#335 ‒ The science of resistance training, building muscle, and anabolic steroid use in bodybuilding | Mike Israetel, Ph.D.

Mike’s academic journey, and early experiences in powerlifting, personal training, and sports physiology [3:30]

• There’s going to be some folks listening and watching us who are probably very familiar with Mike’s work and they’ve probably come to learn about him as Peter has through endless years of being both amused and educated by his content on YouTube
• But there’s probably a group of people here just in my audience that aren’t overlapping with yours

Give folks a chance to get to know you, and talk a little bit about your background 

• Mike came to the US from Russia when he was 7
• Before that, he grew up in Moscow, Russia 
• In the US, he grew up in the metropolitan Detroit area in a place called Oak Park, Michigan 

What did you study in undergrad? 

• Movement science, kinesiology at the University of Michigan

What sports were you playing then?

• He wrestled in high school, but he wasn’t very good at it, wasn’t dedicated
• He got into lifting hardcore towards the middle and end of high school
• By the time he was in college, he was gearing up to start competing in powerlifting 
• He actually started the Michigan Powerlifting Club
  • A team that went to meets and all that stuff
  • He was a competitive powerlifter in his undergraduate years

Peter adds, “For folks who might be confused about all the different disciplines, powerlifting is the sport where there are 3 and only 3 lifts. There’s a deadlift, a bench press, a squat, and you win by having the highest total weights across the three.”

• So squat plus bench plus deadlift equals total, and the person with the biggest total for the weight class
  • Or absolute or by formula wins the whole thing
• Mike was not into bodybuilding yet

Did you go off and do your PhD right away after undergrad? 

• No, he got a master’s 
• In the exercise science field, going straight from undergraduate to a PhD is very rare
  • Usually you need a lot more preparatory work because the undergraduate curriculum typically just doesn’t teach you a whole lot of applied super specialized exercise science
• He learned anatomy and physiology very well, but much more general curriculum
  • Especially at an RO1 school like Michigan,  they didn’t super hyper specialize
  • He learned almost nothing about sports whatsoever
  • Resistance training wasn’t a big focus there; he must have had 2 bullet points of how to resistance train in any one of his classes
  • It was chronic disease management, health, clinical application
• Right after undergrad, he went to Appalachian State University to get a Master’s degree under Dr. Travis Triplett and Dr. Jeff McBride
• That was a subspecialty of exercise science: strength and conditioning
  • So much closer to what he was super passionate about
• Mike then worked for 1 year as a personal trainer
  • It’s like jail
  • He did a year in Manhattan with his colleague Mr. Nick Shaw, who’s now the co-founder and CEO of their company, RP
  • They trained folks at a private personal training studio in Manhattan (like CTOs of major companies)
• Mike had never met a truly rich person until he met someone who was worth like $50 million
  • Turns out they’re just really nice cool people that are really chill and have the same problems everyone else does, trying to get in shape
• In that year, Mike realized he didn’t know enough, and then he enrolled in the PhD program for sport physiology at East Tennessee State University under Dr. Mike Stone
• That was an amazing time
• He probably learned more in that 3 years than he ever learned at school
  • Totally immersive
  • Got to work with teams, got to work with athletes, strength and conditioning coach
  • Truly sports science work

“We integrate all of the variables, sport coaching, strength and conditioning, sports medicine, nutrition, the whole gamut. Incredible experience.”‒ Mike Israetel

• Mike got a PhD there and then taught at the University of Central Missouri for a while
• Taught at Temple University in Philadelphia for a while
• Then he went full depth into private industry founding RP
  • This happened during the time he was in the PhD program 
• Sometime during the years at Temple, it became apparent that he was more productive not teaching because there was so much to do with the company
• So he took some time away from teaching
• Then he came back to teach under his friend Dr. Brad Schoenfeld
  • Who’s the world expert scientifically in muscle hypertrophy
  • Mike taught at his master’s program for a while
• He left that recently to do private industry full time 

When did you start putting out these videos on YouTube? 

• Peter only discovered them a couple years ago, but thinks he’s been doing this much longer
• Mike started posting videos on YouTube in 2020 during peak COVID
  • He records most of his YouTube videos at his home studio
  • If he drops the “C word”, the video guy’s like, “Different take.”
  • They one-take almost everything and that they will roll back
    • The algorithm will flag it and put a COVID warning

Mike’s transition from powerlifting to bodybuilding, and his scientific and artistic approach to sculpting muscle and optimizing aesthetics [9:15]

Going back to your personal evolution as you’re going through this journey of master’s, PhD, industry, are you still focusing on powerlifting personally? 

• Mike was focused on powerlifting up until he got into the Master’s program
• Towards the end of undergrad he picked up a muscle magazine at the grocery store
  • Flex Magazine had an issue that summarized the prior 2002 Mr. Olympia contest with all the pictures of the bodybuilders
    • Ronnie won again; that was his 4th or 5th time winning Mr. Olympia and he didn’t look his best

Everyone suspected Jay Cutler could have beat him if he showed up that year (He almost beat him in 2001)

Figure 1. Jay Cutler and Ronnie Coleman. Image credit: M&F

• Mike remembers reading the magazine and looking at the pictures ‒ it was enlightening because Mike realized he had an eye for aesthetics
• Some people will see muscular physiques and they kind of all look the same, like giant veiny, overcooked hot dogs (which is not wrong)
• Mike looked at the physiques and he was really taken aback, especially by some of them
  • [It was a feeling akin to what] normal people get when they look at very good art: that whoa, I’m looking at something very special, something that’s emotive

That’s when Mike started to pursue his own hypertrophy training (muscle growth training) 

What were you looking like at the time? 

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