Here’s the truth, sweet and regular potatoes are both brilliant sources of carbohydrates. But why is there so much debate about this? In this article, I talk about sweet vs regular potatoes which potatoes are really healthier.
The major difference that ultimately has resulted in sweet potatoes being coined as the magic potato is due to their glycemic index score (GI).
The Glycemic Index (GI)
The glycemic index is a measure of how fast foods are converted into glucose.
For example, boiled sweet potatoes have a modest GI score of 46, whereas boiled white potatoes have a GI score of 82.
The reason that lower GI foods have been thought to be better is because they don’t spike your insulin as much.
And many people believe that when foods spike your insulin levels it makes you gain fat.
But people who believe this are missing the forest for the trees.
Because the only thing that makes you gain fat is eating more calories than you burn consistently.
Insulin Isn’t The Problem
When you eat a lot of carbs your insulin levels do spike. But this is normal.
Insulin is a hormone that regulates the metabolism of carbs, fats and proteins.
It does this by promoting the absorption of glucose from the blood into your liver, and your muscle and fat cells.
In other words, insulin helps your bodies cells absorb nutrients.
So it’s not really a bad thing if your insulin levels spike. For normal healthy people that is. It’s a slightly different story if your diabetic.
Sweet Potatoes Don’t Always Have A Low GI Score
Just to throw a spanner in the works of the glycemic index. How food is cooked has an effect on how fast they get converted into glucose.
For example, a baked sweet potato has a GI score of 94 and a baked white potato has a GI score of 111.
The baking process destroys resistant starch. This means that baked sweet and white potatoes have a higher GI score.
A higher GI score isn’t a bad thing. It just means that that carbohydrate will be converted into glucose quicker.
Potatoes still remain healthy and nutritious even when resistant starch is destroyed.
As Far As Body Composition And Health Go It Really Doesn’t Matter What Kind Of Potato You Choose
Both potatoes contain calories. And they don’t differ that much in their caloric content.
For example:
100 grams of raw white potato contains 77 calories.
100 grams of raw sweet potato contains 86 calories.
So in actual fact, the sweet potato that is often touted as the healthier potato is slightly higher in calories.
The truth is that neither potato is better than the other. They’re both very healthy starchy carbohydrate sources.
So where body composition is concerned, it’s about eating the right amount of calories and macronutrients for your goals.
This could be for fat loss, muscle gain or just maintaining your current physique.
As long as you eat the right number of calories and macronutrients for your goals you’ll come one step closer to your desired body composition.
So just eat the potatoes that you enjoy the most, that could be white or sweet potatoes or a mixture of both. It simply doesn’t matter.
Sweet Potatoes Vs Regular Potatoes Which Potato Is Healthier, The Differences
Both potatoes are a tuber. And if you’re not sure what a tuber is, they’re enlarged structures in some plant species used as storage organs for nutrients.
Yams are also a tuber.
There are actually 5000 types of sweet potatoes worldwide and about 4000 varieties of white potato.
The more popular white potato is actually slightly more sparse than the sweet potato (the sweet potato has 1000 more varieties).
Although they’re both called potatoes, botanically ( concerning plants) they’re very different.
For instance, sweet potatoes are in the Convolvulaceae family. And you can eat the leaves of sweet potatoes, These leaves are very nutritious.
The Convolvulaceae family also includes water spinach and other rarer vegetables.
Whereas white potatoes are from the Solanaceae family, alongside peppers, tomatoes, the deadly nightshade and the eggplant.
The plants in this family are poisonous because they produce something called solanine. Make sure that you don’t eat the stems or leaves of any plant in this particular food group.
As you now know sweet potatoes and potatoes are very similar in caloric content.
Although they do provide some nutritional differences, for example:
Sweet potatoes are very high in vitamin A.
White potatoes are higher in potassium.
Sweet potatoes are high in antioxidants (all varieties).
White potatoes are made up of compounds called glycoalkaloids, which have been shown to have anticancer effects.
What The Two Potatoes Have In Common
Sweet potatoes and white potatoes are both very healthy carb sources. And provide many nutrients including fiber, antioxidants and vitamin c.
Although as discussed before there are advantages to including both potatoes in your diet. You can prepare them both in similar ways depending on personal preference. That could be, boiled, baked, mashed or however you fancy. I’ll leave the meal prep to you.
Why You Should Include Potatoes In Your Diet
Both of these tubers are extremely filling. For example, if you eat one or two potatoes with a lean source of protein like tuna or chicken, you’ll find that you feel full for hours.
To show this point in further detail in 2010 a man named Chris Voight who is the Washington state potato commissioner tried a wild experiment.
He spent two months eating nothing but potatoes. At the start, he stopped eating when he was full. And by doing this he lost 12 pounds in 3 weeks.
So as you can see the potatoes filled him up so much that he actually managed to eat in a pretty aggressive calorie deficit.
He had to eat enough calories if he were to come out of a deficit. So he had to increase his intake of potatoes up to 20 potatoes per day.
In his words, he said, “I’d never felt so stuffed”.
He increased his intake of potatoes but still managed to lose weight. And by the end of this crazy diet, he got his bloods tested, and measures such as cholesterol, blood glucose and triglycerides all improved.
This story highlights that potatoes belong in your diet if.
Potatoes Vs Bread
Although bread is a completely acceptable source of carbohydrate in any diet. You get much more bang for your buck if you eat potatoes.
This infographic illustrates my point nicely.
The Bottom Line On Sweet Vs Regular Potatoes Which Potatoes Are Healthier?
One type of potato isn’t necessarily better than the other. Include them both in your diet.
Potatoes are some of the most nutritious and filling foods you can eat.
Sweet and white potatoes can be prepared in a number of different ways so you’ll never get bored of eating them. Prep them how you like.
Thanks for reading, what is your preferred potato? Let me know in the comments below.
Do you want a more muscular and stronger back? of course, you do. Who doesn’t? In this article, I go over the 9 best back exercises for strength and muscle gain.
But putting vanity reasons aside, a big strong back will make it easier for you to do stuff. Stuff like becoming more efficient at deadlifting and bench pressing and just becoming more useful in general.
The back muscles also help stabilize your spine and they play a part in every pulling movement you can think of. From picking objects up to pulling yourself up. The back muscles play an important role.
The Deadlift
The deadlift builds back strength better than any other exercise. The main back muscles the deadlift works are your spinal erectors, but it also works your lats, rhomboids, and trapezius.
The deadlift primarily works all of the muscles of your posterior chain. Think of your posterior chain as all of the muscles in your back. This includes the muscles of the back of your legs including your glutes and hamstrings. The deadlift is a full-body exercise and it hits all of your muscles apart from your chest.
Regarding the best deadlift variation for your back. The conventional deadlift works your back the most. Although the trap bar and sumo deadlift still work your back hard.
The deadlift when weights are sufficiently heavy is a brutally difficult and taxing exercise. But the results are worth the toil. I recommend a low-volume approach to deadlifts. I never do more than 3 hard sets of deadlifts. You simply don’t need to.
You can load it up with a lot of weight. Which will result in epic strength gains.
You not only strengthen your back you strengthen your whole body.
The deadlift is the ultimate trap builder. The deadlift will help you develop big strong traps.
Back strength built with the deadlift is useful.
Correct Form For The Deadlift
Here’s how you assume the correct starting position for the deadlift.
You stand with the bar over the middle of your foot. And your stance should be just narrower than shoulder-width apart with your toes pointing slightly out.
Next, you take a narrow grip just outside of your legs. You want to keep your hips high at this point.
Let your shins touch the barbell (do not move the bar).
Set your back and make sure it’s in a neutral position.
Lastly, take a deep breath and drag the bar up your shins keeping the bar as close to your body as possible.
The chin-up and the pull-up are both incredible exercises. Although I believe the chin-up is superior for a couple of reasons.
The chin-up is easier to learn than the pull-up.
You work more musculature training the chin-up.
The reason for this is because when you perform a chin-up your biceps are heavily involved in the movement. Whereas when you perform a pull-up you take out a lot of the bicep involvement.
So effectively because you’re taking out a lot of the bicep involvement in the pull-up, you won’t work as much musculature in comparison to the chin up. Therefore you won’t be as strong doing pull-ups.
And as a natural weightlifter, your main priority should be to get stronger over time. The chin-up is the better choice for this.
The Muscles The Chin Up Works
The chin up primarily works your lats and biceps. Although it also hits your rear delts to a slightly lesser degree.
The Form For The Chin Up Is As Follows:
1. You take a shoulder width supinated (underhand) grip on the bar.
2.You let your body hang while fully extending your elbows.
