A few years ago, I was in a fat loss phase, trying to get lean for the summer. One day, I came across a forum thread with a dumbass title in the lines of “Why you should have cheat days.”
I clicked on it, read through and was convinced that, while dieting down, I should (nay, must) include cheat days two to three times per month to ‘propel’ fat-burning and improve diet adherence.
(A part of me knew that it wasn’t the case, but my hedonistic side told me to shut up and enjoy the moment. I reasoned that one day of overeating couldn’t do any harm.)
Then, on Friday after work, I hit up the local grocery store, picked up all the crap I could lay my eyes on with the intent of having my first cheat day on the following Saturday. I was so excited; I could barely fall asleep that night. I felt like a kid before Christmas.
Next morning, got up bright and early, and began my ‘reward day.’ As expected, I ate so much food that I had to lie down on three or four different occasions. I didn’t count the calories, but I reckon it was in the 10,000-15,000 range.
I had a few more cheat days during that cut before realizing that they completely negated my fat loss efforts. I knew it from the start; I just didn’t want to believe it.
The Thinking Lifter Blog by Philip Stefanov
What Is The Best Time of Day to Work Out? (Does It Matter?)
For one reason or another, we all have a specific time of the day that we set aside for training.
For you, that time could be early in the morning before the day begins.
For someone else, it could be in the late afternoon, or in the evening, after work.
And as with most other aspects of fitness, a logical question arises:
“What is the best time of day to work out?”
As it turns out, there is some science to the answer and the time of day you choose to train could influence your results.
MASS Review: Is It The Best Investment for Thinking Lifters?
Before we get into it, a full disclosure is due:
I’ve never written and published a review on this blog before. I’ve always seen it as sleazy marketing for some reason. When I began putting together this review, I looked like this:
How to Lean Bulk: The Ultimate Guide
Bulking is sort of a controversial topic.
There are endless opinions on it:
"Dirty bulking FTW!"
"Slow and steady wins the race!"
"As a natural lifter, you shouldn't even be bulking! You'll just get fat!"
...
And the like. Needless to say, there's no shortage of opinions. But who is right and who is wrong?
Today, we'll take a deep dive into bulking and at the different options to determine which is best and how to do it effectively, step-by-step.
Getting Stronger: How to Break Through Strength Plateaus
If you’re serious about building a great physique, you need to be getting stronger over time.
Why?
Well, aside from the awesome feeling you get when you lift serious poundage, being strong generally allows you to build more muscle.
You see, doing sets of 8 with 225 pounds on the bench press is going to build your chest nicely. But do you know what is better?
Doing sets of 8 with 275 pounds.
Even better?
Doing sets of 8 with 315 pounds.
In today’s guide, we’ll go over everything you need to know for optimal strength gains and how to bust through strength plateaus quickly. Let’s go.