World renowned fitness expert, celebrity trainer and personality Obi Obadike knows a thing or two about physical transformations. We caught up with the Sweat Inc. star to ask how readers can take their fitness goals to the next level.
Muscle & Fitness: You’ve helped your clients achieve some great transformations. What are your key strategies?
Obi Obadike: The most important thing is the diet—it’s 80% of the battle in helping someone attain their goals. I believe in the 10–12 calories per pound diet for fat loss. If your goal is to lose weight, you should lose a minimum of a pound or two a week. And the typical template I use for the macronutrient ratio is roughly 50–55% protein, 35% carbs, and 15% fat.
How about on the training side?
Most of my weight-training programs are supersetting and circuit training, unless a client wants to bulk up. But most people want to lose weight. So typically I have my clients train at least four days a week—weights and cardio. I think when you’re training in a supersetting and circuit-training format it makes the workout more interesting, as opposed to sitting in one station, doing a set, then doing the next set three minutes later, which a lot of guys in the gym do.
Part of working out is trying to take your mind off of actually thinking you’re working out. It’s trying to create things that make you enjoy it, because some people just don’t like working out. As fit as I am, I have those moments, too, when I don’t feel like working out. We’re humans. I have a love-hate relationship with working out. I really do. Some days I love it, some days I hate it. You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t have that.
Back to the diet—what do you think people’s biggest pitfalls are?
Processed carbs, soda, and alcohol. People drink too much alcohol. And with soda, do you know how much weight you can lose just by cutting soda from your diet? I’ve seen people drop tons and tons of weight. I think in social gatherings people don’t have much self-control. You have parties at work and weekend parties. You can easily consume 2,000–3,000 calories in a very short amount of time. I think one big key is having your taste buds get acclimated to good foods. For me, I enjoy eating grilled chicken. It’s not boring to me; it’s tasty. And I enjoy eating turkey. My taste buds, they’ve just gotten used to it. I can eat it every day, and it doesn’t bother me. Some people say, “Oh, I can’t stand it.” I think it’s about trying to develop your taste buds to almost have a magnetic attraction to foods that are good for you. And I think eventually your body gets used to eating good stuff. If you have to add some seasoning to your food, that’s OK. A little dash isn’t going to hurt you.
