Muscle: the impact of doing nothing.

I know. It almost sounds like clickbait. But trust us, we ain’t lyin.’ We also pride ourselves on being teachers, not just talkers. So keep reading, and I’ll straight-up GIVE you stuff to do. Why? Maybe you’ll come see us in the future on good faith because we helped you. Or don’t, it’s a free country. Sound fair? Cool.

First off, let’s get some introductions out of the way. Hi! My name is Braeden Bowman, co-owner of Momentum Gym. My partner Keagan Stofflet and I have had the privilege of coaching and consulting over 1000 people looking to change their life for the better through fitness and nutrition. So it’s safe to say we’ve seen (and coached through) a lot of stuff.

From the 20 year old who is just sick of being skinny, to the 45 year old Mother who wants to just fit in her wedding dress again and own her life again after raising 3 kids, to the 74 year old who simply want’s to be strong enough to keep up with their grandkids… we’ve done it all.

That being said, we’ve seen a LOT of the things muscle mass can do for us. Sure, it looks cool when there’s hardly any body fat around it. And sure, it feels cool to perfect your proportions through iron and grit. But what about it keeps us young? Let’s keep it brief for our TikTok-ADHD Induced minds that can only handle so much knowledge at a time. (I’m poking fun of myself here).

PAIN: THE RESULT OF DOING NOTHING.

Our muscle is literally the thing keeping our skeleton, organs, and posture in place. Letting our muscles down means we let our entire body down.

Now I’m not just talking about the physical pain of bending over, doing lawn work, etc. I’m talking emotional as well.

Imagine your kids, grandkids, or anyone for that matter asks to toss the ball around outside. They ask you to help them practice, to help them move, or even something as simple as a hike in the park. Now imagine our muscle is so weak we can’t last more than 10 minutes? Now that we put ourselves in this imaginary scenario, (yet very real for some), how does that make us feel? I’ll take a swing and say, probably not great.

I say this to be as real as possible, because I love you. I’m not just trying to stir up emotions. Remember how I said we’d help solve these issues? Keep scrolling. We’ll get there. If you’ve read this far, you’re already in the top 1% of people who actually click these links.

STATURE: THE DELAYED PAIN OF DOING NOTHING

This one is probably the most frequently discussed conversation we have in this industry. I’d argue 70% (or more) of the 1000-something consults we’ve done had something to do with a person’s discomfort on their appearance. (And that’s okay. We have permission to want to build our body to what we desire).

Most people are finally waking up to the fact that the scale number isn’t everything. Most people are also looking to build a “more toned look.” As a coach, this is awesome to see, but let’s break some beliefs. “Toning up” is the act of building muscle, while losing body fat. That “definition” most seek isn’t built by just jumping on a tea cleanse or two, dropping 15lbs on the toilet, and voila! The dream bod is here.

Although I wish it were that easy, it’s gonna be a little longer of a process. Now, it’s a SIMPLE process, but simple doesn’t always mean easy. If we’re looking to look leaner, we’re going to have to build some muscle. (And keep our calories/food in check, but that’s for another time).

Also, remember our body is only one part of who we are. Our value does not start or end at our physique. It’s simply an attribute that can be changed via skills. Don’t feel guilty for wanting to change it, but defintely don’t feel guilty about where it is currently. You got this.

DOING THE STUFF: FINALLY NOT DOING NOTHING.

I see you’ve made it this far. I’m also guessing you wanna get stronger, leaner, and start leading a fitter life. Dope. That’s our jam, yo.

Let’s break it down, lets get excited, and let’s do this thing,

Like I said earlier; simple. Not easy. The best way to build this body we yearn for is to start with as basic principles as possible. Ditch the fancy supplements (aside from maybe protein), ditch the fat burners, ditch the detox teas, ditch it all, and gear up. Time to do some cool stuff.

TRAINING: LIFT MORE. LIFT HEAVIER. REST LONGER. THEN DO LESS OF EVERYTHING ELSE.

Now, cardio isn’t bad. I encourage we still keep it in the routine. But our muscle needs a reason to change. How do we accomplish this? Lift “better” than we did last time we hit the gym, by either doing more reps, or by using heavier weights than last time. That’s it. Your sessions don’t even need to be more than 30min long. Pick a muscle, do 6-8 sets of an exercise that safely trains that muscle, and call it good.

We typically like to start everyone at 3 days a week. That’s kind of the “sweet spot” for results. (Because remember, we gotta recover to see changes too). Don’t overthink it, don’t overcomplicate it, just start. If you want to ease some of the stress behind starting, reach out to us. We’d love to meet with you to see how we can help build a plan fit for you.

So to summarize, pick up the weights 3 times a week, lift heavier than you did last time (safely), and don’t stop. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will your much-desired muscles.

NUTRITION: CRANK THE PROTEIN, TRACK THE CALORIES, AND DO IT FOR A WHILE. DON’T COMPLICATE IT.

Let’s keep it super basic.

I won’t get too in depth on this one today, but don’t worry. We will break it down in the near future. (Or you can just… meet with us, and we can show you all the stuffs).

Our muscle uses protein as its primary building block. Meaning, if we don’t get enough of it, our muscle starts to do this weird thing called “atrophy,” which is a fancy term for “decay’s.” Yeah, no bueno. So, we gotta hit our protein, and do it every day, to keep that muscle around, so we can keep the gain train comin’.

Our team recommends at least 1g per pound of body weight to start, or 150-160 grams as a rough estimate. Everybody is different, but this is usually a decent place to begin your protein-tracking journey. An app like MyFitnessPal or LoseIt makes it super easy to keep track of this. Don’t pay for the full paid versions of these apps either. Not worth it in my opinion. (I mean you can, but you really don’t have to. Again, free country, you do you).

Those apps also help us track our calories, which is the biggest lever we can pull to get leaner. We won’t get too in depth on the number side of this, but just being consistent in this thing WILL see returns if you haven’t been doing it prior to reading this.

Now remember, consistency is key (don’t hate me for saying it, I know you’ve heard it a million times before). But it truly is. If it took us years to get to where we are now, it will take longer than 3 weeks to be where we want to be, forever. But that’s the cool part: You now have control over this. It’s simple, but it’s a start. In fact, I’d argue it’s THE start. Everyone we coach who sees lasting success starts right where you are now.

If you found this valuable, I ask for nothing in return other than spreading this link on facebook or instagram or wherever you’d like to send it. Our mission is to make fitness knowledge direct and accessible to everyone. So the more we can extend this knowledge, the more we can change the world together.

So lets hit that protein, build that muscle, and help others get there too. <3