29 Dec Pay No Attention to The Man Behind The Curtain

By: Brian Carroll

Ever heard this quote before? Ah, The Wizard of Oz, yes. I hadn’t heard this in sometime until a conversation about one year ago with a friend of mine.  He corroborated some inclinations I had for some time and also opened my eyes to a few things that I hadn’t paid attention to.

[wa-wps]

Many personalities with massive followings on social media have good marketing and know all the right things to say to get the interest and follows. There is nothing wrong with this. Some have extremely massive followings, some followers have no idea who this person they love is, what they have truly done, who they have worked with or even what they stand for. They just see what the wizard wants them to see. If they were to start digging a little bit, they would be disappointed.

Massive social media following

I’ve used this topic countless times at seminars, “just because someone has a massive social media following, doesn’t make them a fraud. Just like someone who has a massive following doesn’t make them an expert, it works both ways.” But, ones following should be the least of your worries or concern.

For example, who would you rather have in your corner, a coach to get you super lean, dialed in and peaked for a show, such as Shelby Starnes who does this day in and day out for years, or some YouTube famous guy with 1.5 Million followers who’s never competed or dialed himself in once? Popularity means nothing. Do real research.

Who would you choose for a powerlifting coach: Ed Coan or Steve Goggins (the two greatest powerlifters ever IMO) both with a relatively small following on social media in comparison to some “coaches”; does this make them not a good coach? NO, of course not. What about the newest/latest/most popular drug free Sheiko-advocate with a 350lb bench at 275 with an endless following of 1200lb totals and three years of powerlifting/competition experience?

Ask yourself this

Do some personalities slightly embellish here and there? Yes, of course. But do some outright lie and fabricate feats and numbers that have never happened?  Keep in mind, everyone has a camera on them at all times these days, a very good one at that, cell phone. So would you rather go with a coach who has proof of their accomplishments with a much smaller following, who’ve actually accomplished feats and have documented proof? Take for instance a true hybrid challenge, like 666, there’s proof of who’s actually achieved this.  We have two on our site, Tony Cowden and Brandon Crabill and soon to be three with Danny Vega.  The lifts were done in the meet, with video and the mile was documented.  See video below of Tony’s great day:

Back to my point: some are a frauds

What makes one a fraud is the perpetuated lies and misrepresentation of accomplishments that have actually lead athletes to injure themselves, chase rabbits down fugazi rabbit holes, all the while wonder how the impossible was done so matter-of-factly.  To clarify, I’m not hating on people with big followings, bravo to them, some people have a huge knack for drawing people in and gaining a massive following. I have no problem with this as long as it’s honest and not bullshit. My single and solitary issue is when people are being lied to, sold a bill of goods and manipulate to achieve this following.

With the exception of having a full marketing team that buys followers, has unlimited resources for ad placement and a great machine behind them, the good ones don’t always have time to sell, market, target and brand themselves like the ones who live on social media.  Why? They are busy actually getting shit done in the lab, on the platform, in the gym and at the desk. Cranking out significant research, quality work, helping others achieve and creating solid products is what their focus is, even to their own demise.

On the contrary, the ones who are all marketing and no-go would be a great example of “smoke and mirrors”, with very little substance. They may have a look, or a gimmicky useless exercise they excel at, cheat in competitions, get busted for such, some even stoop to fake plates to build a following (sounds a lot like the supplement industry). But, here’s the catch; you see them at competitions, they don’t practice what they preach. Why? Simply because they never have and it’s all a show for social media. Their numbers or standings are NEVER close to what they have claimed in testimonials, books or the like.

Starting to sound like a familiar trend to some?

I’m going to outline a few examples below in which I’ve seen and noticed over the years that will give you an idea if your social media guru is one of these charlatans pulling the wool over your eyes.  Buyer beware. If you’re unsure, ask their clients and do more research.

1. They don’t stay in their lane.

They are somehow an expert in every category across the board, hardly ever defer out to those with actual experience and proceed forward with YOUR money, YOUR TIME, YOUR TRUST, and next to zero experience, understanding or expertise.  Haven’t brought yourself dialed into a bodybuilding show? NO problem, here’s how to diet to get peeled. Want to do strongman? Never done it, but here’s how you should. Only done one powerlifting meet? Here you go, here is great peaking phase for success in competition, even though I’ve never smelled a big total. Even better, I’ve never lifted equipped or been around it, known anyone successful in it but hey, here you go, here’s your guide.

