Here’s The Truth About Why You Can’t Just “Out-Train a Crappy Diet” – plus… 5 Simple Principles that’ll Help You Gain Muscle & Strength, While Keeping Body-Fat Levels Low

By Adam Armstrong

If I hear one more well-meaning – yet DELUDED – person say…

“Oh, it doesn’t matter what I eat, I’ll just ‘burn it off’ at the gym”

…I think I’ll SCREAM.

Listen up my friend. And listen real good…

You can’t ‘Out Train a Crappy Diet’. Period. Full Stop. The End.

It just doesn’t work.
When I was in my early and mid-20’s, and competing in Powerlifting, I trained like a MAD MAN. Honestly, I did. No exaggeration.

A typical workout looked something like this:

1. Squat Variation: 8-12 sets, working up to a 1 rep max or 3 rep max

2. Speed Deadlifts: 8-12 singles, at 50-60% of my 1 rep max

3. Single Leg Exercise: 6-8 reps/side x 3-4 sets

4. Posterior Chain Exercise: 8-25 reps x 3-4 sets

5. Abs

And, I’d do all that in under an hour.

I’d be SWEATING BUCKETS.

And, I trained that HARD 4 times a week (twice for the lower body and twice for the upper body).

Plus…

I didn’t have ‘days off.’ No, no, no…

If I had days off, my competitors would be training – and I’d be losing ground. So, I’d have 3 easier days a week, where I did general fitness work, including Sled Dragging (these sessions lasted about 30 minutes).
Yet, even training like that, even pulling deadlifts in the region of 500-600lbs on a regular basis – I still couldn’t ‘outrain a crappy diet.’ (And my metabolism is quite fast).

Here’s The Math:

Starbucks will sell you a cup of something warm and tasty that has 470 calories in it. And, most people don’t just have a coffee. They have a muffin too. Call that 700-800 calories from a ‘snack’ at a fancy coffee shop.

How about Burgers?

Let’s say you do a hard workout, then want to ‘reward yourself.’ So you pop to McDonalds. And there you order yourself:

• A Grand Big Mac (726 calories)

• Medium Fries (337 calories)

• Medium Chocolate Milkshake (380 calories)

• Cadbury Dairy Milk McFlurry (292 calories)

That’s a grand total of: 1,735 calories (I pulled those numbers from McDonalds website by the way. So, they’re legit).

Now. It’d be even more if you went LARGE on the Fries and Shake. And, those calories are all very EASY to consume – because they don’t require much chewing!

Here’s the really interesting bit…

• The average man requires about 2,500 calories a day to maintain his bodyweight. The average woman about 2,000

• If you’re lucky – and I really do mean lucky – you might burn off 600 calories in a workout (IF you’re training like a ‘Mad Man’ like I did back in my powerlifting days. But, are you really training like that? No offence, but… I doubt it).

So, Here’s The Deal…

If you want to be ‘in shape’ – meaning: Fit and Strong, with some Muscle and Low Body-Fat Levels, you simply must:

• Train Hard

And:

• Eat right

Easy to remember. Harder to do consistently!

If you’re 18 years old, you might get away with eating crap – and, so long as you workout… you might still look good.

But, wait till you hit 25, or 30.

Things change.

You have to up your game every year just to avoid going backwards!!!

To make real progress…

To build muscle…

To get stronger…

To lose body-fat (and actually KEEP IT OFF)…

You have to train HARD and SMART, and eat well.

Notice, I’m not saying you have to live like a Tibetan Monk. I’m not saying you can never eat a pizza, or enjoy an ice cream or beer ever again.

What I am saying is that you must eat well most of the time. Which is easy if you follow these principles:

5 Simple Principles that’ll Help You Gain Muscle & Strength, While Keeping Body-Fat Levels Low…

#1: Eat Real Food

Show me a person who is in great shape – strong, muscular and lean – and I’ll show you a person who eats REAL FOOD.

What exactly is ‘real food’?

• Fruits and Veggies.

• Nuts and Seeds.

• Grass-Fed, Organic Beef.

• Organic, Free Range Chicken.

• Wild Fish.

• Organic, Raw Dairy.

• Healthy Fats – like Avocados, Coconut Oil and Olive Oil.

• Carefully selected Carbohydrates – like Rice, and Sweet Potatoes.

• Natural Sweeteners such as Raw Honey and Organic Maple Syrup.

• Herbs and Spices.

That’s REAL FOOD.

Eat that stuff and it’s hard to be overweight (assuming you stick to points 4 and 5 on this list too).

#2: Eat a Ton of Fruits and Veggies

Whatever Dietary Belief system you buy into (be it Paleo, Vegan, Vegetarianism or whatever), be sure to eat a lot of fruits and veggies.

I see a lot of men pride themselves on eating nothing but red meat and beer. But, that’s just a recipe for health problems.

I see people AFRAID to eat FRUIT – because it might make them FAT or give them CANCER. Fruit never made anybody fat, and many real experts believe certain fruits can actually help combat cancer.

Get REAL!

Fruit and Veggies – Live, Water-Rich Food that’s jam packed with vitamins, minerals and enzymes is what your body needs to thrive.

So no matter what dietary system you believe in, make sure you eat A TON of fruits and veggies.

Instead of the Government recommendation to eat 5 portions a day. Try 10, or even 15 a day, and see how you feel! “Good” will be the answer!

#3: Drink Plenty of Water

People drink a lot of things these days – coffee, tea, ‘sports drinks’, ‘energy drinks’, Kombucha and so on…

…but, many people don’t drink any WATER at all.

And yet… the human body is made up of 70% water when we’re born. When we hit 80-90 years of age, it’s only 40% water (and now you know why the joints start getting painful and skin loses its elasticity).

Did you know that a 2% drop in Hydration can lead to a 20% drop in Performance? Not good for your workouts, huh!

Did you know that the easiest way to hydrate is WATER + HIGH QUALITY SALT?

It’s true.

Did you know that your BRAIN is mostly made up of WATER? And, drinking 2 litres of clean water a day helps to keep the water in your brain CLEAN and HEALTHY (and helps you maintain your memory, focus and entire cognitive function).

Again, it’s true.

Often, when you feel HUNGRY. You’re actually thirsty.

So, do yourself a favor and ensure you’re drinking a couple litres of clean water a day.

#4: Eat Only When You Are Hungry

Eating is kind of like a hobby for BORING people here in the West.

People think that if they feel a Hunger Pang they’re going to keel over and die. Or, they think that being a little hungry gives them the right to get ANGRY and IMPATIENT.

If you want to be healthy, strong, muscular and lean for LIFE – eat only when you are HUNGRY.

And, avoid the craze that has caught on in society where many people literally eat all day long…

Because, that is a path to OBESITY, non-existent energy levels, serious health problems, and a lousy quality of life.

#5: Stop Eating Before You Are ‘Full’

This goes hand-in-hand with the previous point…

If you want to be LEAN, and have a mid-section so ripped and chiseled women will pay to touch it…

You have to avoid overeating.

Sure, it’s hard to get FAT if you eat natural, real foods. But, it’s still possible if you insist on eating until you feel so STUFFED you have to undo your belt, and open the top button of your pants.

So, by all means EAT.

But, pay attention as you do so. And STOP when you no longer feel hungry. You don’t have to eat until your belly feels like it’s gonna go POP!

Oh, and please, please, pleeaaasssssseeeee… remember the key point of this blog post:

You Can’t Out-Train a Crappy Diet!