Fred Hahn, Founder of Serious Strength (Image Courtesy of Baristanet)
Fred (fhahn [@] seriousstrength.com) has been involved in exercise ever since he became a member of The Charles Atlas Club when he was 10 years old. He began training clients in the early 1980s at several of NYC’s leading health clubs, including the Equinox and New York Health and Racquet Club.
Fred is the owner of Serious Strength, a Slow Burn personal training and rehabilitative exercise center in NYC. Along with moms, dads, grandparents, and kids, his clients include top CEOs, celebrities, bestselling authors, journalists, and TV personalities.
Fred, alongside Drs Michael and Mary Dan Eades, is the co-author of the New York Times best selling book The Slow Burn Fitness Revolution: The Slow Motion Exercise That Will Change Your Body in 30 Minutes a Week. It is currently in its ninth printing and is one of the best selling fitness books in Random House history.
Fred’s latest book Strong Kids, Healthy Kids: The Revolutionary Program for Increasing Your Child’s Fitness in 30 Minutes a Week teaches parents and their children how to lift weights safely and eat healthfully by following a low sugar/paleo eating plan.
Fred has appeared on NBC, CNN, WABC and he’s been interviewed by the New York Times and Washington Post.
You can find out more about Fred and Serious Strength here:
- SlowBurn Personal Training Studios
- FaceBook: Serious Strength Personal Trainin Montclair
- FaceBook: Serious Strength Personal Training New York
This was a really interesting conversation covering:
- How an ectomorph can strength train for best results.
- The benefits of a high-fat diet for health, hypertrophy and productivity.
- How to motivate children to want to train every week.
- How to start a HIT business and charge premium fees.
If you want to learn about the above and much more, tune in below:
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This episode is sponsored by Hituni.com, the best online courses in high intensity strength training. I recently completed their personal trainer course to increase my knowledge and become certified in HIT. HITuni offer DIY courses to help you get better results from your training and personal training courses to help you start and grow your HIT Business. Visit HITuni.com and use the code “HIB10” to get 10% OFF.
Show Notes
- Fred’s journey into health and fitness and HIT in particular [5:56]
- How did Fred build his physique? [18:55]
- What exercise cadence (speed) does Fred recommend? [27:00]
- Fred’s reading habits [32:25]
- Fred’s advice on how to find the motivation to reach muscular failure [34:50]
- Does a high protein diet produce more hypertrophy? [39:15]
- How to train children [41:40]
- Is all this talk around ‘optimising hypertrophy’ a load of hot air? [45:10]
- How did Tim Ferriss gain more muscle eating a high-fat diet? [55:00]
- Fred’s high-fat diet in detail [59:15]
- Fred’s tipping points in business [1:09:20]
- What does it take to start a HIT business? [1:14:45]
- How to charge high fees for very short HIT sessions [1:18:55]
- Book recommendations [1:26:40]
- What has Fred changed his mind about in the last year about strength training? [1:32:10]
- Fred’s personal exercise regimen [1:37:45]
- Why high carbohydrate diets are dangerous [1:45:25]
- Fred’s top health and fitness tips [1:49:30]
Selected Links from the Episode
- The New High Intensity Training: The Best Muscle-Building System You’ve Never Tried by Dr Ellington Darden (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Godoryu Karate
- Super Slow
- The Slow Burn Fitness Revolution: The Slow Motion Exercise That Will Change Your Body in 30 Minutes a Week by Fred Hahn (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Protein Power: The High-Protein/Low Carbohydrate Way to Lose Weight, Feel Fit, and Boost Your Health-in Just Weeks! by Michael R. Eades (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- NSCA
- Body by Science: A Research Based Program for Strength Training, Body building, and Complete Fitness in 12 Minutes a Week by Dr Doug McGuff and John R. Little (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- BodyByScience.net (Doug McGuff’s Blog)
- The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (Expanded and Updated) by Timothy Ferriss (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- The Friendly Arctic: The Story of Five Years in Polar Regions by Vilhjalmur Stefansson (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Bulletproof Coffee (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Zabars
- Jump Start Your Business Brain: The Scientific Way To Make More Money by Doug Hall (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Jump Start Your Marketing Brain: Scientific Advice and Practical Ideas by Doug Hall (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- The Wizard of Ads: Turning Words into Magic and Dreamers into Millionaires by Roy H. Williams (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Purple Cow, New Edition: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable–Includes new bonus chapter by Seth Godin (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Think BIG and Kick Ass in Business and Life LP by Donald Trump (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Dr Michael Eades’ Blog
- Men’s Health TNT Diet: The Explosive New Plan to Blast Fat, Build Muscle, and Get Healthy by Dr Jeff Volek (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Living Low Carb: Controlled-Carbohydrate Eating for Long-Term Weight Loss by Dr Jonny Bowden (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- 200 Low-Carb, High-Fat Recipes by Dana Carpender (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Feinmantheother.com (Richard David Feinman’s blog)
- Ancestral Symposium
- CrossFit
People Mentioned
- Charles Atlas
- Joe Weider
- Ellington Darden
- Dr Ben Bocchicchio
- Drs Michael and Mary Dan Eades
- Robert Atkins
- Dean Ornish
- Brad Schoenfield
- Arthur Jones
- Bill Pearl
- Dr Jeff Volek
- Richard David Feinman
- Dr Jonny Bowden
- David Landau
- Mike Tyson
- Dr Doug McGuff
- Tim Ferriss
- Dave Asprey
- Dr James Steele
- Dr James Fisher
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QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What questions do you have about high intensity strength training, business, or diet that we didn’t discuss in this podcast? Please let me know in the comments below.
429 – A Deep Dive into Joint-Friendly Fitness with Bill DeSimone: A New Paradigm in Exercise Safety
428 – Unlocking Synergy or Sowing Confusion: The Risks and Rewards of Adding HIT to Your Health Business with Luke Carlson
427 – The HIT Protocols Pete Cerqua Used to Grow a 7-Figure Personal Training Business
Hey guys. Thanks for the great discussion. Lots great stuff to think about, look into, and apply.
You’re welcome Donnie. Any particularly poignant discussion points for you?
Some of the points that caught my attention:
The recommendations for starting an exercise gradually makes a lot of sense to me. Not exploding into the exercise/movement.
The equipment that Fred has in his studios sounds very interesting.
Not being able to move a heavy weight fast.
The talk about micro loading makes a lot of sense. I wonder if this is not a very big key to the whole muscle building process. Fred talked about this before elsewhere, think about getting into some really small increments like 1/2 lb., 1/4 lb.
The talk about diet/nutrition had my attention as well. I love food. Lot’s of high carb food. I have thought a lot about trying a diet along the lines of what Fred does. Who knows I might eventually.
To me it kinda all comes back to quality, high intensity contractions in conjunction with having a somewhat heavy external load bearing down on or pulling on the body. Also for me I may somewhat limit the range of motion because I use free weights at home and some body weight stuff. I limit the range for safety and for more thorough loading.