Choose Hard with Cody McBroom

Can being fit protect you from alcohol's damage? Should you double your creatine dose? Do women need to program training around their cycle? In this research review, Cody McBroom breaks down four new studies: what they found, where they fall short, and exactly how to apply them. No hype, no shortcuts. Just the data.
IN THIS EPISODE:
→ Alcohol vs. Fitness (The HUNT Study): 24,853 adults tracked for 16+ years. Changes in fitness predicted mortality more strongly than changes in drinking. The most dangerous pattern in the entire study wasn't heavy drinking. It was losing fitness. (But fitness is a buffer, not an eraser.)
→ High-Dose Creatine: Where the muscle saturation ceiling really is, when bigger lifters need 6–8g, and why 10–20g/day may matter for your brain during sleep deprivation, mental fatigue, and high-stress training blocks. Plus how to avoid the GI issues.
→ Menstrual Cycle & Strength Training: 28 trained women, 4 cycles, hormone-verified phases, and bar-speed data from real training sessions. Cycle phase barely moved performance. Motivation and pain did, and pain hit deadlifts and bench press in opposite directions.
→ Irisin & Fat Loss: A 50-trial meta-analysis on the "fat-browning" myokine. Resistance training posted the biggest increase, but here's why a blood marker doesn't beat energy balance, and why the irisin research carries a real measurement controversy.
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🤝 16+ Years Coaching. 3,000+ Real Clients.
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ALWAYS FULFILLED, NEVER SATISFIED.©
CHOOSE HARD.©
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STUDIES REFERENCED:
- Munteanu et al. (2026). The Effect of Menstrual Cycle Phase, Symptoms, Motivation, and Readiness to Perform on Resistance Training Performance. Sports Medicine.
- Nauman et al. (2025). Running from Death: Can Fitness Outpace Alcohol's Harm? Sports Medicine.
- Hejazi et al. (2026). Effects of Different Training Modalities on Circulating Irisin Levels in Overweight and Obesity Adults. Sports Medicine.
- Hultman et al. (1996); Candow et al. (2023); McMorris et al. (2006); Gordji-Nejad et al. (2024) – creatine dosing & brain bioenergetics

After 4 years running Tailored Coaching Method out of a physical HQ, I'm closing it down — and building a new studio from scratch on my own property. In this episode, I break down the real numbers behind the decision: $10K a month in rent, $11K all-in once you factor in the energy bill and other costs — and why walking away from that saves us $120K this year alone. I also get into the more nuanced number: $99K in net savings even while we're simultaneously funding and building the new facility, which is the number that actually matters once construction starts.
I get into the parts most entrepreneurs don't talk about — the actual build cost of a detached garage studio, how the rental agreement between TCM and my wife and I works, and why paying yourself rent can build personal wealth while cutting business overhead. I also talk about what it's like building this with my family (my wife designing it, my father-in-law and brother-in-law building it), moving back home after 7 years away, and the boundaries I'm setting so work doesn't swallow family life.
If you're a coach or entrepreneur who thinks a bigger office is the end-game metric of success, or you're staring down a pivot that feels risky on paper, this episode is the unfiltered walkthrough of how I made the call — and what I'd tell you if you're facing one of your own.
Topics covered: why we're closing HQ at 7 figures, the true cost of leasing vs. building, tax strategy for renting property to your own business, managing team culture through a remote transition, building a studio with family, and reframing "stepping backward" as strategic growth.

