1. You have no idea what you’re eating. You’re not eating enough protein, carbs, or food in general, and you’re not tracking any of it.
2. You’re training, but not hard enough. Or you’re doing too much cardio. Or you’re program-hopping.
3. You’re not consistently training and eating to build muscle and get lean.
The Action Plan: Project Look-Like-You-Lift is in session. Measure what’s on the fork, lift heavy shit, and follow a proper training plan.
1. You have no idea what you’re eating. You’re not eating enough protein, carbs, or food in general, and you’re not tracking any of it.
2. You’re training, but not hard enough. Or you’re doing too much cardio. Or you’re program-hopping.
3. You’re not consistently training and eating to build muscle and get lean.
The Action Plan: Project Look-Like-You-Lift is in session. Measure what’s on the fork, lift heavy shit, and follow a proper training plan.
I’m not sure how many times I’ve heard the following statement...
“I don’t look like I lift... but I do lift.” 😞
...it comes up constantly in my DMs and conversations with brand new online clients.
The truth is that there are a lot of factors that go into what someone looks like.
You might be doing all the right things in the gym, but if you aren’t eating properly or sleeping enough then your body isn’t going to reflect it.
Or maybe you’re training hard enough, but not following the right program for you.
In this blog post we’ll explore some of these reasons why you don’t look like you lift, even though you may be working really hard at the gym.
If you train hard but don’t look like you lift, there are a few most common culprits...
1. You don’t have enough muscle on your frame - So even if you have successfully dieted to the point where you’re very lean, you don’t look strong and athletic... just skinny.
2. You’re not lean enough - You have successfully built a good amount of muscle, but aren’t lean enough for it to show. So rather than looking like someone who trains as hard as you do, you just look a bit fluffy.
Let’s dig into the six mistakes you’re making that are causing you to fall into one of these two camps.
Not paying enough attention to nutrition is the most common mistake we see new clients who’ve struggled with “I don’t look like I lift-itis” (it’s a pandemic).
This isn’t just a mistake made by newbies... most of the clients we bring onboard who are coaches themselves and/or have been training for years are making the exact same mistake.
Most new online clients struggling to build the physiques they want (despite working hard in the gym) will say something along the lines of...
“What’s my diet like? I eat healthy... for the most part. Sometimes I don’t do so great on the weekends. My macros are currently somewhere around ____.”
...but when Coach Andrea or I go through their nutrition assessment, we’ll see that macros are being tracked very inconsistently (1-3 days per week), and despite having macro targets, they’re not being hit.
Sound familiar?
You’re not alone.
Most people love to push themselves in the gym, but still never look like they lift because their nutrition doesn’t match the way they train.
Your training is like the gas pedal. But your nutrition is the fuel in the tank. Without proper (or enough) fuel, you’ll never go far... no matter how hard you push the pedal.
So for most people crushing themselves in the gym, but not seeing the results reflected in the mirror, a smart nutrition strategy is the missing piece killing their results.
This is why we require all of our online clients to track their macros while we work together - we coach people who want a very specific (I.e. photoshoot level of lean, achieving sub 10% body fat, etc.), and well above-average result.
And doing things at random with your nutrition will never yield the exact result you want.
Holding you accountable to tracking your macros allows us to ensure that you’re fueling your body properly to create the changes you want to see in the mirror.
Remember, it doesn’t matter how hard you push the gas pedal (training)... if you don’t have fuel in the tank, you won’t go anywhere.
This goes very hand-in-hand with mistake #1... we can usually correct both at the same time.
This is again just as prevalent in more advanced trainees as it is newbies.
Most people who’ve been training for a few years know they need to be eating ~1 gram of protein per pound of body weight... but aren’t tracking their nutrition well enough to know that they’re falling short.
This is a problem when it comes to building a great physique for a few reasons:
→ Protein is the “raw material” your muscles are built from - Without adequate protein, it doesn’t matter how hard you train... you won’t build much muscle.
Your body converts dietary protein into muscle protein through a process called muscle protein synthesis.
But if the amount of protein coming in is too small, your effort in the gym won’t be reflected in the mirror.
→ Protein burns lots of calories during digestion - 20-35% of the calories you consume via protein are actually burned off during digestion. We call this “the thermic effect of food”.
As you can see, this is much higher than the other macronutrients - meaning even if you keep calories the same, simply increasing the amount of those calories that come from protein equates to you burning more calories daily.
By shifting your macros to include more protein, we’re increasing your metabolism, which makes getting (and staying) lean easier.
→ Protein seems to be less likely for your body to store as fat - It seems protein is less likely to be stored as body fat than fat or carbs - even if you’re eating more calories due to increased protein.
This study took 48 randomized, resistance-trained men and women and had them either:
a.) Consume 1.36g/lb+ of protein daily
b.) Maintain current dietary habits
Both groups did this for eight weeks while undergoing a standardized resistance training program designed to build muscle.
The results?
That’s enough science to make you give up and order Uber Eats, but wait! Here’s what it means:
The high-protein group ate ~490 calories more than the lower protein group, and lost more fat.
Basically, the process of protein being converted to a substrate that can be stored as fat is very energy expensive, time consuming, and inefficient for your body - thus it’s less likely to happen compared to carbs or fats.
→ Protein is the most filling macronutrient - Lean proteins are very filling per calorie consumed.
The biggest reason most people struggle on a diet? Hunger is too high.
Prioritizing protein helps you manage hunger, and actually get lean enough to show all of the muscle you’ve built in the gym.
Again, if you train hard but don’t look like you lift, it’s probably because either...
a.) You don’t have enough muscle on your frame
b.) You’re not lean enough
Protein is very helpful for both getting leaner and building muscle, so prioritizing it is essential to your results.
I love simplifying the mysterious art and science of training and looking like it. I’ve been on my own journey, and I share what I’ve learned so you can get there faster, on my Podcast and on Instagram.
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