The Ripped Body® Podcast

Jon has been training for 15 years. He tracks his calories, hits his protein, plans his cuts, and sticks to the plan. And yet he's still never been able to get as lean as he wants... Which means he's always stopped his bulks short of the time needed to grow enough muscle to make a difference. Sound familiar? In this week’s episode, we dig into why. Because this isn’t a motivation problem...

This week’s podcast is about a frustrating place many people eventually reach. Ryan, 47, a father of four, is on a mission he calls Project 50 . He started strength training three years ago and has done an incredible job transforming his health, dropping 30 lbs — which I'd estimate means 40 lbs of fat loss and 10 lbs of muscle gain. Bravo! But now he’s stuck. Not because he doesn’t know what...

This week’s podcast covers situations that I am sure many busy working dads will recognize in themselves. Today's guest, Sayer, is now fit, lean, and athletic. He lifts, rock climbs, officiates high-level sports, works a demanding remote IT job, and shuttles two very active kids between practices and games. From the outside, there’s nothing "wrong." In the last three years, he has e...

This week’s podcast is one of my favorite kinds of conversations. Shelby, 41 from Oklahoma, describes himself as a "regular guy with regular guy problems." In reality, he’s a single dad of four boys who’s lost close to 90 pounds, rebuilt his health, and designed his life so progress happens by default — not through white-knuckle discipline. This isn’t a transformation story driven by obs...

Today I’m joined by Paul. He is 50, lives in Switzerland, has a demanding corporate job, and is an avid alpine skier. He’s also someone who’s stayed naturally lean most of his life — abs included — without much effort. This conversation is about what happens when that natural leanness becomes the thing holding you back. We talk about rebuilding after repeated injuries, training for robustness rath...

Today’s conversation is with Don Selkirk. Don is 52, has trained consistently for decades, and has a physique most people would be more than happy with. But like many experienced trainees, a small visual cue in the mirror was enough to trigger a familiar thought: “I should probably tighten this up before it gets away from me.” In this episode, I help Don plan his cut to trim the 15 lbs of fat he’s...

This week’s podcast is for the people who already know what to do, but can’t seem to make it stick. Nico (42), originally from Venice, Italy, but now living in Austin, has a demanding career, trains regularly, eats well, and stays lean year-round. From the outside, he’s doing everything "right." Yet for the last five years, he’s felt quietly stuck — unable to push past the same plateau,...

Today, I’m speaking with Jon. He’s a Brit who used to be ripped at 50. — That was when he lived in Australia. But for the past 7 years, he’s been back in the UK, and his fitness has gone downhill. He’s heavier than ever, and coming off a knee replacement, a fused foot, and months of disrupted training. The gap between what he remembers and what he sees in the mirror is messing with his head. In th...

2026 has arrived, which means you’ve probably been bombarded with all sorts of fitness advice, hacks, and shortcuts. We know it can be hard to sort through the noise, and we want to help you avoid the most common fitness mistakes we see as people are making New Year’s resolutions. In this episode, Ripped Body coaches Sam and Matt go over the most common mistakes, and how to avoid them, to make sur...

If fitness feels more confusing now than it did five or ten years ago, you’re not imagining it. This week on the podcast, I’m joined by **Dr. Eric Helms** to talk about *why* we wrote the Muscle & Strength Pyramid books in the first place, and why, a decade later, we decided to completely rewrite them for the third editions. This isn’t a marketing episode. It’s a conversation about information...

This week on the podcast, I’m joined by my good friend Chad Landers , a coach who’s been training people hands-on for more than 30 years and recently published ​ Building Strength and Muscle After 50 ​ .  Chad isn’t an influencer. He’s someone who’s spent decades watching real people train, get hurt, recover, and keep going. If you’re over 40 and still want to train hard and stay healthy, Chad is...

Whether you’re just starting your fitness journey, you’ve been a little inconsistent in the gym and want some routine, or you’re simply looking to change up your workout program, choosing the right training split can be a little confusing. In this episode, Ripped Body coaches Sam and Matt explain how to choose the right training program for your goals. They talk about the important factors to cons...

Once the diet ends, most people don’t know what to do next. In this episode, Coach Matt and I talk about how to transition from fat loss to maintenance without panic or rebound. And then we talk about finding the least training you can do to maintain your physique. We use Fred’s story — a reader who dropped from 360 lbs to 166 — as a real-world example of what to expect when you stop cutting and s...

