Month: February 2020

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ERF Q&A 029: You Don’t Have To Be Sweaty To Have An Effective Workout

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Your cardio class REALLY kicks your butt! It really makes you sweat and out of breath!…

But, so does going outside and running down the street as fast as you can for 12 seconds. 

Or chasing your kids around the house 3x..

Does that mean those two things are an effective workout as well?

We need to break this myth that you NEED to be sweating and out of breath to have a “good” workout. 

Listen to this podcast if you think that is the case, I guarantee by the end I will give you new perspective to look at.

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How To Design Your Own Strength Training Program

 

Ever feel like you walk into the gym, and it is a jungle of machines, dumbbells, kettlebells.

All staring at you, and you have no idea what is the most optimal way to use all of these things to get you the results you want.

It doesn’t matter if your goal is to lose fat, build muscle, or get stronger.

You want to make sure the time you spend in the gym, is spent well.

You want to make sure what you are doing is actually going to get you closer to your goal.

It can be very overwhelming in many different ways.

Maybe you are a beginner and you have NO idea what to do.

Or maybe you have been working out a little here and there, but never really had any structure to your workouts. Never had a plan.

Today I am going to make sure, by the end of this article, you are confident in building your own strength training program.

You are going to be sure to have a structured plan you can take into the gym, put into action, and start seeing results.

Before I show you exactly how to do that, I must cover some initial “rules to train by” if you will.

I would get out a pen and paper (because I am old school), and take some notes.

This article will be filled with information. Let’s press on, shall we? (Get it, press, like bench press?.. Alright fine moving along).

Strength Training “Rules”

Now, are these rules ones you MUST follow EVERY TIME?

No, but they certainly are some very good guidelines I love to follow, and have my online coaching clients follow, when it comes to strength training.

Stick To The Basics

This is one I see butchered and drug through the mud So. Many. Times.

Especially in a world of instagram workouts, internet phenoms, and just the feeling that more is better.

There always has to be some crazy exercise. Like doing a triple axle backflip off a bosu ball into a pistol squat with a bicep curl..

But you don’t even know how to squat properly first!?

No no I won’t get started.

For real though, the basics are there for a reason. They have been around forever a reason.

They work. Plain and simple.

You don’t need a ton of different exercises. You don’t need to do difficult movements atop of unstable surfaces.

There is no place for doing exercises under conditions that are susceptible to any type of major injury or cause you to repeatedly break down form because you are so exhausted.

I know, that isn’t the sexiest thing to hear. I know the basics may seem boring at times, but please please trust me when I say, they are THE MOST IMPORTANT THING WHEN IT COMES TO WORKOUT PROGRAMMING.

Later in this article I will lay out exactly what I consider the basics, and how you can use them in your workouts.

You Don’t Need To Sweat To Have An Effective Workout

This one, again, is one I unfortunately see often times from not just general population, but trainers and coaches alike.

I am here to tell you, you don’t need to sweat or be out of breath, to have an effective workout.

Try this for me. Go outside right now and run down the street as fast as you can.

Or chase your dog or kid around the house a few times.

You’ll undoubtedly get sweaty, and be out of breath.

So, is that what you would classify as a good workout?

I would hope not.. and if you do, just go ahead and exit out of this page now because the rest won’t be down your alley.

Sweating and being out of breath has NOTHING to do with having an effective work out.

Can you sweat and have a good workout? Sure.

But I am 6’4 255 lbs male. I sweat peeling an orange.

I know ladies who are 4’10, completely kick ass in their workouts, and don’t sweat a drop.

Using someones sweat glands to determine the effectiveness of a workout is ludicrous.

Your workouts should be based around if you are getting stronger, doing more reps, getting better endurance.

And let me tell you something else, if you know a coach or trainer who’s SOLE purpose is to beat you down and make you sweat / be out of breath..

That is not a trainer, that is a monkey. Because a monkey can do that to you. Find a new coach.

Leave Your Ego At The Door

Listen, we all have somewhat of an ego.

And we don’t want to admit we are bad at something, or we don’t know how to do something.

If there is one thing I can tell you if you are looking to get into working out, or stay healthy, is please leave your ego at the door.

It is okay to admit you don’t know how to do something. It is okay to perfect form.

It is okay to seek out help from someone who does know how to do it, and learn from them.

If there was one thing I am glad I made the switch from in my early teens, it was taking the step back to understand the movements I was doing.

Learn how to squat. Learn how to deadlift or row. Lessen the weight a bit, and understand what was going on.

Not only did this eventually help my gainzz, but it also helped my injuries.

I encourage you to do the same, and if you want help, please feel free to reach out to me.

Movement Patterns, Not Muscles

People often are quick to do isolation exercise to work their biceps, or glutes.

But fail to realize that total body compound lifts will work those same muscles, with a heavier load, and multiple other muscles at the same time.

Thus maximizing not only the muscle they wanted to work, but 4 other during the process.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a bicep curl thrown in, and I will program specific glute movements if a lady would like her tush a bit bigger.

