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I’m not a fitness-man,
But I crush my fitness, MAAAAAAAANNNNN,
now let me handle my business, damn…
Jay-Z (probably)
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.
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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?
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N.W.A. Nutrition Tip Of The Week:
The most powerful nutritional strategy on earth is the concept of uniform eating, hands down.
Most people believe in order to lose weight, they need to find the ‘perfect workout’ or a special diet to ‘hack their metabolism’.
Of course that’s nonsense, but it’s comforting to think we just haven’t found the ‘holy grail’ instead of admitting we just aren’t very good at dieting…
Uniform eating is one of the first concepts I teach to my clients.
I know very few people who have reached their goal weight and maintained it who don’t practice uniform eating.
What is ‘uniform eating’ you ask?
Great question, let’s dive in…
Uniform eating means you eat similar foods each day and you keep your body in a proper dietary rhythm.
Some people get extreme with uniform eating and eat the *exact* same thing every day.
It’s not necessary to be that excessive, although it does work well… (One of my current 1:1 clients has eaten the exact same thing every day for 6 months and has lost 50 pounds so far! I tell him he’s welcome to change up his meals, but he’s in such a groove he doesn’t want to mess with it…)
Instead of being so hardcore, I suggest you find a rotation of meals you enjoy that hit your calorie and/or macronutrient targets for the day.
This will automate fat loss for you and make your life easier and simpler.
It will also pretty much guarantee you get the results you’re after.
I used uniform eating for years to lose all the weight – and I still use it to this day to maintain my low body fat percentage year round.
Back when I was teaching, I prepped my meals on the weekend to make life easier.
I had a few lunch options I would rotate through. Sometimes a sandwich and an apple or a bag of carrots. Sometimes tuna fish, some mayo and cheese, and saltines/pickles. Other times I would make a big batch of chili on the weekend and eat a bit each day for lunch.
My breakfast was always a protein shake and a piece of fruit.
For dinner, although our family doesn’t eat the same thing every day (because that would be awful…), we do rotate between 8-12 favorite meals we have at our disposal.
This allows us to ensure we are always eating foods we love, and we don’t need to worry about being ‘healthy’ – since we have calculated the calories and macros in the past and we already know what they are.
Humans love predictability, and our bodies do as well.
Eating in similar food patterns helps you see that clearly – your digestion will be improved, your waistline will become trimmer, and you’ll be less stressed about your diet.
To this day, I have a protein shake + fruit for breakfast, and a sandwich or wrap for lunch, every day.
I can mix up the protein powder flavor, the fruit, the lunch meat, the bread type, the cheese type, etc.
And that gives me *just enough* variety to always look forward to my meals, no matter if I just had them the day prior.
Give uniform eating a try – every client I’ve had who’s attempted it ends up loving the ease, simplicity, and most importantly – the results.
N.W.A. Training Tip Of The Week:
If you’re new to weight lifting and you want to gain strength quickly, using a Reverse Pyramid Training template is an excellent idea.
Every training program has what’s called a ‘progression model’ which tells you when it’s time to increase the weights you use for a given exercise.
A “linear progression model” is the standard way of progressive overload.
With this progression model, you start with a set and rep scheme, let’s say “3 sets of 10-12 reps”.
You choose a weight that’s challenging but doable and you begin.
In this progression model, if you get *at least* 10 reps in each exercise, you increase the weight by the lowest possible increment in that exercise next session (usually 2.5 or 5 pounds).
Contrast this with a “reverse pyramid” progression model.
With a reverse pyramid model, you will perform your heaviest and most intense set first, when you’re the most fresh.
Then, you drop the weight a bit, add a rep or two, and you perform a second and sometimes a third set.
But you always use the *first set* as your indicator. Meaning, if you get your recommended reps in the 1st set, that’s your cue to add more weight next time (the 2nd and 3rd sets are important but since they’re at a lower weight, we won’t use them to determine if it’s time to increase the weight).
Your 1st set of an exercise using the reverse pyramid training model is an “AMRAP set”. You perform “as many reps as possible”, showing good form and being sure to stay free from injury.
For exercises like bench press, you’ll want a spotter. Also, you’ll want to be sure you stop at form breakdown and not total muscular failure, or you could risk injury.
After your 1st AMRAP set, for Set 2, you drop the weight 10% and you perform *one more rep* than you did in Set 1.
