In this informal Q&A video, fitness influencer Rob Lipsett answers a wide range of audience questions collected from Instagram and Facebook. He begins with a brief personal update about his recent trip to Croatia and his belief that the fitness lifestyle is the most fulfilling. He then provides detailed advice on supplement use, recommending BCAAs only for athletes or bodybuilders engaged in high‑volume, calorie‑deficit training, while casual gym‑goers can rely on sufficient dietary protein. He argues for incorporating cardio while bulking to avoid excessive fat gain and promote health, emphasizing a moderate surplus over “dirty bulking.” Rob shares his philosophy that the best diet is the one you can sustain long‑term, describing his own five‑year eating pattern. He discusses vegan bodybuilding, outlining how macronutrient targets can be met with plant‑based foods and modern vegan protein products, and dismisses the notion that a vegan diet cannot support muscle growth. He critiques fellow YouTuber Vegan Gains, labeling him as negative, disrespectful, and prone to cherry‑picking evidence, urging viewers to apply critical thinking when evaluating advice. Additional topics include his favorite simple, cheap meal (a burrito bowl), coping with reduced definition after a cut, the unrealistic expectations set by Instagram, age considerations for becoming a personal trainer, the relocation of his pet Roman, guidance for skinny‑fat individuals (cut before bulk, minimal muscle loss with proper nutrition), strategies for staying lean while traveling, upcoming participation in BodyPower Ireland, a brief look at his girlfriend’s diet and workout routine, motivation after a training break, and his balanced view on keto diets as short‑term tools rather than long‑term solutions. The video ends with a thank‑you and a promise to return to vlog‑style content.
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What's up everyone? So just finished up my workout there and I'm feeling great. This is the time when I like to record my videos. I come back from the gym, flick on the camera, and it's time to roll. So anyways, Q&A time. Haven't done one in a while. You asked those questions on my Instagram, my Facebook page, so let's kick it off. I got, just so you know, I got my laptop here. I'm not just looking at the desk. Yo Rob, how was the last few days of Croatia? This how it was. Had a great time, but I'm glad to be back. If you, you know, party and all that, of course, love it. But you know, the fitness lifestyle, it's the life for me. You know, if you go onto my website, you click on my bio and, you know, you look at the end of it, I say that I truly do believe that the fitness lifestyle is the best lifestyle. You know, you just feel great once you really get into it. I think it's the most fulfilling. What are the benefits of BCAAs and who should take them? BCAAs help with recovery and muscle protein synthesis, but the question really is who should take them. People's recommendations for BCAAs will change, but Mine are anyone who's engaging in very— in a very strenuous exercise regime. So for example, professional athletes who may have, you know, a tough weight session followed by a pitch session. The guys I was just on holidays with, they're all professional rugby players, and they all are told to take BCAAs, or given BCAAs. And bodybuilders engaging in high-intensity, high-volume training 6 days a week, followed by cardio, and they may also be in a caloric deficit, which will make recovery even harder. So people like that. But if you're just a casual gym-goer who goes to gym 3 to 4 times a week, there's no need for a BCAA supplement, especially if your protein intake is sufficient. Cardio while bulking, yay or nay? In the past year or so, I've realized, actually I think the whole fitness industry has kind of realized the importance of staying lean when bulking. That whole, you know, dirty bulking thing, getting unnecessarily fat when in surplus, is very outdated. You don't need that much of a surplus to build muscle. And if you gain a lot of unnecessary fat, you'll just end up having to spend longer to cut it off. And the longer you spend cutting, the more likely you are to encounter muscle loss. Not to mention, letting your body fat go very high is bad for your health. So adding in some cardiovascular exercise is not only good for your health, good for your heart, but you'll also keep your surplus moderate. You know, you'll lessen your caloric/energy intake. So yeah, it's definitely a good idea. What's the best diet? Anyone with their head screwed on in the world of nutrition will tell you that the best diet is one that you can sustain. I've been eating the way I eat for the last 5 years. What was the first video you uploaded on YouTube? Uh, it was just a vlog of me eating and lifting and going about my day. If you want to watch it, it's still there. Just click on my videos, go oldest to newest, and you can see all my old videos. I haven't gotten rid of any of them. Please excuse how awkward I am in them. Opinions on vegan bodybuilding? Okay, so bodybuilding nutrition is largely about hitting a macronutrient target or intake. Getting enough protein in to support muscle growth and recovery, eating the right amount of carbs according to your goals, and getting in enough fat intake to support hormone regulation, amongst other things. So why can't you do that on a vegan diet? For fats, you've peanut butter, avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, nuts— I could go on. Carbs: rice, potatoes, pasta, cereal— I, that, that's the easy part. And then protein, if you're smart about it, you've quinoa, tofu, lentils, beans, which I'm big into. I eat tons of beans, great source of fiber as well. And nowadays, if you still need to get some more protein intake in, you've so much kind of protein-enforced products. Like, I'm