Eat Train Prosper

New Year: New Goals Q&A | ETP#50

January 04, 2022 Aaron Straker | Bryan Boorstein
Eat Train Prosper
New Year: New Goals Q&A | ETP#50
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

Milestone episode number 50 landing right as we head into a brand new year. To kick the year off we have a rapid fire style Q&A segment and we cover a lot of different topics. Let’s jump into the questions!

1. Aside from not getting a variety of minerals, etc. from different food sources (and possible food boredom) is there anything not optimal about eating the same foods day after day for let’s say a month or longer at a time if they meet your macro goals?
2. Programming perspective/beliefs we used to hold that have now changed dramatically? 
3. In tracked maintenance for a 3 months after a long time of inconsistency. Is Physique cycle a good one to begin a bulk? Also, I suffer from Gastroparesis and can’t bulk much (about 300 surplus). Will that do anything? 
4. C19 in October. Bad case, tons of fatigue and breathing issues. Struggling, and having to choose work or workout, as fatigue is too high for both. Sleeping 9-10 hrs a night for last 2 weeks. Also all whoop readings red for a number of weeks. Used to be an avid hiker, but really struggling to workout and walk or get any super consistent movement day to day. Any words of advice or encouragement? 
5. Super confused on failure training. Is one set to failure enough? Why would I want to do 2 sets ever? Is it better? Would you try to hit failure on every exercise in a workout if safety isn’t an issue? 
6. Best way to load a sissy squat? Weighted vest?
7. Thank you for all your knowledge and assistance throughout the year :) 
8. In a training rut for myself. What good resources can you suggest? 
9. Full body routines fatigue me too much for the final few exercises. Should I switch up the order? 
10. How to get over a breakup. The chemistry was amazing, and three months later I am worse off 
11. Best way to optimize upper body training when you can’t train lower with a broken leg? 
12. How do you assess how you are recovering and when you need to take a rest day instead of train? 
13. Reverse or Recovery diet? 
14. In a superset, start with short or lengthened movement first? Why? 
15. Cable machines…. Does it get harder or easier as you move closer to the cable stack? 
16. How does narrow/wide stance impact a Glute bridge? 
17. In your current setup, are you hitting upper 3x/week and lower 2x/week? 18. Who would get better results and why: 
Person training only lengthened movements, person with an even mix between lengthened/shortened/mid-range?
19. Advice on moving away from scale and food/macro tracking. Irrational fear of loss of control…


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[aaron_straker]:

Happy Tuesday, guys, welcome back to the first Eat Train Prosper episode of the Brand New Year. We have a cuate episode, But before jumping into this Brian, What's the La with you?

[bryan_boorstein]:

It's not the New Year quite For us. We're recording this, so it's a bit of a facade's. it's late December For us. We're recording our New Year episode, But we just finished Christmas and uh, Christmas was awesome. We had family in town. Uh, Kim's mom and uh and sister and uh, for the most part it was good. like Uh, The mom's a little bit, um, coved. Paranoid, Maybe would be the right way of saying that, So so every time someone sneezed, it was like you should take a covet test. Go get cove tested like a little bit of that type thing, but um, you know she's old. We want to take care of her, so it's kind of what comes with having extended family in town. Um started my new, uh, my new cycle, which is rad, uh, the one we discussed Uh in prior episodes. Uh, so just today I had to do hams strings and not quads, even though my program called for Uh, quads and ham strings today because my quads were still really sore from Thursday. so it's now Tuesday. Uh, which is like five days later or something like that, and my quads are still two sort of trained, so splitting it up doing ham strings today, hopefully do quads tomorrow and it actually kind of made me think that maybe that's just how I should do it going forward anyways. Um, because I had such a good hamssterring workout and I, I couldn't imagine doing what I just did. Uh, seven work sets of hams strings, and then also be able to put anything reasonable into quad. So Um, I had one of those already in the program. Like the the second leg day was a hamday and then and then a quadda. But I think I'm going to do that on the first le day, too, so it'll extend my cycle out from eight days to to nine days. essentially, um, and just split that work over two days. Give myself an extra rest day and I think it's cool because it also sort of specializes the quads along with the hams, which you know, as we've discussed, I need both of those. so uh, it's definitely now a a leg priority cycle. And uh, so there's across the. I'm training each leg, Uh twice there, four leg days and there's three upper body days, So um, yeah, I'm excited about that. It. It was a great hamsterring session today. Uh, doing the volume ramping things, so I added one set from last week and uh, I'm sure we can discuss more about this, maybe in the next episode, But we have a ton of questions to get to. So how is your christmas? What's going on with you?

[aaron_straker]:

Christmas was good. I actually elected to you spend Christmas by myself this year. Um, Jenny went to Florida to to see parents. I, I stayed back here and really just spent the days working, Um, which I'm I'm guilty of, but I mean if I'm being very very frank like right now, I am just very very motivated with work stuff. I know. I've spoken about a lot of the changes I'm making with my own coaching, Um, with an education course that is now coinciding with my coaching, and I'm just head down like that's my priority. I'll spend holidays by myself if it means I get to get the stuff done and get it out to people that need it. I'm also starting to shift a little bit of my targeted clientele to be newer, kind of newer, Uh coaches or aspiring coaches, because there's a big gap between what you get in like your l one nutrition and coaching certifications and then what you run into with clients and stuff, Uh, especially as the landscape of the clientele changes, so that is something I'm very very excited about basically just being who I needed you know when I was getting into it, and I'm very very fortunate that my very first coach was someone who is very on the. Like new leading edge of things, and it took me down. you know, rabbit holes that I never never want have been on my radar and it really helped you know. Uh, what's the word I'm looking for? Propel me like my knowledge and my coaching. you know from an early standpoint, so I just want to be that for Um, newer coaches as well, so that is the the big updates for me and them from training a little bit, uh, just really playing with a lot of the En one stuff. Still, so, Um, at the practical, it was a lot of drinking from a fire hose and I was like trying to hold on a little bit, put some of the knowledge. but now it's just like Okay, I have this machine in me in twenty minutes and I'm going to like figure it out type of thing, and that's been a lot of fun. So F, for instance, one of the the A movement that I just could not get right, you know I, that the practical I was performing the other day and everything just clicked. You know. It was in the amount of tension that I could get through the lateral headad of my tricepts with just two sets of eight was absolutely insane. They were so blown up from that and it was like I was like, finally, like it clicked. I don't feel stupid anymore. right, I understand it, and it, it. just it. Things of the small things can really matter. Um, the other example that I will give is doing the split squats right, So like the the front foot wedge, rear foot elevated split squats.

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yep,

[aaron_straker]:

I'd set them up or I didn't set it up. Chat out to Cody At. And one he helped me set up for what I needed to do, And then I was kind of struggling to recreate that myself in the gym a little bit, because like it was working, but I was still getting a lot of that. The tension in like my glut on the front leg when I wanted it to be quadt and I was pushing like my leg all the way far for it. And then what I've realized and it was like this little thing. I need my back foot to be higher in the air than my front foot, because

[bryan_boorstein]:

yeah,

[aaron_straker]:

just by doing that, it's going to shift more of my balancing weight into that front foot, which will put so much more stimulus through my quadz. So it's like little things like

[bryan_boorstein]:

Mhm,

[aaron_straker]:

this that you just pick up on as you play and iterate that Make these like. I don't know. I mean it completely changing like now, Luots. Were you know getting fatigued at the end of the set is my Kd. That was literally failing, So it's just cool right. just playing learning exploring, taking the new information I have and seeing how I can apply it first myself so that I can then later hopefully provide better information from other people.

