In most strength training programs, you’re told to perform all of the reps in each set without resting.

That works, but it’s not always best.

New research indicates that you can build more muscle by taking short breaks during your sets. This method is called “Rest-Pause” training, and in this podcast, you’re going to learn all about it.

“The goal with habits is not to perfectly execute a behavior pattern every day, it’s to make that effort every day. If you can be 85% “on” 100% of the time, that’s good enough.”

— Sohee Lee

10 Years ago, Sohee wasn’t happy.

She was struggling with an eating disorder, obsessing over the scale, running 15 miles a day, and barely eating.

Like many people, she struggled to find a diet and exercise program that worked for her. Eventually, she discovered weightlifting, and her life changed.

Over time, she was able to develop a healthy relationship with food, and stay lean and healthy without compromising her quality of life.

Now, she works as a personal trainer and fitness writer, helping people overcome the same problems that she did. Unlike many trainers, Sohee doesn’t focus entirely onwhat to do, she also helps people learn how to make these changes stick.

In this episode, Sohee explains the 6 main behavior mistakes people make when trying to lose weight. She also gives you clear solutions for every problem, so you can start making changes immediately.

If you’re trying to build muscle and strength, the question isn’t “should you squat?” The question is “why shouldn’t you squat?”

The squat is one of the simplest and best exercises for building muscle and overall strength, and if learned properly, it’s safe.

If you learn it properly.

There are a lot of well-intentioned people squatting with terrible form, and their knees, backs, and hips often pay the cost in the form of injuries.

Even if you’re squatting with perfect form, you might not be making the most of your workouts if you don’t pay attention to the finer details. Simple things like cuing, mobility, and tracking your workouts can have a huge impact on your performance, or lack thereof.

I’m not a world record powerlifter, so I’m not the first person you should turn to if you want a big squat with perfect technique. Luckily, I know a guy who fits both of those criteria — Jordan Syatt.

Jordan is world record powerlifter, personal trainer, gym owner, and a very laid back guy who’s great at breaking advice into simple steps. Oh, and he’s only 23.

In this episode, Jordan shows you how to teach yourself the squat safely and effectively. Here are some of the questions Jordan answers:

What’s the very first step when teaching yourself to squat?

What aspects of technique should you pay most attention to, especially at the beginning?

Should you push your knees out to the sides?

Should you use a high or low bar position?

How far apart should your feet be?

Should you use box squats, and if so, how?

Do you need to squat all the way to the floor?

How important is flexibility in squatting?

What are the best cues for keeping good form when you’re under a heavy weight?

What are the biggest mistakes even advanced athletes still make?

The first 6-12 months of weightlifting are easy.

If you try to add weight every workout, and eat enough, you’ll build muscle and get stronger every week.

It’s hard not to make gains at this point. Your body isn’t used to this kind of stimulus, and you make rapid progress.

But, after that first year or so, it becomes harder and harder to gain muscleand strength.

Many people grind away at the same program they’ve done before, and they don’t get results. In this podcast, Mike Mathews of MuscleforLife.com is going to help you design a program that will allow you to force through plateaus.

You want to lose weight, and you know that dosing tons of cardio isn’t the best strategy.

Your diet is on point, but you’re not sure how to train. You don’t enjoy powerlifting or bodybuilding type workouts, and you don’t want to spend much time in the gym.

In this podcast, Nick Tumminello, strength coach and “trainer of trainers” talks about how to use different kinds of weight training, like as circuits, combinations, and complexes, to lose weight.

You’ll learn about the proper intensity, frequency, and volume of weightlifting for fat loss, and about how to break through plateaus. You’ll also learn how to maintain your interest in training while dieting, when it’s often hard to get stronger.

Want to become as strong as possible, without getting injured? Nick Shaw of Renaissance periodization breaks down the six principles of intelligent training for powerlifting. You'll learn how to structure your workouts, plan your training routine, take systematic breaks, and more, to get stronger.

Want to get bigger and stronger, without adding excess body fat? Nick Shaw of Renaissance Periodization shows you how to eat enough to get stronger, while staying lean. You'll learn how much, when, and what to eat to get stronger and leaner.

You want to get stronger, or maybe you want to learn a new sport.

And you want to do it without getting injured.

You may have heard that you should visualize your body performing the exercise correctly.

Or, you’re told to focus on holding parts of your body in certain positions, like “keep your back flat,” and “push your knees out.”

Those seem like good recommendations at first, but they aren’t necessarily the best ways to get stronger or learn an exercise.

