Get Real Folks! Fitness expectations, separating fact from fiction

Recently I heard a story of a women who began crying furiously after she was measured by her trainer. She stepped on the scale, and proceeded to have a most embarrassing public meltdown. Neither her trainer nor the other people in the room could calm her down as she raged about her weight and fat loss “failure”

Oh yeah, did I mention she had only been training for 11 days?

Working in the fitness industry can be very rewarding at times. It can also be a serious fucking headache. The dividing line falls in many situations on managing expectations and dealing with a vast wave of misinformation being cast upon clients from every single direction.

I am a fan of marketing. Provided of course the claims made in the marketing are actually attainable for the target audience.

What I am not a fan of is how the majority of fitness and health information is packaged and sold in America. It’s 40% scare tactics, 40% stretches and strays of research, and 20% reality. Knowing how to separate the wheat from the chaff can be hard at times.

It’s pretty god damn sad when someone drops 4 lbs of fat in 4 weeks, and looks down in disappointment because “I thought I would lose more”

How about celebrating a victory?

Anyways

“How much fat can I lose in 90 days?”
“How much muscle can I add in 6 months?”
“How important are supplements?”
“How important is diet when it comes to fat loss?”

These are some of the most common questions in the industry, and some of the answers you will find are absolutely appalling.

Rather than repeat all that horse shit, I have some more relevant questions for you.

How much Fat loss can I expect in 90 days? 

This is a client of Movement Minneapolis. Josh Freeman has lost over 43 lbs...it has taken him 10 months. Sustainable fat loss is not always the fastest thing in the universe. Stay the course, don't give up!

Here are some questions every person needs to ask themselves before they ask a fitness professional that question.

#1 How long have you been over weight?

NOTE: the very concept here of “over weight” is something I leave to you and to the medical community. Some people are so dysfunctional they believe they have always been over weight when it is not medically accurate. For ease of this piece I will point out the definition of over weight the majority of the medical community agrees with- BMI over 30, Body fat percentage over 25% for men, over 30% for me, waist measurement over 40″ for men, over 34″ for women.

–Do you think how long you have carried this excessive body fat matters?
– Have you considered how long you have carried this body fat can potentially affect how fast it comes off?

#2 If you are over weight (either by medical or self imposed terms) how do you believe you got this way?
– Would you say the ownership of the problem falls on your shoulders?
– Can you currently think of anything you do or don’t do which is related to the fact you are overweight?

#3 How prepared are you to modify your diet right now?
– How prepared are you to reduce and possibly eliminate sugars and excessive carbohydrates?
– How prepared are you to reduce and possibly eliminate excessive alcohol consumption? Curious if you drink too much? Take this screen here
– How prepared are you to cook your own meals, bring your own lunch to work, and avoid eating at fast food establishments just because it’s the easy thing to do?

#4 How prepared are you to modify your behavior?
– Are you prepared to track everything you put in your mouth?
– Are you prepared to exercise 3-4 times a week, even when it conflicts with your social schedule?
– Are you prepared to educate yourself on nutrition?

These answers are better predictors of how much fat YOU can lose than any research study or gym marketing package. I have personally witnessed individuals lose over 24 lbs of body fat in 2 months, which is flying off. 24 lbs of body fat off a body completely changes how it looks. That may not be useful for you to know, depending on how you answer those questions.

A few thoughts
IF you consume alcohol in an excessive amount, kiss your fat loss program good bye. Just my opinion, but I will add I have not met anyone who had a heavy drinking schedule who was also fat who lost body fat during their fat loss pursuit. If you are too fat right now, and you drink a lot of alcohol, you will likely stay too fat.

IF you are unwilling to track your diet, you will probably fail. This has been replicated over and over from West Coast to East Coast in university after university…but hey what do all those PhD’s know, right?

IF your eating plan and exercise plan is the first thing you are willing to discard whenever your schedule gets tight, you will probably fail. I am sure you are the exception, or at least you may think you are the exception. The one who can simply stop and start at their leisure but continuously make progress on the fat loss pursuit?

When people ask me, my typical answer is 6-8 lbs of body fat. NOT SCALE WEIGHT. Scale weight doesn’t matter that much compared to the importance of actual body fat gains and losses. 2 lbs of fat per month is a completely sustainable speed. It’s absolutely possible to move faster, but not for people who can barely drag their ass in the gym once a week, or who binge on alcohol every weekend, or kill two gallons of ice cream a week. I promise you that.

How much muscle can I gain in 6 months?