You can repeat this pattern for a 3rd set if you wish (drop the weight another 10% and perform *two more reps* than you did in Set 1.)
Let me give you an example.
Let’s say Coach J prescribed you 3 sets of incline bench press for 8-10 reps using the RPT (reverse pyramid training) model.
First, you’ll want to be sure to warm up.
A short, brisk walk is optional if you wish to get the blood flowing.
But since your 1st set is an all out, intense set, you’ll want to do 2-3 lighter sets of incline bench press before you hit your working sets.
Let’s say you’re going to be incline bench pressing 170 pounds for 8-10 reps.
Your RPT incline bench session might look like this:
Warm Up:
45 pounds (the bar) x 10
105 pounds x 4
135 x 2
Rest 1-2 minutes
Working Sets:
Set 1 (AMRAP set – as many reps as you can possibly get): 170 pounds x 9 reps
Rest 3-4 minutes
Set 2: 155 pounds x 10 reps (10% of 170 = 17, so you could use 155 pounds or 150 pounds here, your call – notice you did 10 reps, which is one more than you performed in Set 1)
Rest 3-4 minutes
Set 3: 140 pounds x 11 reps
With this training model, you always attack your 1st set with energy and no fatigue.
You will quickly find your strength shoot through the roof.
Your 2nd and (optional) 3rd sets aren’t as intense as your first set, but they’re still challenging after the grueling 1st set.
The combination of sky-high intensity and some follow-up “back off sets” really builds strength rapidly.
Give RPT progression models a shot in your own training and let me know how you like it!
N.W.A. Attitude/Mindset Tip Of The Week:
If you’re going to master your fitness, you’re going to have to get over the fact that others will call you ‘weird’.
It’s a part of life, and I’ve seen it happen to many clients and friends.
Myself included.
Sadly, it’s become normal to be obese. A man at 30% body fat or a woman at 40% body fat doesn’t even cause a blip on our radars any longer.
It’s just normal, even though it’s far from healthy, no matter what way you slice and dice it.
Often times, in the vast internet wasteland, I’ll see people at unhealthy body fat percentages justifying their health.
They’ll talk about how their blood work is great and they have nothing to worry about, even though they’re drastically overweight.
It’s tough to hear, as it’s a clear cope and a rationalization for their own, bad choices.
When you start packing your lunches every day for work and you stop grabbing take out with your co-workers, you’ll be seen as ‘weird’.
When you opt for a water instead of ordering a cocktail at the bar, you’ll be seen as ‘weird’.
When you ask your significant other where you’re going to be dining out so you can check the nutritional information on the menu, you’ll be seen as ‘weird’.
When you keep going – even though you’ve already lost some weight – others will call you ‘weird’.
I once had a co-worker tell me “I would never want to look like you” – after I had lost 70 pounds of pure body fat.
Luckily, I don’t care much about what others think of me, so I just fired back a “don’t worry, bro, you won’t” and went about my business. 🙂
Fit shaming is just as real as fat shaming – don’t let anyone tell you it isn’t.
Both are obnoxious and uncalled for.
In what strange world would we ever make someone feel badly because they’re trying to improve themselves?!
Oh, how far our society has fallen…
Just be sure you understand exactly what’s happening the first time you get called ‘weird’ or ‘obsessive’ about your fitness.
The person who’s calling you that is simply projecting their own insecurities onto you.
It’s a ‘magic mirror’ moment.
They’re thinking of themselves and how they don’t have the drive or discipline to do what you do, and they’re overcompensating for it.
So be ‘weird’, my friend.
We’ve seen what ‘normal’ is in our society.
I don’t want any part of that shit, and I hope you don’t, either…
One Favorite Social Media Post Of The Week:
When I tried to run the fat off of me, I ended up with:
> Shin splints
> Plantar fasciitis
> Sore knees/ankles
> Tender lower back
> Shitty results
When I cleaned up my diet and started lifting weights, I ended up with:
> Bigger muscles
> More confidence
> More testosterone
> Killer results
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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,
Warren-Coach-J
Anyman Fitness
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The Up In Smoke Tour was the best hip hop tour ever produced.
I was lucky enough to see it live in Columbus when I was 19 years old in 2000.
Dre, Snoop, Eminem, Ice Cube, Nate Dogg, and Warren G… incredible… they just don’t make ’em like that anymore…