Research has shown that you can learn exercises faster and get stronger using a different method. In this video, personal trainer Randy Gruezo and I talk about the best ways to learn a new movement, or get better at a sport you already know.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a powerlifter, bodybuilder, runner, swimmer, or trapeze artist, you’ll get something out of this video.

6-12?

5-8?

10-15?

You're not sure what to think.

You've heard that to get strong, you need to use low reps, and to get big, you should use higher reps.

But then you hear how powerlifters are huge, and therefore you should train like them, too.

Then you hear how bodybuilders are more jacked than powerlifters, so you should train like them instead.

Confusing, isn't it?

Well, in this podcast, Menno Henselmans walks you through the science of muscle gain. By the end, you'll know what the "best" rep range for muscle growth really is.

We also talk about partial versus full range of motion exercises, autoregulation, rest periods, cardio, and other facets of bodybuilding. Menno is one of the smartest trainers I know, and he just got published in a major research journal.

You're going to love this episode.

"Training bodybuilders is easy. They already know 90% of what they need to do, and they've got the willpower to do it."

That's what a personal trainer friend of mine recently said, and it got me thinking. 

So far on EvidenceMag, I've focused mainly on people who are in good shape, but want to push themselves further. 

People, like me, who want to get leaner, stronger, and bigger than we are.

But what if you're extremely overweight, and you just want to get healthy? 

I'll admit that I've never been in that position, so I asked Dr. Yoni Freedhoff to come on Evidence Radio. Yoni has helped thousands of overweihgt and obese people lose fat, and he's written a book on his methods called *The Diet Fix,* which goes into further detail. 

In this podcast, we talk about the most common challenges overweight people face when trying to lose weight, the main reasons they fail, and how to set up a diet that increases their chances for success.

You feel great the first week.

You prepare healthy meals, finish all of your workouts, and get to bed on time every night. 

The second week, it feels a little harder, but you stick to the plan.

By the third week, you're starting to falter. You know what you're supposed to do, but sticking to the plan is becoming harder and harder.

You decide to focus on another goal instead.

Don't feel bad -- the same thing has happened to many people. But you don't need to keep going through that story.

Steven Michael Ledbetter, aka Coach Stevo, is going to show you a better way to accomplish your goals. Steven is one of the leading habit-based coaches in the world, and he's helped hundreds of people transform their habits.

In this podcast, he’s going to teach you how to identify and prioritize your goals, and develop habits that make reaching those goals much easier.

If you've been listening to Evidence Radio for any length of time, you'll know that calories count, and macronutrients matter.

If you're an athlete, this is especially true.

You need to eat enough to perform at your best, but the amount of protein, carbohydrate, and fat you eat is also important. If you aren't able to properly tap into your carbohydrate and fat stores, you may not perform as well. This is mainly true for endurance athletes, but it might be important for strength athletes, too.

In this episode of Evidence Radio, Dr. Mike Nelson explains how to increase your ability to "burn" fat and carbohydrate to perform better.

Why do some people live longer than others?

More importantly, why are some cultures happier and healthier, while others are stuck with depression and disease?

There's no way to say for sure. This is all observational evidence, so it doesn't prove anything conclusively, but wouldn't it be cool to go live with them for a while and see what they're doing differently?

That's what Luke Sniewski decided to do. Luke is traveling the world examining what helps different cultures thrive. So far, he's identified six essential habits that all healthy cultures use to maintain their health and happiness. Luke shares his findings on this episode of Evidence Radio.

You've been lifting weights and eating right for years.

You've been getting enough sleep and staying active.

But you're not happy with how you look.

Maybe you don't have the upper body you want. Maybe you still have love handles. Whatever it is, there's something about your appearance you want to change.

Gregory O'Ghallager will show you how. Greg is a personal trainer and writer who's helped hundreds of people transform their physiques with as little effort as possible. You're going to learn how to do the same in this podcast.

You never skip leg day.

You eat enough calories to build muscle.

Yet your glutes never seem to grow.

You want a larger butt, and your current training program isn't cutting it. You're doing the right exercises, but your butt isn't getting bigger.

That's going to change after you listen to this interview with Bret Contreras.

Bret Contreras has worked with hundreds of clients from every day fitness enthusiasts to professional athletes. He's also conducted thousands of unofficial experiments with electromyography on his clients to test what exercises best stimulate the glutes.

In this interview, he's going to teach you how to setup a program that will help you grow a butt you're happy with.

You'll learn...

• How to select the right exercises to train your glutes.
• How many sets and reps you should do to build stronger glutes.
• How many times per week you should train your glutes.
• How long you should rest between sets of glute exercises.
• Where to place glute exercises within your workouts.

