Muscle needs an incentive to grow

You gotta ask for more to get your muscles to wake up and lay down new tissue: * Lift more weight * Complete more reps at the same weight * Add more working sets Otherwise, your triceps are perfectly content to sit back and relax as you fart around in front of the dumbbell rack doing 8 sets of kickbacks with 5 reps in reserve. However, there is more to progression than just, well, MORE. And this...

Is dieting difficult?

Maybe you need to rewrite your story. No, not revise your history—there’s more than enough “truth massaging" in this field already. I’m talking about changing how you think about and describe your relationship with food. For example, one of my clients always says he loves to eat BIG. But he’s also in the midst of a fat-loss phase right now and routinely responds to any drop in calories with...

How far do you go?

A long-term client of mine has come a LONG way on his fat loss journey. He's basically in the top 5% of real-life 40-year-old physiques. Now they’re asking about pushing things to the next level—i.e. a visible 6 pack, veins, all that good stuff. And my response? "I wouldn't go there right now." Because he was finally at the point. "The point" is when you’ve lost the extra fat, added muscle,...

Overwhelm is the killer of progress

Overwhelm is the killer of progress—especially with diet. And nothing adds more complexity and sucks the joy out of eating faster than tracking, particularly when you're all-in on the scale. So how do you positively influence calories and improve your macros while keeping the tracking overhead as low as possible? TRACK PROTEIN ONLY. Now, if you are sitting there with your hand up, mumbling,...

9 steps for burning fat

So you are interested in adding a fat burner to your plan? Start with the first nine items on this list: 1. Plan your meals and shop weekly 2. Prepare daily meals emphasizing fresh, whole foods 3. Establish consistent sleep/wake times—including weekends 4. Stay busy/active—especially evenings 5. Prioritize quality sleep 6. Track calories & protein 7. Walk outside daily 8. Get your mind OFF...

Finding your why

Many people have ambitious goals to improve their physique. But the harsh truth is that few succeed, and even fewer can achieve change that lasts but a few fleeting moments. Fundamentally, change that sticks boils down to doing a few little things right—for a lot longer than you'd like. Because little things, done consistently, quickly become the BIG things. Today, we're talking MINDSET. And my...

Help steer your diet in the right direction

On Monday we covered TRAINING tips. Today, we’ll cover some key reminders to help you steer your DIET in the right direction. Let's cover some key reminders to help you steer your DIET in the right direction. 1. Keep A Food Log. This is the most powerful tool in your arsenal. Everyone should keep a food journal of SOME kind. If your phone runs your life, it can be an app like MyFitnessPal or...