Welcome back to Sticking with Fitness, the article series designed to help you realize your fitness ambitions.

Assuming you’ve read last week’s edition, you’re armed with your SMART and stretch goals and suitably motivated.

But, how do you turn that motivation into something more tangible?

That’s where finding a program comes in.

Finding the right program is crucial to realizing your goals. With so many programs out there, though, it’s sometimes hard to know where to start.

Fear not! Today, we’re running through three of the most widely practiced beginners’ fitness regimes. We’ll be talking about their advantages and disadvantages so that you can find the best one fort achieving your goals. 

Starting Strength

First released as a book by strength guru Mark Rippetoe, Starting Strength is a staple of beginner’s strength training.

If weightlifting or powerlifting is of interest to you, then this program is a great place to start.

Starting Strength is a very simple program. There are two different workouts done three times a week, that look something like this:

Advantages

One of the most obvious advantages to Starting Strength is its simplicity. You only need to learn five lifts, the progression is straightforward, and three sessions a week is a manageable time commitment.

In Starting Strength, you start light, adding 5kg to the bar per session. Working this way, you won’t be exhausted after your first session, and you’ll see results quickly; both of which are major motivators.

Also, it’s a fairly balanced program in terms of major weightlifting movements. Squats, hinges and pushes and pulls are all accounted for.

Disadvantages

Because of the powerlifting slant, Starting Strength puts a lot of emphasis on lower body. If you’re looking to really build your chest, arms and back, then it has its limits.

It also introduces squats and deadlifts fairly quickly. These lifts, requiring good mobility and balance to achieve, can be difficult for newcomers. And, upping the weight before mastering these movements can limit progress.

Still, there are workarounds. Increasing the weight by 2.5kg, rather than 5kg a session, for example (which is what I did when using Starting Strength) gives you a bit of breathing room for mastering the lifts.

Ice Cream Fitness

Jason Blaha’s Ice Cream Fitness (ICF) 5X5 program feels, in many respects, like a response to Starting Strength. Where Rippetoe’s powerlifting program put an emphasis on the lower body, Ice Cream Fitness is designed to increase muscle gains in the upper body.

Like with Starting Strength, there are two workouts, three times a week.

Advantages

If Starting Strength was too light on upper body for you, then Ice Cream Fitness is very much the antidote. You won’t be short on chest, back and arm gains with this one. All the major movement categories are included, along with the focus on major compound lifts and linear progression. But, you also get plenty of supplementary exercises for your upper body.

Disadvantages

Ice Cream Fitness isn’t exactly a simple program, especially when compared to the straightforward Starting Strength.

Your workouts are going to take a lot longer. It’s 5×5, not 3×5 for a start. You’ve also got more exercises per session and a lot of new lifts to learn.

The complexity of the program and the time commitment required can put off some absolute beginners. And, if you’re serious about this one, recovery time is key. You’ll be eating and sleeping a lot to make it work.

 You’ve also got the same squats and deadlifts issue from Starting Strength, though, as with that program, increasing your weights by 2.5kg, rather than 5kg is an effective workaround until you’re confident with the lifts.

Nerd Fitness Bodyweight Circuit

Nerd Fitness has exploded in popularity in recent years. The website, which aims to “help nerds, misfits, and mutants lose weight, get strong and get healthy permanently” has attracted a huge following amongst many who wouldn’t normally consider a fitness regime.

Unlike the other regimes on this list, the Nerdfitness Beginner Bodyweight Circuit is designed to be performed outside of the gym. In fact, the only thing you’ll need is a kettle bell, though even this can be substituted for a gallon milk jug. The circuit looks something like this:

Advantages

The very obvious advantage to this one is its accessibility.

It’s short and incredibly simple; you can complete it in under 20 minutes. It doesn’t require any specialist equipment, you can do it pretty much anywhere and it costs you absolutely nothing to do.

As a result, it’s incredibly easy to stick to the Nerd Fitness Beginner Bodyweight Circuit, and it can be a hugely motivating place to start your exercise journey.

