Caffeine is the most commonly (ab)used drug in existence. Creatine is likely the most effective legal performance supplement you’ll ever come across. It was only a matter of time befor… Read More
You are not too tough for pushups. Pushups are a great exercise for the chest, the front delts and the lateral and medial head of the triceps.[Read More] Read More
Stretch-mediated hypertrophy (SMH) is the biggest research revolution from the last years according to many exercise scientists. Stretch-mediated hypertrophy is often defined as the addition… Read More
Strength training isn’t often the first thing people think of when they’re trying to lose fat. But should it be? We’re all probably familiar with the common assumption that… Read More
Progressive overload is one of the most seemingly simple, yet widely misunderstood concepts in strength training. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 00:20 Misconceptions 00:52 What is Progressive O… Read More
Current generations have lower testosterone levels in their twenties and thirties than previous generations used to have in their fifties. Researchers concluded that: it is alarming that cha… Read More
Welcome to bodybuilding’s version of the classic “chicken or the egg” paradox. It’s well known that elevated testosterone levels can help you pack on slabs of muscle… Read More
Leg extensions have a reputation for being unsafe for the knees. Do leg extensions really wreck the knees? Let’s look at this from a scientific perspective. Chapters 00:00 Introduction… Read More
Squats are famous mass builders, widely regarded as one of the top exercises for the quads, their reputation is largely justified. Leg extensions don't quite have the same reputation. Howeve… Read More
How fast should you lift and lower your weights? A common idea in bodybuilding circles is that you should lower your weights with a 2 to 4 seconds eccentric tempo. This idea is not supported… Read More
Ah, the cheat day, the fabled “get out of jail free” card for nailing your grueling diet for six days out of the week. The weekend rolls around, and you might feel like you&rsquo&hell…Read More
Machines versus free weights. Which one is better to build muscle, to build strength, and which one is easier on your joints? We now have relatively conclusive scientific evidence to these q… Read More
Is it true that the body can only absorb 20 grams of protein per meal? And if so, what are the implications of this for your daily meal frequency, or how many meals you should eat for maximu… Read More
Two recent studies found that training with a partial range of motion is better for muscle hypertrophy than training with a full range of motion. Is training with a full range of motion stil… Read More
The G.O.A.T. will always have the most haters. As discussed previously, creatine is not a drug of any kind and many of the purported “drawbacks” of supplementing with it have no… Read More
You've probably heard it said that during pull ups and pulling exercises a wide grip is better for the back whereas a narrow grip is better for the biceps. This is wrong it's caused by an im… Read More
Creatine is the undisputed heavyweight champion of natural sports supplements, so you’d be forgiven if hair loss wasn’t the first thing that crossed your mind when you thought ab… Read More
Melatonin is the natural peptide hormone, a neurotransmitter that's produced during darkness to make you sleepy. It's basically the hormone in your body that says - time to fall asleep.[Read… Read More
Vanessa Spina interviewed me about a host of nutrition and some training topics. In contrast to her specialty, almost nothing was about ketogenic dieting about protein intake. Most topics we… Read More
Don’t have my studio set-up but wanted to give you a quick update on this new study and what we can learn from it to make dieting easier. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 00:44 Problem with… Read More
What are realistic strength goals for natural lifters? One way to answer this question is to look at natural powerlifting records, but just because somebody competed in a natural, drug-teste… Read More
The more social media people use, the worse their body dissatisfaction. This is the finding of a meta-analysis of scientific studies featuring over 36,000 individuals. Chapters 00:00 Introdu… Read More
The mind-muscle connection is a concept from bodybuilding circles that made it into exercise science. The mind-muscle connection refers to our ability to sense how well a muscle is being tra… Read More
A new meta-analysis has investigated this question by looking at 92 different studies and ranking how well the different types of interventions performed. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 00:15 N… Read More
Ever been peer pressured to eat unhealthy food or drink alcohol? Ever been fit-shamed for going to the gym too much? This video will help you navigate these situations. Chapters 00:00 Introd… Read More
Should you train your abs? The average person might be thinking -Well, duh, of course I should train my abs, but most of my subscribers are probably familiar with the spot reduction myth. Ch… Read More
This new study gives us a simple, effective trick to get bigger quads. It also gives us profound insight into whether it’s possible to subjectively determine how active a muscle is dur… Read More
A brief summary of the existing studies on diet breaks. Interviewed by Mike Matthews from Muscle for Life. Timestamps: 0:00 – Please leave a review of the show wherever you listen to p… Read More
Shane Walsh interviewed me on diet adherence and how to change bad eating habits. If you already read my book, most of the topics should be familiar to you, but if you haven’t yet, I t… Read More
