10 ‘Dumb’ Questions Trainers Keep Hearing

I have been in the fitness industry for over a decade now. As a trainer, I have been asked thousands of questions from standard to downright outrageous. Don’t get me wrong, there is no such thing as a stupid question. That said, there are so too many rumors and misleading guidlines out there that my sessions have sometimes turned in ridiculous Q&As.

This is a list of the 10 most common questions I get asked. I debunked each one for you so you can finally know the truth. I believe these questions come about because people are always looking for easy solutions to their problems.

Lots of people are under the misconception that in order to drop weight you must do endless amounts of cardio. You need to do cardio to drop fat, but relying only on one method of fat-burning will leave you with no gains and lots of unburned bodyfat.

When trying to drop bodyfat, 80 percent of your results will come directly from your diet. One pound of bodyfat contains roughly 3500 calories. In order to lose a pound a week, you need to tailor you diet and create a caloric deficit of 500 calories per day. This means that if you are currently consuming 3000 calories per day and you want to drop 1lb of fat per week you will be consuming 2500 calories per day. If you add cardio to this deficit you risk losing too much muscle mass.

Muscles help raise your metabolic rate. If you perform just cardio your body does not see a need to build or retain muscle. Less muscle= Slower metabolism. In this scenario, lets look at a runner’s physique. Long distance runners are usually lanky with no muscle tone. If you want to be muscular and ripped you need to workout with weights and you need to have a balance of cardio.

People think that carbs are evil or that Carbs can make you fat. They’re wrong.

Any macronutrient will make you fat if you overconsume them. If you require 3000 calories per day to maintain your current weight, 3300 calories you make you gain weight. Likewise, if you eat less than 3000 calories you will lose weight. This is the law of thermodynamics, which state in it’s principles that calories (energy) are neither created nor destroyed. Carbohydrates are our bodies main source of fuel, if you cut the carbs you’re body will adapt accordingly — turning protein and fats into fuel. Keep your gains safe with an elevated carbohydrate intake during your cut. You will retain more muscle and have a lot more energy to train.

Lots of people are under the common misconception that if you want to bulk up and build a ton of muscle, you must lift in the 1-5 rep range. While it is true that you will build muscle in that rep range, you can build muscle in any rep range as long as you’re progressive. Progressive overload will lead to muscle gains. Progressive overload is all about adding more weight to the bar, doing an extra set, rep or even time under tension. As long as you are progressing from workout to workout your body will adapt by adding slabs of new beef to your frame. In short if your goal is to build the maximum amount of muscle in the shortest amount of time focus on being progressive with your training.

Piggybacking off my last point, if your goal is to be as ripped as possible, dieting should be your focus — not volume. Lots of people think doing high reps (15-20 range) will burn cuts into their muscles. As stated earlier, 80 percent of your results will come directly from your diet. Doing more reps will not make you more defined. 

Bodyfat levels will dictate leaness and definition. If someone is walking around at 12 percent bodyfat they will appear leaner and have more cuts than someone who is 17 percent bodyfat. If you want more cuts keep your training the same and aim to keep lowering your bodyfat.

Squats can be absolutely brutal and they will challenge you every set, but there’s another one of those myths floating around — that they’re bad for knees. Squats are not bad for the knees; improper squats are bad for the knees. Squatting with good form has been actually shown to be beneficial for the knees and make te move one of the biggest and best compound movements you can perform. Every routine should include some form of squats. Squats will build a big foundation of strength.

On the flip side, squatting halfway or incorrectly can lead to a slew of problems, including knee pain. When you perform squats make sure your toes stay inline with your knees. Try not to make your knees buckle out or in.

Your body does not discriminate against certain foods. Your body is a complicated machine that can break down any food. There is no such thing as “clean” foods or “dirty” foods. So, no, that tilapia isn’t going to get you ripped. 

Your body only sees calories, protein, carbs, fats, vitamins, minerals, amino acids etc. Your body does not see food types.

When you consume something, your body breaks down the food for fuel and uses what it needs. If you had a slice of pizza, your body is not going to say “OMG, Anthony just had pizza lets store it in his love handles. This idea that certain foods will help make you leaner is complete nonsense.

If you want to be leaner make sure you are eating in a caloric deficit. Worry less about food choices but more about amounts of food and overall calories.

Would you drive halfway across the country with no gps? No, that would be an easy way to get lost. Same principal applies to “dirty bulking”. I am sure most guys reading this have at one point done a dirty bulk. Can a dirty bulk be helpful? Sure, but I don’t find it optimal for muscle gain. Typically, when someone does a dirty bulk they eat whatever is not bolted down and they gain a lot of weight rather quickly. The problem is that most of the weight isn’t muscle.

You can only gain about -.5lb of muscle per week. Whether you gain 5lbs in a week or only 1lb you will still only gain the same amount of muscle. The difference is in the latter. When you gain a ton of weight quickly a lot of that weight will be fat. That will translate to you spending a lot more time dieting to take fat off and less time dedicated to building muscle.

Overtraining is one of the most controversial topics in the fitness industry. Does overtraining exist? I believe that overtraining does not exist, what does exist is undertraining and overreaching. Overreaching is a real thing. During certain points in your training you will feel run down, tired and not in the mood to train. Normally when you feel this way you are on the tipping point to making huge progess.

How you feel during training is not an indicator of how well your progress is coming along. When you train bodyparts one time per week you are limiting yourself to how much muscle you can gain. It typically takes 24-48 hours for a muscle group to recover from training. If you trained chest on Monday by Wednesday/Thursday the muscle is fully recovered and ready to go. By training bodyparts once per week you are missing another training window. Missing that training window will leave you smaller and maybe even deconditioned.

The more frequently you train bodyparts, the better your body is at handling overall load and volume. You can actually train your body to handle more, if you properly add in the volume over time.

Taking a full week off from the gym is an old school way of thinking. A more optimal way to recover from your training is to take a “deload” week. A deload is a properly planned week of performing your normal routine at 50-60% normal weights and volume. This “light” week of training will allow your joints and muscles to fully recover while still allowing you to stimulate muscle protein synthesis.

When you take time off from the gym, yes you will recover but you will also become deconditioned. Lots of people forget that weightlifting is a sport and there are certain skills involved. In order to grow your legs you need to squat, in order to be a good squatter you must practice squats. How can you practice squats while taking a break from the gym?

During a deload you should be focusing on your form and practicing full range of motion. Another technique I recommend during a deload week is focus on developing your mind muscle connection. Focus on squeezing the bodypart you are training. Developing a better mind muscle connection will help you recruit the target muscle during heavy training.

Supplements were designed to “supplement” your diet with anything you are not providing it. For example, if you need 200g of protein a day and fall short eating real food, you could have a protein shake to help you get in additional protein. Supplements are not magical items that will make you gain muscle or lose fat. Despite what advertisements say, there are only a few supplements that actually work. These are the ones that I recommend:

• Multi-Vitamin: I use a multi as a basic insurance, to ensure I am getting all my required vitamins and minerals.
• Creatine: One of the most tried and true supplements. Creatine has been around for many years and been shown to help increase muscle.
• Joint Supps: Our joints take a beating during training, I like to supplement with a basic joint product to help my joints recover from heavy training
• Fish Oil: Fish oil has a variety of benefits including improved insulin sensitivity and improved blood lipid levels.

Supplements only make up 1 percent of your results. If you are relying on your supplements to help you gain or lose weight you need to reevaluate your goals. Focus on your diet and your training and watch your results go thru the roof.