But they should in no way shape or form make up the majority of any smart training program.

I would program a bent over row, or deadlift, before I would a bicep curl or a glute kick back.

These movement patterns are going to work those same muscles with much more efficiency.

You will also probably realize these movements will also leave you needing not much *if any* extra work.

So, what are these movement patterns I am talking about? Glad you asked. Keep reading below, and seriously get a notepad out to get some notes.

Understanding Movement Patterns

Let’s talk movements, shall we?

But not just any movements. Movements that are going to make up your exercises in your training program, for your goal.

You have to have a system in place to be able to create programs, as opposed to just picking random exercises.

And understand what muscles those movements are working, and how they affect the other things you will do later in the workout.

Let’s cover the 5 fundamental movement patters, with some individual sections for each.

Upper Body Push

An upper body push movement, can be divided into two sub categories, horizontal push and vertical push.

Horizontal Upper Body Push includes variations of bench press, push ups, and all similar exercises. Mainly ways you are pressing in a horizontal motion.

Vertical Upper Body Push includes all variations of shoulder press, push press, and all similar exercises. Mainly ways you are pressing in a vertical motion.

Upper Body Pull

An upper body pull can be divided into two sub categories, horizontal pull and vertical pull.

Horizontal Upper Body Pull includes variations of bent over row, inverted row, and all other similar exercises. Mainly ways you are pulling in a horizontal motion.

Vertical Upper Body Pull includes variations of chin up, lat pull down, and all other similar exercises. Mainly ways you are pulling in a vertical motion.

Lower Body Push

These movements typically refer to lower body exercises that cause you to recruit more quads than hamstrings, usually causing a “pushing” motion rather than a “pulling” motion.

Examples include all variations of the squat, lunge, step up, and hip thrust.

Lower Body Pull

These movements typically refer to lower body exercises that cause you to recruit more hamstrings than quads, usually causing a “pulling” motion rather than a “pushing” motion.

Examples include all variations the deadlift, good morning, kettlebell swing, and cable pull through.

Trunk

These movements typically refer to all these including the “core”. Everyone you talk to will have a different definition of the core, but I am referring to not just your abs. Also the muscles that stabilize your hips, stabilize your spine, and play a role in upper body stabilization. So much more than the 6 pack bro.

Examples can include all variations of plank, sit ups, Russian twists, pallof press, deadbugs, etc.

Understanding The Daily Workout Make Up

Here is where some people get caught up when it comes to what is the most optimal way to program a daily routine.

This is what you actually will be composing your daily sessions of, throughout a weekly basis.

There is no one “right” way, only a right way for you. Learn about the four main ones below.

Full Body

These training sessions typically tend to be longer, and obviously hit the entire body in one session, rather than splitting it up.

This split is incredibly great for beginners, and people who are uber busy and just can’t make it to the gym that much during the week.

I would not tend to program a full body any more than 4x a week, MAX. 2-4x a week for these full body session typically will do best. Again, this is for beginners, or people who don’t wanna spend a lot of the time in the gym, but still get an effective workout.

Upper / Lower

Yes, as it sounds like, this split just divides the training days up into an upper body day and a lower body day. Generally, 2 upper body days, and 2 lower body days, for a total of 4 days total per week, is what is used best here.

This is something that I program a ton for people who can make it to the gym 4x a week. It allows for proper frequency, exercise selection, volume, among many other things.

Push Pull Legs

This split is one that divides the days into 3 separate days, one of upper body pulling, one of upper body pulling, and one of legs, including both pushing and pulling motions.

This split is generally combined with 1 full body day, or 1 upper body + lower body day. So a total of upper body + lower body + Push + Pull + Legs. Or just 6 days a week of Push, Pull, Legs. This can be a total of 5-6x per week.

Yea, a lot of math there. Personally, unless you are towards the advanced level, I would not worry about this one.

Body Part Split

This split is one that is popular amongst the body building world. This splits days up into certain body parts, one day for chest, one day for back, one day for legs, etc..

Personally, even after living and studying the body building world for a while, I see no real reason to use this split for any general population individual, or even body builder for that matter. This split should be reserved for top level bodybuilders who need the extra isolation work to win Mr. Olympias.

Understanding Training Days Per Week

Touched on briefly in the split session above, this is where you figure out how many days a week you are training.

This is also where you decide what split you are using.

As a general rule, I like to hit both upper and lower body at least 2 days a week. Depending on the client, that can go up to 3 or 4 in some cases. But remember, more is not always better.

2-3x Days Training Per Week

For people who only have a small amount of time in the gym, full body tends to do best for this.

3 Day Full Body Split

  

Day 1

Full Body

Day 2

Full Body

Day 3

Full Body
   

However, there is more than one way to skin a cat (whatever that means anyway).

I also love this split to get more of a feel for the muscles, and split things up a bit nicer.

