Complete Human Performance Radio

Let me ask you a question: why do you lift weights?

Are you trying to get stronger?

Are you trying to gain muscle?

Are you trying to improve your general health and fitness?

If the main reason you lift weights is to gain muscle, rather than get stronger, then your training should be different.

In this podcast, JC Deen is going to teach you exactly how to create a workout program for gaining muscle. You’ll learn...

In this podcast, science journalist and former anorexia sufferer Carrie Arnold is going to teach you what really causes eating disorders. Here's what we discuss:

Relationships are unpredictable.

Whether you’re just friends, intimately involved, or somewhere in between, it’s hard to predict how things will work out in the long-run.

With the right evidence, however, we can make your relationships much easier to navigate.

In this podcast, you’re going to learn the three best predictors of relationship success and how to decide whether or not you and your partner will stay together in the long-term.

Why is losing fat so hard?

Is it the hunger?

The constant thoughts about food?

The lethargy and lack of motivation?

The answer -- it's all of the above. Dieting will always be a challenge, but we know enough at this point to make it much easier to lose fat than you might think. In this podcast, you'll learn how to change your environment, macronutrient choices, and your food quality to accelerate your results.

You’ll hear from Stephan Guyenet, an obesity researcher and blogger who has been studying the mechanisms that control how much you eat and exercise, and how much fat or muscle you carry, for years. Whether you’re trying to diet to really low body fat levels or start making steps to reverse obesity, this information will help you get leaner with less hunger, effort, and obsessive thoughts about food.

If you read just about any book on nutrition for athletes, you’ll probably read a section that talks about nutrient timing. The chapter will probably talk about how important it is to eat protein immediately post-workout to recover and and gain muscle and strength.

Despite the fact that many athletes, authors, and coaches consider it a given that you need to eat post-workout, that’s really an open question at this point.

In this podcast, you’re going to hear from Alan Aragon and Brad Schoenfeld, two researchers and coaches who recently completed a new review study on whether or not you need to eat protein immediately after your workouts if you’re trying to gain muscle. This study was focused on muscle growth, but it also has some relevance to recovery in general.

You probably know how to lift weights.

At least you know enough to make yourself sore and get a little stronger over time.

However, at some point you're going to stall. What then?

Lou Schuler, a fitness journalist with over 30 years of experience, comes on the show to talk about how you can break through your strength training plateaus even if you feel like you've done everything you can. Think of this as the "strength training troubleshoot" for intermediate to advanced lifters.

There's only one way to lose weight -- create a caloric deficit.

However, there are two ways to create a caloric deficit -- you can eat less or move more.

So, which is better?

Tom Venuto, a best-selling author, bodybuilder, and personal trainer, comes on the show to answer that question. We also discuss some of the biggest mistakes you're probably making when trying to lose fat.

Most people get injured at some point. 

Whether it's an obvious problem like smashing your leg into a four-wheeler (like we talk about in this podcast), or a chronic injury like low-back pain that seems to come out of nowhere, we all end up in pain eventually. Especially if you tend to be a more obsessive, driven type.

When you're injured, you would do anything to make the pain go away. There are a lot of myths about the best ways to kill pain, which means it's east to waste time, money, and effort on treatments that don't work, or aren't optimal.

In this podcast, Dr. Jonathan Fass dispels some of the most common myths about what does and doesn't cause pain. He also fills you in on the latest research about how to kill pain, and gives you practical strategies for dealing with acute and chronic painful injuries.

Getting into "peak" shape at a specific time is much harder than you might think.

Whether you're preparing for a bodybuilding contest, a photo shoot, or just a personal goal, there are a lot of ways to mess up your diet and training before the big day.

In this podcast, you'll learn the most common mistakes people make when trying to reach their peak level of leanness, and how to avoid them. You'll also learn...