Top Training Tips With Legendary Branch Warren

You’ve been hitting the gym for the past few weeks. You’re cleaning up your diet, and you’re making all the right changes to improve your body. But you don’t look any different, and you find yourself wondering if this new “healthy routine” is really worth it.

Well before you decide to give up on transforming your body, you might want to hear what 2x Arnold Classic Champion and IFBB Pro Branch Warren has to say.

HOS sat down with the professional bodybuilder and business owner to discuss his top fitness recommendations, and discovered that building your dream body might be simpler than you think. 

It’s all about consistency 

“Consistency is the most important thing,” says Warren, who competed professionally for 15 years. “If you’re trying to change your physique, if you’re trying to compete, it takes years and years to transform your physique to get where you want to be.” 

Just because you’ve been hitting the gym for a couple weeks doesn’t mean you should expect to get ripped instantly. While there’s no exact time frame for how long it takes to change your body, research has shown that it generally takes about 6 to 8 weeks to start to notice some changes. 

By 3 to 4 months of consistent training, you should be able to see some pretty noticeable weight loss and improvements in muscle definition. Of course, your results will depend on what you’re trying to achieve, but 3 to 4 months is a reasonable benchmark to start to see some real, measurable changes. Having that timeframe in mind can also help you avoid feeling discouraged if you haven’t reached your “goal body” after two weeks of a new program. 

But if you’re still after that shredded six pack, you’re going to need to give yourself a little more time. Given that you weren’t overweight to begin with, you’re likely looking at around a year of consistent training and dietary changes to get to that physique. Again, every body is different, so this might happen slightly faster or take a little longer than that year-long benchmark. 

Additionally, you might find as you continue to workout that your goals are always changing. Once you achieve your goal of a six pack, you might decide you want to gain muscle mass elsewhere, and so the process begins all over again. 

“Everybody has a picture in their head of what they’re trying to achieve,” says Warren, “but most people never get there. I know I never did. I set the bar impossibly high, and I know that picture in my head, I never reached. But that kept me pushing and kept me improving, and I think that’s what made me a champion.” 

Your body is built in the kitchen 

Training is only part of the equation, too. How many times have you finished a tough workout and thought, “great, now I get to treat myself with a pizza and some ice cream.” We hate to break it to you, but you’re not going to make much progress if you’re always trying to work off a bad diet. 

“You know, nutrition is probably 70 percent to 75 percent of the equation,” Warren says. “A lot of people love to workout. They go to the gym, they train hard. But if they’re not on top of their nutrition, they’ll never see the results they’re looking for.” 

While that might not be the “magic pill” fitness advice you were hoping for, it’s undeniably true: if you want to change your body, it’s just going to take time and consistency. There’s no quick fix, crazy Internet workout routine or fat-burning tea that’s going to get you there faster. 

“I tell people every day: don’t overthink this,” Warren says of keeping training simple. “You can make it super complicated, but at the end of the day, it’s just about hard work. Just keeping it simple and basic – you do the basic stuff and eat right, you’ll change.” 

Keep your training simple 

If you’re determined to change your physique and you’re up to the challenge of staying consistent, but you’re not sure where to start, Warren again recommends keeping it simple. 

“Ronnie Coleman was a big influence in my training style. He said it best when he said ‘we lift the heaviest amount of weight we can, for the maximum amount of reps we can lift it.’ Just keep it simple,” says Warren. 

The best way to do this is by starting with basic, yet incredibly effective, compound exercises like squats, deadlifts and presses. Skip the ridiculous Instagram workouts that have you hip thrusting in the leg extension machine and doing seven different movements just to complete one shoulder press. 

Sticking with the basics might not make you “Instafamous,” as Warren calls it, but combine them with a little consistency, both in the gym and the kitchen, and you’re guaranteed to see changes in your body. 

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint,” says Warren.

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