While Joe Weider created an American bodybuilding institution with the advent of the Mr. Olympia competition back in 1965, the pop-culture phenomenon has continued to grow under the leadership of current owner Jake Wood, who is helping to connect the Olympia event with its larger than life athletes, passionate partner brands, and an expanding number of fitness fanatics who travel internationally to be a part of this sweat inducing spectacle.

The Olympia event has always prided itself on being inclusive, focusing only on the flexing while ignoring limitations like borders and politics. Since New Yorker, Larry Scott first won the Mr. Olympia trophy during the inaugural show in 1965, seven other countries have produced Mr. Olympia title holders, famously including Austria’s Arnold Schwarzenegger and celebrated champions hailing from Cuba to Iran.

The Olympia Weekend has Evolved Alongside Technology

But in those early days of the Olympia, with no television coverage to reach the masses with, attendees of the competition mainly comprised of the bodybuilders, their coaches and families, and those fans who were local to the event. Then, when the show did eventually make it on to domestic TV screens, foreign bodybuilding fans still had to find creative ways of seeing those stars that they’d only read about in glossy magazines like Muscle & Fitness, compete. While the ’80s did see Olympia events take place in countries such as Germany, England, and Australia, the competition has been based in the United States from the ’90s onward, meaning that fans had to figure out how to watch the best physiques in the business vie for the title of Mr Olympia.

“The DVDs were such a big thing,” explains Robert Scafidi, a 41-year-old bodybuilding enthusiast from Melbourne, Australia, who is now a regular Olympia vacationist and follows the event to each chosen U.S. host city. “People used to trade DVDs at your local gym,” he recalls. “Before YouTube and Instagram, DVDs were what people traded, and you couldn’t get enough of it.”

Back in the ’90s, with a growing fan base, Olympia organizers wanted to connect the bodybuilding stars with their supporters, and humble meet and greet style events soon followed in ballrooms close to the main competition stage. Fast-forward to 2025, and these engagement events have exploded into expos, to the point that thousands of fans from all over the world gather for the annual Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend. Indeed, Olympia is no longer simply about crowning a new bodybuilding champion. The long weekend is a not-to-be-missed chance for fans, aspiring bodybuilding stars, current influencers, and major brands to get together in the name of fitness.

Bodybuilding enthusiast and competitor, Louis Howell, 23, from Northamptonshire, England, made his first pilgrimage to Olympia in 2024 for the 60th edition, and it was an extra special experience for him, because England’s Samson Dauda won the title that same year. Howell had such a great trip to the ‘O’ that he returned in 2025, this time with his friend and fellow bodybuilder; 28-year-old Brandon Fairbrother from Lincolnshire, England. And so, this year, the two pals were able to make an unforgettable vacation out of the event held once again in Las Vegas. DVD’s may be out, but now it’s social media that provides the driving force for future fans.

“In lockdown, I actually saw Chris Bumstead come up on TikTok and I was like, ‘That’s what I want to do with my life,’” shares Louis Howell, who has become a disciplined athlete in his own right. “And then from there on, that’s all I’ve ever done and that’s all I’m ever going to do.”

While bodybuilding is often thought of as a shallow enterprise, the truth is far, far deeper. “Health wise, mentally, it’s been fantastic,” says Brandon Fairbrother. “Bodybuilding has saved me from going down a path.” The positive journey that Fairbrother speaks of, choosing to live his best life and shun negative lifestyle habits thanks to a love of working out, is a story you’ll hear countless times during any Olympia weekend, no matter the host location.

