Originally posted at: http://www.nerdfitness.com/

“Here’s another example of the power of meal preparation.”

Meet Mark: a busy father who does construction planning in England. He’s also a nerd who fancied himself a drink or two over a warm meal from the pub.

All well and good, until Mark went to his doctor for a check-up.

The report back? Not good.

Mark’s blood pressure was too high, his cholesterol numbers weren’t good, and he needed to lose weight.

This is bad news indeed.

The thing is though, Mark didn’t need a note from his doctor to know his habits were becoming destructive – he experienced lots of pain daily and overall felt miserable.

Clearly things couldn’t continue as they were, so Mark decided he needed help.

I’m proud to say that Mark reached out to us for guidance and through our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program adjusted his nutrition and adopted a consistent workout practice.

Today, Mark has lost 65 pounds and is no longer in pain. The work paid off.

How did Mark change his nutrition?

He learned to meal prep, a key characteristic in pretty much every single success story Nerd Fitness has ever run.

But you don’t need to hear it from me! Let’s bring in Mark and learn about it from him!

HOW MARK LEARNED TO MEAL PREP, LOST 65 POUNDS, AND LEVELED UP HIS LIFE

Steve: Hi Mark! Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me.

I’d love to hear from you about your past – Can you take us through a typical day before you started your journey with Nerd Fitness?

Mark: I’d be up at 5am for work, then nip into Starbucks to grab two sausage cobs (sandwiches). I’d finish work at 5pm, then visit the local shop on my way home for more junk food and probably beer.

Once back at my place, I’d sit and watch films, play games, or read till late.

Then the next day: wash, rinse, repeat.

Steve: That’s an easy pattern to find yourself in: fast food before work, work itself, and more fast food and beer for dinner. I’m sure many Rebels can relate to leaning on junk food for meals.

Was this your first time trying to get in shape?

Mark: Not at all. I have tried so many different times over the years. At some point or another, I tried just about every “diet.”

I would find a program, commit 100%, and stick to it for a few weeks. But inevitably I would fall back into bad habits and abandon the effort. Until a new program would catch my fancy. The pattern would then repeat again.

Until recently, working out was something that I could never keep consistent. For example, I’d try to go to the gym in the evenings. All would be going okay, then a long day would inevitably come about and I’d skip the gym.

One of the many benefits of my Coach, Jim, is he lets me know it’s okay when bad habits emerge. We are all human. A slip up here and there is okay, but with consistency comes results.

Steve: That’s great to hear you say that, and Jim is 100% right! It’s what you do “most of the time” that matters.

It’s one of the reasons we have our motto “Never Two in a Row.” Missing a workout is okay. But if you miss two workouts in a row, it becomes very easy for it to become three. And once it’s three, it becomes very easy for it to be “never.” Then you’re plain just not exercising.

Was there a specific moment you decided to ask for help?

Mark: There was. I went to the doctor, and my numbers weren’t good. Blood pressure, cholesterol, weight…everything was bad.

The signs were there before my report though.

I was also miserable and in pain. The food I was eating was causing severe indigestion. I was also suffering from gout, which made simple things painful. You wouldn’t believe how painful a duvet resting on a foot with gout can be.

At the weight I was, everything was difficult.

Even sleep was a chore, as I’d wake myself up snoring.

There was also the realization that I looked bad. I was dressing in clothes that were comfortable and I’d given up on my appearance.

Steve: Yikes. I’m sorry to hear about the pain you had to endure. Plus, no one likes to receive bad news from the doctor! I’m just glad you used the incident as a jumpstart to try something different.

Can you talk to me a little bit more about “consistency?” It’s something you mentioned before.

Mark: Yeah, one of the most important things I’ve learned is that I’m a morning person.

So, Coach Jim advised me to go workout before heading into the office.

As soon as I switched my workouts to the morning, everything clicked in place. I’m in and out of the gym before 6am, ready for the day. That has been consistent for the last year.

I don’t fight the fact that I’ll be tired after a long day of work. When I’m off work, I’m ready to unwind for the day.

Steve: That’s great to hear Mark! Sometimes all it takes is finding your ideal rhythm for everything to sync up. I too would rather workout in the morning, so I know no matter what else happens, at least I got my training in for the day.

What are you doing at the gym? What is Coach Jim having you work on?

Mark: At the moment I am doing kettlebell workouts, mixed with deadlifts and barbell squats.  Since joining, whenever I see something in the gym I want to have a go at, Jim works it into the routine for me.

For example, I am working on pull-ups right now. We cracked push-ups a while back so this is the next big one for me.  

I’m also training for a 27-mile hike in the summer, which means on the weekends and in the week I am getting plenty of walking sessions in.

The hike is in the Peak District to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. Jim is all about it and has prepared a training regimen to get me ready, which is currently ramping up.

Steve: That’s so cool man! I’m glad you’re training for a hike and a charitable one at that. We often tell people to find their “big why,” like an event in the near future you have to prepare for. This can be a great motivator to get those extra walks in. Smart move.

Can you talk to me a little bit about your nutrition? You’ve lost a lot of weight. What have you been doing differently?

Mark: I changed my nutrition massively.

I was eating junk food every day. And lots of it. Waking up to it. Eating it right before bed. Constant.

Today, I’ve added more vegetables into my diet. A lot more fish too. By focusing on vegetables and good quality meat, I’ve been able to reduce my overall calorie intake. All the fiber and protein helps me feel full, so I’m not constantly hungry. Which makes avoiding junk food easier.

I work away from home during the week, so I only have a microwave for “cooking”.  Obviously, a limitation.

But then I discovered meal prep. Breakfast, dinner, and lunches are now prepared on my weekend. Which makes life easier and removes the temptation of impulse food buying.

There was a time during the workweek that I didn’t set foot in a food shop for nearly 6 months. I saved a fortune financially too by doing this.

By taking some time on the weekend to cook some vegetables and grill some meat, I’m all set for the work week. It’s amazing how important this has been to my success.

Steve: That’s amazing. As you’ve been sharing, I started reflecting that this is a common trait amongst all Nerd Fitness success stories.

Every Rebel who has successfully transformed themselves, including me, has done it by preparing their next meal in advance. Welcome to the meal prep club!

What’s a typical day for you like now? Workouts, diet strategy, and so on. Give us the details!

Mark: I wake at 4:20am, then go to the gym before work. I do this Monday through Friday.

At 5pm, I’m off work. I go back to the digs, but now I am usually doing something productive or reading something factual that will improve me in some way.

At 8pm, I turn all electronics off, then read for 30-60 minutes (sometimes less if I fall asleep). I’ll then meditate myself to sleep if I’m still awake.

And like I said, I’ve been consistently working out in some fashion, whether in the gym or on walks 6 days a week.

Food wise: I have overnight oats for breakfast, a pre-prepped meal for lunch (chili or curry in winter) and a pre-prepped meal for dinner.

I’m more on “auto-pilot” these days, which is great.

Steve: Creating a solid and healthy routine, then sticking to it. I love it.

You’ve obviously lost a decent amount of weight. What else has changed about you?

Mark: Yeah, 65 pounds down at this point.

I’ve gone from a 54-inch to a 38-inch waist.

There is a big hill near my home, I can now walk all the way up it and not be winded.

Just the other week, I was able to run a 5k – something I haven’t done in over two years and I didn’t even intend to do it.  

Even more importantly, I am no longer in pain.

I’ve gone from being in pain when I walk to being able to walk 10 miles without much effort and running for 45 minutes (Jim will tell you I have often said I will never run, I lied – I wanted to prove to myself I could do it, lol).

