Fit to Transform Podcast with Coach Nikias

Today I’m answering these questions:

1. How do you deal with cravings?
2. How important is it to hit fibre and protein targets daily VS weekly?
3. How do you deal with an exercise you really hate doing?
4. What’s the difference between training for strength vs hypertrophy?
5. Machines vs free weights: which is better?
6. Can two people with the same height, weight, and body composition burn different amounts of calories?

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Greg Potter is a speaker, consultant, and coach with a PhD focused on sleep, circadian rhythms, nutrition, and metabolism.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What are the dimensions of sleep health and how do they interact?
• How can sleep health influence muscle growth and fat loss?
• What are some tips to improve sleep if you feel you’ve already tried everything?

… And more!

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Between February and March 2024, I ran my first ever mini cut.

In this episode, I’m going to cover:

• Why I chose to do so
• How I set it up
• What I learnt about myself and bodybuilding
• Mistakes and curveballs
• Practical applications for you and your future fat loss phases

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Jeremiah Bair is a fellow online coach with a wealth of experience helping cis women stop chronically dieting and start getting real physique results.

In this episode, we do a deep-dive into:

• Why you’re not seeing the results you want by pushing for fat loss
• How to apply resistance training to transform your physique
• The importance of peri-workout nutrition
• … And more!

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Evening and night-time over-eating is a very common issue many of my clients face or have faced.

This may surprise you, but I don’t think you need more discipline around sugary food at night.

In this episode, I’m doing a deep dive into what’s going to be a lot more helpful in overcoming this challenge.

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Martin Refalo is back on the show to discuss his latest study, investigating the difference between training to failure and leaving 1-2 reps in reserve (RIR) in experienced resistance trainees.

Which came out on top in this study: failure or a perceived 1-2 RIR? Tune in to find out!

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George Mycock is a PhD candidate specialising in muscle dysmorphia, exercise addiction, and disordered eating in men.

So that’s exactly what we’ll be covering in this two-part episode, sharing our personal experiences as well as George’s knowledge of the current research on these all-important topics.

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George Mycock is a PhD candidate specialising in muscle dysmorphia, exercise addiction, and disordered eating in men.

So that’s exactly what we’ll be covering in this two-part episode, sharing our personal experiences as well as George’s knowledge of the current research on these all-important topics.

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If you’re a smaller person like me, you’ll have some extra challenges to contend with on the road to fat loss.

In this episode, I cover a number of practical strategies on how to overcome them.

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Body recomp coach Jeff Hoehn and I sit down to discuss:

• The factors you need to work on in order to make the most of a muscle-building phase
• The differences between maintenance calories and a surplus

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• How many reps do you usually program for the big compounds like deadlifts and smith machine squats and RDLs?
• How short can my warm-up be and still be effective?
• How do you track your bodyweight if you have a period?
• Is it normal for limbs to grow at different rates?
• Where to eat if eating out a lot?
• Will dieting on 1200 calories slow my metabolism?
• Do you need to have a maintenance phase between cuts and bulks?
• What do you think about fasting?

Astrid Naranjo is a clinical dietician and nutritionist, a nutrition coach for Team Biolayne, and a writer for Weightology.

Starting from a recent study on protein that Astrid reviewed for the January issue of Weightology, we covered a number of protein-related questions:

• Can your body only absorb 30g of protein at every meal?
• What’s the optimal timing for protein after training?
• Do you need to worry about leucine to maximise MPS?

So tune in for a deep-dive into protein for muscle growth.

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In the second and final instalment of this two-part episode, I’m going to cover three tips to be more successful with training, and six to help you develop the resilient, growth-oriented mindset you need to achieve the results you want.

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Chris Barakat is back on the podcast to discuss his views on how to optimise body recomposition, or the process of building muscle and losing fat at the same time.

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These are six fundamentals to implement if you want to be more successful with nutrition this year.

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Coach Shannon Beer joins me on the podcast today to talk about physique goals, body image, and how to use compassion to get better results.

These are some of the questions we covered:

• Does having physique goals always inevitably lead to developing a negative relationship with food, exercise, and your body image?
• Should you feel guilty for wanting to change your body?
• What’s the difference between a “lifestyle physique” and a “one-off physique”?

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Whether you’re looking to take a temporary break from tracking calories or you want to stop for the foreseeable future, this two-part guide will cover what you need to know to transition away from using this tool successfully.

In Part 2, I cover how to transition away from tracking for a long period of time and possibly forever, whether you’re thrilled about it or a little anxious about letting go.

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If you keep trying to stay consistent, falling off track, and picking yourself back up again, you may be stuck in a motivation rut.

In this episode, I cover what you can do about it.

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Whether you’re looking to take a temporary break from tracking calories or you want to stop for the foreseeable future, this two-part guide will cover what you need to know to transition away from using this tool successfully.

