For Rashad McCants, the gym has never just been about building muscle—it’s been about building resilience. After his time as professional basketball player came to a close, McCants didn’t spiral—he recalibrated. In the weightroom, he found clarity. The repetition of each rep served as a reminder: strength is something you earn each day. What began as a competitive edge in his youth has transformed into a lifelong practice of self-mastery. The goal being not to impress, but to evolve.

After stepping away from the game, McCants didn’t spiral—but he did struggle. “When you’re in a dark place, when you lose everything—financially, character assassination—everything,” he says, “It weighs on you so heavy, and it’s not too many other places to go but to the gym.” The weightroom became more than a training ground. It became a sanctuary—where reps replaced frustration, and he finally could build his body up to his standards and not the requirement of his profession. In many ways, it saved him.

Unlike many former athletes who drift from structure once the final buzzer sounds, McCants leaned into routine. He redefined strength—less about aesthetics, more about awareness. “It was always wanting to get my body in a place where I’ve always wanted it to be,” he says. That pursuit has become a foundation, fueling every chapter that followed—from his no-filter insights on Gil’s Arena to building Myndset, a wellness platform focused on mindset mastery, mental resilience, and emotional literacy. “The strength in the mind, the strength in the body—it’s a special combination,” he says. For McCants, that’s the real work. And it’s only just beginning.

McCants spoke with Muscle & Fitness about the evolution of his relationship with training, the healing power of the gym, how he’s redefining strength through mindset and recovery, and why his next chapter is rooted in purpose-driven discipline.

McCants Has Always Felt At Home In The Gym

Long before McCants became a national champion at North Carolina, before the NBA and the headlines, there was the gym. It wasn’t about the spotlight, but about the grind. “It started in sixth grade,” he recalls. “We had this bench press contest for gym class—and it just felt good to be strong. From that point, being in the gym meant everything. It gave me an advantage—speed, strength, explosiveness.” That pursuit of strength became a steady undercurrent through every phase of his career, even when he had to dial it back to preserve his shooting mechanics or meet the physical demands of the league.

But when the whistle blew on his playing days, McCants finally had the freedom to go all in. The gym became less of a necessity and more of a sanctuary. “Once I finished, I was able to get right into the gym and create that physique for myself, and feel good about it,” he says. “It was never a vanity thing. I always wanted to get my body to the place I envisioned it—strong, functional, prepared.” With no more restrictions on size or mobility, he built the frame he always imagined, on his terms.

Still, McCants’ relationship with the weightroom evolved. After taking an intentional eight-month break to recalibrate, he was surprised at how his body responded. “I thought I’d lose a lot of my mass, but I didn’t,” he says. “I focused on eating cleaner, stretching, hydration—and when I got back in, it was smoother. I could stay longer without the strain. No burnout. Just joy.” That recalibration wasn’t about pushing harder—it was about pushing smarter. Full-body workouts, strategic recovery, steam room sessions, and stretching have all become staples in his blueprint for longevity.

Today, the iron is still therapy, but it’s also something more: a way to show up for himself and for those watching. “You pass the look test, people wanna talk to you,” McCants says. “You become an example of what the human body should look like, how it should function, and how we should thrive.” He’s not just maintaining a physique—he’s building a philosophy. One that connects strength to resilience, discipline to clarity, and the gym to something much bigger than a barbell.

Fitness As Therapy

For McCants, fitness is therapy. Each workout is a form of transformation—rage into reps, anxiety into output, pain into purpose. “That’s why so many men are in the gym,” he says. “We hold things in. That’s the one place we can let it out. Punch the heavy bag, push weight, curl, squat—it’s energy leaving the body.” But he’s quick to draw a line between healthy release and ego-fueled obsession. “If you’re in there just trying to be seen, trying to chase validation, it can backfire,” he warns. “You’ve got to know why you’re in there. Let the gym stay the gym. Leave the stress there.”

That clarity didn’t happen overnight. It took realigning how he viewed discipline, rest, and mental resilience. “Recovery and rest are the most important,” he emphasizes. “People forget that. They go every day, burn out, chase the mirror. Sometimes you gotta just take time off and recalibrate.” He’s learned to trust stillness as much as sweat—to let silence do its own kind of heavy lifting. It’s a discipline he says more people should lean into, especially in a world that glamorizes grind culture without context.

