Bradley Martyn

If you ask my friends who I talk about all the time they would tell you right away: Bradley Martyn. I have been following this guy for a few years now. When I first started following him his YouTube channel only had about 30,000 followers; now, he 371,763 followers. I started noticing him when I was just becoming a serious lifter with bodybuilding goals, about two years after I started lifting. I first saw him in a video on Instagram in which he jumped out of a four feet deep pool. This led me to his unpopular page and to his YouTube channel. I decided to continue following him and see where he goes. His YouTube channel finally got a big boost when he started training with Simeon Panda and Ulisses Jr. and becoming the personal trainer of YouTube star FouseyTUBE for a while. I have followed this guy for all this time because of his content and his down to earth, genuine personality.

 

Within his YouTube channel he has videos such as Q&As, Motivation, and Information in which he answers questions about himself and lifting, brings his followers to a personal level, and informs the subscribers about the future for him and his channel. Bradley is the most genuine guy you will see on YouTube; he speaks to the camera as if he was speaking right to you. In a more recent video, he breaks all borders and talks about his past and how his dad took in own life when Bradley was young. I have never seen anyone speak on a personal level like this before.

 

Apart from his connection with his followers, he is simply just a cool guy. He has fun in every video no matter what it is about; he loves to go off on tangents and argue with his camera guy, Nadeem, about irrelevant things. His content itself is great. He shows how to do exercise, why to do them, and when to do them. He always pushes himself to his limits; this explains his stature: 6’3” and 265 pounds. He does superhuman things with his strengths and athleticism. I believe he has a great physique, especially for not being a professional bodybuilder or fitness model. He has never said anything on if he is natural or not, but I think he is more likely natural. He is part owner of “Lean Meals” which is a meal shipping company that is growing to multiple locations. He also sells his own apparel with his BMFIT logo, his quotes, and catchphrases. His main “job” is to motivate others; he want to help others with their goal, and I truly believe it. His main slogan is “#LETSGETBETTERTOGETHER”. Fame has not changed this great, genuine guy, and I will always follow him and recommend him to others.

Mike Chang

“Six Pack Shortcuts” is by far the most popular fitness channel on YouTube with 3,766,311 subscribers, 815 videos, and 504,319,339 total views. They claim that they will show you, “how lose your belly fat, gain muscle, and get defined abs.” They also state, “We upload home workouts, weightlifting workouts, nutrition videos, and workout advice videos. We upload new videos twice a week.” Based on this, “Six Pack Shortcuts” sounds like an amazing channel, one that meets everyone’s goals, but I personally do not favor this channel over ones I have talked about and ones I intend to talk about. This channel was created on December 1^st 2009 by none other than Mike Chang. Chang began this channel himself with the same mindset as many of the channels I do enjoy watching. Unfortunately over time, the show became too popular too fast. Chang accepted sponsorships and promotions from many different companies and people. Mike lost the goal of leading his fans to reach their goals and began mostly being focused on the money. He continued uploading videos but in every video he would promote and sell someone else’s product; this ruins the channel when half of every single video is an advertisement.

 

Apart from the “sellout” view to this channel, not all the material is 100% correct or effective. As implied from the channels title, Change focused on the core or “six-pack” very often. He demonstrated many ab exercises, yet he himself never had defined abs. Maybe because he isn’t familiar with the saying “abs are made in the kitchen” which means that you can do as many ab exercises as you want but you will not have abs until you lower your body fat percentage; there are no “Shortcuts” to abs.  I did enjoy the way Mike would layout the workout routine on a board and then go through it himself on camera, showing you how to do it and that he actually does what he says.

 Now Mike Chang is gone and “Six Pack Shortcuts” is led by head trainers Clark Shao, Jonny Catanzano, Nate Bran, and Henry Tran. Mike Chang has not been shown on the channel for five months. I am not sure if he left or was kicked out or if he will come back. I do know that he has his own channel called “Mike Chang” and has about 9,000 subscribers. He started it in September of 2015, right after he quit “Six Pack Shortcuts”. His new channel reminds me a lot of “Six Pack Shortcuts” back when it first started. He may have left because he realized the corporate channel it had become and still is. The channel now is of four different people uploading videos and not connecting with the fans. It is important for the person to be on a personal level with their fans the way Chang used to be. I don’t know what “Six Pack Shortcuts” will become, but I am excited to follow Mike Chang’s new channel.  

Elliott Hulse

Strength Camp is exactly what it sounds like. It is a hardcore, metal, powerlifting, sweaty gym in St. Petersburg, Florida. The founder and leader of Strength Camp is none other than the natural “Merlin of Weights” Elliott Hulse. Strength camp is mostly powerlifting-orientated, but I recommend everyone watch this channel no matter if you are a powerlifter, bodybuilder, strong man, cross fitter, or the average Joe trying to get some gains. Strength Camp’s motto states they want their members to be “The Strongest Version of Themselves.” They have male and female members of all ages. Strength Camp does not care who you are as long as you are willing to push yourself to the limit. They lead their members through a three-step training process: structure, strength, and speed. They make certain you know the proper form before they push you in order to maximize results.

