10 Laws Of Fitness, Fat Loss And Strength

The fitness industry gives me a conflicting feeling; on one hand, I’m constantly amazed at how much knowledge we’ve accumulated as a species over the years when it comes to strength, weight loss, hypertrophy etc.

But then at other times, I’ll be listening to a specialist give a speech on something like muscle imbalances and all I can think is, “damn, we’ve barely scratched the surface!”

It’s exciting and depressing at the same time – like a quick makeout session with a drunk candidate at a party, which eventually leads to nowhere.

However, while new information may come and go, I’ve realized there are certain pieces of advice which I practically consider “laws” because they are so effective and almost never fail.

These laws are tried, tested and true and will serve you well; as long as your goal continues to revolve around transforming your body to look as strong and sexy as possible. On with the list…

1. The Mirror Is More Important Than The Scale

This is a point I harp on over and over to almost everyone I work with. It doesn’t matter what the scale says, it’s what the mirror reveals that is more important. Body fat callipers and a measuring tape are far better tools to have in your arsenal.

A pound of fat, or a pound of muscle? The scale doesn’t know the difference.

Another way to look at it is this: when you’re walking down the beach with your shirt off (ladies if you rock the beach with your shirt off… call me), are people going to know what you weigh? Better question, are the going to give a rat’s ass what you weigh? Absolutely not.

All they’re going to notice is whether you have abs or are a fat slob. That’s it. Period. People are too worried about their own body image to care whether you have 16 inch arms or if your waist is 32 rather than 33 inches. If your body is lean enough to make an initial positive impression, you’ve won.

2. Eating An Excess Of One Macronutrient Doesn’t Make You Fat…

I can’t believe this type of stupidity still continues to surface around the web. Some say eating too much fat makes you fat, some say eating too many carbs makes you fat, and I’ve even heard a few say that eating too much protein will be converted it into fat.

Absolute nonsense.

It’s not whether you eat too many carbs or fats, it’s your overall caloric intake. If it’s higher than your maintenance requirement, then you my friend, will be on your way to look like the Michelin Man. Or you’ll gain muscle size if your workouts are on point.

Whether you eat 20 grams of protein or 8.8 grams of fat, it still equals 80 calories.

This is how people such as Mark Haub managed to lose a significant amount of weight eating nothing but junk food, while sending everyone on social media into a frenzy.

“OMFG HE LOST WEIGHT EATING TWINKIES! WE MUST KNOW HIS SECRET!”

Yeah, it’s called caloric restriction. Having said that, do proper macronutrient ratios have an effect on body composition?

Of course they do, eating fat all day long while staying under your maintenance requirement won’t nearly be as optimal as having a proper amount of protein, carbs and fats. But realize that when you talk about macro ratios, you’re talking about fine tuning your diet. Fine tuning comes after having a solid grasp in the basics. You wouldn’t detail your car before you paint a base color on it would you?

I sure as hell hope not.

3. Eat Whole Eggs; Ditch Egg Whites

Seriously, anyone who says that egg whites are better than eggs, needs to be egged. Also, please do yourself a favor and run from these moronic individuals. The war on the egg yolk is blown completely out of proportion and it pisses me off for two reasons:

One, because I love eggs and two, because eggs have already been proven to be safe for consumption at up to 3 per day and have a great effect on satiety. Want proof of all this? Seek our research by Njike et al, Ratcliff et al and Katz et al.

Bottom line? Stop your fear of cholesterol and eat whole eggs. Scrambled, sunny side, omelettes… whatever. Get cracking and stop yappin’.

4. The Deadlift Is King

While squats are a close second, the undisputed king of exercises is the deadlift. This includes all of it’s variations such as rack pulls, snatch grip deadlift, Romanian, stiff leg etc. While I can understand why some trainers can call squat the king, it just doesn’t work the arms enough in my opinion, so the Squat can remain as the queen; something a King needs but can do without.

I honestly dare you to find me a man (or woman) that can deadlift 500+ lbs and has small, undefined arms, a weak core, small traps and noodle legs. Here’s a hint: you can’t!

One of the most successful strength coaches of all time (C.Poliquin) has himself said that if there was only one exercise he would do with a bar to pack on lean mass, gain strength and keep the fat off, it would be the snatch grip deadlift. And honestly, that’s quite the recommendation. You would be wise to follow such advice.

5. Everything Works At Least Once

It’s funny to see people argue over specifics of one training routine over the other. This eventually leads to an all out nerd fitness battle where study references are being thrown around, and intelligent conversations morph into trash talking, chest thumping and “yo momma” jokes.

I’d know since in the past, I’ve been sucked into plenty of such arguments.

And if I’m honest, I love reading that shit. Don’t judge me; I hate almost every single variation of drama in real life, so this is the only guilty pleasure I have. But the fact of the matter is, if a workout provides a stimulus your body has never encountered before, it will produce some type of result.

Whether this result is small or highly dramatic will depend on the program design but it will cause something, and that’s because almost everything works once.

This is why I encourage people try exercises they haven’t before such as muscle ups, powercleans, snatches, overhead squats etc. New stimulus keeps you on your toes and prevents boredom. Just remember that new stimulus should go hand-in-hand with progressive overload. There is a happy balance you need to aim for. If you vary things too often, then you’ll just end up looking like a CrossFitter, and see zero gains.

