Just when you thought there was nothing left to say about saturated fat; saturated fat seems to be having a moment. Whether it's the carnivore diet or the new US nutritional guidelines, saturated fat has been getting renewed attention.

In this episode we go into some of the details on how saturated fats affect your health. Is saturated fat always bad? How much is too much? How much is enough? And what's the deal with coconuts!? We cover it all.

Further Reading

What the Hell are Triglycerides?

What's Cholesterol?

Lipids!

Saturated Fats, Dairy Foods and Cardiovascular Health: No Longer a Curious Paradox

The Effects of Coconut Oil Consumption on Cardiovascular Risk Factors

Are you concerned about strength and performance suffering if you try to reduce your body-fat? Fear not, we've got you covered. Unfortunate, there's still a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation around what it take to maximize strength and power.

In part three of the provocatively named "Fat Athlete" series, we discuss how to approach weight loss while preserving performance. Whether you're a recreational athlete, casual fitness enthusiast, or high performance athlete there are proven strategies to improve body composition while maintaining or even improving performance.

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Super-heavyweight Athletes often have lower work capacity and recover from training more slowly than leaner and lighter athletes. Coaches and athletes often attribute this poor work capacity and recovery to dumb explanations like the "higher absolute weight lifted". Dr. Schwartz and Mr Power offer a better explanation that doesn't rely on hand-wavy nonsense and coaching mythology.Many coaches and athletes believe that if you want to be as strong and powerful as possible, gaining significant extra fat is the price you have to pay. Not only is this not true, but tipping over into overweight and obesity is actually counter-productive. This approach leads to athletes and trainees with reduced work capacity, poor recovery, and ultimately robs them of their potential peak-performance.

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Further Reading

Differential susceptibility on myosin heavy chain isoform following eccentric-induced muscle damage

Fiber-specific differences in protein content of pathways related to mTORC1 signaling and oxidative metabolism in individuals with obesity

Muscle fiber-type distribution predicts weight gain and unfavourable left ventricular geometry: a 19 year follow-up study

Intramuscular fat: a review of the consequences and causes

Obstructive sleep apnea among players in the National Football League: a scoping review

Prevalence of poor sleep quality, sleepiness and obstructive sleep apnoea risk factors in athletes

Validation of NoSAS (neck, obesity, snoring, age, sex) score as a screening tool for obstructive sleep apnea: analysis in a sleep clinic

Does neck-to-waist ratio predict obstructive sleep apnoea in children?

The so-called "fit-fat paradox" questions the central tenet that obesity is a marker of poor fitness. So, is it possible to be fit and fat? In this episode, we explore the relationship between obesity, fitness, and performance. In addition to reconciling the fit-fat paradox with current understandings of the effects of overweight and obesity on health, we'll push back against the narrative that getting bigger is always the way to get as strong as possible. The idea of bigger=better is a mainstay amongst football linemen, super-heavyweight powerlifters, and super-heavyweight olympic weightlifters. But is it true? Or, are these super-sized athletes actually hindering their peak performance potential?

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It feels like there's two camps in fitness, those who say that age is just a number and those point to inevitable decline once you pass your 20's. But what if they're both right? Is that last sentence click-bait? Your damn right, now listen to the episode!

In this episode, Dr Schwartz and Mr Power reconcile the fact that you can still make progress after your 20's with current scientific understanding of aging and biology. Along the way, they call out nonsense in the longevity industry, present a model of aging and performance, and reflect on how to age as healthily as possible.

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Pre-planned reductions in training volume and intensity every month or two, or "de-loads", are popular among many coaches. However, there's good reason to question this approach.

In this mini-episode we discuss where the idea of regularly planned de-loads comes from and how it became a staple amongst coaches and trainers when designing programs.

Most importantly you'll get advice on if you should bother with planned de-loads at all, and when you should consider taking a bit of a break from hard training.

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Further Reading and Resources

Echoes of the Modern Training Periodization Concepts in Russia Before the October 1917 Revolution

Periodization Training From Ancient Precursors To Structured Block Models

Long-Term Monitoring of Training Load, Force-Velocity Profile, and Performance in Elite Weightlifters: A Case Series With Two Male Olympic Athletes

Accentuated Eccentric Loading: what is it, should you be doing it, and if so how? The unique features of eccentric muscle action were identified as early as 1882; and nearly 150 years later there's still confusion about how to use this information to program your training.

In this episode, Dr Schwartz and Mr Power dive into the history, science and practical application of accentuated eccentric loading. They blend the most recent research with decades of experience to give you practical advice on how to put eccentric training to work in your program.

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Further Reading:

Why are muscles strong, and why do they require little energy in eccentric action?

When active muscles lengthen: properties and consequences of eccentric contractions

The Effects of Accentuated Eccentric Loading Repetition Structures on Muscle Strength and Adaptation (Sorry, this one's not open access)

Implementing Eccentric Resistance Training—Part 1: A Brief Review of Existing Methods

Implementing Eccentric Resistance Training—Part 2: Practical Recommendations

Is early specialization or later specialization better for athletic development? Scientists, coaches, athletes and parents have been debating about this for decades (at least). We all know examples of top-athletes who famously specialized very early in their careers (Tiger Woods, Venus and Serena Williams), but does that mean it's the best strategy?Specialized sports schools charge top-dollar, promising to give kids the best start possible by teaching them skills early and rigorously. These schools are built on the promise that early specialization gives young athletes the best chance at success.However, the science tells a different story. In this episode Dr Schwartz and Mr Power discuss recent research that throws cold water on the idea of early specialization. Visit our website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Resources

Predictors of Junior Versus Senior Elite Performance are Opposite: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Participation Patterns

Effects of Early Talent Promotion on Junior and Senior Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta‑Analysis

Recent discoveries on the acquisition of the highest levels of human performance

In this idiom-packed episode, Dr Schwartz and Mr Power tackle the low hanging fruit that is the 2026 Dietary Recommendations for Americans. They provide a critical analysis without resorting to the fear mongering and panic.

Not only do they discuss shortcomings of the 2026 recommendations, but they expose a geometry conspiracy, propose an antidote for "Liver King" and highlight some interesting facts about dairy foods and blood lipids.

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How best to train to induce muscle growth (hypertrophy) has been one of the most hotly debated topics in fitness and strength training. For decades scientist, bodybuilders, athletes and coaches weighed in with their hot-takes on what the best approach was. The two biggest camps were certainly high-volume vs. low-volume training.

Today, it looks like the case is mostly closed, with high-volume coming out as the winner. Dr Schwartz and Mr Power will discuss how best to quantify training load (regardless of volume), so as to take a rational approach to muscle hypertrophy.

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Further Reading

Single Vs. Multiple Sets (2010)

Dose-Response for Volume-to-Hypertrophy (2017)

Weekly Volume and Hypertrophy (2025)

Sport Rxiv Preprint (2024)