and sole intent to build you up in terms of strength.

I personally perform 3-5 heavy sets in the 5-8 rep range when focusing on explicitly on maximizing strength and muscle. (Which I might add is practically all the damn time).

If you’re a complete beginner, your aim should be to add a little more weight to the bar from session to session or at the very least try and add an addition rep to 1 or 2 of your sets.

Training like this will, build dense, thick, hard muscle. Sure, you may not get pumped up like a bodybuilder, but you will still look damn impressive, especially when you peel back any additional ounce of the fat and “reveal the steel” so to speak.

What’s more, from a performance standpoint, you’ll actually develop usable strength that you can incorporate into daily life. (It’s a win/win situation).

What about cardio?

Thought you’d never ask.

From a health perspective, everybody should do some cardio. (Got to keep the old ticker thumping). However, the issue with many skinny individuals is that performing too much cardio or aerobic activity takes energy (calories) away from what would otherwise go towards synthesizing (building) new muscle tissue.

Personally from experience as a small boned individual, eating enough food to grow is already a pain in the ass and challenging enough as is.

I still recommend doing about 20 mins cardio at a steady pace 2-3 times a week for skinny boys, to help recovery and for heart health. You can do it either first thing in the morning or after your weights session. (Just get it done).

Nutrition

Now onto the next reason skinny boys don’t see progress…. Their nutrition flat out sucks or falls short to some degree.

Without getting too technical, your body has a certain energy level requirement (calorie). If you fail to meet this requirement you will start losing weight. (Which we don’t want to do as skinny guys).

Therefore, it’s imperative and stands to reason that in order to put on muscular size (and not just weight/ slop/ fat mass) you need to eat more of the raw building materials that make up that lean tissue.

Keeping this in mind, there are two key nutrients that the human body absolutely requires. These are:

Essential amino acids
Essential fatty acids

If you don’t ingest these key nutrients on a consistent basis, your body will eventually breakdown and die. (Paints a pretty grim image, I know).

Protein is the key macronutrient here.

You need to emphasize protein. Protein and more specifically the amino acids that protein breaks down into is what actually builds and repairs muscle tissue.

I’d aim for 1-1.5g of protein per 1lb of bodyweight. So if you weigh 150lbs eat anywhere from 150-225g protein.

Next you need fats. Fats do more than just supply your body with energy. They’re also responsible for proper hormone and endocrine function. (We won’t get into the nitty gritties of this within this post).

I usually like to get at least a bare minimum of no less than 30% of all daily calories from fat (& that’s during a dieting or fat loss phase).

Depending on dietary preferences this may vary e.g. On a ketogenic (keto) diet a higher percentage of calories can come from fat, verses more traditional or carb based nutritional approaches.

So keeping with our hypothetical 150lb person… that’d translate to roughly a bare minimum of 45grams of fat.

I’m currently eating approx.. 180g of total fat per day at present.. (Keep in mind I am experimenting with my own personalized a low carb muscle and strength building nutrition approach).

Lastly carbs…

Carbs are like rocket fuel. Carbs don’t really build muscle per say, they’re “protein sparing” which is a fancy way of saying they allow the protein you eat to be used to actually do it’s job of repairing and building cells and tissues in the body.

So one could say carbs are “anti catabolic” instead of “anabolic”. (However, I digress, we’re delving too much into the technical nuances).

Don’t be fooled into thinking you need to consume monstrous quantities of carbs in order to build muscle.

You only need enough to replenish the glycogen (stored carbohydrates/sugar./glucose) in the muscles, any additional beyond that will just be stored as excess lard.

As I said earlier, you need a lot of protein (amino acids actually build the muscle) and fat, for hormonal function (again steroidal hormones, e.g. testosterone are made of cholesterol and fat) not to mention the fact that on a calorie per gram basis fat has 9 calories to 4 cals per gram found in protein and carbs.

I personally keep the carbs extremely low, especially since lately I’ve been experimenting with a low carb “muscle building/ bulking” diet, where fat is the primary energy or fuel source. (Will outline this in further detail in future).