In Part 1, I cover how to take a short-term break from tracking and how to stay on top of your nutrition on both a typical day and a day that includes at least one social or festive meal.

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If you’ve ever wondered:

• How many reps is it best to do for hypertrophy?
• Is it better to progress by adding reps or adding load?
• Can I use different rep ranges to target different muscle fibres?

Then this is the episode for you, as I interview Daniel Plotkin on these very topics and more.

Daniel is a coach and PhD student in Applied and Molecular Muscle Physiology at Auburn University.

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If you’re training too far from failure, you’re not making as much progress as you could with regards to muscle growth.

In this solo episode, I explore six of the most common reasons why you may not be training hard enough, and strive to offer some practical solutions.

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Dr. David Nolan is a researcher with a special interest in sex differences and the female athlete, an Assistant Professor of Sport and Exercise Science, and a strength and conditioning coach.

During this interview, he shares his understanding of the available evidence and his perspective as a coach on the following:

• Do the differences between sexes mean that you must train differently depending on your sex?
• How does the menstrual cycle impact performance and should you program your training around it?
• How does birth control impact performance?
• … And more!

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In Part 2 of this two-part episode, I cover:

• Planning nutrition for muscle gain: when to be in a surplus and when to choose maintenance calories
• Reverse dieting versus increasing calories from a deficit back to maintenance immediately––which should you pick?
• Training for all goals

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This two-part solo episode will cover how to plan your training and nutrition around the winter holidays, from Thanksgiving to the end of the year, whether you’re in a muscle-building or a fat loss phase, so that you can enjoy the celebrations while still going after your goals.

In Part 1, I discuss:

• Why you don’t have to sacrifice fitness during the holidays, or vice versa
• Nutrition for fat loss: planning diet breaks, higher-calorie days, bigger, and smaller weekly deficits

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In this Q&A, I’m answering the following questions:

• What’s the difference between the RDL and SLDL?
• How can I fuel my workout in a fat loss phase if I train early in the morning?
• What are your suggestions for home gym equipment?

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If you were doing really well with your diet and training program, but then life happened, and now you don’t know how to regain the momentum you’ve lost, listen to this.

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In order to try to answer the titular question, I discuss:

• The factors that contribute to achieving an outstanding physique, so you can evaluate whether your current dream physique is attainable or not
• How having a dream physique in the first place could either hold you back or help drive you to achieve your goals
• The mindset you want to adopt in order to nurture a positive relationship with your dream physique
  

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A trans man and a cis man walk into a bar and talk about body image.

In this episode, I had the pleasure of sharing a truly insightful and honest conversation with coach, communicator, and mental health advocate, Dan Osman.

We exchanged views on a range of topics, from the prevalence of body image issues in men and the association between masculinity and muscularity to the upsides and downsides of social media, and more.

Dan shared his personal experience being raised as a cis man in England, and I shared my own, growing up in Italy as a person assigned female at birth, only to realise I was in fact a transgender man after moving to the UK at nineteen.

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This is the first episode of a brand-new series of 5-15 minutes’ episodes centred around mindset.

I want to help you overcome your negative beliefs about diet and exercise, and change the language you use around these topics. I want to inspire you and blow your mind!

In this first episode, I discuss why waiting to “feel” ready to start their fitness journey is one of the most common reasons people never get around to it.

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Do you feel like your training is stuck in a rut? Then you need to listen to this episode.

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In this episode, I’m interviewing online coach and business mentor Emma Storey-Gordon on menopause:

• What are its different stages?
• What symptoms can you experience?
• How can diet and exercise support you in this phase of life?

And much more, including a lot of valuable mindset suggestions and some myth-busting around cortisol and supplements.

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I’m going to discuss:

• Is protein powder overrated, underrated, or appropriately rated?
• The characteristics of the most common animal- and plant-based types of protein powder
• The importance of taste, protein quality, leucine content, and digestibility when choosing the right product for your needs and preferences

Listen until the end for the titular fitness rant…

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In this episode, I have the pleasure of interviewing online coach and physiotherapist Mike Challis on a variety of topics, including:

• The differences between physiotherapists, chiropractors, and personal trainers
• Is it safe to let your knees go over your toes when squatting and deadlifting with a rounded back?
• How to navigate pain when training
• How to deal with an injury from both a physical and mental standpoint
• … and more!

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In this solo episode, I’m using myself as an example to illustrate how you can plan your day and set up your environment in order to hit your fitness and health goals.

I’m going to cover:

• A typical training day for me as of September 2023
• My daily habits regarding diet, steps, hydration, sleep, stress management, and training
• The evidence-based strategies I rely on to stay consistent with my targets

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In the second part of my conversation with Dr. Eric Helms, we covered another preprint paper, this time on the relationship between proximity to failure and hypertrophy.

We discussed:

• Does training to failure build more muscle than keeping some reps in reserve?
• Is load more important than proximity to failure?
• What about volume and proximity to failure: which one matters more?
• … And more!

