Iron Radio-Nutrition Radio Network

Coach Phil Stevens, Dr Mike T Nelson, Dr Lonnie Lowery, Coach Barber

A rebooted Iron Radio and archives of Season Two of NutritionRadio.org are here! Stay up on breaking health news, exercise science, food trends, and innovations with professors, coaches, and guest co-hosts. Updated weekly. Legitimate content you trust, from educated, experienced podcasters as passionate as you are.

  1. 20h ago

    New Myostatin Blocker Omega-3 News

    Myostatin Blocker Hype vs. Reality, and Should You Still Take Omega-3s? In this Fourth of July Iron Radio episode, Coach Phil Stevens introduces a newly publicized myostatin-blocking drug, Trevogrumab (Regeneron), which promises dose-dependent muscle gain by blocking the myostatin pathway. Phil flags a viral social media clip hyping the compound, while noting that buried in early trial data is a troubling adverse event: 5 of 45 subjects experienced death. Dr. Lonnie Lowery and Dr. Mike T. Nelson dig into the science — what we know about myostatin knockout in animals and a rare German double-null child, the question of whether resistance training is even necessary with such a drug, and the dangers of underground use without sterility or verified sourcing. In the second segment, Dr. Lonnie covers a "clickbait" Supply Side Journal article questioning Omega-3 value based on preclinical and conflicting observational data. Dr. Mike discusses his decade-plus practice of testing red blood cell Omega-3 levels with Dr. Dibbus, targeting 8–9% RBC levels, current dosing considerations, and why farmed salmon's changed feed now makes supplementation even more critical. 00:00 Welcome and Hosts 01:27 Fourth of July News Episode Setup 01:46 Myostatin Blocker Trevogrumab Introduction 05:00 Trial Deaths and Safety Red Flags 07:53 Myostatin Science and Animal Models 10:27 Underground Use and Anecdotal Reports 13:00 Social Media Influence and Gen Pop Risk 16:07 Show Announcements and Promos 19:10 AI Check on Trevogrumab Side Effects 21:00 Golden Dilemma and Risk Acceptance 24:51 Omega-3 News: Clickbait or Real Science? 29:06 Phil on High-Dose Fish Oil History 30:21 Mike on Omega-3 Testing Protocol 34:00 Farmed Salmon and Supplement Rationale 35:48 Wrap and Happy Fourth of July Donate to the show via PayPal HERE. You can also join Dr Mike's Insider Newsletter for more info on how to add muscle, improve your performance and body comp - all without destroying your health, go to www.ironradiodrmike.com  Thank you! Phil, Jerrell, Mike T, and Lonnie

    37 min
  2. 6d ago

    Training at 50

    Training, Recovery, and Staying Strong After 50 In this Iron Radio episode, hosts Coach Phil Stevens, Dr. Mike T. Nelson, and Dr. Lonnie Lowery tackle the growing number of lifters entering strength training at age 50 and beyond. Phil shares observations from an over-50 fitness forum and his own experience returning to a 700-pound squat at age 49 after training mostly in the 400–500 range. The hosts discuss research showing age-related decline follows a step function driven largely by injuries rather than a smooth linear drop, the importance of injury prevention as a primary training goal, soft tissue adaptations and “old man strength,” and the shift toward physique-based training with intensity techniques like forced reps, eccentrics, and drop sets. Recovery strategies include prioritizing sleep (Phil now goes to bed at 8:30), eating like an adult with higher protein-to-calorie ratios, collagen supplementation 40–60 minutes pre-training per the Shaw and Keith Baar protocol, hibiscus tea for micronutrition, and down-regulation tools like float tanks and the ShiftWave chair. They also discuss maintaining rate of force development safely using bands, chains, K-box flywheel training, and throwing events rather than high-impact plyometrics. 00:00 Welcome and Hosts 01:19 Sleep Quality and Aging 02:20 Over-50 Fitness Forum Observations 03:35 Training Intensity Must Be Selective 05:44 Hormonal Changes and Central Body Fat 07:04 Age-Related Decline Data and Step Function 08:47 Injury Prevention as Priority 10:46 Phil’s 700-Pound Squat Return at 49 11:30 Soft Tissue Adaptation and Old Man Strength 12:50 Knowing Your Limits — Mentally vs Physically 15:21 Shifting Toward Physique-Based Training 16:46 Show Promos and Updates 19:46 Bodybuilding Variety and Intensity Techniques 22:28 Belt Squat, Hex Squat, and Equipment Alternatives 24:07 Recovery — Sleep, Nutrition, and Collagen 29:57 Hibiscus Tea and Micronutrition 31:13 Immobilization Risks and Minimizing Decline 33:33 Consistency Beats Entropy 35:26 Rate of Force Development — Safe Explosiveness 38:14 Summary and Farewell Donate to the show via PayPal HERE. You can also join Dr Mike's Insider Newsletter for more info on how to add muscle, improve your performance and body comp - all without destroying your health, go to www.ironradiodrmike.com  Thank you! Phil, Jerrell, Mike T, and Lonnie

