Ryan Terry won the 2023 Men’s Physique Olympia in November 2023, scoring a staggering jump from his seventh-place finish at the 2022 Olympia. A crucial area of improvement in his physique was his back development. Two weeks post-Olympia, Terry shared his back workout that demonstrated the four exercises Terry credits for his improved back that earned him bodybuilding’s most coveted gold. Ryan Terry’s Back Workout  These are the exercises that built the Olympia champion’s back: Front Lat Pulldowns Chest-Supported Rows Cable Seated Rows Machine Pullovers Check it out i ..read more

It’s not every day that the powerlifting world witnesses a 500-kilogram (1,102.3-pound) training deadlift, but that is exactly what 100-kilogram athlete Ventsislav Dimitrov accomplished on Nov. 26, 2023. In a video published to his Instagram page, Demitrov can be seen wearing lifting straps and grabbing a Texas deadlift bar — a barbell with more give than a standard Olympic barbell — with a mixed grip in a sumo stance. What proceeded was a stiff lockout that bulged Dimitrov’s delts so much that it seemed as though they could detach from his shoulders at any moment. While the give of the barbel ..read more

From Nov. 30 to Dec. 3, 2023, many of the best adaptive athletes on the planet competed in Raleigh, NC, in search of becoming a WheelWOD Games champion. CrossFit Games vets like Christina Mazzullo, Alyssa Kobela, Brett Horchar, and Tom Miazga all took home wins, while fellow fan favorite PRVN Fitness and Nike athlete Amy Bream earned herself a silver medal in her division. Adaptive phenoms like Amber Gordon, Emily Lund, and Victor Assafe also rose to victory. The adaptive athletes that competed in North Carolina qualified all across 2023 through various competitive channels, including Wodapalo ..read more

The 2024 CrossFit Semifinals are the penultimate contests to determine which athletes qualify for the 2024 CrossFit Games, set to take place in Fort Worth, TX, on Aug. 8-11, 2024. The 2024 CrossFit season schedule includes the 2024 CrossFit Semifinals across seven regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, North America East, North America West, Oceania, and South America. Each competition will feature the top 40 Individual Men, top 40  Individual Women, and top 30 Teams from the 2024 CrossFit Quarterfinals. On Dec. 5, 2023, the locations and dates for each of the seven 2024 CrossFit Semifinals were ..read more

Norway’s Kjell Egil Bakkelund is a legend in the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF). He has been winning world titles since he was a Junior back in 2011. Since then, he has scored a raw world title and four equipped world titles, most recently in Viborg, Denmark, in 2022. He also brought home gold from the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, AL. Bakkelund has switched back and forth between raw and equipped lifting throughout his powerlifting career. In 2023, he seemed to focus more on raw meets, competing at the 2023 IPF Classic World Championships (CWC) in Malta and, recently, at t ..read more

It’s been said that getting old isn’t bad when you consider the alternative. And while aging is inevitable, that doesn’t mean your strength training days need to slow down with each new trip around the sun.  There are plenty of ways to not only preserve your strength in the gym but actually increase it as you hit middle age and beyond. Some of these ways include tweaks to your actual exercise routine, while others involve simply getting a bit more sleep or keeping a closer eye on your protein intake. To learn the best strategies, BarBend has teamed up with Lifeforce, a proactive healthcar ..read more

The 2023 Dubai Fitness Championship (DFC) is a three-day competition in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, taking place Dec. 8-10, 2023. The invite-only contest draws some of CrossFit’s top athletes from around the globe to compete for $259,000 in cash prizes. The opening day of the competition will take place off-site at a yet-to-be-announced location. Days Two and Three of the competition will occur at the Dubai Tennis Stadium. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dubai Fitness Championship (@dxbfitnesschamp) [Related: CrossFit Affiliate Fees to Increase for First Time in 11 Years] 2 ..read more

On Nov. 30, 2023, CrossFit HQ emailed CrossFit affiliate owners announcing the first affiliate fee increase in 11 years. In the email, CrossFit CEO Don Faul detailed the affiliate fee will increase from $3,000 to $4,500 — a 50 percent increase. This change will take effect on each affiliate’s anniversary date, and there will be “two ‘follow-on’ tiers that apply to (affiliates in) other countries around the world.” Per Faul, the rationale for the fee increase is sustaining CrossFit’s business model, which includes investing in resources for future goals. “Our decision reflects a tremendous ..read more

The 2023 District of Taiwan Pro was held on the weekend of Dec. 1-3, 2023, and it featured three IFBB Pro League divisions: Classic Physique, Men’s Physique, and Bikini. Out of those divisions, three athletes earned qualifications to compete at the 2024 Olympia Weekend in Las Vegas, NV, by winning their contests: JaeHun Park (Classic Physique), Farouq Ishimoto (Men’s Physique), and Uyanga Bataa (Bikini). 2023 District of Taiwan Pro Results The final results for this competition are below, courtesy of NPC News Online. Classic Physique JaeHun Park (South Korea) Florian Poirson (F ..read more

Dutch powerlifter Pleun Dekkers has been smashing world records in the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF). She first broke the raw squat world record back in 2019 with 153 kilograms (337 pounds). Since then, she has broken that record seven times. Coming into the 2023 European Powerlifting Federation (EPF) European Classic Championships (ECC) in Tartu, Estonia, the IPF raw squat record in the 52-kilogram class stood at 171.5 kilograms (353 pounds), thanks to France’s Noémie Allabert‘s lift at the inaugural Sheffield Powerlifting Championships. Dekkers was in great form and m ..read more