[bryan_boorstein]:

y. yep. No, totally the tri up One is a good one and that movement you were talking about. Um, we were actually talking about this briefly off air, but you was talking about this one movement from and one that we learned where it's a length in position for the lateral head where the cable's coming from like the other side of your neck. Essentially, And then you're

[aaron_straker]:

Yeah,

[bryan_boorstein]:

pushing out. Um,

[aaron_straker]:

like a karate chop

[bryan_boorstein]:

yeaha,

[aaron_straker]:

type of thing,

[bryan_boorstein]:

and uh. And that one was super hard for me to get, too, because you have to position your hips and your body in such a way that the cable runs nice and smoothly and that you're not fighting it at any of the different ranges of the motion, So Um, that's a really good one. And then, um, to kind of corroborate that story of just getting it right, and it being so effective, Um, I was doing my uh, final upper body session of of my first week and it was like a full body upper body, so I really only had two sets each for bicepts and triceps at the end, and I did two sets of the the cross cable, which is the lengthened for the longhead,

[aaron_straker]:

Mhm,

[bryan_boorstein]:

Um, the one you were talking about length, and for lateral head, this would be length and longhead, where the cables cross over from underneath. You and then you get that deep stretch at the bottom and and push up, and uh, I only did two sets as well, and Uh even got the weight wrong on the first set. It did seventeen raps on the first set increased the weight and then eleven on the second set and my tricepts are still sore Like two and a half days later. Uh was first from two sets, which is like crazy to me, especially a cable movement because cable stuff never used to get me sore, so I guess there's something to like really lining up correctly and making the muscle do the work that that's intending to do it. So uh, super cool as well. on my end,

[aaron_straker]:

Yeah, I

[bryan_boorstein]:

yeah,

[aaron_straker]:

agree, I've been doing that that same movement, The the length and head, sorry, long lengthened, but I do it. S. so I can

[bryan_boorstein]:

uh,

[aaron_straker]:

just focus my concentration on one arm at a

[bryan_boorstein]:

yeah, yeah,

[aaron_straker]:

time, as opposed to trying to do both. but agreed, Same thing. By the first time did I got stupid sore off the two sets.

[bryan_boorstein]:

yeah, it's super cool. I, uh, also just briefly wanted to mention that Uh, both paragon and evolved have uh have new cycles starting January third, Uh, paragon starting new across all programs. So Um, whether it's the physique Uh, commercial physique could get both. Uh, get all the programs, but Um, really good stuff. We also have a new specialty cycle the the hybrid lift run cycle. So, if you want to train for like a ten k half marathon type thing, but also want some strength training in there, Uh, that would be a great cycle to do, and then un involvolveed, Um. The new idea is Uh is an ascending r, p, E cycle, So Um, essentially kind of hitting like you know, something like four sets to eight across, Uh, four working sets where each set you're moving a little bit closer to failure. So you might go like seventy pounds, eighty pounds, ninety pounds, a hundred pounds across four sets, And you know the intention would be that the final set would be at failure or relatively close. And then if you successfully achieve you know the that top rap goal on your final hardest set, then that kind of lets you know that maybe in subsequent weeks you could increase a little bit of load there. so um, kind of a new idea. It's a way to get more volume in and Um have sets that count right. So you have that idea of effective reps in the last five reps really matter and stuff like that. So if you're doing like an r, p, E six set, which is essentially for up from failure, that set like still counts like it's still a kind of hear set, Um, It just isn't as hard as you know, going to failure or whatever, So Um, should be a a cool experiment there on Uh, on the Evolve physique programs starting January third and Uh. and yeah, I think we have some questions. We actually got nineteen questions. Um, for our New Year's q, and A, So we'll either you ll give brief answers and get through all of them, or maybe we willll break it up into two episodes. What do you think?

[aaron_straker]:

Let's see what happens. One thing I wanted to say, Uh, before we'll ju to the questions about the the new of evolved Um program that you're starting Or that's coming out.

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yeah, yeah,

[aaron_straker]:

What I really like about that. is it it allow? It helps you just get better with weight selection and

[bryan_boorstein]:

Mhm

[aaron_straker]:

load selection, which I know like you. You just said you, you, You missed you. Mis chose with a tricep one. That's one that I know a lot of. So it's like Okay, This is my first set of eight. Okay, I'm going to go up again. It's like it's like exploration of what is the proper load And it gives you multiple sets to do that, which I think is pretty cool.

[bryan_boorstein]:

for sure, and you'll just refine that as you go to week as well. Well, the first question I I think was was from one of your people, and it's in good questions. I'll read it out for you. Aside from not getting a variety of minerals, et cetera from different food sources and possible food, borom, is there anything sub optimal about eating the same foods day after day for, let's say a month or longer at a time. If that's whats needed to meet your macro bols? This sounds like the old body building diet to me, just like you know, six meals a day, always like chicken, rice and broccoli, or something like that?

[aaron_straker]:

So how I'm going to answer? This is base off the word optimal. Is this sub optimal? I do believe it's sub optimal. The reason being there, Uh, is really just micron nuutrient, diversity, or sorry, micro nuuttrient, um, potential for micron nuutrient Uh, deficiencies if you are not covering something, Uh, what you did allude to in your question, but also um, the diversity of your of your gut microbom, so if you're not eating certain things, you may not be getting certain types of um, beneficial probiotic strains, and that sort of things, or different types of prebiotic strains to prebotic fibers to feed those different strains that could overtime lead to diminished Uh, digestive quality and gut health over time. In, in a short thing of like hey, three to four weeks, because I'm dieting and I just want to make it simple and repeatable. I think this is perfectly fine and and, in being completely realistic and honest, this is what my diet looks like. Probably for three weeks at a time, I'll eat mostly the exact same meals. Just because it's easy. I know how to prep it and I can cook it easily and it allows me to just basically copy pace my days. and it's very very simple. So is it optimal. No, but what is your priority being optimal? reaching your goal, Probably reaching your goal. So in this, I think it's perfectly fine And then I would say with this approach If you have a have a free meal per week or you go out to eat or anything like that, try to order some different vegetables or starches that you normally would just kind of sprinkle in a little bit more of that diversity of your foods. But other than that, I think this is a pretty pretty pretty good approach. I, I would recommend anyone really not follow this.

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yeah, I would say that I am pretty much a creature of habit and tend to eat mostly the same foods. I read a study a number of years ago. Uh, that most people eat something like twelve or thirteen different foods like just in general. That's just like their food selection, which is really really low. Like I think. I. I eat more than that, but um, but it. If you actually go through it and count, it's surprising. Like how how many foods. How much like twelve or thirteen different foods is, But I think you, most people like for health and micro nutrient should be eating should be eating more than that. And and I, uh, like I for me, especially when dieting. It's just easier to be regimented and just know that this is what I'm eating each day and not have to think about it. So um, in that case you know, I think it. if it makes it you're gettingting your goal easier. It makes sense and that's kind of what I'll say on that.

[aaron_straker]:

Yep. I agree. Uh, number two programming perspective slash beliefs we used to hold that have now changed dramatically. You want to start this one, Brian

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yeah, it's such a good question. I actually

[aaron_straker]:

K.

[bryan_boorstein]:

wanted to think about this more. and then I didn't actually think about it more. So now now now, no, we'll talk about it a little bit. Um, but the the first one that came to to my mind, And maybe it's just because of how entwined we are with this right now. But it's the idea of exercise selection and exercise execution. and I, I, I do it from a longevity standpoint. And maybe that's not fair because I'm now you know thirty nine years old and I've been doing this for twenty five years. And and so I think that these things are of much more importance to me now than they were, Um years ago. but um, but I would say that that that that's one thing I can say for sure has changed and and has helped me feel better as I get older, which is which is phenomenal. Um. I, I would say not thinking about things as body parts, uh, or body areas. I guess like I, I don't think I'm going to go train back anymore. So like back in the day, I would have a back day and it would be like pull ups and rows and a pull down and another row. Um, that was pretty much back day and then maybe like some reardult flies or something like that, But now I think about the back a lot differently and I and I program it differently. Uh, in that sense too again, that kind of intertwins with the exercise selection and execution. peace. Um, yeah, I think you know. there's a lot of things from the precsfit days in programming Like the bro split is one. I mean, I always trained on a bro split and I was even hesitant to switch off the bro split even once science started to kind of go the other way with it because it just always worked for me, and you know that goes into the argument of Like if you train on a bro split for twenty years or you trained perfectly optimal for twenty years, Like are you ultimately, just goingnna get to the same goal because you may just get there faster if you did an optimal right, but you're gonna approach your genetic limit, ettera. No one knows the answer to that, but that's one that I would say For sure, I don't program in a bro split. In most cases anymore. those are the big ones. Come to mind, I'm sure I'll have more after you talk. What do you think, Erarin

[aaron_straker]:

Yeah, So the first one that to the immediate one that I think of is is the leg conversation and the

[bryan_boorstein]:

Mhm,

[aaron_straker]:

squatting thing that you know. you and I have pretty much beat to death on the podcast over over the year because we've talked about it a numerous amount of times. Um, but the more recent one is like I had always kind of historically been a very high volume guy because I know or no, Anne knew that that's what would work. but it worked for me like Hey, I know this training at this line works for me because I'm still making

[bryan_boorstein]:

Mhm,

[aaron_straker]:

gains. I feel like I've done pretty decently, But that's been a newer one for me is like Hey, and that was some of this last. Like you know, Three, six months of like seeking out more edit. Education on the training side of things is, can I get more efficient because I'd always like trained six days per week. Um, because I just want. I really like being there and too, I was like. Well, I need to train six days be because I need to hit all these things. you know two times, type of thing. Um, but now it's like I've only been training three or four days for like last like eight, eight weeks, almost and things are working. Things are going really well and I think I've just been able to get more efficient and really pinpoint and just get like more targeted with what I'm doing. So the effect of each set has like a greater magnitude than the effects of my sex That I would do, you know earlier this year prior this year, so

[bryan_boorstein]:

Mhm, Mhm,

[aaron_straker]:

that's been a big one for me of just making sure that like a set is very, very well performed at an appropriate effort And I'm not just like, kind of checking the box type of thing. Um, so that's been a a big one that I'm still basically knee deep in exploring, but my initial hypothesis is that it can be very very effective.

