3 Reasons Guys Aren't Seeing Results

In the last article, I went over 3 reasons girls aren’t seeing results. The article got quite a bit of attention, and helped quite a few girls see what they needed to be doing in their health and fitness in order to see results. So I thought, “Hey, let’s write one for guys! There are a ton of things guys can be doing better in order to see progress and results.”

So here we are.

Before I get into the nitty gritty, I would like to get something off my chest. If you are a guy and you are reading this article, DO NOT BE A DINGUS. What I mean by “do not be a dingus” is, do not read this article, say to yourself, “those are good ideas”, and then continue training and eating like you have been. You’re better than that. You’re smarter than that. Take these principles and apply them! I dare you. See what happens. The only thing you’re risking is a bit of effort for a huge reward. Why wouldn’t you give them a try, right?!

Right.

So, knowing that you’ll not only read this article, but apply the principles I tell you about, let’s move along.

There are many different reasons people don’t see results. The list goes on and on and on and on. However, some of those things aren’t as important as others. Having said that, this article contains only 3 of those reasons, as these 3 reasons are major reasons guys aren’t seeing results. Here they are.

Reason #1: Improper Nutrition

If you just read the reason and thought to yourself “That’s not me, I hit my macros every day!”, then this segment definitely applies to you.

When I first started coaching people, it was right as the surge of IIFYM came out. If you’re unaware of what that acronym stands for, it stands for “If It Fits Your Macros”. IIFYM is a way of eating that allows poor food choices as long as they fit your daily budget for protein, carbs, and fat. Basically, it doesn’t matter if you eat 100 grams of carbs from pop-tarts, or 100 grams of carbs from rice, carbs are carbs and 100 grams are 100 grams. This is when the whole “a calorie is a calorie” thing came about.

This thought process is insane and is keeping you from better health and fitness.

Sure, calories are calories, and 100 grams of carbs from pop tarts is the same in energy as 100 grams of rice. However, both of those sources of carbs play a very different role in your internal health. Your body’s internal systems and health will react in a very negative manner to 100 grams of pop tarts. Your blood sugar will spike with a guaranteed hard crash to come. The processed sugars will cause you to crave like crazy. The processed carbs in pop tarts are not satiating, making you feel like you’re still hungry. Your gut will hate you and your digestion will suffer.

Get the point?

Macronutrients are extremely important when it comes to health, building muscle, and burning fat. However, micronutrients as well as wholesome sources of macronutrients are just as important. When you are internally healthy, your external fitness (getting jacked and having a six pack) has far greater potential. When your internal health is garbage, you can get so far.

A good rule to follow when it comes to fueling yourself well is the 80/20 rule. 80% of your daily food intake must come from whole, natural sources and contain plenty of micronutrients. Do you need some steak and eggs to reach your protein and fat goal? Great, but throw some spinach in there too so your gut and digestion will thank you.

20% percent of your daily intake can come from poo-poo sources like Girl Scout Cookies (tis the season!) and cereal. I will say this, though. Although the 80/20 rule is a good rule to follow, I believe it’s a little lenient. I would recommend taking it to 90/10 in order to heavily prioritize your body’s internal health and digestion.

Reason #2: Not Enough Sleep

I’d say that sleep is the number one reason many people are seeing their health slowly deteriorate week by week. Sleep is hands down one the most important things we need as humans. It allows our body to rest, repair, and grow. Without sleep, we have nothing.

When it comes to guys, a lack of sleep is an epidemic. After training tons of people for years, I’ve come to the assumption that the average working man gets 5-6 hours of sleep per night. If someone comes to me for coaching and tells me they get 7 hours of sleep each night, I am completely blown away.

Here is the truth. You MUST be getting 7-9 hours of quality sleep each and every night. If you get a night of 7 hours of sleep or less, it is a sign that you better get yourself in check and get more the next night. Without sleep, your body will not reap the benefits from all your hard work. Not only will extra sleep get you your results, but it will also allow you to be a better person. Your mood will be better, you will be more attentive, and your friends, co-workers, and family will be relieved to not be around a total ass all the time.

There are a few things that you can be doing to get plenty of sleep.

First off, create a nightly routine. Our bodies absolutely love routine, especially when it comes to sleep. Find the time at which you will begin your nightly routine, and stick with it on a consistent basis.

