Nutrition, so easy it's hard.. and letting go of control.

Before we start, this is going to be super simple, I'm not delving into the depths of biochemisty here, because it is not necessary. Nutrition CAN be rocket science, but it does NOT need to be if you are simply trying to adjust your bodyweight.

At the end of this section there will be 3 links to a more in depth explanation, but here is the simple version on how to go about changing your body composition.

1. Download carbon diet coach app (no affilaition). Add in your vital statistics and your weight target, and get the recommendation for your calories. This app costs £9.99, which is a good thing becuase the cost annoys you enough to make an effort (a free app will not).

2. Spend 1 week experiementing on how you get to your numbers. Spend the next week hitting them. The app has a 'virtual coach' which you check in with weekly, and it will adjust your calories and macro's up or down based on your body weight change. Within 2 weeks of doing this it will have your numbers almost exact. I know this becuase before I went to ibiza a few years ago, I needed to lose 5kgs. I was ruthlessly accurate and the scales hit 5kgs down ON THE DAY I LEFT!!!!.

3. Aim to eat mostly home cooked or single ingredient foods, eat your fruit and veg, drink lots of water... but you know all this. Having said this, you could eat protein shakes and coco pops if you like, if you hit the numbers your bodyshpe will change (your hair might fall out so I wouldnt recommend it, but you get the point).

4. Hit the numbers. Everyone thinks less is better, but its not, exact is better. If you have some calories left at the end of the day, eat them. I used to enjoy a large bowl of crunchy nut cornflakes at the end of the day if I was low on carbs... lovely.

5. Continue for 8 weeks. This is the hard bit. People just don't have any discipline.

Losing weight also goes against your bodys natural instincts, We are built for survival, your body doesnt want to lose weight. You will be hungry, it will be annoying. STICK TO IT!

Side notes

- Protein is the hardest number to hit. Prepare to eat a protein source with every meal, and get a bag of whey protein. If you are older, you need more protein, this will be a shock to some people.

- The amount of fat and carbohydrate are loosley irrelevant. If you do well eating more carbs, do that, if you like more fatty foods, eat them. Calories and protein are the most important.

- If you want to eat more, move more.

Calorie requirements - https://www.loom.com/share/781ea27e7f45491b96b4ae607fa492f4?sid=b1cb249f-8ed8-4a57-be97-bf150842b6d5

Protein - https://www.loom.com/share/02f99a367ec94cd0a2d4f74993c7ac3a?sid=55ccc4f1-07eb-4b08-961b-f239b73a09c2

Fats, carbs and the rest - https://www.loom.com/share/564a16527a194e7e9eca0e1dd91e494e?sid=d4ed758d-d202-45ef-9104-a72479a6f992

#2 A technique principle

I want you to try something for me this week.

Over years Im sure that you have been told to do a lot of work through your heels, when you split squat, squat, deadlift, step up, trap bar deadlift... the list goes on. 'Drive through the heels' they say.

But here is what I see.. Those who use this technique are vunerable to hip and lower back issues, and those with hip and lower back issues rely on this technique. The reason that happens is that when you drive through the heel, all of the force goes up into the hip, and you bypass the calfs, quads and hamstrings.

So what I want you to try:

When you are performing these lifts, on the 'up' part of the lift, drive hard through your midfoot (laces). Feel the difference that this small change makes in how much more work you get done in the calfs, quads and hamstrings. I'm sure this will become more mainstream soon, but becuase you are here, you are lucky to realise the benefits earlier than most.

If you have hip or lower back pain, I think this will be an absolute gamechanger for you.

If you want to feel this in action, try this bodyweight split squat in the box below, and let me know how it feels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eftu7eCAyg

#3: What I have been thinking about?

Handing over control.

I speak to a lot of people, men mainly, about their training. They are generally in good jobs, they provide well, and they are leaders. The difficulty then comes with having the vunerability to hand control to someone else for any of their needs. They are used to being successful, and want to be successful in all of their pursuits, therefore handing over control is a big decision as they are now less responsible for their success.

There is also a higer risk of failure by taking on a challenge that they are less knowledgeable about, which is daunting to someone who is successful at most of their endeavors.

Unfortunately the fitness world is full of people who frankly don't know much about true fitness.

Having said that, taking the leap is the hardest part, and as long as you feel like you have found someone you can trust, then they should only serve you well.

To sum up, if you are a successful person, and you truly need/would benefit in some help in getting somewhere, whatever it might be, find someone you trust enough to allow them to take the reigns. This will allow you to get to your intended target more quickly and easily, with far less pain, and give you a huge amount of new knowledge on the way.

#4: Whats been happening at Razor Performance

Its the final run into the Brighton and London Marathon. We have 3 marathoners who are all moving nicely towards their goal. I'll keep you posted on progress.

We have a brutal ride in Majorca coming up, a long term marathon PB attempt for our resisdent England seniors competitor, an ironman in the summer, a 10k race, lots of big lifting, lots of weight losing, and one whole lot of body bulletproofing.

I am also in the process of moving to a new programming software, which will help me visualise peoples training more easily, give my clients a whole load of new data, and generally make the user expeience better. This is BIG job, but it will be worth it. I also decided during half term week to start building a new website, which was terrible timing, but what you gonna do!! I'll let you know when its done.

#5: And finally

If you are stuck in a rut, need some help with getting your body back to where it has been before, or you have an event that you are not confident to do, please reach out. I am more than happy to have a chat and see if I am able to help. You may also know someone who I might be able to help, so do them a favour and make the connection.

Either book a call on the link below or email me back on this address.

A favour. If this has landed in your junk mail, please remove it and mark it as safe, so I can send over more value in the near future. If you view it here on Linkedin, feel free to share with friends who may find value in it.

A second favour, if there is anything you would like to hear more about, please message me back, this newsletter is here to serve, so don't be a stranger.

Andy/Razor

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