An Analysis of Mike Israetel's Decision to Juice 

Time stamps: 0:04 Chapter 1. Introduction 1:12 Chapter 2. How rational people make decisions 2:38 Chapter 3. What are the costs and benefits of Mike's juicing? 3:24 3.1. The benefits 3:27 Benefit 1 - Juicing as bigorexia treatment 3:46 Benefit 2 - IFBB pro aspirations 4:19 Benefit 3 - Money and fame 4:54 Benefit 4 - Altruism 5:29 3.2. The costs 5:31 Cost 1 - Poorer physical health 6:13 Cost 2 - Lowered intelligence 6:52 Cost 3 - Rage and anxiety 10:10 Cost 4 - Unintentional encouragement of juicing 11:49 Chapter 4. Why Mike's juicing is a net cost 12:30 On juicing as bigorexia treatment 14:04 On IFBB pro aspirations 17:09 On money, fame and influence 18:17 On altruism 21:48 Overall analysis 22:38 Chapter 5. Conclusion

I really appreciate your thoughtful and slow pace deconstruction of Dr. Mike & his beliefs. Dr. Mike seems to constantly appeal to authority (aka appeal to himself) as a way to support all of his arguments. Not to mention, people fall for it, too. The amount of times I've heard people propagate his ideas and support it by mentioning his PhD, or reject any potential criticisms by saying something along the lines of "do you have a PhD?" "are you a pro bodybuilder?". Even though for the latter statement I would argue Dr. Mike's status as a "pro" bodybuilder is laughable as he's not only clearly an amateur, but it is my hunch that he uses the pursuit of a pro card as a means to justify the destruction of his health and feed his inner child, like you mention in the video. Great content.

While I’m a fan of Dr Mike and I think his training and nutrition advice is quite good, and I respect his reasons for and use of drugs, I think your criticism is well thought out, well intentioned and executed without malice. I enjoy hearing such criticisms of people whom I respect because I think it gives us a more well rounded perspective and prevents us from idolising people as though they’re more than just people. That said I think you will receive a lot of support from people who just hate Dr Mike for irrational reasons, and I hope you will be able to see past the temptation of that temporary ego stroking and continue making such well thought out content.

Thank god people are starting to call out Mike Israetel's bullshit. You have my subscription.

I swear RP is just a more bougie and snobby version of Athlean X. Great vid btw. More ppl deserve to see this.

Mike is a scourge to the fitness industry. He is the new Athlean-X.

At the end of the day, Mike juices because he is emotionally attached to being huge - he doesn't want to let that go. All of the mental rationalizations come after that fact, silly for him to pretend it is all logic/reasoning.

I really love Mike (even met him in person), which makes it the more refreshing seeing sensible criticism for his takes. You gained a follower!

Ever since Dr Mike said he spends hours fantasizing about attacking random negative commenters I've went out of my way to leave him negative comments.

reminds me of classic youtube great video

Holy buckets! Complete disassembly.

Didn't know that he is on the juice for that long. He's bigger and stronger than Menzer, but Menzer looks much better.

The Mike Israetel and Alex Leonidas collab was a disaster for the natural community and set it back years.

Wow their faces at 21:30 just says it all what they are thinking about Mike. Really underrated content here. Only now are some others calling out Mike.

The Dr Mike oiled pics always make me laugh

I like Mike Israetel, has been following him for 3 years. Although i started to see some bs from him. Regarding macros he is spot on, but i wouldn't take other advises so serious like his take on isometrics and his obsession with ROM, even thou he have mobility like a toddler. Subscribed

The lowered intelligence due to androgens is primarily mediated through decreased inhibitory signalling which manifests greatly in the form of reduced 5-HT (serotonin) and GABA signalling in various parts of the central and peripheral nervous system. This is likely explained by androgens increasing neuronal action potential voltages making neurotransmission of inhibitory to excitatory neurotransmitters skewed in favour of excitatory neurotransmitters which in and of themselves can cause excitatory apoptosis of neurons (cell death). We now have plenty of in-vivo studies displaying such to be the case. As an AAS-user myself, I take precautions when using AAS in order to protect my most valuable asset, my brain, since I myself am an engineer (with a background in neuropharmacology). I recommend Mike to do what I do which is to take an SSRI and potentially consider using a beta-blocker in order to reduce oxidative species within peripheral nervous tissue. I have been using AAS for almost 7 years and never once had any kind of cognitive dysfunction. I implore anyone wanting to use AAS to begin reading medical papers about how AAS can affect neurotransmission and the integrity of the brain.