Disadvantages

Unfortunately, the simplicity that makes the Nerd Fitness Beginner Bodyweight Circuit so accessible is also its biggest downfall. On this program, you’re going to plateau very quickly. You can add more circuits, sure, but you’ll quickly stop seeing the benefits.

It’s perhaps unfair to be too hard on Nerd Fitness for this, though. The whole point of this program is that it’s an introduction to personal fitness, and a means of making fitness a habit. On those terms, it’s a success. 

You have your goals. You have your program. Now you need somewhere to train! In next week’s edition, we’ll take you through the process of finding the best gym to put your program into practice, and the pros and cons you’ll need to weigh up.

You’ve made a new year’s resolution to start a fitness regime. Congratulations! That’s an amazing first step.

Unfortunately, I’ve got some bad news for you.

You’re probably not going to keep this up.

“Well that’s negative! What kind of a ‘new year, new you’ article is this,” I hear you ask?

Sorry friend, but it’s the truth.

Statistically, 90% of people quit the gym within three months of joining. Those numbers don’t lie, and if I was a betting man, I’m afraid to say I’d be betting against you.

But why is that? Why don’t the many people keep up a fitness regime? And what is the 10% that stays the course doing differently?

That’s what I’m going to try and answer over this series. In these eight editions, I’ll be offering up a comprehensive guide, not just for starting, but also for sticking to a fitness regime in 2019. We’ll talk about the things that you need to get right, as well as the common pitfalls that you need to avoid in order to go the distance.

In today’s edition, we’re getting to grips with what I call the big question:

What Do You Want?

As far as I’m concerned, this question is big hurdle number one. Because, while “what do you want?” seems like a fairly straightforward thing to ask, answering it honestly requires a degree of soul searching that not everybody is comfortable with.

On the Importance of Goals

I’ve met plenty of people who start their fitness regime with – on the surface at least – a pretty laissez-faire attitude to the whole thing. Chances are, you’ve probably heard any one of the following from a prospective gym goer at one time or another:

“Oh, y’know, there’s nothing wrong with staying fit.”

“I figured I could maybe lose a couple of pounds.”

“I just wanted to feel, sort of, healthier, I guess.”

The instant you hear somebody giving you one of those lines, you know they’re in the 90% category straight away.

Why? Because they don’t have any concrete goals. Or, if they do, they’re not confident enough in those goals to articulate them.

As Zig Ziglar once put it, “if you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.” And, by not setting yourself clear goals, you’re not really aiming at anything.

The result is that your fitness regime ends up not being a regime at all. Instead, it’s a series of loosely connected, ever changing exercises that may, or may not take you towards your goal. It’s unfocused, intangible, and ultimately unsustainable.

It’s very hard to keep yourself motivated without a goal in mind. A lack of motivation leads to procrastination, and procrastination eventually results in quitting. You get down on exercise for a while, before ultimately repeating the process the same time next year.

So how do you go about setting goals that you’ll actually see to completion? You start by thinking big.

Find Your Stretch Goal

Remember that soul-searching thing I talked about earlier? This is where that comes in. Now’s the time where you need to ask yourself what you really want.

Does it sound ridiculous? Does the very idea of trying to achieve it intimidate you beyond belief? It doesn’t matter. Say it out loud right now, and then write it down. Committing it to paper is a useful mental tool – it makes it seem more concrete somehow.

If you’re struggling to think big, then here are some utterly ridiculous sounding stretch goals to get your imagination going:

“I want to run the TCS New York City Marathon in under three hours”

“I want to stop looking like Peter Griffin and start looking like Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson.”

“I want to be stronger than Schwarzenegger, Stallone and Batman combined.”

What you’ve got now is an aim. More than that, actually, you’ve got a dream. And a dream is much more inspiring than an, “I just wanted to feel, sort of, healthier, I guess.”

So how do you go about turning that dream into a reality?

Turn stretch into SMART

Stretch goals have their limits. They are incredibly motivating, but they’re also kind of nebulous. You can dream about being stronger than Batman all day. But how do you actually go about doing it?