What McCants has built isn’t just physical strength—it’s a mental framework for weathering storms. “You never know what you’re going to need your strength for,” he says.” For him, fitness isn’t a supplement to his healing. It’s the heartbeat of it. And as he continues to evolve—as a thinker, a builder, a voice—he’s showing others that wellness isn’t just about looking the part. It’s about showing up for yourself when no one else will.

Resilience Beyond the Physical

After exploring his own personal growth in “Bum to Billionaire,” McCants has taken the same principles of emotional intelligence, mental wellness, and intentional living and incorporating it

into Myndset. It’s his way of giving form to philosophy. “There’s mentality, and then there’s your mindset,” he explains. “And I believe that everybody that has a mindset that aligns with their frequency and what they want for their lives, everything can change for them.” He’s quick to point out that mindset isn’t about just staying positive. It’s about self-check-in, identifying patters, and knowing when to reset.

The transition from concept to action is a labor of love. Through his own experiences as an athlete and being in the spotlight, McCants observed the disconnect between potential and preparation—especially in young athletes. He understands fully on how often physical discipline can be prioritized while mental and emotional development are inconsequential. Myndset is to help this imbalance.

In a lot of ways, the brand mirrors McCants’ own evolution. His focus on recovery, mediation, and training isn’t just physical anymore—it’s holistic. Currently, he’s laying the groundwork to launch Myndset through a mobile platform, starting with student-athletes. The app will feature emotional support coaches, mentors, and mental health resources tailored for those facing high-performance pressure. “We want to reach them early,” he says. “We want to see it through an athlete as our first phase and see how it does.”

Writing The Next Chapter

For years, McCants was defined by highlight reels and headlines. Now, he’s fully stepping into the power of his voice—unfiltered, reflectional, and irreverent. As a prominent regular on Gilbert Arenas’ Gil’s Arena, McCants has carved out a space not just to share hot takes, but to also be vulnerable, and give people a better understanding of himself. “Before Gil’s Arena, nobody really knew my personality,” he says. “They always knew the name, and that was connected to North Carolina, or Khloe Kardashian. I never had the opportunity to show them who I was.”

His opinions are authentic, as they are his truth. The show mirrors the practices McCants practice in his personal life: clarity, intention and internal discipline. There are no rehearsals or do overs on the show. Certain topics can sometimes get fiery, which is to be expected when alphas are sharing their opinions within the same space. “It’s never anything where anybody’s over happy or over sad,” he says. “It’s like when we used all used to practice. You never know whose going to go at each other on a given day.”

For the layers McCants has chosen to peel back publicly, the one thing he’s careful not to do is dwell on the past. When asked what advice he’d give to his younger self, he elects not to rewrite any part of his story. “He did a good job,” McCants says matter of factly. “He led the way.” He credits his younger self for helping to lay a foundation he still stands on today. Perceived setbacks or failures—he views through the lens of perspective, and not regret. “We can’t go back. We can’t chase the past,” he says. “And that can be tough because that’s he conversations we all have when we get around each other. We all kind of pull each other back into the past.”

You can only move forward and that what makes McCants evolution one that is grounded. The work, the growth—it’s all ongoing. Whether giving takes that spark emotions and debates across social, working to provide a platform for the next generation of athletes, or just showing up for himself in the gym, his focus is forward. He’s found that life isn’t about chasing who he used to be, but to be fully present and aware of who he’s becoming.

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Here’s a simple question for both male and female competitors in the body sports: Why are you 40-plus pounds over your contest weight? Even if you blame your coach, you’re the one who has to diet off all that chub.

Wouldn’t you rather diet off 10 or 15? It’s absolutely ridiculous to me that in the 21st century people still believe you have to rival Jelly Roll in the off-season to build any muscle. I hate to burst your bubble, but past a certain point, more food does not equate to more muscle. If anything, it equates to more fat — which you’ve totally proven by being 40-plus pounds over your contest weight.

Why do you get so fat? Because you believe rumor No. 1: If you gain 50 pounds in the off-season, some of it is going to be muscle. Diet off the fat and keep the muscle. Yeah… no. The problem with that is the newly gained 50 pounds is comprised mostly of fat. Very little — maybe three to five pounds — is going to be muscle.

