If you’re newer to lifting, or perhaps just newer to lifting heavy – at some point you’ll wanna know just how long to see results from lifting.
Back in the day, it was easier to avoid the message that “lifting heavy changes your body, ” but lately it seems that most fit pros and enthusiasts have finally hopped on board. Whether you’ve decided to test the waters with Crossfit, finally hired a trainer, or simply do some workouts that you find on the internet: you’re lifting heavy, you’re loving it…and you’re not seeing these “miraculous” changes that everyone seems to be promoting. What.is.the.deal?
Here’s eight reasons why you may not be seeing results yet:
You still aren’t lifting heavy enough
I’m sure this is insulting to most people reading this. I mean, of course you’re lifting heavy enough. It’s a heavy weight, and you feel the burn when you lift it. Every body part requires a different weight. So if you’re using only one or two weight sizes, for your entire body – then it’s not possibly heavy enough for every area. A dumbbell of 10-12 pounds may be excruciatingly heavy for your smaller muscle groups like rear delts, but most ladies can lift much more than that for a back, chest, or leg movement. If you’re able to go beyond 12 reps on most exercises, it’s probably time to increase your weight.
Don’t think that you hard-core-iron-heads are exempt from this one. Sometimes, vets, we can be just as likely to get comfy with a certain weight. Are you’re cranking out 25lb dumbbell rows, just because it seems heavy enough for your 10-12 rep range? Or because it’s the highest weight available? Could you possibly go up to 30 or 35? Who cares if you can only make it to six to eight reps before you fail? Accept the challenge — if you can do it with good form — and work your way back up to 10 reps. If you can’t make such a huge jump, add some weighted gloves and increase by only two to four pounds at a time rather than the entire five. Either way, find your max for that number of reps, and then push past it. The only way to continue to see changes is to continually challenge yourself.
You’re basing your “results” judgement on a scale number
We’ll often hear from ladies who are lifting and aiming for fat loss say things like “I must be doing something wrong…I should have lost ‘X’ pounds/dress sizes by now”
Ummm…Says who??? ;) How do we determine how many sizes we should be up or down within a year? I pray not by the same industry standards that tell us to “eat-less-than-you-need-to-support-your-body-in-a-comatose-state” for weight loss?
Sure…there will always be tweaks that you’ll want to make, but if your butt looks freakin amazing – take a moment to accept that, rather than be overly concerned about the number on the scale OR inside of your jeans.
Too many of us are still being held captive by our scale weight…or some other tracking method that doesn’t take into account the type of changes that are happening. Case in point: my pant size can vary from a size two to TEN in about 60 seconds (yet look just as lean in either size). How is this possible? My butt has seriously gotten so high that it ranges from one extreme to the other, based on the rise (and brand) of the jeans. If your body shape is changing, maybe it’s time to switch brand manufacturers. It sucks, but sometimes must be done. Trust me, you will see how great you look in clothes that fit. Every fashion book/expert on the market (that’s worth a darn) will tell you to stop giving two hoots about sizes. This is because no matter how small you are, sizes will vary — per person — in fit. FIT is everything.
Confession time: The other day, I went out in frustration over all my older, lower rise jeans that weren’t fitting. Taking my own redundant advice — I bit the bullet and bought the exact same jeans in LARGER sizes to make sure they fit over my butt. Listen…the size was WAY larger…would you know I had FIVE people tell me I need to STOP losing weight when I was wearing those jeans?! I have gained over 10 lbs (apparently all in the bootay)!! But wearing jeans that FIT ME (note…did not say jeans that “I fit” into to) FIT, baby. Get clothes that fit, forget the rest. By the time you can squeeze into jeans from over a year ago, they’re probably outdated anyway :P
You’re retaining water
Yeah, yeah…we’re all tired of this excuse. But let’s face it. If you’re lifting, you’re retaining water. Sometimes LOTS of water. The more you lift, the more water you’ll retain. If you’re doing tons of HIIT, then consider it the cherry on top of your water-retention-sundae. Until your body gets familiar with the workout, when you start retaining a bit less. But then you change it again. And retain more water. It’s an ugly cycle. But not really. It is what it is. Ladies, we really have to get over this whole “water weight” thing. The more muscle mass you build, the more water you’ll begin to retain at all times. This really isn’t such a bad thing, but rather a sign that things are going well…as you’ll see here. But this does mean that you’ll have to give those scale dreams a rest, and focus on all the goodness and shifting that’s happening with your body. When it comes to lifting, things will occasionally appear to get worse before they get better. I just consider it the “labor pains” of muscle delivery — a tad “painful” when it’s happening, but most of us wouldn’t trade that muscle baby for the world once it arrives. ;)
Side note: If you’re totally convinced/upset/depressed that your pants are getting tighter, perhaps you need to cut down on low rep squatting for a while? Work your lower rep squatting in in phases, so that you still get the muscle building benefits, but aren’t constantly retaining water. But, if you adore your 5×5 deadlifts or what have you, just accept that you may be retaining some serious water…and invest in jeggings.