    40 min
  3. Jun 22

    ISSN 2026

    ISSN Conference Rundown: Lactotripeptides, GLP-1 Support, Astaxanthin, Beta-Alanine, Urolithin A, and Wearables In this Iron Radio episode, hosts Coach Phil Stevens, Dr. Mike T. Nelson, and Dr. Lonnie Lowery recap highlights from the ISSN conference. They discuss sponsored research on casein lactotripeptides and their possible effects on blood flow, “pump,” and hypertrophy; a presentation on nutrition support for GLP-1 users and high dropout rates; and updates on astaxanthin as a carotenoid antioxidant with emerging dosing and metabolism data. They review a beta-alanine tutorial covering loading timelines, paresthesia, and dosing, and talk with Emily Werner about urolithin A, mixed evidence, cost, and sourcing concerns. Other topics include amino acids for tendon recovery, communication of sports nutrition in media, a practical sports nutrition lecture emphasizing field validity and “don’t assume—go look,” MSM for recovery, EAAs and cognition, and Mike’s wearable tech takeaways, including poor calorie-burn estimates and HRV/respiratory rate considerations. 00:00 Welcome and Hosts 01:42 Conference Recap Setup 02:14 Milk Peptides and Pump 08:27 GLP-1 Nutrition Support 10:31 Astaxanthin Deep Dive 14:19 Beta Alanine Update 21:05 Urolithin A Buzz 22:04 Urolithin A Evidence 23:31 Personal Trials and Cost 25:12 Buying Legit Sources 27:14 Amino Acids for Tendons 29:02 Media Nutrition Messaging 31:01 Real World Sports Nutrition 34:11 MSM and Immune Stress 36:20 EAAs for Cognition 39:09 Wearables Accuracy Reality 43:42 Conference Wrap and Farewell Donate to the show via PayPal HERE. You can also join Dr Mike's Insider Newsletter for more info on how to add muscle, improve your performance and body comp - all without destroying your health, go to www.ironradiodrmike.com  Thank you! Phil, Jerrell, Mike T, and Lonnie

    46 min
  4. Jun 20

    Get Informed Peptides

    Peptides, SARMs, and “No Free Lunch”: Why You Must Know the Side Effects In this Iron Radio episode, hosts Coach Phil Stevens, Dr. Mike T. Nelson, and Dr. Lonnie Lowery discuss growing use of peptides, SARMs, and other drugs in gyms and the general public, emphasizing that many people take substances without understanding risks, side effects, dosing tradeoffs, or product quality. They compare older, better-studied compounds to newer agents with limited or no human data, and highlight dangers of injection practices, sterility issues, and mislabeled products. Mike shares a Journal of Nutrition study (Sato et al., industry-funded by Morinaga) on an oral whey hydrolysate tetrapeptide (leucine-aspartate-glutamine-tryptophan) in 181 overweight adults, reporting about a one-inch waist reduction and improved mood over 8–12 weeks. The conversation broadens to impatience, lifestyle disease, and the value of slow, informed, long-term progress in training, dieting, and health. 00:00 Welcome and Hosts 01:17 Lonnie on Aging Lifts 02:14 Why People Ignore Risks 05:01 SARMs and New Peptides 06:01 Peptides Can Do Anything 09:52 Creatine Tweaks and Hype 11:30 Oral Peptide Study News 16:37 Impatience and Quick Fixes 17:35 Show Updates and Promos 20:34 Peptide Sellers and Injection Risks 23:15 Sketchy Peptide Supply 23:52 Sterility Horror Stories 25:04 Informed Consent Mindset 25:46 Commercials And Polypharmacy 28:51 Vanity Vs Aging Reality 30:43 Slow Habits Beat Shortcuts 32:46 Dose Response Not Linear 33:35 Crash Diet Stress Costs 36:00 Patience And Longevity 38:14 Parenting Goals And Odds 40:41 Pay Your Dues Closing 41:39 Podcast Disclaimer Donate to the show via PayPal HERE. You can also join Dr Mike's Insider Newsletter for more info on how to add muscle, improve your performance and body comp - all without destroying your health, go to www.ironradiodrmike.com  Thank you! Phil, Jerrell, Mike T, and Lonnie

