Lyle McDonald Critiques Mike Israetel's Fitness Advice and Bodybuilding Career

In this video, Lyle McDonald and I subject Mike Israetel of @RenaissancePeriodization to the same scrutiny he applies to others in the fitness industry. In chapter 2, we critically analyse Mike’s fitness advice. In chapter 3, we critically analyse Mike’s rebuttal to one of Lyle’s past criticisms of Mike. In chapter 4, we critically analyse Mike’s competitive bodybuilding career. I conclude in chapter 5 by discussing what you can take away from this whole exposé. 0:00 Prologue 1:35 Chapter 1. Introduction 4:45 Chapter 2. A critical analysis of Mike’s fitness advice 5:05 2.1. Against ‘having striated glutes isn’t unhealthy’ 12:25 2.2. Against ‘take a month off to see MASSIVE gains’ 15:30 2.3. Against ‘training 6x/w generates more growth than training 4x/w’ 18:12 2.4. Against ‘sleep outperforms juice’ 20:13 2.5. Against ‘the mechanism by which juice works is letting you train harder’ 25:30 2.6. Against ‘you should probably train more than the pro bodybuilders you follow’ 29:53 2.7. Against ‘volume beats progressive tension overload’ 34:38 2.8. Against the RP hypertrophy app, and the instruction to add sets based on pump and/or soreness 40:12 2.9. Against ‘you should train more in a deep caloric deficit’ 46:33 2.10. Against ‘higher volumes let you grow more’ 54:37 2.11. On Mike’s volume backpedal 58:03 2.12. Against the ‘technique cyborg’ meme 59:02 2.13. Against ramping up volume over the course of a training cycle 1:04:20 2.14. Against ‘if you’re getting stronger week to week, then you’re undertraining’ 1:06:59 2.15. Taking stock of chapter 2 1:07:30 Chapter 3. Failure to fail (in the weight room) 1:08:36 3.1. A contextualization and explanation of Lyle’s ‘failure to fail’ criticism 1:12:56 3.2. A summary and critical analysis of Mike’s rebuttal to Lyle 1:14:19 3.2.1. Against ‘I take technical failure very seriously’ 1:20:01 3.2.2. Against ‘I deliberately slow my reps, so you can‘t gauge my proximity to failure visually’ 1:24:08 3.2.3. Against ‘I‘m fast twitch dominant, so you can‘t gauge my proximity to failure visually’ 1:27:08 3.2.4. Against ‘what does this even matter? I‘m still growing muscle just fine’ 1:35:54 3.2.5. Against ‘I‘m funnier than you, smarter than you’, etc. 1:39:54 3.3. On Mike’s recent contradictions to his objections to Lyle 1:45:00 3.4. Does Mike meet the same standard he uses to dismiss Lyle? 1:45:59 Chapter 4. Failure to succeed (in competitive bodybuilding) 1:49:18 4.1. Why Mike is uncoachable 1:51:07 4.2. On Mike’s inability to take criticism, and how this trait may have impacted his bodybuilding career 1:52:46 4.3. Mike’s first show: what would Lyle have done to coach Mike? 1:56:17 4.4. Why Mike should start his diet earlier 1:59:04 4.5. Why Mike should stay leaner in the offseason 2:00:21 4.6. On Mike’s diuretic protocol, and water retention cope 2:01:54 4.7. The reality: Mike never got lean enough 2:05:13 4.8. On Mike’s inability to learn from past mistakes 2:06:29 4.9. On Mike’s ‘I lost because of my tan’ excuse 2:07:35 4.10. Lyle’s thoughts on competing in enhanced bodybuilding for fun 2:08:22 4.11. On Mike’s baffling contest diet 2:12:55 4.12. What Lyle would change with Mike’s training 2:15:11 4.13. What Lyle would change with Mike’s ‘special sports supplements’ stack 2:21:17 4.14. Mike should have figured out how to prep as a natural first 2:25:20 4.15. On Mike’s genetics: is Mike cut out for the sport of bodybuilding? 2:27:11 4.16. Why Lyle’s #1 suggestion to Mike is to downsize 2:33:56 4.17. On Mike’s ‘I don’t care for the pageantry aspect of bodybuilding’ cope 2:36:16 4.18. Why Mike should retire from competitive bodybuilding for good 2:38:54 4.19. Why Lyle thinks Mike won’t retire from bodybuilding for good, even though he clearly should 2:48:07 4.20. On Mike’s ‘I compete to illustrate that my methods work’ blunder 2:52:19 4.21. Lyle’s thoughts on what Mike ACTUALLY proved as a bodybuilder 2:54:50 4.22. What we can learn from Mike’s failures 2:55:39 Chapter 5. Conclusion 2:58:51 Extras