Where to go from here after not gaining muscle mass for 6 months
Hi! I love y’all’s podcast! Like Mariana, I had a really unhealthy relationship with food. A couple of years ago, I truly started learning how to eat and workout from a healthy, positive place. It’s taken YEARS, to break out of those disordered eating habits I had. Now I’m in a place where I want to build muscle. I’ve been getting dexa scans, but I’m doing something wrong and I can’t pin point what. 1 year ago, I had 79 lbs of lean muscle mass. 6 months ago, I had 82 lbs of lean muscle mass. Recently, when I got my dexa scan again, I was back down to 79 lbs of muscle mass. This discouraged me, because I feel like I pushed myself in the gym. All year, I took notes during my workouts. To progressive overload, I would try to hit one more rep for each set on every exercise. Maybe I just wasn’t consistent enough? There were a couple of weeks here and there where life got in the way. During the month of September, I didn’t go to the gym at all because I started a new job and needed to find a new routine. For more context, I also gained fat at my recent dexa scan when compared to the dexa of 6 months ago. I’m 5’4, female and weigh 144 lbs with 40% BF. Any tips to keep going? I feel like my motivation got wrecked, because I thought I was heading in a good direction but the numbers don’t lie. In my mind I wonder if it was inconsistency, intensity, lack of progressive overload. I feel a little lost and not sure where to go from here. Thank you so much and hello from Austin, TX! 🤩
Stand still/motivation with nutrition
Hello! First off thanks so much for what you guys do-love it! I am needing some motivation for my nutrition and sticking to serving sizes. I worry about hitting my protein so feel like I overeat when I add more but really do feel too full. The motivation for my workouts is no problem but I roller coaster so much between nutrition cycles-doing really well/lower calories and tracking but then getting burnt out and intuitively eating with macro awareness but eating more than a serving size. I don’t want to be so restricted and track for the rest of my life but also it helps me a lot be disciplined and hit my goals! Recs? Thanks so much!!
Stand still/motivation with nutrition
Hello! First off thanks so much for what you guys do-love it! I am needing some motivation for my nutrition and sticking to serving sizes. I worry about hitting my protein so feel like I overeat when I add more but really do feel too full. The motivation for my workouts is no problem but I roller coaster so much between nutrition cycles-doing really well/lower calories and tracking but then getting burnt out and intuitively eating with macro awareness but eating more than a serving size. I don’t want to be so restricted and track for the rest of my life but also it helps me a lot be disciplined and hit my goals! Recs? Thanks so much!!
Stand still/motivation with nutrition
Hello! First off thanks so much for what you guys do-love it! I am needing some motivation for my nutrition and sticking to serving sizes. I worry about hitting my protein so feel like I overeat when I add more but really do feel too full. The motivation for my workouts is no problem but I roller coaster so much between nutrition cycles-doing really well/lower calories and tracking but then getting burnt out and intuitively eating with macro awareness but eating more than a serving size. I don’t want to be so restricted and track for the rest of my life but also it helps me a lot be disciplined and hit my goals! Recs? Thanks so much!!
Training Programs
Hi guys! Love the podcast, finally became a subscriber this year. Super stoked to try your training programs, but I don't have a Google account (ethical + privacy reasons), so sadly I can't open any of them. Would it be possible to make export them into PDFs (like the mobility programs) or maybe try changing the settings so that people without a Google acc can also access them? Would greatly appreciate that! Have a nice week :)
Magnesium Dosing
Hey, y’all! Happy 2026! I’m currently supplementing with Legion’s Magnesium, and I noticed the recommended serving is a fairly wide range (1–3 capsules daily). Right now, I take 2 per day, but I’m curious about how to think through whether it makes sense to bump that up to 3 or dial it back to 1. I know individual needs vary and I’m not planning to get blood work specifically to guide this decision, so I’m wondering how you typically suggest people assess optimal dosing in cases like this. Is it mostly symptom-based, timing-based, or more about total daily intake from all sources? I’d also love your thoughts on why supplement labels would provide a dosing range rather than a single recommendation when there’s an established RDA from the FDA. Is this something you see commonly with magnesium or other supplements as well?
Is it okay to take protein powder everyday?
Is it okay to take protein powder everyday? Not to replace whole food with protein shake but for someone who's busy with work and taking care of the kids in the evening, I find it hard to meet my protein goal by prepping whole food for every meal unless I drink protein shake for breakfast. I saw it somewhere that says it's bad to drink protein shake everyday. I thought protein powder was simply to supplement my protein intake? I would appreciate it if you guys can explain in the podcast. Thank you.
