Strong and Sleek

Today Robert and Trent discuss why you need to train for strength, and why your lifts MUST be heavy to build muscle mass. It's popular these days to train for "hypertrophy" -- the fancy term for increasing muscular size -- utilizing sets of 10-12 reps on a large variety of exercises, many of them single joint lifts such as curls, tricep extensions, and hamstring curls. The problem with this approach is that, for the vast majority of people, they do not do these exercises heavy enough to drive muscle growth, and they lack the strength to do them heavy enough to see results anyway. Then there is the problem with ergonomics -- how heavy can you do a single joint exercise anyway? How much can you really hamstring curl?

 

A much better solution to gaining muscle mass is to use the barbell, which can be used to do compound lifts, which involve more joints, use more muscle mass, and can be performed with heavier weights too. Barbells can be loaded with very light weights for the most novice trainee, extremely heavy for advanced strength athletes, and anywhere in between. Most importantly, mastering a few simple exercises with the barbell is the most bang-for-your-buck thing you can do in the gym, regardless of your goals or athletic focus.

 

There are physiological reasons for lifting heavy too. Moving heavy weights involves anaerobic energy pathways that burn large amounts of carbohydrates. Heavy weights produce a hormone response which lighter aerobic exercises does not -- heavy weights stimulate production of more testosterone, growth hormone, and insulin growth factor (IGF-1) -- which causes your body to grow more muscle mass, increases your metabolism, and partition calories in a more efficient way.

 

So, next time you hit the gym to "lift," you need to lift heavy. Heavy weights provide the stimulus for growing muscle mass, and the weight must get progressively heavier over time.

 

Weights & Plates: https://weightsandplates.com

Robert Santana on Instagram: @the_robert_santana

 

Trent Jones: @marmalade_cream

https://www.marmaladecream.com

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Starting Strength Coach and Registered Dietitian Robert Santana continues the introduction to Weights & Plates with a "plates" episode, this time about the source of your nutrition information. Where does it come from, and have you considered the source of your information?

These days we are inundated with information about what we should eat and how we should train, from trainers, from celebrity actors and fitness models, from doctors, and doubly so on the internet! Often the information is conflicting, even though it's littered with verifiable facts. It's no surprise, then, that many people feel lost when it comes to making sustainable, effective changes to their diet.

 

What's missing is many people lack the ability to sift through the sea of information and find that which is relevant. To do that, first you need to understand the context of where the information is coming from, who is saying it, and where they are coming from.

 

Weights & Plates: https://weightsandplates.com

Robert Santana on Instagram: @the_robert_santana

 

Trent Jones: @marmalade_cream

https://www.marmaladecream.com

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Starting Strength Coach and Registered Dietitian Robert Santana kicks off the Weights and Plates Podcast with an episode charting his journey through the jungle of fitness and nutrition information. Though he's taken a number of wrong turns along the way, Robert's journey has taught him the value of some basic principles for fitness and body composition. Robert is joined on the podcast by Starting Strength Coach Trent Jones.

 

First, those guys and girls on the fitness magazine covers that look "ripped" and "toned" have more muscle mass than you do, and they're probably stronger too. So, if you want to look better -- leaner and more muscular -- then you need to get stronger, and heavy barbell training is the answer.

 

Second, you can't ignore the influence of genetics and steroids on the looks that bodybuilders, fitness models, and today's celebrities achieve. Genetics play a big role in how a person looks, from their bone structure to their muscle insertions to their natural propensity to store body fat and where that fat is distributed. In other words, if you're a hard gaining, skinny ectomorph, don't expect to look like The Rock after training for a year. You can look good, but you can't fundamentally change your genetics.

 

Stay tuned for more episodes of Weights & Plates. In the meantime you can find Robert at the links below:

 

Weights & Plates: https://weightsandplates.com

Robert's Instagram: @the_robert_santana

 

Trent Jones: @marmalade_cream

https://www.marmaladecream.com

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Welcome to the Weights and Plates podcast! Starting Strength Coach and Registered Dietitian Robert Santana aims to bring you practical advice about dieting, nutrition, barbell training, and more based on his 17 years of experience.

 

Life isn't a science experiment. Training and eating well doesn't have to be either!

 

https://weightsandplates.com

 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.