In this episode of MASS Office Hours, Dr. Eric Trexler and Dr. Mike Zourdos answer questions submitted by listeners and viewers in the live chat. Topics include rest intervals for acute performance, rest intervals for long-term outcomes, factors impacting rest interval length, practical recommendations for rest intervals, adjusting protein intake based on energy expenditure, estimating maintenance calories, accessory lifts for powerlifting, increasing aerobic fitness to improve hypertrophy...

In this episode of MASS Office Hours, Dr. Eric Trexler and Lauren Colenso-Semple answer questions submitted by listeners and viewers in the live chat. Topics include step count goals, leucine threshold theory, minimum dietary fat needs, supplements for vegan lifters, intra-workout carb supplementation, beta-alanine for lifters, resistance training and heart health, training to failure while cutting, preserving muscle while cutting, late-night eating and sleep quality, calorie timing and...

In this episode of MASS Office Hours, Dr. Eric Trexler and Dr. Eric Helms answer questions submitted by listeners and viewers in the live chat. Topics include stretch-mediated hypertrophy, lengthened partials, mindfulness, optimal lengths for bulking and cutting phases, natural limits for strength and muscularity, maintenance blocks in training, improving sleep quality, Ramadan fasting, back training, and much more. The MASS crew goes live for Office Hours every Wednesday night at 7pm...

In this episode of MASS Office Hours, Dr. Eric Trexler and Dr. Mike Zourdos answer questions submitted by listeners and viewers in the live chat. Topics include Progressive overload strategies, zone 2 cardio and interference effect, the importance of rest days, doing velocity work during rest periods, stretch-induced hypertrophy with low loads, specialization blocks, eccentric versus concentric training, creatine and sleep quality, the importance of carbohydrate, and much more. The MASS crew...

The MASS team is taking this week off, so we’re bringing you a special pre-recorded episode of Office Hours. This video comes from Volume 6, Issue 7 of the MASS Research Review. In the fitness industry many claim that with their system, supplement, or coaching, you can have your lean, dream body 24/7. While some get really lean, few, including bodybuilders, maintain a shredded physique year round. Why is this? Are there inevitable physiological consequences that make it very difficult to...

In this episode of MASS Office Hours, Dr. Eric Trexler and Dr. Eric Helms answer questions submitted by listeners and viewers in the live chat. Topics include ultra-processed foods, plant-based diets, food swaps, antioxidants, set volume, and much more. The MASS crew goes live for Office Hours every Wednesday night at 7pm eastern time. Be sure to join us for a future episode!  If you'd like to submit a question ahead of time, please use this...

In this episode of MASS Office Hours, Dr. Eric Trexler and Dr. Mike Zourdos answer questions submitted by listeners and viewers in the live chat. Topics include rest pause training, myo-reps, rest redistribution sets, cluster sets, super sets, drop sets, CNS fatigue, exercise order, protein distribution, biological “set points” for fat and muscle mass, the minimum effective training dose for muscle growth, and much more. The MASS crew goes live for Office Hours every Wednesday night at 7pm...

In this episode of MASS Office Hours, Dr. Eric Trexler and Lauren Colenso-Semple answer questions submitted by listeners and viewers in the live chat. Topics include training for peri- and post-menopausal women, the pros and cons of caffeine, low energy availability and related factors that impact endocrine system, managing side effects of creatine, sex differences in fatigue and training volume, what to do when you’re “skinny fat,” cluster sets versus straight sets for hypertrophy, favorite...

In this episode of MASS Office Hours, Dr. Eric Trexler and Dr. Eric Helms answer questions submitted by listeners and viewers in the live chat. Topics include food tracking, alternatives to food tracking, the ramifications of trying to stay very lean for extended periods of time, principles of hypertrophy training, metabolically healthy obesity, and much more.The MASS crew goes live for Office Hours every Wednesday night at 7pm eastern time. Be sure to join us for a future episode! If you'd...

In this episode of MASS Office Hours, Dr. Eric Trexler and Dr. Mike Zourdos answer questions submitted by listeners and viewers in the live chat. Topics include response variation, individualizing training, movement screens, rest days, protein intake recommendations and consistency across the week, the interference effect, exercise variation and joint pain, muscle and strength loss during deloads, volume cycling and “resensitization,” the effects of alcohol on metabolism and body composition,...

In this episode of MASS Office Hours, Dr. Eric Trexler and Dr. Eric Helms answer questions submitted by listeners and viewers in the live chat. Topics include bulking calories, pursuing fat loss in the context of negative body image, creatine, contaminants in protein powders, sleep, pre-exercise stretching, optimal training frequency for hypertrophy, a comprehensive approach to volume progression, and much more. The MASS crew goes live for Office Hours every Wednesday night at 7pm eastern...

In this episode of MASS Office Hours, Dr. Eric Trexler and Dr. Mike Zourdos answer questions submitted by listeners and viewers in the live chat. Topics include lifting recommendations for endurance athletes, heart rate zones for lifting, lower back training, finding the right amount of set volume, troubleshooting training plateaus, sacrificing sleep to increase training frequency/volume, and much more. The MASS crew goes live for Office Hours every Wednesday night at 7pm eastern time. Be...

In this episode of MASS Office Hours, Dr. Eric Trexler and Lauren Colenso-Semple answer questions submitted by listeners and viewers in the live chat. Topics include bulking and cutting phases, fat intake, hormonal contraceptives, alcohol intake, amenorrhea, protein intake, the health effects of low BMI values, and much more. The MASS crew goes live for Office Hours every Wednesday night at 7pm eastern time. Be sure to join us for a future episode!  Our next episode will begin at 7pm on...

