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In this episode of The Beyond Condition Podcast, we're joined by Carly Thornton-Davies, IFBB Pro, for a thoughtful discussion on the current state and future of UK bodybuilding.

Drawing on more than 20 years of experience in the sport, Carly shares her perspective on the level of support available to UK bodybuilders and the challenges athletes face in building their profiles and keeping fans engaged throughout the season. She reflects on how the bodybuilding landscape has evolved over the years, highlights areas where she believes improvements could be made, and discusses ideas that could help promote the sport and increase opportunities for competitors across the UK.

This conversation explores the importance of athlete visibility, community engagement, media coverage, and collaboration, while considering practical ways to help UK bodybuilding continue to grow. The discussion represents Carly's personal views and experiences, offering insight into the opportunities and challenges facing the sport today.

Whether you're a competitive bodybuilder, coach, promoter, or passionate fan of the sport, this episode provides an engaging discussion about where UK bodybuilding is today - and where it could go in the future.

Topics covered:
• Athlete support and visibility
• Keeping fans engaged throughout the season
• How the sport has evolved over the past 20 years, including the female side of competitive bodybuilding
• Ideas for promoting and growing UK bodybuilding
• Building your own mindset and self awareness
• Dealing with conflict constructively
• Building a stronger bodybuilding community

If you enjoyed this episode, follow The Beyond Condition Podcast and leave a rating or review to help more people discover the show.

Find Carly on Instagram @carlythorntonifbbpro

Watch the episode here: https://youtu.be/KTC4g3J3ahc

Find Sarah on Instagram: @sarahparker_bb

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Welcome Back to The Beyond Condition Podcast for a Solo Episode.

What a couple of weeks it has been! Today I bring you an episode sharing a wild time, the result of needing to pull back to push forward.

I decided to create this episode to delve into the feelings you may encounter when heading towards overreach.

Topics Covered:

• Noticing Signs of Overreach

Learning from experience is key to evolving as a competitive bodybuilder. I want to share my experience to help you understand more about your own journey.

• The Benefits of Deloading

Deloads are unique to us all. It’s important to understand how to time deloads appropriately and how that helps you with continuous progression.

• Dealing with Fatigue

As competitive bodybuilders, fatigue is part of this journey, so how do we know when it’s fatigue that actually requires pulling back?

• Internal Conflict

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say we can keep pushing. We can start to make excuses in our own minds to keep going. I hope that by sharing my thoughts, we can learn together.

I hope you enjoy this episode.

S x

Watch the episode here: https://youtu.be/JD435qqGib8

Find Sarah on Instagram: @sarahparker_bb

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Welcome back to The Beyond Condition Podcast. I'm your host, Sarah Parker, and today we have a special guest, Eunice Martinez-Kitchen, joining us.

In this episode, we confirm the movement in the female bodybuilding world is here! Eunice has decades of experience as both a competitor and advocate of female bodybuilding. Her passion is undeniable.

Female bodybuilding has a history that is brought to this episode. Eunice and i discuss depths that you may not be aware of and we encourage you to play your part.

Discussions Include:

• Embracing the journey of bodybuilding
• Creating a sisterhood in the female bodybuilding world
• Equality in bodybuilding
• Positive role models
• Women’s participation at bodybuilding shows
• The history of Bad Rap
• Promoting female bodybuilding
• Increasing awareness of women’s categories
• Finding your people and support network
• Learning work ethic as a bodybuilder
• The power of social media
• Finding inspiration
• Building a coaching relationship
• Legends of our sport
• Being true to yourself

Find Eunice on Instagram @eunice55wpdifbb_ifbb_wbb @badrap2023

Watch the episode here: https://youtu.be/FPzDzipDGL8

Find Sarah on Instagram: @sarahparker_bb

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Welcome Back to The Beyond Condition Podcast for an Iron Sisters Special.

We investigate the jarring cognitive dissonance triggered when digital distortion meets the extreme physical reality of the competitive stage. We dissect how filtered perfection erodes an athlete's self-perception leading to vulnerability, challenging our psychological resilience as we navigate the blurred lines between curated aesthetics and authentic muscular development.

Deepening the Body Image Dialogue

This topic perfectly expands on some of our recent podcasts discussing post-prep normalcy and female bodybuilding truths by addressing the modern digital pressures that complicate an athlete's psychological recovery.

Bridging Physicality and Mental Health

Learn from our years of competing as we dissect the specific cognitive dissonance athletes face when their real-world muscular development clashes with the unattainable perfection of AI-enhanced social filters.

Targeting Contemporary Athlete Vulnerability

We hope to provide high-value educational content that helps you navigate the mental health challenges of body dysmorphia in an era dominated by digital distortion.

Thank you for tuning in; we hope you find valuable insights in this episode.

S & A x

Find Anastasia on Instagram @anastasiarider_ifbbpro

Watch the episode here: https://youtu.be/BHRpNFeX2uI

Find Sarah on Instagram: @sarahparker_bb

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Welcome back to the Beyond Condition Podcast with me, Sarah Parker and today's guest Gina Cavaliero.

In this episode, we're answering some of the most common questions we get as female bodybuilders and coaches - covering everything from training and lifestyle to misconceptions about the sport.

Female bodybuilding often comes with curiosity, assumptions, and misunderstandings, so this episode is a chance to give honest insight into what it’s really like behind the scenes.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Answers to common questions we get as a female bodybuilders and coaches
• Steroid use as a competitive female bodybuilders
• Misconceptions about women in bodybuilding
• Training, discipline, and daily structure
• Lifestyle challenges and sacrifices
• The reality of competing and off-season life
• Mental and emotional aspects of the sport
• How female bodybuilding is often misunderstood
• Life after competing

Whether you’re new to bodybuilding or already part of the bodybuilding world, this episode gives a more personal look at what the lifestyle actually involves.

