The simplified answer is:
Always look at the alternatives and choose only one.
Most times, people get so consumed in what I like to call the “battle of good alternatives” and never do significantly well at any one thing. When you prioritize one good alternative over another, you actually do better at it. Try drinking water and taking a shower at the same time. You’re probably going to compromise on both and do neither very well.
If you’re thirsty, you should probably drink water first and then worry about taking a shower afterwards.
That’s essentially the case with fat-loss, strength and muscle development.
What’s your main priority???
The three outcomes collectively are great … but in practice, they require different approaches to achieve. An optimal environment for #fatloss is sub-optimal for muscle development. And by nature, different goals require different time frames. (Some goals take longer than others to achieve!)
I like to use the SMART acronym when setting goals:
S - Specific M - Measurable A - Achievable R - Relevant T - Time-bound
I also like to identify the different time frames required to achieve different outcomes, and use that as a way to prioritize goals.
Let’s assume we have an adult female who has gained weight over the last 3 years due to a sedentary lifestyle and poor nutritional habits, and really wants to look better and regain her confidence. She also wants to gain strength and some day be able to do an unassisted pull up.
As a priority, she should work on losing the weight she gained over the 3 years and get really good at that process. Achieving this will make her start to feel better about herself and a bit more confident to explore harder and more demanding tasks such as building muscular strength.
By starting with #weightloss, she also builds better nutritional habits and learns how to fuel her body correctly for progressively harder activities in the future. This will segue nicely into chasing her next goal which would be to build enough muscular strength to do an unassisted pull-up.
Here are a few examples of SMART goals she could set during her weight-loss phase.
Let’s call it Phase 1:
1. “To engage in 20 minutes of physical activity, three times per week within the first 4 weeks”
2. “To consume 30% less junk food each week within the first 4 weeks”
3. “To consume 1 palm size portion of lean protein, 1 cupped handful of carbohydrates, 1 thumb sized portion of healthy fats and 1 fist-sized portion of vegetables each meal from week 3”
4. “To progressively lose 10cm from her waistline in 16 weeks”
Lets stop for a second and analyze goal number 4, using the SMART acronym :-
S - By setting a specific target (10cm), the expected outcome is very clear
M - A tape measure can be used as a measuring tool to check progress towards her goal
A - Utilizing a slow and deliberate approach to weight loss would make her goal achievable in the time frame
R - She wants to look better and gain her confidence so improving her body composition would be a relevant goal for her
T - 16 weeks gives us a defined time-frame within which she wishes to achieve her goal
Phase 1 of her approach is dedicated solely to losing weight by building better eating habits and engaging in exercise activity.
By week 16, she would have lost weight, gained quite a bit of confidence, adapted to a consistent workout frequency and learnt how to fuel her body with the right nutrients. It would make sense to attempt a new and more challenging goal at this stage, assuming she was successful at achieving the phase 1 goals.
Phase 2 of her approach would be to turn up the workout intensity. She now has the ability and capacity to handle heavier workloads which are an integral part of building muscular strength (remember intensity means load). At this stage, she can do better at building strength and most likely reach her goal of doing an unassisted pull-up.
In a classic battle of good alternatives, our example “adult female” could have tried to gain strength and drop fat at the same time….
… and probably never got any measurable progress!
CONCLUSION: Look at the alternatives and choose only one!!
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