Unfiltered Extra

“How do I introduce myself? It depends who I’m talking to and what I want to get out the conversation!” When you wear as many hats as Shaun Stafford it can be tricky to succinctly summarise exactly what it is you do. Of course, there’s the body. A two-time WBFF Physique world champion, Stafford will always be known for a muscular and lean body that’s graced multiple magazine covers and advertiseme...

That the world is gripped by a mental health crisis is not in question. What remains unanswered is how we begin to solve the suffering that's affecting millions of people all around the world. Matias Serebrinsky, co-founder and general partner at psychedelic treatment investment fund PsyMed Ventures, believes unequivocally that the answer lies in psychedelic medicine, and that the imminent next ge...

Rick Collins, the world-renowned legal authority on testosterone and other performance-enhancing drugs, explains to Unfiltered's Dr Jonny Rees, PhD, where the law’s got it wrong in demonising steroids, and why the guy who wants to get jacked for his holiday should never be penalised harder than the professional sport drug cheat. “I was an apple in an orange parade.” When Rick Collins went to law s...

Dave Wright, as you can soon tell from the first five seconds of our Unfiltered conversation, is a straight-talking and passionate Australian who has been a vocal and impactful supporter of the fitness industry for more than three decades. A serial entrepreneur – he is the founder and CEO of Myzone; the owner and CEO of Creative Fitness Marketing; and the co-owner of the Voyage Fitness brand in Au...

Human enhancement technologies are already changing the nature of military recruitment, training and war-zone deployment. And, as with everything that is invented with the primary aim of increasing the odds of military victory, it is only a matter of time before these nascent technologies trickle down to civilian life. For Andrew Herr, founder of performance concierge service Fount, his former pro...

Confidence is the cornerstone of success in any personal, professional and performance endeavour. But many of us get caught in a vicious cycle of telling ourselves what we can’t do, rather than what we can. And we repeatedly talk ourselves down in a way that we would never dare dream of speaking to our friends, family or colleagues. This was the case for leading strength coach Jay Ferruggia who, d...

To say that there is a lack of trust in the established practices of western medicine is something of an understatement. Since the rise of social media you don’t have to search very far to find a significant number of widely followed and well-credentialed experts highly critical of modern medical methodology, or who claim that much of the accepted understanding, teaching and treatment of almost al...

In serious strength training circles few voices resonate with as much authority and authenticity as Jordan Shallow. A chiropractor by profession and powerlifter by passion, Shallow has carved a formidable presence in the health and fitness world, not just through his physical prowess but through his thought-provoking insights. In our exclusive conversation with the man known online as The Muscle D...

We’ve all been there. Life gets in the way, and you miss a few scheduled training sessions. Frustration creeps in and, if you’re anything like most people, fears that you’ll stop progressing - or worse still, begin regressing - begin to emerge. But what if we told you that it takes less - much less - time and effort to not only maintain what you have, but also make meaningful progress. Enter Dr Pa...

How do you define success? Perhaps it’s as simple as excelling at whatever you put your mind to. However you choose to define it, there are many metrics by which it can be measured, and much will of course depend on your own personal values and worldview. Some might think of achievements, particularly those that can be listed on a LinkedIn page or CV. In the realm of health and fitness, you might...

In 2020, low back pain affected 619m people across the world, a figure expected to rise to 843m people by 2050, according to research by the World Health Organisation. Globally low back pain is the single leading cause of disability and the highest number of cases is in patients between the ages of 50 and 55. Non-specific low back pain, which is far harder to diagnose and treat, is the most common...

There exists more data on Dr Michael Snyder than any other human in history.

 The Chair of Genetics at Stanford University has been collecting, analysing and responding to a constant stream of information about his brain, body and environment for the last decade, amassing two petabytes of data.

 So what has he learned about the impact of different foods on his blood glucose levels? Which breakfa...

Not many people know the personal training and fitness industry than Phil Learney. And as the founder of the Advanced Coaching Academy he understands better than most the inherent problems that blight the sector, preventing people getting the physical activity advice and instruction they so desperately need at the time they need it most. As Learney explains, in an exclusive interview with Unfilter...

