Brodie Stokell Personal Training

How many times a week should you train?

The short answer is whatever you can fit in!

It’s going to be different for everyone depending on work/life commitments. And the structure of your training program would be different depending on how many days you allocate to training.

If it’s 2-3 days a week you should prioritise compound lifts (squat, deadlift, chest/shoulder press, rows & pull up/lat pull down). Where as if it’s 4-6 days a week you can distribute out your compounds across more days of the week. This allows for much more muscle group specific workouts like a push, pull, legs split for your program.

At the end of the day the best answer for yourself is what’s going to be sustainable with your lifestyle. Just make sure your expectations and patience match whatever frequency of training you decide on.

If you have any questions regarding how you should structure your training feel free to inquire about my Personal Training packages, where I cover all this with you plus heaps more.

Muscle soreness the day after a workout is normal. However, a good workout shouldn’t be measured by how sore you are the next day.

Smashing your legs and spending the next two days walking around like you’ve pooped your pants isn’t the gold standard of resistance training programming 🤣

The success of your training should be based around how you feel during your workout, your technique and progressive overload. Not how sore you are the next day.

“When you find out a high protein diet will help you lose fat”

Protein is often thought of as something only people wanting to build muscle & get big need.

However if your goal is to lose fat, a high protein diet will be extremely beneficial.

Our bodies burn more energy digesting protein compared to carbs & fats.

Approximately 20-30% of protein calories are burned during digestion. Compared to 5-15% for carbs & 0-5% for fats. Therefore, let’s say you have 100 calories of protein. Only 70-75 of those calories will go to your bodies energy stores, with the rest being burned during digestion.

A high protein diet will then increase the total amount of energy burned each day, helping you to achieve the calorie deficit required for fat loss.

If your goal is to lose body fat, I believe a good starting point is a well structured training plan and an increased effort towards including more protein in each meal. Start of simple and go from there!

Also if you’re after a high quality protein supplement I’d definitely recommend checking out

So this week I was taking an older gentleman who had zero experience in the gym through some basics and how to use the machines.

Mid way through he turns to me and says “so what’s the secret to not getting bored with this stuff?”

It gave me a chuckle, but the truth is there is no secret!

You can fill your program with exercises that you enjoy but that may not always be the best thing in terms of aligning your goals with your workouts.

The reality is you’re not always going to want to train, you’re not always going to be motivated.

The key is being disciplined enough to be consistent with your training to the point it becomes a habit. Not just a habit but apart of your identity!

You become a person that doesn’t skip a session, that values your health and therefore each session is important to you!

Is Low intensity cardio & being in the fat burning zone more beneficial for fat loss than resistance training?

For those wanting to drop some body fat, endless amounts of cardio doesn’t have to be the answer. Unfortunately some people still believe that being in the “fat burning zone” of low intensity cardio is the key to fat loss.

Let me be clear on this…. Burning fat as fuel to provide energy for your body is not the same as losing body fat.

LET ME BE CLEAR…. BURNING FAT AS FUEL TO PROVIDE ENERGY FOR YOUR BODY IS NOT THE SAME AS LOSING BODY FAT!!!

Losing body fat is a mathematical equation.
Energy burned 🏋🏻‍♂️🏃🏻🚴🏻‍♂️
Vs
Energy consumed 🥑🍔🍩

You need to burn more energy (calories) than you consume.

Cardio can be a great tool to aid you in an attempt to lose body fat, but it’s not the only answer.

With resistance training you can burn energy to aid in an attempt to lose body fat, all while getting stronger and building muscle to help achieve that “toned” look.

For me, I’ll always promote a resistance training program complemented with some cardio or just being more active in general. Receive the benefits that both forms of exercise bring while making smart eating choices to achieve your fat loss goals!!

Do you know what a successful long term resistance training program looks like?

It’s the same 6-10 exercises for not just months but also years!!!

Consistency will always be king 👑

This is why it’s a bad idea to be doing a different workout or different exercises every week!

Pick the exercises that best suit your goals & then be consistent with them!

Consistency paired with progressive overload is the formula for success 💪🏻

If you need help with choosing a program that will provide you with the best outcome for your goals, get it touch with me. I’m always happy to help!

If you say you don’t have enough time to exercise, you’re lying to yourself!

You just don’t hold it high enough in your values to prioritise it

I’m sure if we all did genuine self reflection on our daily life and habits, we could find things that don’t serve us or get us closer to where we want to be.

Eliminate some of these things and I’m sure you’ll have more time for exercise or even time to put together more nutritious meals.

It’s one thing to say we want to be more fit, lose weight or build muscle. But if we don’t prioritise our time for this, you won’t get where you want to be.

Ask yourself this.

What does the habits and values of the person you want to be look like?

Ok so let’s get this straight, fat burner supplements do f**k all for fat loss.

All diets work the same the way, and that’s by creating a calorie deficit. Some do it by eliminating certain foods, others do it by allocating certain times in the day when you can & cannot eat.

Fasted cardio will not make you lose fat (unless your in a calorie deficit), however it does make you burn fat as energy instead of carbohydrates. Burning fat IS NOT losing body fat, they are two completely different things!

If you are looking to lose fat, focus on your protein intake (at least 1.5 grams per kilogram you weigh per day).

Make sure you are sleeping well, it’s important for recovery & general health.

Lastly, do some form of resistance training. Ideally 3 times a week. If your unsure what your doing, get someone to teach you (ideally me 😜)

Don’t over complicate things, sometimes the best solution is to stick to the basics & do them well!!

So we are now into our fourth week of 2021 & in case you haven’t realised the calendar changing to a new year won’t do anything for you unless you work for it!!

Be clear with what you want to achieve & how you are going to achieve it!

Set realistic time frames for your goals!

Look at your your environment & make decisions on what is beneficial and what is holding you back!

Try to establish good habits that will assist you in the long run.

And most importantly, don’t be afraid to ask for help from those that can make things easier for you!!!