Frequently Asked Questions

Your strength directly affects how you interact with the environment. Nothing else (including high intensity "cardio") comes close to improving your health/quality of life, longevity, & athletic performance. Furthermore, "Strong people are harder to kill then weak people and are more useful in general.". -Mark Rippetoe

We recommend training 3x per week for most athletes. Some intermediate-advanced athletes will need to train 4x per week. Older athletes may benefit more by only training 2x per week.

Weightlifting shoes (34mm Stack Height, 16-22mm Offset), Weightlifting belt (3-4 inch width, 7-10mm thick), & a Journal to track progress.  

1st you need to find your daily caloric needs (Maintenance level). I suggest 2 different methods:

• Method 1: BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). You can find your BMR using MyFitnessPal or just googling BMR Calculators. This is the easiest way but least accurate. BMR Calculators assumes that you are not inordinately fat or slim, muscular or weak, athletic or untrained. However, I do like the fact that it takes your activity level in to consideration.
• Method 2: Weekly Weigh-In/Food Journal. This is far more accurate than BMR but takes a lot more time & effort. Follow these steps:  
  1. Weigh yourself after your morning bowel evacuation. Note this weight.
  2. Catalog your diet in a nutritional log, such as the one found here, for an entire week.
  3. After a week of following your controlled nutrition plan weigh yourself again and see what the difference is.
  4. If you've gained a lb, then you are approximately 500 calories per day above your daily caloric maintenance level, assuming you ate the same # of calories each day. (½ lb over = 250 cal over, 2 lbs = 1000 cal, etc). If you've maintained your present weight, then you are eating approximately at your maintenance level (calories in = calories out). If you've lost a pound, then you're 500 calories below your maintenance level.
  5. Determine your maintenance level. From there, adjust your calories for your weight gain/loss goal. +500 kcal daily to gain 1-lb weekly, +750 kcal daily to gain 1.5 lbs weekly, +1000 to gain 2-lb weekly (don't do this if you're over 25, you'll get fat), +1500 if you want to gain 3-lb weekly (don't do this if you aren't still growing in height, you will get fat, unless you are a mutant). This is NOT 100% IRONCLAD but is a pretty easy and cheap way to get the ball rolling. (source):

Next, Adjust your daily caloric needs & macro nutrients to meet your needs. Here are my general recommendations:

• Underweight Trainee: 500-1000+ Daily Calorie Surplus. (underweight male teenagers really can eat as many calories as they want) Pro/Carb/Fat Ratio: 25-50-25. Note: Extremely high calorie diets are not as effective for women as they are for men. The underweight female should focus on a 2-300 calorie surplus. 
• Natural Mesomorph Trainee: (i.e. athletic types, those who are naturally pretty strong and lean) Maintenance level calories and 40-40-20 of protein/carb/fat. To be honest, almost anything will work for these guys or gals, as long as they have their caloric needs met throughout the day.
• Overweight Trainee: 2-500 Daily Calorie Deficit. Even if you have a lot of extra bodyfat I do not recommend a huge caloric deficit. Especially if you are trying to add lean muscle mass. You are going to want to have higher protein and lower carb intake. Pro/Carb/Fat Ratio: 50-30-20
• Maintenance: if you aren’t trying to gain/lose weight then just stick to maintenance level calories with a 30-40-30 Pro/Carb/Fat ratio. This works for most people. 

Finally, here are some considerations:

• Protein is king. It will keep you satiated and aids in muscle recovery. Everybody except for maybe really overweight trainees should be getting at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight.
• All Calories aren’t equal. Try to make all food sources as clean as possible. Just because a big mac fits into your macros doesn’t mean you should eat it….unless you are an underage teenage male. 
• Eating a ton does NOT mean you're absorbing a ton. You have to properly absorb your calories in order for them to be of use. If you are farting and crapping yourself every 10-15 minutes, then you added too many calories too fast. Scale back a bit and work your way back up. Too much too soon can overload your system. A good digestive enzyme can help remedy this.
• You also may have a food allergy (wheat gluten and dairy lactose are 2 major culprits here) There are volumes upon volumes written about diet, go read up and learn more for yourself.
• Bottom line: Eat too few calories, your gains will suffer. Eat too many calories, you'll add fat. As far as gains go it's better to overeat. In the end, it's up to you to determine your sweet spot as far as total calories. Keep a food log if you want to see how many actual calories you're eating, it's VERY difficult to estimate correctly.

