This isn’t Neal McDonough’s first rodeo, but after training for his role as a rodeo legend, the veteran actor is now moving with the same energy he showed on pitching mounds of Syracuse University more than four decades ago.

At an age when most actors begin their evolution into grizzled grandfathers, McDonough, at 59, has re-sculpted himself into a chiseled action hero. He can proudly tear off his shirt mid-scene—he’s got the abs to prove it. And throughout this body-transformation journey, he’s become re-energized, adding combination of power and stamina that allows him keep up with actors, and even some athletes, half his age.

“I didn’t know that I could have a six-pack at this age—I didn’t think it was possible,” he admits. “When I ripped my shirt off and I could see all the young rodeo guys, like, whoa, I didn’t see that coming. That was my badge of honor.”

McDonough’s career has ranged from loyal 1st Lieutenant Buck Compton in Band of Brothers to a futuristic crime fighter in Minority Report. Fans of the hit series Yellowstone may know him best as Montana power player Malcolm Beck, a role that cemented his status as an on-screen force.

But for his recent rodeo role as Joe Wainwright—a retired champion bull rider who decides to ride one more time in order to pay for his grandson’s life-saving brain surgery—McDonough had to up his game in the gym. At first, he had some doubts about nailing the look of a legitimate professional bull-riding grandfather in the Last Rodeo. “I was worried I could never have that Clint Eastwood body, that I would never look like a guy who was a one-time absolute lethal badass on a bull,” he admits.

Going from Yellowstone cowboy to a champion bull rider required McDonough to go all-in on a complete physical and mental overhaul. He enlisted the help of a personal trainer, committed to a months-long early morning workout routine, and totally revamped his nutrition. The results: a leaner, stronger physique—and, of course, the on-screen six-pack.

“I was so proud of that specific moment, because we built up to it,” he says. “When I wrote it in the script, when I rip off my shirt, that moment was in the back of my mind.”

He’s now more muscular than he’s been in decades and can now claim his action star status. By his own admission, however, McDonough is far from competing with the likes of fit 50-something actors such as Frank Grillo and Jason Statham for screen time. Instead, the down-to-earth actor’s motivation for more muscle is directed toward family longevity rather than film legacy. “I want them to see that their dad’s 59 years old, he’s still playing ball, and he’s still tough as nails,” he says. “If anybody messes with the family, he’s going to be the first one to jump in and throw a punch. And that’s kind of who I am.”

Neal McDonough’s 40-Year Fitness Evolution

Decades before McDonough’s fitness approach was shaped around maintaining macros and other muscle-building strategies, his old-school regimen was partly molded by the archaic “run till you puke, then run some more” mentality as a Syracuse pitcher. “Our job as pitchers was just to run stadiums for as long as you could,” McDonough recalls. “My coach would say:

‘McDonough, what did you have for lunch?’

I’d say, ‘Roast beef sandwich, sir.’

‘I want to see it.’

And he was dead serious—if you weren’t throwing up running, then you weren’t doing your job hard enough.”

Today’s athletes may be spoiled by post-workout luxuries such as infrared saunas, ice baths, and red light therapy. In those days, McDonough says recovery was simplistic and potentially dangerous. “Six aspirin and a six pack—that’s how you fixed yourself up after,” he jokes. “We didn’t have all the bands or supplements players have now. I was just throwing anything in my system other than steroids that would get me as big and as strong as possible.”

By 2025, the shift in strategies applies to nutrition as well. Sober since 2016, McDonough has seen a positive change in how his body functions in the gym, even before connecting with St. John. The combination of more training and no beer, however, has elevated his fitness to an even greater level.

“Beer was my thing,” he says. “I drank up too much beer, and would get bloated, and was carrying around an extra 15 pounds of fat. As soon as I started giving up beer, I started feeling my body and mindset changing.”

McDonough doesn’t count calories, but sticks to a routine of healthy staples—chicken, spinach, and oatmeal, to name a few. Unlike his college days, and with a constantly busy schedule, he relies on supplements more than ever. It’s part of the reason why he partnered with Flip My Life. “Now, there’s just so much stuff over the counter that you can stay in shape with. But, you know, we certainly didn’t have any kind of protein powder like Flip My Life, that’s for certain.”

The Blueprint That Helped Neal McDonough Shred for ‘Last Rodeo’

When researching his role for The Last Rodeo, which he also co-wrote, McDonough underestimated the athletic look many of today’s professional bull riders possess. Losing layers of fat to look the part became another challenge in nailing the role of Joe Wainwright.

