Weights and Plates Podcast
Starting Strength Coach and Registered Dietitian Robert Santana shares his knowledge of all things diet, training, barbells, and more.
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#98 - The Shocking Truth About Gaining Muscle (No One Tells You This)
06/27/2025
#98 - The Shocking Truth About Gaining Muscle (No One Tells You This)
In this episode of the Weights & Plates Podcast, Robert Santana is joined by strength coach Gretchen Geist to break down the biggest misconceptions in the gym. They dive into why most people confuse exercise with actual training, the problem with group classes and light weights, and how real strength training impacts bone density, muscle growth, and long-term health. They also discuss why genetics matter more than people want to admit, what most personal trainers get completely wrong, and why compound barbell lifts should be a non-negotiable for anyone serious about improving their body and their health. If you're tired of spinning your wheels in the gym, or you're a coach trying to educate your clients, this one’s for you. Follow Weights & Plates YouTube: Instagram: @the_robert_santana Rumble: Web:
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#97 - Barbells Work. Your Instagram Workout Doesn’t
06/13/2025
#97 - Barbells Work. Your Instagram Workout Doesn’t
In this episode of the Weights and Plates Podcast, Robert Santana gets real about what lifting weights actually does for your body—and what it doesn’t. He breaks down the difference between training for strength and chasing aesthetics, why most people misunderstand barbell training, and how steroids and genetics skew expectations. Whether you’re a beginner confused by conflicting advice or a coach trying to get clients under the bar, this episode is a deep, no-BS look at what matters, what doesn’t, and how to train for the long haul. Follow Weights & Plates YouTube: Instagram: @the_robert_santana Rumble: Web:
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#96 - The Secret To Looking Like You Lift
04/28/2025
#96 - The Secret To Looking Like You Lift
Starting Strength Coach Robert Santana talks about how everyone looks different when they train, why that is, why squatting, deadlifting, bench press will help you gain long-term strength, and how to evaluate coaches and trainers. https://weightsandplates.com/online-coaching/ Follow Weights & Plates YouTube: Instagram: @the_robert_santana Rumble: Web: https://weightsandplates.com
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#95 - Getting Stronger Makes Everything Better
03/28/2025
#95 - Getting Stronger Makes Everything Better
Starting Strength Coach Robert Santana talks about how getting stronger helps you achieve every fitness goal, bodybuilding vs powerlifting vs starting strength, novices, and more. Follow Weights & Plates YouTube: Instagram: @the_robert_santana Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/weightsandplates Web:
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#94 - How To ACTUALLY Build Muscle | Hari Fafutis, SSC
03/15/2025
#94 - How To ACTUALLY Build Muscle | Hari Fafutis, SSC
Hari Fafutis, SSC joins the show to talk about doing the Starting Strength Linear Progression, gaining weight, building big arms, and more. Follow Weights & Plates YouTube: Instagram: @the_robert_santana Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/weightsandplates Web: Hari's Instagram: @harifafutis
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#93 - Training Like An Athlete v.s. Recreational Lifters
02/28/2025
#93 - Training Like An Athlete v.s. Recreational Lifters
Jesse Vezina joins the show to talk weightlifting, training like an athlete, the trade-offs of pushing your limits, coaching, and more. Follow Weights & Plates YouTube: Instagram: @the_robert_santana Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/weightsandplates Web:
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#92 - The Globo Gym To Starting Strength
02/14/2025
#92 - The Globo Gym To Starting Strength
Coach and RDN Juliette Gonzalez joins Robert Santana to discuss her fitness journey from Globo Gyms to Starting Strength, becoming a dietician, working as a coach, beauty standards, and more. Follow Weights & Plates YouTube: Instagram: @the_robert_santana Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/weightsandplates Web:
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#91 - Truth About Upper Body Training
01/31/2025
#91 - Truth About Upper Body Training
In this episode, Robert Santana talks about programming for your upper body and how it differs from lower body training. Follow Weights & Plates YouTube: Instagram: @the_robert_santana Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/weightsandplates Web:
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#90 - From Crossfit To Starting Strength Coach | Gretchen Geist SSC
01/17/2025
#90 - From Crossfit To Starting Strength Coach | Gretchen Geist SSC
