Iron Culture presented by MASS

Updated: 03 Dec 2025 • 358 episodes
ironculture.libsyn.com/website

Iron Culture was started by Eric Helms and Omar Isuf as a means of exploring the world of physical culture and attempting to distill a unified philosophy of lifting and to help listeners find greater meaning from the iron. It's now hosted by Eric Helms and Eric Trexler, who repeatedly beg Omar to return as a guest. Iron Culture focuses on dispensing practical, useful information to the listener, bouncing from history, to philosophy, to contemporary lifting culture issues, to science. The format includes casual conversations between the two hosts on a variety of topics, discussions with a panel of experts and interviews with authoritative figures in the lifting community. Iron Culture is proudly presented by the MASS Research Review.

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In this episode of Iron Culture, Eric Trexler interviews Dr. John Rusin, a personal trainer and strength coach with a doctorate in physical therapy. They discuss Dr. Rusin's journey from working with professional athletes to focusing on general population training, emphasizing the importance of injury prevention and pa

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In this episode of Iron Culture, Eric Helms interviews Oscar Moscat, a pro natural bodybuilder who shares his journey in the sport. Oscar discusses the importance of personal motivation, family values, and the balance between competition and self-improvement. He emphasizes the significance of finding what works for eac

69 min
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In this episode, Eric Trexler and Eric Helms begin by discussing Helms' competition updates and the sad state of affairs in academic publishing (that is, scientific journals). Eric and Eric then take a deep dive into the complexities of central fatigue, systemic fatigue, the accumulation of fatigue, and deloading strat

97 min
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In this conversation, Eric Helms reflects on his recent competition experience, discussing the nostalgia of returning to a familiar stage and the significance of competing at a pro level. He emphasizes the importance of mindset during contest prep and the challenges of transitioning from a dieting phase to maintenance.

86 min
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In this episode of Iron Culture, Eric Trexler and Dr. Eric Helms discuss Helms' upcoming bodybuilding competition, his preparation journey, and the importance of nutrition and recovery. They delve into various topics including auto-regulated dieting, GI issues, mini cuts, step counts, energy expenditure, and more. If y

81 min
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In this episode of Iron Culture, Eric Trexler and Eric Helms discuss significant updates in fitness research, particularly focusing on the constrained energy expenditure model and the effects of NSAIDs on muscle hypertrophy. They also revisit a prior episode about PhDs (how they're obtained and what they mean) by discu

78 min
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