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Crafting an Elite Mindset — Lessons From the Israeli Special Forces and Mossad (Seminar)

“Is somebody with your same skill set and knowledge currently achieving more than you are? — If your answer is yes, then a mindset issue is holding you back.” 👆 Itamar’s opening words felt like a gut punch, a feeling I have gotten used to over the last four years. “Mindset …

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How to Bulk After Cutting

When transitioning from a cut to a bulk, it is better to calculate the calorie increase needed using your progress data than making a fresh calculation with a calorie and macro calculator. This is because the equations behind calorie calculators only give estimations, and they cannot factor in any reduction …

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How to Cut After Bulking

When transitioning from a bulk to a cut, it is better to calculate the calorie reduction needed using your progress data than making a fresh calculation with a calorie and macro calculator. This is because the equations behind calorie calculators only give estimations, and they cannot factor in any bump …

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Lynn’s Transformation

It’s not often I get nervous writing an email, but yesterday was one of those times. I asked a client if I could share his results, and I am delighted that he said yes. This is Lynn. Or rather, this was Lynn in June of 2020. Lynn had been overweight his entire life. The …

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Stop Chasing Novelty

I want to share a fundamental truth of training. One that’s as true of the athletes I coached at the Under Armor Performance Center ten years ago, as it is for the recreational trainees I coach now. Chasing novelty is the fastest way to sabotage your progress and spin your …

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How Well-executed Mid-diet Adjustments Can Shave Years Off the Time You Need to Reach Your Potential

How Well-executed Mid-diet Adjustments Can Shave Years Off the Time You Need to Reach Your Potential

As already discussed, past a certain point, we need to alternate bulk and cut phases to keep progressing. This is the only way to continue gaining muscle over time while managing body fat levels. To do that, we need to make calorie and macro adjustments. This is because our energy …

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Is Citrulline Malate Supplementation Now Worth Considering?

A recent meta-analysis looked at all the studies assessing the acute impact of citrulline malate supplementation on strength endurance. Compared to placebo, it appears that supplementing with 6-8 g of Cit.Mal., preferably in a 2:1 ratio, about an hour before exercise, delays fatigue and enhances strength performance.

Am I Lean Enough To Bulk?

Am I Lean Enough To Bulk?

Q) Hi Andy, am I lean enough to bulk? A) This is something I help coaching clients decide on all the time. If you’re past the point where you’re achieving both muscle growth and fat loss at the same time, you need to choose between cutting and bulking. And if …

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Should I Train My Abs?

Should I Train My Abs?

Do Ab Workouts Burn Belly Fat? You can do ab-specific exercises at any body-fat level. But should you? I’d argue that most people should not. Only two things will get you ripped abs.  👉 First, you must be lean enough to see them. 👉 Second, you need abs developed enough …

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Does Creatine Cause Hair Loss?

Does Creatine Cause Hair Loss?

I’m no fan of supplements. I despise the sleaze of the supplement industry. However, as I said in my supplements for fat loss and muscle growth guide, of all those claiming to improve performance out there, creatine is one of only two with vast amounts of research showing benefits. But, …

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Adapting Your Training To Home Workouts

How To Adapt Your Training Program For Home

If you can’t get to the gym, you don’t need a new training program, you just need to know how to adapt your current program to train at home. This guide will show you how.

Advice For Older Strength Trainees

The first thing to understand is that there are no “training plans for over the 40s / 50s / 60s” (or diet plans for that matter). You might see things advertised as such, but this is just marketing BS — advertisers preying on fears people have that they are doing…

Why I Don't Work With CrossFitters

Why I don’t work with CrossFitters

It’s not so much that I don’t work with CrossFitters but that I want to be able to control the training inputs. A lot of fitness classes (all kinds, not just CF classes) are about getting people to work hard, sweat, and feel good afterward But how much you sweat…

