4 SIMPLE RULES TO IMPROVE YOUR PHYSIQUE

4 SIMPLE RULES TO IMPROVE YOUR PHYSIQUE

There are many things that can help you to improve your overall physique but, here are some golden rules to help you get the most out of your efforts.

1. TRACK WHAT YOU ARE DOING- This can be related to both your nutrition and your workout. Let’s first start with nutrition.
   1. Nutrition- Tracking what your daily intake is via calories and macros is important to know what steps need to be taken to further your physique. If you do not know where your total caloric/macro intake is per day how can you know what to alter in order to see better results? If you do not know what calories you need/macros you need I would suggest using a tracking app like MyFitnessPal. Also, a little hint here is that on your non-training days your caloric intake should be lower than training days. I know it’s a simple thought but it is easily overlooked by most!
   2. Training- LOG YOUR TRAINING. Log your weights, reps and rest breaks. Be meticulous about your logging and also put notes on your training noting if something was easy or hard. This will allow you to continually have a bench mark for the following week and allow you to progressively increase weights, reps or intensity techniques.

2. MAKE SLEEP A PRIORITY- Normally this would go without saying but 6-8 hours of sleep is necessary to see your physique improve. The reason behind this is that sleep allows your body to initiate important hormonal cycles. If sleep deprivation is present the natural GH releasing cycle is impacted along with testosterone pulsing in males. It has also been shown in many studies that sleep deprivation leads to a higher risk of obesity and onset of diabetes. It also should be noted that for adolescents it is even more prevalent to get proper amounts of sleep as research has shown that release of sex steroids and GH is highly dependent on sleep at their age.

3. MAKE GUT HEALTH A PRIORITY- This is one thing that I did not personally focus in on until the past few years. Gut health, specifically the flora in your stomach and intestines, has a huge impact on your physique. In recent studies it has also been shown to have an impact on your overall mood.

1. The natural flora in our stomach is constantly being bombarded especially for athletes who eat massive amounts of calories. There are a few things I do ritually to help the natural flora in my body:
   1. Probiotic supplements- Help to increase the natural flora in your stomach.
   2. Digestive Aid drink- I personally do a concoction of 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar (with mother**), 1 scoop of greens powder, 1 fresh squeezed lemon all in 16oz. of water 30 minutes prior to my first meal.

• Probiotic foods/drinks- Greek yogurt, sauerkraut, kombucha, etc.

1. Time out when drinking fluids- A simple technique to improve digestion is to limit drinking liquids to 20 minutes before and 20 minutes after your meals.

4. MAKE WATER A PRIORITY- I know I have wrote about this before and it sounds like I am constantly telling people this but it is IMPORTANT! This is one of the first things I tell each and every one of my clients when they start working with me. In order for your body to look and preform optimally everyone should be drinking at least 1 gallon of straight water a day. The added benefits from this include but, are not limited to, better digestion, better skin and increased muscle recovery.

Although these points seem simple, majority of people fail on executing these aspects of a healthy lifestyle consistently. If you can focus in on these 4 points and make them all a priority in your lifestyle then any goal you may have physique wise should be easily attainable.