Mike Dewar
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The Cards You're Holding Are Better Than You Think
Hey there Muscles, I had a conversation with a client recently that I keep thinking about, and I figured it was worth sharing here. He's been working with me for about six months. When he came in, he wasn't exercising consistently, wasn't paying attention to what he was eating, and the weekends were basically a write-off. His whole ecosystem, as I like to call it, just wasn't set up to support the goal. We had a lot of ground to cover. Fast forward to now: he's lost around seven to eight...
A Message From My Inner Slug
Hey there Muscles, Hi. My name is Mike's inner slug. And I'd like to tell you about the last ten days. We started in New Orleans. Gumbo. Po'boys. A beignet every single day... not because it was planned, just because it kept happening. And somewhere in there I discovered that sazeracs are dangerously good. That's all I'll say about that. Then we made our way to the Emerald Coast of Florida, where the key lime pie situation got a little out of hand. How out of hand? On our second to last day,...
I Worked Out in a Basement Hotel Gym This Week. Here's What I Learned.
Hey there Muscles, I'm on vacation this week... a last trip before baby number two arrives, and our wedding anniversary. The kind of week that's supposed to be about unplugging completely. And yes, I still hit a workout. The hotel gym was something else. A stationary bike that looked like it survived the 1970s, a treadmill positioned about two feet from a plain wall with one sad window for natural light that only a chihuahua could crawl through, and a rack of dumbbells that topped out at 50...
I Write Hundreds of Programs a Year. Here Are the 4 Reasons They Fail.
Hey there Muscles, I write a lot of programs. Hundreds a year, across all levels and abilities: beginner lifters just finding their footing, seasoned athletes chasing new PRs, busy professionals trying to hold onto their strength while the rest of life pulls at them. The programs themselves are rarely the problem. What I've noticed, after years of watching people succeed and stall with the same quality of programming, is that failure almost never comes from a bad program. It comes from the...
The Only Program You Need (And Why Simple Works)
Hey there Muscles, Over the last few weeks I've been making the case for simplicity. Stop program hopping. Commit to your movements. Give it real time to work. So this week I'm putting my money where my mouth is. What I'm giving you below is the exact framework I use for clients who are busy, stressed, and serious. Business owners, parents, people who can't live in the gym but refuse to stop training hard. People who want to build real strength and muscle as they age without spending hours a...
8 Weeks Will ALWAYS Lose to 8 Months...
Hey there Muscles, I'm in my late thirties. I'm still squatting heavy, still pulling, still pushing. And I get comments about it from time to time, like it's some kind of anomaly. Like I must have some secret program or some special recovery protocol that keeps me going while other people my age (who lift very heavy relative to their maxes) are scaling back or falling apart. I don't. What I have is twenty years of not overcomplicating it. It Looks Boring From the Outside My training now has...
The 80/20 Rule Nobody Talks About in the Gym
Hey there Muscles, I want you to think about the best shape you've ever been in. The strongest you've ever felt. The period where things were actually moving in the right direction. Now think about what you were doing in the gym at that time. I'd be willing to bet it wasn't complicated. A handful of movements, done consistently, pushed hard over time. That's almost always the answer when I ask clients this question. So why do we keep making it more complicated than that? The 80/20 Nobody...
You're Bored With Your Program (And That's The Problem)
Hey there Muscles, I look at programming differently these days. Maybe it's because I've been coaching for nearly twenty years and I've seen every fad come and go. Or maybe it's because I just don't have the patience or time for anything in the gym that won't actually move the needle. Either way, I'd rather run the same program for months on end than trick myself into thinking I'm making progress because I keep program hopping. Am I enlightened, or just a grumpy coach? You Have the Right...
You're Doing the Right Exercises. You're Just Not Doing Them Right
Hey there Muscles, Last week we talked about exercise selection and why having the right movements in your program matters as much as the effort you put in. If you've been through that one, you hopefully looked at your training with a little more of a filter. This week I want to take it one step further, because picking the right exercise is only half the equation. The half most people skip is execution. You Have the Right Tool. You're Using It Wrong. Here's something I see constantly, and...
Stop Picking Exercises Like You're at a Buffet
Hey there Muscles, Last week I made the case that most people work hard in the gym but lack intent behind what they're actually doing. If you haven't read that one, the short version is this: effort without direction is just exercise, and exercise isn't the same thing as training. So let's say you've got the intent part figured out. You know you want to build muscle, or get stronger, or bring up a lagging body part. That's a real goal. The next question is one most people skip entirely: Are...
Subscribe for expert-backed training tips, gear guides, and supplement picks designed for real athletes. Expect no-BS insights, favorite gym setups, and weekly tools to help you train harder and smarter.