What the "experts" say?

Fitness & nutrition are some of the most misunderstood topics.  I can be considered an expert at fitness and nutrition due to my experience and education, and in many ways I am.  In other ways, I would consider myself to be a novice.  This would definitely be based off of my experience in training. 

There are many who may be considered experts in fitness & nutrition, and like myself they are in many ways.  However you don't know what you don't know.  And there are many things that these experts get right, and many others that they don't.  One thing to consider is that each person is different, and in many ways we can focus on training and nutrition in the same way. 

Now, we have many people who enter the gym and do their own thing.  You have many who truly know what they're doing, and this is evident based upon the technique, exercise selection, and distribution of exercises, not to mention physique.  You have others who kind of know what they're doing, and fall into a lot of what I had said in the previous sentence, but their routine is identical day-to-day and week-to-week.  There's nothing exceptionally wrong with this approach, it's the comfort routine, but progress will stall after awhile. 

Finally, we have many who for whatever their own reasons choose to attempt to exercise and follow nutrition plans piece-mealed.  Now, some of these are sound, but unless you have a descent understanding of physiology and mechanics, it's not always the best approach.  Often, its wise to pursue some degree of expertise prior to beginning an exercise program and nutrition plan.  And to note, most physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician-assistants (all providers) are likely to have a limited understanding of nutrition and exercise....maybe an undergraduate course or two.  Some of them do, but you'll need to check their credentials and history. 

Overall, it's best that you consult an expert...especially in matters pertaining to fitness & nutrition.  For the overall "plan" you can easily look online (like me!) and get plans built custom for you to achieve your goals.  For the technical parts, it's more challenging.  If you do it remotely, you can always put your phone to good use and film yourself performing something or live-stream it.  Though with much of the technical (form) work, it's best to get private lessons, even if it's only a few. 

Tied Together

Today, I wanted to let you know that I'd be tying many of my social media outlets together.  I've changed the name of my business side from Southern Guardians, LLC whose intention was to sell and transfer firearms, to Biblical Wellness, of which I will leverage my expertise and network to provide sound Biblical fitness, nutrition, and life advice and coaching to those who may benefit as such.  

Additionally, if you're reading this via my public group Martin Hubner MS, CSCS, Pn1 Fitness & Nutrition Coaching, then I want to tell you that this group is going to be linked with Biblical Wellness.  I'd like for this to be the community side, where you all can interact with each other and such, and the other to be more of the information/legitimate business side (sound like a mobster).  

My Twitter Handle, @BibWellCtr, will also be linked to these two groups.  This way I can post via twitter (like some of these blog posts are able to do).  

The only thing that will not be dedicated will by my Instagram account.  This will still showcase some of my private or group training as well as Biblical Wellness stuff.  So it will cross both worlds for me.

Thanks for reading and for following!  

How often should you lift?

A question that often arises among my clients is how often should they lift weights.  The answer is actually pretty complicated as each of them are different within their routines, ability, and even training age.  The probl
em is that virtually all advice that has been given is basically correct.   You must adapt it to your circumstance and not conform to what has been given to others. 

I'm an advocate of high frequency training.  This methodology varies the load, sets, reps, speed, and rest within the context of only a few exercises.  For example, I am performing a squat every day workout plan.  I have a client who is performing a dead-lift variation of this plan, but with less variability than mine.  The good part is you know what general movement you'll be performing that particular day, however which variation of that movement is up for grabs. 

Let's go with mine as an example.  It's built off a monthly plan, so for 30 days, I squat.  This goes against conventional wisdom that you should rest a muscle (or group of muscles) each day, but I promise you that you see some major progress each and every week.  The major variations of the squat are Back & Front Squats, though with and without a belt. 

The benefits of this is the exceptional amount of volume that we receive in the training.  We also receive a fair amount of intensity (weight) when we train high frequency.  This allows for some significant response from the muscles and thus an improved body composition and strength.  Before I conclude on the high frequency training, know that most elite level weightlifting programs consist of high frequency training, rather than the 1-2x per week training that most conventional programs suggest.

Now, this isn't suggesting that you should begin to lift the same lift(s) every single day, just that it's an effective method to improve strength & body composition.  Most however do an exercise only 1-2x per week only.  Now, there's some definite merit to this as well, especially in the muscle growth concept (and to some degree, strength).  Muscles need rest to grow, the central nervous system (the thing that's primarily responsible for making you strong) needs rest to improve.  The upside is that you can easily see improvement with 1-2x/week training, however the longer that you have in between training sessions the less practice that you receive and thus the less proficient you are at a particular thing. 

Sometimes training frequency doesn't matter, what matters is that you hit it each and every week.  As you continue, you'll see progress.  Fail to go ahead with training and overthinking it will result in you failing in general.  So even if you only know 1-2 things, go ahead and hit those things each and every day.  You'll see progress, and you'll see proficiency. 

Keep your consistency with your training, if it's every day or every other day or every week.  Your frequency only matters when you're highly trained, but know
that you need to train and train hard to see progress.  

New Frequency

To allow for the keeping of fresh content, I'm going to change up my frequency. 

For the past year, I've posted content on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  Looking for the future,  I'm going to be posting only on Tuesdays & Thursdays.  I lose one day in posting, but it allows for me to keep fresh content and in preparation for what I'm hoping to roll out in February. 

I'll still be keeping up my posts, but with only 1 less per week. 

Thank you all for a wonderful year of reading my posts.  I'm looking forward to posting more effective content in the next year!