<![CDATA[Anabolic Analysis]]>Anabolic Analysis is where evidence-based fitness meets real-world application. Every week Kolton Brenneman interviews experts with unique perspectives on training, nutrition, muscle growth, and performance. Every episode is designed to cut through the noise, challenge assumptions, and leave you with practical takeaways you can apply to your own fitness. Less guessing. More growing.

]]>https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kolt45fitnessRiverside.fm (https://riverside.com)Wed, 12 Aug 2026 23:01:11 GMTSun, 09 Aug 2026 15:48:27 GMT60Coach Kolt<p>Anabolic Analysis is where evidence-based fitness meets real-world application. Every week Kolton Brenneman interviews experts with unique perspectives on training, nutrition, muscle growth, and performance. Every episode is designed to cut through the noise, challenge assumptions, and leave you with practical takeaways you can apply to your own fitness. Less guessing. More growing.</p>episodicCoach Koltcoachkolt@kolt45fitness.comno<![CDATA[Ep. 1: Why You Don’t Need a Huge Surplus to Build Muscle - King Deltoids]]>In this episode, Kolt speaks with King Deltoids, aka Braden, an exercise science student and bodybuilding content creator, about what actually matters in contest prep, muscle gain, and physique development. They cover high protein dieting in a steep deficit, whether you can build muscle while cutting, and the long running debate over needing a surplus to maximize hypertrophy. Along the way, they also dig into fatigue, failure, body fat levels, and why so much fitness advice breaks down once people try to apply it outside the lab.

Key topics

  • Braden’s current prep setup
  • How he structures full body training
  • Protein intake during a deficit
  • Fat intake stays at a minimum
  • Why higher protein may matter more in harder deficits
  • Protein is harder to store as fat
  • Can you maximize hypertrophy in a deficit?
  • The surplus debate
  • How body fat level changes the recommendation
  • Why a huge bulk is usually unnecessary
  • Why body composition claims often get exaggerated
  • Training failure, fatigue, and the brain
  • Best advice for physique progress

Social Media Links:

Coach Kolt: https://linktr.ee/kolt45fitness

Braedon (King Deltoids): https://www.instagram.com/king_deltoids/


Timestamps

00:00 - Guest introduction and what King Deltoids studies and posts about
01:12 - Why full body every other day is working in a hard contest-prep deficit
02:28 - Prep timeline and how Braden sets calories on training and rest days
03:31 - Protein targets in the cut and why he aims around 1 gram per pound
04:11 - Why fats stay around 40 grams and the hormone-related minimum
05:22 - Research on protein retention in trained lifters during deficits
07:39 - Why enhanced lifters and natural lifters cannot use the same nutrition logic
09:12 - Why severe deficits create a different physiological problem than normal cuts
10:13 - Satiety, thermic effect of food, and why protein is not always magically more filling
12:24 - Why protein is inefficient to store as fat
13:46 - High-protein overfeeding studies and what they suggest mechanistically
15:17 - Practical protein advice for naturals in a deficit
17:32 - Setting up the bulking and maintenance debate
19:00 - Why “main gaining” is mostly a body-fat management question
21:09 - Where recomp stops being realistic for different individuals
22:51 - Why population-level body-fat data and BMI create confusion
25:11 - Why gaining body fat is not the same thing as maximizing muscle gain
26:52 - Can you maximize hypertrophy in a deficit?
28:35 - Why lean body mass loss in studies does not always mean contractile tissue loss
29:43 - Practical deficit ranges for people who want to gain muscle while cutting
32:40 - Why higher body fat lets you use a bigger deficit without losing growth potential
34:28 - When the goal shifts from recomposition to faster fat loss
35:55 - Why surplus arguments often confuse fat gain with muscle gain
39:30 - New hypertrophy meta-analysis and what diminishing returns look like over time
43:54 - Why very large surpluses are usually unnecessary
46:23 - Time-restricted eating in a surplus and what happened to body weight
50:14 - Why more calories did not automatically mean more muscle
55:49 - Hormone changes, IGF-1, and why small fluctuations do not prove much
59:41 - What Braden has changed his mind about over time
63:02 - His hottest take on failure and why he thinks the brain is the limiter
68:19 - Best advice for building a physique over the next five years
71:32 - What Braden is currently experimenting with in training and dieting

