This past weekend I had two new clients fly in from different parts of the country to meet with me. While I was hammering them with questions it hit me that many readers of Figure Athlete would probably like to sit in on the pre-training consultation.

Before I even thought about nutrition, sets, reps, load, and training volume, I had to first know why they flew so far to see me. In other words, I needed to understand their goals.

Here are the questions I asked them, and how each applies to you.

1. Why Are You Training?

Before you pick up another dumbbell or lace up your running shoes, the single most important question you must answer is, "Why are you training?"

Is it for health, aesthetics, or performance? Most likely, it's a combination of those qualities, but aesthetics, mainly fat loss, seems to rule the roost on Figure Athlete.

Whatever your reason for training isn't nearly as important as actually knowing the answer. Olympic athletes make incredible progress for the sole reason that they know exactly why they're training. Since the goal is clearly defined, so is their training.

Everything you do in the gym must coincide with your goal. Running for the sake of running is dumb. Pulling a heavy deadlift because you heard it's good for you is dumb, too.

However, I'm not harping on any activity. Running and heavy weight training can be essential components of your success — if they're in sync with your goals.

Case in point: A girl recently asked me how to improve her pull-up performance. She couldn't do one, but her goal was ten. After I explained some key strength-building principles to improve her upper-body pulling strength she asked, "How often should I run?"

I scratched my head with a befuddled look on my face as I wondered if I misunderstood her original question.

That brings me to my next point.

This physique wasn't built by running.

2. Have You Established a Clear, Measurable Goal?

The people who get the best results have a specific goal in mind. If your goal is ten pull-ups, you need to focus on that, instead of running.

Training for the sake of merely losing fat will get you nowhere. At best, it'll get you there slowly. All of those women you see in the gym who are as fat as they were last year haven't set a clear, measurable goal with a deadline.

Almost every woman I know has a dress or expensive pair of jeans that no longer fits. In most cases, the article of clothing is a few sizes too small. Perfect! Now you have a way to accurately measure your progress.

The next step is to pick a realistic timeframe to get back into that dress or pair of $300 jeans. As a gross generalization, anywhere from 6-12 weeks usually works well. I typically don't set extremely short-term goals because it often leads to frustration.

Between family, illness, vacations, etc. life can throw too many curve balls on a weekly basis. You're better off giving yourself at least 6 weeks instead of looking for daily changes in your body or performance. On the other hand, if you allow more than 12 weeks it's easy to fall off track.

You might've noticed that I'm constantly talking about a "goal" instead of "goals." The more goals you have, the less likely it is that you'll reach any of them. Focus on one goal at a time.

3. Do You Have a Specific Plan of Attack?

Here's a funny story.

My friend (a girl who shall remain nameless) recently told me she wanted to get back to training at her health club because she set a goal to lose 20 pounds in 8 weeks. So I gave her the mandatory encouragement that all of us coaches are sworn to give.

She was on the right track, after all. She had a reason for training, and she set a clear, measurable goal with a realistic deadline.

But knowing her haphazard approach to life in general, I had to dig a little deeper. I asked her how she planned to lose those 20 pounds. "Well," she said, "I'm going to do this 8-week training program I did last year."

Great, I said. How much weight did you lose the last time you did it?

"10 pounds," she replied.

See what I mean?

However, this scenario occurs more often than not in health clubs and gyms around the country. People, for whatever reason, get bamboozled into thinking that the next time will be different.

It won't. You can't do what you've been doing and expect a different result. You must establish a specific plan of attack to reach your goal. There are two ways to accomplish this.

First, maybe you've already found a training and nutrition program that worked for you in the past. If so, you're one big step closer to reaching your goal. Assuming that program gave you the goal you're after, it's an excellent solution.

For example, I usually stay close to my ideal level of leanness. However, if a recent fling with pepperoni pizza and Stella Artois has left me lugging around an extra 8-10 pounds of fat, I have a program to strip it off in two weeks. It never fails me.

My point is that it's inane to always be searching for the latest, snazzy program. As Arnold Schwarzenegger used to say about training and nutrition, "Stick with what works."

It's more likely, however, that you haven't found anything that works particularly well. (If you did find a solution you probably wouldn't be reading this article.) Here are seven things we know about getting lean:

1. Small, frequent meals work. You should consume 5-6 meals per day.

2. Cutting carbs works. For fat loss, stick to less than 50 grams of carbs per day.

3. Vegetables work. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner should be accompanied by a serving of vegetables.

4. Adequate protein works. You should consume at least 100 grams of protein per day.

5. Fish oil works. You can't go wrong with eight capsules of Flameout per day. Take four with breakfast and dinner.

6. Water and green tea works. Drink enough water so your urine is always clear, and don't forget to have 8-12 ounces of green tea each day.

7. Training with a high intensity works. Keep your rest periods short and the intensity high. If you don't feel moderately nauseous at least once during your workout you need to train harder.

If your goal is to lose fat, look at the seven aforementioned principles of fat loss and see where you fall short. Remember, I'm trying to help you organize a specific plan to reach your goal of getting lean.

Let's say you've been cheating on carbs, you haven't been taking fish oil, and your training is anything but intense. Here's a sample plan of attack that you should write down:

"My goal is to lose two dress sizes in 6 weeks. I'll accomplish this by limiting my carbs to 50 grams per day, taking eight capsules of Flameout, and adding 10 minutes of rope jumping to my workouts."

It works. Trust me.

Set a goal and your path to it; that six-pack will be yours before you know it!

4. What Happens if You Fall Off Track?

Dr. John Berardi has said it a million times, but it bears repeating: Follow your plan 90% of the time and you'll get results. No one can be perfect all the time. Who would want to, anyway?

I frequently get emails from a person who screwed up a workout in one of my programs. Maybe she missed a day, or maybe she got the rest periods wrong, or maybe she used straight sets instead of super sets. When this happens, I usually get a frantic email wondering what she should do next.

Just get back on track. As the saying goes: If you have a flat tire, fix it. Don't flatten the other three.

Final Words

This article is a change of pace from what I normally write. I know many of you prefer the training programs and nutrition plans, but none of that matters unless you first address these four important questions.

About the Author

For more of Chad Waterbury's information, pick up his e-book The 10/10 Transformation here. His book Muscle Revolution can be purchased here.