Sigma Nutrition Radio

Brianna Stubbs, PhD In 2016 Brianna completed her PhD in Metabolic Biochemistry at Oxford University. She also became a World Champion rower as part of the GB Rowing Lightweight Women's four person crew, and won 3 other World Rowing Championships medals. She has published peer-reviewed studies looking at ketone metabolism, ketone ester supplementation in athletes and effects of ketones on appetite. In This Episode We Discuss: Brianna's background as an elite-level rower Her PhD research on ketone metabolism Misconceptions about ketones (both endogenous and exogenous) Ketogenesis: why do we make ketones? Brianna's study examining effect of ketone ester supplementation on appetite and ghrelin levels Who needs to even know their ketone concentration? Ketone supplements: glycogen sparing or glycogen impairing? Effect of ketone supplementation on fuel selection in endurance athletes Potential for supplementation: where is the area we will most likely see some benefit? Limitations of current literature base

Click here to subscribe to Sigma Nutrition Premium This is an "open discussion" between Prof. Tim Noakes and Martin MacDonald on the topic of carbohydrates, insulin resistance and body fat. Prof. Noakes obtained an MBChB degree in 1974, an MD in 1981 and a DSc (Med) in Exercise Science in 2002. In the early 90s, Noakes teamed up with Morné du Plessis to drive the founding of the Sports Science Institute of South Africa (SSISA). Prof Noakes has published more than 750 scientific books and articles. He has been cited more than 16,000 times in scientific literature, has an H-index of 71 and has been rated an A1 scientist by the National Research Foundation of South Africa for a second 5-year term. He has won numerous awards over the years and made himself available on many editorial boards. After his research convinced him that a high fat, low carb diet is the healthiest option for many, Prof Noakes founded The Noakes Foundation in 2012. Prof Noakes retired as Professor of Exercise and Sports Science at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 2014 and is now an Emeritus Professor at UCT. While his career has seen him involved in some controversial circumstances, love him or hate him, you cannot deny his contributions to scientific research. Martin is a clinical performance nutritionist and the founder of Mac-Nutrition, a thriving nutrition consultancy boasting sought after long-term internship and weekend mentorship programs. He has also developed Mac-Nutrition Uni, the UK’s first ever evidence-based, nutrition course that can be completed online. Martin has worked as a performance nutritionist in elite sport with British Weight Lifting, Derby County Football Club, English swimming and other elite sport organizations. He has lectured at the University of Derby and has guest lectured on the prestigious MSc Sport and Exercise Nutrition course at Loughborough University. In This Episode We Discuss: Should carbohydrates be restricted for weight loss? weight maintenance? health? Confusing messages given to the public surrounding nutrition Do insulin resistant people need to be very low-carb? Does LCHF mean less hunger, and therefore better long-term results? You can find the show notes at sigmanutrition.com/episode210/ Click here to subscribe to Sigma Nutrition Premium  

Sleep researcher Dr. Amy Bender discusses the most current evidence-based recommendations for optimizing your sleep for health and athletic performance. Dr. Bender is the Clinical Program Director of Athlete Services at the Centre for Sleep & Human Performance and is also an adjunct professor of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary. She received her PhD and Master of Science degrees in Experimental Psychology from Washington State University in Spokane, WA specializing in sleep EEG. Her current research focuses on the relationship of sleep and recovery on athletic performance in Canadian National Team athletes. Her research interests stem from being an athlete herself; she is a Hall of Fame basketball player, has summited a number of volcanoes, and completed an Ironman in 2009. In This Episode We Discuss: Circadian biology and light/dark cycles Effects of artificial light at night The importance of daylight exposure early in the day Daily vs. weekly sleep quantity What exactly is "good quality" sleep? Strategy of "banking sleep" Assessing and tracking sleep in clients and athletes Strategies to mitigate detrimental effects of sleep before competition Are there any supplements that actually work for helping sleep? Interested in doing an online nutrition course? Check out sigmanutrition.com/mnu

Herman Pontzer, an evolutionary biologist, discusses the constrained energy expenditure model, physical activity paradox, and why humans can expend so much energy in short time frames. The podcast challenges beliefs about calorie burn and activity levels, delves into evolutionary biology of energy balance, and explores the impact of physical activity on health and disease.