Mentally I am now sharper and in a place where I am taking care of my appearance.

Steve: I’m proud of the work you’ve done Mark, and I’m so happy to hear you’re no longer in pain.

Okay, real talk: NF Coaching isn’t cheap. You’ve been a client for over a year and a half. What makes you stick with it and keep investing in yourself?

Mark: I’d done the NF Academy previously, to great success. But I needed more accountability to keep things going, which is what Coaching offers.

Plus, in my busy life, I wanted to simplify my health.

Jim sets the workouts so I don’t have to worry about that. At the beginning he also gave me a lot of tips on nutrition – which saved me a lot of time and spurred my weight loss.

Outside of the gym, Coach Jim is helping me with my mental wellbeing. I’m currently going through a blip and we’re working on that and ways to get me back on track mentally. That is a side of Coaching not often talked about, I think.

Even in dark times, I can come back to what is consistent in my life: my training. Jim encourages me to keep going and to understand there will be good weeks and bad weeks.

Steve: I’m so happy to hear Jim is helping you with the mental side of things. I know many Rebels find exercise to be beneficial in dealing with depression and anxiety, so I agree with Jim’s recommendation that through good or bad weeks, attempt to make exercise constant.

It feels like you’re on a solid path to a leveled up life and I’m really proud of you.

Alright, I ask everyone and you’re not getting out of it: Mark, what makes you a nerd?

Mark: I was a gamer until my children started to beat me.

I stick to Football Manager now.

My favorite outdoor activity is geocaching. To make that even nerdier I podcast and vlog about it:

I love reading – sci-fi is my favorite genre. I fancy myself a good Star Wars novel.

When my kids were younger I would take them to see films like Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow, rather than Finding Nemo.

They asked me recently why I took them to see such nerdy films, lol. What can I say, I’m just trying to raise the next generation of geeks.

Steve: Perfect! Good work on being an awesome dad!

Also, I love that you do geocaching. I always encourage people to exercise in a way that doesn’t feel like exercise, and using GPS to hunt for lost treasures fits that bill perfectly! Good work on finding a fun and healthy hobby!

Do you have any words of advice for somebody who is just starting out on their weight loss journey? What if they’re considering a change, but not sure where to start?

Mark: Keep it simple.

I truly believe that walking is the best way to start – once I got moving I wanted to stop feeling pain so I could move even more.  

Find workouts and nutritious meals you enjoy – experimenting with that stuff has been part of the fun for me and Coach Jim indulges that.

[Isn’t there a photo of Mark using gymnastic rings?]

And no matter what: keep going.

You will get discouraged, have “fat days” and slip up… just forgive yourself and get back up and carry on.

Steve: Great advice. We are all human and we are all works in progress. Mistakes will happen. The most important point is to not lose momentum when inevitable slip-ups occur. The successful are those who don’t quit.

Mark, I’m honored you’re a member of the Nerd Fitness Rebellion. Thanks again for taking the time to share with all of us.

Best of luck and have fun on your upcoming charity hike!

THE 5 KEYS TO MARK’S WEIGHT LOSS AND LEVEL UP SUCCESS

Mark’s story has many aspects that you might be able to relate to:

• Depending on quick and easy junk food for meals.
• Not being able to consistently maintain an exercise practice.
• A bad report card from his doctor.

We all have personal hardships in life: injuries, job responsibilities, dysfunctional families, etc.

What sets Mark apart is not the obstacles he had to face. We all have them.

What sets Mark apart is how he sought to overcome those barriers.

Here are 5 traits Mark displayed that set him apart. 5 traits that allowed Mark to level up his life, despite the hardships in his way.

#1) MARK DIDN’T GIVE UP

Had Mark attempted to get in shape prior to becoming a NF Coaching client?

In his own words, he had tried “many times over the years.” He even went through the NF Academy, which helped…for a while.

But Mark just couldn’t keep up the pace. He would try and work out after a long day in the office.

Sometimes it would go well.

More often than not, it wouldn’t.

Then it would be stopping by the pub on the way back home instead of stopping by the gym.

The important thing throughout it all: Mark kept trying until finally something “clicked.”

Mark now trains right after breakfast, early in the morning.

Before the day and job responsibilities take over, Mark swings some kettlebells or picks up a barbell.

By training first thing in the morning, Mark can take comfort knowing that no matter what else happens, he prioritized getting stronger for the day.

This mindset can help you get through a day of back to back meetings and phone calls. When they’re finally done at 5pm, so are you. Time to relax back home and recharge for the next morning’s workout.

The important thing is Mark kept trying until he got it right. Mark kept going until he found healthy habits that would work for him.

Speaking of…

#2) MARK LEARNED TO MEAL PREP

Mark discovered a super, incredible, awesome, powerful new habit (is that enough adjectives? Maybe). That new technique?

Meal prepping.

I started this post by explaining that every single success story on the site contains a person who learned to meal prep. Here’s why:

Mark has a tough job. He travels for the position and is in charge of planning complex and expensive construction projects.

When he’s done for the day, he’s tired! The last thing he wants to do is grill up some fish or fry up some asparagus after a tough day in the office. It’s easy to see why some food from the pub and a couple of beers sounds more appealing than rolling up your sleeves in the kitchen.

That’s why it’s critical to do yourself a favor on the weekend: cook food for the entire week.

By taking some time on a Sunday afternoon you can cook meals for the workweek. It’s not much harder to cook 12 than chicken breasts than it is 1.

Then when you come home after a long day, you really can just relax. All you have to do is “cook” your food in a microwave. This is what Mark and many other Rebels do.

Do future you a favor and prepare future food ahead of time! . You’ll make your week, and life, easier by adopting this habit.

#3) MARK INVESTED IN HIMSELF AND ASKED FOR HELP

Mark hit a path in life many Rebels find themselves in: his doctor told him his health was on the wrong path.

“Everything was bad” using Mark’s words, and he knew that if he didn’t want a shorter lifespan, things needed to change.

Plus, even normal activities like short walks and sleep were becoming difficult.

Mark had hit his rock bottom.

For many folks, things continue more or less the same from there. They know they need to change but then resort back to previous habits or earlier attempts at getting healthy. The boom and bust cycle continues.

Not Mark. Mark decided he would try something different. Mark decided he would ask for help.

I’m proud Mark reached out to us and joined our Coaching Program. With Coach Jim’s guidance, Mark then created some key habits that helped him stay on target.

Mark established systems in his life, instead of relying on the temporary motivation a doctor’s report can provide.

Mark’s systems include:

Prepared meals for the week. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are already decided ahead of time.

Gym time first thing in the morning. No chance to second guess whether he’ll train in the evening. This also means that evening time becomes earned relaxation.

At 8pm all electronics are off. This helps Mark transition into relaxation and then sleep, which he’ll need for his training and work the next day.

Could Mark have established these systems on his own? Sure.

Was it easier to implement with an expert who tailored and adapted these habits into Mark’s life? 100% yes.

Many of us will reach a point where all signs point to needing outside help. When this time comes, remember, it’s okay to ask for it.

#4) MARK KEPT FINDING NEW DRAGONS TO SLAY

Mark lost weight and is no longer in pain. That’s awesome!

Is Mark done? No way!

He’s gearing up for a 27-mile charity hike! He slew one dragon and moved onto a bigger one!

This is critical.

After Mark started crushing push-ups, he put his sights on doing pull-ups! Coach Jim has created a plan so Mark can do just that.

Knowing Mark’s history, I have no doubt he’ll be pulling himself up in no time.

