The Strength Log

By now, it's pretty clear that deep squats are superior to half or quarter squats in basically every way: better strength gains, more hypertrophy, improved athletic performance. But what about your knee health? Squatting deep definitely puts more stress on your knee joints, so will you regret having done ass to grass squats when you're older? In other words, are deep squats the cause of knee pain and knee injuries, or are they the solution to long-term knee health? Let's look at the science! In today's episode, we delve into a review article titled "Impact of the Deep Squat on Articular Knee Joint Structures, Friend or Enemy? A Scoping Review". And since it's December 1st when this episode airs, we talk a bit about our free fitness Christmas advent calendar in the StrengthLog Workout Tracker app. You can open the first calendar door today, with a new one becoming available every day until December 25th. It's a lot of fun, you should tag along!  *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that follow button! You can also follow us on Instagram. You'll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam. Become a part of our Reddit community here. *** This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden. To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life. If you want a t-shirt with "Train hard, eat well, die anyway", check out our shop here.

What happens if you squat, deadlift, and bench press daily for more than one hundred days? That's what Daniel's done, and in this episode, we discuss his experience with high-frequency training—and our new premium training program Groundhog Gains, which is available now for anyone who wants to try training like this. We also address the most common questions about daily training, such as recovery issues, whether it's better for strength or muscle gains, and how hard you can go when following a routine like this. If you want to check out Groundhog Gains in our app StrengthLog, it's available here. *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that follow button! You can also follow us on Instagram. You'll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam. Become a part of our Reddit community here. *** This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden. To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life. If you want a t-shirt with "Train hard, eat well, die anyway", check out our shop here.

Bit of a mixed bag for you today, with three unrelated topics. First, we look into why athletes on anabolic–androgenic steroids so often experience tendon injuries. As far as we can remember, a possible explanation has been that the tendons can't keep up with the fast gains of muscle mass and strength from AAS use, but new evidence indicates that there's more going on here! Second, there's growing evidence that isometric training at long muscle lengths can build equal amounts of muscle as traditional full-range-of-motion training. We have a new study on isometric training in resistance-trained subjects that's kind of cool, and we break it down for you. Finally, we got a question about lifting belts on our subreddit. What do they contribute, and is it worth buying one? Timestamps: 05:00 - Use of anabolic steroids and increased risk of tendon injuries 16:10 - Isometrics done at long muscle lengths build muscle better than full ROM? 26:15 - What's the point of lifting belts, and when should you use one? (If you want to listen to the older episode we mention, about testosterone replacement treatment, it's episode 77.) *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that follow button! You can also follow us on Instagram. You'll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam. Become a part of our Reddit community here. *** This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden. To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life. If you want a t-shirt with "Train hard, eat well, die anyway", check out our shop here.

How long you rest between sets is an important factor to consider, as longer rest times often lead to better training results since you can perform more reps in each set at any given weight compared to shorter rests. But what if you compensate for shorter rest times by doing more sets, until you've reached the same number of reps you would have been able to hit with longer rest between your sets? Today, we're discussing a study that compared a traditional 2-minute rest between sets with resting for just 20 seconds, but doing additional sets until the participants had completed the same number of reps as the longer rest group. The results were fascinating, and we provide our breakdown and recommendations on how and when they can be applied to your own training. *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that follow button! You can also follow us on Instagram. You'll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam. Become a part of our Reddit community here. *** This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden. To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life. If you want a t-shirt with "Train hard, eat well, die anyway", check out our shop here.

To maximize strength and muscle growth, how many sets should you perform per week for each muscle and exercise? A year ago, we reported on a meta-study that found surprisingly low levels of training volume were sufficient to maximize strength gains. To say that had us confused is to put it mildly.  It's finally time to revisit the topic of training volume for strength. Today, we have a new analysis of the same data from a year ago, showing that you might actually have to train a lot more to maximize your strength gains. Phew. All is right with the world again. *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that follow button! You can also follow us on Instagram. You'll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam. Become a part of our Reddit community here. *** This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden. To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life. If you want a t-shirt with "Train hard, eat well, die anyway", check out our shop here.