In this episode, Robert Santana sits down with Gretchen Geist to talk about her fitness journey, how she went from doing Crossfit to Starting Strength, becoming a coach, and exaggerated expectations in the fitness industry. Follow Weights & Plates YouTube: Instagram: @the_robert_santana Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/weightsandplates Web: Follow Gretchen on Instagram: @sofechsogretch
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#89 - New Year, New Goals: Removing Your Limitations
01/01/2025
#89 - New Year, New Goals: Removing Your Limitations
Online Diet Coaching and Strength Training with Dr. Robert Santana Follow Weights & Plates YouTube: Instagram: Rumble: Web: Coach Trent Trent Jones: Email:
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#88 - It's Time to Rethink Body Fat
12/18/2024
#88 - It's Time to Rethink Body Fat
Many people (most?) get into fitness because they want to look better. At least, that's a primary reason. It's a worthwhile goal -- looking better is a gateway drug to performing better after all, becuase your performance (i.e. your strength and conditioning) drives your body composition. There is a big breakdown in what many people perceive as the ideal or even just good body composition, however, and what is realistically achievable for the average person without PEDs. Social media and pop culture has warped people's idea of what a good physique looks like, and what healthy body fat percentages look like on strong, muscular men and women. In today's episode, Dr. Santana and Coach Trent attempt to rebalance the scales of body composition, and point out that strong, functional men and women don't have to be (and shouldn't be) lean and ripped to be healthy. Online Diet Coaching and Strength Training with Dr. Robert Santana Follow Weights & Plates YouTube: Instagram: Rumble: Web: Coach Trent Trent Jones: Email:
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#87 - Thanksgiving: Time to Gain or Restrain?
11/26/2024
#87 - Thanksgiving: Time to Gain or Restrain?
It's that time of the year again, the uniquely American feast that is Thanksgiving. It's a time of feasting and festivities, but for a lot of people the feasting doesn't end when the holiday is over... it extends over the next five weeks until the end of the year. As Dr. Santana points out, there is some research that shows people tend to gain a few pounds over the holidays, then go back to eating at maintenance in the new year. They end up a few pounds heavier, however, and don't lose it, then repeat the process again the next year, and the next. This checks out with practical experience. Most people get fat fairly slowly, over time. If you don't want to be a statistic, Dr. Santana and Coach Trent offer a few strategies for planning your eating during Thanksgiving and holiday season. Having a basic plan can help you enjoy the holiday without blowing up your goals. And for you skinny, underweight lifters out there... this can be a great time of the year to kickstart your gains! Put on 5-10lbs, and watch your lifts take off. Online Diet Coaching and Strength Training with Dr. Robert Santana Follow Weights & Plates YouTube: Instagram: Rumble: Web: Coach Trent Trent Jones: Email:
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#86 - The Rep Before the Set: Don't Make The Biggest Setup Mistake
11/06/2024
#86 - The Rep Before the Set: Don't Make The Biggest Setup Mistake
In today's episode, Dr. Santana and Coach Trent discuss a common mistake lifters make before they begin a set -- the unrack. As Coach Trent says, the set doesn't begin when you descend into your first rep, the set begins when you step on the platform. Getting your mindset right, visualizing a successful set, and unracking the bar with authority and controlled aggression is oftentimes the difference between a successful set and missed reps, especially when attempting a limit set or new PR. Online Diet Coaching and Strength Training with Dr. Robert Santana Follow Weights & Plates YouTube: Instagram: Rumble: Web: Coach Trent Trent Jones: Email:
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#85 - The Illusion of Safety
10/18/2024
#85 - The Illusion of Safety
Many people who start barbell training say something to the effect of "I just don't want to get hurt" when asked about their fitness goals. It's understandable -- no one wants to get hurt -- but the statement displays some ignorance about the reality of aches, pains, and sometimes injuries that occur during hard physical training. When we train with barbells, we are pushing our bodies to the limit to grow muscle, get stronger, and become more resilient. Even if we aren't great athletes squatting and deadlifting several hundred pounds, improvement requires pushing the limit, and pushing the limit increases the risk of aches, pains, and injuries. Moreover, as Coach Trent points out, life itself is non-zero risk, and many people get hurt without ever touching a barbell. So, the idea that you can control "not getting hurt" is false. You can bend the curve in your favor to reduce the likelihood of tweaks and injuries, but life happens. The best you can do is be strong and resilient so that you can bounce back from tweaks and injuries faster, and develop the mental fortitude to deal with the setbacks they cause. Online Diet Coaching and Strength Training with Dr. Robert Santana Weights & Plates on YouTube: Weights & Plates: Robert Santana on Instagram: Trent Jones: Email:
