MF’s Joe Warner at the end of his eight-week New Body Plan Plus programme
Earlier this year was on the cover of the February issue of Men’s Fitness, having completed an eight-week training and nutrition programme that helped me lose fat quickly and add lean muscle across my body. I had transformed not only how I looked, but more importantly how felt.
Since appearing on the cover I’ve had a lot of emails and questions on social media from people who want to make major changes to how they look, feel and perform by doing their own better-body challenge, but are prevented from doing so by one significant obstacle: they don’t know how to start.
START STRONG
If you sounds like you, then you have my sympathy. In many ways the first step on a transformation path is the hardest one to take, especially if you’re not entirely sure about the approach you’re adopting. It’s common to suffer from “paralysis by analysis”, whereby you never start a new training plan because you’re trapped overthinking your strategy, or you keep putting off that first session until you think you’ve found the “perfect plan” for you.
The reality is that there’s no such thing as a perfect plan – but the perfect start does exist. Establishing your starting point, before you even set foot in the gym, enables you to set a realistic goal and to look back at the end of each week to monitor your progress and ensure you’re continually moving ever closer to your body composition goal.
Below I’ve outlined 15 ways you can get your transformation challenge off to the strongest possible start, and then continue to make rapid progress during those crucial first few sessions. So read on, put my tried-andtested advice into action, and start building your best ever body.
Photography Glen Burrows, Getty, iStock
1 DON’T WATCH YOUR WEIGHT
Most people, when they want to build a better body, focus on how much they weigh and determine their success by how much weight they lose or gain. That’s a mistake, because the number displayed on your bathroom scales is not the best indicator of how you’re progressing, or whether you’re moving closer to your end goal – far from it.