All Episodes
Where Optimal Meets Practical — 291 episodes · page 2 of 3
192: Aliya Dhalla - Pelvic floor health: What, why, when, how?!?! IS IT JUST KEGELS!?
191: Q&A - Incorporating plyometrics, "Couch to 5K" thoughts, Starvation mode, and MORE!
190: Ocean Trail - Pregnancy Pearls as a Fitness Pro
189: Bryan Boorstein - Life + training updates, assessing RDL technique -> When should you scale back and weight so you "feel" it more?
188: New Years Resolutions - How to set good ones and what are my resolutions for 2024?
187: Post-race Debrief - How did it go?
186: My Pre-Race Check-in - Half-marathon training, Fueling + race strategy, things I'm nervous about, will I do more races in the future?
185: Do you need a break from your deficit every 8-12 weeks?
184: Q&A - Training every day, Scheduling running and lifting, Protein Limits and more!
183: Q&A - Soreness, How long should you bulk? Coaching red flags, Supplements I take and MORE!
182: Austin Current - Science of Strength Training and Getting People to Start Lifting
181: If you gain weight every time you stop tracking...you did it wrong.
180: My thoughts on postpartum "bounce back" culture
179: Q&A - Mind muscle connection, added sugars, rest days, belly fat, combining cardio+weights
178: Life updates: Cardio, ab training paradox, pregnancy, life in Raleigh
177: Beth Feraco - Coaching, cooking, and keeping it real
176: Q&A - Keto for hormones, mastering the back squat, does too much cardio make you gain weight?
175: Stephen Keane (@steve.kraftcoaching) - Making content fun again in 2023
174: Bryan Boorstein - New deload study, full body splits, cardio updates...
173: @AlexBush__ - Building a Home Gym, Training Competitors vs "Gen Pop", and Fringe Health Stuff We Actually Like...
172: @ButterYourMacros - Weight loss drug chat
171: 5 Things I've Changed My Mind About
170: 7 Reasons Why I Love Hypertrophy Training (and you should too!)
169: "I Should Be Losing Weight"...Says Who!?
168: Q&A - Tips for leg day, creatine, programming eBook, body fat set point, how to help your partner be healthier
167: Anonymous Q&A - Can you get too many steps? Average rates of fat loss, Feeling weak in the gym during a cut, Increasing NEAT to lose fat and MORE...
166: @CarrieLeeFitness - Her story from 100 lb overweight to bodybuilding and life ever since
165: My training - training for a half marathon without losing muscle
164: @ButterYourMacros - Coaching mentorship teaser :)
163: Martin Macdonald (@MartinNutrition) - What makes MNU different? + A discussion on PCOS
162: Mrs. Lips (@JMLipsFitness) - Keeping each other accountable, Africa stuff, Feeling comfortable in your body, and MORE!
161: Bryan Boorstein - Updated thoughts on: training to failure, lengthened partials, cardio for meatheads
160: My current goals and how they've changed...
159: @ButterYourMacros - Stress, sleep, parenting and optimism
158: 6 things you should do BEFORE trying to lose fat
157: Dr. Susie Spirlock (@Dr.Susie.Squats) - Should You Ice Injuries? Misconceptions in Physical Therapy & How to Find the Right PT for You
156: Dr. Karl Nadolsky (@drkarlnadolsky) - Weight loss drugs: How they work, who they're for, risks, and more!
155 - @DataDrivenStrength: Volume for hypertrophy - The problems with counting volume. Is 10-20 sets/wk a helpful guideline?
154 - @ButterYourMacros - Using social media: Learn enough...but not so much you get lost.
153: Chad Hargrove - How to succeed at fat loss: More than just a chat about macros
152: Aram G (@4WeeksToTheBeach) - Real Coaches Summit review & the importance of continued education for coaches...
151: I interviewed 4 members of my group program. Here's what they had to say...
150: Bryan Boorstein - Two meatheads doing cardio - Why and how we're incorporating more zone 2 work into our routines
149: Dr. Alyssa Olenick - Zone training: Why is z2 all the rage right now and why you should give a sh*t
148: Mark Carroll - Coaching elite physique competitors + balancing "optimal" and "fun" in training
147: @ButterYourMacros - Fitting into your clothes as your body changes...Should you throw out all of the clothes that don't fit you anymore?
146: Q&A - The "pump", Not progressing on lifts, Being hungry at maintenance, Diet breaks, Traveling while running your own business...
145: Q&A - Nutrition periodization, carb cycling, getting your first pull-up, per session volume, how to bring steps down without gaining weight and MORE!!
144: Greg Nuckols - Popular weight loss advice that might do more harm than good. Do people trying to get healthy need to count every macro to the gram? How can we make real, LASTING change?
143: Dave Maconi - How important is biomechanics? How do you assess progress over the long term? How much do genetics matter? Do we all just end up in the same place anyway...
142: @ButterYourMacros - Q&A Episode
141: Q&A - Pre-workout nutrition, making gains in a cut, should you try to reduce soreness?
140: Abby Langer: Our "favorite" charlatans, Regular people taking Ozempic, Do we need to "healthify" everything? How to find good information on social media..
139: Jordan Syatt - Fitness, Fatherhood, and New Year's resolutions...
138: Q&A - Can you go straight from cutting to bulking? Supersets, Minimum requirements for body composition, Distributing calories in a surplus and MORE
137: @ButterYourMacros - How to track your nutrition without f*cking up your relationship with food
136: 5 things I've changed my mind on...
