So you wanna start drinking protein shakes, but don’t know where to begin? You’re in luck, because I’ve been drinking protein shakes for years and today I’m sharing with you all my secrets (ah…most of them). With Part 2 of our Ultimate Guide to Protein, I’ll teach you:
Make sure you also check out Part 1: “How Much Protein Do I Need to Eat Every Day?“ With this knowledge and an awesome blender (which we talk about right here), you can make protein shakes part of your everyday routine. Let’s get ready to shake things up!
Protein 101: Are Protein Shakes Good For You?Protein is an essential macronutrient that helps our body rebuild muscle and is an important part of daily nutrition (“duh, Steve,” you say). You can get protein from any number of real food sources, and you should prioritize real food in your diet (also, “duh Steve”). Here are some examples of protein-rich food:
However, there are PLENTY of instances where you might want to also supplement your food with a protein shake or protein powder (here we go):
In these instances, protein supplements or protein shakes can be awesome! But don’t just take my word for it. A systematic review of studies revealed:[1]
Another study showed that among endurance athletes:[2]
What this means in regular people terms: If you are strength training correctly and eating the right way, consuming enough protein will help you build muscle and perform better! “Enough protein” in this context can include protein supplements and protein powders. Just remember that protein shakes are not a panacea for all of your ailments:
You still need to:
If you’re not sure HOW to strength train, don’t worry – I got you covered. You can download our Strength Training 101 guide when you join the Rebellion (it’s free) and sign up in the box below:
Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!
How Much Protein Do I Need Every Day?This section is taken from our guide “How Much Protein Do I Need to Eat Every Day?“ Despite what advertisements for protein supplements will tell you, you do not need to be eating 500 grams of protein every day. They like to tell you this so that you use their supplement faster and need to buy more. Here’s the real deal: claims for the amount of protein needed vary wildly from source to source (and athlete to athlete, and nerd to nerd). You are a unique snowflake and your protein goals should be aligned with your goals. You want specific numbers, right? Don’t worry, I got you. Although the current international Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.4g per pound of bodyweight (0.8 g per kg of body weight),[3] this study[4] shows that this number is too low and should be higher regardless of your body composition. You just want me to tell you how much to eat, right? I figured. Well you’re in luck, because we have a protein calculator you can play with! THE NERD FITNESS PROTEIN CALCULATOROn the Metric System? Click here. Let’s explain some of this a little. As Examine.com points out in their heavily researched summary on protein:[5]
These are starter numbers that you can start to experiment around as you see your body transforms. As Examine points out in its research on protein,[6] “higher protein intakes seem to have no negative effects in healthy people,” so aim for the higher end of the spectrum depending on your goals and adjust from there. Long story short: Consuming protein is an important part of life for everybody, both the sedentary and the athlete:
I personally consumed a significant amount of protein (240g of protein at a bodyweight of 190 pounds) during a recent “lean out” phase, and it allowed me to cut body fat while getting stronger and without feeling hungry. In summary, a major portion of your plate each day should be a source of protein. If you are struggling to hit your target protein goal for the day through real food sources, then consider adding a protein supplement. You still need to have the right systems, the right nutritional strategy, and the right workout in place, and THEN a protein shake might help you reach your goals a bit faster. To help busy people like you not waste their time in the gym, and help them actually get results, we created our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program. Your NF Coach will build you a custom workout program and provide nutritional guidance for your specific situation. Find out if we’re a good fit for each other by clicking on the image below: What’s the Best Protein Supplement to Buy?When it comes to buying a protein powder or picking a protein shake, you’re going to encounter a few options: 1) Whey protein is the most popular, readily available, and cheapest protein supplementation out there. Whey contains all the essential amino acids, and is one of the byproducts of milk that has been curdled and strained. It comes in both “concentrate” and “isolate” forms. Whey is more quickly absorbed by the body compared to its counterpart casein(next), which makes it a great solution for right before/after a strength training workout.[7] 2) Casein protein is the other byproduct of milk and also contains all essential amino acids. Because it’s more slowly absorbed by the body than whey, many people consume casein before bed assuming it’ll result in improved muscle growth during sleep! However this study[8] shows that total consumption of protein during a day is more important than protein timing! 3) Egg protein powders are made from, you guessed it, the protein in eggs – which means they may be a great alternative if you can’t use whey or casein for whatever reason. Quick recap: whey and casein proteins both come from milk, and both can help rebuild muscle. Whey is more readily absorbed by your body and is usually less expensive than casein, which makes it our preferred form of protein for cost and ease of consumption. Personally, I prefer wheyy. I find casein protein less palatable, and it doesn’t mix as well. Also, don’t worry about timing whey for post-workout and casein for sleep. In my opinion, you’re just overcomplicating things. Pick the one you enjoy and focus on getting enough protein in a day – that will get you 99.% of the way there to building muscle in the right places! IF YOU ARE PLANT BASED: these are our recommendations for plant protein powders (from our guide to eating a Plant-Based Diet):
What about Soy Protein? Soy is a complicated beast, though in our opinion the fears around soy are overblown. As Examine points out in its review of soy protein supplementation:[11]
In other words, you do you, boo. If you consume soy and are struggling to hit your protein goals, consuming a soy supplement can help. If you are unsure on soy, consider getting your protein supplementation from any of the other sources above! Now, regardless of what protein you pick what you need to know about protein shakes based on the collective wisdom of the 15 full-time coaches on Team Nerd Fitness:
Steve’s Protein Brand RecommendationsOver the past 15 years of training, I’ve tried dozens of protein powders, and I keep coming back to 2 brands that fit my style and budget:
How to use Protein Powder (How Do You Make Protein Shakes Taste Better?)The back of every protein powder jug will tell you “mixes great with 8 oz of water!” For some protein powders, this is true. For others, it’ll taste like you’re choking down recently mixed concrete. Note: do not consume readily mixed concrete. You’re welcome. So Step #1 with your newly purchased protein powder is to mix it with water and see how it tastes. By mixing just the protein and water, you’re adding minimal calories to your daily intake while also increasing your protein intake for the day. Win. NOW, depending on your caloric goals or if you’re looking to make a meal replacement shake, you can start to experiment and make your own protein shakes by doing the following:
Just pretend like you’re a scientist and you’re creating a different concoction each time. Write down your ingredients and amounts until you find the perfect blend (heyo) of macros and taste that fits your goal! HUGE CAVEAT: your body still obeys the laws of thermodynamics. Just because you call it a “healthy smoothie” doesn’t mean the 1,000 calories in it don’t count! If you can’t lose weight, you’re eating too many calories, which means you should be aware of how many calories are going into your quickly-consumed protein shake. Now, if your goal is bulking up or building muscle – then creating your own high-calorie protein shake is a great way to get extra calories into your day. I am currently bulking up, so here is my patented post-workout shake that I consume daily (okay it’s not really patented). STEVE’S POWERBOMB SHAKE
Here are the macronutrient and caloric breakdown of that shake: 795 calories, 68g of protein, 106g of carbs, 13g of fat: For over a decade, I simply used a cheap blender like this on Amazon! Depending on your budget, you can also go to your local Walmart, Target, Kroger, Publix, Sam’s Club, Stop & Shop, etc., and buy a blender for 20 bucks. I will say that as I’ve gotten older and had more disposable income I have become a Vitamix fanboy. They are expensive, but you get what you pay for. I’ve probably burned the motors out of 10+ cheap blenders, and since switching to a Vitamix it’s been crushing my powerbomb shake ingredients twice a day in seconds. If you have the money, it’s worth the investment. Your other option is to buy a cheap shaker bottle (here’s the kind I use). Personally, I’ve found that these things don’t mix nearly as well as a blender, but if you’re traveling with no blender option available, a shaker bottle can be really helpful. Note: if you are using a shaker bottle, pour the water in first, THEN add the protein shake! Here’s my “stay healthy while traveling” strategy for protein:
If you put the protein in first, I can guarantee no amount of shaking will get all of that protein mixed into the liquid! Should I Drink My Protein Shake before or after my workout?Conventional wisdom tells us that we need to be consuming our protein shake IMMEDIATELY after our workout for maximum gains. It also tells us that we need to be consuming protein every few hours for maximum protein synthesis by our muscles too. But what does the science actually say? According to this abstract:[13]
And in this extract:[14]
WHAT THIS MEANS: The amount of protein you consume in a day is more important than the timing of your protein when it comes to muscle building. Consuming a protein shake before OR after a workout will result in increased physical performance and muscle hypertrophy – provided you’re training the right way! If you need to train and then head to work and you can’t eat your protein until later in the day, do what works best for you! Some people might hate training on an empty stomach, so consuming the protein shake before the workout is beneficial. I personally train in a fasted state (which we cover in our Guide on Intermittent Fasting), so I don’t consume my protein shake until after my workout. So, stop worrying about protein timing and instead put your focus on training, total calories, and getting enough protein in the day itself. Not sure if you’re training right? Consider working with a Nerd Fitness coach who can build you a training program and help guide you on your nutrition! Getting Started Drinking Protein ShakesLet’s recap some of the key points of drinking protein shakes for you:
Hopefully, this should get you started! Feel free to try out different flavors and combinations of ingredients in your smoothies to make them something you actually look forward to! Do you have any favorite protein shake recipes? Any more questions about protein powders and supplements? Share them with us in the comments! -Steve PS: Check out the rest of our protein series: PPS: Still overwhelmed? Still not sure you’re training right or eating correctly? Want to know which supplements are worth it and which ones are a waste of money? I hear ya. These questions and people like you are why we launched our 1-on-1 Coaching Program: to help busy people cut through the noise and just start building muscle, getting leaner, and feeling better. Click below to schedule a call to learn more: ### All photo sources are right here[15]
Footnotes ( returns to text)
via https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/protein-shakes-for-newbies-what-to-buy-when-to-drink/
0 Comments
Coconut milk powder is an easy and convenient way to add nutritional goodness to your green smoothies, which is why it is popular with health-conscious consumers. Coconut milk contains important nutrients simply not found in cow’s milk. Plus, unlike cow’s milk, coconut milk does not trigger gastrointestinal distress for those who are lactose intolerant. Organic coconut milk powder also does not contain Sodium caseinate, which is a compound derived from casein, a protein present in the milk of mammals. Let’s take a closer look at coconut milk powder. What is Coconut Milk Powder?Coconut milk powder is evaporated (dried) coconut milk, while coconut milk is derived from the flesh of the coconut fruit. You’ll find organic coconut milk powder as an ingredient in many recipes. (You can also replace evaporated dried cow’s milk with coconut milk in many recipes, though it may slightly change the flavor.) Coconut milk powder is said to be gluten free, gluten free vegan, dairy free, and vegan dairy free. You can also rehydrate it by stirring a few tablespoons of the powder into a glass of water, turning it into coconut milk that you can drink, add to a bowl of cereal, or use in smoothies or recipes. Because organic coconut milk powder is “shelf stable,” meaning it does not have to be refrigerated and can be stored in the pantry for long periods of time without spoiling, many people prefer it to coconut milk. Coconut Milk Powder NutritionAs the powdered form is derived from coconut milk, there is not much difference in nutritional value between the two. Both are a good source of vitamins and minerals. One fresh coconut milk cup powder (60 grams) contains:1
