Explore every episode of the podcast Anabolic Analysis

Coach Jake Doleshal joins Anabolic Analysis to explain why gut health might be quietly limiting your gains. He also covers why training drives 80 to 90% of your results, and why a 75-year-old Steve Reeves program might still be the best way to program for hypertrophy.

We cover fiber, carnivore, IIFYM, how gut issues affect training, 2x vs 3x frequency, full body done right, single sets, warm-ups, and intra-workout juice.

Key points:

- Adding a lot of fiber to an already irritated gut usually makes symptoms worse. Removing trigger foods often helps more than adding “healthy” ones.

- Gut issues like SIBO create inflammation that adds to fatigue, so you stop sets earlier without realizing why.

- Once you hit calories, a protein minimum, and some carbs, nutrition mostly exists to make your training better.

- Doom scrolling before training measurably lowered performance in studies.

- Most people who hate full body have never run a well-programmed version

- Dropping to single sets often leads to immediate PRs because you stop sandbagging the first set.

- For a lagging muscle, do one set each of 2 to 3 different exercises instead of 3 sets of one.

- OJ, or OJ with honey, beats cyclic dextrin as an intra-workout carb. It’s cheaper and comes with extra health benefits.

- Pick a good plan, log your lifts, and run it for a year. Stop second-guessing.

Timestamps:

00:00 The best program ever written was 75 years old

00:22 Who is Jake Doleshal

03:07 His most controversial opinion: gut health in lifting

07:43 Why I moved away from IIFYM

08:49 Most overrated health food: fiber

14:10 The “30 plants per week” myth

15:09 The case for carnivore in chronic health

17:53 How much does nutrition matter for muscle growth?23:20 Protein in a deficit: what actually explains muscle loss

27:00 Doom scrolling kills your workout

28:55 Does gut health affect your training?

32:46 Pre-workout meals that sit like a brick

34:25 2x vs 3x per week frequency

44:12 Why people hate full body

49:47 Full body AAA vs ABC splits

53:23 Motor learning and lat pulldown mistakes

58:03 Why I don’t program barbells

58:51 One change to improve results: intra-workout juice and single sets

1:02:58 Direct vs indirect sets

1:04:26 Exercise variety for lagging muscles

1:07:12 Steve Reeves’ program

1:09:27 Do you need warm-up sets?

1:11:27 OJ and honey vs cyclic dextrin

1:14:22 One piece of advice for the next 5 years

1:18:10 Where to find Jake

Apply for 1-on-1 coaching: https://tr.ee/82Qu0UcVtB

Training programs: https://tr.ee/mYWRuUWnKw

Find Jake: https://tap.bio/@Jakedoleschaltraining#AnabolicAnalysis #Hypertrophy #GutHealth #FullBodyWorkout #MuscleGrowth #FitnessPodcast #BodybuildingTips #EvidenceBasedFitness

Most diets don’t fail from bad programming. They fail because the person running them doesn’t see themselves as someone who stays in shape.In this episode, I sit down with Lyric Hermanson, a coach for natural bodybuilders, to talk about the mental side of physique development: why identity comes before behavior, how to keep going when motivation dies, how to set up your environment so you barely need discipline, and why the relationship with your coach matters more than the program.Key Points- Why identity is the foundation of lasting physique changes- How to stay consistent when motivation disappears- Why relying on discipline and willpower can backfire- How your environment influences your habits and results- The psychology of binge eating, cravings, and decision fatigue- Why accountability and coaching improve consistency- How to build sustainable habits and achieve long-term results1-1 Coaching & Programs: https://linktr.ee/kolt45fitnessFollow Lyric: https://www.instagram.com/lyric_hermanson/Chapters00:00 Intro01:03 Why behavior change starts with identity04:11 Stop saying “I can’t.” Say “I don’t.”06:16 Motivation vs discipline09:23 The new toy effect10:33 Successful people use discipline less13:33 Friction: make bad habits a pain in the ass16:29 Diet swaps vs whole foods23:35 Cravings are trained24:40 Decision fatigue28:35 Why coaches need coaches32:42 How to pick the right coach36:35 Enhanced? You need a coach38:21 Online vs in-person coaching40:26 No coach? Build an accountability group44:17 Share process goals, not outcome goals49:45 Understandable vs acceptable53:03 Audit your environment and your circle55:57 Audit yourself + how to journal1:02:39 Best advice for the next 5 years1:04:41 Where to find Lyric#AnabolicAnalysis #Bodybuilding #FatLoss #FitnessMindset #Nutrition #Hypertrophy #BingeEating #FitnessMotivation #OnlineCoaching #MuscleGrowth