It’s difficult to give an exact number on how many carbs an individual should take in without factoring in their training, lifestyle, and current nutrition/ dietary preference and response.

That said however, as a basic rule, assuming the person is following a standard diet (i.e not keto or low carb) carb intake could vary all the way from as close to zero, all the up to 2 or even 3g per lb of bodyweight.

Now that’s quite a wide range… but it truly does depend on the individual’s sensitivity to carbohydrates and how their body processes them.

So to sum up nutrition, you need to first hit enough protein, secondly get your essential fats for optimal hormonal function and lastly any leftover calories should be allocated to either carbs or additional fats for energy.

Remember, this is just a basic overview, many other factors also play a hand in determining dietary practices.

Keep in mind all these recommendations are merely guild lines and not concrete, set in stone principles that are made to fit all.

(There is also a hormonal aspect to food that will not be addressed in this post, for time sake, but will be discussed at a later date).

Recovery

Onto the final piece of the jigsaw and something that often gets overlooked or just plain neglected.

Ah, good old recovery… It’s like the friend you least like hanging out with, but when you need them, they’re always there.

“WITHOUT RECOVERY THERE IS NO GROWTH”

Tattoo this on your forehead, ingrain it in your brain. Do whatever, but just make sure you fully realize this statement. (Actually it’s fact).

Think of recovery in three stages:

Stage 1: While lifting in the gym, you “rip up”, “tear up” & “slash up” (you get the idea) the muscle fibers. Essentially the gym is the stimulus or spark that triggers the potential for growth to occur.

Stage 2: Next you exit the gym, eat, sleep and engage in “non gym related” activities. The muscle fibers you damaged in the gym then begin to repair and return to their original state.. This is recovery.

Stage 3: The final stage of recovery is actually what we’re really after… It’s called super-compensation, where the muscles grow a little bit bigger and a little bit stronger. This happens due to the fact that your body thinks to itself:

“What the hell is this idiot doing? If I have to lift this crazy ass weight again, I better be prepared and build a little more muscle and get a bit stronger so I can do it more easily the next time round.”

Problem is people don’t recover sufficiently in the first place. You need to train hard enough to stimulate growth in the gym, then get the hell out, back off and recover to actually grow.

The critical factors to optimized recovery are (in no particular order):

Sleep– Aim for approx. 7-8hrs quality sleep a night
Hydration – Drink adequate water.
Nutrition – Refer to nutrition section above.
Rest days – Take days out from the gym. AKA DON’T TRAIN BALLS OUT EVERY FRICKIN DAY.
Active recovery – stretch daily, do yoga or cardio. Anything that promotes blood flow and flushes the lymphatic system and pushes wastes, toxins and metabolites out of the muscles.
Epsom salt/ mineral baths – This is a nice luxury one. Once or twice a week treat yourself to a nice relaxing soak in a hot bath. This really helps relax the muscles and the calm the mind

So there you have it ladies and gents. 3 sure fire ways for skinny boys to make progress on their physical pursuit.

This list could go on and on, but these are just a condensed few recovery options to get you well on your way.

Next time, we’ll talk all about fat guys.. Subscribe if you want to stay in the loop.

Till we meet again.

DISCLAIMER: NONE OF THE INFORMATION PRESENTED IN THIS ARTICLE IS MEANT TO REPLACE MEDICAL ADVICE. SEEK THE GUIDANCE OF A DOCTOR BEFORE UNDERTAKING ANY FITNESS PROGRAM.

THE KEY TO FREAKY FOREARMS

August 5, 2020 By GURJOT Leave a Comment

Disclaimer: None of the advice in this post is designed to treat, cure or prevent any injury. Speak to your physician before engaging in regular physical activity. No liability is taken.

All righty folks, lets skip the jibber jabber and get right to it.

With gyms now reopened and given the current world situation, you’ve probably been unable to put your best foot forward in regards to your fitness.

That said, fret not.

