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BOOST FIGHT FAT

AND WIN
YOUR
FLEX
“SUPERFOODS”
EXPOSED

LIFE
Pump Up Your Arms
WAKE UP
YOUNGER
in 8 Simple Moves CARNIVORES
VS VEGANS
Pick Your Side

32
INSTANT
LIFE
HACKS

THE
ZIN_MH_0519

ARTH
E SUE
IS
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 CONTENTS 05.19

20
Surf legend Kelly Slater won’t
slow down, shooting for a 12th
world title while building an
eco-friendly business empire.

COVER GUY:
KELLY SLATER
PHOTOGRAPHED BY:
RYAN FOLEY

AUSTRALIAN

BOOST FIGHT FAT

AND WIN
YOUR
FLEX
“SUPERFOODS”
EXPOSED

LIFE
Pump Up Your Arms
WAKEUP
YOUNGER
in 8 Simple Moves CARNIVORES
VS VEGANS
PickYourSide

32
INSTANT
LIFE
HACKS

THE
EARTH
SUE
IS

6 menshealth.com.au

Order In New Brainpower
How Chinese takeaway could boost your
memory and stave off dementia.
104
Leaps of Faith
Lessons in crazy-brave from the world’s
scariest mountain-biking competition.
Boost Your Flex Life
The insider tricks and tweaks you need
to build sleeve-shredding arms.
70
Marathon Men
Expand your physical limits by taking
on a cause bigger than yourself.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
H E A LT H
p18 Nap Time
Slash your risk of heart attack with
an afternoon snooze.
p48 How Gross Are You?
Which of your less-than-hygenic
habits might actually kill you?
FITNESS
p115 Freedom Fighters
Rugby’s elite are using yoga to un-
lock their bodies – and play better.
p118 Whip-Arse Workout
Need to shed lard in a hurry?
Here’s our fastest-ever plan.
TACT I C S
p32 You’re Gonna Die
How to enrich your life by facing
up to the inevitable.
p98 The Side Hustle
Strapped for cash? Turn your
passion into a moneyspinner.
N U T R I T I ON
p52 Snob’s Guide To Pies
Convert your favourite cheat meal
into a nutritional powerhouse.
p78 Carnivores v Vegans
We taste-test two hot, and diamet-
rically opposed, eating plans.
ST Y L E
p55 The Woodsman
Enough already! Head into the
wilderness, ready for anything.
p60 Ditch “The Usual”
Check out these legends’ locks
before your next haircut.
May 2019 7
 E D I T O R’S L E T T E R
Men's Health Australia @MensHealthAU @MensHealthAU menshealth.com.au

MAKING WAVES WITH A LEGEND

I first met Kelly Slater four years ago. On our annual pilgrimage
to the Mecca of Australian surfing, Bells Beach, my best mate SCOTT HENDERSON Editor
and I were cruising along the Great Ocean Road, gazing out the
BEN JHOTY Deputy Editor
window at empty waves and pristine beaches. Suddenly, our
DANIEL WILLIAMS Associate Editor
eyes settled on a lone surfer. The distant figure launched off the
DAVID ASHFORD Creative Director
lip of a wave, so perfectly in tune with the water that he seemed
to be mocking us mere mortals. We pulled over and, awestruck, JASON LEE Deputy Art Director
watched him for 90 minutes. KATE FRASER Head Of Pictures – Fashion and Health
Given his affinity with the ocean, and the way his iconic LAUREN WILLIAMSON Digital Content Manager – Health
shaved head caught the setting sun, there was no mistaking his ALEX PIEROTTI Digital Content Editor
identity: we’d made a rare sighting of Slater in the wild. TODD LIUBINSKAS Fitness Director
Unfortunately, this is where the supreme coolness of CHIEF BRABON Transformation Coach
this story ends. Realising the greatest surfer in history was JEFF LACK Style Editor
parked next to us, I very uncooly approached him, uttering
ERIN DOCHERTY Grooming Writer
a nonsensical “You make my life”. One of history’s great
embarrassments, captured on film and now etched in print.
This month, the paths of Slater and I cross again, as
MH launches our first eco-issue. Alongside Slater’s ongoing
efforts in sustainability and innovation, MH has made our own
commitment to Mother Nature: from this month onwards our CLARISSA WILSON KATHY GLAVAS
subscriber issue will be sent out in biodegradable plastic. Brand Solutions Director Head of Health
I’m still yet to witness a human being more at home JESSICA LAY COURTENAY McDERMOTT
in the water than Slater, for whom the waves seem to be an Brand Solutions Manager Marketing Manager – Health
extension of his being. He’s evolved into a fierce protector ELLIE FLETCHER
CALVIN SIMPSON Marketing & Events Executive
of the environment, a sustainable-fashion entrepreneur with Brand Solutions Coordinator
PAUL KING
his own clothing brand, Outerknown. And nowadays, he really ANDREW CAMERON Production Manager
does control the waves, in the form of his new man-made Executive Creative Director
ALLAN WEBSTER
wave company. ALEX DALRYMPLE
Print Operations Manager
Eyeing a 12th world title at the age of 47, Slater is living proof Multimedia Content Producer JEREMY SUTTON
that time spent in harmony with nature is time dedicated to Group Subscriptions Manager
professional longevity and vigorous health. In fact, our lab-
coated mates have proven it so. ‘Forest bathing’, aka spending
time in nature, has recently been proven to reduce stress, boost GEREURD ROBERTS Chief Executive Officer, Pacific Magazines

immunity and lower blood pressure so effectively that the GUY TORRE Chief Financial Officer
practice is now enshrined in Japanese public-health policy. In LOUISA HATFIELD Group Content and Brand Director
this issue, take a leap of faith (p. 104), head out into the woods NICOLE BENCE Commercial Director
(p. 55) and hit the trails (p. 70). Look after your world – and, in MARK BOORMAN Group Production Manager
turn, look after yourself.

RICHARD DORMENT KIM ST. CLAIR BODDEN

Editor in Chief, SVP/Editorial
Scott Henderson Men’s Health US & Brand Director
menshealth@pacificmags.com.au
m SIMON HORNE CHLOE O’BRIEN
SVP/Managing Director Deputy Brands Director
Asia Pacific & Russia
SHELLEY MEEKS
RICHARD BEAN Executive Director,
Director of International Licensing Content Services
and Business Development

Pacific Magazines, Media City,

8 Central Avenue, Eveleigh, NSW 2015
Phone: (02) 9394 2000 Fax: (02) 9394 2319
C
Clean Slater: who knew Subscription enquiries: 1300 668 118
H
Henderson’s chance meeting Printing Bluestar Web, 83 Derby Street, Silverwater NSW 2128. Distribution Gordon & Gotch.
Published 12 times a year. Registered business name Pacific Magazines Pty Ltd, (ABN) 16 097 410
w
with the maestro would 896. All rights reserved. Title and trademark Men’s Health © Hearst Magazines International.
p
presage a noble alliance? No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part without prior written permission.
Men’s Health is a registered trademark and the unauthorised use of this trademark is strictly

8 menshealth.com.au
 ASK MH

THE BIG QUESTION

Is social media
making me a
shallownarcissist?
AK
If you have to ask, AK, you might
not “like” the answer. Narcissism isn’t
simply a matter of self-love: it’s a set of
behaviours that includes an
exaggerated sense of your own
importance and an excessive need for
the admiration of others. Social media
thrives on these feelings.
Though you may know – on an
intellectual level – that Instagram
selfies aren’t a true reflection of reality,
it’s all too easy to compare your daily
life to someone else’s carefully curated
highlights reel. And self-flagellation of
this sort can send your fragile self-
esteem plummeting.
“This prompts us to search for ways
to boost our confidence with likes and
comments,” says psychotherapist Ben
Bidwell (@thenakedprofessor). “Then
we compete by sharing our own,
highly selective and filtered images.” LEARN TO “UNLIKE”
Each new like or notification validates YOUR NEED FOR
us, giving us a hit of dopamine, the INSTA VALIDATION.
brain chemical linked to pleasure,
reward and, sometimes, addictive
or compulsive acts.
If you’re not yet ready to delete your
accounts, try using greyscale mode
(Google this to see if your phone offers
it). Making the experience of social Heed Ben Bidwell’s tips to avoid
media less engaging slackens its grip;
greyscaled avo on toast and #yolkporn
ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR becoming a slave to your phone

is just not worth the double-tap. Apps CULL YOUR FOLLOWERS TAKE IT OFFLINE BE TRUE TO YOURSELF
to monitor screen time can also help What does each Use social media only Review your past five
to bring your usage down. exchange give you? Inspiration? when you’re alone, and never posts – are they honest?
Education? Laughs? If you don’t in the company of friends or Praise, when not earned, can
But, Bidwell says, for a lasting fix, it’s
know what they bring to your family. Use an “app-blocker” to cause mental distress, a
best to extinguish the need to scratch feed, just unfollow. eliminate distractions. University of Pennsylvania
that itch. His plan (see right) will help study finds.
with your social media detoxification.

10 menshealth.com.au
 ANCIENT SOLUTION TO
A MODERN PROBLEM

I’ve changed my mind about

marriage equality. Am I weak?
RW

It is better to change an opinion

than to persist in the wrong one.
Socrates, ancient Greece

TEXT A PT
Hi. I planned to train my legs at
lunch but I’m seriously sore. Do
I have a pass to skip the gym?

Well, training sore muscles will DOES IT WORK?

increase your injury risk, and it’s

Isfastedcardiothe
unlikely you’ll be able to lift as CHASE DOWN FAST
RESULTS WITH A DIET
much as in your last session … YOU CAN STOMACH.

… but don’t skip it, shirker! Try

steady-state cardio on a bike, or
head to the pool instead. You
g
can return to your regular
routine tomorrow.
Fair cop. But how can I stop
soreness hurting my progress?
Just don’t overdo it: try no more
than than eight sets on one
muscle group each session.
OK. Should I split my training
into muscle groups, then?
WORDS: MICHAEL JENNINGS; PHOTOGRAPHY: JOBE LAWRENSON
best route to fat loss?
AM
If you don’t eat before training,
your body will burn fat for fuel instead
of carbs: a win-win. Or so the theory
behind fasted cardio goes. But
nutritionist Chris Lowe says that this
is an oversimplification. “When it
comes to using fat or carbs for fuel,
there’s no on/off switch. You’ll never
burn 100 per cent carbs or 100 per
cent fat. It’s always a combination.”
It gets more complicated. In one
study, those who trained on empty
stomachs burned more fat than
breakfast-eaters immediately after
burning more carbohydate. The
reverse occurred in subjects who had
a pre-cardio meal. It pretty much
balanced out.
Our advice? Do what feels good. If
not eating keeps you in a kilojoule
deficit, stick with fasted training. A
carb-based meal the night before
should help you avoid empty-
stomach problems. If you do eat first
thing, “Avoid having too much fat or
fibre, as these can cause digestive
issues,” suggests Lowe. Our
perfectly-timed fuel options (below)

Do two push and pull workouts exercise but, 12 hours later, they were will set you up for success.
a week. Squats and leg presses
on push days, hamstring moves
and deadlifts on pull days, with
a day off in between. Go heavy
on day one, lighter on day two.
GET WITH THE TIMES Whatever your routine, Lowe’s plans
will help you fuel the right way

90 MINUTES BEFORE 60 MINUTES BEFORE 30 MINUTES BEFORE

That way, you’ll always have two
rest days before training the
same muscle. Go easy, OK?
Andy Vincent,
@andyvincentpt
Chocolate Oats
• A scoop of chocolate whey
• Rolled oats, 50g
• Strawberries, 5, chopped
• Honey, 1tsp
• Greek yoghurt, 1tbsp
Banana & Strawberry Smoothie
Blend this in your Thermos
($44.99; thermos.com.au) for
sustained power: scoop of
strawberry whey, 250ml
almond milk, 1 banana.
Coffee & Water
Caffeine enters the blood
within 5-15 mins and peaks at
around 40-80 mins. Have it
half an hour before your
sesh for a late boost.

May 2019 11
 MAXIMISING LIFE’S GREATEST LUXURY
WE’VE BEEN CONDITIONED to
believe that indulgence, especially
when served with a bag of prawn
crackers, has few redeeming
qualities. But while the kilojoule hit of
spring rolls and egg fried rice is
something to be enjoyed only
PHOTOGRAPHY: PAVEL DORNAK AT LUCKY IF SHARP
occasionally, it should not be
avoided wholesale. In fact, scientists
at Tottori University in Japan suggest
your Chinese takeaway could deliver
weighty brain benefits in 45 minutes.
According to new research,
monosodium glutamate (MSG), a key
ingredient of Chinese food, may play
a role in staving off dementia, with
test subjects who consumed it
POWER UP YOUR
NOODLE WITH A
CHINESE TAKEAWAY.
45
showing noticeable improvements
in memory. Though unclear exactly
why, some scientists suggest that it
activates the hippocampus (the area
of the brain dealing with memory),
while others believe that it might
improve our ability to absorb zinc,
which could help repair damaged
brain cells and stave off dementia.
However MSG works its magic, its
memory-boosting gifts are clear,
which has an obvious crossover to
your work life – especially when the MINUTES TO ORDER
boss quizzes you on those figures
in your 9am meeting. Late night at IN NEW BRAINPOWER
the office? Order in the Mongolian
lamb, chopsticks at the ready. AND EXTRA MEMORY
May 2019 13
 TAKING THE CAR or train for your
10-minute commute? We don’t blame
01
you. Autumn mornings can be chilly,
and all that coughing and spluttering
in the typical rail carriage is never
something to relish. But while there’s
still decent morning light, research
suggests that you should swap those
four wheels for two feet. According to
the US’s National Health and Nutrition
Survey, conducted on nearly 2000
people aged 20-49, the more vitamin
D you have in your system, the higher
your VO2 max will be. So, taking
advantage of an extra hour of
morning sunlight by walking to work
HOUR TO FIRE UP will not only top up your vitamin D
levels and put the spring back in your
YOUR VO2 MAX BY step, but it’ll make you fitter, too. All
without breaking a sweat.
WALKING TO WORK VO2 max is not something you buy
14 menshealth.com.au
in Priceline to keep your hair in place.
It’s a measure of your body’s maximal
oxygen uptake and the most
important factor in determining your
fitness. The report states that vitamin
D may increase your muscle protein
synthesis, boosting the number of
fast-twitch fibres to stave off fatigue
and therefore improve your aerobic
fitness. In essence, the greater your
VO2 max, the higher your capacity for
exercise. That means extra stamina
and an ability to train harder and
progress faster in the gym.
Combine this with sunlight’s ability
to provide a mental salve of feel-good
hormones, strengthen your heart and
even protect against liver disorders,
and it’s clear that a gentle cardio
commute is the ideal addition to your
regimen. It really is a bright idea.
TAKE THE FIRST STEPS
TOWARDS A LASTING
STAMINA BOOST.
$20 OFF
*

U S E C O D E : M E N S H E A LT H 2 0

*Minimum Spend $99. Valid on Selected Full Priced Items only until 11.59pm on 30.06.2019.
Cannot be used with any other code or offer. Conditions apply. For full terms and conditions
and a list of brand exclusions go to: www.theiconic.com.au/terms-of-use/#voucher

THE INTERNET is awash with bizarre
cure-alls. But while brushing your
tongue is hardly as odd as Gwyneth
Paltrow’s vaginal steamer, its
purported benefits are no less
spectacular. In this instance, however,
they’re backed up by science.
According to new research, brushing
your tongue for just 10 seconds per
day allows new “good bacteria” to
grow, which in turn facilitates the
production of nitric oxide – a molecule
that helps to slow down ageing by
16 menshealth.com.au
regenerating old cells. Sound good?
The ageing process is largely
caused by three factors. First, the
telomeres at the end of your
chromosomes stop working as
efficiently, so DNA can’t be replicated
as accurately. Second, your
mitochondria power down, resulting
in your cells receiving less energy.
Finally, your stem cells’ ability to repair
damage begins to wane. According to
US researchers, nitric oxide helps to
slow the effect of all three processes
10
SECONDS TO
LICK AGEING
AND WAKE UP
LOOKING YOUNGER
BLOW OUT THE YEARS
BY BRUSHING UP ON
YOUR ORAL HYGIENE.
– and scientists at Baylor College,
Texas, believe that 50 per cent of the
body’s total nitric oxide production
takes place on your tongue.
Brushing your tongue (try the Oral
B Smart 4000 Electric Toothbrush,
$99; harveynorman.com.au)
maximises the manufacture of this
internal youth elixir. The good oral
bacteria produce nitrites, which mix
with your stomach acid to create the
nitric oxide you need to turn back
the clock.
NEW
 01
TIRED? That makes all of us.
According to the Sleep Health
Foundation, Australians are under-
sleeping by an hour every night,
equivalent to a whole night’s sleep
over the course of a week. This deficit
is playing havoc with your health –
lack of sleep can double your risk of
heart disease, according to US
researchers. Greek epidemiologists
believe that naps are the answer, but
AFTERNOON TO HIT because you’re likely reading this
plugged into Australia’s always-on
SNOOZE ON YOUR work culture, not on the sleepy
Mediterranean coastline, we doubt
HEART ATTACK RISK a siesta is scheduled in your Outlook
calendar. There is, however, a
dreamy solution.
In a survey of 24,000 people,
conducted over six years, just one
PUT YOUR CHANCES OF
HEART TROUBLE TO BED
WITH A WEEKLY DOZE.
18 menshealth.com.au
afternoon nap per week was found to
slash the participants’ chances of a
fatal heart attack or stroke by half, with
men benefiting more than women.
Although the researchers came to no
definitive conclusion as to why a nap
reduced heart attack rates so
significantly, one assumption made
from the findings is that it provides an
extra opportunity for stress hormone
levels to reset, reducing blood
pressure and harmful inflammation.
Heart disease is the major cause of
preventable death in Australia, yet this
science suggests that the antidote
could be as simple as sleeping
through a Sunday arvo movie. You
probably won’t miss much. This is a
life-saving hack so easy that you can
do it with your eyes shut.
Advantage+
STAY AHEAD OF THE GAME

Endless Summer
As he prepares for what could be his farewell season, surfing icon Kelly
Slater is laying the foundations for a life outside of competition. In an
exclusive interview with MH, the GOAT reveals the secrets to sustaining
excellence and why he likes his chances of claiming world title no.12
BY BEN JHOTY PHOTOGRAPHS BY RYAN T. FOLEY

IT’S 7.45 on a Friday night on Hawaii’s

famous North Shore and Kelly Slater is
reclining on his bed, contemplating an
image that captures perfection. It’s a
photograph of the most incredible wave
Slater has ever seen. The picture was
taken at Pipeline about five years ago.
The thing that makes this wave perfect?
Not even Slater could catch it.
“I was in this heat in the semifinals
of the competition and this wave came
along that I’ve been looking for my whole
life at Pipeline and just never been in
position to catch,” he says, reliving the
day in his mind’s eye. “I was close to
getting on it but I just couldn’t catch it. It
was too intense and I wasn’t in the spot.
My friend got a picture of it from the
water. It’s just the most insane wave.”
Slater’s eye wanders up to the
ceiling or where the ceiling should be.
Instead there are rafters where some
of his favourite boards lie across the
beams. “I have all my guns, my big
boards up there,” he says. “Anything
that’s eight foot or longer hangs in
the rafters above my head.”

20 menshealth.com.au
 A+
COVER GUY

CHAIRMAN OF
THE BOARD:
SLATER IS EYEING A
12TH WORLD TITLE.

May 2019 21
 A+
COVER GUY
This image of the king of surfing
at home in his bedroom, surrounded
by the tools of his trade and a picture
of a wave that couldn’t be caught says
plenty about the man who’s ruled his
competition in a way few athletes
in history have ever had dominion
over their sports. If you want to try
to understand the secrets of Slater’s
incredible success and longevity
– he’s won a record 11 world titles
and is both the youngest at 20 and
eldest at 39 to achieve the honour
– it begins and ends with the contents
of his bedroom.
First, the passion. The first thing
Slater sees when he wakes up in the
morning and the last thing at night
are those surfboards. “You’ve just
got to love it and nothing else,” he says
when asked to identify the primary
factors in his prolonged success.
“Surfing is that for me.” Then there’s
the humility. As the picture constantly
22 menshealth.com.au
MH: As you prepare for your
comeback to the tour are you
looking to prove you can still
compete at 47 or are you doing it
simply because you love it?
KS: It’s probably both. I love surfing.
But I don’t love competing very much
at this point – the grind of getting on
the tour and going to this contest that
I’ve been to 50 times before, I don’t
love that. I do love the challenge of
certain guys though. When I get to surf
against my favourite surfers, the John
Johns, the Gabriels, Filipe, I love that
challenge and that opportunity. From
here on I’m doing it for my fans and for
people who seem to be inspired by me
doing this at my age. The sheer number
of people, on a daily basis, that are like,
‘Man, at your age you’re doing that?
You’re older than me and it made me
reminds him, as good as he is, the
ocean is greater. Taken together these
two qualities, passion and humility,
represent the twin girders of enduring
excellence. Possess them and you can
ride almost any wave to shore.
Which is exactly what Slater’s
doing, raging against the dying of the
light as he returns from injury to take
on a new brigade of young surfers,
some of whom aren’t even half his age.
Outside of competition his fervour
trickles down into projects like his
sustainable clothing line Outerknown,
his revolutionary artificial wave
company and his board brand Firewire,
that will form the broad planks of his
post-surfing life.
As Slater prepares to embark on
what may be his final full year in the
World Surf League, he chatted to MH
about the secrets of sustained success,
life beyond the tour and why he’ll never
stop chasing that perfect wave.
get off my butt and get myself in shape
again’. That and the challenge of being
47 and going against guys that are 20
years old. For all those guys, ‘You know
what? I’m your gatekeeper now. You’ve
got to beat me and I’m the old guy’.
MH: Do you think you have a shot at
winning this year?
KS: Oh yeah. I know I do. I’ve won
enough times to know what I have to do
to win. But it’s commitment. It’s focus.
I’ve watched guys win contests over
the past two years who were not doing
anything even remotely untouchable
for me. A lot of times, most of the guys
who win pick the right waves and they
make good choices. It’s not necessarily
doing some crazy giant manoeuvre
that no one else can do. It’s usually just
doing the basics really well on the best
waves. Ninety percent of the time if three of the first five events of the year.
you do that you’re going to win. If I do And if I were to win in Bali, I was going
that 90 per cent of the time, I’ll win to win the world title so early in the
the world title this year easily. Can I go year. I felt super good and in my first
out and do it 90 per cent of the time? round I got a 10-point ride and like a
Probably not, but I can give myself that nine-point-something. I was really
opportunity every time I paddle out. tuned in. And then I lost my second
heat in the third round. I was so angry
MH: If you don’t win these days is it at myself. I couldn’t let it go. I couldn’t
easier to accept than when you were sleep that night. So, I got up the next
young and more cutthroat about it? day and went surfing. When I got to
KS: You have no choice. I’ve learned the beach to paddle out I remember
that. In 2008 I was in Bali and I’d won looking at the heats my main rivals
“If you do the basics really well on the best
waves, 90 per cent of the time you’re going to
win. If I do that, I’ll win the world title easily”
POOL YOUR
RESOURCES: SLATER
RELAXES AT HIS NORTH
SHORE BEACH HOUSE.
May 2019 23
 A+
COVER GUY
were going to surf. All the guys who
could potentially catch me were still
in the contest. And they all had heats
with competitors that I was like, ‘Oh
they’re going to beat those guys easily’.
So, it made me even more angry. I was
just telling myself the worst. But as I
started surfing I went, ‘You know what,
it’s not going to help me at all to feel this
way. Just let it go’. And that moment
just freed me. I literally felt a thousand
pounds lighter. I went out and really
enjoyed my surf. I surfed for two or
three hours and when I came in all the
guys I was worried about had lost their
heats. It was just weird. It might have
been sheer coincidence but I processed
something so fully and so completely
and I felt really light afterward and
then it went my way. It was a good
lesson for me. Your biggest lessons
come from losing, not winning.
MH: You’ve managed to stay at the
top of your game for over 25 years.
What would you say have been the
keys to maintaining that standard for
such a long time?
KS: I think there are a lot of things
that go into it. Primarily you have to
be passionate about what you’re doing.
Obviously, there’s the physical side.
You have to eat well, not party, keep
your body in good shape, avoid injury. I
think it’s sort of tempering yourself just
right to be on that threshold of the best
surfing, but not going so radical
all the time that you’re injuring
yourself. You’ve got to throttle back and
forward at the right times. I feel like
I’ve done that well. I’ve been injured
for the last year-and-a-half but prior
to that I never missed two events in a
row. I was really lucky. Especially in the
middle where I was going for records
and world titles. Any injury would’ve
halted a lifelong goal.
MH: Do you think your ability to be
constantly at the forefront of
new trends and styles has
helped you succeed even as
surfing has changed?
KS: For sure. You have to know what
the standard is and know what you
can push. You have to have your mind
open to new things all the time. When
I started, I looked to my heroes. They
planted the seeds of what could be done
on waves. Then as I got on tour, that
changed. Suddenly all the guys I was
most excited about were my age. So, we
were this group that was pushing each
other, feeding off each other. Now I
find myself at a place where all the best
surfers in the world are younger than
24 menshealth.com.au
me. I’m looking at guys who literally
weren’t even born when I won my first
world title.
MH: You’ve often said surfing is the
best training for surfing. Do you think
having that intrinsic motivation helps
in sustaining your physical peak?
KS: The reason I said that is that
especially leading up to an event you
need to be really tactically sharp, really
decisive with your equipment and how
you’re going to surf the waves. But I do
think everyone needs a little bit of cross
training. Whether it’s just stretching
or some leg strength or mobility work.
That’s where you might flare a turn a
little more powerfully or a little quicker
than someone else. That could be the
difference between a world title and not
having one.
My body is generally in pretty good
shape but I do lazy man’s yoga, which
is Thai massage. They just stretch you
and work your muscles out a tonne. I get
a lot of deep-tissue work done. My issue
is my lower back and my left hip, which
I had a surgery on. When my back is
getting too tight I know it’s time to get
into some stretching.
“Now all the best surfers are younger
than me . . . guys who weren’t even
born when I won my first world title”
MH: Given that you haven’t had
that many injuries in a long career,
has this last one had any effects on
you mentally?
KS: It was a break that I wasn’t going
to choose to have on my own, but it was
really needed. It was the permission
I needed to allow myself to get in that
headspace to say, ‘Hey I might be
stepping away at some point soon so
I’m really going to enjoy the time I have
left for what it is and all the people
around me’. I’m not announcing my
retirement. I am looking into the 2020
Olympics. That could potentially be
retirement time. I’m getting close.
MH: Do you think because your
career has been so complete and
you have so many projects outside
of surfing you’ll find it easier to look
ahead rather than back once your
career is finally over?
KS: Look I’ve burned the candle at
both ends for so long. I mean non-stop
competing since I was eight years old.
Next year will make 40 years. I’m
going to burn this thing out of me and
be done with it. Then I’ll just go on
enjoying surfing the rest of my life. I
may compete here and there in an event
or two each year. But it won’t be what
motivates or drives me. It hasn’t been
for a while now.
MH: Are there lessons from your
surfing career and competing
that might help you in the
business world?
KS: Surfing and competing for me has
been the never-ending belief that you
can achieve whatever you set your mind
to. No matter how little time is left in a
heat you can still figure it out. It’s not
that you want to live your life that way.
Competing comes down to some nerve-
wracking moments and you don’t really
want to run a business that way but
there are heats I’ve surfed that have
gone so smoothly because the planning
was right and the approach was right.
That, by no means, gives me a business
degree or anything like that. I have
really good people that I work with who
come from that world. We see all the
things we do as a meeting of the minds.
 RAPID FIRE
Favourite trick?
Hitting a barrel. The barrel
is the ultimate in surfing

Favourite prank?
Pantsing your friends
in front of a big group
of people

Cheat meal
Vanilla ice cream with
dark chocolate

Hype-up song
My all-time favourite
artist is Stevie Wonder so
if I just listen to Stevie it
doesn’t matter what song
it is, it puts me in the vibe

Biggest career rival?

