Honest Answers to 5 Common Fitness Questions

Honest Answers to 5 Common Fitness Questions

Since becoming more involved in helping people reach their fitness goals, I’ve started to notice a pattern of recurring questions.

Before going into my answers to these questions, I would like to make one point─if you’re just starting out, don’t worry too much about the “right” answers to these questions.

One of the biggest mistakes I see beginners make is that they overcomplicate the whole process right off the bat and never just get started. JUST MOVE!

Besides, most common questions don’t have a one size fits all answer. People who have the knowledge and have been there before can certainly help guide you, but you may realize that not everything works the same for you as it does for them.

With that said, below are my answers to 5 fitness questions that I get on a regular basis…

Is it better to do high reps or low reps?

My initial inclination─as with many of the questions I’m asked─would be to respond with the question: well, what is your goal?

Since this is an article and we are not currently working one on one, I will give you a more generic answer that I believe holds true.

BOTH! I think that both rep ranges have their place and if you’re looking to get the most out of your workouts, you should include both.

I don’t want to go off on too much of a tangent answering this question, but there is one common misconception that I’d like to clear up─you CAN build muscle mass by doing high reps.

Many people think that you NEED to do low reps to build muscle and that’s simply not true.

Progressive overload leads to muscle growth. Whether you’re using light weight and high reps, or heavy weight and low reps, you can still progressively overload your muscles and bring on muscle hypertrophy─an increase in muscle size.

If you’re a powerlifter, of course you want to lean more towards low reps and high weights, but to my surprise, I have found high reps to be EXTREMELY beneficial for building muscle.

If you want to dive deeper into the topic of reps, check out my article, I Don’t Count Reps.

How many calories should I eat (either to build muscle or lose fat)

There may be some people who disagree with me on this one, but I think calories are not the appropriate thing to be focusing on.

I recommend focusing on the types of foods that you’re eating.

If you’re looking to lose weight, simply eat whole, natural foods and stop eating when you’re full (when you’re eating the right foods, it’s nearly impossible to overeat because they’re so filling).

If you’re looking to gain muscle, simply eat as many whole, natural foods as you desire.

If you’re lifting weights, your hunger will naturally increase, so simply listen to your body and eat as much as you feel you need.

Once you’ve got your body to the point that you want, you can experiment with re-introducing some of your favorite foods from time to time. I’ve gotten to the point where I can have cheat meals on occasion and it does not at all negatively impact my physique.

People make eating WAY more complicated than it needs to be─there’s no need to stress yourself out.

For more on diet, check out my articles, Weight Loss Made Easy, How to eat Healthier, How to get Lean FASTer, Eat Fat Become Thin, and End Your Love Affair With Food.

**Note: of course if you’re prepping for a bodybuilding show or something of that nature, calorie counting may be more important for you. With that said, I have no interest in that and don’t do that so I am not the best source for advice on prepping for shows. **

What is the best exercise to get a six pack?

My answer to this question is that the best exercise to get a six pack is to lift the fork to your mouth :).

In all seriousness, it’s vitally important that you lose the belly fat in order to have a six pack.

A common misconception people have is that they can do certain exercises that will burn fat from specific areas of the body─this is called spot reduction training and has been proven to be a fallacy.

When you’re burning fat as fuel, your body decides where it’s going to pull the fat from at any given moment. Because of this, it’s important to work toward having an overall low level of body fat if you want to be able to see your six pack.

With that said, there are certainly exercises you can do to build your abdominals, and I highly recommend checking out my article, Treat Your Abs Like One of the Gang, for more on ab training.

What is the best supplement to burn fat?

Prior to going any further, I recommend reading number 2 in my article, 5 Common Fitness Mistakes.

It’s important that you make sure you get your diet in check prior to focusing too much on supplements.

With that said, there are a few supplements I recommend incorporating into your routine if you want to burn more fat.

First and foremost, CAFFEINE! Anyone who knows me knows that caffeine is my number one supplement. I’ve been supplementing with caffeine for many years and truly believe that it has safely and effectively assisted me in staying lean all year round for many consecutive years.

Additionally, I have found consuming this drink prior to meals and before bed to assist in fat burning. The great thing about this drink is that it has a host of other health benefits as well! I have all of the proper ingredients to use for this drink on the Supplements Page.

I’m also really big on drinking green tea─I tend to drink about four cups a day. The research seems to be inconclusive as to whether or not green tea has a meaningful impact on fat loss, but due to the fact that green tea has been shown time and time again to be associated with longevity and greater overall health, I HIGHLY recommend drinking it. My favorite green tea is Numi Organic Gunpowder Green Tea.

What is more important, diet or exercise?

If you want to be lean and muscular, the answer is BOTH.

If you simply want to burn fat or maintain a healthy body weight, then I’d say diet is more important─though there are still many health benefits that come with regular exercise.

If you are currently overweight and just getting started, I would recommend focusing on getting your diet in check first─it can be very stressful trying to make too many life changes at one time. Plus, you can lose a significant amount of weight, and significantly improve your overall health, simply by eating a healthy diet.

Once you start seeing progress though, I HIGHLY recommend focusing on both diet and exercise. You don’t need to overcomplicate either of them, but focusing on both will allow you to improve the quality of your life in ways you likely never imagined.

I see so many people saying that diet is 80% of the equation and I simply do not agree with that. Diet is probably a bit more important because if you’re not fueling yourself properly, it’s difficult to burn fat, or build muscle, but with that said, you need to place demand on your muscles in order for them to grow.

Also, when you exercise and build more muscle mass, your metabolism speeds up and you are able to enjoy more of your favorite foods. I can confidently say that if I did not exercise on a regular basis, I would not be able to eat some of the things I do and still keep my body fat as low as it is.

I hope that my answers helped clear some things up for you!

Do yourself a huge favor and don’t overcomplicate things. Listen to your body and truly enjoy the process of learning, improving, and growing!

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