Evidence Based Fitness

Too Long, Didn't Read Version Weight loss is not the same thing as fat loss. When you lose weight, it can be a mixture of both lean mass and body fat. To force your body to burn only FAT, you need to resistance train and eat an adequate amount of protein. Exercise burns much less calories than most people estimate and is an inefficient way of creating a calorie deficit. Dieting should be the main method of creating a deficit. Because cardio does not protect you from muscle loss, the best form of exercise to assist in FAT loss is...

Table of Contents Introduction 1. You're training close enough to failure 2. You're performing an exercise that you can actually feel in the target muscle(s) 3. You're resting long enough between each set 4. Your muscles feel tired and weak, may even be sore within the next couple of days You may sometimes wonder how you can tell if the sets you’re doing in the gym are driving you closer to the gains that you want. No one wants to find out that what they’ve been doing all along has been for nothing. So how do you know if what...

Reps in Reserve or RIR is a method of training in which you control the amount of reps you leave in the tank each set in order to properly manage training intensity. This method of training has far reaching benefits, but it's not without it's downsides. One problem with this method is that many trainees are bad at estimating how many reps they have left in them during a set, leading to inaccurate RIR estimations. This can lead to training intensities that are either higher or lower than what was intended; and sometimes trainees won't even notice because they're convinced...

Table of Contents Introduction All rep ranges build similar amounts of muscle Strength & endurance are tied to rep range Rep ranges and training fatigue Heavy rep range (1-5 reps) Moderate rep range (6-10 reps) Light rep range (12-15+ reps) Practical application   Introduction Rep range is a hot topic of discussion and debate, and sadly, also a topic with a ton of misinformation. Not only is there a lot of bad information circulating about rep ranges, but even the accurate information can be a bit confusing and leave you unsure on how to program each rep range into your...

Table of Contents Introduction So What Is Training Volume? Sets x Reps x Load Total Hard Sets Volume Concepts Applied Understanding Training Fatigue Reps In Reserve Minimally Effective Volume, Maximum Adaptable Volume & Maximum Recoverable Volume Must-read Takeaway Key takeaways Introduction You have probably seen the term “volume” used a lot in regards to resistance training and have probably even noticed that depending on who uses the term, it seems to have a slightly different meaning. In this article I am going to explain the different ways volume can be defined as well as how to utilize it in a practical...