Weights and Plates Podcast
Robert Santana
Starting Strength Coach and Registered Dietitian Robert Santana shares his knowledge of all things diet, training, barbells, and more.
#92 - The Globo Gym To Starting Strength
Coach and RDN Juliette Gonzalez joins Robert Santana to discuss her fitness journey from Globo Gyms to Starting Strength, becoming a dietician, working as a coach, beauty standards, and more. https://weightsandplates.com/online-coaching/ Follow Weights & Plates YouTube: https://youtube.com/@weights_and_plates?si=ebAS8sRtzsPmFQf- Instagram: @the_robert_santana Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/weightsandplates Web: https://weightsandplates.com
#91 - Truth About Upper Body Training
In this episode, Robert Santana talks about programming for your upper body and how it differs from lower body training. https://weightsandplates.com/online-coaching/ Follow Weights & Plates YouTube: https://youtube.com/@weights_and_plates?si=ebAS8sRtzsPmFQf- Instagram: @the_robert_santana Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/weightsandplates Web: https://weightsandplates.com
#90 - From Crossfit To Starting Strength Coach | Gretchen Geist SSC
In this episode, Robert Santana sits down with Gretchen Geist to talk about her fitness journey, how she went from doing Crossfit to Starting Strength, becoming a coach, and exaggerated expectations in the fitness industry. https://weightsandplates.com/online-coaching/ Follow Weights & Plates YouTube: https://youtube.com/@weights_and_plates?si=ebAS8sRtzsPmFQf- Instagram: @the_robert_santana Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/weightsandplates Web: https://weightsandplates.com Follow Gret
#89 - New Year, New Goals: Removing Your Limitations
Online Diet Coaching and Strength Training with Dr. Robert Santana https://weightsandplates.com/online-coaching/ Follow Weights & Plates YouTube: https://youtube.com/@weights_and_plates?si=ebAS8sRtzsPmFQf- Instagram: @the_robert_santana Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/weightsandplates Web: https://weightsandplates.com Coach Trent Trent Jones: @marmalade_cream Email: jonesbarbellclub@gmail.com
#88 - It's Time to Rethink Body Fat
Many people (most?) get into fitness because they want to look better. At least, that's a primary reason. It's a worthwhile goal -- looking better is a gateway drug to performing better after all, becuase your performance (i.e. your strength and conditioning) drives your body composition. There is a big breakdown in what many people perceive as the ideal or even just good body composition, however, and what is realistically achievable for the average person without PEDs. Social media and pop cul
#87 - Thanksgiving: Time to Gain or Restrain?
It's that time of the year again, the uniquely American feast that is Thanksgiving. It's a time of feasting and festivities, but for a lot of people the feasting doesn't end when the holiday is over... it extends over the next five weeks until the end of the year. As Dr. Santana points out, there is some research that shows people tend to gain a few pounds over the holidays, then go back to eating at maintenance in the new year. They end up a few pounds heavier, however, and don't lose it, then
#86 - The Rep Before the Set: Don't Make The Biggest Setup Mistake
In today's episode, Dr. Santana and Coach Trent discuss a common mistake lifters make before they begin a set -- the unrack. As Coach Trent says, the set doesn't begin when you descend into your first rep, the set begins when you step on the platform. Getting your mindset right, visualizing a successful set, and unracking the bar with authority and controlled aggression is oftentimes the difference between a successful set and missed reps, especially when attempting a limit set or new PR. Onli
#85 - The Illusion of Safety
Many people who start barbell training say something to the effect of "I just don't want to get hurt" when asked about their fitness goals. It's understandable -- no one wants to get hurt -- but the statement displays some ignorance about the reality of aches, pains, and sometimes injuries that occur during hard physical training. When we train with barbells, we are pushing our bodies to the limit to grow muscle, get stronger, and become more resilient. Even if we aren't great athletes squatting
#84 - Why You Need to Understand Advanced Programming
One of the interesting consequences of the success of the Starting Strength methodology, and the growth in popularity of strength training in general, is that genetically average people are lifting weights and sticking with their program for multiple years. No longer are only gym rats and serious athletes dedicating themselves to years of sustained progress in the weight room -- now there are 55 year old moms with 5+ years of barbell training experience under their belts. Most of these people a
#83 - The Risks of Weight Gain for Strength Training
It's almost a cliche now, that a novice trainee running the novice linear progression should "do GOMAD" (drink a gallon of milk a day). This advice is one of the most misunderstood bits of nutrition in the Starting Strength method, but it highlights an important fact -- to gain muscle, most people will need to put on bodyweight while increasing their lifts (a small percentage of very overweight or obese people already have enough excess energy on hand in the form of fat stores to run the program
#82 - Testosterone:
Testosterone is one of the hottest topics in the health and fitness world these, specifically testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). While there are legitimate medical reasons for TRT, it is also abused by those looking for an edge in improving their strength and physique, and some low T clinics are happy to oblige. Dr. Robert Santana and Coach Trent Jones share their thoughts on the recent popularity surge of TRT, and when it's appropriate for trainees. Online Diet Coaching and Strength Trai
Strength Training for the Obese Trainee
We've talked about how an overweight trainee should approach strength training with an eye toward "recomping," that is, changing their body composition with more muscle and less fat. But what about very overweight or obese trainees? Dr. Santana and Coach Trent discuss their experiences training obese people wanting to lose weight and get strong in their novice phase of training. Online Diet Coaching and Strength Training with Dr. Robert Santana https://weightsandplates.com/online-coaching/
#80 - Does Upper Body Really Need More Volume?
