The Eat Healthyish Issue

THE ANTI-DIET FOR HUNGRY MEN / HIGH SPIRITS,LOW ABVS / IN PRAISE OF PROCESSED FOOD

GET WORLD CUP FIT

TRAIN
Inside!
How To Be
32%
Happier
AND
GAIN WITH MARO ITOJE

MARO ITOJE, 24,

ENGLAND POWERHOUSE,
MORE THAN JUST
A FORCE OF NATURE Run A 40-Minute 10K:
Your Foolproof Plan
Why Cannabis Is The New
Wellness Wonder Drug
22 Smart Ways To Boost
Your Metabolism Now

10

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10/2019 EAT HEALTHYISH ISSUE

MUSCLE FITNESS HEALTH

P16 BUILD ICEPACK ABS P37 A HOT TIP FOR ENDURANCE P25 TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING
If your training progress has frozen, we Want to gain a lot of stamina from a little extra Science says overtraining in the gym slows
have a cool new method of building muscle sweat? Use the sauna to fire up your fitness your progress. Find your sweet spot

P19 TURN FOR THE BETTER P43 YOUR NEW RIDE, REVEALED P44 PASSING THE TEST
Wake up your core and prime your body Add some much-needed joy to your long The humble blood test has been propelled
for heavy lifting with our revolutionary runs by lacing up the latest innovation from back to the forefront of medical science, with
new way to secure a deadlift personal best Nike. Its new sole makes the miles go easier tests for cancer and even emotional pain

P52 LIVING THE VIDA LUCHA P87 BRITAIN’S BEST GYMS P80 HIGHS AND LOWS
Mexican wrestling might not be as “real” Break out your muscle-fit tux for our annual As cannabis laws are relaxed around the
as the UFC, but lucha libra makes for a Gym Awards. From chains to farms, we rank world, we investigate whether it’s truly
slamming workout. MH donned a mask the UK’s best training spaces to hit any goal time we gave grass the green light

MIND NUTRITION WEIGHT LOSS

P23 THE JOY OF GIVING UP P20 BROC STARS P31 GO WITH YOUR GUT
Still believe commitment is key? Our expert If you think broccoli’s boring, you’re doing MH crunches the numbers and chews
argues that knowing when to pack it all in it wrong. Grilled, blitzed, spiced or sautéed, over the facts to establish whether pro-
and move on will unlock greater success our simple recipes will revitalise your veg or prebiotics are better for your body

P66 GUILTLESS PLEASURES P68 A SUPERFOOD IS BORN P49 CHARGE YOUR METABOLISM
Model turned #foodporn chef Isaac Carew Rare and exotic plants are promoted as a In the first instalment of our new quick-tips
shares his philosophy for finding balance panacea, but is it just a super-sales tactic? series, we have 22 ways to amp up fat loss

P146 BE A CHEERLEADER P72 DON’T CAN YOUR TINS P117 THE SPRINT FINISHER
How watching the Rugby World Cup can Processed foods cop a lot of bad press, but The two-move crucible that will build
help you score a testosterone boost from many are packed with vital nutrients. Pore strength, stamina and mental fortitude,
the comfort of your sofa (or local pub) over our edit of the goods worth their salt all in one. Give your performance a leg-up

8 MEN’S HEALTH
 IN THIS ISSUE
LESSONS FROM THE SHARP END OF SCIENCE
ON THE COVER
P26 TRAIN WITH MARO ITOJE
The England rugby star
shares his greatest lessons.
Call it forward thinking

P29 BE 32% HAPPIER

Our mindless daily decisions
can have a major impact on our
mental state. Choose wisely
P57 EAT HEALTHYISH SPECIAL
MH’s annual celebration of
eating well and feeling great.
Welcome to the good life
COVER CREDITS
PHOTOGRAPHY HAMISH BROWN
STYLING HAYLEY LAWRENCE
GROOMING SUSANA MOTA
USING MOUNT PURIOUS AND
JOHN MASTERS ORGANICS
ETHICALSUPERSTORE.COM

P58 THE MH ANTI-DIET

We’ve digested all the latest
nutritional thinking to compile
a fad-free guide to peak health

P78 HIGH SPIRITS, LOW ABV

Spirits, wines and craft beers
that serve up all of the flavour
with none of the hangover

P103 RUN A 40MIN 10K

Reach the next level of speed
quicker than ever with our
13-page handbook. Get set…

Bad
Blood
p94
THE EXPERT PANEL
FINE-TUNE YOUR FITNESS WITH OUR EXPERTS’ ADVICE
ISAAC CAREW
CHEF AND AUTHOR
Model-cum-chef Carew
shares his strategies
for striking the perfect
balance between fitness
and a love of food p66
WILL LAWN
CANNABIS RESEARCHER
As weed enters the wellness
mainstream, its advocates
are marketing it as a health
panacea. Lawn looks at
the hard science p80
THIS ISSUE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY…
9 NUTRITION CONSULTANTS
8 PERSONAL TRAINERS
7 UNIVERSITY SCHOLARS
4 DRUGS RESEARCHERS
3 BRANDING GURUS
3 PSYCHOLOGISTS
2 FOOD THERAPISTS
TOTAL
45 EXPERTS
10 MEN’S HEALTH
EDITOR IN CHIEF
TOBY WISEMAN
DEPUTY EDITOR
DAVID MORTON
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
DECLAN FAHY
STYLE DIRECTOR
ERIC DOWN
PHOTO DIRECTOR EDITORIAL BUSINESS MANAGER FEATURES EDITOR
VICI CAVE RACHAEL CLARK SCARLETT WRENCH
ART EDITOR ART DIRECTOR PICTURE EDITOR
JESSICA WEBB WILLIAM JACK SARAH ANDERSON
COMMISSIONING EDITOR CHIEF DEPUTY STYLE
(PRINT AND DIGITAL) SUBEDITOR EDITOR
TED LANE YO ZUSHI SHANE C KURUP
STYLE ASSISTANT SENIOR SUBEDITOR DIGITAL EDITOR
RICCARDO CHIUDIONI JUSTIN GUTHRIE ROBERT HICKS
DEPUTY DIGITAL EDITOR SOCIAL MEDIA AND CONTENT MANAGER JUNIOR DIGITAL WRITER
ED COOPER JOY EJARIA DANIEL DAVIES
EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES: CONTACT@MENSHEALTH.CO.UK
MANAGING DIRECTOR, MEN’S LIFESTYLE, HEALTH AND FITNESS
ALUN WILLIAMS
MIKE ROUSSELL GREG BURRIDGE ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER BRAND DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR SENIOR MARKETING EXECUTIVE
NUTRITIONIST LUCHADOR AND TRAINER STEVEN MILES JANE SHACKLETON PHILIPPA TURNER
New-wave energy shots Behind Mexican wrestling’s CLIENT DIVISION
promise not just to fire up acrobatics and cosplay is MANAGING DIRECTOR, BEAUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR, LUXURY AND FASHION
JACQUI CAVE JACQUELINE EUWE
your workouts but to deliver a world of serious training.
DIRECTOR OF SPORT AND HEALTH DIRECTOR OF TRAVEL DIRECTOR OF MOTORS
holistic health. Roussell Let UK lucha libre doyen ANDREA SULLIVAN DENISE DEGROOT JIM CHAUDRY
sifts fact from fiction p47 Burridge be your guide p52 DIRECTOR OF FINANCE CLIENT MANAGER, FITNESS
PETER CAMMIDGE VICTORIA SLESSAR
CLIENT DIRECT DIRECTOR, HEALTH AND LIFESTYLE CLIENT DIRECT DIRECTOR, FASHION AND BEAUTY
NATASHA BAILEY EMMA BARNES
AGENCY DIVISION
GROUP AGENCY DIRECTOR CHIEF AGENCY OFFICER REGIONAL AGENCY DIRECTOR
JONI MORRISS JANE WOLFSON CLARE CROOKES
DIRECTOR, CLIENT DIRECT HEAD OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AGENCY DIRECTOR, PRINT
MATT HAYES LUCY PORTER CHLOE BARRINGTON
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CONSUMER SALES AND MARKETING
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MARO ITOJE JULIA CRITCHLEY CIRCULATION DIRECTOR
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SALES AND MARKETING
JAMES HILL
MARKETING
JUSTINE BOUCHER
RUGBY SUPERSTAR EPEDEMIOLOGIST DIGITAL MARKETING DIRECTOR SUBSCRIPTIONS MARKETING MANAGER
Prodigious England forward With diabetes on the rise, SEEMA KUMARI VICKY CHANDLER
Itoje makes rugby seem like get to know the risks and COMMUNICATIONS
child’s play. Here he explains survival strategies with HEAD OF PR HEAD OF PR AND COMMUNICATIONS
the value of both physical University of London FAY JENNINGS EFFIE KANYUA
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 20
PAGE
Bored of broccoli? Then you’re
cooking it wrong. Re-energise
this green giant of nutrition
58
PAGE
Forget unsustainable,
self-denying diets. We
present our simplest
nutrition strategy yet for
attaining peak health
T here are doubtless many who,
upon meeting me in the flesh,
would confess to feeling
underwhelmed. Just as one might
assume the editor in chief of Vogue
Paris to be the living embodiment of
chic, it’s understandable that people
would expect the bloke in the top seat
at Men’s Health to be a deadlifting,
CrossFitting, protein-guzzling swoledier.
Alas, dear reader, I am not that man.
This is not something about which I am
especially defensive. Personally, I tend to
find over-zealous gym bros limited in their
chat, while food fascists are tedious at best.
Nor do I apologise for skating a fine line
between salubriousness and indulgence
as part of my debit-and-credit approach to
well-being. I train, in some form, more or
less every day. I make a point of eating my
greens. But health is about so much more
than just hard abs or cleansed guts, and I
for one value happiness, conviviality and
reward for hard work just as highly.
EDITOR’S LETTER
TAKE PLEASURE IN YOUR PURSUIT OF HEALTH
72
PAGE
Processed foods needn’t
be unhealthy. Let our
panel of dietitians help
you navigate the shelves
for an easy hit of nutrition
PAGE
119
Dress for the street
without dressing
down using our edit
of this season’s
luxe urban fashion.
I often tell the story of first meeting our
fitness editor and resident physiological
superman, Andrew Tracey, twice in one
day. The initial encounter was at a local
Saturday-morning boot camp, during
which he expertly pushed me beyond my
limits through a series of intense strength
and conditioning circuits. The second was
around nine hours later at One Stop, where
I was busy buying red wine and Monster
Munch. Not once did I feel he judged me.
Obviously, the MH job was his.
I say all this by way of idle justification
for this month’s theme. The Eat Healthyish
Issue is our second in 14 months, the first
having proved so pleasingly – and in some
quarters unexpectedly – popular. It was
suggested to me the first time around
that the notion of being quite/fairly/rather
78
PAGE
With the rise of low-ABV
drinks, it’s never been
easier to get on the wagon.
We sample the best
68
PAGE
How, exactly, does a food
become “super”? We
trace the curious rise of
a plant called moringa
66
PAGE
Fitness and a love of food
aren’t incompatible, says
model-chef Isaac Carew.
We join him for a burger
healthy somehow undermined the premise
of the magazine’s title. But I had an inkling
that it would strike a chord. After all,
healthy appetites are not sustained by
kale smoothies alone. Even our most
disciplined and ascetic readers, I figured,
can’t be immune to the appeal of, say,
a good burger. And who doesn’t find
the metabolic medicine more palatable
washed down with a soupçon of sugar?
So, on these pages we’ve picked
up where we left off. On page 58, we
present “The Anti-Diet for Hungry Men”,
a no-nonsense, full-fat guide to eating
smart without stricture or penury.
Meanwhile, on page 72, we sing the
praises of the processed foods that’ll
do you more favours than a chia seed
breakfast bowl ever will. And for those
who find that their penchant for a bevvy
tends to interfere with their gains, on
page 78, we’ve hand-picked the best
new low-ABV drinks on the market.
In short, it’s a cheat sheet for having
your cake and eating it.
Here’s to your good health. Ish.
TOBY WISEMAN
EDITOR IN CHIEF
MEN’S HEALTH 13
O
 A 01
ICED
T
02
COOL
REWARDS

MUSCLE
NEWSFEED benefit to post-workout
10/19 chills. When sports

CHISEL YOUR scientists at Swansea

University subjected

OWN SET OF athletes to extremely

low temperatures after
an explosive sprint

ICEPACK ABS
Has your progress slowed
UNPICK THE TRUTH OF
ICE BATHS TO HAMMER
session, they recorded
a testosterone spike in the
subjects’ saliva lasting 24
HOME THE BENEFITS hours. Your body clicks
to a glacial pace? Studies into survival mode when
suggest you can stock up on exposed to potentially
deadly sub-zero
new muscle in the freezer conditions, so it releases
a cocktail of “cold-shock”
proteins to prevent muscle

S
croll through the tissue wasting away. One
Instagram feeds of side effect is a boost of the
the sporting elite muscle-building hormone
and you’ll notice testosterone. In other
ice baths and cryotherapy words, it’s much more
chambers have become as likely to help your delts
ubiquitous as the rippling than your DOMS.
torsos they contain. We’re not suggesting
However, the link isn’t you spend a small
what you might think. fortune on cryotherapy

WORDS: LOUEE DESSENT-JACKSON | ARTWORK: PETER CROWTHER | *UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, ** MEDICAL HYPOTHESES | †THROMBOSIS RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Sure, withstanding -150°C sessions – a bathtub
degrees in pants may and a few packets of
boost mental fortitude, party ice will suffice.
but there’s little hard A cold shower or dip
evidence to suggest it into the plunge pool at
speeds up recovery. your local leisure centre
Despite the marketing will also work. Either
spiel, the Journal of way, you’ll fool your
Applied Physiology found body into raising your
whole body cryotherapy T-levels. As a cheap trick
was less effective than a for extra muscle, we think
placebo at curbing muscle that’s pretty cool.
pain in marathon runners.
But, far from skating on
thin ice, researchers have
now identified a solid

SHOCK LIFTS
FERTILITY
BRIGHTENS
MOOD
IMMUNITY
BOOST
TACTICS Men who Cold The shock
Cold feet? These stopped taking hot hydrotherapy can of icy water increases
deep-freeze health showers had a 491% increase the level metabolic rate and
benefits may just boost in sperm count of beta-endorphins leads to the creation
thaw your resolve after six months*. in your bloodstream**. of white blood cells†.

16 MEN’S HEALTH
 03
JOIN THE
RESISTANCE
A
TWIST THE SCREW 01
SOLID START

ON MUSCLE GAIN
If you want to stretch your potential,
Stand with your feet at
hip-width, secure the
band under your left
foot and stretch the
THE BEST
then turn to the RESISTANCE BAND other end overhead in
your right hand. Start
EXERCISE
WINDMILL AND PRESS. It’ll fire up with your left hand at YOU’RE
your abs and prime you for bigger lifts the band’s midpoint,
just below your chest. NOT DOING
You should feel it in
your core already.

W
hen you’re
squeezing in
a gym session
between
meetings, making a beeline
from your desk to the bench
press is the go-to tactic. The
inconvenient truth, though,
is that skipping a warm-up is
sabotaging your workout.
02
LEAN INTO IT
In your quest for total-body Look up at your right
muscle, one move can make all hand and hinge into
the difference, so set aside five your right hip, pushing
minutes and grab a resistance your glutes back
band. “During the windmill and so your right leg is
WORDS: MICHAEL JENNINGS | PHOTOGRAPHY: PHILIP HAYNES I MODEL: LEE MCLAUGHLIN AT W MODEL I STYLING: ABENA OFEI I GROOMING: SUSANA MOTA

press, your shoulder stabilises, straight and there’s

your hips hinge and your spine a slight bend in your
rotates, priming you for heavy left knee. At the same
kettlebell swings, overhead time, rotate your torso.
pressing or deadlifts,” explains Ready to press your
Third Space PT Lee Ryan. You’ll advantage?
lift heavier for extra sets and
reps, accelerating your progress.
And that’s before we get to the
impact on your core. This move
builds abs as effectively as a
plank, but it’s far less boring.
“The band activates your entire
midsection when you rotate into
the pressing position,” says
03
Ryan. Shoot for two sets of 12-15
reps on each side to feel your abs
PUSH TO
ACTIVATE 04
REVERSE
work in places you never even This is where you’ll
knew existed and prep for a PB. really feel your core FORTUNES
Tired of the same old switch into overdrive. When you reverse
TRACKPANTS CASTORE.COM, TRAINERS NEWBALANCE.CO.UK

pre-session stretching, but not With your left arm, the move, stay in
sure whether to stick or twist? press the resistance control and don’t rush
Well, now you know what to do. band out to the right, back to your upright
making sure your arm position. This increases
fully locks out. Your time under tension to
right arm should stay maximise every rep.
WHAT YOU’LL GAIN overhead throughout. Perform your set on
Keep steady, now. one side, then repeat
on the other side for a
full-body burn. How’s
that for a band aid?
INJURY-FREE HEAVIER ROCKIN’
WORKOUTS DEADLIFTS ABS

MEN’S HEALTH 19
 THE HEALTH SNOB’S GUIDE TO

BROCCOLI
This superfood is no longer just a soggy
side dish for chicken and brown rice.
Here’s how to upgrade your bland
bodybuilder fare into the main event

01 GREEN GOBBLIN’
Some clichés ring true. Others do not. It’s not news that broccoli
is a nutritional powerhouse. But it’s fake news that it amounts
to nothing more than a tasteless side for your post-training
Tupperware. By expanding your repertoire of brassica and
updating your cooking methods, Michael Thompson, the head
chef of Cub (lyancub.com), proves that you can make the
nutritious truly delicious. It’s time you switched to green energy.

A CALABRESE
You probably know this variety as
plain old “broccoli” and there’s a
good reason you see calabrese in
everyone’s trolley. Not only is it full of
vitamins and fibre, but research says
the sulforaphane fires up your brown
fat tissue to spike your metabolism.
B LONG STEM
Calabrese’s skinny sidekick has a
similar nutritional make-up to its big
brother, but it offers extra benefits,
too. After all, it’s waste-free, requires
almost no prep, and is notably high
in vitamin A, which can help to lower
your risk of developing cancer.
C PURPLE SPROUTING
The eponymous hue is about more
than just looking good. Purple
in veg is an indication it contains
a healthy dose of anthocyanins.
These are potent antioxidants
that your body mops up to protect
against heart disease.
02
CLOSE SHAVE
The first thing you need
to learn on your way to
becoming a broccoli
connoisseur? There are
better ways than furiously
boiling until it’s sad and
soggy. “Broccoli is meant
to be served crunchy and the florets away from boiling
fresh,” Thompson says. water. If you really want
You’ll notice that, when it’s to go gastro, try shaving
boiled, the water you drain the veg to create delicate
away is green. That’s all stalk strips, or broccoli
the good stuff lost down “couscous” with the florets.
the plug hole. Keep your Thompson recommends
cooking, in Thompson’s using a mandoline (£42
words, “short and precise”: uk.zwilling-shop.com),
sauté it, fry it or roast it but those in a hurry can
in a top-quality tin (£30 cheat it with a mini chopper
lakeland.com). Just keep (£60 johnlewis.com).
We won’t tell.

D ROMANESCO
You may have to look slightly harder
for this variety than a trip around
Tesco. However, it’s worth the effort.
Scientists believe that this variety
stimulates the development of
mesenchymal stem cells, which
are key to bulking up your biceps.

20 MEN’S HEALTH
 04
BROC
PARTY
05
RUB OF THE
GREENS A
03
A PLAN FOR
ALL SEASONS
The beauty of broccoli
is that, with so many
varieties, one is always in
season, guaranteeing you
maximum nutritional
payload per portion.
“Romanesco covers
the winter months,”
Thompson explains.
“Purple sprouting is
best in spring, and long
stem comes through in
summer. The general
variety is available any
time.” These recipes,
A B
each serving two, from LEAN STALK STEAK WITH BROCCOLI COUSCOUS DOCTOR’S ORDERS SAUTÉED LONG STEM IN MISO
Thompson and Cub, will A head of calabrese METHOD Long stem broccoli, METHOD
help you make the most broccoli Remove the florets and shave to create 8 stems Chop the long stem into 2cm pieces.
Nori, 2 sheets couscous. Toast the mineral-rich nori Fresh ginger, 10g Grate the ginger. Sauté the broccoli for
of it all year round. for two minutes in a 180°C oven, then one minute in a little oil, then add the
Salt, 5g Miso paste, 50g
Sesame oil, 2tsp grind up with the salt. Cut the stalk in Rice noodles, 200g ginger and cook for a further minute.
A clove of garlic, diced half and boil for six minutes, until soft Silken tofu, 100g, diced Remove from pan and set aside. Boil
A red chilli, finely diced but with bite, then season generously Spring onions, 2, sliced 500ml water and add the gut-friendly
with the nori salt. In a heavy-based pan Coriander, 10g, chopped miso. Simmer for a minute, then
gently heat sesame oil, then add the remove from the heat. Soak the
GREEN garlic and chilli. Allow to soften without
adding colour, then add the couscous.
noodles in the miso water then, when
soft, combine with the tofu, onion and
GIANTS Add a little water to loosen, then plate
up with the stalk steak on top.
cholesterol-friendly coriander. Divide
into two bowls and slurp away.
You don’t need
meat to build
muscle – here are
three ingredients
that won’t cause
your gains to wilt

SPINACH
Popeye was
onto something. This
leafy green boasts a
triple threat of bone-
strengthening calcium,
energy-boosting iron
and magnesium.

EDAMAME
WORDS: BOBBY PALMER | PHOTOGRAPHY: LOUISA PARRY I FOOD STYLING: TAMARA VOS

It’s a vegan
bodybuilder’s favourite,
and with good reason:
the edamame bean is
one of the most dense
sources of plant-based
protein on the planet.
KALE HEART-
It has enjoyed a
wave of good PR
in the wellness industry
over the years, thanks
mainly to its near-
supernatural nutrient
density, which fuels
healthy muscle growth.
C D
T HEALTHY BBQ PURPLE BROC AND BLACK GARLIC
Purple sprouting METHOD
broccoli, 500g Toss the broccoli in sunflower oil and
Sunflower oil, 100g season with salt. Weather permitting,
Black garlic, 20g char on the barbecue. If not, roast
Dijon mustard, 1tbsp at 200°C in an oven until the leaves
White wine start to blacken and crisp. Meanwhile,
vinegar, 1tbsp blend the cancer-fighting black
Toasted almonds, 30g garlic and metabolism-firing mustard
with the vinegar and remaining oil.
Toss with broccoli while it’s still hot,
then transfer to a serving plate and
scatter with the almonds.
BULK-UP ROMANESCO AND ANCHOVY SALAD
A head of Romanesco METHOD
Pecorino, 100g Break the romanesco into florets,
Watercress, 100g then shave each one to 2mm thick.
Olive oil, 25g Shave the pecorino to the same
A squeeze of lemon thickness, then wash the watercress.
Salted anchovies, 100g Whisk the oil and lemon together and
season with cracked black pepper
and salt. Toss the romanesco, pecorino
and watercress with the vitamin
C-rich dressing, then place onto
a serving plate and scatter with
the protein-packed anchovies.

MEN’S HEALTH 21
 THE DEVIL’S
06
RUNAWAY
SUCCESS
07
WORK RULES
A
ADVOCATE

conditions that will cause you to drop

out,” says Collins. “You don’t want to be
out there thinking, ‘My leg hurts, I’m tired,
and it’s cold and windy.’ If you’re making

QUITTING than chose it, and 23% feel that they are
STAY FLEXIBLE – DON’T
LOCK YOURSELF INTO
A DEAD-END JOB
a decision based on how you feel at that
moment, you’ll make the wrong one.” So,
set targets. A pay rise in 12 months? The

IS THE KEY on a treadmill going nowhere special.