To keep up hard-fought momentum, you need to aim for bigger targets:

Once you can do a 5-mile hike, it’s time to start thinking about 10 miles.

Once you start doing one full pull-up, start thinking about doing 5.

Once you slay one dragon, look for a bigger foe to vanquish.

This is how you constantly level up in the game of life.

#5) MARK IS HAVING FUN ALONG THE WAY

When it comes to getting in shape, I always advise people to do three things:

1. 1. Eat real food: 80-90% of weight loss rests on this. Mark preps his meals for the week to reach this goal.
   2. Strength train: a strong nerd is a healthy nerd. Mark lifts heavy first thing in the morning for this one.
   3. Find an exercise you love and do that often: all movement is beneficial, so move in a way you enjoy. Mark does this by walking, hiking, and geocaching.

For those not in the know, geocaching is a modern day treasure hunt where participants use GPS to hide and find containers called “geocaches” or “caches.”

Go out, hide something in a cool spot, then go online and then others where to find it!

Geocachers get to explore the world in a fun and unique way by hiding and finding secret containers.

Getting in an extra mile during a hike is easy if you know there’s treasure around the next bend!

Plus, if you recruit a friend as Mark does, you have a treasure hunting buddy to share in the spoils.

Find movement you enjoy and do that as much as possible:

Like ballroom dancing? Perfect! Sign up for a class.

Like LARPing? Great! Polish up your armor.

Like treasure hunting? Sweet! Download an app and get started geocaching!

I know it’s cliché, but getting in shape really is a lifestyle adjustment. Meaning this isn’t something you do for a week, a month, or even one year.

It’s something you will do for the rest of your life.

For this to work, you need to enjoy the journey ahead.

If you hate jumping on a treadmill today, you won’t be doing it a month from now. So do something else instead that makes you excited to move your body.

It’s a message I really strike home in the video “Want to get in shape? Think in days and years, not weeks and months”

We are not making temporary changes, because they will only create temporary results. We are making permanent changes, so our transformations will be permanent.

For that to work, you need to enjoy the journey. If that means hunting for buried treasure, go grab a compass and a shovel!

HOW TO GET RESULTS LIKE MARK

I’m super proud of what Mark and Coach Jim have accomplished.

And if you’re still reading this, I want you to know I’m proud of you too.

You’re still reading, which means you’re still trying (see #1). You found your way to our strange corner of the internet and you’re part of the Rebellion.

I’m so happy you’re here today.

We’ll continue to be here for you tomorrow, next month, and years from now.

No matter where you are on your journey, I would encourage you to think about what made Mark successful:

• Don’t give up. Keep trying, keep reading. But try something different! If you can’t seem to get to the gym in the evenings, try going before work. Maybe you’re more of a morning person like Mark.
• Learn to meal prep. Weight loss is dependent on what you eat, so learn a few moves in the kitchen (here’s an article on batch cooking chicken). Start with planning your dinners for the week, then scale it up from there.
• Ask for help. Some people can completely change their lives on their own. Most can’t. If you have access to someone who knows exactly what to do to help, reach out. Most of us need a Yoda to become a Jedi.
• Slay new dragons. As you progress in your fitness journey, pick new challenges and opportunities. This will help you keep up your momentum so you don’t slip into bad habits.
• Have fun. Embarking on a change that makes you miserable is a sure fire way for future abandonment. This is a lifelong journey, so discovering things you enjoy is critical.

If you related to Mark’s story, perhaps with doctors advising lifestyle changes, maybe it’s time to ask for help.

Depending on your situation, I’d love for you to check out our 1-on-1 NF Coaching Program and decide if it’s something you’d like to learn more about.

*Coaching Ad*

Whether or not you’re interested in coaching, you can still get started right now:

You can start bodyweight training TODAY.

You can adjust your nutrition TODAY.

You can start to build your guild TODAY.

Here’s what I’d want you to take away from Mark’s story:

• Successful weight loss can be made easier with  meal prep: Seriously. Every person highlighted in a success story plans their food. It’s how I lost 20 pounds. If you get nothing else out of today’s story, remember this point: know what your next meal is, and then only eat that thing. If you can plan multiple meals ahead through batch cooking, even better! Here’s an article to get you started on meal prep.
• It’s okay to ask for help. The other thing every success story has in common? They all knew when to seek assistance. Even me. I reached my goals thanks to the guidance of an online coach.

I hope to hear from you six months from now with a great success story that we can add to the hall of heroes that have inspired millions around the globe!

If you have any questions for Mark, please share them in the comments!

Lastly, if you have any meal prep tips or suggestions, leave them in the comments too!

For the Rebellion!

-Steve

PS: Special shoutout to Coach Jim, who helped Mark level up his life. Jim is our head male trainer, master of Beast Skills, and all around awesome dude. We are lucky to have him on Team Nerd Fitness.

If you want to see if we can help you too, check out our 1-on-1 Coaching program. We’d love to talk to you, no matter what you end up deciding.

http://chriskresser.com/

Gut health is critical to overall health, and an unhealthy gut contributes to a wide range of chronic diseases. Read on to learn how to heal the gut naturally.

The post 9 Steps to Perfect Health: How to Heal Your Gut Naturally appeared first on Chris Kresser.

Originally posted at: http://www.nerdfitness.com/

Want to go from a skinny guy to building muscle quickly? You’ve come to the right place!

I’ve spent my entire adult life trying to pack on muscle, and after years and years of trial and error, I finally cracked the code.

Today, I share that code with you!

And no, unfortunately, it’s not just Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, A, B, Select, Start.

Here’s what we’ll cover (click to jump to that section):

• How I bulked up after years of struggling as a skinny guy.
• The most important thing for putting on muscle (your diet).
• What you should eat to bulk up.
• Tips on eating for skinny guys.
• How to grow bigger muscles (get stronger).
• Workout plans for bulking up.
• Can bodyweight training help you bulk up?
• Proper sleep and rest for putting on muscle.
• I am skinny fat: should I gain weight or lose weight first?
• FAQ for skinny guys trying to bulk up.
• How to put on muscle if you’re female.
• More resources for skinny guys looking to bulk up.

Let’s do this!

Now, I should note that this stuff isn’t easy. Otherwise you wouldn’t be reading about it on the internet!

There’s nothing worse than spending 6+ months in a gym and doing what you think you SHOULD be doing, only to step on the scale and realize that you haven’t made any progress!

If you’re somebody that’s worried about wasting time, or you want to have an expert hand craft a workout and nutrition program that’s based on your current situation, consider checking out our really popular 1-on-1 Online Training Program! I’ve been training with an online coach since 2015 and it has been the biggest boost for me in the world.

Click on the image below if you want to learn more about our coaching program, and then scroll down to see the Beginner’s Guide to Getting Bigger!

How I Bulked up After Years of Struggling as a Skinny Guy

Growing up, I was always the scrawny, skinny weak kid.

There was a reason I dressed up like superman every other day for the first six years of my life: Superman was strong, big, and powerful…and I wasn’t.

To this day, it’s still a big challenge for me to gain any sort of weight or muscle.  Now, if you’re somebody that struggles to lose weight, you might be thinking: “Steve, you’re so lucky you didn’t have to deal with being overweight growing up.”

Don’t you worry, a killer flat top, my height (5’2″ until I was 16), four years of braces, and two Acutane treatments made sure I still got the full adolescent experience 🙂

When I was cut from the high school basketball team (which I thought was the end of the world), I signed up for a gym membership to get big and strong; within five minutes I had almost killed myself when loading up way too much weight for a set of bench presses.  Fortunately I survived, and thus began my love affair with strength training.

