“Good morning,” offered ‘The Great One’ as he made the walk from his house to the famous private gym known as the “Iron Paradise.” This is the space where Johnson has chiseled his physique for the screen in recent years, but while social media commentators often enter the chat here to suggest it’s easy for multimillionaires to build muscle, because they have the extra time and resources, the reality is usually much different. For example, this particular workout has a start time of around 4.45 a.m., on a cold and dark Saturday morning. “You ever wake up so early, you’re like, am I f***ng crazy,” joked Johnson, heading into a gutsy cardio session. “And you go, ‘yeah, a little bit.’”

Of course, extremely late night and ultra early gym sessions are nothing new to The Rock, who has weathered the roads travelling the globe with WWE, and has maintained an incredible physique despite the random hours of movie shoots. During Johnson’s impromptu Instagram live video, he shared an affinity for Waylon Jennings’ song, “I’ve always been crazy.” But most observers would suggest that he’s got things well worked out.

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Shares His Evolving Philosophy at 53

The Rock is rounding out a year of mixed fortunes. While The Smashing Machine failed to make the kind impact at the box office that he’d hoped for, he ultimately got something far more elusive in the form of mass critical acclaim. “A question that I get asked a lot about, ‘What’s the hack?’” shared Johnson as he headed toward his gym. “What’s the life hack to success? Well, there’s no life hack,” confirmed the eight-time WWE Champion.  “Work begets work.” To date, Johnson’s movies have generated more than eleven billion dollars worldwide, solidifying him as one of the most successful actors of all time, but the star shares that winning is mostly about what you do when no one is watching. “You gotta put in the work, but I used to think that ‘oh, what am I willing to do that other’s aren’t willing to do?”

As a struggling footballer, then a fledging wrestler, and a budding actor, the man they now call ‘The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment,’ understood that to stand out from the pack, he would have to dig deep. “And it served, me, and I think it serves a lot of us out there,” he reflected. Now that he’s an established icon, however, that philosophy, as relates to training and life, has undergone some reconstruction. At 53, Johnson is now leaning into what he can bring to the table. “Sure, you can compare yourself to others, but what served me even better, and more, and really became invaluable, was the collapsing of that philosophy,” shared The Rock with his almost 400 million Instagram followers. “And, not comparing what others do, but really, what I’m willing to do, period, full stop, that’s it.”

Johnson now begins his prep for each task by putting his faith into himself. This legendary pro wrestler and actor no longer wants to know what others are willing to do, he simply asks himself what he’s willing to do. “And that’s get up at 4am, and get my ass in the gym, and do the work when nobody’s watching,” explained the Jumanji star. “It’s easier to do the work when the sun comes up and everyone’s watching and it’s part of the routine,” said the star. “But the harder work, I found, is the stuff you do when no one watches. In the quiet of the night, or the super early in the morning.”

Now inside the Iron Paradise, Johnson pointed to a sign that he has on the wall, consisting of two lines: Stay Humble and Stay Hungry. “And I’m gonna put a third one right here”, he joked, “and Stay The F**k In Bed.” Of course, there’s no chance that The Rock will rest on his laurels, but The Great One’s impromptu IG chat gave a rare glimpse into the inspirational insanity that keeps him crazy for crushing it in the gym.

To follow The Rock on Instagram, click here. 

Ask any “expert” when it’s best to include cardio in your workout and you’re sure to get answers ranging from “Do your cardio first to warm up” to “Never do cardio before leg day.” And, of course, there’s this: “Cardio kills your gains.”

However, the myth that cardio ruins your gains needs to go. Improving your cardiovascular health enhances recovery, reduces stress, and keeps you above ground longer.

For years, lifters have feared that running a few miles on the treadmill or a post-lift HIIT session would shred their hard-earned muscle. And while poor cardio timing can interfere with your progress, well-programmed cardio can actually complement it.

Here we’ll break down the science, debunk the fear, and show you when cardio helps, when it hurts, and how to structure it based on your goals.

Origin of the Cardio Myth

The idea that cardio kills your muscle gains didn’t come from the lab—it came from the gym bros.

Old-school bodybuilders viewed cardio as the enemy. It’s hard to argue with a muscular guy who believes anything more than five reps is considered cardio. Back then, the message was clear: If building muscle is the goal, cardio is a waste of time. Cardio was only something you suffered through to lean out fast during a cutting phase.

The way endurance athletes looked only reinforced the contrast. Lifters saw that look and thought, “That’s what cardio does? No thanks.”

This mindset grew even stronger in the early 2000s, when fitness culture split into two distinct groups: cardio bunnies who didn’t want to get bulky and lifters who did. Then influencers and gym-bros added fuel to that fire, dismissing steady-state cardio and warning everyone that it ruins your gains.

That fear stuck around, and what got lost in all the noise? Context.

Now it’s time to provide some.

How Cardio Really Helps Your Gains

Cardio isn’t the villain in your muscle-building quest. When it’s programmed and performed well, it’s a tool that supports fat loss, improves recovery, and boosts your work capacity.

Here are three good reasons to combine cardio with your lifting.

Fat Loss & Conditioning

If your main goal is to lose fat while keeping muscle, cardio can be your ally—but it’s all about timing and intensity. Doing cardio after lifting, when glycogen stores are low, can boost your fat-burning efforts. One 2015 study in Sports Medicine found that combining resistance training with post-lifting cardio improved body composition more than resistance training alone—without negatively impacting strength.

LISS: Low-Impact, High-Return

Low-Intensity Steady-State (LISS) cardio—such as incline walking, cycling, or light rowing—has little impact on strength or hypertrophy. It helps recovery by increasing blood flow to sore muscles, reducing stress, and improving sleep.

Heart Gains Are Still Gains

Better cardio equals improved work capacity. That means you can recover faster between sets, train harder during workouts, and keep your engine humming longer. That’s not “losing gains”—that’s optimizing them.

Cardio Timing Really Does Matter

Like many myths, there’s a sliver of truth buried beneath it. Cardio doesn’t automatically ruin gains—but it’s all about the timing.

High-Intensity Cardio Before Lifting? Not Ideal

If you jump right into sprints, hill intervals, or a long-distance run before lifting, you’re starting your lift fatigued. That’s a problem—especially for compound lifts that require maximum effort.

Here’s why:

• Your central nervous system isn’t as sharp.
• Muscle glycogen is partially depleted.
• Power output and lifting technique suffer, especially on lifts requiring explosiveness and stability. A 2016 Journal of Sports Sciences study found that doing cardio before strength training reduces strength performance.

The Interference Effect Is Real

The “interference effect” describes the competing adaptations that happen when endurance and strength training are not effectively combined. A comprehensive review in JSCR showed that concurrent training can blunt hypertrophy and strength development, primarily when modalities are performed back-to-back at high frequency and with poor sequencing.

It’s not about avoiding cardio—it’s about placing it where it fits. Before strength work, it may compromise performance. Afterward, it becomes a tool for recovery, conditioning, and body composition.

Goal-Based Cardio Timing

So, when are the best times to do your cardio? The best time to do cardio depends on your training goal, plain and simple. Here’s how to make it work for you.

For Fat Loss:

• When to Do It: After lifting, or in separate sessions.
• Why: You’ve already used your glycogen during strength work—now you can really tap into fat and glycogen stores, depending on whether you’re doing HITT or LISS.
• Bonus: Fasted morning cardio on off-days can enhance the deficit, if recovery is on point.

For Muscle:

• When to Do It: After weights or on rest days.
• Why: Your energy needs to go toward muscle growth. Don’t drain your CNS with high-intensity cardio first.
• Tip: 1–2 short LISS sessions per week is usually plenty to maintain conditioning when maximum muscle is the goal.

For Endurance:

• When to Do It: Prioritize cardio sessions and do strength work after or on alternate days.
• Why: Your performance hinges on aerobic output—lift to support durability and reduce injury risk

Here’s What Happens When You Believe Cardio Eats Your Gains

Thinking that cardio automatically cancels out strength gains has repercussions. Here’s how this myth causes problems with progress:

Lifters Avoid Cardio Altogether

Many strength-focused lifters eliminate cardio out of fear that it will “steal” their gains. But skipping conditioning means they’re missing out on the cardiovascular health, recovery benefits, and work capacity that actually support better lifting—being strong but winded after a single flight of stairs? That’s not performance; that’s your heart telling you to do your cardio.

Pushes False Either/Or Mentality

This myth promotes a black-and-white view: either you’re a “cardio person” or a “strength person.” That’s limiting. A balanced training plan can and should include both when timed and programmed well. Lifters who buy into the myth miss out on the benefits of becoming well-rounded athletes.

Miss Out on Health and Recovery Benefits

Cardio isn’t just about burning fat. It boosts heart health, circulation, blood pressure, and metabolic flexibility—key pillars of long-term performance and wellness. When you neglect cardio, these benefits diminish. Additionally, low-intensity cardio, such as walking or cycling, supports active recovery by increasing blood flow to sore muscles, clearing waste products, and delivering nutrients. That leads to better recovery between lifting sessions.

Stalls Fat Loss and Conditioning

Strength training alone often doesn’t provide enough of a metabolic boost to promote fat loss, especially in experienced lifters. Without some form of steady-state or interval-based cardio, your body has fewer tools to burn calories efficiently and adapt to longer-duration workouts due to a lack of aerobic endurance. This lack of endurance becomes apparent during cutting phases, when cardio is crucial for maintaining a caloric deficit without losing lean mass.

The Final Takeaway

Cardio doesn’t kill your gains—but poor planning might. The myth that cardio and lifting can’t coexist is like saying you can’t eat carbs and still get lean. It’s not about one or the other. It’s about smart sequencing.

If strength, size, or power is your main priority, lift first. That’s when your nervous system is sharp, your muscles are fresh, and your output will be highest. Cardio can come later—either at the end of your session or on separate days, depending on the intensity. On the flip side, if you’re training for endurance or working toward a race, prioritize cardio first and treat your lifts like performance support.

Cardio isn’t your enemy; it’s your ally when used at the right time, in the right way.

Fortunately, with a deep desire to get his sweat on, Diemer leaned into three moves in order to join the Disney+ franchise.

Born in the small Canadian town of Brentwood Bay, British Columbia, Diemer now splits his time between Vancouver, where Percy Jackson and the Olympians is actually shot, and LA, where he also calls home. But while the actor grew up in a sporty family—his father was a tennis coach—a physical limitation would thwart his dreams of becoming a professional soccer player. “I’ve kept it very generic online with most of the interviews,” says Diemer, bravely opening up to M&F on the personal details. “My right leg is an entire inch shorter than my left leg, and I had no idea until I was probably 24 or 25.”

Daniel Diemer Shares his Experience with Leg Length Discrepancy

Officially known as LLD (Leg Length Discrepancy), this condition can cause significant back pain and muscular issues. While 90% of the population have some type of variance, it is rare to suffer with the kind of length difference that Diemer has learned to deal with. As he grew, the young man found himself unable to play sports without intense shooting pains running down his spine and legs. Even worse, the diagnosis of LLD didn’t come to Diemer for years, because physicians often check the bones and ligaments to locate causes of pain, but they don’t always measure limbs. With a soccer career now out of the question, Diemer opted to get serious with his gym workouts instead, “Just trying to support the back issues, and get some muscle on,” he explains.

Transitioning to the gym fully, Diemer, who stands at a towering 6’5’’, learned to love the process of finding his pump. Cable work such as bicep crunches are a staple, as are unilateral moves for improved symmetry and balance. “It’s something that I’ve tried to stay consistent with,” shares the star, utilizing the gym floor to sculpt his physique into whatever a role should require. “If you don’t mind me nerding out a little bit, it’s like I love body changes for projects and for characters,” he tells M&F gleefully.

In the Netflix movie, The Half of It, Diemer had bulked up to 235 pounds in order to play a professional football player, but for Tyson, the actor explains that he had to contend with more stunt work, so he needed to be leaner and more mobile. “I tried to keep myself at around 14 to 15 percent (bodyfat),” he explains. But despite cutting his weight down, the actor also appreciated that he’d need to stay strong for those stunts. “So, I was trying to get into the gym as much as I possibly could, just to make the whole athletic nature of him,” shares Diemer. “I was able to stay consistent and not get injured, which is the big one as well!”

3 Moves That Built Daniel Diemer’s ‘Tyson’ Physique

Weighted pullups:

“Weirdly enough, probably my best exercise,” says Diemer of a move that is particularly demanding for tall people. “I started off in the gym at my high school, not really having any idea what I was doing, and then when I moved out to Vancouver at 18, I was completely broke. I couldn’t even afford the $15 rec center gym fee at the time,” he shares. “All I could put together was rent and food. My roommate had a pullup bar and so I’d do 100 pullups, 100 pushups, 100 squats each day, and then I’d try to get some cardio in. It was great because I was able to figure out the different pullup types and how you target different back muscles.”

Diemer shares that weighted pullups remain a constant part of crushing his gym sessions. “I can really get the mind-to-muscle connection going with that type of workout,” he explains, revealing that during the peak of his training for “The Half of It,” the able actor could complete pullups with 100 pounds of additional weight on his belt. “That was really fun.”

