Q&A: Deltoid Training, NSAIDs, Controversial Fitness Opinions, and More (Ep 104)

In today’s episode, Greg and Eric field listener questions about insulin, maintenance phases, controversial fitness opinions, maintaining muscle while cutting, the effects of NSAIDs on training adaptations, deltoid training, ashwagandha supplementation, content creation, social media, and the best gauge of overall strength.
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TIME STAMPS
0:00 Intro/Announcements
6:35 Can medical insulin (i.e., to treat diabetes) boost strength and/or hypertrophy?
20:12 Is it important to do a maintenance phase after bulking or cutting?
22:58 What are your most controversial fitness opinions that would rile up the evidence-based fitness community?
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
50:58 How important is it to maintain most of your muscle on a cut?
55:13 How do NSAIDs impact training adaptations?
www.strongerbyscience.com/ant...
journals.lww.com/nsca-scj/Abs...
1:02:54 Are lateral raises enough to grow the medial portion of the deltoids, or do you need to do some kind of shoulder press or upright row variation?
1:09:02 Ashwagandha for strength and hypertrophy - yea or nay?
1:15:26 Do you ever look back on old content of yours and cringe? If so, does it make you question whether you'll look back on your current content and cringe in the future?
1:36:38 How do you go about managing your time on social media?
1:51:46 Is bench press the best gauge of raw physical strength? If not, what is?

[@dimoradimario]

Please, if you can afford it, keep nuance in. As a science man I love reading your articles and listening to your podcasts because I know you care for details, and don't just toss out one-size-fits-all recommendations. This is literally why I listen to you rather than a bunch of other "fitness media content". Keep up the good work, I highly appreciate it!

[@GVS]

Same deal with scripting out something beforehand. I tried it a few times before videos, crashed and burned so bad. Notes at the most.

[@trolololgast]

Thanks for answering my question regarding the lateral raises! Grtz Wout :)

[@godsgiftto3arth]

i really enjoy these Q&A musings

[@tn7156]

The temporary, permanent, intermittent host and co host shtick is so good and under appreciated 🤣

[@AJ-ds5gf]

I can't tell if it's actually a joke or if he's just awkward.

[@nickbyrd1027]

I laugh at the beginning of every single podcast when he introduces themselves, it's never not funny

[@bullinvginshop9011]

And now we know it wasn’t a joke.

[@dvsn23]

Missed you guys

[@ColeDano]

Humor so dry it should come with a bottle of seltzer. Just like Eric’s travel arm pits. Love it. Man, that was good to hear Eric, I also notice that PPL and just throwing in more sets works a charm for me, and keep self doubting when I do it.

[@tobitoflappucini5762]

Hello. First of all, thank you for all the content you are creating and giving out for free! I have a question. I got the trainings programs for bench squat and Deadlift from you, and chose some templates that fit for me. My question is, if I should calculate my lifts (for example when my squat plan says 5x5 with 75%) from my 1 rep max, or should I use a TRAINING max that is like 90% from my true 1RM for my lifts ? Because so far I’ve been using my true 1RM for squats for Example, and I make some progress. Would it be better to calculate my % lifts based on a TRAINING max instead of from my 1RM ? I feel like especially for bench, the sessions could be a bit too light. Thank you in advance ! :)

[@AlexWitoslawski]

About BCAAs: 3-4 days per week, I lift weights in the morning and then I do jiu-jitsu in the evening. Those days, I drink a EAA/BCAA mix in the morning and then before/during my jiu-jitsu training, because I easily get an upset stomach if I eat too soon before either lifting or my jits training. Why not whey? Because it also feels like "eating" for me, and when I have a 100kg dude in top side control squeezing me, I prefer not to puke out a whey protein drink.

[@rcoop2177]

30:00 same, so weird but it works great for me

[@ew-zd1th]

Wait eric grows his shoulders with rows every part or the side delts ? And when eric has done smolov which part of his shoulder explode? In which time frame?

[@zakdowneydowney3728]

I like that one guy is in a short sleeve t-shirt and the other guy is in the Arctic.