You’re not doing compound movements
If you’re not seeing major body changes, it could be for lack of major body movements. If you’re hitting the gym and only concentrating on biceps, triceps, and abs, you’re putting a major ceiling on your results. Compound movements are the basis of most effective routines for a reason. They work in the actual way that your body works, strengthening your joints and tendons (in addition to your muscles), working multiple muscle groups at once, and burning more calories overall than an isolated move hitting the same muscle group would. Obviously, there’s a time and place for everything, including isolated moves, but generally the newer you are, the more compound moves should be in your routine for best results.
You’re not hitting the entire body enough times per week
As with compound moves, newbies should be doing more routines that involve the entire body, rather than just hitting one to two body-parts per week. The traditional splits that are seen in the bodybuilding community work extremely effectively…for veteran bodybuilders. If you are still in your first year or two of strength training, you would benefit from mainly full body splits. Not only do these types of workouts get the heart rate up higher, they also produce faster results. Generally speaking, the less amount of time you’ve been lifting, the more often you can work that body-part per week. A typical newbie routine could consist of up to 3 total body workouts per week, or 2 upper, 2 lower (alternating). The opposite often holds true for vet lifters who need more rest per part — hitting the body part hard, with higher volume, 1-2xs/week, max is optimal and prevent over-training.
You’re comparing your results to someone else’s
Try not to compare yourself to anyone else. If you feel the need to look around for an ideal body goal to shoot for, make sure that it aligns with YOUR genetics, time, interest, and drive. Most importantly, note their starting point. There’s no point in shooting to look like a pro figure competitor, when you don’t have the inclination or desire to put in the time that they do. There’s also no use comparing yourself to someone who has taken over a decade to attain their body, and bashing yourself for not accomplishing similar results in your first year of lifting. Hint: most women you see in fitness magazines, Instagram, or the internet — with any amount of muscle “tone” — have put in years of serious training and eating (and/or have been photoshopped…but I digress). Keep it real, and be the best that you can be. If you have a hard time discerning your best one year progress from someone else’sfive year progress – then you may need to get up close and personal with your “unfollow” or “unsubscribe” button. Don’t keep images, magazines, or Facebook “friends” around that make you feel that you’re accomplishing nothing. Surround yourself with pictures of yourself, and compare new pictures of yourself to the ones from the beginning of this journey. (But please don’t compare pics of your 40 year old self to pics of your 15 year old self…that’s just plain freaky)
You’re not being consistent
Love it or hate it, without consistency, none of this will ever come together. If someone lifts, gets frustrated because the results aren’t coming fast enough, and then goes back to cardio madness, they will be convinced that nothing is working. Repeatedly lowering cals in a muscle building phase, or under-cutting rest periods in a strength phase, or only sticking to a workout for a couple of weeks before switching “back” is a recipe for disaster. Trust the process. As mentioned previously, most lifters with ultra defined musculature took years, upon years, upon Y.E.A.R.S. to develop. Getting frustrated because you don’t look like a person on a magazine/DVD cover, your personal trainer, or (fill-in-the-blank) WFBB Pro, after completing a 4-12 week program will not make the process go any faster. In fact, it makes take wayyyy longer. Think of your journey as a college degree, every time you “change your major” you tack on time to your journey. If you plan on seeing some impressive results, you’ve gotta buckle down, make the decision, and stick.with.it. Constantly doubting, and thinking that things aren’t working — creates the exact environment you’re expecting.
You’re not being realistic or patient…enough
It’s really hard to put your lifting progress on a timetable. Especially in the first year or so of lifting when you’re getting the most coveted results of any lifter: newbie gains. losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time. It will never again happen in your lifetime of lifting, but it can’t be measured by typical dieting methods of measurement. You may sit still with your weight or go through “clothes getting tighter” phases for the entire first year, but let me tell you…the progress that is happening is UNreal, and will blow.your.mind. It’s just sad that so many of us come from a dieting standpoint and expect things to be so perfectly linear, that we never see results of all the hard work we put in come to fruition. We get scared, run back to “old” methods, and then when those methods “appear” to be working – we assume that it’s because we went back to the old stuff (cardio/circuits/super restrictive eating/starving), not actually understanding that it’s results of lifting that were there all along. So then we keep doing the old stuff, thinking that it will only get better, only eventually undo the results, and put ourselves back at square one.
Vets: how long did/has it taken you to see results? Any tips for a newbie or frustrated lifter that’s just not seeing the results they want?
In part 1 of this series we reviewed the basics of macronutrients and why each one plays an important role in your diet. While it’s important to understand what macronutrients are and how they function in your body, what most of us want to know is how to turn that into practical information we can use in our daily lives.
An approach often recommended and used by the EM2WL coaches is eating based on your body type. As with most things related to fitness, every body is unique and finding what works for you and your lifestyle takes some trial and observation. Two people with the same body type may have different diet histories, different external stressors, hormonal imbalances, etc. which may impact results even when eating the same diet. That being said, eating for your body type takes into account metabolic differences based on physical attributes and can guide you with your diet choices.
