Stuart McMillan: Why Your Gym Routine Is Making You Slower

Most people think they're getting stronger at the gym. Turns out, they're getting slower. Stuart McMillan, who's trained Olympic sprinters and NFL players, drops some uncomfortable truths about why your typical weight room routine might be sabotaging your power and speed. Nina breaks down the research that shows adults lose explosive power twice as fast as they lose muscle mass. Pretty sobering when you realize most gym programs do nothing to address this. What you'll discover: • Why adults lose 10% of their power output per decade (double the rate of muscle loss) • How 8 weeks of sprint training beats months of traditional cardio for real fitness gains • The plyometric exercises that cut injury risk by 35% across all activities • Why high-intensity intervals give you the same heart benefits as 45 minutes of steady cardio This isn't about becoming an athlete. It's about maintaining the kind of explosive strength that lets you catch yourself when you trip, sprint for a bus, or play with your kids without getting hurt. The research is clear: if you're not training power, you're losing it faster than you think. Stuart explains why most gym routines focus on the wrong metrics and how simple changes can reverse decades of power decline. Nina translates the exercise physiology into practical takeaways you can actually use. Chapters: 00:00 Why gym strength doesn't equal real-world power 02:30 The power decline that starts at 30 04:45 Sprint training basics for regular humans 07:20 Plyometrics that actually work 09:15 Building explosive power safely 11:00 Key takeaways and next steps If you're tired of spinning your wheels in the gym, this one's for you. Follow Brainwaves for daily episodes that cut through fitness marketing to show you what actually works. Subscribe and never miss an episode at Brainwaves Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices