Iron Radio
Studio: Lowery, Fortney, Stevens, Nelson, Mike
Category: Fitness & Nutrition
What Is It
An exploration of nutrition, exercise, psychology, training and other things related to bodybuilding.
Technical Details
The iTunes archive has the most recent 300 episodes, which sounds like a lot, but the show is currently at over 450 episodes. For the rest of the archive, hit up the show’s website. New episodes drop weekly and usually hover around the hour mark.
What About It
I’ve encountered some of these fitness shows before and they remain pretty solidly outside my wheelhouse; I’ve long said that a show can easily be about something I’m not interested in, but still be interesting to me if the hosts are good or the show is really entertaining. Well, according to Iron Radio’s own website, they aim to be “mildly entertaining,” so that doesn’t sound very hopeful. But, in truth, while I’m still outside this show’s demographic, it’s easily the best of the fitness/nutrition shows I’ve encountered. I think the self-labeling of “mildly entertaining” is meant to signal that the show is going to be very practical and educational; the goal here isn’t, I suppose, just listening to the podcast, but rather listening to the podcast and then using the knowledge communicated in your bodybuilding lifestyle. Obviously, that leaves me out and, no, I’m not going to be listening to this one going forward; it doesn’t transcend its genre or anything, but it nails its genre as well as I’ve heard it nailed. The information in the episodes I heard is all good, not pseudo-science; the interviews and discussions flow naturally and aren’t stilted. I’ve been very negative on some of the other shows of this type I’ve reviewed, but I’ve always said it wasn’t just the subject matter; Iron Radio proves that, I think. If you’re into this stuff, I still wouldn’t recommend some of the other shows on the topic; but if this stuff is in your wheelhouse, Iron Radio is probably the show for you.
2 ½ stars.
Essential If
You’ve ever lifted an entire elephant over your head.
Avoid Like the Plague If
Your character in Punch Out never made it out of the featherweights.
Best Starting Place
I don’t really know enough about the topics here to be able to say which episodes are really insightful or whatever in a new way. Neither are any of them to be recommended above others for their entertainment value; so I’ll just say, scroll through the archive.