In this Alpha Progression podcast, I talk about: https://alphaprogression.com/en/podcast/134-menno-henselmans-how-to-train-stay-lean-and-increase-self-control Spotify Podcast Apple Podcast G… Read More
A new study has just looked at Finnish national-level physique competitors and followed them for 23 weeks into their competition and 23 weeks after their competition. Here are four things we… Read More
In our new study, we compared how effective squats and hip thrusts are to stimulate lower body growth and strength development. This is the first time this has been done, except for a very s… Read More
Chapters 00:00 Introduction 00:26 Effective reps model 03:33 Greg Nucklos critique 04:19 Paul Carter’s response to Greg’s critique 07:22 New meta-analysis 13:33 Why are these res… Read More
The following is a guest article by John Fawkes. Am evidence-based trainer and long-time student of Menno’s, John has previously written an article for this site about diet and e… Read More
The mind-muscle connection is a concept from bodybuilding circles that made it into exercise science. The mind-muscle connection refers to our ability to sense how well a muscle is being tra… Read More
In this clip from my recent guest lecture for Dr. Paul Hough’s university class, I go into a question I get asked a lot: can excess protein make you fat? There are a lot of misconcepti… Read More
Are cold showers good for your health? Let’s look at the research. The most frequently cited study – basically the only study – to suggest real-life health benefits of cold… Read More
The traditional recommendation to train the biceps is to use a supinated grip (underhand: you can see your palms). This advice is given by both researchers and practitioners based on 3 main… Read More
New roundtable discussion with Eric Trexler and Steve Hall about cardio. We quite comprehensively cover if you should do cardio and if so, how best to do it. We also go into depth on whether… Read More
Here’s what muscle soreness can and cannot tell you according to science. Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is something we’ve all experienced and intuitively, you may think i… Read More
Ramadan is upon us, so here are some tips for my subscribers that are doing Ramadan and PTs that have clients that are doing Ramadan. It will help make things a lot easier and help you prese… Read More
People talk a lot about how much training volume to do and which exercises to do but rarely about their relation: how do we count the volume of different exercises when it comes to stimulati… Read More
This was a great interview about exercise selection for maximum muscle hypertrophy. Ahmed Alshehhi and I discuss my favorite exercises for each body part, how to count training volume and mo… Read More
For the men’s visual guide to understanding body fat percentages, click here. This guide can be used to estimate a woman’s body fat percentage by eye. In contrast to most of the… Read More
For the women’s visual guide to understanding body fat percentages, click here. This guide can be used to estimate a woman’s body fat percentage by eye. In contrast to most of th… Read More
This was a great podcast on how to lose fat and how to stick to your diet. Ben Brown was a good interviewer and did a professional job with this one. It’s aimed at the m… Read More
This podcast is packed with practical tips to lose fat. Bill AKA Dr. Swole and I had a great talk about diet psychology and how to implement a fat loss diet. I think almost everyone will get… Read More
Do you want bigger guns? Of course you do. Here’s the perfect exercise for bigger biceps. Bayesian curls Bayesian curls are a cable biceps curl performed facing away from the ca… Read More
Do you struggle with building round cannonball shoulders? This video explains why and gives you 4 practical tips on how to build rounder delts. Transcript (automatic) Do you ha… Read More
Diet breaks are a popular dieting tool in evidence-based fitness circles. Diet breaks are claimed to improve muscle retention, fat loss and diet adherence. We collaborated with the Universit… Read More
The 5×5 Texas Method popularized by Mark Rippetoe is legendary, but does it actually live up to the hype? In this video, I review the 5×5 Texas Method program based on modern exe… Read More
In my latest talk with Mike from Muscle For Life, we dive into the topic of stretch-mediated hypertrophy and explore the mechanisms behind it. We discuss the difference between active… Read More
Most people’s idea of which muscles are small and which are large is based on their outward appearance. This is like trying to determine how many square feet an apartment has by only l… Read More
In this podcast, Jeff from The Mind Muscle Connection podcast and I discuss many topics related to strength training, including injury management, maintaining muscle mass, the drawbacks of c… Read More
Lots of interesting material for serious lifters on this podcast! We talk about dealing with injuries, new findings on stretch-mediated hypertrophy, ideal step counts, training programming f… Read More
Is obesity a disease? And is it beneficial to call it that? In this video I review the research on the effects on weight stigma and fat shaming as well as the psychological side-effects of b… Read More
In this video, I dissect a new study on how your grip width affects which muscles you train with the bench press. The common idea of ‘narrow grip for triceps, wide for pecs’ is n… Read More
You’ve probably been taught to keep your spine and pelvis in a relatively neutral position while squatting or deadlifting. Specifically, you’re not supposed to let your back roun… Read More
Let’s talk about fat loss, calories, and macros. Join me in this interview on Swole Radio where I discuss what the latest scientific research has to say about it and what I’ve le… Read More
