How Do You Transform Your Body?
There are a lot of factors to a successful Body Transformation and here at Raising The Bar Fitness we are dedicated to giving you all the information, help and resources you need to help you transform your body.
All these factors are each quite in-depth and I will be addressing them individually but here are my 9 key components to a successful Body Transformation
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So let’s have a look at each one in a little more detail
1) Set Yourself Up For Success
So what do I mean by setting yourself up for success? What I am talking about here is MINDSET and the steps you want to take before even getting or making a plan, stepping into a gym or altering your diet.
Knowing Your Why
First of all, you are going to have to want to change but even more than that you are going to need to change that want to need to change. Everyone has something they want to change about themselves but WHY is this the time that you want to make a transformation WHY is this the time that you want to change so badly you need to do this.
You need to determine your WHY knowing WHY this is the time to make the change and digging down deep enough on your WHY is going to make you realise that not only do you want to change but you need to change for yourself more than anything and now is the time to do it!
If you haven’t done so already read my post on Knowing Your fitness why and start to your craft your WHY today.
Visualise Your Goals
Your WHY is going to supercharge your goals and the next step to set yourself up for success is to make clearly defined goals using the SMART protocol I have outlined in this post: Setting Fitness Goals and Keeping Them.
You need to map out exactly what your body transformation looks like to you (remember Body Transformations are subjective).
No two people are the same and no two people want the exact same results. Be clear and exact on the change you want to make and when you are, start visualising yourself in the body you want and imagine what it will feel like to achieve that goal.
If it helps find images of the type of physic you imagine
Prepare Your Mind For Change
Make yourself fully aware of exactly what is involved in making a body transformation, how much time it will take based on your starting point and how much time you will need to spend a week working towards it.
Focus on areas of your life you know you are going to have to work on and change and start thinking about things you can start to implement outside of the plan itself to help you move along the path to success.
Know that this is what you want, this is what you need and that you are prepared to do Whatever it takes to achieve your goals
2) Find the Right Plan Program or System
It doesn’t matter what you call it having the right plan or system in place is going to be crucial to stay on track, give yourself accountability, monitor progress, spot your weaknesses as they arise and actually transform your body.
If you feel confident enough you can create a plan yourself or enlist the help of a coach or company to create it for you and coach and mentor you along the way.
Even if you do feel confident a coach or proven system is going to help you execute quicker be able to put the right strategies in place based on your consultation and help you get into a routine so you can implement quickly.
But whatever you do, do not wing it, do not try to transform your body without a plan.
At this stage we all know what we are doing wrong we all know steps that we can take to change our fitness and bodies and you have probably even done most of them before so why haven’t you achieved the results you wanted?
One of the biggest reasons is not having a clearly defined, structured system or plan in place
Check out: You Need A Body Transformation Plan
3) The Right Nutrition
Nutrition in itself is a massive topic that I will continue to cover on this site and in other blog posts and is going to have a massive role to play in transforming your body.
With nutrition, you want to eat the right amount of quality nutrient-dense whole foods at the right times to sustain the training and exercise you are performing while adapting the amount consumed to achieve your goal.
With the right plan and system in place, nutrition and training should be fully covered and I am constantly creating resources on this page to help you out on your journey.
If you have any questions or need any help with your nutrition please reach out to me through social media.
4) Resistance Training
Here at Raising The Bar we are an advocate of resistance training whether that be using equipment and weights or callisthenics (bodyweight training) and recommend it as a vital component to achieving a successful Body Transformation.
To Transform Your Body I recommend a minimum of three resistance training sessions a week that’s three within seven days and for example Monday Wednesday and Friday.
5) Cardio
While cardio and resistance training could all be categorised as “training” I like to distinguish cardio from resistance retraining and believe it should be kept separate unless you are under severe time constraints.
One of the main benefits of separating cardio and resistance training is that our cardio will not interfere with our energy levels and recovery from intense workout sessions.
