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:

0:00 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.

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

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)

Today’s episode of MASS Office Hours is truly special, and not just because it’s airing on a Monday. First, the MASS crew announces a new era of Office Hours as the show has formally merged with the Iron Culture podcast. After making this announcement, the crew lets listeners 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

The Lost Episode of MASS Office Hours will be discussed for decades to come. Was the episode buried and all copies destroyed because it was simply too controversial? Did the hosts reveal a secret too dangerous to publish? Did Eric accidentally delete the episode by hitting the wrong button after they recorded? We may never know.

In this re-recorded episode of MASS Office Hours, Dr. Eric Trexler is joined by Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple to discuss Trex's surgery recovery, bilateral vs unilateral training for hypertrophy, shifting calories throughout the week while trying to build muscle, what to do after substantial weight loss, micronutrient adequacy, micronutrient testing, sex-based training differences, and arguing with people on the internet.

PLEASE NOTE: We're switching our live streams to Monday nights, effective immediately!

The MASS crew goes live for Office Hours every Monday night at 7pm eastern time. Be sure to join us for a future episode!

If you'd like to submit a question ahead of time, please use this link:

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

Time stamps

0:00 intro

1:18 important announcement about Office Hours schedule

3:27 Trex's surgery recovery

11:50 bilateral vs unilateral training for hypertrophy

21:43 shifting calories throughout the week while trying to build muscle

33:07 what to do after substantial weight loss

45:07 micronutrient adequacy and micronutrient testing

57:26 sex-based training differences

1:10:10 arguing with people on the internet

In lieu of a live episode, tonight we bring you a piece of content from the MASS Research Review archive.

This video is from a "Journal Club," which is a live recording that is only accessible to members of the MASS Community. This is a replay of a video that was recorded (live) a few months ago. It gives you a sneak peak at a small portion of what MASS members have access to every month. In this video, Mike will take you through a new meta-analysis on concurrent training and discuss how it stacks up with the rest of the concurrent training literature. The goal is to address an extremely common question: Is cardio going to impair your muscle and strength gains?

The MASS crew goes live for Office Hours every Wednesday night at 7pm eastern time. Be sure to join us for a future episode!

Our next episode will begin at 7pm on November 6. If you'd like to submit a question, please use this link:

https://forms.gle/9Ah39mefs8cuVa9H7

In episode 59 of MASS Office Hours, Dr. Eric Trexler is joined by Dr. Eric Helms to discuss practical implications of strength asymmetries, purportedly anti-catabolic supplements, troubleshooting pain while lifting, the lifting volume needed to maintain gains during a weight loss phase or period of reduced training, and much more.

The MASS crew goes live for Office Hours every Wednesday night at 7pm eastern time. Be sure to join us for a future episode!

If you'd like to submit a question ahead of time, please use this link:

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

Time stamps:

0:00 Intro

9:27 How to program unilateral exercises when strength asymmetries are present

14:25 Supplements with anti-catabolic or anti-sarcopenic effects?

20:23 Berberine supplementation

27:08 Helms’ calf-stretching hypertrophy boot

29:06 Addressing hip pain during deadlifts

45:41 Revisiting Helms’ hypertrophy boot

48:40 Elevating legs to facilitate recovery?

55:37 Is 4 sets per week enough volume to maintain muscle during a fat loss phase?

1:16:26 Does edema/swelling skew results of high-volume training studies?

1:22:46 Do you have to hit macro targets every day?

In Episode 58 of MASS Office Hours, Dr. Trexler is joined by special guest Josh Pelland to discuss Pelland's recent meta-analysis which investigates the effects of training volume and frequency on hypertrophy and strength outcomes. 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. Audience questions drive deeper exploration into the practical implications of the findings and strategies for optimizing training programs based on current evidence.

The MASS crew goes live for Office Hours every Wednesday night at 7pm eastern time. Be sure to join us for a future episode!

If you'd like to submit a question ahead of time, please use this link:

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

Time stamps

0:00 Intro

1:51 Josh Pelland background

7:37 New paper: meta-regressions

https://sportrxiv.org/index.php/server/preprint/view/460/967

14:10 The approach and methods

25:48 Statistical models

30:44 Results (effects of volume on strength and hypertrophy)

39:31 Volume efficiency tiers

1:04:52 Results (effects of frequency on strength and hypertrophy)

1:16:43 Q&A