ANYONE CAN DO IT!
Achieving a good physique is possible for anyone, but requires understanding,
patience & commitment more than anything else. In this guide, I break down
how to improve not only your body but also your health by following simple
steps/cadence.
Who is this guide for:
If you identify yourself with any of the following points then this is for
You:
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You want to build more muscle, tone up, or just lose some fat/weight.
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You have been on diets for a long time and always keep bouncing back to
your previous weight.
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You Haven’t been able to get a 6-pack no matter how little you eat.
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You want to build more muscle, tone up, or just lose some fat/weight.
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You’ve been waiting for the next Holiday or Social event to pass for you
to go back to Training or Dieting because you’ll eat or drink things you
are not supposed to.
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You’ve cataloged food in good & bad groups.
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You don’t want to be on a strict regimen and want to enjoy life, and food
and not restrict yourself.
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You are confused with all the contradicting information about Fitness.
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You don’t have much time to work out.
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You eat out a lot either socially or due to traveling.
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You are frustrated with not accomplishing your goals.
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You are looking for a Coach or method applicable to YOUR lifestyle.
CADENCE 1
Know your why Have you asked yourself why are you doing It (or want to do it)?
This is, without doubt, the most important factor that will help you in moments
when it’s getting harder or you just don’t feel like keeping going.
Who are you doing it for? Understand where you are coming from when you think
about becoming a better version of yourself and remind yourself that every day.
Your why can change with time as well as your goals or journey. Bottom line is
that you head in a direction beneficial to yourself.
You could’ve started wanting to get very lean but after a while, you decide to
get more muscular. Or also your journey started as wanting to do a Bikini Show
or be a model but then you got attracted to Triathlons. Maybe is not a Fitness
Goal, maybe is just to feel better, become healthier, have more energy to play
with your kids or nephews/nieces, or to be more productive at work.
As I’ve mentioned in a few episodes of my Podcast (The Bad Ass Fitness Podcast),
my Journey started as wanting to become healthier after a relative passed away
from Cancer & my energy levels were very low and I couldn’t play as much with my
son as I wanted. It then shifted to a Hybrid Goal which is Endurance & Better
Physique because I enjoy the challenge and reward I get from doing hard hikes,
and trail runs, and recently wanted to do Triathlons (IronMan).
Whatever your goal is at that moment it is important that you always keep it in
the back of your mind every day so every task throughout the day is meaningful
to you and only you.
CADENCE 2
LISTEN TO YOUR BODY- self-awareness
Our body tells us what it needs, we just need to learn to listen to it.
The benefits of being in tune with our bodies are ample. Listen to your hunger
levels whether you are on a plan or not. Pay attention to how you feel when you
eat certain foods and in what quantities. Also, do you feel better with more fat,
more carbs, more protein, or specific types of protein? There is not only one
perfect way of achieving our goals but the one that works for us.
Any aches, any soreness on specific muscles? All this is going to help you when
improving your physique. There might be some muscles we’ve never felt before.
For muscle growth, you’ll want to feel the tension on every fiber for maximum
results as well as for injury prevention. Muscle Activation (Mind-Muscle Connection),
Mobility & Intuitive Eating will be factors that will highly contribute to not only
a better body & system but to feel better. Learn to listen to your body and getting
the results you desire will get easier.
CADENCE 3
LOOK TO BE ACTIVE-N.E.A.T
Improve your metabolism by start doing more: Walking, House Chores, doing the laundry,
walking the dog, taking your son to the park, and playing.
Many times common life activities are undervalued as people think you have to run,
jog or do high-intensity cardio. Although a moderate to high-intensity workout is good
for developing endurance, our heart, immune system & metabolism among other benefits,
you also want to look into how active you are throughout the day. Every movement you
do is burning calories, this is also why some people can eat more than others.
What I describe above is called N.E.A.T which is a common term in the Fitness
literature. To keep it simple, whatever you normally do, try to be more cognizant of
keeping as consistent as you can with your increased activity level. Things as simple
as washing your car, cleaning the carpet, playing with your dog, and kids, or parking
your car as far as you can be life changers and bring tremendous benefits to your
health, body & mind.
CADENCE 4
ADAPT YOUR FITNESS WITH LIFE CHANGES-ADHERENCE
Life Happens: Life will throw challenges at us, our ability to adapt is imperative
to our success
Unless you are a famous top 10% athlete, following the same routine and sticking to
a meal plan most of the time might become a challenge, even if you are fully
committed to your goal.