not trying to, you know, sell anything here, but on Myprotein they have protein bread, which is vegan. They have protein pasta, protein rice, and even have a really good protein powder vegan blend that I'm told is very good. I haven't tried it, but I might. And they also have a soy protein isolate which actually has better macros than than whey protein. So 2 scoops of that in a shaker, down the hatch, 30 seconds, and you're sorted, you know. So there's really no problem getting protein in on a vegan diet nowadays. It's just those people who are a bit closed-minded who say, "Oh, you know, Kai Greene eats beef, so you have to eat beef." But no, you don't have to. And for anyone wondering, I actually do have vegan and vegetarian clients. So no, there's nothing wrong with a vegan bodybuilding diet. This is a joint question: Thoughts on the YouTuber Vegan Gains? Well, personality-wise, he seems like a very negative person. He's very disrespectful towards women, and he's built up his channel on slandering other people's names. And in my opinion, he comes across really annoying. He's hard to listen to. And in terms of his advice, I'm sure a lot of you are familiar with the term cherry-picking. This means choosing research and study that suits your bias or what you have to say, and ignoring the rest of the evidence that doesn't support what you have to say. One poorly done study often doesn't mean shit. It's the overwhelming majority of evidence that matters. But you could present Vegan Gains with some really strong evidence showing an omnivore diet to be healthy, but he's too emotionally attached to veganism to even give it a look. So please apply some critical thinking skills and ask yourself, "Should I take advice from somebody who is so narrow-minded and is only going to give me his own biased answer?" Whereas myself, I just explained that a vegan diet can be good. You can have a good vegan diet, you can have a bad vegan diet. You can have a good omnivore diet, you can have a bad omnivore diet. Also, to all the vegan YouTubers like Vegan Gains, Durian Rider, Freelee the Banana Woman, If you're trying to make people go vegan, you're really going about it the wrong way. You've put me off going vegan because you've made it look like some crazy cult that I do not want to be part of. You've actually spoken about killing people who don't go vegan. Pfff. If you were to live abroad, where and why? Uh, California, I would have to say. As you know, I lived there last summer and I just really liked the lifestyle. I got along well with all the people there. I actually made some good friends. And obviously I love the weather and the beaches and that sort of thing. What is your ideal simple meal that is easy to prep and relatively cheap? Eh, the burrito bowl. You know, I made this recipe a long, long time ago, but you know, people are still making it. But comment down below if you want me to make burrito bowl reloaded. Because it really is like the perfect meal. It's like got a good macronutrient split. It's got fiber, micronutrients, and it tastes great, and it's quick and cheap and easy to make. How do you cope with getting less shredded after a cut? Thoughts on Instagram and how it affects people's perception on how athletes look year-round. Yeah, this is a good question. After my competition, when I put on a few pounds, I felt all down on myself, but you know, I had to realize I still had abs, I still look good. My girlfriend actually thought I looked better, so I really had to snap out of that. And it is such a mental thing. And as for that Instagram question, yeah, you got to realize that very, very few people are shredded shredded and tanned year round. And you know, they often just post old pictures. And also, a lot of the people you see on Instagram, they're in like the minus 1%. They look like Greek gods, you know. You shouldn't compare yourself to like fitness celebrities that you see on Instagram because it's just giving off false expectations. Whereas if you actually look at the population, like, you know, the whole entire country The majority of people are overweight or obese, so if you're relatively lean, if you have slightly visible abs, you're doing very well for yourself. Do you think 28 is too old to become a PT and try make it in the fitness industry? A lot of names in the fitness industry tend to be quite young. You know, you've Shaun Thompson, he's like 20, uh, Jeff Seid is 21, uh, Christian Guzman is 22. I'm 23, uh, I think Mark Fit is like 24, Joe Delaney's like 25, Tavi Castro, Joseph Rakic are like 25 as well, I think. But, uh, anyways, yeah, so everyone seems to be between 20 and 25, but then there's plenty of guys in late 20s and even 30s, like Steve Cook, he's in his 30s. So while it may look like everyone is quite young, 28, nah man, it's never too late. Where has Roman gone? Yeah, something I'm really sad about. We had to find a new home for him. A few of you may know, but this isn't exactly like a family home. You know, all the rooms here are rented out and, you know, strangers stay in them, you know, rent them. It's kind of like an apartment block. The only room I have to myself is this room. So the house just wasn't big enough for him, and especially living in the city So we have to find somewhere else down the country for him. But the important thing is that he's got a home. At what age do you think you'll slow down on fitness? No, no, no. As you get older, I think fitness gets more important. Like, you know, I am not going to be a fat old man. I refuse to be that way. I'm really going to make sure that I keep lifting and exercising and eating right. Until my old days. Should a skinny fat person bulk or cut first? That's going to depend on the individual, but without going too much into things, think about this: you can't lose fat when you're in a caloric surplus, but you can gain muscle when