It is also for that reason I recommend utilising LISS (Low-Intensity Steady State) or MISS (Medium-Intensity-Steady-State) cardio in conjunction with resistance training with our high intensity coming from the resistance sessions.
Check out: HIT or LISS. Which Should I Be Doing?
So, for example, your week could look like resistance training Monday, Wednesday, Friday and LISS or MISS cardio Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
As a rule of thumb for the best results in the quickest time possible, you want to be looking at doing 10,000 steps a day.
Or as a very minimum, you want to aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity every day and this is separate from your resistance training sessions.
10,000 steps are the best and quickest body transformation goal and 30 minutes a day is what is recommended for most healthy adults, the Department of Health and Human Services.
Another consideration and recommendation I like to give is to where possible do your cardio outside especially if your resistance training sessions are inside.
You will benefit from all the positive factors that come from getting outside in nature and this feel-good factor and improved well-being will all help you on your Body Transformation journey.
6) Drink Enough Water
You may be wondering why I have kept water on its own instead of including it under, nutrition and the reason for that is it’s too much of a vital component not to have its own section.
If you exercise, some studies suggest that as little as a 2% loss in your body’s water content may impact how well you perform physically
There is still a bit of debate but the actual amount of water one should be drinking a day as each individual’s needs are different with health, age, sex, size, weight and of course activity levels all playing a part in the amount of water needed a day.
As a good starting place and based on the activity included in a body transformation I see 2 litres a day as a good starting point and a recommended minimum.
7) Get Enough Sleep
Sleep is extremely underrated when people think about body transformation and I have had clients getting light-headed in resistance training sessions due to lack of sleep.
Lack of sleep can literally be working away in the background sabotaging everything you are trying to accomplish without you even realising it.
Sleep is essential to help the body repair and build muscle and the quality of sleep matters.
Again everyone’s actual intake is going to vary with several factors. I know for me personally and I tried and tested it I need a full 8-9 hours a night where someone else may be fine from 7.
With sleep, you have to be very conscious of it and its effect on your day and work out what works best for you.
I always tell people you want to ensure you get a full night of good quality sleep anywhere between 7 – 9 hours
8) Track and monitor
Again tracking and monitoring are completely underrated when people ask themselves the question “How do you transform your body?”, especially with people that try to go it alone but
- How do you know you are on track?
- How do you know you are getting results?
- How do you know it’s working for you?
- How do you know if something needs to change?
If you enlisted the help of a coach or a company for your Body Transformation they will and should be tracking and monitoring everything for you every step of the way answering all these questions and making changes as you go.
If you are going it alone you do need to be following a plan and keeping track of your training, nutrition, mindset and results as you go.
Use MYFITNESSPAL to track your nutrition use a training and mindset journal to track and monitor your training and mindset and to monitor progress I recommend weighing yourself once a week (first thing in the morning on a Sunday) and taking progress pictures on the same day once a month.
Check Out:
How To Use MYFITNESSPAL Effectively For Free
and
How To Take Fitness Progress Pictures
9) Give It Time
It takes time and consistency to make a change.
Just consider how long it took you to get to your starting point you can’t expect to transform overnight and with a Body Transformation the more time you spend working on it the better the results.
From my experience, everyone is looking for the best transformation in the quickest time possible (as influenced by human nature, social media and fitness marketing) but “easy come easy go” and if that was achievable it is not sustainable, wouldn’t last and would probably be so intense and restrictive you wouldn’t enjoy the process.
Obviously, you can speed up your results by sticking to the program/plan and implementing all the changes needed instantly but this just isn’t realistic, especially at the start.
Some things you have to work towards and others you will need to take small steps at a time.
Each individual starting place is going to be different as well as individual goals and what a body transformation looks like to each person.
Some may get great results in three months while others may need three years.
When I work with clients on a one-to-one basis I no longer offer individual sessions and I need to work with someone for a while to fully understand them and how their minds and body work.
As an absolute minimum for a Body Transformation, three months is a good starting place with the best results coming from the longer time spent working towards the transformation
