World-Class Numbers: Inside Colton Engelbreit's 2,700-Pound World Record Total

Coach Phil opens the news segment with word that powerlifter Colton Engelbreit shattered the all-time world record total in Moscow, pulling roughly a 1,003-lb squat, 612-lb bench, and 1,086-lb deadlift for a total north of 2,700 pounds at a 265-lb bodyweight — beating the prior mark by over 100 pounds. The hosts marvel at how balanced his lifts are (no weak link) and reminisce that a 700-lb deadlift was 'elite' 15 years ago, while today many lifters in their teens and twenties are pulling similar numbers. They debate why standards have exploded: wider access to TRT and peptide-driven recovery, open sharing of training info on YouTube and social media (versus waiting months for the next magazine), kids starting serious lifting in their early-to-mid teens instead of their late 20s, and coaches accelerating athletes' progress by passing down decades of trial-and-error knowledge instead of making each generation re-learn it. Dr. Lonnie Lowery ties in classic overfeeding research, including the Vermont prison studies, to speculate that improved nutrient partitioning — not just sloppier bulking — may explain some of the added lean mass in modern lifters. The conversation closes on the psychology of record-breaking: training age versus biological age, how mental barriers (like the four-minute mile) collapse once someone proves a number is possible, and how seeing elite strength or size in person — rather than on video — permanently resets an athlete's sense of what's normal.

00:00 Welcome and Hosts

00:45 Wildfire Smoke and Air Quality Chat

01:45 Colton Engelbreit's New World Record Total

03:15 Breaking Down an Otherworldly Squat-Bench-Deadlift Total

04:30 How Fast Strength Standards Have Skyrocketed

05:45 TRT, Peptides, and Modern Recovery

07:00 Social Media and the Open Sharing of Training Knowledge

08:00 Bodybuilding vs Powerlifting Culture on Sharing Secrets

09:00 The Pace of Record-Breaking Across Generations

10:00 Younger Athletes Entering the Sport Earlier

11:10 Colton's Early Training Background

12:30 The Risk of Early Sport Specialization

13:30 The Case for Training Variety

14:30 Getting Bigger and Losing Mobility

15:30 Building a Base Before Specializing

16:35 Overfeeding Studies and Lean Mass Partitioning

17:40 Developmental Windows and Early Training Exposure

18:40 Mental Fortitude Built at a Young Age

19:40 Training Age vs Biological Age

20:40 Phil's Son and the Puberty Question

21:40 How Norms Shape an Athlete's Expectations

22:45 Breaking Mental Barriers Like the Four-Minute Mile

23:45 Finding a Gym With Stronger Lifters

24:45 The Power of Witnessing Greatness in Person

25:50 Adam Glass and the Inch Dumbbell Story

26:50 AI Skepticism and the Value of Seeing It Live

27:50 Up Close With Elite Bodybuilders and NFL Athletes

28:50 Standing on the Shoulders of Previous Generations

29:50 Coaches as Accelerators of Progress

31:00 Newton, Einstein, and Building on What Came Before

33:00 Wrap and Sign-Off

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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

Enhanced Games Reality Check: Thor's Stack, FDA Restrictions, and the Supervised PED Debate

Phil Stevens opens with a proud update on his 11-year-old son's powerlifting progress before pivoting to the week's main topic: the Enhanced Games' newly released Thor stack supplement (NAD+, testosterone, Cialis). Phil notes the irony that Thor admitted to using testosterone, deca, and halotestalone at the games, while the supplement product conspicuously omits those compounds. The hosts debate whether the FDA-approved-only drug restriction undermines the games' core premise — Dr. Mike T. Nelson and Dr. Lonnie Lowery explore how international athletes may have had to compete under tighter restrictions than they'd face at home, and the group agrees a better model would involve full informed consent and supervised blood monitoring. They also reflect on how prosecution of steroids has dropped sharply under the current administration, the rapid normalization of TRT and peptides in the general population, and how the reefer madness-style hysteria around anabolics has given way to open conversation.

00:00 Welcome and Hosts

01:42 Phil's Son Breaks National Powerlifting Records

03:38 Enhanced Games Thor Stack News

06:34 Did the Enhanced Games Succeed or Fail?

08:44 The Case for Supervised PED Use

11:46 FDA-Only Rules and International Athletes

16:15 What Doses Did Enhanced Games Athletes Actually Use?

18:40 Thor's Actual Stack vs What They're Selling

20:04 Getting an Enhanced Games Insider on the Show

22:05 Enhanced Games Business Model

24:23 Rise of TRT and Peptides in the General Population

25:07 PED Prosecution Under the Current Administration

26:20 Reefer Madness Then and Now

27:40 Ethics of PEDs Forced Into the Light

28:39 Wrap

29:21 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

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