Simon Chang - Fitness Trainer

If the scale is stable, it means your food choices, hydration habits, meals, and sleep schedule are stable.

If you’re seeing chaotic weight fluctuations, it means those things are chaotic.

If I had a $ for every time I heard someone say that free weights are better than machines or that machines aren’t “functional”.

It shouldn’t be a question of which is “better” but “what are the benefits of each?”

Free Weights: The path of motion isn’t fixed meaning your muscles have to work harder to provide stability (antagonist coactivation is increased) and maintain the desired path of motion.

Machines: The path of motion is fixed meaning your muscles don’t have to work as hard to provide stability which can make it easier to maintain your form and allow you to increase the load being lifted.

There can also be differences in the resistance profile (where the thing gets hard and where it gets easy). This is one of the most important factors for adaptation, exercise stimulus and experience.

You can see that they are BOTH mechanically different and provide different opportunities to the human body to be stimulated to be changed. They also provide different limitations but it doesn’t mean that one is “better” or that it has to be a choice of doing one or the other.

And knowing the benefits of each, you can ask “better” questions such as “what is the goal of the exercise?” and “what is appropriate for the individual?

The traditional Bro will say that you need to do higher reps to build muscle. And while that’s not necessarily bad advice, the totality of research suggests that you can build the SAME amount of muscle using higher or lower reps (30-85% of 1RM) if you’re taking each set to failure.

But, there are some differences between high (lower reps) and low loads (higher reps) and it’s more than puking your brains out and lying on the floor in crippling pain.

A higher load (>60%) is needed to maximize strength. This doesn’t mean that low loads (

You don’t have to eat the SAME thing or amount every day.

A strategy a lot of my clients find helpful is eating a bit less during the weekday so they can eat a bit more (within reason) on the weekend.

You know what’s underrated for losing body fat and keeping it off? Walking.

Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) is the energy expended during ‘non-exercise’ movements (e.g. fidgeting). It is considered the most adaptive component of your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) and can decrease while being in a calorie deficit.

NEAT can be as little as 6-10% of TDEE in individuals with a sedentary lifestyle and 50% or more in highly active subjects - to give you a better idea, NEAT can vary by as much as 2,000 calories per day when comparing two adults of similar body size, lean body mass, age and gender.

It doesn’t mean you won’t be able to lose body fat, it means there will be some challenges along the way - walking is a great way to account for reductions in NEAT.

There’s no “bad” foods but there can be “bad” diets - improving your relationship with food can significantly improve your health.

“If you’re fit, read books. If you’re smart, get fit.”

I was neither.

Before I started working out I was a VERY shy kid. If you weren’t close to me, I didn’t talk much. This made it hard to ask for help in classes I didn’t enjoy or struggled with - it was uncomfortable and I avoided doing any work for those classes. And because of this, I was close to failing a few classes.

Fortunately, I started working out with a group of friends but it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. The first day I trained with them we started to Bench Press (of course). I was given an instruction then gave it a go. It was 55lbs and it dropped on my chest and I had to get it picked off.

I was embarrassed BUT no one laughed. They were all supportive and dropped the weight every time it was my turn to go.

And even though I still felt embarrassed and was much weaker than all of them, I continued to train with them and slowly fell in love with the gym.

I put on about 15lbs of muscle in my first year of training and felt a lot more confident. I wasn’t as shy and started to notice improvements in the sports I was playing and my grades improved every year.

I learned that if you work hard at something … you can make a lot of progress and even excel. And as an ignorant, shy kid who wasn’t “smart” in school, this was special.

I started working hard in other areas of my life knowing that if I put in the work, I can see improvements.

I went from a SMALL town shy kid (in the Northwest Territories) to playing University football and eventually moving to the States to work in the fitness industry.

What if I was laughed at after weight dropped on my chest? I could’ve given up that day and my life could be entirely different …

I became “fit” and then read books. It changed my life for the better … and now I’m helping busy professionals get “fit”. My client who’s job (surgeon) is “stressful and extremely time-intensive” said it best here, “getting stronger has made living in my body a pleasure instead of a chore” and her “body is much better prepared for that work now.”

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It’s simple: at least 0.4g/kg of protein per meal a few times a day if you want to maximize hypertrophy from a nutritional standpoint.

And you can have more than 0.4g/kg of protein per meal as there are other benefits such as improving satiety and thermogenesis. I’d just recommend having a few meals a day so you get multiple spikes of MPS and don’t feel like 🗑 from eating so much protein per meal.

Also, if your program sucks then none of this matters. This is another reason I made a “Skip the Bullsh*t: Powerbuilding!”. You literally skip all the BS broscience, exercises without intent, junk volume, etc.

TLDR: Eat enough protein per meal and have a few meals per day!

An external focus of attention (or external cue) is concentrating on the outside of the body (i.e. focusing on an external object related to the task) and an internal focus of attention is concentrating on the inside of the body (i.e. focusing on bodily movements).

An external focus of attention has been shown to INCREASE strength compared to having an internal focus of attention (PMID: 34822352).

In this meta-analysis, the studies used different strength tests including the Deadlift and Squat (which most of us are interested in). For example, some of the specific cues used were:

External Focus of Attention (Deadlift)

“Focus on pushing the ground away as fast as possible.”

Internal Focus of Attention (Deadlift)

“Focus on extending at your hips as rapidly as possible.”