The Problem With Keto

Keto is trendy right now, in a way that the paleo diet was a few years ago, and many other diets before it. The problem is that when something trends, the algorithm’s reward extreme claims. The loudest voices rise to the top, muddying the waters for all…

The Problem With Genetic Testing

I had a friend tell me the other day that he can’t drink dairy. “I also learned I should lift with high reps because my body type isn’t suited to strength work, and I need to do HIIT cardio to optimize fat burn.” Oh boy, people rarely respond well to…

Updated Bulking Guidelines

I’ve made changes to the rates I recommend people aim to gain weight at when bulking. This was sparked when I received a comment from a reader last week on the Calorie and Macro Calculator, asking why the calculations there did not match what I have in my How To Bulk Without …

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The Game Changers Debunked — Netflix Puts Views Over Facts, Again

‘The Game Changers’ documentary is little more than a cleverly-disguised attempt to scare people into being vegan with false health and performance claims. Netflix benefits their view count from the outrage; the backers (James Cameron, among them) benefit financially from their vegan product investments. There are plenty of legitimate reasons …

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The RippedBody Macro Calculator

THE MACRO CALCULATOR

This calculator is built on the back of 9 years of experience coaching people online, full time. They’re based on the recommendations in my book, The Muscle and Strength Nutrition Pyramid, which is a 290-page, fully-referenced guide for powerlifters and physique athletes. But if you think you wondering whether the…

Can I Gain Strength While Cutting?

It is absolutely possible to gain strength while cutting. However, in this article, I argue that focusing on strength alone can lead to poor training decisions, I explain why true progress becomes increasingly difficult the leaner we get, and I give guidelines on what to expect. Dieting, cutting, shredding the …

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How Important Are Lateral Raises for Building Big Shoulders?

In bodybuilding, middle deltoid development is important to make you appear wider and tapered. Due to this, I often see emphasis placed on lateral raise variations and hear the concern that without their inclusion, delt development will lack. While I don’t dispute the importance of lateral raises (you will even…

How to Cut Weight for a Powerlifting Competition (Without a Caloric Deficit)

If you’re a fan of boxing or MMA, you may have wondered how professional fighters can walk around in the ring some 15–20 lbs heavier than they weighed in the day before. The answer, for the most part, involves an extreme level of water manipulation. Professional fighters with a 24-hour…

How to Address Weak Points in Your Lifts

We all find ourselves struggling at a specific point of lift, at some time or another. Addressing sticking points might be a more efficient way to attack the weakest link in the chain of a movement, and therefore a faster way to increase strength. If you have stalled with traditional…

How to Make A Workout Plan for Strength Training in 6 Steps

Everyone starts their journey by taking a pre-built training program and trying it out. I made my first program choice after a three-minute perusal of my local supermarket’s magazine rack. That month’s copy of Men’s Health advertised a program promising 10 pounds of gains in 6 weeks, which was exactly…

How to Break Training Plateaus [Decision Tree & Checklist]

This is possibly one of the most important articles I have ever published. It addresses how to break through a training plateau, which is probably one of the most commonly asked questions on the internet, along with, “How do I break through a bench press plateau?” — The principles, whether…

Cardio For Cutting — How Much You Should Do For Fat Loss

A caloric deficit doesn’t have to come entirely from the diet, and you probably guessed that adding some cardiovascular work to expend more energy rather than restricting your energy intake alone, could also be useful. A simple way to estimate energy expenditure during cardio requires you to determine a rating…

Bulk vs Cut - The Definitive Guide

Should I Bulk vs Cut (or Recomp)? The Definitive Guide

The “should I bulk or cut?” question is probably the most commonly asked among the fitness community. This is for a good reason — the answer to this question depends on more than just your current body composition.

