NSLB: the London fitness collective challenging the mind, body and soul

Taken from the summer 2024 issue of Dazed. You can buy a copy of our latest issue here.

“COMFORT IS SUICIDE” is just one of the many Art of War-style mantras littering London collective No Soldiers Left Behind’s (NSLB) Instagram feed. “NO INDIVIDUAL IS ABOVE THE FAMILY,” is another. Forged by friends Femi, Joey and FK in 2023, NSLB is a semi-anonymous London collective merging fitness and streetwear culture, hosting guerilla clothing popups, guided exercise events and video campaigns alongside military-style Saturday workout sessions. “You could say our main focus is fitness, but we’re also just tryna show mandem how to be creative and challenge ourselves,” says Femi. “Initially we hit the gym together, focusing on heavy lifting and weights. Soon, stiffness and breathlessness during routine movements made us realise the need for more mobility in our training, pushing us to explore international fitness trends.”

“When people become comfy, they lose that fire and drive inside themselves,” says member Charlie Jones of the group’s principles over email. “That drive that pushes you into a better situation is exactly the kind of mentality the mandem have in our sessions. NSLB shows you what life looks like when you don’t plateau.” These aren’t just standard social media aphorisms: when it comes to enforcing discipline, they mean what they say. Femi takes me through one of the new rules they have introduced, whereby anyone running late to a training session is fined £5. “Salute to the guys for buying into it, because the punctuality has gotten a lot better,” he says.

Any late fine money is used to fund team bonding activities like go-karting or paintballing, he explains. “In our sessions, it’s never a repeat of last time. Sometimes, we’re trying out new fruits we haven’t heard of before. Other times, the team recommends books like The Autobiography of Malcolm X, George Orwell’s 1984 or Rob Greene’s Mastery. Between running, boxing and calisthenics [the gravity-defying discipline that harnesses core strength], we get pushed to our limits. It’s not about who’s the strongest or how many reps the guys can do, that’s all secondary. We’re trying to strip ourselves down to our most vulnerable. It’s almost like an ego death.”

Beyond physical exertion, NSLB’s fashion collabs have been ramping up. Recently, luxury NYC streetwear brand Aimé Leon Dore included members of the core team in their London-themed, Walid Labri-shot lookbook The World’s Borough, alongside the likes of Loyle Carner, Gabriel Moses and Declan Rice. “There are no street-level brands in the active space,” says Femi. “When you look at streetwear, people wear Corteiz, Clints or Always [Do What You Should Do]. Streetwear is healthy right now, but when you look at activewear, there are only billion-dollar brands. From our perspective, there’s no one making clothes you can wear on the street and in the gym.” Here, Femi explains how NSLB found their stride, and what’s in store for the collective.

Femi, tell us how you got where you are today.

Femi: My very first video on TikTok was the start of my content creation journey. Prior to that, I was involved in a couple of other projects with brands like Rising Ballers. I made a decision when I jumped on TikTok to take things further and see what I could create. I’ve always wanted to create a brand, create clothes, start a movement to get people outside. The first stage was to create a platform where people would listen to me. My decision was to enter the fashion scene because [if ] you dress well [and] you look good, people take a liking to your opinion.

“You’re coming to a session and you think you’re hanging out, you don’t even know you’re training your heart” – Femi

Could you explain NSLB’s instagram handle, @youwasntder?

Femi: It’s a reminder of our humility and the kind of mentality a lot of kids from the ends have. When there’s hardship as a kid, we’d say ‘you weren’t there’, which formed the mentality the lot of us share. We’re all from the ends. There are times we’ve gone through stuff. Nobody’s reaching out a hand to help you. But you get a bit of clout and all of a sudden everyone’s your friend from around the way. But it’s like, bro, you weren’t there when times were rough, you weren’t there when we were outside training in the park in winter. Now it’s summer, the videos are viral and we’ve got a little clout around us. You want to be involved? Nah, bro, you weren’t there.

I can sense that intersectionality within the fitness community is a big priority for NSLB, can you talk more on that?

Femi: Statistically Black people are more likely to get heart disease, diabetes and so many different conditions. There’s also this stigma of being a Black man; we just firm it. We’re showing people it’s cool to be legal, not pushing the stereotypical street life of selling drugs, making music and drilling on other Black kids. That’s not cool, bro. It’s cool to fight but in a controlled environment, like a boxing ring. That’s what we push. It’s cool to read books and to gain knowledge. When you speak to people, you’ve got to be able to articulate yourself. To go into any room and handle yourself well and represent yourself accurately. Represent your area, your background, your upbringing. That’s the message we’re pushing on people, we’re just doing it subliminally. You’re coming to a session and you think you’re hanging out, you don’t even know you’re training your heart.

Is it fair to say NSLB is more about your overall attitude to life rather than just your fitness level?

Femi: It’s not a thing where you have to be at a certain level of strength, have a certain amount of money or be from a certain area. It’s more your character. It’s about how you’ve been integrated. The opportunity has been there to charge for sessions, but we don’t want to.

Can you elaborate on some of the garments you guys have put out?

Femi: With our clothes, you can train in them, you can run in them, you can walk around in them. We made a marathon kit that we ran in. We made half tights. How many guys from the block would wear half tights to run? We also made a sweatshirt with matching shorts to give it that Muhammad Ali, Rocky Balboa feel. We’ve got a cold trackie coming that you can walk around in and train in. There are loads in the works. We’re trying to be innovative while keeping it cool and natural. We are making things that we would wear.

For readers hoping to come down to one of the sessions, what can they expect?

Femi: So you’re here, you’re respecting the session, you’re on time, that’s the first thing. The session starts at 9am. If it’s 9.01, you’re late. If you’re late, you’re paying a fine. That fine is going into the NSLB pot and at the end of the year, it’s being used to spend on the guys. You need to know your limits. You need to know how far you can go, how far you’re willing to go to push yourself. You might come in with your ego intact and as you’re working and you’re losing strength, you become more vulnerable.

What’s next for the NSLB brand?

Femi: The clothing this year is going to go crazy; I’m looking forward to getting people outside and hosting events. We’ve got a bit more budget now that we’re making money. I’m buzzing: activations, clothing and [integrating sessions exclusively for] women. Those are the three areas.