The Mind Muscle Connection

Welcome to the Mind Muscle Connection Podcast! Aaron Straker, founder of Straker Nutrition Co. and co-host of the Eat Train Prosper Podcast with Bryan Boorstein, is back on for the third time. Aaron recently earned his IFBB Pro card in men’s physique and just moved back to the States after four years in Bali. In this episode, we talk about how he’s running his offseason build and how he’s working...

Welcome to the Mind Muscle Connection Podcast! Whether you need to eat before a workout depends on the type of training you’re doing. In this episode, I break down how I approach pre-workout nutrition with clients for both body composition and performance, including when training fasted makes sense, when it can hold you back, and what to eat if you do have something beforehand. I also cover how yo...

Welcome to the Mind Muscle Connection Podcast! Cody McBroom, founder of Tailored Coaching Method and host of the Choose Hard Podcast, is back on for the second time. In this episode, we talk about building discipline, confidence, and habits that last when motivation runs out. Cody walks through his Self-Formation Framework, the four stages he uses to help clients create real behavior change. We al...

Welcome to the Mind Muscle Connection Podcast!  Muscle growth is already a slow process, and a lot of what we do with our nutrition slows it down even more. In this episode, I break down the most common nutrition mistakes I see holding people back from building muscle, including eating too few calories, spending too much of the year dieting, and being inconsistent with your intake.  I also cover h...

Welcome to the Mind Muscle Connection Podcast! Carbs are always a hot topic. Some people think they're the reason you can't lose fat, and others think you need as many as possible to perform. In this episode, I go over nine carb mistakes I see that could be hurting your physique and performance, from staying low carb all year to assuming more carbs always means better training.  I also c...

Welcome to the Mind Muscle Connection Podcast! Nutrition can make or break a body recomp phase. In this episode, Brandon DaCruz is back on for part three of our body recomp series, and we break down the nutrition strategies we use with clients, including deficit size, protein intake and distribution, carbohydrate quality and timing, calorie cycling, and dietary fat. We also catch up on training an...

Welcome to the Mind Muscle Connection Podcast! Progressive overload is one of the most important parts of building muscle, but it’s also one of the most misunderstood. In this episode I break down my framework for applying progressive overload. I cover how hard your sets should be and how I use rep ranges. From there I explain when to add weight versus when to stay at the same weight to build reps...

Welcome to the Mind Muscle Connection Podcast! Hunger is a normal part of fat loss, but not all hunger comes from a true physiological need for more energy. In this episode, I break down the difference between physiological hunger and what I call self-inflicted hunger. I cover what can increase physiological hunger, including an energy deficit, getting leaner, higher activity, and being further fr...

Welcome to the Mind Muscle Connection Podcast! Calorie cycling can be a useful tool during both fat loss and building phases. In this episode, I break down how I use calorie cycling, including redistributing calories throughout the week, increasing or decreasing the weekly deficit, and using higher-calorie days around training. I also cover practical examples of how to set up calorie cycling durin...

Welcome to the Mind Muscle Connection Podcast! Maintenance calorie days can be a useful tool during a fat loss phase, especially when it comes to managing diet fatigue, supporting training performance, and improving long-term adherence. In this episode, I break down how I use maintenance days with clients, when to use them, and how to set them up without slowing fat loss unnecessarily. I also cove...

In this episode, I explain why building muscle is such a slow process and how poor training and programming can make it even slower. I go through seven common training and programming mistakes that can hold back muscle growth and keep you from getting the most out of your training. I also share how I approach training frequency, exercise selection, training intensity, exercise execution, and rep r...

In this episode, I explain how to approach training during a fat loss phase while keeping performance and training volume high. I also talk about how I can balance my calorie deficit, training demands, and recovery during this phase. I talk about total calories, carbohydrates, meal timing, and higher and lower calorie days, along with how I can manage training intensity and recovery while dieting....