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yeah, I would say in the super early days before I even got into coaching like just when I was training myself, and like you know, internet coaching a couple of friends or family members or whatever, like I'm talking about when I'm like eighteen to twenty somethingth twenty two. Whatever, um, I, uh, I haveve always been a a lower volume, um proponent like even when I first started and I remember coaching a couple of my friends and them not being able to feel like they were getting enough from the volume that was being programmed. And that's when I kind of realized that there was a bit of a diychomy between those that know how to push intensity and those that don't and how, ultimately that programming of whether you're programming volume or intensity for someone or some you know, combination of the two really depends on whether that individual knows how to push there and get there, and Th, you can like on a philosophical level. If you can't push there or you don't want to push there, you don't have to. You just have to do more volume to compensate for it. And if you do enjoy pushing there and really trying to become super intricate, Uh, with your movement like we have, and get the most out of every single rep, and et cetera, then you can probably do that with a little bit less volume if you're working closer to failure. Um, but yeah, that would be just a general shift of kind of perspective over time

[aaron_straker]:

Yeah, I would say think we. we cover that one pretty well.

[bryan_boorstein]:

Co. I'll ah, drop this one over to you, maybe in trackt maintenance for three months after a long time of inconsistency. Oh, this section may be a better question for me. Is the physique cycle a good one to begin a bulk. Also, I suffer from gastroparicis and can't balk much. About three hundred calorie surplus. Will that do anything? Do you know what gastropsis is?

[aaron_straker]:

Yeah, so if I'm I'm getting us slightly outside the the bounds of where I feel very confident speaking, but I believe gastro pasis is a condition where the smooth musculature of your muscle have like. they just don't like. It's called like motility right, which is how your your your stomach muscularure will like, move the food through it. I think asstroresis is a condition where it doesn't like function as as well as it should. So it's like you. Your food doesn't get like pushed through your stomach. How it should be. Um, which obviously limits the amount of food you can put in, so I think so what we willll do is, I'll answer the second part of the question and

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yeah,

[aaron_straker]:

we'll kick it the first part back over you. So what I would recommend in this context right? Um, so it's it's kind of interesting gastro, Your, Your. Your. The, the smooth musculure of your stomach, and that mortality is part of mechanical digestion, Right with two parts of digestion, mechanical and chemical chemicals going to be like your hydrochloric acid. Your enzymes. those sorts of things. So what you can do in that context that I think right and I, I'm I'm really purely speculating here. chew your food better. right. Really take advantage of what you can control. so chew your food really. really. really. Well, Maybe you always use digestive enzymes to help kind of bolster the um. Chemical a aspect of the digestion right there, Um as well, and then maybe just go with like more smoothies, type of things that you that W should be able to get pushed through easier than like, You know traditional bolluses of like chicken or beef, or you know a a starch or something like that, Um, and maybe you go with a higher fat diet and a lot of that fat comes from, like in a in avoc, or sorry, like an extra virgin olive oil or avocados or something like that, so you can go with a total. Lower volume of food by eating a higher propensity of fats than carbohydrate. Um, so those are some options that I would recommend. But will a three hundred caallorie surplus do anything eventually until your body you know up, regulates to match that, and that three hundred calories is now maintenance. So, in a short, it will how quickly you run out of that runway relative to tell you know where you're at, But those would be my recommendations. assuming that I know at gastro preses,

[bryan_boorstein]:

Mhm, Yeah, and then there's no reason that once that that additional choloric amount becomes your maintenance? there's no reason you probably couldn't go three hundred above that again, Because that is your maintenance right, So your body should have adapted to that, Um, the physie cycle coming up. I assume you're talking about Paragon. Um, since this was a female, I believe. uh, it is a good time to balk, because the first five weeks are a strength cycle. Um, I wouldn't even say Balking is is a ideay. We've talked about this on the other show. It's more like you just want to make sure you're not in a deficit, so being in a three hundred cali surplus sounds like actually the perfect amount, Um, for a strength cycle, so that you're not gaining weight extremely rapidly where you know your leverages are changing and things like that. Um, but yeah, I think it'd be great and then, uh, you know, the next five weeks after that is a metabolic cycle, so it's going. The twelve week cycles made up a five week strength and then five week, uh, metabolic, with a week in between a deload and uh, and the metabolic cycle would be a place where you could cut or bulk Um. because if you balk, you know, you're just going to give more carbohydrates and gakage into that body to to propel it during the that high kind of glycletic activity. And if you want to cut, then uh, then you can do that as well. I would just probably try to keep carbs up and cut uh with fats is generally my advice when you're doing a more metabolic approach to your training, so moving on Um question. four longer question, this person had covet in October. It was a bad case, tons of fatigue, breathing issues, struggling and feels like they have to choose between work and work out. As fatigue is so high for both sleeping nine to ten hours a night. For the last two weeks, all whoop readings are red. Um, used to be an avid hiker, but struggling to work out and walk or get any superconsistent movement day to day any words of advice or encouragement.

[aaron_straker]:

Yes, so here, um, if you choose, if you're choosing between working and working out what is most important for you living your life. Probably work right, So we're going to choose work. Uh, maybe, unfortunately, in this acute context I would not recommend working out if you are struggling to breathe you a very, very high amounts of fatigue. Just go on walks, right, non sweaty, just basic movement. Just go on walks. What I would probably recommend doing is very, very, very. Doubling down on nutrition supplementation in terms of like, just maybe like a like, like activated methylated forms of of of a multi covering zinc vitamin D, like magnesium, your minerals getting electrolyes in just making sure that you are like over delivering your body's basic requirements for what it needs, Letting, letting your body get all the sleep that it's telling you that it needs, and not trying to push things too fast. I mean to me, it sounds like one. One thing that I will often say with my with my clients is like when your body is like sending you these massive signals like you want to listen, so don't try to like force a worko, because you think you need it from reading this like you don't need workouts. You need sleep. Um, and to let your body recover, so that would be my recommendation. take things very very slow. Give yourself some grace and and just give your body the time in resources it needs to recover. please.

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yeah, I agree, I think that's a really good message, and I would say that when you do get to the point that you can go back to training light waits for low reps cause you don't want to put your cardiovascular system under too much stress, So low raraps and light weights means that it's easy work. And then as you increase waitight, I would still keep the reps low so that you' not having to do these long ext Ded sets that are going to uh, really cause you to to be out of breath, and uh, and then over time as you adapt, you should be able to you know, slowly work into the higher rep ranges again.

[aaron_straker]:

one last little bit I have there regarding the whoop. If if it's fucking with you, just just put it in a drawer for a month or two.

[bryan_boorstein]:

Mhm.

[aaron_straker]:

like you. If you wake up every day and you're exhausted and you feel like shit. You don't need your whereabout telling hey, you recovered like shit. Don't do anything today. you know what I mean'. Just what do they call that? It's like a self fulfilling prophecy

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yeah, yeah,

[aaron_straker]:

of a negative loop to put

[bryan_boorstein]:

right,

[aaron_straker]:

in the door for a couple of weeks and then listen to your body signing a little bit and then pull it back out once you're out of the woods a little bit

[bryan_boorstein]:

yep, totally.

[aaron_straker]:

cool. this one. I'll kick over to you, Brian.

[bryan_boorstein]:

yep.

