How to workout BMI

Body Mass Index, or BMI is designed to show you a measure of your bodyfat based on your height and weight. 
It is very easy to work out and gives you a general idea of weather you are overweight, underweight, or average. So here is how it works, take your height in metres and your weight in pounds and then use one of the two formulas given below.

A person’s BMI is their Body Mass Index and it can be worked out in one of two ways. Either you can divide their weight in kilograms by their height in metres twice (1) , or you can use a more complex formula shown below(2).

1.       75kg divided by 1.8 metres = 41.66667 then divided by 1.8m again = a BMI value of 23.14

2.       Height in inches squared, then divide your weight in pounds by this your height squared, multiply by conversion factor of 703.

e.g 70.859 inches squared =5021.02, weight in pounds so 165, divided by 5021.02= 0.03286

 then multiply this by 703 =BMI value of  23.1

Your BMI is ranked on a scale to show weather you are overweight,  underweight or at a healthy weight for your height. The scale is shown below:

Under weight = <18.5

Normal, healthy weight = 18.5 -24.9

Overweight = 25-29.9

Obese = 30+

Clinically obese - 35+

However beware that this calculation is not overly accurate interms of body composition as it does not account for muscle mass at all. Infact when I was at 10% bodyfat and 84kg(see pic below) it told me that my BMI was 26.2 which is overweight.

Instead I prefer to use body fat readings to test my weight ans health but this BMI is a globally used formula that i thought may be of use so feel free to use it.

Not seeing gains?

A lot of people that start training give up very quickly when they can't see any improvements over a short period. But what you have to realise is that it is a journey, and it takes a long time to get to where you want to be, both mentally and physically. So this video will hopefully give you all some tips and help motivate you to not give up too soon and follow through with your training until you reach your goals.

Don't forget to subscribe to the youtube channel - kurtyweir1 and like us on facebook and check out the other training videos on the youtube channel or blog. Just follow the links at the side of the page. Thanks

Structuring a cutting cycle

Many people want to lose their bodyfat and get ripped, but few know how to structure their diet in order to get the best results possible in terms of muscle retention and fat loss. So I thought I'd share the structure of any cutting diet with you and you can use this simple maths and a calculator to get exactly the right amount of macro nutrients and calories in your diet in order to get shredded in 5-8 weeks.

Okay so first things first you need to workout your calorie limit.
Find your body weight in pounds -(weight in kilos x 2.2) then multiply this number by 11. That is your max calorie intake per day!
For example I weigh 85kg, which is 187 pounds, so my max calories is - 2057kcals

Now onto the macro-nutrients.
Protein is simple it is a gram per pound of body weight, so mine would be 187g per day max.
Carbs is also reasonably simple to work out, multiply your bodyweight in pounds by 0.6, so mine would be 187 x 0.6 = 112.2 grams of carbs per day max.

This is where most peoples cutting diets fall short and they start to sacrifice huge amounts of muscle.
In order to lose weight you need to increase the amounts of healthy fats that you eat! This is true and heres why. In order to prevent cortisol atacking your muscles for an energy source yo ave to provide an alternative, this is usually carbs, but as we have reduced carbs in the diet, fats are the best alternative. Secondly if the brain detects increased fat cosumption and I mean healthy omega 3 fats and ployunsaturated fats then it is more likely to burn excess bodyfat as it is no longer a rare component of the diet.
So how much fat should I be eating? well you need to make your macronutrients equal your total calories, so you must first workout how much you have already from the protein and carbs.
To do this add both totals together, e.g 112.2 + 187 = 299.2
then multiply this by 4(the amout of calories per gram of carbs and protein) 299.2 x 4 = 1196.8

Then take this value away from your total calorie figure. 2057-1196.8 = 860.2
then divide this by 9 (number of calories in fats) to get the amount of fat in grams you should be getting in your diet. 860.2/ 9 = 95grams

So to sumarise
calories = 2057kcals (bodyweight x11)
protein = 187g   (bodyweight)
carbs = 112.2g   (bodyweight x 0.6)
fats = 95g           (left over calories / 9)

These figures represent the max values you should be taking per day, aim to get close to the fats and protein, but don't worry if you fall short on the carbs every few days, just don't go over this!

DDT

This week I thought I’d address the problem that faces a lot of athletes and body builder beginners. This mainly revolves around not understanding what you want or how to achieve what you want, mainly due to false rumours and mixed information.

Firstly I should point out that there are two posts already on this topic on the blog, the genetics page and the post ‘rep rules’. But I’m going to address the three main things that help me with my aims and training every single day, and that’s D.D.T.