When the upper body lifts stall, the typical programming answer is "add volume." Some do this by increasing frequency -- the number of times you perform the lift each week -- and some do it by adding more sets during each upper body session. Others do both! It's not bad advice for a lot of people coming off of novice upper body programming. Many of these lifters have low press and bench press numbers relative to thier squat and deadlift, so adding a few extra sets during the week, whether it's v
#79 - Barbell Burnout: Remembering Why We Do This
Burnout is a common complaint, whether it's from work, family, extracurricular activities, or all of the above. It happens in training too. Train long enough and you'll notice people in the community who were once avid lifters fall off the map. Some quit for good, or only sporadically train, others find different sports and activities to pursue, and those who remain tend to be lifers. Some people who quit barbell training cite burnout as the cause. For whatever reason, training no longer served
#78 - Are Your Goals Compatible With Your Lifestyle? Abs Don't Come Easy
While there are many good reasons to lift barbells and get strong, many people are motivated at least initially by the prospect of looking better. Improving their body composition, which means building muscle mass and losing body fat. For the average person, getting strong requires a lot of hard work and dedication, more than most people expect. Achieving above average body composition requires even more work, and ultimately begs the question: are your goals compatible with your lifestyle? Wei
#77 - YMMV: We're Not Powerlifters, And That's OK
In the gym coaching real people, the knowledge and experience gained from years of hard work under the barbell pays off -- a person who has put themself under the yoke and actively learned to troubleshoot problems and adjust training variables is well prepared to help other people do the same. On the internet, however, the biggest total (or the biggest bicesps) wins. Dr. Robert Santana and Coach Trent Jones discuss the storm of comments around Dr. Santana's recent instagram post citing variou
#76 - Leaving Behind the Quitter's Mindset
Strength training demands a lot from a trainee, especially after the honeymoon wears off (i.e. the novice linear progression starts to get hard). It's hard work, short but intense, and involves facing fear on a regular basis. As you advance into intermediate territory, the time between PR's increases, and requires patience and persistance. The stronger you get, the more you have to pay attention to your recovery factors -- food, sleep, and stress -- to properly recover from workout to workout. S
#75 - Science Is Fake with Stef Bradford, PhD
There's seemingly no end to the "evidence based" coaches out there nowadays making all sorts of claims about you should train, backed up by scientific data. Have you actually read any of the papers they cite to back up their claims? It turns out, there are numerous problems with the field of scientific research, from the actual design of the experiments to the reporting of data, the publishing process and peer review, and, last but not least, skewed incentives for the people carrying out researc
#74 - Training and Diet for Women
To quote Mark Rippetoe, "women are not a special population, they are half the population." In other words, women fundamentally train for strength the same way that men do -- the same principles of progressive overload, using compound barbell lifts that target the whole body, and nutritional principles apply. There are a few exceptions, however, and that's what Dr. Santana and Coach Trent address in today's episode. How Birth Control Can Inhibit Strength and Performance by Lea Genders: https:
#73 - Why You Missed a Rep: Four Questions to Ask
Dr. Santana and Coach Trent wrap up their mini series on post-novice programming with an important discussion on understanding why you missed reps. The novice linear progression cannot last forevever (or else we'd all be squatting 1,000lbs!), and as the saying goes, all good things come to an end. This means that at some point, you'll miss reps. What do you do then? Some people have the impression that missing reps means it's time to change the program, and that's not necessarily true. Often the
#72 - The SRA Cycle and Intermediate Programming
Dr. Robert Santana and Coach Trent explore the Stress/Recovery/Adapation cycle (adapted from Hans Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome) and how it serves as a guiding model for programming decisions in the intermediate phase of training. Weights & Plates is now on YouTube! https://youtube.com/@weights_and_plates?si=ebAS8sRtzsPmFQf- Weights & Plates: https://weightsandplates.com Robert Santana on Instagram: @the_robert_santana Trent Jones: @marmalade_cream Email: jonesbarbellclub@gmail.com
#71 - Programming After Novice: Making the Weight, and Your Technique, Go Up
The novice linear progression (NLP, or LP for short) is a fun time in the training career of a lifter. Never will you make as much progress -- and as fast! -- as you will during LP. It's also brutally hard, especially toward the end. Nevertheless, it comes to an end for every lifter, and people often spin their wheels trying to figure out what to do once the simple A/B program stops working. In today's episode, Dr. Santana and Coach Trent discuss some basic principles of post-novice programming,
#70 - No Fear, No Gain
For a variety of reasons, the predominant form of exercise in popular culture is endurance training. Endurance is valorized in the media, with sports like swimming and running receiving prime position in Olympic broadcasts. Military films often depict the hero enduring through miles and miles of trackless jungle and urban wastelands. The overarching experience of endurance training is pain, and pain is relatable. Everyone suffers, or will suffer, from pain in their life. It's even in the popular
#69 - We Command You to Grow! (With the Barbell)
You've tried the templates in the bodybuilding magazines, from the bodybuilding sites. You've tried lifting like the big jacked, ripped dudes on social media... and it hasn't worked. You don't look like them, and your growth has stalled out. For some reason we accept that in sports, we shouldn't expect to perform like pro athletes without elite genetics and many years of training, but in fitness, we expect to acheive the look of people with outlier genetics, years of training, and, often, perfor
