In my opinion, body fat percentage is the best, most accurate way for guys to measure their progress on a strength training plan.  By now you guys probably know that I’m all about setting goals, and more importantly, having concrete ways to measure those goals. After all, having a goal is a prerequisite to actually getting somewhere…otherwise you’re just going through the motions and getting nowhere.

One of the biggest problems guys face when they’re trying to start or stick to a fitness plan is that their goals are too big, or are just not clearly defined. If “I want to be as ripped as Tom Hardy” is your goal, that’s great, but how do you measure that?

If we don’t have a clear idea of where we want to go with our fitness goals, it’s tough to set a plan for success and even tougher to stay motivated.

For those guys that know they want to get as ATHLEAN as possible, body fat percentage can be a key measurement of success.

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Booze and sports seem to go so well together; whether you enjoy wrapping up a soccer game with a few drinks at the pub or drinking a couple of beers on the field after playing baseball with your friends, the two just seem to belong together on such occasions. Now, for some of you there’s probably not much I can say to break this tradition up, nor do I think that having a couple of drinks after a game with your friends is the end of the world, but if it’s a pattern you keep revisiting and alcohol is your go-to post-workout drink, you may want to rethink your strategy because there might be some serious gains you’ve been denying yourself.

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Just the other day, I ran into an old friend at a coffee shop near where I live, and we started talking about training and nutrition. My friend had started lifting about two or three years ago and was really into it. He told me how he was doing a dirty bulk cycle and asked me what I thought of that.

He got the idea recently by reading about Christian Bale’s physical prep for Batman Begins, and was amazed how Bale had gone from looking like he did in The Machinist to looking like Batman.

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Having worked in major league baseball (and having the benefit of interleague play), I was able to not only get to almost every stadium in the country but also train myself and my players in some of the greatest workout facilities around.

As you can imagine, these major league weight rooms often spared no expense. In fact, when you’re talking about multimillion dollar payrolls and just how important a player’s health is to the team’s chances of winning it all, do you really think that an extra foam roller or even a $10,000 Woodway Treadmill wouldn’t make the budget?!?

That said, obviously the expectations can’t be the same for the places that most of us train at…especially if what you’re training for doesn’t require you to put on a numbered jersey for work!

Or can they? Read more…

If you’ve seen any of my many YouTube videos you’ve probably heard me say 1,000 times that if you want to build athletic muscle you must avoid overtraining, and train with a purpose in mind! Working out just to say you do is FAR different from TRAINING with a specific plan to get you straight to your goals (without the bumps along the way).

I just can’t stress that enough.

I also emphasize that in order to build athletic muscle AND lose fat at the same time (yes, as I hope you see by now, it’s completely possible to have both!)…then you have to start TRAINING like an athlete…period. Read more…