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Grill the Guru: Respectfully Calling Out Dr. Paulo Gentil

By July 28, 2015February 2nd, 2020Grill the Guru

Unfortunately, it’s time to grill another fitness professional. I can’t tell you how disappointed I am from this person’s recent statements, because they come from a member of the sports science community. I thought that we sports scientists were on the same team. I assumed that we all share the same goal: the truth. Unfortunately, this doesn’t appear to be the case.

The fitness professional’s name is Dr. Paulo Gentil. My American friends probably haven’t heard of him, but in Brazil he has a rather large following, which makes his comments especially upsetting to me. HERE is Paulo’s website – note the highly impressive résumé, HERE is his Facebook channel – note the 70,000 followers (HERE is the post he made that as of right now has 2,577 likes and 800 shares), and HERE is his Instagram page – note the 139,000 followers (HERE is the post he made that as of right now has 2,994 likes).

The post contains a video showing an absolutely idiotic way of performing a hip thrust – with someone standing on another person’s thighs, in addition to some pictures of dogs and some annoying music, presumably to mock the exercise (I don’t speak Portuguese so it’s hard for me to understand some of this). Maybe this is funny in Brazil? It seems stupid to me, but even though the individual in the picture is positioning the bench too far up on her back and even though it’s poor loading placement, you can still see her glutes contracting very hard.

Who in the hell would perform a hip thrust this way and stand on someone’s thighs? This doesn’t create an effective loading scheme and makes it seem like Paulo has a hidden agenda.

My colleague Chris Beardsley and I have reviewed several of Paulo Gentil’s articles in our monthly strength & conditioning research reviews, and I’ve been very impressed with Paulo’s research. To date, he has published around 30 peer-reviewed articles – references are shown HERE. I have no reason to doubt his integrity or the findings of his published research – it all seems legit to me. In fact, some of his research has caused me to reconsider the efficacy of additional biceps and triceps exercises when compound movements are heavily prioritized (I used to think they led to significant increases in additional mass gains, but now I don’t think they add as much as I previously thought). However, the statements he made yesterday just don’t appear to be statements that would be made from a good scientist.

What I can’t understand for the life of me is why Brazil, of all places, would reject the hip thrust. I assumed that Brazil, the country known around the world for their incredible butts, would embrace the hip thrust. I just don’t understand it. More alarming is some comments I’ve seen on other pages from various Brazilian fitness professionals, accusing me of academic dishonesty. First I’ll deal with Paulo’s comments, and then I’ll address the other professionals’ comments.

Here is what Dr. Paulo said:

“The search for the miraculous exercises for glutes leads to the creation recreation of various exercises. This uncontrolled inventionism (re) raised the hip elevation, an exercise that can have many interesting applications, but has been done in many different and bizarre ways in order to hypertrophy buttocks. With the help of Boxer, we will emphasize three points:

1) higher gains in strength and muscle mass occur when working in large amplitudes, but … if motion starts at an angle of ~ 135 degrees between thigh and the trunk and ends 180, ie only 45 degrees amplitude! In movements such as squat and leg press, it can be down to the knee almost touch the trunk, generating an amplitude at least 3 x higher !!

2) angles close to stretching cause more microlesions, which promotes strength gains and muscle mass, but … the exercise hardly promotes stretching of the gluteus maximus and, to make matters worse, the stretching point is a point of rest in which there is practically no work of the buttocks.

3) an exercise to trigger the muscles you want to work, but … the studies on the subject highlight the action of the erector spinae and multifidus in hip elevation. And it gets worse when you put the burden on the stomach, because it induces the trunk flexion, further burdening the erector spinae.

Anyway, no use putting weight on the belly, give umbigada in Smith nor ask someone to step on you, because this is not a good exercise for glutes! Tip to work well the buttocks? Basic exercises such as squats, leg press, lunges, deadlifts … More science, less invention!”

(Paul Gentil)

I want to see what Paulo is made of. I want to test his academic integrity. Therefore, I’m going to challenge him to a debate.

I will personally fund this debate and see to it that a video or audio recording gets posted on my website and on any website that Paulo desires. If Paulo doesn’t speak English, I will pay for a translator out of my own money.

Here are the things I’d like to discuss:

1. Whether in fact the barbell or band hip thrust are “bizarre” or if that’s just perception based on tradition. If we take a step back, are they really more bizarre looking than placing a bar on the back and squatting or lunging down, or holding a bar in the hands and bending over, or sitting in a seat and pressing a sled up and down?

2. Right now my thesis has examined the transfer of squats versus hip thrusts to several different strength-oriented tasks: 1RM squats, 1RM hip thrusts, maximum isometric mid-thigh pull, and maximum horizontal pushing force (against a wall). I want to ask Paul what he predicts will transfer best to these performance tasks. I’ve also examined the transfer to power-oriented tasks including vertical jump, horizontal jump, 10m sprint, and 20m sprint…we can discuss the transference of these as well.

3. Instead of speculating about strength and hypertrophy gains, I want to know if Paul has conducted any preliminary research on hip thrusts. I want to know if he has conducted any mechanistic research (EMG, force plate, ultrasound, etc.) involving hip thrusts, if he has performed them himself for a period of time and noted their efficacy, if he has incorporated them into his clients’ programs for a period of time and noted their efficacy, or if he has conducted any longitudinal experiments measuring actual hypertrophy from any hip thrust interventions. Or, is he basing his beliefs purely on speculation and what he thinks should happen rather than what does happen?

4. In the future, I’ll be examining gains in gluteus maximus muscle thickness between squats and hip thrusts (right now I have completed an experiment on identical twins). I want to know if Paulo indeed has the hypothesis that squats would lead to greater gains in hypertrophy compared to hip thrusts in an volume equated program with no additional lower body exercises. I also want to know if Paulo would like to join me in funding a study from a 3rd party laboratory (maybe we can pick a lab in Brazil to conduct the study) where we can test his hypothesis. Hell, I’d be happy to fund the study myself if Paulo agrees to change his mind if the research doesn’t support his hypothesis.

5. Is there really 3X more amplitude in squats, deadlifts, lunges, or leg presses compared to hip thrusts? Has Paulo ever measured bar displacement or joint angle displacement in each of these lifts? Is Paulo aware that you can tinker with any of these exercises to get more or less range of hip motion?

HERE is a leg press, HERE is a squat, HERE is a deadlift, and HERE is a hip thrust. Even so, does every exercise one performs for the glutes have to involve peak tension in the stretch position? Should those seeking maximal hypertrophy of the glutes maybe include one exercise that involves peak tension in the contracted position, especially considering my recent EMG findings HERE?

6. Is there really zero tension on the glutes at the bottom of the hip thrust assuming the individual isn’t resting on the ground?

7. Out of the 3 primary mechanisms of hypertrophy (mechanical tension, metabolic stress, and muscle damage), which does Paulo feel is the most important, and which does he feel is the least important? How does he think the squat and hip thrust fare in terms of these 3 mechanisms?

8. Does he really think that the erectors and multifidi elevate the hips in a properly performed hip thrust? I mean really. Has Paulo ever performed a hip thrust with a neutral spine and achieved hip hyperextension or full extension combined with posterior pelvic tilt? If so, where did he feel it?

9. Does Paulo really think that the bar goes across the stomach? Newsflash – it goes across the pelvis. I want to know if Paulo realizes that this placement induces mainly a hip flexion moment. Which muscles counter this moment and create hip extension torque? And if the knees stay bent, which hip extensors are probably going to do more work? I want to know what Paulo would think produces a more consistent hip extension torque angle curve – hip thrusts, or the exercises he listed (squats, deadlifts, lunges, leg presses). I also want to know if Paulo really thinks that hip thrusts overburden the erector spinae if performed properly, and how he thinks the erector spinae activity in a hip thrust compares to that in a squat or a deadlift.