Changing jobs, working extended hours (Overtime), car breaking down, kids wanting
to stay longer at the park, or simply not feeling well are just some of the things
that can occur which will make it harder for us to keep finding the time and energy
to continue in this healthier journey.
This is why you need to find ways that work with your lifestyle. Some people can do
only 45-minute workouts, some others can do 30 minutes in the morning & 30 minutes
in the afternoon. Some can afford to spend 1.5-2hrs a day, but only 3-4 times a week.
Whatever your schedule is or availability to workout, start with what YOU can do NOW,
Not with what you hope to do. The best workout plan is the one you can adhere to in
the long run. Building habits & patterns around your lifestyle will improve your
chances of maintaining your health, body, and state of mind.
CADENCE 5
TRAINING/WOrking out
Resistance Training, Cardiovascular Training, Stretching/Mobility/Yoga
After going through some certification programs & reading through some scientific
literature including books & articles, I’ve found that the best workout is the one
that incorporates the vast variety of exercises with the most possible frequency.
In other words, every type of exercise complements each other. Doing only one kind
of workout increases the chances of injuries, and will not be beneficial for the
quality of life in the long run.
Resistance Training|Weights Lifting| Even if you are an endurance athlete, the
muscle will help you to protect your joints and help with explosive movement.
- Frequency is key- Shoot for 10-15 exercises per muscle group a week. The more
times you hit the same muscles the more muscle growth.
- Tension over Weight- Do slow movements with a Full Range of Motion. The trick
is to do a movement as slowly as you can to increase tension. Studies have shown
an increase of muscle mass. Don’t fall into the trap of more weight means more
muscle, it might increase your strength, but not necessarily will help you get bigger.
- Periodization- Progressive Overload/Tension is important to keep growing your
muscles; have a program that constantly challenges you. Play with different exercises,
volume, rest between sets, movement speed, and angles (gravity also plays a role in it!).
- Compound vs Isolated Muscles- Compound exercises or group muscle exercises are more
time efficient but not necessarily better. Incorporate both types of workouts into
your routine.
- 8-9 RPE Max— RPE Stands for Rate of Perceived Exertion. In plain English, is how much
effort you are putting into it on a scale from 1 as the least up to 10 doing one’s best.
Studies show that for maximum results you should stay between 8 or 9 RPE. Namely, 1 or 2
repetitions short from failure. The same applies to short or long repetition ranges.
After doing some met analysis on multiple studies we can conclude that the same muscle
growth can be achieved with 3-4, 6-8, 10-12, 15-25 rep ranges. To put it another way,
what will make your muscle fibers grow is not the weight, nor the repetitions but the
tension/load at which your muscle is being put to (8-9 RPE).
Cardiovascular|Endurance| Usually the first thought that comes to mind when trying to
lose weight is doing cardio like crazy. There is a popular belief that cardio is king
for losing fat. Although there’s some truth to it, it is not entirely accurate
(Explained in Cadence 6-Nutrition). Your goal will determine the amount and type of
cardio you should do. Cardio doesn’t help to grow muscle but it definitely helps in
other aspects such as body & mind health. Most coaches I’ve encountered so far won’t
like when you tell them you enjoy cardio. They’ll most likely tell you to “stick to
the program” and do 15-25 minutes a day max for your cardio session (If you are like
me that you enjoy hiking, trail running, kayaking, competing in some races including
5,10K, Triathlons for the mere sake of enjoyment and still want to build a nice physique).
Then the trick for muscle growth is to do Hybrid Training which is 6 months where the
predominant workout is Endurance and the rest of the year Strength Training. These phases
will send the right signals to your nervous system and teach your body to adapt to that
type of exercise.
Stretching|Mobility|Yoga| Even if your target is only to look better I will advise you
to do mobility exercises to reduce the chances of injuries. Also practicing Pranayama
or Breathing exercises can help with releasing tension in your body & improve your body
awareness which ultimately will help your results & how you feel.
CADENCE 6
NUTRITION
There’s no such thing as good or bad foods, but your patterns and what your body can
process better.
You probably have heard about Superfoods, foods that should be avoided, and about all
kinds of fad diets such as Ketogenic, Vegan, Vegetarian, Genomic, Carnivore, Pacific,
and many more. Every single one claim to be the perfect diet. But perfect for who?
