People always like to put things into percentages. They like to ask what’s more important; training or nutrition? Some trainers say that training is 60% diet, 20% training and 20% recovery. I don’t like to think of it like that because you can’t have one without the other. If you training and diet are going well and you aren’t sleeping, then your progress will suck. If you are sleeping and training but your diet isn’t in check, then your results will definitely be sub-par. If your sleeping and eating is on point, great. If you aren’t training the in the most effective way possible then you won’t get the results you’re looking for. I like to have a different approach.

Diet = 100%

Training = 100%

Recovery = 100%

You should be giving it everything you have for all 3 of these categories. This means that you should be in the gym focusing on progressive overload. Without sacrificing form. Keep eating quality food throughout the day and going to bed early while taking naps if needed. You should also incorporate some stretching, foam rolling, lacrosse ball work because recovery work is important for longevity.

There are 168 hours in any given week.

If you only train around 8 hours per week, then that leaves you with 160 hours left to eat and recover. That means that in a year there will be 8320 hours of time to eat and recover. You can’t rely on training to do everything for you. I have met people in the past who smoke, drink, party every weekend and think that they are “healthy”. They think so because they go to the gym 3 days per week, it doesn’t work like that. Diet is just as important and if not more important when it comes to changing your body and health. You spend more hours eating and recovering then you do training. This isn’t to say that training is less important. It’s still something that you must grasp as soon as possible and take into account. Also, you may only be in the gym for 6 hours per week, but those 6 hours are important for making progress.

Is counting calories necessary?

The basic answer is Yes. It isn’t mandatory for everybody, but I believe that people should count them so that they know around how many calories they consume daily. When I was 150lb and trying to get to 200lb, I thought that I was getting 4000 calories per day. When I started counting calories it turned out that I was only getting 2300. Once accustomed to the basic idea of weighing food with your eyes then it might not be as necessary (depending on what your goals are). If you’re trying to get to a higher level, then I do think that counting calories is necessary. The more precise you are with food and training, the more precise your results will be. Stuff like counting calories, foam rolling, and mobility work sounds boring. It’s what separates the serious trainees from the average ones. The average joe doesn’t count calories, train hard all year, foam roll, eat properly and doesn’t commit to the whole lifestyle.

“If you want to be EXTRAordinary then stop doing things that ordinary people do”