Have you ever been so excited about a new exercise or diet program only to find it too confusing or hard to follow? You may have started off with some great intentions, only to learn the hard fact of what we have come to know as “decision aversion.” When we are given too many choices or options with a nutrition plan or a workout program, it becomes too hard to choose what to do or where to start.
Ultimately when we are faced with too many options, we usually choose nothing at all.
With nutrition, if you have to count every calorie of food you eat, weigh and measure every ounce of protein, how likely are you to stick with this plan? We actually know how long because we have tested it – about 10 days! Ten days is all you will get when you are forcing your brain to do all of this unnecessary work to figure out your “Macros” and count your calories.
What is the alternative then? We actually like to keep it relatively simple. A very well-known strength coach, Dan John, once told me, “If you got all of your clients to eat protein, veggies and drink water 90% of the time, you would be the most successful fat loss expert in the world!” If we look at this advice as “simple, but not easy” then we are off to a good start. As we look at nutrition for our clients much more simply, there is more clarity as well. This is where broccoli comes in.
Why broccoli? You may ask. Broccoli has been called by many nutritional experts one of the world’s healthiest foods! It has a great source of Vitamins C and K which can help healing, collagen formation and protect you from free radicals. Broccoli has also been cited for anti-inflammatory and detoxification properties as well as a great food in the battle against cancer.
Therefore, when you eat broccoli, you know you are doing something absolutely great for your body. Think of the last time you ate broccoli. Did you have the urge to eat more than what was on your plate because it had “addictive” qualities like potato chips or french fries? Absolutely not! What is great about this vegetable, and just about every vegetable in that case, is that you will become fuller faster and you won’t overeat – which is really the #1 cause of obesity in the world!
Eat more broccoli and you will become in charge of how much you eat which will lead to fat loss – we love that idea!
Now let’s talk a little more about exercise and how to simplify this part of your life, and where deadlifts come in. There are more exotic training methods out there than ever before (thank you Instagram and the Internet!). What we are really looking for is not more choices on how to perform a fancy squat or sexy “core” exercise – what we really need to do here is simplify.
What has worked really well for us, is setting our clients up for success by giving them options throughout the year based not only on the time of year it is, but also on their goal. We know we can’t work on fat loss 7 days a week and 52 weeks a year – it is just not sustainable. Can we work on fat loss for 6 – 8 weeks at a time though? Absolutely! This is where a lot of our challenges come into play, and we have 3 – 4 of them a year to really push clients closer towards their goals. But that is only about half of the year. What do you do the other half of the year? You keep moving forward and continue to “punch the clock” to sustain those results you achieved during the challenges. We write our programs based off of an annual plan with all of the challenges in the gym and any roadblocks you may encounter along the way.
Ok, back to deadlifts. Why deadlifts? Deadlifts are really what we have found to be the “biggest bang for your buck” exercise in the gym. Since you pick up and set down things pretty much every day in your life, why not get better at this very functional exercise. It is a total body lift, requires strength from the upper and lower body and you will notice as you do deadlifts more often, you will be able to lift more!
If you are a woman the next thing you may be asking yourself is, “Won’t lifting weights – especially doing deadlifts make me bulk up?” The very short answer is no. This article isn’t meant to dive into this topic too much. The truth is at Epic Fitness every woman that does strength training adds lean muscle to their body, and in turn lowers body fat. Then this funny thing happens – their waistline shrinks!
This is no miracle, it is just the power of strength training and adding total body, multi-joint movements into your routine, just like deadlifts. I would even argue that eating broccoli daily (or really any green, fibrous vegetable) along with deadlifting once a week and strength training three times a week could actually change your life in a way that could help you live even longer!
Here is my plea to everyone out there – let us work on making the world of nutrition and strength training less confusing and such a polarizing topic. Let’s continue to make it simple (not easy) and start a routine to stay consistent for many, many years to come!
Are you ready to start a routine and looking for a guide to help you get started with a very reasonable, tested and trusted process? We would love to be in your corner. Click below to schedule your FREE strategy session with us to learn how we can help you reach your goals.
[maxbutton id=”13″ ]