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

I’m going to break the fourth wall here and speak directly to our dear listeners. When we started this podcast almost six years ago, I never imagined it would last this long or become such a fixture in the community. The goal was always to create a space aimed at enriching the listener's appreciation and understanding of lifting. I want to thank every single person who has tuned in, supported throughout the years and engaged with us in this journey. I feel very confident in the future direction of Iron Culture with the two Erics taking lead. We'll catch you in that next episode from now, until the end of time.

With heartfelt gratitude,

Omar

Time stamps:

00:00 Erics… Omar

03:09 Reviewing reviews (including one from Dr. RayGun)

08:04 Future horizons and looking back

19:56 Trexler’s anniversary and some reflections

27:20 Climate change isn’t real… the science is the science and a quick update on the Iron Culture documentary

31:40 Trexler’s commentary and how he came to be on the cult

42:24 Helms reflects on some memorable episodes and guests

48:52 The Iron Culture mission statement

56:51 The future of Iron Culture (including the interview of a certain guest)

1:08:50 The running Iron Culture jokes

1:16:14 Coming full circle with some final thoughts

In this Iron Culture/Sports Nutrition Association/Sigma Nutrition Radio crossover episode, host Eric Helms is joined by co-host Danny Lennon and guest Alex Thomas. Alex is the president of the Sports Nutrition Association who started this association years ago when he was rudely awakened to the fact that he couldn’t provide nutrition advice in his personal training clinic, despite having done so for years, having an RD on staff, and getting a degree in exercise science and nutrition. This prompted him to do a deep dive into scope of practice, insurance, legal requirements to provide nutrition coaching, and eventually to realise just how large of a gap there is in the nutrition coaching industry. Becoming aware of how common coach negligence leading to poorer consumer health is, spurred him to create the Sports Nutrition Association. Now SNA seeks to elevate the profession of nutrition coaching and protect the public. In this episode we navigate the confusing world of scope of practice, both legally and from a liability perspective, and why it’s not only an important box ticking exercise, but a fundamental part of serving your clients.

Time stamps:

00:00 Introduction to a podcast that needs a longer name and title

01:32 What is the Sports Nutrition Association?

06:15 Protected titles, scope of practice, and insurance

22:30 The importance of scope of practice and advice for practitioners

38:58 Trends and big claims in the space, risk/reward and consequences

51:36 Areas where practitioners should focus on and what to do going forward

1:00:06 The career pyramid for nutritionists

1:02:01 Closing out and where to find out more about the SNA

Website https://sportsnutritionassociation.com/

Instagram @sportsnutritionassociation https://www.instagram.com/sportsnutritionassociation/

Sigma Nutrition Radio https://sigmanutrition.com/podcast-welcome/

In this Iron Culture/Sports Nutrition Association/Sigma Nutrition Radio crossover episode, host Eric Trexler is joined by co-host Danny Lennon and guest Dr. Shawn Arent. Dr. Arent is a professor and department chair at the University of South Carolina with a wealth of knowledge and research experience pertaining to nutritional strategies and supplements purported to support brain health and function. In this meeting of the minds, Eric, Danny, and Dr. Arent discuss the brain-related effects of carbohydrate, amino acids, caffeine (and caffeine-related substances), theanine, nicotine, fish oil, creatine, and much more. If you’re interested in preserving the health and function of your brain, listening to this episode is certainly a smart decision.

00:00 Introduction to another crossover episode and Dr Shawn Arent

03:20 Defining cognitive performance and function

07:48 The acute effects of carbohydrates and caffeine on fatigue

13:01 Carbohydrate mouth rinsing and glycogen depletion (and are bodybuilders athletes?)

26:15 The (non-linear) glycogen utilisation response to exercise

29:53 The role of protein (EAAs and BCAAs) on cognitive function 

Daivs 1999 Effects of branched-chain amino acids and carbohydrate on fatigue during intermittent, high-intensity running https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10452228 

36:06 Caffeine dose-response relationship on cognition

40:50 Caffeine timing and dosing strategies

51:38 Optimisation and thinking outside the box to minimise the effects of caffeine on sleep

55:18 Other (interesting) supplements with less evidence

1:01:28 Nicotine and sports culture

1:08:52 Supplementation for brain health and recommendations/protocols for TBIs

1:21:22 Closing out with some final take homes

In this crossover episode of Iron Culture and MASS Office Hours, Dr. Trexler is joined by special guest Josh Pelland, a coach for Data Driven and a PhD candidate at Florida Atlantic University, to discuss Pelland's recent meta-analysis which investigates the effects of training volume and frequency on hypertrophy and strength outcomes. These data have created a lot of stir in the evidence based community as very high volumes seem to be associated with hypertrophy without a definitive plateau. But as you can expect, there’s much more to the story. The analysis synthesizes data from numerous studies and quantifies dose-response relationships by which higher training volumes and/or frequencies may lead to greater strength and muscle gains in response to resistance training. In a thorough discussion of the paper, Pelland discusses nuances, such as the point of diminishing returns where further volume or frequency may yield less significant gains, and highlights how individual factors like training experience and muscle group-specific responses affect outcomes. Practical recommendations include tailoring volume to individual needs, utilizing periodization and volume cycling to maximize adaptations, and addressing common pitfalls such as overtraining. Further, in this live episode audience questions drive deeper exploration into the practical implications of the findings and strategies for optimizing training programs based on current evidence.

If you liked this crossover, remember the MASS crew goes live for Office Hours every Wednesday night at 7pm eastern time. Be sure to join them for a future episode!

0:00 Introduction to another official crossover episode 

MASS Office Hours Episode 58 (Is More Volume Always Better?) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HErS8Hw12k 

02:00 Getting to know Josh Pelland  

07:35 An overview of Josh’s new preprint

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

Data Driven Strength Podcast - Volume and Hypertrophy: New Science Explained | S2E1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKRAVrf-798&t=0s

Data Driven Strength Podcast - Frequency and Hypertrophy: New Science Explained | S2E2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rxOj92Q4p8 

14:01 The search strategy and volume/frequency quantification method comparison

25:43 Statistical models 

30:51 Volume results

39:32 Volume efficiency tiers 

1:08:47 Frequency results 

1:16:43 Q&A Question 1: How was the volume of different exercises quantified?

1:18:36 Question 2: Disconnect between theoretical vs practical optimum?

1:25:00 Question 3: How were different set structures, intensification techniques, and proximity-to-failure accounted for?

1:28:55 Question 4: Recommendations for 6x/week Full Body Powerbuilding training?

1:30:53 Question 5: The potential effects of different partials and ranges of motion? 

1:34:45 Question 6: Did the studies measure both hypertrophy and strength outcomes?

1:36:10 Question 7: Strength training recommendations for sprint cyclers?

1:39:03 Question 8: Upper vs lower body set volume tolerance?

1:40:45 Question 9: Moderator analyses on the impact of training status?

1:42:50 Question 10: How do you know if you are performing too much volume?

1:46:36 Wrapping up and where to find Josh

Data Driven Strength YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@datadrivenstrength 

Instagram @josh.datadrivenstrength https://www.instagram.com/josh.datadrivenstrength/?hl=en