Hammer and Chisel Performance Podcast

Jon Heck
  • 4.9 (13)
  • Health & Fitness
  • Updated Weekly

My name is Jon Heck, and I am a strength and conditioning coach and nutritionist. I am a former strength coach from Division-1 college football and the NFL. I now run my coaching business Hammer and Chisel Performance full time, working with all walks of life on nutrition and training. With a background in powerlifting, bodybuilding, strongman, football and coaching in different fields, I will be bringing on a wide variety of guest from all of these realms of the world of performance and the fitness industry to talk all things coaching, nutrition, training, business, and more.

  1. 2d ago

    Why SLEEP May Be Overrated...

    In this week's rant, I go delve into a different topic than nutrition and training and talk about SLEEP. And I have an alternative perspective to offer here.

  2. 5d ago

    Ep. 97: Stan Efferding | Nutrition, Longevity & Legendary Stories

    Stan Efferding is an IFBB Professional Bodybuilder, elite powerlifter, coach, entrepreneur, and creator of The Vertical Diet. Known as “The White Rhino,” Stan has spent decades at the highest levels of strength and physique sports while becoming a respected voice on nutrition, metabolism, performance, and long-term health. Beyond his accomplishments as an athlete, Stan is known for his practical, evidence-based approach to improving body composition, bloodwork, digestion, cardiovascular health, and performance. His work emphasizes mastering the fundamentals—nutrition, training, sleep, movement, and health markers—rather than chasing unnecessary complexity.

  3. Aug 20

    The Truth About “High-Carb” Foods: You’re Eating More Fat Than You Think

    In this week's nutrition rant, I dive into a huge error that people make when evaluating foods and their diet overall...over focusing on carbs and neglecting to account for the fats they do not realize they are eating!

  4. Aug 18

    Ep. 96: Dr. Ben Skutnik | Nutrition Made Simple

    Dr. Ben Skutnik is a performance scientist, educator, and nutrition coach with a Ph.D. in Human Performance from Indiana University. With over a decade of experience in strength & conditioning, sport science, and nutrition, Ben has worked with everyone from collegiate athletes to national-level weightlifters and Olympians. He currently serves as Head of Nutrition Coaching for Power Athlete, where he helps athletes turn evidence-based nutrition principles into practical, sustainable habits that improve health, body composition, and performance.In this episode of the Hammer and Chisel Performance Podcast, I sit down with Dr. Ben Skutnik to get back to the fundamentals of nutrition.With social media constantly pushing new diets, supplements, hacks, and conflicting nutrition advice, it’s easy to lose sight of the things that actually matter. Ben and I break nutrition down to its basic principles and discuss what people should understand before worrying about the more advanced details.We cover the roles of calories and macronutrients, food quality, meal structure, building sustainable eating habits, nutrition for performance and body composition, and why consistently executing the basics will take most people much further than chasing the latest nutritional trend.Whether your goal is to lose fat, build muscle, improve performance, or simply develop a better understanding of nutrition, this episode provides a practical foundation you can actually apply.

  5. Aug 13

    The BEST Diet Approach to Gain Muscle

    There is currently a debate in the fitness industry. Is the best way to grow muscle by essentially eating at maintenance and training effectively? Or smashing tons of food and gaining weight? I break down both sides and give MY opinion on the best way to approach this

  6. Aug 11

    Ep. 95: Vince Wilkinson, The Art of Locking In

    Vince Wilkinson is one of the most unique humans alive. He is a strongman competitor, in the Army, has a massive social media following, and has become a huge influencer of men through his conquests in the fitness industry. A truly one of a kind human. LOCK in for this episode

