The Method
Training, explained properly
What the research says about building muscle, losing fat and training for life, and where it is still unsure.
Every claim is cited and every study was checked against the paper. Each answer carries a grade for how strong the evidence is, and says what is not settled as plainly as what is.
How to read a grade
- Settled
- Consistent evidence across meta-analyses.
- Strong
- Good evidence, with a caveat worth knowing.
- Still open
- Small, conflicting or mechanistic. Not settled.
A grade describes the research, never anyone’s results. Research describes groups of people.
Questions, answered
Weight loss
Over 50
Women through menopause
How training works
The ten chapters
Each one gives the answer first, then how it works, then the research. The app’s version adds instruments that run the numbers on yours: the Method in the Vanguard app.
I. How muscle grows
- N° 01Progressive overloadMuscle adapts to what you ask of it. Keep asking for a little more.
- N° 02EffortSets that end close to failure build more muscle, and most people stop with more left than they think.
- N° 03VolumeMore hard sets build more muscle, with diminishing returns.
- N° 04Exercise choiceEquipment and order matter less than you think. Different exercises grow different parts of a muscle.