I get that people think that the cost benefit ratio is insufficient to make the choice to use pharmaceutical intervention for themselves, I too hold this position. However, I don’t believe you can’t simply dispel his decision on rational grounds alone, there is an implicit ethical/ moral supposition that the health detriment of enhancement signifies a lack of self respect that is unacceptable. Quality of life is not synonymous with duration of life nor specific health metrics. So I can’t help but see an ideological imposition with an assumed quality of pure rationality, perhaps one derived from a more evolutionary/ teleological basis of decision making. I’m welcome to any rebuttals on this, cause I do find it a fascinating discussion.

So glad you pointed to Lyle McDonalds analysis of Mikes (I refuse to call him doctor) reps in reserve. Such a joke that he claims 0 RIR

I always find discussions about the cost benefit of drug use interesting. I had cancer and am now on TRT and will be for most of my life. The cost benefit for me was live with a crushed hormone profile and feel like shit or potentially take a few years off my life and feel better overall for the remainder of my life. Funnily enough though I don't drink alcohol for health reasons and have as hard a time understanding why people go out and get drunk on the weekends as most would understanding the appeal of PED use.

What gets me about Mike is, he'll say things about beating people up. All I can think is... does this guy not realize he's a manlet. I know he trains BJJ, but has he ever won anything? And, he's not even that strong. I barely even lift and I incline bench about the same as him

BMI seems like an odd metric to use to state that he's carrying around excess weight. Using BMI, most professional NFL players are considered clinically obese. The excess muscle he/other body builders have is detrimental to long term health, but BMI is a terrible metric to use as an evaluation of health.

Great video. The stridence of youth. Would love to see you do a video on Bulgarian/Jon Broz.

It was a good video, and then you took a dig at Coath. How dare you...make this video better than it already was :D

great vid man

Fantastic video ❤

Highly debatable for at least two things imho : 1° we might think we are rational but we are not ; 2° even if we admit that we are rational, all your arguments is based on the premise that we can objectively and rationaly assess the costs/benefits of a given decision which means that based on a given context every single individual should take a right decision. The problem is that it is hardly debatable that the cost/benefit of a decision can always be assess objectively that is to say with a total indifference of the individual that has to make a decision. That would necessarely imply that some decisions are never worth taking while other should always be taken. On the fancy restaurant alone, what if someone has always been poor and wants to alleviate this feeling or treat oneself even tho he knows the few month after will be difficult ? Maybe the huge happyness of dining there and not feel poor or maybe treating himself and his parents, or girlfriend or child massively outweight the cost of what the decision implies financialy. Maybe a massive happyness compensate a future temporary misery ? Maybe it does not ? As you say yourself, the savings could make you happier in the long run. So in the end, we are just comparing happyness, the decision of dining at the restaurant is deem to be less rational cause it brings less total happyness than the decision of saving the price of the restaurant. Problem is 1° how can you evaluate the level of happyness ? 2° supposing you can evaluate it, how can you know that the savings will bring a better level of happyness ? I get what you say and you are well articulated. I can vouch for some of your arguments nonetheless I do not think that it is that easy to judge the rationality of one decision. NB : I'm no particularly a fan boy of Mike, his decision to do not really make any change to me. NB2 : english is not my native language so apologies for the broken english and if some sentences might be read as rude, it is just the lack of mastery of the language, I do not mean to be rude or publish this comment as an attack, I enjoyed the video.