The idea that we should never quit
is a spectacularly bad one. Never quit
chance to study for a new qualification?
Freedom to work a four-day week and
focus on your side hustle? If your current

TO SUCCESS
Going nowhere? Then
wetting your bed? Never quit that paper
round? The key is to quit with intention,
to take a strategic step sideways and allow
yourself an opportunity to re-evaluate.
give up. Flight beats fight Interestingly, it’s a trait that millenials
in the quest to get ahead, have mastered: they’re three times more
likely to change jobs than baby boomers
argues author Seth Godin 1 . If you find yourself just “coping”
instead of flourishing, it’s time to invest
your effort in something more worthwhile.
Naturally, quitting something in which
role doesn’t allow for these, then pivot.
Research from the Kellogg School of
Management in Illinois suggests those who
regularly monitor their well-being in the
workplace can begin to see improvements
2 . The same method can also help you
figure out whether you’re wasting your
time. If you are, the best course of action –
for you and the company – is to clear out
your desk. But before you take the leap,
remember: quitting is not the same as

W
hether you’re talking
business, relationships
or private ambitions,
you’re often told that the
only way to get ahead is to knuckle down
and stick it out. Success will come to you
if you put in the work. Maybe it’ll take
10,000 hours, or maybe a
lifetime. But simply clocking “Don’t just
in isn’t enough. You need cope. Invest
direction – something many
people lack. Nearly half your effort
(47%) of all professionals strategically”
aged between 35 and 44
aren’t sure what their career path should
WORDS: TOM WARD | PHOTOGRAPHY: ROWAN FEE
you’ve invested time and energy can failing 3 . Strategic quitting is a conscious
seem counter-intuitive. Imagine queuing decision, and admitting that you’ve
for half an hour, only to learn there’s reached an impasse is always a smart thing
still another hour to go. You’ve already to do. Take a step back, then reinvest your
sunk in those 30 minutes, so dropping time in something new. You can’t fail.
out at this point feels like abandoning
your investment. A study published in
the journal Psychological
> THE DEVIL’S DETAILS
Bulletin explores the “don’t
waste” rule: the learned
belief that you must make
use of your investments (the
1HITTING 2 HAPPY 3 NOBODY’S
years spent climbing the THE SWITCH
Among the younger
TRACKING
Monitoring your
PERFECT
Perfectionism and
greasy pole to management,
generation, career happiness can a fear of failure
say). In reality, by doubling down on paths are no longer make you happier, in the context of

look like. The same study reports that
22% of people “fell into” their job, rather
THIS MONTH’S ADVOCATE
Seth Godin is the author of
The Dip: A Little Book That
Teaches You When to Quit
(and When to Stick)
your current stake, you could be missing considered to be a survey of Fortune your career can
out on the potential for more profitable linear. Some 80% of 500 companies have negative
those under the age found. A major factor consequences.
opportunities elsewhere.
of 24 would consider was the effect of Research has linked
Decide in advance how much time, switching careers, setting goals each this attitude to
energy and mental capacity you’re willing and more than a day, which helped a higher risk of
to direct towards any task and when fifth have already employees keep track depression and even
you’ll walk away. This is something that had four different of their progress. suicidal thoughts.
full-time jobs. Kellogg School of Northwestern
ultrarunner Dick Collins applies to his LinkedIn Management University
sport, but you could easily apply it to the
workplace. “Before the race, specify the

MEN’S HEALTH 23

…I OVERTRAIN?
Pushing yourself too hard in
the gym will derail your mood,
health and, of course, your gains.
Know the signs to avoid burnout
01
FALSE
ECONOMY
One of the joys of training
is seeing positive changes
to your fitness and, let’s be
honest, your appearance.
But there’s a limit. To
better understand
overtraining, think of it
as under-recovering. Push
too hard with insufficient
rest and you’ll eventually
inflict long-term damage
on your health, causing
your muscle-growth to
plateau, or even regress.
03
CRASH AND
BURNOUT
Going too hard, too fast
could help you look slightly
better in swim shorts, but
you also risk low energy
levels and depression.
A study in the Journal
of Experimental Biology
found that men who push
beyond their limits increase
their creatine kinase levels
by five times – an enzyme
that will leave you wired and
anxious on the beach.
WORDS: TOM WARD | ILLUSTRATION: PETER GRUNDY
WHAT
08
LESS IS
MORE A
HAPPENS 04
WHEN… PAIN TRAIN
Overtraining can
cause disrupted sleep,
erectile dysfunction and
A LACK OF REST CAN hypertension after just
LEAVE YOUR PROGRESS two weeks, not to mention
IN THE SHADE a decline in athletic
performance. Allow this to
continue for months and it
could lead to overtraining
syndrome. Simply stopping
won’t immediately reverse
the damage: Sports Medicine
suggests a full recovery
could take years.
02 03
WASTED
EFFORT
Beasting your Friday arms
session might not cause
any long-term harm, but 04
is it effective? Specific
muscle groups can 02
only cope with
a certain amount of
adaptation in a given
time, so six sets
won’t be twice as
good as three
05
05
sets. That’s why 01
BRING IT
mixing things BACK HOME
up is still
the smartest
Long-term success
depends on balance. A
policy. burst of all-out effort
can be successful if it’s
followed by a reduction
in volume and intensity.
It’s a myth that you get
bigger and stronger in
the gym – in reality, you
progress at home, when
your body repairs and
adapts. Bear in mind that
the problem is often the
volume, not the intensity. By
all means go hard, but make
sure you go home, too.
MEN’S HEALTH 25
 HOW I
BUILT MY
BODY
GRAB EVERY
OPPORTUNITY
BY THE BALLS
Ever since his England debut at
the age of 21, Maro Itoje has made
men’s rugby look like child’s play.
Here’s what makes him unique
I
toje is not your average
rugby player. He’s too
smart for that. He arrives
at the Men’s Health cover
shoot clutching a history book.
“It’s about the Nigerian civil
war,” he explains. “It was a
crucial period, because it was
the first time that cameras
could document
the atrocities.” It’s
this wide-ranging
curiosity that the
lock-cum-flanker
credits with taking
the pressure off his
SUPER MARO
Double Six Nations high-performance
champion with career, while also
England and triple helping him to
Champions Cup maintain his passion
winner at Saracens.
for his sport. “It’s
@maroitoje
definitely good
to diversify your
interests. It keeps things fresh
in your mind,” he says.
Clearing his head off the
field allows for maximum
intensity when the whistle
goes – as Itoje’s old England
teammate James Haskell
found out in their first
encounter. “Maro just folded
26 MEN’S HEALTH
BONUS POINTS
Convert your hard training into real
progress with Itoje’s go-to supps
MAX WHEY POWDER
The world’s best-selling powder. Its
high protein ratio delivers the ideal
fuel for muscle repair and growth.
£28 for 2.5kg maxinutrition.com
PROTEIN MILK
The same perfectly formulated
drink with all the requisite BCAAs
packaged in a grab’n’go bottle.
6 bottles for £15 maxinutrition.com
CYCLONE POWDER
Upgrade your whey with 5g of
creatine in each scoop, helping you
tackle more work in a single session.
£33 for 980g maxinutrition.com
me up sideways, threw me
on the floor, stole the ball and
116kg
trod on my head,” the 6ft 3in,
118kg former flanker once said.
This no-nonsense attitude
to his craft is a crucial factor
in Itoje’s rapid rise to the top.
Well, almost the top.
Whether Itoje will reach
rugby’s summit will soon
WEIGHT
be revealed in next month’s
World Cup, and he is doing all
he can to prepare for the most
important months of his career.
“Every player has weaknesses,
and the coaches tailor
programmes to target them,” he
says. Mental strength is also
under the microscope. “Rugby
is a game of momentum. When
it’s against you, you need to
wrest it back. You need the
clarity of mind to get out of
that rut.” The coaches test this
by physically exhausting the
players in training, then forcing
them to make critical decisions
WORDS: TED LANE | PHOTOGRAPHY: HAMISH
on game management.
BROWN | STYLING: HAYLEY LAWRENCE
With his body and mind
primed, Itoje seems relaxed.
England expects, but there’s
no sign that it’s weighing
him down. All that remains
is to get out of his way.
He’ll handle the rest.
 09
FORWARD
THINKING
10
LOCK DOWN
GAINS A

OUTFLANK ANY
WEAKNESS
Build game-ready strength in
the gym with this heavyweight
workout from Itoje himself

01/ WEIGHTED CHIN-UP

5 sets of 5 reps, rest 120sec
Strap on a weight plate and hang from a
bar with your hands facing you (A). Engage
your back and biceps to lift your chest
(B). Pause at the top and lower slowly.

6’6”
HEIGHT
02/ SPLIT SQUAT
5 sets of 5 reps each side, rest 120sec
Grab a pair of dumbbells and rest one foot
on a bench (A). Bend your front leg until
your back knee is just above the floor (B).
Push through your heel to the start point.

03/ WEIGHTED SQUAT JUMP

5 sets of 5 reps, rest 120sec
Step away from the bench with feet at
shoulder width. Sink into a squat (A) and

165kg
explode up (B). Land with soft knees and
lower into the next rep. Jump to it.
GROOMING: SUSANA MOTA USING MOUNT PURIOUS AND

B
JOHN MASTERS ORGANICS ETHICALSUPERSTORE.COM

BENCH PRESS A

MEN’S HEALTH 27
 MIND
NEWSFEED
10/19
COMFORT FOOD IS
MAKING YOU SAD
We all know that stress eating at the
office is bad news for your belly, but
now research suggests it’s taking a big
bite out of your mental health, too
D
o a lap of Whole Foods
and you’ll see that healthy
snacking is big business.
From gluten-free Bounce
balls to high-protein Trek bars, there
are countless “virtuous” alternatives
to a roll of Maryland cookies. And
you’d be forgiven for thinking that
they’re an expensive ruse. However,
researchers at Cardiff University
believe that they could make all the
difference in times of stress.
Reaching for unhealthy snacks
WORDS: TABITHA WARD | PHOTOGRAPHY: MICHAEL HEDGE I FOOD STYLING: VICKY’S DONUTS
when the panic of a deadline
has you shackled to your
desk won’t only sabotage
your fitness – it can
negatively impact upon
your mental health,
too. Scientists
allocated crisps,
chocolate, or
a piece of fresh
fruit to test
subjects, before
11
BAD MOOD
FOOD
12
NATURAL
HIGHS A
measuring their effects on mental
well-being. The results were stark.
Those snacking on crisps and CHEAP THRILLS
chocolate exhibited greater
Still not sold on expensive
symptoms of depression, fatigue and “health” snacks? Then try
emotional distress in just 10 days. these wholefoods instead
Those with a penchant for Tyrell’s
mature cheddar and chive will be
perturbed to find out that crisps led
to a 47% increase in depressive
PEANUT BUTTER
Everyone’s top
morning spread
traits. Those snacking on fruit is high in magnesium,
experienced none of this; instead, which plays a vital role in
they became 32% less anxious. brain function and mood
While the researchers didn’t regulation. Go crunchy.
pinpoint exactly why the fruit
group felt so much happier, the BANANAS
answer might lie in fruit’s ability Carbs support
to spike the brain’s production the absorption
of serotonin – a feel-good of tryptophan in the brain.
neurotransmitter that can help Then, vitamin B6 helps
to bring about a happier state of to convert this into the
mind and slice through anxiety. happy hormone serotonin.
An apple works, but the new wave
of snacks that rely on fruit for their DARK CHOCOLATE
sweetness may provide a far more A small square
satisfying alternative. Stock up your can cause
desk’s snack draw accordingly. the brain to release
endorphins, associated
with pleasure, and produce
fewer stress hormones.
BRAZIL NUTS
Brazil nuts are
a rich source
of selenium. Low levels of
this chemical element
have have been linked to
anxiety and depression.
BLUEBERRIES
Berries are full
of antioxidant
flavonoids, which have
a positive impact on brain
health and can increase
happiness levels.
EATING YOUR EMOTIONS
WILL ONLY MAKE
YOU MORE SAD
MEN’S HEALTH 29
 VERSUS
13
READER’S
DIGEST
14
STRONGER
STOMACH A
PROBIOTICS
VS PREBIOTICS
THE INSIDE TRACT
We all know that the way to a man’s health is via his stomach, and
probiotics and prebiotics promise to improve the whole gamut.
But which win the day? Here, we analyse our gut instincts

PROBIOTICS PREBIOTICS

BILLION
$7.91 BILLION
The estimated value of The value the prebiotics
the probiotics market by market is expected to
2024, up from $40bn in reach by 2025. Big bucks,
2017. Quite an appetite but still playing catch-up
for better health. with OG yogurt shots.

FUNCTION
“Good” bacteria are delivered into your Prebiotics go through your gut undigested
digestive system, promising an instant to fuel probiotic growth. Since the bacteria
boost to your health. But the effects only grow organically, they make a lasting
last as long as you take the probiotics. impact on your gut for prolonged benefits.
WORDS: BEN WELCH | PHOTOGRAPHY: BARRY DOWNARD, ROWAN FEE, JOBE LAWRENSON, STUDIO 33, GETTY | *UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY

Make these part of your fat-burning plan.
The University of Manitoba found that eating
yogurt that contains lactobacillus bacteria
can cut body fat by 4% in six weeks.
WEIGHT LOSS
Research conducted* on obese children
found adding prebiotics to their diet helped
4% 5kg reduce annual weight gain by two-thirds
compared to the placebo group.

SHOPPING LIST

Sauerkraut Kombucha Miso paste Gherkins Flaxseeds Jerusalem artichoke Oats Garlic

Probiotics help you metabolise nutrients MIND Volunteers in a University of Oxford study
that synthesise hormones in the gut, received prebiotics or a placebo for three
including mood-boosting serotonin, weeks. The prebiotics group showed significant
according to a study by Sapienza University. drops in levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

Research from Griffith University suggests TOTAL HEALTH Monash University found prebiotics can lower
probiotics can reduce your blood pressure the number of unstable atoms released into
and levels of LDL (aka “bad”) cholesterol to your system to help fight illness, ageing and
help lower your risk of a heart attack. your risk of developing heart disease.

THE MH VERDICT: PREBIOTICS WIN!

It’s damn close. Probiotics are a quick win providing potent health benefits for your entire body.
However, it’s more effective and economical in the long run to feed your own natural bacteria rather
than parachute them in. Oats for breakfast it is, then – and maybe a glass of kombucha to wash it down.

MEN’S HEALTH 31
YOUR SHOT
AT A PREMIER
PERFORMANCE
Make the right signing this season.
Our pick of new Astros will fire you
from benchwarmer to star man

A
s you settle back
into the familiar
routine of spending
Saturday nights
with Lineker, Shearer and co,
you’d be forgiven for getting
a little overexcited. Football’s
back. The question is: do
you return to the pitch, collar
popped and dusty Copa
Mundials under your arm?
Well, if you want to keep
your fitness on target, score
a mental health boost and kick
fat into row Z, the science is
clear. One 14-week scheme run
by Solihull Council found that
overweight men who played
in the Man v Fat league lost
an average of 10kg, with one
player losing 30kg – which,
as it happens, is heavier than
the Premier League trophy. ALL-SEASON STAR 82/100
However, while we’re all UA Magnetico Select TF
in favour of digging out your £60 underarmour.co.uk COMPLETE PLAYER 88/100
England Euro ’96 shirt, you’re Adidas Predator 19.3 TF
going to need a fresher pair
Performance •••••••••• £75 adidas.co.uk
of boots to add a touch of class
Design •••••••••• ••••••••••
to your fat-burning breaks
Ease of Use •••••••••• Performance
Design ••••••••••
STAY ON YOUR FEET UA’s FormTrue
down the wing. So, the MH Lab
enlisted the help of England
technology has been integrated into the
Ease of Use ••••••••••
toe box, which helps your feet absorb GET A GRIP A classic boot, adapted
six-a-side international Callam for the five-a-side pitch. While the
“Megs” Gardner to see how the
the pressure of turns at high speeds
and easily pirouette past lunging legs. Beckham-era rubber “teeth” – designed
latest AstroTurf trainers handle
WORDS: BEN WELCH | PHOTOGRAPHY: ROWAN FEE

long-range howitzers, step-
overs and defence-splitting
passes. After tallying up the
points to reveal which finished
top of the table, we present the
match-winning additions to
your kit bag. Game on.
A combination of blades and round
conical studs provides optimum traction,
reducing the risk of a Stevie G slip-up.
EXPERT VERDICT We were pleasantly
surprised. An ankle sock-liner made
them as comfortable as running trainers
and the variety of studs helped to grip
the surface when making explosive,
sharp movements – even in the rain.
to give you more power and swerve
– were abandoned in 2008, this latest
incarnation has an embossed forefoot
to help you grip the ball and increase
control when passing and shooting.
EXPERT VERDICT You’ll be impressed
from the moment you get these out of
the box. The Primeknit sock protects you
in 50/50 challenges, and the textured top
ensures the ball stays glued to you. The
only flaw is the sizing – go half a size up.

32 MEN’S HEALTH
 15
RAISE YOUR
GAME
16
GOLDEN
BOOTS A
MOVING THE
GOALPOSTS
Our experts tested
the tech innovation
claims of each boot

FORM-FITTING
The shoes were
run ragged on a 3G
synthetic pitch to
test how much of
a stable base they
offer for skills.

ON THE BALL
Control truly is
everything. From
passes to bounces,
each boot had
to prove it could
snare the ball.

STAY GROUNDED
Each trainer was
trialled on its
ability to keep you
gripped to the
surface as you
tackle opponents.

MH
WINNER

STREET KING 90/100

KEEP IT SIMPLE 72/100
Umbro Medusae III Club IC
£45 prodirectsoccer.com
Performance ••••••••••
Design ••••••••••
Ease of Use ••••••••••
LIGHT ON YOUR FEET No energy sling,
no voice-activated lacing system, no
dynamite in the forefoot – this is a boot
that revels in its simplicity and low price
point. The non-marking rubber outsole
is designed for maximum agility on
indoor court surfaces, so you can spin
away from would-be tacklers.
EXPERT VERDICT Admittedly, these may
not appeal on your first look, but once
you put them on, you’ll be impressed with
the light feel. The control when shooting
and dribbling felt off, but for the casual
player on a budget, these are a shoe-in.
FIT FOR PURPOSE 80/100
Puma Future 4.3 Netfit IT
£65 eu.puma.com
Performance ••••••••••
Design ••••••••••
Ease of Use ••••••••••
LACE UP Puma’s Netfit laces tailor the
boot to your style, so whether you have
a narrow foot capable of threading
the ball through a packed defence or
a wide shovel designed for route-one
hoofs, these shoes will wrap around
your moneymakers. The knitted sock
lining offers extra snugness, too.
EXPERT VERDICT The ability to
customise the laces to suit your game
was a standout feature: take the time to
tweak them to your style. However, the
heel was too big, making it difficult to
execute skills at speed in one-on-ones.
Nike Phantom Vision Academy TF
£80 lovellsoccer.co.uk
Performance ••••••••••
Design ••••••••••
Ease of Use ••••••••••
PLAY WITH A SWAGGER If you’re keeping
score of your nutmegs as much as your
goals, this is the shoe for you. Webbing
on the laces helps to secure your foot,
while the textured material gives you
a precise touch to receive, turn and
score. Defenders beware if you spot
these on your opposite number.
EXPERT VERDICT The best new boot in
years. The webbing offers a tight fit
without strangling your foot: perfect for
players who rely on their touch and skill.
Best of all, the embossed top ensures
power and precision in every strike.

MEN’S HEALTH 33
 17
HARD
BARGAINS A
UP
UP BEAN COUNTERS
CANNED HEAT

RISE TO THE Popeye was right:

spinach gives you
superpowers. Its
Your morning cup of
Joe can perk you up
in more ways than FIT$E IND£X
CHALLENGE
one. Two to three
folic acid has been
linked to sustained
cups of coffee a day
have been proven
MANHOOD
erections. Suddenly to reduce ED. Swap

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Whether you want to raise
those forearms
make sense…
Andrologia
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Plos One

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our hard facts will ensure Heavy lifting, TAKE CONTROL
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deadlifts, can boost extend beyond better
testosterone and control during sex: the
restore your sex drive. strengthened pelvic
UP Journal of Strength muscles prevent
OIL CHANGE and Conditioning urinary tract issues.
Thorough groin Research Campbell-Walsh
hygiene is good Urology
practice, but soaps
can cause irritation
and even balanitis. If UP
you’re sensitive, use an MORE THE
emollient bath oil for
a clean bill of health.
MERRIER
BMJ According to a 10-
year study, more
UP frequent ejaculation
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That’s a great excuse
Splashes from urinals
if you get caught,
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er, red-
on your trousers.
handed.
Minimise splash-back
European
by aiming just
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below 45°.
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HOLD
STREAM OF UP
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Is the strength of your Recent studies
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weaker? If you’re over the antioxidant
40, this could be one carotenoids in carrots
of the first signs of can boost your fertility.
an enlarged prostate. Plus, you’ll be better
Book in with your GP able to see what you’re
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Plos One ASRM
WORDS: MATT EVANS | ILLUSTRATION: INFOMEN

DOWN DOWN DOWN DOWN

TIGHT SQUEEZE BUTT OF THE JOKE UNDER THE KNIFE HOT-DESKING
RISERS AND FALLERS Your genitals are The trope of a post- A study found Resting your
external to regulate romp ciggy lowers that enlargement computer on your lap
UP HOLD DOWN the temperature of your sperm count and treatments were raises your scrotal
Pole Hanging Shrinking your testes. Swerve testosterone levels, less effective than temperature by 2.5°C,
position loose feeling tight undies for loose sending your hopes therapy in improving hitting delete on
boxers to prevent of a second wind men’s self-esteem your sperm reserves.
excessive heat from up in smoke. about their penis size. Forget agile working
toasting your sperm. Boston University Sexual Medicine and sit at a desk.
Human Reproduction School of Medicine Reviews Human Reproduction

MEN’S HEALTH 35
 18
A RED-HOT
TRICK
19
THERMAL
BEST A
TURN UP THE HEAT
ON YOUR CARDIO
Science says that sweating it out in
a hot yoga class or sauna can give
your endurance levels a sweltering
spike. You’ll soon be steaming ahead

B
efore you know it, summer
will be a distant memory
– and with it the ample
opportunities to log those
extra miles on sunny mornings and
balmy evenings. But don’t let the
changing weather cool your fitness
ambitions. There are other ways to
turn up the heat and, according to
MERCURY RISING
Keen to take your training
Canadian researchers, earn a red- to higher temperatures
hot boost to your endurance levels. in the quest for superior
The scientists discovered that fitness? You’ll need to pack
heat training can improve the smart. Here’s our hot list
efficiency of your heart. Plasma is
the liquid component of blood that i/ BUFFWEAR RUN CAP
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by your heart. In short, more blood
flow means you’ll find it easier to ii/ CAMELBAK QUICK
work out at high intensity. GRIP CHILL BOTTLE
Curiously, the scientists noted This comes with
WORDS: LOUEE DESSENT-JACKSON | PHOTOGRAPHY: JOHANNA PARKIN I PROP BUILD: LOU BLACKSHAW

in the Journal of Strength and a pouch for your keys, while

Conditioning Research that the the insulated Podium bottle
effects aren’t immediate. Flow keeps your drink nice and icy.
through a hot yoga class, or £26.60 amazon.co.uk
sweat it out in the gym’s sauna,
and you’ll prime yourself for iii/ ADIDAS
a “slingshot effect” of blood ALPHASKIN TIGHTS
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heat exposure – enough for a
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That’s good news for those who Don’t let blisters
thought that cutting their treadmill hold you back. The mesh
session short for the sauna was a BRING YOUR CARDIO ventilation and technical
cop-out. If you want to make a run for TO THE BOIL AND BUILD fabric keep sweaty feet dry.
extra stamina, this is your simplest UP A HEAD OF STEAM £13 wiggle.co.uk
hack. Endurance training? No sweat.

MEN’S HEALTH 37
 THE BEST
GYMS IN
THE WORLD
TAKE YOUR HIIT
TO NEW HEIGHTS
High diving is a full-body workout that will
chisel your core and truly test your nerve.
Jump to it at the Plymouth Life Centre

35MPH

W
e feel it, too: the strong
The speed at which
temptation to bomb
you’ll hit the water. When
from the top deck,
Gemma Collins trained
emulating Peter Kay’s
here for ITV’s Splash!, poor
John Smith’s ad of the 2000s (“’Ave
technique left her covered
it!”). But if you want to score 10s for your
in bruises. Remove
physique and fitness, it pays to have
the belly flop from your
a little more finesse. At the Plymouth
repertoire before you
Life Centre (PLC), the Everyone Active
go above five metres.
coaches can help you transition from
bomb to pike position, alongside
Team GB and Red Bull cliff divers.
Fans of Jason Statham will have
seen YouTube clips of him competing
as a diver at the 1990 Commonwealth
Games, long before Hollywood

WORDS: TED LANE | PHOTOGRAPHY: TOM WATKINS | PLYMOUTH LIFE CENTRE IS MANAGED BY EVERYONE ACTIVE ON BEHALF OF PLYMOUTH CITY COUNCIL
beckoned. But to succeed, you don’t
have to be built like the Stath, or Tom
Daley (who made his start here in
Plymouth). “We have about 2,000
divers through the doors, from kids as
young as four to a 78-year-old – though
he kept dislocating his shoulder off the
10m board and cycling to hospital,”
says diving manager Charlie Cooke.
“We told him to slow down a bit.”
There’s only a handful of venues
in the country that offer comparable
facilities, and not all of them are open
to the public. Here, however, families
can come along at weekends and
watch dads’ bravado sink in seconds. SPLASH 00 02
During the week, a roster of elite ZONE
divers receive best-in-class coaching. To minimise splash, lock
“We also have a dedicated dry diving your arms out overhead
room with boards and foam pits,” says and keep your hands
together. When you
10M
Cooke. There’s a strength coach to The highest board is
ensure you have the core stability and plough into the water, this tall, giving you a
flexibility needed to contort yourself this will create a vacuum falling time of less than
through the requisite movements. for your head and body two seconds. That’s
“It’s hard-core – literally,” says to travel through for not long to squeeze in a
Cooke. “There’s a reason why the 10s across the board. pike and two and a half
pros all have six-packs.” twists. This is where
But don’t be daunted. The PLC’s your core strength
coaches specialise in taking you comes into play.
from beginner to high board. All
you need to do is take the plunge.

38 MEN’S HEALTH
 20
ONE GIANT
LEAP
21
IMPACT
ZONE A

FREE
Not sure how you’ll
handle the heights,
or the flips? Allow
yourself a taster with
no sunk costs. The
Plymouth Life Centre
offers a free, three-
day guest pass.

1st

71
In the past four years,
the centre’s membership
has doubled, and the
fledgling divers are
improving fast. More
than 70 members
competed at this year’s
national championships.

GYM
PLYMOUTH LIFE CENTRE

LOCATION
PLYMOUTH, DEVON

WEBSITE
EVERYONEACTIVE.COM

MEN’S HEALTH 39
 22
MUD, SWEAT,
NO FEARS
23
BEST OF
THE TESTS A
TREND
MATTERS OF COURSE
Once strictly for fun and games, obstacle course racing
RAISE
THE BAR
Do it the hard way
with our pick
SECRETS
OBSTACLE
of the world’s
is now a gruelling sport. These are the ABCs of OCR toughest events COURSES

SHALE HELL 05_

Shale Hill in Vermont
is a permanent
DO I NEED ANY
course with 80
obstacles. Each year,
SPECIAL KIT?
“Hill” becomes “Hell” “There are two pieces of kit
and challengers that regular OCR racers are
complete as many well acquainted with,” says
laps of the 10km Moore. “The Dryrobe (£128
race as possible.
dryrobe.com) keeps post-race
hypothermia at bay, while the
KitBrix (£59 kitbrix.com) is
a robust bag primed for
adventure.” Those who want
to take their training to the
NUCLEAR
WANT TO TEST YOUR RUSH next level can construct
STAMINA? GET DOWN This looks like an garden rigs, installing monkey
AND REALLY DIRTY ordinary race until bars and rings. Bulldoggear.eu
01_ you reach the 119m- has all the gear you need.
WHERE DO I START? long set of “gorilla
bars”, which only one
Alan Moore of UK OCR decribes the sport as a “tough-nut person has ever
completed under
challenge” in which “borderline hypothermia is almost race conditions.
guaranteed”. In other words, nothing compares to Do you feel lucky?
learning on the job at events such as Spartan Race. Moore
recommends training up with trail running, while honing
your grip and forearm strength at a local bouldering wall.
06_

02_ 04_ RAT RACE WHAT

WHO’S IT FOR? IS THERE A SIGNATURE
DIRTY DOUBLE
As the name of this SHOULD
If you’re bored of cardio, this is MOVE TO MASTER?
race suggests, two
laps awaits each brave
I AVOID?
your next challenge. We’re not Each race is different but, at some point, participant. All in all, Injury stories have
talking about a frolic around the you’ll almost certainly be hauling heavy
you’ll overcome 400 long dragged OCR
obstacles over 64km,
through the mud, but
WORDS: AARON TOUMAZOU | ILLUSTRATION: BEN MOUNSEY | PHOTOGRAPHY: SPARTAN

odd Tough Mudder here: OCR is objects. Prepare your grip and then fall in a heap.
a chance for triathlon enthusiasts arm strength with the suitcase Remember: no one’s disasters are rare and
making you do it.
and trail runners to get their hands carry. Your feet hip-width the best races have
dirty and truly test their mettle. apart, stand between two on-site paramedics.
challenging weights
– dumbbells, or literally
Most of the injuries
03_ suitcases. Descend, come from climbing
obstacles. “Remember
WILL IT GET ME RIPPED? inhale, then deadlift the
weights. Walk forward OCR WORLD the ‘three points of
CHAMPIONSHIP
You don’t have to crawl too far under for 20m with an upright Though you’ll face 50 contact’ rule,” Moore
the cargo nets to grasp OCR’s calorie- chest, then place the obstacles over 15km says. “Never have less
burning and muscle-building potential. weights back on the floor. of tricky terrain, the than two hands and
Your training will incinerate fat, while Repeat four times. most daunting thing
hauling your entire weight over about this race is a foot, or a hand
obstacles and trying not to fall over
going up against the and two feet, on the
hard-as-nails elite
will target your upper body and core KEEP CALM AND competitors from obstacle.” It’s not easy
– helping to sculpt a physique that CARRY… ER, more than 65 nations. – but that’s the point.
looks good and performs even better. SUITCASES

MEN’S HEALTH 41
 MH GAME
CHANGERS
24
MIND, BODY
AND SOLE
25
SWOOSH NEW
IDEAS A
NIKE
JOYRIDE
THE NEW JOY OF RUNNING
Nike’s super-soft innovation reinvents the sole to make pounding iii_

pavements a pleasure, whatever your level. Welcome to easy street

N
ike knows how to
make people go faster.
Its Vaporfly 4% trainer
took Eliud Kipchoge
achingly close to breaking the
22,000 The number of beads
two-hour marathon mark, after squeezed into the sole of
all. However, the innovators at a size-nine shoe. With the
its Portland HQ know that not help of the air between the
everyone feels the need for beads and soft SRO2 foam,
speed. Whether you’re an elite they create a ride that’s
athlete on a recovery jog, or a responsive yet cushioned.
reluctant runner building up It’s no gimmick: in tests, it
to your first 5K, sometimes you outperformed the Hoka
just want it all to be easier. The Clifton 5 shoe, considered
inspiration behind the Joyride the ultimate in comfort.
was the well-trodden grass path
next to every pavement, taken
by runners to give their body a
break. Through the invention of
a new sole that fuses bead and iv_
air technology, Nike has created
a shoe that cushions your body
against impact and makes every
NEOPRENE
The upper combines lightweight
mile far less of a grind. Here’s Flyknit fabric with neoprene, the
a step-by-step guide to this truly rubber used in wetsuits, for extra
game-changing shoe. support. Rather than sewn, they are
fused to stop rubbing under the lace.
NIKE JOYRIDE
£160
NIKE.COM

4
v_

ii_
i_

10 years 400 miles

The Joyrides were “dual Initially the beads sat together
This is how long it took for tested”, meaning they were in the sole, but this gave them
taken for test runs by elite
the Joyride to develop from
the germ of an idea into athletes and beginners alike.
too much room to move and
the shoes on your feet. They reported they could still killed off comfort. So, Nike
That’s a lot of testing, a feel the cushion even after 400 decided to split them into
miles, and the shoe had lost
lot of prototypes and a hell
of a lot of beads. We can none of its responsiveness.
four sections called “snack
confirm Nike got it very packs”, each serving the major
WORDS: TED LANE | PHOTOGRAPHY: JOBE LAWRENSON

right in the end, however. pressure points of every stride.

