The Big Inside

Intelligent people discussing complex ideas with patience and bravery is not how we usually describe The Big Inside.  But when author Megan Dietz joins us for a compelling and challenging discussion on how the feminine body ideal is the result of anything but feminism, the investment in the topic rose sky high.

With the recently renewed wave of feminist activism being reinvigorated in the US, we wanted to steer our own discussions towards intersecting how physique aesthetics intersect the narratives surrounding the political and social debates now under way.  There is neither a subtle way to enter the conversation about the impact and source of our culture's assertion about women's bodies, nor is the conversation one that can be streamlined.  Yet Megan, host Christian Matyi, and show regular Nick Lefebvre unpack a small corner of the gender politics involved wth physique sports and the experience of women in our culture. 

Megan Dietz is the author of the book, "Be Less Crazy About Your Body," as well as the host of the podcast Madge.  

Science will one day teach us how to engineer a super race of Mike Israetels.  This one is just the prototype.

Do we over-rely on science in our culture?  Is the rise of scientific "proofs" making the humanities less useful?  Believe it or not, this debate that is highly relevant to how we understand our modern culture has been at the core of the strength and lifting world for the past three decades.  Strength and bodybuilding often advocate personal experience and intuition as virtues, and yet seems hell-bent of recent years to want every last iota of practice backed by "hard science."

This duality seems to be common in our everyday culture as well.  Yet we rarely seem to address the fetishizing of scientific prowess versus the desire to validate personal experience.  Well, guess what we attempted in this episode of The Big Inside?

We were flattered and honored to have Dr. Mike Israetel, PhD., join us to unravel this topic.  There is no clear answer, nor can it be couched as a clean binary debate with two sides.  Mike gives us compelling and sometimes even radical perspectives on his interest in seeing science become the foundational source of order in people's physique work, and maybe beyond that.  

Nick apparently is too big for his shirts, so we felt bad and gave him a chance sitting in for Scott this week.

Host Christian "XN" Matyi is joined by Nick Lefebvre in the sidecar, who sat in for Scott Bottorff who was traveling this week.  

Also: are you masturbating enough?  Today's Inside Track poses this critical question to listeners.

Adult content warning; this is perhaps the most swear-ridden episode of our program. Apologies to those offended by crass language, but it got ridiculous as passions flared.

At the top of the show XN cited lots of statistics on the state of PhD acquisition over the yesars.  Those were pulled from the National Center for Education Statistics and National Science Foundation.  As promised on the show, we have links to the sources you can check out here and here.

Jonathan Lavoie (right) is a pro bodybuilder. But maybe isn't.  But still could be, we're not sure.  Which is why he's got such a cool perspective for the show.

What if you woke up tomorrow and whatever you accomplished today somehow didn’t matter any more? 

This is often literally what occurs in amateur competitive sports like competitive bodybuilding.  But how on earth can something that requires so much investment be so mishandled? 

Show host Christian Matyi, aka “XN,” welcomes Jonathan Lavoie, a one-time competitive bodybuilder whose professional status is in a strangely unique state of limbo.  Lavoie who brings a unique perspective to the idea of competitive success and what it can – and can’t – mean for an athlete.  Scott Bottorff joins us as usual for a compelling discussion of the intricacies of a sport that often, well, bungles it’s own intricacy.

Diving straight from their living room into a huge industry, Elias, Nick and Mike are the founders of Saisei Sports, and join us this week to discuss what it's all about.

The Big Inside rides ethical rollercoasters as we have on our show one of our own sponsors.  What does it take to start up a small business in an industry known for its intense competition?  Show host Christian Matyi, aka “XN,” talks to the founders of the small startup supplement company Saisei Sports – three regular dudes with hard working ambition and a pre-workout formula.  Show regular Scott Bottorff joins the conversation about the supplement business from the viewpoint of one of the smallest fish in this multi-billion dollar landscape.

We also air a brand new closing segment to the program.

Disclaimer: we have a huge case of potty-mouth this episode.  Consider the faint of heart warned.

