The 6’4” offensive lineman’s desire to build the best version of himself was ramped up as a result of injuries such as a fractured foot in 2022, leading him to lean into mobility, flexibility, and recovery. More recently, he’s been working through an issue with his knee, but as the new season approaches, the man from New Jersey is ready to play. “Right now, I feel good,” says Ruiz. “I’ve definitely learned, over time, how important it is to listen to my body, stay consistent with my routine, and do what I need to do to be ready every day.”

Now residing in Dallas, Ruiz has been using the offseason to train under former Saint and Miami Dolphins star, Terron Armstead. “He has been a role model for me, especially as a veteran,” explains Ruiz. “He has done it at a high-level and he is very easy to listen to, because everything he says comes from real experience. When someone like that speaks, you pay attention.”

While Ruiz appreciates the importance of human interaction in training, the 315-plus-pound athlete is also turning to technology, embracing AI as a means of mastering his meal plans. The big man explains that the introduction to AI was first made by his close friend Noah Perry. “I wanted to get more organized with the food that I eat, and the meals that actually work well for my body,” shares Ruiz. “Noah told me about Claude, so I started messing around with that.”

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NFL Star Cesar Ruiz Built an AI Nutrition App—and Says It Changed Everything

AI assistants like ChatGPT and Claude are becoming an important resource for committed athletes due to the convenience, accessibility, and flexibility that they offer. “I have always loved computers and understood them, so AI was something that I was interested in right away,” says Ruiz. “I ended up spending six or seven hours with Claude, and it basically coded an app for me. I am still tuning it now and adding extra stuff to it, but it is built specifically for me. It organizes my meals, recipes, macros, portions, and what I need based on my calorie needs. I do not really count every single calorie, but it helps me make sure I am hitting my protein and staying on track.”

Having an artificial nutritionist in the palm of your hand also allows for constant tracking and even the ability to sync with other devices. “My app keeps track of my progress, my weight, my body composition, my training, and it is connected to my Whoop, so it adds things like my sleep score too. My app also keeps track of what I eat and drink, and it is very easy to input everything. It takes me maybe two minutes.”

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Can AI Improve Athletic Performance?

While research in this area is relatively new, a large two-year study showed that fitness apps have serious potential. Data from more than half-a-million Canadian fitness app users showed that those who began by taking less than 5,000 steps per day ended the project with an additional 1,000 to 2,000 daily steps. Experts have found that there are a range of factors that determine fitness app adherence, including the type of training discipline being undertaken. But it is thought that AI encourages greater use through its connectivity and individual tailoring, leading to better enjoyment and adherence.

“One of the coolest features is that if I do not know what to eat, I have a list of foods in there, that I know my body responds well to. I can hit ‘Generate,’ and my app will create a recipe for me. It can even generate Michelin-star type recipes, and I can filter it or fine-tune it based on what I want. It tracks my sleep, my food, my drinks, and everything in one place.”

How Is Cesar Ruiz Using AI for NFL Performance?

“I use AI more for the numbers, the structure, and putting everything into one system so that it is easy for me to understand and keep up with,” explains Ruiz. “Nutrition can get complicated when you are eating a lot of food and trying to make sure you are getting what your body needs every day. The app makes it simple for me, because everything is in one place. I can see what I ate, what I drank, how much protein I got in, how my body is responding, and what I might need to adjust.”

Ruiz views AI as an extension of his training, rather than a replacement for human coaches, and feels that unique interactions with trusted figures like Terron Armstead and Trey Smith is supercharging his prep for the coming season. “Training with Terron has been great,” reflects Ruiz. “And Trey is my best friend. We have been extremely close since we were 15 years old, so at this point he is really like my brother. We have been doing this for so long together that it feels good to be able to train together now at this level.”

Why Human Coaches Still Matter in the Age of AI

At least for now, AI cannot replicate the bonds that Ruiz has made on the field. “The biggest takeaway is how easy the communication is when you have that kind of relationship with somebody. It is not forced. It is a conversation. Trey and I know each other, we understand each other, and we can pick each other’s brains in a way that feels natural,” explains Ruiz. “It is unique because it is one-on-one, but it also comes from a super strong relationship. Trey has played with me, he understands who I am as a player, and that makes it easy.”

And, as the 2026 season approaches, Cesar Ruiz is about to experience another aspect of human life that is far removed from AI. “I am always excited for the season,” beams Ruiz. “But this year will be special, because I’ll have my son in the stands watching me. That is going to be a great feeling!”

To follow Cesar Ruiz on Instagram, click here. 

For country artist Wesko, the reality has been far less glamorous and far more inspiring.

Long before he was performing on stages across the country, Wesko was learning lessons about discipline, sacrifice, and perseverance in rural eastern North Carolina. Raised in a farming community where hard work wasn’t praised so much as expected, he grew up surrounded by people who measured character by effort rather than achievement.

His father worked as a warden, often keeping unpredictable hours. His grandfather balanced a factory job while running a body shop on the side, routinely putting in 60-hour workweeks. When Wesko wasn’t playing sports, he was often helping around the shop, washing cars, moving equipment, or finding some other way to contribute.

Those experiences would become the foundation of his identity long before music entered the picture.

“I’ve never been a stranger to having to buck up and do some hard work,” Wesko confesses. “Honestly, that’s probably been the most consistent thing I’ve had in my life.”

Today, that same blue-collar mindset influences every aspect of his life. Whether he’s writing songs, preparing for a show, hitting the gym, prioritizing recovery, or chasing increasingly ambitious career goals, the philosophy remains unchanged: show up, work hard, and keep moving forward.

It’s a mentality that has helped transform a kid from a small North Carolina town into one of country music’s fastest-rising artists.

Growing Up Tough in Eastern North Carolina

Before he was a singer-songwriter, Wesko was an athlete.

Like many kids growing up in the South, sports were a major part of life. He played football, baseball, and basketball, spending countless hours competing, practicing, and learning the value of teamwork.

Football, however, taught him perhaps the most memorable lesson.

“I played wherever they put me,” he says with a laugh. “I played defensive end for a little while and middle linebacker for a little bit until I got laid out one good time and decided football wasn’t a sport I wanted to play anymore.”

While he jokes about his football career, the lessons from those years have stayed with him.

The discipline of showing up every day, pushing through discomfort, and competing against himself still influences the way he approaches fitness and life today. More importantly, growing up around hardworking family members gave him a perspective that many people don’t develop until much later in life.

“I watched my dad work. I watched my granddad work. Hard work wasn’t really something that was optional where I came from.”

That perspective would become invaluable when he eventually decided to pursue music professionally.

The Emotional Cost of Performing

For Wesko, performing isn’t simply entertainment; It’s vulnerability.

Each song represents a piece of his personal experiences, relationships, struggles, and emotions. Night after night, he stands in front of strangers and shares those stories openly.

That level of emotional investment requires energy. A lot of it.

“There’s a piece of me in every song,” he explains. “After a set, I feel like I’ve given everything I’ve got emotionally, mentally, and physically.”

Many artists struggle with the contrast between the intensity of a performance and the quiet that follows. One moment you’re standing in front of thousands of cheering fans. Next, you’re alone in a hotel room. That emotional whiplash can be difficult to navigate. Wesko has learned to embrace both sides of the experience.

“You’ve got to develop a switch that you can flip on and flip off,” he says.

While he loves performing, he also genuinely enjoys solitude. In fact, some of his happiest moments occur away from the spotlight entirely.

“As much fun as being on stage is, I also really enjoy everyday life,” he says. “I enjoy sitting in the silence.”

That ability to appreciate ordinary moments has become one of his greatest tools for maintaining balance.

Staying Consistent on the Road

Touring can quickly destroy even the best fitness intentions. Long travel days, irregular schedules, late-night performances, and constant movement make it difficult to maintain any type of routine. Wesko doesn’t pretend otherwise.

“Travel days are hard,” he says. “If you’re driving ten or eleven hours, you don’t really have time to get a workout in.”

Rather than striving for perfection, he focuses on adaptability. Whenever he finds an opportunity to train, he takes it. One of his most practical solutions has been joining Planet Fitness, which gives him access to locations across the country.

“Those things are like Dollar General stores in the South,” he jokes. “They’re pretty much everywhere.”

The approach reflects his broader philosophy toward health. Instead of making excuses when circumstances aren’t ideal, he simply adjusts and does what he can with the resources available. It’s a mindset that has served him well not only in fitness but throughout his career.

Although he prioritizes traditional training, Wesko admits some of his most exhausting workouts happen under stage lights.

Performing requires far more than simply singing into a microphone. There’s constant movement, elevated heart rates, adrenaline surges, and a level of energy expenditure that most audience members never fully appreciate. By the end of a set, he often feels as exhausted as he would after a demanding training session.

“Even if it’s just a 30-minute set, by the time you get off stage, you’re completely drained,” he says. “It’s exhausting in the best way.”

The physical demands are significant. The emotional demands can be even greater.

Sleep: The Most Important Recovery Tool He Has

In an era dominated by wellness gadgets, supplements, and recovery trends, Wesko’s most effective recovery strategy remains surprisingly simple: Sleep.

“The most important thing you can do for your body is sleep,” he says.

Whether he’s at home or on tour, he prioritizes getting seven to eight hours whenever possible. The benefits go beyond muscle recovery. Sleep directly impacts his energy, focus, mood, and vocal performance.

“If I don’t get enough sleep, my voice doesn’t work as well as it should.”

To help improve sleep quality, he limits screen time before bed and replaces social media scrolling with reading. His post-show routine is remarkably uncomplicated.

After meeting fans and wrapping up the evening, he heads back to his hotel room, showers, grabs his Kindle, and reads until he falls asleep.

No elaborate recovery rituals. No complicated protocols.

Just consistency.

The Recovery Shake That Became a Legend

Of course, recovery isn’t just about sleep. Nutrition plays a major role as well.

Wesko aims to consume at least 150 grams of protein daily, and one particular shake helps him get there.

The recipe is simple but substantial: frozen bananas, blueberries, two servings of protein powder, and several heaping spoonfuls of peanut butter blended into a calorie-dense shake.

His girlfriend isn’t necessarily a fan. Wesko, however, loves it.

When asked what he’d call the creation, he immediately had an answer.

“The Peanut Butter Falcon.”

It’s a fitting name for a drink that’s equal parts protein shake and meal replacement.

The Relationship That Keeps Him Grounded

Every high-performance individual needs a support system. For Wesko, that person is his girlfriend, Jess.

In an industry built around constant travel, uncertainty, and pressure, she provides consistency.

“She truly keeps me grounded,” he says.

While managers handle schedules and business responsibilities, Jess helps keep his personal life organized and stable. More importantly, she offers perspective.

“She’s never missed a show,” he says. “She’s a true calming presence in a business that’s the exact opposite of calm.”

When asked what creates a healthy relationship, Wesko’s answer isn’t complicated: communication.

“I think the most helpful thing you can do in a relationship is talk to each other and be completely honest about everything.”

For someone whose career requires constant movement, maintaining that connection requires intentional effort. It’s another example of the discipline that shows up throughout every area of his life.

Still Chasing Something Bigger

Despite the momentum his career has generated, Wesko doesn’t operate like someone who believes he’s made it. If anything, success has only expanded his ambitions.

Years ago, his goal was simply to become the first artist from his corner of eastern North Carolina to sign a record deal.

Check. He accomplished that.

Today, the goals are larger.

Playing iconic venues. Reaching bigger audiences. Building a catalog that stands the test of time.

Each milestone creates a new target. Each achievement raises the standard.

“I want to do this at a level nobody’s ever done it before,” he says.

That relentless pursuit can be traced back to the lessons he learned growing up.

The long workdays. The sports practices. The body shop. The belief that effort matters.

For Wesko, taking care of himself in 2026 isn’t about chasing perfection. It’s about making sure he’s physically, mentally, and spiritually prepared for whatever challenge comes next.

And if his story is any indication, he’s just getting started.

Arnold, who is fighting fit at 79, explained in a recent edition of his Pump Club Newsletter, that both fans and friends ask him if soft midsections, shapeless shoulders, and less than chiseled chests are the result of muscles turning to fat. “Here’s what I tell my friends (if they want my opinion), and what I’ll tell you,” he answered. “You are not imagining the change. Your body did get softer, probably weaker, and the mirror is not lying to you. But the story you’re telling yourself about why, is wrong in a very specific way, and that specific way is exactly where all the good news is hiding.”

Can Muscle Turn Into Fat?

“Muscle and fat are two different kinds of tissue,” explained the Terminator star. “One does not become the other, in either direction, ever,” he confirmed. Adding that when people say their muscle “turned to fat,” something real is happening, “but it’s two separate processes running at the same time, and you’re blaming one, when the culprit is both.”

Arnold points out that the first process is a natural one. As we age, muscle mass begins to decrease if not trained effectively. That’s when the second process then takes hold, as fat tissue moves into the muscle itself, “threading between the inside fibers, which researchers have linked to weaker, stiffer muscle,” explained Arnold.

In other words, muscle did not turn to fat, but muscle degraded and made space for fat to accumulate. “That is why the mirror tells such a convincing conversion story,” said Arnold, before providing hope for us all.

What Causes Age-Related Muscle Loss and How To Prevent It?

“The overwhelming evidence suggests that the process of losing muscle and accumulating fat can be slowed and steered in the right direction,” advised the seven-time Mr Olympia. “By the same habits that built the underlying muscle in the first place.”

The Austrian Oak admits that “Father Time is undefeated,” but he encourages us to hold back the hands of time. “The more you fight to keep what you have, the more you can hold on to your muscle and strength. And even if you start late, your body is still willing to respond and become stronger and more muscular.”

Arnold’s 4 Tips To Prevent Muscle Loss as You Age

The able actor added that, “The science on muscle, strength, power, and function is clear: you don’t just lose it. You lose it because you don’t use it.” So, to take back control, the Commando star prescribed:

• Lifting, two to three times per week: “This is the main lever, full stop,” advised Arnold.
• Add intensity, speed, and power:  “Move some of your reps with intent.”
• Eat plenty of protein: “At the lower end, expert consensus targets are at least 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. The more active you are, it might be better to get 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of your goal body weight. And at the highest end, you’re looking at 1.8 to 2.2 g/kg.”
• Move more:  “Don’t overlook everyday movement. It’s what pushes back on the fat creeping into the muscle and helps keep the wiring between nerve and fiber intact.”

How Often Should Older Adults Lift Weights?

Guidelines for physical activity among adults aged 65 years and older advise at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-to-intense aerobic activity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity, weekly. But whatever you do, start now, said Schwarzenegger. “The response to training does shrink a little with age, which is an argument for starting sooner, not that it stops working. The evidence runs all the way into the nineties,” encouraged the inspirational actor. “The worst time to start was a decade ago. The second-worst time is to keep waiting for a tidier week, putting it off until tomorrow, next week, or next year.”

To follow Arnold’s Pump Club on Instagram, click here. 

Who Is Ryan ‘The Bruiser’ Rozicki?

Rozicki’s origin story is as cinematic as they come. His first experiences of old-school workouts were earned on the remote Island Cape Breton, off the coast of Nova Scotia, where he would cut wood for his Grandad after the school bell rang. “My grandfather always said that my punching power was because of all the wood he made me throw up to the trailers,” he explains. “Some days were pretty rough, I’m not gonna lie. But I’m glad he put me through it.”

While the intense manual labor was exhausting, it was also a welcome distraction from a life that was increasingly headed in the wrong direction. Rozicki was getting into fights from the age of seven, and as he got older, so too did the age gap with his opponents. Of course, The Bruiser can only joke that such feuds were never his fault. “It was always them, every time” he tells M&F with a wry smile. “There’s some very tough people where I come from, and I ran into a few of them. I definitely didn’t win them all, but yeah, I knew I had knockout power since I was twelve years old. I think (that) was the first time I knocked somebody out, who was a grown man, in their 20s.”

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Ryan Rozicki’s Journey From Schoolyard Fighter to Boxing Contender

Fortunately, Rozicki took his raw potential to a boxing gym, but learning the technique was a wakeup call. “The coach who was at the gym humbled me real quick,” he reflects. “The amateur fighters humbled me real quick, and I learned very quickly that tough guys just get hurt. They are easy pickings, but it made me respect the sport, respect the training.”

Through boxing, Rozicki was able to channel his energy into something positive, becoming a student of history who looks toward Jack Dempsey as his favorite boxer of all time. The Bruiser still dabbles in some rugged training methods, as illustrated back in March, when he tried to replicate an old George Foreman move; pulling a truck with just his body. This excursion ended badly, however, when the truck left the road and crashed into a ditch. “I might actually sell this truck next week,” he told his Instagram followers after the incident. “If anyone’s interested msg me. It’s located in Cape Breton, will need to be towed most likely but still a solid truck with a hell of a story.”

Ryan Rozicki’s Strategy for Beating Chris Billam-Smith at Zuffa 7

Despite Rozicki’s storied reputation for old-school training, he does not lift weights in the gym during the run-up to a fight. “We do runs, sprints, and we box,” the boxer explains of the camp that brought him to this next big boxing match. But while their records may be similar, The Bruiser (21-1-1) will be tasked with a vastly different opponent in Chris Billam-Smith (21-2-0). That’s because the man they call “The Gentleman” is a decorated amateur boxer, the very type of fighter than humbled him in those early years of training. Rozicki feels that the longer the fight goes, the more it swings in the hometown hero’s favor, so he does not want to leave the result in the hands of the judges. “My goal here is to do everything, and keep that from happening,” he concludes.

When and Where to Watch Zuffa Boxing 7

Ryan “The Bruiser” Rozicki will face “The Gentleman” Chris Billam-Smith at Zuffa Boxing 7, held at the Bournemouth International Centre on Saturday, June 6, 2026. The event streams live on Paramount+ in the United States and Canada, and Sky Sports in the U.K. and Ireland. For tickets, click here.

To follow Ryan Rozicki on Instagram, click here. 

Hadi Choopan is making a comeback to the world of bodybuilding and is hoping to repeat his 2022 Mr Olympia victory by earning a second trophy at this year’s event. From 2023 to 2025, The Persian Wolf has come a close second, meaning that Choopan has trained successfully for years. To that end, Milos Sarcev explained that he would need to allow the Iranian to continue down his own path, while influencing certain factors that could make all the difference.

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“Hadi loves carbs,” explained Sarcev, noting that most bodybuilding observers would assume that the Iranian must be on a constant regime of super-low carbohydrates to achieve the kind of conditioning that he hits on stage. Despite his love of carbs, The Mind also disclosed that Choopan doesn’t tend to add high amounts of cardio to his routine. Choopan has consistently treaded the competitive boards with a phenomenal physique, however, and so Sarcev has no desire to mess with the formula. The coach recalled that while he was working with Samson Dauda, Sarcev always felt that Choopan’s conditioning was the benchmark to shoot for.

At the 2024 Mr Olympia final, Dauda beat Choopan to take the title, but Sarcev said that there was just one point in it. “It’s that close,” he explained. The Mind also reflected that Choopan has placed higher than the current Mr Olympia, Derek Lunsford, meaning that he has a solid chance of victory in Sin City.

“(Hadi) is most feared for the reason of bringing that conditioning,” explained Sarcev. “And now, me as a coach, I’m gonna tell him, do your own thing, pretty much, you know?” Sarcev also illuded that even under Hany Rambod, Choopan likely trained mostly the way that he’d already been doing in previous years. Still, Sarcev does have a strategy to make some important changes.

What Is Milos Sarcev’s Plan for Hadi Choopan at Mr. Olympia 2026?

“I want to bring up those legs a little bit,” shared the coach. “I want to bring up, a little bit, chest.” But when it comes to his back, Sarcev says that Choopan is already where he needs to be. “I’m telling him: ‘You don’t need bigger, thicker, wider back,” he shared. “You just need ‘defined.’”

To dial into the detail of Choopan’s back, Sarcev says he is suggesting the movements that make the most of the “squeeze,” or muscle contraction. “You have, you know, a pull down, pull up move, you have a rowing move, you have a pullover, you have a deadlift.” With 17 weeks to go until bodybuilding’s most prestigious event, fans and critics are excited to see what the team of Hadi Choopan and Milos Sarcev can bring to the stage.

The Persian Wolf will get that chance to win his second Mr Olympia title between September 25 and 27, 2026, at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. For more information, click here!

To watch episode 288 of The Menace Podcast in full and catch up on the latest bodybuilding news, see below.

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Why Pull-Ups Are Considered the Best Back Exercise

Pull-ups can ultimately be performed weighted, with plates dangling from a dip belt like medieval armor, but even bodyweight pull-ups alone can produce dramatic gains in both back width and middle-back thickness. In fact, many of the greatest physiques ever built relied heavily on them.

I remember training at Gold’s Gym Venice in the early ’90s and hearing Shawn Ray talk about how he started every back workout with 50 pull-ups. Didn’t matter how many sets it took. What mattered was that he bagged 50 before moving on.

The mindset is that the pull-up is standard.

How Pull-Ups Build Back Width and Thickness

The kinesiology involved is remarkable. Few movements recruit more musculature simultaneously. The lats do the heavy pulling, but they don’t work alone. Rhomboids, teres muscles, traps, rear delts, biceps, brachialis, forearms, grip musculature, abs and intercostals all contribute to the movement. Even the hands and fingers become active players. That’s why pull-ups feel different from machine work. You’re not simply moving weight. You’re moving your entire body through space and that demands cooperation from a tremendous amount of muscle tissue.

Overhand vs. Underhand Pull-Ups: What’s the Difference?

Grip selection can also subtly change the emphasis of the movement. A traditional overhand or pronated grip tends to emphasize lat width and upper back development while heavily involving the outer portions of the biceps and brachialis. Reverse or underhand grips—often called chin-ups—shift more emphasis toward the biceps and lower lat region while still hammering the back. Neither is superior. Both deserve a place in a serious training program.

How To Use the Pullup No Matter Your Level

The beauty of pull-ups is its adaptability. Beginners can use assistance while advanced trainees can make them brutally difficult. For experienced lifters, weighted pull-ups become one of the finest upper-body strength builders available. Add enough iron to your waist and the movement evolves from an endurance exercise into a raw demonstration of pulling power. And yes, there’s a reason pull-ups have long been part of military and law-enforcement fitness testing. Apparently governments still appreciate citizens capable of hauling their own carcass over an obstacle.

But what if you can’t do one?

Good. You have somewhere to start.

Most larger gyms have a machine called the Gravitron. It allows you to perform assisted pull-ups and dips by counterbalancing your bodyweight with a pinned weight stack. The more weight you select, the lighter you become.

Find a resistance level that allows you to perform several clean repetitions and work from there. As strength improves, gradually reduce the assistance. The machine quite literally teaches you how to become lighter.

No Gravitron? No problem.

Position a CrossFit cube, bench, or even a sturdy dumbbell upright beneath the bar and use it as a step. Grab the bar and use the platform to help pop yourself into the top position of the pull-up. Now comes the magic. Lower yourself slowly. Count to six.

This is called negative training, and it works because muscles are often stronger during the lowering, or eccentric, phase of movement as tension gradually ebbs. By controlling that descent and resisting gravity, you build the strength necessary to eventually perform full pull-ups on your own.

Pop up.

Lower slowly.

Do it again. And again.

Eventually, one rep becomes three. Three becomes six. Six becomes 10. And before long, you’re no longer negotiating with the bar. You own it.

From beginner to expert, the pull-up remains a mandatory staple in any serious lifter’s bag of tricks. Cable machines may evolve and equipment may become increasingly sophisticated, but iron still speaks its own language. And few exercises speak louder than the pull-up.

Finding success during bodybuilding’s Golden Era, Grant’s ambition to build muscle began aged 9, leading him to trained in his bedroom and a pal’s back yard. The bright lights would beckon, however, and Grant entered his first serious competition in his mid-twenties, placing a respectable sixth at the Mr. USA event. Through trial and error, Grant made steady progression thanks to his passion for building his physique and walked away with first place at the 1972 Mr. World competition. This top placing would be the start of a legendary story, with Grant repeating his success at the Mr World, the Mr International, and winning countless other trophies in the U.S. and Europe for more than two decades.

Grant’s friend and fellow bodybuilder, Shawn Ray took to Instagram following the news on June 3, 2026, to share his loss. “Sad news today as legend, Bill Grant has passed away,” said the multi time Mr Olympia competitor. “Bill was born on September 27, 1946. Bill was 79 years old. Condolences to his family and friends.”

The exact cause of death was not disclosed as of this writing.

Bill Grant Will Be Remembered as the Muscular “Man of Steel”

Bill Grant competed in the Mr Olympia final several times between 1976 and 1984 and hit a high of fourth place. “Bill was admired for his aesthetic physique, symmetry, and classic lines,” remembered the Arnold Sports Instagram channel. “… he shared the stage with many of the sport’s most legendary competitors during one of bodybuilding’s most iconic era.”

Born and raised in East Orange, New Jersey, Grant became a regular at his local YMCA. “I was always picked on, beaten by everybody even by the girls,” he once said, in words made available by his official website. “I got tired to be beaten all the time, I loved sport, but I couldn’t play football because I was too small.”

By working hard in the gym, Grant added 45 pounds to his skinny frame, within the space of just four years. “I read all the magazines religiously and honestly,” he explained. “I saw Serge Nubret in a magazine, and Sergio Oliva, Reg Park.” Now, Grant will be remembered alongside his heroes as an inspirational figure that captured the peoples’ imagination thanks to a huge heart and massive muscles.

“To the bodybuilding world, Bill was one of the iconic personalities of the Golden Era, a champion, mentor, training partner, and inspiration to generations of athletes around the world,” reflected Grant’s official Instagram account. “His passion for bodybuilding, his discipline, knowledge, humor, and larger-than-life personality left a lasting mark on everyone who knew him.”

The whole team at Muscle & Fitness extends its deepest condolences for a legend lost but never forgotten.

You don’t need to start there.

The real muscle-building starter pack is much simpler: train with enough volume and effort, eat enough protein and total food to support growth, and recover well enough to keep stacking productive workouts. Those three pieces carry most of the weight. Once they’re in place, the smaller details can help. Before they’re in place, the smaller details mostly become noise.

That doesn’t mean training methods, exercise selection, or programming details don’t matter. They do. But they matter more after the foundation has been laid. If your sets aren’t hard enough, your weekly volume is too low, your protein is inconsistent, or your sleep is wrecked, the perfect split won’t do much heavy lifting for you.

This starter pack keeps the process simple: train, eat, and recover. From there, the sample three-day plan gives you one practical way to put those rules into action. It’s not the only split that works, and it’s not meant to be treated like a magic formula. Use it as a clear starting point, or as a framework for checking whether your current routine covers the muscle-building basics.

Step 1: Train Hard Enough to Grow

Muscle growth starts with training that gives your body a clear reason to adapt. That means enough hard sets, enough weekly volume, and enough consistency for those workouts to build on each other. Most of your hypertrophy work can live in the 6-15 rep range, with heavier sets and higher-rep isolation work mixed in where they fit. That range gives you plenty of room to load the muscle, control the movement, and collect quality reps without turning every set into a max-effort survival event.

A strong starting point is around 10 to 20 challenging sets per muscle group each week. Newer lifters can usually make progress closer to the lower end. More experienced lifters may need to push toward the higher end as their bodies adapt. The important part is that those sets have some bite. If you stop a set of 10 when you clearly had another 8 reps in the tank, that set probably didn’t do much for growth. For most working sets, aim to finish with one to three reps in reserve. Hard work still needs clean reps.

Muscle-building training targets:

• Spend most of your work in the 6 to 15 rep range.
• Build toward 10 to 20 challenging sets per muscle group each week.
• Finish most working sets with one to three reps in reserve.
• Add reps, load, sets, or cleaner execution as your body adapts.
• Track your lifts so progress doesn’t turn into guesswork.

This is where the internet tends to make lifting feel more complicated than it has to be. Full-body routines, upper/lower splits, push/pull/legs, machine-heavy workouts, dumbbell plans, and barbell-focused programs can all build muscle. The split only matters if the work inside it makes sense. Your program needs to train each muscle often enough, challenge those muscles hard enough, and give you a clear way to progress.

Once that foundation is covered, the smaller details become more useful. Then it makes sense to fine-tune your exercise selection, adjust your split, or incorporate a few advanced methods. Start with the bigger levers first: train hard, write down what you did, add weight or reps when your form earns it, and stay with the plan long enough to see what happens.

Step 2: Eat Enough to Make the Work Count

Training starts the muscle-building process. Food keeps it moving. Protein is the first place to look because it provides your body with the raw materials it needs to repair and build new muscle. A simple target is roughly 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight per day. It’s easy to remember, easy to track, and it keeps most lifters from accidentally eating like they’re trying to maintain forever.

Build that protein into meals you can repeat. Lean meats, eggs, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, fish, protein powder, tofu, beans, and other protein-rich foods can all work. The exact lineup depends on your schedule, appetite, budget, and what you’ll actually eat when life gets busy. The best muscle-building meal plan usually looks pretty boring on paper because it relies on foods you can hit consistently.

Muscle-building nutrition basics:

• Eat roughly 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight per day.
• Get protein into multiple meals instead of playing catch-up at night.
• Keep enough carbs in the mix to fuel hard training.
• Eat enough total food for your lifts, recovery, and bodyweight to move.
• Use repeatable meals so nutrition doesn’t require constant decision-making.

Total food intake matters right alongside protein. If you’re lifting hard while under-eating every day, your body usually makes that clear. Workouts start dragging. Pumps disappear. Soreness hangs around longer. Your logbook stalls, and the scale barely moves. That’s usually the point where people blame the program, swap exercises, or start hunting for a new method when the simpler answer may be sitting on their plate.

Start by hitting the obvious numbers. Get your protein in. Eat enough food to support the training you’re doing. Watch your energy, performance, recovery, and bodyweight trends over a few weeks. If those markers move in the right direction, your nutrition is probably doing its job.

Step 3: Recover So You Can Keep Training

Recovery is usually treated as the boring part of building muscle, which explains why so many lifters ignore it until something starts to bark. A cranky shoulder. A low back that feels sketchy on every hinge. Knees that need a full negotiation before the first squat set. None of that helps you train hard enough to grow.

Sleep sits at the top of this list. Muscle-building workouts beat up tissue, drain energy, and create fatigue that has to be paid back somewhere. Aim for 7 to 9 hours when life allows it. A rough night here and there won’t wreck your progress. String together enough bad nights, though, and you’ll feel it fast. Your warmups take longer, your working weights feel heavier, and your motivation starts acting like it left town without saying goodbye.