Andy Irons

Last book you read?

“Can’t Hurt Me”
by David Goggins

Karaoke song?
Faithfully by Journey

Hero?
Al Merrick, who was my
shaper at Challenge
Surfboards, has just been
such a figure in my life.
And my godfather.
He was a Vietnam
helicopter pilot. He’s got
some cool stories. He was
an all-time guy

May 2019 25
 A+
COVER GUY

MH: After 23 years at Quiksilver you
founded Outerknown. What was
your inspiration?
KS: I remember my contract was
coming up and I was talking to my
manager on the phone one day. We were
just talking about the environment
around clothing, who I was in my
career and what my ideals were around
all of that. I remember saying to him,
‘You know what? Let’s just do this.
Let’s do this other company. Let’s put
everything into it’.
MH: What has been the general
market reaction?
KS: One of the pillars of our brand is
to be transparent about everything:
our sourcing, who builds our products,
where they’re made, all of those things.
When we launched it was a tough
day for us because of the prices we
launched at. We were doing such low
volume and our maximum orders
were like 300 pieces per unit. And
we decided not to just do the typical
cheap, fast fashion clothing you get
from most surf brands. We didn’t
want to do that and the feedback
immediately was a little tough. People
were saying, ‘You forgot about who your
fans have been and who’s supported
you’. Unfortunately, I didn’t do a good
enough job of explaining to people
what it costs, the way it’s been made,
the raw material prices. Because
even though you’re doing the right
thing it still costs more. Ultimately,
we’re trying to get to a place where
we can finish supply chain, get our
prices down to the right place with
the margins at a place where we can
continue doing business and hopefully
increase our sales.
MH: Has sustainability been
something you’ve always been
passionate about?
KS: It was something I was never
concerned about when I was younger.
As a kid I just wanted to be sponsored
by a company and have a logo on my
board like the pros that were my heroes.
There’s a funny story my dad used
to tell about when I got my first surf-
board. All I really wanted was the
word ‘team’ on the board. But they
wouldn’t allow me to have it. Granted
I was an eight-year-old kook and I
wasn’t a very good surfer yet. I just
wanted to feel included. It’s funny.
Everyone evolves. It took me getting
to a place where I was more socially
and environmentally aware before I
had the balls to step into that position.
Nowadays I’m really particular about
what I put in my body, so I want to
be really particular about what I put
on my body.
MH: What were your main aims with
the brand’s aesthetic and tone?

THE LONGEST WAVE MH CHARTS THE HIGH-WATER MARKS ON SLATER’S SURFING CV

Finishes 43rd; named Returns to competition; the

one of People magazine’s makers of the Tony Hawk
50 most beautiful people video game series release
Kelly Slater’s Pro Surfer

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Turns pro; finishes
90th in world Becomes youngest
rankings; signs a -ever male champion Finishes second
sponsorship deal at 20 with first title; Wins a record five consecutive titles in the title race;
with Quiksilver plays Jimmy Slade and retires; releases an album with publishes autobiography
in Baywatch the band the Surfers Pipe Dreams: A Surfer’s Journey
DENOTES WORLD CHAMPION

26 menshealth.com.au
 KS: I didn’t want a bunch of giant logo-
printed tees, bright colours. I wanted
something a bit more classic. When I
was 13-14 years old every board I had
was green and orange. That’s not the
colours I live by these days. I think the
basics are the standard. That’s what
stands the test of time and those are
the things I like to wear. I’m not a huge
risk-taker when it comes to fashion. I’m
not a guy who can wear some kind of
cheetah print with a weird giant letter
or something. It’s just not my thing.
MH: Would you say the ethical side
of the business gives it a deeper
mission outside of the financial
bottom line?
KS: If we’re not able to take some
market share from other brands then
that I could’ve signed for the rest of my
life and I took a giant pay cut to do it. I
believed in it. So, I do take the things I
choose to be involved in seriously. I try
to respect the position that I have.
MH: One of your other major projects
is the artificial wave company, which
has attracted some criticism
that it removes that link with
the ocean surfers have always
celebrated. Is your hope that it
will take surfing mainstream?
KS: I think that’s a little bit broad of
a brush. My hope is that anyone who
already loves surfing will have more
access to surfing. There are a lot of guys
who don’t get surf-time in every week
because they’ve got a job, they’ve got
kids. If you did live in a community
your surf thirst for the day. I call it surf
vitamins. It’s supplementation to the
real surfing. It doesn’t replace it. It’s
just an addition.
MH: So, as the ends draws nearer,
what are you looking forward to most
in your post-surfing career?
KS: It’s probably not going to happen
but having a totally open schedule for
a year. In my head I think of my year
ahead and it’s always based around
competition. I want to go enjoy all the
places I’ve got to know all these years
without a specific time schedule.

“Your biggest lessons come

I would see it as a little bit of a loss. that had a manmade wave, you could
Because, essentially, you want to schedule an hour when your kids are

from losing, not winning”

replace something with something sleeping or at school and get a few
better. I left a very lucrative contract waves and feel like you’ve quenched

Wins Breaks Tom Curren’s Wins 10th title; Laaunches sustainable Makes his
eighth record of 33 event wins US Congress honours clothing line comeback at
title (he’s now on 55) his achievements Outerknown
O J-Bay at 46

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Breaks his foot at

Wins seventh title; Wins ninth title; the J-Bay Open;
becomes the first to publishes second Becomes the makes quarter- Returns to the
score a perfect 20 under book For the Love oldest champion finals of the Pipe tour full-time
the two-wave system at 39 with 11th title Masters on one foot at 47

May 2019 27
 A+
HEALTH

HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW

WELLNESS?
If you think you’re up-to-date on the latest nutrition, health
and fitness news, you’ll find this quiz fun. Couldn’t care less?
Well, then you need to take it more than anyone
What should you
BY AARON TOUMAZOU
6 track in order to
help you lose weight?
A Kilojoules
1 Which of these obviously
awful weight-room habits 4 Flexing which body part
might boost your deadlift? B Meal times
(which you never do, of course – A Your jaw C Steps
right?) may actually enhance
your strength? B Your quads B: You don’t have to crunch kilojoule
C Your toes numbers to hit your goals. Simply delaying
A Not wiping down equipment
breakfast until 10am and eating nothing after
B Spitting A: Research shows that clenching your jaw 6pm can reduce your daily kilojoule intake
C Swearing improves strength and power. When Spanish and may also lower your blood pressure,
scientists asked men to bite on a mouth according to a 2018 study published in the
C: Holy sh*t! People who vocalised guard during a hand-grip test, they journal Nutrition and Healthy Aging. The best
frustrations during bike and hand-grip tests performed better than those who clenched part? After 12 weeks, test subjects lost an
saw a 4.6 per cent uptick in power without using the device, so be sure to average of 3kg without depriving
and an 8.2 per cent increase in strength protect your teeth when lifting big. themselves of any of their favourite foods.
compared with silent types, a study in
Psychology of Sport & Exercise found.

2 Which of these forms of

procrastination might
instantly renew your focus?
A Watching videos on YouTube
5
B Reposting memes Feeling tired
C Tweeting
on a Sunday
A, B & C: Aussie researchers found that afternoon?
younger people who took breaks that
included non-work-related Internet browsing
You should:
paid more attention to tasks afterwards. A Take a nap

B Have a snack

An injury preventing you C Hit the gym

3 from lifting? The best way
to stay swole is to_____: A: Power down for 30 minutes or
less and you may wake up
happier, research reports. Set an
alarm: short naps during the day
can renew your focus and
A B C creativity, while longer ones (45
Pound Sit and Go to the minutes or more) should curb
orange juice think gym anyway the effects of stress and lower
your blood pressure.
B: Ohio University researchers found that
when study participants who had their hand
immobilised in a cast imagined their
muscles contracting, they lost half the
strength of those who didn’t visualise.

28 menshealth.com.au
 Adding which of the
7 following to your water
Going all out in the gym for
8
might help you run faster?
______ could give you the
same fitness boosts as a
low-intensity 45-minute workout.
A 60 seconds

B 10 minutes

C 30 minutes

A: Study participants who did brief, intense

A B C interval exercise for 12 weeks
BCAAs Salt Sugar
saw the same improvements in their
cardiometabolic health as those who did
C: University of Georgia researchers found longer, continuous exercise,
that runners who swished and spat a sugar according to a study by
solution during a 12.8-km run cut their time researchers at McMaster
by three minutes compared with those who University. But you really
rinsed with H2O. The carbohydrates trick the have to push it. Hop on
reward centres of your brain into thinking it’s the stationary bike and
going to receive kilojoules, even though work until your lungs
you’re not actually ingesting any. beg for a break. Fun!

Listening to which of the

9 following tracks during 10 Eating which meal
component may help
training may offer an instant curb your appetite?
power boost?

A B C A B C
“Power,” “Shape of You,” “In My Grilled Sweet Side
by Kanye by Ed Sheeran Feelings,” chicken potato salad
West by Drake
A: Psychologists at Brunel University London A: Protein speeds the signal that you’re full
found that synchronising repetitive exercise to your brain, meaning you might be less
with a steady musical beat can enhance likely to overindulge, according to a study
endurance by as much as 15 per cent. Not published in the American Journal of Clinical
only might the music distract you from Nutrition. Shoot for around 25 grams of the
physical discomfort, but affirmative lyrics stuff at mealtimes and you’ll reap protein’s
can also have a motivating effect. many benefits, from fullness to body-weight
management to a significantly reduced
heart-disease risk.

HOW MANY DID YOU GET RIGHT?

0 to 4
Read up
Revisit some of the
questions you blanked
on and ask yourself how
you can incorporate the
behaviours into your life.
5 to 7
Keep learning
You have a solid foundation
and should see the
benefits: less stress, more
confidence and an uptick
in energy levels.
8 to 10
Well, well, well!
Since you know so much,
here’s a bonus tip: sleep.
More rest may aid in
protein synthesis and
muscle development.

May 2019 29
 A+
HEALTH
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN…
…I Take Probiotics?
With the “good bacteria” industry predicted to be worth
$100bn by 2023, we put probiotics under the microscope to
see if the purported health panacea really has the guts
REBALANCE
YOUR HEALTH
FROM INSIDE OUT.
2 1
2
BUGS OF WAR
The effects of your
first dose can range
from effortless bowel
movements to diarrhoea. If
you suffer from the latter,
don’t worry. Fatigue-causing
yeast overgrowth – the result
of eating too much sugar or
refined carbs – begins a turf
war with the incoming good
bacteria. This can be
explosive, but the result is a
biome repopulated by the
victors and a rise in your
energy levels.
3 4
GREEN GOBBLIN’
Unfortunately, the
benefits of these
supps are temporary,
lasting only as long as
you’re taking them. For
long-term results, raise your
intake of prebiotics, which
feed good bacteria and
allow them to grow
naturally so you don’t have
to parachute them into your
gut with pills. The best
sources are high-fibre
asparagus, cabbage and
spring onion. Add to basket.
30 menshealth.com.au
3 5
4
LOSS ADJUSTER
Probiotics can also
help you lose weight
by limiting the absorption of
dietary fat in your intestines.
One study* found that people
who take lactobacillus
rhamnosus for three months
lose almost 50 per cent more
weight than others; a
separate study suggested
even low doses of a different
strain taken for 12 weeks can
reduce belly fat by 8.5 per
cent. It may be time you
called in the reinforcements.
1
INSIDE TRACTS
The idea that your
wellbeing begins in your
gut is increasingly gaining
credence. Safeguard your
“good bacteria”, the thinking
goes, and you’ll set up both
body and mind for a
healthier outlook. But don’t
reach for those yoghurt
shots just yet. Your best bet
is to take your probiotics in
an acid-resistant capsule
that protects them from
stomach acid until they
reach your intestines. For
maximum effect, pop a supp
30 minutes before brekkie.
WORDS: TOM WARD; ILLUSTRATION: PETER GRUNDY; *BRITISH JOURNAL OF NUTRITION; **EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CLINICAL NUTRITION
5
BRAIN FOOD
Improving your gut
biome can have happy
consequences. A review of 15
human studies found that
supplementing your diet with
“friendly” lactobacillus and
bifidobacteria for a month can
fuel a mental health reboot.
Studies have shown that
probiotics can fire up the
function of your central
nervous system to help
alleviate symptoms of anxiety
and depression, while
improving memory.
 A+
MIND
Don’t Forget,
MY WIFE proudly flashed her
phone in my direction the other
day to show off a picture she’d
You’re Gonna Die!
recently taken of me holding our
young son in a swimming pool. I
promptly grabbed the device and
used my fingers to zoom in on
And other ways to feel better my belly, whose size and general
flabbiness I have been loudly and
about getting older repeatedly bemoaning of late. “I
knew you were going to do that,”
BY DAN HARRIS // ILLUSTRATION BY SHOUT
she tsk’d.
She thinks I am being
ridiculous about my gut – and she
has a point. By any measure, I am
slim. I eat reasonably carefully
and work out at least six times
a week. Yet I miss the visible ab
muscles I had in my 30s. I miss
32 menshealth.com.au
more than that, actually. Now
in my mid-40s (wait, is 47 my
late 40s?), I notice that I am
increasingly criticising myself
for looking old and bedraggled.
So why, considering this noxious
little stew of narcissism and body
dysmorphia, would you listen
to me about aging gracefully?
Because while I do perseverate
about this stuff, the amount of
worry – and the way in which
that affects my behaviour – has
improved dramatically. Here’s
a comparison.
About 10 years ago, I was in
the throes of a balding crisis, an
omnidirectional freak-out that
bled into every area of my life.

I was on a flight home from an
incredible journey to report on
an isolated indigenous tribe in
the Brazilian Amazon. Instead
of savouring the experience, I
locked myself in the toilet and
spent ten minutes scrutinising
my hairline and engaging in a
robust bout of what the Buddhists
call prapañca, or “mental
proliferation”. My mental
movie went something like this:
Baldness --> Unemployment
--> Flophouse in Duluth. This
prapañca made me irritable and
miserable. Just ask my wife,
Bianca, who caught me staring in
our bathroom mirror many times
during this period.
“AGEING GRACEFULLY ISN’T SOME
YODA-STYLE IMPERTURBABILITY”
These days, my gut panic
aside, I am much better at seeing
my self-centred anxiety crop
up and then letting it go. While
writing this column, I asked
Bianca whether I am handling
my belly/ageing concerns more
successfully than the balding
crisis. She chortled and said,
“There’s no comparison”.
What made things better?
Part of it was the combined effect
of marriage, maturation, and
meditation (which has become
a daily practice and also an
active side hustle). But another
important ingredient has been
something that may strike you
as supremely counterintuitive:
contemplating death.
Somehow death has become
taboo in our youth-obsessed
culture. As the meditation
teacher Greg Scharf has
observed, dying is the ultimate
in “really bad taste”. Yet it is
inevitable – even for you. (And
even for those tech titans in
Silicon Valley who are reportedly
spending billions to “solve”
death. Good luck with that.)
There’s a fitting line from the
Mahabharata, the great Indian
epic: “What is the most wondrous
thing in the world?” The answer:
“All around us people can be
dying and we don’t realise it can
happen to us.”
Every great spiritual tradition
has recommended that in order
to live fully, the best practice is
to contemplate death. How to do
this? The Buddha recommended
meditating while staring at
decomposing bodies. Because
of how deeply impractical that
proposal is, my wife and I opted
for a more feasible alternative:
a few years ago, we signed up to
become hospice volunteers.
I was assigned to a small,
eight-bed hospice in a posh corner
of my city. Once I got over my
initial jitters, I learned lessons
that ranged from the inspiring
to the deeply comforting. For
example, I noticed that for many
people who are close to the end,
fear seems to recede. I recall
chatting with a former university
professor who told me that as up getting in a cab afterwards,
death neared, he felt less like a checking email and becoming
separate ego and more like a part wholly caught up in my own
of a larger system. Yes, I thought: nonsense again. And I still
there’s nothing unnatural about believe that there is actually
death. Nature is in constant flux some upside to my egoistic self-
– and we are nature. flagellation: a certain amount of
I also found that spending awareness of my midsection can
time in a hospice provided a provide a healthy motivation to
massive dose of perspective get to the gym. But on the 85th
on my workaday problems. I time I find myself musing darkly
experienced this most poignantly on my hairline or waistline, I now
through my relationship with a sometimes have the wherewithal
patient named Ronnie, a former to ask myself: given my limited
construction worker with chronic window on Mother Earth, is this
lung and heart problems. When really how I want to be spending
he was first sent to the hospice my time? Yes, it makes sense to
four years ago, he was given three work hard and strive, but what’s
days to live. Instead, he defied the the point if you’re not enjoying
odds and thrived. Every week, the ride?
Ronnie and I eat snacks, shoot the Ageing gracefully isn’t some
shit and play video games. One Yoda-style imperturbability. Your
time, I was telling him a story insecurities and peccadilloes
about how I had been worrying remain; you just learn to manage
about some issue in my life – and them more skillfully.
that I had then remembered I usually wrap up these
Ronnie and stopped myself. columns with something witty,
Without even interrupting the but due to the weight of this issue
game, he turned to me and said, I will forgo the cute and put it to
with utter nonchalance, “Yeah, you bluntly: given the undeniable
you have no problems”. reality of your finitude, how do
Working in a hospice is not you want to live?
a panacea, however. I often end If in doubt, just ask death.
HOW TO GAIN
SOME PERSPECTIVE
You don’t have to work swipe right, there’s a Second, you
in a hospice (although I great quote about systematically envision
recommend it). Here mortality. Remember all the people in your
are some other tips to that everybody who’s life and think of the fact
help you increase your ever been born will die. that they will die. One
aging-gracefully All these lives, all this by one: your partner,
quotient – you drama, it just comes your children, your
curmudgeonly and goes. Think about friends. “It isn’t morbid,
old-timer. it. My meditation but rather a way of
Download an app teacher, Joseph keeping the truth that
called WeCroak. It hits Goldstein, we all die front and
you up with recommended a centre,” he says. You
notifications at five three-minute exercise can access a three-part
random times a day to reflect on dying in as meditation,
that remind you to stop vivid a way as possible. “Turbo-Charge Your
and think about death. First, you ruminate on Meditation,” that ends
It pings you, “Don’t the great sweep of on a death
forget, you’re going to generations over time contemplation for free
die. Swipe to see the and remember that at 10percenthappier
quote. . . .” When you everyone has died. .com/menshealth.
May 2019 33
 A+
RELATIONSHIPS

The Real At first it was hard for me to figure out what

the man I was kissing reminded me of, but
once I pictured it, I couldn’t un-picture it: he

Secret to a was like one of those drinking-bird toys that

bob their head up and down in perpetuity.
I very much liked him and had been very

Good Kiss
It’s not about where you put
your hands. Or even your lips
BY LAUREN LARSON
much looking forward to kissing him,
and I was so bummed. He was a drinking
bird, bobbing against my mouth with dry,
mechanical rhythm. I stuck with him for a
month or so, hoping that I could change his
ways or that he would just, like, relax, but I
couldn’t and he didn’t. Finally, we exchanged
rote pecks and parted ways.

34 menshealth.com.au
“ KISSING IS LIKE BREATHING: IF
YOU START THINKING TOO HARD
ABOUT IT, YOU’RE NO LONGER
ABLE TO DO IT PROPERLY”
I thought of the drinking birds
again last summer, only this time it
wasn’t the guy who was the bird. It
was me. I was on my third date with
someone who I could see was objectively
attractive and likable, but for whom
I felt nothing. I was kissing him so
mechanically that even I was bored,
so I wasn’t especially surprised when
he pulled away and said, “I have an
early meeting tomorrow.” (He was
unemployed.)
But that wasn’t the end of it. For
several months after that, I was a
terrible kisser. I would have a great date
with someone, but as soon as we were
in front of my apartment and he was
leaning in, I’d go rigid. I would stand
there, hands on his shoulders, moving
my head with all the ease and finesse of
my year-eight self. I’d been struck down
by the kissing yips, and I assumed my
romantic career was over.
Even if you haven’t experienced the
kissing yips, per se, you’ve probably had
a moment or two of self-doubt in your
kissing career – one of my girlfriends
recently stumbled into a sexy oasis
after a long dry spell, and she described
acute terror that she’d “forgotten how
to kiss”. We talk a lot about bad sex as a
deal breaker, but I think bad sex is way
more workable than bad kissing. With
bad sex, you can critique specific things
your partner is doing without sounding
like you’re critiquing them as a person.
(“Less rotary dial, more push-button!”)
We’re used to getting feedback about
sex – when someone gives us feedback
ILLUSTRATION: KYLE HILTON
in bed, we just think it’s sexy that
they know what they want. Kissing
is different. Kissing is governed by
pasión, not technique, and it’s much
harder to comment on the former.
When you acknowledge that you
didn’t enjoy a kiss, you’re usually
acknowledging that you don’t have
chemistry with someone. In hindsight,
my kissing yips boiled down to
stress – I was anxious and felt totally
alienated from the possibility of having
chemistry with anyone. One day, after
I’d calmed down, I kissed someone
whom I found both objectively and
subjectively attractive and felt cured.
But before that, I had plenty of time
to obsess about what makes a kiss
good or bad.
A good kiss is one in which no one
feels self-conscious. As one friend
put it, “A good kiss happens when
neither person is taking it too seriously,
particularly in the early stages. Mid-
kiss smiling is great”. Ideally, you’re so
consumed by your lust for your partner
that you’re not worrying about the
mechanics. Sure, you should keep some
basic kissing guidelines in mind: “Your
target should under no circumstances
feel as though your tongue will cause
them to choke,” another friend said,
“and everybody’s spit should stay
in between the mouths – a terrible
kiss requires you to wipe your mouth
afterwards.” But when neither of you
is overthinking it, those logistics come
more naturally. You don’t fret about
where you’re putting your hands. (I like
one in my hair, one at my waist.) Kissing
is like breathing: if you start thinking
too hard about it, you’re no longer able to
do it properly and you start to feel faint.
I find it helpful to mentally zero in on
the kissee’s most attractive feature. If
I’m thinking about his biceps, I’m not
stressing about whether I should open
my eyes to check if his eyes are open,
or whether he can tell I have a deviated
septum by listening to my laboured
nose breaths. If you cannot isolate an
attractive feature, abort.
The real mastery comes in
making your kissing counterpart
feel comfortable. Permission is
important. For a long time I thought that
when a man asked if he could kiss me, he
destroyed the spontaneity and thus the
romance. But in recent years I’ve started
to really like being the arbiter of the
kissing – I’ve started to like being the
arbiter of everything.
Last year I’d been at a bar with a
Tinder date for about an hour when
he asked, “Can I kiss you?” I said no,
because I hadn’t had time to vet him yet
and I’m uncomfortable with PDA. I’m
so glad he asked, because I would have
been really annoyed if he’d just swooped
right in. As it was, he didn’t seem at all
offended, and he quickly dissipated any
awkwardness by asking me, sweetly,
“Can I ask you again later if I can kiss
you?” On paper the exchange looks like
a parody of consent culture, but in the
moment, seeking consent is never corny.
It’s just hot.
Beyond giving and receiving
enthusiastic permission, the
best way to make someone feel
confident is also the simplest:
tell them they’re a good kisser.
Unless you’re kissing someone
with whom you have absolutely no
chemistry, someone who is inextricably
wound up in their anxieties, or one of
those 0.0003 per cent of people who
really are inherently, clinically bad
kissers, affirmation will fix it. Even if
they suck (literally), before you write
off someone you like as a bad kisser,
try a Hail Mary lie. Pause for a breath
and say, “Wow, you’re an amazing
kisser”. Yes, they might continue doing
whatever unsettling thing they’re
doing. More likely: they’ll relax, and
you’ll have a really good kiss.
May 2019 35
 A+
HEALTH

THE MIND OR THE BODY?

