by Christian Duque
So I’ve been involved in the sport of bodybuilding for well over 15 years from a professional journalist standpoint. By that I mean writing articles, covering bodybuilding shows, being a guest on shows that sort of thing. And in that time I’ve come to the realization that you have got to be able to accept criticism. Not only must you be able to accept it, you must expect it. And there is a lot of knowledge in that line and I for no point in time want you to think that I came up with it.
It is an observation made after many years doing this and it is if anything wisdom that I would like to impart on the next guy. Now that is me, a journalist, that is not me, a competitor, speaking to you. if you’re a competitor you have to be even more ready to accept criticism because of the fact that you’re competing in a subjective-based sport. It is almost nonsensical to get into bodybuilding expecting for everyone to like you and everyone to say what you want to hear when you want to hear it. That is just not how the cookie crumbles.
Now I understand I have been blocked by some of the biggest champions in the sport. I have been blocked by Phil Heath when he was at the height of his glory. I have been blocked by Nick Walker. I have been blocked by several bodybuilders that quite frankly just did not like what I had to say. I don’t think that I ever went out of my way to personally offend them, I just wrote what I believed.
If somebody came in to a competition off, I was going to write about it. If somebody had a belly that looked like they were pregnant, I was going to document it. The last thing I ever wanted to do when being a journalist was be some sort of a shill. And there are many shills in bodybuilding. Whether they do it because they want advertising money, maybe they want press passes, maybe they just want everyone to have a warm and fuzzy feeling whenever their name comes up. I have no idea what motivates them, but the last thing I ever wanted to do was write puff pieces.
I have to be honest with you. Being unabashedly honest comes with a price. And even though I have my differences with Nick Miller aka NS&P, I really truly believe that he is the best of the best when it comes to bodybuilding coverage in the YouTube format. We must come to the realization that magazines no longer are a factor. Muscular Development closed up shop and now doesn’t even maintain an operational website. The website is operational, it’s actually top of the line, but there is no one operating it. Muscle Sport Mag continues to fly the flag for print media on a much smaller circulation basis but they do. So we cannot say that magazines are completely dead, but they are no longer a factor when it comes to the dissemination of a market size of the bodybuilding media audience. They have become somewhat of a niche, something that you subscribe to have something that you can get autographed but it is no longer a vehicle to get information out to the bodybuilding fan base. So realizing that the magazines are no longer a factor and realizing that everything is now internet-based, you have got to tip your hat to the biggest YouTuber on the land. And Nick has proven that.
Back many moons ago when Luimarco ruled YouTube, it was Nick who was the protege. It was Nick that was climbing the ranks and paying his dues. Lui did a huge thing for him and pointed him out of the crowd and gave him an initial boost. Instead of resting on his laurels, Nick developed a fan base through that boost and created his own niche. When Lui decided to take a break from YouTube because the dollar signs were turning yellow instead of green because YouTube was re-examining its policy towards bodybuilding, Nick assumed the role of being the stand-in biggest YouTuber.
I think to a certain point Lui figured that whenever he came back Nick would go back to being his protege, his sort of friendly smaller channel. But that’s just not how the cookie crumbled. Lui came back and initially experienced some nice momentum but that star fizzled very quickly. The fans made their choice between Lui and Nick and they picked Nick. And ever since NS&P has been the king of all YouTube channels.
Now we have Desktop Bodybuilding which does good work but it is not challenging Nick for that top spot. Muscle Discord is doing phenomenal work but they’re also not challenging Nick for that top spot, either. So why am I reiterating what is otherwise obvious? Well it’s because you cannot be a top level bodybuilder in 2024 and block the biggest YouTuber. You cannot do that. And I will tell you why.
Sponsors want maximum exposure. So if you are a sponsored athlete and you are drawing a check every month, it is your job to get in front of as many faces as you can promoting the products that are paying you every month. If you block the biggest YouTuber you are now being seen by far less people and being discussed on a far lesser level by the biggest YouTuber on the land. Now sure, once you block him you’re going to make the media for that, but afterwards it’s almost as if you didn’t exist. You might be in today’s news because of the fact that you blocked Nick, but I almost guarantee you moving forward anytime that Neckzilla does a show Nick will probably downplay it. Or maybe he will bring up the issue that that particular athlete blocked him. It’s not a good look. It wasn’t a good look when Phil blocked me, it wasn’t a good look when Nick blocked me, but I was never the number one Youtuber. I was never the number one Instagrammer. Sometimes you just have to bite your tongue. Even if Nick was trying to be personally offensive, sometimes you just have to bite your tongue.
And look at where we are at with this article. Just in the last paragraph, in the last sentence, did we mention the bodybuilder in question. The entire article has been about Nick and how popular Nick is. And that was not done coincidentally. It was done because of the fact this guy commands well over 1 million subscribers on a platform that is incredibly difficult to get views on. This bodybuilder cannot keep this person blocked if he wants to do right by his sponsors and by his own career. He needs to unblock him and he needs to do the business of bodybuilding and the business of bodybuilding is you do not block channels that offer you coverage because there are not that many that do it on a consistent basis.
I understand that Rubiel did not want to do the Dubai show. I understand that he felt pressured by his sponsor. I understand he didn’t have the confidence going into it. I understand he probably will not look his best and I understand that he probably feels annoyed that a Youtuber, even the biggest Youtuber, feels the need to report on this. But that’s the nature of the beast that is how he makes his money and you as a bodybuilder need to do what you need to do to make yours. At the end of the day big names in any other big sport don’t block media. That is why Phil had to come back years later and do a major PR makeover because of the fact that so many people couldn’t get past the fact that he had onion thin skin and would block people just for looking at him the wrong way. This is not something we want for Neckzilla or any other competitor.
In the end, blocking people does not really have the desired effect. Now look at this guy, not only did he block the biggest Youtuber, but the biggest YouTuber made this a piece of news on his video. And this biggest YouTuber is also wishing this offended bodybuilder nothing but the best and trying to be good to him even though this bodybuilder has acted in such an immature manner. Listen, I have blocked people myself, and many of my articles I write are written to a particular person or a group of people. I don’t want Neckzilla to think that I am judging him unfairly because it would be a double standard 100%. But I am also not a top-tier professional bodybuilder with sponsors that pay me money and trying to get on the Olympia stage. As a professional athlete you need to have thicker skin and you cannot go on a blocking spree. At least that’s my prerogative.
But what say you? Was Neckzilla justified in blocking NS&P? Or do you think he should develop thicker skin and do the business of bodybuilding? As always, thank you for reading my article at Iron Magazine. I look forward to reading your feedback in the comments.
