Many people start a Martial Art to get into shape and lose weight.
When you first meet them, they are not interested in learning how to fight or wish to ever compete. They’ll ask how to lose 30 pounds in a month or tell us how the doctor said they had high cholesterol and they needed to make a life change. Many health and weight loss reasons will come up and questions about how many calories they’ll burn.
One of the reasons these people will quit Martial Arts and fitness in general is they are not seeing results quickly from their hard work.
They get frustrated and lose the initial focus and assume their goal is not attainable. They revert to the mindset that they can’t lose weight or get in shape no matter what they do.
This is unfortunate and heartbreaking for us in the industry who truly want to help people. We want them to see the results from their effort and achieve the better version of themselves that they wish for.
I started talking with other people in the industry to see how we can overcome this enigma.
When someone asks me how to lose 30 pounds in a month, I know there is a good chance they need to see quick results.
Perhaps depending on their current body condition losing 30 pounds in a month is not a realistic goal. Unfortunately, often their own self-image is much worse than reality.
If their self-image has already determined that they need to lose 30 pounds in a month, the timer has already started in their head as soon as they walk in. If losing 30 pounds in a month is not a realistic goal, the job then becomes creating a plan for rapid results they can see and feel to keep them motivated.
In researching this I came into contact and became friends with Nik Kurdoyak.
Nik is a successful personal trainer who operates TrainedByNik. A very determined man, with minimal English and just a passion to pursue his dreams he immigrated by himself at the age of 18. After some early struggles Nik persevered and was fortunate to come under the tutelage of Amer “The Hammer” Kamra. Mentored by one of the best physique coaches in North America, Nik decided to set off and take a chance on his own.
In 8 years, Nik already has over 10,000 hours of experience in personal training. Working with many influential Canadian and Russian businessmen and businesswomen.
I talked to Nik about this enigma of people needing to see results quickly. How can we combat this and keep people from quitting before they can achieve the body and fitness level they desire? I wanted to learn what his secret was and how he promotes fast results.
Nik broke it down into 6 principles or rules he follows with his clients to transform their body quickly.
#1 Use Heavy Weights… And Progress It!
Nik emphasizes right away that he isn’t talking about lifting heavy weight with horrible form. Lift as heavy as you can while still maintaining an ability to perform perfect execution and form with your technique. Look to do between 5-12 reps in each set if your goal is to gain muscle and burn calories.
“I’ve experimented with clients doing light weights, cardio training, high-repetition training, heavy lifting and a lot of other stuff. When heavy lifting is a part of my client’s routine, results are way more phenomenal than when it isn’t.”
#2 Perfect Exercise Form + Connection
Perfect form is nothing new.
This gets stressed to every beginner who walks into a gym. Safety and avoiding injury, along with avoiding muscle imbalances are a major factor.
On top of that, if your form is incorrect or you go to fast, your body’s focus is spread out. Your body is not recruiting the target muscle you are trying to work.
Less focus on the targeted muscle means less muscle fibers are going to be activated within that muscle. This leads to less muscular definition and separation.
#3 Caloric Deficit With TREATS, A Perfect Scenario!
What’s the most important thing to follow if you are trying to lose weight? The formula can be described in two words: caloric deficit.
What that means is you must burn more calories than you consume during the day. One of the biggest mistake people make is not changing their eating habits. Even if they start eating healthier foods, they are still consuming an abundance of calories each day. If you are in a caloric surplus (you take in more calories than you burn), you still are going to gain weight!
Also, why did Nik mention treats?
“It is OK to have 20% of carbs that you consume coming from a chocolate bar or something sweet. This will allow you to still enjoy the process and prevent a serious relapse. I highly recommend taking those carbs either with post-workout meal (it is going to get absorbed and used much more efficiently) or with the last meal of the day (will help you sleep better).”
#4 Continue Until You Fail!
You will see maximum results by working to failure. Squeeze out the last rep until you no longer can do another.
Yes, this is tough, and will require effort.
Without this however, you cannot reach peak fat loss though through metabolic stress. Nik does stress however there is exceptions for beginners. With squats and deadlifts you should be experienced and comfortable enough in what you are doing before you attempt it.
#5 Periodize Types Of Training
If you are someone asking “how to lose 30 pounds in a month” or just want to get in great shape you need to do a little bit of everything. If you want to get stronger, gain muscle, get more endurance and lose fat, you’ll need a variety in your workout.
Too often someone will find a program they like and just do that same thing over a long period of time. Not only will you get minimizing results, less variety will create boredom and make the routine more tedious. This is a recipe for disaster in people who struggle to remain consistent with their fitness goals.
As an example, Nik recommends this program to follow if your goal is to work out three times a week.
Day 1
This is your strength-hypertrophy day. Heavy weights, 3-8 rep range, 5 different exercises targeting full body, four sets each.
Day 2
This is your circuit day for big calorie burn. Five different exercises back to back with 10-15 rep range. Rest only between circuits, and a total of around 5 circuits.
