Sarah Bowmar is famous for being one of the biggest fitness experts on social media today. She is a certified fitness nutrition specialist, an acclaimed writer, and the brain behind the highly successful sports nutrition brands, Apex Protein Snacks and Bowmar Nutrition. But little do people know that her younger sister, Jessica Potter, is also a big fitness enthusiast.
She recently wrote a guest post on her sister’s blog about how she manages to stay active and in shape despite her busy schedule. In the said post, one thing she keeps emphasizing is the need to prioritize one’s goals if they want to achieve it. Of course, in the context of her piece, this refers to staying physically fit, but the said lesson can also be applied to other aspects of one’s life, including business.
Below is a condensed version of expert tips:
Use your time wisely
When my classes were in person, I would pack my gym stuff in my backpack and workout before, in between, or after my classes. Now that my classes are online, I plan out when I am doing my classes, homework, and job for each day and then plan my workout around that. I generally try to work out around the same time for each “set” of class days, so my Mondays and Wednesdays have the same schedule and my Tuesdays and Thursdays have the same schedule. Ultimately, you have to make fitness a priority or you won’t make the progress you want to.
Don’t drink or limit drinking at parties
You might be rolling your eyes at me for this one but this has seriously been helpful for me. That’s because you won’t consume any calories from alcohol or from “hangover food.” If you are going to drink, figure out which ones are low calorie and set a limit on the number of drinks you are going to have so that you hit your macros/calories. This way, you can enjoy yourself, hang out with your friends, and still meet your goals.
Track your macros or calories
You will most likely need to track your calories or macros to accomplish them. Depending on whether you want to lose, gain, or maintain weight, you will either eat less, more, or equal to the number of calories you burn in one day respectively. In order to find out how much that is, you need to calculate your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). You can find free resources for this online. To lose weight eat 25% less than your maintenance calories and to gain weight eat 25% more. Once you have figured out the number of calories you need to eat, you need to track them using an app.
Get your supplements
Supplements are a great way to ensure you’re hitting your macros and getting the micronutrients you need to reach your goals. My personal favorite brand is Bowmar Nutrition because I trust that they use quality ingredients. Throughout the day I will take Fiber, Colon Cleanse, Probiotics, and PRE on top of those previously mentioned. I take these particular things because they are what I need. The supplements you will want to purchase are the ones that will help you reach your goal, so do more research on that.
Get the work done
I typically workout 5-6 times a week with 1-2 rest days. My split is shoulders, legs, biceps, back, triceps, and abs. If I can only go 5 days then I will combine abs and back since those are my least favorite to lift. If you can only spend 3 days at the gym then just pair up muscle groups and lift two per day. Ultimately, you need to do what works for you and what you enjoy so that you will stay consistent and see the results you want!
Also, you don’t need to be at the gym for 4 hours to see results. I will typically lift for 45 minutes to an hour (getting about 300-400 reps in that time) for each session and then do 20-30 minutes of cardio after. However, depending on your goals you may not want to add any cardio. If that amount of time still sounds daunting then a 20-minute workout is better than nothing. Push yourself but do what you enjoy so that you will follow through.If you want to learn more about Sarah, you can find her online at sarahbowmar.com and on IG at sarah_bowmar.