Muscle Building and Fat Loss Adjustments

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You need to learn how to make muscle building and fat loss adjustments.

Let me explain what I mean…

Failure doesn't exist with the WLC System.

You may not burn as much fat as you want one week. You may not build as much muscle as you want another week.

You may stay the same or even go backwards if you have a bad week.

The one thing you are always doing is learning more about your body, what works for you, and what doesn't work for you. When you learn these things each week, there is never failure.

Learn More About Your Body and Make Faster Progress

The more you learn about your body, the faster your progress will be when you make the proper muscle building and fat loss adjustments.

And you will learn how to make the proper adjustments.

In order to make progress as fast as possible, you're going to have to change your program when things slow down or stop working. This happens because the body is amazing when it comes to adapting to anything you throw at it.

So, frequent changes have to be made throughout a program.

The better you become at making proper adjustments, the better your results are going to be.

In other words, it's up to you.

I'm here to guide you and help you along the way, though. Soon, you will become the expert. It's your body, and you will know it better than anyone else.

Making changes to your program when needed allows you to make the fastest possible progress. Most people go with the same plan or program over and over… whether they're getting results or not getting results.

You'll most likely have to change something at least a few times during a program cycle. These adjustments should only be used when you aren't making optimal progress towards your goals. Don't get too greedy either. A pound or so of fat loss or muscle gain each week is great progress!

Let's take a look at the adjustments you can make to your program…

The Possible Muscle Building and Fat Loss Adjustments

There are an unlimited number of ways to change your program to continue getting results. Here are a few of them:

Increase/Decrease Cardiovascular Activity
Increase/Decrease Calories
Start/Stop Cycling Calories
Larger/Smaller Calorie Cycling
Adjust Macronutrient Ratios
Start/Stop Carbohydrate Cycling
Change Cardiovascular Activities
Incorporate HIIT Cardio
Do morning cardio
Twice per day cardio sessions
Improve Food Sources
Add/Delete Meals
Carbohydrate Cut Off
Increase/Decrease Rest Days
Increase/Decrease Sleep
Increase/Decrease Intensity of Weight Training
Increase/Decrease Volume of Weight Training

You now have all these adjustment options available to you, but how do you know what to change depending on the results you are receiving each week?

Well, the first things you should always fix before you change anything else are:

Improve your food sources – no bad foods – no cheating – follow guidelines.

Better food choices can make a huge difference in your results. You must have a great diet before you change anything else.

Do not skip workouts, skip meals, or add unnecessary meals/snacks (no candy).

Consistency is the key to getting results.

Consistency is required with every aspect of our programs. You've got to stick to your plan.

Don't change anything unless you are consistently doing what you need to do each and every day.

Get recommended water intake and sleep.

If you aren't drinking enough water and getting enough sleep, your results will suffer.

Do not change anything in your program if you aren't getting enough water or sleep. These small changes are actually huge.

Give 100% in everything that you do and when you reach 100%, work even harder.

If you aren't giving everything you have during your workouts, do not change anything in your program. Work harder and set goals related to working harder in the gym.

Don't forget to turn that muscle building switch on when you enter the gym.

When You Have the Above Factors in Check…

When you have the above 4 factors in check and are following the guidelines of this program 100%, then you can start making changes to the program when needed.

Small changes here and there will do the trick.

The number one adjustment you will make during muscle building cycles is to increase calories. The number one adjustment you will make during fat loss cycles is to increase cardiovascular exercise.

The other adjustments are more advanced changes that you can experiment with once you have a few months experience with the program. Simple changes work wonders for your body.

The more advanced changes will not be needed the first few months. Your body will not adapt to the program as laid out in its basic format for at least a few months. Then, you can start experimenting with other adjustments — one at a time.

When you make adjustments to your program, do not make more than one adjustment on a weekly basis. By making only one adjustment at a time, you will learn more about whether or not that particular adjustment worked.

You'll see how your body responds to that single adjustment, and you'll learn more that way.

Small changes one at a time lead to huge results.

Possible Weekly Results

Let's take a look at every possible result you can receive each week and whether or not you should make an adjustment according to the results:

Result: Increase in muscle mass, decrease in body fat

Don't change anything! Keep going!

A decrease in body fat and an increase in muscle mass is the absolute best result you can achieve. Never change if something is working this good.

Try the same approach for another week and evaluate from there.

Result: Increase in muscle mass, no change in body fat

This is an ideal result if your goal is building muscle. Don't change anything in your program.

If your goal happens to be fat loss, you're going to want to make some adjustments. Your energy balance is too far positive for fat loss.

Your first option should be to add cardio or decrease calories by one level without an increase in cardio.

Result: Increase in muscle mass, increase in body fat

If your goal is muscle building, you might be okay.

