The Strength Log

Here we have it, every man’s (and quite a few women’s) biggest dream: bigger biceps!

Is it enough to only do pull-ups and rowing exercises for maximum bicep growth, or should you add direct bicep work too?

After a short anatomy lesson, we present you with everything you need to know about building big, juicy upper arms, including exercise selection, training frequency, and different approaches on how to include bicep training in your workout routine.

Next episode, we’ll flip the coin and talk about the other side of your upper arm—your triceps!

Also, we have merch now: check out strengthlog.com/shop for t-shirts and coffee cups. We’ll add more products and prints soon.

***

Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that subscribe button!

You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam.

Become a part of our community on Facebook here.

***

This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden.

To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.

If you want a t-shirt with ”Train hard, eat well, die anyway”, check out our shop here.

Wow, you guys and gals really sent in a bunch of great listener questions today. Thank you for making this podcast both informative and fun!

How about talking about the concept of progressive overload for older lifters? Or about the often-claimed importance of having a balanced physique to avoid injuries?

See the timestamps below for all listener questions.

Also, we have merch now! Check out strengthlog.com/shop for t-shirts and coffee cups. We’ll add more products and prints soon.

Timestamps:

• 02:10 – Question 1: Is it too long between workouts if I only do full-body workouts every fifth day?
• 06:45 – Question 2: If I’m never going to compete in powerlifting, should I use a lifting belt anyway?
• 11:45 – Question 3: How do I know if my physique is balanced enough?
• 17:10 – Question 4: How do I recover from acute low back pain (lumbago) as fast as possible?
• 23:10 – Question 5: How do I count my working sets?
• 26:00 – Question 6: I have a little ribbon of fat just below my belly button that I’ve been trying to get rid of. I’m 74 years old I go to the gym six days a week and I train an hour to an hour and a half every day.
• 30:10 – Question 7: How do I adjust progressive overload goals when my body is naturally slowly declining because it’s aging?
• 36:00 – Question 8: How important is it to refill with electrolytes after a workout?
• 38:40 – Question 9: I drink a full pot of coffee during my workouts. Am I stupid?

***

Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that subscribe button!

You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam.

Become a part of our community on Facebook here.

***

This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden.

To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.

If you want a t-shirt with ”Train hard, eat well, die anyway”, check out our shop here.

Last episode covered the three best fitness supplements to spend your money on, and three that might be worth it under special circumstances.

We flip the coin today, talking about the most overhyped supplements for strength and fitness. Either because they have been shown to not live up to the claims of the supplement companies or because they can’t be deemed safe for human consumption yet. 

Does this mean that it might be worth your money if we don’t mention a specific supplement in this episode?

Absolutely not.

The ones in the timestamps below are only the most popular ones, but there’s a lot of crap out there.

Save your money.

Timestamps:

• 04:10 – BCAA
• 09:30 – Turkesterone & ecdysterone
• 15:15 – Testosterone boosters
• 18:30 – Fat burners
• 22:45 – HMB

For a more complete supplement guide in PDF form, sign up for our newsletter here.

***

Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that subscribe button!

You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam.

Become a part of our community on Facebook here.

***

This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden.

To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.

If you want a t-shirt with ”Train hard, eat well, die anyway”, check out our shop here.

Which supplements are worth your money, and which are not?

In this episode, we’ll examine what the science actually says about fitness and strength-related supplements, to give you our list of the best ones.

When all is said and done, not many supplements remain that are worthy of your money—the opposite of what supplement companies want you to hear. However, we hope you’ll be interested in this knowledge.

But! There are a few that will help you become bigger and stronger. And they are mostly quite inexpensive.

We’ll discuss six different ones (see the timestamps below), how they can improve your training, and to what degree they are worth investing in.

Next week, we’ll cover overhyped supplements to avoid!

Timestamps:

• 07:00 – Protein supplements
• 18:00 – Creatine monohydrate
• 26:00 – Caffeine
• 31:50 – Vitamin D
• 35:40 – Omega 3 fatty acids
• 41:20 – Beta-alanine

For a complete supplement guide in PDF form, sign up for our newsletter here.

***

Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that subscribe button!

You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam.

Become a part of our community on Facebook here.

***

This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden.

To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.

In the final episode of our trilogy on fat loss, we discuss crash dieting.

Crash diets—also known as very-low-calorie diets and semistarvation diets—are very popular, and we’re here to tell you exactly how stupid it is to go on one and expect sustainable results. Especially if you care about your muscle mass, which we do believe most of our listeners do.