Second, get rid of all electronics a few hours before bed. I know, this one is a struggle for me, too. But I tell you what, the nights where I choose to turn my electronics off and keep them away from me for a few hours before hitting the hay, I pass out as soon as my head hits the pillow and I am out like a rock all night long, feeling completely renewed in the morning. Find a place where you can put away your electronics as well. Charge your phone in another room other than the bedroom. Out of sight, out of mind.

Lastly, make your bedroom a place where sleep is bound to happen. Keep it dark and cool. No electronics in this place. Do not read in this place. Do not do anything other than sleeping in this place. Your bedroom is a sleeping place, ok?

One other thing, if you are absolutely putting your foot down on electronics, you can get some blue blocking glasses to aid your eyes while you’re answering emails late at night. It’s not nearly the same as being off electronics, but it can help.

Reason #3: Improper Programming

Programming is hands down one of the most underrated principles when it comes to reaching your health and fitness goals. Most of us guys think, “what’s it matter what my workout looks like, as long as I’m pushing myself, right?”

No.

Well, yes and no.

Pushing yourself in your workout is very important, but it is secondary to proper programming. A good training program is centered around the big movements like squats, deadlifts, bench press, rows, and overhead presses. A good program also includes room for volume to be increased through proper intensity and frequency.

Volume is one of the key signals that tells our bodies to build and grow. Volume is weights x sets x reps. As your training volume increases, your body will adapt, grow, and get stronger. Volume can be manipulated with intensity (how hard you’re working) as well as frequency (how often you train each muscle group). Most of the time, frequency and intensity should be inversely related. The higher your intensity is, the lower your frequency should be. The lower your intensity is, the higher your frequency should be. The key is balancing them well without doing too much frequency and too much intensity, or too little frequency and too little intensity.

Here are some guidelines that apply to different levels of trainees.

If you are a beginner and you have very little experience exerting your body with weights, you should train your entire body with full body workouts three times per week at a low intensity.

If you are an intermediate trainee, you should train your body parts two times per week with a moderatel intensity. This can look like two push and two pull workouts per week.

If you are an advanced trainee, you can train your body parts two times per week with a high intensity. This can look like two push and two pull workouts per week with extra sets and effort in your exercises.

Whatever your training program looks like, it is important that it gives you enough time to rest each muscle group between training sessions, and still provides room for volume to increase month after month without overtraining.

THE TAKEAWAYS

Here is your short version of this article.

Eat nutritious foods that contain high quality macronutrients as well as high quality micronutrients. No processed crap. Au naturel, baby.

Get an absolute minimum of 7 hours of sleep per week by turning your room into a cave, turning off electronics early, and following a routine.

Follow a training program that allows you to train each muscle group 2-3 times per week with plenty of opportunity to rest in between workouts.

If you enjoyed this article, share it with your friends and family!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adam is a fitness professional, baseball fan, and cookie fanatic based in Fort Collins, Colorado. After hanging up the cleats, he found a strong interest in the human body and how it performs. Since then, Adam has been transforming lives through fitness in a fun and encouraging atmosphere. As an ACE CPT and Fitness Nutrition Specialist, he is constantly moved to help people improve in all walks of life. If you’re interested in hiring Adam as your coach, fill out an application here.

3 Reasons Girls Aren’t Seeing Results

Yesterday I was at the gym when a girl stopped me and asked me how she can lean up and lose some body fat. Being a fitness professional, I didn’t give her a short answer. After I was done with my long and probably exhausting explanation, I thought to myself, “I’m willing to bet tons of girls are going through the exact same thing she is. It may be beneficial to talk about the things I discussed in that conversation on a blog, podcast, or video of some sort.” So here I am, writing a blog on the 3 reasons girls aren’t seeing results.

As I mentioned, the girl that asked the question wanted to lean up and lose some body fat without losing any muscle. In fact, she thought it would be nice to get a little more muscle while losing that extra body fat. I asked about her training and her nutrition, and as I suspected, she was lacking in all three areas that most girls are. Here they are the reasons she was lacking.

Reason #1: No Strength Training

Unfortunately, it’s been sold (and still is) to girls that in order for them to tone up and lean down, they need to do light weight but lots and lots of repetitions. This advice couldn’t be worse. I’m confident that this advice is actually the demise of the lean body that girls are seeking to achieve.

