TAKE ACTION
a
M
TAKE ACTION
5 Tips to Burn Fat (NOT MUSCLE!)

5 Tips to Burn Fat (NOT MUSCLE!)

by | Apr 7, 2024 | Blog, Diet, Exercises

If you feel lost as to what to do and like your hard work in the gym isn’t showing, I want to help you avoid common body recomp mistakes with 5 tips to dial in your workouts and your diet to help you lose fat NOT muscle!

The first key component for fat loss is adjusting your diet to not only fuel your training but better help you recover from it.

Because we can only train as hard as we can recover from! 

And our nutrition is a key component of our recovery! 

Now…this tip is one most of us know we should be doing…yet we often try to find a reason NOT to do…

It’s why I really want to take a second to explain the WHY behind it.

While we often just want to know WHAT to do….

Knowing the what without the why doesn’t help us truly embrace the changes, especially when we don’t…well….like them to some extent. 

So what is probably the most important thing we can be focusing on nutrition wise if we want fabulous body recomp no matter our age?

Increasing our protein! 

You’ve heard me harp on this before, but that’s why I want to really focus on WHY higher protein is so key.

First reason why protein is key…It’s the building blocks of muscle. 

By increasing our protein, especially when in a calorie deficit, we are making sure we’re getting our muscles the fuel they need to repair and rebuild from our hard training sessions.

If we aren’t getting our muscles what they need, we risk losing more muscle as we try to lose fat, especially the harder we train and the more cardio we include. 

And we want that muscle!

Building and retaining lean muscle helps us look more defined as we lose fat.

It also helps us avoid metabolic adaptations to burn more calories at rest.

And when we are getting our body the fuel it needs to truly repair from our workouts, we are preventing the catabolic environment that can often occur during a fat loss phase, leading to us losing not only fat but ALSO muscle.

Now you may have heard that you can only use about 20-30 grams in a meal for muscle protein synthesis. 

And tried to use this as an excuse to not eat higher protein.

But protein isn’t just used for building muscle….we are literally made up of protein.

So that 20-30 grams you’re eating, isn’t just going to cover your muscle needs. It’s being used for other body functions as well. 

And as we get older, we also aren’t as able to utilize protein as efficiently.

So the harder you’re training as you’re trying to see body recomp, especially as you get older, your protein needs increase. 

Second, protein makes the fat loss process easier not only because of it’s muscle building benefits but also because of it’s thermic effect and satiating effect.

Higher protein diets have been shown to increase satiety, partly because they even help you create higher volume meals. 

And higher protein diets also lead to a daily higher calorie burn because it requires more energy to digest protein than the other macros. 

So you can feel fuller with technically a higher calorie intake, and ultimately create a bit more of a deficit through the fact your body has to work harder to turn that protein into the fuel you need!

Not to mention…it’s way easier to create and maintain your calorie deficit with higher protein for many people. 

We just don’t want to eat more of the protein than we have to so we are less likely to overeat!

And if you do happen to overeat your calories, high protein diets are the only diet shown to help you avoid gaining unwanted fat with a slight calorie surplus. 

High protein diets give you that extra wiggle room!

With increasing your protein, and the extra flexibility it can give you in your calorie intake, you also want to fight to keep your calories as close to your current maintenance as possible. 

Creating a SMALL calorie deficit is key if you want to lose fat and not muscle.

Our body doesn’t like change.

The more we can adjust from what we’re currently doing, the better as our body won’t rebel as much. 

And if you are currently under eating protein, you may even keep your calories where they are at as you increase your protein first.

Because even by increasing protein, due to the thermic effect, you could put yourself into a slight deficit. 

With also building muscle from your training because you are eating enough calories for muscle growth, you may then find what was your maintenance is now a small deficit.

So with calories, fewer isn’t better.

Extreme deficits put us at more risk for muscle being lost NOT better or faster fat loss results. 

And this can lead to us looking softer and needing to slash our calories lower and lower to see further progress. 

Keep your calories as high as you can, first changing protein levels. 

Then consider even starting by subtracting 100-200 calories from what you’re consuming CURRENTLY to create that deficit. 

These diet changes then need to be paired with your workouts strategically.

Especially the harder you train, the more you need to avoid extreme deficits while focusing on increasing protein.

And you want to make sure your workouts are designed with a focus on muscle.

Yes, muscle. 

Even if your goal is fat loss.

This makes sure you’re retaining lean muscle while in a deficit to lose fat as efficiently as possible.

And KEEP IT OFF.

Now, there are lots of workout designs that can work. 

But your focus when you design your workouts is on how you can lift more quality loads during your session. 

Too often we try to add more quantity, more training volume.

Instead we want to focus on the QUALITY of the volume we are doing. 

Not only does this help us get more out of short sessions, but it truly challenges our muscles with the intensity and progression they need to be forced to adapt and grow stronger.

More reps and sets, more volume, can just lead to training we don’t recover from without actually pushing us to the extent we need to create that stimulus for growth. 

We need more quality loads lifted over the session.

That’s where cluster sets can be a great technique to use. 

If you’re struggling with going heavier, only able to do a few reps with your current weight in a row…

Or even slightly fear your form breaking down as you begin to lift heavier so hesitate…

Cluster sets can be a great technique to use.

They can help you get out 8 reps with a weight you would only usually be able to use for 4 or even 5 reps. That’s a lot more weight lifted over the workout! And it’s all because you broke down those 8 reps into mini sets.

With cluster sets, you are breaking up your traditional set of 8 reps, mini sets of 2 or 3 in a row, with just 10-30 seconds of rest between those mini sets, before you rest longer and do another round.

Because you are only performing 2 or 3 reps before the short rest, you will find you can use more weight for the full 8 reps than you would have been able to if you had tried to just do 8 in a row. 

Using this technique to lift more weight for quality reps will lead to faster muscle growth in a safer way and us losing fat NOT our muscle! 

It’s a great way to really create the needed stress and stimulus for muscle growth even as we get older and don’t have the same anabolic hormonal environment we did when we were younger.

But no matter what techniques you include, and especially the more advanced an exerciser you are, the more you have to really focus on pushing yourself in your training sessions. 

This doesn’t just mean adding more loads.

It means creating progression in different ways.

And one way we often don’t discuss as a way to create progression in our training is exercise order!

The order of the exercises we include can have a huge impact. 

Ever become aware of how much a muscle is actually working in a move because of another exercise you recently started including before it? 

That can be used to your advantage!

Include an isolation move before a compound lift and you can use “pre-exhaust” or pre-fatigue technique to your advantage. 

You may find you better activate the muscle you targeted with the isolation move in your following compound lift for more quality of movement.

Or that you are able to fatigue the prime mover in your compound lift with lighter loads and better quality of movement.

If however fatiguing the muscle with the pre-haust technique leads to you compensating, you may find that using an isolation move right AFTER a compound lift works for you better.

This post-exhaust training technique can be a great way to push a muscle past failure.

You’ll do the compound lift to fatigue, compound then use an isolation move to further target a muscle involved in the lift to work to failure.

You can also use BOTH techniques over progressions, especially to help you both take muscles past fatigue but also fully fatigue prime movers that usually won’t hit failure with a compound move because you’re usually limited by smaller, weaker muscles fatiguing first! 

