Sigma Nutrition Radio

Latest Episodes:

SNR #150: Are You Really a "Hard-Gainer"? - 5 Reasons For Not Gaining Weight Nov 04, 2016

Show notes

Episode 150: Sigma coach Gar Benn lays out 5 reasons that really explain the notion of "hard-gainers" giving rise to some people feeling they can't gain weight/muscle.

SNR 149: Mike Israetel, PhD - Evidence-Based Healthy Eating Principles Nov 01, 2016

Show notes

Episode 149: Mike Israetel, PhD discusses the hierarchy of nutritional factors that have an affect on health, how this differs from just body composition goals and how to avoid getting married to any one diet method.

Mike Israetel is currently a professor of Exercise Science at Temple University in Philadelphia, as well consulting nutritional and training for elite strength and combat athletes around the world. Mike is the head science consultant for Renaissance Periodization, where he has authored and co-authored a number for books. He has a PhD in Sport Physiology from East Tennessee State University, and on the sporting side has experience as a competitive powerlifter, grappler and bodybuilder.

In this episode we discuss:

Hierarchy of nutrition factors that impact health
Evidence-base on dietary fat, saturated fat, grains and other nutrients
The false idea that "restriction is bad"
Pointless arguments over terms like "clean eating" and "junk food"
How to better communicate ideas to the general population without making them over-simplistic

SNR #148: Roundtable with the Sigma Team! - Hosted by HPA Oct 13, 2016

Show notes

Episode 148: This was a round-table discussion with the Sigma Nutrition & Performance team, hosted and produced by Human Performance Advancement.

SNR 147: Jeff Rothschild, RD - Carbohydrate Periodization for Endurance Athletes and How the Menstrual Cycle Impacts Training Oct 10, 2016

Show notes

Episode 147: Sports dietitian Jeff Rothschild discusses how he implements the latest glycogen/carbohydrate availability research into pracitce with his endurance athletes, issues surround supplements on race day and how the menstrual cycle can affect programming and training performance.

Jeff Rothschild is a Registered Dietitian (RD) with a Master's degree in Nutritional Science. He works with a variety of clients including elite ATP and NCAA tennis players, endurance athletes, boxers, swimmers, and a number of touring musicians at TriFit in Santa Monica, CA. Jeff is also a writer for the Examine.com monthly research digest, and teaches college sports nutrition at CSU Los Angeles.

Jeff follows a methodical and steadfast approach to nutrition, prioritizing the questions of 'who are you and what are your goals' during the decision-making and counseling process to achieve quality results. This includes an evidence-based approach to nutrition, practicing concepts developed over time instead of using untested or unproven ideas. This allows everyone from elite athletes to sedentary individuals to get the most out of sessions, optimize nutrition plans to fit their own needs, and create the greatest and longest-lasting positive changes.

Jeff's main areas of interest are sports nutrition, meal timing, intermittent fasting, and circadian rhythms. He has co-authored multiple scientific research papers that have been published in peer-reviewed nutrition and1797350_10151994670761359_1463077510_n food science journals, served as a reviewer in the peer-review process for journals, and has presented his research at national nutrition conferences. He is also an NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), and has spent five years as the assistant tennis coach at CSU Los Angeles. Jeff helped the Golden Eagles earn national Top-25 rankings each of those years, and was a two-time winner of Assistant Coach of the Year for the West Region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Beyond nutrition and coaching, Jeff has competed as a cyclist and continues to play competitive tennis.

In this episode we discuss:

How to translate the latest "train low" and "recover low" strategies into practice with athletes
Supplementation for endurance athletes
How to schedule your supplements/nutrition on race day
How the menstrual cycle affects training and nutrition considerations

SNR #146: Is Sugar Addiction a Real Thing? (A Scientific View) Oct 04, 2016

Show notes

Episode 146: Answering a listener question: "I have a sugar addiction. Every time I quit, I get sucked right back in a few months later and gain 10 lbs. What can you say to help me, besides "stop eating sugar?"

