Episode 8: Mike O’Hearn opens up about his past beef with Mark Bell and debates whether or not Jay Cutler would be a bodybuilding legend if he never won Mr. Olympia.
For bodybuilders and strength athletes – the gym is a sacred place. It’s, essentially, their work office. The job is taken seriously. So what happens when others disrespect the space and your training? Is it okay to confront someone? Is it okay to get aggressive? In Generation Iron and Barbend’s latest episode of The Mike O’Hearn Show, Mike reflects on his public past beef with Mark Bell and debates with Vlad Yudin about confrontations in the gym. O’Hearn also discusses the goal of winning a trophy vs the personal goal of bettering yourself.
In 2016, Mike O’Hearn and Mark Bell trades shots against each other online via their YouTube channels. Mark and Mike had trained together multiple times – when suddenly it had seemed something went south. Mark Bell felt disrespected and posted a video calling out O’Hearn. The video reached hundreds of thousands of views. You can watch the original video below:
Since then we have seen multiple training videos of these two together. Clearly, whatever problem they had with each other was buried and they moved on. But what was the true nature of the beef? We took the opportunity to ask O’Hearn directly in our latest episode of The Mike O’Hearn Show.
The conversation opened up to a topic about aggression and confrontation in the gym. What do you do when you are disrespected in the gym? When your time is disrespected? When your space is disrespected? Do you snap and flip out to prove a point like Guy Cisternino recently did? Or do you let it go and focus on yourself? We touched upon both of these during our conversation. Let’s jump into it.
The Truth About Mike O’Hearn and Mark Bell’s Beef
When confronted about the beef between Mike O’Hearn and Mark Bell – Mike simply laughed it off. He admits that the two have been and are still very good friends. In fact, the beef itself was staged. They wanted to have a little fun and take their fan bases for a ride.
From the modern context of 2022, O’Hearn also took this as an opportunity to highlight how much today’s online culture over-reacts to things in a mob mentality. O’Hearn believes that people are simply waiting to take a public figure down – no matter how small the infraction.
Mike O’Hearn reveals even more of his “trickster” side by talking about another staged video he more recently published. He has a friend and training partner that uses a can to walk for support. In the video, O’Hearn staged kicking out the cane from under his friend while they were in the gym. It was short. He recalls it being about seven seconds. Instantly the online community turned on him. They wanted him cancelled. But in reality, they were good friends.
This ties back to our previous episode where Mike O’Hearn talks about actions vs words. A single word or even a one-off action means nothing. It’s about the consistency of actions over time. Modern culture seems to be rejecting this – at least in online communities.
Is It Okay To Confront Someone That Annoys You In The Gym?
Mike O’Hearn expands the “beef’ topic to discuss arguments and confrontations in the gym. When is it okay to call someone out who is being disrespectful? Maybe they are hogging up a machine just staring at their phone. Or perhaps they are filming a stupid viral video that is taking up space and disrupting others who are trying to train. Or maybe the gym-goer is a creep bothering a woman like the man viral TikTok videos that have grown popular.
O’Hearn thinks that this entire conversation is very layered and complicated. He has no problem with the general notion of confronting someone in the gym. But the reason for the confrontation has to be legitimate. There is a gap between generations. Some older bodybuilders and strength athletes may get annoyed by young guys who are doing nothing wrong – other than being more in tune with modern society and technology. In that case, perhaps they don’t deserve confrontation and the older gym patron is simply out of touch.
On the other hand, Mike O’Hearn wants to promote how the gym is a sacred space for strength athletes. It’s more than a hobby. It’s their job and passion. And just like how there are rules of conduct at work. There need to be rules of conduct in the gym. When those rules are broken – it’s okay to confront the person breaking them.
Does Winning Mr. Olympia Matter?
Another topic of discussion was the mentality behind winning. Mike O’Hearn makes the case that winning does not matter. At all. He thinks that the trophy is nothing but a material possession. And that others calling you “the best” means nothing to your own ability.
Vlad Yudin gives pushback on this. He believes there is more to life than winning – but winning something like the Mr. Olympia has great impact and does mean something. It’s proof that your efforts bested everyone else in the world.
Mike O’Hearn simply can’t get behind that. He believes that the person who did their best and truly went above and beyond – but only placed 10th – is more successful than the guy who only wanted to win and got 2nd. Why? Because the person who only wanted to win will still be disappointed and, at worst, he will eventually lose drive to continue to be his best without the carrot on a stick of a trophy in front of him.
“I don’t think it mattered if he [Jay Cutler] won. We would still be talking about him.”
– Mike O’Hearn
Mike O’Hearn goes as far to say that someone like Jay Cutler would still be a legend and a superstar even if he never won a single Mr. Olympia. If he stayed second to Ronnie his entire career – he would still be talked about with the same passion as he is today. Because whether or not Cutler wins – his physique, mentality, and personality remain the same.
Wrap Up
Mike O’Hearn and Vlad Yudin get into quite the debate on these topics. So you can watch their full comments and the details by watching our latest episode of The Mike O’Hearn Show above. Make sure to catch new episodes every Friday only on Generation Iron. Or where ever podcasts are downloaded.