| Bodybuilding.com | |
| Type: | Subsidiary |
| Key People: | CEO Karl Walsh |
| Industry: | Ecommerce, Fitness Industry |
| Products: | Dietary supplements |
| Num Employees: | 450 |
| Foundation: | [1] |
| Founder: | Ryan DeLuca |
| Parent: | Retail Ecommerce Ventures[2] |
| Location: | Boise, Idaho, U.S. |
Bodybuilding.com is an American online retailer based in Boise, Idaho, specializing in dietary supplements, sports supplements and bodybuilding supplements. The site also has a forum section.
In September 2015, the CEO and founder Ryan DeLuca stepped down from his role, announcing he would be succeeded on an interim basis by Liberty Media CFO Chris Shean.[3] Chris Shean was subsequently replaced with the appointment of Karl Walsh in October 2021.
Bodybuilding.com grew out of wholesale-creatine.com, an online storefront created by teenage web marketer and amateur bodybuilder Ryan DeLuca in 1997, to capitalize on the rising popularity of creatine supplements.[4] [5]
A majority stake in Bodybuilding.com was acquired in July 2006 by Milestone Partners for an undisclosed amount.[6] In January 2008, Liberty Media Corporation acquired a controlling stake in Bodybuilding.com for more than $100 million.[7] DeLuca stayed on as the company's CEO.
As of 2014, it has 450 employees working at 3 locations, including distribution centers in North Las Vegas, NV; Shiremanstown, PA; and Bedfordshire, U.K.[8] The corporate headquarters is also located in Boise, along with the company's customer service call center.
In 2013, the company donated the equipment for Boise's first outdoor gym, located in Ann Morrison Park.[9]
In 2007, an FDA agent purchased several dietary supplements from the company which were determined to contain anabolic steroids. In May 2012, Bodybuilding.com was fined $7 million, and as part of the settlement, CEO DeLuca and his brother Jeremy were both fined $600,000 for selling misbranded drugs.[10] [11]
In September 2015, founder and CEO Ryan Deluca suddenly announced he would be stepping down from his position as CEO.[12]
In April 2018, it was publicized that Bodybuilding.com experienced a security breach, though the site would not say if any of its users' data was stolen.[13] [14]
In 2015, Liberty Interactive spun off Bodybuilding.com and its stake in Expedia into a new company, Liberty Expedia Holdings.[15] In December 2016 after a massive layoff,[16] Bodybuilding.com reorganized to form 4 different companies/brands.
Bodybuilding.com's forums are the largest online forums for fitness discussion. They are known for their strong community, and expansive discussion of unrelated topics on its Misc. (miscellaneous) subforum.[17] [18] As of 2022, the forums are used by 18 million people.[19] They are one of the last popular and remaining Web 1.0 forums. The site is politically diverse, notable in comparison to other boards like the right-wing 4chan.[20]
Notable people who have posted there are bodybuilder Zyzz;[21] WWE wrestler Lars Sullivan;[22] and the perpetrator of the 2014 Isla Vista killings, Elliot Rodger.[23] The site popularized the Gonad diet (drinking one gallon of milk a day) and dry scooping (consuming pre-workout powder stimulants without water); both methods are known to be dangerous.[24] [25] In 2008, American woman Katelyn Davis committed suicide after being bullied on the forums. She livestreamed her suicide on justin.tv, and posted the link to the stream beforehand on the site.[26] In 2011, user ThePoz discovered and publicized a way to access private photographs of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook itself.[27] [28] In 2014, Australian man Gable Tostee was found not guilty of murdering his girlfriend Warriena Wright. He had defended himself by posting a full testimony of his actions at the time of her death on the forums, alongside photographs.[29] Also in 2014, the site popularized the word "nutting" as slang for ejaculation.[30]
The forums are notable for a thread titled "Full Body Workout Every Other Day?" created on May 17, 2008,[31] in which two users got into a long and intense argument over the number of days in a week. The thread started when user m1ndless posted: "If I go [to the gym] every other day I will be at the gym 4-5 times a week, is that over training? [...]" User steviekm3 responded: "That makes no sense. There are only 7 days in a week. If you go every other day that is 3.5 times a week."[32] m1ndless, from this point on posting under the username TheJosh, responded: "Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday. That is 4 days. How do you go 3.5 times? Do a half workout or something? lol". User Justin27 agreed with stevekm3 by saying "7x in 2 weeks = 3.5 times a week, genius."
The argument went on for two days, mostly between TheJosh and Justin27. The argument narrowed down to a disagreement over whether or not a week is seven or eight days; Justin27 said a week is defined as Sunday to Saturday, while TheJosh defined it as Sunday to the next Sunday. The argument then hinged on whether Sunday counted as a "real day".[33] It intensified to where they were posting harsh insults, such as when Justin27 told TheJosh: "You are the dumbest boy alive. Jump off a bridge."
The thread went on for 120 posts,[34] or five pages.[35] It was rediscovered by Reddit in 2015, and as of 2016, was viewed 3 million times. It was the subject of a documentary by Jon Bois for SB Nation in 2016. He referred to it as the "perhaps the dumbest argument in the history of the Internet". Deadspin said it was "the least essential discussion ever had".[36] In 2015, Vice News contacted mathematician Joanna Nelson for a resolution, and she said that TheJosh would have to schedule his workouts in two-week chunks, claiming a week is seven days from Monday to Sunday.[37]