2. Multiple bios which are conflicting.

Lifting accomplishments, titles, accolades and or outlandish claims unsubstantiated, i.e. claiming gym lifts as official and or lifts done in meets as raw when they were not. I’ve seen this a lot, I was very impressed,  then, once you start to do a little digging around a bit, things to make sense. I’m not talking about numbers overlooked or not updated in a bio, I’m talking about things that flat out haven’t happen and if they did, they would be documented. Which brings me to the next point.

3. You cannot find them in results and rankings.

For powerlifting, the rankings started in 2007 (actually much earlier but for some reason only goes back to 2007). If you can’t find pictures of them/results from competition matching their claims, that means it likely didn’t happen. And if rankings you do find, are not even CLOSE to what the claims are… you should RUN. It likely didn’t happen as advertised.

4. They have movements that transcend the squat/bench/dead.

I’m talking about embellished or grossly exaggerated claims in which accessory movements are somehow a replacement for a main lift in strength training, namely powerlifting. Hypertrophy? Sure, there are many ways to approach and skin the cat. But to increase your squat and deadlift with gimmicks instead of a tried and true variation of the squat/deadlift used for the last 50 years, there’s a reason why girls out lift you.  You should stay in your lane, numbers don’t lie. Just about everyone (worth a damn) posts their training videos, their logs, and discusses their approach. There’s a reason why nobody strong buys into this crap.

5. They cannot explain their basic philosophy or approach to you in less than 2 minutes, on the spot, in person.

Any guru, specialist or expert should be able to explain their approach to training, peaking, and general philosophy at any time without much warning or preparation needed. If they can’t begin to answer the question, they are likely a fraud. Even more likely is that they make their name regurgitating other proven and true coaches’ ideas, like a Louie Simmons (without giving credit to the person). The problem is they don’t actually know very much, don’t have anything in their heart and mind that they truly believe in or know how to properly teach and apply. There is no “only one way” with the iron, but if something is in your heart and you truly believe in it, you should easily be able to share it at any time.

These are not the only warning signs to look for, only a few that jump out at me. If we can bring attention to a very unregulated field, then maybe people will do a little more research to vet their favorite social media personality. I love this field of strength, competition and helping each other become better in every way.  With many great minds and ideas but unfortunately it’s tainted with some bad apples.

The purpose of this article was not to only to discuss an important topic but to bring attention to an area which often times is taken over by marketing instead of actual real application and coaching. Don’t be fooled by things that grab at your emotions, sound too good to be true and no proof anywhere.  Pay attention to the man behind the curtain, and vet him.

Want a proven training philosophy? Get the 10/20/Life e book here.

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Brian Carroll

Owner and Founder at PowerRackStrength.com

Brian is a retired world-class powerlifter with over two decades of world-class powerlifting. From 1999 to 2020, Brian Carroll was a competitive powerlifter, one of the most accomplished lifters in the sport's history. Brian started off competing in bench press competitions 'raw,' then, shortly into the journey, he gravitated toward equipped lifting as there were no "raw" categories then. You only had to choose from single-ply (USPF) and Multi-ply (APF/WPC). Brian went on to total 2730 at 275 and 2651 at 242 with more than ten times his body weight in three different classes (220, 242, 275), and both bench pressed and deadlifted over 800 pounds in two other weight classes. He's totaled 2600 over 20 times in 2 different weight classes in his career. With 60 squats of 1000lbs or more officially, this is the most in powerlifting history, regardless of weight class or federation, by anyone not named David Hoff. Brian realized many ups and downs during his 20+ years competing. After ten years of high-level powerlifting competition and an all-time World Record squat at 220 with 1030, in 2009, Brian was competing for a Police academy scholarship. On a hot and humid July morning, Brian, hurdling over a barricade at 275lbs, landed on, fell, and hurt his back. After years of back pain and failed therapy, Brian met with world-renowned back specialist Prof McGill in 2013, which changed his trajectory more than he could have imagined. In 2017, Brian Carroll and Prof McGill authored the best-selling book about Brian's triumphant comeback to powerlifting in Gift of Injury. Most recently (10.3.20) -Brian set the highest squat of all time (regardless of weight class) with 1306 lbs – being the first man to break the 1300lb squat barrier at a bodyweight of 303 lbs.

Latest posts by Brian Carroll (see all)

• Protected: -Header Image Post Template 2024 - April 18, 2024
• Brian Carroll X Professor Stu McGill full interview 2024 - April 16, 2024
• Protected: -Video Post Template 2024 - April 15, 2024