Aj Pickul-Strength & Conditioning Coach

05/20/2026

🛑 Stop making fat loss complicated. It comes down to ex*****on and patience.

If you want to lean out without stripping away the muscle you spent months building, you need a systematic approach. Don’t eyeball your food, don’t switch to pink dumbbells for “toning,” and don’t run yourself into the ground with cardio.

Swipe through to get the exact 4-step blueprint to set up your deficit, protect your strength, and track your progress accurately.

👇 Drop your current fat loss questions in the comments below

03/20/2026

03/11/2026

1-Chasing Heavy Weights
Many men focus on lifting heavier every session and grinding out reps

This often leads to:
* Shoulder injuries during Bench Press
* Lower back strain in Deadlift
* Knee pain during Squat

Better plan of attack
* Leave 1–2 reps in reserve. That means if you are to do 8 reps you can still get 9 or 10

2-Doing Too Much Cardio (or None at All)
Men often swing between two extremes:
Either
* Endless treadmill sessions
Or
* Only lifting weights and ignoring conditioning

Both are mistakes.

Too much cardio → muscle loss from not having time to lift�No cardio → poor heart health and endurance

Better plan of attack �Combine lifting with efficient conditioning

3-No Clear Training Plan
A lot of men walk into the gym and just do random machines, whatever body part “feels right, exercises they saw online or skip legs
This leads to random progress.

Better approach�Follow a structured program built around compound lifts. Track your weights, reps, and sets.
Consistency beats randomness every time.

The big picture for men 30+:Progress comes from�Smart training + recovery + consistency, not just grinding harder.

03/05/2026

Was talking with another strength coach and this basically summed up our conversation.
Strength is easy to measure. Add weight to the bar, track the numbers, and it’s clear if someone is improving.

Speed is a little trickier. Hand timing can vary depending on who’s holding the stopwatch, which is why a lot of programs avoid testing it consistently.

But that excuse doesn’t really hold up anymore. Affordable timing gates exist now that remove the human error and give reliable data.

If we’re serious about performance, we should be measuring the things that actually show up on the field. Speed, power, and change of direction.

If a speed camp or program isn’t measuring those things, you should probably question what you’re paying for.

03/04/2026

I get why people think that fast food is bad. Your body responds to total calories, not whether the meal was fast food or not. If fast food automatically stopped fat loss, calorie tracking wouldn’t work. But it does. Guess the laws of thermodynamics are canceled. Law states energy can’t be created from nothing. If you eat fewer calories than you burn, thw body uses stored fat. That’s not an opinion

03/03/2026

Fast food can work when trying to lean out. Need to watch calories to make it fit the goal

03/02/2026

Tenacity is doing their annual body fat contest. If you’re looking to see change you have to do the following

Calories
Start at:
Bodyweight × 11-12 calories
Example:
200 lbs → 2200–2400 calories
Adjust weekly if scale isn’t moving ~0.75–1.25% bodyweight per week.

Protein (Non-Negotiable)
1.0–1.2g per lb bodyweight
High protein:
Preserves muscle
Controls hunger
Improves fat loss ratio

Fats
0.3–0.4g per lb bodyweight
Don’t crash fats, hormones matter.

Carbs
Fill remaining calories with carbs.
Keep most carbs around workouts.

Sodium & Water (Important for %)
Keep sodium consistent.
Drink 3–4L water daily.

To Win Fat Loss %
The winners usually:
Lift heavy
Eat high protein
Walk a LOT
Sleep 7–9 hours
Avoid alcohol entirely
Don’t panic adjust daily
Creatine

02/25/2026

You don't need a fat loss reset.
You need a calculator.

Everyone wants to argue about:
Carbs
Seed oils
Fasting windows
Clean eating

Meanwhile...
They're not tracking calories.
They're barely hitting protein.
Yes you should track carbs and fats but you’re just starting out.

And they wonder why nothing changes.

Fat loss is not mysterious.

Eat slightly less than you burn.
Eat enough protein to keep your muscle.
Lift
Repeat.
Don't quit in 9 days.
That's it.

If you've been "trying everything" except consistency... start there. Dm me if you need help.

02/24/2026

Sarcasm