EOB News

Dave Palumbo vs Marc Lobliner: Bodybuilding’s Social Media War

August 16, 2024

Dave Palumbo vs Marc Lobliner: Bodybuilding’s Social Media War

In the last few days, a heated debate or we can say a bodybuilding social media war took place between Dave Palumbo and Marc Lobliner.

This all started when Dave’s client, Armon Adibi, just recently competed after a long layoff, and some people, such as Marc Lobliner pointed out that Armon has some photoshopped photos on his social media accounts.

We will not waste a lot of time writing about photoshopped images, as in recent years, all competition photos are slightly photoshopped, so this was an irrelevant argument by Marc Lobliner, but he still took the opportunity to call out Dave Palumbo, but Marc would eventually regret everything he said.

Who is Dave Palumbo? Regardless of what people believe or say, Dave was a very accomplished bodybuilder during one of the most competitive eras in bodybuilding history. Competing during the ’90s and early 2000s meant Dave had to compete against some of the greatest bodybuilders that ever graced the competitive stage.

Dave’s competitive career lasted just over 10 years. Dave managed to win the NPC Junior Nationals title in the Heavyweight division in 1995 and came very close to winning his pro card between 2002 and 2004.

The younger generation of bodybuilders might not know this but during the 80s to the early 2000s, only a handful of pro cards were handed out each year, meaning you had to win the overall title of a pro qualifier to earn a pro card.

Fast forward to 2024, and over 1,300 pro cards are awarded to athletes every year. There is no need to win an overall title to earn a pro card.

Dave Palumbo was one of the freakiest bodybuilders during his era, competing in the super-heavyweight divisions, and was considered one of the first mass monsters during his era.

Palumbo still had a very successful bodybuilding career, even though he did not win a pro card. Supplement companies gave Dave lucrative contracts, allowing him to guest pose regularly and attend bodybuilding expos.

After his bodybuilding career ended, after working for Muscular Development, Dave went on to open his own companies. Dave created Species Nutrition, a very popular and highly-rated supplement brand, and he also created one of the biggest bodybuilding websites and YouTube channels, RX Muscle.

Now, let’s take a look at Marc Lobliner and how he is involved in the world of bodybuilding and fitness.

Marc is a very accomplished businessman, having several successful companies, such as Tiger Fitness, and is part of the Ambrosia Collective. Marc has been working behind the scenes in the bodybuilding industry for the major part of his career, and also worked with Weider publications for several years.

When it comes to competitive bodybuilding, Marc competed at several local events, winning the NABBA Canton Open, overall title in 2013. After several years away from competitive bodybuilding, Marc returned in 2021 and managed to earn his pro status by winning the 2021 NPC Masters USA Overall title.

The last time Marc competed was at the 2023 New York Pro, where he placed last in the 212 bodybuilding event.

Marc also has a successful YouTube channel called Tiger Fitness.

The War of Words

After Dave Palumbo’s client and friend, Armon Adibi, competed, Marc Lobliner did not waste any time in making a video, calling Armon out for having photoshopped images. Marc even went to the extreme of calling Armon out for allegedly increasing his penis size on his photoshopped images.

Dave Palumbo did not waste any time, and replied with his own video, calling Marc Lobliner out for his ridiculous comments. Dave and his guests thought it was ridiculous for Marc to focus the majority of his rant on Armon’s penis size.

It would not take long for Marc Lobliner to publish another video, now focussed on Dave Palumbo, calling him out for not winning a pro card, while Marc pointed out that he won a pro card with allegedly less effort.

Marc allegedly continued to play down Dave Palumbo’s accomplishments during his bodybuilding career, including his business ventures.

This is where Marc went wrong, and he received a lot of criticism on Palumbo’s social media pages and his own as well.

Dave is just as successful as Marc in the supplement industry, Marc should not have even talked about this subject.