[@BitcoinMoonBoys]

How about immunotherapy for Psoriatic Arthritis. Does that blunt hypertrophy

[@TL13579]

Hey guys. Long time listener from Spotify dropping by here to ask a question. On the note of protein requirements being lower than commonly understood in lifting-related fitness circles, I have noticed that most food rich in protein are also accompanied by similar levels of fat. On one hand, if one were to follow the recommendation of around two grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight without resorting to protein shakes, this takes calories from fat waaaaaay up. On the other hand, considering that fat almost always accompanies protein-rich sources, is it possible/likely that fat plays a more important role than currently understood in strength and hypertrophy?

[@ew-zd1th]

This diet coke story is crazy

[@danielbrown001]

It also puts 1 point in the column for the “Diet sodas will kill you!” zealots. I believe that makes the score: Zealots 1 - Science 4,287,228. So basically exactly the same. Don’t drink diet soda kids! You’ll literally die!

[@saehanbang1376]

I think most of the horror stories with insulin is with fast acting variants. Slow acting insulin like Lantus is generally safe and hard to misuse.

[@ashleydawson4057]

Did not expect that ending at all

[@spodergibbs5088]

Great intro as usual. F*ck it’s so funny.

[@bullinvginshop9011]

I run a two day upper body split and go to failure on all my working sets and I’m never sore and basically always make small progress. I will take a day off every now and then and just lower the amount of sets and intensity/weight once I stall and then get back to it after half a week of lowered volume.

[@stevenuseda6317]

No lower body?

[@bullinvginshop9011]

@@stevenuseda6317 I do an average of 20-25k steps a day. My legs grow super fast and I only do them every once in a while just to maintain health and mobility. Legs and glutes are my most developed body parts so I am focusing on biceps and shoulders mostly while trying to get leaner.

[@rockyevans1584]

​@stevenuseda6317 haha I was wondering the same, but don't worry- he walks lots!

[@bullinvginshop9011]

@@rockyevans1584 lol my legs are super sore today. I did a couple hard sets of split squats and rdls quite far from failure. But still focusing mostly on upper body.

[@rockyevans1584]

@bullinvginshop9011 haha damn yeah, if you're going minimalist on lower body, that sounds like the way. I never don't get sore from either of those movements, and they're staples for me. Rdls feel like they're at least 5 reps shy of failure, and who can guess that many away so it may be more, and I still only ever work up from 1 set a week to 2 sets twice a week. Any more and I can barely even walk, which sounds nice but I'm a carpenter so I just wind up walking funny and it amuses the boys

[@TheOwlol]

Chemist prof at my faculty says BU in the ibuprofen.

[@johncalla2151]

My controversial take is that the amount of calories and protein used to build muscle in a day is less than miniscule. I know that would make me a heretic but I like math better than studies and I just can't make the math work on these 150g - 250+g protein per day diets. Or the necessity of a calorie surplus. I can't make that math work either. If people are putting on 10 lbs of muscle a day I could get on board with all that, but if it's true that building muscle is an incredibly slow process, then people are way overshooting.

[@admiralapathy]

Idk if it's something you guys have control over but there were an ungodly amount of advertisements this video. I prefer watching the actual videos but if I'm getting an ad every 5 minutes I'll just listen on Spotify

[@admiralapathy]

@@christopherhall7216 everyone not at a computer

[@climb318]

Clickbait thumbnail 😡 5 seconds in and no doggy

[@ThingsYoudontwanttohear]

I only clicked this video for the doggy. I am terribly disappointed. 😬

[@strongmansam289]

Just a caveat on the thought of maintenance cycles Something I hear a lot of bodybuilders talk about is time your body has spent at a certain weight kinda solidifying that new tissue The theory is that the longer you can spend at your peak weight, the more of the new muscle you retain as you cut bodyfat. I’m not sure if this is bro science, but it seems to be extremely anecdotally prevalent amongst the IFBB pro podcasts I listen to. I think there’s some truth to this - although a lot of size loss in these guys would be due to a change in anabolic use and water fluctuation, I too have felt it HARD to get to a new bodyweight, but the longer I hold it for, the easier it becomes to hold.