]]>https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kolt45fitness/episodes/Ep--1-Why-You-Dont-Need-a-Huge-Surplus-to-Build-Muscle---King-Deltoids-e3n5aegf56beb60-c84b-403a-abf4-5aa93cee9b60Sun, 09 Aug 2026 13:00:00 GMT<p>In this episode, Kolt speaks with King Deltoids, aka Braden, an exercise science student and bodybuilding content creator, about what actually matters in contest prep, muscle gain, and physique development. They cover high protein dieting in a steep deficit, whether you can build muscle while cutting, and the long running debate over needing a surplus to maximize hypertrophy. Along the way, they also dig into fatigue, failure, body fat levels, and why so much fitness advice breaks down once people try to apply it outside the lab.</p><p>Key topics</p><ul><li>Braden’s current prep setup</li><li>How he structures full body training</li><li>Protein intake during a deficit</li><li>Fat intake stays at a minimum</li><li>Why higher protein may matter more in harder deficits</li><li>Protein is harder to store as fat</li><li>Can you maximize hypertrophy in a deficit?</li><li>The surplus debate</li><li>How body fat level changes the recommendation</li><li>Why a huge bulk is usually unnecessary</li><li>Why body composition claims often get exaggerated</li><li>Training failure, fatigue, and the brain</li><li>Best advice for physique progress</li></ul><p>Social Media Links:</p><p>Coach Kolt: https://linktr.ee/kolt45fitness</p><p>Braedon (King Deltoids): https://www.instagram.com/king_deltoids/</p><p><br /></p><p>Timestamps</p><p>00:00 - Guest introduction and what King Deltoids studies and posts about<br />01:12 - Why full body every other day is working in a hard contest-prep deficit<br />02:28 - Prep timeline and how Braden sets calories on training and rest days<br />03:31 - Protein targets in the cut and why he aims around 1 gram per pound<br />04:11 - Why fats stay around 40 grams and the hormone-related minimum<br />05:22 - Research on protein retention in trained lifters during deficits<br />07:39 - Why enhanced lifters and natural lifters cannot use the same nutrition logic<br />09:12 - Why severe deficits create a different physiological problem than normal cuts<br />10:13 - Satiety, thermic effect of food, and why protein is not always magically more filling<br />12:24 - Why protein is inefficient to store as fat<br />13:46 - High-protein overfeeding studies and what they suggest mechanistically<br />15:17 - Practical protein advice for naturals in a deficit<br />17:32 - Setting up the bulking and maintenance debate<br />19:00 - Why “main gaining” is mostly a body-fat management question<br />21:09 - Where recomp stops being realistic for different individuals<br />22:51 - Why population-level body-fat data and BMI create confusion<br />25:11 - Why gaining body fat is not the same thing as maximizing muscle gain<br />26:52 - Can you maximize hypertrophy in a deficit?<br />28:35 - Why lean body mass loss in studies does not always mean contractile tissue loss<br />29:43 - Practical deficit ranges for people who want to gain muscle while cutting<br />32:40 - Why higher body fat lets you use a bigger deficit without losing growth potential<br />34:28 - When the goal shifts from recomposition to faster fat loss<br />35:55 - Why surplus arguments often confuse fat gain with muscle gain<br />39:30 - New hypertrophy meta-analysis and what diminishing returns look like over time<br />43:54 - Why very large surpluses are usually unnecessary<br />46:23 - Time-restricted eating in a surplus and what happened to body weight<br />50:14 - Why more calories did not automatically mean more muscle<br />55:49 - Hormone changes, IGF-1, and why small fluctuations do not prove much<br />59:41 - What Braden has changed his mind about over time<br />63:02 - His hottest take on failure and why he thinks the brain is the limiter<br />68:19 - Best advice for building a physique over the next five years<br />71:32 - What Braden is currently experimenting with in training and dieting</p>no00:55:341Ep. 1: Why You Don’t Need a Huge Surplus to Build Muscle - King Deltoidsfull