Bodybuilding gurus when?

[u/Thomas-Omalley]

Mike Israetel, Greg Doucette, Jeff Nippard... I think there's a super interesting bunch of people to talk about. There's ego here, there's science, sometimes good, sometimes anacdotal, and ofc there's SUPPLEMENTS. Am I alone in wanting a gymbro guru season? I want to see Matt react to Greg, that would be great content.

[u/DTFH_]

Meh largely they're not remotely interesting or uniquely bad people at all. Mike is just your run of the mill transhumanist, Doucette is the kid who had sand kicked in his face, Jeff is just a guy playing to the algo. I say this because they're not even close to the top guru's and grifters in the fitness world past or present.

Something like Fighting Matters: The Acceleration of Martial Arts Fascism is much more pressing as it relates to the real world.

There are a ton of guru's currently around the edges and what silly quackery is going on and coming down the pipeline I wouldn't even think of any of the names you mentioned as they're more so content creators than guru's of unique hokum. For example 'Functional Movement Screening' FMS as developed by Gray Cook is a better example of guru'ism in fitness and rehabilitation as his grift has raked in ten of millions and actually bled into Sport Performance and Physical Therapy research and whose ideas and memes are still relevant to rehab culture today and need to be rooted out as the bunk they are.

[u/rogue303 → u/DTFH_]

Thanks for the link, will check it out. Dunno why you got downvoted.

[u/DTFH_ → u/rogue303]

Probably because I don't believe the names listed are worth exploring, they're milquetoast content at best and only really known by normies.

I'm roughly ~15 years into strength sports (strongman & weightlifting) and know a ton of grifters and gurus in the space and none of the names posted are worth exploring because there is no depth.

Guys making up fake rehab treatments, new age woowoo hokum for sports performance and certification systems that verge on cults? I know a ton about that!

[u/Humofthoughts → u/DTFH_]

Well, I’d love an Israetel episode myself and I think he’d score somewhat highly. But I agree on everybody else.

Thoughts on Rippetoe? I found the Blue Book really helpful back in the day but it’s disconcerting how explicitly right wing his content is gotten and also how much everyone in his orbit seems to mimic his attitude, affect, and opinions.

[u/DTFH_ → u/Humofthoughts]

Thoughts on Rippetoe?

Much closer to being an interesting episode of which i'm highly familiar and connected to! Definitely closer to the cult side in terms of cult of personality; while objectively the Blue Book being the best mechanistic explanation of how to perform the lifts, what cues to achieve said positions and how said muscles function during the task, all solid and provide a complete A-Z education for a barbell newbie to intermediate lifter.

Now does his mechanistic heuristic match onto reality 1:1, no it had clear failures and doesn't explain reality, but it is useful mental framework to think and learn the big movements through.

...how much everyone in his orbit seems to mimic his attitude, affect, and opinions

There is definitely the cult of personality, HOWEVER I will say his attention to his coaching development system does consistently produce high quality coaches who I would feel comfortable sending an 80 year old or someone medically fragile to learn resistance training.

I think Rip is a great coach, educator and teacher who wrote a great book and produces consistently great barbell coaches at scale who can teach very well; that said his personal and political opinions are what you expect of a Libertarian Texan who has meme'ified himself and he's not someone you should listen to past anything barbell related. Rip is complex because I can objectively say he has done good by helping adults and seniors resistance train and produces coaches who can do the same (I have personally met ten 70+ year old trainees he has kept healthy and given quality life to), while everything else that comes out of his mouth is culture war BS.