Diego Cocchetti (2026)

08/10/2026

Why your iron supplements aren't working (Meet Hepcidin) 🩸👇

If you are constantly fatigued or your aerobic performance has plateaued, forcing more iron into your system isn't the answer.

Your body isn't a bucket to fill; it's a biochemical system managed by precise signals.

The master signal for iron is Hepcidin.

This hormone opens or locks the cellular gates of iron absorption.

• High Inflammation/Stress? Hepcidin spikes. Iron gets locked in storage, leaving you dealing with daily brain fog and low physical drive.
• Chronic Overtraining? Same result. For athletes, elevated hepcidin directly limits hemoglobin production, crushing your VO2 max, oxygen transport, and endurance.

Standard lab ranges only tell you if you are clinically sick, not if you are optimized to perform at work or in the gym. Stop chasing isolated biomarkers.

Ready to stop guessing and optimize your biology?

Standard blood tests miss the functional patterns holding your life and training back. Through my Blood Chemistry Interpretation, we will analyze your unique biomarkers to pinpoint the exact biochemical bottlenecks crashing your energy and recovery.

🔗 Click the link in my bio to book your functional lab analysis today.

28/09/2026

A powerlifter, an 800 m runner, a tennis player and a marathon runner may all be highly trained athletes—but their nutritional needs can be very different.

Why?

Because they place different demands on their bodies.

Exercise relies on three energy systems: the phosphagen, glycolytic and oxidative systems. All three are always contributing, but their relative contribution changes depending on the intensity and duration of the effort.

A maximal lift or short sprint relies heavily on the phosphagen system.

A 200–800 m effort places much greater demands on glycolysis.

Longer-duration work relies more heavily on the oxidative system.

And sports like tennis, football and many team sports sit somewhere in between, constantly moving between energy systems.

This matters because nutrition should support the work you are actually asking your body to perform.

Carbohydrates are particularly important when training intensity and volume are high. Protein supports muscle repair and adaptation. Fluids and electrolytes help maintain performance and replace what is lost through sweating.

But there is no universal amount, timing or ratio that works for every athlete.

Your sport, training load, body composition goals, competition schedule and individual response all matter.

There is no “athlete diet.”

There is a nutrition strategy designed around the demands of the athlete.

Fuel the work. Recover from it. Adapt to it.

23/09/2026

If your goal is to preserve or build muscle, your training should have a purpose.

Not just more sweat.

Not just more calories burned.

Not just more exercises.

Mechanical tension is a fundamental stimulus for muscle adaptation.

That's why foundational resistance training matters.

Progressively challenging the muscles tells your body that this tissue is still required.

But more training isn't automatically better.

Infinite volume, constant failure and excessive conditioning can create more fatigue without necessarily creating a better stimulus.

The objective is to find the amount of training that provides a strong stimulus and that you can recover from.

For most people, that means:

→ Progressive resistance training
→ Sufficient intensity
→ Productive volume
→ Adequate protein
→ Enough calories to support the goal
→ Quality sleep and recovery
→ Cardio used as a complement, not a replacement for strength training

And this becomes increasingly important with age.

You don't want to spend your 40s, 50s and 60s simply trying to stay active.

You want to maintain the physical capacity to be strong, mobile and capable.

Don't train just to burn calories.

Train to build something your body wants to keep.

Healthy, Lean & Strong.

21/09/2026

We spend far too much time talking about getting lighter.

As you get older, the more important question becomes:

What are you losing to become lighter?

If weight loss means losing excessive amounts of muscle, you may end up lighter without becoming stronger, more resilient or more physically capable.

Sarcopenia is the progressive loss of muscle mass and function associated with aging, and resistance training is one of the most important tools we have to counter it.

But this isn't only about preventing muscle loss.

Muscle is metabolically active tissue.

It contributes to glucose disposal, force production, physical function and your ability to tolerate the demands of everyday life.

That's why I don't look at body composition in isolation.