Today we’re diving into the first in a training series based on developing all the key muscle groups that’ll give you that sizzling, sexy body that you’ll be proud to rock.

Ah, forearms…. good old forearms.

An often neglected muscle, that when actually developed, will set your physique apart. It’s the equivalent of cleavage on a woman.

When they come in (or develop), you just can’t help but notice them.

There are 4 main exercises we’re going to discuss for developing rock hard, ripped and vascular forearms that’ll get you what I like to call “THE CARE STARE”

But before we get to that, it’s worth mentioning the underlying principle, and I cannot stress this enough, so take notes ladies and gents.

“ THE FOUNDATION FOR FANTASTIC FOREARMS LIES IN A SOLID, STRONG, STERN GRIP.”

Ingrain that in your brain and make that the first priority.

Without further ado, here’s the exercise breakdown:

Farmers walk/ Loaded carries
Static DB hold (with the heaviest Dumbbells you can hold for 20-30 seconds)
Reverse curls (preferably with an EZ bar to avoid wrist pain)
Hammer curls

Perform 2-3 sets of each exercise. For the farmers walk aim to complete 2-3 rounds of about 20 metres and for the curls complete at least 8-12 reps.

If you happen to lack the space to perform the farmers walk, simply sub it out for the static dumbbell holds and complete for 20-30 seconds, before letting the dumbbells go.

You can search video tutorials for the exercises in the event you’re unsure on how to perform them.

(I may create a video series in conjunction with these written pieces, demonstrating the exercises at some point and link them here all for your viewing pleasure).

The setup

Now the first two movements, the farmers walk and static hold will train your grip strength and the two secondary exercises, the reverse curl and hammer curl will target and engage the muscles in the forearm more specifically.

The primary focus of the reverse curl is the biceps and forearm extensors and the hammer curls also target the brachialis and brachioradialis muscles.

Some blessed folks will be able to develop beastly forearms and a mighty grip with the farmers walk / static hold combo alone.

While others will have to include the other 2 direct forearm exercises in order to maximise their growth and strength potential.

I’d suggest either giving them their own scheduled workout, or tacking them on after an arm or back training day.

Keep in mind, you don’t necessarily have to complete all the exercises in one workout.

For example:

You can divvy up the exercise to include the 1 grip exercise and 1 direct forearm exercise after each individual back or arm session, depending on your training split.

So it might look something like this:

Sample weekly (Bro) Split:

Day 1: Chest/ Shoulders

Day 2: Legs

Day 3: Back/ Forearms: List of your regular back routine + farmers walk & reverse curls

Day 4 : Rest Day

Day 5 : Arm/ Forearms: List of your regular arms routine + static hold & hammer curls

Note: The above is just a sample structure. I am not saying this is the perfect, ideal workout split.

BONUS TIP:

Use a product called “Fat grips” to thicken the bars and challenge your grip even more.

Or if you’re feeling cheap, take a page out of Bruce Lee’s book and wrap a towel around the barbell when you perform curls.

So there you have it. It’s entirely up to you.

Mix and match to suit your preference.

And that’s it for now folks.

As mentioned above, this is the first in a training series, so subscribe to stay updated as to when the next part of the series drops.

TTFN…. Ta Ta For Now

THE FOOLPROOF WAY TO PREVENT TRAINING INJURIES

June 1, 2017 By GURJOT Leave a Comment

What do fractions and fitness have in common?

Answer: With fractions what you do to the top (numerator) you have to do to the bottom (Denominator). Similarly, with training the attention dedicated to the upper body should also be applied to the lower half, and what you do to your front you should do in equal measure to the back.

Thus today’s post will cover some key preventative measures to reduce the likelihood of sustaining a major training related injury. (To keep things sweet and simple this article will mainly focus on upper body injuries, commonly associated with the shoulders. Lower body issues will be elaborated upon more thoroughly in future).

1) Make structural integrity a training priority

Note: This step alone will increase the longevity of your training years and if implemented early will save you a great deal of pain down the road.