Another mistake Marc made was ridiculing Dave Palumbo’s bodybuilding knowledge. Dave Palumbo is one of the most popular coaches in the bodybuilding industry, coaching hundreds of athletes throughout the years, achieving successful results with hundreds of his clients winning events and even achieving pro status.

Dave also has a long list of legendary professional bodybuilders who hired him, knowing that he is one of the most knowledgeable coaches in the industry.

Finally, the biggest mistake that Marc made in his rant was playing down Dave’s bodybuilding career because he did not win a pro card, and Marc emphasized that he won a pro card. But Marc did not mention that he won his pro card in an era where pro cards are handed out like candy.

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, Dave had a very successful bodybuilding career, during the most competitive era in the sport, when only approximately five pro cards were won in a year.

Marc Lobliner could not stand next to a Dave Palumbo in his prime, he would be crushed. If Dave had to compete in the era where over 1,300 pro cards are handed out each year, Dave would have earned his pro status with half the effort.

It’s sad to say, but Marc just kept digging a deeper hole for himself, opening himself to the wrath of criticism.

As expected, Dave Palumbo would have the last word, and this is one of the best videos that Dave has ever published.

Palumbo stated some valid points, that Marc has no chance of replying to, as everything Dave said was correct.

Dave started by alleging that Marc Lobliner hates anybody who is very successful.

When the subject of bodybuilding came up, Dave just laughed at Marc’s bodybuilding career, calling him out as an “Internet Bodybuilder”, as well Dave went on to say that Marc is a guy who has a “big mouth”, and a guy who “likes to attack people online”.

Dave even went as far as to compare their supplement products, with Dave proving to the bodybuilding world that his brand has better ingredients.

Dave then brought up the subject of bodybuilding, pointing out that Marc could not even win his pro card at the NPC Masters Nationals, but won it at the NPC Masters USA Championships, in an era where over 1,200 pro cards are handed out each year.

Dave did not even have to mention all his accomplishments as an amateur bodybuilder, when he competed at the National level throughout his career, in the most competitive era.

Conclusion

We at Evolutionofbodybuilding.net found these arguments very interesting and entertaining at the same time.

But seeing it from the outside, Marc Lobliner made some crucial mistakes, and should not have attacked Dave Palumbo as he did, not realizing how much he is respected in the industry, and how successful he was as an amateur bodybuilder.

Marc’s followers published comments that he made a mistake and should apologize to Dave and even Armon Adibi.

Below is the contest history of Dave Palumbo and Marc Lobliner, we leave it to our readers to make their own comparisons.

Dave Palumbo’s Bodybuilding Contest History

1994
Junior USA – NPC, HeavyWeight, 3rd

1995
Junior Nationals – NPC, HeavyWeight, 1st
USA Championships – NPC, HeavyWeight, 7th

1996
Nationals – NPC, HeavyWeight, 4th
USA Championships – NPC, HeavyWeight, 7th

1997
Nationals – NPC, HeavyWeight, 5th
USA Championships – NPC, HeavyWeight, 6th

1998
Nationals – NPC, Super-HeavyWeight, 8th
North American Championships – IFBB, HeavyWeight, 6th

1999
Massachusetts Championships – NPC, Light-HeavyWeight, 4th
USA Championships – NPC, Super-HeavyWeight, 9th

2000
Nationals – NPC, Super-HeavyWeight, 8th
New York Metro Championships – NPC, Overall Winner
New York Metro Championships – NPC, Super-HeavyWeight, 1st
USA Championships – NPC, Super-HeavyWeight, 4th

2001
North American Championships – IFBB, Super-HeavyWeight, 5th
USA Championships – NPC, Super-HeavyWeight, 7th

2002
Nationals – NPC, Super-HeavyWeight, 2nd
USA Championships – NPC, Super-HeavyWeight, 3rd

2003
Nationals – NPC, Super-HeavyWeight, 6th
USA Championships – NPC, Super-HeavyWeight, 2nd

2004
USA Championships – NPC, Super-HeavyWeight, 6th