[Editor's note - a different version of this post came out two years ago from Jason, but I (Darrin) have years of experience managing teams of professionals and so I've added my experience with how people can achieve their goals. So this is a pretty major rework...]
This is the time of year that many people already start to give up on their New Year’s Resolutions. Especially fitness goals. Don’t be one of those people!
Not getting to your destination? Having trouble achieving your goals? You may have a problem that you haven’t considered – how you set them in the first place.
When you are doing everything you possibly can to achieve your goals, but just can’t quite seem to reach them, the problem might be that you are setting the wrong type of goal. Here’s a real-world example that you might see in business:
My goal is to increase company sales this year.
What’s wrong with this goal?
- “This Year” is too long a timeframe to measure progress. You can easily lie to yourself each month you fail to see higher sales, by saying “I’ll make up for it next month”.
- You don’t directly control company sales. Most likely, you aren’t in a position to control company-wide sales. Even a director of sales doesn’t technically “control” sales because customers must buy something for sales to increase, and you can’t control the customers. You can only take actions that will influence their decision to purchase.
- Not measurable. How will you measure your success here? “Increase” could mean just $1 more revenue when you really meant much more.
You may have heard of SMART goals: specific, measureable, actionable, realistic, and timebound. Good advice in theory but in practice, the average person gets so confused by these 5 criteria that their goals become convoluted and dysfunctional.
MT Goals
So forget the “S”, “A”, and “R” for now and just focus on the “M” and “T” – make sure your goals are Measureable and Timebound (you do this right, and the S, A, and R will come along for the ride). And since you are the only person that you have complete, direct control over, you are the only person that your goals should ever focus on. You will only set yourself up for disappointment if you create a goal that you can try your hardest to achieve and still fail at.
[I've known this for many years, after struggling with teams and individuals going into contortions to set up goals. All that really matters is that they are measurable and timebound. But the first time I heard the phrase "MT" goals was from the guys at http://www.manager-tools.com/ . For further advice on MT goals, see Better Smart Goals.
Your Workout Goals – Outcome vs. Process
You don’t have direct control over your body composition either. If you did, you would just add 10 pounds of muscle or lose fat whenever you want.
Instead, you have to take the specific actions that influence your body to look the way you want. You don’t just lose fat… you increase your metabolism, run hard, and eat clean food, and then your body may or may not lose 10 pounds of fat.
So setting a goal to lose 10 pounds of fat is an outcome-based goal. Outcome-based goals are fine and usually the place people start. And they are an important part of goal setting. But they don’t tell you what to do – what action to take. If you don’t know what the best mix of diet and exercise is most likely to lose 10 pounds, no amount of goal setting will make it happen. You need to have some more experience before you can set outcome-based goals.
The solution to these problems is Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Goals
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The Two Keys For Eating To Gain Muscle While Simultaneously Shedding Fat
I’ve found two specific eating habits that are essential if you want to gain muscle and shed fat at the same time.
This is the 3rd and final installment on this mini-series of how to eat to maximize muscle gain. Click here for part 1 and here for part 2. Plus, today I’m including some sample menus!
Before I share them, and conclude this series, let’s get some assumptions on the table:
- You are not fat now, but still want to get leaner
- You want to gain muscle AND lose fat at the same time
- You are willing to have each of those goals progress more slowly in combination than if you focused on only one at a time; but you still want good progress on both
- I assume you are using a decent lifting routine
- I assume you are eating healthy food, in a good mix of proteins, carbs, and fats; if you don’t know the basics, then refer to Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle or 3 Months To A New You.
Ok , so rather than tease you, I’ll state the two keys upfront:
a) Gradually increase your overall calories to a point far above what you think you should be eating
b) Use the zig-zag calorie method
Last week I shared a 5-step strategy about how to gradually increase your caloric intake.
Now let’s talk about that “zig-zag method”… Read the rest of this entry »
There are surprisingly many scientific studies comparing machines to free weights. You have to be careful about who is sponsoring them of course, but generally you’ll see pros and cons start to emerge if you read many of them. I’ve done my best to summarize them in Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of this series. Now, in Part 4, I want to share a few of the better studies and go a little deeper into each one. These were some of the studies I used as the basis for the earlier parts of this article.