“I met a couple of the rodeo guys just when I started writing the film, and I noticed how shredded these guys are—just top athletes,” he says. “We worked so hard to make sure that we didn’t cheat the audience. We wanted to be 100 percent believable.”

The “we” he was referring to was trainer Scott St. John. The pair of New England transplants, now living in Los Angeles, first crossed paths at a sporting event. McDonough shared his vision for what he wanted to achieve, and from there, the two went to work.

“I knew Neal was an athlete, so that made it really simple as far as what we were going to be able to do together,” Scott recalls. “We had a very short window of time, so I knew it was going to be really intense. I knew we had to do it seven days a week, and we were really going to have to balance the body.”

St. John packed a lot into his program, mixing plenty of bodyweight moves like pushups and chin-ups with heavy kettlebell exercises to keep it challenging but not overwhelming. “You don’t need a lot of equipment to get into really great shape, and you don’t need to overcomplicate it,” he says.

To keep McDonough’s body moving and burning, conditioning drills became a primary training tactic. Exercises like med ball throws, slams, and squat jumps were regularly implemented. “We focused in on building muscle, but then also keeping the intensity really high for most of the workout to help really crank up his metabolism.”

To simulate the chaotic movements of a bull ride, BOSU ball balance drills, split-stance deadlifts, and plyometric moves like squat jumps and snatches were key. Scott even included post-workout recovery yoga to maintain McDonough’s mobility.

“We put in a lot of balance work, core work, strength work, and explosive work that all relate over to what bull riding is all about,” St. John says.

While the process was a painstaking test of training discipline, it took just one scene—his defining shirtless moment—for McDonough to confirm the program’s success.

“No one had seen me with my shirt off,” he says. “And there’s my snap button shirt, and I ripped it. I could see all the young rodeo guys, like, I didn’t see that coming. That was awesome.”

Neal McDonough’s Next Chapter

Since the release of The Last Rodeo this past May, McDonough continues to thrive in both his career and with his still-shredded physique. He starred in another film, Guns & Moses, and has a recurring role in the Sylvester Stallone hit series Tulsa King.

“I couldn’t be in a better spot in my life than I am at this moment,” he says.

He’s also become a part-owner of the PBR’s Austin Gamblers. “To be just immersed in the world of bull riding is—it’s pure Americana, and that’s what I love about it,” he says. “To be part of the PBR family now, and to be part of it, you know, owner of one of the teams, it’s so awesome. I can’t speak highly enough about what PBR stands for, what they do for their fans, and how amazing the athletes are.”

As a longtime user of Flip My Life—the supplement company he’s partnered with—McDonough has seen the results firsthand, especially when the shirt comes off. He says teaming up with the brand was the logical next step. “It changed my body so much and changed my energy,” he says.

More than a year since training for the role of Joe Wainwright, McDonough still continues a good portion of St. John’s routine, developing a new love for kettlebell training. “My body doesn’t ache as much doing kettlebells,” he says. “You’re not just jacking up weight—there’s a flow to it. It’s almost like ballet with weights. It’s changed the way that I think about workouts—it’s changed the way my body looks.”

Pushing 60, no matter what his next role may be—action star or wise old grandfather—McDonough will be ready. He may already be searching for the next shirt to tear off. “I want to be the best version of me possible for as long as I can. I’m just getting started.”

Kameron Marlowe is proving night after night onstage that it’s possible to drop weight and still gain strength—both physically and musically.

The former Voice contestant is 25 pounds lighter this year but continues to pack plenty of power and athleticism into the frame that made him a force on the high school wrestling mats. In addition to delivering a setlist full of powerful lyrics each night on his current Seventeen tour, Marlowe is squatting four plates and repping 225 pounds on the bench press with the same ease he brings to writing country hits like his recently released “Let the Lonely.”

His weight-cutting methods today are a far cry from the dangerously extreme tactics he used to make weight for each match—that means no more sauna suits or starvation diets. With a renewed focus on a protein-heavy nutrition plan, the “Seventeen” singer isn’t just looking like he’s competing for a state championship. At age 28, he’s bouncing around the stage nightly for 90-plus minutes with the energy of a champion. “I just feel more awake, more alert,” he says. “I no longer feel lethargic and tired after the show. I’m kind of on a high after the shows now, versus coming off stage before and feeling like, ‘Oh man, I need to go to bed.’”