Interesting videos man

Mike's biggest "problem" is that his genetics are not good for bodybuilding. I'm being kind here. He's short and has zero aesthetics. That's life. The good news is that he's intelligent enough to get a decent job and make a good living for his family. What Mike thinks are "reality checks" are, as you point out, not really reality checks at all.....they're attempts to make excuses for his bad decisions. He's consequentially delusional.....

I think mike said in one of his videos the age at which he intends to quit steroids. However I think now wouldn’t hurt. Hope mike sees this vid but I don’t imagine he would like it

Takes a lot of willpower to never directly mention his height in this vid, especially during the Mentzer segment.

I watch Dr Mike for the entertainment value!

I don't think bigorexia is tantamount to the desire to be big and strong. Which isn't to say Israetel doesn't have bigorexia

You’re gonna hate the new meta analysis showing steroid use dangers are wildly overblown

His frontal torso looks more like a powerlifter, since he has this very stocky body type he should maybe go a bit easier on the compound lifts. Also his arms are nothing to write home about when held against elite bodybuilders. (Obviously he easily outclasses 99,99% of overall humanity) Back and legs look absolutely great though.

Still trying to find least self aware person on yt fitness than mike

Mike is bigger than Ryback. Non-negotiable!

his stomach is disgusting

I think Mike is fully aware his genetics are very bad for body building. He is very frequently flip with questions he thinks are obvious. Hes said as much in terms of his genetics and comments in one of his interviews.

Wow didn't realize how emotionally damaged and immature this guy is... hard to trust anything he says tbh.

Think you are somewhat underselling pro 3 when taking into account Mikes target audience and what he is trying to sell. Everything else pretty much agree with. Oh and extra points for the Blaha reference!

Hello, i discover your channel today. I like your analysis, but i think you are right and wrong at the same time about if it is a childish decision to use anabolic drugs. Why i say you are right and wrong? i'll explain. In my opinion is a matter of perspective and preference. By one part, from the perspective of long term health, i agree with you that is nonsense and maybe stupid the use of steroids because is obvious that it harms you and there is a lot of research that confirms that. By the other part, from the perspective of maximize all the potential that your body is capable of achieve, is understandable and is a matter of preference if you want to be enhanced or not because, in this case, Mike Israetel is someone that is very passionate about bodybuilding, he built all his entire life and professional career around all about resistance training and has a goal of getting a pro card as you said. And he knows and recognize in many videos that using anabolics has serious health downsides, but he accepts it because it worths it for him and It makes him feel good and emotionally fulfilled because his life has meaning directed toward a purpose. I know you can say, based on all the arguments that you gave in your video, that it is not worth it because of the net negative cost of the health, but is his preference, he also talk in some videos that he uses anabolics with the best caution that he can intelligently balancing other substances that repair or reduce the damage that certain drugs that he takes do and, finally, he does not harm anobody directly by taking drugs, only himself as we know. I'm defending Mike because i think maybe you took several things out of context and you are talking about him as if he was one of the worst persons that anybody can meet. For example, i don't know how many videos have you watched of his channel, but i saw a lot of his videos, maybe the half of videos uploaded in his YT channel, i saw his explanations of concepts, the arguments and rationalization and even jokes because he likes too much to be funny apart to be informative. And i think that i possibly have developed the enough criteria to identify when he is joking and when he is talking seriously because through watching a ton of videos one can learn at least a little bit of the personality of the person who talks. And several of the things that you put as examples of him being narcissist or egocentric i can tell that they are not told seriously or at least 100% seriously and are more possibly jokes like the comment in IG of him saying that he has "9.5/10" genetics. In one old video i watched of him he admitted, talking seriously without intentions of make a joke, that he really doesn't has really awesome genetics good enough to be a super elite bodybuilder or Mr. olympia. That wasn't the topic of the video, just a quick commentary. Of course, you can say that that is my subjective perception of him, but some of your comments about his behaviour in your video are also subjective. That is just my point of view, being someone that has watched and read a ton of his content, about certain things that he says that you could consider inappropriate or things that you analyze as things said with true commitment or believe. PSDT: i also make jokes with family and friends and they think i am talking seriously about something controversial until i say "is a joke". Lastly, to close this, you could say that having that kind of goals is childish from a perspective of net cost of health, but also, through that mentality of the long term well being, maybe you also could say that pursuing goals and having all the dedication to be one of the best athletes in one sport that is not one of the most popular ones, and thus not very well paid, is bad and childish because is a net negative from an economic perspective and, in the long term, it won't give you a great quality of life if you focus your entire life on the passion for your choosen sport. In my point of view, is all about preference and what makes you feel happy and satisfied about yourself in the short, middle and long term. Maybe you could say that that kind of activities and achievements only make you feel good at the moment and then not, but we have to remind that there is an individual difference between people and other person could feel extraordinary good with himself, and has psychological well being, in the long term because of that memories and experiences althought he or she is not well paid monthly or yearly like a lot of olympic champions active or retired. That's all. i hope you reconsider in your head some things you said and your way of think about Mike Israetel. I leaved recently also a comment in your other critic video about "naturals should do more volume than pros". i wish you best of lucks. Take care, bye.

