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Just for kicks, this morning I sat down and Googled “Good Nutrition” to see how average people like you and me would learn about eating healthy.
This is just the autofill search, not even the results.
I found a ton of information. It varied widely in the caliber of research into the subject, the approaches discussed, the author's bias to a certain method, the intent of the article, and which supplements were being advertised. How could someone new to nutrition know where to start?
Nutrition is one of those subjects that can be infinitely complicated if you let it. If you want extreme results you’ll eventually need to go down the rabbit hole and get insanely specific about your nutrition, but you can get real long way before needing to complicate things. For simple, sustainable healthy eating - use the 80/20 principle.
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 Name one thing that is better if you’re weak. I’ll wait.
Didn’t think of anything? That’s because the stronger you are, the easier and safer life is. I am sick to death of hearing that lifting heavy weight is “dangerous” or “unnecessary”. That claim is utterly ridiculous. Rant warning: I have an axe to grind on this outrageous opinion. Life Lessons Not long ago my Dad was in a motorcycle accident. He spent a few nights in the hospital and had a lot of physical therapy when he got out. While visiting him in the hospital, I heard at least a dozen various medical professionals say “It’s a good thing he has good strength in (fill in affected body part) or this could have been much worse.” My Dad isn’t an elite athlete and doesn't hit the gym daily. He works at a desk 50-60 hours per week, occasionally does an at-home workout, and trained with me once per week for the 8 months before his accident. Even the little bit of strength training I put him through each week was enough to prevent more serious injury in a traffic accident. The application of strength training as preventative care isn’t confined to an emergency situation. Just think of the number of aches and pains you had this morning. Compare that to the number of similar issues you had 10 years ago. You suffered less discomfort and movement problems a decade ago, guaranteed. Mainly, because you were stronger. Not sold on strength training yet? Here are the top 5 reasons for you to get strong as hell:  Working in commercial gyms you see the entire spectrum of fitness knowledge in gym members.
In one corner is a bodybuilder using exquisite technique and controlling the weight like the seasoned pro he is. On the other end of the club you’ll see the dude going 100mph on the elliptical, set to the least challenging settings, slamming the pedals into the front of the machine while using both hands to vigorously strangle a ShakeWeight (true story). If you ignore the ends of this spectrum of experience, you’re left with my favorite gym members: the folks who have been running the exact same workout program 3 days a week for YEARS without improving. They have the habit, but don’t know progression methods necessary to reach their goals. Here are 3 basic ways you can progress your workouts to keep building strength and challenging yourself.  Foam rolling is easily the most butchered mobility technique on Earth. Most gym goers and coaches know that foam rolling exists and is beneficial, but that is where common knowledge seems to end.
Knowing what foam rolling is, why it works, and when you should use it will save you time - and maybe embarrassment - before your workout.  I’m not gonna bury the lead on this one.
The big difference is nutrition. Whether you want to build muscle or lose fat - your training should be the same. The real difference in whether you gain some muscle or burn some fat is how you adjust your food. 
You’ve been working hard. Eating right, meal prepping, lifting weights 3 days each week, getting your cardio in - but is it working? How can you tell? Without knowing where you stand - how will you make adjustments to continue your progress?
A few main metrics tell you more than others and work better for specific goals. Kind of the way you have 6 main Avengers, but you need the right hero (or combination of heroes) to take on a particular villain. I really like this analogy - we’re gonna run with it. |
Alex cainArticles filled with actionable information to improve your approach to the 4 pillars of fitness. Archives
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