A somatotype, or body type as it is most commonly referred to, is a method of categorizing people based on their physique into one of three groups – endomorph, mesomorph, and ectomorph. It is believed that people with similar physiques share other characteristics, such as metabolism, which can inform one’s nutrition. Thus, determining your body type gives you a starting point with your macronutrient breakdown.
Ectomorph
Carbs, carbs, carbs!
Ectomorphs are naturally thin with smaller bone structures. Their metabolic rate is fast and they tolerate carbs well. You may think that having an ectomorph body type is like hitting the physique lottery, but it comes with its own set of challenges including being able to increase muscle mass or put on weight. For that reason, ectomorphs are also known as hard gainers. Because ectomorphs tolerate carbs well, they are prioritize in their diet.
For ectos, a good starting point would be: Carbohydrates 55%, Protein: 25%, Fat: 20%
Ok, I have to admit that having an ectomorph body type is definitely like hitting the food lottery!!
Mesomorph
Mesomorphs have athletic builds (i.e. V shape) with a medium bone structure. They are testosterone and growth hormone dominant which typically translates to more lean mass and lower body fat when active. Mesomorphs are generally able to eat what they want without encountering too many issues. They also aren’t too challenged when it comes to putting on or taking off weight.
Like ectomorphs, carbs are tolerated fairly well and play a starring role in a mesomorph meal plan: Carbohydrates 40%, Protein: 30%, Fat: 30%
Endomorph
Endomorphs have the largest bone structure and tend to carry more body fat as well as muscle mass. They tend to have pear shapes, gain weight easily and are often challenged when trying to lose weight. Endomorphs fair best with more fat and protein in their diet with carb intake kept at a moderate level and arranged around their activity.
If you’re wondering into which category your body falls or thinking that you could be categorized in more than one category, you’re probably right. Most people do in fact show characteristics of more than one body type.
Trying to fit perfectly into one category is not the goal here. Rather decide which category you feel you fit best in, choose the appropriate macro breakdown and adjust from there. Undoubtedly many (primarily women) will try to fit into the endomorph category. Even classic ectomorphs will readily identify as an endomorph when trying to lose weight. However, I caution you NOT to immediately assume that your body type is endomorph simply because you are carrying “extra” body fat.
To help determine your body type, have a spouse or friend take a picture of you and compare the pic to the body type images (pictures are more objective than mirrors). You might be surprised to find which category you best align with.
Regardless of which category you best identify with, be sure to allow yourself sufficient time to evaluate how your body responds before making ANY changes. Then, once you feel you want to make an adjustment, start small and observe again. Over time you will determine what worked best for you and what didn’t.
Do you often feel like you’re totally on point with your exercise and eating, then step on the scale and lose all hope and encouragement? Yeah…I’m talking to you…you, who may have just thought — 5 minutes before weighing — “dang I look pretty darn good! Then a number on the scale rocked your world, ruined your day, and you suddenly noticed how “fat” you were. This is the difference in weight loss vs fat loss.
Human beings (especially us, ladies!) tend to seek perfection in imperfect objects, so it’s easy to form an unhealthy relationship with the scale. Whether we befriended our first scale as young girls or later in life, it’s no secret that it’s a love/hate relationship. We get so caught up in pursuing perfect, linear progress from the little digital god, that we lose sight of the big picture.
For many of us, our journey may even take a nosedive due to a number that we didn’t like popping up on the screen of a scale. (We see the number, decide it’s not worth it, because nothing will “ever” work, and we quit – mentally or physically.)
Well, it’s time to relinquish the power this piece of equipment has harnessed on the “dieting” community (women AND men) for far too long.
By weighing ourselves, we tend to think we can gauge the progress we have made – true, to an extent. Weight fluctuates on a very regular basis due to a variety of things: hormonal changes (menstrual cycles), a big meal, water retention, sodium intake, etc. Because of this, using a scale isn’t necessarily the truest way to define progress. So what are some ways you can be sure you are moving in the right direction despite what your scale says?
Clothes Test: Have a favorite pair of pants or a dress that you just love but have to squeeze into? Try it on once a month and notice the difference in the fit! (Caution here: if the jeans are low rise and seem to fit worse, take note of whether it’s just because your bootay simply needs a higher rise for a similar look — see below)
Inches, Not Pounds: If you’re a numbers person and must have a measurement of some sort to track, start measuring inches (waist, chest, etc.). Oftentimes we gain muscle and lose fat (aka inches) and as a result, the scale says “no” but the measuring tape says “yes!” Take that lower measure on the tape with as much/more certainty as you would it’s digital (evil) cousin.
Cheri knows that pics measure true progress. Check out her story!