Is the anabolic window real? Can protein be stored as fat? Does muscle soreness mean you had a good workout?Juan Samudio joins Anabolic Analysis to break down what the research actually says about protein timing, carbs vs fat for muscle growth, muscle soreness, training frequency, and recovery.Key pointsThe anabolic window is a myth. Total protein intake matters far more than timingProtein can be stored as fat. A metabolic ward study found no difference in fat gain between 5% and 25% protein dietsHigh carb diets consistently build more muscle than ketoSoreness signals novelty, not growth or muscle damageTraining frequency matters because it spreads volume into higher quality sets, not because of atrophy between sessionsCaffeine improves performance even when you don’t feel itMost people already eat enough protein and are short on carbsYour training program matters more than your nutrition for keeping and building muscleCoaching Application & Programs: https://linktr.ee/kolt45fitnessJuans Links: https://linktr.ee/Juansamudio13Timestamps00:00 Intro00:38 Who is Juan01:46 Training frequency: once vs 3x per week04:26 Intra-workout carbs and caffeine08:43 Is nutrition overrated for hypertrophy?10:30 Protein timing and the anabolic window13:00 Protein products and the rule of 1015:32 Carbs vs fat for muscle growth18:58 Calories in vs calories out20:18 Fiber and gut health22:22 Probiotics, prebiotics, and postbiotics24:42 Antioxidants and recovery26:21 What muscle soreness actually means28:52 Muscle damage markers and mechanisms32:50 How to reduce soreness35:52 Tart cherry juice, polyphenols, and curcumin40:47 Should you train when you’re tired?43:34 Can protein be stored as fat?49:26 Too much protein, not enough carbs52:02 Artificial sweeteners and gut health53:45 Muscle damage research vs real training56:29 Overtraining and sleep1:00:00 Best advice for building your physique1:00:59 Mid to lengthened training and resistance profiles1:04:54 Problems with ultrasound measurements1:07:21 Why exercise science research is underfunded1:09:20 Where to find Juan#hypertrophy #musclegrowth #proteintiming #anabolicwindow #exercisescience #bodybuilding #nutrition #musclesoreness #fitnesspodcast #anabolicanalysis

