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Hosts:

Kevin Larrabee (Twitter), Dr. Jonathan Fass, Cassandra Forsythe, Tony Gentilcore, and Leigh Peele

Sponsored by: BlackStarLabs.com (Home of the BEST tasting protein powder, period. Make sure to mention The FitCast!)

FitCast News

• New Job
• TRX Article
• More to come on the garage gym
• What up Leigh?

Mailbag

• Hey Guys, I just recently found your blog, and it is really great!!! About seven years ago I woke up one day weighing 330 lbs. I hired a trainer/nutritionist, and honestly lost 100 lbs in a little over three months. I lost another 65 lbs over the next few months. I have managed to keep the weight off over the years, because I changed my lifestyle. I didn’t go on a diet, and my trainer used a combination of cardio and resistance tubing for workouts, of course he also taught me how to eat healthy and responsibly. My question is “When walking, running, etc, cardio exercise, isn’t time more important than distance? In other words, Isn’t it more important to focus on how long I walk, run, etc, than how far I do so??? -Tai
• Hey guys, love the show. I have a question for Jonathan. I am a serious marathon runner. I ran a 2:50 this past summer, which is averaging 6:30 per mile. Generally, I race in the summer. I spend most of the fall and winter running less mileage but spending more time in the gym. Then I boost up the mileage in the spring and summer. In the fall/winter, I focus on core strength, as well as glute/hamstring strength. It keeps me from becoming quad dominant and prevents injuries when I ramp up the mileage. I mainly do squats and deadlifts to strengthen the posterior chain. I know these numbers arent impressive, but then again I weigh 150 lbs. I currently do 5 sets of 5 squats at 185 lbs, and 2 sets of 5 deadlift at 170 lbs. I have 3 quick questions. 1) is it normal for my squats to be so much heavier than my deadlifts? 2) What other exercises should I be doing? I sometimes do bulgarian split squats, lunges, and leg press, but focus on the squat/deadlift. Are those the best for glute/hamstring strength? 3) Should I do less reps/ more weight, or less weight/more reps, or is what I am doing good? Thanks alot, look forward to your answer -Sal
• I am a new listener to the fitcast, but the episodes I’ve heard so far are great, so kudos to everybody for that. My question goes back a couple of episodes to when Leigh was talking about protien content of pre and post workout meals. Using the numbers y’all talked about my post workout meal could range anywhere from about 30 grams to 130 grams. My roommate seems adamant that your body can only process about 30-35 grams per hour, so it it pointless to consume more than that in a post workout. Is this true?

  I am 21 yes old 6′ and 177 lbs if that makes any difference in protien digestion. Also I’m eating 6-8 meals a day and weight training 4-6 times a week.

  Thanks a lot, great podcast.

  Stacy from Texas

• I was checking my current supplement regimen with my cardiologist to make sure I wasn’t potentially causing any harm. The doctor okayed my current supplements, but he warned me against NO-XPLOD. It was on my supplement list because I had taken it a couple years ago. He said they have recently seen a rise in heart problems in patients taking NO-XPLOD. He said his hospital was currently working a on a report to the FDA about their findings and he wouldn’t be surprised to see it banned soon. What are your guys’ thoughts on this? Have you seen any adverse effects of NO-XPLOD? -Jason
• Hey guys, big fan of the podcast (especially when kevin does his voices, they are horrid!). So you guys talk about research a lot and going on pubmed, I am a trainer at a commercial gym, should I be going to pub med every week to see what the latest research says? Thanks! – Grant
• This one is for when Cassandra is on. Can you ask her about how she has changed her training and nutrition during pregnancy? Eventually when I have kids, I want to know what is best in terms of activity and diet. Thank so much guys I look forward to Monday morning every week thanks to your show! -Becca
• Hey guys,
  I thought of a question that I haven’t heard you guys discuss yet on The Fitcast. It’s a question about building muscle mass. I’ve ran into varying opinions on the optimal way to do this. Some believe, typically old school lifters that I talk to, believe that the best way to build muscle is to “build your foundation first” by go through a bulking phase and not really focusing too much attention on your body fat, and then eventually go through a cutting phase to cut down the fat. The other is to get down to a lower body fat percentage (the personal trainer I had at one time said I should aim to get below 15%) before bulking and that you can build lean muscle while keeping your body fat low. I wanted to get your collective take on it. Thanks guys! -Pete
• Hi guys,
  I went for a sports massage recently and the guy doing it is also a personal trainer and MAJOR follower of the teachings of Charles Poliquin. From what I’ve read, he is pretty well regarded…but I tend to like to take the best of everybody’s opinions rather than follow one true way Maybe I’m fickle. While I was there he also started trying to tell me about Biosignature modulation and how I really should have an assessment. It is apparently the only way to eat and would sort out my fat thighs, as would the supplements he could give and the special lean legs yohimbe cream. When I remarked that the diet would probably involve eating less crap, more protein and fewer carbs he said I knew nothing…but then said he doesn’t eat carbs except on his cheat day every 5th day. So, what do you think? Biosignature-real spot reduction? Or just clean eating and good training? -Gráinne (pronounced Grawn-ya…kind of!)