Articles & Guides
Learn how to build muscle, burn fat and stay motivated.
Ask Joe The Pro Vol. 14 - Want To Compete? Learn Where To Start!
Ask Joe the Pro Do you still train non-linear periodization? How do you train these days? I've come to the conclusion that I simply don't enjoy being locked into a program for more then 3-4 weeks. After 20 plus years of working out I get bored of being stuck into a set way of training. I tried DC a...
Ask Joe The Pro Vol. 10 - Who Are The Top 5 Naturals?
Hey Joe how would rate each past Mr Olympia? What are their strengths and weaknesses? – Tyrell Jones Wow good question and I’m excited to answer it! Let’s take a look at each former Mr. O starting with the very first: Larry Scott - The inventor of the “Scott bench”, arguably the best arms in bodybui...
A Lifter's Guide to Avoiding Winter Weight Gain
It is a scientific fact that winter, especially the holidays, are horrible on your waistline. On average, people gain around 1-2 pounds each holiday season. This might seem like a small amount, which it is, but it appears that 1-2 pounds isn’t lost the subsequent year. So while New Year’s resolution...
9 Gym Bag Essentials For Serious Lifters
Everyone has a gym bag - whether it's Under Armour, Nike, or Adidas, you've got to have a place to store all of your accumulating fitness gear. In our current day and age, everyone wants the newest gadget that’s going to increase their productivity, or in this case, enhance their gym experience. So,...
Can't Seem to Get Out Of Bed? 8 Ways To Get Enthusiastic About Working Out
Whether you're a gym veteran or a newbie, it's normal to experience down days. Days when the tank is empty without a fume to cling to. Enthusiasm is tricky. One day it’s got your back, giving you extra energy when you need it most. Other days it’s absent with no trace in sight, leaving you yearning...
8 Life Lessons You Can Learn Underneath the Iron
Muscle & Strength has been providing lots of awesome content to help millions of people around the world achieve their own personal fitness success. I’m honored to have written a few of them myself. Whether you want to get big and gain muscle, lose fat and improve your definition, or get as strong a...
7 Ways To Have Fun With Your Fitness Outside Of The Gym
After years of hard work, dedication, and sacrifice you finally have the body you’ve always dreamed of having. It’s ok, you can say it – we all know it! You are a God/Goddess walking alongside mere mortals. Well... so what? I’ve got some pretty shocking news for you. The universe is nearly 14 billio...
Early Riser: 7 Tips to Improve Your Early Morning Workouts
How many of you out there follow Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson? If you do, then you’re aware of how busy he gets. He’s either filming, negotiating for the next project he’s doing, working on a clothing line, or entertaining the masses at an arena when he returns to wrestling. Oh yeah, AND he has a famil...
6 Critical Sleep Tips to Build More Muscle at Night
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t build muscle in the gym; the damage created when training gives the opportunity to grow outside of the gym. However, without the correct diet, supplementation plan, and adequate sleep, new muscle growth can be difficult to achieve. Eating a diet rich in protein...
50 Unwritten Gym Rules Every Bro Should Know!
Before you hit the gym to grow, there are a few things you should know. Follow these unwritten rules and you will save yourself a lot of grief and gain plenty of bro-respect. Ignore these unwritten rules and you might find yourself without a spotter when you need one most. 1. Re-rack your plates and...
50 Bro-Friendly Workout Tips To Help You Decrease Gains
Has your motivation and progression stagnated in the gym recently? If so, fret not! Employ these 50 bro-friendly workout tips to maximize your gains. 1) Wear a belt. For every exercise. You never know when those triceps pushdowns require extra core stabilization. 2) Wear sweatpants or track pants at...
5 Things You Can Learn From CrossFit
CrossFit is the greatest thing to happen to fitness since the the invention of the barbell. Or maybe it's the bane of the fitness community. It's all in who you ask. Whatever your beliefs, there are some solid facts regarding CrossFit’s impact on fitness and what positives it’s brought to those who...