#68 - The One Thing Your Training Is Missing: Consistency
Happy New Year! To kick off 2024, Dr. Santana and Coach Trent discuss the biggest ingredient to success in achieiving your fitness goals -- consistency. All the talk about programming and training splits and macros is futile if you aren't taking action consistently to meet your goals. Many people struggle with consistency, however, so they dive deep into the factors that influence consistent action: environment, motivation, and discipline. Dr. Santana points out that every trainee has modifiable
#67 - Lessons Learned in 2023: Hypertrophy BS, Arm Training, Food Quality, & More
Dr. Santana and Coach Trent share some of the lessons they've learend about training, health, nutrition, and human behavior in 2023. Happy New Year! Weights & Plates: https://weightsandplates.com Robert Santana on Instagram: @the_robert_santana Trent Jones: @marmalade_cream https://www.jonesbarbellclub.com
#66 - What Dogs Can Teach Us About Strength Training
A meandering chat about dog training turned into an interesting idea for strength training. Trainees are not so different from dogs -- they have different personalities, different motivations, and different "drives" -- and therefore they will respond best to a program that most closely matches their individual traits. An enthusiastic endurance athlete who regularly runs marathons or cycles long distances, for instance, would likely struggle mightilty on a program that calls for them to frequentl
#65 - Do You Need to Do High Rep Sets for Growth? Gross vs Fine Muscular Development
One idea in the fitness community that just won't die is that you need to do high rep sets (10's, 15's, 20's) when the goal is to build muscle. What so many people miss in this conversation, however, is that the context matters. To start with, the lift matters! Squats for sets of 10 or 15 are probably not a productive use or your time, because the fatigue generated from heavy compound lifts usually causes technique breakdown as you approach failure. Lying triceps extensions, on the other hand, c
Reading vs Doing: Why You Can't Read Your Way to Strength and Good Training Habits
Mark Rippetoe and Marty Gallagher Interview (3 Parts): Part 1: https://youtu.be/siaDQdpQPRQ?si=jBBEqMFP6drd1mKm Part 2: https://youtu.be/TxjibbKJ8UE?si=YilgpD6MG6bxAGZG Part 3: https://youtu.be/RIe_7ODKycQ?si=6t5M2L88a0J7DvGV Weights & Plates: https://weightsandplates.com Robert Santana on Instagram: @the_robert_santana Trent Jones: @marmalade_cream https://www.jonesbarbellclub.com
#63 - Diet Deloads: Stop the Non-Stop Dieting
Weights & Plates: https://weightsandplates.com Robert Santana on Instagram: @the_robert_santana Trent Jones: @marmalade_cream https://www.jonesbarbellclub.com
#62 - Pain, Tweaks, and Injuries: How to Overcome Training Roadblocks
Pain and "tweaks" are an inevitable part of training. If you live an active life, both in and out of the gym, then you will eventually tweak something and experience pain. You might even (heaven forbid!) get injured, and require rehab. So learning how to deal with pain while continuing to train and get strong is a very important part of the training process. Pain is a complex experience, as much psychological and emotional as it is physical. Through their combined nearly four decades in the gy
#61 - Lessons from the Old School Gym
There's something about the vibe of the old school, black iron gym. Whether it's a powerlifting dungeon straight out of the 80's, a bodybuilding gym packed full of machines and dumbbells, or a weightlifting hall with rows and rows of platforms, the single-purpose gym dedicated to training (not merely exercise) is a special place. A place where shit gets done, where hard effort and consistency are the primary currency. These gyms are hard to find, but you know them when you walk in the door. The
#60 - The Non-Linear Progression
A common frustration for intermediate lifters in their first couple years of training is an inability to maintain their peak strength. Whether it's a 1RM, a 5RM, or even a PR for sets across, for the vast majority of people something will interrupt their strength training progression and knock them off track, and they'll miss lifts they have previously hit. On top of that, attempting new PR's will become more unpredictable, and even if they did everything right, the weight sometimes just won't m
#59 - Women and Eating to Build Muscle Mass
Dr. Robert Santana and Trent Jones address the topic of eating to gain muscle mass for women. While the physiology of bulking, as described in episodes 57-58, is no different for women than it is for men, the degree to which women need to eat for muscle mass and the total amount of muscle gain possible is different. In general, women are not able to convert surplus calories into muscle mass as efficiently as men, so Robert and Trent advocate for a slower rate of gain for women trying to build mu
#58 - Bulking, Part Deux
Dr. Robert Santana and Starting Strength Coach Trent Jones continue their discussion on bulking, including favorite foods for amassing calories, how fast you should gain weight, and why the weight on the bar should be the main metric of progress. Weights & Plates: https://weightsandplates.com Robert Santana on Instagram: @the_robert_santana Trent Jones: @marmalade_cream https://www.jonesbarbellclub.com
#57 - Why You Should Probably Be Bulking
It's a common debate in the Starting Strength world and the world of lifting and aesthetics in general -- do you have to get fat to build muscle? Dr. Robert Santana and his co-host Trent Jones, SSC tackle this question and explain why, if you're a male looking to improve your physique, you probably need to bulk to gain muscle, drive your barbell lifts up, and later, cut body weight to lose the fat. So, to answer the question more directly: do you have to get fat? No, but you're gonna gain more f
#56 - Summer PSA: Change Your Environment
We know it's summer, and your busy. Kids are home from school, you're going on vacation, having cookouts... and we hope you enjoy these things! However, as a diet coach, Dr. Santana has observed a few common problems people have when trying to lose weight. One of those is snacking. Inevitably, people who keep a lot of snacks in their pantry end up overeating them and gaining weight when they're trying to lose. There's an easy solution to this, however. Throw them out! If you want to change you
#55 - Does Technique Really Matter?
