Until fairly recently, protein powder was marketed to a very specific demographic: men who read bodybuilding magazines, could quote scenes from Pumping Iron verbatim, and would happily bathe in a bucket of badger shit if it meant adding an extra inc [...]
You know that kid at school who wore a cape, dressed his rabbit as Hitler and once, as a dare, took a shit in his own backpack?
Well that’s basically YouTube.
These annoying tossers on a global scale, chasing their moment in the spotlight, b [...]
Approximately 400 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube
every minute.
As anyone who’s clicked “filter by recent results” will
testify, the vast majority of this content is proof, if it were needed, that
humankind is hurtling towards its in [...]
Hitting a plateau is one of the most frustrating experiences that can befall any lifter.
It's up there with getting injured, waiting 30 minutes for the squat rack to become free and your great aunt Marjorie trying to convince you that a banana con [...]
You're a skinny 16 year old who wants to build some muscle.
Scenario #1: 2018
You Google "how to build muscle".
9,970,000 results... well, fuck.
You start cycling through articles about creatine supplementation, anabolic windows, superset [...]
On January 1st of this year I turned 30.
As well as ushering in a malaise of cynicism and despair, crippling hangovers, an aversion to doing anything other than drinking tea in my pyjamas on a Friday night, and the weary acceptance that we will [...]
The gym can be an intimidating place.
Well, sort of.
Not as intimidating as being chained up in a Belgium sex bunker, being asked to call a coin toss by Anton Chigurh or having your CV marked up by Claude Littner.
Or being forced to sleep opposi [...]
A good gym buddy can be worth their weight in gold.
Someone to shout words of encouragement as you struggle on that final rep, someone to blame when you accidentally let one off by the water fountain, someone to hold deep and meaningfuls with betwee [...]
Say "bodybuilder" to most people these days and they'll probably bring to mind a misshapen, oily blob that would look more at home inhabiting a cave in a Frank Herbert novel than the stage of a Mr Olympia contest.
50 years ago, however, this word wo [...]
With the success of The Great British Bake Off and an ever-stiffening cultural hard-on for healthy eating and high protein foods, it won't be long before some TV exec puts two and two together and The Great British Protein Bake Off hits our screens. [...]
There is place, glimpsed only on social media, called "Fitness Land".
It is a gleaming, spotless kingdom, populated by rippling abs, avocados and neon leggings, where people communicate solely in motivational hashtags, always stay humble and are con [...]
We live in an age of instant gratification.
Whether your tastes are mainstream (the latest films and music) or more off-piste (vintage headstones, excremental sculptures, men playing banjos with their ballbags), so long as you're connected to th [...]
When God created the squat, he didn't just say, "Lo, ye angels, I have created yet another exercise, now let us knock off early for the day".
No, he gathered all the gang around him, Jesus, Satan, Gabriel, and proclaimed, "Behold the squat, a di [...]
Since the dawn of time man has aspired to physical perfection.
Like artists, writers and pets that can play musical instruments, those in peak physical shape are lauded by society.
From that dim-witted, strapping neanderthal who could punch a [...]
Peanut butter has long been the emperor of the nut butter world.
In recent years, however, its monopoly has been lifted by a host of other nut butter spreads which have risen in popularity.
Cashew, almond, walnut, macadamia, hazelnut and Braz [...]
"When I was in the National Service, every morning would start at 5am when a bucket of cold water was thrown over your bed and a drill instructor spat in your face and called you a c**t."
This was the anecdote my dad would recount to me when I was [...]
In a recent post, we looked at an old-school 1940s bulk-gaining routine from former Mr America Alan Stephan, which serves as a great introduction to full-body training and building a classic physique the natural way.
But like any abbreviated begi [...]
Have you ever felt the need to take a completely pointless and utterly ridiculous quiz to ascertain what kind of lifter you are?
Well, today is your lucky day.
Come with us, reader, as we take a glimpse into the lives of four lifters, all bas [...]
One of the biggest problems I have with modern bodybuilding - and the fitness industry in general - is that everything is overcomplicated.
Let's take the classic example: teenage boy is sick of being weedy and bullied and wants to build muscle mas [...]
Peanut butter is one those foods where all restraint just goes out of the window.
Confronted with a tub of peanut butter and a spoon, I'll inevitably show the same level of self-control as a Premier League footballer on a stag weekend in Ibiz [...]
The gym is a microcosm of society in that most people either (a) don't have a clue what they're doing or (b) are so egregiously annoying that you wouldn't think twice about clubbing them to death with a cricket bat and feeding their remains into a sa [...]
Right now there are as many fitness-related websites and social media profiles as there are stars in the universe.
With some much competition, it can be tough to stand out from the crowd.
But, occasionally, amongst all the clickbait, product-p [...]
If there's one thing that editing Gymtalk has made apparent over the last few years, it's that most people are still completely clueless when it comes to bodybuilding and strength training.
Just take Rajan, for instance, who left this comment on o [...]
Like it or not, fitness is now mainstream.
When I started lifting weights 10 years ago, if you drunk from a protein shake in public someone would probably spit on your back and call you a c**t.
Fast forward to today, and fame hungry slappers from [...]