When it comes to training the vast majority of typical bodybuilding and strength-training routines overlook (or worse, downright ignore) the critical importance of maintaining structural integrity and harmony between muscle groups throughout the body.

What is structural integrity?

Simply put, it’s the strength balance between the anterior (front chain) and posterior (back chain) muscles.

To avoid needles injuries, muscle imbalances and problems with posture, it’s imperative that there isn’t a significant variance in strength level between the muscle groups of the front and the back.

Muscle imbalances are incredibly common among seasoned lifters and gym rats alike, often the result of too much chest and arm (front work) focus and not enough back, rear delts and rotator cuff attention.

Over time, this unbalanced, one sided training approach will inevitably lead to an imbalance and is the big reason why many shoulder injuries, rotator cuff tears and strains are so prevalent amongst lifters.

What winds up happening is the chest and front delts end up becoming significantly stronger than the muscles of the back and in effect overpower them. This creates a muscle imbalance, and is the primary reason that the hunched shoulder look is prevalent.

Overtime due to lack of stimulation the muscles of the rear delts and rotator cuff weaken further and SLAP, BANG… Injuries, in the form of a rotator cuff tear or shoulder impingement etc.

On the contrary, don’t think this is merely relegated to those of us who regularly engage in the practice of blessing iron. Oh no.

It pertains greatly to everybody, whether you train or not. Due to the fact that as human beings the vast majority of the activities we engage in happen directly in front of us. (Don’t get it? hold your horses and all will be revealed).

See, think about this, you look down at your phone, computers. You pick up your knife and fork to shove grub down the ole pie hole, pick up a book or magazine to read etc. You get the general idea. All these activities take place in front of your torso.

If you’re like the majority of people they’re usually looking down at their phones, laptops etc. for extended periods of time, ultimately resulting in posture issues (the dreaded hunched shoulders) down the road, and potential shoulder/rotator cuff injuries aforementioned earlier.

So how’d you avoid this unpleasantness?

How do you best avoid this scenario and greatly reduce the likelihood of experiencing such an injury? (definitely not fun).

Great questions, that brings us to point numero deux.

2) Include a posterior chain exercise in every workout

I’ve adopted the practice of making the first exercise of every upper body workout a pulling motion to effectively target the back, which as I’ve mentioned before is often neglected at least in comparison to the more favorable “show muscles” of the front.

I routinely begin each session with 2-3 sets of face-pulls as a preventative measure.

So, taking into consideration everything mentioned earlier in this post, the following simple exercise list will give you an idea of some of the counter measures you can take to combat “deltoid destruction” and “back blowout.”

Exercises to throw into your training mix:

Face pulls
Rear delt flyes w/ dumbells or on pec dec machine
Pull up/chin up variations
Any bent over rowing motion
Deadlifts/ Back bridges/ hyper-extensions

Include the following pulling movements in your training to ensure you hit the muscles of the posterior chain. These’ll act as a counter balance to all the pressing/pushing motions and work you do to your front.

In my opinion, the pulling to pushing ratio of movements in your routine should be about 70/30. (Obviously favouring pulling motions).

Remember, you’ve got to compensate for the fact that you spend a lot of your day involved in tasks that take place at the front of your body, let alone the exercises you do to pump up your “show muscles.”

3) Understand the purpose of assistance movements in injury prevention

Though compound movements (bench press, pull ups, overhead press, squats etc) are great for stimulating overall muscle growth and strength development, they cannot engage all aspects of a muscle.

Relying solely on compound lifts will also lead to muscle imbalances as weaker muscle groups will give way to stronger ones when performing a certain lift.

That’s where assistance or isolation movements come into play. They’re great as a means of specifically targeting, stimulating and strengthening the weaker muscle groups.

I view the assistance exercises as not just a means of isolating certain parts of a given muscle, but also a way of ensuring you strengthen and engage weaker or less developed areas of your physique, thus maintaining a good strength ratio between the various muscle groups.

THERE YOU HAVE IT.

3 simple steps to maintain order, harmony and balance throughout your body and greatly reduce the instance of injury.