Of course, the stakes for this weight loss—matrimony—were much higher than any match he’s ever prepared for. “I wanted to look good for my wedding, so I was like, I’ve got to lock in,” Marlowe shares, reflecting on the months leading up to his June 27 Montana ceremony with his new bride, Meagan. “I told myself that I’m gonna really take this year and fight as hard as I can for it. And I feel like I’ve been doing my best, and the results have been showing.”

Now, three months since the couple’s nuptials, Marlowe continues his powerful path to peak performance for this latest 28-city tour. Even with the chaotic demands of life on the road and the lack of consistent sleep, the singer follows a regimen dominated by heavy weights and essential conditioning.

This year, after scaling back the post-show partying, Marlowe has found other outlets to stay active during downtime on the road. Digging into his high school athlete roots, the former outfielder now swings golf clubs for another healthy source of exercise. “Whether it was going to the gym or picking up some golf clubs and going and walking for 18 or nine, that’s kind of what we’ve been doing here lately,” Marlowe says. “Just trying to stay consistent in one thing, but golf brings a little bit more structure to my day.”

Kameron Marlowe Has Gone From Sauna Suits to Protein-Filled Freezers

Kameron Marlowe Stays Country Strong for Both the Stage and Surroundings

“At 5’8” and hovering just under 200 pounds, and more than a decade since his last athletic competition, Kameron Marlowe continues putting up impressively top-level numbers in the gym. He says he’s squatted 405 for five reps—with a few extra left in the tank—while also repping out 225 on the bench press. The gains in strength and hypertrophy are evident by the singer’s thick physique when he hits the stage

He admits those numbers are solid but laughs off any notion that he might be one of country music’s strongest. Instead, he points to names like Riley Green and Parker McCollum as likely contenders for the top spot, but suspects there are others. “Riley’s got to be the strongest person out there—he’s jacked,” Marlowe says. “I’ve toured with Parker, he’s pretty strong too. I’m sure there are some other country-strong people out there who are very unassuming, but absolutely diesel.”

At home in Nashville, the singer works out at a local, family-owned club that’s a quiet retreat from the crowded chain gyms most people attend. “There’s not too many people that go there. It’s like 12 people. I have my trainer, and we go work out and then call it a day.” There he spends at least four days a week devoted to a combination of strength training and conditioning—two elements he believes are critical for entertainers to put on their best performances night after night.

Reluctantly, Marlowe says his training has seen a bit more running drills incorporated into the routine. While he’s not training like an elite athlete, the athletically designed sprint drills have helped him maintain his onstage conditioning—especially his vocals—for the long concert season.

“I’m running like crazy, as much as I hate it. I’m doing a lot of sprints, a lot of HIIT training,” he says. “When I go up and I’m exploding on stage, or having a good time running around, I can keep my breath down to be able to hold notes for long periods of time.”

Sometimes, however, all the training in the world can’t make up for the elements. Marlowe admits that managing higher elevations can be a challenge, such as during his recent performance at Colorado’s famous Red Rocks Amphitheatre, where the altitude can make holding high notes a struggle.

“I actually had one of those oxygen cans by the stage,” he says. “At Red Rocks, I was like, I’m singing some tough songs tonight. I want to make sure that I can hit the notes, so if I need to grab a little hit of that oxygen, I can grab it real quick.”

Consistency Is Taking Kameron Marlowe From ‘The Voice’ to the Fairway

While athletics helped physically and mentally mold Kameron Marlowe for Nashville, it was his leap from tiny Kannapolis, NC, to Los Angeles to participate in NBC’s The Voice in 2018 that proved to be the true career game changer.

“That’s kind of where everything in my life switched,” Marlowe says. “It was such a cool opportunity. I had to go out there just to see what happens. I went to LA for that, met a bunch of songwriters, and then realized this would be the coolest job in the world. Luckily, I moved to Nashville, and I’ve been able to do it.”

After making it to the show’s top 24, Marlowe has consistently topped the music charts. His debut track, “Giving You Up,” has now reached platinum status. Earlier this year, he dropped his third album, Sad Songs for the Soul, while his hit “Seventeen” is currently getting wide airplay on country radio.

While music has been one of the few constants in Marlowe’s busy schedule, quality sleep, on the other hand, remains a challengingly fatiguing work in progress. With 28 stops remaining on his Seventeen tour, including five in Europe, the grind of touring is a constant battle for rest as well as fitting in workouts. On the Marlowe bus, shut-eye can be quite elusive as space is at a premium. “There’s 12 bunks that are on the bus, and then I have a room in the back of the bus,” Marlowe explains. “My sleep never feels like truly restful out there, because I feel like while we’re driving and stuff, we’re bouncing.”

