Where possible consuming three main meals per day as a minimum, inclusive of adequate amounts of protein is an advantageous start for improving your overall health and body composition. Providing the body with sufficient nutrients consistently will allow your body to complete the physiological tasks necessary alongside performance requirements and mental cognition respectively.

The 80/20 rule. As a guideline, consuming 80% of your nutrition via wholesome unprocessed food groups and the remaining 20% from whatever sources you enjoy is an effective way to set up balance, flexibility and sustainable healthy habits within your lifestyle. Contrary to what the media tells you there are no “magic” foods nor good/bad in isolation.

Consuming between 3-5 servings of fruit and veggies per day will ensure you provide the body with the micronutrients (vitamins/minerals) it needs to avoid deficiencies. Over consuming on these foods however, can cause bloating and other side effects because of the amounts of fibre.

Here’s an example of how you might structure your meals:

Meal 1

• 1x serving of protein
• 1-2x serving of carbs
• 1x serving of fats

Meal 2 (optional)

• 1x serving of protein
• 1x serving of fruit/veg

Meal 3

• 1x serving of protein
• 1-2x serving of carbs
• 1x serving of fats

Meal 4 (optional)

• 1x serving of protein
• 1x serving of fruit/veg

Meal 5

• 1x serving of protein
• 1-2x serving of carbs
• 1x serving of fats

Meal 6 (optional)

• 1x serving of protein

Protein Sources

Meat, Poultry, Seafood, Dairy, Beans, Peas, Nuts, Seeds etc. (Steak, Chicken, Eggs, Tuna, Tofu, Yogurt)

Fat Sources

Oils, Nuts, Seeds, Dairy, Fatty Fish etc. (Coconut oil, Cashews, Avocado, Salmon, Egg Yolks, Cheese, Dark Chocolate)

Carbohydrate Sources

Grains, Legumes, Starchy Vegetables, Fruit, Confectionary etc. (Rice, Pasta, Potatoes, Banana, Sweets)

MyFitnessPal – Consumer Reports #1 diet app

Use apps like “MyFitnessPal”, “Fit Genie” or “Lose It!”,  to track/measure all calories (app/websites)

This will become your best friend initially. In addition to your programmed foods, track all sauces, marinades, dressings and any extra condiments should you use them, to ensure everything adds up to your total calories/macros allocated. Use food scales/jugs/spoons etc to accurately track food intake amounts. Do not confuse cooked weight with uncooked weight when tracking foods. Coffee/tea limit to a max of 1-2 per day and remember to track any extra calories from milk, sugar, etc again to align with your daily calorie/macro goals. Foods like green veggies, capsicum, onion, garlic, tomatoes etc contain very few calories. You may want to add these in for more flavour/satiety however I would recommended initially tracking them for your own peace of mind, education and ultimate precision. Spices are another great way to add flavour with minimal calories but beware adding too much can upset your stomach.

Weigh yourself weekly, same time, place, orientation. Mornings are best after you use the bathroom, nude. Progress pictures, girth measurements and skin folds are also cost effective and consistent mediums of gauging progress. I will facilitate this if you’re exclusive coaching.

Drink plenty of water on a regular basis and be conscious to sip throughout the day and stay hydrated especially in and around your workouts. Increase/decrease depending on your activity level and environment. Alcohol limit to a minimum of 1-2 Standard drinks p/week at this stage or not at all.

Mix any foods/meals together in any combination, order and timing you desire, as they will still equal the same at end of the day (Energy Balance). However if you are in a severe calorie deficit it may be advantageous to consume most of your carbohydrates around your workouts (pre/post) for fuel and recovery. Then spreading the remaining protein and fats throughout the rest of the day. You may also choose to use the recipes/meals from my e-book “Meals In Minutes” for more ideas and variety which are all macro’d out for you. Customise them to your liking and add them into your regime for ease, convenience and cost effective delicious alternatives.

In the examples below, you will notice how there are ranges in the calories and macronutrient goals (protein, fats and carbs). This is to give you flexibility within your daily regime if you choose to eat out, consume different or foreign foods. As you learn the basic fundamentals of nutrition science you will become more independent in tracking your food intake and eventually utilise more intuitive methods whist still achieving your goals, which is the ultimate goal for freedom and enjoyment. This will happen as fast as you begin to understand the underlying principals and concepts. If I can do it and millions of others, so can you!

From these recommendations and considerations you will start to learn the basic core principles of setting up and creating healthy habits for a sustainable approach and an enjoyable relationship with food and body – ultimately achieving your physique goals and more. Starting with the foundations and progressing over time at a pace that suits your needs and learning capacity. Implement them as best you can. Tracking macros (food) isn’t forever and is purely a tool, however a valuable one when utilised wisely. There are a plethora of other convetional and simplistic methods of tracking foods too if you struggle with the technolgoy above. Some alternatives are; Food Diaries, Serving Sizes, Time Restricted Feeding, Portion Control, Elimination, Hunger Cues, etc. “If we can measure it, we can manipulate it!”

