Sooner or later, everyone hits a plateau where gains come slower or grind to a halt altogether. That can be very frustrating and lead to a vicious circle where you get less motivated to put in the effort needed to progress. Let’s take a look at our top five reasons why you’re not gaining muscle … Read more
Key Points: *** As soon as you put down the barbell after your last set, you should jump to your protein shake and chug it. Right? Not so fast, my muscled friend. The advice to consume protein after lifting weights is definitely a sound one. But how important is it to do it fast? Does … Read more
Today we’ve got a question on protein needs, from Stefan in Sweden. He writes: “If I understand correctly, protein intake is often mentioned in terms of grams of protein per kilo of bodyweight, for instance 2 grams per kilo. Wouldn’t fat-free mass be a more relevant metric, since a person at 80 kilos would have … Read more
A few days ago, we received a great question from a reader named Emma: “I am 14 years old, and I have decided to start strength training in a few months. I wonder if I have to follow a meal plan to build muscle, like bicep and tricep?” I answer this question in the video … Read more
Coconut oil has become more and more popular over the last decade, often being hailed as having a number of beneficial health effects. Claims that coconut oil can decrease cardiovascular disease risk, improve weight loss, and even protect against diseases like Alzheimer’s abound. A new meta-analysis takes a look at the scientific evidence behind these … Read more
Beetroot juice can improve endurance efficiency in athletes, leading to better performance at many distances. It also increases time to exhaustion, and improves intermittent high-intensity performance. Research on the effects on strength training performance is lacking. However, a new study shows that you might also improve your bench press performance by chugging down a bottle … Read more
Let’s talk bodybuilding! When you’re on stage showing off the physique you have trained and dieted so hard for so long to attain, you obviously want to impress the judges by looking the best you can at that very moment. Not only does this require you to be lean enough, you also want your muscles … Read more
Do you think we know everything about protein and how your body uses it to build muscle? Then you are sorely mistaken. We probably don’t know much at all. For example, we don’t know how long a certain amount of protein builds new muscle mass. Add all the various protein sources in a regular diet, … Read more
Do male and female athletes have different calorie requirements? The answer is no. A new study compared the resting metabolic rate between sexes in college athletes using indirect calorimetry. The researchers also measured the fat mass and fat-free mass of the subjects using air displacement plethysmography. ADP is a method of measuring body composition based … Read more