The effects of sleep deprivation become evident as the tour goes on. “By Day 3, I am dog tired,” he admits. Yet, when the lights go up, Marlowe gets naturally amped, entertaining fans to the max with hits such as his latest, “Let the Lonely,” along with “Giving You Up.”

Helping Marlowe add some rest, has been making consistent lifestyle changes, such as significantly reducing after-show drinking. Although a part of the routine that follows 90-plus minutes of performing, the reduction in drinks With fewer shots and other types of alcohol-fueled entertainment, Marlowe says he’s been better able to start the next day focused and ready to get his workout in at a top level.

“I think I just finally grew up,” he says. “I told myself, I don’t need to party every night. So why am I doing it? Plus, as soon as I turned 24, the hangovers hit five times harder. So I had to tame myself down.”

For a new athletic outlet, Marlowe has returned to his athletic roots: golf, which has become a healthy obsession. But as any golfer has learned, the sport is a long and frustrating lesson in humility. “For every one good shot, I would say there’s probably one or two duffs that are happening,” he says.  “I want to be good at it so bad, but I’m really just not. So I don’t know what it is, if it’s my competitive nature, but trying to be better at golf is like my challenge that I’ve set out for myself right now.”

Country music often finds its lyrical soul in heartbreak. But for singer Chase McDaniel, it took a failed power clean PR attempt—and nearly losing his life in its catastrophic aftermath—to become the unlikely inspiration for his transformation from powerlifter to powerful balladeer.

The Kentucky native remembers little of that fateful lift, when missing a 300-pound power clean became his worst-case scenario. McDaniel blacked out at the top of the lift before collapsing to the platform as 300 pounds of iron crashed down on his 155-pound frame. The accident left him in the hospital with a severe concussion, followed by amnesia.

Then things got worse.

In the months and years that followed, McDaniel was haunted by relentless panic attacks—episodes so intense that even the most basic tasks felt insurmountable, including stepping foot in the gym. “It feels like imminent death, and there’s nothing you can do about it,” he says.

Before the accident, lifting heavy—McDaniel once squatted a competition-best 491 pounds—was his primary emotional outlet. “Going to the gym was always how I dealt with shit in the world,” he explains.

But after having to give up powerlifting, McDaniel turned to music to process his emotions. “The only place left to go was in my head,” he says. “And even though my head was a really dangerous place to be, the only place that I could put the words—because I didn’t want to tell anybody about it—was in music.”

Songwriting became his therapy, a way to channel pain and confusion into something creative and healing.

This week, McDaniel’s story comes full circle with the release of his autobiographical debut album, Lost Ones, on September 19. The title track, accompanied by his emotionally raw video, is part of a deeply personal project dedicated not only to country music fans but also to anyone struggling with their own battles inside their heads. “This entire album is a personal journey,” he says. “It’s all personal anecdotes, and it’s also stories of overcoming.”

The response has been overwhelmingly positive. His debut single, “Burned Down Heaven,” landed in the Top 3 most added tracks at Country radio, which earned him MusicRow’s “DISCovery Award.” He’s also released tracks like “Heart Still Works” and “Made It This Far,” and is set to support superstar Jason Aldean on his upcoming fall tour.

In addition to his musical achievements, McDaniel has returned to the weight room. Though he’s starting from scratch—using lighter weights and a Smith machine to rebuild his strength—his early objective is to once again bench press 250 pounds. Mentally, it’s a massive step forward for an artist who was once on the brink of suicide before a stranger intervened and pulled him to safety.

“I tried to push through it alone,” he says. “And then I tried to kill myself. I found myself standing on the side of a bridge trying to jump, and the guy pulled me back over.”

Chase McDaniel: Barbells Before Ballads

Chase McDaniel’s fixation with powerlifting began around the same time he was learning to walk. That’s the norm when you’re raised in a family that “eats, sleeps, and breathes powerlifting.” The “Burned Down Heaven” singer was introduced to the gym at age four by both his father, a national champion, and his grandfather, an Olympic lifter. “My dad and my Papa had me doing squats when I was four,” he says. “It was just all I knew.”

McDaniel’s early introduction quickly turned into a lifelong obsession with strength. The gym was more than just a place to build muscle—it was his stress-relieving sanctuary, and a proving ground that you should never underestimate the little guy. “In middle school and high school,” he says, “I was a really small guy—I never weighed more than 150 pounds, but I got really good at powerlifting. I started doing these competitions and in my junior and senior years, I won state nationals.”

His numbers spoke for themselves. “My squat in competition was 491, while in the gym I was doing over 500,” he says. “On the bench press—again in the gym—I was doing about 315 or 325.”

