Inside a grueling gym session with three-time Olympic champion Max Whitlock

At a high-end Knightsbridge hotel, a journalist faces a rigorous fitness test overseen by British gymnastics legend Max Whitlock, a three-time Olympic medalist. Whitlock, who fell short of a podium finish in Paris 2024, has announced a return aimed at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, despite being well beyond the sport’s typical peak age. The session begins with a brutal five-minute core workout that leaves the writer sore for days, followed by progressive hand-stand training that Whitlock describes as the cornerstone of gymnastics.

Both participants wear Samsung Galaxy watches—Whitlock with the Ultra2 and the writer with the Watch9—to track heart rate, sleep, and recovery metrics, a tool Whitlock finds essential at his stage of career. Whitlock is also developing a new pommel-horse element that could boost his routine’s difficulty, though it has caused a wrist injury that kept him out of recent European Championships. He emphasizes injury prevention and hopes to retire after a final shot at gold in LA, while the writer walks away with a deeper respect for elite one outlet discipline.