MASS Office Hours Episode 53 (The Myth of "Generalist Experts" + Q&A)

Sep 13, 2024

Celebrate the one-year mark with a dive into nasal breathing and food safety concerns regarding microwaving plastics. Explore the intricacies of energy systems and the metabolism of fats and carbohydrates during exercise. The hosts discuss the pitfalls of 'generalist experts' and emphasize the importance of specialization in health. Gain insights on effective training methods, including supersets for muscle growth and reverse Nordic exercises for quadriceps. Plus, myth-busting on calorie intake and body recomposition make for a lively discussion!

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Intro

00:00 • 3min

Evolution of Evidence-Based Fitness Discussions

02:59 • 22min

Navigating Food Safety: Tupperware and Microwaving Concerns

25:11 • 3min

Navigating Expertise in Health and Fitness

27:44 • 20min

Navigating Smith Machines and Training Adjustments

47:18 • 5min

Understanding Weight Loss Dynamics and Energy Compensation

52:12 • 6min

Supersets, Recomposition, and Muscle Mechanics

58:02 • 20min

Celebrating Knowledge and Growth in Metabolic Adaptation

01:17:52 • 3min

In this 53rd episode of "Office Hours Live" by MASS Research Review, hosts Dr. Eric Trexler and Dr. Eric Helms celebrate the show's one-year anniversary while covering a wide range of topics in exercise science and nutrition. The episode begins with a discussion on nasal breathing and the safety of microwaving food in plastic containers, highlighting the hosts' approach to addressing topics outside their primary expertise and their skepticism regarding generalists who purport to be experts in a large number of unrelated topics. They then delve into a detailed explanation of energy systems and substrate utilization during exercise, emphasizing the complexities of fat and carbohydrate metabolism. After that, the hosts offer insights on how to find reliable information about unfamiliar scientific topics to guide evidence-based decisions. The hosts explore exercise programming, discussing the nuances of super sets and their impact on muscle fatigue and growth. They clarify misconceptions about body recomposition and calorie intake, and address various training questions, including deltoid isolation exercises and back workout strategies. The episode concludes with an in-depth look at training muscles at long lengths, specifically focusing on reverse Nordic exercises for quadriceps development.

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.

7:42 - Discussion on nasal breathing.

12:22 - Energy systems and substrate utilization during exercise.

25:52 - Plastic containers and microwave safety.

27:42 - How to approach unfamiliar topics in scientific research.

48:12 - Smith machine quad exercises.

51:54 - Later or earlier weigh ins during contest prep.

53:37 - Energy flux and constrained energy expenditure model.

58:32 - Super sets and exercise programming.

1:03:47 - Body recomposition studies and calorie intake.

1:10:30 - Various questions on training and muscle growth.

1:14:22 - Training at long muscle lengths.

1:17:07 - Wrap-up and final questions.