It has become popular in the last few years for coaches in the strength and fitness world to question the concept of "technique," that is, that technique matters when it comes to getting stronger, building muscle, and injury risk reduction. One claim is that certain standardized technique hallmarks such as squat depth definied as the "hip crease below top of patella" are arbitrary, and that one could strong squatting deeper or higher than that. Others claim that certain techniques such as liftin
#54 - All About Abs, and Why You Don't Have Them
There's nothing more elusive and coveted in modern fitness and aesthetics than visible abs, the "six pack." For many, it's the holy grail of aesthetics. Many people, however, fail to achieve a six pack even after shedding a lot of body fat. How do you get them, then? Is it even possible for most people? Dr. Robert Santana and Coach Trent break down the mystery of "abs," discuss the relevant anatomy, anatomical variation in the population, and why most people need to worry about building muscle
#53 - A Chat with Uncle Rip on Food, The Great Fat Lie, and The Obsession with Leanness
Dr. Robert and Coach Trent recently met up in Wichita Falls, TX, the home of the Starting Strength organization, for a strengthlifting meet at Wichita Falls Athletic Club. While they were there they sat down with the man himself, Mark Rippetoe, author of Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training 3rd Edition and many other books and articles, to chat about how much the food landscape has changed in his liftetime. They also touch on the obsession with leanness in modern popular media, and how t
#52 - Intro to Strength Sports, and Why Training Isn't Competition
For people new to barbell training, it's not uncommon to hear the process of strength training referred to as "powerlifting," or even "weightlifting." And while yes, we are lifting weights, that is not the same thing as weightlifting -- which is the sport of Olympic weightlifting, a barbell sport involving the snatch and clean and jerk. Likewise, while strength training involves the squat, bench press, and deadlift (and press), powerlifting is actually a sport in which the squat, bench, and dead
#51 - Supplements: Are There Any Worth Taking?
Supplements are a huge industry, and showing no signs of slowing down. The idea that a pill, or a powder, or a drink can transform your fitness and body composition is irresistible, it seems, as people continue to pour billions of dollars into the supplement industry. Do any of them actually work though? And if so, which ones? Dr. Robert Santana and Coach Trent Jones wade through the most popular performance enhancing supplements, and offer an opinion which runs counter to what most will tell
Stress, Fatigue, and the SRA Cycle
Coach Robert and Coach Trent discuss some recent developments in their own training, which prompts a discussion on how stressors affect the SRA cycle, and why advanced barbell training can be deceptively simple. Weights & Plates: https://weightsandplates.com Robert Santana on Instagram: @the_robert_santana Trent Jones: @marmalade_cream https://www.jonesbarbellclub.com
#49 - RPE and Autoregulation
RPE is a commonly used tool for programming, and has continued to grow in popularity with the rise of barbell training, barbell sports such as powerlifting, and the online coaching industry. It's a novel tool which uses the lifters' perception of their effort (RPE stands for rate of perceived exertion) on a given set, on any given day, to influence programming decisions. It's an innovative way to approach programming, and certainly convenient for online coaches that don't have the benefit of wat
#48 - Does Getting Stronger Make You a Better Runner? Client Interview with Liv Miller
Robert invites one of his clients, Olivia Miller, onto the show to discuss her training program for a 50k race she ran in February. Liv is a former D1 soccer player now working in the healthcare field. She turned to running after graduation as a way to keep herself physically challenged, and to stave off some of the boredom and stress of the COVID lockdowns in 2020. A natural competitor, Liv excelled in running and began training for longer and longer races, with her recent 50k being the longest
Struggling to Get Bigger/Leaner? Strength Is Your Limiting Factor
An impromptu training discussion leads to a whole episode about why strength is limiting factor for the vast majority of people trying to get bigger and look more muscular. Weights & Plates: https://weightsandplates.com Robert Santana on Instagram: @the_robert_santana Trent Jones: @marmalade_cream https://www.jonesbarbellclub.com
#46 - What Now? Getting Lean After Novice LP (Skinny Fat Lifters)
Rounding out the January series on improving strength, muscle mass, and physique for the skinny fat novice, Coach Robert and Trent lay out what the early intermediate phase tends to look like in terms of programming and body composition. After building a solid base of strength in a well-executed novice LP, the formerly skinny fat lifter has most likely gained an appreciable amount of muscle mass. An average sized male, 5'7" to 5'10", will weigh roughly 200lbs at this point, and should be squatti
#45 - The Muscle Masterclass: Andy Baker on Hypertrophy, Common Upper Body Mistakes, and the Best Lifts for Growth
On today's show Robert and Trent welcome guest coach Andy Baker, Starting Strength Coach and co-author of Practical Programming for Strength Training, 3rd Edition and The Barbell Prescription: Strength Training for Life After 40. Andy is a master coach with a wide range of expertise and interests. He coaches high level competitive powerlifters, bodybuilders, high school and collegiate sport athletes, and regular folks just looking to become generally fit and strong. Along the way he's learned
Get Rid of "Man Boobs" Forever: Advice for the Skinny Fat Male
