Hammer and Chisel Performance Podcast

Jon Heck
  • 4.9 (15)
  • 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. 1d ago

    Why Diet Transition Phases are Crucial

    Stop cutting right after you bulk and stop bulking right after you cut! In this week's nutrition rant I talk about why transitional maintenance diet phases are critical.

  2. 3d ago

    Ep. 100 | Garrett Walker: Toxic Body Positivty and the Decline of Masculinity

    Garrett Walker, better known as Runvus Coaching, is a fitness coach and content creator known for his direct, no-BS approach to training, nutrition, discipline, and self-improvement. His content frequently challenges popular narratives in the fitness and wellness space and calling out bad actors in dishonesty in the industry.In this episode, we discuss the body-positivity movement and where acceptance can cross the line into normalizing unhealthy behaviors and the importance of personal responsibility and accountability.We also dive into what Garrett sees as a decline in traditional masculinity among men, the value of strength, discipline, resilience, and doing difficult things, and how modern culture may be shaping men's attitudes toward responsibility and self-improvement.

  3. Sep 10

    Eat more to lose fat. Start by building your metabolism.

    Many people want to ultimately get leaner and lose body fat...but they are not consuming enough food to support an effective calorie deficit. Here is the approach I take instead, and how to evaluate whether or not this is the route for you to take.

  4. Sep 8

    Ep. 99: Brian Kula | Speed Training 101

    Brian Kula is a veteran speed and performance coach and the founder of Kula Sports Performance. With roughly three decades of experience developing athletes from the youth level through the professional ranks, Kula has coached National Champions, All-Americans, Gatorade Players of the Year, Olympians, and professional athletes. He is especially well known for his longtime work with NFL star Christian McCaffrey and has also worked with athletes including Saquon Barkley and A.J. Brown. Kula's background spans track & field, football, strength and conditioning, and speed development, and he was himself an All-American decathlete at the University of Northern Colorado.Brian gives us a Speed Training 101 look at how he structures an athlete's offseason. We cover acceleration, max-velocity sprinting, mechanics, force production, strength and power development in the weight room, recovery, and how all of these pieces fit together within a complete training week. Kula's approach emphasizes high-quality sprint exposures alongside strength and power work while managing fatigue so athletes can actually perform at high outputs.

  5. Sep 3

    Monthly Q&A Answered: All things diet and training

    0:00 Intro 1:22 How do you integrate eating out into your macros? 2:30 Nutrition strategies for appetite when using Adderall or Vyvanse 4:32 Do macro and calorie recommendations differ for women? 5:07 My experience with retatrutide: benefits & side effects 6:45 Optimal body fat percentage for performance & aesthetics 7:59 Can you flex your pecs? 8:23 How to structure a surplus for a 50kg female 9:42 How to combine Olympic lifting with hypertrophy training 10:21 Optimal daily creatine dose for muscle & cognitive benefits 11:21 How should training change when going from growing to cutting? 13:00 How to progress your strict press from 130 to 200 lbs 14:03 How would you diet natural vs. enhanced lifters differently? 15:12 Fast or slow weight cut for a strength competition? 16:21 How many steps should you get while dieting? 17:19 Favorite carb sources during a gaining phase 18:33 Grass-fed, organic vs. conventional meat: is it worth it? 19:13 Genetic limitations for natural muscle gain 20:17 How to carb cycle during maintenance 20:55 How much pre- and intra-workout carbs 21:35 How much fluid should you drink daily? 21:58 Does knee bend make an RDL not an RDL? 23:19 How long should transitions between diet phases be? 23:52 Best post-workout meal one hour before bed 24:23 Do high-volume meals before bed affect digestion and sleep? 25:06 Thoughts on nutrition & strength coaches without degrees 26:20 How much fat should be in a post-workout meal? 26:37 What body fat percentage should you start a growth phase at? 27:04 My end goals for physique and training 28:03 “skinny fat” beginner lifters 28:47 Why are your biceps so sexy? 28:57 Should you make body composition changes in-season? 29:51 My go-to cheat meal 31:04 How much fluid is too much during a workout? 31:36 TSA with supplement powders 32:01 Why almond butter over peanut butter? 32:43 My pumpkin pancake recipe 33:15 How to increase carbs during a reverse diet 33:35 weight loss stall 34:36 Best ways to learn strength & conditioning and nutrition 35:32 Do natural testosterone boosters actually work? 36:26 Will I offer discounts on coaching? 36:50 How to foster a lifelong love of physical activity in your kids 38:17 How to transition from bulking to cutting and vice versa 38:49 Do I love Donald Trump? 40:03 How to structure A/B or A/B/C weeks for squats & deadlifts 41:14 How to get your first pull-up 41:55 Meal timing & frequency for bodybuilding and performance 42:45 Downsides of starting a calorie surplus while peaking for competition 43:24 Should you log meat cooked or raw? 43:38 What nutrition concept should every strength coach understand? 44:14 Nutrition tips for very early morning training 45:02 How I start a new nutrition coaching client 45:49 How to structure pre- and post-workout nutrition 47:01 How to transition from a cut into a gaining phase 47:16 How much muscle can you gain after 5+ years of lifting? 47:55 How much cardio should you do during a gaining phase? 48:58 Ideal weekly rate of weight gain during a building phase 49:16 How to approach a recomp if you’re “skinny fat” 50:19 Am I natural? 50:57 How to calculate daily electrolyte needs 51:43 Do you like hugs from the right person? 52:05 Does my enhancement protocol change when bulking vs. cutting? 52:38 Do I have siblings? 52:54 Meal plans vs. “If It Fits Your Macros” 53:47 Best training split if you can only train 4 consecutive days 54:32 Should baseball players prioritize physique or performance? 55:05 How many of your daily carbs should be around your workout? 55:24 total carbs or net carbs? 55:39 How to improve squat, bench & deadlift while running 56:20 How long should a building phase last after fat loss? 56:47 body fat set point? 57:45 How my nutrition & training philosophy has changed over 5 years 59:18 How many sets per week are ideal for strength and size? 1:00:40 Best barbell-only exercises for quad hypertrophy 1:01:24 How should carb cycling change if you’re also running? 1:01:58 Carnivore diet

  6. Sep 1

    Ep. 98: Maximus McCall, Unorthodox Diets and Supplements

    Maximus McCall is an Australian nutrition and strength coach. He works with some of the most elite strongman competitors, powerlifters and fighters in the world. Max is highly intelligent and utilizes some unorthodox strategies for dieting, as well as some unique protocols for managing mental issues like addiction and depression. We dive into several of those interesting unique diet and supplementation protocols in this episode and there are some incredibly interesting takeaways from this conversation.

  7. Aug 27

    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.

  8. Aug 25

    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.

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Ratings & Reviews

4.9
out of 5
15 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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