Pictures: You should be taking pics every 4-6 weeks anyway, and here’s when it matters. If your fave pants suddenly seem harder to zip, or measurements seem askew, snap a few pics in your fitted yoga pants or workout capris. Using a collage app, compare side-by-side shots both showing the tighter-clothes-fitting area. If the most recent shot proves that things have shifted (in the awesome way that they tend to with weight lifting), then you’re doing great! Go out and celebrate by buying yourself an amazing new pair of mid-rise jeans in your usual size — don’t worry, they won’t be “mom jeans” because your higher butt will give them the same low-look. Or, grab a pair of the exact same jeans in a size up — again, no worries, you’ll still LOOK smaller (rather than like a stuffed sausage – which only makes you look BIGGER). Fit is everything!
Increased Strength: Are you able to do sets of leg extensions at a weight you never touched before? How about a higher weight for dumbbell bicep curls? Pushups on your toes? Hello, this is great progress!!
There are obviously tons more NSVs (non-scale victories) that you could use to judge progress, and we highly recommend searching for and recognizing them as diligently as you do “weight” loss. It’s important to understand why the scale sometimes goes up when in fact we are becoming healthier and losing body fat (progressing!). Our bodies are composed of fat and muscle. Chances are you’ve heard the saying that muscle weighs more than fat. This is in fact not true. Five pounds of muscle weighs as much as five pounds of fat, but it just takes up less space! When you’re lifting weights and building muscle, you’ll notice your body becoming tight or “toned.” This is the result of increased muscle mass as part of your body composition.
The more muscle our bodies have, the more calories we burn at rest. The more muscle mass, the tighter the physique (think lean and toned!). Take it from this 5’2, 140 lb woman who once thought the world would crumble at any weight over 112lbs! A 140 lb strong, weightlifting woman looks much different than a 140 lb woman who doesn’t lift at all! If you were to look at both of these women, throw out scales, and guess their weights, you would have no clue they weighed the same. This is a prime example of why the scale isn’t a be-all and end-all for progress!
I thought I’d die last year when I gained 10lbs! Click the pic to read my journal woes.
If you’re gaining muscle, the scale may say you’re gaining “weight.” But appreciate that it’s good weight! By recognizing the way your body changes as you exercise, strength train, and eat healthily and mindfully, you’ll slowly be able to break the chains the scale once bound you by!
(SN: If you know that you can’t mentally take seeing the various fluctuations, go on a scale fast! Do what you need to do to save your sanity, and keep it moving)
How do you judge progress? What are some of the best NSVs you’ve experienced along this journey?
Planning ahead can be a critical piece of the puzzle in seeing the results you desire and progressing towards your fitness goals. In the beginning stages, it can feel pretty overwhelming and stressful to get all the pieces in the right place. Don’t let it overwhelm you! “Winging it” is usually a recipe for inconsistency. When life gets busy, it’s second nature to resort back to whatever habits come naturally. The key is to “trick” yourself into building new healthy habits. Coming up with a system that works is going to be a very individualized process, but once you discover what works for you, its easy to include some basic routines that help you remain consistent and on-plan.
1. Be specific about your fitness goals.
Know what you want and what you are expecting out of a lifestyle change. Simply saying that you want to “get in shape,” “be fit,” “look better,” or “feel better” is not enough! Is your main fitness goal to get stronger, improve athletic performance, lose fat, or gain muscle? Start there, but take it a step further by narrowing those goals down a bit more. Maybe you want to run your first 5k, add 20 pounds to your squat, lose 5% body fat, or gain 5 pounds of muscle. Narrowing down those goals will help you determine what type of nutrition and training program you need to stick to. Understand that some goals might be hard to attain at the same time, and usually one goal will need to take priority over another. For example, it can be very difficult to gain strength while losing fat. Decide which goals are your first priority and plan accordingly.
Disclaimer: For the first year or two, pretty much anything you do will get you results, so keep it simple and enjoy those newbie gains while they last.
2. Tackle your nutrition head-on
It’s been said that success boils down to 80% nutrition, and 20% training. Other people will tell you that you “can’t out-train a bad diet.” It could be argued also that you can’t out-diet bad training, but you get the idea. Nutrition is a critical component, if not THE critical component in seeing the results that you want. If your nutrition is not on point, it is pretty much useless to add in supplements, metabolic conditioning, finishers, or the latest strength training plan that you found on the internet. Contrary to what you may have heard, eating less and moving more is not always the answer. Undereating can cause more harm than good long-term, resulting in metabolic problems that make it more difficult to lose weight. Eating enough of the right nutrients is a big piece of the puzzle. Balancing a sound nutrition plan with heavy resistance training is a surefire way to look and feel your best for years to come!
3. Stay one step ahead with meal planning
Given that nutrition is such a key part of the puzzle, it is wise to plan ahead to succeed. Generally “winging it” in the nutrition department leads to inconsistency and frustration. In the beginning stages, it can feel downright stressful to think about eating “all that food”. Don’t get overwhelmed! A little organization and forethought goes a long way in this department.
Coming up with a few meal templates in your food diary can be incredibly helpful. Choose at least 3 go-to breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks and store them in your nutrition tracker of choice (We’re fond of My Fitness Pal!). Keep it simple, and make sure that you have staples for these meals on hand most of the time. This puts you at a huge advantage when you just can’t imagine adding one more thing to your plate.