The goal isn't simply:

Lose weight.

It's:

Lose unnecessary fat while protecting—or ideally increasing—muscle.

That changes how you approach nutrition, training and recovery.

You don't need to become smaller at all costs.

You need to become stronger, more capable and metabolically resilient.

Because eventually, muscle stops being about aesthetics.

It becomes about independence.

Healthy, Lean & Strong.

19/09/2026

There’s a reason foundational lifts have remained at the centre of strength training for decades.

Squats.
Deadlifts.
Presses.
Rows.
Pull-ups.
Olympic lifts.

These movements allow you to train multiple joints and muscle groups together while developing strength, coordination, bracing, stability and force production.

That matters because your body doesn’t perform as a collection of isolated muscles.

Movement depends on different muscles working together, stabilizing joints and coordinating force across the kinetic chain.

If one component is unable to contribute effectively, it can influence how the entire movement is performed.

This doesn’t mean isolation exercises are useless.

Quite the opposite.

They can be extremely valuable for targeting specific muscles, addressing weaknesses and adding volume without the systemic demands of heavier compound movements.

But I don't believe they should replace the foundation.

For most people — especially those who want to become stronger, build muscle and maintain physical capability as they age — I want to see a combination of:

→ Foundational compound movements
→ Targeted accessory work
→ Progressive overload
→ Good technique
→ Appropriate training volume

You don't need to chase complicated exercises to build an impressive body.

First, learn to move well.

Then get strong.

Then use additional exercises strategically to address what needs more attention.

Build the foundation.
Strengthen the weak links.
Keep progressing.

Healthy, Lean & Strong.

DM me “TRAINING” if you want to learn how I structure strength training for muscle, performance and long-term health.

18/09/2026

Antioxidants are not the problem.

Misusing them is.

Exercise creates reactive oxygen species (ROS). We often think of ROS as something we need to eliminate.

But ROS also act as signalling molecules involved in training adaptation.

And this is where context matters.

If your goal is strength and muscle growth, ROS are involved in signalling pathways related to the response to resistance training. High-dose vitamin C and E supplementation has been shown to blunt some of these acute signalling responses, including p70S6K, ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK. However, the evidence for an actual reduction in long-term hypertrophy or strength is much less consistent.

With endurance training, the story is particularly interesting.

ROS are involved in mitochondrial adaptation. In one randomized trial, 1000 mg vitamin C + 235 mg vitamin E daily for 11 weeks blunted increases in PGC-1α and COX4 — markers associated with mitochondrial adaptation — although VO₂max and running performance improved similarly between groups.

So the takeaway isn't:

“Antioxidants are bad.”

It's:

Don't automatically suppress a signal your body needs to adapt.

There is a big difference between getting antioxidants from a diet rich in fruit and vegetables and routinely taking pharmacological doses of isolated antioxidant supplements around training.

For most people, I would prioritize:

• Whole-food antioxidant sources
• Adequate energy and protein
• Quality training
• Sleep and recovery
• Appropriate training load

And I would be cautious with high-dose vitamin C and E supplementation, particularly when the primary goal is to maximize training adaptation.

You don't need to protect your body from every bit of stress.

Some stress is the reason your body adapts.

Healthy, Lean & Strong.

DM me “TRAINING” if you want to understand how I approach training, recovery and supplementation strategically.

17/09/2026

Today I turn 47 and honestly, I’m not in the best shape of my life.

I’m probably weaker than I’ve ever been since I started lifting weights.

For most of my life, I pushed my body to its limits.

I played tennis for more than 10 years hoping to become a professional.

I squatted 200 kg to parallel, with my dad spotting me without having the slightest idea what he was supposed to do.

I box-jumped more than 100 cm before the social media era.

I won a national BMX championship 20 years ago.

I broke six bones, dislocated my shoulder, had a TBI and countless other injuries.

I also competed in endurance sports, powerlifting and bodybuilding.

Every workout had a purpose: preparing me for the next challenge.