For Steven Rinaldi, the path to becoming CEO of a multimillion-pound company has not been easy, and it certainly hasn’t been traditional. From moving out of his home at just 15 to rent a bedsit above a Chinese karaoke restaurant in Glasgow, and working as an underage doorman, he tried many other jobs before finding his true calling as the founder and CEO of PRIMAL STRENGTH, which designs and manuf...

Most men will have only heard about PCOS - Polycystic Ovary Syndrome - if their partner, relatives or daughters suffer from the condition. Even then the chances are they will know very little about the causes, diagnosis and on-going treatment options to minimise the life-changing effects of PCOS. One man who knows more than most, and is leading the online educational efforts to empower more people...

In an Unfiltered exclusive, two-time World's Strongest Man Tom Stoltman opens up to editor-in-chief Joe Warner about life, lifting and how he plans to secure his legacy as the greatest strongman of all time. In a raw, honest and wide-ranging conversation, Tom reveals how his difficult and lonely childhood - his teachers told him he'd amount to nothing - was navigated thanks to the love and support...

College football star, champion physique athlete, international cover model, and social media superstar. There’s not many things Steve Cook tries that doesn’t result in huge success. At least from the outside. Throughout the prism of Instagram, he’s living the perfect life and his legion of fans adore him. But does the reality mirror what it’s really like to live under that social media spotlight?...

What do a large adult male polar bear, a grand piano, and a 1962 Lotus Elan all have in common? They each weigh around 1300lbs, the equivalent to about 600kg or 94 stone. Which also means that the bear, the piano and the seminal sports car could all be successfully squatted by Brian Carroll, the retired powerlifter and spine health consultant, who holds the record for the heaviest squat of all tim...

In an evermore polarised and conflicted world, it’s tempting to focus our efforts on minimising our exposure to stress. So we shy away, avoiding people, places and situations that stress us out.

 Yet this strategy is at best only ever a short-term fix. Stress is everywhere and so impossible to avoid.

 A far more beneficial and positive approach is to instead build up your reserves of resilience...

It doesn’t take long once you start your own journey towards a fitter, stronger and healthier body that you encounter the name Kris Gethin. The coach, editor, author and entrepreneur has been an ever-present in the global fitness world for the past three decades and a constant voice of authority, innovation and motivation in an industry prone to fads, frauds and quick-fix fallacies. Amongst his pe...

The fastest way to start an argument on the internet? Post about politics. The second fastest? Talk about nutrition. And just as politics has become more polarising, in part thanks to the rise of social media and its ubiquity in our lives, how we eat and to which nutritional strategy we adhere has become equally tribal, with people passionately arguing how one dietary approach is “right” and all o...

The gut is often called our “second brain” for the huge role and influence it has in our physical and mental health and wellbeing. But it should really be known as our original brain. Go back far enough on our family tree and you’ll find a common ancestor of all vertebrates alive today who had a digestive system long before the cerebellum, parietal lobe or thalamus evolved. It’s little wonder then...

If you know a friend or family member suffering from dementia, you’ll know all too well just how cruel and destructive a disease it is. You’ll also know that a dementia diagnosis is currently a death sentence, albeit one that is heart-breaking drawn out over years and decades as the person you know and love and have shared a life with gradually disappears from view, until just their physical shell...

It's said that there's two certainties in life: death and taxes. But you could add another to that list: suffering. At multiple times in life we will suffer. It may be a small or slight inconvenience, a life-changing event, or anywhere it between. But as sure as night follows day no one goes through life without periods of suffering. While it is inevitable, it's how we choose to experience that su...

How often do you upgrade your smartphone? What about your wardrobe? Or your car? In today’s modern capitalist and consumerism world we feel compelled to upgrade our possessions for the latest and best versions to try to look and feel as good as possible. But how much time, money or energy do you spend upgrading or optimising yourself so that you are able to perform at your highest possible level?...