I just finished celebrating my 30th birthday in Dubai and I've got to be honest with you – as much as I love having time off...
It's nice being back to routine, hitting the gym and helping our Elite clients reach greatness.
Having just turned 30, I have reflected on the past decade and put together 45 fitness cheat codes that I wish I knew in my 20s.
Here they are:
1) Stop doing burpees
2) High-intensity cardio > endurance running if you want muscle.
3) Morning exercise boosts endorphins released into your body and increases brain function.
4) Drink caffeine in the AM to suppress your appetite.
5) What the government says is healthy isn't remotely close to what's actually healthy.
6) Salt helps maintain proper blood volume + maintain cellular hydration, which helps minimize hunger.
7) Prioritize weight training and your diet, not cardio.
8) Start your day with a high-protein, low-carb breakfast.
9) When you think you’re hungry, you’re usually just thirsty.
10) Muscle cannot turn into fat because they’re 2 different tissues.
11) Hit the sauna 4-7 times weekly to reduce inflammation and live longer.
12) Switch out vegetable oil for olive oil for better health.
13)One good workout can turn around a bad day in an hour or less.
14) Some of the best workouts are the ones you don’t want to go do.
15) Eat a diet rich in zinc and vitamin D to boost testosterone.
16) Get 15 minutes of morning sunlight to set your circadian rhythm and get better sleep.
17) More sweat doesn’t mean you burn more calories.
18) Ingest salt before bed to prevent waking up in the middle of the night to use the washroom.
19) Supplement with B-Complex, vitamins D, C, B, zinc and magnesium if you’re stressed.
20) Always filter your drinking water.
21) Creatine is one of the most studied and most effective supplements you can take.
22) The best diet is one you can stick to consistently while hitting your caloric target.
23) Don't be extreme.
24) People are too busy focusing on their workouts to worry about yours.
25) Losing weight or gaining weight is ultimately about eating less or eating more.
26) Get more sleep to increase testosterone and brain function.
27) When fat loss plateaus, reduce your calorie intake by 100 calories per day for a week.
28) Have one high-carb day every two weeks for a mental reset.
29) Changing your body requires changing your identity. It's a lifestyle change.
30) Make your last meal dinner — no snacking after 7 pm.
31) Spices are an easy way to make "boring" foods taste good.
32) A pound of muscle burns 2x more calories than fat.
33) Plan your meals the night before and log them in MyFitnessPal.
34) Consume foods that fill you up such as meat, eggs, white potatoes, and Greek yogurt.
35) The optimal temperature to fall asleep is between 15.6 to 19.4° C
36) One bad day won't ruin your progress. Just don't let it become more than one bad day.
37) Physical fitness and mental health are closely intertwined.
38) Lift for 45-60 minutes in the gym.
39) Protein is the most satiating micronutrient. It's also more thermogenic (takes more calories to digest).
40) Consume the majority of your carbohydrates and calories around training times.
41) People respect you more when you're in shape because it shows you respect yourself.
42) What you eat affects how you feel mentally and physically. Garbage in, garbage out.
43) Aim for a resting heart rate of sub 60.
44) Exercising to build muscle is useless if you don’t get enough sleep.
45) Supplement with fish oil, collagen and curcumin to reduce inflammation and joint pain.
– Oliver
