You bulked up a little this Christmas? Don’t worry, we’re going to put that to good use. Body fat is good. It increases the production of hormones like insulin and testosterone which are great for muscle growth BUT unfortunately too much can be an unnecessary hindrance. I’m, Elliott Reid, owner of the Revitalize Clinic and I’ll be explaining how you can reach your full potential. Find us online at facebook.com/revitalizeclinic and Instagram @elliottjohnreid
We firstly have the age old question of nature or nurture. I.e. if you were to train as hard as you physically can (nurture), what is your genetic potential? (nature)
Let’s first get our body fat percentage where it should be to make sure we’re hormonally in an optimal state. For this, you can use either body fat reading scales (Tanita for example), or ask a qualified personal trainer to measure your body fat percentage using calipers (this should cost between £10-20 and we at the Revitalize Clinic recommend that you do so every 6 weeks.
Now, your body fat percentage can differ dependant on your position. For example backs would expect to be 8-10% body fat with forwards going up to around 15%. Above 15% has shown to be of little benefit to your hormonal health. Keeping around this mark dependant on your position will ensure that you’re a lean, try scoring machine.
Now we can measure your genetic potential by calculating how high your natural testosterone levels are. A great tool for this is the Cassey Butt formula. If you find it hard to put on muscle mass, you can use this online calculator to calculate how much you can potentially gain (http://biohacks.net/online-muscle-calculator-for-hard-gainers-ectomopr/) His formula uses measurements like your wrist width to calculate your natural testosterone levels and your corresponding maximum potential.
Once we have the two answers to your body fat percentage and genetic potential, you can reverse engineer your progression. I.e. you know how far you have to go… now to get there! We have a recommended reading list and our online links below to keep in touch and ask us questions!
Recommended Reading
A Guide to Flexible Dieting, Lyle Mcdondald
Starting Strength, Mark Rippetoe
The Hybrid Athlete, Alez Viada
Catch us online at www.facebook.com/revitalizeclinic and instagram.com/elliottjohnreid
Elliott Reid
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