3D Muscle Journey

Eric, Brad, and Brian discuss methods dual athletes can use to maximize their competitiveness in both bodybuilding and powerlifting. These same methods can also be used by noncompetitors who want to get big *and* strong. Why do the coaches program more bodybuilding work for their powerlifting athletes than they used to? Do the benefits of specificity max out at a certain point? How does specificit...

Brad and Alberto go into detail about what to expect when prepping for a bodybuilding competition, the importance of having people you trust to give you honest feedback on how you're acting, and some of their top tips for a successful prep. How does prep help you learn more about yourself and become a better version of yourself? Should you chase feelings of hunger? How do the coaches recommend...

Andrea, Brad, and Brian host an audience-supplied Q and A session covering a wide range of interesting topics. Deep in prep, do the coaches ever have athletes experience serious medical issues? When training for hypertrophy, how many reps should you leave in reserve when doing compound exercises? What about isolation exercises? What is the difference between a movement’s RIR and a target muscle’s...

Eric, Jeff, and Alberto discuss how they program their own and their athletes’ training differently than they used to. The coaches talk about how to apply new training techniques and understandings, the benefits of being open-minded, exercise selection, managing fatigue, range of motion, and a lot more. If you’ve been wanting to learn more about training at longer muscle lengths and lengthened par...

Nick, Jeff, Brian, and Alberto discuss how to manage your athletic and lifting goals while still being present for your children and partner. The guys talk about how they stay highly-competitive bodybuilders with kids, how they’ve learned to be flexible, how they’ve gotten good at getting the most out of the limited amount of time they sometimes have to train, being a “good selfish”, and a lot mor...

Eric, Steve, and Brad have a unique conversation about tracking and bringing mindfulness to a behavior. The coaches discuss the distinction between tracking to learn more about what you’re currently doing versus tracking to change a behavior. Sometimes just tracking a behavior is enough to get the desired outcome and sometimes *not* tracking something can lead to better outcomes. Along with discus...

Jeff, Brian, and Brad discuss training to failure, RPE-based programming, and percentage-based programming. What is RPE and RIR? Should you use RPE-based programming? If so, when and how should you use it? How do the coaches help their athletes get better at rating a set’s RPE? What approaches do the coaches use for prescribing proximity to failure with bodybuilders? Can training to failure and le...

Nick, Alberto, and Brad discuss the necessity (or lack of) of specific exercises for maximizing the development of your lower body. Are there fundamental movements everyone should do? Does squatting and deadlifting make your muscles more dense? What are the group’s thoughts on hip thrusts, glute bridges, and RDLs? What are some fun exercise modifications you can try to get a similar or better musc...

Brian and Eric address many common questions and misunderstandings around body fat set points. Is it possible to change your set point? Are your genetics really the thing holding you back? Along with answering these two questions, Brian and Eric discuss leptin, modifying your environment, metabolic adaptation, low energy availability, some really interesting research on the Amish, and a lot more....

Amanda, Alberto, and Eric discuss disordered eating, eating disorders, body-image concerns, and how they relate to both competitive physique athletes and noncompetitors. They talk about common issues they see and how they deal with them, the importance of framing, the influence of biology, research on tracking and physique checking, and a lot more. The same behaviors can be facilitative or debilit...

Brad, Jeff, and Brian discuss what the ultimate goal of a person’s training should be if their primary goal is muscular hypertrophy. The coaches talk about when to add volume and when to wait, slower reps versus faster reps, training volume across a training career, longevity, and caution against putting the numbers ahead of the stimulus. Progression should be dictated by the rate you’re adapting...

Eric, Alberto, and Brad discuss the things they feel every powerlifter who wants to be successful needs to understand. The coaches talk about how beneficial being intentional with your nutrition can be and a few simple nutritional strategies they recommend. Other topics discussed include, the best way to make weight for a meet, the coaches’ thoughts on cutting to make a weight class early in your...

Andrea, Brian, and Jeff conduct an audience-supplied Q and A session. Topics include maximizing muscle growth, how to track volume, what you can do if you’re afraid of gaining body fat after your competitive season, and a lot more. Timestamps 0:00-  Introduction 2:24-  How to grow maximally versus slowly and how to tell the difference 13:07-  How to balance lifting with other forms of physical act...

