So you’re having trouble working out consistently?
I get it.
Life is busy and hectic. You probably wear multiple hats in your life.
Hopefully, one of them is a pirate hat:
If you are having trouble exercising regularly, know that you aren’t alone.
Not being able to work out consistently is one of the top issues facing our clients in Nerd Fitness Coaching. Luckily, there are some tips and tricks that help them, which we’ll share with you right now too.
As I mention in the video above, it’s okay to stumble – everyone misses a workout now and again.
Life happens:
Your job might need you to stay late.
Maybe your spouse can’t pick up the kids today.
Or perhaps you just lost track of time while playing video games.
These things happen, so don’t freak out whenever you miss a workout.
“Wait, wait, wait Jim! I thought this article was about consistency – then you start off saying it’s OK to miss a workout?”
What I’m saying is to not beat yourself up over it. I’ll see people be so tough on themselves for one missed workout, that it spirals downward and then they’re doing NO workouts.
It’s unnecessary, and it’s not sustainable.
Here’s something I remind my clients: If being tough on yourself helped with workout consistency, it would’ve helped by now.
So first of all, forgive yourself.
Then, I share with them a saying we have here at Nerd Fitness:
“Never Two in a Row.”
As Rebel Leader Steve mentions in the video below, it means aim to not miss two workouts, back to back:
It’s a mantra you’ll hear throughout the Rebellion (our community!).
Here’s the justification: as I mentioned, missing one workout is nbd.
However, two workouts in a row could be the start of a trend. If you’re not careful, after a few missed workouts, you could just stop exercising altogether.
That’s the real danger.
So we aim to not allow the trend to start in the first place.
Takeaway: If you miss a workout, it’s fine. Just try not to miss the next one.
Step 2: Building a Workout Plan
Here’s a great quote from Benjamin Franklin:
If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.
When it comes to working out consistently, we need to define what “consistently” actually means.
As Coach Staci mentions in the video above, we want to focus on three key questions when programming our training:
What type of workout are you doing?
When do you plan on doing your training?
Where will this workout take place?
All three questions are important, but we’re going to focus on “when” right now.
Determining “when” you’ll train is easily the most important step for working out consistently.
That’s why I want you to place your workouts in your calendar!
Schedule your workout like it’s the most important meeting of the day!
(A reminder that you ARE important!)
That’s what I have my clients do in our 1-on-1 Coaching Program. It goes a long way to helping them stick to their workout schedule.
So if you plan on training first thing at 8am, have a calendar reminder go off at 7:50am.
It’ll make a difference. I promise.
What days should be workout days?
For that, I have a couple of resources to share with you:
How to Build Your Own Workout Routine. Our MASSIVE guide will teach you exactly how to create a training schedule, including what exercises to do and when to take rest days. If you want to get your hands dirty by building your own workout, this is the way to do it.
Nerd Fitness Journey. Our fun habit-building app will tell you exactly when to workout, with video tutorials for every exercise covered. No need to create a plan, just open up the app and check your missions for the day. Plus, you’ll build your very own superhero as you go, which is totally sweet. You can try it out for free right below:
Step 3: Why “All of Nothing” Hurts Workout Consistency
Another one of the best things you can do to improve your workout consistency: have a backup plan.
Let’s say a pipe bursts at your gym, and it’s closed for the next few days.
Does that mean you should stop working out until they resolve their plumbing emergency?
Here’s another trick to start enjoying your workouts – do them while listening to some of your favorite music, or a podcast you enjoy.
Heck, you can even flip the TV on in the corner and watch your favorite show while you train.
We call this “Temptation Bundling” and I’ve seen it help a lot of my clients:
If you only listen to your favorite podcast when you run, eventually, you might start looking forward to running.
The same thing could happen with music. If you start to associate your favorite tunes with building up a sweat, one day you might actually enjoy building up a sweat.
Let’s say you only watch The Great British Bake Off while on your elliptical. If that’s the case, you’re going to start protecting your time exercising (“Don’t bother me now”).
Don’t overlook the power of coupling activities you enjoy with your workouts.
Step 5: How to Build Workout Accountability
Another strategy we can deploy when improving workout consistency: accountability and support.
There’s nothing quite like being accountable to another human being when it comes to exercising regularly.
There are a few ways we can create workout accountability:
#1) Tell Friends and Family.
Share your goals with your loved ones, then let them know the times you’ll be working out.
This will help for a couple of reasons:
We’re more likely to follow through with action if we commit ourselves in front of others.
If we don’t show up for a workout, they may politely call us out on it.
#2) Join an Online Community.
In the 21st century, it’s very easy to find a group of people who are on a similar mission.
If you want to exercise regularly, I’d wager you aren’t the only person on the internet working towards that goal.
So join a digital community! That way you can get in on some group accountability.
We regularly hold group challenges through our app, Nerd Fitness Journey. I’ve been told by countless Rebels that they’re more likely to get their training in if they know everyone else in the community is doing it too.
Heck, I did burpees in the snow because everyone in the Rebellion was doing a burpee challenge.
If you want to try out some of these experiences, you can sign-up for a free trial to our snazzy new app right here:
If you want some next-level accountability, I have to mention the ultimate power-up: hire a coach.
It could be a half-mile around the block. Or it could be to the mailbox and back.
The exact amount doesn’t matter, but being intentional is. That’s how we work to build consistency.
So do a short walk today. Then another one the day after tomorrow. Then a third two days from then.
Boom, three workouts in one week, all by just walking.
Step 7: How to Find Time to Workout
I’ll be real with you: no one is sitting around, twiddling their thumbs with time to kill.
If you’re going to make time to work out, you’ll need to figure out what activity in your life you can change or eliminate:
Maybe your two-hour nightly TV ritual can come down to an hour.
Maybe you start biking home from work instead of driving.
Maybe you catch up with your spouse over an evening walk instead of a drink.
This is why scheduling your workouts in your calendar can be so critical – it helps you see what needs to be moved around to get your training done.
Also, it’s okay to experiment here.
If you create a schedule, and you don’t hit it all, it’s okay.
Perhaps you just created an unrealistic schedule.
If so, then modify the workout:
Try a 30-minute workout instead of an hour.
Try two workouts a week instead of three.
Go around the block once instead of twice.
Again, we’re not worried about the amount of time here. Instead, we’re concerned about you hitting your workout schedule consistently. It’s okay to scale down to do that.
Once you’re rocking and rolling, we can always scale it up if it seems right.
If you want some tips on how to gauge your adherence to sticking with your workout schedule, then check out How to Track Your Fitness Progress.
Start Working Out Consistently
There you have it, my friend.
To recap…
Here’s How to Work Out Consistently:
Step 1: It’s okay to stumble (Forgive yourself). Everyone I know misses a workout here or there. It’s nothing to feel shame over.
Step 2: Have a plan! Without scheduling your week’s workouts, how do you even know if you’re being consistent or not?
Step 3: Have a backup plan! (Lose the “all or nothing” mindset). If your first plan falls through, nbd. Just move onto the next one. “Some” workout is always better than “no” workout. Do the best you can.
Step 4: Make it fun. Your workout doesn’t need to be something you dread. If you like hiking, go hiking. If you like swimming, go swimming. Any movement is beneficial and should be encouraged. No one said you have to hate it.
Step 5: Find an accountability partner. Going alone is almost always harder. If you can find a friend or coach to team with, it will make working out consistently easier.
Step 6: Embrace “action” not “motivation.” If you have to wait around for motivation to start working out, you might be waiting for quite a while. You’ll become motivated after you act.
Step 7: Don’t find time, make time. Your schedule won’t magically free itself. Look at your calendar and start prioritizing.
That’s it.
The most important thing you can do now today: START!
Not tomorrow. Not next Monday.
Today!
If you don’t know what to do, look at the next free spot on your calendar. Then schedule a walk.
Then schedule it a couple of days later.
Then the following week.
BOOM! You just started a plan for working out consistently.
As always, if you need any help here, we gotcha.
Here are three ways that Nerd Fitness can help you exercise regularly:
#1) Our Online Coaching Program: a coaching program for busy people to help them make better food choices, stay accountable, and get healthier, permanently.
As I said, this is the ultimate way to build workout accountability. Not only will a NF Coach build your workout, but they’ll check in with you too to make sure you’re able to do it.
If you can’t?
No problem, they’ll work with you to create a new plan.
You can schedule a free call with our team so we can get to know you and see if our coaching program is right for you. Just click on the image below for more details:
#2) If you want an exact roadmap for working out consistently, check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app tells you exactly what days to exercise, what days to rest, and helps you track it all so you know if it’s working for you.
Interested?
Try your free trial right here:
#3) Join the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion.
Sign up in the box below to enlist and get our Rebel Starter Kit, which includes all of our “work out at home” guides, our Strength Training 101 eBook, and much more!
Get your Nerd Fitness Starter Kit
The 15 mistakes you don’t want to make.
Full guide to the most effective diet and why it works.
Complete and track your first workout today, no gym required.
Alright, I want to hear from you now:
What’s your biggest issue with working out consistently?
What tips helped the most?
Are we missing any helpful suggestions for a beginner?
It’s been a while since I’ve been on a podcast, but last year when Julie Creffield put feelers out for podcast guests, someone actually requested me! Someone, requested, little old, me! I booked in the recording date, had a blast…
We’ve helped thousands of people run injury-free and train for their first 5k or marathon, and we’ve put together everything you need to know below too!
If you’re interested in starting a proper running practice (which you are, ’cause you’re here), you may want to try our new app! It contains a fun adventure that will take you from sitting on your couch to running a full 5k – with plenty of benchmarks in between for you to find your groove. No guesswork needed, just tie your shows and follow along with the app.
You can sign-up for a free trial right here:
Alright, let’s do this thing.
How to Run Properly Stage 1: Initial Conditioning
Before you even THINK about strapping on a new pair of Nike shoes and going for a run around your neighborhood, we need to get a few things straight:
Your body needs to have a base level of fitness before running becomes a viable option.
Here’s why running too early can be harmful:
Every time you run, every time you take a step, you put the pressure of your entire body weight on the muscles, tendons, and joints in your legs, knees, ankles, feet, and toes.
If you are overweight and have improper running technique, that means your joints and tendons are taking an absolute POUNDING for however many steps you take during your run: around 6,200 steps in a 5k, 12,200 steps in a 10k, or 50,000+ steps in a marathon.
Your initial conditioning for running will center on three points:
#2) Strength Train.We have coaching clients who repeatedly injured themselves running until they started a strength training practice. After lifting some weights their ligaments grew strong and allowed them to run injury-free.
Swimming – very low impact as the water holds you up.
Elliptical – although I’m not a fan of spending all afternoon in a gym on a treadmill, this is the better option as it removes the opportunity for joint impact.
To Recap: strength train, reduce your calorie consumption, and begin a low impact activity – build up your foundation to prep your body for running. The less weight your body has to carry around, the less work your legs and joints have to do, the less likely you’ll be to damage your joints and/or injure yourself.
Now that you have a solid foundation and you’re ready to start running, you can move on to the next step.
If you don’t know where to start on changing your diet, or have had trouble with it in the past, I got you.
We created the Nerd Fitness Diet cheat sheet to help you get going. It’s a level-up system designed for you to adopt new healthy habits, that will stick, by slowly progressing you from a newbie to an expert.
If you’ve had trouble previously, perhaps it’s because you changed too much too quickly.
Want to check it out? You can grab it for free when you join the Rebellion in the box below!
Download our free weight loss guide
THE NERD FITNESS DIET: 10 Levels to Change Your Life
Follow our 10-level nutrition system at your own pace
What you need to know about weight loss and healthy eating
3 Simple rules we follow every day to stay on target
How to Run Properly Stage 2: Warm-Ups for Running
Before you take your first stride as a runner, you need to be properly warmed up.
When most people think of warming up, they probably think of standing there and doing some static stretching for 10 minutes…you know, to make sure you don’t get injured!
Wrong! Fail! Stretching before running can actually increase your risk of injury.[3]
Instead, try a dynamic warm-up – get your body properly warmed up and prepared for the rigors of running.
Let’s set you up with a few different options:
#1) A running specific warm-up video from my friend Jason over at Strength Running, who you’ll see in more videos below:
#2) Coach Staci providing you with a quick sequence to try out:
Just like with strength training, if you don’t have time to warm up, you don’t have time to run.
Cut the run short if you need to, but not the warm-up!
How to Run Properly Stage 3: Correct Running Technique
If you don’t learn how to run correctly, you’re doomed to develop an overuse injury and that’s going to negate the whole reason you started running in the first place!
This is why your running form is so damn crucial: when you run, you’re putting hundreds of pounds of pressure on your joints and ligaments with each bounding step down the road. This is then repeated thousands of times over the course of training and a race.
No wonder nearly every runner has tons of stories of injuries they’ve had to deal with. It can be a brutal activity that can wreak havoc even with good running mechanics.
With poor running mechanics, the results are compounded.
Not the GOOD kind of “compounded” like compound interest, which you learned in 2nd grade with the story about starting with 1 penny a day and doubling it for 30 days.
The BAD kind of “compounded” like plantar fasciitis and stress fractures and sore IT bands and torn ligaments and crazy soreness all the time.
You know, painful stuff…
We don’t want that.
Make sure you follow the below five steps:
1) LEAN FROM YOUR ANKLES
Lean from your ankles, and keep a straight line from your ankle, through your butt, and up to your head. If you’re standing still with this slight forward lean, you should feel like you’re about to fall forward.
Just don’t actually fall forward.
When you start running, gravity will help keep you progressing forward. A proper lean from the ankles keeps your body in alignment and loads your muscles properly and efficiently.
2) INCREASE YOUR CADENCE
Cadence is your stride rate, or the number of steps you take per minute. It will probably seem weird at first, but you’re putting less stress on your legs with shorter foot strikes.
Your cadence should be at least 170-190 steps per minute when you’re running at an easy, conversational pace. It will probably increase once you start running faster—that’s normal.
“Steve, what the hell do I do with “170-190 steps per minute?”
Great question. Go to Spotify and look for 170-190BPM playlists, like these which I found here:
Not on Spotify? Cool. (But like, why?) To get a cadence, try running to Outkast’s “Hey Ya” and time your strides to match the beat. That’s the cadence you’re looking for:
Research has shown[4] that increasing your cadence and taking more steps (around 180 per minute) provides many of the same benefits of barefoot running:
Less impact shock that goes up your legs.
Improved running economy (or your efficiency, which means you’ll run faster with less effort!).
Reduced chance of injury.
You’ll feel like you’re taking way more steps than normal – that means you probably had poor form before and now you’re fixing it!
If your legs get to the point where they’re going this fast, let me know:
3) FOOT STRIKE AT THE RIGHT TIME
When your foot comes down and makes contact with the ground, it should be underneath your body, not in front of it.
Combined with a quick cadence and a slight forward lean from your ankles, you’ll be distributing impact shock evenly—and efficiently.
This aspect of running form is often skipped over by beginning runners.
Instead of focusing on where the foot is landing in relation to the rest of the body, they focus too much on running on their forefoot. If you don’t land in the right place first, a midfoot or forefoot strike will only do more damage.
As you’re running, a good mental cue is to think that you’re just “putting your foot down” in a straight line underneath your body.
There’s no reaching or stretching your leg out in front of you.
Practicing this mental cue will have your leg touching down almost exactly underneath your center of mass, distributing your weight evenly and safely.
4) LAND ON YOUR MIDFOOT
While not as important as landing underneath your center of mass, becoming a mid-foot striker has a host of benefits.
It can help you avoid a lot of injuries by absorbing impact shock and preventing a severe heel striking running stride.
Heel-striking can’t be entirely blamed for injuries and labeled “bad.”
Even elite athletes heel strike when they run races! It’s not entirely bad— especially if you’re putting weight down on your foot just after you heel strike, instead of directly on the heel.[5]
What you should focus on is having a higher cadence, landing underneath your body, and not aggressively heel striking.
Try to land with your foot flat on the ground, instead of with your toes angled upwards.[6]
5) SYMMETRICAL ARM SWINGS
Nobody wants to look at you running if you’re flailing your arms wildly all over the place like Elaine dancing from Seinfeld.
An ideal arm swing has your arm bent at about 90 degrees and a front-to-back swing (not side-to-side).
Imagine a pretend line that goes down your mid-line or center of your body. When you run, your hands should not cross over this imaginary line.
Cup your hands loosely together (no clenched fists!) and if you want to use your arms for momentum, pump your elbows, not your hands.
Once you incorporate these changes into your running form, you’ll feel a lot more comfortable and your injury risk is going to plummet.
For extra credit, learn to run softly and quietly.
