Snapchat Q&A, Leg Day and Ogus Bowls

Yo, so trying something a little bit different today. I'm going to do a Q&A video, but I'm going to overlay the leg workout, the legs and abs workout I did today, because yo, give you guys something better to look at while I'm answering questions instead of this ugly mug. And an apology, I haven't done like a video in a couple of days, just it's been one of those weeks. I'm currently moving house and when I— oh! Fuck! Shut up! I hate when you set your alarm for the AM, you click PM instead. So yeah, I'm currently moving house, and you know, when I do settle in, I'm moving, I'm gonna be coming out with the videos. So excuse me, it was just a bad week. You have them. So anyways, alright, you guys asked me the questions on Snapchat and even a couple on my Instagram, so let's get stuck into it. I'm gonna roll this leg workout. And we get started. Am I ever going to properly bulk? That is a good question. And you know, I have bulked in, you know, when I was just starting off lifting, you know, I absolutely did a prolonged period of bulking time. But nowadays, you probably notice I'm always like cutting down for something, be it like a shoot or an event. And the reason for that is, yeah, I do kind of have to stay lean year-round for photo shoots and for YouTube in general. You notice when you're bulking, your views go way down compared to when you're like shredded or contest prepping for something. Like, you know, you have to admit, when you see like a big shredded thumbnail with like six packs going everywhere, you want to click on that. So your views and interaction do go up. And right now I'm still kind of building my channel, so my My channel isn't big enough for me to kind of, you know, get out of shape a little bit. But maybe in the future I will. But right now it's just, you know, I'm towards the kind of plus 4 or 5 years of lifting. So getting a little bit out of shape, is that really worth an extra pound or two of muscle? I don't really think so. So, you know, am I going to probably bulk? Yeah, maybe sometime next year. They're my reasons for kind of staying lean year round. Just started on YouTube. I got so many questions about like social media in general, you know, building up your name as a personal trainer or like you know, in the fitness industry. And that would either take a video itself, but one thing I'm also thinking of is putting on a seminar next month. Now, the seminar, I would obviously cover how to put together your own training plan, nutrition plan, everything. But kind of original idea that maybe I would include a whole section, a whole talk on how to, you know, build a name for yourself in the fitness industry, start your own business and stuff like that. So anyone in the Dublin area, let me know if you'd be interested in going to that. I was thinking of having it maybe sometime in March, so comment down below if you'd be interested in that, and obviously we'd chill afterwards and become best friends. Quick advice on how to calculate maintenance calories. Well, a kind of like thing you can do as a start is you can multiply your body weight in pounds by 14 to 16, or you can go Google a ton of online calculators and get an average. But yeah, at the end of the day, these are just estimations. Your best bet is just a bit of trial and error. Keep your intake consistent for a while, and that's really going to give you your maintenance calories. Because everyone can differ largely. For example, you can't compare someone who works in an office and sits on their ass all day to a construction worker. Their TDEE, total daily energy expenditure, are going to be completely different. So trial and error really is your best bet. How do you keep your skin clear? Uh, I get the odd, like, spot here and there, but nothing too bad. The only product I ever use is coconut oil. That's just what I use to moisturize, because I do get dry skin the odd time. When you first start lifting, is it possible to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time? Hell yes! It is probably the only time when it's possible to lose muscle and fat simultaneously. The more advanced you get, the harder it becomes to, you know, when you're at the very advanced level, it's pretty much near impossible to get any noticeable results. But, uh, so yeah, if you're just starting out, it's certainly possible to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. Recomposition, definitely. Just provide you got a structured training program and keeping your diet in check. Would you do cutting series similar to summer shredding? Yes, funny you asked that. It starts on Monday when I move into my new place. Basically, it is exactly 12 weeks of BodyPower Expo, so I'm just gonna use that as kind of a landmark to cut down for. You know, maybe I'll do a photo shoot at BodyPower. Maybe I'll even jump on stage at BodyPower. That'd be sweet, 'cause I'd have a ton of the NF Army there. Or maybe I'll do like a competition in Ireland around that time, 'cause in May, summer is when all the kind of, you know, men's physique competitions are on. But yeah, the series actually starts on Monday, and it's gonna be awesome. I'm gonna really try step up the production quality for it, and you know, teach you guys a lot along the way, 'cause at the end of the day, that's what it's all about. Is a caloric deficit when injured bad? Yes, you will recover slower when you've got