UPTICK IN 1974 1979 2005 2017 2018

FORTUNES WAFFLE TRAINER TAILWIND NIKE FREE VAPORFLY ELITE EPIC REACT
We plot the leaps Featuring the famous The first with Nike Air: A lightweight upper These propelled The lightest and most
and bounds that Waffle outsole, it the cushioning system and malleable sole Eliud Kipchoge to a efficient shoe hit the
took Nike to this became America’s that set up Nike’s sought to emulate two-hour 25-second shelves and became
breakthrough best-selling trainer. success for decades. barefoot running. marathon in Italy. the go-to long runner.

MEN’S HEALTH 43
 biopsies for the detection

BLEEDING-EDGE SCIENCE OR
and treatment of cancer
could eventually be

HEALTH BENEFITS
Groundbreaking scientific advances
are reinventing the humble blood
test, injecting new life into its ability
to identify hazards to your health.
But should you really be on red alert?
U
ntil recently,
FICTION?
scientists
were limited
in what they
BLOOD
TESTS
could glean by looking at
your blood: your vitamin
and electrolyte levels, your
white and red blood cell counts,
the state of your kidneys, and
so on. Markers of disease in the
bloodstream were simply too
small and too complex to detect.
Today, however, advances in
technology mean that blood can
be analysed more quickly, cheaply
and effectively than ever before.
There are hopes that painful
replaced by blood
testing, while separate
tests for heart disease
and even depression have
shown promising results.
“Five years ago, this
was all science fiction,” says
John Kisiel, a gastroenterologist at
the Mayo Clinic, who is developing
a blood test for liver cancer. “Now,
we’re using blood as a window to
understand what’s going on in body
parts we can’t easily touch or scan.”
Here, MH puts the latest claims in
circulation under the microscope.

TESTING
FOR
THE PROMISE Scientists have CANCER
observed that cancer can shed
DNA into your blood. A test called
CancerSEEK is able to identify this DNA, as
well as cancer protein markers. So far, the test
is more than 70% accurate at spotting eight
common cancer types, five of which don’t have
screening tests for average-risk individuals
(ovarian, liver, stomach, pancreatic and
oesophageal). Researchers hope that this
will be available within five years.
RIGHT NOW A blood test is approved
to identify bowel cancer, but it’s not yet
perfect at spotting pre-cancerous polyps.
Doctors say this is for people who would rather
not undergo painful bowel cancer tests (such
as colonoscopies). A lung cancer blood test
can identify DNA that was shed from tumours
and track how well someone is responding
to treatment. According to researcher Victor
Velculescu, this “liquid biopsy” is faster
and more accurate than other tests.

44 MEN’S HEALTH
 26
BLOOD
RELATIONS A
THE PROMISE To estimate your TESTING
overall risk of a heart attack, doctors FOR
currently piece together your family HEART RIGHT NOW
history, cholesterol numbers, lifestyle ATTACK Standard blood
habits and other factors. But American RISK tests can already
scientists are working on a test that give you a wealth
analyses millions of spots in your genome of information about
to determine your inherited likelihood your heart health, so
of heart disease, giving you a genetic book in with your doctor for
score not measurable through standard cholesterol, triglyceride and
assessments. This could identify high-risk blood-sugar checks when you need
people earlier in life, says cardiologist to. And remember: even if your
Krishna Aragam. The hope is that you can genes suggest a high risk, a healthy
then take steps to lower your odds sooner. lifestyle can help to bring it down.

THE NEW TESTS ARE A

SHOT IN THE ARM FOR
ILLNESS PREVENTION

THE PROMISE There aren’t any TESTING

objective medical tests for psychiatric FOR
illnesses such as depression, but the EMOTIONAL
WORDS: CASSIE SHORTSLEEVE | PHOTOGRAPHY: LEVI BROWN

brain and immune system react to

these conditions by “turning on”
PAIN
genes. Blood tests can pick up RNA
molecules, says Professor Alexander
Niculescu, and these have been proven to
reflect the relevant genes. “A biological basis
removes stigma [from mental ill health] and
gives people a handle on measuring risk and
treatment,” says Niculescu, whose team is
developing tests for suicide risk, pain and
stress. But it’s complicated: markers in men
may be different from those in women.
RIGHT NOW You
still have to rely on
conversations with a good
mental health practitioner or
pain specialist, not a blood test. According
to Professor Niculescu, the technology is
still about three years away. That’s not
necessarily a bad thing: having people
in your corner and talking about what’s
going on will always be an important
part of your treatment.

MEN’S HEALTH 45
 SUPPLEMENT
LAB
ENERGY SHOTS
01
GUARANA
People in the Amazon
consume the seeds of this
fruit when they need a
pick-me-up. They contain four
to six times as much caffeine
as coffee beans, but the
effects may be even stronger:
“Guarana contains additional
bioactive compounds that
preliminary research suggests
might increase its stimulatory
effect beyond what you would
experience from just caffeine,”
says nutrition advisor Mike
Roussell. The label shows
how much of a jolt you’ll get,
so check that it’s not more
than you expect, or need.
GOOD FOR
When you really don’t need
to sleep any time soon.
02
YERBA MATE
Brewed into a tea from the
leaves and twigs of a type of
South American holly tree,
yerba mate contains caffeine
and antioxidants. In a small
study published in Nutrients
in 2017, people who had 2g
of it two hours before a
30-minute cycling session
reported increased energy,
focus and concentration.
However, Roussell points out
that caffeine can do that
27
HOT
SHOTS
28
WAKE-UP
BOMBS A
ROCKET FUEL OR
WASTE OF ENERGY?
We take aim at the next-gen superfood IS THIS THE QUICKEST WAY TO GET
AHEAD WITH YOUR TRAINING?
shots to investigate whether they really
can turbocharge your training sessions
03
MORINGA
This trending green
supplement, from an edible
plant used as a food and
energy source in Sudan,
showed anti-fatigue
properties in rats that
were treading water. But
whether any benefits extend
to humans is pure conjecture
and, perhaps, unlikely. (For
more, see page 68.)
GOOD FOR
Looking very on trend – but
not necessarily very awake.
04
TAURINE
This amino acid – found in meat,
fish and dairy products – is
reputed to boost mental and
physical performance when
paired with caffeine. However,
the evidence for its efficacy
in humans isn’t convincing,
Roussell says. In one trial,
participants did worse on a

T
without the antioxidants.
GOOD FOR
Feeling the effects of coffee
WORDS: BRITTANY RISHER | ILLUSTRATION: MICHAEL BYERS
hose small bottles by the till swear they offer more than bike sprint using a combination
just a jolt of energy. They’re packed with amino acids, of caffeine and taurine.
herbs and miracle compounds from the Amazon. It’s GOOD FOR

without the coffee taste. all very “plant-based” and “enlightened” – buzzwords People who place no stock in
that will help drive the energy drink market up to £67bn by 2025. efficacy trials. Flat-Earthers.
You’ll be wired from the caffeine, but do the other ingredients
make them healthier than a standard energy drink? From the
just trendy to the just might work, these are your best shots.

MELLOW WAYS TO LEVEL UP PEPPERMINT “Peppermint activates

Had a terrible night’s sleep?
Try these natural hacks to
spike your energy, fast
an area of the brain called the reticular
activating system,” which helps wake
you up, explains Dr Bryan Raudenbush.
His research found the smell of mint
alone made workers more alert.
A FEW MINUTES OF SKY SPORTS
Breaks can restore energy, but not if
you just get up and snack, says the
University of North Carolina’s Mike
Christian. Get a hit from dopamine by
watching an inspirational sports clip.
AVOID THE OFFICE DRONE
Christian also found shift workers who
talked to a worn-out colleague at the
start of their day performed worse.
“They were exposed to the idea that
today is going to suck,” he says.

MEN’S HEALTH 47
 THE MH
A
SHORTLIST
METABOLISM

PLUG INTO OUR QUICK

TIPS TO GIVE YOUR
CALORIE BURN A JOLT

We slimmed down the tips

you need to burn fat even 17
when you’re sitting down NIGHT CAP
Add some extra
olives to your
Martini. Their
01/ GREEN FOR GO high copper and
Swap black tea for CLA fat content
green: its catechins
07/ RUN FOR IT will shake and stir
will crank up your
metabolic rate.
Ten 30-second sprints your metabolism.
at lunch will spike T
levels, speeding up
02/ DARK SIDE sugar metabolism. 13/ OMEGA ALPHA 18/ LOG OFF
Dunk in dark chocolate A classic: the fatty Screen light at night
digestives – they have acid content in fish oil disrupts sleep and can
more fat-burning
08/ HEAVY METAL supps can give your also harm your ability
Weightlifting boosts to process carbs.
epicatechins than milk. metabolism a boost.
metabolism for older
men, to help you
03/ LIQUID ASSET outmuscle flab. 14/ GO FISH 19/ MIND GAINS
Water 30 minutes If pills aren’t your Work stress can slow
before a meal can thing, salmon metabolism by keeping
float your metabolic
09/ JUMP START is a great your adrenalin levels
Box jumps release natural hit of high. Try meditation.
rate by 30%. Gulp.
osteocalcin, omega-3.
which metabolises
04/ FROZEN ASSET sugar and fat.
20/ BREATHE EASY
Ask for ice, too. Your 15/ HAVE A Deep breathing sends
body works harder to COW, MAN more oxygen to your
cope with the sudden
10/ IN THE COLD Cows fed with cells, causing them
Jump into an ice-cold linseed have meat rich to burn more fuel.
cold, burning energy.
shower to activate in omega-3 oils. An
brown fat stores and
05/ GET-OUT CLAUSE torch extra calories.
udder way to burn fat. 21/ SLEEP FAT OFF
Go out at lunch. Sitting Get a full eight hours,
all day makes you 73%
11/ A NEW LEAF 16/ BOTTLED or you’ll throw off your
more likely to develop BENEFITS levels of leptin, which
Continue the fat- regulates energy use.
metabolic syndrome. Resveratrol-rich fruit
browning process by
in red wine can cause
adding CBD oil to your
06/ RAY OF HOPE post-workout shake.
metabolic changes, 22/ AND FINALLY
Chase the sun while reducing weight gain. It could all be in your
you’re out – seeing just head: interpreting daily
artificial light tanks activities as exercise
your metabolic rate. burns extra body fat.
WORDS: MATT EVANS | ARTWORK: PETER CROWTHER

12
COOL FACT
Set the temperature
at home to 17°C. You’ll
burn 7% more calories
than if it’s at 23°C.

MEN’S HEALTH 49
 The

Adventurist
ONE IMPOSSIBLE CHALLENGE. SEVEN DAYS TO TRAIN. GO WORDS BY BOBBY PALMER

Living
The
Vida
Lucha

High-flying acrobatics, bruised

bodies, complex manoeuvres…
Oh, and sequined masks. This is
the world of lucha libre. We gave
our man a week to learn the ropes
of wrestling, the Mexican way

52 MEN’S HEALTH
 A
ll I see is a crowd of
jeering demon faces. There are horned
devils, court jesters, Street Fighter villains
and, in the corner of my eye, Bane himself.
What’s more, they’re all upside down. I’m
suspended in mid-air, mid-suplex, being
held aloft over the shoulders of a much
stronger man with far more tattoos than I
have. My feet touch the sky; my head fills
with blood. In a matter of seconds, gravity
will take over. I’ll hit the floor of the ring –
hard. I am, you see, a luchador.
A luchador is a Mexican wrestler – or, at
least, a Mexican-inspired wrestler. As far as
I can tell, there aren’t any actual Mexicans
in the London Lucha League. But the
people involved have embraced the ethos
of Latin America’s answer to the WWE in
all its sequined glory. The man holding
me aloft is Englishman Greg Burridge; he
was the top domestic wrestler in the UK in
the mid-2000s and has been throwing his
weight around the ring for two decades.
In short, he’s just the sort of guy you don’t
want slamming you to the ground.
Burridge runs the London School of
Lucha Libre alongside Garry Vanderhorne,
THERE’S NOTHING FAKE
ABOUT THE ENDURANCE YOU
CAN UNLOCK IN THE RING
another wrestling legend. The school,
which sits in the Resistance Gallery, under
the railway arches of London’s Bethnal
Green, counts the renowned Rey Mysterio
as a fan, world-famous wrestler Will
Ospreay among its alumni, and ex-Olympic
boxer Anthony Ogogo as one of its current
trainees. They’re the perfect mentors for
my journey to the big time. The problem is
that I only have seven days to get there.
I arrive through a rusted metal door
and immediately trip over two topless
men grappling on the floor. Behind them,
there’s a bar replete with empty tequila
bottles and sparkling masks. The air is
thick with the smell of sweat. At first, I’m
sure the barman is barking, but it turns
out he’s just holding a pug. The clientele
come in all shapes and sizes, united only
by wide smiles and a desire to learn the
ways of the luchador. “When we set up
the school, I wanted to make it inviting
for people you wouldn’t assume were
welcome in wrestling,” Burridge explains.
“We’re an LGBT-friendly venue, and we’re
not prejudiced or biased against anyone.
If you’ve got a dream to become a pro
wrestler, we’ll help you make it happen.”
Wrestling isn’t “real”. I’m currently
being told how to fall over convincingly,
something I’m pretty sure they don’t do in
MMA. Yet I’m being taught this technique
BEHIND ALL THE
COSPLAY IS SOME
SERIOUS TRAINING
MEN’S HEALTH 53
because if I land badly, I could break both
of my elbows. Bounce against the ropes at
the wrong angle, I’m told, and I might snap
my neck. The students at the school talk
about concussions as if they were medals
they’re collecting, and everyone wears
knee pads except me – an oversight that
my swollen shins make me regret by the
end of the night. The piledriver, banned
by the WWE, is perfectly acceptable
here. Burridge even tells me with pride
that someone at the school was once
body-slammed so hard that they shat
themselves. All of which suggests to me
that wrestling is, in fact, real.

HEROES IN TRAINING
While Burridge hops into the ring to train
with the big boys, a man called Cameron
takes the lead in my training. He’s one
of the school’s breakout stars: a lithe,
dreadlocked warrior who doesn’t exactly
fit the bullish wrestler stereotype. After
showing me how to fall, he instructs me on
how to do a wrist lock. He teaches me how
to execute the forward roll, the backward
roll, even the tiger roll – not, it turns out,
a type of sushi. As my learning progresses,
everything happening in the ring starts
to click into place. Wrestling is more like
dancing than fighting, a series of acrobatic
movements and countermovements that
flow together to create the illusion of a no-
holds-barred battle. “You have to imagine
PRACTISES A THROW
that each move is an individual Lego
brick,” Burridge explains, “and you’re
trying to build a pretty solid wall.”
My wall currently resembles three or
four mismatching bits of Duplo. That’s
why I enlist Burridge for a one-on-one
training session the following day. He
teaches me how to bounce off the ropes,
how to “push” and “turn”, how to make
a ring that is only three strides wide feel
a hell of a lot wider, and how to master a
series of pin combinations (useful for more
than ATMs). In a particularly terrifying
ordeal, I’m ordered to jump from the
bottom rope, to the middle, then to the top,
where I teeter above the corner of the ring.
It’s basically a squat jump onto a tightrope,
and I’ve never been happier than when
Burridge allows me to get down.
By the end of my second session, I
already feel as though I’ve had a folding
chair broken across my back. Burridge is
used to this; he tells me it’s a well-known
trope that wrestlers have spines like
crocodiles. I, on the other hand, have
EL REY ANANSI
TRAPS OUR MAN
ON THE CANVAS
THE ADVENTURIST
ON BURRIDGE
into the ring and improvise new characters
in front of their fellow wrestlers. Burridge
is Metallico, King of the Scrapheap, while
Cameron portrays the sleek Spider-Man-
esque demigod El Rey Anansi. The school
boasts a toothsome El Piranha, a fierce
Crimson Bear and a gravity-defying
Lechuza (it’s Spanish for “owl”). I ask
Burridge if having a character is entirely
necessary. He cuts me no slack.
“If you go out there as yourself, you’re
fucked,” he says. “No one wants to see their
next-door neighbour wrestle, unless their
next-door neighbour is Hulk Hogan.”
Come Monday night, I’m gearing up
for my third and final bout in the Lucha
Britannia ring. The students have been
asked to don their costumes, and I gawk at
the normal people I met the previous week,
who have all transformed into glittering
superheroes, ferocious animals and, in one
case, an adult baby in unicorn slippers.
In the ring and under the spotlight, I’m
PHOTOGRAPHY: TOM WATKINS

the spine of a tree frog, and I’m no closer
to settling upon my fearsome luchador
persona. At the school, students are
encouraged to “cut promos”: that is, step
conspicuously costume-less. I’ve never
felt more exposed. This could be because
my first opponent is El Rey Anansi. Since I
was last here, Cameron has won the Lucha
Britannia championship title. He did so
after breaking out of a brainwashing spell

54 MEN’S HEALTH
 The

put on him by the devious vegan plant

creature Triffidos. (I told you theatrics
were important.) With a grin, Anansi
LEARNING TO shows me the championship belt he’s been
FALL SAFELY IS
working towards for years. Then he puts
PARAMOUNT
me in a particularly vicious wrist lock.

THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING

I take on tag-team champion Lechuza,
too. The Owl is also particularly good at
pinning his opponents down, as I learn
with my face on the floor. And when I
take on Metallico – gym master Burridge
– I’m powerless to fight back. He puts me
in a Mexican stretch, before knocking
the wind out of me with a European
uppercut. Then, it’s time for his finisher:
the stalling suplex. Hanging vertically
in the air, I gird myself for a pair of
broken elbows. Mercifully, he drops me
onto my knees instead. I immediately
jump into a celebratory forward roll
and pull a muscle in my glute. It’s better
than shitting myself, I suppose.
Nursing a sore cheek and some
wounded pride, I slide out of the ring and
walk smack into Anthony Ogogo, who
has been standing at the side, gleefully
watching me get a thorough beating. I
ask what brings a guy like him to a place
like this, besides a potential career in
the WWE. “I’ve been in the Olympic
Games, and I’ve travelled the world as a
professional athlete, but this is by far the
most fun I’ve ever had training,” he says.
“I don’t get any preferential treatment, nor
“I’m powerless. would I want to. In here, we’re all equals.”

Metallico puts It’s Ogogo’s third session, too, though

he has taken to it a little more naturally
me in a Mexican than me. But his answer rings true. There’s

stretch, then no shaming, no one-upmanship, no

unhealthy competition. As a luchador,
knocks the wind a world-class boxer can go toe to toe with
out of me with someone who has never set foot in a gym
before, and both will come out smiling.
an uppercut” I’m mulling over how to write a
charming conclusion about inclusiveness
and good sportsmanship, when I feel
Greg’s hand on my shoulder. It seems
that Metallico has one final trick up his
sleeve tattoo. Before I can protest, the
Mucho music starts, and I’m being pushed into
the ring to promo my character in front
Easier of 50-odd aspiring pro wrestlers. My
To be a high-flyer, you heart is hammering but, as I look from
need to learn how to KNEE PADS LOWER BACK HAM IT UP mask to mask, I realise that this is a truly
get slammed without Almost everyone When you fall, you Mexican wrestling is judgement-free zone. It’s a rare place that
being hurt – and also Bobby trained with should be thrusting an oddly low-contact
to look as though wore them. You’ll be your hips upward, and sport. You’re never in invites you to unleash your inner self, even
you’re in pain when jumping from heights taking the impact on a truly incapacitating if that inner self is a Mexican muscle head
you’re not. This is how over and over again, your upper back and wrist lock, for with a penchant for Marvel cosplay.
to wrestle through which means your arms. This reduces example. So, you Without thinking, I go for it. The
your first session knees will take the your chances of spine have to distort your
crowd cheers. I open my mouth. “El
majority of the impact injury. Also, keep your face and claw at your
of many falls. Don’t head up to avoid a trapped limbs, or the Journalistico” is born.
be a hero. concussion. charade won’t work.

MEN’S HEALTH 55
Eat Healthyish
e
The Anti-Diet For Hungry Men (p58) Dishing
The Dirt With Model/Chef Isaac Carew (p66)
The Making Of A Superfood (p68) Trust The
Process (p72) The Lowdown On Low-ABV (p78)

p66 p72

p78

p58

p68

MEN’S HEALTH 57
The
Eat Healthyish – SMART FUEL

Anti-Diet
For
Hungry men t r

Men
Read these words. This is not a diet plan. We won’t issue edicts,
or tell you what to cut out. Instead, we’ve boiled down the latest
nutritional thinking into a simple strategy for peak health.
Consider this your cheat sheet for having your cake and eating it
Words by Paul Kita – Additional reporting by Scarlett Wrench

s ? y
se

e
w f
f il o
i ion”.

o sn’
me. Th r
GUTTER CREDIT
 There are few things in life
with quite such a dismal success rate as “the diet”: an
estimated 90% of us will regain our weight after quitting
a prohibitive plan. (Come on, you didn’t think you and carbs
had parted ways for life, did you?) If we subjected fad diets to
the same level of scrutiny as we apply in, say, our jobs, we’d
almost certainly have dismissed the whole notion by now.
However, in a recent survey conducted by the International
Food Information Council, more than a third of those aged
18-34 said they had followed a “specific eating pattern” in
the past year, with intermittent
fasting, paleo and gluten-free Start Here
leading the charge. It seems Count the
the only things that change are Calories
the names. “One of the main
questions I get from clients now
That Matter
First, it’s more complicated
is: ‘Which diet is best for me?’” than “calories in” versus
says nutrition consultant Dr “calories out”. It helps to be
Chris Mohr. “It used to be: ‘Is mindful of your intake, but
going on a diet a good idea?’” different foods have varying
With so many to choose impacts on your hormones,
from, you’d think that at least energy levels, appetite and
digestive processes. A full-sugar
one would stick. But in 2017, soft drink is digested in minutes,
Australian researchers reviewed causing a rise in blood glucose
25 weight-loss programmes and that will trigger your fat-storing
concluded that they “frequently hormones. Meanwhile, a sliced
fail to produce modest but apple dipped in peanut butter
clinically meaningful weight packs the same calorie load
loss”, while demonstrating but digests slowly and provides
weight-loss-supporting
“high rates of attrition”. polyphenols. So, choose foods
The best eating plan isn’t that have the highest levels
sexy. It doesn’t have celebrity of protein, fibre, vitamins
endorsements, or a catchy and minerals per calorie.
name, and there’s no marketing
strategy. It is one that’s based on the inclusion of health-
improving foods, not the exclusion of food groups, and it will
last far longer than whichever paleo, 5:2, or keto plan is hot right
now. You need a plan that will suit you for life – and this is it.

EATING HEALTHFULLY IS LESS

A MATTER OF WHAT YOU CUT
OUT THAN WHAT YOU INCLUDE The Daily Split
Your target will vary depending on how much you weigh and how often
you train, but 2,600kcal per day is a good amount to aim for*

FAT CARBS
30% 40%
PROTEIN
30%
GUTTER CREDIT

*DON’T GET OBSESSIVE, THOUGH – THAT’S THE ANTITHESIS OF OUR MESSAGE HERE

MEN’S HEALTH 59
Rule 01
Protein Is Paramount
Why You Need It
It’s good for more than just muscle, you WHAT MAKES
know. Protein supports a spectrum of bodily functions. A PERFECT
It decreases hunger, fortifies your bones, improves brain PROTEIN GET COOKING
function, aids your immune system – and, yes, it can
help you on your way to transforming your biceps into POWDER? SEARED DUCK
precipitous peaks, if that happens to be your thing. BREAST
It’s minimally Quick and simple
sweetened. to cook, this dish is
How Much You Need Look for 5g of sugar or the perfect autumn
Most experts advocate consuming less per serving. When warmer and will plate
up more than half of
1.2-1.6g of protein for every kilo of your it comes to artificial
sweeteners, stevia is your day’s protein
target bodyweight. So, an 84kg man who wants your smartest bet. requirements, along
to maintain his current weight would need roughly with fatigue-beating
100-134g a day, or six palm-sized portions of protein-rich Isolate beats iron. Splash out on
foods. That’s about 30g at each meal and an additional concentrate. wild meat for even
Buying dairy? Whey more nutrients
20g in two snacks. Sure, a chicken breast will get the job
isolates are high-quality INGREDIENTS
done at dinner, but so will chicken thighs, tofu, salmon, proteins, with all the SERVES 1
pork, shellfish, lamb, tempeh… You get the idea. amino acids you need Duck breast, 200g
for repair and growth. Brussels sprouts, 100g
A small sweet potato
Keep tabs on
1 QUESTION 1 ANSWER
CHEMISTRY the calories.
If you want to cut
01/ Salt and pepper
LESSON back rather than bulk
your duck breast to
taste, then place it
Q: I’m struggling Amino acids are the building blocks of up, aim for 150kcal
skin-down in a cold
proteins, and many can only be obtained or fewer for every
to hit my target. from your diet. Here are the four to know cast-iron skillet. Turn
25g of protein.
What’s the best the heat to medium.
way to top up Tryptophan Our Top Picks
The gradual increase
between meals? Leucine Helps to build Healthspan Elite
in temperature will
melt the fat, so you
A: Presuming you’ve Your prime mood-balancing Protein Isolate don’t need to add
had your fill of meat, muscle-builder, hormones. Rich in muscle- any oil. Leave it to
found abundantly Crustaceans and building leucine,
eggs and beans, in eggs and
cook undisturbed,
oily fish are with a smooth,
your next best bet organic meat, excellent
until the skin crisps.
lump-free texture. This should take
is a shake. Many particularly sources
fortified foods – 8-10 minutes.
game animals Bulk Powders 02/ Flip it, and let it
yogurts, cereal Informed Whey continue cooking
snacks, cookies – fall Inexpensive and until it’s seared on
short of the protein fortified with both sides – about
you need and come digestive enzymes three minutes more.
and probiotics.
with added sugars. Slide the duck into
Bars work, too, as an a 180°C oven until
Glycine Innermost the
occasional treat, but medium rare. Use
Linked to Health Protein a thermometer: the
a simple shake made improvements Vegans’ best buy thickest part of the
Tyrosine in sleep patterns.
with whey or vegan This brain- for complete meat should be 50°C.
powders is still the Get your fix from proteins, from pea
sharpener increases 03/ When
pork belly and and brown rice.
smartest way to motivation and it’s cooked to
bone broths
hit the mark. alertness. Stock up perfection, serve
Brian St Pierre, nutrition advisor on tofu, cheese with roasted Brussels
and turkey sprouts and mashed
sweet potato with
a knob of butter.
60 MEN’S HEALTH
 Eat Healthyish
– SMART FUEL

Seven
Unsung
Protein
Sources
We eat a lot of chicken and beef,
which is no bad thing. But stick
to the tried and tested and you’ll
miss out on key nutrients from
other sources, as well as flavour

01/ Duck Breast

20g in 100g
This contains more fat than chicken,
but it’s mainly monounsaturated.
A fillet comes in at just 200kcal
and the taste is satisfyingly rich.