But they are both great ways to progress and create that stimulus for muscle growth without just focusing on adding more weight!

Then remember, we can only train as hard as we recover from.

When you’re working hard toward a goal, you’re going to get burned out.

That’s why planning in breaks is key!

And breaks are not only rest days every week, but also strategic diet breaks and recovery weeks.

This doesn’t have to mean, and honestly shouldn’t mean, just lying on the couch doing nothing.

Nor should it mean excuses completely blowing your calories and macros.

The goal of these breaks is to help you mentally and physically have a break from the grind.

It’s like refilling your gas tank.

You don’t want to end up on empty by the side of the road.

You want to pull into a gas station when the light comes on. 

This allows you to keep moving forward faster.

These strategic breaks can help you from avoiding hitting burn out or letting cravings get the better of you.

So don’t fear sometimes backing off to ultimately do more!

Take time where you include more foods you love and even increase your calories out of a deficit. 

Take time at points to lower your workout intensity or recharge with workouts that are new and fun and address any weak links. 

Embrace even doing the minimum as you shift your priorities to come back wanting to keep working toward your goals! 

But stay focused on the fundamentals and use these 5 tips to help dial in your diet and your workouts together to lose fat and NOT muscle!

The best results happen when we follow a “recipe” – a clear plan…

Learn more about my 3-Step Recipe For Results”

–> Watch now

#1 Reason Your Workouts Aren’t Working (And How To Fix It)

#1 Reason Your Workouts Aren’t Working (And How To Fix It)

by | Mar 24, 2024 | Blog, Exercises, Workouts

Stop stringing together random moves. Stop just pulling random workouts that feel hard.

If you want results, your training sessions need to be designed with purpose.

You need to create routines that are actually focused on your goals.

Because training hard and training hard in a way that pushes you forward aren’t the same thing.

One is wasted effort.

The other is progression.

That’s why I want to go over the key factor in creating a workout plan that actually works as well as 3 amazing training techniques to help you build your leanest, strongest body ever!

Because there isn’t just one way to do things or one best workout.

No one best move.

No one best training split.

We need to stop ask what we “should” ideally be doing to start.

Instead we need to ask ourselves, “What is realistic for me based on where I am RIGHT NOW?”

Because even what used to work, may not fit our body or lifestyle now.

Ultimately what dictates what we need as much as our fitness goals is our schedule.

To see results, you have to design for the time you have.

DESIGN FOR THE TIME YOU HAVE:

Many of us have thought, “How many days a week do I need to train? For how long?”

We’ve sought out some ideal, but this stops us from designing for what is actually realistic for our schedules.

When we design for the time we have over getting caught up in some ideal of 1 hour a day, 6 days a week, we can create a routine we can actually be consistent with.

And consistency is key.

Honestly…Inconsistency is the biggest results KILLER.

Yet so often we set ourselves up for inconsistency in our workout routines by focusing on doing more or some ideal over first assessing what is truly realistic for our routines.

And that inconsistency has such a huge impact because your weekly schedule is built on everything working together.

When you design for 6 days a week, you’re using training splits, workout designs and even moves based on having all 6 days a week to train. 

Miss one of those days and the whole system isn’t going to give you the same benefit. 

That’s why you want to first ask yourself…

“What schedule is realistic for me?” 

When you’re looking to start a new routine.

Once you know your timeframe, how many days a week and for how long, you can then select workout layouts, moves, training variables that make the most out of your timeframe.

Because if you have 3 days a week to train you can use full body splits to hit areas 2-3 times whereas you may use more hemisphere splits alternating upper and lower to get the same volume and frequency over the week if you have 6 days to train. 

Design so that you don’t miss things and the system can work together!

Not to mention so often just because you have an hour to train doesn’t mean you should just add in MORE to fill the time.

If you have an hour, that can allow maybe for isolation moves for stubborn areas or extra rest to lift heavier.

But an intense speed or power workout still shouldn’t be made longer just because you have the time.

A intense sprint or HIIT workout SHOULD be short. 

So once you know your schedule, don’t forget your goal for your training progression. Sometimes you won’t need to use the time just because you have it!

That’s why, with designing for the time we have, it’s key we also stop seeing our workouts as strength OR cardio.

We will often even BLEND both to see the best results based on our schedule and goals!

STRENGTH-CARDIO CONTINUUM:

When thinking about our workouts, we need to think of strength and cardio not as an either or thing in our training, but more as a workout design continuum we can use to our advantage.

Because whether you’re doing what we more traditionally call cardio, which is that steady state endurance type activity….

Or even that more traditional, more low rep slow lifting we call strength…

You’re working an energy system, which is technically having an impact on your cardiovascular health AND your strength and muscle.

And working along this continuum can help you see amazing body recomp while truly designing for the time you have!

It can also help you work not only on your aerobic base but on your speed, power, work capacity, lactic threshold, recovery and so much more.

So we don’t want to see our workouts as either or to get better results.

We also need to be conscious of this continuum so that we aren’t just turning every strength workout into a cardio session, which could be fighting against our muscle gains.

When you design your workouts, stay focused on your goals, not just on making a session feel harder.

Because while a more metabolic strength session that’s more circuit based or even a timed set may be amazing for losing fat while retaining lean muscle during a fat loss phase, that same lack of rest or more metabolic element may be hurting your focus on muscle hypertrophy. 

Instead you may need to add in a bit more rest or switch it up to a superset or compound set design. 

The key is understanding that how we vary rest and cycle exercises in a workout, the overall workout design we use, and not only the types of moves we use, can impact the results we get – from the strength to cardiovascular benefits.

Not to mention we can use workouts that are a combination of some conditioning and strength work to our advantage, especially when we are short on time.

Because most of us DO need more efficient workouts to fit our busy schedules.

And too often not having enough time is our excuses for not being consistent with our training or seeing the results we want.

That’s why I wanted to share 3 training techniques that can help you not only get BOTH cardio and strength benefits but also be super effective in allowing you to see results while designing for the schedule that is realistic for you….

First, Use Interval Workout Designs For Your STRENGTH Workouts.

When we think of an “interval workout,” we think of a cardio session.

And, yes, this can make your lifting sessions a bit more metabolic.

You may find you get more out of breath.

But intervals can also be a great way to increase your training density, especially when you’re short on time to improve your strength and muscle gains.

By using intervals with more strength based lifting exercises, you can help yourself achieve amazing body recomp, building muscle, improving your work capacity and even your recovery.

You can use interval workouts whether you’re doing more of an anterior/posterior split or even full body routines.

But set an interval of work, generally a minute for more strength exercises is good, using an exercise and load that challenges you so that you are almost working past failure in that time. 

In back to back intervals even alternate areas worked so one muscle group can rest as you continue to use the time you have efficiently to work another area. 

But during each interval of work, because the goal of this session is still building strength and muscle, challenge yourself so you need to pause for a second or two.

This pause to completely more reps means you were challenging yourself with loads. And generally at that pause with traditional reps and sets, we would have STOPPED and moved on. 

But because we still have time in that interval to work, we do more!

This ultimately helps you lift more quality loads in a shorter amount of time, creating an amazing stimulus for muscle growth even when you need a quicker training session!

Interval strength work done this way, also implements the second training technique that can help you be more efficient in your workouts…

#2: Rest Pause Technique.

