Balancing Fitness: The Optimal Approach to Training and Nutrition

Always great having my brother Joe Defranco back on the show and this time we dove deep into the longevity laws of looking, feeling, and performing your best after you’re 40. 

Joe DeFranco is a world-renowned strength & conditioning coach and the owner of DeFranco’s Gym. For the past two decades, athletes from across the globe have hired Joe because of his remarkable ability to improve strength, power, speed, mobility, agility and sport-specific endurance. Joe’s training techniques have been featured in and on ESPN, Spike TV, NFL Network, WWE Network, Men’s Health Magazine, Men’s Fitness Magazine and in the NY Times best-selling book, The 4-Hour Body. His resume includes NFL players from all 32 teams, MLB & NBA players, WWE superstars, UFC fighters, Olympic athletes and high school & college All-Americans.

Joe is not only a pioneer in the sports performance industry – he has revolutionized the garage and warehouse gym business as well. Many industry leaders credit Joe for the paradigm shift we’re seeing in sports performance facilities today. Before Joe started his business, it was thought that you needed a large, multi-million dollar facility in order to succeed. But – after turning his original 500 square foot storage closet into an athletic performance mecca – it suddenly became “in vogue” to own a small garage/warehouse gym. Joe’s “gym blueprint” is now the industry standard and DeFranco’s is a globally recognized brand. DeFranco’s has been voted one of America’s 10 Best Gyms by Men’s Health magazine and one of America’s Top 5 Most Innovative Gyms by Greatist.com.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:

=> How social media has an either/or mentality when it comes to training when its not one or the other, its both (we give examples of where “influencers” get it wrong and confuse people).

=> The holy trinity of longevity - what 3 things you need to have in your training. 

=> The reason you can build more muscle and strength with a less than “optimal” exercise; 

=> What exercise is a multivitamin for your shoulders that everyone should be doing. 

=> “If it hurts don’t do it” advice would save a lot of people a lot of injuries and skyrocket results. 

=> What would Joe do, rather use free weights or machines; the answer may surprise you.

=> There’s no mandatory exercises and we break down the toolbox of exercises that you can use to replace the “main lifts.”

=> What are MUST have machines in Joe’s opinion for anyone over 40. 

=> Why the diets you hear about only work in the very short term and the people come back to ______.

=> We share 4 methods of how to progress an exercise without using more weight.

=> What does it mean to have a “longer runway” for increasing load and why it gets many people better results. 

=> Why research studies can leave out a lot of truth and Joe breaks down why it’s important to have different strategies for results. 

=> Context matters, why everything is situation specific and you have to make decision on the fly. 

=> Are you performing well outside of the gym? If not, your training program isn’t working for most clients. 

=> Why you should never, ever, ever skip a warm up (and what to do when you’re short on time).

=> Why warms ups are an actual confidence builder.

=> Joe’s template for how long the warm up is depending on how he feels. 

=> If you’re in the gym longer because it helps with your mental health and social connection, you absolutely SHOULD do it. 

=> How Joe and I have changed our strength training and training in general, as we have got older (this is a blueprint).

=> Why we don’t use caffeine much anymore or listen to hardcore music while training and how it’s improved our training. 

=> Why getting better every time you go to the gym is NOT a great strategy, here’s what you should do. 

=> And much, much more

LINKS & RESOURCES:

Joe Defranco website  

Joe Defranco Instagram 

Super Coach Mentorship 

Luka Hocevar YouTube