[aaron_straker]:

so I am super confused on failure. Training is one set to failure enough. Why would I want to do two sets? ever? Is this better? Would you try to hit failure on every exercise in a worko? if safety isn't an issue?

[bryan_boorstein]:

where to begin? Sometimes one sets enough sometimes', not, um. I, I don't think that in most cases you want to take every exercise in a workout to failure, and I also think that it's really really really important to distinguish between different types of exercises. Um, so you will, never, or very very rarely. will you see me taking an r. D, l, to the point where I can't stand up with the weight with good form like I remember once, maybe in the last ten years doing an ry l, where I got to the bottom and I was like, Nope, not standing up and just kind of drop the weight. And then the set was over. That would be failing in ry. l, right, um, I don't advise that, Um, whereas, if you're doing like a a, an inclined Dubell curl. I, I don't really have a huge problem with you going to failure or like a cable trice extension, I don't really often think that squats should be taken to failure like free weight Barbll squats. I think if you're going to go to failure, you know you're better off doing failure under the constraints of a machine with stability like a hack squad pendulum, squat leg press type thing, even on a leg press. I think that any o any of those movements failure is still something you probably want to avoid more than you would want to avoid it on like a lateral race or a curl or a tri of extension or something like that, Because the exercises are so profound and damaging and systematic systemically fatiguing that you can get a distinct benefit from them without having to go close to failure. So the the opportunity cost is not in your favor to take those sets to failure. Um. so I think at first off distinguishing between those the different movements and failure is important. Um. but when it comes to to movements that are stable and controlled and single joint. for the most part, I. I. I. I'm sure if you want to take those movements to failure, I don't think that's a problem, but I think that it should probably fit into the context of how your cycle is designed right. So the way that I design general programs, as I've discussed is that I start a week one after deload week with like two or three reps from failure, and then I provide you that runway, where now every week you can add either a wrap or a little bit of load, so that eventually, by week four, five or six when we deload, you are now at failure for your movements, so I think that this is a really good framework for most people to follow in a general program where it gives you that kind of assessment period. At the end of each, you know four to six week build before you deload again, so in that case going to failure, every workout would be a bad idea, because you're not actually following the program. Um, if you do go to failure, you're probably going to find that your volume doesn't need to be as high, So that's one consideration as well, Uh, you have to kind of decide. Are you the type of person that's going to benefit from one set to failure, or a a one set plus of back off that, or would you do better with four sets not to failure? So I really don't know that there. I can't expand a whole lot more on that. I hope that helps clarify some of your confusion on failure training, but it really is situationally and individually dependent.

[aaron_straker]:

Yeah, I think you answer that really really well, I think for this person explore a little bit, especially around. like the single joint stuff. Try to extension bicep curl. You know a lateral ray type thing. These things are the W. A lot of them are are shortened overload, so

[bryan_boorstein]:

Mhm.

[aaron_straker]:

it's a little bit easier. Because then that you're failing at that part of the muscle. But what I' like? Yeah, go out and explore failing back squat. it's like No, I really wouldn't say that. The one thing I, the last thing I will out on this is for a lot of those larger, more compound movements To like bench press style movements squat patterns, hack squat, those sorts of things. This is something that hit me on my last leg day that I wanted to talk about and then promptly forgotten when I left the gym. Fear will generally set in before failure. so if you're wondering like how close you are to failure, but you're not scared yet. you're probably not that close. Um, that's something that I've found out when I was in traing legs, and I realize like I'm fuck and scared, because I don't know if I'm going to make this next Wp or not, and then I would still always make that next scrap. So I realize that like fear would will set in, probably around like a true two r i r. where you start questioning whether you can still perform the rep or not before you will hit like an actual failure on like a larger compound type thing. Obviously for a tri up extension where the weight's not over top of you or anything like that, there's nothing to be scared of, But for like the compounds that is a, a, a decent subjective marker is

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yeah,

[aaron_straker]:

fear will generally set in before failure occurs.

[bryan_boorstein]:

y, and Dubell bench press is actually a pretty good one. That, if you're comfortable withmble bench, you could push a failure on because you can just kind of dump the dumbbells if you need to, Whereas Bar Bel benches one you would want to reonser, or at least have a spotter.

[aaron_straker]:

Yeah,

[bryan_boorstein]:

Um, cool. Best way to load a sissy squat. Is it a weighted vest

[aaron_straker]:

I think so, because it's going to be the closest to your. You know, what's the word I'm looking for, Like your center of gravity center of mass. how you're performing it. Because you're

[bryan_boorstein]:

midline Yeah,

[aaron_straker]:

going to manipulate your body, So if you're hanging a dumbbll or something like that, that's going. really make it more complicated. That's what. I would recommend anything for you. brand.

[bryan_boorstein]:

yeah, yeah, I think weed vest is probably best too. Um, I just thought of an idea where maybe you're standing on like a riser between where there's a gap in between and you could potentially do it with a dit belt. Um, but I feel like the safety precaution. You'd need something to hold on to for stability. Um, but that would kind of. I feel like that might be in line with the resistance a little bit better without be cause. the the anything on your torso theoretically could push your tours so forward into hipflection a little bit, but I mean that's really knitpcking. I think a weed vest is a really solid solution and and a much safer solution than using a dit belt and standing on platforms.

[aaron_straker]:

Yeah, yeah, I agree.

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yeah, this next one is a nice message from Uh, from one of the guys that follows me on Inram. Uh, he said, thank you for all your knowledge and assistance throughout the year and it's been super cool following his journey too, because he, uh, he really pays attention to to all of the the nuance of movement stuff that I talk about, and watching him move now compared to where he was a year ago is Uh, is crazy like he moves like me like I watch him work out now, and I feel like I'm watching myself. so, um, very impressive. All right, this person said, Uh, I'm in a training R for myself. What good resources can you suggest?

[aaron_straker]:

I would look into potentially wir in a training rut,

[bryan_boorstein]:

Mhm.

[aaron_straker]:

so I have found personally, my training rots will set in when I have a lot of stress going on, so for instance, being fully transparent with everyone, I'm in a bit of a training ru right now. I'm also kind of fucking stressed out right now with a lot of the things that I'm p hundred percent my doing, taking on and and doing. Uh, I would just say, have some grace for yourself, right, Taken a couple of extra days off. Just go for walk. Spend some time out in the sun. You know, if you're fortunate somewhere where the sun is out at this time of the year, sleep a little bit more right. Put a little bit. you know, Maybe grab some extra supplementation for like mood or something like that, Like maybe some maca or something. If if you're male here, Um, just take it La for a little bit, or in terms of training, then go play a little bit. Maybe go off of your training and just go have some fun and try different things and explore and just take it a little bit less seriously. And if you are someone who's like you know, Brian or myself, or like training is our thing. I think it will always be our thing. You will have ebbs and flows and just realizing that you might be in a a fuck, is ebb up or down. I shouldn't use that example.

[bryan_boorstein]:

It ebbs and flows. It goes up and it goes down.

[aaron_straker]:

Okay, so if you are in a is a flow with being down and ebb is up. That's I guess it's a bad example. I'm sorry. so if you were in a low point, just know that it eventually will pick back up and just give yourself a little bit of grace. and until'll try and force it

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yeah, I remember, I would feel this way a lot before I became a professional in the industry. When it was like post college and I was working a government corporate job. I would always sit there and just be like. Do I really want to go train? Like? What am I training for? Like, What's the purpose? you know, I really just want to go into cheese steak type thing, and it's a. It's a very gray line, but sometimes doing the program hopping thing can help you like. Maybe it's just the the type of program that you're doing at the moment isn't one that's aligning with what you want right. So, even though we know as the

[aaron_straker]:

Ssssssssssssss.