10. I’d like to know if Paulo has seen my testimonials. Has he gone onto my social media pages  (Instagram, Facebook, etc.) and seen how many women rave about Strong Curves and Get Glutes? Has he read my site for the past couple of years to witness how many lifters, athletes, and coaches experienced incredible results once they started incorporating the hip thrust? Does he think that I’ve effectively fooled the entire industry and that it’s only a matter of time before the truth comes out and I get exposed? Does he think my entire body of work is a big lie and that I’m just some sleazy, greedy jerk who is trying to make a buck off of naive newbies?

11. Does Paulo have any evidence that I’ve ever been academically dishonest? He seems to have disdain for inventors. Should all inventors be accused of being greedy? Does Paulo support his fellow Brazilians in bashing my credibility because I’m an inventor, or should one instead evaluate the methods and results before throwing out accusations?

12. THESE ladies love their hip thrusts. One of these happens to be former Ms. Bikini Olympia Nathalia Melo. Are you suggesting that she’s training improperly?

Courtesy of Muscle & Fitness Hers

The lovely Nathalia Melo. Photo credit: Muscle & Fitness Hers.

13. Is Paulo open-minded to being wrong? Can his mind be changed? If so, will he inform his readership that he was off-based in his comments? I certainly am and will.

Brazilians Bashing Bret

It isn’t just Paulo bashing me; I see in THIS Facebook link that my name and integrity are being smeared by various Brazilian fitness professionals. Though some people are trying to defend me and the hip thrust, others are suggesting that I fabricated my recent EMG findings and that I have a hidden agenda for all of this science because I invented the hip thruster.

I want all of these people to know something, and I want to be VERY clear about it.

My academic integrity means FAR, FAR more to me than any amount of money could ever bring me. If someone informed me that they’d give me a billion dollars but I’d have to publish falsified findings, I’d reject their offer. To me, science is pure, and I would never contribute to poisoning the literature with shady or dishonest data. I was a big fan of the show Dexter back in the day, and I could honestly say that I could pull a Dexter and murder a rapist or serial killer with much less anguish than to knowingly put something into the literature that wasn’t accurate.

dexter

I could do this with much greater ease than falsifying data in the literature…

I’ve worked my ass off over the past 5 years to obtain the approval and/or friendship of sports science experts like Alan Aragon, Brad Schoenfeld, Layne Norton, Chris Beardsley, Andrew Vigotsky, John Cronin, Matt Brughelli, JB Morin, Jurdan Mendiguchia, Menno Henselmens, Greg Nuckols, Stu Phillips, Stu McGill, Justin Keough, Jason Lake, Jose Antonio, Eric Helms, James Krieger, and Jason Silvernail.

I would NEVER jeopardize losing their respect or trust for anything in the world. If I were sitting in some giant mansion with tons of sports cars but lost their support, my life would feel empty because collaborating with top sports scientists and helping push the industry forward are what make me tick.

In addition, my colleagues John Cronin (who is like a second father to me), Brad Schoenfeld, Chris Bearsley, and Andrew Vigotsky are listed on my EMG paper with me as contributors. I would never, ever, ever tarnish their names by falsifying data. That would make me feel sick and grotesque, as I have the absolute utmost respect for these guys.

Even if I were shady and dishonest, I wouldn’t be so stupid as to fabricate my EMG data or any other data from my thesis. I’m well aware that my research will be duplicated in time. How stupid would I look if different labs started publishing data that looked markedly different than mine? I’d have some serious questions to answer and it would make me look like a fool at best, and a fraud at worst.

If money were my primary motivator, I wouldn’t have taught the world how to hip thrust without my apparatus (see HERE for all the ways one can hip thrust). I wouldn’t have taught people how to do band hip thrusts without my apparatus. I started making the hip thruster because of all the emails I received from coaches informing me that they wanted a standalone unit so they could have their athletes perform them conveniently in their weightroom, not because I was scheming to get rich. I’m certainly not opposed to making money, it’s just not a primary driving force in my life.

If I were all about the money, I would ditch the hip thruster and instead focus on doing seminars and taking on online clients as I could double or possibly triple my income virtually overnight if I went this route.

But instead, I’m going to keep promoting the hip thrust and the hip thruster in addition to all of the other excellent exercises out there including squats, deadlifts, lunges, back extensions, swings, and more, and I’m going to keep conducting studies and experiments, publishing research, and trying to invent new things. This is what I like doing best, and these are the things that drive me as a human. I hope that one day I get past the point where people accuse me of academic dishonesty, and I hope to earn the trust of my Brazilian friends. I’m here to help your amazing glutes get even more amazing.

Apparently, I haven’t done a good job in the past of showing my true colors. You can trust me. I eagerly await hearing back from Dr. Paulo. If I don’t hear back by next week, I’ll post my answers and thoughts to the various questions I posed above, but I’d much prefer to discuss this in a debate as this is how true fitness professionals grow and learn to understand each other. And I promise to be nice and respectful if a debate does in fact take place.

 

91 Comments

  • Karina says:

    Have you posted the results with the identicle twins? I am eager to see the results!

    • Bret says:

      I’m hoping to post the fascinating results on Friday. Data has been collected. Just have to analyze and write-up. Glad you’re excited about it, don’t worry I won’t leave you hanging 🙂

  • Juan says:

    Hey Bret!

    Why do you even bother!

    Clearly he is a loser.

    I live near Brazil, and in my country we are all about big glutes. Women use all sort of kick backs for the glutes, but I have experimented the eficiency of the hip thrust with my wife, and I can tell you the hip thrust has NO MATCH.

    Keep up the great work!

    • Bret says:

      Thanks Juan – this jives with what Nathalia Melo said in my interview with her – she loves all sorts of glute exercises and she says that in Brazil, the squat is just one of many great glute exercises they perform. I bother because it’s worth my energy to try to make progress. If Paulo is a true scientist, then he will debate me and we can collaborate on a study, etc. It’ll lead to more knowledge in the long run. If not, then I wasted an hour of my time.

    • Ivan says:

      He said so much…but shared no scientific articles that say the opposite…Paulo Gentil sometimes overreacts, but always uses science to prove his point.

      • Dunkman says:

        By “he” are you talking about Bret? Bret has shared dozens of studies and evidence. Scroll back through the archives here and you’ll find more than you could want. And that’s the purpose of calling for a debate. For each to lay out their science and evidence and hash it out.

      • Bret says:

        Ivan – in this case Paulo didn’t use science, he used pseudoscience. He was wrong about most of the things he wrote and he didn’t base his statements on available evidence. So I disagree with you – he doesn’t use science to prove his point. He abuses science and preys on people’s naivety to gain popularity.

  • Kevin Fulton says:

    he looks like a Brazilian Dr. Oz. I also have seen videos of people making fun of someone performing a bridge thrust movement (from the floor) taken candidly from a cell phone in a gym. Then the list of comments from other idiots acting like the guy has no idea what he is doing. I chimed in and spoke my peace. I guess I look that “ridiculous” too, but my glutes are stronger and have definitely improved my jiu jitsu by doing them. It’s frustrating, but I am just glad I am not them.

  • J.Miller says:

    Shame on Dr. Paulo Gentil for showing his ass (no pun intended)…or wait, maybe he doesn’t have an ass cause he hasn’t successfully incorporated the “Glute Guy’s” infinite wisdom and exercises into his life.
    Either way, the ridiculous picture he posted is embarrassing to say the least, and quite frankly I’m not impressed. One word comes to mind about Dr. Gentil —“HATER!”
    Keep doing what you’re doing BC —So many of us LOVE YOU…and your research!!!!

