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Videos

July 2, 2025

The Voices of Men (2020) | Men’s mental health documentary | 50% Facts Review

Just a couple of days past the official Men’s Mental Health Month, we take a look at a short, but powerful documentary available on YouTube, “The Voices of Men.” It was produced in the UK and is driven by men telling their personal stories of struggle with mental health conditions…

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July 1, 2025

Brett Favre's Downfall Netflix's Untold Story

On episode #478 of 50% Facts, we review Untold: The Fall of Favre from Netflix. Is this doc balanced or is it by necessity unbalanced? Catch the full audio and video at 50percentfacts.com

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June 25, 2025

Untold: The Fall of Favre (2025) | 50% Facts Review

Some athletes are made for super stardom on the field of play, but truly fumble in their personal lives. Brett Favre is one of them. From dick pic scandals to alleged fraud, Farve tarnished his legacy with a series of seemingly boneheaded moves. This Netflix documentary series takes a sharply…

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June 21, 2025

Dr. Patrick Bell discusses coming back from injury on the latest episode of 50% Facts. #doctalk

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June 19, 2025

What to look for in a good physical therapist? Guest: PT Dr. Patrick Bell | 50% Facts

At Third Street Barbell, we’re lucky enough to have three physical therapists as members. Jim’s been working with Patrick Bell on a shoulder injury and has been very impressed with his knowledge and how he structures and communicates his rehab exercise selections. Since Patrick’s clients are mainly online, we thought…

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June 13, 2025

Why don’t lifters share a bar anymore? Guest: Jacob Ross | 50% Facts

Jacob Ross joins Jim to take on the question, “Why do so many lifters resist training in groups in the current age of powerlifting?” We also cover Jacob’s time working with the South Sudanese Olympic Basketball team in Paris for the Olympics last year. We also share stories of gym…

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June 4, 2025

Josh Hajar: Staying positive, beating cancer, and losing over 100 lbs

Mike is out of town, so Jim brought in one of Third Street Barbell’s most consistent and inspirational members, Josh Hajar. Josh is an emergency department nurse who faced a harrowing fight with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and then suffered an injury that set back his recovery and fitness goals. When he…

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May 28, 2025

Netflix’s How to Change Your Mind (2022) | 50% Facts Review

Psychedelics in psychotherapy. That’s the theme of this four-part documentary from Netflix. Can psychedelics break damaging thought patterns and allow people to heal from depression and trauma? This doc series would like to prove that they at least hold promise to do that. We cover episodes #1 (LSD) and #3…

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May 21, 2025

Netflix’s Untold: The Liver King | 50% Facts Review

Netflix’s Untold documentary series takes a look at the phenomenon of The Liver King. Purportedly already a multi-millionaire, Brian Johnson launched a muscular social media and YouTube presence as a “primal” influencer who used raw organ meats, including testicles, rather than steroids to build his crazy physique. He amassed a…

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May 14, 2025

The IPF reverses on stiff knee sleeves plus World’s Strongest Man quiz | 50% Facts Podcast

Under pressure from…well, pretty much everyone…it appears the IPF will allow stiff knee sleeves through the end of 2026. World’s Strongest Man is back in Sacramento this week, just about a mile from our gym. We take a look at the history of WSM and take an online trivia quiz.…

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May 11, 2025

Transformer bar clip with Nick Squires

Nick and his training style remind me of my old teammates and the video I started shooting about 20 years ago. Couldn't resist grabbing my camera for this set. Generic music because of copyright stuff.

