Tony

Twinkies make you… healthy? Not quite 💔 (even though that’s what half the comments will tell you that’s what I’m saying) Sometimes you need extreme examples to highlight a point Should anyone eat like this to lose weight? No—short term health improvement is not the same thing as long term health outcomes But there are 3 BIG lessons I think you can take from the experiment in this video: 1. A calorie deficit isn’t *a* way you lose weight, it’s *the* way you lose weight 2. Simply getting to a healthy body weight and not carrying excess body fat will probably do more for your health than any “optimal” diet would staying at a higher body fat level 3. And as terrifying as some influencers make certain “junk” foods sound for your health, there’s really no such thing as a healthy or unhealthy food - only a healthy or unhealthy diet as a whole. Someone who’s diet consists of 95% fast food that eats one salad isn’t “healthy” And someone who eats mostly whole, minimally processed foods having a donut for a snack isn’t “unhealhty” On top of all of this, its a nice remider that your diet only accounts for roughly ~20% of your overall health Things like your body composition, how much strength you have, how active you are, how well you sleep, and how well you manage your stress, along with 100+ other things also go into it And yes, I know what you’re thinking… This is just one guy who did a self experiment, you can’t use this as evidence Which I agree with But there is PLENTY of research showing that simply reducing body fat levels, regaradless of how it’s done, improves so many different health metrics Like: - type 2 diabetes - hypertension (high blood pressure) - cholesterol and lipid levels - cardiovascular disease - improved glycemic control and reduced insulin resistance - and more (research linked below) ___ https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-149-7-200810070-01004 PMID: 35457744 PMID: 28214525 PMID: 12055705 PMID: 21463847 PMID: 21593294 #gym #FitTok #GymTok #weightloss #seedoils

How long should you rest between sets? The answer, it depends… On your goal, and a few other things—but typically more is better than less ⏳ If you want all of the benefits of strength training (e.g. increased metabolism, getting stronger, making fat loss MUCH easier, etc.) You have to actually… STRENGTH TRAIN… lol One of the most common mistakes I see people make when their goal is to lose weight, is by turning their weight training into cardio ❌ e.g. - Using light weights - Doing high repetitions only - Resting 30-60s between sets If you want to build more strength, more size, and equal endurance, you should be resting more than at least 1 minute between your sets For a better breakdown, I recommend basing it off of what muscle group you’re training 💪🏼Smaller Muscle Groups: - Biceps/Triceps - Calves - Shoulders - Abs - etc. ⌛️Rest between 1-2 minutes 🦵🏼Larger muscle groups: - Chest/Back - Quads/Hamstrings - Glutes ⏳Rest 2-3 minutes ‼️BUT HERE’S THE ONLY IMPORTANT PART‼️ No matter the muscle group—the goal for how much rest you take should be to not have your last set negatively impact the set you’re about to do Remember, it’s very easy to rest too little, but very hard to rest too much And p.s. - if you think you need less than a minute to make that possible, I would bet you a chipotle burrito that you’re not lifting heavy enough 😉 Slow down. Be patient. Love you, mean it 🫶🏼 Great originial video from @tylerpath 🔬RESEARCH CITED: Study in reel: PMID: 26605807 Newer study only measuring hypertrophy: PMID: 39205815 Great article breakdown: https://www.strongerbyscience.com/rest-times-for-muscle-growth/ #FitTok #GymTok #gym

Creatine’s not just for muscle broh… Is creatine going to completely transform your life? No… No supplement can do that. But it is the single most studied and effective supplement for improving your performance in the gym, and now a lot more outside of the gym. Things like your mental health, cognition, better aging, and even potentially heart health. I really think in 10 years the world will see creatine monohydrate more like a multivitamin—and less like some mystery gym powder. You also don’t need to stress about which specific creatine supplement to get Creatine monohydrate or Micronized monohydrate are the only forms you need Any other form (e.g. hci, malate, buffered creatine, etc.) is just more expensive and makes ZERO different in the result (they’ve all been tested against monohydrate and not a single one has ever outpreformed it—no matter what the “ad” for a new creatine is marketing) The form doesn’t make a difference either (e.g. powder, pill, gummy), it just depends on what you like the most The only note on creatine gummy’s, is a lot of them fail 3rd party testing—so if you go with gummy’s, just make sure they’re 3rd party tested My favorite powdered brand is Bulk Supplements (it’s 100 servings for like $20 on amazon), Legion Athletics for a pill and gummy brand since they’re 3rd party tested. I also have like 100+ other reels on creatine if you have any other questions about it lol Studies referenced: Creatine with Depression PMID: 22864465 (from chart in reel) PMID: 39488067 (NEW! Published in the last 3-months) PMID: 17988366 PMID: 22864465 PMID: 21831448 Creatine with Alertness, Fatigue, Cognition & Sleep Deprivation: PMID: 11985880 PMID: 17046034 PMID: 16416332 PMID: 17185404 Creatine and Age Related Decline: PMID: 35688360 PMID: 27108136 PMID: 34107512 PMID: 16222402 PMID: 30978926 #FitTok #GymTok

