Be A Mediator

Balls to the wall, no days off, I'll rest when I'm dead. We've all said things like this, or heard someone say it before.

But why?

Why do we feel like we shouldn't take any days off? Why do we feel like we have to give 110% effort every time when we go to the gym? Why do we feel like we have to give 110% 6 days/week, and only rest one? Why do we need 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight? WHY?!?!?!

Well, that's what we've been told. That's why.

The fitness industry kinda reminds me of school these days (just a heads up, don't read any further if you're easily offended). I'm not sure if you remember your school days and what they were like, but I'm willing to bet that it included a lot of doing things you didn't want to. It included a lot of things you were told would be useful in your life, and it included a lot of things that you found to be the exact opposite. It was probably an environment where the question "why?" was forbidden. Asking "why?" got you in trouble, so you just did what you were asked to do because, well, that's "just the way it is." I found the same thing to be true in my education, especially when I got to college. Believe it or not, I found college (a place of higher learning) to be one of the most dogmatic environments I have ever been in. Critical thinking wasn't encouraged. Challenging educators was absolutely forbidden. Professors weren't interested in truth, facts, observations, and findings. All they cared about was being right. Now, I obviously can't assume that everyone's experience was the same as mine, and it's not fair for me to say that all professors are like that, but I have seen that same thing play out in the education of current students. A student I know walked into her first class at her new college and the first thing that came out of the professor's mouth was "Here are 5 reasons that God doesn't exist and why it would be stupid to believe that he does."

Now, I'm not here to get into some sort of theological debate, I'm just using this as an example. The point I'm making here is that when we are taking in information in a educational setting, it is extremely rare that we have the opportunity to be a mediator. It's rare that we get to be challenged. It's rare that we have the opportunity to challenge already existing thought. It's just rare that we get to be a mediator. What I mean by saying that is that it's rare to have the opportunity to sit down, hear multiple viewpoints, assess and analyze facts, take in data, and come to a conclusion based on the provided information. It seems that if we want to have that experience in an educational setting, we need to go out of our way and create that for ourselves.

Believe me, I am NOT going to sit here and point fingers without looking back and confessing my own mistakes. When I first began my career as a fitness coach at 19, I did the same exact thing. I told people that they needed to eat 6 small meals a day in order to keep their metabolism running. I told people they needed to lift one body part per week in order to build muscle and burn fat. I told people that they needed a protein shake immediately after a workout or else their entire workout would go to waste. I was a dogmatic individual. I wanted to be right and I didn't want to be challenged, because my insecurities lead me to believe that not knowing was a sign of inferiority; a sign of stupidity.

I DIDN'T take the time to be a mediator.

As my obsession for health and fitness grew, I came to understand that growth and knowledge doesn't come from being right, it comes from a desire to find truth. Upon implementing that into my life more and more, I began to challenge what I had previously thought was right. Throughout that process, I found the fitness industry to be dogmatic, telling the masses that x, y, and z is right, so you should buy this product.

"Train one body part per week, because that's what the big guys on stage do. They also drink this pre-workout so you should, too."

"Drink our post-workout shake in order to reap all the benefits of your workout. If you don't, your workout will go to waste."

Statement after statement, I found most of what I thought to be true, to be a bunch of marketing gimmicks to try to get me on their side (to purchase their product).

Now, there's nothing wrong with trying to get someone to see what you believe because you believe it's true. Nothing wrong with that at all. But I will argue that it's wrong to use someone's insecurities to sway them into purchasing a product or buying into a concept, especially when you're not going to give them all of the information, and let them make a decision of their own.

So, maybe the fitness industry isn't too far off track, since they're providing some information.

But, they are.

Companies should be giving out information that is not biased, or dogmatic. Biased and dogmatic information shows that they care about their product more than they care about their customer.

I shouldn't have told people to eat 6 meals per day without looking into it. But, I was too concerned with wanting to be "right", and "an expert".