[@rockyevans1584]

Sure, Dr mike sciences that theory up, but just recommends a month or two at maintenance at the weight before resuming bulk or starting the cut. Nothing like the science proving the bros right decades behind schedule!

[@mrbartuss1]

36:15

[@diegohidalgo9088]

I wonder how on earth can Greg maintain a totally natural serious face expression

[@realBanZaipanda]

Dude why didn't you put up dog photos sooner?? This podcast could have been way more christian way sooner.

[@callumwarren801]

Pretty standard insulin protocol I use and a lot of competitors is 20iu lantus and 5iu novo rapid with pre and post meals

[@callumwarren801]

The long acting lantus is pretty hard to go hypo using , the faster acting novo is where you need to be more cautious

[@callumwarren801]

The danger comes when people take insulin then try to match the carbs. This is the wrong way to approach insulin use, insulin should only be used when carbohydrate intake is already high and fasting blood sugars are high, we then use insulin to take the burden off the beta cells in the pancreas

[@gokukakarot1855]

For the algorithm

[@jngibson24]

Do you guys ever disagree on a topic?

[@atomerki9759]

48:24 lmao

[@Chin-Hwa]

I know, right?

[@bullinvginshop9011]

Weapons Grade Bro Science! Lmao

[@tntcheats]

I feel like I'm on vacation just hearing about Eric's deoderant

[@samharper5881]

42:42 So respectful! But we get it; everyone outside of America "has an accent" and talks weird and has stupid foreign names.

[@TRXSTA38]

Thanks for your understanding.

[@giuliam2531]

200 grams or 400 grams a day is a baby dose...most people with periods take more😅

[@archmaesterofpullups]

25:30 - My unpopular opinion is that the optimal protein intake is way higher than the typically prescribed amounts and that you've done a poor job covering the topic. In terms of LBM improvements, I agree with your assessment of the literature, however the research supports much higher protein intakes for reducing fat accumulation while in a surplus, which you two haven't touched on. I recommend reading the peer discussion sections of Jose Antonio's protein overfeeding studies for further information. His team basically postulates that protein can't undergo gluconeogenesis while in a surplus due to bottomed out glucagon signaling, where glucagon appears necessary for gluconeogenesis from amino acids.

[@bobbobson4030]

So? The study states that there was no change in body composition with protein overfeeding in trained folks (1.8 Vs 4.4 g/kg/d) I.e no benefit for higher than the standard recommendation

[@archmaesterofpullups]

@@christopherhall7216 Correct. However, there was a massive benefit from higher intakes on fat accumulation. In a practical context, gaining less fat means longer bulking durations and will lead to more LBM in the long run due to being in a deficit for less time.

[@archmaesterofpullups]

@@christopherhall7216 Fiber isn't similar at all in this context. The entire point of high protein in a surplus is that it'll match intake to energy needs which will compensate for margins of error associated with tracking expenditure and intake. As a surplus becomes smaller, more protein will be able to be leveraged as energy such that only enough that is required to synthesize muscle but not fat will be metabolized. As a surplus becomes larger, less protein will be metabolized, so no additional fat is accumulated. This makes the protein conditionally used based on the size of the surplus. Fiber doesn't have this benefit.

[@archmaesterofpullups]

@@christopherhall7216 If there is no demand for energy then protein does not undergo gluconeogenesis since glucagon is required for this process, which is the entire point of the Jose Antonio literature. For instance, let's say that someone has a daily energy demand of 3000 kcal but only requires 150g of protein to fulfill the body's needs for maintaining nitrogen balance. If the person eats 3200 kcal, but consumes 200g of protein then they are consuming an excess of 50g of protein, which is what is effectively making up that surplus. The body will only convert as much of that 50g into energy which is needed to gain additional LBM but any additional excess protein will not undergo gluconeogenesis so no fat will be accumulated. Because margins of error are much larger in practice (primarily due to varying energy demands), a much larger protein-based surplus can help fit energy intake to energy demands to increase the margin of error before fat is stored.

[@wilsonman8661]

@@archmaesterofpullups So where do the calories/energy from excess protein go then?