Working out your calorie and protein targets is relatively easy. Any free online calculator can do that for you.
 
Actually hitting those targets? Not so much.
 
That’s where this article comes in, covering four ways to hit your calorie and protein targets every day, without fail.
 
Two of these strategies will apply to you if you have the time to pre-track your food.
 
The last two will have you covered if you need to track on the fly.
 
Therefore, whichever your experience, you’ll find something of value in this article and, most importantly, you’ll be able to apply it to your own circumstances straight away.
 
Let’s dig in.

​Bulking is the process of building new muscle mass through a combination of training and nutrition. It’s empowering and rewarding, but it can be daunting if you’ve never done it before.
 
In order to arm you with the knowledge you need to approach a bulking, or muscle-building, phase successfully, this article is going to address the following questions:

• What does “bulking” mean?
• Who is it for?
• What are the priorities in a bulking phase?
• How do you structure training?
• How do you structure your diet?

 
To make the most of a bulking phase, I recommend you start with this article and run a Kickstart Phase.
 
When you’re done, come back to this bulking guide and keep reading.
 
It’s time to put some muscle on.

So, you’re on board with the idea of tracking your calories and macros to gain muscle and lose fat.
 
You read my “Macros 101” article and learnt how to set your nutritional targets.
 
You started tracking and saw some good results.
 
But then, a few weeks in, you think you’ve hit a plateau.
 
And now you’re wondering, “Do I need to change anything?”
 
To be honest with you, tweaking a client’s macros or calories is usually my last port of call.
 
Often, a much more effective solution is to review your approach to tracking. After all, you haven’t been doing it for that long, so you may have yet to master some tips and tricks to make this system truly work for you.
 
In this article, I’m going to share five tracking hacks that always help my clients overcome their first plateau.
 
If you’re ready to master tracking, keep reading.

​If you’re relatively new to the pursuit of a leaner and stronger physique, you may be asking yourself: “Should I cut or bulk?”
 
Indeed, it’s a question I get a lot during clients’ initial consultations.
 
To start, let’s get our terms straight. A “cut” is a fat loss phase, focused on body fat reduction. A “bulk” is a muscle-building phase, focused on an increase in muscle mass.
 
So, which one should you do first?
 
My answer to these newbie clients is: Neither.
 
If you’ve never done a properly structured bulk or cut, you may not have the skills to get the most from either just yet. Imagine if your primary school teacher asked you to write a novel before you learnt the alphabet. Would you have been able to do it?
 
Yeah, I didn’t think so.
 
All aspects of training and nutrition require knowledge and skill, so you need practice. 
 
That’s why, before you cut or bulk, you need the Kickstart Phase, an initial stage that I guide all of my newbie clients through in order to boost their future results.
 
In this article, I’ll take you through the answers to these questions:
 

• Who needs a Kickstart Phase?
• Why does it help?
• What results can you expect?
• How long does it last?
• How do you set it up?

 
Let’s kick things off with:

​If you want to build as much muscle as you can, doing a list of random exercises for 3 sets of 12 reps each just won’t cut it, unless you’re a true beginner. What you need is an effective muscle-building program.
 
The components of any good program are called training variables, which can be structured together in a variety of ways, depending on your fitness level, goals, and needs. In this article, we’ll focus on three of the most important variables for muscle growth:
 

• Volume
• Intensity of load
• Intensity of effort

 
We’ll cover what they are, what the current scientific literature can tell us about them in relation to muscle growth, and how to implement them in your own program.
 
Ready for the brain gains?