Eat Train Prosper

This one steps away from the training and nutrition stuff to talk about what actually built our careers in fitness. It came out of a question Aaron sat with before he left his software job to coach full time, which was basically, if it takes me ten years to make it, is it worth it? At 30, the answer was yes, and the episode kind of works back from there through the decisions that got us both to wh...

Another month, another stack of questions pulled straight from the Instagram audience. This one was packed, 21 questions deep, so we skipped updates entirely and went straight into answering them. The range is wide: programming and split design, nutrient timing, eating well on a tight budget, a thoughtful testosterone question from someone with a real medical history, the psychology and physiology...

Dynamic Double Progression. A favorite progression model. Here is your short version of it: take standard double progression, where you move up in reps or in weight inside a set range, and lets every set climb on its own instead of forcing them all to move together. Here is the core of it. You pick a weight, you walk up the rep range week over week, and when you top it out you add a bit of load an...

For the first 5 years of Aaron's coaching business he kept a running doc of every question a client ever asked. Hundreds. The single most asked question was a form of: "What actually counts as a training day?" Sounds simple, right up until you have to draw the line. And that line quietly decides whether you run one set of macros or two, and how you feed a surplus, a deficit, and eve...

ETP226 comes from a DM question posed to Bryan wondering whether we have taken the "abs are made in the kitchen" idea too far. That question opened up into a bigger one, and it is the question this whole episode chases: for muscle groups like abs and arms, how much does training them directly actually change your physique relative to the extra time it costs you? We work through it from a...

Another month, another batch of questions pulled straight from the Instagram audience. This one runs the full range, from how to build a bro split around daily cardio, to the zone 2 discourse currently making the rounds, to a couple of surprisingly good questions from Bryan's nine year old. We take each one in turn and give the honest answer rather than the tidy one. A lot of this episode liv...

This week we have a slightly different kind of episode. We talk less about the mechanics of training and more about the benefits of using your fitness out in the world, specifically outdoors. We talk about environment, how the right gym or the mountains can pull effort out of you when your own motivation is low. The back half of the episode revisits the Misogi Challenge and the value of planning s...

This one came straight out of the DMs. Aaron gets messages from people who are interested in coaching and they usually lay out everything they have been doing and everything they have tried. The same handful of problems keep showing up over and over again, so instead of answering them one at a time, this episode is the full breakdown. The whole thing is built around three buckets. Poor metrics, wh...

Episode 222 is our July Instagram Q&A, and per usual the questions did not disappoint. We dig through a big stack covering everything from exercise sequencing and deloads to GLP-1s, telehealth companies, and what we actually learned in our late-stage natty years that still apply. There is a lot of practical programming talk in this one. Where RDLs should actually go in your session, how to bui...

We have covered volume a handful of times on the podcast — ETP#167 (Personalizing Your Training Volume), ETP#188 (Quality Volume), and most recently ETP#207 (The Training Volume Model). This one comes at it from a different angle: not "what's the right number of sets," but how that number can change over a training career as skill as a lifter improves. The whole thing started with A...

ETP#220 is the part two follow-up to last week's episode, and this is the one we really wanted to get to. We ran out of road last week before doing CrossFit Pacific Beach any justice, so this episode picks right back up there and runs all the way through the rest of the arc: going online, the failed business that taught Bryan everything, the origins of Straker Nutrition, building Undefeated,...

ETP#219 (Part 1) is all about chasing big goals. If you've listened for a while you know we talk a ton about training, a decent amount about nutrition, and honestly not enough about the prosper side. This episode leans into that third pillar. Between the two of us we've moved across the country (and the world), changed careers, built gyms, build successful coaching and training businesse...

ETP 218 is all about progression models. The whole conversation starts from one non-negotiable idea: eventually there has to be real, tangible progression. Most of the "models" people get excited about are really just different ways to make the process less mundane than running linear or double progression forever. And to be clear, LP and DP are still the GOAT. They're proven, time-...

