No Nonsense Body Transformation Part 1

by Nia Shanks | Follow her on Twitter here

I apologize upfront for part of this post having a negative tone. It is my intention to present you with positive information that can help you build a stronger, healthier body. But with that said, sometimes it is necessary to kick start a positive message with a rant. This post does just that.

Let the rant begin – why is everyone so quick to turn their nose up to the basics of strength training and nutrition? (For more info on the basics check out Back to Basics for Better Results and Back to Basics Part 2). I heard it all the time in commercial gyms when I would tell someone to eat real food and train with big compound exercises while focusing on getting stronger; their response was something like, “there’s no way I can get results with that! It’s too simple and I need something more advanced.”

Really? The basics don’t work? Have you even tried? Apparently I seem to have forgotten that we’re already a nation filled with healthy, athletic, lean, and strong individuals. Silly me for suggesting people follow simple, basic strength training and nutrition principles that actually produce results.

People don’t even have the discipline to floss daily which takes all of 60 seconds, and yet they think they are too good for the basics? They want to skip what is proven to work because it’s “too simple” and they want advanced nutrition and training methods?

I have seen newbies and individuals who have been going to the gym for years get zero results and look the same month after month, and yet they don’t want to be told to “eat real food and train the basics hard?” Look, unless you have busted your ass on the basics of strength training and nutrition for years, DO NOT come to me asking for advanced strength training and nutrition methods.

“But Nia, so-and-so said I should lift 5 days per week following a bodybuilding split training chest and triceps one day, back and biceps another day, legs on the third day, and then shoulders, and blah blah blah. They also said to count every calorie, take dozens of supplements, eat a certain percentage of carbs and protein, eat 5-6 smalls meals each day, and weigh every piece of food I put into my mouth.”

Are you kidding me? You’re telling me you would rather follow incredibly strict nutrition guidelines, spend 5-7 days per week in a gym, and waste hundreds of dollars per month on supplements?

It drives me crazy that people are more likely to follow a complicated training split that requires them to be in the gym 5-7 days per week, follow a very strict meal plan, and waste a lot of money on supplements instead of first trying a basic nutrition and training program.

Bottom line – the vast majority of people will never need complex nutrition methods. The fact is people can get the results they want by following the basics long-term. Unless you’re going to step on a stage in a swimsuit in the next few weeks or months, chances are you don’t need to count calories, weigh your food, or stress about eating a certain percentage of macronutrients.

Why look for something complicated when you can get the results you want with 2-3 training sessions per week and simple, stress-free nutrition principles?

If simple nutrition principles and strength training programs that focus on exercises like squats, deadlifts, push-ups, chins, and other exercises did not produce results, I would not recommend them. They work, and that's why they're staples in Fat Loss Detour.

I’ll be back on Friday with Part 2 where I’ll outline a simple, no non-sense body transformation guide.

UPDATE – check out Part 2 => No Nonsense Body Transformation Part 2.