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Episode 7: Mike O’Hearn debates with Vlad Yudin about cancel culture, actions vs words, and short sightedness in bodybuilding.
Mike O’Hearn sits back down with Vlad Yudin to discuss some key thoughts that have been on O’Hearn’s mind recently. Most notably, what makes a man? What determines the true value and character of a person? While this is somewhat of a philosophical topic – it can tie directly into bodybuilding more than you might think. In Generation Iron and Barbend‘s latest episode of The Mike O’Hearn Show, Mike discusses a person’s actions vs their words, the rise of online cancel culture, and how short sightedness is a major problem not just in culture at large but also directly affecting bodybuilding.
Mike O’Hearn has always preached on the value of longevity. He believes that bodybuilding, true bodybuilding, is about maintaining an incredible physique and strength over the long run. It’s one thing to be a natural talent when you are 28 years old. It’s another to still have that kind of talent and success when you are 50. This notion ties directly into O’Hearn’s question about “what makes a man.” No singular statement or action can truly determine the character of a person. It’s about their actions over the longterm. What kind of person are you in the whole of your life?
Actions vs Words: The Problem With Cancel Culture
The conversation starts off with Mike O’Hearn claiming that a person’s actions are far more valuable than their words. This sparks a discussion about cancel culture online and how quickly online mobs are ready to take down a person for a single tweet. While word can be damaging – O’Hearn thinks it is impossible for one statement or one tweet to represent the whole of a person.
While there may be some extreme exceptions – O’Hearn believes that the actions and the consistence of a person’s actions speak louder than anything else. This is where bodybuilding comes in. Fitness and bodybuilding are about action. They are about consistence of action and building not only a better physique but better health for the whole of your life.

“You can’t judge somebody based on someone else’s opinion of that person.”
– Mike O’hearn
Those same training tenets should be how we evaluate a person’s character. In today’s world of social media, short sightedness prevents evaluation of long term action. No matter how high someone may climb, the mob is always excited to see them torn down. Speaking of, this short sightedness ties directly into the other key topic of this week’s episode…
Short Term Greatness vs Long Term Success
Mike O’Hearn takes this larger concept and parses it down into bodybuilding and what defines bodybuilding success. O’Hearn believes that many young people are short sighted. This was true even before social media or the web. But perhaps modern technology has made this bad habit even worse for the newer generations.
O’Hearn has always seen bodybuilding success as longevity. While it can be impressive to build a 300 pound mass monster physique – it’s less impressive if that can’t be maintained in the long term of life. Mike O’Hearn is now 53 years old and has a physique that still matches how he looked in his 20s. He also is very rigorous about health checkups – and can claim that he is extremely healthy.
He owes all of this to his consistency throughout his life. He made certain sacrifices, less partying when he was young, more early mornings), so that he can feel as healthy in his 50s as he did when he was a young adult. He would rather be healthy and muscular in the long run of his life – than be Mr. Universe for even one year.
However, what he sees in the bodybuilding world is more of the opposite. Many pro bodybuilders aim to be the best possible in the short term. They want to be Mr. Olympia for as long as possible before burning out. This is why there is a growing drug and health problem in the sport. This is why many retired bodybuilding pros have bigger struggles in their older age.
O’Hearn understands that success such as becoming Mr. Olympia can be huge for opening doors in life. But is it worth cutting that life short? Or simply having a less healthy and more challenging twilight years?
Mike O’Hearn even ties this into finding the right coach. In an era where everyone is good at selling themselves online – it’s more important than ever to judge a coach or trainer by his actions and consistency in the long term of their career. If O’Hearn sees a trainer who is out of shape in his 50s, well then what can’t he teach about maintaining fitness and muscle into older age?
Wrap Up
You can watch Mike O’Hearn and Vlad Yudin’s full conversation about actions vs words, cancel culture, and bodybuilding longevity in our latest episode of The Mike O’Hearn Show. Check out new episodes every Friday only on GenerationIron.com and wherever podcasts are downloaded.