3. Slightly arch your back and pull yourself up to the bar. For a gold standard chin-up touch your chest on the bar.
Naturally, this is a bodyweight exercise, but when you can comfortably get 3 sets of 10 reps with this exercise, add weight.
The Benefits Of The Chin Up
The chin-up will help you develop, strong lats and biceps.
This exercise is a more advanced caliber of exercise. You don’t need much equipment to perform it (only a chin-up bar) It’s a great exercise for all training levels.
You develop an amazing stretch in your lats.
The Barbell Row
With this horizontal pulling variation you’ll be able to lift the most weight in comparison to other rowing variations.
The muscles this exercise primarily works are your lats and rhomboids.
The Form For The Barbell Row
You:
1. Walk up to the bar so that the bar is over your midfoot. And your stance should be about shoulder-width apart or slightly wider.
2. You then want to take a grip on the bar just outside of your legs.
3. You then want to make sure your back is in a neutral position.
4. When the bar is over your midfoot and your back is in a neutral position (like the deadlift). You then want to slam your elbows back and touch the bar on your stomach.
5. Repeat exercise until you finish the required reps for your set.
The barbell row is sometimes called the 6th most effective lift after the squat, bench press, deadlift, overhead press and chin up as it’s so effective. Bearing in mind there are 100’s of different exercises you can choose from. Being coined the 6th most effective exercise speaks volumes.
Getting strong at the barbell row has carry over to deadlifts and over pulling movements. Because you’re bent over in this rowing variant, you’re hinging at the hips. So in a sense, you’re working all the same muscles in the deadlift but with a focus on your lats and rhomboids.
Any rowing variation will help to improve your posture. The back muscles are key to maintaining good posture.
The Lat Pulldown
This vertical pulling variation works the same muscles as the chin up. Although I like it for a couple of reasons.
For people who aren’t strong enough to perform a chin-up, they can load the lat pulldown with light weights, until they build up enough strength to perform a chin-up.
It works your lats and biceps as effectively as the chin up.
Correct Form For The Lat Pulldown (Supinated)
The form is very easy.
1. You take a shoulder-width grip on the bar. 2. Pull the bar down to your sternum. 3. Repeat this exercise until you hit your target rep range.
This is a great exercise especially if you have problems with your lower back. Because you’re supported by the pad it takes out the need to support yourself with your lower back.
This is good because it allows you to focus on progressively overloading your back muscles. In particular, the muscles this exercise works are your lats and scapular retractors, although it also works your rear delts, bis, and middle delts.
The Chest Supported T Bar Row Form
1. For this exercise you can use the wide grip or the neutral handles. The wide grip will target your back more and the neutral grip will target your biceps more.
2. Take your grip, put your chest on the pad and start rowing.
3. Always extend your elbows and pull the bar towards you. This will result in you using a full range of motion.
Your chest is supported so you can really focus on your back muscles.
It’s easy to maintain a neutral back posture because your chest is supported.
The Dumbbell Row
This exercise is one of the best back exercises you’ll come across. Dumbbells are standard in basically every gym around the world. So you won’t need to rely on fancy machines to perform this exercise.
The Dumbbell Row Form
1. You first unrack a dumbbell that you can safely handle with good form. 2. Bring that dumbbell to the bench that you’ll be using. 3. Next grab the dumbbell and use a full range of motion to row it up off the floor. Pull with your elbows.
The seal row is one of the most effective back exercises around. Although it can be hard to find a proper seal row station in many gyms. If you do manage to find a proper seal row station count your blessings.
The great thing about this exercises is that it completely takes your lower back out of the exercise.
A bit like the chest supported row but more effectively. It’s very easy to judge each rep. Because as long as you’re touching the bottom of the bench for every rep and getting stronger using this range of motion, you’ll do well.
How To Perform The Seal Row
1. Lie facing down on a bench using the seal row setup found at some gyms.
2. Grip the bar with a medium grip which should be in line with your elbows. This should be the same grip for how you bench press.
3. Pull the bar up so that the bar touches the bench and then lower the bar to the floor.
4. Repeat this exercise for the required amount of reps.
The seal row takes your lower back out of the movement so you can focus on your back muscles fully.
You can touch the bar on the bench. This makes it easier to standardise each rep. A bit like getting your chin over the bar in the chin-up.
The Machine Row
This exercise is extremely easy to perform, and what I like about it is that you can do unilateral work with it (work each side at the time like the dumbbell row).
You can also load it up heavy and your chest is supported somewhat so it takes your lower back out of the movement so you can really feel your back muscles work.
How To Perform The Machine Row
1. Sit down and Grab either the neutral or wide grip. 2. Keep your chest up and your back in a neutral position and pull the handles toward you using a full range of motion. 3. Repeat the exercise until you finish your set.
Like most machines, the machine row is very easy to use.
You can focus on different grips e.g. wider handles or neutral handles.
You can either do bilateral (using both sides at a time) work or unilateral work ( working one side at a time).
How To Create A Simple Back Workout
Any back workout worth its salt will hit all of the back muscles using exercises that have you hinge at the hips, pull horizontally, and pull vertically.
For instance in this workout you’ll:
Start every back workout with a deadlift variation (hip hinge). You can pick between the conventional deadlift, trap bar, and sumo deadlift.
The second exercise of every workout will be a vertical pulling exercise like a lat pulldown, chin up or pull up.
The third exercise will be a horizontal pulling variation such as a barbell row, dumbbell row, chest supported row, machine row, or cable row.
The fourth and final exercise will be a bicep exercise. The reason I put a bicep exercise here is because all back exercises target your biceps to a certain extent. This means you won’t have to warm your biceps up and can go straight into a set of barbell or dumbbell curls at the end of your session.
The Workout
Conventional Deadlift 3 Sets Of 6-8 Reps.
Chin Up Or Lat Pulldown 3 Sets Of 6-8 Reps (Bodyweight Or Add Weight If Possible For Chin-ups).
Machine Row 3 Sets Of 6-8 Reps.
Barbell Curl 3 Sets of 6-8 Reps.
How To Progress With This Workout
For this workout, you’ll be using a training system called double progression. It’s really simple to use. You hit the end of your rep range, which in this case is 8 reps then you’d add 2.5-5kg depending on the exercise and then aim to get 6 reps.
Double Progression Example
Firstly for this example, I’ll use the deadlift. The deadlift is the only exercise for your back workout that you increase the weight by 5kg once you hit the top of your rep range.
For the rest of the exercises, you’ll just increase the weight by 2.5kg once you hit the top of your rep range.
Here’s an example for the deadlift:
Week 1
100kg x 8, 105kg x 6, 105kg x 6.
Week 2
105kg x 7, 105kg x 7, 105kg x 6.
Week 3
105kg x 8, 110kg x 6, 110kg x 6.
Week 4
110kg x 7, 110kg x 7, 110kg x 6.
As you can see this progression model is pretty straightforward. You’ll use the same progression with your other exercises although you’ll only increase the weight by a total of 2.5kg.
Your main goal should be to add 1-2 reps per workout. And once you hit the end of your rep range you put the weight up it’s really that simple.
A Quick Warm-Up Routine
For the first exercise of every back workout you should warm-up properly to avoid injury.
Here’s an easy yet effective warm-up you can do:
Set 1 warm-up with 50% of your working weight for 12 reps.
Set 2 warm-up with 70% of your working weight for 4 reps
Set 3 warm-up with 90% of your working weight for 2 reps.
Next sets: perform with your working weights.
Here’s what your warm-up sets might look like for barbell deadlifts if your working weights were 100kg.
Set 1 50kg for 12 reps.
Set 2 70kg for 4 reps
Set 3 90kg for 2 reps.
Work sets…
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: Can I still do well without deadlifting?
A: Yes you can as long as you swap it out for a horizontal pulling exercise such as the machine row, T bar row, barbell row, or cable row. As long as you’re training with enough volume (hard sets) for your back and getting stronger you’ll make progress.
Q: How Often Should I Change My Back Exercises.
A: You want to stick with your back workout for long enough to make progress. If you keep switching up your exercises every week it makes it very hard to get strong on any of them.
For this reason, I advise you to stick with your back workout for at least 8 weeks before switching your exercises up.
The Bottom Line On The 9 Best Back Exercises For Strength And Muscle Gain
If you want to develop strength and size in your back you need to be prioritizing exercises like the ones in this article. Especially the deadlift.
As long as you’re getting stronger at the compound back exercises like the ones shown in this article, you’ll do well.