Box Jumps:

Diemer tells M&F that he wanted to portray Tyson as a babyish character who could be clumsy, and yet spring into action with sudden explosive power. “I started incorporating a bunch of box jumps,” he explains. “I’d been focused more on the weightlifting and body sculpting for years, so I kind of went back into my athletic background. A lot of box jumps for that explosiveness for the legs.”

While on set, this plyometric style of training really benefitted him on the set of Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2. “Really useful, especially any quick little sprints or any quick little jumps,” he explains of mastering his scenes. “I have been able to get the hips and the legs, and then the core, all kind of engaging together, getting that chain moving seamlessly. That was really important to me.”

Farmer’s Carries

To build further on his speed and power, Diemer also incorporated farmer’s carries into his routines. “Just to be able to kind of keep everything tight was really useful on the mobility side of things,” shares the actor.

Despite the drawbacks of LLD, Diemer hasn’t let the condition define him, instead learning to love what he can do with his body in the gym, and how it shapes his physique for different roles.

With Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 streaming on Disney+ from Dec. 10, Diemer is excited for fans to see what’s to come. “I’ve never been on sets this big!” he beams. “The world that we shoot, it’s genuinely incredible!”

To follow Daniel Diemer on Instagram, click here. 

“If you’ve only got 30 minutes but still want to feel like you put in some WORK… 100’s will smoke you,” teased the former Olympia Women’s Physique winner in a recent Instagram post for her 2.2 million followers. Here’s how to build some volume:

Dana Linn Bailey’s 100’s Workout: Back Day

Choose Your Weight

“Grab a weight you can hit 15 – 20 clean reps with, fresh,” coaches the powerhouse from Reading, PA.  For the uninitiated, “fresh” means that the muscles should be able to handle this number of reps without becoming too fatigued, around 45-55% of your max capability, she suggested. “Heavy enough to burn, light enough to move fast.”

How long can you rest between sets?

“20-30 seconds, max,” said Bailey. “Shake it out, breathe, right back in. No scrolling. No wondering.”

Choose four exercises and perform 100 reps of each

Here’s what Bailey opted for, making a fiery finisher out of her final set:

• Lat Pulldowns x 100
• Bent Over Barbell Row x 100
• Seated Cable Row x 100

Superset: Straight Arm Pull Downs & Lying Cable Face Pulls x 50/50

Workout Breakdown

“Four exercises – 400 reps of controlled chaos,” commented the coach on completion, explaining that this session builds “muscular endurance, conditioning, strength under fatigue, mental toughness and a disgusting pump.”

For those who are finding their current workouts stale and uninspiring, or feel like they’ve hit a plateau, volume training could be a game changer. Not only does it improve the capillarization in the muscle, improving protein and water transfer, but it also stimulates increased glycogen reserves to give you that ‘swole’ appearance.

It’s a “short, brutal, effective,” workout concluded Bailey. “Try it next time you’re slammed on time — and tell me if you survive.”

To follow Dana Linn Bailey on Instagram, click here.

“I’m a human guinea pig myself,” he told me. “I like really seeing what happens to my body and how I feel.”

This time, he set out to consume nothing but Dunkin’ Donuts a la carte for an entire day while tracking his blood sugar response. Think sandwiches, wraps, donuts, bacon snacks, and coffee. I jumped in to bring a female perspective to the metabolic madness. Equipped with continuous glucose monitors (CGM) and a food log app, we wanted to see if resistance training, walks, and apple cider vinegar could blunt the damage, or whether the glucose roller coaster would run the show.

What the Numbers Showed

I aimed for roughly 2,000 calories and 100 grams of protein. However, it proved to be a challenge at a chain where donuts and croissants rule the menu. My actual log came in at just under 2,400 calories: about 94 grams of protein, 202 grams of carbs, and 129 grams of fat. Joey went bigger in every sense, consuming 4,500 calories with a much higher protein target. He carries way more muscle mass than I do, so his target made perfect sense.

My blood sugar started stable sitting at my 85 mg/dL baseline, but it quickly turned into a Six Flags roller coaster ride that never seemed to end. By the time of the challenge I had been wearing the CGM for 10 days, so I knew my normal patterns well. Most meals would spike me to 95-98, hardly ever cracking 100 unless dessert was involved. Yet every single Dunkin’ meal launched me into the triple digits.

Thurman’s levels were slightly different but equally revealing. His glucose was in the triple digits most of the day and even hit 160 mg/dL at one point.

The spikes were just one thing, it was the relentless frequency. To hit our protein goal, Joey and I had to eat five times throughout the day, roughly every three hours. This created a metabolic nightmare where we’d trigger another insulin response before our glucose could even return to baseline from the previous meal. Our pancreases were working overtime, pumping out insulin to deal with waves of refined carbs, never getting a break to let our blood sugar truly stabilize. Be sure to check out his video as he logged the entire day! He even added a control day a day prior to see how Dunkin Donuts would impact his blood sugar without any activity involved.

Why Bioindividuality Matters

The differences between us were interesting and likely rooted in bioindividuality. My blood sugar never soared into extreme highs, but it lingered longer after meals. Thurman explained that might be due to the high fat content. “These are higher fat meals, which slows gastric emptying,” he noted when I described my sluggish glucose clearance.

But the most fascinating difference showed up overnight. My data settled into the 80s mg/dL and stayed steady. Joey’s, on the other hand, had a sharp drop to 73mg/dL at 3:15 a.m., which was a lot lower than at any point throughout the day for him, followed by a rebound spike to 140 mg/dl. All that likely a liver glucose dump that coincided exactly with him waking up.

“I dropped down to 73 [mg/dL] at 3:15 AM, and then at 3:45, it jumped up to 140 [mg/dL],” Joey said, checking his sleep data. “I was awake at 3:48. The exact same time. That’s directly coinciding.” For athletes and lifters who often wrestle with sleep quality, that kind of glucose swing is a reminder of how food choices and meal timing might ripple into recovery.

Calories vs Hunger

What struck us both was hunger. Despite consuming 4,500 calories, Thurman was ravenous. “The hunger was really interesting,” he reflected. “I felt more full than any other day having half the calories.”

I felt the same way, and we were both “hangry” all day.

The culprit, he explained, was likely the lack of fiber on the Dunkin’ menu. On the Dunkin’ day, Joey consumed just 11 grams of fiber, while his average is at least six times that amount. While fat slows gastric emptying, it doesn’t trigger the same satiety signals as fiber-rich foods. We were eating constantly but never feeling truly satisfied.

How Movement Impacted Blood Sugar

From a training perspective, the results were mixed. Thurman enjoyed the pump that comes with carb-loading. He kept his workout simple and accessible. He did three working sets each of back squats, bench press, and cable rows, totaling about 12-15 compound movement sets. “My workout was great. I mean, I’m always vascular, but I was all pumped up, ready to go,” he said.

My experience was different. I tackled a lower-body HIIT circuit. I could still lift, but my legs felt heavy, and the energy swings made it hard to stay focused. By dinner, the bacon-and-donut combos produced what felt like a pharmaceutical yo-yo of energy and brain fog.

Thurman’s post-meal workouts and walks made a dramatic difference, he recalled. In addition to resistance training, he also tracked over 14,000 steps that day. “It stayed pretty much stable the entire time from that walk a few hours beforehand,” he shared. “Movement is the biggest difference maker, and a brisk walk is the fastest, easiest and most effective hack.”

I also give credit to his skeletal muscle acting like a glucose sponge, pulling sugar out of his bloodstream through insulin-independent pathways.

The Practical Takeaways

So what should you take from this metabolic rollercoaster ride?

Walk it off, literally. A walk after meals is a simple but powerful tool. As Thurman put it: “Five to ten minutes after a meal. Do it three times a day. That’s 30 minutes of movement without ‘working out.’ Sesame Street math,” he explained with a smile.

Protein helps, but it’s not a shield when paired with high fat and sugar. We both hit our protein targets but still felt undernourished and glucose spikes were still frequent.

Fiber remains the foundation for satiety and stable energy. The significantly lower levels of fiber than what we both were used to left us hungry the entire day.

Timing matters. Eating too frequently before glucose from the last meal would clear kept our blood sugar levels elevated between meals.

The Mental Game

The psychological component proved as important as the physiological. Thurman’s perspective on planned indulgence versus guilt-driven restriction was particularly insightful: “If you’re going to have a day where you go crazy, be prepared mentally. You need to know yourself and your responses. If you can’t have a cheat day without beating yourself up the next day, don’t.”

He advocates for reframing “cheat days” as strategic refeeds around high-activity periods. “Structure it around a big workout day, like leg day.”

The Bottom Line

You can’t outlift donuts forever. Protein and exercise blunted the glucose spikes, but fat, sugar, and low fiber still dragged our focus, hunger, and recovery.

The data confirmed what we both felt: exercise helps a lot, but it isn’t a free pass. A simple walk after meals can work wonders, but it can’t completely override the metabolic cost of eating like a toddler at a birthday party for an entire day.

Most importantly, this experiment reinforced that sustainable health is about making informed choices and understanding the consequences. Sometimes that means strategically planned indulgence around activity. Sometimes it means walking away from the donut case entirely.

Sure, when local produce is in season, fresh is a no‑brainer. But when the grocery aisle looks bare, prices are sky‑high, and you need dinner fast, frozen swoops in like a hero. It’s packed with nutrients, easy on your wallet, and ready when you are. Plus, it saves you from the heartbreak of tossing slimy spinach or fuzzy berries. Freezing is basically nature’s pause button, locking in flavor and freshness until you’re ready to hit play.

So stop giving frozen fruits, veggies, and proteins the cold shoulder. They’re not second‑best—they’re smart, versatile, and seriously underrated. Yes, they are muscle food. Just remember: not all frozen foods are created equal. That’s why we raided the freezer aisle to spotlight the healthiest, tastiest picks worth stocking. (Spoiler alert: cookie dough ice cream didn’t make the cut.)

Frozen Salmon

Is it just me, or has the price of fresh salmon at the seafood counter become problematic if you are trying to eat more protein on a budget, especially if you live far from coastal communities. That’s why you shouldn’t overlook the potential of frozen salmon.

Nutritionally, frozen salmon has several highlights, including top-notch protein (about 20 grams in each 3-ounce serving), vitamin B12, and omega-3 fats. Recent research suggests that when you combine exercise training with a greater intake of omega-3 fats, it can increase the heart and body composition benefits that come with working out.

State-of-the-art flash-freezing technology and vacuum sealing that are now used for commercially harvested seafood results in no loss of quality. Time-sensitive fresh fish like wild salmon must be shipped by air, which adds to the cost, whereas frozen fish can travel by boat, rail, or truck, requiring less energy and, therefore, costing less to get to market. And casting your line for dinner in the freezer section also lets you buy a bunch in advance and use it as desired over a few months. You can’t do this with fresh seafood, which typically needs to be prepared within a day or two.

How to eat frozen salmon

For recipes, frozen salmon can behave just like fresh. And if you are wondering, yes, you can cook fish fillets straight from the freezer and skip the thawing process if you haven’t planned. Simply remove fish from its packaging, rinse under cold water to remove any frost or ice that’s accumulated, pat dry with paper towel and then brush with a thin layer of oil. After which, you can season as desired. Then bake in the oven, adding a few minutes to the cooking time to account for the lack of thawing.

Hers Nutrition

5 Healthy, Flavorful Salmon Recipes

Serve up this classic clean-eating fish that's high in protein, healthy fats, and rich flavor.

Read article

Frozen Butternut Squash

Nearly every nutrition expert will be quick to tell you that it’s a good idea to load up on more vegetables. Their unique nutritional stew of fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals is a key to lasting health and improved fitness gains. But sometimes fresh options in the supermarket don’t look so fresh and are expensive, especially when out of season. That is where budget-friendly frozen veggies can come in handy. And who could argue with the convenience of already peeled and cubed subzero butternut squash.

Butternut squash provides a bounty of beta-carotene, a plant compound with potential anti-aging powers. A 2025 study in Nutrition Journal discovered that higher intakes of carotenoids, including beta-carotene, is associated with improved indices of biological aging. So this is a frozen vegetable that can help you slow down the creep of Father Time. It’s also worth noting that our bodies can convert beta-carotene into vitamin A to improve bone, immune, and eye health.

It’s important to know that vegetables like butternut, broccoli, and carrots destined for the frozen food aisle are picked when they are at their peak ripeness and very soon after flash-frozen to retain all of their nutrients, antioxidants, and flavor. Contrast this with fresh veggies that have been exposed to long shipping times and prolonged storage, and you may end up serving something that falls short in terms of flavor and nutrition.

How to eat frozen butternut squash

You can roast those cubes like you would chopped sweet potato for a healthy side-dish or addition to salads. Mashed, it’s a great stand-in for potato. You can also blend frozen butternut into protein shakes, which provides natural sweetness. Also great in soups, chili, pasta, and stir-fries. When pureed, you can use this winter squash in oatmeal and pancakes.

Healthy Eating

Butternut Squash Greek Yogurt Dip

Lighten up a favorite side dish with this healthy recipe.

