Episodes

Today on The Drop Set, it’s the Festivus Edition: the airing of grievances! My favorite part, always. So I’m gonna complain about some stuff today. First up, NPC Nationals (which were last weekend), judging issues abound, but mostly it’s the NPC’s absolutely laughable attempt at judging transparency. Seriously, it’s a hoot. Also, I didn’t mention this but apparently they made competitors wear wristbands as a form of identification…in the one place on earth where it’s impossible to NOT know if ...

First up: go check out the new website at FiveStarrPhysique.com ! This episode was delayed a few days while waiting for the new site to get published (otherwise this episode would get lost in the shuffle) so apologies for the delay but we’re in business now! So, today! We’re tackling a few listener questions (special hat tip to Ron in Tennessee for a couple of these) – the first being just about pre-workouts generally, and instead of just rattling off some nonsense I do a little live digging in...

Note: this episode is being reposted from an earlier date, as the original upload was lost in a website migration. Apologies for the confusion! By now I’m sure many of you have seen, read, or heard of the article published as a result of a fairly lengthy and involved bit of investigative journalism by Desmond Butler of the Washington Post. (links below) There’s certainly an expectation upon someone like me to have a reaction and response to this, and that’s what episode 211 is. I am not fully ...

210 – “Medical Update”, Exercise Modalities So I had a little procedure done which gave me the heebie jeebies – listen to my dramatic retelling of the story here. And we have the physics lesson to end all physics lessons after that, at least with respect to gym equipment and why the type of equipment you use (free weights, machine, cable, etc) matter. Before that, a quick follow-up from an interview I conducted last year on a topic that needs to be addressed. It’s very gossipy, but I try to st...

209 – Vacation Update and Bouncing Back, Problematic Exercises Well it seems like a much bigger deal to me than it probably is in reality, but posting my interview with Wendy Levra last week as episode 208 took some logistical planning to make happen while I was on vacation – nice to not miss a week! Today I give you the recap on my trip (for those who care) and also what I’m doing this week to bounce back and regain form after a week of being completely OFF plan in every possible way. The pos...

208 – NPC WPD/WBB Competitor Wendy Levra I had the pleasure of sitting down for a nice extended interview with national level women’s bodybuilding competitor Wendy Levra recently go discuss all the things and we had a great chat. Wendy narrowly missed a pro card at North Americans earlier this year and will be taking another stab at it in December at Nationals. In this conversation we go over what got her started in bodybuilding, how she handled the experience at NA’s and the aftermath of that...

207 – Find Your ‘Why’, Food Regrets, Holiday Planning Today, on “Therapy with Darin”, we play some head games, because I love Foreigner. Anyone? Anyone? Ok, moving on. Stop for a hot minute and think about WHY you spend time on bodybuilding? Make sure you can really answer that question in great detail (what’s my answer? Of course…you have to listen to find out – probably not what you think). Screw up on your diet and have regrets? That’s bad. How do we deal with that? What’s the WRONG way to...

206 – Stress Hygiene, Maintaining Leanness, Injury Management Today (well, yesterday and today, really) I tackle a couple questions posed by Romy and Jen (thank you both!): How do you handle – and I mean REALLY HANDLE – stress? If you’re like most people, you just eat shitty food and realize you’ve made the problem worse. What’s a better (read: actual) way to get to the root of it and deal with it? Listen in. Is it realistic to maintain leanness year round? What is leanness? Why is leanness? ...

205 – Cardio Timing, Likes & Dislikes, Bodybuilding Psychology Time for a Q&A grab bag! In this episode I’m actually tackling 7 distinct questions provided by three active listeners (thank you Grace, Ron, and Adam!) that run the gamut from the serious to the slightly more frivolous. Specifically, Ron asked about a breakdown on my show experience last year and in going over that, I talk a bit about my headspace since then and where it is now as well – this is about as real and unvarnished as it...

204 – Plant-Based Diets, Beyond Progressive Overload Today we dig in on a few listener questions (thanks Grace!) on the efficacy of plant-based diets for starters, as Grace kinda wonders if there’s anything significant she’s missing out on being plant-based herself (the answer? You guess it: depends). A short thought on keto dieting and then, live on air, I start to flesh out my book idea (ha!) as we start to look BEYOND progressive overload in terms of training, and how we can be effective in...

203 – Flipped Interview! Darin on the Hot Seat! For today, something a little different – when I put out the call for discussion topics last week in 202, my client Frankie MacGregor reached out to me and said “Hey – what if I interview you?” I was all about it, because it meant she had to do all the prep and hard work and if there’s one thing I love, it’s being lazy. Here is our conversation where she grills me on my background, coaching stuff, music, and learning a new language.

