Steve Cook on steroids: the four-or-five-compound stack he refused to take

For most of the men who reach the top of competitive physique sport, the question of what to take is not really a question. It is an entry fee. The line between a clean athlete and a chemically optimised one runs not through the locker room but through the wallet of whoever is willing to…

ByJon Lipsey17 hours ago0Comments

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Steve Cook on building a body, walking away, and the cost of optimisation

Most former IFBB Men's Physique competitors do not talk on the record about why they stopped competing. Steve Cook does. The conversation below, recorded in January 2024, when Cook was 38, is his retrospective on the trade he refused to make: the four-or-five-compound stack required to win at Olympia level, and the realisation that becoming…

ByJon Lipsey17 hours ago0Comments

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The Athletes walking into the Enhanced Games, and the ones who almost did

Most of the athletes who said yes to the Enhanced Games were referred by other athletes who had already said yes. This is one of the things Rick Adams tells you that almost no one in the wider coverage of the games has bothered to mention. More than half of the 40-plus athletes preparing to…

ByJon Lipsey17 hours ago0Comments

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What is Xenom, and why it could reshape fitness competition

Xenom has raised $15 million and calls itself the “decathlon of fitness”. That’s the headline but it’s not the most interesting thing about the latest addition to the competitive fitness calendar. Xenom is a new global fitness competition designed to test all-round fitness across a standardised format. What really stands out is how Xenom founder…

ByJon LipseyMarch 25, 20260Comments

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What is Xenom and how it is standardising competitive fitness

Competitive fitness is moving towards structure. For years, the category has been defined by variation: different workouts, different formats, different interpretations of what “fitness” means. That has driven participation, but it has limited comparability and made it difficult to scale as a spectator sport. Xenom is part of a new wave attempting to change that.…

ByJon LipseyMarch 25, 20260Comments

TRAINING Explainer

What are hybrid fitness competitions and how are they turning training into a sport?

Fitness has historically been personal. You train to improve strength, endurance, or appearance. Progress is tracked individually. Outcomes are largely private. Hybrid fitness competitions introduce a different model. They turn training into something measurable, repeatable, and comparable across individuals and locations. Hybrid fitness competitions are structured events that combine multiple training modalities—typically strength, endurance, and…

ByJon LipseyMarch 24, 20260Comments

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Dr Alyssa Olenick: Why every woman must build more muscle!

Dr Alyssa Olenick Dr Alyssa Olenick is a highly regarded exercise physiologist, ultra-marathon runner and powerlifter with a deep passion for fitness, health, and wellness. She specialises in understanding the intricate relationship between resistance training, endurance sports and metabolic health, and is known for her science-based approach to exercise and recovery, and her ability to…

ByJoe WarnerJanuary 19, 20260Comments

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How Great Coaches Teach Movement

There’s a kind of desperation you often get among inexperienced coaches. You hear it in the way they talk - using words like dorsiflex, externally rotate, posterior chain. It’s the sound of someone trying to be taken seriously. Judd Lienhard doesn’t need that. With over 30,000 hours of coaching behind him, he’s heard it all…

ByDr Jonny ReesDecember 8, 20250Comments

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How Olympic champ Emma Finucane learned to win

Emma Finucane doesn’t sound like an assassin. Standing in front of me at the side of the track at the National Cycling Centre – the home of British Cycling - in Manchester, the softly spoken 22-year-old from Wales is friendly and laid back. But the Emma who wins bike races? That version had to be created and…

ByJon LipseySeptember 6, 20250Comments

TRAINING Explainer

Fasted cardio for women: should you train on empty?

Fasted cardio is exactly what it sounds like: doing cardiovascular exercise—usually in the morning—before you’ve eaten anything. The thinking is simple: if you train without food in your system, your body will burn more fat for fuel, helping you lean out faster. For men, especially those who are metabolically healthy, this approach can sometimes support…

ByJon LipseyMay 18, 20250Comments

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