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#84 - Why You Need to Understand Advanced Programming
09/30/2024
#84 - Why You Need to Understand Advanced Programming
One of the interesting consequences of the success of the Starting Strength methodology, and the growth in popularity of strength training in general, is that genetically average people are lifting weights and sticking with their program for multiple years. No longer are only gym rats and serious athletes dedicating themselves to years of sustained progress in the weight room -- now there are 55 year old moms with 5+ years of barbell training experience under their belts. Most of these people are advanced lifters, even though they aren't competitive athletes. And advanced lifters have different programming needs than novices and early intermediates, especially when they aren't athletically gifted or possessed of a high training drive. It's important, therefore, to understand what advanced training looks like, not just for very strong, competitive lifters, but for average folks with more pedestrian numbers but similar long recovery windows. Online Diet Coaching and Strength Training with Dr. Robert Santana Weights & Plates on YouTube: Weights & Plates: Robert Santana on Instagram: Trent Jones: Email:
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#83 - The Risks of Weight Gain for Strength Training
09/13/2024
#83 - The Risks of Weight Gain for Strength Training
It's almost a cliche now, that a novice trainee running the novice linear progression should "do GOMAD" (drink a gallon of milk a day). This advice is one of the most misunderstood bits of nutrition in the Starting Strength method, but it highlights an important fact -- to gain muscle, most people will need to put on bodyweight while increasing their lifts (a small percentage of very overweight or obese people already have enough excess energy on hand in the form of fat stores to run the program without gaining weight). Muscle doesn't just grow from nothing, their needs to be surplus calories on hand to build new muscle mass and connective tissue while the weight on the bar goes up. Like anything in life, however, gaining weight is not without risk. For the most part it's very safe, especially since you will be building strength and adding muscle mass which will improve your both your health metrics, function, and your quality of life. There are a few potential problems some people will encounter with increasing body weight that need to be addressed, however. In today's episode Dr. Santana and Coach Trent discuss those problems, including cardiometabolic health and blood glucose levels, and how to mitigate them during your training journey. Hint: stop skipping your conditioning! Online Diet Coaching and Strength Training with Dr. Robert Santana Weights & Plates on YouTube: Weights & Plates: Robert Santana on Instagram: Trent Jones: Email:
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#82 - Testosterone, TRT, and You
08/30/2024
#82 - Testosterone, TRT, and You
Testosterone is one of the hottest topics in the health and fitness world these, specifically testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). While there are legitimate medical reasons for TRT, it is also abused by those looking for an edge in improving their strength and physique, and some low T clinics are happy to oblige. Dr. Robert Santana and Coach Trent Jones share their thoughts on the recent popularity surge of TRT, and when it's appropriate for trainees. Online Diet Coaching and Strength Training with Dr. Robert Santana Weights & Plates on YouTube: Weights & Plates: Robert Santana on Instagram: Trent Jones: Email:
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#81 - Strength Training for the Obese Trainee
08/16/2024
#81 - Strength Training for the Obese Trainee
We've talked about how an overweight trainee should approach strength training with an eye toward "recomping," that is, changing their body composition with more muscle and less fat. But what about very overweight or obese trainees? Dr. Santana and Coach Trent discuss their experiences training obese people wanting to lose weight and get strong in their novice phase of training. Online Diet Coaching and Strength Training with Dr. Robert Santana Weights & Plates on YouTube: Weights & Plates: Robert Santana on Instagram: Trent Jones: Email:
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#80 - Does Upper Body Really Need More Volume?