Read article

Frozen Edamame

These green legumes might be the most underappreciated item in the subzero food aisle. For only a modicum of calories (about 100 in a 3-ounce serving of frozen shelled edamame) you get a nutrition payload from these immature soybeans, including 9 grams of plant-based protein and 8 grams of fiber in a 1-cup serving. The nutritional bounty of edamame also includes lofty amounts of folate, iron, potassium, and vitamin K. Yes, this humble legume is pure wizardry for helping us achieve our nutrient needs. And they are much quicker to cook than any dried beans, only about 1 minute in a pot of boiling water. Healthy fast food, indeed. Edamame has a nice, fresh, slightly nutty flavor without the mushy consistency you get with many cooked beans.

How to Eat Edamame

Keeping a bag of frozen edamame on hand is an easy way to add nutrition to soups, salads, cooked grains and stir-fries. Tossed with some seasonings like a dusting of curry powder or chili powder, boiled edamame is a great snack option on its own.

Healthy Eating

Edamame Chicken Wraps

Spruce up your boring chicken recipe and jam-pack it with flavor and nutrients.

Read article

Frozen Blueberries

Fresh local blueberries at the height of summer are not to be missed, but their season is fleeting. So, the rest of the calendar year, when fresh berries tend to be rather flavorless yet very expensive, it is a better idea to opt for bags of frozen berries. This is good news for those of us shopping on a tighter budget but who don’t want to sacrifice nutrition. Freezer space permitting, you can buy a lot more frozen blueberries well in advance and use them as desired in the weeks to come. In contrast, the clock is ticking as soon as you bring fresh berries home before they spoil.

Frozen blueberries are especially rich in anthocyanins, health-hero antioxidants that could help tamp down inflammation, boost brain health, and perhaps even reduce the level of muscle damage associated with working out. A study in the journal Nutrition shows that people who sneak more frozen fruits and vegetables into their diets typically take in higher amounts of must-have nutrients like fiber, calcium and potassium.

But don’t worry that you are sacrificing blueberries’ nutritional greatness when choosing frozen over fresh. Research shows that frozen berries can retain much of their nutrient content. The quick freezing method used by industry appears to preserve blueberries anthoycanins. In fact, if fresh blueberries have been lingering in the supermarket for several days, it’s likely that frozen will be your most nutritious option.

Pro tip: When shopping for frozen fruits and vegetables, choose bags where you can feel the individual contents. A bag that feels like a block of ice has been partially thawed and refrozen, which degrades quality.

How to eat frozen blueberries

Rock-hard blueberries can go straight from the freezer into protein shakes, a pot of simmering oatmeal, sauces, and baked goods like muffins. Once thawed, add them to yogurt and salads. You can also blend them into salad dressings.

Healthy Eating

Blueberry Cheesecake Muffins

Chill out with these tasty treats.

Read article

Frozen Avocado

This is more proof that the offerings in the frozen food aisle has really blossomed in recent years. Now, avocados can be found frozen in convenient chunks. As with fresh, frozen avocado is loaded with fiber, beneficial monounsaturated fat, folate, and antioxidants. That’s why the fruit (yes, botanically, avocado is classified as a fruit) is among the healthiest foods you can nosh on. What’s more, recent research has found that people who eat avocado every day have a greater abundance of gut microbes that break down fiber and produce metabolites that support gut health. They also have greater microbial diversity than avocado abstainers.

When it comes to making avocado a dietary staple, it always seems like a challenge to assess avocado ripeness, as it’s often too hard or too soft, never quite perfect. Frozen avocado eliminates the stress of selecting a less-than-perfect specimen, and it’s a way to always make sure you have some on hand. And if you’ve ever placed sliced fresh avocado in the fridge, you know that it turns an unappetizing brown quickly. While many bags include instructions for how to thaw the avocado chunks in the microwave, the best way is to let them defrost on the counter. Microwaving the avocado chunks risks them getting too warm and sullying their texture.

How to eat frozen avocado

Frozen avocado can be added directly to smoothies and blended soups or can be defrosted to use in guacamole, salads, sandwiches, and dishes like avocado toast.

Healthy Eating

1 Food, 5 Ways: Avocado

Enjoy these five grain-free avocado recipes for real lean gains.

Read article

Dennis James kicked off the conversation by recalling just how big Anthony really was. In his heyday, the marvelous one competed in multiple Mr. Olympia competitions and also won contests like the 2004 Night of Champions and the 2008 Atlantic City Pro. But when Jose Raymond said he recalled Anthony entering a natural bodybuilding contest, James was not convinced and wasted no time getting his old bodybuilding buddy in on the discussion via FaceTime. “Yo, two quick questions,” asked James of his impromptu guest. “Be honest, okay? What year did you start juicing?”

‘Marvelous’ Marvin Anthony Reveals When His Steroid Usage Began

Anthony answered James’s ultra direct question, naming 1994 as the year. “Okay, so did you ever compete in a natural Musclemania show?” Came the second question. “Yes,” responded the retired bodybuilder. This drew a further grilling from the host, who wanted to ascertain what year Anthony competed in the Musclemania contest. “1993” he responded. Indeed, Anthony came third in the 1993 Musclemania competition and if he’s telling the truth, was completely natural at that time. While Jose Raymond expressed on the show that Anthony had actually competed in the 1996 Musclemania contest, this was incorrect.  So, having set the record straight the marvelous one signed off the call with a promise to return to TMP in the near future, where he’ll do doubt face even more grilling.

To watch how it all went down, view the full episode of The Menace Podcast below:

Even with the glitz and prestige of owning a multimillion-dollar fleet of the world’s most coveted supercars, Manny Khoshbin has managed to maintain his “Honda Accord mindset” in both business and life. His everyday ethos is a tribute to his very first car—a 1983 four-cylinder—which he bought at age 17, just three years after arriving in the United States from Iran with his parents. He earned it through months of stocking shelves and mopping floors at Kmart, saving $5,000 and earning the first of his many American dreams.

Khoshbin already had a strong work ethic, but during his first years in America, he also sought workout inspiration and cultural understanding. So, like many teenagers then, he immersed himself in American life, learning both mannerisms and fitness routines from ‘80s legends like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. “My first English came from watching Rocky, Rambo, and Commando—those two are my idols,” he explains. “I always looked up to them because they both started from nothing.”

Now at 54, Khoshbin has upgraded from those original dumbbells to an eye-catching home gym that shares space with his prized collection. “Working out and looking at my cars does make it more fun to work out,” he admits. Yet, he remains loyal to the training principles he learned from reading about Arnold in fitness magazines, often throwing on a Rocky T-shirt before his morning routine that commences with a pullups—an old-school move that shaped his philosophy and remains a staple of his weekly workout regimen.

“My strengths are doing pullups and situps,” Khoshbin says. “You have to have them in your routine.”

Through body-weight exercises, just part of his program that also incorporates plenty of circuit training and core work, he’s still proving that when it comes to maximizing both both mind and body, discipline still beats luxury.

It’s a great post-50 example Khoshbin, who is also an author of two books—Driven and Contrarian Playbook—hopes to share to help young and future entrepreneurs. While many tune into his YouTube channel for the latest fuel-injected garage addition, his real motivation, he says, is to share his journey—the victories and, more importantly, the failures—and to prove that success is possible for anyone, whether it’s your first million or your first pullup.

“A big part of my social media is I don’t monetize it, but I do it to share my journey to hopefully inspire young people,” he says. “So that’s one way for me to give back.”

One of the biggest training takeaways: Unlike his favorite McLaren P1, which accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in just 2.5 seconds, Khoshbin’s approach to maintaining his still-ripped physique is the opposite of speed or extravagance. The slow, steady consistency that has benefitted his health and business alike is proof that training can give you what a limitless bank account can never buy: mental resilience.

“Fitness really saved me,” he says. “If I didn’t work out, I would’ve probably had to file bankruptcy.”

Inspired by Arnold, Powered by Bodyweight

Starting from scratch in a new country, Manny Khoshbin arrived with two clear ambitions: to excel in business and in fitness. And both journeys began at a local garage sale. “The first two things I bought from swapping were two dumbbells when I was 15,” he says. “I started bench pressing, doing the dumbbells in my apartment patio.”

Though his physique never matched that of his iron idols, the young bodybuilding fanatic felt a unique bond with the seven-time Mr. Olympia himself. Four-plus decades later, his admiration for Schwarzenegger remains unwavering. “It was just his stamina to not give up and also having that mindset and commitment to become Mr. Olympia,” Khoshbin says. “He came here as an immigrant and didn’t have much money, but he worked on his body and he conquered. He wanted to be an actor and a governor, and he did both. All those milestones in his life, it all led back to fitness.”

Thanks to his dedication and physique, Manny’s images were featured in the August 1990 issue of Flex magazine—ironically, the same month Arnold graced the cover. “I still have the magazines,” he says proudly.

While Khoshbin enjoyed early gains from lifting weights, making it to the Olympia stage was never his goal. “I didn’t have a big focus on building my body to a bodybuilder level, but it’s now mostly for my cognitive health and clarity.”

What made him stand out, he says, was his ability to lift himself over the pullup bar—more than anyone else at his high school. Bodyweight moves were, and remain, his inspiration to keep improving. “I actually got a medal in high school,” he says. “I did 74 situps in under a minute. To me, I thought that was pretty cool.”

Today, Manny’s garage gym—modest by some standards—features dumbbells, a leg press, free weights, and cable machines. “The only thing I’m missing is leg extensions, which I’m about to order,” he notes. He works out almost daily, spending 20 to 30 minutes each session.

Like most, chest day for Khoshbin falls on Monday, followed by arms on Tuesday. Oftentimes, Khoshbin uses Wednesdays to catch up on rest, but then it’s back to work Thursday—legday— followed by a week-ending, back-blasting workout on Friday.

He always begins his workout with, of course, pullups before embarking on his circuit training. “I do circuit training, so I start with about 30 pullups every morning. The workouts are pretty nonstop, so I can get my heart rate up.”

 A Portfolio Built by Setbacks, Resilience & Pullups

One of the key takeaways from Driven is that discipline developed in the gym builds the resilience you’ll need to overcome the seemingly insurmountable challenges life throws your way. When tough situations arise, keeping a clear head is more important than any one-rep max. Years of sweating and straining in the gym taught Khoshbin that discipline and resilience become your greatest assets. “Working out every day and seeing the results was the catalyst for the mindset to always keep going, especially in business,” Manny reflects.

As a teenager, Khoshbin made making money look easy, at first. He earned the $5,000 for his first car by working relentlessly and saving every dollar. “I saved 100 bucks a week on my mattress, literally. So after a year, I had $5,000. I went to auction, bought a 1983 Honda, and that was like my joy.”

His second venture at 19, however, was the start of a string of bad deals brought upon by a combination of bad luck and worse judgment, he says. Khoshbin saved $20,000 to buy a gas station, only to be swindled out of all of it by a fraudulent investor.  “Basically, I lost all my money, and I had to go back to zero all over again.”

While back to working long hours to regain what he had lost, he never let the overwhelming stress derail his goals, or his health. He managed to let out his frustrations at the gym, adding marathon workouts to his already overextended workday. The strain of lifting heavy and knocking out as many pullups as possible became the physical remedy he needed.

“I was going to the gym two hours a day,” he says. “That was my first real failure—financially, that was a big blow.”

It took several years, but again, Khoshbin saved enough money for a second business, a neighborhood supermarket. However, again, another outside circumstances sunk this business as well. Khoshbin had to work around the clock before he would eventually be able to sell the business. Again, the same formula, sticking to a routine through good and bad became the formula he still applies today to build confidence and strength in all aspects.

“Instead of giving in, I stuck to my routines, weathered sleepless nights, and finally managed to sell the struggling business,” he says.

Health Has Become True Wealth

Years later, despite being financially secure from a string of successful real estate deals, Manny Khoshbin remains rooted in taking nothing for granted. Sure, he enjoys his fleet of Ferraris and other supercars—but he’ll still opt for a weekday special at Supercuts.

“I go to Supercuts for my hair—about 20 bucks,” he says with a laugh. “I’m frugal when it comes to certain things. But then, if someone comes up and says, ‘Hey buddy, I’ll give you a custom wing for $300,000,’ I’ll probably opt for it.”

Not everything in Khoshbin’s life is high-end. He once tried a hyperbaric chamber but returned it almost immediately. “I’m claustrophobic,” he admits. “I got into it once, and then I returned it.”

When it comes to supplements, creatine is the only one he uses regularly. For rejuvenation, he turns to his sauna, following each session with a cold shower for an instant reset. “I do the sauna for 20 minutes, and I always do a cold shower for a minute or two,” he says. “That just kind of reboots my brain.”

He allows himself some cheat days—enjoying an occasional pizza or treating himself to Houston’s Hawaiian ribeye when out on the town with his wife, Layla.

At home, his refrigerator is stocked with vegetables and grass-fed meats. “My body needs meat,” he says. “I love red meat.”

His go-to dinner is simple but high quality: “I buy some Wagyu beef, you know, with some Brussels sprouts, glaze it, put it in the oven, and season the brussels sprouts in a pan. That’s really it—and some avocado on the side.”

Money doesn’t buy longevity. At age 54, amid all the fancy toys, Khoshbin knows the most important gifts in life are family and health. Fitness hasn’t just helped him in business; it’s enabled him to handle the demands of parenting—especially as a parent to a special-needs child. “I have an autistic son that doesn’t sleep much,” he says. “Sometimes I have no energy, but I hit the gym and it restarts my brain, my body.”

