#74 - Sport Scientist Settles The Biggest Muscle Building Debates | Menno Henselmans

Menno Henselmans is one of the most respected voices in evidence-based fitness. He's a physique coach, exercise scientist, and the founder of The Henselmans PT Course Certification, with a background in advanced statistical data analysis from his former career as a business consultant. Menno has personally funded and co-authored peer-reviewed research on muscle hypertrophy, training volume, and energy balance, trains and coaches natural and enhanced physique athletes, and has taught his Personal Trainer Certification course to thousands of coaches worldwide in multiple languages. He's the author of "The Science of Self-Control" and a regular speaker and guest across the biggest platforms in strength training and nutrition science. In this episode, Menno and I go deep into the science of building muscle: whether 'gain-taining' or 'main-gaining' actually works compared to a traditional lean bulk, how fast you should realistically gain weight, when it makes sense to bulk versus cut (including advice for anyone in a skinny-fat phase), and how social media distorts the way we see our own progress. We also unpack the current state of evidence-based fitness and the backlash against it, the latest research on lengthened partials and deep stretch training, whether the 10-20 sets per week guideline still holds up, and Menno's honest take on the growing hype around peptides. I also share some of my own story with extreme dieting and what I learned from it. Whether you're trying to build muscle without unnecessary fat gain, figure out your training volume, or just cut through the noise of BS fitness content online, this conversation is packed with practical, science-backed insight from one of the field's most trusted researchers. My TEAM BROCK ASHBY coaching programs 💪 https://teambrockashby.com/coaching My FREE calorie calculator 🔥 http://calc.teambrockashby.com/ Get DAILY DOSES of motivation in your email inbox 📧 https://brocvkashby.activehosted.com/f/1 Get in touch 👋 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brockashby Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brockashby E-mail: https://teambrockashby.com/contact Connect with Menno Henselmans ⬇️ Website: https://mennohenselmans.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/menno.henselmans/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmO2dykYM3nlb5BtsXxp9ZQ Timestamps: 0:00 - Can you gain-tain/main-gain? 15:01 - What is the best rate of weight gain for bulking? 18:17 - When should we bulk or cut? 23:53 - Best advice for people that are skinny fat 26:45 - How social media changes us 34:45 - Is evidence based lifting lost? 41:05 - The future of lengthened partials and deep stretch 49:33 - Is 10-20 sets still the best recommendation for hypertrophy? 55:50 - Are peptides legitimate? 1:05:05 - The final 3 questions Let's go 💪