Iron Culture presented by MASS

The Erics are back, and this time, they work through a mental model of how training volume, or rather, the training dose changes over time. With a rank novice, a single set to failure done once per week will typically produce continued adaptation, and they won't plateau for 1-2 years! However, if you take an advanced strength athlete or bodybuilder, a single set to failure done once per week seems...

The trio is back to discuss a classic Iron Culture topic: how much does increasing muscle mass contribute to strength? But, before we can answer how much, we must acknowledge that some in the scientific community doubt whether hypertrophy contributes to strength at all! What is the source of this skepticism and how do we resolve this debate? Tune in to learn not only how getting jacked impacts str...

PhD candidate Ryan Anthony joins the Erics on Iron Culture to discuss the fishy business of Omega-3 supplementation. Ryan is in the final years of his PhD research at the University of Wollongong in Australia, investigating the role of omega-3 fatty acids in reducing muscle fatigue and soreness following exercise. His research has identified consistent methodological issues in many of the studies...

Walter Cariazo joins Omar and Eric Helms on Iron Culture to discuss his decade-long journey in powerlifting. He's won the 93kg National Championship twice and the 105kg National Championship once in Canada and has had the opportunity to represent Canada twice at the IPF World Championship, most recently in Lithuania in June. In this most recent competition, he was a dark horse for the podium, as h...

A long lifting career comes with plenty of ups and downs, so we're accustomed to hearing stories about setbacks, comebacks, and perseverance from our favorite lifters. These setbacks can take many forms, but Jared Maynard's extraordinary story exists in a league of its own. Over the course of a few short weeks, a rare autoimmune disease took Jared from being a young, strong, healthy man in his ear...

The most dynamic Iron Culture duo is back in action. In this episode, Omar and Dr. Trexler talk all about pain, injury, and factors that impact the relationship between them. Back in the day, most lifters were all-in on the "Cartesian" or "biomedical" model of pain, which posits that pain is a simple, reliable indicator of damaged tissue causing nociceptors to send a "pain signal" to the brain. No...

The trio is back, and this time to discuss the science of saturated fat. For decades, saturated fat was widely blamed for a dramatic rise in rates of obesity and heart disease. In recent years, that narrative has been challenged by proponents of increasingly popular ketogenic and carnivorous diets. For many, the back and forth on this topic is dizzying, and confusing. Fortunately, we have Dr. Trex...

When people think of "good coaching" in the evidence-based community their first thoughts are often related to whether or not the coach is up to date with the science and whether they use pseudoscience in practice. So does that mean that every coach from the 1990s and prior was a bad coach? Is good coaching actually determined by the methods you use, or something else? Can you be a bad coach while...

One of the most common recommendations a personal trainer or dietitian might make to someone embarking on a weight loss journey, is to drink more water. It's a basic behavioural recommendation, like going on walks, eating more fruit, vegetables and lean protein, adopting a consistent sleep schedule, and engaging in regular exercise; all solid recommendations. Being hydrated is certainly important...

Powerlifters use techniques to milk every last kilo out of their bench press, including wide grips, tightly wound wrist wraps, leg drive, and – the most hated technique in the comment section – an arched-back to reduce the range of motion. Indeed, it can get so heated in the comments it likely even influenced an IPF rule change last year. But how many kilos does an arch really give you? How many b...

Fresh off of their successful doctoral defenses, Lauren and Kim join Iron Culture to discuss all things menstrual-cycle related for lifters! Dr. Helms had the pleasure of mentoring Kim, who recently completed her PhD at AUT, in which she surveyed and monitored the menstrual cycle symptoms of resistance-training women, and also led an intervention of mindfulness-based yoga to see the impact on mens...

We're back with another trio episode, and in this one, the hosts dig deeper into the Trex-lore. Eric Trexler has been training since his early youth, but only recently has he struggled with his fitness, and health and even had to rethink who he is as a lifter, due to lingering pain. Pain and injury are complex and multifaceted, but the body is resilient and often heals itself with time. But what c...