Try to limit your trips to the grocery store to once a week, with maybe a larger trip to a warehouse store (like Costco or Sam’s club). The night before you do your grocery shopping, take inventory of your fridge and cupboards and come up with a loose structure for weekly meals. I like to come up with six meals to serve my family, assuming that one night a week we will either do leftovers, order pizza, or go out to eat. I post these meals on a dry-erase board on the refrigerator and when asking, “What should I make for dinner?,” the choices are pretty simple. After coming up with my list of meals, I make sure I either have the ingredients already or add them to my grocery list.
Devote one day to food prep. This doesn’t mean you need to spend all day in the kitchen, but do make up some lean protein sources and store them in a way that is convenient for you. Make up some rice, quinoa, or potatoes and chop your veggies and fruits for the week. This will seriously cut down on the amount of time you spend in the kitchen and if you work outside the home can be a huge time-saver when it comes time to pack your lunch. Think about using the grill for preparing your protein sources. You can generally get away with cooking up a lot of meat in a very short amount of time, with minimal clean up. Investing in a rice cooker or a good slow cooker might make these ideas easier as well! I prefer to do my food prep days on the days I do grocery shopping because it seems to make sense for me. I’m usually able to get quite a bit done in only an hour or two, and this saves me a ton of time in the kitchen throughout the week!
4. Make a date with yourself
Once you have your nutrition in place, commit to making time to exercise. This does not mean that you need to spend hours in the gym! 30-60 minutes per day of an efficient workout can be very effective. If you have trouble getting to the gym, think about investing the help of a friend or workout partner who can keep you accountable. You’re unlikely to skip the gym if you know that you have someone depending on you! Write down your workout times in your calendar, or set up alerts on your smart phone to remind yourself to get moving. For best results, strength train 2-4 days per week and add on some cardio if you like it and it complements your fitness goals.
5. Set up your own support network
Having people in your life who are willing to support your goals can make a huge difference! Enlisting the support of your spouse or significant other is often very beneficial. Even if they don’t have the same set of goals as you do, share what you are trying to accomplish and a brief description of your plan moving forward. Be clear about ways they can support you and examples of things that may be a hindrance to your fitness journey. They are likely to be your biggest cheerleader and encourager! Who knows, they may even decide it wouldn’t hurt them to make a few changes in their own life! Apart from your spouse, you may find there are others in your life that want to join with you on your fitness journey. Maybe there is someone at your workplace who could use a little encouragement and accountability as well. Take your headphones out occasionally while you are at the gym and get to know those who work out at the same time you do. Meet a friend for a weekly HIIT date in the park. Having a training partner to bounce ideas off of can be an invaluable resource, but isn’t always practical.
Our EM2WL forums are a great source of support and friendship as well.
Photo credit by Stuart Miles, LeeGillion, Ambro of freedigitalphotos.net
Becca is a busy wife and homeschooling mother to five children ages 5 to 13. About three years ago, she embarked on a journey to health and fitness that resulted in the loss of approximately 100 pounds. Today, she is a competitive powerlifter and strongwoman who loves ice cream and deadlifts. As an ISSA certified personal trainer, she is passionate about helping women to get started on a lifestyle of strength and fitness.
If you listen to the media, fat loss can sound pretty complicated. High carb, low carb, nutrient timing, intermittent fasting, carb cycling, ketogenic diets, carb backloading, juicing, green smoothies, magical supplements…
It can be challenging to keep a level head and avoid all the latest trends, wondering if a tweak (or two) might be a way to break out of a plateau or to get better results. There are definitely times to include a tweak, but generally speaking, its best that you save these for times that you really need them.
So how do you know if its time to include a tweak?
At EM2WL, we encourage you to take a very no-nonsense, simplified approach to fat loss with minimal rules. Instead of spinning your wheels to figure out which diet is best — take a moment to strip away the “nonsense” from various diet plans that are often just minute variations on the basics. There are a few best practices that we believe to be critical to your success. It’s best to make sure that these elements are firmly in place before tweaking anything.
Think about building a successful fat loss program like building a house. When building a house, you wouldn’t want to try putting up walls before the basic foundation has been laid. Without a firm foundation to build upon, everything else is pretty useless.
What makes up the foundation of a successful fat loss program? We believe there are four key components that are critical to have well established before incorporating any other “tweaks.” We recommend looking over your current fat loss plan and evaluating whether you have a good handle on the following four elements before making any additional changes. How do you measure up?
1. Sufficient calorie intake
If you’ve been following EM2WL for some time, you know that we firmly believe that eating enough is a key component of a successful fat loss plan. The standard “eat less, exercise more” model of weight loss can lead to more muscle than fat loss, lowering your metabolic rate over the long term. Without eating enough calories, you run the risk of causing metabolic damage which does more harm than good. If you’ve been dieting for a very long time and are not seeing the results that you desire, it is very likely that you would benefit from doing a metabolic reset. If you are still struggling to get in an appropriate number of calories daily, it is highly recommended that you become consistent there before incorporating any additional changes. If you’re curious about how many calories is considered sufficient, check out our calorie calculator.
2. Protein
Not only do most women typically not take in enough calories, but tend to be lacking in the protein department as well. This macronutrient can be one of your biggest weapons in winning the fat loss game! Generally, we recommend taking in about 0.8 to 1.0 grams of protein per pound of body weight. A number of studies have shown numerous benefits to high-protein diets. Since protein takes longer for the body to break down and digest, it promotes a feeling of fullness, making it easier for you to stick to your plan. Protein also is essential in sustaining your lean mass, helping you to recover from workouts, and maintaining healthy skin, nails and organs. Protein also has been reported to improve brain function, lower blood pressure and improve sleep quantity.
It can be very challenging to get in all that protein! Give yourself time to get acclimated to a higher protein diet by setting reasonable goals and increasing them weekly. For instance, if your goal is to eat 150 grams of protein, but you’re currently averaging around 75 grams daily, you might start by trying to get in just 100 grams daily and increase slowly. Divide your protein among your meals, and it will likely seem a bit more manageable. Focus on making sure to hit your protein target daily, and then allocate the remaining calories to carbohydrates and fats.
3. Fiber
Most Americans only average about 15 grams of fiber daily, while most people should be taking in anywhere from 20 to 30 grams of fiber daily. Foods high in fiber are more filling and generally take longer to eat than foods low in fiber. They are a great way to “stretch out” your meals, thereby eating a high volume of food without adding many calories. In addition, including fiber in your diet will slow the digestion of carbohydrates and absorption of sugars, keeping blood sugar stable. High fiber foods also promote digestive health and prevent problems like constipation, hemorrhoids, IBS, and other digestive complaints. High fiber diets also promote heart health by moving fats and bile salts out of the body, lowering cholesterol in the process.
Tip: Yummy snacks like Quest Bars can provide 20g of protein, and 17g of fiber per serving. They can be helpful to reach your goals in a pinch, or if you’re newer to tracking these macros, but be sure to try getting as much protein and fiber from whole food sources as possible.
4. Heavy Resistance Training
Heavy resistance training should be a key component of any fitness program whose goal is fat loss. Heavy resistance training has a number of metabolic benefits that will pay off in the fat loss department. Unlike cardio, the metabolic benefits of this type of training last for 24-48 hours after completing your workout as your body must work harder to rebuild its oxygen stores. This effect, commonly referred to as the afterburn effect or EPOC (post-exercise oxygen consumption) has a number of metabolic and athletic benefits that will improve your body composition as well as your gym performance! If you don’t know where to start, there are a number of strength training programs to get you started on your journey to a leaner, stronger, healthier you!
If your current fitness program does not currently involve heavy resistance training at least 2-3 times a week, it is highly recommended that you start here before adding in cardio or other forms of exercise to accomplish your goals. You will be amazed at the way your body transforms when you consistently hit the weights!
DISCLAIMER: We know that many of our followers love running and other forms of cardio and we firmly believe that you should regularly engage in a form of exercise that you truly enjoy! However, there may be times to evaluate whether your preferred form of activity supports your goals.
The Take Away Message
If you feel that you have a good handle on these four elements, there is absolutely nothing wrong with making a small change or two to see how your body responds. We emphasize that it is usually best to change one thing at a time and give your body a chance to respond before changing another variable, however. As you make adaptations to your plan, you will want to make sure you are listening to your body! Pay attention to how you look and feel, how you are performing in the gym and your energy level any time you make a change. Often times, just a very small change can lead to some great results, but if you change too many things at once you will never know what that missing part of the puzzle was!
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Q: I’ve been lifting for about a year. I love my time at the bar, but I’m frustrated by my lack of progress! I see my training partner’s lifts going up consistently, but I can’t seem to push past plateaus! What am I doing wrong?
A: There are a number of possible explanations why you may have hit a plateau with your lifts. Be aware that almost everyone reaches a point where their lifts have stalled, but usually, when your lifts have stalled it is a good sign to look at your programming and determine if a small tweak or two could help.
It’s also important to remember that those new to lifting will make very quick progress regardless of what program they are following. After a few years of lifting however, it’s important to pay closer attention to the details.
Below are a few of the reasons why your lifting may have stalled.
1. Trying to lose fat (cals/carbs too low)
After you get past the stage of newbie gains, it is very difficult to gain strength while in a caloric deficit. You will probably find that you are able to consistently increase strength, gain muscle and lose fat (albeit very slowly) eating closer to your maintenance level calories. This isn’t to say that it can’t be done, but you will probably want to pay very close attention to nutrient timing, making sure to take in plenty of carbohydrates pre- and post-workout.
When trying to lose fat, many tend to view carbs as “optional.” However, if you are desiring to increase strength, cutting out carbs is not the wisest idea. Carbohydrates are your body’s preferred source of energy for intense workouts. Furthermore, when carbohydrates are adequate in the diet, it spares protein from being used for energy, and protein can do its job-build and repair muscle tissue.