[bryan_boorstein]:

perfect examples, even though we know that you know, hitting a body part twice a week is generally better than once a week, so maybe right now you're doing an evidence based like upper lower upper lower split, And you're just like man like. I Just don't enjoy this training right now, Et cetera Like go to a bro split. Go do like a, a month of a broas split, or even alternatively like, maybe just train less. So that was one thing, like Aaron said, He's in a ru right now, but he's training three or four times a week and he's having some of the best gains of his life because he's giving himself the grace to recover. Um, and then that's motivating because even though you're not training as often you go in, you're like I'm improving. That's super cool. Uh, So my ruts back in the day in like two thousand eight. My rots would send me to a new program so I remember I would jump between max o T and then pyramid training. It would be like you know fifteen, twelve, nine six type thing, and I would it be like Okay, I'm over Maxo te. It's just too much heavy weight. I wa to go. Do you know a series of of pyramid training and then I'd go do some of that and then I'd jump back to maxo te or something like that? Um, so maybe changing up can help the the way that I would handle this ten years later. Um, instead of two thousand seven, now we're looking at like two thousand seventeen Is. I would just lower frequency, like Aaron said, so the way that I would get myself out of ruts back then would be just do two full body workouts a week, and I would just do compound movements. I wouldn't do any arm work. I would just go in and do like a pushpoll legs on one day, and then take a few days off and do a pushpoll legs in the next day. So, um, basically the three movements is what I'm saying, Like one push, one pull in one legs. So basically that that's how I would get myself out of them. Uh, as far as resources. If you're listening to this podcast, you probably know the resources that we would say. Like the and one guys, the three d, M, j guys, Um, I like you know, listening to the Revive Stronger podcast. They always uh, good to hear them talk about stuff and their journey and stuff like too. So I really like listening to other people's journeys and I've talked to other people online about this too, But you know some of these people, Um that I follow. I. I follow them even less sometimes for their training knowledge, and more for just because I like following their journey and like seeing them work toward their goals and and how they're going about it. So um, so anyways, things like that that might help.

[aaron_straker]:

cool. Next, we have full body routines. Fatigue me too much for the final few exercises. Should I switch up the order?

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yeah, uh, full body routines fatigue me for the final few exercises too, but um, but I don't know that switching off the order is a good idea. So in in theory, and what I would assume is that you're doing your compound movements first, and then you're getting really tired and you're finding that you don't want to do your like arms and abs and calves and stuff like that, So um, I, I don't think that doing your arm work and Ab work before your compound movements is a good idea. You're just going to get significantly less out of your out of your um, compound movements. However, I do think that with a full body routine you do have a little bit of freedom because if you're doing, say three full body workouts a week, you could have two of them where you just focus on the compound movements. So maybe you don't do the arms calves, abs and stuff right. So you'd have like a day where it's like just part A through d or A through E. And you're really just doing compound movements for the most part, And then you could have one day where maybe you have like two compound movements and then you have a whole bunch of like arms, abs and calve stuff. Um. so there is a lot of freedom in ways that you can still put those exercises in a position where they can receive intensity and focus without having to always do them before the compound movements, which I think would have a kind of overall negative effect on the amount of load that you can move, the amount of focus that you can put into those movements and things like that. Um, not to mention in the safety aspect of compound movements, just being a little more dangerous. so I'm trying to do your squats at the end. If you're not used to doing squots at the end could be a bad idea for you. Um, but I do think you have some freedom there. And then alternatively, you could just not follow a full body routine Because if like I like, I find every time I've done full body routines If I'm trying to do it in like a body building form and not a um, I call it maintenance, but kind of like a strength focus type thing. Any time I try to do a full body bodybuilding routine, it's the same thing like. By the time you get to the small stuff at the end, there's just no energy and focus for it and you just end up wanting to skip it because shit, your arms already got hit with all your benching and pull downs. So anyway, those are my thoughts.

[aaron_straker]:

Answerectly?

[bryan_boorstein]:

Cool. Well, I'm going to toss this next one over to you because yeah, justcause, how to get over a break up, Eraron, Did you know that we are now official breakup artists here? the chemistry was amazing and three months later I am worse off. That is the question. There's actually not a question mark that the how to get over a break upp. is the question. Marark. the chemistry was amazing and three months later I'm worse off Is the uh, the information? So what do you do with that

[aaron_straker]:

do you know if this question was from male or female?

[bryan_boorstein]:

Ooh?

[aaron_straker]:

Do you remember?

[bryan_boorstein]:

I can check. How about that Ickro quick?

[aaron_straker]:

I don't think it's necessary. Okay,

[bryan_boorstein]:

okay,

[aaron_straker]:

so I was going to take it there. There's a joke where I'm going to take it in a serious way. So the joke you just bury your barrier moions in the gym. getting super jack so that you could throw it in that person's face and show them what they're missing. But the joke was, I was assuming this question was coming from a male. but the only thing that's going to happen is other guys are going to be like, Oh sick gasb. and the girls just don't fucking care. Is what we ultimately realzed. the serious way I'm going to answer this question is, I would recommend either a breakup coach. This is a very real thing. There is people out there who do very well make a great living helping people in situations like this, or just go see some therapy. Go get a therapist and and help talk through the the feelings you have around it. So I would recommend you know both of those hundred percent, because it's three months later you say you're worse off someone one can out there can help you with that, And it could be something that you discover something pretty big about yourself which will help you with future relationships. Just becoming more confident in what you bring to the table or any kind, of, maybe, uh, some, some like ill perceptions of self is basically what I want to say, so ask for some help. There are tons of people out there to do it. Uh, I know of two through my girlfriend, Jen, because she's had them as clients of her nutrition. So Um, if person out there submitted this question, If you, if you listen to this piing me, I can help point you in the right direction. For sure.

[bryan_boorstein]:

e. yeah, I have. Uh, I've been with him since I was twenty two years old. I think so, maybe twenty three, but that's like sixteen or seventeen years now. So I, it's been a really long time since I've had a break up. Um. I can just say that for me, I do remember. in college, Um, it really helped to just throw myself into something that allowed me to stay occupied. and in college it was. It was a mix of training and video games. So so maybe there's like an adult version of that now?

[aaron_straker]:

Yeah, I, I will say, the last the breakup I went through, I literally just buried myself in the gym. It's it's it. What's what allowed my relationship with Uh Cross fit to really flourish, And I literally just buried myself in the gym and went seven days a week. It worked out, you know, Uh, overtime. but

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yeah, I mean, it's healthier probably than than dealing with the emotions of the breakup. So

[aaron_straker]:

yep,

[bryan_boorstein]:

um, let's see what do we got here? Best way to optimize upper body training when you can't train lower body with a broken leg. Do you want to take a stap at it?

[aaron_straker]:

I will take a step at this. So what we have here is a shift in recovery capacity

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yep,

[aaron_straker]:

because you will not be training your legs which have a large amount of systemic fatigue, and that sort of thing, you can basically just take all of the calories you're eating and you sleep and just shove that towards upper body recovery. So what you could do here is just take a pretty high frequencyper body approach, So I mean, you could probably just do like two muscles per day, or even just ru a split, but much more frequent and just crank up the volume on your upper body So that'sly what I would recommend doing in the scenario. What do you think?

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yeah, For sure, I, we're on the same the same wave length here. I think that the way you do the upper body is splitting it into pushing pole so that there's as little crossover as possible, Um. between between those days and then essentially you could just go back to back days. Um, take a rest day whenever you feel like you need it. You know, Um. I do think that there is some value in training your good leg if possible. studies have shown that there is actually like increased uh benefit to the broken leg when you train the good leg. Um, and those are both coordination and healing based, I believe. Although I, I'm not a hundred percent sure on the healing Pa base side it does, it does help with coordination piece. Um, so so I would definitely do that like if you can. you know. Obviously, if you have a broken leg you can't be doing like single like squats. Um, that would not be safe. However, you can go into a uh, leg curl leg extension, and possibly even a single leg press um machine. if that leg is able to get out of the way and allow you to do single leg working there. So, um, if that's the case and you can train that other leg, then I would, um with a little bit of volume. You know, maybe it's like you follow a push pule single leg rest split or something like that, and you just rotate through that like that, so that would probably be the way I' handle it

[aaron_straker]:

Yeah, the last thing I would say there is you can get. It can be pretty cool when you are really just prioritizing stuff. So, um, I never broke my leg, but I did have a cast on from from an Achilles rupture and I remember I just did a shit ton. This was back in my cross Fi days of pull ups in handstand pushups, and I remember I could do like twelve strict cheest de baar pull upps, a like. By the time that my cast was a golf and I could start using my leg again So you can. You can do some pretty cool stuff just by hyperfousing on there, So definitely

[bryan_boorstein]:

y

[aaron_straker]:

don't try and be as as optimistic as you can and know that you can make some pretty cool. different types of gains. Uh, With the limitations you do have

[bryan_boorstein]:

philosophically. That's actually like. One of my favorite things about training is the way that it teaches you or allows you to find optimism, even like really so crushing situations where I imagine if you didn't have training and you broke your leg and you just like now, I'm just going to sit here and like be depressed for six months. For me, I find that training allows me to find positivity and creativity in in a lot of places in life. Right otherwise, wouldn't

[aaron_straker]:

agreed.