If you enjoyed this post, found the content useful and want more info like it, there’s 2 simple thing you can do effective immediately:

That’s all for now folks…. TTFN.

3 PILLARS FOR A KILLER PHYSIQUE

October 7, 2015 By GURJOT 16 Comments

“Simplicity is the greatest form of complexity.” As the saying goes and it seems to hold weight. The fitness industry (like many industries) loves over complicating, hyping and peddling half-truths etc… yada, yada… you get the picture.

Anyways, that’s a whole other chapter in and of itself.

Outlined in this article are three key points that have certainly benefited me, and I’m certain that, should you choose to adopt them into your training arsenal, (if you haven’t already) they’ll bring significant and dramatic effects to your physique.

The three points listed combine together to produce an outcome I’ve dubbed the “TRIPLE D’S”

Density, Definition & Detail!!

If you structure your training and nutrition in a way that enables you to direct your attention to these areas, I’m certain you’ll relish the result.

Enough chatter. You ready to get down to it?

1) Strength (Relative) : To increase density and carve out detail

Strength takes top priority, because developing strength is the cornerstone in creating a base or laying the foundations for a solid, dense physique. In fact, if you were to focus on honing your strength level and getting incredibly lean, you’d carve out a pretty damn impressive physique.

Now let’s take it a step further and say that relative strength is more impressive and will do way more for your physique than total strength. Think about it logically, if you can bench press 315lbs at a bodyweight 175lbs and 8% body fat compared to some other guy that can press the same weight at 230lbs and 20% body fat, who’s stronger? (I leave you to decide).

Improving your relative strength is simple in nature, but far from easy in practice. Why you ask?

Because you need to progressively increase poundage and get stronger whilst maintaining a lean body. (We’ll talk more about body fat a little later).

Lift and progress to lifting heavier weights or adding reps with the same weight each workout. Make it your aim to improve on a weekly basis either by adding an additional rep or increasing poundage through a technique called micro loading. (For those who don’t know micro loading involves strapping on a pair of fractional plates i.e 0.5lbs-2.5lbs to the ends of the bar to continue incrementally progressing).

This is a highly effective strategy, since it’s not always an option to slap on 5-10lbs to the bar and rep out every workout.

Remember, the key pointer here is, that muscles are adaptive tissues that respond to stress and tension. (Without getting too scientific) They grow and adapt to handle stresses so that your body is ready and prepared to deal with a similar challenge in the foreseeable future. (The challenge in this case, the stimulus from weight training).

Muscle is therefore created in an attempt to make the body more efficient at dealing with the physical stress of lifting weights, thus making it imperative that you increase the stimulus overtime, to avoid stagnation.

On a side note, lifting heavy weights is only one form of progression, there’re other ways to challenge your body, as it’s not always feasible to continue upping the poundage. Eventually there comes a point when you just can’t possibly get any stronger. (To put it in perspective, if the human body was capable of continuing to lift heavier with no upper limit, everybody would be lifting 3,000lbs).

That said however, the majority of people are a way off from maxing their strength potential.

So back to the point, lifting heavy has two major advantages over lighter “pump” workouts. The benefit being an increase in muscle density and (obviously) overall physical strength. This added density gives the muscles a hard, angular look or what I refer to as “marble flesh.”

Personally, I employ a rep range of around 4-8 reps. I use a method known as RPT (reverse pyramid training) meaning my first set is the heaviest. I usually hit the first set for 4 followed by a set of 6 and finally a third set of 8 reps.

2) Low body fat: To boost definition and bring out detail

abs

A lean individual, showcases chiseled, dense musculature. Cuts, separation and definition all become more prominent as adipose is stripped away. The idea is to look like you’re carved out granite. A damn solid sculpture.

Being lean in the 7-10% (the more you tend towards to lower end of the spectrum, the more pronounced the effect) body fat range will make you look more angular and in certain eyes this is more attractive. (If you catch my drift).