When starting a cut, it’s best to decrease carbohydrates and calories very slowly, keeping an eye on your training and the way that you feel and tweaking things accordingly. If you are consistently feeling very run down and missing lifts in the gym, you may want to consider increasing your carbohydrates and possibly cutting back on the amount of fat that you are taking in.
Generally, slow-acting carbohydrates(sweet potatoes, whole grains, and low-glycemic fruits) are best consumed about 30 minutes to an hour prior to your strength training session. This will provide enough time for digestion so that you don’t go into your workout feeling overstuffed. Fast-acting carbohydrates (white potatoes or rice, foods high in sugar, or high-glycemic fruits) are best taken in during the hour after training.
Following an intense strength training session, your cells are depleted of both glucose and glycogen. Cortisol levels are also elevated. Fast-acting carbohydrates cause an increase in insulin levels, which in turn can cause greater muscle growth, when timed appropriately. When consumed, simple carbohydrates can be stored as glycogen, which is the primary source of muscle “fuel” during intense training sessions.
Post workout, elevated insulin levels allow muscle to better utilize stored glycogen for recovery and growth. This also helps cortisol levels to return to normal levels following an intense training session.
Don’t fear carbs, but learn how to use them to complement your training!
2. Too much emphasis on endurance activities
Another common mistake that strength trainers, especially women, make is of doing too many reps, too much cardio, and too many exercises that fatigue the smaller muscle groups. If your primary goal is to gain strength, you will want to keep your reps low and your weights high (3-5 reps at 80-85%1RM) on compound movements. Always do your compound movements (squat, bench, deadlift, rows, and presses) first, and use assistance work as needed to bring up weak points and provide an environment for hypertrophy. Assistance work should still be kept in the range of 8-12 reps for 3-5 sets. If you are able to do more than 12 reps, it is probably a good idea to increase the weight.
Cardio is a question that tends to come up frequently. A lot of women are okay with incorporating some strength training into their workout rotation, but panic at the thought of cutting back on or eliminating cardio. However, if your primary goal is to increase strength, too many endurance activities (i.e., steady-state cardio) can detract from the strength gains you are wanting to see.
If you still want to include some cardiovascular training into your workout rotation, the best scenario would be to add in some short (4-12 minute) metabolic finishers at the end of your strength training sessions. A metabolic finisher is an intense exercise or circuit of exercises designed to increase your body’s fat-burning potential by increasing the “afterburn effect” by increasing the number of calories burned as you recover from your workout. It speeds recovery by returning blood flow to the muscles and improving all-0ver conditioning and athleticism.
Good options for metabolic finishers include heavy kettlebell swings, tire flips, various forms of weighted carries, barbell complexes, sprints, prowler/sled work, and body weight exercises.
3. It’s all in your head
Sometimes, we are our own worst enemy to making progress. If you’re going for a PR, there should be no question in your mind that you will finish the lift. If you approach PR attempts with a fear of failing or a less than confident approach, chances are you will hinder any forward progress.
When you are going for a PR attempt, you must be completely confident as you approach the bar. Training with good spotters that you trust is crucial as you train with very heavy weights, especially as you go for lifts that are near 100% 1RM. There is a time and place for training to failure, but generally speaking, you will always want to end your training session successfully.
If you have any doubt in your mind that you won’t finish a lift, save it for another day.
4. Under- recovery between sets/training sessions
Another common mistake is failing to recover adequately, either in between sets or in between training sessions. It’s critical that the length of your rest periods lines up with your goals. Since it requires about 3 minutes for phosphagen stores to be replenished, 3 minute rest periods are probably most optimal if you are training for pure strength.
Full recovery will allow you to generate the most muscular power for each set, making each set as effective as possible. If you are training for pure strength, slow down in between sets, sip water, and get mentally refocused before beginning your next set.
Make sure that you are taking adequate time between training sessions to recover as well. A good rule of thumb is to take about 48 hours recovery in between intense training sessions. However, you can train opposing body parts on consecutive days (upper body on Monday, lower body Tuesday, rest Wednesday, upper body Thursday, lower body Friday). Make sure that your rest days are truly restful.
In addition, you will want to make sure that you are taking in plenty of high quality food, sleeping well, and keeping stress levels as low as possible to maximize your recovery time!
5. Attempting too much, too soon
It’s important to make sure that the strength goals that you have outlined for yourself are reasonable. Attempting to increase too much weight too soon will most likely result in injury, frustration, and breakdown in form.
Choose a solid, periodized program and determine to stick with it and trust the process! Training with sub-maximal weights will get you stronger over time. On a similar note, testing training maxes too often is extremely taxing on your CNS and will make recovery in between training sessions much more difficult. Focus instead on setting rep PRs, and leave training maxes to once every 4 weeks, at most.