This is where setting SMART goals comes in. As LifeHack notes, SMART goals are those that are Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic and completed within a specified Timeline:

• Specific – target a specific area for improvement.
• Measurable – quantify, or at least suggest, an indicator of progress.
• Assignable – specify who will do it.
• Realistic – state what results can realistically be achieved given available resources.
• Timeline – specify when the result can be achieved.

Let’s say our stretch goal was to “stop looking like Peter Griffin and start looking like Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson.” There are many steps we need to take in order to make that goal attainable. So we need to work out what the first step is.

“Lose weight” is the obvious answer, but losing weight is a pretty vague idea (see the above, “I figured I could maybe lose a couple of pounds.”).

Your first SMART goal, then, might be to go to the gym three times a week and lose 6lbs/3kg in a month. You’ve targeted a specific area for improvement (weight loss), a measurable indicator of progress (going to the gym three times a week), you’ve assigned the goal (to yourself, obviously), stated a realistic aim, rather than a vague target (losing 6lbs/3kg), and you’ve given yourself a reasonable timeframe in which to do it (one month).

Armed with your SMART goal, you’ve got the best chance of achieving your goal. But, one big question remains. Once you get to the gym, what exactly should you be doing there to reach it?

Fear not! That’s where next week’s edition comes in. in “Get With the Program,” we’ll be running through the most popular beginner’s fitness programs out there, what they offer, and which one is right for achieving your SMART and stretch goals.

Having clear goals is vital to making a success out of your fitness regime.

Welcome back to Home Economics for Men, the series that teaches you – the single man of the 21^st century – the ins-and-outs of culinary self-sufficiency.

If convenience food is burning a hole in your pocket and giving you that Homer Simpson physique you never dreamed of, then this is the series for you. In last two lessons, we laid out and explored the concept of the meal plan, which is probably the fundamental practice for mastering home economics.

But, key to effective meal planning is making sure that the meals we’re eating is nutritionally balanced. Because all that effort you put into planning your meals isn’t worth squat if you’re not providing yourself the right fuel for living a healthy life.

So how do you make sure that your meals are giving you the things you need? What sorts of things should you be shopping for and how should you envisage a healthy and nutritionally balanced meal?

Fear not, because today’s lesson has the answers. It’s time for you to get to know your nutrition.

What makes a balanced meal?

One of the most important factors in creating a nutritional meal is finding balance.

But, what exactly does a “balanced” meal look like?

It’s a surprisingly difficult question to answer. There is a lot of contradictory nutritional advice out there on the World Wide Web, which much of it informed by questionable science or passing fad diet trends.

Which is a shame, because the secret to a balanced diet isn’t rocket science.

Dig a littler deeper, and you’ll find that the majority of nutritionists still recommend a tried and tested healthy-eating model that is basic, easy to follow, and still comes out trumps in the health department.

The three core food groups and the ¼ + ¼ + ½ principle:

Every meal that you eat should be made up of three core food groups. These are carbohydrates, protein and vegetables. Why? Because each one of these food groups performs one of three functions that keep your body working at its optimum rate: providing, energy, aiding with growth and repair, and maintaining healthy metabolic function. I’ve omitted “fats” as I typically do not consume food high in fats. 

This method has worked for me during my weight loss (read my weight loss journey here) and has helped to maintain a healthy diet. 

The trick to a balanced diet is making sure that you have the correct ratio of these three foods in your meal. For easy reference, that ratio looks something like this:

Carbohydrates: Energy

Ratio on plate: one quarter

Foods: rice, pasta, quinoa, couscous, bread, potatoes

Function: provide energy to the brain, muscles and other organs

(Wholegrain carbs also provide fiber and vitamin B)

Protein: Growth and Repair

Ratio on plate: one quarter

Foods: eggs, seafood, poultry, red meat, dairy products (milk, yoghurt, cheese), tofu, nuts, pulses, beans

Function: maintain muscle tissue, red blood cells, produce hormones and enzymes

Vegetables: Healthy Metabolism

Ratio on plate: one half

Foods: Carrots, peas, peppers, leafy greens, spinach, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, etc.

