The blog

Training that holds up

Training, food and form, written by the people who build the app. No supplement ads, no six-week transformations, and every number we give you is one you can check.

Form guidesGuide

Deadlift form: setup, bar path and lockout

A step-by-step deadlift setup, what counts as a rounded back, why the bar drifts forward, and where sumo, Romanian deadlifts and rack pulls fit into your week.

11 August 20266 min readRead ›

Form guidesGuide

Squat form: setup, depth and the common fixes

How to set up, brace and squat properly, plus what to do about knees caving in, heels lifting and hips shooting up. With the variations worth using while you learn.

6 August 20266 min readRead ›

Form guidesGuide

Bench press form: setup, grip and shoulder pain

How to set up the bench press from your feet to your grip, why flaring your elbows hurts your shoulders, how to bench safely alone, and the variations that build a bigger press.

4 August 20266 min readRead ›

NutritionGuide

8 high-protein Indian meals, with the numbers

Eight real Indian meals with 21 to 51 g of protein each, all under 450 calories and under 40 minutes. Four vegetarian, four not, with the full macros for every one.

30 July 20265 min readRead ›

Nutrition

How to set a calorie deficit you can stick to

Why a flat 500 calorie deficit is wrong for most people, how to set yours as a share of your own maintenance, and what to do when the scale stops moving for three weeks.

23 July 20265 min readRead ›

RecoveryGuide

Rest days and deload weeks: when you need each one

A rest day fixes a tired session. A deload fixes a tired month. The signs of each, what a deload week looks like, and what to do on the days you are not lifting.

16 July 20265 min readRead ›

Recovery

Sleep and muscle growth: what a bad week does to your lifts

Short sleep makes you hungrier, weaker and slower to recover. What changes at six hours a night, and the small habits that fix it without buying anything.

9 July 20265 min readRead ›

Training

How many days a week should you train?

Two days a week builds muscle. Six builds more, if you can keep it up. What each option gets you, and how to pick the one that survives a bad month.

2 July 20264 min readRead ›

Training

Compound and isolation exercises: which to do and when

Compound lifts move several joints and build most of your strength. Isolation exercises fix what they miss. How to order them, how many of each to do, and when curls are worth it.

25 June 20264 min readRead ›

TrainingGuide

The push, pull, legs split: a 3-day and a 6-day plan

A push, pull, legs plan with the exercises, sets and rest times written out. The three-day version for a busy week, and the six-day version if you can keep it up.

18 June 20265 min readRead ›

Nutrition

How much protein you need each day, in grams

Protein targets in grams per kilo of bodyweight: 1.6 to hold, 1.8 to build muscle, 2.0 while cutting. What that looks like as food, and how to hit it without living on chicken.

11 June 20265 min readRead ›

Training

Progressive overload: how to keep adding weight

Progressive overload means doing a bit more than last time. Here are the five things you can add, how fast to add them, and what to do when a lift stops moving.

4 June 20265 min readRead ›

Where the numbers come from

We use the same numbers here that the Panko app uses for you. Calories come from the Mifflin-St Jeor formula. Protein is set per kilo of your bodyweight. One-rep max estimates use the Epley formula. The exercise clips and the recipes are the same ones in the app.

None of this is medical advice. If you are injured or in pain, talk to a doctor or a physiotherapist first.

Work it out for yourself

Calorie calculator Macro calculator BMI calculator Water intake calculator One-rep max calculator All free tools

Reading about it is the easy part

Panko keeps score while you do it. Last time's weight on every set, meals logged from a photo or a sentence, and a chart that tells you whether it is working.

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