Make sure that you include a deadlift variation, horizontal and vertical pulling movement in your training for the best results. And remember you need to be getting stronger at these exercise’s for progress to occur.
What’s your favourite back exercise? Let me know in the comments below. And if you need any extra help send me an email at contact@henrypaget.com
Do you want to develop full, round, and strong shoulders? Of course, you do, who doesn’t. The military press is the exercise that will take you there. In this article, I provide a complete guide to the military press.
What Is The Military Press?
The military press also called the overhead press (OHP) is an exercise you typically do standing with a barbell.
In short, you grab the barbell and push it up over your head. That’s the simplistic view of the exercise. Although there are a few more things you should know before performing this exercise.
What Muscles Does The Military Press Work?
The primary muscles the military press works are your shoulders, upper chest, triceps, and core.
Although the military press also hits your lats, biceps, and glutes to a smaller extent.
The Correct Form For The Military Press In 5 Steps
This exercise isn’t the most technical, but you do want to use proper form. As a result, you’ll minimize injury and maximize the effectiveness of this exercise.
The equipment needed to perform the military press is as follows:
A squat rack or power rack.
An olympic bar (20kg/ 45lbs).
Weights (these will vary depending on how strong you are).
Before performing the military press you need to set the bar up so that it’s level with the middle of your chest. This should be just above your nipples.
1. Firstly you want to walk up to the bar and take a grip of just wider than shoulder-width apart. Grip the bar with your thumbs around it. However, do not use a thumbless suicide grip. Because this can be dangerous.
2. Secondly you then want to unrack the bar, let it rest on your shoulders, and take 2 steps back.
3. Thirdly you want to assume the correct foot position. However, for most people, I’ve found that standing just a bit wider than shoulder-width apart is ideal.
4. You then want to take a deep breath, arch your back, keep your chest up and push the bar up overhead until your elbows are locked out.
5. Lastly, you then want to lower the bar in a controlled manner to your sternum and repeat the exercise again. Resetting your breath and bracing your core between each rep.
Additional Form Tips:
Throughout this exercise, you must keep the bar as close to your body as possible. This will result in a more efficient bar path. Heavy weights must always travel vertically.
Make sure that as you begin the press, you lift your chin up slightly and try to just miss hitting your chin on the way up. You don’t want to turn the military press into a face press.
Seriously be careful not to hit yourself in the face with the bar.
The standing military press although it mostly targets your shoulders, is a full-body exercise. Make sure you squeeze your abs and tense your quads and glutes for an extra boost in strength.
Always use a full range of motion. No half rep Harrys.
The standing military press is a great exercise, but I urge you to include other military press variations in your programming as well.
This will keep your training fun and will allow for more variety in your routine.
1. The Seated Barbell Military Press
This exercise is almost exactly the same as the standing version of the military press. Although you’ll be sitting on a bench with the seat up to around 90 degrees or slightly lower. It’s best to use a power rack for this variation.
For this exercise, your foot position and everything else are the same as the form I described for the military press.
The only difference is that you are sitting on a bench with the bench set at around a 90-degree angle or slightly lower. And you’re also using dumbbells.
Firstly, pick up a pair of dumbbells that you can do safely with good form.
Secondly, rest the dumbbells on your knees and once you’re ready to perform your set, kick them up to your shoulders.
Lastly, tuck your elbows in slightly and start pressing the weight up.
Always use a full range of motion and be sure not to flare your elbows out.
Moreover, you can also perform the standing version of this exercise. Although I don’t recommend it because you waste a lot of energy just getting the dumbbells up to your shoulders while you stand.
The Arnold press form is pretty much the same as the seated dumbbell press although with one difference.
You’ll begin the movement with a rotation of the shoulders. You won’t be able to lift as much weight with this exercise but you’ll be working over a larger range of motion compared to a standard press.
As you may have noticed the military press variations in this article are all using free weights. Primarily because the military press is traditionally done with a barbell.
But the military press is also referred to as the shoulder press and there are many variations of this movement pattern.
For example, any vertical pushing variation will target mainly the same muscles as the military press.
Every pushing variation in this article primarily targets your anterior delts and tris. And to a slightly lesser degree your middle delts.
Here is a couple of other shoulder pressing variations:
The Smith Machine Shoulder Press
This exercise is done in the same manner as the seated military press, although you’ll be using the smith machine.
I think that free weights are superior to machines. Because you can repeat the same exercise in gyms everywhere. For example barbells, weight plates, and dumbbells are standardized.
And you can repeat these exercises whatever gym you go to. Dumbbells and barbells are typically the foundation of any gym.
Whereas machines can handle weight very differently. This is because there are so many different machines for similar muscle groups.
For example, one shoulder press machine can handle the weight very differently compared with another shoulder press machine.
Also, the average shoulder press machine is made for the average person’s build.
To elaborate on this point the average male in the UK is 5ft 9.
What do you think happens when a 5ft 3 male or a 6ft 3 male uses this machine? The answer is It can feel awkward for them.
Wheres if that person used free weights they’d do fine. This is because free weights can work for anyone. You simply use the free weights in the most efficient way for your anthropometry.
Here’s the deal though, most people will find that most machines feel okay and some machines feel uncomfortable. Use the machines that feel comfortable and focus on progressive overload.
This essentially means getting stronger than you were previously.
Whatever military press variation you choose focus on progressive overload and you’ll do well.
A 3x Per Week Full Body Workout Routine With A Focus On Shoulder Pressing 2 Days Per Week
The progression model for this routine is called double progression. Once you hit the top of your rep range (which is 8 reps) you put the weight up by 5kg/10lbs for deadlifts, squats and the leg press and then you try to get 6 reps.
For every other exercise, you’ll only put the weight up by 2.5kg once you hit the top of your rep range.
Here’s how progression would work for deadlifts:
Week 1
Set 1 – 80kg for 8 reps
Set 2 – 85kg for 6 reps
Set 3 85kg for 6 reps
Week 2
Set 1 – 85kg for 7 reps
.Set 2 – 85kg for 7 reps
.Set 3 85kg for 6 reps
Week 3
Set 1 – 85kg for 8 reps
Set 2 – 90kg for 6 reps
Set 3 – 90kg for 6 reps
How To Warm Up With This Routine
Here’s a simple warm-up:
First warm-up set – 50% of your heavy working sets for 12 reps.
Second warm-up set – 70% of your heavy working sets for 4 reps.
Third warm-up set – 90% of your heavy working sets for 2 reps.
Here’s an example:
If you normally Military Press 50kg for your working sets, here’s what the warm-up would look like:
First set – 25kg for 12 reps.
Second set – 35kg for 4 reps.
Third set – 45g for 2 reps.
Then perform your working sets.
The Bottom Line On The Complete Guide To The Military Press
The Military press (and its variations) is beyond a doubt the fundamental exercise to build your shoulders.
Essentially the military press is an exercise where you push heavy objects over your head.
The standing military press is essentially a full-body exercise. It’s not the most technical. Although it can feel extremely hard as the weights get heavy.
Do you include the military press or its variations in your workouts?
Let me know in the comments below.
Thanks for reading and if you need any extra help send me an email at contact@henrypaget.com.
Deadlifts are the best exercise that you can possibly do to build your whole body strength. Learning proper deadlift form will not only reduce injury. It’ll also make you stronger.
Deadlifting properly will allow you to recruit the largest amount of muscle mass operating over the longest effective range of motion. This will result in you lifting the most weight and thus get the strongest.
The Conventional Deadlift
This type of deadlift is the most common. And I’d argue it’s also the easiest deadlift variation to learn. Alongside the trap bar deadlift.
The Starting Position
Here’s how you assume the correct starting position for the deadlift.
You stand with the bar over the middle of your foot. And your stance should be just narrower than shoulder-width with your toes pointing slightly out.
Next, you take a narrow grip just outside of your legs. You want to keep your hips high at this point.
Let your shins touch the barbell (do not move the bar).
Set your back and make sure it’s in a neutral position.
Using A Block
Once you’re in this starting position you’ll want to use something called a block. Which is also called the valsalva manuver.
This is how you create a block:
Expanding the chest and holding a deep breath fills the lungs, which supports the rib cage and prevents the chest from collapsing forward.
Contracting the abdominal muscle group supports the core and increases intra abdominal pressure.
Finally arching the lower back by contracting the lumbar muscles positions the spinal column in extension.
These three actions together are referred to as a block that keeps you from rounding your back.
A rounded back while lifting heavy can cause a herniated disc. While lifting any heavy weights it is essential to create a block.
Squeeze Lemons In Your Armpits
Once you’ve created a block, one cue that can help keep your back neutral and everything nice and tight is to squeeze your armpits as if you were crushing lemons under your arms.