02/ Chickpeas
10g in half a tin
The base of houmous,
chickpeas are a great addition to
soups, salads and curries. They also
contain 7-8g of fibre per portion.

03/ Scallops
21g per 100g
Plump, meaty and low in
calories, these molluscs taste
best seared until crispy and then
placed atop a bowl of risotto.

04/ Edamame
12g per 100g
Also known as soybeans,
these are delicious in salads,
noodles and stir-fries. They’re
a solid source of minerals, too.

05/ Mozzarella
11.5g in ½ a ball
With a lower calorie count
than most cheeses and plenty of
calcium, this is a smart addition in
your quest to hit your macro targets.

06/ Mussels
15g per 100g
These are also stuffed with
TREAT YOURSELF TO MUSCLE- vitamin B12. Throw a bag of them
BUILDING PROTEIN WITHOUT into a pot with beer and butter,
CUTTING OUT FLAVOUR then serve with crusty bread.

07/ Tempeh
20g per 100g
Cook this fermented soybean
product – it tastes meaty, not
funky – with tamari and liquid
smoke, then sub for bacon.
GUT

MEN’S HEALTH 61
Rule 02
Fuel Up On Fat GET COOKING
DIY SALMON
SUSHI ROLLS
Making omega-3-rich
Why You Need It sushi doesn’t require
a paddle, rolling mats
Fat has long been blamed as the key cause and Michelin-level
of heart disease. But the latest research suggests that our knife skills. With this
cardiovascular problems are caused by a range of issues, from simplified approach,
just fill and fold like
genes to hypertension and even inflammation caused by refined
you would a fajita
foods and sugar. In reality, the right kinds of fat can help your heart,
as well as assisting in nutrient absorption. Grease is the word. INGREDIENTS
SERVES 5
Rice vinegar, 2tbsp
How Much You Need Sugar, ¼tsp
In the simplest terms? Six thumb-sized portions Sushi rice, 270g
Sashimi-grade salmon
a day will do it. It doesn’t all have to be avocado, either. Get your fats fillets, 2, skinless
from high-quality proteins (oily fish, grass-fed beef) and use whole fats and centre-cut
(butter, olive oil) when cooking, instead of those engineered in a lab (such Nori, 5 sheets, quartered
as margarine). In general, for overall health, eat a broad mix of fat sources: Cucumber, ½, peeled,
monounsaturated (like almonds and, yes, avocados), polyunsaturated seeded and thinly sliced
(flax seeds, walnuts, fish) and saturated (dark chocolate, if you fancy it). An avocado, thinly sliced

01/ Start with the

HOW FAT
FUNCTIONS
Just like the stuff on your
plate, the fat in your body is
not all created equal. Science
has identified three types of
fat cells: beige (neutral), white
(not good) and brown (pretty
great). A healthful diet
boosts brown-fat activity
BROWN
When beige fat turns brown, fat
burning increases, inflammation
decreases and the risk of
metabolic disorders falls.
BEIGE
When beige fat turns white,
fat burning decreases,
inflammation increases,
and the risk of metabolic
disorders rises.
WHITE
Three
Cooking Oils
You’re Not
Using Enough
Don’t restrict yourself to
sunflower oil, olive oil and
butter. Try these for a
range of extra benefits
01/ Duck Fat
Cook your
vegetables in this
full-flavoured fat and you
may never go back. It has
a high smoke point and a
decent ratio of fatty acids.
02/ Roasted
Walnut
Combine this with
the juice from half a lemon,
a spoonful of Dijon, salt
and pepper for a salad
dressing upgrade.
03/ Ghee
This is a clarified
butter, which
means the milk solids
have been removed for
a more robust flavour. It’s
high in omega-3, too.
rice. In a small bowl,
1 QUESTION 1 ANSWER mix the vinegar and
sugar until dissolved,
then set to one side.
In a large pan, add
Q: What’s so
special about the rice and 450ml of
water. Bring to a boil,
omega-3 anyway? then lower the heat
A: Though these and cover. Cook until
tender; it should take
essential fatty acids
are crucial for a range 15-20 minutes.
02/ Remove from
of heart and brain
the heat. Stir in the
functions, many men vinegar mixture.
don’t get enough of Continue to stir the
them. The two types rice until sticky, adding
to look out for are a dash of extra water
if needed. Transfer
EPA and DHA, the
to a large bowl.
kinds your body
03/ Transfer the
“uses” most easily. salmon to a cutting
You’ll find high board and slice into
amounts in seafood strips about the size
– particularly cold- of the nori squares.
water fish, which To serve, take a nori
carry more fat for square and add a ROLL UP FOR A
spoonful of sticky rice. HASSLE-FREE HEART
insulation. Vegans AND MIND BOOST
Top with a salmon
should consider slice, cucumber,
supplementing. avocado (another
Dr Chris Mohr, nutrition consultant source of healthy fats)
and sesame seeds.
Serve with soy sauce,
ginger and wasabi.
GUT

62 MEN’S HEALTH
 Eat Healthyish
– SMART FUEL

Four
Unsung
Nuts and
Seeds
Fish tends to get the most
credit for its heart-healthy
fats, but these nutritional
powerhouses are also
swimming in them. Your
colleagues won’t object
to the smell, either…

01/ Brazil Nuts

These are the big ones in
your nut mix. A serving of 12
has 9g of protein, 5g of fibre
and more than your RDA
of antioxidant selenium.

02/ Hemp Seeds

Also known as hemp
hearts, these have a
faintly roasted flavour.
Scatter on a soup or salad
to add a little crunch.

03/ Pumpkin Seeds

These high-fibre seeds
are delicious roasted and
seasoned with paprika.
Harvest the benefits atop
tonight’s dinner.

04/ Macadamia Nuts

Often underrated, these
are best served roasted,
crushed and stirred into
your breakfast bowl of
porridge or yogurt.
GUT

MEN’S HEALTH 63
Rule 03
Rethink Your Carbs
Why You Need It Pep Up Your
Carbohydrates aren’t the devil: they’re Meal Prep
your body’s preferred fuel source. Sick of salads and steamed broccoli?
Consuming the correct amount of the right kind of carbs These tools will make your veg-based
can enhance your athletic performance, improve your sleep dishes that little bit more delicious
and energy levels, and help you bounce back from training
faster. There’s nothing in carbs that makes weight gain 01/ Mandoline
Even the sharpest
inevitable – you just need to be judicious in your choices.
knife won’t suffice
Well, apart from on cheat day, obviously. for paper-thin
slices. This model
How Much You Need also features an integrated julienne
blade for French-cut vegetables. Use it
There’s no minimum requirement (which to make coleslaw or a spicy Thai salad.
is why ketosis doesn’t kill people), but it’s Oxo Steel Mandoline 2.0 £70 amazon.co.uk
generally agreed that six to eight handfuls a day will stand
you in good stead. The vast majority of these should be 02/ Sheet Tray
quality carbs: beans, pulses, wholegrains, potatoes, fruits. Bulk-roast your
Sure, some kinds contain more natural sugars than others vegetables, then eat
– but, as a general rule, if you can pull it from the ground them all week. Our pick?
or pluck it from a tree, it’s good for you. Half a bulb of fennel contains
just 40kcal. These trays are durable and
can withstand high oven temperatures.
Nordic Ware Aluminium Tray £18
amazon.co.uk
THE WHAT’S WHAT OF
CARBOHYDRATES
Placing a blanket ban on carbs isn’t just unnecessary, it’s illogical. “Carb”
03/ Spiraliser
This is the best
includes multiple different foods and nutrients. Here’s a quick breakdown hand-crank tool on the
market. Use it to prep
squash, beetroot and
Carbohydrates
courgette, then pan-fry.
They provide your body and brain with glucose, a vital source of energy
Paderno World Cuisine Spiralizer
£30 amazon.co.uk
Fibre Starch Sugar
Roughage for How plants store There are many types,
healthy digestion glucose (energy) and not all are bad
1 QUESTION 1 ANSWER

Insoluble Glucose Q: Is the sugar in fruit

Won’t dissolve Insulin shuttles it to
bad for me, too?
GOOD FOR YOU

in water; helps your cells for fuel

GENERALLY

to keep you full A: Don’t stop eating fruit. Yes,

there’s a little sugar in there,
Soluble Lactose Fructose but they also contain plenty of
Attracts water; Found Found in fruit;
slows sugar naturally in processed by fibre, vitamins and minerals. As
absorption dairy products the liver a point of reference, you’d have
to consume about four apples in
FOOD STYLING: CHRISTINE ALBANO

order to ingest the same amount

PHOTOGRAPHY: MIKE GARTEN
GENERALLY NOT
GREAT FOR YOU

of sugar as you’ll find in one

Added Sugar Sucrose
Excess empty Glucose plus large soft drink. That sugar will
calories fructose; table be absorbed much more slowly,
sugar too, for sustained energy.
Dr Mike Roussell, nutritionist

64 MEN’S HEALTH
 Eat Healthyish
– SMART FUEL

GET COOKING
TEX-MEX
QUINOA BOWL
Push back the
frontiers of your meal
prep with this bowl.
Quinoa and black
beans provide slow-
burning carbs and
fibre. This will keep
your energy levels
high, whether you’re
lifting heavy or simply
need a lift yourself

INGREDIENTS
SERVES 4
Mixed-colour quinoa, 170g
A stock cube
Garlic clove, smashed
A bay leaf
Chorizo, 400g
Black beans, 400g tin
An avocado, cubed
Feta, 100g, crumbled
Radishes, 4, thinly sliced

01/ Cook the quinoa

in chicken or vegetable
stock, as per pack
instructions. Add the
garlic and the bay leaf
for an extra kick of
flavour, and leave to
bubble away.
02/ Fry the chorizo
in a dash of oil until
browned. This should
take about 10 minutes.
“Pink meat” shouldn’t
be a daily indulgence
FUEL YOUR FAST TIMES
– but once or twice
WITH A BOWL OF SLOW- a week, it’s a tasty
BURNING ENERGY source of protein
and B vitamins.
03/ Drain the quinoa
and discard the bay
leaf. Serve topped with
the chorizo, plus the
HIT YOUR rest of the ingredients.
Garnish with fresh
10-A-DAY
Five-a-day? Give us a real
coriander and a drizzle
of hot sauce.
Breakfast Snack Lunch Snack Dinner
challenge. According
to researchers at Imperial Greek yogurt A pear or Protein with Guacamole, Protein plus
College London, 10 is topped with an apple watercress, salsa and quinoa or farro
the magic number for a handful of Servings: 1 beetroot and carrot sticks and a double
a serious slice out of
your mortality risk.
blueberries and half a sweet Servings: 2 portion of
This is how to hit it a sliced banana potato sautéed greens
Servings: 2 Servings: 3 Servings: 2

MEN’S HEALTH 65
Eat Healthyish – TABLE TALK

You have the fresh-faced
good looks of a young
Elvis and the physique
of Theseus the Minotaur
slayer. But judging by your
Instagram, you seem to
subsist on dirty burgers.
Ha! You can be pigeonholed
when you’re a model. There’s
this idea that we don’t eat and
that we have to restrict carbs.
It’s bullshit. At a certain level
of modelling, you might have
to cut out a few things – but I
just love everything. As long
as you’re using high-quality,
nutritious ingredients, it’ll be
good for you (1). The more you
compromise, the unhealthier
you’ll be. You’ll just end up
Dishing
The DirtScroll down a fashion thing’s
Instagram page and you’re more Can you tell me about it?
likely to encounter green smoothies It’s a pasta restaurant. I want
Lean Jerk Burger
and #mealprep than greasy burgers it to be quite minimalist: three
Protein, vitamins and and spag bol. But model-cum-chef starters, six mains, one or two
desserts. It will be focused on
flavour – all wrapped
up in a deceptively
Isaac Carew balances a passion for fresh pasta, not small plates!
dirty package fitness with a love of real food I hate it when you’re out with
Serves 2 Interview by Richard Godwin your mates, and you realise
• Scotch bonnet, ½ Portrait by Julian Benjamin at the end of the meal that
• A garlic clove all you’ve eaten is a Padrón
• All-spice, ¼tsp pepper and a piece of ham. I’m
• Ginger, a thumbnail or savoury, so I keep going. going to have proper plates.
• Honey, 1tbsp
Monster Munch, then Haribo,
• Chicken thighs, 2
• A plantain then Wotsits… Some people might know
• Mayonnaise, 4tbsp you as the ex-boyfriend of
• Jerk seasoning, 1tsp Parmesan, guanciale [cured How did you get into singer Dua Lipa. Is it hard

with extra temptations.
You’re very fond of pasta.
Do you have Italian roots?
I’m so invested in Italian food,
and I wish I could say I had
some Italian in me. I found my
love for pasta working under
Angela Hartnett at [Michelin-
starred London restaurant]
the Connaught. I started in the
salad section but, one day, a
chef didn’t come in and they
needed an extra person on
the pasta. I was scared at first,
but pasta is so therapeutic to
make. Everything is done by
hand. Proper Italian cooking
always uses the freshest, best
ingredients. What I love about it
is that it brings people together.
What are we getting wrong
about carbohydrates?
Our bodies need carbs for fuel.
But people often feel tired
after pasta because we eat way
too much of it in one sitting in
Britain (2). In Italy, you have
a decent portion, but it isn’t
huge, then you move on to your
steak, or whatever main you
want. Oh, and never put cream
in carbonara: just egg yolk,
• Spring onions, 2 pork] and pasta water.
• Juice of ½ lime
How do you work it all off?
1/ Put the chilli, garlic,
all-spice, ginger and I haven’t been to the gym for
honey in a pestle and months, as I recently had spinal
mortar and crush. surgery after slipping a disc.
Spread olive oil over But my usual routine is: boxing
the (skinless) chicken three times a week; cycling,
thighs, then coat with
lifting weights and swimming
marinade. Fry each
side for a minute, then at least twice a week; plus, if
pop in a 200°C oven it takes 30 minutes to walk
for seven minutes. somewhere, I’ll do that instead
2/ Slice the plaintain of jumping in an Uber or taking
into thick coins and fry the Tube. One of the reasons
until golden. Make the
my back got injured was that
jerk mayo by mixing
with the seasoning, I’d neglected my legs. It’s crazy
sliced onions and lime. to get heavier on top if you
3/ Serve in toasted don’t have the foundations
buns, with mayo below. So, more squats, more
spread on each side. yoga, more Pilates. I’ll never
Layer with plantain,
skip legs day again.
chicken strips and
baby gem lettuce.
What do you avoid?
Diet Coke! I drink normal
Coke. And I’ve tried to cut my
meat consumption to once
a week (3). I eat a lot of fish,
fruit, nuts and dates. But I will
still go out for fried chicken
or a dirty burger. The most
important thing is to enjoy
food. My only bad habit is, if
I’m on a snack binge, I never
know whether to end on sweet
cooking in the first place?
I was naughty at school. I was
told I had ADHD, but my mum
and dad didn’t believe it. Then,
I was diagnosed with dyslexia.
Food always calmed me down:
when I was cooking, I was
focused, whereas when I was
doing English or maths, I was
away with the fairies. I started
with Rice Krispies cakes with
my mum. But the first proper
dish I made was a Nigel Slater
recipe. It was apple cider pork
chops cooked with cream and
braised apples, served with
mashed potatoes.
You’ve had quite a year.
What’s been the highlight?
As someone who is dyslexic,
releasing my first cookbook,
The Dirty Dishes, has been
mind-blowing. I’ve had a
few meetings with Gordon
Ramsay about possible future
collaborations, and I’m talking
to a friend about opening
my first restaurant. I didn’t
think that would happen for
a few years, but a really good
opportunity has come up…
GROOMING: ADELE SANDERSON AT FRANK AGENCY I STYLING: ABENA OFEI | FOOD STYLING: NICO GHIRLANDO AT HERS | T-SHIRT CLUB MONACO AT MRPORTER.COM, WATCH ISAAC’S OWN
to cope with that?
It is what it is. When we were
going out, I found it funny to
have the shoe on the other
foot. Look at George Clooney
and his wife, Amal. She’s this
amazing human rights lawyer
but she’s always referred to
in the press as Mrs Clooney. So,
I’m just living through what
women have had to put up
with for generations.
And now for something
completely different: what
is masculinity in 2019?
That’s a tricky question. There
shouldn’t be a stigma around
men crying and showing their
emotions. We should be more
open and honest.
When was the last time
you cried?
I cry all the time. I cry watching
movies a lot. A couple of
years ago, I lost my stepdad
to suicide. I was watching The
Handmaid’s Tale recently,
and there were a couple of
scenes that related to suicide
that made me cry. I’m OK
with being emotional. There’s
nothing wrong with that.

(1) Quality over quantity Focusing on sourcing healthy ingredients, rather than on calories, leads to greater weight loss (Stanford University)
(2) La dolce vita People who enjoy pasta three times a week as part of a balanced diet tend to be leaner than those who avoid it (BMJ Open)
(3) Less is more Men who moderate their meat intake have almost half the obesity risk of committed carnivores (European Congress on Obesity)

66 MEN’S HEALTH
 “If you use
high-quality,
nutritious
ingredients,
any food
can be good
for you”

CAREW ARGUES THAT FOOD

SHOULD BE A PLEASURE,
NOT A JOYLESS COMPROMISE
 The
Eat Healthyish – SUPERFAD

Making
Of A
Superfood
The idea that exotic plants possess special powers has spawned
a billion-pound industry, and our appetite for açaí bowls and
spirulina smoothies shows no sign of abating. But is it all just
a super-sales pitch? To help you sift the spiel from the science,
we explored how one such plant – moringa – earned super status
Words by Alan Levinovitz / Illustrations by Delcan & Company

“Moringa oleifera. Have you
ever heard of that?” Mehmet Oz, the US television
personality better known as Dr Oz, asks his audience.
It’s 2012, and Oz and a guest are standing behind a
table laden with jars of supplements. A sign reads:
“Re-energise Your Life”. Oz explains that moringa
oleifera is a tree from the Himalayas, where it has
been used for centuries as an antidote for that most
universal of afflictions: the feeling that “you’re being
sapped… [and] you don’t have enough energy”.
He presents the guest with a cup of moringa tea. It
shimmers yellowish green in the glass cup. She sips
and grimaces. She does not look re-energised.
Seven years later, health-conscious consumers
can find moringa in every Whole Foods or Holland
& Barrett and in teas, powders and capsules. There
are moringa bars, moringa energy shots and moringa
snack puffs. Its purported benefits include lowering
blood pressure and blood sugar, fighting cancer and
even protecting against arsenic toxicity. Moringa
products tend to come emblazoned with all the
standard buzzwords – “organic”, “raw”, “vegan”,
“GMO-free” – and often advertise that they’re better
for you than kale. The taste? Well, throwing moringa
in a smoothie does a good job of masking what
would otherwise be tough to swallow. It’s a bit like
grass clippings and wet earth.
Still, the global market value of moringa products
is predicted to grow by nearly 10% over the next three
years, according to research by Technavio. The world
supplement market exceeded £100bn in 2016 and,
though moringa makes up only a small portion of
that, its growth is indicative of what it takes to stand
out in a crowded field. To understand it, you have to
look beyond flavour and at how, like goji berries and
chia seeds before it, this plant turned from obscure
foodstuff into big business. That means going all the
way back to when the marketing of moringa began.

68 MEN’S HEALTH
HOW ROOTED ARE THESE
OBSCURE FOODS IN
SOLID SCIENCE?

Step 1
Seed the Exotic
Backstory
In 2010, a Peace Corps volunteer named Lisa
Curtis was living in Niger and subsisting on
a diet of rice and millet. After a few months,
she began to feel weak. That’s when a group
of villagers told her about a local plant
that natives of the Sudan called shagarat
al rauwãq: “the clarifier tree”. Every part
of the plant was edible, they explained.
Its leaves were high in vitamins and
minerals, making it a valuable commodity
in areas with limited food. It was even
drought-resistant, and so a reliable source
of calories in times of crisis. This moringa
plant, they said, was a miracle.
Within days of adding moringa to her
diet, Curtis says, she felt her lethargy
lift, and she grew fascinated by the
plant’s potential to reinvigorate. Curtis
returned to the US in 2011 and launched
an Indiegogo campaign alongside three
business partners to crowd-fund a
company called Kuli Kuli. Stocking three
moringa snack-bar products, she and her
co-founders touted their possible uses
via listicles with titles like “10 Reasons to
Eat Moringa Every Day”, which suggested
benefits such as preventing and managing
diabetes, supporting cardiovascular
health and treating asthma symptoms.
(To their credit, they also offered the
GREEN PEACE: ALTRUISM
MAKES SUPERFOODS
MORE PALATABLE
standard superfood equivocations:
has the “potential” to treat, “has been
recognised” as beneficial, and so on.)
Curtis had the good luck to launch
Kuli Kuli at a time of explosive growth in
the superfood business. In recent years,
the number of vitamin and supplement
companies has been rising steadily, and
the value of the global supplements
market is projected to hit £156bn by 2025.
An ageing (and solvent) baby-boomer
generation, determined to preserve its
good health, may explain why. Even
the prefix “super-” has become more
widespread. In 2015 alone, the number
of new food and drink products labelled
as superfoods, superfruits or supergrains
increased by 36% globally.
The origin and promises of moringa
have put it on many of the same shelves
as açaí berries from Central and South
America, goji berries from China and
maca from Peru. “Superfood implies
something exotic,” says Paul Zullo, the
managing director at Silver Creative, a
branding company that works frequently
with food, beverage and nutrition
products. “It’s probably something
from Egypt or South America, grown
somewhere unusual.” You don’t get
superfoods from Croydon. They all make
use of the same formula: an ingredient
from a foreign land that helps natives
achieve miraculous health and may well
do the same for you.
Step 2
Add a Pinch
Of Magic
It’s easy to see the marketing appeal of
a “miracle tree”. But no one shopping
for moringa powder in the UK is likely
to use it in the same way as the Sudanese
locals who gave the plant its nickname.
That’s because they weren’t sprinkling
its leaves on their porridge. They had
a more urgent concern: drinking water.
Powdered moringa seeds, not leaves,
can effectively purify H2O, but not so
much the human body. Nevertheless,
many manufacturers push moringa
supplements as a way to help you “detox”.
If you didn’t have your own miracle organ
capable of handling toxins, moringa’s
purification properties might be more
useful. But you do: your liver.
Ask Curtis about the powers of moringa
and she’ll direct you to research on the
company’s website: “There are three main
reasons that people become excited about
moringa: nutrient density, plant protein
and anti-inflammatory benefits.”
Dr Kevin Klatt, a biochemist at Cornell
University in New York, has conducted
a nutrient analysis of moringa to assess
its potential to help malnourished
people. Klatt also reviewed the Kuli
Kuli website and its “10 Reasons” article.
He concluded that most of those reasons
were speculative and often based on small
studies. What’s more, many of moringa’s

supposed benefits might also be offered
by local, less expensive plants.
For example, Klatt observed that
moringa’s champions point to a specific
kind of disease-fighting antioxidant
called isothiocyanates as a reason to
love the plant. But isothiocyanates are
common compounds that are also found
in more mundane cruciferous veg, such
as broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower.
So, how did moringa become so
marketable? Through high-profile
advocates such as Dr Oz, yes, but also
through more subtle tactics. Take,
for instance, an article that appeared
in the Washington Post titled “Moringa,
the Next Superfood?” It’s written by a
University of California Davis science
writer, and the story quotes researchers
from her university who discuss how the good twice:
plant could delay diabetes – which, in once when
theory, “could also forestall a heart attack
or an amputation”. On closer inspection,
you buy it and
however, it becomes apparent that this again when
is a paid advertorial. Indeed, one of
the scientists cited has worked as a
you eat it”
consultant for Kuli Kuli.
Nutrition experts such as Klatt
have pushed back on the rhetoric of
superfoods. “I am not a fan of the word
superfood,” Klatt says, pointing out that
it encourages consumers to chase magic
bullets rather than examining their diet in
a more holistic way. Dietitians stress that
overall eating patterns are the key to good
health, emphasising whole foods over
supplements. Faced with this consensus
– and an increasingly savvy target
market – companies are now appealing
to consumers with a higher cause.
A Hero’s
Journey
MH subjects three
more health-shop
cure-alls to closer
inspection Chia seeds
The claim: They absorb
12 times their weight in
liquid to form an appetite-
suppressing gel in your gut,
leading to increased satiety
and rapid weight loss.
The reality: They are high
in hunger-curbing fibre,
with 11g in a 30g serving,
but they’re also expensive
and totally flavourless.
The swap: A slice of
seeded German rye bread
delivers a similar nutrition
profile, but is far more
enjoyable to eat.
Step 3
Grow the Halo
Effect
It’s not enough for most superfood
purveyors to seek to improve your health.
Most want to improve the planet, too.
For many modern brands, their ethical
credentials take top billing, advertised
ahead of the nutritional value of their
products. Wellness companies are
known to champion issues such as
sustainability and fair trade. Kuli Kuli
points to the fact that, by way of creating
an international market for moringa,
it has secured a sustainable livelihood
for farming communities
“You feel – in particular, female
smallholder farmers. Snack
brand Natierra, which sells
chocolate-covered goji
berries, among other things,
advertises: “Buy One Bag,
Feed One Child”.
Alexander Chernev, a
professor of marketing
at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of
Management, explains that you’re
likely to see a purchase such as this as
desirable and beneficial in two different
ways. “For example, say that I buy a
bottle of Ethos water,” he says, referring
to Starbucks’s American subsidiary that
contributes five cents of every purchase
to its Ethos Clean Water Fund.
“One reason is that I want to reward
the company for its good behaviour,” he
says. “The other reason is that I feel some
Goji berries Jackfruit
The claim: Originating The claim: With a texture
from a remote Chinese not dissimilar to pulled
village, these are higher in pork when cooked, this
antioxidants than almost Indian fruit is a healthy
any other fruit and can swap for animal protein.
slow the effects of ageing. The reality: We won’t
The reality: True, they’re weigh in on its parity with
rich in vitamins, but specific pork, but at 3g of protein
figures are hard to come per serving, you won’t
by, and most berries could meet your macro targets.
purport to have some The swap: Tofu. It’s also
anti-ageing properties. a neutral flavour-sponge,
The swap: A juicy 100- but it dishes out 15g of
calorie serving of lychees protein per portion, along
offers more than 180% of with plenty of calcium.
your vitamin-C RDA.
Eat Healthyish – SUPERFAD
sort of moral satisfaction: I believe I am
a socially responsible person.”
While these initiatives are, by all
measures, Very Good Things, there’s still
a whiff of the ancient magic – consuming
something with a good soul to fortify your
own, like eating deer to become faster.
And with superfoods, the feel-good ritual
happens twice: once when you buy the
product, then again when you eat it.
There’s also a feedback loop formed
in doing good and feeling good, thanks
to a psychological phenomenon known
as the halo effect. In various contexts,
researchers have shown that a person’s
overall impression of a product influences
the perception of specific, unrelated
qualities. For example, high-priced wines
taste better when the drinker is aware of
the price. Chernev has studied the effect
of perceived corporate responsibility
on product evaluations and found that
altruism functions similarly. When
consumers were told a company was
engaged in charitable giving, their
experience of the company’s product
improved: wine tasted better, teeth
looked whiter, hair looked thicker.
The problem, though, is that many
superfoods remain bound up with shaky
scientific claims, regardless of brands’
charitable endeavours. In the case of
moringa, the nutritional benefits are
unequivocal, but it’s only a “miracle”
for people living in parts of the world
with high levels of malnutrition. When
it comes to your average guy shopping at
Whole Foods, the extent of its effects is
liable to be underwhelming.
After interviewing Curtis, it’s hard
not to feel convinced that Kuli Kuli’s
mission is sincere. Yes, the products are
overpriced based on their nutritional
value, but there is no reason to doubt the
company’s claim that it has generated
almost £1m in revenue for more than
1,365 moringa farmers in Africa. These
actions encourage consumers to think
globally about sustainability.
At the same time, you should
acknowledge the appeal of superfoods
for what it is and always has been: the
promise of an easy solution to deep
anxieties. In truth, there is no powder
that can heal your woes, nutrition-
related or otherwise. So, applaud the
new superfoods, insofar as they indicate
a change in what we value – a focus on
helping the world in addition to ourselves.
But also remember that making good
on those values, like leading a healthy
life, will take more than a little powder
in your smoothie.
MEN’S HEALTH 71
Trust
Eat Healthyish – CUPBOARD LOVE

The
Process
0 1015918956 9

Whether canned, cured, baked or smoked, processed foods

cop a lot of bad press. But to baste it all with the same brush is
a fool’s logic. Deviate from the fresh food aisles and you can
gather a wealth of nutritious fare that easily merits a spot
in your meal plan. You just need to know where to look…
Words by Scarlett Wrench / Photography by Sun Lee
Styling by Matthew Ford

MEN’S HEALTH 73
 If there’s one point
on which all trending diets
converge, it’s that processed
foods are a bad thing. It’s the
dictum on which most nutri-
puritans agree, from vegans
to keto-eaters. It’s not without
basis. In two recent British
Medical Journal papers, a diet
based heavily on industrially
manufactured foods was
linked to a shorter lifespan. But
“processed” is an ill-defined
term. It runs the gamut from sun-
dried tomatoes to fluoro-squeezy
cheese. Fermentation? That’s
a process. Brining, marinating,
poaching… Essentially, any food
that has not been pulled off a tree
or out of the ground has been
processed. It makes our food
easier to digest, last longer and
a damn sight more enjoyable,
too. To disparage it is misguided
at best, snobbish at worst. So,
we asked a panel of nutritionists
to run us through the tins, cans
and packets that are more
than worth their salt, from the
commonplace to the gourmet.
Because life’s too short to bake
your own beans, after all.
MH’s Shelf Raiders
Renee McGregor
Leading sports dietitian
with 20 years’ experience
reneemcgregor.com
Jo Travers
Registered dietitian and
author of The Low-Fad Diet
thelondonnutritionist.co.uk
01
Black garlic
relish
Pickle, jam, jelly, chutney – call
it what you like, this hipster
preserve has benefits that
raw garlic can’t match. The
enzymes are broken down
through roughly 40 days of
heat-ageing, which causes its
sugars and amino acids to
react, hence its darker colour.
Scientists at the National
Taiwan University found that
it could have twice as many
available antioxidants as its
paler counterpart. It has a
sweet, tangy flavour, meaning
you can put away more of it,
too. Or try Hawkshead’s black
garlic ketchup on your next
cheese toastie.
02
Peanut
03
Parmigiano
Reggiano
It’s not just a slightly more
pretentious term for stinky
Parmesan. Cheese bearing
this official moniker is subject
to rigorous standards that
your average wedge is not.
Cows are better fed, the milk
isn’t heat-treated, and it must
be aged for at least a year. It
makes a difference: a study
published in Cancer Research
found polyamine compounds
in well-aged cheeses can
counteract liver damage. An
indulgent way to offset prior
indulgences, in other words.
Duck
liver pâté
Duck liver is a nutritional OG – just one packs
400% of your daily mood-boosting vitamin B12
and 130% of your copper, for immunity. That
said, you’re unlikely to pop to the butcher’s
and ask for waterfowl organs. Spreading it on
toast, however? Ducks and bread is a classic
combo. Plus, a spread of pâté has the same
calories as your standard smashed avo.
04
DON’T DUCK OUT OF LIVER PÂTÉ’S
MOOD-BOOSTING PROPERTIES

Alice Mackintosh
Harley Street nutritional
butter
food therapist
alicemackintosh.com You could buy a bag of raw,
activated macadamias from
Rhiannon Lambert Whole Foods. But for the
Nutritionist specialising in
weight management and sizeable compromise you’ll
sports rhitrition.com make in flavour, you’ll gain
nothing in health benefits.
Tabitha Ward Good PB brands roast the nuts
Registered nutritionist with
a degree in food marketing in their skins, then grind them
and human nutrition to a paste, adding nothing but
a pinch of salt. Studies show
Marek Doyle
Nutritional therapist and
they rival the antioxidant
hormone consultant content of strawberries. What’s
marekdoyle.com more, the roasting process
can actually increase the nuts’
overall antioxidant content
by more than a fifth.

74 MEN’S HEALTH

05
Dried
apricots
If you’re prone to finding
punnets of furry fruit at the
back of your fridge, you’re not
the only one: more than a third
of Europe’s fruit and veg ends
up wasted. Fresh, it seems, isn’t
always best. Fortunately, the
heat-drying process results in
minimal nutrient loss. “Instead,
it simply concentrates the
fibre and polyphenols in
a denser, longer-lasting
package,” says Ward. Dark,
unsulphured apricots have
a natural caramel-like taste
– without the caramel-like
sugar coma – and contain
more heart-protective
potassium than a banana.
06
Orange
juice
Few items flit so frequently
between the naughty-and-nice
lists as OJ. But Ward deems
it innocent. “Look for juice
ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY: GRAHAM WALSER AT LUCKY IF SHARP
fortified with vitamin D,” she
says. “Orange’s natural vitamin
C increases our absorption
of the nutrient. Plus, a bottle
is cheaper than squeezing
oranges yourself.” To further
pump up its benefits, keep
yours in the freezer and
defrost the night before. The
University of Seville found that
this makes its heart-protective
carotenoids easier to
absorb. An ice lolly
would work, too.
Eat Healthyish – CUPBOARD LOVE
Mugi
miso paste
Perfect for punchy stews or umami broths,
this soybean and barley paste is fermented
for longer than white miso, giving its healthy
digestive enzymes time to develop. It’s also
a good source of vitamin B6 and magnesium,
says Mackintosh – nutrients that support
healthy sleep (like Horlicks for grown-ups).
07 09
Smoked
anchovies
An underappreciated protein
source (12g per half tin), these
are too often limited to the
odd Neapolitan pizza or
Caesar salad. This particular
variety is brined and cold-
smoked before tinning,
resulting in a delicate texture
and taste while preserving
the fish’s healthy fats and
micronutrients. “They’re rich ENRICH YOUR BROTHS AND
in iodine, zinc and calcium, SLEEP DEEPLY WITH DARK MISO
and are a good way to get
more oily fish into your diet,”
says Mackintosh. Nardin’s
beech-smoked are a favourite
10
with chefs. Enjoy with crusty
bread and butter.
08
Tempeh
Veganism is flourishing, but
Kefir most of the amusingly named
substitutes – mheat balls,
Having migrated from health breaded chick*n, mock dogs
food stores to the ready-to- – are unidentifiable as any kind
eat aisle at your local Tesco of plant. Tempeh is not in this
Metro, kefir is set to replace pack. Originating in Indonesia
kombucha as the hipster drink (but now just as easily spotted
du jour. Fermenting your own in Sainsbury’s), it’s a dense,
is a faff, but smoothies – such fermented bean cake. “It’s
as Biotiful’s Peruvian cacao super rich in calcium, iron,
flavour – are an easy way to manganese and vitamin K2,”
get your fix. “Not only does says Mackintosh, while Ward
fermentation preserve the adds that “research suggests
product, it also increases high-protein soy foods can
the antioxidant content and benefit mood.” It’ll certainly
generates probiotic bacteria,” make you smile more than
says Doyle. It packs a handy another “facon” rasher.
8.5g of protein, too, should you
want to give your post-training
nutrition a shake-up.
MEN’S HEALTH 75

11
Piccalilli
Almost every culture has
its own take on pickled
vegetables. Germany has
sauerkraut, Koreans have
kimchi – and we have piccalilli.
Traditionally made with
cauliflower, onion, gherkins,
mustard and chillies, good-
quality varieties are “rich in
probiotics and prebiotics”,
says Mackintosh, to support
weight loss and digestive
health. Look for those with
sugar listed low on the
ingredients list. Cauliflower
and onion support natural
testosterone production,
too. That ought to power
up your next pork pie.
12
Marinara
sauce
Spaghetti and sauce is the
ultimate low-fuss comfort food,
while also dishing up quick
carbs after late training. You
could dice the onion, garlic and
herbs yourself, but McGregor
says you will see little return
from your effort. Your body
absorbs more lycopene, an
anti-cancer compound, from
tomatoes in a jar of marinara,
thanks to the puréeing, and
pasteurisation preserves the
nutrients. Its sugars are natural,
too. Even a can of plain toms
has 15g. Just change out of your
white tee before you tuck in.
76 MEN’S HEALTH
PROTEIN, HEALTHY FATS AND
A BETTER TASTE… HOW’S THAT
FOR A BIG FISH IN A SMALL TIN?
13
Ortiz tuna
Admittedly, any old supermarket own-brand
tuna is a great, cheap source of healthy
protein. But Ortiz is the dog’s. The meat is
softer, silkier and fattier – those are healthy
omega-3 fats, of course – and comes
exclusively from white, line-caught fish.
A single can contains more than your RDA
of selenium, a vital mineral for healthy
metabolism and immunity. Buy yours in
escabeche sauce, made with paprika, oil and
vinegar, then drizzle that over your salad, too.
14
Fish
Fingers
Whether you eat yours in a
ciabatta roll with dollops of
tartare, or straight off your
youngest child’s unfinished
plate, it’s worth stocking your
freezer. Those coated in
wholegrain breadcrumbs,
rather than batter, are a useful
source of fibre, not to mention
protein. “Look for brands that
advertise higher levels of
omega-3,” advises Travers,
such as Birds Eye’s Alaskan
pollock. As for that luminous
orange hue? Good brands use
paprika and turmeric as
colourings, not additives.
15
Including bottled sugar on
this list might seem like a
sticky issue, but – as ever
– the Canadians get a lot of
things right. Maple syrup is
minimally processed: trees are
tapped, then the sap heated
and filtered. You don’t want to
glug it over everything (you’re
sweet enough, etc) but as a
Sunday morning treat, it’s not
without its benefits. University
of Rhode Island studies found
that it contains 54 beneficial
compounds, many of which
are antioxidants, while further
research shows it protects
brain cells from harmful
plaque. Let that stick with you.
16
Peppadews
Forgive us the tongue twister,
but it isn’t easy to make plain
peppers palatable. Yes, frying
them in oil until they develop a
nice char is one way, but it also
burns through their nutrients.
These small, sweet African
peppers are pickled in a sweet
and sour brine, preserving
more of their vitamin C (a
modest 35kcal serving hits
half of your RDA). “They’re
also good nutritional value
compared to fresh peppers,”
says Travers. And they’ll pep
up your next Martini, too.

17
Vegetable
stock
Bone broths may be back in
fashion but, says McGregor, if
you’re buying pre-prepped
pouches, you won’t reap much
of its celebrated protein and
collagen. Go meat-free instead.
“Vegetable stock is the easiest
way to turn mismatched
ingredients into a nutritious
meal, and the salts can replace
lost minerals after exercise,”
she says. Ossa Organic’s
broth has wakame seaweed
to help your metabolism,
and immune-supporting
shiitake mushrooms.
18
Baked beans
The impoverished student’s
staple protein source should
not be canned from your
repertoire just because you’re
commanding a regular pay
cheque. They’re a great
source of iron and B vitamins
and are technically one of your
five-a-day. Better yet, “The
heart-protective folate and
thiamine in haricots survives
canning better than it would
the lengthy soaking and
cooking necessary to prep
dried beans at home,” says
Ward. Toast or spud, then?
–
21
Fish sauce
A staple ingredient in Thai
cooking, this sauce is made
by fermenting fish in salt water
for up to 18 months. Some
modern processing methods
use additives and sweeteners
– and while we certainly won’t
knock you for using them (it’s
not in the spirit of this piece),
we’d recommend keeping it
19 real. Squid’s sauce is, despite
the name, made with nothing
Rye bread but anchovies, salt and a tiny
pinch of sugar, with 5g of
Processed grains are protein per 50ml glug.
decidedly untrendy these It’ll add some punch to
days, due to the rising your next stir-fry.
low-carb movement. But this
idea is half-baked: fibrous
wholegrains – and rye in GIVE YOUR HEART HEALTH A
particular – are a great LEG-UP WITH DRY-CURED HAM
weapon for combatting
type 2 diabetes, according
to Swedish scientists. German
pumpernickel, made with
coarsely ground rye, is the
smartest pick, but a study by
Sweden’s Lund University
found even ultra-processed
white rye has a gentler effect
on blood sugar than regular
wholemeal bread. Use your
loaf in the bakery aisle.
20
Potato salad
22
Processed potato snacks
rarely merit mention on lists
such as this. But while we can’t
(yet) construct a compelling
case for a daily bag of
Squares, your barbecue
Serrano ham
side dish is another matter. As a rule of thumb (or rather, leg), if your ham
“Cooling potatoes after looks like it was cut from the hind quarters of
cooking makes them more
resistant to digestion,” says
an animal, it’s better for you than something
Ward. In a good way, that is: unnervingly square. Look for Iberian pigs,
this has the double benefit of which are higher in heart-protective oleic
lowering your blood sugar and
– when eaten alongside red
fats, and pick meats dry-cured with minimal
meat – reducing your risk additives. As for nitrates? “I wouldn’t worry
of colon cancer, too. Plus, about the nitrates in ham any more than
a spoonful contains 20%
of your vitamin C. As for the
those in spinach,” says Doyle. “Try and
mayo and mustard? Well, maintain good gut health to limit the chances
who wants plain potatoes? of nitrates being converted to more harmful
compounds.” A side of piccalilli, then?
MEN’S HEALTH 77
 03/ GinISH

No
Quite possibly the best alt-gin
on the market, this Danish drink
uses a chilli extract to mimic
alcohol’s warming mouthfeel

Half – and a little of the healthy

endorphin release, too. Even
served neat, it’s very similar to
“real” gin, and has all the right

Measures Whether you’ve pledged to go sober

for October or are simply cutting
down, low-ABV drinks offer a more
stimulating, healthy option for a dry
night out than a Coke. Drinks writer
Rebecca Seal pores over the best
Photography by Dan Matthews
01
40%
Average reduction
in harmful liver fats
after just one month
02
without alcohol*
01/ Leitz Eins Zwei
Zero Riesling
There are few de-alcoholised
wines on the market worth
drinking. In fact, this might
be the only one. It’s fairly
sweet, but “regular” Riesling is
often sweet, too. It smells and
tastes a lot like the real thing,
though with roughly a third
of the sugar. Pair it with spicy
food, especially coconut
curries, or drink with seafood.
£7 for 750ml Waitrose
leitz-wein.de
02/ Brooklyn Brewery
Special Effects
Though it’s meant to be served
chilled like lager, this is brewed
with Mosaic, Citra and Amarillo
hops, like ale, so it’s more
interesting than other low-ABV
beers (it’s 0.4%). Brooklyn has
a unique process for extracting
more flavour, yet less alcohol.
Its low carb count makes it a
smart bet for your belly, too.
£1.30 for 355ml Tesco
brooklynbrewery.com
botanicals, particularly juniper.
Special mention also to RumISH,
which makes exceptional
faux-spiced-rum cocktails.
£25 for 70cl onlyhere4.com
ishspirits.com
04/ Aecorn Apéritifs
Created by the makers of
Seedlip, all three apéritifs –
bitter, dry and aromatic – can
be served over ice, or with a
mixer. The bitter is intense, with
bay leaf and citrus; the dry is
herbaceous and fresh; and the
aromatic has notes of caramel
and toasted nuts. They’re
made with a base of verjus,
a folk remedy rich in healthy
plant flavonols.
£20 for 500ml Ocado
and Selfridges
aecornaperitifs.com
06
07

04

03
05

78 MEN’S HEALTH

05/ Ceder’s Crisp
Created with Pernod Ricard,
the most dominant flavour of
Ceder’s Crisp is cucumber, so
it’s a good swap for Hendricks.
Like gin, it’s designed to be
drunk with tonic, but you can
try grapefruit juice, too. If you
prefer something with more
juniper, go for Ceder’s Classic,
or for spice, Ceder’s Wild, all
full of antioxidant botanicals.
£19 for 500ml Ocado
ceders-alt-gin.com
06/ Casablanca Sharāb
It might come in a wine bottle,
but this is no plonk sub-in:
sharāb is a barrel-aged shrub,
FOOD STYLING: GEORGIE BESTERMAN AT HERS | *ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL | **UNIVERSITY OF EXTREMADURA
made from grapes preserved
in sugar and vinegar, a natural
blood glucose-balancer. It’s
tangy, but with a delicate
sweetness and notes of apple,
toasted coconut and oaky
vanilla. It cuts through rich
dishes. There’s a white version,
too, but it’s not quite as good.
£11 for 750ml sharabdrinks.com
08
09
330ml
The hops in one bottle
of non-alcoholic beer
reduces anxiety and
improves sleep**
07/ Old Speckled Hen
Low Alcohol
A creditable version of
the alcoholic original, this
ale has gentle caramel and
toffee notes from crystal
malt and is flavoured with
Challenger, Pilgrim, First
Gold and Goldings hops –
essentially the same as
Old Speckled Hen 5%
ABV. It also has half of the
calories. Good for sipping,
sessions, or with food.
£1.40 for 500ml Sainsbury’s
greenekingshop.co.uk
08/ Adnams Ghost Ship
Alcohol Free
A “proper ale” with lots of
hoppiness. Though only 0.5%
ABV, it has a similar structure to
the punchier 4.5% original, with
balanced citrus notes – none of
the overly malty sweetness you
get from many mass-produced
low-ABV beers. BrewDog’s
Nanny State ale could be
considered a close competitor,
but this beats it. Just.
£1.30 for 500ml Waitrose
adnams.co.uk
10
Eat Healthyish – DRY DRINKER’S GUIDE
09/ Caleño
Inspired by Colombian culture,
this tropical “free spirit” (that
is, 0% alcohol) also contains
none of the added sugars and
sweeteners used by some
other brands, and derives its 11/ Lucky Saint
flavour from a blend of juniper, The founder of Lucky Saint
spice and Inca berries, which
quit his day job so he could
lend it notes of mango. It’s
brew alcohol-free beer full-
even distilled in stainless steel time. It was worth it, as this
drums. Add tonic, or a mix of
crisp Pilsner is a true success
lime juice and pineapple.
story. Like many of the best
£24 for 700ml Sainsbury’s
non-alcoholic lagers, the small
calenodrinks.com
amount of alcohol created in
the brewhouse is removed
10/ Monte Rosso
through vacuum distillation.
This tangy drink, with pink
Malt is a natural mood-
grapefruit-like zest and
enhancer, too, for a pick-me-
bitterness, is billed as an
up with zero comedown.
apéritif, but it would also work
£2.20 for 330ml beerhawk.co.uk
well with salty foods such
luckysaint.co
as smoked salmon and hard
cheese. It’s fairly sweet as
12/ Everleaf
a result of its mix of berry
Deliciously bitter, this can
extracts, so it’s likely not
be drunk neat or with tonic.
something you’ll want to drink
Its flavour is predominantly
all night – though at 94kcal a
herbal but has hints of
bottle, you could do far worse.
stress-relieving vanilla
£2.60 for 275ml Waitrose
and a smooth mouthfeel. It’s
monterossoaperitivo.com
not thin and watery, as many
non-alcoholic blends can be.
Everleaf is a summery drink,
but it could easily be made
more autumnal by adding
apple juice and spice.
£15 for 500ml Sainsbury’s
11 everleafdrinks.com
12
As cannabis laws are relaxed around the
world, the evil weed is being rebranded
as a wellness panacea. Should you
subscribe to the high life? Or, as
advocates disregard the downsides,
could users be gaining a false sense of
security? MH investigates whether it’s
truly time to give grass the green light

Photography by Rowan Fee – Words by Richard Godwin

 SHOULD YOU SWALLOW THE
COCKTAIL OF HEALTH CLAIMS
SURROUNDING WEED?

in November 2016, weed smokers
could have been forgiven for checking
the contents of their bongs. California
was soon followed by Canada. It was
a watershed moment. As the comedian
John Mulaney remarked: “This is the first
time I’ve ever seen a law change because
the government is just like, ‘Fine.’”
I was living in Los Angeles during
the “green rush”, and there was a heady
sense of possibility in the air. I went to
marijuana Tupperware parties; I visited
a feminist cannabis collective; I marvelled
at the billboards for green tech start-ups
that lined motorways; and I reassessed
the drug I had written off as a bad thing
in my early twenties. My way back in was
a chic, golden vape pen made by Beboe,
the “Hermes of marijuana”, which now
has a concession in luxury department
store Barneys. The high became high-end.
My wife – a lifelong weed refusenik – took
to dabbing cannabis-infused coconut
powder, one of many products aimed at
people who would never have considered
rolling a joint. When we returned to
Britain in 2017, the nation felt backwards.
“Cannabis is on a global journey from
drug to medicine to lifestyle,” says Gavin
Sathianathan, founder of Alta-Flora,
a British biopharmaceutical start-up.
Sathianathan made the transition to the
cannabis industry in 2015 after 10 years
in tech. At first, he says, announcing you
worked in cannabis was a conversation
killer. Now it’s a starter. “You can travel
down the Pacific coast of North America,
82 MEN’S HEALTH
from Alaska through Canada, then
Washington and Oregon to California, and
in all of these places, recreational cannabis
is freely available to adults. In Europe, we’re
only just making the move from drug to
medicine, but the tide is moving one way.”
A group of cross-party MPs predicted
in July that marijuana will be legalised on
these shores within five years, but it took
the high-profile cases of Alfie Dingley in
England and Billy Caldwell in Northern
Ireland – two children suffering from
severe epilepsy whose seizures were only
brought under control by cannabis oil –
to convince Home Secretary Sajid Javid
that it has legitimate medical uses. He
relaxed the laws last November, meaning
doctors are free to prescribe it. But, so far,
few do. “It’s not that
doctors don’t want
to prescribe it. It’s
more that they
don’t know what to
prescribe for which
indications,” says
David Badcock, CEO of
DrugScience, which campaigns for
a more evidence-based drugs policy in
the UK. “There are hundreds of thousands
of people suffering unnecessarily, and
that’s not morally acceptable.”
Smoke and Mirrors
When it comes to recreational use,
however, there are reasons to be cautious.
To say that cannabis should be available
to doctors is not the same as saying
it’s good for you – but you could easily
get that impression from the deluge of
pro-cannabis
marketing flooding out
of the US, not to mention the
CBD craze here in the UK. And to
say we should stop criminalising kids
for smoking weed isn’t the same as saying
we should remove all restrictions.
Research suggests that THC (the
illegal cannabinoid that gets you high)
may benefit sufferers of chronic pain,
inflammation, nausea and conditions
ranging from multiple sclerosis to HIV.
CBD (the legal one that mellows you out)
can treat types of epilepsy and could be
useful for diabetics. But when you review
FOOD STYLIST: JOHAN VAN DER MERWE AT HERS | PROP BUILD BY MANDY MODEL MAKER | ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY | *YOUGOV
the evidence for cannabis’s benefits
more closely, one thing stands out: there
isn’t very much of it. Millions of people
use cannabis for all sorts of afflictions
– so it does something – but as for
randomised, double-blind clinical trials
and peer-reviewed papers, well, we’re still
waiting. A 2017 report by the US National
Academy of Medicine
concluded: “Very little
is known about the
efficacy, dose, routes
of administration,
or side effects of
commonly used
and commercially
available cannabis products.” There’s
more evidence for its harms – specifically,
the link between high doses of THC and
psychosis. You might wonder, then, how
a drug that has been strongly linked with
schizophrenia has suddenly become
promoted as a panacea, with the full
weight of Silicon Valley behind it.
Will Lawn, a post-doctoral researcher
at UCL studying the effects of cannabis
on teenagers, finds the 180-degrees flip
 High
h Tiimes

THE MARIJUANA MOGULS

THE PROPORTION OF BRITISH
ADULTS WHO NOW WANT TO
LEGALISE CANNABIS
The “cannabiz” is thriving, and it’s not
just Snoop Dogg buying in. Here’s
a roll call of the more familiar faces
01 02

Mikee Ty
yson Gwyneeth Paalttroow
In 2016, he founded Paltrow welcomed
Tyson Holistic marijuana dispensary
Holdings, which sells chain MedMen into
premium strains and her empire with a
edibles. He’s building Goop collaboration
a 400-acre resort with last year. Goop also
the world’s longest hosts articles on CBD
lazy river. He also has dinner parties and
a podcast: Hotboxin’ stylish cannabis
with Mike Tyson. flower gift boxes.

03 04

Joe Montan
na Dan Billzeriaan
The Hall of Fame NFL The self-proclaimed
quarterback invested King of Instagram
in cannabis-focused co-founded the
media outlet Herb cannabis company
in 2017. This year, Ignite. His goal?
he was part of a To “create the first
$75m investment global cannabis
in Caliva: a marijuana brand” that becomes
dispensary behemoth “the Coca-Cola of
based in California. the weed industry”.

in perceptions of cannabis “baffling” and Those advocating for cannabis

“annoying”. “There’s some evidence that
cannabis helps with a few indications,”
he says. “But then you hear rubbish about
CBD curing cancer or treating depression.
The idea that you should give cannabis
to people with PTSD is fanciful.”
Meanwhile, the American journalist
Alex Berenson has been trying to draw
attention to the links between cannabis
and psychosis. His book, Tell Your
Children, argues that the cannabis lobby
ignored evidence that THC can help to
bring about schizophrenia. He cites a
2017 study, which found: “Cannabis use
is likely to increase the risk of developing
schizophrenia and other psychoses. The
higher the use, the greater the risk.”
Berenson’s book has been dismissed
as alarmist by many researchers, but he
is not wrong to caution that THC has its
risks. “There’s reason to be careful,” says
Lawn. “If you smoke skunk every day, the
risk of psychosis goes from 0.5% to 2.5%.
That’s a big increase. But we should keep
that in perspective. You’ve still got a 97.5%
chance of being OK.” Lawn sees excesses
on both sides, but he views it as “bizarre”
that even where cannabis is legalised, it
hasn’t been subject to basic regulations.
There are whole libraries of evidence
that alcohol is harmful, for example, and
many scientists would argue that it’s more
damaging than cannabis. Alcohol is legal,
but there are rules about how you can sell
it. It’s licensed. There are restrictions on
advertising, warnings on abuse. You won’t
find many people using their social media
platforms to tell you Jägermeister is good
for cramps, or that gin cures psoriasis.
“In the UK, the wellness angle is mainly
focused on CBD, which is harmless,”
Lawn says. “But in the US, the marketing
is strong for the use of high-strength
cannabis. That’s distasteful. We’ve
stopped tobacco adverts on TV. I don’t
like seeing gambling adverts and alcohol
adverts. Why go down that road again?”
Cannabis companies might not be able
to market these products in the UK yet,
but they are making their presence felt.
Instagram celebrity Dan Bilzerian set up
shop here in July with his brand Ignite,
while medicinal company Aurora urged
the UK to be a “leader, not a laggard”.
reform will argue that the comparative
paucity of evidence-based research is
merely a symptom of how excessive the
anti-cannabis mood has been over the
years. Cannabinoids are of interest to
medical science, as are many restricted
drugs – diamorphine (heroin) is routinely
used as a pain-relief agent; ketamine is
sometimes used as an anaesthetic – but
restrictive drug laws have made it hard to
run the sort of randomised, double-blind
clinical trials that would give us the data
to prove cannabis’s efficacy.
Badcock of DrugScience argues that
this shouldn’t be an obstruction. “The
cannabis plant is a very complex thing. It
would take years to do all the trials you’d
need to understand it,” he says. “We can’t
wait for that. The evidence suggests it’s
less harmful than the government regards
it and how it’s depicted in the media.”
One of the problems for doctors is
knowing how to prescribe cannabis. In
what form? In what dosage? No responsible
doctor wants to encourage their patients
to start skinning up Purple Haze. But as

MEN’S HEALTH 83
founder of drug development company
Small Pharma Peter Rands argues, that’s
not a million miles away from what has
been happening in the US.
The cannabis industry operates in the
grey area between federal law (it remains
outlawed at a national level) and state law
(at the time of going to press, 33 states
had legalised medicinal marijuana and
11 had legalised recreational marijuana).
That means it hasn’t been subject to the
usual regulatory processes.
If you want to market a conventional
medicine in the US, you need to apply
to the Food and Drug Administration to
approve a clinical trial and specify which
precise condition you’re trying to treat.
Only once you have established safety,
efficacy and quality will you be allowed
to market your drug to doctors.
“With cannabis, all of that has been
bypassed,” says Rands. “In the states with
legalised medical marijuana, a doctor just
gives you a medical marijuana card – and
there are few limitations on the safety,
efficacy and quality of the marijuana-
based products on sale in dispensaries.”
Dispensaries can be strange places as
a result. They house an unsettling blend
of medicine, recreation and commerce.
In one of the dispensaries I visited near
Venice Beach, I found people weeping
in evident pain and distress right across
from cackling kids and sales reps in fancy
dress. “It hasn’t been good for public
health that everything has been put
under the same umbrella,” says Rands.
“People have come up with all sorts of
justifications for smoking weed. If it has
the potential to save lives as a medicine,
then clearly it shouldn’t be banned.
But if someone is enjoying a spliff in
the evening, it should be regulated in
the same way as any other substance
that could be abused.”

