In this episode, Benji and Chris discuss 8 reasons you’re not growing in the gym and how to fix them right away.

Mistake #1: Not eating enough calories (1:23)

Can you lose fat and build muscle at the same time? (5:45)

Mistake #2: Not eating enough protein (8:27)

Mistake #3: Not training hard enough OR training too hard (14:08)

Mistake #4: Prioritizing isolation movements over compound movements (23:25)

Mistake #5: Ego lifting (27:36) 

Mistake #6: Lack of Consistency (32:46)

Mistake #7: Bad sleep (39:19)

Mistake #8: Poor stress management (45:43)

Related Links: 

• Ask a question to Generation Fit. Email: team@thegenerationfit.com 
• Visit www.thegenerationfit.com for expert coaching from Benji and Chris and get 10% off if you're a Generation Fit Podcast listener!
• Generation Fit Youtube Channel
• Generation Fit Free Resources 

In this episode, Benji and Chris discuss EVERYTHING pertaining to your back training and how to make the most of it.

• Benji and Chris run through the anatomy of the back (1:07) 
• What role do your genetics play in your training and overall back development? (6:18)
• Volume: How many sets should you for for back per week? (10:30)
• Intensity: How much weight should you use and how much effort should you exert in your back training? (13:00)
• Frequency: How many days a week should you train your back? (20:40)
• Exercise selection: which are the best exercises for your back? (26:21)
• Technique: how to feel your back to yield the best results (28:03)
• How to train for back width vs back thickness and how grip width influences this (34:55)
• Target different areas of your back with your elbow position (38:30)
• Should you use straps during your back movements? (40:22)
• Are deadlifts a food back exercise and should they count as a back or hamstring movement? (43:48)
• Biggest back training mistakes that people make (45:47)
• Free weights vs machines for back training (54:40)

Related Links: 

• Ask a question to Generation Fit. Email: team@thegenerationfit.com 
• Visit www.thegenerationfit.com for expert coaching from Benji and Chris and get 10% off if you're a Generation Fit Podcast listener!
• How To Train Back WIDTH vs THICKNESS (Close vs Wide Grip? Rows or Pullups?) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAXkl-AdJFg 
• Generation Fit Youtube Channel
• Generation Fit Free Resources 

People Mentioned: 

Dorian Yates

Jeff Cavalier

Jay Cutler

Sean Nalewanji 

Jeff Nippard 

John Meadows

In this episode, Benji and Chris speak about seven of the biggest fitness myths, why you shouldn’t believe them, and what to do instead!

• Myth #1: Stretching before a workout (1:08)
• When to stretch and how to warm-up (3:50)
• Myth #2: You can lose body fat from specific areas only (6:11)
• Myth #3: Over-restricting carbs and fats (10:05)
• How to set total protein, carb, and fat intake and why fat and sugar is demonized (12:51)
• Myth #4: There’s no such thing as over-training, just under-eating (17:18)
• Myth #5: Lifting will make you too bulky (20:29)
• Myth #6: Free weights are better than machines and vice-versa (24:42)
• Myth #7: There’s a “best” body-part training split (29:49)

Related Links: 

• Ask a question to Generation Fit. Email: team@thegenerationfit.com 
• Visit www.thegenerationfit.com for expert coaching from Benji and Chris and get 10% off if you're a Generation Fit Podcast l
• Generation Fit Youtube Channel
• Generation Fit Free Resources 

People Mentioned:

• Ronnie Coleman (@ronniecoleman8) Instagram
• Flex Wheeler (@officialflexwheeler) Instagram

In this episode, Benji and Chris speak about everything supplement related - what supplements you should be taking, which supplements don’t work, and all the misinformation regarding supplementation. 

• A brief history of the inception of supplements (1:17)
• The mythical claims that the fitness industry makes about many supplements (4:50)
• How industry charlatans trick you into giving them money for supplements that don’t work (9:57)
• Why BCAA’s don’t work and aren’t worth spending money on (13:26)
• Why your average daily vitamin or multivitamin almost never benefits you (20:33)
• Glutamine does not do what retailers or supplement labels claim it does (25:10)
• Thoughts on turkesterone (29:55)
• What ACTUALLY works for pre-workouts, and the many shortcomings that most pre-workouts have (31:19)
• How to manipulate sodium for a healthier heart, optimal workouts, and a better life without needing to restrict it or rely on medicine to lower blood pressure (37:46)
• Creatine is the most researched supplement that works (39:23)
• Can creatine cause hair loss? (43:54)
• Why whey protein works, and how to choose a protein powder(44:52)
• Caffeine is a powerful stimulant that is proven to work (50:25)
• The benefits of Omega-3 Fatty Acids and our recommendations for supplementing with it (56:16)
• The specific daily vitamins (like Vitamin D) that will work for the average American and how to change your lifestyle to avoid needing supplementation (59:11)
• Supplementing with magnesium and how to use it (1:04:16)
• The contexts where carb powders work (1:07:37)
• Beta-allanine and citrulline malate (1:11:19)
• Supplementing with fiber to hit your fiber targets and how to avoid the necessity to supplement (1:12:23)
• Can L-carnitine work for fat loss and quick thoughts on fat burners (1:13:45)
• Fadogia Agrestis and Tongkat Ali (1:14:58)
• Optimize your sleep with your lifestyle first, then look into this “sleep cocktail” that’s proven to work (1:15:42)
• Our final recommendations and how to protect yourself if you are going to be taking supplements (1:18:20)