Cardio before, or after you lift weights? Doing it wrong could cost you… Cardio and lifting weights are both great for different aspects of your health But they’re almost pulling you in two different directions… Lifting weights is what’s called “anabolic” Basically meaning it puts your body into “build-mode” Where cardio, is “catabolic” Basically meaning it puts your body into “breakdown-mode” So if you’re not careful, it’s almost like hitting the gas and the breaks at the same time when it comes to building muscle and getting stronger That’s why some people recommend splitting up cardio and weights, doing one in the morning and one in the afternoon But let’s be real… Who has time for that? And if you’re smart about it, that’s completely unnecessary Here’s what you need to do to make sure that doesn’t happen: 1. If you’re doing cardio in the same workouts as weights, make sure you do it after This will make sure you are strongest for the most important part of the workouts (lifting weights) 2. Limit it to under 20-30 minutes max Once you go past that mark, it will start to block important muscle building signals. 3. Opt for lower intensity instead of higher intensity forms that rack up fatigue Inline walking, cycling, or even stair climbing won’t require much to recover from, where things like sprints, or HIIT training will. 4. And bonus tip, make sure you have a small pre-workout meal 1-2 hours before your workout with at least a little bit of protein and carbs (e.g. banana + greek yogurt)—or if you’re training fasted, 1-3g of HMB supplement will help prevent muscle breakdown STUDIES FROM REEL: PMID: 28783467 PMID: 25259468 PMID: 24270456 PMID: 26241612 PMID: 24728927 PMID: 19387377 #FitTok #gym #GymTok #cardio

How much protein can you absorb at one time? The answer… We still haven’t found the upper limit 🚀 For as long as gym bros have walked the earth, the myth that your body can only “use” 20–30g of protein in one meal has been by their side But over time, as researchers have actually tested this, that number has never held up👨🏼‍🔬 In one of the more recent studies done on this topic, 100g of protein in one sitting STILL increased muscle protein synthisis a LOT more than just 40g (study linked below📑) And a lot of the time when you compare groups of people who either eat all of their protein in one to two big meals vs. people who spead their protein out through the day—they both see nearly identical progress in terms of muscle Now—could there be a small benefit to spreading your protein out more evenly? 
Yeah… but emphasis on *small*🤏🏼 If you're really trying to squeeze an extra few percent out of the effect protein has on your body, are training twice a day, or eating a LOT of protein daily, it can give you a tiny boost 
But for most people? Just hitting your total protein target each day will get you 95% of the way there So if you’re stressing about the “perfect” protein timing… don’t. 
Just eat enough, consistently—and everything will work out 🤜🏼🤛🏼 Studies referenced: PMID: 38118410 PMID: 27511985 PMID: 19776143 PMID: 17413096 #protein #FitTok #GymTok #gym

Should you train to failure? Not always… but not never either? Let me explain For some reason there are only 2 camps on social media when it comes to answering this question: Either 1) You should take every set to absolute failure or you have no chance of muscle growth (No pain = No gain) Or 2) If you’re not training to failure, you’re a little tiny baby who doesn’t train hard But life isn’t black and white (aka the best option is usually somewhere in the middle) Using failure as a tool, not a strategy is usually your best bet Stopping with about 1-3 reps left in the tank is still pushing hard enough to see all the size gains that failure would bring you So a good way to do this, is to save going all the way to failure until just the last set of an exercise, while stopping just short (about 1-3 reps left in the tank) on the sets before that That way the extra fatigue that failure causes doesn’t spill over into the rest of your workout But you still get the added stimulus that failure creates IMPORTANT NOTE: Most people think they’re stopping 1–3 reps shy of failure… but they’re way off. In one study, researchers asked participants to pick a weight they believed was their 10-rep max on bench press. Then they had them actually take that weight to failure—and over half of them got 7 or more reps beyond what they thought was their max. So most people underestimate how close they are to failure (by a lot) But, this is another reason why occasionally training to failure isn’t just about intensity—it’s a great way to calibrate your effort. Because how can you know what 1–3 reps from failure feels like… if you’ve never been there? RESEARCH: PMID: 33555822 PMID: 27531969 #FitTok #GymTok #gym