The Good Life

One obvious improvement would be
to make patients and consumers aware
of what they’re taking by labelling the
percentages of THC and CBD. “It’s the
same as alcohol,” Badcock argues. “There’s
beer, wine and spirits. People know there’s
a difference between them all – they don’t
go around accidentally drinking pints of
whiskey. But all that has developed over
time with alcohol, not overnight.”
**MARIST POLL | †DIABETES CARE

If you’ve ever watched movies from AMERICAN USERS WHO TAKE

the immediate post-Prohibition era in CANNABIS RECREATIONALLY,
the US, you might notice a few parallels. VERSUS 19% TO RELIEVE PAIN**
From 1920 to 1933, recreational alcohol
was banned across America. It was great

84 MEN’S HEALTH
 High
h Tiimes

High Point
THE HIGHS
AND LOWS
Totally clear-cut
conclusions are
hard to come by
when the research
is hazy. Here’s the Pain
n rellieef Diaabettess Anxietty Memory loosss Inflam
mmatiion Paraanooiaa
latest thinking on A university study CBD and THCV may A 50mg dose of CBD Chronic cannabis A University of An Oxford
cannabis’s effects found CBD can cut lower blood sugar, oil per day can curb use in teenagers has Massachusetts University study
Low Point

pain, but different says University anxiety, report been linked to study suggests found that 1.5mg of
research found no of Nottingham scientists in impairment in the cannabinoids could THC (ie, a strong
evidence it can wean research. But weed Colorado. Two puffs part of the brain soothe symptoms joint) triggered
those in chronic smokers carry more of a joint can do linked to memory, of IBS, but more short-term paranoia
pain off opioids. fat at their waist†. the same job. Plos One reports. research is needed. in a fifth of users.

news for people like Al Capone and it
made for some fun evenings down at
Fat Sam’s Grand Slam. However, it was
terrible news for alcohol companies –
and the thousands of people poisoned
by low-grade bootleg booze. After
the amendment was repealed, most
Americans breathed a sigh of relief, and
then had a drink. Or six. In the 1934 film
The Thin Man, crime-fighting husband
and wife Nick and Nora Charles spend the
whole movie drinking Martinis, showing
no ill effects whatsoever, as if to say, “Well,
that was a big fuss over nothing.”
Something similar is happening with
cannabis. A 2016 study found that 17.2% of
songs in the Billboard Top 40 contained
a reference to cannabis, compared to 0.6%
in 1986. According to the Pew Research
group, 84% of American adolescents
identified the drug to be harmful to one’s
health in 1994, compared to 53.8% in 2014.
The full force of the Californian culture
industry is behind cannabis. Gwyneth
Paltrow’s Goop has teamed up with
MedMen, which sells high-end cannabis
products. Country legend Willie Nelson
has his own line of artisanal bud, Willie’s
Reserve, and recently appeared on the
cover of Rolling Stone’s “Weed Issue”.
Snoop Dogg sells strains like Cali Kush,
Northern Lights and Lemon Pie under
his “Leafs by Snoop” brand. Mike Tyson
is building a 400-acre cannabis resort.
Like yoga, kombucha, buttock
implants, sushi and Instagram sunsets,
cannabis has become a totem of the good
life. “Cannabis has always been culturally
accepted in California. Now, we’re just
seeing the export of Californian cannabis
culture worldwide,” says Sathianathan.
“We’ve always focused on the harm, but
in California, they focus on the positives.
In the US, they tend to consider things
legal until they’re made illegal, whereas in
Europe, we have the opposite attitude.”
Better Medicine
As for what legal cannabis might look
like in the UK and Europe, Sathianathan
reckons Canada offers the best example.
France, Italy and Germany are liberalising
cannabis laws, while the latest polls
suggest twice as many Brits now support
the legalisation of cannabis as oppose it.
Canada has neither the weird grey
market nor the aggressive marketing
you find in the US, but still, there have
been numerous supply chain issues.
Legal sales of cannabis actually dropped
in the first quarter
of 2019. “It’s partly
because the average
Canadian understood
legalisation to mean
that the black market
had been legalised,”
says Sathianathan.
“They reckoned their
local dealer was now legit. Cannabis
remains higher quality, cheaper and more
available through the black market. It’s
a challenging dynamic, but you’d hope
that these are teething problems.”
One argument often made for legalising
cannabis concerns improving quality. In
the UK, much of what’s available is ultra-
high-THC skunk, the most dangerous
strain. Most users smoke it, too, which
obviously exposes them to other risks
such as lung cancer. In the US, however,
joints are increasingly seen as “legacy”
products. “There’s a big move away
from smoking towards manufactured
products,” says Sathianathan. In US
boutiques, you will now find cannabis
vape pens, cannabis-infused tampons
for period pain, cannabis-infused
Sauvignon Blanc, cannabis toothpaste,
cannabis sex aids and Whoopi Goldberg’s
cannabis lavender bath soak. “One of the
big trends we’re seeing is microdosing –
5-10mg of THC taken in lieu of a glass of
wine,” says Sathianathan. “That’s quite
appealing to the soccer mom market. It
doesn’t damage your liver like alcohol,
it’s non-calorific, and you can wake up
in the morning and go to the gym. When
it was illegal, it was all about bang-for-
your-buck. But as you offer more choice
in terms of potency and form, I suspect
high-strength skunk will bleed away.”
Many believe our legislators need
to wise up if we’re to do this properly.
“I’d draw a lot of
parallels between
the developments of
cannabis and tech,”
says Sathianathan. The
UK and Europe didn’t
see how the modern
technology and social
media boom “would
change our lives and shape discourse”. As
a result, the web has been underpinned
by Silicon Valley values, which are not
necessarily European values.
“If Instagram, say, was a European
company,” he says, “there’s no way it
would have ever let anorexic girls appear
in newsfeeds. What I’m now saying to
regulators in Europe is: let’s not miss this
chance. I’d hate to be sitting here in 10
years, expecting to see some American
cannabis giant get fined, in the way we
now expect to see Facebook fined. It would
be much better if we could form our own
cannabis industry with our own values.”

MEN’S HEALTH 85
 Gym Awards
2019

From strongman to spin, mobility WODs to martial arts, our workout

options have never been more diverse. The gym is no longer one style
fits all. So, how to find the venue most suited to your needs? MH has
done all the heavy lifting for you. This is our annual audit of the venues,
coaches and classes that are most committed to keeping pace.
Don’t forget your sweat towel
WORDS BY SCARLETT WRENCH | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOBE LAWRENSON

VIRGIN ACTIVE IS
A CLASS APART
The Best
Gym Chain
VIRGIN ACTIVE
virginactive.co.uk
Delivering the feel of an
exclusive boutique on
a national scale is tough
going. But Virgin Active does
exactly that, with 43 venues
nationwide (and membership
packages starting at a
decidedly un-boutique £45
per month). Gym floors
are kitted out with more
paraphernalia than you could
shake a kettlebell at – from the annual audit, this
usual free weights and cardio
machines to the more niche
monkey bars, boxing rings
and SkillMills, in certain
venues – but it’s the class
offerings that really make this
chain stand apart. Its intensive London studios. It’s a package
Heat class (that’s “high-
energy athletic training”)
offers a punchy calorie burn,
while the CrossFit-esque
Grid Games gives members
across the country a chance
to face off against each other
in a lung-busting time trial.
Our favourite new offering?
The Mayfair venue’s Row
Strong – an uber-hip
combination of rowing and
Olympic lifting. Very 2019.
88 MEN’S HEALTH
WITH A SPRINT TRACK AND
MORE TOYS THAN HAMLEYS,
THE YARD IS UNBEATABLE
RUNNERS-UP
PureGym
puregym.com
A non-mover in our
zero-contract, 24-hour gym is
the smart bet for any man on
a budget, with memberships The Best
starting at £11 a month – an
Functional Space
ADDITIONAL REPORTING: CHARLOTTE DALY | ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY: PHILIP HAYNES, JONATHAN BEAN
outlay that barely buys you 20
minutes of graft in most trendy
THE YARD AT THIRD SPACE
made for go, not show. thirdspace.london
Nuffield Health
nuffieldhealth.com It’s emblematic of the Third Space Canary Wharf, it
current landscape that the boasts a multi-purpose rig,
The non-profit health- thing all high-end, luxury sprint track and sleds, along
care group has your health clubs most want to with all the usual apparatus.
well-being in mind. As well boast about is not their spa, The mezzanine also houses
as access to the gym, classes pool or yoga studio, but the a fully equipped combat zone
and pool, it offers all members raw, gritty functionality of their (martial arts being the trend
free “health MOTs”, with training spaces. The Yard is that will not tap out), while
guidance from a personal undoubtedly a diamond in the classes include WODs,
trainer, plus a discount rough-and-readiness. Situated kettlebell tutorials and
on services such as within the 100,000-square- strongman training, under
physiotherapy. Because there foot, three-floor complex at the guidance of high-level
is more to fitness than biceps. instructors. Your frangipani
salt scrub can wait.
 Gym Awards 2019

RORY KNIGHT HAS SPRINTED

TO THE FRONT OF THE PACK

The Smartest
Coach
RORY KNIGHT
@roryknightfitness

As a global master trainer

RUNNERS-UP
Barber’s Gym
barbersgym.com
combo of strength
and cardio, try this
This back-to-basics,
stripped-down gym has no
showers or mirrors. This is no
trainer Luke Barnsley
boutique. But you will have a
high-class workout, courtesy
of rowers, sandbags, punch
bags and, most impressively,
an excellent bouldering wall.
Farm Fitness
farmfitness.co.uk
A long-time Men’s Health
favourite, this is surely the UK’s
coolest outdoor gym. Inspired
by the physicality of farming,
PT Tom Kemp has built a space
in rural Essex with hay bales,
sledgehammers and tyres. It’s
outstanding in its field (sorry).
TRUE GRIT
For an all-in-one
01/ Ups and downs
Every minute on the
minute for 12 minutes in
weekly drill from
Third Space elite
total, perform four burpees.
Start your first as soon
as the timer starts.
• Chest-to- 02/ On the pull
floor burpee Pile up a sled and attach
x4, EMOM, a rope. Push it one way,
12min total then drag it back for
the rest of the minute,
• Sled push then burpee again.
and drag for
remaining time 03/ Step it up
Challenge yourself every
week to beat your score.
Progressing? Increase
your work time to 16min.
Then see how you fare.
for Technogym and rep for
luxe London gyms (formerly
Equinox, now KXU), Rory
Knight’s CV is as exhaustive as
his workouts are exhausting.
But it’s not these accolades
that make him 2019’s Smartest
Coach. It’s his focus on
inclusivity in an industry
where it’s easy for people to
feel like they don’t belong.
“Everyone has athletic
potential,” Knight says. “I build
people up and make them
believe in themselves. Once
they believe, they are far more
likely to achieve their goals.”
Most recently, he co-founded
running and athletics club Track
Life Ldn (tracklifeldn.com).
“Track running has been
viewed as elitist,” he says. “It’s
synonymous with pros and
people find it intimidating.
We wanted to make the track
feel accessible.” Next year, he
plans to spread the gospel.
“New York, Dubai, Liverpool...
anywhere!” You’ll see us there.
RAPID-FIRE
QUESTIONS
Favourite gym class?
The Games at KXU in
Chelsea is great. [We
concur – see page 90.]
Gym power move?
Glute ham developer.
A strong posterior
chain is vital to fix
imbalances, but
when we’re younger,
we wrongly focus on
muscles we can see.
Regular running spot?
Along the river,
usually Bishop’s Park,
down by Putney.
Post-training meal?
Anything from
Fresh Fitness Food
(freshfitnessfood.com).
I’m coeliac, and
it does good gluten-
free meals.
Athletic hero?
Federer. He’s stayed
at the top for so long.

MEN’S HEALTH 89
LIFT YOURSELF –
LITERALLY – TO NEW
HEIGHTS OF FITNESS

RUNNERS-UP

The Best The popularity of indoor

want to look elsewhere),
“Dumby” is home to some
Surf Snowdonia
adventureparcsnowdonia.com

Gym That’s climbing might be on the

ascent, but for an adrenalin
world-class bouldering
problems – that’s climbing Head to Wales for the UK’s

Not a Gym
rush that will truly rock you,
you can’t beat the real thing.
Given that this category
celebrates those training
DUMBARTON ROCK
spaces that offer a true
dumby.info
departure from your regular
routine, Scotland’s best
bouldering spot is a natural
pick. Just a quick train ride
from Glasgow (those chasing
serene, bucolic scenes might
speak for routes – as well as
catering for traditional and
sport climbers. Best of all, to
borrow a phrase from Spinal
Tap, this one goes up to 11:
Dumbarton’s “Rhapsody” route
is officially the world’s first to
be rated E11, the most extreme
difficulty grade. Go between
November and April, when
the rock has natural friction.
only guaranteed surf break.
Whether you want to shed fat
or shred waves, a session in the
300m wave lagoon – against
a backdrop of mountains and
forests – will test your muscles,
blast through calories and
wash away any residual
work-related anxieties.
The Snow Centre
*FOR MORE, SEE ROBBIEPHILLIPS.CO.UK, @ROBBIEPHILLIPS_

thesnowcentre.com

01/ The 02/ The 03/ The

PACK YOUR Pad Shoes Chalk
For off-piste lower-body
workouts, you won’t do better
BAGS “You need “Go for “Chalk than this 160m real-snow slope
Everything you’ll foam matting in case tight-fitting shoes with prevents sweat from
you fall,” says Phillips. a grippy rubber sole,” causing your hands in Hertfordshire. With lessons
need for your first
And fall you will. He he says. “Scarpa is to slip,” says Phillips. for all abilities, plus day passes
outdoor excursion,
courtesy of Scottish suggests the Edelrid my favourite brand.” “I use FrictionLabs. for people who prefer to
climber and coach Crux, which is large but The Arpia is perfect if Its high magnesium freestyle, the only thing you’ll
Robbie Phillips* packs away easily. you’re new to climbing. carbonate content
Edelrid Crux III £262 Scarpa Arpia £120 makes it dry better.”
miss is the après-ski scene.
alpinetrek.co.uk rockrun.com £20 rockrun.com

90 MEN’S HEALTH
 Gym Awards 2019

The Best
Specialist Gym
CHAINSTORE GYM & PARKOUR
parkourgenerations.com

LEARN TO RUN, JUMP Despite its rather European-

AND FLIP OVER ANY
URBAN OBSTACLE
RUNNERS-UP
Roger Gracie Jiu-Jitsu
Academy
rogergracie.com
Once a niche discipline,
Brazilian jiu-jitsu now has
mainstream fitness in its
chokehold. And there’s no
better venue than this, founded
by 14-time world champion
Roger Gracie. Perfect your joint
locks at its classes, which are
also suitable for beginners.
South Essex Gymnastics Club
southessexgym.co.uk
Home to elite gymnast Max
Whitlock, this club is where
Team GB became a force to be
reckoned with. Kitted out with
all the beams, trampolines
and pommel horses you could
wish for – and offering expert
tutoring – it’s a far more fun
way to score gold-standard
abs than grimacing through
another side-plank.
sounding name, we Brits
have a solid track record
when it comes to the sport
of parkour (also known as
“freerunning”, or “l’art du
deplacement”). Indeed, we
were the first country to
recognise it officially as
a sport. But if you want to
learn to run, jump, climb
and backflip without risking
a concussion, you need to look
further than your local park.
Situated in an east-London
warehouse, Chainstore bills
itself as “the UK’s only true
indoor parkour gym”. There
are vault boxes and crash
mats for newcomers, plus
concrete blocks and
scaffolding for the more
sure-footed. Reassuringly,
training takes place under the
watchful gaze of experienced
coaches. And if you’re not
quite ready to launch yourself
off anything just yet, there’s
also a functional fitness
gym where you can hone
your strength in a more
conventional way.

The Best BRING THE GYM HOME

New
Virtual reality training is set to be the big trend
Bored of your run-of-the-mill of 2020. Here are three of the power players
cardio workout? Then look

Gym Toy out for its brutal upgrade,

which is steadily accelerating
in popularity as it makes its
TECHNOGYM SKILLMILL way into gyms throughout
technogym.com the UK. Whereas your regular
runner only trains stamina
and speed, the non-motorised
SkillMill adds muscular
endurance and power to
the mix. Resistance settings
let you switch between free
running – in which the belt
goes as fast as you do – and
“sled pushes”, in which you
rely on your leg power to turn
the belt, while a waistband
attachment mimics parachute
runs, too. It also requires
more focus, so will hone
your mental perseverance
as an added bonus.
01/ For cycling 02/ For rowing 03/ For the rest
The OG of VR, the Don’t anchor your The Mirror is an
high-spec Peloton lets fitness to your work interactive home
you choose between schedule. This stylish, gym that offers
real-time classes and interactive rowing a range of workouts,
a library of workouts machine offers classes from cardio to
ranging from 5-90 with experts streamed yoga, with live or
minutes with varying live from the water. pre-programmed
difficulty levels. Unlike These come in four instructors, displayed
the offerings at your levels – “breathe”, on the mirror-like
local gym, you can “sweat”, “push” and screen. Its smart
monitor your progress “drive” – and promise sensors analyse your
with metrics such as to burn hundreds of performance, so you
heart rate, cadence calories per session. can reflect on your
and power output. hydrow.com efforts afterwards.
onepeloton.com mirror.co

MEN’S HEALTH 91

TEST YOUR LIMITS WITH
A RELENTLESSLY BRUTAL
STRONGMAN WORKOUT
The Coolest
Fitness Class
KXU THE GAMES
kxu.co.uk
Don’t be fooled by the name:
the Games are most definitely
not something you play. Billed
as a test of both physical
prowess and mental mettle
(“The words ‘I can’t’ or ‘I’m
done’ don’t exist,” the website
claims), the class delivers
exactly what you want: it
pushes you out of your comfort has finally landed in the UK.
zone in a way that your regular
workouts rarely can. Over 60
minutes, attendees tackle
a series of stations, working
with battle ropes, tyres, prowler the ultimate endorphin rush: a
sleds, Atlas stones, “circus”
dumbbells and sledgehammers high-energy cardio sesh.
– classic strongman tools. And
to get to grips with them?
Receive some tutoring
from a very strong woman,
KXU coach Laura “Biceps”
Hoggins. We can assure you
that her nickname is earned.
92 MEN’S HEALTH
RUNNERS-UP
SoulCycle
soul-cycle.com
The New York “status class”
And, as much as we wanted to
remain coolly sceptical of its
candlelit studios and soulful
mantras, MH is a convert. It’s
hugely enjoyable and effective
David Lloyd Lift and Row
davidlloyd.co.uk
Not all of the smartest classes
are born in boutiques. Health
club David Lloyd’s Lift and Row,
created in partnership with
British Rowing, combines
functional resistance kit such
as TRX trainers and ropes (the
“lift” part) with rowing sessions
to ensure every box is ticked.
The 2019
Community
Heroes
STEEL WARRIORS
steelwarriors.co.uk
The greatest fitness
enterprises change minds,
RUNNERS-UP
as well as bodies – and our
newest category celebrates Terra Hale
just that. Since the start of terrahale.com
2019, there have been more
than 80 deaths related to knife Surely the UK’s wokest gym,
crime in London alone. Steel Terra Hale has a lot of eco cred.
Warriors is fighting back, Its spin bikes generate its
melting down knives taken off electricity, it’s plastic-free, and
the streets and repurposing the weight plates are made
them to build calisthenics from recycled tyres. Oh, and
parks. “Gyms are expensive, it’s currently organising a ride
but here we provide a free way across north-east India, during
of helping young people to which it’ll be planting trees.
develop physical confidence,
so they feel able to walk York Masters Boxing Club
the streets unarmed,” says salvationarmy.org.uk
founder Ben Wintour. It also
helps to draw attention to Run by the Salvation Army,
the issue with its roster of York Masters provides weekly
high-profile supporters drop-in boxing classes for the
(Anthony Joshua is an homeless. So far, it has helped
ambassador). The team aims at least four people break their
to build 20 more street gyms dependence on drugs and
over the coming years, with alcohol, while improving the
the support of partners Co-op. mental health of many others
Right now, you’ll have to make – a hard-hitting initiative.
a trip to Langdon Park in
Poplar to test your mettle.
SUPPORT THE GYM MAKING
CHANGE AT THE SHARP
END OF KNIFE CRIME
 Gym Awards 2019

The Best
Studio
FLY LDN
flyldn.co.uk

Still think that yoga is just

for people who collect healing
crystals? If so, open up your
mind (and, most likely, your hip
flexors). Fly Ldn in Aldgate,
London, calls itself a “non-yogi
yoga studio”, with a focus on
performance over posturing.
But – we’ll be honest – that’s
not what elevates this studio
to a higher plane. Nope, that
would be its vast, cinematic
HD screen, which provides
a backdrop to your session
with a loop of serene beach
STRETCH YOUR MIND
AND BODY BEFORE A
scenes and Himalayan
BREATHTAKING SCENE mountain ranges. That ought
to take your mind off those
gnarly pigeon poses. For the
less yogically inclined, Fly Ldn
also offers a recovery TRX
class, designed by a CrossFit
coach. Going all-out, all the
time is no longer cool, bro.

RUNNERS-UP
Kobox
koboxboxingclub.com

These monochrome-and-neon
boxing studios are chic but they
hit hard, with 50-minute classes
that include conditioning and
bag work. Newest offering “13”
caps its numbers to 13 people,
so you’ll never queue for kit.

F45
f45training.co.uk

UNKNOT Like the Pret of the fitness

scene, this chain is popping
YOURSELF up everywhere. It specialises in
Unsure if you’re functional 45-minute workouts
ready for a full
hour? Undo post- that test your muscles, heart
work stiffness with 01/ Melting Heart 02/ Bound Lizard 03/ Bridge Pose and lungs, and there’s always
Fly Ldn’s flow for This will ease stress in your upper Open up your hips. On all fours, step Now, work on your spinal mobility.
back. On all fours with your hips above your left foot to the outside of your Lie with your knees bent and feet 4in
something new on the menu.
body and mind
your knees, walk your hands until left hand. Bend your right knee and apart. Lift your hips and back off the
your head touches the floor. Keep your grab the top your right foot, holding mat. Squeeze your glutes. Deepen
fingertips down but lift your palms and it with your left hand to stretch out the stretch by rolling your shoulders
forearms. Hold for up to five minutes. your hips and quads. Hold for five and interlacing your hands.
long breaths, then switch sides.

