It's inevitable: 98% of people training in a gym between January and June want to be in shape for the summer. It's human nature. We like to look good and feel good.
Functional training has probably gone out the window, compound exercises are a thing of the past; isolation exercises have taken over and you’re training 'arms, abs and glutes' every session. Fasted cardio is prevalent once again and you're squeezing that extra hour in before work while it’s still dark outside to drop that last bit of unwanted body fat. From personal experience, I promise there is an easier way - if you need any tips, please ask, I'm always here to help!
But, finally, you're strolling down the beach, looking and feeling your best and why shouldn't you? You've worked hard in the gym, trained well, eaten better and you're feeling good! Flaunt it!
However, what you don't want to do is get to the day before your holiday, wishing you could have done more... the truth is you can only work as hard as possible in the time you've been given, right? So how could you have done more? It's impossible to work harder then 100%; as long as you give it everything you can, you've done your job.
But what if you could create more time?
'Impossible, there's only 24 hours in a day Ryan!’ Correct, there is. But what if you started getting in shape for your holiday in summer in March? I, personally, made the classic mistake last year of leaving it too late. I got in to fairly decent shape but really felt I could have done better. No excuses, I just wasn't clever with my time.
I'd say (just from my experience within gyms) most people start their crusade for a summer bod in April. If we break that down into 'average' numbers it works out at 3 sessions a week for 12 weeks. That's 36 sessions of hard graft and boy was it hard (I've been in that boat SO many times before). Coupled with your nutrition being on point, the odd treat here and there (we're all human), you're doing well.
Now imagine you started in March... that's an extra 4 weeks. You've added almost 25% extra to your time to get fit and in shape in time for the summer. 16 weeks is a monumental amount of time. You've now got 48 sessions to train as hard as you can!
If that hasn't sold you here's the icing on the cake...
Want to know what the best thing is with starting earlier then you normally would?
The calorie restriction.
Without getting very scientific and boring, you have to be in some sort of calorific deficit to lose weight and drop body fat. It's pretty much as simple as that. Nutritional quality and other factors do impact this but for the sake of keeping it simple, let’s just focus on the overall deficit.
So, the more restrictive you are with your calories, the more of a deficit you'll create and the quicker you will drop weight. You can create a deficit by eating less than your maintenance calories (if you don't know how to work this out, please email me and I’ll be happy to help), by working out and burning calories or a combination of both.
The ball-ache with heavily restricting your calories is that its hard to stick to. No one likes to feel hungry all the time, we get moody, it effects sleep, sexual appetite goes out the window and you're just really not all that fun to be around at all. However, this is all avoidable.
If you start earlier, you can create a smaller deficit and still achieve your weight-loss goal. Little by little, week by week, session by session, you're on the road to being that stunner strutting down the beach feeling great.
As always, if you've got any questions, fire away!
Ryan
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