In this episode of Barbell Shrugged, Doug Larson, Travis Mash, and Dr. Mike Lane sit down with Center College strength coach Jeremy Carlson to unpack how he built a high-functioning strength and conditioning culture at a small Division III school with limited staff, limited time, and one shared weight room. Jeremy explains how he went from being a former soccer player and CrossFit gym manager to launching Center's strength program at just 24 years old. What started as a scrappy operation with seven double-sided racks and hundreds of athletes eventually turned into one of the most organized and culture-driven systems in college strength and conditioning.

The conversation centers on Jeremy's unconventional model: instead of training athletes only by team, Center athletes train in mixed-group sessions across the day, with different sports sharing the same space while following sport-specific programming. That system not only solved a logistics problem, it helped create a true department-wide culture. Jeremy breaks down his three-part mission: prepare athletes for sport, build character, and give them the tools to become lifelong fitness enthusiasts. He also explains why simple programming still works incredibly well for most college athletes, especially when they are still relatively novice in the weight room. Rather than chasing complexity, he focuses on getting athletes stronger with basic lifts, teaching movement well, and making conditioning and change-of-direction work more specific to the sport.

The deeper takeaway from this episode is that great coaching is not just about sets and reps. Jeremy shares how consistency, standards, buy-in, and real human development matter more than flashy programming. He talks about teaching athletes to manage their own training, empowering upperclassmen to lead, and creating an environment where a golfer can confidently tell a lacrosse player to get off her assigned rack. The result is a system that develops stronger athletes, better habits, and more capable adults. If you care about coaching, leadership, culture building, or how to create excellence with constraints, this episode delivers a practical blueprint.

Links:

Doug Larson on Instagram
Coach Travis Mash on Instagram

In this episode, Dr. Tommy Wood returns to Barbell Shrugged for part two of a deep conversation on brain health, cognitive decline, and the daily habits that shape long-term mental performance. Joined by Doug Larson, Travis Mash, and Dr. Mike Lane, Tommy unpacks why oral health matters far more than most people realize, explaining how gum disease, oral bacteria, and chronic inflammation may contribute not only to cardiovascular disease but also to dementia risk. The crew also digs into the importance of sensory input, from hearing and vision to social interaction, and how losing those inputs over time can quietly accelerate cognitive decline.

The conversation then shifts into sleep, where Tommy breaks down what actually matters most for protecting the brain. Rather than obsessing over perfect sleep scores or chasing an arbitrary eight-hour target, he argues that the biggest levers are sleep opportunity, regularity, and avoiding behaviors that wreck sleep architecture. The group explores the different roles of REM and deep sleep, how sleep supports emotional processing, learning, and metabolic cleanup in the brain, and why wearables can be useful for trends without being trusted too literally. They also cover naps, alcohol, caffeine, common sleep aids, magnesium, chamomile, and why worrying too much about sleep can itself become part of the problem.

Finally, the episode broadens into brain risk and brain resilience in the modern world. Tommy highlights major risk factors for cognitive decline including hearing loss, high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, obesity, alcohol, air pollution, and toxic exposures like lead and other environmental contaminants. He also gives a nuanced take on technology, arguing that video games, digital tools, and even AI can be either brain-supportive or brain-eroding depending on how they are used. When technology expands your capabilities, it can sharpen cognition. When it replaces thinking entirely, it can weaken the very skills you are trying to preserve. This episode is a practical roadmap for anyone who wants to think more clearly, age better, and protect their brain with smarter everyday decisions.

Links:

Doug Larson on Instagram
Coach Travis Mash on Instagram

In this episode, Doug Larson sits down with Coach Travis Mash and Dr. Mike Lane to challenge the "one-size-fits-all" approach to supplement dosing. They break down why most labels are effectively written for an average-sized person, and why that matters when you're 100 pounds soaking wet, or a 300-pound lineman. Using real stories (like a 450 mg caffeine pre-workout for a small athlete and the classic "I couldn't sleep" aftermath), the crew lays out a simple north star: doses should scale with body weight, and you should take an amount specific to your body size.

From there, they get practical on what works, what's overhyped, and how to time things. Dr. Lane explains beta-alanine as an intramuscular buffer (via carnosine) that helps athletes push harder in the anaerobic "pain cave," but only if it's taken consistently for weeks, not as a one-off. They compare that to sodium bicarbonate as a more acute strategy that can help performance but comes with GI risk if you don't practice it ahead of time. Along the way, they call out a common industry trap: under-dosed formulas, proprietary blends, and products that sound impressive but contain amounts too small to matter.

They wrap by narrowing down the essentials: creatine as a daily staple for most people (and potentially higher doses for cognitive benefits, especially under sleep deprivation), plus basics like protein and targeted use of supplements based on training demands. The conversation also goes deep on magnesium, why many people are likely low, how it supports relaxation and recovery, and why the form matters (bisglycinate/threonate etc). The big takeaway: match the supplement to the goal, match the dose to the body, and build your plan on quality ingredients, effective amounts and repeatable habits.

Links:

Doug Larson on Instagram
Coach Travis Mash on Instagram