And you should never go full CrossFit.

6. Get Laid Often

Need I say more?

Actually, I think I will. Regular sex elevates mood and in my humble opinion, helps people get out of depression. Think about it: it’s almost impossible to feel like shit after getting laid. This is why when guys get dumped and seek solace from their male friends, the first piece of advice they (should) get, is to meet other women!

Life is short, and moving on is the only viable solution. You’ll have to do it eventually, so why not now? And to be honest, this is great advice for women too.

I mean, for the amount of money therapists charge, they should just offer sexual services; I bet this will solve at least half of their client’s problems. After All, the adult sex industry is worth billions, so why not tap into its potential? ;)

I can’t speak for women but in men, I can pretty much guarantee the common denominator between guys that believe life sucks, people suck and want to kill themselves, is that they are just not getting laid.

What? Oh you think it’s a deep psychological issue?

Maybe. But don’t forget sex is one of the most basic of human needs. Not getting it probably sets of a whole slew of mental bullshit into motion, and eventually leads to issues that spiral out of control.

I would love to see a study conducted on this; just get a bunch of depressed, unmotivated guys laid and see what happens. I’m sure you’ve seen this phenomenon at some point in your life. A certain someone is acting all depressed and being a complete downer, then as soon as they find a sexual partner it’s all happy times again.

Sex also has a host of other benefits, and can help you burn 200-300 calories per hour, so there’s always that. Bottom line? Get laid so you can get your sanity back.

A Quick Disclaimer: Yes I know sex isn’t the answer to everyone’s depression problems, so please don’t email me saying otherwise. 

7. The RDA Protein Requirement Is Stupid

Honestly, 0.8g per kg? Why don’t I just lick a cow? I’ll get more in my system that way.

Who comes up with this crap? If I’m honest, 0.8g of protein per kg might be ok for your grandma, but if you’re lifting the heavy stuff (you should be) and want a body of a mythical Greek god (or goddess), then a gram of protein per lbs of bodyweight (or 2.2g/kg) is the minimum golden standard. The proof is in the research and it’s as easy as going to PubMed to find it.

Also, protein has a wonderful satiating effect so it’s also a great tool for those that are trying to lose weight. Nothing more needs to be said.

8. Compound Movements Trump Isolation Monkey Business

This means: Chinups over curls, close grip bench over dumbbell kick backs, overhead press over shoulder flys, barbell squat over quad extension… and so on. Whether you want to torch the fat or gain muscle mass, make sure every time you lift, you involve as many muscle groups as possible.

If an exercise can be done while standing or sitting, take the standing option. If you can combine a few movements together, then do that (again, without going full CrossFit).

The reason compound movements work so well?

Because your body was meant to move as a unit, so you need to train it that way. Another benefit is the overloading effect – you can put your muscles under a higher level of stress with the bench press than you can with cable flys. A bigger stimulus results in more calories burnt, greater hormone response and faster muscle growth.

Does this mean bicep curls are useless? No, as there is a time and place for isolation exercises – generally, after you’ve done your compound work.

As an example: doing curls after deadlifts and rows? Awesome. Doing them before? The height of stupidity.

9. Supplements Are Never The Answer

Again, this is one of those things that I still need to harp on with everyone. They are called supplements because they are meant to “support” an already established plan that is helping you reach your goal. It’s like adding fuel to a fire.

Is your goal to lose weight? Then unless you have a plan in place that is already helping you drop at least a pound or two a week, don’t bother with fat burners, weight loss powders, the ECA stack etc.

Is your goal to gain mass? Then unless you’re eating enough food and are lifting heavy enough to gain a pound a week, don’t bother with mass gainers, pre-workouts and all that other jazz.

It’s a well known fact that Creatine works, but add it to a lacklustre plan and you’ll barely see results. However, add it to a plan that already works, and you’ll gain mass and strength like you wouldn’t believe. Food and fundamentals before supplementation.

10. Always, ALWAYS Track Your Workouts

In five years from now, you should be able to go back into your logs and check exactly how much you squatted, for how many reps and sets and be able to compare that to the squat you have today. And you should also be able to check what you were doing 5 years ago. If you can’t, how the HELL are you going to measure your progress?

It’s like running a business. If you don’t manage your expenses, invoices, profits and all that highly exciting stuff, how the hell do you know what you’re netting in profits at the end of the year? Well, you won’t.

So if you are going to bother working out, take the time to track everything. And if you’re doing silly workouts where you cannot track the progress, ditch that and get a proper coach to design a customized plan just for you. While Zumba might seem fun and a great way to sweat, it’s not exactly trackable, nor is it ideal for someone who wants to get strong or build muscle.

I’m not saying you have to get numerically obsessed, but you should be able to compare numbers and see basic trends to see if you’re getting stronger, weaker or hitting a plateau.

Let’s Wrap This Up

As I stated earlier – the amount of knowledge in the fitness field is expanding by the day. As someone who’s job it is to make sure my clients nail their goals, even I find it hard to keep up with. The ten laws you see above are the golden nuggets extracted from a vast amount of raw, unrefined pieces of information.

Us them, and they will serve you well – just as they have for me and the vast amount of clients I’ve coached.

This list is by no means complete or fully comprehensive since that would take up too much time. But if you have any laws of your own that you think are important, throw them in the comments section below.

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