It's the new year, and a time when many people resolve to work eat, eat better, and improve their body composition. Some guys aim to lose weight, others to gain it, but what about the in-betweener, the guy who is of normal bodyweight, normal BMI, but still appears unathletic -- low muscle tone, no visible definition, and maybe even excess fat around the pectorals (man boobs) and waist line. This condition is often referred to as "skinny-fat," and skinny fat people often mistakenly think that the
Setting Goals for Next Year: Process Over Results
Coach Santana (now officially Dr. Santana!) and Coach Trent discuss their approach to setting goals for training, health, and life. It's easy to buy into the idea of resolutions and setting lofty results-oriented goals, and it feels good to do it! I'm going to squat 500 next year! I'm going to get down to 15% body fat next year! I'm going to lose 30lbs! These results or number oriented goals sound good, and setting them gets you thinking about what kind of person you'll be in the future, having
Liver King, The Limits of Research, and What Actually Works
If you are into lifting and spend any time on social media at all, you've probably heard of, or at least seen, the Liver King. Coach Trent and Coach Santana discuss the recent "controversy" around the Liver King's steroid use, why nearly everything you see on the internet is fake, and what we actually know works when it comes to getting strong and building muscle. Weights & Plates: https://weightsandplates.com Robert Santana on Instagram: @the_robert_santana Trent Jones: @marmalade_cream htt
Thanksgiving PSA: It's a Holiday, Not a Season
To all the folks in the United States, Happy Thanksgiving! Once again we have entered into the holiday season, which for many people involves eating...a LOT of eating! Some amount of overindulgence is kinda the point of feast days like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, as part of the celebration of things for which we are thankful. However, for too many people these holidays turn into multiple days or weeks of overindulgence that inevitably lead to weight gain. In fact, as Santana points o
Coaching Is More Than Just Information
Coach Robert and Coach Trent discuss a misunderstanding that sometimes comes up in a coaching relationship -- the idea that coaching is just a program, or a template, or a set of information that will get you to your fitness goals. The reality is that information is cheap, often free, and there's not a whole lot of information that a good coach can provide that you can't find on the internet these days. Information is rarely the road block for trainees struggling to make progress, however. What
Eating In a Time Crunch
It's that time of year again. The holiday season looms with Thanksgiving and Christmas on the horizon, and the inevitable work deadlines and travel stresses that go along with that. When time is short and stress is high, it's easy to make bad food decisions because -- let's face it -- most of the food available to us in the world is high in calories and low in nutrients. With a few basic strategies, however, you can avoid hitting the fried chicken sandwich for lunch and instead eat (mostly) fres
Getting Fat to Get Strong? What to Do If You're a Skinny Fat Novice
The so-called "skinny fat" novice may have the toughest road to body recomposition of all trainees beginning their strength training journey. A skinny-fat person is a person of normal BMI and "normal" bodyweight for their height, but a high body fat percentage. This person usually looks normal in a t-shirt, but with their shirt off appears soft and undefined. Male skinny fat novices may complain of having man boobs, or a smooth stomach, with no visibl separation in the arm muscles. The skinny
A to Z Accessories for Putting on More Muscle
Yoked, stacked, swole, diced... who doesn't want to get jacked? While the basic barbell compound movements -- the Squat, press, bench press, and deadlift -- are the backbone of any good muscle building program, sometimes certain body parts need more help to grow. Coach Santana and Coach Trent offer up their favorite accessory lifts for hard-to-grow muscles after a lifter has exhausted their novice gains on a quality barbell program. They also dispel some myths about "hypertrophy," particularly t
Alcohol, Body Fat, and Breaking the Bad Habits
Alcohol is fun. We don't need to tell you that. It also tastes good! We all know the reasons for drinking it, but what about not drinking it? Is it possible to drink alcohol and be strong and lean? Coach Santana and Coach Trent tackle this question in today's show. The biggest takeaway is planning. Just like you should plan the rest of your day of eating around going out to eat, you should plan your eating (and training) around your alcohol consumption. If you know you're going to the bar with
Hydration, Halting Deadlifts, and... Booze
After a detour to discuss the merits of halting deadlifts, Coach Robert and Trent explain the basics of hydration and fluid intake and why it matters for lifters in the gym specifically. If you're an early morning trainee, there's a good chance you are rolling into the gym not hydrated as well as you could be, and possibly with low blood sugar too. If this is you, it's important to understand that hydration isn't just a function of water intake, it's also dependent on sufficient electrolytes a
Easy Doesn't Work: An Interview with Stef Bradford (Starting Strength)
Coach Robert and Coach Trent interview the woman behind the curtain at the Aasgaard Company, publisher of Stating Strength: Basic Barbell Training 3rd Edition (and the popular training method by the same name), Practical Programming, several other books, and thousands of articles about barbell training, programming, nutrition, the sport of weightlifting and powerlifting, and much more. Stef Bradford holds a PhD in Pharmacology and decades of strength training and competitive weightlifting experi
How Much Training Do YOU Need?