  • Greg says:

    Any thoughts on Kelly starters post today that bridging and hip thrusters are of little value?

    • Greg says:

      Little value if hip flexors are tight, I should add

      • Bret says:

        Well glute bridges are an excellent way to combat this as they activate the glutes in end range hip extension while stretching the hip flexors, especially the rec fem. Hence why it’s a go-to mobility/activation drill used by so many coaches. So I agree with the problem, but not with the solution.

        • greg says:

          He talks of the shortness of the anterior hip as inhibiting the glutes –> in this case, using this thought processes, the couch stretch would put even more tightness on the anterior chain thus causing more inhibition to the glutes

  • Luke says:

    Goon on your Bret. I’ve been a trainer ten years and tell everyone I know who is looking to learn from an academic with integrity who doesn’t make shit up to sell supplements should subscribe to your blog
    I hope you get the opportunity to kick this guy’s ass in a debate. I’ve been training 23 years and your just released EMG data on the differences in activation between the hip thrust and back squat didn’t surprise me in the least. For that Brazilian fool to question the efficacy of hip thrusts just means he never tried them. Staggering hubris. Keep up the good work

    • Bret says:

      I suspect that he’s never done them either based on the video he posted and some of the claims he made, but I’ll wait and see what he says. If you’re right, then the hubris is staggering indeed.

  • Gabe Gaskins says:

    Might be worth a look to see if the good Doctor is financially involved or a spokes person for the ‘inject-able oil’ cosmetic surgery they do down there. Supposedly, you have to confirm, taxdollars go to women to get butt injections to enhance tourism.

    Men also get the injections and look like tan-Michelin men.

    Good luck, Bret! in the debate go for the neck. And in his most dire moment of weakness before he thinks his last though, offer him the most slightest of outs to save face. Kung-Fu with the Sun Tzu on his face 😉

  • Todd Hudson says:

    Brett, my wife and I use Strong Curves and in particular the hip thrust to help our glutes.
    I also squat and deadlift and the hip thrust is by far the EASIEST of these on my poor back :). Keep it up man, you’re on the right track.

  • Don’t worry about it Mr. Contreras! It’s a huge waste of time!
    Congrats

  • Carlos says:

    Here at my gym in Brazil hip thrusts and bridges are very popular between the girls, but I’m the only guy doing hip thrusts (thanks to you). Everybody agrees it’s a great exercise.

    That video is horrible! There’s hardly any meaningful Portuguese in the ‘music’, don’t bother, but it’s basically about sex.

  • Glute bridge is the first exercise we teach in our Handstands workshops to actively stretch the hip flexors+ learn proper glute/core engagement & synergy! Hip Thrust put notable thickness on my glutes in a no time!!

  • helen meshnick says:

    Bret, I understand how deeply his mockery of your work has hurt you, but please rest assured that we LOVE the hip thrust and appreciate the fervor with which you practice science. We (and our glutes) attest to your credibility and passion, and we thank you for it!

  • Sarah says:

    Bret, my husband grew up in Brasil and is fluent in Portuguese he can translate for you!
    Clearly this guys never done hip thrust before!

  • John Smith says:

    Holy sh!!!
    Never thought you would give that much attention to him when I first replied.
    I would be nice to see that (and the sqt vs. ht post) translated since people are too lazy to read a full article much less an article in english.

  • Emerson Fragoso says:

    Hi…I’m a Brazilian Professional Fitness and I think the P.G stupid. Simply this!

    Big Hug!

  • Ethen says:

    Calm down on the clash of ego – use intelligence. He’s asking for Science, so calmly shown him, without the show-down

    • Bret says:

      I thought I acted calmly Ethen…and I don’t think he asked for science, I don’t think he’s open minded to learning anything (even from a guy who has studied the glutes extensively for years on end). But I will be very polite and respectful if given the chance.

  • Marcello says:

    Excuse my English, I am using the google translator.

    Just do not think bad of Brazilians professionals, most do not like this work paulo develops on social networks.
    90% of his followers are lay (non-professional) who love these shows. So all your posts have this joker tone (physical exercise should be subject seriously)

    It causes us many problems, behind times said based on “scientific studies” that aerobic exercises fatten??? (good studies but bad interpreted or interpreted tendentiously)

    His main interest is to create controversy to attract crowds and sell his lectures (books and seminars)

    • Bret says:

      Good to know Marcello. This isn’t a good quality in a researcher. I’m surprised that the University he works at is okay with his shoddy science.

    • Derrick Blanton says:

      Let me get this straight…you’re saying that Dr. Gentil enjoys creating controversy in order to attract crowds?

      (pause)

      “Dr. Gentil, I have T.C. Louma on line one…”

  • santos says:

    ” In movements such as squat and leg press, it can be down to the knee almost touch the trunk, generating an amplitude at least 3 x higher !!”

    I went deep on the leg press. Butt lifts, back takes all support on it and then BANG. Instant injured low back.

    Just saying.

  • Lorenz says:

    When he claims amplitude, it seems he is biasing a kinematic/movement view of things. I think it’s easy to see what works the glutes more when analyzing the moment arms of the axes involved. He did not seem to consider the forces and their directions of application to the body. Exercise is about internal force production vs. external force application. He can’t argue the physics and biomechanics…

  • Hi Bret, I’m the adm of the facebook.com/biomecanicadadepressao a big personal thanks to share the link I made in my page defending the Hip Thrust exercise and arguing about it. I’ve follow your work for a couple of years, inclusive requesting for papers that you made, big support, cheers

  • Galen Gentry says:

    Hi Bret,
    Like you I don’t understand why this fellow would engage in ad hominem attacks. But if you look at the history of science you’ll find that it is replete with this sort of thing.I am sure it hurt your feelings but even if he does not agree to the day I believe your work speaks for itself.

    • Ricardo Almeida says:

      Sorry, but where did you see an “ad hominem” attack on Gentil’s post? His post is maybe inaccurate or at least questionable, but he didn’t mention any name or even alluded any specific paper. Do you even know what “ad hominem” means?

  • Galen Gentry says:

    Umm day means debate. Autocorrect

  • Amy says:

    I’m not an avid commenter but have been following you ( and hip thrusting) for years. One of the things i really admire is your willingness to always have an honest and open discussion with these people who feel the need to bash. You could have gone down the bashing route yourself but you never do- this shows your integrity.

  • Wayne says:

    Bret —

    Long time reader first time poster. Maybe Im out of line but Ive been following you a long time and these posts seem like a waste of your time and energy. Haters are going to hate. Dont let them eat up your time when you could be doing what you always do which is add tremendous value to the fitness/health/sports world with your great articles and science backed advice. Just my 2 cents. Keep up the good work.

  • Di says:

    I used to follow Paulo Gentil and I quickly unfollowed. He and his team that he calls Team Cérebro (Brain Team) are pros in mocking every professional, mocking exercises that we indeed know from practice that are effective. He is more of a show man with an attention deficit than a serious professional with good intentions. His articled aim to create polemic and that’s through it that his followers grow. Unfortunatelty people is more interested in polemic and bombastic debates instead of science/practice based debates that really add value.

    I thank god everyday that I have found Prof Eder Lima, with whom I train, and that really changed my life correcting my postures, showing me the importance of amplitude, the importance of doing the exercise correctly. I do hip thrust and I see results. End of story.

