Simple Tip for Improved Body Composition
One of the things that I love most about the gym is that ANYONE can get into phenomenal shape. Of course it’s going to be easier for some, and not just anyone has the genetics to become Mr. Olympia… but on average the gym is a place where if you work hard, you can do a whole lot with the cards you were dealt.
Over my 8 years in the industry I’ve come to realize that each individual has a body composition that they can maintain with relative ease. Let’s call it theirbaseline physiqueor where thebody finds homeostasis.You see this with women who train… Some women have everything functioning optimally hormonally at 10% body fat… others might lose their period if they drop below 16%.
For me I feel like my homeostasis is 12% body fat, I can maintain that with my current lifestyle, nutrition and training fairly easily. I can get down to single digits for an event or time period but I don’t find it sustainable or feel great at that low level, and I can definitely go higher, but I don’t feel optimal!
The one tip that I have for improving or maintaining your body composition isactually quite simple… walk!I was thinking back on the two times in my life that I felt like I was able tostay lean effortlesslyand the common denominator between those two time periods was I was performing a lot of extra output.
In 2018 I was training clients all day and then on my feet bartending at a country bar 3 nights a week… fast forward to 2022 and I was training clients all day… hung up the cowboy hat… but I was going for a45 minute walk every evening after dinner.
One week this past summer I got very busy and simultaneously the sun started setting earlier each evening which cut into my daily walk… a week later I had put on 5lbs! One of the benefits of being so regimented and eating relatively the same thing each day is that you can really pinpoint what factors make a difference. The following week I moved my walks to before dinner and wasback down 5 lbs by the end of the week!
The explanation is quite simple, I don’t normally count calories, but we can assume that I was consuming and expending just enough calories by walking everyday that I was in either a slight deficit or right at maintenance! Not going for my daily walk was just enough to put me into a surplus and start gaining some weight.
When someone wants to get lean, they often resort to cutting their consumption or cutting calories with an intense diet. How about trying slightly increasing your energy expenditure first in the form of a walk? Sounds a lot more enjoyable doesn’t it?
Simple… but effective.
Live Virtuously,
AB