The fitness industry loves debating tiny details. Exercise selection, nutrient timing, training splits, supplements, rep ranges, and the newest optimization strategy can all matter, but they can also distract you from the things responsible for most of your results.In this episode of Anabolic Analysis, I sit down with Baxum to break down the majors and minors of building muscle, improving your health, and creating a fitness routine you can actually maintain.We talk about why consistency and enjoyment may matter more than having the perfect program, how hard you actually need to train, whether you need a calorie surplus to build muscle, and why research-based recommendations should be treated as starting points rather than universal rules.We also get into how we would introduce a complete beginner to training and nutrition, whole foods vs simply hitting your macros, sleep and recovery, micronutrients, creatine, caffeine, fish oil, vitamin D, magnesium, eating slower for fat loss, and why simply getting out of the house can have a surprisingly large impact on your health.Finally, we break down push pull legs vs upper lower, whether beginners should squat, bench, and deadlift, anecdotal evidence vs research, the anabolic window, pre-workout nutrition, carb timing, and why chasing perfect optimization can sometimes make your results worse.**Key Points**- The majors vs minors of building muscle and improving your health- Why consistency, enjoyment, and training hard matter more than perfect programming- Training volume, frequency, intensity, and training to failure- Building a simple training and nutrition approach for beginners- Sleep, supplements, micronutrients, and recovery- Fat loss, hunger, eating habits, walking, and daily activity- Research vs anecdotal evidence and individual differences- Nutrient timing, the anabolic window, and pre-workout nutrition- Why adherence and long-term consistency should come before optimization**Our Links:**Coach Kolt: https://linktr.ee/kolt45fitnessBaxum: https://linktr.ee/Baxum**Chapters** 00:00 Intro + Meet Baxum 01:13 The Majors vs Minors of Building Muscle 03:47 Do You Actually Need a Calorie Surplus? 06:22 Why Fitness Recommendations Are Just Starting Points 08:14 Training Volume, Frequency & Intensity 10:17 Training to Failure & Understanding RIR 12:42 How We Would Train a Complete Beginner 14:47 Beginner Nutrition: Whole Foods Before Macros 18:08 Micronutrients, Sleep & Performance 21:20 Naps, Creatine & Recovering From Poor Sleep 26:43 The Best Supplements for Lifters 30:56 Fish Oil, Omega-3s & Supplement Basics 32:29 Caffeine, Sleep & Gym Performance 35:33 How Much Caffeine Is Too Much? 38:38 Fat Burners, Capsaicin & Small Optimization Tricks 40:08 Eating Slower for Fat Loss & Better Digestion 43:27 Distracted Eating, Boredom & Overeating 44:41 Why Getting Out of the House Can Help You Lose Weight 46:12 Walking, Relationships & Human Connection 49:46 How Social Media Warps Your Perception of Fitness 53:12 Why the Fitness Community Overcomplicates Everything 55:23 Consistency Beats the Perfect Exercise 55:49 Should Beginners Squat, Bench & Deadlift? 61:36 Push Pull Legs vs Upper Lower 65:04 Experimenting With Your Own Training 65:58 Anecdotal Evidence vs Scientific Research 68:50 Individualizing Your Coaching & Training 69:25 Nutrient Timing Is Probably a Minor 69:57 The Truth About the Anabolic Window 71:49 Does Carb Timing Actually Matter? 73:41 Intra-Workout Carbs & Glycogen 75:34 Adherence Before Optimization 76:53 The Best Advice for Building Your Physique 80:56 Where to Find Baxum #MuscleGrowth #Hypertrophy #Bodybuilding #Fitness #Nutrition #TrainingToFailure #ExerciseScience #FitnessPodcast

Fitness research can help you train smarter, but taking every new study literally can make your programming worse.

In this episode of Anabolic Analysis, I sit down with researcher, PhD candidate, and coach Dorian Varovic to break down the biggest mistakes people make when trying to apply scientific research to their training.

We talk about why a single study should rarely dictate your programming, the problems with preprints and peer review, how to think about uncertainty in research, and why the evidence-based fitness community can sometimes become overly confident in conclusions that are far from settled.

We also dive deep into the training volume debate, including high-volume vs low-volume training, muscle swelling and the edema hypothesis, strength vs hypertrophy volume recommendations, proximity to failure, exercise selection, fatigue, and how much volume you can actually recover from.

Finally, we get into the practical side of building muscle long term: adapting training around life stress, avoiding unnecessary program changes, standardizing technique, recording your sets, separating real progression from sloppy execution, and why consistency and adherence matter more than constantly trying to optimize everything.

Key Points

- Why taking fitness research too literally can hurt your progress

- Single studies vs looking at the entire body of evidence

- Preprints, peer review, and uncertainty in exercise science

- Why research can be misrepresented on social media

- The volume debate and what higher-volume research actually tells us

- Muscle swelling, edema, and hypertrophy research

- Strength vs hypertrophy volume recommendations

- How many sets per muscle group you may actually need

- Why volume, frequency, proximity to failure, and exercise selection interact

- Exercise selection and differences in recovery demands

- Why fatigue should be managed rather than feared

- How life stress, sleep, work, and schedule affect recovery

- Why constantly changing your program makes progress harder to evaluate

- Standardizing technique and recording your sets

- Logbook progression vs actually improving performance

- Why enjoyment and adherence matter for long-term muscle growth

- The value of having an objective coach

- How to build your best physique over the next five years

Our Links:

Coach Kolt: https://linktr.ee/kolt45fitness

Dorian Varovic: https://www.instagram.com/varovicdorian/

Losing weight is hard. Keeping it off can be even harder, especially after months of dieting, restriction, and watching the scale consistently drop.