Rest-Pause Technique has many offshoots and usages.

But in its most basic form, you will perform reps until you need to pause, then rest for generally 15-30 seconds, before trying to eek out a few more reps with the same loads. 

In the interval work, you want to rest no more than a few seconds to keep moving.

With things like cluster sets, you may use this brief pause but with smaller sets that don’t fully take you to failure, but allow you to lift heavier than you would be able to had you just done all reps straight. 

But using this brief rest allows you to not only increase your training density, doing more reps in a shorter amount of time, but also often lift MORE weight in that same timeframe as you can go heavier for the same volume because of the rest.

You will find this improves not only your strength but also your muscle gains and even strength endurance.

And you may be surprised too by how much you see your recovery times improve in your other conditioning work even!

Now, this final technique I want to share goes against what we often think to do when we’re short on time and designing efficient workouts…

But I want to share it because it highlights how many opportunities and options there are out there to make things match what we need and progress over time.

Too often we get stuck feeling there is only one right way, and then miss out on an option that is different but could be the switch up we need.

Usually when we are short on time, we design our workouts to cycle areas worked. 

This allows one area to rest as another is worked.

So in a circuit or set back to back moves may be one upper then one lower body exercise instead of back to back moves for the same muscle group. 

But you may want to break this rule at times if you are really focused on those muscle gains, especially for stubborn areas.

This is where Post-Exhaust technique can come in handy, especially for more advanced lifters!

#3: Post Exhaust

With post-exhaust technique, you are working the same muscle group with back to back moves, usually using a compound exercise even followed by an isolation move to hone in on one of the muscles that was just worked. 

This can help you work past failure in another way and recruit more muscle fiber to improve your muscle growth and strength gains.

But because you’re doing a high volume of very focused work for an area in a short amount of time, it can help you see better results even when you’re workout schedule is more limited.

You aren’t giving an area a chance to recover yet you’re working at an intensity with the change up in moves that allows you to keep that quality of work.

By pairing these two moves together back to back as then you even cycle between pairing that target different areas, you’ll be able to use all 3 drivers of muscle growth very efficiently. 

BONUS: You can even do post-exhaust in an interval design, working the same muscle in back to back intervals!

And you may be surprised by how much you feel your blood pumping without doing anything you’ve usually thought of as remotely cardio! 

So just remember, there are lots of ways to use different moves, techniques, and workout designs to our advantaged based on the time we have.

And we don’t have to see our workouts as just cardio or strength.

But we need to make sure we design everything with purposed focused on meeting ourselves where we are at to move forward toward our goals.

And be realistic with what you need.

Design for the time you have!

Want amazing workouts designed to help you rock those results no matter your fitness level, schedule or the equipment you have?

Check out my Dynamic Strength program!

–> LEARN MORE

The Best Bodyweight Exercise (Everyone Hates)

The Best Bodyweight Exercise (Everyone Hates)

by | Mar 10, 2024 | Blog, Exercises, Functional Fitness

Unpopular opinion…

I think Burpees are underrated.

You may be like, “WHAAAAT!? I see burpees in everything. They’re overdone!”

And while I agree they can be overused, misused and simply put in a workout just to make it harder…

I also think they aren’t given their due credit for being more than just a hard move, but an amazing full-body cardio move to improve your mind-body connection and functional fitness.

Burpees are an exercise that too often don’t get enough respect for being a move that has to be EARNED, but that can, and should, also be done in some form at EVERY age.

Yup…EVERY age…

That’s why in this video I want to explain WHY burpees can be so valuable to do even as we get older, but also why this move can be such a challenge and how we can break it down and modify it to fit our needs and goals!

And if you’re right now shaking your head saying, “NOPE! Burpees aren’t for me!”

I’d urge you to hear me out on WHY they can be so beneficial and then check out the modifications I share!

So…how and why are burpees so beneficial to include?

I’ll be the first to admit…I don’t like burpees.

They stink.

They’re hard.

They’re uncomfortable. 

They never seem to get easier…especially if we do them correctly with intention and focus.

And because they are a very advanced move, I’m very careful with how I program them into progressions for clients.

They are a complicated, full-body, explosive movement.

They challenge your mind-body connection, requiring you to perform multiple joint actions and engage muscle groups down your entire body efficiently in sequence to move quickly and powerfully.

Lose tension in one area and your burpee looks like the worm. Your push up becomes a belly flop. 

And not only do they require a strong mind-body connection and great full body strength and stability, they also require more MOBILITY than we realize.

To be able to jump your feet fully in close enough to your hands to jump up at the top, requires more hip and even ankle mobility than we recognize! 

But what makes them a hard and complicated movement we need to often regress to progress and truly EARN, is also what makes them a valuable exercise that I want every client to build up to as much as possible.

Breaking down the burpee to build up this movement will help you improve your ability to recruit muscles correctly quickly.

It will help you be able to engage muscles throughout your body in sequence to perform functional everyday activities that have us squatting and reaching and bracing all at once.

It will teach you to brace and stabilize while still reacting quickly.

And it will help you maintain the mobility to get down and up easily off the ground. 

While you may never do the exact burpee movement in every day life, it can really help us build functional strength through the fact we ask our body to do so many things as once and quickly.

That ability to engage things to stabilize and power movement FAST is what helps us react in everyday life to stay injury free and functionally fit.

It helps us react quickly to catch that glass when it gets knocked off the table.

To avoid slipping and falling when we trip on the curb.

It’s all about that mind-body connection.

And burpees are exceptional at helping us build that.

They are also a great move to improve our conditioning, especially when we are short on time. Working so many areas at once with this fast paced movement is going to get your blood pumping. And even just intervals of 20 seconds of work can be killer!

And while this may sound weird…

They even help us become more comfortable being uncomfortable which is truly invaluable to growth in life and success.

This ability to be comfortable being uncomfortable helps us conquer new challenges, which builds confidence. And the more confident we become, the more we will embrace learning and growth and rock those results as we get older!

Now if you’re starting to be sold on burpees and considering adding them in, you need to make sure you’ve truly EARNED the full variation.

And just because you can “do” a burpee, doesn’t mean that full variation is right for you…YET.

If your burpees look sloppy, like you’re a fish kind of flopping out of the water on dry land, it’s time to check your ego and regress. 

Build that core stability. Build that strength.

Build that mobility.

Regress to progress!

Get everything truly working together efficiently so you aren’t just working harder with this move, but actually seeing amazing full-body strength and conditioning gains from it!

So…How Can We Break Down And Modify The Burpee?

I want to break down some key modifications for this move based on some reasons why the burpee is so challenging….

Starting with the fact that it requires more mobility than we recognize.

Challenge #1: I don’t have the mobility to easily get down into the plank and stand back up.

I love using a bench or low box for clients starting out who may not yet have the mobility to easily step or jump back into a high plank and stand back up.

If you notice when you do burpees that you don’t put your hands flat on the ground or you can’t jump your feet in close enough to your hands to easily shift your weight back and stand up, using a bench or box will help. 

The incline helps create more “space” so you can more easily jump or step your feet into your hands.

This modification can also be key if you struggle with challenge #2…

Challenge #2: You don’t have the core stability or upper body strength.

The incline can also help reduce the resistance or load on your upper body and core as you move into that plank position and perform the push up.

Because the burpee shouldn’t be a belly flop onto the ground.