In this eye-opening episode, Eric and Steve do a deep dive on the risks of testing new supplements, how you can help ensure the supplements you take are high-quality, and the supplements they use and recommend. Along with discussing the effectiveness of various supplements, the coaches go through the research showing just how common supplement contamination really is. Timestamps 0:00-  Introductio...

Brad, Alberto, and Jeff discuss the weird and sometimes scary things that happen when we push our bodies to the extreme. The coaches share crazy things they have seen and had happen to them during prep. Timestamps 0:00-  Introduction 2:30-  What happened when Jeff was vitamin K deficient during one of his preps 19:55-  A time when Jeff’s dedication and discipline were too extreme 28:43-  You can d...

Brian, Jeff, and Brad discuss how to be compliant with your plan so you can achieve your goals. Timestamps 0:00-  Introduction 1:53-  How to navigate food prepared by family when prepping 8:46-  The importance of a good setup 20:41-  Have the coaches ever been perfectly compliant with their plan for an entire prep? 38:59-  Things the coaches have seen that can lead to underreporting 43:46-  Workin...

Jeff and Alberto discuss how they’ve helped and pushed each other, how they go about their bodybuilding differently, and how to get the most out of your bodybuilding journey. Timestamps 0:00-  Introduction 8:55-  The more intrinsically rewarding you keep your bodybuilding the more likely you are to stick around 26:21-  The things bodybuilding helped the coaches figure out about themselves and corr...

Brian, Brad, and Alberto discuss why getting yourself in a good position to prep is so important, what a good starting position looks like, and what they are currently doing to prepare for their 2024 season. Timestamps 0:00-  Introduction 3:28-  What Brad is doing to prepare for his 2024 season 8:42-  Brian’s plan for his 2024 season 12:08-  Alberto’s plan for his 2024 season 14:56-  The importanc...

Brad, Eric, and Alberto discuss how as a bodybuilder becomes more ingrained in the bodybuilding lifestyle, the structure of their contest preps and the structure of their offseasons start to become more and more similar. Timestamps 0:00-  Introduction 2:51-  Where is a good place to start when building your default diet? 6:17-  What Eric and Alberto’s offseasons looked like 10+ years ago compared...

Eric, Brian, and Nick have an in-depth discussion about purposefully altering range of motion to get bigger, stronger, and rehab an injury. Timestamps 0:00-  Introduction 2:22-  Is more range of motion always better? Does increasing range of motion guarantee a reduction in joint pain? 11:23-  Modifying range of motion for powerlifting 23:25-  Modifying range of motion for bodybuilding 39:18-  Leng...

Jeff and Eric discuss what they have had to do to continue to improve their physiques as advanced athletes. The coaches also share strategies other advanced athletes can use to continue making progress as well. Timestamps 0:00-  Introduction 6:40-  Eric had to wait 3.5 years to see if what he was doing was working 13:08-  What Eric did between his last bodybuilding season and the one he is current...

Jeff and Alberto discuss common and unique scenarios they see when working with athletes. The coaches talk about how they work with athletes as well as the motives and mindsets they like to see. Timestamps 0:00-  Introduction 11:10-  Taking things off people’s to-do list 14:10-  Helping people work on the things they aren’t good at 20:38-  The hardest athletes for the coaches to work with 29:36-  ...

Andrea, Brian, and Eric conduct an audience-supplied Q and A session. Question topics range from supplementation, to bulking, exercise technique, diet breaks, rest-period length, and more. Timestamps 0:00-  Introduction 2:32-  Do you still get benefits from supplementing with creatine if you don’t take it consistently? How much of a difference does supplementing with creatine make? 14:49-  What’s...

Jeff, Alberto, and Steve discuss the benefits of having a plan, how they put together their weekly eating plans, how they help their athletes/clients build their weekly eating plans, and recommendations to consider when you’re building your plan. Timestamps 0:00-  Introduction 2:43-  How Jeff and Steve build their weekly eating plans 24:52-  The balance between building a plan you enjoy and can co...

Brad, Brian, and Eric discuss who should and shouldn't cut weight for a meet, how to plan out your fat-loss phase if you need to run one, and strategies you can use to lose the last bit of weight needed to make weight. Timestamps 0:00-  Introduction 1:40-  In the coaches’ opinion, who should and shouldn’t cut weight 14:16-  Why we often lose strength when we cut 17:02-  How to plan your fat-lo...