S1E05: Eric Helms on Making Adjustments for Bodybuilders and Powerlifters

Eric Helms is possibly the most humble man in the industry.He is a coach, athlete, author, and educator. As a part of the 3DMJ Team he coaches drug-free strength and physique competitors at all levels. Eric has competed since the mid 2000’s in natural bodybuilding, unequipped powerlifting and recently in Olympic lifting. He earned pro status as a natural bodybuilder with the PNBA in 2011 and competes with the IPF at international level events as an unequipped powerlifter.Eric has published multiple peer reviewed articles in exercise science and nutrition journals and writes for commercial fitness publications. He’s taught undergraduate and graduate level nutrition and exercise science and speaks internationally at academic and commercial conferences for fitness, nutrition and strength and conditioning. He has a BS in fitness and wellness, an MS in exercise science, a second masters in sports nutrition, and is a strength and conditioning PhD candidate at AUT in New Zealand.In this interview I pick Eric's brain about his online coaching practice. We go into detail on two topics that I believe are the most under-discussed in the industry - progress tracking and the adjustment decision making process. Eric explains exactly what data he looks at, and the different principles that he applies when making decisions for his powerlifting and bodybuilding clients.Show Notes:- Andy's marvellous introduction of Eric. [0'00 ]↓ ON AUTOREGULATION [3'08~]↓- What are the uses of RPE training? [6'05]↓ ON ONLINE COACHING [12'10~]↓- What kind of clients do you work with? [12'15]- How did you get started in the industry? [17'10]- On client communication - E-mail vs video messages, note taking, spreadsheets etc. [19'05~]- "The pros [of online coaching] so greatly outweigh the cons in my opinion that it's worth it. [24'45]- How often do you get clients to check in? What specific data do you ask for? [28'00]- On the pitfalls of body-fat measurement devices: "It's an issue of validity and reliability." [33'30]- How do we tell the difference between muscle loss, fat loss, and water fluctuations? [37'05]- "It's very important if you ask someone to weigh in every morning - especially when you are dealing with physique athletes, who are more prone towards body image and disordered eating type of behaviour - to contextualise why. [To explain] that we do not care about the day to day fluctuations..." [39'40]- On the kind of data that Eric bases his adjustment decisions off of [41'20]- On the mechanical inefficiencies of getting leaner - "Believe it or not, as you lose fat off your ass, your bench [numbers] will go down." [42'45]- "Trying to discern how much of the weight change is muscle and how much is fat is very difficult." [45'00]- On muscle mass change in competitors when dieting for a competition: "At the beginning of the diet, you're probably putting on a little muscle if you're doing things right, in the middle you're probably not seeing much change, and then towards the end you're losing muscle, almost unavoidably if someone is 4 or 5% body fat (if you're a male). So really you're trying to keep as much as possible over the course of it, as a net."- "It's not all just nutritional math..." [47'40]- Eric's explains his fat-loss guidelines. [49'00]- "The way I track and make decisions for a bodybuilder is different than for a powerlifter..." [50'40]- On faster vs slower rates of weight loss. [54'00]- Where you can catch up with Eric and his team. [58'30]- When I say 'punchable,' who is the first person that comes to mind? [61'45]- If you could grant one wish for the industry, what would it be? [62'30]For links to the resources discussed, check out the show notes here: http://rippedbody.com/podcast-eric-helms/