Some very useful questions
#1 How much muscle mass do you already have?
#2 How big are your joints?
#3 How big are other people in your family?
#4 How many days a week are you prepared to train?
#5 Are you limited from doing any movements right now?
#6 Are you prepared to modify your schedule to get more sleep?
#7 How stressful do you consider your current lifestyle? Are you currently “very stressed”?
#8 What does your diet look like?

Some thoughts here…
Skeleton and joint size are excellent predictors for hypertrophy potential for drug free athletes. If you have a 6″ wrist you’re unlikely to sport 20″ arms one day. Not saying it’s impossible, but it is highly improbable. Looking at your joint size, would you describe yourself as a big guy, a medium built guy, or a little guy?

Here are three people with three different sized joints for reference. From small to big there is nearly a 100 lbs change.

To help you index this- Here is a picture of all three. Jedd Johnson is 6’2″ tall, 255 lbs. He is a big guy. Matt Cannon is about 5’9″ at 166 lbs. Yours truly is 6’1, 217 lbs. Realistically Matt will never be as big as I am, and I will not get as big as Jedd. Skeleton size matters.

Curious about your joint size and potential? Read this here.

Reality check- ALL professional body builders have incredible genetic potential for muscle mass, All do incredible amounts of various anabolic steroids and other substances. If you are comparing your gains to anyone who we can learn about in Flex Magazine, you are fucking LOST.

If you are not doing Squats, Deadlifts, Dips, Bench Presses, Jerks, Pull Ups, Rows, and all of their associated variations, abandon all hope of big.

If you are not getting adequate rest, abandon hope of big.

If you are currently a landscaper who works 14 hours a day, 6 days a week, in the sun, pushing and pulling shit around, you’re probably not getting big. Life style is important. Some of you guys have careers which are so physically taxing, no shit you can’t get size. More calories won’t do it either. There are plenty of skinny strong dudes who have a fat belly.

Do I need supplements?

If you have any fitness magazine within your home right now they will assure the answer is absolutely. No way you could ever make any progress without MuscleTech, TwinLab, BSN or Advocare right?

Here are some questions for you on supplements
#1 How much real food do you currently eat? By real I will say mostly non-processed, Organic, and foods which existed 100 years ago before the dawn of High fructose corn syrup and super farming technology with Frankenstein foods.

#2 Have you actually had blood work done by a competent medical authority who told you you are currently deficient in a particular vitamin?
– There are tests for all sorts of things, Omega-3 levels, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, so on and so forth.

#3 According to your current knowledge of nutrition, would you say your current diet is the best it could possibly be taking in to account your budge and life style?
– If the answer is no, will taking this supplement result in a measurable improvement relative to your health, fitness, and/or performance goals?

#4 Are you about to buy this supplement because an advertisement or marketing pitch got you aroused enough to act?
– If we have you wait 7 days, will you still be planning on making this purchase?

I want to share with a quick story. Craig Keaton owns and operates The Movement Dallas. He asks his clients to first stop purchasing all supplements, and instead spend that amount of money making improvements to their diet by purchasing better quality food.

Rarely do they revert back to purchasing supplements, and they have measurable improvements in appearance, health, and performance. I have replicated these results with clients at Movement Minneapolis. None of that matters to you until you try that for yourself.

There is nothing with supplements IMO, unless you think taking that pill or powder will make up for a shitty diet (it likely will not) or a shitty fitness program (definitely will not). Even people who do use anabolic steroids have to lift weights…If you think you can skip your workouts and just take creatine you are sorely mistaken.

How important is diet when it comes to fat loss?

#1 have you ever met someone who has lost weight without exercise?
#2 have you ever met someone who lost weight without changing diet?
#3 Do you know anyone who despite exercising vigorously 3-4 days a week, still is too fat?
#4 How many people do you know who diligently track their food and control quality/quantity who are too fat?
#5 What does the medical community say about this? (hint, ask your doctor)
#6 Are all countries in the world equally fat? If they are not, what countries seem to be thinner? Does that tell you anything?

So many people want to tell you what to think, I am simply encouraging you to question yourself to find answers. I believe these questions will lead you to a realistic potential for your prime fitness goals.

If you are unable to maintain realistic expectations, you will likely become frustrated. If you are too frustrated, especially for too long, you will quit.

If you quit, you are unlikely to get your goal.

That will make you sad.

OR

Have realistic expectations.

This is my final thought, no matter how stupid you maybe, or how fucked up your expectations are...don't quit just yet.

Measure and understand what is truly acceptable and what is not.
Improve what you can, make progress where you can.

One of these paths is better than the other. I will leave it you to decide which path you will take.