Subscribe to the NWA Newsletter Here
Meet me at the lifting spot,
I’ll let ya lift with all you got,
Yeah bro, don’t you stop,
Keep goin’, bro, I see those gains you’ve got.
– 50 Cent (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
It’s natural to want to get into great shape in the shortest amount of time possible.
We’re conditioned to think huge losses on the scale every week is the path to victory.
We’ve all seen The Biggest Loser contestants lose 25 pounds in 2 weeks, and we think we need to do the same.
Interestingly enough, The Biggest Loser contestants have done permanent damage to their metabolisms from crash dieting so hard, and exercising so frequently.
Almost none of the people on that show maintained their weight loss in the years following the show.
Which just goes to highlight the fact that slow and steady wins the race, every time.
It’s been a blessing to watch our group coaching community blossom over the last 6 years.
We opened up shop in January of 2017, and we’re still going strong, with around 900 members wordwide (and adding more each day).
Because we’ve been operating for such a significant amount of time, we’ve had some incredible transformations over the years.
We’ve seen so many people drastically change their lives, but perhaps none are more impressive than what our friend Jackson has done:
.
In the last 5 years, Jackson has lost 140 pounds.
He’s a brand new man – Jackson has kids, and in the picture on the left, he had Type 2 diabetes.
In the process of losing 140 pounds with us, Jackson’s Type 2 diabetes has been reversed; he’s no longer diabetic.
On the surface it’s an incredible achievement.
But it makes me wonder… how many people would have the patience Jackson has had to see this thing through to the end?
Jackson’s weight loss of 140 pounds took 5 years.
If you break down the numbers, that means he has lost, on average, about 28 pounds per year.
This translates into around a 0.5 pound weight loss through the years.
That’s not exactly “fast”…
But let’s be real here… Jackson didn’t gain 140 pounds in one year. He gained it gradually over time.
And that’s how Jackson lost it as well.
Do you really think Jackson is upset the weight loss took him this long?
HECK no, he isn’t… he took slow, steady, and gradual steps, was consistent with his diet, and never gave up – in 5 years.
And he’s reaped the benefits, and created long term habits that are here to stay.
There’s almost zero chance Jackson will regain the weight at this point.
His habits are totally engrained by now; he’s changed his life dramatically from top to bottom.
Incredible things are done with small, incremental steps towards a goal, each day.
Always ask yourself, “What is my current trajectory?”
If you’re inching your way towards your goal, keep on inching, my friend.
Because the only way you can “lose” when it comes to your fitness is to quit.
As long as you never throw in the towel, you’re guaranteed to succeed.
N.W.A. Fitness Tip Of The Week
One of the most common fitness goals when it comes to aesthetics is to have a great looking backside.
Glute training is all the range in 2023, for both men and women alike.
Over the last 10 years, having a thick behind has grown exponentially in popularity.
The only issue is, most people go about it all wrong.
The way to grow muscle in an area is simple – you need to:
1. Train the muscle and get stronger using progressive overload.
And…
2. Eat adequate protein and calories to support muscular growth.
The main issue with most people in the gym isn’t #2… it’s #1… training the glutes hard and showing progressive overload.
Most people I see in commercial gyms who train their glutes do so with light weights.
The stair steppers are always taken with people doing “glute kickbacks”.
I see lots of lunges and squats… with super light weights (or no weights at all).
If you want to see your backside improve in shape and size, you’re going to need to start putting forth actual effort with heavier weights.
Muscle mass doesn’t get created out of nowhere; growing muscle is your body’s adaptive response to a stimulus.
In this case, the stimulus is increasing weight and volume being lifted over time.
So, if your weights and reps aren’t gradually increasing, you’re not changing your body at all.
Instead of doing glute kickbacks on the stair stepper for 30 minutes each day, you’d be much better off with a simple plan like this one:
Exercise 1: 3 sets of dumbbell forward lunges (10-12 reps per leg)
Exercise 2: 3 sets of dumbbell step ups (10-12 reps per leg)
Exercise 3: 3 sets of dumbbell hip thrusts (12-15 reps total)
And then, each time you get all of your reps, you increase the weight of your dumbbells 2.5 pounds (or 5 pounds if you don’t have dumbbells that increase in increments of 2.5 pounds).
This simple routine can be done 2-3 times per week.
It should take you no longer than 20-25 minutes to complete.
Within 3 months or so, you’ll be shocked at how much better your posterior chain and legs look.
And you’ll save yourself a load of time by eliminating the Stairmaster in the process…
N.W.A. Mindset Tip Of The Week
I like to eat.
This isn’t a surprise to anyone who knows me.
I’m 6’8″, 240 pounds, and I’ve always had a ravenous appetite.
I can’t exist on super low calorie diets.
On occasion, I try to diet at around 2k calories per day, and it’s not sustainable for me.
I’m blessed to have a 3k calorie maintenance, though, and I feel badly for shorter people, particularly women, who can’t eat nearly as much as I can.
If you like to eat like I do, you NEED to be lifting weights regularly.
This is one of the best benefits to strength training is it requires fuel and boosts your metabolism.
If you’re doing constant cardio, you’re trying to “burn” off body fat.
If you’re strength training regularly, you’re trying to “build” up your body.
Building up your body is always the long term solution to fat loss.
Structural improvements, robust tendons and ligaments, and increased muscle mass means you can eat more over time.
As we age, our muscle slowly dissipates, and along with it, our calorie maintenance slowly lowers over time.
The only way to reverse this process is to be sure you maintain, and/or build your muscle.
Lift more weights.
Eat more food.
And enjoy your life more.
That’s REALLY what fitness is all about.
If you want to do this the right way and have your fitness handled by the professionals, check out Full Access: Anyman Fitness, our affordable group coaching experience.
One Favorite Social Media Post Of The Week:
“1200 calories is starvation!”
Not if you have a 1600 calorie maintenance, it’s not (and many petite, sedentary women do).
More people need to get real about their energy requirements instead of listening to the bullshit the mainstream publications tell you.
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
Client Testimonials and Results
I love the vibe of this song. It reminds me of daydreaming in class when you were a kid, just thinking of what the future may hold for you. (NSFW – lyrics)