KRS Fitness

So today I'm playing rugby. First game of the season for me. And last one for a while.

I get married at the start of Oct so the Mrs has baned me from playing in Sep. She wouldn't be best pleased if I was all busted up for our wedding photos 😅 which is fair enough.
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However, for anyone who partakes in a sport your game day nutrition is pretty damn important.⁣
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Now I must first point out you have to actually have some degree of skill in your chosen sport first to really feel any benefits.⁣
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For example you aint going to turn into Sonny Bill Williams just by sorting your diet out, if you can't pass and catch first 😜⁣
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If the bulk of your sport requires anaerobic exercise, such as rugby for me, then carbs are your much needed friend here.⁣
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This morning for breakfast I had a combination of protein and carbs. Protein because of being in a fasted state (while asleep) where no protein has been consumed for while. And the carbs for added energy for later.⁣

For me it was oats with some whey and some fruit.
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2-3 hours before kick off I'll have something not too heavy but again containing some protein and carbs, more so carbs, with minimal fat. Reason being fat can slow the digestion down of the meal which is not what I particularity want as I'll need those carbs fairly soon.

So for example here I'll most likely have a sandwich. With either chicken or prawns on.
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Closer to kick off time about an hour or so I'll then have a banana (again carbs).⁣
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And about 30 minutes before kick off I'll take a pre-workout and I have a little pack of haribo sweets, just to give me some very simple sugars and a caffeine boost for the start of the game.⁣
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At half time I'll then usually have some form of sports isotonic drink, not the sugar free ones, that completely defeats the point.⁣
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Post game I'll have the second half of the sports drink and sometimes a protein shake depending on how physically demanding that particular game was, this is all to help with recovery. ⁣
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Otherwise I'll make sure I consume a meal, again containing mainly carbs and protein, no later than 2-3 hours after my game.⁣
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Hope that helps.⁣
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Any questions just ask 😊
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Karl ✌🏻

Love it!!!

Just another reminder to ignore the asshats of the health & fitness industry.

Focus on what really matters & don’t lose sight of the forrest for the trees.

Common sense isn’t very common nowadays, but together we’re slowly debunking myths & clearing up the confusion.

Stick with it. You got this 👊🏼

Motivation.⁣
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There’s no denying that the last 16+ months have been tough on a lot of people.
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Worries around our safety, health, finances and the future of our employment, these are all legitimate concerns.⁣
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Concerns which I had myself.
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It’s no surprise then that the motivation to workout/exercise and the motivational memes of “You have all the time in the world, no excuses” etc don’t do much when you’re worried if you’re going to be able to pay the mortgage or not.⁣
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For those of us who are in a slightly more fortunate situation, and we do have the added time to exercise/workout.

It can still be difficult to find the motivation to do so.⁣
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Especially if you were used to a certain environment/atmosphere, used to seeing your “buddies” and used to training a certain way.⁣
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To then training in a pop-up gym in your garden, garage or spare room. With those weights you bought 6 years ago that have done nothing but gather dust.

And now transitioning back, it can be tough.⁣
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1st world problems I know, but, for those of us who use exercise not just as a tool to improve our physical health but our mental health as well, it is a legitimate problem.⁣
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So, here are 5 tips that I’ve found to help with my motivation.⁣
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(see slides)⁣
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Hope these helped but as always, any questions or concerns to message me.⁣
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Karl ✌🏻

I saw a post the other day that was absolute garbage.

The "info" been given out was 100% not true but it had thousands of likes because they had a such a huge following.

Unfortunately that's just how the industry is. It's no wonder so many people are completely confused.

So I thought I'd just real off 20 myths I can think of that are complete bo****ks.