Yoga and meditation have transitioned from go-to mental
salves to cure-all health remedies. But which practice has
the scientific backbone? MH oms and ahhs over the stats

YOGA MEDITATION

100 $364

WORDS: BEN WELCH; PHOTOGRAPHY: PAVEL DORNAK AT LUCKY IF SHARP; *FRONTIERS IN HUMAN NEUROSCIENCE; †JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION ; ** MAHARISHI UNIVERSITY OF MANAGEMENT
percent million
Participation growth The new age of anxiety has
among Australian seen self-help start-ups,
adults since such as meditation app
2008, according Headspace, grow to become
to Roy Morgan tech giants valued in
Research the millions

Stick at yoga and your levels of mental Biology study

brain-derived neurotrophic factor ction in anxiety after
– a biomarker that’s lower in those of guided meditation.
with depression – will triple, itive impact on stress
bolstering your mood in the long term* MONTHS HOUR ls lasted up to a week

7X
FAT CHANCES

2.5X
A course of restorative yoga is proven Mindfulness is the perfect addition to
to help you lose 2.5 times more your weight-loss plan. The University
subcutaneous fat than standard of North Carolina found that those
stretching, according to the US’s who meditated lost seven times as
National Institutes of Health much as those who didn’t

ALL-ROUNDERS

Slows Soothes Eases Cures Enhances Improves Reduces Lowers

ageing inflammation insomnia back pain energy memory cancer risk cholesterol

2X
HEART CENTRE

30%
Finish your morning run with downward Proven to release nitric oxide, which
dogs and US researchers found you’ll opens up your blood vessels and
enjoy twice the drop in blood pressure, lowers blood pressure, mindfulness
which slashes vascular stress to cut can cut your risk of dying from heart
your heart disease risk attack or stroke by almost a third†

23%
MUSCLE STRETCH

5MIN
Daily sun salutations may feel purely Short, daily meditation has been linked
spiritual, but Indian scientists to spikes in testosterone and human
revealed they increase your bench growth hormone, which increase
press strength by 23%. It’s the most protein synthesis and support the
wholesome route to mirror muscles growth of new muscle cells**

THE MH VERDICT: MEDITATION WINS!

While you may expect the mental and physical nature of yoga to give its benefits a more
measurable edge, the research disagrees. Despite focusing solely on the mind, meditation’s
physiological benefits are miraculously wholesale. Incense at the ready.

36 menshealth.com.au
 A+
TACTICS

NOT ENOUGH TIME

Does that headline stress you out as much as it does us? There’s a word
for that – a German word, of course – and Jeff Csatari has a way to fix it

SOMEWHERE between anxiety

and dread is that feeling that
creeps in on a Sunday evening.
You still haven’t finished the
spreadsheet that was due Friday
COB. Or cleaned up after
the party on Saturday. Or
bathed the bulldog. Or
yourself. Oh, and it’s five
minutes to midnight.

The Germans, who have

an uncanny ability to
capture in one word a
feeling that would take a
full sentence in English
to explain, call this dread
Torschlusspanik.
Literally, “gate-shut
panic”. It’s the medieval
fear of not making it
safely behind the castle
gate before nightfall.
In modern usage, it
describes the fear of
running out of time . . . to
act, to accomplish, to meet
deadlines real or perceived.
Torschlusspanik can be
triggered by trivial stuff like an
overly ambitious weekend chore list
or, say, a surprise visit from the boss,
who plants himself in your office to
chat when you have less than an hour
to prep for a critical meeting. Often,
all it takes to get that feeling started
is procrastination and the guilt that
stems from that inaction – “You
shouldn’t have left such a complicated
project to the last minute!” Or, on a
grander scale, upward comparison,
the dangerous practice of holding
yourself up to someone you think is
almost at the top of the mountain while
you’re still trying to figure out which
ropes to use.
Whether your fear of time running
out is short-term or more epic, there
are ways to make it . . . kaput.
DON’T LET TIME
PRESSURE STOP
YOUR BRAIN FROM
TICKING OVER.

38 menshealth.com.au
 WHEN TIME IS RUNNING OUT...
THIS HOUR
If you’re faced with 60 minutes to finish a report,
answer “urgent” emails and pick this week’s
fantasy-team, tackling three tasks at once may
seem wise. But studies prove the opposite:
multitasking lowers attention span, increases
stress and makes each task take longer. So keep
it simple, says Jordan Etkin, a professor at Duke
University’s Fuqua School of Business who’s
researched multitasking. When you have
deadlines of 60 minutes or less:
1 TRUNCATE YOUR TO-DO LIST
High achievers are ruthless about prioritising,
she says: “Take a step back, figure out what’s
most important and work on that thing.”
2
REFRAME THAT HOUR
Duke researchers discovered that when students
cramming for an exam thought of one hour as 60
minutes, the hour seemed longer, they felt more
productive and they found the subject matter
more interesting.
3 TAKE TEN SLOW BREATHS
We know everyone and their six-year-old has
told you to “belly breathe” when you feel
stressed. It’s not BS: dozens of studies have
shown how deep breathing activates the part of
the nervous system that works like
a brake on the stress train, helping
you focus enough to get stuff done.
In other words, when you’re under
the gun, these breaths help you be filled with
fewer “I can’t pull this off” worries and have
more success at just pulling things off.
TODAY
Now you have 24 hours to play with. The trick to
feeling like there’s still sand in the top of the
hourglass is to stop glorifying being busy. Our
culture values action, so working through lunch
makes us feel more productive and less
guilty...while in fact ceaseless work makes us
less efficient. Instead:
1
DO 90-MINUTE INTERVALS
“Humans weren’t made to work in a
linear way,” says Andrew Deutscher,
managing director of the Energy Project, a
performance consulting firm. “We’re built
to pulse like waves.” So step away from work
every 90 minutes; people who do so have a
28 per cent higher level of focus than people
who take one or no breaks.
2
LET NATURE HELP
Hunt for a natural scene. When a group of
students viewed a rooftop meadow for 40
seconds, they had greater concentration and
made fewer errors in an attention test than those
who looked at an empty concrete rooftop.
3 KNOW WHAT TO IGNORE
US President Dwight D. Eisenhower used what
became known as “the Eisenhower Box” to get
things covered before nightfall. Try it: draw four
boxes, two stacked over two. In each, write one
of these things: urgent and important daily
tasks; important but not urgent work; urgent but
not important tasks; work that’s neither urgent
nor important. Use it to determine what to
ignore, leave for later, delegate or do
immediately — you know, like launch the D-Day
invasion of Normandy.
THIS YEAR / THIS LIFE
Perhaps your head has run these lines: how is
it April? How did I get to be this age without
starting a family/hot venture-capital firm/
counterculture revolution (hell, I haven’t even
broken 10,000 Twitter followers yet)? This is
a deeper level of fear than the temporary
panic of having too much to do. It’s the
anxiety of falling short of your own
expectations coupled with the feeling that
you don’t have enough time left to meet
them. When it hits, breathe and:
1 ASK BIGGER QUESTIONS
The larger question you should ask isn’t how
to cram it all in. It’s why you think you have to
do all those things you set out for yourself,
says Raj Raghunathan, of the University of
Texas, Austin. Instead of tallying up a life by
job titles and degrees earned, he says, rethink
what a meaningful life is. It might not be
what’s on your LinkedIn page.
2 GO OUT MORE
People who meet with friends more than
once a week are 27 per cent more likely to be
satisfied with life than those with no friends
or who get together only a few times a year.
3 DON’T OVERTHINK IT
Regrets over things we could have done can
trigger Torschlusspanik, too. These tend to
haunt us much longer than regrets over
things we should have done (like go to your
friend’s son’s wedding), says Cornell
psychologist Tom Gilovich. So stop wasting
additional time fretting over the “wish I
hads”, and just plunge in. After all, the gate’s
closing. But there’s time to make it in.
May 2019 39
 A+
MUSCLE

MAKE RED-HOT
BUILD BIG MUSCLE
WITH A RED- HOT
HORMONE BOOST.

MUSCLE
Maximise your summer gains
with an overhaul of your gym
wardrobe. CrossFitters, take
note: red is the new black

YOU ONLY HAVE to do a lap

of the gym floor to see that
all-black everything is the
training apparel trend of the
moment. But here at Men’s
Health, we prefer to set the
agenda, rather than follow
it. Besides, those black
sheep are missing out on
a sartorial performance
enhancer. Be bold and
opt for red gymwear, and
research suggests it’s
your arms and abs that
will truly stand out from
the crowd.
In a study in Biology
Letters, participants were
asked to rate images of men
for traits such as aggression
and dominance, while
interpreting their emotional
states. When pictured wearing
red, the men were consistently
perceived as more dominant
than those in blue or grey. They
were also rated as appearing
“angry” more often than the
others. As a result, scientists
believe that seeing yourself in
red can trigger similar mental
connections, causing a natural
spike in your testosterone. Pull
on a rouge top and you’ll enjoy
an injection of man’s ultimate
WORDS: LOUEE DESSENT-JACKSON | PHOTOGRAPHY: ROWAN FEE

anabolic hormone before leaving

the gym changing room. Even
a short-term testosterone boost

TIME FOR T
is associated with improved
physical performance, muscle
power, aerobic endurance and Make gains around the clock with our testosterone spikers
faster recovery times, which
explains why research shows
that sports teams wearing red
are more likely to win. Inject
08.00 13.45 18.00 22.00
some colour into your sporting
Swap pre-workout Brave a cryotherapy Reapply aftershave Most T is produced
wardrobe and score the results coffee with a green chamber after a before dinner. A during sleep, so make
you want, faster. tea. High levels of lunchtime workout to Japanese study found it an early night. A
caffeine can spike boost T synthesis. floral scents up magnesium supp will
cortisol, which A cold shower will T levels, aiding help you to drift off,
inhibits T release. work too. muscle recovery. US scientists found.

40 menshealth.com.au
WEEKEND
BRUNCH
SORTED.
For eating spots that care about farm animal
welfare and are serving cage-free eggs
search choosewisely.org.au

choosewisely.org.au | @RSPCAchoosewisely
 A+
WEIGHT LOSS
Here’s Why
You Can’t
Stop Being
Hungry
Are you frequently covered
in Doritos dust? Here’s how
to demagnetise your pantry
– and shed that extra lard
BY ABBY LANGER
REASON 1
YOU’RE NOT REALLY EATING
Maybe you’ve never liked breakfast. Or your
work schedule pushes meetings through
lunch. Or you just “forget” to eat. It’s time to
prioritise consistent mealtimes. People who
don’t eat regular meals have poorer diet quality,
and skipping breakfast is associated with a
higher intake of added sugars, according to
a 2017 study published in Circulation. The
same research found that eating breakfast also
reduces impulsive snacking.
THE FIX: Don’t skip meals – intentionally or
unintentionally. When you’re awake, your
stomach takes about four hours to empty after
a meal. If you’re hungry before then, you didn’t
eat well at the preceding meal (more on that
soon). If you frequently forget to eat, set
a phone alarm or calendar alert.
42 menshealth.com.au
REASON 2
YOU’RENOTEATINGENOUGH
PROTEINORFIBRE
Pick up a breakfast wrap or two from the drive-
thru and you’ll stay full till lunch, right? Nope.
Though they have some protein, most fast-food
breakfast wraps are empty carbs. This is also
why you can slam an entire order of pad thai at
lunchtime and still be hungry two hours later.
THE FIX: At every meal, aim to eat about 30
grams of protein – a quantity that will increase
satiety (your body’s feeling of fullness post-
meal), found Purdue University researchers in
2015. As for fibre, shoot for at least 10 grams per
meal. “That amount of fibre will slow emptying
from the stomach and contribute to satiety,”
says gastroenterologist Dr Scott D. Levenson,
director of the Digestive Care Medical Center
in San Carlos, California.
REASON 3
YOU’RE DRINKING YOUR MEALS
Most packaged “meal replacement” shakes
or fruit smoothies won’t keep you satiated
for long. First, liquids empty out of your
stomach in less than an hour, says Levenson.
By comparison, solid foods take two to four
hours. Second, blending foods pulverises their
fibres, so your body breaks them down faster,
reducing satiety.
THE FIX: Listen to mum and chew your food.
A 2015 review of studies found that higher
levels of “oral processing” (otherwise known
as chews per bite) at a meal affect the gut
hormones linked to reduced hunger and
increased feelings of fullness. Try nuts in your
morning Greek yoghurt.
REASON 4
YOU’REHAVINGPROBLEMSINBED
Lack of sleep may disrupt the appetite-
regulating hormones, according to a 2016
report by the American Heart Association.
Ghrelin, the hormone that stimulates hunger,
can rise when you’re sleep-deprived. Leptin,
the hormone that signals satiety, can decrease.
In addition, the more hours you’re awake, the
more likely you are show up at the refrigerator.
THE FIX: Try for seven to eight hours of sleep per
night. And remember that blue light from your
devices can sabotage sleep.
REASON 5
YOU’RE NOT ACTUALLY HUNGRY
False hunger is a real thing. Next time you
think you’re hungry, run through a quick
checklist. Are you bored? Tired? Thirsty?
Ingesting too much social media? A 2016 study
review in Brain and Cognition found that
looking at food images triggers physiological
changes that increase your desire to eat.
THE FIX: Do your snack binges correspond to
social-media binges? If so, false hunger may
be at work. The next time you reach for your
phone, instead take a short walk or tackle a
small project with your hands. If you’re
still hungry afterwards, then consider a
protein-rich snack.
Collagen keeps
your joints moving
Collagen is a component of our ligaments, tendons and skin.
It also makes up over 66% of our joint cartilage, which acts as
a cushion between bones and keeps joints healthy.
Naturopathica Collagenix Joints contains the latest innovation
in joint health: Fortigel,® a collagen protein that helps support
healthy joint function.

Collagen for Every Body. Available at:

 A+
MOTORING

POWER PLAYERS
Utes are shedding their dour, ahem, utilitarian image in favour of personality
and panache. Use our guide to choose a pick-up that works for you

Remember when the humble ute was a simple

workhorse? You know, those battered and bruised
worksite wanderers with dented steel trays that
were only ever used to carry dogs, tools or, very
occasionally, your mate Jimmy’s shitty old couch
because he’d talked you into helping him move again
even though he still hasn’t given you the slab he
promised you the last time you did it?
Well, at some point that all changed. Utes became
cool. Fashionable, even. And now there’s a tray-back
to suit every possible guy and goal. So, to help you
navigate this fast-rising flood of new pick-ups, we’ve
trimmed the list to our favourite four.
BY STEPHEN CORBY

May 2019 45
 A+
MOTORING

Best Brawler
Ford Ranger Raptor
Ford’s new Raptor takes the
already tough-looking Ranger
ute as its canvas and then ups
the menace at every possible
opportunity. From its blacked-
out grille with its huge “FORD”
lettering, to its swollen wheel
arches and super chunky All
Terrain tyres, the Raptor cuts
a seriously mean figure on the
open road.
Happily, though, it looks even
better off it. It’s more than just
a not-so-pretty face, with all the
critical underbody stuff either
reinforced or replaced to ensure
it can thunder across the dusty
outback without breaking stride
(or an axle). It’s wider and higher
than the regular Ranger, and
the normal suspension has been
swapped out for Baja-ready Fox
Racing Shox dampers.
In fact, the only slightly
disappointing thing here is that
there’s been no engine overhaul,
with the Raptor making do with
the brand’s regular 2.0-litre twin-
turbocharged diesel, good for
157kW and 500Nm.
Not that the motor stopped
people throwing money at Ford.
More than 1000 Raptors had been
pre-ordered (at a cost of $74,990)
before the car even arrived in
October last year.
Best Behemoth
Chevrolet Silverado
If bigger really is better, then
Chevrolet’s gigantic Silverado
must be bloody brilliant. This
American beast stretches more
than six metres in length, 2.4m
in width and is more than two
metres high. And at its heaviest
it weighs more than 3.6 tonnes.
It arrives in Australia
courtesy of HSV. Yes, the
iconic Holden tuning house
is better known for its work
with Commodores. But with
no homegrown cars to tweak
anymore, it’s struck a deal
with GM in the US to import
left-hand-drive Silverados
and convert them in its new
Melbourne facility.
The numbers here are
ridiculous: a huge and
turbocharged 6.6-litre diesel
V8 produces 332kW and a
whopping 1234Nm of torque.
That’s almost twice the
torque of the V12-powered
Lamborghini Aventador SVJ.
But don’t expect supercar
heroics. While the Lambo
is all about stripped-back
performance, the Silverado
weighs the same as an orbiting
planet. And so the torque is
used for pulling power, rather
than acceleration, with the
giant truck capable of towing
3.5 tonnes of braked trailer.
The cheapest version will
set you back $114,990. But at
least it will take your mind off
your fuel bills. Consider this: at
today’s average diesel price,
its 136-litre tank will cost you
some $220 to fill.

The MVP
Toyota HiLux
You really can’t have a ute
conversation without including
the Toyota HiLux. Australia’s
best-selling vehicle – that’s not
just utes, by the way, but all cars
– for two years running, it’s
carved a rightful place at the top
of the country’s ute mountain.
As you might expect, there’s a
HiLux to suit just about every
budget, from the apprentice-spec
WorkMate to the Raptor-rivalling
SR5, with a price range spanning
around $21k to almost $60k.
In its most basic form, the
HiLux is the ute that could have
pretty much coined the term
“one-tonner”; a no-nonsense,
virtually unbreakable workhorse
that will do everything you ask
of it without complaint. But in
its more-expensive guises, it
becomes SUV-like in its comfort,
cabin materials and equipment. A
reputation for reliability and the
HiLux’s never-ending popularity
means good resale, too.
The one you really want,
though, is the SR5+ version
($56,440), which wraps the
sturdy bones of the HiLux in the
most fashionable suit available,
including big 18-inch alloys and
LED daytime running lights,
and then crams the interior with
leather seats, push-button start,
dual-zone climate control and the
best stereo on offer.

46 menshealth.com.au
“THIS IS NO-FRILLS Hardest Worker
Isuzu D-Max
MOTORING AT ITS The easy way to see how serious
ABSOLUTE FINEST”
Isuzu is about utes? Take a quick
look at its line-up. In it, you’ll
find exactly two models: the
D-Max ute and the D-Max ute-
based MU-X. That said, there’s
no shortage of D-Max models to
choose from. In fact, the updated-
for-2018 Japanese ute is available
in, wait for it, 23 different
variants. From the $28,600 SX
to the $54,700 LS-T, there’s a
staggering number of body and
tray styles to choose from, all with
two- or four-wheel drive.
Honest is the term that
springs to mind most quickly
when thinking of the D-Max.
This is no-frills, no-fuss motoring
at its absolute finest. And with
a hardworking 3.0-litre diesel
engine, a 1024kg payload and a
3500kg braked towing capacity,
it will drive up and over any
mountain you point it at, carry
anything you throw at it, and tow
just about anything you tie to it.
Unlike others on this list,
you get a five-year warranty (and
capped-price servicing), too, so if
you do somehow manage to break
it, it should prove no issue.
May 2019 47
 A+
HEALTH
How Gross
Are You?
Every now and then, food sits on the
counter all night and sheets don’t get
changed. But how germy does that
make your life, really? Jessica Migala
gets the facts on how risky your
habits are to your health
YOU EAT PIZZA THAT SAT
OUT ALL NIGHT.
HOW GROSS IS IT ?
Pizza crust is dry, the sauce
is acidic, and pepperoni and
sausage are preservative-laden
– all things that don’t support
bacteria survival, says Fraser.
Different story if you got spinach
and tomatoes: moisture-rich
toppings tend to breed microbes
that can gang up and fell you
(diarrhoea, vomiting). Best to
refrigerate pizza within four
hours, before bacteria have the
chance to really go wild.
48 menshealth.com.au
YOU WASH YOUR COFFEE
CUP ONCE A WEEK.
HOW GROSS IS IT?
If you take your brew black, you’re
in luck: “Coffee has antimicrobial
properties, and it doesn’t contain
the nutrients bacteria need to
multiply,” says Angela Fraser, a
food-safety professor at Clemson
University. Nutrients like protein
and sugar – which means milk
and sweetener. If your lips deposit
bacteria that combine with milk
residue, you could give birth to mil-
lions of germs. Limit the risk: wash
the mug at every knock-off time.
YOU USE THE SAME
DISHRAG UNTIL IT STINKS.
HOW GROSS IS IT?
That odour is a telltale sign of a
bona fide science experiment. By
the time something smells, “it has
millions of organisms growing
inside,” says Reynolds. (You
need only hundreds to cause
illness.) That can include E. coli
and salmonella. Ideal: throw it in
the washer after every use. Since
pretty much no one does that,
at least spread the rag out to dry.
That’ll kill roughly 90 per cent
of bacteria, she says.

YOU WEAR OLD GYM CLOTHES.
HOW GROSS IS IT?
Well, Rocky did it, right? ”Most
men have probably reworn
sweat-stained shirts without a
problem,” says Dr Jason Miller,
a dermatologist. You might get
minor acne on your chest or
arms; worst case, a staph or
fungal infection or folliculitis. If
you do wear yesterday’s clothes,
kill acne-causing bacteria by
sudsing up after your session
with a body wash that contains
benzoyl peroxide.
YOU SKIP WASHING YOUR
HANDS AFTER PEEING.
HOW GROSS IS IT?
None of our experts specifically
said it’s okay, but it’s not the
biggest offense so much as just a
really rough look. “It’s unlikely that
you’ll pick up a germ while urinat-
ing that’s hazardous in the way it
can be if you pick up a microscop-
ic particle of stool on your hand
when using the toilet,” says Dr Wil-
liam Schaffner, an infectious-dis-
ease expert. Washing (with soap
and hot water) after sitting is, of
course, non-negotiable.
YOU SLEEP ON DIRTY SHEETS.
HOW GROSS IS IT?
Many people carry staph bacteria
on their skin without it causing
trouble. But it could if the germs
you naturally shed while you
sleep multiply enough, says
Kelly Reynolds, director of the
Environment, Exposure Science
and Risk Assessment Center at
the University of Arizona. Aim to
launder sheets weekly, or at least
wash your pillowcase, since it’s
next to germ entry points (mouth,
nose and eyes).
YOU TEXT ON THE TOILET.
HOW GROSS IS IT?
Is this at your home, and do you
live alone? If so, fine to keep the
conversation going. Not so in a
public bathroom, says microbiol-
ogist Philip Tierno. Think about it:
you touch the door and locks, pick
up a virus, then deposit it on your
phone while texting. Later, your
phone goes up to your mouth
and the virus goes in. You need
only one measly cell of norovirus
to chain you to the toilet (without
texting) for up to three days. Keep
it in your pocket.
May 2019 49
 A+
TRAVEL

SWELL
TOWN
California’s home of surfing,
Huntington Beach, offers endless
breaks amid a rich boardriding
history. Whether you’re a
barrel-eating pro or a rank beginner,
it might be time you dropped in
BY DAVID ASHFORD

I’M PERCHED ON THE END of a

strange, red velvet throne in the
humble International Surfing Museum
at Huntington Beach, California,
watching archival footage of 66
members of the local surf community
help each other up onto a supersized
surfboard. Like tiny toy soldiers they
move into a tight formation before
effortlessly surfing the required 10
metres to claim the world record for
‘most people riding a surfboard’. The
screen switches to Kiwi-born Bob
Steel, the man who built the famous
12.5-metre board that now hangs
proudly outside the museum. As the
clip finishes, who should walk in but
Steel himself. His timing is purely
coincidental – he hasn’t dropped
by in months – and his appearance
generates rock star-level excitement
among the museum staff.   introduction to the local scene is via and bravado to actually weave between
This image of a close-knit surf an instructor known as Surf Jesus (see its concrete pillars – which locals refer
community pulling together to achieve pic top left and it’ll make sense). He to as ‘shooting the pier’ – they might
their goal, and the genuine warmth tells me the real appeal for surfers is even buy you a beer down at Duke’s
they show the outsider who helped that “you can surf every goddamn day Barefoot Bar. 
them in their quest, very much of the year if you want”. Huntington’s It’s at this very bar at the base of
captures the spirit of this idyllic unique pattern of currents means the pier that I share a few drinks and
Southern Californian coastal town.  there’s never an excuse not to get out a mud pie withAussie surf legend PT
Huntington is perhaps better there and enjoy the waves. Even in Townend, the first IPS/ASP world
known as Surf City USA, so named the relative depths of the Californian surfing champion back in 1976. A
for the year-round consistency of the winter, the water is a bearable 16˚ in resident for 40 years, Townend fell
surf. It’s been a Mecca for boardriders my wetty. The combination of waves in love with the town soon after falling
since the legendary Duke Kahanamoku to suit all levels, a beach voted ‘Best for his Huntington-born wife. The
PHOTOGRAPHY: DAVID ASHFORD

introduced the sport to California back
in 1925. Now the relaxed surf culture
flows through the town as easily as
the Pacific runs into the pristine
waterways of Huntington Harbour,
GETTING THERE where rows of stylish multi-million
Fly Virgin Australia
direct to LA
dollar homes compete for attention.  the elevated walkway the more respect
virginaustralia.com I’m a novice surfer so my
in California’ last year by readers of
USA Today and a distinct absence of
sharks all make it the perfect place for
a learner like me. More adept surfers
might want to head to the town’s iconic
555-metre pier. The closer you surf to
you command and if you have the skill
Queenslander has the air of a winner,
his still-thick Aussie accent
punctuated by sporadic bursts of
So-Cal as he regales a bunch of us
with tales of the local surf community.
Remarkably, these days he’s
training the Chinese surf team for the
Tokyo Olympics. The Chinese have