Important yet only a small percentage do it. I guarantee once you start creating the time and habit to do this you will avoid injury, niggles and enhance muscle performance and rehabilitation for longevity. Make these routines specific to you.

Taking the time at the beginning , during and end to complete stretches – this can drastically help you avoid injury, prepare the body for exercise and maintain/improve flexibility. Do not over stretch before intense amount of activity (Dynamic pre workout Vs. Static post workout).

Foam Rolls are great and encourage myofascial release: a way to release the muscle tension/fibres. Also a way to prepare the body for exercise, stimulate blood flow and enhance overall performance. This can be performed Pre/Post as desired. Additionally inquire with me in regards/referral to a professional deep tissue masseuse for increased performance and recovery.

Progression comes in many forms and mediums however to keep it simple and easy to navigate, think as progression as a consistent change overtime in; weight, reps, sets, quality, skill acquisition, recovery time, strength, CNS, muscle size, overall volume, work done etc. The most important factors in contributing to there success are: Volume, Frequency, Intensity; Hence a pragmatic approach is required, in relation to your current training level and goals. The main focus for you; (As I will coach you on) is to make small progressions session to session, week to week, month to month, year to year in any and all of the listed elements above. The more you advance the smaller the progressions, but there are many mediums to focus on. We are not always looking for an increase in weight (think about it, this wouldn’t be possible after a certain period of time). As long as we are “progressively overloading” over time, you will gain strength, conditioning, lean muscle, aesthetics, motor skills, aerobic fitness and your desired outcome. I recommend monitoring this just like your nutrition, which is really easy with todays technology. We will do this togther with the programming I have provided you. This way we remove the guess work and can make accurate changes over time and identfiy what is and isnt working. This is the difference between making progress and getting results. Just like nutrition: What you put in is what you get out!

Use appropriate weight when training: You want to use a weight that you can hit your rep range with and if you had too, a few more reps. I recommend using the RPE scale (Rated Perceived Exertion) as you will see noted in your training regime for reference. This way you don’t always train till failure, but cause enough stress on the muscle to create a demand for change and in most cases growth, adaptation and progression. Once you hit your desired rep ranges with the starting weight you have selected, move up to the next appropriate weight and start over. If its too big of a jump you may use the new weight for a few sets and then drop back down to your original weight until you can advance and do all your reps and sets with the heavier weight. Some weeks will be better than others hence using auto regulation (common sense) strategies, but once again progressive consistency in the bigger picture over time is the key to success.

Contrary to popular belief tempo really isn’t as important or temperamental as its made out to be and there is no magic “speed’ & tempo”. In between bigger main lifts, I recommend at least 2-5mins rest. All other accessory and isolation movements 1-2minutes as a standard for effective recovery and performance. In short as long as you are controlling the weight you will be making progress and training effectively, although I do recommend a slower eccentric contraction (lengthening the muscle) vs a quicker concentric contraction (shortening the muscle). Master your form and you will be rewarded. Its not what we do but more how we do it!

I cant begin to stress to you all how important this is, put it this way; you cant grow, adapt, change or make progress if you don’t rest. In between bigger main lifts I recommend at least 2-5mins rest. All other accessory and isolation movements 1-2minutes as a standard for effective recovery and performance. Moreover this is where the cement and bricks come together to get a result. Listen to your body when it says rest, REST! 7-9 Quality hours of sleep per night are imperative!

Drink plenty of water and keep yourself hydrated. When training the body requires more fluids to carry the appropriate nutrients around the body and fill the cells within the muscle, helping increase performance and vascularity.

It is important for us to track progress because we can then assess what is working and what isn’t. Thus making appropriate adjustments to achieve overall success. Whats gets measured, gets managed.

Girth Measurements / Skin Folds

• Measuring Sights; Chest, Stomach, Waist, Arm, Leg.
• Tense/flex your muscles for each measurement as this enables more consistent results.
• To help you take the measurements in the same place each time.
• Use the widest part of your legs.
• Measure at the nipple-line for the chest, being sure not to get the tape at an angle or twisted. – Curl your biceps in a pose (flexing) to measure your arms at the widest point.
• Measuring stomach using the navel as a guideline.
• Getting yourself a decent tape measure as it makes self-measuring easier plus consistent.
• Take and note measurements to the nearest 0.1 cm.

*I may facilitate this along with skin folds for exclusive/comp prep clients for greater accuracy as body fat percentiles decrease the greater the need for precision.

Strength

• Track your strength especially on the main compound lifts (as in your programming).
• Some days you will feel stronger than others and performance will undulate which is normal.

Progress Pictures

• Visually, progress pictures are one of the most basic and reliable methods of checking progress,
  especially over appropriate bouts of time. Every 4-6 weeks on average. Once again, take them under the same conditions (location, time, clothing, camera, lighting etc).