Although he posted impressive PRs at 155 pounds, McDaniel says his pulling created the most problems during competition. “My deadlift was my worst lift,” he says. “I think it was somewhere in the 490s, maybe 500 again.”

Even with solid numbers, the singer began pushing harder following the overdose death of his father during his senior year in high school. “I decided that I wanted to do Olympic weightlifting,” he says. “I’ve taken this powerlifting thing as far as I can go. And at the time, they had just had the 2012 Olympics. I was like, man, [the U.S.] hasn’t won gold in many years, maybe I’ll be the guy.” 

From the Edge of the Platform to the Edge of Despair

Many lifters have, at some point, felt that uneasy sensation—lightheadedness, dizziness, even nausea—when attempting a one-rep max. Most of us immediately dismiss this as an uncomfortable badge of honor that comes with making gains, rarely if ever giving a second thought to possible consequences.

With the American Open weightlifting event fast approaching, McDaniel went into his training session feeling strong and motivated to attempt a power clean personal best of 300 pounds. Instead, he found himself in a hospital bed, with barely a recollection of anything around him.

“I passed out with over 300 pounds on top of me,” he recalls. “I woke up in a CAT scan machine and had a brace around my neck. Right then I had no idea who I was, what day it was, what year it was, even who my family was.”

The physical injuries were severe—McDaniel suffered a concussion and a neck injury—but the psychological wounds ran even deeper. Like many athletes, he tried to rush his return to the gym. However, the results were nearly as devastating as his concussion.

“I tried to go to the gym probably two weeks after that,” he admits. “I just used a warm-up weight, like 40 kilos, and it felt like a bomb went off in my skull. Right after that I started crying and went back home, and didn’t go back to a gym after that. The few times that I have, it’s always ended in a panic attack.”

McDaniel’s problems worsened, extending into his everyday life. “I was having panic attacks going to the grocery stores, and panic attacks in my house. It totally stole from me my own identity, my own self-identity, like who I previously thought I was.”

At first, like many young and naive athletes, he chose to “white knuckle” it, trying to fix his issues himself. Even as the mental stress continued to build—including the pain of losing his father years earlier to addiction—he believed he could fight through the darkness alone. Eventually, the pain became unbearable. He attempted suicide, standing on top of a bridge, waiting for the moment to leap. But through the miracle of a passerby stopping to lend emotional support, McDaniel didn’t go through with it.

“I tried to push through it, and then I tried to kill myself,” he says openly. “That’s how sick I got. It wasn’t because I wanted to die, it was because I didn’t want to feel like this anymore.”

Chase McDaniel Now Attacks Music to Help Silence the Panic Attacks

Chase McDaniel describes his panic attacks as far more than just bouts of anxiety—they’re full-throttle assaults on his entire body. From unbearable migraines to sensations of cardiac arrest, the symptoms are severe and overwhelming. “Imagine you’re running from a tiger, you’re running from a lion, you’re already in its mouth, and there’s nothing you can do about it,” he says.

It took nearly five years before McDaniel allowed himself to seek professional help. He says it’s been an emotional game changer, though he admits the road to normalcy is still long.

“I finally went to therapy and did some other things,” he says. “And not that I’m totally there, but I’m way closer than I was standing on that bridge.”

For McDaniel, the stage isn’t just a place for music—it’s also become a creative safe space to escape as much as possible from the anxiety that consume other areas of his life. While he rarely experiences full-blown panic attacks during performances, the fear of that worst-case scenario is enough to create another form of anxiety. “I would have panic attacks about having a panic attack on stage,” he admits. “If there’s a worse place for it to happen, it’s literally in front of however many people are here.”

The road to normalcy has been gradual. Chase McDaniel learned to meditate before workouts, practiced self-talk, and took small steps—like going to the grocery store alone—as part of his journey to reclaim his life. But perhaps the most powerful tool was music. Songs like the dark “Burned Down Heaven” have been described as “powerfully written… his aching, soaring vocal sells it like nobody’s business.”

“Music had always been a part of my life, but I think it really sunk itself into my DNA after the accident. I tried to hide my feelings by putting them into songs. I became as obsessed with music as I was with powerlifting.”

McDaniel recently launched the Lost Ones Fan Club, creating a supportive community for others facing similar mental health challenges.

And maybe most inspirational: McDaniel is slowly making his way back to the gym. Using a Smith machine instead of a power rack, McDaniel is currently focusing on lighter weights to rebuild his strength and confidence. Although he’s far from setting any new PRs—he’s still aiming to bench 250 pounds. Each session is a mental victory as he works to overcome the fear and trauma associated with his past accident.