Related Links: 

• Ask a question to Generation Fit. Email: team@thegenerationfit.com 
• Visit www.thegenerationfit.com for expert coaching from Benji and Chris and get 10% off if you're a Generation Fit Podcast listener! 
• Study: Branched-chain amino acids and muscle protein synthesis in humans: myth or reality? By Robert R. Wolfe
• Study: Whey protein ingestion in elderly results in greater muscle protein accrual than ingestion of its constituent essential amino acid content by Castanos and Colleagues
• Average person spends $68 per month on supplements 
• Study: Supplemental Vitamins and Minerals for CVD Prevention and Treatment by David J.A. Jenkins
• Study: Association of Multivitamin and Mineral Supplementation and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease by Joonseok Kim
• Study:

In this episode, Benji and Chris discuss New Year’s Resolutions and various tips and tricks you can use to stay oriented towards your goals 

• Benji and Chris discuss their thoughts on New year’s Resolutions and wether or not they have any (1:15)
• Common mistakes people make when setting goals(6:24) 
• The importance of setting a valuable goal (8:51)
• Tip #1: Break your goals into smaller parts so the magnitude of your goal doesn’t crush you (15:19)
• Tip #2: Follow the 85% rule to stay motivated as your pursuit your goals (17:29)
• Brief history the study of human psychological as it relates to goal setting and the acronyms that have been made over the years (19:45)
• Becoming aware of your bad habits first and an easy exercise you can do to see how much time you may be wasting throughout the day (23:32) 
• Tip #3: Make an obvious schedule to avoid procrastination and limit your ability to be dishonest with yourself (25:00)
• Tip #4: Change your environment and declutter so you’re not distracted by multiple things (27:56)
• Tip #5: Joining a group or community that holds you accountable (32:16)
• Focusing your eyes (or mind) on a more precise point makes you more likely to reach your destination (36:42)
• Tip #6: Fixate your eyes on a tiny object or spec for 30-60 seconds before starting something related to your goals (40:28)
• What is delayed discounting and how it messes up your ability to reach your goals (41:08) 
• Tip #7: Visualizing failure is a far better sustained motivator then visualizing success (44:29)
• Jordan Peterson’s written exercise for becoming a better version of you (46:39)
• Tip #8: Using the “anti-bet” to ensure you achieve your goal (48:38)
• Tip #9: Only set 1-2 main goals per year (51:15)
• Tip #10: Make your goal moderately difficult (53:02)
• Understanding dopamine and the dopamine reward-prediction error (55:42)
• Tip #11: Prioritize daily systems and micro-habits over measuring your progress towards your your macro goal (56:37)
• Tip #12: Have a positive perception as to why you are trying to achieve a given goal (58:56)
• Bonus Tip: Ways to increase dopamine (1:00:05)
• Compare yourself to who YOU were the day before (1:00:46)

Related Links: 

• Ask a question to Generation Fit. Email: team@thegenerationfit.com 
• Visit www.thegenerationfit.com for expert coaching from Benji and Chris and get 10% off if you're a Generation Fit Podcast listener! 
• The 85% Rule for Optimal Learning by Jonathan Cohen 
• Research showing rats will only wrestle with another rat if they have the ability to win 30% of the time
• Keeping the Goal in Sight: Testing the Influence of Narrowed Visual Attention on Physical Activity
• Millennials Save More For Retirement After Having Seen Digitally Rendered Photo of An Older Version of Themselves
• Video of older man using kettlebell exercises to lift his grandchild up so she can put on the Christmas star. Correction: Video made by DocMorris

In this episode, Benji and Chris discuss why your metabolism is “broken”, the basics of how your metabolism works, and what you can do to fix it. 