Yes, it sounds strange but this cue works, try it.
The Pull
Once you’ve got into a good starting position. You want to create a block and then pull the weight up keeping the bar as close to your shins and legs as possible.
This will ensure that the bar is moving in a straight line and will result in no wasted energy. If the bar was out too far in front of you. You’d have to waste energy bringing the bar back over your midfoot.
When you finish the exercise you don’t want to make the all too common mistake of overextending your back at the top of the movement.
Remember: All you need to do is just stand up with the bar in your hands.
Don’t Over Extend Your Back
You don’t want to overextend your back, it’s not necessary and it’ll result in a higher chance of injury.
For a video demonstration of this exercise click below.
The Most Important Tip To Deadlift With Safe Form
You must make sure that your lower back is neutral throughout the whole pull.
You must also make sure that the lowering part of the deadlift looks identical to the pulling part of the movement.
This means that you’ll still need to keep your lower back in a neutral position and you’ll need to keep the bar as close to your legs as possible on the lowering part of the movement.
The Sumo Deadlift
This type of deadlift is just as effective as the conventional deadlift. Although there are a few differences:
The sumo deadlift targets your quads more and your back muscles less than the conventional deadlift.
During the sumo deadlift, you take a wider stance which means the bar doesn’t have to travel as far.
The sumo deadlift is more technical than other deadlift variations.
To deadlift sumo style you:
1. Stand facing the bar and make sure your legs are wider than shoulder-width apart, and make sure your toes are pointing out in alignment with your knees.
2. Take a pronated or mixed grip on the bar and bend your legs until your thighs are horizontal to the ground.
3. Take a big breath and create a block and extend your knees until your standing up with the weight.
4. Keep everything tight and lower the weight in the same way you would pull it up. Throughout the whole exercise, the bar must be as close to your body as possible.
To watch a video tutorial click below.
This variation of the deadlift works your quads and adductor muscles to a high degree although it also hits your hamstrings and back pretty hard as well.
The Trap/Hex Bar Deadlift
This deadlift variation has you stand in a hexagonal-shaped barbell. When doing this exercise you get the choice between high handles and low handles.
With the high handles, the bar doesn’t have to travel as far so this means you can lift more weight. On average you’ll be able to lift more weight with the high handles using the trap bar compared to the sumo and conventional deadlift.
The form for the trap bar deadlift is easy to learn.
You stand in the middle of the hexagonal-shaped barbell slightly narrower than shoulder-width apart with your toes pointed slightly out.
Grip either the low or high handles in the middle.
Set your back in a neutral position, take a deep breath/ create a block, and explode the bar up.
Then stand as you normally would at the top of the movement and descend the barbell down in the same manner as you lifted it up.
It’s really that easy.
The trap bar deadlift is amazing because it’s not as technical as the conventional or sumo deadlift.
Meaning that anyone can easily learn how to do it.
I actually struggled with proper conventional deadlifting form when I first started lifting. So the first year or so of my lifting journey I used the trap bar deadlift and got strong doing so.
If you struggle with proper form for the more traditional deadlifting styles, the trap bar deadlift is the deadlift for you.
Click below for a video tutorial of the trap bar deadlift.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q – What shoes should I deadlift in?
A- I recommend a shoe with a flat sole, such as converse Chuck Taylors, or vans. You could use powerlifting shoes such as adipower’s but from my experience deadlifting in a shoe with an elevated heel makes the exercise feel more like a deficit deadlift. Personally, I deadlift much better using flat-soled shoes. Deadlifting barefoot is also a good option.
Q – Should I use a lifting belt?
Belts can help increase Intra abdominal pressure and this can help you lift more weight. But ultimately It’s up to you. I prefer not to use one. But if you do choose to use a lifting belt make sure it’s not a thick belt 4 inches or more. Because the belt may obstruct you from getting your back in a neutral position at the start of the pull depending on your build.
Q – What grip should I use?
A- Use the pronated (palms forward grip for as long as your grip strength can keep up). Your whole body strength will soon outpace your grip strength so you’ll have to use a mixed grip or straps. This will help you hold on to the bar as the weight gets heavy.
It also makes sense to use dry or liquid chalk this will help you grip the bar for longer. The reason for your grip strength failing during deadlifts is because your back and all of the other muscles the deadlift targets are stronger than your grip strength.
Another acceptable option is to use straps. These can help if you want to always use a pronated (palms forward grip) and still lift heavy weights.
Q – Do you need to deadlift to make good progress?
The deadlift is a fantastic exercise. Getting strong at it will make a massive difference to your physique, especially in muscles like your traps, lats, hips, and thighs.
If you get these muscles big and strong you’ll develop a strong and muscular physique. The deadlift is the best way to strengthen these muscles.
Although if you don’t deadlift, and feel more comfortable doing a different exercise like a row or a chin-up, you can still make great progress.
Because as long as you’re progressively overloading (getting stronger) your muscles your body will grow.
But if you deadlift you’ll get results faster. And getting strong at the deadlift will yield a better and stronger-looking physique. Although you can do well without deadlifting, you’ll simply do better if you include it in your programming.
Final Thoughts On The Ultimate Guide To Proper Deadlift Form
Whatever variation you decide to use you must keep your back in a neutral position throughout the deadlift. This will help prevent injury.
You must also create a block so that your core and back stays tight throughout the pull.
The only way to become a better deadlifter is to deadlift. Practice does make perfect.
What’s your favourite deadlift variation? Mines conventional. Let me know yours in the comments below.
In this article, you’ll get a free women’s workout plan for the gym.
I provide a workout to help you get stronger, more powerful and defined.
The Best Compound Exercises
This program is made up of a majority of compound exercises and some isolation exercises. Compound exercises are exercises that work multiple muscle groups at the same time. For example the squat is a compound exercise because it works your:
Quads
Hamstrings
Erector spinae
Glutes.
Whereas Isolation exercises are exercises that work a single muscle group. For instance, An exercise like the hamstring curl works only one muscle group which is your hamstrings.
The Compound Exercises That I Include In This Program Are:
Barbell squat.
Barbell Deadlift.
The Leg press.
Lat Pulldown.
Row Variations.
The Bench press.
The Overhead/ shoulder press.
The Isolation Exercises That I Include In This Program Are:
Hamstring curls.
Calf raises.
Cable crunches.
Tricep pushdowns.
Bicep curls.
Lateral raises
The Workout
Notes On Routine
Warm Up
Before performing your work sets you must warm-up properly.
Here’s a simple warm-up that you can use.
Do this for the first exercise of every workout.
Warm-up set 1 = 50% of your work sets for 8 reps.
Warm-up set 2 = 70% of your work sets for 4 reps.
Warm-up set 3 = 90% of your work sets for 2 reps.
Here is an example for your warm-up sets that assumes you can barbell squat 50kg.
Warm up set 1 = 25kg x 8 reps.
Warm up set 2 = 35kg x 4 reps.
Warm up set 3 = 45kg x 2 reps.
Rest 1 minute between warm up sets.
Then move onto your work sets.
Rest Periods
You must rest 3-4 minutes between your compound exercise work sets. This helps you recover between sets. So that you can give every set all you’ve got.
The reason for this is because the compound exercises use multiple muscle groups. And you’ll be using heavy weights for each of your sets. This means that you’ll need more rest compared to in between sets of isolation exercises.
Rest 1-2 minutes between your isolation exercises. The reason your rest periods are shorter for isolation exercises is because they recruit less muscle mass and you’ll be using less weight. And because of this, you won’t need as long to recover between sets.
Rep Range And Progression
Women tend to do better working in the higher rep ranges. And that’s why you’re going to be working in the 10-12 rep range.
Double Progression
The progression model that you’re going to use is called double progression.
It’s a simple way to progress.
For example, if you can barbell squat 45kg for 12 reps on your first set then you can increase the weight by 2.5kg for the next set/ sets. And you should be able to get 10 reps.
Here’s how your sets for squats might go:
Barbell squat.
Week 1
Set 1 – 45kg 12 reps.
Set 2 – 47.5 kg x 10 reps.
Set 3 – 47.5 kg x 10 reps.
Week 2
Set 1 – 47.5 kg x 11 reps.
Set 2 – 47.5kg x 11 reps.
Set 3 – 47.5 kg x 10 reps.
Week 3
Set 1 – 47.5kg x 12 reps.
Set 2 – 50kg x 10 reps.
Set 3 – 50kg x 10 reps.
Week 4
Set 1 – 50kg x 11 reps.
