26/08/2026
3 things I stopped doing that actually led to feeling stronger in the gym
1. I stopped trying to stay shredded all year round
For a long time, I felt the pressure from social media to stay under 10% body fat all year round.
The problem was, I was so focused on staying lean that a lot of the time I simply wasn’t eating enough to fuel my training or even my day to day life properly.
I was constantly picking up injuries, getting ill and not recovering as well as I should have been.
One of the biggest changes I’ve made is bringing my calories back up to around maintenance and prioritising my health and performance over being shredded 365 days a year.
I’d rather be strong, healthy and performing at my best than constantly chasing the lowest body fat percentage possible.
2. I stopped eating so much protein
This probably needs some context.
Most people I work with actually under eat protein, so getting enough protein is still one of the most important things you can do if you want to build or maintain muscle.
But for me, after training and tracking my nutrition for so many years, I had the opposite problem, I was massively overdoing it.
I was eating way more protein than my body actually needed because I’d always associated more protein with better results. And I like to say protein is the most important macro nutrient until it’s not.
Now I aim for roughly 1g per lb of bodyweight, which is more than enough to cover my needs.
Rather than pushing protein even higher, I use those extra calories for carbohydrates, which gives me more fuel to train hard and perform.
3. I stopped doing so many sets
I used to think more sets meant more gains.
But the more sets I had planned, the more I found myself holding back on each one because subconsciously I was saving myself for what was coming next.
So I reduced the amount of volume I was doing.
Now I’ll often do just 2 hard working sets, pushing them much closer to failure.
Less volume allowed me to put more intent into each set and I started seeing a much better return from my training.
