2026 has arrived, which means you’ve probably been bombarded with all sorts of fitness advice, hacks, and shortcuts. We know it can be hard to sort through the noise, and we want to help you avoid the most common fitness mistakes we see as people are making New Year’s resolutions.

In this episode, Ripped Body coaches Sam and Matt go over the most common mistakes, and how to avoid them, to make sure you start the year on the right foot. They also share a few of their own resolutions for the year, discussing goals both in and out of the gym.

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Since 2011, we’ve helped 2,000+ busy men get lean, strong, and in control — without supplements, gimmicks, or sacrificing their lives to the gym.

👉 Get our Free 15-Day Transformation Kickstart Bundle (https://rippedbody.com/)

(Training program, nutrition guide, and 15-step course to help you avoid the most common mistakes.)

If fitness feels more confusing now than it did five or ten years ago, you’re not imagining it.

This week on the podcast, I’m joined by **Dr. Eric Helms** to talk about *why* we wrote the Muscle & Strength Pyramid books in the first place, and why, a decade later, we decided to completely rewrite them for the third editions.

This isn’t a marketing episode. It’s a conversation about information overload, false precision, and why most people aren’t stuck because they lack effort — they’re stuck because they’re trying to do too many things at once.

In this episode, we discuss:

- Why fitness advice has become noisier, not clearer.
- How the Pyramid frameworks help you filter what matters from what doesn’t.
- Why flexibility done right *improves* results instead of watering them down.
- The difference between “progressive overload” and actual progression.
- How to train, eat, and live without sacrificing relationships or sanity.

We also walk through what’s new in the third editions.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by fitness content, this episode will help you zoom out, calm down, and focus on the levers that actually move the needle.

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Since 2011, we’ve helped 2,000+ busy men get lean, strong, and in control — without supplements, gimmicks, or sacrificing their lives to the gym.

👉 Get our Free 15-Day Transformation Kickstart Bundle (https://rippedbody.com/)

(Training program, nutrition guide, and 15-step course to help you avoid the most common mistakes.)

This week on the podcast, I’m joined by my good friend Chad Landers, a coach who’s been training people hands-on for more than 30 years and recently published ​Building Strength and Muscle After 50​.

Chad isn’t an influencer. He’s someone who’s spent decades watching real people train, get hurt, recover, and keep going.

If you’re over 40 and still want to train hard and stay healthy, Chad is someone worth listening to.

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Since 2011, we’ve helped 2,000+ busy men get lean, strong, and in control — without supplements, gimmicks, or sacrificing their lives to the gym.

👉 Get our Free 15-Day Transformation Kickstart Bundle (https://rippedbody.com/)

(Training program, nutrition guide, and 15-step course to help you avoid the most common mistakes.)

Whether you’re just starting your fitness journey, you’ve been a little inconsistent in the gym and want some routine, or you’re simply looking to change up your workout program, choosing the right training split can be a little confusing.

In this episode, Ripped Body coaches Sam and Matt explain how to choose the right training program for your goals. They talk about the important factors to consider, the pros and cons of popular workout splits, common splits we give our clients, and share the programs they’re currently using for themselves.

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Since 2011, we’ve helped 2,000+ busy men get lean, strong, and in control — without supplements, gimmicks, or sacrificing their lives to the gym.

👉 Get our Free 15-Day Transformation Kickstart Bundle (https://rippedbody.com/)

(Training program, nutrition guide, and 15-step course to help you avoid the most common mistakes.)

Once the diet ends, most people don’t know what to do next.

In this episode, Coach Matt and I talk about how to transition from fat loss to maintenance without panic or rebound. And then we talk about finding the least training you can do to maintain your physique.

We use Fred’s story — a reader who dropped from 360 lbs to 166 — as a real-world example of what to expect when you stop cutting and start maintaining.

We cover:

• How to calculate your maintenance calories after a deficit.
• Why regaining 5–10 lbs after a cut is normal (and not fat).
• What "maximum maintenance" means — and how to find it.
• How to reduce training volume without losing muscle.
• Why maintaining your physique is often harder mentally than dieting.

This episode will help you end the "yo-yo" cycle and finally hold onto the results you’ve worked for.

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Since 2011, we’ve helped 2,000+ busy men get lean, strong, and in control — without supplements, gimmicks, or sacrificing their lives to the gym.

👉 Get our Free 15-Day Transformation Kickstart Bundle (https://rippedbody.com/)

(Training program, nutrition guide, and 15-step course to help you avoid the most common mistakes.)

Todd, a father of six, spent two decades in engineering and renewable energy. At 48, he decided it was time to re-engineer something else: his own life.

Todd walked away from his career — not because he had to, but because he wanted to. He called it an "environment change." His goal was simple: finally take his health seriously, rebuild family connections, and reinvent himself.

Three months later, he’s down nearly 40 pounds and delighted with the success he has had. But he’s also confronting new challenges: how to avoid the all-or-nothing mindset, how to eat sustainably instead of obsessively, and how to set goals that last beyond the initial rush of progress.

In this episode, we dig into:

• Why Todd’s “temporary retirement” became the forcing function for change.
• How he lost 28 lbs in 34 days, and what really happened behind the numbers.
• Why aggressive dieting works short-term but fails without a plan afterward.
• How to reintroduce carbs without fear, and why this is necessary for his path forward.

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Since 2011, we’ve helped 2,000+ busy men get lean, strong, and in control — without supplements, gimmicks, or sacrificing their lives to the gym.

👉 Get our Free 15-Day Transformation Kickstart Bundle (https://rippedbody.com/)

(Training program, nutrition guide, and 15-step course to help you avoid the most common mistakes.)

This week, Coach Sam joins me for a new Q&A episode. I put him to the test by asking him to answer a reader’s question — one I’d already answered myself — to see how closely his advice matched mine.

**Q: “Two months ago, I finished a two-month weight loss program. I’m 6'0" and weighed 248 lbs. I lost 41 pounds and feel great. I ate twice a day — each meal was about 5 ounces of lean meat, high-fiber veggies, and berries. I was full, but my daily intake was around 1,000 kcal.
I’m now in maintenance, but would like to lose another 20 pounds of fat and gain some muscle. I’m 56 and just started swimming three times a week. I also want to add lifting. Your [macro calculator](https://rippedbody.com/macro-calculator/) put me at almost 3,000 kcal per day — that seems high. Can you help? I’m committed. Thanks.”

How do our answers compare? Listen to find out.

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Since 2011, we’ve helped 2,000+ busy men get lean, strong, and in control — without supplements, gimmicks, or sacrificing their lives to the gym.

👉 Get our Free 15-Day Transformation Kickstart Bundle (https://rippedbody.com/)

(Training program, nutrition guide, and 15-step course to help you avoid the most common mistakes.)

Today, I’m joined by Chris, who went from 170 lbs to an unsustainable 118 lbs by eating just five foods and hammering cardio. That crash diet left scars — binge-restrict cycles, fear of weight gain, and self-doubt.

But over the past few years, Chris has rebuilt. He bulked up slowly, learned sustainable habits, and is now cutting again — this time without obsession or burnout. We talk about breaking free from the numbers game, training smarter, and learning to live a full life while chasing progress in the gym.

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Since 2011, we’ve helped 2,000+ busy men get lean, strong, and in control — without supplements, gimmicks, or sacrificing their lives to the gym.

👉 Get our Free 15-Day Transformation Kickstart Bundle (https://rippedbody.com/)

(Training program, nutrition guide, and 15-step course to help you avoid the most common mistakes.)