Harry Shore Coaching

Is there such thing as “the best exercise” to build a particular muscle group?

There are numerous exercises for different muscle groups and sometimes different variations of the same exercise.

Here are some questions to bear in mind when choosing an exercise.

- Does it actually work the muscle groups that you’re trying to grow?
- Does it work the muscle groups through a reasonable range?
- Is it fairly stable?
- Is it simple enough to overload the exercise?

If your answer for each of the above is “yes”, then it’s probably a good exercise. As there are numerous exercises that tick off the above points, there are numerous good exercises.

I have been working with Jacqui for a while now, with her goals being to lose weight, get stronger and fitter, and feel more confident.

Jacqui has achieved the following whilst working with me.

- A loss of 13kg.
- Inches lost.
- Improved strength levels.
- Improved fitness levels.
- Improved confidence.

Jacqui, you have absolutely smashed it and you are continuing to work incredibly hard! Well done.

If you’d like to work with me, message me directly.

Beginners fat loss guide.

People often overcomplicate the process of losing body fat, but I will aim to give you a fairly concise and simple guide in this post.

To set your calorie deficit, track your current calorie intake using a calorie tracking app like MacroFactor or MyFitnessPal for a week.

Take an average for your daily calorie intake, subtract 200, and become a little bit more active than you currently are.

Failing this, use an online total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) calculator to estimate how many calories you need to maintain your weight.

This is only an estimate, but you can either select the activity level that best describes you currently, subtract 200 calories, and exercise a little bit more, or you can choose the activity level that best accounts for your new exercise regime if you are starting one, and subtract 500.

Why 500 calories below your TDEE?

Around 500 calories below your TDEE allows for around 0.5kg/1lb of weight loss per week, tends to be much more sustainable than more aggressive approaches, and allows you to better retain muscle / build new muscle.

If you are interesting in building muscle, looking more athletic, and adding shape to your frame, following a simple but effective resistance training plan based on your desired training frequency is imperative.

If you’re stuck for how to train, why not book a free 25-minute session with me where I will show you some basic but effective movements and provide you with a free training plan? Message me directly if this sounds like something that will help you!

Bonus tips:

Ensure to eat plenty of fibre, eat around 1.6-2.2g protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day, and stay hydrated.

Sleeping between 7-9 hours each night is a good target to aim for.

Weigh yourself every morning, in a fasted state, and take an average of your weight for each week. This is much more accurate than individual weigh-ins for tracking weight loss progress.

Unsure of anything else in your fat loss journey? Ask in the comments section below or message me directly.

3 nutrition tips to help increase satiety whilst in a calorie deficit.

- Eat between 1.6 and 2.2g protein per kilogram of bodyweight each day.
- Increase your fibre intake.
- Stay hydrated.

Don’t have the time to spend prepping food?

This vegan-friendly meal is quick and simple.

- It’s high in protein.
- It’s high in fibre.
- It is stacked with micronutrients.
- It’s only 582 calories.

Also, it takes just a few minutes in the microwave!

Things that are good to know when it comes to losing body fat.

Here are some things that you should pay attention to if you’re looking to lose body fat.

What you actually need when it comes to losing body fat.

It’s actually true, you don’t need to add lemons to your water, do fasted cardio, and stop eating by 8pm.

Whilst being in a calorie deficit is 100% accurate advice, it’s also pretty vague advice.

Look out for my next post which will provide you with a few things to consider in order for you to be successful in maintaining a calorie deficit and achieving your fat loss goal.

Looking to lose body fat?

Social media can be a good place to look for advice, but is also full of misinformation, leading you to focus on things that add little to no benefit to helping you on your fat loss journey.

How often should you train each week?

It depends.

People can make gains doing one session per week performing one set per exercise if they take the set to or very close to failure.

On the other hand, people can make gains doing six sessions per week, performing 20 sets or more for a muscle but it would be very unlikely that you can take all 20 sets to failure and recover from that workload.

The fewer sets you do for a muscle per week, the greater the level of intensity (training to or close to failure) that is required and the more sets you do for a muscle per week, the lower the level of intensity that is required.

Both styles of training work for muscle growth and it is simply preference/availability to train which should dictate the approach you choose.