Foot stomping isn’t allowed and gets increasingly more difficult as you approach 180 steps per minute.
A few other things you want to keep in mind:
Keep a tall back, chest up. No slouching.
Look 30-50 meters in front of you – not head down looking at your toes.
Both are easy cues to keep an athletic posture and good running form.
Go back through and read this section a few more times. We know it’s a LOT to think about while running, but it is incredibly important.
If you get a chance, have somebody film you running, and then watch your tape back to see how you’re doing.
I should note that we provide form checks to our coaching clients. Through our awesome app, you can record a video of your running form or exercise technique and send it right to your coach! That way you can know your running and training safely and correctly!
How to Run Properly Stage 4: Walk Before You Run
Starting a running practice can be daunting.
That’s why I actually recommend walking first. I mentioned earlier that walking can help build the foundation of a great running practice.
Once you’re comfortable moving a little bit, an ideal way to actually start running is to alternate between a brisk walk and a jog. This can help you build up some strength so you can run at a more constant pace.
Try the following five steps to start your running practice:
Get comfortable walking for 20 minutes. That’s it. Stroll around your neighborhood a few times a week, until this is a cake-walk.[7]
Bump it up to 30 minutes. After 20 minutes is no problem, take it to the next level for a 30-minute walk. Once you can handle this fine, we can start picking up the pace.
Start run/walking. Walk as you have been for 10 minutes. Then, pick up the pace for a light jog for a minute (or 30 seconds if this is too tough). Give yourself a couple more minutes of walking (or longer) before you start jogging again. Do this for about 10 minutes, then walk normally for the last 10 minutes. You’ll still come in at 30 minutes for your exercise.
Now, run for longer. Once you’re comfortable holding a one-minute jog, let’s take it up a notch. We’ll still have you warm up for 10 minutes of walking, but when you jog, try going for a minute and a half. If this seems easy, go for 2 minutes! Alternate to a slower walk whenever you need to catch your breath.
Before you know it, you will be a runner. As you expand your jogging time, lower the amount of time you walk. At this point, you’re basically running with some short walking breaks. Which is fine! This is how people start to run and many continue to alternate between walking and jogging forever. Even if you get to the point of running races, there’s nothing wrong with taking some walking breaks. You do you.
Alright, we’ve talked about technique, plus some tips for getting up and running.[8]
However, I know you’re gonna ask, so let’s talk about what kicks you should rock.
Which Shoes Are Best for Running?
There are four components to look for in any shoe.
If the shoe doesn’t meet these four criteria, then your foot is going to be compromised.
A good shoe for running has:
Minimal “heel drop:” a lower heel-toe height difference.
A wide toe box that allows your foot to spread as it lands on the ground with each step.
A pliable bottom that allows your toes to bend to a full ninety degrees of flexion as you step.
Something to attach it to your ankle area.
Let’s look at each in a bit more detail:
1. Minimal heel-toe height difference (aka “drop”). When your shoe raises your heel higher than your forefoot (aka “heel lift”), your ankle and lower leg are being positioned in a slightly shortened position for the duration that you’re wearing the shoes.
When your leg muscles are thrown into a slightly unnatural position, it means the mobility of your ankle will suffer… and this will limit all sorts of things including your running gait.[9]
This doesn’t just mean high-heels either…although running in heels is ridiculous.
This includes most regular shoes that have a bulky heel and lower toe. In many shoes, you’ll see this difference between heel and forefoot referred to as a “drop,” so “zero-drop” shoes are shoes where heel and forefoot are at the same height.
Check to see what your current shoes weigh, and each time you buy a new pair of shoes, work your way towards more and more minimal shoes – down to 10 oz or so (which would qualify them as “minimalist shoe” in our book).
Our advice would be to not go too far below 7-8 ounces.
The big question: “Should I be doing barefoot running?” – Occasionally, and with proper form, SURE. But don’t just put on a pair of Vibram 5 Finger toe shoes and go run a 5k on concrete tomorrow. That’s a recipe for disaster.
2. A wide toe box that allows your foot to spread as it lands on the ground with each step. With each step you take, your foot actually spreads wider upon landing. This is impossible for your foot to do when it’s in a shoe that is too narrow.
If the toe box is not at least as wide as your foot when you’re standing on your foot, while it’s bearing your weight, that’s a problem for your foot. Know that as your foot becomes more ‘natural’ it’s possible it will it may widen further, as the muscles and bones reposition themselves.
Feet crammed into a shoe is like putting a leash on Sonic the Hedgehog: they want to be free!
3. A pliable bottom that allows your toes to bend fully as you step. Your great toe is meant to flex to ninety degrees as you move through the gait cycle. See below:
If your shoe does not allow this due to a hard sole, your feet won’t be able to move as well, and the soft tissues of your foot will get weaker from not being used fully.
PLUS, when you aren’t flexing your big toe regularly, your body will start to lose the ability to use that joint fully. This can lead to all sorts of problems. Doh!
4. It’s strapped to your foot. If the shoe isn’t strapped around your ankle, your toes are going to grab at the shoe to keep it on with every step you take. This makes some of your foot bones push down and some of your foot bones lift up.
That shift means you change the amount of forces on each bone. Over time, this can lead to stress fractures and tissue injuries.
Check out the video below from movement specialist Kelly Starrett:
For each point above, this isn’t an “all or nothing” scenario. Similar to your nutrition, do the best you can when you can, and work your way into running with a minimalist shoe.
If you want to learn more about proper footwear, make sure you check out “A Nerd’s Guide to Healthy Feet,” written by Kate Galliett of FitForRealLife.com.
Where Can I go for a Run? What’s the Best Surface to Run On?
For the most part, it doesn’t really matter what surface you run on if your form is good and you’re resting enough to recover between your workouts.
But each surface does affect your body in different ways, so you should know the pros and cons of each one.
#1) Asphalt (road)
People have been running on the roads since they were first paved over 100 years ago. Most people run exclusively on the roads since they’re the most common surface that’s available for running.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with road running. It’s stable and has a relatively predictable surface so you probably won’t twist an ankle.[10]
As long as you’re avoiding cars and running AGAINST the flow of traffic (so you can see approaching cars) you’ll be safe.
The danger of roads comes when you run on the same side of the road all the time.
The problem lies with the road’s slope.
For drainage reasons, every road has a slight slope toward the curb. If you’re always running against the flow of traffic your left leg is going to be slightly lower than your right. The solution is to switch sides of the road, but only if traffic conditions allow.
#2)Concrete (most sidewalks)
Most sidewalks are made of concrete, not asphalt, and are actually a lot harder than the road itself. This isn’t necessarily a drawback, but you will be experiencing more impact forces on concrete than the road. If you do a lot of running on the sidewalk, make sure your form is as good as it can be![11]
#3) Grass (fields)
Unless the grass is very hard-packed and smooth, I don’t recommend running on it for a long period of time. Grass is very soft so you won’t be sending jarring impact forces up through your legs like concrete, but the uneven surface is going to break up your stride and you could tweak your ankle or a muscle in your foot.
Some grass is great to run on, though. The harder and smoother it is, the better it is for running…like a golf course.[12]
#4) Dirt or crushed gravel trails
Smooth dirt or crushed gravel (very fine— not big chunks of gravel you find in some driveways!) are some of the best running surfaces. Like the hard grass surface of a golf course, dirt and crushed gravel trails offer the same impact-dissipating qualities while still retaining firm footing. It’s the best of both worlds.
You’ll find these types of trails at larger parks with walking paths or in national/state parks with well-maintained trails.
#5) Single-track trails
Think sharp turns, rocks, roots, stream crossings, hills, and anything else Mother Nature can throw at you. In a word: FUN.
These trails are usually narrow and filled with obstacles. The hills, direction changes, and irregular surfaces will force you to use a lot of stabilizing muscles in your lower legs. This could be good for building strength.
#6) Track
Found at most local high schools and colleges, a 400-meter outdoor track provides a great training place for workouts.[13] But that’s what they’re for: workouts. Not every day running!
The surface is forgiving like hard-packed dirt or a very firm golf course. But while the surface is great, the turns are what makes a track not ideal for everyday training. By doing all of your running on a track, you’re constantly turning left and setting yourself up for muscle imbalances.
You’re better off running somewhere where the turns are varied so you expose yourself to different stresses instead of the same thing over and over again. That’s how overuse injuries happen. Tracks are for faster workouts, not easy distance runs.
WHAT SURFACE SHOULD YOU RUN ON?
Your training would ideally be a combination of all of the surfaces that are available to you. Exposing your body to as much variety as possible will give you a better chance at preventing injury since you’re not doing the same thing over and over again.
The few types of running surfaces that lend themselves to more frequent training are:
Smooth dirt trails
Crushed gravel paths
Hard-packed grass (like a golf fairway).
The footing is sure and the surface isn’t too soft or firm.
Limit your running on concrete and technical trails because of the injury risk. Most sidewalks are made from concrete and are incredibly hard. Throw a tennis ball on one to see for yourself—it’ll shoot right up into the air because of the returned energy. Those same forces are being returned into your legs when you run on them.
Technical trails present a different challenge: roots, streams, rocks, and uneven terrain.
Run sparingly!
A good strategy to use when deciding where to run is to figure out how your body feels.
If you’re sore or have a tender muscle, run on a softer surface. A dirt trail or well-manicured field will help you recover better than the roads.
But if you’re doing a workout, you want to avoid technical trails or a concrete sidewalk. Pick the track, a clear dirt trail, or a road without a severe camber.
Will Running Help Me Lose Weight? (Make Sure You Like Running!)
When people tell me they’re going to start a running routine, I always ask: “Great! Do you enjoy running?”
If the answer is “No, not really” then I’d say, “Interesting. Then….why running?”
Most people think running = weight loss. If you’re brand new to health and fitness, and you’re trying to lose weight, you’re most likely overwhelmed at what you should start with and how you should train.
So let’s answer the question “will running help me lose weight?”
Maybe!
Running will help you lose weight if you do two things:
Running won’t help you lose weight if you do two things:
You run consistently.
You don’t fix your diet.
As sexy as it is to think that just going for a run will help you lose weight, the data doesn’t back it up. Time Magazine rightly pointed this out years ago, and got yelled at for telling the truth, that exercise alone won’t make you lose weight.[2]
This is a common mistake: not fixing your nutrition if you’re running for weight loss!
If this were a movie, nutrition would be Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible and exercise is that funny sidekick who helps Tom. Let’s be real here, Tom is doing all of the heavy lifting to make that movie what it is.
While exercise is important for health, it doesn’t have to be running. It can come from activities you DO enjoy:
“I don’t love it, but I need to complete it for a fitness test.”
“I’m running a 5k for charity/work and want to do well.”
“Not yet, but I think I could…”
“I like how I feel AFTER a run.”
…then we can continue the conversation!
The perfect place to continue the conversation?
Our new app! We have an adventure that takes all the information in this guide and provides it with actionable steps (hehe) for you to get up and running. No more “am I doing it right?” just follow the app and know you’re training correctly.
You can sign-up for a free trial right here:
How Do I Start Running? (Next Steps)
Once you get comfortable running around your neighborhood or park, you can start thinking about taking it to the next level.
Have you ever thought about running a race? They can be a lot of fun!
Here’s a clip from a race years ago where I dressed up like a Caveman with 20 of my friends and raised thousands of dollars for kids with cancer to go to summer camp!
If you want to learn how to get started, make sure you check out our article “Couch to 5K.” We cover the popular program and give our take on running your first race.
Just make sure you don’t make these 5k mistakes:
If you want even more guidance on long-distance running, I’ll point you again to my buddy Jason Fitzgerald’s wonderful site Strength Running. I reach out to Jason whenever I need advice on proper running (including the tips found in this post).
Alright, I think you’re ready to lace up and head out the door!
Want a little more help getting going? A slight nudge to get you out of the door?
Here are my top recommendations for next steps:
#1) We have a bunch of NF Coaching clients that love to get outside and run! If you want step-by-step guidance on how to lose weight, eat better, and learn to run properly, check out our killer 1-on-1 coaching program:
#2) If you need a trigger to “get up and run” check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).
Try your free trial right here:
#3) Join the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion.
Sign up in the box below to enlist and get the Nerd Fitness Starter Kit, including the 15 fitness mistakes you don’t want to make and our guide to the most effective diet and why it works
Get Your FREE Nerd Fitness Resource Kit
15 Fitness traps you should avoid
Comprehensive beginner’s guide to Paleo diet
BONUS: How to level up your life and be the hero of your own story
Now, your turn!
Are you an avid runner?
Do you have any tips for Rebels just lacing up?
Or are you like me, and only run when something is chasing you?
Let us know in the comments!
-Steve
PS: Don’t forget to check out the rest of our running content!
You can read the review if you want to science out about running strides.
This is called a “proprioceptive heel strike” and is done just to get a sense of where the ground is.
When your toes are angled up, this is called “dorsiflexion” – nerd alert!)
Giggle.
I really do crack myself up while doing this.
Gait means the locomotion of limbs, more or less. Check out this Wikipedia article for more, which also has a sweet gif of an elephant in it.
Just watch out for potholes.
Heel-striking is going to bite you in the ass if you’re smashing your heels against one of the hardest surfaces you can run on.
I’m not recommending you sneak onto a golf course to run… but if you do, you’ll experience my favorite running surface. Many high school cross country meets are held on golf courses for this reason: they’re soft enough to be easy on your joints and muscles, but hard enough to give you enough spring to let you do some fast running.
Since they’re perfectly measured at 400 meters to a lap, you can run intervals precisely and get a lot of great data on how fast you’re running. You can use that information to predict how fast you’ll race in your 5K. Run by your local track and take note of the markings on each turn. Get familiar with the starting line, 200m mark (on the opposite side, at the next turn), and how to run a mile there. Note that a mile on a track is not 4 laps! You need to find the mile marker line, which is about 9 meters behind the starting line. It should gradually curve closer to the starting line as you reach the outside lanes.
Real quick…if you’re just starting your strength training journey, check out our massive guide Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know.
You can snag it for free when you enlist in the Rebellion (that’s us!) by signing up below:
Download our comprehensive guideSTRENGTH TRAINING 101!
Everything you need to know about getting strong.
Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.
How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
Okie dokie, let’s do this.
What Are the Benefits of Doing Pull-Ups? What Muscles Do Pull-Ups Work?
Pull-ups are one of the best exercises you can do.
You want some specifics?
You got it!
Here’s are the benefits of doing pull-ups:
#1) Pull-ups work every muscle in your upper body. Pull-ups are what we call a “compound exercise,” meaning they work out several muscle groups at once.
The muscles in your back, arms, and even abs all grow stronger from doing pull-ups.
Abs?
Yep! You engage your abs as you stabilize your body while hoisting yourself up.
#2) Pull-ups are a great indicator of overall strength. Since it’s just you against the force of gravity, if you can do a pull-up or chin-up, you have a greater strength-to-bodyweight ratio.
With push-ups, some of your body’s weight is supported by your feet.
Not so with pull-ups. It’s just you and the bar.
#3) Pull-ups will help you improve your posture.[1]By building strength in your PULL muscles, we strengthen and tighten your back muscles.
This will naturally cause you to pull your shoulder blades back and down into proper position, providing you a better posture.
#4) Pull-ups improve grip strength. Grip strength is another indicator of overallhealth. In fact, a strong grip has been correlated with lower mortality rates.[2]
Pull-ups are a great way to improve your grip since your hands and fingers have to support your body’s weight during the movement.
If you’re looking for a stronger handshake, regularly doing pull-ups will go a long way towards that goal.
#5) Pull-ups are convenient. Some other big compound movements require decent amounts of equipment to perform, like the deadlift or bench press. Meaning unless you have weights, barbells, and power racks at your home, you’re probably heading to the gym for your training.
Not so with pull-ups.
Doing a pull-up really only requires a pull-up bar, but even that can be substituted.
You can use monkey bars at a local playground, a towel around a strong beam, or even a sturdy tree:
If it’s taller than you and can support your weight, you can do pull-ups from it.[3]
Alright, enough about why you should do pull-ups. Let’s show you how it’s done.
How to Do Proper Pull-Ups
HOW TO DO A PULL-UP, STEP-BY-STEP:
Grab a bar with a grip slightly wider than shoulder-width, with your hands facing away from you.
Hang all the way down.
Pull yourself up until your chin is above the bar.
Slight pause
Lower yourself all the way back down.
That’s it!
You may be thinking, “That’s all well and good Steve, but what if you can’t even do a pull-up yet! What should I do?”
Don’t panic!
I got you covered boo.
I’m going to share with you the exact pull-up progression plan we use within Nerd Fitness Journey to help folks get their first chin-up.
