In today's episode, Drs Trexler and Helms discuss a wide range of fitness topics including metabolic stress, "the pump," targeting the different heads of the biceps, individualising diets and supplement protocols, maximal rates of fat loss, blood flow restricted training, the philosophy of science, and much more!

We had some technical issues while recording this episode live, but it's all fixed now with the wonders of editing. If you don't understand a couple of the jokes, they're referring to chaos that has been deleted.

Time stamps:

00:00 Straight into the topic: why should anyone care about metabolic stress? 03:13 Helms takes a deep dive into energy systems and muscle physiology 12:37 Subjective and objective measures of the pump and potential influencing factors 22:12 Arterial and venous occlusion 29:35 Update on Trexler’s training and Q&A 1 different curl variations 38:53 Q&A 2 Manipulating forearm position for the biceps? 42:42 Q&A 3 Can BFR increase vascularity? And an aside on muscle memory and testosterone 48:03 Q&A 4 Individualising supplements and diet 58:34 Q&A 5 Fat oxidation and maximum rate of fat loss per day with some applications for contest prep 1:13:42 Q&A 6 Science communicators/educators and the philosophy of science  Larsen 2025 Knee flexion range of motion does not influence muscle hypertrophy of the quadriceps femoris during leg press training in resistance-trained individuals https://sportrxiv.org/index.php/server/preprint/view/502  Kubo 2019 Effects of squat training with different depths on lower limb muscle volumes https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31230110/ Iron Culture Ep. 109- Empiricism vs Rationalism: What Do We Really Know When It Comes To Fitness? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT3KPnTgO7M 1:29:27 Q&A 7 Using BFR in practice 1:30:50 Closing out MASS Research Review https://massresearchreview.com/ 

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Airport Lounge - Disco Ultralounge by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...

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Artist: http://incompetech.com/

In this episode of Iron Culture, Eric Helms and Trex discuss a variety of evidence-based fitness topics. In this conversation, Dr. Trexler and Dr. Helms delve into the complexities of muscle gain, recovery, and the role of nutrition in performance. They discuss the nuances of identifying plateaus in training, the impact of training volume, the importance of food quality, and how psychological factors can influence recovery and performance. The dialogue emphasizes the need for a balanced approach to training volume and exercise selection, as well as the impact of nutrition on overall health and performance in bodybuilding. They also discuss modern theories and practical applications surrounding body weight regulation and the neurophysiological factors influencing obesity. They explore the gravitosat theory, discuss the implications of muscle gain on body weight regulation, and examine the concept of upper and lower intervention points. Additionally, they touch on powerlifting training strategies and the significance of volume in strength training.

Time stamps:

0:00 Music

5:08 Introduction to the new year and another episode (and learning through teaching)

14:48 Q&A 1: Navigating injuries and recovery with training

23:42 Q&A 2: Plateaus with low volumes and difficulties recovering from increasing volume

31:08 Trexler on the importance of exercise selection and prescribing set volumes for clients

45:31 Q&A 3 The role of food quality in performance and hypertrophy

1:00:07 Q&A 4 Bodyweight regulation and intervention points with muscle gain

1:04:14 Exploring the Gravitostat Theory

1:10:50 Lower intervention points: muscle and fat gain

Speakman 2011 Set points, settling points and some alternative models: theoretical options to understand how genes and environments combine to regulate body adiposity https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22065844/

1:16:12 Neurophysiology and bodyweight regulation

1:24:01 Practical Applications of Body Weight Theories

1:29:35 Powerlifting Insights and Training Strategies

Andoulakis-Korakakis 2021 The Minimum Effective Training Dose Required for 1RM Strength in Powerlifters https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34527944/

Pelland 2024 The Resistance Training Dose-Response: Meta-Regressions Exploring the Effects of Weekly Volume and Frequency on Muscle Hypertrophy and Strength Gain https://sportrxiv.org/index.php/server/preprint/view/460

1:33:31 Closing out another episode of Iron Culture presented by MASS

https://massresearchreview.com/

MASS Office Hours: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLq2Hpu55tCKbaklI9h4Z5-2kJYf5T3ren