07/29/2024
#80 - Does Upper Body Really Need More Volume?
When the upper body lifts stall, the typical programming answer is "add volume." Some do this by increasing frequency -- the number of times you perform the lift each week -- and some do it by adding more sets during each upper body session. Others do both! It's not bad advice for a lot of people coming off of novice upper body programming. Many of these lifters have low press and bench press numbers relative to thier squat and deadlift, so adding a few extra sets during the week, whether it's via introducing a fourth pressing slot or by increasing the number of sets per workout, doesn't add that much systemic fatigue to the workout. For more advanced lifters, however, especially those with high upper body numbers relative to their bodyweight (pressing at or above bodyweight for multiple reps, and benching well above bodweight), it is less clear that high volume training is necessary to drive strength gains. Maybe what you need at this point is less volume. Dr. Santana and Coach Trent bust the myth that high volume training is necessary for growing the upper body, and discuss how stress and fatigue play a significant role in upper body programming -- this is not just a squat and deadlift problem! Online Diet Coaching and Strength Training with Dr. Robert Santana Weights & Plates on YouTube: Weights & Plates: Robert Santana on Instagram: Trent Jones: Email:
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#79 - Barbell Burnout: Remembering Why We Do This
07/12/2024
#79 - Barbell Burnout: Remembering Why We Do This
Burnout is a common complaint, whether it's from work, family, extracurricular activities, or all of the above. It happens in training too. Train long enough and you'll notice people in the community who were once avid lifters fall off the map. Some quit for good, or only sporadically train, others find different sports and activities to pursue, and those who remain tend to be lifers. Some people who quit barbell training cite burnout as the cause. For whatever reason, training no longer served their needs or fit into their life. Usually, burnout happens because there is a misalignment between lifestyle and goals, and lifters find themselves doing a lot of work they really don't want to do, in order to generate marginal gains that no longer seem to matter much. In short, the goals of the training no longer align with their values and desires. Dr. Santana and Coach Trent discuss the ways burnout happens, how to realign priorities when it happens, and get back in touch with the reasons you wanted to train in the first place. Weights & Plates is now on YouTube! Weights & Plates: Robert Santana on Instagram: Trent Jones: Email:
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#78 - Are Your Goals Compatible With Your Lifestyle? Abs Don't Come Easy
06/21/2024
#78 - Are Your Goals Compatible With Your Lifestyle? Abs Don't Come Easy
While there are many good reasons to lift barbells and get strong, many people are motivated at least initially by the prospect of looking better. Improving their body composition, which means building muscle mass and losing body fat. For the average person, getting strong requires a lot of hard work and dedication, more than most people expect. Achieving above average body composition requires even more work, and ultimately begs the question: are your goals compatible with your lifestyle? Weights & Plates is now on YouTube! Weights & Plates: Robert Santana on Instagram: Trent Jones: Email:
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#77 - YMMV: We're Not Powerlifters, And That's OK
06/07/2024
#77 - YMMV: We're Not Powerlifters, And That's OK
In the gym coaching real people, the knowledge and experience gained from years of hard work under the barbell pays off -- a person who has put themself under the yoke and actively learned to troubleshoot problems and adjust training variables is well prepared to help other people do the same. On the internet, however, the biggest total (or the biggest bicesps) wins. Dr. Robert Santana and Coach Trent Jones discuss the storm of comments around Dr. Santana's recent instagram post citing various problems with RPE, and note that all of the comments come from powerlifters, that is, people compete in the sport of powerlifting. The message of Weights and Plates is, and always has been, for people interested in strength training, not the sport of powerlifting. It's certainly not for elite lifters at the top of the sport. Although the general public doesn't always seen the difference, strength training has very different goals than powerlifting -- namely, health. So, be cautious taking advice from the strongest, most jacked guys on the internet. What works for them may not work for you, the average person. Weights & Plates is now on YouTube! Weights & Plates: Robert Santana on Instagram: Trent Jones: Email:
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#76 - Leaving Behind the Quitter's Mindset
05/17/2024
#76 - Leaving Behind the Quitter's Mindset
