Mike Israetel

So the cold plunge has some benefits, not entirely sold that they're enormous or extant whatsoever in many cases, but this kind of resistance exercise has benefits that if we just took one by one time to talk about on this podcast, we could talk about nothing else and do four podcasts in a row. That kind of massive benefit.

So very tough. Very tough because if you aren't an expert or a very knowledgeable person yourself, it's very difficult to figure out who is knowledgeable and an expert, who's doing a good job. Like if you're finding a good doctor, I don't know what that means. I have no idea how to measure a good doctor versus not a good doctor.

So very tough. Very tough because if you aren't an expert or a very knowledgeable person yourself, it's very difficult to figure out who is knowledgeable and an expert, who's doing a good job. Like if you're finding a good doctor, I don't know what that means. I have no idea how to measure a good doctor versus not a good doctor.

Most doctors are equally confident in telling you what they think is going on and very differentially accurate. So it's a tough question. I would say that if you have an opportunity to chat with them and ask them a few questions, you could find out some things that'll be helpful. These are all marginal pieces of advice. There's no absolute.

Most doctors are equally confident in telling you what they think is going on and very differentially accurate. So it's a tough question. I would say that if you have an opportunity to chat with them and ask them a few questions, you could find out some things that'll be helpful. These are all marginal pieces of advice. There's no absolute.

I'd say the thing that comes close to the absolute of having a high guarantee that they're good at what they do is if they're certified in the Menno Henselman's PT course. Menno is an expert in our field. He knows his stuff and his trainers that he certifies have a high probability of being able to deliver to you what it is that you want out of them.

I'd say the thing that comes close to the absolute of having a high guarantee that they're good at what they do is if they're certified in the Menno Henselman's PT course. Menno is an expert in our field. He knows his stuff and his trainers that he certifies have a high probability of being able to deliver to you what it is that you want out of them.

There are other fine certifications out in the world, but a lot of certifications, you're just reasonably intelligent and you studied for an hour and voila, you're certified. So the certification doesn't go very far.

There are other fine certifications out in the world, but a lot of certifications, you're just reasonably intelligent and you studied for an hour and voila, you're certified. So the certification doesn't go very far.

It helps if your trainer has an undergraduate in kinesiology or some related field that is not by itself ensuring you that they're going to be good, but it sloughs off a lot of back end, if you know what I mean, like you're going to get rid of a lot of not great trainers.

It helps if your trainer has an undergraduate in kinesiology or some related field that is not by itself ensuring you that they're going to be good, but it sloughs off a lot of back end, if you know what I mean, like you're going to get rid of a lot of not great trainers.

You can almost entirely ignore what they look like because the preponderance of the reason people look like they do is genetics. The other is diet. And the other is just how long have they been doing stupid or smart things to their body, but grinding away.

You can almost entirely ignore what they look like because the preponderance of the reason people look like they do is genetics. The other is diet. And the other is just how long have they been doing stupid or smart things to their body, but grinding away.

So if you look at a trainer that just looks kind of like a normal person, maybe a little muscular, a little bit leaner, you'll get another trainer in the same gym that's just like got six pack on his face, just ripped. Don't be like, well, that guy seems to know what he's doing. He's ripped. He can't give you his genetics and almost the biggest contribution to why he's ripped is genetics.

So if you look at a trainer that just looks kind of like a normal person, maybe a little muscular, a little bit leaner, you'll get another trainer in the same gym that's just like got six pack on his face, just ripped. Don't be like, well, that guy seems to know what he's doing. He's ripped. He can't give you his genetics and almost the biggest contribution to why he's ripped is genetics.

And so people get hung up on this all the time. They work with preposterously underqualified trainers who just look the part. There's not like a transitive property by which you can just like give someone your results. Yeah, I wish, right? You just touch their skin and you're like, I feel it. You wake up the next day super jacked. It was that easy.

And so people get hung up on this all the time. They work with preposterously underqualified trainers who just look the part. There's not like a transitive property by which you can just like give someone your results. Yeah, I wish, right? You just touch their skin and you're like, I feel it. You wake up the next day super jacked. It was that easy.

You can ask them how they integrate science into their practice. Not a guarantee because you can be evidence-based and still have all sorts of poor practices. If they go mostly on personal experience and feel, you can be assured that they're probably not the greatest trainer for you.

You can ask them how they integrate science into their practice. Not a guarantee because you can be evidence-based and still have all sorts of poor practices. If they go mostly on personal experience and feel, you can be assured that they're probably not the greatest trainer for you.

If they have a lot of personal experience that they use in their training, but also they're very adept at understanding the scientific literature and especially just the broad strokes basics, you're probably in better hands than not. Someone that can explain to you the reasons for why you're doing certain things and you just voice note record them. and ask them, is it okay if I record your reason?