Alex Ritson is on the show to dive into two recent recent papers; one investigating the theories of dynamic fat loss models, and the other looking at the effect of low-rep vs. high-rep training for hypertrophy and strength. Papers Discussed in this Episode Paper 1: Silva et al., 2017 - Do Dynamic Fat and Fat-Free Mass Changes follow Theoretical Driven Rules in Athletes? Paper 2: Morton et al., 2016 - Neither load nor systemic hormones determine resistance training-mediated hypertrophy or strength gains in resistance-trained young men

Nutritionist Alessandro Ferretti discusses data he has collected that may inform us as to the inflammatory response to diet and lifestyle, using markers such as blood glucose, heart rate variability and Alessandro's metric of "HRV/BG Index".

Brandon has a PhD in Muscle Biology and is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow researching muscle physiology related to hypertrophic adaptations. He is a published author or peer-reviewed research. In addition to his prowess in academia, Brandon is well-respected and experience in the practical side of things; being a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), USA Weightlifting Sports Performance Coach and online coach for The Strength Guys. As a writer, Brandon has been published in Alan Aragon's Research Review, Stronger By Science, Muscle & Strength, STACK, and Sci-fit.net Research Papers Discussed In This Episode: Study #1: Pardue et al., 2017 - Case Study: Unfavorable But Transient Physiological Changes During Contest Preparation in a Drug-Free Male Bodybuilder Study #2: Haun et al., 2017 - Molecular, neuromuscular, and recovery responses to light versus heavy resistance exercise in young men

sigmanutrition.com/mass Greg Nuckols is on the show to review two recent research papers; one looking at concurrent training and the interference effect, and the other looking at the fat-free mass index in athletes. Greg Nuckols is the founder of StrongerByScience.com, a website that provides comprehensive information about how to get stronger and more jacked. Greg has over a decade of experience under the bar, and a BS in Exercise and Sports Science. He’s held 3 all-time world records in powerlifting in the 220 and 242 classes, and is pursuing graduate research at UNC-Chapel Hill, under the supervision of Dr. Abbie Smyth-Ryan. He’s trained hundreds of athlete and regular folks, both online and in-person. He’s written for many of the major magazines and websites in the fitness industry, including Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Muscle & Fitness, Bodybuilding.com, T-Nation, and Schwarzenegger.com. Greg, along with Eric Helms and Dr. Mike Zourdos, created the monthly research review MASS (Monthly Applications in Strength Sports), which breaks apart some of the recent research carried out that is relevant to strength athletes, bodybuilders and powerlifters. Research Papers Discussed In This Episode: Study #1: Eddens et al., 2017 - The Role of Intra-Session Exercise Sequence in the Interference Effect: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis Study #2: Trexler et al., 2017 - Fat-Free Mass Index in NCAA Division I and II Collegiate American Football Players sigmanutrition.com/mass

Arthur is an exercise physiology PhD researcher and international-level competitive lifter in the IPF. He is head powerlifting coach at Sigma Nutrition. His current research is based on HMB supplementation and anabolism. Research Papers Discussed In This Episode: Study #1: Brechue & Abe, 2002 - The role of FFM accumulation and skeletal muscle architecture in powerlifting performance Study #2: Wilkinson et al., 2013 - Effects of leucine and its metabolite β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate on human skeletal muscle protein metabolism

Andrea Valdez has been an athlete her entire life. As a former competitive gymnast and long-time coach in the sport, she developed a discipline and respect for the powers that strong minds and bodies can achieve. This led her to continued success in competitive cheerleading and bodybuilding throughout her journey in higher level education. She received a Kinesiology degree from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi with an emphasis in Sports Management and a Minor in Business Administration. Upon graduation, she worked as a Marketing Intern for a Major League Soccer organization, the Houston Dynamo. Andrea then continued on to teach and research at the University of Oklahoma, where she earned her Master’s Degree in Exercise Physiology. Her scholarly development and professional experiences in training, coaching, teaching and mentoring lead her to begin a career as an author and video content provider for her own personal website and YouTube channel, both of which began in 2012. Andrea became a 3DMJ athlete for her next figure season in 2013 and for powerlifting in 2014. She continued her journey with the team by teaching alongside the other 3DMJ coaches at posing clinics, and helping to create digital products and content for the 3D Muscle Journey website. After months of collaborating as a project manager and writer, she was officially added as the fifth 3DMJ coach in September 2015. Also in 2015, she had the pleasure of co-authoring a pair of books with Eric Helms and Andy Morgan titled The Muscle and Strength Pyramids. These nutrition and training guides have become the industry standard for anyone trying to gain strength or manipulate body composition. During her current figure off-season, Andrea has begun training in Olympic weightlifting and gymnastics-based movements to pursue competition in a new sport called GRID. She continues to journal her athletic experiences on all of her social media platforms and throughout her personal website at AndreaValdez.com.