Day 3
This is your functional day. Still circuit based, but instead of free weights you do battle ropes, high-rep bodyweight squats, lunges, crunches, and other calisthenic exercises.
#6 Use Supplements… That Work!
Nik adamantly stated he believes strongly in supplements. Improper nutrition will never allow you to lose fat or build muscle. Nik isn’t suggesting you go buy every “magic” weight loss pill on TV.
Purchase supplements that work!
Protein is of course the most known and pushed supplement that every trainer suggests you take. Nik’s belief is that some of the most important are: Green Drinks, Omega-3s, Multivitamins, Vitamin C, Creatine, Probiotics, Ashwagandha and Magnesium.
Hopefully this article can be a benefit for you to get quick results in your weight loss journey.
The 6 transformation steps Nik presented are also great for someone who is already active and follows a regular workout program. If you’ve possibly plateaued and wish to improve your physique or lose those last few stubborn pounds Nik is the man to help.
If you wish to reach Nik you can contact him through his website, LinkedIn, email, and follow him on Instagram.
Do you have any questions on this article, please leave them in the comments.
Have you struggled to maintain a weight loss program and quit because you weren’t seeing results?
Let us know in the comments below.
If you found a program that worked for you and want to share, please let us know that as well.
This is a great article with a different point of view than you usually see. I think many people who are overweight and out of shape go to a gym and are given easy “baby steps” exercises to do. It seems as though the trainer doesn’t want to scare them away or assumes that this person won’t be able to so anything more stressful. When these exercises fail to do the job, the person quits anyway. I have had this happen to me. It would be nice to go to a gym and feel like I was being taken seriously.
Cynthia,
I think that’s a great way to look at it.
A trainer may be hesitant in the workout program they are providing for a new client for those reasons.
Perhaps this is something a trainer should be able examine from a person’s personality during the consultation?
At the end of the day most people need to see results or they end up quitting.
Being properly educated on how to lose weight (or what most people really want is to lose fat) and secondly to be in the correct frame of mind for the weight loss pathway are 2 huge factors that I personally believe can determine your success or failure. Following the above points is a recipe for success.
Sharon
Couldn’t agree more
Nik is very knowledgeable and he made some good rules to follow to see success.
From my own personal experience which led to write this article is too many people get frustrated and quit if they don’t see results quick enough.
Hi, thank you for this article. I started my weight loss journey 8 months ago and today I have lost 30 pounds. Because I have trouble with my back I have just been walking for exercise, but after losing a lot of weight it is better and I want to build more muscles. I love the idea of training smart and like #5 a lot. Thank you for the tips and I am following Nik on Instagram for motivation to transform my body.
My pleasure and thank you more for reading and commenting.
I’m sure Nik appreciates the follow on Instagram, he’s a really good guy too, along with being knowledgeable.
In regards to your back pain, I had issues with that before as well.
I write about it in this article, perhaps you might want to read it and see if the steps can help you like they helped me.
https://sushifitness.com/how-to-get-rid-of-a-back-pain/
Thank you! I will check it out.
My pleasure
Ok, 30lbs in 30 days, very doable:
1. Amputate a limb, preferably a leg.
2. If you are morbidly obese, water fast could produce 30lbs weight loss in a month
3. If you are not morbidly obese, I’m sorry, your going to have to limit the water as well…
Sorry to be so harsh but I know there are physical limits to how much weight and especially how much fat you can lose in a day. It simply isn’t possible to lose that much weight in that short amount of time.
That said, I do agree with the tips mostly and I understand your aim is to just help beginners lose as much weight as possible for visible results. The main thing IMO is that no one should aim to lose just weight, it needs to come off of fat. And you need to do your best to not lose muscle mass.
Complete beginners can build a bit of muscle in a slight caloric deficit so I recommend focusing on heavy compound lifts until the linear strength gains run out. Then you have to decide if you want to keep losing fat or to keep getting stronger and adjust calories and training goals accordingly. It’s impossible to build muscle and become stronger in a deficit after the initial gains.
Jukka,
I don’t think it came across as harsh.
I actually appreciate the passion that came through in the comment.
The main point of the article is achieving results as quickly as possible to maintain motivation for many people who consistently start/stop trying to achieve a healthier life.
When you work with people daily who are consistently battling their weight their perception of themselves can be much worse than reality.
It’s matter of guiding an individual to a place where they are healthy but also where they want to be themselves.
You can explain to someone until your blue in the face about muscle mass vs weight on a scale but if a predetermined weight is their goal for success you can’t argue that change in their head.
The goal is to walk them to their success while educating them along the way.
Often times, as they see results and begin feeling better about themselves they become open to changing what their goal is.
In regards to losing 30 lbs in a month, again that wasn’t the point of the article but it is physically possible to lose 30 lbs in a month.
I’ve seen it done many times but the process to lose that much so quickly isn’t healthy long term or sustainable.
The weight gets put right back on almost immediately after as well.
Perhaps I should have made that more clear in the article.
Thank you, I really appreciate you reading and especially the passionate response.