There should be a jump or step back into plank then a lower into a push up before you press back up and stand up.

By using an incline you modify the push up and plank, which can help you slow build that core and upper body strength.

As you build up, you can lower the incline slowly toward the ground, increasing the resistance and load on your upper body and core! 

And even starting out, if you don’t have a proper incline to use, try taking out the push up even and just focus on that nice plank position to start. Or even consider a knee push up variation. 

But focus not only on moving quickly but also proper form with each component of the move.

I mention this because SPEED and moving quickly with exercises has to be earned!

Which brings me to Challenge #3: Not having the neuromuscular efficiency aka the speed or power.

We can move faster while performing a movement correctly because we’ve built up that mind-body connection.

And that takes time.

To start, you may need to step with the burpee over jumping. 

Or you may need to slow things down.

I know often we don’t want to do that with the burpee because we are using it as a cardio move.

This is why modifying it to allow ourselves to move quickly and get our blood pumping is key.

BUT always modifying may also be why you feel “stuck,” unable to progress to a harder variation.

Sometimes we also need to progress and slow things down.

Then as we master that new movement pattern, we can slowly speed things up!

So consider including both burpees slightly broken down into components as you build up, removing the push up or only doing a half burpee without the jump up while also taking time to do longer intervals of conditioning work where you can slow things down to focus on the full movement! 

Now the final challenge I want to address and help you work around is…

Challenge #4: Modifying around aches and pains.

I’m going to tell you right now, the burpee may not be right for you in the starting phases of rehab.

But your goal should ALWAYS be to build back and retrain whatever movement patterns and exercises you can.

The key is to find ways to reduce mobility or strength demands whenever possible in that rebuilding phase.

If you have a wrist injury, that may mean using a bench to reduce the load on your upper body.

It may mean slowing down to place your hands on dumbbells instead to keep a neutral wrist position. 

It may even mean using an incline to modify into a forearm plank as you step back. 

But you want to find ways to embrace the components of an exercise you can train while avoiding overload.

Same can be said for knee or hip injuries. 

Maybe you remove all jumping and instead step back. Or you even use sliders to reduce impact more. 

Maybe you use the incline to give yourself space so you don’t need as much hip or ankle mobility to step back up and stand up.

Or maybe you even do a bulldog variation to target those quads more while putting less stress on your core. 

Again it is about considering what you need to eliminate, but what you can still do in a move to use as much as possible!

While the burpee may not be right for you at your current fitness level or phase of rehab…

While it may not be right for you YET…

I think too often we just demonize moves or write them off over thinking…

“How can I regress to progress?”

“How can I build back?”

We don’t break moves down, slow down the speed and RETRAIN movement and recruitment patterns to function optimally…

We just AVOID.

And this doesn’t help us stay functionally fit till our final day on this planet.

It honestly puts us at greater risk for injury in everyday life!

The more we can retrain and the less we have to FEAR movements, the stronger and more independent we will be till our final day on this earth!

So if you’ve been just hating on burpees, avoiding them thinking they’re hard and pointless…

Think again!

Find ways to include this amazing move in your workout routine using my tips to modify around your challenges and see your strength and conditioning improve dramatically when you’ve earned this killer exercise!

Ready for some fun workouts that will challenge you no matter your fitness level?

Take your training to the next level with my Dynamic Strength Program.

–> LEARN MORE

5 Signs You’re Actually Burning FAT (NOT MUSCLE!)

5 Signs You’re Actually Burning FAT (NOT MUSCLE!)

by | Feb 11, 2024 | Blog, Diet, Exercises

Have you been celebrating quick weight loss on the scale?

Maybe you shouldn’t be… 

Because those extremes you’re going to so that you can see the pounds fly off are actually sabotaging your results.

It’s also why you feel like you have to starve yourself to get back down to your goal weight and the process just gets harder and harder. 

The sucky truth is…your hard work, trying to do more, is actually hindering your progress.

And no one wants to work hard not to see the results they deserve!

Most of us want to to do less work and get leaner and look more defined.

We want to lose FAT not muscle.

But when we strive for faster results on the scale, we sacrifice more muscle in the process.

Muscle that gets harder to regain and retain as we get older.

So if you want to lose fat…

It may be time to ditch the scale.

That’s why I also want to go over ways to tell body recomp is truly happening – that you’re losing fat while retaining and even GAINING lean muscle…

But first it’s key we understand why the scale is a horrible measure of fat loss and why seeing fast changes to it probably shows our hard work is working against us.

Because so many of us have defined “being in shape,” defined what our ideal aesthetic is in relation to a number on a scale.

And letting that number go at times isn’t easy, but it’s necessary if we even want to look leaner than ever before…

WHY THE SCALE IS HOLDING YOU BACK:

Because being solely focused on the scale changing often leads to us doing extreme dieting and training practices.

Ones that not only set us up for failure because they aren’t sustainable…

But also ones that hurt our metabolism, create hormonal imbalances and lead to us losing more muscle than fat.

And while, yes, in the fat loss process, as we strive to get lean, some muscle mass may be lost…

We CAN gain more control over what we’re losing, muscle or fat, by how we adjust our diet and our workouts.

This means not creating an extreme calorie deficit or trying to add in extra workout sessions.

When we don’t have enough energy coming in, our body will find internal sources.

This is why we do need a calorie deficit for weight loss.

Less energy coming in, our body used what is stored.

And of course we’d love our body to use our fat as fuel first.

But when we don’t focus on macros and we slash our calories super low, the opposite is going to happen.

Instead of turning to our fat as fuel, our body will utilize muscle.

It does this because breaking down muscle not only provides us with the fuel we need, it also SAVES us on the energy we require to survive.

Because muscle requires more energy to be maintained than our fat stores do.

So from a survival standpoint, it makes sense to use a bit of muscle first as fuel and keep the fat stores for later.

This is why metabolic adaptations occur. We lose lean muscle because of our dieting practices and therefore burn fewer calories at rest!

That’s why if we only focus on losing fast on the scale, there’s a great chance the weight we’re dropping isn’t fat, but instead MUSCLE as our body seeks to provide energy for the most important functions.

So it’s time to step off the scale, stop the extreme calorie deficits and focus on tracking progress in these ways.

5 Signs You’re Actually Burning FAT (and not muscle)

1: You’re losing inches as the scale isn’t budging.

You measure and you’ve lost inches…

But then you step on the scale and your weight hasn’t changed.

You’re frustrated because you’ve been so good all week!

You think to yourself, “I’ll just lower my calories further or cut out more of (insert food you’ve decided is bad here)”?

Don’t!

Losing inches while the scale isn’t budging shows you’re actually achieving AMAZING body recomp.

So don’t sabotage it by trying to do more!

How is this possible though that you can be leaning down without the scale changing?

Some of us have heard muscle weighs more than fat, but that’s a slight misphrasing of what is going on.

Because 1lbs of muscle weighs the same as 1lbs of fat.

But 1 pound of muscle takes up a whole heck of a lot less space. So if you’re eating to fuel your training, you may GAIN muscle as you lose fat.

Gain 1lbs of muscle as you lose 1lbs of fat, and you’re going to look leaner yet weigh the same.

So while it may be frustrating to not see that scale change, this can actually be a sign that not only are you losing fat, you’re not doing so at the cost to your lean muscle mass.