    42 min
  5. Jun 8

    Enhanced Games

    Enhanced Games Recap: PEDs, PRs, Recovery, and the $10M Usain Bolt Bounty | Iron Radio In this Iron Radio episode, hosts Coach Phil Stevens, Dr. Mike T. Nelson, and Dr. Lonnie Lowery discuss the recent Enhanced Games, noting that unenhanced top-level competitors often beat enhanced entrants who were frequently retired for 5–14 years and had only about four months of prep, including roughly two months enhanced. They argue the results still showed meaningful effects, with many athletes—especially older ones—beating personal bests, and they highlight weightlifting as the sport with the most dramatic improvements, including an athlete opening 10 kg over his best and narrowly missing a world record at 30 kg over. They critique expectations of instant “Captain America” gains, discuss sport-specific tradeoffs (e.g., muscle mass and drag in swimming), mention strict FDA-approved protocols, heavy commercialization, major investors, prize payouts, Olympic bans, and a new $10M offer for breaking Usain Bolt’s 100m record, with plans toward 2027. 00:00 Show Intro and Hosts 00:46 Concert Banter and Updates 01:41 Enhanced Games Recap 03:29 Why Records Didn't Fall 04:44 Swimming vs Strength Sports 06:25 Strongman Drug Rules 08:12 Money Incentives and Olympics 11:22 Training Timeline and Oversight 12:51 Sponsors and TRT Clinics 17:18 Marketing and Mechanical Doping 20:10 Recovery Not Just Muscle 22:31 Ethics and Pro Sports Testing 24:24 Testing Is a Joke 25:00 Doping Culture by Sport 25:33 Olympics Arms Race 27:04 Genetics Skill and Reality 28:47 Bodybuilding Drug Debate 31:33 Capitalism and Sport Picks 32:32 Tech Suits and Gear Rules 34:17 Results PRs and Future 35:54 Timeframes and Supervision 37:51 Safety Monitoring Ethics 41:12 Wrap Up and Disclaimer Donate to the show via PayPal HERE. You can also join Dr Mike's Insider Newsletter for more info on how to add muscle, improve your performance and body comp - all without destroying your health, go to www.ironradiodrmike.com  Thank you! Phil, Jerrell, Mike T, and Lonnie

    42 min
  6. Jun 2

    Science Roundup: Supplements, Diet-Glasses, HDL

    Iron Radio: Do Supplements Beat Food for Vitamin Status? Wearable Food-Tracking Glasses + HDL, Exercise & Depression On Iron Radio, hosts Dr. Lonnie Lowery, Dr. Mike T. Nelson, and Coach Phil Stevens discuss Nelson’s Flex Diet Certification and how supplementation topics are integrated due to time constraints, plus his creatine research PDF. They review a new NHANES-based paper (Sternberg et al., May 2026) suggesting supplement use explains more variability in vitamin biomarkers (R² ~3–21%) than reported dietary intake (~0.8–8.8%), while noting limitations like recall bias, low explained variance, and imperfect biomarkers. They then examine a 2021 AIM2 wearable device that detects eating episodes and captures food images with ~83% accuracy, debating research benefits versus privacy and data-broker concerns. Finally, they critique a 2026 cross-sectional study linking physical activity, HDL cholesterol, and lower depression odds, arguing the effect is associative and likely non-causal, and expand into broader concerns about interpreting lipids in athletic populations and medical risk models. 00:00 Show Intro and Hosts 01:05 Flex Diet Cert and Supplements 03:23 Brevity in Science Talks 05:34 Talk Tactics and Backup Slides 08:22 Supplements vs Food Biomarkers 14:04 Vitamin D and Biomarker Limits 15:21 Iron Radio Feed Update 16:32 Newsletter and Book Plug 18:21 Wearable Food Tracking Glasses 21:00 Privacy and Data Broker Fears 23:21 VR Ads and Escape 23:53 Food Illusions and Conditioning 24:27 Research Uses vs Privacy 26:20 Testing Dietary Recall Accuracy 27:39 HDL Exercise and Depression Study 30:29 Is HDL Really Causal 33:21 Selling Results in Titles 35:02 HDL Drugs and High HDL Debate 37:08 Statins Risk Models and Exercise 40:15 Athlete Labs and Wrap Up Donate to the show via PayPal HERE. You can also join Dr Mike's Insider Newsletter for more info on how to add muscle, improve your performance and body comp - all without destroying your health, go to www.ironradiodrmike.com  Thank you! Phil, Jerrell, Mike T, and Lonnie