50 menshealth.com.au

identified this new Olympic sport
as one to invest in and have sourced
athletes with compatible physical
attributes. Unfortunately, many
of them had not so much as seen a
surfboard before Townend came along,
so you feel Disney would do well to keep
an eye on them – if things go well it
could have another Cool Runnings on
its hands. Townend is clearly taking the
mission seriously, learning Mandarin
and spending six months a year
imparting his surf wisdom in China.
When I ask if he thinks they can pull off
a shock and qualify for Tokyo 2020, his
assessment is Aussie in its bluntness:
“Not a bloody chance, mate . . . but keep
an eye out for them in Paris 2024!”
Most of the action after dark takes
place on Main Street, where local-run
surfy bars and eateries rub shoulders
with chic boutiques and restaurants.
Fresh Californian seafood might
be the go-to but there is also a host of
stand-out Mexican and Vietnamese
options. Don’t leave without trying the
ubiquitous fish tacos and wash them
down with some of the colourful and
creative margarita options like the
‘lively’ Abreojos at Ola featuring a lip-
numbing spicy chilli salt on the rim.
A much more affordable and
traditionally Californian way to
spend your evening (and add a splash
of purple sunset to your Insta) is to
position yourself at one of the many
fire pits positioned along the beach and
watch the sun go down over the Pacific.
Either bring your own wood and drinks
or prebook a spot from one of the hotels
or beach hire operators and arrive with
your fire pit already roaring for you.
WHERE TO STAY
Paséa Hotel & Spa
A perfect balance of stylish
and laid back located right
on the beachfront. Named
one of the best coastal
hotels in the US by Condé
Nast. They even supply a
pair of flip flops to keep!
WHERE TO EAT
Tanner’s
at Paséa Hotel & Spa
Southern Californian
cuisine within a relaxed,
rustic setting. If you like to
watch your meal being
prepared get a spot close
to the action in the glass
encased wood-fired
inferno grill. If the fire pits
at the beach sound too
much like roughing it,
have a cocktail next to the
fancy one up on the
rooftop lounge.
meritagecollection.com/
paseahotel
Bear Flag Fish Co.
A local favourite set in the
food hall at Lot 579. Select
your fish from the board
then specify how you
want it cooked.
gopacificcity.com/
bear-flag-fish-co
Mama’s on 39
Only enter if it’s seriously
your cheat day! This
charming diner’s
menu features favourites
like deep fried steak,
a 450g burger called ‘The
Monster’ and a chocolate
bourbon shake.
mamason39.com
Extras
dukeshuntington.com
olamexican.com
Chairs, blankets and, perhaps most
importantly, s’mores are thrown in.  ACTIVITIES
International
A good, albeit busy time to visit is Surfing Museum
in late July when half a million people See that record-breaking
descend on the town to watch the surfboard as well as
artifacts from the town’s
world’s largest surf competition, the rich surf heritage, then
US Open of Surfing. This nine-day take a stroll down the
Surfing Walk of Fame
event has been staged here for 60 years
and the proximity of the pier gives surf Surf Lessons
Get tips Cali-style from
fans a rare chance to get an up-close, Surf Jesus & co. located at
wave-side view of the world’s finest the Hyatt Regency Resort.
toesonthenose.com
weaving their magic.
Ever since Duke got the locals Hire a bike
Hire one for a couple of
hooked back in the ’20s, legends have hours and enjoy a glorious
been made here and who knows, 9km oceanside ride to
Newport beach;
in a few years’ time maybe one of waterfrontresort.com
Townend’s Chinese prodigies will
Sunset Harbour Cruise
add yet more folklore to the town’s See how the town’s
already rich surfing heritage. well-heeled residents live
from the comfort of this
family-run boat.
For additional info go to surfcityusa.com princechartersllc.com
May 2019 51
 A+
NUTRITION

THE HEALTH SNOB’S GUIDE TO

PROPER PIES
For too long, this definitive Aussie
symbol has been unjustly neglected by
gourmands and gym-goers alike. Here, we
celebrate its upper-crust nutritional cred

PUT A LID ON IT MAKE YOUR CASE

Once a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, the humble pie
has slipped into the doldrums of reheated football-
stadium grub. But chef Tristan Welch wants to reverse
this own goal. Done right, pies are a nutritious, macro-
laden payload presented inside a deliciously buttery
parcel. They’re a crust above, in other words. This is how
to get a slice of the action.
A CHICKEN TIKKA
The combo of muscle-building
protein – 23g per 100g – and the
metabolism-enhancing spice of
tikka marinade makes this option
a true game-changer when you’re
aiming for a lean, strong physique.
B SARDINES
The ultimate oily fish, sardines
are full to the gills with omega-3
fatty acids. Their anti-
inflammatory properties help to
prevent heart disease and reduce
your risk of blood clots.
Puff pastry and potato toppings
require little explanation, while
hot water crusts are rare. So we’ll focus on
shortcrust – an essential part of any man’s
culinary armoury. “This delicate pastry
is perfect for pies, because it soaks up the
sauce and takes on its flavour,” says Welch.
Start by sifting 225g of flour into a bowl
that has a silicone base – this will keep it
steady when you’re mixing later. Slice 100g
of butter into small pieces over the flour;
use two knives rather than your fingers to
keep the butter cool. Mix together and, once
a fine crumb forms, add two egg yolks and
a splash of cool water, gradually stirring
until the mixture has evenly combined. Use
the flat of the knife to fold it into a dough,
then shape it into a disc with your hands.
Roll out your pastry, occasionally rotating
the dough 90 degrees. A smart rolling pin
with attachments on both ends will help you
to achieve an even thickness. Wrap in cling
film and chill for 20 minutes. Then, trim to
fit, brush with an egg and start preparing
your application for next year’s MKR.

C LAMB NECK CHOPS

The L-carnitine content in lamb
will fire up your stamina and give
your muscles an energy lift, as it
increases your levels of new
mitochondria – your cells’
in-built “power generators”.

D SAUSAGE MEAT
That sausages make you happy is
obvious. But allow us to present
some scientific evidence. As a
source of choline, the porcine
filling plays a role in the formation
of SAM-e, a feel-good hormone
that helps to relieve depression.

52 menshealth.com.au
 FILL YOUR
PIE HOLE
From a bite-sized Herbert
Adams to a massive
masala, pies can sate
all appetites. Falcon’s
five-piece pie set ($66;
botanex.com.au) covers
all bases: its enamel finish
transfers heat evenly
for a perfectly cooked
filling, and no chance of
a disappointingly soggy
bottom. Once you’ve
updated your kitchenware,
A B
follow Welch’s expert
recipes to make your MUSCLE-UP TIKKA MASALA PIE TAKE HEART FISH PIE
cooking time as easy as, SERVES 8 METHOD SERVES 4 METHOD
well, pie. • A chicken, whole Marinate the chicken overnight in • Sardines, 4 Reduce the stock by half and whisk
• A jar of tikka marinade the fridge, then roast at 190°C for • Fish stock, 250ml in the crème fraîche, mustard and
• An onion, finely chopped an hour. Rest, then debone. For • Crème fraîche, 125g vinegar. Trim the pastry into a
• Garlic, 3 cloves, crushed the sauce, fry the onion, garlic, • English mustard, 25g rectangle and cut out six
• Ginger, 6cm, chopped ginger and chilli in butter. Blend • White wine vinegar, 1tbsp golf-ball-sized holes around the
• Chilli powder, 1tsp the tomatoes and cashew nuts, • All-butter puff pastry, edge. Brush with the yolk, then
• Tinned tomatoes, 400g then add to the pan. Cook for 20 250g bake for 20 minutes. Fillet the
• An egg yolk
PATRIOT GAINS
• Double cream, 300ml minutes, pour in the cream, bring sardines and grill alongside the
• Plain flour, 150g to a boil, add the chicken, then fill • Streaky bacon, heads and tails. Chop and fry the
150g, unsliced
• Flora ProActiv Buttery, a pie dish. Mix the flour and butter bacon and onions and poach the
SCIENCE SUGGESTS THE • Baby onions, 16, halved
100g, cubed until crumbs form. Stir in two eggs. Arrange the sardine fillets,
CLASSICS ARE OFTEN • Quail’s eggs, 16
THE BEST FOR YOUR • Eggs, 3 yolks and cold water to bind the bacon, onions and eggs in the dish
HEALTH, TOO • Cold water, 3tbsp dough. Roll it, wrap in film and and pour in the sauce. Cover with
chill for 20 minutes. Brush with the pastry, poking the sardine
egg and bake at 180°C for 30 heads and tails through the holes,
minutes. Dig in. and serve .

FISH AND CHIPS

Go heavy on the
vinegar. Research
shows that its
acetic acid reduces
levels of
cholesterol in your
blood to safeguard
your heart.

SUNDAY ROAST
The rosemary with
your lamb and veg
can give you a
C D
cognitive boost and AGE-DEFYING SHEPHERD’S PIE ALL SMILES SAUSAGE PIE
15 per cent
improvement in SERVES 4 METHOD SERVES 8 METHOD
short-term • Lamb neck chops, 8 Roast the potatoes at 140°C. Flour the • Pork sausage meat, Combine the butter, flour and lard in
memory*. • Maris Piper potatoes, lamb and brown in a casserole dish. 700g a paddle mixer, adding the water to
600g Remove the chops and add the onion, • Butter, 55g, cubed form the dough of your hot water
• An onion, sliced carrots and celery. Add the butter and • Plain flour, 265g, plus crust. Set aside to cool. Roll and layer
into rings extra for dusting
flour, mix and add the stock. Simmer, inside a pie tin, then freeze. Remove
• Carrots, 8, peeled • Strong white bread
put the chops back in and cook. Scoop flour, 55g and crimp the rim. Mix the mustard
• Celery, 2 sticks
the potatoes into a bowl and combine • Lard, 65g seeds, meat and half of the bacon,
FULL ENGLISH • Flora ProActiv Low Salt,
150g, diced
with milk and butter to create the • Water, 135ml, boiling diced, and form into a patty. Wrap in
PHOTOGRAPHY: LOUISA PARRY

Be generous when mash. After two hours, remove the • Mustard seeds, 4tsp a lattice of the remaining bacon and
• Plain flour, ½tbsp
ladling on your lamb and add the peas. Divide the mix • Streaky bacon, 600g drop into the pastry. Bake at 180°C
baked beans. The • Lamb stock, 350ml
into four dishes, add two chops each, • Pork stock for gelatin until the centre is 74°C. Reduce the
high-fibre hit and • Milk, 100ml
crossing the bones at the top. Pipe the • Red apples, 6, sliced stock and pour in. Caramelise the
the antioxidant • Frozen peas, 4tbsp
mash over and bake for another hour at • Apricot jam, 2tbsp apples and layer on top before
lycopene will take
a bite out of your 160°C. It’s worth the wait. glazing with heated apricot jam.
cancer risk. Now, pig out.

May 2019 53
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 STYLE

ACTIVATE YOUR “OUT OF OFFICE” FOR A WEEKEND OFF THE GRID.

HERE’S HOW TO TRANSITION FROM WORK TO WILDERNESS

STYLING BY JEFF LACK

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS MOHEN

GROOMING BY NIAMH JONES @Details for Men

TALENT VINCENT @Kult Models

HEATH @IMG Models
WORDS BY HARRIET SIM

May 2019 55
 When venturing into the scrub,
the traditional rule of thumb is to
go plaid-clad and sporting an
unkempt beard. These days,
however, versions of that same
style can be mistaken for
hipsterism. To avoid looking like a
guy who favours deconstructed
coffee, MH style editor Jeff Lack
offers a fresh alternative for the
modern adventurist.

Whether it be a weekend escape

or a breezy outdoor gig, layering
is key for rugging up when the
mercury drops. Your best bet?
A staple shearling. “Get ahead of
the cold curve by pairing a classic
tan shearling jacket over a heritage
plaid shirt,” says Lack.

LEFT
H&M cap, $19.90
(hm.com/au)
Rolla’s coat, $249.95
Rolla’s flannel, $109.95
(rollas.com.au) RIGHT
Tarocash jeans, $109.99
(tarocash.com.au) G-Star RAW coat, $280
Clarks boots, $229.95 (g-star.com/en_au)
(clarks.com.au) Uniqlo shirt, $39.90
Tag Heuer Aquaracer watch, $2100 (uniqlo.com.au/store/men)
(tagheuer.com/en-au) ASOS jeans, $50
Akubra Lawson hat, $240,
and Pendleton bandana,$30,
BELOW (both strandhatters.com.au)
TOC cuff, $330,
Ben Sherman coat, $329 TOC ring,$120, and
(bensherman.com.au) TOC signet, $200,
H&M gloves, $49.90 (all toc.design)
Rolla’s shirt, $99.95 Tag Heuer watch, $2100
ASOS jeans, $50 Suit Supply bag, $399
(asos.com.au) (eu.suitsupply.com)

56 menshealth.com.au
 STYLE

May 2019 57
58 menshealth.com.au
 STYLE

Going rogue also means

abandoning style rules. So as
the foliage fades, go bold and
juxtapose your surroundings
with deep-forest greens and
striking navys.
“Mixing green and blue is
usually a no-go, but the textural
mix of wools, cords and cotton
offers a refreshing take on
autumnal style,” says Lack.
For the cautious explorer? Pare
it back with monotonal pieces.
A great parka goes a long way
and utilitarian threads make for RIGHT
a happy camper. Just leave the
Suit Supply turtleneck, $249,
dad sandals at home. and pants, $299
(suitsupply.com)
Merchant 1948 boots, $239.90
Pendleton blanket, $290
(strandhatters.com.au)
H&M scarf, $19.90
LEFT TOC Cuff, $120
Tag Heuer watch, $2100
(HEATH WEARS)
Rolla’s jacket, $179.95
Uniqlo turtleneck, $59.90 BOTTOM RIGHT
G-Star RAW pants, $230
Ted Baker cap, $89.95 Marcs jacket, $129.95
(tedbaker.com) (tkmaxx.com)
Tag Heuer watch, $2100 Uniqlo turtleneck, $59.90
TOC Cuff, $120 Lee shirt, $99.95; lee.com
Lacoste pants, $199
(VINCENT WEARS) (lacoste.com.au)
Rolla’s jacket, $249.95 Timberland sneakers, $199.99
Ben Sherman sweater, $139 (timberland.com.au)
ASOS jeans, $50 ASOS beanie, $9.90
Hills Sherlock cap, $120 Tag Heuer watch, $2100

May 2019 59
GROOMING

3 CutsThat’llM keYou
Want
n To
T Ditch
Y
c “The
h Usua ”
Here’s how to get a look of the moment – and style it at home BY ERIN DOCHERTY

You might want to start

popping a biotin supp,
because longer locks are
having a serious moment right
now. Look around. Shaggy,
‘70s-inspired hairstyles are
back in a BIG way – and we
reckon you could pull one off.
“I’ve been seeing heaps
more length on guys – longer
styles are definitely in at the
moment. I’m seeing guys
moving away from the tight,
clean-cut styles and rocking
more relaxed, ’70s-inspired
shags,” says Jules Tognini,
VSforMen lads’ styling expert
and renowned hair educator.
“I’ve been doing lots of
mullet-like styles and even
fringes on men. We’re seeing
the lived-in look a lot; the
undone surfer hair is really big
right now. A lot more guys are
getting colour, as well – warm-
er and lighter tones in their
hair achieving a more
sun-kissed look. Even the
guys who are going short are
choosing textured and more
lived-in looks rather than
classical clean-cut.”
But it’s not all bad news for
those who like to keep things a
bit more on the polished side,
because Tognini predicts that
the buzz cut is also set to
make a return. “A shaved head
would be the easiest, most
low-maintenance hairstyle out
there. Shaved heads are
making a comeback, and they
tend to look great on guys
with strong jawlines,” he says.
Check out Tognini’s style
predictions for 2019 – and the
famous fellas who wear them.
SHAGGY LOCKS
REFERENCE:
BRADLEY COOPER
Bradley Cooper has had just about
every haircut, ever. But his latest style
on A Star Is Born shapes as the most
iconic. There’s something about that
long, swept-back mop and scruffy
beard combo that looks so effortless
and cool.
WHAT TO ASK FOR: So, obviously
you’re going to have to grow your
hair a bit for this one. But as it gets
longer you’ll want to see a stylist in
order to move things in the right
direction, starting with a texturised
cut. “The biggest tip for achieving the
messy Bradley Cooper look would be
to get a texture cut into your hair
first. This will make it much easier to
achieve the look,” says Tognini. As
with any hairstyle, the best way to
get what you want is to show your
barber a picture beforehand.
HOW TO STYLE IT: This is a pretty
low-maintenance style – you’ll just
need some lightweight products to
get it looking on point. “Stay away
from greasy waxes and putties.
Instead, use products such as clays
and texture pastes, dry shampoos,
powders and sea-salt sprays.”
BLEACHED HAIR
REFERENCE:
ZAC EFRON
Zac Efron usually plays things pretty
safe. So when he debuted a
platinum-blond style, observers did a
double-take. And for good reason: it
looked good. While big shots like
Jared Leto, Justin Bieber and Pete
Davidson have rocked icy hair in the
past, it seems Efron’s transformation
somehow made dyeing your hair
seem so much more mainstream.
WHAT TO ASK FOR: Tell your stylist
you’d like your hair to be more on the
‘cool’-toned side – just keep in mind
this type of style usually takes a few
visits, especially if you have darker
locks. “If you want it done right, you
have to pay the money,” says Tognini.
“Don’t cheap out on bleaching. If you
want a good result, go and see the
best or you’ll likely be left with
yellow, damaged hair.”
HOW TO STYLE IT: Bleach strips the
hair of moisture and nutrients, so
regular, deep-hydrating masks will
help anyone who bleaches or is
looking to do so. “If you want to get
to that platinum-white as opposed to
yellow, you’ll want to put a bit of
effort into pre-treatment hair care.”
BUZZ CUT
REFERENCE:
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE
Justin Timberlake’s shaved hair is
iconic (almost as much as his ’90s
ramen-noodle hair) – which is proof
that simple can also be stylish. If
you’re all about low-maintenance,
no-fuss cuts, this is definitely the look
for you.
WHAT TO ASK FOR: A buzz cut can
take many different forms, so it’s best
to make sure you and your barber are
on the same wavelength in terms of
how sharp you want it. Pull out a
photo to avoid confusion. If you’re
feeling confident, you could also go
down the DIY route. “Do it yourself at
home if you want to save money and
time,” says Tognini. “The VSforMen
X6 PRO is ideal for high-performance
cutting at home, meaning you can
sort out your hair in a fraction of the
time it takes to go to a barber.”
HOW TO STYLE IT: This would have to
be one of the most low-maintenance
hairstyles out there. Just keep your
scalp healthy and clean, and you’re
good to go.

60 menshealth.com.au
 BRUSH UP ON YOUR GROOMING

THE LATEST
NEWS,TRENDS
AND EASY
HOW-TOS FOR
YOUR HAIR,FACE
AND BODY
+
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FOR FREE

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WA T C H E S

TOUGH COOKIES
IF YOU LEAD A FULL-CONTACT LIFESTYLE, MAKE SURE YOUR WATCH CAN KEEP UP
BY LUKE BENEDICTUS PHOTOGRAPHY BY PHILIP LE MASURIER

Mido Ocean Star

Diver 600 $2325
The case is coated with DLC
(diamond-like carbon), a
super-tough material Tissot Seastar
designed to reduce abrasive Chrono $725
wear and used in drill bits The world record for the
and Formula 1 engines. deepest-ever SCUBA
dive stands at 332m.
While you’re working up
to that, the Seastar is
water-resistant to 300m.

G-SHOCK Mudmaster $1099

Heading to the jungle or the desert?
This watch is specially built to
prevent sand, mud or dust getting
in – it’s billed as the ideal tool for
rescue crews.

WATCHES ARE OFTEN spruiked

as the ultimate heirloom - a
treasured item you can pass
down to generation next. In
practice, however, this raises
OMEGA Speedmaster
“Dark Side of The Moon” the question of durability. If
Apollo 8 $13,050 your watch is going to pass
The Speedmaster was the first
watch to be worn on the moon. muster in 40 years’ time, it has
This revamp is made from black to last the distance.
ceramic that’s lightweight,
scratch-resistant and strong. Fortunately, the watch world
has two eternal sources of
inspiration. The first is the world
of adventure. From diving to
trekking to blasting into space,
many watches are pur-
pose-built to deliver at the
outer limits of human endu-
rance. In other words, they’re
pretty bloody tough.
Secondly, for both aesthetic
Seiko Prospex
SRPD09K $750 and practical purposes,
For many serious divers watchmakers get turned on by
Tudor Black Bay or spear fishermen, Seiko
Fifty-Eight, $3910 is still the default dive cutting-edge tech. New
watch. The reason?
They’re rugged, reliable materials based on carbon,
and reasonably priced. ceramic or anti-magnetic alloys
are regularly plundered from
TAG Heuer Aquaracer supercars or aeronautics. If
Calibre 5 $5300
Strong and light, carbon fibre is there’s a new development that
used to make everything from can make a watch stronger or
race cars to yachts to … the
bezel of this watch, where it’s lighter, it’ll wind up on a wrist
grafted onto a titanium case. near you very soon.

62 menshealth.com.au
SCORCHING. COLD.

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No m
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HEALTHY
LIVING
SUPPORT YOUR HEALTHY LIFESTYLE GOALS AND MANAGE
CHOLESTEROL WITH THE GREAT TASTE OF FLORA PROACTIV
A healthy lifestyle starts with a healthy diet. If you need to lower your
cholesterol, it’s good to know that with just a few simple tweaks you
can see improved results in just weeks, without sacrificing the flavour
or enjoyment.

SPREAD THE WORD

Just one heaped tablespoon a day of Flora ProActiv contains 2g of plant
sterols, which have been proven to reduce cholesterol levels by up to
10% within just 21 days. Flora ProActiv is a delicious spread that comes
in five variants to meet most dietary needs, and it has been developed
specifically to help reduce cholesterol. Incorporating Flora ProActiv in
your daily diet is simple: spread it on your toast or sandwiches, cook
and bake with it, and use it like you would any other spread.

“I encourage
everyone to give
plant-based
eating a go
”
ELLIE BULLEN

EAT FOR GOOD HEALTH

Need some inspo? Australian nutritionist Ellie Bullen from Elsa’s
Wholesome Life is a great advocate of plant-based diets, as well as
a best-selling cookbook author, consultant and blogger with an
Instagram following of more than 680,000. She believes a healthy diet
needn’t be boring, in fact quite the opposite, and has created these and
other plant-based recipes incorporating Flora ProActiv, so you know
they’re as nutritious as they are delicious.

MAPLE PECAN BANANA BREAD

FLORAPROACTIV.COM.AU
HOME-MADE CRUMPETS

MAPLE PECAN BANANA BREAD

SERVES 8

¾ cup pecans through the vanilla extract.

