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You Can’t Flex Fat: The Harsh Truth Every Aspiring Bodybuilder Needs to Hear

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Let’s get something straight right off the bat: As much as might think you can, you can’t flex fat. You can do all kinds of other things to it—gain it, lose it, jiggle it, inject it, get it sucked out, tan it, pierce it, tattoo it—but no matter how many mirrors you stand in front of or filters you slap on, fat doesn’t striate. It doesn’t separate. You can’t contract it, and no veins pop out of it. It just sits there and obliterates everything worth looking at—from a bodybuilding perspective, of course. That being the case, the goal of any competitor in the body sports (“bodybuilding” hereafter) is to build/maintain as much muscle as possible while burning away as much fat as possible. Since we all know—or should know by now—that fat mass and muscle mass take up much different volumes. Muscle is denser than fat and therefor takes up less space. Fat, by comparison, is not as dense and takes up much more volume. Therefore, if you’re getting ready for a bodybuilding competition—with the...
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The Foot Training Blueprint: Build Stronger Feet To Boost Performance and Prevent Injuries

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Most of us are walking around with weak, underused foot muscles, because modern shoes and smooth indoor floors have made our feet passive. We often only think about our feet when they start to hurt (i.e. plantar fasciitis) or when they stop looking like healthy feet altogether. Think bunions, flat arches, that pinky toe tucking under and fading into oblivion. We underestimate how much they set the foundation for our whole body. So instead of neglecting them, what if we trained our feet with the same intention we give to our glutes, pecks, or lats? We sat down with performance coach Joshua Holland , who’s trained A-list celebrities and elite athletes, to build a practical strategy for going from weak to foot-strong. If you’ve ever kicked off your shoes before a squat or deadlift, or worn minimalist shoes, you know the difference between feeling cushioned and wobbly and feeling planted and controlled. And Holland says that stability comes in handy outside of the gym too. “The more ...
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How the CEO of Nutrition Solutions Uses Brutal Honesty to Drive Health and Fitness Change

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Chris Cavallini built Nutrition Solutions on the ethos that to achieve excellence in fitness (or any other area of life), one must ditch the excuses. Some people join his program ready to change their lives. Others need a push. To give these clients the extra motivation they need, Cavallini believes in employing a controversial tactic: fat shaming. It’s important to clarify what exactly he means by “fat shaming.” Cavallini isn’t suggesting that his audience get online and post hateful comments under photos of anyone who is overweight. Rather, his brand of fat shaming serves a specific motivational purpose, and he can point to several historical situations where it’s worked. “Shame, when used correctly, creates clarity,” he explains. “The Spartans and Macedonians are two of the most respected, dominant ancient warrior cultures in history. Both used shame to drive honor and action in their soldiers. So does every branch of our military.” Chris Cavallini Many people remain in the...
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The Rest-Pause Training Method Shoulder Workout to Spark New Muscle Growth and Definition

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Every now and then a muscle group needs a jolt of something intense – a workout you’ve never done before that will spark new muscle growth and strength. Below is just such a workout for the shoulders. The routine gets going with a brief but brutal rest-pause scheme for overhead dumbbell presses , then finishes off all three delt heads with a shrug, a flye and a face pull for high reps. Before getting into the workout, make sure your shoulders are warmed up with some light lateral raises and overhead presses. Then, have it at. The Rest-Pause Training Method Benefits of Rest-Pause Method: Shortened rest periods increase the intensity, release more natural muscle-building hormones and charge resting metabolism rates for hours after the workout is over. Increased mental toughness. Increased workout efficiency , High impact Decreased Time in the Gym. Benefits of Reps-Based Method: By only focusing on the targeted rep range, you simplify the workout and can concentrate on each s...
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How To Do Wall Walks: Build Upper Body Strength and Muscle Control

If you think bodyweight exercises are just for warmups, the Wall Walk will change your mind. From the outside looking in, the wall walk looks simple enough. You walk your feet up a wall while your hands move backward toward it. But don’t let it fool you—the Wall Walk lights up your shoulders, upper back, and core like few other exercises can. Gymnasts and CrossFit athletes often use the Wall Walk to build strength and control, but it is more than a party trick. It builds shoulder stability that transfers to heavy overhead pressing, handstands, and athletic performance. And if you’re serious about bulletproofing your shoulders or unlocking your upper-body strength potential , it needs to be in your rotation. Let’s break down how to master this effective move and build pressing power from the ground up. What Exactly are Wall Walks? Wall Walks is an exercise that combines a push-up, crawl, and handstand into one move, requiring strength, control, and mental toughness. It starts in a p...
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Hafthor Björnsson Pulls 505kg to Set New All-Time Deadlift World Record in Germany

