This article is written specifically for FitterFaster clients as I refer to our specific class timetable and class types, but even you’re not a client at FitterFaster, and the class names and types in this article won’t make a lot of sense, I am happy however to help you with class or exercise choices even if you’re not a client and can interpret what all this means when you don’t attend our gym and you exercise elsewhere or on your own.

Just message me any time for an interpretation and a prescription for training for your goals.

WHICH CLASSES SHOULD I CHOOSE?

The type of classes you choose, how often you do them and what other movement you add to your week should be chosen depending on your goals.

Sometimes you’ll need to compromise because of schedule clashes, but if you have certain goals, you need to make these choices according to those as much as possible. Or you’re just not going to see the results you want.

Please note that these prescriptions are general. There will be variances depending on how active you are in your job or every day life, your nutrition, your stress levels, your training history and your current fitness level.

I JUST WANT TO GET AS FIT AS POSSIBLE

As a beginner, you’ll need to attend a minimum of 3 classes per week and build to 4-6 as you can. Start with 3 x FitForce per week spread as evenly as possible.

FitForce will give you the best results if getting fit is your main goal. It should be your main focus. If you are attending 3 or more classes per week, you could also add a PeakFit or Strong class (or 2) instead of extra FitForce classes.

If you love Box Out, you could also substitute or add 1 of those instead. But remember that FitForce are your best bet for the best results.

The absolute minimum number of classes you’ll need to attend to see continued fitness improvements is 3 x FitForce per week spaced evenly. If you’re attending less than this or you’re making other choices, your goal of improving fitness will be limited. The ideal number of workouts per week is 4-5plus for superior fitness levels.

Nutrition for fitness is a little more flexible. You’ll need to fuel all those workouts by making sure you include enough carbohydrates and give your body enough protein to repair recuperate as well. Making nutritious food choices is also key.

If you’re not eating enough or you are not providing your body with enough nutrients, your fitness improvements will stall. Sleep quality and quantity will make a huge difference too.

You get fitter between workouts – NOT during them. Don’t forget your rest days 

Lots of people like to forget this simple fact.

If you do not fully recover between workouts, YOU WILL NOT GET FITTER past a certain point.

FAT LOSS IS MY MAIN GOAL

Fat loss goals need a similar training program to general fitness with a few key changes. Because you will be (or should be) eating in a calorie deficit at least some of the time, you need to pay particular attention to maintaining your lean mass.

This means you should be choosing 1-2 PeakFit or Upper/Lower classes AND 2-3 FitForce per week spaced as evenly apart during the week as you can. Try not to block your classes together and keep an even spread through the week. Studies show that people with higher VO2 max find it easier to lose body fat and maintain that loss. VO2 max is a measure of fitness – NOT STRENGTH.  So you need to include the cardio component in your week regularly.

Stop just attending PeakFit and Strong to change your body comp.  I know I”m going against the trend here.  But I’m not interested in trends, I’m interested in seeing you get better results. 

Your goal should be to get as fit as possible with FitForce workouts, maintain muscle with PeakFit/Strong workouts AND eat in a calorie deficit most of the time.

I WANT TO BUILD MUSCLE OR GET TONED

The first thing to say about this is; you need to eat more to build muscle, and you need to build muscle/lose body fat (or both) if you want to look toned and see some muscle definition.

The scale may go up or down and you need to be prepared for this and be okay with it if a certain look is what you’re after.

MOST of the clients at FitterFaster do not have a big enough muscle mass to look toned and defined AND/OR they have too much body fat to be able to look toned yet even if they do.

Looking ‘toned’ and having muscle definition requires that you do PeakFit and Upper/Lower classes 3-4 per week and include at least 1-2 Box Out, CardioHit or FitForce to keep up that fitness level. (FitForce preferred if muscle definition is truly your goal) Minimum number of classes for best results, you guessed it 4-5. Dont’ forget your 2-3 days off per week too.

Looking toned and having muscle definition is going to require that your body fat level is low enough too. Fat cannot look toned. So you need to follow the fat loss advice as well to look toned or see muscle definition (see above section on fatloss first)

Lots of people spend lots of time doing weight training these days as cardio and ‘fitness’ has lost its trendiness.  However, building muscle without losing fat leads to you looking BIGGER!!! not smaller and more defined.  

Other goals such as I want to grow my butt or have rounder or more defined shoulders/arms/legs all go in this category, so read above and plan accordingly. Like a specific performance goal, you may need an individual workout plan as well that you do between our classes.

I WANT TO GET STRONG OR ACHIEVE ANOTHER PERFORMANCE GOAL

You definitely need to choose our Upper/Lower classes and our PeakFit classes if strength is your main goal. But do not neglect your other classes for general fitness.  Open gym would also be a wise option for you.

Those that have a good aerobic fitness base can get much stronger more quickly because they recover faster between sets in a workout and also between workouts themselves. Growth happens between workouts – NOT during them.

You may also need to have a specific written up customised program written up that you follow win our Open Gym times or outside the gym (EG a running, triathlon, swimming etc goal)

Because performance goals vary so much, please contact me about this individually. I may be able to help you with this, for instance if your goal is to be able to do push ups or pull ups or if it is endurance based . Other goals may require that I refer you to someone who specialises in those. I am a qualified endurance coach, specifically triathlons and running.