Having a low body fat isn’t just an asset when it comes to pure cosmetics either. No, no, no. Being lean will have positive effects on endocrine functioning and hormonal profile. A leaner body has an “easier” time utilising nutrients and directing them towards muscle growth and cell repair than a fatter individual.

Just like anything you can run into issues or too much of a good thing. Eventually the leaner you get the body begins to run certain issues i.e. decline in testosterone declines, mood issues, muscle loss and a dive in sex drive. (None of these are desirable).

These problems usually arise in individuals maintaining sub 5% body fat for extended periods of time. (Which isn’t the vast majority of folk, I might add).

Getting down around 7-10% body fat range will not result in those damned pesky issues and you’ll still look fantastic.

The trick to getting lean and staying there, is to find a suitable way to eat less, while getting in essential nutrients to nourish your body. I personally like intermittent fasting, but you don’t have to fast to get lean.

Find a way of eating that allows to you to:

Eat at a calorie deficit
Fits your schedule/lifestyle

If you can stick to it, that’s worth it’s weight in gold.

Proportion

Pecs too big for the arms? delts dwarfed? Having the right balance and keeping muscle groups proportionate with each other is key in looking good (let’s face it, we all want to look good on some level).

Unless you want to look like Johnny Bravo, (nothing against you) you need proportion to maintain balance and symmetry of your physique.

From a purely aesthetic standpoint it’s a good idea to attempt to bring and model your physique on the classical V shape.

Broad, masculine shoulders, wide, flaring cobra like lats that sit atop a taut, slender waistline housing a diamond cut midsection.

Focus on sculpting your shoulders, upper back and lats to make your waist appear smaller. Bring your legs on par with your upper body. Build your upper chest to give your pecs an armor plated appearance.

If you need a little inspiration, take a look at images of the Roman and Greek sculptures, hell go visit a museum or art gallery and get a firsthand view.

So, in a nutshell

Get Strong
Get Lean
Get Proportionate

From now on make your mantra

“Density, Definition & Detail.”

Hope you enjoyed the article. Feel free to subscribe for more epic content.

HOW TO GET & STAY LEAN ON AN ERRATIC SCHEDULE

May 21, 2015 By GURJOT 1 Comment

Meals

Ah… it’s nearing that time of year again. Out go the sweat pants and jumpers, in come the shorts and tank tops. Beach season, pool parties and barbeques. Yep, summer’s nearly underway.

Over the past three months, I’ve been busy filming a short film. (Unrelated subject matter). Without going into too much detail, It consumed virtually all my time. There’s a lot of work that goes into it, especially when you’re the writer, director, director of photography (camera and lighting) and editor all rolled in one, and on a tight schedule.

Much as it pains me to type this… training just wasn’t top priority. Unfortunately it had to take a backseat.

Many will shudder at the thought of reducing their training frequency and volume, fearing the loss of their gains.

A drop frequency and volume, alone won’t necessarily result in massive drops and losses, providing adequate stimulus and intensity is maintained.

I was literally training 1-2 (that’s 2 hours a week) times a week hitting heavy, basic movements. My primary objective as always, to progressively increase strength. And you can still get stronger while training only 1-2 times a week.

Since I regularly adhere to a 3 day a week lifting regime, it wasn’t mentally problematic.

As we’re all aware, nutrition is the other part of the equation. I used the same strategy I implemented during my time in Spain at the end of 2014. I was busy traveling, sightseeing and exploring and also rarely saw the inside of a gym.

I was pretty active on a daily basis. I’d actually kick each day off with varying degrees of calisthenics movements and due to the nature of my trip, I ended up walking places an awful lot. (I even found a nice steep hill and set of steps to run up and down like a maniac).

Now, I’ve been implementing some form of intermittent fasting daily over the last 4 years. So I’m pretty accustomed to going without food for stretches of time. So this made staying lean more manageable.