  • Gjält says:

    Hi Bret,

    Hope Paulo Gentil responds to your invitation. Really curious how he responds to the points you mentioned and how he substantiates his point of view. His instagram post seems a bit short sighted for someone involved in sport science.
    I have to say I don’t think points 10 and 12 add much to the discussion. There are people who are very enthusiastic about certain training methods and get (or think they get) incredible results with them. Homoeopathic substances and miracle diets/six pack devices are probably good examples. I also know coaches/trainers who swear you have to static stretch extensively before, after and even during training to reduce injury and improve performance. Also, some elite athletes might reach their level of performance despite their training methods. So I think these aren’t your strongest points.

    Looking forward to seeing the results of the identical twin experiment!

  • Gabriel S says:

    Bret, first of all I’m not defending Dr Gentil (as seen below), but I believe in some part can be a misunderstanding. I believe the goal of his post was to mock the fact that the exercise was performed using another person as weight and not a barbell. Those “acrobatic” exercises are getting every day more and more common in Brazil. So maybe was not critique to the Hip Thrust itself but the way was executed, like yourself pointed out, as not the most efficient form.

    But also can be that he is creating a fuss on purpose, wouldn’t be the first time. Since most of his followers are uneducated in sports/exercise science or are bachelor students he tends to manipulate interpretation of research papers. Once he used a paper from Nature to imply that aerobic exercise (running) could increase body fat while HIIT would reduce it. The pojnt in the paper was that running protocol increased intra muscle TAG in the lower limb!
    Anyway hope all works out.
    Best and success!

    • Bret says:

      Gabriel – are you sure about this? Because this is an important clarification. I thought that he made the video. If he was indeed mocking someone else’s video, then I’d like to know that. I still don’t agree with how he went about things and I still think his science is poor.

  • Mariana says:

    Don’t worry Bret, i am from Brazil and i am sure you have a translator for free. We are tired of this war that Gentil’s and his gang are doing. If he has 139k followers, more than 1M are againt him. Good luck!

  • I’m a Brazilian and I can assure you that his opinion doesn’t represents what we think. He has build his audience criticizing and mocking others which lead him to legal procedures here. I’ll be glad to see the debate as I believe it’s the only way academics can discuss conflicting points of view. Congrats for all the work you’ve been doing!

  • Jonatas says:

    Hey bret, just wanted to let you know, as I actually speak portuguese, in the last post you linked (to the “Biomecânica da Depressão” page) they were actually promoting the hip thrust based on the findings of the study they mention. There is only one negative comment regarding your position and it is the one that implies you actually have a bias on this matter, considering you sell a product designed for such exercise. That should be always in the open.

    Also, Paulo Gentil although a truely nice guy, like pretty much every social network semi-celebrity has post stuff that gets people talking. What I mean by that, is unless there is some drama and conflict, or isn’t a wild claim, posts won’t get you people talkiing about you, resulting in followers here (or anywhere else in the world from what I can see).

    But hey, here I am reading and commenting on a post titled “Grill the Guru”. See what you did there?

    Respectfully,
    Jonatas

    • Bret says:

      Jonatas, point noted. However, there’s a fine line that a good scientist can’t cross. We can market and promote, but never at the expense of shunning research or ignoring available evidence. I don’t know if he’s nice or not…that’s not really the point. If his science sucks, then he should be called out and if wrong, he should stand corrected and inform his audience. Otherwise, he’s not a sports scientists; he’s a fitness entertainer.

      • Jonatas says:

        That’s what most of internet fitness “gurus” are. Entretaining. Thanks for attenciously replying though. And I’m not really trying to prove he is nice or anything, just pointing out his internet persona is meant to gather a crowd around him, not to actually promote science, and when I met him a year ago he was actually way more down to earth than it appears from his recent posts.
        It actually sucks that people who have a more balanced view and are open minded to being proven wrong don’t seem to cause the fuss that wild and confrontational claims do. I’m sure that like myself, you know a ton of great fitness professionals who don’t get enough attention, simply because they are prudent enough to not make wild claims without solid data.

  • Hi, Bret Contreras.

    My name is Joao Gabriel Marques and I’m a Dietitian from Brazil. I’m currently working on obtaining my master’s degree (a prerequisite for a PhD in Brazil) in Human Nutrition at the University of Brasilia. And I’m saying this to clarify that I do understand a lot about the mean things that happen in the academic world.

    I’m here to tell you a little story about Paulo Gentil and integrity. For years now, I’d been a great fan of Paulo’s work; it really changed my mind about a lot of things about the “fitness world”.

    But a few weaks ago, everything chaged.

    Paulo posted, on his Facebook channel, some comments about a study that showed that rats (or mice) that were fed a high-fat diet failed to display the same gains in strength and hypertrophy compared to animals that were fed a standard low-fat rodent diet. In his opinion, this was a important peice of evidence to watch out how is your fat intake if you’re concerned about strength and hypertrophy. I replyed to his statement with something along the lines “If one day, in any way, the high-fat diet-fed rat (or mice) minimally resemble humans, this study about strength/hypertrophy in rodents might have any relevance.” I link my comment to another study that shows the many (MANY!) inconsitencies between high-fat-fed rodents and humans, what makes it really, really hard to translate any scientific findings to human (patho)physiology. Not only did Paulo erase my comment, but he also “blocked” (I’m not sure if “blocking” is the right word in english fo what I’m trying to say) me from commenting anywhere else on his channel.

    Here is the study that I linked to:
    http://www.nature.com/nutd/journal/v4/n9/full/nutd201430a.html

    (Okay, it focuses on obesity and diabetes, but it clearly shows that rodents fed a high-fat diet are nothing like humans. And that can be clearly seen in studies about low-carb or ketogenic diets [aka, high-fat diets] and human health. Jeff Volek, Eric Westman, Lydia Bazzano, Frank Sacks, Chris Gardner, Richard Feinman, Eugine Fine, Cara Ebbeling, Stephen Phinney and many others, some of which you mays know — even personally –, are here to tell the story.

    But that is not the whole story. After the erasing my comment and “blocking” me, I realized that I wasn’t the only one criticizing the point he was trying to make. Several other people said similar things about his post, like “Study with rats?”. For a minute I thought to myself: “Why the hell was only my comment erased?” and “Why did reply to every other comment against his ideias, but to mine he didn’t even bother replying and, even worse, chose to erase it?”.

    After reflecting a little bit, I noticed there was something quite different between my critics and the ones made by everyone else. Nobody else questioning his point showed any scientific evidence that a high-fat-fed rodent is not a good model to human physiology. But I did. I showed an excellent review paper with compelling evidence about the apparent irrelevance of high-fat diet animal models to human health and disease. And what did I get by doing that? And what do I get by showing good scientific evidence to couter-argument Paulo’s ideias? Erase and ban…

    My intent by sharing this story is to show that many scientists are more concerned about being RIGHT rather than finding the TRUTH. Once their position as “expert” is being questioned, they might do anything to get rid of the thing thtat’s threatening them. Where is the impartiality? Can’t we be humble enough to recognize that we don’t know it all? That even science doesn’t know it all? Where is the desire of a true scientist to be an honest discussion? Isn’t a true scientist more concerned about the truth than about being right? An attitude like that, by Paulo, only shows to me that he lacks in integrity and is shamely contaminated with many types of bias and self-pride.

    If you wish to check the story, go to my Facebook page and scroll down a little bit. It’s all in Portuguese, but you will find my post with a screenshot and a picture of him and his dog (the mocking Boxer). By the way, someone tagged him on the comments section of this post of mine, but of course he could not bother to leave a reply — either because of pride or shame.

    • Danielle Tâmega says:

      João,
      É isso mesmo que ele faz.
      Não só com você, mas com todos que provam que ele está errado.