But can you do a successful crash diet, and how would that look? 

And what’s the superior alternative?

If you haven’t listened to parts 1 and 2 of our How to Lose Fat trilogy, you can do so here:

1. How to Lose Fat – The Basics
2. How to Lose Fat – Your Best Questions

Want all answers and secrets about fat loss in an easy-to-read format? Check out our ebook How to Build Muscle and Lose Fat.

***

Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that subscribe button!

You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam.

Become a part of our community on Facebook here.

***

This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden.

To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.

In part 1, we covered the basics of fat loss. Today, we continue this miniseries on training and eating to lose fat by answering your best questions on the topic.

Is starvation mode real? How do you deal with the lack of energy on a caloric deficit? Is it a myth that strength training burns fat? How do you avoid regaining all the weight you’ve lost?

See the timestamps below for all questions!

Timestamps:

• 05:20 – Question 1: Should my approach to losing weight differ if my goal is to retain as much strength as possible, compared to retaining as much muscle mass as possible?
• 09:00 – Question 2: Why is it so hard to lose weight?
• 11:20 – Question 3: How do you best deal with the lack of energy when on a caloric deficit?
• 14:00 – Question 4: What should I do to not gain weight quickly again after a weight loss diet?
• 18:10 – Question 5: Is it a myth that strength training leads to weight loss, or more specifically, fat burning?
• 22:50—Question 6: Why does my weight loss diet stop working and my weight loss stagnate, and how should I counteract that?
• 28:40 – Question 7: Are you two, the hosts, comfortable in your bodies, or do you want changes?

For Philip’s more extensive answer to question 7, read his column Life Is Too Tasty: Confessions of a Fat Lifter.

Want all answers and secrets about fat loss in an easy-to-read format? Check out our ebook How to Build Muscle and Lose Fat.

***

Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that subscribe button!

You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam.

Become a part of our community on Facebook here.

***

This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden.

To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.

Losing fat is the most common fitness goal for both men and women. It’s most commonly expressed as wanting to lose weight, but it’s fat we want to lose – not our hard-earned, important, beautiful, and sexy muscle mass!

In this episode, we teach you the basics about eating and training to lose fat. Should you count calories? What should you eat? How much protein? 

In the upcoming part 2, we’ll explore the subject further with the help of your best questions.

Have a question you want answered? Leave it in our community on Facebook!

Timestamps:

• 05:30 – Why do people want to lose fat?
• 08:30 – Why do we gain weight?
• 13:00 – How to lose fat

Want all answers and secrets about fat loss right here, right now? Check out our ebook How to Build Muscle and Lose Fat.

***

Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that subscribe button!

You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam.

Become a part of our community on Facebook here.

***

This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden.

To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.

For optimal quad growth, it’s probably not enough to just train squats, leg presses, or similar exercises. This has been bro science for decades, and today we will discuss a new study that confirms this.

The study had the participants train the leg press with one of their legs, and leg extensions with the other one. And the results of muscle growth in the quadriceps differed enough to make a long-term difference in your training!

Want to try a great leg workout? Check out this article, then download our app StrengthLog and find the same workout for free on the workout tab. It’s simply called Leg Workout.

***

Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that subscribe button!

You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam.

Become a part of our community on Facebook here.

***

This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden.

To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.

Training volume is a never-ending topic of debate. How many reps should you do when you want to become bigger and stronger? How many working sets? 

We focused on reps in episode 5, so today it’s time to focus on our favorite way to measure training volume: the number of working sets you train at or close to failure for any given lift or muscle group.

We kick things off with a new study from Brazil on football players with plenty of gym experience, that measured the effects of different weekly set volumes.

Then we broaden our discussion, by answering a handful of questions on this topic from our listeners.

***

Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that subscribe button!

You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam.

Become a part of our community on Facebook here.

***

This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden.

To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.

There’s been much ado about bench press in this podcast. In episode 6, we talked about the mistakes you should avoid if you want to become a great bench presser.

But that episode focused on the negatives, and today we feel much more positive.

What are the best practices of training the bench press, that you should implement immediately in your own workout routine?

We’ve gathered our 10 best tips on how to increase your bench press, no matter if your goal is to build bigger pecs or to compete in powerlifting.

Enjoy!

***

Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that subscribe button!

You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam.

Become a part of our community on Facebook here.

***

This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden.

To support us, download the best free gym workout tracker app, StrengthLog, here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.

You asked, we answered. And what an amazing bunch of questions you sent in! Thank you for both listening and contributing to the podcast.