Set 2 – 50kg x 10 reps.
Set 3 – 50kg x 10 reps.
As you can see, this type of progression model is very simple.
Use this same progression model for all of your exercises.
Your Main Goal Is to Get Stronger From Week To Week And Progress Will Follow
The fact is that aesthetics are best obtained from training for performance. In both architecture and human beauty, form follows function.
Don’t overthink your workouts. Just focus on getting stronger and you’ll see extraordinary results. Appearance is a side effect of performance. Get strong and the results will follow.
I guarantee it.
Training for strength is not only super effective. It’s also fun. Notice how good you start to feel as your strength skyrockets over the next few months.
Deload Weeks
After every 8 weeks of using this program have an entire week off from the gym. This will help reduce fatigue. And will keep the strength gains coming when you start the next phase of your training. Which will be the week after the deload week.
I Hope You Enjoy This Women’s Workout Plan For The Gym
If you have any questions about this program, send me an email at contact@henrypaget.com.
Remember its my job to help you succeed with fitness.
In this article, I’ll be answering the often searched question. Can you drink alcohol and still lose weight?
The truth is, alcohol isn’t as diabolical to your weight loss goals as you may think.
You absolutely can lose weight and enjoy your favourite alcoholic drinks.
Here’s the deal, as long as you’re in a calorie deficit. And tracking the calories in the drinks that you do have. You’ll lose weight, guaranteed.
5 Facts About Alcohol And Losing Weight
1. Weight Loss Comes Down To Calorie Control
If you eat fewer calories than you burn, you lose weight. Even if some of those calories come from alcohol.
2. Calories You Consume Come From:
Protein (4 calories per gram).
Carbohydrates (4 calories per gram).
Fats ( 9 calories per gram).
And in this case alcohol ( 7 calories per gram).
3. Alcohol Isn’t Directly Stored As Fat. Although, Drinking Alcohol Makes It More Likely That You’ll Store Fat From The Food You Eat
This is because your liver converts alcohol into something called acetate. Which then gets oxidized into water and carbon dioxide.
Your body treats alcohol like poison. And your body’s main aim is to get rid of it before burning calories from the food you eat.
The net effect of this is that alcohol isn’t stored directly as fat. But it does temporarily suppress fat burning.
This means that if you eat in a calorie surplus (more calories than you burn) you’ll store body fat more easily.
4. It’s Easy To Drink Lots Of Calories From Alcohol, And Wipe Out Your Calorie Deficit
A standard pint of beer contains roughly 200 calories. If you drink 5 of these you’d consume 1000 calories.
Add to this a fatty kebab and some chips, and you may consume another 1000 calories.
So just like that you could consume a couple thousand calories without even realising it.
Add to this some other fatty foods that you might have ate during the course of the day. And you could quite easily be in a calorie surplus ( eating more calories than you burn). Rather than in a deficit (eating fewer calories than you burn).
Group one didn’t consume any alcohol before lunch.
Group two did.
The group that drank alcohol before lunch had a heightened appetite. And ate more food during lunch than the group that didn’t drink any alcohol.
The group that drank alcohol ate more high-fat and salty foods. And hunger was rated to be higher during the course of the day.
This study lines up with many people’s experiences. We like to eat fatty, salty foods after drinking alcohol.
Moderation Is The Secret To Drinking Alcohol And Losing Weight
Some people are too flexible with their diet and never make progress.
Others are way too restrictive and have an all-or-nothing approach. Which can cause problems as well.
The truth is, you need to strike a happy medium between these two extremes.
You need to be disciplined enough to stick to your deficit. While also allowing some calories for enough alcoholic drinks to have fun.
This is where moderation comes in. Going to the pub or out on the lash with your mates once in a while doesn’t have to ruin your progress.
What Is Moderation?
If one oversteps the bounds of moderation, the greatest pleasures cease to please.
Epictetus
We can all define moderation differently. But I define moderate alcohol consumption, as having a couple of drinks once or twice per week.
Although you may drink more or less than this. You want to drink enough so that you enjoy all of the social benefits. Without feeling like you’ve been hit by a truck the next morning.
The 5 Step Strategy So That You Can Drink Alcohol And Still Lose Weight
1. Make sure you’re in a sustainable calorie deficit. 2. Eat enough protein. 3. Save a buffer of calories for your alcoholic drinks ( I recommend 15% of your intake). 4. Avoid eating lots of food when you’re drinking (especially fatty foods). 5. Drink enough water.
Here’s an example of this strategy in action.
1. Finding Out A Sustainable Calorie Deficit
I’m using an example of myself for this strategy. Bear in mind that :
I need to eat roughly 2500 calories to maintain my weight.
If I plan on losing a pound of fat per week I’d need to eat in a 500 calorie deficit.
In a pound of fat, there are roughly 3500 calories, and a 500 calorie deficit over the course of a week = 3500 calories.
If I wanted to be in a sustainable calorie deficit I’d need to eat 2000 calories per day.
This situation assumes that I’ll be having drinks in the evening.
I recommend that you eat around 1 gram of protein per pound of your body weight. The satiating effect of protein will help fight against cravings for fatty foods later on. This would mean I’d need to eat 178 grams of protein per day (because I weigh 178 lbs).
Eating the majority of your protein intake early on leaves you with fats and carbs to save for the evening.
I recommend that you swap out some of these fats and carbs for the alcohol you’ll be drinking.
3. Save A Buffer Of Calories For the Alcoholic Drinks You’ll Be Having
I find that drinking no more than 15% of your calories from alcoholic drinks is the perfect amount for:
Still enjoying the benefits of alcohol.
Not having shitty workouts the next day.
Not feeling rough the next day.
So for me, this would mean not drinking any more than 300 calories from alcohol during an evening.
Because 15% of my calorie intake while in a deficit is 300 calories. This is equal to:
A beer (200 calories) and a vodka mixed with diet coke (100 calories).
3 vodka and diet coke’s (300 calories).
Remember: 15% is just a guideline that I believe to be most optimal. You can set your calorie buffer to how much you’d like to drink.
I wouldn’t go much higher than 15% though. If you do, this is where the downsides start to manifest.
If on occasions, you want to drink more than this then that’s perfectly okay. As long as you’re consuming alcohol in moderation, and it’s a one-off you’ll do well.
For example, say that you’re going out for your mate’s stag/ hen night. And you know you’ll be having a few more drinks than you probably should.
For this night you could potentially:
Do intermittent fasting and break the fast at around 12- 2 pm with some protein and veggies.
Save 800-1000 calories for some drinks in the evening.
4. Avoid Eating Lots Of High Fat Foods
Remember drinking alcohol may increase your appetite and blunts fat burning. This is why you must consciously make an effort to not eat lots of fatty foods during the night on which you drink.
If you do want to eat some food while out drinking, make sure you save up the calories on your meal plan for this.
Because as long as you’re in a calorie deficit overall, you’ll lose weight.
Fasting for the beginning of the day. Then consuming your calories when you go out for a meal/ drinks can be a good strategy. Especially if you expect to have a big meal and several alcoholic drinks.
You could potentially save up your whole calorie intake for this meal. This will help you stay in a deficit while eating a big meal and having drinks. And as long as you don’t eat any more than your maintenance calories you won’t gain fat.
But when you’re out drinking try to avoid foods like these:
Take out foods like kebabs, pizza, chips, burgers.
Anything fried. E.g. fried chicken, and anything battered.
Anything with lots of cheese.
Anything cooked in creamy sauces.
And before you go out drinking. Try to fill up on lean protein sources, and fruits and veggies like the ones listed below.
Protein Sources:
Fat-free Greek yoghurt and cottage cheese.
Whole eggs and egg whites. Preferably egg whites if you’re dieting on lower calories.
Tennent’s light lager 60 calories per 300ml bottle.
Skinny brands premium lager 89 calories per 330ml bottle.
The original small beer session pale 59.5 calories per 350ml bottle.
Bud light beer 132 calories per 330ml bottle.
Brew dog light speed hazy IPA (brew dog is one of my personal favourites) 95 calories per 330 ml can.
Michelob Ultra 95 calories per 330 ml bottle.
Best Mixed Drink Options.
Vodka lime and soda 106 calories (my personal favourite).
Vodka and diet coke 106 calories.
Southern comfort and 7 up free 70 calories.
Best Wine Options
Champagne 95 calories per glass.
Sparkling white wine 87 calories per glass.
Chardonnay 123 calories per glass.
Riesling 115 calories per glass.
The Bottom Line On Can You Still Drink Alcohol And Lose Weight?