 

In Elliot Hulse’s YouTube channel, he incorporates routines from his Strength Camp; the same routines he uses to train professional lifters and athletes. He uses his football and professional powerlifting background to his, his clients’, and his subscribers’ benefit. His channel has 612,503 loyal subscribers, who stuck around waiting while Elliott took a six month break from YouTube. Nonetheless, he’s back! Elliott is back to his intense, knowledgeable, entertaining, comical videos. In many of his videos Elliott stands within a foot of the camera and stares directly into the lens with only his thick neck and traps showing. His videos vary in topics from Health and Fitness to Relationships and Love, from Personal Development to Mental Toughness, and from Meditation and Bioenergetics to Business and Success. Elliot knows in order to have an aesthetic, strong body you need to have a healthy mind and spirit, be involved in a healthy relationship, and be successful in more than just the weight room. A lot of what you learn mentally in the gym will help you in all aspects of your life. Elliott also goes in depth about the biology, chemistry, and physics of the body. He speaks of all sorts of motions and parts of the body that I had never heard of. With his videos, not only are your learning about strengthening yourself mentally and physically, but you are also getting that Biology class you didn’t pay attention to in high school. I have been watching and listening to Elliott for about three years and he is completely genuine; this can be seen in his videos in which he gets personal, close, and emotional with his fans. Elliott Hulse is a great guy and so is his channel.   

Jeff Cavaliere

Jeff Cavaliere is one of the most knowledgeable and credible fitness trainers on YouTube. Like many of these fitness celebrities, Jeff started weight training in high school. He wanted to can stronger in order to be able to tolerate the physically challenging sports he was a part of.  His physical therapy background allows him to look at training from a biomechanical perspective, which he uses to modify his clients’ workout routines. Due to his physical therapy background, Jeff literally knows every muscle and bone in the body, and he uses his knowledge to his clients’ benefit. Jeff has trained the New York Mets, other professional athletes, and many celebrities. Considering the importance of his clients, Jeff always elaborates on safety. Jeff makes sure his clients know the proper way to perform exercises in order to prevent injuries. On his YouTube channel “ATHLEAN-X” Jeff posts weekly videos on material he also shows to his actual clients. His videos show how to get six pack abs, bigger biceps, more muscle definition, better legs, a bigger chest, a wider back and how to improve overall athleticism. Jeff also talks in depth about diet planning in order to reach a specific goal. Though I enjoy his videos on muscle growth, abs, toning, and dieting, I mainly watch his for his videos on how to prevent injuries. He breaks down these videos into extreme depth. Jeff tells you which muscles are involved in a specific injury, what the muscles do regularly, what you did to cause the injury, the results the injury caused on the muscles’ movement, and ways to fix and prevent the injury. Everyone can use these videos to great use because no matter what sport or training you are doing there is always a high potential for injury and injuries are expected. Your shoulders are a very sensitive part of your body because of the large tension and strain we place upon them all day; the slightest improper form on exercises can injure then severely. I personally have had multiple injuries in my history on weight training including my shoulders. I used Jeff’s videos to fix my injuries and I continue to do the proper stretches to prevent future injuries. Jeff Cavaliere is very knowledgeable, which is why he has 1,339,698 subscribers on YouTube and I am one of them. I enjoy his channel and watch it regularly to improve my knowledge on the body because I too want to be a physical therapist.    

Simeon Panda

Simeon Panda is one of the most iconic figures in the fitness industry. Born in the UK, he started lifting at the age of 16 after seeing an older friend become more muscular. Once he started he fell in love and kept pushing for progress. Simeon is now an aesthetic monster at the age of 26. He stands at a respectable size of 6’1” and 230lbs and at a low body fat year round. Simeon has also always claimed he is natural, or “natty”, meaning he has not taken any muscle enhancing drugs of any doses. Given his year round low body fat and his large muscle mass, many people and rival fitness icons claim that Simeon Panda is not natural. “Natty” or not, I respect Simeon and agree with many that he has one of the most aesthetic bodies on the media right now. If he has taken steroids, they would have been in small doses considering that most fitness models are on small doses of steroids. I don’t know if he has taken steroids or not, but I do know that this man puts everything he has in to his workouts. He always lifts the heaviest he can and as many repetitions as he can during every single set he does. His high-intensity, motivating workouts can be seen on his YouTube channel. As of now his YouTube channel has 169,403 subscribers. I started following Simeon’s YouTube back when it was just about 70,000 subscribers, so I have observed his channel grow. His YouTube channel is not as high of a priority as others due to his work in modeling, motivational speaking, bodybuilding judging, advertising, and clothes line sale. Nonetheless he uploads well directed and edited videos about every week. His videos vary from instructional workouts and collaborations with other genuine fitness idols to motivational speeches and videos. I have listened to what he has said and I personally agree with a lot of what he has said. His “motto” is to always go hard “every rep, every set because that is when it counts.” I believe this 100%; mental and physical growth comes from you pushing yourself to the limit at all times. Simeon is aesthetic lifter who loves to go heavy; he always pushes himself to his max. I love his workouts and intensity, I agree with what he says, and I believe he truly is a motivational lifter who can motivate anyone. Simeon Panda’s YouTube channel is one of the best fitness channels.