Before Andrew Tate became infamous for his controversial online presence, he was peddling what might be one of the most underwhelming fitness courses ever created.
Fitness YouTuber Zirk recently dissected Tate’s program in a recent YouTube video, and the results were nothing short of comedic gold.
The entire course, which Tate charged real money for, can essentially be summarized in one word: burpees. That’s right. The man who positioned himself as having elite training knowledge from his kickboxing days literally told people to do burpees and called it a comprehensive fitness program.
Tate opens his course by dismissing actual exercise science entirely, stating: “This is not going to be one of those courses that talks about f**king this muscle, that muscle, eat this, eat that, this tendon, this joint. I’m uninterested in all of that s**t.” For someone selling fitness advice, being proudly ignorant of how the human body works is certainly a bold marketing strategy.
The production quality matched the content’s sophistication. Tate filmed the entire course in his bedroom, with his bed prominently visible in every shot.
As Zirk pointed out, watching a sweating, grunting man demonstrate exercises three feet from where he sleeps creates an uncomfortably awkward viewing experience.
The equipment recommendations were equally minimalist: two exercise mats and a bar with weights. Tate then proceeds to brag about using 30 kilograms (66 pounds) as if it’s an impressive feat of strength, which any serious gym-goer would recognize as fairly modest weight.
The actual program consists of doing 100 burpees every single day—four sets of 25—with no variation. Tate even recommends that most people should do “only burpees for the first two months.” Any legitimate trainer will tell you that doing the identical workout daily is a recipe for overuse injuries and burnout, not optimal fitness results.
When Tate does introduce additional exercises, they’re basic compound movements with a bar, performed for high reps. His entire philosophy boils down to: do high-rep exercises until you’re tired, take breaks as needed, but hit your numbers.
Perhaps most tellingly, Tate himself admits that once he stopped making money as a professional fighter, he lost interest in serious training.
He confessed: “I don’t have three or four hours a day to throw towards it. If there’s no money at the end, I’d rather spend that time trying to make money.” This honesty undermines his entire course—he’s selling fitness advice while admitting he doesn’t particularly care about fitness anymore.
While burpees aren’t inherently bad exercise, selling them as a complete fitness solution is like selling a cookbook that only contains one recipe for boiled rice.