The Olympia Expo is Great For Fans, and a Goldmine for Partner Brands

With the Olympia expo becoming a mecca for muscle builders and fitness enthusiasts to head to, from every corner of the world, the smarter brands have been quick to capitalize on the attractive demographics that flock to buy entry tickets. In 2025, Gymshark, a British company that began on a small scale, selling gym apparel, but now has a global presence, and is headed toward a $1 billion annual turnover , became an official sponsor of the Olympia, and this year has given fans a chance to rub boulder-shoulders with stars like the aforementioned six-time Classic Physique champion, Chris Bumstead and social-media-star-turned-IFBB-pro, Sam Sulek. Other exhibitors at the expo in 2025 included Linear Bar, a protein treat that contains zero sucralose and includes all organic ingredients. Then there’s Red Bull, and UFC Gym, where the crew put its visitors through their paces with fun fitness challenges; like how long you can curl a set of 35-pound dumbbells without reaching failure? These brands, and hundreds of others, reached over 60,000 people from more than 70 counties at the Olympia expo, but they didn’t just sell a faceless product, they helped bring together the fitness community too.

Olympia Weekend Has Become an Unrivaled Vacation Destination

Blessing Awodibu is a two-time Arnold Classic winner who lives in Ireland and was born in Nigeria. To his fans, he’s known as “The Boogie Man,” but he’s really a gentle giant who loves to interact with the culture. “There’s absolutely thousands of people here,” he tells M&F during an appearance at the Las Vegas Convention Center, representing MuscleTech. “This is why I love fitness, man. This is why I love bodybuilding. You get a lot of support from online, social media, Instagram, YouTube, (but) it’s actually real nice to actually meet these guys, shake hands, talk, connect with them. So, it’s special. It doesn’t get better than this.”

The challenge for making the Olympia better, with each passing year, lies with its mantle bearer, Jake Wood, who was a competitive bodybuilder himself, and is intent on upholding Joe Weider’s enduring legacy, while bringing Olympia to new heights. To that end, in 2025, Wood gave the green light for a record-breaking prize purse for competitors that totaled $2 million. This year’s Mr Olympia, Derek Lunsford, won a whopping $600,000 for his on-stage performance at the Resorts World Theater. But despite the enormity of the athletes, the fitness culture can often seem like a small world at times, and that’s another attractive prospect for fans who want to meet their heroes.

“Oksana Grishina, who’s a multiple-time Fitness Olympia champion, was just sitting next to me and recognized me from shows in Australia and also from here,” beams our Aussie fan, Robert Scafidi. “It’s a community and camaraderie amongst like-minded individuals,” he explains. Of course, this is a sentiment strongly shared by the British lads as well. “It’s probably the best holiday we’ve ever had,” says Brandon Fairbrother. “Oh, that’s definitely not going to be my last Olympia,” concurs Louis Howell.

For further information on attending the Joe Weider’s Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend, visit

Carbohydrates are often seen as the enemy as brands and social media influencers seemingly push carb-free-everything. And, while cutting carbohydrates can be a sensible way to reduce excess energy intake, those who push their bodies hard must keep up with their carb intake, especially post workout, in order to replenish glycogen levels in a timely manner, explains a groundbreaking new study.

While experts have long known that post-exercise carb digestion is necessary for replenishing glycogen in our bodies, the amount of carbs, and the time required for recovery, has been less understood. A new study,  published in the National Library of Medicine and undertaken by The Journal of Physiology has attempted to answer those questions, however.

Why Does the Body Need Glycogen?

When glucose is stored in the body, it takes the form of glycogen, and is the body’s primary source of energy, derived from carbohydrates. Both the muscle and the liver store glycogen for later use, but if your reserves are too depleted, energy levels will crash, and your performance will suffer. Taken to the extreme, glycogen depletion can lead to low blood pressure and hypogycemia, so it stands to reason that athletes and those who train hard would want to replenish their levels adequately.

How as the Study Carried Out?

12 experienced male cyclists with an average age of 25yrs were split into two groups. Both cycled for around two hours to deplete their glycogen stores. One group was then put on a carbohydrate refeeding protocol for 12 hours, while the other group were fasted and only provided with water or tea. Measurements were then taken to determine the effects on glycogen after 12 hours of recovery.

What Were the Results?

“Exercise strongly reduces glycogen contents of both muscle and liver tissue,” read the report. “Without carbohydrate ingestion muscle and liver glycogen levels remain depleted.”

