1. What’s the best ‘diet’ pill?
I am, and at the same time, I am not surprised how much this question pops up, in fact the other day I had a lady do a consult with me just so that I could tell her what I thought the best diet pill was.
My response to her was “The best diet pill is the gym”.
Most people are paying 35ish dollars a month for a gym membership and your typical diet pills run you about the same AND I PROMISE there is NOT a diet pill that will give you the same results as busting your butt on the gym floor. A diet pill is a supplement, meaning it supplements what you are already doing. If you’re killing it in the gym then you’ll notice a bit of extra results, but if you are not eating right and working out hard then you really won’t notice too much from a diet pill.
2. How much protein should I eat?
I base my number on LBM (lean body mass) no reason to feed the fat 😉
I typically say about 1.25 grams per pound of LBM. So an example:
- You weight 180lbs and have about 16% bodyfat
- 180lbs x 16% = 29lbs of fat mass
- 180lb – 29lbs of fat = 151lbs of LBM
- 151lbs of LBM x 1.25 = 189g of protein.
These numbers can change depending on a person’s goal and their own personal metabolic response but here is what I have found that traditionally works for most individuals.
Side Note: Most calorie and protein formulas are just ball park numbers; it’s a starting point for al individuals. In all my years training I have yet to see a formula that hits the nail on the head with macronutrient ratios and calorie numbers because there are just TOO many variables to consider and your metabolism does change a bit daily. So these are just starting points that we/I work from.
3. What’s a great butt exercise?
I’ll do you better, here are TWO of my favorite glute exercises. Why am I so cool like that? Well lets say that I love glute training (man that sounds bad lol) but (no pun intended) the glute is a MAJOR muscle that just needs more than glute machine and a few cable kick backs.
I have to say that this is an amazing glute exercise and if you don’t believe me go get a heavy set on! I promise about 4 sets of 8 reps each leg you’ll be needing a handicap stall the next day 😉 BUT (pun intended) you’ll see noticeable changes in your glutes in the following weeks.
This exercise is how I start teaching some of my client to begin to understand glute activation. A number of people I do consults with are not quite sure “how” to flex their glutes let alone isolating one at a time. When you learn how to properly activate the glutes getting those things to tone becomes a lot easier.
Bonus for those ladies (just so you know she only weights a tad under 130lbs)
4. What’s a good ab routine?
Some people need just a quick adjustment with their core training and they are on their way but most are looking for that complete core overhaul. For that I won’t go into major detail on this blog post because I have a whole ab series dedicated to that. Check them out in the links below:
It is a bit of reading but hey if it was a simple as just doing crunches then they wouldn’t be asking me this
Why you still don’t have abs <—- In case you can’t guess, start here 😉
Champion Core Series Level 1.5!?
5. How do I lose this (point to random body part)?
Majority of the time people are asking to lose body fat and it just happens that (insert body part that they pointed too) is just where their body holds onto it the most, everyone has that spot.
You see I’m not a believer in spot reduction (just losing body fat in one particular location), because really think about that concept for a min. If spot reduction WERE possible then we would have people with six pack abs but flabby arms and legs. Or amazingly toned thighs and glutes but a muffin top (or as a few of my clients call it, a cupcake) but as you know that just doesn’t happen. The body losses fat uniformly across the body as a whole, not in just one particular location.
Now lets say we decide to specialize on that particular location, we would still need to get those body fat levels down overall it doesn’t matter how much we train that problem area if the body fat is covering it up we will never see it.
I know it’s not the sexy secret training answer that most people are looking for but it’s the truth. Just put your nose to the grindstone and drop those fat levels down, after that I promise that area won’t be a problem anymore.
In Health and Fitness,
Travis Merritt
Travis Merritt, BS, CPT, CES, RBT is the owner of Fitness Revolution in Rowlett, TX.
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