Taking Your Shirt off in Public - The Proper Etiquette

I'll admit, this is more for the guys. I can only speak from experience so be cautious if you are a woman and you're using these guidelines. 

 

So you've worked hard on your body. But how do you let everyone know. Maybe you post regular fitness selfies. Maybe you're buying tighter fitting clothes. Maybe you're bulking to the point your shirts are ripping apart. These are all perfectly acceptable ways to show off your gains. But nothing compares to showing off the real thing. After all, you've worked hard on your body. It's only natural to want to show off your hard work. I'm here to offer some insight into when it's okay to take off your shirt. And, when people will think you're a total whopper.

I should point out that there are some great guidelines on BroScience [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTUW77ie8sE]. That's where I got my guidelines from, I've added a little from personal experience. Learn from my mistakes!

Now, I'm from the north of England. As you may be aware, we spend most of the year under a grey, unforgiving sky. Sometimes a crack of light gets through and the majority of people become shirtless. It's sometimes quite disturbing. But we don't judge, while others complain, we find opportunity. You don't want to be the first shirtless guy, in any situation. People will see your physique and assume you're just showing off. You have to play it cooler than that. If it's sunny you either wait until two other people have taken their shirts off, then it's free game. You're not 'that shirtless guy', and you're not, 'that shirtless couple'... Everyone is doing it. I've recently found an exception to this rule. If you're with your parents then it's not cool. A grown ass man without a shirt walking round with their parents just screams of being unemployed and still living at home. I can tell you this from experience.

At the beach is pretty much self explanatory. That's, quite literally, where people go to take their shirt off. A bit of sun and you can pretend you're on your holidays in Spain. Catch some of the rare, Northern-English sun. At the beach it doesn't matter if you're the first one to take your shirt off. It's expected. I will, however, offer some advice. If it's cold leave your shirt on. It cancels out your gains if you're sat there shivering.

When taking part in sports it's okay to take it off. No point in sweating through a perfectly good shirt. Here it comes down to a bit of self- awareness. Sure, take it off if you're playing football outside. Don't take it off if you're bowling. As a martial artist, I'll point out that it is a grey area. I don't mind training shirtless, but I'd never be the first guy. In this situation I wouldn't need to be the third guy either. If one guy has his shirt off and the instructor is cool with it, then it's cool. It may be the same for other sports but you'll have to use your own initiative.

Finally, when you're out in a club and it's sweaty as! I'm pretty bad for this, so there's a few things to remember. It's okay if you're drunk. You have diminished responsibility over your actions if you're drunk. But remember, you do it a couple of times and your friends will claim 'you always take your shirt off'. They will refer to it in front of people you haven't been out with, they will try to embarrass you with it. But, obviously, you don't care. Just be aware that this will happen. Try not to get told to put your shirt back on by the bouncers or any other member of staff at a venue, it kind of kills the buzz a bit. If you take your shirt off on a night out. Be aware that you will get more attention off guys than girls. They will be mirin' your gains. Removing my shirt has never done anything to improve my chances with a girl. But I often get compliments from guys. But, lets be honest, if you spend all your time in the gym. A compliment from a guy is what you're looking for. Especially if he lifts (see below). I don't pretend to understand women, but they don't appreciate muscle size and vascularity as much as they should (or at least they say they don't)

An exception to all the rules is when you're on holiday. Fuck it, don't even wear a shirt. You've got a couple of weeks of sun, in a place where nobody knows you. Save space in your luggage, don't even pack any shirts and bring back some extra duty free.

Diet - Writing a Diet Plan

Further to my last post about diet [http://mattsgymfitnessblog.blogspot.com/2015/08/diet-personal-experience-and-iifym.html], planning your food for the week is very useful for a healthy lifestyle. Not only does it ensure that you eat regular, healthy meals. It also gives you a clear plan of your shopping helps you get the essentials so you're less likely to relapse and eat a big bar of chocolate and a tub of ice cream (unless they are part of your plan).