All of the blame can't fall on big companies trying to sell us stuff. We need to look in the mirror, too.

Whenever we're told something, I believe we shouldn't just accept it to be true for two reasons:

1. If we don't look into it ourselves, how will we really know if it's true?

2. If and when we find out it's true, it'll resonate with us more because we took the time to really understand the underlying concepts.

Here's an example:

If you've been following me for a while, you know that I tend to bash diets quite a bit. I find them to be restricting, dogmatic, and life-sucking. However, when I create content that expresses that opinion, I always give my best effort to explain why. I make sure to give the big rocks, the big underlying truths that I use to believe what I believe. I give my best effort to explain why a certain diet isn't the magical answer to fat loss by providing the big rocks that truly matter. In a nutshell, instead of saying "diets suck, they don't do anything magical for fat loss", I try to make it a point to educate my audience on why I believe that without using their insecurities to sway them. So rather, I'd say something like "diets aren't the answer to fat loss, because there are lot of factors that come into play with fat loss, such as lean muscle tissue, training style, calories in vs. calories out, and more. The ketogenic diet isn't magical. What the ketogenic diet usually does is cause people to eat less processed, calorie-dense foods which allows them to burn more than they're eating in a day, causing them to lose body fat." That is more tangible information that the audience can look into, or ask me more about. Sure, I may not always be the best at doing that, but I do care about my audience so I go out of my way to provide all kinds of information because I want my audience and clients to be empowered. I want them to be self-sufficient. They shouldn't have to always rely on an "expert" because I claim to know everything. Should I build trust with them so they can reach out and ask for my insight? Of course! But ultimately my answers, responses, content, advice, and insight should serve to educate and empower, not to be "right."

Understand what I'm getting at? I hope so.

Look, here's all I'm trying to say:

Take the time to learn. Take the time to understand.

Ask "why?" often. Challenge your own thought process often.

Humble yourself, and never be afraid to use the words "I don't know."

Most of the time, acknowledging the fact that you don't know, and taking the time to admit that to yourself leads you down a path that allows you to grow, and eventually, know.

I love you guys. Thanks for reading. :)

If you got something out of this, please share it with your friends and family!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adam is a fitness professional, baseball fan, and cookie fanatic based in Fort Collins, Colorado. After hanging up the cleats, he found a strong interest in the human body and how it performs. Since then, Adam has been transforming lives through fitness in a fun and encouraging atmosphere. As an ACE CPT and Fitness Nutrition Specialist, he is constantly moved to help people improve in all walks of life. If you’re interested in hiring Adam as your coach, fill out an application here.

Eating Clean Made Me Fat

Eating clean made me fat, while eating cookies and Chipotle made me lean...

wink wink ;)

Ok fine, you got me. Eating cookies and Chipotle didn't make me lean. Cookies and Chipotle aren't anything special. They're not made from unicorns, containing magical ingredients that allowed me to lose body fat for the first time.

However, the mindset I had while eating those things certainly did help with that.

A BIT ABOUT MY JOURNEY

If you don't know my story, there's a lot to it. But for the sake of time (knowing that you have a life and most likely don't want to sit down and read what I have to say all day long), I'm going to skip most of it and start with my fitness journey. I found my love for health and fitness after college ball. Once baseball was done, I spent a lot of time in the gym. I needed something to distract me from the fact that I wasn't a baseball player anymore.

My dad competed in bodybuilding back in the day, so weight training had always been a staple in his routine. He brought me along and lifted with me as I was trying to get out of my post-baseball depression.

If you know me, you know I don't really have much of an on/off switch when it comes to anything active or physical. Ask me to play against you in any sort of physical sport or activity, and I'm going to give it my all. I may suck, but I'm going to give you everything I have. It was the same thing with resistance training. I didn't have the best form, and my mind-muscle connection was far non-existent. But I tell you what, when I was in that gym, I gave each rep my all.