I spent the next six years training in a gym, reading every muscle and fitness magazine I could find, drinking protein shakes religiously…and had about 3 pounds of muscle gain to show for it.  I just assumed “I’m one of those people who can’t gain weight.”

It turns out, I was doing it all wrong.

After graduating college I moved to California, signed up for a gym membership, and received a few free personal trainer sessions.  Although I thought I had known it all (I had been training for 6 years in a gym! I read the muscle mags!), I still took the free sessions for the hell of it.

The trainer drastically simplified my workout and doubled the amount of food I was eating.  I thought he was crazy, but I stuck with it.

In 30 days, I had put on 18 pounds (pictured below), increased the strength in ALL of my lifts, and felt more confident than I ever had before in my life.  

That’s when the lightbulb when off in my head: there’s a better way.

And thus began a radical redefinition of how I thought the human body worked, how muscle was built, and where I needed to put my priorities.  Since then, I’ve spent seven years learning everything I can about how muscle is built.

A few years back, I took an epic 35,000 trip around the world, and despite not having access to a gym for 6 months, I managed to once again pack on even more muscle and get myself in great shape without once picking up a weight (pictured below):

Again, my world was turned upside down.  I learned that gyms are not a requirement to build muscle and get stronger (if the proper training routine is used).

And after a few more years of up and down challenges, I finally changed from Steve Rogers to (jokingly) Captain America:

I’m still not the biggest guy in the world, nor will I ever be. I’m okay with that. I’ve learned that anyone can pack on muscle, even skinny nerds like me.  If you’re skinny and want to get bigger, you’ll be fighting genetics the whole way, but do not let that deter you.  Anything is possible.

Today’s article outlines everything I’ve learned over the past 13 years of mistakes, successes, failures, and adventures.

The Most Important Thing for Putting on Muscle (Your Diet)

As they say, muscle isn’t made in the gym, but in the kitchen.

Just like for somebody trying to lose weight, in order for somebody to GAIN weight, their diet will account for 80-90% of their successes or failures.

What that means: you’d be better off working out twice a week for 30 minutes and eating right, than working out 6 days a week and not eating properly.

I learned this the hard way.

I spent four years of college working out five days a week for 90 minutes a day trying to get bigger. I drank protein shakes like I thought I was supposed to. I got a little stronger, but never bigger.

Why?

BECAUSE I DIDN’T EAT ENOUGH CALORIES.

When I get emails from people who lament the fact that they can’t gain weight, I always first ask about the person’s diet; more often than not, that person thinks they are eating enough, but are definitely not.

Here’s the truth: If you are not getting bigger, you are not eating enough.  Your body can burn 2000+ calories every day just existing (and then factor in exercise and, gulp, cardio – I’ll get to that in a minute), and you need to overload your system with calories in order for it to have enough fuel for the muscle building process.

Now, for every person, the number of required calories daily is different:

• For some people, it might be 3,000 calories a day.
• For others, it might be 5,000 calories a day.
• For others, it might be 8,000 calories a day.

Now, you might be thinking “there’s no way I can eat more than I’m already eating. I’m always full.”

Like a muscle, your stomach can be trained to eat more food.  I’m not a big fan of calorie counting, but I think for a newbie starting out, tracking calories for a few days is a great place to start.  I find that a majority of skinny dudes overestimate the number of calories they consume (and conversely, a lot of overweight people UNDERestimate how many calories they consume).

So, track your calories over a few days and get an average.  Then, spend the next two weeks eating an additional 500 calories per day and see how your weight adjusts. If you are not getting bigger, then you should add an additional 500 calories per day and repeat the process.

Depending on your training, genetics, how skinny you are, and how much weight you need to gain, you can decide how much weight you want to gain each week.  Some gurus say that under optimal conditions, you can expect to gain one pound of muscle per week, while others say 2 lbs per month is more realistic.

Now, if you’re a true beanpole, putting on more weight than 1 pound a week might be a good thing: extra glycogen, some fat, and water stored in your body can be a good thing for your confidence and get you headed down the right path.

So, don’t listen to the sites or programs that say “gain 40 pounds of muscle in two months!” – unless you’re on the juice (‘roids, not Hawaiian Punch), it’s going to be a slow, long process.

Sure, It is possible to have incredible transformations in a short amount of time, but it’s far less likely to be sustainable change, which is what we’re looking for.  Rather than massive weight gain over a month, you’d be much better off gaining .5-1.5 lbs a week, every week, for six months…and then keeping the weight on!

Before we get into the workout stuff, let’s get you eating more.

What You Should Eat to Bulk Up

For starters; you need to be eating enough protein each day.  Claims for the amount of protein needed vary wildly from source to source (and athlete to athlete).  Personally, I have found that 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body weight (2 grams per kg) works for me.  If you’re not interested in figuring out your body fat percentage to determine your lean body weight, try taking your total weight and eating .8 grams of protein per pound of body weight (1.6 grams per kg).

After protein, in order for you to get bigger, you need to eat enough calories composed of carbs and fats.

Here are your options for how to get more calories in your system:

The “See Food” Diet: This is the diet I used to put on 18 pounds in 30 days.  Looking back at how I ate, I’m now grossed out, but for me at the time, it worked (and got me interested in diet research). If you are super skinny and on a tight budget, this might be your only option.  Whole milk, cereal, pasta, rice, potatoes, fast food, ice cream, juice, peanut butter sandwiches, meatball subs from Subway, whatever gets you to your caloric intake goal for the day.  When I put on my 18 lbs, I used to drink 3 CytoGainer shakes a day, because it was the easiest way for me to stay on target.  If you are training properly, a majority of these calories will go towards building muscle instead of putting on a lot of fat.

Now, I’m not a big fan of this method much, as I’ve come to learn the quality of food is as important (if not more so) than quantity when it comes to your overall health, and we’re aiming for bigger AND healthier.

GOMAD: Drink a gallon of whole milk every day along with your meals.  Sounds crazy, yup, but it works.  A gallon of whole milk is full of enough sugar, carbs, fats, and protein that when all said and done, results in 2400 calories consumed in liquid form.  Mix in vegetables and meat for healthy meals and you got yourself a simple to follow diet.  I’ve attempted this diet back in my younger days, and although my stomach hated me, I certainly had success with it, mostly because it was simple to follow and easy to understand.

The “healthy” bulk: I have followed this method to great success multiple times (including right now).  Ultimately, I follow the “real food” principles whenever possible (good sources of quality meat, tons of vegetables, minimal amounts of gluten and processed carbs), but mixing in some specific items that are calorie/carbohydrate dense to reach my calorie goals for the day: whole milk, rice, oats, legumes and lentils, and/or sweet potatoes, along with enough healthy fat sources (nuts, avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, almond butter).

Speaking of quality calories – how I recommend doing this – get your Get Bigger Shopping List and Bulk Up Cheat Sheet by putting your email in the box below:

Download our free skinny guy’s guide to putting on muscle!

Enter your email below to download now

• The Nerd Fitness “Get Bigger” Shopping List
• Bulk like the Hulk with our rules for getting bigger

 

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

Can you bulk using just paleo? Yes, it’s possible, though it can get incredibly expense and difficult.  Getting 4000 calories from paleo-only sources is a challenge, but certainly doable.  If you have the budget and want to try it, go for it. You’ll be eating truckloads of nuts, avocados, and sweet potatoes.

Tips on Eating for Skinny Guys: How to eat more calories

Just like knowing that you need to exercise and actually DOING the exercise are completely different things, so is knowing to eat more food and actually being able to accomplish it.