To complement the recent appearance of Dr. Wes Goodman, we now have the founder of N1 Education, Coach Kassem Hanson to join us on iron culture to discuss applied biomechanics and anatomy for bodybuilding. We discuss the limitations of research, what might be considered fundamental features of effective hypertrophy exercises, common mistakes and misunderstandings of applied anatomy, individual dif...

Since the beginning of the iron game, different methods have been promoted as the best approach to train for "hardgainers." Likewise, in the scientific literature, the variability in individual response is well documented, including the identification of "non-responders" and poor responders to exercise. However, only recently have studies been undertaken to determine how to manipulate training to...

Wes Goodman recently completed his PhD in Exercise and Nutrition Science with an emphasis in Biomechanics and Motor Control at Montana State University under Dr. David Graham with our very own Dr. Helms on his committee as well. But he's more than an academic, he's a certified strength and conditioning specialist, gym owner, power lifter, strong man and Highland Games competitor! He studied how mu...

The man, the myth, the legend, Mike T is back! Fresh off a 900kg total, an 800lbs deadlift, and placing just off the podium at Powerlifting America National by bodyweight, Mike T is showing how much longevity can be had for the lifelong lifter, even at the highest level. We've only got a penlight in this pitch-dark morphing cave, but that's apparently all you need. Join us on this episode where we...

Trextopia, this is your episode. We peel back the layers of pro natural bodybuilder, exercise science researcher & co-host of Iron Culture, Eric Trexler. Learn how he got into lifting, what low bar squatting 500lb ATG will do to your body & why there might be more controversy in Iron Culture's near future. This might be the peak of Iron Culture but Trexler is no fan of peak weeks. 00:00 Introducti...

We here at Iron Culture have been on a mission to better inform you, dear listener, as to the inner workings of science. From what goes on in the lab itself, to the publication process, to dissemination, to eventual meta-analysis, the challenge of interpretation and communication of science, the optimistic promises of open science, and the increasing focus on replication, it's been a hopefully eye...

Whitney Houston said it best: "I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way." Here at Iron Culture, we're old, irrelevant and out of touch. But, we believe in platforming the next generation of educators to carry on the torch (or at least pandering so they'll platform us in return when we can no longer pay the bills). In this Roundtable we're joined by Dr. Milo...

Dr. Pak is back on Iron Culture for his third appearance! This time, he sat down with Omar and Dr. Helms for a meta-discussion on the challenges of science communication. How do you maintain credibility when you're using social media as a science communication tool? This challenge has changed, but it isn't new by any means. The "Sagan effect" describes the well-researched phenomenon by which the s...

The holy trinity is back and holy smokes do we have a Holy Ghost of an episode! First, to kick things off the crew discusses the recent "March madness" of powerlifting that just finished: IPF European Champs, the UK Arnold, and Powerlifting America Nationals. Some absolutely stunning performances occurred all over the world in powerlifting and it seems the rising tide of talent has no end. Then we...

After their recent reconciliation, the Erics got together for this duo episode to bond over their mutual love of protein. But, dear listener, this might not be the home-cooked high-protein meal you hoped for. Dr. Trexler tackles the question of whether or not, GASP , protein restriction might extend lifespan! Then, to add insult to injury, the Erics dig into the question of whether or not plant-ba...

As you know, Iron Culture reps the neutral to positive gang around these parts. While most new supplements released to the market don't pan out as effective, some do. So, if preliminary data supports the potential efficacy of a new supplement, why not try it out? The only potential downside of trying a new supplement is wasted money, right? Not so fast. In this episode the Erics duo explains why t...

Evidence-based practice has unfortunately become a meme, and its meaning, role, and utility are less understood than they were just a handful of years ago. In this episode we dive deep, discussing how to incorporate study findings into practice. If you don't have the ability to gauge the impact of a study's findings, how do you stay up to date? We answer critical questions like: How does the hiera...

It's time for a MONSTER episode about protein. Naturally, Helms has recused himself because of his heavy biases and conflicts of interest with the shadowy figures behind Big Protein. As a result, Trex and Omar take a trip down memory lane and discuss everything we used to know about protein, and how a surprising percentage of that knowledge has changed over the last decade or so of research.  It w...