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2 days ago
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The Science-Backed Workout Jason Kelce Is Using to Build Muscle and Lose Fat
The Science-Backed Workout Jason Kelce Is Using to Build Muscle and Lose Fat originally appeared on Men's Fitness. Jason Kelce teamed up with exercise scientist Mike Israetel to transform his physique. After dropping more than 30 pounds, Kelce is entering a new chapter in his fitness journey: bodybuilding. Kelce and Israetel linked up for a YouTube video, where Israetel showed him the ropes guided Kelce through a push-day hypertrophy workout. Kelce explained he still wants to feel big and strong, but no longer wants to carry 295 pounds on his frame. At the time of filming, he said he weighed 266 pounds. His ultimate goal is build muscle while continuing to lose fat. "I would like to preserve the joint health and things that I have left to a certain degree," he says. During the session, he asked Israetel how recovered he should feel between sets during a hypertrophy phase—and how long to rest before moving to the next exercise. "The best answer is whenever you're really ready to do another hard set again, which requires four check boxes to be checked. One is that you're no longer breathing super heavy. The otherone is how do you feel systemically wise? Like do you feel strong?" Israetel answers. The last two boxes to check: making sure your target muscles and synergist muscles have also recovered. Here's the workout Kelce and Israetel pushed Bench Press Sets: 3 Reps: 4-6 Before getting serious weight on the barbell, Kelce completed a couple of warmup sets. Inverted Skull Crusher Sets: 3 Reps: 10-15 on Smith Machine 3 sets 10-15 reps They performed the workout on a Smith machine with no real weight loaded, making it an accessible move you can do at almost any gym. Israetel used the cue: "Elbows in, touch your chin, and come up." Deficit Pushups Sets : 3 Reps: 10 "Come down so only your chest touches the ground," Israetel cues. Super ROM Lateral Raises Sets: 1 Reps: 25 Though it's a high number of reps, Israetel allowed Kelce to break these up and shake his arms out. Super ROM lateral raises take the dumbbells to just over head height, focusing on a slow return to the start Science-Backed Workout Jason Kelce Is Using to Build Muscle and Lose Fat first appeared on Men's Fitness on Jul 14, 2025 This story was originally reported by Men's Fitness on Jul 14, 2025, where it first appeared. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
15-07-2025
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Sports Scientist Reveals the One Thing Most Guys Get Wrong About Bulking
Whenever they're making decisions about nutrition and muscle gain, powerlifters and hardcore lifters have to ask themselves: What's the best way to bulk? Gaining weight might seem pretty straightforward—just eat more than you burn, right? Turns out, how you go about it makes all the difference. Take the 'dirty bulk,' for example. The term was born in the powerlifting world and refers to a muscle-gaining strategy where you eat way more calories than you burn, without caring too much about food quality. The goal? Pack on muscle and strength as fast as possible. And yes, it works, but not without consequences. "Slow, smooth, and steady is 100 percent the rule with bulking," Mike Israetel, Ph.D., exercise scientist and co-founder of Renaissance Periodization, said in a recent video. "Gaining weight too fast is just not a good thing."A dirty bulk is all about calories, and lots of them. That often means loading up on fast food, sugary snacks, and highly-processed comfort meals that make it easy to blow past your daily intake. The upside? Dirty bulking practically guarantees size and strength gains, which can be a blessing for hardgainers who've been stuck in neutral. But it's a slippery slope. Compared to a cleaner, more structured bulk, this approach can leave you with a lot more fat to cut later. As Isratel puts it, there's a right way to bulk, and there's a way that'll leave you with more belly than biceps. "If you gain weight really, really fast, you bloat up so quickly that your cardio goes to shit," Israetel says. "Your lower back and calves start to get too pumped, and your cardiovascular [system] starts limiting your lifting. So sets of 15 on the leg press start to turn into no more than five RIR [reps in reverse], no fewer than five RIR to the muscle. Your muscle is just like way, way, way away from failure because your lungs and breathing go, because your gut's so big." He goes on to explain that packing on weight too quickly, like you would with a dirty bulk, not only tanks your cardio, but throws off your body mechanics, too. In other words, if you're looking to bulk the smart way, "slow and steady" wins the muscle-building race. Sports Scientist Reveals the One Thing Most Guys Get Wrong About Bulking first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 15, 2025
Yahoo
08-07-2025
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Expert Warns This Go-To Squat Isn't Great for Glute Gains
In fitness, plenty of exercises get popular buzz but don't always deliver the results they promise. While most movements can have a place in your leg day, it's important to remember that not every exercise works the same for every body. Genetics, body proportions, and individual mechanics all play a role in how effective a certain exercise will be. Compound lifts like squats and deadlifts are proven builders for your lower body, but it's key to cut through the noise and focus on what really drives progress. Take box squats, for example. They're a popular choice, and you'll often see guys lifting way heavier with these than they do with traditional barbell back squats. It's impressive, sure, but that doesn't always translate to muscle growth. Exercise scientist Mike Israetel, Ph.D., explains that box squats limit your range of motion, which can hold back the gains you're after. "Box squatting literally misses out on that high tension at the deepest stretch, so it's the opposite of what you would want to do to enhance muscle growth," he said in a recent YouTube video. "And because the bands and chains, in addition to that, make that tension really high at the top but lower at the bottom, is not the way to put on muscle size best."That doesn't mean box squats don't have their place. Israetel explains they can be a valuable tool for lifters who are working through plateaus, recovering from injury, or training for specific strength goals, especially powerlifters looking to dial in squat depth and control under heavy loads. But if your main goal is glute or quad growth, you're better off choosing movements that allow for greater range of motion and consistent tension throughout the lift. "A full squat all the way to the bottom with a high-bar position, and that bottom part going as deep as you can and spending about two or three seconds extra at that super, super deep depth with the quad tension activated, that's probably how you get the most jacked from squats," Israetel says. Expert Warns This Go-To Squat Isn't Great for Glute Gains first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 7, 2025