Mobility deserves a small spot in the plan, especially if it helps you train in better positions. Keep it simple and useful. Spend a few minutes on the areas that affect your biggest lifts:

hips, ankles, shoulders, T spine, and whatever else tends to feel locked up before training. Even 5 to 10 minutes after a session, or on an off day, can help you move better and keep minor restrictions from turning into bigger headaches.

Simple recovery boxes to check:

• Aim for 7 to 9 hours of sleep as often as you can.
• Give hard sessions enough space so your next workout doesn’t feel buried from the start.
• Spend 5 to 10 minutes on mobility for the joints and muscles you actually use.
• Warm up well enough that your first working set feels ready, not rushed.
• Pay attention to nagging aches before they become forced time off.

Recovery earns its place because it keeps you available for the work. If you’re always beat up, always tired, or always training around some irritated joint, your muscle-building plan has a leak in it. Stay healthy enough to stack good sessions, and growth has a much better shot.

The 3-Day Muscle-Building Starter Plan

This three-day plan shows one clean way to put the muscle-building basics into action. It isn’t the only setup that works. Full-body training, upper/lower splits, push/pull/legs, and body-part splits can all build plenty of muscle when the work is hard enough, and the weekly volume makes sense. This plan keeps the layout simple: Hit the big lifts first, then use supersets to cover the smaller muscle groups without dragging the session out forever.

Start each workout with your compound lifts while you’re fresh. That’s where you want your best focus, strongest reps, and cleanest technique. Once the heavier work is done, move into isolation supersets for shoulders, arms, hamstrings, calves, rear delts, and core. That lets you build useful volume without spending half the night wandering between machines.

Rest 90 to 150 seconds between sets on the compound lifts. During the isolation supersets, move from the first exercise to the second with minimal rest, then take 45 to 75 seconds before repeating the pair. Most working sets should finish with one to three reps in reserve.

Day 1: Squat, Press, Pull

1. Barbell Back Squat: 3 sets of 6-8 reps
2. Dumbbell Bench Press: 3 sets of 8-10 reps
3. Chest-Supported Row: 3 sets of 8-12 reps

Superset A: Pair the lateral raises with the hamstring curls. Move from one exercise to the next, rest 45 to 75 seconds, then repeat.

1. Dumbbell Lateral Raise: 3 sets of 12-15 reps
2. Seated Hamstring Curl: 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Superset B: Pair the pressdowns with the calf raises using the same rest setup.

1. Cable Triceps Pressdown: 2 to 3 sets of 10-15 reps
2. Standing Calf Raise: 2 to 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Day 2: Hinge, Press, Pull

1. Romanian Deadlift: 3 sets of 6-8 reps
2. Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 3 sets of 8-10 reps
3. Lat Pulldown: 3 sets of 8-12 reps

Superset A: Run the leg extensions and rear-delt flys back-to-back, then rest before the next round.

1. Leg Extension: 3 sets of 10-15 reps
2. Rear-Delt Fly: 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Superset B: Finish with curls and cable crunches. Keep the pace steady and the reps controlled.

1. Incline Dumbbell Curl: 2 to 3 sets of 10-15 reps
2. Cable Crunch: 2 to 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Day 3: Deadlift, Incline Press, Single-Leg Work

1. Trap Bar Deadlift: 3 sets of 5-8 reps
2. Incline Dumbbell Bench Press: 3 sets of 8-10 reps
3. Bulgarian Split Squat: 3 sets of 8-10 reps per leg
4. Seated Cable Row: 3 sets of 8-12 reps

Superset A: Pair cable lateral raises with lying leg curls. Don’t rush the reps just because the exercises are lighter.

1. Cable Lateral Raise: 2 to 3 sets of 12-15 reps
2. Lying Leg Curl: 2 to 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Superset B: Close with direct arm work. Let the biceps and triceps do the work instead of turning every rep into a full-body project.

1. EZ-Bar Curl: 2 to 3 sets of 10-15 reps
2. Rope Triceps Extension: 2 to 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Run the plan for six to eight weeks before making big changes. Track your lifts, reps, and how each set feels. When you can hit the top end of a rep range with clean form across every set, add a small amount of weight the next time you perform that lift. That steady climb matters more than swapping exercises every week because boredom showed up before progress had a chance.

Galimski’s mass building efforts are certainly measurable. The big man took to Instagram recently to share that he currently weighs around 308 pounds (140kg), which is way up from the 235 pounds (107kg) that he weighed last November. Galimski qualified for an IFBB Pro Card back in 2024, by winning the NPC Worldwide Empro Classic Pro, and is now he’s hoping to make a splash among the very best bodybuilders on the planet.

Fancy training like “The Juggernaut? Here’s how to replicate his reps.

Patryk Galimski’s Upper Body Push Workout

• Incline Smith Machine Bench Press: 2 Sets x 6 to 8 Reps
• Incline Chest Press: 3 Sets x 10 Reps
• Fly Machine: 2 Sets X 8 to 10 Reps
• Side lateral Raise Machine: 4 Sets x 8 to 20 Reps
• Seated Shoulder Press: 2 Sets x 12 Reps
• Triceps Pushdowns: 3 Sets x 6 to 9 Reps
• Single Arm Triceps Pushdowns: 3 Sets of 8 to 10 Reps

Workout Breakdown

Galimski gets straight to work on his chest gains with a series of three moves. The incline smith machine bench press hits the upper pectoralis major, while the incline chest press hits the upper and lower chest.  The fly pounds the mid chest, so by incorporating all three moves, the chest gets a serious workout, as do the stabilizing muscles in the arms and shoulders.

Moving on to the side lateral raise machine, The Juggernaut shores up his shoulders, building that much hallowed ‘capped’ appearance that comes as a result of dialing in the medial deltoid muscles. Galimski continues these shoulder blasting efforts with the seated shoulder press, further exhausting the anterior deltoid near the pecs, the upper chest, and even the triceps.

To finishing, Galimski aims for some epic arm gains by going all out with triceps cable pushdowns, mixing double armed sets with unilateral work. This taxes the medial and lateral heads of the triceps, while the single arm work serves to correct symmetry and fix any strength imbalances.

To try this workout for yourself, start out by choosing a weight that you can lift for 8 to 12 reps, repeating for 2 to 4 sets on each move. This will put you in the muscle building range of hypertrophy and put you on the same journey as The Juggernaut.

To follow Patryk Galimski on Instagram, click here. 

By winning this year’s Indianapolis 500 in the most dramatic fashion—building what looked like an insurmountable late lead, losing it after a red flag, then getting a second chance from another caution before aggressively snatching it back to win by the slimmest margin ever—the Swedish speedster accomplished what hundreds of drivers have failed to do over the race’s 110 runnings. At the same time, one bold move instantly wiped away seven previous years of his own Indy race-day heartbreak.

Obviously, it takes speed to win the world’s most prestigious race—and Rosenqvist’s winning average of 174.199 mph ranks as the sixth-fastest Indy 500 in history. But to cross the finish line first in 2026, the 34-year-old first had to slow down and absorb the lessons learned from past missed opportunities. That experience—both good and catastrophic—proved to be an invaluable asset when improbable moments appeared.

So when Rosenqvist’s wall-side slingshot pass on two-time Indy 500 runner-up David Malukas on the final lap gave him the lead in the last 50 feet, the move was a blend of blink-of-an-eye execution shaped by years of near-misses and tough defeats. “I saw the team deserved a shot at winning,” he says. “If you give us a shot, we’ll make the most out of it, and if it doesn’t, or if we end up in the wall, that’s what happens.”

His bold decision led to a life-changing victory that came exactly three weeks after another personal milestone—the birth of his first daughter. Rosenqvist’s debut appearance in the winner’s circle was the ultimate reward for a career riddled with unfortunate crashes, lost leads, and mechanical failures. This time, Rosenqvist turned personal frustration into a raceday foundation that helped prepare him to capitalize on his most iconic split-second situation.

“The experience of just having been in that situation before for seven years, being thrown around at the Speedway for good and bad, just kind of sets you up for knowing what to do when the moment comes,” Rosenqvist says.

Film study, work with a performance coach, and the hard lessons from past losses all fed into the decision to time his move on Malukas with uncanny precision and become the 77th driver to drink the ceremonial milk.

While the sequence of events leading up to his second career IndyCar win was unique, Rosenqvist’s maneuvering on that final lap will be something gearheads break down for years. That one perfect lap was the product of building on his previous failed attempts at Indy finally converging at the right time. Still, even with full Meyer Shank support behind him, there was no way to anticipate a finish like the No. 60 Honda delivered.

“There’s just no way you even dare to dream of having whatever happened to me happen in real life,” he admits. “I’m not sure the way it played out has really happened before. We were basically creating something new with that finish.”

An Indy 500 Victory 7 Losses in the Making

Rosenqvist’s margin of victory—0.0233 seconds—set a new Indy 500 record for closest finish, breaking Al Unser Jr.’s 1992 mark of 0.0430 seconds over Scott Goodyear.

On the track, his historic win was a victory for veteran drivers and silenced critics who questioned his ability to hoist the Borg-Warner Trophy in Meyer Shank’s blue, white, and red after his previous outings resulted in a wide range of racing disappointments. A rookie crash in 2019 and an off-the-pace, penalty-induced 27th-place finish in 2021 highlighted his early low moments. Even when there were glimpses of speed on the track—with fourth-place finishes in both 2022 and 2025—he lacked the late-race track position to reach the podium. An engine failure on Lap 56 in 2024 only added to his heartbreak on the 2.5-mile rectangular oval.

None of those, he says, can match the agony of 2023. After qualifying fifth and leading 33 laps, a late-race slip sent him into the Turn 1 wall on Lap 185, resulting in a collision with Kyle Kirkwood that infamously launched a tire over the grandstand fence. “That was gut-wrenching,” he says, “because I was pretty much having an even better race than I had this year, until that point.”

Determined not to relive that kind of collapse, Rosenqvist doubled down on physically and mentally preparing himself to maximize the chaotic moments that inevitably pop up in such high-speed, high-pressure scenarios. The preparation, he says, has been an ongoing team effort dating back to last season’s fifth-place finish, won by Alex Palou.

During the offseason, Rosenqvist worked with Indy-based reaction-speed specialists Ares Elite Sports Vision, which put him through mental and cognitive drills geared specifically toward making split-second decisions on track. The team had Rosenqvist perform a variety of exercises, including answering math questions while his heart rate was elevated. “We do drills like counting a math problem at the same time as you’re on a treadmill, where you stress the brain in different ways,” he says. “I’m not going to say it directly led to the win, but things like this mattered.”

He also spent more time in the film room, going over race replays with Meyer Shank teammate Marcus Armstrong and studying race onboards to get a better feel for opposing drivers from a driver’s point of view. “Indy is just like it is, consistent, where you’re building your sort of good tricks every year, and I just feel so much stronger every year, and that trajectory has just continued, which allowed me to finally get the big one.”

The Tricks—and Teamwork—that Allowed Felix Rosenqvist’s Dream to Finally Work

Rosenqvist heads into this weekend’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 coming off a month that he admits may never be replicated. May was so packed with emotional moments that winning the Indianapolis 500 ranked second in importance behind becoming a father for the first time. Rosenqvist and his wife Emille welcomed their daughter, Stella, on May 4. He then capped the month with a solid sixth-place finish at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix, completing a mind-blowing run of career and personal highs.

“I think it’s going to be hard to beat becoming a dad three weeks ago [and] winning this race,” he says. “I think I have to accept to myself that I’m probably not going to have a better three weeks of my life. This last month has taken out emotions I didn’t know I had out of myself, so it’s super cool.”

While Rosenqvist is the face of the Meyer Shank team, taking on the media responsibilities and the perks that come with winning the Indy 500, he’s quick to point out that it was the group around him that put him in position to win on his eighth attempt. “It takes an army to do that,” he says. “You need to prepare the car for months ahead of the race. You need spotters, and so many things that need to be right when that happens. Everyone executed—it was a 10 out of 10 performance when it mattered.”

Even this year’s victory run started with frustration days before the race. After dominating the Indy 500 qualifying rounds the previous weekend, an ill-timed slow final run dropped him to fourth and handed Palou the top spot. While frustrating knowing he had the fastest car, the setback became a part of the process of handling adversity as an older, wiser race vet. “Every time you go through that sequence, you learn something new, and that’s what truly I think the experienced guys, they have a better understanding what to do when that starts to happen.”

In a race that also set the record for most lead changes (70), Rosenqvist took over the top spot from Pato O’Ward on Lap 185. His advantage grew into what should have been an insurmountable 20-second gap before a crash by Caio Collet on Lap 193 brought out the red flag, erased his lead, and revived memories of 2023. Watching the replay, he could see the disappointment in the pit area. In the car, though, he only heard support and positivity, easing any chance of another mental spiral. “They were just like cheering me on, like, ‘Hey, bro, we got this, we’re looking good here, we got the best car,’” he recalls.

At the restart, his lead was over, as a chaotic four-wide surge saw teammate Marcus Armstrong and David Malukas blow past him. But hold on: Another crash, this time by Mick Schumacher on Lap 197 brought out another caution and set up a wild one-lap shootout. Rosenqvist this time threw caution to the wind on the final lap—he aggressively picked off O’Ward before passing his teammate Armstrong with a bold high line move. The final showdown was with leader Malukas, executing a side draft  down the front stretch, surging ahead in the final yards to squeeze out the closest finish in Indy 500 history.

“I was just so locked in, man,” he says. “I didn’t really think much about anything else than like my line and trying to go forward and the fuel game that we were playing up till the final moments of the race. We actually kind of had to win the race twice in my book.”

Your triceps are the prime movers for elbow extension, which means they help you finish almost every upper-body pressing movement. If your bench or overhead press stalls near lockout, your triceps are the reason. That’s why the triceps are more than an arm-day bonus.

I’m spotlighting the triceps: what they are, what they do, why they matter, and how to train them for size, strength, and performance while keeping your elbow joint in tip-top shape.

What Are the Triceps and Why Are They Important?

The triceps, or triceps brachii, are the muscles on the back of your upper arm. As the name suggests, “tri” means three, and your triceps have three heads: the long, lateral, and medial. The lateral and medial heads originate on the back of the humerus and insert on the forearm bones below the elbow.

The lateral head is the one you notice because it helps create the horseshoe look on the back of the arm. The medial head lies deeper but plays an important role in elbow extension and pressing strength.

Then there’s the long head, which crosses the shoulder joint and originates near the shoulder blade, so it also assists with shoulder extension and adduction movements like rows, pulldowns, pull-ups, and chin-ups.

The Three Heads of the Triceps Explained

Your triceps earn their keep near the end of every pressing movement, but they also support the health and function of the elbow and shoulder joints. All three heads attach around the elbow, helping support and control the joint during pressing and extension-based movements. The long head also crosses the shoulder and attaches near the scapula, contributing to shoulder extension, adduction, and upper-body control.

Triceps strength shows up in everyday activities. Getting up from the floor, pushing open a heavy door, catching yourself when you stumble, and carrying groceries all rely on your triceps. Lose any triceps strength and function, and daily tasks start to feel harder than they should.

Vladimir Janda, a Czech physician, emphasized the triceps in his body of work. Janda classified certain muscles as prone to weakening or inhibition, and the triceps are among those muscles. As we age, lose muscle, sit more, and stop training hard, the triceps can become one of those “use it or lose it” muscles.