Here’s the biggest piece of advice I can give you:

Liquid calories are your friend.

I get a huge chunk of my calories every day from making my own ‘Calorie Bomb’ smoothie for post workouts. The recipe looks like this:

1. Whole milk
2. Oats
3. Frozen spinach
4. Frozen mixed berries
5. Protein powder.

Things like whole milk, coconut oil, almond butter, and even olive oil are easy ways to add calories to a shake in the quest for MOAR MUSCLE!  No blender? Just add a glass of 8-12 oz of whole milk to every meal!

Feel free to mix and match your own ingredients and see how many calories you can get into a smoothie without breaking your blender 🙂

Along with liquid calories, you can train your body to simply consume MORE regular calories. If you are cooking rice, each week try adding in an extra quarter cup when you cook it. And yeah, you have to FORCE your stomach to accept more food, even when you’re not hungry.

This is not enjoyable, as you often feel like you’re going to explode. However, just like it’s necessary to force your muscles outside of your comfort zone to get bigger, you need to force your stomach outside of its comfort zone until it adapts to accepting more calories.  So, start by adding a little bit more food each day and soon enough your stomach 

If you’re interested in more specific advice on diet for bulking up, I cover a lot of this stuff in greater detail in the Nerd Fitness Academy, but the explanation is pretty clear: EAT MORE FOOD!  

Download our free skinny guy’s guide to putting on muscle!

Enter your email below to download now

• The Nerd Fitness “Get Bigger” Shopping List
• Bulk like the Hulk with our rules for getting bigger

 

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

How to Grow Bigger Muscles: Get Stronger

If you want to get bigger, focus on getting stronger.

When you strength train, your muscles are broken down and then rebuilt stronger to adapt to the stress you have applied to it.  As long as you are continually increasing the weights or reps you are lifting (to an extent), your muscles will continually adapt to get stronger.  If you are doing this while eating enough calories, you are getting bigger.

Now, many sites might recommend you follow a bodybuilder type routine that focuses on isolation exercises that chops your body into different segments and works each of them out once a week.

You may have seen something like this:

• Monday: Chest
• Tuesday: Legs
• Wednesday: Shoulders
• Thursday: Back
• Friday: Arms and Abs

I think these routines aren’t beneficial for 99% of the population, and isolation exercises don’t have the effect that we’re looking for.  For the newbie, compound lifts simply do a better job at achieving our goal of muscle/strength building; compound movements are more efficient.  

Along with that, there are some safety concerns with isolation exercises: when you train your muscles to work in isolation…they get really good, in isolation but not in real situations. Unfortunately, our body is a complex system in which all muscles work in tandem to get things done.

For that reason, we’re going to focus on full body routines that contain compound exercises that give us the most bang for our buck.  If you want to mix in some isolation exercises at the END of a routine for an extra pump, go for it. But build your routine around the big movements, and get really strong with them.

Specifically, get really strong at these movements:

• Squats
• Deadlifts
• Overhead Presses
• Bench presses
• Bent over rows
• Body rows
• Dips
• Push-ups
• Pull-ups

There’s a reason Mark Rippetoe (author of Starting Strength, a must-read for anybody interested in the above exercises) lives for old school barbell training: it freaking works.

If you can focus on getting really strong with the above movements, and eat enough calories, you will also get bigger in all of the right places.

By the way, we cover all of the above in our Strength Training 101 series.

Here’s a simple three-day workout plan you can follow:

1. Monday: squats, overhead presses, and pull-ups
2. Wednesday: deadlifts, bench presses, body rows
3. Friday: lunges, dips, chin ups

Deceptively simple, incredibly effective.

Each workout, you get a chance to work out your legs, push movements, and pull movements: a chance for your muscles to be broken down and rebuilt STRONGER!

In this humble nerd’s opinion, if you are serious about strength training, your routine NEEDS to have squats and deadlifts in it.  

Workout Plans for Bulking Up

Honestly, no matter WHAT routine you follow, if you are getting stronger and adding weight to each exercise (while eating enough calories) you will get bigger.

Get stronger and the rest will take care of itself.

Worried about how many sets and reps you should do?

For”

• Strength and power: 1-5 reps
• Strength and some size: 5-8 reps
• Size and some strength: 8-12 reps
• Muscular endurance: 12+ reps

What this means: if you want to get bigger and stronger…keeping your reps in the 5-12 range is the sweet spot. Pick up a weight that is heavy enough that you can only complete your specified number of reps.

Don’t overthink it: One method might get you a little bigger and the other a little stronger, but that shouldn’t concern you. What’s important is that you pick a plan and follow through with it while focusing on eating enough. After a few months, you can reevaluate and then adjust based on how your body has changed.

How much weight should you lift?  For every of the barbell movements above, I start with just the bar, and then add weight in 5lb increments each week.  It’s important to get form right and get your body used to the movement for when you start to lift heavy weight.

How long should you wait between sets?  Again, don’t overthink it.  Waiting 2-3 minutes allows you lift heavier weights, and thus makes you stronger.  Waiting 60-90 seconds puts more of an emphasis on muscular size and endurance (as you’re resting for a shorter period)…but don’t overthink it.  Do the next set when you’re ready.

A piece of advice from 8-time Mr. Olympia, Lee Haney: “stimulate, don’t annihilate.”  Don’t destroy yourself for the sake of destroying yourself; stop one or two reps short of maximum effort can save you from overtraining and potential injury – remember that muscles are built in the kitchen!

Can Bodyweight Training Help Me Bulk Up?

Long story short: Yes, you can get bigger and stronger doing exclusively bodyweight exercises. Take a look at any Olympic gymnast: he is jacked, with giant muscles, all built with body weight exercises.

HOWEVER, it requires a very specific type of training regiment to see those results.

When you can do more than 12 reps of an exercise, you are not prioritizing strength or size, you’re building muscular endurance.  So, after you get strong enough, doing 100 push-ups in a row will not build muscle and size more efficiently; instead you’re just becoming really efficient at doing lots of pushups.

Think of it this way: If just doing more of something made you bigger, then it would be marathon runners that look jacked, not sprinters. It turns out that it comes down to the INTENSITY of the exercise and power required to complete the activity.

The challenge with bodyweight exercises is that, just like with strength training above, you need to consistently increase the difficulty in order for your muscles to adapt. Because you can’t “add weight” to a bodyweight exercise to make it tougher, you need to increase the difficulty of the movement itself.

• If you can do 4 sets of 15 push-ups, you need to make them harder to progress. Do 4 sets of 10 push ups with your feet on a bench. Then do divebomber push-ups. Work your way up to handstand push-ups. 
• Body weight squats too easy?  Work your way up to pistol squats (one legged squats).
• 4 sets of 12 pull-ups not a challenge anymore?  Great.  Make them tougher. Go for a wider grip, an uneven grip, or wear a backpack with weight in it.

Due to the difficulty associated with building a proper bodyweight routine with correct progressions, I highly recommend beginners start take a serious look at strength training with free weights; it’s easy to record one’s progress, easy to add more difficulty (just add more weight!), and very structured.

As you get stronger and more experienced, mixing in more bodyweight training is a great idea.  

In fact, I personally believe the best routine mixes both weights and body weight training.

Weight training for my lower body, body weight movements for my upper body.

Every day starts with either a squat/front squat or deadlift.  Each workout also contains a lot of Olympic/gymnastic style movements and holds to build upper body strength.

What it really comes down to is this: no matter what you have access to (a gym, barbell, dumbbells, or just a pull-up bar) you can find a way to build strength and muscle if you follow a plan and eat enough calories.

