Flex Diet Podcast

Dr. Jordan Shallow, D.C., known as “The Muscle Doc,” is a chiropractor, strength and conditioning coach, and former competitive powerlifter. He is the founder of Pre-Script®, an education company that teaches coaches applied biomechanics and resistance training.
Is getting stronger really about muscle, or about how well your nervous system learns the lift? Dr. Jordan Shallow, “The Muscle Doc,” explains why strength and size follow skill, how your senses shape movement, and how simple sensory inputs may change the way you train.
Expect to learn when internal versus external cues make sense for strength and hypertrophy, how an intermediate lifter can use practice volume and frequency, why great lifters treat the empty bar like the heavy one, how touch, vibration, skin stretch and pressure may influence movement, and how neuroplasticity, lucid dreaming and film study connect to learning skills — and much more.
Connect with Jordan:
Website: themuscledoc.com
Pre-Script: pre-script.com
Instagram: @the_muscle_doc
Pre-Script on Instagram: @pre_script
Episodes you'll enjoy next:
#401 — Psychedelics, Neuroplasticity and the Military-to-Spiritual Journey with Rick Alexander: A former Special Operations combat medic explains how a psychedelic experience reshaped his worldview, and what it taught him about neuroplasticity.
#311 — Maximizing Athletic Performance with Neurology: Insights from Dr. Dylan Seeley: Dr. Dylan Seeley on how applying neurology can improve athletic performance.
Episode Timestamps:
03:47 Internal vs. external cues for strength and hypertrophy
06:24 Longevity culture and why skill comes before loading
09:58 Intermediate bench press case study: practice volume and frequency
17:34 Ed Coan, intent and moving the empty bar like the heavy bar
23:30 Sensory-motor savants: Tiger Woods, Nick Kyrgios and Brian Shaw
27:29 How trainable is the sensory system?
29:35 Foam rollers, kinesio tape and cupping through a neurological lens
32:10 Perception, the electromagnetic spectrum and the limits of our senses
36:23 Mechanoreceptors and vibration
41:05 Light touch, vibration, skin stretch and deep pressure
47:14 Fast feedback: testing and iterating with the nervous system
51:38 Neuroplasticity, psychedelics and learning skills faster
1:02:45 Reality Switch Technology, tropanes and perception
1:05:08 Dreams, hypnagogic hallucinations and altered perception
1:12:26 Lucid dreaming and practicing the deadlift without the load
1:23:19 Film study, muscle memory and watching good reps
1:26:37 Where to find Dr. Jordan Shallow

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Dr. Martin Gibala is a Professor of Kinesiology at McMaster University and one of the world's leading researchers on high-intensity interval training.
Can short bursts of hard cardio outperform hours of Zone 2 for the average person? Exercise physiologist Dr. Martin Gibala explains how HIIT can improve VO2 max and metabolic flexibility, why elite athletes' 80/20 split may not fit a time-strapped schedule, and how to judge vigorous effort without chasing a perfect heart-rate zone.
Expect to learn how to scale HIIT for beginners, what RPE and the talk test reveal about vigorous effort, when short sprints differ from VO2 max intervals, why elite athletes’ 80/20 approach may not fit your schedule, how Zone 2 definitions can mislead, and what metabolic flexibility and mitochondrial capacity really mean—and much more.
Connect with Martin:
Website: martingibala.com
X: @gibalam
Book: The One-Minute Workout (Avery, 2017; with Christopher Shulgan)
Podcast: Exercise Science
Episodes you'll enjoy next:
#402 — VO2 Max, Zone 2 Training & the Psychology of Human Performance — Ben Skutnik: Dr. Ben Skutnik cuts through Zone 2 hype and discusses VO2 max and aerobic-training evidence.
#387 — Nathan T. Jenkins on Metabolic Flexibility, Aerobic Base, and First Principles: a look at aerobic development, energy systems, and repeated high-intensity performance.
Episode Timestamps:
2:25 Can beginners benefit from HIIT?
4:20 Interval training basics and scaling effort
7:13 Defining vigorous effort with RPE, heart rate, and the talk test
11:32 Designing HIIT workouts around time and preference
13:48 VO2 max intervals versus shorter sprints
16:39 Moderate versus vigorous exercise: guidelines and time efficiency
18:36 Is Zone 2 and the 80/20 rule right for everyone?
22:50 Why Zone 2 definitions and wearables cause confusion
29:12 Do you need an aerobic base before starting intervals?
33:00 Why elite athlete training is not a blueprint for everyone
35:22 What low-intensity volume may do for endurance athletes
38:46 Double-threshold sessions, training stress, and recovery
41:17 Carbohydrate intake and gut training in endurance sports
44:31 Emerging recovery strategies and exogenous ketones
49:12 Lactate supplementation: promise versus current evidence
51:19 Fat max, metabolic flexibility, and mitochondrial capacity
55:31 Exercise Science podcast and evidence over hype