As I've mentioned before I use macro counting (and a bit of common sense) to plan my diet. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out what's healthy and what's not. The macro counting comes in to make sure you're not having too much of a good thing! The beauty of macro counting is that, and I am an proof of this, you can lose weight on a largely cheese-based diet.

Finding your macros is different for each person. At 85kg and 28% body fat my macros were 180g protein 140g carbs and 40g fat for weight loss of 3lbs a week minimum. In reality my loss was more like 6lbs a week (with plenty of training). To work out your own macros you can read this article [http://www.healthylivingheavylifting.com/how-to-calculate-macros-for-cutting/] or there's a macro calculator at [http://movementfirst.co.uk/macronutrient-calculator/]. Don't take these numbers at face value. Adjust them to fit your lifestyle. If you're tired all the time, up your carbs. If you're not losing weight drop the carbs or fat a bit. Play with it until you find a balance that suits you.

The next step is to create a diet plan. Make it fit your macros, I usually leave a few out of the plan to account for a bit of (healthy) snacking. Keep it simple, so you can add or remove things that don't work for you without messing up your plan, it also makes it easier to count. Make it stuff you like to eat. Don't make chicken and rice the main focus of your diet if you don't like it. There's plenty of healthy food about, just find the stuff you like. Eat small, regular meals. They will fill you up and speed up your metabolism. Plan your meals around your day, eat foods that give you energy if you're training or working.

Here's an example day taken from a diet plan I made:

Macros/Day:

Protein: 150

Carbohydrates: 150

Fat: 35g

Tuesday
Meal 1 7:00	Fruit 150g: 45g carbs
Meal 2 10:00	Nuts 70g: 20g fat, 20g protein
Meal 3 1:00	Prawns 100-200g: 20-40g protein Salad
Meal 4 4:00	Fruit 100g: 30g carbs (banana)
Meal 5 6:00	Turkey Mince 200g: 40g protein Tomatoes Brown rice 100g: 25g Carbs
Meal 6 8:00	Protein Shake: 30g protein Fruit 100g: 30g carbs

Macro Count:

Protein: 130g

Carbohydrates: 130g

Fat: 20g

This is a diet plan that would be suited to me now to cut a little extra weight off (at 10% body fat and 73kgs). There's still space there for a bit of chocolate and cheese! I use this plan as an example, it should be made to fit your own likes/dislikes and the numbers should be changed (though this plan would work for most people, however it could cause some muscle wastage). I was asked to make a vegetarian alternative, the example is shown below:

Ideal Macro Count:

Protein: 160

Carbohydrates: 160

Fat: 40g

Monday
Meal 1 7:00	Protein Shake: 30g protein 2x Eggs: 12g protein, 10g fat 1 slice toast: 30g carbs, 10g protein
Meal 2 10:00	Fruit 100g: 30g carbs (banana)
Meal 3 1:00	Quorn Chicken pieces 100-200g: 28g Protein, 2g carbs, 3g fat Vegetables 100g: (eg broccoli) 7g carbs, 2g protein
Meal 4 4:00	Fruit 100g: 30g carbs (eg. apple)
Meal 5 6:00	Quorn Turkey Stakes 200g: 33g protein, 12g carbs, 4g fat Sweet potato 100g: 20g carbs
Meal 6 8:00	Fruit 100g: approx 30g carbs Nuts 50g: 15g fat, 15protein

Macro Count:

Protein: 130g

Carbohydrates: 161g

Fat: 32g


The macro count is written on pretty much everything. If it isn't its easy to find online by typing the product followed by nutritional information e.g 'Eggs nutritional information'.

Leave a day unplanned, take a day off once a weak. Don't use it as an excuse to go nuts, you're only cheating yourself! But relax once a week so you don't go crazy! Once it becomes routine it's easy, you will get a feel for it and you'll be able to adjust it to suit your lifestyle and goals.

I hope this is some help to you! Good luck!