And this will help you ultimately reach your goal, not create metabolic adaptations and therefore be stronger and able to sustain your results more easily!

2: Your clothes are fitting better.

If you aren’t measuring, but your clothes are fitting better while the scale isn’t changing, you body is telling you the same thing…

You’re losing fat and not sacrificing your muscle!

I even love having clients keep a specific pair of pants or a clothing item that is just a bit too tight around the areas they want to lose from as reference.

Each week or so they try this on to see how it fits, even taking pictures in it to help them judge.

But as you feel that waist get looser on those pair of jeans, you know you’re losing fat even if that scale isn’t changing.

And sometimes using clothing to judge is easier than measuring because it is easy to not get the measuring tape in the same exact spot!

3: You’re feeling fitter in your workouts.

But what if you aren’t feeling your clothes fit looser yet?

What if the areas you want to shrink, like your waist measurement, aren’t changing?

Often our most stubborn areas, the ones we want to lose from most, are the last ones to change.

It stinks.

We lose from areas we don’t care about, and therefore don’t even measure, first.

This is why even tracking progress in your workouts is important.

Not only does this keep you in the habit of staying focused and intentional with your training to allow results time to snowball, but it allows you to see you’re on the right track toward body recomp.

Think about how you often feel when you slash your calories super low and try to out exercise your diet to lose weight…

You feel burned out right? Tired with baby weights?

Like your workouts are sometimes a battle and like your lifts start to drop?

Your energy just isn’t there.

And you start to feel like your hard work isn’t paying off.

But if we are focused on a smaller calorie deficit, clear progression and macros to see body recomp, we often see our strength and fitness IMPROVE.

We feel better in our training.

Like we are able to tackle more and do it more easily.

This is a sign we’re building muscle in our training.

And if the scale isn’t changing, that means we’re also losing fat!

So track your progress in your workouts to see those muscle gains and help yourself even want to stay more consistent with other healthy habits.

The more ways we measure success, the more ways we have to be successful!

4: You’re seeing definition in the mirror…even if it is areas you don’t care about as much.

That’s also why I like having clients take progress pictures.

This is a great way to see that definition popping out and the muscle gains we’re seeing from our strength improvements in the gym.

We just have to remember that lighting plays a factor. So make sure to take pictures in the same place consistently to compare.

And then make sure to take a variety of angles and pictures of areas you don’t “care” about.

Because often we will lose from everywhere besides where we want first.

In this process of losing from everywhere else, it can even feel like our trouble spots look worse.

So be conscious of this if you are tracking your progress pictures.

If an area looks worse, this doesn’t mean you gained fat and lost muscle. You just have to recognize another area around it got SMALLER.

Progress pictures, while not as objective as measurements or a item of clothing, because you can FEEL like you don’t look as good, are a great indicator of fat loss as we not only retain but gain lean muscle.

You may see increases more easily in areas you’ve even wanted to build when you flex for the photos!

So especially if you even want to GAIN a bit of muscle as you lose fat, progress photos can be a great way to monitor body recomp.

5: You’re gaining on the scale but measurements, clothing and progress pictures show a leaner physique.

And while many of us have heard you can’t build muscle as you lose fat because you can’t build muscle in a deficit, this isn’t fully true.

It is why strength workouts and especially a focus on protein is so key.

But this is also why we can’t get just solely focused on a goal weight…

Because we may be losing fat as the scale even goes up.

Yup. You can lose inches and see the scale increase.

You may actually LOOK LEANER, and people may even ask if you’ve lost weight, while weighing more.

This can happen because you’re eating enough to fuel that muscle growth and build 2lbs of muscle as you even lose 1 pound of fat.

And the more muscle you build, the more you may see that metabolic rate increase. And what was once a small deficit may get bigger.

So you may even have to end up eating more to fuel that muscle growth to see the scale increase as you ultimately lose more and more fat.

This is why those measurements, pictures or use of clothing to track is so key outside of just using the scale.

Because had you not had those other methods to see that fat loss occurring, you may have given up seeing the jump up on the scale even though that jump showed you were actually achieving even better results than you thought possible.

As hard as it is to let go of the scale, to forget your goal weight even if you have more weight you want to lose…

It may be the secret to you getting better results and a leaner, stronger body than you’ve ever had before.

And it sets you up to be functional fit till your final day on this planet!

Ready to learn how to dial in your workouts and your diet to work together so you can build your leanest, strongest body no matter your age?

Check out my 3-Step Recipe For Results HERE.

 

Macro Tracking For Beginners – 7 Tips To Make It EASY

Macro Tracking For Beginners – 7 Tips To Make It EASY

by | Feb 4, 2024 | Blog, Exercises

In this video blog, I’ll cover 7 common macro tracking struggles and how to overcome them.

Check out the full video or transcript below.

And if you’re just wanting to learn to track macros, and even feeling overwhelmed by the idea of logging and measuring everything, check out my Metabolic Shred!

I include 3 different macros methods to help you start adjusting those portions, even if visual tracking methods work better for you to start!

–> Learn More About The Metabolic Shred

 

Transcript (please excuse any typos!):

I know I should be tracking macros, but it’s just so overwhelming, so tedious. 

I mean, how do I log family meals? 

How do I log meals out? 

Tracking macros can seem very overwhelming to start, and I have lots of clients that rebel against ever doing it because there are so many details it seems like there are to learn.

 And I get it; it was one thing that I avoided for the longest time. 

However, I realized I was keeping myself stuck falling for fat diet after fat diet because I was falling for the oversimplifications that were actually making things overly complicated. 

Let me say that again because I know that’s really weird, but the oversimplification that was making things more complicated. 

Because with all these diets with a label that are restricting specific foods, they make it very simple to do, right? 

You just cut out this one food, and you’re going to see results. 

However, in cutting out that one food, we might see progress for a little bit, but we don’t know why. 

And then when we don’t want to cut out that food any longer, we don’t know how to make the changes that will actually pay off. 

So that’s why tracking macros is so key. 

It’s hard to start; it can be overwhelming; there is a learning curve. 

But ultimately, what gets measured gets managed. 

The more that you learn to track macros, the more control you get over your diet to be able to adjust as your needs and goals change over time.

So I’m going to go over 7 things that might be a little confusing to track and log and show you how you can actually do this to see results.

Number one, should we count net carbs or all carbs? 

This is an interesting debate, and if you have specific health concerns, you may only track net carbs. 

But if you are looking to lose fat, see body recomposition happening, you need to track all carbs. 

Your calorie deficit or surplus is based on the fact that you are consuming whole natural foods, which would have fiber in them. 

So by only tracking net carbs to be able to eat more carbs, you’re ultimately potentially throwing yourself out of a calorie deficit, which would be key if you want to see that fat loss occurring. 

Net carbs also really isn’t a regulated term, so it’s very much used to market specific products nowadays. 

And I love some of the products that are net carbs, but these tortillas say they have 70 calories, and that’s based off of the fact that they can do that based off the net carbs actually listed. 

But they truly have 123 calories, and I bring this up because if we’re subtracting those calories, we might be eating out of the deficit we’ve created because again, we’ve set that deficit assuming that we’re eating whole natural foods which do contain fiber to them. 

So you’re not going to be subtracting that necessarily with your apples or other things that aren’t with labels. 