My approach is as follows:

Meal 1: 1-3pm

Protein, fats & greens (Small meal)

Example: Chicken breast & broccoli w/ coconut oil

Meal 2: 5-7pm

Protein, fats & greens (moderate meal)

Example: Salmon, green beans & salad w/ ½ avocado

Meal 3: 10-11pm

Protein, carbs & fats (Largest meal)

Example: Turkey & potatoes + (optional Sweet treat)

I didn’t always adhere to the schedule allotted above and I didn’t always eat 3 meals. I rotated the food choices frequently in accordance with personal preference and availability.

The one thing I did consistently was eat in a manner that enabled me to maintain sufficient nutrient uptake and simply tweaked and adjusted meals based on feeling and look. If I felt really light, I’d eat a little more, usually in the form of carbs. If I felt stuffed and uncomfortable, I’d cut back and reduce the total food volume. The idea is to find what works for your body.

The most important consideration when dieting to maintain or trim down is identifying a satisfying way to eat. Hunger is the bane of fat loss, because most don’t have the ability to tolerate it. If you fill up on foods that satisfy you and keep you tied over, that’ll alleviate the unpleasantness that usually accompanies hunger. (Why make things unnecessarily hard on yourself?).

Now, diet is specific. It varies from individual to individual. You can’t take one approach and deem it appropriate for everybody.

Nothing was or is set in stone. The arrangement and layout is merely a sample, to demonstrate the manner of eating I used. (In fact I’m still eating this way today, because I enjoy it and it works for me).

The key is to experiment with different foods and ways of eating to find what works for your unique structure, metabolism and biochemistry.

That’s the art and science behind it. What works for you won’t necessarily work for me and vice versa.

This eating arrangement affords itself well to fat loss, due to the simple fact that it’s not heavily packed, calorically speaking. In fact it’s damn light.

But that’s not the point.

The real takeaway from the above is:

1) Whole foods take priority.

Real, solid, nutrient dense foods should comprise the bulk of you’re diet. Sure you can eat as much processed crap as you want and still “lose weight” if you’re eating below your body’s requirements. However, I’m willing to bet you want to preserve your health so you can keep on rocking the good life. If the majority of your nutrition comes from whole foods, you’ll be supplying your body with all the necessary macro and micronutrients, which in turn enable it to function and perform optimally.

I’m not against eating a little junk now and then, but junk tends to be less filling than nutritionally complete foods. As a result of this when the hunger demon strikes, you’re more likely to cave in and gobble all those goodies, setting yourself up for a perpetual nightmare. By all means have your cake and eat it, just be selective and mindful when you do it.

2) Eating modest earlier & larger later in the day

This ties in, and works well alongside fasting. I often break the fast with a lighter meal, gradually increasing the calorie intake as the day wages on.

During late evening or night I switch gears and consume the bulk of my calories. I prefer eating this way. It helps keep me satisfied and aids sleep at night. From a hormonal standpoint it makes sense. Eating carbs releases serotonin (feel good factor) in the brain, which in turn helps you wind down. From an anecdotal perspective, this method helps me stay on track and avoid over eating. I notice when I eat carb dense meals earlier in the day, I tend to get hungry much sooner than intended.

3) Intermittent fasting is just a tool

Fasting isn’t magic. It’s an effective way of eating, that when correctly implemented should allow you greater liberty in dropping fat & building muscle. It should free up your time and day. People make the mistake of getting too caught up with the little details, like sticking to an eating window. If they happen to go over that window by a few minutes or couldn’t eat at a specified time they freak out and stress over it. That completely defeats the purpose. You don’t have to be so damn rigid about eating all your food in some arbitrary 8hr window.

These days I don’t cling rigidly to an “eating window.” I just like pushing my first meal further into the day and allowing roughly 3.5 – 4hrs gaps in-between for digestion. The main thing is to eat appropriately for your goals. Always keep your goals in mind.

The info presented here is merely in place to act as an example. It’s my method and it works for me.

I’ve come to realise training and eating are unique processes, and therefore needs be taken on an individual basis. Sure, you can learn the basic principles, but self-experimentation and implementation is what it really boils down to.

EXPERIMENT, IMPLEMENT & ENJOY…FIND WHAT WORKS FOR YOU!!