“STEVE, JUST TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!!”

Okay okay, fine! I hear ya.

As a former very skinny guy, I’ve made all the mistakes one can make over the past twelve years. I dutifully chugged protein shakes that made me gassy, I went to the gym 6 days a week and followed bodybuilder workout routines, and did everything I could to get bigger.

However, I had a few key things wrong, and that resulted in YEARS of frustration, confusion, and no progress.

Over the past few years, after a decade of making inconsistent progress, I cracked the code, and figured out how to finally gain some muscle:

Want to know what was the game changer for me?

I hired an online coach.

And it’s been the best money I spend every month!

If you’re somebody that can follow directions but wants to be told exactly how to train and what to eat in order to get bigger and stronger, consider checking out our 1-on-1 Coaching Program.

You get a coach that learns your life, your body type, and your goals, and then builds a personalized workout program and holds you accountable on your nutrition and progress!

If that sounds like something that interests you, head on over to our coaching page to schedule a call with us and see if it we’re a good fit for each other!

If you want bodyweight routines and progressions specifically designed to build muscle and size, we have plans laid out in the Nerd Fitness Academy that don’t require any equipment other than your bodyweight and a pull-up bar.

There are plenty of free resources out there as well (like our very own beginner bodyweight routine, advanced bodyweight routine, and playground routine) – just make sure each routine has you increasing the challenge and difficulty of the exercise, not just increasing the number of reps, and you’ll be on your way towards getting bigger.

Proper Sleep and Rest for Putting on Muscle

Last but not least, the other important piece to this Triforce of muscle building:

Strength training, eating enough, and RECOVERY.

Your body builds and rebuilds its muscles during RECOVERY. Your muscles generally need 48 hours or so to recover from its previous workout, so I do not recommend you do any serious strength training of the same muscle group on back to back days.  Feel free to do dynamic warm-ups and some calisthenics if you feel like it on your off days, but I tend to take my off days OFF.  I might go for a walk (to Mordor!), but that’s about it.

A word about cardio: if you are serious about getting bigger and stronger, lots of long distance cardio will work against you.  Your body has to burn so many calories for your runs that it doesn’t get to use any of these calories in the muscle building process. If you love to run/bike, that’s cool, as long as you know it’s slowing (or halting) your progress.

So, cut back on the running or cut it out completely. Try mixing in sprints and interval training if you want to keep the cardio up without having to do all of the crazy distance.  You can always add it back in once you accomplish your weight gain goals.

A few words on SLEEP: You need more of it when you are building muscle.  It’s that simple.  Don’t be surprised if after a heavy deadlift day you find yourself wanting to sleep for 10 hours.  It might mean less TV or less video games. Again, if you are serious about getting bigger and stronger, don’t neglect sleep.

I am Skinny Fat: Should I gain or lose weight first?

If you are skinny fat (you have skinny arms and legs but have a gut), I would recommend strength training while following a healthy diet to decrease your body fat percentage first.

If you follow a program with the right calories and strength training, you can both lose weight AND build muscle at the same time.

Get yourself down to roughly 12% bodyfat (~20% for women), and then start packing on size.

The alternative is to bulk up first (while putting on even more fat) and then cutting the fat and trimming down.

I like the first method better.  When you get your body fat percentage low, your body can add some more fat/muscle without you looking fatter.

In addition, by slimming down first, while building muscle, you don’t have to worry about buying BIGGER clothes first, only to then need smaller clothes once you start cutting the fat.

So, as you eat more and get bigger, if you notice your body fat percentage start to creep up, you can simply adjust until your body fat gets back in the acceptable range. Then keep building!

To recap:

1. Eat a caloric deficit while heavy strength training to build muscle while leaning out.
2. Once you reach a certain amount of body fat percentage you’re happy with (probably 10-12%), then you can increase your caloric intake to build more muscle without putting on too much fat.

FAQ for Skinny Guys Trying to Bulk Up

“But I just want to get toned, I don’t want to get too bulky.”  “Toned” is a word that makes my eye twitch, but I know what you mean. Do NOT worry about getting too bulky. I’ve been trying to get “too bulky” my entire life – it takes years of concerted effort to pull that off.

I’m gonna guess you have 30+ pounds to gain before you’d ever even be considered “bulky.” That means that if you struggle with weight gain, getting to the point where you are TOO bulky would be next to impossible? As you start to put on weight if you ever find yourself getting a tiny bit too chubby, simply eat less at that point!  So, when in doubt, always err on the side of too many calories than not enough. If you’re not sure if you should eat or not, etc.

“But I don’t want to do that stuff, so I’m gonna do _____ instead.” Awesome, go for it.  Give it a month, and see how your body reacts. If you’re getting bigger, stronger, and healthier, keep doing it. If not, come back to this article and apply the lessons in here!

“I’m a vegetarian/vegan, can I bulk up?”  Absolutely.  You just need to make sure you’re getting enough calories and protein in your system to promote muscle growth. Beans and nuts have lots of protein; if you’re vegetarian you can still use dairy to your advantage (whey protein, whole milk, cheese, etc.). If you’re vegan, then it’s slightly more of a challenge to get enough protein, but it can be done: almond butter is your friend 🙂

“Should I do ___ reps and sets or _____ reps and sets?“ Most likely, either plan will get you there.  Its 90% diet anyways. What’s important is that you pick a plan, you progress, you keep track of your results, and you consistently progressively increase the load that you are moving (be it your body weight or an actual weight).

“I want to get bigger and faster and have more endurance, can I do that?”  I hate to say it, but building endurance and getting bigger simultaneously makes things really difficult. As I point out in “How to build any physique,” compare a marathon runner’s body with that of a sprinter or gymnast.  Put the running on hold for a while, and focus on getting bigger: you’ll get there faster.  When you decide to mix running back in, keep your calorie consumption high and don’t forget to keep strength training! You can still go for walks, and still get a good cardio workout by lifting quickly with minimal breaks between sets.

“Do I need to eat every three hours?”  Nope, you don’t have to! But it’ might help. The TOTAL number of calories you consume over the course of a day is more important than the timing of the meals.  In fact, there are actually some scientific benefits that can result from not eating all day and instead condensing it into a smaller window. However, if you struggle to get enough calories in your system, spacing out your meals might help you feel less full.

“But what about this? And this other thing I read?” Don’t overwhelm yourself. Keep it simple. Get stronger, and eat more food. Break this down into simple steps and goals that aren’t scary, and get started. The best advice I can give you is to start and make adjustments along the way. Track your progress, track your calories, and track your workouts. If you are getting bigger and stronger, keep it up!

I know this stuff can be overwhelming, so I broke the info you need to remember down to two key actionable printouts: the Get Bigger Shopping List and the Bulk Up Cheat Sheet – grab them when you sign up in the yellow box below!

Download our free skinny guy’s guide to putting on muscle!

Enter your email below to download now

• The Nerd Fitness “Get Bigger” Shopping List
• Bulk like the Hulk with our rules for getting bigger

 

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

How to Put on Muscle If You’re Female

This section is written by Lead Female Coach Staci, who has had tremendous success with putting on muscle the right way as a woman.  In the photo above, she’s 25 pounds heavier in the photo on the right (and WAY stronger, and healthier, and happier!) If you’re at all concerned about “getting bulky” or that it’s not healthy/safe/possible for a woman to add weight the right way, this section should put those fears to rest!

