MRI-based Muscle Analysis with Dr. Doug Goldstein #825

9 snips

Nov 26, 2025

Dr. Doug Goldstein, a clinical expert in musculoskeletal imaging and founder of Springbok Analytics, delves into cutting-edge MRI muscle analysis. He reveals how 3D digital twins provide athletes insights into muscle volume, asymmetries, and quality, crucial for optimizing performance and rehabilitation. The discussion highlights the significance of muscle quality over mere size, how compensation patterns from past injuries affect current performance, and the implications of intramuscular fat on muscle integrity. This innovative approach is changing the game for targeted strength training.

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INSIGHT

3D Digital Twin Reveals Muscle Quality

Springbok converts rapid MRI slices into a 3D digital twin that quantifies muscle volume, asymmetry, and fat infiltration.
This provides tissue-level quality and quantity data that DEXA cannot deliver.

ANECDOTE

Old Hip Dislocation Shows Up In Scan

Doug Larson shared his history of a left posterior hip dislocation that left his quadratus femoris ~46% smaller.
The scan also showed 26% fat infiltration in that muscle explaining functional fatigue and cramping.

INSIGHT

Compensation Explains Opposite-Side Pain

A local tissue deficit can create compensatory overloads elsewhere, making the opposite side symptomatic.
Imaging alone doesn't prove causation but frames plausible compensation patterns to test.

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In this episode, the Barbell Shrugged crew explores how next-generation MRI muscle analysis is transforming the way high-performing athletes train, recover, and prevent injury. Dr. Doug Goldstein walks Anders Varner, Doug Larson, and Travis Mash through Doug Larson's full Springbok Analytics scan a 3D "digital twin" of his musculoskeletal system that reveals muscle volume, asymmetries, and tissue quality with a level of precision traditional assessments can't match. The team breaks down how this data gives coaches a clearer understanding of the body's true strengths, weak links, and compensation patterns the foundational context needed to prescribe smarter, more targeted programming.

Using Doug's real data as the case study, the group highlights how seemingly isolated issues like a long-healed posterior hip dislocation can create downstream patterns that affect performance years later. The scan reveals major asymmetries in deep hip stabilizers, psoas imbalances, and elevated intramuscular fat in specific muscles, all of which influence how force is produced and absorbed under load. The conversation emphasizes that measuring muscle quality and not just quantity is essential for identifying tissues that underperform despite looking normal from the outside. They also break down the different types of fat Springbok identifies (visceral, subcutaneous, intermuscular, intramuscular) and why certain compartments are more predictive of movement limitations, metabolic dysfunction, or elevated injury risk.

The episode closes with a look at how this new level of precision plugs into a fully integrated high-performance system. Through Optima Muscle, athletes combine Springbok MRI data with movement evaluations, strength testing, and force analysis to build individualized protocols that increase strength, improve resilience, and significantly reduce the risk of non-contact injuries. The team explains why pro athletes are beginning to adopt multi-scan protocols across a season, and how this data-driven approach allows coaches to design programming that targets exactly the right tissues, at exactly the right time. For anyone serious about longevity in training, staying explosive, or eliminating preventable injuries, this episode offers a glimpse into the future of performance diagnostics and precision training.

Go to OptimaMuscle.com to learn more!

Links:

Doug Goldstein on Instagram

Anders Varner on Instagram

Doug Larson on Instagram

Coach Travis Mash on Instagram