Smith Machine Squats Inferior To Free Weight Squats
In a recent study (see Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: December 2009 – Volume 23 – Issue 9 – pp 2588-2591) researchers figured that the Smith Machine was probably better for activating certain leg muscles because the lifter wouldn’t be focused on stability so much. The logic, like most people would have thought, was that attention to stability reduced activation of the leg muscles in free weights, whereas the Smith Machine users could focus more on the leg muscles.
Well, turns out they were wrong! They measured the same lifters (i.e. people) using a weight on each exercise equal to 8 reps maximum. And they measured 7 different muscles (including some abs and lower back).
Surprisingly, Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: science, smith machine
Join the forum discussion on this article, or comment below. - (1) Posts……………
Everybody and their brother in the fitness world are writing posts about the new year. And everyone is ripping each other off, generating marginal content, and feeding cliches. Not to mention the fact that the content for 2010 is exactly what everyone wrote in 2009, which is just like 2008, and 2007… etc. Here is my send-up to all the lame post topics I’ve seen in the past four weeks…
#6 – “The Top Fitness Things I Learned in 2009″
My answer: Nothing. Seriously, there’s very little truly new in fitness. The core principles have been around for decades and new discovery is very limited.
#5 – “My Fitness Predictions for 2010″
My answer: Some people will get fatter. Some people will lose fat. Some people will gain muscle. Some will lose muscle, thinking they are losing fat. Overall, sadly, not much will statistically change in 2010.
#4 – “My New Year’s Resolution Is To Finally Get in Shape in 2010″
My answer: Resolutions are not goals. See this.
#3 – “Start Now To Work Off The Holiday Treats You Ate at the End Of 2009″
My answer: You should have started working BEFORE Thanksgiving, and you should have limited your binge eating to only Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years (3 days, not the 3 weeks many of you took “off”).
#2 – “How To Get Motivated For 2010″
My answer: If your motivation is only triggered by the calendar year incrementing to 2010, then you need some serious lessons in motivation.
#1 – “How To Make 2010 Your Best Year Ever!”
My answer: Work hard. Really hard. Excellent fitness takes hard work (physically) and hard work (mental discipline).
So, what would YOU add?
Join the forum discussion on this article, or comment below. - (4) Posts…..
Last week we talked a bit about cases were it might be ok to use machines instead of free weights. But even in those limited circumstances, you have to take some precautions to prevent injury and to maximize the effectiveness of your workout:
pic: Don't Be Stupid - use machines as they were intended
The 8.5 Precautions You Need To Take Before Using Fixed-Path Machines
1. Be absolutely sure you can’t find a free weight alternative. Most of the time, with some advance research, you can find a better way to work the desired muscles by using a free-weight exercise. Note well: “free weights” includes dumbbells, kettlebells, and medicine balls too!
2. Be absolutely sure you can’t find a cable alternative. Same as above.
3. Always take the time to try different seat heights, and other ergonomic settings to get the best range of motion; then Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: free weights, machines
pic: Skinny guys can get muscular by eating right and training
pic: Skinny guys can get muscular by eating right and training
[Don't forget - I give away a free lifting routine ebook to the top contributor each month to our free discussion forum!]
Why Skinny Guys Stay Skinny
This is Part 2 of a series on how to eat right to gain muscle. Click here for part 1. This article (part 2) has three sections
- one about why skinny guys stay skinny,
- another about how to get yourself to eat more, and
- the real secret to gaining muscle fastest from your diet.
Then next week I’ll share the advanced eating technique to actually gain muscle and lose fat at the same time, plus I’ll include a few sample menus!
The biggest mistake skinny guys make, when starting to lift, is not eating enough. Oh, they think they are eating enough. But they aren’t. They think they are in Case 5 above but really they are in Case 4.
Look at a skinny guy who isn’t lifting. He’s currently skinny, right, so that means he’s not eating excess calories.
