Iron Culture presented by MASS
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.
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 93 minutes
- Episodes
- 347
- Years Active
- 2019 - 2025
Ep. 125 - Competing (and Winning) in BOTH Powerlifting & Bodybuilding (ft. Katie Anne Rutherford)
What do the 2015 USAPL Junior National title, the 2017 Yorton Cup Pro Figure Tall title, and the 2017 WNBF Pro Figure Overall title have in common? They were all won by our guest on this episode of I…
Ep. 124 - Natty or Not, Drug Testing and Genetics (Q&A #3)
Omar and Eric are back with another Q&A episode! This time, they go IN on the topic of not just being skeptical but also being rational when thinking about the likelihood of someone being drug-free. …
Ep. 123 - Retiring Early From Natural Bodybuilding
Sam Okunola has been at the top echelon of the natural bodybuilding competitive circuit for over a decade. Winning his pro card in his first sanctioned show in 2009, he’s gone on to win multiple pro …
Ep. 122 - From Bodybuilding to Crafting High Quality Content (ft. Jeff Nippard)
What goes into making a YouTube channel dedicated to educating people about lifting, nutrition, getting stronger, and bodybuilding? We asked Jeff Nippard just that on this episode of Iron Culture whe…
Ep. 121- Achieving Nutritional Competence
Nutrition is not just about comparing methods, macro breakdowns, or foods. Navigating nutritional changes that support your goals is a skill set that needs to be actively developed over time. What ar…
Episode 120 - A Deep Examination of “Specificity”
Principle of specificity bro, everybody knows that? But do they? What’s more specific to a squat 1RM, a leg press 1RM, or doing a set of 10 on squats? Why does squatting have just as good of transfer…
Ep. 119 - The Strongest Powerlifter (ft. Amanda Lawrence)
On this episode of Iron Culture, we are joined by the strongest of them all: Amanda Lawrence. She currently tops the ranks of drug-tested raw powerlifting by coefficient using multiple formulae and i…
Ep.118 - Should You Compete?
We’re back with round 2 of our question and answer episodes on Iron Culture! We begin with the dumpster fire that is the “Natty or Not” debate, hopefully providing some unique insights, and then we g…
Ep. 117 - Is Exercise Pointless for Weight Loss?
Dr. Ben House is back on Iron Culture! This time he’s here to explain why not only is exercise not pointless for weight loss, but indeed may be the most effective and low-risk tool we have to arrest …
Ep. 116 - Flexible Dieting: A Reexamination?!
Can you believe it’s episode 116 and we haven’t yet done a deep dive specifically on “flexible dieting”? Well, we couldn’t either, so in this episode, we did just that. You’ll learn what the origins …
Ep. 115 - Tapering For Strength: What You Probably Don’t Know
This week, Dr. Hayden Pritchard joins Iron Culture. Hayden did his Ph.D. specifically on tapering for maximal strength enhancement, which included surveying top powerlifters to see what they do in pr…
Ep. 114 - After Your Diet, Now What?!
The diet is over...now what? Well, that depends. Are you someone looking to maintain your (hopefully reasonable amount of) weight loss? Or are you a competitor who’s purposely dieted to an unsustaina…
Ep. 113 - Competitive Natural Bodybuilding: A Journey (ft. Brett Freeman)
Iron Culture gets back to its roots in this episode, meaning, hunks. WNBF Pro Natural bodybuilder and 2x World Pro Champion in the lightweight and bantamweight classes Brett Freeman joins us today to…
Ep. 112 - The Truth About Making Fitness Content
Infographics, YouTubers, podcasters, and blogs, oh my! It ain’t easy being a content creator in these hyper-speed feed times. In this episode, the hosts reflect on the challenging balance of producin…
Ep. 111 - The Future of Powerlifting
In this episode, three of the most talented lifters in the IPF discuss their training, the state of powerlifting and their lifting careers during COVID, and the future. We are joined by Jessica Buett…
Ep. 110 - Who Are You Without Lifting?
It’s been just about a year since the first COVID gym lockdowns, and for many, they are still happening. Some have been unable to train in the way they were accustomed to for the majority of that tim…
Ep. 109 - Empiricism vs Rationalism: What Do We Really Know When It Comes To Fitness?
We often throw around terms like “rational skepticism” or “empirical evidence” without knowing the specific definitions of what they mean beyond a general sense of them indicating some aspect of scie…
Ep. 108 - Sustainable Fat Loss, Bench Plateaus & More (Q&A #1)
You got questions? We got answers. In fact, we have THE answers. In this episode Omar and Eric take a step in a bold direction, doing what no other podcasts or fitness content creators have previousl…
Ep. 107 - Supplement Science: All About Citrulline & Citrulline Malate
Citrulline Malate, an emerging supplement in the scientific literature with an overall positive publishing record. More and more these days, you’ll see it alongside the more scientifically establishe…
Ep. 106 - What Hardcore Lifters Get WRONG
Black and white Animal Pak posters, a mid-set roar lunk alarm be damned, a willingness to sacrifice, and a middle finger to the concept of “balance”. Most people would agree these are “hardcore” arch…