Embrace Whatever Motivates You

"No one cares. Work harder."

— Jocko Willink

Embrace what motivates you

The other week a friend of mine chirped me for only lifting 65 pound dumbbells in a recent Instagram post about how liquid calories are destroying your fat loss goals.

But what I realized soon after, is that based on what my health goals have been over the last 4-5 months, the answer didn't really matter to me.

Heading into summer I decided I wanted to get as shredded as possible.

To achieve visible abs and the most ripped core I've ever had.

To look like a Greek God of a man at the beach.

To get sub 11% body fat.

And I accomplished all this.

In order to achieve this I needed to:

Operate in a slight / moderate calorie deficit to keep chipping away at the body fat

Consume a high protein diet (~1 g per pound of bodyweight, everyday) to make sure I preserved the muscle I'd built

Intense resistance training routine which included lifting weights at least 4x per week for 1 hour - 1 hour 15 minutes per day

My goals have been 100% motivated by aesthetics and vanity. I was initially afraid to admit that, but as soon as I embraced it, my goals became so much clearer, and I started accomplishing things much quicker.

I actually didn't get that much stronger over the last few months since I was already in the thick of a heavy weightlifting routine. I just continued to sculpt and emphasize the muscle I'd already built, and further revealed it all by dropping ~10 pounds of pure body fat over the span of a couple months.

To lose weight you need to operate in a calorie deficit. To gain weight you need to operate in a calorie surplus. So while in a deficit, unless you are brand new to resistance training or getting back into it after a long layoff, you're not building much muscle. But it LOOKS like you're getting way stronger because the body fat is melting away and revealing all the muscle that was already there.

Most people who think they want to add 10 pounds of muscle actually want to lose 10 pounds of fat.

So my overall point is to get very honest with yourself around why you want to achieve your health goal. Don't say what you think you're supposed to say. Embrace whatever truly motivates you deep down. And use that to fuel you.

I'll be entering bulking season soon. My new goal is to put on 10+ pounds of straight muscle by next summer. Lofty goal but that's how you gotta set 'em. So my entire approach will be changing - calorie surplus and focus on increasing my lifts in the gym.

Stay as well as physically possible this weekend.

Hal the Health Coach