The Macro Lounge Podcast

Chris Bold and Rachel Mead

🎙️ Welcome to The Macro Lounge Podcast Your backstage pass to the world of bodybuilding and bikini competition. Hosted by Chris Bold, Head coach of Team Bold Physique and Rachel Mead of Accentuate Bikinis, this podcast dives deep into everything from prep and posing to post-show rebounds.
 Whether you're a seasoned athlete, first-time competitor, coach, or just curious about what goes on beyond the tan. 💪 Real talk about training, nutrition, mindset & stage prep and suits
 🔥 Tips, Q&As and hot takes
 Subscribe and join us as we flex, learn, and laugh our way through the sport we love.

  1. 4 days ago

    Is ChatGPT the New Bikini Coach? AI, GLP-1s and What “Natural” Really Means | Ep 39

    Chris and Rach (running purely on caffeine this week) kick off with a recap of the NZ IFBB Bikini Pro and Tournament of Champions in Palmerston North. They also cover a busy weekend of Kiwi results across multiple federations, including ICN pros in Canberra. Then it’s down the rabbit hole. More competitors are using ChatGPT for check-ins, progress photos and prep decisions, so has AI become the new bikini coach? Or did some athletes just have a bad coach to begin with? Rach draws on her time as a high school teacher during the rise of AI to explain why background knowledge still matters. They also tackle GLP-1s in contest prep. Is taking the hunger out of prep just another tool, or is it a step too far for natural athletes? Chris and Rach share two different takes on where it fits in prep, post-show recovery, and the question of what “natural” actually means. This is our opinion only. It’s not an official federation position and it’s not medical advice. Please talk to your doctor and your federation. Like and subscribe on Spotify and YouTube - it helps more than you’d think. Find us here:🎧 Follow The Macro Lounge on Spotify📸 Instagram: @macro_lounge_podcast▶ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMacroLoungePodcast📩 Email: hello@boldphysique.com Work with us:👙 Posing School: Accentuate Posing Academy https://www.instagram.com/accentuate_posing_academy/💪 Coaching with Chris: Team Bold Physique https://www.instagram.com/teamboldphysique/✨ Competition Bikinis with Rachel: Accentuate Bikinis https://www.instagram.com/accentuatebikinis/

  2. 18 Oct

    Enhancements in Physique Sport: Where Is the Line? | Ep 38

    Lip filler, breast augmentation, PMMA, PEDs. Where does enhancing your physique stop and bending the rules begin? This week Chris and Rach take on one of the biggest grey areas in the sport. The recent Olympia PMMA conversation is the starting point. From there they cover why some enhancements are banned while others are rewarded, and whether a rule against cosmetic procedures could ever be enforced. They also talk about how femininity criteria shapes what athletes feel they need to do, and why cosmetic work carries far less stigma than PEDs. Most importantly, they share honest advice for anyone considering a cosmetic procedure. Make the decision for your everyday life, not your one day on stage. And never make it in prep. Plus, a quick recap of the NZIFBB South Island Classic in Christchurch, and predictions for the Tournament of Champions Bikini Pro show. Like and subscribe on Spotify and YouTube - it helps more than you’d think. Find us here:🎧 Follow The Macro Lounge on Spotify📸 Instagram: @macro_lounge_podcast▶ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMacroLoungePodcast📩 Email: hello@boldphysique.com Work with us:👙 Posing School: Accentuate Posing Academy https://www.instagram.com/accentuate_posing_academy/💪 Coaching with Chris: Team Bold Physique https://www.instagram.com/teamboldphysique/✨ Competition Bikinis with Rachel: Accentuate Bikinis https://www.instagram.com/accentuatebikinis/

  3. 11 Oct

    Ep 37: Olympia Breakdown - Bikini, Fit Model and Where the Sparkles Are Heading

    The Olympia has come and gone, and for the first time in years nobody’s arguing about who won Bikini. Chris and Rach sit down with Tyler Manion’s feedback and the comparison photos to unpack the top call outs. They cover why the upper body is now part of the Bikini conversation, and which athletes might be the next generation coming through. They also dig into the brand new Fit Model division, what it could mean for posing, and how it sits alongside Bikini. Plus a shout out to Kiwi athletes Kate Carroll and Ephraim Gudgeon for flying the flag on the Olympia stage, a look at this weekend’s New Zealand shows, and Rach’s very strong opinions on suit fit. Like and subscribe on Spotify and YouTube - it helps more than you’d think. Find us here:🎧 Follow The Macro Lounge on Spotify📸 Instagram: @macro_lounge_podcast▶ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMacroLoungePodcast📩 Email: hello@boldphysique.com Work with us:👙 Posing School: Accentuate Posing Academy https://www.instagram.com/accentuate_posing_academy/💪 Coaching with Chris: Team Bold Physique https://www.instagram.com/teamboldphysique/✨ Competition Bikinis with Rachel: Accentuate Bikinis https://www.instagram.com/accentuatebikinis/