Perhaps the most valuable lesson Khoshbin has learned in the weight room is the importance of spending quality time with family. Every pullup, he says, equals one more great day with his loved ones. And that’s something you can’t store in a garage forever.

“My priority would be spending time vacationing with my kids,” he says. “As they get older, they’re not going to want to hang out with you. I told my wife, I said, ‘2026, we’re taking a vacation every two months.’ Put it on our schedule—and it becomes a part of our routine, like a workout.”

Eric Morante’s story is laid bare in “Defiant,” a six-part miniseries podcast produced by Stak. It’s a story of survival, community, and the power of sport to heal. But Morante’s continuing journey also highlights the struggles that less able-bodied people face while trying to live life to the full.

“Sharing my story has been incredibly therapeutic,” Morante tells M&F. “It’s the most open I’ve ever been, and my hope is that by putting everything out there, the trauma, the rebuilding, the setbacks, the victories… someone listening to ‘Defiant’ will feel a little less alone and a little more willing to keep fighting.”

U.S. Marine Eric Morante Lost His Leg to a Bomb During Tour of Iraq

On April 20, 2007, the US Marine squad leader had been on his third tour of Iraq while dealing with the loss of his father to a brain tumor. On that dark day, a bomb unleashed 3,000 pounds of explosives underneath a bridge that Morante’s team were guarding, ripping through his right leg and requiring an amputation above his knee. Returning home to Texas, to begin the long road to recovery, there were more than physical injuries to heal. Morante faced ferocious PTSD, opioid dependency, and a suffocating loneliness in the aftermath of Iraq. Losing a leg was bad enough, but losing his purpose as a US Marine led to the darkest of moments. Incredibly, a desire to box again would provide him with a way back to the light.

“There wasn’t one single spark for me,” explains Morante of his recovery. “It was more like a series of moments, where I realized that I had two choices: stay in the darkness or fight my way out. After the blast, after losing my leg, after losing the life in the Marines that I loved, and the grief of losing my father, it felt like I’d been stripped of everything that made me who I am.”

He adds: “For a long time, I didn’t move forward at all. I was angry, isolated, and just trying to make it through each day. But there came a point when I looked at the people around me, my family, the veterans who had survived their own battles, and I realised I owed it to them and to myself, to try. I remembered that I used to be someone who fought for things. I didn’t recognize that man anymore and I wanted him back.”

His tentative return to boxing training provided Morante with much needed structure, healing, and that passion he had so enjoyed while lacing up the gloves in his youth.

Eric Morante Became the Face of Amputee Boxing

Morante’s momentum continued to build and in 2013, he and fellow veterans helped to launch the National Amputee Boxing Association (NABA), a grassroots movement harnessing boxing to combat PTSD and the trauma of limb loss. “Boxing was the first thing that made me feel alive again. I grew up loving the sport, and after the injury, stepping back

into a gym gave me something I didn’t realize I’d been starving for: structure, identity and a mission,” shares Morante. “Physically, boxing forced me to learn my body all over again. I had to figure out balance, movement, how to generate power on one leg, everything was starting from zero. It was humbling, but mentally, that’s where it saved me. Boxing demands presence. You can’t be stuck in the past or worrying about the future while in the ring. It quieted my PTSD and gave me discipline again. Boxing gave me something to chase. It reminded me I was still a fighter.”

The NABA promotion grew from strength-to-strength and at its height gained approval from the Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation. Amputee boxing appeared destined for Paralympic recognition by this point and Morante, the first licensed amputee boxer in America, was even sparring and holding his own with professionals. But in 2019, right before his first officially sanctioned bout against an able-bodied opponent, Morante’s license was suddenly revoked. Had bureaucracy killed his hopes for inclusion in the sport that he loved?

As a result, amputee boxing was effectively shut down, with Morante still searching for answers and trying to come to terms with yet another traumatic loss. “When my license was revoked 30 minutes before a fight I’d trained months for, it felt like the rug had been pulled out from under me all over again,” reflects the fighter. “Not just because of my personal dream, but because it shut the door on an entire community. There were veterans and amputees who finally felt seen, who finally had a competitive outlet and bureaucracy took that away.”

Eric Morante Continues to Improve Lives Through Boxing

Now, inclusivity is one of Morante’s biggest battles. “Making combat sports more inclusive, more informed, fairer, that’s a purpose I take personally,” he tells M&F. “I’ve lived the consequences of the system not knowing what to do with people like me.”

Fortunately, in 2025, Morante is still moving forward. Every week, alongside his friend and fellow amputee, Moses, he teaches boxing to kids with cerebral palsy, veterans with PTSD, those with learning difficulties, and even a blind lady. “My hope is simple,” he shares. “I want to keep changing lives through boxing for anyone who is struggling. I want them to know the gym is a home for them.”

The Paralympic dream may be gone for now, but the worthwhile fight to improve lives through a sport he’s given his all to, goes on. “If the Paralympic dream is gone, that’s OK, there are still thousands of people who can benefit from the same structure and healing that saved me,” explains Morante. “I want to build programs, grow the community, and show the next generation of amputees that they are not limited by what the world thinks they can do.”

Eric Morante’s full story is shared in ‘Defiant,’ now available on all major podcast platforms like Apple.

“Ever since The Better Sister’s show came out, people have been asking about the Jessica Biel back and arms workout, and with good reason,” said Bruno in an IG video featuring the popular actor.  “But the truth is, while she definitely does plenty of work on her back and arms, her workouts aren’t specifically split up into back day, arm day and so on. She does full body workouts that combine upper body exercises, lower body exercises, core work, and a bunch of things that work everything all at once to maximize efficiency.”

As a busy parent and ambitious actor, Biel wanted to level up without having to spend countless hours on a treadmill. “Jess is super strong, and loves to push herself, but she’s not so interested in lifting super, super heavy weights at this point in her life,” explained her coach. So, we find other ways to make it challenging and keep it fresh. There are lots of different moves here for you to try, narrated Bruno and Biel demonstrated the proper form. “And they’re all great, but it’s important to know that we don’t do all of these moves in the same workout, or even close really.”

Jessica Biel’s ‘The Better Sister’ Workout For Better Arms and Back

“She normally does one exercise for the back, which also works the biceps, one exercise for shoulders, and one exercise for triceps, plus some other moves for legs and abs sprinkled in,” explained Bruno. Biel’s coach also emphasized that it is impossible to maintain peak physical condition 365 days per year, “And the super toned physique you see on screen isn’t maintainable all year round,” he added, with a flair for transparency that is often lacking in the usual social media fitness posts. “Jess knows that, so she spends most of the year working out consistently, but not crazy by any means. Let’s call it, ‘7 out of 10 hard.’”

This sustainable approach to working out allows Biel to ramp up her training when a role requires her to look her absolute best, before going back to maintenance mode. And, while some celebrities like to promote seemingly superhuman powers in their posts, Jessica Biel was happy to share a clip smashing L-Sit Ring Pullups, but the actor also let her coach explain that she hadn’t felt the need to try them again since that day.

Jessica Biel’s relatability has no doubt earned her even more fans. “The L-Sit Ring Pullups at the end are iNsAnE!! wrote fellow respected fitness coach, Joe DeFranco. And, he wasn’t the only one impressed by Biel’s genuine work ethic. “She is the best,” wrote one follower. “Thank you for being such a positive influence for women strength training in a smart and sustainable way,” added another. “I love the transparency,” added yet another.

For her part, Biel was rightfully pleased with the results she brought to her latest project. “Thank you to my friend and amazing trainer @benbrunotraining for all of the help leading up to The Better Sister but also for my everyday life,” she commented alongside the inspirational video. We love to see it!

To follow Jessica Biel on Instagram, click here. 

To follow her coach, Ben Bruno on Instagram, click here. 

Despite the immense physicality of the show’s challenges, including being submerged under water, rappelling from flying helicopters, running uphill with sandbags, and even brutally boxing other cast members, Gia says the psychological element is the most difficult aspect of Special Forces. “I would say the course is 90% mental, 10% physical,” she tells M&F. “Because you have to be mentally strong to get yourself through each day.”

Gia Giudice Gave Her All to the ‘Special Forces’ Selection Process

Viewers of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test look at each challenge and wonder if they could succeed in the same situation, but they often fail to consider the conditions that each contestant finds themselves in, with only basic food and little-to-no-sleep, each obstacle becomes all the greater. “You’re almost, like, warped in time,” explains Giudice. “You really feel like you’re about to go into combat, because we don’t have our phones, we’re disassociated from the real world, and we are there with each other and the DS (the Directing Staff who assign the tasks).”

Unlike most reality-based television shows, the cameras are mostly hidden or stationed at a distance on this one. “We never see production,” explains Giudice. “They’re really not even allowed to talk to us. We know we’re being filmed, but it wasn’t like we felt like we were being filmed, way different than filming a reality TV show like Next Gen or Real Housewives.”

Giudice had initially entered Season 4 of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test with her mom Teresa, opening up on the show about a difficult period in 2014 when both of her parents were handed prison sentences for fraud and failure to file taxes.  While her parents served their time separately,That whole ordeal forced her to grow up quickly in order to help take care of three younger sisters, all while still just a teenager herself. So, entering the “World’s Toughest Test” at 24, the hefty challenge provided Giudice with a chance to finally spread her wings and put herself first, especially when her mom withdrew from the show in episode two, unable to watch her daughter box a fellow contestant in the challenge known as “milling.”

With Mom gone, many observers thought that Giudice would follow, but they underestimated her tenacity. “During that moment, I was like, ‘Am I gonna leave and not put my all into this course?’” she shares. “Because I knew I had more in me.” Behind the scenes, Teresa Giudice had total faith as well. “When she tapped out, she said to the Fox producers, my daughter is gonna win,” reveals Giudice.

Gia Giudice Went From a Shaky Start to an Unshakable Character

The shaky start for Gia Giudice had already begun in week one, when she got tangled up while trying to rappel from a moving helicopter. Fortunately, heights are not one of her biggest fears. “I obviously, I got jammed up,” she recalls. “I’ve done skydiving before, so heights don’t really scare me. I kind of get a thrill from it, oddly,” says the gutsy gal. And, as the weeks went on, Giudice became noticeable stronger and her game face grew more focused, even during those awful challenges that did manage to bring out her biggest fears.

“I would say the tunnels was very tough for me,” she reflects of an infiltration mission where recruits navigated dark, narrow, muddy underground tunnels in order to reach a target. “I kind of had a panic attack even before I went into the tunnel. I didn’t think that I was gonna be able to do it, then the DS pushed me, and they said, ‘If you don’t get in the tunnel, I’m gonna take your armband’. And that was such a fear of mine.”

The fear of having her armband taken away and facing failure would motivate Giudice right to the very end, even after the arduous interrogation process that see’s the final contestants face a monumental grilling. “We were so mentally exhausted,” she tells M&F. “We had been up, probably by the end of interrogation, for 48 hours, no sleep, and during interrogation, you can get water, but you’re not fed. So, it’s pretty brutal, and I think it was the mindset of ‘just get through this.’”

Outlasting NBA and NFL alumni to make the ‘Special Forces’ draft

By the time Gia Giudice completed her interrogation on the final episode, she had outlasted former NBA player Nick Young and former NFL players Andrew East, Randall Cobb, Eric Decker, and Johnny Manziel. The only two remaining challengers were Giudice and Olympic gold medal gymnast Shawn East. In those closing moments, held captive underground, Giudice had to find a way to cling on to both her place and her sanity. “We had no concept of time, but at that point, I was like, ‘I made it to interrogation, I’m in this moment, let me just push through’, like, how much worse can it really get?” explains Giudice of her unbreakable spirit. “And that was kind of my mindset throughout the whole thing.”

Thanks to her willingness to throw her body into anything physical, and a mindset that made the youngest challenger one of the most formidable, the Directing Staff selected only Giudice and Shawn West as potential Special Forces operatives, making them joint winners. “Everyone was pretty much covered in mud,” recalls Giudice of her eagerness to get back to the well-earned comfort of a hotel. “Mud was matted in our hair. I like to be a very clean person, so the first thing I had to do was get in the shower. I showered for two hours! I couldn’t get out of the shower, the amount of dirt that came off my body, it was so crazy.”

While Giudice may have washed the mud away, the extreme process of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test will stay with her forever. Having finally spread her wings in the boldest possible way, she feels ready to live life to the full. “It’s been just such a high since Special Forces, and it was the best thing I’ve ever done in my life,” she reveals. Far from rest up, however, Giudice is busier than ever with series two of her Next Gen NYC reality show returning to Bravo, and also hosting her “Casual Chaos” podcast. Giudice also has her sights set on another reality show that would seriously test her skills.

“Dancing with the Stars is my next dream,” she shares with M&F. “Because on Dancing with the Stars, you’re training 10-hour days, dancing every single day, you also get into insane shape. Alex Earle left with an 8-pack, she looked amazing!”

To follow Gia Giudice on Instagram, click here. 

At 26, McVey is already performing at a high level: The actor’s been navigating 12-to-15-hour days on set, executing adrenaline-fueled stunts, and filling out the body of a firefighter cadet with muscular realism. What makes him feel different isn’t just his physical readiness—it’s his discipline. Years of training, dieting, and self-work have carved a foundation strong enough to carry him through long shooting schedules and rigorous scenes.