3 Day Upper, Lower, Full Body Split

  

Day 1

Lower Body

Day 2

Upper Body

Day 3

Full Body
   

This split allows you to split up into an upper and lower body day. I use this to have people focus on an area a bit more as opposed to switching back and forth between upper and lower body in one session.

Takeaway: There is no one RIGHT way to do it. Some people like full body better, some people like splitting it up. The one thing I would advise is try not to do all 3 days back to back to back. If you HAVE to, that is one thing, but if you have a choice, get some rest between days.

4x Days Training Per Week

This training schedule allows you endless possibilities when it comes to splits. This is great for the average gym goer to the intermediate / advanced trainee.

A standard upper lower split can be used here, like we talked about earlier.

4 Day Upper Lower

  

Day 1

Lower Body

Day 2

Upper Body

Day 3

Lower Body

Day 4

Upper Body

This is also a great way to get different stimulus to the body as well, because you have two chances to get at it.

Below is a bit more advanced way to look at the 4 upper / lower days you have.

4 Day Upper Lower

  

Day 1

Lower Body STRENGTH

Day 2

Upper Body STRENGTH

Day 3

Lower Body HYPERTROPHY

Day 4

Upper Body HYPERTROPHY

This is great because you can focus one day on getting stronger, and one day on more muscle building. **Hypertrophy is just a big word for muscle building**.

Takeaway: Training 4x per week is amazing for the general gym goer, the intermediate to advanced trainee, or someone looking to build strength and also build muscle. There are so many ways to slice this cake, try it and see what works for you.


5x Days Training Per Week

Honestly, unless you are more towards the end of intermediate / advanced, this probably is unnecessary for most.

That being said, let’s look at ways to program a 5x a week training program.

5 Day Upper Lower Push Pull Legs

  

Day 1

Upper Body

Day 2

Lower Body

Day 3

Push

Day 4

Pull

Day 5

Legs

Like we said earlier, you can combine an upper, lower, with a push pull legs routine, to get you to 5x a week. This hits all muscle groups 2x, and can allow for optimal recovery while still hitting a higher frequency.

Takeaway: Again, unless you are more towards the advanced side, you probably won’t have to worry too much about this one. Recovery starts to become HUGE here, and if you are not eating, sleeping, and recovering properly, things WILL start to break down.

Number Of Exercises Per Training Day

Now we get into what you are ACTUALLY doing during your training day. I know, a lot to get here right?

That just goes to show you how much goes into actually making an individualized training program. If you want me to help you with yours, click HERE.

Moving forward, I am going to exclude 2x a week, and anything over 4x a week as far as training splits. I have just seen as a coach, the vast majority of people don’t need more than 4x a week, and if you can’t get to the gym more than 2 days, we need to have a conversation on that.

Before we dive into what the days exercises are going to consist of, we need to first talk about what types of exercises will exist.

  1. Strength Focused Exercises

Strength exercise are full body, compound movements like squat, bench, deadlifts, that challenge you with a relatively lower rep range.

But, it is not so much the exercise that is strength focused, though that does play a role, it is the weight and reps you choose to do with it that is “strength focused”.

Generally speaking, these movements tend to be no more than 6-8 reps, with 8 being on the high end.

2. Hypertrophy Based Exercises

Hypertrophy focused exercises can be full body, compound movements OR isolation exercises.

The main difference between a strength focused exercise and a hypertrophy, is A. The load you are using and B. The point at which the exercise becomes difficult.

You are focused on working and fatiguing the muscle, rather than gaining strength.

This is where having a mind muscle connection comes in, and where finding the right weight that isn’t tooo heavy, but not toooo light comes in.

Generally, these exercises tend to be in repetitions from 7-15 to achieve this stimulus.

So, How Many Exercises Per Day?

Well, it depends. There is no one real answer, it would depend on how many days a week you are training, what your focus is that day, what your goal is, to name a few.

But, I will give general guidelines you can follow.

Strength focused exercises

Goal: Build Strength, full body compound movement

How Many Per Day: 1-2 exercises per day

Sets and Reps: 3-5 sets, 3-8 reps

Rest Period: 90-180 seconds

Examples include: All variations of the squat, bench, deadlift, overhead press, rows, and chin ups.

 

Hypertrophy Focused Exercises

Goal: Hypertrophy focused, work and fatigue muscle

How Many Per Day: 2-6 exercises per day

Sets and Reps: 2-4 sets, 8-15 reps

Rest Period: 45-90 seconds

Examples include: All Variations of the squat, split squat, push up, shoulder press, tricep extension, bicep curl, face pull, Romanian Deadlift, lunges, etc.

Tying It All Together, Sample Workout Plans

Alright, so now we get down to actually putting this all together to see what it looks like in an actual program.

Remember that notebook I told you about earlier? That bitch should be full by now, but hopefully you saved some room for this.

