Iron Culture presented by MASS

Sigma nutrition radio has been a staple for evidence-based nutrition podcasting for the better part of a decade. But truly, even among other similar podcasts, it's in a league of its own. The guest list is essentially the who's who of nutrition academia, with interviews digging into the nuance of research coming directly from the sources, covering an incredibly broad span of nutrition topics. Dann...

What happens when your passion becomes your career? From the outside, lifting as an occupation would be an enviable position for any lifting enthusiast. There are hidden drawbacks however as things such as financial incentives shroud over a once pure pursuit.  How do you keep the fire lit after over a decade of lifting when seemingly all stones have been overturned? If you're a member of the Cult,...

"Evidence-based" bodybuilding peaking is somewhat of a misnomer, at least for all aspects of peaking at this stage of the game. Being able to construct a hypothesis based on physiology, is not the same as testing it. While we have empirical support that carb loading likely does enhance muscle size and appearance, the so-called "drying out" process that many bodybuilders partake in hasn't been stud...

Joe Sullivan has been powerlifting for more than half his life. Starting as a young teen, Joe has been in and amongst the culture, starting with the USAPL, and eventually migrating to the untested side of the sport where he's made his mark for the better part of the last decade. Most recently he set the all-time world record squat in the 100kg class at an astonishing 380kg, but it was a long road...

What is the difference between a lifter who takes a hit, and keeps on lifting and the lifter who "used to bench 315 in high school?" Is it always that the former is harder working, more resilient, more committed lifter? How plastic are these traits? And are all "hits" the same? For some, when it rains it pours, and for others, they are lucky enough to get dolled out life's curveballs at a pace the...

Myth busting is a favorite past time of the "evidence based fitness community", and pwning noobs with copious "um actually"s is just part of the job, right? Well, yes and no. While it's more important than ever to combat mis and disinformation, it's arguably just as, if not more important, to do so in the right way…which, spoiler alert doesn't involve pwning said noobs. In fact, while those who us...

What started out as a Q&A episode quickly evolved into an in-depth conversation surrounding the future of natural bodybuilding. To some inside the space, there are alarming signs of stagnation within the sport and in this episode, the hunks set out to examine if this really is the case. Drawing upon personal experience, a healthy dose of history and broad observations of general socioeconomic tren...

The lifting community is more siloed than it used to be, and it is larger, so it's understandable why today we have a broad and varied cultural landscape. It's also more complex now in the modern age, and you can find parallel communities in the same lifting discipline with very little crossover. Further, in each community, the changing of the guards seems to be happening at an increasingly accele...

Getting really really lean is something a lot of people do, from physique athletes to fitness models, to serious lifters with a lifting-related bucket list. But staying really really lean, is something very few people ever achieve, despite most who get shredded wondering at least once,  "could I maintain this?" Why is it the case that most people struggle to stay shredded? Indeed, there are the fe...

Examine is arguably one of the most important resources to the supplement consumer in existence. Haven't heard of it? Imagine a third-party, expert-informed, wiki page on human research on nearly every supplement in existence, organized in a clear, logical, and informative manner, and you've imagined Examine. Today, we sat down with one of its founders, Sol Orwell, to learn about how and why it st...

We are joined by the reigning 76kg world champion and now the strongest deadlifter on the women's side of the IPF, fresh after returning from the 2022 IPF worlds in South Africa. Jessica came away with a squat and deadlift world record, the latter of which she had to pull in order to win, tying the equipped IPF champion Agata Sitko, beating her on bodyweight, who had thrown her hat into the ring a...

Sometimes you just gotta shoot the s**t and talk some s**t. In this episode of Iron Culture, we discuss some of the recent insane competitions in the world of powerlifting. If you live under a bridge, you might not be aware that a ton of ridiculous numbers were put up across almost every weight class at IPF classic worlds as well as USAPL mega nationals. In addition to this, we both had some thing...