MEN’S HEALTH 93
 Bad
BloodNo longer confined to the aged or markedly
overweight, rates of type 2 diabetes are
rising fast, with a tenth of over-forties
now affected. And with many cases going
undiagnosed, you could be at far greater
risk than you realise. This is your guide to
staying on the sweet side of the statistics
WORDS BY TOM CHIVERS - PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHAEL HEDGE

94 MEN’S HEALTH
THE WEIGHT OF DIABETES
CASES IS INCREASINGLY
DIFFICULT TO IGNORE
W
“
hen I was
training, type 2 diabetes was only seen
in late middle age,” says Jane Armitage,
a professor of epidemiology at Oxford
University. “You saw it in 60-year-olds,
and you saw it, rarely, in 40-year-olds.
Now, I see it in teenagers.”
Back in 1996, just 1.4 million people
were known to have the disease. Today,
it is estimated to affect about 4.7 million,
making it one of Britain’s biggest killers.
But it’s a quiet one. Only 3.8 million have
been diagnosed, leaving swaths of the
population unaware. Diabetes currently
costs the NHS around 10% of its budget,
yet it’s cruelly underfunded. It was, until
recently, thought to be incurable.
By damaging blood vessels, diabetes
has the potential to cause problems in any
part of the body. It can lead to blindness
if it affects blood vessels in the retina;
it can cause nerve damage if it affects
those in your feet. It causes kidney
damage, sometimes leading to renal
failure. It increases
the risk of heart
attack and stroke.
“In middle age, one
These effects are in 10 people have it,
insidious: many
people live with the
but by the time you’re
disease for a full 70, it’s one in five”
decade before
they are diagnosed,
and around a third of people already
have complications – eye damage,
kidney damage – by the time it’s
identified. According to a report
by Diabetes UK, type 2 sufferers can
expect to live about 10 years less, on
average, than people without it.
Yet, despite this grim litany, it remains
in many ways a hidden illness. Sure,
we’ve all heard of it, but people rarely
run sponsored half-marathons for
diabetes like they do for breast cancer or
Alzheimer’s. It affects more people in the
96 MEN’S HEALTH
UK than all cancers and dementia put
together, yet Diabetes UK, the nation’s
largest diabetes charity, has an annual
income of around £40m – compared
to Cancer Research UK, which draws in
more than £600m. All of which poses
two questions: what’s driving this sharp
rise? And, more pressingly, why aren’t
we paying more attention to it?
KNOW YOUR RISK
There are two main kinds of diabetes.
Type 1 is rarer, accounting for less
than 10% of cases. It’s an autoimmune
disease: your body’s defences attack MISSING THE POINT:
DIABETES ISN’T JUST
the cells that produce the hormone
ABOUT MEDICATION
insulin, which helps to control blood
sugar levels. Type 2 is the one that most
people think of when they say “diabetes”.
It occurs when the body becomes less
adept at producing insulin, or less
sensitive to the hormone. There are
many factors that influence type 2
diabetes. Your family history is important,
as is your ethnicity. People of south
Asian origin, for instance, are six times
more likely to get the disease.
One big reason for the increase in
rates is, ironically, we’re living longer. “In
middle age, about one in 10 people have
it, but by the time you’re 70, it’s one in
five,” says Julia Critchley, a professor of
epidemiology at St George’s, University of
London. But the key factor is the nation’s
creeping weight gain, and men are less
likely to notice. Middle-aged men are
disproportionately
affected and are
twice as likely as
women to be living
with diabetes
undiagnosed.
Some of this is much of this is simple stigma. Society can
biological: men unjustly stereotype those with type 2 as
need to gain far less weight to develop “lazy people who don’t want to look after
the disease. But it’s also habit. “Men themselves”, he says, which, of course, is
simply don’t access their GPs as often as not the case. It’s the same reason that lung
women,” says Alice Connolly, a dietitian cancer receives less attention than breast
who specialises in weight management cancer: people feel that the victims are to
and diabetes. “Since symptoms are blame. Critchley concurs, citing “lack of
often silent, most will find out they have understanding and victim blaming”.
diabetes as a result of investigations for In patients, or those at risk, this
something unrelated.” Statistics back message can be internalised. Because
this up: only 16% of people diagnosed diabetes is a disease of lifestyle, we
have proactively asked for a test. We’re might reason that it does not pose the
leaving a lot to chance – and, increasingly, same threat as something we perceive
luck is not on our side. to be beyond our control, such as cancer
or dementia. This lack of urgency
A WEIGHTED DEBATE is a problem, because type 2 can be
Then there’s our second question: why is managed effectively if it’s caught early.
it so under-resourced? According to Dan
Howarth, head of care at Diabetes UK,

CASE STUDY #01
“I didn’t realise how
destructive diabetes can be
if you don’t take it seriously”
Yian Jones
Yian was diagnosed with type
2 in 1990. “It got picked up by
chance,” he says. “I went for
a routine medical. I’ll never
forget the way the doctor told
me. He said, ‘You’re diabetic,
old son.’ I was 21.”
Yian had been essentially
symptom-free, but he was
overweight. “I never watched
what I ate. The doctor put me
on metformin and insulin, and
it should have prompted me
to make lifestyle changes.”
As many before him have
found, however, major
overhauls aren’t easy. And
Yian, by his own admission,
didn’t take the diagnosis
seriously enough: “I didn’t
feel like I had to do anything,
and carried on as normal. My
weight continued to balloon.
I wasn’t looking after myself.”
He peaked at 290kg and
had a gastric bypass in 2010.
Then, by eating more healthily
and exercising, he lost half
his weight. “I thought it would
be the end of my problems,”
he says, “but diabetes had
already taken hold.”
The problems started
with neuropathy – loss of
sensation in his feet. He
developed charcot foot,
a weakening of the bones
that can lead to disability. He
has so far avoided amputation,
but isn’t out of the woods and
lost the sight in his right eye
from retinopathy, a common
complication. His wife, he
says, is amazing – “nothing
seems to faze her” – and they
try to remain active. “I’m 50
years old,” Yian says. “I don’t
want to feel like an old man.”
He feels there’s not enough
information available about
the risks of diabetes. “I didn’t
realise how destructive
diabetes can be if you don’t
take it seriously. You need
someone to tell you, ‘If you
carry on, you will lose your
eyesight, or the feeling in
your fingers and feet.’”
He’s now committed to
raising awareness, talking to
Diabetes UK workshops and
medical students. “I tell them
the truth,” he says. “I never
looked after myself, but now
I do. If sharing my story can
help others, that’s what I’ll do.”
Bad
Blood
“Cardiovascular problems used to be the
big killer [for those with type 2 disease],”
says Armitage. “But recent data from
Sweden shows that if you control your
risk factors – don’t smoke, keep your
blood pressure normal – the increased
risk of heart problems is trivial.”
The trouble is that not everyone is
able to control their risk factors. “We see
awful complications,” says Howarth.
“Diabetes causes an amputation every
hour in the UK.” And that, in turn, means
that although relatively small amounts of
money are dedicated to prevention, vast
amounts are spent on its harmful effects.
He draws a comparison between the
welcome injection of a £44m fund
to improve treatment at early stages
and the £12bn per year that is spent
on diabetes, largely on dealing with
preventable complications. Prevention,
he says, is not only better than cure:
it’s a damn sight cheaper, too.
CURING THE INCURABLE
Prevention may be the goal, but there
have been major advances in treatment,
too. It has recently been shown that a
diagnosis is not always a life sentence. The
Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial, funded
by Diabetes UK, divided more than 200
volunteers into two groups. They gave
half of them the best currently prescribed
diabetes care, including medication
and dietary advice. The other half
were put on a strictly controlled diet:
soups and shakes adding up to just
800kcal per day – about a third the
usual quota for an adult man.
At the end of the 12-week study, 45%
of the dieting group no longer met the
diagnostic criteria for diabetes. Even more
remarkably, when they checked up on the
subjects two years later, they found that
70% of those who had gone into remission
were still free of the disease.
“We don’t talk about reversing it,”
cautions Howarth. “We stress the word
remission. It means the disease has
stopped causing the symptoms.” There’s
plenty they don’t know – it has only
been three years since the trial began,
and it may be that the subjects still see
MEN’S HEALTH 97
complications after a decade or more.
But Howarth is hopeful. This is a major
breakthrough. Until relatively recently,
the idea that patients could come off
insulin was seen as wishful thinking.
“Everyone thought I was nuts at the
time,” says Sally Hope, a retired GP.
Hope was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes
more than two decades ago, aged just
40. She had recognised the symptoms –
fatigue, thirst. “And I realised I needed
to think about this”.
But her GP, unusually, didn’t put her on
medication and
instead suggested “Of those who have
a change of diet,
a suggestion that
been diagnosed
Hope didn’t take
well. She wasn’t
with type 2, only
overweight and 16% proactively
felt she ate fairly
well. But then she
asked for a test”
noticed that she often defaulted to sugar
and carbs without thinking about it – a
shop-bought sandwich here, a shortbread
there. “I cut out all of the sugar,” she says.
“I was really strict.” She even swapped
out pasta for grated veg to cut down
on carbs. “And, just like that, my blood
sugar went back to normal.” Since then,
three of her own patients – all, she notes,
doctors themselves – have gone into
remission using diet.

SWING YOUR ODDS

There are smarter ways to curb
your risk than cutting out sweets
Do: Lift heavy
Running isn’t the quickest route to
health. Mayo Clinic found weight
training and improved strength can
reduce your risk of type 2 by 33%.
Don’t: Binge on protein
You may think lean meat is an ally,
but all excess calories raise your
risk. Research suggests a plant-
based diet cuts your risk by 23%.
Do: Eat in the morning
Routine is key. A Harvard study
found people who ate breakfast
every day were half as likely to get
diabetes as those who skipped it.
Don’t: Fear cheese
A 2018 study analysis in Plos One
found those with the highest dairy
intakes had a 30% lower diabetes
risk than those who avoided it.
Do: Prioritise sleep
An animal study in Japan showed
just one night’s missed sleep
could alter enzymes in the liver
and raise your chance of diabetes.
CASE STUDY #02
“Not eating for three months
isn’t something to enter into
lightly” Joe McSorley
Joe was diagnosed with
type 2 diabetes in 2014.
He had been largely
symptom-free, just like
Yian Jones and thousands
of others before them, but
following a consultation with
his optician about changes
in his prescription, he was
advised to speak to his GP.
The diagnosis came as
a shock. He was fairly fit
at the time: “I did plenty of
walking and played five-a-
side a couple of times a week,
although I was carrying a bit
of excess weight,” he says.
Two years into his
treatment, Joe was offered
a chance to take part in the
Diabetes Remission Clinical
Trial: 12 weeks subsisting on
low-calorie shakes and soup.
“Not eating for three months
isn’t something to enter into
lightly, so I wanted to be
sure I could see it through
to the conclusion,” he says.
“I don’t believe in doing
things in half measures.”
The trial had a remarkable
effect. Within the first week,
Joe had lost 1.5kg. “After that,
the weight loss became more
dramatic.” Ten weeks later, he
had lost more than a fifth of
his bodyweight, from 93kg
down to 73kg. His diabetes
went into remission.
But, he says, that was
the easy part. “The hard part
was getting back to eating
normally.” It took a major
overhaul of his mindset – “I
no longer feel I have to finish
a meal if I’ve had enough” –
and he expects it will be
a lifelong effort. Joe is
also much more active
now, and says that at
age 58 he is probably
fitter than he was at 21.
When he retires from his job
as an engineer, he plans to
become a personal trainer
and lifestyle coach. While he
was lucky enough to have the
willpower and support of his
family to keep up his lifestyle
changes, he believes society
needs to do much more –
to educate people about the
risks of diabetes, to show
how it can be beaten, and
to reduce the temptations
for people to overeat. “I think
the food industry could
be brought into line by
the government,” he says.

98 MEN’S HEALTH

CASE STUDY #03
“The thought of losing my
eyesight terrified me”
Daniel Halliday
“I saw my diagnosis as a bit
of a death sentence,” says
Daniel. He had been worried
about diabetes for years, but
wasn’t tested for it until 2017
when his blood pressure
results came back high. “The
doctor said, ‘Well, you are
overweight.’ I felt like he was
putting the blame on me.”
At the time, Daniel was
suffering from agoraphobia
(a fear of leaving the house)
and anxiety. “I had a really
sedentary lifestyle,” he says.
After his diagnosis, Daniel
went into denial. “I had no
idea how big an impact it can
have, and the complications
you’re at risk of,” he says.
“There’s a lot of ignorance
and people play down its
seriousness. I just tried to
forget about it. I continued to
eat whatever I wanted and my
weight peaked at 137kg.” He
had been put on metformin
tablets but didn’t like how
they made him feel, so he
stopped taking them.
At a routine eye screening,
he was told he had
retinopathy. “The thought of
losing my eyesight terrified
me,” he says. At first, he
panicked. “I virtually stopped
eating,” he says, “and lost
12kg in a month.” But it just
made his anxiety worse.
He then put in a phone call to
Diabetes UK, a call that he
says “probably saved my life”.
He was advised to eat a
balanced diet of around
1,600kcal a day. He cut out
DIABETES CAN LEAD TO
DRASTIC SURGERIES,
INCLUDING AMPUTATION
pastries, switched from red
meat to white and reduced his
fat intake. “It was hard,
especially when I saw other
people eating things I wanted.”
After losing 32kg, he
plateaued. “Then I knew I
needed to throw myself into
exercise to challenge my
agoraphobia,” he says. He
took up walking – “I aimed for
16,000 steps but it was often
25,000” – and now goes to
the gym every day. He is now
92kg and has gone into full
remission. “I was on top of the
world when my consultant
told me. She said she’d never
seen such a turnaround in a
year without metformin.”
Just as importantly, it has
improved his confidence. “I’ve
never felt fitter,” he says. “It’s
been incredibly hard, but I’m
proud of what I’ve achieved.”
Bad
Blood
THE RIGHT CHANGES
So, what’s your move? If you haven’t got
diabetes and want to avoid it, then weight
control – or, more accurately, reducing the
amount of fat around your midsection – is
your best route. Although Hope found
success by managing her carbohydrate
intake, Connolly points out that carbs
are not the sole culprit. “Our bodies are
well equipped to process sugar when
we’re healthy,” she says. Fruit, dairy and
wholegrains, for example, have all been
linked with a decreased risk of developing
the disease, thanks in part to their high
fibre and protein contents increasing
satiety. Critchley agrees: “The key thing
is losing weight. How you do it doesn’t
make much difference.”
The word “weight” can often be
something of a misnomer: a body mass
index (BMI) within the normal range
doesn’t offer you a free pass. According
to a recent study in the British Medical
Journal, people of a healthy weight with
high body fat are more likely to develop
diabetes than those classed as overweight,
but who carry less fat. The former body
shape, often dubbed “skinny fat”, can
result from a number of factors, including
chronic stress and sleep loss – all the
things you know are bad for you, but that
don’t necessarily show up in the mirror.
A full lifestyle overhaul won’t prove
easy for everyone. We are not all blessed
with equal willpower, and people living
under challenging circumstances, such
as those in poverty or with poor mental
health, will always find it harder to make
the necessary changes. Everyone quoted
in this piece was keen to stress that, while
individual responsibility has its part to
play, we cannot collectively “will” our way
out of the diabetes epidemic, and blaming
people for their diagnoses is incorrect
and counterproductive. “It’s a societal
problem requiring societal responses,”
says Critchley. “It’s incredibly hard to lose
weight when there are so many factors
obstructing us.” But, if there’s one thing
we do know for sure, it’s that neglecting
the problem will only feed it.
Assess your odds at riskscore.diabetes.
org.uk. If you’re concerned about your
score, are over the age of 40, or are
experiencing symptoms such as fatigue
and constant thirst, take advantage of
the free NHS Health Check
MEN’S HEALTH 99
100 MEN’S HEALTH
“TO GET
Ta
SOMETHING ON Order
THE HIGH STREET How 6ft 7in footballer
AT A REASONABLE Peter Crouch finally
PRICE SUITS ME found the right fit after
a lifetime of struggling
DOWN TO THE Words by Jamie Alan Carson
Photography by Phil Haynes
GROUND. Styling by Abena Ofei

IT’S QUITE
EMOTIONAL
FOR ME...”

eet sticking out
the end of the bed,
F incessant ‘how’s
the weather up there’
jokes, and forking out for
the emergency exit seat
on the plane – tall men
have a never-ending list
of problems. But the most
annoying issue? Finding
clothes that actually fit, as
for men 6ft 3in and over, a
new pair of trousers can
look like they’ve been
rolled up ready for the
tide to come in.
Peter Crouch,
professional footballer
and really, really tall man,
has found salvation in Ted
Baker’s new T For Tall
collection, designed for
guys 6ft 3in and over. It
offers everything from
suits and shirts to chinos
and polo tops.
MEN’S HEALTH 101
3 TALL
TAILORING TIPS
What to add (and what
to steer clear of) when
suiting up
DO: LAYER UP
Adding a
waistcoat or
gilet underneath your
blazer adds an extra
“Over the years it’s been dimension to your look
really difficult. With shirts,
and balances your frame.
I’ve always had to roll up
the sleeves,” explains DON’T: WEAR
Crouchy. “But with this STRIPES
Ted Baker range I’ve been Avoid statement
able to get sorted with pinstripes – the vertical
suits, trousers and jeans. detailing will only
To get something at a emphasise and
reasonable price suits me elongate your body.
down to the ground… It’s
quite emotional for me.” DO: WEAR A BELT
As well as offering Some don’t like
properly constructed wearing belts
garments for the taller with a suit, but for taller
gentleman, Ted Baker’s gents it adds interest and
suiting has a range of other breaks up the outfit.
useful design features. For
example, its Performance FIND YOUR FIT AT
suit is crafted from super TWO-PIECE SUIT £449
SHIRT £95
TEDBAKER.COM
100 fabric, with a subtle SOCKS £9
natural stretch that helps TRAINERS £130
prevent creases and a ALL TED BAKER
breathable composition
that’s water-repellent and
stain-resistant. If that
doesn’t excite the busy
commuter in you, maybe
the suit carrier that
conveniently transforms
into a backpack – ideal for
stylish cyclists and office
runners – will.
MH PROMOTION
 FREE 10-DAY GYM PASS
WITH ANYTIME FITNESS
Want to kick-start a new healthy routine this autumn?
Anytime Fitness is offering Men’s Health readers an exclusive free,
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Plus, to get your routine off to the best start, readers can take advantage of
a free, personalised 30-day fitness plan tailored to their goals if they join**. The
plan includes an initial consultation and weekly check-ins to keep you motivated, with
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To find your nearest participating club and get your 10-day trial started,
visit anytimefitness.co.uk/menshealth
TERMS AND CONDITIONS: *Based on average daily guest pass value of £10. Trial offer includes 10-days free access per person, at participating Anytime Fitness UK and Ireland clubs only. Please
visit anytimefitness.co.uk/menshealth for details of excluded clubs. Days must be taken consecutively and during staffed hours only. Triallists must use same club for entire term. Offer is valid until
31.10.19 for non-members and first-time guests only. Triallists must be at least 18 years old. Facilities may vary per location and certain activities may incur additional costs. Valid photo ID required
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person, for new members only, aged 18+ when they join with a minimum 12-month paid Direct Debit or Paid in Full contract starting before 25.12.19 at midnight. Fitness plan comprises initial
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 PT / 10.2019 AN EXHAUSTIVE CARDIO GUIDE

10KIN40 MINUTES
EDITED BY ANDREW TRACEY

The gold-standard
PHOTOGRAPHY: PHILIP HAYNES I MODEL: EMMANUEL ALLI AT W MODEL I STYLING: ABENA OFEI I GROOMING: CHLOE EDWARDS

of cardio training
is within reach. Get
up to speed with our
step-by-step guide
to running form
(page 104), essential
upgrades for tired
warm-ups (page 113),
the new school
PT ! of fitness tests
PECIAL (page 108) and your
S
race day kit bag
(page 114). See
you at the start line
PT / 10.2019
FORM MASTERCLASS #12
PUT YOUR
BEST FOOT
FORWARD
The quickest way to your
40-minute finish line is
by taking the time to lay
the foundations of speed
and technique. Nail them
now and you’ll get fitter,
faster, every time you run
STARTING
BLOCKS
Running may feel like one of
those endeavours that doesn’t
require much instruction. After
all, you just… run, right? But
to go fast, you need a strong
base. Before you lace up, these
movements will toughen up
your core and prime your
posture. Consider these your
go-faster stripes. Earn them.
THE EXPERT
Name:
Andrew Tracey
Expertise: Fitness
guru Tracey knows
building speed is
about more than
just the miles you
rack up on the road.
Follow him:
@theandrew.tracey
104 MEN’S HEALTH
A
B
01
FACE PULL
3 SETS OF 20 REPS,
60SEC REST
A strong upper back keeps you upright,
increasing your speed and reducing your
risk of injury lower down. Grip a pulley or
band at chest height (A). Pull towards
your face, separating your hands while
pinching your shoulder blades together
(B). Pause and reverse slowly.
A
B
03
SUPERMAN BACK EXTENSION
3 SETS OF 10 REPS,
60SEC REST
Strengthen the muscles you can’t see in
the mirror to make sure there are no weak
links in your trunk. Lie prone on the floor
with your legs and arms outstretched (A).
Initiate the movement by squeezing your
lower back and glutes, while raising your
arms and legs off the floor (B). Pause here
for one breath and return to the ground.
A
B
02
SPLIT SQUAT JUMP
3 SETS OF 30SEC,
30SEC REST
A longer gait increases your efficiency,
so practise getting more air time. Step
back and sink into a deep lunge (A).
Explode up, switching legs mid-air to
land in a lunge position with the opposite
leg forward (B). Repeat from side to side
for 30 seconds and feel the burn.
A
WORDS: ANDREW TRACEY | PHOTOGRAPHY: PHILIP HAYNES I MODEL: EMMANUEL ALLI AT W MODEL I STYLING: ABENA OFEI
GROOMING: CHLOE EDWARDS | SHORTS FALKE AT MATCHESFASHION.COM, TIGHTS AND TRAINERS BOTH ASICS.COM
B
04
SINGLE-LEGGED JUMP
3 SETS OF 5 REPS EACH SIDE,
60SEC REST
Practise fast feet and soft landings to
mitigate the injury risks of extra miles.
Raise one foot back (A) and sink into
a lunge. Shift your weight forward and
explosively jump up, bringing your rear
foot through with a raised knee so you
land only on the working leg (B), dropping
into a quarter squat to absorb the impact.
 RUN
PHASE 2
WELCOME TO THE FAST LANE

MASTER PHASE 1 A CALL TO ARMS

YOUR FORM,
STEP BY STEP
It’s not just putting one foot
in front of the other. You take
thousands of steps in a 10K,
each one bearing a load of five
times your weight, so you need
sound technique to get ahead
of the pack – and stay there
your optimal lung capacity.
SHOULDER Imagine that you’re holding
THE BURDEN
Set your eyes on the horizon
an egg in each hand to ensure
you don’t clench your fist,
with a relaxed jaw. Keep your
which tenses your upper
shoulders low and slightly
body. Bend your arms to
taut. As you tire, ensure they
90 degrees, swinging in time
don’t drift up. This will help
to your stride. To maximise
you run tall, keep your back
efficiency, don’t let them
straight and prevent
come across your body.
slouching, which can reduce

PHASE 3
KEEP IT ROLLING
To speed up leg turnover
and master an energy-
conserving stride, ensure
that your knee lift is low.
You’re aiming for a fluid,
NOW YOU’RE UP AND RUNNING cyclical movement. As you
move, rolling from your
Put your new skills to the test with our three-days-a-week
PB plan from the experts at Runner’s World mid-foot onto your toes,
use the muscles in your
WEEK MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT SUN calf to propel you. Smooth
REST 3KM EASY, GYM GYM REST 8KM EASY, 9KM EASY and steady wins this race.
1+3 8 X 400M 10 X 100M
AT 10K PACE SPRINTS

2+4 REST 3KM EASY, GYM GYM REST 11KM EASY, 9KM EASY
8 X 600M INCLUDE
AT 10K PACE HILLS

MEN’S HEALTH 105

PT / 10.2019

NEW!
30/10

CARVE MINUTES
FROM YOUR PB
The combination of protein
and fibre in our chicken and
sides will speed muscle
recovery and put a stop
to hunger as you peck
away at your 10K time

THE
PROTEIN
For our opening
salvo of protein, bird
is indeed the word.
There’s good reasoning
behind athletes’ love
for chicken. One
roasted breast contains
54g of protein for only
386kcal, while the
same amount of meat
from a skinless thigh
has 42g of protein for
304kcal. So, whether
you grab a ready-
made rotisserie at
Sainsbury’s or roast
your own at home,
the fowl has your
running fuel covered.

30/10
WELCOME TO 30/10, A NEW
RECIPE SERIES. EACH HAS 30G
OF PROTEIN TO BUILD MUSCLE
PROP STYLING: CHRISTINA LANE

AND 10G OF FIBRE TO HELP YOU

FOOD STYLING: JAMIE KIMM

REAP ITS DIGESTIVE, HEART

AND WEIGHT-LOSS
BENEFITS

106 MEN’S HEALTH

 UN FOOD TO GET YOU FLYING

7 THINGS TO DO WITH A THE FIBRE

SUPERMARKET ROTISSERIE
We’ve all been there: sweating in the shops after a tough
run, desperate for fuss-free, protein-packed fuel that won’t
add to your rising nausea. Fortunately, a rotisserie chicken
is the perfect post-run meal, however you shred it
Serve your bird with one of these easy
make-at-home side dishes. They each
carry a hearty 10g of gut-filling fibre.
Double the recipe and they’ll taste
great cold as leftovers the next day

01/
Pull it apart and add to
tomato soup. Top with fresh
parsley, crumbled feta,
cubed avocado, crushed
tortilla chips and freshly
squeezed lime juice.
02/
Cover a reheated chicken
breast with a few spoonfuls
of warmed tomato sauce,
a piece of pan-crisped
prosciutto and a slice
of fresh mozzarella. Grill
until melted. Remember
to use a knife and fork.
03/
Reheat shredded chicken
in a pan with butter and hot
sauce. Tuck into a toasted
wrap with crumbled blue
cheese, thinly sliced iceberg
lettuce and celery leaves.
04/
In a pan, reheat shredded
chicken with your favourite
barbecue sauce. Transfer to
an onion roll and top with
coleslaw and hot sauce.
05/
Reheat a shredded chicken
breast in a large pan coated
with olive oil over a medium
heat. Add a handful of
grapes, some pitted olives,
chopped rosemary and
a squeeze of lemon juice.
Season with salt and pepper.
06/
Pile a large slice of sourdough
with a leaf or two of romaine 01/
lettuce, shredded chicken, CHARRED BROCCOLI WITH
sliced avocado, sliced LEMON AND PARMESAN
tomato, crispy bacon lardons In a large bowl, toss the trimmed florets from a
and chipotle mayo. big head of broccoli, plus the chopped stalk, with
two tablespoons of olive oil and salt and pepper.
In a cast-iron pan over a medium-high heat, add
the broccoli and cook, stirring occasionally, until
07/ it’s well charred and al dente – it should take
Throw a few leaves of three to five minutes. Top with the zest and juice
chopped kale in a bowl. Add of a lemon, plus freshly grated Parmesan to taste.
a pinch of salt and a squeeze
of lemon juice. Massage
until the leaves are softened.
Toss in shredded chicken
and top with freshly
grated Parmesan.

HOW TO PICK A WINNER

ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY: DAN MATTHEWS, GETTY, STUDIO 33, MICHAEL HEDGE

Follow the advice of Alan Morgan, 02/

WORDS: PAUL KITA | PHOTOGRAPHY: SAM KAPLAN, TED + CHELSEA

culinary director at Whole Foods CHOPPED RED CABBAGE QUICK SLAW

Market. “When picking a chicken,
I look at the legs to see if the meat
has begun to pull away from the bone,
since they get cooked the most. That’s
a good indicator that the bird has been
overcooked and is dried out. And avoid any
birds with excess juice in the container – a clear
sign that all of the flavour has left the chicken. A
great golden-brown colour and shiny, glossy skin
indicate a tasty and moist rotisserie chicken.”
Finely chop three-quarters of a head of red
cabbage. If your knife skills aren’t sharp enough
to really shred the cabbage, chuck it in a food
processor. Dice up a couple of carrots and an apple,
then throw it all in a big mixing bowl alongside
your cabbage. Toss well with a tablespoon of white
vinegar, a teaspoon of olive oil and salt and pepper.
Perfect piled up in a roll with some shredded bird.

MEN’S HEALTH 107

PT / 10.2019

THE BIG WORKOUT

THE ZERO-RUNNING
CARDIO UPGRADE
With form and food nailed, hit the gym for your next
opportunity to shave minutes from your 10K. Power
all-new performance with our lunch-hour blast

BLEEP TILL 02A

YOU DROP
The multistage fitness test –
better known in school sports
halls as the dreaded “bleep test”
– is a system devised to estimate
your aerobic capacity. But sub in 01A
a barrage of bodyweight moves
and it becomes a cardiovascular
conditioning tool that requires
little more than a couple of
square metres of floor space
on your lunch hour.
The test involves following
an audio recording of a set of
timed “bleeps” (which can be
found on iTunes, Spotify or
YouTube), working each time
the audio sounds. In this case,
that means performing one rep
of each bodyweight movement.
Complete these exercises
WORDS: ANDREW TRACEY | PHOTOGRAPHY: PHILIP HAYNES I MODEL: EMMANUEL
as quickly as possible while
maintaining proper form, 01B
ALLI AT W MODEL | STYLING: ABENA OFEI I GROOMING: CHLOE EDWARDS
moving seamlessly between
them to create a “flow” on every
bleep. After the last movement,
stand tall, breathe… and wait for
01
PRESS-UP
the next bleep. Keep going until
you can’t manage a complete Begin by assuming a plank
flow in the interval; the last rep position, with your feet
you successfully performed is together, your body straight
and your palms on the ground
your score. Make a note, and
below your shoulders (A).
aim to beat it next week. Lower your body, touching
your chest to the floor (B),
then explosively press with
your arms, returning to the
top of the movement.

108 MEN’S HEALTH

 RUN PRECISION-CRAFT YOUR CARDIO

THE SPEC
MUSCLES
TARGETED

04B

AIM FOR
10
MIN
RESULTS IN
04A 4
03A

03B

02B

02
MOUNTAIN CLIMBER
03
SPLIT SQUAT JUMP
04
SQUAT JUMP
As soon as you’ve completed Now, step one foot back Stand tall, with your feet at
the press-up, draw your left and sink into a deep lunge, shoulder width. Lift your hands
SHORTS NIKE.COM, TRAINERS ASICS.COM

knee towards your right
elbow, engaging your core (A).
Perform the movement under
control, but with intent. Return
to the plank position, before
immediately repeating the
move on the other side with
your right leg (B). Stand up.
with your left knee almost
touching the floor (A). Explode
upward, switching legs in
mid-air to land in a lunging
position with your left leg
forward (B). Repeat the jumping
motion, this time finishing
with your right leg in front.
and sink your hips to knee level
into a squat position (A). From
here, jump upward explosively,
aiming for as much height as
possible (B). Make sure that you
hit the ground with soft knees to
avoid injury. Wait for the beep,
and return to the press-up.

