RIP Carl Weathers, Coach Greg Scamming (Again), PJ Braun is Out the Pen

Powered by

GM,

Many lifter W’s this week along with a saddening loss. We lost Carl Weathers this week, but his words and performances will continue to drive us to keep punching.

But in terms of W’s, the steroid olympics got a huge cash infusion, Greg Doucette is getting called out again for Turkesterone, Thor is so back, and Blackstone Labs’ founder PJ Praun is out of prison.

The elites tried their hardest to keep it away from us. They even had the original manufacturer take Crystal Pump’s money and run. Sick shit, but we are back, despite the horrors.

If you’re looking for a preworkout that emphasizes clean caffeine, mental clarity, and sick pumps, check out our absolute boys: Crystal Pump.

TAP HERE FOR 10% OFF

It’s not a preworkout, it’s an experience.

Thank you mustache man, let’s get into this week.

At a Glance:

Entertainment

• RIP Carl Weathers

• Jon Bravo - Greg Doucette’s New Scam

Sports

• Peter Thiel Invests in Steroid Olympics

• Thor Bjornsson Hits 1000lb Deadlift

Business

• Joey Swoll Gets Sauced

• PJ Braun Released from Prison

Entertainment

RIP Carl Weathers

Carl Weathers, a charismatic, fantastic actor who starred in the Rocky movies, Predator, Happy Gilmore, and other films passed away last week.

Sylvester Stallone posted a video on Instagram sharing his thoughts on Weathers, and how important he was to the success of his own career.

According to Wikipedia, Weathers passed away peacefully in his sleep on February 1, 2024 at the age of 76. Gonna watch Rocky 3 today, I loved his performance in that one.

Jon Bravo: Greg Doucette’s New Scam

Jon Bravo posted another documentary on YouTube, this time covering “Greg Doucette’s Biggest Scam”

I thought the fitness world was done with the Turkesterone shit but evidently not. Greg Doucette dropped a major bag buying “Turkesterone from the mountains of Uzbekistan,” which is apparently the only place in the entire world where you can get real Turkesterone.

You can watch the above video see get the highlights or watch Greg’s original video here.

I’m no psychologist, but if you have to emphasize how much you don’t need to scam and pretend to not be able to pronounce “Uzbekistan” to make it seem more complicated and exotic, you’re probably fucking lying.  

Also, not sure if this means anything or if it’s a standard disclaimer, but “the supplier indicates 5% of Turk” seems like a good way to shove off liability.

As Jon said in his video, just take some creatine because that shit actually works.

Check out more on Jon’s Channel, he does a lot of great work.

Sports

Peter Thiel Invests in Steroid Olympics

The Enhanced Games were created as an alternative to the traditional Olympics aiming for one thing: Sports, without drug testing.

There are no banned substances, and the athletes’ health will be closely monitored.

The Enhanced Games came across my radar last August when fitness YouTuber Ryan Russo posted this video about the “Steroid Olympics.”

TEG founder Aaron D’Souza wants to create an Olympic event that people actually want to watch, where the athletes get paid fairly, is not a burden to the tax payer, and more.

I recommend reading their website to learn more about their mission; interesting stuff and you’ll learn how much the taxpayers and athletes get screwed while presumably out-of-shape grifters get a nice pay day.

Since the time of Ryan’s video, The Enhanced Games organization gained more traction on social media, but it stayed within the fitness sphere for the most part.

But now, things have been kicked up a notch with the event hitting mainstream news and accounts following their latest investing round that brought in big names.

PR Newswire reported that The Enhanced Games closed its Series Seed Funding Round on Tuesday, which added Peter Thiel (PayPal Co-Founder), and Balaji Srinivasan (Former Coinbase CTO) as investors.

At the moment, the games are still set to happen during December of this year. With these names and money behind it, I think it’s gonna be sick.

Thor Bjornsson Hits 1000lb Deadlift

Thor Bjornsson is back at it with a casual 1000 lb conventional deadlift just 9 months after tearing his pectoral muscle.