In this episode, Eric Helms is joined by returning guest, his fellow 3DMJ coach and WNBF Pro bodybuilder, Alberto Nuñez, who is also the  male WNBF athlete rep. In addition, they are joined by first time guest Steff Noble, a WNBF Figure pro, experienced coach, and president of WNBF UK. The trio first reflects on what was arguably the most competitive natural bodybuilding season to date, and the overall state of drug free bodybuilding, which in many ways is flourishing. There is more interest, higher competitive levels, higher productive quality in some regions, and in some countries natural bodybuilding is growing faster than enhanced bodybuilding. In North America, while some federations are doing better than others, the market demand for natural bodybuilding is obvious, as the NPC has made a concerted push to enter the natural bodybuilding scene, promoting drug tested shows in the US and Canada (as well as overseas), and even offering the chance to turn pro at the biggest natural events, with promises of drug tested pro shows on the horizon. What does this mean for natural bodybuilding? Is this a good thing, a threat, the beginning of a new era, or the beginning of the end? Further, what does the natural bodybuilding community need to do collectively to secure its future? Join us in this episode as we review not only the 2024 natural bodybuilding season, but discuss the future of the sport.

The MASS crew records Iron Culture LIVE on YouTube, every Monday night at 7pm eastern time. Be sure to join us for a future episode and say hello in the live chat!

If you'd like to submit a question or topic for us to address on an upcoming episode, please use this link: https://massresearchreview.com/office...

Time stamps:

00:00 (Re)-introducing Berto and Steff while Helms discusses ‘sports’

04:15 Steff’s WNBF World’s recap and natural bodybuilding journey

10:35 The differences and similarities between the UK and US bodybuilding scenes (with some Eric seed-planting)

17:14 Berto’s WNBF World’s experience and the rising standard of bodybuilding

24:22 Regional differences in bodybuilding

36:09 The promoting and production of shows

46:00 The shift in the bodybuilding athlete mindset

51:31 The growth of the sport and increasing number of federations

59:12 Discussing comparisons with Powerlifting

1:13:40 Time for natural bodybuilding to adapt or die

1:26:03 Final perspectives on the future of bodybuilding

1:33:00 Closing out

In this episode of Iron Culture presented by MASS, Dr. Eric Trexler and Dr. Eric Helms explore the science and debate surrounding lengthened partials, a training technique often celebrated for its hypertrophy and strength benefits. Drawing on recent studies, they discuss how emerging evidence challenges some hyperbolic claims of lengthened partials as a superior training method, suggesting instead that their effectiveness is highly context-dependent. The hosts advocate for viewing lengthened partials as a complementary, rather than revolutionary, tool in exercise programming. After the main discussion, the episode transitions into a series of listener questions, with Dr. Trexler sharing his renewed enthusiasm for training (and his current approach to training) as he recovers from surgery. The hosts also address topics like the importance of omega-3 intake during low-fat diets, the diminishing returns of high training volumes, practical applications of two-a-day training splits, and the impact of high-protein diets on digestive health, emphasizing fiber and dietary diversity. They also discuss caffeine’s role in sleep disruption, underlining caffeine timing as an easy way to improve sleep quality, among many other topics.

The MASS crew records Iron Culture LIVE on YouTube, every Monday night at 7pm eastern time. Be sure to join us for a future episode and say hello in the live chat! 

If you'd like to submit a question or topic for us to address on an upcoming episode, please use this link: 

https://massresearchreview.com/office-hours/

Time stamps: 0:00 Intro music 2:30 Introduction to another episode of Iron Culture x MASS Office Hours 3:31 New pre-prints on lengthened partials Gschneider 2024 The effects of lengthened-partial range of motionresistance training of the limbs on arm and thigh musclecross-sectional area: a multi-site cluster trial https://sportrxiv.org/index.php/server/preprint/view/485 Hinson 2024 Mixing Up Muscle Lengths: The Effects of Manipulating Peak Torque At Different Muscle Lengths in the Elbow Flexors https://sportrxiv.org/index.php/server/preprint/view/486 16:33 Helms’ breakdown of the literature Maeo 2023 Effects of hip extension training performed with full versus partial range of motion at long muscle lengths on muscle hypertrophy and sprint performance https://www.ecss.mobi/DATA/EDSS/C28/28-3269.pdf Kassiano 2023 Greater Gastrocnemius Muscle Hypertrophy After Partial Range of Motion Training Performed at Long Muscle Lengths https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37015016/ Pedrosa 2022 Partial range of motion training elicits favorable improvements in muscular adaptations when carried out at long muscle lengths https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33977835/ Werkhausen 2021 Adaptations to explosive resistance training with partial range of motion are not inferior to full range of motion https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33465838/ 25:23 Live chat Q&A 1 An update on Trexler’s training 33:26 Q&A 2 Omega-3 intake with low fat diets 36:54 Q&A 3 Quantifying volume and finding the sweet spot Pelland 2024 The Resistance Training Dose-Response: Meta-Regressions Exploring the Effects of Weekly Volume and Frequency on Muscle Hypertrophy and Strength Gain https://sportrxiv.org/index.php/server/preprint/view/460 43:25 Teasing the MASS research interpretation and statistics guide 54:37 Q&A 4 When to do two-a-days 58:05 Q&A 5 Digestive health with high protein diets 1:06:12 Q&A 6 Caffeine and sleep disruption 1:13:07 Rapid fire Q&A: efficiency tiers, kinetic chain, waking-up with earplugs, cross-fit athletes, Trex’s injury and intervention, resistance profiles at different muscle lengths Plotkin 2023 Hip thrust and back squat training elicit similar gluteus muscle hypertrophy and transfer similarly to the deadlift https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37877099/ Kobayashi 2024 Distinct hypertrophy of the elbow flexors after incline versus preacher dumbbell curl training https://www.ecss.mobi/DATA/EDSS/C29/29-1752.pdf Zabaleta-Korta 2021 The role of exercise selection in regional Muscle Hypertrophy: A randomized controlled trial https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34743671/ Larsen 2024 Dumbbell versus cable lateral raises for lateral deltoid hypertrophy: an experimental study https://sportrxiv.org/index.php/server/preprint/view/487 1:32:37 Helms’ objectivity from being a competitive bodybuilder and closing out https://massresearchreview.com/