Metabolic Damage Isn’t Real (But Relative Energy Deficiency Syndrome Is)

The term ‘energy availability’ refers to whether or not you have adequate energy to maintain not only the energy demands of exercise or sport but also of normal physiological function. You can be at energy balance, maintaining a stable body mass, but be in a state of ‘relative energy deficiency’…

How to Warm Up for Strength Training

Some people really overcomplicate their warm-ups. Do ALL the people I see on the stretch mats have issues that require a 30-minute complex of body pretzeling before hitting the weights? I think not. The majority are just mimicking others, avoiding getting the real work done…

How to Systematically Test if Keto is Right for You

Keto is currently trendy, and I’m sick of answering questions about it. So, what does the science say about high-fat diets for people that lift like us? Here’s an excerpt on the topic from our Muscle and Strength Pyramid Nutrition book.

James Clear on How Small Habits Can Lead to Remarkable Results

What I am about to tell you is obvious but often overlooked: To achieve your physique goals, you need to make a habit of the actions that will get you there. I have to remind clients of this when they beat themselves up unnecessarily after a single slip up. “We are the product of…

Steve’s Cut to Shreds – The Exact Training, Macros, and Meals

“I’ve coached over 1000 people in the last 7 years of working online. You know the biggest lesson I have learned from all of that experience? 👉🏻 The value of keeping things as simple as possible for people. Set things up in a way you can sustain – Two big…

How to Hit Your Macros Exactly When You Fall Short

If you keep finding yourself frustratingly short of hitting one or two of your macros at the end of the day, this guide will teach you how to fix that. The implicit assumption I’m making is that you understand the benefits of focusing on macro targets, have calculated your macros, learned…

Protein Spiking

How to Avoid Protein Spiking Scams [Checklist + Examples]

Here’s a little protein powder scam that few people know about: supplement manufacturers dumping cheap ingredients into their powders so that they can pass tests to claim a higher protein content than they truly have. Scandalous, right? Well, that’s the supplement industry for you. Here’s how it happens and what to…

BCAA vs Whey (or EAAs) — Which Best Supports Muscle Growth?

Is it better to take Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) or whey protein when training fasted? Though the difference in outcome is likely small, it is exactly this kind of question that clients pay me to know and advise them on. If you do your weight training fasted (in the morning…

Keeping the ‘Coach’ in Science-Based Coaching

Many people have told me that they appreciate my objective, unbiased approach to exercise and nutrition. I’m going to tell you right now, though, that I am not unbiased. In fact, I’m very biased. I’m biased towards science. As a scientist myself, I am, by default, very biased towards science, and…

2017 Results – Success Explained In My Client’s Own Words

I’d like to share some of those longer-term client success stories today from the past year and I thank them for giving their permission to do so. In 2016 I started working with people for longer than a three month period. It has enabled me to get to know my…

The Novice Bodybuilding Program from The Muscle and Strength Pyramid books

Bodybuilding For Beginners Program

If looking like The Hulk, Wolverine, or Batman is your primary goal, then a training program with a bodybuilding focus is what you need. If you have been struggling to grow, this program may help by giving some balance to your routine. Don’t make the mistake of training your chest,…

Beginner Powerlifting Program from The Muscle and Strength Pyramid books

The Best Powerlifting Program for You In 2023 (For Beginners)

If getting strong as hell is your primary goal, knowing that size and symmetry will mostly come along for the ride anyway, then you need a strength training program that will emphasize that for you. This Novice Powerlifting Program taken from our Muscle and Strength Training Pyramid book is a…

A Guide To Finding Deep Meaning: Why My Clients Succeed

Do you know what I think when I see a guy who has a body carved out of granite like the guy above? That man has discipline. There is an immediate feeling of respect. Plenty of guys have muscle, but very few have the abs that they want. We are so desperate…

Keep It Simple – How to Not Fail Your New Year’s Resolution

I want you to imagine it is the end of March. In January you committed to taking care of yourself better. You dusted off your gym membership and spent the last three months hitting the gym every morning. But you have just quit like two-thirds of the other January returnees.…