    42 min
  7. May 26

    Your Next Meet

    When Should You Compete Again? Timing Meets, Momentum, and Realistic Goals in Strength & Physique Sports In this Iron Radio episode, hosts Coach Phil Stevens, Dr. Mike T. Nelson, and Dr. Lonnie Lowery discuss how athletes decide what to do next after a meet or show and when to compete again. Phil explains how competition frequency often shifts from many meets per year early on to fewer events as lifters get stronger, older, and need more time to recover and make meaningful progress, sometimes using smaller meets as non-max “training day” run-throughs for clients. Mike describes prioritizing goals to avoid competitions that distract from main objectives, and notes the added challenges in physique sports where frequent shows can create a stressful 6–12 week “gray area” and lead to issues like water retention and inflammation, especially for natural athletes. They emphasize realistic expectations, honest coaching, and the value of outside perspective for planning and psychology. 00:00 Welcome and Hosts 01:18 When to Compete Again 02:07 Phil on Meet Frequency 03:51 Clients and Progress Planning 06:13 Warmup Meets Strategy 07:49 Powerlifting vs Physique Peaks 08:50 Mike on Priorities and Goals 10:51 Physique Sports Gray Zone 16:40 Iron Radio Feed Update 17:52 Mike Nelson Newsletter 18:30 New Supplement Book 19:39 Levrone Transformation Talk 20:16 Setting Realistic PR Goals 21:26 Getting Athletes To Eat 24:03 Dreams Versus Reality 24:33 Choosing Your Strengths 27:50 Managing Warrior Mode 30:41 Why Coaches Matter 32:35 Wrap Up And Disclaimer Donate to the show via PayPal HERE. You can also join Dr Mike's Insider Newsletter for more info on how to add muscle, improve your performance and body comp - all without destroying your health, go to www.ironradiodrmike.com  Thank you! Phil, Jerrell, Mike T, and Lonnie

    33 min
  8. May 20

    Fun Outside the Gym

    Iron Radio: Why Lifters Need Variety, Play, and “Accidental Exercise” (for Longevity & Brain Health) In this Iron Radio episode, Coach Phil Stevens, Dr. Mike T. Nelson and Dr. Lonnie Lowery discuss why strength athletes should include variety and recreational movement beyond specialized lifting, especially with aging. Phil cites evidence that most pro athletes were multi-sport as kids and argues that changing activities and training emphases can reduce injury, burnout, and loss of explosiveness. Mike explains the neurological benefits of movement in different planes and chaotic environments (eyes, vestibular system, proprioception), shares the GOAT drill as a warm-up, and suggests options like skateboarding, surfing, tennis, pickleball, juggling, and kettlebell juggling. The hosts emphasize “play,” hiking on real trails, and keeping at least minimal aerobic work so the gap between doing nothing and something doesn’t widen, while also cautioning older trainees to restart old skills at low intensity to protect tissues. 00:00 Welcome and Hosts 01:11 Why Variety Matters 03:56 Purposeful Play Training 05:44 Neuro Coordination Drills 09:31 Show Updates and Feeds 10:42 Newsletter and Book Plug 12:29 Aging Injury Proofing 17:09 Learning New Skills 19:35 Start Slow Stay Safe 21:09 Sprinting Risks and Tissue 23:28 Rebuilding Skills Slowly 24:10 Hiking for Real Movement 25:34 Ground Work and Aging 27:07 Sports as Cardio 28:09 Accidental Exercise Mindset 29:38 Playful Training Tools 31:15 Avoiding Specialization Traps 32:17 Offseason and Aerobic Base 34:06 Minimum Effective Conditioning 37:13 Juggling Desk Breaks 38:22 Flow Trainers and Hacky Sack 39:44 Wrap Up and Disclaimers Donate to the show via PayPal HERE. You can also join Dr Mike's Insider Newsletter for more info on how to add muscle, improve your performance and body comp - all without destroying your health, go to www.ironradiodrmike.com  Thank you! Phil, Jerrell, Mike T, and Lonnie

    41 min
4.7
out of 5
10 Ratings

About

A rebooted Iron Radio and archives of Season Two of NutritionRadio.org are here! Stay up on breaking health news, exercise science, food trends, and innovations with professors, coaches, and guest co-hosts. Updated weekly. Legitimate content you trust, from educated, experienced podcasters as passionate as you are.

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