1 tbsp maple syrup
Two pinches salt
½ tsp Flora ProActiv, plus ¼ cup
3 large ripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup coconut sugar
1 cup spelt flour
1 cup all purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 cup soy milk
1. Preheat oven to 150 degrees Celsius
fan forced.
2. Mix together in a bowl the pecans, maple
syrup, a pinch of salt and ½ tsp Flora
ProActiv, and massage together with hands.
3. Transfer to a lined tray and bake in oven
for 10-15 minutes or until caramelised.
Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
Turn oven up to 180 degrees Celsius.
4. Peel the bananas and place in a bowl.
Mash with a fork until smooth, and stir
5. In a large mixing bowl, add the coconut
sugar and ¼ cup Flora ProActiv and, using a
hand mixer with the beat attachments, beat
until smooth and fluffy.
6. Sieve the flours, baking powder, cinnamon
powder, and remaining pinch of salt into
a separate bowl.
7. Add the soy milk and mashed bananas
to the mixing bowl with the sugar and Flora
and mix all ingredients together.
8. Pour wet ingredients into the dry bowl
and fold together until just mixed.
9. Line a loaf tin with baking paper. Pour batter
into tin and top with caramelised pecans.
10. Place in the oven and bake for
50-60 minutes.
11. Remove from oven and place on a
bench to cool for 15 minutes, then
transfer to a wire rack to cool for a further
10 minutes.
12. Slice up the maple pecan banana
bread and eat warm with a teaspoon of
Flora ProActiv.
HOME-MADE CRUMPETS
MAKES APPROX 16-20 MINI CRUMPETS
250mL soy/coconut milk
1 cup water
1 sachet dried yeast
2 cups 300g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp Flora ProActiv
(for cooking)
Suggested serving toppings
Coconut, yoghurt, strawberries,
raspberries, basil, maple syrup,
Flora ProActiv, hemp seeds
1. Gently warm the soy/coconut milk
and water to a tepid temperature.
2. Place in a large bowl, add the
dried yeast sachet and allow to
stand in a warm place for 15 minutes
or until foamy/bubbly.
3. Sieve in the flour, bicarb, salt and
vanilla and stir together. Place a
damp tea towel over the mixing bowl
and sit for 35-40 minutes. Mixture
should rise and become very bubbly.
4. Heat a large fry pan over
GARLIC THYME MUSHROOM RISOTTO
SERVES 4-5
300g pumpkin
2 tsp olive oil
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1L vegetable stock
1 cup water
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1.5 cups arborio rice
½ cup white wine
5 sprigs thyme
1.5 tbsp Flora ProActiv
200g mixed mushrooms,
chopped roughly
2 large handfuls baby spinach
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees
Celsius fan forced.
2. Cut pumpkin into 3cm chunks,
skin on, and place on a tray with
1 tsp olive oil, cinnamon and salt.
Bake for 30 minutes or until soft and
cooked through, then remove from
oven and set aside.
med-high heat, and lightly grease
pan and egg rings with some
Flora ProActiv.
5. Stir mixture – the consistency
should resemble a thick pancake
batter (except bubbly); add ¼-½ cup
more water to reach desired
consistency.
6. Spoon in 2-3 tablespoons of
mixture into each egg ring. Cook
for approx 2 minutes or until tops are
completely covered in bubbles and
top batter is dry. Remove rings and
transfer crumpets to plate.
7. Keep warm in an oven under
100 degrees Celcius while you
repeat until all batter is used up,
adding small amounts of oil to the
pan as needed.
8. Continue until mixture is
used up, then serve crumpets
warm with any toppings you like.
I have suggested some toppings
in the ingredients list.
Tip: Do not overheat the milk and
water or you will kill your yeast.
3. Meanwhile, bring stock and water
to boil, turn off heat and cover.
4. Heat another large pot over high
heat. Add 1 tsp olive oil and half the
garlic, sauté for 30 seconds, add the
rice and white wine and allow it to
evaporate. Add 1-2 cups of stock,
“I strongly believe
and thyme, and cover, continuing to
add stock as it evaporates, until rice
is cooked and all stock is used up.
5. Meanwhile, heat a fry pan over
high heat. Add the Flora ProActiv,
mushrooms and remaining garlic, everyone should try
sauté for 5 minutes or until golden,
and set aside. to eat more plants:
6. Add the cooked mushrooms and
the baked pumpkin to the risotto daily, weekly or all
when it’s almost ready (rice is soft),
stir through and simmer for another the time!
”
3 minutes. Add the spinach and
simmer for 1 minute.
7. Season with salt and pepper to ELLIE BULLEN
taste and serve in bowls.
 SPELT BERRY PANCAKES

SPELT BERRY PANCAKES

Serves 2-3

Batter 3. Blend together the chia seeds, vanilla,

1 cup spelt flour soy milk, Flora spread and maple syrup.
1 tsp baking powder 4. Pour wet mixture into the dry bowl and
½ tsp bicarbonate soda fold together until just combined. Small
Pinch of salt lumps are good - we don’t want to overmix
2 tsp chia seeds the batter.
½ tsp vanilla extract 5. Heat a non-stick/stone fry pan over high
1 cup plus 2 tbsp soy milk heat. Wait until pan is hot. Drop another ¼
1 tbsp Flora ProActiv tsp of Flora ProActiv into pan. Pour in ¼ cup
1 tbsp maple syrup of pancake mix into the centre of the pan.
6. Fry for approximately 1 minute (or until
To serve bubbles form on top) and then flip and
Flora ProActiv, maple syrup, fresh cook for 30 seconds on the other side.
berries, figs Transfer to a plate.
7. Place the plate in the warmed oven to
1. Preheat oven to 100 degrees Celsius keep pancakes warm.
fan forced. 8. Repeat with remaining pancake batter.
2. Sieve together the flour, baking powder, 9. Serve with seasonal berries or fruits,
bicarbonate soda and salt into a bowl. maple syrup and Flora ProActiv.

MAKE A PROACTIV CHOICE

Lowering your cholesterol absorption is easy with Flora
ProActiv. Available in five delicious variants, including
Original, Light, Buttery and Low Salt, there’s one to suit
every taste and dietary need.
GARLIC THYME MUSHROOM RISOTTO
 AUSTRALIAN

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 Marathon
Often, it’s only when you run for a purpose greater
than yourself that you can go further and faster than
you thought possible. Here, five indefatigable men
reveal the joys and struggles of running for a reason
BY DANIEL WILLIAMS AND BEN JHOTY

70 menshealth.com.au
 FITNESS

Men

May 2019 71
 50 Shades of Pain
The sudden death of a mate, followed by an encounter with the world’s most charismatic
motivational speaker, inspired Sean Bell to run 50 marathons in 50 days
M ELBOU RN E
NAME: Sean Bell
AGE: 21
LIVES: Melbourne, VIC
RUN: 50 marathons
in 50 days
“To understand why I did this,
you need to know a little bit about
Joey Moschetti. In 2016, he and I
were teammates at the Vermont
Football Club in Melbourne. It
was Joey’s first season at the
club and straight away he made
an impression. At training he
was the sort of guy who’d shake
everyone’s hand – sometimes
multiple times to make sure
he got around to everybody. He
wasn’t the best player in the
team, but he had an enormous
heart and tried so hard. He just
loved the culture of footy and
loved all the boys, and everyone
loved him back. He and I bonded
over footy and a shared love of the
Richmond Tigers.
One Friday night in July,
2016 he went to bed – no doubt
excited to come to footy the next
day – and didn’t wake up. It was
a complete shock for everyone
because he was a healthy kid of
18. The doctors say they don’t
know what happened and that
we’ll never know.
At the end of that season,
in honour of Joey, the club
instituted the ‘Moe Award’,
which would go to the player
who best lived his values of hard
work, mateship and empathy. I
72 menshealth.com.au
won it, and Joey’s dad presented
it to me. I didn’t know it at the
time, but that moment changed
my life. That night was the first
time I’d met his parents, and we
became friends. They’d invite
me over for dinner every couple
of months and I’d hear their sad
stories about losing friends after
Joey’s passing. This happens a lot
to parents who lose a child. People
don’t know what to say and end up
drifting away.
ALL FIRED UP
It’s hard to explain, but I’d always
felt I was born to do something
special. I just didn’t know what
that something was. In March,
2017, my mum took me to LA
and we attended a Tony Robbins
Unleash The Power Within
seminar. Tony spoke about ultra-
marathoner Stu Mittleman,
who’d run across America
from San Diego to New York,
85 kilometres a day for 56 days
straight. At the time I’d thought,
‘Nah, that sort of thing isn’t
possible for everybody – this guy
must be predisposed’.
But later that year, when
footy wasn’t giving me the same
pleasure that it used to, I thought
back to Stu’s story and started
researching long-distance
runners in Australia. I wanted
to see whether anyone had done
something similar here. I came
across a couple in their 60s, Alan
Murray and Janette Murray-
Wakelin, who’d run around
Australia in 2013, shuffling out
a marathon a day for a year.
Suddenly, it all clicked. I
looked across my bedroom at my
‘Moe Award’ plaque, and in that
moment made up my mind that
I would ‘Jog for Joey’. I’d start
with 50 marathons in 50 days.
And that would be a prelude to
the bigger goal of running around
Australia, which I’m looking to my coach later that day because
start at the end of next year. I went out and ran a 4:19 – which
When I made my decision I was quite a bit faster than what I
went to Joey’s parents and told averaged. He said, ‘Come on, slow
them what I planned to do. I down – you’ve 42 to go!’ I said, ‘I
said, ‘You guys choose a charity’. know, but you don’t understand –
They chose The Compassionate I felt great’.
Friends, which had helped them Most mornings I got up
since Joey died. It was founded around 5am with a view to
in England in 1969 by a hospital setting off at 6. The early starts
chaplain who’d realised there was were important because this
no grief as intense as parental was midsummer. To prep, I’d
grief. He started bringing take a cold shower and have a big
together couples who’d lost a breakfast – maybe seven Weet-
child, and they found comfort Bix and two pieces of toast with
in their shared experience. But peanut butter. I’d foam-roll, and
The Compassionate Friends’ then once I felt breakfast was
main message concerns how digested enough I’d set off.
the rest of us can help bereaved
families. People are so worried HIGHER CALLING
about saying the wrong thing that Often I’d have company along the
they avoid grieving parents. But way, but there was plenty of alone
the best thing you can do is say, time. It’s then I’d think about
‘I don’t know what to say, but I’m
here for you’.
I began the 50-in-50 on
January 4 of this year. It’s not
as though I was an experienced
marathoner. I ran my first
42 kays at the the Melbourne
Marathon in 2017 – and loved it –
but I could barely walk for a week
afterwards. It made me change
my focus to running back-to-back
and slower marathons, rather
than running for time. Prior to
the 50-in-50, I’d completed only
that 2017 marathon and one
60-km ultramarathon, outside
of training.
The first week of Jog for Joey
was the worst. My body felt awful.
My coach, Jase Cronshaw of V &
B Athletic, had predicted this. He
said my body was going to hurt,
but to hang in there because it
would adapt. I went to bed after
Day 7 really sore, with calf, hip
flexor and adductor issues.
On Day 8 I woke up and,
honestly, felt born anew. I felt
amazing. I actually got told off by

why I was doing this – about Joey
and The Compassionate Friends.
I couldn’t have finished without
those deeper reasons. I’d also
listen to podcasts like The Rich
Roll Podcast; to people who’ve
taken on bigger and crazier
challenges than I have and pulled
them off. Fifty marathons in 50
days may sound crazy, but the
Iron Cowboy [James Lawrence]
did 50 Ironmans in 50 days in 50
States of the US.
Marathon 19 was a horrible
day. Coming down a hill I
strained my right quad – just
a grade 1 strain but that would
normally stop you from running
for a week or so. I limped my way
through the rest of that run, then
had intensive physiotherapy. The
next few days were slow but the
injury gradually came good.
I also had help from a
nutritionist. There was always
the danger I was going to lose
a lot of weight but I started at
71kg and hovered around that
mark for the duration. I wasn’t
counting kilojoules – I didn’t
want something else to worry
about. I figured that as long as I
FITNESS
was eating well and plentifully,
I’d be right. The after-run meal
was always big – usually four eggs
on toast with tomato, spinach,
Forged in Fire
mushrooms. And a big smoothie. As a former rugby player, Ben Seymour’s
You might think the last training priorities had always been
few runs would have been the strength and power. Until an urge to push
hardest, but I was well and truly his limits and inspire others saw him lace
in the groove by then. Your body’s up for a 250-km slog in the Chilean desert
an amazing mechanism. But the
mind’s crucial, too. It’s mind over BOLIVI
A
matter in the sense that you need
PA R A G U
to give your body a good enough AY
reason to keep going. Your body
can achieve anything you set your
LE
ARG
mind to.” ENT
CHI
INA
PT Sean Bell (@seanbellfitness)
completed his 50th marathon on
February 22 by running into the
Manhattan hotel in Ringwood,
NAME: Ben Seymour
Melbourne alongside Joey AGE: 28
Moschetti’s brother, Harry.
LIVES: Sydney, NSW
“I wasn’t counting RUN: A 250-km race
across the Chilean desert
kilojoules – I didn’t
want something else “My rugby career ended three years ago, after
a pay dispute with an Italian club. I came
to worry about” home to Sydney and worked for my dad for a
while in building before falling on my feet as a
personal trainer.
In rugby, you do endurance only at the
start of preseason – and even that’s just 1.5-km
time trials. Mostly, you’re doing short, sharp
stuff – and a lot of weights. When I finished
playing I stayed focused on strength.
Then last year I was talking with a friend of
mine, ultra-endurance athlete Jacqui Bell. She
was on my case about coming to Chile and
doing the Atacama Crossing – a six-stage,
seven-day, 250-km running race across the
desert. At first, I just laughed it off: ‘Yeah, look,
I’d love to – but it’s never going to happen’.
I was on holiday in Greece at the time and
not even training, but I said to myself, ‘If I can
clock up 100km this week while I’m in Greece,
ALEC BAKER - @ALECBAKERFILMS
May 2019 73
where it was 40˚, then I’ll consider it’. I went
out and did runs of 30 kays, 20 kays, 25 kays .
. . and eventually racked up over 100 kays for
the week. I texted Jacqui and said, ‘I’ve
booked the event and I’ve booked my flights
– see you over there!’
One thing that plays on my mind is that
a lot of people in the fitness industry call
themselves influencers, but they’re not
actually having a positive influence on
anyone. As a trainer, I’m not good with words.
I’m not someone who’s going to make some
great speech. My biggest thing is just to do
the work and inspire you through my actions.
I actually enjoy going out there and putting
myself through things. And then people can
be like, ‘Holy shit – if he can do that, then I
think I can do this!’”
This challenge was definitely about me –
and I didn’t want to let my family down. But
showing other people that anything is
possible, inspiring them to step outside their
comfort zone and give something a go even
though others say it’s impossible or crazy,
that was part of it, too. I also did it for our
Paralympians, and raised $4000.
NO PAIN
Doing the Atacama Crossing, you’ve got
heat, you’ve got altitude, and you’ve got to
carry everything, excluding a tent. I started
off with an extra 15kg on my back.
Day 1 was 35km and I felt good. I got it
done in about five-and-a-half hours. The only
74 menshealth.com.au
thing was my feet were swelling in the
heat and I was getting some pretty bad
blisters, which I didn’t stop to fix as I should
have done.
So on Day 2, which was another 35 kays, I
took off my shoes at the last checkpoint to
get the sand out and struggled to get them
back on because my feet were that bad. The
last 10 kays took me about three-and-half
hours to walk. It was unbearable. I was talking
to myself: ‘It’s okay to quit . . . you don’t have
to answer to anybody . . . you’ve done
enough’. Finally I got into camp and went off
to first aid, where they drained all my toes
and strapped them up.
On Day 3, the hardest part was putting my
shoes on because I’d got the wrong size and
they were too small. I ended up cutting the
fronts off so my toes were hanging out. I
figured I’d take some painkillers, do the first
10 kays and see how I went. But as you start
running the adrenaline takes over and you
stop thinking about what’s wrong. I probably
had my best day on Day 3. Chile was like
running on the moon or Mars. There wasn’t
an insect in sight. And no sound besides the
rocks cracking under your feet. At night, the
stars were amazing.
Day 5 was the hard one. It was the 80-km
day. Again, I set off thinking, ‘Let’s see how
you go’, and I managed to finish in 12 hours.
Most people do that stage over two days but
I did it in one so I could take a whole day off
to relax. It’s 45˚, so there’s not a lot you can do
except sit there with your feet up and
rehydrate and refuel. The last day is a 14-km
run, so it’s a bit of a cruise home. Overall, I
finished 19th out of 120, which I was happy
with because after Day 2 my only goal was
to finish.
I’d started the race weighing 95kg and
lost 8kg. It was definitely the hardest thing I’d
ever done in my life. But within days I was
thinking, ‘What’s next?’ I do miss the
camaraderie you get in footy. But I really like
doing these solo endurance challenges
because you can’t rely on anyone else, or
blame anyone else.
ALTERED STATE
Chile changed my perspective on many
things. When you finish a race like that, you
learn so much about what you’re physically
and mentally capable of. You realise a lot of
the doubts you have about yourself are
misplaced. And that most of the stuff you
worry about at home is insignificant.
My perspective on how I’d been living my
life altered while I was away. I realised how
important positive influences are. I realised
that in a world so filled with things that are
fake, being real and authentic is a priority for
me. And another thing: giving without
expecting anything in return is rewarding.”
Ben Seymour (@seemorebenny) is an
ambassador and coach at BeFit Training
in Sydney’s Double Bay.
ALEC BAKER - @ALECBAKERFILMS

Drawn to Run
Ahead of their latest challenge, the 84km Bali Hope
Ultra, seasoned endurance runners Jason Cronshaw
and David Jones reflect on how they turned a passion
into a partnership founded on offering a helping hand,
both to those in need and their fellow runners
BA LI
NAME: Jason Cronshaw
& David Jones
AGES: 46 & 43
LIVE: Sydney, NSW
RUN: 84km Bali Hope Ultra
DAVID: “I’ve always thought that
if you’re in a position to be able
to help other people, you should.
We love running because of how
it makes us feel and the fitness
aspects of it but if you’ve got a
cause outside of yourself to run
for, then the times when you’re
ready to give up, they go away.
I did the Bali Hope Ultra on
my own last year. A good friend
of ours is Samantha Gash, the
ultra-runner. She knew it was
exactly what I like to do. Last
year the goal was to put 100 kids
through primary school. Over
there the family unit income is
like 50 bucks a month. You put
these kids through high school
and the family unit income goes
up to about 250 bucks a month. I
signed up on the spot.
The race itself brings together
20-30 people from all over the
world. A bunch of them had
never done anything like this or
run any sort of distance before.
I think a couple of them hadn’t
even run more than 5km before
in their life. And this is 84km.
Overnight. In Bali.
CAUSE AND EFFECT
JASON: Bali will be a challenge
because it’s hot. But it doesn’t
scare us anymore. It’s the 180km
races that scare us now. If you can
do a half marathon you can run
an ultra because the checkpoints
are about the same distance as a
half, you’re just backing up. It’s
all about that frame of reference.
What was a challenge for you
previously just becomes your
warm-up. We apply that mindset
to the way we train people, the
way we train ourselves and then
to the events that we take on.
Nowadays we try and insert
ourselves into as many races
as possible during the year,
just as sweepers. It’s the joy of
helping people overcome that
struggle. The amount of times
I’ve crossed the finish line with
somebody running beside me
in tears because, for them, it’s
monumental. I love it, because
I’ve now introduced somebody
else to something that I love.
And that feeling that you get
when you cross the finish line
together, it’s mind-blowing.
DAVID: The truth is, if we were
good enough to be competing
at the pointy end, we probably
would be. But really, just helping
other people through it is a big
part of why we do it now.
Last year in Bali I wasn’t
intending to sweep at all. But
there are a lot of wild dogs that
just roam around and some of
them are aggressive, which made
a lot people nervous.
Just by chance, I ended up
next to a woman called Julie, a
hundred metres off the start line.
And a dog started barking and
she grabbed my hand. I said, ‘Oh,
okay’. She had a chest infection,
which she had been dealing with
all week. The first 4-5km is okay
and then for 17km, it’s straight
up. So, I sort of had to tow her up
for 17km. And after that, we just
stuck together. The next 60km is
undulating, fairly easy terrain,
“It’s the joy of helping people
overcome that struggle”
FITNESS
JONES, LEFT, AND
CRONSHAW WORKING
AS A UNIT FOR
A CAUSE BIGGER
THAN THEMSELVES.
but as you hit the morning
and the Bali traffic, it’s pretty
uncomfortable conditions for
running. And she was miserable.
I’ve never seen anyone who was
just so out of it. She could barely
walk for periods of time and I had
to cheer her up. It was so good to
see someone push themselves to
that level. She was determined
she was going to finish.
In terms of the cause, in Bali
Hope where there are cars and
trucks and smog and dogs, your
normal reaction would be, ‘What
the hell am I running here for?
This is miserable’. And then you
think, ‘Well, hold on a minute, a
lot of the kids that we’re raising
money for walk through this
every day of their lives to get to
school’. So, actually it changes
your mindset, and suddenly
you’re like, ‘Well, this is nothing,
we’ll be done in a few hours, we’ll
May 2019 75
just get this done’. So, it gives
you a different context, which
enables you to push yourself
further than you otherwise
could or would.
PAIN AND GAIN
JASON: I think when we first
started, it was more about
accomplishing things
and having the bragging rights.
But then that evolves, it becomes
less about yourself and more
about others. It’s about being
authentic. We do it because
that’s who we are, that’s what
we believe in.
DAVID: I think when it’s related
to endurance there is such a
long lead period, it isn’t like
just putting some money in
a charity tin. You spend 3-6
months getting ready for an
event, so you just naturally
engage more with that charity
than you would otherwise. You’re
really invested in it by the time
you get there.
JASON: In the lead-up we’ll work
our way up to 36, maybe 38km,
as the longest run. The majority
of the training will focus on
strength, so hill climbing
with weight because, obviously,
the first 20-odd-kays you’re
going straight up.
We also do interval stuff,
tempo work. We’ll average
around 50km a week. You’ve got
76 menshealth.com.au
to simulate the conditions as best
you can. I’ve got a stairwell at
the apartments where we live,
which is enclosed, no air, it’s
hot. And I’ll throw my wrist
weights on, throw a face mask
on, and just go up and down
until I can’t move. You’ve got
to get yourself to that point
of saying, ‘Okay, now I’m
uncomfortable’. But you’re
looking for that feeling, versus
trying to stay away from it.
When it comes to ultra-
running generally, the advice I’d
give is run when you can, walk
when you can’t. Just keep moving
forward. It’s when you
sit down, and your mind then
says, ‘Okay, we don’t need to do
this’, that it’s very hard to get
up again. Get comfortable with
being uncomfortable.
DAVID: In terms of suffering, you
can never replicate what it means
not to get an education or what
it means to live with a rare
disease. But that knowledge
pushes you to be able to do
more, so you go, ‘Well, I’m
really hurting now, or I’ve got
a massive blister on my foot,
but that’s nothing compared
to those I’m supporting’.”
Jason and David are founders of
vandbathletic.com.au To find out
more on the Bali Hope Ultra go to:
bali-hope.com
Run, Forrest, Run
In 2016, Englishman Rob Pope set out to
emulate the feat of his hero Forrest Gump
and run across America five times. As he
discovered, determination, goodwill and
causes you believe in can take you into a
realm where limits no longer apply
USA
NAME: Rob Pope
AGE: 40
LIVES: Liverpool, UK
RUN: Over 25,000k m inspired
by Forrest Gu mp’s fa mous route
“I’D WANTED TO run across America for a long
time, which progressed from a thought to an
ambition after reading a book about a
crossing by a chap called Nick Baldock. The
Forrest link came when I looked for an
inspirational and unique aspect for my run.
Around 300 people have run across America,
which is a far smaller club than those who
have climbed Everest, but no-one had ever
successfully completed the run that Forrest
did, which is almost five times across America
and 25,000km, give or take. I also identify
strongly with the fact that Forrest was an
incredible individual. He treated everyone
alike, with respect and an open mind and
went about his business with the minimum of
fuss, getting the job done. Be more Forrest.
I had made a promise to my mum, who’s
not around anymore. She said to me: ‘Do one
thing in your life that makes a difference’. And
after a lot of not very focused attention on the
issue, I realised that this run could do
something great for my two chosen charities,
Peace Direct and the World Wildlife Fund. The
two charities between them touch on the five

bases Forrest was asked if he was running for
in the movie – world peace, the homeless,
women’s rights, the environment and animals.
Clever, huh?
To be honest, I’d have given up after my
first crossing if I wasn’t running for the
charities. My athletic ambition was satisfied
with one crossing and apart from a few
ultra-running aficionados, no-one would
separate my run from other smaller runs. I
knew that even four crossings wouldn’t be
enough. To do the ‘Gump’ I had to finish
where Forrest did having covered the same
or more distance. I knew this was at great
physical, mental and financial risk to myself,
but I figured that the issues weren’t going
to quit, so neither should I. I believe the
phrase is, ‘Have a teaspoon of cement and
harden the **** up!’
I averaged around 60km a day. No rest
days. It was incredibly difficult. I’ve had a few
major injuries, the first being anterior tibial
tendinitis only 700km in, where I thought it
was game over. I had a breakdown in a gas
station in front of the poor attendant as I’d put
so much into this for it to be on the brink of
failure so early on. I also had issues with
achilles tendinitis, a quadriceps tear, piriformis
syndrome and hip flexor tendinitis. Mentally it
was tough. The first time I turned around at an
ocean knowing I had 22,000km at least to go
after the first 3,500km had been so tough was
really trying. The enormity and also the
repetitive nature: everyday, get up, eat, run,
eat, run, sleep. It’s also been lonely at times
and I often missed home and a normal life.
The financial stress was massive, with me
doing this from my own savings and help
from friends with no major sponsors. But it
was still worth it, especially if I reach my
charitable goals. I’ve currently raised about
$100k and I’d like to raise a $1 million, but I
acknowledge that this may be hard as my
charities aren’t necessarily the ‘heartstring
breakers’ that raise the big bucks.
I had a rule that if I had seven bad days
in a row then I would quit as no-one wants to
read about that ongoing drudgery and I
hoped that they also wouldn’t want me to be
hating the run. That would defeat the original
FITNESS
“Fewer people have run
across America than
have climbed Everest”
purpose. I can see why Forrest decided to call
it quits at the point he did, though. We
obviously have similar-length fuses.
People love the Forrest outfit and when I
ran the famous curve at Grandfather
Mountain, I could have stayed all day for
people to take photos. I get enough shouts of
‘Run, Forrest, run!’ even when in just normal
running gear to last me a lifetime. It never gets
old, though, and it still makes me smile.”
Pope is considering another US crossing this
year to mark the 25th anniversary of Forrest
Gump. Go to: goingthedistancerun.com
May 2019 77
78 menshealth.com.au
WITH VEGAN ATHLETES
LEADING THE CHARGE,
A SURPRISING NUMBER
OF MEN ARE SWERVING
FLESH IN FAVOUR OF
FALAFEL. FIND OUT WHY
PLANT-BASED EATING
COULD CHANGE YOUR LIFE
BY JACK PHILLIPS ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS EDSER

May 2019 79
“Don’t do it. Your farts will RUB OF THE GREEN It’s a trend that’s showing up at the cash
“When I became a dietitian, it was mostly register, too. Euromonitor International
smell so rancid you’ll have female millennials that were really getting predicts that by 2020, Australia’s packaged
the bats fallin’ from the trees.” into it,” says dietitian Nicole Dynan, who has vegan food market will be worth $215
spent the best part of a decade helping people million. Another change that’s occurring is
understand the implications of what they put the labelling. Plant-based is vegan, right?
That’s the typical advice I’m offered when I into their bodies. “I have 70-year-olds asking Well, yes and no. Unlike veganism, which
tell friends that I’m toying with the idea of how they should incorporate more plants into is an ethic, a statement that says, ‘I will not
ditching meat Monday through Friday for their diet, but I’ve also noticed more and more consume meat products of any form in
a month. For a group of ‘lads’ whose love of men coming in for advice, too.” any aspect of my life’, ‘plant-based’
sport is matched only by our love of Saturday Dynan says the reasons are myriad but denotes a health choice and doesn’t extend to
night pints and Sunday afternoon steaks, the key factors are health and longevity. People shunning leather goods. It is for this reason
notion that I’m about to swerve a cutlet for a simply want to live better, for longer. “It’s far more approachable as a diet and as a
chick pea is, well, hilarious. an unfortunate fact that heart disease is lifestyle choice.
But, according to Google trends, the the biggest killer in Australia,” she says. “There is a shift happening,” says sports
Australian Bureau of Statistics and our Although not alone, red meat is considered a physio Simon Hill one morning, between
friends over at Nielsen, I’m not alone in major dietary risk factor for cardio-metabolic mouthfuls of banana and acai. Having just
questioning the role meat plays in our diets. diseases, including coronary heart disease, finished a gym session, his sizable biceps
According to Roy Morgan Research, between according to the National Heart, Lung and and boulder-like shoulders are puffed up like
2012 and 2016, the number of Australian Blood Institute. Dynan says many of her party balloons. As a nutritionist and founder
vegetarians rose from 1.7 million to almost 2.1 clients are looking to plant-based diets to of Plant Proof – a resource for those interested
million. That’s an increase from 9.7 per cent of lower their risk of trouble. in plant-based diets – aesthetically he
the population to just over 11.2 per cent.
You’d be forgiven for assuming the trend
is location specific. But it’s not just hipster
bubbles like Bondi Beach and Byron Bay, or
hippie communes in rural Victoria, that are
sold on plant power. No, according to figures
released by Euromonitor International,
Australia has the third fastest growing vegan
population on the planet.
As I tie my laces and run out onto a soccer
pitch for five-a-side footy with a bunch of
meat-mad 30-year-olds that first week, I feel
slightly alienated from my fellow players. But
the truth is, by choosing not to eat our four-
legged friends, I’m not exactly an instigator of
some alternative counter-cultural movement.
Rather, I’m an adoptee of a new health shift
in which men from all walks of life look to a
plant-heavy diet to improve their health. I feel
like I’m riding the tide of nutritional science. I
only hope my stomach concurs.

PATH OF BEAST
RESISTANCE: FOLLOW
YOUR TASTEBUDS TO
A BRIGHTER, PLANT-
BASED FUTURE.

80 menshealth.com.au
“UNLIKE VEGANISM . . . ‘PLANT-BASED’ DENOTES A HEALTH
CHOICE AND DOESN’T EXTEND TO SHUNNING LEATHER GOODS”
contradicts most of the naysayers who believe
non-meat eaters are incapable of achieving
bodybuilder levels of swoll-ness.
Having spent some time working
in private health clinics in Melbourne
helping athletes turbocharge their onfield
performance, Hill’s foray into plant-based
diets led to him ditching meat altogether in
2015. “I worked in rehabilitation at clubs and
with various AFL players. I realised my ability
to help them was limited by the fact that
my university course, like a lot of medical-
based courses, covers no nutrition. I had a
bro-science mentality, you know? Just what I
PLA
picked up at the gym or the football club. ‘Let’s
go smash protein; dairy after training; whey
protein shakes; keep it lean, low carb’.” Hill
admits that he had spent years believing meat
was the only way to get an adequate amount
of protein into his body, enough to stack on
lean muscle and impress on a Friday night at
the bar.
But with increased awareness being driven
largely by a band of vocal elite athletes across
social media, more Aussie men than ever are
questioning the meat mentality and seeking
out alternatives in a bid to feel healthier,
perform better and live longer.
POWER PLANTS
If I’m honest, my interest and subsequent
experimentation with plant-based diets came
from these athletic advocates. The sporting
world is now brimming with big-name pros
singing the virtues of an all-plant diet. Ultra-
marathon runner and entrepreneur Rich Roll,
five-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback
Tom Brady and tennis great Venus Williams
are three of the most famous when it comes to
attributing success or career longevity to their
diets. Closer to home, AFL star Chris Mayne
and NRL trainer Kelly Benson are both
touting little green trees on their Instagram
accounts – a modern marker of plant-based
diet advocacy.
With so many athletes posting bowls
of colourful veg on Instagram, I have no
shortage of inspiration for my own deep-dive
into plant-based eating. Even so, staring into
the fridge the first week is odd. Instead of
the usual chicken breasts and beef strips,
there’s vegan Quorn mince, which I proceed
to pan-fry while swapping a plate for a bowl.
Emboldened, I begin to pack flavour punches
into my meals, pickling radishes and blitzing
chick peas to make falafel balls. Thanks to
the plethora of advice and ‘beginner’s guides’
online, my cooking repertoire explodes as
I experiment with weird and wonderful
vegetable combinations like jabuticaba and
Kiwano melon.
It takes a while for my gut to adjust to the
increased fibre I’m taking in. I work out I’ve
jumped from consuming an average 15g of
fibre a day to 30-odd grams – a considerable
increase – and so my colon has taken to
protesting at random points during the day.
But after 20 days of little or no meat, it begins
to settle down. That’s when the upsides really
begin to kick in for me. I experience more
balanced energy levels throughout the day
and notice a markedly faster recovery time
after time-trial bike sessions.
Matt Frazier, vegan ultramarathon runner
and author of No Meat Athlete and The No
Meat Athlete Cookbook, says that as plant-
based athletes like UFC fighters Mac Danzig
and Nate Diaz came to the fore, so did interest
around their diets. “Once mainstream
athletes started having success with plant-
based diets in sports that are more about
strength and quickness – MMA being such
May 2019 81
a good example – I think a plant-based diet
gradually started to seem a more attractive
choice for men,” he tells me.
Aussie rugby league player Brenden Santi,
formally of the Wests Tigers and now at
Toulouse Olympique, converted after getting
injured. “Doctors said I would have to take
six months off,” he explains. “And for the
first few weeks I ate whatever I wanted. But I
started putting on weight and feeling down.
I knew the only thing I could control was
my diet.”
He noticed his energy levels immediately
improved. But more than that he found they
remained far more stable than when he’d
been on a meat-based diet. Sure, like me, he
was probably farting constantly and shitting
somewhere between three to four times a day,
but overall, he crashed less and felt just as
strong as he did before. “I didn’t feel as heavy,”
he says. “Emotionally, I felt more positive. I
had fewer breakouts on my skin. Mentally, I
was in a much better place.”
The health and environmental cases for
going green are rock-solid. Researchers at
Oxford University found global adoption of
a vegan diet would avoid 8.1 million deaths
per year and reduce mortality by 10 per cent
from all causes by 2050. In addition, vegan
diets were projected to reduce food-related
greenhouse gas emissions by 70 per cent of
those currently predicted for 2050 and save
US$1067 billion per year in health-related
costs and US$570 billion in costs arising from
environmental damage. A study published
in the Journal of the American Heart
Association, meanwhile, found vegetarian
diets could significantly improve a person’s
cholesterol profile compared to a control diet .
But while the evidence is compelling
and increasingly difficult to ignore, it’s not
always that easy to make a lifestyle change
and then stick to it, as any number of wasted
gym memberships or discarded subscriptions
to online training programs attest. Frazier
says it took years for him to go fully plant-
based and advises you to go slow. “Treat each
new phase as an experiment, without the
discomfort that comes from thinking, ‘I’ll
never be able to eat a cheeseburger again’,” he
says. “Don’t beat yourself up. A lot of people
feel that if they mess up one time and give
into a craving for meat or cheese, then they’ve
failed, and then they give up. But this doesn’t
have to be the case. I think the more of your
kilojoules that come from plants, the better,
but if you just can’t imagine being 100 per
cent plant-based, then don’t worry about that
yet. Do what you can, and know that it’s
better than before.”

M A R S T E A K L O P A R M A S A N T Y P B M
C O C O N U T C X T E M P E H C O U S C O U S
H A M B U R G E R S S T E S A L A M I O X T P
O I K A L E W I N E T E X X P O P C O R N T E
C L I N X H A M P L O G X X X F Y X I N N E A
O A P O R K T I W A X G X X P L O W C D X R N
L R E O B R E L A X R S X S P A G H E T T I U
A D X D B V R K L X X S X X T X H I C X O X T
T R I L A L M O N D M I L K A S U S R X L F B
E T P E N Y E X U X X X X E W E R K E X I V U
C X O S A E L X T X J E R K Y E T E A K V E T
O H R M N W O D S A P A M I S D X Y M E E G T
I U I X A X N R P O R K G H O T D M G T S A E
X T R C S T X E X Q A C A N S O R I A C T N R
S T E A K W O X Y U W H R B U P E A C H P C P
E S P A M P X E A I N I L E N T I L S U E H I
E F A L A F E L S N S L I E U D X N X P M E O
D D O N U T U A X O C I C R O I S S A N T E H
S X B E E F Y M S A U S A G E S X X X C X S E
R I C E M A Y O N A I S S E V O D K A X H E Z

82 menshealth.com.au
GREEN LIGHT
As my own vegie vigil continues, one of the
most striking things I find is that veganism
“ONCE ATHLETES STARTED HAVING
is no longer viewed as a marker for long-
haired hippie culture. Docos like Cowspiracy
are raising awareness of the practices of the
SUCCESS WITH A PLANT-BASED DIET, IT
meat-production industry, making more
people uneasy about consuming animal
protein. Many people I talk to express interest
STARTED TO SEEM ATTRACTIVE TO MEN”
in going meat-free, even if they’re yet to act on
that impulse.
In sport, there’s still a debate unfolding.
And while rugby players like Brenden Santi,
fighters like Nate Diaz and endurance
athletes like Frazier and Rich Roll have
found support among their peers, Hill says
he still sees a level of secrecy among some
6 Ways to Go Green
players he connects with on social. “I am NUTRITIONIST NICOLE DYNAN’S TIPS TO GIVE FLESH THE FLICK
in contact with a few top-level athletes who
are covertly switching or have switched to
plant-based diets, but they haven’t told their
clubs because they’re unsure of the reaction,”
he confides.
In my somewhat smaller and less
glamorous circle, there’s been little in the way
of widespread adoption. In fact, my dabbling
in plant-based eating has become little more
than another opening for my mates to throw
a playful jibe my way on a Friday evening.
But what it’s also done is prompt questions
1 2 3
from certain individuals. A text here, a photo
of a vegan bowl there. Questions in the vein Include at least three Eat good sources of Include sources of
of, ‘Can you overdose on smoked tofu?’ have serves of legumes Vitamin C to boost calcium in meals:
become commonplace. each day: scrambled iron absorption: citrus fortified rice, almond
I know my final vegan meal on day 31 tofu, bean burrito fruit, tomatoes, or soy milks; tofu and
bowls, hummus dips, capsicum, tempeh; green-leafy
of my experiment won’t be my last. I’ve
vegetarian burgers, strawberries and veg, Lebanese
become fond of the hodgepodge vegan bowls
soy milk. green-leafy cucumbers, broccoli,
I construct and have found ways to make vegetables. oranges, dried figs.
them interesting by adding strong flavours
via dried fruit or garlic ’shrooms. And never
eating kale. I goddamn hate kale. I work out
that during my meat-shy month I’ve eaten
perhaps five meals with animal protein out
of a possible 93 – and two of those were pies at
the footy.
To be honest, I’ve found (almost) ditching
meat pretty easy. Getting rid of eggs and
cheese has been harder. Regardless, my body
seems to respond positively to less meat.
Sure, you need to plan your meals further in
advance and go through the whole ‘I’m vegan
4 5 6
(or trying)’ song and dance whenever you’re
Include a daily serve Choose foods that Take supplements
eating out. And tofu – no matter how you
of healthy fats: 1 enhance iron and zinc where needed:
cook it – still tastes as bland as sawdust. But
teaspoon of flaxseed absorption: vitamin B12, iodine,
overall, I’ve found plant-based eating to be oil or olive oil, 30g or wholegrain breads vitamin D, Omega-3,
worth the hassle. ¼ cup of nuts and/or made with yeast iron and zinc.
If only you could make those farts smell seeds or ¼ avocado. or sourdough, toasted
like roses. nuts and seeds
and sprouted grains
and legumes.

May 2019 83
 PLEASURES
of the

FLESHThe 100 per cent carnivorous, veg-be-damned diet is

the apex of new extreme-eating trends. Its followers
claim that weeding out plant foods can rebalance our
appetites, restore vitality and even reverse chronic
illnesses – while its detractors say it’s deleterious.
But could it work for you?
BY RICHARD GODWIN PHOTOGRAPHY BY JASMIN SCHULLER

84 menshealth.com.au
 COULD MEAT REPLACE ALL
OF YOUR DAILY STAPLES? WE
GIVE THE FACTS A LICKING.

May 2019 85

his is a story about human carnivores
– people who believe that the best diet is
one comprised only of meat. No bread, no
roast potatoes. No Caprese salads, no
kale. Not even cheeseburgers. Just
animal flesh. Or, in the case of Canadian
psychologist Jordan B Peterson, 56,
and his daughter Mikhaila, 26, just
beef, salt, water – and the occasional
glass of bourbon.
“I know how ridiculous it sounds,”
Mikhaila conceded, when challenged
about her eating habits by a reporter last
summer. But she credits her diet with
easing the debilitating autoimmune
conditions, depression and fatigue that
had made her life a misery since she was
a teenager. Her father, too, claims he has
lost more than 20kg since following his
daughter’s lead and says he now feels
magnificent, even if it’s as “dull as hell”.
This is also a story about science
and ideology, carbs and fat, and the
line between healthy scepticism and
conspiracy theory. But it begins
with a few people slowly coming to the
conclusion that the standard nutritional
advice – that you need fibre, your five
a day, your daily bread – isn’t working
for them.
“Those who were going carnivore
10 years ago did so because they’d been
chronically sick,” says 51-year-old Shawn
Baker. A former orthopaedic surgeon
based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Baker
now sells books and diet plans to would-be
carnivores. He has recently noticed a
surge of interest among men who aspire
to his apex-predator physique – he’s built
like a cartoon henchman – but he tells
86 menshealth.com.au
me that carnivory initially developed as
a niche diet for people who found eating
“normally” made them feel awful. “They’d
700g
THE WEEKLY LIMIT OF
RED MEAT ADVISED BY
THE CANCER COUNCIL.
usually tried everything. They had been CARNIVORES EAT CLOSER
vegetarian and vegan. They had been on TO 800G A DAY.
all kinds of medication. This was the only
thing that worked for them.”
One thing the internet has done is
allow people with niche interests to find
one another. The carnivore “community”
mostly came together on the Reddit
forums r/zerocarb and r/carnivore.
A computer scientist named Amber
O’Hearn has blogged extensively about
the subject at empiri.ca for the best part
of a decade. Her strapline is: “Eat meat.
Not too little. Mostly fat.” (A nice spin on
Michael Pollan’s advice: “Eat food. Not
too much. Mostly plants.”)
That Baker was struck off the medical
register in 2017 likely doesn’t help his
cause. Nevertheless, he is careful to stress
that the diet is not for everyone, and he
encourages anyone interested in trialling
it to do their own research. “It challenges
what we’ve been taught about nutrition
over the past half-century or so,” he says.
“The diet challenges
When you mention the carnivore
diet to an omnivore or herbivore,
their reactions tend to fall somewhere
everything we’ve
between scepticism and anger. And
understandably so: our hogwash-o- been taught over the
past half-century”
meters are on high alert when it comes
to celebrity-endorsed miracle cures, and
“Jordan Peterson’s Cow Plan” sounds like
the bullshit bullseye.
That Peterson, a controversy-
courting author and public speaker, is think it’s hilarious to taunt vegans as
often portrayed as some sort of alt-right left-leaning loonies. But Baker seems
troll (not entirely fairly, but it’s not confused by all of this. “In a number of
ungrounded, either) makes the diet sound interviews I’ve done, it’s been painted as
as if it has ideological roots, too. After all, some kind of political movement, like it’s
if veganism is associated in the popular an alt-right thing,” he says. “But that’s
imagination with environmentalism, not what I’m seeing at all.”
progressive causes, the left, femininity Most of the carnivores I speak to
and compassion, carnivory must surely are shy about discussing their diets.
stand for the opposite, right? It sounds Their friends think they’re mad. Many
like a parody diet for climate-change- of them have scientific backgrounds.
denying, coal-rolling, gun-toting, Intriguingly, many used to be vegans,
toxically masculine gammons. Such is having tried various food-elimination
the age we live in: nothing can just stand regimens to address illness or weight
for itself. gain. Colin, 38, is a single father of two
Certainly, we all know people who who manages property. He describes
 CONSULT THE EXPERTS so I can’t say it’s bad for everyone, but
BEFORE YOU GRAB A SLICE I’m sceptical of the idea that it’s right for
OF THE CARNIVORE ACTION. everyone, too.”
He seems as surprised as anyone
that carnivory is working. “I tried
lots of different diets and I realised
that when I ate fewer vegetables, I felt
better,” he says. “One day, I was on
Reddit and I came across the r/zerocarbs
group. I thought I’d try it. Within a
couple of days, my IBS went away.”
He experienced a little discomfort
transitioning – “really loose stools” – but
nothing worse than what he was already
experiencing. “I’m way more active than
I used to be. I have more mental energy. I
don’t understand why . . . ”

Ryan, 29 (who asked that we change

his name), a researcher at Liverpool
University, had a similar experience.
“Growing up, we didn’t have a lot of
money, so we’d mostly eat plain pasta or
tinned food,” he says. Many of his family
are obese. He had been plagued by poor
digestion and weight issues throughout
his life but, after turning carnivore
in July, he finally has a functional
relationship with food.
Like many carnivores, he made the
transition in stages, gradually dropping
his carbohydrate intake and then trying
the ketogenic diet. “Keto” is a very low-
FLESHING OUT THE FACTS carb, high-fat diet that was originally
designed to help prevent fits in children
The Diet Omnivore Ketogenic Carnivore with epilepsy. More recently, it has
Your Macro 30% protein, 20% protein, 40% protein, gained a cult following among factions
Targets 20% fat, 50% carbs 75% fat, 5% carbs 60% fat, 0% carbs of the fitness community. When
deprived of carbohydrates, your body
Example Grilled chicken Almond-crusted Rib-eye steak and
Meal breast, sweet potato salmon with sautéed chicken livers, seasoned switches its energy supply from glucose
and baked vine kale and mozzarella with salt and pepper to ketones, which are derived from your
tomatoes 2385kJ, 45g protein, 38g 2259kJ, 55gprotein, 35g fat reserves. Many people lose weight
1800kJ, 40g protein, fat, 12g carbs, 4g fibre fat, 0g carbs, 0g fibre
on the keto diet and its advocates claim
8g fat, 50g carbs,
7g fibre that it eases the symptoms of a suite
of conditions including Alzheimer’s
Supposed Easy to follow and Basing your meals around More muscle-building
Benefits and type 2 diabetes. But it also comes
uncontroversial; also, fats trains your body to protein than keto;
the established burn its own fat for fuel; anecdotally said to with significant risks, particularly
thinking is that carbs cheese is included stabilise energy and cure to kidney and liver function, and is
are delicious chronic illness notoriously hard to maintain.
At first, Ryan says, the idea of eating
all of that butter, cream and meat made
himself as politically on the left. “You can but it makes me lethargic.” He gets most him feel ill. However, he found his
find plenty of right-wing vegans,” he says. of his meat from local smallholdings, tastes changed over time. “Not everyone
“It’s more about health than politics.” He where he knows the farmers personally. benefits to the same degree,
was motivated to try the diet as a way to “I really care about animal welfare,” but I experienced pretty much
cure his irritable bowel syndrome. he stresses. And he isn’t out to convert everything you could ask for: improved
In a typical day, he eats a dozen eggs, anyone. “Vegans become incredibly skin, energy, mood – to the point of
a packet of bacon, three packets of angry at carnivores, but many carnivores feeling euphoric sometimes,” he tells me.
beef mince, plus some liver or kidney. have tried vegan diets,” he says. “I did for It wasn’t much of a leap to drop the leafy
“I like a bit of pork shoulder and lamb a while, and it made me feel much worse. greens. “I did a bit more research and
shoulder, too. I have chicken occasionally, I don’t have normal, healthy digestion, came to the conclusion that it wasn’t

May 2019 87
something I needed.” He says he eats

HUNTING OR
only when he’s hungry and often ends up
“unintentionally” fasting for hours.
“The body knows how to regulate
itself,” he says. “We’re just sending it
GATHERING?
confusing signals by upping our blood Plants offer more vitamins per kJ in
sugar a few times a day.” terms of RDI but that doesn’t mean
Objections to carnivory generally fall meat is devoid of goodness
into the broad categories of nutrition, VITAMIN C.

30% 110%
ethics and lifestyle. Carnivores claim
they don’t really miss the pleasures of
baking or snacking or even applying a
in 100g of lamb in one
little Béarnaise to their steaks. “The less I
pancreas kiwi fruit
had, the less I wanted,” says Ryan. “Now,
if I’m preparing dinner just for myself, MAGNESIUM.

15% 20%
I’ll start eating some of the steaks while
I’m cooking the rest and start cleaning up
in between.”
in one wild in 100g of spinach
As for the nutritional concerns, salmon fillet (a small bag)
well, it seems fairly clear from my
conversation with Ryan that he is alive, VITAMIN A.

290% 205%
so it’s possible to survive on just meat. He
also claims to feel great. “Even if it were
conclusively proven that this diet would
in 100g of in a medium-
shorten my life by 10 years, I would take
chicken liver sized carrot
it, as the quality of my life is that much
better,” he says. But people who like to FOLATE.

25% 25%
lunch at McDonald’s and smoke 40 a day
often claim to feel great, too. There are
placebo effects and confirmation biases.
in 100g of per medium-
Anecdote is not data. And it may take
beef kidney sized beetroot
years for, say, colon cancer, to make
itself apparent. CALCIUM.

Nevertheless, dietary science
is notoriously complex and poorly
understood. That there are 1.7 million
people with diabetes in Australia is not
a ringing endorsement of the way
we currently do things. And there’s
a growing body of evidence that the
standard advice regarding fats (which
we’re told to limit) and carbs (which are
seen as necessary) is back to front.
Still, there’s a chasm between low-
carb and nothing but meat. I consult
Timothy Spector, genetic epidemiologist
at King’s College London, and author of
The Diet Myth. “Humans can exist on
a wide variety of diets,” he says. “Some
have adapted to eat high-meat diets,
such as the Inuit, Masai or Mongolian
people, but most don’t tolerate it. There
may be rare people in the West who can,
but it’s dangerous to recommend it as a
long-term solution.” Spector cautions
that the excess protein is likely to lead to
problems such as gout and heart disease.
“Most people will be constipated.”
An obvious objection concerns
vitamin C. The carnivores argue there’s
40% 35%
in 100g of in 100g
tinned sardines of tofu
enough of it in fresh meat – particularly
raw or offal meats – and that, anyway,
the body adapts to reduce its base needs.
Another is the lack of fibre. “There’s no
absolute physiological requirement for
fibre,” Baker argues. “Why do we think
it’s necessary? The traditional argument
is that it lowers cholesterol, which is
true, but you don’t need low cholesterol
to survive. People also say it mitigates
blood-glucose spikes. If you drink a glass
of apple juice, you’ll experience a much
larger spike in blood sugar than if you ate
an apple. But if you’re not taking in any
glucose, that’s a moot point.”
So, he reasons, fibre is necessary if
you’re eating plenty of toast and biscuits,
but not if you’re eating lots of steak. His
stool, he is proud to report, is excellent.
“The vast majority of people on the
carnivore diet will tell you that, after a
transition period – maybe a couple of
weeks – bowel habits become normal.”
Spector remains deeply sceptical.
“To support a healthy gut microbiome,
you need to eat fibre,” he says. He
concedes that some gut complaints (such
as types of IBS) can be exacerbated by
certain plants in the short term. But
when it comes to the general population?
“Doubling our fibre intakes would help
the vast majority of people,” he says.
The distilled advice of Spector’s book
is that you should eat as wide a spectrum
of foods as possible, because that’s what
keeps your gut bacteria happy. He argues
that our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate
an enormous variety of foods: about 600
types, far more than are found in our
modern diets. Baker argues, however,

88 menshealth.com.au

2-5
THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF
DAYS IT TAKES FOR YOUR
BODY TO ENTER A STATE
OF KETOSIS (BURNING FAT
FOR FUEL) AFTER
CUTTING OUT CARBS.
STEAKHOLDERS DISMISS
THE NEED FOR A VARIED
DIET – DESPITE THE SCIENCE.
“Anecdote isn’t data – and
many medical conditions
can take years to emerge”
that given the choice between killing a
nutrient- and kilojoule-rich mammoth
that would feed a family for weeks and
scrabbling around for nuts and berries
that might easily have proved poisonous,
an Ice Age hunter-gatherer would
invariably have chosen the mammoth.
That may be, but not all hunter-gatherers
had access to meat, let alone mammoths,
and mammoths are extinct because early
humans killed them all (which should be
a lesson in itself). And the best evidence
we have is that early humans thrived
by adapting to different food sources.
Around two billion people eat no meat
today. So, how Baker’s principle applies in
the 21st century is debatable.
Then there’s the environment. If cattle-
rearing is destroying the planet, a lack
of vitamin C may well prove to be the
least of our concerns. A much-cited
report published in the journal Nature
claims that we greedy Westerners
must cut our beef consumption by 90
per cent in order to reverse dangerous
climate change.
But again, the carnivores contest this.
Robert (not his real name) is an academic
in his forties who has been on a meat-
only diet for the past four years. “For
me, as a biologist, this [environmental
argument] is the craziest part,” he says.
“Is there anything more natural than a
herd of ruminants grazing on marginal
farmland? Should we turn this land over
to intensive agriculture – pesticides,
fertilisers and machines?
“I’m not out to change the world,”
continues Robert. “My wife is a vegetarian,
as are our daughters. My fervent wish,
however, is for state nutritional policy
to be scrutinised more deeply.” That
doesn’t seem so extreme, even if the
message that many seem to have taken
from the profusion of contradictory
advice is: if you can’t trust any of it,
you may as well just pick out the parts that
suit you and ignore the rest.
But perhaps the most fundamental
objection to carnivory is the evolutionary
one. It challenges the whole idea of
what it is to be human. It suggests that,
perhaps, our species took a wrong turn
with the development of agriculture.
If you’ve been listening to your Jordan
Peterson podcasts, you might hear an
echo of this in the “Fall of Man” story in
Genesis. When God casts Adam and
Eve out of the Garden of Eden, he
condemns Adam to a miserable life of
toiling in the field. “In the sweat of thy face
shalt thou eat bread . . .” At a time of great
ecological and political uncertainty, the
idea that we should have stuck to a hunter-
gatherer existence – or, as the carnivores
would have it, just the hunting – has a
certain appeal.
Ever since Peterson came out as a
carnivore, many complain that a certain
“madness” has descended on what was
once a quirky, little community. Many of
the more bizarre posts link to a YouTuber
named Sv3rige, who makes videos about
his experiments with feasting on raw meat
and drinking pig’s blood. Sv3rige’s channel
also abounds in flat-earth conspiracies.
Some of the carnivores I speak to even
suspect that the movement has been
infiltrated by Russian disinformation
bots to undermine faith in experts and
to foster division. One recent Reddit
discussion centred on these doubts. Even
if, anecdotally, many carnivores feel
better, shouldn’t the reality that their diet
contradicts all of the established advice not
give you pause?
“I think doubts are a sign of healthy
scepticism,” came one reply. “This
goes entirely against what is currently
considered healthy by the vast majority .
. . That said, my doubts are small. When I
was eating what my doctor told me to, I felt
terrible: gut pain, bloating, heartburn and
high blood pressure. Now I’m eating the
opposite, and I feel incredible . . .” In times
of uncertainty, it seems that people are
ever more willing to trust their gut.
May 2019 89
What Makes a
Food Super?
Ask
Moringa.
The idea of exotic food as silver bullet
existed long before raspberry ketones, goji
berries or maca root. Yet consumers still
fall for these supposedly magical products.
Dr Alan Levinovitz investigates how one
such superfood came to be
ILLUSTRATIONS BY DELCAN & CO.