ETP 217 digs into effort, and the notion that many overestimate their effort relative to their goal. We've observed a flip over the last decade. Rewind 10-12 years to the CrossFit era and the information was mostly bad, but the effort was 10 out of 10 across the board. Now we have the opposite problem. Quality information is abundant, but the effort has quietly slipped. And that will hold you...

Eat Train Prosper #216 is our May 2026 Instagram Q&A. We have 15 questions. Notable questions of likely interest are: a framework for peaking a physique for a photoshoot, Zone 2 cardio before resistance training producing better sessions (question mark), and how much of an effect on gains would being vegan/vegetarian have when done right? A big thank you as always to all of you who provide us...

Eat Train Prosper 215 picks up after our longest hiatus ever while Aaron was transitioning back to living in the United States again. Episode 215 covers numerous insights from Bali Pro Camp 3 and an April recap of what we have been focused on during our recording hiatus. Timestamps: 00:00 Welcome Back and Relocation Updates 02:15 Challenges Adjusting to New Environment 04:24 Settling into Salt Lak...

In ETP#214 we are bringing back the Training Series with a dedicated deep dive on lateral deltoids. We covered shoulders back in episode 138 in December 2023, but the lateral delt segment got squeezed into the final 10 minutes. A long-time listener called that out and requested the full treatment, so here it is. Covered in this dedicated lateral delts training episode: Why the lateral delt deserve...

In ETP#213 we get into the realities of training and eating while traveling, something both of us deal with regularly. We cover Bryan's recent training reflections, Aaron's gym experiences across Shanghai and Bangkok, and the techniques and equipment discoveries that came out of those sessions. We also get into how we structure training goals during travel blocks and, just as importantly...

In Episode 212 we answer our March Instagram questions across a full spectrum of training and nutrition topics. We cover how we'd approach movement assessments with in-person clients, managing a reverse diet after significant fat loss, and our takeaways from Scott Stevenson's discussion on mind-muscle connection versus training to failure. Same-muscle-group supersets, rep tempo and the f...

In ETP 211, we dig into Bryan’s recent adventure into his intuitive training Bro Split, and whether ditching the logbook is a sign of experience or a terrible idea. We explore the argument between tracking vs “feeling”, break down the real nuances of progressive overload, and discuss why the stimulus derived might matter more than the absolute weight being used. We also cover how this training str...

Eat Train Prosper 210 is about your environment. And how your environment is either working for you or against you. This week we get into why willpower is largely a losing strategy and how a well-designed environment removes the need for it. We cover ambition contagion, the real cost of where you live and those around you. And why the gym you choose matters more than most people think. If you&apos...

TRT is one of those topics that generates much controversy. You're either being sold on it as the ultimate life upgrade or warned away like you're making some irreversible mistake. Neither is particularly useful. In this episode, we share our own firsthand experiences with TRT. What led us to the decision, how we each thought through it, and what actually happened versus what we expected...

Episode #208 is our Instagram Q&A episode for February 2026. Find us on IG to get your personal training and nutrition questions covered in an upcoming episode! Timestamps: 00:00:28 - Do you like the idea of one main cue for each lift or do you use multiple cues when coaching a lift?  00:02:17 - I’m seeing so many elite natural bodybuilders using unexpectedly light weights for exercises. Seemi...

In ETP 207 we step through our nuanced approach to determining training volume needs. Emphasizing the importance of context and individual factors that influence how much volume a lifter effectively needs. We highlight our proposed Training Volume Model with four main characteristics: quality of execution, capacity and recoverability, enjoyment and sustainability, and availability. Timestamps: 00:...

In ETP #206 we explore some very plausible ways to defend the Bro Split. Whilst highly criticized in the current landscape of the evidence-based fitness scene there are some practical and enjoyable reasons to experiment and even run your training this way over what could be a very long period of time.  Timestamps: 00:00 Quick Personal Updates 09:58 Exploring the Bro Split vs. Higher Frequency Trai...