————
🤝 16+ Years Coaching. 3,000+ Real Clients.
📩 Apply for 1:1 Coaching: https://tailoredcoachingmethod.com 
🎓 Mentorship for Coaches – https://tailoredcoachingmentorship.com/
▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CodyMcBroom1 
📖 Free Guides: https://tailoredcoachingmethod.com/guides 
📝 Free Articles: https://tailoredcoachingmethod.com/blog 
🎙️ Choose Hard Podcast: https://choosehardpodcast.com/ 
📲 Follow me on IG: https://www.instagram.com/codymcbroom
📧 Inquiries: info@tailoredcoachingmethod.com 
⭐ Enjoyed this one? A rating/review on Apple Podcasts helps more than you'd think — takes 15 seconds and puts the show in front of someone who needs it.
ALWAYS FULFILLED, NEVER SATISFIED.©
CHOOSE HARD.©

Most people have been chasing the wrong signals in the gym for years — the burn, the pump, the soreness. They feel like proof the workout worked. According to the research, they're mostly just byproducts. In this episode of the Choose Hard Podcast, Cody McBroom breaks down the actual science of muscle hypertrophy — what drives it, what's a myth, and what you need to change in your training right now.
This isn't a deep-dive research lecture. It's the science, simplified — the way Cody breaks it down for the 2,000+ clients he's coached over his career.
What's covered in this episode:
→The #1 driver of muscle growth — and it's not what most people chase
→ The truth about "non-responders" and hard gainers
→ What actually makes someone a hyperresponder
→ Stretch-induced hypertrophy and lengthened partials
→ Training volume — the sweet spot the research actually supports
→ Concurrent training and the interference effect
→ Building muscle after 55
Whether you're brand new to training or you've been lifting for years and feel like you've plateaued, this episode gives you the research-backed framework to actually understand what's happening in your body — and what to do about it.
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📌 Follow Choose Hard on instagram @choosehardpodcast and grab Choose Hard Merch at www.choose-hard.com
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Everyone thinks mental toughness means going harder, pushing further, never stopping. They see David Goggins, they see Navy SEALs, they see people doing 75 Hard — and they think that's what it looks like.
It's not. And chasing that version of it is exactly why most people burn out, fall off, and repeat the cycle over and over again.
In this episode of the Choose Hard Podcast, Cody McBroom breaks down what mental toughness and real discipline actually are — and why the boring, quiet, repeatable version of it will always beat intensity over the long run.
What's covered in this episode:
1. Why you keep misunderstanding discipline
⇨ Most people define discipline as intensity instead of consistency. They compare themselves to people like Goggins — but they forget that his frame of reference was built through decades of hardship they've never experienced and never should have to. That comparison isn't motivation. It's a trap.
2. The dopamine problem behind the all-or-nothing cycle
⇨ The all-in/fall-off pattern isn't a willpower problem. It's a dopamine problem. Cody breaks down why motivation spikes create false identities, why going all in gets attention while quiet consistency gets ignored, and what you have to shift to actually break the cycle for good.
3. What "Choose Hard" actually means
⇨ It's not always loud. Sometimes choosing hard means staying calm when you want to snap. Going to bed instead of scrolling. Doing the minimum required when you don't feel like it. Sticking to the plan when it's boring. Choosing the long-term outcome over the short-term feeling — every single time.
4. The 3 layers of real discipline
⇨ Cody breaks down the framework he uses with clients, coaches, and mentees inside TCM:
Identity-Based Discipline — Why anchoring to an outcome ("I want to lose 20 lbs") will always fail, and what to replace it with. Fit people don't negotiate workouts. That's not a rule. It's an identity.

Environment Design — Willpower is finite. Your environment determines whether you need it in the first place. Stop leaving the decision to the moment.

Non-Negotiables — Your floors, not your ceilings. What you do on your worst day is what actually defines your standards.

5. Why people fail even when they're motivated
⇨ It's not a lack of information. Everyone knows broccoli is better than a Pop-Tart. People fail because of a lack of real accountability — and real accountability isn't just checking in. It's the hard conversations that hold someone to the promises they made to themselves.
6. The CHOOSE HARD Daily Framework
⇨ A tactical acronym you can apply immediately:
C — Commit to a realistic baseline

H — Honor the plan (no daily renegotiation)

