MASS Office Hours Episode 2 (Muscle Retention, Exercise Variety, Strength Blocks for Hypertrophy)

In the 2nd episode of MASS Office Hours, Dr. Eric Trexler is joined by Dr. Eric Helms to discuss evidence-based fitness strategies and answer questions from listeners. They begin by discussing how to translate effect sizes from research into real-world decisions, then they answer listeners’ questions about preserving muscle during weight loss, the importance of exercise variation/variety, how to adjust calorie targets while bulking up, Dr. Helms' contest prep diet, 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:

00:0⁠0:00⁠ Introduction

00:0⁠6:19⁠ How do you translate effect sizes into “real world” meaning/decision making? How big does an effect size need to be in order to be “worthwhile?”

00:⁠17:38⁠ How quickly can you lose weight without losing any muscle at all? How much total weight can you lose without losing any muscle at all? What’s the best way to prevent muscle loss during a weight loss phase?

00:⁠38:12⁠ If you’ve got a solid training program and you’re utilizing progressive overload, can you keep doing the exact same exercises forever, or is it beneficial to incorporate more exercise variation/variety?

00:⁠49:40⁠ When increasing calories to gain weight, how large should your calorie target increases be?

0⁠1:05:49⁠ Now that Dr. Helms is 9 days out from a bodybuilding competition, what does his diet look like?

0⁠1:13:32⁠ Do strength-focused training blocks help with long-term hypertrophy goals?

0⁠1:23:26⁠ Concluding remarks