Tribe Strength

Through specialization, you can concentrate your focus and energy on building up your weak points.

This allows you to devote the appopriate volume/intensity to your target muscles to grow fast and efficiently.
If you're an advanced/strong intermediate lifter and have not been progressing much lately, consider the following...

Intensity and Frequency 💪🏼 To build your muscles, you have to train it more with higher reps, more sets and much greater frequency. At the minimum, build a training routine that you could do 3 to 4 times per week.

Isolation 💪🏼 Isolation exercises are great for targeting a specific muscle which is ideal for promoting hypertrophy to lagging tissues. Add 2 or 3 isolation movements to your programming if they aren't already incorporated.

Prioritization 💪🏼 Prioritize your weak points by programming your specialized training first so you can perform them with maximum intensity and repetition. This way, you can ensure that you can execute them with highest quality and effort possible.

Variation 💪🏼 Add a variety of exercise progressions/regressions to help prevent overtraining and plateau. This way you can almost guarantee steady progressive overload session to session.

Duration 💪🏼 A typical specialization phase lasts between 4 to 6 weeks. Use this period to squeeze every last drop out of specific exercises/variations that challenge the target tissues and/or movement patterns (before shifting to other muscle groups).

Proper protein intake is one of the biggest things I find people miss.

In the context of building and/or maintaining lean muscle tissue, this is high priority. Getting your protein intake in order will skyrocket your recovery, progress, and how full you feel from your meals.

How much protein should you eat each day?

The general recommendation is 0.7-1.2 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day (depending on variables such as current body fat level, daily energy expenditure, individual goals, total calorie intake, etc.)

Why is this important?

👌🏼 Maximize muscle built in a gaining phase
👌🏼 Minimize muscle lost in a fat loss phase
👌🏼 Feel more satiated from your meals
👌🏼 Retain physical independence as you age
👌🏼 Recover better from exercise

When you bring up this recommended range of protein intakes, people often refer to that as a “high protein diet.”

However, the way I see it, this range is better referred to as “enough protein” for those serious about their body composition over the long term.

Take a moment to think about all the stretches you normally do. How can you tweak them to expand your abilities?

How can you add range?
How can you increase the demand of strength?
How can you decrease the demand of strength?
How can you manipulate gravity to your favor?
How can you reduce/increase stability?
How can you reduce, change or increase speed?

Personally, I don’t go into mobility work with a specific exercise or variation in mind. I go through a protocol of different movements and contractions to ”unglue” what needs to be unglued. If I find an area that needs extra attention, I provide that extra attention.
If you’re serious about improving your mobility, here are several variables you can use to track/measure flexibility progress (aside from increased range of motion).

💪🏼 Getting into the same position with less warm up
💪🏼 Holding the same position for longer
💪🏼 Being able to absorb more force in the same position
💪🏼 Being more comfortable in the same position
💪🏼 Having more ease moving in and out of the same position
💪🏼 Moving faster (or slower) in and out of the same position
💪🏼 Being able to produce more force in the same position.

My recommendation would be for you to first dedicate time to 1-2 positions/variations. After a few weeks of consistent practice choose another 1-2 variations. Once you’ve familiarized yourself with 6-10 variations you can now create a protocol with a sequence of movements and contractions that benefit you (and your endeavors) the most.

There’s no magic program or mobility sequence out there. The magic lies in continuity, consistency and progressive overload (with sufficient recovery) 🙏🏼

Want to be stronger in pushing? Hang.
Want to be stronger in pulling? Hang.
Want to improve sensitivity and coordination throughout the body? Hang often.

Hanging is one of the most accessible ways to begin improving your shoulder range. This form of mobility work conditions the edges of your capacity through the same mechanisms as any other form of strength/resistance training.

There are several ways you can approach fat loss…

🍔 Eat whatever you like, just eat less of it and achieve a calorie deficit that way.

🥗 Eat larger amounts of very satiating (filling) low-calorie foods and achieve a calorie deficit that way.

🍽️ Eat many small frequent meals spread over the course of the day and achieve a calorie deficit that way.

🤌🏼 Eat fewer larger meals and achieve a calorie deficit that way.

😤 Cut out a major macronutrient like fat or carbohydrates and achieve a calorie deficit that way.

🫣 Spend a large portion of your day or week avoiding food (I.e. fasting) and achieve a calorie deficit that way.

If a nutritional strategy works, it's because it achieves a calorie deficit whether you're aware of it or not.
If a diet isn't working, it's because it is NOT aiding you in creating that deficit over the long term. All of the approaches mentioned can, in susceptible individuals, result in calorie excess leading to no results or even weight gain.

You can fast for half the day and still consume too many calories in your feeding window. You can cut out all carbs and still consume too many calories from fats.

You get the idea.

So what's behind the ability to sustain a calorie deficit? It's the hormonal effects of food: how your meals control hunger, energy, and cravings.

🙏🏼🙌🏼 To lose fat and keep it off requires two things: a caloric deficit as well as an ongoing suppression of hunger and cravings.

Whatever approach you choose needs to achieve both.