You may have noticed that organic coconut milk powder is high in calories and fat. But the good news is that much of this fat is a type of saturated fats known as medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs). Coconut Milk Powder and MCTs for Weight LossMultiple research studies indicate that MCTs may offer a host of health benefits, particularly for those who suffer from weight-control issues. MCTs have been shown to generate energy through a process known as “thermogenesis,” which boosts metabolism and increases the number of calories typically burned per day. Obesity has become a worldwide public health crisis, as excess body fat has been linked to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, and many more.2 As a result, researchers are always searching for a solution -- if only a partial one -- that will help people lose weight easily and steadily. The MCTs in coconut milk may be the answer they’ve been looking for. Studies show that MCTs may help reduce body weight by:
MCT oil also contains about 10% fewer calories than olive oil or other foods containing long chain fatty acids, which could also reduce your calorie intake somewhat, helping you better control your weight.6 Other Health Benefits of Organic Coconut Milk PowderIn addition to its beneficial effect on weight, coconut milk powder may also:
That’s a LOT of health benefits! Organic Coconut Milk Powder for your HealthThe science on the health benefits of coconut milk powder is so compelling that SANE added it to Garden in my Glass -- a BREAKTHROUGH blend of powdered fruits and vegetables (superfoods) shown to support health. Garden in my Glass is so popular it sells out as soon as it’s restocked, so click here to place your order TODAY. References 1- Slism. Coconut Powder. Calorie Slism. Accessed Jan 8, 2021. https://slism.com/calorie/105016/ 2- CDC. Adult Obesity Causes & Consequences. Centers for Disease Control. Page last reviewed: Sep 17, 2020. Accessed Jan 8, 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult/causes.html 3- Han JR, Deng B, Sun J, Chen CG, Corkey BE, Kirkland JL, Ma J, Guo W. Effects of dietary medium-chain triglyceride on weight loss and insulin sensitivity in a group of moderately overweight free-living type 2 diabetic Chinese subjects. Metabolism. 2007 Jul;56(7):985-91. doi: 10.1016/j.metabol.2007.03.005. PMID: 17570262. 4- Kinsella R, Maher T. Clegg ME. Coconut oil has less satiating properties than medium chain triglyceride oil. Physiology & Behavior. Volume 179, 1 October 2017, Pages 422-426 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2017.07.007 5- St-Onge MP, Jones PJ. Greater rise in fat oxidation with medium-chain triglyceride consumption relative to long-chain triglyceride is associated with lower initial body weight and greater loss of subcutaneous adipose tissue. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2003 Dec;27(12):1565-71. doi: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0802467. PMID: 12975635. 6- Eske J. Health benefits of coconut milk. MedicalNewsToday. Nov 20, 2018. Accessed Jan 8, 2021. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323743 7- Khaw KT, Sharp SJ, Finikarides L, et al. Randomised trial of coconut oil, olive oil or butter on blood lipids and other cardiovascular risk factors in healthy men and women. BMJ Open. 2018;8(3):e020167. Published 2018 Mar 6. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-020167 8- Elmore LK, Nance G, Singleton S, Lorenz L. Treatment of Dermal Infections With Topical Coconut Oil. May 2014 Vol 6 Issue 5. https://www.naturalmedicinejournal.com/journal/2014-05/treatment-dermal-infections-topical-coconut-oil 9- Elmore LK, Nance G, Singleton S, Lorenz L. Treatment of Dermal Infections With Topical Coconut Oil. May 2014 Vol 6 Issue 5. https://www.naturalmedicinejournal.com/journal/2014-05/treatment-dermal-infections-topical-coconut-oil Via https://store.sanesolution.com/blogs/supplements/coconut-milk-powder Via https://sanesolutions.weebly.com/blog/coconut-milk-powder “Steve, what am I supposed to do on days when I’m not training?” It’s a great question and one we receive quite frequently here at Nerd Fitness. With our coaching clients, not only do we create workout schedules for them, we also help them utilize “off days” with active recovery. Today, we’ll share with you the exact same lessons (click to jump to that section):
Let’s do this.
Is It Good to Work out Every Day? (Why You Need Rest Days)We advise our coaching clients to work out 3 days per week with full-body strength training routines. This would include lots of compound movements like: 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: your muscles are actually broken down during your workout. When challenged enough, they tear during the exercise and only start to grow back 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. This is bad news bears. Remember, exercise is only 10-20% of the weight-loss equation: how we eat and rest is the other 80-90%! 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 every day, or deliberately adding a morning mobility/stretching routine to your day, doing SOMETHING every 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.” Active recovery is any gentle movement designed to help your muscles heal after training. It’s a subject we discuss in our guide on DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). When you exercise, you increase blood flow to your muscles. By moving your body, you’re actually speeding up your recovery.[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 might also want to 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. It could be flexibility training, mobility training, meal prep, and more. I’ll cover these below! 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.
Rest Day Workout 1: MobilityWe’ve all felt that soreness the day after (or two days after) strength training or from an intense run – our muscles have been broken down and are incredibly tight from all of the heavy lifting. For that reason, one of the best things you can do on an off day is to work on your flexibility and mobility. After all, what good is strength if we can’t move our body properly to utilize it! 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. If you live in an apartment or are just getting started, feel free to leave out the jumping jacks: 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 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: 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. Here’s an article on how to dominate posture at your desk job. Rest Day Workout 2: Fun ActivitiesWe 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:
Check out our guide “40 Fun Exercises! Exercise Without Realizing It” for even more ideas! 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: 1) Interval Training – 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. 2) Sprinting – If you like the idea of burning extra calories and building explosive power and speed, check out our article on becoming the Flash. Find a hill, sprint up it, walk down, and repeat the process for 10-20 minutes. No need to overthink it! 3) Long walks – 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: YogaYou 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!
In fact, here’s a beginner routine you can follow right now: Need help with any of the poses? Check out 21 Yoga Poses for Beginners for guidance on all positions. Rest Day Workout 5: Foam RollerYou’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] Which 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. Interested? Staci walks you through everything you need to start cooking for the week in our Guide to Meal Planning and Prep. Plus, here’s my exact recipe for batch cooking chicken: Rest Day Best Practice #2: Engage Your Brain 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
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? Leave it in the comments! -Steve PS: Another good rest day activity? Take a nap! Your body does quite a lot of its healing during sleep. Get some proper shut-eye. ### Photo sources: Mikkel © 123RF.com, A good Sunday to you, resting cat, Rain doesn’t stop a photographer, juhajarvinen © 123RF.com , Run, foam roller, back to vacation,
Footnotes ( returns to text)
via https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/what-should-i-do-on-my-off-days/ So you want to do a pull-up but don’t have a bar? Or maybe you just don’t quite have the strength yet to hoist yourself up? Either way, no problem! We’ve been teaching people how to do pull-up alternatives in our Online Coaching Program, with “no-bar pull-ups”. Today, we’ll show you all these tried and trusted workarounds. Here’s what we’ll cover:
By the way, all of these pull-up alternatives can be done in our sweet new app. Why not learn how to lift yourself up (even without any equipment) while you build your very own superhero? You can test drive it for free (no credit card needed) right here: Alright, let’s do this thang.
How to Do Pull-ups Without a Bar (5 Pull-up Alternatives)The video above comes from our Chin-up Challenge (which you can do in our app). Coach Jim walks you through 5 different levels of pull-up alternatives, depending on your experience level and what items you may have lying around the house. Pull-up Alternative #1: Doorway Rows Our first alternative is to simply use your doorway for bodyweight rows. To perform a doorway row:
That’s it. The more you lean back, the tougher this will be. To start, you can also just hang back to start building some “pull” strength. Pull-up Alternative #2: Towel Doorway Rows Our next alternative is to do doorway rows, but this time using a towel. The towel might help you lean back even further, creating a more challenging exercise. Take a towel, and fold it twice lengthwise. Then take your long, folded over towel, and tie it around the door on the handle opposite side of you. Make sure the door opens AWAY from you. You don’t want the door accidentally opening, which could cause an unexpected tumble. Once you have your towel secured around the doorknob, perform rows by using each side of the towel. Pull-up Alternative #3: Inverted Rows with Chairs For this pull-up alternative, you’re gonna need two sturdy chairs and a broomstick (or dowel). We’ll be combining them together, Voltron style, to form our own row station: The important thing here is the setup. Give your newly created station a few gentle pushes to check the integrity of the structure. Only when you feel confident should you start performing inverted bodyweight rows. Pull-up Alternative #4: Towel Pull-ups Now, we’re gonna start doing some actual pull-ups…with towels. You can either use a couple of sturdy handtowels or washcloths. Tie an overhand knot in the corner of both towels, which will be used as your anchor. Then place these knots over a door and close it. Make sure the knots are secure before you start doing your pull-ups. Again, you’ll also want to make sure the door opens AWAY from you. Doing towel pull-ups is going to be a great way to improve your grip strength, although if you find them a little too tough, you can use a stool to support your feet as you lift. This will help as you build strength. Pull-up Alternative #5: Strap Pull-ups You may or may not have some Forearm Forklifts hanging around, but if you do, you’ll have the perfect equipment for a pull-up alternative. Forearm Forklifts are made to help you and a friend lift heavy furniture or equipment, but Coach Jim has discovered they’re also pretty useful for doing pull-ups. They have loops designed to hold your arms, which makes them easier to grip than a towel. Tie a knot in them just like you would with a hand towel and use it to anchor against your door. For more ideas on how to train with items you may have around the house, check out How to Build a Home Gym (When All Equipment is Sold Out). The 6 Best Pull-up Alternatives (How to Get Your First Pull-Up)This section is taken from our guide “Get Your First Pull-up.” If you can’t quite hoist yourself up yet, don’t fret! We’re going to work on increasing your “pull” muscles through a series of pull-up alternatives. First up… Level 1 Pull-up Alternative: Bent-Over Dumbbell RowsBent-over dumbbell rows:
What weight should you start out with initially? 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 Alternative: Inverted Bodyweight RowsBodyweight 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 Alternative: Assisted Pull-upsAt 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. We work hand-in-hand with people like you to get them their first pull-up in our Online Coaching Program. If you don’t know how to fit these movements into your workouts, or you just want somebody to give you the exact workout to follow every day, we got you! Level 4 Pull-Up Workout: Negative Pull-UpsOur next level on our path for a pull-up is what we call “negative pull-ups.”