It depends on the magnitude of the fat gain compared to the muscle gain. If you only gained a small amount of fat and a larger amount of muscle, you do not need to change anything. Ensure you are eating the best sources of food and doing your cardio consistently.

If the fat gain is large compared to muscle gain, your energy balance is much too high. Slightly decrease calories to cut down on fat gain.

If your goal is fat loss, your calorie intake is too high or your activity is too low.

Decrease one calorie level and re-evaluate the following week. Ensure you are eating only the best sources of food and doing your workouts consistently before changing. Your energy balance is too far positive for fat loss.

Result: Decrease in muscle mass, no change in body fat

This is one of the worst possible results.

You will most likely never receive this result unless you've made error in measurements, you've began to overtrain, or you've decreased calories too much and invoked the starvation response from your body.

First, you must ensure you are doing everything correctly. Follow the program guidelines exactly if you aren't already.

If you've been lifting weights for several months without a break, it could be time to take a week off.

If you're eating a minimal amount of calories, you need to increase by a few calorie levels. Increasing calories could easily fix this result.

Result: Decrease in muscle mass, decrease in body fat

The magnitude of the decrease in muscle mass compared to the decrease in body fat is important here.

If you only lost a small amount of muscle compared to a large decrease in body fat, you're doing fine. If you've lost a lot of muscle, you need to increase calories by one level as a starting point.

You may be close to overtraining if you haven't had a break in a while.

Any time you lose a large amount of muscle mass an alarm should go off inside your head. You need to follow program guidelines exactly if you haven't been.

You may need more rest, more food, less cardio, or you may need a decrease in weight training intensity. If you've been going to failure, stop. Stay short of failure by stopping when the rep speed slows down. Try one change at a time and re-evaluate.

Result: Decrease in muscle mass, increase in body fat

This is the worst result possible. You will never obtain this result if you follow program guidelines.

This result can come from too much weight lifting at a high intensity, low calorie intakes, too much cardio, overtraining, not enough rest, bad food choices, not enough water, etc.

Take a break if you've been on the program for a few months, organize, plan, and start your attack over. Get mentally ready to follow the program exactly as laid out.

If the weight lifting workouts prove to be too much for you, all you need to do is stop each set short of failure. This gives your body a break. If you need more rest days between workouts, take them.

Ensure you are eating enough to support your weight lifting, including carbohydrates. Never go low to zero carb and attempt this program.

Result: No change in muscle mass, no change in body fat

You aren't making any progress with these results.

This isn't bad. You now know that you need to increase or decrease your energy balance. If you want to build muscle, increase a calorie level.

If you want to burn fat, add cardio to your program to burn more calories.

Result: No change in muscle mass, decrease in body fat

If your goal is fat loss, you are headed in the right direction and making great progress. There's no need to change anything in your program. You are losing fat!

If your goal is to build muscle, you need to increase a calorie level and re-evaluate from there.

Some people may need to jump a few calorie levels depending on the magnitude of the fat loss. You need to create a positive energy balance to build muscle.

Result: No change in muscle mass, increase in body fat

An increase in body fat with no increase in muscle mass is not a good result.

You most likely need to seriously clean up your diet and start working out more consistently. Ensure you are following the program guidelines. Are you gaining strength each workout?

If you achieved these results, you most likely are not gaining strength each workout.

Follow the program guidelines exactly. Clean up your diet. Do your cardio. Lift weights to build muscle. Work on getting stronger on each exercise. Go over your goals again.

If you've been working out consistently for more than a few months and following the program, it may be time to take a 1 week break. This will get you back on track.

Always Shoot for the Stars Each Week

Everyone should strive for option number one above. You should strive for that every week, but it's most likely not going to happen most of the time.

That doesn't mean you can't strive for that goal, though. I do, and I will always try for the best. I try my hardest every second of every day to reach that goal for the week.

Never get discouraged if you aren't making optimal results each week. This simply means you need to make a change. Make a change and re-evaluate your results the following week.

Continue to make changes only if needed. Most beginners to our program will not need many changes for several months besides increases and decreases in calories and cardio.

You now have many options available to you when you aren't making optimal progress. One small change can make a huge difference in your results! I've seen this happen over and over with thousands of people. Make one change at a time and evaluate your results.

Making adjustments to your program should be exciting. You will be learning more about your body every time you make a change. You really will become an expert at making adjustments.

You'll learn how your body responds to certain changes, and you'll remember the things you've learned when you meet that situation again in the future.

Our program is all about making constant and continuous progress throughout the weeks, months, and years. Making adjustments to your program is an absolute must because nothing works forever.

Most programs never teach you how to make adjustments.

You now know how to make adjustments to your program. You should be very excited about the progress you are going to make. You will be amazed at the changes in your body.

Get out there and practice. Practice making adjustments when needed will make the WLC System work for you!