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Machines or Free Weights, When Does Your Choice Matter?

The Strength Log

Release Date: 04/04/2024

How Do You Bench Press 200 kg? New Mailbag! show art How Do You Bench Press 200 kg? New Mailbag!

The Strength Log

We have a great episode for you today, powered by awesome listener questions! How about planning the road from a 100 kg to a 200 kg bench press? Or what about active recovery, is it really a thing to sweat about? Ten questions, all in all. See the timestamps below. Timestamps: 05:10 – Question 1: How would you plan the road from a 100 kg to a 200 kg PR in the bench press? Roughly! 15:50 – Question 2: What is active recovery, and does it work? 20:10 – Question 3: My feed is overflowing with videos about how important it is for us stiff-necked office gnomes to train the hip flexors, but...

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The Overhead Press – Best Practices for Success show art The Overhead Press – Best Practices for Success

The Strength Log

The (also known as a shoulder press or a military press) is one of the most popular barbell lifts in gyms all over the world. But it’s also a lift many people struggle with, ultimately abandoning it in favor of the bench press. So, how do you become a strong, successful ? In this episode, we’ll break down the best practice technique, look into some small details that might make a big difference, and talk about the most common questions people have about this beautiful lift! *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that follow...

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How to Choose the Right Training Program show art How to Choose the Right Training Program

The Strength Log

One of the biggest mistakes you can make in your training is not following a . Today, we’re discussing why this is the case and how to find the right workout routine for you! There are many factors you might consider when picking a training program. We run through the following and give you our opinion on how much they actually matter: Your age. Your sex. How strong you are. Your training goals. Your experience level. How you train today. Will you enjoy the new program? How many days can you train weekly, and for how long each time? We finish the episode by answering two listener...

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Squats vs Hip Thrusts for Booty Gains and Performance show art Squats vs Hip Thrusts for Booty Gains and Performance

The Strength Log

Which exercise is better for building your glutes and quadriceps, the or the ? And which is better for improving your jumping and sprinting performance?  Today, we're discussing a new study that looked into these questions. And we follow that up by answering the following listener questions on hip thrusts versus squats: Why do training discussions always seem to be either or, never both? If I'm only gonna do one of them for a big beautiful butt, which one? Is it productive to do both in the same workout? I don't like hip thrusts. What is the best foot position to make squats hit the...

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Get Big to Get Strong show art Get Big to Get Strong

The Strength Log

If you want to become really strong, you’ll also need to . But how much does your muscle mass correlate with your strength levels? And how should you train to optimize either one? This is a fascinating topic. To kick things off we have a new study examining the correlation between chest muscle thickness and bench press 1RM. Yes, yes, we know. Every person who confuses correlation with causation ends up dying. But hear us out! To broaden the discussion, we also answer a bunch of great questions from you guys and gals. *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in...

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Is More Training Always Better? show art Is More Training Always Better?

The Strength Log

should you do weekly for the biggest and fastest gains in strength and muscle size? How ? Is the sky the limit, where more training always leads to more muscle growth? Today, we cover a new meta-study that hints at what the upper limits of muscle growth, strength gains, and training frequency might be. *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that subscribe button! You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at , and Philip at . Become a part of . *** This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden. To...

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How Long Can You Be in a Caloric Deficit? Mailbag! show art How Long Can You Be in a Caloric Deficit? Mailbag!

The Strength Log

In the , we established that you can —even if you’re not a beginner in the gym. Let’s follow that up with a bunch of great questions on the same topic, sent in by our fantastic listeners! Timestamps: 05:50 – Question 1: I'm trying to be in a caloric deficit to lose body fat and lower my body fat percentage. How long can you be in a deficit of around 500-800 calories daily before the effect diminishes? Does the metabolism decrease by a lot? 12:00 – Question 2: How would you structure your strength training during a caloric deficit? 17:00 – Question 3: How much does muscle mass...

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Build Muscle While Losing Fat! show art Build Muscle While Losing Fat!

The Strength Log

We’ve already done three episodes on fat loss (see episodes , , and ). Now it’s time to tackle the holy grail: ! Most know that this is quite easy for overweight beginners. But what about the rest of us? Can it even be done without cycles of bulking and cutting? Let’s discuss it! To help guide us, we will also answer a handful of questions on the topic from you guys. *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that subscribe button! You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at , and Philip at . Become a part of ....

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How Often Should You Change Exercises? show art How Often Should You Change Exercises?

The Strength Log

Do you gain more muscle and strength when you change your exercises regularly, or can you keep doing the same ones all the time? That’s the topic for today, and to kick the discussion off we have on this subject! The researchers wanted to see if varying exercises (for the same muscle group) are superior to just doing the same exercises all the time, and recruited 90 untrained women to do so. The results? Expected and surprising at the same time! *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that subscribe button! You can also follow us...

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Mailbag: Your Best Questions on Arm Training! show art Mailbag: Your Best Questions on Arm Training!

The Strength Log

It’s time to wrap up the mini-series on training for bigger arms, with your best questions on how to succeed. Should you, for instance, train your arms daily for better gains? And how do you train if one of your arms is in a cast because it’s broken? You guys had so many good questions today! See the timestamps below. And don’t miss the last one, where we discuss muscle asymmetry between the left and right arm. Having one arm that’s bigger and stronger than the other one, is quite a common worry out there … Timestamps: 03:15—Question 1: Is it counterproductive to train arms every...

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More Episodes

Free weights are the superior choice at the gym, says many people. Barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, and such are much more natural and functional! Don’t waste your time sucking up to the machines!

But wait! Don’t use free weights, you’ll hurt yourself! Use machines instead, they are much safer and more efficient for building your muscles and strength! Says others*.

Free weights vs machines: the eternal debate amongst gym bros and sisters. 

Today, we’re here to settle this debate.

What does the science say? Can we clearly say one option is better than the other, no matter if you’re training for strength, bodybuilding, sports, or just the health benefits of lifting heavy stuff?

We finish the episode with a handful of questions from our listeners. If you want to be able to ask us questions in the future, check out StrengthLog Community on Facebook.

After a four-week hiatus (i.e., sick leave), The Strength Log podcast is finally back! 

*Skynet

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Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that subscribe button!

You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam.

Become a part of our community on Facebook here.

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This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden.

To support us, download our gym workout tracker app StrengthLog. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.