Which you can try for free (no credit card needed) right here:
Whatever allows you to get to at least 5 reps a set.
Once you can do 3 sets of 8 reps (each arm), it’s time to pick up a heavier dumbbell.
This will allow you to get stronger and stronger.
When you can lift a 25-pound (10kg) dumbbell or heavier, consider moving up to the next level.
Level 2 Pull-Up Workout: Inverted Bodyweight Rows
Bodyweight rows are the PERFECT precursor to pull-ups – they work the same muscles, and have you lifting your own bodyweight, just at a different angle.
Our goal here will be to work towards a lower and lower angle, increasing the difficulty of the movement.
So at first, we’ll do rows with the bar higher up:
Then we’ll progress to getting the bar lower:
As soon as you’re doing bodyweight rows where your body is at a 45-degree angle or lower, you can progress to the next level.
Level 3 Pull-Up Workout: Assisted Pull-Ups
At this point, you are going to start actually doing pull-ups…with a little bit of assistance.
We’ve got a few options for you.
#1) Assisted Pull-ups with Chair
Either one foot or two on the chair, depending on your needs. Your feet are ONLY there for support, use your upper body as much as possible.
#2) Assisted Pull-ups with an Exercise Band
You can get different types of exercise bands with different levels of strength, or a variety pack for easy progression.
Put your foot in the exercise band and pull yourself up.
#3) Assisted Pull-Ups with a Partner
Have a friend hold your feet behind you and help you complete each rep. Have them use the least amount of help possible to get you through your workouts.
Once you’re comfortable doing a form of assisted pull-ups, and can do about 10 repetitions, it’s time to advance to the next level.
This is probably the TOUGHEST level before getting your pull-ups. If you get stuck on “assisted pull-ups” and “assisted chin-ups”, you’re not alone. This is where most people get stuck.
That’s why we created a specific program within Nerd Fitness Journey to get people up to the bar.
You can try it for free right here:
Level 4 Pull-Up Workout: Negative Pull-Ups
Our next level on our path for a pull-up is what we call “negative pull-ups.”
Grab onto the bar with an overhand grip
Jump so your chest is touching
Slowly lower yourself under control until you’re at the bottom of the movement.
As you continue to lower yourself down, you’ll build strength, eventually creating enough muscle so you can pull yourself up.
If you want more specific instructions on any of these levels or movements, check out our guide “Get Your First Pull-up” for more.
Pull-Ups vs. Chin-Ups (What’s the Difference?)
You may hear the term “pull-up” and “chin-up” used interchangeably.
However, there is a difference, so definitions are in order:
A PULL-UP is when your hands are facing away from you.
This will work your back and biceps.
A CHIN-UP is when your hands are facing towards you.
Although this also works your back, it has more emphasis on your biceps.
Are chin-ups easier than pull-ups?
Yes, chin-ups are generally easier to perform than pull-ups. The wider grip of a pull-up isolates your lats, which means you get less assistance from your biceps.
Mistake #1: You don’t extend low enough or pull high enough.
Full extension and a full range of motion are major problems for many people training pull-ups and chin-ups. Most people I see in the gym are doing half pull-ups. Either not pulling high enough, not dropping low enough, or both! It’s not a full rep, and it’s robbing your body of effective work.
Solution:
With each repetition you want your body to be in a straight line at the bottom – keep your elbows extended and your shoulder relaxed slightly up to your ears. Full range of motion for the win! Better to do a few proper pull-ups than more half-rep ones.
Mistake #2: You don’t engage your shoulders at the start.
Another problem I see with people is not setting their shoulders properly when they start their pull-ups, which can put unnecessary strain on your joints/tendons/muscles. It can also be the difference between being able to get your first pull-up or chin-up and flailing around on the bar!
Solution:
Imagine pinching a pen in between your shoulder blades, then do the pull-up. In other words, pull your shoulders down and back before you bend your elbows to pull up. This puts us in a far more efficient position. By not using our back and shoulder muscles fully, over the long run we’ll be weaker and at a higher risk for injury.
Mistake #3: You’re doing too hard a variation.
Whether it’s lack of strength or too much body mass, you should choose a variation that allows you to have great form while getting stronger. Use a box, an assisted band, or an assisted pull-up machine to start at a low weight and build up your strength.
Solution: Always do proper pull-ups and chin-ups. Get your chin over the bar from a hang with every rep, and maintain good form. If you find yourself committing the mistakes on this list, make your variation easier.
Mistake #4: Not engaging your shoulders at the top.
Many people will get a good extension at the bottom of their chin-up and start with great form. But then as they perform the movement, they’ll find their shoulders in a poor position at the top.
A classic sign this is happening is if the chest/neck doesn’t touch the bar, or the body curls inward significantly at the top.
Is your shoulder elevated to the ears or rolled forward? Are you shrugging your shoulders as you’re struggling to get above the bar?
Solution: Make your variation easier by working on an assisted chin-up and maintaining a strong shoulder position at the top.
Keep your shoulders down and back and engaged through the movement.
A chin over the bar is a chin-up – we aren’t trying to take away your chin-up if you aren’t getting your chest to the bar. But consider this a progression to even better form so you can eventually work on harder skills like pull-up variations or the legendary muscle-up.
Mistake #5: You use violent kipping motions to do your pull-ups or chin-ups.
We know CrossFitters use the kip to get more pull-ups in a short amount of time.
NOW, it is the humble opinion of our team that you should only be kipping AFTER you are capable of doing perfectly functional and safe pull-ups and chin-ups (in fact, many CrossFit gyms require qualifying strict pull-ups before you can kip).
Solution: Build strength and good position (the foundation!) before you worry about speed. You want to know how to drive a car before you learn how to race it!
In summary: don’t sacrifice good form for more pull-ups or chin-ups. You’ll create bad habits this way.
To check your form, simply record a video of yourself doing your pull-up variation and match it against the gifs and videos here. If it looks close, you’re doing great!
Or, you can have a Nerd Fitness Coach make sure you’re doing them correctly!
Advanced Pull-Up Variations
Once you’re able to do 3 sets of 10 pull-ups or chin-ups, it’s time to start thinking about upping the difficulty.
You have two options:
OPTION #1: Continue to get better at doing more reps – 3 sets of 12, 3 sets of 15, 4 sets of 20, etc.
OPTION #2: Start doing other types of pull-ups.
Here are some advanced pull-up variations that you can start doing:
#1) Wide Grip Pull-Ups:
Grab the bar WAY out with both hands. With your grip further out, it’ll require even MORE strengthen from your back (remember our pull-up vs. chin-up discussion).
#2) Side to Side Pull-Ups:
#3) Ring Pull-Ups
Rings hanging from the ceiling are inherently less stable than a pull-up bar. Thus ring pull-ups engage your core more as you stabilize yourself during the movement.
If you’re trying to improve your grip strength, try utilizing a couple of towels for your pull-ups. You’ll build lots of strength in your hands as you grasp the towels during the movement.
#5) L-Sit Pull-ups
Raise your legs straight in front during your pull-up. This will challenge your core like you wouldn’t believe.
#6) Clapping Pull-Up
The trick here is to have enough power to explode above the bar so you can clap your hands. The next trick is to grab the bar in time to bring yourself back down.
Be careful here.
#7) One-Arm Pull-Ups
This is the most difficult pull-up variation you can do, what with the whole only using one arm business.
To keep yourself stable during the movement, keep your inactive arm close to your body while you pull.
If you start doing one-arm pull-ups, email us. Seriously.
That should get you started experimenting with pull-up variations to increase the difficulty.
The other way to “progressive overload” your pull-ups is to add weight to the exercise, which we’ll devote our next section to.
How to Do Weighted Pull-Ups
Personally, my favorite thing to do in a gym is weighted pull-ups:
If you’re at this level and interested in doing so, let me show you how to do them.
How to do a weighted pull-up:
Get a weight belt. I bought this one on Amazon and it’s worked out incredibly well for me. I’ve tried doing the whole “put weights in a backpack” thing, and it certainly works. But the angle of the weights hanging off your back is weird. With a weight belt, the weight hangs down between your legs (not a euphemism) so it feels more natural.
Add small amounts at a time. Most gyms will have 2.5 lb (roughly 1kg) weights; you might feel stupid putting on a big weight belt and only hanging a tiny weight off it, but you need to start somewhere.
Consistently add more weight. I’ll warm up with two sets of 5 pull-ups with no extra weight, and then do 3 sets of 5 weighted pull-ups. If I can complete all 3 sets of 5 reps (with my chin over the bar for every rep), I’ll make a note to add 2.5 or 5lbs (1 or 2kg) to my weight belt for the next time.
If you want any help scaling your workouts, check out Nerd Fitness Journey. We created our pull-up adventure for all skill levels: from someone just starting out to someone who can do pull-ups with no assistance.
No guesswork needed on scaling your workout, just jump into the app and follow the next steps.
Including Pull-Ups in Your Workout
You now know how to do a pull-up, a chin-up, and tons of variations.
The only thing left to cover is WHEN to do pull-ups.
Unless you’ve been strength training for years and know what you’re doing, we recommend that you pick a full-body routine that you can do 2-3 times a week.
You want a workout routine that has at least one exercise for:
Quads (front of your legs).
Butt and hamstrings (back of your legs).
Chest, shoulders, and triceps: (“push” muscles).
Back, biceps, and grip ( “pull” muscles).
Core (abdominals and lower back).
Pull-ups, chin-ups, and all the variations covered would make a great addition for your “pull” muscles (back, biceps, and forearms).
So a sample workout routine that includes pull-ups could look like:
Seriously, you don’t have to leave home to start doing pull-ups and get in shape.
Want proof?
Meet Christina:
Through our coaching program Christina learned to pick herself up, literally, and now crushes her training without ever stepping foot in a gym. You can read her full story right here.
Start doing pull-ups regularly and I promise you your life will improve for the better.
If you’re interested in progressing but want help on the next step, we’ve built 3 options that might float your boat:
#1) If you want step-by-step guidance, a custom strength training program that levels up as you get stronger, and a coach to keep you accountable, check out our killer 1-on-1 coaching program:
#2) Exercising at home and need a plan to follow? Check out Nerd Fitness Journey!
Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).
Try your free trial right here:
3) Join the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion.
Sign up in the box below to enlist and get our guide, Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. It’ll help you start incorporating pull-ups and chin-ups into your training:
Download our comprehensive guideSTRENGTH TRAINING 101!
Everything you need to know about getting strong.
Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.
How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
Check out this study on exercise and posture: “Changes in rounded shoulder posture and forward head posture according to exercise methods.” Source: PubMed.
Check out this study, “Prognostic value of grip strength: findings from the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study.” Source: The Lancet.
Be careful on the whole “can support your weight” thing. Falling from a tree is never fun.
Let’s jump in, Scuba Steve style, so you can start seeing results!
If you’re somebody that wants a Yoda in your corner to coach you through the ups and downs of your fitness journey, we’re here for you with our Online Coaching Program!
No shame or judgments – just a supportive person who works hard to help you succeed 🙂
Why the Nutrition Industry Makes Me So Angry
I took this picture walking around Manhattan last week:
There is some SERIOUS psychological warfare going on here, and it hurts my soul.
For starters, they advertise as “THE” flat belly tea.
This means there are many other companies selling similar products, which would ALSO lead me to believe this is a lucrative product to sell!
They list every fitness buzzword and term every marketer uses when it comes to selling health and fitness:
Gluten-free
Removes waste
Organic
Burn fat
Including some real head-scratchers.
“Strengthen your colon?”
How the hell do you strengthen your colon?!
This reminds me of the brilliant Saturday Night Live skit about “Colon Blow” cereal:
But I digest digress…
People are buying this stuff, even if they know it probably won’t work.
Like buying a lottery ticket even when we know the odds of winning are 0% – what we’re really buying is “hope”:
Hope that this will actually work – unlike the last 10 attempts.
Hope we can overcome 20 years of bad choices with a beverage.
Hope that this product will give us the confidence and self-love we deserve.
Don’t get me wrong.
“Hope is a good thing, and no good thing ever dies.”
I just HATE when hope gets weaponized to sell you expensive snake oil and pretty-packaged fluff.
This is what we are rebelling against here in the NF Rebellion: marketers and companies who are crappy enough to prey on our hopes and fears and sell snake-oil in a bottle.
We’re also rebelling against that voice in our head that talks down to us, calls us failures for not getting in shape yet, and berates us every time we break down and eat a cookie.
I say no more.
Let’s fight fire with fire science.
How Much Exercise Do I Need to Lose Weight?
There are a few generally accepted truths when it comes to weight loss.
All of these come with baggage attached, and your results will vary depending on your:
Setting all of that aside, I’m going to try and keep things simple just to prove my point.
Let’s go with an (understandably) oversimplified look at weight loss: a pound of fat equals around 3,500 calories.[1]
This would mean you’ll need to either eat 3,500 fewer calories, or burn an extra 3,500 calories to lose 1 pound of fat.
So…how long does it take to burn 3,500 additional calories per week?
Let me answer a question with another question:
…How many hours do you have?
Studies show you’ll burn an extra 100 calories (approximately) when walking or running a mile.[2]
So, you would need to be running/walking an additional 5 miles per day,7 days a week, to lose one pound of fat per week.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t have time to run an extra 5 miles a day.
Nor do I want to!
Not only that, but as you’ll see below – this idea of just burning an extra 500 calories per day to lose a pound a week only works early on.
You’ll quickly run into speed bumps and roadblocks – figurative ones, try to avoid the real ones on your run – that slow down your progress significantly.
Simply put, exercising your way thin has been proven time and time again not to work.
Here are three such reports:
#1) Many people develop increased appetites as a result of exercise, which leads to no weight loss.[3]Time Magazine got in trouble for pointing this out – even though they were right!
#2) A 2011 systematic review and meta-analysis came to the conclusion:[4]
“In overweight and obese populations… our results show that isolated aerobic exercise is not an effective weight loss therapy.”
#3) Another study compared people who dieted vs people who only exercised:[5]
Body weight decreased by 10% in the diet group and by 9% in the diet–exercise group, but did not decrease in the exercise group or the control group.
How Our Metabolism Responds to a Caloric Deficit (Our Bodies Ruin Everything!)
When you start to lose weight, your resting metabolism slows down.[6]
You might think this is some sort of evil sorcery worthy of “He Who Must Not Be Named,” but unfortunately – it’s just 2nd-grade math.
When you start to lose weight, there is less of you that needs fuel.
In other words: your metabolism doesn’t have to work as hard to fuel all of your bodily functions, has less weight to carry, and thus it will burn significantly fewer calories compared to when you were much bigger.
Here is the estimated daily resting calorie burn (“sit on your ass all day”) of a 35-year old male nerd at 3 very different weights – as determined by our free Calorie Calculator:
300 lbs: 2,600 calories.
250 lbs: 2,300 calories.
200 lbs: 2,000 calories.
WHAT THIS MEANS: Unless you adjust your calorie intake as you lose weight, your calorie intake will become less and less effective for weight loss, until you hit equilibrium.
Put a different way: this person could eat 2,300 calories per day and over time, lose 50 pounds (from 300 pounds to 250 pounds), but that’s where he’ll hit equilibrium: calories burned equals calories consumed.
In order for him to lose the next 50 pounds, he’ll need to decrease his caloric intake even more, and then STAY at that calorie consumption to keep the weight off.
And then it gets even worse!
There is a solid body of evidence on a bodily feature called “adaptive thermogenesis.”[7]
Which has nothing to do with the band Genesis – though feel free to listen to “Invisible Touch” right now.
It might soften the blow while you learn about “adaptive thermogenesis.”
“Adaptive thermogenesis” refers to the process in which our bodies will adjust based on how many calories we burn – and do whatever it can to preserve the body fat we have.[8]
Our bodies WANT to maintain the extra body fat we have (“I don’t know when I’ll need this, better save”), and are actively working in unison to preserve it – so even after a few pounds are lost from running, it’s going to be a persistent challenge to keep the weight off.
As pointed out in this article above:
“In long-term studies of weight-reduced children and adults, 80%-90% return to their previous weight percentiles, while studies of those successful at sustained weight loss indicate that the maintenance of a reduced degree of body fatness will probably require a lifetime of meticulous attention to energy intake and expenditure.”
This is why so many people can LOSE weight, but can’t seem to keep the weight off.[9]
This doesn’t even factor in all of the other challenges surrounding weight loss: an “obesogenic” environment (you can smell Cinnabon minutes before seeing it), psychological challenges like depression and anxiety, menopause, medications, and hormones.
These factors cause us to crave high-calorie foods, increase our odds of fat gain, and make it tough to keep our calorie intake in-check, because chocolate cake.