The timestamps for all questions are listed below. We’ll discuss yoga, sleeping positions, high-rep training for squats and deadlifts, rest days, and more!

Timestamps:

• 04:30 – Question 1: Do you think the sleeping position matters for muscle growth?
• 08:45 – Question 2: I want tips on calluses in the palms of my hands! What do you do to keep them at a reasonable level?
• 12:40 – Question 3: What’s your view on endurance-focused strength training such as Body pump?
• 19:25 – Question 4: If you are training for strength, would you expect better gains over time (say after 2-3 months) if you did yoga (45-minute sessions) on rest days (at least 2-3 times a week) vs. just resting?
• 23:30 – Question 5: How important are rest days really?
• 28:10 – Questions 6 and 7: If one is doing suboptimal training (at least by the definitions for what is considered optimal) but still “working hard,” can gains and/or maintenance still be made? And: If you stop progressing in weightlifting and keep on lifting the same weights (same sets, reps, and weights), what happens with your strength and muscle size?
• 38:30 – Question 8: Why does high-rep training work better for the bench press than for squats and deadlifts?
• 43:15 – Question 9: What is the body recomposition method, and does it have any credibility?
• 48:30 – Question 10: How do I train to maintain being a good runner and a great powerlifter simultaneously?
• 58:00 – Question 11: Does poor form/technique when lifting weights in the gym cause injuries?

***

Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that subscribe button!

You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam.

Become a part of our community on Facebook here.

***

This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden.

To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.

How much does the lifting tempo you use in the gym matter? Well, a lot, at least according to a new meta-analysis that lays the foundation for today’s episode.

The study showed that lifting weights intentionally slowly leads to slower strength gains, while lifting them as fast as possible leads to faster ones.

But what about injury risk? The eccentric phase of the lift?

Take our hand and we’ll show you the way to faster gains!

***

Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that subscribe button!

You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam.

Become a part of our community on Facebook here.

***

This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden.

To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.

Strength training and enough protein are the keys to stimulating muscle growth. Recovery and sleep matter, too, of course, and we’ll cover those subjects in future episodes. But today we’re talking about protein, buddy.

Because everybody loves protein.

How much protein should you eat daily for muscle growth? Does the amount change if you’re also trying to lose weight? How much protein can you use for hypertrophy from a single meal? And what are the best sources of high-quality protein?

In this episode, we cover all the basics about protein for anyone looking to pack on more muscle mass!

***

Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that subscribe button!

You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam.

Become a part of our community on Facebook here.

***

This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden.

To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.

If your goal in the gym is to train for muscle growth, you just need to know the basics and a few core principles.

In this episode of The Strength Log, we'll break it down for you:

1. How fast can you gain muscle mass?
2. What causes your muscles to grow?
3. How often should you train a muscle group?
4. How many weekly sets should you hit your muscle groups with?
5. How many reps should you do in each set?
6. How long should you rest between sets?
7. What are the best exercises when training for muscle growth?

That’s about it. It’s not very complicated—in theory—but the more time we spend in the gym, the more we tend to forget about what actually matters.

So, here you go: our quick guide to muscle growth!

***

Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that subscribe button!

You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam.

Become a part of our community on Facebook here.

***

This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden.

To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.

Compound exercises are the closest thing you’ll ever come to a shortcut in your strength training. These lifts will not only work a single muscle group; instead hitting several at once, saving you time.

Compound lifts will enable you to train all major muscle groups quickly and with fewer exercises, compared to working each muscle separately with isolation exercises.

This episode discusses the benefits of focusing on compound exercises—and a few cons—and gives exercise suggestions for all muscle groups.

***

Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that subscribe button!

You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam.

Become a part of our community on Facebook here.

***

This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden.

To support us, download our free workout tracker app StrengthLog. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.

Which squat mistakes are actually holding you back from becoming a world-class squatter? Or even a decent one?

They might not be the ones you think (clickbait!), and in this episode of The Strength Log podcast, our mission is to make you less afraid of the stuff random squat gurus on the World Wide Web tell you that you must fix before you’re allowed to put some real weights on the barbell.

So, how much should you care about your buttwink? Your knees collapsing? Not breaking parallel?

We have around fifteen squat mistakes to discuss, so let’s get started!

***

Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that subscribe button!

You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam.

Become a part of our community on Facebook here.

***

This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden.

To support us, download our strength training app StrengthLog. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.

We made it to ten episodes! That’s worth a small celebration, don’t you think?

That’s why this episode is fully dedicated to answering questions from our listeners. 

