Ep 325 - Plant-Based Bodybuilding With a World Champ (ft. Maddie McConnell)

Iron Culture

The MASS Crew

Sports & Recreation, Health & Fitness

4.8 • 827 Ratings

🗓️ 30 April 2025

⏱️ 109 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of Iron Culture, Eric Helms and Trexler welcome Maddie McConnell, a world champion natural physique athlete, to discuss the current trends in natural bodybuilding, her journey into the sport, and the challenges that come with being a world-class physique competitor. Maddie shares her experiences transitioning from a general fitness enthusiast to a physique athlete, the significance of her recent achievements, and insights into training and preparation. In this conversation, Maddie shares her journey as a vegan bodybuilder, discussing her training regimen, nutrition strategies, and experiences during competition prep. She emphasizes the importance of variety in her diet, the role of high-protein vegan sources, and the growing acceptance of vegan athletes in the bodybuilding community. Maddie also reflects on her future aspirations in the sport and the evolving landscape of natural bodybuilding.

Time stamps:
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Reminder:
Don't forget to check out our sister podcast, Front Page Fitness, hosted by Drs. Lauren Colenso-Semple and Eric Trexler!
youtube.com/@fpfpodcast

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome back to another episode of Iron Culture presented by Mass.
0:09.4	I'm excited because we have one of the top natural physique athletes on the planet
0:15.3	joining myself and tracks in this studio today.
0:18.5	And that is one IFBB, WNBF, OCBP, Pro, and Multiple Federation
0:27.4	World Champion, Maddie MacConnell. Welcome to the podcast. Yeah. Thanks for having me. I'm excited
0:33.2	to be here. Now, it is our pleasure. Trex, I have, we've done, we've done similar interviews with some
0:41.6	other top level athletes. And what's cool is that right now in the Iron Game more broadly,
0:47.3	and I include powerlifting in this, there seems to be a higher level of participation, and we're
0:53.0	seeing a higher peak of terms of the performance levels and new standards being set every season in both powerlifting and bodybuilding.
1:02.2	And the new standard that's been set in the figure division, I would say, is sitting right here with us in the studio, which is absolutely three different places online, but nonetheless,
1:15.3	proverbially sitting with us in the studio in one Maddie McConnell.
1:21.5	I don't think, you know, honestly, it was just 2023, end of 2023 or early 2024, where we were talking about Becky Pateman and Natalie Hayes being like people
1:27.0	who had done historic things and no one else kind of had this resume in the female side of the sport. And the closest thing on the men's side of the sport were a couple folks who'd won the, you know, the world title twice in the WNBF or had been title unifiers like Brian Whitaker. But man, the whole sports leveling up, we got Bobakar, who came back and is the first person to win the men's bodybuilding title in the WBF three times.
1:52.6	And now we've got even more women who are just frigging it.
1:58.2	So I think it's, is there something in,
2:01.0	and the water is natural bodybuilding popular or what's going on,
2:04.7	trucks?
2:05.4	Explain to me.
2:06.9	I mean, you're coming to the wrong guy.
2:09.9	We could do some, we could try to do some testing on different water sources.
2:15.0	I'm sure there's something in there.
2:19.8	Yeah, not to get on a tangent over in my neck of the woods, we had stuff in the water, but not the kind of stuff that makes
	...

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