1. No carbs after 6pm or you’ll get fat.
2. Carbs full stop will make you fat.
3. Fat makes your fat.
4. Sugar makes you fat.
5. Sugar from fruit is ok though because it’s natural.
6. Gluten makes you fat.
7. Egg yolks are bad for you because of cholesterol.
8. Insulin is bad.
9. Artificial sweeteners are worse than sugar.
10. Anything with chemicals in is bad.
11. Red meat is bad for you.
12. You need to eat "clean" to lose weight.
13. You should detox the body with tea and juices.
14. Skipping breakfast will cause you to gain fat from all your other meals that day.
15. You need smaller more frequent meals to “stoke” your metabolism.
16. We can’t digest more than 30g of protein in one sitting.
17. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
18. You must drink a protein shake within 30mins of finishing a work out because of the anabolic window bro.
19. Fasted cardio is better for weightloss than fed cardio.
20. I'm in a calories deficict but not losing weight.

If you're unsure on any of them and would like me to explain the drop me a comment.

Also if you've heard any other nonsense nutrition myths that I haven't listed them please share.

Karl ✌🏻

So I've just recently finished reading this little beaut.

'Diet Cults' by Matt Fitzgerald.

Honestly I can not recommend enough!

If you are a typical FAD diet follower and think you've tried every diet under the sun and still not got results then I'm telling you now to give this a read.

Fitzgerald takes an approach which he calls 'agnostic healthy eating' to dieting.

Which is basically a flexible/common sense approach to dieting.

Consuming mainly nutrient dense foods ie plenty of fruits and vegetables, lean meats, whole grains and healthy fats, but, also allows for naughtier foods but in moderation.

What I try and promote all the time.

He goes on to mention where most diet cults/fads come from.

Including the likes of the raw food diet, Atkins, South Beach, Zone, Paleo, Weight Watchers, Vegan, Superfoods, gluten-free.

As well as protein supplements and highlights multiple times why there is no one size fits all diet for everyone

In actual fact over 100s thousands of years of evolution the human body is quite capable of consuming a very wide variety of foods with no ill effect.

My only critique is he doesn't mention the importance of controlling calories but more so an opinion that so long as you're exercising regularly and taking an 'agnostic' approach then you will get great results both physically and also from a health perspective as well.

As I said worth a read solid 4/5 for me.

Karl ✌🏻

Today is the final meal in my Five Meal for Under a Fiver series.

So far we’ve had a chicken dish, pork, beef and prawns.

Today I’m mixing it up with a vegetarian dish.

Meal 5. Slow Cooker Veggie Lasagne

🔸 4 Carrots (40p / 1kg pack)
🔸 1 Pepper = 42p
🔸 2 Celery Sticks = 43p / pack
🔸 1 Chilli, approx. 6g = (46p / 65g pack)
🔸 100g Spinach Leaves = 33p (79p / 240g pack)
🔸 1 Red Onion = 19p (55p / 3 in pack)
🔸 160g Split Red Lentils = 32p (99p / 500g pack)
🔸 500g jar Cucina Tomato Lasagne Sauce = 49p
🔸 480g jar Cucina Creamy White Sauce = 49p
🔸 6 Lasagne Sheets = (39p / 500g)

The total cost for this meal = £3.92

Again, I haven’t included anything like cooking oils/sprays or the herbs and spices as these are staples that most people already have.

Method:

Peel and chop the onion. Chop the pepper into small chunks. Peel and finely chop the carrots. Wipe the celery and finely chop. Finely chop the chilli and discard any seeds. In a large frying pan sauté the pepper, onion, carrot, chilli and celery in the olive oil for about 10 minutes, until softened. Add the tomato sauce, lentils, spinach, 2 tsp oregano, 1 tsp paprika, 200ml boiling water and cook gently for a further 10 minutes. Season with some salt and pepper, add the torn basil leaves and mix well. Put half the mixture in the bottom of the slow cooker. Top with 3 of the lasagne sheets, breaking them to fit over the sauce. Then top with the remaining sauce and the other 3 lasagne sheets. Pour over the white sauce, use the back of a spoon to cover the lasagne sheets. Cook on low for 4 hours. Allow to stand for 10 minutes, then serve.