A lot of templates and programming talk for the advanced lifter out there focuses on competitive lifters, or lifters seeking to become competitive, and competition comes with a few assumptions. One, that getting as strong as possible, and pushing for new 1RM's, is the most important thing in training. Having one clear goal (getting stronger on 1RM's) certainly makes programming easier to talk about, but is that really what the average lifter is concered about? If you're not a competitor, you p
3 Ways to Condition, Improve Your Work Capacity, and Burn More Fat
Coach Robert and Coach Trent discuss the value of conditioning in a strength program, and three ways to implement it based on your goals. While the idea that you can "condition" or exercise off excess calories persists (unfortuantely), though we know fat and weight loss are primarily driven by your diet, there is a role for conditioning in the life of a lifter and general purpose athlete. Regular exercise, such as walking, hiking, or riding a bike, increases metabolic rate and improves tissue
The Emotions Behind Eating Disorders, Body Dysmorphia with Dr. David Puder
Dr. David Puder, a psychiatrist, psychotherapist, athlete, lifter, and fan of the Starting Strength model, joins the podcast to discuss the emotions and drives that underly eating disorders, body dysmorphia, and the subclinical dissatisfaction with food and body composition that we often encounter in the gym. In addition to seeing patients and doing therapy, Dr. Puder hosts a highly successful podcast about psychiatry, psychotherapy, and the broader world of mental health called Psychiatry and
How to Program after Novice LP: Intensity, Periodization, and Nutrition
The novice linear progression as detailed in Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training 3rd Edition is attractive to novice lifters for a lot of reasons. It's simple, it's easy to track progress, and most importantly it works extremely well -- every novice has the capacity to add a lot of weight to their lifts in just a few months. Alas, all goods things come to an end, and novice LP is no exception. Many lifters struggle to determine what to do when their novice gains run out, so Coach Santana
Preparing for Success: How to Meal Prep Healthy & Delicious Food
It's been said many times on the show, compliance and actually executing your eating plan is the biggest factor in meeting your body composition goals. Many people fall short on meal prep, and tired and exhausted from a long day of work, parenting, and other obligations, end up hitting a restaurant instead of cooking healthy food at home. Some basic meal prep strategies can help you avoid the fast food and restaurants, however. To that end, Coach Trent's wife Jordan joins the show to discuss h
Stop Weighing Yourself, and Embrace the Tape (and the Iron)
Coach Santana and Trent discuss the many reasons the scale is a poor tool for measuring and tracking body composition changes, and can even lead to psychological issues: obsessing over a target body weight number, minor fluctuations in weight day to day. The better tools are measuring tapes, skinfold calipers if you have them, and, most importantly, the weight on the bar! So stop weighing yourself every day, and put your energy and focus into improving your performance in the gym. Weights & Pl
Novice Linear Progression: The Big Picture
Coach Robert and Trent discuss the essence of the novice linear progression, and how this simple model of progressive overload can help a wide variety people with different goals. Whether you are looking to lose weight, gain weight, get leaner, improve your joint function, or become a powerlifter -- the novice linear progression is the best first step you can make and NEED to make in your fitness journey. Weights & Plates: https://weightsandplates.com Robert Santana on Instagram: @the_robert_s
How to Get the Most Out of Online Coaching
Online coaching is a very popular choice these days, for good reason -- the internet allows people who otherwise would not have access to a qualified coach to get regular feedback on their technique, custom programming, and a sounding board for discussing their health and fitness. That said, there are a number of limitations to online coaching that you need to be aware of if you're going to do it. Robert and Trent break down what you need to know to find a competent online coach and how to get
#25 - The Restaurant Trap: Secrets from the Commercial Kitchen with Chef Drea Wild
Today Robert and Trent welcome the first guest to Weights & Plates -- Chef Andrea Wild. Drea is a professional chef with a passion for bridging the knowledge gap between professional cooking and good nutrition. She explains the difference between how chefs in a commercial kitchen approach preparing and seasoning food and how the average person at home prepares meals. Turns out, the restaurant is a great place for having an incredibly flavorful experience but a terrible place to get good nutrit
Bro'ing Out: Accessory Lifts for the Strength Focused Lifter
Admit it, you like to bro out! You know, catch a pump doing fifteen different types of curls, tricep pushdowns, face pulls... it's ok, we all love to do some curls for the girls. But, it's important we don't confuse fun exercises for productive strength training, which occurs with the big compound lifts: squats, presses, bench press, and deadlifts. That said, is there ever a time for accessory lifts in a strength training program? It turns out... yes! Accessory lifts can be used for a variety
Food & Macros in Times of Scarcity