  • Samantha says:

    How in the world does he consider the leg press to be a major glute developer?? Glutes don’t acheive full ROM! That would be the last thing I would do for my glutes. Am I wrong?

  • Ricardo Almeida says:

    Bret, to be fair Gentil hasn’t mentioned your name or your work in his post, as far as I could see. You shouldn’t take as a personal attack each time someone criticizes hip thrusts. You are kind of overreacting a little. Granted, some comments were really offensive, but neither of them came from Gentil. Although the post is badly written (I am a Brazilian), I think it might have bring some valid points to the discussion. Unfortunately he didn’t cite any actual study in his arguments. I’m sure you can easily rebut each one of his claims. Please, don’t take an opinion of one Brazilian fitness professional as the opinion of the entire Brazilian sports science community; this is not fair. Would you like if someone criticized the whole American fitness community based solely on the opinion of Naudi Aguilar, for example?

    • Bret says:

      Ricardo, I’ve quickly realized that I do have the support of the Brazilian sports scientists. I’ve received some emails and even got tentatively invited to present at a conference next year. This means very much to me as I have a lot of respect for many Brazilian researchers (some are doing some really good things in our field), plus I’d like to visit there eventually. So luckily I was wrong in my assumption about that. King regards!

  • Bret,

    There is a contest going on among Brazilian strength coaches and we’re betting on you. Here’s what is at stake: this guy is an embarrassment to the strength training community and to the scientific community. He claims to be a “sport scientist”, yet he has no research conducted with athletes, doesn’t work with athletes and has never been an athlete. To make things worse, he published his condescending comments about things we know A LOT about, such as 2h versus 24h weigh in in bodyweight class-based sports. He insults coaches, athletes and real spots scientists.

    I was born and have lived most of the time in Brazil. I have a Ph.D. too ( 🙂 ) I had the privilege of having been interviewed by your partner, Chris Beardsley about, well… sports science! Like me, other athletes and coaches from peripheral countries are fluent not only in English, but in the language of science and the scientific method. Joao Gabriel’s story (which I didn’t know) is exactly the same as so many others.

    Do us a favor: burn him alive.

    • Bret says:

      Marilia, thank you for your input. There’s a common theme I’m seeing with regards to Paulo’s character. Perhaps he can prove us wrong and engage in a civil debate where he demonstrates an open-mind and sticks to the scientific method and hierarchy of evidence/knowledge. Or, perhaps he backs down (which would be very cowardly of a sports scientist) and continues on his pseudoscientific path. We will see.

    • Danielle Tâmega says:

      Marilia,

      I agree with you 100%..Paulo is an embarrassment to the strength training community and to the scientific community…

  • Josh K says:

    It would be easy to make assumptions based upon what’s familiar to him. He’s in Brazil. Large, round bottoms are perceived as the norm around him and no one does any of your seemingly gimmicky exercise. It’s easy to make assumptions not realizing his experiences and “normal” doesn’t apply universally.
    Heck, if I grew up with naturally huge biceps (I don’t) and all my friends also had huge biceps (they’re worse than me) then bicep curls would seem silly and pointless and an EZ curl bar would seem like a scam.
    With that being said…go get ’em! Ignorance is no excuse to be a dick, nor a tard.

  • vitor barreto says:

    I am from Brazil, we don’t think that that kind of video is funny and as far as I know the hip thrust is a validy way to train the glutes. I don’t know why this kind of movement started but I always believed that every exercie can be improved and sometimes it isn’t fit for everybody.

  • vitor barreto says:

    You can delete this repy.

    In this page (https://www.facebook.com/biomecanicadadepressao/photos/a.628660310502066.1073741828.628644793836951/1026817470686346/?type=1) they are saying good things about your article saying that it would be smart to include the hip thrust on a program focused on hipertrofy, strenght and speed.

    I am on your facebook if you ever need help with the portuguese language.

  • Gleidson Rebouças says:

    Bret! I am a simple Exercise Physiology and Physical Training Professor. I decided to extend a little my understanding of certain aspects going to get answers on my Phd. in Neuroscience. I have followed as spectator for a long time the circles of debate involving Gentil. As you yourself said, and could see HE has many followers. However, believe me when I say that in fact, it has much more opposing people. The fact is that the followers also to it, are often sensationalized and love to disrespectful attitudes to mark an “absolute truth”. It’s almost a scientific Totalitarianism. Thus, many who opposes the controversial and aggressive stance have been inertia and safeguarding of unnecessary confrontation. Much (perhaps most) of the scientific community in this country manifest not support, both with respect to research design, as the stance he adopts the disclosure of the same. I find it important that the debate is going beyond our borders, as different from you, in first world countries, we have many structural problems to develop research and we were hostages of a few, who develop and publish without mentioning major conflicts of interest.

    Sincerely.

  • JOAO MARCELO says:

    I am 100% SURE THAT WAS JUST SARCASTIC COMMENT ABOU THE MOVEMENT, AS HE ALWAYS DOES, AND I HAVE TO SAY THAT WHEN YOU SAY THAT YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND PORTUGUESE, YOU SHOULD AT LEAST TRY TO TRANSLATE IN A BETTER TRANSLATOR TO GET THE POINT OF THE AUTOR.
    SORRY MAN WAS A HUGE MISTAKE FROM YOUR SIDE.

    • Bret says:

      Joao, are you blind? So the points he made about the hip thrust were just sarcasm even though he was posing it to be scientific? I think not. I could understand the science portion perfectly. Just not the music and dogs, but seems like I assumed correctly. I don’t agree with you here.

  • JOAO MARCELO says:

    “The search for the miraculous exercises for glutes leads to the creation recreation of various exercises. This uncontrolled inventionism (re) raised the hip elevation, an exercise that can have many interesting applications, but has been done in many different and bizarre ways in order to hypertrophy buttocks. With the help of Boxer, we will emphasize three points:”
    The correct way to read the article in portugues:
    “The search” meaning on the actual topic: When someone is looking for the Miraculous exercise… (Sarcastic way to say that THERE IS NO MIRACLE to work Glutes)…and then he say again sarcastically lead (those who want miracle) to create and recreate movements that really DOS NOT WORK.

    “This uncontrolled inventionism (Invention) – UNCONTROLLED IS NOT THE CORRECT WORD ON THIS SITUATION, SO IT IS VERY WRONG FROM YOU TO POST, DO YOU THAT THERE ARE MANY MEANING FOR THE SAME WORD?

    “raised the hip elevation, an exercise that can have many interesting applications” – HERE HE IS DEFENDING THAT THE MOVEMENT OF RISE THE HIPS CAN BE GOOD FOR MANY APPLICATIONS

    “but has been done in many different and bizarre ways in order to hypertrophy buttocks. ”
    HERE HE IS SAYING THAT THE MOVEMENT IS BEING USED ON A VERY INCORRECT AND BIZARRE WAYS (LIKE THE PICTURE THAT HE POST) SO IT IS A CRITIC ABOUT THE MOVEMENT HE IS NOT DEFENDING THE MOVEMENT AS YOU SAID.

    With the help of Boxer, we will emphasize three points:”
    SO HE USE THE JOKE OF THE BOXER (KNOWING IN BRAZIL AS A POLICE DOG, MEANING TAKE CARE OF THE SITUATION, TO EXPLAIN 3 POINTS THAT WHEN SOMEONE THAT WANT WORK GLUTES SHOULD THINK.