I WANT TO BE TONED AND LOSE FAT AND BE FITTER – you want it all

While you can build muscle and lose body fat at the same time, it is a lot faster to do one and then the other unless you are a total beginner, haven’t trained for years (or ever) or are pretty overweight.

It’s also a lot easier over the long term to focus on one and then the other for anyone who is not a beginner.

If you’re fairly overweight still, I’d focus on fat loss first (see above).

By fairly overweight I mean (and this does vary person to person) if your body fat is over 23% for men and 27% for women, let’s work on that fat loss first and maintain your current muscle level.

Once you get closer, or you need a break from dieting (or that calorie deficit) then we can focus on building that muscle to get that toned look (also see above).

You may move from one phase to the other more than once during a transformation. How often you do that and how many times will be individual- where you’re starting from and what exactly you want to achieve.

Most women want to swing from one to the other too often, or believe they need to be in the fat loss phase too long.

I find this is due to the fact that when the scale moves upwards, it does their heads in. You have to know that when you’re in a building phase, your weight will (probably) move upwards as will some of your measurements.

Most men are the opposite and like to build muscle more than lose fat.

There are exceptions of course. You may be one of them.

Do you focus on PeakFit/Strong when you really should be concentrating more on fat loss workouts right now?

Are you attending mainly (or only) Box Out/CardioHit and wondering why you’re not losing body fat, seeing more tone or getting any stronger?

I can help you to see exactly where you are and if you’re changing by taking photos, doing full body assessments and measuring everything you want to change.

A recent poll in our group showed me that lots of people actually do not know where they’re starting from.

Where they think they are and where they actually are were very different. EG some thought they still needed to lose more body fat to see their muscle. When in actual fact, they were already very lean and just needed to move to the build stage.

Yet others think they need to start building muscle when in actual fact, that will make them bigger if they don’t focus on fat loss for a bit first.

Are you attending consistently enough for any goal? Again, this is lots of clients’ problem.

Attending 3 classes most weeks is just not enough to see dramatic results. As I’ve mentioned in each section above, 3-5 is the minimum required for some changes. That also allows for the occasional week when you do only get 2-3 in – but these should be few and far between for anything but maintenance.

I’M NOT SURE WHAT I WANT TO ACHIEVE

Then we definitely need to get together to discuss this. You may be really confused by all this or not even know where to start. And that is perfectly normal if fitness is new to you.

You may even have goals but you’re not sure where to start, again, message me to sort this out.

One thing is for sure. If the only factor you consider when making class choices is the convenience, you may not be getting the exact results you’re after.

Let me help with this. We are always trying new classes at different times and we want to provide the workouts YOU need at times you can attend. But we don’t know if we don’t know.

You also need to try to be flexible with this;

• It may mean getting up earlier than you prefer 1-2 times per week (or more).
• It may mean taking your workout clothes to work or doing something in your lunch break so that you dont end up at home and not coming to a planned class or open gym session.
• It may mean giving up another habit you have in favour on one that will support your desired outcomes.
• It may mean a little extra time in the car or showering at the gym occasionally
• It really depends on how important your goals are to you really.
• Let me know if you would like a different class at a new time. As I mention above, we try to be as flexible as we can with this.
• You may need to do some extra Open Gym workouts on your own as well. Depending on your goals, this can be a perfect way to speed up your results or work with a difficult work timetable or family schedule. As a client, using our gym on your own time is included in your package, as is me writing you up your workouts.

IN SUMMARY

All of the above comes with the following ‘rules’;

• Whatever your goals and choice of classes, you need to be consistent. Training and eating properly on and off does not yield good results. If your plan requires a consistent 4-5 classes per week, you need to train 4-5 times per week EVERY week. Not 5 one week and 3 the next. Not 5 for 2 weeks and then 2-3 the next. CONSISTENCY IS THE NUMBER ONE FACTOR IN DETERMINING IF YOU SEE RESULTS OR NOT

 

• Of course there’ll be times when you’re sick or away or whatever. And that means your consistency may be out of your control. But what people forget is that it still affects your results. Even if you’re sick or your kids are sick or you’re stuck in a meeting/at work and need to late cancel, IT STILL AFFECTS THE RESULTS YOU GET.

 

• You’re consistent or you’re not – no matter the reason. And that is all that matters when it comes to the outcomes. It’s not as ‘out of your control’ as lots of you think. You can have excuses or results, even if those excuses are for real. We provide home workouts, gym plans that you can do at times that suit you better if something is happening in your life preventing your normal schedule.

 

• While the article is all about training, your nutrition is also just as big of a factor. Whether it’s just about getting fitter, losing fat, gaining muscle, getting faster or stronger or any combo of those, what you are shoving in your mouth on a daily basis is equally as important.

 

• It’s not 80% nutrition and 20% training or 50% of both. It’s 100% nutrition and 100% training if you really want to see results. Especially if you want to see result fast.

 

• I highly recommend fast results. Especially if you tend to say that you lose motivation easily. There is absolutely nothing as motivating as seeing results. Watching and feeling your body change is about as motivating as it gets.

To finalise this article, I’d like you to read through it again and then contact me to ask questions. Ignore at your own peril if you have goals you want to achieve.