Iron Culture presented by MASS

The creatine kingpin, Dr. Darren Candow is back to update us on what's happening in the world of creatine research and explain the many myths that still prevail despite decades of published studies. How can creatine both dehydrate you and cause water retention? Does creatine really cause hair loss? Do you need to load creatine? Does it matter if you take it pre or post-workout? And is the optimal dosage for bone health and other clinical uses the same as it is for performance and body composition? Find out the answers to these questions and more on this comprehensive creatine update with professor Candow!

In this episode of Iron Culture, we address the questions "How long can I keep progressing or maintain my peak as I get older? and "What can I do to stay at my best for as long as possible?" After our previous metabolism myths episode, where we discussed how many age related effects come much later than most think, we wanted to do a follow up to focus specifically on performance, recovery, and how long strength and physique athletes should expect to still be at their best. Tune in, as you might be surprised just how long an athlete can be at their peak.

We've had medical doctors and physical therapists who specialize in lifting to dispel exercise-specific fears and myths around risk, outdated treatments, and reductionist narratives multiple times on Iron Culture. But, do you ever wonder why they have to dispel these myths in the first place? In this episode, Dr. Conor Heffernan, the strength historian, is back to teach us about the origins of these beliefs, narratives, and fears. Where did the Snap City fears of modern YouTube comments on deadlift and squat videos originate from? Why do some personal trainers, even in the modern era, fear deep squats or your knees passing your toes? Join us in this episode as we go way back, many decades before the majority of us were born to learn how these ideas were born!

Hard work is undeniably an essential element of success in the iron game and life. Yet, while that is true, just like telling someone who is depressed to "cheer up", telling someone struggling with their progress to "try harder" doesn't help. Despite that, so much of our signaling on social media, our shared community values, and our identities as lifters come down to expressing, celebrating, and worshipping that exact sentiment. In this episode, we explore why this happens, and the rare cases when telling someone to simply try harder actually might be helpful, in what context, for whom, and also discussing all the times this advice falls flat at best, or at worst, is actually harmful. Get ready to dive deep on this one folks, as we take a hard look at the motivations of the lifter.

It's all downhill when you hit years old!" is one of the most heard phrases by not yet middle-aged lifters at family events. But is that true? In this episode we address "metabolic myths" related to energy expenditure changes over the lifespan, so-called "differences" between the sexes, and also cover some crazy realities like the true extent of individual differences in energy expenditure, and how things change (or don't change) during pregnancy. Make sure to tune in to this episode of Iron Culture so you can start more sentences with "umm actually…" at family gatherings.

We are back with another question and answer episode! This one includes a deep dive into exercise selection, execution, and ways to maximize time efficiency as it relates to exercise selection, covering both strength and physique goals, those who have both goals, and other nuances on these topics that people often don't consider. Further, we discuss what competitive natural bodybuilding could do to improve the experience of both competitors and fans alike. And finally, we talk about frequency of training and recent shifts in our perspective on the topic.

Dr. Ben House, expert in testosterone replacement therapy, discusses the risks and considerations of TRT, the relationship between obesity and testosterone levels, factors contributing to low testosterone, the prevalence of low testosterone, marketing pitfalls of TRT, the Joe Rogan Experience and TRT, and the risks of testosterone replacement therapy.

For better or worse we committed to the Iron Culture mission statement of being "for all lifters"…even for endurance athletes who lift. Yes, you heard that right, endurance athletes. In this episode we are joined by Professor Sara Mahoney, who has her Ph.D. in exercise physiology, researches nutrition for endurance athletes, is a runner herself, and coaches Division 1 and 2 cross country and track and field. She's on to talk about how she uses resistance training to help her endurance athletes improve performance. Shockingly, she's joined in this episode by one of her clients, none other than Dr. Mike Zourdos. Yes that Zourdos, Dr. DUP, Dr daily max squat, who in this episode breaks the silence on the earth-shattering secret that, in fact, he now only lifts occasionally, and when he does, it's supplementary to his running.

Natty limits, genetic potential, everyone talks about these concepts, but most people truly get it wrong. You've heard the tropes, "you reach 80% of your muscular potential in your first X years of effective training." It sounds great in theory, but it is the exception rather than the rule when it plays out this way in the real world. How often do people start off with effective training? How does regular dieting, either for competition or for the likes impact this timeline? What about injuries, time off, school, kids? How about simply figuring out what works best for you after years of being unable to? Despite the "rule" being so volatile and highly variable due to these factors (and others), it's surprisingly common to hear people use this "logic" to justify anything from slacking off on training, to hopping on anabolics, to even supposedly identifying fake natty's. Join us in this episode as we talk about the not-so-linear timeline of approaching the asymptote that is your potential.

Dr. Conor Heffernan, the Strength historian, and Ben Esgro, the dual-masters degreed sports nutrition/pharmaceutical chemistry formulation artiste are both back on Iron Culture for this monster episode on the history of the supplement industry. Learn what it was like in the days of Sandow's cocoa and how at one point in America's history, every lifter had a little Bob Hoffman in them…literally. Contrast and compare that history with the contemporary experiences Ben has had in the supplement industry for over a decade, and you'll see what has and hasn't changed in this insider's view into the world of powder and pills.