an injury and you're in a deficit. Because when you think about it, it's kind of like your body needs energy to heal itself. So you want to be eating at least maintenance or above. What is your stance on intermittent fasting? Pfft, bro, where you been at? I like intermittent fast myself the odd day. I actually did it today. This leg workout that you're watching I hadn't eaten before that, I just took pre-workout. But yeah, there's no like magic to intermittent fasting. At the end of the day, it's just an easier way to hit your macros. That is it. It's just really down to personal preference and there's no magic to it. But yeah, if it helps you to sustain your diet and make your diet as enjoyable as possible, then definitely do it. So yeah, that's my stance on intermittent fasting. It's kind of neutral, you know, if you like it, do it. What was the biggest discovery you made that resulted in increased products? And in terms of diet, it was definitely learning how to kind of monitor and track my protein, carb, and fat intake. And obviously calories falls into that equation. If you're tracking your macros, you're tracking your calories too. And learning how to manipulate them depending on my goals. If I wanted to put on weight or lose body fat and cut down, I would change up my macros. Learning how to do that, without a doubt, that is the kind of very basis of nutrition and body composition. And then in terms of training, I used to just go into the gym, be like, okay, I'm hitting chest today, I'll just get a chest pump and that's it. I kind of have no structure to my program and I'd have no progression scheme. And yo, I didn't really know about kind of progressive overload and stuff and how important it was. And it's like, it's in the name, you know, progressive overload. If you're not making progress, what are you doing? Tracking the weight I'm lifting and looking to increase volume and all that over time. And I guess tracking my macros as well. So yeah, kind of when you know what's going on, that's when you're going to start noticing the best results really. What would you say is the most important thing to consider if you're thinking about starting a business, either related to fitness or not? Without a doubt, it is just start. Just do it. Honest to God. Just get over your fear of failure and just do it. So many people have ideas of what they want to do, but no one actually follows through with it. So my advice is just go balls to the wall and just do it. And even if you fail, you've got yourself a priceless experience. You can learn so much from your failures. So my advice would just be to do it. Get off your ass and just do it. That was actually an excellent question, James. Hey Rob, probably stupid question. Is there any benefit or gains to be had doing your workouts early in the AM? I normally only have time for the gym after work in the evening. Thanks, Rob. Keep up the good work. No, there's no magic hour that is going to give you, you know, better gains than another hour of the day. Just work out when you personally prefer to, because that is going to allow you to have the best workout possible. You love working out in the morning? Then do it, because you're going to kill your session. If you like working out in the evening, fire away. Personally, I like working around midday, 1 o'clock, so that allows me to perform my best. So just train when it suits you, suits your schedule, and when you prefer to the most. What do you think of this supplement called— I get so many supplement questions, right? And basically all your supplement questions can be answered if you just go to examine.com and type in whatever ingredient or supplement you're looking for answers on. They compile a meta-analysis and they just give you like a summary of it. That means they look at every study available on the supplement and, you know, give you an honest, non-biased— keyword being non-biased— verdict on the supplement. So examine.com, it's honestly an amazing website. All right guys, gonna finish things up there. Hope you enjoyed this kind of like format, and enjoy the rest of the video, and keep it real. Oh yeah, it's looking way better. Got the inside done too. All right guys, so just home. Major pro tip that I stole from Matt August, love that guy, and it is when you go to Chipotle or Tolteca, that's like the Irish Chipotle, and you get your burrito bowl, if you want to like custom size it, like pimp it out, just throw it in one big massive bowl with like, you know, a mixed leaf salad bowl so you really bulk up the meal. It is so good when you're cutting. And if you want to make, if you want to eat out, you know, in a burrito joint and make it macro-friendly, just get the bowl, get everything on it apart from the sour cream, the guac, and the cheese. I know, you know, where's the fun in that? But hey, can't have everything. Gotta sacrifice to win, bros. All right, here it goes. That is what's up. Boom, look at the size of that thing. All right, boys and girls, so I'm gonna wrap things up there. Leave the video a like or a comment if you enjoyed this type of format. At the end of the day, your feedback is everything. And I also do have some huge announcements coming soon, some life-changing stuff, to be honest. And you know, I don't usually say that, but you know, stay tuned. I cannot wait to tell you. You guys are gonna love it. So stay tuned for that. Until next time, keep it real.