Six-time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates, known to be huge in the off-season, once told me during an interview that when I asked him how much weight he thought he could gain between the Olympia he just won and the next one, he replied, “Maybe three to five pounds.” Shawn Ray was 213 pounds for 13 Olympias in a row. How can you bust your ass all year, eat thousands of dollars’ worth of food, gain a ton of weight, and only make minimal gains contest to contest? Because muscle is far more exercise-dependent than food-dependent. With enough stimulus, you can literally grow muscle with no food. You won’t grow any muscle without stimulus.

For decades, gym dogma preached that muscle wouldn’t grow without mountains of protein — but the truth is simpler, and older than any supplement ad: mechanical stress is king. You break a muscle down under load, the body signals hypertrophy. Period. That signal happens whether you’re feasting on steak or scraping by on stale rice cakes.

Studies (Hornberger 2004, Goldspink 2002, Bodine 2001) show that progressive tension activates muscle growth pathways — mTOR, IGF-1 — before nutrition even enters the conversation. And in a fasted state, the body can tap autophagy (Mizushima 2007) to salvage aminos and rebuild from its own cellular junk. Muscle is built with stress first, resources second.

Of course, without proper nutrition you’ll never maximize that growth. But the survival mechanism is hardwired: You either adapt to the load or break. That’s how you explain soldiers, laborers, and even prisoners getting jacked on minimal calories — stress forces adaptation.

Hypertrophy isn’t about spoon-feeding muscle. What you’re doing — or have to do — is telling your body that if it doesn’t get stronger, its survival is in peril. When faced with that kind of threat, your body adapts. That’s why muscle grows. And that’s only why muscle grows.

Now that you understand why the body builds muscle, how you do it is based on stimulus, nutrition, and recovery. Stimulus and recovery should be self-explanatory; nutrition is the great nebulous factor because there’s no shortage of gurus, coaches, and nutritionists (licensed or not) proclaiming one thing or another and selling a program or their service to prove it to you. What most — not all — have in common is that they regard protein as the core element of the program and base all their calculations on the amount of protein you ingest each day. This is precisely the point where science gets hatched by the bros.

Anyone who’s even remotely looked into the acquisition of added muscle mass has run into the declaration that you must consume 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight every day to grow. While that may or may not be a good starting point, the reality is that this is one of bodybuilding’s biggest unchallenged myths. It’s been repeated so many times, by so many people, for so many years, that nobody ever even stops to ask: Where the hell did that number come from?

If you actually go looking for it — and I mean digging through real, peer-reviewed journals — you’ll find nothing that backs it up. Zero. Nada. The clinical research on protein requirements for hypertrophy never set that number in stone. It was bro science handed down from the Venice Beach sandbox, stuck in magazine articles, and repeated by supplement companies until it sounded like gospel.

Think about it. In the 1970s, Arnold and the boys were practically making this stuff up as they went along. There was no PubMed, no sophisticated sports nutrition, no gurus. There were just guys getting huge on eggs, beef, and bologna sandwiches, and when asked how much protein they were eating, they threw out “a gram per pound” because it sounded about right. Maybe it was — for them, in that moment. But no one ever ran a controlled study on it.

Fast forward a few decades, and the lab coats finally caught up. What do they say? Most research reviews today, including heavyweight names like Morton and Phillips, peg the optimal protein intake for maximizing hypertrophy at around 1.6 to 2.2 grams per kilogram of lean mass. Do the math, and that works out to about 0.7 to 1 gram per pound of lean tissue — not bodyweight.

You read that right: lean mass, not total weight.

And this is where I see the second problem. Nobody ever clarifies which weight they’re talking about. Is it your off-season, bloated, water-logged, 40-pounds-above-contest weight? Or your lean body mass? Because if you’re calculating protein off your total bodyweight when you’re 25 pounds of beer-gut fatter than you should be, you’re overshooting your needs by a mile.

Protein is needed to build and maintain lean tissue, not your fat mass. Fat doesn’t need protein. It needs a diet. And most bodybuilders, let’s be honest, carry way too much fat in the off-season. That’s how you get guys eating 400 grams of protein per day when they really only need 200. Even on a ton of gear, your actual protein needs are not that high. The excess isn’t building more muscle — you’re just making expensive urine.