    AS I SAID BEFORE PLEASE CHECK YOUR TRANSLATOR AND NEXT TIME ASK FOR THE AUTOR IF YOU MISS UNDERSTOOD OR YOU DISAGREE, REALLY DID NOT EXPECTED THAT FROM A PROFESSIONAL LIKE YOU, BUT APPARENTLY I SHOULD…

    • Bret says:

      Joao, fine, point taken. I didn’t doubt Google translator and will be more cautious about that in the future. But I’m referring more to the points that he listed – there’s no mistaking that as the science was clear (and wrong).

    • Charles says:

      dear Joao Marcelo
      1. I work as a translator. what word would you use instead of “uncontrolled”?
      2. Paulo specifically says, in the last paragraph, that this exercise is not good for the glutes, not just the particular execution in the video. In the first paragraph he is, once again, speaking sarcastically, as far as I can tell.
      3. Apart from these errors, there is nothing of value or any correction that you have added, despite the abundant use of capital letters and equally hysterical reasoning.
      4. In your final paragraph you come across as an absolute rat. Did you really mean to say that in English?

  • Mari G says:

    Hey Bret!
    I’ve landed on your page by accident, I’m not a professional athlete but I do have interest in keeping my body healthy.
    I’m brazilian and I know Dr. Gentil.

    Not defending him at all, I just wanted to express a humble opinion: in our country, there has been this huge growth of self-entitled “fitness” bloggers lately. Girls (and guys) who have no professional academic knowledge neither background, have been ‘teaching’ exercises, diets, and promoting (doubtful) weight loss products and all
    kinds of stuff.
    Some of them have even been arrested for
    malpracticing and orientation regarding these exercises and diets. People who have no credencials are telling people what to do eat/drink/do to look like
    them.
    Dr. Paulo’s main fight is with this kind of characters. He tries to warn people who follow these so called celebrities, not to do those things just by watching (’cause they can harm themselves). He constantly suggests readers to study and to get orientation from real professionals, not just do some weird exercise the blogger posted.
    I do believe his intention — and yours of course — is to let less and less space for oportunists to profit on people’s naivety, by learning through science, not “inventionism”. He may push it a little, with the mockery? Sometimes. But I think most of the viewers get the joke and get on with their lives. I strongly agree with the guy up there that Gentil pointed out the girl on the girl and the execution, not the exercise itself and benefits.

    Anyway, I do hope if this debate happens, it brings the best of both of you, to us. 😉
    Cheers!

  • Rafael van der weyden says:

    Bred. you are correct, and the Another researcher wrote in her Instagram who is traveling and have a poor internet signal… but can make your marketing of yours courses and lectures… but the internet is poor… jajaja can you understand?
    congrats for the act.

  • You have the confidence of Brazilian professionals who use science for the growth of humanity and not himself. Best regards

  • Ricardo says:

    Brett, I just know it, spent a few hours reading and watching their work and have liked what you have done. It really seems like a great person and a great scientist. Just the way you treat people arguing with you on your page, already gives to realize the level of professional you are. Okay, just for your information, I follow Paul Gentil at a time, but not because I admire, quite the contrary, but to know what he has published, and the way he treats people who disagree with him. I’m a professional physical education, and no one in our area of ​​health and fitness that is scholar like Paul Gentil, of his methods, and his science. 90% of its followers are lay people who are not from the area, or people who are starting and that does not have references. Clearly his goal is to cause controversy, promoting, selling his lectures and his books. I do not believe in that image of good guy he tries to pass, and not think he cares about people’s health.
    He seems like a greedy man, hater, repressed, resentful, biased, manipulative and profiteer. And any follower of him to disagree with any point of it, it responds with arrogance and rudeness. Or does some video with that dog boxer ridiculing the work of someone. It is a bad example of a scientist. In fact pseudoscientist. I think he needs more practice what he theorizes.
    Brett, as you said, he abuses of science and is biased to prove what he wants and create controversy, and takes advantage of the naivety of others.

    Looking forward to what will happen and the possibility of this debate. Brett hugs. Good work! Sorry for my bad english!(translator)

    • Danielle Tâmega says:

      Ricardo…
      you totally right!!!!
      all your words…
      você esta correto em tudo o que disse…eu penso exatamente isso.
      abraços.

  • Andrew says:

    Donkey Hip Thrusts…. Interesting.

  • Iceman says:

    Sou brasileiro e aprendi muito lendo os artigos do Bret Contreras, abriu minha mente.
    Serviu para desmentir muitas verdades em que eu acreditava.
    Outro autor que abriu minha mente foi Brooks Kubick, com seu “Dinosaur Training” e Chad Waterbury, com suas estratégias de treinos para naturais.
    O problema do Brasil é que ainda estão presos na velha filosofia propagada no “pumping iron”, até hoje se ouve gente falando que se não tiver pump não cresce, que se não treinar até a falha não cresce, que se não tomar whey + malto no pós treino não cresce e muitos outros mitos semelhantes.
    Eu mesmo treinei por tempo demais seguindo tais filosofias e meus resultados foram pífios.

    O fitness brasileiro é hipócrita, a maioria usa esteróides e mente dizendo que seu desenvolvimento foi natural, sem o uso de recursos ergogênicos.
    Como são mentirosos, ficam obrigados a dizer que a mesma estratégia de treino funciona tanto para o natural quanto para o usuário de anabolizantes, o que sabemos não ser verdade. É que se eles forem honestos quanto à diferença entre os treinos, as máscaras vão cair e não querem permitir que isto aconteça.

    Por outro lado, acho que os brasileiros deveriam pensar 10 vezes antes de criticar um treinador norte americano, afinal, se os EUA conquistaram a hegemonia no fisiculturismo há tanto tempo, é porque algo de certo estão fazendo.

    No mais, fica meu sincero abraço, Brett e minha admiração. Aprendo muito contigo.

  • Ricardo says:

    As expected, he will not talk directly with Bret, and neither will accept the debate. Totally predictable from a little humble person.

  • Luiz says:

    Good afternoon, how are you?
    Could you elucidate why the gluteus maximus achieved high rates of muscle activity in the exercise thrust hip wherein load is above the axis of rotation?
    grateful

  • Brett, Paulo Gentil call you “ass guy” and said you´re an equipment seller wanting to promote yourself. He will not debate. Below is the answer to your call in portuguese:

    “Fico feliz que ele conheça meus trabalhos e que estes o fizeram pensar. Infelizmente eu desconheço o trabalho dele, mas me pareceu um blogueiro que vende programas, se auto intitula algo como o “O Homem Bunda” e criou um aparelho para fazer elevação de quadril. Ele ganhou pontos ao decidir seguir pela carreira acadêmica e espero que isso o ajude a amadurecer e escolher bons caminhos.

    Ainda está difícil entender em que ponto a carapuça caiu nele para que adotasse uma posição tão afetada, mas existem várias possibilidades. Ele pode ter sido atiçado por um grupinho birrento que, sem condições e nem coragem de se posicionar, buscou ajuda fora do Brasil. Talvez ele queira se promover para lançar seus produtos em terras tupiniquins. Ou a soma dos dois anteriores pode tê-lo levado a se precipitar e ter uma compreensão inadequada do contexto das minhas publicações. Também pode ser apenas um mal entendido (espero que esse seja o caso).

    Engraçado é ele falar que o exercício está sendo feito de uma maneira idiota e a maioria dos fomentadores da briga são chateados comigo justamente porque fazem exercícios de maneiras bizarras, como a mostrada no vídeo. Ou isso é a máxima que o “inimigo do meu inimigo é meu amigo”, ou é o complexo de vira-latas que faz as pessoas abanarem o rabo para tudo que venha de fora.