To Recap Why Weight Loss Is Difficult:
You can’t exercise your way to weight loss.
Your metabolism slows down when you lose weight.
Your environment makes it difficult not to overeat.
Your body will try to keep its fat stores.
Even when you lose weight, your body wants to keep the fat it has.
If you lose weight, you’ll have to stay diligent or you’ll put the weight back on.
This is all terrible, horrible, no good, very bad news.
And the toughest truth of all: Due to those factors above, it might not be your fault that you’re overweight…but it IS your responsibility to navigate!
I know, I know.
However, there is HOPE!
And here at Nerd Fitness – and in the Star Wars universe – rebellions are built on hope.
We have thousands of success stories from people who thought they couldn’t lose weight…until they did.
People HAVE lost weight, and kept it off.
People who are older, bigger, have more children, less money, more illnesses, and bigger hardships than you.
It’s a constant battle, but one that’s absolutely worth fighting.
And this means that you are not broken. You don’t have metabolic damage. You are not doomed.
You might be playing life on “Legendary” difficulty, but people like you have succeeded.
It starts by using all of the tools at our disposal, because the forces working against us are doing the same.
Let’s get nerdy.
The Science of Fat Loss
YES, it would be awesome if you could drink tea or wrap yourself in plastic to magically lose fat.
YES, it would be amazing if a 30-minute bootcamp class allowed you to eat junk food all day, every day, and not gain an ounce.
YES, it would be amazing if you could take a magic pill that gave you the body you had 10 years ago.
It would also be cool if superheroes were real and I could fly.
Well, not like that.
Come on, Aquaman. People can see you.
We live in a world of science, physics, and thermodynamics.
This means we should ALWAYS look at life through the following lenses:
Occam’s Razor: The simplest explanation is PROBABLY the correct one.
Law of energy: Energy can’t be created or destroyed, only transformed.
Reality: If it sounds TOO good to be true, it probably is.
Let’s apply this to our waistlines:
If we are overweight…
It’s not because we have “toxins” in our bodies that need to be flushed out.
It’s not because we didn’t spend enough time in the “fat-burning” zone during our “muscle confusion” bootcamp.
It’s not because we need fat-burning tea.
These are all pseudoscience buzz terms to sell products, and have no truth to their claims.
Occam’s Razor dictates the simplest solution is PROBABLY the right one.
So what’s the simple explanation to why we’re overweight?
Every day, we consume food that gets transformed into energy.
This food has three options once it enters our body:
Fuel our bodily functions: fuel our organs, regulate our body temperature, etc.
Pass through as waste: pee and poop.
Get stored (usually as fat): saved for a rainy day.
If we are overweight, we are consuming more ‘energy’ than our bodies need every day. Because our body doesn’t need all of it, too much is being stored as fat.
This brings us to the main point of our nutritional focus:
If weight loss is our goal, we must consume FEWER calories than we burn on a consistent basis.
By doing so, our body has no choice but to dip into that “rainy day” fund of fat stores to still get all of its bodily tasks done each day.
Do this consistently, and that’s how we end up with a lower number on the scale and a smaller pants size.
“Steve I know I should eat less. It’s doing it consistently that’s the tough part. Have you tried CAKE?!”
Great point.
And yes, cake is awesome.
But we have to start somewhere!
And it starts here: we need to eat fewer calories, but it ALSO has to be sustainable and enjoyable, otherwise we’ll never stick with it.
And temporary changes produce temporary results. We want permanent weight loss!
Just saying “eat less” doesn’t factor the crazy biological, physiological, and/or emotional challenges we face every day:
We might eat when we’re stressed, depressed, or bored.
We might be on medication that is causing us to overeat without us realizing it.
We can’t eat just one potato chip without eating an entire bag.
We absentmindedly grab a handful of Peanut M&M’s when visiting Kevin in Accounting.
Not only that, but even when we pay attention to what we eat, studies show that we often underestimate our calorie consumption by 15+%.[10]
Crap. This just keeps getting worse! What’s a smart nerd like you supposed to do in this scenario!?
If we KNOW we overeat without realizing it, and we KNOW restricting calories is tough to stick with long term, then the only path forward is to attack the problem differently.
Not with fit tea.
Nor with body wraps.
Not with “muscle confusion.”
But with science, math, and psychology.
What to Eat For Weight Loss
If weight loss is the goal, we need to shift our food choices to foods that give us more “bang for our buck” – healthy, filling, nutritious foods that fill us up and makes us less likely to overeat calorie-bomb foods.
These foods allow us to feel full, but still keep us under our calorie goal for the day:
Protein like meat, fish, eggs, and so on.
Fruit like apples, bananas, and berries.
Vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and kale.
Carbohydrate sources like quinoa, legumes, oats, rice, and potatoes.
These are foods that take up a lot of space in our stomach and make us feel full.
If we do this consistently, without feeling miserable, we have a really good chance of not only losing weight, but keeping the weight off.
In contrast, here are some foods that are loaded with calories which DON’T fill us up – thus making it easy for us to overeat:
High-calorie, easy to overeat foods like breads, french fries, pasta, and pizza.
Depending on what you eat, you could feel “OH SO FULL” after your meal or “Why am I already hungry again? NOM NOM NOM.”
Which means…
If you can start to make even SMALL changes, focusing on nutrient-dense, calorically-light foods like protein, fruit, and veggies, to replace some junk food – even occasionally, it’s going to shift the energy balance back in the right direction.
You’ll become more likely than not to eat fewer calories than you burn, moving you beneath your daily equilibrium.
Do that consistently, and you start to pull from those fat stores.
And we find ourselves at the holy grail:
Sustainable, non-miserable weight loss.
This is actually the secret sauce for ALL popular diets these days.
Military Diet: Nevermind. Please don’t do this diet.
ANY of the diets above will result in temporary weight loss if you strictly follow the rules, but not for the reason you’d think.
It’s not because we’re designed to eat like cave people (though we are), or that our bodies function differently on a Ketogenic Diet (it does), or even that fasting has plenty of health benefits (it does!).
Those things are like 2% of the reason why they work for weight loss. [2% is a statistic I made up to emphasize the smaller importance of any ancillary benefit compared to the bigger picture]
The other 98%: they make us more likely than not to consume fewer calories on average than we usually eat, which will lead to weight loss in the long term… if you can stick with it.
And each diet has rules and guidelines that speak to the specifics of individual people.
If you’re freaking out about how to eat and which diet to pick and you’re worried if you’ll even be able to stick with it, you’re not alone.
To help people like you change their habits around food to start seeing permanent weight loss results without being miserable!
Which Diet Should I Pick to Lose Weight?
Nearly EVERY diet will work in the short term, because they all lead to temporary calorie restriction. Every diet above will fail you too in the long term, because you need to do the diet permanently to get the results permanently!
So in my opinion, you should only follow a strict diet like those above IF you can see yourself sticking with it consistently for the next 10 years.
“Steve, that’s melodramatic. Come on.”
That’s what I was going for.
If a diet sounds too restrictive to stick with permanently, then it’s too restrictive for you to devote weeks or months of your life to!
After all, temporary changes equal temporary results.
You’re better off picking a diet that you confidently feel like you can stick with permanently. You should be thinking in terms of “days and years,” not “weeks and months!”
Here’s the end goal we’re working towards:
Sustainable weight loss, weight maintenance, and actually enjoying life.
Looking in the mirror and being happy with what you see, knowing that the weight will stay off.
And most importantly, habits that allow us to enjoy life, have great meals with friends and family, while still reaching our goals
Not temporary changes, but rather permanent small adjustments that adjust over time as we start to see results and build momentum.
Sound good?
Let’s get back to basics and start learning about the food we’re putting into our bodies.
Cool? Cool.
A Primer on Strength Training
Conservatively speaking, strength training is the greatest thing ever invented in the history of the galaxy.
Okay, so maybe it’s third after electricity and Nintendo.
But I say this to make a point.
There’s a huge difference between “exercise” and strength training when it comes to body composition.
Coach Matt explains exactly why in this video on gaining muscle while losing fat:
We also cover this in a very in-depth manner in our “Can I Lose Weight and Build Muscle?” guide – which is one giant Harry Potter allegory that you’ll love – but I’ll share the basics right here.
If your goal is consistent, permanent, healthy weight loss and weight management, 80-90% of the battle will be nutrition,
When it comes to exercise, you really only have TWO things to focus on:
What exercise do you love? Good. Do that.
Strength train as often as you have time for.
I’ll touch on the first one quickly.
When you do exercise you love, you’re giving your heart and body a good workout. You’re reminding yourself “I am living healthy” and THUS you should be more likely than not to stick with your healthy eating strategy.
Instead, go rock climbing, or hiking, or do yoga, or swing dancing, or LARPing.
Really, anything that gets you off your ass and moving. Cool? Cool.
How Strength Training Assists Weight Loss
Your body functions differently when you strength train, in all of the right ways.
We have a whole Strength Training 101 sequence that can you get you started, but I’ll whet your appetite with the nerdiest metaphor ever below.
You can find study[11]after study[12]after study[13]that shows you the benefits of strength training for weight management.
Let me explain it here quickly, borrowing from Harry Potter: (You know, the wizard.) At the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, when each student arrives they put on the “Sorting Hat,” an actual hat that determines which House (group) that child will join for his time at Hogwarts.
The hat acts almost like a traffic director:
“Harry, you will go to Gryffindor! Draco, you will go to Slytherin!”
Your body operates in a VERY similar fashion: every day, it receives new calories (when you eat), and it needs to decide what to do with them!
For example:
You eat a large Hawaiian pizza and 20 ounces of Mountain Dew. Your body has to do SOMETHING with all those calories.
To keep things simple, let’s look at the 3 most common results.
It’ll sort those calories into one of three Houses:
A: Burn for Fuel. B: Rebuild Muscle. C: Store as Fat.
Your body sorts most of those calories into “Burn for Fuel.” There’s a number of calories your body burns each day just existing: to keep your liver functioning, your heart pumping, your brain operating, and so on – it burns a good chunk of calories just keeping the lights on.
A 6’, 34-year old male weighing 250 pounds burns 2,300 calories a day just by existing.
A 5’5”, 40-year old female weighing 140 pounds burns 1,350 calories a day just by existing.
Now, if you don’t do any exercise, and you consume MORE calories than the rate you burn each day, the “Sorting Hat” in your body needs to put those calories somewhere!
Where do you think it’ll sort them?
“C: Store as Fat.”
However, your body’s sorting behavior changes when you strength train. Specifically, when you train in a way that really challenges your muscles. This is completely relative to where you are at in your life right now:
HEAVY weight training might be a 500 lb deadlift or a 5 pound dumbbell curl.
INTENSE bodyweight training might be a handstand push-up or a knee push-up.
When you strength train – by picking up something heavy – your muscles are “broken down” during the exercise itself, and then they rebuild themselves stronger over the next 24-48 hours. Guess what happens during those 24-48 hours? Your body will divert as many calories as possible to “Rebuild Muscle!”
It also diverts additional calories to “Burn as Fuel” to handle this increased “muscle rebuilding” activity.[14]
This means two amazing things:
Your metabolism is revved up for this time period, burning more calories than normal.
Rebuilding muscle is a calorie taxing activity!
There are significantly fewer calories available for “Store as Fat.”
AND IT GETS BETTER. When you consume fewer calories than your body burns each day, continuing to strength train will cause your body to get even more clever. Let’s imagine a scenario where you’re eating fewer calories than you burn every day:
You strength train regularly, and your muscles break down and need to be rebuilt.
You don’t consume enough calories compared to how many calories your body needs to both rebuild muscle and fuel itself…
So does your body just shut down?
NOPE!
Your body has been preparing for this, by storing any excess calories over the years in the “Store as Fat” house.
This is the moment your body has been saving up for.
This means your body can pull from “Store as Fat” to make sure all the work still gets done, including your daily functions as a human, and rebuilding the muscle. This is the Tri-wizard cup[1] of physical transformation victory:
You get stronger and keep the muscle you have.
You burn through the fat you’re trying to get rid of.
You’re decreasing your body fat percent and keeping your muscle = look good naked.
This would be a “win-win-win” according to Michael Scott, Regional Manager, Dunder Mifflin Scranton.
Want help learning how to strength train? You can absolutely build your own workout, or you can work with one of our coaches who can create a custom program that’s specific to your goals and lifestyle.
We’ll even make sure you’re doing the movements correctly via video, because we’re nice like that 🙂
BACK TO BASICS: How To Guarantee Successful Weight Loss
If you’re still reading, then there is hope for you yet.
You can do this – but you have to be smart and diligent about it! Stop trying to exercise your way thin, and stop trying to find ‘get fit quick’ solutions.
Instead, take this one day at a time. We’re here for you!
We talk about proper nutrition in our big “Healthy Eaters” guide, and we go more in-depth into the specific foods that we recommend, but it starts here:
You have to eat fewer calories than you eat now to lose weight, and do so permanently.
The best way to do that is to substitute more protein and veggies onto your plate.
Strength training will supercharge your results, building muscle while making it easier to burn extra fat.
Understand you’re overeating, and forgive yourself for doing so – most foods have been designed for you to overeat!
YOUR MISSIONS, SHOULD YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT THEM:
#1) Pledge to stop buying snake oil. If you’re not sure,ask yourself “Does this sound too good to be true?” and “What would Steve do?”
In addition: stop doing exercises you hate just to lose weight. Pick exercises you enjoy, and put all of your focus on slowly adjusting your nutrition instead!
Shun the Dark Side and come back to the Light!
#2) Be deliberate in your decisions. Every calorie counts. Every decision counts. So make ONE different decision as a result of you being more aware of what you put in your body.
Drinking water instead of soda or juice.
Swapping out a salad for fries once per week. It all counts, but make your decision deliberate.
You’re a smart person. You know what foods should be daily staples, and what foods should be occasional treats.It all counts. So make ONE decision differently to prove to yourself that you can change.
#3) Educate yourself on the serving size of ONE food that you eat regularly. Google it. Find out if what you THINK is a serving and what’s actually in a serving is anywhere close to accurate.
You might be surprised to find out:
A serving of pasta is HALF the size of what you normally eat with your meal.
How much peanut butter is considered a serving (hint: it ain’t much).
There are 2.5 servings in that one bottle of Green Machine Naked Juice.
I don’t want you to change the food or the portions yet. I just want you to educate yourself on what you’re eating, and compare it to how much you thought you were eating.
NEXT STEPS IF YOU WANT TO GO FARTHER!
If you are looking for more hands-on guidance, we have three options for ya!
1) 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program! If that sounds like you, and you’re looking for nutritional guidance, custom strength training routines just for your situation, and expert accountability, we’d love to hear your story!
2) If you want a roadmap for sustainable weight loss, check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).
Try your free trial right here:
3) Join the Rebellion! Join our free email list and community – I send out two fun emails a week – and I’ll send you our free 10-level Nutrition Guide along with a bunch of other free bonuses. Get them when you sign up in the box below:
Download our free weight loss guide
THE NERD FITNESS DIET: 10 Levels to Change Your Life
Follow our 10-level nutrition system at your own pace
What you need to know about weight loss and healthy eating
3 Simple rules we follow every day to stay on target
#4) Do a strength training routine! We have so many awesome free options for you here on Nerd Fitness. Pick the ones that jump out at you!
PS: I know this HOPEFULLY goes without saying, but this is the internet: I totally get that this issue is very complicated to begin with. If you have a hormonal imbalance, PCOS, are on medication for any number of reasons, it could also be affecting your weight.
PLEASE speak with your doctor about your weight and any changes you are looking to make!
This doesn’t account for changes in body water and stored glycogen in your muscles and liver, which also occur when you lose weight. For that “3,500 calories in a pound” stat, read this.
Read, “Comparison of energy expenditure to walk or run a mile in adult normal weight and overweight men and women.” Source, PubMed.
Read, “The Effects of Exercise and Physical Activity on Weight Loss and Maintenance.” Source, PubMed.
This is a “study of studies,” or an analysis of the body of literature on a given topic. You can read it here.
Read, “Weight Loss, Exercise, or Both and Physical Function in Obese Older Adults.” Source, PubMed.
Read, “Metabolic Slowing with Massive Weight Loss despite Preservation of Fat-Free Mass.” Source, PubMed.
Read, “Adaptive thermogenesis in humans.” Source, PubMed.
Read, “Adaptive thermogenesis in humans.” Source, PubMed.
Read, “Successful weight loss maintenance.” Source, PubMed.
Read, “Successful weight loss maintenance.” Source, PubMed.
Read, “Resistance weight training during caloric restriction enhances lean body weight maintenance.” Source, PubMed.
