Subscribe to the NWA Newsletter Here
Tonight’s the night I lift up some sh*t,
Bench pressin’ on the incognito tip,
Slammin’ weights ‘cuz you know I have to,
You never know when the fitness bros are comin’ at you.
– Dre (probably)
Happy Friday, Coach J here from Anyman Fitness – and welcome to the latest edition of The N.W.A. Newsletter.
Each Friday’s N.W.A. Newsletter will have 3 parts:
- A Nutritional Tip to help make your diet healthier and easier to stick to.
- A Workout Tip to help make your training sessions more effective and fun.
- An Attitude/Mindset tip to help you strengthen your greatest asset – your mental toughness.
.
I will also give you my single favorite piece of social media content from AF over the past week and link to it on either Instagram or Twitter.
Without any further ado… let’s get started, shall we?
|
|
N.W.A. Nutrition Tip Of The Week:
IF you have the patience for it, it’s ALWAYS a better idea to have a small calorie deficit instead of a large calorie deficit when you’re trying to lose fat.
Recently, one of AF’s 1:1 clients, Andrew, highlighted this fact with his body measurement data – take a look:
These numbers are in 10ths of a centimeter, but I will translate them into inches for you.
In the last 7 months of working with us 1:1, Andrew has:
- Lost 4.4″ off his waist
- Lost 4.9″ off his lower waist
- Lost 2″ off his chest
- GAINED 1.1″ on his biceps
- Lost 2.5″ off his quads
- Lost 4.4″ off his hips
He’s lost 12 pounds on the scale in that timeframe.
But he’s lost MUCH more fat than just 12 pounds…
Each inch off of someone’s waist is around 4-5 pounds of fat loss.
Andrew has lost 4.4″ off his waist – he’s lost an estimated 18-22 pounds of body fat here.
If you do the math, that means he’s also GAINED 6-10 pounds of muscle (somewhere in that range).
This is one of the best examples of a body recomposition I’ve ever seen.
Andrew has thoroughly impressed me – I’ve been in the fitness industry for a decade, and it doesn’t get any better than this!
Andrew’s (incredible) results happened for a few reasons:
1. He’s in a SMALL calorie deficit – 300-400 calories per day, max.
This allows him to rarely be hungry – he’s eating plenty of food; he’s just being sure he’s eating a bit less than he burns over the course of a day.
2. He tracks his food daily.
When you want to have a small deficit and get results like this, it’s nearly impossible to do without properly tracking your intake.
300-400 calories is a razor-thin margin of error.
A few handfuls of mixed nuts is around that many calories…
3. He fails quickly, and moves on.
Andrew hasn’t been perfect, but he’s been VERY good – and when he messes up, he forgets about it right away.
No self-loathing, no emotional outbursts, he just brushes himself back up and keeps going.
It’s all the rage right now to practice “intuitive eating” and to skip tracking your food.
But after I see results like these, it confirms what I’ve said all along – if you’re SERIOUS about getting results, you’ll track your intake, at least for awhile until you learn proper portion sizes.
If you want to lose fat slowly, and (possibly) build muscle while you’re doing it, like Andrew did, you’ll need a pinpointed approach to your nutrition.
Having a small calorie deficit is the way to go for eye-popping results like these.
If you’d like to chat about a 1:1 set up that will give you similar results, tap this link.
We have a few spots open currently for new clients (FCFS).
N.W.A. Training Tip Of The Week:
Everyone wants to lift “heavy weights”.
It’s in our blood to want to try to lift as heavy and hard as we possibly can.
But I’d like to make the case for lifting lighter weights, and why it can be beneficial to not go so heavy in the gym.
Studies consistently show rep ranges all the way up to 30 reps per set will build muscle effectively if progressive overload is used.
30 reps in a set is around 50% of what you can lift one time (your 1-rep max).
That is a relatively light weight, all things considered.
If you can bench press 200 pounds, using 100 pound weights will STILL allow you to build muscle.
Why is this a good thing?
There’s a few reasons…
First, heavier weights can tax your central nervous system and fatigue you.
Have you ever deadlifted heavy, and felt like you were run over by a truck for the rest of the day?
Whenever I deadlift heavy, I want to take a nap so badly in the afternoon…
That’s your CNS being fried – if you use rep ranges under 8 or so, you’re lifting at a high percentage of your 1-rep max.
When you keep the weights lighter, you’ll recover better, which will allow you to lift with more volume overall.
And volume is a BIG driver of muscle growth.
Second, lifting in the higher rep ranges is more joint friendly.
Instead of worrying about being crushed by the weight, you can focus on having perfect form and really working the muscle.
Your muscle doesn’t know how much weight you used – it only knows how close to failure you pushed it.
If you’re finding your joints beaten up, your form is likely off – and trying to go as heavy as you can is a big reason for form breakdown.
And lastly, you’ll get a much better pump lifting in the higher rep ranges.
The “pump” is metabolic damage – it’s that burning sensation in your muscles when you repeatedly perform a weightlifting movement.
Eventually, the muscle swells up and it restricts blood flow to the area.
This is a GOOD thing when you’re lifting.
This is what causes your muscle to break down momentarily – and it’s restored through proper food, hydration, and rest.
After a few years of trying to lift the heaviest weights possible, I made the above realizations, and backed way off.
These days, I never aim for anything less than 8 reps, and usually, I’m above the 12 rep range.
My results, as well as my zest for the gym, is much improved as a result.
You should always try to “beat the training log”, but be sure you’re training smart while you do it.
N.W.A. Attitude/Mindset Tip Of The Week:
Are you lifting weights currently?
If not, you’re missing out.
As you age, it becomes harder and harder to build muscle.
Every day that passes, it’s *just a little bit* tougher to accomplish this task.
Nothing breaks my heart more than getting a client in his/her 50’s, who wants to be “jacked”.
I tell them they can make improvements, but their ideal of becoming a “beast” in the mirror isn’t likely to happen.
At 50+, muscle gain comes slowly.
You have to have a LOT of patience.
It’s (still) worth it, don’t get me wrong – resistance training at ANY age is always a GOOD thing.
But it’s a fact that it’s harder gain muscle the older you get.
Resistance training isn’t just for “looking good”, either.
It increases your bone density.
It bulletproofs you from falls.
It increases your metabolism.
It improves your body proportions.
It improves your insulin sensitivity.
It improves your biomarkers for health (heart rate, blood pressure, blood glucose levels, etc).
Lift weights.
Now, if you haven’t yet started.
It’s arguably the best thing you could ever do for your long term health.
And each day that passes that you don’t start makes it just a little bit harder to get serious results once you do.
One Favorite Social Media Post Of The Week:
Not sure who needs to hear this, but if you want to have a “summer body” in 2023, that shit starts NOW.
I hope you enjoyed this edition of the Anyman Fitness N.W.A. Newsletter.
I’ll be back next week.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Best,
Coach J
Anyman Fitness
Read the N.W.A. Newsletter Archives
Is this the hardest rap song ever made? … (NSFW – lyrics)