From the ones you sent in, we picked eighth. See the timestamps below!

Timestamps:

• 02:50 – Question 1: What rep ranges do you prefer when strength and muscle mass are the priorities?
• 06:40 – Question 2: How do I build bigger glutes without hip thrusts? I'm doing at-home workouts with only a barbell and dumbbells.
• 09:00 – Question 3: It’s summer soon. How much do I need to train to avoid losing my gains?
• 13:20 – Question 4: Do cold showers (not baths) harm muscle growth if taken 12–24 hours after training?
• 16:30 – Question 5: What is the #1 lesson you’ve learned in the gym, that helped you the most regarding progression and/or motivation for your training?
• 20:00 – Question 6: Say that you want to test your general strength and fitness in the gym quarterly, using the same tests every time. The test can only take one hour, not including warm-up. Which exercises should the test contain, and for how many reps?
• 27:25 – Question 7: Does creatine lose its effect if you put it in coffee or tea?
• 29:50 – Question 8: Bench press, squat, or deadlift: You can only do two for the rest of your life. Which one will you never train again, and why?

***

Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that subscribe button!

You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam.

Become a part of our community on Facebook here.

***

This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden.

To support us, download our gym workout tracker app StrengthLog. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.

Free weights are the superior choice at the gym, says many people. Barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, and such are much more natural and functional! Don’t waste your time sucking up to the machines!

But wait! Don’t use free weights, you’ll hurt yourself! Use machines instead, they are much safer and more efficient for building your muscles and strength! Says others*.

Free weights vs machines: the eternal debate amongst gym bros and sisters. 

Today, we’re here to settle this debate.

What does the science say? Can we clearly say one option is better than the other, no matter if you’re training for strength, bodybuilding, sports, or just the health benefits of lifting heavy stuff?

We finish the episode with a handful of questions from our listeners. If you want to be able to ask us questions in the future, check out StrengthLog Community on Facebook.

After a four-week hiatus (i.e., sick leave), The Strength Log podcast is finally back! 

*Skynet

***

Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that subscribe button!

You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam.

Become a part of our community on Facebook here.

***

This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden.

To support us, download our gym workout tracker app StrengthLog. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.

What are the most common deadlift mistakes? In today’s episode, we’ve compiled the deadlift mistakes we believe are holding people back, but are also easily correctable.

If you want to improve your deadlift instantly, correcting these mistakes will be the closest you’ll come to a quick fix.

We also discuss injury prevention and equipment like shoes, lifting straps, and chalk, and recommend proven training programs for the deadlift.

For a video demonstration of the five-step deadlift set-up mentioned in the episode, click here.

Daniel also recommends Adam Meakins’ Instagram account, which you’ll find here.

Alrighty then, let’s lift until we’re dead!

***

Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that subscribe button!

You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam.

Become a part of our community on Facebook here. ***

This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden.

To support us, download our absolutely amazing gym workout tracker app StrengthLog. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.

Do you build more muscle mass when you train to failure, versus stopping a few reps short?

In today's episode, we discuss a new study that examined this. Then we’ll zoom out and debate a lot of different scenarios, to give you a better understanding of when it might matter more if you train to fail, and when it might matter less. 

Two common definitions of training to fail are muscular failure (when you can’t lift the weight anymore, no matter what), and technical failure (when you can’t lift the weight anymore with the technique you want to use). Both definitions are legitimate, and regardless of which one you use for your training, we believe you will learn useful information from this episode!

We finish by answering a handful of questions from our listeners on this topic, including:

• How hard is knowing when you’re 1–2 reps from failure?
• How does training to fail affect recovery?

Let’s go balls to the wall!

***

Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that subscribe button!

You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam.

Become a part of our community on Facebook here.

***

This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden.

To support us, download our free workout tracker app StrengthLog. It's completely ad-free and the most generous workout tracker app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.

The bench press is not only the world’s most popular barbell lift, it’s also a technical lift that many people will struggle with for years before figuring it out.

So, what are the most common bench press mistakes you should avoid to improve faster?

If you google ”common bench press mistakes”, you’ll find many articles trying to serve up one-size-fits-all solutions. Don’t flare your elbows! There’s one grip-width everyone should stick to! Leg drive is king! Don’t bend your wrists! Et cetera.

Don’t be discouraged.

Yes, the bench press might not be the most intuitive exercise. But your body will figure it out if you just learn the basics and then make sure to train it deliberately and continuously.