How much volume should your program have for best results when cutting? I’ve written extensively about training volume on my website and social media, but there isn’t much resear… Read More
To deload or not to deload? Join Jeff Hoehn and me on this podcast episode of ‘The Mind Muscle Connection’ as we unravel the latest research surrounding the quest for hypertrophy… Read More
This was a surprisingly fun interview. James Rafferty interviewed me about the state of the fitness industry, how I built my business and how to deal with negativity. If you’re just in… Read More
Are the powerlifts overrated for bodybuilders? Which parts of the shoulder does overhead pressing actually work? In this episode of ReviveStronger, Steve Hall and I discuss underrated vs. ov… Read More
Lots of content in this one! Brian Gyn interviewed me on a wide range of topics with lots of actionable tips for anyone. Check out the time stamps below and enjoy the podcast! You can also r… Read More
Recently I led the most comprehensive review to date on how many carbs strength trainees need to optimize performance. Now a new review by King et al. has performed a meta-analysis of studie… Read More
The Long Shot Leaders is a podcast with interviews of individuals that have achieved remarkable things in life that you wouldn’t have expected. I consider myself very fortunate to be w… Read More
What is willpower, really? What are the differences among willpower, self-control, self-discipline, and other related concepts? What are the best ways to become more self-disciplined? What a… Read More
Can you be healthy at any size? Losing fat can obviously be healthy for some people, but why is fat loss healthy exactly? And can you lose too much fat or is leaner always better? Let’… Read More
Whether you want to get toned, slim thick or bootylicious, this free guide contains all the essentials for women to improve their body, fitness and health. Most guides are written with only… Read More
Bill Wong AKA Dr. Swole interviewed me on which supplements are most useful. We discussed the following ones. Most people ‘in the know’ should already be familiar with these, but… Read More
Cody McBroom interviewed me on The Tailored Life Podcast about reverse dieting, high frequency training, periodization for hypertrophy, flexible dieting, self-control and more. 0:40 … Read More
Siim Land did a 2-part interview with me on carbohydrate requirements and willpower improvement. We went into our last systematic review on the effect of carbohydrate intake on your performa… Read More
In this double podcast, Jeffrey Hoehn interviewed me on a range of advanced fitness topics, interesting new studies and promising supplements. Podcast 1 -(9:45) My current train… Read More
Adam Peeler interviewed me on multiple topics of interest for serious lifters in this podcast. See the time stamps below. Listen on Spotify Listen on Youtube 1:05 – The r… Read More
How many grams of carbohydrate should a strength trainee consume per day to fuel their training sessions? Over the last few decades, most authors have recommended high carbohydrate intakes f… Read More
Should you use momentum during your training or should you be super strict and controlled? Which advanced training techniques are worthwhile? We answer those questions and many more question… Read More
In this video, Thomas Campidell interviewed me on a host of different topics, ranging from how fecal transplants can make you depressed to strength standards for natural lifters. Check out t… Read More
In this podcast, Mike Matthews and I discuss how to stick to your diet. “The episode is chock-full of practical tips for improving your diet adherence, which can help you lose fat fast… Read More
In this interview, Dr. Swole asks me about the ins and outs of how to bulk. I think this is a super practical podcast for everyone interested in putting on more muscle without getting fat in… Read More
Vanessa Spina AKA Ketogenic Girl interviewed me on a lot of different topics. In contrast to what you may expect from her name, we barely touched on keto diets. We discussed many things rela… Read More
Judy Cho interviewed me on her podcast, Nutrition with Judy, about strength training and low-carb dieting for beginners. The topics covered should be familiar to long-term subscribers, but b… Read More
This was a good one. Dylan Guynn interviewed me on my recent book, The Science of Self-control. We went into multiple topics that I hadn’t gone into at all in previous interviews and D… Read More
This soup from Sanne Leenman basically tastes like dessert. Seriously. It’s simple to make and in 15 minutes you can prep huge batches of it at once. You can also use frozen or canned… Read More
In this roundtable discussion hosted by Steve Hall, Mike Israetel, James Krieger and I discuss the use of advanced periodization concepts to maximize muscle growth. We go into specific detai… Read More
A new meta-analysis by Murphy & Koehler (2021) finds cutting reduces muscle growth but not strength development compared to bulking. This is in line with my experien… Read More
Mike Matthews interviewed me about how we can use scientific research to boost our willpower and be more productive. Mike’s an extremely productive person himself, so it was great to t… Read More
After how well the first part of this series was received, we had to do a part 2 to cover the remaining muscles of the body, so here it is. Dr. Swole and I discuss the most important functio… Read More
Nevin Barnett from FitnessLogik interviewed me on very different topics than most interviewers ask me about. I’ve known Nevin a long time, so this really felt like a conversation betwe… Read More