The Strength Log

The pull-up is one of the most classic strength training exercises you can do, and also one of the best! But how do you manage your first rep if you can't do pull-ups today, and how should you train to progress to 10+ reps? Or should you stick to lat pulldowns instead? In this episode, we also discuss the biomechanics and muscles used in the pull-up and lat pulldown, as well as their pros and cons...

You don't see it, but everyone else does. Your upper back holds some of the biggest muscles in your upper body, and the way to train them is with rowing exercises. In this episode, we talk about the barbell row and other common rowing variations, which muscles they work, best technique practices, biomechanics, and more. This is the fifth episode in our series covering "The Big 6" exercises: the be...

The standing barbell overhead press (also known as a military or shoulder press) is a classic strength training exercise. Before the ascent of the bench press in the 1950s, it was the most important lift for upper body pressing strength. It mainly targets your shoulders and triceps, but it's also great for the core muscles and athleticism in general. In this episode, we'll examine this lift in dep...

The deadlift is one of the most primal exercises in the gym and a true test of strength from head to toe. In this episode, we look into the muscles worked when deadlifting and how to perform the lift safely and effectively. We also break down the biomechanics of deadlifting, best practices for your technique, common mistakes , a bit about how dangerous it actually is to deadlift with a rounded bac...

The squat is known among gym-goers as the king of all exercises. In this episode, we talk about whether it lives up to the hype and how to perform the squat if your goal is to maximize muscle and strength gain. We also discuss the biomechanics of squatting, best practices for achieving a technique that will help you become bigger and stronger, the muscles worked, some common mistakes, and a bit ab...

How should you perform the bench press if your goal is to lift a ton of weight and build big and powerful pecs, shoulders, and triceps? In this episode, we discuss the biomechanics of bench pressing, the best practices for achieving a technique that will help you become bigger and stronger, the muscles worked, some common mistakes, and how to train the lift . This episode also kicks off a new seri...

What determines if you get great results from your strength training , or just spin your wheels without getting anywhere? In this episode, we present our seven principles of highly effective strength training. These principles are not written in stone, and they have considerations and exceptions. But if you listen to the whole show, you'll be better equipped to deal with plateaus in your training...

Will training fasted hurt your muscle and strength gains? A new study had participants do full-body morning workouts for 12 weeks, with half having breakfast beforehand and half skipping breakfast to see how it affected their strength levels, muscle mass, and body fat. In this episode, you'll learn how important it is to eat before you go to the gym. We also discuss whether fasted training is supe...

Long-distance runners often hesitate to add strength training, for fear it will make them muscle-bound and heavy. But is that really what happens? In this episode, we discuss a new study on well-trained long-distance runners , that looked into how adding strength training affected their running economy and performance. The results? They're really good! Let's break them down and discuss how a long-...

Research is mounting that strength training is not only good for our biceps, but also for our brains, improving our learning, memory, and focus. That goes for other forms of exercise, too, like cardio. But which type is best, and how much of it should you do for brain gains? In today's episode, we discuss a new meta-analysis that tries to answer these questions. Over 9,000 brain points to anyone w...

If you improve your cardio fitness , will you also perform better in the gym and recover faster between sets? That's a common hypothesis in the gym world. If proven true, it would be another good reason for adding more cardio training into your routine , since better recovery should mean bigger strength gains in the long run (pun intended). That's the topic today, and we have a new study that exam...

Forty might be the new twenty, and for many, life feels better than ever. But physical signs of aging are starting to creep up on us at that age . Our backs ache a bit more than ten years ago; we feel tired more often; and let's not talk about our knees and shoulders. So, how do you go about strength training in your forties? Do you build less muscle mass compared to ten or twenty years ago? Is it...

Is there too much of a good thing, or should you just keep adding sets to your workouts to grow bigger and stronger? In episode 32 , we discussed a meta-regression analysis on weekly set volume for hypertrophy and strength gains. Now, the same researchers are back with an analysis on per-session volume . How many sets should you do per workout for a given muscle or exercise to maximize muscle grow...

Ten years ago we got an awesome study on powerlifters and weightlifters maxing out in the squat daily. Now, a group of physical therapy students have replicated that study , but in the bench press instead. You read that right. Bench press. Maxing out. Every day for more than a month. Plus back-off sets. That's a lot of bench pressing. But did they die? Super fun study and lots to talk about. After...

Which type of bicep curl is best if you want to grow your biceps ? 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 our Instagram account and the StrengthLog Subreddit , to create a really interesting and fun episode for you today. See the timestamps below for all questio...

Which type of bicep curl is best if you want to grow your biceps ? A new, impressive bicep study adds to the evidence that just doing regular curls might not be optimal, comparing bicep growth between two exercises where one was performed with a shortened bicep position and one with a lengthened bicep position. After discussing optimizing your bicep growth, we move on to two listener questions. Se...

If you want to build more muscle mass, is it a good strategy to bulk up first before cutting down to the same weight again, hopefully with more quality mass on your body than you started out with? Bodybuilders do this all the time, but do you really need to if you don't plan to compete? Another strategy is to stay at the same weight, slowly losing fat while adding muscle mass. That's what we're di...

If you lower the weights slowly when training, will that boost your muscle growth and strength gains? In today's episode, we're discussing a new meta-analysis (still in preprint) that pooled the results from eight studies on this topic, to see if an intentionally slow eccentric tempo when strength training produces better results. The results gave us a lot to debate, so let's dive in! *** Do you l...

If you eat carbs before bedtime, you'll become fat. At least, that's what people have been claiming for decades—but is it true or just another fitness myth? Today, we have a new study looking into whether carbohydrates eaten in the evening are more prone to becoming body fat, and whether it matters if the carbs are of the fast (tasty) or slow (boring) kind. We round off the episode with a listener...

Which type of training is better for fat loss and reducing your risk of cardiovascular disease: cardio or strength training ? Today's topic is a new, impressive study looking into this question, and we break it down for you! If you exercise at least partly for your health , this is the episode for you! *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. An...

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 p...

How important are carbohydrates for your strength training results? And if you're planning for a long, grueling workout—should you even bring carbs with you to the gym, to eat or drink during the workout? That's the main subject for today, aided by a new, randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial on intra-training carbohydrate ingestion in CrossFit-trained adults. In the second...

How can you save time in the gym while still building muscle and getting stronger? Today, we're discussing time-saving training techniques like drop-sets , rest-pause training, myo-reps, and supersets. A follow-up question for people short on time in the gym is: If you only have time to focus on one muscle group or lift, how little can you train the rest of your body without losing strength and mu...

What does a training journey look like, going from being a beginner to intermediate to advanced ? And how should your training change so that you keep making gains? That's the topic for today, and we talk about how your body responds to training differently depending on how much and for how long you've trained, how your approach to your workouts will have to change during the journey, and why slee...

Is it a myth that you lose weight from exercise ? A huge new study looked into how much weight you lose for every 30 minutes of aerobic exercise (cardio) you do per week—and the results are disappointing, to say the least. This fits the evidence we already have, so why do people continue recommending exercise for weight loss ? Well, exercise is kind of great for everything else—and an obvious part...