- Jeff Nippard needed a CT scan after the incident, which has come back clear
Fans have raced to defend Jeff Nippard after viral footage surfaced of a seemingly unprompted attack from fellow bodybuilder Mike Van Wyck.
The shocking clip shows Van Wyck approaching Nippard and grabbing him by the throat before violently throwing him to the floor of a gym.
Nippard then took to social media to reveal he had gone for a CT scan which had come back all clear, adding that he had no idea why he had been targeted.
‘I don’t know why he attacked me other than that he really, really hates my training style,’ he wrote. ‘I certainly gave him absolutely no reason to hate me. And even if I did, there’s no excuse to physically attack someone over a disagreement.’
And many fans and followers of the fitness industry promptly came out in support of Nippard.
Mike Van Wyck grabbed Jeff Nippard by the throat in a shocking attack in a gym
Nippard needed a CT scan but told his followers on social media that the results were all clear
‘Jeff Nippard is one of the kindest, if not THE kindest, dudes in the bodybuilding world,’ one fan said. ‘He is incredibly talented, SMART, and is NOT ego driven.
He provides great online services to remind and teach people about THEIR superpowers. What Mike Van Wyck did was cowardly’
Another viewpoint read: ‘There is almost no internet influencers I’ll ride out for but Jeff Nippard is an absolute gem of the fitness community and I have learned so much from the resources he puts out and on all accounts is a great guy all around so nah, we riding for this one.’
A different fan posted: ‘What could Jeff Nippard have possibly done to be attacked… (Van Wyck) Clearly didn’t agree with his workouts.’
One fan said Van Wyck has lost him as a supporter in light of the video emerging, saying: ‘Damn, big fan of Jeff Nippard. All over videos/disagreements on training style.
‘Big fan of a podcast the guy Mike is on but this grosses me out. Hard to listen to him now.’
Nippard did suggest that Van Wyck might have had an issue with his science based workout methods.
Van Wyck had recently posted his own video questioning bodybuilders that follow methods like Nippard’s – to which he responded underlining why he follows those methods.
So far, Van Wyck has not spoken out about the incident that has gone viral on social media
But fans have come out in support of Nippard in huge numbers after the shocking scenes
Nippard said: ‘My opinion is that it was the result of anger brought on by the clip I posted yesterday responding to his question about science-based training. Pretty wild stuff.’
Nippard also claimed that Van Wyck also threatened his camera man.
‘In case you didn’t see it, this is exactly what happened and there were many witnesses.
‘Mike Van Wyck jabbed me in the throat twice in the middle of the gym and then shoved my camera man.
‘There is already a lie going around that Mike asked me to stay away from him, and that I didn’t listen, and approached him first. This is FALSE and @puremuscleandfitness has security footage to prove it. I think they should release it.’
So far, Van Wyck has not spoken out about the incident.