The guest
Derek (More Plates More Dates): Anonymous founder of the More Plates More Dates YouTube channel, a fitness and performance-enhancing-drug education content creator and supplement entrepreneur.
What this episode covers
Joe Rogan and Derek open on the Liver King scandal, breaking down his videotaped apology admitting he lied about being natural while secretly using Winstrol and growth hormone. They expand into how A-list actors and The Rock achieve impossible physiques for superhero roles and dodge questions about steroids. Derek explains the pharmacology of PEDs, gyno, acne and the lethal extremes of competitive bodybuilding, and details a USADA loophole that lets injured fighters like Conor McGregor leave the testing pool to use drugs. The conversation also covers weight-loss drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic, cold plunge and sauna recovery, David Goggins' brutal discipline and surgeries, social-media mental health, and a long riff on virtual reality, neural links and simulation theory.
Recommended on this episode
BookRecommendedISBN verified
Never Finished
David Goggins
“I left that book fired up you read that book you want to run through a wall”
“this is the new one it's called never finished and this comes out on December 6th okay and this one is even more rough”— Joe Rogan
BookRecommendedISBN verified
Amusing Ourselves to Death
Neil Postman
“there's a great book that I read ... really good book um and it's really fascinating”
“there's a great book that I read that Neil Brennan told me about uh what's it called amusing ourselves to death is that what that it's called”— Joe Rogan
ProductRecommended
Rogue Echo Bike
Rogue Fitness
“I really like sprints on the Rogue Echo Bike ... I love doing tabatas on that”
“I really like sprints on the Rogue Echo Bike you know it's like a assault bike I love doing tabatas on that”— Joe Rogan
ProductRecommended
Cronometer
“I use this thing called chronometer and I plug my diet in”
“I use this thing called chronometer and I plug my diet in and then it shows a full breakdown of my micronutrient proportions”— Derek (More Plates More Dates)
MediaRecommended
Ready Player One
“love that movie”
“now it is now it's better but not quite quite yet Ready Player one yes love that movie”— Joe Rogan
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
BookReferenced
Can't Hurt Me
David Goggins
“he's got two books one of them is called can't hurt me that's the first one yeah and this is the new one it's called never finished”— Joe Rogan
BookReferencedISBN verified
The Coddling of the American Mind
Jonathan Haidt
“Jonathan hate has a book about it it's called The coddling of the American mind and in it that's one of the things they discuss”— Joe Rogan
ProductReferenced
Wegovy
Novo Nordisk
“he was like fasting and wegov and wegov is the Branded 2.4 milligram increment of semi-glutid so it's like the highest dose you could be using”— Derek (More Plates More Dates)
ProductReferenced
Ozempic
Novo Nordisk
“the lower one is called ozempic and it's for diabetes management but it's basically just like a pen that's like in one milligram increments”— Derek (More Plates More Dates)
ProductReferenced
Nintendo Wii
Nintendo
“you get a good workout you really do because it's kind of like the Nintendo Wii already did that though kind of except it's virtual”— Derek (More Plates More Dates)
MediaReferenced
The Wrestler
“when Mickey Rourke did it he did it for the wrestler when he talked about it he talked about doing steroids for the wrestler”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
Black Adam
“like Black Adam you know when you see The Rock and he's standing there with his shirt off with his shorts on there's not a man alive who doesn't want to be built like that”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
Pain and Gain
“I think he did for Pain and Gain him in the Rock were playing like bodybuilder dudes yeah and they both gained like quite a bit of size for it”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
Father Stu
“this could have been for that new movie father Stewie did ... 30 pounds for father stew”— Derek (More Plates More Dates)
MediaReferenced
The Matrix
“the Matrix used to be some fun movie that you go to watch and you're like wow what a crazy dystopian future”— Joe Rogan
Big reveals from this episode
- Liver King's filmed apology admits he lied and is on steroids, including Winstrol and high amounts of GH, while claiming he did it for hurting people.
- Derek argues The Rock's physique at 50 is impossible even on HRT and is clearly drug-built, calling it 'the hyper opposite' of his stated longevity goals.
- Derek facilitated bulletproof random blood and urine drug testing for 'Matt Does Fitness,' who paid thousands and passed, proving he is genuinely natural.
- Joe reveals David Goggins records his haters' comments and plays them back to himself as fuel; Goggins had a wedge cut from his shin and a plate he feels every step.
- Derek explains a USADA loophole letting injured fighters like Conor McGregor exit the testing pool for ~six months to use growth factors and heal.
- Derek notes Elon Musk publicly credited fasting and Wegovy (semaglutide) for his weight loss, the highest 2.4mg dose.
Worth remembering
- Stage-ready bodybuilders are so dehydrated they are near blacking out, and some die in their late 20s from the drug and bodyweight stress.
- A sensory-deprivation float tank contains roughly a thousand pounds of Epsom salt (magnesium) dissolved in the water.
- Cold plunging immediately after lifting blunts hypertrophy because the cold's anti-inflammatory effect interferes with muscle-building.
- Joe does a three-minute cold plunge at around 34-40 degrees first thing every morning as a discipline and stress-management practice.
- David Goggins fights wildfires as a smoke jumper, parachuting into remote Northern Canada areas, sometimes near polar and grizzly bears.
- USADA testing is wildly uneven: fighters like Rose Namajunas and Neil Magny were tested far more than Paulo Costa, and T.J. Dillashaw only single digits.
- DNP (dinitrophenol) was a World War One explosive ingredient later sold as a fat-loss drug; its lethal dose sits dangerously close to the effective dose.
- GLP-1 agonists like semaglutide are not prohibited by USADA in or out of competition because they treat type 2 diabetes and obesity.
- Joe and Derek debate whether magnesium absorbs transdermally through Epsom salt baths, citing the ~500 Dalton molecular-mass skin-absorption threshold.
More from Joe Rogan
All 6342 recommended