After a while, I actually began to see a change in my body. It's not the reason I was in the gym in the first place, but there were definitely changes in my body that I could see as a result of simply working hard. So because of that, I obviously asked myself what could happen if I took things seriously. And right before your eyes, I became your typical bro-like gym rat.

I started listening to what all of the Olympia and instagram guys were doing (being too much of an idiot to even take into consideration that those dudes are the 1% of the 1% of genetic freaks, and take a good serving of anabolics each day). I trained one muscle group per week, and I went to absolute failure on every single set. I completely killed my body in the gym. On top of that, I ate A TOOONNNNNNN of food. But hey don't worry, it was "clean" most of the time so I wouldn't get fat. Or so I thought..

Over time, I got pretty freaking huge. I reached a whopping 240 pounds while eating anywhere between 4,500 and 5,000 calories each day. I did have a ton of lean mass, but my body fat was at an all time high. I believe it was around 25%. At first, I didn't give a crap about my body fat. Why? Because it was bulk season all year, baby. Needless to say, I kept shoveling food down my throat to put on more and more "muscle". As you could imagine, I just got fatter and fatter, and finally hit a point where I started caring about my body composition and wanted to make a change.

Once I reached the point of feeling too heavy, I decided it was time to cut down. Gotta look good for the beach at some point, right?

The cut consisted of a little less food (because all hell would break loose if I lost muscle mass), and some cardio when I felt like it. I figured that if I kept eating around 4,000 calories of clean food and added in some cardio every now and then, I'd easily lose weight!

Yeah... that didn't happen.

Months later, I found myself in the same spot. 235ish pounds, tons of fat on me. I thought to myself "HOW IN THE WORLD IS THIS FREAKING POSSIBLE? I'm eating clean, how could I not be losing fat?"

Here's what I'd say to my younger self: "You didn't pay attention to the real science, you idiot!"

WHAT I FAILED TO SEE

The present me is right. The old me wasn't paying attention to anything but what the 290-pound Olympia competitors were doing. I was doing what THEY did for THEIR body to succeed. I missed the biggest piece.

I WASN'T A 290-POUND OLYMPIA COMPETITOR.

It didn't matter if I was eating clean. I was ignoring the facts. The 2 big things that I failed to acknowledge were the following:

1. Gaining/Losing weight is about calories in vs. calories out. Simple math.

2. I was a 20-year-old ex-baseball player. I failed to do what was right for ME. I did what THEY did because it worked for THEM.

I didn't take the time to understand how the human body works. I simply accepted the fact that eating clean is just what you're supposed to do to lose weight. The first time I heard it, I accepted it as truth and I went on with my life.

So what's so wrong with eating clean?

Nothing really, it's just that I placed eating clean on a pedestal above the most basic understanding of weight loss: calories in vs. calories out.

Here's the truth: Weight loss and weight gain comes down to calories in vs. calories out.

Since I was eating more calories than I burned in a day (even though they were "clean" calories) I gained a ton of body fat. Whether I was eating chicken and broccoli or donuts, I would've gained weight. Same thing goes for fat loss, I could eat nothing but Hostess snacks all day long and lose weight, as long as I'm burning more calories than I eat in a day. In fact, a Kansas State professor did just this to prove the point. Don't believe me? Google "Twinkie Professor."

Now don't be that person that just closes the browser and decides they're going to eat nothing but Twinkies all day long because Adam said it's good for fat loss. That's not what I'm saying. You don't need to have a PhD in nutrition to understand that eating nothing but Hostess snacks is unhealthy. All I'm saying is that weight gain and weight loss comes down to calories in vs. calories out.

And that's what I was missing.

I didn't take the time to figure out how many calories I burn in a day. I didn't take the time to figure out how many calories I'd need to eat in order to lose fat and build muscle.

Not wanting to continue this hellish cycle of gaining 10 pounds and losing 2, I began to track my intake in order to figure out what the problem was. Once I began tracking my intake, I slowly began to see what and how much of it I was actually putting into my body. I also found two big rocks (they kinda go hand-in-hand) that needed to be addressed.