  4. 4 Oct

    Ep 36: ICN Nationals Recap - The Most Competitive Nationals We've Seen

    What a weekend! While the Olympia crowned a new Bikini Miss Olympia in Las Vegas, New Zealand had three shows running at once. Chris and Rach were backstage at the Bruce Mason Theatre for the ICN Nationals and Aotearoa South Pacific Pro Am, and they're calling it one of the most competitive nationals they've ever been to. They go class by class through figure, classic figure, women's bodybuilding, the new bodybuilding gold class, swimsuit, wellness, runway, fitness model, bikini and sports model. Along the way: why the age categories keep getting more jacked, what separates controlled elegance from pure stage sparkle, why posing can be the difference in a tight lineup, and the first ever Accentuate Posing Academy Poser of the Year award! Plus, a message for the pros: the next generation is coming, and 2027 is already looking stacked. Like and subscribe on Spotify and YouTube - it helps more than you'd think. Find us here:🎧 Follow The Macro Lounge on Spotify📸 Instagram: @macro_lounge_podcast▶ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMacroLoungePodcast📩 Email: hello@boldphysique.com Work with us:👙 Posing School: Accentuate Posing Academy https://www.instagram.com/accentuate_posing_academy/💪 Coaching with Chris: Team Bold Physique https://www.instagram.com/teamboldphysique/✨ Competition Bikinis with Rachel: Accentuate Bikinis https://www.instagram.com/accentuatebikinis/

  5. 27 Sept

    It's a Pose, Not a Dance: What Actually Matters on Show Day | Ep 35

    With ICN Nationals, the South Pacific Pro Am, the IFBB season opener and WFF all landing on the same weekend, Chris and Rach are talking priorities. There's a lot of show day advice out there. Some of it matters and a lot of it is one percent stuff. This week, the hosts rank the things competitors stress about, from what actually moves the needle to what the judges won't even notice. In this episode: Why the fundamentals beat the one percenters every timeProtecting your tan, and the quick fix for smudges backstageGlaze, oil, and a genuine safety request for backstage floorsMakeup: why it's about being seen, not looking prettyHair, heels and jewellery, and how much they really matterHow the way you wear your suit can change your whole lookPosing: nail your mandatories and skip the dance movesIf you're stepping on stage this season, this one's for you. Like and subscribe on Spotify and YouTube - it helps more than you'd think. Find us here: 🎧 Follow The Macro Lounge on Spotify📸 Instagram: @macro_lounge_podcast▶ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMacroLoungePodcast📩 Email: hello@boldphysique.com Work with us: 👙 Posing School: Accentuate Posing Academy https://www.instagram.com/accentuate_posing_academy/💪 Coaching with Chris: Team Bold Physique https://www.instagram.com/teamboldphysique/✨ Competition Bikinis with Rachel: Accentuate Bikinis https://www.instagram.com/accentuatebikinis/

  6. 20 Sept

    How Many Pro Cards Is Too Many? Episode 34

    A big weekend of shows across New Zealand and Australia leads Chris and Rachel into the conversation nobody in the industry really wants to have out loud: how many pro cards should one show actually hand out? They open with the FMG New Zealand Pro Am at the Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre and the INBA PNBA Pan Pacific Pro Am in Papakura, plus the Kiwi girls holding their own on US pro stages. Then it turns into the bigger question. When a show has around 50 athletes and around 30 pro cards, what happens to the amateur line-ups the following year? Is pro status still a title, or has it quietly become a qualification for an Instagram bio? To be very clear, this one is aimed at the federations, not the athletes. Every single person who earned their status this weekend earned it, and Chris and Rachel say so repeatedly. They also get into why smaller federations may be better off building world class amateurs instead of copying the IFBB pro league model, why fewer pro shows could actually make pro titles mean more, and what the Olympics got right that bodybuilding may have got wrong. ICN Nationals are a week out and the IFBB Pro League NPC New Zealand season is about to kick off. If you are deep in it right now, the closing few minutes are for you. Like and subscribe on Spotify and YouTube - it helps more than you'd think. Find us here:🎧 Follow The Macro Lounge on Spotify📸 Instagram: @macro_lounge_podcast▶ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMacroLoungePodcast📩 Email: hello@boldphysique.com Work with us:👙 Posing School: Accentuate Posing Academy https://www.instagram.com/accentuate_posing_academy/💪 Coaching with Chris: Team Bold Physique https://www.instagram.com/teamboldphysique/✨ Competition Bikinis with Rachel: Accentuate Bikinis https://www.instagram.com/accentuatebikinis/