The young actor’s journey hasn’t been just about strength and physical appearance—it’s become mental blueprint. He’s re-engineered his life around enduring habits over instant validation. For McVey, the goal isn’t just landing the next role; it’s building a legacy rooted in consistency, resilience, and the kind of relentless ambition that runs deeper than a six-pack.

M&F recently spoke with Franklin, TN, native to discuss his breakout acting role for 9-1-1: Nashville—which is available for streaming on Hulu before new episodes return on Thursday, January 8th at 9 pm ET/PT on ABC—the physical demands of playing “Blue,” and how he’s built sustainable strength on and off the camera.

Thrown Into the Fire: From Online Persona to Breakout Actor

Stepping onto the set of 9-1-1: Nashville for the first time, McVey learned quickly that television doesn’t wait for comfort. He had barely a week between landing the role and shooting his first scenes, a window too tight for doubt. “I didn’t have much time to overanalyze, and the really option was to move forward and try my best,” he says. What could have been overwhelming instead became clarifying—forcing him to adapt in real time, memorize pages of dialogue at a sprint, and navigate a professional world he’d only viewed from a distance.

The shift required more than just developing new skills; it demanded a reshaping of his identity. After years spent running businesses and curating a digital presence on his own schedule, McVey made the decision to strip things down. “I decided to take a break from social media, take a break from some of the businesses, and put all of my attention on being the best actor I could be,” he explained. That choice meant trading the autonomy of entrepreneurship for the vulnerability of collaboration—entering an environment where he wasn’t the one calling the shots, and where growth meant being coached, critiqued and pushed.

Through long days and high-stakes scenes, McVey found himself relying on something deeper than physical strength; the patience, humility, and discipline he’d been quietly building for years. “Even if we have a day where I slept five hours the night before, the enjoyable part is being there and doing something as cool as standing up on a 50-foot tower facing somebody’s life with individuals that are incredibly genuine and skillful at their craft,” he says. That perspective—embracing discomfort rather than resisting it—became the through line that carried him into the physical demands of the role.

Training for the Demands of 9‑1‑1

The intensity of portraying a firefighter didn’t surprise McVey—but the precision it required did. His long history with strength training and nutrition became the scaffolding he leaned on while adapting to unpredictable 15-hour shooting days. “If I can knock off one thing that I don’t have to worry about as much—my physical strength, endurance, and conditioning—then it makes that process that much easier,” he says. His body wasn’t just for aesthetics; it was functional machinery meant to withstand heavy gear, rapid takes, and stunt-driven sequences.

On set, McVey traded his rigid five-day splits for a more utilitarian approach. Workouts became full-body circuits, stair climbs, and movement sessions that complemented rather than competed with his filming demands. “Before this, I may have had a five-day-a-week split that I didn’t venture off of, I may have to take two or three days off the gym because I’m pounding my body on set,” he explains. Learning when to push and when to recover became just as important as building strength.

And as the physical side evolved, the mental side sharpened. The discipline he’d built through fitness expanded into a philosophy he applied everywhere. “When you give yourself the social proof that you can do hard thing—even without seeing instant rewards—you can really translate that to every other aspect, whether it be acting or business,” he says. That connection between muscle and mindset forms the bridge into the deeper, more personal part of his story—one that began long before Hollywood.

Building Strength, Inside and Out

Long before the roles, the followers, or the training philosophy, McVey’s first battle was with his own reflection. Growing up “husky,” he was aware early of how others saw him. “My grandpa always said, ‘You know, this kid can eat,’” McVey recalls, reflecting on his early awareness of his size. By the age of 12, the moment that changed everything came unexpectedly—pulling on a pair of athletic shorts that belonged to his dad. The realization that they were tight in the waist was a jolt, one that pushed him toward calorie counting, macro tracking, and strength training before most kids his age cared about any of it.

Those early years weren’t glamorous. They were a grind of self-doubt, discipline, and experimentation. “It’s been a battle and a journey with my self-image, self-confidence, and how I look at myself,” he says. What started as purely aesthetic motivation slowly transformed as he matured. Instead of training to “look good,” he began training to feel good—to be functional, strong, mobile, and resilient enough for the life he wanted. The shift was profound: Yes, I love to look good naked—but longevity, mobility, flexibility, endurance, cardiovascular health, that’s what the 12-through-22-year-old Hunter didn’t give a crap about.”

This evolution laid the groundwork for his philosophy today. His growth wasn’t just physical—it was an internal recalibration, one that now informs the way he teaches, mentors, and leads. Which is exactly why he built something designed to give others the roadmap he never had.

Turning Experience into Guidance

McVey’s nonlinear journey—through insecurity, fitness, entrepreneurship, and now acting—became the blueprint for his next mission: helping others avoid the same missteps.

He emphasizes sustainability over spectacle. “When you have this zero or 100 mindset … then you’re setting yourself up for failure. You’re setting yourself up for building unsustainable habits that end up putting you in a worse place than where you started,” he says. His program teaches members how to build balance and discipline that lasts—habits that stack, grow, and multiply into long-term transformation rather than fleeting progress.

Ultimately, The Blueprint Society mirrors the ethos that guides McVey on screen and off: that success is built slowly, honestly, and with an unromantic consistency most people never see. For the influencer turned actor, mentorship isn’t about proving perfection—it’s about sharing the messy, human parts of achievement so others can build their own path forward. His story isn’t just one of physical transformation or career acceleration; it’s proof that resilience, clarity, and steady work can rewrite a life from the inside out.

Follow Hunter on Instagram 

9-1-1: Nashville airs on ABC and streams on Hulu

The Russian fitness trainer, known as “Dmitryfit” had built up almost 50,000 followers on Instagram before passing away in November. Apparently, the 30-year-old had been on a mission to gain 25 kilograms as part of an attention seeking stunt to show how quickly he could slim down, and this wasn’t the first time he’d tried it. Back in July, Nuyanzin posted that he’d slimmed down from 105 kilograms to 91 kilograms. Later that month he explained that he’d “specifically gained weight to show the weight loss process form a personal example.”

Dmitry Nuyanzin Died of Heart Failure After Extreme Yo-Yo Diet

In September, Dmitryfit appeared to be back to his extreme bulking, posting “What happens if you eat 10,000 kCal in a day?” and drawing concern from some followers who felt his yo-yo approach could lead to negative side effects. Then in October, the Russian gave followers a glimpse of his gratuitous gorging, snacking on cakes and fast foods like cheeseburgers and a heavily fried potato bun, made to his own recipe.

On November 18, Nuyanzin announced that he was back up to 103 kilograms but sadly, this would be his final post, with multiple outlets reporting that the popular trainer had died in his sleep as a result of heart failure. According to the Daily Mail, obtaining information from the Ostorozhno Novosti Telegram channel, Nuyanzin had felt ill three days before his passing, cancelling a gym session and expressing his intention to visit a doctor.

His tragic death comes as a stark warning to influencers or members of the public who embark on extreme weight loss challenges in the name of health and fitness. While individual requirements differ, the average woman only needs around 1,600 to 2,200 calories and the average man should aim for around 2,200 to 2,600 calories per day. Ramping up your calorie intake at a dramatic rate places additional pressure on the heart and nervous system, putting your health at serious risk.

The loss of Dmitry Nuyanzin is made all the sadder because he’d turned his life around through fitness, previously serving time in a Russian penal colony for drug possession in 2022 before returning to coaching. When it comes to tweaking calorie intake for weight loss, experts suggest that cutting around 500 calories per day is a great place to start while the act of increasing daily calorie intake should be calculated inline with energy or muscle recovery requirements, rather than attempts to gain fat as quickly as possible.

The results? You can call it comedically chaotic electricity. Deadline named Mathews one of 2025’s Comedians to Watch, and he’s more than lived up to that billing, consistently delivering top-tier performances in front of sold-out audiences from coast to coast.

“I always wanted to be a performer, so I just started sharing my life on the internet,” Mathews recalls. “And people were loving it.”

His stand-up act is an authentically edgy mix of personal stories and his signature, off-the-cuff back-and-forth with the crowd—a combination that’s endeared him to millions, both in sold-out theaters and across both his YouTube and TikTok channels. This weekend, Mathews brings his Boujee on a Budget tour to Las Vegas for the first time and just recently announced 22 more shows for 2026.

“What you see on the internet isn’t scripted or part of the show,” he says. “It’s just crowd work. And that’s the part that’s not scripted.”

While the stage may be where Mathews lets his improv skills reign, the real work awaits him back home in Birmingham. Unlike stand-up’s wild unpredictability, farm life is a carefully choreographed routine. With 104 acres to manage and a whole host of chickens, pigs, dogs, cats, and a camera-hungry goat relying on him for breakfast by 7 a.m., Mathews embraces the daily grind.

Then there are Lolo and Hush Money, his two world-class barrel-racing horses, who require championship-level care, focus, and attention, which is what Mathews, a championship-caliber rider himself, brings each day to their stalls.

Despite his packed schedule, Mathews still finds time for new pursuits—whether it’s diving into music, landing acting gigs, or continuous social media updates, It’s all propelled his rise from internet sensation to national comedy headliner. Yet, remarkably, he still manages to get to bed at a decent hour, ready to do it all again the next day.

What’s been now holding this grueling schedule together—for both body and mind has been Mathews’ no-holds-barred commitment to training.

During this time, the comic has gradually developed a greater appreciation for his physique and the transformation it’s undergone since he began taking training more seriously. Mathews admits that standing on stage for 90 minutes each night was much easier than looking in a mirror for 90 seconds. At one point, he even relied on shapewear to create a more aesthetic appearance. But as his biceps keep expanding, so too has the star’s level of self-confidence.

“I grew up not really loving my body or feeling comfortable in my skin,” he admits. “I’ve always been on a weight loss or fitness journey. But my fitness goals have become a big part of my really learning how to love my body. Being strong and healthy, and able to compete, have become really important.”

Now, with a home gym tailored to his relentless schedule, Mathews makes working out—whether for stage presence, country-life strength, or that competitive edge—a non-negotiable daily ritual. “Obviously, you don’t want to look bad on stage, especially when you’re in front of a lot of people and your job is in the public eye. So I definitely try to keep it together.”

Staying Farm Fit

At home on his sprawling farm, Mathews’ daily regimen is equal parts physically rigorous and psychologically rewarding. He’s documented this lifestyle for millions of fans, sharing candid moments from his 104-acre Alabama sanctuary on YouTube and TikTok. In a recent episode, he enlisted an animal communicator to help uncover his animals’ “thoughts” about him—most notably those of his unpredictable donkey, Wookie. “Wookie is obsessed with me,” he deadpans. The episode offers a glimpse into what has fueled Mathews’ meteoric ascent in the entertainment business.

“I’m more of a comedic storyteller,” Mathews explains. “I tell my stories, my experiences, but it’s how you perform and share them that makes it funny.” The farm is his welcome escape from the relentless tour schedule that has him away at least three nights each week. Yet despite a packed calendar, his “labor of love” of morning chores is never skipped. “My day starts before 7. First, I care for our dogs and cats. Horses, donkey, chickens, and pigs come next. Only after they’re squared away do I grab coffee and breakfast. Then it’s off to tackle the day’s work. At night, I do it all again.”

Moving from the city to his farm just outside Birmingham has profoundly influenced his nutrition. He and his husband, Robert Kilgore, buy local meats and produce whenever possible. “All our beef, we try to buy from a local farmer—better feed, cleaner living conditions. Grocery store meat is often from animals fed poorly.” When he’s traveling, which is nearly every weekend, Mathews battles the urge to binge on pizza and sweets. “I track my macros. I keep it to about 150 grams of protein, 200 grams of carbs, and 65 grams of fat. It’s easy to eat junk on the road after late nights.”

While his “little pals” are off-limits for consumption (“They’re my babies,” he says), having a limitless supply of eggs is fair game—but far from free, he emphasizes. “We don’t buy eggs from the grocery store,” he says. “But you have to feed the chickens, and that costs a lot—layer pellets, high-protein, non-GMO—so they can produce good eggs.”

Barrel Racing Beginnings

Before going all-in on comedy, Matt Mathews became completely caught up in the world of barrel racing—a fast-paced rodeo sport in which the goal is to complete a cloverleaf pattern around three barrels in the quickest time possible.

His introduction to racing turned into obsession near the end of high school. “I boarded a horse at a local boarding facility, and the owner’s daughter barrel raced, so we just kind of rode together a lot in the summers. I started playing around with it with her and just kind of fell in love with it,” he recalls.

Mathews soon honed his skills, qualifying for three world championships. Though life on the road now dominates his work schedule, he insists on maintaining his competitive edge, training several times a week with both Lolo and Hush Money.

“Obviously, I don’t make a living doing that, but it’s kind of how I refill my cup,” he says. “It’s what I do that brings me joy outside of work. I get to enjoy it and have fun.”

Competitive riding, Mathews says, depends on grip strength and a powerful core and back. In order to maintain strength and conditioning levels, Mathews says weightroom times becomes almost as important as saddle time. “You definitely have to stay on your game. It’s very intense. A good run comes down to the hundreds to thousands of a second,” he observes.