“MORINGA OLEIFERA. Have you ever
heard of that?” Dr Mehmet Oz asked his TV
audience in 2012. “Moringa oleifera comes
from the Himalayas! And there’s a tree in the
northwest part of India, where this grows,
that has been used for many, many centuries
there, for the very reason that you feel you’re
being sapped, which is that you don’t have
enough energy.”
Oz and a guest stand behind a table
covered in jars and featuring a sign:
reenergise your life. He presents her with a
cup of moringa tea. It shimmers yellowish
green in the glass cup. She sips and grimaces.
She doesn’t look reenergised.
Seven years after that episode, health-
conscious consumers can find moringa
in health food stores and online in teas,
powders, and capsules. There are moringa
snack bars, moringa energy shots and even
moringa snack puffs (gluten-free!). Its
purported benefits include lowering blood
pressure and blood sugar, fighting cancer,
and even protecting against arsenic toxicity.
Moringa products come emblazoned with
all the standard buzzwords – “organic”,
“pure”, “raw”, “vegan”, “non-GMO” – and
often advertise that they’re better for you
than kale. The taste? Well, a smoothie does
a good job of masking what would otherwise
be tough to swallow, a bit like grass clippings
and wet earth. Still, the global market value
of moringa supplement products will grow
by nearly 10 per cent by 2022, according
to research from Technavio. The global
supplement market hit $132.8 billion in 2016,
and though moringa is a small portion of that,
its growth is indicative of what it takes to
stand out in a crowded field. To understand
the rise of moringa, you have to look beyond
flavour at how, like so many acais and chia
seeds and so-called superfoods before it, it
has moved from obscure food to billion-dollar
business. That means going way back to when
the marketing of moringa all started.

90 menshealth.com.au
May 2019 91
STEP 1:
Seed the Exotic
Origin Story
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 some
villagers told her about a local plant that
natives of the Sudan in Africa had called
shagarat al rauwãq: “the clarifier tree”.
Every part of the plant is edible, and it is
drought resistant, making it a reliable source
of kilojoules. Its leaves are high in protein,
vitamins and minerals, adequate amounts
of which are vital in areas with limited food.
That plant, moringa, could create miracles.
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
help people. Curtis returned to the US in 2011,
and with three business partners launched an
Indiegogo campaign to crowdfund a company
called Kuli Kuli. With three moringa
snack-bar products, she and her cofounders
touted its possible uses with lists like “10
Reasons to Eat Moringa Every Day”, which
included preventing and managing diabetes,
supporting cardiovascular health and
treating asthma symptoms. (To their credit,
they also offered the standard superfood
equivocations: has the “potential” to
92 menshealth.com.au
treat, “has been recognised as a powerful
tool”, etc, etc.)
Curtis had the good luck to launch Kuli
Kuli at a time of explosive growth in the
superfood and supplement business. Over the
past five years, the number of vitamin and
supplement businesses has increased by 3.4
per cent – not a small figure considering that
the 2018 U S market brought in $31 billion,
according to a report by market-research
firm IBIS World. An aging baby-boomer
generation, determined to preserve good
health, may explain why. Even the word
superfood has become more widespread. In
2015 alone, the number of new food and drink
products labeled as superfoods, superfruits
or supergrains increased 36 per cent globally,
according to Mintel, and in true American
style, the US led “super” product launches.
The provenance and promises of moringa
have put it on many of the same shelves as
acai 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
Kansas.” They all make use of the same
formula: an ingredient from a foreign land
that helps natives achieve miraculous health,
and that may in fact do the same for you.
STEP 2:
Sprinkle the
Magic Pixie Dust
It’s easy to see the marketing appeal of a
purifying tree. But no one shopping for
moringa powder is likely to ever use the plant
in the way that led to its nickname. That’s
because the people who coined the whole
miracle-tree thing weren’t powdering
leaves and sprinkling them into smoothies.
They had a more urgent concern: drinking
water. Powdered moringa seeds, not leaves,
are good for purifying H20 but not much
else, though many manufacturers push
moringa supplements as a way to help you
“detox”. If human beings didn’t have their
own miracle organ capable of handling
toxins, then moringa would surely be a
miracle cure. But you do have such an
organ – 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 nutritional biochemist
at Cornell University, has conducted nutrient
analysis on moringa to assess its potential
as a supplement to help malnourished
people. Klatt reviewed the Kuli Kuli website
and its “10 Reasons to Eat Moringa Every
Day”. He concluded that most of those
reasons were highly speculative and often
based on small studies in journals of dubious
quality. One of the larger studies, published
in The Bioscan, showed that Moringa
oleifera could treat hypoglycemia. However,
the journalistic integrity of The Bioscan
was questioned in a 2014 report by Serbian
researchers. What’s more, many of moringa’s
supposed benefits might also be attributable
to less exotic, less expensive plants. 
Klatt observed that moringa’s fans
point to a specific kind of disease-fighting
antioxidant (called isothiocyanates) as a
reason to love the plant – but isothiocyanates
are common compounds found in more
mundane cruciferous veggies such as
cauliflower and mustard greens.
So how did Moringa oleifera infiltrate
the global health food market? Through
high-profile advocates such as Oz, yes, but
also through more subtle marketing tactics.
Take, for instance, a 2018 Washington Post
article titled “Moringa, the Next Superfood?”
It seems legit: written by a University of
California, Davis science writer, the story
 quotes researchers from her university who
gush about how the plant can delay diabetes
and “feed the world”. As science watchdog
HealthNewsReviews.org pointed out, though,
the piece is actually a paid advertorial,
designed to look similar to a Washington Post
news article. Not only that, it failed to disclose
at the time that one of the scientists cited was
a paid consultant for Kuli Kuli.
Nutrition experts like Klatt have pushed
back on the rhetoric of superfoods. “I am not
a fan of the word superfood,” Klatt says.“It
leads to people buying perceived ‘exotic’ foods
and supplements even though consuming
a nutritionally adequate diet is possible by
buying foods at the supermarket.” Dietitians
stress that overall dietary patterns are the key
to good health, and that superfoods provide
few, if any, added benefits to an already
healthy diet.
Facing this consensus on healthy eating
that emphasises whole foods, superfood
supplements are now appealing to consumers
with a higher cause.
STEP 3:
“FACING THIS CONSENSUS ON HEALTHY EATING
THAT EMPHASISES WHOLE FOODS, SUPERFOOD
SUPPLEMENTS ARE NOW APPEALING TO
CONSUMERS WITH A HIGHER CAUSE”
the company but because I feel some sort of
moral satisfaction and self-affirmation. I
believe I am a socially responsible person.” In
all of this, there’s a whiff of the ancient magic
– consuming something with a good soul to
fortify your own, like eating deer to become
swifter. And with superfoods, the ritual of
consumption happens twice: once when you
buy the product and again when you eat it.
“Food and medicine are particularly sensitive
products because you ingest them,” says Dr
T. Bettina Cornwell, head of the University of
Oregon’s marketing department.
There also may be a feedback effect
interested, which means they may pay a
premium for a morally good product if
they also believe it benefits them. In the
case of moringa, the nutritive benefits are
unequivocal, but only for people in areas that
struggle with malnutrition. When it comes to
your average guy shopping in the health food
aisle at the local supermarket, the science
doesn’t scream “miracle”.
After interviewing Lisa Curtis, I became
convinced that at Kuli Kuli, the mission is
sincere. Yes, the products are overpriced
based on their nutritional value for
consumers, but there is no reason to doubt

Grow the between doing good and feeling good,

Halo Effect
It’s not enough for some superfood companies
to want to change your health. They
want to change the planet, too. Kuli Kuli
advertises: “Nourishing You, Nourishing the
World”. Natierra-brand goji berries (motto:
“Superfoods with Soul”) advertise “Buy One
Bag, Feed One Child”. Dr Alexander Chernev,
a professor of marketing at Northwestern’s
Kellogg School of Management, explains that
you’re likely to see a purchase as valuable
in two different ways. “For example, say
that I buy a bottle of Ethos water,” he says,
referring to the Starbucks subsidiary that
contributes 5 cents of every purchase to its
Ethos Clean Water Fund. “One reason is that
I want to reward the company for its good
behaviour. The other reason is not to reward
thanks to a well-established psychological
phenomenon called 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.
With coinvestigator Sean Blair, Chernev
studied the effect of perceived corporate
responsibility on product evaluations and
found that altruism functions like high price.
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, a scanned image looked crisper. The
problem, though, is that this new generation
of superfoods, like the first, remains bound
up with shaky scientific claims. Cornwell
emphasised to me that consumers are self-
the company’s claim that it has generated
$1.2 million in revenue for more than 1365
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. You can’t buy your way
to being a good person, no matter how sincere
the mission of the companies you’re buying
from. 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 much more than a little powder
in your smoothies.

SUPERFOODS 1 / Beets 2 / Asparagus 3 / Dandelion greens 4 / Dragon Fruit

THAT DON’T NEED A
MARKETING CAMPAIGN
Here’s what’s really worth your
money and refrigerator space
That deep, rich red colour
signals that they contain
anthocyanins, disease-
fighting antioxidants also
found in purplish foods like
blueberries and blackberries.
It’s fresh right now, and
packed with fibre (4 grams in
12 spears) for little kilojoule
cost (163 in 12 spears).
Many supermarkets now
sell these bitter greens
bundled. Dark leafy greens
like these battle cancer and
heart disease.
This rose-coloured,
wild-looking fruit has
a tender interior that
tastes like a kiwi, but
more sweet-tart. It’s high
in antioxidants.

May 2019 93
94 menshealth.com.au
 HEALTH

21
01
Form in a Teacup
Cold brews and colourful lattes
may be trending right now, but a
classic cup of tea has benefits that
they can’t match. Tea is a rich
source of prebiotics, which feed
micro-organisms in your gut;
meanwhile, black tea, in particular,
increases your levels of fat-burn-
ing pseudobutyrivibrio bacteria.
Seven minutes’ brewing
time is optimal if you don’t want
watered-down results.

02
Branch Out
Far more than just a bar snack or
Your hour in the gym is merely a piece of the a Martini garnish, olives offer major
benefits to your metabolism,
weight-loss puzzle. A crucial one, sure, but there thanks to their high copper and
are still another 23 hours in the day. That’s why CLA fat content. But you might be
missing out on the best bit of the
we’ve compiled this guide to amplifying your fat plant: researchers at King Saud
burn from wake-up to wind-down, no extra effort University found that oil made
expended. You’ll torch kilos in record time from olive leaves increases the
production of metabolism-boost-
By Louee Dessent-Jackson ing thyroid hormones; in lab rats,
levels more than doubled. Add a
drizzle to your bruschetta.

1300
03
Divide and Conquer
To earn extra burn from your
workouts, don’t train more – train
differently. Instead of grinding it
out for an hour, split your exercise
in two. One study* found you
could burn almost double the
kilojoules via a process called
“excess post-exercise oxygen
consumption”. Try half an hour
of sprints in the park before work
and a bodyweight circuit at
HACK YOUR BIOLOGY
TO CLOCK UP FAST, lunch. You’ll be culling kilojoules
TANGIBLE RESULTS. for 48 hours.

May 2019 95
 05
Top of the Pops
Dosing up on pre-workout supps
before training may have you
buzzing for the gym, but there
are other ways to enjoy a similar
boost without feeling like a kid
on a sugar binge. A study in
04 Scientific Reports found that rats
that had been fed grape polyphe-
Breakfast Means Breakfast nols before being let loose on
treadmills displayed higher
Forget fasted cardio. Your morning meal activates genes involved levels of AMPK, an enzyme
in fat metabolism, reports the Journal of Physiology. So, simply by linked to fat burning. Add a
eating it, you can encourage your body to burn more kilojoules bunch to your stack.
throughout the day. A separate study in the International Journal of
Obesity found that eating a high-fat meal upon waking primes your
system to burn body fat instead of glucose. Upgrade your bowl of
Weet-Bix to shred even more.
06
Spin it to Win
Stop what you’re curling. While
heavy lifting can improve your
metabolic rate, for the best
results, superset it with
a session on the bikes. A
University of Copenhagen study y
comparing spinners with lifters
found that the former group had d
higher levels of metabo-
lism-boosting hormone FGF21
after training. This was attributed
to either the high intensity or the
increased lower-body muscle
recruitment. Cap off your session
with an AirBike
finisher.
07
Just Think About It
Boosting your metabolism may require little more than an attitude
adjustment. According to one study†, subjects who were encouraged
TRAIN SMARTER
to interpret their daily activities as exercise burned more kilojoules and
TO INTERNALLY lost extra body fat without any change to their routines. It’s strenuous
COMBUST. work updating those spreadsheets . . . right?
96 menshealth.com.au
08
Learn to Cook
in Bi Batches
If your al desko lunch consists of a
rush-job sandwich and you
hungrily devour your main meal
once the working day is done, you
should consider reversing that
trend. According to researchers at
UT Southwestern Medical Center,
eating the bulk of your kilojoules
earlier in the day keeps your
circadian rhythm in sync, ensuring
that your body burns off more of
what you put in. You’re going
to need bigger Tupperware.
DAN MATTHEWS, MICHAEL HEDGE, LOUISA PARRY, PHILIP HAYNES, STUDIO 33; **UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI;†PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE; ‡UNIVERSITY OF GRANADA
Burn More
with atter
A diet of steak and p
protein bars
*BRITISH JOURNAL OF SPORTS MEDICINE MAGE MANIPULATION: COLIN BEAGLEY; DDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES, S
may have benefits for your
biceps, but it comes with a
metabolic downside. In a
University of Connecticut study,
athletes on a high-protein diet
showed signs of metabo-
lism-stalling dehydration, even
though they didn’t feel any thirsti-
er than usual. Don’t wait to feel
parched – just 500ml of water
can elevate your metabolism by
30 per cent within the next hour,
reports the Journal of Clinical
Endocrinology & Metabolism.
 HEALTH

BIGGER IS BEETTER:
SERVE YYOURSELF TWO
SUPERSSIZEDD MEALS.

15
Sweet Option
Not all body fat is created equal. While “white” fat sto
ores
kilojoules, active “brown” fat helps you burn them off.
Cold-weather exercise boosts your levels of the brow wn
kind – but if pounding freezing pavements doesn’t
appeal, research‡ shows that eating melatonin-rich
foods has a similar effect. Grab a handful of goji berrries.

It’s Hip to
Eat Squares
S uares
“Eat little and often” is a myth so
ubiquitous that it’s rarely
questioned. But a study in
the journal Plos One noted
a slight increase in kilojoule burn
among men who ate larger meals
less frequently, while research by
the US National Institute on
Aging showed that mice that
consumed one supersized daily
meal were healthier than
constant grazers. It’ll also cut
back on the washing up.
Salt
S lt Your
Y Wounds
W Mint Conditionin
Iodine is essential for helping your
thyroid to produce the hormones
that keep your metabolism in good
working order. Sea vegetables such
as wakame are excellent sources,
best served in miso for easier
nutrient absorption. But if you’re
more of a seafood traditionalist,
add iodised salt to your chips.
16
Sugary sports drinks might be
indispensable mid-marathon, but
during a swift 10K, avoid the extra
carbs. Instead, add a few drops of
peppermint oil to your water.
According to the University of
Mohaghegh Ardabili, it improves
oxygen use instantly, increasing
the amount of fat your body can
burn, while the Beijing University of
Chinese Medicine found the scent
alone can relieve fatigue.
19
Throw Some Shade
We know that browsing emails
after dark can disrupt your sleep
– but it’s equally stressful for your
metabolism. Research by
Northwestern University linked
exposure to screen light to insulin
resistance, which harms your
ability to process carbs. On those
evenings when powering down
isn’t an option, take a lutein supp
to protect your eyes from blue
light. It’s less daft than resorting to
wearing amber-tinted glasses.

11
Save It for Later
Delaying your weights session
until after work will reignite your
metabolism just as it’s easing off
(while also helping you to escape
the allure of “a quick beer”). In
a US study**, subjects who trained
after 6pm torched more fat than
those who worked out in the
morning. The extended lie-ins
won’t go amiss, either.
17
Hone Your Bones
A stronger skeleton will do more
than improve your odds of a more
robust retirement – it’ll also prop up
your fat-burning. A Canadian study
14 found the “bone hormone”
osteocalcin improves sugar and fat
Order from metabolism. Trade standing squats
for plyometrics, such as jumping
the Amazon lunges and V-tucks.
As well as boosting immunity,
vitamin C is crucial to a function-
20
Embrace the
Daily Grind
Over pimped-up breakfast bowls?
At least one popular porridge
topping has legit fat-burning
benefits. A study in Metabolism
found cinnamon flips the switch
that triggers fat cells to
torch kilojoules.
Spoon into
post-gym

12
Top Up Your T
Endless back squats aren’t the
only way to elevate testosterone, a
natural fat burner. A University of
Bath study found performing 10
sprints of 30 seconds elevates
your T levels for the following hour,
while improving sugar metabo-
lism. Keep your work-rest ratio at
1:3 – fail to recover and you won’t
put in peak effort.
ing metabolism, offsetting the
oxidative stress that slows
our bodies down as we age,
according to the University of
Colorado at Boulder. But you
needn’t resort to Berocca. The
rainforest fruit camu camu
contains five times your RDI per
teaspoon of powder and,
according to Gut journal, can
temper weight gain caused
by overeating. So instead of
maxing out on oranges,
throw some camu camu into
your next shake.
18
It’s Your Round
Your weight-loss goals don’t live or
die in the gym. A study by the
Mayo Clinic found “non-exercise
activity” such as pacing and
fidgeting significantly affects your
body shape and size.
A brief stroll after eating
has a more positive effect on
metabolism than longer walks at
other moments, so time your
coffee run accordingly.
shakes to
optimise
your efforts.
21
Set a Curfew
Hit the hay early: those eight
hours of sleep are of limited
benefit after midnight. Why?
Hormones that control fat and
carbohydrate metabolism surge
at 11pm – but only if you’re asleep.

May 2019 97
98 menshealth.com.au
 TACTICS

In a turbulent jobs market,

relying on a single income
source is, for many, risky
and impractical – so an
increasing number of us are
trying to earn a little extra
on the fly. The phenomenon
even has a name: the side
hustle. But how easy is it to
start up a second gig?
MH clocked in to find out
BY RICHARD GODWIN

KICK-STARTING
A LUCRATIVE SIDE
GIG COULD BE YOUR
TICKET TO RIDE.

May 2019 99

Ross Taylor’s side hustle began by accident.
Five years ago, he treated himself to a butterfly
taxidermy course, just because it looked fun.
“I found it very relaxing,” he says. “I’m an
impatient person, and it forced me to slow right
down. It’s intricate, delicate and demands a lot of
concentration. Then I thought: ‘You know what?
No one does butterfly taxidermy in a creative way.
It’s all quite standard’. So I decided to mount them
on limited-edition gold prints.”
Thirty-three-year-old Taylor is now a pre-
eminent mounter of lepidoptera. At first,
he made pieces of butterfly art for friends.
Then he raised a few thousand dollars on
Kickstarter to make some for strangers,
after which he went into business with his
partner, Chris McShane. They branched into
homeware, and their company, the Curious
Department, now sells plates and pillows
online and in 20 shops across Europe.
Taylor manages this in about 15-20 hours
a week. For his “day job”, he is the creative
director at Iris Worldwide, an ad agency that
counts Adidas as a client. “It’s an amazing
job,” he says. “But with advertising, you’re
only creative within the constraints of a brand
that already exists. The reason I started my
side hustle was for creativity that is led only by
100 menshealth.com.au
what I want to do.” It supplements his already
healthy income by about 20 per cent.
The term “side hustle” has been around
since the 1950s, and it means a venture
outside of your main gig. Perhaps it’s your
way of making a bit of extra cash; perhaps
it’s the dream you can’t let go of; perhaps
it’s how you spread your bets in today’s fast-
moving economy. I first heard the term a
couple of years ago in Los Angeles. There,
everyone seemed to have a side hustle: the
Uber drivers were screenwriters, the rappers
sold streetwear and the yoga instructors
couldn’t wait to tell you about their bone
broth start-up. Like many Americanisms,
the term has spread. The side hustle tells us
something about the way we work – or want
to work – today. It combines the romance of
the struggling artist with the hard graft of the
entrepreneur and a 21st-century flakiness. I
mean, it’s not like you have to commit fully, is
it? It’s just a bit on the side. It’s the Tinder date
of career moves.
“I began to hear the term a lot with the rise
of the sharing economy,” says Mike Lewis, a
Californian careers adviser and the author
of When to Jump, which advocates the side
hustle as a way to prepare the ground for a
career change without carelessly risking your
livelihood. (He’s an advocate for “hustle” in
general: “No matter what field you’re in, you
need to hustle. You wanna be an intern on
Wall Street? You gotta hustle for it . . . ”)
The way he sees it, companies such as
Uber, Airbnb and eBay have opened up new
possibilities for those in search of extra
income, while crowd-funding sites such
as Kickstarter offer access to investment.
Hobbies can become businesses. Got a
passion for woodworking? You can sell your
handcrafted kitchen utensils on Etsy. Any
skill you possess or asset you own can now
be monetised.
At the same time, jobs have become less
secure. “Fifty years ago, people worked one
job all their lives, got the gold watch, then
retired,” he says. “But, just as there are more
ways to source information now, there are also
more ways to construct a career.” As a result,
we no longer “have to play by the rules”.
When I ask around, I find side hustles
everywhere, even if not everyone calls them
that. I know many people who are trying to
write novels or launch music careers while
holding down a day job: how else are you
supposed to pay the bills? What about all
these athletes buying into F45 gyms? Or
celebrities backing vodka and tequila labels?
In some cases, the “side” and “main”
hustles can become interchangeable, each
acting as a financial buffer for the other. Luke
Hughes, 31, is the founder of Origym, which
provides courses for personal trainers. He
employs 25 people and last year paid himself a
salary of about $275,000, including dividends.
“It’s going pretty well,” he says.
In the mid-2000s, Hughes made his living
from online poker; at his peak, he was earning
$45,000 a month. But he realised this better
suited the side hustle: if you play during the
day, all of your opponents are professionals.
If you wait till the evening, they tend to be
less savvy. Now he works from 7am to 7pm
at Origym, putting in a couple of hours of
poker afterwards to unwind. “My mum will
be happier now that I’m investing a bit more
in my future,” he says. “Still, it was the poker
 TACTICS