In this episode, I explain why the scale doesn't always tell you everything that's happening with your body composition. Four different scenarios show how you can maintain, gain, or slowly lose weight while still making meaningful progress. I also discuss why muscle gain takes longer than fat loss and how that affects what you see on the scale. You'll also learn which other metrics...

In this episode, I break down why having a stable body weight doesn’t automatically mean you’re adequately fueling your body. I discuss who is most at risk of underfueling, some of the signs to look out for, and how staying too lean, high training output, and chronic dieting can contribute to the problem. I also cover what you can do to improve energy availability and better support your training,...

Welcome to the Mind Muscle Connection Podcast!  Peptides are having a moment, promising to boost recovery, metabolism, body composition, and performance.  In this episode, Dave Marsh and I break down what they actually are, the categories, and how to source them safely, along with what Dave has learned firsthand using them for recovery, body composition, and performance. We also get into MOTS-c, G...

Building muscle in a calorie deficit is possible, but your ability to do so depends on several factors. In this episode, I break down how resistance training, the size of your deficit, your current muscle mass, body fat levels, protein intake, and hormone status affect your ability to build muscle while losing body fat. I also cover how to set realistic expectations, when maintaining muscle should...

Welcome to the Mind Muscle Connection Podcast!  How much training volume can you actually recover from and when is it too much? In his 14th appearance on the podcast, Steve Hall breaks down how he manages extremely high training volumes, recovers from hard sessions, and uses the logbook without letting it dictate his training. We also discuss how he adjusts his training to manage fatigue, maintain...

Welcome to the Mind Muscle Connection Podcast! Training periodization is about adjusting your training throughout the year based on your goals, nutrition, recovery, and life situation. In this episode, I break down how to structure different phases around lifting, cardio, or a combination of both. I also cover how nutrition affects training, how to approach training during fat loss, and how to use...

Welcome to the Mind Muscle Connection Podcast!  Cycle syncing sounds like it should work but the research doesn't back it up. In this episode, Alysha D'Souza and I break down what actually happens across the menstrual cycle, from how estrogen and progesterone affect muscle growth to what her own training study found when she tested cycle syncing head to head against a normal training spl...

Welcome to the Mind Muscle Connection Podcast! Training volume is one of the biggest factors to consider when building muscle. In this episode, I break down how to think about weekly sets, how much volume most people need, and what factors determine how much training you can actually recover from. I also cover why the quality of your training matters, how to track volume, how to spread your sets t...

Welcome to the Mind Muscle Connection Podcast! When fat loss slows down, there are other things to look at before cutting calories. In this episode, I cover seven things to check before lowering your calories again. I dive into adherence, daily movement, cardio, stress, meal timing, maintenance days, gut health, diet quality and training. Small improvements in these areas can make a meaningful dif...

Welcome to the Mind Muscle Connection Podcast! Fat loss requires a calorie deficit, but there is a point where low energy availability can start creating more stress on the body. In this episode, I break down how to estimate the stress of a fat loss phase using the energy availability equation and what it can tell you about whether you may be under fueling. I also explain the limitations of this e...

Welcome to the Mind Muscle Connection Podcast! Getting leaner isn't always about eating fewer calories or pushing harder. If fat loss has stalled, there's usually a bigger reason behind it. In this episode, I break down the three biggest reasons people struggle to get as lean as they want. We cover the physical, mental, and skill based factors that can hold you back, why your body may ne...

Welcome to the Mind Muscle Connection Podcast! Body recomposition is possible for everyone, but women are generally in a better position to pull it off than men. That doesn't mean it's simple, or that you should stay in a recomp phase forever. In this episode, Brandon Dacruz and I break down the physiological and practical reasons why women recomp so well, from body fat levels to estroge...

Welcome to the Mind Muscle Connection Podcast! Body recomposition is possible, but that doesn't mean you should stay in the same nutrition phase forever. Whether you're in a fat loss phase or a building phase, each has a purpose and each comes with trade-offs if you stay there too long. In this episode, I break down the benefits, goals, and common mistakes of fat loss phases and building...