Preparing his body for that level of pressure is a daily mission. “A strong core is the most important. And a strong back—you have to be very, very strong in your core to be able to keep your balance and stay up with a horse.”

Home Gym Rules

While barrel racing requires power, stamina, and plenty of nerves, training extends into every aspect of Mathews’ life and career. With his travel schedule, time at home becomes more valuable, and he makes the most of it. To cut down on trips to the gym, Mathews transformed a corner of his house into a personal fitness center. It comes complete with a treadmill, Smith machine, and enough dumbbells for any routine.

He trains three to four times a week, splitting his sessions between upper and lower body. “Two days upper, two lower, and a sauna after every session,” he says.

Mathews usually kicks off his workouts with cardio. He incorporates incline walks or jogs to build stamina for both saddle and stage. On upper body days, he sticks to weight room staples. Exercises such as bench and shoulder presses, lateral raises, and bodyweight classics like push-ups dominate those workouts. Leg days include goblet squats, split squats, and sumo squats—key for strength and the flexibility needed to ride out a horse’s unpredictable movements. Back sessions focus on rows and pull-downs, with hammer curls to keep his grip strong. Every workout session ends in the sauna: “The sauna is like God’s greatest gift. That helps me so much.”

One move you’ll no longer find in his program is the deadlift. Years of CrossFit led to a lumbar injury that now prevents him from lifting heavy without pain. “I actually have a bulging disc in one of my lumbar vertebrae,” he says. “Nothing really helped but rest and ultimately quitting CrossFit. I don’t do a whole lot of deadlifts. It messed me up so bad that I try to avoid them.”

Travel often disrupts Matt’s training rhythm. “I don’t work out when I’m on the road, because that’s just super difficult.” It’s a reason why maintaining a solid diet remains essential. Clean eating and counting macros help him maintain discipline across time zones.

Stand-Up Spotlight

For years, Matt Mathews found creative outlets elsewhere. He studied nursing and even took up boudoir photography before his farm video went viral and took his career to new levels. “I posted a video and it blew up—17 million views. That was the wild start.” Suddenly, millions were tuning into his TikTok channel and other socials.

Today, staying fit has helped power up his stage presence. It’s also given a former overweight youth a next-level feeling of self-confidence. It’s something the comic admits to lacking throughout portions of his life. “I’ve always kind of had body dysmorphia, and thought that I looked a lot different than I actually looked,” he admits. “I’ve always kind of been the chunky kid, and so I’ve always kind of been on a weight loss or fitness journey.”

He’s even gone as far as wearing Spanx during his first tour to hold in his abs, and even during an appearance on the Kelly Clarkson show. Since then, Mathews has slowly but consistently evolved, embracing his increasingly muscular look that he’s worked hard for. He advises others facing similar self-doubts to embrace each small improvement each day. “I started to work out to do better for myself,” he says. “It’s progress, not perfection. We’re never going to have the body that we love, and we’re never going to be 100% happy, even if we have a six pack and 1% body fat.

With his schedule busier than ever and big plans on the horizon—he’s filming his first-ever movie, working on a debut music album, and preparing to film his second comedy special in December—Matt Mathews is just getting started, and he’s taking everyone and everything—fans and furry friends alike—along for the ride.

The Spanx, however, have been retired.

“I want to look better, and I want to feel better, and I want to do better for myself. And I really hated wearing Spanx that entire first tour, so I was like, I’m not doing this s*** again,” he says.

Born with bilateral fibular hemimelia, a congenital birth defect, meaning that part or all of the fibula is missing or underdeveloped, Farmer had both of his legs amputated as a baby, but he’s never stopped moving forward. “As someone with two leg prosthetics, I actually workout a lot,” he explains, reflecting that he began his gym journey as a kid in school before regularly visiting a local YMCA in Tampa. “I work a lot on training my legs and balance as well, just to help me in life, and walking, and in longevity,” he notes. During his mid-teens, Farmer also began training in a sports performance gym with other elite athletes, and it is these formative fitness experiences that have served to alleviate the types of gym related social anxiety’s that many of us face.

While Farmer says that his workouts aren’t that dissimilar to those of able-bodied athletes, focusing on functional movements first, he does have additional considerations that many gymgoer’s wouldn’t think of. “One of my amputations is above the knee, the other is below the knee,” explains the sled star. “So, I have an inherent asymmetry that I have to deal with.” To address this, Farmer works on his balance and utilizes unilateral movements to force each limb to work independently. “But as far as my sport on the ice, it’s kind of like a catch all where you need cardio, you need strength, you need mobility, you need balance.”

What’s in Declan Farmer’s Gym Bag?

“I would say the biggest adaptation for me in my legs is having the right kind of shoes,” explains Farmer. “Very flat, neutral shoes, close to being barefoot is helpful for walking. I’m always changing into different shoes that have different heel widths and things like that, as it can throw off the walking.”

Of course, disabilities differ among para-athletes and some of Farmer’s teammates get around in a wheelchair, adding further considerations for their training. “They just have to be a bit more thoughtful on not having these super elaborate setups, and having machines or free weights or cables that are kind of too close to each other, and that kind of thing,” explains Farmer. “But I think when you have enough time, everyone kind of finds their routine and gets creative and makes it work for themselves. The whole Paralympic movement is about kind of expanding access for people with disabilities.”

Declan Farmer Hopes to See Ice Sled Hockey Gain a Professional League

While Farmer is an ice sled hockey fanatic, he hopes that all disabled kids can be offered a chance to find the sport that fits them best. But while this inspirational athlete has been winning on the ice, he’s faced obstacles around pay while trying to support his own sporting career. This seems all the more unfair when you consider that Farmer is considered to be one of the greatest hockey players out there, regardless of his disability.

“Pay should be based on the commitment and the value that we bring to the movements,” he explains. “I think for sled hockey specifically, we have gotten a lot of support, it’s grown, but without a kind of professional league, there’s still a lot of room for growth. In the U.S., women’s able-bodied sports have grown a lot in recent years. There’s been a recent league, the professional women’s hockey league coming up in the US. And that’s always been our goal, what we chase as sled hockey players. So, we’re going to kind of follow suit and try to pave the same change for people with disabilities. I think there is room for a professional sled hockey league at some point. There’ are so many great players around the world.”

Declan Farmer is Excited About Traveling to the 2026 Paralympic Games

Currently living near to the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Colorado, Declan Farmer will move to northern Italy for the entirety of January and February, for an extended training camp in the 2026 Paralympic Games’ host country. “I think there, we’re going to put the final touches on the last four years of preparation for the games,” he notes. “I think we’re really going to try to focus more on getting better at scoring and just some offensive skills.”

While accessible training venues are sometimes a challenge, the act of traveling from country to country is becoming less burdensome shares Farmer, noting that a firm family connection with Delta Air Lines is playing a huge part in his Paralympic experience. “My mom is actually a Delta flight attendant,” he tells M&F, adding that she will be taking some well-earned time off to fly from the U.S. to Italy for the winter games. As a company, Delta has long been a great ally of para-sports, boasting ‘Team Delta,’ a group of Olympia and Paralympic ambassadors that include Declan Farmer himself, plus other stars like snowboarder Amy Purdy and Track & Field’s Dani Aravich.

As the official airline of Team USA, Delta will manage travel for all the winter games athletes. For disabled athletes, that’s huge win. “With travel, and with a disability, sometimes it can be hard because you need to bring extra bags for different medical equipment and things like that, and Delta’s never charged or extra for that,” shares Farmer. “They’re very good about being accommodating, whether that’s getting to the gate, getting to your seat if you’re in a wheelchair, and things like that.” Right now, however, Farmer is still very much all about the training. “As a team, we’re really good defensively in skating and being creative,” he reflects. “But I think just touching up some skill work is going to be our biggest focus.”

To follow Declan Farmer on Instagram, click here. 

“The back is going to be one of those body parts that you have to hit from a lot of different angles, different variations” explained Cutler during an IG video posted for his 5.8 million followers. “One of my necessary and most important and favorite exercises, when fighting for the Mr Olympia title, was the wide grip seated cable row.”

Seated Row: Wide vs. Narrow Grip

“Now a lot of people, you see them use a closer grip, they focus on that mid-back, I always wanted that wide back,” explained the 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010 Mr Olympia. “I felt like the lower lats were really important, especially in those back poses when I was battling Ronnie Coleman, Phil Heath, or Victor Martinez.”

Indeed, a wider bar attachment will help to target the latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, and rear delts, adding width to the back. “I had to have the crazy lats, and I wasn’t always blessed with the best genetics,” shared Cutler. “This exercise, (when gripped a) little wider, you’re not gonna feel it as much in the mid (back), you really focus on that lower lat.”

How to Perform Wide Grip Seated Cable Rows

The icon said that this grip variation also helps to define what many bodybuilders call the “Christmas tree” area, so-called because when the lats are fully developed, a tree-like shape is sculpted and revealed in center of the lower back.

To try this exercise for yourself, encourage the back to adapt and “Really get that power,” advised Cutler. “Always focus on the reps,” he added. “I was always doing this, at least 12 reps (per set), power through.”

Top tips: Just like Cutler, keep your elbows and shoulders back, then sit tall with the chest up, creating a slight arch in the lower back. Pause at the top of the row, contracting for one to two seconds for added time under tension. Then, go straight into the next rep without resting at the end of the movement.

Once you find a comfortable weight, go heavy for three sets but always protect yourself against strains, advised the dream gym partner. “Remember, you can go heavy on this exercise but make sure you control the weight and really feel that contraction, especially in those lower lats.”

Ready to give these a try? “Wide grip = wide back!” commented Cutler. “Let’s get to work!

To follow Jay Cutler on Instagram, click here.

“This leg workout only took me 45 minutes,” enthused Nippard in a recent Instagram demonstration for his 3.4 million followers. “Low volume, high intensity. Let’s go.”

Jeff Nippard’s Low Volume Leg Day Session

Aim for failure, or close to failure:

• Leg Extension: 2 Sets, 8-10 Reps
• Barbell Roman Deadlift: 2 Sets, 6-8 Reps
• Hip Thrust: 2 Sets, 6-8 Reps
• Leg Press: 1 Set, 6-8 Reps
• Standing Calf Raise: 2 Sets, 8-10 Reps

Workout Breakdown

Leaning the seat back for a bigger stretch, Nippard got this workout started with leg extensions, a move that taxes the rectus femoris head of the quads. “And pull yourself securely down into the seat for max stability,” advised Nippard. During reps, the coach focused on squeezing his quads to move the weight. and took both sets to failure.

Second, Nippard picked up the barbell for some Romanian deadlifting action. This exercise strengthens the back along with the calf muscles, hamstrings, and glutes. f It’s a challenging lift however, so form is everything. “Push your hips back and lower the bar straight down, centred over the middle of your foot” he explained of the proper positioning. “Get a nice, deep hamstring stetch but try to keep your back flat the whole time,” detailed the natural bodybuilder and powerlifter.

Third-up were hip thrusts. Nippard demonstrated the best tried-and-tested technique once again here, squeezing his glutes hard as he got to the top of each rep. “I pause for about one or two seconds in the full squeeze,” he added, in order to build some time under tension. He then went all out on the second set, to failure.

Fourth, Nippard continued his low volume leg training workout with one “hard” set on the leg press. “You don’t need to go all the way to failure, where you actually drop the plates, but go until you’re confident you can’t get another rep with good form,” he advised. Finally, for calves, the canny coach concluded his workout with the standing calf raise, allowing his heels to drop below the platform in order to get a deeper stretch, or a “lengthened partial.”

This workout is not only time saving, but is also squat free, making it ideal for those who aren’t comfortable with squatting. For those who do love to squat, the coach has you covered with other leg day sessions, but you could still give this workout a try for a fresh approach.

To follow Jeff Nippard’s winning workouts on Instagram, click here. 

With the venue for the 2026 Mr Olympia contest now announced,  and the Arnold Classic USA and UK competitions taking place next March, bodybuilding observers are trying to figure out the kind of physique that the judges will want to see next year. This year, Samson Dauda lost out on a second Mr Olympia victory because he dropped too much weight, while Nick Walker failed to make the top five because “The Mutant” failed to present a refined package. No doubt, winning on stage is a question of hitting the difficult balance between size and conditioning, but in the world of bodybuilding, bigger is often better. “Why did Derek (Lunsford) win (Mr Olympia) this year?” asked Milos Sarcev. “He was bigger. And the size mattered,” he confirmed. Of course, when it comes to size, the Colombian colossus Rubel Mosquera is always in the conversation. Not only does he have an insane neck measuring 20 inches (52cm), hence his “Neckzilla” nickname, but his legs are gigantic too, clocking in at a staggering 32 inches (80cm).

Can Any Bodybuilder Compete with Rubiel “Neckzilla” Mosquera’s Legs?

“How big do you need to be, to be big enough,” asked Sarcev of creating the perfect physique. “Well, Rubio has some big legs too,” responded Chris Cormier, noting that Derek Lunsford wasn’t the only one with large limbs in Las Vegas. “Can you imagine, you’re in the pro ranks, and you make everyone’s legs looks small?” asked Dennis James, drawing a knowing laughter from his panel. “There’s not a guy on that stage that can stand next to Rubio, with his quads, and not look tiny,” said the host. “And calves,” added Cormier.