Sample Upper / Lower Body Training Days

Upper Body

Upper Body Day

Sets x Reps

Rest Period

  

1. Bench Press

4×6

120 seconds

  

2. Barbell bent over Row

3×8

120 seconds

  

3a. 1 arm shoulder press

3×10

    

3b. Assisted chin up

3×8

90 seconds

  

4a. Push Up

2×10

75 seconds

  

4b. Cable Face Pull

2×12

    

5. Plank

2×40 sec hold

45 seconds

  
       

** If an exercise is labeled with a and b, that indicates a superset, where exercises are completed back to back.

So, let’s dissect this day.

The first exercise is a strength focused, compound movement in the bench press.

The second exercise is another strength focused, compound movement in the barbell bent over row.

The third and 4th exercises are still somewhat compound, they still provide a pretty good full body stimulus, but they are more hypertrophy focused in their rep ranges.

The 5th and 6th exercises are a bit less intense, less load due to being later in the workout, and wanting to be smart about injuries, effort, etc. They still work the muscles and provide a stimulus.

Then the trunk at the end to finish off the day.

Lower Body

Lower Body Day

Sets x Reps

Rest Period

  

1. Barbell Front Squat

4×5

120 seconds

  

2. Deadlift

3×6

180 seconds

  

3a. Single Leg RDL

3×10

    

3b. Split Squat

3×8

90 seconds

  

4a. Leg Extension Machine

2×12-15

 

  

4b. Swiss Ball Hamstring Curl

2×12

    

4c. Side Med Ball Slam

2×8/ea side

90 seconds

  
       

Again with the dissecting.

The first two movements of the day are full body, strength based compound movements. They have a lower rep range, and higher rest period from what we talked about above.

The 3rd and 4th are still full body exercises, just a bit less load, a bit less intensity, and getting more focused on muscle building.

The last circuit for the day is focused on isolation of muscles, lower loading, and working on the trunk.

The Final Word

Woo, I know that was a lot.

There is a lot to consider, a lot to think about. I urge you to go back and read over some parts, to make sure you fully grasp them.

Seriously, take notes.

I would NOT worry about getting the perfect routine, the perfect split, the perfect this or that.

The truth it, it will all be trial and error. It will be testing things and seeing what works and what doesn’t, for YOU and YOUR life.

Your schedule, your goals.

If you want to workout 4x a week, go back and look at the 4x week options. Look at how to structure the split. Pick what strength and hypertrophy exercises you want to put into your routine.

And then just go try it.

There is no ONE RIGHT way to program and design your workouts… Rather try things, see what sticks for you, and then narrow down later.

I know this is a lot of information, I know you may be like whaaaattttt…

If that is you, I implore you, please reach out to me for help. Leave a comment below, or email me @ coacheric@ericrobertsfitness.com .

Or if you would think coaching might be a better option for you rather than trying on your own, click HERE to fill out the form to see if we are a good fit together.

I hope this article helped, and again, please reach out for help. I wrote this whole damn thing for free, so you know I want to help.

Look forward to hearing from you. Talk soon. -E.

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ERF 030: Carb Cycling, Does It Work, How Can You Use It To See Results?

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Please subscribe to my YouTube channel HERE. 

In this episode, I talk about..

-What is carb cycling exactly?

-Does it “work”?

-How do you use it to lose fat and have better workouts?

If you are interested in coaching with me, click HERE.

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ERF Q&A 028: Why Fad Diets “Work”

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Keto isn’t magic.

Intermittent Fasting isn’t magic.

South Beach, ideal protein, none of it.

All of them have ONE goal in mind. All of them HAVE to have one thing..

Calorie deficit. 

It is just how you create that deficit (and how sustainable it is) can be a million different ways.

Listen up to learn more about fad diets, and how you can learn from to apply the knowledge for yourself.

 

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How To *ACTUALLY* Boost Your Metabolism

 

Do you have a slow metabolism?

Better yet, do you LOOK at a cookie, and gain 27lbs?

What about just struggling to LOSE weight, but have no problem GAINING it?

If your answer was yes to any of those questions, especially the cookie one, this article will be for you.

Whether through age, through previous diet history, through lifestyle change, your metabolism has gone down hill.

You don’t burn as many calories, you really don’t eat that much food yet still gain weight.

No need to fear, Eric is here.

I am going to teach you how to increase your metabolism the RIGHT way to see results.

And no, this will not be an ad for some fat burning pill with a promo code at the end.

Just real science that you can take and implement today to help start seeing results.

What Actually Is Your Metabolism?

It is funny, people will be quick to blame their metabolism for their lack of fat loss..

But when I ask them to explain to me what metabolism actually is, they cannot quite speak with the same conviction.

I cannot teach you how to increase something without actually knowing what it is first.

In the simplest of words, your metabolism is simply the sum of all chemical processes going on in your body at any one time.

At any one point in time there are millions of processes going on inside your body. Your heart beating involves your metabolism, your eye movement reading this, digestion of the food you eat.

Anything that is allowing you to live and breath right now, is apart of your metabolism.

Now that you have a basic understanding of what metabolism ACTUALLY is, you can have more context when Sally from the gym complains how hers is just SO SLOW.

Now let’s look into what components play a role, and how we can use them to your advantage to speed up your metabolism.

