Suzie, John, and Mary want to be healthy and fit for the rest of their life.

Suzie tells her two friends that they need to ‘go big’ and that they can push way harder than they think they can.

John tells his two friends that they should cut carbs… because duh they are evil and will make you fat.

Mary tells the other two that they should stop doing cardio because it is a waste of time and building muscle is the secret to success.

So what do we do? Are any of these three well-intentioned people worth listening to?

Well let’s dive in one suggestion at a time.

Popular Advice: “Go big because you can work way harder than you think you can”

This isn’t necessarily wrong. Hell, on paper I agree 100% and think it is a great mentality in an ideal world. Too bad this sort of thinking goes to complete shit when you live in the real world and are a real person with real emotions and real responsibilities and real behaviors.

So…

My advice: Make the smallest amount of progress at a time. Like painstakingly small. Then celebrate the fuck out of it like you won the gold medal!

I have coached enough people to know that as much as people want big results the only thing they want more is not fail.

And here’s the thing… big results do come after a string of tiny little victories.

It only feels small in the moment… and then all of sudden 6 months to a year to 2 years goes by and you lost 85 pounds. I don’t think you’ll be complaining that it took too long at that point. I mean ask yourself where the previous two years got you? Yeah… take the little victories.

Build Momentum.

Get Excited.

Repeat.

Next up we have John’s sage wisdom that we all hear time and time and time and time again.

Popular Advice: “Cut out carbs… they make you fat”

Unlike my cordial and polite response to Suzie’s advice, I’m going to tell John to shut the fuck up because he is an idiot.

My advice is going to be something that doesn’t actually feel like punishment and for bonus points IT ACTUALLY WORKS.

My Advice: If you want to worry about anything… get as close to 1 gram of protein per pound of your goal bodyweight as possible.

I’m going to make this as short and simple as possible.

Carbs are not evil. Fat is not evil. Ice cream is not evil. Pasta is not evil. Apples aren’t bad because they have sugar (seriously stay the hell away from anyone that disagrees). There is no such thing as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ food.

I’m not about to tell you everything in moderation is best either don’t worry… I hate that old adage too.

What I will tell you is that there are foods that are better in at helping you reach your goals and there are foods that aren’t as great at helping you reach your goals.

Now in this new way of looking at things we don’t have to demonize anything and we don’t feel restricted because we know nothing is ‘off limits’.

So why am I telling you to focus on protein?

Well it really is that important.

My favorite thing about this goal, though, is that it kills a whole bunch of birds with just one stone.

protein is highly satiating so it will fill you up for longer
it is monumentally important for building muscle as a person gains weight
it is monumentally important for maintaining muscle as a person loses weight
focusing on getting enough of just one thing is way less stressful than restricting yourself of other things

And if you never tracked your protein intake before… YOU WILL BE SHOCKED at how little protein you are averaging per day.

Ok Mary, you’re up next.

Popular Advice: “Stop doing cardio… building muscle is what matters most”

Well… I agree… sort of. As with all of these scenarios, context matters a lot. But it really matters in this case.

The reason I am rebutting this advice, though, is because what I see ALL OF THE TIME is that people use cardio as a way to burn calories thinking that this will help them lose weight.

Cardio is fucking awesome and everyone needs to do it… but is a fucking terrible way of ‘burning calories’ and if that is your intention you will be miserable.

So what am I going to say to this… does Mary have me backed into a corner?

My Advice: Understand the real life benefits of cardio for us ‘normies’. Then understand that strength training is the peanut butter to cardio’s jelly.

I’m not digging into all of the scientific journals on this point. I’m going to say what really matters.

Low to medium intensity long duration cardio (I’m talking about brisk walking) is awesome for the following reasons:

it oftentimes means you are getting outside in the sun and fresh air… something that people sorely lack nowadays
it is incredibly easy to do with friends/family… walking and talking is probably the very first thing humans did together
it is extremely beneficial for your heart… you probably like your heart right?
it can be stress relieving and a time for you to think and organize your mental files… I have all of my best ideas when I am just out and about walking around
it is low impact so lower body joints can get strengthened in a very safe manner
it is back friendly… my fellow back pain sufferers you are welcome

Those are just 6 reasons that come to mind. We should not be trying to exercise our calories off… it is a losing battle almost everytime.

Now that we know how great cardio is… I am going to halfway agree with Mary’s point now.

YOU NEED TO STRENGTH TRAIN

I’m sorry but you do.

This doesn’t mean that you need to go to the gym and squat hundreds of pounds and learn how to do pullups this week.

What it does mean is that the more muscle you have the better you will look, feel, perform, and live.

More muscle means you will burn more calories at rest… which means you can afford to enjoy your life more by eating some things that you like every now and again without hating yourself.

More muscle means you can pick shit up without being bedridden for 3 days… this is how people die.. don’t mean to get dark but it’s true.

More muscle does NOT mean you will ‘look big’. If it was that easy to look big don’t you think all of those skinny little college bros that hit the gym everyday would finally look like they have eaten a steak once in their life?

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Take Action, Believe

Coach Dill