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Hey Legacy Lifters,

Welcome to this week's edition of The Standard: The Disciplined Road To Building Stronger Kingdom Families.

It's not enough to wait until the time is right to start getting ready.

If you wait to get ready, it might be too late when your opportunity comes.

The standard is to stay ready: physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Below you'll see this covered across the physical - mental - spiritual pillars below as BUILD - RENEW - TRANSFORM.

Neither one is enough on its own. Yet it's also impossible to have one without the other.

If you're ready to stretch yourself to a higher standard, stick around to answer that call alongside other growth minded men looking to get physically, mentally, and spiritually fit.

All it takes is one decision to change the future for yourself and your family.

Read it. Pick one thing that resonates. And go take action on it ⬇️

💪 BUILD [Choosing Your Body Composition Goal]

When Should You Cut, When Should You Bulk, And When Should You Maintain?

If you're not sure where to focus your efforts when it comes to body composition goals, here is a cheat sheet that should help clear some questions up.

I know many people that aren't getting results in how their body looks because they're chasing the wrong goal.

Most of this comes from a false sense of awareness or acknowledgement of where you're actually at.

I know many men that think they're walking around at a much healthier body composition than they really are.

I was this guy for several years until I started getting my body composition checked multiple times throughout the year.

Step 1: Know Your Body Fat Percentage

You don't want to guess with this. Ideally find a DEXA scan near you, or other fairly reliable pieces of equipment like an InBody. For most people, checking 2x/yearly (every 6 months) is a good cadence to track progress.

Step 2: Select Your Goal Based On Your Body Fat Percentage

• Men over 18% body fat: CUT. This means going into a slight calorie deficit and focusing on losing fat.
• Men 14-18% body fat: CUT if you're newer to lifting, CUT or MAINTAIN if you're more experienced. If you're newer to lifting (1-2 years or less), you're more likely to fall into the ideal category of being able to burn fat and build muscle simultaneously. The more experienced you are, you might benefit from building a little more muscle at maintenance before deciding to cut.
• Men 10-14% body fat: MAINTAIN OR BULK. If you're comfortable with how you look, feel, and perform - then maintain it! This is a great place to be. If you want to add some size or some strength, choose to slowly bulk up to the 14-16% range before doing another cut.
• Men <10%: BULK, with some exceptions. Most men that drop below 10% have a hard time staying there for very long. The leaner you get and the lower the calories you're consuming can interfere with hormones and overall energy. Most men here would benefit from adding some muscle and eating closer to maintenance for a while, especially after a longer cut. The exceptions would be if your job or career requires it or if you're eating at a level of maintenance calories that feels very sustainable.

*Women, I haven't researched your numbers as much, but I would guess you'll probably want to add about 10% to the numbers listed above to determine your goal.

Step 3: Be Objective and Avoid Extremes

I've seen too many people mess themselves up with extreme approaches.

People at high body fat percentages slash calories super low and workout 5-7 days per week.

People reach the end of their cut and lose all self-control on their diet, eating back many of the pounds of fat they worked so hard to lose (and telling themselves they're 'bulking')

Wherever you're at, don't lose sight of the fundamentals:

• Strength Train 2-3x/week. Focus on compound movements trained near to failure
• Walk for 60-90 minutes daily
• Have some way to control food intake. This could be using an app, meal planning, or other strategies we use in our nutrition protocols like intermittent fasting, protein timing, and food selection/meal timing that helps you feel full for longer.

Hit those few things and you're off to a great start. Don't rely on your feelings and use the data available to help with your goal setting. 

🧠 RENEW [Don't Be Perfect]

Be remarkable, not perfect. Striving for perfection leads to mediocrity. Instead pursue things you can be remarkable at over time.

When you chase perfection, you can catch yourself in an 'all or nothing' or 'black and white' mindset.

The problem - whether it's fitness or faith or relationships - is that things are rarely ever black and white.

And if you strive for perfection and fall short (spoiler alert: you will fall short), then it will feel like a failure.

And when it feels like a failure, people adopt a 'screw it' type mentality.

In the health and fitness world, that usually looks like one small slip up that leads to days (or weeks) of binge eating and missed workouts at the gym.

These occasional big slip ups do far more harm than the occasional missed workout or poor meal choice.

People are drawn towards those that stay focused on their purpose and live a life of excellence.

Excellence does not mean being perfect.

I can tell how focused I am on my goals not by how few times I slip up, but by how quick I can recover and bounce back mentally when I do slip up.

What you do matters much less than how you're doing it.

Don't get caught up in the minor details that don't matter, while you miss the consistent action steps that add up over time.

⚔️ TRANSFORM [Conform or Transform]

And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you] - Romans 12:2 (AMP)

Are you fitting in or standing out?

We live in a world today where it’s appropriate, and often encouraged, to simply fit in.

Most men have lost their competitive edge, their desire to win, their ability to lead with strength, their confidence to be authentic, and their acceptance of true vulnerability and love. 

It’s no wonder men are confused and feel suppressed, especially if you don’t have a healthy outlet to be the man you were meant to be.

And when men try to chase the other extreme of standing out, they are not coming from a place of true power, confidence, and Godly values.

This leads to false displays of power. Abuse, control, pride, and outward signs of status - a nicer car, bigger house, an obsession with bigger muscles or physical strength, over exaggerated stories, and lavish spending. 

Anything to draw attention to how much you’ve done or have, only to distract from the emptiness or insecurity inside.

They’ve conformed to the world.

They find their worth in superficial values.

They’ve lost their confidence to be unapologetically who God created them to be, not worried about what others think.

They’ve become so reactive to external factors that they’ve lost their internal drive and purpose, maybe in a single area of their life, but sadly often in multiple areas.

Maybe you can relate.

While the pressures to perform, to look a certain way, and to fit in are not getting any smaller, how you respond to those pressures is in your control.

Are you following the world (superficial values and customs) or are you renewing your mind (focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes)?

The world promises success, happiness, fulfillment, and opens up the door to take the easy way out - but in the end these superficial ways overpromise and underdeliver.

God’s word and values contradict the world, challenge you to think differently, and often require you to make sacrifices that you don’t want to make  - but they bring true life, success, and fulfillment both now and forever.

The only way to renew your mind continually is to remain in God’s word. To remain in prayer. But also to resist temptations and distractions that are pulling you away.

When you follow the world, you are putting yourself and those you lead in danger.

You are meant to bear much fruit (success, wealth, happiness while also demonstrating honor, integrity, a servant’s heart, etc). When you have external success, but you live with internal values that are from God, people will be drawn to you. And when people are drawn to you, they will be drawn to the source of why you are that way, to the vine that is Jesus.

You don’t have to choose between worldly success or building the Kingdom of God. They go hand in hand, and winning in the areas you’ve been called to win in (your body, your mind, your career, your finances, etc) are necessary to building the Kingdom.

If you are settling in any of these areas, then today is the day to make a commitment that you’ll rekindle your fire to win. You’ll begin to bear fruit in an area that might look a little withered.

And the only way to do this without following the patterns of the world is to connect to the true source of power, the one true vine, by renewing your mind daily.

Be The Standard,

Dave

P.S.The Standard will be changing up soon - and this very well could be the last edition of this format of The Standard. I've gotten feedback from several of you, and you can expect some changes going forward that will better align with our mission to Build Strong Kingdom Families. As much as I've loved the content of The Standard, it's clear that I can provide even more value as I get more and more feedback from what you find the most helpful. Even if it looks a bit different, I promise to continue to deliver high quality content. Thanks for being a part of the journey.