Calorie deficit ≠ eat less food 🙅🏻‍♂️ Let me explain… When people try to set up a calorie deficit, they usually do 1 of 2 things: Either 1️⃣: They cut as many calories as they can Or 2️⃣: They just try to exercise more Which *can* put you in a deficit… But sounds like the least amount of fun (ever) But that isn’t even the best way to do it? Because a calorie deficit isn’t just if you can *exercise* more than you eat… It’s if your *entire life* burns more than you eat Here’s an example: 🚶🏼‍♀️If you add a 15-minute walk after each meal (3x per day) - and use a standing desk for half of your work day instead of just sitting: +400 calories burned through NEAT 🐣🥩 Then let’s take your low protein diet and make it a high protein diet: +100 calories burned through TEF 😴💤 After that, you focus on building some muscle, fixing your sleep, and managing your stress: Potentially up to +100-200 more calories per day over time by adjusting BMR And 💥BOOM💥 Without spending another minute in the gym, you just increased your metabolic rate by: +700-800 calories per day 🔥 Now, of course, all of these changes take TIME, and the actual calorie burn will vary greatly from person to person. This is just to paint you a picture of the parts of your life you might be missing when setting up a calorie deficit STUDIES USED: TEF: PMID: 4025189 NEAT: PMID: 15102614 BMR: PMID: 2243122 PMID: 7282608 #FitTok #gym #GymTok

Usually, candy is a treat 🍭 But when timed around your workout, it can be a tool? Using simple sugars during or around your workout is a pretty common practice in bodybuilding and powerlifting Because it can help you train harder, and longer, allowing you to put more stress on your body⚡️ Does this mean everyone that works out needs to be eating candy? No… Basing this off hundreds of clients I’ve worked with in the past, and countless professionals in the space, a small intraworkout carb source (20-30g of carbs) can be helpful in 2 situations: 1) If you train fasted (i.e. haven’t eaten a meal in the past 4-6 hours Or 2) Your workouts are higher intensity weight sessions and last longer than an hour Both situations where gas tends to run out before the workout is over🤘🏽 And yes, you can use something more natural like honey, maple syrup, fruit juice, or dates like a lot of people in the comments usually bring up But this is a great time you’re able to eat a treat satisfing some cravings (like with gummy bears, sour strips, etc.) where essentially 100% of what you’re eating will immediately be used as fuel during your workout You can eat your honey and get sticky, but don’t hate on someone with candy because it’s simply not *bad* for you in this setting👍🏼 #FitTok #GymTok #gym

Is the goverment trying to poison you? Or are you just overthinking it…? (it’s probably number 2) It’s a common trend: someone visits Europe, loses a few pounds, feels great, and posts a video blaming it on how “toxic” US food is. And that makes sense… if you don’t look at the data. Videos like the one I stitched push fear over facts. But when you actually look, the US ranks among the top globally for food quality and safety (I linked the research below). When you look at the data, the United States has some of the highest food quality and safety in the entire world (I linked the research below this caption) So why do we struggle with obesity more than anyone else? It’s simple… We’ve built a country where movement is optional, and overeating is effortless. Walkable cities, smaller portions, and better food culture aren’t some secret toxin-free cure. They’re just the standard in other countries. If you lost weight and feel less bloated after your trip to Europe, it’s probably because you walked 15,000-20,000 steps a day and ate more whole foods exploring the culture compared to sitting at your desk all day eating ultra-processed snacks like you do at home. I’m not saying synthetic food dyes are healthy, or that we should pour them on everything. I’m saying the reason we’re unhealthy as a country isn’t a conspiracy on how our government is “poisoning” us. 
It’s just not that complicated. #FitTok #gym #healt#healthyth RESEARCH: Comparison of food colour regulations in the EU and the US: a review of current provisions: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19440049.2016.1274431 Food Security Index: https://impact.economist.com/sustainability/project/food-security-index/