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Bernarr Macfadden (born Bernard Adolphus McFadden, August 16, 1868 - October 12, 1955) was an American proponent of physical culture, a combination of bodybuilding with nutritional and health theories. He also founded the long-running magazine publishing company Macfadden Publications. He was the predecessor of Charles Atlas and Jack LaLanne, and has been credited with beginning the culture of health and fitness in the United States.

Macfadden popularized the practice of fasting that previously had been associated with illnesses such as anorexia nervosa. He felt strongly that fasting was one of the surest ways to physical health. Many of his subjects would fast for a week in order to rejuvenate their body. He claimed that ＂a person could exercise unqualified control over virtually all types of disease while revealing a degree of strength and stamina such as would put others to shame＂ through fasting. He saw fasting as an instrument with which to prove a man’s superiority over other men.