​I’m sure this will come as a shock, but, when you don’t sleep well, life sucks.
 
What you may not know and what’s worse by far (let’s get our priorities straight here), is that your gains will suffer.
 
You could have the best training program and diet in the world, but, if your sleep is inadequate, you’re going to struggle with:
 

• Losing fat
• Gaining muscle
• Improving training performance

 
Yes, that’s basically everything.
 
Fortunately, improving sleep is easy, cheap, and more anabolic than expensive supplements, pre-workout formulas, and other less useful yet “sexier” fitness tools.
 
So don’t sleep on this low-hanging fruit. (See what I did there?)
 
Keep reading for a comprehensive guide on:
 

• The benefits of sleep on your gains
• The negative effects of inadequate sleep
• What “good sleep” is
• Practical tips to improve sleep
• Sleep supplements

 
Let’s delve into it.

Should you cut or bulk?
 
A dilemma we’ve all faced at least once.
 
You may be wondering, “Am I lean enough to bulk? Or should I cut first and bulk later?”
 
This indecision is holding you back from making any progress at all in either direction.
 
I’ve been there. Three years ago, I spent six months stagnating because I couldn’t commit to a bulk, but I also didn’t want to cut again because I’d just finished one such phase.
 
This article is going to spare you all of that and take you through a thought process to help you make the best decision to attain the physique you want.
 
This thought process includes the following assessments:
 

1. Which is going to improve your health the most: losing fat or gaining muscle?
2. Which phase can you commit to for at least three months in this stage of your life?

 
If you haven’t already, complete a Kickstart Phase first to prime yourself for either bulking or cutting, then come back to this post and dive in.

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.