The reason this advice came about in the first place is because it’s easier to market, and it burns more calories. If the industry told girls they’ll look like guys if they lift any other way, why wouldn’t they do what they’re asking, right? Also, more repetitions means more calories burned during a workout.

Let me tell you a couple of little secrets.

Secret number one is that you won’t look like a guy if you lift heavy weights. Not at all. You simply don’t have enough testosterone flowing through you to see those kinds of significant changes in muscle growth. In fact, after lifting heavy weights, the change you’ll see in muscle is most likely the exact right amount to reach that toned and defined look.

Secret number two is that performing lots of repetitions during your workout in order to burn more calories is an absolute waste of time and energy. The amount of calories that you burn in a day comes from many different places like your BMR (calories burned at rest), NEAT (fidgeting, walking, chores, etc.), exercise, and more. Only 5% of your daily burned calories come from exercise. Only 5%! That’s nothing. On the other hand, 75% of your daily burned calories come from your Basal Metabolic Rate, or calories burned at rest. This is determined largely by the muscle that you have on your body. So, if burning calories is your goal for fat loss, it would be far more wise to spend time focusing on strength when you’re working out in order to increase the amount of calories your body burns at rest.

When we exercise, we send a signal to our body depending on the stimulus we give it. If we perform long distance running, we tell our bodies to be better at long distance running. Our body responds by losing muscle and slowing down the metabolism in order to be more efficient. If we perform moderate lifting with lighter weights, we tell our body to have better muscular endurance. Our bodies respond by slowly improving the amount of times a moderate weight can be lifted before exhaustion. If we perform strength training, we send a signal to our bodies telling them to become better at lifting heavier weights. Our body responds by increasing its lean muscle mass and central nervous system adaptation in order to become more efficient at lifting heavy weights. A direct response of that is a faster metabolism.

So, lift heavy weights. Girls spend most of their time lifting 12 reps or more with a moderate load. Girls, test your strength. Be strong. Spend some time lifting more weight for 4-8 reps. Do some heavy squats, heavy deadlifts, heavy bench presses, heavy overhead presses, and heavy rows. Trust me, you’ll see the change you’ve been looking for.

Reason #2: Too Much Cardio

I alluded to this in the previous reason but it still needs its own section.

Before I move on, let me be clear. I am NOT bashing cardio. As I write I will only be bashing what is called chronic cardio.

Too many people suffer from chronic cardio addiction. They know that cardio burns a lot of calories so they get on the treadmill or stairmaster and they go and go and go. They see results after a short period of time, so they continue to run and climb. More and more and more. After a while, the results start to dwindle. In fact, Hours and hours of cardio are done per week and the results simply don’t come any more. What could be going wrong?

Remember what I said earlier about the signals we sent to our bodies? That’s what’s going on here. The more we do a certain type of training, the better our body gets at that certain type of training. Don’t get me wrong, that’s not a bad thing. We must give our bodies a chance to adapt and become better at that new type of training. But after a while, it’s no longer beneficial to expose our bodies to the same thing over and over and over again. Especially when it comes to long durations of steady-state cardio. When performing these long bouts of cardio on a consistent basis, our body responds by becoming more efficient. It becomes more efficient by getting rid of muscle, and slowing down its metabolism, because those two things aren’t advantageous when it comes to long durations of cardio.

Basically, the body’s metabolism turns into that of a Prius. It goes a long way without burning too much fuel. When it comes to toning, getting leaner, and creating more definition, we want the metabolism of a Ferrari. We want to burn a ton of calories without a lot of effort.

You now know that the Ferrari metabolism comes from strength training.

Does that mean you have to wipe out all cardio? No, of course not. But you definitely should take it down if you’re doing it chronically. I recommend no more than 2, 12-minute HIIT sessions after a couple of your strength training workouts per week. Let your body prioritize building that faster metabolism through your strength training first, and use the HIIT as a supplemental way to burn a few extra calories in the week.

Reason #3: Not Enough Protein

When it comes to building muscle and keeping it, protein (and getting plenty of it) is extremely important. The girl that was asking for advice in the gym was in a common situation that I find a lot of girls in. She doesn’t track her food intake, and therefore has no idea how much protein she is eating in a day. She said she drinks a protein shake after training, but doesn’t have any idea how much protein she consumes outside of that. Unfortunately, if she’s not eating enough protein as is, that supplement she’s spending money on and making a part of her ritual is a complete waste and isn’t doing jack for her. I know for a fact that this is most people.