In this episode of The Strength Log, we’ll focus less on offering you the perfect technique cues – our experience tells us that they will differ on the individual level. Instead, we’ll look at the do's and don'ts that anyone can implement immediately, which will make a big difference for your bench press results in the long run.

***

Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that subscribe button!

You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam.

***

This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden.

To support us, download our workout tracker app StrengthLog. It's completely ad-free and the most generous workout tracker app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.

The most important principle in strength training is progressive overload, i.e. to continuously lift more than you have before. In one way or the other.

But does it matter if you progress by increasing the weight you lift or the number or reps you do? 

In episode 5 of The Strength Log, we're discussing a new study that examined this, and give our opinions on how you should progress your training to become bigger and stronger.

***

Want to learn more about the study we discuss in this episode? Daniel wrote an article about it, that you can read here.

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Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five star review in your podcast player. And hit that subscribe button!

You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam.

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This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden.

To support us, download our fitness tracker app StrengthLog. It's completely ad-free and the most generous workout tracker app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.

The squat is the most important lift in the toolbox for anyone looking to build stronger and bigger legs.

If you squat with a barbell, you basically have two options: putting the barbell on your upper back, or putting it on your front deltoids, i.e. in front of your throat.

So how does the front squat and back squat differ in terms of muscle growth and strength gain?

In episode 4 of The Strength Log, we break down a brand new study comparing these two versions of the squat, to give you our recommendations on which you should choose. 

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Want to learn more about the study? Read our article about it here.

***

Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five star review in your podcast player.

You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam.

***

This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden.

To support us, download free workout tracker app StrengthLog. It's completely ad-free and the most generous workout tracker app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.

This is episode 3 of The Strength Log, and it’s time for a proper introduction.

Who are we – your hosts – and how did we end up in your ears?

And … Do we even lift?

Since the answer obviously is yes, we’ll expand the question into ”Why?”.

Your strength training journey will hopefully continue through the rest of your life. But for it to do so, you’ll also have to find new motivation and new goals along the way, as you go through the ebbs and flows of both everyday life and aging.

Both of us have certainly had to.

So yeah. A bit more of a personal episode for you today, but we’ll also talk about what you can expect from The Strength Log podcast going forward!

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Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five star review in your podcast player.

You can also follow us on Instagram. You’ll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam.

***

This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden.

If you want to support us, download and use our gym app StrengthLog. It's completely ad-free and the most generous workout tracker app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.

Creatine is the one legal supplement to rule them all. At least if you’re looking to become stronger and build more muscle mass.

The supplement has been studied for decades by now, in thousands of trials. And the positive effects are very well documented, along with its safety for human consumption. Creatine improves strength, strength endurance, muscle growth and aids in recovery.

It’s also dirt cheap, compared to most other supplements.

But will it also make you smarter?

That’s the subject for today’s episode of the Strength Log, where we’ll look at a new study on creatine’s effect on intelligence and working memory.

Listen to the episode to hear us break down this study and to get our practical takeaways.

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Want to learn more? We have a great write up on this study:

Does Creatine Supplementation Increase Intelligence and Memory? Maybe.

And a big guide on everything creatine here:

Creatine: Effects, Benefits and Safety

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This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden.

If you want to support us, download and use our fitness app StrengthLog. It's completely ad-free and the most generous workout tracker app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.

Welcome to The Strength Log, a podcast about strength training, nutrition, health and fitness. Your hosts, Daniel Richter and Philip Wildenstam, are two Swedish gym rats and science nerds, with decades of experience of helping people reach their fitness goals.

In this premiere episode, we’ll jump straight into a new study that finally shows us that protein timing is of much less importance than your total daily protein intake.

For decades, the evidence has pointed to a rather low upper limit when it comes to how much protein from a single meal your body can use to build muscle. That gave everyone the conclusion that if you want to maximize your gains, you should space out your protein intake with many meals each day – each one containing around 20 to 30 grams (or around 1 oz) of protein – to not waste those precious amino acids on silly stuff like energy.

That never made much sense, and we finally have the study to prove it didn’t.

In it, the researchers compared meals of 25 grams (0.9 oz) of protein with meals of a whopping 100 grams (3.5 oz), ingested after a full-body workout. And wouldn’t you know it, the participants who ate the larger portions also built a lot more muscle mass!

Listen to the episode and we’ll break down the study for you, as well as give you our practical take-aways.

Let’s go!

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Want to learn more about this subject? Read Daniel’s article on the study here. 

Want to calculate how much protein you should eat daily? Check out our protein calculator here.

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This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden. If you want to support us, download and use our free workout tracker app StrengthLog. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life.