For Best Results; Pick One Goal

Different goals require different training and nutrition approaches, so once you start training for multiple goals at the same time, all of those goals are going to be compromised. 

Here’s some common answers clients give when asked what they want to achieve:

Coach: So what do you want to achieve? 

Client 1: I want to get big and strong

Client 2: I want to lose weight and tone up

Client 3: I want to lose fat and I’m also training for a marathon

Client 4: I want to build muscle and get really shredded

Notice how each response contains 2 different goals in the one answer. While some of them role off the tongue and sound like they should go hand in hand, those clients have already created a problem for themselves. Here’s a quick breakdown for each and why they’re likely to be left frustrated at less progress than they could’ve made.

Client 1: bigger and stronger

Getting bigger is going to be best achieved in the 5-30 rep range with a heavy focus on creating mechanical tension in the muscles, often taking sets close to or to muscular failure. Getting stronger (assuming your not competing) will mostly be best achieved in the 3-6 rep range with the main focus being moving the weight from A to B. You’ll also be wanting to stay away from failure.

Solution: you can get bigger and stronger at the same time, but not as big and not as strong as you could have been by focusing on 1 of the 2. Decide which is most important and put your all you eggs in that basket.

Client 2: lose weight and tone up

Weight loss results will include being lighter and smaller and you’ll need to be in a calorie deficit. It’s entirely possible to lose weight and not look more toned if you don’t retain muscle, this is the difference between weight loss and fat loss. Toning up is a commonly used term to depict visual muscle definition. This could require you to grow more muscle in the first place, which will require a calorie surplus, not what’s needed for weight loss. If you’ve got enough muscle you may decide to lose fat to make that muscle more visible. This will require a calorie deficit, just like weight loss, but crucially, it’ll require a diet high in protein and your main training goal will be muscle retention. Muscle is relatively heavy and although not as much as fat pound for pound, does still take up space. Therefore you won’t be as light and small if you’re trying to tone up, thus compromising the overall weight loss goal.

Solution: decide which is most important and focus only on that. Toning up is a visual goal, so use visuals as your guide and while it can still be a useful tool, don’t get too hung up on the number on the scale. Weight loss is a number goal, if it’s weight loss you want you’ll focus more on the scale weight with the visual side taking a back seat.

Client 3: lose fat and train for marathon

If your goal is fat loss you’ll be training specifically for muscle retention and be in a calorie deficit to facilitate the fat loss. If your goal is to train for a marathon, you’ll mostly be doing endurance running which is catabolic in nature, meaning it’ll promote muscle loss, the exact opposite effect we want for fat loss. Gym training for a marathon should also be focused on running specific strength training and injury prevention training. You’ll also want to stay mostly at a minimum of maintenance calories or possibly increase calorie intake to cover the extra energy expenditure to make sure you’re performing your best on your runs and recovering well. Trying to combine these 2 goals will definitely result in 1, if not both being far from optimal.

Solution: prioritise your marathon if it is in the near future, train and eat specifically for that. Take a bit of time off after the event, then you can shift your focus onto fat loss once you feel recovered.

Client 4: build muscle and get shredded

Another case of opposing goals but here the training would remain pretty much the same for both barring a few volume tweaks at different phases. It’s with nutrition where differences are really highlighted. Muscle gain is going to require a prolonged phase in a calorie surplus where you can really grow some muscle but you’ll also gain a little bit of fat no matter how vigilant you are. Getting shredded is about taking your body fat percentage very low and will require a prolonged phase in a calorie deficit where you’ll get rid of the fat but also likely lose a bit of muscle too.

Solution: if you’re already pretty lean, commit to a gaining phase. You may need to sprinkle in the occasional mini cut to clean up a bit, then get back to the gaining protocol. If you’re carrying excess fat, lean out a bit first as this will not only make you feel better to start, it’ll also set you up for a more productive gaining phase when that time comes. In short you can cycle between sole focus on gaining muscle, then sole focus on losing fat. For best results, just don’t try and combine the 2 at the same time.