Menno Henselmans coaches from the evidence, not dogma. Here's how to run an evidence-based practice without pretending there's one perfect program.
"What does the research say" is the right instinct - but the trap is turning one study into a rule. The real skill underneath Menno's approach is weighing the body of evidence and then individualising to the client in front of you. This breakdown covers his argument in our own words, adds our honest take for running a coaching business this way, and hands you a copy-paste client FAQ that answers the myths that keep coming up in check-ins.
By Markus Evers · September 2026 · a Coachway video breakdown
the short version
In this guest appearance, Menno Henselmans argues that muscle-building decisions should follow the weight of the scientific evidence and each person's individual variation - not tradition or the loudest voice - and he spends much of it debunking common myths. The one thing a coach should do about it: stop coaching from fixed rules and start coaching from well-supported principles plus each client's own tracked data, so you can actually individualise instead of guess.
Menno Henselmans on The Better With Brock Podcast - Sport Scientist Settles The Biggest Muscle Building Debates | Menno Henselmans
Source: The Better With Brock Podcast on YouTube - "Sport Scientist Settles The Biggest Muscle Building Debates | Menno Henselmans", a guest appearance by Menno Henselmans. Watch on YouTube. We embed the public video and summarise it in our own words; the video and channel belong to The Better With Brock Podcast, this is a guest interview and not Menno's own channel, and nothing here implies his or the show's endorsement of Coachway.
Who is Menno Henselmans, and why coaches listen
Menno Henselmans is an evidence-based coach and educator with a background in data and behavioural science, and he runs a research-focused personal-training education course. He is known in the coaching world for critically appraising studies and debunking popular training myths rather than repeating gym tradition. For coaches he is less a source of ready-made programs and more a way of thinking - a name people cite when they want to argue a decision from the research instead of from habit. That is the lens this page is written for: not "copy Menno's routine," but "what does his evidence-based method mean for how I make decisions across a whole roster." (This particular video is a guest interview on The Better With Brock Podcast, not his own channel.)
What Henselmans actually argues (our summary)
This is our summary of the ideas he discusses, in our own words - not a transcript. Watch the original for his exact examples and reasoning.
- 1
Weigh the evidence, don't cherry-pick it. The method isn't quoting one study - it's judging the body of research on a question and letting that, not tradition or the loudest voice, drive the decision.
- 2
Individual variation is part of the science, not an excuse. The evidence sets sensible ranges for volume, frequency and effort; where a specific client lands inside those ranges is decided by their own response and recovery.
- 3
Most "debates" have a reasonable answer already. He spends much of the conversation settling common muscle-building arguments with what the research supports, rather than treating every variable as an open mystery.
- 4
Myths deserve a clear, respectful correction. Ideas like spot reduction, "muscle confusion" and "toning" are intuitive and common - the evidence-based move is to answer them calmly with what's actually supported.
- 5
The real skill is decision-making. Coming from a data and behavioural-science background, his emphasis is as much on how you reason and individualise as on any single training variable - hold your defaults loosely and change what the evidence says matters most.
Coachway's take
We're fully on board with the core idea, and it's the reframe most coaches need: evidence-based coaching isn't a library of perfect programs, it's a way of making decisions. You apply well-supported principles to set your defaults, then individualise from what each client actually does. That single shift - from "what's the best program" to "what does the evidence support and what is this person responding to" - is what separates a coach from a template dispenser.
Where we'd add nuance for a coaching business: being evidence-based is worthless if you can't see the data. Menno can reason from the literature because it's his full-time craft; you're running twenty clients at once and can't hold each person's trend in your head. The honest default for a coaching practice is to make the individualisation loop mechanical - log the sessions, capture the check-ins, and let the client's own tracked results tell you which variable to change next. Evidence-based coaching without per-client data is just better-read guessing.
