In the last email, I talked about the hierarchy of importance for sleep, one of the four pillars of physique change. Today, I want to discuss stress. There are six levels to the stress hierarchy pyramid: Let's dive in! 1. Total Stress Load and Adaptive Reserve At the top of the hierarchy is the total amount of stress you are coping with. This is not just what you do in the gym, but everything you experience outside the gym as well (work, relationships, sleep loss, calorie deficits, etc.). All...
20 days ago • 2 min read
In the last email, I talked about the four pillars of physique change: Sleep Stress management Exercise Nutrition I made the point that understanding the frameworks for each will help you find your bottlenecks and break through plateaus. Today, I want to start with the simplest: sleep. If you don't get enough sleep, you'll be hungrier and more irritable, and your recovery from training (and therefore growth) will be impacted. I'll come back to what I mean by "enough" in a moment, but first,...
25 days ago • 3 min read
In the last email, I talked about the importance of having frameworks. Frameworks help you find your bottlenecks and get unstuck. There are four key pillars to physique transformation, and while our focus is on body composition, this affects your health, fitness, and longevity. So, this stuff is worth understanding! Before I get into the pillars, the fitness industry faces two key problems. The Misinformation Problem The Prioritization Problem The Misinformation Problem Information labeled as...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
I had some fun replies to yesterday's email. (Recap: I listed ~30 fad diets and supplements from the last few decades, and asked people what they have in common.) You absolutely nailed it: The myth of a magic bullet. It's rare for success at anything in life to simplify to a single variable. - Chad You can sell a magic pill, but not the work it takes to succeed. Most don’t want the work, just the easy results. - Craig They all promote some new, exciting, shiny thing as the reason for a lack...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Just a heads-up: the lifting internet is losing its mind over lead in protein powders this week, and you're bound to stumble across it. This comes on the back of a new report from watchdog group Consumer Reports. They found that many popular protein powders contain "unsafe" levels of lead, with over two-thirds of the 23 products tested exceeding the daily "safe" limit for a single serving. Scary stuff, right? Well… not so fast. Here’s Dr. Idz, the TikTok nutritional nonsense assassin, in his...
3 months ago • 1 min read
Q) I am training for calisthenics and wanted to put on more muscle. I am 5 ft 7, weigh 135 lbs at ~14% body fat. I found your How to Bulk Up Without Getting Fat article helpful. I have always wanted to Lean Bulk (very slow weight gain), and for the past six months, I have seen slow results. I was able to progress with calisthenics skills, but recently, I've stalled. I want to try the Controlled/Slow Bulk method, but I'm afraid the additional fat gain would affect my calisthenics skills. Do...
9 months ago • 2 min read
Q) Hey Andy, I usually feel hunger pangs halfway through my sleep after peeing in the middle of the night. The hunger pangs disrupt my sleep and make it hard for me to fall back asleep. Do you have any suggestions for preventing the hunger pangs? — Brian A) Hi Brian, Thanks for the question — what you're describing is surprisingly common. It’s tempting to look at the hunger and night-time bathroom trips as separate issues, but they’re likely connected. So, rather than fixing them in...
9 months ago • 2 min read
Q) Thanks for the response to the Instagram — I feel like you cut through all the crap out there! [I ask people to email me whenever they DM me with a question. DMs aren't my thing. Hard to go into depth when necessary, and I think people miss out because of that.] I’ve recently read that it’s not necessarily a good idea to go straight from a bulk into a cut and maintain for a bit, as this might help you hold onto muscle gain. Is there any truth in this? I’ve always been disappointed with the...
10 months ago • 4 min read
I’ll keep this short and sweet. We’re looking for a highly experienced coach who wants to focus purely on coaching and join us at Ripped Body. No self-promotion, no chasing clients. If that excites you, this is your chance. We are blessed to have more people apply than we can work with, but this is leaving many people unserved. To be true to the greater mission of the website and the impact we wish to make, I need to bring another talented coach into the RippedBody family. I am looking for an...
10 months ago • 1 min read