Total calories come to roughly 533, and the protein is 17g per serving.

Hope you've found this mini series helpful.

That's 5 meals that feed 4 people each for just over £20!

You can pay that much for a takeaway pizza!

So much for eating "healthy" is expensive aye?

Have a great day and weekend.

Karl ✌

Here is Day 4 and Meal 4 of Five Meal for Under a Fiver, enjoy.

Prawn Fried Rice.

🔸 250g long grain rice = 24p (95p / 1kg pack)
🔸 150g frozen peas = 10p (59p / 900g pack)
🔸 160g Mangetout = 85p
🔸 1 onion = 11p (62p / 6 per pack)
🔸 2 garlic cloves = (14p per bulb)
🔸 200g raw king prawns = £2.19
🔸 2 Medium sized eggs = 25p (75p / 6 pack)
🔸 1 tbsp Light Soy Sauce = (49p / 150ml bottle)

The total cost for this meal = £4.37

Again, I haven’t included anything like cooking oils/sprays or spices as these are staples that most people already have.

The calories and protein amounts per serving are:

Total calories come to roughly 454, and the protein is 32g per serving.

Pretty simple to make as well.

Boil the rice separately and while cooking add some oil to a wok or pan.

Chuck all the ingredients in and fry up.

Once rice is done.

Drain and add to the wok/pan, add some extra spices and the soy sauce and serve up.

Look out tomorrow for the final meal of my Five Meal for Under a Fiver.

Again, hope these are helping.

Karl ✌

Following on from Monday’s post, Five Meals for Under a Fiver.

Here is Day 3 and Meal 3.

Beef Spaghetti Bolognese.

🔸 5% Beef Mine (500g) = £2.59
🔸 1 Onion = 11p (62p / 6 per pack)
🔸 1 Bell pepper = 42p
🔸 2 garlic cloves = (14p per bulb)
🔸 100g White mushrooms = 29p (72p / 250g pack)
🔸 400g chopped tomatoes = 39p
🔸 500g passata = 32p
🔸 200g Spaghetti = 16p (39p / 500g pack)

The total cost for this meal = £4.42

Again, I haven’t included anything like cooking oils/sprays or mixed herbs / salt & pepper as these are staples that most people already have.

Feel free to add garlic bread and cheese as well if your calories allow it.

I’ve included the calories and protein amounts per serving again though.

Total calories come to roughly 432, and the protein is 36g per serving. To add, both would be more if you do include the cheese and garlic bread.

Look out tomorrow for meal 4 in my 5 meals for under £5 each.

Again, hope these are helping.

Karl ✌

Following on from yesterday’s post, Five Meals for Under a Fiver.

Here is Meal 2.

Pork Loins with Mash Potatoes and Mixed Veg.

🔸 4 Pork Loins (400g) = £2.39
🔸 4 Loose Potatoes = 60p
🔸 400g Frozen Mixed Veg (£1.09 per 640g bag) = 69p / 4 servings

The total cost for this meal = £3.68

Again, I haven’t included anything like cooking oils/sprays or even butter and milk for the mash etc as these are staples that most people already have.

I’ve also included the calories and protein amounts per serving again.

Including any butter and milk used to make the mash the calories come to roughly 418, and the protein is 32g per serving.

What are your thoughts?

Are you finding these posts helpful?

Look out tomorrow for meal 3 in my 5 meals for under £5 each.

Karl ✌

Last week I did a story about a woman on the radio who said it was too expensive to eat “healthy”.

So instead she just bought and ate “junk” food all the time.

Instantly I know this is BS and eating healthy doesn’t have to be expensive at all.

Sure, if you’re only buying organic, free range, grass fed bison, wild caught salmon, and avocados with sprinkling of salt made from unicorn tears etc then yeah that can sure as hell add up.

But in my experience through coaching and speaking to people this idea that eating healthy must be expensive is largely due to a lack of understanding around what “healthy” is.

