#094 Dr. Layne Norton on Building Muscle – Insights on Diet, Training, and Supplements

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Key Takeaways

• Tips for maintaining consistency: (1) What gets you excited to work out?; (2) What exercise do you enjoy and have low pain with?; (3) What will you execute consistently?
• Variables for building strength: (1) Mechanical tension; (2) Number of hard sets; (3) Training muscles at long lengths under tension
• Factors that increase the risk of injury: (1) Increase in training load and/or volume when you aren’t prepared; (2) Psychological stress – what happens in the mind affects the body (and what happens in the body affects the mind); (3) Sleep quality is a big lever for injury risk and pain management
  • Form doesn’t move the needle on injury risk – tissue adaptation matters more
• “The best time to start lifting weights is right now.” – Layne Norton
  • Have joint pain or never exercised? Start with lighter weights and movements that either don’t cause pain or induce less pain
  • It almost doesn’t matter what you start with – do whatever keeps you consistent
• Most practical tip for protein intake: Shoot for about 1g/lb bodyweight – or more depending on goals, but consume as much as you want balancing other macros to be properly fueled for exercise and recovery
• Seed oils are contributing to the health crisis – but probably not because they’re inherently bad
  • Seed oils are not innocuous but energy toxicity is a big chunk of what’s happening, we’re eating too much and moving too little
  • Seed oils are also more representative of consuming more processed foods
  • Bottom line: There is no strong evidence to avoid seed oils, as long as you’re still controlling for overall diet quality and calories – focus on diet quality and the bigger picture
• “Have guidelines, not rules.” – Layne Norton
• Most people believe what they want to believe regardless of the evidence
• Sticking to water is good, but if you switch to no- or low-calorie drink from full calories, it will save a ton of calories
• Keeping your body fat down is the best way to protect your health; how you get there is less important than getting there – the most important thing is consistency
• Supplements won’t do the work for you but they might help you recover faster

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Dr. Layne Norton is a Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences, a professional bodybuilder, and a champion powerlifter. We discuss why most people aren’t training too hard, when to go to failure, whether seed oils are “the” central cause of chronic disease, why having a slow metabolism isn’t a credible reason for being overweight (for most), and the sustaining power of good habits. We also get into controversies around the carnivore diet, diet sodas, artificial sweeteners, intermittent fasting, and much more.

Timestamps:

• (00:00) Introduction
• (04:48) Layne's coaching philosophy
• (14:39) Why to start tracking calories (for at least 3 days)
• (17:41) Why people lie to themselves about food intake
• (23:06) The profound benefits of small exercise doses
• (26:53) Why you should treat exercise like brushing your teeth
• (30:11) Benefits of resistance training for older individuals
• (33:51) Should you train to failure?
• (47:07) Why hard training & consistency trump exercise selection
• (56:46) Is lifting heavy necessary for building muscle?
• (57:54) Barbell vs. hack squats for preventing falls
• (1:00:10) Can lifting weights decrease low-back pain?
• (1:01:43) Injury prevention when resistance training
• (1:11:16) How exposure therapy can help you with injuries
• (1:15:04) Why pain doesn't always indicate tissue injury
• (1:18:17) Should you resistance train after a poor night of sleep?
• (1:21:57) Why menopause can cause weight gain
• (1:29:36) Why it's never too late to start lifting weights
• (1:32:05) Resistance training tips for older individuals with joint pain
• (1:36:18) Why total protein intake matters more than distribution
• (1:44:19) Layne's daily protein distribution
• (1:46:44) The shortcomings of nutrition studies
• (1:54:06) Is consuming more than 1.6 g/kg of protein beneficial?
• (1:55:33) Should you eat more protein in a calorie deficit?
• (1:56:43) Protein intake for endurance athletes
• (1:58:07) How much protein does Layne eat?
• (1:59:11) Are seed oils a predominant cause of chronic disease?
• (2:08:45) Does the carnivore diet increase heart disease risk?
• (2:14:16) Are heated seed oils more inflammatory?
• (2:20:33) Is there a "big food" industry conspiracy?
• (2:26:17) Are sugar-sweetened beverages uniquely deleterious?
• (2:30:17) Can diet soda help you lose weight?
• (2:34:20) Microbiome & cancer risks of diet soda
• (2:42:02) Is drinking 1 Diet Coke per day unhealthy?
• (2:44:24) Why Layne rarely takes a strong position on early science
• (2:49:04) Carnivore diet
• (3:01:52) Time-restricted eating
• (3:12:38) Layne's daily routine
• (3:16:55) Layne's diet and supplements
• (3:19:49) Creatine and hair loss
• (3:22:49) Rhodiola rosea & ashwagandha
• (3:25:54) Layne's tier 2 supplements

Show notes are available by clicking here

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