#029 April Q&A Roundup

Welcome back to the 29th edition of the Boats & Logs Lifting Club. I really appreciate you being here. We are the based fitness community that focuses on mastering the basics instead of getting lost in the details.

Today, we are back with a Q&A. I collected your most-asked questions on Instagram, and we will answer them in this newsletter today.

But before we start, here is a quick overview of what’s coming next. Are you interested in a topic I should cover in depth? Just send me a message, and I will consider adding it.

• May 12th: Mastering your Fat Loss Journey

• May 19th: A Based View on Hyped Supplements

• May 26th: Form vs. Overload

• June 2nd: May Q&A Roundup

• June 9th: Building your Home Gym

But now, let’s jump into the Q&A!

What do you think about “athletic” workouts?

I regularly see people praising their “athleticism-focused” workouts over a proper hypertrophy-focused workout. And generally, that’s totally fine. I’m a big advocate of doing the workout that’s most fun to you. But let’s be real here. The vast majority of people have no real advantage from doing athletic workouts.

Let’s break it down: A common argument for why an athleticism-focused workout beats a hypertrophy-focused workout is that the former has a greater carry-over to real life.

But what are those real-life scenarios you need to be prepared for?

Carrying Heavy Objects? A common argument is that most people who successfully train for hypertrophy may have big muscles but are quite weak compared to someone who trains for strength but has smaller muscles.

But this argument just doesn’t make sense. You won’t get big without lifting heavy weights, so the argument that muscular people are weak is BS. Hypertrophy-focused lifters may have more muscle volume for the same strength levels as strength/athletic-focused lifters, but the outcome in strength is quite similar.

Additionally: How often do you really need to carry something extremely heavy that a hypertrophy workout wouldn’t prepare you for? I think this is hardly ever the case.

Quite the opposite. I believe that training for strength carries a greater risk of injury compared to training for hypertrophy. Therefore, you could argue that the carry-over to real life is even worse compared to hypertrophy workouts, as you are less likely to carry heavy objects when injured.

Street Fights? Don’t even think about it. You should avoid them at all costs, and if you can’t avoid them, an athleticism-focused workout is very unlikely to help. Actually, getting big (while following a hypertrophy-focused workout) will help you avoid getting drawn into fights as you look more intimidating.

Hiking/Running? We can make this one quick. You definitely want to be able to move without much of a problem. But you don’t need a special workout for that. Simply do your cardio and you are good.

That all being said, it’s no surprise I’m strongly favoring hypertrophy-focused workouts. But let me give you a reason why I believe that hypertrophy-focused workouts outperform athleticism-focussed workouts in their carry-over ability to real life:

Discipline!

Building muscle (and, therefore, a hypertrophy program) requires a lot of discipline. Discipline to train hard and be consistent with the diet. And this discipline will probably have a greater carry-over on people’s lives than 99% of athleticism-focused workouts. Because those people are oftentimes just trying to distract from the fact that they are not willing to train hard enough or follow a diet to build real muscle. Because they lack discipline.

What's better for building muscle: Push Pull Legs or Upper/Lower?

Discussing which split to use is mostly a waste of time. As long as they follow a few basics, those splits will yield similar results. You should simply pick the split that’s the most fun for you and fits your life the best.

But let’s have a closer look:

As I have said many times before, to build muscle efficiently, you should do at least 10 sets per muscle per week. Different programs are just ways to split the sets over multiple workouts in a week.

Consequently, neither PPL nor Upper/Lower is better/worse than the other. Technically, it all depends on the volume (amount of sets) and intensity of the workouts, as well as your individual response, to decide which one is better suited to building muscle. As there are countless different PPL and Upper/Lower programs with different approaches, it’s impossible to give a general answer.

My take is that both programs should give you quite similar results as long as they are both at around 10 sets per muscle per week.

I would then personally still tend towards the Upper/Lower program as it requires fewer workouts per week (only 4). This makes it more likely that you will stick to the program. In the end, your success will be defined by how consistent you have been, which is easier to achieve with fewer workouts per week.

What do you think of protein powder?

I’ve written a longer article about it (link), but I will give you a quick answer again. Protein powder can make a lot of sense, but it is definitely not a must. I personally take it quite frequently, and I believe it would make sense for most of you to, too.

But let’s take a step back. What is the advantage of taking protein powder?

Put simply, protein powder is a cheap but high-quality and low-calorie protein source. So, if you find yourself struggling to reach your daily protein goal, consider taking protein powder as an easy way to get an extra 30-50g of protein per day without much of a problem.

Especially when you are currently in a calorie deficit, consuming protein powder can help you massively to reach your daily protein goal. Another scenario could be that you are a vegetarian and consume much of your protein through plant-based sources. In that case, whey protein can help you achieve a complete amino acid profile.

But at this point, I want to stress again that protein powder is a supplement. It shouldn’t be used as your main protein source as it has no nutritional value besides protein. However, drinking 1-2 protein shakes per day should be no problem at all for a healthy person with a balanced diet.

However, one thing that is definitely not true is the common myth that the body digests considerably less „liquid“ protein than eaten protein.

Thank you for reading today's newsletter. I tried to answer as many of your questions as possible. If you have further questions, simply DM me on Instagram.

If this newsletter was helpful to you, please consider sharing it with a friend (https://boats-logs.beehiiv.com/subscribe) to spread the word and support the Boats & Logs community and the work I put into it.

Stay strong,
Boats & Logs

Disclaimer

This is not Legal, Medical, or Financial advice. Before starting any workout program, diet plan, or supplement protocol, please consult a medical professional. These are the opinions from an AI voice.