Hypertrophy Researcher, Dr. Brad Schoenfeld, Answers Your Questions

Dr. Brad Schoenfeld is a prolific research machine and an absolute asset to the lifting community.  I’m ecstatic to have been able to steal an hour of his time to have him answer reader questions. The key topics we covered are considerations for older lifters, hypertrophy mechanisms, training splits, the value of mind-muscle connection, and how to tell if you…

Menno Henselmans on How to Stay in Shape While Traveling

Recorded in my living room in Tokyo, Coach Menno Henselmans of BayesianBodybuilding.com shares tips on how he has stayed jacked and shredded while traveling for the last five years. I also asked Menno about the somewhat controversial topic of race-based muscular potential, why he isn’t a fan of HIIT, why…

Patrick Umphrey on the Power of Empathy for Building Community

This time I have Patrick Umphrey on the show, the man behind the legendary “Eat. Train. Progress.” Facebook group. I talk to him about the power of empathy when working with clients, building that community, and how that has lead to a stream of applicants for his coaching business.

Community Trumps Marketing: How Luka Hocevar Built a 7-figure Gym

This interview with Luka Hocevar was absolutely epic. Luka owns Vigor Ground fitness, a 12,000 square foot facility just outside of Seattle in a town called Renton. It’s the best gym I have ever walked into, so I invited Luka on to talk about his journey to opening that, from…

Second Special Reader Q&A with Coach Andy Morgan

On this episode, I answer questions from members of The RippedBody.com Family Facebook Group, we discuss newbie gains, intermittent fasting, adjustments when moving to a bulk and much more. Thanks to all of the group members that submitted your questions.

Mike Tuchscherer on Building Champions With Better Recovery

“The thing that ties all lifters together, regardless of their level, is that we are all interested in getting to the next PR.” On this episode, I interview Mike Tuchscherer, founder of Reactive Training Systems, and father of using ‘Rate of Perceived Exertion’ (RPE) based on ‘reps in reserve’ to modulate…

Greg Nuckols on Squats, Progressive Overload, and Muscle Gain

In this 3-part interview, I meet with Greg Nuckols of StrongerbyScience.com, we talk about a variety of topics including how he started out in the industry and has come to speak internationally in such a short period of time, how crucial he feels it is to read research yourself versus rely on…

Ben Carpenter on Overcoming His Emaciating Chron’s Disease, Twice

“I don’t track my macros either, and loads of people are surprised when they hear that because I talk about it all the time. But if you want to do it via the simplest method possible, why would you track more meticulously than you need to?” Ben Carpenter is an…

Eric Helms Answers Your Most Popular Questions

In this 60-minute interview, researcher and coach, Eric Helms, answers twenty reader questions posted in our Facebook Group. We talk about a variety of topics including RPE (Rating of Perceived Exertion), full-body versus splits, protein frequency and how bodybuilders can progress through a plateau. The show also starts off with an exclusive musical…

Eric Helms on Interpreting and Using Training Research, for Gainz ;)

How can we stay up to date with training research? What is the point of even trying to do so when we have studies coming out that seemingly contradict one another so often? Fresh off of finishing up his Ph.D., I welcome Eric Helms back on the podcast to explain why…

How to Factor in Individual Differences for Physique Progress

On this episode of the Rippedbody Podcast, I welcome back researcher and online coach, James Krieger, who I have invited back on the show to discuss one of the most important considerations for tweaking a nutrition and training program, individual differences. Research is great at telling us what will likely…

Chad Landers on Becoming One of LA’s Top Celebrity Trainers

Welcome to this frank conversation with writer, speaker, strength and conditioning specialist, power lifter, and the owner of Push Private Fitness in LA, Chad Landers. Chad has been a ‘legit’ trainer to rock stars and Hollywood actors for over 24 years and throughout this interview you’ll find simple, actionable, no-nonsense advice, which…