    Uma pena que Brett ache que o Brasil é um país famoso por suas bundas, pois aqui batalhamos por quebrar esse estereótipo. Aliás, não só temos muito mais a oferecer do que bundas, como temos bastante senso crítico para rejeitar exercícios ineficientes e argumentos superficiais de construtores de bundas, além de senso de humor para fazer isso de uma maneira divertida.
    Fica muito difícil discutir com alguém que sustenta suas suposições em testemunhos de pessoas felizes com suas bundas e um estudo que comparou a atividade EMG do agachamento e da elevação de quadril. Não é um artigo de todo ruim, ele está bem escrito e há vários aspectos interessantes, mas é estranho por diversos motivos, desde a metodologia até os resultados e a discussão. Mas acredito que esse estudo deva ser discutido em outra ocasião, em um contexto mais objetivo e sem tantas paixões.

    Estou chegando agora de uma temporada de snowboard e semana que vem parto para mais duas semanas fora, depois disso tenho que preparar documentos e exames para assumir meu novo cargo na Universidade Federal de Goiás. Ou seja, me falta tempo para bater boca com gente malcriada, seja daqui, seja de qualquer lugar do Mundo (por isso excluo pessoas e apago comentários estúpidos). No entanto, caso ele realmente pretenda lançar seus programas e propostas por aqui, ele terá bastante oportunidade de ver minha opinião.

    Enfim, caso o jovem queira debater, a primeira coisa que ele precisa fazer é se informar adequadamente sobre o contexto da publicação, sua finalidade e direcionamento. Depois de entender esses pontos (entender não é se emprenhar com fofocas e nem se envolver em picuinhas) ele pode ficar à vontade para comentar nos meus posts sobre o tema. Lembrando que os comentários deverão ser objetivos, com opiniões fundamentadas e não numa postura arrogante de inquisidor. Acharei uma pena se ainda assim ele quiser se envolver em briguinhas e fazer ataques pessoais. Se esse for o caso, ele terá que entrar na fila pois já tem um monte de gente agindo como idiota aqui no Brasil e não posso dar prioridade e tampouco eleger alguém como um opositor valoroso apenas por morar em terras longínquas ou se intitular “Homem Bunda”…”

    Paulo Gentil post in your facebook.

    • Charles says:

      Tem tanta coisa errada nesta resposta do Paulo. Chamando Bret de jovem e malcriada e com varias frases cinicas. Acabei de ver a mesma postura na postagem mais recente dele no Face – respondendo aos perguntas, chamando pessoas de molecada.

      Como é que chamando pessoas de jovem, malcriada e molecada contribui para uma conversacao objetiva?

      Ao contrario de Paulo e ao acusação dele, Bret comecou a postagem dele registrando o respeito para Paulo – mencionando varias estudos aonde ele tinha aprendido do Paulo. Em nenhum momento atacou a pessoa do Paulo. Diz que queria intender a posicao do Paulo.

      Teria sido tao fácil entrar em conversacao com Bret, comunicando suas duvidas e avaliando os méritos e os pontos contra, e os dois concordando em não concordar, e tudo mundo beneficiando.

      Levantando em conta somente este comportamento mostrado, é difícil imaginar que a verdade e a conversação equilibrada vai prosperar neste caso. 🙁

      Paulo começou a sua communicacao dizendo que os estudos do Paulo “fez o Bret pensar”! Afirmando que Bret tem que amadurecer!!! E “escolher bons caminhos”!!! Chamou ele de Homem Bunda em vez de O Cara dos Gluteos (um titulo que foi dado ao Bret, alias. E que funciona sem problema nenhuma na lingua em que está escrito). Falou que ele está espalhando fofocas, exhibindo picuinha, e que ele costuma envolver em briguinhas. OK.

      Depois diz que Bret só quer envolver no debate por causa das razoes comerciais no Brasil, e não por motivo intelectual. Logo usa a sua capacidade intelectual como uma ameaça contra Bret! Isto, se eu não estou confundindo as coisas, me parece com a fala do dono do morro. (Que nível é este, minha gente?)

      Ate no comentario sobre bundas, vejo a inabilidade do Paulo intender a posicao aberto do Bret, e a abilidade de tornar comentários simples em conversa negativa (neste caso ele procura se elevar encima do Bret através de um assunto não relacionado – a visão do Brasil no mundo afora – em que Bret não tocou em nenhuma instante).

      Tambem existe “um grupinho birrento” (Tanta desafio contra meu genio, meu deeeus!).

      Para mim a conversa termina aqui. Este é um nível de arrogância especial. Mas para quem quer saber mais, tem mais…

      A maneira dele copiar alguns atitudes do Bret como se fossemos dele, me lembra da Lula exigindo que visitantes dos EUA tira visto, como reacao aos requerimentos necessarios para brasileiro entrar no EUA.

      Todo este jeito bruto tem sim um efeito no como a verdade está tratado no nosso meio, e para onde a verdade vai chegar em nossas mentes e na cultura.

      O que resulta é comentarios como o do Joao Marcelo aqui, torcendo a verdade, que só acaba em tirando o foco da busca da verdade, e turvando as aguas para a maioria.

      Eu moro no Brasil. O nome Gentil é repetida em todo lugar. Entre as massas é a referencia mais citada. Ele despertava meu interesse porque ele fez como sua marca a quebra de paradigmas.

      Agora a realidade da situação profisional dele neste momento é que a universidade onde ele vai, o UFG, pagou as contas do 2014 com a verba de 2015, e este ano não tem pago nenhuma conta do funcionamento da universidade. Ainda por cima, foi bom ele viajar agora, como os professores das universidades federais no país inteiro estao todos em greve.

      Não é difícil imaginar (e é muito triste para me dizer isso) que a falta que ele exhibe, meramente reflete a falta que vemos na nossa sociedade neste momento, e especialmente na cidade aonde ele formou e cresceu profissionalmente – Brasilia.

      A acusacao sobre motivos comerciais, possivelmente mostra o maior falta de entendimento e juiz de todas. Na cena fitness, na minha opinião e conhecimento, sera dificil encontrar muitas pessoas que mais favorecem a verdade e o estudo, acima do comercial. Bret é o exemplo mais obvio da pessoa que vai no sentido contrario da industria. Nao está no circuito das palestras. Passou bastante tempo em países muito longe dos EUA, como Nova Zelanda e Noruega, procurando o melhor desenvolvimento do seu conhecimento. Nao deve ser perfeito, mas é bem diferente ao normal. Sem falar que uma basica leitura feita sobre o desenvolvimento do Hip Thrust vai mostrar que o aparelho simples que ele vende, foi criado muito tempo depois dele interessar no assunto! Alem disso, ele investiu suor nesta ideia – compara aí o cuadril dele com seu gemeo idêntico que também malha (nao, isso nao é piada!). E me poupe gente, mas acho que Bret não vai ficar rico vendendo este banco. E presta atenção que ele não vende nenhum outro equipamento. Nenhum shake. Só tres livros e um serviço de planejamento de treinos, que representa duas décadas de experiência e estudo. O resto sao resumos do corpo cientifico , feito em nome de uma outra blog dele – uma outra contribuição do Bret para o mundo fitness, em parceria com uma colega da universidade britanica mais renomeada na área das ciências esportivas (nada mais que a maior tentativa de apresentar e resumir o conhecimento das pesquisas cientificas para o publico – encontrado na http://www.strengthandconditioningresearch.com – ou seja isto é exatamente o que Paulo propoe fazer, só que este site está fazendo isto mais que qualquer outro no mundo, democratizando a informação para todo mundo saber, e mantendo opinião pessoal no extremo minimo). Entao caraca, meu! São acusacoes serias sobre o caráter de uma pessoa – tinha que ser bem pesquisadas antes.