Now, don’t get me wrong: more protein is usually harmless if you can digest it, and there are enhanced athletes who can process higher intake because of ramped-up protein turnover. But there is a limit. There’s a point where more doesn’t do jack.

The Stakes for Keeping the Myth Alive

So why do we keep hearing the same stale story about 1 to 1.5 grams per pound? Because it’s easy. Because no one questions it. Because supplement companies have a vested interest in keeping you chugging more powder. And because somewhere in a Gold’s Gym locker room, a 260-pound monster once said it worked for him. And that, my friend, is how a myth is born.

If you ask me, I’m going to tell you to calculate your protein intake off your lean mass. One gram per pound of lean mass is more than enough for most lifters — even the big ones. Want to get fancier? Cycle your protein down slightly in the off-season when you’re fatter, and back up when you’re getting peeled. That way you actually feed the tissue that matters, not the chub you plan on sweating off anyway. Either way, cut it back — you’re eating too much!

If you build your diet around a lower amount of protein, you’ll end up with less food overall, and you’ll probably stop overeating and carrying around so much needless body fat. You’ll be starving all the time and cranky, but you’ll be leaner, tighter, and just as strong — not to mention healthier, and you’ll have an easier time of it, pre-contest. But you will be smaller… oh boy. Therein, my friends, lies the rub and the route to sabotage. Smaller? But I wanna be HUGE!!! And you probably don’t want to lift heavy weights either.

We should first take a look at sharing the perception of “huge.” To me, huge is over six feet, over 275, and ripped — that’s huge. So is 5’9’’ and 195, peeled to the bone. Regardless of the poundage, it’s the condition that counts. Because “huge” can also be either of those examples, but replace “ripped” and “peeled” with 30% body fat.

Remaining Big While Being ‘Smaller’

The biggest reality a competitive bodybuilder must face is that as they get leaner, they are concomitantly going to get smaller. Because bodybuilders are programmed to believe more is more, this is difficult to swallow; they believe they are losing muscle because they’re not eating enough. Ughhhh… Here’s the reality: I always use prime rib as an example. Next time you’re food shopping, head over to the meat section and look for a nice big three- or four-bone prime rib roast. Look at its cross-section. See that giant glob of fat between the cap and the eye? Imagine peeling the roast apart and removing that giant glob of fat and rolling the roast back up. You’ll notice it’s smaller, right? BECAUSE YOU TOOK OUT THE FAT! Not because you lost muscle.

Now, imagine if you could just diet off the subcutaneous fat and leave the intramuscular fat. Wouldn’t that be nice? Sure would. So would finding the keys to a brand-spanking-new Porsche Turbo S in my Christmas stocking. Both are a fallacy. When the body stimulates lipolysis, the fat stores are converted to fatty acids and enter the bloodstream systemically. You can’t differentiate between sub-Q and intramuscular — it either comes from all over or not at all. So, yes, if you lower your body fat percentage, you will get smaller. If you’re either getting stronger or maintaining your strength, you’re not losing muscle.

And that right there is your best metric — strength. Maintaining or increasing strength directly correlates to muscle mass. You’ll be surprised at how few calories you need to do that. Even on juice.

Don’t believe me? Try it. What do you have to lose?

The active careers of servicemembers can vary. Some will be on active duty for four years while others may last over 20. Regardless of how long they wear the uniform, there is always more they can do for our nation and freedom.

Dr. Richele Corrado is living proof of this. She is currently working at Revolution Medicine, Health, & Fitness in Washington D.C., but her career in the medical field began in the United States Navy as a physician, but her biggest impact was after she transitioned to civilian life and worked for over 14 years in the military health system. The native of Hershey, PA, didn’t have any family members that served in the past that she knew of, but her own service and efforts now are rooted on intentions to make a difference.

“I have lots of energy and this desire to help others,” she said. “Ever since I was little, I knew I wanted to work in the world of medicine.”

Obesity is a Disease

Corrado has dedicated her focus to helping others combat obesity, which has become an issue within the military community. She said it is a disease that does not get the recognition it requires, nor do those affected by it get the proper treatment they deserve.

Corrado explained, “In medical school, we are not taught much about obesity.” As is the case with most diseases, however, it is not quite that simple, and Corrado is not the only one who sees obesity as a major issue that needs addressed. According to the Obesity Action Coalition, almost 93 million Americans are affected by obesity. That is a rate of nearly one in four people. Corrado is especially concerned about how it is affecting the servicemembers that are out in the field.

