Lift Free And Diet Hard with Andrew Coates #427 Steve Hall – Muscle Building - The Ideal Rest Break and Calorie Surplus
Steve Hall is a WNBF Natural Pro Bodybuilder and one of the most trusted evidence-based voices in muscle building. As the host of the Revive Stronger podcast and a long-time practitioner, Steve brings rare clarity and nuance to topics that are often oversimplified online.
In this episode, Steve joins Andrew to break down what actually matters for hypertrophy when it comes to rest periods, fatigue, technique, and calorie surplus - without dogma, fear-mongering, or rigid rules.
Steve shares insight on:
• Whether there is an ideal approach to rest breaks between sets
• How much calorie surplus is actually needed to build muscle effectively
• Why autoregulation is a powerful strategy for managing rest periods
• Whether shorter rest breaks hurt progress when time is limited
• Practical tactics to make shorter workouts more effective
• How fatigue influences strength and hypertrophy outcomes
• Why Steve has become less rigid about “perfect technique”
• How relaxing strict range-of-motion rules improved his own training progress
• When technique matters most vs. when it becomes counterproductive
• The nuance required to apply evidence in real-world training
• And much more
IG: @revivestronger
CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction and Welcome
00:16 Guest Introduction - Steve Hall
00:58 The Evolution of Fitness Podcasts
01:51 Muscle Building Insights - Rest Length Between Sets
08:46 Strength vs. Hypertrophy Training
17:41 The Role of Fatigue in Training
24:11 Training Hard vs. Perfect Technique
26:59 Advanced Techniques for Muscle Failure
28:54 The Importance of Technique Over Form
30:24 Reevaluating Range of Motion
33:50 Sponsor Break - Train Heroic
45:47 Nutrition for Muscle Growth
46:24 The Role of Caloric Surplus in Muscle Building
52:33 Final Thoughts and Resources
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