Strength training demands a lot from a trainee, especially after the honeymoon wears off (i.e. the novice linear progression starts to get hard). It's hard work, short but intense, and involves facing fear on a regular basis. As you advance into intermediate territory, the time between PR's increases, and requires patience and persistance. The stronger you get, the more you have to pay attention to your recovery factors -- food, sleep, and stress -- to properly recover from workout to workout. Strength training is a weed out process, you might say, for those looking for the easy way out. There are many looking for an easy way out that quit when things get hard. For those who persist, however, strength training offers many benefits beyond the physical adaptations. Strength training teaches patience and perserverance. It teaches you how to face fear by exposing you to gradually more difficult tasks (adding weight to the bar in small, regular increments). If you stick with this process, you can aquire a tough, resilient mindset, and leave behind the quitter's mindset. Weights & Plates is now on YouTube! Weights & Plates: Robert Santana on Instagram: Trent Jones: Email:
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#75 - Science Is Fake with Stef Bradford, PhD
05/03/2024
#75 - Science Is Fake with Stef Bradford, PhD
There's seemingly no end to the "evidence based" coaches out there nowadays making all sorts of claims about you should train, backed up by scientific data. Have you actually read any of the papers they cite to back up their claims? It turns out, there are numerous problems with the field of scientific research, from the actual design of the experiments to the reporting of data, the publishing process and peer review, and, last but not least, skewed incentives for the people carrying out research at every level. Dr. Bradford, who earned a PhD in Pharmacology and Molecular Cancer Biology from Duke University in 2004, walks through the problems with the modern scientific process, and why professional research is the not the same as science. Weights & Plates is now on YouTube! Weights & Plates: Robert Santana on Instagram: Trent Jones: Email:
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#74 - Training and Diet for Women
04/15/2024
#74 - Training and Diet for Women
To quote Mark Rippetoe, "women are not a special population, they are half the population." In other words, women fundamentally train for strength the same way that men do -- the same principles of progressive overload, using compound barbell lifts that target the whole body, and nutritional principles apply. There are a few exceptions, however, and that's what Dr. Santana and Coach Trent address in today's episode. How Birth Control Can Inhibit Strength and Performance by Lea Genders: Weights & Plates is now on YouTube! Weights & Plates: Robert Santana on Instagram: Trent Jones: Email:
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#73 - Why You Missed a Rep: Four Questions to Ask
03/29/2024
#73 - Why You Missed a Rep: Four Questions to Ask
Dr. Santana and Coach Trent wrap up their mini series on post-novice programming with an important discussion on understanding why you missed reps. The novice linear progression cannot last forevever (or else we'd all be squatting 1,000lbs!), and as the saying goes, all good things come to an end. This means that at some point, you'll miss reps. What do you do then? Some people have the impression that missing reps means it's time to change the program, and that's not necessarily true. Often there are recovery issues at play that can be addressed, allowing the lifter to extend progress on the novice linear progression with a few simple tweaks. In today's episode, Dr. Santana and Coach Trent walk through the The First Three Questions outlined in the Starting Strength method, and a fourth question, related to the stress/recovery/adaptation model. In the Starting Strength article , Rip identifies three important questions to ask yourself when progress stalls: How long are you resting between sets? How big are your jumps in weight between workouts? How much are you eating and sleeping? The demands of heavy barbell training are high, and many trainees miss the mark on one or more of these questions, especially a few months into a novice linear progression when every lift has become hard. Coach Trent adds a fourth question to the mix: what other stressors are going on in your life? Psychological stress affects physical perormance, especially when it becomes chronic stress. Especially for busy adults with lots of responsibilities outside the gym, you have to account for life stressors in your recovery and programming. Weights & Plates is now on YouTube! Weights & Plates: Robert Santana on Instagram: Trent Jones: Email:
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#72 - The SRA Cycle and Intermediate Programming
03/08/2024
#72 - The SRA Cycle and Intermediate Programming
Dr. Robert Santana and Coach Trent explore the Stress/Recovery/Adapation cycle (adapted from Hans Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome) and how it serves as a guiding model for programming decisions in the intermediate phase of training. Weights & Plates is now on YouTube! Weights & Plates: Robert Santana on Instagram: Trent Jones: Email:
