The Strength Log

Learn about strength training, fitness, weightlifting and health from the Strength Log podcast. Your hosts, Daniel Richter and Philip Wildenstam, are two Swedes with decades of experience in the gym, as well as reading and translating science into understandable insights for anyone looking to gain a better understanding of how to reach their fitness goals. To support the show, download the StrengthLog workout tracker app for free from Apple's App Store or Google Play today!

Results from Maxing out in the Bench Press Every Day 04/21/2025

Signs You Might Be Ego Lifting – New Mailbag! 04/14/2025

Signs You Might Be Ego Lifting – New Mailbag! Which is best if you want to ? How do you know if you are applying progressive overload and pushing yourself, or just ego lifting? And what’s the point of accessory exercises? We collected ten questions from and , to create a really interesting and fun episode for you today. See the timestamps below for all questions. Timestamps: 02:30 - Question 1: What old-school strength training practice has been discredited by research, but you still sort of believe and/or practice? Even though you know it’s not evidence-based? 05:50 - Question 2: What exercises do you feel guilty about not doing because you never really want to? 12:55 - Question 3: If you could go down a weight class in powerlifting but don't want to lose too much strength, how would you plan to lose around 5 kg from now until a competition in September? 15:30 - Question 4: Are there any disadvantages to using a belt when deadlifting with lighter weights? 19:00 - Question 5: What is the best way to maintain a diet that provides a caloric deficit and, at the same time, helps me avoid being hungry? And how should I think about calories from fruits? 23:30 - Question 6: I've started to feel a slight pain in the front of my shoulder after doing dumbbell presses, rows, and military presses. Any tips on how I can adjust my technique or training to prevent this? 27:20 - Question 7: We know sleep is great for recovery, but do you have any tips and tricks for someone who has trouble falling asleep? 31:10 - Question 8: Is there any risk of wearing down or damaging your teeth while doing heavy lifts repeatedly week after week and year after year, often biting down hard? 34:25 - Question 9: How do you know if you are truly applying progressive overload and pushing yourself, or just ego lifting? 38:00 - Question 10: How important are accessory lifts really? If the goal is strength, what is the benefit of putting together a workout with both bench press and dumbbell press, plus isolation exercises for the arms and shoulders, for example? *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that follow 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 support us, download . 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. If you want a t-shirt with ”Train hard, eat well, die anyway”, . /episode/index/show/strengthlog/id/36048925

You Should Do More Than One Type of Bicep Curl 04/06/2025

Why Cycle between Bulking and Cutting? 03/31/2025

Does Slow Lifting Boost Muscle Growth? 03/24/2025

Will Late-Night Carbs Make You Fat? 03/17/2025

Cardio or Strength Training for Fat Loss and Health? 03/10/2025

How to Deal with Plateaus in Your Training – New Mailbag 03/03/2025

How to Deal with Plateaus in Your Training – New Mailbag How can you measure progress without testing your 1RMs? How do you best deal with plateaus in your training? And what do we think about low-volume, high-intensity training for muscle hypertrophy? The first mailbag of the year is here, and it’s a good one! Read the timestamps below for every listener question we answered. Timestamps: 01:45 - What’s your best tip to mentally handle periods without progress (in both strength and physique) for intermediate lifters? 08:00 - What are the most overlooked features in that you would like more people to know about? 14:10 - My current PR is 135kg, but last week I had a great workout and did 10x10 with 100 kg in under 45 minutes. How much do you think I can bench press now if I shoot for a new PR? 19:45 - How would your training be different if you got paid for being in the gym? 23:40 - How can I measure progress without testing my ? 27:15 - Is cuing straight wrists during the bench press misunderstood, over-, or underrated? Personally, I’ve recently had much greater success with a slight bend in my wrists. 31:25 - If you could choose one (and only one) behavior that would immediately be eliminated from public gyms, what would that be? 34:40 - The 80/20 rule! What are the major things to focus on when it comes to exercise frequency, volume, intensity, recovery, and diet that you should think of, and what are the things that people focus on that only have a small effect in relation to the effort? 41:10 - If you could remove one rule or thing from powerlifting, what would it be? I personally would remove the "press" signal. Or . 47:10 - Thoughts on low-volume, high-intensity training for muscle hypertrophy? *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that follow 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 support us, download . 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. If you want a t-shirt with ”Train hard, eat well, die anyway”, . /episode/index/show/strengthlog/id/35479595