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Matthew Paul Clemons, MD, is a diagnostic radiologist specializing in nuclear medicine and body imaging. He is Head of Nuclear Medicine at Radiology Partners Houston and a rectal and prostate cancer specialist.
Whole-body MRI promises a detailed look under the hood—but what can a quick screening scan actually see, miss, and send you chasing? Dr. Paul Clemons explains why a whole-body MRI is a limited study, how incidental findings can lead to further tests, and why standard screening remains the better choice for most people.
Expect to learn how MRI creates images and why scan protocols take time, why open MRI systems can have important image-quality limits, how PET/MRI adds functional information, why CT and MRI can be complementary rather than redundant, how radiation and implanted devices factor into decisions, why spine findings do not always match symptoms, when conservative care deserves consideration, and where DEXA versus MRI can be useful for tracking body-composition trends.
Episodes you'll enjoy next:
#237 — Demystifying Body Composition Testing with Dr Grant Tinsley and Dr Eric Helms: a practical companion discussion on body-composition measurement and its limits.
#159 — Advice, Mentorships, Askholes, and Diagnostics: An Interview with Dr. Adam Sumarski: a related conversation on diagnostics and imaging in sports medicine.
Episode Timestamps:
1:50 Whole-body MRI and preventive screening
2:52 How MRI works: magnets, noise, and safety
7:05 Open MRI, magnet strength, and image quality
9:05 MRI sequences, scan time, and diagnostic protocols
11:47 Why whole-body MRI is a limited screen
12:46 Incidental findings and downstream testing
13:57 High-risk screening, rare genetic conditions, and lung limits
17:53 Sensitivity, specificity, and standard screening
24:15 PET/MRI and where whole-body imaging has a clinical role
27:05 Why MRI and PET/CT systems are expensive to install
31:59 MRI safety, implants, and pacemakers
36:36 CT versus MRI: why one scan can lead to another
38:52 Whole-body CT, radiation, and its limits
43:47 Back-pain scans: why an image may not explain symptoms
51:44 Physical therapy, surgery, and warning signs
58:46 Evaluating evidence for peptides, stem cells, and biologics
1:05:47 Choosing an orthopedic surgeon for athletic goals
1:15:24 DEXA versus MRI for body-composition trends