“I still fail, you know. I had a panic attack two nights ago leaving the gym, but I made it through. Now I got to do it again.”

Noah Neiman is adding a tweak to the traditional approach of self defense, starting with the phrase “self defense. In putting his personal flair behind his latest punch and kick project, The Pack, the muscular mastermind behind one of the world’s most iconic boxing-themed group fitness studios is redefining how many of us are taught to survive—and thrive—during moments of crisis.

“Street defense,” as the co-founder of the Rumble franchise coins it, goes beyond simply high kicks and haymakers, and even the occasional choke hold. Neiman’s vision for creating The Pack is based on empowerment and community often found in many martial arts studios, but now in a welcoming atmosphere geared toward the everyday athlete.

“Forget everything you think you know about self-defense,” Neiman says. “We call it street defense—and it’s about being ready for whatever life throws at you, not just in the gym, but out there in the real world.”

When it first opened its doors in 2017, Rumble taught the once-reluctant after-work athlete that boxing can be both a fun and energizing activity—especially when you add nightclub-like lights and a live DJ spinning top tunes.  Now just a few doors down from his original fitness flagship, The Pack now expands on Rumble’s original energizing experience. It’s still got the cool lighting, top-level music, and elite instructors, and weight-training based cardio-crushing classes. Where The Pack’s elevated its combat curriculum is with a wide variety of martial arts based defense techniques—including boxing, Muay Thai, jiu-jitsu, and others

“The Pack is definitely not a derivative,” Neiman emphasizes. “It’s a unique experience and offering. The mission behind it is much different. Boxing is an incredible sport, but it’s just one element of what we do here.”

Street defense, for Neiman, is also a larger concept than just throwing jabs and right crosses at BOB—aka Body Opponent Bag. With The Pack, Neiman and his partner Andy Stenzler are looking to create a camaraderie culture for the everyday athlete who want to learn to throw a devastating punch when needed but remain intimidated by the perceived brutality of many MMA facilities. “I hate the term self defense,” he says. “It’s not always an engaging experience, and if it’s not an engaging experience, nobody’s going to come. So how can you impact them?”

With memberships starting at $75, the vision behind The Pack has become alluring enough that stars such as New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson and his wife, singer Ciara, have also become partners in this street defense showroom. And it’s just the beginning, as Neiman suggests. After all, street defense and martial arts helped him turn his life around, and now he continues his quest to help others who may be vulnerable.

“I just want to keep creating avenues for people to have an incredible experience that’s highly curated and thoughtful,” he says. “This stuff saved my life, and I just want to keep creating avenues for people to have an incredible experience.”

The Pack: New Community, Newer Gear and Gains

No matter the myriad street defense methods you’ll learn at The Pack, common sense remains the top rule, according to the longtime trainer and martial artist. “First line of defense is always run away,” the Rumble founder admits. “Even me, I’m 205 pounds, trained in martial arts, boxing, Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, striking—I still want to run away. I don’t want to have any street fight.”

He adds, however, “But sometimes you can’t run away.”

That’s when you realize, upon first stepping inside The Pack, that the team has created much more than just a trendy training boutique, though the E 23rd Street venue certainly qualifies as a place to be seen.

With its thoughtful design, original branding, and the upcoming merch drop—courtesy of close confidants, including the Waterford Group’s Daniel Maynard along with designer Daniel Amaze —The Pack offers top-of-the-line TechnoGym benches for weight training, Rogue Assault Bikes for intense conditioning sessions, and, of course, rows filled with BOB. Neiman is hoping The Pack will help redefine what it means to train, connect, and grow—inside and out. And with Wilson and Ciara lending their star power and passion for wellness, the energy is becoming undeniable.

“As I stare at it, it all looks beautiful,” Neiman playfully brags before adding, “but they all play a key part in what we call getting you prepared, making you tough and strong and confident—that’s never going to go out of style.”

In addition to building external strength and physical endurance, The Pack’s mission continues to focus to foster greater internal empowerment with its clientele. Members will discover a movement where community and real-world readiness collide and create a greater purpose than just punch technique. “It’s really about bringing people together inside the studio, and having people cheer you on,” he says. “Feeling like you’re actually a part of what everybody tries to sell, but they don’t actually follow through, which is community and this return to tribalism and collectivism.”