In this episode of Anabolic Analysis, I sit down with bodybuilder and coach Kyle Affer to break down the psychology of coming out of a diet, managing post-diet cravings, avoiding binge eating, and accepting the normal weight regain that comes from restoring glycogen, water, food volume, and a healthier bodyweight.

We cover practical strategies for controlling impulsive eating, breaking the scarcity mindset around food, deciding between reverse dieting and jumping to maintenance, reducing obsessive body checking, and building a post-diet plan that you can actually stick to.

We also get into Kyle’s first bodybuilding prep, meal plans vs flexible dieting, cardio and daily steps, cycles and health monitoring, and the mindset required to build your best physique over the long term.

Key Points

- The 10-minute rule for managing cravings and impulsive eating

- Why food scarcity thinking can lead to binge eating

- Why some weight regain after a diet is completely expected

- Glycogen, water, food volume, and what the scale is actually showing you

- Reverse dieting vs immediately returning to maintenance calories

- Why you need a structured post-diet plan

- Avoiding the all-or-nothing mindset after an off-plan meal

- Body checking, physique expectations, and adjusting to a higher bodyweight

- Meal plans vs flexible dieting and macro tracking

- How to structure off-plan meals without turning them into binge days

- Cardio, steps, NEAT, and increasing calorie expenditure

- PEDs, peptides, blood work, source testing, and health monitoring

- Why long-term consistency matters more than constantly changing your training or diet

Our Links:

Coach Kolt: https://linktr.ee/kolt45fitness

Kyle Affer: https://linktr.ee/KyleAffer

Chapters

00:00 Intro + Meet Kyle Affer

02:12 Psychological Hacks for Post-Diet Cravings

06:12 Why Weight Regain After a Diet Is Normal

09:44 The Mental Toll of Bodybuilding Prep

12:51 Reverse Dieting vs Jumping to Maintenance

15:33 Why You Need a Post-Diet Plan

19:43 Body Image, Body Checking & Social Media

27:47 Future Contest Prep & Getting Stage Lean

32:39 PEDs, Peptides & Bodybuilding Prep

42:01 Testing Gear, Blood Work & Health Monitoring

48:38 Meal Plans vs Flexible Dieting

55:28 How to Handle Off-Plan Meals

58:12 Cardio, Steps & Calorie Expenditure

1:02:30 The Key to Building Your Best Physique

1:08:49 Where to Find Kyle

In this episode of Anabolic Analysis, I sit down with IFBB Pro and coach Tyler Fluitt to break down what actually separates people who make long-term progress from those who stay stuck. We cover the biggest mistakes beginners, intermediates, and advanced lifters make, why overcomplicating training can slow you down, and how effort, consistency, and adherence drive most results.We also dive into dieting, reverse dieting, meal plans vs. macros, why people regain weight after successful diets, how to diagnose stalled progress, and why the “perfect” plan is useless if you cannot follow it. Tyler also shares lessons from competing, the mindset required to become an IFBB Pro, why off-seasons matter just as much as prep, and how coaching can save years of trial and error. Topics covered:Biggest mistakes beginners and intermediates makeWhy lifters overcomplicate trainingEffort vs. optimizationWhy progress stallsMeal plans vs. tracking macrosReverse dieting and preventing weight regainWhy adherence matters more than constantly changing the planHow coaching can accelerate progressBodybuilding prep vs. lifestyle dietingWhy the off-season matters so muchThe mindset required to become an IFBB ProHow to build your best physique over the next five yearsOur Links:Coach Kolt: ⁠https://linktr.ee/kolt45fitness⁠Tyler Fluitt / Level Up Physiques:⁠ levelupphysiques.net/bio⁠00:00 - Introduction00:24 - Tyler’s background and coaching experience02:04 - Biggest mistakes beginners make03:07 - Why beginners overcomplicate training04:46 - Why optimization becomes a trap06:19 - Mastering the fundamentals07:53 - Effort first, refinement later08:56 - Biggest mistakes intermediate lifters make10:21 - Staying open-minded without chasing every trend11:03 - Why progress slowing causes people to quit12:31 - Falling in love with the process15:34 - Lessons from coaching hundreds of people17:40 - How personal biases hold lifters back18:28 - When hiring a coach becomes valuable19:14 - Diet fads and the fundamentals of nutrition20:33 - Bulking too aggressively21:24 - Reverse dieting after a fat loss phase23:51 - Why your diet has to become a lifestyle24:58 - Recovering from off-plan meals25:25 - Treating fitness like saving money27:45 - Genetics, comparison, and assuming others have it easier30:25 - Coaching31:47 - Why progress stalls34:26 - You need good data to diagnose a plateau35:36 - Why you probably need better adherence, not a new plan36:45 - When coaches need to change the plan39:44 - Meal plans vs. tracking macros41:33 - Why meal plans can reduce tracking errors42:46 - Meal plans for beginners43:43 - Tyler’s hybrid meal-plan approach45:03 - How competitor diets differ48:19 - The mindset required for bodybuilding prep50:28 - Why the off-season is still part of prep52:20 - How Tyler changed his off-seasons54:06 - Acting like a pro before becoming one55:00 - Why competitive bodybuilding is uncomfortable57:57 - Best advice for the next five years58:08 - Commit to five years and invest in yourself1:01:20 - Why experienced coaches still hire coaches1:02:13 - Buying someone else’s mistakes1:05:10 - Coaching as the fast pass1:05:21 - Where to find Tyler

