Instead of making New Year predictions for trends in the whole diet and fitness industry, what if I could take out my crystal ball and predict with perfect precision exactly what kind of health and fitness results you will achieve by the end of the coming year? I can do that. In fact, I already did. Click here to see the prediction list in today's blog post
Does alcohol really make you gain weight, or is something else going on behind the scenes? Calories, hormones, appetite, and eating behavior all play a role, but not in the way most people assume. This article looks at why some people seem to drink without gaining fat, why others struggle with belly fat, and what the science actually suggests about alcohol and body composition.
If you want to get the best muscle gains possible, there are training variables that you need to optimize. That includes things like how much weight, how much intensity, and of course progressive overload. One of the most important variables is how many sets per week (aka "volume"). Though it's been researched in depth it's one of the most overlooked and misunderstood factors in the muscle building equation. The biggest study on volume ever done was just published and the findings were fascinating and useful....
Mark Williams was the overall winner in the 2024 Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle Challenge in the men's muscle and physique division. In only 12 weeks, he burned off 23 pounds of fat (203-180 pounds). And that was only one challenge that ended in August. On January 1st he weighed 246 pounds, the heaviest in his life. That means in less than 8 months he burned over 65 pounds of fat. Most remarkable of all, he went from so unhealthy he thought he would die, to almost perfect health, astonishing his doctors and everyone around him.
This book was originally published in the late 1960s, but back then it wasn't a book, it was an audio program published by Nightingale Conant, the personal development company Earl Nightingale co-founded With Lloyd Conant. Much more recently, in 2018, the Nightingale Conant company (still in business) published Lead the Field as a paperback. This is a success classic by a legendary broadcaster and father of the audio learning industry....
At Brown University, Dr. Rena Wing and her colleagues knew that the biggest problem is not taking fat off, it's keeping fat off. So they designed a study where subjects were told to break their diet for at least two weeks. The scientists were intentionally trying to get people to go off their diet and regain weight so they could study relapse and how to best get back on the wagon afterwards. What happened was totally unexpected......
Traditional chocolate mug cakes usually don't appear on health and fitness sites, for obvious reasons. They use loads of sugar and oil and may have over 600 calories per serving and hardly any protein. Crazy right? But with a few ingredient modifications like using chocolate protein powder, you can cut the calories in half and boost the protein to 36 grams and it still tastes downright decadent...
High fat, low carb keto diets are still trending. They're not just trending, low carb diets are here to stay. But despite all the new science available today that gives us a better understanding of how low carb, high protein or low carb, high fat diets really work, a lot of people are still thinking about it wrong and doing it wrong. Marketeers are taking it to the bank… consumers, on the other hand, are being taken. And that’s why I’m revisiting and re-sharing this classic article, 20 years after its original publication
An Inner Circle member who I chat with quite often asked me the other day: "Tom, how come you always seem so critical of supplements in general? I would think, since you've always been a natural bodybuilder, that if it was possible a natural supplement could increase performance or muscle gains, and be an alternative to steroids or P.E.D.s, you'd be all for it." I thought that was a fair question. This was my reply...
A lot of people struggle with tracking calories and macros (protein, carbs and fat) and hitting their ideal macro targets every day. In fact, many people are frustrated from day one because they can’t even figure out their ideal calorie and macro intake in the first place, let alone make a daily or weekly meal plan based on macros (without hiring an expensive coach). I understand the frustrations and concerns. That’s why in today’s post I wanted to share two easy alternatives to setting calorie and macro goals.