Fantastic analysis! He claims he has more willpower than most, yet he can’t diet down enough (even with all the drugs, including semaglutide) to make his biggest dream come true.

in my book U are the best Mge player in TF2 Ever. Undisputed - Better than rKY, v1s, Shadowburn, Or mike, Even sol.

Mike owes a lot to gear

The claim of non-mental health cost being paid seems to be mostly a guess on your part. Unless you think he's lying about bloodwork being very good and the blood pressure readings he shows being fake? Once you get rid of that cost you're left with temporary sides that he can avoid by simply reducing his dosage significantly. Which he has done coincidentally.

LMFAO at the comparison shots to with Mike Mentzer. Criticize his methods all you want, but CLEARLY Mike Mentzer was a better bodybuilder and had better genetics than Israetel.

neurotoxicity and degree of toxicity is next to unknown 😭

Great video. I think Mikes a genius in terms of training and nutrition, but he has poor genetics for the sport. He would be a great coach tho.

I think we can all put each other under a microscope and judge. I think i sense someones feelings have been hurt here.

a lot of "might" being conveyed as fact in this content.

Xdd

They all juice.

Black people need to learn this

⁠Taking PEDs is a personal choice we can all put others lives under a microscope and find fault. I dont disagree with the points so much as the attack on Mikes personal choices. Im not a big fan of Mikes but most of the Society today take drugs and all of those drugs have side effects we weigh the pros and cons and make our choice. This video reeks of im too scared to try PEDs so i will bash others that do it so i look superior. The truth is our bodies are under constant attack hormonally from outside sources. I dont have to bring up the studies i think we are all aware of them how our grandfathers had twice the testosterone. Truth is if your not supplementing test after 30 your being an irresponsible male most likely operating from fear or denial

If someone has to roid he doesn't know how to train. End of story...

I agree with the majority of this video. Mike is a deeply insecure individual (no doubt stemming from his height), and most if not all of his jokes are thinly veiled and largely based in what he perceives as true. He is also a narcissist. However, he IS an incredibly intelligent individual, he IS wildly wealthy, and he DOES have an impressive physique. There's such a smugness about your demeanor that most of this video comes off as a massive cope. I have no idea how long you've been training, but your physique frankly is not impressive. You can attribute this to the lack of drugs, but I'd wager that the vast majority of naturals as educated about and committed to training as you look SIGNIFICANTLY better.

Jewcing

Wow this is straight bullying a guy with a dream of getting a ifbb pro card… “Live and let live” Mike’s intentions are not bad.

The rational is this. As a modern male youre test levels are under attack daily. So staying in shape specifically strong and powerful in a world that is very dangerous keeps you safe and ensures your ability to defend yourself physically at all times. Whats your excuse you look and sound extremely weak choosing to be a weak male incapable of defending oneself or family members which is very irresponsible these days.

@RenaissancePeriodization