Mark Bell on Fat vs. Carbs, What’s Really Making You Fat?

**Mark Bell** (0:00)
I didn't really realize there's so many different versions of strength.

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (0:02)
Strength is never a weakness.

**Mark Bell** (0:04)
Weakness is never strength. I mean, there's a lot of different versions of strength. I was mainly thinking about powerlifting, bench squat, deadlift, just going to the gym and doing something on gymnastics rings, or somebody doing calisthenics, pull-ups. I was thinking about my version of strength.

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (0:18)
You've been very involved in bodybuilding. There's a lot of discussion on anabolic steroids. Is there still the same drug utilization?

**Mark Bell** (0:26)
There's more people on drugs than ever, you know, whether it's a housewife or whether it's an NFL football player.

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (0:32)
The thing is, why are people feeling like they need them? I do think that we're going to see more and more peptides, but then the question is, is there a risk? Are they agerous?

**Mark Bell** (0:40)
Peptides, when it comes to these drugs, you actually feel them. You don't feel protein powder, you don't feel collagen. Creatine might be something maybe you feel a tiny bit, but when it comes to these peptides, when it comes to these drugs, nothing feels like taking testosterone.
Nothing feels like injecting Trenbolone. And some of these peptides that are coming along, I think they're not all always going to be felt, but they're going to be seen.

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (1:09)
In fact, you've been coaching people, you've been involved in the nutrition space for decades. What do you think the biggest mistake is?

**Mark Bell** (1:17)
In terms of longevity, like maybe the best thing for Americans is...

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (1:30)
Most people think power lifting is for a certain type of person, a certain size, a certain age, a certain level of crazy. Mark Bell has squatted over a thousand pounds, bench pressed over 800, and spent over three decades learning what the human body is capable of. But what he has found working with athletes and beginners alike is that the same principles that build world record strength are the exact same ones that build longer, healthier, and a more capable life. Today, we're going deep on what strength training and just what overall strength means and the impact it has on your body and how to train more efficient, and why muscle is not just something you see in the mirror. But it might be the single most important organ you're not paying enough attention to.
Mark Bell, glad that you are here.

**Mark Bell** (2:28)
Thank you.

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (2:28)
Your motto, which by the way, I wish I had come up with, is strength is never a weakness.

**Mark Bell** (2:34)
I think it's important to be strong, to acquire strength takes a long time. But over the years, I guess something that I didn't really think about originally, because I was thinking about my version of strength, and I didn't really realize there's so many different versions of strength. I mean, somebody doing something on gymnastic rings, or somebody doing calisthenics, pull-ups, I mean, there's a lot of different versions of strength. And when I phrased that, I said strength is never a weakness, weakness is never strength. I was mainly thinking about power lifting, bench squat, deadlift, just going to the gym and being a meathead. But I don't think the gym is a great place. It's great to go to the gym and have all your stuff kind of be there and spend an hour there or 45 minutes, however long you can delegate to do that stuff.
But I also think that it might be more helpful for people to realize that there's a gym kind of all around us and you can do step ups and stairs and all kinds of stuff in your home and all around if you open your eyes up to it.

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (3:41)
The one of the ideas or the goals people have, we're looking at some of the statistics and we pulled this statistic that 42% of Americans say getting strong is their number one fitness goal in 2026 Do you think that they're getting it wrong?

**Mark Bell** (4:02)
By a slingshot.
No, I think they're on the right track because I think that strength connects to your brain a lot differently than, I mean, there is my muscle connection. There's definitely a crossover between bodybuilding and strength training. So it's not like bodybuilding are set to 10 or set to 12 or even set to 20 It's not like they don't impact your central nervous system. But most of the attributes that we lose as we get older are you lose a lot of explosiveness. You lose the ability to produce force. So if we were to evaluate someone at 70, we might say, oh, wow, look, they can walk and they can walk a few miles. That's awesome. That's great. They get up and down the stairs. Okay. That's pretty cool. They get in and out of their car really well. But that's still all normie stuff. That's still all normal people stuff. What can you really do regardless of your age?