The MASS team is taking this week off for the holidays, so we’re bringing you a special pre-recorded episode of Office Hours. This video comes from Volume 7, Issue 4 of the MASS Research Review. Prior to the original release of this video, the MASS team had covered self-determination theory, motivation, and other isolated topics related to psychology and coaching. It’s one thing to understand theoretically what autonomy support and being person-centered mean, but it’s another to know how to...

In episode #15 of MASS Office Hours, Dr. Eric Trexler is joined by Dr. Mike Zourdos. They discuss optimal protein intake per meal, warming up, caffeine and sleep disruption, tracking body weight throughout the menstrual cycle, calorie surplus consistency while bulking, artificial sweeteners, why plateaus occur, how to individualize training and break through plateaus, post-workout nutrition for evening workouts, how to get better at using RPE, and much more.  Our next episode will be a...

In this live episode of the MASS Office Hours podcast, Dr. Eric Trexler and Lauren Colenso-Semple answer questions on topics like their favorite exercises, common exercise prescription errors, balancing lifting and cardio for health and longevity, the pros and cons of machine-based exercises, lengthened partials, making gains on low-protein diets, and more. The MASS crew goes live for Office Hours every Wednesday night at 7pm eastern time. Be sure to join us for a future episode! Our next...

In this episode of MASS Office Hours, Dr. Eric Trexler and Dr. Eric Helms answer questions submitted by listeners and viewers in the live chat. Topics include the importance of periodization, the effects of food scarcity on eating behavior, behavior change tools, training frequency, saturated fat intake, implementation of cluster sets, the unique benefits of exercising versus being fit, and much more. The MASS crew goes live for Office Hours every Wednesday night at 7pm eastern time. Be sure...

In this very special episode of MASS Office Hours, we’ve got (kind of) the whole MASS crew! Lauren Colenso-Sample steers the ship and is joined by Dr. Mike Zourdos and Dr. Eric Helms. Dr. Trexler was planning to join but lost his voice due to illness. It’s the first episode without Dr. Trexler on the call, and many are calling it the best episode ever. In this episode, the MASS crew discusses recovery modalities, NSAIDs, combining cardio and lifting for health/longevity, blood flow...

In this very special episode of MASS Office Hours, Dr. Eric Trexler and Lauren Colenso-Semple are joined by a guest! Dr. Brad Schoenfeld joins the show to deliver a masterclass on the science of muscle growth. Dr. Schoenfeld is a world-renowned muscle hypertrophy expert who has published countless research studies about muscle growth. In this episode, we discuss metabolic stress, rep ranges, “effective reps,” “hard sets,” training to failure, intensification techniques (supersets, dropsets,...

In this episode of MASS Office Hours, Dr. Eric Trexler and Dr. Eric Helms answer questions submitted by listeners and viewers in the live chat. They begin by announcing next week's special guest, hypertrophy expert Dr. Brad Schoenfeld. Much of the episode focuses on training topics like long-length partials, push/pull ratios, bringing up lagging muscle groups, injury prevention perspectives, plyometrics, addressing inconsistent training habits, and much more. The MASS crew goes live for...

In this live episode of the MASS Office Hours podcast, Dr. Eric Trexler and Lauren Colenso-Semple answer questions on topics like changing training programs based on menstrual cycle phase, sex differences in muscle fatigue, the impact of sleep on gains, the effects of caffeine on sleep quality, metabolism, applying research to practice, teaching exercises to beginners, and more. The MASS crew goes live for Office Hours every Wednesday night at 7pm eastern time. Be sure to join us for a...

For episode #8 of MASS Office Hours, we present the "cover story" from the November 2023 issue of the MASS Research Review. Dr. Eric Helms is currently halfway through his fifth competitive bodybuilding season. For this month’s cover story, Lauren Colenso-Semple interviews Dr. Helms about the nuances of peak week. This interview covers the art and science of peaking, how Dr. Helms’ approach has evolved over the years, and considerations for individuals competing in back to back...

In episode #7 of MASS Office Hours, Dr. Eric Trexler is joined by Dr. Mike Zourdos. They discuss concurrent training, proximity to failure, extremely high training volumes, extra-high protein intake, limitations of rodent research, the importance of behavior change models, and much more. Our next episode will be a pre-recorded episode, and it will be uploaded on November 1st. We'll be back to live episodes at 7pm (eastern time) on November 8. If you'd like to submit a question, please use...

In episode 6 of MASS Office Hours, Dr. Eric Trexler is joined by Dr. Eric Helms. They cover a variety of topics related to bodybuilding and fat loss, including nutrition tracking, refeed days, step count adjustments, how they’ve gotten better at dieting over time, and much more. The MASS crew goes live for Office Hours every Wednesday night at 7pm eastern time. Be sure to join us for a future episode! Our next episode will begin at 7pm on October 25. If you'd like to submit a question,...

In episode 5 of MASS Office Hours, Dr. Eric Trexler is joined by Lauren Colenso-Semple. They answer listeners' questions about microgravity, tracking muscle growth, reverse diets, recovery diets, satellite cells, intermittent fasting, natural approaches to increase testosterone, and much more. The MASS crew goes live for Office Hours every Wednesday night at 7pm eastern time. Be sure to join us for a future episode! Time stamps: 0:00 Introduction 1:54 Effects of microgravity 8:01 How to...