you're in a caloric deficit. When your sleep, nutrition, training, everything is on point, you can certainly build muscle in a deficit. So especially if you're a newbie lifter, So that's something I might do a full video on, but for this question I'm going to say cut first. How much muscle would an individual lose cutting from 12 to 14% body fat down to 6 to 7%, assuming macros and nutrition are on point and strength is maintained in the gym? Nutrition on point, strength maintained in the gym, you're looking at no muscle loss. This sounds like a good cut. A properly laid out plan should result in no muscle loss. And even like I mentioned, you know, we have studies showing trained athletes to gain a tiny bit of muscle when cutting if a cut is done right. So it may not be a significant amount— you'll always build significantly more muscle in a surplus— but there's no reason why you can't cut and maintain all your muscle and even build a tiny bit. Any advice on staying lean on holiday? I'm going to America next week and I want to minimize loss of Gaines, Gaines with a Z, good man. And well, this is largely going to depend on where you go. Like, I was in Croatia there and there was hardly any gyms there. There's literally no gyms there. And you know, the food choices in restaurants were really bad. Like, no matter how hard you tried, like, you'd order a salad and it would just come covered in sauce. But whereas in America, you know, there's gyms everywhere everywhere. There's a gym on every block, and every restaurant has healthy options. There's even a good few restaurants with a gym menu. Like, you know, the fitness industry in America is massive. And then, you know, I went to Thailand one year, and again, you know, hardly any gyms and, you know, poor food choices. So it's just largely going to depend on where you go, but you said you're going to America, so you'll definitely be fine. Just get as much workouts in as possible and make smart choices when you eat out. Do you know who's going to be at BodyPower Ireland? Are Machine Fitness going to be there? Machine Fitness are going to be there, but we're not going to have a stand there. We're all just going to go over to Ireland, just buzz around, you know, hand out clothes and stuff like that. And we're also going to have a big workout somewhere. We're going to, you know, We've got a videographer and stuff like that, so it's actually gonna be just like we have a stand, 'cause we're all gonna be there. And then every evening, everyone can come join us for a big workout, so I'm really, really excited for that. As far as who else is going to BodyPower Ireland, I know USN, Optimum Nutrition, BSN, and Quest are, but it's still to be confirmed. It's a long way away. But I am so pumped for BodyPower Ireland. That's my home turf, like, you know, this is a home game. So, um, yeah, I can't wait for it. We on Instagram now. Can we hear a little about your girlfriend's diet/workout routine? Judging by your pictures, she's in great shape. Uh, yeah, I'm going— she's going to be on the channel very soon, like in the next couple of videos. She was just a bit initially shy, but no, she's going to be on it. I'm going to record a full glute workout with her, but, um, Anyways, as for her diet, when she's with me, she eats well. But apart from that, she tries her best. She tries to get some good protein in every meal. You know, she knows about macros and she roughly tries to get her macros right, but she's not too great with it. She eats her fair share of ice cream to put any flexible dieter to shame. So I'd say her diet is pretty poor. It could be a lot better. But when she's in the gym, she's good. More on Sarah later this week. How to get back into your training routine after taking time off? Motivation's gone over the past week. Need to kick myself back. See, I don't know, like, you know, I was away and when I came back, my motivation was huge. I couldn't wait to go to the gym. So, um, I don't know, I don't know how to answer that. I'm literally the opposite. I guess just try to think like, why did you start? And just think of all the benefits of it. Thoughts on keto diets? Okay, I've got mixed views on keto diets. Um, first of all, I think they're short-term approaches. I think they're kind of like a tool. They're not long-term. If you think you're never gonna eat carbohydrates again, come on, like, let's be real. And secondly, a lot of people think like keto diets are magical, like, oh, I cut out carbs and all these magical ketones come, and you know, I burn loads of fat. But we've actually seen that the main benefits come from keto dieting is actually you just improve your diet in general. You, by default, you higher up your protein intake and you eat just more nutrient-dense foods like, you know, salads and vegetables and stuff like that, and a lot of meat. So by default your diet is just going to get better and your calories are going to go down. When we actually— we've actually got studies matching protein intake and matching calories, one with no carbohydrates and then one with carbohydrates and fat, and fat loss is pretty much identical. And there was actually a recent study that showed that fat loss was actually a little bit superior with carbohydrates. So, so that's just another thing to think of. So keto diets They're good short-term because they're satiating, you know, big salads, you know, meat, veg, and they're low-calorie, high-protein. But just remember, a lot of the benefits is just coming from a high protein intake and lowered calories. So that concludes the Q&A. Thank you so much for watching, and I hope you enjoyed it. I'm sorry if it was a little bit boring. Just from time to time, I do have to come out with these informative informative videos, but now we'll be going back to vlogs and all the fun stuff. So anyways, until next time, keep it real. I'm outta here.
