The world of fitness influencers is filled with weird right wing gymbros who can only seem to promote the mindset of a tumor (that is, constant and unending growth).
Growth, don’t get me wrong, is a good thing to aspire when working out. You want to become stronger, fitter, healthier to some degree. However, I sort of miss balanced takes when looking for online fitness figures.
In The Netherlands we have Joel Beukers as the leading fitfluencer. He’s known for his dramatic screaming into the camera and selling his own pre workout and protein shakes (filled with insane amounts of cafeine). Lately he’s becoming a more AliExpress version of Andrew Tate it seems and things are starting to get to his head. Some time ago he made a vid about ‘starting from the bottom’ despite growing up in the ultra rich Gooi area of the country. He also drives around in Gold lambo’s and stuff.
Anyway, my own goals have shifted from becoming a literal hulk with an eating disorder to maintaining a more balanced lifestyle while also working on my strength, cardio and agility. But I can’t seem to find any good online figures to check out for tips. So far the only ones I keep watching are Joe Delaney for routines and Andrew Bernard for (vega) food tips.
So, what people do you guys follow?
I like the Bioneer and ShreddedSportsSience (the name sounds cringe I know but he makes great content)
I think right now just Magnus Midtbo. He got me into climbing. Other ones I enjoy when I watch them are jujimufu and Larry wheels. They’re not too broey and just preach being healthy and enjoying the workout.
I wouldn’t bother with influencers for real like, direction that will lead to long term progression.
The best source I can point to you for athleticism (in the lower body especially) is Ben Patrick the Knees over toes guy. I was hitting my wrist on the basketball rim using his principles and lifts. Haven’t been doing any jumping for a year because it’s not my passion but it works for sure. Maybe I’ll get back into it. He’s not an influencer but a pro athletic coach.
Pretty much what @Giyuu@lemmygrad.ml said. Magnus, Larry und juji are some of the most chill guys out there, though I watch juji much less since that BU with his former sidekick.
Not sure if he qualifies as a fitfluencer, but Eric Bugenhagen is a legend. From the strongman scene Martins Licis has a great channel, is crazy likeable and I occasionally watch Eddie Hall’s stuff, because his awkwardness combined with his absurd strength is hilarious.
For actual advice, Alpha Destiny has fairly good stuff, Jeff Nippard as well. Geoffrey Verity Schofield has done some good work for natural lifters too. FitnessFAQ used to be great for calisthenics, haven’t been keeping up with him for ages though. In general I don’t watch these guys regularly or for entertainment like the others listed.
For pure memes JackPGM is the goat imo.
Edit: Oh and Clarence ofc when/if he uploads.
deleted by creator
Leanbeefpatty on insta
I focus on strength training and have a couple decades of wear and tear on my body from doing it that I have to deal with, so here’s my list:
Alexander Bromley - My current favorite youtuber, entertaining and really informative. Occasionally repeats the some reactionary bs that Greg Nuckols puts out but overall is awesome. He also has at least one video pushing back on the science focused influencers which is worth a watch.
Meg Squats - Nice source of knowledge and workout routines.
The Bioneer - Already mentioned but he has some unorthodox takes and includes things like mental training that’s usually left out of training.
Brian Alsruhe - His channel got weird during covid because he was dealing with very severe health problems following his stints in counterterrorism with the US military (multiple parasitic infections that made him throw up 50 times a day - karma?) but he has some of the best lifting tutorials that I’ve found and it looks like he’s making interesting videos again now.
Renaissance Periodization - Fun analysis of celebrity training and a ton of workout information.
Juggernaut - Another good training source, particularly with Olympic lifting.
Zack Telander - Good Olympic lifting tutorials and a lot of videos of him calling people out.
Squat University - Good resource for dealing with pain and injuries. The reason why I now wear wide toe-box shoes and have toe spreaders.
Athlean X - Another good source for dealing with injuries. Also a great source for workout plans for “mirror” muscles like abs and biceps, though I’d never take his advice for gaining strength (exhale all your air before initiating a squat???)
Alan Thrall - One of the originals in strength training on youtube, he’s still making great content but seems to swing from one ideology to the next a bit much. But he has a great rise/fall video of an OG youtuber here: Elliot
I like Greg Nuckols of Stronger by Science, and I read and listen to Dan John pretty often.
I don’t find much value in fitness influencers for actual lifting advice, but some of it’s entertaining. I like Dave Tate’s Table Talk podcast for that. The Westside stories are pretty wild!
+1 to Shredded Sports Science, I also watch Will Tennyson for some laughs and Jeff Nippard for the science.