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. What Is the Easiest Type of Pull-Up? (Start With Chin-Ups)The easiest pull-up variation for you to attempt will likely be the chin-up. That’s why we have a Chin-up Challenge in our app, because we feel Rebels will have an easier time lifting themselves up with this variation, compared to a traditional pull-up. For reference: A CHIN-UP is when your hands are facing towards you: A PULL-UP is when your hands are facing away from you: Chin-ups are generally easier to perform than pull-ups, because the wider grip of a pull-up isolates your lats, which means you get less assistance from your biceps. Start with chin-ups. Once you get comfortable doing them, you can then work on more advanced variations. For ideas here, check out our guide How to Do a Pull-up. When Should I Do My Pull-Up Alternatives? (Next Steps)Generally, you want a 48 to 72 hour resting period before returning to train the same muscle group. So take at least a day off before working on your “pull” muscles again. This allows the area to heal properly so you can grow stronger. When we designed a training routine for Nerd Fitness Prime members for part of the Chin-up Challenge, we aimed for three workouts a week. If you’re trying to get your first pull-up or chin-up, this would be a good goal. So for example, you could do:
You could also do Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Even just working out Monday and Thursday – twice a week pull-up training – would allow you to see some great progress. Feel free to do whatever works best for you. If you want any more help with designing your workout, we got you. Check out the option that best fits your goals: Option #1) If you want a professional coach in your pocket, who can do video form checks, provide feedback, and adjust your workouts based on the equipment you have available, check out our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program! For example, let’s say you find yourself stuck indoors during a pandemic, and you want somebody to custom-build you a workout program based on the equipment and furniture you have. That’s where an online coach is a game-changer! Personally, I’ve been working with the same online coach since 2015 and it’s changed my life. You can learn more by clicking on the image below: Option #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, it’ll teach you how to do pull-ups, even if you have zero experience (or any equipment). Try your free trial right here: Option #3) Become part of the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion. Enlist below and we’ll send you our free Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know:
Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!
Alright, now I want to hear from you! Can you currently do a chin-up or pull-up? What’s your favorite pull-up alternative? Am I missing any tips or tricks for pull-ups without a bar? Let me know in the comments! -Steve PS: If you want more pull-up goodness, make sure you check out:
###
Photo source: Kermit and Pink Panther, Mouse Hanging, Scarlet Spider-man via https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/pull-up-alternatives/ I know plenty of people who hate exercise but WANT to find a way to like it. And that’s what today’s post is all about: Exercising in a way where life doesn’t suck AND helps you reach your goals. Luckily, this is exactly what we do for a living!
I know what it’s like to hate exercise, and ALSO want to lose weight and see results. Ugh. We’ve built an entire company and community around helping people overcome these obstacles – our Online Coaching Program helps people find exercises they love, and also how to make the right nutritional choices. We are all on a unique journey and we’d love to help you with yours!
ExercIse Sucks. Do This Instead.“But Steve, I don’t like to exercise!” While some are like Odie and love to run around all day, others are like Garfield and feel like they must be allergic to exercise. I hear this every day, and I’m not surprised. After all, I think “exercise” sucks too. Which is why we’re gonna focus on exercise that doesn’t feel like exercise! After all, nutrition is like 90% of the equation. Exercise is merely a supporting actor, which is why we don’t ever NEED to spend time doing exercise we hate. We’ve already talked extensively on Nerd Fitness on how to eat better, so I won’t hash that out here. So let’s talk about exercise. Sure, it would be great if we all strength trained 5 days a week and got super strong, but the reality is most of us don’t have that time – or the desire – to hit the gym. And more importantly – the best exercise program is the one you actually do! And thus today we’re going to focus on TWO key elements of getting more exercise in our lives: #1) FIDGETING: Did you know ‘fidgeting’ (aka “small micromovements”) can account for up to 350 additional calories burned per day? Per the New York Times: “Overweight people have a tendency to sit, while lean ones have trouble holding still and spend two hours more a day on their feet, pacing around and fidgeting, researchers are reporting in findings published today. The difference translates into about 350 calories a day…” 350 extra calories burned per day ain’t no joke! As we cover in our “How many calories should I eat every day?” guide, burning an extra 350 calories per day can result in sustainable weight loss and maintenance over time for many. Not only that, but when you factor in inertia (an object at rest tends to stay at rest, and object in motion tends to stay in motion), it paints a pretty interesting picture: We spend our lives trying to be more “efficient,” but what if the key to weight loss is to be LESS efficient? From standing up more frequently to parking FARTHER away from the grocery store, every additional step or movement counts. Today’s guide shares TONS of ways to get yourself used to moving more frequently. I’m actually air drumming and shuffling my feet as we speak! #2) FUN EXERCISE: Who cares what the optimal workout is? Unless you have a very specific physique you’re trying to build, ANY exercise is good exercise. From dancing to yoga to climbing to roughhousing with your kids, it all counts. This brings me to today’s point: Exercise is a bonus. Exercise helps your heart get stronger, can help build muscle, usually gets you outside the house and absorbing vitamin D, and brings you a litany of other health benefits. Also, any additional calories burned is a bonus! Exercise can help us make fewer unhealthy food choices. Instead of “I earned this” you can start telling yourself: “If I’m going to exercise regularly, I might as well make it worth it by eating right too.” Daily exercise is a constant reminder that we are leveling up our lives – that we should continue to make other good choices or we’re practically wasting our time. This is the type of stuff we focus on – with personalized instruction, with each of our online coaching clients. Some clients are learning Olympic lifting, while others are simply focusing on taking the stairs more and tracking their food. We are all on a unique journey and we’d love to help you with yours! 40 Ways to Exercise Without Exercising#1) Hiking, especially with friends – Strap on a pair of shoes, get out of the comfy confines of your hobbit-hole, and go explore the world around you! Make sure you follow our Beginner Hiking Guide on how to find a hiking spot near you, what shoes to wear, what to bring with you, and more. #2) Walking – No time to hike? Go for a simple walk. Even a 15-minute brisk walk is enough time to get close to a mile walked, which gets you one step closer to Mordor. Do you have a 30-minute meeting at work? Have a walking meeting instead. Steve Jobs was known for doing this. You should know Tim, a member of our Nerd Fitness community who lost 50 pounds – while injured – just by fixing his nutrition and going for long walks every day! I’m proud that Tim used the philosophies laid out in our online courses under Nerd Fitness Prime, to get his results! #3) LARP – Live Action Role Playing. Might seem silly to those on the outside, but to those playing, it’s an amazing adventure that reminds us how awesome our imaginations are. Also, depending on the game, you could be wearing a heavy costume, swinging heavy weaponry, and running for your life! #4) Rock Climbing – I love rock climbing. It’s one of the best arm/back/forearm workouts in existence, you get to feel like a badass when you reach the top of the wall, and all climbing routes are graded so you can level up the challenge as you get stronger/fitter/better. It’s a fit nerd’s dream! #5) Geocaching – If rock climbing is a fit-nerd’s dream, then geocaching is an adventure nerd’s dream brought to life. Become a real-life treasure-hunter (Lara Croft? Nathan Drake? You decide!), and get a great workout in while you’re at it. Or, if you’re truly nerdy, you can do some Digital Geocaching with Pokemon Go or Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. #6) Dancing – Ever tried serious swing dancing? You’ll be sweating within ten minutes. How about hip hop? Drenched in sweat, and sore as hell the next day. Zumba? Tango? Flamenco? You’d be surprised at what you can sign up for and what will elevate your heart rate. #7) Roughhousing with your kids. I don’t have kids, but when I do, you can bet your ass I’ll be the dad out rolling around in the back yard with them. Don’t forget what it’s like to be a kid – it keeps you young. I really enjoyed this article from Art of Manliness on the importance of roughhousing! #8) Climbing on stuff – A few years back, I attended a great conference, Midoricon, I was walking through the woods with NF Rebel Joe (No, not THAT Joe). It was awesome to see this guy, having lost 100 pounds since finding Nerd Fitness, explore the woods like it was no problem: climbing on stumps, balancing on fallen trees, climbing trees, and more. We work with LOTS of Coaching Clients to get them outdoors and help build them “fun climbing programs” that burn tons of calories but don’t really feel like exercise. #9) Martial arts – Be honest. You watched The Matrix, you heard Neo go “I know Kung Fu” and you wanted to be able to one day say the same thing. Whether it’s Kung Fu, Muay Thai, Tae Kwon Do, Karate or Capoeira (breakdance fighting, seriously), there’s a martial art out there that will make you feel like a badass. #10 Consider a standing desk – Although we all know that correlation does not prove causation, it’s no surprise that there’s a strong correlation between sitting all day and an unhealthy lifestyle. Why not fix your posture, strengthen your legs, get more “fidget time” in, and spend the day being more productive with a standing desk? I have THIS desk and it allows me to switch between sitting and standing. If you don’t want to stand all day, make sure you read up on our guide, “how to survive sitting all day in an office.” #11) Have an active meeting – Hat tip to Charlie Hoehn on this one. If somebody wants to meet up with you for coffee, suggest something active: throwing a baseball, tossing a frisbee, going for a hike – anything that gets you up and moving. I say yes to pretty much anybody that invites me to play golf. Wink wink. #12) You know… – That thing that consenting adults do? Yeah. Do that. Self-explanatory. Moving on… #13) Clean! – Ugh, nobody likes to clean the house/apartment. It’s not my favorite thing to do. So I instead make a game out of it. I see how much I can accomplish with a single song blasting at max volume, while probably also dancing. I also CRUSH podcasts while doing the dishes. Of course, after getting through one song, I figure “welp, I’ve already started, might as well keep going.” #14) Try handstands – Here’s how to do handstands. This is a fun activity that builds up some serious arm and core strength and will leave you sweating bullets after even a few minutes. So go find a park, go do handstands, cartwheels, somersaults, and whatever else makes you feel young again. #15) Parkour – Our beginner’s guide to Parkour is one of the most popular on Nerd Fitness. I don’t care how old you are, there’s no reason you can’t get started with rolling around in your yard and vaulting over picnic tables and bike racks. Or, you can do it in your office: #16) Playout – Is Parkour too serious for you? Try a playout! Spiderman was on to something – climbing walls, swinging from skyscrapers, and popping flips around the bad guys. You might not be able to swing between buildings, but you can definitely visit a playground in your area and get creative! #17) Adult gymnastics – In the same vein as Parkour, gymnastics will help you build some of the BEST real-world strength you can get with any type of exercise, and it’s all done in a playful way without a single weight being picked up. Swing from rings, somersault, flip onto pads, and more. There are gyms all over the country. #18) Yoga – Build flexibility, strength, and learn to freaking relax. There are a million kinds of Yoga, including awesome stuff like Acro-Yoga, baby goat Yoga (not kidding), and Yoga with beer. Sign up for a few different kinds and see which one lines up the best with what you’re looking for. #19) Play video games that make you be active – Beat Saber. DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) counts too. Just Move. Anything that gets you off your ass and moving! Oh, what’s that? You’re playing a normal game like Grand Theft Auto V? Make a rule that you can only play while standing up, or that you have to do 10 push-ups every time you die. That’s what I do to keep myself from spending twelve hours on the couch in marathon gaming sessions! #20) Play on a playground – Go down the slide, swing across the monkey bars, climb the rope all, balance on the balance beam. Create an obstacle course for yourself and see how quickly you can get through it. You can even work out on a playground too: #21) Play a musical instrument – Did you know playing musical instruments can burn a boatload of calories too? I imagine this is doubly true if you’re dancing around like Taylor Davies playing the violin. #22) Join a Rec League – New in town? Want to be active and meet people? Join a co-ed kickball, softball, or tennis league. You get to exercise AND it’s a great way to meet new people through exercise!