Every third podcast is talking about 2017 New Year’s resolutions right now, so The Big Inside’s host Christian Matyi, aka “XN,” and show regular Scott Bottorff cave in to convention and have their own contemplation on what resolutions might all be about.  Fitness marketing conspiracy, or meaningful inspiration for progress?  We bat around the topic from a bunch of angles.  Meanwhile, XN admits to being a gummy whore, and Scott impatiently awaits his mail-order Mr. Olympia trophy.

So, host Christian Matyi, aka XN, has kankles.  But the source is apparently not in his heel but in his butt!  In other words: sometimes the source cause of a limitation is not always directly connected to the problem itself.  XN and show regular Scott Bottorff discuss this phenomena, citing examples with athletes they’ve worked with as well as in their own progress to illustrate how prevalent this phenomenon is. Likewise, they explore the impact of improperly analyzed plateaus and injuries, and their ramifications on training culture.  

This episode is the Fifth in a special mini series from The Big Inside featuring host Christian Matyi, a/k/a XN, joined by regular show guest Scott Bottorff. 

Today's show is sponsored by Saisei Sports, Scorpio Creative and The Next Level.

Christian (aka XN) and Scott discuss ideas behind a recent Vice.com piece by writer Victoria Chan which explored the influence of social media on bodybuilding’s popular appeal.

The short article described how a profound wave of social media popularity should encourage us consider whether bodybuilding could now be seen as a “mainstream” pursuit.   

The piece discusses a phenomena that anyone within yelling distance of a hammerstrength machine has witnessed for the past 5 to 7 years now: the rise of the social media physique idol, like IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Renaldo Gairy who the article featured. The piece uses Gairy to explore how companies have begun farming their marketing out to these social media darlings to turn big profits, with sometimes unfulfilled promises of fame and money for the athletes themselves.

Scott and XN use the article as a jumping point to discuss whether or not bodybuilding truly has become more mainstream, as well as the ramifications of social media on the sport, and how social media's influence on bodybuilding's image may be more nuanced than the piece describes.

IFBB Pro bodybuilder Renaldo Gairy was featured in the Vice.com article which was the basis of this show's discussion.

This episode is the second in a special mini series from The Big Inside featuring host Christian Matyi, a/k/a XN, joined by regular show guest Scott Bottorff with a discussion of missing elements for advancing "advanced" training.

it's also the episode where Scott saw the new Star Wars and XN didn't, so there is a verbal light saber dual.  You juts can;t see it.  (Audio medium.)

As the body advances through training progress, very often there is a lack of parallel advancement of the programs used to keep progress going.  This is a common theme among experienced or "elite" lifters, athletes, and bodybuilders, who often tend to over-rely on "things that worked up until now, and often resist recreating their approach.

XN and Scott discuss the mindset that causes resistance, their own experiences with this occurrence, practical insights into correction of this common misstep, and also go on and on about the new Star Wars: Rogue One film.

APOLOGIES: The sound quality of this episode is a little messed up.  Bear with it, as there is a lot of great conversation if you can find patience with the unfortunate distortion.  

This episode is the second in a special mini series from The Big Inside featuring regular show guest Scott Bottorff joining Christian Matyi, a/k/a XN, with a discussion of what considerations people should put into assembling a training program.

From beginners to elite athletes, the idea of a training program is ubiquitous as the essential piece to make progress.  However, it seems there is a vague idea of what primary components ought be considered when approaching developing a training program.  XN and Scott take a broad look at some main principles that might be useful for setting up your next training program.

This episode is the first in a special mini series from The Big Inside featuring regular show guest Scott Bottorff joining Christian Matyi, a/k/a XN, on a discussion of how motivation may not be solely the result of our mindset.

The upcoming episodes within this series turn the table for host XN, making him participant in the discussion rather than just interviewer.  XN and Scott bring their many, many years of experience to the table to engage discussions on a range of topics that both he and Scott have regular contact with in their coaching careers.

The inspiration for the episode comes from the work Scott does uncovering ways in which the body’s disposition can impact our attitude, even when we’re unaware of such factors.  

While they may be raising more questions than they are answering, the ideas they raise may well inspire your own perspective on how motivation may not be about blunt force of the mind, but sometimes about stepping back and looking at the state of the body.