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#71 - Programming After Novice: Making the Weight, and Your Technique, Go Up
02/23/2024
#71 - Programming After Novice: Making the Weight, and Your Technique, Go Up
The novice linear progression (NLP, or LP for short) is a fun time in the training career of a lifter. Never will you make as much progress -- and as fast! -- as you will during LP. It's also brutally hard, especially toward the end. Nevertheless, it comes to an end for every lifter, and people often spin their wheels trying to figure out what to do once the simple A/B program stops working. In today's episode, Dr. Santana and Coach Trent discuss some basic principles of post-novice programming, and point out that at all stages of the game, the main goal is that the weight must go up. Weights & Plates is now on YouTube! Weights & Plates: Robert Santana on Instagram: Trent Jones: Email:
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#70 - No Fear, No Gain
02/12/2024
#70 - No Fear, No Gain
For a variety of reasons, the predominant form of exercise in popular culture is endurance training. Endurance is valorized in the media, with sports like swimming and running receiving prime position in Olympic broadcasts. Military films often depict the hero enduring through miles and miles of trackless jungle and urban wastelands. The overarching experience of endurance training is pain, and pain is relatable. Everyone suffers, or will suffer, from pain in their life. It's even in the popular saying: "no pain, no gain." Strength training, however, does not elicit the same pain response that endurance training does. Strength training does not burn or ache, it is an entirely different experience. Squatting a heavy set of five with a barbell feels like being crushed by a Mack truck; you must overcome an intense amount of pressure in your whole body, while pushing as hard as you can against the weight. Your body dumps adrenaline, increasing your heart rate and blood pressure. The set begins long before you step on the platform too. Hours or even days before the event, the anticipation of a heavy, all-out set of squats gives you butterflies. Strength training is, essentially, engaging with and conquering a fear response. For this reason, strength training is a harder sell in the fitness community. It is socially acceptable to pound a trainee into the ground with endurance training. People will pay dearly for it, in fact! Just look at Crossfit, where they frequently claim "your workout is our warmup." Yet, if you want to build a strong, resilient, muscular body, learning to face your fears and lift heavy barbells is a must. It's a useful skill in the gym, and in life. Weights & Plates: Robert Santana on Instagram: Trent Jones: Email:
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#69 - We Command You to Grow! (With the Barbell)
02/11/2024
#69 - We Command You to Grow! (With the Barbell)
You've tried the templates in the bodybuilding magazines, from the bodybuilding sites. You've tried lifting like the big jacked, ripped dudes on social media... and it hasn't worked. You don't look like them, and your growth has stalled out. For some reason we accept that in sports, we shouldn't expect to perform like pro athletes without elite genetics and many years of training, but in fitness, we expect to acheive the look of people with outlier genetics, years of training, and, often, performance enhancing drugs as well. In today's episode, Dr. Santana and Coach Trent explain why basic barbell training is the answer to a better physique for the vast majority of trainees -- and that includes you! Compound lifts -- the squat, bench press, overhead press, and deadlift -- work the entire body with very heavy weights if you progressively train them, that is, add weight to the bar on a regular basis. Because they utilize so much muscle mass, they can produce a stimulus for growth that no isolation exercise can match, and many of the best physiques in the world were built, at the beginning, with a lot of basic compound lifts. A solid base of strength in these four lifts forms of the base of the pyramid for body composition. A guy that works hard to get his squat to 315 and bench to 225 will have a decent set of legs and chest! Once that is achieved, he can then bring up his weak points with a small selection of assistance work. The same guy squatting only 185 is wasting his time trying to do any assistance work -- he simply needs to drive his squat up. So, if you're tired of not having a muscular physique and "looking like you lift," then re-dedicate yourself to acheiving some baseline achievements on the main barbell lifts. Then, when it's time to introduce some additional exercises, you'll have a much better base of strength to perform them with (i.e. you'll be able to do those lifts heavier, and thus get more out of them) and you'll have a much better idea of where your actual weak points are. Weights & Plates: Robert Santana on Instagram: Trent Jones: Email:
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