Ripped Geek Fitness

How you lose weight is more important than how much weight you lost.

I am fortunate that when I went from obese to fit (I lost 70lbs years ago), that I did it with a sustainable approach.

In my decade of coaching I’ve certainly noticed how many people with great potential in reaching their goals can sabotage themselves by losing the same 20lbs over and over again because they learned nothing along the way.

I have even heard of people wanting to lose the same 20lbs and then wanting to learn how to properly lose another 10 or 20lbs.

The issue with this, is that you’ve never developed a system of habits to help you keep the fat off so you are stuck constantly losing the same 20lbs.

Learning how to track macros, hit calories, manage meals out, eating according to your goals at the gym etc are valuable skills that help you attain your body composition goals and not bounce back and forth all the time.

Oh, and the learning process is also one of the best parts.

Love it or hate it, it’s Valentine’s day. So I think I should put up the customary post.

Don’t worry, I’ll be back with some fitness and nutrition stuff soon.

For me, this is a day of being thankful to have met my wonderful wife .
After almost 8 years I still have to pinch myself that things really worked out.

To think she didn’t even think our first outing together was a date HAHAH!

We make a great team. She brings the intelligence, level headedness and logistical skills to the table while I bring my goblin like chaotic charm. Even though she will tell you what she likes about me most is my impeccable taste in music.

With everything from living together, contest prepping together (yes we survived that) to having our little baby Evie, I still continue to love this woman and learn from her every day.

The best thing about tracking macros 📊 is that you can enjoy some of your favorite foods whether you are trying to lose, gain, or maintain.

This is a meal that my wife and I like to have once a week that not only hits the spot but is also easy to fit into my macros. 🍽️

It’s easy to balance the ingredients to fit whatever my goal is at the time by changing up the calories and level of satiety.

-Beans/rice: If I am trying to cut down, I will bring the rice down and bring up the bean portion. 🍚

-Protein: Our usual source is venison but if I am in a hard cutting phase I may use something like shrimp, or chicken. I may even substitute greek yogurt instead of sour cream. 🦐🍗

-Cheese: If I’m in a harsh deficit, I will skip the cheese or go with a low-fat cheese option. If I am eating closer to my 3500-4000 cals, I am definitely going with regular cheese. 🧀

-Avocado: Things like guacamole and other sauces will certainly depend on where I am at. 🥑

Regardless, it is pretty delicious. The macros on the bowl you see here are:

Protein: 60g Carbohydrates: 145g Fat: 21g.

Do you have some “go-to” meals you find easy to adjust? Comment below! 👇

Learning to track your intake can be easier for some than others. 📊

Here is some insight on the different levels of tracking:

A. Tracking your individual macros. Many people can get this down quickly, but for some with less experience, it can be a bit daunting. 💪

B. Tracking your calories with a protein target. This technique is employed by my business partner .

C. Tracking your calories. This is the good old approach. If you track your calories, you will still garner a fair amount of nutrition knowledge. 📝

D. Start picking food choices that are higher in satiety in general. This usually steers some people into healthy eating habits and encourages a small caloric deficit. 🥗

You will likely fall into one of these groups, and finding what works best for you may take some trial and error. 🔄
For coaching, fill out the Typeform in my bio, or email me at [email protected]. 📧

I find training abs extremely boring.

For that reason, it has been more about getting it done than optimizing my training for them.

To keep my eyes from rolling when it’s time to train my mid-section, I stick to my favourite couple of movements:

Hanging Leg Raises: I find being able to control my legs on the way down doubles in increasing my core strength and, of course, provides some nice hypertrophy stimulus.

Cable Crunches: The best part of this movement is it's easy to do, and I can slide it in when I am feeling fatigued. Keeping my reps around 12-20 works well. I make sure to get some proper spinal flexion, and I avoid moving from the hips.

Some direct ab work pays off. It gives you some pop after you've spent some time dieting.
What are your go-to ab movements?

I truly appreciate working with you all over the past year. I truly enjoy what I do and you all help make that possible.

Let's finish this year off strong.

Studies have analysed the typical North American diet and revealed two significant issues for those aiming to reduce body fat. First, the protein intake is generally low, hovering around 16% of the total diet, which is insufficient for optimizing protein synthesis. To address this, incorporating one or two scoops of high-quality protein powder post-workout can really help.

Second, the fat intake is relatively high at approximately 33%, especially when combined with a low carb intake. This potentially leads to the consumption of less satiating foods. To counterbalance this, I recommend that you monitor butter and oil intake while increasing the consumption of vegetables and fruits for a more balanced and body fat-friendly diet.

