Over the years, I have distributed over 150 nutrition plans and 50 training programs. Over 70% of them have been to males between the ages 20-39. I have seen some guys make amazing progress. I have seen some guys stay the same. I have seen some guys go backwards. Here are the most common mistakes men make that significantly affect their chance of success.
- “Why don’t I have abs yet”
I’ll raise my hand for this one as well….Not following the program for long enough is easily the most common mistake men make when on a training or meal plan. We all love seeing progress, but with our bodies, we need to be patient. Most programs are structured to give you results over a minimum of 8 weeks. Sometimes we are lucky enough to see progress quickly, but most of the time it’s a slow burn until one day in a couple of months you wake and look at yourself in the mirror and think “damnnnn, I am looking good”. Stick with it, progress will come, TRUST THE PROCESS!
- “I don’t think i’ll eat this meal today”
Taking shortcuts is effective for some things…but sadly it’s not effective for changing our body composition. Planned meals all have a purpose, whether they are pre-workout, post-workout, breaking the fast, fuel the body, sleep well, snacking to feel full….they all play a role in your day to day life. When missing a meal, you are interrupting the step by step process which can have significant effects which is mainly feeling hungrier earlier in the day and most likely going to seek out some sneaky snacks.
- “A couple of beers tonight won’t hurt”
Mmmmm yes they will. 1 beer every night with dinner is an extra 1,000 calories that you didn’t need to have over the course of a week. Not only does it have unnecessary calories, but when alcohol is consumed in large quantities (like a standard saturday night out on the town) it messes up the bodies metabolism over the next 24-48 hours because our body is so worried about getting rid of the alcohol, that it doesn’t touch our other energy stores, like our body fat…which we are trying to get rid of…
- “This cheat meal is amazing”
Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing better than a cheat meal on a Friday or Saturday night and all my plans are flexible enough to allow that. However, this cheat meal should turn into a cheat feast…Eating healthy for 6.75 days doesn’t mean we can go to dirty bird, pick up a bucket of chicken, large chips, large potato and gravy, a zinger burger, 2 deep fried pineapple fritters (sooo good by the way) and 1.25L of Mountain Dew…The body likes to process its calories between 5-7 days, so one blow out day will throw off you entire week of eating well. Choose your cheat meals wisely.
- “I won’t measure this out, I can just eye-ball it”
Even the professionals get “guesstimations” wrong regularly. When a meal plan says 200g of rice, it is best to follow that advice. An extra 10g of each ingredient throughout the entire day adds up. That could be an extra 100g over the entire day which could be 200 calories. Buy some food scales and learn to use them, even with the simple stuff.
- “Nah I don’t need to warm up or cool down”
Don’t let your ego get the better of you. If you need to hold those elastic bands over your head and go round and round to mobilise your shoulders… use them. If you need to hump the air (hip thrusts) on the gym floor before squatting because your glutes and hammies are still half asleep…do them. Do the basic things well so that you give your body the best possible chance to perform and recover.
All of these are easy to do….and also easy to stop. You need to create habits that promote the positive behaviours and limit your negative behaviours. Find ways to “cheat” your way around these easy mistakes to truly follow the process and see the results you deserve.