Get your Nerd Fitness Starter Kit
#23) Bike to work – I know there are a lot of Rebels in our community who dropped a bunch of weight by making one change: they biked to work, or biked to their friend’s house, or started biking generally. You get from Point A to Point B, you save money on gas, and you get a workout. That would make Michael Scott proud. Here’s our Guide to Biking if you want some help getting started. #24) Play a childhood game – What games did you play as a child? Capture the flag? Kick the can? Simple tag? Get a few friends together and give it a try – it will be the most fun you’ve had in a while! #25) Park at the far end of the parking lot – Every step counts. Every tiny decision that is slightly different than the “OLD you” counts. IT ALL COUNTS when it comes to burning more calories than you consume every day. #26) Take the stairs. It’s only two flights! And we are designed to move. You can do this. Sure, you’ll get winded the first handful of times. But it eventually becomes routine. And it all counts! Make a game out of it. #27) Crush audiobooks while “exercising.” This is called ‘temptation bundling.‘ Pair something you love with an activity you’re trying to do more of. But I bet if you could only listen to Harry Potter (for the 600th time) while walking on a treadmill, you’d be more likely to get to the gym. #28) Build stuff. Whether you’re building a fort with your kid in the backyard, or trying to figure out why you have 5 extra screws in that IKEA dresser you’re putting together, building stuff involves lots of moving and bending and picking up and maneuvering. Warning: you’ll swear no less than 100 times building furniture. Earmuffs! #29) Sit in a squat, or pike position on the floor while watching TV. No, not leaning against the couch. Sitting up actively engaging your core! You can also do some sort of stretch or movement like these bodyweight exercises during commercials (or in the 15 seconds between Netflix episodes!) #30) Impromptu dance parties. Kids or no kids, I find that great Disney songs are fantastic for bringing out your inner child. Blast the tunes, dance around the house, and be absurd. WHO CARES! As a wise woman once said…”Let it gooooooo.” #31) Go for a walk while on the phone. What if you just decided you had to stand for all of your phone calls? For starters, I know many people who do phone interviews while standing because it makes them more alert and a better guest. Next: you’re gonna get so many steps in while on the phone without realizing it! #32) Having an impromptu picnic. Instead of sitting and gorging yourself at the dining room table, why not eat on the floor? Grab a blanket or a towel, eat in your living room or head out into the backyard, and make it a picnic! You’ll need to adjust your posture and seating style constantly. #33) Sit in a squat. We cover this in our “How to squat” guide, but sitting in a deep squat – often for long timeframes – is built into us as a species! We’ve just become soft from sitting in chairs all day long. I try to accumulate 15 minutes of “squat time” each day – sitting in a squat while reading a chapter in a book, or journaling, or answering an email with my laptop on the ground. Here I am sitting in a squat while reading Level Up Your Life (available online and in bookstores nationwide!) #34) The “Pull-up bar Tax”. Get yourself a door-frame pull-up bar. Put it on a door that you have to cross through regularly. And every time you go through, you have to do either 1 pull-up, 1 negative pull-up, or 10 seconds of hanging from the bar. Can’t do a pull-up yet? Learn how to get your first pull-up or chin-up. #35) Lasers around the house. Set up colored string pulled tightly across your kid’s rooms or in certain hallways, and you have to go over and under the lasers each time you traverse the hallway. Don’t touch the lasers! #36) Climb a tree. Your level of safety and ability on this will be dependent on your experience here, but I remember climbing trees like a monkey as a kid and loving every minute of it. Even if it’s just hanging from a tree branch or trying to scramble up to a low branch, it can be a great way to “exercise.” #37) The floor is lava. This is both great for exercising around your apartment, for a fun date night or night with the kids, and for playing True American. Though one is slightly more healthy than the other. #38) Casual Parkour. From avoiding cracks on the sidewalk to balancing on curbs, or jumping from tile to tile, or hopping up onto a bench and then back down, it all counts! Just get yourself to move differently than you would have otherwise! We are currently working with a woman who has lost 100-pounds through our Coaching Program, and her exercise is all “fun parkour in the woods behind the house!” #39) Literally fidget more! Yes, from tapping your toes to music and twitching your legs to the beat of the music. Getting up and sitting back down. Doing laps around your office. You don’t need to get a standing desk or treadmill desk, but there’s a definite correlation between those that can’t sit still and body composition.[1] #40) Your kid is a backpack! From piggyback rides to playing horsey, staying active with your kids is really powerful in instilling a love of fitness in them. If you’re a badass mom like Brownwyn – a success story from Nerd Fitness Prime, you can even do pull-ups while your kid holds on! Here are more tips on how to work out as a whole family.
Get your Nerd Fitness Starter Kit
Challenge yourself to Have fun: Next Steps!If you are looking for more guidance beyond the 40 Fun Exercise Suggestions above, we have three options to continue your journey: 1) Join our epic Online Coaching Program! We create personalized programs for each customer based on their lifestyle, goals, and personality. From parkour in the park to just walking more with your children, or even “becoming a badass powerlifter,” we cater each experience to each person. 2) If you’re looking for a bunch of fun ways to exercise, check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you move more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally). We assign fun missions daily to get you to exercise in a way that doesn’t feel like exercise…because it’ll feel like a side quest instead. Try your free trial (no credit card needed) right here: 3) Enlist in The Rebellion (it’s free)! Sign up for our biweekly newsletter and join the Nerd Fitness Rebellion! I’ll send you tons of free guides and bonuses to help you get started on your journey today. Sign up below:
Get your Nerd Fitness Starter Kit
No matter which path you pick above, I want you to commit to trying something new, or doing something different, at some point in the next week:
That one thing you always wanted to try but have been putting off? Today’s a good day to get started. Just take that FIRST step. Google classes in your city. Find a site that focuses on beginners, and read about it. If there’s a place to pre-pay or make a deposit, do it. And then go. Use 20 seconds of courage if you have to. What’s the one new thing you’re going to try this month? -Steve ### photo credit: Reiterlied 02/52 – Confidence, JD Hancock Garfield, treadmill fall, Denes Paragi © 123RF.com,, lzflzf © 123RF.com
Footnotes ( returns to text)
via https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/25-ways-to-exercise-without-realizing-it/ “Do you even lift?” After today’s guide, not only will you be able to say “YUP,” but you’ll also know exactly how MUCH you should be lifting! We’ll help you get big and strong so you can fight back against your older brother when he tackles you in the hallway. As part of our Strength 101 series, we’re going to tell you exactly what you need to know about lifting weights and strength training:
If you find yourself with a billion other strength training questions as you build your own workout, or you’re overwhelmed at all of this and not sure how to get stronger…you’re in good company! It can be scary enough to keep MOST people from starting, which is actually why we created our Coaching Program. Your NF Coach will do an initial assessment to calculate exactly how much weight you should start lifting. They’ll then design a program that they’ll adjust regularly based on your progress and schedule. Plus, with our app, your coach can do regular video form checks to make sure you safely make consistent progress. With that out of the way, let’s jump into the nitty-gritty of “How much weight should I lift?“
Why You Should Lift Your Own Bodyweight FirstStop! (Wait a minute…) Before trying to figure out how much weight you can lift, let’s make sure you know how to do the movement, as flawless as possible, without any weight at all. Why? Because if you can’t do a movement correctly without weight, how can you expect to do it right WITH weight? Think about it – if you can’t walk up a flight of stairs normally, would you expect to be able to walk up the flight of stairs carrying a sack of hammers? No – you would only hurt yourself. Also, what are you even doing with a sack of hammers? STEP ONE: learn each movement without any bars, dumbbells, or added weight. Which might make you say: “Staci, how on earth do I do a deadlift or an overhead press without any weight? And I know I can do a bodyweight squat, but isn’t it completely different doing a barbell back squat?” Easy – grab either a broomstick (be careful for splinters!), mop handle, or PVC pipe (I use a 1.25” PVC cut in half) and pretend it’s a barbell. If you’re trying to mimic a dumbbell movement, either grab a short dowel, PVC, or just hold your hands in a fist as if you were holding on to something. While it’s not the exact same as holding actual weight, it will allow you to practice getting into the correct positions. Practice the movements in your own home without other people around you (so you’ll be less nervous). Also, you can videotape yourself pretty easily. I use my computer’s webcam, or my phone camera and a little tripod. Here’s a video of me doing this back when I started lifting in 2011, when I was trying to figure out how to deadlift, to get an idea of what I’m talking about: Now, I can deadlift 455 pounds and I’m a Senior Coach for our Online Coaching Program: If you want a beginner strength training workout to follow:
If you are interested in nerding out about proper form for each barbell movement, start here:
We also HIGHLY recommend you pick up Starting Strength, widely considered to be the Bible of barbell training. Once you feel good about your form, you can see if you can “pass the bar.” (Guaranteed to be the nicest lawyer joke you’ll ever read on Nerd Fitness, by the way). Now, if want a full Bodyweight Workout Program that you can follow along with at home that will help get you prepped to start strength training? You can download the worksheet to follow along here when you sign up in the box below:
Grab Your Beginner Bodyweight Routine Worksheet. No Gym Required!