Time are... interesting these days, and food is getting more expensive and scarce every day. We all want to stay strong and healthy, but protein and supplements are becoming budget killers for many. So, how much do we really need to eat to sustain a reasonably high performance training program? Robert and Trent offer some ideas about macros, inexpensive foods, and important tools and cookware that can save you money in the long run. Items mentioned in this episode: Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy rice
Peaking for Performance, and Debunking the "Forever Volume" Crowd
Robert and Trent discuss the concept of peaking, that is, preparing yourself for a maximum performance or athletic event on a given day, such as a meet or competition. Training involves periods of carefully dosed stress (workouts) followed by periods of recovery (sleep and food), which together create an adaptation (you get stronger, and/or more conditioned). Through this SRA cycle, your fitness and fatigue will oscillate. Peaking for an athletic performance requires you to dissipate as much fat
Macro Tracking: Going from Training Wheels to Intuitive Eating
If you want to make a positive change in your bodyweight or body composition, it's hard to avoid tracking your macro intake. At some point you've got to understand what you are taking in day to day, to establish a baseline of nutrients from which you can then make changes. It's kinda like a budget -- before you start making changes to your spending habits, it really helps to know where your dollars are already going. That said, macro tracking has its pitfalls, too. The data you need to track m
Everything You Need to Build a Killer Home Gym
Robert and Trent nerd out about every lifter's favorite topic -- gym equipment! Bars, racks, plates, accessories... they discuss everything you need to build a simple but extremely flexible and useful home gym where you can make gains for years. As with any of this equipment of this nature, there are certain tips and tricks you learn over years of experience, and Robert and Trent share their thoughts on the best equipment configurations on the market today. Weights & Plates: https://weightsand
Part-Time Dieting Is Killing Your Progress (and Your Waistline)
It's another New Year, and another chance for millions of resolutioners to finally get fit and lose the weight. Many are destined to fail, as we all know (or may have experienced ourselves), and one of the biggest reasons for failure is part-time dieting. Changing habits to eat less food is difficult, and people often succeed during the week only to come undone on the weekends with restaurant food, alcohol, and various social engagements. Santana offers some strategies to avoid the pitfall of pa
Set Points: Weight Loss, Bodyfat, and Managing Expectations
Anyone who has attempted to lose a significant amount of weight and/or body fat knows that the process is not linear. The first few pounds tend to come off easy, the next few require a little effort and attention to detail... and the last few can be very difficult to lose, depending on how lean you are trying to get. This phenomenon is known as the set point, and everyone has one -- a point at which further progress becomes exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, without chemical assistance. U
The Importance of GPP and More Thoughts on Maintenance
It's a busy time of the year. Thanksgiving just happened, and Christmas is upon us. While we are rushing to meet deadlines, wrap up projects for the year, buy gifts, and finalize travel plans, training often falls to the wayside. Sometimes all you can do is turn training into exercise, where the goal is simply to do some work and try to "maintain" (insofar as that is possible) what you have built during the year. By simplifying your lifting routine and some attention to your general fitness work
The Snacking Problem
It's a modern phenomenon, perhaps the consequence of having an over-abundance of food in the Western world. We like to snack. And snacking often is the difference between gaining weight and losing weight, or maintaining weight. With a little attention and intention, however, you can stop snacking from killing your gains. Weights & Plates: https://weightsandplates.com Robert Santana on Instagram: @the_robert_santana Trent Jones: @marmalade_cream https://www.marmaladecream.com
Eating Out Without Busting Your Diet
It's a fact of life in first-world countries: we eat out at restaurants, a lot. And we do it for a lot of reasons, besides the delicious food. Restaurants are social gathering places, places to blow off steam with friends after a busy week, to watch the game, or an experience to share with a significant other. Whatever the reason, eating out is a frequent experience for people. Weights & Plates: https://weightsandplates.com Robert Santana on Instagram: @the_robert_santana Trent Jones: @marma
Managing Your Resources and Expectations: Intermediate/Advanced Programming
Starting Strength Coaches Robert Santana and Trent Jones introduce the concept of intermediate and advanced training, and what to expect as you navigate the vast waters of programming therein. Most importantly, as you move further down the road of training advancement, the more carefully you must manage your training time, recovery, and outside-the-gym factors to continue making progress. PR's no longer occur in a linear fashion, and training results become unpredictable. Welcome to intermediate
When It Ends: What to Expect as a Post-Novice Lifter
Many people love the novice linear progression because of it's simplicity and the fast results it achieves for those who actually run it as written and do the things necessary for growth outside the gym (i.e. eating and sleeping). But all things must come to an end, including the novice phase of training. The world of intermediate and advanced training is a confusing and complex one, where many lifters spin their wheels without making much progress. To understand how to navigate this new phase
Sugar: A Dietary Evil, or Just Misunderstood?