They are unwilling to track their food intake but they are taking all the “right” supplements for their goals.

Ugh.

Listen, tracking your food intake is something you MUST do if you want to make sure you’re doing the right things to reach your goals. It lets you know everything that is going on. Even the stuff you can’t see. It says “here you go, this is why you’re not reaching your goals.” It gives you the exact problem in order for your to find the exact solution. The unwillingness to track food intake is like a company saying it wants to lower its expenses but is not willing to look at the books and keep a budget.

Track your food.

Tracking your food intake will allow you to see how much food you’re eating, what you’re getting plenty of, and what you’re defficient in. After coaching people for years, I can tell you with confidence that 90% of people seeking to improve their body composition are not eating enough protein.

So, what’s enough?

Thankfully, enough protein isn’t what supplement companies tell you. No, you do not have to eat 2x your bodyweight in protein. Barf.

A good range to live in when it comes to protein is .6-.8g per pound of body weight. Protein isn’t the only thing that aids in muscle growth, but carbs do as well. So, when you’re in an energy surplus (eating more than you burn in a day), you don’t need to have super high protein intake since carbs are there to help you build. Stay within .6-.8g per pound of body weight when in an energy surplus.

Being in an energy deficit is different, and that’s where you’ll most likely be if you’re wanting to lose fat in order to become leaner and more toned. When you’re eating fewer calories than you burn in a day, you’re at risk for losing the muscle that drives your definition and your metabolism due to the lower carb intake you’re probably consuming. You don’t want that. When in an energy deficit and prioritizing fat loss, it’s recommended that you take your protein up to 1g per pound of body weight.

Note that going higher than 1g per pound of bodyweight has been shown to have no effects of muscle improvement. Your body will just use the rest to convert to energy or store as fat.

The Takeaways

Takeaway #1: Begin strength training at a higher weight load for 4-8 reps. Focus on increasing your strength each week and watch your muscle definition improve.

Takeaway #2: If you’re performing a lot of cardio, take it down to 2, 12-minute HIIT sessions after a couple of your strength training workouts. I advise slowly weaning off all cardio at first but if you must have it, stick to a couple of short HIIT sessions per week.

Takeaway #3: Eat more protein. Eat .6-.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight when increasing calories. When in a deficit, bump it up to 1g per pound of bodyweight to keep that hard-earned muscle.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adam is a fitness professional, baseball fan, and cookie fanatic based in Fort Collins, Colorado. After hanging up the cleats, he found a strong interest in the human body and how it performs. Since then, Adam has been transforming lives through fitness in a fun and encouraging atmosphere. As an ACE CPT and Fitness Nutrition Specialist, he is constantly moved to help people improve in all walks of life. If you’re interested in hiring Adam as your coach, fill out an application here.

5 Tips for Easier Fat Loss

Do a Google search for "how to lose fat." I dare you.

You will find thousands upon thousands of different sources, with tons of different answers. If you took the time to compare and contrast all of those different answers, you'd find tons of similarities, and tons of differences. The problem is...

Since you have other important things to do, I'd like to make your life a bit easier. Below is a list of 5 things you should be doing to lose fat easier. If you turn these items into habits, the fat will stay off easier, too.

LIFT WEIGHTS

Lifting weights is going to be one of the best things you can do for your health and fitness no matter what your goal is. I don't care if your goal is fat loss, muscle building, or getting out of your car without groaning. You should be lifting weights.

When we introduce something to our body, it sends a signal telling our body to adapt. If you perform endurance running, your body will receive a signal telling it to adapt by improving its energy efficiency (your metabolism will slow down). If you perform mobility and stretching consistently, your body will receive a signal telling it to adapt my improving the muscles' ability to lengthen and create stability in those lengthened positions. The same concept applies for resistance training. When you lift weights, you send a signal to your body telling it to gain strength and build muscle. As a result, you will become stronger, and carry more lean tissue. This is beneficial for fat loss for one major reason. Resistance training promotes a faster metabolism, as well as muscle building. Muscle takes a lot of energy to maintain, so your metabolism will increase as a result of your increased muscle mass as well. In short, you'll build a fast metabolism, and as you know, fat loss is much easier with a faster metabolism.

