For the Gen Xers and Boomers who are hitting the inevitable dip in happiness that comes with middle age, sports cars and sex with secretaries simply aren’t cutting it. Instead, the middle-aged middle-classes are taking up triathlons, and it’s seen Ironman flourish into a $650 million brand.

Extreme sports have long been associated with risky behaviour, yet you’re fifty times more likely to pick up an injury playing rugby than rock climbing. Now, some of these supposedly perilous pursuits may be making their way into the 2020 Olympics. So is ‘extreme’ about to go mainstream?

Constricted by the pressures of life, some people are letting off steam in an unconventional way – by tackling body-breaking obstacle courses like Tough Mudder. Canvas8 spoke with Rebecca Scott, lecturer in marketing at Cardiff University, to find out why big money is spent on painful experiences.

Team-building exercises usually conjure up images of people falling backwards into the arms of their colleagues – but one company in the US is offering something more dramatic. Survival Systems USA runs aquatic survival training courses to help boost morale and leadership among employees.