Just like eating 1 – 2 doughnuts every so often won’t cause excessive fat gain, yet eating a whole tray of doughnuts every night will. Alcohol only becomes a problem when you overstep the bounds of moderation.
Eating less, and saving up a buffer of calories will help you indulge in alcohol and still lose weight. As long as you’re in a deficit.
Just because you have a goal of losing weight doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy your favorite drinks. You absolutely can. As long as you track the calories in those drinks. Read that again.
Fitness is meant to improve your life, not make it more stressful.
Use the advice in this article to enjoy your favourite alcoholic drinks. Guilt-free.
In this article, I’ll provide you with scientifically proven guidelines on how long it’s going to take you to lose a stone with diet and exercise.
But in short. If you do everything right, you can expect to lose 1-2 pounds of fat per week. So if your adherence is awesome, you can expect to lose a stone, in roughly 7-14 weeks.
Although maybe a bit faster, or slower depending on how dialled in your nutrition and training are.
But many nuances might skew these numbers for some individuals. And if you want to lose a stone the correct way. You need to get right the 20% that produces 80% of the results.
First What Actually Is A Stone?
A stone is equal to 14 pounds or 6.36 kilograms. So in order to lose a stone you need to lose 14 pounds.
How To Set Up Your Diet To Lose A Stone
If you follow these steps below, you’ll lose a stone, guaranteed.
Make sure you’re in a sustainable calorie deficit of 500 calories.
Eat at least 0.72 grams of protein per pound of your body weight every day. So manystudies show that individuals who follow a high protein diet, experience less hunger, burn more total calories, and lose more fat.
Make sure your diet is made up of 80-90% healthy, nutritious foods.
Drink 3-4 litres of water every day.
Avoid or at least limit drinking your calories e.g. sugary drinks, full-sugar soda, alcohol etc.
The first time that I experienced how incredibly simple fat loss was, I was following these tips and you can too.
If my clients want to lose weight. This is what I prescribe for them.
There are many benefits of setting your diet up like this.
You’ll maintain/ build muscle because of the high protein diet.
You won’t have extreme hunger all the time because the calorie deficit is sustainable and your high protein diet is satiating.
You’ll stay full because most of your food choices will come from healthy low-calorie foods that are full of volume.
A helluva lot of people believe that to lose weight you need to:
Get a sweat on.
Do agonizing amounts of cardio.
Give up your life.
This couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, these common misconceptions do more harm than good.
If you want to lose fat and not muscle you need to be lifting weights. You see, lifting weights while you’re in a deficit ensures that you:
Maintain your hard-earned muscle and strength (maybe even gain muscle/strength if you’re a newbie).
Lose hardly any muscle but heaps of fat.
Become more toned, powerful and aesthetic.
Here is a 3-day male and female workout routine that you can use. These workouts incorporate all the most effective compound exercises.
Free Workout Programs
I recommend that you have a day of rest between each workout. You could train on Monday (A), Wednesday (B) and Friday (C).
Or on Tuesday (A), Wednesday (B), and Saturday (C).
Cheat Sheets
FAQ
How Long Will It Take To Lose A Stone With Diet And Exercise?
1 pound of fat contains roughly 3500 calories. So to lose 1 pound of fat you need to be in a 3500 calorie deficit over the course of a week.
To do that you need to reduce your total daily energy expenditure by 500 calories every day. For example:
I burn roughly 2500 calories per day.
If I eat 2000 calories I’ll be in a 500 calorie deficit.
If I maintain this deficit over the course of a week I’ll be in a 3500 calorie weekly deficit.
This results in 1 pound of fat loss.
You need to bear in mind:
Some days you might be in a larger calorie deficit, due to increased activity levels.
Some days you may be in a smaller calorie deficit due to human error and life getting in the way.
No one’s perfect at tracking calories. I know I’m certainly not. Just try your best.
But if you get the fundamentals right, you can expect to lose 1-2 pounds of pure fat per week.
So it’ll take you between 7-14 weeks to lose a stone.
Should You Add Cardio?
If you have the time, you can add cardio to your routine. But make sure your main focus is on your workouts and nutrition plan. Because that’s the 20% that produces 80% of the results.
If you do, you’ll lose fat, whether you do cardio or not. Although cardio will help you burn even more calories. And this will increase your calorie deficit and help you burn fat a bit faster. But you don’t want to do too much cardio either.
The type of cardio you do is entirely up to you. Pick the one that you enjoy. If that’s walking, great. If that’s racing your pet greyhound in the garden. Be my guest.
What If I’m Skinny Fat Does This Advice Still work?
You’ll still lose weight/ fat. Everything in this article applies to you as well. Being skinny fat is caused by having too much fat and not enough muscle.
Here’s What Being Skinny Fat Looks Like.
When you:
Make sure you’re in a sustainable calorie deficit.
Regularly strength train.
Eat enough protein.
You essentially get rid of that excess fat you’re carrying. And build or at the least maintain muscle. Resulting in you becoming more lean and defined. Which solves the skinny fat problem.
What If My Metabolism Is Damaged?
When you lose weight, you’re essentially a smaller version of yourself. So naturally, you burn fewer calories. Because smaller individuals burn fewer calories than larger individuals.
But your metabolism never gets damaged, It just slows down a bit. Some studies show that your metabolism will slow down by probably 5-15% after long periods of dieting.
Because even in very extreme circumstances like the Minnesota starvation experiment, Metabolic slow down didn’t thwart weight loss.
The Minnesota Starvation Experiment
Here’s how the experiment went, to give you some context:
In 1944, 36 individuals had the choice of either taking part in this experiment or fighting on the front lines.
This experiment was developed to replicate the conditions that a prisoner of war may experience. And Its main aim was to find out the healthiest way to help the millions of starving people in Europe return to a normal body weight.
This lasted for 6 long months and these individuals were eating roughly 50% of their normal caloric needs per day.
They were also marching 22 miles per week and doing several hours of manual labour per day (talk about gruelling cardio, yikes).
This resulted in an extremely aggressive calorie deficit.
What the researchers found, was that at most, their metabolisms slowed down by roughly 20%.
This means if one of these test subjects started the experiment with a metabolic rate of 1800 calories. By the end, it would’ve decreased to 1440 calories.
Bear in mind that each of these test subjects lost on average about 25% of their body weight.
And you need to lose roughly 10% or more of your body weight before your metabolism drops by more than 10%.
Again the most your metabolism will probably drop after extended periods of dieting is 5-15%. Unless you try to replicate the conditions in the Minnesota starvation experiment (20%). Which I highly doubt you’re going to do.
Your Metabolism Isn’t Broken
Here’s the deal, when you lose weight, your metabolism does slow down a bit, but not excessively. And rather than thinking of it as metabolic damage, it’s instead your body adapting to eating fewer calories. It’s actually called metabolic adaptation.
If you follow the tips outlined in this article you’ll lose weight. And the amount that your metabolism will drop will be meagre at most.
Stop Worrying About Time, And Start Focusing On Habits That Will Get You Results
In the book The One thing by Gary Keller, he says something that’s extremely important.
” Success is actually a short race – a sprint fueled by discipline just long enough for habit to kick in and take over.”
On average it takes 66 days to build a habit, maybe a bit longer or a bit less. But either way, you need to put in the work.
Set up your diet and training accordingly, after a couple of weeks this fitness stuff will become easier. And after a while, the habit would have kicked in.
And by this point, the stone that you plan to lose should be long gone. Get in the habit of doing the right things and success will follow you precisely because you forgot to think about it.
The Bottom Line On How Long Will It Take To Lose A Stone With Diet And Exercise?
A stone is equal to 14 pounds or 6.36kg.
If you get in the right habits, you can expect to lose 1-2 pounds of fat per week (4-8 pounds per month).
After putting this advice into practice you can expect to get to your goal in 7-14 weeks. Maybe a bit longer or a bit less.
I hope I’ve answered the question of “how long will it take to lose a stone with diet and exercise?” in a way in which you can take away what you’ve learnt and start seeing results.
Comment below with “yes” if you’re starting your journey to lose a stone today.
How often can you indulge in a cheat day and still lose weight? That’s exactly what you’re going to learn by reading this article. First, let’s get on the same page.
“A cheat day is defined as a day on which a person following a diet disregards restrictions on the amount or kinds of food they can eat.”
So basically a cheat day is a day where you eat more calories and more junk food than you’d normally eat.
Examples Of “Cheat Foods”
Here’s some of the mouthwatering foods you could expect to indulge in during a cheat day:
A juicy, colossal burger with oozing melted cheese.