The other coaching-specific point: most of your evidence-based work happens in messages, not spreadsheets. Clients don't argue with your programming logic - they arrive at a check-in convinced carbs at night made them gain, or that they need to "tone" with light weights. An evidence-based coach needs a fast, respectful, repeatable answer to those, not a lecture. That's a swipe file, not a study.
So our version of his advice is: set your defaults from the weight of the evidence, individualise every client from their tracked data rather than your memory, and keep a ready reply for the handful of myths that eat your time. Then - and this is the part that saves your evenings - build those replies and that tracking once and reuse them, instead of re-explaining the same thing to every client from scratch.
Operationalise the evidence, and track the data to individualise
An evidence-based decision is only useful if you can deliver it and then see whether it's working. That's what Coachway is for: build your evidence-supported defaults once in the workout builder as reusable templates, then watch each client's progress and check-ins to see how that individual is actually responding - so the next change is driven by their data, not your memory. Everything reaches the client through your own branded client app, where they log sessions and answer check-ins, which is exactly the per-client signal an evidence-based practice runs on.
If you want the strategy layer first, our guide to workout programming principles covers the well-supported defaults you're starting from, and the companion piece on behaviour-change frameworks covers the other half of the job - getting a client to actually do the evidence-based plan.
Evidence vs broscience: client FAQ swipe file
A ready-made set of answers to the myths that keep coming up in check-ins. Copy it, paste your own voice over it, and reuse the replies whenever a client raises one. The point isn't to win an argument - it's to correct the belief calmly and move on. These are our short coaching-lens summaries of widely-supported positions, not quotes from the video.
Client myth swipe file
| What the client believes | Your evidence-based reply |
|---|---|
| "I want to spot-reduce this area." | You can't choose where fat comes off - that's set by overall fat loss and genetics. We'll train the muscle underneath and drive fat loss through your overall calories and activity; the area follows. |
| "I need to keep confusing my muscles." | Muscles respond to progressive overload and enough volume, not to constant novelty. We change things deliberately when there's a reason - not to keep you guessing. |
| "I just want to tone, not get big." | "Toned" is muscle plus lower body fat - which is exactly what our lifting and nutrition plan builds. Light weights for endless reps aren't the shortcut; meaningful load is. |
| "Lifting will make me bulky." | Visible size takes years of deliberate eating and training - it doesn't happen by accident. Strength work will make you leaner and stronger long before it makes you "bulky," and we control the direction. |
| "Carbs at night made me gain." | Total calories over the week decide weight, not the clock. Eating carbs at night is fine if it fits your intake - what matters is the overall total and consistency. |
| "I have to train to failure every set." | Training close to failure drives growth, but every set to failure just adds fatigue and hurts your next sessions. We keep a rep or two in reserve on most work and save true failure for where it counts. |
How to use it: keep this in your check-in canned responses. When a client raises one, lead with agreement on their goal, correct the belief in one calm line, then point to what your plan already does about it. Never make the client feel foolish for believing something common.
EVIDENCE VS BROSCIENCE - CLIENT FAQ SWIPE FILE (via Coachway) Short coaching-lens summaries of widely-supported positions - not quotes from the video. What the client believes Your evidence-based reply "I want to spot-reduce this area." You can't choose where fat comes off - that's set by overall fat loss and genetics. We'll train the muscle underneath and drive fat loss through your overall calories and activity; the area follows. "I need to keep confusing my muscles." Muscles respond to progressive overload and enough volume, not constant novelty. We change things deliberately when there's a reason - not to keep you guessing. "I just want to tone, not get big." "Toned" is muscle plus lower body fat - exactly what our lifting and nutrition plan builds. Light weights for endless reps aren't the shortcut; meaningful load is. "Lifting will make me bulky." Visible size takes years of deliberate eating and training - it doesn't happen by accident. Strength work makes you leaner and stronger long before "bulky," and we control the direction. "Carbs at night made me gain." Total calories over the week decide weight, not the clock. Carbs at night are fine if they fit your intake - the total and consistency are what matter. "I have to train to failure every set." Training close to failure drives growth, but every set to failure just adds fatigue and hurts your next sessions. Keep a rep or two in reserve on most work; save true failure for where it counts. HOW TO USE: Keep this in your check-in canned responses. Lead with agreement on the client's goal, correct the belief in one calm line, then point to what the plan already does about it. Never make the client feel foolish for a common belief.