So you've been lifting weights. 

You've been doing squats, deadlifts, and everything else you're supposed to.

But your butt isn't getting any bigger.

This podcast can help.

Bret Contreras, aka "The Glute Guy," is going to tell you about the best exercises for building a stronger, bigger butt.

Calories count, but that doesn't mean you need to count them to lose fat.

In fact, doing so can cause more problems than it solves.

The key to any fat loss diet is making it sustainable and enjoyable, which calorie counting often isn't. Even if you enjoy counting calories and macronutrients, or are at least willing to do so, there might be easier ways to lose fat.

Georgie Fear is going to tell you why calorie counting often doesn't work in the long-term, and how to lose fat using simpler, easier, funner methods.

Alex Viada squats 705 pounds.

He deadlifts 745 pounds.

He benches over 400 pounds.

It gets crazier: He can also run a 4:15 mile.

And he runs marathons and ultramarathons.

And he's an Ironman triathlete.

There are some bodybuilders who worry they'll lose muscle if they walk too far. There are powerlifters who won't run across a street because they're worried it will make them weaker. So how does Alex stay big, lean, and strong, while competing in some of the hardest endurance sports in the world?

Listen to this episode to find out.

"Should I eat it or not?"

If you've ever dieted before, you've asked yourself that question.

You want to lose fat as quickly as possible, but you don't want to completely give up higher calorie foods, like dessert.

After a diet, when you can't take the cravings any more, it's easy to binge on junk food.

But not if you ask yourself these three questions.

This simple three-step formula will help you indulge in your favorite foods without bingeing, restricting, or feeling guilty. You'll be able to eat your favorite foods during your diet, without ruining your progress.

You want to be healthy.

You want to be lean.

You want to live as long as possible.

So you eat a healthy diet.

You do your best to keep up with the latest news on what foods are healthy, and which aren't. You read blogs, and learn why some foods contribute to cancer, cause inflammation, and make you fat.

Then you don't eat these foods, even if you love them. You avoid foods you always thought were harmless, like bread, or fruit, or milk. You're scared, just like I was.

What if these foods weren't as bad as you've been lead to believe?

What if you didn't have to live in constant fear of damaging your health, or gaining fat, if you ate a "bad" food?

What if you could finally relax about your diet?

You'll learn the answers to those question in this podcast.

Every diet works, at least in the short-term.

You have friends who’ve lost tens or hundreds of pounds following a special diet. You have other friends who pester you or maybe even make you feel guilty for eating the way you do.

You’re not sure what to believe.

You keep reading, listening, watching, and searching. You’re desperate for a diet that will work for you.

You’re wasting your time. 

In this podcast, you'll learn why most diets fail, and how to use flexible dieting to get the body you want.

We've all had experiences that made us want to throw in the towel. Maybe you gained a ton of weight.

Maybe you binged during a diet.

Maybe you got injured.

Maybe you experienced something far worse, like getting fired, dumped, or losing a loved one.

Most people don't deal with these situations well. They complain, worry, and make things worse.

You can do better. In this interview, you'll learn how to use the ancient practice of stoicism to turn every challenge, disappointment, and obstacle into an opportunity to "express a virtue," as our guest Ryan Holiday says.

Flexible dieting doesn't get the attention it deserves.

It's arguably one of the most effective, simple, and easy methods for getting lean in a healthy and enjoyable way.

Flexible dieting is what helped me gain 73 pounds -- from being in a hospital bed with a heart rate of 19 beats per minute to becoming a healthy, (mostly) sane person.

It's what helped my dad go from being a chubby middle schooler to staying jacked for the last 40 years.

It's the same system that will help you lose fat, gain muscle, and build a better body, without avoiding certain foods, binging, or counting calories forever.

But what is flexible dieting, exactly?

In this podcast, you'll learn the four essential laws of flexible dieting that prove why it's the best system for getting lean. You'll also learn some of the easiest ways to get started.

Struggling with anxiety? In this podcast, you’re going to learn how to change that. You’ll hear from Charlie Hoehn, a marketing advisor and author who's worked on massive projects like marketing multiple best-selling books, including The 4-Hour Body.

Charlie will share how these challenges started to cause anxiety, and what he finally did to fix it for good.

You'll also learn:

• How to tell if you're the kind of person who's at risk for anxiety.
• The most common ways people convince themselves they don't have anxiety.
• The single greatest discovery Charlie made that finally helped him cure his anxiety.
• How to eliminate people in your life that cause you anxiety.

