Science of Growth, Hypertrophy and Building Muscle w/ Brad Schoenfeld  —  Barbell Shrugged #289

Brad Schoenfeld, PhD, CSCS, CSPS, FNSCA, is an internationally renowned fitness expert and widely regarded as one of the leading authorities on body composition training (muscle development and fat loss). He is a lifetime drug-free bodybuilder, and has won numerous natural bodybuilding titles.

Brad is a best-selling author of multiple fitness books including The M.A.X. Muscle Plan, which has been widely referred to as the “muscle-building bible,” and Strong and Sculpted, which details a cutting-edge body sculpting program targeted to women. Brad also has authored the seminal textbook Science and Development of Muscle Hypertrophy, which is the first text devoted to an evidence-based elucidation of the mechanisms and strategies for optimizing muscle growth.

We enjoyed recording this episode with our friend Dr. Andy Galpin.

Hypertrophy and muscle gainz

Brad earned his Master’s degree in kinesiology/exercise science from the University of Texas and his PhD at Rocky Mountain University, where his dissertation focused on elucidating the mechanisms of muscle hypertrophy and their application to resistance training. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed research articles on exercise and sports nutrition, many in high impact factor journals, as well as several textbook chapters.

In this episode, he shared with us scientific insights on gaining muscle and strength. We covered pre and post workout nutrition (including protein intake benefits, optimal time window, amount, and type), the relationship between training frequency and muscle gainz, between keto diets and muscle gainz, recommended rest periods during training, and more.

Key takeaways

• 40g of protein is recommended post-workout, rather than longtime perceived 20–25g.
• Vegan protein is effective when it has the right amount of amino acids.
• Whole proteins are comprised of 8–9 major amino acids, and you need exogenous essential amino acids to enable your body to produce other important amino acids.
• If you take an adequate amount of quality protein, then there’s no benefit, and it might even be detrimental, to take BCAA (creatine). BCAA can compete with other essential amino acids, which are important for muscle growth.
• Caffeine is a well researched, effective pre-workout supplement.
• During a 24 hour period you need between 1.6g-2.2g per kg of bodyweight to gain muscle.
• High protein intake is safe for your kidney health.
• Whey protein is a good for people who have problems absorbing proteins.
• Quality proteins have to do with quality of complete complement of amino acids intake. Maximize muscle growth potential.
• In short, the more you train — the more gainz. But there’s a threshold, and you never want to overtrain. Your body takes time to adapt, so push your training volume progressively over time.
• Higher reps (15–20) target hypertrophy. Lower reps target strength.
• 2 min on average is beneficial rest period beneficial for muscle growth. Rest depends on what muscles you’re working.

Love this variation of the Bulgarian squat. Never be afraid to experiment and improvise to find what works best for you as an individual! #gainz

A post shared by Brad Schoenfeld, PhD (@bradschoenfeldphd) on Nov 12, 2017 at 8:36am PST