Bonus Episode: Dr. Feigenbaum on Volume vs. Intensity, Training Frequency, Peptides, and More!

Barbell Medicine Podcast

Barbell Medicine

Health & Fitness

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 9 October 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, Dr. Jordan Feigenbaum hosts a live "Ask Me Anything" session, tackling a wide range of questions on health, fitness, nutrition, and training philosophy.

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Timestamps:

0:32 How important are volume, intensity, and proximity to failure for hypertrophy?
3:46 Does muscle memory exist?
7:03 What is the reasoning behind the heavy "fatigue single" in the low fatigue template?
9:00 What is Barbell Medicine's take on the Mike Israetel PhD controversy?
13:18 What is the TLDR on peptides?
16:47 What's the cutoff in terms of sets for a hypertrophy response?
19:23 If Viagra/Cialis works for a patient, does it mean there's a cardiovascular concern?
20:26 Would you recommend "Murph" from CrossFit as a good overall fitness exercise?
21:37 Can you still build muscle while running 70 kilometers per week?
22:53 Is training three times per week for 30 minutes realistic for a late novice?
25:30 How should I handle lower back pain after returning to lifting?
28:44 Which offseason template should I choose: Hypertrophy 2 or Powerbuilding 2?
30:22 I've had knee tendonitis for two years, any ideas?
32:16 How many rest days do you recommend per week?
34:29 How to manage low back pain without a specific diagnosis from a chiro or acupuncturist?
36:50 If training is only possible at the expense of sleep, is it worth it?
38:06 For health and hypertrophy, how much cardio should you do?
39:54 Is there a benefit to having heels below the platform for calf raises?
41:00 Why are you against acupuncture?
41:48 Recommendations for training for people coming off chemotherapy?
43:29 Is a lunge or Bulgarian split squat considered a squat pattern?
44:13 What accessories complement a Mammoth Bar deadlift?
45:30 How is your dad's training going, and how to get an older parent started?
47:32 Why do you think medical schools give so little instruction on exercise if it's a "panacea"?
49:47 How to approach nutrition for building muscle while staying lean?
51:06 Which workout offers the least benefits?
51:48 What frequency of exercise do you program for a focus on glutes?
53:09 How would you add full-body training for a teen playing tennis twice a week?
54:13 : How would you approach osteoarthritis treatment in general?

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Jordan from Barbell Medicine. Now, this episode preview is from exclusive content
0:04.8	that regularly goes out to our Barbell Medicine Plus subscribers. In addition to exclusive content,
0:09.8	barbell medicine plus subscribers get early access to episodes and products, ad-free listening,
0:14.7	discounts on products and services, and the ability to ask Dr. Baraki and I questions,
0:19.1	all for about the cost of a cup of coffee each month. And in case you were wondering, the first month is free. To join, head over to ask Dr. Baraki and I questions, all for about the cost of a cup of coffee each month.
0:21.5	And in case you were wondering, the first month is free.
0:24.0	To join, head over to barbellmedicine.com slash plus
0:27.1	and sign up to be a barbell medicine plus member today.
0:29.5	That's barbomedicin.com slash plus.
0:32.1	All right, thanks for your consideration.
0:33.7	On to the show.
0:39.1	All right.
0:40.0	RDP asks, in terms of hypertrophy, how important is volume, intensity, and proximity to failure, and in what order?
0:49.3	Well, they're all important.
0:52.1	They're all important.
0:53.3	And so one sort of relationship that I'd like to maybe impress upon you is that the training load, right? The external training load is made up of all of the nuts and bolts of a training program, what your body is exposed to. So the volume, the rest periods, the exercise selection, the intensity, the proximity, the
1:13.4	proximity to failure.
1:14.6	That is to exercise as energy balance is to nutrition and weight management.
1:21.6	So when it comes to weight management, energy balance rules all.
1:25.6	Effectively that determines whether or not somebody's going to gain weight, maintain weight, lose weight. And training load is pretty much going to determine how you would predict, how you would predict somebody would respond to exercise. So for hypertrophy, you can't really discuss volume without intensity and without proximity to failure because you're just missing information
1:45.1	and doesn't really work like that. I would say that training volume provided the other
1:52.8	parameters that are held the same is probably the most important factor there if I had to pick
	...

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