In this podcast, you'll learn how to lose weight quickly and healthily. Fast weight loss isn't easy or necessarily optimal, but there are several techniques you should use to make it less painful. Two doctors who specialize in weight loss medicine, Spencer and Karl Nadolsky, will show you how to lose weight fast in a healthy, controlled manner.

It’s hard to stick to good habits.

You start working out, preparing your own meals, or going to bed on time. You keep it up for a few weeks, but eventually, you stop.

That’s about to change.

In this podcast, James Clear is going to teach you exactly how good habits are formed, the most common reasons people don’t maintain good habits, and specific strategies you can use to make them stick.

Want to build muscle?

Then you need to lift weights. You know there are no shortcuts, and that you need to push yourself in the gym. However, there’s a heated debate about how many sets you should do to gain weight.

In this podcast, James Krieger will teach you how many sets you need to perform to gain the muscle as quickly and efficiently as possible. You’ll learn:

• The pros and cons of doing one set, or multiple sets.
• How many sets are optimal for building muscle.
• How to increase your volume as you get more advanced.
• How to plan recovery into your training program.
• How to decide on the right number of sets for your workout program.

Do you know why most people can’t lose weight?

It’s not because they lack willpower. It’s not necessarily because they get hungry.

The main reason people can’t get as lean as they want to be, is because they don’t have any structure. What you need is a simple, flexible, sustainable system that you can use to lose weight without thinking about it. 

That’s what meal planning gives you. 

Mike Matthews, the author of the website MuscleForLife.com, is going to teach you how to create a meal plan for fat loss.

Let me ask you a question: why do you lift weights?

Are you trying to get stronger?

Are you trying to gain muscle?

Are you trying to improve your general health and fitness?

If the main reason you lift weights is to gain muscle, rather than get stronger, then your training should be different.

In this podcast, JC Deen is going to teach you exactly how to create a workout program for gaining muscle. You’ll learn...

• What exercises to use for building muscle.
• How to sequence your exercises in each workout.
• What rep ranges to use.
• How long to rest between sets.
• How many sets to perform.
• How to measure your progress.
• How to change your training program if you hit a plateau.

In this podcast, science journalist and former anorexia sufferer Carrie Arnold is going to teach you what really causes eating disorders. Here's what we discuss:

• The three main causes of anorexia.
• The most underrated warning signs that someone might have an eating disorder.
• How your brain function changes when you get anorexia.
• How to help, or at least talk to, someone with an eating disorder.

Relationships are unpredictable.

Whether you’re just friends, intimately involved, or somewhere in between, it’s hard to predict how things will work out in the long-run.

With the right evidence, however, we can make your relationships much easier to navigate.

In this podcast, you’re going to learn the three best predictors of relationship success and how to decide whether or not you and your partner will stay together in the long-term.

Why is losing fat so hard?

Is it the hunger?

The constant thoughts about food?

The lethargy and lack of motivation?

The answer -- it's all of the above. Dieting will always be a challenge, but we know enough at this point to make it much easier to lose fat than you might think. In this podcast, you'll learn how to change your environment, macronutrient choices, and your food quality to accelerate your results.

You’ll hear from Stephan Guyenet, an obesity researcher and blogger who has been studying the mechanisms that control how much you eat and exercise, and how much fat or muscle you carry, for years. Whether you’re trying to diet to really low body fat levels or start making steps to reverse obesity, this information will help you get leaner with less hunger, effort, and obsessive thoughts about food.

If you read just about any book on nutrition for athletes, you’ll probably read a section that talks about nutrient timing. The chapter will probably talk about how important it is to eat protein immediately post-workout to recover and and gain muscle and strength.

Despite the fact that many athletes, authors, and coaches consider it a given that you need to eat post-workout, that’s really an open question at this point.

In this podcast, you’re going to hear from Alan Aragon and Brad Schoenfeld, two researchers and coaches who recently completed a new review study on whether or not you need to eat protein immediately after your workouts if you’re trying to gain muscle. This study was focused on muscle growth, but it also has some relevance to recovery in general.

You probably know how to lift weights.

At least you know enough to make yourself sore and get a little stronger over time.

However, at some point you're going to stall. What then?

Lou Schuler, a fitness journalist with over 30 years of experience, comes on the show to talk about how you can break through your strength training plateaus even if you feel like you've done everything you can. Think of this as the "strength training troubleshoot" for intermediate to advanced lifters.

There's only one way to lose weight -- create a caloric deficit.

However, there are two ways to create a caloric deficit -- you can eat less or move more.

So, which is better?

Tom Venuto, a best-selling author, bodybuilder, and personal trainer, comes on the show to answer that question. We also discuss some of the biggest mistakes you're probably making when trying to lose fat.