Exercise scientist Dr. Mike Israetel has become a trusted voice in fitness, regularly breaking down diets and workout performance. In his latest endeavor, he critiqued the training practices and carnivore diet used by popular podcast host Joe Rogan.
Physiologist Dr. Mike Israetel continues to enlighten his fanbases on all topics related to fitness. His Renaissance Periodization YouTube channel has become a famous haven for valuable workout advice. Whether he is breaking down if artificial sweeteners cause fat gain or giving his unfiltered opinions of creatine myths, Israetel brings a unique flare to his work.
Exercise Scientist Critiques Joe Rogan’s Workout Routine, Diet, and PED Use
Joe Rogan runs an immensely popular podcast in addition to serving as a commentator for the mixed martial arts superpower, UFC. Rogan remains in the limelight today, often drawing attention to his diet and training principles, which has prompted Dr. Israetel to break down his nutrition, exercise selection, and use of testosterone replacement therapy.
Jumping straight into Joe Rogan’s exercise practices, Dr. Mike Israetel gave his thoughts on kettlebell training.
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“Kettlebells are pretty cool for that [functional training]. I will say that almost everything kettlebells, almost everything kettlebells do well, barbells and dumbbells do better. If you really like kettlebells how they make you feel, how the movement is, there’s not a goddamn thing wrong with them.
But I would say over-indexing on kettlebells as a first priority trying to figure out your fitness, I would say barbells and dumbbells first. Also bodyweight movements, push-ups, pull-ups, dips, they are unbelievable.”
Moving into Rogan’s next preferred exercise, Dr. Israetel reveals that he isn’t a fan of the Turkish getup.
“The Turkish getup may be the most glamorous move ever invented in lifting. It’s entirely purposeless, it looks like a waiter fell down and is still trying to make sure he doesn’t spill the rice all over the place. No offense to anyone.”
Moreover, Israetel describes the Turkish getup as a ‘purposeless’ movement that doesn’t do much for building strength.
“The Turkish getup is like a parlor trick of lifting, it’s not very clear to exercise sports scientists what exactly system is the limiting factor for Turkish getup. The reality is it’s probably your lateral delt strength and it’s not even a good way to build lateral delt strength. It just tests shoulder stability.”
Next, Dr. Mike Israetel looks at Joe Rogan’s PED use, specifically, his TRT regimen.
“TRT is cool,” says Israetel.
Israetel goes into more detail regarding TRT, explaining that while it can be a great resource for transforming your body, it can also be completely unnecessary and lead to negative side effects.
“The thing with TRT is it can be absolutely transformational if you need it. But if you get your test levels back and they are totally normal, you probably don’t need it. One of two things will happen.
You’ll take it and you’ll get all these nasty side effects and you’ll have to inject yourself all the time for no reason or you’ll take the TRT and the injections are fine and everything is fine, it’s not a bother, but kind of nothing will happen.”
As for Rogan’s diet, Dr. Mike Israetel defends sugar, which Rogan said would negatively impact health.
“Almost all scientists say that sugar is totally fine being that it’s not bringing in a ton of excess calories. That’s how sugar is bad. Also, if you’re eating a ton of processed garbage, it doesn’t really matter if it’s processed garbage protein, sugar, or carbohydrate which is simple sugars, or fats, it’s all fucking dog shit.”
Dr. Israetel switched his focus to seed oils, where he states unequivocally, that it is proven they aren’t bad for your health.
“Seed oils. No controversy.”
“They’ve studied this more or less into the ground and there’s not a goddamn thing wrong with seed oils. They are totally fine and totally healthy in most contexts.”
Finally, Dr. Israetel examines Joe Rogan’s carnivore diet. He stresses that this diet alone won’t maintain energy levels, reminding his followers that carbohydrates are best for performance nutrition.
“Carnivore diet can keep your energy levels relatively stable. The bad thing is the carnivore diet, how do I put this, carbohydrates are the undisputed forever king of performance nutrition.”
“You want to perform at your best in grappling, lifting, running, in doing whatever it is you do that takes lots of high-intensity effort and focus and a huge physical demand, there’s no replacing carbs.”
This isn’t the first time that Dr. Mike Israetel has critiqued a high-profile figure. Previously, he broke down five-time Classic Physique Olympia champion Chris Bumstead’s upper body training routine. While he agreed with most of Bumstead’s techniques, Israetel recommends he focus more on full range of motion.
“From what I could tell, very good technique, especially on those one-arm rows. I would like to see Chris do a little bit more of a full range of motion, especially on that eccentric by a small margin, he was doing very well.”
Dr. Mike Israetel continues to be a valuable source of knowledge within the fitness community. His deep dives on important influencers such as Joe Rogan provide a better understanding of diet, exercise, and PEDs.
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