Indeed, post exercise, all participants experienced an average 64% fall in the glycogen held in the muscle, and a 34% drop in the liver. Without carb replenishment, the fasted group remained depleted for the full 12 hours post training. The carbohydrate refeeding group were able to fully restore liver glycogen levels within 6 hours, however, while data showed that the muscle required up to 24 hours of carbohydrate refueling to get back to restored levels. “During post-exercise recovery, plasma glucose, lactate, and insulin concentrations increased, providing the necessary substrates and hormonal environment to support hepatic glycogen synthesis,” stated the report, on the significance of carbohydrates after getting your sweat on.

The actual number of carbs provided to the refeed group was 10 grams per kilogram of body mass, so this may act as a guide for those who want to train hard the next day. However, the researchers note that the transportation of glycogen to the muscle is slower than that of the liver, so simply increasing carb intake further than 10 grams does not necessarily mean a faster recovery time.

For most women, morning sickness during pregnancy is simply a part of the baby making process, much like choosing the perfect name and readying that beautiful nursery, and yet it is only recently that scientists have been able to pinpoint the potential cause.

There are many misconceptions around the unpleasant morning sickness that is experienced by pregnant women. Some dismiss it as “hormonal” while others feel that it chooses would-be mothers at random. An important new UCLA study has quashed these notions however, revealing that this difficult aspect of being pregnant may actually be a useful and natural immune response.

According to the National Institute of Health, up to 80% of pregnant mothers experience some nausea during the early stages, leading to vomiting and strong aversions to specific foods and smells. Experts now suggest that despite the dreaded symptoms, this phenomenon has actually evolved to protect baby and mother. “During pregnancy, a mother’s immune system faces a tricky challenge,” explains UCLA anthropology professor Molly Fox, who served as a corresponding author on the breakthrough study.  “It has to protect both her and the fetus from infection, but without accidentally attacking the fetus, whose genetic identity is half-foreign because it is half derived from the father. Normally, the immune system attacks anything that seems foreign, so in pregnancy, it has to carefully adjust to keep the fetus safe while still defending against infection.”

How Was the Study Carried Out?

The UCLA-led team analyzed the blood samples of 58 Latina women in Southern California, who were observed from early pregnancy through to postpartum. One of the primary purposes of the study was to measure immune system molecules called ‘cytokines.’ These are proteins that send signals to help the body launch a quick defence against sickness while regulating inflammation. Participants were also asked to fill out questionnaires that asked about their morning sickness-related symptoms, along with their food and smell aversions during the early stages of pregnancy.

What Were the Results?

Once crunched, the data showed that 64% of the study’s participants experienced odor or food aversions, with primary triggers being tobacco smoke and meat. The women who experienced an aversion to tobacco smoke also showed a heightened inflammatory response. This correlation is consistent with the researchers’ theory: that these symptoms may be part of an evolutionary adaptation that helps pregnant mothers’ bodies to minimize their exposure to harmful substances.

UCLA cautions that the evidence is not yet definitive and more research is needed on a larger sample size to confirm their results, but why do humans suffer morning sickness when other mammals get off Scot-Free? “In many mammals, the fetal compartment has barriers separating it from the mother’s blood supply, where her immune cells are,” explains Fox. “But in humans, we have a unique setup — fetal cells are bathed in maternal blood. Humans have the most invasive of all placentas, burrowing deep into maternal tissue. So, humans need unique strategies to prevent the mother’s immune system from attacking the fetus.”

Those immunological changes are what may induce nausea, which in turn encourages food avoidance as a potential additional layer of protection. “Nowadays, you will see labels on packages of ground beef or soft cheese that warn pregnant women to be cautious about these products because of the risks of foodborne illness during pregnancy,” notes Professor Daniel Fessler, who also served as a co-author on the new study. “Aversions to certain odors and foods, and nausea and even vomiting, appear to be evolution’s way of achieving that same objective.”

The researchers hope that the information found in this study could help bolster recognition that nausea and vomiting are normal symptoms with biological underpinnings associated with healthy pregnancies, while the results could help in paving the way for common-sense workplace accommodations, placing pregnant mother’s away from morning sickness triggers where possible.