Before I move on, I want to clarify something. When I say building muscle, I specifically mean adding ANY amount of lean muscle to your body. This applies for women wanting to increase tone and definition, as well as men wanting to get jacked. Any sort of increase in lean tissue (even if it's a small increase) will lead to a faster metabolism. You'll also look great, too. So that's nice.

TRACK YOUR FOOD

Tracking your food intake is something I believe EVERYONE should do. It is the best way you can get an extremely good idea of how food affects your internal health as well as fat loss. Tracking gives you an opportunity to know what and how much you're currently intaking, and also allows you to see what tweaks you need to make in order to lose more fat. We've been trained to mindlessly eat since we were kids. You'll be astonished by what you discover when you finally decide to keep a log of your food.

Here's the thing. Fat loss and finances are similar in many ways. If you want to know how to save money, you're going to want to track your spending and create a budget in order to save more money. Similarly, if you want to lose fat, you're going to want to track your eating and create a "budget" in order to burn more energy than you consume in a day. In both scenarios, playing the guessing game is dangerous and will most likely put you in a bigger hole than you're in now. Take responsibility, get determined, and take note of what you do so you can make accurate and beneficial changes.

BOOST YOUR METABOLISM

I briefly discussed this before, but I'll go over it in more detail.

In the context of modern life, speeding up your metabolism is one of the best things you can do. It will make getting lean and staying lean much easier. Why? For starters, we are more sedentary than ever. In addition, food is more readily available than ever before. Simply put, we are moving less and eating more. So, having a faster metabolism will make it easier for you to burn more calories without sacrificing your lifestyle.

Two things you can do to boost your metabolism include eating more food and performing resistance training. If you do things the right way, you'll see your body's ability to burn through calories increase like crazy. While performing your resistance training program, slowly add volume to your workouts once your body begins to adapt. Increases in volume have been proven to enhance strength and muscle mass, which are going to help your metabolism. You can add volume to your training by adding weight, sets, reps, or a combination of the three. While tracking your nutrition, make sure you're eating enough protein, carbs, and fat for your desired outcome. The goal is to maintain your current weight week after week as you eat more food and add volume to your training.

STAY CONSISTENT

This one is simple. If you're consistent, you'll see positive change. If you're inconsistent, you won't. It is better to be 90% consistent consistently than to be 100% consistent inconsistently. Don't stress too much about the BEST workout ever. Don't stress too much about the BEST nutrition protocol ever. Instead, focus on eating well 80% of the time, and getting all your workouts in. Even if that's too much, find ONE simple change in your training and ONE simple change in your nutrition that you can be consistent with. Once those changes have turned into habits, build from there.

HAVE YOUR EYES SET ON THE LONG TERM

Can you lose 20 pounds in two weeks? Yup. But you don't want to go down that road. Short-term, get fit quick routes will lead you to hole that will take years and years to dig yourself out of. If you want to build a lean body and be able to easily maintain it down the road, have your eyes set on the long term. If you want that kind of change, you need to accept the fact that you are going to make a lifestyle change. Lifestyle changes are no joke, and they take time. Once you have your long term goal and you've accepted the fact that you're making a lifestyle change, break things down a bit. Make daily, weekly, and monthly goals. Also, it may be a good idea to create behavior-based short-term goals for your outcome-based goals. Let's say your outcome-based goal is losing 50 pounds of body fat in a healthy way over the course of the next 2 years. Your behavior-based goals can be things like getting all your workouts in, meeting your macronutrient goals each day, and getting your body composition tested every month. Whatever you choose to do, create some behavior change. Outcome-based goals are achieved far more often when there are detailed behavior-based goals to go along with them.

THE TAKEAWAY

If you want to lose fat and keep it off, make sure you implement these five things into your life.

1. Lift weights

2. Track your food

3. Boost your metabolism

4. Stay consistent

5. Have your eyes set on the long term

If you do these things (even on a small scale) and slowly build, you will see great change in your health and fitness.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adam is a fitness professional, baseball fan, and cookie fanatic based in Fort Collins, Colorado. After hanging up the cleats, he found a strong interest in the human body and how it performs. Since then, Adam has been transforming lives through fitness in a fun and encouraging atmosphere. As an ACE CPT and Fitness Nutrition Specialist, he is constantly moved to help people improve in all walks of life. If you’re interested in hiring Adam as your coach, fill out an application here.