GZ | Simplifying Strength Training and Nutrition

Simplifying strength training and nutrition. DM if interested in online coaching.

[GZ | Simplifying Strength Training and Nutrition @gzlifts]

At 15, I weighed 86kg at 25% body fat.

At 25, I still weigh 86kg, at 15% body fat.

Same weight. Completely different body.

At 15, I was the fat kid hiding from family beach photos and stretching my T-shirt so it wouldn't cling.

So I got obsessed with fat loss. I read everything on nutrition.

Then my feed filled up with bodybuilders, and I got hooked on building muscle too.
I trusted every post. 4x12 with light weights. Bro splits. Whatever the big guys said.

I was overwhelmed, and my progress was slow.

So I started following people whose advice came from actual studies. Then I read the studies myself.

That's when it clicked: building muscle and eating well are simpler than the internet makes them look.

Here, I share what the research says, in plain English, and what's actually worked for me over 10 years.

Basically, the account I would've loved to have when I started.

The goal is to give you everything you need to design your own training and understand how you eat.

Follow along if that sounds like you.

And if you want more tailored help, hit me up on my DMs.

Nice to meet you. Big hug, and let's grow together

[GZ | Simplifying Strength Training and Nutrition @gzlifts]

Honestly, if you want to get good at programming and strength training.

Find out what your target muscles do and then just add resistance to those actions.

That’s literally it.

[GZ | Simplifying Strength Training and Nutrition @gzlifts]

See far too many people bouncing up and down when doing calf raises.

Don’t.

Best bang for your buck is in lowering the weight, pause in the stretched position for 3-5 seconds, then come up.

[GZ | Simplifying Strength Training and Nutrition @gzlifts]

find something to do outside the gym.

building muscle is SO slow.

so focus on a decent program, progressing your lifts and not getting too fat but also:

have that meal. show up for others. have that drink.

you’re (probably) not prepping for a show.

acknowledge that and enjoy life.

[GZ | Simplifying Strength Training and Nutrition @gzlifts]

@NiulyfeApp haha it does! nope, not at all, i aim to leave 1 rep in reserve most of the time. helps minimise fatigue whilst still causing enough stimulus for hypertrophy to occur

[GZ | Simplifying Strength Training and Nutrition @gzlifts]

There’s only one way to stimulate hypertrophy (other than steroids, that is):

Mechanical tension.

Not load, not reps.

Near failure, your contraction speed slows (involuntarily). That’s where mechanical tension is, and where reps start to count.

[GZ | Simplifying Strength Training and Nutrition @gzlifts]

@IlliquidInsight Fr. I work in markets, specifically inter dealer broking. It’s a bit more niche than IB, PE and Big Law. Tough to find anyone over the age of 40 that doesn’t look 60 🤣

[GZ | Simplifying Strength Training and Nutrition @gzlifts]

Intermittent fasting must be the most overhyped idea in the fitness space.

Mackenzie cutting through the BS!

[Mackenzie Smith @smithhmackenzie]

I've never once told a client to intermittent fast for weight loss. Not one.

Every time someone asks me if they should try it, I know what's driving the question.

It's coming from the wrong place.

They're frustrated with their weight, feel like nothing they're doing is working, and think restricting themselves even more is going to get them there faster.

Now look - you can't escape the laws of thermodynamics.

If you're eating fewer calories than you're burning, you're going to lose weight. And intermittent fasting can be a tool to help with that.

But the issue I see is:

People are restricting themselves so much that their energy is shit, they're constantly thinking about food, and by the time they finally get to eat, they're starving.

So they end up overeating, grabbing whatever's convenient, and the cycle repeats.

Or they're subconsciously using fasting as a way to punish themselves for how they feel and look, under-fueling in the process.

So their training, recovery, and overall quality of life start to suffer, and they're STILL not getting the results they want.

Now if you're intermittent fasting because you genuinely feel great doing it, you're eating enough, hitting your nutrition targets, and it works for your lifestyle?

