Episode #63: Best Ways to Build Muscle

·38 min·3 clips

Darren reveals why the leanest person in the room might also be the weakest.

This episode of the Musashi Podcast focuses on strategies for building muscle quickly, both for athletic performance and general fitness. Hosts Darren, Hal, and Josh, who have backgrounds in sports and strength training, explore the practical applications and trade-offs of muscle growth. They frame the discussion around their own physiques and training experiences. The conversation begins by comparing the hosts' body compositions, introducing the paradox that the largest person may not be the strongest. They explain the difference between slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscle fibers, comparing them to red meat and white meat. The hosts state that a couch potato can have a high amount of fast-twitch muscle, while an elite marathon runner has very little. They discuss how training can influence this genetic ratio, using basketball and rugby players as examples of athletes who need both fiber types. The concept of periodization is introduced as organizing training into specialized blocks, such as strength or hypertrophy phases. They emphasize that hypertrophy training, defined as increasing muscle cell size, is best done during the off-season for athletes to avoid impairing sport performance. A key insight is that having more muscle can be metabolically taxing and may hinder endurance by increasing oxygen demand. The hosts debate the pros of muscle for sports, listing strength, intimidation, and injury prevention, but also the cons, like added weight and fatigue. For hypertrophy-focused training, they recommend compound movements and a mind-muscle connection, stressing the importance of the eccentric movement phase. They note that powerlifters focus on neural connections to lift weight, while bodybuilders focus on isolating muscles for growth. Nutrition for muscle growth requires a calorie surplus, with a suggested protein intake of around two grams per kilogram of body weight. They discuss the difficulty of consuming enough calories, especially for those with high appetites, and recommend liquid calories like protein shakes as a supplement. The hosts share their personal training splits, with Darren following an upper/lower split twice a week and Josh using a traditional "bro split" focusing on different muscle groups each day. The tone is casual and conversational, filled with friendly banter and personal anecdotes. The style is educational but digressive, often circling back to practical advice from the hosts' own routines. Listeners interested in practical, non-dogmatic advice on combining muscle building with sports training will appreciate this episode. Those seeking a highly structured, scientific deep dive into hypertrophy protocols might find it too anecdotal.

As heard by us

A grounded take on building muscle fast, balancing cardio, recovery, and sport.

Building muscle fast gets treated here as a practical tradeoff, not a clean win. The discussion keeps coming back to how more muscle changes the balance between training, cardio, recovery, and performance, with DEXA scans and lean body mass used as rough markers rather than…

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Why you'd press play

You want muscle without turning your training into a one-note grind.

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