Training and nutrition, without the gym lore.

Guides to protein, calories, fat loss, training volume, deloads, recovery and supplements, each traced to position stands, guidelines and meta-analyses.

Training

How to track progressive overload week to weekA practical way to compare sets, reps and load within your existing program, with an example and the limits of workout-log comparisons.How to tell if your training plan is workingReview comparable workouts, separate logging gaps from performance changes, and make a calm decision about your existing training plan.How many sets per muscle per week to growAround 10 or more hard sets per muscle a week beats fewer than 5, with diminishing returns. How volume, effort and frequency fit together.When to deload, and how to tell you need oneDeload when performance, readiness and effort ratings say fatigue has built up, not on a fixed calendar. What the evidence does and does not support.

Nutrition

How much protein you need to build muscleAbout 1.6 g per kg of bodyweight a day captures most of the muscle-building benefit, and more while dieting. What the evidence says, with its limits.How to find your real maintenance caloriesCalorie calculators give a starting estimate, often within about 10%. A few weeks of food logs and weigh-ins reveal your real maintenance. Here is how.

Body weight and fat loss

Why your weight jumps around from day to dayDay-to-day weight moves by a kilogram or more with water, glycogen and gut content. How to read a weight trend instead of a single weigh-in.How to tell if your fat loss has really stalledMost stalls are water or logging gaps, not “starvation mode”. How to tell a real plateau from noise, and what a sensible change looks like.How fast to lose fat without losing muscleAbout 0.5–1% of bodyweight a week keeps more muscle and performance, slower if you are already lean. The evidence, the safe floors and a worked example.

Recovery

Low HRV today? When to train and when to ease offSingle HRV and resting heart-rate readings are noisy. Read them against your own baseline over several days, alongside sleep and how you feel.

Supplements

Gym supplements with real evidence behind themCreatine and caffeine have strong evidence and protein powder is convenient food. Most other supplements, from test boosters to fat burners, do not.

Myths

Gym myths the research doesn’t supportThe anabolic window, starvation mode, spot reduction, muscle confusion and more: common gym beliefs, and what position stands and meta-analyses show.

Logging

A training and food log you’ll actually keepBuild a practical logging routine for workouts and meals, review gaps honestly, and avoid treating food estimates as explanations of every session.

For coaches

Weekly check-in questions for personal trainersA short, repeatable weekly check-in for personal trainers: what to ask, how to read answers beside the week’s training and food, and when to act.What to track for your clients between sessionsFor hybrid personal trainers: the few signals worth tracking between in-person sessions, how to keep clients logging, and where to spend your review time.

Where the numbers come from

Every guide cites entries from Laroa’s evidence base: 40 rules and 13 corrected myths, drawn from 50 sources and graded for strength.

Read the evidence base

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