Which isn’t helped by social media influencers and “celebrities” shoving their perfectly prepped meals and kale smoothies in our faces all while trying to sell/promote their next fat loss secret.

Also, a lack of understanding around calorie balance, portion sizes and how to cook which is a life skill meaning those without it are more likely to turn to takeaways and ready meals etc.

So, for this week starting today I’m going to post 5 meals, all bought with ingredients from Aldi, which all serve 4 people and all meals come under £5 each.

First up we have a favourite of mine, Chicken Curry with Rice and Naan Bread (optional).

🔸 Diced Chicken Breasts (400g) = £2.35
🔸 Curry Sauce (flavour/spice of choosing) = £0.89
🔸 1 Onion (£0.62 per 6 in pack) = £0.11 per onion
🔸 1 Bell pepper = £0.42
🔸 Boil in Bag Rice (£0.45 per 8 servings) = £0.23 / 4 servings
🔸 Naan Bread (2 in pack) = £0.55 / 4 servings.

The total cost for this meal = £4.55

Now I haven’t included anything like salt, pepper, or cooking oils/sprays etc as these are staples that most people already have.

I’ve also included the calories and protein amounts per serving to give you an idea.

For this Chicken Curry with Rice and Naan the calories come to roughly 567, less if you exclude the Naan.

And the protein is 32g per serving.

What are your thoughts?

Look out tomorrow for meal 2 in my 5 meals for under £5 each.

Karl ✌

I'm taking a break from Social Media.

See you in a week ✌🏻

*Accountability Post*

Check in Friday’s

No progress pic this week again, I will only be doing them every other week.

Weight loss wise this week has been ok but not so much training wise.

Managed to track most my calories but it was Sophia’s 1st birthday on Tuesday, so diet went out the window really.

Have been using Intermittent Fasting the last couple of days just to get back on track.

To note, there is nothing magic about IF. It was simply an easy way for me to limit calories to account for the extra calories consumed earlier in the week.

I didn’t manage any gym sessions this week, unfortunately life has got in the way a bit but I will be going tonight for an upper body session.

I did however manage to get out on the bike for a family ride over Comer Woods, which with an 18kg Olly on the back is a challenge lol

Weight has been a bit up and down this week as you can see by pic 2.

Just highlighting that weight-loss is never linear.

Factors like stress, water retentions, extra food volume. These can all impact what the scales say.

This morning I weighed in at 207lbs which is just under 1lbs down from last week which would be 3lbs down in 3 weeks so can’t complain to much.

Again, next week I’ll still be sticking with the same calorie range of 1914 – 2114 per day.

And aiming for the same macro split as well.

Protein – 176g (704 calories).
Fat - 67g (603 calories).
Carbs – from the rest of my calories left (607 – 807 calories).

Training wise I'll still be sticking with the Upper/Lower split. and hoping I can get back into a routine again.

And also hope to get out on the bike again.

Let me know below how your training and nutrition is going.

Have a great weekend.

Karl ✌

*Accountability Post*

Check in Friday’s

Progress pics are back, still a long way to go but Im happy things seem to be moving in the right direction.

Overall, I think this week has gone ok.

Managed to track most of my calories while still enjoying the foods I'm eating.

Started a new training meso cycle this week as I mentioned last week switching to an Upper/Lower split which seems to be working well.

Also managed to get an hours bike ride in this week with Olly sat on the back so that was an extra 17kg to carry 🥵

Again weight has been dropping steadily all week and this morning I weighed in at 207.8lbs which is another 1lbs down from last week.

So thats 2.2lbs from my original post 2 weeks ago 👌🏻

I’m pleased with that!

For next week I’ll still be sticking with the same calorie range of 1914 – 2114 per day.

And aiming for the same macro split as well.

Protein – 176g (704 calories).
Fat - 67g (603 calories).
Carbs – from the rest of my calories left (607 – 807 calories).