Function: rich in vitamins and minerals that are essential to a healthy metabolism and maintaining healthy organ functions

(On the subject of vegetables, Healthline provides a great list of nutrition rich options.)

This ¼ + ¼ + ½ principle is easy to remember and simple to implement. And, provided that your various meals comprise of a variety of the foods listed, it’s a sure-fire way to maintain a nutritionally balanced diet.

Oh, and coming back to a point from article 2, this principle applies to all three main meals, not just dinner. Breakfast and lunch matter just as much.

Of course, there is one thing you need to remember when it comes to the ¼ + ¼ + ½ principle, and that’s portion size…

Why portion sizes matter

Fun fact: since the early 1900s, the size of a normal American dinner plate has grown by 25%. Back in the 1960s, a typical dinner plate was 9 inches in diameter. By the 1980s, they’d grown to 10 inches. At the turn of the millennium, they were 11 inches.

Today, your average dinner plate is 12 inches in size. To put that in perspective, that’s the same size as a vinyl record. You might as well be eating your food off your dad’s copy of “Dark Side of the Moon.”

“Great,” I hear you say, “but why does this matter?”

Because, it’s seriously skewed our sense of what a healthy portion size is, and allowed our daily calorie intake to creep up in the process. The average American adult consumes 300 more calories per day than they did in 1985.

So what can you do about it?

Well, the simple solution is to stop filling your plate, and start portioning your food based on your nutritional needs. Before you get overwhelmed trying to calculate carb, fat and protein requirements down to the gram, here’s a handy way to gauge portion sizes when it comes to plating up your food, courtesy of the BBC.

A serving of carbohydrates for a given meal should be roughly the size of your clenched fist.

A serving of protein should be roughly the size of the palm of your hand.

Once you’ve got those two served, you can gauge the vegetable portion accordingly.

Sure, this is a pretty rough way of measuring out your food, and the mathematicians amongst you might be raging at my decidedly non-scientific approach. But it’s straightforward, it works, and it’ll do you more favors than simply filling your plate to the brim.

That’s it for this week’s edition. By now, you’re not just well versed in meal planning; you now know how to make those meals healthy and nutritionally balanced.

Next class is titled “Master the Meat Market.” In it, we’ll learn about cheap meat, fish options that are nutritionally sound, but friendly on the wallet, as well as exploring other low-cost protein options that are full of health benefits.

See you then.

This week, I want to branch out and share something that has become a passion of mine besides whisky. The concept of health, healthy eating and thus healthy cooking. This is why I’m starting a new series called Home Economics for the Modern Day Man, a series teaching you about how to get healthy without breaking the bank and a guide to better yourself.

Why should you think about home economics in the first place?

Home Economics according to dictionary.com is “the art and science of home management.” I specifically chose the title of this series because I believe all men (and women) should, at some point in their lives, learn how to take care of themselves and their home environment. Its an art form and one trait that defines a modern day gentlemen. Let’s dive in.

When you’re fending for yourself, cooking food from scratch is rarely a top priority.

Cooking takes valuable time, raw ingredients cost money, and there are plenty of convenient ready meal and take-away alternatives out there for those that don’t want the hassle.

Plenty of us fall into the “don’t want the hassle” category, it seems, as convenience food is quickly becoming the norm over the home-cooked alternative. Convenience foods are the largest growing food market sector in the US, for example, and 85% of countries consume more packaged food than fresh.  It’s also men that are driving sales of convenience food over women, particularly those in the 18-24 age-range.

Ready meals, take-aways and grab-and-go food options are ubiquitous in today’s society. But, for all of their promise of low-cost, hassle-free living, they’re actually doing serious damage to our wallets, and our waistlines, as well as increasing our chances of contracting serious health problems later in life.

Let’s dispel some of the myths surrounding convenience cuisine, and reveal the home truths about the benefits of home-cooking.

So, if you’re a devotee to microwave lasagnes, take-out pizzas or store-bought sandwiches, then take note. This article is food for thought for the fast-food devotee.

Photo by Nick Fewings

Continue reading