Those with an external focus of attention in this study showed a significantly > increase in both the 1RM Deadlift and Squat.

External Focus of Attention (Deadlift) = 9.79Kg ± 7.1Kg

Internal Focus of Attention (Deadlift) = 5.00Kg ± 6.6kg

This study in particular had one of the highest PEDro scores (7 out of 10) which basically means it’s higher in quality.

And something I found particularly interesting in another study is that they showed that the increase in force production from the external focus of attention was associated with a reduction in antagonist coactivation. This emphasizes the point in one of my previous posts on the Lats (antagonist) being overrated in the Bench Press.

There is more research needed to show that an external focus of attention may help with strength long term but either way, there is utility to using both external and internal cues.

Link in Bio for my Powerbuilding program and 1:1 Remote Coaching 👊

Don’t be like Derek.

Creatine monohydrate is one of the most popular supplements for sports performance. It started to become popular in 1992 (a few years before I was born) and I remember when I first heard about it, it was basically considered “steroids” 😂. And a part of that is probably because of the proven benefits and the other is the complete misunderstanding about it but there’s research that basically says you’re stupid (literally) for not taking it. Well, maybe not stupid but there can be cognitive benefits. Anyway …

Creatine is SAFE, it’s not a “steroid”, and it’s not going to damage your kidneys or liver.

PMID: 33557850

It may cause some gastrointestinal (GI) discomfort (an upset stomach) but you can avoid that by splitting the dose into two servings per day (e.g 2.5g + 2.5g) or taking it with a larger amount of fluid and/or a meal.

Creatine has TONs of benefits such as:

- Increased single and repetitive sprint performance
- Increased work performed during sets of maximal effort muscle contractions
- Increased muscle mass & strength adaptations during training
- Enhanced glycogen synthesis
- Increased anaerobic threshold
Possible enhancement of aerobic capacity via greater shuttling of ATP from mitochondria
- Increased work capacity
- Enhanced recovery
- Greater training tolerance

PMID: 28615996

There is also some research showing that creatine may improve cognitive processing, especially in conditions characterized by brain creatine deficits, which could be induced by acute stressors (e.g. exercise, sleep deprivation) or chronic, pathologic conditions (e.g. creatine synthesis enzyme deficiencies, mild traumatic brain injury, aging, Alzheimer's disease, depression).

Alright Grandma 👵, you’re hopping on the creatine!

PMID: 33578876

And even if it didn’t help with those things (since more research is needed), there are still tons of benefits + creatine is cheap.

Although I’m not a Buff Chick I use because it’s cheap and BSCG Certified Drug Free (I only want creatine in my creatine!).

If you want to save even more money, you can use code HUNTY.

In the case of a Hack Squat, you wouldn’t want your lower back to “round” at the bottom (i.e. flexing your spine to get more ROM) because it’s likely not helping with your goals. This is more directed towards Powerlifters (who have to hit depth) or gym goers who worries about this while they Squat.

Link in Bio for my Powerbuilding program and 1:1 Remote Coaching!

It’s simple: at least 0.4g/kg of protein per meal a few times a day if you want to maximize hypertrophy from a nutritional standpoint.

And you can have more than 0.4g/kg of protein per meal as there are other benefits such as improving satiety and thermogenesis. I’d just recommend having a few meals a day so you get multiple spikes of MPS.

But, if your program sucks then none of this matters. This is another reason I made a “Skip the Bullsh*t: Powerbuilding!”. You literally skip all the BS broscience, exercises without intent, junk volume, etc.

IMO, this cue sucks for Powerlifters … actually most people except Weightlifters since they’ll likely need to extend their spine at the bottom of a Sn**ch.

What is your story?👇

Check out my post “5 Nutritional Strategies You Must Do To Maximize Hypertrophy” for more detailed information 🧱

It’s 2022 and you’re still tracking exact macronutrients targets …

There aren’t many contexts I can think of where this is appropriate other than Bodybuilders.

I’m even seeing some Bodybuilders add flexibility with their Carbohydrate and Fat intake (e.g. 💪) and still see progress.

I hope to see more of a shift in tracking methods AND even one day … stop having all of your clients track on Day 1!

Over the past few years I’ve worked with 500+ clients 1-on-1 and something I’ve learned is that a lot of people struggle with the scale.

And if you do struggle with the scale … it’s not your fault❕

A lot of advertising, magazines, and services market “lose ‘x’ amount of weight in ‘x’ amount of days’ and show a picture of someone smiling.

This can make it seem that if you lose weight, you will be happier. And thus, people will set outcomes goals of losing ‘x’ amount of weight then mainly focus on the scale. If it goes up, they’re upset and if it goes down, they’re happy but …

If it went up and you have more energy, sleep has improved, and reduced health risks are you going to be upset?

It sucks because some of us may still struggle knowing these positive outcomes.

It can take time to improve your relationship with the scale but don’t give up!

The scale is just your relationship to the ground with gravity.

It’s data … it’s not “bad” or “good” of it goes up or down. It’s DATA that can help with your decision making.

If you’re going to use it as a tool, it’s important to know how to interpret the DATA. If you struggle with it remember that you don’t have to use it (I’ve had clients not use the scale and are much happier for it) and that it doesn’t define your self worth ❤️

No adherence, no (intended) results.

3 tips ✅ to improve your ‘Adherence’

Simplicity, preferences, and flexibility.

What are some other things that have helped you?