However, no street defense community can function without plenty of striking, kicking, and top-notch coaching. In addition to boxing and striking, Neiman and his crew have been receiving expert-level input and guidance from other disciplines, such as the legendary BJJ studio Renzo Gracie Academy.

“Boxing is an incredible sport, but it’s one element of what we do in here—how do we evolve that?” Neiman explains. “Can I teach you now strategic punch placement using these BOB bags that have a body and a face? Can I teach you elbow strikes in case, God forbid, somebody grabbed you by the shoulders, and you have to know how to throw a slicing elbow and live in your power in that moment?”

Stronger Together: Why The Pack Aims to Build Community, Confidence & Collective Power

Self-defense courses, particularly martial arts classes, have exploded in popularity nationwide. A study estimated that nearly seven million people participated in some form of practice in 2020—a number that has surely grown since the year Khabib Nurmagomedov last defended his UFC title with a second-round submission over Justin Gaethje.

Every powerful punch thrown at The Pack, Neiman says comes with even more powerful stories of fear and survival. For Neiman, street defense has become a deeply personal mission, shaped by the real-life, life-and-death encounters people face every day.

He recounts a 2022 encounter in which a Rumble student approached him after one of his New York City classes. Visibly shaken, her voice trembling, she recounted a horrifying situation in which her then-boyfriend tried to aggressively pin her against a wall. “I just instinctively balled up my fist, and I threw it right at his nose,” she told him.

The skills she’d learned in Neiman’s boxing class had given her the confidence—and the ability—to fight back. “That was really the seedling,” he recalls. “What we do is obviously fun, it’s a great workout, but it’s also giving people a touch of the boxing world and the community that I love. It’s empowering.”

The need for The Pack continued to develop on the West Coast, as Neiman introduced a friend to BOB, the imposingly square-chinned, human-shaped punching bag. Despite years of Rumble and other boxing-related training, his female friend found BOB strikingly intimidating. Neiman saw this as an opportunity for immersion therapy, encouraging her to confront her fears head-on. “This is part of it,” he told her. “Sometimes you have to stand your ground and fight.”

With each jab, kick, and elbow, her confidence grew, her initial apprehension transforming into a radiant sense of strength. “It was almost like I gave her the access codes to being tough and showing aggression,” Neiman says. “She just lit this bag up.”

From Rock Bottom Came The Pack

If you know Neiman, you’ll soon learn that every detail he puts into his projects has a deeper-rooted meaning than just creating cool vibes—even The Pack’s three-headed dog logo becomes deeply personal. In addition to his Greek mythology fascination, Neiman shares that Cerberus emblem represents the “pack mentality” he learned from his own canine trio—the late Oz, and Zo and Tyson—as well as the three core modalities of The Pack’s training ethos: strength training, the Rogue Assault Bikes, and street defense.

“The Cerberus stands for just that, the pack mentality that I learned from my dogs, caring after me and me caring after them, and being a part of a group,” he says. “Then it’s also just an incredible, I believe, visual identity, because I love creating things that keep curiosity.”

Neiman’s life story has become the embodiment of the need for community. Even an invincible-looking, 200-plus-pound, imposing athlete needs help. Before he became a celebrated fitness entrepreneur, Neiman faced some of his darkest days, struggling with addiction. It’s a life-changing moment he’s now confident to share with others.

“I had a hard night partying, and was really in a bad place with myself, and I almost OD’d,” Noah recalls. “I woke up the next day and I was like, ‘Dude, this can’t be my life.’” That pivotal moment set him on a new path, one that would lead him to the doorstep of Warren Stout’s jiu-jitsu academy in Pittsburgh. “I’m driving around and this guy, Warren Stout, is hanging a sign on his business that says ‘Warren Stout, Renzo Gracie Pittsburgh Jiu Jitsu Academy.’ I ended up just instinctively swerving, pulling over, and walking over to Warren and asking, ‘Can I be a part of this? I need this.”

Getting back into training with Stout, a black belt under the legendary Renzo Gracie, Neiman not only improved his BJJ skills, but also found purpose and community—kick-starting his quest to return to NYC and pay the fitness favor forward. “I truly don’t think I would be alive right now without that moment,” he admits. “That got me the confidence to move back to New York, which kicked off my Barry’s career.”

Now, as he launches The Pack in New York City, Neiman says his life and life’s mission is coming full circle, getting to once again work with Renzo Gracie Academy, where he currently trains with Muay Thai instructor Elijah Clarke—one of many potential crossover endeavors he hopes to bring to his Pack community.