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Airport Lounge - Disco Ultralounge by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-...

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

In this crossover episode of Iron Culture, co-hosts Danny Lennon and Eric Trexler are joined by fitness professional and fellow Sports Nutrition Association (SNA) advisory board member Laurin Conlin. Together, they dive into the complex relationship between mental health, physique sports, and fitness coaching. Laurin shares her personal experiences and insights on how disordered eating and body image issues often arise in competitive physique sports, and how these behaviors can permeate into the broader fitness space. The conversation highlights strategies for recognizing and reducing harmful behaviors, the importance of revisiting problematic terminology in the industry, and the value of maintaining a holistic perspective in coaching. Practical advice for fitness practitioners is grounded in evidence-based approaches like motivational interviewing, helping coaches better support clients navigating these challenges. The episode concludes with resources for learning more about the SNA and its initiatives in advancing sports nutrition practice.

Time stamps: 00:00 Introducing Laurin to this SNA crossover episode 06:05 What got Laurin into the mental health space and where does physique sport cross into disordered eating/body image disorder? 15:02 Recognising and reducing harmful behaviours and cognitions associated with competing in physique sport  28:20 Laurin’s personal experiences and physique sport behaviours permeating into general health and fitness  35:51 Problematic terminology and looking at the bigger picture 45:51 Advice for health practitioners to help clients in this area Clifford & Curtis (2016) Motivational interviewing in nutrition and fitness. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2015-33705-000 58:22 Closing out and where to find more information on the Sport Nutrition Association Website https://sportsnutritionassociation.com/ Board Members https://sportsnutritionassociation.com/advisory-board/

Who is the strongest? Is it the person with the biggest Powerlifting total? Weightlifting total? The current Worlds Strongest Man/Woman Champion? Or, perhaps, the current Arnold Strongman Classic Champion? It’s an oft-debated question, typically occurring around the proverbial fitness water cooler. However, recently Dr. Kind, Dr. Veit, Dr. Heffernan, and our very own Dr. Helms made this debate into a multidisciplinary academic paper. Specifically, they asked the question through the lens of history, what has strength meant in society since the dawn of physical culture, what is strength philosophically, and finally, what is strength objectively, as measured in sport and exercise science? Join us as we discuss why asking this question is important, and how these very different disciplines turned out to be quite complementary in providing an answer.

The MASS crew records Iron Culture LIVE on YouTube, every Monday night at 7pm eastern time. Be sure to join us for a future episode and say hello in the live chat!

If you'd like to submit a question or topic for us to address on an upcoming episode, please use this link:

https://massresearchreview.com/office-hours/

Time stamps:

00:00 Welcoming back Dr Conor Heffernan from the Obelisk

2:35 Adrian and Walter (re)-introduction

Kind 2023 Is bodybuilding a sport? https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00948705.2023.2234978

6:26 What is strength?

Kind 2024 What is strength? https://sportrxiv.org/index.php/server/preprint/view/467

14:21 Who in society decides what strength is?

29:45 A philosophical breakdown of the definition of strength

36:54 Strength measures of interest

56:02 Skill, efficiency, and intentionality

Bauman 1926 Observations on the Strength of the Chimpanzee and its Implications https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/article-abstract/7/1/1/866743

1:06:03 Eric’s tirade on sports science and exploring different strength variables

1:12:36 Categorising strength feats

1:18:46 The final sign-off (more plates, more dates?)