RMR, Resting Metabolic Rate

Your RMR, or resting metabolic rate, is the most practical component of your metabolism.

Some people use BMR, basal metabolic rate, but that is literally when your body does NOTHING but lay in bed and not even more..

I mean, you at least gotta blink or something right?

So your RMR is what we can use to begin to talk about how your metabolism works.

These are the calories you burn when you stand up and get out of bed. Your brain processing and thinking as you read this. Everyday life things.

What can go into your RMR? Super glad you asked.

Lean Body Mass

Your lean body mass plays a roll into what your RMR is.

This is can be how much muscle you have. Also, Your muscle to fat ratio.

This can also be how tall or short you are.

Taller people, like myself, burn more calories than those who are shorter. We will talk more on this when we get into gender as well.

Depending how tall or short you are, you can have differences in bone mass, and in overall total body expenditure. 

This can lead to a difference in how hard your body has to work to maintain itself.

Muscle Burns More Calories.. Kind of.

One BIG thing I do want to briefly touch on is the fact that more muscle can lead to an increased metabolism.

Now, this is 110% true.

The more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn. Absolutely.

BUT, the amount it does is minimal.

For every 1lb of muscle you add, you burn an extra 6-10 calories a day, at most.

So if you added 10 lbs of muscle, you would potentially only burn possibly 60 more calories a day.

Is it more? Yes. Is it so significant you should listen to someone selling you something crazy about building tons of muscle to boost your metabolism?

Nope.

Now you should clearly be building muscle, but it isn’t a justice to you go to go and eat pizza and ice cream.

Do it for health reasons, for strength reasons, increased bone density, all things that build you up.

Rather than worrying about it tearing your fat down. That will be done mainly through diet anyway.

Click HERE to find out how many calories you should be eating to lose fat.

Gender

Here we are, the forever war between girls and boys.

Who truly started cooties? One will never know.

Anywho, yes, men normally burn a bit more calories than women.

But that is not some magical fat loss potion.

It is just science.

Like we said earlier, taller people have more energy that their bodies have to use.

There is more blood to be circulated, takes more energy to go up and down steps, more bone mass to them, etc.

Men are typically taller, so they typically burn more calories.

We also just said the more lean body mass / muscle mass you have, you burn more calories.

Again, men typically have more muscle mass / lean body mass to them.

Both of these things lead to a higher metabolism, because again it is just more work their body has to do.

I coach mostly women, and trust me when I say, you all are much more bad ass than us men could ever be.

So you win.

AGE

Oh boy, Age.

This one is the crutch of many individuals wanting to lose weight.

They claim they are not 18 anymore, so their metabolism doesn’t work like it used to!

I am here to tell you to STOP using this excuse as to why you cannot lose fat.

Does your metabolism slow as you age?

Yep. Sure does.

BUT, first and foremost it is usually lifestyle based, not solely because you got older.

You eat less overall, eat less protein, your lean body mass decreases, your activity level goes down.

If you have been following thus far, those things are key factors when it comes to how your metabolism works.

Second, the amount it decreases is almost next to none per year.

Good thing for you is, however much is does slow down, this can pretty much be reversed.

Through proper strength training, well thought out nutrition, and losing body fat, you can pretty much reverse that aging process.

Click HERE if you want to contact me about possibly coming up with a plan for you to do just that.

Genetics

Yet again, another thing people look towards to pin the tail on their fat loss scapegoat.

I debated whether I wanted to go into this or not, because if I give you a reason to quit, most of you will.

The truth is, genetics plays a HUGE role in your metabolism.

It affects obviously your gender, your height, your lean body mass, all of these things.

A lot of it again is lifestyle based, but there are just cases of genetics winning no matter what.

If you are a 5’5 male out there reading this.. You aren’t making it to the NBA.

Just not gonna happen.

Some people have the perfect genetics for bodybuilding. 

Here’s the thing, we are talking about fat loss here, not professional basketball or professional bodybuilding.

So, even if we say your genetics are the worst ever.

Why would you not still do EVERYTHING you can to make the best of them.

To increase your lean body mass. To do proper strength training. To eat healthy.

Regardless, that is a great idea.

So, don’t use genetics as a crutch either. This is fat loss here we are talking about, not stepping onto the court or a body building stage.

TEF, Thermic Effect of Food

Protein protein protein.

Protein is the #1 macronutrient I see missing in the average individuals diets when I go through my initial nutrition coaching evaluation.

Protein should be a staple in ANY fat loss diet. Let’s talk about why and how it helps boost your metabolism though.

Let’s talk practical application first.

Protein is the most satiating macronutrient, meaning it will fill you up and keep you full the longest.

This then means if you are not hungry, and stay full, you tend to not eat at much.

Then leading to eating less calories aka being in a calorie deficit.

Which is the only way to lose fat.

It also is the only macro nutrient that can help build and maintain muscle / lean body mass. Which as we know from above, helps with boosting your metabolism.

There is also something called the thermic effect of food.

