Also on Spotify.
On this episode of the Rippedbody Podcast, I interview one of Britain’s most well-known sports nutritionists, Martin MacDonald. We discuss Martin’s beginnings in the industry, including his early “lucky break” that catapulted him into sports nutrition superstardom, becoming one of the countries most popular celebrity trainers, and now the owner and founder of the recently created Mac-Nutrition University.
Martin also goes on to discuss why he felt the need to create his 12-month Mac-Nutrition University course, addressing the gap after graduation between theory and practice, and in the last half of the episode, we chat about walking the tightrope of calling out charlatans in the industry.
Selected links
- Mac-Nutrition – Martin’s consulting service
- Mac-Nutrition University – Martin’s certification course
- Martin’s Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- Precision Nutrition – Nutrition course based in the USA
- Martin’s YouTube video on The Body Coach – Part 1 and Part 2
Show notes
- About Martin’s career. – Initially, Martin received a degree in Sports and Exercise Science. he had a rude awakening when he started natural bodybuilding at 18 years of age, placing last in a show. With post graduates in Performance and Clinical Nutrition, Martin focused in on the Sports Nutrition industry working. His work started with weightlifters and triathletes. Martin was a university lecturer for five years but did not enjoy the paperwork and red tape. He was told he was failing too many students. Working with celebrities to help them lose weight was a tipping point for him. This lead to more clients wanting help from around the world. In the beginning, Martin really had no idea how to price or value his services. This was the beginning of Mac-Nutrition, Martin’s consulting firm. [02:00]
- About Mac-Nutrition University (MNU). – Martin offers a 52-week qualification course that takes people from zero to one-hundred in nutrition science. The course takes out the unnecessary information that is often part of other personal training and nutrition courses. The course provides information on client psychology, consultation process and programming for specific populations. The course is really about “how to have a career” in the nutrition field. People can become MNU Certified. [10:00]
- Do you fail people? – Yes. MNU has not been running for 12 months. Martin wants to make the MNU certification a stamp of quality. The course is evidence-based, unlike other courses online. There is a pass mark for the exam and people can have their certification taken away. If someone really cares and does the work, they should pass the certification exam. [12:30]
- Andy would like to do something similar to MNU in Japan. [ 16:30]
- Precision Nutrition (PN) in America delivers their model. However, MNU offers different methodologies with a more flexible approach. [17:00]
- The value of MNU. – Andy mentions how much people spend on a University education and still come away from it without the ability to start a business. Martin likes business, math, and numbers. Martin has increased the price twice because the comparable courses were not covering nearly the same depth of content. MNU is now better priced to be a sustainable model. The profit margins are not as large as people think. Martin capped the intake at 150 students with a waiting list of 150 people. Other supporters in the industry are putting their name behind the MNU. Martin feels like his dreams have come true and have really become successful since the launch of MNU. [8:00]
- Martin is not an “internet troll”. – The definition of an internet troll is someone who asks a question that they know will wind people up and then they play dumb. Martin does get kicks out of telling people that their favorite guru is wrong. Martin sees trolling as a comparison of product or services (e.g. Mac vs PC). Really, Martin is trying to put the “snake oil salesman” out of business by providing a legitimate service. [23:30]
- The war on science going on in the UK and USA? – Martin struggles to see the evidence-based approach winning. The real scientists generally agree on 99% of things. For example, none of them believe gluten is the devil yet still have differing opinions. [27:30]
- Martin on criticizing The Body Coach. – Martin created a video (Part 1 and Part 2) that went mini-viral and was a net-positive for Martin’s business. Martin now gets tagged in everything about Joe Wicks. Joe Wicks was originally an actor and then become a personal trainer. Joe has created a massive PR campaign around himself and has been very consistent. Joe was given media training to act as if on drugs to draw attention. Joe had created an advertising campaign on buses promoting the concept of eating more, moving less and losing weight. Martin called out the integrity of the campaign. Joe was also putting out pre-made plans that were called “personalized”, while they absolutely were not personal. 90% of people who bought Joe’s plan, did not complete the plan. The positives definitely outweigh the negatives of Martin’s call-out of Joe Wicks. [30:30]
- Martin on charlatans and integrity. – Charlatans are well-meaning idiots and are insanely positive. Charlatans integrity shows when they respond to a challenge of the information they are providing. In contrast, someone like Alan Aragon or James Krieger will update papers because they admit when some of the information is wrong. Martin says that he makes people feel uncomfortable by calling out the integrity of information and is seen as a “loose cannon.” In recent years, Martin has been trying to spend more time finding the positives and highlighting correct information in the industry. [44:00]
- List of the common scams, misconceptions, and myths. – Fat and carbs at the same time are not good is a misconception. Breakfast is the most / least important meal of the day is a misconception. Eating a little more often will boost your metabolism is a misconception. BCAAs before/during /after training when protein is sufficient will is going to give you extra gains is, yet another misconception. [49:00]
- BCAAs have their place in fasted training. – Martin thinks that BCAAs are often seen as a magical product. [50:30]
- Myths continued. – Glutamine. Glutamine boosting immunity and recovery is a misconception. HMB is more effective than steroids is a misconception. Alkaline diets with detoxing is a myth. Fat blocking, garlic, and herbal pills are scams. [52:00]
- On Gary Taubes. – “If your research turns out to be wrong, will you change your opinion?” His research has mounting evidence against it, but his opinion remains the same. Throw out his books. Gary Taubes believes that keeping calories the same, swapping carbs for fats would result in a massive personal weight-gain. He is a leader the faith-based high-fat-low-carb ketogenic diet cult. There is a difference between science and personal beliefs. [54:00]
- Practical takeaways. – Martin thinks a lot about the well-being of people’s careers. You can waste time to try and save the world. You need to ask yourself, “who is watching?” You need to earn the right to call someone out on incorrect information. You need to be wary of charlatan’s legal defense of their business. You need to avoid personal attacks and focus on the scientific information in a professional manner. You need to really understand your stance with specific studies and references. Ultimately, you need to earn the right to take a stance before you try to save the world. [58:00]
- Where do you want to take Mac-Nutrition University? – Martin sees MNU as a niche qualification, unlike anything else offered. Martin really loves teaching and would like it to see MNU become world famous. [01:05:00]
- MNU is a great academic degree add-on. – There are PhDs and Registered Dietitians taking the course that want to learn from practitioners. The point of the course is applying the information in practical terms. You need to know how to run a business in this world. [1:10:30]
Thank you for listening! – Andy and Martin
Share this on Facebook & join in the conversation
Privacy policy.