Chris Gates Fitness

A common struggle when setting up your diet is figuring out how to actually feel full and satisfied when your calories are low. It’s not easy. The foods you love may be processed and calorie dense, so you have to switch up your diet for a completely new set of foods that are probably a whole hell of a lot less satisfying. That’s not fun for anyone. What’s worse, the diet recommendations you’re bou...

We're a few days out from Thanksgiving, and there's still a lot you can do to control calories and manage your diet to provide for a stress-free experience. In this week's episode, we're diving into 5 tips you can use right now to prepare for Thanksgiving (or any holiday) by controlling calories, instituting some healthy habits, and enjoying yourself with family and friends. I hope you like it! An...

On this week's episode of the podcast, we're talking about sleep routine tips that can work for you over time to improve both the duration and quality of your sleep!

You can probably attest to how much better, more energetic, and motivated you feel when you head to the gym after a good night’s rest. Right? On the flip side, you’ve also probably tried to sleep walk your way through a workout or two after a poor night’s sleep — or hell, maybe you skipped the gym altogether. But how much does sleep actually affect your performance in the gym? I’m talking outside...

You probably always go into the gym with a game plan for how many sets and reps, and how heavy you're going to lift. Right? But what about your rest between each set? It turns out, the time you take between sets can be a big driver — or inhibitor — of progress. In this week's episode of the podcast, we dive into specific research evidence that suggests how we should structure rest within a workout...

Training hard is important if you want to build muscle, but without a solid nutrition strategy you're not going to recover and make the gains you're after. That's where this episode of the podcast comes in! Let's take a deep dive into nutrition and how you should approach your post-workout meal in order to promote muscle growth.

This week's episode is near and dear to my heart, because it's on a topic I struggled with for a long time: setting and chasing goals. There's a process to all of this, and we're breaking it down and making sense of everything. From setting a goal, to outlining a plan, to chasing your goal each and every day, this week's episode is diving deep into how to do it right so you can see results.

Intermittent fasting has become pretty popular when it comes to dieting. Why? It’s pretty simple. Intermittent fasting has proven to be a very effective tool at limiting calories and helping encourage weight loss. In this week’s episode, we’re going to define what intermittent fasting is and provide context as to how you can use this tool in your daily life. I'll also catch you up on why it's been...

Tracking macronutrients is a great way to learn about your diet and start to understand how to manage your nutrition on a daily basis. By tracking macronutrients — or "macros" — you'll learn where your calories come from, and how to manipulate your diet over the course of each day in order to achieve your goals. Tracking macros applies to any health or fitness goal: weight loss, building muscle, b...

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been running my new 3-Phase Diet Plan and documenting it for you all. At the same time, I’ve been detailing every aspect of the diet so you can run it for yourself! •In the overview of my new 3-phase diet plan, I described some of the nutritional strategies I’m using during this diet. • Last week, we dove into how to set up your nutrition for each phase. This week, it...

Last week, I announced the 3-Phase Diet Program. In today's episode, I'm walking you through the specifics of how to set up your nutritional strategy! We'll break down: • How to get started • How to set up your calorie defici • How to set up your maintenance calories • The best ways to track your progress • How to adjust to keep progress rolling I'll also break down my first week running this prog...

Starting on Monday, I'm taking on a new challenge. I will be starting a 9-week diet, with the goal of losing 10 pounds. I've dieted down quite a few times before, but this one is going to be different. I'm using a diet plan — a structure built around three phases of dieting — that I've never used before. I plan to document the entire process and share it with all of you so that you can learn how t...

What's the best diet plan you haven't used, or aren't using that can catapult you towards your goals? That's the focus of this week's podcast episode. In general, we're addicted to making dieting WAAAYYY more complicated than it needs to be. We make up all kinds of stupid rules, eliminate tons of food from our diets, and jump on the latest fads. All to lose weight and find a lifestyle that's more...

Loran Sekely joined me on this week's episode of the podcast to talk about all things healthy living, fitness, and nutrition. In our discussion, we dive into adjusting training and nutrition to quarantine, what got Loran into fitness, what his competitive bodybuilding experiences have been like, how to effectively set and achieve goals, and so much more! I really think you're going to love this ep...

In our fourth Q&A on the podcast, we’re tackling a new round of topics centered around the topics of soreness, pain, and building muscle. - How much pain is too much pain when you lift? - What is the best approach to building bigger quads? - How to avoid pain when lifting? As always, if you have any questions you’d like answered in a future Q&A feel free to contact me and I’ll add it to the mix!

My friend Andy Dina joined me on the podcast this week to talk about his truly incredible body transformation. Andy has lost more than 30 pounds over the last few months by adjusting his lifestyle through fitness and proper nutrition. He gives great insight into what his prior habits were, as well as what changes he made to get on track and successfully lose weight. Be sure to stick around until t...

In this week's episode, we dive into a discussion on pre-workout supplements and whether or not they might be right for you. Pre-workouts are some of the most popular supplements on the market today, but do they actually work? And if they do, what ingredients actually make a difference? Are they safe? When should you take them, and how much should you take? Let's dive in, in episode 12!

In Q&A No. 3, we’re tackling the following topics: • How late is “too late” to eat food for fat loss? • Should you be taking creatine? • Is it dangerous to squat in shoes? Interested in learning more? Check out Q&A No. 3 on my website! Link: https://chrisgatesfitness.com/2020/03/08/qa3-eating-late-at-night-the-benefits-of-creatine-and-proper-footwear-for-squatting/

This week on the podcast, we talk about the importance of recovery when it comes to pursuing your fitness goals, and the focus is specifically on taking regular de-load weeks. Recovery is extremely important, and it’s important that time for recovery is a regular, structured piece of your training program. To learn more about this topic, you can read more on my website via the following article......

Today's episode focuses on what's at the core of our decision-making processes. Why do you acknowledge pros and cons of each decision, and what does that mean? How can you make the right choices when it comes to your health and fitness? We dive into the answers to these questions, and more!

The positive effects of building muscle are clear and obvious. NO, you won’t get “too bulky” and look like a pro bodybuilder. NO, you won’t have to train like a powerlifter and pummel your body into submission every workout. YES, you can work hard, build muscle, and experience many of the life-changing effects that lead to better health and longevity (oh, and you’ll look great, too!). But what typ...

In this week's episode, we dive into some scenarios of how things might look once gyms start opening back up, and whether or not people will flock back to work out. I also outline three things you should be doing right now to prioritize your health, as we face the reality of continuing to train from home for the foreseeable future.

The focus of this week's podcast is building and maintaining muscle mass. By now, you've probably seen a million home workout routines and understand you can stay active. But can you make progress? Research says you can, and it's largely determined by your level of creativity and work ethic. Let's dive into how exactly you can build muscle with low weight, or no weight, in this episode!

This week on the podcast, we dive into 5 tips on how to exercise while working at home. I've been working from home for the last 2 weeks, and through trial and error have found out a lot about what works, and maybe even more so what doesn't. I'm sharing them with you to try and help you get the most out of your at-home routine! This is a challenging time as we deal with COVID-19, and the last thin...

Things are weird right now, and for the foreseeable future more and more of us will be working from home with the Coronavirus impacting our society. With that in mind, I put together an episode on exactly how we can put together quality at-home workouts with little to no equipment. I hope you enjoy it!