  7. Aug 9

    Bonus Q&A with Will Ratelle, 70+ Questions Answered

    I met up with Will Ratelle at his house in North Dakota. We trained our asses off and answered all of your questions you sent us on Instagram! TIME STAMPS 0:00 Intro 1:46 Advice for novices to gain as much muscle as possible 3:25 Hunger hacks during a fat loss phase 4:39 Best way to improve bench with a history of pec pulls/tears 6:08 Cutting body fat while running high mileage 7:26 Best protein, carb & fat split when cutting 8:43 Are Zercher cleans useful for explosiveness and thickness? 9:01 Could you guys beat Kane in a fight? 9:33 How long to convince Jon to move to North Dakota? 10:12 Top set/back-off sets vs. equal-weight working sets 12:17 Would you return to strength & conditioning for an NFL head job? 14:26 How important is electrolyte supplementation? 15:53 How should you track cooking fats? 16:26 Thoughts on full-body training for hypertrophy 18:34 How to gain 10–15 lbs when training is already on point 19:08 How should night-shift workers track calories? 20:03 Do you miss college/pro football strength & conditioning? 22:21 Reasons and timing for a mini-cut 24:37 Should you go straight from a cut into a bulk? 25:19 Nutrition, training & sleep: two great, one terrible 25:48 Should training change between cutting and bulking? 28:03 How lean should a male be before starting a gain phase? 29:15 Thoughts on sauna for athletic recovery 30:13 Which area of your business would you drop first? 31:09 Should you adjust calories based on WHOOP calories burned? 32:19 Top 3 protein and carb sources 33:47 Does Will still warm up with dot drills? 34:09 Diet structure for performance vs. body composition 35:20 Minimum calories/kg before starting a cut 36:09 Can you improve bench using only dips and behind-the-neck press? 36:33 Best frequency and volume for sprint training 37:46 What attributes do you like in your clients? 40:13 All-time favorite training split 42:02 What food scale brand do you recommend? 42:21 Is power work and jumping overrated? 43:23 Training an obese client with limited range of motion 44:12 Hobbies outside of lifting and fitness 45:26 How many years to reach your natural lifting limit? 45:36 What have you changed your mind on nutritionally? 47:30 Can a busy dad get big, strong & capable training 3–4 days/week? 50:02 How do you recover after heavy training sessions? 52:03 Favorite movies 53:19 Could you arm wrestle Devon Larratt? 54:29 Best strategies for injury prevention 55:43 Does your pre-workout meal change between gaining and cutting? 56:05 What do you believe that 99% of the field would disagree with? 58:59 How to drink alcohol in moderation while maintaining a healthy lifestyle 1:01:27 Can you still make gains while drinking on weekends? 1:01:35 How should you adjust calories and training after surgery? 1:02:23 Is hunger necessary for a good calorie deficit? 1:03:19 How do you stay on plan while traveling? 1:05:30 How can you speed up digestion? 1:06:02 Accessory lifts improving but compounds regressing during a cut 1:06:27 Why are Jon's calves so small? 1:07:08 Should you stay in an 800-calorie deficit during a peaking cycle? 1:08:17 Most impressive athletic feats 1:09:58 Struggling to lose more fat after going from 25% to 13% 1:10:46 Athletes you looked up to growing up 1:12:10 Is an initial weight spike normal when starting a gain phase? 1:12:42 Does undereating your calorie target during a cut matter? 1:13:14 What do you think of people who say bulking is dumb? 1:14:36 Preferred rep range for hypertrophy 1:15:53 Maintenance or surplus on vacation with little exercise? 1:16:21 Are barefoot/minimalist shoes worth it for training? 1:16:38 What do you do to stay disciplined? 1:19:47 Outro

  8. Aug 6

    Matching Training with Your Diet Phase

    In this week's nutrition and training rant I cover how to properly match training cycles with the diet phase you are in. How to approach training while cutting, while bulking, and in transition or maintenance periods.

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Ratings & Reviews

4.9
out of 5
13 Ratings

About

My name is Jon Heck, and I am a strength and conditioning coach and nutritionist. I am a former strength coach from Division-1 college football and the NFL. I now run my coaching business Hammer and Chisel Performance full time, working with all walks of life on nutrition and training. With a background in powerlifting, bodybuilding, strongman, football and coaching in different fields, I will be bringing on a wide variety of guest from all of these realms of the world of performance and the fitness industry to talk all things coaching, nutrition, training, business, and more.

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