The triceps help you press more, support your elbows and shoulders, and keep your upper body strong as the birthday candles start to look like a fire hazard. Now that you know what they are and why they matter, let’s get to the good stuff.

The triceps need both strength and endurance because they have two big jobs: producing force and showing up at the end of a rep.

That’s why we have a mix of Type II fibers, often called fast-twitch fibers, which are better suited for heavier, faster, and more powerful efforts, and Type I fibers, often called slow-twitch fibers, which are more fatigue-resistant and better suited for high-rep work. The triceps appear to be slightly fast-twitch dominant, with research showing roughly 60% fast-twitch and 40% slow-twitch fibers on average. But the range between individuals varies, so keep that in mind.

The takeaway: Train the triceps hard enough to get stronger, with enough volume to grow, and with enough variety to handle repeated work. 

How to Optimize Your Triceps Training For Maximum Growth

Your triceps respond best to a mix of heavy compound pressing, direct isolation exercises, and varied arm positions that enhance muscle development while avoiding overuse injuries.

Start with compound lifts: close-grip bench presses, dips, floor presses, and JM presses let you use heavier loads and train the triceps alongside the chest, shoulders, upper back, and core.

Use isolation work for direct stimulation: Pushdowns, overhead triceps extensions, skull crushers, and band pressdowns let you add direct triceps volume without too much assistance from the chest and shoulders.

Rotate exercises for healthier elbows: Lifters often overdo one triceps exercise, hammering it until their elbows start barking. But your elbows are not big fans of being loaded the same way, from the same angle, with the same grip, week after week. That’s a blueprint for unhappy elbows.

A better approach is to rotate your triceps exercises and change up your angles. Doing so spreads stress across multiple positions rather than overloading a single joint angle.

Changing your joint angles and shoulder positions affects how the triceps are loaded. For example, overhead extensions place greater stretch on the long head because it crosses the shoulder joint. Pushdowns keep your arms at your sides and are easier to control. None of these is magic on its own, but together they create better flex times and a happier elbow joint.

Sets, reps, and frequency: For most lifters, start with 10 direct triceps sets per week, which is enough after compound pressing exercises. A good weekly setup looks like this:

• For strength: 3 to 4 sets of 4 to 8 reps on compound triceps-focused lifts such as close-grip bench presses, dips, or JM presses.
• For muscle: 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 15 reps using exercises such as overhead triceps extensions, skull crushers, pushdowns, and cross-body cable extensions.
• For volume: 3 to 4 sets of 15 to 25 reps with bands, or bodyweight variations.

Training frequency: depends on your pressing volume and recovery. Most lifters do well training triceps directly two to three times per week. If you press heavy several times per week, you may need less direct triceps work. If your pressing volume is lower, you can add more isolation work.

Common Triceps Training Mistakes That Limit Muscle Growth

It’s human nature to want more of a good thing, but it can also get you into trouble because more isn’t always better. That’s a line we dance on while training the triceps. Here are a few other things to watch out for.

Using Too Much Compound or Isolation Exercises

Pushdowns, skull crushers, and overhead extensions are great, but if isolation work is all you do, you’re missing the strength-building benefits of heavier compound pressing. On the flip side, relying only on compound pressing can leave size gains on the table.

That’s where isolation work fills the gap. For size and strength, your triceps need both because the goal isn’t compound or isolation. It’s compound plus isolation, with enough recovery so your elbows don’t hate you.

Overdosing on Skull Crushers and JM Presses

Skull crushers and JM presses are fantastic triceps builders, but both place a heavy burden on the elbows. Hammer them with heavy loads week after week, and your elbows and wrists can start paying the price. Rotate in close-grip presses, dips, or similar triceps builders to spread the stress and avoid overuse injuries.

Too Much Volume

Bench presses, overhead presses, dips, and landmine presses all load the triceps. If you’re already pressing hard twice a week, you may not need a mountain of direct triceps work. Volume varies from lifter to lifter, so let pain and performance be your guide. A sign you’re doing too much often shows up in compound pressing performance.

Training Through Pain

A muscle burn is fine, but a deep, sharp, cranky elbow pain is not. When your elbows complain, listen before they start yelling. Change the grip, use cables or bands, reduce the load, slow the tempo, shorten the range of motion, or swap the exercise.

The Biggest Triceps Training Myths Debunked

Repeat a myth often enough, and lifters stop questioning it. They hear it in the gym, see it online, and pass it along as gospel. It’s time to put a few triceps myths to bed.

Head Isolation

There’s a belief that you can completely isolate each triceps head. You can maybe bias certain heads with different shoulder positions, grips, and exercise angles, but you cannot flip one head on and the others off like a light switch. All three heads contribute to elbow extension. The better way to think about it is this: Use different exercises to challenge the triceps from different angles, because you’ll get better muscle development.

Heavy Pressing is Enough

A common misconception is that heavy pressing alone is enough for maximum triceps growth. Heavy presses help, and for some lifters, they help a lot. But if bigger triceps are the goal, direct work fills the gap. Isolation work lets you target the triceps with focused volume without turning every set into a full-body grind.

Overhead Work Isn’t The Devil

There’s the idea that all overhead extensions make for unhappy elbows. They can be problematic when loaded too heavily, performed with poor form, or forced through a painful range of motion that your elbows can’t tolerate. But often, it means your setup needs work, or you need a different variation. Cables, dumbbells, bands, and single-arm variations give the long head the stretch it needs for gains.

The Final Flex

Your triceps are not just arm-day decoration. They help you press, push, throw, strike, lock out heavy weights, protect your elbows, and build upper arms that fill out all of your shirts.

The winning formula is simple: train them hard enough to build strength, use enough direct work to build size, include overhead movements to target the long head, rotate exercises to support elbow health, and respect the pressing volume you’re already doing.

Give this three-headed beast the same attention you give your bench press, squat, or favorite mirror muscle. Do so, and you’ll build triceps that do more than fill out your sleeves—they’ll help you finish reps, move better, and keep your upper body strong for life.

While Bjornsson is the current record holder for the single heaviest deadlift, picking up a barbell totaling 1,124 pounds (510kg) in 2025, he’d hoped to heave up more weight at the inaugural Enhanced Games in Las Vegas but was unable to beat his previous best. Days later, however, Thor shifted his sights to yet another world record and made history once again at “SwagLift Day,” on May 30, 2026.

What Deadlift World Record Did Hafthor Bjornsson Break?

The Game of Thrones star proved once again that he is the king of the deadlift, by smashing the previous record on an 881.8-pound (400kg) deadlift for As Many Reps as Possible (AMRAP). Thor took Estonian lifter, Rauno Heinla’s record, that had stood for almost six years, with six repetitions and one upped him to make a sensational seven reps at SwagLift Day 2026. To muscle-up the bar, Thor wore a deadlift suit, weight belt, and lifting straps, with only a pair of socks on his feet.

To put this incredible show of strength into perspective, 881.8 pounds is the approximate weight of a concert grand piano or a small horse  To rep such a weight seven times in succession takes superhuman strength. Still, Thor’s fans believe that he could well beat his own single deadlift record before hanging up the straps. “This is probably just a training set for him,” suggested an Instagram follower. “So, he may as well make a legit record out of it. It’s only ~80% of his max.”

Fans now wait to see if Thor will enter the 2026 Rogue Invitational tournament in Aberdeen, Scotland, this October, where history could be made once again.

To follow Hafthor Bjornsson on Instagram, click here. 

“Unlock your bicep potential with this freaking cooker!” enthused Willen in a recent Instagram post. The big man, who is nearing 100,000 IG followers, including UFC legend Mark Coleman, was born in Bern, Switzerland and now lives in Santa Barbara, where he designs buildings by day and constructs his body at every available chance.

What is the Bayesian Bicep Curl?

The mechanism of a Bayesian curl is similar to a traditional curl, because the idea is to pull the weight upwards with a supinated (underhanded) grip, moving the load towards your chest and activating the biceps in the process. Where it differs however, is that instead of carrying the weight by gripping a dumbbell, you’ll be working with cables, providing a host of benefits to help blast your biceps.

“Standing cable Bayesian curls keep tension locked on the bicep from start to finish,” explained Willen. “The cable resistance means you’re working throughout the entire range of motion, not just at the peak. You don’t need heavy weight, just enough to light your arms on fire.”

Do Bayesian Curls Build Bigger Arms Than Dumbbell Curls?

While both dumbbell curl and bayesian curl variations primarily target the short and long heads of the Biceps brachii, working the shoulders and forearms on a secondary basis, the use of cables mean that the body is not required to stabilize a free weight such as the dumbbell. This means that more of your focus can go into building fuller biceps.

“Focus on dragging that handle up with intention, feeling every inch of the contraction,” explains Willen of the control that the cables can help to provide. “Progressive overload happens naturally when you dial in the form and squeeze harder, leaning into that mind-muscle connection.”

How To Do The Bayesian Curl Variation

1. You’ll begin this exercise facing away from the cable station,
2. planting your front foot and leaning forward as you make the curl with the opposite arm to the leading leg.
3. Squeeze as you contract, then lean back as you lower the weight and get a full stretch of the biceps.

Studies have shown that training the elbow flexors at longer muscle lengths during curls can produce greater increases in muscle strength and muscle thickness. Cables provide ample opportunity to make such stretches, since the negative portion of the lift follows the track of the cable.

“Once you got the connection, it’s time to chase bigger numbers on the stack,” enthused Willen. “Keep increasing resistance, as your recovery allows, and watch your biceps turn into Swiss mountain peaks.”

To follow Moritz Willen on Instagram, click here.

Reno’s own Tonio Burton has increased his placing in the Open Division at the Olympia finals by eight places since switching over from the 212 grouping in 2022, and if his current run is anything to go by, Tonio could take an even loftier spot at bodybuilding’s most prestigious show come September. Choosing to stay busy, Burton followed up his Olympia qualifying first-place performance at the New York Pro with a close-run second place at the IFBB Pittsburgh Pro, and is back on top after leading a pack including Eric Wood, Patrick Moore, and Dorian Haywood at the Legion Sports Fest Pro last weekend. Following this victory, Burton explained that his current physique was “the one.”

The Key Adjustment That Improved Burton’s Stage Presentation

“At this level, it’s not about making dramatic changes, it’s about refining the details,” explained Burton’s recovery specialist, Marissa Moroz in a recent Instagram post, where she explained that Burton had been dealing with “imbalances through his lats, right side specifically,” which had previously been restricting his ability to pose.

Moroz notes that working on Burton’s mobility has allowed him to correct this imbalance, thus presenting the perfect package on stage. The big man also took the time to thank his coach, Justin Jacoby following his jackpot in Reno. “… coming better and better each time has been the goal and we’ve been doing (it),” he explained. No doubt, Burton is becoming a major threat to the other finalists who will be making the journey to Sin City this September.

Tonio Burton’s Olympia Placings and Career Progression

Tonio Burton’s Olympia placings

• 2021 — 212 Division — 10th
• 2022 — Open Division — 16th
• 2023 — Open Division — 8th
• 2025 — Open Division — 8th

2026 Legion Sports Fest Pro results

• Men’s Open: Tonio Burton
• Men’s Classic Physique: Murat Can Karahasanlar
• Men’s Physique: Junpei Taguchi
• Bikini: Reyna Perez Mecalco
• Fitness: Allison Kramer
• Wellness: Narla Vilar

To follow Tonio Burton on Instagram, click here. 

It wasn’t because he had finished one of the world’s most iconic races. It wasn’t just because he had survived 26.2 miles. It was because somewhere during that run, the timeline he had imagines for himself completely changed.

“It was crazy because I was like, ‘We did it,’” Cohran says. “I didn’t really know how good I was doing until like the last two to three miles. Then I was like, ‘Wait, we’re about to PR by 12 minutes. So at the end I gunned it, and when I crossed that finish line… I was like, ‘Oh my God, ain’t no way.’”

There were several emotions during the race. As mile markers passed, so did personal records. Cohran watched as his 10-mile and half marathon PR were set. Much as has been life for him, he kept his head up and kept pushing through.

For Cohran, a double amputee from the Chicago area who was born without shin and ankle bones, the Boston Marathon wasn’t just another race. It was proof that even the ceiling he once imagined for himself might not exist at all.

Growing Up Without Limits

Cohran had both legs amputated at two years old and received prosthetics at four. Sympathy wasn’t the tone inside his household. Perspective was.

“My mom and grandmother would always reiterate you can’t change this. This is you,” he says. “So I always had that mentality of like, ‘Nobody’s going to come save you. You got to do this yourself.’”

That mindset shaped the way he approached sports growing up. He wasn’t interested in sitting on the sidelines or being treated differently. At Schaumburg High School, he played football, wrestled, played lacrosse, basketball, stayed active however he could. There were no limits.

Ironically, though, running wasn’t initially part of that identity. In fact, he spent most of his younger years avoiding it whenever he could.

“I never ran besides lacrosse,” Cohran says, laughing. “I’d be like, ‘Yeah, well I have no legs, so I can’t be doing these laps.’ I’d always kind of bail myself out.”

That changed when he finally received running prosthetics in October of 2024 after years of wanting them. And this changed everything.

Running Became More Than Fitness

Like those who fall into endurance sports later in life, Cohran says the miles eventually became about much more than exercise.

“Running healed my younger self,” he says. “Not that I felt like I was missing something, but I always felt like I know I can be fast. You see people with these prosthetics and I knew I could be fast too.”

Once he got access to running blades, there was no turning back. The running community embraced him immediately, especially after he completed the Chicago Marathon in under four hours during his first attempt.

Cohran didn’t know how well he was doing and had done until the surprise of others that it was his first marathon. What surprised him most, though, wasn’t the attention. It was the impact.

He recalled receiving a message from a physical therapist who brought a patient that had recently lost his legs to one of his races. The person’s spirts were down, but he lit up upon seeing and hearing about Cohran’s achievements.

Moments like that changed the way he carries himself.

“You have to keep every moment in public with some poise,” he says. “You never know who’s watching and could be inspired by what you’re doing.”

Pain

While Cohran’s story looks inspirational from the outside, the physical side of marathon training can be brutal at times.

Before the Chicago Marathon, he was training in prosthetics that weren’t designed for distance running. Sweat buildup inside the binders caused constant pain and instability.

“I had to clean my leg out every two to three miles,” he says. “I’m talking my legs bleeding. I’d have to scoot around the house.”

There were moments where frustration overwhelmed him because there just had to be a different way. Eventually, doctors adjusted the fit, added padding, and introduced anti-sweat spray that changed everything.

“The Chicago Marathon was my first race I didn’t have to stop at all,” he says. “First official run, honestly.”

Getting accustomed to the running blades did come with a learning curve. The first time he ran on them, he realized something something almost immediately: he didn’t know how to stop.

“I started screaming when I ran the first time,” he says. “I was like, ‘I might just die on this pavement.’”

Conditioning became another major adjustment. Unlike the sports he participated in throughout high school, distance running demanded sustained output without breaks, which forced him to learn pacing almost entirely through trial and error. His longest run before the Chicago marathon was about four miles.

Now, with mileage increasing and marathon times dropping rapidly, Cohran’s goals have evolved just as quickly.

He’s Not Finished Dreaming Yet

At 27 years old, Cohran already has his sights on bigger stages and bigger achievements. One of them is to race in all the world’s major marathons by the time he reaches his mid-30s.

But there’s another goal driving him even harder.

“The double amputee world record,” he says. “I want that record. I’m coming for that record, for sure.”

The current world record sits at 2:40:25, and while Cohran knows how ambitious that sounds, he’s never shrunk his expectations.

“A lot of people want to call 27 old,” he says. “But LeBron was getting his first ring at 27.”

Beyond racing, he hopes running and content creation eventually become his full-time focus. Right now, he balances training, social media, and his day job at Dick’s Sporting Goods, often stretching his weeks to nearly 70 hours.

The thought of putting more effort into his running and content creation to continue to inspire others circles through his mind a lot. He would also love to start a run club, do some public speaking. More than anything, he wants people to see possibility when they see him.

“If they could look at me and be like, ‘Well, he’s doing this. I can do that, too,’ that’s what I want,” Cohran says. “Running teaches you confidence in yourself and believing in yourself. I have 100 percent belief and confidence in anything I do now at this point. And running helped me get that.”

Follow Sabik on Instagram ClickHere!

“One thing I’ve noticed after seeing so many athletes on show day is that most physiques don’t get ruined because someone suddenly lost condition overnight,” explained Ervin in an informative Instagram post that could be a gamechanger for fledgling competitors. “Usually, it’s the opposite. The athlete already looks good… but starts chasing an even better look and ends up overdoing everything.”

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What Are the Most Common Peak Week Mistakes in Bodybuilding?

Mistake 1: Letting Panic (and Chaos) Set in

“This is probably the most common mistake on show day,” explained the hench Hungarian. “The athlete wakes up looking slightly different: a little flatter, a little softer, holding some water from stress/ travel/ lack of sleep, and immediately starts forcing some changes.”

Ervin observed that these last-minute changes often lead to epic fails however, such as eating too many carbs, cutting water, sodium manipulation, gauging on random cheat meals, and even turning to diuretics. “Most of the time this doesn’t improve the physique, it just creates chaos,” he explained. “The best show day ‘looks’ usually come from athletes who keep things stable and predictable.”

Mistake 2: Reacting emotionally to ‘Flat’ or ‘Spillover’ phases

“A physique can look flat, watery, and soft for completely different reasons,” explained Ervin, encouraging bodybuilders to hold their nerve instead of making “blind” changes. While a ‘flat’ physique is of concern because the muscles appear less full, and ‘spillover’ from too much glycogen or water retention can present an unwanted softer look, this coach says that knee jerk reactions could make matters worse.

“Sometimes the athlete is stressed, inflamed, not digesting, dehydrated, sleep deprived,” explained Ervin. “And the physique only LOOKS worse temporarily. The mistake is reacting emotionally instead of understanding what the body is actually showing you. Good peak week decisions come from patterns of recognition.”

Mistake 3: Force feeding for muscle fullness

“This is one almost nobody talks about enough,” shared Ervin, noting that a lot of physiques get ruined because digestion stops functioning properly.” Indeed, the quest to cut and bulk at the same time can confuse the body, rendering it unable to process the various foods and nutrients that are thrown at it. “You’ll see stomach distention, bloating, reflux, constipation,” and “poor waist control,” explained the coach. “Then the athlete keeps forcing more food because they think they need more fullness. Usually, that only makes things worse,” he concluded.

Ervin emphasizes that great conditioning and a pumped-up appearance are the result of “stable digestion,” coming from a “controlled food intake,” noting that athletes who take a more measured approach will “always present better than someone force feeing all day backstage.”

Mistake 4: Pumping past perfection

As the time to tread the boards becomes mere moments away, competitive bodybuilders, backstage, are working their muscles, chasing the pump to impress the all-important judges. But pumping past perfection is a mistake that Ervin sees on a regular basis.

“The goal of pumping up is simple,” he explained “Bring blood into the muscle without creating fatigue. But a lot of athletes start pumping up way too early, do far too much volume,” and “sweat excessively backstage,” he observes. “Then, by stage time, muscles flatten out, separation decreases, control worsens, posing quality drops.”

Ervin says that over-pumping is futile. “Certain areas become too tight, too fatigued or too filled with blood,” he explained. “Which can make transitions harder and reduce visual separation in some body parts. You are not trying to add muscle backstage. A good pump-up should feel controlled, not exhausting.”

Mistake 5: Don’t peak too soon

Peak week is a time of high pressure, where each bodybuilder knows that they are getting closer to the point when they can present the total package on stage. But being too aggressive with training and diet in those few remaining days is a common predictor of failure, says Ervin.

“Peak week should refine the physique. Not recue it,” he explained. “If someone still needs aggressive fat loss, massive depletion, huge carb loads, extreme manipulation, a few days before the show. they were probably not truly ready yet.”

Instead, Ervin encourages that the most successful peak weeks “are usually the most boring ones.” The bodybuilder and coach advises “small adjustments, predictable responses, low stress,” in order to create a “stable condition.” The big man also believes that the athletes who look their very best on show days “are usually the ones who were already close to stage ready, 1-2 weeks earlier.”

The take home message? Stay calm and keep consistent. “Most of the time the best thing you can do backstage is calm down and stay patient,” reassured Ervin as he concluded his competition masterclass. “The work was already done weeks and months before the show. Show day is just about presenting it properly.”

To follow Kovacs Ervin on Instagram, click here. 

The man they call “The Mind” explained that he’d been careful to help protect Choopan, who was the 2022 Mr. Olympia, for some time, because of what he called “misconceptions and misinformation.” Sarcev, who is not just a respected bodybuilding coach, but also a former Mr. Yugoslavia and Mr Universe in his own right, said that he’d gone through extensive conversations with Choopan and his Iranian translator, and believes that the controversy surrounding “The Persian Wolf” had been blown out of proportion by members of the muscle-building community. “It’s all created and inflamed by somebody like King Kamali,” said Sarcev. “Talking so much negativity and then people are just jumping on it.”

Milos Sarcev Breaks Silence on Hadi Choopan Controversy: ‘People Got the Wrong Idea’

Sarcev further explained his reasoning for supporting Choopan as his official coach, on the road to the 2026 Mr. Olympia final in Las Vegas this September. “Hadi has always been for (the) people,” offered “The Mind.” “Represent(ing) the country (of Iran)” He went on to say that Choopan had never worked for the Iranian regime, “in any shape of form.” But explained that as an international athlete, Choopan did receive a phone from the Iranian government, and on that phone was a pre-installed photo of the Ayatollah. Sarcev says that people saw Choopan with this picture and formed their own conclusions, leading to rumor and innuendo about his political leanings.

When Dennis James asked why Choopan would have a phone provided by the Iranian government, Sarcev noted that the regime liked to control of its population, but this is not the same thing as working with them. “Now, people going to say he is with the regime,” explained Sarcev of the fallout from the phone. “He’s not.” Sarcev commented that circumstantial evidence had created a misleading situation that led Choopan to “cry his nights into the mornings,” because the bodybuilder had felt that the people he loved too much were losing faith in him.

Milos Sarcev Unveils the Exact Physique Changes Hadi Choopan Needs to Win Olympia

“What’s the plan?” asked The Menace of Choopan’s new coach. Sarcev shared that the number one task would be to show Iran that The Persian Wolf would never betray them. “Instead of stress, he needs support from the very people that he loves,” mused The Mind. Secondly, Sarcev wants to build Choopan’s confidence. “When you think about it, he was second (at Mr Olympia) 2023, 24, 25, and arguably he could have won all those three shows. So, he’s that close.”

Sarcev also revealed that in terms of training, he wants Choopan to bring back the fuller legs that he presented during his winning effort at the 2024 Arnold, along with a tight back section. “That was the best,” he explained. “From back, to glutes, to hamstrings, that he didn’t have this year at The Arnold.”

To watch how the entire conversation played out, and catch up on the latest bodybuilding news, you can view this episode in full on the Muscle & Fitness YouTube channel.

What Modern Lifters Can Learn From Dorian Yates’ Training Logbook

Thanks to this master of muscle’s meticulous bookkeeping, Dorian Yates can pinpoint the exact date of this workout to July 11, 1993, and The Temple Gym, known affectionately as “The Dungeon” served as the setting for this rare, extensive set session. “You’ll see some exercises here that weren’t featured in the Blood & Guts video, like bench rows and seated cable rows for example,” explained the man they called ‘The Shadow” in a recent Instagram post for his 2 million followers. “Blood & Guts was a snapshot in time of the exercises I did, however the intensity remained the same throughout!”

What Was Dorian Yates’ 1993 Back Workout?

Pullover superset with Underhand pulldowns

• Barbell Rows
• Bench Rows
• Close-Grip Cable Rows
• Rear-Delt Machine Flys
• Barbell Shrugs
• Barbell Hyperextensions
• Partial Deadlift

Why This Workout Was More Than Traditional Blood & Guts Training

Building muscle is all about hitting hypertrophy, and this vast list of movements will certainly lead to the desired effect. While Yates often ops for single sets to failure, the big man has always been willing to expand his efforts, so while supersets were not something that Yates did on a consistent basis, this snapshot from the summer of 1993 shows that he did, on occasion, entertain an exhausting rep scheme. For example, his first exercise, the pullover, included 2 warmup sets and 6 working sets, hitting 2 forced reps following failure. As if that wasn’t intense enough, the iconic bodybuilder alternated his pullovers by supersetting them with underhand pulldowns. That would be enough to finish most mere mortals.

For superior back mass, Yates continued with barbell rows, including 7 warmup sets and 7 working sets, reaching a monstrous 440 pounds in weight, while bench rows (or single-arm dumbbell rows) were employed to pound the lats, rhomboids, and traps with eight working sets. Yates added further negative movements during the lowering/eccentric phase, to find the ultimate level of failure once again.

Ten working sets of close-grip cable rows, with 300 pounds on the pins, would certainly have tested Yates’ spirit as he sweated through each scintillating rep, no doubt visualizing his next Olympia win with each row. But when it came to the rear-delt fly, The Shadow outdid himself once again, blasting through 12 working sets, and tagging on some forced reps for good muscle building measure.

Proving his legendary status as a competitive bodybuilder was hard earned, Yates continued this level of intensity throughout his back building workout, hitting 40kg for 10 working sets of hyperextensions, and 405 pounds for six sets of partial deadlifts.

Attempting to follow the elite performer’s plan, Yates’ IG followers were blown away by his prowess. “Lol, his warmup sets are most of our last sets,” joked one fan. “These weights are wild,” said another. “Absolute legend of the game,” commented yet another inspired gymgoer.

Be sure to try this retro workout for yourself but figure out a comfortable weight before going all “Blood & Guts” like the big Brit!

To follow Dorian Yates on Instagram, click here. 

To the millions of pro wrestling fans around the world, Braun Strowman is the 6’8” behemoth who eliminated 13 men to win the “Greatest Royal Rumble” in 2018 and pinned Bill Goldberg for the WWE Universal Championship in 2020. But after stepping away from the squared circle in 2025, the gentle giant has shown a softer side, taking the time to enjoy local restaurants as he tours the U.S. to tantalize his tastebuds.

And, while his television show is called Everything on the Menu, it is not the all-you-can-eat style affair that you might have expected. Instead, each episode takes the time to savor each innovative dish. “The whole idea of the show, it’s not like a food competition,” Strowman tells M&F. “You go out to eat, and you’re seeing all this beautiful food, and you’re like, ‘I can’t make up my mind what I want to eat!’ Well, I can’t either, but I’m blessed enough that I get to order everything on the menu!”

Why ‘Everything on the Menu’ Is More Than Just Another Food Show

There’s no doubt that as a successful strongman turned WWE Superstar, Strowman was able to use his passion to fuel his ambitions. At 42 years of age, Braun appreciates the fruits of his labor, and showed his emotional side during our conversation, shedding a few tears as he took stock of the good fortune that led him to sharing his love of food. “I wasn’t educated in the culinary arts,” he reflects. “I didn’t go to school for it. I was just blessed, you know, with my time with WWE and being larger than nature intended.”

Strowman says that just like being a performer with WWE, the act of sharing this love of food is all about putting smiles on people’s faces. “You get one shot at life, and I get it, because I eat meal prep all the time,” explains the man mountain. “I’m eating stuff weighed out to the gram, six, seven times a day and it gets mundane, but that’s my lifestyle, and that’s what I love, so this is the ultimate cheat meal show.”

Braun Strowman Shares the Best Cheat Meals and Restaurants in America

From established gems to new, hip hotspots, Strowman is always excited to push himself, and others, out of the culinary comfort zone. “One dish that really opened my eyes was at a place in Tampa called Edison: Food + Drink Lab,” reveals the legendary wrestler, explaining that because his dad loathed green peas, he inherited the same distain for them. “And I’m not a huge lamb eater, which is crazy, with all the red meat that I consume.”

Even still, Strowman took to the table in Tampa during Season 1, and put those preconceptions to one side, tasting the lamb shank completed by a mushy pea sauce, no less. “And it blew my f*****g mind,” reveals Strowman. “Pardon my French!”

How Braun Strowman Uses Food, Fitness, and Connection to Inspire Fans

While the first season of Everything on the Menu ranked as the No. 1 show across cable entertainment shows in the 18-49 demographic, Season 2 is promising to go bigger, teaming Strowman up with celebrities like Bert Kreischer and athletes such as NFL Super Bowl champion Landon Dickerson. But Strowman tells M&F why he has such a deep appreciation for the hospitality industry. “I had a job at 12 years old,” explains the WWE icon. “I was washing dishes and frying fish at a restaurant, because I didn’t have the luxuries, as a lot of people did. It’s so amazing, to be able to share this story now.”

Strowman is eager to set young people in the right direction as they navigate their own challenges, noting that he went down the wrong path himself, as a youngster. “I did a bunch of dumb stuff,” he explains of getting on the wrong side of the law. Thankfully, there were key people in his life, and they introduced him to the gym. “You know, the weights will never lie to you. They’ll tell you when you’re having a good day, because they’ll let you pick them up. They’ll tell you when you’re having a bad day, because they won’t let you pick them up. But they’re always true,” says the friendly Monster Among Men. “It’s probably the only consistent thing I’ve ever had in my entire life.”

Having lost a close friend to suicide, the giant says he has no time for those who say men shouldn’t show emotion. “People need to hear this stuff and write it,” says the gifted grappler. “It’s something that people don’t talk about enough. I’m the biggest softy on Earth…I have no problem sharing that with the entire world, because maybe my message will take one person’s mind off what’s going on and keep them from doing something crazy.”

Strowman shares that for him, getting around a table together is about more than the food you eat. It’s a chance to connect and share an experience. The former WWE Champ says that his formative years in pro wrestling revolved around the catering hall, backstage. “Eating with Undertaker, Kane, Big Show, Mark Henry, all my parental figures in wrestling. Those were my wrestling grandpas and dads and uncles and all that stuff, and they taught me so much,” he reveals.

Braun Strowman Reveals the Massive 7,300-Calorie Diet Fueling His Physique

In terms of his current fitness journey, Strowman tells M&F that he’s on a “cutting phase” while eating an incredible 7,300 calories per day. This daily intake includes five pounds of chicken, ground beef, rice, a full pack of spinach, two containers of cottage cheese, a dozen eggs, Greek yogurt, six teaspoons of olive oil and two protein shakes. “I know there’s some other stuff in there too, but it’s a lot,” he explains, revealing that he blasts through mental and physical plateaus by “embracing the suck.”

Of course, it doesn’t suck to be Braun Strowman. The gigantic specimen reveals that he is still toying with the idea of entering a competitive bodybuilding competition and does not rule out a return to the pro wrestling ring. “I’m in as good a shape, or better shape, than I’ve ever been in, wrestling-wise,” he says. “I’ve been really focusing on where I had the nerve damage in my left leg. I still have 15% atrophy in that leg, but I’m working around that, trying to strengthen up some of those other stabilizing muscles.”

Strowman says that his love of food has also helped with his ability to recover. “I thought deli meat was good protein when I was in my 20s,” he shares. “But what you put in is what you get out of it,” he now realizes, sharing that he now opts for organic meats and feels less inflammation as a result. “I’ll use a perfect example,” states Strowman. “There’s a restaurant here in Orlando that’s been near and dear to me since I moved down here to start wrestling. It’s called Beefy King. They use locally sourced bread. They use the same beef, from the same ranch in Nebraska, for the last 40 years. The only thing they put on it when it’s finished is salt. And it is the best damn roast beef sandwich I’ve ever eaten in my entire life!”

Braun Strowman is still winning at life. Bite by glorious bite.

“Everything on the Menu” returns for Season 2 on USA Network from June 5, 2026.

To follow Braun Strowman on Instagram, click here. 

Everybody benches.

From physical rehabilitation patients rebuilding strength after injury, to elite athletes developing explosive upper body power, to bodybuilders chasing a thicker chest and wider torso, the bench press remains the standard by which upper body strength is measured. Even Arnold Schwarzenegger, who arguably built one of the greatest chests in bodybuilding history, relied primarily on just two exercises: bench presses — at varying angles — and flys. That was it. No circus tricks. No bioscience Just heavy pressing and disciplined execution.

But while the bench press is incredibly effective, it is also one of the most abused exercises in the gym. Poor technique, ego lifting, and lack of preparation are why shoulder injuries, pec tears, and chronic wrist pain are so common among beginners. Learning to bench correctly from day one is the difference between building a great chest and maintaining strength for decades or having to use wrist wraps, elbow cuffs, and orthopedic tape just to scratch your ear.

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Smith Machine vs. Barbell Bench Press: Which Is Better for Beginners?

For beginners — especially those training alone — the safest place to learn the movement is often the Smith machine. Purists love to scoff and refer to it as folly, but the Smith machine provides something invaluable to a novice: stability. The fixed bar path allows a beginner to focus on learning body positioning, elbow tracking, breathing, and bar control without worrying about balancing a free weight barbell over their throat. More importantly, the safety hooks and adjustable stops allow a solo trainee to rack the weight instantly if something goes wrong.

The bench press primarily targets the pectoralis major — the large fan-shaped chest muscle responsible for horizontal pressing movement. Assisting the chest are the anterior deltoids, or front shoulders, and the triceps, which extend the elbows during the press. Together, these muscle groups facilitate what’s known as a “compound movement.” But there are also numerous stabilizing muscles involved: the rotator cuff, upper back musculature, forearms, and even the lats all contribute to keeping the shoulders secure and the movement controlled.

How to Position Your Hands, Wrists, Elbows, and Shoulders Correctly

One of the first lessons beginners must learn is proper hand placement. A grip slightly wider than shoulder width is usually ideal for most body types. Too narrow and the triceps dominate the movement while stressing the wrists and elbows. Too wide and the shoulders become vulnerable, especially at the bottom of the lift.

The wrists themselves are a major issue. Many beginners allow the hands to bend backward under the weight, severely overextending the wrists and stretching the flexor tendons and muscles of the forearm. Over time, this creates inflammation, weakness, and chronic pain. The wrists should remain stacked directly over the forearms — straight and rigid — allowing the bones, not the connective tissue, to bear the load. Think of punching the ceiling with a locked fist.

Body positioning matters as well. The feet should remain planted firmly on the floor to create a stable base. The shoulder blades should be pulled back and down into the bench, creating a solid platform from which to press. This not only improves strength but protects the shoulders by stabilizing the scapulae. The chest should remain elevated while the lower back maintains a natural slight arch — not an exaggerated circus bridge, but not flattened pancake-style against the bench either.

The descent of the bar should be controlled, not dropped. Lower the weight to approximately nipple level while keeping the elbows at roughly a 45-degree angle from the torso. Excessively flared elbows place tremendous stress on the shoulder joint and pec tendon, particularly under heavy loads.

And that brings us to one of the most feared injuries in weight training: the pec tear.

How to Prevent Pec Tears and Wrist Pain While Benching

A torn pectoral tendon is brutal — both visually and functionally. It usually occurs when excessive weight is lowered too quickly under poor control, especially when the elbows are flared and the chest is overstretched at the bottom of the movement. The ego is almost always involved. Most pec tears happen because the lifter attempts to handle a weight the connective tissue is not prepared to tolerate.

Injury prevention comes down to discipline and common sense:

1. Warm up thoroughly
2. Increase weight gradually
3. Maintain proper elbow position
4. Control the eccentric (lowering) phase
5. Avoid bouncing the bar off the chest
6. Never sacrifice form for numbers

Most importantly, build strength progressively. This is another reason the Smith machine can be such a valuable teaching tool. A beginner can develop pressing mechanics and gradually strengthen the smaller ancillary stabilizing muscles — the shoulders, rotator cuff, forearms, and upper back — before transitioning into free weight bench pressing.

Eventually, the goal should be to move to free weights because they recruit more stabilizing musculature and develop more complete athletic coordination. But there is no rush. Strength is built over years, not weekends.

The bench press has survived every fitness trend because it works. Long after gimmicks disappear and “expert trainers” fade away, the bench remains. Heavy iron, lowered under control and driven skyward through raw human effort, still represents one of the purest expressions of strength ever devised.

The bench is king. Do it right.

Six men have held this position over the 20 years since. The sixth and incumbent SEAC, David L. Isom, assumed the role on June 20, 2025. As the highest-ranking enlisted member of the United States Armed Forces, SEAC Isom describes his role as one that connects the needs of the approximate 2 million service members to the leadership that makes the decisions for those that wear the nation’s uniform.

“My job is to provide truthful, honest, critical advice and guidance on joint, combined, total force integration, enlisted development, health of the Joint Force, readiness of the Joint Force, and to serve as a direct linkage between the chairman and the Joint Force,” Isom said. “I ensure that the Joint Force knows they are represented and their perspectives are being brought to the table in these meetings – either on the Joint Staff or with the Department and in the office of the Secretary of War – that they are represented at the highest levels inside the department and that their voice matters.”

FROM NORTH CAROLINA TO NAVY SEAL

The SEAC position wasn’t established when Isom was growing up in North Carolina, meaning he had no way of knowing where his military career would take him. Isom was raised around mountains, farmland, and the beach. Isom’s father moved there while serving in the U.S. Army. After leaving service and becoming a civil engineer for the N.C. Department of Transportation, Isom’s father moved the family several times for positions around the state and Isom graduated high school in Clinton, NC. It was there that Isom learned about both service and fitness.

“My parents were service-oriented and believed in the idea of serving your community. Serving in your church, serving in your state, and serving something larger than yourself was something I saw them do every day, and it was an important example for all of us kids.”

As the youngest of five, Isom was accustomed to living in an active family. He also learned about the importance of healthy foods thanks to working in the family’s garden. Growing up climbing trees, riding bikes, swimming and hiking made the fitness lifestyle a natural fit for Isom.

“My interest in fitness started with the love of the outdoors, growing up playing sports like my older siblings, and having a family that loved the outdoors.”

Isom joined the Navy in 1987 and deployed on two ships as a Machinist’s Mate. After completing Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL Training Isom became a Navy SEAL and served in a multitude of roles during Operation Desert Shield, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and deployments throughout the Pacific and the Horn of Africa. Prior to becoming the sixth SEAC, Fleet Master Chief Isom had earned several awards and honors, including the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Four Bronze Star Medals, including awards with Combat “V” devices for valor, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and the Combat Action Ribbon.

FITNESS MATTERS MORE NOW THAN EVER

Being in shape has always mattered to Isom, and he even recalled a time when he crossed paths with Muscle & Fitness in 1996. An editor was doing an interview at the SEAL Sniper Course and took a photo with the students, including him, which made it into a print issue that year.

Today, Isom acknowledges that his career has seen more yesterdays than tomorrows, but he still focuses on being in his best shape possible.

“My 59-year-old combat chassis has some mileage on it, and it’s been bent or broken probably way too many times,” he said, a way that could also describe the classic NASCAR machines that would hit the walls of a track and keep coming back for more. “A lot of what I do is about maintenance and just trying to get max mileage out to make sure that I’m healthy, fit, and able to perform in the job here.”

That said, Isom doesn’t allow himself to lower standards. He is actually in preparation to run in the annual Marine Corps Marathon later this year. Goals of that magnitude appear to be a way that Isom combats Father Time, and he suggests that older adults, including those in service, do something similar.

“You need to be willing to make it a part of your lifestyle, and you need to be willing to make up for it anytime you miss a workout.”

Americans that have followed the military since President Trump began his second term will confirm that fitness has been a focal point of his administration. That includes Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, and continues to Isom and throughout each of the branches of service. Isom’s experience serves him well here because he was around when the U.S. Special Operations Command implemented Preservation of the Force and Family (POTFF), which focused on five domains: Physical, psychological, cognitive, social and family, and spiritual. The Army has been making similar strides with their version known as Holistic Health & Fitness While Isom shared that other branches are working to catch up, he is pleased overall with the progress that has been made, and that is also positively influencing recruitment throughout all branches.

“It’s a good time to be a part of our Joint Force because I think it’s only going to get better every day.”

When asked what he would advise if asked about how to keep the momentum going, Isom suggested that continuing to focus on the total human as a weapon system is a must. That said, he acknowledged that steps are already being taken throughout the Department of War, citing Total Force Fitness, Warfighter Performance Optimization under the Office of the Secretary of War for Personnel and Readiness, and other wheels in motion throughout each service as examples of this.

“We are really trying to get it right so that we take the best care of the thing that’s most important, which is our people.”

FITNESS AND SERVICE ACROSS GENERATIONS

Even though momentum is on their side, Isom wants to see that continue because he feels that the extra focus on fitness will lead to better retention as well as improved quality of life once those on active-duty transition to life as veterans. Isom relates to that because he acknowledged his current role may be his last before he becomes a veteran himself, and he feels there are other opportunities for himself and veterans like him to continue doing their part in making the country better.

“When I think about the awesome experiences veterans can bring to the civilian sector, veterans have such an awesome opportunity to take off the uniform and to carry with them the best attributes from our military into those communities where they’re living and serving already.”

He continued, “You know, it’s a great chance for those veterans to leave a lasting impact with family, friends, neighbors and everyone that they interact with. They serve as a living example that we can all look up to.”

Isom hopes that the veterans can also serve as inspiration for the next generation of the military. It has been no secret that over three-fourths of Americans eligible to serve would not meet fitness qualifications. Isom emphasized that if a young citizen wants to join the 1% of Americans that raise their right hand and volunteer to serve, the work should start now.

“It starts with building those healthy habits, eating right, eating healthy, establishing some discipline and a workout regime that balances strength training and cardio,” Isom stated. “And then I would encourage them to mix it up. Do things that surprise the body. If you’re playing sports, then you need to be out there running, swimming, try CrossFit, try biking, do things that’ll surprise the body and then watch how the body responds to those surprises, and how it quickly increases strength and flexibility and building lean muscle.”

Isom’s nearly four-decade career is a testament that one can serve their country admirably, be a part of history in unique ways, and be a living example of service over self. Whether in the military, or in their communities, Americans taking care of themselves can be connected to making America a better place to live. That fitness foundation has been proven to be effective in helping people lead better lives, and if some people feel that a better life could include serving, Isom is ready to greet them with open arms.

“If you’re a young American that wants to serve your nation, come on and bring it! We want you in our Joint Force.”

To learn more about POTFF, go to this website.

You can learn more about Total Force Fitness here.

M&F Senior Military Editor Rob Wilkins contributed to this Fit to Serve article.

Time.

Not just time in the abstract, but the ability to extend it. To preserve cognitive sharpness, physical performance, and metabolic health well into later decades of life.

To understand how this shift is playing out at the highest levels, I sat down with Mini Vohra, a celebrity events strategist, Director of Cornucopia Events, British entrepreneur, and former barrister known for orchestrating high-profile experiences across the fashion, music, and entertainment industries. Through his work with elite performers, global celebrities, and ultra-high-net-worth individuals, Vohra operates at the intersection of luxury, performance, and culture, where trends don’t just emerge, they are defined.

As Director of Cornucopia Events, part of the Cornucopia Group, Vohra operates within one of the world’s most exclusive luxury event and concierge networks, serving billionaires, CEOs, sovereignties, and A-list celebrities across more than 175 countries through a global business valued in the hundreds of millions. The company organizes hundreds of elite events and international luxury experiences annually and has received repeated recognition under both Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Majesty King Charles III through the United Kingdom’s highest level of business honours for international trade. Operating at that level requires more than business success alone. It demands sustained energy, resilience, cognitive performance, adaptability, and the ability to function consistently under extraordinary pressure without burnout.

“When people first become successful financially, they usually buy the obvious things: the watch, the car, the holidays, the penthouse,” Vohra explains. “But eventually, especially amongst high performers, you realise there is one asset that makes every other luxury possible: your health.”

It’s a shift that is quietly redefining what luxury means.

Longevity Becomes a Lifestyle

The idea that lifestyle can influence lifespan is hardly new. Exercise, diet, sleep, and stress management have long been pillars of preventative health.

What has changed is the scale, and the sophistication, of the pursuit.

In today’s longevity clinics, optimizing health is no longer just about avoiding disease. It’s about pushing the boundaries of human performance and health span. Clients are seeking not only to live longer, but to remain physically and cognitively capable for as many of those years as possible.

“The irony is that true luxury used to mean indulgence,” Vohra explains. “Today, it increasingly means control- control over your energy, your focus, your appearance, your longevity and your quality of life.”

Some of the most visible advocates of this philosophy are technology entrepreneurs and investors who approach aging as a solvable engineering problem. Perhaps the most well-known example is Bryan Johnson, whose meticulously documented longevity regimen has attracted global attention.

Johnson tracks hundreds of biological markers and follows an intensive daily protocol aimed at reducing his biological age. His project, often referred to as Blueprint, has become a symbol of the broader cultural shift toward radical longevity optimization.

But while Johnson represents the extreme end of the spectrum, he is far from alone. Longevity-focused medical practices report growing demand from CEOs, venture capitalists, elite athletes, and executives who increasingly view health optimization as both an investment and a competitive advantage.

What Happens Inside a Longevity Clinic

At first glance, a luxury longevity clinic might resemble a cross between a medical center and a high-performance laboratory.

Instead of annual checkups, clients undergo comprehensive physiological evaluations designed to create an exceptionally detailed map of their health. Full-body imaging, cardiovascular screening, metabolic testing, genetic analysis, and advanced biomarker panels are often combined to detect early signals of disease, sometimes decades before symptoms would traditionally appear.

“High-profile individuals are no longer relying on generic advice,” Vohra notes. “They’re testing everything: hormones, inflammation, glucose response, recovery metrics, sleep quality, biological age. It’s all becoming highly personalised.”

