Joy of pecs: Jessica Fostekew, the weightlifting comic shredding body fascism
When her trainer called muscly women ‘unfeminine’, the standup turned her outrage into a hilarious show full of sweat, barbells, chalk and childbirth
Kortney Olson is crushing it: ‘It’s about them experiencing true female strength’
A wave of super strong female athletes are smashing sizing stereotypes, and changing the way other women work out
Fitness tips: the back squat and the deadlift for beginners
Start with light weights, get the technique right, and build from there
Fit in my 40s: can I become a strongwoman?
It’s a big kick, the first time you do a chin-up. Or so I’ve heard
Five ways to start doing squats safely
Warming up properly, the right weights and a balanced stance are crucial if you want to get the most out of squats and avoid injury – and these are just the basics
Top 10 books about steroids
From Kathy Acker to Cordelia Fine, novelist Matthew Sperling introduces the best writing on a huge but barely acknowledged part of culture
A short guide to becoming seriously strong – by the woman who just lifted 332.5kg boulders
Leigh Holland-Keen has become only the second woman to lift Scotland’s legendary Dinnie Stones. Here’s how you can follow in her footsteps
Has strong become the respectable face of skinny for young women?
A generation of Instagram stars and personal trainers are challenging old-fashioned notions of femininity, replacing images of thinness or fecundity with brute strength. Whether this is healthy is another matter
William Giraldi on life as a bookish bodybuilder: ‘It’s a poisoned way to be a man’
As a teenager, William Giraldi would pump himself full of steroids, hit the gym ... and secretly read Keats. His new memoir examines the absurdities of modern masculinity and envisages a better world in which his sons don’t get caught in its toxic grip
Dr Dillner’s health dilemmas: can lifting weights prevent diabetes?
It may have been fun to watch weightlifters in action during the Olympics – but doing some ourselves might be beneficial for our health