Read, “Effects of cross-training on markers of insulin resistance/hyperinsulinemia.” Source, PubMed.
Read, “Preserving Healthy Muscle during Weight Loss.” Source, PubMed.
As well as replenishing glycogen. When we use our muscles for strength training, we deplete our muscle glycogen stores, so overeating with carbohydrates would preferentially go towards replenishing those glycogen stores first.
This will help you separate fact from fiction on building muscle when training naturally.
Make no mistake about it, this stuff isn’t easy.
Otherwise you wouldn’t be reading about it on the internet!
If you’re somebody that’s worried about wasting time, or you want to have an expert hand craft a workout and nutrition program that’s based on your current situation, consider checking out our really popular1-on-1 Online Training Program! I’ve been training with an online coach since 2015 and it has been the biggest boost for me in the world.
Alright, onto “how much muscle can I build naturally?”
How Fast Can I Build Muscle Naturally?
You’re here for an answer, so I’m going to get the ugly truth (that will probably make you sad) out of the way.
How fast can you build muscle?
Under OPTIMAL conditions, you can expect to gain around 1-2 pounds of muscle per month.
We’ve found that for most Rebels here in the Nerd Fitness Rebellion (our community), closer to one pound per month is the reality.
“Optimal conditions” mean that you are:
Eating the right amount and the right kinds of food.
Oh, and proper sleep is also absolutely necessary.
This also means you are trying to thread the needle of eating JUST enough to build muscle, but not too much that you put on a lot of fat, too.
Yeah, you could go full hulk mode (“dirty bulk”) and just eat anything and everything, maxing out your muscle building… but it’ll be buried under fat, which you’ll have to trim again and restart the cycle.
While it is certainly one effective way to gain muscle and strength, we more often recommend fiddling with your diet and training so you can find that sweet spot where you’re building muscle and not gaining too much fat.
All of this to say: Yes, can build muscle quickly, but it will NOT be the crazy amount you read about in the magazines, unless you’re taking Dr. Stark’s super serum (ROIDS!).
If you had grand visions of looking like the dudes in the ads you see in muscle and fitness, don’t expect to do so in 90 days with a few days of training and protein shakes.
Remember: Expect 1-2 pounds of month of muscle gain…under optimal conditions.
The one possible exception to gaining strength and muscle fast? Noob gains.
How Fast Can a Beginner Gain Muscle? (Initial Gains)
Yes, we’ve all heard the stories of guys that have gained 40 pounds of muscle in two months.
We’ve also seen all the ridiculous ads about “the workout supplement doctors don’t want you to see” with a guy that looks like Bane.
99% of that stuff is absolute bullshit, so let’s just get that out in the open!
HOWEVER, If you’re really skinny, young, training hard, and eating all day every day, as a newbie you can produce results very quickly.
It is possible, in the first year of true strength training with intense focus and dedication, to gain 15-20 pounds of muscle. Combine that with 15-20 pounds of fat gain and you can drastically change your appearance if you started out very skinny.
When I started to take strength training serioulsy, I felt like I was invincible. I even gained 18 pounds in a month, and I foolishly assumed most of it was muscle.
But due to taking the supplement creatine (which allows your muscles to hold more water weight), almost all of it was water weight, along with some fat… and then probably 2 pounds of muscle!
I’ve since come to learn “TEH MUSCLE GAINZ” aren’t that easy. Fortunately, that’s only part of what I learned in that month.
If you are new to strength training and you are eating right, you’ll not only pack on muscle, but you’ll see some incredibly impressive gains in your strength training:
Going from 1 pull up to 3 sets of 15?
Adding 100 pounds to your squat?
Adding 150 pounds to your deadlift?
I can’t predict what sort of results you’ll see in that first year, but it can be pretty epic if you attack it right!
Muscle growth might happen slower than you want, but I expect something different will happen along the way – you’ll fall in love with this idea of building STRENGTH! In fact, getting hooked on progress, and strength training is one of the best things you can do for yourself.
So, if you are young, growing, and brand spankin’ new to strength training, you’ll be able to pack on muscle at a decent clip. Our goal will be for you to do it in a way that’s sustainable!
Hopefully I didn’t put a big damper on your Captain-America fueled dreams! I just want to set proper expectations so you don’t get discouraged with slow progress, and instead get SUPER encouraged with any progress. Getting strong should be freakin’ fun!
If you put on too much fat, slightly cut back on calories on non-training days.
The goal here is to thread the needle where we pack on size and muscle but not fat. If we don’t eat enough (generally a problem for us skinny people), we will struggle to put on either.
However, if we overeat we’ll build muscle and add some fat. We can then trim the fat, if after a few weeks we notice our body fat percentage creeping up.
“But Steve, I don’t have access to a gym – can I pack on muscle with just bodyweight exercises?”
Yes, you can pack on size while only doing bodyweight exercises. Look at any Olympic gymnast!
However, this can feel like playing Halo on Legendary difficulty. It can be done, but damn it can be challenging – especially for lower body movements.
If your sole goal is to get bigger as fast as possible, access to a barbell for squats and deadlift is almost a requirement.
Note about all of the above:
If you’re confused about how to start with strength training, or you want to start with bodyweight training before trying a gym, or you just want to make sure you’re squatting and doing pull-ups right, we cover ALL of that in our free downloadable guide, Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know.
Get your free guide when you sign up in the box below, and we’ll show you exactly what to do:
Download our comprehensive guideSTRENGTH TRAINING 101!
Everything you need to know about getting strong.
Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.
How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
Should I Worry About Getting Too Bulky?
“I want to put on muscle, but not too much I don’t want to get too bulky, Steve!”
We get this comment via email a LOT, from both guys and gals.
In fact, I heard this fear so frequently that I included it in our top 7 myths of strength training for women. Mostly, this comment comes from folks who are new to strength training and fitness, which makes sense.
The unknown is scary, and we’re scared to start something if we’re not quite sure how our bodies are going to adapt.
Combine this with mainstream magazines saying things like “lift light weights to tone arms!” and we conjure up visions of lifting heavy weights producing a Hulk-like response.
Here’s a before and after from Staci, a Senior Coach in our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program, who picked up VERY heavy weights and actively tried to get bulky.
Let’s see the results:
Here’s the truth: YOU DO NOT GET BULKY WITHOUT DEVOTING YOUR LIFE TO IT! Unless you are training with hypertrophy (increased muscle size) as a focus, have superior genetics, take steroids, eat like a horse, and focus on nothing but muscle size for months/years, you are NOT going to get too bulky.
I run a fitness site. I have dedicated my life to health and fitness for the past twelve years, and I have actively been trying to put on weight and muscle throughout that entire time.
I am nowhere close to looking bulky, despite all of my efforts to do so, and dedicating my last 13 months to building muscle and size.
Yes, genetically some people MIGHT put on muscle more easily than others, but even then it’s fractions of a degree, not DRASTIC sweeping differences. We tend to get this question from men or women who are so thin and have such fast metabolisms, they probably need to put on 40-50+ pounds of both fat and muscle, before they would ever even think to use the word “too bulky.”
So, remove this from your vocabulary!
Build Muscle and Get Strong Now.
I want to talk about one final thing: all of the above info about muscle building is true, if you are 100% focused on muscle building.
Your results will vary if you are trying to build muscle while also:
Running regularly
Doing martial arts
Participating in sports that require endurance
Why? Well, because instead of using the calories from your food to grow big and strong, the calories are going to fuel an extra long run.
Now, all of this information comes with a caveat: do what makes you happy! If you love to run, or play ultimate frisbee 4 days a week, go for it. Just be sure to temper your goals if you’re ALSO trying to accomplish a billion other things too. Just temper your expectations as to what will be possible.
If you are looking for more specific guidance on how to build muscle naturally, or you’ve been at it for months/years without getting results and think you’re a lost cause, you’re not alone!
I honestly thought I was a lost cause because I spent 6 years training to bulk up and saw no results. Despite the story I told myself, it wasn’t because of my genetics. It was because I was following bad advice, had a bad training program, and didn’t have the right nutritional strategy!
If you are tired of not getting results, want to avoid trial-and-error, or you just want to be told exactly what to do to reach your goals, check out our popular 1-on-1 Coaching Program. You’ll work with our certified NF instructors who will get to know you better than you know yourself and program your workouts and nutrition strategy for you.
Now, if you are somebody that is more of the “do-it-yourself” type, check out our self-paced app, Nerd Fitness Journey.
Our fun habit-building program helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).
Try your free trial right here:
What else can I answer for you about healthy strength and muscle building?
We can become superheroes, and we have dozens of stories to prove it 🙂 – just remember it’s going to take time. Attack the problem with the right game plan, and your ascension to superhero status can come a bit quicker.
What do you want to know about building muscle and strength? Leave questions in the comments!
-Steve
PS: Not ready to commit to one of our programs?
That’s cool too!
Make sure you sign up for our email list so we can send you BOTH the “Skinny Nerd’s Guide to Bulking Up” and also our entire “Strength Training 101: What You Need to Know” ebook! You can get both free when you sign up in the box below:
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The Nerd Fitness “Get Bigger” Shopping List
Bulk like the Hulk with our rules for getting bigger
Each and every year like clockwork, the sales start for the Holidays and then all the fitness hype lands. But this year, it feels a little different. It feels like more of a struggle than usual to find the motivation to…
These exercises train multiple muscle groups at once, resulting in an efficient, functional, strategy for strength building and weight loss.
Here’s the important science for today’s lesson:
Muscles are broken down during a workout.
When challenged enough, they tear during the exercise, becoming weaker. They only start to grow back stronger during the 24-48 hours after training.[1]
That’s why it doesn’t benefit us to train the same muscles every day; we don’t want to destroy them without giving them a chance to grow back stronger.
If you follow our advice and do full-body strength training workouts 2-3 times a week, the question “How many days a week should I rest?” can be answered with “around 4 or 5 days without heavy lifting.”
So, does this give you free rein to binge-watch your favorite show on “days off from the gym?”
While I’m not going to tell you to delete your Netflix account (the horror), I do want to talk about making the most of your time away from the gym.
What Should I Do on Gym Rest Days? (Active Recovery)
The biggest problem most people have with off days is that they become “cheat days”!
Because they’re not training, they’re not thinking about being fit and it’s much easier to slack off, eat poorly, and lose momentum.
To help here, I’ve found I’m far less likely to eat poorly when I’m doing some active recovery than when I’m not doing anything deliberately.
So plan your off days!
Think of them not as “off days,” but they’re “recovery days.” They serve a vital role in building an antifragile kickass body capable of fighting crime (or roughhousing with your kids in the backyard).
Whether it’s scheduling one of the Rest Day Workouts below at the same time you normally train, or deliberately adding a morning mobility/stretching routine to your day, doing SOMETHING every single day is a great way to remind ourselves:
“I am changing my life and I exercise daily.”
This leads us to the idea of “active recovery.”
What is active recovery?
Active recovery is any gentle movement designed to help your muscles heal after training.
When you exercise, you increase blood flow to your muscles. By moving your body, you’re actually speeding up your recovery and reducing soreness.[2]
The trick is to be active enough to increase blood flow, but gentle enough that you allow the muscles to heal.
Our Rest Day Workouts below will walk that fine line.
You could also walk a tightrope on your rest days.
Personally, on days when I’m not training, I try to block off a similar amount of time to work on myself in some way to maintain momentum. I encourage you to do the same if you lose momentum when taking a day off.
Whatever it is, do SOMETHING every day, even if it’s for just five minutes, to remind yourself that you are making progress towards your new life.
Need help building a weekly workout schedule, including rest days? I have two options for you.
The first is to get your hands dirty and check out our guide “How To Build Your Own Workout Routine.” It’ll walk you through everything you need to design a day-to-day exercise plan.
Alternatively, we can do all of the heavy lifting for you (well, not ALL the heavy lifting) – we’ll create a specific routine so all you have to do is log into your NF Coaching Appeach morning and do the workout your coach prescribed!
For that reason, one of the best things you can do on an off day is to work on your flexibility and mobility. Dynamic stretching and mobility work helps prepare our body for the rigors of strength training, keeping us injury-free!
Regardless of whether or not you have a training day scheduled, try to start each morning with a mobility warm-up: a series of dynamic movements that gets your body activated and wakes up your muscles, joints, and tendons.
This gives us a chance every morning to check in with our bodies and reminds us mentally “I am leveling up physically, might as well eat right today too.”
Here’s a Beginner Warm-up Routine you can try:
Here’s another favorite mobility routine from my friend (and coach) Anthony Mychal:
It says it’s a warm-up for tricking, but it’s quite helpful for those of us mere mortals.
Here’s another more advanced warm-up routine that I personally use before lifting:
If you spend all day at a desk, doing some basic mobility movements throughout the day can keep your hips loose and keep you thinking positively.
We are genetically designed to move, not sit on our asses for 60+ hours a week. Not only that, but we are genetically designed to have fun doing so too!
This means we can spend time on our off days working on our happiness AND staying active at the same time.
Like with whatever is going on here:
This fun activity can mean something different for everybody:
Go for a bike ride with your kids
Go for a run around your neighborhood
Play kickball in a city league (I play on Thursdays!)
Play softball
Swim
Go for a walk with your significant other
Go rock climbing
Learn martial arts like Brazilian Jiu Jitsu or Capoeira or Kung Fu
I honestly don’t care WHAT you do, as long as it’s something you truly enjoy doing – it should put a smile on your face and gets your heart pumping.
Exercise does not need to be exhausting or miserable. If you haven’t found an activity you enjoy yet, you haven’t tried enough new things.
The point is to get outside, remember it’s a damn good day to be alive, and that we are built to move.
Helping clients discover exercise they love is one of the key components of our Online Coaching Program. Whether it’s learning parkour, hiking in a nearby forest, or heading to the gym to grab a barbell, we help clients discover their passion so working out becomes enjoyable.
Rest Day Workout 3: Intervals, Sprints, and Walking
“But Steve, I have this big party coming up and I really am trying to lose as much weight as possible.”
Okay okay, I hear you – if that’s the case, then 90% of the battle is going to be with your diet. You should focus your energy on healthy eating in order to lose weight.
But there are SOME things you can do on your Off Days that can help you burn more calories:
In interval training, you’ll be varying your running pace. This means you may switch between jogging and walking, or walking and sprinting (there are few different methods of interval training). This training style can help speed up your metabolism for the hours after you finish.
Walking is a low-impact activity that burns extra calories and doesn’t overly tax your body. What a “long walk” will be is different for everybody based on their level of fitness, but walking is one of the best things you can do for yourself!
If you want to take a more active recovery day, the most important thing is to listen to your body. Destroying ourselves for 6+ days a week can really wear us down, causing long-term problems if we’re not careful.[3]
Rest Day Workout 4: Yoga
You might not realize it, but yoga is the perfect complement to strength training:
Strength training makes us stronger, but it can tighten up our muscles and make us sore.
Yoga, on the other hand, lengthens our muscles and tendons,[4] aids in their recovery,[5] and helps our body develop better mobility and flexibility.[6]
It’s the perfect way to create a strong AND mobile body, ready for anything and everything we throw at it.
It’s kind of like turning your body into a swiss-army knife: prepared to be strong, flexible enough to avoid injury, and truly antifragile.
Now, if you’ve never been to a yoga class before, it can certainly be intimidating, especially if you’re a ones-and-zeros programmer wary of the practice’s more spiritual aspects.
That was my concern years ago before I got started with it; I had to muster up 20 seconds of courage to attend my first yoga class, and I’m so glad I did.
Here’s how to get started with Yoga!
Nearly any commercial gym you join will have yoga classes.
Most yoga studios have classes throughout the day.
Follow a plethora of videos online if you want to get started at home.
In fact, here’s a beginner yoga routine you can follow right now:
You’ll often hear using a foam roller as “self-myofascial release.”
You may be asking, “myofawhatnow?”
Don’t stress, because “fascia” is just the connective tissue covering muscle.
Just know that “self-myofascial release” means giving yourself a tissue massage.
The important thing for today’s lesson: a rolling massage has been shown to help alleviate muscle soreness.[7]
The study in discussion found:
Rolling massage over a tender spot reduces pain perception.
That means it’s a perfect inclusion for active recovery!
Here are some simple rolling exercises you can try today, courtesy of NF Coach Matt:
Yes, that is in fact a T-Rex. Yes, it was 100% Matt’s idea.
If you want even more information, including recommendations on which type of roller to purchase, check out our guide “How to Use a Foam Roller.”
Making the Most of Your Days Off (3 Rest Day Best Practices)
No matter what you end up doing on your rest day, here are some best practices to keep in mind.
Rest Day Best Practice #1: Meal Prep
As we know, a healthy body is made in the kitchen, not in the gym.
It’s important to stay diligent with healthy nutrition even on days when you’re not hitting the gym.
One of the best ways to do that is to use one of your non-training days to prepare your meals for the week! NF Coach Staci Ardison does all of her meal prep for the week on Sundays, and looks at it like an activity that is furthering her fitness journey.
I like to use one of my off days to break a mental sweat too!
On Tuesdays, I take fiddle lessons, which is a mental workout so taxing that I can’t wait to get back to deadlifts!
Learn a language, build a table out of wood, or go play chess with a friend.
Anything that forces your mind beyond its comfort zone engages your brain. A great way to spend your time away from the gym.
Rest Day Best Practice #3: Have Fun!
Whether it’s playing a video game, getting caught up on a movie or TV show, or reading a book, it’s important for us to do the nerdy or fun things that make us who we are.
As the Rules of the Rebellion state: fitness can become part of what we do, but not at the expense of who we are!
I’m currently playing through The Last of Us: Part II, and it makes me happy our current apocalypse isn’t as bad as that one.
If you live for playing Dungeons and Dragons with friends, make room for it on your calendar.
Just like it’s important to schedule health and fitness, it’s important to schedule fun.
This guide has provided you with all the tools you need to begin an active recovery practice and to make the most of your rest days.
If you’re looking to go a bit further, I have three options for you…
#1) If you want step-by-step guidance creating a workout schedule, getting stronger, and even eating better, check out our killer 1-on-1 coaching program:
#2) Exercising at home and need a plan to follow? Check out Nerd Fitness Journey!
Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally). Plus, NF Journey will tell you exactly what days should be “off.”
Try your free trial right here:
#3) Join The Rebellion! We have a free email newsletter that we send out twice per week, full of tips and tricks to help you get healthy, get strong, and have fun doing so.
I’ll also send you tons of free guides that you can use to start leveling up your life too:
Get your Nerd Fitness Starter Kit
The 15 mistakes you don’t want to make.
Full guide to the most effective diet and why it works.
Complete and track your first workout today, no gym required.
Alright, your turn: How do you stay on target even on days when you’re not “training?”
I’d love to hear from you – do you take the day off completely? Do you challenge yourself in a different way? Do you try to do something every day to keep the momentum up, or do you actually take days off?
A meta-analysis found that 1 to 2 rest days between workout sessions was optimal for muscle repair, although they included a caveat that the intensity of the exercise would impact this: “A meta-analysis to determine the dose response for strength development.”(PubMed)
Check out this study on active recovery and DOMS: “An Evidence-Based Approach for Choosing Post-exercise Recovery Techniques to Reduce Markers of Muscle Damage, Soreness, Fatigue, and Inflammation” (PubMed)
Check out this sudy on the importance of resting for 48 hours after intense cardio: “The effects of exercise-induced muscle damage on cycling time-trial performance” (PudMed)
Check out this study on yoga and flexibility in the eldery: Flexibility of the elderly after one-year practice of yoga and calisthenics. (PubMed)
This study showed yoga helping to reduce DOMS: “The effects of yoga training and a single bout of yoga on delayed onset muscle soreness in the lower extremity.” (PubMed)
This study showed college athletes obtaining better balance and flexibility in only 10 weeks of yoga: “Impact of 10-weeks of yoga practice on flexibility and balance of college athletes”(PubMed)
The study on foam rolling and muscle soreness: “Pain pressure threshold of a muscle tender spot increases following local and non-local rolling massage: PubMed”
We’ve helped hundreds of thousands of people like you transform into actual superheroes, and we focus on proper nutrition to do so.
These are the exact strategies we teach our Online Coaching clients, and we’ve used these tips to help them lose weight and get in great shape without being miserable.
Plus, we use fun LEGO photos and gifs to keep you entertained.
In this Ultimate Guide, we’ll cover everything you need to start eating healthy today:
It’s really easy to tell people the following advice:
“To lose weight, just eat more REAL food.”
“Just eat less fast food and junk food.”
“Try to eat more organic vegetables watered by unicorn tears, farm-to-table meals served by centaurs, and kale omletes made with eggs from chickens that you raised since birth.”
Okay so maybe people don’t say the last one.
But it’s not far from what healthy people say to people who can’t seem to get healthy.
In my opinion, these positions are completely out of touch with reality and it makes me plum dog mad.
For starters, fast food is crazy delicious and dirt cheap, and often the only way that many busy parents can feed themselves and their kids.[1]
Next, applying morality and guilt to food consumption (“I’m being ‘so bad’ by eating this cookie”) creates an emotional rollercoaster – my least favorite kind of roller coaster.
I mean come on, we don’t need to be told that freshly grown fruits and veggies are better for us than junk food.
We don’t need to be told that organic grilled chicken and kale salad is healthier than a Double Whopper with Cheese.
We all know this!
So rather than “trying harder” to eat healthier we’re going to use things like “science” and “human psychology” and “excessive quotation marks.”
Cool?
Here’s what you need to know: If you’re just trying to be healthier and maybe lose some weight, there’s no need to start funneling kale smoothies, mainlining chicken and broccoli, and abandoning your loyalty to the Burger King.
You can lose weight and be healthy while still eating these foods occasionally.
Heck, people have lost weight by eating Twinkies[2] and drinking soda and eating at McDonald’s 3 times per day[3].
I share this info not to promote those foods, but rather to make a big point:
If you are terrified of giving up all “junk food”…
You do not need to give up fast food if it brings you joy.
You do not need to feel shame for eating ice cream.
You do not need to use terms like “cheat meal” or “guilty pleasure” when talking about a chocolate chip cookie.
Food isn’t good or evil, my dear friend!
It’s just food!
Let’s bring it all together:
If we have certain health goals, we can give ourselves the best chance of success by getting strategic about what foods we say “YES” to, and what foods we say “SOMETIMES” to.
These YES foods give us more energy and have fewer calories on average than “junk food,” which means we’re likely to eat fewer total calories without realizing it.
We humans are terrible at estimating how many calories we eat.
Like, really really bad at it. I bet the proportions of the above foods surprised you.
We consistently eat much more than we realize, by as much as 47%+.[10]
To make matters worse, we also OVERestimate how many calories we burn through exercise.
One study showed that Fitness trackers like AppleWatch or Fitbit do not estimate energy burned through exercise accurately, some by as much as 90%![11].
That’s why we made this fun infographic:
So when we “can’t lose weight,” it’s not because we have a broken metabolism.
It’s because we consistently eat too much food without realizing it.
Because we always have a ready supply of new energy from recently eaten food, more than we need, our body NEVER has to dip into our stored fat to burn for fuel.
And when we think we’ve out-exercised our bad diet, we really haven’t.
So it’s time to stop “trying harder” and instead “try differently”:
In order for us to get healthy, we need to find ways to include more foods that fill us up AND taste good.
Luckily, I have that list riiiiight here!
How to Start Eating Healthy (Healthy Food List)
There are three big macronutrients that we’re going to focus on as we build our plate like the image above:
Protein: building blocks for our muscles.
Carbohydrates: our bodies will burn as fuel.
Fats: can be burned as fuel, and also helps with nutrition absorption!
#1) PROTEIN: Priority Numero Uno.
Protein is amazing.
Your body uses protein to rebuild your muscles and keep you strong, especially if you are exercising or strength training regularly.
Protein is both good for you AND highly satiating.[13]
Protein can come from any number of sources, including:
A serving of protein is about the size and thickness of your palm.
*The 4 oz serving is for an uncooked piece of meat. Cooking reduces about 25% of the weight, bringing it down to about 3 oz.
When building a plate, aim for the following amount of protein:
Dudes: 1-2 servings (6-8 oz or about 170-228 g): two palms
Dudettes: 1 serving (3-4 oz or about 85-114 g): 1 palm.
If you’re curious, here’s how much protein is in a serving of food:
4 oz (113 g) serving of chicken has around 30 g of protein.
4 oz (113 g) serving of salmon has 23 g of protein
4 oz (113 g) of steak has 28 g of protein.
As we cover in our “how much protein should I eat per day?” you can target anywhere from 80% to 100% of your bodyweight in pounds per gram of protein, with an upper limit of 250g[15]:
If you weigh 150 pounds (68 kg), target 120-150g of protein.
If you weigh 200 pounds (90 kg), target 160-200g of protein.
If you weigh 250 pounds (113 kg), target 200-250g of protein.
If you weigh more than 250 pounds (113 kg), target 250g of protein.
#2: VEGETABLES: The difference-maker when it comes to healthy eating and weight management.
They are nutrient-dense: full of all the good nutrients that your body can use to function at optimal performance.
Next, they are voluminous but calorie-light, which means you can eat lots of them, you’ll feel full, but you’re unlikely to over-consume calories.
A serving of veggies is about the size of your fist.
Remember this is what just 200 calories of broccoli looks like (holy crap). This is at least 5 full servings:
Here’s a quick, non-complete list of veggies that can fill your plate:
These are the foods that can be an important part of a diet, provided you eat them in the right quantities for your goals.
These foods are also great to consume right after a strenuous strength training workout to help your muscles and liver refill their glycogen stores (their energy tanks[17], essentially).
Back to healthy carbs: when consumed in appropriate amounts, these are great foods that can help you feel full and give you energy and all that jazz.
Just make sure you know what an actual portion of these foods are!
A LOT of people accidentally overeats carbohydrate-heavy foods, even healthy ones, and then wonders why they aren’t losing weight.
To help you get better at eyeballing serving sizes:
1 serving of a starchy carbohydrate is 1 cupped hand (uncooked), or your two hands forming a cup (cooked).
Here are some images to help you learn proper portion sizes (thanks to SafeFood):
#4) HEALTHY FATS: No longer the enemy!
Fat had a bad rep in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, but now things are swinging wayyyyy back in the other direction.
In some circles, dietary fat is considered a superfood – the healthiest thing on the planet that also does your taxes for you.
Let’s get to the truth:
Fat is neither a superfood nor evil.
It’s just a macronutrient that you can eat that can help you reach your goals in the right quantity, or keep you from your goals if it’s overconsumed.
When your doctor tells you to eat more healthy fats, she’s referring to polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats[19].
Healthy fat can be found in foods like:
Avocado
Almonds
Walnuts
Macadamia nuts
Olive oil
Almond butter
Peanut butter
Now, science has recently come around on saturated fat too[20]– once completely vilified, but now cautiously considered okay for moderate consumption.
Saturated fats can come from things like:
Whole milk
Full fat dairy
Coconut oil
Grass-fed butter
Lard
Fatty cuts of meat
Fat can be good for you provided you’re eating the right quantity for your goals.
However, like carbs, fats can be overconsumed accidentally too.
To help you gauge: a serving size of fat is roughly the size of your thumb!
THIS is a single serving of almonds (162 calories):
THIS is a serving of olive oil (119 calories, taken from Runtastic):
As you can see, if you’re not careful – you can accidentally eat an extra 500 calories of “healthy fats” by absentmindedly eating too many “heart-healthy” fats.
Many folks in our Coaching Program had us analyze why they weren’t losing weight, even though they “only ate grilled chicken and veggies.”
When we dug into it, they had been preparing all of their food in an extra 500-600 calories worth of olive oil they weren’t accounting for.
To recap carbs and fats: feel free to include a starchy carb on your plate in the form of rice, potatoes, pasta, or legumes. Healthy fats can spice up a meal, provided you’re using an appropriate portion size
I realize that was a CRAZY amount of info, so let’s put it all on the same Healthy Plate:
1-2 servings of protein (¼ of plate)
2 servings of vegetables (½ of plate)
1 serving potatoes, rice, or pasta. (1/4th of plate)
1 serving of fat (size of your thumb)
1 zero-calorie or low-calorie beverage (water, diet soda, tea)
I know that not all of your meals are going to be perfectly segmented like a bento box. For example:
A fatty cut of meat like chicken thighs means your fat and protein are commingling. Cool.
Lentils and legumes mean your protein and your carbs are attached at the hip. Swell.
A burrito bowl with chicken, rice, guacamole, and cheese means all of your macros are cohabitating. Neato!
Salmon cooked in olive oil and coated in almond flakes means your fat and protein have fused. Stupendous!
This plate and serving size stuff above is just to help you get started thinking about healthy food differently and in proper portion sizes:
Trying to lose weight? Reduce your portions of carbs and fats.
Trying to gain weight? Increase your portions of carbs and fats!
Remember, all calories count.
I can already predict your next series of questions:
“What about beverages?” Simple. Liquid calories count too. So stick to low or zero-calorie drinks like water, tea, coffee, and diet soda.
“How about condiments?” Grilled chicken slathered in 1000 calories of buffalo sauce means you’re still eating a calorie bomb!
“But what about things like Paleo or Keto? I thought low carb = healthy?”I address that in the “which diet is right for me?” section. Keep reading.
What’s the Deal with Fruit? Is Fruit Healthy?
As we lay out in our “Is Fruit Healthy?” Guide, fruit is absolutely healthy and can help you reach your goals – in the right quantities.
Fruits are full of nutrients, packed with fiber, and can make for a great snack or part of a protein-focused breakfast!
#2) Dried fruit: notoriously easy to overeat because they are so small. Since the water has been taken out, all that’s left is the sugar and fiber.
Here’s 1 serving of raisins, which is 108 calories and 21 g of sugar:
If you are saying “oh man, I eat 5x that many raisins when I eat them…” then multiply those calorie and sugar numbers by 5!
3) Fruit Smoothies: Just because it’s a fruit smoothie doesn’t mean it won’t make you fat! Have you seen the calorie count and sugar content of smoothies and ‘green drinks’? Yikes.
Green Machine Naked Juice (15.2 oz or 450 ml bottle): 270 calories, 53 g of sugar.
Smoothie King Banana Boat (20 oz or 591 ml smoothie): 450 calories, 70 g of sugar.
**If you prepare your smoothie at home with a blender, it can actually be healthy since the fiber is intact. Here’s my personal recipe.**
To recap: fruit is healthy, provided you stick to fresh or frozen and not fruit-like food, dried fruit, or canned fruit packed in syrup.
If you enjoy a small glass of orange juice occasionally, or you pack a serving of raisins in your lunch and it makes life worth living, by all means!
Just don’t chug OJ by the gallon, drink a 64 oz “real fruit smoothie,” and eat raisins by the handful and then wonder why you’re not losing weight.
Are Cheese and Dairy healthy?
We get questions about these two types of food frequently.
Let me start by saying I’m assuming you’re not doing Paleo (which says “NO dairy and NO cheese”), or plant-based (which says NO to all animal products).
I’ll also assume you’re not doing Keto, which almost requires you to load up on dairy and cheese to eat enough fat every day!
Let’s pretend you’re just curious if cheese and/or dairy can be consumed on a “healthy diet:”:
YES, you can still eat cheese and be healthy.
YES, you can still eat dairy and be healthy.
And there was much rejoicing:
Like the healthy carbs and fats listed above, it all comes down to your calories consumed in a day, and if these foods fit into your daily calorie goals:
Want to put cheese on top of your salad of chicken and vegetables? Great!
Want to eat greek yogurt, a scoop of protein powder, and frozen berries for your breakfast? Amazing!
Want to eat a bowl of cereal with skim milk (or whole milk) in the morning with your kid before school? No problem.
This is true for higher-fat cheeses or full-fat dairy too – the food just needs to fit into your goals!
Luckily, all dairy comes labeled, and most cheese will come with a nutrition label on it too.
Just ensure that you’re choosing appropriate portion sizes. For reference, here are four different servings of cheddar cheese (about 113 calories a serving):
And here’s a serving of greek yogurt (120 calories in 142 grams):[25]
And although nobody in the history of the world has ever eaten just one serving…here is a serving of ice cream:
(A scoop of ice cream the size of a tennis ball is about 127 calories, cleverly shown above.)
So, dairy and cheese are both perfectly acceptable healthy food options! Just make sure they fit into your goals.
If you are NOT losing weight, and you consume a lot of dairy and/or cheese, consider measuring your intake and see if it’s in line with your expectations!
What’s the Best Diet for Me? Keto vs Paleo vs Plant-based.
“Low fat diets? Low carb diets? No carb diets? I don’t know which one is the BEST diet!”
“Help me, Steve Kamb, you’re my only hope.”
Okay, you’re probably not saying that, but it’s an excuse to pay homage to Star Wars so I can use the great photo above.
You probably do have questions though about what’s healthier, a low fat diet or a low carb diet.
Low carb diets are all the rage right now, but are they healthy and will they help you lose weight?
Maybe.