135: Q&A - Direct arm work, Leg training while injured, Ab training in my program, Using RIR vs Progression, Why do you start the meso with slightly easier training? Should you eat high carbs in a bulk for less fat gain?
134: Bryan Boorstein - Minimalist Training. How to get MORE out of LESS time in the gym. Can you make great gains with very low volume? Do we all just end up in the same place anyway?
133: I'm training EVERY DAY for the next 6 months. Here's why.
132: Sam Miller - How do STRESS and SLEEP affect our health, fat loss, and general wellbeing? The differences between chronic and acute stress…is cortisol BAD?
131: What I learned keeping my training the same for 6 months
130: Bryan Boorstein - Progressing RIR across a program, Training to failure and beyond, Our training experiments
129: Eric Trexler - Reverse Dieting. Fact? Fiction? or Misunderstood? Does going SLOW provide a benefit? Does reverse dieting make your next deficit easier?
128: Dr. Adrian Chavez - The gut health episode. Why is it important? What do we know? What's BS? Everything you need to know about FIBER
127: Jaebian Rosario - an updated discussion on HAES and "anti-diet" philosophy
126: @ButterYourMacros - Tracking...tool or trigger?
125: Should you track ALL 3 macros or just CALORIES and PROTEIN?
124: Fat Loss: The WHAT, the HOW, and the WHY. You’re asking the wrong questions.
123: Q&A - Fav cable attachments, stubborn fat, exercise order, butt wink, fit shaming and MORE!
122: Q&A - Myo reps vs Drop sets, type of workouts for fat loss, adding direct ab work to my program, kneeling squats, loading the hip ext and MORE!
121: Q&A with Andy Morgan (@Andy_RippedBody)
120: Dr. Adrian Chavez - The seed oil episode.
119: My Training Experiment - I'm keeping my training EXACTLY THE SAME...let's see what happens
118: Q&A - Rest times for hypertrophy, What grip to use for rowing, Tips for neutral spine in a deadlift, Vegetarians and muscle building, Music playlist ideas, What Harry Potter character am I?
117: ButterYourMacros - What's the deal with people getting leaner as they eat more? What is Metabolic Adaptation? Can you reverse it? Can you "adapt" to higher cals? Is Metabolic "Reactivation" a thing?
116: Bryan Boorstein - How often / why should you change exercises in your programming? Rep ranges, rest periods and other training variables...If I don't beat last week...did I make gains?
115: Q&A - Best type of deadlift for women, corrective exercises + posture, what to do when clients aren't being adherent, fasted training, athletic goals vs hypertrophy goals, recalibrating macros while at maintenance...
114 - Q&A: Mind muscle connection, Hunger at maintenance, What to do when you're not feeling stronger, Using movement to get into a deficit and MORE!!!
113: Dr. Adrian Chavez - What is INSULIN RESISTANCE? Is it stopping you from losing weight? Is it from eating too many carbs? Should regular people use CGMs to monitor their glucose? How to stay insulin sensitive
112: Ben Yanes (@Ben_Yanes) Why are people anti-optimal? What makes a good hypertrophy exercise? BUTT WINKING!!! IS IT BAD?!?!
111: Q&A - Can you just take a week off for deload? Is a year at maintenance enough to then have an effective cut? How do I know if my added sets are junk volume? Are burnouts helpful for hypertrophy?
110: Bryan Boorstein - Why hypertrophy might be more joint friendly long-term, Resistance profiles vs training position, Why it’s important to work the lengthened position, how to use partial reps and reverse drop sets for growth
109: ButterYourMacros - How hard should it be to achieve and maintain your goals? What does it take to stay lean year-round? Do I have to track forever? Ease entitlement, expectations, and keeping your head on straight
108: Q&A - How to handle family members commenting on your weight loss, Insulin resistance, and Metabolic Adaptation in the context of chronic dieting
107: Jack Hallows - How to continue to improve technique without feeling like you're never doing it right
106: Trevor Zierke - Chiropractors...When should you see one? How are they different from PTs? Is it more than cracking people's backs on TikTok? Myth busting therapy tactics and more...
105: It’s not just WHAT you do it’s the INTENT/HEADSPACE with which you do it
104: Katie Sonier - How to be more confident and have your own back
103: Basic Terms Defined - If you’re new to this “fitness” stuff, this one’s for you
102: Why I quit my cut after 3 days...
101: Aaron Straker - Adding necessary context around nutrition information, How to be a more savvy consumer, Common traits of our most successful clients...
100: Deloads - What, Why, and How? A 2022 update of my current thoughts and best practices...
99: Q&A - How to decide when to deload, Are insulin spikes bad for health? Realistic fat loss expectations, Should you start with a big or small deficit? Why is it so easy to gain weight...
98: Q&A - Can you back calculate maintenance calories based on rate of fat loss? How do I help clients set goals? Can you work on getting stronger in the deadlift while training for hypertrophy? Are push-ups and pull-ups good for hypertrophy?
97: RIR - What? Why? How to get better at it and not be so overwhelmed...
96: Supersets - What are they? Why? Which kinds do I like to use in my programming...
95: Chase's Story (@Changing_Chase) - Losing 150lbs in a year: Pillars for success, mistakes made, and how he pays it forward to his clients...
94: Bryan Boorstein (@BryanBoorstein) - HYPERTROPHY - What makes a good program? What have you changed about your approach in the last 5 years? How has N1 affected your training/coaching? Advanced set and rep schemes, Deloads, and all things nerdy AF
93: Q&A - Planning a mesocycle, # of sorking sets for hypertrophy, Mind muscle connection, Protein amount per meal, Why you shouldn't use a bar pad when squatting...