Do You Benefit from Carbs during Workouts? 02/24/2025

Best Ways to Save Time in the Gym 02/17/2025

Your Training Journey from Beginner to Advanced 02/10/2025

Weight Loss from Exercise: A Myth? 02/03/2025

How Many Calories Do You Burn Lifting Weights? 01/27/2025

Are Unilateral Exercises Superior to Bilateral? 01/20/2025

Common Beginner Questions About Strength Training 01/13/2025

Ten Things Every Beginner Should Know 01/06/2025

How to Set Goals (and Reach Them) 12/30/2024

How Do You Bench Press 200 kg? New Mailbag! 12/23/2024

How Do You Bench Press 200 kg? New Mailbag! 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 I can't remember even hearing the word hip flexors from you guys … Is this something you need to worry about, and if so how? 24:10 – Question 4: Alternating dumbbell curls or both arms simultaneously? Which is more disco, and how much sweating the details is it to care about the difference? 29:00 – Question 5: If you can't or don't want to strength train more than 90 minutes a week spread over 2-3 sessions, and don't have higher ambitions than to bench your body weight, deadlift twice that, and squat somewhere in between, is there any reason to go beyond a beginner's program? 35:00 – Question 6: Do you have a training program that you return to again and again? 37:50 – Question 7: I have a question about the set point theory, meaning if you lose weight, the body wants to try to restore it, restoring what you once weighed. But if you lose weight and then put on muscle mass until you reach the original weight, is the body "satisfied" then? Or is it more connected with the amount of body fat, so if the body finds its way back to the "status quo" + the new muscle mass, it results in a higher new total weight? 43:00 – Question 8: I want to get brutally strong in dips. I currently train 1-2 times a week, practicing handstands and freestanding handstand push-ups. I see some OK results, but I feel that I could improve more if I were properly structured. I’ve been using the app since 2019, and before I started training calisthenics, I pushed my bench press PR around +20kg with Benchpress Boogie, and similar in squats and deadlifts. I know that your programs work well for me, and I miss the structure they gave me. Do you have any tips? 47:00 – Question 9: What sets do you count as warm-up? I use your app, and, for instance, if my program says 5x5 for the first exercise I usually do like 5-6 sets with 6-12 reps building up to that weight, but the two final sets are fairly tough. Should I log those sets as warm-up or working sets? Ps. The total weight for the workout is not unimportant for my satisfaction 51:00 – Question 10: What is the biceps circumference at which you don't have to quote studies anymore, and can just drop truth bombs instead? *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that follow 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 support us, download . 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. If you want a t-shirt with ”Train hard, eat well, die anyway”, . /episode/index/show/strengthlog/id/34428270