It may depend on how your body regulates glucose (blood sugar)[26]:
Some who don’t regulate glucose well may do better on a lower-carb diet.
Others who do regulate glucose well might do better on a lower-fat diet.
Studies show that people who follow EITHER a low fat OR a low carb diet will still lose weight, as long as they are in caloric restriction and can adhere to the diet for at least a year.[27]
So, it comes down to: “which diet are you more likely to stick with for a year or longer?”
Let’s look at each of these diets and explain why they will help you lose weight, at least temporarily:
Truth #1: Every diet works in the short term.
Truth #2: Nearly every diet fails in the long term.
Let’s address these two truths individually:
Why does every diet work in the short term?
All the diets above have a clever way of restricting calories without you needing to count calories, which leads to weight loss:
Paleo Diet: eliminate everything but veggies, meat, fruit, and nuts.
Intermittent Fasting: skip an entire meal!
Keto Diet: remove an entire macronutrient from your diet (carbs).
Military Diet: Only eat specific foods in certain quantities.
Plant-based Diet: Only eat foods from plants.
Carnivore Diet: Only eat meat! Eliminate everything else.
Of course, there are plenty of benefits from following certain diets for certain groups of people. For example, Larry went Keto and it helped him reduce inflammation from rheumatoid arthritis.
However, 99% of the reason why these diets result in short-term weight loss is that they get us to eat fewer calories!
The problems arise when we get to Truth 2:
“Nearly every diet fails in the long term.”
Put another way:
Temporary changes create temporary results.
If somebody “goes Keto” for 60 days, they’ll most likely lose weight, and might even feel better! This is cool.
BUT!
(There’s always a but…)
If they spend those 60 days in misery, dreaming of carbs, counting down the meals until they can “go back to eating like normal,” they will put all of the weight back.
In order for restrictive diets to create permanent results for somebody, they need to be adopted PERMANENTLY!
For most of us mere mortals, we can’t stick with a restrictive diet for 30 days, let alone a year or a decade.
For these reasons, I strongly advise you to change how you think about dieting.
You need to determine how likely you are to stick with a restrictive diet permanently:
How averse are you to change?
How likely are you to stick with your changes?
Have you tried a restrictive diet in the past and failed?
Do you have a healthy relationship with food?
Do you have an “all or nothing?” mindset?
Like playing a video game, you need to determine what level of difficulty you are willing to attempt.
Playing on “Ultra Hard Difficulty” (like Keto) gives you less room for error, but it can also produce impressive results quickly – if you don’t rage quit.
And 99% of people rage quit restrictive diets like Keto.
It’s not a diet. It’s a lifestyle change. Permanently.
And that’s what I would recommend for you:
Small, non-scary, permanent changes over a long time period!
You need to start thinking in terms of “days and years,” not “weeks and months:”
How to Grocery Shop, Cook and Meal Prep!
Okay! Now that you’ve determined your healthy eating strategy, it’s time to take action.
There are three big steps you’ll want to master if this is your path:
Step #1: Grocery Shopping!
You can read our full guide on “How to grocery shop”, and we even have a video that keeps things fun too:
Here’s how to grocery shop like a pro:
Stick mostly to the outer rim. This means you’re mostly buying meat, fruit, and veggies[28].
Read the nutrition label! Just because it says it’s healthy on the front doesn’t mean it is. Read the nutrition label and learn portion sizes. This can help keep you below your daily calorie goal.
Don’t shop hungry! It may seem silly, but you end up buying way more junk food accidentally if you shop while hangry (a mix of hungry-angry, never a great emotion).
Make a list. Before you go grocery shopping, write down everything you should get. You can even put “non-healthy” food items on the list. But then you can only buy what’s on your list! This means no candy in the check-out aisle, or buying Oreos just because they’re on sale! Plan ahead. Stick to the script, sister.
Step #2: Learn to cook!
In the next section, we share recipes for basic healthy meals that you can cook at home.
Here’s why cooking at home is amazing:
You know all of the ingredients. When you eat at restaurants or pick up fast food, there are often hidden calories in the cooking oils and sauces that are sabotaging your healthy efforts. Because of this, it’s really hard to have an idea of how many calories you’re consuming. When you prepare food at home, you know what you’re getting.
You can recreate healthier versions of your favorite foods. Making homemade tacos or pizza with homemade dough can be a great date-night experience, makes your stomach happy, AND can help you reach your goals!
You save money. If your budget is tight, grocery shopping and cooking your own meals is a great way to balance your budget and free up some cash! Our most successful coaching clients work with their coaches on building the habit of cooking at home.
Now, if you’re somebody who only ever uses your kitchen to heat up microwave meals, that’s no problem.
Here are the guides you should check out:
Cooking 101: Essential Kitchen Tools: Not sure what kind of knives to get, or what you REALLY need? I’ve been there. This is why we created this guide for you!
How to Stock Your Pantry: If you’re not sure what to stock your shelves with, and how to set yourself up for long-term success.
Step #3 (BONUS): Meal Prep and Batch Cooking!
This step isn’t necessary, but if your goal is to make healthy eating a habit for you and your family, batch cooking can be the difference maker!
By “batch cooking,” I simply mean setting aside time to prepare larger quantities of food at the start of the week, so that throughout the week you already have meals to eat!
And every single success story we’ve featured on Nerd Fitness (like this one) involved some sort of batch cooking (planning your meals for the week ahead).
Follow these rules, and you will crush it in the Healthy Eating Department[29]!
19 Healthy Eating Meals You Can Cook Today
“Okay Steve, you have me convinced I should be eating more healthy foods. But I am a nerd and I need specific instructions to follow!”
I got you.
As a kid raised on LEGO and K’nex, I am the exact same way!
Here are options to get the ball rolling on healthy breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and dinners. Use these as inspiration or starting points for your meal planning!
In the video above, Coach Staci walks you through her step-by-step plan for simplifying nutrition.
Yeah, I’ve thrown a lot at you today.
But as Staci mentions above, you can start off small, with some simple steps. Once you get these down, we can work on adding some more simple habits.
To start eating healthy:
Have a glass of water with every meal.
Have a vegetable with every meal.
Have a source of lean protein with every meal.
That’s it!
When someone joins our coaching program, these are often the steps we have them take.
Yeah, sometimes they’ll bulk, thinking this is not enough…
…but consistency is where people start to see real progress.
Don’t overlook the power of simple and consistent habits.
Will You Commit to Healthy Eating?
As we start to wrap up this guide, I have one BIG final question for you:
“Why the hell are you reading this?”
Sorry to be so blunt, but your answer matters!
If you are trying to eat better because somebody told you to, or because you think you should, you’re setting yourself up to fail.
You might be excited and motivated to eat healthy today, and that’s great!
But next week, Oscar in Accounting will put cake in front of you at work, and ask you to “live a little” and eat some cake “just this once.”
And then you’ll discover apps are half-priced at Chatchki’s during happy hour, and you figure “well I already had cake, might as well split some shrimp poppers and extreme fajitas with Meredith.”
It’s our Big Why that stops us from living emotionally and chasing instant gratification from a donut or six slices of pizza when we’re sad or stressed.
It’s our Big Why that allows us to say “Yes, I can have a slice of pizza, because I planned for it in my ‘calorie budget’ today. I’m not gonna feel bad about it either, because my breakfast tomorrow is gonna be great.”
It’s our Big Why that allows us to get back on track after a vacation or after just one day of poor eating, instead of letting things slide for a week or a month.
Have your Big Why, and remind yourself of it constantly!
Write it down, put it on a post-it note on your bathroom mirror, staple it to your forehead.
But have a REASON you’re committing to change.
It will be crucial when life starts to get busy next week and you want to give up. So let’s talk about next week (and beyond!)
Healthy Eating: Next Steps!
This guide has provided you with all of the tools you need to start making healthier choices, but if you are looking to go a bit further…
#1) Our 1-on-1 Online Coaching program: a coaching program for busy people to help them make better food choices, stay accountable, and get healthier, permanently.
You can schedule a free call with our team so we can get to know you and see if our coaching program is right for you. Just click on the image below for more details:
#2) If you want an exact blueprint leveling up your nutrition, check out Nerd Fitness Journey! Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).
If you follow our Nutrition missions, you’ll learn to eat healthier while earning XP! Sah-weeeet.
Try your free trial right here:
#3) Join The Rebellion! We have a free email newsletter that we send out twice per week, full of tips and tricks to help you get healthy, get strong, and have fun doing so.
I’ll also send you tons of free guides that you can use to start leveling up your life too:
Download our free weight loss guide
THE NERD FITNESS DIET: 10 Levels to Change Your Life
Follow our 10-level nutrition system at your own pace
What you need to know about weight loss and healthy eating
3 Simple rules we follow every day to stay on target
Healthy eating will change your life.
But it needs to fit INTO your life too.
Small changes, not dramatic shifts!
You don’t have to give up the foods you love, you just need to PLAN for them.
Prioritize protein, and always put a fruit or vegetable on your plate before filling the rest of it up!
This will get you 90% of the way towards a great healthy eating strategy.
And when in doubt, whenever you’re not sure if you should eat a particular food, ask yourself “What would Batman do?”
Seriously, this has been studied with children, and it helped them make healthier food choices by giving the decision-making over to somebody they looked up to [22]. It’s called “self-distancing,” and there’s no reason it can’t work for you too.
Oh, and when you eat a bad meal – who cares?! “Never two in a row,” right? Make the next meal healthy.
YOUR MISSION, SHOULD YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT:
Start eating healthy today with literally one change:
Try a new vegetable.
Cut one soda out of your day.
Prioritize protein in your next meal.
Swap out one high-calorie drink for a zero-calorie drink.
I don’t care what the change is, just as long as you make one!
Okay enough about me, let’s talk about you:
What’s the ONE change you’re going to make today?
For the Rebellion!
-Steve
PS: Make sure you read the rest of the articles in our “How to Lose Weight 101” Series!
You can read a study about what drives fast-food intake right here. Tangentially related, but this Atlantic article is fantastic: How Junk Food Can End Obesity.
Read, “Adherence to Mediterranean diet and health status: meta-analysis.” Source, PubMed.
Read, “Longitudinal association of changes in diet with changes in body weight and waist circumference in subjects at high cardiovascular risk: the PREDIMED trial.” Source, PubMed.
Read, “Evolution of Well-Being and Happiness After Increases in Consumption of Fruit and Vegetables.” Source, PubMed.
Fiber is a carbohydrate that can’t be broken down by the body, so it travels through you relatively intact. However along the way it can do all sorts of good stuff! For example, increased fiber intake can help reduce blood glucose levels.
This won’t be on the test, but here’s what unsaturated means in this context: a type of fat containing a high proportion of fatty acid molecules with at least one double bond (mono) or many double bonds (poly).
And no, I wasn’t born this strong (that would be strangely awesome). It’s only after discovering a love of strength training that I learned how to handle weight like this.
Obviously, we won’t start you out lifting that much at first. But we will set you up on a path that if you want to, one day you’ll be able to.
Before we get to it, if you’re in a hurry, I want you to know we’ve compiled all our strength training material into a friendly guide so you can read it at your leisure (I’m picturing you reading the guide poolside, sipping a lemonade).
Download Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know when you enlist in the Rebellion (that’s us!) below:
Download our comprehensive guideSTRENGTH TRAINING 101!
Everything you need to know about getting strong.
Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.
How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
Alright, let’s do this!
Should Women Lift Weights? (Why You Should Start Strength Training)
Everyone should start strength training: people of every sex and gender, the young, the old…everyone.[1]
#1) When you’re stronger – life is easier. No need to call for help to get that 50lb bag of dog food off the top shelf, or carrying an air conditioner unit up a flight of stairs. LIFE is easier when you’re stronger.
#2) Less injury risk – when you build strong muscles, you’re also building stronger bones, ligaments, and tendons, making you less prone to injury doing things you love (like playing in a quidditch league).[3]
#3) Helps combat age-related muscle loss,[4] allowing us to remain independent longer as we age:
#4) Muscle is harder to maintain, which means you need to eat more just to hold on to it.[5]
#5) Reduce pain – having a strong body makes living easier on your joints, as well as allows you to hold a better posture and reduce back / hip pain.[6]
#6) Appearance – this is a personal preference! Some women like to have a lot of muscle, and some don’t. While you can’t spot reduce fat, you can choose to build more muscle in specific areas, changing your body shape. Growing up, I was an extreme pear shape, but due to strength training, I now have more of an hourglass shape.
#7) Live longer – want to spend more time on Earth? Strength training and growing muscle will help you do just that.[7]
Boom!
Although strength training is one of the best things you can do for your health, it’s estimated that only about 20% of women do it, far below that of our male counterparts.[8]
That sucks.
It’s part of my life’s work to reverse this trend and to do so, I’m going to need your help.
You in?
Perfect!
Is Strength Training Different for Women?
Here’s something that may shock you: there’s no reason everybody – of any gender or sex – shouldn’t strength train the same way!
Yep, you don’t need 3-pound pink dumbbells, unless you like 3-pound pink dumbbells! You can train with free weights and barbells just like everybody else at the gym.
Yes, there are biological differences between the sexes. For example when strength training, people with typical male anatomy will produce more type IIa fibers than people with typical female anatomy, who will in turn produce more type I fibers than men.[9]
The American College of Sports Medicine doesn’t differentiate between sexes in their strength training recommendation.[11] So neither shall we.
So what exactly is strength training, you may be asking?
“Strength training” of any kind can be explained by two things:
#1) Movement of any weight (including your body weight) – Doing ANY exercise that pushes your muscles outside of their comfort zone, forcing them to rebuild stronger to prepare for the next challenge.
#2) Progressive overload: exerting slightly more effort than last time (lift a heavier weight or do 1 more rep) consistently. Your muscles will constantly have to adapt and will constantly be rebuilding themselves to get stronger.
Coach Jim walks you through different strategies for progressive overload in this video:
Before we get into the ins and outs of strength training, I need to address a question we get over and over from the women in our coaching clients:
Will I get bulky if I lift weights?
If you see a woman who is incredibly muscular and at an extremely low body fat percentage, I guarantee she has been working her butt off for a very long time with the very specific goal of building muscle and looking that way.
It’s not something that happens overnight, or by mistake.
We simply don’t have the same amount of testosterone as people with male anatomy to get there easily.[12] It’s something we cover in great detail in our guide on How to Build Muscle as a Woman.
If you’d like to build muscle, but not as much as a professional bodybuilder – don’t worry, it’s not something that happens by accident.
So strike “I don’t want to get bulky” from your vernacular.
Alright, let’s talk about how to actually get started strength training.
Strength Training Level 1: Bodyweight Workouts
If you’re just starting your strength training journey, our first stop will be a bodyweight workout.
Bodyweight training is simply doing an exercise in which your own body is the “weight” you are “lifting.”
Duh.
This is the BEST place for anybody – regardless of weight or age – to start their strength training journey.
Why is this the best place to start?
Here are two big reasons to do bodyweight training:
#1) You always have your body with you (unless you are a ghost, in which case, this is awkward). This means you can work out ANYWHERE with bodyweight training:
#2) Using your body for resistance training is the most “human” thing ever! By learning to push and pull and hang and squat and lunge, you are doing what your body is literally designed to do.
By getting strong with bodyweight movements, you’re making yourself antifragile and less injury-prone.
Bodyweight training isn’t as easy to ‘scale’ the difficulty as some of the other strength training methods (“put more weight on barbell”), but you can get REALLY strong with just bodyweight training.
For example, you can start with knee push-ups:
Then go to regular push-ups:
Then elevated push-ups:
Then even up to things like handstands:
And even handstand push-ups:
You just have to know HOW and WHEN to scale up (we can help there too).
Want a sample bodyweight workout you can try? You got it:
This is the Beginner Bodyweight Workout (3 Circuits):
20 Bodyweight squats.
10 Push-ups.
10 Walking lunges (each leg).
10 Dumbbell rows (use a milk jug or other weight).
If you’re following along at home, you just did your first full-body workout using weights!
Want a custom-built dumbbell workout? Something designed for the weights in your apartment’s gym?
Our Nerd Fitness Coaches can do just that! Plus they’ll scale your workouts as you grow stronger, turning you into a superhero!
Strength Training Level 3: The Wide World of Barbells
You made it! It’s now time to start training with barbells!
This is going to help you become ultra-powerful and strong.
It’s how I transformed myself into the person I am today.
The reason barbell training is so important is that it allows you to pick up heavy weights and do movements that recruit every muscle in your body. This is great for building powerful, strong muscles in your core, legs, glutes, and so on.
Show me somebody that’s strong at both of these movements, and I’ll show you somebody that’s in better shape than most of the human population.
But wait!