I always wanted to know what my body was capable of.

But over the last four years, I’ve had to accept something that has been incredibly difficult for me:

My body isn't the same anymore and I’m still paying the price for the things I asked from it.

Today, success can simply mean finishing a workout without pain or exhaustion and being able to do it again tomorrow.

Dealing with IBS, chronic fatigue and anxiety has been difficult, not only for me but also for those closest to me.

I just want to keep doing the things I love for as long as possible, preserving my physical and emotional integrity without proving how much I can tolerate anymore.

I’ve never been comfortable exposing much of myself on social media.

Sometimes even the shirtless pictures are a kind of mask.

You see the body, so you don't see what's underneath.

Today, I don't want to wear that mask.

On my birthday, I want to say thank you to my girlfriend, , and to my family for continuing to believe in me, support me, and love me.

I don't know what the next years will bring.

I don't know what the next years will bring.
But I hope I can keep training myself and others, keep learning, enjoy life more with the people I love and my friends — and do all of it without destroying myself in the process.

Still here.
Still training.
Still coaching.
Still learning.
Still grateful. ❤️

16/09/2026

I’ve never been a fan of the idea that “zero calories” automatically means “better for your metabolism.”

This study gives us another reason to question that assumption.

In this randomized trial, healthy adults consumed a moderate amount of sucralose for 14 days.

The result?

Insulin sensitivity decreased significantly.

But what caught my attention was the adjusted analysis.

The reduction in insulin sensitivity remained significant even after accounting for changes in:

• Body weight
• Physical activity
• Calorie intake
• Sugar intake

In other words, the finding wasn’t simply explained by participants gaining weight, eating more calories, consuming more sugar, or becoming less active.

Sucralose consumption remained the only significant variable modifying insulin sensitivity in the adjusted model.

Now, this was a small, short-term study, so we cannot conclude that sucralose causes diabetes or that these effects necessarily persist long term.

But I think the message is important:

Artificial sweeteners should not automatically be considered metabolically irrelevant simply because they contain little or no energy.

And personally, I would rather help someone reduce their dependence on sweetness altogether than replace sugar with increasingly sophisticated sweeteners.

If metabolic health is the goal, I’d rather build a diet around real food, adequate protein and fibre, good nutrient density, resistance training, daily movement and quality sleep.

You don’t always need a “zero-calorie” version of the food you’re trying to move away from.

Sometimes you need to change the habit itself.

Healthy, Lean & Strong.

DM me “METABOLIC” if you want to understand how I approach metabolic health beyond calories and body weight.

14/09/2026

Your neck is part of your kinetic system.

Yet it's often missing from otherwise well-designed strength programs.

Neck strength contributes to the ability to position and stabilize the head, and research shows that both isometric and dynamic training can effectively increase neck strength.

For athletes, this becomes particularly relevant in sports involving contact, collisions or rapid head movements.

But here's an important distinction:

Neck training is not a guarantee against concussion.

The evidence on whether stronger neck musculature actually reduces concussion or cervical injury risk is still evolving. A 2026 systematic review concluded that the association remains inconclusive, while newer research is investigating how neck training may reduce head acceleration events.

So why train it?

Because strength, control and capacity are valuable in their own right.

And you don't need complicated equipment.

A well-designed program can include:

→ Isometric flexion
→ Isometric extension
→ Lateral isometrics
→ Controlled dynamic resistance
→ Progressive loading

For athletes, I see neck training as another piece of complete physical preparation.

For the general population, the same principle applies:

Don't only train what looks good in the mirror.

Train what helps you move, perform and stay capable.

If you're over 30 and want a training program built around your goals, performance and long-term health, DM me “COACHING” or book a consultation through the link in my bio.

Healthy, Lean & Strong.

Diego Cocchetti

08/10/2026

28/09/2026

23/09/2026

21/09/2026

19/09/2026

18/09/2026

17/09/2026

16/09/2026

14/09/2026

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