This basically just means how many calories your body has to burn digesting food.

Protein has the highest thermic effect of food. Meaning when you eat protein, your body has to burn more calories to digest it. Just because you ate a chicken breast.

Obviously you can see how, if you make your diet high in protein, all day your body is burning more calories digesting it, as opposed to if you were eating carbs or fats all day.

TEA, Thermic Effect of Activity

This picture was just absolutely hilarious, so I had to use it.

Okay so thermic effect of activity.

This is basically just the calories you burn through exercise and or movement through the day.

And before we get any farther, NO your fit bit or apple watch tracking your calories is not accurate.

It actually over estimates by 50%. Click HERE to find out why.

Okay, moving on.

Strength training I believe is the most important for long term fat loss.

This will increase your lean muscle mass, increase your lean body mass, and with the right diet decrease your body fat.

This will have the biggest impact on boosting your metabolism long term.

It will burn less calories than cardio in the short term, but long term will allow you to burn more.

More importantly, will KEEP the fat off, without having to do hours and hours of cardio.

Because I’d rather watch grass grow than do hours of cardio.

Next up would be said spoken cardio.

Whether LISS or HIT, low intensity steady state or High intensity training.

Both can be beneficial and both can have their benefits.

Not only physical, but mental and emotional as well. Which I would argue is maybe a bit more important for most people.

It is not very high up on my list as far as importance of boosting metabolism, but it certainly plays a role.

The last would be NEAT, and that is the Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis.

Now don’t worry, big word, but it just means all of the stuff you do throughout the day that is not dedicated exercise.

Walking into the grocery store. Brushing your teeth. Scratching your head.

People VASTLY underestimate NEAT when it comes to fat loss.

This is why counting steps became so huge. Shooting for 8-10k steps a day is an amazing way to increase NEAT.

Eventually leading you to move more, and increase your metabolism.

Park farther away at the store, walk around the perimeter of your house 5x, take the stairs no matter what.

I strongly urge you to not be one of those who underestimate how much getting 10k steps can help your fat loss journey.

Supplements / Metabolism Boosting Foods

So, I HAVE to go into this, but keeping it very brief.

Anyone who tells you you can take a pill to burn fat, run.

Run far, far away. After you laugh at them.

Also anyone who tells you to eat a certain food because it can boost your metabolism ( besides protein we learned because science not because some marketing ad ), run even farther.

Seriously, anyone who tries to sell you on a fat burning pill or metabolism boosting food, they are doing just that.

Trying to get your money and sell you something.

No other way around it.

Let’s put an end to it one person at a time.

Final Thoughts

So, as you see, nothing here is sexy.

I can’t go sell you something some product from any of this.

Nothing is about doing this ONE trick to start boosting your metabolism!

Or eat this food or do that workout to boost your metabolism!

Because in 100% honesty, it is quite simple.

Move more, optimize your lean body mass, keep protein high, and you will increase your metabolism.

It would be just down to science at that point, your metabolism would HAVE to increase to keep up with the work you are putting on it.

Focus on things you can control, things that will give you the biggest return on the change you put in, and I promise you will see change.

Though I would love to hear, what is the craziest thing you ever heard or read to increase your metabolism?

It is always great to hear what fitness marketers can come up with these days.

I hope you enjoyed the article, learned something, and can take it with you to start using your metabolism to your advantage.

If you have any further questions leave them below, or feel free to reach out to me at coacheric@ericrobertsfitness.com.

If you are interested in seeing if we are possibly a good fit for coaching together, head to the link HERE!

Talk soon.

-E.

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ERF 029: Cheat Meals, Diet Breaks, Re Feeds, Sustainable Eating

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It is not about sprinting to the finish line, then “maintaining” after that.

When have you ever seen someone do an all out sprint, then just maintain after that… They are damn tired and exhausted. Why do you think dieting Is any different?

Honestly, chances are, if you need a “cheat day”, your diet is too restrictive to stick to long term anyway. 

Listen, A. you should be able to work your certain foods into your diet plan. 

B. Diet breaks and or refeeds can and SHOULD be used within a fat loss plan. 

Why? Because that is what sustainability is. You are not going to diet for the rest of your life are you (at least I hope not)? 

They can help lead to long term SUSTAINABLE ways to eat healthy. 

Give the podcast a listen, and if you need help with your plan, feel free to reach out to me, would be happy to help. 

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ERF Q&A 027: Frustrated With Your Lack Of Progress? A Troubleshooting Plan

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You are putting in a TON of effort. 

You think you are doing everything right.

Eating “healthy” (whatever that means?), working out 3-4x a week.

And just not seeing the results you want?

Well, one of many things could be going on. 

You may need a new plan..

But for 99% of you, you need to ensure you are actually following your current plan.

And when I say following, I mean like on the weekends too. 

And those bites here and there you eat off your kids plate.

Not following your plan with 90% or more consistency, and being frustrated with progress, is just not a real thing.

Whether that is calorie counting, or exercising, it is often the extra 5-10% that people think don’t matter.