Motivation is for the weak, commitment is for the REAL lifers! Right! Right? Well maybe not so much. Join us on an existential journey into what motivation really means. What are our motives to train, how does this relate to our identity, and self determination? In this episode we comment on our observations of long-time lifters' motivation to train in the public eye, and how that intersects with...

In this Q&A episode, we address a few great questions, the first of which, on how does periodization for hypertrophy works, resulted in a deep dive by Mr. Dr. Eric Helms on the topic. You'll learn about the definition of periodization, how it applies to hypertrophy goals, the rationale for periodizing specific variables, and what gaps we have on this topic. Finally, we discuss what we do know, and...

Your training environment, it's a variable we all acknowledge as being relevant and important, but it's rarely discussed in depth. In this episode, we give this topic the attention it deserves. What are the pros and cons of commercial gyms of various types? What are the pros and cons of home gyms? Collectively, we've both been personal trainers in multiple gym and studio environments, and personal...

Saturated fat, it gets a lot of attention, but there's not much consensus in this attention…at least in influencer conversations. However, the research on the health impacts of saturated fat are reasonably consistent in terms of scientific consensus. Beyond the impact of saturated fat on health, often in bodybuilding circles discussions on the effects of saturated fat focus on testosterone. Howeve...

This week we are joined by new IPF super heavyweight 2021 world champion and 2x US national champion Jesus Olivares. We're all familiar with Ray Williams, one of the most impressive lifters of all time, who holds the highest IPF total currently at 1112.5kg, which he put up in 2019 at the age of 32. Amazingly, Jesus put up an 1110kg total just recently at Powerlifting America nationals at the tende...

Training, it's the most fun thing we all do in our mundane lives, and we're ok with that! But unfortunately, it's only about 4-8 hours of the week and typically not every day. So, what's an easy way to improve our quality of life? Train twice a day! In this episode, we actually discuss the intriguing research on two a day training for lifting. While it's not something that makes sense in most case...

We're back with another Q&A episode, with just one trendy commercial break. That's right, we had to shill the 5-year MASS anniversary sale going on until May 3rd because let's face it, no corporation except one we're a partial owner of would sponsor us. But we do cover a range of questions in this episode, the first being how to address lagging body parts and setup muscle group specialization cycl...

The world of rehab is full of assessments and treatments. Some are legitimate, others less so, but the confusing part is that some of these assessments have a logical basis, connecting movement to function, can be improved with an treatment, and this coincides with the natural time course of healing. But was the assessment actually measuring the dysfunction or injury in some way, and did the treat...

Mike Tuchscherer has been on Iron Culture multiple times to speak as a thinker and coach, but this time we brought him on as an athlete. For those who don't know, Mike has been competing since 2003 and has competed at the highest level. He is a two-time single-ply junior national champion, a single-ply collegiate national champion, a two-time single-ply open national champion, a four-time open raw...

Powerlifting has exploded in popularity over the last decade within the lifting community. From deadlifts being frowned upon at commercial gyms to your favourite fitness influencer now entering a local powerlifting meet for clout, the rise of powerlifting has been well documented. However, beneath this meteoric rise has been some signs that this rapid expansion within the community might be coming...

Combine enough truisms that lack precision and nuance and people get confused. This is exactly what happens in typical discussions of hypertrophy training while dieting. When a deficit is framed as a "state" rather than the cumulative effects of long term (body comp) and short term (acute energy balance) energy availability, and tropes like "volume is the primary driver of hypertrophy", "intensity...

The Carnivore Diet has exploded in popularity over the last several years thanks in large part to some very bold claims made by leading advocates. From the harmfulness of plants to the uselessness of fiber, these assertions are certainly bold. In this sizzling episode, Iron Culture hosts Omar Isuf and Eric Trexler investigate the validity of these claims, thoroughly examining and dispelling many i...

EMG studies, they're the classic "evidence-based" tool to "Um actually" all the bros about what the perfect exercises they should have chosen for every muscle group. Or are they? Today we're joined by returning guest, Ph. D. candidate Andrew Vigotsky, who's published some of the most influential papers on the limitations and the best practice guidance for EMG research. In this episode, we learn wh...