Back in February 2023, Thor’s original plan was to come out of retirement, into powerlifting, break Dan Bell’s world record (2,607lb total with wraps), and then hit strongman in 2024. However, the world record plans were delayed after his injury.

It appears that he’s still going to try to break Dan Bell’s record and then get back into strongman as planned.

Business

Joey Swoll Gets Sauced

Fitness Influencer Joey Swoll, best known for his “Gym Positivity movement” along with his TikTok duets calling out bad behavior in the gym has launched a new company, Taste Flavor Co.

The sauces are a low calorie, low carb alternative to traditional condiments with three current options: Spicy Garlic Parm, Honey Sriracha, and Cherry Smoked BBQ.

I wanted to bring this up because the sauces will actually be at an upcoming event in February that I’m fortunate enough to be a part of. Can’t wait to be able to officially announce it.

PJ Braun Released from Prison

President and Co-Founder of Blackstone Labs, PJ Braun has been released from Prison after being sentenced to 54 months in prison for conspiring to sell illegal anabolic steroids and other products marketed as dietary supplements that were unlawful under federal law (Justice.gov).

Aaron Singerman, co-founder of Blackstone Labs and current founder/CEO of Redcon1 was also sentenced to 54 months in prison, but was released later that year on December 1^st . Singerman agreed to forfeit $2.9 million of the proceeds of the crimes while PJ agreed to forfeit $3 million.

The announcement of PJ’s release was made via Blackstone Labs’ Instagram account last week, which was met with many positive comments about his return.

I covered this story in a November 2021 video; but long story short, our boys got popped because of a Men’s Journal article that was published in 2017.

Prior to the article, Blackstone Labs made millions of dollars selling their product, Super DMZ.

This product was basically what started Blackstone labs as their first product, selling 7,000 units on their first run in 2012.

It contained dymethazine and methylstenbolone, which wasn’t an issue until the FDA put stricter rules on those substances in 2014.

The new rules were put into place because of Blackstone Labs’ supplier was being investigated by the FDA, which put Blackstone Labs on their radar. More details are in the video below.

PJ and Aaron’s only crimes were that they wanted us to get big and strong.

But fortunately, THEY CANNOT KEEP A LIFTER DOWN.

Rafi’s Desk

Feels so good to be back. Lot of hilarious shit happened in December. Job, car, relationships fell through all at once, and I was facing extreme levels of “it’s so over” but as always there was an indomitable “we are so back” within me.

Coming up on 3 years of Monday Iron in March, which is crazy because it feels a lot longer than that because of all that’s happened with my personal life and the opportunities that the account has brought.

It’s still not “profitable” like I planned to have it by March 2024, but I can trace all of that to poor management on my part. And luckily, it’s not like I’ve blown three years on this and have nothing to show for it.

Like last year, my “little meme page” turned into a real life opportunity when I got to expo at Bullfrog Nutrition’s event in Sylvania, OH alongside Jay Cutler, Marc Lobliner, Goob, it’s just batshit to think about.

And we’re doing it again this year for Bullfrog’s Pre-Arnold event as well as an upcoming event in Galion, OH.

I’ve also met a lot of great creators and people that are now helping to build Monday Iron. I’m still working a job, I’m still dedicating most of my waking hours to some form of work whether its the account, training, or my job, but it feels good. I’m not exactly where I want to be, but shit’s starting to become real.

If you’re still on the content grind trying to make something out of it and it’s not quite popping off yet, keep punching.

Take breaks if you need to, just don’t quit. I think this was my third planned break in the last three years, and we’re still alive. Not to mention that I’ve been making online content for 6 years, so I know that I love this shit.

Thank you to everyone who supports the page and reads this newsletter, you’re the best. Hope you all have a great Sunday and an outstanding week.

Let’s get it.

Check out our Partners:

• Protochol Beverage (Anabolic Alcohol)

• Crystal Pump 

• Underdog Energy