Realism
Today I just want to drop a quick post on having realistic expectations about the adaptations that you can expect your body to make when you are training and dieting.
Time and time again I speak to people who tell me that they're struggling because they're either a 'hardgainer' and can't build muscle or that they have a 'slow metabolism' and that they can't lose weight, usually after following or reading a programme set out by a media outlet such as 'Pack On 5kg of Muscle in 6 Weeks' or 'Lose A Stone in a Month'.
Well I have news for you... YOU ARE NOT A HARDGAINER NOR DO YOU HAVE A SLOW METABOLISM! You simply aren't giving your body the time and consistency it needs to adapt.
When I first started training I was as short-sighted as anyone when it came to my expectations regarding the rate at which I expected to change. I was under the impression that I could turn up to the gym, throw a few weights around, eat reasonably 'healthy' and pack on a load of muscle. Oh how wrong I was.
Yes, I did gain some muscle but it was at a painfully slow rate, roughly 2kg of muscle over 12 months and that was through more luck than judgement. However, I quickly became demotivated as everywhere I looked their were a bunch of ripped dudes with huge arms and chiselled abs. Why wasn't I getting these gains?
The Answer: Because I'd been training (albeit loosely) for a year, I was training drug free, and I wasn't tracking what I ate. The vast majority of the guys that I was following on Instagram, and reading about in Men's Health had been training for upwards of 7 years and were tracking their food 80% of the time. The ones who hadn't been training that long and were packing on muscle like there was no tomorrow were doing so as they were fuelled up to their eyeballs on steroids.
Finally, I'd worked out what I needed to do to 'speed up' my gains. I needed to remain consistent by going to the gym 5 days a week, I needed to plan what I was training, I then needed to track my lifts to make sure I was improving week by week, I also needed to make sure I was consuming more calories than I was burning over the course of the week to give my body enough energy to build new muscle.
Instead of going into training wondering what differences I was going to see next week, I started training wondering what differences I would see in a years time.
What I also worked out was that the photos you see of 'fitness models' in magazines and on instagram are photoshopped like crazy and in reality these people do not look like hercules 24/7.
So if you believe you're a 'hardgainer' the chances are you aren't going consistent enough with your training, nutrition, and you probably haven't given yourself a large enough time window for adaptations to take place.
On the other hand, if you think you're struggling to lose weight due to having a slow metabolism, the chances are you are eating too many calories, not training hard enough and are not remaining consistent over a prolonged time-frame (I'd advise at least 6 months to 'healthily' lose a stone). People who tell me that they are 'eating too little to lose weight' simply make me laugh as if that was the case and you actually put on weight when you eat nothing would mean that nobody should of ever died in sub-saharan Africa from starvation should they?
The questions I ask myself regardless of whether I'm trying to lose weight or build mass are always:
- Do I have a plan?
- Do I know how many calories I need to consume over the week?
- Do I have workouts that are trackable?
- Will I be able to progress these workouts week on week?
- Will I enjoy this programme?
If I answer NO to any of the above questions then the chances are I'm not going to stick to the programme and therefore without consistency I am likely to fail meeting my goal.
Time and time again I speak to people who tell me that they're struggling because they're either a 'hardgainer' and can't build muscle or that they have a 'slow metabolism' and that they can't lose weight, usually after following or reading a programme set out by a media outlet such as 'Pack On 5kg of Muscle in 6 Weeks' or 'Lose A Stone in a Month'.
Well I have news for you... YOU ARE NOT A HARDGAINER NOR DO YOU HAVE A SLOW METABOLISM! You simply aren't giving your body the time and consistency it needs to adapt.
When I first started training I was as short-sighted as anyone when it came to my expectations regarding the rate at which I expected to change. I was under the impression that I could turn up to the gym, throw a few weights around, eat reasonably 'healthy' and pack on a load of muscle. Oh how wrong I was.
Yes, I did gain some muscle but it was at a painfully slow rate, roughly 2kg of muscle over 12 months and that was through more luck than judgement. However, I quickly became demotivated as everywhere I looked their were a bunch of ripped dudes with huge arms and chiselled abs. Why wasn't I getting these gains?
The Answer: Because I'd been training (albeit loosely) for a year, I was training drug free, and I wasn't tracking what I ate. The vast majority of the guys that I was following on Instagram, and reading about in Men's Health had been training for upwards of 7 years and were tracking their food 80% of the time. The ones who hadn't been training that long and were packing on muscle like there was no tomorrow were doing so as they were fuelled up to their eyeballs on steroids.
Finally, I'd worked out what I needed to do to 'speed up' my gains. I needed to remain consistent by going to the gym 5 days a week, I needed to plan what I was training, I then needed to track my lifts to make sure I was improving week by week, I also needed to make sure I was consuming more calories than I was burning over the course of the week to give my body enough energy to build new muscle.
Instead of going into training wondering what differences I was going to see next week, I started training wondering what differences I would see in a years time.
What I also worked out was that the photos you see of 'fitness models' in magazines and on instagram are photoshopped like crazy and in reality these people do not look like hercules 24/7.
So if you believe you're a 'hardgainer' the chances are you aren't going consistent enough with your training, nutrition, and you probably haven't given yourself a large enough time window for adaptations to take place.
On the other hand, if you think you're struggling to lose weight due to having a slow metabolism, the chances are you are eating too many calories, not training hard enough and are not remaining consistent over a prolonged time-frame (I'd advise at least 6 months to 'healthily' lose a stone). People who tell me that they are 'eating too little to lose weight' simply make me laugh as if that was the case and you actually put on weight when you eat nothing would mean that nobody should of ever died in sub-saharan Africa from starvation should they?
The questions I ask myself regardless of whether I'm trying to lose weight or build mass are always:
- Do I have a plan?
- Do I know how many calories I need to consume over the week?
- Do I have workouts that are trackable?
- Will I be able to progress these workouts week on week?
- Will I enjoy this programme?
If I answer NO to any of the above questions then the chances are I'm not going to stick to the programme and therefore without consistency I am likely to fail meeting my goal.
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