2808: Build a Butt or Get Abs? Where Do I Start?

What It Covers

Sal DiStefano, Adam Schafer, and Justin Andrews address whether to prioritize building glutes or losing body fat first, explaining why bulking before cutting produces superior long-term results for both aesthetics and metabolic health. The episode also covers calisthenics stacking on MAPS programs, sleep consistency, peptide stacks, and declining grip strength in younger generations.

Key Questions Answered

• •Build-first sequencing: When the goal is both a larger glute and a smaller waist, always prioritize the muscle-building phase first. A lean bulk of 250–500 calories above maintenance creates periods where the body simultaneously builds muscle and trims fat. Attempting a calorie deficit first makes subsequent muscle gain significantly harder, while a proper bulk raises metabolic rate and makes the eventual cut far easier and more sustainable.
• •Body composition vs. body fat percentage: Two people at identical body fat percentages look radically different depending on muscle mass. Adam reports weighing 233 lbs at 18% body fat versus a prior 212 lbs at 19%—nearly the same percentage, but a visually dramatic difference. Adding lean mass lowers body fat percentage mathematically without losing a single pound of fat, while also elevating resting metabolic rate and improving hormone profiles.
• •Calisthenics stacking on MAPS programs: Adding 100 daily push-ups, pull-ups, and squats on top of a MAPS training program is likely excessive because MAPS programs are written as complete standalone protocols. The recommended approach is to complete the program exactly as written during the first cycle, then assess recovery capacity and add supplemental work only in the second cycle, when baseline response data is available.
• •Sleep consistency as the primary lever: Of all sleep optimization strategies, maintaining a fixed bedtime and wake time every day—including weekends—produces the largest measurable improvement in sleep quality and length. Sleeping in on weekends effectively self-induces social jet lag, shifting circadian rhythm so that Monday morning feels like an early-morning flight. Targeting lights-out by 9:30 PM and dinner by 6:30–7:00 PM supports this consistency.
• •Grade Eight program for BJJ athletes: For a 40-year-old training Brazilian jiu-jitsu, the MAPS Grade Eight program is the optimal strength complement because it requires only one primary lift per day. This minimal-volume, high-intensity structure preserves recovery capacity for mat time, mirrors in-season athletic programming principles, and avoids the cumulative fatigue that multi-lift-per-session programs would generate on top of regular sparring.
• •BPC-157 and TB-500 peptide stack: The combination of pentadeca organate (an improved BPC-157 analog) and thymosin beta-4 (the full-chain version of TB-500), sourced through FDA-regulated pharmacies like mphormones.com, cuts injury recovery time roughly in half. The stack upregulates growth hormone receptors, reduces inflammation measurably, and produces visible improvements in muscle quality and leanness that users consistently report as unambiguous rather than subtle.