Diet vs. training
The diet plan accounts for 70% of the progress and the training for 30%. But why does this matter?
We still live in a world where everyone would like to break everything down into pie charts, however the biology and the process of optimization of it, is much more complex.
In particular, there are a lot of logical fallacies in the world of optimising nutrition, training and fitness in general, where we all want to get to the optimal results in the fastest way possible.
At the beginning, it would be wise to define the word optimal, because it has been popping up a lot on social media lately.
Optimisation (of diet, training, mental health, immune system, etc.) in a nutshell just means that we want to adjust/change a certain aspect of our lives in a way that will have the most positive impact on OUR physiology.
A myth that has been around for a long time in this field is that nutrition should be 80% of the whole process, while training should be 20% for the best possible progress. But this is simply not true. Not from the point of view of logic, nor from the point of view of physiological processes.
When it comes to nutrition, we will have to put 100% of our effort into this aspect for optimal results. This means planning nutrient timing, micro/macro nutrient distribution, the type of nutrients to support training and then to support optimal recovery, glycogen loading, and the list goes on.
Also, this 100% focus on nutrition planning will not give us optimal results if we don't also approach the training process correctly. Here too, we need to keep maximum focus in order to choose the right work methodology, training frequency, training timing, regulation of inflammatory processes due to training, etc. Of course, assuming that we want optimal results.
The easiest way to think of training is as a stimulus to the body that tells us where and what the body needs to progress, while nutrition will be the workers and the material to carry out these "repairs" in our system.
And that's not even mentioning sleep. Here too we need 100% focus, as most of the adaptations of the neuromuscular system happen during sleep, which then prepares us to be able to progress at all.
What about hydration? Mental health? Stress regulation? You can probably see where the dog's paw is going.
Every aspect of our lives needs a massive focus if we are talking about optimising our progress in the long term. This does not mean, of course, that this focus hinders us from actually enjoying life. Not even close. Quite the opposite, in fact.
If we give 100% focus to the main aspects of our lives, we will feel better, we will be healthier, we will improve our cognition, which in turn means that we will be able to interact more optimally with our fellow human beings in our environment.
This blog post was written by Anže Jert - our IRONSTAR athlete and trainer, who is passionate about human movement, nutrition and conditioning. Anže's expertise benefits both athletes and recreative sports enthusiasts. He offers personalized training, dietary optimization, sleep guidance and supplementation advice. His approach centers on building trust and understanding clients' goals to tailor effective dietary plans and training routines.
Find more about him on his website or social media platforms: instagram, youtube or facebook.