Generally speaking, a reasonable expectation would be to see lower body lifts increase by about 10-20 pounds and upper body lifts increase by about 5-10 pounds over a 8-12 week period of time, provided you are being consistent in your training and paying attention to your nutrition. It may not seem like much, but over time, you will be amazed at your progress if you can learn to be patient with small strength gains.
6. Same old, same old
Our bodies are very good at making adaptations to the stressors that we place upon it. In order to continue to make progress, it is important to switch things up every once in awhile.
If you’re stuck at a strength plateau and have been following the same program or rep scheme for over 12 weeks, it is probably a good idea to switch things up. If you’re used to training in the 8-12 rep range, you may switch to a 5 x 5 for awhile and work on increasing your weights. If you’ve been training with heavy weights and low reps for awhile, you may benefit from an increase in volume. Varying your assistance work is an other great way to keep your body challenged!
However, a word of caution: make sure to change one or two things at a time and stick it out for a minimum of 8-12 weeks before changing another factor. It’s very important to make small changes and make careful notes about what is working. If you change too many things at once, you will never know what’s working!
7. Bad technique
Take the time to learn proper form, especially on the three big lifts (bench, squat, and deadlift). Always train to a full range of motion, and you will get the maximum benefit from each rep and set. If you are unsure about proper form on these lifts, you might benefit greatly from setting up an appointment to meet with a personal trainer, or watching instructional videos on Youtube. Start with the empty bar and be patient with yourself. Once you learn proper technique, it will become easier and easier to add weight to that bar and see the strength gains you desire!
Ummm…Says who??? ;) How do we determine how many sizes we should be up or down within a year? I pray not by the same industry standards that tell us to “eat-less-than-you-need-to-support-your-body-in-a-comatose-state” for weight loss?
Confession time: The other day, I went out in frustration over all my older, lower rise jeans that weren’t fitting. Taking my own redundant advice — I bit the bullet and bought the exact same jeans in LARGER sizes to make sure they fit over my butt. Listen…the size was WAY larger…would you know I had FIVE people tell me I need to STOP losing weight when I was wearing those jeans?! I have gained over 10 lbs (apparently all in the bootay)!! But wearing jeans that FIT ME (note…did not say jeans that “I fit” into to) FIT, baby. Get clothes that fit, forget the rest. By the time you can squeeze into jeans from over a year ago, they’re probably outdated anyway :P
You’re not doing compound movements
You’re comparing your results to someone else’s
Weight Loss vs Fat Loss
By weighing ourselves, we tend to think we can gauge the progress we have made – true, to an extent. Weight fluctuates on a very regular basis due to a variety of things: hormonal changes (menstrual cycles), a big meal, water retention, sodium intake, etc. Because of this, using a scale isn’t necessarily the truest way to define progress. So what are some ways you can be sure you are moving in the right direction despite what your scale says?
It’s been said that success boils down to 80% nutrition, and 20% training. Other people will tell you that you “can’t out-train a bad diet.” It could be argued also that you can’t out-diet bad training, but you get the idea. Nutrition is a critical component, if not THE critical component in seeing the results that you want. If your nutrition is not on point, it is pretty much useless to add in supplements, metabolic conditioning, finishers, or the latest strength training plan that you found on the internet. Contrary to what you may have heard, eating less and moving more is not always the answer. Undereating can cause more harm than good long-term, resulting in metabolic problems that make it more difficult to lose weight. Eating enough of the right nutrients is a big piece of the puzzle. Balancing a sound nutrition plan with heavy resistance training is a surefire way to look and feel your best for years to come!
Devote one day to food prep. This doesn’t mean you need to spend all day in the kitchen, but do make up some lean protein sources and store them in a way that is convenient for you. Make up some rice, quinoa, or potatoes and chop your veggies and fruits for the week. This will seriously cut down on the amount of time you spend in the kitchen and if you work outside the home can be a huge time-saver when it comes time to pack your lunch. Think about using the grill for preparing your protein sources. You can generally get away with cooking up a lot of meat in a very short amount of time, with minimal clean up. Investing in a rice cooker or a good slow cooker might make these ideas easier as well! I prefer to do my food prep days on the days I do grocery shopping because it seems to make sense for me. I’m usually able to get quite a bit done in only an hour or two, and this saves me a ton of time in the kitchen throughout the week!
Having people in your life who are willing to support your goals can make a huge difference! Enlisting the support of your spouse or significant other is often very beneficial. Even if they don’t have the same set of goals as you do, share what you are trying to accomplish and a brief description of your plan moving forward. Be clear about ways they can support you and examples of things that may be a hindrance to your fitness journey. They are likely to be your biggest cheerleader and encourager! Who knows, they may even decide it wouldn’t hurt them to make a few changes in their own life! Apart from your spouse, you may find there are others in your life that want to join with you on your fitness journey. Maybe there is someone at your workplace who could use a little encouragement and accountability as well. Take your headphones out occasionally while you are at the gym and get to know those who work out at the same time you do. Meet a friend for a weekly HIIT date in the park. Having a training partner to bounce ideas off of can be an invaluable resource, but isn’t always practical. 
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