After our recent episode with Dr. Guillermo Escalante discussing the potential contributing causes and possibly what could be done about the recent deaths of a number of high profile enhanced bodybuilders, we wanted to follow up. As you recall, this conversation came about because of a Washington Post article series that not only discussed these tragedies, but also exploitation and corruption at the heart of the biggest bodybuilding organization: the NPC/IFBB pro league. Omar made an eye opening YouTube video summarizing these articles, and we discussed them in further depth today, not for controversy’s sake, but rather because we both truly want a better future for the sport and art of bodybuilding. In addition, in the latter half of this episode we discussed the challenges of predicting hypertrophy from proxy measures, and where we are at scientifically in this regard, and what it means for practice.

00:00 Revisiting the bodybuilding controversy

Iron Culture Ep. 203 Can Enhanced Bodybuilding Be Safer? (Ft. Dr. Guillermo Escalante) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G_c1umHswE

Washington Post Investigation https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/post-reports/investigating-the-sport-my-dad-made-famous/

Omar Isuf Why I Don't Support BODYBUILDING (And Neither Should You) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GwpolgBBeI

22:18 Experiential knowledge: how coaches can guide and empower athletes

25:44 The inherent risks of PEDs and taking responsibility for your actions

46:35 Regional hypertrophy and optimising exercise selection

Is Regional Hypertrophy Predictable? https://www.strongerbyscience.com/regional-hypertrophy/

Albarello 2022 Non-uniform excitation of pectoralis major induced by changes in bench press inclination leads to uneven variations in the cross-sectional area measured by panoramic ultrasonography https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36334406/

Chaves 2020 Effects of Horizontal and Incline Bench Press on Neuromuscular Adaptations in Untrained Young Men https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32922646/

Iron Culture Ep. 163- All About EMG and Hypertrophy (ft. Andrew Vigotsky) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIccFeOknew

1:00:05 Reaching conclusions with assumptions embedded in (proxy) measurements

1:10:10 Applying this information: considerations for exercise selection (and the limits to our knowledge)

1:22:06 Closing out