“I have a lot of friends that have supported me throughout my years, and I would love to support them back,” he says. “I send people to their gyms, and they send people to ours, and we play well in the sandbox. And it’s all for the betterment of our customer, which is the most important thing.”

Dr Pierre Nel is an oncologist by day, but when it comes to staying in shape, the man that music fans simply call “Nelven” prescribes a large dose of “Iron Therapy.” M&F made an appointment with the singing doctor to learn more about his approach to building body and mind, and we still can’t get his new song; ‘Melody’ out of our heads.

Nelven was born in a town in South Africa called Tzaneen before moving to the bright lights of Pretoria. Here, as a doctor, he looks after cancer patients by day. “It requires a lot of heart in order to break bad news in a way that really comes across as caring and not just clinical,” he explains. “But the good news is that it’s also very rewarding. When you do have victories, it’s worth it.” No doubt, his day job requires exactness and logic, but there’s another side to Nelven that helps him let of steam in the P.M. “Music is definitely my creative outlet,” he says. “I think it’s very important to be aware of your own mental health. Performing music and keeping fit in the gym are the two places where I’m able to deflect and just grab myself again.”

Indeed, music and muscle are inextricably linked for Nelven. His eclectic workout playlist ranges from Green Day, One Republic, Benson Boone, and Thirty Seconds to Mars through to the Disney classic and Miley Cyrus. “So, I decided I wanted to write this relatable heartbreak punk rock anthem, but also keep it sort of a punk-pop situation,” he tells M&F. “That’s how Melody was born.” Melody, streaming now, is the tale of missing a girlfriend who has upped and left him, but the medical musician says that missing the gym is not an option. Instead, he’s on a full prescription of “Iron Therapy.”

Nelven Prescribes ‘Iron Therapy’ for Keeping a Fit Body and Mind

The doctor explains that staying healthy should be a habit practiced long in advance of physical exertion. “Focus on fluid intake and making sure that you get enough sleep for recovery,” he suggests. The budding star also plans the intensity of his workouts based on regularly checking in with himself or “Listening to my own capacity,” as he explains it. “When I feel like this is maybe a four-weekday gym period, I actually listen to my body when it comes to that,” he explains. “And I’ve only seen growth from those periods of slowing down a bit. I think it’s great to use your active periods to build that momentum, but you must also be lenient to then allow that momentum to settle into muscle growth.”

In the gym, Nelven splits his workouts into distinct sessions. He takes a day for legs, shoulders, chest and triceps, back and biceps, and then another day solely focused on back. But with every session, the singer builds in some core work to help make those abs pop. “Even though abs are made in the kitchen, you do need to train them in order for them to stand out and be well-defined,” he explains. “And then I’ll spend my fifth or sixth day, doubling up on one of the previous sessions. It all depends. When I look at myself in the mirror, what area do I want to see some more growth in? That tends to be either a second leg day, or a second chest day.”

Because of his busy week as a doctor, Nelven says that he reserves those doubling up days for the weekend. “Great for taking some extra time and working on the finer muscle movements,” he notes. “And I’ve seen that doubling up on a certain muscle group really booms the growth, especially since you take the time to focus on the muscle itself and the different areas of it.”

Nelven Takes a ‘Fatigue then feed’ Approach to Building Muscle

The buff doctor explains that with compound movements such as the bench press, he likes to go heavy for four sets, and aims for eight to 10 reps, but is more than happy to fail at six. “My slogan is ‘fatigue them, then feed them,’” he explains, noting that he was a “skinny guy” with low confidence before discovering resistance training. “Aiming for failure is a good thing, especially in the gym,” he notes. “And it says so much about your endurance and your mental strength to be able to push yourself to the point of absolute failure.”

When it comes to feeding those fatigued muscles, the muscle-bound medial professional likes to take amino acids before a workout so that they are in abundance in his bloodstream. He then pounds a high protein meal post-workout. “I tend to have a lot of clean protein. I eat a lot of chicken breasts and it’s actually quite easy to meet your macros and still have low-calorie meals. I’m currently just in a slight calorie deficit but eating high protein, and I’m seeing beautiful growth,” he shares.

While Nelven’s muscle continue to grow, his Spotify and YouTube channels are also drawing positive comments from those who are early to the party; discovering this rising star. Fortunately, his warrior-like work ethic as an oncologist, and his lifechanging love of the gym have prepared him well should fame and fortune follow. “Working out has changed my perspective on life,” he tells M&F. “It’s changed my perspective of myself, and I realize it’s not difficult: You just need to put in some time. Every single person has the potential to have the confidence that I have now.”

To follow Nelven on Instagram, click here.