Sarcev recalled that he met Neckzilla in Las Vegas during the 2025 Olympia weekend and counted that his quads were the equivalent of four of his hands, all the way around. “I am telling you, when he used to do cardio, it (was) a sight to see,” joked Cormier, sharing that the Colombian’s huge inner legs made moving difficult. Cormier also added that the big man owes his proportions, including that massive neck, to working on the farm as a kid and holding heavy objects for large periods of time.

During the podcast, Milos Sarcev also opened up on his own struggles with building muscular legs, noting that the mistake of injecting synthol into his calves caused huge damage. “Listen up, kids,” advised Cormier, so that Sarcev’s story could serve as a warning to avoid shortcuts.

To watch this full episode of The Menace Podcast, where the panel also discussed the results of the recent Japan Pro, Arnold Classic prize money, and other bodybuilding news, see below.

Both the month and column were concepts of M&F Military Editor Rob Wilkins. A 26-year Air Force veteran and two-term member of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition. Wilkins’ efforts for military fitness advocacy is more than a passion. It’s been recognized by military and political leaders as a service to America.

The idea of a military themed fitness column was first conceived by Wilkins along with M&F President Dan Solomon when they were trying to find ways to promote fitness and service during the pandemic.

“During that time, many people were trying to find ways to stay or get fit. We came up with the idea of doing a column focused on the military and how they were staying physically fit,” Wilkins recalled. “It also gave us an opportunity to cover military readiness and how it was a matter of national security.”

Solomon and M&F owner Jake Wood trusted Wilkins to spearhead this unique content initiatve. Solomon may not have known specifically what it would look like, but his faith in his longtime friend assured him that it would be beneficial and successful.

Solomon adds, “There has always been an organic relationship between the military and the global fitness community, a genuine mutual respect. Master Sgt Wilkins has brought a great deal of passion and integrity to this project and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. We have featured many of the most powerful and influential leaders on these pages.”

Workout Tips

Muscle & Fitness: Fit to Serve

M&F's health & fitness series dedicated to the men and women who serve this country.

Read article

Developing and Finding a Voice

A variety of military focused features were published throughout 2021 that were laying the groundwork of what Wilkins and Solomon had in mind, and the pieces were falling in place. The stories were being told, and connections to fitness were being made. “Fit to Serve” was off and running, but every successful column needs a passionate writer, and a chance

encounter at the 2021 Olympia Weekend in Orlando, FL was where Wilkins found his. A feature on Mr. Olympia competitor Charjo Grant, who also served on the Army National Guard, was written by M&F contributor and longtime freelancer Roger “Rock” Lockridge.

“Rob thanked me and presented me with his challenge coin on the spot,” said Lockridge. “As a son of a two-branch veteran, I knew that was significant.”

Lockridge and Wilkins had several more conversations during that weekend, and Wilkins laid out his vision of Fit to Serve. Lockridge saw this as an opportunity to not only continue working as a writer but also redeem a personal failure from his younger years.

“I enlisted in the West Virginia National Guard as a high school senior, but I was disqualified due to knee issues and being underweight,” said Lockridge. “So ironically, I was unfit to serve. That was part of what got me into my fitness journey.”

He continued, “Being the writer for this is a way that I could do something to make a difference. Even though I didn’t serve myself, I could tell the stories of those that did and hopefully help inspire others to serve.”

The Column That Became a Movement

In the four years since Wilkins and Lockridge joined forces, they have worked together to shine spotlights on American heroes that found fitness to be a fundamental asset. Wilkins would rely on his experience and network to secure the interest and schedule the highly coveted interviews, while Lockridge asked the questions and put fingers to keyboard. As Wilkins explained, that process was not as simple to execute as it was to read.

“We had to prove over the years that this column is a safe space for them. There is enough negativity out there. We want to be an uplifting source and a light for good,” he stated. “There have been stories of military and fitness before, but never in a series like us. That is now the case because Roger has proven that he is not trying to get anyone. He’s there to tell a positive story. They trust him.”

What began as a novel idea has now evolved into the world’s leading military fitness column. Fit to Serve has profiled members of all six branches of the United States Armed Forces as well as first responders, firefighters, and police officers. Stories that have originated from West Point to Beverly Hills and points in between have turned Fit to Serve into a highly inclusive and diverse collection of inspiring stories. In many cases, real-life heroes.

Programs such as the Army’s Holistic Health & Fitness system (H2F), the Recruiter Games, and the Air Force’s Delayed Entry Program have been documented and covered. The column has even reached Marine Barracks in Washington, the historic Navy Yard, and even the Pentagon to interview the highest enlisted members of the Air Force and Marines on-site.

The efforts that have gone into Fit to Serve have been acknowledged and recognized by the military in return. Wilkins was named an honorary Air Force Recruiter while Lockridge received a Certificate of Appreciation following the announcement that the Air Force Recruiting Service met their fiscal year goal early. Other branches have also separately reported much greater success in recruiting. Considering that recruitment was considered a national security issue across all branches in 2021, the turnaround in recruitment overall and recognition by the AFRS specifically is not lost on Wilkins.

“Sharing these stories have been opening people’s minds and seeing how important fitness should be to them. It also gives those that may be interested in serving a glimpse into a side of the military that they may not have seen before.”

Service and Community

Wilkins felt the stories could be great examples, but there also had to be a utility to the column. Education had to be a priority. That is why events such as the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition’s annual meeting, a Wellness Symposium at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, and interviews with experts on sleep, nutrition, and recovery have all been a part of this platform.

“We go beyond bro-science and into real-world research with top-notch experts that bring their wisdom to us so that we can help those that serve and protect our country like our firefighters, law enforcement, and first responders do better with their nutrition, sleep, etc. We are working to be a solution.”

Aside from the information that Fit to Serve has shared, many of those that have been featured have since connected with each other online and in person. Some even see being featured as joining a community.

“Seeing people gather or meet at events and talking about Fit to Serve has been a great reminder of what kind of impact it has,” Lockridge shared. “Many of the folks we have profiled have stayed in touch long after their feature was published.”

Looking Ahead

Fit to Serve has made great strides since its inception, but all eyes are on what’s to come, and Wilkins shares that there are much bigger plans and goals for 2026 and beyond.

“We want to feature more people such as Medal of Honor recipients and even members of Congress. There is more ground to cover, and we’re prepared to do the work.”

With Wood and Solomon’s support, Wilkins’ leadership, Lockridge’s commitment, and the entire M&F team involved in the publishing process, there are many more stories to be told, including those of young Americans that may be laying their own groundwork now. Wilkins is optimistic that future servicemembers that will soon have their own journeys recognized, and he encourages them as well as their families and supporters to acknowledge them.

“We will continue to do our part in finding those great heroes and share their success in the future.”

If you or someone you know has excelled while wearing the nation’s cloth or as a first responder, let us know on Instagram by tagging @muscleandfitness and using the hashtag #FitToServe .

During Maxxine Dupri’s Intercontinental title challenge against Becky Lynch on the Nov. 17 edition of Monday Night Raw on Netflix, Lynch’s No. 1 nemesis AJ Lee headed toward the ring and distracted the champ, allowing an opportune moment for Dupri to dive in and make the pin, thus claiming her first major championship in WWE.

In order to celebrate this shocking upset, the buff beauty then took to Instagram to share a celebratory leg workout. “Train legs with your IConic Champ,” invited the gusty gal, posting a video demonstration for her more than 600K IG followers. Here’s how to try it for yourself:

Maxxine Dupri’s Championship Leg Day

• Supinated Grip Deadlift
• Banded Dumbbell Box Step Up/ Step Down
• Knee Banded Back Squats
• Banded Kettlebell TKE Squats
• Banded Spanish Squat

Maxxine Dupri’s Workout Breakdown

Behind Maxxine Dupri’s jovial social media post was a seriously jacked gym session. Billed at 5-feet-9-inches tall, the Californian bone crusher got to work on her quads by deadlifting with a supinated (palms up) grip on the barbell. Supinated grip deadlifts place less stress on the wrist than a pronated (overhanded) grip, while also reducing slippage. During the deadlift, Dupri taxed her glutes, hamstrings, lower back, and even her biceps, shoulders, and core. A great way to get started.

Second up, the Intercontinental Champion executed banded dumbbell box step ups and step downs to further hammer her core quads and core. The control required here also recruits the rear leg muscles, including the glutes, hamstrings, abductors, adductors, hamstrings, and calves. Moving on to knee banded barbell back squats, Dupri was able to use the resistance band between her knees to provide further tension during the concentric (lowering) phase of the movement, forcing the muscles to work harder. Once again, the girl with the gold blasted her glutes, quads, and hips, while recruiting the core for stabilization.

For the champ’s penultimate exercise, Dupri showed her tenacity with some TKE squats, adding extra weight with a kettlebell in the goblet position. The trick here is to focus on getting back up from the squat using as much of the quads as possible, to really feel the burn.  Before hitting the showers, Dupri then rounded out her leg day with banded Spanish squats, holding the squat rack for additional support while she pounded her quads into submission. With the band wrapped around the knees (use a heavy band), Dupri grappled once again with her quads and glutes. Responding to the reps that Dupri shared on Instagram, fans were quick to show their support. “I’m excited for all the incoming IC title content,” wrote one follower. “Ideal lifting belt,” wrote another.

The new Intercontinental Champion also received a ton of support from her professional wrestling peers. “Get it, girl!” wrote Brie Bella. “Legs for days, champ!” added Nattie Neidhart.

Less than impressed, however, was previous IC Champ Becky Lynch. “Squatting with a stolen championship title is illegal!” she commented in fury. “So is not squatting below parallel! Must top now! Those reps don’t count, just like your win on Monday!” Bitter much, Becky Lynch?

For her part, Maxxine Dupri is still basking is the glow of her big title win. “Leg day hits different in gold,” she beamed.

Maxxine Dupri is part of WWE’s Monday Night Raw roster, available to stream on Netflix. To follow her future gym gains while wearing the gold on Instagram, click here. 

This asymmetrical strength circuit involves five unilateral exercises performed every minute on the minute. That means no assistance from your stronger side. You’ll complete all reps on one side first before switching, requiring your body to generate strength with no safety net.

This EMOM circuit isn’t just about getting sweaty. It’s about building unilateral strength, hammering stability, and reinforcing rotational control. The result? Enhanced muscle development, stronger lifts, and a body that moves like a machine.

Got 15 minutes? Good. Grab a kettlebell and let’s get to work.

What Makes This EMOM Workout Different?

Unilateral training requires balance, control, and coordination. Now combine that with every minute on the minute pacing, and you’ve got a metabolic, muscle-building monster.

Each minute, you perform four reps per side, all on one side before switching. That means you’re training the muscles that often get neglected with bilateral training—obliques, adductors, and muscle & joint stabilizers, that keep you moving like a machine.

Here’s why it works so well.

1. Builds Symmetry: By training one side at a time, you reveal and address imbalances in real time.
2. Challenges Core Stability: Every rep forces your torso to resist rotation during pressing, pulling, and swinging.
3. Improves Coordination and Mobility: Movements like curtsy lunges and halos train you to move with strength and control.
4. Cranks the Heart Rate: With little rest and continuous tension, this EMOM sneaks in as a sneaky cardiovascular workout.

Sounds like fun, but wait, there’s more.

EMOM Workout Insructions

This 15-minute workout is a hybrid assault on your strength, stability, and conditioning—all powered by one kettlebell, and here’s how to do it.

1. Set a timer for 15 minutes.
2. Perform four reps per side without alternating each exercise within each minute.
3. Rest for the rest of the minute, then transition to the next movement.
4. After completing all five exercises, that’s one round. Repeat the full circuit for three total rounds.
5. Pick your not-so-strongest movement out of the five exercises, and that will be your weight for all five exercises.
6. A clear training space—you’ll be lunging, swinging, and rotating.

Optional: mat for kneeling halos, towel for sweat, and timer or EMOM app.

Keep In Mind

Control Is Greater Than Chaos: Don’t rush because you’re building strength and control through full ranges of motion.

Stay Braced: Core engagement keeps everything locked in and smooth.

Adjust as Needed: If you can’t complete all eight reps within the minute, reduce the reps to three per side or the load.

The Kettlebell EMOM Unilateral Circuit Workout

You’ll complete four non-alternating reps per side, and the rest of the minute is yours to recover.

1A. Kettlebell Side Swings

1. Targets: Hips, glutes, hamstrings, grip, and rotatory core stability.
2. Coaching Tip: Keep your shoulders square and your core tight. This exercise is a hip-driven swing with a lateral force, not a twist.

1B. Kettlebell Push Press

• Targets: Shoulders, triceps, core, hips
• Coaching Tip: Use an explosive knee dip to launch the bell, then brace your core and glutes at lockout.

1C. Kettlebell Gorilla Row

• Targets: Lats, upper back, grip, obliques
• Coaching Tip: Take the time to set your stance and row your elbow towards your hip.

1D. Kettlebell Curtsy Lunge

• Targets: Glutes, quads, adductors, obliques.
• Coaching Tip: Keep your chest up, keep your hips square, and don’t rush.