202 – Coachability, Helping Others, Leveling Up Your Training Back from summer hiatus at long lost! Today we talk about 3 big topics: the first being coachability. Are you really ready to have a coach? What does it mean to turn control of your programming over to someone else? Do you need to “just follow orders” or should it be more nuanced than others? Second, what do you do when someone around you clearly needs or asks for help on their diet? When is the right time (and wrong time) to interj...

201 – Garbage Coaches Revisited, Gear for Guys We’ve talked about this before but it’s time to revisited the warning signs of some lousy coaches – and let’s be clear, they’re everywhere. But also, I give some coach shopping tips and provide some questions that I always appreciate being asked and it shows me when someone is really doing their research. Also, time to jump back in to the PED conversation with ‘gear for guys’ – a good primer for those interested in the topic, NOT an endorsement as...

200 – Place Fixing Scandal, Dead Bodybuilders We made it to episode 200! Thanks to everyone for listening and don’t forget to share the episode on social to help grow our audience! I always appreciate that. There’s a scandal brewing in the UK surrounding the Arnold Sports Festival and the organization that was formerly promoting it – we’ll dig in on that for an appetizer and then get to a general conversation on what’s killing bodybuilders these days. I don’t have inside info here, but we can ...

199 – Progressive Overload Revisited, Resurgence in Bodybuilding? We’re back in business! In addition to discussing the surge (or RE-surgence) in bodybuilding and tackling some progressive overload examples, I bring everyone up to speed on what I’ve been up to. Be sure to email in your questions and topics or hit me up on social media to let me know what we should be talking about next!

198 – Gear 101, Women & PED’s It’s third rail time! Today we dig in on a basic primer for gear/PED’s/anabolics – including the obvious questions of “is this right for me?” (which I absolutely cannot answer, but I can help you ask better questions of yourself), “what should I be worried about?”, “what are some dumb things I can avoid?” and much more. Also intertwined with this I dig in on more detail specifically for women, with a breakdown for men to come in an episode in the near future!

197 – Recapping NPC Nationals, Grab Bag Q&A With NPC Nationals in the rear view I recap the weekend with a focus on how my clients did and also – as you might expect from me – have some suggestions on how the whole weekend can be improved. Having classes of 40+ competitors just is not a good way to create a fun experience for anyone competing. After that I start blowing through some quick hit conversation starters – thank you Romy for the inspiration on these!

195 – Spotting Techniques, Blow Up the NPC? First up, CALLING ALL COUPLES – if you are a couple and you train together regularly or – better yet – prep together, I want to hear your experience. Call in at 865-518-2974 and leave a message, or email me @ darin@fivestarrfitness.com (or use the contact form) or hit me up on IG or Facebook – if you’ve got a good story to tell we might do a full length interview if you’re game – so hit me up. We start off with a good conversation about spotting tech...

195 – Post-Show Rebound and Breaking Down Thanksgiving I was sick and pretty voiceless last week so there’s a bit of catching up to do as it relates to my post-show activities. Did I balloon up in weight uncontrollably? Was I a good, well-behaved boy? All of the above? Somewhere in between? Listen and find out! Also check the new poll online at TheDropSet.com – and through December 7th use the discount code SWOLE to save $10 on all workout programs. I’ve also added some new logo tees to the s...

194 – Breaking Down the Lee Haney Games This past Saturday I competed in Atlanta at the 2021 Lee Haney Games – in today’s episode I recap the whole experience from peak week up through the events of show day and beyond. The results weren’t what I might have hoped for but I had a good time and there’s a LOT of good stuff to dwell on, and some interesting moments to recap so buckle up and listen in! https://www.leehaneygames.com/

193 – Volumizing Meals, Caloric Floor, Prep Partners In today’s episode there’s a warning of changes coming! The Drop Set will be undergoing a little renovation soon and it’s all very exciting stuff – stay tuned and you’ll hear things as we get them rolled out. There’s a poll online at TheDropSet.com – click on over and cast your vote regarding BCAA use Also, I’ve got a new private group on Facebook for podcast listeners – check it out and request an invite to get in at the ground floor, we’l...

The Drop Set – Episode 192 Back for a solo episode today after a longer break than I expected due to some surprise travel – all details inside!

The Drop Set – Episode 191: IFBB Pro Janeen Lankowski Janeen brings 20 plus years of experience as a competitor and coach to our conversation as she’s about 2 weeks out from the Olympia – we talk about her background, posing philosophy, and the “no excuses” mindset it takes to compete at a high level.

The Drop Set, Episode 190 Brian joins us today to talk about a bunch of the ‘standard’ bodybuilding topics but also his unique work situation and how that impacts bodybuilding and his home life, as well as dealing with shoulder reconstruction and spinal fusion and how he’s had to adjust his training around those.