In this Building Muscle Masterclass, I sit down with Dr. Stu Phillips — the world’s most cited researcher in exercise science and protein metabolism. If you care about building muscle, eating enough protein, lifting smarter, or cutting through the noise in the fitness world, this is a must-listen.
Stu and I go deep on the biggest questions in hypertrophy and nutrition, backed by some of the most important studies in the field:
- What actually drives muscle growth and what most people still get wrong
- How much protein you should really eat to maximize hypertrophy (and what the meta-analyses say)
- Whether high-protein diets harm your kidneys (spoiler: nope)
- Plant vs. animal protein: does the source matter, or is it all about leucine?
- Do hormone spikes from training matter for gains?
- Should women change their programming based on menstrual cycle phase?
- The truth about “lifting heavy” — do you need it for hypertrophy?
And MORE
If you want the clearest, most up-to-date breakdown of protein science and muscle growth from the guy who literally did the research I base many of my recommendations on… this is your episode.
Stu Phillips Questions & Studies Cited During Interview
You are one of the most cited researchers in protein metabolism and resistance training. What led you to take an interest in these topics and who is the best potential post-doc student who got away?
What is the most important thing for muscle growth?
How much protein should we be targeting if you want to maximize muscle growth?
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of protein intake to support muscle mass and function in healthy adults
- Anabolic signaling deficits underlie amino acid resistance of wasting, aging muscle
Are high protein diets bad for the kidneys?
- Changes in Kidney Function Do Not Differ between Healthy Adults Consuming Higher- Compared with Lower- or Normal-Protein Diets: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
- Protein Intake and Mortality in Older Adults With Chronic Kidney Disease
- Low Protein Intake is Associated with a Major Reduction in IGF-1, Cancer, and Overall Mortality in the 65 and Younger but Not Older Population
- Protein Experts Respond to Recent Anti-Protein Claims
Plant vs. animal protein?
- Effect of Plant Versus Animal Protein on Muscle Mass, Strength, Physical Performance, and Sarcopenia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
- The leucine content of a complete meal directs peak activation but not duration of skeletal muscle protein synthesis and mammalian target of rapamycin signaling in rats
How much do systemic hormones matter for muscle growth? Should we base our resistance training programs on them?
- Human exercise-mediated skeletal muscle hypertrophy is an intrinsic process
- Associations of exercise-induced hormone profiles and gains in strength and hypertrophy in a large cohort after weight training
- Anabolic processes in human skeletal muscle: restoring the identities of growth hormone and testosterone
Should women change their programming based on the phase of their cycle?
Intermittent fasting?
- Time-restricted feeding plus resistance training in active females: a randomized trial
- Effects of eight weeks of time-restricted feeding (16/8) on basal metabolism, maximal strength, body composition, inflammation, and cardiovascular risk factors in resistance-trained males
Carnivore?
Do you need to lift heavy to build muscle?
Creatine?
- What is one thing that you believed strongly and changed your mind with evidence?
