03Dec 2019 by Aidan Muir
The Vertical Diet: A Dietitians Review

The Vertical Diet: A Dietitians Review

Body Composition, Sports
Outside of the niche community of serious strength athletes, The Vertical Diet is pretty unknown. But due to there being quite a few elite level athletes who follow the diet (including Hafthor "The Mountain" Bjornsson) who follow it, there is a large reputation behind it. Another massive influence on this is that the founder Stan Efferding is very charismatic (and jacked) and creates compelling arguments as to why a lot of the aspects of this diet are beneficial for health and performance. As a dietitian who specialises in working with strength athletes (with a focus on powerlifting specifically), I get quite a few questions about The Vertical Diet, so I thought I would go through some of the pros and cons. What is The Vertical Diet? The Vertical Diet is…
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15Dec 2018 by Aidan Muir
Three things to focus on that may help you lose weight and maintain the weight-loss

Three things to focus on that may help you lose weight and maintain the weight-loss

Body Composition
There are a lot of ways to achieve weight-loss, but the below tips are the 3 things that I have found to be the most effective way to maintain that weight loss. These are things I have learnt through a combination of an excessive amount of interpreting research papers, combined with seeing countless clients in practice on a day-to-day basis. 1) Eat more vegetables. The vast majority of people don't eat nearly enough vegetables for general health purposes anyway. The key reason I recommend this though is for appetite purposes. If you eat more vegetables, you will be filling yourself up with a lot of low-calorie foods. 2) Eat more lean meat. This is counter-intuitive but I believe it is a massive key to long-term results for a lot of…
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03Oct 2018 by Aidan Muir
Is Protein One of the “Secrets” for Weight Loss?

Is Protein One of the “Secrets” for Weight Loss?

Body Composition
A few weeks ago, I presented at a small conference on protein for weight-loss as I feel like it is a subject that is undervalued by a lot of dietitians. Since I am a Gary Vee fanboy and love his idea of pillar content, I figured I would also turn aspects of that presentation into this blog post and share it on a larger scale. My background prior to studying nutrition at university started with an excessive amount of time reading the forums on bodybuilding.com during 2012, followed by even more procrastination in the form of being an active member of a niche bodybuilding/powerlifting forum from 2013-2014. I feel like this has given me a different perspective to other dietitians who have come from different backgrounds. There was lot of…
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08Jun 2017 by Aidan Muir
5 Nutrition Priorities for Getting Jacked

5 Nutrition Priorities for Getting Jacked

Body Composition
There are so many conflicting opinions out there for how to get jacked. A classic example is clean eating vs If It Fits your Macros (IIFYM). People from the clean eating camp debate that it is completely illogical to think that you can sit around eating junk all day and make optimal progress, while people in the IIFYM camp think that it is illogical to sit down to 5 meals a day of chicken, brown rice and broccoli, when there is no need to be that restrictive. This article is not intended to debate these points and is solely focusing on the topic of the nutrition priorities for gaining muscle at an optimal rate. 1) Calories in vs Calories Out If you are not eating enough calories you will not…
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15Dec 2016 by Cassandra Bendall
High Healthy Fats Diet Effect on Weight

High Healthy Fats Diet Effect on Weight

Body Composition, Health
  In the past, high fat diets have been slammed for their ability to increase weight and effect our overall health. Although, diets which are high in fat are often high in saturated fats and trans fats, which have been continually linked to obesity and cardiovascular disease. But what about a diet which is high in healthy fats such polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs) and monounsaturated fats (MUFAs)? More recent systematic reviews have highlighted the ability of high healthy fat dietary patterns such as the Mediterranean diet, to support modest weight loss in centrally obese individuals. In addition to this, the Mediterranean diet has also been shown to reduce waist circumference among a Mediterranean population group, as well as also reporting significant declines in body weight after a 5-year follow up period.…
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12Dec 2016 by Alana Willis
5 Nutrition Hacks to Ensure Optimal Progress in the Gym

5 Nutrition Hacks to Ensure Optimal Progress in the Gym

Body Composition
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying that getting that muscular, toned body is 80% nutrition and only 20% training, or that abs are made in the kitchen. A proper diet is vital to ensuring that you see optimal progress at the gym. Without adequate nutrition, not only does your body lack the fuel it needs to push through a tough workout, it is unable to effectively recover and grow after each session. This article will outline 5 nutrition hacks to ensure that you are getting the full benefits out of each session. 1) Ensure you are eating enough kilojoules Consuming the correct amount of kilojoules per day is vital to ensuring you are seeing progress at the gym. Consuming too many kilojoules can cause your body to put on weight…
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