Martin MacDonald on Calling Out Fitness Industry Charlatans

On this episode of the Rippedbody Podcast, I interview one of Britain’s most well-known sports nutritionists, Martin MacDonald. We discuss Martin’s beginnings in the industry, including his early “lucky break” that catapulted him into sports nutrition superstardom, becoming one of the countries most popular celebrity trainers, and now the owner and…

15: Special Reader Q&A with Andy Morgan

On this Rippedbody podcast, I answer listener questions. Topics covered include my stance on intermittent fasting, tips for maintaining strength during a cut, and maximizing metabolic rate coming out of a diet phase. Thanks to all of you that submitted your question via Facebook and Instagram and hope you gain…

Alan Aragon on Turning His Career Failures into Success

On this episode of the Rippedbody Podcast, I interview sports nutritionist, researcher extraordinaire, educator, and one of the most influential figures in the fitness industry’s movement towards evidence-based information, Alan Aragon. Alan shares the inspiring story of his career journey to date, starting off the “wrong foot”, his feelings about…

James Krieger on the Issues of Tracking Body Fat Percentage

On this episode of the Rippedbody Podcast, I interview James Krieger. James is a published scientist, author, speaker, fitness competitor, statistical wizard and the mind behind the immensely popular blog and membership site, Weightology.net. We discuss the different methods available for tracking body fat percentage [06:15], the two-component model used by…

Tony Gentilcore on the Importance of Training With Purpose

In this episode, I interview Tony Gentilcore, one of the three original founders of the exceptionally successful, Cressey Sports Performance, and now founder-owner of the new CORE training center in Boston. The interview starts off talking about the subjectiveness of strength (6:20), moves to training with purpose and intrinsic motivation…

Andrea Valdez on the Rippebody Podcast Female Bodybuilder Lifting Weights

Andrea Valdez on Building Awesome Coach-Client Relationships

Andrea is a member of the 3D Muscle Journey bodybuilding and powerlifting coaching team. She is a bodybuilder, Grid competitor, and is my co-author on the Muscle and Strength Pyramid books. Today’s conversation covers three main topics: 1. Coaching philosophy and building the coach-client relationship. 2. The importance of getting…

The Intermediate Bodybuilding Program from The Muscle and Strength Pyramid books

The Intermediate Bodybuilding Program

This is a sample bodybuilding program from our Muscle and Strength Training Pyramid book. The explanation section in the book is fairly detailed, so I have cut it down to give just the overview, relevant notation and exercise selection explanations. This, the Intermediate Powerlifting Program, and the Detailed Guide to…

The Intermediate Powerlifting Program from The Muscle and Strength Pyramid books

The Intermediate Powerlifting Program

This is a sample powerlifting program from our Muscle and Strength Pyramid training book. The explanation section there is fairly detailed, so I have cut it down to give just the overview, relevant notation, and exercise selection explanations. This, along with the Intermediate Bodybuilding Sample Program and Detailed Guide to Training Progression…

How To Progress Training Loads — Rules for Novice and Intermediate Trainees

Linear Progression and Linear Periodization
Rules For Novice and Intermediate Trainees

What follows are the exact initial guidelines on training progression that I give to clients. They are an abbreviated version of the guidelines in The Muscle and Strength Training Pyramid book that I co-authored with Eric Helms and Andrea Valdez. They are exceptionally logical and structured, the antithesis to the approach of…

Spencer Nadolsky on the Rippedbody Podcast - Doctors Who lift

Dr. Spencer Nadolsky on How You Can Win the Battle with Obesity

Spencer is an American family physician who specializes in helping people with obesity. He helps his patients with lifestyle interventions first, via diet and exercise, before using to his prescription pad wherever possible. We talk about many topics: why obesity has been recently classified as a disease, why calories in…

Physique Progress Tracking

How To Track Body Measurements and Weight for Physique Progress

If you are putting in a serious amount of effort with your training and nutrition, you owe it to yourself to take the ten extra minutes each week to track your progress seriously. This will help ensure you get the results you deserve. I’d go as far as to say…

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