1. Being "strict" while allowing myself cheat meals

2. No moderation whatsoever

The lack of moderation in my diet absolutely killed me. I would eat clean all week long, and then allow myself a cheat meal or a cheat day where I'd eat an extra 1,500 calories in a meal, or an extra 4,000-5,000 calories in a day. Once I saw that, it all made sense. My weekly caloric intake was through the roof because I binged and went completely out of control.

Moving forward, I allowed myself to enjoy the things I wanted when I felt like it. I'd have some Reeses or a cookie here and there. I noticed that my cravings went down a ton, I didn't feel guilty about eating those foods, and my weekly caloric intake dropped tremendously. I FINALLY STARTED TO LOSE BODY FAT!

Did the cookies allow me to lose body fat? No, of course not. But moderation did.

Once I began to fully understand the concept of calories in vs. calories out, I learned a ton about MY body and what I needed to do for MY body, given MY history, MY genetics, and MY goals. Hitting those goals slowly became a LOT easier. I learned how to adjust my caloric intake to build muscle and to burn fat. I learned how to treat my boy well by eating natural whole food sources while treating myself when I felt like it.

With time and effort, I went from a place of unconscious incompetence to conscious competence.

THE TAKEAWAY

Managing your nutrition and learning how food works with your body is a lot like managing money. If you were to invest your money in some sort of stock, you would (I hope) study its history, its habits, and see how it reacts to certain changes in the market. The same thinking applies to your body. Before you invest your calories, time, and attention to your goals, figure out how your body will best use them, that way you can develop a plan that works best for YOUR body, allowing you to trust the process as you're climbing toward your goals.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adam is a fitness professional, baseball fan, and cookie fanatic based in Fort Collins, Colorado. After hanging up the cleats, he found a strong interest in the human body and how it performs. Since then, Adam has been transforming lives through fitness in a fun and encouraging atmosphere. As an ACE CPT and Fitness Nutrition Specialist, he is constantly moved to help people improve in all walks of life. If you’re interested in hiring Adam as your coach, fill out an application here.

A Mindset That Will Change Your Fitness Forever

It seems that the more I'm in the online fitness trainer industry, the more questions I get about "the best" this and "the best" that. Whether it's diets, nutrition, supplementation, or programming, everyone wants to know what "the best" is.

Honestly, I can't blame them. If I didn't know everything about something I was dedicating time to, I'd want to make sure that I was doing the best I could for my goal, that way no time is wasted and I have a strong return on my investment.

WHAT IS "THE BEST?"

I find it very interesting that "the best" isn't always what we think it is. I believe that happens for a couple of reasons:

1. "The best" for you isn't "the best" for me and vice versa.

2. "The best" (or any version of that meaning) is often used to sell things that actually aren't so great.

When I get a question regarding "the best", I actually enjoy it quite a bit because I like to shatter people's paradigms. That's what I'd like to do today in this short article. Now, as much as I'd like to sit here and tell you about how much I hate diets and how no single diet is "best" for fat loss, I'd like to head in a different direction. I've been creating a lot of content around nutrition, so I'm going to ask your attention for a couple of minutes to talk about what's done in the gym.

So, the question I'll be addressing today is:

"What's the best rep range for ________?"

Fill in the blank with whatever you choose. Fat loss, toning, muscle-building, whatever. You get the idea.

TIME TO SHATTER YOUR PARADIGM

Here's the quick answer to all of those questions:

There isn't a best rep range for each specific thing all the time. Is there a rep range that is shown to build more muscle than others? Sure. Is there a rep range that will most likely burn more calories? Sure. The thing is, it's not the rep range that's ideal. If 8-12 reps have shown to build the most muscle, that means that I can just go grab a couple of brewskis and start curling those for 8-12 reps. Next thing you know, I'll have some great-looking muscles.

However, it just doesn't work that way. So how does it work?

