Adam Bornstein is a New York Times bestselling author, former Fitness Editor for Men’s Health, and advisor to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Today, he spends much of his time as the Chief of Nutrition for Ladder, a supplement company founded by Arnold and Lebron James. We dive deep on issues in the supplement industry, how Adam approaches formulation, and the toughest part about making products tested by Lebron James.
In this episode of The BarBend Podcast, guest Adam Bornstein and host David Thomas Tao discuss:
- How Adam got started in fitness (and why he hates talking about himself) (3:23)
- Ladder’s founding, and the story behind Lebron James’ and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s partnership (5:20)
- The first time Lebron James EVER tried a nutritional supplement (7:45)
- The challenge of making a supplement for the NBA’s biggest name (10:27)
- How Adam approaches supplement formulation — and what he tries to avoid (13:05)
- The surprising revelations Adam found between whey protein concentrate and isolate (14:30)
- Challenges formulating vegan/vegetarian proteins, and how Adam solved the problem for Ladder (17:50)
- Misconceptions about grass-fed whey (20:20)
- Adam’s job isn’t to be right; it’s to GET it right (23:35)
- The surprising difficulty in making a greens powder (it’s all about the metals) (25:00)
- Testing for purity (27:00)
- Proper dosing in making supplements (32:00)
- Cutting through the news in the influencer space (35:00)
Relevant links and further reading:
- Follow Adam Bornstein on Twitter and Instagram
- Visit Adam’s website, Born Fitness
- Check out our review of Ladder’s Whey Protein and Pre-Workout