From there, physicians, nutritionists, and performance specialists design highly individualized protocols tailored to the client’s physiology. These programs often blend clinical medicine with strategies more commonly associated with elite athletic training, creating a system where health is continuously monitored, adjusted, and optimized.

For many clients, the body becomes a managed system: tracked with the same precision as a business portfolio.

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The Science Behind the Movement

Some elements of the longevity movement are supported by a robust body of research.

Resistance training remains one of the most powerful interventions for healthy aging. Maintaining muscle mass and strength is strongly associated with reduced mortality risk, improved metabolic health, and lower rates of frailty later in life.

Cardiovascular fitness is another major predictor of longevity, with higher VO₂ max levels correlating with significantly lower rates of cardiovascular disease and overall mortality.

Sleep quality, metabolic health, and inflammation control also play critical roles in slowing biological aging. Chronic sleep deprivation, insulin resistance, and systemic inflammation are all linked to accelerated physiological decline.

But not every intervention offered in the luxury biohacking world carries the same level of scientific certainty.

Peptide therapies, NAD⁺ infusions, hyperbaric oxygen treatments, and other emerging interventions are gaining popularity, but many remain under active investigation with limited long-term human data.

For some, that uncertainty is part of the appeal. The frontier itself has become a feature of the lifestyle.

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The Psychology of Optimization

The rapid growth of the longevity industry is not solely about science. It is also about mindset.

For high-performing individuals accustomed to optimizing everything from business strategy to athletic output, the idea of optimizing biology itself is a natural progression.

“High performers increasingly treat health like elite business strategy,” Vohra says. “Prevention, optimisation, consistency. Discipline compounds just like money does.”

Longevity clinics reinforce this approach by turning biology into something measurable. Blood markers become performance metrics. Sleep scores become feedback loops. Biological age becomes a target to improve.

In many ways, longevity optimization mirrors elite sport: continuous measurement, constant adjustment, and relentless pursuit of marginal gains.

What People Get Wrong

Despite its growing popularity, the longevity movement is often misunderstood.

“I think people sometimes assume longevity is about trying to become immortal,” Vohra says. “The reality is much more practical. It’s about maintaining function, energy, cognition, resilience and quality of life for as long as possible.”

There is also a tendency to equate high cost with high effectiveness.

“Some high-end treatments are incredible,” he adds. “Others are simply luxury theatre.”

That distinction matters. While cutting-edge interventions can offer meaningful benefits, they are not substitutes for foundational health behaviors.

What the Fitness World Should Pay Attention To

While the six-figure longevity lifestyle may seem far removed from the average gym-goer, many of the most effective interventions remain remarkably accessible.

Strength training, cardiovascular fitness, sleep quality, nutrition, stress management, and maintaining a healthy body composition consistently demonstrate the strongest impact on both lifespan and healthspan.

The difference at the elite level is not necessarily the intervention itself, but the precision with which it is applied.

The irony is that the same fundamentals driving elite longevity are the ones most people still neglect.

The Future of Longevity Medicine

Despite skepticism from some corners of the medical community, longevity science is advancing rapidly.

Researchers are increasingly studying aging not as an inevitable decline, but as a biological process that may be modified through targeted interventions. Advances in genomics, biomarker analysis, and artificial intelligence are improving our ability to detect early physiological changes and intervene earlier than ever before.

Over time, technologies currently reserved for elite clinics may become far more accessible, potentially reshaping the standard model of preventative medicine.

Time as the Ultimate Asset

The rise of the longevity movement reflects a fundamental shift in how we define wealth.

For decades, success has been measured by accumulation. Longevity reframes that equation, focusing instead on preservation—of energy, cognition, physical capability, and overall quality of life.

“The goal is not perfection,” Vohra says. “The goal is longevity with quality.”

For those able to invest heavily, that pursuit may include sophisticated diagnostics and experimental therapies. But the underlying principle remains far simpler.

The same behaviors that build elite performance build a longer, stronger life.

Rigor. Discipline. Results.

But inside the organization’s media sessions and athlete discussions, one message was repeated over and over again:

This was not meant to encourage reckless drug use—especially among children.

Executives, physicians, and participating athletes consistently framed the Enhanced Games as a medically supervised performance and longevity initiative centered on recovery, health monitoring, and extending athletic careers rather than glorifying underground enhancement culture.

The organization repeatedly emphasized that peptides and enhancement therapies were not intended for teenagers experimenting in gyms or athletes self-administering mystery compounds purchased online. Instead, officials argued that their platform was attempting to move performance enhancement into a transparent, clinically monitored environment built around physician oversight, bloodwork, and individualized protocols.

That distinction became one of the defining themes of the event.

During a lengthy media availability, organizers continually returned to the same idea: enhancement already exists in professional sports, bodybuilding, and entertainment, but largely in secrecy.

“What we are not promoting is that enhancements make up for a loss in talent, dedication, hard work,” says CEO and co-Founder, Maximilian Martin, during the discussion. “The athletes, it’s actually just the icing on the cake to let them recover quicker, protect themselves better from injuries, and that leads ultimately to better performance.”

The organization’s medical team argued that the real danger is not medically supervised therapies, but rather unsupervised abuse happening underground already.

Organizers pointed to unregulated peptide markets, social media influencers promoting black-market compounds, and young athletes experimenting without physician guidance as the current reality they claim to be trying to replace.

“What’s happening right now in the shadows is that people resort to unsafe drugs in unsupervised usage,” says Martin. 

They repeatedly stressed that children should not be using these substances and that the organization’s protocols were built specifically around adult athletes operating under medical supervision.

“This is not for experimentation by yourself,” organizers said while explaining why athlete-specific enhancement protocols were not publicly released. “The safe way to do it is under the right medical supervision with a doctor advising you personally.”

Payday Sparks Athlete Compensation Debate

One of the most talked-about storylines of the event involved Fred Kerley.

Kerley competed as an unenhanced athlete, a distinction the organization highlighted repeatedly. While many outsiders assumed every participant would be chemically enhanced, officials clarified that not all athletes were participating in enhancement protocols.

Even without enhancements, Kerley became one of the faces of the event and one of its biggest financial success stories.

The organization announced that Kerley would take home $250,000 in prize money for his family simply for competing at the event level organizers envisioned.

That number became a centerpiece in the Enhanced Games’ broader argument that elite athletes deserve dramatically better compensation than they currently receive through traditional Olympic systems.

The debate intensified after comments from newly elected Kirsty Coventry resurfaced online. Coventry, the president of the International Olympic Committee, recently indicated that she does not support directly paying Olympic athletes.

Enhanced Games executives and supporters used that contrast aggressively.

To them, the difference between the Olympic model and the Enhanced Games model is simple: one generates enormous global revenue while most athletes struggle financially, and the other openly prioritizes paying competitors.

The organization’s leadership repeatedly emphasized that athletes are entertainers generating value for leagues, sponsors, and broadcasters, and therefore deserve compensation that reflects that reality.

Throughout the media sessions, organizers described a future where athletes are not only medically supported but financially rewarded. That philosophy may ultimately become just as disruptive as the science itself.

On a social media post, the organization announced that a staggering $10,000,000 bonus awaits any sprinter capable of breaking Usain Bolt’s legendary 9.58-second world record in the 100m dash at the 2027 Enhanced Games. That figure immediately became one of the most shocking incentives in sports history.

The bounty transforms the race into more than just another sprint. It becomes a global spectacle centered around one of the most iconic marks in athletics.

Throughout the event, officials openly discussed the possibility that enhancement science, recovery optimization, and modern training could eventually push humanity beyond Bolt’s seemingly untouchable standard.

“At some point, someone will be quicker than Usain Bolt,” Max Martin said confidently during the closing media session.

Whether that happens under the Enhanced Games banner or elsewhere, the organization clearly intends to position itself as the stage where the next evolution of human performance takes place.

Kristian Gkolomeev Breaks the 50m Freestyle World Record

The defining athletic moment of the event came from Kristian Gkolomeev.

Gkolomeev stunned the swimming world by covering the Men’s 50m Freestyle in 20.81 seconds, faster than any human had ever officially swum the distance.

The swim shattered the previous benchmark and immediately became the signature performance of the Enhanced Games launch.

With the performance, Gkolomeev reportedly earned a staggering financial package:

• $1,000,000 world-record bonus
• $250,000 first-place prize
• Global headlines as the fastest 50m freestyle swimmer ever recorded

For organizers, the moment represented validation of everything they had been arguing publicly for months.

Officials repeatedly stressed during media sessions that, regardless of whether traditional governing bodies recognize the result, the swim itself happened.

“What Kristian did last year is he swam the distance of fifty meters quicker than any other human being ever before,” says Chief Sporting Officer Rick Adams. 

That statement captures the philosophical divide between the Enhanced Games and legacy governing organizations. Traditional Olympic structures define legitimacy through regulatory approval and anti-doping compliance. The Enhanced Games instead frame legitimacy through raw human output.

If a human moves faster than anyone before them, the organization argues, then history happened regardless of whether traditional federations approve of the circumstances.

That approach is exactly why the event has generated so much debate.

Megan Romano’s Comeback Story

Among the most compelling athlete narratives was the return of Megan Romano.

Romano had effectively stepped away from elite competitive swimming for nearly a decade after previously competing for Team USA and winning world championship titles during her prime years.

Now 35 years old, Romano returned to elite-level training under the Enhanced Games framework and organizers claim she is swimming faster than she did during her previous championship career.

Officials repeatedly pointed to Romano as evidence that recovery science and enhancement protocols could extend athletic viability far beyond traditional expectations. “She was retired for so many years,” says Martin during the media conference. “She comes back now at 35 and is swimming quicker than she did when she was a two-time world champion.”

For the Enhanced Games, Romano’s comeback represented more than nostalgia. It became a proof-of-concept story for their entire philosophy.

The organization wants athletes and fans to believe that elite careers do not necessarily need to end in an athlete’s late twenties or early thirties. Their vision is a sports ecosystem where recovery optimization, hormonal therapies, peptides, and advanced monitoring systems allow athletes to compete longer, recover faster, and potentially return from retirement.

Whether the broader sports world accepts that idea remains to be seen, but Romano quickly became one of the most visible examples of the concept in action.

Zoop Helped Turn the Enhanced Games Into a Creator-Led Media Event

Beyond the world records and controversy, the Enhanced Games also leaned heavily into influencer culture and digital storytelling.

The organization partnered with ZOOP, which positioned the creator platform as a founding partner and official content platform for the inaugural Games.

Rather than relying solely on traditional sports coverage, Zoop helped flood the event with original creator-driven content, behind-the-scenes athlete access, livestreams, interviews, and social-first storytelling designed to dominate online conversation.

According to the partnership announcement, Zoop worked directly with Enhanced athletes throughout training camps in the United Arab Emirates, documenting workouts, recovery protocols, medical supervision, and day-to-day preparation leading into Las Vegas.

The strategy brought influencers, celebrities, and creators directly into the ecosystem to help amplify the event far beyond traditional sports audiences.

That included appearances and coverage from actress Dascha Polanco as well as creator and influencer Victoria Brito, both of whom generated social content surrounding the Games and helped introduce the competition to entertainment, fashion, and lifestyle audiences that normally would never engage with Olympic-style track and swimming events.

Instead of trying to mimic the presentation style of the Olympics, the Enhanced Games embraced internet culture completely. Leaning into creators, viral clips, athlete personalities, and influencer storytelling as part of the core product.

Enhanced executives repeatedly described the organization as more than just a sporting event. Internally, they compared the structure to modern entertainment properties like wrestling and creator ecosystems, where year-round content matters just as much as the competition itself.

For the Enhanced Games, the future of sports is not just about records and medals. It is about athletes becoming full-scale digital personalities capable of driving attention across social media, streaming platforms, wellness brands, and creator economies simultaneously.

A Sports Experiment the World Can’t Ignore

The Enhanced Games could be at risk to the organization’s own health. 

Traditional sports governing bodies may never recognize their records. Olympic organizations may continue rejecting their philosophy. Critics may remain unconvinced that medically supervised enhancement can ever truly remain safe.

But after its launch event, one thing became very clear: The organization is trying to beat the dead horse on one specific point. This is not intended to be a promotion for children experimenting with peptides or performance-enhancing drugs.

Throughout nearly every press conference answer, panel discussion, and athlete interview, members of this organization have repeatedly emphasized that their vision revolves around elite professional performance, recovery science, longevity, and medically supervised optimization for adult athletes competing at the highest levels.

Officials consistently argued that the real danger already exists online, where teenagers and amateur gym-goers are exposed daily to underground enhancement culture through social media influencers, black-market peptide websites, and unregulated overseas compounds.

The Enhanced Games insists its approach is the opposite of that environment.

The company has also moved aggressively into the financial world. Enhanced is now publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, something organizers referenced multiple times while discussing investors, shareholders, sponsorship growth, and the future expansion of the business.

To supporters, that legitimizes the operation as a scalable sports and wellness company rather than a fringe underground experiment.

To critics, it raises even bigger concerns about monetizing enhancement culture.

Either way, the Enhanced Games have already accomplished one thing few sports startups ever achieve:

All eyes are on the prize that you see as worth investing your time in. 

Welcome to the golden age of curds. More people are realizing cottage cheese is far more than a nostalgic throwback—it’s affordable muscle fuel with real staying power. But before you dive spoon-first into the trend, there are a few things worth knowing about this clumpy, surprisingly versatile dairy staple.

What Exactly is Cottage Cheese?

Cottage cheese is considered a fresh cheese since it’s not aged or ripened the way hard cheeses like Parmesan, gouda and cheddar are. It’s a pretty straightforward cheese to produce. To make it, manufacturers introduce an acid compound or an acid-producing culture into milk, which begins separating the liquid whey protein from the milk solids, or curds. It’s these curds that lend cottage cheese its quintessential lumpy and polarizing appearance.

Curd size varies among brands, with some now offering smaller lump options. A good option for those of you who find the large curds weird them out. As for the taste, well, it’s slightly sweet, a tad sour, and a bit salty, yet sort of bland, which makes it easy to add to dishes without altering the flavor.

Yes, The Mass Produced Stuff is Still Healthy

These days, you can find artisanal cottage cheese and other tubs with a higher price point. (Here’s looking at you, Good Culture.) While these options can certainly have their merits, including improved taste and a cleaned-up ingredient list, making them a worthy splurge, it’s still perfectly acceptable to choose cottage cheese from larger-scale brands, as these provide many of the same nutritional benefits for less expense. Choosing store brands from Target, Publix, and Aldi can amount to considerable cost savings. Overall, it’s best to select a brand based on your taste preference and food budget. If a particular cottage cheese has a flavor and texture that excites your gag reflex, then that is not the one for you, even if it costs less than the rest.

Is Cottage Cheese Good for Building Muscle?

When discussing the virtues of cottage cheese, it certainly makes sense to start with protein, the macro everyone seems obsessed with. With roughly 13 grams of protein in a half-cup serving (80-100 calories), this dairy product is clearly a protein standout, and one that can help your muscles look more pumped. As a comparison, the same serving of plain Greek yogurt contains about 10g of protein. Two large eggs have 12 grams of protein for 158 calories. This means that including cottage cheese in your diet makes it easier to nail your total daily protein goals.

Cottage cheese makes an excellent post-workout food option, as research shows that 9 grams of milk-based protein can be enough to stimulate muscle-building following a bout of resistance training. Some people are now using cottage cheese as a replacement to protein powders, as not everyone is keen on using those to support muscle-making efforts. And it’s certainly more pleasant to eat than most of the so-called protein bars on the market.