• What is broken metabolism and how people destroy their own metabolism with certain dieting and exercise decisions (1:15) 
• Understanding the 4 components of the metabolism or total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) (3:16)
• Benji and Chris share how they increased the amount of calories it took to maintain their bodyweight by THOUSANDS of calories (4:50)
• Getting to the point where you can’t gain weight if you are purposely trying to. (6:45)
• Adaptive thermogenesis - your metabolism adapts to eating very little calories, but it also adapts to eating many calories too(8:07)
• Understanding BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate. How to burn more calories at rest when you are literally doing nothing (8:55)
• People who lift weights are leaner then the people who are on the cardio machines all day (11:02) 
• Why you shouldn’t do cardio for fat loss (12:25)
• Understanding NEAT or Non-Exercise Activated Thermogenesis and how you can leverage it to burn hundreds of more calories throughout the day (17:04)
• Tips to get more steps in throughout the day (18:51)
• Lifestyle tips to increase your NEAT and burn more calories (24:00) 
• Understanding EAT or Exercise Activated Thermogenesis and how to exercise so that you can burn more exercise at rest (25:59)
• How commercial gym marketing impedes your results and contributes to a broken metabolism (28:45)
• Understanding TEF or Thermic Effect of Food and how to increase the amount of calories you are burning while you are eating food. (30:52)
• A step-by-step to fixing your broken metabolism. How to gradually eat more food without gaining excess fat (34:01)
• Why age isn’t a reason to not follow this strategy to boost your metabolism (38:17)
• Why you don’t need to worry about gaining excess fat (39:03) 
• You don’t need to sweat for hours on end while doing cardio to build your dream physique (43:32)

Related Links: 

• Ask a question to Generation Fit. Email: team@thegenerationfit.com 
• Visit www.thegenerationfit.com for expert coaching from Benji and Chris and get 10% off if you're a Generation Fit Podcast listener! 
• Generation Fit Youtube Channel
• Generation Fit Free Resources

In this episode, Benji and Chris discuss how to navigate fat loss during the holidays so you can enjoy your festivities while staying on track with your goals. 

• Benji and Chris discuss their favorite holiday deserts (0:58) 
• The two discuss their favorite Christmas movies (2:56)
• What are Benji and Chris’ favorite parts/memories about the holidays (5:11) 
• Dieting problem #1 during the holidays: People overeat and underestimate how many calories they eat (9:49) 
• Solutions to overeating and underestimating during the holiday festivities (12:37) 
• How to plan ahead of holiday meals so you don’t have to stress about not being able too eat enough (15:01)
• Dieting problem #2 during the holidays: Holiday themed food always being readily available throughout holiday parties and events (19:02) 
• Setting up the proper psychological framework for eating holiday treats that are conventionally considered to be “unhealthy” (20:50)
• Combatting drinking excess calories (22:31)
• Dieting problem #3 during the holidays: Peer pressure to cave in and stop your positive dieting habits (25:32) 
• The power of telling people who are trying to peer pressure you into ruining your diet that you are engaging in a challenge (26:38)
• Dieting problem #4 during the holidays: Lack of awareness and simply not paying attention to what they’re eating (30:53)
• Plan to consciously eat snacks as apart of full meals to be more aware of what you’re eating (32:11) 
• 1 out of 4000 meals from the year won’t ruin your progress. Enjoy the holiday’s, don’t stress about it! (34:13)

Related Links: 

• Ask a question to Generation Fit. Email: team@thegenerationfit.com 
• Visit www.thegenerationfit.com for expert coaching from Benji and Chris and get 10% off if you're a Generation Fit Podcast listener! 
• Generation Fit Youtube Channel
• Generation Fit Free Resources 

People Mentioned: 

• Jordan Syatt (@syattfitness) Instagram

In this episode, Chris and Benji discuss 6 beginner gym mistakes that are very common and how you can avoid them to see the best results from your hard work in the gym. 

• Benji and Chris discuss the importance of eliminating bad form and ego lifting for optimal results and avoidance of injury (0:28) 
• The myth of shocking the muscle - why you don’t need to endlessly switch exercises for a given muscle group week-to-week (5:46)
• Why you need to stop prioritizing isolation movements over compound movements (10:49) 
• The compound movement for biceps that cause gymnasts to have HUGE arms (14:46)
• Doing too much (sets, weight, exercises, days, etc) too soon as a beginner (15:58)
• Junk volume and understanding the stimulus-recovery-adaptation curve (17:45)
• Reasons you shouldn’t follow single body-part splits, also known as “bro splits” (22:24)
• Consistency is more important than anything else. Consistency beats a perfect plan that you can’t adhere to (28:42)
• Following these tips mean nothing if you don’t focus on good diet, sleep, and rest habits. You grow outside of the gym when you’re recovering, not when you’re in the gym working out. (32:54) 

Related Links: 

• Ask a question to Generation Fit. Email: team@thegenerationfit.com 
• Visit www.thegenerationfit.com for expert coaching from Benji and Chris and get 10% off if you're a Generation Fit Podcast listener! 
• Generation Fit Youtube Channel
• Generation Fit Free Resources