That extra 5-10% effort, weighing foods out, doing one more rep when it gets heavy, tracking the weekends, makes the difference.

And from there, you will see you don’t need a new plan.

You need to figure out where you are going wrong, and nail that extra 5-10%.

Brand new YouTube video is out now on how to troubleshoot your own progress, especially if you are not seeing the results you want.

And please, don’t hesitate to reach out to me for help or advice, I would love to help however I possibly can.

 

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How To Lose Fat By Counting Calories

 

Have you tried different fad diets, lost 5 10 15 lbs, but not ever been able to really stick to anything?

Maybe you tried keto, or cut out sugar, but after 2 weeks you’re like F I WANT A COOKIE. You “break” and realize this isn’t going to work for you, so you fall back to your old ways.

Well, I have a simple solution for you.. Start counting your calories.

Every single thing you eat, drink, put on top of your cheeseburger, all of it has calories.

And, when it comes to fat loss, calories ALWAYS count.. So why not count them?

Dive in with me, let’s go over not how to diet, but how to eat for the rest of your life.

 

Before We Get Any Farther..

I believe in educating you so you can learn and understand, rather than following a plan blindly.

This has been shown to increase long term adherence in my online coaching clients.

This cannot be said loudly enough, THE ONLY WAY TO LOSE FAT IS TO BE IN A CALORIE DEFICIT.

There is simply NO other way around that. I don’t care if you eat sugar, eat carbs, do keto, do intermittent fasting..

The only way to lose fat, in this universe at least, is to be in a calorie deficit. That simply means taking in LESS calories than your body burns out.

Every diet out there has this one single purpose in mind.. most just end up being not very sustainable.

This article is not going to tell how you can’t eat pizza, cookies, or pasta.. Rather how can you do that, and still see fat loss progress?

And no, I am not saying you can eat pizza, cookies, and pasta all day everyday and lose weight.. Though, if you are in a calorie deficit, you could ;).

Where & How To Count Calories

As I am sure you know, as you are probably reading this off your phone right now, technology is one hell of a drug.

But, you can use this drug for good use.

As far as where and how to track, there a few ways.

The first would be to just go old school pen and paper. This can work for some people, if you are a math wizard, because it will require a lot of math throughout the day.

And if you are caveman.

The second option would be to use your smartphone device, you know that thing everyone is on all day long, to let one of the many apps do this for you.

Some are labeled below.

  1. My Fitness Pal – This is the one I use personally for myself and my online coaching clients. It is very easy to use, it has millions of food in its data base, you can scan foods you eat and put them right in. You can also add friends to see their diary or vice versa, this works very well if you are doing it with a friend for accountability or working with a coach.

           2. Lose It!

            3. Fitbit

There are millions out there, I just label the top 3 I see used very often.

It is less about picking the right one, more about just getting started using them.

Calorie counting is a task within itself, so just getting started using one of these apps is a great first step.

Once you get whatever app you choose downloaded and get familiar with it, now is time to actually track.

I CANNOT UNDERESTIMATE THIS ENOUGH, THIS IS WHERE PEOPLE GO WRONG.

You would think, well what is so hard about it now?

When you start to count your calories, and track your food…. You have to do just that!

Meaning, if you have a ham and cheese sandwich, you have to put in all the ingredients of that ham and cheese sandwich.

Let’s use that for example.

If you just type into the app, “Ham and Cheese Sandwich”, the calories comes out to 250.

Now, let’s look at what you actually ate on that ham and cheese sandwich, including the 2 slices of white break, 4 oz of ham deli meat, 1 slice of Swiss cheese, and a serving of mayo.

Look at how the calories almost DOUBLED, at 493.

This is HUGE, because if you think you are tracking everything correctly, you end up following the guidelines I lay out later in this article, and you aren’t seeing results, you are going to get frustrated.

You will think it is not working.

When in reality, as you can see, you MUST track accurately if you want to get results.

You may think you are eating 1200 calories everyday… But if you were accurately tracking, you would see you are eating 1800, and THAT is why you are not losing weight.

Because it all comes down to a calorie deficit, right? ;).

And yes, I know this can be tedious at times, but I promise you, it will be worth it.

You will LEARN what 4oz of ham looks like.

You will LEARN how many calories 1 slice of Swiss cheese has.

You will get educated on so many things.. and if you remember from the beginning, what leads to long term success / adherence?

Education.

How Many Calories Should You Shoot For?

So, know that you have where to track your calories, you have gotten used to doing it, and you KNOW you have to track EVERYTHING ACCURATELY..

Let’s get into the fun stuff.

It would be good to know what to shoot for now, right?

Let’s talk calorie equations for if you want to lose fat.

 

WEIGHT LOSS EQUATION – Bodyweight x 8-12 = Calorie Limit For The Day

 

So say your body weight is 150, you can do 150 x 10 = 1500 calories. 

All of this can be VERY dependent on YOU.

YOUR activity level, YOUR previous history, YOUR relationship with food, to name one of many.

