Transforming our bodies and putting them through a fitness journey almost always comes with the addition of having to count calories and putting a heavy focus on what we eat and when we eat it. Couple that with a rigorous workout routine and it can be all too easy to get caught up in a life dedicated to Maximum Gains.
Gym addiction can come after that, and all of a sudden you could find you have no time for socialising or doing anything else outside the confines of the gym walls.
But one fitness influencer may have put an end to that sort of life with some recent Instagram posts. Chris Clark, a San Diego, California-based influencer with a following of 770,000 at the time of writing, posts workouts virtually every day. It’s therefore incredibly easy to track his progress and notice how huge he gets.
But with the lockdown forcing gyms to close, he, like all of us, has had to get inventive. But it’s also caused him to take a step back to reassess his attitude to fitness (it also caused him, temporarily, to stop training altogether).
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His most recent post isn’t uncommon in the land of fitness influencer: a topless shot in the mirror. His caption, however, makes for interesting reading. He states it’s the leanest he’s been at a weight of 182 lbs/82kg. He adds, “Interestingly enough I’ve spent the least amount of effort on my diet and the least amount of focus on how my physique looks than I have in probably 10 years.”
Contrary to what made other fitness figures tell us, these words suggest we don’t need to be so strict on the number of calories we consume, or the type of foods we eat.
A look back through some of his other previous posts reveal Chris actually stopped working out for a while when the lockdown hit.
“I made no attempt at building a routine going into this and the first couple weeks were not good. Probably worked out twice in that time, diet went to sh*t too.”
He further reveals the reasoning behind why he trains and eats like does in a separate post.
“For my training the biggest thing I chase is ‘fun’. I thoroughly enjoy taking a majority of my sets to and past failure, supersets, monster sets, short rest times, etc. Definitely not always the most optimal way to train but it’s how I have the most fun.”
“And fun makes it so easy to come back to each day.”
As for nutrition, Chris says he’s put himself onto the carnivore diet – which we’ve reported on a few times here at DMARGE. The meat-only diet can have negative nutritional effects on some who try it, but it’s certainly backed up by (visual) evidence that it can make you shredded.
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“With my nutrition I’ve almost always chased a way of eating the makes me ‘feel’ my best. Not necessarily look my best (although I’ve gone through that phase too). For me right now that happens to be carnivore.”
“It’s effortless for me to feel my absolute best and not have to think about numbers or cravings etc.”
As with any nutritional and fitness decision, it’s each to their own, and what works for someone else may not necessarily work for you. All Chris has done with his latest Instagram posts is made us rethink how we could approach keeping our bodies in top shape as soon as we’re allowed back in the gym.