It’s also about the best late-night snack you can eat. A study review published in the scientific journal Frontiers of Nutrition extols the virtues of consuming some protein before bed to help boost muscle recovery and growth in response to training. The study authors point out that casein, which cottage cheese has in abundance, is the best type of pre-snooze protein since it is slower-releasing, thereby providing our bodies with a steady stream of muscle-building amino acids as we dream away.

And let’s not forget that the sky-high protein content of cottage cheese also helps with satiety and appetite control. This, along with its relatively low calorie count, could mean it was justified to crown cottage cheese as a gold standard weight loss food.

What to Look for When Buying Cottage Cheese

Know Your Fat Levels

Cottage cheese is available in 0%, 1%, 2% and 4% milk fat. This describes the percentage of fat by weight in the cheese. A half-cup serving of fat-free (0%) cottage cheese provides about 80 calories and 0 grams of fat, while 2% delivers roughly 90 calories and 2.5 grams of fat. The 4% stuff has 120 calories and 5 grams of fat per half-cup serving. The differences here aren’t huge, but still worth noting.

Which to choose? Some may like the calorie savings that you get from lower fat varieties, but others will find that the extra bit of fat in the 4% stuff makes it more filling and a heck of a lot more tasty. I would say that if you aren’t already eating too much saturated fat and calories, there is no reason why you can’t go higher-fat. But if you need to reign in your sat fat and calorie intake, then perhaps it’s a wise choice to go lower fat.

The role that dairy fat has on heart disease remains controversial, with some research suggesting eating too much can be bad news for heart health, while other studies suggest that dairy fat has a rather passive role when it comes to the functioning of our tickers. A thought is that the nutrition matrix of dairy largely counteracts any negative impact its saturated fat has on the heart. We may one day have a definitive answer to this.

Nutritional Values

Though it’s the protein in cottage cheese that grabs all the headlines, the lumpy dairy is home to a range of important micronutrients, including calcium and phosphorus, both of which are vital for bone health. It also supplies potassium, selenium , and vitamin B12, a nutrient that helps keep the body’s red blood cells and nervous system healthy and helps make DNA, the genetic material in all cells. Dare we say that this stuff is nutrient-dense health food?

Just keep in mind that, unlike milk, which is often fortified with vitamin D, cottage cheese typically does not contain this nutrient.

Probiotics Content

Now you might be thinking, what about the probiotic content of my beloved cottage cheese? Unlike yogurt and kefir, much of the cottage cheese on the market isn’t a source of these micro-critters and, in turn, won’t do much to fertilize your gut with beneficial bacteria. Unlike yogurt, fermentation isn’t a required step in making cottage cheese. So make sure you are consuming some fermented foods, such as yogurt and kimchi, if your cottage cheese is lacking probiotics.

With that said, there are many different brands of cottage cheese, some of which, like Good Culture, do indeed include live cultures. Fermented cottage cheese will have a sharper, more noticeable tangy flavor, similar to yogurt. A good choice if you find regular cottage cheese a bit bland.

Lactose Tolerance?

Yes, the majority of carbs in a tub of plain cottage cheese hail from a naturally occurring milk sugar called lactose. Something that people with lactose intolerance will need to be aware of. Eat too much of this and you risk stomach revolt. To date, options for lactose-free cottage cheese on the market are limited, but if you look hard enough you might get your hands on it. Yogurt contains less lactose because the bacteria used in its production breaks down this sugar. This means that cultured cottage cheese should contain significantly less lactose than regular versions as long as the cultures were added during the production process and not afterward.

Sodium Intake

One caveat worth noting is that cottage cheese can be much higher in sodium than yogurt—a half-cup serving may have up to 400 milligrams, though some brands may have more or less. (As a reminder, the daily sodium recommendation is 2,300 mg or less.) Salt is added to cottage cheese to enhance flavor and to help preserve it because of its high moisture content. This makes it a potential food of concern for those whose blood pressure is sensitive to sodium or for people with existing heart conditions or diabetes.

But not everyone needs to be so concerned about their sodium intake, and this extra hit of sodium can be part of your nutrition recovery following a sweaty workout. It’s possible to compare brands and look for those that have less sodium per serving. I’m probably not the only one who finds the highest sodium options to taste too, well, salty.

Additives: Emulsifiers

A good portion of the cottage cheese out there is made with thickening gums like guar gum, locust bean gum (no relation to the bug), and carrageenan. These are known as food additives called emulsifiers. This is a bit concerning, as some research is questioning the health impact these can have. For instance, a report in the journal Microbiome suggests that they can alter our intestinal microbiota composition and its function in a way that may increase inflammation. Perhaps excessive emulsifier intake contributes to making eating too many ultra-processed foods so bad for our health.

If you’re concerned about these food additives, you can look for brands like Friendship Dairies that produce cottage cheese without them. After all, what is wrong with an option made with nothing more than milk, cream, and salt?

Sugar Content

Naturally, cottage cheese is low in carbohydrates, which is why it was historically a staple for low-carb dieters. But as with yogurt, flavored cottage cheese typically contains added sugars and is, therefore, higher in carbs than plain varieties.

Check the label: Look for options with 5 grams or fewer added sugars in a serving and ones flavored with at least some real fruit. Your smartest move is to purchase plain cottage cheese and sweeten the bowl with some berries or diced fruit. That gives you plenty of protein with much less of a nutritional compromise.

3 Cottage Cheese Recipes

The most popular way to eat cottage cheese is as if it were yogurt, dumped in a bowl and topped with fruit and maybe a handful of nuts or granola. But these mild, protein-packed curds are way more versatile than you think. Here are a few recipes that prove this point.

Creamy Fruit Salad Breakfast Tacos

A protein-packed way to kick off your day and way more exciting than a bowl of soggy oatmeal.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 tsp orange zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup blueberries
• 1 cup halved strawberries
• 2 kiwi, peeled and chopped
• 1 banana, sliced
• 4 (6-inch) whole-grain tortillas
• 1 cup granola

Directions:

1. In a bowl, stir together cottage cheese, honey, orange zest and vanilla. In a separate bowl, toss together blueberries, strawberries, kiwi and banana.
2. To assemble tacos, spread some of the cottage cheese mixture on a tortilla and top with fruit salad and granola. You can also roll these up burrito-style.

Cottage Cheese Egg Bombs

You can’t go wrong serving these baby crustless quiches for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
• 8 large eggs
• ¾ cup grated mozzarella
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cups finely chopped spinach

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 325ºF. Coat a standard sized muffin tin generously with cooking spray.
2. Blend together cottage cheese, eggs, cheese, cornstarch, thyme, salt, and pepper until very smooth. Place egg mixture in a bowl and stir in red pepper and spinach. Divide among muffin cups.
3. Fill a baking dish about halfway with very hot tap water. Place on the lower rack. Place the muffin tin on the middle rack. Bake until the egg bites are set and no longer wet on top and they have started to pull away from the edges of the pan, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan for about 5 minutes. Run a butter knife around each egg bite to loosen and lift out of the pan. Serve warm.

Chocolate Mousse

This dessert tastes too decadent to be, mostly, healthy. Great served topped with raspberries and crunchy toasted nuts.

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces dark chocolate, roughly chopped (about 1/3 cup chopped)
• 1 1/2 cups full-fat (4%) cottage cheese
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons water

Directions:

1. In a small microwave-safe bowl, add chocolate. Microwave on high power in 30-second intervals, stirring with a rubber spatula after each interval, until melted, about 90 seconds. Let cool slightly, about 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a blender or food processor, process cottage cheese, maple syrup, cinnamon, and water until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides of container as needed. With blender running, drizzle in cooled chocolate until just combined.
3. Transfer chocolate mousse to container, cover, and refrigerate until fully chilled and set, about 2 hours. It will thicken as it cools.

If you’re not a fit for this exercise, it is a shoulder issue waiting to happen. That makes the behind-the-neck press a selective lift. Selective lifts tend to get trashed because of the high risk-to-reward ratio.

The real question isn’t whether the behind-the-neck press is evil. The question is whether the person using it has the mobility, control, and common sense to make the risk worth it. Like many maligned exercises, the problem isn’t that the movement is useless—it’s that people fail to treat it like the advanced shoulder builder it really is. Let’s dive in, with some help from Matt Wenning of Wenning Strength, and see if the behind-the-neck press is for you.

Why the Behind-the-Neck Press Has a Bad Reputation

Behind-the-neck presses get no love because it requires the shoulders to do something many lifters cannot do well: press overhead behind the neck from an abducted, externally rotated position. That’s a lot to handle if shoulder mobility is lacking, thoracic extension is missing, or the lifter is hyperextending their lower back to get the bar into place.

“The shoulder already gives up stability for mobility,” explains Wenning. “Forcing extreme external rotation and overhead abduction can create problems for lifters who lack thoracic mobility, scapular upward rotation, or shoulder health.”

It often gets crushed by guilt-by-association. You may have seen the ugliest version of this exercise: too much weight, the bar slamming behind the head, the neck jutting forward, the ribs flaring, and the elbows all over the place. When you witness that, it is easy to decide the movement itself is the problem.

Front presses, dumbbell presses, landmine presses, and machine presses all train the shoulders with less technical demand and less drama. Then people start asking a fair question: why bother? That is exactly why this exercise keeps ending up on the gym

hitlist. It is not because it is useless. It is because its margin for error is smaller, and for that reason, many avoid it.

But what do the expert think of it?

What Science Says About the Behind-the-Neck Shoulder Press

Science doesn’t give us a clear-cut answer, but it does give us a better picture of who this lift is for and why it gets side-eye. This study of weight-trained individuals found that lifters with clinical characteristics of anterior shoulder instability and hyperlaxity reported more frequent use of shoulder-loading exercises in the so-called “high-five” position.

Keep in mind that association doesn’t prove that the behind-the-neck press is the cause of this. Another study comparing the front and back overhead presses found that the back overhead press increased involvement of the lateral and posterior deltoids.

That same study also reported that barbell pressing produced greater muscle engagement than machine pressing. That matters because it suggests the behind-the-neck press is not merely a riskier version of the standard press; it may provide a distinct shoulder-building stimulus, especially for lifters seeking more side- and rear-delt development.

Research doesn’t tell the whole story, but it suggests that the behind-the-neck press is neither inherently useless nor automatically dangerous. It is a specialized pressing variation with a distinct training effect and a smaller margin for error.

The real takeaway is this: The behind-the-neck press is not a default lift. It is a conditional one.

Who Should Avoid the Behind-the-Neck Press?

The behind-the-neck press is far from perfect, and here are a few good reasons not to place the barbell behind your head.

Shoulder Mobility Demands

To do it well, you need sufficient shoulder external rotation, abduction control, and thoracic extension to get the bar behind the head without turning the rep into a circus act. That is a problem because many lifters lack that combination. Instead of owning the position, they compensate by overarched the lower back, flaring the ribs, or jutting the head forward to clear the bar. Once that starts happening, the lift stops training the shoulders and instead exposes problems.

Unnecessary Shoulder Stress Research on weight-trained individuals found that exercises using the “high-five” position, which the behind-the-neck press puts you in, were associated with clinical signs of anterior shoulder instability and hyperlaxity.

Smaller Margin for Error

The behind-the-neck press punishes poor thoracic mobility, weak scapular control, a sloppy bar path, or an oversized ego. “Repeated overhead loading in compromised positions,” says Wenning. “Can increase shoulder mileage, contribute to impingement symptoms, irritate soft tissues, and create problems both short- and long-term.”

That is part of what makes the lift so controversial. It is not just that it can feel awkward; the consequences of bad technique arrive sooner.

There Are Easier Alternatives

Most lifters can build strong, muscular shoulders with regular overhead-press variations, landmine presses, and machine presses. Those lifts require less mobility, less technical precision, and less courage than putting a barbell behind your head. That makes the behind-the-neck press optional, but optional does not mean worthless.

Next are three reasons why you should do it.

Benefits of the Behind-the-Neck Press

So far, I have given you every reason not to do it. Here are the benefits that will make you think twice.

Hits the Side and Rear Delts Differently

The behind-the-neck press trains the shoulders differently from the standard press. Research comparing both lifts found that the behind-the-neck overhead press increased engagement of the medial and posterior deltoids, whereas the front version engaged the pectoralis major more. That gives the behind-the-neck press a legitimate argument for lifters chasing broader shoulders.

It Exposes Weak Links Fast

You can’t fix a problem you haven’t uncovered. This lift requires thoracic and shoulder mobility, as well as the ability of the shoulder blades to rotate upward. If any of these is an issue, the behind-the-neck press will reveal it. That is not always a bad thing. Sometimes an exercise is valuable because it shows you where your weak links are so that you can correct them.

It Can Improve Strength and Control in a Sport-Specific Overhead Position

For certain lifters, the behind-the-neck press offers more than a delt pump. It strengthens a position they need to own. Olympic lifters, throwing athletes, and experienced overhead trainees often need to produce or control force with the shoulders abducted and externally rotated. The behind-the-neck press builds strength, stability, confidence, and improved performance in that position. For the right athlete, it can be a targeted way to get stronger exactly where performance demands it.

Who It’s For and Who Should Skip It

Is this lift for you? Let’s find out.

Who’s It for

• Experienced lifters who have the shoulder mobility, thoracic extension, and bar control to own the ‘high-five’ position.
• Olympic lifters, certain throwing athletes, and advanced overhead trainees who need strength and stability in that abducted, externally rotated “behind the neck” position.
• Hypertrophy-focused lifters who tolerate the movement well and want a pressing variation that may bias the medial and posterior delts more.

Who’s it not for

• Beginners, because it is not a learn-to-press movement.
• Lifters with a history of shoulder instability, hyperlaxity, impingement symptoms, or pain in abducted and externally rotated positions should also leave this one alone.

Risk vs. Reward: Is the Behind-the-Neck Press Worth It?

The behind-the-neck press sits in the high-risk, moderate-to-high reward category.

The risk is not just that the lift looks awkward. It is a position that places significant demand on the shoulders, upper back, and the lifter’s ability to control the bar path under load. If you lack shoulder mobility, thoracic extension, or stability in that abducted and externally rotated position, the lift can go from an advanced shoulder-builder to a bad idea in a hurry.

But the reward is real for the right person. The behind-the-neck press provides a different training stimulus than the standard front press, with the lateral and posterior delts getting more action. That gives it a legitimate hypertrophy argument for lifters chasing broader shoulders. It also gives some advanced overhead athletes a way to build strength and control in a position their sport or lifting style demands.

It is not a default press, but it is not forbidden either. If you have the mobility and the control, the reward may justify the risk. If you do not, the behind-the-neck press becomes one of those lifts where the downside shows up long before the upside.

Final Verdict

This is not a lift for beginners, those with shoulder issues, or anyone who has to twist themselves into position to complete the rep. The concerns discussed above are real.

But writing it off misses the other half of the story. It’s great for overhead athletes and Olympic lifters who need strength and control in that position; the behind-the-neck press can be more than an old-school stunt. It can be a targeted tool. Plus. If you can handle it, it gives your shoulders a different stimulus.

The behind-the-neck press is not bad because it is worthless. People malign it because too many lifters force an advanced movement with inadequate mobility, poor control, and a barbell they have no business loading. But in the right hands and on the right shoulders, it is still a legitimate shoulder builder.