      Vamos a ver – Bret Contreras faz parte de um grupo referencial nos EUA e no mundo, respeitado para sua experiencia e equilibrio, que inclui Schoenfeld, Aragon e Tuminello. (Incrivel que Paulo não os conhece. E que ele tambem nao conhece o S&C Research.)

      Acho que se voce é profisional no Brasil, está na hora de voce agir – olhar dentro de voce e ver se voce tem a possibilidade de honrar a verdade equilibrada, acima da politica (seja voce a ‘favor’ ou ‘contra’ seu grande colega Paulo). Está na hora do Paulo quebrar mais umas paradigmas, se ele quiser.

      O ultimo paragrafo na resposta do Paulo mostra tanto desrespeito que deve ser uma vergonha nacional (por causa da seguimento que ele recebe no país). Na minha estimaçao, mostra que nao vai ser possivel chegar numa conversacao franca com ele. O que me logo faz ficar desinteressado nele como referencia.

      Mais uma vez a lição pra me fica: quando alguém usa na sua fala os mesmos conceitos e valores que eu respeito, eu tenho que desconfiar – a velha prioridade de manter o poder não morre tao facilmente. Triste 🙁

      Sei que apelar pela verdade não vai muito longe com todas as pessoas, mas aqui fica registrado meu.

    • Charles says:

      só foi na hora de traduzir para ingles, que percebí a tamanha arrogancia. logo pensei, sera que somos seduzidos quando escutamos os politicos falando em portugues? sera que as coisas seriam differentes se Lula estava falando em ingles? talvez hehe 🙂 entretanto, aqui fica a resposta do Mr Polite:

      “I am happy that he knows my research papers and that these have made him think. Unfortunately I don’t know his work, but he seems to be a blogger who sells workouts, goes by the name of Butt Man, and created a piece of equipment to do Hip Lifts. He wins points in the fact that he chose to follow an academic career, and I hope that this helps him to mature and choose the right paths.

      It is still difficult to understand what exactly made him lose his cool so much, but there are various possibilities. He might have been stirred on by a small group of shriekers, who, without the ability or the courage to say anything, went looking for help outside of Brazil. Maybe he wants to promote himself in order to launch his products in Brazil. Or, maybe both of these things together might have caused him to jump ahead of himself so that he now has an inadequate understanding of the context of my posts. It could also just be a misunderstanding (I hope that this is the case).

      Its funny that he says that the exercise is being done in an idiotic way, as the majority of the people who cause fights with me are upset with me exactly because they do exercises in weird ways, an example being the one shown in the video. Either this reflects the maxim that the “enemy of my enemy is my friend”, or it’s that half-breed complex which causes people to wag their tail at everything that comes from outside Brazil.

      It’s a pity that Brett thinks that Brazil is a country famous for its butts, indeed here we are battling to break these stereotypes. In actual fact, we don’t only have much more to offer than butts, inasmuch as we have a great capacity for critical thought – sufficient to reject inefficient exercises and superficial arguments on how to build butts – as well as the sense of humour to do this in a fun way.

      It becomes very difficult to argue with someone who bases his suppositions in testimonies of people who are happy with their butts and a study that compared the EMG of a squat and a hip lift. Its not a bad paper, it is well written and has many interesting aspects, but various things make it strange, from the methodology to the results and the discussion. I believe, however, that this study should be discussed at another time, in a more objective context and without as much emotion.

      I am arriving now from a snowboarding trip and next week I am leaving for two more weeks overseas. After this I have to prepare papers and tests before taking up my new position at the Federal University of Goias. In other words, I have little time to chat with badly brought-up people, whether from Brazil, or from any place in the world (that’s why I block people and delete stupid comments). Even so, if he really wants to launch his workouts and business projects here in Brazil, he will have more than enough opportunity to see my opinion.

      So to conclude, if this youngster wants to debate, the first thing he needs to do is inform himself adequately about the context of the post, its purpose and to whom it was directed. After he understands these points (and to ‘understand’ does not mean to fill the air with gossip, nor get involved with petty quibbles), he is free to comment about the subject, in the actual posts. Remembering that the comments should be objective, with factually-based opinions and not with the arrogant stance of an inquisitor. I would think it a pity if even after these considerations, he would want to get involved in petty fights and in making personal attacks. If this is the case, he will have to get in line, indeed there is already a bunch of people acting like idiots here in Brazil and I can’t give priority to any particular one, nevermind decide that someone is a worthy opponent just because he lives in foreign lands, or calls himself “Butt Man”…”

      – spectacular!

  • Eli says:

    Hi Bret! I am brazilian and have been using the hip thrust for a while and can say; It works!
    But I think you are taking Dr. Gentil’s post too personal. My husband says I always defend brazilians but here we go: There is this increased “plague” of juiced women with humongous legs and butts: they are called “popozudas” and the girl pictured in the video is one of them. She is a “model/dancer” and is notorious for posting many times wrong exercises but swearing by them, which leads the “masses” to follow them and get hurt. I think what Dr. Gentil was trying to emphasize is that there are no miraculous goofy exercise that will give you a butt if you don’t follow good form and science. I think he went too far using your pictures and probably was trying to “make a point” but I don’t think the post had any intention to contradict your research. Maybe you should start translating your blog posts to portuguese!!! Many people would benefit! And THANK you for all your research, even without it I would be a big believer in the hip thrusts! They work!

    • Rodrigo says:

      You have got to be shitting me ! Don’t talk about what you don’t understand woman. scientists are suppose to work together as a team, and bring true science to the world. Gentil not only mocks the execution of the exercise, he also mocks the science behind it, using his pseudoscience bullshit, he doesn’t even use all the data available on hip thrust. Besides that. He doesn’t even science. And it’s not a plague, it’s the future, and for crying out loud, having Bret translate his blog to Portuguese ? Nigga, please. If anyone wants to read science articles they better learn some god damn English.

  • Jay says:

    Man I never knew hip thrusts were so controversial!

    The S&C coaches at my University have the athletes doing them all the time. In fact it’s rare for me to go to the gym and not see at least one of the rugby, football, volleyball, basketball, or runners doing hip thrusts.

    I actually only found this blog because I watched the face pull/pull apart video, but I do subscribe to the AARR and have read many of your contributions to it.

    There really was not much point to this reply, except that I see varsity athletes doing hip thrusts all the time and am very surprised at how much backlash they get. To me they’re standard fare.

  • You can always tell when someone is truly passionate about what they do! Money always takes a backseat to their objective. Keep the flames of your passion roaring Bret! When challenged or ridiculed get out the gas and throw some on your flames of passion! Great work brother!!!

  • Holly Redman says:

    I’m sorry that Dr. Gentil reacted that way. Remember that everyone supports you until you become their competition! Now that your research is taking off I could see him being upset that he didn’t think of it first. It’s probably a point of pride to him and a shame he isn’t secure enough to celebrate your successes along with his own. Research on!

  • Mercy Mahall says:

    Una vez finalices me envías un mail indicándome cual fue la dirección electrónica que usaste para hacer el registro y el país desde donde lo hiciste (pues debo efectuar la validación) y a vuelta de correo te enviare las instrucciones para obtener tu link de afiliado y los términos de lo que debes de hacer para ganar dinero ya.

  • Hi Bret,

    I’m a brasilian resercher and I’m fan of your work. I read yours papers and a like very much.
    Here in Brasil, we need a many studies with qualities. Don’t hurry with this comments of fake-professors and continuos make science and developing the sports’s knowledge.
    Comiming soon I’ll go in USA and would like to meet you and Dr. Schoenfeld

    regards

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