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U.S Military and the Red Meat Allergy, Arnold Classic, and the Slump Protocol
We are so back
Rafael Renteria
March 09, 2026
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We are extremely, undeniably back. In this letter, we’re talking a little Arnold Classic, how right the tin foil hats were about alpha-gal syndrome, and my own recommendation on getting out of a slump or getting through a difficult period.
Special thanks to my intern Hyuna for staying on my ass about getting the page back in gear.
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 this week’s sponsor: Crystal Pump.
It’s not a preworkout, it’s an experience.
Thank you mustache man, let’s get into this week.
At a Glance:
Tin Foil Hat
The U.S Military and the Red Meat Allergy
Sports
Arnold Classic Hosts its Biggest Year Ever
Arnold Strongman and Strongwoman Results
Rafi’s Desk
The Slump Protocol
Let’s get into it.
Tin Foil Hat
The U.S Military and the Red Meat Allergy
Three years ago, I wrote in my newsletter about about a Forbes article that stated “More Americans Face Possibly Life-Threatening Red Meat Allergy After Spike in Tick-Borne Illness”
This also coincided with a video that was circulating at the time where a researcher from the World Science Festival, Matthew Liao, seemed to suggest that we could cut meat consumption across the world if we voluntarily infected ourselves with alpha-gal syndrome, which comes from the Lonestar Tick; which causes an allergic reaction to red meat. This video may not go to the correct timestamp (33:36), this link will take you there.
He also suggested we should breed out tall people so we’re not consuming as many resources.
At the time, I had some fun with it and speculated that these ticks were some plot by fake meat companies to make people allergic to real meat so they’d be forced to go vegetarian or eat their artificial slop. How were they doing this? Didn’t really know, it was mainly a joke.
But something strange happened about a month ago. I saw that familiar video of Liao with the red curtain background making the rounds again on Twitter.
I thought it was odd and random that a clip from 3 years ago came up again out of the blue. There were no other conversations about this topic circulating. People were reacting like this was brand new.
Come to find out that on March 4th, Dr Robert Malone released an article going over the origins of this red meat allergy/lyme disease/ and tick bioweapons based on declassified CIA documents.
I have my full write up linked below, but the skinny of it is that the U.S military dumped 228,000 non-native Lonestar ticks into Virginia, they were developing flea-grenades and weaponized ticks to use on the Cubans, and the Lonestar tick’s saliva causes a red meat/mammal product allergy. If you’re interested in reading more, see below.
Sports
The Arnold Classic had its Biggest Year Ever
Source: I heard Arnold himself say it after the Strongman competition on Saturday
Looking at local news articles, the 2026 Arnold Classic was estimated to bring over 100,000 people (and shit drivers) to Columbus, Ohio for the weekend.
I do not know exactly how many people were there, but I’ve gone for most of these years since 2018, and I have no doubt it was the biggest ever; especially after seeing the fire marshal shut down Young LA’s booth due to overcrowding.
Saturday is always the most packed day for it, but I couldn’t believe the lack of room to move throughout the expo. It was truly on another level this year.
After almost 40 years and all the development that’s happened, I can’t say I’m surprised, but it does make me wonder how they’ll handle it in the future, because there’s no way it’s gonna stop.
Sports
Mitchell Hooper Wins His 4th Arnold Classic Strongman Title
Over Friday and Saturday, the Strongman events included the elephant bar deadlift, Cyr Dumbbell Challenge, Stone to Shoulder, Stone Drag, Austrian Oak, and the Ramp Rage: A Strongman Bag Race Up Ramps.
Mitchell Hooper took first, Austin Andrade took second and Martins Licis took third.
Olga Liashchuk Wins Her 2nd Arnold Classic Strongwoman Title
Over Friday and Saturday, the Strongwoman events included the elephant bar deadlift, Cyr Dumbbell Challenge, Stone to Shoulder, Stone Drag, Austrian Oak, and the Ramp Rage: A Strongman Bag Race Up Ramps.
Olga Liashchuk took first, Inez Carrasquillo took second, and Angelica Jardine took third.
Bodybuilding is the sport I’ve followed the most coming up, and it’s still super sick, but catching the Saturday show watching these men and women was one of the most fun things I’ve done recently.
The atmosphere is insane, the tension and anticipation; one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. Highly recommend seeing it at least once as the years go by.
Rafi’s Desk
Slump Protocol
I’ve been away the last few months, things weren’t awful but I had to lock in and cut out every distraction I had. I even cut out lifting (ridiculous, but it had to be done, went from 181 to 162, brain seems to work better rn though, more data is needed).