Yahoo
04-07-2025
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5 Science-Backed Reasons Your Chest Won't Grow
Aside from stubborn calves, there's one muscle group that seems to be hard to build for even the most dedicated lifters: the chest. You bench. You press. You even throw in cable flyes for good measure. And yet—nothing. No mass, no pop, no pec shelf to speak of. While you could blame your parents (yes, genetics play a small role), there's a good chance your chest is lagging for far less mysterious reasons. Recently, Mike Israetel, Ph.D., exercise scientist and co-founder of Renaissance Periodization, interviewed sports scientist Pak Androulakis-Korakakis, Ph.D., to break down the five common mistakes that explain why so many guys struggle to grow their pecs. Spoiler: They're not exactly groundbreaking, but they are probably what's holding you back from the ideal years, there's been a debate: Should you lift heavy or crank out more volume? While technically you can (and probably should) do both in the name of hypertrophy, Androulakis-Korakakis says bumping up your volume could be the real game-changer when it comes to building muscle. "If chest is one of these lagging body parts for you, hitting it with 20 or even 30 sets per week is a good educated bet," he says. When it comes to your session training volume, you don't want to do everything in one session, so when I say 20 to 30 sets, ideally split those in two to three sessions so you can get high-quality sets very close to failure." Compound exercises are a must in every man's routine. They hit multiple muscle groups, boost your pressing power, and build serious strength. But if you're trying to zero in on your chest—and only your chest—then isolation moves aren't optional, they're essential. "When it comes to bringing up your chest as a lagging body part, you want to keep roughly 50 to 60 percent of your exercises as isolation exercises," Androulakis-Korakakis adds. "Meaning things like double flies, cable flies, machine flies, exercise that pretty much isolates the chest, so you can make sure that your chest is getting as much stimulus as possible."It's tempting to go lighter, especially when you're chasing higher volume. But according to Androulakis-Korakakis, that's one of the biggest reasons your chest might not be growing. When it comes to building muscle, lifting to—or at least close to—failure is key. If you're not pushing yourself there regularly, you could be leaving gains on the table. According to Androulakis-Korakakis, bodyweight exercises are one of the most underrated types of exercises for building size. They offer an "amazing stretch, barely any warm-up required, super easy to progress, even if you're an advanced lifter, and in general, easy exercises that you can sprinkle on top of other sessions to get more volume," he says. Pausing during sets has long been debated—is it actually effective, or just a way to look like you're grinding harder? According to Androulakis-Korakakis, it's more than just show. Strategic pauses can boost time under tension, which has quite literally been shown to drive muscle growth. "Choose exercises that place a lot of tension in the stretch and do your best to pause stuff in the stretch," he says. "The pause is not going to take away from your gains, and it will likely allow you to be a bit more efficient with the weights that you use. It will make the exercise harder, and it will give you more space to progress." 5 Science-Backed Reasons Your Chest Won't Grow first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 3, 2025
Yahoo
19-06-2025
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Exercise Scientist: This Simple Workout Plan Helps Maintain Muscle When You're Low on Time
Exercise Scientist: This Simple Workout Plan Helps Maintain Muscle When You're Low on Time originally appeared on Men's Fitness. When you've worked hard for your gains, you don't want to lose them—especially if life has gotten busy, making it difficult to get to the gym. But it's possible to work out with a busy schedule. It may take less time than you might think, too. Exercise scientist Mike Israetel appeared as a guest on The Diary of a CEO Podcast, explaining that staying in good shape doesn't require hours in the gym each day—or even each week. His take: Two hours a week is all it takes to maintain your gains, maybe even improve them. "People think the amount of training it takes to get into great shape is exactly the same exact amount of training you have to continuously do to stay in good shape," Israetel that's a myth. He explained that most of the body's complex systems operate in a way where it takes significantly more effort to create change than it does to maintain progress. That means once you've built a solid fitness foundation, upkeep is far easier than people assume. "Two hours total per week week can at the very least maintain what you have, essentially indefinitely," he says. If you're in a busy season of life struggling to find time to train, don't worry about hitting the gym every day. Focus on consistent, efficient workouts—even short sessions count. It's even worth considering switching your workout split to three full-body workouts a week, hitting every essential movement pattern. "You can actually train a lot less and keep all of your gains and maybe make some more," Israetel says. Consistency beats volume when you're busy. And with just a couple hours a week, you can stay strong, fit, and Scientist: This Simple Workout Plan Helps Maintain Muscle When You're Low on Time first appeared on Men's Fitness on Jun 18, 2025 This story was originally reported by Men's Fitness on Jun 18, 2025, where it first appeared.