Training wise I'll still be sticking with this new meso cycle of Upper/Lower split.

And I have another bike ride planned for Saturday.

Let me know below how your training and nutrition is going.

Have a great weekend.

Karl ✌🏻

**Client Story**

I want to take a minute to tell you about a past client of mine.

This is Ben.

Ben was seriously struggling with his growing waistline after his son was born and it was starting to drag him down.

He’d tried everything:

- Restrictive diets
- Hitting the gym 7 days a week
- Hours of cardio
- Home workouts
- Banning snack food from the house (to his wife’s horror!)

Despite all his hard work and the amount of reading he’d done on the subject, he just wasn’t getting results.

He was at his wits end.

He was tired, frustrated and feeling like he was going to have to face the reality that he’d never get back into shape.

But, he did.

With Ben we focused on creating habits of eating well, and regularly again.

Putting the emphasis on common sense and “what fits” rather than feeling as though he was starving himself, or forcing himself to eat foods he didn't enjoy.

With very little difference to what he was already eating, but instead controlling portion sizes and eating regularly.

He now feels better, both in himself, and moving forward with a confidence that genetics and bad habits won’t hold him back.

Ben ended up losing 24lbs.

"“Karl’s nutrition plan has helped me hugely. After years of steadily getting more out of shape, despite various changes to my diet.

Between eating too much, not enough, eating rubbish and eating healthily without ever seeing any noteworthy change to either my appearance of my weight.

Karl has made more of an impact than I’ve been able to make in 3 years."

Want to work with me and get results like Ben?

Then follow the link below and get in touch.

https://linktr.ee/krs_fitness

Karl ✌🏻

This this and this!

COKE IS NOT BAD FOR YOU 🥤
Too much coke is bad for you.

BUTTER IS NOT BAD FOR YOU 🥞
Too much butter is bad for you.

PIZZA IS NOT BAD FOR YOU 🍕
Too much pizza is bad for you.

WINE IS NOT BAD FOR YOU 🍷
Too much wine is bad for you.

CHOCOLATE IS NOT BAD FOR YOU 🍫
Too much chocolate is bad for you...

See where I'm going with this?

Stop demonising food and drink.

There's NOTHING 'wrong' with ANY food,

When consumed in moderation.

So it's the AMOUNT and FREQUENCY which is the problem.

Not the food itself...

Just a thought 👌

Big Nuge 🤟

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Afternoon folks.⁣⁣
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Last year I ran a free 4 week fat loss challenge over on Facebook.

I had a fair few people sign up and they all got great results.

I'm looking to run another free group again soon, but only if the interest is there.

It will solely be aimed at fat loss, and helping to give you a kick start in your journey.

Or if your current journey has stalled and you need to re-ignite it then this may be for you as well.

There will be:

Recipes.
Meal plan sample.
Low cal snack sheet.
3-day training plan sample
4-day training plan sample

Most importantly, SUPPORT.

⁣⁣There are no limits on who can get involved.⁣⁣
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Whether you're a 40+ Dad with teenagers.⁣⁣
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Or a 30 something Mom with small kids.⁣⁣
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Both can get results in just 4 weeks, I guarantee, you put the effort in, you'll reap the rewards.⁣⁣
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Ok that's enough cheesy sales stuff (i'm not a salesman).⁣⁣
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I'll only do it though if I get enough interest.

Comment YES below if you need that kick start.
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Karl ✌🏻

*Accountability Post*

Check in Friday’s

No progress pic this week as there's not much difference week to week so I will do 2 weekly photos instead but still check in everyweek.

Overall, this week has gone fairly well though.

Managed to track most of my calories and even managed to fit in a BBQ last Sunday without any major hiccups.

Unfortunately, I only managed 2 gym sessions and sadly still haven’t managed to get out on my bike yet.

Hoping to rectify that next week.