Those diets have compelling data that will lead you to believe that each one of them
is great for you. This is coming from someone unbiased like me who tried already at
least a few of them and researched enough to understand that the best one is the one
that will make you feel good as you listen to your body speaking to you.
80-20 Principle- The more you can eat foods that come as close from the source, the
better. Whole Foods are king when it comes to the densest and rich in nutrients.
My recommendation is to stick with at least 80% of these sorts of foods. Also, other
foods provide us with comforts such as processed foods or any other “least healthy”
foods. These last types can compose up to 20% of your diet and still allow you to
achieve decent goals.
Macronutrients (Macros) - Have each plate rich in Protein, Carbohydrates & Fats to
keep it simple.
-Protein: One portion is the size of your palm
-Carbohydrates: One portion is your fist.
-Fats: One portion is your pinky finger.
Micronutrients- Veggies, Legumes, seeds. Keep your plate colorful, each color has
certain nutrients, and the more colors, the more nutrients you are getting into
your diet.
Adaptability with Life Changes- If you don’t know how to cook, learn (or buy from
a meal prep company). [If you don’t have time do Batch cooking for the whole week
or up to 2 weeks and freeze what you are not going to eat in the following 3-4 days].
Also, an Instant Pot is a time saver, you just throw everything in the pot while you
do other things and you can cook everything from a stew to beans, chicken, or anything
else and your food will be ready in an average of 30 minutes without having to watch it.
If you have long meetings, always keep fruit, and vegetables as snacks or protein bars,
protein shakes help too. Just improve your food choices and your tastebuds will adapt
pretty soon and you’ll start enjoying more simple flavors.
Another life hack is to increase “healthy fats” or reduce meal frequency by getting
bigger meals. This way you don’t have to eat as many times, especially on those days
when you know you will be busy due to work or any other event.
Energy Balance for Fat loss & Muscle Growth- For you to change your body not only do
you need to watch your Macros & workouts, but also the number of calories that are
consumed. The easiest way to tell whether you are on a deficit or surplus diet is by
your satiety & hunger levels. Means, If you are constantly hungry you most likely
are at a loss, if you feel comfortable with what you are eating will be a maintenance,
or if you are full most of the day then on a surplus diet. This is called Intuitive
Eating and is possible to get there after being in tune with your body.
If you are not there yet is OK, you can start by sticking as much as you can to a
nutrition plan and as you learn to portion control, about Micro-Macro nutrients &
while you see how you feel with different Macros ratios.
Cadence 7
Journey vs goal mindset
Make it enjoyable for maximum adherence
Same as in life, people who enjoy what they do, statistically have more success
as the destination is not easy to get to. There will be multiple times when we
don’t feel like training or eating right. [Motivation won’t always be there but
If we remind ourselves the why as well as the joy we get once we start doing it,
the sense of accomplishment, the reward we get while Training].
Focusing on the Journey will get you ultimately to that goal. If you don’t like
running or riding on the bike then find something you enjoy, whatever that is.
If you don’t enjoy weight training, then look for alternatives such as body
weight exercises or resistance training with bands or Plyometrics. On Foods, if
you don’t like broccoli then go for another green veggie such as spinach. If you
don’t like meat then go for plant-based options. Bottom line is that you find
ways of having the things you like in a way where it doesn’t seem like a big
effort and you create a lifestyle with sustainable patterns.
Cadence 8
Get adequate rest
Recovery for maximum results
Getting adequate Sleep or Active & Passive recovery is critical for performance
and improvement of your physique and health. Muscle synthesis occurs after working
out, muscle growth happens when we are resting. Also, Fat is burned when we are
resting. Think twice about going for a run after the 6th day of Training instead
of resting.
Active recovery is doing a low-intensity activity such as walking, stretching,
and yoga which has shown to be beneficial.
Passive recovery can be the foam roller, massage, and Thera gun which will help
you recover as well and can be as beneficial as active recovery. Whatever it is
you decide to do, get some rest so you can maximize your results.
About the Author: Alfonso Aramburo
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Certified Fitness & Sports Nutrition Coach.
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Certified Yoga Instructor
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Outdoors Enthusiast (kayak, Standup Paddle Board, camping, nature lover)
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Love Trail Running, Mountain Biking.
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Triathlete
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Dad of a very energetic Kid.
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Engineer with a master's in Business.
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