A new chapter in strongman history was written on July 27, 2025, during the Eisenhart Black Competition in Bavaria, Germany , as the Icelandic giant Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson smashed his own deadlift world record by pulling a colossal 1,113-pounds / 505-kilograms. It was a thunderous statement set by the man they call “Thor.” The 6’9″  man-mountain, who won the World’s Strongest Man crown in 2018 and featured in the HBO classic Game of Thrones , bettered his previous (2020) 1104.5-pound/ 501-kilogram world record pull, but this time there was no covid induced lockdown or home gym performance to leave any doubt. As heart-pounding footage from the German event shows, Björnsson gripped the bar, loaded up with 1,113-pounds / 505-kilograms of unforgiving iron and then raised the barbell while it bent under the herculean weight. Thor made a textbook lift however, locking his core and pulling his shoulders back, going to work until he got the undeniable win. Hafþór Björnsson Sets New Dea...
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How Scotty Hasting Turned His Wounds to Songwriting Wisdom

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Scotty Hasting has survived 10 bullets at point-blank range as an Army officer in Afghanistan, so it would seem safe to assume that nearly every challenge thrown in front of him today as a musician would pale in comparison—even singing on Nashville’s grandest stage. It’s not to say that Hasting doesn’t still get a bit of the nerves when his name is called to perform the Grand Ole Opry. After all, his 2024 performance came less than five years after learning how to play guitar. At the same time he had to retrain his body to work as a left-hander, the result of the bullets shredding the nerves that helped his right hand function. “I think when you get nervous it just means you care,” Hasting explains. “I’ve been shot at. I used to live in a world where I’d get shot at all the time. So yes, I may get nervous, but not enough to ever stop me from going out.” Each morning Hasting wakes up and has the privilege to work on his newfound art is a win—a gift that wasn’t guaranteed after being ...
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The ‘TMP’ Panel Judge Justin Shier Against Jonathan De La Rosa

Dennis James was joined by Milos Sarcev and Jose Raymond for Episode 242 of The Menace Podcast and with special guest Justin Shier also on the show, they put his prediction of a bodybuilding victory in Tampa to the test. Shier, who explained that he currently weighs around 230-pounds, predicted that he will be victorious at the 2025 Tampa Pro, which runs July 31-August 2 ,  during his appearance on “TMP.” If he’s right, the Men’s Open competitor will stamp his ticket to the 2025 Olympia event in Las Vegas. First, however, he will have to get past another favorite, Jonathan De La Rosa.  So, with a wealth of experience on hand to examine Shier’s chances of success, the crew took a look at how these two warriors measure up on a pose for pose basis. Shier placed 15th in his 2023 Olympia debut , impressing judges, while Jonathan De La Rosa placed twelth in 2024 . “I’m going to ask Jose, because Jose never lies,” quizzed Sarcev. “Pose for pose, Justin or Jonathan De La Rosa?” Sar...
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TAVO: Wake Up Right

Believe it or not, there actually is an optimal time to be ripped out of a sound sleep… Without anyone else knowing! Let’s be honest — dragging yourself out of bed feeling like a zombie every morning isn’t a badge of honor. It’s a failure of strategy. You train hard, eat clean, swallow hundreds of supplement capsules and scoops of powder — but if you’re getting up like a truck hit you, you’re losing half the battle before the day even starts. Enter the Tavo Sleep Alarm, a device built for people who leave no stone unturned in their pursuit of increased performance, recovery, and getting an edge. This thing isn’t another data-slinging wrist toy pretending to make you healthier. No HRV charts. No sleep graphs you’ll forget to check. Tavo does one thing and it does it with surgical precision: it wakes you up. That’s it. It’s how it wakes you up that’s groundbreaking. No buzzing phones, no blaring alarms — just a silent wrist vibration timed to your natural sleep cycle, so you ease out ...
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Wake Up Smarter: How TAVO Is Rewriting the Rules of Morning Alarms

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If you’ve ever jolted awake to the screech of a traditional alarm and stumbled through your morning in a groggy haze, you’re not alone. There’s a growing movement in sleep science and tech innovation that believes the problem isn’t how long but rather how well you sleep. A new company, called TAVO Sleep, takes this one step further. They believe waking up at the most ideal time for your body is just as important. Because sometimes what can make or break your morning isn’t how many hours you clocked in bed, but what sleep stage you were in when the alarm went off. TAVO Sleep is a wearable smart alarm designed to wake you during your lightest stage of sleep via gentle vibration on your wrist. After testing the device for several weeks, I found that while it’s not without quirks, it definitely offers a shift in how you wake up in the morning. The Science Behind the Smart Alarm Unlike sound-based alarms that go off at a set time, TAVO gives your body some wiggle room. You choose a wake...
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