BUT, it is not the point to be perfect here. The point is, pick a number, and go with it.

Do it for 2, 4, 6 weeks straight. 100% during that time, and track your results.

If you do this, I PROMISE you will see results. Then from there, you will be able to made adjustments if need be.

But please, just start something.

** FOR FAT LOSS IN PARTICULAR, LISTEN UP**.

So, I know most of you looking at this equation will automatically jump to the body weight x 8 to achieve your desired calorie number for the day, because it will give you lower calories.

Please, please, let me make you aware.

This is NOT about losing weight as fast as possible. If that is the reason you are here, I am sorry for wasting your time, and you may as well leave now.

Will that equation make you “lose weight faster”, maybe.

BUT, think about this.

If you pick this, and it gives you a amount YOU cannot sustainably adhere to, and causes you to binge, over eat, have negative hormonal responses..

Then is it really worth the perceived “increase rate of fat loss”?

When really, you won’t be making much fat loss progress at all because the deficit will be so aggressive that you will not be able to sustain it.

I am not saying don’t try it, I am saying if you do, be aware, work in periods where you can have more calories, and always think big picture.

Consistency, Not Perfection

I cannot say enough about consistency during this, or any fitness journey.

I can give you the perfect plan, perfect number of calories, everything.. But, if you don’t follow it consistently, none of it will matter.

I am not asking you to only eat chicken and broccoli. Not asking you to cut out your favorite foods.

What I am asking you to do is stick to track your calories, stick to a calorie number no matter what, and from there you will see results.

You can have cookies. You can have pizza. Nothing is “off limits”, as long as you can stick to your calories, you WILL see results.

Now, should protein be prioritized? Should you be getting a good amount of veggies and fruits to maintain hunger and micro nutrients? Yes of course.

But that is a different article for a different day (reach out if you want me to cover that!).

For the purpose of this, just know that consistency trumps perfection.

And that means, weekends, holidays, travel, all of that counts too.

I cannot tell you how many people track PERFECT Monday – Friday morning…. Then Friday night – Sunday, they act like a blindfold is on and it doesn’t count.

Saturday night means the same as Tuesday night.

Friday night means the same as Thursday morning.

It all counts towards your progress.

 

 

You can be perfect Mon – Fri, hit your calories, but if you on Friday Saturday Sunday eat 3000 calories, when you are only supposed to eat 1500.. You won’t lose fat.

Because by the end of the week, you WON’T be in a calorie deficit.

You will have effectively gone into a maintenance, or surplus, by your actions on the weekend.

Weekends count, travel counts, birthday, all of it.

And that is not to say you can’t have birthday cake on your sons birthday, you can certainly do that.

But, just know that if it comes a point you think you are being perfect but not seeing progress, check these trouble spots out first.

Because I can tell you first hand as a coach, this WILL happen to you at some point. And you will be ready to conquer them hopefully, after reading this article.

Ready To Take On Your Goals?

Hopefully by now, you are confident that you can take on your fat loss goals.

Listen, fat loss is hard. It takes time, effort, consistency, all of it.

BUT, it does not have to be complicated.

All it comes down to is if you are in a calorie deficit or not. If you are, you will lose weight. If you are not, you will not lose weight.

Simple. NOT easy, but simple.

And that is why I am such a huge believer in calorie counting, because it can give you the most accurate way to track what you are doing.

It gives you a plan, it gives you the most optimal way to reach your fat loss goals.

Because remember, you don’t HAVE to count calories, but calories ALWAYS count.

If you have any questions about your specific situation, feel free to reach out to me via email @ coacheric@ericrobertsfitness.com, and I would love to help you out.

If you are interested in coaching with me, click HERE to fill out the form to see if we would be a good fit together!!

Talk soon. -E.

Posted on

ERF 028: How To Make Promises To Yourself, And Keep Them

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“I’m going to exercise 3-4x a week”.

“I’m going to stick to my diet this time”.

Ever said these before, maybe along with some other things?

It is one thing to make a promise to yourself… It is another to keep it. 

The more you break promises to yourself, the less confident you are, the more self doubt you have, and the less your word means anything. 

If you want to know the secret to weight loss, or hitting any goal, it is to stop breaking the promises you make to yourself. 

This podcast I cover more in depth about breaking promises like the ones above, and what you can do TODAY to help get on a better track. 

Let me know what you think, what promises you break, and if you have any questions please feel free to reach out. Talk soon. -E.

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ERF Q&A 026: How To Make Dieting Suck Less

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How can you lose fat without it sucking so bad?

How to make dieting easier?

Hearing that initially makes me think you are looking to take the easy way out, but dieting can be tough.

During a diet you can get hungry, tired, overwhelmed, feel over restricted, to name a few.

But this doesn’t HAVE to be the case. There are plenty of ways you can reduce hunger, keep good energy, focus on things that matter, and still eat your favorite foods.

This podcast I go over all those things and more. Diet smarter, AND harder at the same time.. And see the best results possible. 

 

-E. 

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