In this week’s Q&A episode, I dig into your most common questions — from supplements to training to nutrition — and break them down with actual data, not influencer mythology. If you’ve ever wondered whether collagen is worth the hype, if fiber does more than “help you poop,” or whether turkesterone is anything more than TikTok creatine-with-a-fedora… this episode is for you.
We cover:
Collagen
Does it help joints? Skin? Connective tissue? Muscle? I walk through the clinical trials (including the ones influencers never mention) and explain where collagen actually works… and where it absolutely doesn’t.
Fiber
Yes, it helps your gut — but that’s just the start. We look at the research on mortality risk, insulin resistance, weight loss, inflammation, CKD, energy balance, colon cancer, and why higher fiber intake consistently predicts better health across multiple systems.
Turkesterone & Ecdysteroids
The internet loves calling this “natural anavar.” The human data… does not. I break down the preliminary studies, the animal research, and what’s real versus what’s marketing.
Burnout & Training Balance
How I manage training, work, and life without flaming out — and what actually matters for long-term consistency.
Protein Needs After 40
Do you need more protein as you age? What does the research say about anabolic resistance, amino acid signaling, and muscle protein synthesis in older lifters?
Things That Hurt Muscle Growth
Ice baths, alcohol, smoking, NSAIDs, corticosteroids — we go through the actual evidence on what blunts hypertrophy, what doesn’t, and what matters in the real world.
Sugar & Weight Gain
Do non-diabetics need to “fear” sugar? Or does it really come down to calories? We dig into metabolic ward studies, DIETFITS, high-sucrose diets, and the boring reality that calorie balance still wins.
Men vs. Women in Training & Nutrition
Sex differences in hypertrophy, strength gains, metabolic rate, and menstrual cycle effects on performance — what’s real and what’s bro-science?
Training Over 50
How many sets do you actually need to build muscle after 50? We review the dose-response data, multi-set vs single-set research, and the RCTs showing older adults can grow — there are no “non-responders.”
All research is cited directly from the studies mentioned — RCTs, meta-analyses, mechanistic papers, and long-term cohorts.
If you want evidence without the nonsense, this is your episode.
Citations
Is supplementing with collagen worth it?
24-Week study on the use of collagen hydrolysate as a dietary supplement in athletes with activity-related joint pain
Effects of Collagen Supplements on Skin Aging: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
Collagen Peptide Supplementation during Training Does Not Further Increase Connective Tissue Protein Synthesis Rates
Collagen Protein Ingestion during Recovery from Exercise Does Not Increase Muscle Connective Protein Synthesis Rates
What are the benefits of fiber besides gut health?
Effect of dietary fiber on constipation: A meta analysis
The Effect of Fiber Supplementation on Chronic Constipation in Adults: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
Gut Microbial Metabolite Butyrate and Its Therapeutic Role in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Literature Review
Inflammation-Modulating Effect of Butyrate in the Prevention of Colon Cancer by Dietary Fiber
Butyrate improves insulin sensitivity and increases energy expenditure in mice
Dietary fiber intake and all-cause and cause-specific mortality: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies
Association between dietary fiber and lower risk of all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis of cohort studies
Fiber Intake and Insulin Resistance in 6374 Adults: The Role of Abdominal Obesity
Fiber Intake Predicts Weight Loss and Dietary Adherence in Adults Consuming Calorie-Restricted Diets: The POUNDS Lost (Preventing Overweight Using Novel Dietary Strategies) Study
Dietary fiber intake is associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression and cardiovascular risk, but not protein nutritional status, in adults with CKD
Association between dietary fiber intake and chronic kidney disease in adults with and without hypertension in the United States: a cross-sectional study of NHANES 2009-2020
Intake of dietary fiber, fruits, and vegetables, and risk of diverticulitis
Dietary fibre intake and the risk of diverticular disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies
Soluble and Insoluble Dietary Fiber Consumption and Colorectal Cancer Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
What is your opinion of turkesterone?
Ecdysteroids as non-conventional anabolic agent: performance enhancement by ecdysterone supplementation in humans
The Effects of Multiple Acute Turkesterone Doses on Indirect Measures of Hypertrophy and Metabolic Measures: A Preliminary Investigation
A Preliminary Investigation of Turkesterone: It’s Not Deca
Phytoecdysteroids Do Not Have Anabolic Effects in Skeletal Muscle in Sedentary Aging Mice
Evaluating the effect of 20-hydroxyecdysone (20HE) on mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling in the skeletal muscle and liver of rats
Effects of Methoxyisoflavone, Ecdysterone, and Sulfo-Polysaccharide Supplementation on Training Adaptations in Resistance-Trained Males
How do you protect against burnout?
Do you train other lifts besides the big 3 for powerlifting?
Do you need more protein after age 40?
Anabolic signaling deficits underlie amino acid resistance of wasting, aging muscle
Does the muscle protein synthetic response to exercise and amino acid-based nutrition diminish with advancing age? A systematic review
What are some things that negatively affect muscle growth like ice baths?
Throwing cold water on muscle growth: A systematic review with meta-analysis of the effects of postexercise cold water immersion on resistance training-induced hypertrophy
Effects of cold water immersion after exercise on fatigue recovery and exercise performance–meta analysis
Postexercise cooling impairs muscle protein synthesis rates in recreational athletes
The effects of cold water immersion and active recovery on inflammation and cell stress responses in human skeletal muscle after resistance exercise
Alcohol ingestion impairs maximal post-exercise rates of myofibrillar protein synthesis following a single bout of concurrent training
Moderate alcohol consumption does not impair overload-induced muscle hypertrophy and protein synthesis
Alcohol impairs leucine-mediated phosphorylation of 4E-BP1, S6K1, eIF4G, and mTOR in skeletal muscle
Effects of Cigarette Smoke on Adipose and Skeletal Muscle Tissue: In Vivo and In Vitro Studies
Smoking impairs muscle protein synthesis and increases the expression of myostatin and MAFbx in muscle
High doses of anti-inflammatory drugs compromise muscle strength and hypertrophic adaptations to resistance training in young adults
Influence of acetaminophen and ibuprofen on skeletal muscle adaptations to resistance exercise in older adults
Effect of long-term treatment with corticosteroids on skeletal muscle strength, functional exercise capacity and health status in patients with interstitial lung disease
Do non-diabetics need to worry about sugar consumption if overall calories are controlled?
Treatment of massive obesity with rice/reduction diet program. An analysis of 106 patients with at least a 45-kg weight loss
The role of dietary sugars in health: molecular composition or just calories?
Calorie for calorie, dietary fat restriction results in more body fat loss than carbohydrate restriction in people with obesity
Effect of Low-Fat vs Low-Carbohydrate Diet on 12-Month Weight Loss in Overweight Adults and the Association With Genotype Pattern or Insulin Secretion: The DIETFITS Randomized Clinical Trial
Metabolic and behavioral effects of a high-sucrose diet during weight loss
A true breakdown of male vs. female needs for nutrition & building muscle?
Muscle hypertrophy in men and women
Sex Differences in Resistance Training: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Sex Differences in Resting Metabolic Rate among Athletes and Association with Body Composition Parameters: A Follow-Up Investigation
The Effects of Menstrual Cycle Phase on Exercise Performance in Eumenorrheic Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
What is the optimal set number to build muscle over age 50?
Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Single vs. multiple sets of resistance exercise for muscle hypertrophy: a meta-analysis
There Are No Nonresponders to Resistance-Type Exercise Training in Older Men and Women
Effects of Resistance Training on Muscle Size and Strength in Very Elderly Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
Relationship between exercise volume and muscle protein synthesis in a rat model of resistance exercise