Just curious, you said you agreed with most of the tips, I’d love to hear which ones you didn’t agree with and why?
Great article with lots to take into consideration. There’s always a demand to loose weight quickly but it needs to be carried out in the correct way and you help outline that. The mind is what stops us from achieving that goal so we must rewire our minds to keep going until failure and when we fail we must learn from the failure to grow.
Thanks for the great read. Keep it up.
Damon,
Thanks for reading and I agree.
Mindset is the major factor if we are going to succeed or fail.
I think that’s with everything in life.
Too often people want instant results and when they don’t see it they just give up unfortunately.
Nice write up, it’s helpful information you have supplied here, I learned from it, about safety and avoiding injury, along with avoiding muscle imbalances are a major factor in gym, I think that’s what am going through and your write up help me to understand what I need to do, thanks for the great post.
My pleasure, thanks for reading and commenting.
I try and provide the best information I can to help people out.
I going to try and bring in more expert opinions like Nik to help add more value and knowledge to the site.
Interesting! I totally agree with all six principles given by Nik Kudoyak. I purposely went ahead to read about Nik online and found out that he’s really and expert in what he does, which makes this principles valid and worth trying out. I just hope this helps others who will read and learn as I’ve done.
Thanks, it’s always good to do some research and learn where the source is coming from.
Especially in fitness, there tends to be a lot of BS out there and “magic” formulas.
Nik is very legit and knowledgeable.
Hey Evargeene 😉
Thank you so much my man I truly appreciate it;)
Feel free to reach out to me if you need any help🔥
To lose this much weight, 30 pounds in a month would like to seem healthy. However, after reading your article can understand how this is done in a gym. The number one choice of using heaving weights sounds interesting but have a question. Wouldn’t this mean not losing weight but instead gaining little more weight with bigger muscles?
Jannette,
It’s true that you can gain weight from lifting, which is a good thing as you are adding more muscle mass.
Depending on your body when you start is a major factor. If you are overweight you initially will begin losing weight when you start lifting.
One of the concepts of heavy lifting is to create metabolic stress.
I added a link below for more reading on this subject.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5489423/
Perhaps Nik can comment on this as well.
Jannette;)
Always focus on BODY COMPOSITION instead of weight.
Number on a scale is just a number. But it’s about how we look! Yes by gaining a bit of muscle you will gain weight, but QUALITY wight that will make you look stunning!
This makes a lot of sense. When I tried to lose weight when I was young, I remember walking into a gym and being asked if I wanted to gain weight or lose weight. Of course, I said lose weight so they put me on straight cardio. Well, I wanted to gain muscle as well but that wasn’t what they were pushing. After MONTHS of just cardio and getting no-where, I quit that gym. The method you describe works MUCH better.
Thanks for reading.
Yeah, working in gyms I found this to be a very common occurrence.
Especially in women more then men, I’ve heard them say they were afraid they would bet bulky and too muscular.
This is an unfortunate myth that keeps too many women from lifting weights and achieving the results they desire.
Then some of the blame falls on the trainer as well.
Either lack of knowledge or they are just more concerned with keeping their client happy instead of pushing them to get better by doing things they are resistant to do.
Hey Feochadan;)
You are truly right, doing just cardio is a simple waste of time. And yes always focus on body composition instead of just the weight.
Let me know if you need any help;)
Thanks a lot for such an amazing review about How To Lose 30 Pounds In A Month: Rapid Results and the explanation is given.
I really want to lose weight until the summer to have a summer body. I’ve read as many articles as I could, but this is the best I’ve read. I will definitely follow these tips and hope to succeed.If you don’t mind, I will share this article on my social media account. Good luck!
Thanks again and I wish you all the best.
Thanks for reading and please do share!
I more than appreciate social media shares of my articles.
Best of luck and check out Nik’s website.
He has a lot of good FREE content on there.
Hey Razvannlie;)
Thank you very much;)
Please feel free to check more content on my website and ask if you need any help in your body transformation🔥
To an extent, I think people who are desperate for quick results cannot be blamed. Some of these people actually put their minds into making a change but without the right mindset, it can be difficult to sustain effort. In most cases, you’ll find that the progress is exponential so the change would be going on with but little signs. I think though, that these tips can certainly help such people see faster results, especially lifting heavy with the right form. Thanks
Thanks for reading Rhain.
Yes, unfortunately that’s a battle many have to face.
Often, people who are overweight have tried to get into shape many times in their lives.
Their mind is already preset for failure and can’t BELIEVE they can ever get a body they can be happy with.
I think that’s why it’s important to get them quick results to keep their spirits up, keep them engaged, and help get them to where they want to be with their fitness goals.
Hey Rhain;)
I totally agree with you, I think it’s totally normal when people want to see results fast. As long as they are ready to keep momentum and never revert back to old habits, which happens very often. And I truly support you on LIFTING HEAVY WITH PERFECT FORM. It’s, like I mentioned in my rules, is the best recipe for success in fast body transformation!