Reflecting on the past two years of coaching people online and in person, I created a list of the advice that my clients have found most helpful in the pursuit of their goals, but that seems to be underrated in an online fitness space rife with detox teas and abs-blasting workouts.
 
This article breaks down these tips into the following categories:
 

1. Nutrition
2. Training
3. Habits
4. Mindset

​Training and dieting plateaus are normal to an extent, but they can cripple your results if they are too frequent.
 
Being able to assess your training in an objective manner and to identify why you’ve plateaued, is going to be essential to chart a path out of your current funk and to create a preventative strategy for the future.
 
This article breaks down the following common reasons for a plateau and the troubleshooting approach to each one:

1. The structure of your current program
2. Too much variety
3. Not enough variety

 
Start with the reason that seems most likely, apply the suggestions for that alone, then wait at least four to six weeks before re-evaluating whether you’re still “stuck”.

Why not try all of these solutions at once?
 
Though it might seem slower to produce results, this trial-and-error approach is the most effective in the long run. Altering too many variables at once will make it challenging, if not impossible, to figure out which change was the most helpful.
 
Now, let’s tackle the first reason:

​Spoiler alert: Yes, it’s possible! (Gasp.)
 
Humans were changing their body size long before calories and calorie-tracking apps existed.
 
Tracking calories and macros can be a very successful approach to losing fat, gaining muscle, or maintaining your weight. In fact, it’s the method I’ve had the greatest success with in my own bodybuilding journey, and I employ it with many clients.
 
However, it isn’t for everyone.
 
You can never track calories or macros, and still get great results. So, if you’ve tried it and it just isn’t for you, why not have a crack at one of the three fat loss methods in this article?
 
Fair warning: Not a single one of them involves cutting out entire food groups, your favourite treats, or any joy from your life!

​If you’ve been reading this blog since 2019 (hats off to you, OG Reader!), you might remember “Hardgainer, Now What?”, an article I published in January 2019.
 
Over two years later, I decided it was high time to revamp the original post, tackling the topic from a new perspective:
 
What are some key aspects of training and nutrition, which hardgainers typically struggle with, and which could have a dramatic impact on your physique?
 
First of all, a hardgainer is someone who thinks they struggle to build muscle or to put on any weight at all. They usually look like the typical “skinny kid” and believe they have “bad genetics” for muscle growth.
 
I view myself as a hardgainer and, at some point in my bodybuilding journey – and sometimes to this day – I’ve had all three of the issues I’m going to cover in this article.
 
What’s more, over these past years working as a coach, I noticed that many clients who wanted help building muscle, were facing similar hardships.
 
So I’m going to share:

• Three hardgainers’ common problems
• How to solve them

 
Ready for the brain gains?

​What does healthy eating mean to you?
 
Since the first time I can remember having thoughts about food until after I became a training and nutrition coach, healthy eating to me meant losing weight.
 
In my head, if someone had weight to lose, they’d do that by eating healthier. If someone was already slim, it was because they already ate healthy.
 
However, you can be at a relatively low weight without eating healthy, and you can also be at a relatively higher weight whilst having a very healthy diet.
 
What’s more – and most importantly – health isn’t limited to weight, and healthy eating influences far more aspects of wellness than just your body size.
 
So, how can you improve your diet if you don’t want to change your weight? I’ve got you!
 
Each of the nine tips in this article poses a challenge to help you form a new eating habit.
 
These aren’t meant to be hard and fast rules, but rather starting points to give you a specific target to shoot for. Goal specificity is key to tracking your progress, and progress is key to success.
 
Without further ado, let’s dig in (pun obviously intended).