So you want to make sure that any product with a label that is subtracting that net carbs, you’re conscious that the calories are being impacted by this. 

Same thing goes with this bar, not as bad, but it says 200 calories, it’s actually 22 something that’s going to potentially lead to us throwing ourselves out of a deficit, especially the more net carb type products that we’re consuming. 

So it’s really key that we don’t fall for the net carb marketing term but realize that this is allowing them to list lower calorie counts and that our calorie deficit is truly set based on the fact that we’re consuming whole natural foods, which would have fiber. 

If you’ve set your deficit not accounting for net carbs, you do not want to just only count net carbs, as that can throw you out of the deficit which is so necessary for fat loss. 

Be aware that this is a marketing term that is used. 

All carbs count. 

I know that’s not what you want to hear sometimes because you want to be able to eat more carbs, which tastes really good. 

But if we want to see results, we have to make sure that everything is dialed in correctly.

Number two, to make macro tracking a little bit easier…

Should you weigh your food, your produce, everything cooked or raw? 

The short answer is it doesn’t matter, and that’s great for us because it means that we can make a lot of different things work. 

Ideally, yes, you are potentially weighing your stuff raw; that gives the most accurate measurement, is very easy to do. 

But sometimes we’ve cooked a meal and we’re having leftovers. 

Sometimes we’re bulk prepping, and we can’t necessarily weigh out each portion ahead of time. 

And the great part is we can easily still weigh out and be accurate with cooked foods. We just need to make sure that whatever ingredients we select in our food tracker match up to what’s used. 

So if you select a raw ingredient because you use raw, that’s perfect. 

If you select a cooked ingredient, you want to make sure that you select baked, grilled, whatever it is and make sure that it’s the same cooked ingredient because if you select raw when cooked, there is a change in what is going on there. 

It’s really key that you select the correct ingredient to complement because 4 oz raw chicken is going to be 3 oz cooked, and that change is going to impact the macros and the weight that you’re going to need to hit your macros. 

So just make sure that whether you’re weighing it cooked or raw, you’re selecting the correct ingredient in your tracker, but really you can make either work based on what you need. 

If you’ve cooked meal prep, and now you’re pulling chicken out of the fridge and you’re putting it on your salad, that’s easy to just do the cooked meat. 

If you’re cooking raw, you can easily divide up the portions and even meal prep those into different containers so you already have it weighed out. 

But don’t stress; you can do either one.

Number three, let’s talk about alcohol. 

So if you drink and you want to include your glass of wine, your cocktail on occasion, this is how you can log alcohol into your food tracker. 

I do just want to make a note that even though you include it and it logs the calories, and I’m going to show you how to log the grams of the macros, it still can impact the rate at which you see results if you’re really striving for the best weight loss, fat loss, even body recomposition. 

You may want to consider eliminating alcohol for a period of time because it does slow the process even when you’re logging it, taking it into account. 

So alcohol comes with a certain amount of calories. 

Let’s just say 100 calories. 

But because it is its own macro at 7 calories per gram, it will show as empty calories in your food tracker. 

That means what you need to do if you’re tracking macros is decide how you’re going to allocate those calories. 

So if you’re logging alcohol, you’d ideally like to take it out of protein because we usually want to eat less protein and more carbs and fat, especially when we’re drinking. But you can’t take it out of your protein. 

Ideally, you’re going to take it out of your fat grams for the day or your carb grams for the day, depending on what your ratio is. 

I say fat because it slows the digestion of fat specifically, and it really inhibits fat loss. 

Ideally, we’re going to be taking it from our fat calories from the day. However, if you are on a lower-fat ratio, you might subtract it from carbs. 

So when you have those calories from that drink that you’re including, the 100 calories that aren’t logging as anything specifically, you’re going to take those 100 calories and divide it by either nine for fat or four for carbs. 

That’s going to give you the grams of each macro that you have to add in. 

You then will want to create a food with the calories and allotting those calories to the specific fat or carb that you’re putting them towards. 

That will help you track macros and still take away from your carb intake or your fat intake for the day so you hit those ratios very nicely.

The next thing I’m going to go over is meals out.

And this is not only meals out at restaurants but also parties, different family events where you might be eating where someone else’s cook. 

It seems overwhelming to log these things because sometimes you can’t be exact; you don’t know exactly what recipe they use, how they cooked it. 

But the great part about a lot of restaurants is they have nutritional information online, and if they don’t, a restaurant similar does. 

So you can always create a food off of that. I also like to Google common recipes because if I know someone’s cooking, I know they’re going to be using something that’s probably a recipe I can slightly find online, and off of that, I can use hand portion guides and get pretty close in terms of my tracking. 

But you can always create a food off of a recipe that you find there, and that way you have macros that are close enough to hold you accountable because part of logging restaurant meals and meals out is that it helps us know that we deviated and had something that was potentially different than what we usually have. 

And if you’re traveling for work, finding healthy restaurant options at places like Chipotle or Chick-fil-A or different things like that may not be the quality we usually want, but it can be really helpful because it can keep us on track hitting those macros. 

Anyway, we can’t always use the thing, “Well, I’m traveling, so, you know, whatever, I’m going to throw my macros out the window,” because if we constantly do that, we’re never going to see results build. 

So if you are traveling for work, make sure to get some go-to options and even log them ahead of time to see how they can fit in. 

But if you can’t find the exact nutritional information for a restaurant, make sure that you’re looking up a similar recipe, entering that just to hold yourself accountable, even naming it the restaurant if you go there more often so that you have that already pre-planned so you can sort of plan the rest of your week around it based on how you respond to it.

So just got done with the Starbucks drive-thru. 

Now, if you’re going to Starbucks, the great part is they do have nutritional information, and Starbucks really wants this on their website. However, if you can’t find something at your local coffee shop or cafe that’s similar, this could be a great option in terms of what you log because it’s probably not as healthy as what you make at home. 

Generally, they use extra oils, different things like that. But I could sort of look at this and be like, okay, what’s on this? I know it’s cheese, bacon, it’s double bacon, it’s the egg, and then it’s sort of a croissant-like sandwich. 

So I know that if I go to a local cafe using the nutritional information from Starbucks could be a really great way to go.

I often get asked, should I log sauces, especially ones that have very few calories? 

And the simple answer is yes. 

Those five calories might not seem like a lot in your mustard, but they add up over time, and often our portions aren’t that single serving that we think they are. 

And if we’re trying to create a smaller calorie deficit, these things can really impact the deficit we’re actually in, especially if we are including alcohol or meals out. 

But I wanted to highlight some portions and how many calories are actually in the sauces we’re including. 

This serving of ranch dressing right here is 150 calories. And maybe this says something about how much I dislike salads and feel like the rabbit food at times, but that would not be the only amount that I would put on my salad. I would load it down. 

So I’m going to be easily packing in more than 150 calories with the salad using that dressing. And yes, I can get lighter dressings, which might be a swap that you make. 

But you want to log that because 150 calories, especially if you’re doing that multiple times over the week, it’s really going to impact the results that you’re getting. 

And by measuring and weighing it out, you might even realize, hey, I’m not eating that entire 150 calories so I can be spending those calories elsewhere.

Now, ketchup, 20 calories for the serving. 