How to Start Barbell Training with Lifting the BarOnce you’re comfortable with each movement with a broomstick or PVC, then you can move to the bar. Your first gym workout shouldn’t go any heavier than “just” the bar, which means the bar without any added weight. How much does a barbell weigh?
Now, don’t be discouraged if this seems really heavy – especially on upper body movements. When I started out, I could not bench press or overhead press an empty barbell. If the bar seems too heavy to start:
Now, on opposite ends of the spectrum, if the bar seems really light, I would STILL encourage you to complete your first workout with just the bar. Focus on getting each rep correct, and worry about adding weight next time. Check your ego at the door! I would rather see somebody in the gym lifting the bar with proper form than watch somebody with awful form lift 400 lbs. That makes me… Note: If you finish your first workout with the bar and still aren’t comfortable with the movements, it’s never a bad thing to do your next workout with just the bar again. If you’re not comfortable with the movement and you start adding weight, not only will you be more likely to injure yourself because your body isn’t ready, but you’ll be more likely to hurt yourself because you won’t be confident under the bar. Confidence is something that is very important as you start lifting heavier and heavier. If you’re planning on using dumbbells as your main lift (and not a barbell), start with the 5-10 lb dumbbells to get a feel for things. Whether you’re starting with dumbbells or ready to move onto a barbell, it’s important to do it properly! We check the form of EVERY online coaching client on their workouts so they have the confidence that they’re doing these moves correctly! We’ve also created a specific sequence of workout routines you can follow along with for free in our guide Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. Grab yours free when you sign up in the box below:
Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!
How To Start Adding Weight to the BarbellIf you’re looking to start on a beginner program, such as the workouts in our Beginner Strength Training Workouts or our 6 Beginner Gym Workouts, you need to start light! A few common rep ranges for beginner programs are:
Let’s do an example. Your program has you doing 5 sets of 5 on a particular lift. 1) After a proper warm-up routine, start with the empty bar again, and complete the prescribed number of reps (for this, it would be 5). “But I thought you said we could add weight this time?” you might be thinking. You can – but no matter how heavy you are going, always start with just the bar to warm up for EACH exercise. If you watch the best lifters in your gym, you will notice they all warm up with “just the bar” to start, often for multiple sets! This helps get your body warm, primes your nervous systems and all of your muscles for that movement, and gets you ready to lift heavier weight. As a beginner to strength training, this is especially important to ingrain proper technique. 2) Add a small amount of weight to the bar. Depending on how heavy the bar felt, start by adding anywhere from 2.5lbs to 10lbs to each side. When in doubt, add the lower amount. You can always add more! Do another set of 5 reps at this weight. (Note: If you’re doing dumbbell training, instead of adding weight to the bar, increase the weight of the dumbbell. Start with 5 lb. dumbbells, then 10 lb. dumbbells, for example) 3) If you were able to complete those reps both without losing form and without the speed of the bar slowing, add more weight to the bar. Base the amount of new weight off how it felt – if the last set felt really light, add 10’s, if it felt heavy, add 2.5’s or 5’s. 4) Continue to do this until your form starts to break down or the speed of the lift gets slower on any of your reps. The weight you used right before your form started to break down is your starting weight on which you will base all future workouts! 5) If it is a lower number than you expect, that’s great actually! Don’t try to be a hero your first workout, it is better to start out too light than too heavy. Remember – we’re trying to get solid, productive sets in, not find our max, so we want all of the reps to be fast and with as perfect form as our body allows. And since during this process you’re testing out heavier weights for the first time, never be afraid to have a spotter, or to use pins to ensure your safety! If you don’t want to figure ANY of this out on your own, and you just want somebody to tell you exactly how much to lift, how many sets, reps, etc., I hear you. I’ve had a lifting coach for years and it’s the best investment I make each month! How do I know when to add more weight?Once you’ve found your starting weight, you’ll want to start using something called “progressive overload.” This sounds a lot fancier than it really is. As we lay out in our Strength 101 intro, progressive overload means gradually increasing the stress put on your body during training. In other words, we need to increase something, regularly. Usually, this means the amount of weight we lift. And for beginners, that can often happen after every workout. During every workout, our muscles are torn and broken down. Then after every workout – for the next 24-48+ hours, our body repairs itself. If you’re getting proper sleep and nutrition, it heals back stronger than it was before. Conversely, if you do 5 sets of 5 squats at 100 lbs every single workout for months, are you getting stronger? Most likely not. Your body is actually just getting more efficient at lifting 5×5 at 100 lbs, burning fewer calories, and using less energy to make that movement happen. So, how much weight do you add when you’re ready to increase your workouts? That depends on how difficult the set was last time. This is where great note-taking comes in (I’m a huge fan of a simple notebook, or Evernote docs on my phone). Be sure to document each workout with:
Did you go to failure on your last set? Did your form break down on any of the reps? You’ll end up in one of two positions: PATH A: You failed to complete any of your reps or your form started to break down. Do the same weight again next workout, and focus on boosting your form and technique of each rep. Remember, if you are doing the same workout as last time, but each rep is more solid and with better form than before, you’re still doing better than you were the last workout. In other words, you’re still leveling up. You don’t necessarily have to go up in weight every workout to see gains. Less rest between sets, more control and better form, and more repetitions all mean you are getting stronger. PATH B: You were able to get through all of your sets with great form, and without the bar slowing down. Congrats! Consider adding more next week. It’s not unheard of for beginners to add 10-20lbs a week to some lifts (especially squats and deadlifts), though don’t get discouraged if you’re only adding 2.5 or 5! The BEST THING YOU CAN DO: slowly add the smallest amount of weight possible, and progress consistently. This is much preferred to progressing quickly then hit a plateau. Each week, as you add a little bit of weight, you are building strength, confidence, and momentum. Note: For some lifts, especially the overhead press or bench press, adding just 5 lbs may be too much to go up per workout. I personally have a set of 1.25lb plates that I bring with me to the gym so that I can still progress regularly. Remember: You’re going to have shitty days at the gym. There will be days when you can’t add any weight, or you feel like you have to take a step backward. So many things affect how your lifts are going to feel – from a baby crying all night, to lots of stress at the office, to drinking too much at the big game, or just not eating enough for your goals. It’s important to listen to your body over listening to some number telling you what you should be lifting. You want to make progress every time you walk into the gym, and that means having a specific plan to follow. Don’t have a workout to follow? Tired of not getting results despite all the effort? This is what we do for a living! Help people like you get out of ruts and finally get them the results they want. After doing my own workout programming for 5 years, I hired a coach and it changed my life. Let us help you hit your goals too. How Do I Calculate My 1 Rep MAx? I want to know how much I can lift!It’s really fun to find the maximum amount of weight you can do for one repetition (one rep max) every once in a while. However, as a beginner who is just starting strength training, it’s better that you start with getting the movement right and adding weight slowly before trying to find a one-rep max. I would suggest you follow a program for at least six weeks before even attempting “a heavy single”. Why? Even if your form is as good as you can get it now, you will get far better, learning how to make tweaks and corrections as you go. When you first start out, you’re still getting everything down, so your one-rep max won’t be a “true” one-rep max. Plus, when you train, you’re training everything in your body. Some things, like muscles and bones, get stronger, while others, like your nervous system, get more efficient. The more you do something, the better you get at it. And in the beginning you’ll get better very quickly. It’s unwise to attempt a 1 repetition maximum when you’re learning the movement. This is one of the classic blunders! The most famous of which is “never get involved in a land war in Asia.” But only slightly less well-known is this: “Never attempt a 1-rep max as a beginner.” Even if you can do it with proper form with lighter weights, as soon as the weight gets close to your 1 rep max your form will start to break down, and you are more likely to hurt yourself. When your form starts to break down, you need to have the experience behind you to finish (or bail out of) the lift safely. If you watch any weightlifting or powerlifting competition, sometimes the lifts are not the prettiest lifts you’ve ever seen. However, the lifters are experienced enough to handle this, and know how to bail if something goes wrong. As a beginner, you are not. Team NF’s Steve worked with a coach for 4+ years to finally get his 420 lb. deadlift: If you want to work with a coach that can help you perfect your form and train to hit 1-rep maxes too, we’re here for ya! We’re slightly biased, but having a coach in your corner is an absolute game-changer. what is a respectable amount to be lifting?The simple answer? The weight that’s right for you. You are not competing against the guy next to you; you’re competing against the YOU from last week (like racing your ghost in Mario Kart). As far as what you can strive for, there’s no easy calculation or formula. While some people have put out strength standards, it’s truly up to your body, your body type, your background as an athlete, your genetics, and many other factors. You should be lifting the amount that’s right for you today. In your next workout, you should be trying to lift more (even if you can’t do more weight, try doing one more rep, or with less rest between sets) than you did last time. That’s it. As a part of this journey, I want you to completely forget about strength standards and forget about everyone around you. I don’t care if the guy (or girl) next to you is squatting 500 lbs for sets of 10. If you’re squatting 50 lbs, and that’s the weight that is challenging for you, then that’s the weight you should be lifting. These are the BIG mistakes you need to avoid: Never EVER try to outlift the person next to you. Never EVER adjust the weight to impress someone. No one’s judging you based on the weight on the bar, and if they are, they aren’t worth your time or energy. To recap “How much should I lift?”:
So remember – start slow, add weight slowly, and stay conservative. It’s amazing how much even adding just 5 lbs (2kg) a week adds up to! It’s far better to play it safe in the beginning than to find yourself injured and frustrated before you have a chance to progress. Do you Even Lift?Hopefully, this article EXCITED you about strength training, and you now know exactly how much to lift. For people looking for the next step, we’ve got 3 options you want to check out: 1) If you want to follow a strength training program that’s specific to your goals, check out our popular Online Coaching Program. You’ll work with a certified NF instructor who will get to know you better than you know yourself, check your form, and create a workout strategy that will evolve alongside you. 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! Join hundreds of thousands of people like you. It’s free to join, and we have a dozen free guides for you when you sign up in the yellow box below.
Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!
Let’s get these questions answered so you can get back to getting stronger! What are your other big questions about lifting weight and how much you should be lifting? -Staci PS: Be sure to check out the rest of Strength Training 101 series:
### photo source: Strongman, Four Bricks Tall: Scenes from an empty lot in Brooklyn, vol 1., hxdbzxy © 123RF.com, Lego Lifting. via https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/strength-training-101-how-much-weight-should-i-be-lifting/ Tomato Powder gives an additional boost to tomato based barbecue sauces, provides as a secret weapon ingredient for dry rubs, and not to mention - enriches stews and soups. But that's not all - this little ingredient packs a powerful punch and has incredible health benefits as well. What is Tomato Powder?Tomato powder is made from fresh sweet tomatoes that have been dehydrated with the peel and then ground into a fine red powder.1 Tomato powder is also a very versatile superfood that you can sprinkle into your tomato-based soups, stews, vegetable juices, smoothies, and other foods to give you a nutrient boost. What are the Health Benefits of Tomato Powder?Tomato powder retains most of the nutrients of tomatoes, which makes it a great tomato substitute for those times when you don’t have a tomato handy...or you simply don’t have the time to dice tomatoes for the dish you’re preparing. Tomatoes are high in fiber and a great source of vitamin C, potassium, and folate (vitamin B9). They also contain a variety of plant compounds shown to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties in numerous clinical research studies which may defend against many health conditions and diseases.2 Here are just a few of the many health benefits of tomato powder. It May Defend Against CancerThere has been a lot of news recently about the cancer-protective properties of tomatoes. Cancer is an increasing risk for many people. The National Cancer Institute estimates that 1,806,590 Americans will receive a cancer diagnosis in 2020 and that 606,520 people will die from some form of cancer.3 Fortunately, tomatoes may help reduce these risks. Tomatoes are a rich source of lycopene, a plant compound in tomatoes that has been linked to a reduced risk of cancer in clinical research trials.4, 5 Lycopene may not be the only cancer-protective factor in tomatoes, though. Research suggests that high concentrations of carotenoids, the red pigment that gives tomatoes its red color, may help defend against breast cancer.6 It May Protect the HeartAs heart disease is the #1 killer of adults in the U.S., many people are searching for a way to reduce their chance of heart disease. According to multiple research studies, tomatoes may provide some protection for your heart. Tomatoes are rich in lycopene and beta-carotene, two nutrients that may lower the risk of heart disease. Studies show it may also lower “bad” cholesterol, one of the risk factors for heart disease.7, 8 It May Reduce the Risk of Metabolic SyndromeMetabolic syndrome refers to a cluster of symptoms that occur together believed to increase your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and stroke. The symptoms of metabolic syndrome include elevated blood glucose levels, abnormal cholesterol levels, obesity, high blood pressure, and belly fat.9 As mentioned above, tomatoes are a rich source of beta-carotene, and studies show this plant pigment may help defend against metabolic syndrome. A study published in the Journal of Nutrition found that men with the highest levels of beta carotene had the lowest risk of developing metabolic syndrome. Researchers believe this effect could be due to the antioxidant properties of beta carotene.10 Tomato Powder for your HealthThe health benefits of tomato powder are so impressive that SANE included it in Garden in My Glass, a proprietary blend of more than 35 superfoods (fruit and vegetable powders) known to provide a host of health benefits. Click here to check out Garden in my Glass and to place your order. References 1- Loosli L. How to Make Tomato Powder. Food Storage Moms. Jan 21, 2020. Accessed Jan 19, 2021. https://www.foodstoragemoms.com/tomato-powder/ 2- Szalay J. Tomatoes: Health Benefits & Nutrition Facts. Live Science. Apr 30, 2016. Accessed Jan 19, 2021. https://www.livescience.com/54615-tomato-nutrition.html 3- National Cancer Institute. Cancer Statistics. NIH. Updated: Sep 25, 2020. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/statistics 4- Giovannucci E. Tomatoes, tomato-based products, lycopene, and cancer: review of the epidemiologic literature. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1999 Feb 17;91(4):317-31. doi: 10.1093/jnci/91.4.317. PMID: 10050865. 5- Giovannucci E. A review of epidemiologic studies of tomatoes, lycopene, and prostate cancer. Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2002 Nov;227(10):852-9. doi: 10.1177/153537020222701003. PMID: 12424325. 6- Sato R, Helzlsouer KJ, Alberg AJ, Hoffman SC, Norkus EP, Comstock GW. Prospective study of carotenoids, tocopherols, and retinoid concentrations and the risk of breast cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2002 May;11(5):451-7. PMID: 12010859. 7- Karppi J, Laukkanen JA, Mäkikallio TH, Kurl S. Low serum lycopene and β-carotene increase risk of acute myocardial infarction in men. Eur J Public Health. 2012 Dec;22(6):835-40. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckr174. Epub 2011 Dec 7. PMID: 22158914. 8- Palozza P, Catalano A, Simone RE, Mele MC, Cittadini A. Effect of lycopene and tomato products on cholesterol metabolism. Ann Nutr Metab. 2012;61(2):126-34. doi: 10.1159/000342077. PMID: 22965217. 9- Mayo Clinic Staff. Metabolic Syndrome. Mayo Clinic. Mar 14, 2019. Accessed Jan 19, 2021. 10- Szalay J. Tomatoes: Health Benefits & Nutrition Facts. Live Science. Apr 30, 2016. Accessed Jan 19, 2021. https://www.livescience.com/54615-tomato-nutrition.html Via https://store.sanesolution.com/blogs/supplements/tomato-powder Via https://sanesolutions.weebly.com/blog/tomato-powder So you want to gain weight fast (and safely)? You’ve come to the right place, because this is what we do! This guide covers the exact weight gain strategies I’ve used to go from my “before” (on the left above) to reach my “after” (on the right above). Believe it or not, that “before” photo is me after a DECADE of strength training and trying to get bigger. It’s the stuff in this guide that finally allowed me to actually get results (the after). It’s also exactly how we help our online coaching clients: nutritional guidance and workout plans that line up with their goals. Oh, and if you sign up in any of the yellow email boxes throughout, you can download our “gain weight and build muscle” shopping list and cheat sheet to hang on your fridge!
Download our free skinny guy’s guide to putting on muscle!
Enter your email below to download now
Let’s start putting on weight right NOW. These are the 12 lessons I wish I knew when I started trying to get bigger (click to jump right to that lesson): NUTRITION
STRENGTH TRAINING
RECOVERY
Let’s get to it!
Rule #1) How to eat to gain weight.As we cover in our “Ultimate Skinny Guy’s Guide to Bulking Up Fast,” there’s one rule you need to know above EVERYTHING else. “If you’re not gaining weight, you’re not eating enough food.” It’s science and thermodynamics. Allow me to explain: depending on your current size and level of activity, your body burns 1200-2500+ calories every day just doing all of its daily processes:
And dozens of other things. Here’s the problem: because your body efficiently uses up all of the calories you consume every day, there are no calories left over to build muscle (or get stored as fat). Want to know how many calories you burn every day? Check out our Total Daily Energy Expenditure TDEE calculator: Use the metric system? I wish we did too here in the States! Click right here for our Metric calculator. Note: we have used The Mifflin-St Jeor Equation to create this calculator! [1] Hooray! You now know estimates of your Basal Metabolic Rate (calories you burn existing) and TDEE (calories you burn while moving throughout the day)![2] So, in order to get bigger, you need to eat ABOVE this TDEE number consistently. That’s it. This is the NUMBER ONE mistake skinny people make trying to get bigger: We think we have an overly fast metabolism. Although there is SOME variation with regards to metabolism variability, it’s insignificant when compared to the effect of the more important part of the equation: We overestimate how many calories we’re eating each day, we don’t account for the calories we burn through movement or exercise, and there aren’t enough calories left over to create a “caloric surplus.” And without that surplus, we’ll never gain weight or get bigger. MY STORY: I had been training in a gym for 6 years without gaining size. I then worked with a great trainer, who had me DOUBLE the amount of food I was eating. I thought he was out of his mind. Until I did it…and it worked. I put on 18 pounds in 30 days [3], and I realized I had been severely undereating for my goals: In order to gain weight, target an additional 300-500 calories above your Total Daily Energy Expenditure[4]:
Want to gain weight even faster? As long as you know you’ll also be gaining lots of fat, you can target 800-1000 calories above your TDEE.