If you want to get a stronger bench press, bigger pecs, and become more explosive when pushing or punching, should you train for max strength, muscle growth, or explosiveness? And what is the overlap between those three training philosophies? Today, we break down a new study that compares exactly this, and give you our recommendations on how to plan your own strength training for these different goals. *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that follow button! You can also follow us on Instagram. You'll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam. Become a part of our Reddit community here. *** This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden. To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life. If you want a t-shirt with "Train hard, eat well, die anyway", check out our shop here.

We've all heard that we should eat healthy, specifically to avoid ultra-processed food. But why? Yes, it's easy to overeat ultra-processed food because it's tasty. But if you count your calories and don't overeat, are ultra-processed foods still bad for you? In today's episode, we explore a new study that put people on either a diet consisting of ultra-processed foods or unprocessed foods. The researchers wanted to know a lot more than just if the participants would lose or gain fat weight, and they tested a lot of fascinating stuff, from sperm quality to phthalates (plastics) and lithium levels in their bodies. Let's break it all down! If you're interested in how the two diets looked, check out this pdf from the study. *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that follow button! You can also follow us on Instagram. You'll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam. Become a part of our Reddit community here. *** This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden. To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life. If you want a t-shirt with "Train hard, eat well, die anyway", check out our shop here.

Are there any scientifically proven methods to reduce muscle soreness after hard workouts? And if so, should you? We're back with another episode based on listener questions, and this is a good one. Besides muscle soreness, we discuss paused deadlifts and paused squats, as well as the optimal time of day for working out. See the timestamps below for all questions! All questions for this episode came from our subreddit StrengthLog. Join us there and be on the lookout for when we post asking for listener questions; if you have one you'd like answered on the podcast! Timestamps: 02:20 - Question 1: Is there a biologically optimal time of day to train? 10:50 - Question 2: Should you always go for perfect form, even if it means you don't "progress" in weight lifted, or is it okay to sometimes increase the weights for a set or two, without perfect form for all reps, to "push yourself"? 16:00 - Question 3: When will the muscle heat maps in the StrengthLog app become clickable, so that we can click a specific muscle to see which exercises we can do to train it? 19:00 - Question 4: Opinions on differences in usefulness between paused deadlifts and paused squats? 26:30 - Question 5: Are there any scientifically proven methods to reduce muscle soreness after hard workouts? 36:00 - Question 6: I'm new to the gym, and my grip fails before my back when deadlifting. How do I solve this? 41:30 - Question 7: If I am able to move significantly less weight in the hack squat machine compared to in regular barbell squats, is that a sign of me cheating in the barbell squat? *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that follow button! You can also follow us on Instagram. You'll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam. Become a part of our Reddit community here. *** This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden. To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life. If you want a t-shirt with "Train hard, eat well, die anyway", check out our shop here.

We have two topics for you today. First out is a new meta-analysis examining the impact of timing your protein intake immediately before or after workouts. Does it matter? And if so, how big are the differences? Then we tackle a topic a lot of you have been curious about: "Daniel is training weird." Let's explain. Daniel has been performing the big barbell lifts almost daily for over fifty days, and he feels stronger and in better shape than he has in a long time. He's also shared a lot about it on Instagram, and it seems you have questions. What's his reasoning behind this experiment? How long does he plan to continue with it? What are the risks? Don't your muscles need 48 hours of recovery before being trained again? And how should you go about it if you want to try it? Timestamps: 02:20 - Protein timing: Does it matter if you eat your protein immediately before or after your workout? 10:20 - Daniel's weird training routine: Easy Strength – daily full body workouts for over fifty days straight. *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that follow button! You can also follow us on Instagram. You'll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam. Become a part of our Reddit community here. *** This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden. To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life. If you want a t-shirt with "Train hard, eat well, die anyway", check out our shop here.

Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) is becoming more common as more and more men suffer from low testosterone. But for many men, it might just treat the symptoms instead of the root cause: unhealthy body fat levels. In today's episode, we discuss a new study that compared one of the new weight loss drugs (tirzepatide) to TRT, to examine which is more effective for treating low testosterone. The results? Way beyond interesting! You're going to want to hear this. We also talk about other ways to increase your testosterone levels naturally. *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that follow button! You can also follow us on Instagram. You'll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam. Become a part of our Reddit community here. *** This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden. To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life. If you want a t-shirt with "Train hard, eat well, die anyway", check out our shop here.

How many sets should you do weekly for your muscle groups to maximize strength and muscle gains? That is the eternal question for gymgoers, and even though this is a relatively well-researched subject, we still can't say for sure. Let's look into a new study that had participants perform eight sets of leg presses per week with one leg and 16 sets with the other, to see which leg got the biggest gains in muscle mass and strength after five months of training. In this episode, we discuss this study, its results, and its practical implications for your strength training. *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that follow button! You can also follow us on Instagram. You'll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam. Become a part of our Reddit community here. *** This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden. To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life. If you want a t-shirt with "Train hard, eat well, die anyway", check out our shop here.

Rows are great for developing your upper back, but do they also work your biceps sufficiently? That certainly would be a good incentive to do more boring rows and less direct biceps work, to kill two swole birds with one stone. So, what does the science have to say about this? In today's episode, we break down a new study in which participants trained dumbbell rows with one arm and bicep curls with the other for eight weeks, and measured how the arms grew. The results were telling. *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that follow button! You can also follow us on Instagram. You'll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam. Become a part of our Reddit community here. *** This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden. To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life. If you want a t-shirt with "Train hard, eat well, die anyway", check out our shop here.

Longer rest times between sets typically mean larger strength and muscle gains. But what if you're short on time? Enter: alternating sets!  Don't know what alternating sets are? No worries, we explain them in the episode, while looking into a new study that compares alternating sets with traditional sets, to see if they are the fastest route to big gains. *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that follow button! You can also follow us on Instagram. You'll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam. Become a part of our Reddit community here. *** This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden. To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life. If you want a t-shirt with "Train hard, eat well, die anyway", check out our shop here.

Pre-exhaust training is a strength training philosophy popularized in the 1970s. Many bodybuilders still swear by it, but what does the scientific evidence say? In today's episode, we examine a new study comparing pre-exhaust training with traditional training, and give you our thoughts on when and how to implement it in your own training. Also, here's the bulletin on "the pre-exhaustion principle" by Nautilus founder Arthur Jones, which we read an excerpt from during the episode (if you want to read the whole thing). *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that follow button! You can also follow us on Instagram. You'll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam. Become a part of our Reddit community here. *** This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden. To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life. If you want a t-shirt with "Train hard, eat well, die anyway", check out our shop here.

Getting good sleep is one of the best things you can do to increase muscle growth, strength gains, fat loss, and general performance.  In today's episode, we examine a study in which soccer players implemented different sleep hygiene tactics to improve their sleep. The tactics they had to choose from were: Avoid all electronic stimulants (TV, mobile phones, and computers) from 8 PM. If not doing the above, avoid them 30 minutes before going to bed. Change any electronic stimulants screen to the warm light setting from 7 PM. Wear SleepSpec glasses before going to bed. Minimize excess light from 9 PM to 9:30 PM by only having a bed lamp on. Change the bed lamp to a low-wattage globe. Manipulate the room temperature to 19–20 °C/66–68 °F. Avoid consuming caffeine or any supplements from 5 PM. Have the last large meal at least 2–3 hours before sleep. Consume a glass of lukewarm milk before going to bed. Consume a glass of chamomile tea before going to bed. Take a warm bath or shower before going to bed. Wear an eye mask whilst sleeping. Wear earplugs whilst sleeping. Remove any timing instruments (i.e., clock) from the room. Avoid any sleep disruptions (for instance, bathroom visits). Sleep at least eight hours. Avoid napping from 2 PM. Which of these did the soccer players choose to abide by? Did it work? What were the effects on their performance? And what might this mean for you? Let's discuss! *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that follow button! You can also follow us on Instagram. You'll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam. Become a part of our Reddit community here. *** This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden. To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life. If you want a t-shirt with "Train hard, eat well, die anyway", check out our shop here.