In this episode of Iron Culture, hosts Eric Trexler and Eric Helms begin with a brief discussion of Trex's recent MASS article on the misapplication of modern pain science in the fitness industry. They then discuss the nuances of protein recommendations, debating the merits of using body weight versus fat-free mass as a basis for determining protein needs. The conversation also touches on current research trends in protein intake and hypertrophy. Trexler and Helms move on to discuss the effects of electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) on hypertrophy, the impact of aging on hypertrophy and training volume benchmarks, lengthened partials as a training technique, adaptation to cold training environments, the impact of biomechanics on injury, the psychological aspects of motivation in training, and more.

The MASS crew records Iron Culture LIVE on YouTube, every Monday night at 7pm eastern time. Be sure to join us for a future episode and say hello in the live chat!

If you'd like to submit a question or topic for us to address on an upcoming episode, please use this link:

https://massresearchreview.com/office-hours/

Time stamps:

00:00 Introduction: the MASS Black Friday Sale and Journal Club

https://massresearchreview.com/

7:47  Discussion on Pain Science and Misapplication in Fitness

15:25 Protein Recommendations: Body Weight vs. Fat-Free Mass

Helms 2014 A systematic review of dietary protein during caloric restriction in resistance trained lean athletes: a case for higher intakes https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24092...

23:57  Current Research in Protein Intake and Hypertrophy

Tagawa 2020 Dose-response relationship between protein intake and muscle mass increase: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33300...

Morton 2018 A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength in healthy adults https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28698...

26:26 Protein Recommendations and Controversies

Nunes 2022 Systematic review and meta-analysis of protein intake to support muscle mass and function in healthy adults https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35187...

35:02 EMS for Hypertrophy

42:50 Age and Hypertrophy: Adjusting Volume for Older Lifters

Pelland 2024 The Resistance Training Dose-Response: Meta-Regressions Exploring the Effects of Weekly Volume and Frequency on Muscle Hypertrophy and Strength Gain https://sportrxiv.org/index.php/serve...

50:16 Trexler’s Lengthened Partials Experience

54:57 Adapting to Training in the Cold

1:00:07 Asymmetries, Biomechanics, and Injury

1:08:08 Protein Requirements: Why is Everyone So Confident about 1.6g/kg/day?

1:11:39 Motivation in a Demotivating Environment and Goalsetting

1:27:51 Final Points on Motivation 

1:31:48 Closing Out

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This week we’ve got a MONSTER episode in the form of a live Q&A episode with Dr. Helms and Dr. Trexler. The Good Doctors begin with a recap of the recent WNBF World Championships, followed by an insightful discussion about whether or not humans have a “factory error” in our design that promotes obesity. This is followed by a number of listeners’ questions about functional anatomy, exercise selection, the importance of the eccentric phase of a lift, factors impacting reps in reserve (RIR) accuracy, biceps contributions to back exercises, hypertrophy considerations for the deadlift exercise, mini-cuts, set-to-set fatigue, energy expenditure limits, “delayed” hypertrophy, how to tell if you’re a creatine nonresponder, and velocity-based training.

The MASS crew records Iron Culture LIVE on YouTube, every Monday night at 7pm eastern time. Be sure to join us for a future episode and say hello in the live chat!

If you'd like to submit a question or topic for us to address on an upcoming episode, please use this link:

https://massresearchreview.com/office-hours/

Also, don’t miss out on the MASS Black Friday Sale, which has already started! Learn more and take advantage of huge discounts at www.massresearchreview.com

Time stamps:

0:00 Intro

5:30 WNBF Worlds recap

15:25 Do Humans Have a “Factory Error” in our Design That Promotes Obesity?

Pontzer 2023 The provisioned primate: patterns of obesity across lemurs, monkeys, apes and humans https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37661747/

25:45 How important is the eccentric portion of the lift for hypertrophy?