[bryan_boorstein]:

how do you assess how you're recovering and when you need to take a rest, Sta, instead of train.

[aaron_straker]:

You listen to your body. this one's this one's really really interesting. so I think and I have been here. I know from from personal. If this is one of the reasons why I'm a super super big fan of being objective in tracking your metrics for for workouts, you know, week to week and stuff like that, Because if you're not progressing, this might be one that you're not you know, giving yourself ale recovery time, or if you're like training a muscle that's still pretty sore. Um, this is another one where you will. Probably, I't say, probably you will do better off from adding an extra recovery day in there. If you're someone who feels like you, you're always super super recover, and you never need a restta, don't I don't say this to sound like you're probably not pushing yourself hard enough. So are takes on it. Bri. What do you think?

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yeah, I. I. I talk about this a lot, but I tend to use motivation as the main piece. Like if I want to work out, then I work out and I'm excited about it. And if I don't want to work out, it's very rare that I will make myself go work out unless I know that Like the next day or two I'm going to be super busy. We'reing me on vacation. Something's going to be happening and like I can't work out. Um, but those are really the only times that I won't just listen to my body take a rest day and then and then come in and hit it the next day. So um, I think that that's kind of. It's kind of an unfair answer. Because it, it, it assumes that you are as motivated as I am inherently, and you may be part of that audience that has to get yourself excited to go to the gym like you have to kind of push yourself. and in which case you can't just utilize your your internal drive, and in that case I would just make sure that you're probably hitting you know three days a week. I think if you're hitting three days a week and then don't force yourself to to go more than that, it's probably a pretty good safe place to be. Um, this is an interesting question so there's no context so I, I'm just going to give one quick answer and then I'll pass it over to you. But the question is reverse or recovery, diet, and I would say that it depends how lean you're getting. What do you say?

[aaron_straker]:

I love this question Because this is something I've been thinking about so much and I am starting to really foster my thoughts around the specific context of it, so this is going to be my first public stab. Here we go. A reverse diet is necessary to prepare you for a calorie deficit. In in certain context, it's not always a hundred percent required, but in general uses you use a reverse diet to prepare you for a calorie deficit. You use a recovery diet to recover from a calorie deficit. So one is kind of on the back end. One is kind of on the front end, so generally you need a recovery diet to help reestablish either endcrine function at a at a higher level metabolic function or the the kind of general adaptations that occur when you are at a calorie deficit, For for a prolonged period of time you'll generally use a recovered or a reverse diet when people have in maybe some degree of quote unquote calorie deficit, but really just underfeeding calorie deficit without the benefits of the calorie deficit, like the fat loss and looking bat type of thing, or their lifestyle has. Just been not very conducive in their moving into this healthy lifestyle. So you are using that to prepare them get them to a place to where then you can leverage a proper calorie deficit to elicit the fat loss effect That you want. The recovery diet would be on the opposite coming out of the bottom and helping restore you back to a better. more. Um, you know, hormonally and metabolically efficient or I, I guess I should say inefficient place. While you keep all that fat loss that you just worked your ass off for

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yeah, in the beginning I said, depends how lean you're getting so ill. Give an example here, and I think' iterate it pretty well illustrated. So I did my diet recently down to one eighty two, which was lean but not like super unhealthily, and so in that case I think the right approach would be to reverse diet out of it, where I essentially get up to the high, one eighties or one ninety, at which point I would then die it down to like what would be. Staage. Lean at like one seventy or something like that, And then once I get down to one seventy, then I need to recovery diet out of one seventy, Um, to get back up into the one eighties as quickly as possible, whereas the the di, the reverse di, from one eighty two to one ninety, Essentially to set me up for that really long diet down to one seventy, Um, in a super sett, Do we start with the short or lengthen movement first? And why?

[aaron_straker]:

that, you're going to have to answer the sub.

[bryan_boorstein]:

so it it? It depends what you're trying to achieve. I mean the, the, the Y is the more important part of that question. So the second movement in a same muscle group super set is going to be the one that achieves the majority of the stimulus. So as an example, if you're going from a cable crossover type movement into a bench press type movement, it is going to be a Uh. The bench press is going receive more of the stimulus, so you're getting it more of the lengthened overload stimulus. Whereas, if you went from bench press into cable crossover, you would get more of the shortened overload stimulus. So it depends what you're trying to achieve. In what place of the training year this objective exists, and then you determine Uh, which one you should use for that purpose.

[aaron_straker]:

If you to make that super simple. What do you think? What do you think? Which, which of the two do you think would exist in the most widely proper context?

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yeah, so I think that the idea of if if your goal is hyperchphy, the idea of of having the lengthened overload be the more prominent overload, meaning that you would go from cable cross over to to bench press. Uh, would be the more applicable use for a high pertphy phase, but in a a metabolic phase, Uh, you would want to have the short overload be the second movement because it would receive more of the stimulus. So it, it kind of goes back to that that to that phasic idea, Um. However, there's also the idea of one of those two two options being pre exhaust, and the other one post exhaust, so that kind of plays into that equation as well. um. So I'm trying to think of an of of a example that's different where Um. the short overload movement could be the compound movement and the lengthened movement would be the. the. Um. Okay, so what if you went from? like say dumbbell fly, Because now the isolation movement is lengthened instead of the crossover where the isolation movement is shortened. So you go from Dumbbell fly, and then you go into a a cable press which is essentially like a short overloaded chest movement. Then now you have, Uh, you could you could do so you. you could do the fly second. So the fly would be the lengthen movement and you would do that second so you could get the isolation movement second, but still get the the length and overload that you're going for. So actually, that's where exercise selection might play an important piece, too, because like in my general programs, I use a fly and a crossover interchangeably because they're both isolation cheests movements. Because I, I don't know if someone has access to a commercial gym or two cable stations for that matter, so I have to give that option. So to me in my mind I'm making the decision that it is more important that this person does an isolation chess movement. Then it is that I'm trying to chase a length under a shortened overload, right, Um. And so that's where things can kind of get complicated, because yes, they're both isolation movements, but they do overload the muscle at different positions, so whether someone chooses a fly or a crossover does in a small way impact the stimulus they're going to get from that movement And that's just kind of the way that it is in a general program. you know,

[aaron_straker]:

I'm really glad I brought up that that secondary part be cause you answer that very very well

[bryan_boorstein]:

cool, cool.

[aaron_straker]:

cable machines. Does it get harder or easier as you move closer to the cable stack?

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yeah, so it should get easier as you move closer to the cable stack. Um, a perfect example of that is when we did the Y raises it, and one that we would start further back and basically go to failure. And then you would take like two steps in and you'd be able to get a couple more reps. so that would be the answer there.

[aaron_straker]:

Do you know why? Like a littlet more of an explanation? It just

[bryan_boorstein]:

So the cable it, The, the the cable pulls on you more, the further you are from it. Um, I'm sure there's a potential answer that has to do with the angle that the cable is coming out as well. Um, but yeah, I don't feel really confident answering that.

[aaron_straker]:

yeah, I mean, I don't either, but I agree it' closer. It's easier. Wonder if Brian knows

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yeah,

[aaron_straker]:

the actual reason why, But

[bryan_boorstein]:

no, it's a Cas question. Probably

[aaron_straker]:

yeah's,

[bryan_boorstein]:

yeah.

[aaron_straker]:

question

[bryan_boorstein]:

oh,

[aaron_straker]:

this next one. I think we have to kick over to you. I. I

[bryan_boorstein]:

okay,

[aaron_straker]:

believe I could take a stap at it, but I think you would do a better job answering

[bryan_boorstein]:

yeah,

[aaron_straker]:

it. How does a narrow or wide stance impact a glue bridge?

[bryan_boorstein]:

yeah, so uh, narrow stance is going to be the way that you pretty much want to do it. In most cases, if you want it to be just a standard glue. Max, movement. Like for your about, you want to work the butt. You want to grow the butt. You should probably have your feet pretty narrowcause. That winds up with the Uh. the glu backs really Well, the wider that you go in any movement where your feet are planted. you're going to be calling in the A doctors for help. Uh, those are going to be the big muscles that run on the inner thigh between the Uh, the hip and the knee. So, um, so anyways, Yeah, the wider you go like you're doing an ry l with a wide stance, or you're doing a squat with a wide stance or a gluop bridge with a wide stance. Um, that's going to ask you a doctors for help. They're going to get a stretch at the bottom of the movement. You'll be able to feel that and that will help you ascend the weight up. So uh, yeah, feet narrow for glutes, And then why you get gluts for sure, but you'll also get some. A doctors, probably less gluts.