  7. 13 Sept

    Regionals to Nationals: What Judges' Feedback Actually Means - Ep 33

    The season is heading into its thick end, and a lot of athletes are sitting with a scoresheet and a decision to make. This week Chris and Rachel work through the move from regionals to nationals: how to ask for feedback in a way you can actually use, why a judge's comment and a coach's plan are two different things, and why the same package can be read differently depending on the day, the lineup and the federation. They also get into the small stuff that shifts a result more than people expect. Posing, tan, glaze, hair, how you carry a suit. The one percents that are either ignored completely or over-analysed into the ground. Plus a Wellington posing workshop with a full back row of blokes, an orange wind warning, an earthquake, and a reminder that ghosting your posing coach after a regional win is a plan with a very predictable ending. Like and subscribe on Spotify and YouTube - it helps more than you'd think. Find us here:🎧 Follow The Macro Lounge on Spotify📸 Instagram: @macro_lounge_podcast▶ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMacroLoungePodcast📩 Email: hello@boldphysique.com Work with us:👙 Posing School: Accentuate Posing Academy https://www.instagram.com/accentuate_posing_academy/💪 Coaching with Chris: Team Bold Physique https://www.instagram.com/teamboldphysique/✨ Competition Bikinis with Rachel: Accentuate Bikinis https://www.instagram.com/accentuatebikinis/

  8. 6 Sept

    Ep 32: Pro Card in a Year - Kelly Hofmeester on Turning Pro Before You Feel Ready

    Kelly Hofmeester decided at 40 that she wanted to see what she was capable of on stage. Within a year she had won an IFBB Natural Figure Pro Card, signed the contract, and was on a plane to Toronto to make her pro debut. This week Chris and Rachel sit down with Kelly for our first ever athlete interview, and it turns out the medal is the easy part. Kelly talks openly about the self doubt that came with winning a pro card at her second show, what it feels like when accepting the card means you can never compete amateur in New Zealand again, and why she nearly talked herself out of the whole thing. We also get the full Toronto story: peak week spent playing tourist across LA, Hollywood and Niagara Falls, a tan booking made for the wrong show entirely, a 3am hair and makeup call, and a carb load that started eight hours late. Kelly is refreshingly honest about what she would do differently, and she is taking all of it into the New Zealand Pro Open in a few weeks. Along the way: learning to swim as an adult and then getting lost in the chop at Akaroa, having Kate Carroll as your cousin and Frank Carroll as your coach, tall poppy syndrome and why New Zealand makes imposter syndrome worse, the reality of handing over the reins to a coach when you like control, and the poor suffering husband who copped a flying banana. If you have ever wondered what happens after the pro card, this one is for you. Like and subscribe on Spotify and YouTube - it helps more than you'd think. Find us here: 🎧 Follow The Macro Lounge on Spotify 📸 Instagram: @macro_lounge_podcast ▶ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMacroLoungePodcast 📩 Email: hello@boldphysique.com Work with us: 👙 Posing School: Accentuate Posing Academy https://www.instagram.com/accentuate_posing_academy/ 💪 Coaching with Chris: Team Bold Physique https://www.instagram.com/teamboldphysique/ ✨ Competition Bikinis with Rachel: Accentuate Bikinis https://www.instagram.com/accentuatebikinis/

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About

🎙️ Welcome to The Macro Lounge Podcast Your backstage pass to the world of bodybuilding and bikini competition. Hosted by Chris Bold, Head coach of Team Bold Physique and Rachel Mead of Accentuate Bikinis, this podcast dives deep into everything from prep and posing to post-show rebounds.
 Whether you're a seasoned athlete, first-time competitor, coach, or just curious about what goes on beyond the tan. 💪 Real talk about training, nutrition, mindset & stage prep and suits
 🔥 Tips, Q&As and hot takes
 Subscribe and join us as we flex, learn, and laugh our way through the sport we love.

Information

  • Creator
    Chris Bold and Rachel Mead
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    66
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Chris Bold and Rachel Mead
  • Show Website
    The Macro Lounge Podcast

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