Although self-improvement is hardly a new phenomenon, the suffix from this term, -maxxing, has taken on a life of its own.

The so-called looksmaxxing movement is narcissistic, cruel, racist, shot through with social Darwinism, and proudly anti-compassion. As the name suggests, looksmaxxers share a monomaniacal commitment ...

The internet has spent years optimising everything. Productivity routines. Morning workouts. Even sleep. Now the same mindset is being applied to appearance, only with far more intensity. Welcome to ...

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Since the fall of 2025, an eyebrow-raising new trend known as “looksmaxxing” has been making its way into mainstream internet culture, promoting the practice of radical physical self-improvement to ...

Scrolling down the feed of the average adolescent boy might reveal a lot about their interests, from video games and sports content to something perhaps less familiar to parents: looksmaxxing — a ...

A theory about male “sexual market value” that began in online manosphere forums is now appearing in the TikTok feeds of Australian teenagers — repackaged as AI-powered “looksmaxxing” apps. The idea ...

Many of the behaviors involved in looksmaxxing are also symptoms of eating disorders. Tanya Constantine/Tetra images via Getty Images Punishing regimens of facial exercises. Intentional starvation.