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Dr. Eric Helms returns to the podcast to discuss one his recent research papers on the relationship between the size of a caloric surplus, strength, and muscle growth.

In this episode, we cover not only the study itself, but also how it fits within the wider scientific literature on muscle gain, and how you can apply these findings to optimise your gaining phases.

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Steph Smith is one of the coaches on the ETPHD Team, led by Dr. Emilia Thompson. Steph specialises in working with ADHDers and creatives, and she’s also an educator, delivering workshops about body image and relationship with food.

In this episode, I got the opportunity to interview Steph on ADHD: what it is, how it is typically expressed in adults, and how you can harness nutrition and lifestyle strategies to support and empower yourself if you have ADHD.

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In Part 2 of this Q&A, I’m covering three nutrition-related questions:

1. Should you track food as cooked or raw?
2. Should I go over my cals to hit my protein in a fat loss phase?
3. Tips on how to eat all of your calories in a gaining phase

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What’s the deal with aspartame and artificial sweeteners in general?

In this episode, Dr. Eric Trexler and Ken the Concerned Consumer discuss the available evidence, myths, and facts about this popular topic.

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In Part 1 of this Q&A, I’m covering three training-related questions:

1. Tips to progress when increment in weight is too much! Can curl 20+ reps with 10 but can’t get 12.5s up
2. How to progress lower body movement when upper body strength limits (goblet squats)
3. I’m struggling to develop a mind-muscle connection with my pecs

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My client Sam joins the podcast to reflect on their experience getting into their best shape and health condition possible for top surgery.

We discussed:

• Their inconsistent approach to training and nutrition
• Their all-or-nothing mindset
• How coaching changed these two aspects, engineering their success
• Their body recomp phase leading up to surgery
• Reverse dieting and maintaining bodyweight before and after surgery
• … And more!

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So you’re done dieting. Now what?

This is a comprehensive guide to what to do after a fat loss phase, including:

• Should you reverse diet or increase calories to theoretical maintenance?
• How to calculate your theoretical maintenance
• What to eat and when to eat as you increase your calories
• How to adjust your steps and/or cardio
• How to transition out of the “fat loss” mindset
• How to stop tracking calories and macros, and practise non-tracked, habit-based eating
• … And more!

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You’ve been consistent with your diet and you’ve seen pretty good results for some time… until now.

All of a sudden, you’re struggling to stick to your calories and macros, you keep giving into cravings, and training feels like a chore.

You may have hit your personal diet fatigue threshold.

In this episode, I’m going to cover what diet fatigue is, how to recognise it, and what to do about it.

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To celebrate a whole year of podcasting, this week I decided to reflect on how my views have changed on the following topics in the last four years of coaching:

• Dieting on 1200 calories or less
• The best number of exercises per session
• Whether extreme dieting and training methods can work
• How often to change a training program
• Hiring a coach for myself

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Dasha Agoulnik joins me in this episode to discuss how training and dieting for either muscle gain or fat loss can impact your gut health, and what you can do to prevent, limit, or overcome these issues whilst still pursuing your physique and performance goals.

Dasha is a Registered Dietician specialising in gut health and hormones for athletes. She also runs the online coaching business Core Perform helping people overcome hormonal- and gut health-related issues currently impacting their life, physique, and athletic performance.

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While most people are telling you how to get “beach body ready”, I want to give you four tips, including:

• Should you try to diet while on holiday?
• How can you best prepare for it?
• How can you eat without tracking calories while you’re away?
• Should you diet before your holiday?

Whether during past holidays you went full “YOLO mode” and regretted overeating, or whether you went full “deprivation mode” and regretted being too obsessed with eating and exercising, this episode will empower you to enjoy your holiday while still making choices that are in line with your fitness goals.

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In this episode, Accredited Sports Nutritionist, Fortitude Nutrition coach, and nutrition researcher Mackenzie Baker joins me to share practical tips on how to rescue and protect your resistance training performance during a fat loss diet.

Mackenzie and I started with a bit of good ol’ myth-busting, covering what the true likelihood of muscle loss during a fat loss phase may be.

We then discussed peri-workout nutrition and hydration, lifestyle considerations like sleep and stress management, and the diet fundamentals you need to have in place to not only be successful with your diet, but also to maximise your performance.

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This solo episode is a comprehensive guide on how to create a regular meal timetable, build enjoyable, diverse meals that meet your nutritional targets with minimal fuss and cooking skills, and plan and prep them so that you’re always on top of your fitness goals, even when leading a busy life.

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There’s no better person to discuss creatine, one of the most researched supplements in the fitness and health industry, than Dr. Scott Forbes, also known as Dr. Creatine, who joins me today to share everything you need to know if you’re considering this substance to support your fitness and health goals.

A current associate professor at Brandon University in Canada, Scott Forbes has dedicated his career to improving athlete performance and has extensive research experience within the field of creatine supplementation.

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