“If you’re not in the military, then sometimes you may not understand the dedications, struggles, and sacrifices that they go through in order to do that.”

Corrado started dedicating herself to this issue after she attended a workshop and felt a personal connection to it as someone who combatted body imaging issues in her 20’s. As she dove into the issue, she found that the first big hurdle is acknowledging obesity for what it truly is, a disease.

“Ever since day one in the military, they have been told that they need to eat less and move more, that they need to get up at 5 AM and just do it, that ‘if I can do it, you can do it,’ and for active duty members, it is so much harder.”

Factors that Corrado acknowledged as issues that make it easier to gain weight and much harder to lose it include lack of sleep, stress, anxiety, and even Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, among others. She also explained that servicemembers may get desperate to meet their targeted weights when they must do weigh-ins, and that means pushing themselves in training to the point of exhaustion.

“They will be going all out on their runs and wearing sweat suits or severely restricting their calorie intake, and that is actually causing them even more harm,” she stated. “That is combined with how nervous or anxious they are about this because they don’t want to get sent to body composition centers, which is known in some places as “fat camp.”

While the extreme tactics could result in them hitting a target weight for the day of weigh-ins, it is not helping their overall wellness and could be setting them up for further issues in the future. Corrado has dedicated herself to finding better short- and long-term ways that can not only help those wearing the nation’s cloth while on active duty but keep them healthy as they transition into veterans.

“The intersection of all these things really drove me to focusing more on this disease and how we can find better solutions.”

What Can Be Done To Help Serve Our Service Members?

Corrado has been proactive in spreading the message about obesity and proposing ways that can be helpful both for the servicemembers themselves as well as the military community at large. One of the first steps she feels needs to be taken is for leadership to acknowledge the issue for what it is, a disease, and realize that the old methods that have been in place need to be reevaluated for those serving now as well as those they want to join in the future.

“The military has a very big struggle with obesity, and it leads to issues with retention recruitment because only 23 percent of Americans age 17-24 are even eligible to serve in the military.”

Those that struggle with obesity could be more successful with proper medication. The issue is that policy can get in the way of that. Despite her helping write out new policies for the military on this issue, they are still pending and have yet to be approved or enacted as of this writing.

“I wrote out one policy six months ago, but it has yet to be finalized.”

The conflict with this is that other diseases can be treated with medication, and weight gain could be a side effect of those medicines. This makes the battle against obesity even harder for those on active duty that are trying to work on other health matters.

“The longer they go without the proper treatment, the worse it gets for them.”

There is also the food that servicemembers have access to. Corrado estimated that 70 to 80 percent of dining facilities have no control over the food they receive to serve, and many small shops only provide sugary foods and drinks. This is due to the funds they receive and how they are appropriated.

“We need to do more lobbying to Congress, and they need to change the ways the foods are appropriated.”

Corrado is also thinking ahead to post-military life when servicemembers go off active duty. Obesity is also an issue for veterans, and she feels combatting this matter now will lead to improvement both for them and those that work in the VA hospitals.

“There is such an opportunity to make a lot of good changes that would help them have better and longer active-duty careers as well as better lives afterwards, which could even help save costs for the VA.”

On a larger scale, Corrado advised that the stigma of obesity being a moral failing or the result of choices should also be erased. Whether it is due to the surroundings they had while growing up, such as the south where cleaning the plate was a must, or traumatic issues they faced through no fault of their own, or using those medications to treat other ailments and health matters, numerous factors contribute to obesity. Corrado feels that the sooner we break the stigma, the easier it can be to face it and combat it on both an individual level as well as on a larger scale.

“Sometimes they need more than the basics, and that is okay.”

That is why she has been very active in speaking at symposiums and trainings. She is directly trying to get the word out about the problems and solutions so the leaders and those on active duty have the best chances of success going forward. Her dedication and passion to combat obesity has already helped many in uniform, and she remains committed to speak out on this matter and work with us so they can go out and serve the country.

“One of the reasons we that work in medicine and the military stay in the field is because we are surrounded by so many amazing people. It has shaped my career and who I am.”

You can learn more about obesity issues and resources that can help by going to the Obesity Action Coalition website.

M&F Military Editor Rob Wilkins contributed to this article.