[Pictures of the new gym at the end!]
Today we start with a story- a true story that happened recently, right here at BSP NOVA. But first, a little background info…
Every time a member finishes a semi-private training phase, we have a brief discussion to see where their head is at. That discussion typically happens as the member is filling out a “completed program questionnaire,” in which we ask a few simple questions:
- Do you feel that you accomplished your goals with this phase? (Y) (N)
- Not your end-all-be-all goal, but realistically what you expected for the past 4-6 weeks.
- Do you have any questions/comments/concerns about that?
- Ask! We’re here to help, and this helps us help you.
- Do you have any special requests as we progress on to the next phase?
- Maybe there’s a new addition to the goal, or you want certain exercises in the next phase. Whatever it is, ask away!
The questionnaire has been great at helping us to give the members what they want, along with what we believe they need. The members also fill out a daily readiness questionnaire when they come in. That questionnaire asks a few simple questions as well:
- How many hours of sleep did you get last night?
- Self-rate yourself in terms of soreness/fatigue.
- We use a simple green, yellow, red rating scale.
- Self-rate yourself in terms of pain.
- Hopefully we don’t have any pain, but life happens.
- Green = no pain; Yellow = preexisting pain, that we are already aware of, with no increase; Red = new pain, or increase in preexisting pain
- Self-rate your last 24 hours of nutrition.
- Green, yellow, or red again.
The daily questionnaire helps us to get a gauge on things in our members’ lives, and decide if we need to make any adjustments to the program for the day.
Alright, so about that story…
Coach: Another phase down today, huh?! How do you feel things went?
Member: Yeah, I think things went pretty well, but I’ve really got to drop this belly fat, and it’s just not budging.
Coach: Well, I see you’ve been filling in a lot of yellow and red for nutrition on the readiness questionnaire, maybe it’s time to discuss taking nutrition to the next level. What do you think?
Member: I’m sure that would help a little, but I just think I need more abdominal exercises and high intensity training.
The discussion went on from here with a back-and-forth about the balance of nutrition, exercise/activity, and recovery.
.
“You can’t out-train a bad diet.”
You’ve likely heard that quote before, and it’s 100% true. High intensity training and direct ab training will not be the answers to your six-pack-dreams.
The truth is, it’s a delicate balance of three things:
- Nutrition
- Recovery
- Exercise/Activity
.
Nutrition
Without a doubt, if a lean midsection is the goal, nutrition is where we need to start. And it’s not complicated, really.
- Eat slowly and stop when satisfied
- Lean protein with each meal
- Veggies with each meal
- Healthy fats with each meal
- Appropriate carbs with each meal
Yeah, that’s really oversimplifying things, but it’s a great start. We use Precision Nutrition’s Pro Coach program with our members. It’s an educational, habit-based, one-year mentor-ship approach to crushing your nutrition. It’s simple, and it works.
Recovery
Recovery is an aspect that a lot of people don’t consider when starting out on their quest for abs. The truth is, after nutrition, proper sleep and stress management can be a real deal-breaker. Your diet could be great, exercise on point, and too little sleep and constant stress will still derail your goals. Here’s a few things to shoot for:
- 7-8 hours of sleep
- Way off? Start with some more. We’ve challenged members with getting just 20 minutes more sleep a night, and seen noticeable results. Keep inching to the right, you’ll thank us soon enough.
- Plan your days, and start with a weekly brain dump. It might not seem like recovery, but this will help you to be more on top of the things you NEED to get done, so that you can do the things you WANT to get done.
- Check out this post we did a few weeks ago for more help: Dominate the Day
- Low level activity
- I know, I know this is supposed to be about recovery, but it applies. If all you do is go hard in the gym and then sit around the rest of the day(s), you’re missing a big piece of the recovery puzzle. Do something every day to feel better.
- A daily meditation practice
- Seriously. Try out “Headspace.” You can thank us later.
Exercise/Activity
This is what everyone wants to talk about. But unless you are actively working on your nutrition and recovery concurrently, we need to have a reality talk. If those are in the works? Great! Let’s find out what you need most, out of the following, and let’s get to work!
- Hypertrophy
- Armor building, and it burns more calories at rest!
- Strength
- Resiliency building.
- Mobility
- Move Well. Move Often (courtesy of Functional Movement Systems)
- Conditioning
- Efficient cardiac system → Preparation for the things you want to do in LIFE.
The secret- everyone needs all of these! There’s a balance to it all, and we can figure out the best approach for you with our free consultation.
Ready to check out Beyond Strength Performance NOVA?
P.S. The New Gym is Coming Along
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