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. 225 - Be Stronger NOW: Top Sets & Avoiding Stress & Social Media (MASScast 2 ft. Mike Zourdos)
We’re back with MASScast episode 2 and we’re joined by Dr. Mike Zourdos to discuss several things which can impact your strength performance right now. In this episode we discuss the effect of mental…
Ep. 224 - The Return of HIT (high intensity training)
Here at Iron Culture we’re overjoyed any time the legends of the game are remembered in the current age, and Mike Mentzer, one of the best-built proponents of HIT (High Intensity Training) - low volu…
Ep. 223 - Dietary Fat, Metabolic Rates & Low Carb Diets (MASScast 1 ft. Eric Trexler)
We have an exciting announcement at Iron Culture, we are combining forces with MASS, Monthly Applications in Strength Sport to bring you regular “MASScast” episodes where we will be joined by one or …
Ep. 222 - Partials for Hypertrophy: A Formerly Fringe Idea
In this episode, we discuss two topics, when and how to address fringe topics in the fitness space and the growing data in support of long muscle length partials for hypertrophy. In the former discus…
Ep. 221 - The World’s Strongest Man (feat Mitchell Hooper)
In this episode, we’re joined by Mitchell Hooper fresh off his 2023 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) win. In addition to winning the 2023 WSM, he also won the 2023 Arnold Strongman Classic. He is among on…
Ep. 220 - The Lifting Stones of Ireland (feat David Keohan)
You’ve probably heard of the famous, ancient lifting stones in Iceland and Scotland, some of which are even replicated and used in strongman competitions. But did you know that over 20 stones (and st…
Ep. 219 - Being a Good Coach - It’s not About You
Coaches in the evidence-based community are often up to date with the latest in periodization and sports nutrition, but many are not even aware that there is a tremendous amount of research on coachi…
Ep. 218 - Science is Flawed, but Can be Fixed (feat Dr. James Steele, Dr. “Pak” and Milo Wolf)
We recently visited Dr. James Steele, Dr. “Pak”, and Milo Wolf at Solent University to film some of their research methods and interview them about the innovative, high-quality approaches they take. …
Ep. 217 - The Rich History of Irish Lifting
Dr. Conor Heffernan is back to discuss our recent trip to Ireland where he introduced us to Ireland’s reigning strongest woman Ayshea Ullah, David Keohan a kettlebell sport world champion dubbed “Ind…
Ep. 216 - The Most Important Powerlifting Meet In History? (The Sheffield Retrospective)
Last week was the first time in our history that we left you without an episode, but don’t worry this painful experience was for good reason. Omar and Eric were in fact, both together in person, with…
Ep. 215 - Is Bodybuilding a Sport?(feat Adrian Kind)
Look no further than the comment section of this post/video and you’ll find knee-jerk answers to the question posed in this title driven by emotional reactions, that are justified after the fact by a…
Ep. 214 - You Don’t Know Powerlifting Coaching (feat Matt Gary)
Matt Gary is back on Iron Culture after being on way back in episode 16! This time he discusses nuances most people don’t know about game day powerlifting coaching, including even most powerlifters! …
Ep. 213 - Addressing The IFBB Pro Bodybuilding Controversy (ft Desmond Butler)
Cult, we’ve been working on this one for weeks. We’ve got Desmond Butler on this episode, the lead journalist who wrote the recent Washington Post series on the corruption, exploitation, and health a…
Ep. 212 - High Level Powerlifting & Eric's Last Dance
The boys are reunited, don’t worry cult, and yes, reunited atop the pyramid. After catching up on what’s been going on for Omar that took him away from us last week, the boys get down to powerlifting…
Ep. 211 - Training Specificity Revisited & New Diet Break Data
Dear listener, we just can’t let go. Even though we told you in 2023 we wouldn’t be able to stick to the weekly schedule, we are trying our best to do so anyway. This week, to maintain our codependen…
Ep. 210 - What Powerlifting Needs To Do Better
We are joined by Ryan Lapadat on this episode, host of the King of the Lifts podcast, and arguably the best and most prolific powerlifting commentator, despite his relatively recent emergence onto th…
Ep. 209 - Stretching For Hypertrophy & A Superior Creatine!?
Stretch-mediated hypertrophy is all the rave at the moment, and much of the enthusiasm is based on a single study out of a specific lab, but, there are actually many other studies that this lab has r…
Ep. 208 - Sheffield Final Roster, USPA controversy, New Bodybuilding Research
It’s episode 208 and yes, you’re right, that means it’s been four years of episodes coming out weekly, every single . And guess what? In typical iron culture fashion, we completely forgot it was our …
Ep. 207 - Is menstrual cycle periodization evidence-based? (feat Lauren Colenso-Semple)
We were joined by McMaster University PhD. candidate Lauren Colenso-Semple who is studying the influence of exercise, nutrition, and hormones on skeletal muscle, specifically as they relate to the me…
Ep. 206 - Is the day you start lifting the day you become forever small?
If comparison is the thief of joy, then what hope do competitive bodybuilders have for happiness? In a sport where you stand before a panel of strangers who numerically rate your nearly nude body in …