In this episode of Anabolic Analysis, I sit down with Dr. Tony Boutagy, a sports scientist and strength coach with 30+ years of experience and over 70,000 coaching sessions. We break down what actually drives fat loss, why calorie deficits stall, and how to adjust your diet without immediately slashing calories or adding more cardio.

We also dive into diet breaks and refeeds, low-carb vs. high-carb dieting, hidden calories, intra-workout carbs, fat loss supplements, GLP-1 medications, blood work, supplementation, scale weight fluctuations, and how training should change during a calorie deficit. Tony explains why harder training can sometimes make fat loss more difficult, when to increase activity instead of cutting food, and how to build a physique you can maintain for decades.

Topics covered:

Why fat loss plateaus happen
The hidden calories that erase your deficit
Diet breaks, refeeds, and nonlinear dieting
Can you diet fewer days and lose the same amount of fat?
Low-carb vs. high-carb diets for fat loss
Carbohydrates, glycogen, and muscle retention
Orange juice and intra-workout carbohydrates
Carbohydrate and caffeine mouth rinsing
How low dietary fat can realistically go
When low-carb diets actually make sense
Using blood work to guide supplementation
Omega-3s, magnesium, vitamin D, and multivitamins
Why most fat loss supplements do very little
Fat burning vs. actual fat loss
Fasted cardio and calorie compensation
Fiber and resistant starch for appetite control
Semaglutide, tirzepatide, and retatrutide
Who should consider GLP-1 medications?
Why scale weight fluctuates so much
How to stop obsessing over daily weigh-ins
When to cut calories vs. increase steps or cardio
How training should change during a calorie deficit
Why Zone 1 and Zone 2 cardio are useful for fat loss
How to build your best physique over the next five years

Our Links:

Coach Kolt: linktr.ee/kolt45fitness

Dr. Tony Boutagy: linktr.ee/tonyboutagy

00:00 - Introduction
00:23 - Tony’s background and 30+ years of coaching
01:05 - The worst fat loss advice that refuses to die
01:49 - Why people are still afraid of carbs
03:02 - Best intra-workout carb sources
05:11 - Carb mouth rinsing and performance
06:32 - How to diagnose a fat loss plateau
07:45 - Hidden calories that erase your deficit
09:50 - Cheat meals, free meals, and off-plan meals
10:12 - Diet breaks and refeeds
12:18 - Dieting 21 fewer days with the same fat loss
13:15 - Refeeds and metabolic adaptation
18:09 - Why low-carb diets may respond differently to refeeds
19:23 - Low-carb vs. low-fat dieting
22:22 - When low-carb diets make sense
24:39 - Omega-3s and blood testing
25:46 - Why blood work should guide supplements
26:51 - Supplements Tony commonly recommends
30:03 - Saffron and curcumin
32:02 - Do fat loss supplements actually work?
33:19 - Fat burning vs. fat loss
34:05 - Fasted cardio and resistant starch
36:33 - GLP-1 medications for fat loss
37:40 - Retatrutide and potential health effects
39:43 - Who should use GLP-1 medications?
40:26 - How to stop obsessing over the scale
43:56 - Water moves fast, fat moves slow
46:40 - Why harder workouts can backfire during a diet
47:40 - Cut calories or increase cardio?
49:23 - Building your best physique over five years
50:07 - Why lifters should stop ignoring cardio
51:29 - Where to find Dr. Tony Boutagy