Weight has been dropping steadily all week and this morning I weighed in at 208.8lbs which is just over 1lbs down from last week so I’m pleased with that 😊

For next week I’ll still be sticking with the same calorie range of 1914 – 2114 per day.

And aiming for the same macro split as well.

Protein – 176g (704 calories).
Fat - 67g (603 calories).
Carbs – from the rest of my calories left (607 – 807 calories).

Training wise I was struggling to get the required amount of volume in which was making my sessions longer than I want them to be.

So instead I’ll be switching my training to 4 gym sessions per week in an Upper/Lower/Upper/Lower split.

Will try and get at least 1 bike ride in, nothing crazy just 30 minutes.

And then a walk at the weekends with the family still.

Let me know below how your training and nutrition is going.

Have a great weekend.

Karl ✌🏻

Positivity vs Negativity

The negative comments someone makes say more about them, rather than the person the negativity is aimed towards.

Why would someone who is happy or building a worthwhile life take the time to do nothing more than be hateful?

The hateful comments are more of a reflection on the commenter than the person it's aimed at.

It’s terribly sad that some people have nothing better to do with their time then try to tear others down.

I see this all the time on social media. And to a lesser extent in real life as well.

Some people are just going to dislike you, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

But that's OK.

So don’t waste your time and energy trying to get everyone to like you, because it’s impossible.

Instead of worrying about who doesn’t like you, focus on being a better person for those who do.

Spend your time and energy living an awesome life and using your talents, gifts, and abilities to make the world and people around you better.

Let other people like you, not because of who you’re trying to be, but because of who you genuinely are.

Social media is a nightmare for creating fake people and realities.

I’d rather be disliked for who I truly am than loved for something I’m pretending to be.

Karl ✌🏻

*Ladies listen up*

Here are 5 tips to help you to burn fat.

1. Calories: You must be in a calorie deficit.
(calorie calculator link in comments)

2. Protein: Consuming an adequate amount of protein is a good idea.

3. Lift Weights: If you want to look toned and feel strong this is a must.

4. Cardio: Not a necessity but if you enjoy it then do it.

5. Adherence: This one is key and is why extreme/fad diets always fail in the long run.

Any questions or queries, just ask 😁

Karl ✌🏻

P.s. These all apply to men to 😉

*Accountability Post*

Check in Friday’s

I’ve been a bit slack and off track the last couple of weeks.

Bank holiday and my birthday certainly hasn’t helped, but if you can’t enjoy the bank holiday and your own birthday when they come around, then you’re a bit weird.

However, with my wedding fast approaching, or should I say the suit fitting first.

I really need to sort this dad bod out!

So, the plan is to start checking in on here every Friday to help keep me on track.

Including any highs or lows.

Apologies about the lighting and my terrible t-shirt tans lines lol

Today I'm weighing in at 210lbs / 95.45kg / 15 stone.

No idea on body fat % but id guess around the 18% – 20% mark.

Calorie range I’m aiming for is between 1914 – 2114 per day.

No magic foods just a flexible/common sense approach.

Protein – 176g (704 calories).
Fat - 67g (603 calories).
Carbs – from the rest of my calories left (607 – 807 calories).

Aiming for 1-2lbs lost per week.

Training wise has been up and down lately, thanks kids.

I’ll be aiming for 3 gym sessions with an upper day, lower day and full body day.

2 bike rides in the week, nothing crazy just 30 minutes.

And then a walk at the weekends with the family.

Let me know below how your training and nutrition is going.

Have a great weekend.

Karl ✌🏻

**Client Story**

This is Steve.

Steve worked with me a while ago now but he’s still one of the best clients I’ve had.

Not just because of the awesome progress he had in losing 30lbs.

But because he was willing to listen and put the work in.

Steve is a married busy dad of 2 small kids who works a professional job in London so he can 100% justify the excuse of having no time or energy.

Over the years he’d let his diet slip and with that his motivation for exercising and keeping fit.