Even an empty barbell can be heavy (normally 45 pounds or 20Kg), so before we jump into the deep end, let’s make sure you are strong enough to proceed.
You’ll need to be able to complete a goblet squat with a 45 pound dumbbell (shown earlier) and the Romanian deadlift with 20 pound dumbbells.
Here’s how to perform the Romanian deadlift with dumbbells:
Our test to see if you can handle barbell training will be the Level 4 Gym Workout: Dumbbell Division C (taken from our Beginner’s Guide to the Gym).
You’ll need to be able to go through the following before you start training with barbells:
10 goblet squats – 45 lbs (20Kg dumbbell),
10 Romanian deadlifts with 20 lbs dumbbells (9-10 Kg)
10 push-ups (on knees or regular)
10 dumbbell rows with each arm – at least a 20 lb dumbbell
Can’t do those movements at that weight? Stick to the Level 4 Gym Workouts until you build up the strength to progress to barbells.
Once you CAN do the above, the real fun is going to start!
We’re gonna replace the goblet squat with a back squat and the RDL with a barbell deadlift.
Here’s a video demonstration on how to perform the barbell back squat:
I would also encourage you to read How to Squat Properly for a full tutorial, especially if you’re just learning how to squat.
Here’s a step-by-step video on how to do the deadlift:
That’s it! Do each of these once a week and you’ll be rocking an awesome strength training practice.
Are you doing the workouts correctly?
A good way to tell would be to record yourself doing the movement and then match them against the gifs and videos in this guide. If they look close you’re doing great!
We also provide form checks in our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program. Through our snazzy app, a Nerd Fitness Coach (like me!) will review your movement to make sure you are training correctly and safely!
The simple to learn but tough to implement answer: lift enough so that you can get through the set, but not too much that you have NO fuel left in the tank at the end.
And then, try to lift sliiiightly more than last time.
How much weight should I start with?
If you are using dumbbells or a kettlebell, always err on the side of “too light” versus “too heavy.” You want to learn the movement correctly and build correct form.
If you are training with a barbell, ALWAYS start with JUST the bar, no matter the exercise (as a reminder, a standard barbell weighs 45 pounds).
“How fast should I add weight to the bar?”
Here’s what we teach all of our coaching clients: add the minimum amount of weight each week you can, even if you THINK you can lift more. It’s better to finish a workout full of momentum and say “I can do more!” than defeated and saying “that was too much, crapola.”
Think of it this way, even if you are adding just 5 pounds per week to the bar, within a year you would be lifting 300+ pounds!
So go SLOW. Team NF’s Steve even bought little half-pound weights and increases many of his lifts by just 1 pound per week.
And if you are looking for this content in an easily digestible form, make sure you download our free Strength 101 Guide when you join the Rebellion below:
Download our comprehensive guideSTRENGTH TRAINING 101!
Everything you need to know about getting strong.
Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.
How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
Can Strength Training Help with Weight Loss?
We get questions relating to weight loss and strength training all the time, and it’s something we cover throughout our Strength Training 101 series.
Let me quickly address it here:
Fat and muscle are two different things – one can’t transform into the other.
We all have plenty of muscle right now (otherwise we wouldn’t be able to move, walk, sit upright, etc.), the muscle is just hiding underneath a layer of body fat.
In order for us to lose weight and look better, we want to do two things:
Build our muscles stronger and tighter.
Reduce the fat covering those muscles!
And luckily, both of those things happen simultaneously through strength training!
So NO, you don’t need to lose weight first before you start strength training.
You will lose weight BY strength training (and keep the muscle you have).
You do NOT need to do hours of cardio for weight loss – weight loss is 90% a result of your nutrition. So honestly, you don’t need to ever set foot on a treadmill again (unless you WANT to).
Strength training will help you lose weight and look better IF you do two key things for effective weight loss:
As we cover in our “Why can’t I lose weight” article (full of fun Harry Potter references), combining a caloric deficit and strength training is magic:
You’re not consuming enough calories to carry out your body’s daily functions.
Your body needs to use lots of calories to rebuild the muscle that was broken down during the strength training workout.
Your body has no choice BUT to pull from fat stores to get stuff done!
Just by doing those two things (get strong, reduce calories), all sorts of wizardry and witchcraft takes place in your body:
Get stronger and keep the muscle you have.
Build tight dense muscle.
A revved up metabolism while rebuilding muscle.
Burning of body fat to get things done.
Yeah, you’re hearing me correctly.
Lose the body fat that sits on top of your muscles and you’ll make your muscles tighter and denser = look better without clothes on.
So how do you put this into practice?
Pick one of the strength workouts we covered earlier (start at the Beginner Bodyweight Workout if you feel unsure where to begin).
Oh, what’s that? You just want somebody to tell you exactly how to train for your body, and how to eat for your goals?
Fine!
Check out our 1-on-1 Coaching Program – it’s helped hundreds of women lose weight through strength training – and proper nutrition. We work with you on habit building and lifestyle design to actually get stuff done!
The Best Strength Training Exercises for Women
Great news:
The best strength training exercises are universal. No matter your size, shape, sex, gender, age, or whether you love Star Trek more than Star Wars, these are the best exercises to build a great physique.
I’m going to share with you the exercises that every beginner should master (scroll down for full video and explanations!).
The 9 Best Strength Training Exercises for Woman are:
Push-up: uses every push muscle in your body (chest, shoulders, triceps)
Bodyweight squat: uses every muscle in the lower body (quads, hamstrings, glutes, core)
Bodyweight row: works every “pull” muscle and helps prepare you for a pull-up!
Pull-up or chin-up: the best “pull” exercise in history! Everybody should have a goal to get their first pull-up.
Bodyweight dip: advanced “push” movement that targets your push muscles (chest, shoulders, triceps) in a different way than push-ups.
Barbell squat: the best bang for your buck on muscle building. Recruits nearly every push muscle in your whole body, and a great core workout.
Barbell deadlift: the favorite exercise of every coach at Nerd Fitness. Uses every “pull,” leg, and core muscle in your body.
Barbell benchpress: as basic and powerful as they come. Uses every “push” movement in your upper body and can get you strong as heck!
Barbell press: press the bar above your head! Targets shoulders and triceps more than chest.
Click on any of these exercises to get a FULL explanation of the movement, step-by-step:
1) The Push-Up: The best exercise you could ever do for yourself when it comes to using your bodyweight for push muscles (your chest, shoulders, and triceps):
2) The Bodyweight Squat: This exercise serves a dual purpose as it’s the foundation for building strength AND helps build proper mobility. If you are going to ever do barbell squats, you need to work on hitting proper depth with a bodyweight squat first!
3) The Inverted Bodyweight Row: Until you can get your first pull-up or chin-up, these exercises are GREAT to start building your pull-muscle strength (back, biceps, and forearms).
4) The Pull-Up and Chin-Up: Once you can support your bodyweight above the bar, the world becomes your playground. No strength training routine should be without pull-up or chin-up work! (Click here if you can’t do a pull-up or chin-up yet?)
5) The Bodyweight Dip: As you start to get stronger with push-ups and need to find a way to increase the challenge, consider doing dips. Warning: these are very advanced, but incredible strength-building exercises.
And now we’re into the best weight training exercises:
6) The Barbell Squat: Probably the best exercise when it comes to building strength and muscle throughout your whole body. It also burns crazy calories and makes life better. This is a MUST:
7) The Barbell Deadlift: Maybe the best exercise of all time. Actually no, it IS the best exercise of all time. It’s certainly the most primal: “pick the weight up off the ground. Done.”
This is a very technical lift, so make sure you read our article on how to do it with proper form:
8) The Barbell Press: Press a barbell above your head. This recruits all of the muscles in your chest, shoulders, and arms in order for you to lift the weight over your head.
As a bonus, you need to really flex and brace your core, which gets those muscles working too.
9) The Barbell Bench Press. Lie on a bench, and lower a barbell until it almost touches your chest. Pause, and then press it back up towards the sky. Repeat! And get strong.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it: commit to trying ONE of these movements in the next week. Use 20 seconds of courage, recruit a friend who has lifted or trained before, and try your best.
And if you want somebody to help you put these into a workout program, teach you HOW to do these movements properly, and have the confidence to know you’re training correctly for your goals…
A Meal Plan for Strength Training (Healthy Eating 101)
So far, we’ve been more or less just talking about exercises when it comes to strength training.
This is logical, because this is in fact a guide on how to perform certain exercises to grow strong.
However, we constantly remind our coaching clients that 90% of their success or failure on their fitness journey will come down to what they eat.
“Success” in this context really comes down to your goals.
Are you looking to bulk up? You’ll need to eat more calories than you burn.
Are you looking to slim down? You’ll need to eat fewer calories than you burn.
At this point, you might be thinking “Staci, how many calories do I need?”
To answer that question, it’s time for the Nerd Fitness Calorie Calculator!
(Note: we have used The Mifflin-St Jeor Equation to create this calculator! [14]).
If you want to bulk up and gain weight, take your TDEE and add 250 calories to it to get our daily goal. This should result in gaining half a pound per week.
Want to lose weight? Take your TDEE and subtract 250 calories to receive your daily goal. This should result in losing about a half-pound a week.
The other piece of the equation outside of a caloric surplus/deficit is protein.
Since you will be strength training and building muscle, you’ll need to make sure you are eating protein at every meal. It’s the number one macronutrient for creating new muscle tissue.[15]
Protein can come from any number of sources, including:
As we cover in our “How much Protein do I need?”, claims for the amount of protein required for muscle growth vary wildly from source to source (and woman to woman).[17]
Here is our recommendation:
If you’re of healthy weight, active, and wish to build muscle, aim for 1 g per pound of bodyweight (2.2 g/kg).
If you’re an experienced lifter on a bulk, intakes up to 1.50 g/lb (3.3 g/kg) may help you minimize fat gain.
Let me simplify it for you:
“To build muscle, target at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight (2.2 grams per kg).”
If you’re curious, from our healthy eating article, this is what a portion of protein looks like:
Here’s how much protein is in a serving of food:
4 oz (113 g) of chicken has around 30 g of protein.
4 oz (113 g) of salmon has 23 g of protein
4 oz (113 g) of steak has 28 g of protein.
Want to get more protein? Consider protein shakes. Rebel Leader Steve and I both supplement with shakes daily to meet our protein goals.
Whatever you do, make sure you’re getting enough!
Whenever we speak with new Online Coaching Clients, protein is the macronutrient we begin every discussion with! It’s THAT important when it comes to either weight loss or building muscle. I’m not kidding when I say it should make up a portion of every meal you eat.
The Top Frequently Asked Strength Training Questions for Women
Here are some of the most common questions we receive from women beginning their strength training practice in our 1-on-1 Coaching Program.
#1) Will I get bulky lifting weights? I really don’t want to.
I have GREAT NEWS!
Strength training will not make you bulky, UNLESS you want it to!
You get to pick how you want to look, so you do you.
Just remember that women who compete as bodybuilders didn’t start looking like overnight:
They have eaten, trained, and potentially taken supplements specifically so they can look like that! Which is great. Good for them.
They’ve been working towards that goal for years, probably decades.
Here’s the truth: when you pick up heavy things (like barbell training), your muscles get STRONGER (but not necessarily bigger).
If you actively eat for the goal of building muscle and getting bigger, you CAN build muscle and size.
Again, if you want bigger arms or stronger glutes, AWESOME. You do you.
Let’s talk about the reverse: If you pick up heavy things and eat a caloric deficit, your muscles will get stronger and denser; you will burn the fat on top of your muscle, and you will lose weight and get that “toned” look that many women are after.
Sir Mix-A-Lot was wrong. Don’t do side bends and sit-ups, because you’re wasting your time!
Side bends don’t get rid of love handles. They will simply strengthen your side muscles without actually reducing any fat there, potentially making you bigger around the waist unless you change your diet as well.
Sit-ups will not remove belly fat. They can also wreak havoc on your lower back, and are an incomplete exercise.
Your body cannot spot reduce fat in specific locations. If you have flabby arms or a big stomach, doing thousands of bicep curls and thousands of crunches won’t help.
Your body is genetically predisposed to storing fat in certain locations in a certain order.
When you start to lose weight, your body will lose the fat you currently have in a certain order as well – it might come off your arms first, then your legs, then your belly, then your chest, and THEN your butt.
Or in a different order, depending on your personal genetic makeup.
No amount of targeted exercise will change how that fat disappears.
Want to lose weight? Reduce your caloric intake in a way that doesn’t make you miserable:
Big compound movements that recruit lots of muscle (and thus force your body to rebuild lots of muscle, which requires extra calories burned, even after the workout is done). Our section on the best strength training exercises for women would be good examples of compound movements.
#3) How many days a week should a woman lift weights?
Unless you’ve been strength training for years and know what you’re doing, we recommend that you pick a full-body routine that you can do 2-3 times a week.
You build muscles while resting, not working out, so you generally want 48 hours before engaging the same muscle group again.
If you made it up to our “The Wide World of Barbells” section, you can do the DAY A workout on Monday and the DAY B workout on Thursday. That’ll give you plenty of time to recover.
Want more? Maybe on the weekend, you sneak away for a short hike.
Don’t worry if this doesn’t seem like a lot at first. We are interested in building the habit of strength training initially. We can up the frequency once you’re rocking and rolling.
Learning to meal prep would also be a good use of your time between training sessions.
4) Can I do strength training at home?
You sure can!
Many of our coaching clients have gotten in great shape simply by doing bodyweight exercises at home.
Here are a few resources to get you strength training in your living room:
Beginner Bodyweight Workout: many a Rebel have started their fitness journey here, and you can do it right in your own living room (if your dog will let you).
Advanced Bodyweight Workout: crushed the Beginner Bodyweight Workout? Then try this advanced circuit on for size.
42 Best Bodyweight Exercises: want to get your hands dirty? Use this guide to create your own bodyweight workout you can do anywhere!
20-Min Kettlebell Workout: own a kettlebell? Want one? With one single piece of equipment you can get in a great workout.
We can also build you a custom workout for your exact situation, whether you’re stuck at home or in an office, we can create a solution that fits your busy life!
How to Begin Lifting Weights as a Woman (Next Steps)
Since 2009, Team Nerd Fitness has learned a tremendous amount about how to best serve the ladies of this community.
I want to share with you my favorite success story.
Meet Leslie, a very sedentary single mom who works long hours that managed to lose 100+ lbs with the Nerd Fitness Coaching Program:
So if you’re tired of the same ole same ole and you’re ready to start strength training, you’re in the right place!
Not sure what to do or how to get started?
1) Check out our 1-on-1 Coaching Program! Our philosophies help women like Leslie above and they can be the philosophies that help you become strong inside and out.
Click on the image below to schedule a call and see if we’re a good fit for each other!
2) If you want a daily prompt for doing workouts at the gym (or at home), check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).
Try your free trial right here:
3) Join the Rebellion! Our free community numbers in the hundreds of thousands scattered throughout the globe, and we need good people like you!
You can join by signing up in the awesome yellow box below, and I’ll send you a bunch of free guides and printable workouts, including our Strength 101 guide!
Download our comprehensive guideSTRENGTH TRAINING 101!
Everything you need to know about getting strong.
Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.
How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
4) Do a strength training workout this week! The most important step you can do is to actually start.
Check out “Value of resistance training for the reduction of sports injuries” to learn more. Source: PubMed.
Read “Resistance training and sarcopenia” for more. Source: PubMed
This study “Skeletal muscle metabolism is a major determinant of resting energy expenditure” explores more. Source: PubMed
Here’s a study on different forms of exercise and their impact on pain, “Physical activity and exercise for chronic pain in adults.” Source: PubMed.
You can learn more at, “Strength Training and All‐Cause, Cardiovascular Disease, and Cancer Mortality in Older Women.” Source: PubMed.
Read “Practices, Perceived Benefits, and Barriers to Resistance Training Among Women Enrolled in College.” Source, PubMed.
Read “Age and sex affect human muscle fibre adaptations to heavy‐resistance strength training.” Source, The Physiological Society.
Since Women produce more type 1 muscle fiber, they might be able to perform more reps of an exercise than a man could. Don’t stress this. This marginal difference is overkill for a beginner.
Read, “American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults.” Source, PubMed.
Read “Circulating Testosterone as the Hormonal Basis of Sex Differences in Athletic Performance.” Source, PubMed.
There’s always one of you.
Studies have shown the Mifflin-St Jeor Equation to bevery accurate in determining BMR and TDEE
Read, “Dietary protein for athletes: from requirements to optimum adaptation.” Source, PubMed.
If you are pregnant or lactating, you’ll need even more protein than our below recommendation. Examine has a great article pointing out protein requirements.