One of the best methods for being healthier and more productive is to use the power of habits. In this episode, we discuss a new review study on how long it takes to form new habits and what factors increase your likelihood of success.  *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that follow button! You can also follow us on Instagram. You'll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam. Become a part of our Reddit community here. *** This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden. To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life. If you want a t-shirt with "Train hard, eat well, die anyway", check out our shop here.

After working out, can you improve the strength and health of your tendons and joints by drinking a collagen shake or bone broth? And will that also help your skin look more youthful and beautiful? That's right, we have a new study to discuss, looking into the hype and claims of collagen supplements! *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that follow button! You can also follow us on Instagram. You'll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam. Become a part of our Reddit community here. *** This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden. To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life. If you want a t-shirt with "Train hard, eat well, die anyway", check out our shop here.

What is the correlation between grip strength and health? How do you keep yourself motivated when injured? And is muscle soreness really a good sign that your training is working? In this episode, we finish the Q&A we started last week, with five more listener questions on strength training! Timestamps: 01:30 - Question 1: Is muscle soreness a good sign that you've trained hard or just have unaccustomed muscles? And do you stop getting soreness when you reach a particular strength level/habit? 06:00 - Question 2: Is there any study on the connection between grip strength and health? 10:10—Question 3: My problem is that no matter how hard I push myself, I'm just not adding weight to the bar. Why? 17:45 - Question 4: I'd love to hear some perspectives on how to keep motivation up when you're plateauing or injured. 24:00 - Question 5: I want suggestions for exercises/programs to prepare my body for working out at the gym again in the fall. I haven't worked out in 7–8 years, because I gave birth to 2 children and lived through the toddler years! *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that follow button! You can also follow us on Instagram. You'll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam. Become a part of our Reddit community here. *** This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden. To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life. If you want a t-shirt with "Train hard, eat well, die anyway", check out our shop here.

Can you maintain your muscle mass with just one full-body workout per week? Are planned deload weeks necessary or overrated? How do you balance squats and deadlifts in the same training program? We're in the midst of summer and it's time to answer your best questions! We have five questions this week, and we'll finish this Q&A round next week with five more. Timestamps: 01:50 - Question 1: How long can you maintain your muscle mass with just one full-body workout weekly? 07:15 - Question 2: Is there any benefit to regularly adding wall-sits to your training to increase your maximum strength in the squat? I hope the answer is no because it's a f*cking pain. 12:20—Question 3: Can you please talk about deloading? I've been lifting since January. Should I do deloads periodically? 17:55 - Question 4: Why do you have so many exercises in the StrengthLog app? Don't you think it might trick people into doing anything other than deadlifts? 21:15 - Question 5: I would love it if you could talk about the difficulties of balancing squats and deadlifts within a training program. *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that follow button! You can also follow us on Instagram. You'll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam. Become a part of our Reddit community here. *** This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden. To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life. If you want a t-shirt with "Train hard, eat well, die anyway", check out our shop here.

The pull-up is one of the most classic strength training exercises you can do, and also one of the best! But how do you manage your first rep if you can't do pull-ups today, and how should you train to progress to 10+ reps? Or should you stick to lat pulldowns instead? In this episode, we also discuss the biomechanics and muscles used in the pull-up and lat pulldown, as well as their pros and cons. This is the sixth and final episode in our series covering "The Big 6" exercises: the bench press, squat, deadlift, overhead press, different kinds of rows, and pull-up/lat pulldown. *** Do you like what you hear so far? Please leave a five-star review in your podcast player. And hit that follow button! You can also follow us on Instagram. You'll find Daniel at @strengthdan, and Philip at @philipwildenstam. Become a part of our Reddit community here. *** This podcast is brought to you by Styrkelabbet AB, Sweden. To support us, download the world's best gym workout tracker app StrengthLog here. It's completely ad-free and the most generous fitness app on the market, giving you access to unlimited workout logging, lots of workouts and training programs, and much, much more even if you stay a free user for life. If you want a t-shirt with "Train hard, eat well, die anyway", check out our shop here.