Now start him lifting on a decent muscle building program. Lifting heavy weights burns calories during the activity and also burns more after the activity. If he’s still eating the same amount as he was before, then he’ll actually lose mass!
This is compounded by the fact that the skinny guy isn’t happy about his muscle size, but he likes being able to see his abs. (Yeah, but you can see his ribs too!) So he absolutely doesn’t want to get fat. He just wants more muscle. As we’ll see, this constraint comes back to haunt him.
Of course he’ll have heard from his buddies that he needs to eat more. Plus, he’ll naturally be more hungry. So chances are he would increase how much he eats, right?
But most skinny guys only end up eating a little bit more. They eat enough to prevent muscle loss, but not enough to really grow muscles.
An Example Might Help
Let’s take an example of a skinny guy: 6 feet tall, 150 pounds, 10% bodyfat. So he’s not too skinny, he’s got a thin layer of muscle because he’s an active guy, but he’s now going to start lifting. His target is to get to 180 pounds and stay 10% bodyfat. (6 feet tall, 180 pounds, and 10% bodyfat looks really good at the beach.)
And let’s say he wants to get there within 1 year. That’s 30 pounds (27 pounds of muscle and 3 pounds of fat) in 12 months. Breaking this down, we get to an average of 0.5 pounds of muscle a week. That’s tough to do but not impossible for the skinny guy who’s never really lifted before. [And it won’t be linear – in the beginning, if he does things right, he’ll gain faster than he will towards the end.]
It’s pretty universally accepted that Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: diet, eating, muscles, skinny guys
Join the forum discussion on this article, or comment below. - (4) Posts……….
Last week I outlined the argument in favor of free weights over machines. But is that the end of the story? No way. There are some advantages to machines in some cases. I’ll go into details momentarily but first let’s dispel some myths about who should use machines…
Cases Where You Might Hear Machines Are Better, But Where No Evidence Exists
You might hear pseudo-experts pontificate about who should/shouldn’t use machines. For example, I often hear people tell me that the following groups of people “should” use machines instead of free weights:
- older people
- children
- fat people
- women
- newbies to lifting
Hogwash! There is no scientific evidence to support such claims.
So When Are Machines Ok?
That said, there are a few cases where machines are acceptable (or, in some cases, even preferred). Machines usually (and I do mean usually, as in “not always”!) have these advantages: Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: free weights, machines
Join the forum discussion on this article, or comment below. - (1) Posts………….
pic: Do exercise routines have to use a 7-day week?
Sounds like a silly question, right? I mean, a “real” week is 7 days, so shouldn’t our routines be based on “reality”?
Actually, after years of lifting and running, I’m starting to come to the conclusion that in many cases, our bodies don’t care about “real weeks”. Our bodies care about the balance between stimulation and recovery.
The goal for every serious fitness buff is to kick your own butt just enough to get progress, but not too much that your body can’t recover. This applies to lifting weights, running, skiing, biking, etc.
Why 7?
So we’re all stuck on “x days per week” and we assume that a week means 7 days. (And to be fair, it usually does mean 7 days.)
But what if the key to getting in the right amount of work means you have to shift your paradigm from 7 days a week to something different…?
What about a 6-day week?
What about an 8-day week? (Please, no Beatle quotes…)
In my newest lifting program, Hypertrofreak, I include two different programs.
And guess what? I’m using an 8-day week.
I have you working out 6 days a week, but there are 8 days in my week. That means you are getting 2 recovery days each cycle.
Here’s a cut and paste from part of the program:
Day 1 = Day 1
Day 2 = Day 2
Day 3 = Day 3
Day 4 = recovery
Day 5 = Day 5
Day 6 = Day 6
Day 7 = Day 7
Day 8 = recovery
Day 9 = Day 1
Day 10 = Day 2
Day 11 = Day 3
Day 12 = recovery
Day 13 = Day 5
Day 14 = Day 6
Day 15 = Day 7
Day 16 = recovery
At first, this is hard to get your head around and can be a little confusing. But if you learned to tie your own shoes, then you can learn this.
I’m also experimenting right now with Read the rest of this entry »
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