I don’t know about you, but if I have fries, if I have potatoes, I use a lot more ketchup than that. So maybe my portions are distorted. 

Maybe yours are finding yours are too. 

But that’s 20 calories for not that much. Even this amount of mustard, that’s five calories, and you’re like, oh, five calories is easy. 

But I don’t know about you, but again, I don’t think I use that little mustard when I’m making my sandwich. 

And even if you are, if you’re making that sandwich every single day, and then you’re adding some salad dressing onto your salad every single day, and you’re using that ketchup multiple times a week, all these little calorie amounts add up. 

And I also bring this up because I think our portions can easily get distorted on things like peanut butter. 

Anybody else have a problem with just that one serving, and a serving gets a whole heck of a lot bigger when they want it? 

That tends to happen. 

So by making sure that we’re measuring and weighing everything, we’re not going to let those little calorie amounts add up in a way that can really sabotage and derail us because 5, 10 calories over the week can throw us out of that calorie deficit, especially when we are doing other things. 

So make sure you’re logging and measuring everything to get the correct portions to really see an accurate picture of what you’re doing because too often we just say, oh, the macro ratio isn’t working, oh, the calories aren’t working, but really it’s things that are off in our diet that aren’t allowing us to hit the numbers consistently, and those inconsistencies are what are adding out. 

Log all those sauces even if it says it only has 5 calories.

So now let’s talk about the impact that cooking has on those protein sources and whether or not you should count the fats and marinades that you’re using cooking oils. 

Marinades, the fat that cooks out of meat – do we have to log all of that? 

The simple answer and the easiest answer is yes. 

Often when we don’t want to log something, it’s because we want extra calories and extra macros to use elsewhere, and I totally get it. I try and cheat wherever I can. 

But the more accurately we measure everything, the more we log everything, the better our results are going to be, and the more we’re going to have the power to make adjustments where we need.

Because the thing is, with olive oil, even though it’s being spread over the entire pan, a lot of it isn’t being cooked in; it is being cooked over the entire portion of meat. 

This is 120 calories, and that is a lot of calories that can add up over the course of a week, especially if we’re constantly cooking with it. Now you might think, “Okay, well, I’m going to use a spray instead.” 

A spray for zero calories is 1/4 of a second. 

I don’t know about you, but my spray is not that precise. 

That doesn’t even get anything in there. I’m pretty sure that was like 1/4 of a second. 

My spray is probably like 10 seconds, just kidding, but it’s a lot more than we think. 

So that is not fully going to save you, and we want to be conscious that even though it lists zero calories, it’s going to potentially add up. So we want to be conscious of that even if we’re not logging it, but we want to note that the oil we are cooking with is going to add calories, and we want to track it.

Marinades are the same way. 

Even though all of it is not going to be cooked in, you might not use all of it. 

You want to log it if you want to be extra super precise, and I can tell you that I have not found the need to be. I will just count all the marinade and just log all of it. 

But if you really want to make sure that you’re only getting the portion you’re eating, if you weigh the marinade beforehand and then you weigh the marinade after you’ve marinated the meat and then you include that, you can find what was truly used in the recipe. 

But you want to make sure that you are logging everything, and yes, some fat is going to cook out of the meat that you are including, but do not try and subtract it. 

The more you just take everything and make it as easy as possible to and don’t overcomplicate things. 

And again, we often overcomplicate things that we want to cheat on to get more calories and macros to use elsewhere. 

The more we’re going to create deviations and inconsistencies in our log. So cooking oils, marinades, the fat that cooked out – just log all of it. It makes it a lot simpler and helps you be more accurate.

Let’s talk about casseroles, family meals, soups – those dishes that you might be sharing with the family. 

So it might seem a lot easier to track if you’re a single person making a single meal, and when we have those casseroles or family dishes that we’re sharing, it can be a little overwhelming to know how to create a portion size.

What you want to do is set yourself up for success by entering the full recipe into your tracker and saving that, because then you don’t have to enter it every time. 

But let’s just say you’re making a casserole. 

If you’re making a soup, this works as well. 

But if you have your casserole dish, you can weigh it beforehand and get the weight. 

Find out the weight of it, and then make sure it’s tared, that’s great, or I can take it off and then find the weight. 

Or if you don’t tare before and you can put it on – okay, so I know the weight of this, which is great. 

So when I put this back on after I’ve made something, so let’s pretend I’ve actually put this in the oven, made a nice casserole, and it looks really delicious and filling. 

Then I would get the weight of the casserole now with this in there. 

So I know the weight of the casserole. 

I might have to subtract out the dish itself if I wasn’t able to tear it because I wasn’t pouring it into something. 

So if the dish is 477, I would now know that this is the total dish. 

I would then take that number and divide it by six. 

That would give me the size of the portion. 

So then what I could do is tare it right here and then even just cut out my portion and then start to weigh out what a sixth of this dish was. 

Once I had that, I would make sure that I entered the recipe into my tracker and then I would enter how many portions to divide it by so that I could get the macros for each serving. 

Make sure when you enter your ingredients that they’re correct. 

The great part about this is it saves it for future use. So every time you make this recipe, you can easily reuse it.

Now, if you have something that’s a little bit more based on people choosing their own portions and you can’t divide it as evenly, what you can do is instead of dividing it by the six servings, you can actually make a serving just a single gram or ounce, and that way you know what the macros are for each gram or ounce to be able to take a portion at a time and even vary your portion size more easily. 

So if you have hungry kids at home or other family members who are just taking their own scoops and you know you now have 50 grams left, you know the exact macros on it. 

But you don’t have to overcomplicate these things or get stressed out when you have family dishes. 

Just weigh the entire recipe, divide that weight so you get your weight of your serving, and then you can measure that out.

I hope those tips really helped. 

I know that it can feel overwhelming to start to track macros, but the more you even just start by logging the average day, don’t even worry about making adjustments, but just start to weigh and measure everything, get that accurate picture, the better off you’re going to be at making adjustments because you’re going to be able to meet yourself where you’re at. 

Just remember, it’s really easy to get caught in that fat diet cycle, falling for something that’s oversimplified. 

But ultimately, that overcomplicates getting lasting results because we’re not truly learning what we need. 

So embrace the learning process of macros, reach out if you need any help, and comment if you have any questions about these seven tips.

 

If You’re Not Building Muscle, Try These 5 Training Techniques

If You’re Not Building Muscle, Try These 5 Training Techniques

by | Jan 28, 2024 | Blog, Exercises, Workouts

We can’t out exercise our diet.

HOWEVER, while many of us have heard that diet is more important, I’d actually argue they both matter equally especially in that both need to work together.

And so often we don’t place enough importance on proper training because we’ve only seen our workouts as a chance to burn more calories.

But our training shouldn’t be about the calorie burn.

It should be about building muscle.

When we focus on better movement and building strength and muscle in our training, we create true muscle growth.

Without proper stimulus, no matter how you eat, you won’t build muscle.

So while our diet is especially important to lose fat, and important to make sure we fuel our training sessions to gain…

Our workouts have to be designed strategically if we want to improve our body composition.

And this honestly means going against what most of us have always done to lose weight…

Instead of more cardio, we often need less.

And we need to stop turning our lifting sessions into simply cardio workouts – cutting out more rest and adding a ton of volume.