D = Diet

You have to get your nutrition right if you want to see the improvements quickly and feel the muscles growing as you train. Emphasis on seeing the improvements because you will find that once people start bulking diets they immediately start to pig out on anything they can reach so long as it has over 5 grams of protein in it! But this doesn’t help because you’ll either end up bloated and not wanting to train today because you don’t feel well, or don’t want to look fat in the gym. Or you’ll cover any muscle gains with an extra layer of blubber. Similarly you need to do the same if you are shredding, don’t just eat nothing all day, give your muscles the protein and other nutrients they need whilst managing the carbs and fat levels.
In my opinion Diet is the most important part to get right because you could lift all the weights you want but if you don’t give your body the tools to recover and grow, your beat.

D = Dedication

You need to be dedicated. If you have a training routine STICK TO IT! Don’t procrastinated and say ‘oh its okay I’ll do it tomorrow’ because it wont help and if anything you’ll just encourage yourself to procrastinate on more days. I’m not saying get in the gym and train till you drop every day. But stick to your routine or you’ll never get where you want.
Also if you aren’t seeing any improvements after a week, don’t just give up. Especially if your trying to gain size or strength it takes far longer to see the results than you think but if you can stick at it the gains when they come are worth it.
So get in that gym and get working now! Also those people who want to get bigger and then when they train and are sore or stiff the next day, THAT MEANS ITS WORKING!

Don’t give me the whole oh I hate legs day… as ZYZZ says ‘You ****ing love leg day. You can’t wait to ****ing squat’ You wouldn’t be training your legs like that unless you wanted them to grow!

T= Training
You need to get your training right if you want to make gains, get shredded or get fit. This is where the previous posts come into play. You need to research what your genetic type is first and what training works best for you. Then look at what your goal is, to loose weight, gain muscle and size, get fit… and then see what rep range, cardio sessions and weight you should be doing and do it!

Getting the right training is vital otherwise you’ll end up wasting your money on nutrition and your gym membership because you aren’t putting dedicated hours of work in/ your doing the wrong things!

So in future remember the vital DDT!

Importance of Variation

The importance of varying your workouts is enormous. Firstly it not only forces your muscles to work and perform in different ways, hence building more muscle in different areas, but it also makes it more fun, challenging and gets your brain more activated an focused in every workout, rather than simply going through the motions.

So how do I add variation to my workout? Simple:

1. Keep on climbing:

If you get comfortable banging out a weight or running, cycling, swimming at a certain pace or for a certain time then you need to make it harder. Try going up to the next set of dumbbells or going faster or for longer on the cardio. Always set yourself a target to beat every time you train and 9/10 times you’ll improve.

2. Mix it up:

Instead of simply sticking to the same routines every day of every week try to mix it up every few weeks or months. I train in a solid routine for 50 days and then evaluate my performance, weight, strength and cardio and then start chopping and changing the things that I need to improve on, or have maxed out to keep my workouts fresh and enjoyable. For example I wasn’t happy with my Tricep techniques recently and hadn’t noticed any real gains so I swapped 2/3 of the exercises around and I’m seeing results. In terms of cardio try swapping running for 40 minutes for a 40 minute circuit or swimming session, or vice versa. Always keep your body guessing.

3. Nutrition:

This too needs to stay fresh, but on a much more regular basis. Studies have clearly shown that people who train, but don’t vary their healthy diets enough soon slip up into bad habits or cheat days far too often. So every week plan your meals, even if its just your main meal each day and try to swap a few around each week to give you some new healthy combo’s and keep the diet enjoyable. This also applies to protein, keep changing the sources and you’ll get extra gains due to the extra nutrients each different source has to offer.

4. Don’t be afraid of change:

I’ve trained with guys who never changed their routines and yet they always complain that they hat one of their sessions! (usually legs) I always get the ‘Oh no its legs tonight’ crap every week. But this if you keep on swapping your moves about you’ll see the results faster and you’ll actually start to love your training again.

5. Brain power:

It has been proven that by changing your normal routines several times a year can improve the number of neurones in your brain and thus improve not only memory but reaction times and natural recall. The body likes to adapt to survive so give it a new workout to adapt to!

Power to Weight Ratios

This is the ultimate defining moment of your training. When you sit down at the end of the latest programme and work this out. Your power to weight ratio gives you an indication of your over all strength and your improvements. To work it out follow my example below:

My weight = 75kg
My bench press for 8 reps = 110kg

110kg divided by 75kg         =         1.46

This tells me that I have a power to weight ratio of 1.46 : 1, or that I can push 146% of my body weight.

You should be aiming for at least 1.1 as anything below 1 means that you can't lift your own body weight and really arn't doing well. You can work this out for dead lifts and squatts as well but the main indicator of power: weight ratios is calculated using bench press for 8 reps.