Evidence-based coaching - FAQ
What does "evidence-based coaching" actually mean?
The way Menno Henselmans frames it, evidence-based coaching means making your programming decisions - volume, frequency, proximity to failure, exercise selection - from the weight of the scientific evidence rather than from tradition, gym folklore or whoever shouted loudest. It is not treating one study as gospel; it is weighing the body of research and then adjusting for the individual in front of you. For a coach, the practical version is simple: when a client asks 'why are we doing it this way,' you should be able to answer with the general evidence and the client's own data, not 'because that's how it's done.'
Does the research give one optimal training program?
No, and that is a point Henselmans is careful about: the evidence sets sensible ranges and priorities, but individual variation means the 'optimal' program is the one built around a specific person's response, recovery, preferences and schedule. He is known for critically appraising studies rather than turning any single result into a rule. For coaches, that is freeing - it means your job is not to find the one perfect template on the internet, but to apply well-supported principles and then individualise from each client's tracked results.
How should a coach handle client myths like spot reduction or "toning"?
The evidence-based approach is to answer the myth calmly with what the research actually supports, without shaming the client for believing it. Ideas like spot reduction, 'muscle confusion' or lifting light weights to 'tone' are common and intuitive, and they come up constantly in check-ins. Henselmans's broader work is largely about debunking exactly this kind of thing. As a coach the win is having a short, clear, respectful reply ready - which is why we turned this into a copy-paste client FAQ below.
Is evidence-based coaching just about training to failure and volume numbers?
Those are the debates that get the most attention, but the deeper theme in Henselmans's work is decision-making itself: he comes from a data and behavioural-science background and runs a research-focused coaching education, so the method is as much about how you reason and individualise as about any single variable. Failure proximity, volume and frequency all sit inside evidence-supported ranges rather than fixed rules. For a coaching business the takeaway is to hold your defaults loosely, track what each client actually responds to, and change the variable the evidence says matters most for that person.
More training-science breakdowns
- · Layne Norton on diet adherence - another evidence-based voice, on the variable that beats the "perfect" plan.
- · Dr. Mike Israetel on how many sets per muscle - an evidence-based range you individualise from client data.
- · The full roundup: fitness YouTubers coaches should study.
Keep sharpening your coaching decisions
all guidesPersonal Trainer Programming: A Coach's Framework (2026)
Personal trainer programming is the deliberate arrangement of six variables - specificity, overload, volume, intensity, frequency and progression - into a plan that drives one chosen adaptation. The framework behind good program design, run for clients you coach remotely.
Read the guideRPE vs RIR for programming: a coach guide
RPE explained on the 1-10 scale, an RPE-to-percentage reference table, RPE vs RIR and when to use each, and how to program effort targets for online clients.
Read the guideBehavior Change Coaching: Frameworks for Coaches (2026)
Behavior change coaching is the psychology that turns a good plan into a client who keeps showing up. The three frameworks behind retention - the stages of change, motivational interviewing and self-determination theory - explained for coaches, then folded into a single weekly check-in move.
Read the guideFree tools for this: Protein Calculator · Weekly Training Volume Calculator · Calorie Deficit Calculator
Turn evidence-based decisions into a system you can run at scale
Being evidence-based only pays off if you can deliver your defaults and see whether they're working per client. Coachway lets you template your evidence-supported programming, track each client's sessions and check-ins so you individualise from real data instead of memory, and deliver it through your own branded app. Start your 14-day free trial and run an evidence-based practice from one screen.