Well, there is a plethora of answers to that, but as an online fitness trainer, I want to focus on one thing specifically. That thing is what I like to call the muscle mindset.

THE MUSCLE MINDSET

When most people go into the gym (whether they have a program or not) they come to the conclusion that they're going to perform _____ exercise for __ reps. This is the mindset of a beginner. This is the mindset of someone who is going to the gym to get their workout in. Is it wrong? Of course not. Is it ideal? Not really.

An individual that is a little more advanced would normally go into the gym knowing that they're going to perform ____ exercise for __ reps. This individual would then go into the exercise using a weight that is challenging at that amount of reps, understanding that the heavier they go, the more challenging it is going to be, assuming that the more reps or weight that they do, the more they'll get out of the exercise. Is it wrong? Nope. Is it ideal? I don't think so.

Someone who is much more advanced that understands their body well will go into the gym with what I call the muscle mindset. The people (beginners and intermediates) that I talked about going into the workout wanting to move weight in order to work their muscles. Someone that has the muscle mindset flips that thinking on its head and does something different. This individual goes into the workout knowing how the exercises they perform will affect their muscles. But that's not all.

They also take a completely different approach during the movement.

When performing an exercise, someone with the muscle mindset won't just move the weight. This person will ask him/herself the following question:

"How can I engage this muscle in order to move the weight and perform the exercise?"

This changes everything.

For example, when I'm going to the bench to perform an incline dumbbell bench press, I understand that the purpose of the upper chest is to bring the humerus (the bone of the upper arm) closer to the middle of my chest. Therefore, I'll perform the exercise thinking to myself, "ok Adam, you need to squeeze/flex/engage the upper chest in order to bring the upper arm closer to your chest, and that's what will move the dumbbells. Someone that doesn't have the muscle mindset would say something like "ok, I need to push these weights up with my arms for 8 reps."

WHAT'S SO SPECIAL ABOUT IT?

"The muscle mindset? That sounds like something you made up. What's the point?"

That's fair. I mean, I did kinda make that term up on the spot. Put any attractive word in front of a concept and it'll sound wayyyy cooler (thanks a lot, fitness industry).

Although I made up the term, the mindset is very real. Having a good connection with your body and understanding how your muscles work during a certain exercise is extremely beneficial. That mind-muscle connection will allow you to do the following:

1. Get the most out of your exercise

2. Have more control throughout the movement

3. Have better technique and form throughout the movement

4. Improve your strength and muscle growth

Having the ability to master those four things will allow you to make great strides along your fitness journey. Getting the most out of your exercise will allow you to see more change in your muscles, causing more definition from growth. Having more control and better technique will keep you away from injury and will improve your ability to increase your strength. From that improved strength, you'll have a CNS (central nervous system) that will be able to engage more muscle fibers.

THE TAKEAWAY

The muscle mindset is simply a way of rethinking your training. In one sentence, here's how I can explain it best: Instead of moving the weight to contract the muscle, contract the muscle in order to move the weight.

You'll find that you'll get more out of each rep, leading to an increase in muscle growth and definition, bringing you the lean physique you've always wanted.

THANKS FOR BEING HERE!

I love writing, but to have someone like you reading what I write is...well friggin' amazing. Thank you for taking time out of your day to hear what I have to say. My hope and prayer is that the info in these articles gives you a new way of thinking, as well as a tangible takeaway that you can implement in your life. If you have any questions on anything health/fitness/nutrition, feel free to reach out to me. I'd love to serve you however I can with information about online personal training.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adam is a fitness professional, baseball fan, and cookie fanatic based in Fort Collins, Colorado. After hanging up the cleats, this online personal trainer found a strong interest in the human body and how it performs. Since then, Adam has been transforming lives through fitness in a fun and encouraging atmosphere. As an ACE CPT and Fitness Nutrition Specialist, he is constantly moved to help people improve in all walks of life. If you’re interested in hiring Adam as your coach, fill out an application here.