Question: What about meal timing? Does it matter WHEN I eat my meals? “Can I eat now?” Answer: “WHEN” you eat doesn’t matter nearly as much as “HOW MUCH” you eat. Your body will process all calories efficiently[5], so focus on total calories consumed. Depending on your schedule, you can:
It comes down to your personal preference. You might struggle to eat 3000 calories in 3 meals, so having 6 500-calorie meals throughout the day might make you feel less bloated and full. Your value may vary! See the next section for tips and tricks on WHAT foods you should eat to gain weight. If you want somebody to help keep you accountable and help you actually bulk up safely and quickly, we have a pretty great online coaching program that has helped people reach their weight gain goals safely and quickly. Rule #2) What foods should I eat to gain weight?If you want to build muscle, target whole foods that come from high quality, high-calorie sources whenever possible. Sure, you could obtain 3500 calories eating Taco Bell, Twinkies, candy, and Mountain Dew. However, this isn’t a good long term solution to gaining weight and building a good physique (goodbye health). Trust me, I know. I put on 18 pounds in 30 days by eating meatball subs from Subway, drinking whole milk, eating McDonald’s, and drinking weight gainer shakes. I certainly wasn’t healthy, and today I’m much more intelligent and knowledgeable about how to bulk up safely. HERE’S HOW TO EAT TO GAIN HEALTHY WEIGHT:
We’re going to start building a plate, like so: The most important macro we’re going to focus on is protein.[6]. Studies show you’re more likely to put on the right kind of weight with a high protein diet compared to a low protein diet. So that’s where we’ll start. FOOD PRIORITY #1: PROTEIN
Protein can come from any number of sources, including:
If you’re curious, from our healthy eating article, this is what a portion of protein looks like: Also, here’s how much protein is in a serving of food:
We’ll cover below the answer to the question “How much protein should I eat?” PRIORITY #2: CARBS
In order for you to gain weight, you need to consume plenty of calories, so the remainder of those calories will come from carbs and/or fats. Here are whole foods full of carbohydrates:
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): In addition to consuming carbohydrates from these sources, it’s okay to consume plenty of fruit while trying to bulk up! You can read our full “Is fruit healthy” guide to learn more. PRIORITY #3: FAT!
Fat is a macronutrient that can help reach your surplus goals, as fat can be higher in calories. Plus, you can eat lots of it without feeling full. Healthy fat can be found in foods like:
Saturated fats[8] can come from things like:
To help you gauge: a serving size of fat is roughly the size of your thumb! For reference, this is a single serving of almonds (162 calories): THIS is a serving of olive oil (60 calories): As you can see, you can eat an extra 500 calories of “healthy fats” by eating lots of “heart-healthy” fats like nuts or adding more olive oil to your meals. PRIORITY #4: VEGETABLES!
Last but not least, you need vegetables in your diet. If you start to eat a lot more food, your “indoor plumbing” is going to really benefit from eating some high-fiber veggies with each meal: A serving of veggies is about the size of your fist: Here’s a quick, non-complete list of veggies that you can choose:
“BUT STEVE, I REALLY STRUGGLE TO EAT ENOUGH CALORIES FROM WHOLE FOODS EVERY DAY!“ I do as well. It’s why I consume a good portion of liquid calories every day too. It’s a surefire way to make sure you hit your calorie goals. As I lay out in our massive Protein Shake Guide, creating high-calorie protein shakes to eat between meals can be the game changer (make sure you check the recipe in that article for my “Powerbomb Shake!”). Also, download our Skinny Guy Guide which has both lessons and a shopping list you can use to prioritize eating the right high calorie, high-quality foods!
Download our free skinny guy’s guide to putting on muscle!
Enter your email below to download now
Rule #3) How MUch Protein to Eat to Gain Weight?Let’s answer the question: “How much protein do you need every day?” The current international Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.4g per pound of body weight (0.8 g per kg of body weight):[9]. In our opinion, and as pointed out by this study[10] the RDA # for protein is too low and should be higher regardless of your body composition. But you don’t care about that. You just want me to know how much protein to eat, right? I figured. Here is our recommendation[12]: If you’re of healthy weight, active, and wish to build muscle, aim for 1 g/lb (2.2 g/kg). If you’re going to be strength training while getting bigger, intakes up to 1.50 g/lb (3.3 g/kg) may help you minimize fat gain.[13] Let me simplify it for you: target at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight (2.2 grams per kg). Provided you’re a healthy individual with a healthy liver, you don’t need to worry about eating too much protein[14] – you should be more concerned with eating too little protein. Long story short: studies suggest you will not put on the right kind of weight without consuming enough protein! Okay, so let’s talk portions. Here’s how much protein is in a palm-sized serving of food:
EXAMPLE TIME! Let’s say you weigh 150 pounds (68 kg). That would mean a day of eating could be:
As we cover in our Ultimate Guide to Protein Shakes, a protein supplement can help you reach your protein goals for the day. Creating a high-calorie protein shake with foods like frozen fruit, oats, milk, and a scoop of protein can be huge. It’s how I hit my goals every day! MY STORY: I am currently bulking up, and according to my online coach, I need to eat 3200 calories with 240g of protein on workout days (I weigh 172 pounds). That much protein and calories helps me do things like this: After fasting until noon, here’s how I get 240 g of protein daily:
Total protein intake for me: 244 grams. Adjust to fit YOUR goals! RECAP ON PROTEIN INTAKE: Target 1-1.5g per lb of bodyweight (2.2-3.3g per kg) while trying to gain weight. When in doubt, eat more. Rule #4) How Much Carbs and Fats Should I Eat to Gain Weight?If you are trying to put on a lot of weight, then carbs and fats are your friends. They have a high-calorie count and you can eat lots of them without getting as full as some other things (like protein-rich foods). Here are foods full of carbohydrates you can prioritize for bulking up:
Healthy fat can be found in foods like:
Once you know your Total Daily Energy Expenditure + 500 cal (for weight gain), and you know how many grams of protein you need to eat every day, then the remainder of your daily calories can come from carbs and fats. Want even simpler info? Target 2 portions of carbs, and 2 portions of fat in your meals. Remember, our portions look like so: If you’re not gaining weight, increase those numbers even more. This is all about math! Not getting bigger = need MOAR food. What about other foods like pizza, pasta, candy soda? Sure, you can get away with consuming less healthy things ON OCCASION (pizza, subs, etc.) but avoid fueling yourself with ONLY junk food. If you’re not sure specifically what you should be eating for protein, carbs, and fats, download our “Get Bigger” Shopping List by putting your email in the box below:
Download our free skinny guy’s guide to putting on muscle!
Enter your email below to download now
Rule #5) How Fast Can I gain Weight?Depending on your training, genetics, how skinny you are, and how much muscle you need to obtain, you can decide how much weight you want to gain each week. Everybody’s results will vary, and thoughts are mixed on how quickly we can build muscle:
Now, depending on how thin you are currently, you might WANT to gain weight even faster and put on a bit of fat. If you target 500 calories above your Calorie Expenditure every day, you’ll gain a pound a week.
If you target 1000 calories above your TDEE, you’ll gain 2 pounds per week:
Yes, it is possible to put on even more weight than that in a short amount of time, like when I gained 18 pounds (8.1kg) in 30 days. This was due to consuming 1500 cal above my TDEE, heavy barbell training, targeting lots of protein, and carrying extra water weight (from supplementing with creatine): My advice: Rather than chasing massive weight gain over a month, you’d be much better off gaining .5-1.5 lbs. (.25-.75 kg) a week, every week, for six months…and keeping the weight on! So, how do you know if your efforts are working? Simple. Taking measurements, take photos, and weigh yourself daily:
If the scale is moving UP, keep doing what you’re doing. If the scale is NOT moving: EAT MORE. If you’re ever unsure if you’ve eaten enough that day, eat more. Once you start to get a good feel for how many calories you eat each day, try to eat the same meals to keep it easy. Still convinced you can’t gain weight even after tracking things? Let us help. I too was convinced that it was my “fast metabolism,” until I learned from my personal trainer that I simply wasn’t eating enough. Rule #6) What Are the 10 Best Exercises For Weight Gain?Up until this point, we’ve only talked about the weight gain portion. Do Steps 1-5 above, and you’ll put on plenty of weight. HOWEVER, if you’re not also training correctly, you’ll just be getting fat, and not building muscle! That’s where strength training comes in! If you want to bulk up correctly, you need to be strength training with heavy weights and bodyweight movements. As we lay out in our “Beginner Strength Workouts” guide, these are the BEST exercises you can do to gain weight:
Get as strong as possible with these exercises while eating enough calories and protein, and you will gain the right kind of weight! It’s how I bulked up correctly:) Here’s a sample workout to gain weight, though you can follow our 6 level gym workout routine too. WEIGHT GAIN MONDAY WORKOUT:
WEIGHT GAIN WEDNESDAY WORKOUT:
WEIGHT GAIN FRIDAY WORKOUT:
Here are some resources to help make heads or tails of the above:
Important point: don’t worry about isolation exercises like triceps extensions, shoulder shrugs, bicep curls, or crunches. You can certainly do them, but only AFTER you’ve done your heavy lifts for the day! All of the compound exercises listed here use every muscle in your body, and when you overload your body with calories and protein, those muscles will grow.
Rule #7) How to Strength Train to Gain WeightIf you are going to get bigger, you need to consistently increase the difficulty with every workout. Every time you train, your muscles break down and have to rebuild themselves. You are teaching them to say “I must get bigger and stronger in case I have to do that again!”[16] This is called “progressive overload,” and it’s the foundation of strength training. So how do you progressively overload your muscles?
