The Road to 315 - Goals

Setting a goal for yourself is I would say the most important step before you truly commit to the gym. If you don't have a goal, and you don't have a plan, your not going to be prepared and it WILL be more difficult to stay committed. When picking your goal you have to think about what you are really trying to accomplish! Do you want to lose fat? Do you want to gain muscle? Are you trying to get more athletic or are you trying to get strong? Everyone of these goals will have you changing your routines, your diet, and your mindset. When I think about the goal I want to achieve I think about long term what do I want. Am I trying to burn fat and lose weight (which was my original goal) to my goal now which is gain muscle while minimizing fat gain. With each goal you have your "landmarks" that I talked about in another post and these are your achievements along the way. The goal is the end picture. Whether your trying to get ready for beach season or want to be the next Mr. Olympia.. Make a goal. Make it happen.

So when you decide you have a goal, what do you do? How do you achieve it? Do you spend time researching or do you just dive in and wing it!? I can speak from experiencing saying both work, and one without the other is definitely possible, but if you have both you are going to be much better off! No amount of research on the matter is going to get you in shape, and going to the gym without a plan/goal will leave you walking around looking at machines and not maximizing your time spent in the gym.

I'm going to break it down to the two goals I have the most experience with and those are burning fat, and gaining muscle! At different times of my life I have worked towards these goals and though I wouldn't say I'm an expert on the matter, I have done my research, and I have put the hours in at the gym. 

If you're trying to burn fat/lose weight I'm a firm believer in weight training with a controlled diet. When I started my fitness journey I was 300 lbs and wanted to burn fat and get stronger at the same time. I had a personal trainer and his method was very simple and effective. In only 5 months I had gone from 300 lbs to 252 lbs which was the lowest weight I had been in years. The plan was simple; control your calories eating at a 700 calorie deficit, cutting out bad carbs, fatty proteins, and consuming only healthy fats, and weight train 5 days a week. I didn't do much, if ANY cardio. I would occasionally throw in some HIIT (high intensity interval training) like pushing the sled, box jumps, medicine ball slams, or running the stairs, but the majority of my training was using weights or doing body weight exercises. I'll tell you not only was it fun! It was efficient! Weight training is good because it works on building muscle and it helps burn fat while your body is at rest. It's important to keep the rest short between sets, 45 - 60 seconds and keep your reps in the 8 - 12 range.

If your trying to gain muscle while minimizing fat gain, which is what I am doing right now, it's important to still eat a healthy diet to minimize the fat gain but you got to up the intake! My goal is to maintain my current weight which is 275 lbs, but to gain muscle and lower my body fat percentage in the process. The key to this type of training is heavier weight, more sets, and eat enough food to maintain your current weight. It's important to find your BMR (basal metabolic rate) and aim for a calorie range equal to that of your BMR. You can find your BMR by looking online or using this easy equation. 

Men = 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)

Women = 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)

The healthier you eat at this calorie range the more muscle you will gain while keeping your body fat percentage low!! Currently I bench 3 days a week and train legs twice a week. One leg day is higher rep with less weight and the other is lower rep with heavy weight! I'm not claiming to know it all but I do know the key to gaining muscle is lift heavy and eat a lot!!

Now that you have your goal set, get to the gym and start making them a reality! The worst thing you can do is push back starting because your afraid of beginning! Set a goal, make a plan, and START YOUR JOURNEY! 

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