Awesome. I have no problem with that.

But let's stop pretending intermittent fasting is some superior fat loss strategy.

It's not.

And if you're already struggling with overeating, constantly restricting yourself, or bouncing between diets, it's probably not the solution you need.

Most people haven't learned how to eat in a way that supports their goals AND their lifestyle.

I'd much rather teach someone how to fuel their body properly, manage their hunger, and build a sustainable approach to nutrition than give them another set of rules about when they're allowed to eat.

Because if your goal is to lose weight and actually keep it off, we need to address what's causing you to struggle in the first place.

Not just find another way to eat less.

[GZ | Simplifying Strength Training and Nutrition @gzlifts]

100kg for reps on the shoulder press machine.

When I started 10 years ago, I could barely get 5 reps in with 25kg.

Read that again. It took me 10 YEARS.

Muscle and strength building is slow AF.

It’s all about having decent programming, changing it as little as possible and beating your numbers every week.

Oh, and being consistent for a long fucking time.

[GZ | Simplifying Strength Training and Nutrition @gzlifts]

Literally, stop the fucking ‘keto’ this ‘paleo’ that. It doesnt make a difference. Only thing that matters is calories, reaching your protein goal (most of you eat way too much anyway), eating carbs to fuel your lifestyle and workouts and have 2 or 3 servings of fruit and vegetables.

[GZ | Simplifying Strength Training and Nutrition @gzlifts]

@rottenmiii For weight loss it doesnt

[GZ | Simplifying Strength Training and Nutrition @gzlifts]

@ItsAndraz Yeah this has worked for me too. Just the lack of decision making involved and the structure to it makes it way easier to stick to and stops you from raiding the kitchen when youre hungry

[GZ | Simplifying Strength Training and Nutrition @gzlifts]

You don't need to count calories to lose weight. (Seriously, you don't.)

I'm down around 9kg in 6 months.

I have about 10 meals where I ROUGHLY know the calories and protein in each.

During a fat loss phase, I just rotate and mix them.

Make it easy on yourself.

[GZ | Simplifying Strength Training and Nutrition @gzlifts]

Last year I went from 80kg to 95kg. And no, most of it wasn't muscle. It was fat.

My life is more than the gym. I have a job and a social life. So I kept lifting and ate whatever.

Eventually I looked in the mirror and didn't like what I saw. So I cut my carbs and calories.

5 to 6 months in a deficit later, I'm at 86.7kg.

Anyways, I’m beating around the bush.

Point is: it's not that deep.

You gain fat? You can fix it. Keep lifting, keep building muscle.

Ideally you start lean and eat at maintenance. But real life gets in the way sometimes, and that's fine.

It just takes a few months of consistency to fix.

[GZ | Simplifying Strength Training and Nutrition @gzlifts]

@FitnessEmpiree Overrated, as it ignores the ROM allowing your upper arm to come in towards the center of your chest. Do a converging chest press machine instead and a press with a tucked arm for all-round chest gains

[GZ | Simplifying Strength Training and Nutrition @gzlifts]

"You ONLY do 2 sets???"

My mate asked me this mid-session. His reference point is an Arnold documentary he watched 10 years ago.

The thing is: you can get most of your gains from 4-10 hard sets per muscle a week, if they're actually hard. Close to failure, not 15 sets of going through the motions.

So I do 2 brutal sets today, 2 more in 4 days.

He's switched to doing the same. Check back in 3 months.

[GZ | Simplifying Strength Training and Nutrition @gzlifts]

I actually can’t remember the last time I had a full-sugar drink

[GZ | Simplifying Strength Training and Nutrition @gzlifts]

Find hobbies outside the gym.

Building muscle takes years. Half the people bulking and cutting gain 10kg just to lose 9.5kg of fat.

Stay at maintenance. Hit your protein. Lift consistently. Live your life.