Meal Plan Example

Here is a sample day of eating that I used with great success prepping for my last powerlifting meet. I lost about a pound a week for 11 weeks and not only maintained my strength but actually got stronger then when my previous meet in which I competed at 12 pounds heavier.

• Breakfast: Greek Yogurt Plain .67 cup, 1 scoop of whey isolate protein, 1 pod of Protein Coffee, & 2 tablespoons of Protein Creamer
• Lunch: Ground White Turkey 10 oz, 2 slice sharp cheddar, 3 Baby Red potatoes, ketchup & mustard.
• Post Workout: Creatine 5 grams, Whey Isolate Protein 2 scoops, 1.5 cup of 2% Fairlife milk, 1 medium apple
• Dinner: 1 cup white rice, 2 large chicken breasts, Greek yogurt .67 cup, 1 cup of mixed mango/berries, & Texas pit BBQ sauce. 
• Calories: 2160, Protein 274g 52%/Carbs 161g 30%/Fat 43g 18%
• Strength Trained 3 days a week + 1 Accessory Day

Before I give my supplements recommendations just keep in mind that Diet and training are 95% of the equation. Supplements make up about 5% of the equation. For a beginner, it's even less. So, if you are just starting out then please don’t obsess about supplements. Obsess about consistency in your training and consistency in your nutrition. Now that I got that out of the way, here is what I recommend.

• Creatine Monohydrate. There is no supplement more researched and backed by science than creatine. It works. It’s safe. It’s cheap. If you don’t eat a lot of red meat, then start adding 5g of pure creatine monohydrate to your diet daily.

• Whey Protein Isolate (or concentrate). Unless you have some weird allergy to whey then I can’t really recommend any other type of protein other than whey. It’s widely available, super convenient, and is essential for those that can’t hit their protein numbers with meat alone (You know who you are). There is no one brand that I recommend, just try to pick one that doesn’t have a bunch of extra sugar and crap added to it. 

• Caffeine. The whole world is addicted to it and for good reason. It works. If you have low energy when you train and need a little pick me up, then a cup of coffee or a pre workout powder can help. Again, don’t pick an energy drink or powder with a bunch of extra sugar. Don’t pay a premium price for “BCAAs’ or whatever else snake oil they claim is in it….and for God’s sake if you’re going to drink coffee then just drink it black! Also, make sure you don’t over do it on the pre workout powders. All you need is 1 scoop and you should probably take a week off every month or so. If your heart starts racing out of control and your skin starts to tingle and itch then you probably over did it. Grow up. 

• Daily Multivitamin. Some say that they are worthless and that you end up just peeing out all the vitamins. I don’t know they might be right…but taking a daily vitamin can’t hurt you so why not. 

• Minerals. If you start to get muscle cramps it might be because you don’t have enough electrolytes in your body. (it also might be because you are drinking TOO MUCH WATER but that’s a different topic for another day) Especially if you don’t eat a lot of veggies and/or carbs. You’re going to want a powder with Calcium, Magnesium, Chloride, Sodium, & Potassium. I recommend Dr. Berg Electrolyte Powder. I mix it with creatine and drink it during workouts. 

• Omega 3 Fatty Acids. If you don’t eat a lot of fatty fish then you should probably take some fish oil. Nothing you probably haven’t heard before. 

• Fiber. Again, if you’re like me and don’t eat a lot of vegetables or grains then you might want to consider adding Metamucil to your diet. Especially if you’re having frequent and/or unproductive bowel movements or suffer from something like hemorrhoids.  If that sounds like you then just add the damn fiber. Trust me, you don’t want to spend all day thinking about your butthole. Ok bye.