Or maybe you’re going to indulge in the leaning tower of epic pancakes like Mr Johnson here. If there was a competition for the worlds greatest cheat day, he’d win.
If you’re in a calorie deficit you can induge in as many cheat days/ meals as you want and still lose weight/ fat.
But if you have a naughty all you can eat cheat day. Where you eat what you want, whenever you want. Doing this could easily destroy a few days worth of progress of being in a calorie deficit.
A Good Week Of Dieting Vs One With Excessive Cheat Days
I’ll use myself as an example to show you what I mean.
keep these things in mind:
My total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) which is the number of calories I need to eat to maintain my weight is roughly 2500 calories.
If I wanted to lose one pound of fat per week this would mean I’d need to be in a calorie deficit of 500 calories every day of the week.
This is because there are roughly 3500 calories in one pound of fat. And a 500 calorie deficit over 7 days is equal to 3500 calories.
I’d need to eat 2000 calories if I wanted to be in a 500 calorie deficit every day. I’d need to eat no more than 14,000 calories across the week to be in a weekly deficit of 3500 calories.
This is what an awesome week of dietary adherence would look like.
This would result in a total weekly calorie intake of 14,000 calories. Which equals a 3500 calorie deficit and 1 pound of fat loss.
But, if a week of dieting went like this:
This would result in a total weekly calorie intake of 17,500 calories. Overall I would have undone my calorie deficit.
So even though I would have been in a calorie deficit 5 days of the week. I would have lost zero weight/ fat because my total calorie intake was no lower than my maintenance calories overall. These unstructured cheat days would have annihilated my weight loss progress.
Why Unstructured Cheat Days Are A Dumb Idea
If you just eat what you want, when you want on your cheat days. Without any idea about how it’s going to affect the rest of your week that you spent dieting. Is a surefire way to dieting misery.
Because the fact is, if you’re not careful, you can undo a whole week’s worth of dieting in a single weekend.
This is especially true if you look at how high in calories certain foods are. For example, if you had a maintenance calorie intake of 2500 (like yours truly). It can be very easy to go over your calories if you’re eating lots of high-calorie foods.
Here’s how an all-out hypothetical cheat day might go.
Total daily calorie intake from only 3 meals = 5259 calories.
A day of eating like this would be enough to really thwart your weight loss efforts. Eating whatever you want, when you want for a day or more is not a good strategy. And having a cheat day like this, in essence, is just you cheating yourself.
If I Have A Cheat Day Is It Okay To Compensate For My Caloric Intake On Other Days of The Week?
You can do this. For example, here’s what compensating for one day might look like using the example of my caloric needs.
If you had a cheat day and went over your calories by 1000 like in the example, you’d need to reduce your calories by 1000 the next day. This way you’d not thwart your progress and still be able to lose weight.
The problem is, reducing your calories by 1000 isn’t very comfortable. And eating 50% of the calories you’d normally eat in a deficit would leave you craving a juicy burger.
If you continue this habit of cheat days and then compensating. It’ll be hard to stick to many very low-calorie days. Yes, you’ll be indulging in more calories when you cheat. But it’s not going to be fun the next day having to compensate.
A week like this would probably be more disastrous than it’s worth. And would probably give rise to an unhealthy relationship with food. Because eating 1000 calories is not sustainable.
But as long as you compensated for the cheat days. You’d still lose weight. Losing weight, for the most part, is a numbers game. And if you maintain your weekly deficit then you’ll still make progress.
Why I Recommend Structured Cheat Meals 1-2 Times Per Week Instead Of Cheat Days
It’s a much better strategy to have a cheat meal 1 – 2 times per week compared to having many colossal cheat days.
This is because one cheat meal like:
A thin crust pepperoni pizza.
Or a juicy bacon and cheese burger paired with crispy french fries.
For one meal, is easier to fit into your calories than many cheat meals in one day. And this way instead of going over your calories. And bringing yourself out of a calorie deficit. You fit your cheat meal into the number of calories you need to eat while you’re in a deficit.
I have 2 strategies that you can use. The structured cheat meal and the structured refeed day. I don’t advocate the use of all-out cheat days. Because they’ll leave you spinning your wheels.
Strategy 1 – How To Set Up Your Cheat Meals And Still Lose Weight In 3 Steps
1. Do your due diligence to find out how many calories are in the cheat meal that you want to eat. You can do this by:
Looking at the restaurant that you’re going to’s menu online. A lot of restaurants provide nutritional information.
But if you can’t find the specific information. Pick a similar calorie value for the same or similar meal from somewhere else.
2. Once you know roughly how many calories are in the feast you’re going to be devouring plug it into your meal plan.
For example, if you were going to order a big mac meal (1,080 calories) from McDonald’s as a cheat meal.
You’d plug in 1080 calories into your meal plan or on your my fitness pal food diary. So if I was having this meal I’d have 920 calories left to eat for the rest of the day if I wanted to lose weight.
3. Plan your day around the cheat meal and only do this 1- 2 times per week. Here’s what a day of eating would look like for me if I was eating a big mac meal and trying to lose weight/fat.
Breakfast – 460 calories Lunch – 460 calories Dinner – Big Mac meal ( 1,080 calories)
Total daily calorie intake = 2000 calories which for me would be a 500 calorie deficit.
Strategy 2 How To Set Up Your Single Day Refeed For Weight Loss In 3 Steps
A single day refeed is a day that you spend eating at your maintenance calories once per week. The other 6 days are spent in a deficit.
1. Work out your calorie deficit and multiply it by 7. Again, a sustainable calorie deficit is a calorie deficit of 500 calories. Which for me, means I need to eat 2000 calories every day to lose weight.
I would then multiply this number by 7.
2000 x 7 = 14,000 calories.
2. Determine what day you want to eat at maintenance. Then subtract those calories from your weekly calories.
For example, If I wanted to have a higher calorie day where I ate 2500 calories on a Saturday. I would subtract 2500 calories from my weekly calorie deficit of 14,000.
This would leave me with 11,500 calories left for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.
3. Divide your remaining calories by 6 days.
I would divide 11,500 calories by 6 days. This means I’d be eating 1916 calories on each of these 6 days. Although on Saturday I’d be eating 2500 calories.
This is what a week of dieting with one refeed day would look like.
You can do this and eat at your maintenance calories 1-3 times per week. But make sure you’re in a total weekly 3500 calorie deficit for the best results.
What Are The Benefits Of Cheat Meals?
The main benefit of a cheat meal (especially when weight loss is your goal) is psychological.
It’s nice to know that 1- 2 times per week you can enjoy some junky goodness.
Dieting is tough (especially when you get below 12% body fat for males and 20% body fat for females). This is true even when you’re doing everything right.
Because dieting is essentially a mild form of starvation. And knowing you have more freedom with your food choices a couple of times per week helps you stay sane.
What Are The Benefits Of Refeed Days?
Having a refeed day/ days is a good strategy because it means that you’ll be coming out of a calorie deficit 1-3 days per week.
This can provide a nice psychological benefit of being able to eat more calories 1- 3 days per week.
If you want to use this strategy 2 or 3 times per week divide your deficit over 5 or 4 days respectively.
And eat at your maintenance calories 2-3 days per week.
The only downside of a refeed day/ days is that you’ll have to reduce your calories on the other 4-6 days, more than you may like. To maintain your calorie deficit.
But when the refeed day/days come around you could enjoy a bigger cheat meal. Because you’ll have more calories to spare for it.
Cheat meals/ refeeds can be saved up for when you’re going out with your friends or your spouse. This way you’re not sat there eating chicken and rice while others demolish pizza.
For example, if you normally get a take out with your spouse on a Saturday. Then you could save your cheat meal, refeed day or both for then.
Do Cheat Meals Boost Your Metabolism?
If you eat more calories than you normally do (by indulging in a hedonistic cheat day). You’ll burn more calories through the thermic effect of food.
Note: The thermic effect of food is the number of calories your body burns digesting and absorbing food.
So if you ate 2500 calories per day you’d burn roughly 250 calories of that through TEF. But if you have a colossal cheat day and eat say 5000 calories, then you’d burn 500 calories of that through TEF.
Your Body Has Different Hormonal Responses To Overfeeding And Underfeeding
For example, if you diet down, your body will become less active. And your metabolism (or metabolic rate) will slow down slightly.
Note: Your metabolic rate is the number of calories you burn at rest when you do absolutely nothing. It’s also referred to as your metabolism.
Note: NEAT is the number of calories you burn from:
Walking.
Working, e.g. typing, cooking, manual labour, housework etc.
Undertaking agricultural tasks.
Fidgeting.