SNR #145: Ian Dunican, PhD - Sleep, Training Timing & Performance in Elite Athletes Sep 26, 2016

Show notes

Episode 145: Sleep & performance researcher Ian Dunican of the Australian Institute of Sport, discusses some of his work examining the effects of sleep, circadian disruption, training timing and travel schedules on the performance and recovery of elite level athletes.

Ian Dunican is currently undertaking PhD research at University of Western Australia (UWA) and Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) investigating, among other things, the impact of evening use of electronic devices on sleep and next day athletic performance, the effects of jet lag and transmeridian travel on athletic performance, and the prevalence of sleeping disorders amongst professional Rugby players.

In this episode we discuss:

What does the evidence base tell us about poor sleep and the impact for athletes?
Athlete sleep patterns
Work examining the effects of travel schedules on sleep and performance
Fatigue Avoidance Scheduling Tool
Training timing & schedules effect on performance and sleep
Amateur athletes sleep and circadian rhythm distruption due to shift work
Is pre-training caffeine contraindicated for PM sessions?
The effect of using electronic devices by elite athletes before sleep
Future directions for research in this area

SNR #144: Is Inflammation a Problem & Should I Use an Anti-Inflammatory Diet? Sep 22, 2016

Show notes

Episode 144: Answering a listener question: "In a few episodes you've mentioned inflammation and how to deal with it. But how do you know if you have a problem with inflammation to begin with?"

SNR #143: Keith Baar, PhD - Tendon Stiffness, Collagen Production & Gelatin for Performance & Injury Sep 13, 2016

Show notes

Episode 143: Muscle physiology researcher Dr. Keith Baar from the University of California at Davis is on the show to discuss his teams work looking at nutrional and training strategies that can increase tendon stiffness, hence playing a role in injury prevention and the recovery process from tendon/ligament ruptures and bone/cartilage damage.

Dr. Keith Baar is the head of the Functional Molecular Biology Laboratory (FMBL) in the Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and behavior. His research is focused on understanding how training and feeding result in improved muscle, tendon and ligament function. In his capacity as a researcher, he has made fundamental discoveries on how muscle grows bigger, stronger, and more fatigue resistant.

Over the last 15 years, Keith has applied these discoveries working as a scientific advisor to a number of athletic teams/organizations including: Chelsea Football Club, USA Track and Field, Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, British Cycling, The English Institute of Sport, Leicester Tigers Rugby, and the Oklahoma City Thunder. In this capacity he works to maximize the effects of training for both endurance and strength and minimize injury.

His most recent work focuses on connective tissues like tendons and ligaments. The podcast will discuss the most recent work designed to determine how to best train and what types of foods compliment training to decrease tendon and ligament injury and accelerate return to play.

SNR #142: Gar Benn - Nutrition Troubleshooting, Diet Evaluations & Effective Programming Sep 08, 2016

Show notes

Episode 142: Sigma Nutrition coach Gar Benn discusses how to effectively troubleshoot your dietary approach, evaluating how to improve a diet and effively programming nutrition and training to get optimal results.

Gar is a strength coach and nutritionist. He is the owner of City Gym, a strength training facility and powerlifting club based in Limerick, Ireland. Gar is also a coach for Sigma Nutrition, where he has been doing some amazing work with our online coaching clients.

#141: Performance Nutrition for Fighters - Common Mistakes Sep 02, 2016

Show notes

BOOK: 'Making Weight' - The Ultimate Science Based Guide to Cutting Weight for Combat Sports

Helping competitive athletes make weight in an effective and scientific manner is my principle area of practice with my own coaching clients. Currently, my personal roster of clients is about 90% made up of such athletes, so pro MMA fighters, boxers and then also powerlifters and weightlifters.

And for today's episode I wanted to get into some of considerations for performance nutrition and weight cutting with fighters specifically. Both in terms of nutrition to support training and to allow them to make weight and refuel appropriately.

So what I'm going to get into is really in relation to competitive fighters, training 5-6 days per week, generally with double sessions on most of those, and who have 24 hours or more between the weigh-in and their fight. So please bear in mind that context for anything I may say.

There's lots of routes we could go down, but for today I just wanted to highlight 6 mistakes that I find to be very common in how many fighters, and even their coaches, apply and think about their nutrition.

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