[aaron_straker]:

Uh question, I have for you, as is how I would have taken this um question potentially incorrectly. So that's why I want to kick it over to you as the legs go out wider to some degree. Wouldn't there nes to reach your full kind of hip extension? Wouldn't you need a little bit of external rotation as well, and

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yeah,

[aaron_straker]:

wouldn't that kind of pull in a little bit more like a glue? Me, as opposed to like the glue? Max,

[bryan_boorstein]:

so I think this is that whole. It. It begins to infringe on the whole, like sumo deliff's aren't gluees thing.

[aaron_straker]:

Mhm,

[bryan_boorstein]:

Um, because essentially when you do that you're you're using the puformist muscles underneath the glues and not actually using the glues. Um, when you you know, turn the toes out and externally rotate. Um. So that's why I think it would be a little bit less glutee, and it would just be more a doctor's. Uh, if you did that, and I think there would also be potentially some jamming too like I could imagine if you're out too wide. Like having the hips, just not really feel good as you get to extension. so I, in my opinion, I would just put the feet narrow and make it a glue movement. You know, there are many other ways we can train the aductors.

[aaron_straker]:

Yup, I, so I agree. A hundred percent with O'brien says, and then what I would say to this person or anyone who wants to explore if you're like doing some warm upsets like, and you want to find that when you have your feet a little bit wider, see if you can feel that jamming a little bit at the top of the movement and then move your feet in into a more narrow stance and see if you can get a little bit more kind of terminal hip extension at

[bryan_boorstein]:

Mhm,

[aaron_straker]:

the full end range of that movement by making space by moving your. Feet, and so,

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yp,

[aaron_straker]:

play around it a little bit, but ultimately, think what Brian said is correct. Um, okay, so I believe this question is for you cause it didn't come to in your cur set up. Are you hitting upper body three times per week and lower two times per week?

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yeah, actually, no, so, um, it just changed, as I discussed at the beginning of the episode, So the way that it was set up was a five day cycle across eight calendar days, and it went uh, legs, then chest, and back then ham strings with shoulders and arms than quads, and then full upper body. So I guess in that way there were three upper body days and there were also three lower body days, because there was one day that had both upper body and lower body on it, But now I'm going to be taking the full leg day and splitting that into a ham day and a quad day, just like the second leg day. Um, so in that sense I think that uh, we're essentially going to have now, uh, four leg days in three upper body days, which is seven session, seven total, but it's across six training days because I have that hams string and shoulder day. Still, Um, And so I think that that's gonna. that's going to work really well. That's where the setup is now, and I'll update you guys if anything changes with that. Um,

[aaron_straker]:

Fantastic.

[bryan_boorstein]:

this is a super interesting question. Do you want to take a stab at at first? Are you want

[aaron_straker]:

Sure,

[bryan_boorstein]:

to ask here, fore

[aaron_straker]:

sure, ill, ill try.

[bryan_boorstein]:

I, who would get better results And why these are my favorite kind of questions? a person training with only lengthened movements, or a person with an even mix between length and shortened and Midra midrange movements, So essentially the length in movements would be these highly damaging things, like Dumbbll flies Ayells, things that are heaviest at the bottom, and your short range movements are things that are hardest at the top, essentially more or less Um. The person didn't specify whether in this theoretical example that we're doing volume, equated training or not. So that's one piece of context. Need to to put into consideration too.

[aaron_straker]:

I'm going to assume we would do ca, uh, we would equate volume just because to remove confounding variables there, I would only have to say that Well, I guess the results in terms of hypertrophy, right physique, you know is the that are goal right. Is that what we were talking about getting

[bryan_boorstein]:

yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[aaron_straker]:

jacked here? I'm going to assume the person with an even mix between lengthened shorten in mid range because the best physiques in the world, the champions train that way. I'm sh, I, and I don't mean to say this to be addict. I'm sure someone has had this thought before and experimented with it and it probably didn't turn out that way. so um, that is what I'm hoping would be you know, rely I can rely on to make that answer. but uh, I know for for certain things, like the, the, the classic example of like the quad, you use the leg extension because that's the only way to fully train the Wck Fa type of deal. Um, so it's I'm going to assume, and uh, well, also he. This person also said an even mix right, so I didn't just

[bryan_boorstein]:

right. right.

[aaron_straker]:

say In a mix. it's

[bryan_boorstein]:

right.

[aaron_straker]:

at an even mix. I. I don't know

[bryan_boorstein]:

Well, because

[aaron_straker]:

now that I saw that part.

[bryan_boorstein]:

now, because now you're you're You're taking a lot of those really beneficial length and movements and you're like, No, I can't have sixty six percent of my training be lengthened. I have to have a third of it be lengthened.

[aaron_straker]:

Yeah,

[bryan_boorstein]:

But but on the other side of the spectrum, mid range is sort of the same as length end like, I feel like it's really ambiguous between what's length and what's mid range. Like a reverse banded hack squat, maybe could be a mid range overload, whereas a non reversebanded uh hack spot might be lengthened. but they're both still a hack squat. Um, I do think that one

[aaron_straker]:

lengthened Mhm,

[bryan_boorstein]:

issue you would have if you only trained lengthened is how to turn some movements into like. Like, like training the the lateral Delt 's only training them lengthened. I mean, I guess you get one movements. Essentially you get like a behind the back like cable, lateral rays. I don't exactly like it. I don't. I don't exactly know how you would do

[aaron_straker]:

super heavy and you have rapid it.

[bryan_boorstein]:

certain muscle groups. You could train the Rereck Fm with Sissy squats. like you don't have to do a leg extension So you could just do C C squads and stuff. I mean it's It's actually like a really good question, because when you think about having to split that volume thirty three, thirty three, thirty three, and you know that like the lengthen is the most beneficial, My thought is complete conjecture. But I think in an acute short term study of like six to twelve weeks, we'd probably see more hypertrophy in the group that did just lengthened movements. But I think that long term over the course of a training career, the person that mixes them up would probably end up at a at a higher place, eventually, with less injuries

[aaron_straker]:

Yeah, The the hard question that comes into my mind because we know that length and movements are going to be more like damaging, and fatiguing is how you can truly eate the volume and how you can truly recover from all the purely length over. Imagine if you just did like type stuff for your hamst training and you had to do

[bryan_boorstein]:

right right, Well, seeated

[aaron_straker]:

eight sets.

[bryan_boorstein]:

light curl would, essentially you could do like a. You could rig a seed leg curl up to be like a lengthened overload like I can with the the cam on my machine. I mean, so yeah, I know I. I get what you're saying, though like, Yeah, you'd have to do so much like hiphinge volume. Um. and like even something like a a forty five degree hip extension. It's a a short overload movement. It's a short overload movement That's a hiphinge. Which is it. it doesn't exist. Otherwise like you can't do any other hipn short overloaded, so it's um.

[aaron_straker]:

Yeah,

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yeah, it's It's a very interesting question. That kind of has my my mind spinning a little bit,

[aaron_straker]:

yeah, it is definitely very. It's like the more I think about it, the less confident I feel like I could say anything about it. Yeahcause, it's It's's very, very interesting in question. so

[bryan_boorstein]:

and it just it makes me want to be like. Why? why is this person so ridiculous that someone would just do length and overload movements forever? I just about it and I'm wait, but no know.

[aaron_straker]:

yeah, yeah, so

[bryan_boorstein]:

anyway. Yeah, enough of that. we've kind of butchered that one so we have one question left. It's a nutrition. once, I'm to throw over your way, advice on moving away from scale and macro tracking and rational fear of loss of control.

