Common Questions From Clients
QUESTION : As a woman, will I get bulky if I lift weights?
ANSWER: No. I haven't ever had a client complain of getting too bulky. Gaining muscle is very hard and a slow process. It takes a lot of effort, both in the gym and kitchen for a man to gain muscle. It's even harder for women to gain muscle as they don't produce enough testosterone to gain significant amount of muscle without drugs.
It's not something that just happens by accident.
QUESTION: How do I get rid of these flabby arms?
ANSWER: You can't target certain parts of your body that you want to lose fat from, so if you want to get rid of your flabby arms you'll need to lose body fat. Building some muscle in your arms will help, but the main thing is to lose body fat.
QUESTION: I want nice abs. Why aren't you getting me to do more ab work?
ANSWER: This are common question I get asked. The main thing you need to do to have good abs is get your body fat low enough to see them. if you have too much fat covering them you won't see your abs.
People tend to think that they need to spend large part of the workout doing ab work. I know people who have done hundreds of sit ups and crunches most days thinking it would work. It was a waste of time and effort. You wouldn't train any other muscle like this if you wanted to make it bigger, so it doesn't make sense to train your abs like this. I've always had a six pack and while I do some direct work for my core, it's a very small part of my training routine. I do around 2-4 sets a week in total. Keeping my body fat low is the main priority if I want abs.
QUESTION: I'm not getting sore, do my workouts need to be harder?
ANSWER: No. How sore you are isn't a good way to judge how effective your workout is. A common mistake from a beginner is to try and chase being sore. You should focus on how you're progressing.
QUESTIONS: Are Squats Bad for Your knees?
ANSWERS: No. Assuming you're not injured squatting with good form isn't bad for your knees. However, doing them with bad form is likely to end up with their knees hurting. Unfortunately, the majority of people don't learn how to squat.
Make sure you learn how to squat with good technique if you're going to squat.
QUESTION: How Fast Can I Lose Fat?
ANSWER: You’ve probably heard that ‘healthy weight loss is around 2lbs (1kg) a week’. Well, yes, for some people it is. However, it's It’s an average.
It does depend how overweight you are. If you need to lose around 60kg, I would consider 1 kg a week to be poor progress,and would hope for 2/3kg a week to start with.
If you're only 10-12 kg overweight 1kg a week lose will be about right.
QUESTION: How Fast Can I Gain Muscle?
ANSWER: For men, gaining 10-15lbs/5-7kg of lean mass in their first full year of hard, committed training and nutrition is not unusual. It's not that common either as most people aren't committed enough, but not unusual. You can then pretty much half that for the second year, and same again for the third year.
So, typically, a very slim 63kg guy can expect to end up around 75kg/83kg (depending on amount of fat gain as well) in three years if he does exceptionally well. Transformations that suggest that can be achieved in a year or less are flat out deceitful and should be ignored.
QUESTION: What Are Good Foods to Eat When trying to Gain Weight?
ANSWER: If you are underweight and struggle to eat enough calories you'll want to eat calorie dense food such as.
-Eggs
-Beef
-Nut butters
-Milk
-Olive oils
-Bananas
-Cheese
-Protein shakes
Eating liquid calories is very useful if you struggle to eat enough.
QUESTION: What Supplements should I take?
ANSWER: You don't have to take any. Supplements are just there to supplement your diet. They aren't essential.
However, some can be useful, but it depends of what your lack in your diet.
Protein supplements can be convenient and inexpensive way to get protein.
Creatine has been proven to work well.
Most people would benefit from taking fish oil to get enough Omega 3.
Many people are deficient in vitamin D, especially during the winter.
People who exercise regularly are often deficient in magnesium.
A multi vitamin might be useful.
QUESTION: What time of the day of the day is best for me to train?
ANSWER: Whatever time you can fit it in and personal preference. It really doesn't matter. Some people find it's better to train early so they know it's done and life won't get in the way. Others hate training in the morning.