Todd, a father of six, spent two decades in engineering and renewable energy. At 48, he decided it was time to re-engineer something else: his own life. Todd walked away from his career — not because he had to, but because he wanted to. He called it an "environment change." His goal was simple: finally take his health seriously, rebuild family connections, and reinvent himself. Three mon...

This week, Coach Sam joins me for a new Q&A episode. I put him to the test by asking him to answer a reader’s question — one I’d already answered myself — to see how closely his advice matched mine. **Q: “Two months ago, I finished a two-month weight loss program. I’m 6'0" and weighed 248 lbs. I lost 41 pounds and feel great. I ate twice a day — each meal was about 5 ounces of lean m...

Today, I’m joined by Chris , who went from 170 lbs to an unsustainable 118 lbs by eating just five foods and hammering cardio. That crash diet left scars — binge-restrict cycles, fear of weight gain, and self-doubt. But over the past few years, Chris has rebuilt. He bulked up slowly, learned sustainable habits, and is now cutting again — this time without obsession or burnout. We talk about breaki...

 This week, Ripped Body coaches Sam and Matt break down why people often feel “stuck” in their fat loss journey, even when they’re consistent with training and nutrition. They walk through the most common reasons for stalled progress, how to troubleshoot your fat loss, and when (and how) to make adjustments.  ------------ Since 2011, we’ve helped 2,000+ busy men get lean, strong, and in control —...

Chandler is a form of client of mine. He’s a 42 year-old father of two young boys living in Savannah, Georgia. We work together 11 years ago when he got stuck, and we managed to make a level change in his physique. In the year since Chandler has diligently kept up his training and progress tracking, tried different training styles, and tried cutting and bulking many times, but he hasn't been...

 Andy and Coach Matt talk about dieting during the holiday season, getting back on track after losing momentum, and how their coaching philosophies have evolved over the last decade.  ------------ Since 2011, we’ve helped 2,000+ busy men get lean, strong, and in control — without supplements, gimmicks, or sacrificing their lives to the gym. 👉 Get our Free 15-Day Transformation Kickstart Bundle (h...

Joe’s beaten obesity and kept the weight off for years — but every bulk ends in failure. Why? On the face of it, it looks like he has been doing everything right. But when we dig in, there are a couple of simple tweaks I believe he can make that will help him take his physique permanently to the next level. Best of all, I'm confident he can do it within two years. We talk about: - The *moment...

Most people don’t quit training because they don’t get results. They quit because their expectations didn’t match reality. In this episode, Sam and I dig into a real coaching application where someone claimed to have gained 20 pounds of muscle in six months, based on body fat devices and faulty tracking. We talk about why this isn’t possible, the bigger problem in the fitness industry (coaches tel...

What if the reason you’re stuck isn’t a lack of knowledge or skills… but mindset? That’s the core idea behind Itamar Marani’s new book [*Elite Performance*](https://itamarmarani.com/book/). I'm delighted to have Itamar back on the Podcast. He is a former Israeli special forces operator, coached by the Mossad’s former chief psychologist, who now helps entrepreneurs and high-performers get out...

In this episode, Ripped Body coaches Matt and Sam break down the biggest mistakes people make when starting a diet — and the smarter, sustainable strategies to replace them with. They discuss: Why going “all in” backfires (and what to do instead) The hidden danger of quick fixes and fitness fads Why motivation won’t save you — but systems will The overlooked importance of having an “exit plan” How...

In 2014, Jason went from 225 lbs to 145 lbs in just nine months — and he’s kept it off for 10 years. At 52 years old and has the physique of a boxer in his prime Jason is a former Navy rescue squadron member with the mental toughness to diet on 750 calories a day, train hard, and never look back. But now, he’s sick of the plateau and has a new goal in mind: adding 10 lbs. of muscle and finally hit...

We’re kicking off a new Q&A series on the Ripped Body Podcast. Today, I sit down with Ripped Body Coach Matt to answer listener questions. In this first session, we cover: 👉 Should you adjust calories when deloading? 👉 What's a good alternative for dips if they hurt? 👉 Are strength drops normal? We also dive into progression systems — linear vs. double progression — and why chasing per...