FAQ

When increasing muscle mass is a prioritized goal, people should generally shoot for 0.5 grams to 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. Anything in excess would likely have very little benefit as prioritizing carbohydrates (for a healthy individual with no specific dietary restrictions) would provide you with more energy. More energy will always be ideal for harder training and better recovery.

Lean protein does however aid in helping you maintain a feeling of fullness. So when dieting to lose weight, eating protein in excess of 1 gram per pound of bodyweight may be helpful in suppressing hunger. When dieting to gain weight, the need to lower your desire to eat is usually not going to be an issue.

In my experience, when new clients come in, the overwhelming majority have not been consuming 0.5 grams of protein per bodyweight on a regular basis. I encourage everyone to have some source of lean protein at each meal as a good place to start.

No. Sugar provides you with energy. If you watch an NBA game you'll notice nearly every player sipping on Gatorade (pretty much nothing but sugar) while on the bench.

Should your entire diet consist of sugar? NO. Should you avoid high sugar foods? PROBABLY. Can sugar be used as a supplement to enhance energy and performance? DEFINETLY.

If someone is having a weight issue, sugar is more than likely not the cause. Sugar intake may be a contributing factor but almost certainly is not the main culprit of an obesity issue. A lack of calorie control will more than likely be problem #1. In order to fix the obesity issue then one must look at the overall daily intake of a individuals diet.

Unless there is a underlying health issue, then carbs are definitely not bad. They are your primary source for energy, they have muscle building properties, and they enable you to recover better from hard training.

If you remove carbs from your diet, you will likely see an immediate scale drop which is a result of water loss and a smaller amount of glycogen being stored in your muscles. This is not tissue weight loss. For this reason you may see carb free diets getting promoted, while they may work by creating a calorie deficit they are not going to be sustainable for most people, especially beginners. Once carbs are reintroduced into a diet then the immediate water/glycogen rebound will occur.

Carbs are not a requirement to lose or gain weight, but they make dieting with hard weight training much more efficient.

If you want to build muscle you will still need to find a source to receive adequate protein intake. The easiest thing would be find a protein powder that you like. Second, I would Google "protein sources that are not meat" and make a list of items to try next time you go to the grocery store. With each year that passes that are more and more vegan options. I would prioritize finding lean protein options that have minimal carbs and fats. I would not consider beans my primary source of protein if I were a non-meat eater.

There is no magic to fasting. If you like it, do it. There are literally millions of people who life a healthy lifestyle that do some form of fasting. Your meal timing should align with your goals and make it the most convenient for you to adhere.

In terms of building muscle, performing your best, and recovering from hard weight training, I would not consider fasting ideal. I think it would be more ideal to have a handful of meals and spread them out somewhat evenly throughout the day. This can maintain energy levels, keep hunger suppressed, etc.

So, fast if you want, probably not the most ideal method to combine with hard weight training...but it's doable if that is what you prefer.

Not really. Buy organic if you want, do not buy organic if you do not want. Maintaining a healthy weight should be much higher on the priority list than whether your food is organic or not.

I have had many people over the years come to me wanting to lose 20-30lbs. Often times these people claim to "eat healthy" yet they're 20lbs overweight. If you're 20lbs overweight then you're not eating healthy. It does not matter whether you have organic, non-gmo foods, or special olive oil imported from overseas. If you're 20lbs overweight you're not eating a healthy diet.

With that said, eating healthy and fat loss dieting are not necessarily one in the same. One should not be in a permanent calorie deficit. Consuming food that maintains a healthy weight is better than a diet that has you 20lbs overweight.

Eating to lose weight is literally eating less than you're supposed to. This is not a good long term plan but can be strategically done in phases. Dropping about 10% of your bodyweight then eating at "maintenance" for about as long as it took you to lose the 10% is a solid gameplan.

Yes. Lean protein and some slower digesting carb. I usually eat chicken, green beans, rice, and follow it up with some oatmeal prior to working out. You are not required to eat prior to working out by any means but when we're talking about what is ideal...You'll have better energy, strength, recovery, etc if you're eating an adequate amount before and after workouts.

You're likely going to be more motivated than ever...to start. You do not want to sprint out of the gate and burn out after two weeks. You also do not want to shoot to workout 7 times a week and fail to come close because that will likely be perceived as a loss.

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I always recommend to realistically look at your schedule. Determine how much time you want to invest and start with a fairly easy goal to build some momentum and begin making exercise part of a routine that does not get skipped for any reason. There is a lifetime to add and subtract aspects of the routine but you really want to set yourself up for success and accomplishing a few wins from the beginning is a good plan. If you're confident you can exercise with weights two times weekly but uncertain about four. Just start with two for a month and reevaluate once it's stable in your life.

The simple answer here is going to be whatever you adhere to consistently. If you like mud runs, crossfit, yoga, jazzercise, powerlifting, cross training, mountain biking, etc...Whatever you consistently do is the best style of workout.

At the studio, most goals are centered around improving physiques, weight loss, muscle gain, lifting performance, etc. I would say the most efficient style of training for these goals would be progressive overload. In short, this is methodically making your training slightly harder week by week to provide consistent progress in strength and/or stamina.

With this style, you repeat the same exercises week after week and work on progressing the volume or amount of weight lifted. In doing so, you get more comfortable and technically sound with the lifts vs doing random exercise movements each time you work out. I find this to be more efficient, more measurable, and generally superior to all other methods of training with the assumption adherence/boredom is not an issue