5 Steps to Improving Body Image & Overcoming Locker Room Phobia
No matter where you are in your experience there’s one major hurdle everyone must deal with…the locker room! Yes, you read correctly! I have run into people both fit and overweight, young and old, gay and straight, who have had discomfort changing or showering in a locker room. I know because I had...
5 Fitness Trends of 2016: Separating Fact From Fiction
The fitness industry is somewhat akin to the Wild West. There isn’t much regulation on anything, snake oil sales are through the roof, and unsuspecting patrons are forced to part with hard earned cash due to their general lack of knowledge surrounding basic physiological tenets. Unfortunately for th...
41 Things You Should Never Do At A Commercial Gym
Want to make friends (or not make enemies) and keep your gym membership? The follow is a list of 41 things you should never do at a commercial gym. 1. You should never... put 20 plates on the leg press and leave them there when you are done. 2. You should never... hock a giant yellow or green lugie...
4 Things I Wish I Would’ve Known When I Started Training
Flashback Friday. Throwback Thursday. Timehop Tuesday. Honestly it doesn’t really matter what you call it, self-reflection can be very beneficial regardless of whether there’s a hashtag attached to it or not. Admittedly, I’m still very young but none the less, I can think of many things I would tell...
4 Easy Tips to Keep Your Fitness Goals on Track While Traveling
It’s finally here. You made it. You’ve X’d out every day on your calendar leading up to your vacation. It's time to break from your routine and live worry-free for the next four days. Problem? No problem. Calories and consistency are irrelevant when you're away from home – right? Wrong. Getting back...
4 Fitness Tests You Should Be Able to Pass
“How much ya bench?” Aside from “What are your macros, bro?”, this might be the most iconic gym question of all. Everyone likes absolutes – who’s the biggest, fastest, strongest, or leanest? As humans, we want to know our rank in the hierarchy of “most jacked and tan” (whether that ranking is percei...
3 Unhealthy Habits Preventing You from Losing Fat
If you care about the finer points of human health, functional endocrinology, maximal performance, and sleep science then keep reading. If not, you can bury your head in the sand and continue to pretend that IIFYM, 5x5, and Fitbits are the solution to all the world’s health and fitness problems. You...
3 Things You Should Steal From a Bodybuilding Competitor’s Lifestyle
Bodybuilding competitors are sometimes called obsessed with their workouts and diet, but there are a few habits they possess that can be stolen from them. This isn’t to say that you have to measure all your food and neglect other aspects of your life to get your workouts in. I’m talking about the po...
3 Diseases Possibly Prevented (or Cured) by Diet & Exercise
This is my 10th attempt at writing this introduction. I hope take 10 gets My point across, and Gives you some entertainment value. I am, for all intents and purposes, a health researcher. I am a trained scientist: PhD, lab coat, publication, grants, boring conferences… I check all those bo...
The Mental Game: 11 Mindset Tips For Focus and Motivation
The game of iron is much more than a physical one. Whether you’re training in bodybuilding, powerlifting, any other endeavor of fitness, or for your own personal reasons, there is much more to what we do as lifters than simply physically going through the motions. Your head has to be in it if you wa...
108 Kick Ass Workout Songs: The Ultimate Playlist
2Pac - Hit 'Em Up AC/DC - Back in Black AC/DC - You Shook Me All Night Long Aerosmith - Walk This Way Anthrax - Be All, End All Archie Eversole - We Ready Avenged Sevenfold - Afterlife Beastie Boys - So What’cha Want Beck - Loser Bill Conti/The Rocky Orchestra - Gonna Fly Now Black Eyed Peas - Let's...
10 Reasons Why You Should NEVER Bench, Squat & Deadlift
The “Big 3” of lifting are often praised for their simplicity, functionality and effectiveness. Contrary to those popular beliefs the bench press, barbell squat and floor deadlift are actually bad for your physique. Read on for 10 sure-fire reasons never to touch these lifts. 1. The bench press is b...