Over training?
Hi Team. This may be to specific for the show but I'm gona ask any way. I'm a Firefighter and work a side job engineering on my days off. I work a 6 day rotation and I'm training to compete the world firefighters combat challenge in October. I'm currently doing your full body programe modified to a 3 day split each session takes me 2 hours with a warm up and a cool down of some stretches. Day 1= Weights in the morning then zone 2 run for 60min in the afternoon. Day 2= VO2 training 30min in the morning then race specific hauling and hose drag traing in the afternoon for 40min. Day 3= Weights in the morning then race specific stairs training in the evening for about 30min. Day 4= Plyometric training 40min & VO2 training for 30min in the morning then race specific dummy drags in the afternoon. Day 5= Zone 2 run for 60min in the morning then Weight session in the afternoon. Day 6= VO2 training for 30min then race specific Keizer training for 30min in the afternoon. Then it starts all over again. Is this too much? Not enough recovery? Is there a smarter way to train for all aspects of the competition? Thanks.
anxiety
I've always struggled on and off with anxiety and its various physical symptoms. Listening to your podcast got me to look into breathwork for anxiety, which has helped quite a bit, as well as to take more notice of my diet. Are there any micronutrients I should be paying more attention to that could help with anxiety symptoms?
1:6 fasting
Hello, I wanted to ask your thoughts on 1:6 and 2:5 dieting when exercising quite a bit. I’m thinking about trying a 6:1 (or 2:5) fasting approach, where I would eat normally on training days, but cut calories significantly (like 500–700 kcal) on one or two rest days. My weekly schedule is usually three football sessions and two weight training days, with two rest days in between. I figured it might make sense to fuel properly on training days and create a calorie deficit on the rest days instead of maintaining a daily deficit. Do you think this setup could affect my overall recovery or readiness? Any injury predictions? Would it be worth trying as losing a bit of weight is the goal (in preseason)? Also, are there any specific things I should consider to make sure it doesn’t interfere with my training or progress? Appreciate your thoughts on this, love the pod!
Restarting My lifting journey
Hey guys, Before I ask my question, I just wanted to say that I really love your content. It helped me get through a very rough second half of 2025. Now that I’m doing better, I’m excited to restart my lifting journey. It’s been about five years since I’ve trained consistently, and I’m looking to start with one of your programs. I was thinking about running the 4-day upper/lower split. My question is this: since I’ve been out of the gym for so long, should I start at the prescribed intensity, sets, and reps in your guide, or would it be better to begin with fewer sets and reps for the first 3–4 weeks to allow my muscles to adapt again? I know I’ll definitely need to start with lighter weights than I used to use and gradually work my way back up. Thank you so much, and much love. Deven
Creatine degrading into Creatinine in drinks
I recently heard for the first time that creatine turns into creatinine after a certain duration of it being added to a liquid. For example, adding it to a protein shake the night before and after x hours it’ll turn into Creatinine which is a waste product and, while not harmful, is not useful to the body. Also mentioned was that adding it to hot liquids speeds this process up. My questions for you two smarties are: 1) Is this true? 2) have I been an idiot the last 3 years with adding Creatine to my hot coffee in the morning? Thank you for such an incredible podcast, you’re my absolute favorite!
Micronutrients for dummies
Hi :) I just listened to your micronutrient episode, loved it like everything else. I know I'm low in a lot of them and I don't want to get overwhelmed trying to cover them at the same time. How do I know which one to start with? Any general guidance? Thank you, keep doing excellent work!
Tips on Meal Tracking / Foods that go well together
2 part question. What are some meals/foods matches that you recommend that can help me gain weight. I am struggling balancing protein and carbs/greens. Example. I love rice but pasta / lettuce is hard for me to mix and match. I can't have rice every though. That's part of my issue. 2.) How do you guys feel about the AI meal tracker on the oura ring? Been tracking my meals more to see where the disconnect is. (I'm still a newbie)
Oura readiness and sickness
Hi! I recently got a terrible ear/sinus infection. It's been about a week of antibiotics and zero training. My HRV is slowly improving (yet still very low compared to normal) but my body temperature and RHR remain elevated. Thus my readiness is super low. My question is, how long does it take for the metrics to improve to where I have a better readiness score and at what point should I ignore the data and just get back into it anyways. I don't love the idea of taking weeks off just because the ring tells me too. I also don't want to come back too soon and prolong recovery. Thank you!