No doubt, the six-meal-a-day-approach so prevalent among fitness professionals and recreational trainees alike can interfere with social life and work.
It’s sad considering it doesn’t have to be that way. Indeed we ourselves are the creators of all of our troubles and compulsions. But it certainly doesn’t help when we are constantly showered with messages concerning the dire consequences of not eating every two to three hours. Nonsense and make believe.
But there is hope. I’m working with an ever increasing amount of competitors who are fed up with the old dogma and time-consuming behavior that tends to come with the territory. It’s good to see and experience that more people in this industry are starting to open up their eyes. Role models are needed to create change on a greater scale.
Here’s an article about one of my clients. I’ve translated some parts of it.
Note that Andreaz is eating two meals most days, while the default approach includes three meals. There are no set rules regarding meal frequency within the 8 hour feeding phase, but other clients tend to prefer three meals (as do I).
One thing I do differently with competitors is the pre-contest prep. Specifically the last two weeks, where I think most coaches make things more difficult and painful than what’s necessary or optimal.
Andreaz is competing on Saturday, and is going up against guys a lot heavier than him (they cancelled his weight class). Let’s hope they judge symmetry and conditioning fairly. That is where he really shines. I’ve helped Andreaz once before, where he took second place in his class (-70 kg) at the Sweden GP. He would no doubt have taken first, if it weren’t for a Dutch (!) wildcard that appeared in the last second.
Here’s a sneak peek on his current condition, one week out.
I should also mention that Andreaz is completely natural – and please believe that I wouldn’t be telling you that if he wasn’t.
Let’s all wish Andreaz good luck on Saturday. You can follow his progress on his blog.
By the way, “Making High Frequency Training Work: Part Two” will be up on Monday, at the earliest. That will allow me to evaluate some relevant progress reports/client data being sent to me this weekend.