1E. Tall Kneeling Kettlebell Halo

Targets: Shoulders, upper back, core, scapular control.

Coaching Tip: Keep your head still, ribs down, and glutes engaged. This move will likely be the weakest of the five exercises.

Cooldown

You just completed 15 minutes of intense, precision-focused training—one side at a time. You built unilateral strength, improved stability, and restored balance where it matters most: through your core, hips, and shoulders. It is preferable to use this workout as a standalone when you’re short on time, as a finisher, as a replacement for HITT cardio, or as a weekly check-in on unilateral strength and balance.

Cooldown Suggestions:

World’s Greatest Stretch: Open hips and thoracic spine.

Half-Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch: Reset your hip flexors, quads, and core.

Crocodile Breathing: 3 minutes of deep belly breathing to shift back into recovery mode.

Keeping it old-school, the respected body-builder-turned-coach, Milos Sarcev recently took to Instagram to share a retro rep of his own. “You want DEEP ABS and hip flexors control?” wrote the man they call ‘The Mind,’ explaining that such progress would lead to deep quad separation in frontal poses. Of course we do!

What is the Hanging Straight Leg Raise?

In short, the hanging straight leg raise is a tougher version of the hanging knee raise. As Sarcev stated, it targets the abdominals and hip flexors. While this exercise builds muscle, making it ideal for bodybuilders, the movement’s ability to improve core strength and balance makes it perfect for all athletes to practice.

How to Try the Hanging Straight Leg Raise

In his post, the two-time Mr Yugoslavia put the eight-time Mr Olympia Ronnie Coleman through his paces. To copy “The King”, you’ll need a stable bar, suitable for pullups.

• Grab the bar with a pronated (overhand) grip and wrap the thumbs around the bar for good measure.
• Start with your legs vertical and keep them straight while raising them out in front of you.
• Attempt to raise your legs so that they reach a 90-degree angle with the body.

(As you become more advanced, aim to get the legs as high as possible.)

• Lower your legs until they reach the vertical position and repeat

Top tips: Focus on tilting and flexing your pelvis to maintain stability. Some people tap their feet on the ground between reps, while others make this movement more difficult by keeping their toes in the air at all times. “Straight legs hanging rases are KING!” concluded Sarcev while encouraging Coleman that his own bodyweight is just lightweight!

To follow Milos Sarcev’s mind for muscle on Instagram, click here.

I will say this though, they’re not too far off and in some cases right on. It’s a testament,. I suppose, to the refinements made to the iPhone.

So, here’s what I’m gonna do–just for fun. I’ve pulled the online community’s consensus of the top four—Derek, Hadi, Andrew and Samson—from the 2025 Mr. Olympia Open division. Following is a paragraph for each of the top four, anchored in what fans and commenters are talking about online. Then I will either correct them, or agree with them. Let’s see how this goes…

Derek Lunsford: Mr. Olympia (1st place)

The consensus among fans: Derek pulled off a clean, no-drama win. His proportions, balance and fullness made fewer people talk about “what he needs to fix” and more “this dude was just locked in.” On Reddit one top comment: “Derek has much better lines than anyone else in the top 5…” That said, some voices in the community say he lacks a distinct “freak factor” or memorable highlight of his physique: “He’s as boring as vanilla for a bodybuilder. Nobody looks and says, ‘Oh gosh gee I wish I looked like Derek.”  So, for next year, the community says Derek must maintain his balance and inject a bit more personality—maybe more dramatic separation, a more memorable pose set, or a slight tweak (“edge”) in his conditioning or side-shots that gives fans something to talk about beyond just “very good.” A better mental game and stage show could elevate Lunsford from great to legendary.

Commentary:

First of all, I’m going to assign this same preface to each competitor—no one lit up. The top 10 contained more disappointments than a contraceptive salesman in a convent.  Having said that, you can’t say that Derek, from the back, isn’t a freak. He has probably the best back in the biz right now. And, as they say, shows are won and lost from the back.

But, “locked in”? I disagree. Locked in would mean he’s figured out how to add the much needed detail to his chest, shoulders and biceps and nails the condition he’d need to carve in those details. Until then, he’s not “locked in.” Was he the best man on stage that Saturday night in October? By the ever slightest of margins I would have to say yes. But I mean wafer thin. It could easily have gone another way. What Derek has to do moving forward is come in with a much wider gap between himself and the next guy. His is not the physique that shines when margins are thin. He’s much better received when winning by a mile.

Hadi Choopan: Former Mr. Olympia (runner-up)

Hadi continues to be the crowd favorite. One comment read: “His conditioning was excellent, and that signature ‘Persian Wolf’ intensity …” (paraphrased from a Facebook thread) Fans love his charisma, back development and his under-dog story. But many say he came up just a notch short of Derek in the all-around package: “He had the legs and back detail; upper chest and arms weren’t quite at the same level in certain angles.” (community paraphrase).

So, what do they want to see next year: Hadi needs to bring equal upper-body pop to match the lower body, perhaps refine some of his posing transitions, & pick a theme or moment in his routine that slams home “this is the best version of Hadi yet.”

Commentary:

Okay, this is totally wrong, except that I agree with the assessment of his legs. All the rest, no. While, like I said, no one was 100%, Hadi, and for that matter Andrew and Martin Fitzwater, were the most conditioned on the stage. However, as good as it was, Hadi’s condition was not his best condition. That “pop” for which he’s famous was not bright enough to drown out what he lacked next to Derek. Again, by a razor’s edge. The judges were not only splitting hairs, the hairs were growing on an atom—it was that close. That said, Hadi could just as easily have won and the exact same commentary would have raged. In my experience, it was the tossiest of toss-ups.

Andrew Jacked (3rd place)

On forums Reddit etc: there was a lot of, “wow, he showed up” threads. Example:  “Andrew brought an all time best package this year… He definitely deserves one Mr. O at some point, bro is like sculpted marble.” People love his size, modern look, and upward trajectory. But the most repeated “criticism” in community commentary: his posing and his legs/back detail from certain angles: “His legs don’t look great from the back especially… I see no hamstring detail and they just look watery overall.” So if Andrew wants to be a winner next year, the discussion says: he should sharpen his hamstring/glute tie-in, improve posing transitions (especially side chest, back double) and maintain his newly found conditioning. That could take him from “top three for sure” to “top one contender”.

Commentary:

I pretty much agree with this in the long run. I’ll admit I actually had him winning after I saw him back stage Saturday night, his skin looked like tissue paper. His advantage next to Hadi is that Andrew has some available real estate to fill up – especially in his legs and back, Hadi is maxed out. What Andrew has to do is recognize that the trend is his friend. If his current trajectory of improvement continues he will win the Olympia; I just don’t know which one. In the mean time, he should take some ballet lessons or something and learn how to move his body from one pose to another—not just transitioning, but moving around gracefully to another spot on stage to hit his shot. His poses are fine, getting in and out of them is where he needs work.

Samson Dauda: 2024 Mr. Olympia (4th place)

The forum mood: “Samson was massive and present, but his conditioning/back fullness weren’t quite on the level of Derek/Hadi this year.” Some thread posts: “Samson brought improved conditioning but sacrificed some back fullness.” The consensus: He still has the mass, but the fine detail (striations/separation) and the balance (particularly in the back and glutes) need dialing in. The community expects next year he should sharpen that back package, maybe pull a bit more mid-section “hardness” and get a routine that positions him to show his strengths most effectively (mass + presence) while minimizing any weaker sight lines. If he does that, he could challenge hard.

Commentary:

This is just a lot of hyperbole for the mere fact that Sampson tried to come in tighter and in better condition than last year and screwed up. His condition was okay, but his skin wasn’t tight. He looked like he lost muscle—like a slightly deflated version of his Mr. O physique. He’s got to gain all that back, and some, and he will be on a path to regain his title. But it’s not going to be easy. Andrew is coming in next year another year better. That’s going to be a huge mountain for Sampson, or anyone else to climb. But, if we’re going to compare apples to apples, Sampson, more than anyone else. Has the longest row to hoe. And he’s capable of doing it. My prediction is that next year the battle for first and second will be between Sampson and Andrew.

Added Bonus

Fifth and sixth I think need mention because they were both so disappointing in two distinct and opposite ways. It was very disappointing that Martin was so glaringly overlooked. He clearly upset the apple cart and it seemed the judges just didn’t know what to do with him. He was big, round dense, separated, symmetrical  and shredded. What more could you ask for?  If he made the podium no one would have argued.

At the other end of the disappointment spectrum is the blunder Nick Walker made. Never mind his self aggrandizing posture online leading up to the show, including the little scuffle he had with Bob Chic,  what’s truly disappointing is that Walker posted a pic five weeks out that looked like Chic would be eating his words with hot sauce on them. As it turned out, a few seconds after Nick was introduced at the open of prejudging, there was a plaintive gasp that shuddered through the audience after they all realized that the Nick in the pic was not the guy on stage. Four seconds later Nick folded.  It was written all over him, his gaze could have frozen brandy. He was done. His only solace was that Bob announced him in seventh place and not eighth as he had predicted. Be that as it may, Nick’s cheat meal is going to have to be crow.

So this Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the perfect times to stock up on these 10 everyday performance products—these deals make it easy to build strength, add muscle, and feel great into the new year.

10 Black Friday & Cyber Monday Deals to Stock Up On

“I’ve had another acting gig before and I got a little experience through middle school,” Hamlin, who makes a cameo in this year’s Hallmark Channel’s Countdown to Christmas lineup, The More the Merrier, says. “I’ve earned a new respect for actors and just their craft and the dedication, the time, everything that it takes to get the masterpiece and the results that they get.”

But this isn’t just any side project for Hamlin. The project hits home for Hamlin as it’s based on his own nearly fatal experience.

On Jan. 2, 2023, Hamlin went into cardiac arrest after sustaining a blunt force hit to the chest while making a tackle in a game on Monday Night Football against the Cincinnati Bengals. Medical staff from both teams worked on Hamlin by performing CPR for nine minutes while using a defibrillator to restore his heartbeat.

With the three-year anniversary of that life-changing moment coming up, Hamlin admits he’s still dealing with the emotions of the day every time before he takes the field.

“This is something I’m teaching my 10-year-old brother,” Hamlin says. “Fear is a real thing. We all experience fear. Like, everybody experiences fear. It can be more bad than good, because then you don’t know what to do with the fear. I think what makes people different is what you do with the fear. If you can persevere through the fear, you cannot let the fear handicap you because every human experiences fear, it’s a human emotion, to experience.”

Hamlin continues, “And so, I don’t want people to shy away from it. I really want people to embrace it, to know that it’s a real thing, and to know that everybody else is experiencing it too, in their own way. I think it’s just about what we do, and you have to know that. Everybody’s experiencing it and you can’t let it hinder you from getting done what you want to get done. I think that’s just a big sum up of my whole process.”

While he doesn’t have all the answers of how things have changed, Hamlin knows it’ll take awhile to sift through his thoughts as he tries to live in the moment.

“I’m honestly still in the phase of just figuring that out,” Hamlin says. I think I need like, 10 years before I’ll be able to truly say I have all the answers to that. I think right now I’m just in the moment of it all still, even nearing up on three years. I’m still in the moment, I’m still, sorting out all of the unique things and chaos that came my way, and I think I just was trying to navigate the world. But I think just being in the moment, staying present, just truly maximizing everything that I can around me, will propel me and allow me to have a better gist on that when it’s all said and done.”

The Incident has Transformed Hamlin into How He Lives His Life Today

“My life has truly just changed and it’ll forever be different,” explains Hamlin. “But reasons that I don’t shy away from. I feel like a deeper connection [to] my purpose and why I’m here and I let that community and I let that feeling, everything that I do as far as my actions and my movements, my partnerships, whatever I do, I truly allow God to just lead the way, and it’s been amazing so far. I’m thankful.”

The movie features five real-life members of Abbott’s HeartMates community and have experienced heart issues similar to Hamlin’s and have overcome everything from heart transplants to open heart surgery.

“They’re truly my inspiration,” Hamlin, who’s an ambassador for the program, says of the younger kids he’s working with. “They allowed me to feel related to, understood, and just seeing people at different phases of their life experiencing things that may be a little bit different to me, but we all relate in a way. It truly gives me my courage and inspiration to continue to just continue to keep going on with my work.”

Hamlin, who stays ‘extra prayed up’ since the hit, has gotten so close to some of the youth that he works with that they are a part of his new game day ritual.

“I call one of my HeartMates and just get a little bit of inspiration, get a little bit of motivation,” Hamlin says. “They always text me before the games. Zeke (who makes a cameo in the film) was the first draftee into the HeartMates program. He texts me before every game and just gives me that motivation. His text will be something like, ‘Man, no matter what, win, lose or draw, I appreciate you. You mean so much to me,’ and just kind of like that, bring me back down to earth and just realize that this is just a game, and I’m able to have things in my life that give me purpose even beyond the game of football, especially.”

And while Hamlin will never know why this rare incident happened to him, he’s done trying to ask, ‘why me?’ and embrace how his voice is now helping others.

“I always just try to find a positive outlook to keep myself going,” says Hamlin. There’s so many times in my life growing up that I was holding on to, so it kind of changed who I am as a person. But I understand how I was used in that moment.”