O — Optimize your environment

O — Own your identity

S — Stack small wins

E — Eliminate extremes

Do those things consistently, and you get H.A.R.D. — Happy, Aligned, and Results Driven.
If your plan only works when you feel good, it's not a plan. This episode gives you one that actually holds.
GET 20% OFF CHOOSE-HARD MERCH, USING CODE PODCAST20 AT CHECKOUT: https://choose-hard.shop/ 
GET COACHED & MENTORED BY CODY:
⇨ www.tailoredcoachingmethod.com/online-coaching {1-On-1 Fitness & Nutrition Coaching}
⇨ https://tailoredcoachingmentorship.com/ {Mentorship For Coaches}
📌 Follow Choose Hard on instagram @choosehardpodcast and grab Choose Hard Merch at www.choose-hard.com
❓ASK YOUR QUESTION FOR THE NEXT Q&A EPISODE:
⇨ question.choosehardpodcast.com
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https://jockofuel.com/discount/CHOOSEHARD
🎙️CLIENT CASE STUDIES & TRANSFORMATION STORIES:
- SPOTIFY: ⁠https://bit.ly/tlrd-transformations-spotify⁠ 
- APPLE PODCASTS:⁠https://apple.co/3GPlDxG⁠ 
GET MORE FREE CONTENT AT THE LINKS BELOW:
📖 FREE ARTICLES: ⁠https://tailoredcoachingmethod.com/blog⁠ 
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IG -⁠https://www.instagram.com/codymcbroom⁠
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INQUIRIES – ⁠info@tailoredcoachingmethod.com

Luka Hocevar, Elite Coach and Gym Owner!
GET 20% OFF CHOOSE-HARD MERCH, USING CODE PODCAST20 AT CHECKOUT: https://choose-hard.shop/ 
GET COACHED & MENTORED BY CODY:
⇨ www.tailoredcoachingmethod.com/online-coaching {1-On-1 Fitness & Nutrition Coaching}
⇨ https://tailoredcoachingmentorship.com/ {Mentorship For Coaches}
What does it actually take to coach elite athletes AND show up as a present father and partner? In this episode, Cody McBroom sits down with Luka Hocevar, founder of Vigor Ground Fitness and Performance, to unpack the "ultimate trifecta" of balancing partner, father, and business owner roles — and why struggling with it is normal, not a red flag.
They dig into why constraints (not freedom) drive real innovation, how the best strength coaches build programs "bottom-up" around an athlete's actual schedule and fatigue instead of a rigid paper plan, and why dropping ego and leading with curiosity separates elite coaches from the rest. Luka also shares how intentionally practicing life transitions — like shifting from "business owner" to "dad" the moment he walks in the door — keeps him present, and why peer community (not just mentors) is one of the most underrated tools for men carrying heavy responsibility.
Topics covered: expectation management, life transitions, high challenge + high support mentoring, general physical preparation (GPP) coaching principles, constraints and creativity, and building a peer support circle.
Follow Luka on instagram @lukahocevar
📌 Follow Choose Hard on instagram @choosehardpodcast and grab Choose Hard Merch at www.choose-hard.com
❓ASK YOUR QUESTION FOR THE NEXT Q&A EPISODE:
⇨ question.choosehardpodcast.com
📲 DOWNLOAD MY APP & START A TRAINING PLAN, FOR FREE:
⇨ www.thetailoredtrainer.com
💊 JOCKOFUEL SUPPLEMENTS (Code CHOOSEHARD for 20% Off):
https://jockofuel.com/discount/CHOOSEHARD
🎙️CLIENT CASE STUDIES & TRANSFORMATION STORIES:
- SPOTIFY: ⁠https://bit.ly/tlrd-transformations-spotify⁠ 
- APPLE PODCASTS:⁠https://apple.co/3GPlDxG⁠ 

GET MORE FREE CONTENT AT THE LINKS BELOW:
📖 FREE ARTICLES: ⁠https://tailoredcoachingmethod.com/blog⁠ 
💾 FREE GUIDES: ⁠https://tailoredcoachingmethod.com/guides⁠
IG -⁠https://www.instagram.com/codymcbroom⁠
YOUTUBE -⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/codymcbroom1⁠
INQUIRIES – ⁠info@tailoredcoachingmethod.com