Since many of us are looking for the perfect set of abs, let's level up your training with these tips

One common thing I see people getting confused with is the fact that core and ab training are NOT exactly the same thing.

Sure they can cross over a bit but when we discuss the core it involves muscles like your transverse abdominis, erectors and others. Abs however, refers more to that chunky section of muscle, the re**us abdominis.

I am not looking to turn this post into an anatomy class so I will give you an exercise for both that I have found very useful in both my clients and my training:

Core exercise: Dead bugs
These have been the most beneficial for me, especially when my lower back has acted up. As you get stronger, doing them weighted can add another level of difficulty to the movement.

Ab exercise: The good old kneeling cable crunch
These work wonders, especially with the fact that I find them easily programmable like any other lift. After all, the rules of progressive overload are still at play.

Remember, abs are made in the gym, but shown off in the kitchen.

For coaching inquiries, feel free to message me, or fill out the form in my bio.

What I like about this 6 month transformation is that within that time life just kept going. ⁣
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This included a trip to Japan for 9 days where many debaucherous meals were had. ⁣
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While this may not be ideal in the prep process, had the attributes to get through it. ⁣
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He had the will and determination to get things in order and pull it together as soon as he got back home. Staying on his macros and getting in that training resulted in some solid results. It was as simple as that. ⁣
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This young man has a bright future on the stage. Now it is about getting back to the gym and fleshing out those areas of opportunity.⁣
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Congrats man! It was a pleasure coaching you through prep and into your off season.⁣
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Life moves quickly, and sometimes you might have trouble keeping up with your macros. ⁣
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There will be days when you will have to improvise and your numbers might end up all over the place. The most common scenario I see with clients is that they end up being way under on protein and over on fat. ⁣
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So here you are, with maybe 1 meal left for the day, and things are all over the place. What do you do? The best thing is simply add up your total calories for the day and make yourself a balanced meal. ⁣
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What do I mean by "balanced"? Well this term gets thrown around all over the place, but in the context of this post it's just about having a meal with a good amount of protein and carbohydrates, preferably with a good dose of fiber. ⁣
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This way you hit your caloric goals for the day and not just reach for the Oreos to hit your target for the day.⁣
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In the end, your macros don't always have to be perfect, because life isn't always perfect. ⁣
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Jonas .aka.Jonathan had the issue of feeling overwhelmed. Having 2 jobs (3 technically) and having recently moved, it was hard to make fitness a priority. ⁣
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The sheer amount of work he had to do felt like a bit of an insurmountable brick wall. ⁣
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Trendy diets and asinine strength training protocols were not cutting it. He needed to reprogram things around his lifestyle to get things done. ⁣
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Here is what he had to say:⁣
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“The biggest challenge was finding the tactics to meet my macros in a consistent way with my ever changing and increasingly challenging work/life/diet schedule. Being coached with how to find the foods and filler snacks to balance my daily macros did take a bit of time and I made some errors, but ultimately things came together. I've never seen results like these past 90 days and I am on track to shape my body as I need for the work ahead.”⁣
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Now it's all about entrenching those systems so he can continue to fit fitness into his lifestyle. This way it feels seem less and not invasive in his day to day life.
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For coaching inquiries, you can DM me or send an Email to: [email protected]⁣
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“𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩”⁣
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I often see this used as a marketing tactic:⁣
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This is something I really can’t recommend you doing unless you have stepped on stage successfully before. ⁣
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There are a number of reasons for this:⁣
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-Contest prep requires you to be quite skilled at tracking and to almost never veer from the path. This is unrealistic for someone who wants to get six pack abs living an everyday life. ⁣
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-Most people want to lose weight without overly sacrificing meals with family, friends and those occasional nights out. In contest prep, you need to be prepared to settle for a protein bar and some diet Pepsi.⁣
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-Contest prep dieting will push you quite a bit and test your limits. This often results in exhaustion and a feeling like your body is fighting you. If you are looking to just build a six pack or slim down your waistline, then you want to look good AND feel good. Leave the deep suffering for those who want to get up in front of a panel of judges. ⁣
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-Contest prep style dieting is tough, and can really turn you off of the process of losing weight and developing healthy habits. ⁣
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-For most people, all you need is a solid plan that allows you to live your life with flexibility while also moving you towards your goal.⁣
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-Leave the contest prep to those who want rigidity and zero deviation from the plan. That’s a whole different beast.⁣
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