Saw some new content on IG today. On the beach/rocks doing some kind of kettlebell workout, then walking out to the ocean for “cold exposure.”

This isn’t meant to “fat shame.” But I have a hard time taking a “fitness influencer” seriously when they have a muffin top.

No need to worry, TJP_SBR. We are going to see some massive "all natural" gains here soon. You see, in order to effectively shill a fitness/wellness brand on youtube like Bare Nutrition, Athlean-X, Ben Greenfield, Aubrey Marcus, or Thomas Delauer, one must push a natural, holistic, granola, plant-based, ketogenic, herbal, longevity focused, balanced, mobility oriented approach to "wellness", by having an eating disorder and using as much Test, HGH, and EPO as possible, in order to maintain the aesthetics necessary to influence people to embrace natural health and wellness approach.

It's quite similar to authoritarian politics, prosperity evangelism, or any do as I say, not as I do system of influence. It doesn't matter if you lie to the unwashed masses, if you are able to manipulate them into doing what you think is right for them.

I give it 2 or 3 years before we seen amazing (all natural) gains!

Definitely seems to be taking the route of Ben Greenfield. We will most likely see some branded, Motiv (spelling?) supplements coming out soon

Whatever. I liked his earlier content but have stopped following after Roth. I wish him the best of luck and hopefully will get to meet him in person at a tri race one day. I hear he’s a nice guy in person.

Had a beer with Taron in Kona. Good guy. Sensed a real love for triathlon. Wish him luck in his next venture.


Same. I sense what he found as many do, who go ALL IN on the triathlon "market" is that it's a REALLY small market! Whatever you are doing, once you have maxed out on that market, you are kind of done! You get quick early buy-in, because triathletes tend to be ravenous for anything "new" or sounding "new" - so early on you, are thinking, "I'm killing this"! But - at least prior to the pandemic it is a market that in North America had been in decline since about 2012 -13, that's when participation numbers peaked and they have been on a slow downhill run since then!

Now - I expect, as many are we may see a bump in those numbers coming out of the pandemic, but it will be well into 2022 or even further along, until we actually can see or quantify that!

Hanging your own shingle out and being self-employed, is NOT for everyone. It's a HUGE step and leap into the unknown, with no real certainty of anything!!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Wait, what? Are you saying being a brand ambassador isn’t a worthy life goal?

I watched it.

I came for the suffering, stayed for the whining.

::back to anonymity::

Are you saying being a brand ambassador isn’t a worthy life goal?


I read something recently that we may have reached peak Brand Ambassador & Social Media Influencer a short while ago. There are SO many of them now in almost EVERY imaginable corner and crack of our economy and lives. How many more do we really need? How many more brands are going to keep throwing money, time and resources at this?

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

haha touche!

He talked about the "suffering" how bad it was and how unhealthy it is for us. The guy is full of shit. TT got into the sport for the wrong reasons, chasing PBs, podiums, qualifying or whatever, he probably hated most or all of the training and to be honest sounded quite bitter. Rather than saying it didn't work out for him, he's telling us we're doing it all wrong, the suffering is bad for us etc Some of us actually enjoy our training. Group rides, easy long runs chatting with your mates, squad swimming. He's swimming in a fucking endless pool, no wonder he quit the sport. I can't think of anything worse. He must have hated every second of being in that pool.

We need exactly NEGATIVE ONE BILLION brand ambassador & social media influencers.

We need exactly NEGATIVE ONE BILLION brand ambassador & social media influencers.


Here here to that!

On Instagram it's an absolute plague!

Now businesses and brands openly post on someone's Posts/Threads, offering them to be a Brand Ambassador or Influencer and you will get 15% off! That's not Marketing/Influencing any more, that's just straight up Selling!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I can't think of anything worse. He must have hated every second of being in that pool.


Not dunking on Taren - but I 100% agree here with this. If he didn't like the Endless Pool swimming. I can think of nothing more insanely and heinously boring and brain numbing, than swimming in one of those units!!

When I was a triathlete, full disclosure - I liked swimming the least of the three sports. What I enjoyed about swimming was the group/club-swims in pools, which I did a lot of. Swimming with much better swimmers - I got pulled/pushed along to some OK performance levels. The camaraderie was awesome! I also, REALLY enjoyed Open Water Swimming - this was more inline with my previous post here about being outdoors, and taking an exploratory mindset to it all. Can I swim across the bay, or this lake? Can I make it to the other side?

One of my most memorable swims ever, was when we were deep in the Himalayan Mountains on a rafting trip down the Kali Gandaki River back in the 1990's - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandaki_River. At one of our campsites, the river was very wide - 400 - 500m, with a moderate but lazy current. I found out that another person on the trip was a former NCAA level swimmer. We were standing on the shore looking out across the river to the other side, where there was a small village we could see off in the distance, and we suddenly looked at one another, and said, "Can we?". We convinced one of the Guides on the trip to accompany us in one of the support kayaks. 30 minutes later - off we went. We made it to the other side and when we splashed ashore, a crowd of kids from the village was waiting for us. Our Guide interpreted for us from Nepali, and told us they had never seen anything like that in their lives. We stayed for a bit High-Fiving all the kids and then we plunged back in for the return trip! That's SWIMMING! :-)

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Hulk Hogan was the blueprint influencer....hulkamaniacs, hulk hogan vitamins...

Now Taren, trainiacs, motivators, vitamin T pills...

to think that hogan was a visionary is kinda funny... but true!

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80/20 Endurance Ambassador

Agreed. There is a difference. And I’ve known brand ambassadors who are more well known in their local or regional area and might get a wheel set from some area wheel builder or things like that but they’re really not selling or pushing the social influencer aspect. They just race a lot and know a lot of people. But obviously that’s small scale stuff. But I don’t want to label all brand ambassadors the same.

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I have never understood the whole "Brand Ambassador" or "Brand Team" stuff,other than people believing that somehow being an ambassador makes them feel like some sort of default pro athlete.I know more than a few MOP guys who have long lists of products that they are Brand Ambassadors for and I always think it is more a chest thumping "look at me" thing rather than the reality of it being nothing more than accessing a discount code or minor perks with a small company.It is all part of the modern tribalism thing where people want to be seen to be part of something and want to hitch their wagons to a product or a "Race Team".

I have never understood the whole "Brand Ambassador" or "Brand Team" stuff,other than people believing that somehow being an ambassador makes them feel like some sort of default pro athlete.I know more than a few MOP guys who have long lists of products that they are Brand Ambassadors for and I always think it is more a chest thumping "look at me" thing rather than the reality of it being nothing more than accessing a discount code or minor perks with a small company.It is all part of the modern tribalism thing where people want to be seen to be part of something and want to hitch their wagons to a product or a "Race Team".


Nick - As I noted, earlier in this thread, it's kind of run it's course. Brands that know what they are doing, are backing away from it. Some business and brands are using it not as a marketing or promotional tool but as a sales gimmick and tool - "Be our brand Ambassador and we will give you 15% off!". *facepalm* Originally Brand Ambassadors or any marketing strategy along these lines was supposed to be selling VALUE - purchases at full MSRP. (psst - that's so EVERYONE along the chain makes a bit of money!) People are buying because something is truly great or want to be part of that brand (Think - Apple). But then this morphs into these "ambassadors" selling the DISCOUNT - and that's where it goes over the edge, and starts to become a race to the bottom on price and no one is really making ANY money!

Of course there is always a BIG lag, and some businesses/brands think this is all cutting edge stuff, but in reality, they are just spinning their wheels!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog