Exercise scientist Dr. Mike Israetel boasts a wealth of information on fitness education, having built an empire on YouTube full of engaging content. In his latest endeavor, shared on September 12, 2024, Dr. Israetel discussed steroid risks, strength training versus cardio for weight loss, and when to use pre-workouts.
With over 2.5 million subscribers on his Renaissance Periodization channel, Dr. Israetel has become a trusted voice in the fitness sector. He regularly breaks down the intricacies of exercise, nutrition, and supplementation, guiding fans toward better health outcomes.
Israetel isn’t just an educator though, he applies his knowledge through a range of physical activities, from weight lifting, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, to even competing as a bodybuilder. Now, to provide a greater understanding of weight loss, steroids, and pre-workouts, he joined Steven Bartlett for a candid conversation.
Exercise Scientist Gives Advice on Using Pre-Workouts, Discusses Steroid Risks and Cardio vs Strength Training for Weight Loss
According to Israetel, consistently taking pre-workouts (caffeinated or not) ‘seems to be quite fine’ concerning health risks.
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“Some green tea, some black coffee, or some pre-workout 30 minutes before the gym is great advice for a ton of people,” said Dr. Israetel. “It seems to be quite fine [health-wise]. It seems to be quite fine. Now at the extremes and for some individuals, it’s not ideal, but the upper limit dose of caffeine in milligrams per day at which we can confidently say most people will experience the beginnings of health maladies, is 1,000 milligrams. A cup of coffee has depending on which cup, 50-100.”
He cautioned that some pre-workout formulas contain higher caffeine values, such as Ronnie Coleman‘s, which has 550 milligrams per serving.
“Some pre-workouts have 250 milligrams of caffeine, some have 500. Last I checked, Ronnie Coleman’s pre-workout has 550 migs of caffeine per scoop or per serving, so that’s kind of a lot.
If I took 550 migs of caffeine, don’t take me to the gym, just take me right to the hospital, put me in the psychiatric ward, 36 hours later I’ll be okay.”
He believes users should have a ‘compelling case ‘ for using pre-workouts and says to ‘start with as little as you need’ before considering an increase.
“Start with as little as you need to get you going and if you need to titrate and work your way up from there, that’s a good thing. I would have a compelling case for pre-workout or stimulants.”
Initially, Israetel believed that to have authority in the fitness industry, being jacked and lean was a requirement, which was made much easier with the use of steroids. Now, as a prominent educator, he believes there’s less need to use substances.
“I’ve taken a probably several-year backseat away from competitive bodybuilding precisely because I have a lot of really good things going on in my life and I’m going to need my brain and my more fluid civility to deal with them best,” said Israetel. “I’m kind of winding that down big time but the real reason is one of the reasons I started steroids was because I was drug-free for a long time and I was starting to become kind of an educator of fitness.”
“A lot of people who were in the industry, at the time, this is not as true anymore, now drug-free bodybuilding and fitness is exploding which is a beautiful and wonderful thing but back when Nick and I came up, to be relevant in the fitness industry, you sort of had to be super jacked and super super lean it was nothing we were going to accomplish drug-free.”
When it comes to strength training and cardio for weight loss, Dr. Israetel contends that neither will get you closer to your goals compared to a strict diet and a moderate-to-high level of physical activity.
“Muscle mass doesn’t help you burn tons of calories, that’s not what it’s there for. It is incredibly good for your health, it is incredibly good for how you look, those things by itself make muscle mass an awesome thing to do but it is neither true to say cardio reliably over the long term burns lots of weight off and it is not true to say gaining lots of muscle burns lots of weight off.
What is really really critical is do you have a well-controlled nutritious diet and do you have an average-moderate-to-high level of daily activity?”
He believes the biggest pitfall of dieting is thinking you have to be perfect.
“One is you have to be perfect. If I’m on my diet, I’m good. If I’m off my diet, not only am I bad but as soon as I’m off my diet I have sinned and there is no solace for me. A lot of people have that falling off the bandwagon thing where they’ll eat clean food whatever that means, diet food for weeks and weeks and weeks, they have one kabob, they have one cheeseburger and they are like fuck it, that’s it man I’m done dieting.”
He also pointed out a few common myths surrounding weight loss, one being the ‘religious approach.’ He contends that if you’re too strict, it can end up working against weight loss efforts.
“That religious approach, that hurts a lot of people because in reality if you just eat a cheeseburger your body is like oh sweet I got a bit more carbohydrates stored in the muscle.
I recovered a little bit more, my diet fatigue is actually lower because you fed me some food. Tomorrow, when I’m back on the diet, I’m making even better gains than if I didn’t have that cheeseburger.”
Having dedicated his life to fitness education and athletics, Dr. Mike Israetel believes a combination of dieting and activity is the key to losing weight. He also credits sustainability and consistency as paramount factors in building a better body.
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