MEN’S HEALTH 109

PT / 10.2019
07.2018

6%
THE IMPROVEMENT IN
RUNNING ECONOMY YOU
CAN EARN BY ADDING 01A
WEIGHTS TO YOUR
TRAINING PLAN

BACK IN
ACTION
In this session, you’ll be
using a “chipper” format:
that means chipping away
at the prescribed number
of reps for each round before
moving onto the next exercise,
even if you need to take short
breaks to do so. Once you’ve 01B
completed 50 reps of each
movement, return to the
first and make your way
through another 40 reps
of each, then 30, and so on.
By the end of the workout,
you will have clocked up 600
total reps, which specifically
target the postural muscles
of your upper back that keep
you upright and moving
efficiently during your long
runs. The exercises also
strengthen your lower body
and core, improving your
overall stability and reinforcing
the way that your hips, abs
01
KB FRONT RACK STEP-UP
02
KB RENEGADE ROW
and lower back work together. 50-40-30-20-10 REPS 50-40-30-20-10 REPS
Pushing yourself through
Holding the kettlebells in the Now, challenge your posture
all of the reps is also a mental
“front rack” position forces your and balance with this unilateral
crucible: accomplish this feat upper back to work isometrically move, which will build functional
and you’ll be steeled for the to maintain an upright position, muscle for your upper back as
gruelling final kilometres on simultaneously activating your a bonus. Assume a plank with
race day. On your marks… upper and lower body. Step onto your hands on the bells, keeping
a box (A), leading with your left your entire body rigid (A). Shift
foot, and stand at the top (B). your weight onto your left hand,
Step back down, right foot first. then row the opposite kettlebell
That’s one rep. Repeat, this time to the midline of your body (B).
leading with the opposite foot. Repeat on the other side.

110 MEN’S HEALTH

 RUN ROCK-SOLID STABILITY IN 4 WEEKS

THE SPEC
MUSCLES
TARGETED

WORKOUT
20
MIN
04A RESULTS IN
03B 4
WEEKS
02A
DO THIS
TWICE
A WEEK

04B

03A

02B

03
KB PLANK PULL-THROUGH
04
DEADLIFT
TRACKPANTS H&M SPORTSWEAR HM.COM, TRAINERS ASICS.COM

50-40-30-20-10 REPS 50-40-30-20-10 REPS

Double down on the plank work
by increasing the lateral and
rotational instability. Place
a kettlebell on the ground to
your left. Reach under your
body with your right hand (A),
ensuring your hips don’t rotate,
and drag the kettlebell to your
right (B). Reverse the move with
your other hand, returning the
kettlebell to its original position.
Finally, fine-tune the muscles
around your hips – power here is
essential if you’re chasing running
speed and consistency. Place a
kettlebell on the ground in front
of you. Hinge at your hips with
a straight back and grip the bell.
With your lats engaged, stand
upright with your arms straight
and your core challenged (A).
Lower the weight (B), then repeat.

MEN’S HEALTH 111

 PT / 10.2019
RUN PERFECT YOUR PREP

GEEK TWEAKS #06

In your quest to chase down your
FIRE UP YOUR fastest ever time, it’s the little things
that count. First, warming up is now

WARM-UPS non-negotiable. Second, think far

beyond the usual folds and bends

SQUAT AND REACH

4 SETS OF 30SEC, 30SEC REST
This four-move protocol doesn’t just
stretch but activates crucial muscle
groups. Sit in a low squat, then put
your right hand down and lift your left
hand overhead, stretching your lats.
Hold for two breaths. Switch arms.

WORLD’S GREATEST STRETCH

4 SETS OF 15SEC EACH SIDE, NO REST
Step your left foot back, sink into a deep
lunge and place your hands on the floor on
the inside of your right leg. Twist and reach
overhead with your right arm, rotating
further against the tension of the stretch.
Hold for 15 seconds, then switch sides.
WORDS: ANDREW TRACEY | PHOTOGRAPHY: PHILIP HAYNES | GROOMING: SUSANA MOTA | STYLIST: ABENA OFEI | MODEL: ANDREW TRACEY | ILLUSTRATION: FLYING CHILLI

LATERAL LUNGE
3 SETS OF 10 REPS EACH SIDE, 30SEC REST
Keeping your torso upright with your feet
parallel and shoulder-width apart, take a
long step to the left and lower until your
left knee is at 90 degrees. Push back up to
the starting position, then quickly repeat,
leading this time with your right leg.

REVERSE LUNGE WITH ROTATION

3 SETS OF 5 REPS EACH SIDE, 30SEC REST
Step your left foot back into a
deep lunge. Place your hands LEAP AHEAD BY
11%
FINE-TUNING YOUR
ACTIVATE YOUR MUSCLES
on your head and rotate as
far to your right as possible.
PRE-RACE RITUAL BEFORE RUNNING
Hold, then rotate the other AND YOU CAN BOOST
way. Switch legs and repeat. YOUR PERFORMANCE
SIGNIFICANTLY

01/ GET JUMPING 02/ FIX BACK PAIN 03/ SAVE YOUR SOLE
Fascial tissue stores Where your middle and Plantar fasciitis – heel
FASCIAL more kinetic energy lower spine meet is a hot pain due to strained
TREATMENT than any other type.
Plyometric training increases its
spot for race-ending
pain. If you have a desk job, tightness
fascia in your sole –
commonly occurs among runners,
Shift your focus from your
density, giving you extra oomph. around your psoas can be the cause. often after exercising with a tight calf.
muscles to the stuff that
Your move: Perform five-minute Your move: Releasing the psoas isn’t Your move: Roll your feet on a hockey
surrounds them to fine-
agility ladder drills three times a easy. Try the pigeon pose and foam- ball for a minute per foot and foam-roll
tune your performance
week, or three sets of 20 jump squats. roll your hamstrings twice a week. your calves for five minutes each day.

MEN’S HEALTH 113

PT / 10.2019
KIT BAG ESSENTIALS
TOP GEAR
FOR FAST
RESULTS
Still a few minutes short of
the magic number? Here
are the tools to make gains
marginal and maximal,
and give you an easy edge
01/
LEADING LIGHT
Castore’s Karlsson tee
uses a patented pique
mesh fabric to minimise
heavy seams, making it
one of the lightest on the
market. Plus, polyamide
elastane fabric doesn’t
just claim to wick sweat:
it actually does. Which is
good news when you’re
eating up miles at full tilt.
Karlsson Aero tee
£70 castore.com
02/
BAG FOR LIFE
If you’re multitasking
your miles with a cardio
commute, you’ll need
a rucksack that can
pack your nine-to-five
necessities but won’t
slow you down. This
slimline number boasts
a 35L capacity (a lot of
lunch, basically) and is
engineered to ensure the
only bounce you’ll get is
the spring in your step.
Inov-8 All Terrain 35L
£120 inov-8.com
114 MEN’S HEALTH
STRETCHING
CAN BOOST SPEED
AND REDUCE RISK OF
INJURY, ACCORDING TO
A REVIEW OF STUDIES*.
(BUT ONLY IF DONE
REGULARLY)
03/
MOBILE PROVIDER
Mobility: the least
glamorous part of any
fitness endeavour. But,
much like servicing
your car, it is essential
if you want to avoid
breaking down on the
road. A mat acts as
an environmental cue
that screams, “Stretch!”
And, at 10mm thick, this
one makes child’s pose
even comfier.
Bionix Yoga Mat
£13 amazon.co.uk
04/
STRETCH YOURSELF
With the nights growing
longer, you’ll be glad that
the stylish visibility panels
will reflect headlights on
your run home from work.
But these tights aren’t just
for the health-and-safety
conscious: targeted
compression can reduce
muscle fatigue and speed
up recovery. Plus, there’s
a discreet back pocket
for your essentials.
2XU MCS Run
Compression tights
£105 activinstinct.co.uk
 05/
RUN
A HEAD START
Think of this as an extra
dose of stress mitigation.
Alongside the enthusiastic
chants of a virtual trainer,
you can now enjoy the
soft tones of Headspace
founder Andy Puddicombe,
narrating your run and
helping you find mental
clarity mid-step.
Nike x Headspace
Free with sign-up to
Nike Run Club app
06/
GUN POWDER
Aiming for 40 minutes
means that endurance-
focused gels aren’t going
to cut it. In fact, they may
not even kick in before
you’ve finished. With a
more potent mix required,
this pre-workout gel packs
a far quicker punch.
Complete Pre-workout
gel £18 per box of 12
bulkpowders.co.uk
WORDS: ANDREW TRACEY | PHOTOGRAPHY: JOBE LAWRENSON | *CLINICAL JOURNAL OF SPORT MEDICINE
07/
ROCK’N’ROLL
Under Armour’s
collaboration with Dwayne
Johnson created the
hard-wearing headphones
you need for training. The
over-ear design immerses
**JOURNAL OF STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING
you in performance-
boosting sound, and the
grip lining the headband
ensures maximum stability
– even during hill sprints.
UA Sport Wireless Train
Project Rock headphones
£200 underarmour.co.uk
MARGINAL GAINS
08/
QUICK REACTIONS
At just 240g, you’ll be hard
pushed to find a more
lightweight shoe that has
this much cushioning.
The flyknit upper doesn’t
sacrifice stability, either.
Even in the tightest turns,
the minimalistic weave will
keep you solid. Sprained
ankles seldom break
records, after all.
Nike Epic React Flyknit 2
£135 nike.com
09/
SHOCK THERAPY
Originally lauded as a
suspect “six-pack short
cut”, electric muscle
stimulation has found
markedly surer footing
as a method of helping
to increase recovery
between workouts while
decreasing pain. So,
you’ll receive all the
benefits of a massage,
except you can do this
at work without HR
intervening.
Compex Electronic
Muscle Stimulation
From £166 compex.com
ELECTRIC
STIMULATION HAS
BEEN SHOWN TO EASE
MUSCLE SORENESS**
– EVEN IF IT WON’T
MAGIC UP
A SIX-PACK
MEN’S HEALTH 115
 PT / 10.2019
RUN FINAL LEG-UP

THE MH FINISHER #12

01
YOUR LAST RUNNING START

SPRINT TO
Before you start the
timer, jump on the
treadmill and get it
up to speed, finding

GREATNESS
With a new PB now in sight,
ensure your legs are never
out of gas by RUNNING ON
EMPTY – your fast track to
swerving mid-race jelly legs
a pace that’s fast but
possible to hold for
a minute. This way,
you won’t waste
time starting up
the treadmill every
minute. Start the
clock, push hard for a
minute, then jump off.

THE FORMAT
Switch between
exercises, performing
each for a minute. Aim
for “tactical maximum
effort”: go all out while
still finishing the full
workout. Do 100 reps of
the thrusters and a mile
of sprints in total. If you
complete an exercise
early, rest for the
remaining time. It’s a
race against the clock.
WORDS: ANDREW TRACEY | PHOTOGRAPHY: PHILIP HAYNES I MODEL: EMMANUEL ALLI AT W MODEL I STYLING: ABENA OFEI I GROOMING: CHLOE
EDWARDS I SHORTS IFFLEY ROAD AT MATCHESFASHION.COM, TRAINERS ASICS.COM I TREADMILL SUPPLIED BY POWERHOUSE FITNESS

02
THE LOW DOWN
Grab a pair of
dumbbells with a
combined weight of
approximately half
your bodyweight.
Standing tall with
03
SPEED THRILLS
your legs just wider
than your hips, Stand up explosively
hold them at your and press the weights
shoulders and squat overhead. Lower
until your hips sink and repeat for the
to knee level. Don’t minute. Now drop the
forget to breathe. weights and jump on
the treadmill – don’t
let go of the handrails
until your legs are
up to speed. Listen
for the timer, hop off
and grab the weights.
Push for the finish.

MEN’S HEALTH 117

 PHOTOGRAPHY BY RICK GUEST – STYLING BY ERIC DOWN – WORDS BY SHANE C KURUP

Going
| 10/2019
Underground
For AW19, men’s style has developed a harder,
119

MH | URBAN ACTIVE |
more utilitarian edge that owes as much to
the street as it does to the atelier. Eclectic,
irreverent but unapologetically comfortable,
this is luxe urban fashion at its most wearable

–
JACKET £3,400

SPORT + FASHION
KNITWEAR £219
TROUSERS £179
ALL BOSS
 PREVIOUS PAGE

Boss
–
Germany’s biggest
sartorial export continues
to raise the stakes with
its streetwear, which is
every bit as thoughtfully
designed as its razor-
sharp tailoring. Its plush,
suede bombers, chunky
knitwear and luxe trousers
are all crafted with
precision and fuse
functionality with
sophistication, making
it the smart choice for
when the cold weather
begins to bite.
| 10/2019

120
MH | URBAN ACTIVE |
Maison
Kitsuné
–
Playfully channelling the
impishness of the brand’s
fox mascot, the Parisian
label’s offering for AW19
is an irreverent collection
that tips a brim to house
music’s 1990s heyday.
From clean-cut blazers
to lavish trackwear, it
makes for an off-beat,
tongue-in-cheek option
for the weekend.

Kenzo
–
Kenzo’s bold and vibrant
casual wear boasts a
youthful eclecticism that
makes it perfectly attuned
to life in the city. The
brand’s eye-catching yet
comfortable sweatshirts,
polar fleeces and
reimagined tailored
separates are your short
cut to effortlessly cool
urban dressing.
–
BROWN BLAZER £468
ZIPPED TOP £315
TROUSERS £405
ALL MAISON KITSUNÉ

SOCKS £14
BURLINGTON

SNEAKERS £315
MAISON KITSUNÉ X
BRANDBLACK

–
CHECKED BLAZER
£375
TOP £195
TROUSERS £270
SNEAKERS £350
ALL KENZO
Prada
–
Synonymous with avant-
garde originality, the
Milanese powerhouse has
a creative output like no
other brand, thanks to
the vision of its creative
director, Miuccia Prada.
For AW19, her fantasy-
print camp collar shirts,
wide-leg trousers and
platform trainers serve up
comfort and luxury in
typically audacious style.
–
SHIRT £790
CARDIGAN (WORN
UNDERNEATH) £585
TROUSERS £640
SHOES £740
LEATHER BELT £350
ALL PRADA
 –
JACKET £725
TROUSERS £350
BOTH STONE ISLAND
MODELS: PATRIK CVETKO AT PMA, KASPAR GROSSKOPF AT KULT | PRODUCTION: FLORIAN RICHTER AT NEED A FIXER | GROOMING: LYDIA HAUSER USING MAC AND GIORGIO ARMANI | PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT: FRANKIE LODGE | STYLIST’S ASSISTANT: RICCARDO CHIUDIONI | RUNNER: LAURA TASHINA

| 10/2019
123

MH | URBAN ACTIVE |
Stone
Island
–As the puffer jacket trend
reaches a crescendo,
Stone Island’s technical,
fashion-forward iterations
hit the nail on the head for
both style and substance.
Hi-tech fabrics such as the
reflective-weave ripstop
ensure you’re ready to
tackle anything that the
metropolis throws at you.
Rag & Bone
–Led by Englishman in New
York Marcus Wainwright,
Rag & Bone’s low-key
stateside cool is a perfect
fit with the way we dress
now: think rakish hoodies,
washed denim and
rugged lumberjack shirts.
Its recent collaboration
with ArkAir delivers
robust, weatherproof
outerwear informed by
real military apparel.
 | 10/2019
125

MH | URBAN ACTIVE |

–
ORANGE JACKET £750
HOODY £210
BOTH RAG & BONE

–
PARKA £365
TIMBERLAND
 MH | URBAN ACTIVE | | 10/2019

126

JEANS £95
HOODY £60

ALL LEVI’S
PARKA £140

SNEAKERS £90
BANDANNA £15
Levi’s

slot neatly into your

downtime wardrobe.
anything sweats and
this weatherproof parka

engineered-fit denim will

–There’s far more to Levi’s
than just a reliable pair of

on 1990s styles – such as

jeans. Fresh, relaxed takes

– are both practical and on

trend, while the wear-with-
STOCKISTS: ALEXANDERMCQUEEN.COM, AMIPARIS.COM, BOSS.COM, CERRUTI.COM, DIOR.COM, EMPORIO ARMANI ARMANI.COM, ICEBERG.COM, KENZO.COM, LEVI.COM, MAISONKITSUNE.COM, MICHAELKORS.CO.UK,
PRADA.COM, RAEBURNDESIGN.CO.UK, RAG-BONE.COM, RALPHLAUREN.CO.UK, STELLAMCCARTNEY.COM, STONEISLAND.COM, TIMBERLAND.CO.UK, VALENTINO X UNDERCOVER VALENTINO.COM
 Dior
–
Under the creative direction
of Kim Jones, the Parisian
brand takes sports luxe
up a notch for AW19, with
quietly luxurious tailoring
and statement accessories
that are as practical as
they are forward-thinking.
Utilitarian details add
substance, while entirely
reversible designs mean
these investment pieces will
work twice as hard for you.
–
VEST £2,800
BLAZER £1,950
TROUSERS £700
BOOTS £930
ALL DIOR
Ami
–
Since Ami’s founding in
2002, the luxury label has
become a firm favourite
of men who appreciate
quality. Designer Alexandre
Mattiussi’s bombers,
overcoats, shearlings and
heavy-gauge intarsia knits
are produced using the
finest yarns and cloths, but
they have a lightness of
touch that gives them
urban credibility.

Cerruti
1881
–
With Italian roots and
a creative base in Paris,
Cerruti 1881 exudes an
aesthetic that combines
flawless craftsmanship
with comfort and elegance.
For AW19, its loose-fitting,
Left Bank-inspired
overcoats and packable
technical wear will be
your go-tos, whatever
the occasion.

–
COAT £1,895
HOODY £305
TROUSERS £265
SHOES £375
ALL AMI BY
ALEXANDRE
MATTIUSSI

–
COAT £4,350
HOODED VEST £600
TROUSERS £360
BOOTS £525
ALL CERRUTI 1881
MH | URBAN ACTIVE | | 10/2019
129
 Stella
McCartney
–
A leading figure in the
sustainable fashion
movement, Stella
McCartney remains
committed to eco-friendly
values. Precise, military-
inspired tailoring is also
a crucial aspect of her
work – the legacy of a
spell cutting her teeth on
Savile Row. Her eclectic
casual wear, from washed
denim to graphic knits,
will be a failsafe addition
to your autumn wardrobe.
| 10/2019

130
MH | URBAN ACTIVE |

–
PARKA £1,635
SHIRT £315
JUMPER £460
JEANS £500
SNEAKERS £360
ALL STELLA
MCCARTNEY

SOCKS MODEL’S OWN

 Alexander
McQueen
–
Known for its dark, ethereal
aesthetic, the cult British label
specialises in idiosyncratic
treatments that celebrate the
wearer’s individuality, such as
hand-painted motifs and
– artisanal digital prints. But
JUMPER £1,050 crucially, it’s all made to last.
TROUSERS £1,795
BOTH ALEXANDER The latest collection is inspired
MCQUEEN by the practical work wear of
the industrial north, so expect
utility and style in abundance.
Ralph
Lauren
Purple
Label
–
The most luxurious line
in the Ralph Lauren stable,
a house that epitomises
laid-back American style,
Purple Label uses the
finest fabrics to turn out
slick tailoring and street-
worthy casualwear. Think
plush, sporty coats and
louche intarsia knits.

Valentino
–
Each season, creative
director Pierpaolo Piccioli
updates the elegant codes
of this Roman house, giving
them a contemporary edge
with signature details such
as camouflage motifs and
pyramid studs. AW19’s
graphic-print outerwear,
chunky trainers and
1980s-inspired athletic
tailoring will bring both
functionality and flair
to your wardrobe.

–
COAT £3,200
SWEATER £1,100
TROUSERS £890
ALL RALPH LAUREN
PURPLE LABEL

SNEAKERS £315
MAISON KITSUNÉ X
BRANDBLACK

–
COAT £5,350
BLAZER £1,750
TROUSERS £590
ALL VALENTINO X
UNDERCOVER

SNEAKERS £590
VALENTINO GARAVANI
X UNDERCOVER
MH | URBAN ACTIVE | | 10/2019
133
 Emporio
Armani
–
As the mercury falls,
Emporio Armani’s tactile,
highly engineered
outerwear will be your
most faithful ally. The
effortlessly innovative
Italian brand has long led
the way in luxe streetwear,
imbuing functional style
with a sense of athleticism,
and its specialist finishing
techniques – from lasering
to screen-printing – will
guarantee you a place at
the head of the pack.

–
PARKA £770
BLAZER £450
KNITTED HOODY £300
TROUSERS £165
ALL EMPORIO ARMANI
| 10/2019

134
MH | URBAN ACTIVE |
Michael
Kors
–The modern jet-setter’s
label of choice raises its
technical game for AW19
without losing its sense of
luxury. Bold camouflage
knits, zip-throughs with
technical panels and
coats with built-in device
chargers ensure that
you’re well equipped
for life on the go,
whether you’re at home
or further afield.
Raeburn
–
British designer
Christopher Raeburn’s
ethos has long been
driven by a mission
to reduce his brand’s
environmental impact,
whether by repurposing
army attire or innovating
recycled fabrics. This
season’s paratrooper-
inspired jackets are
a prime example of
his cutting-edge
garment design, and
just the thing for
any budding GI.

| 10/2019
137

MH | URBAN ACTIVE |
–
COAT £237
ZIP-UP JUMPER £157
SWEATER £182
TROUSERS £102
SNEAKERS £175
ALL MICHAEL KORS

–
BOMBER JACKET
£1,499
SHIRT £150
TROUSER £175
SHOES £150
ALL RAEBURN
| 10/2019

138
MH | URBAN ACTIVE |

Iceberg
–
Founded in 1974, this
– Milanese label has built
COAT £840 a strong following with
ZIP-UP TOP £265
TROUSERS £220 its bold motifs and pop
SNEAKERS £320 art-inspired athleisure.
ALL ICEBERG
This season’s primary-
colour shells and rave-
inspired zip-ups will make
you stand out in a sea of
muted winter hues.
Training hard but
not seeing results?
Time to break free
from bad habits
and make some
changes to your
regime to build a
leaner, fitter you
140 MEN’S HEALTH

I  BE A QUITTER
f you’re heading to the gym day after
day, week after week, but not seeing
the kind of results you’d like, then
perhaps you need to consider the
obvious: that something you’re doing
(or not doing) is the biggest obstacle
to achieving your fitness objectives.
That’s the bad news.
I
The good news is that you’re also the
solution to the problem. And to help,
we’ve identified five changes you can
make to ensure you’re not getting in the
way of your own success. Get ready to
smash through that glass ceiling
between you and your goals…
PRESS
ACTIVATE
We get it; you’re in
the gym and the guy
next to you is lifting some pretty hefty
weights, so you’re duty-bound to match
him, right? Wrong. As Third Space
head of education Josh Silverman
explains, if you want to make changes
to your body composition, it’s not all
about lifting the heaviest weights
available; instead, you need to focus
on activating your muscles and
maintaining proper form. “Sometimes
controlling the reps and taking the
weights down a bit will actually lead to
more growth,” says Silverman.
FUEL THOSE
MUSCLES
Think fasted cardio is
the key to a six-pack? Then you might
be interested in a study published in
the American Journal Of Physiology:
Endocrinology And Metabolism, which
indicates that eating before your workout
helps the body burn more carbohydrates
during exercise – and can help with
digestion once you’re done. So no need
to run scared from your morning cereal.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT QUITTING CIGARETTES WITH CHANGE INCORPORATED.
Advertisement is paid for by Change Incorporated (VICE) for its Quit Cigarettes
initiative. Philip Morris International funds this initiative but has no editorial input,
so may not share the views expressed
MH PROMOTION
You already know that
smoking cigarettes is
bad for your health.
But did you know
how serious it is for your fitness goals?
A study published in The Journal Of
Physiology found that smoking
cigarettes actually decreases the
number of small blood vessels that bring
oxygen and nutrients to the muscles in
your legs. Less oxygen and nutrients
mean less muscle. So quit the ciggies
and you’re sure to make gains.
GO HOME,
NOT HARD
To build muscle, you
need to push yourself
to the limit, right? Wrong. A study in the
European Journal Of Applied Physiology
shows just how damaging overtraining can
be. For the study, 10 athletes increased
their training volume by 100%. After one
month, seven reported suffering from
a host of illnesses and injuries, as well as
a decline in performance and feelings of
tiredness. So if you do go hard, your next
step should be to go home and rest.
SNOOZE,
DON’T LOSE
You’ve worked out
all day; now you can party all night.
Think again. According to one review,
published in Sports Medicine, the
dreamless, non-REM part of your
sleep in particular increases protein
synthesis and the mobilisation of fatty
acids, which provide you with energy
and help to repair the muscles you
broke down during your workout.
Put simply, your path to bigger guns
begins with a good night’s sleep.
MEN’S HEALTH 141
MH CLASSIFIED

THE MH DIRECTORY
Look good and feel great with this selection of life-enhancing products

POWERBALL GYROSCOPIC
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Harness the power of Powerball’s
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The handheld Powerball can develop
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a F1 engine) powered just by your arm
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The faster Powerball’s rotor spins the
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This pocket sized gym is the perfect
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Especially…
• Sports people – Powerball is used by
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These world class rehabilitation and
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SEEKING SINGLE, ELIGIBLE
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TAKE YOUR PERFORMANCE TO THE
NEXT LEVEL
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WHEY UK
Whey UK protein shakes offer clean, nutritious, delicious sports supplements with unique blends, which are
hand selected offering the best natural nutritional supplements. All Whey UK products are manufactured in
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THE HANNIBAL
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Crossing the Pyrennees, the Alps
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For more details visit
rideandseek.com
MH CLASSIFIED

THE MH DIRECTORY
Look good and feel great with this selection of life-enhancing products

GWC WATCHES
Gilchrist Watch Co. is home
to a hand-chosen, trend
driven and affordable
collection of timepieces for
the modern gentleman.
The strikingly minimal Mesh SHREDDIES
Chrono from Megir boasts a
steel mesh band, precision Shreddies garments are the perfect solution for
stopwatch and calendar all flatulence related issues. Our discreet and
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3 variations, £59. which absorbs and neutralises flatulence odours.
Shop the collection at Shreddies range of garments include two styles of
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 ONE WORD
ANSWER #59

QUESTION
What thrilling
TV drama can spike
your levels of
muscle-building
testosterone?

I n 1986, Wayne Shelford was just 20 minutes

into his second Test for New Zealand against
France when he plunged into a dog-pile. He
had already earned a reputation as one of the
toughest players in rugby – a hard man in a
sport of resolutely hard men – but by the time
he extricated himself from the mound of bodies,
that reputation had been cast into legend.
Like any legend, the story changes with
each retelling, but one fact is certain: when
he emerged from the tangle of limbs and
razor-sharp studs, his scrotum had been torn
open, leaving one of his testicles hanging out.
With frightening calm, the No8 jogged to the
side of the pitch and, ignoring the four teeth he
had also just lost, instructed the physio to stitch
him up. He played on for another 40 minutes
in “the Battle of Nantes”, before the coach was
forced to take him off – because a blow to the
head had knocked him unconscious.
Fortunately, simply watching rugby doesn’t
present the same threat to your manhood. In
fact, researchers at the University of Valencia
suggest that a thrilling match can boost your
male hormone levels. In 2010, a group of 50
Spanish sports fans provided saliva samples
during a World Cup. Not only did the results
reveal a rise in testosterone secretion on the
WORDS: JUSTIN GUTHRIE | ARTWORK: PETER CROWTHER | PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY
day of the final, but the levels increased in line
with the level of each fan’s dedication
to their national side. That means the more
you love your team, the more testosterone
your body produces when you watch it.
Testosterone is quite literally what
ANSWER separates the men from the boys.
The hormone plays a crucial role in
Rugby boosting muscle, sex drive and heart
health. Without it, you’re more likely to
store fat, break our bones and lose your
hair. A study in the Journal of Clinical
Endocrinology & Metabolism found that
T-levels among men are at an all-time low,
so take any boost where you can. You never
know when your production line could come
under threat from a misplaced boot.

146 MEN’S HEALTH