Welcome to our Blog - First Topic: Macros

It should be easy, right? And at the beginning, it is. Progress continues as planned and confidence seems to grow by the day. But there comes a point in every fitness journey where there is a stall. Daily goals that once seemed easily attainable are now getting harder and harder to achieve. Nuances must be realized for further progress to be made.

Luckily, there is a plethora of information out there. But navigating through all of it can be daunting. There are so many concepts! Training programs that require the discipline of a Shaolin monk. Diet plans that are mundane and repetitive. Not to mention, the long list of terms and acronyms that could fill their own dictionary. It is no wonder why so many people are hot and cold when it comes to realizing their health and fitness goals.

But there is hope. DNA Training has felt the same frustration. Information that was once easily accessed and understood has turned into a jumbled mess that has led to more failures than successes. This needs to change and it needs to change now. The DNA Training Blog has been created to do just that.

This blog will serve as a comprehensive catalog for some of the newer and advanced topics in training and nutrition, like repetitions in reserve and fad diets, while revealing nuances of more basic concepts, like macronutrients and exercise repetition schemes. Each topic will be explored to the fullest, with focused research until the full story is disclosed, without bias.

Simple concepts are the most important. Mastery of the basics leads to sound foundations with deeper insight.

As such, we are going to start off with some of the most basic of basics, Macronutrient Tracking, a.k.a. Macro Tracking.

Macros are the main components of everything that we eat: protein, fat, and carbohydrates. Granted, not everything we eat is not always made up of all three. Most times, foods are made up of a main macro and small amounts of the others. Sometimes, foods are lacking one or more of the macronutrients altogether, leaving only one macro to make up that given food.

Macros are not to be confused with other nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals. These are considered to be “micronutrients'' which play important supporting roles in the many processes that help the body optimally perform. These roles are much different than those of macronutrients.

Generally, each macro serves a given purpose. Protein helps build tissues in the body. The other two are more seen as sources of energy. Carbohydrates are a “faster”, more direct source of energy while fats are often viewed as a “slower”, less direct source of energy for the body. Remember, we are focusing on the basics here.
With that in mind, each macro is associated with a caloric amount. A gram of fat is nine Calories while protein and carbohydrates are four Calories. Caloric counts help nutrition professionals prescribe different amounts of macros to help individuals reach their fitness and health goals. 

The body needs a given amount of calories to optimally run and adapt to a given set of goals. This varies depending upon an individual’s body composition, weight, and activity level. Luckily, there are calculations that take these variables into account that are used when finding the appropriate amount of calories. 
Once a caloric requirement is determined, the nutritionist can then manipulate the macros according to the goals of the individual. An easy example is if the client wants to gain or lose weight. A nutritionist can easily manipulate the caloric intake to be above or below the needed maintenance level in order to achieve the desired outcome. 

But there is more to it than simply adjusting the total amount of calories up or down. Many of us have fitness goals beyond simply losing and gaining weight. We want to do so while attaining an optimal body composition and achieve other outcomes as well: a faster mile time or a new lifting total. This requires more detailed attention. 
Protein intake is often manipulated to help individuals achieve their desired fitness outcomes. While the RDA is roughly .8g/kg of body weight/day, this is far too low for an active individual. Iit has been suggested that active individuals may need as much as 2.2g/kg of body weight/day. Dietitians must prescribe an appropriate amount of protein to help support the repair and growth of muscle mass (two of the primary roles of protein) to support the daily activities of the individual. Since protein has a caloric value, this must be taken into consideration when calculating an appropriate caloric intake. 

Like protein, carbohydrates and fat can also be manipulated to help individuals realize their goals. To do so, daily and physical activities need to be considered. For those who enjoy activities that are higher in intensity (such as team sports, resistance training, or sprinting), carbohydrate is going to be an important fuel source. High-intensity activity requires energy that can be used quickly (the primary role of carbohydrates). Depending on how often these activities are performed, will determine the amount of carbohydrates needed. With carbohydrate prescription comes the addition of more calories. 

These are only two examples of manipulating macros in order to achieve optimal performance and body composition. The common thread between the two of them is that there is a specific amount of both that needs to be consumed in order to achieve given outcomes. 

In order to ensure that the right amount of each macro is being consumed, tracking is a definite requirement. Two things are required for the most success. First, be sure that everything that is being consumed is recorded and the more detail the better! (Like, is that 80/20 ground beef or 90/10?) The second is the amount of each food that is being consumed. This is why eating out becomes more difficult. It is often difficult to know exactly how much of each is being consumed.

For those who can meal prep, macro tracking can easily be accomplished by weighing each portion of the meal, finding the macro breakdown for that food at that given weight, and recording it.  

To make things easier, there are multiple apps that help with macro tracking. Simply enter the food that you are eating into the app and all the macros are entered for you. Most of the time, these apps will have cataloged restaurant food as well.  But be aware, apps are not without their flaws. Many apps allow for the entering of food (and its given macros) by other users. These are not always accurate. So, fact-checking becomes a pretty important step in the process. It can also be hard to adjust to specific macro breakdowns and some do not allow for daily variance that may be prescribed by a nutritionist. 
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No matter the goal, tracking macros is always going to be a staple. It is one of the primary tools that is going to support both performance, body composition, and wellness goals. Once this technique is mastered, the road to achieving your goals is wide open. ​