The Overhead Press – Best Practices for Success 12/16/2024

How to Choose the Right Training Program 12/09/2024

Squats vs Hip Thrusts for Booty Gains and Performance 12/02/2024

Get Big to Get Strong 11/25/2024

Is More Training Always Better? 11/18/2024

How Long Can You Be in a Caloric Deficit? Mailbag! 11/11/2024

How Long Can You Be in a Caloric Deficit? Mailbag! 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 affect caloric needs? Can you increase your resting metabolic rate if you build bigger muscles? 21:00 – Question 4: How big of a caloric surplus should you be on to build muscle? When does the surplus become unnecessarily big? 26:00 – Question 5: If I recall correctly, you mentioned in an earlier episode that you should eat the amount of protein appropriate for your target weight when on a diet. This means that if I weigh 100 kg and want to drop down to 80 kg, and I want to eat 2 g protein/kg, I should count my protein need using 80 kg and not 100 kg. Will I lose more muscle mass if I do that compared to if I would have counted using 100 kg? 30:30 – Question 6: I strength train 3-4 days per week, and on the 5th day, I started doing kickboxing cardo, which usually burns around 1,000 calories in an hour. On the kickboxing days, I end up in quite the caloric deficit compared to the rest of the week, where I eat to a maintenance level of around 2,400 calories. My question is: should I make it a point to replace those extra 1,000 calories I burn from kickboxing in order to maintain my muscle growth, or is it not such a big deal since it is just one day a week? *** 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 support us, download . 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. If you want a t-shirt with ”Train hard, eat well, die anyway”, . /episode/index/show/strengthlog/id/33846227

Build Muscle While Losing Fat! 11/04/2024

How Often Should You Change Exercises? 10/28/2024

Mailbag: Your Best Questions on Arm Training! 10/21/2024

Mailbag: Your Best Questions on Arm Training! 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 day? By that, I mean to train them hard and with high volume—not just a few reps after the regular training. Some believe that it is not possible to overtrain the arms. 09:30 – Questions 2 & 3: What has more visual impact, big biceps or big triceps? And how much of a difference do the shoulders make for the appearance of the arms? 12:25 – Question 4: Please give us some fun and effective exercises for the forearms! 17:50 – Question 5: Is it possible to train your arm to prevent tearing the bicep tendon while deadlifting? 22:00 – Question 6: How should you train if you have a broken arm? 26:40 – Question 7: When doing overhead triceps extensions I get a cramp in my left rotator cuff. Is that because of mobility issues, and will it disappear if I just continue doing this movement? 30:30 – Question 8: What is the best exercise method to increase 1RM in barbell bicep curls? 35:50 – Question 9: I’m 79 years old and I have, against all odds, managed to build substantial biceps and triceps muscles after 5 years of strength training. The problem is that I got bigger muscles in my left arm. I’m right-handed and can handle more with that arm. Should I do more reps with the right arm to trigger those muscles more? *** 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 support us, download . 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. If you want a t-shirt with ”Train hard, eat well, die anyway”, . /episode/index/show/strengthlog/id/33512047

How to Train for Thicc Triceps 10/14/2024

How to Build Big Biceps 10/07/2024

Is Your Physique Balanced Enough? Listener Questions! 09/30/2024

Is Your Physique Balanced Enough? Listener Questions! Wow, you guys and gals really sent in a bunch of great listener questions today. Thank you for making this podcast both informative and fun! How about talking about the concept of progressive overload for older lifters? Or about the often-claimed importance of having a balanced physique to avoid injuries? See the timestamps below for all listener questions. Also, we have merch now! Check out for t-shirts and coffee cups. We’ll add more products and prints soon. Timestamps: 02:10 – Question 1: Is it too long between workouts if I only do full-body workouts every fifth day? 06:45 – Question 2: If I’m never going to compete in powerlifting, should I use a lifting belt anyway? 11:45 – Question 3: How do I know if my physique is balanced enough? 17:10 – Question 4: How do I recover from acute low back pain (lumbago) as fast as possible? 23:10 – Question 5: How do I count my working sets? 26:00 – Question 6: I have a little ribbon of fat just below my belly button that I’ve been trying to get rid of. I’m 74 years old I go to the gym six days a week and I train an hour to an hour and a half every day. 30:10 – Question 7: How do I adjust progressive overload goals when my body is naturally slowly declining because it’s aging? 36:00 – Question 8: How important is it to refill with electrolytes after a workout? 38:40 – Question 9: I drink a full pot of coffee during my workouts. Am I stupid? *** 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 support us, download . 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. If you want a t-shirt with ”Train hard, eat well, die anyway”, . /episode/index/show/strengthlog/id/33229802

The Strength Log

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