I set up his nutrition based on the information he provided me.

No fad or restrictive dieting protocols.

Just a calorie deficit, mainly nutritious foods, and the more calorie dense type foods in moderation, including a beer now and again.

The exercise plan he could do in the gym or even from home on the occasion when he couldn’t get to the gym due to work.

We tracked his progress and tweaked the plan a couple of times to make sure we were still on track but also so he could still adhere to it.

These days he’s much fitter and healthier, has way more energy than before and a much better relationship with food.

Want to work with me and get results like Steve?

Then follow the link below and get in touch 😊

https://linktr.ee/krs_fitness

Karl 💪🏻

Finally, number 5 of 5 things I used to know/do but now know are bu****it.

Training to failure is the only way to progress.

“You’re not training hard enough bro, you need to push it on every single set otherwise you won’t progress and grow.”

Sound familiar?

Well I certainly used to believe this.

And I can see why so many others still do.

Especially with the presence of social media and seeing fit pros / bodybuilders absolutely beasting themselves in the gym and pushing everything to the max.

And they are huge right, so if it works for them, it must work for me, no?

Well yes and no.

Yes, because you can still progress and grow while training to failure, not advised as I will explain in a moment, but also no because the people you’re aspiring to are not your average Joe.

Due to things like genetics and “special” sports supplements they can pretty much get away with doing anything in the gym and will still grow…...and recover quicker than you or I.

So what’s the issue?

Something any successful programme must adhere to is Progressive Overload.

Basically, every time you step in the gym, you must be doing more than the last time you stepped in the gym.

This is so your muscles adapt and you progress. See the Milo of croton slide. Everyday from when the bull was a small calf, Milo would carry the bull. Day by day as the bull got bigger and heavier so also Croton’s strength and size increased.

Now, you can either do this by increasing reps, adding more load, more sets or all of the above.

However, there is a trade-off to this progression.

FATIGUE!

If you have a look at the fitness fatigue model you can see that as fitness and performance increases, so does fatigue. Eventually performance and fitness will start to drop however fatigue does not. If fatigue is not managed this could lead to “burnout” and or injury.

Constantly training to failure, pushing every single set to the max, that fatigue is going to build up pretty damn quick. Also meaning your total volume is likely to suffer.

What do I mean by that?

Another key determinate of progression would be volume ie how many “working” sets and reps you are doing each session, week to week and training bloc to training bloc.

If training to failure all the time you may struggle to accumulate appropriate volume.

E.g, Say you plan to do 4 sets of 10 reps on bench press. The first set you manage 10 reps all out. Second set you only manage 8, third set you get 6 and fourth set because you’ve gone to failure on the previous sets you only get 4 reps. That’s only a total of 28 reps for that given exercise and say you lifted 100kg each set, that’s a total load lifted of 2800kg.

What’s the alternative then?

Instead of going to failure every set, try and keep between 1-3 reps away from failure, while still lifting with relative intensity.

Let’s use the bench example again. 4 sets of 10 reps but using a lighter load of 80kg. First set you manage 10 reps (but could of got 12), second set you manage 9, third 8 and fourth only 7 because fatigue still accumulates. That’s a total of 34 reps and 2720kg total load lifted as well.

Now some may say, yes but I lifted 60kg more total weight when training to failure. And yes you are correct but you would of done 6 more reps keeping a few reps away from failure AND the fitness to fatigue ratio would be much better. Meaning that over time you will be able to do more and more volume = more load moved before fatigue catches up to you and then you have to take a deload or active recover.

Whereas training to failure all the time, the volume you will be able to accumulate over time before hitting that fatigue wall and having to deload, will much be less.

Now, a carveout to keeping reps in reserve is, if you’ve never actually trained to failure before or have an idea of what true failure is, it may be quite difficult to judge reps in reserve. So, with that been said it’s not a bad idea to go to failure SOMETIMES.

Hope that helps, any questions just ask.

Karl ✌🏻