Find Gina on Instagram @ginacavaliero @coachginacavaliero

Watch the episode here: https://youtu.be/N5IBi7SqxMQ

Find Sarah on Instagram: @sarahparker_bb

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Welcome Back to The Beyond Condition Podcast for a Solo Episode.

A lot of bodybuilders obsess over growing and dieting - but a sometimes overlooked secret to long-term progress is mastering maintenance. In this episode, I break down what a true maintenance phase looks like, how to set calories and macros, and why 'holding the line' can be your most productive block of the year.

Discussions Include:

• Defining maintenance: performance-stable calories, bodyweight ranges, biofeedback markers
• How to find your maintenance intake
• Training during maintenance: Fuelling enough to yield training performance
• Using maintenance to resensitise to volume and nutrition for your next growth phase or diet
• Managing hunger, NEAT, sleep, and stress without the mental load of a deficit or surplus
• Why you can still recomposition at 'maintenance'
• Lifestyle wins: social flexibility, travel, deloads, and shaping sustainable habits

Whether you’re coming off a diet, needing to step back during a growth phase, or just need a physiological and psychological reset, this episode gives you a practical playbook for turning maintenance into momentum.

S x

Watch the episode here: https://youtu.be/Rqx4wixeIr8

Find Sarah on Instagram: @sarahparker_bb

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Welcome Back to The Beyond Condition Podcast with Sarah and Romana.

Romana shares her current scenario, 'What's the Point in Dieting?'

This episode explores what it feels like to diet without the goal of stage, usual Sarah and Romana musings and ways to adapt as a competitive bodybuilder.

We hope that offering valuable real life anecdote brings you a deeper understanding into the topics discussed.

Discussions Include:

• Jaw clenching and tension
• Effects of dieting to mood, energy and communication
• Testosterone replacement
• Manipulations to facilitate a deficit
• Self awareness
• Cardio and step considerations
• Dealing with injuries and pain
• Realistic planning
• The importance of sleep
• Stimulant use
• Addiction and withdrawal
• Wanting to stay lean
• Peak week
• The difference between mini cuts and prep
• Off plan and restriction
• Guest posing
• Show day timings

Find Romana on Instagram @romana.skotzen_ifbbpro

Watch the episode here: https://youtu.be/BnDQS3swAIM

Find Sarah on Instagram: @sarahparker_bb

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Sarah welcomes Sibel Osman back to The Beyond Condition Podcast.

For this special episode, here are some words from Sibel herself; Our beautiful sport is one that both myself and Matthew Ali grew up in and have always known it to be inclusive, in fact one of the most endearing aspects of our sport is the fact that it is so inclusive, be it age or disability. Upholding the values and the ethos of bodybuilding is something that both myself and Matt have worked very hard to pioneer wherever and whenever we can. It is all too easy to get lost in the ‘mainstream’ and follow trends and crowds of the ‘new generation’ and forget the cornerstones of what made this sport great and celebrate ALL athletes from all walks of life that endure every day to live and breathe it.

We as able-bodied athletes often take for granted the privilege and blessings we have, being able to get up with ease and carry out our everyday tasks as an athlete and yet some still find something to complain about.

Unless you are either directly affected, know or have a loved one that is disabled/disabled athlete, it is easy to overlook how easy able-bodied athletes have it. The real superheroes of our sport are our disabled brothers and sisters who get up every day in the face of great adversity, go to the gym and function, perform, prep, bulk and work like true soldiers to achieve what can only be described as remarkable, and create physiques that are frankly mind blowing. The fact that we have disability categories in our sport is incredible and I commend and thank EVERY federation that is inclusive enough to have a disability category. This proves just how wonderful our sport is, however, we (myself and Matt) want to take this further and build on that. Creating a Disability Pro League, the first of its kind in the world, is something that we believe is a long time coming and nothing short of deserved. These incredible inspiring athletes are in a league of their own and deserve A LEAGUE of their own, a Super Pro league to celebrate their excellence and allow them a platform and an avenue to achieve their greatness and take their athletic prowess as far as they wish to go.

We will work extremely hard to create opportunities and rewards for all of these incredible athletes and ensure that they know and feel that this sport belongs to them EQUALLY. If you get up everyday and live the life of a bodybuilder, you train to a targeted plan, eat a specific diet, have a prep coach, check in, go off season, prep, compete…..the list goes on….you ARE a bodybuilder and should have all the opportunities afforded to you that able bodied athletes have.

Bodybuilding is built on values that promote and teach resilience, consistency and to Never Give Up! To build physiques that are way above the norm and visually represent the sheer heart and work that has gone into building a body that is a work of art. Nothing is more demonstrative of these core values than our disabled athletes who are a testament to the work ethic and the fire that champion mindsets and bodies are built from.

To be able to work on building this sector of our sport is one of the projects that truly means a lot to us. We must all embrace change as progression in all things is important, provided that the change is progressive and for the greater good. I think we have all had our fill of recent negativity and poor communication within the sport and it is time that something new and good was introduced to give our athletes a new lease of life and love for our sport.

We welcome all the support that you can afford us and the incredible athletes as we build this sector in the coming year.

Thank you for listening.

Find Sibel and the federations mentioned on Instagram: @sopro1000 @acpukofficial @ibfa_uk

Watch the episode here: https://youtu.be/nF-wGAPJhug

Find Sarah on Instagram: @sarahparker_bb

THE ULTIMATE SHOW DAY GUIDE E-BOOK: Purchase here

Beyond Condition Coaching Application: Click here