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Dean Guedo is an Edmonton, Alberta-based online nutrition coach and strength/nutrition professional with roughly a decade in fitness, athletics and strength sports, and Jeb Stuart Johnston is a National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach and the Charleston, SC-based founder of Food on the Mind, specializing in emotional eating and food obsession.
Dean and Jeb join Dr. Mike T Nelson for their yearly AI check-in, getting into whether creators should disclose AI use and why deepfaked video is a very different beast than AI-assisted writing. The conversation ranges into dead internet theory, why so much hard-won fitness expertise never made it onto the internet at all, and why demanding physical skills may become more valuable, not less, as AI accelerates.
Expect to learn whether creators should disclose their AI use and why deepfaked video is a fundamentally different risk category than AI-assisted writing, why LLM writing may have already "peaked" and regresses toward the average, why fitness's hard-won oral tradition (Charlie Francis, Louie Simmons, old forums) never made it onto the internet at all, why oral defense of your own thinking may be the most AI-proof skill you can build, and why demanding physical skills could become more valuable — not less — as AI accelerates, and much more.
Connect with Dean:
Instagram: @walk.more.king
Website: getfluxed.ca
Connect with Jeb:
Website: foodonthemind.com
Instagram: @jebstuartjohnston
Newsletter: Tangential, Inconsequential, Existential and Experiential (Substack)
Episodes you'll enjoy next:
Episode 136 — Flex Diet, Phys Flex, Metabolism and Nutrition Research for Compound Performance (Jeb and Dean interview Dr. Mike T Nelson): Listen here
S2 Ep 28 — High Flux Model and More for Fat Loss and Client Coaching, an interview with Dean Guedo and Jeb Johnston of StrongerU: Listen here
Episode Timestamps:
01:35 Welcome to the podcast & guest introductions
03:15 Should you disclose your AI use?
06:32 Deepfake video vs. AI-assisted writing: a different risk category
07:53 AI's exponential growth and the "singularity" question
11:11 What is "AI slop," and does it actually matter?
12:42 Why LLMs regress toward average (and the Reddit problem)
15:15 Falsely accused of "AI slop" for your own writing style
21:36 "Automate your business with AI" — the wrong things to automate
25:23 Dead internet theory: has AI writing already peaked?
26:34 Why AI can't reason about truly novel, hypothetical situations
28:37 Hemingway's unfinished-thought trick and "open-loop" thinking with AI
35:06 Why weird, opinionated writing might be AI-proof
44:49 Fitness's lost oral tradition: Charlie Francis, Louie Simmons, old forums
47:03 Stoner, the trivium, and teaching without teaching
48:06 Oral defense as the AI-proof assessment
56:08 Research vs. coaching: the application gap (Norwegian 4x4, tabata)
1:07:26 Will AI push us back toward hard physical skills?
1:15:00 Where to find Jeb & Dean

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Don Saladino is a New York-based coach and health entrepreneur who has trained A-list clients like Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, and Blake Lively since founding Drive495 in 2005.
Don Saladino has spent nearly three decades training A-list stars like Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman — and in this episode, he shares the single business lesson he wishes he’d learned sooner. He and Dr. Mike also dig into why Don closed his $2M-overhead NYC gym, how tracking respiratory rate reshaped his approach to Zone 2 training, and the sobering personal loss that changed how he views performance enhancers.
Expect to learn why Don stopped over-certifying and started looking at what’s leaking in his business, how he built 17 years of trust with a client like Ryan Reynolds, the real financial toll of running a NYC gym (think $1M rent and $2M overhead), what tracking respiratory rate taught him about Zone 2 training volume, his honest take on performance enhancers at 49 (natural), and the personal loss that reshaped how he views unsupervised PED use, and much more.
Connect with Don:
Website
Instagram
YouTube
Episodes you'll enjoy next:
#402 — VO2 Max, Zone 2 Training & the Psychology of Human Performance — Ben Skutnik: Listen here
#397 — How Elite Bodybuilders Think About Problem-Solving, Business and Nutrition with Coach Cliff Wilson: Listen here
Episode Timestamps:
2:26 — #1 Business Lesson: Stop Over-Certifying, Start Looking at What’s Leaking
5:43 — “Content Is King, Distribution Is the Kingdom”
8:35 — Take Risks Early: Betting on Yourself Before Responsibilities Pile Up
10:58 — Learning Business Over Breakfast: The NYC Advantage
12:01 — The Art of Adding Value Without an Agenda
13:32 — Working With Ryan Reynolds for 17 Years: Trust, Humility & Knowing You’re Replaceable
21:12 — What It Really Takes to Work With High-Profile Clients
26:26 — Actors vs. Athletes: Which Is Harder to Train?
28:39 — Performance Enhancers: Don’s Honest Take at 49, Natural
36:31 — Tracking Respiratory Rate & Rethinking Zone 2 Volume
38:37 — Closing the NYC Gym & Pivoting to Digital
43:35 — The Real Cost of Running a NYC Gym: $1M Rent, $2M Overhead
44:32 — Business Lessons You Can’t Learn at Harvard
46:09 — The “Integrated Wellness” Facility Trend: Is Anyone Actually Getting It Right?
1:05:26 — The Rise of Recovery Studios: New Happy Hour or Legit Wellness?
1:08:44 — A Personal Loss & a Stark Warning on Unsupervised PED Use
1:16:27 — Where to Find Don Saladino

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