[aaron_straker]:

so I want to be very, very clear in how I answer this this question and just be with like trepidation here when I see this sort of sort of things. It's I don't think it's the scale. I don't think it's the macros or the food scale. It's psychological, so I think it's generally more deeply rooted. Um there, so I would just get a little bit clear with yourself. Ask yourself questions around it. so that being said, how I move into it, and what I recommend for my clientele when I personally do myself here is. I truly believe that when you have objective based goals tracking your food, measuring your body composition, those sorts of things is the most optimal way to do it. So people ask me like Eron. Why are you through tracking your food? Because I still have gols around that. However, there will be periods of times where I do not. But what I have you know, really rooted from all this tracking and stuff are repeatable structures. So for you when you're moving away, I would recommend leveraging these repeatable structures. And what do I mean by that Every day, not every day, probably over the course of them of a thirty day month, Twenty four of those days I have five meals per day. One of them's like a snack, so like four. And a half meals per day. I just follow that. Still I know I generally eat when I wake up. My second meal is generally around noon. I'll eat approximately you know, Twenty minutes after I get home from the gym, I eat it approximately six to seven thirty, and then around nine again, so I will just leverage that, and every single meal has approximately the same exact composition. I have a lean primary protein source, a starchy carbohydrate or a fruit and vegetables. My fats get look kind of sprinkled in throughout different things. I use cooking oil. I might have a little bit of dark chocolate at night, some avocado with my um breakfast, but a majority of the time I'm eating a lower amount of fat. I just generally prefer a higher carbohydrate diet. That's what I know my body does better with for my lab work as well, so find that those structures that have put you at approximately maintenance calories from your tracking right, and then be like Okay If I'm not going to track any more, what is going to what structures and habits are going to allow me to basically re effortlessly recreate that day by just remembering a couple of basic things like Have I eaten three meals per day today or only two? Am I going to have time to get five in? No, Then I'm only going. To have four and that's perfectly fine, but what you don't want to do is just be like winging it every single day, because then things are going to fluctuate. You might end up, you know, um, uh, uh, unconsciously under eatating by a large degree, which is then going to impact your training. you know, hormones, all these other sorts of things, so focus on repeatable structures. Always look at the health side of things for silic sleep, trying to get some sunlight going on a couple of walks, just spending some time outside finding things you enjoy And then what are very basic ground principles that allow you to basically recreate eighty five percent, ninety percent of your calories. you know day to day so everything else will remain pretty much constant. Assuming that where you are now is in a good place in where you want to keep them. So again, this is I. I amm always very uh, hesitant. And and I want to make sure Im. I'm trepidacious in answering these types of questions. but that is what I would recommend doing. I. if you find that if you have that fear of control, I don't think tracking your food is is the best choice or the scale. right now. put them

[bryan_boorstein]:

Hm.

[aaron_straker]:

away. Just focus on the basics. Bri. What your thoughts there?

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yeah, you smash that you. You pretty much took all the words out of my mouth and set them better. Um, so yeah, I, I was going to recommend just you know, finding a meal plan type thing. Um, you know eventually and it may be a three days like, like you literally eat the same thing. maybe for three days. Just so you find your kind of routine and pattern, and then maybe you have that freedom of of switching out veggies for veggies, starches for starches. Like you know, you can have an oatmeal or a rice or a potato or keenw, or kind of whatever you know, starts you want, and then proteins for proteins within a range. You know not going to like a super fatty ribye from like chicken breast, but you know within a range of of types of proteins and my guess is if you've been tracking um and weighing for as long as as you say you have, then uh, you probably have a decent eye and it, since maintenance is arrange, and you're not going to gain or lose weight. If you're you know, two or three hundred above or below, alternating days for a number of weeks like you're just going to kind of be the same, Um, I would. Just kind of start getting comfortable with that. Um, I'm at a point now where I I weigh every piece of meat that I do, but only because I like to play the guessing game where I look at at first and I'm like this one is going to be four point eight ounces. You know that I put it on and it's like five point. Oh, and I'm like, Yep, close enough. That's pretty good. Um, so so I enjoy that just from like a, a kind of just psychological game of of proving to myself that I've got it. Um, but uh, but I think that you'll find that you are able to do the same thing just from all those years of of doing it

[aaron_straker]:

The last thing I will add there that you, something you said, Bri helped me remember this. Like quantities of like foods have like Macrtrance, So if you were generally doing approximately hundred and fifty grams of a rice, and that was like your starch for your meal, too, If you go to like, approximately a hundred and fifty grams of a ccuscoos, you know, Um, oats are hard because you weigh them. You know, cooked versus dry type of thing, but like another type of starch, you're going to have approximately like eighty percent of the exact same proteins, fats and carbs out of it. Um. so this is like very powerful to understand. So one that's really kind of gets bastardized is Um. Oh boy lentils, right people think like, Oh my God, lentils are super high in protein like they're these likete, this crazy high amount of protein for a carbohydrate. Yes, they are higher than other carbohydrates. but it's not like a hundred. A hundred grams of like boiled lentils is go to be like thirty grams of protein and a hundred grams of you know, brown rice is going to be like zero grams of protein. Noe. I mean, it might be like four versus like seven.

[bryan_boorstein]:

right,

[aaron_straker]:

So relative. It's a large difference, but an absolute like it's fucking three grams of proteinin the whole day like it's It's it

[bryan_boorstein]:

and this lower quality protein that we're not really even like that is not an important to our day anyway. So

[aaron_straker]:

exactly so just like. As long as you're eating the same similar structures of meals, in rotating like mostly lean proteins, mostly kind of starches type fruits, and leveraging, just like your hunger, and in and satiety signaling, like you can largely recreate your day to astonishing accuracy. As

[bryan_boorstein]:

y.

[aaron_straker]:

long as you're in a good position and understanding how to read your hunger and hunger and fullulness cues in knowing like approximately, it looks this big on my same plate each day like you'd be amazed at what you can do that understanding.

[bryan_boorstein]:

sure? well, I think we've set everyone up for success in their new year So far.

[aaron_straker]:

I hope so. I think this was that this was a fun episode. We had some different questions. The relationship one was really

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yeah,

[aaron_straker]:

interesting as well. I, I can't believe asking us those types of questions. But

[bryan_boorstein]:

it's amazing we've made it.

[aaron_straker]:

I, it's amazing and I that and when I do feel convicted in if that person reaches out to me, I will help put you on the on the right

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yeah,

[aaron_straker]:

path to just people that can help you with that For sure. And

[bryan_boorstein]:

and guys, if you've made it this far drop comments below, let us know which person would end up with better results. The person that does only lengthen movements, or the person that does length in midrange and shortened in an even split,

[aaron_straker]:

yeah, that one's are. really. That was all one like stumped me. I don't. I don't have a clue to be completely honest.

[bryan_boorstein]:

I know

[aaron_straker]:

so uh, anything else for me, Ryan,

[bryan_boorstein]:

no man. we're good, Willll talk next week,

[aaron_straker]:

cool as always, guys, sticky for listening. Uh, thank you for support And it's been you know just over a year Now with the podcast. It's been just amazing for me. I know Brian has been as well, so that guy's

[bryan_boorstein]:

Yep.

[aaron_straker]:

will talk to you next week.

Introductions & Christmas
Changes to Aaron’s coaching clientele and model.
Aside from not getting a variety of minerals, etc. from different food sources, is there anything not optimal about eating the same foods day after day for let’s say a month or longer at a time if they meet your macro goals?
Programming perspective/beliefs we used to hold that have now changed dramatically?
In tracked maintenance for a 3 months after a long time of inconsistency. Is Physique cycle a good one to begin a bulk? Also, I suffer from Gastroparesis and can’t bulk much. Will that do anything?
C19 in October. Bad case, tons of fatigue and breathing issues. Struggling, and having to choose work or workout, as fatigue is too high for both. Sleeping 9-10 hrs a night for last 2 weeks. Also all whoop readings red for a number of weeks.
Super confused on failure training. Is one set to failure enough? Why would I want to do 2 sets ever? Is it better? Would you try to hit failure on every exercise in a workout if safety isn’t an issue?
Best way to load a sissy squat? Weighted vest?
In a training rut for myself. What good resources can you suggest?
Full body routines fatigue me too much for the final few exercises. Should I switch up the order?
How to get over a breakup? The chemistry was amazing, and three months later I am worse off.
Best way to optimize upper body training when you can’t train lower with a broken leg?
How do you assess how you are recovering and when you need to take a rest day instead of train?
Reverse or Recovery diet?
In a superset, start with short or lengthened movement first? Why?
Cable machines…. Does it get harder or easier as you move closer to the cable stack?
How does narrow/wide stance impact a Glute bridge?
In your current setup, are you hitting upper 3x/week and lower 2x/week?
Who would get better results and why? A Person training only lengthened movements, person with an even mix between lengthened/shortened/mid-range?
Advice on moving away from scale and food/macro tracking. Irrational fear of loss of control…