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April 23, 2025

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (2015) | Reviewing media about cults | 50% Facts

We’re taking a closer look at a topic that we’ve touched on briefly before: Media covering the effects and inner workings of cults. The HBO documentary Going Clear is one of the most recognizable documentaries about the Church of Scientology. Celebrities like Tom Cruise have deep ties to this cult…

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April 16, 2025

Getting stiffed by knee sleeves : The politics of IPF approval

A couple of episodes ago, we talked about a dramatic change in leadership at the International Powerlifting Federation. The latest wrinkle is that the federation has recently notified the manufacturers of “stiff” knee sleeves that their products are banned from use in competition – immediately. Is the IPF being fair…

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April 10, 2025

Hungry for Change (2012) | A 50% Facts Review

A stroll back 13 years in time takes us to a very “well-reviewed” nutrition documentary that ultimately only delivers a laundry list of fear appeals, misinformation, and pro-vegan propaganda. Not that there’s anything wrong with being a vegan, but getting there because you’ve been told that every other way of…

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April 8, 2025

IPF drama at the top, AI stealing jobs at the bottom?

We take a stab at which jobs AI might eliminate (do you want your drive-through order taken by a bot?). Plus, the long-time IPF president resigned suddenly a few weeks ago. Is there any situation where a quick exit from a top position like that doesn’t mean really bad things…

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March 26, 2025

Court of Gold | Netflix Documentary | Olympic Basketball (2025) | A 50% Facts Review

The 5-part Netflix Documentary Court of Gold chronicles the 2024 Olympic Basketball tournament in Paris. It’s obviously a love letter to the gold medalist US team, but more specifically, Kevin Durrant, Steph Curry, and to a lesser extent, LeBron James. The episodes follow the tournament's progression and highlight a few…

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March 19, 2025

Generation Iron: Natty 4 Life (2020) | A 50% Facts Review

The third sequel to the bodybuilding documentary Generation Iron is all about the natties. It follows a group of competitors during the countdown to the Natural Olympia of 2019. Will natural bodybuilding ever gain the kind of traction that its “enhanced” counterpart does? And are the competitors really drug-free? Several…

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March 6, 2025

CT Fletcher: My Magnificent Obsession (2015) | A 50% Facts Review

The “Superman from Compton” took YouTube in the 20-teens by way of a video called “The Strongest Man You’ve Never Heard Of.” Who was this man who “commanded” his arms to grow and reminded us over and over that it was indeed still our set? This documentary sketches a portrait…

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Feb. 26, 2025

Generation Iron (2013) | A 50% Facts Review

This documentary, the first from Generation Iron, covers the runup to the 2012 Mr. Olympia bodybuilding contest. Phil Heath is a repeat winner, but Kai Greene is pushing him hard. A number of other well-known competitors are also hoping to dominate the Olympia stage. Do any of them have a…

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Feb. 23, 2025

Is powerlifting in a slump? | 50% Facts

Have you noticed that powerlifting is experiencing a bit of a dip in popularity? We have. What might be the cause? We kick around some possibilities. Is the last wave of lifters starting to age out and move on to other hobbies? Is it turmoil among the federations? How do…

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Feb. 12, 2025

Ronnie Coleman: The King (2018) | A 50% Facts Review

This documentary from Generation Iron recaps the career of 8-time Mr. Olympia, Ronnie Coleman, as he prepares for yet another back surgery. While we don’t gain a lot new information, it’s a nostalgic look at some of the most iconic training footage from his long Olympia run, along with a…

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Feb. 5, 2025

Generation Flex |A 50% Facts Review

This documentary from Men’s Health tells us that body dysmorphia is running rampant among teenage boys in America. It follows four teens who take “extreme” measures to try to match the body images they see on social media (sorta). Then, the video takes a turn into a “debate” about supplements…

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Jan. 29, 2025

Don't Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever |A 50% Facts Review

Bryan Johnson, former head of the firm that owned Venmo (and sold it to Paypal), is obsessed with slowing down his aging process. Is there anything he won’t try toward that end? Dozens of daily vitamins, nearly religious workouts, red laser masks, and even experimental gene splicing are all in…

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Jan. 22, 2025

Weight Loss Island and East Coast travels? | 50% Facts

And we’re back with a fresh 2025 episode! Mike headed to Florida to coach three streamers to losing 25 lbs each while streaming 24 hours a day from "Weigh Loss Island." Jim went to Canada for some family time, and to NYC for some shows, including a spot in the…

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