In this episode of Anabolic Analysis, I sit down with Ella, aka Scientific Snitch. We break down how to actually interpret research without getting misled by abstracts, weak correlations, poor study design, or overconfident meta-analyses. From there, we dive into some of the biggest debates in evidence-based nutrition, including calorie surpluses, carbohydrate intake, intra-workout carbs, electrolytes, resistant starch, supplements, dietary fat, protein quality, and training intensity.

We also discuss why more supplements are not always better, how blood work can help guide supplementation, underrated foods for dieting, and why training hard may matter far more than obsessing over small nutritional details.

• The biggest mistakes people make when interpreting research
• Why methods and statistics matter more than the abstract
• How to judge correlations, sample sizes, and meta-analyses
• Whether a calorie surplus is actually necessary for muscle growth
• Why carbohydrate research is still surprisingly limited
• Pre-workout and intra-workout carbohydrate timing
• Glucose, fructose, and carbohydrate mouth rinsing
• When electrolytes are actually useful
• Problems with the modern supplement industry
• Heavy metals, peptides, and poorly regulated supplements
• Which supplements may actually be worth taking
• Why blood work should guide supplementation
• Asian-market foods that make dieting easier
• Resistant starch and cooking, cooling, and reheating carbs
• Underrated high-protein foods for dieting
• Plant vs. animal protein for hypertrophy
• How low can dietary fat realistically go?
• Omega-3s, omega-6s, and testosterone
• Why training intensity may matter more than almost everything else

Our Links:

Coach Kolt: https://linktr.ee/kolt45fitness

Scientific Snitch (Ella): https://linktr.ee/scientificsnitch

00:00 - Do you actually need a calorie surplus?
00:17 - Introduction
00:42 - Ella’s research background
01:46 - Common mistakes when interpreting research
03:05 - Why understanding statistics matters
05:09 - The problem with blindly trusting meta-analyses
07:29 - How to judge the quality of a study
10:14 - Is a calorie surplus necessary for muscle growth?
11:50 - What nutrition research desperately needs
13:30 - Fasted vs. fed resistance training
14:22 - Are intra-workout carbs worth using?
16:39 - Carbohydrate mouth rinsing and CNS fatigue
19:10 - Glucose vs. fructose intra-workout
22:13 - Ella’s intra-workout setup
22:28 - Do you need electrolytes during training?
26:03 - Supplements that are overhyped
27:41 - Peptides, contamination, and third-party testing
28:49 - Supplements Ella actually uses
29:39 - Increasing vitamin D in mushrooms
30:57 - Why Asian markets are a dieting cheat code
32:10 - Kelp noodles, shirataki noodles, and bok choy
34:47 - Resistant starch explained
37:31 - How cooling and reheating rice changes resistant starch
39:27 - Underrated diet foods
40:10 - Why pork tenderloin is so underrated
42:13 - Plant vs. animal protein
44:07 - Iron intake and supplementation
46:08 - Why blindly supplementing can backfire
48:00 - Vitamin A, liver, and fat-soluble vitamins
51:30 - Which supplements are actually worth taking?
52:18 - Creatine dosing and cognitive benefits
54:09 - Vitamin D and magnesium
56:39 - Omega-3s and fish oil
57:55 - Do low-fat diets lower testosterone?
01:01:23 - Calories, dietary fat, and testosterone
01:04:06 - How low should fat intake go?
01:07:01 - How to build your best physique over five years
01:09:50 - Why training intensity is underrated
01:10:58 - Training to failure and reps in reserve
01:13:39 - What Ella is currently experimenting with
01:14:25 - Cardio before lifting
01:15:20 - Where to find Ella

In this episode of Anabolic Analysis, I sit down with Jackson, aka Scientifically Jacked, to break down the variables that actually drive hypertrophy and where the science-based lifting community may be overcomplicating things.