The majority of what Steve has already covered is completely applicable for women.  If you want to gain weight, lift heavy and eat a lot.  However, due to our natural hormones, it’s harder for us to gain muscle.  And on top of that, we have a lot of factors (such as hormonal birth control) that have been proven to make it even harder.

But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. It just means we have to work harder for it.

Now, before we get started, let me just remind you: If you see a photo of a woman who is full of muscle and looks a lot like a man, she’s most likely on steroids. We simply don’t have the hormones naturally to get that size. Now, that that’s out of the way, lets go:

Since it’s harder for us to gain the right kind of weight, while some guys can eat the “See Food” diet and still look great, we will most likely need to focus on one of the “right food” diets.

Luckily, as it takes less calories for us to just exist, it takes less calories for us to bulk.  But, this is still a much higher number than the 1,200-1,500 calories you typically see women following.

Note: I’ve never done “GOMAD” but I have done half-GOMAD.  Since we’re most likely going to need a lot less calories than men due to our smaller size, full GOMAD is usually overkill.

I would also focus on making sure you’re getting enough saturated and monounsaturated fats, keep your sugar intake low, and make sure you’re getting enough vitamin D and Zinc – all items linked with boosting your testosterone naturally.

Speaking of testosterone – I know you may think of this as a “male” hormone, but it plays a huge part in women, muscle building, fat loss, increase bone mass and many other health related issues (remember: estrogen is made from testosterone). Men make about ten times what we make naturally, so they are way ahead of the game already. Lifting heavy and sprinting are two ways we can naturally boost testosterone

Another way we can help our testosterone levels is to watch our cortisol levels. Cortisol is a hormone that is promoted by stress and reduces free testosterone levels (in addition to signaling for your body to store fat).

So we want to keep our cortisol levels down by getting plenty of sleep, eating enough, and reducing overall daily stress.

For conditioning, instead of running, try sprinting or pushing a prowler.

As for strength training – not much difference here.  We still want to be doing compound, full body movements, and lifting heavy.  One big change to note though: women (and their natural growth hormone) have been shown to respond very well to a higher number of sets with a short rest period (60-90 seconds)

No matter what you chose, like Steve’s advice to above, pick a plan and eat a caloric surplus. Stop worrying about the small details and just make sure you are making progress.

More Resources for Skinny Guys Looking to Bulk Up

This is a monster of an article, and your head probably hurts at this point. If I can narrow it down to three main points:

1. Get stronger by picking up heavy stuff or doing more challenging bodyweight movements.
2. Get bigger by eating enough.
3. Recover faster by sleeping enough and giving your muscles days off to rebuild.

I see this article as a resource of sorts, so feel free to leave a comment with a question, and I’ll do my best to answer it, and perhaps add a FAQ section to this article.

How can I help you get bigger and stronger and feel better about yourself?

-Steve

PS: If you made it this far, and you want more specific instruction and guidance, check out our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program. No more guesswork, no wondering if you’re doing exercises correctly – you’ll get expert guidance and accountability from a professional on Team Nerd Fitness who gets to know you better than you know yourself!

Sound good? Head over to our Coaching page and schedule a free consultation to see if it’s right for you!

PPS: 40,000+ rebels have joined us in the Nerd Fitness Academy! If you’re interested in strength training and want more specific workouts to follow, nutritional advice and meal plans to pick from, a boss battle system, character leveling system, and a supportive community, check it out.  We’d love to help you level up with us.  See you inside!

###

photo source: stretch armstrong, caveman from Damy, plate of meat, male gymnast, sleeping puppy, scale, smurf, front squat, blender-smoothie, axel wheelhouse

http://www.thealternativedaily.com/

Coughing is one of those irritating symptoms that usually indicates a deeper health concern. Often, it can be hard to isolate the cough and figure out exactly why you are experiencing this uncomfortable condition. Many people simply reach for the cough syrup without a second thought, searching for some measure of relief. However, it is […]

Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss

Fads drive the fitness industry. Calorie counting is repackaged in a million different ways from point systems to color-coded portion control containers. If not tracking calories, you are probably either going vegan or diving into the new carnivore diet (yes, this is actually a thing). Everyone is always searching for the newest thing—with the quickest results.

read more

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/

I left the pro athlete world a long time ago. I no longer compete. I don’t train with the intensity and volume it’d take to win races. But I do pay attention to what’s going on in that world, and I still have a lot of friends who never left it. Developments there often foreshadow developments in the rest of the health world. And after things like keto, MCT oil/ketones, and collagen, the performance hack that’s blowing up among elite athletes is CBD oil. Almost everyone I talk to who puts in serious training and competing time (in a variety of sports and pursuits) is dabbling with CBD.

What are they using it for?

There are two main claims when it comes to CBD and fitness.

• That it improves sleep.
• That it reduces pain, improves workout recovery, and helps you get back to training and competition.

Do their claims have any scientific support?

CBD and Sleep

A big review of CBD and sleep found that CBD increased sleep time and reduced the number of times people woke up during the night, improved sleep quality, reduced REM-related behavioral disorder (where you act out your dreams in your sleep), and improved sleep in anxiety patients.

Sleep is one of the biggest weak spots for many athletes. They sacrifice sleep for gym time. They train late at night under bright lights and come home energized and unable to get to bed. They focus on the workouts rather than the recovery. But here’s the thing: the more you train, the more sleep you need. The more performance you need to wring out of your body, the higher your sleep requirements are going to stack. There’s no getting around it. Sleep is one of the most important things to get right if you want to improve performance and make your hard work count for something.

But let’s get more granular. You want details?

Sleep deprivation ruins your posture and makes you more liable to make technique mistakes, get injured, and compromise movement quality and power. If you can’t coordinate your limbs, you won’t succeed in the gym or on the field (and you’ll probably make a critical mistake that gets you hurt).

Sleep deprivation kills your judgment. If you’re not thinking clearly, you’ll make silly mistakes and dangerous choices. Go for the last rep on the deadlift when your back’s about to give out, that sort of thing.

Sleep deprivation squanders your adaptation to training. Enjoy the insulin sensitivity and improved energy utilization training provides? Sleep loss blunts both. Like gaining muscle in response to lifting heavy things? Sleep loss inhibits muscle protein synthesis.

Sleep deprivation makes eating well harder. If you’re training for fat loss and body composition, you know that eating is well over half the battle. A single night of bad sleep makes you more vulnerable to the rewarding effects of junk food. It becomes harder to resist and more addictive.

Sleep deprivation causes muscle loss. A lack of sleep increases urinary nitrogen, a sign that the body is breaking down lean muscle mass.

So, is there a connection between sleep, CBD, and performance?

That hasn’t been directly tested. We know two things:

1. CBD can help people who are having trouble sleeping get more sleep.
2. Sleep is ergogenic. If you aren’t sleeping, you aren’t maximizing your performance in the gym and adaptation to your training.

That’s not to say you can’t get good sleep without CBD. It’s not a requirement for good sleep. But if CBD is helping athletes get better sleep than they would otherwise, it’s also giving them a performance and training boost.

CBD and Pain, Adaptation, and Recovery

One of the biggest quandaries an athlete faces is how to balance pain management, training adaptation, and workout recovery.

You can use ice baths to get back in the game quicker, but you might reduce training adaptations.

You can take two days off after a really tough workout and maximize the training effect, but you won’t be able to compete in the interim.

You can pound NSAIDs to reduce pain, but it might slow down your recovery and impair your adaptation to the exercise.