Now note…I’m not telling you that cardio isn’t important to your health and that you can’t do it if you enjoy it…

I do want to make it clear that to build muscle so we can lose fat faster, we can’t default back into this cardio, calories, do more training mindset.

That’s why I want to share 5 training techniques to help you build muscle, which in turn will boost your metabolic rate and help you look leaner faster…

Training Technique #1: Focus on double progression.

If it challenges you, it will change you.

But just because your workout feels hard doesn’t mean you’re creating a consistent progression so your muscles have to adapt and grow stronger week after week.

That’s why it’s key we not only progress the movement, adding weight, slowing down the tempo, doing a harder variation, but also adjust our exact reps to create that week over week progression.

Using these two forms of progression to complement we can ultimately move more loads over our training sessions, resulting in faster and better gains.

Often when we have a workout there will be 8-12 reps listed.

Let’s say right now you’re doing 12 reps of front lunges with 20lbs dumbbells and you manage that for all 4 sets you have assigned.

It feels hard.

Good.

But you’re at the top of the rep range so next week, GO UP in weight or progress the move in some way.

If you can still do 12 reps that first round, go up in weight for that next step until you can’t do 12 reps.

Let’s say on your 3rd round, you hit 8 reps with 35lbs dumbbells. Maybe you stick there for the final round.

The next week instead of going up in weight, you try to get out 9 or 10 reps. Once you can again do 12 reps, you again want to go up.

This double form of progression is the perfect way to max out the loads you can lift with volume and truly make sure you’re challenging yourself to create that muscle growth!

Training Technique #2: Train areas more frequently with the same but different.

Studies have shown that training an area 2-3 times a week can be optimal for muscle growth.

This doesn’t mean do 1000s of reps multiple times a week. It means definitely dropping volume a bit per session to increase the frequency and spread it out.

This allows for often more QUALITY volume as you may notice you are fresher for all the exercises and sets spread out over more days over doing that same volume in one.

This also allows you to use a diversity of movements and tools to work the same muscles.

And this can be key because changes in posture and position alone can impact even what aspects of a muscle are worked.

For instance a Romanian deadlift works the hamstrings through hinging at the hips. A seated leg curl works the hamstrings with knee flexion with flexed hips while a bridge and curl works the hamstrings with knee flexion with extended hips.

All three are different postures that address different aspects of that hamstring muscle group. And including three different moves over the 3 days can be key for optimal gains.

So don’t repeat just the same move 3 times a week. Consider different types of movements, ranges of motion and even different tools!

Training Technique #3: Combine rep ranges in a single workout.

If you want to gain muscle, you want to use a variety of rep ranges combined.

This can not only help you build strength and improve your strength and endurance and recovery, but even target stubborn muscles and push them past failure to see better results.

Some of you may have seen my 6-12-25 workout progressions in previous YouTube videos and podcasts, but this design is so fabulous because it does include maximal strength, hypertrophy and strength endurance rep ranges in a single series – moving from compound to more isolation exercises.

This helps you get in that quality of movement while isolating those more stubborn areas.

So don’t fear higher reps. Don’t fear lower reps.

Include a diversity in a single session even.

But be conscious of the types of moves you use with each.

Often in our workouts we want to go more compound to more isolated, with heavier lower rep work first and the higher rep, more isolated work later to work a muscle fully to fatigue.

However, like in the 6-12-25 and even compound burners, you can use 2 or even 3 rep ranges combined to lift heavy for lower reps then right after isolate that muscle that is already fatigued to recruit more muscle fibers with higher rep work.

And note, while you will go “lighter” with higher rep work, you aren’t going light.

Especially when you are working with higher reps, to push yourself, consider using a weight or variation you have to pause to get out 5 more and hit in the middle or top of the range.

That need to pause and do 5 more past failure is so key to those amazing gains!

Training Technique #4: Do more timed workouts.

Too often when we want to lose weight, our workouts get longer and longer as we add in more and more.

But this often just burns us out and leads to a lot of wasted volume.

By doing intervals or work or even timed sets, we can increase our training density without our workouts getting longer.

We can focus on that quality work and create that density by just trying to do MORE in the time set out.

I find that often when I use intervals over having do count a certain amount of reps, I eek out reps I wouldn’t have done had I been able to stop at 6. I end up doing 8 because I have the time and have to work through it…even if I have to pause for a second.

I also find I’m focused and more intentional over just rushing through because I can’t finish any faster.

And when it comes to timed sets or circuits, like Density Sets, you can lower the reps and increase the weight and keep moving the entire time to actually lift more quality loads without your workouts getting longer.

So consider timed intervals of work or timed sets to help yourself really push with each rep over simply doing MORE.

Especially since so many of us complain we don’t have enough time, why not plan for what you have and really be intentional and focus on quality with every rep!

Honestly the only reason our workouts should ever get longers is because we have the time and do more mobility work OR have increased rest periods to lift heavier with lower reps or to do more high intensity true sprint work.

Workouts become longer because of recovery not because we’re doing more work!

Training Technique #5: Vary intensity of workouts and type of drivers.

For the best results, some workouts should feel easy. Not every workout should slaughter you.

Because if you don’t recover, you can’t train at a true 100% intensity.

Not to mention, if you’re tearing down muscles constantly, they can’t regrow stronger.

It’s a cut. If you’re constantly working and picking off the scab, it’s not going to heal back!

You’ve got to give it time to heal…although unlike a cut we do want to reopen the wound to make our muscle feel pushed to adapt more and more!

So over the course of your week, vary what areas you are working. Give muscles time to recover.

And vary the intensity of your workouts. This helps areas recover while still driving growth. And it also helps you MENTALLY stay focused and push hard when you need.

We can’t mentally make ourselves extremely uncomfortable every session or we will burn out. So having a workout or two each week that isn’t taxing, especially programmed on busy days, can actually help you get more quality work done overall for the week.

And those recovery sessions can help you move better in future workouts.

So vary intensity!

And this doesn’t just mean easy or hard workouts. It also means varying the types of movements and what driver of muscle growth you use as some create more muscle tissue damage and take longer to recover from.

For example, maybe one day you do a deadlift, another a hip thruster and the 3rd day you include only mini band work for your glutes.

These all use different drivers of muscle growth and allow you to train your glutes 3 times that week and go hard in each session without just constantly beating your body down!

So consider the types of movements you’re using and even the tools!

WARNING: Stop seeking to be sore.

I mean this because if you vary intensity and use different drivers or muscle growth, you won’t be sore all of the time.

GOOD!

Soreness is not an indicator you worked hard enough.

And while it can feel good and satisfying at times to know you pushed, not being sore doesn’t mean you didn’t work hard.

Honestly, you shouldn’t constantly be sore if you’re truly creating progression to build.

Over the weeks of your workout progression, you should feel like you can even do more, more easily without getting sore.

Because soreness is often just an indicator we did something new or different.

That we didn’t give ourselves enough recovery.

That we focused only on the eccentric and mechanical tension as a driver of muscle growth.

That we aren’t eating enough.

Or hydrating well.

Constant soreness actually means we’re probably not doing something we need to see results.

So focus on that clearly mapped out progression you repeat and track those numbers to see progress instead of just pushing to be sore!

Looking for amazing workouts to take your training to the next level and help you see fabulous body recomp results?

Check out my Dynamic Strength Program!