I deleted all the socials for a bit, and it was just me, the new job, some books, and nothing to do with short daylight hours and cold weather. It was the first time in awhile that I had actually had to sit with myself and think about where I’m at and what had to change.
Luckily, I’ve got great friends around me, and a new sales job with special people that just see the world differently.
Now that I wasn’t able to fry my brain as easily, I found a few helpful things that got me back on track that I just forgot about. I got music, podcasts, books, and movies.
The first thing I want to start with is podcasts; which is something that I got away from years ago because I just taking in way too much information and not doing enough with it. I would also argue that I just wasn’t listening to the right ones.
So I just cut it out altogether, but my new boss is big on them, and continues to send good ones my way.
This Spotify Playlist titled Mindset - Monday Iron has episodes that have helped me a lot. If there’s only one you listen to on there, do the first one titled Build a Mind So Strong it Scares People. Say what you want about Alex Hormozi, but his perspective changed a lot for me.
The reason I like it so much is because it redefines mental toughness not as a black-and-white “You either have it or you don’t,” and reframes it as “to what degree do you have mental toughness.
He breaks it down into 4 categories: Tolerance (enduring hardship without behavioral change, Fortitude (Minimizing how low you go when bad things happen, Resilience (how fast you bounce back, and Adaptability (How much better, the same, or worse are you after bad things happen).
Full Playlist is Here, I’ll add to it whenever I find something or get something sent from my boss.
Music
Music is a very subjective thing, obviously. But as an overarching principle, think back to a time where you felt you were actually on top of the world and listen to the music you had at that time.
Or if you have a Spotify Wrapped for a year that went really well, go back to that. For me, my mental fix was a lot of Kanye and Numetal.
Movies
Again, subjective. But personally, the ones that really did it for me were Rocky, Rocky 3, the Rambo movies, Braveheart, 8 Mile, Wolf of Wall Street, Rango, and the Daniel Craig James Bond films.
Other than a good reset for a fried attention span, most of the movies are good because you get to watch a story of someone just going for it. If you’re in a place where you’ve forgotten what that’s like, it might help out. Rango seems random but it’s just a great movie.
Now regarding Rocky; all of the movies are bangers, but I picked Rocky 1 specifically because shows that journey from 0 to 1.
I picked Rocky 3 because it shows him after he’s already been on top, he got lazy, and lost it to someone hungrier. But he got it all back because he took one last shot.
Rocky 4 goes insanely hard with one of the best soundtracks and training montages, but I personally felt that 1 and 3 are more impactful for this time.
The Daniel Craig James bond I watch for the Aston Martins, also Casio Royale and Skyfall were movies I watched with my dad.
Books
Now for books, there’s a ton I could list off for sales and mindset-related stuff, but I’m just going to list a few.
Relentless - Tim Grover
If there’s one book you read, make it this one. While I was still selling cars, my current boss (where I’m not selling cars) gave me this book and it came at just the right time.
It’s good if you’re unsure of if you’re doing the right things or if you’re unsure of what you actually want. Tim Grover trained Jordan, Kobe, and other high performers; you get an insight into how these people think and how they got to be the best of the best by accepting every part of themselves and simply killing every day.
The Miracle Morning - Hal Elrod
This is one of those ones that I wouldn’t have read on my own unless it was recommended because I have the position that you shouldn’t need a morning routine to have a good day; because if you miss the routine you’ll train yourself to think you’re screwed.
But if you’re feeling truly lost, this can be a good jumpstart. What I really liked about it were some of the anger/anxiety management techniques. Overall it will give you a lot to reflect on.
No More Mr. Nice Guy - Dr. Robert Glover
This one’s got a title that screams corny and useless unless you’re someone that can’t get laid or is overall just a chud. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
If you’re finding yourself just choosing the wrong partners, giving into your vices, your life’s not where you feel it should be, compulsive behavior, and you can’t figure out what’s wrong with you, I’d recommend this.
A month ago I was going to do a video series on all 12 chapters, so far I’ve only got one but if you watch this, you should have an idea of whether this book will be helpful or not: RAFRADIO NMMNG
Personally, I would recommend reading Relentless and No More Mr. Nice Guy back to back. They have mildly conflicting views on your “darkside” and habits that is helpful to think through and apply.
I hope you’re killing it still. And if you’re not, better days are coming as long as you don’t stop. Pause if you have to, just don’t tap out.
Have a splendid week.
-Rafi
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