Everything has a tradeoff. And if you lean too far in one direction, you’ll pay the price. Back when I was competing, I leaned hard toward “getting back out there.” I ate ice cream and grains by the gallon to replenish the energy I expended, popped Tylenol like candy to dull the pain long enough to let me get through the next workout. It all worked out in the end (I wouldn’t be doing this if I hadn’t messed up so badly), but boy if I didn’t cut it close.

Where Does CBD Fit In?

CBD is a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. It can block neurotoxicity from oxidative stress. It lowers inflammatory cytokines and raises anti-inflammatory cytokines. It may reduce a person’s reliance on opioids for pain control. It can even synergize with NSAIDs, reducing the amount you need to get the same effect. And it can do all this without causing liver damage. Sounds uniformly beneficial, right?

Be careful. Anti-inflammation can be a double-edged sword. After all, inflammation isn’t wholly pathogenic:

The inflammatory response is the healing response.

Training adaptations occur in response to the inflammatory effect of exercise.

The inflammatory reactive oxygen species that we’re all so worried about also serve as cellular messengers that provoke the creation of new mitochondria and the production of endogenous antioxidants like glutathione.

This is hormesis—the application of good stressors to make us healthier, stronger, and more resilient.

NSAIDs have many of the same effects, like blocking inflammatory cytokines, and have been used by athletes for decades to reduce pain, improve acute performance, and hasten the return to competition. They’ve also been shown to reduce muscle adaptations to resistance training and impair healing even as they reduce pain.

One of CBD’s anti-inflammatory effects is to blunt the release of interleukin 6 (IL-6), an inflammatory cytokine. This isn’t always helpful, as studies show. A hard training session spikes IL-6, and, at least in animal studies using IL-6 knockouts (mice who produce no IL-6 at all), lack of an IL-6 response tends to reduce muscle and adipose tissue adaptations to exercise. NSAIDs are another anti-inflammatory drug that block IL-6 and have been shown to impair muscle adaptations to resistance training in the young and improve them in the elderly. In other words, NSAIDs impair the hormetic stress effect of exercise in the young (who tend to have a lower stress burden and higher stress resilience) and enable it in the elderly (who tend to have lower stress resilience).

What Does This Mean For You?

Well, it depends on who you are and your situation.

High stress lifestyle? CBD can probably help you blunt some of your underlying stress to give the training a bigger effect. Low stress lifestyle? CBD might blunt it too much and render your training less adaptive.

As for CBD’s effect on pain means, there are a lot of unanswered questions that I trust will be answered in due time.

CBD may help mask the pain from injuries by exerting anti-inflammatory effects while slowing down healing. However, if your baseline inflammatory status is high, reducing inflammation may be just what you need to improve healing.

CBD may help reduce pain by speeding up the healing process. There’s even some evidence in rodents that CBD can speed up the healing process of a fractured bone. Does that happen in humans? Does that happen in other types of injuries? Maybe.

That said, if taking CBD before a workout is the only thing that lets you actually get through the workout without pain, it’s going to be better than not taking it. I know of a few people who swear by CBD for joint relief; they couldn’t do what they love without it.

We have a lot more to learn about CBD and training. The benefits for athletes who need help with sleep are clear and well-established. The benefits for athletes who need help with pain and recovery are murkier—we simply don’t know the details yet. It’s likely that CBD will help athletes recover in some situations and not in others. But for the most part, it’s relatively low-risk. Give it a shot and see what you notice. The beauty of it all is that even if CBD impairs your training adaptation, it’s not set in stone. The safety profile is good. The research is only growing. You can always drop it and keep training and regain your gains.

That’s it for today, folks. Have you used CBD to enhance your training? Did it work? Did it hurt? Tell us all about it down below!

References:

Kozela E, Juknat A, Kaushansky N, Rimmerman N, Ben-nun A, Vogel Z. Cannabinoids decrease the th17 inflammatory autoimmune phenotype. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol. 2013;8(5):1265-76.

Lundberg TR, Howatson G. Analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs in sports: Implications for exercise performance and training adaptations. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2018;28(11):2252-2262.

Kogan NM, Melamed E, Wasserman E, et al. Cannabidiol, a Major Non-Psychotropic Cannabis Constituent Enhances Fracture Healing and Stimulates Lysyl Hydroxylase Activity in Osteoblasts. J Bone Miner Res. 2015;30(10):1905-13.

The post CBD For Performance: What We Know So Far appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss

read more

http://www.thealternativedaily.com/

On Saturday, May 4, The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced a recall of nearly 12 million pounds of frozen, ready-to-eat Tyson Foods Inc. chicken strips after receiving complaints of “extraneous material” in the meat. Food safety officials have implemented this recall over fears of metal object contamination. This is […]

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/

My story goes back to being a Jazz Piano Studies major in college. I was getting ready to graduate, and was planning a wedding with my high school sweetheart. At the start of my last semester in college my now wife was hit with a life changing diagnosis: non-Hodgkins lymphoma. This was at the age of 22. Our life was put on hold as we entered the strange world of cancer treatment. As the chemotherapy started, we would ask questions like “should we be eating a certain way?” Often we were laughed at by doctors and my wife was told to simply eat.

The food in the hospital was mostly processed carbohydrate and dessert based. Knowing what we know now about cancer being a mostly metabolic disease, it is horrifying that cancer patients are basically fed pure sugar. We did the best we could with healthy eating as we saw it. Mostly organic processed food and whole grains. Luckily my wife was strong enough to receive some of the toughest chemotherapy regimens in modern medicine and make it out the other end. After 6 months of treatment we were given the ok to go back to our normal lives. The question remained, “how did this happen and what can we do to make sure it doesn’t happen again?”

In my research I stumbled across Mark’s Daily Apple, and fell into the rabbit hole that is ancestral living. We immediately started to get sugars and processed foods out of our diet. Before this I had tried to be a vegetarian off and on for a couple years, with my wife struggling as well. I had chronic digestive issues, joint pain, and low energy and assumed that was just my baseline. We started to simply eat more meat and vegetables in place of the grain heavy diet we were on. We worked on mindfulness strategies to reduce our stress, and functional training to strengthen our bodies. To say we both felt better would be an understatement.

After 3 years of dialing everything in, my wife and I follow a mostly ketogenic diet with periodic primal carbohydrates thrown in. She is in the best health of her life, even compared to before the chemo. I was so blown away by both of our transformations that I entered the Primal Health Coach Institute and got my certificate a year ago. Since then I have been passionately spreading the word and educating people about how to maintain effortless health, before a crisis happens.

I have been able to gain muscle and not have digestive, dental, and emotional issues for the first time in my life at 25. My wife has had similar benefits. We are now the owners of Steele Back Your Health, a coaching business based in the Cascade Mountains in Chelan, WA. I educate the importance of stress reduction, ancestral nutrition, and sustainable movement to maintain health long term effortlessly. Everyone should know that the human body is capable of supporting you long term, given the simple inputs it has evolved to need over our evolution.

Thanks for everything Mark. Live Awesome!

-Elliot Steele

The readers featured in our success stories share their experiences in their own words. The Primal Blueprint and Keto Reset diets are not intended as medical intervention or diagnosis. Nor are they replacements for working with a qualified healthcare practitioner. It’s important to speak with your doctor before beginning any new dietary or lifestyle program, and please consult your physician before making any changes to medication or treatment protocols. Each individual’s results may vary.

The post To Say We Both Felt Better Is an Understatement appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

http://www.thealternativedaily.com/

You’ve probably been told to “sit up straighter” since you were just a kid slouching over your cereal bowl. You may be reciting this mantra to yourself right now as you sit at your desk or on the couch trying not to round your shoulders over your laptop. For most of us, posture is one […]