If you did 3 sets of 5 reps of squats at 95 pounds last week, go for 3 sets of 5 reps at 100 pounds this week! Did knee push-ups last month? Great, try to do regular push-ups this month. Always increase the challenge, and the best way to do that is by tracking your workouts! Write down how you train, so that way you know exactly how to get stronger next time. I use Evernote on my phone, but you can use an old school notebook or whatever floats your boat. Write down exactly:
And then next time? Pick up more. In addition to the protein shakes mentioned back in Rule #3, consider a creatine supplement – it allows your muscles to store more water – which will both help you potentially lift heavier and improve your performance in the gym! If you don’t want to build your own workout routine, or you’re not sure how and when to scale up your workouts for the best results, let us build a routine for you! Our coaches will build a workout program for your goals, and every day you can check your coaching app and know exactly what to do: Rule #8) How Many Days Per Week Should I Exercise to Gain Weight And Get Bigger?Muscles are made in the kitchen and while sleeping, NOT in the gym. When you train, you are essentially ripping apart and breaking down your muscles. Then, during the next 48 hours, as you are eating a caloric surplus and recovering, your muscles get rebuilt bigger and stronger. For this reason, never exercise the same muscle before it’s ready. In other words, try not to exercise the same muscle on two consecutive days. Here are the best common practices for weight gain: Do a gym workout 3-4 days a week with a day off in between each (while consuming plenty of calories). This is plenty of training to promote muscle growth and weight gain. Long story short: pick up a heavy weight in the gym 3-4 days a week for an hour. Go HARD, go HEAVY. And then come home, eat, and rest. If you are interested in doing some active recovery on your off days, that’s fine too. Skinny people usually don’t need to train more, they need to eat and rest more! Rule #9) How Much SLeep SHould I get To Get Bigger?You should get at least 6 hours of sleep to function as a human, but getting 7-8 hours of sleep will help aid in building more muscle.[17] This study[18] also found: “Inadequate sleep impairs maximal muscle strength in compound movements when performed without specific interventions designed to increase motivation.” Think of it this way: Building muscle is hard work, your body can use all the help (and calories) it can get. Your body is doing nothing but lying there and building muscle while you’re sleeping. [19] If you are only getting 6 hours or less, you’re not going to get all the benefits of your exercising and diet, and not giving yourself the best chance to gain weight and grow bigger. So don’t make these sleep mistakes! We often spend quite a bit of time with our coaching clients working with them on their sleep and environmental habits! From turning off the TV an hour earlier to even becoming a morning person, we build fun missions and challenges for our clients around stuff like this to get results. Rule #10: Should You Do Cardio While Trying to Gain Weight?Depending on how you currently feel about running, this next sentence will either make you happy or miserable: “Running might work against your efforts to gain weight and build muscle.” When you run, your body uses up calories to fuel your runs. This leaves fewer calories left over to build muscle. Now, nobody will refute the benefits of improved cardiovascular health, nor would I EVER tell you to not do an exercise that you find fun. In addition, a 2016 study[20] showed that doing endurance training AND strength training actually created larger muscle hypertrophy in untrained subjects than just resistance training alone. What this means: If you’re somebody that runs and enjoys it, great! If you’re trying to get bigger, here’s what I would recommend:
Is your SOLE focus on getting bigger? Do 3 things:
Interested in giving your heart a workout without steady cardio?:
Want to incorporate cardio the RIGHT way into your life, along with strength training, to start gaining weight? Our coaching program builds custom programs to help people just like you reach your goals. Rule #11: Realize you will put on some fat, and that’s okay.With all of this eating, you will probably put on some fat along with your muscle. That’s okay! You might even be skinny enough that a bit of extra “cushion” on you is a good thing! If you are trying to put on MOSTLY muscle and minimal fat gain:
And then fine-tune it from there: You’re trying to thread the needle of “only build muscle, don’t add fat” which is fairly advanced and challenging. As this 2017 study points out[21], “Protein overfeeding or the consumption of a high protein diet may not result in a gain in body weight or fat mass despite consuming calories that exceed one’s normal or habitual intake.” This is incredibly challenging, and you do run the risk of not eating enough to build muscle. In addition, you might build less muscle than had you consumed a larger surplus of calories. Now, what if you’re “skinny fat?” What if you have a gut/belly, and thin arms? IF YOU ARE “SKINNY FAT”:
Then, once you get to a low enough body fat percentage that you can see some abdominal muscle definition, you can get back to bulking up. Rule 12: SuperCharge Your Weight Gain Results (Build the Habit)These are the 11 rules I’ve followed multiple times in my life whenever I have decided to gain weight. There’s a 12th rule I want to share with you too: Build the habit of eating and exercise:
It’s important to build a system that sets you up for weight gain success. It comes down to two things:
So do whatever you need to do to make those things happen! Here’s my final piece of advice: If you want permanent success, stop thinking in terms of “How fast can I gain weight?” and instead think: “What can I do today that feels sustainable enough that I can stick with it for a year?” This is how I get results, and how you can use the tools and tips in this article to get results too. Build small habits that become permanent parts of your life, and the results you’ll get will be permanent too. Now, if you’re somebody that wants even MORE guidance, and specific instructions to follow, I got you: 1) Our 1-on-1 online coaching program, work with a member of Team Nerd Fitness that gets to know you and your situation. We’ll provide expert guidance and accountability, a custom workout, and regular ongoing support: 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) Sign up for our free email list, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion! Join a few hundred thousand rebels just like you and I’ll send you a bunch of free guides too. I’m nice like that.
Download our free skinny guy’s guide to putting on muscle!
Enter your email below to download now
To recap our full article, here are the “12 Rules To Gain Weight Quickly”:
If you have more questions, please leave them in the comments below and I’ll gladly answer them when I get a chance! You can do this. Go eat something. Learn how to do squats and deadlifts. Do lots of push-ups and pull-ups. And then eat some more. -Steve PS: If you want to read more about this stuff, make sure you check out the following in-depth resources too:
### photo credit: Marina Pissarova © 123RF.com, LEGO Grocery store, I love bread, pencil, W_Minshull Hardcore Stormies Hit The Gym, Speed
Footnotes ( returns to text)
via https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/13-tips-for-guaranteed-weight-gain-the-skinny-nerd-manifesto/ The Best Wheatgrass Powder? As an ingredient, it has become very popular these days, and for good reason. Wheatgrass powder is a true superfood, packed with powerful vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, amino acids, fiber, and much more To obtain these nutrients, most people either purchase wheatgrass and juice it, which takes a lot of time and effort. Which wheatgrass powder is best?Best source of wheatgrass powder is SANESolution Garden in My Glass because you get more than just wheatgrass. You also benefit from the health-promoting nutrients of 36 additional superfood powders, all in one convenient package. Or, they choose the much easier route; purchasing wheatgrass powder. We recommend the latter option because wheatgrass powder is a concentrated source of most of the nutrients contained in the wheatgrass plant. Juicing, on the other hand, often reduces many of its nutrients and removes all fiber. Benefits of Wheatgrass PowderHere are just some of the amazing benefits of wheatgrass powder. It is Loaded with NutrientsWe could fill a page with all the nutrients in wheatgrass powder. Let’s start with a simple listing of some essential nutrients provided by wheatgrass. Wheatgrass contains:1
Wheatgrass powder also contains :
And you can get all these nutrients simply by stirring wheatgrass powder into your smoothie. That’s why it’s called a superfood!
It May Fight Inflammation AND DiseaseWheatgrass contains many ingredients -- such as vitamin C, phytonutrients, and chlorophyll -- that act as antioxidants. Antioxidants are molecules that neutralize or destroy free radicals that can trigger oxidative stress, leading to cell damage. It is impossible to escape free radicals. They are routinely created by the body during exercise and during the metabolic process. Free radicals also enter your body through air pollution, cigarette smoke, and other environmental toxins. If left alone, oxidative stress can be harmful to your health. Oxidative stress due to free radicals has been connected to a variety of health conditions, including cardiovascular diseases, cancers, Alzheimer’s disease, and diabetes.4 Oxidative stress can also lead to chronic systemic inflammation, a condition many experts believe may be the underlying cause of most health conditions, including arthritis, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.5 Antioxidants like those found in wheatgrass powder are essential for controlling free radical damage, potentially reducing the risk of many of our most common diseases. It May Support Gut HealthGut health has been in the news for the past few years due to scientific studies that suggest that the gut microbiome doesn’t just affect your digestive health...it also affects your overall health. When the microbiome is unbalanced, called gut dysbiosis, it can lead to many health conditions. Wheatgrass contains several nutrients known to rebalance the gut microbiome, including: Fiber: Due to intestinal fermentation of fiber, metabolites such as short-chain fatty acids are created that may provide many health benefits, according to multiple research studies. Dietary fiber also supports the growth and maintenance of health bacteria, thus supporting the digestive system.6 Proteins: Studies show that dietary protein is vitally important to the composition and function of the gut microbiota.7 The BEST Source of Wheatgrass PowderThe best source of wheatgrass powder is Garden in My Glass because you get more than just wheatgrass. You also benefit from the health-promoting nutrients of 36 additional superfood powders, all in one convenient package. Click here to place your order for the wildly popular Garden in my Glass TODAY before supplies run out! References 1- U.S. Department of Agriculture. Organic Wheat Grass. FoodData Central. USDA. Accessed Jan 19, 2021. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/555663/nutrients 2- Mujoriya R, Bodla R. A study on wheat grass and its Nutritional value. Food Science and Quality Management www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-6088 (Paper) ISSN 2225-0557 (Online) Vol 2, 2011. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279370893_A_study_on_wheat_grass_and_its_Nutritional_value/citation/download 3- Mujoriya R, Bodla R. A study on wheat grass and its Nutritional value. Food Science and Quality Management www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-6088 (Paper) ISSN 2225-0557 (Online) Vol 2, 2011. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279370893_A_study_on_wheat_grass_and_its_Nutritional_value/citation/download 4- National Centers for Complementary and Integrative Health. Antioxidants: In Depth. NIH. Last updated: Nov 2013. Accessed Jan 19, 2021. https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/antioxidants-in-depth 5- Harvard Men’s Health Watch. Understanding acute and chronic inflammation. Harvard Health Publishing. Apr 2020. Accessed Jan 19, 2021. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/understanding-acute-and-chronic-inflammation 6- Makki K, Deehan EC, Walter J, Bäckhed F. The Impact of Dietary Fiber on Gut Microbiota in Host Health and Disease. Cell Host Microbe. 2018 Jun 13;23(6):705-715. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2018.05.012. PMID: 29902436. 7- Zhao J, Zhang X, Liu H, Brown MA, Qiao S. Dietary Protein and Gut Microbiota Composition and Function. Curr Protein Pept Sci. 2019;20(2):145-154. doi: 10.2174/1389203719666180514145437. PMID: 29756574. Via https://store.sanesolution.com/blogs/supplements/wheatgrass-powder Via https://sanesolutions.weebly.com/blog/best-wheatgrass-powder |
AuthorHi its me Thomas Dahl living in Phoenix, AZ i am 35 years old. I am very concerned about health and for maintaining my good health i use best nutraceuticals. Archives
April 2021
Categories |