Sugar has gotten a bad rap the over the last decade and counting, and it's still common to hear diet gurus excoriate the evils of sugar, particularly refined sugars found in processed food in the Western world. As Robert and Trent discuss, the role that sugar, and carbohydrates in general, play in the diet is often misunderstood. While it's common sense that one shouldn't drink a bunch of Cokes every day, many people laser focus on eliminating sugar from their diet, at the expense of missing the
Training Around Sports and Recreation
We get it -- training is not always fun, and a big reason you might be training is to get better at your chosen sport or activity. Whether it's BJJ, running, mountain biking, or a team sport like football or baseball, getting stronger is essential to improving at your sport. But you have to practice skills and condition too. Many people make the mistake of trying to get better at everything at once, which never works, but with some basic principles and smart planning you can arrange your trainin
Everything You Need to Know about PROTEIN
It's probably the most talked about macronutrient, and almost anyone you ask in health and fitness would say you need a lot of it -- protein. Nevertheless, many myths around protein consumption, timing, amino acid profile, and more still abound. Robert and Trent break down what you need to know about protein, how much you should be eating, and, perhaps most importantly, what you don't need to worry about! Weights & Plates: https://weightsandplates.com Robert Santana on Instagram: @the_robert_s
Why "Maintenance" Is a Myth
There's a notion among gym goers that one can simply train themselves to a certain level and then simply keep doing the same thing, workout after workout, to maintain what they have. This flies in the face of the principles of progressive overload, the Stress/Recovery/Adaptation cycle, and training in general, and has caused some confusion among people trying to achieve fitter, leaner bodies. In today's episode, Robert and Trent clear the air about the myth of "maintenance" and discuss why it's
How to Program During a Cut
Starting Strength Coaches Robert Santana and Trent Jones discuss how to modify your programming during a cut. A cut implies that an athlete is in a caloric deficit to produce weight loss, and specifically body fat loss. Whenever you put yourself in a caloric deficit, you are essentially under-recovered, meaning that you have less ability to recover and adapt to intense training sessions in the gym. However, we still want to preserve muscle mass during the cut as much as possible. Consequently,
Strength Training Is Not Fat Loss Training
Let's be real. Most people come to the gym so they can look better naked. For many people -- the so-called "skinny fat" demographic -- that's going to mean gaining muscle mass to improve their figure and lower their body fat percentage. For others that are legitimately overweight or obese, a BMI over 30, they need to also lose bodyweight to reduce their adipose tissue. Strength training is a great start for those folks, but it's not the end, and they need to make dietary changes as well. Weigh
The Danger in DIY: Why You Hire a Coach for Your Fitness
Robert Santana and Trent Jones are no strangers to the DIY concept, and embrace the idea of learning and trying things for yourself. With any do-it-yourself endeavor, however, you're going to encounter a fair amount of mistakes and setbacks in the process of learning a new skill. Fitness is no exception, and while a few have successfully DIY'd themselves to a high level of fitness, most people fail to achieve their fitness goals, especially over a long period of time (how many people do you know
Your Back Is Never Off the Clock
Robert and Trent discuss the role of the back and the trunk musculature in lifting weights and in developing a good physique. As Robert says to all his clients, "your back is never off the clock!" The back and trunk (or core as many people are fond of calling it nowadays) comprise a large part of the body's muscle mass, and are perhaps the most important and least understood of the body's levers. Weights & Plates: https://weightsandplates.com Robert Santana on Instagram: @the_robert_santana
#4 - Nutrition 101 for Training and Fat Loss
Today Robert and Trent demystify the nuts and bolts of nutrition for productive training, fat loss, and health. Weights & Plates: https://weightsandplates.com Robert Santana on Instagram: @the_robert_santana Trent Jones: @marmalade_cream https://www.marmaladecream.com
Why You Need to Lift Heavy: The Physiology of Muscle
Today Robert and Trent discuss why you need to train for strength, and why your lifts MUST be heavy to build muscle mass. It's popular these days to train for "hypertrophy" -- the fancy term for increasing muscular size -- utilizing sets of 10-12 reps on a large variety of exercises, many of them single joint lifts such as curls, tricep extensions, and hamstring curls. The problem with this approach is that, for the vast majority of people, they do not do these exercises heavy enough to drive mu
Where Does Your Diet Information Come From? Context Is Everything
Starting Strength Coach and Registered Dietitian Robert Santana continues the introduction to Weights & Plates with a "plates" episode, this time about the source of your nutrition information. Where does it come from, and have you considered the source of your information? These days we are inundated with information about what we should eat and how we should train, from trainers, from celebrity actors and fitness models, from doctors, and doubly so on the internet! Often the information is con
Bodybuilding Idols, Lifting Gurus, and Misinformation: Robert Santana Cuts Through the Fitness Jungle
Starting Strength Coach and Registered Dietitian Robert Santana kicks off the Weights and Plates Podcast with an episode charting his journey through the jungle of fitness and nutrition information. Though he's taken a number of wrong turns along the way, Robert's journey has taught him the value of some basic principles for fitness and body composition. Robert is joined on the podcast by Starting Strength Coach Trent Jones. First, those guys and girls on the fitness magazine covers that look
Welcome to Weights and Plates!
Welcome to the Weights and Plates podcast! Starting Strength Coach and Registered Dietitian Robert Santana aims to bring you practical advice about dieting, nutrition, barbell training, and more based on his 17 years of experience. Life isn't a science experiment. Training and eating well doesn't have to be either! https://weightsandplates.com