The time of the day you train won't make any difference to your results.
ANSWER: No. I haven't ever had a client complain of getting too bulky. Gaining muscle is very hard and a slow process. It takes a lot of effort, both in the gym and kitchen for a man to gain muscle. It's even harder for women to gain muscle as they don't produce enough testosterone to gain significant amount of muscle without drugs.
It's not something that just happens by accident.
QUESTION: How do I get rid of these flabby arms?
ANSWER: You can't target certain parts of your body that you want to lose fat from, so if you want to get rid of your flabby arms you'll need to lose body fat. Building some muscle in your arms will help, but the main thing is to lose body fat.
QUESTION: I want nice abs. Why aren't you getting me to do more ab work?
ANSWER: This are common question I get asked. The main thing you need to do to have good abs is get your body fat low enough to see them. if you have too much fat covering them you won't see your abs.
People tend to think that they need to spend large part of the workout doing ab work. I know people who have done hundreds of sit ups and crunches most days thinking it would work. It was a waste of time and effort. You wouldn't train any other muscle like this if you wanted to make it bigger, so it doesn't make sense to train your abs like this. I've always had a six pack and while I do some direct work for my core, it's a very small part of my training routine. I do around 2-4 sets a week in total. Keeping my body fat low is the main priority if I want abs.
QUESTION: I'm not getting sore, do my workouts need to be harder?
ANSWER: No. How sore you are isn't a good way to judge how effective your workout is. A common mistake from a beginner is to try and chase being sore. You should focus on how you're progressing.
QUESTIONS: Are Squats Bad for Your knees?
ANSWERS: No. Assuming you're not injured squatting with good form isn't bad for your knees. However, doing them with bad form is likely to end up with their knees hurting. Unfortunately, the majority of people don't learn how to squat.
Make sure you learn how to squat with good technique if you're going to squat.
QUESTION: How Fast Can I Lose Fat?
ANSWER: You’ve probably heard that ‘healthy weight loss is around 2lbs (1kg) a week’. Well, yes, for some people it is. However, it's It’s an average.
It does depend how overweight you are. If you need to lose around 60kg, I would consider 1 kg a week to be poor progress,and would hope for 2/3kg a week to start with.
If you're only 10-12 kg overweight 1kg a week lose will be about right.
QUESTION: How Fast Can I Gain Muscle?
ANSWER: For men, gaining 10-15lbs/5-7kg of lean mass in their first full year of hard, committed training and nutrition is not unusual. It's not that common either as most people aren't committed enough, but not unusual. You can then pretty much half that for the second year, and same again for the third year.
So, typically, a very slim 63kg guy can expect to end up around 75kg/83kg (depending on amount of fat gain as well) in three years if he does exceptionally well. Transformations that suggest that can be achieved in a year or less are flat out deceitful and should be ignored.
QUESTION: What Are Good Foods to Eat When trying to Gain Weight?
ANSWER: If you are underweight and struggle to eat enough calories you'll want to eat calorie dense food such as.
-Eggs
-Beef
-Nut butters
-Milk
-Olive oils
-Bananas
-Cheese
-Protein shakes
Eating liquid calories is very useful if you struggle to eat enough.
QUESTION: What Supplements should I take?
ANSWER: You don't have to take any. Supplements are just there to supplement your diet. They aren't essential.
However, some can be useful, but it depends of what your lack in your diet.
Protein supplements can be convenient and inexpensive way to get protein.
Creatine has been proven to work well.
Most people would benefit from taking fish oil to get enough Omega 3.
Many people are deficient in vitamin D, especially during the winter.
People who exercise regularly are often deficient in magnesium.
A multi vitamin might be useful.
QUESTION: What time of the day of the day is best for me to train?
ANSWER: Whatever time you can fit it in and personal preference. It really doesn't matter. Some people find it's better to train early so they know it's done and life won't get in the way. Others hate training in the morning.
The time of the day you train won't make any difference to your results.