Derek McGonagle Coaching

It's a been a while, so here are some knowledge 💣's, and myth busters, on fitness and nutrition.

1. Everybody sucks when they first start lifting. No exceptions. You need to earn getting good at it.

2. You don't need to radically change your current diet. Simple changes over time are a lot more sustainable.

3. There is no magic pill or nutrition shot that can make you lose weight. They don't exist (so if an influencer is selling you these, you are either being conned or the seller is uneducated on this).

4. The only way you can lose weight is by being in a calorie deficit.

5. You won't look like Prime Arnold Shwarzenegger by doing a couple of bicep curls. The amount of women I taught and trained, who were convinced this would happen to them, is unreal. 😂 .. Not if you trained for a hundred years, hen.

6. The weights area is not for taking selfies, or doing cringe tik tok dances. In fact, if you're a grown adult and have the tik tik app on your phone, you deserve the same public shaming Cersei got in Game of Thrones. 🤷🏻‍♂️😆

7. Your body cannot turn fat into muscle.

8. Losing weight and losing body fat are two different things. Almost everyone, without exception, is talking about losing body fat when they say they want to lose weight.

9. Muscle does not weigh more than fat. A pound of muscle and pound of fat both weigh the same. What we mean when we say this is, muscle is denser than fat. It's something like 2.5-3.5lbs of muscle to 1lb of body fat, in terms of surface area.

10. Christ is King. 👑

Happy Monday. God Bless.

I've enjoyed Chris Bradley's content since I was working at PureGym in 2019.

Looking forward to seeing what I can learn from this.

Derek McGonagle Coaching updated their website address.

‼️THURSDAY THOUGHTS‼️
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Not a fitness related post, but important all the same. Just something that's been on my mind since Jay Briscoe's passing a couple days ago.

What do you think? Is there truth to this? Or am I just imagining things?

Are you a parent, and frustrated about your nutrition habits?

Are your kids fussy about the foods you sometimes put down to them?

I'm sure this is something a lot of parents struggle with.

Here are some tips on how to make it a little more manageable so you can meet your nutritional goals without the added stress.

Tip 1 - Plan the weeks meals ahead.

You can decide what you're going to cook throughout the week, in advance. Type it out, print it off, and pin it onto your fridge. Now you know what to cook for each meal in the week ahead, and also allows you to sift out the dislikes of both yourself and your family, which brings me to my next point. ⬇️

Tip 2 - Cook the same meal for everyone!

A lot of parents will have kids who are fussy. It's not like it was with us, where we had to eat was put down to us, or lump it. By having meals planned out, and the kids knowing what's coming up, they can't complain about what's put down to them. Makes life easier when you can all eat the same meal!

Tip 3 - Clean out your pantry.

Everyone has items in their cupboard that they never use. I know you have that sage and stuffing mix, that was meant to be used last Christmas, still in your cupboard, Karen! Time for a clear out and stock your fridge and cupboards with what you know you will definitely use!

Tips 1 & 3 can technically be used for non parents, but 2 will definitely be useful if you are one! What do you make of these? Will you try any of them for yourself? Comment below!

Created this simple little image, and made it my lockscreen. Now, I have a reminder every day to create at least one piece of content, before I consume anything, perhaps with the exception of a strong coffee. 🤣

‼️TRANSFORMATION TUESDAY‼️

Admittedly, this is from 2021, so it’s not that recent, however the story behind it is the most important point.

On the left: This was August 29th, 2021. For a long ass time, I was under high stress.

From having to move into a new house, where I never owned so much as a bed, never mind the other essentials, to having zero support from anybody, and a sh!tty warehouse job that was eating away at my soul, I was not in a good place in any aspect of my life.

I lost a gargantuan amount of size. I reverted from my 14.5st frame of muscle and strength, to my high schooler form of an 11st skin and bone weakling.

Disgusted at how I looked, I used the money I earned from said sh!tty warehouse job to go back to the gym.

While in the gym, I met up with an old friend who worked there at the time, fellow coach Dylan Manson, and decided I’d pay him for his coaching services.

I had training/nutrition plans made for me, weekly check-ins, and most importantly, accountability.

On the right: Pretty noticeable difference, right? At a semblance of what I was at my previous best. Strength shot back up rapidly, energy levels skyrocketed, and was sleeping much better. I had a routine.

This wasn’t a month’s long difference, not 2 or even 3 months.

12 days. That’s all it took. That’s the time difference between these two photos, as the latter was taken September 10th, 2021.

Now, I understand I’m in a different boat than most. The human body is incredible. It knows what shape we were in at our best, and returns to that pretty quickly with the right plans, consistency and accountability in place.

But even beginners can notice a huge difference within a relatively short timeframe.

The point here, is, if you’re not where you want to be in life, if you’re stuck at point A and know you should be at point B by now, then take action.

It’s a terrifying concept, sure. Nobody likes being thrown in the deep end. But isn’t the alternative even more terrifying? If you don’t move, you stay in place. Take some action!

🌜Females, The Menstrual Cycle and The Effects of Training and Nutrition🌛

Admittedly, it feels awkward to speak about this as a male, as males can’t experience any of this, but it’s important that we know this as a lot of our clients are female.

There are 3 phases. The Follicular Phase, The Ovulation Phase and The Luteal Phase.
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🌖The Follicular Phase🌔

This starts on day one of your period, and lasts between 14 - 21 days, although 16 days is the average.

Ideally, you want to take full advantage and focus on training progress here, with your endurance and pain tolerance levels higher than normal during this phase.

Your Insulin sensitivity levels are also higher, so you can more effectively use carbs for muscle growth.

🌒The Ovulation Phase🌘

You’re going to be more prone to injury, due to high oestrogen levels, so you’ll want to focus more on technique. This phase only lasts up to 24 hours though, and strength is still high, so no reason you can’t still lift heavy if form is good.

🌗The Luteal Phase🌓

This lasts, on average, up to 14 days, and you’ll rely more on fats than on carbs as fuel.

Body temperature rises, too, so you’ll become tired faster, due to strain on the cardiovascular system.

Water retention is also high because of PMS, which make it more difficult to perform activities like sprints, or those of a similar nature.

Metabolically speaking, however, your body will be at its peak, with metabolism increasing up to almost 8% higher than usual. Thermic effect of food is also higher, so you’ll burn more calories digesting food than usual, too.

This is also the stage where you’re most likely to get cravings, though, and because insulin sensitivity decreases, overconsumption of carbs will store them as body fat. That being said, as long as you stick to your recommended calories, you’ll be fine.
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Hope this information was helpful in some way.

P.S. Did you know that 90% of your eggs are gone by the time you hit 30 years old? So if you’re going to be 30 in the next few years, and want a family, you better start making some babies! 👶🏼

New Coaching Page. Previous one was taken down by Facebook. So we go again. 💪🏼

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