The Science of Strength and Conditioning | Dr. Pat Davidson

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (0:00)
Welcome to the Dr. Gabrielle Lyon Show. In this episode, if you are a person who has ever been confused about what kind of training to do, how much to lift in the gym, my guest, Dr. Pat Davidson, clears it all up for you. He's a PhD in Exercise Physiology, he's a former professor, and this guy is Jacked. By the way, you're going to love this episode because you're going to come away with a framework for how to think about training. If you like content similar to this, please take a moment to go to my website and sign up for my fully free newsletter that puts out information related to health and wellness. And as always, take a moment to share, subscribe. Again, this content is fully free for you. Now, let's jump into the show.
Pat Davidson, welcome. Welcome to the podcast.

**Dr. Pat Davidson** (0:54)
It's great to be back.

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (0:55)
I know. This is great. So people may not know this. You were one of the first guests on the show. I was really excited to talk everything, body composition, training, you name it, something that is very practical for people. And you were a professor. Yes. Why don't you tell us a little bit about the fact that you do don't take this the wrong way and look a bit like a meathead, but actually are a PhD and a former professor of exercise physiology.

**Dr. Pat Davidson** (1:23)
Yeah. Well, I am a meathead. You know, like whenever I have to introduce myself to people in like regular life, oftentimes I'll do it as Dr. Meathead. So I don't I don't run from that or I like being a meathead. You know, I embrace it. It's actually I don't embrace it. I just am it.

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (1:40)
You you just are it.

**Dr. Pat Davidson** (1:42)
Yeah, I've always liked sports. I've always liked, you know, the traditional big strength power sports like typical American things, baseball, football. And, you know, it's been it's been my life and training for those kinds of things. Mixed martial arts, strongman, bodybuilding, like that's what I grew up with. That's what I still love.

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (2:01)
So but even before so you started out being very interested in sports. We're going to talk a bit about that. But you did I believe you did your undergraduate and your PhD in exercise. Phys, is that true?

**Dr. Pat Davidson** (2:15)
I actually did my undergraduate in history.

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (2:18)
We won't hold that against you.

**Dr. Pat Davidson** (2:19)
No, I specialized in modern European history. I thought I was going to be a high school history teacher and probably coach football and baseball. And then that just didn't really work out. So I went a different route.

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (2:32)
And tell me what did you get your PhD in?

**Dr. Pat Davidson** (2:35)
I got my PhD in exercise physiology. I got a master's in strength and conditioning.

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (2:40)
And you were a professor. Where did you teach?

**Dr. Pat Davidson** (2:43)
At Brooklyn College first. And then I went to Springfield College, which is also where I got my PhD.

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (2:48)
Okay. What was your area of focus?

**Dr. Pat Davidson** (2:52)
You know, at the time, it was with hormonal concentrations in response to resistance training.

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (2:58)
Really?

**Dr. Pat Davidson** (2:59)
Yeah, a lot of people were interested in that.

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (3:02)
Wait, tell me more about the hormone. You mean the acute impact of, say, something like testosterone or IGF-1 on hypertrophy of skeletal muscle?

**Dr. Pat Davidson** (3:11)
Or the responses to resistance training protocols.
This was kind of the era dominated by William Kramer. And William Kramer was like the most preeminent professor in that region. He was at UConn, which is only like a hop, skip, and a jump from Springfield College. And I actually was, I interviewed with him to do my postdoc with him when I finished my PhD. And, you know, he, like, it was sort of split. Like, there was a military research base in Natick, Massachusetts, and then UConn. And Brad Nindal was at the military base, and William Kramer was at UConn. And they did a ton of work together. And Kramer measured the growth hormone, and Nindal measured the IGF. And that was like the biggest area of research at the time in strength and conditioning, hypertrophy-based science. And then...

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (4:03)
And when was that?

**Dr. Pat Davidson** (4:05)
That would have... I got...

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (4:06)
Roughly.

**Dr. Pat Davidson** (4:07)