In order to make you a truly educated consumer, it’s important to grasp concepts behind the madness. Unfortunately, there is still so much terrible information out there because people will keep their mouth shut when offered money. As someone who has been certified as a trainer since 2001, I have seen it all. Silly claims will cycle in and out as long as there are people with hopes to get results overnight without putting in the work.

If you’ve been a member of Results (or landed on this page), you understand that we do things differently. Therefore, I’m here to provide answers to our most “Frequently Asked Questions” at the gym. We’re all here to help each other. If one person has a question, it’s likely someone else does too. So, without further ado, here are some answers to common questions?

Q – Should I use high reps or low reps?

A – When looking at this question, it’s usually not that simple. It always depends on your goals, fitness level, and experience.

Start by choosing compound multi-joint exercises for moderate reps. It’s better to work a lot of muscles at once instead of wasting your time on machines that do nothing. Choosing the right 3 to 5 exercises (for you) will work your body much more in less time.

Most of the isolation stuff is overrated, especially for people short on time. But that’s where you’d get higher reps – on accessory work. High reps work for something you can perform flawlessly under fatigue. For more technical exercises, choose lower reps with slightly higher weight. 

For the more advanced people I work with, it gets more complicated. I am switching up rep schemes throughout the year. 

A – Get a list of joint-friendly variations for your specific situation. The obvious solution is to choose lower body exercises for an upper body injury and vice versa. Yet for some minor injuries, you can get away with a few alternatives. Here’s a small snippet of examples:

For shoulder

• Landmine press instead of overhead press
• Dumbbells instead of barbells
• Obsess over the muscles you can’t see in the mirror (pull instead of push)
• Practice “shoulder packing”

For knee

• Hip hinge instead of lunge/squat
• Use TRX or suspension for extra support
• Stop jumping. Period.
• In that vein, stop running too. Or choose lower-impact cardio

For hips/low back

• Work on hip mobility
• Do more single leg work
• Keep reps lower on deadlifts and squats

Q – Are carbs bad for you?

A – No. No, and also no.

I recommend lowering carbs, but I am strongly against keto. Most of the time lower carbs means lower calories. In a weight loss phase, the two might correlate. But carbs are not bad. There’s a difference between fruits and veggies and doughnuts. Eat good carbs. Get rid of the bad ones for the most part, but still enjoy life.

Q – How often should I work out?

A -It depends on the person, the intensity, the goal, and type of workout. I don’t believe in making generic claims for everyone. If you get someone who has been doing nothing to workout 2 or 3 times per week, they will notice a huge difference!

For the record, I can’t stand these places promoting “hell week.” Taking someone new to exercise from 0 to 100, real quick, is NEVER a good idea.

If you want to know how often you specifically need to work out, schedule a success session with us.

Q – Will a protein shake help me lose weight? Bulk me up?

A – It depends. The people who lose weight when taking a protein shake fall into one of these categories =>

They replaced a terrible food choice with a protein shake. They reduced the amount of calories they were taking in with a higher quality, lower calorie substitute.

After taking the protein shake, they were not as hungry, so they ate less.

A protein shake will NOT bulk you up. If you don’t change anything you eat, while adding in a bunch of protein shakes ,then it will cause you to put on weight. If you are in a caloric surplus.

People have a hard time understanding the difference between causation and correlation. You can not look at things in isolation. Remember, there will be a correlation between someone purchasing anything fitness/diet related and getting results. It means that person is making an effort to make a change. That one product is just one piece of the puzzle. Don’t get fooled by the sleazy marketing tactics and affiliate marketing schemes.

Q- Will intermittent fasting work? Should I be eating 6 small times per day?

A- Both can work, Or not work. The studies show what when calories and macros are the same, there is no difference. None. I am not referring to the cherry picked studies that help people sell books.

Remember this:  Adherence is EVERYTHING!

It always comes down to whether YOU can follow the diet plan. This is why all of my exercise and nutrition plans start with YOU!

Both can work, both can fail. If you are comfortable not eating breakfast and condensing your meals to a few hours, IF could be great. If you get peckish after a few hours and need something to nibble on, six meals a day might be better.

Send over your questions so they can be featured on our next FAQ!! 

Need a plan? A plan that is based around YOUR goals, schedule, fitness level, exercise history, injury history, budget, and lifestyle? That is the only way you will be able to maintain it! Email us or text 757 589 7028 to get started!