This is because your body is like a thermostat. Just like a thermostat wants to maintain a certain temperature in your house. Your body doesn’t want you getting too lean or too fat. It wants you to maintain homeostasis (how you currently are).
So if you do overeat you’ll burn more calories through TEF and increase your activity levels slightly, knowingly or unknowingly.
But if you overeat some of those calories will go towards body fat storage. So the long-winded answer to this question is no not really. But it will increase the number of calories you burn from TEF and NEAT slightly.
The Best Way To Increase Your Metabolism Is To Build Muscle
Because the more muscle you build the more calories your body burns at rest. A cheat day will not do this by any meaningful amount.
And you’ll gain more fat because you’ll be eating a large surplus of calories.
For example, If I ate 5000 calories I’d burn 500 through TEF and maybe slightly more through increased levels of NEAT.
But I’d still be in a surplus of roughly 2000 calories give or take a couple of hundred calories because of increased NEAT.
So that’s potentially 4 days worth of being in a calorie deficit completely wiped out from one cheat day.
Why Cheat Days/Meals Don’t Work For Everyone
If you don’t track your calories and make sure you’re consistently in a calorie deficit. It’ll be hard to lose weight.
If you don’t track your intake and if you just “eat clean” then there’s no way of telling if your in a deficit or not.
Then if you add unstructured cheat days to this it’s going to be almost impossible to be in a deficit.
This is one of the reasons why I’m such a big advocate of calorie tracking. Because it’s a surefire way to ensure you’re in a deficit and losing weight.
The Bottom Line On How Often Should You Have A Cheat Day?
I don’t advocate all-out cheat days. I recommend cheat meals instead because they’re much easier to fit into your caloric intake. Limit these to 1-2 times per week if your goal is weight loss.
Cheat meals and refeed days provide a nice psychological benefit. It’s good to know that you don’t always have to stick 100% to plan. And that you can still enjoy your favourite foods and In the case of refeeds enjoy more calories.
If you don’t track your caloric intake in general then having cheat days/ meals are probably doing more harm than good. If you’re not in a deficit you won’t lose weight.
Whats your favourite cheat meal? let me know in the comments below.
Your body is made up of up to 60-65% water. So drinking enough H2O is crucial for your health. If you want an easier time losing weight, have better workouts, and more energy. Then you need to be drinking enough. Here are 7 of the best health benefits of drinking water.
A harder time mustering up enough physical and mental energy to perform your workout.
It’s worth noting that it’s fairly common for athletes to lose 6-10% of their body’s water weight through sweating.
And that’s why it’s extremely important that you hydrate before, during, and after your workout.
A good way to determine if you’re dehydrated or not is by looking at the colour of your urine.
If your urine is a dark yellow colour and it smells foul, then you’re dehydrated.
The reason your urine goes this colour and smells when you’re dehydrated is because your kidneys hold on to water so that the rest of your body can use it. Instead of excreting it.
Whereas if your urine was a light yellow or watery colour you would be hydrated.
If your performance in the weight room or in general, has been sub-par. Make sure you’re hydrated. And I guarantee you’ll have more productive workouts.
2. Helps With Weight Loss
Drinking enough water can increase feelings of fullness. For example, this one study used two different groups of people.
One group ate in a calorie deficit and drank 500ml of water before each meal.
Another group ate in a calorie deficit and didn’t drink any water before their meals.
The results showed that after 12 weeks, the group of individuals who drank water before their meals lost 2kg more than the group who didn’t.
If you drink water before your meals. You’ll feel fuller. This will result in you eating fewer calories.
This is an easy weight loss hack that you can use to make dieting a tad easier.
3. Increased Energy Levels, Cognitive Function And Mood
It’s not just food that affects your mood, energy levels and cognitive function. Your hydration status does as well.
Studies show that mild dehydration which is a loss of around 1-3% of your body weight can reduce many aspects of the way your brain functions.
If you don’t hydrate after exercise (and in general) this 2013 study shows that in women if they lose 1.4% of their body’s fluid intake they’ll experience:
Increased frequency of headaches.
A decrease in concentration & mood.
And a similar study in men where a loss of 1.6% of their body’s fluid intake resulted in:
Increased feeling’s of anxiety & fatigue.
Decreased working memory.
So if you want to reverse these unsavoury consequences of not drinking enough. Then just drink more water. You’ll feel sharper, happier, and everything will be easier.
4. Healthy Kidneys
If you’re dehydrated then your urine will be a dark colour and it’ll have a repulsive smell. This can cause a build-up of acids and wastes in your body.
Whereas if you drink enough water, kidney stones are less likely to occur.
Kidney stones form less easily when you drink enough water. This ensures that the stone forming crystals don’t stick together. And result in kidney stones in the first place.
If your urine is always a nasty colour. Time to drink up
5. Helps Prevent Hangovers
Most of the nasty symptoms of a hangover are down to one culprit – Dehydration.
The reason you become dehydrated when you’re hungover is that alcohol is a diuretic (1), (2), (3).
This means that when you drink alcohol you pee out more water than you take in.
These effects are more pronounced when a drink has a higher percentage of alcohol. For example, spirits and wine act as more of a diuretic than beer because they contain more alcohol.
But one easy way to help prevent hangovers is to drink water in between alcoholic beverages.
For example, if for every alcoholic drink you also drink a pint of water. And if you have another couple of glasses of water before you go to sleep and get up in the morning. This should result in you being pretty much hangover free.
6. Aiding Digestion And Preventing Constipation
Water and other fluids play a part in breaking down food. This helps your body absorb the nutrients from the foods you eat.
By staying hydrated your heart can do its job more smoothly. When you drink enough water your heart can pump blood with greater ease.
This means that your muscles will be able to work more optimally. And will result in you having better workouts.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Much Water Should I Drink?
A: You can use the simple method of looking at the colour of your urine. If it’s a darkish colour and it smells revolting then you’re dehydrated and not drinking enough.
Although if it’s a light yellow, or see through colour you’re hydrated. I have a full article here that you can read that adresses this question in detail.
Can I Tell If I’m Dehydrated By Monitoring My Thirst?
A: Common advice is to drink when you’re thirsty and don’t drink when you’re not. In fact, when you’re thirsty you might already be dehydrated. And by this point, you could already have lost around 1-2% of your body’s water content.
When you lose this much water you start to experience undesirable consequences which include:
Agitation.
Stress.
Forgetfulness.
Because thirst isn’t a good indicator of your hydration status. It’s a good idea to drink before you’re thirsty. This way you don’t allow yourself to become dehydrated.
Can I Drink Too Much Water?
A: Yes you can. You can develop a potentially fatal condition called hyponatremia. This is a condition where you have a low sodium concentration in your blood.
Although I wouldn’t worry too much about this because you’ll need to make a real effort to drink enough water to develop this condition.
Tips So You Can Get More Health Hacking H2O
Eat Your Water By Eating More Fruits And Vegetables Specifically One’s Such As:
Strawberries.
Melons like, honeydew, watermelon or cantaloupe.
Pineapple.
Broccoli.
Bell Peppers.
Oranges.
Peaches.
Cucumbers.
Celery.
Zucchini.
Lettuce.
You get up to 20% of your fluid intake from food. So if you want to increase your fluid intake. Swap out some highly processed foods with the ones listed above.
Drink More Hot Drinks
You could drink fruit teas, green teas, black coffee or any other hot drinks you like.
Although I like to limit my caffeinated drinks such as coffee to a maximum of 3-4 cups per day. And if you’re caffeine-sensitive this wouldn’t be such a bad idea for you to do either.
But make sure that any hot drinks you consume are relatively low in calories. Because drinking your calories is nowhere near as filling as eating them. Especially if your goal is weight loss.
It’s been said that caffeinated drinks (like coffee) dehydrate you. But the truth is they don’t. For the most part, they’re made up of mostly water and will count towards your daily fluid intake.
This is the same with diet drinks and even full-sugar sodas. The majority of their contents is water. So they count towards your fluid intake as well. Although full-sugar sodas will contain extra calories because of the added sugar.
The Bottom Line On The Health Benefits Of Drinking Enough Water Every Day
Drinking enough water has many benefits that come together to improve your overall health.
Although drinking enough water is one of the basic things you need to get right to improve your health. The average person in the UK only drinks 1.7 litres per day which is below the basic recommended guidelines of 2.5 litres for men and 2 litres for women. Although most people who are active and who regularly resistance train could benefit from drinking more water than this.
Are you drinking enough water? let me know in the comments below. If you want to ask me any questions or need any extra help send me an email at contact@henrypaget.com.
henrypaget.com 