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Dear Gym, I drove to you but you still ain’t open,
I came and banged on the window and on the glass I saw the hours on the bottom,
I got two workouts in at 5 am in back in autumn, in case you forgot ’em,
There probably’s a problem with one of your workers or something.
– Eminem (probably)
If you wish, you can grab the N.W.A. Newsletter Playlist on Spotify here, all of the songs that have been featured in the newsletter are on the playlist.
Happy Friday, Coach J here from Anyman Fitness – and welcome to the latest edition of The N.W.A. Newsletter.
Each week with the N.W.A. Newsletter, I give you the best Nutrition, Weightlifting, and/or Attitude advice for you to start to use in your life today.
Tens of thousands of people have used this exact newsletter to gain muscle, lose fat, and become a better version of themselves…
Without any further ado, let’s get started..
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N.W.A. Nutrition Tip Of The Week
A trend I see currently across social media is the trend of “water fasting”.
The premise is simple; the only thing you consume for a designated amount of time is calorie free liquid.
Usually the fasts last from 24 to 48 hours in length.
Is this a good idea?
Or no?
Fasting has been used for millennia for spiritual purposes.
Catholics and some other Christians fast during the 40 days of Lent.
Jews fast on various holidays; most notably Yom Kippur.
Arabs fast during the month of Ramadan.
Gandhi was notorious for using fasting as a means to rebuke modern indulgences and free himself from temptation.
There are benefits to fasting that cannot be denied.
Fasting has a positive effect on your blood sugar and promote insulin sensitivity (be careful if you’re diabetic, as it can cause blood sugar swings if you’re unhealthy).
Fasting may help fight inflammation and improve your blood lipid levels as well.
(More benefits to fasting can be found in this article here. It’s important to note these benefits can also be achieved with simple calorie restriction. This is most likely the mechanism of the benefits; not the fasting itself.)
Perhaps fasting’s biggest positive benefit is it changes your relationship with food.
If you struggle with temptation and “cracking” on your diet, sometimes it’s simpler to just not eat than it is to eat.
Instead of needing to plan and eat healthy meals that hit your calories, you don’t consume any calories, and deal with any hunger that comes your way.
This can be powerful.
Learning to deal with some modest discomfort via hunger is a worthy sacrifice.
If you’re overweight, you may have trouble battling that demon, and fasting is a straightforward way of learning to deal with the sensation of hunger.
There are a few caveats to keep in mind if you want to give an extended fast a try:
- Stay hydrated and drink electrolytes during the fast.
- Do not “dry fast” for extended time periods.
- Stay away from strenuous workouts during your fast (walking or light cardio is fine).
- If you feel light headed or weak, break the fast and eat something.
- Keep busy as you fast; sitting around thinking about how hungry you are is a bad idea.
- Don’t use long fasts too frequently; one every 2 weeks, maximum.
It’s also important to note that fasting doesn’t guarantee fat loss, if you want to do it for body fat reduction.
Only your overall, cumulative energy balance will determine how much weight you lose.
Even if you don’t eat for 48 hours at a time, if you overeat your calories once you resume a normal eating schedule, you will not lose bodyfat.
The decision to fast is a personal one.
As with anything, it’s not a magical fix to lose weight.
But if done with the right perspective and intent, extended fasting can be a way to examine your relationship with food and start learning the ancient art of sacrifice and discipline.
N.W.A. Training Tip Of The Week
It seems “minimalist training” has come back in style.
This makes me smile…
I’ve now been in the fitness industry long enough (10+ years) to see trends come… and go… and then come back again…
Back in the late 2000’s when I first got serious into fitness, the trend was to keep your workouts bare bones, with minimal volume.
It was thought that this was the best way to gain “real” strength and muscle – doing 8-12 sets total per workout of compound movements.
By 2016 or so, the pendulum had swung in the other direction.
High volume training became all the range, and all of a sudden, everyone was lifting 5 days per week doing 25-30 sets per session, and maximizing the amount of volume during their workouts.
Fast forward to present day, and the minimalists are back…
Everywhere you look across social media, you hear the gurus promoting “less”.
Less sets.
Less “junk volume”.
Less exercises.
Keep it simple, and keep the intensity sky high – that’s the motto of the minimalist believers.
So, who’s correct?
Would a low volume, minimalist training program work best for muscle gain?
Or would it make more sense to max out your training volume and perform a high number of sets?
The true answer likely lies somewhere in the middle.
This is also a case where personal experience and N = 1 experimentation should come into play.
Most of the research shows there is no clear benefit over 10, hard, intense sets per muscle group per week.
These 10 sets should be spread out over 2-3 sessions per week to allow for maximum recovery.
Full body training (aka, not doing a “body part split”) is always the best idea for a natural trainee.
Getting more frequent exposures to each muscle group per week allows for gradual strength gains over time as opposed to blasting a muscle group just once per week.
While research may show there isn’t a benefit beyond 10 sets per wreek, keep in mind this is only the case if you’re pushing yourself to positive muscular failure with intensity.
There should be zero “reps in reserve”, or “RIR”. Meaning, you shouldn’t be able to perform one more repetition of the exercise you are doing – you have pushed yourself all the way to failure.
This sort of intense training isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.
Perhaps you’re a bit older, and you don’t want to risk injury.
Or maybe you train by yourself and you don’t have a spotter.
Or maybe you struggle to recover from such intense exercise.
If this describes you, it may make more sense to up the volume and train to 1-2 “RIR”.
That way, you’ll recover from your sets more quickly and feel “fresher” in the gym.
You still want to track all of your sessions and be sure you’re using progressive overload.
If gaining strength and muscle is important to you – and it should be – you will need to get stronger over time, no matter how you slice and dice it.
For what it’s worth, back in the late 2000’s, I used minimalist training to get stronger than I’ve ever been in my life.
I used Reverse Pyramid Training, which only had me doing 8 sets per session.
By the end of that program, I was bench pressing 300+, squatting 330+ and deadlifting 500+.
But those crazy strength numbers didn’t translate into significant muscle gains.
It was only when I upped the volume and started performing 20-25 sets per session with our No Squats, No Deadlifts, Huge Gains Program that I started seeing significant increases in lean body mass.
For me, high volume training works the best; my body responds beautifully to lots of sets and reps.
Your mileage may vary.
But the only way to truly find out what works best for you is to get into the gym and test it out on yourself.
If you want to have access to 17, battle tested training programs I’ve used on myself, and our clients, join us for Full Access: Anyman Fitness.
You’ll have access to the Reverse Pyramid Training Program and our No Squats, No Deadlifts, Huge Gains Program I spoke about above.
Along with 15 other programs I’ve used in the past.
The programs all come with a custom app for tracking, personalized nutrition for your goals, 24/7 coach access/support, and a slew of goodies – it’s the best value in fitness, hands down.
Grab your first month of coaching for just $20 here.
More AF Content From Around the Web:
I see them every time I train at my commercial gym:
People who put forth a ton of effort, yet look exactly the same every year.
In fact, I used to be one of those people.
I would get tired, and sweaty, and sore… but I wouldn’t actually make any progress.
It took me a long time to figure out what I was doing wrong. I don’t want YOU to make that same mistake.
Read our latest article on Social House News – “The Reason You Should Train Instead of Working Out” here.
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
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