Weekly Recap 2/23-2/29/2020

This weekly recap wraps up the month of February and is full of good stuff. First, we have an article about why you should do a powerlifting meet. We get many questions from clients about the benefits of a lifting belt and if they should get one so the second articles covers everything about using one. To wrap up the social media posts from the week, we have one from Dr. Pat Davidson about lifting for women and the other comes from Dr. Spencer Nadolsky about the simplicity of fat loss.

And of course, don’t forge to check out our very own blog too! Paul Milano wrote an great article about the differences between training and working out. Click here to read part 1 and come back on Thursday to read part 2.

Articles from the Week

Why You Should Sign Up for a Powerlifting Meet by Max Berkheimer

I know many clients who have shown interest in doing a powerlifting meet but have fears about actually signing up for one. Too many people think they aren’t strong enough, are too old or too young, don’t want people watching them on the platform, are afraid of missing a lift, etc. One of the answers I hear the most is “not right now but I want to do it one day.” Why not now? I believe that every person that lifts weights consistently should do at least one powerlifting meet in their lives. I find that the overwhelming majority of people end up falling in love with the process and competition. There are so many other reasons to a meet that Max goes over in his article. If you have ever considered doing a meet, give this article a read and finally become convinced to go sign up for a meet!

The Benefits of Wearing a Weight Belt: And When Not Wearing One is Beneficial Too by Tony Gentilcore

We as coaches get a lot of questions about lifting belts. Tony Gentilcore goes over the benefits of using a weight belt and how it help with your gains. He also goes over when it isn’t as beneficial to use one and why he chooses to complete some blocks of training beltless. In the end, if you are lifting heavy weights above 85%, which everyone should be doing, there is going to be some benefit to buying and using a weight belt for your main exercises.

Social Media Posts of the Week

Dr. Pat Davidson gives a concise but extremely important post on Instagram this week. Too many women are afraid to lift weights in fear of becoming bulky. Instead of lifting heavy weight, many choose to do very high reps with very small weights. Yes, you may end that workout sweaty and tired but that is really all you get out of it. By avoiding progressive overload, your body will never adapt and you won’t see any results. So if you want to see results and changes in your body, skip the group interval training, barre, bodypump, and spin classes in favor of doing a program that focuses on lifting heavy (appropriately heavy for you) and progressive overload.

@dr.patdavidson

We’re on a road to nowhere…Come on inside

The Facebook post from this week is from Dr. Spencer Nadolsky. He is always putting out gems of knowledge in regards to nutrition. This post goes over how when it comes to diet, it really is simple. Although dieting may not be easy for most, the way of doing it is extremely simple and uncomplicated. It is all about being in a caloric deficit. Therefore, you have to find the way that best works for you to adhere to being in a caloric deficit. It can be counting macros, keto, high carb, intermittent fasting, etc. as long as you are in a caloric deficit it doesn’t matter. You should find what way works for you, won’t make you feel like death, and will work for the long term.

“There are indeed hundreds of thousands of pages you could read about the science of obesity and weight loss and energy metabolism. However you don’t need to read them.

You need to know it all comes down to energy balance. That’s calories in versus calories out. Many things affect the calories coming in versus out. Finding foods that control your satiety and hunger will help with the calories in. For the calories out, you may think you have a slow metabolism but it’s unlikely.

Eating a lot of plants from vegetables and legumes and fruits will keep you full. Same with protein rich food.

Figure out true serving and portion sizes. Weigh some servings out for a while to see what a serving really is.

If you’re not losing fat, you’re not in a caloric deficit. That means you’re still taking in more calories than you’re burning. Period. You’re not broken.

Sustainable fat loss and keeping it off comes down to finding a way to get into a negative energy balance/ caloric deficit while not being completely miserable. That’s it. You don’t HAVE to do keto. You don’t have to fast. You don’t have to do anything else weird. It’s not easy. But it’s simple.”

Written by Dr. Spencer Nadolsky