Roig 2009 The effects of eccentric versus concentric resistance training on muscle strength and mass in healthy adults: a systematic review with meta-analysis https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18981046/

Schoenfeld 2010 The mechanisms of muscle hypertrophy and their application to resistance training https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20847704/

37:15 Exercises with brace points

Haugen 2023 Effect of free-weight vs. machine-based strength training on maximal strength, hypertrophy and jump performance - a systematic review and meta-analysis https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37582807/

44:56 Biceps functional anatomy during back compound exercises and epistemology

Pelland 2024 The Resistance Training Dose-Response: Meta-Regressions Exploring the Effects of Weekly Volume and Frequency on Muscle Hypertrophy and Strength Gain https://sportrxiv.org/index.php/server/preprint/view/460/version/587

50:25 Muscles to hypertrophy to increase deadlift strength

57:55 Rapid fire questions – Q1 Mini-cuts and bulking

1:05:15 Q2 Bench repetition performance across sets

1:08:35 Q3 Extreme energy expenditure

Areta 2024 Energetics of a World-Tour Female Road Cyclist During a Multistage Race (Tour de France Femmes) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38796175/

Thurber 2019 Extreme events reveal an alimentary limit on sustained maximal human energy expenditure https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31183404/

1:12:34 Q4 Latent or delayed hypertrophy following a diet

Bjørnsen 2019 Delayed myonuclear addition, myofiber hypertrophy, and increases in strength with high-frequency low-load blood flow restricted training to volitional failure https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30543499/

Damas 2016 Resistance training-induced changes in integrated myofibrillar protein synthesis are related to hypertrophy only after attenuation of muscle damage https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27219125/

1:31:26 Q5 Where to find information on velocity-based training

https://massresearchreview.com/

1:37:16 Closing out

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Music credit:

Airport Lounge - Disco Ultralounge by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100806

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

In this Iron Culture, Sigma Nutrition Radio, SNA crossover, Dr. Joe Klemczewski returns! Dr. Joe, possibly the first online bodybuilding coach and person to advise clients to track macros before IIFYM was an acronym, joins us to reflect on the past and help us navigate the future. In the modern information age, there is more information than ever, which is a good thing, right? Perhaps, except that there is also more misinformation and disinformation than ever as well. While the evidence-based movement solved the problem of information inadequacy, we now face a much more complex problem of information illiteracy. What can you do to better navigate the “fake news” littering all aspects of social media, especially the nutrition space, and how can you facilitate better critical thinking in your clients and followers to reduce the likelihood they will undertake harmful diets? In this episode we tackle just that, discussing how paying attention to history and social changes can provide protection against modern fads.

Time stamps:

00:00 Danny, Erich? And sending our condolences to the listeners

https://raskolapparel.com/

02:37 Re-introducing Dr. Joe Klemczewski

09:57 Changes in science

18:01 Science education for the consumer

26:53 How Dr. Joe communicates science with nuance to different audiences and how society (and social media) operates to perpetuate beliefs

36:59 Discerning truth and fact from context – using the recent meta-regressions on volume and frequency as an example

Pelland 2024 The Resistance Training Dose-Response: Meta-Regressions Exploring the Effects of Weekly Volume and Frequency on Muscle Hypertrophy and Strength Gain https://sportrxiv.org/index.php/server/preprint/view/460

51:00 The psychology of persuasion

59:34 Embedding heuristics and the utility of AI in academia

1:09:50 Broader trends in society, marketing strategies and delivering what is expected

1:21:46 Recapping the episode and closing out (be wary of Eric’s positivity propaganda)

Even among the many monster episodes of Iron Culture, today’s episode truly stands out. First, the MASS crew discusses this new era of Iron Culture and lets the cult know what they can expect as the show pushes forward and climbs to new heights. After that, the crew has an insightful discussion about the science of satellite cells – what they are, when they might (or might not) matter, and how they intersect with many hypertrophy-related topics, such as sex differences, aging, muscle damage, and factors that limit long-term muscle growth.

The MASS crew records Iron Culture LIVE on YouTube, every Monday night at 7pm eastern time. Be sure to join us for a future episode and say hello in the live chat!

If you'd like to submit a question or topic for us to address on an upcoming episode, please use this link:

https://massresearchreview.com/office-hours/

Time stamps

0:00 Intro

0:21 Big announcements about the future of Iron Culture and MASS Office Hours

5:10 Helms reflects on “the merger”

7:04 Re-introducing Dr. Mike Zourdos

17:53 Re-introducing Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple

26:38 Dr. Helms’ recent research

30:46 Dr. Trexler’s current research

34:20 A primer on satellite cells

49:31 The role of satellite cells during growth/maturation and during use of exogenous anabolics

51:21 Sex differences and exogenous anabolics

53:52 The impact of aging on satellite cells and their function

58:54 Do satellite cell responses to muscle damage play a major role in muscle growth?

1:02:37 Do satellite cells and myonuclear domain theory become more relevant for muscle growth when the magnitude of growth becomes more substantial?

1:10:01 Does hard training induce muscle hyperplasia?

1:19:06 If meaningful muscle hyperplasia does occur in response to resistance training, does that impact how we should approach or design training programs?

1:24:39 Wrapping up