We discuss training frequency, volume, intensity, exercise selection, biomechanics, lengthened training, neuromechanical matching, full-body training, exercise order, injury risk, and why copying the programs of elite bodybuilders rarely makes sense for the average lifter.

We also get into the limitations of using mechanisms to dictate training, why individual anatomy matters when choosing exercises, whether you need a calorie surplus to build muscle, and why simply staying consistent for five years will put you ahead of almost everyone.

• How much volume you actually need to build muscle
• Why frequency may matter more than adding more sets
• Building an effective program from scratch
• Whether traps and rear delts need direct isolation
• How to choose the best exercises for your anatomy
• Stability, resistance profiles, and exercise selection
• Neuromechanical matching vs. length-tension relationships
• Lengthened partials vs. full-range training
• Exercise order, injury risk, and long-term progression

Our Links:

Coach Kolt: https://linktr.ee/kolt45fitness

Scientifically Jacked (Jackson): https://linktr.ee/ScientificallyJacked

00:00 - Introduction
01:19 - Jackson’s current full-body training split
03:16 - Do different muscles need different frequencies?
04:53 - Frequency, intensity, and volume for hypertrophy
06:38 - Why one hard set can be incredibly effective
08:07 - How little training can you get away with?
09:55 - Genetics, steroids, and unrealistic expectations
13:20 - Why steroids cause so much muscle growth
16:48 - Building a beginner hypertrophy program
19:40 - Do you need to isolate traps and rear delts?
22:23 - Individualizing training around your physique
24:55 - Why you shouldn’t copy a bodybuilder’s program
27:28 - How to choose the best exercise for a muscle
32:10 - Why machines don’t fit everyone
34:53 - The problem with “best” and “worst” exercises
37:29 - A practical framework for exercise selection
39:29 - Do resistance profiles actually matter?
40:35 - Is neuromechanical matching dead?
46:12 - Length-tension relationships and exercise selection
49:59 - Why long-muscle-length training may work
53:55 - Lengthened partials vs. full range of motion
58:10 - Strict form, cheat reps, and tracking progression
01:02:25 - Should compounds or isolations come first?
01:08:11 - When anecdotes are actually useful
01:11:13 - What Jackson has changed his mind about
01:13:03 - Do you need to bulk to build muscle?
01:15:15 - Jackson’s hottest take
01:17:49 - How to build your best physique over five years

In this episode of Anabolic Analysis, I sit down with author of the ISSN position stand on dieting, and pioneer of the evidence-based fitness movement, Alan Aragon to break down some of the biggest debates in training and sports nutrition.

We discuss Alan's current training, training to failure versus leaving reps in reserve, how many carbs and fats you need for hypertrophy, and why the commonly cited 1.6 g/kg protein target probably is not the ceiling for maximizing muscle growth.

We also dive deep into the calorie surplus debate. Do you actually need to bulk to maximize muscle growth? If so, how large should the surplus be, and can you minimize fat gain while still maximizing progress?

Finally, Alan shares several things he has changed his mind about, his best advice for building your physique over the next five years, and what he is currently experimenting with in his own training.

• Training to failure vs. reps in reserve
• How many carbs you need for hypertrophy
• Minimum dietary fat intake
• Why 1.6 g/kg of protein may not maximize gains
• Protein vs. carbs for additional calories
• Limitations of hypertrophy research
• Whether you need a calorie surplus to maximize muscle growth
• How large a muscle-building surplus should be
• Realistic rates of natural muscle growth
• Alan's thoughts on rep ranges, drop sets, and cluster sets

Our Links:

Coach Kolt: https://linktr.ee/kolt45fitness

Alan Aragon: AlanAragon.com
FitAdvancement.com

00:00 - Is 1.6 g/kg of protein enough?
00:35 - Who is Alan Aragon?
03:18 - Alan's current training
06:50 - Training to failure
10:22 - How accurate is RIR?
20:33 - Carbs for maximizing hypertrophy
24:49 - How much fat do you need?
30:49 - The protein ceiling debate
32:04 - Benefits above 1.6 g/kg
36:09 - DEXA, glycogen, and lean mass
40:18 - Problems with hypertrophy research
45:26 - Protein vs. carbs
46:15 - Is 1 g/lb the better protein target?
48:26 - What Alan has changed his mind about
49:45 - The real hypertrophy rep range
55:36 - Alan's best advice for building muscle
57:05 - Drop sets and cluster sets
59:27 - Do you need a calorie surplus?
1:02:03 - Small vs. large surpluses
1:05:37 - Hard gainers and larger surpluses
1:08:31 - Who can gain muscle without bulking?
1:09:48 - How big should your surplus be?
1:13:55 - How long does muscle growth take?
1:19:28 - Where to find Alan

In this episode, Kolt speaks with King Deltoids, aka Braden, an exercise science student and bodybuilding content creator, about what actually matters in contest prep, muscle gain, and physique development. They cover high protein dieting in a steep deficit, whether you can build muscle while cutting, and the long running debate over needing a surplus to maximize hypertrophy. Along the way, they also dig into fatigue, failure, body fat levels, and why so much fitness advice breaks down once people try to apply it outside the lab.

Key topics

• Braden’s current prep setup
• How he structures full body training
• Protein intake during a deficit
• Fat intake stays at a minimum
• Why higher protein may matter more in harder deficits
• Protein is harder to store as fat
• Can you maximize hypertrophy in a deficit?
• The surplus debate
• How body fat level changes the recommendation
• Why a huge bulk is usually unnecessary
• Why body composition claims often get exaggerated
• Training failure, fatigue, and the brain
• Best advice for physique progress

Social Media Links:

Coach Kolt: https://linktr.ee/kolt45fitness

Braedon (King Deltoids): https://www.instagram.com/king_deltoids/

Timestamps

00:00 - Guest introduction and what King Deltoids studies and posts about
01:12 - Why full body every other day is working in a hard contest-prep deficit
02:28 - Prep timeline and how Braden sets calories on training and rest days
03:31 - Protein targets in the cut and why he aims around 1 gram per pound
04:11 - Why fats stay around 40 grams and the hormone-related minimum
05:22 - Research on protein retention in trained lifters during deficits
07:39 - Why enhanced lifters and natural lifters cannot use the same nutrition logic
09:12 - Why severe deficits create a different physiological problem than normal cuts
10:13 - Satiety, thermic effect of food, and why protein is not always magically more filling
12:24 - Why protein is inefficient to store as fat
13:46 - High-protein overfeeding studies and what they suggest mechanistically
15:17 - Practical protein advice for naturals in a deficit
17:32 - Setting up the bulking and maintenance debate
19:00 - Why “main gaining” is mostly a body-fat management question
21:09 - Where recomp stops being realistic for different individuals
22:51 - Why population-level body-fat data and BMI create confusion
25:11 - Why gaining body fat is not the same thing as maximizing muscle gain
26:52 - Can you maximize hypertrophy in a deficit?
28:35 - Why lean body mass loss in studies does not always mean contractile tissue loss
29:43 - Practical deficit ranges for people who want to gain muscle while cutting
32:40 - Why higher body fat lets you use a bigger deficit without losing growth potential
34:28 - When the goal shifts from recomposition to faster fat loss
35:55 - Why surplus arguments often confuse fat gain with muscle gain
39:30 - New hypertrophy meta-analysis and what diminishing returns look like over time
43:54 - Why very large surpluses are usually unnecessary
46:23 - Time-restricted eating in a surplus and what happened to body weight
50:14 - Why more calories did not automatically mean more muscle
55:49 - Hormone changes, IGF-1, and why small fluctuations do not prove much
59:41 - What Braden has changed his mind about over time
63:02 - His hottest take on failure and why he thinks the brain is the limiter
68:19 - Best advice for building a physique over the next five years
71:32 - What Braden is currently experimenting with in training and dieting