Who never started the year with new promises and new plans to fulfill? As the saying goes, new year, new life!
It is completely normal for us to start the year with new goals.
However, before we start to apply everything in the wrong way, the idea of this article is to teach us to become more responsible and to have some metrics that help us to evaluate the goals we intend to achieve.
Of the most common goals that come to me, I highlight the following:
- Want to lose 5 kg of body weight
- Want to learn to count macros and calories
- Wanting to improve my cardiovascular capacity
- want bigger arms
Now, how can we turn goals into training goals?
- I want to lose 5 kg = I'm going to add a calorie deficit to my diet and possibly add some cardiovascular training.
- I want bigger arms = it probably makes sense to prioritize training and arm training volume.
One of the best known ways to define goals, in the most diverse areas of work, is through the SMART methodology.
SMART is the acronym for ?Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-Sensitive?, which in Portuguese means:
Specific – Specify that I want to have bigger arms instead of saying 'I want to get bigger', so that it is easier for us to work and focus towards the specific objective.
The same applies when you want to lose fat, or maintain, or even gain some muscle mass, instead of saying "I want to get Fit".
Measurable – For example, saying ?I want to gain 2 cm of arm?, instead of saying ?I want bigger arms?, or saying ?I want to lose 5kg? instead of just saying 'I want to lose weight'.
What is actually measurable is controllable.
Attainable ? For example, when you want to 'gain 2 cm of arms in the next 12 weeks', or when you want to 'lose 5 kg in the next 12 weeks'. All this is feasible if the work is guided in this direction.
On the other hand, if you want to gain 2 cm of arms in 2 weeks, or lose 20kg in 6 weeks, they will no longer be attainable goals.
Realist – Very similar to the previous point.
Sensitive to time space – These are goals without a date that usually become less demanding and people tend not to meet. Using Parkinson's Law: "the work expands in order to fill the time available for its accomplishment".
In this sense, it is essential to force a temporal space.
Taking the example used above, you should aim to 'want to lose 5 kg in the next 12 weeks', rather than 'lose 5 kg sometime this year'.
After understanding how to define our objectives in detail, we must prioritize them and, consequently, detail them in sub-blocks.
Using the previous example – ?I want to lose 5 kg in 12 weeks?, it is possible to break it down as follows:
- Lose 2.5 kg in the first 4 weeks
- Lose 1.5 kg between weeks 5 and 8
- Lose 1 kg between weeks 9 and 12
Your training and your diet will certainly be complementary.
While the example focuses on diet planning and weight loss progress, what should you do about the rest?
It will certainly make sense to have something adjusted. However, it is important to try not to plan goals and objectives that end at the same time and that can interfere with each other.
For example, avoid thinking that "I want to lose 5 kg, gain 10 kg of muscle mass, increase 50 kg in my squat and run 2 half marathons".
If so, what training to do?
In our example we should pay attention to the following:
- The representation of our maximum strength requires hypertrophy, technique and neurological adaptations
- Hypertrophy is efficiently achieved mostly in the total training volume
- Neurological adaptations are mainly due to intensity (%1RM)
The training volume and intensity are ?almost? inversely proportional, so it is necessary to pay attention and avoid the known ?overtraining?.
We have to find a balance and try to progress through progressive overload over time.
Below, I present a guide that can serve as an example of how you can prepare a training adapted to you, based on the following aspects:
Volume - Between 40-70 reps per muscle group in a training session, or 80-210 reps per muscle group in a week.
It will make sense to start with the lower rep limit and move up as close as possible to the maximum limit during the first month while we have the initial caloric deficit and still have some acceptable energy levels to complete the workout.
During the following workouts, you can slightly reduce the volume, focusing on trying to maintain the intensity.
Intensity: In our example for hypertrophy and strength, during the weight loss process, we should focus most of our time on training in the 6-12 rep range (about 2/3 of the volume), with the remaining volume divided by reps. low (<6) and higher repetitions (>12).
Frequency. Each muscle group should be trained 2-3 times a week.
*Based on nominations by Eric Helms.
Another aspect to consider is the importance of focusing on doing some cardio and a lot of muscle training, which leads to an increase in G-Flow (G-Flux).
There are many studies that prove that in a phase of weight loss, spending 200 extra calories a day and having a food deficit of 300 calories will have an effect on body composition greater than a food deficit of 500 calories, without extra energy expenditure.
In short, and after this long text, you can ask yourself the following questions:
- What's the point?
- What methods are currently being used to achieve this goal?
- How fast is my progress towards the goal? (eg weight lost per week)
- What could benefit and optimize the process? (more hours of rest, better nutrition, etc.)
- How will I judge that something is actually improving efficiency during the process?
- How long is acceptable until noticeable changes are seen? (typically somewhere between 4-16 weeks to be sufficiently visible and measurable)
- At the end of the time applied? Did it go as expected? Did it go better or worse than you would expect? It's because?
If you are satisfied with the results, then stick to what has been done.
If something went less than expected, start over from point 1 and apply the lessons learned during the process.
Rational thinking takes time to internalize, but by becoming responsible, rational and objective in our analyses, we can learn from everything we do.
For more details on the subject, we are available on Facebook.
It's the beginning of the year, a great time to set goals and follow them to the end!
Article written by Team Sik Nutrition
[author image=”https://ginasiovirtual.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo-sik.jpg” ]Team Sik Nutrition, is a recent group of people passionate about the world of Fitness. The Team's focus is to guide, educate and motivate those interested in achieving their health and fitness/performance goals. All this sharing is based on scientific facts and the experience of the Team members.
The CEO of Team Sik Nutrition, is João Gonçalves. Amateur powerlifter, passionate about Fitness and writing articles.
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