On the December 17, 2025, episode of The Big Dawgs: With Manning Sumner podcast, Paul Dillett criticized how tech may be working against you in the gym.

"I can’t believe the s*** I see. I walk into gyms, and I see guys with their cell phones recording. I’m like, dude…. Are you working out or you making a movie?" said the former IFBB Pro.

Host Manning Sumner also supported Paul Dillett’s claim and said, “Now it’s the tripod. You go into bodybuilding gyms, and there’s 14 tripods, you know…. they’re on their phone like, during— like right after the set”.

Paul Dillett spoke about how strict coach Charles Glass, aka the Godfather of Bodybuilding, was as a trainer. “You think Charles Glass would put up with that s*** when we walk in? Our old flip phone. That s*** has to go in the bag... You'd better leave that in the car," added Dillet.

In the podcast, Paul Dillett and Manning Sumner also discussed how bodybuilders in the golden era used to train.

Paul Dillett Isn’t the Only One

Manning Sumner pointed out the distinctiveness between the current way of working out and his own way by saying, “When I worked out, it was like a sporting event. It was like playing a football game. Like you come in and you lock in tunnel vision”.

He continued, “You didn’t want to be messed with, and then you just went to war. It was like the weights were your enemy….. that just doesn’t exist anymore," said the host.

Dillett agreed, and he isn't the only one talking about tech ultimately turning into a distraction in the gym. 7x Mr. Olympia Arnold Shcwwarzenegger also wrote about smartphones distracting people in and outside the gym.

Schwarzengger cited a study in the University of Chicago Press Journal to highlight how smartphones affected focus on his Arnold's Pump Club newsletter.

"Scientists found that the closer the phone was, the worse the performance. Those with their phones on the desk showed significantly reduced cognitive capacity compared to those whose phones were in another room," he wrote.

It's interesting that veteran trainers like Charles Glass knew long before this study that keeping the phone out of reach during a workout was the right move.

Written by

Supradeep Dutta

Edited by

Sagnik Bagchi