“YOUR HOBBY CAN BECOME

YOUR SIDE HUSTLE. ALMOST
ANY SKILL CAN BE MONETISED”

that allowed me to fund my business in the You, echoes the point. “I’m glad I started my
first place.” side project when I did,” she says. “I began by
taking one day off a week. Then I realised I
was earning more in that one day off than in
For those without an obvious passion to my main job. Over time, it’s evolved into the
pursue, the hustle can mean taking a gamble multi-hyphenate career I have now.”
of a different kind. James Dunworth, 41, got Gannon’s status as an author-podcaster-
into his present line of work while working consultant isn’t just a spot of millennial
as an English teacher in Qatar. His mother marketing, but a pragmatic means of TURN A SMART IDEA
tried an e-cigarette at a trade show and survival. She started her career at online INTO A PROFITABLE
immediately saw the potential. Dunworth publication the Debrief and then Glamour
START-UP, WITH CAREER
designed a website so she could sell them magazine, both of which have since closed.
ADVISOR SKYE ROBERTSON
online and soon found himself staying For her, this was a sign of how little you gain
up until 2am each morning, organising by staying in one place. “The narrative of
shipments from China.
“I had no idea how big it was going to be,”
he says. “The idea was simply to make a
what’s risky has been reversed,” she says.
“People used to say, ‘Don’t you feel insecure
working for yourself?’ Actually, I feel more
1 BEGIN WITH
A PROBLEM
Start-ups fail when
much free time
you’ll have – let
alone how much
little bit of extra money on the side.” It soon secure. I have eight income streams. In any the problem they energy and mental
became a side hustle for everyone in the company, you can’t be sure if it will even exist are fixing isn’t one capacity. Quick
family. His wife began to help out with in a few years.” that people care success is rare, so
the postage and packing; his sister came enough about to focus on building
on board as legal director and human pay for a solution. momentum. Aim
resources manager. The company, The side hustle has its detractors, too. Know exactly who for marginal gains.
E-Cigarette Direct, is now a successful “So many people feel the need to justify their you are helping.
family business, employing 90 people.
Liam Tyler, 25, is at the beginning of
that road. He spends his nine to five doing
job in the creative industry by talking about
the other even more creative things they’re
doing,” says Ben Middleton, who works at 2 TEST YOUR
ASSUMPTIONS
5 MAKE YOURSELF
ACCOUNTABLE
Ensure that you
digital marketing for a gaming platform and Creature advertising agency. “I appreciate List the conditions remain on track
all other waking hours devoted to Yusa, an that a lot of people do this to generate money, needed for by sharing your
energy drink company he co-founded with or because they’ve always dreamed of running success – that no targets with a
two schoolfriends. “One of my mates came a whiskey-marmalade conglomerate, or similar products friend or pledging
across this leaf that’s found in Ecuador, whatever. But I think it’s better to commit to exist, and so on. money through
Colombia and Peru. We couldn’t believe one thing and make it the best you can, rather Test your sites such as
how many health benefits it had…” Rather than dabbling in a pipe dream.” assumptions by gofuckingdoit.
than anything legally dubious, the leaf was He blames TV programs such as The speaking to your com. Make
guayusa, which Tyler and his friends have Apprentice (which gave us Donald Trump, target market. external pressure
made into a carbonated tea they market as a after all), as well as Silicon Valley and hip-hop an ally.
health-conscious alternative to Red Bull.
Hustles don’t come without sacrifice. To
make his project financially viable, Tyler
culture, for romanticising the entrepreneur.
“The truth is, there are a huge number of
people claiming to be entrepreneurs who
3 DRAW UP A
SCHEDULE
If your hours are 6 KNOW YOURSELF
If you’re
sleeps on the floor of a shared flat with his just aren’t,” he says. “You see 16-year- consistent and struggling to make
friends. “We work evenings and weekends. olds reselling Supreme streetwear on non-negotiable, things work, ask
Because we’re living together, we’re Instagram with ‘CEO’ on their profile. Real you won’t be yourself if you’re
constantly talking.” Many of his friends are entrepreneurs just get on with it. Generally derailed by social honestly excited
doing similar things, he says. “People 10 or 20 speaking, the more people talk about their engagements – or about your idea?
years ago were more career-centred side hustle, the less likely it is that it’s real.” your day job. Or perhaps you’re
– they had this idea that if you work hard, you A level of integrity and conviction is afraid of failing. To
can get where you want to be. But, with my
generation, there’s so much freedom.”
Emma Gannon, 28, the author of The
crucial. Profit won’t always come quickly, so it
helps if you love what you do. Matt Chocqueel-
Mangan, 46, spends most of his time building
4 DON’T BE TOO
AMBITIOUS
It’s all too easy to
tackle your doubt,
you need to know
precisely what is
Multi-Hyphen Method: Work Less, Create websites for corporate clients (currently for overestimate how causing it.
More, and Design a Career that Works for fashion retailer Asos). Periodically, however,

May 2019 101

 he resigns from whatever he’s working on to
his non-partisan political website. His side
hustle takes up a few months every couple
BE IT PAINTING, PERFORMING OR WORKING of years, working one day a week. It began
OUT, ASSESS WHETHER YOUR HOBBY CAN with a realisation that he had “no idea” about
BECOME A SIDE HUSTLE politics. “I knew about left and right,” he says.
“But I found the way it was presented tedious,
and many of my friends felt the same.”
YOU USE YOUR HOBBY…
So, he read every single manifesto – a
a) To challenge yourself b) For stress relief
“dumbfounding” experience that left him
“a little bit obsessed” – to figure out a way
WHAT WOULD IT IF YOUR HUSTLE BECAME MORE to “gamify” the differences between the
MEAN TO GO PRO? CHORE THAN PLEASURE… parties. His site presents you with each
a) Working the a) I’d feel the loss party’s manifesto promises on, say, health
odd Sunday
or immigration; you select the option that
b) Work is work, right? sounds best without knowing whose policy it
b) Changing my
office hours is until afterwards. Millions of people have
JACKET OF ALL TRADES:
A SUCCESSFUL SIDE GIG RELIES now used the site, while Chocqueel-Mangan
ON GAINING STREET CRED. has launched versions in other countries,
DO YOU REALLY THINK YOU’RE GOOD ENOUGH?
a) I’m hotter than b) Honestly,
the pros not always

MAKE A GAIN HANG

START CONVICTION TIGHT
But beware of You need “Not all
overconfidence. persistence, hobbies
First, tick off all not perfection. translate neatly
of the “unsexy” “You don’t have to full-time
steps, says to be the best,” pursuits,” says
careers adviser says Lewis. Lewis. Reach
Mike Lewis: “That logic will out to people
refine your only deter within that
brand identity, you.” But you industry to be
read up on need to be sure sure your
industry news your product is fantasy
and itemise your worth investing matches the
costs. First in. Research reality. “Things
impressions competitors can be very
linger and you’ll to better different from
only get one understand how they
shot at the big your own appear at
launch. market value. surface level.”

102 menshealth.com.au

as well as Policy Tracker, which tracks the
manifesto promises when the party is in
power. “It’s crazy. I’ve put thousands of hours
into it. We do raise some funds, but overall
it still loses me money. And yet it’s the most
successful thing I’ve ever done. People really
got behind it, and that makes me very happy.”
The ideal side hustle, it seems, is one
that contrasts with your main job but
complements it, too. Take Graham Jones, a
hairdresser and radical political theorist.
He spends most of his time cutting people’s
hair at Open Barbers in north-east London
and performing home visits for people with
disabilities. But around this, he made time
to write and publish a book called The Shock
Doctrine of the Left, in which he explains
how mass emancipation might arise from
economic, political and technological
“TECHNOLOGY HAS
MADE A VARIED WORK
LIFE A REALITY”
uncertainty. His two occupations offer a
rewarding mix of cerebral and hands-on.
“I’ve never thought of either job as a
career,” he says. “They’re both just things I
like to do.” Before he became a hairdresser, he
worked a succession of administrative jobs,
mostly doing audio typing. “It used to be a
reliable earner, but it got to a point where the
jobs were very short-term, as it began to be
automated. That’s why I made the transition
to hairdressing.”
Jones’s mother is a hairdresser and had
long sung its praises. “It’s the classic job that
can’t be automated,” says Jones. “You can do it
anywhere, and it’s people-focused. With office
jobs, it often feels like you’re not really doing
anything – but with hairdressing, you’re
creating something people can see, which
makes them feel better. It’s satisfying.”
TACTICS
Karl Marx lamented how industrial
capitalism fragmented the labour market,
forcing each person to specialise in one role
for their entire lives. He dreamed of a society
that “makes it possible for me to do one thing
today and another tomorrow; to hunt in the
morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle
in the evening [and] criticise after dinner”.
Thanks to the digital revolution, something
resembling this is now a reality – just not
in the way Marx envisioned. We have gone
from one job being enough to support a family
to two jobs often being not quite enough to
support one person.
When jobs were more secure, people spent
their weekends doing sociable activities such
as building model train sets, windsurfing
or attending swingers’ parties. Now, we
assess every free moment for its profitability.
Perhaps that is, in part, a return to how things
used to be: before the Industrial Revolution,
anyone might have done a little weaving, a
little cider-making, a little pork-butchery and
a little market-hawking in the course of
a day. We contain multitudes, after all.
Surprising as it may sound, the more
enlightened employers are embracing the
idea. Kayleigh Smart works as the “talent
lead” (human resources) at creative agency
Adaptive Lab. Her firm tries to be amenable
to what its employees want. In essence, she
says, the company has to accept that people’s
life ambition might not be to work for the
company. “It’s absurd to think that would be
the case,” she says, laughing.
“We’ve experimented with different
types of employment contracts,” says Smart.
“Some people want to work four-day weeks;
others want to take lots of unpaid leave in
the summer. One of our designers runs a
magic school on the side. We have a part-time
professional chef on the team who works
four days a week for us, then takes time off to
work in restaurants . . . We don’t perceive it as
something negative.” Neither do the people I
spoke to. They view it as an unalloyed positive,
a source of fulfilment as well as extra cash.
What are you waiting for?
May 2019 103
 PHOTOGRAPHY: RED BULL CONTENT POOL

POLAND’S SZYMON
GODZIEK IN MID-FLIGHT,
AS HE PRACTISES FOR
A RUN THAT WILL EARN
HIM EIGHTH PLACE.

104 menshealth.com.au
 ADVENTURE

LEAPS OF FAITH
In the arid wilds of Utah, elite riders clear 20m canyon gaps and
fly down sheer cliff faces. But what drives them to tread such a
precarious line between glory and disaster? MH dropped into the
world’s most dangerous mountain-biking competition to find out

By Scarlett Wrench

May 2019 105

 ear the
N top of a
prehistoric
mesa in Zion
National Park,
Utah, is a sand-
coloured boulder
the size of a
small truck.
It clings precariously to the side of the
mountain, poised to plummet to the desert
floor below. And it has a fitting name: Dwayne
“the Rock” Johnson. The Rock was christened
by Brendan Fairclough, a 30-year-old
freerider from Surrey, who is planning to ride
his bike off the top of it.
Once he’s done that, Fairclough explains to
MH, pointing up at the vertiginous mountain
in front of us, he’ll race down its ridges, sail
over its canyons and roll across the finish
line, a 237m near-vertical drop below the start
gate. These are not the kinds of runs that
bikes are designed to handle – nor humans
designed to survive.
The Red Bull Rampage is a mountain bike
competition unlike any other. Competitors
106 menshealth.com.au
must be invited to take part by a committee of
veteran riders, and only the best merit a spot.
LEFT: SPAIN’S ANDREU
LACONDEGUY ON
It’s not a race to the bottom, though points THE PRECIPICE OF
A NERVE-RACKING
are awarded for speed. Riders are judged on 237M -DESCENT.
a number of criteria, including airtime and
tricks, as well as more virtuoso factors such
as fluidity and style. To put it bluntly, they are
rewarded for taking risks: riders score points
for their willingness to tread the narrow line
between victory and injury.
Rampage was founded in 2001 by Todd
Barber, who took his inspiration from
big-mountain skiing and snowboarding
competitions. The first event attracted a
motley crew of dirt jumpers, slopestylers
and downhill racers. It was, in a sense, the
UFC of mountain-biking: a mixed-discipline
event, at which competitors pitted their
skills against riders from a broad spectrum
of backgrounds, with no guarantee as to who
would come out on top.
The 13th event is held on the outskirts of
the small town of Virgin, where Mars-like
canyons, mesas and monoliths provide an
awe-inspiring stage on which the riders
can showcase their skills. (The location,
incidentally, was first recommended to
Barber by his friend Josh Bender, a Virgin
native and rider who had attracted attention
in the sport after attempting a 17m drop – and
ending up in hospital.)
Accidents are not uncommon but, as
Fairclough, who has ridden at Rampage six
times, puts it, “Normality is distorted out
here. You’re scared, but everyone is scared.”
He shrugs. “And it’s kind of normal.”
Digging for Victory
From top to bottom, the average run is over
within the space of a couple of minutes. But

ABOVE: RAMPAGE VETERAN
TYLER MCCAUL TRIES TO
REMOVE TREACHERY FROM AN
ALREADY TERRIFYING TRACK.
RIGHT: WILDCARD ENTRY
DJ BRANDT PLUNGES
DOWN A CLIFF FACE.
that doesn’t tell the full story. In reality,
success is hard won over a period of around
eight days, as riders and their two-man dig
teams toil in the desert to carve out and then
practise their routes. That’s another thing
that makes Red Bull Rampage unique: no
two riders will run the same line. And
finding – or, rather, building – a creative
path within the site boundaries is crucial to
their final score.
If you want a sense of how complicated
this process is, watch an online video called
Risk vs Reward at Red Bull Rampage. In it,
Californian rider Cam McCaul explains a
“blind take-off”: a drop in which the first
time the rider catches sight of the landing,
it’s too late to adjust speed or trajectory.
“Two miles (3.2km) per hour too fast and the
rider will land halfway down and explode
upon impact,” says McCaul, matter of factly.
“[Going] two miles per hour too slow will put
the rider before the landing – and cause them
to get catapulted off the bike.”
Tensions run high in the days leading
up to competition. The teams are typically
up on the site before sunrise, enduring the
bitterly cold desert winds in the hours before
daylight hits the mountain. After that, the
temperature quickly rises to 40°C, and the
rest of the day is hot, dry and dehydrating.
“It’s hard to keep up morale, so it’s important
to have people you trust and can relate to,”
says Fairclough, whose dig team comprises
his childhood friend and fellow pro-rider Olly
Wilkins, plus friend and former Royal Marine
Ben Deakin. “At the end of these tough 10
days, you’ve got this intensely physical and
mentally demanding task. On that day, you
can’t be at your lowest point. You’ve got to be
ready to go.”
Carving the perfect line is very much
an art, not a science. “The judges have set
criteria, but it’s also about the overall feel,”
explains Gee Atherton, a British downhill
racer, who placed second at Rampage in
2004 and 2010. “You can’t be too clinical
about it. Your run has to have some life to
it. It’s that soul, it’s that fire, that’s going to
impress the most . . . That’s the thing that
marks you out.”
As a result, the stakes get higher every
year, as the riders battle to outdo their
previous performances, as well as each
other. “It’s advancing quickly,” Atherton says.
“Lines that guys built for final runs a couple of
years ago would be used to warm up on
now. Every year, it gets bigger, and the drops
and gaps get a little bit longer. And every year,
you think: maybe this is the peak, maybe
this is as big as it can get. Then, inevitably,
everyone pushes it a little bit further. It gets
a little bit crazier.”
ADVENTURE
Dangerous Games
In 2015, a rider named Paul Basagoitia from
Nevada crashed on a step-down and shattered
his vertebrae. He was evacuated by helicopter
and required nine hours of surgery. The same
year, Boston slopestyler Nicholi Rogatkin
tumbled off a cliff in his qualifying run,
enduring a 12m beating on the way down.
Miraculously, he was unharmed: he dusted
himself off and cleared the canyon gap on his
next attempt.
It’s undoubtedly a profession that calls
for a fair amount of mettle, but competitors
are more than just thrill-chasers. (“Are
you calling me stupid?” says Fairclough,
laughing, when asked about his motives.) In
reality, the risks are carefully assessed. “It’s
all calculated,” says Fairclough. “You don’t
go jumping off something without knowing
exactly what you’re jumping off.”
Evaluative skills are just one tool in a
rider’s arsenal. Physical training includes
weights-based strength and conditioning
work, as well as practising tricks and
developing endurance on the bike. Core and
upper-body stability is as important as quads
of steel when manoeuvring down narrow,
bumpy terrain.
Atherton isn’t a fan of the “adrenaline
junkie” label. “It’s not like I’ll do anything
just to give myself a buzz,” he says. “I’ve been
May 2019 107
“FOR ONE RIDER, THE
PSYCHOLOGICAL SIDE OF
RECOVERY AFTER A
CRASH PROVED HARDER
THAN THE PHYSICAL”
in this sport for a long time, and you have
to know when to push harder and when to
draw back.” Still, he concedes that Red Bull
Rampage “does attract people who are willing
to walk a very fine line”.
Most riders have suffered their fair
share of injuries. In a recent crash, Atherton
dislocated his hip and knocked himself out.
“The psychological side of recovery was
almost harder than the physical. It took me
a while to get back on the bike,” he says. “But
I worked through it. It’s a risk, but I’m doing
something I love.”
One rider who has previously been
somewhat sceptical about the safety
precautions at events such as Rampage is
108 menshealth.com.au
Nevada-born Cameron Zink. In the year of
Basagoitia’s accident, Zink elected not to do
the second of his two runs down the mountain
– though it could have helped him move up
in the ranking – claiming it wasn’t worth the
risk. But he has been back each year since, has
placed on the podium a total of four times and
describes Rampage as “an event unlike any
other”. “You have the freedom to go as big as
you want, to do anything you can dream up,”
he says.
This time, however, things don’t go so well
for Zink. He is ruled out of competing because
of an existing shoulder injury, for which he
is scheduled for surgery. “I was just going to
deal with it, compete, then get it fixed,” he
tells MH. “But I was coming down on a cash
roll, which is basically a front-flip 360, and
it popped out on landing. The medics didn’t
want to put it back in because of liability, so I
had a friend, Mitch Ropelato, do it. There was
a grinding and an elaborate pop . . . Bummer.”
A Downhill Battle
On the morning of the competition, the air is
especially cold. High winds, which unsettled
a few of the practice runs, now threaten to set
the riders off course. Fortunately, they quickly
die down as the day warms up. Spectators
crowd the surrounding hills, scrambling up
to the best vantage points, already caked in
dry, red mud. The medical team is on standby,
 ADVENTURE

LEFT: BRANDON SEMENUK MAKES HIS ASCENT

TO THE START GATE – A 40-MINUTE CLIMB THAT
AFFORDS PLENTY OF TIME TO QUESTION
YOURSELF; TOP: BRENDAN FAIRCLOUGH SAILS
OVER THE EDGE; BOTTOM: REMY METAILLER
HAILS THE CROWD AT THE FINISH LINE.

and helicopters circle reassuringly overhead.
Then, one by one, the riders make their
way up to the start gate. The new site is higher
and longer than those of previous years,
adding around 45m of vertical drop. It can
take the riders 40 minutes to hike up to the
top, their bikes over their shoulders – it’s
simply too steep for cars or buggies.
The first rider, Szymon Godziek from
Poland, crashes hard after misjudging a
backflip. He shakes it off, picks up his bike
and finishes the run. Then, Fairclough drops
in. From the base of the route, he resembles
a distant dust cloud. He speeds down to the
Rock for his signature piece – then drops off
it with seeming ease, a fall of almost 11m. He
runs down the ridge line, leading up to a 20m
canyon. He clears it. Then he rides down a
sheer cliff and builds up to a soaring backflip,
before – finally – passing the finish gate.
The canyon gap holds particular
significance for Fairclough. “Two years ago,
I built a jump that was 18m, but I only
managed about 15m and ended up dislocating
both of my thumbs,” he explains. “So, we
were looking for redemption.” Wasn’t he
afraid? “We’re pretty dumb. We forget pain,
you know . . .”
After much debate, the top prize goes
to Brett Rheeder, a first-time winner from
Canada who impressed the judges with a
staggering backflip that drew gasps from
the crowd below. Second up on the podium
is Andreu Lacondeguy from Spain, followed
by wildcard Utah boy Ethan Nell. Fairclough
takes tenth place and receives the Kelly
McGarry Spirit Award, named after the
relentlessly positive New Zealand rider who
died in 2016, and given out to commend a
participant’s good humour and resilience.
MH catches up with Fairclough as he steps
off the podium. How does he feel about the
result? He looks down at himself. “I’m in
one piece. My legs and arms are in the same
position as when I arrived,” he says, and
smiles. “So, it’s all good.”
The next Red Bull Rampage will be held
on 25 October 2019. Visit redbull.com

May 2019 109


WHAT I’VE LEARNT
ABOUT FATHERHOOD
My dad, Wojtek, was a Polish migrant who
came to Australia in the late ’80s when I
was 11. He was very entrepreneurial. A risk-
taker. With the wall about to come down,
it would have been easier for him to stay in
Poland. But I have this great respect for him
and my mum because of the sacrifices they
made to move here and provide opportunities
for my sister and me.
He comes across as a tough guy. He had
this authoritarian approach. But because I
had this drive from a very early age when it
came to sport, I never felt I was being pushed.
He knew everything that was going on in my
sport and would help and facilitate, but he
wasn’t like, say, a typical tennis parent. He’s
actually pretty soft.
He’d pull me up on things, like respect for
elders. He comes from a Polish generation
that would kiss a woman’s hand on greeting
her. He tried to instil that in me.
He travelled to every competition I went to
around the world. I could always look up and
see him. He actually had a callout, which he
made with his tongue, that would let me know
that he and my mum were there watching.
I share the parenting of my three kids
50/50. We all live in Bali now and it’s a
week-on, week-off arrangement. You just need
to give kids structure. They crave that. They
want to know that when they come to me that
they’re going to follow the routine they’re used
to. No surprises. No last-minute changes.
All my kids swim pretty well. But they all
have other pursuits they prefer. Which is a
little bit hard to swallow, to be honest. My
oldest, Stella, is a mad surfer. My son is a
mad tennis player and basketballer. Actually,
my youngest . . . she might be the chosen one
for swimming. She’s only seven and does
squad twice a week. If she ends up pursuing
swimming as a career, that’d be great. But
what I’d really like to see is my kids take on
M H
D A D
WATER BABY: KLIM
WITH HIS DAD,
WOJTEK, CIRCA 1978.
Former champion swimmer
turned skincare mover
and shaker Michael Klim.
Father of Stella, 13,
Rocco, 10, and Frankie, 7
a challenge and pursue it to the end, through
all the inevitable ups and downs, because
that’s when personal growth happens. It’s
very easy to pull the pin on anything when it
gets hard.
The kids say, “Oh, dad, can you wear a
tank top to school when you pick us up,
because all the kids are really scared of
you”. Then their friends come over and . . .
I’m actually pretty goofy. I mean, my kids
know there’s a serious side to me. But I would
like to have a friendship with them. Just an
open sense of communication. I want them
to feel they can come to me about anything.
An approachable dad: that’s what I want to
be. Looking back, I probably didn’t have a
mateship with my dad when I was growing
up. But that’s changing. He’s just turned 70
and he’d been losing a bit of size, so now we’re
working out together.
Klim will compete in the 10th Cooly Classic
Ocean Swim, off Coolangatta, on April 28.
May 2019 111
Mountains
Out Of
Molehills
Kosciuszko loomed large for a 13-year-old kid.
Turns out the summit was high enough for dad
and son to experience pint-sized epiphanies
By Johnny Dry
I HATE CAMPING but I love my 13-year-old
son. In an ideal world, I would be able to keep
those two propositions separate, in the same
way that I hate barista beards but love the
Godfather trilogy. Unfortunately, my son
wants to go camping with me, whereas no
coffee-maker has ever invited me to join
the Mafia.
Camping is probably a good thing if you’re
(a) very young; or (b) live in a pre-industrial
society that has not yet developed the tools
necessary to construct permanent buildings.
As it is, (a) I’m very old; and (b) inhabit the
most advanced civilisation the world has
ever known.
My son and I had already been camping
once, when a good mate drove us to a semi-
remote site, pitched our tent for us, and
cooked us a delicious baked dinner using
only a hole in the ground. It was all very
impressive, and I’ve got no doubt my mate
112 menshealth.com.au
would survive the zombie apocalypse.
But at two o’clock in the morning I had to
get up and have a crap in a field, and I realised
that, if plumbing systems fail after Z Day, I’m
happy to leave the earth to the undead.
But even one whole night’s camping wasn’t
enough for my son. He next came up with
the idea that we should climb the highest
mountain in Australia – Mount Kosciuszko,
NSW – and camp.
Although I hate camping, I like
mountains. I’d once dealt with a messy
break-up by trekking angrily through the
Annapurna mountain range in Nepal, alone
and unguided (that’ll show her!) and fueled
only by the methane gas generated by two
daily bowls of dahl.
However, at night I’d slept in tea houses –
with walls, floors, toilets etc, etc.
The great thing about Mount Kosciuszko is
that – at 2228 metres above sea level – it isn’t
actually very high, except compared to other
mountains in Australia. You can get up and
down in a day.
The even greater thing is that a relative
has a holiday house in nearby Jindabyne –
and said we could stay there. My son was so
enthused when I agreed to the mountain, he
barely noticed the disappearance of camping
from the itinerary.
My son imagined an epic trek up the side
of a mountain, the kind of journey that might
be made by a young Scott of the Antarctic, or a
junior Sherpa Tenzing. I figured I might need
some support, so asked my mate (another one
– I’ve got two) to come along, with his slightly
younger but much more athletic son. For the
sake of this story, I will call my mate “Titus”,
after Captain “Titus” Oates, who sacrificed
his own life by walking out into a blizzard
so as not to be a burden on Scott’s Antarctic
expedition. I chose the name in tribute to

“My son stood on the highest point
in Australia and, for a moment, he
was the highest point in Australia”
my mate’s bravery and self-sacrifice, but
mostly because it gives me the chance to
call him “Tit”.
Tit and his son met us in Canberra and we
proceeded to Jindabyne, which is essentially a
service town for the ski resorts at Perisher and
Thredbo. The night before our climb, boys and
men ate a steak dinner at the entertainingly
named The Man from Snowy River Hotel.
My son stayed shy and almost silent
throughout the evening, hiding beneath his
hoodie and wearing a single earphone to
connect him with his iPhone.
The next morning, the adventure got off to
an unpromising start when Tit’s son fell off a
bench while trying to sit down for breakfast.
My son didn’t even wake up in time to eat.
We set off on the half-hour drive to
Thredbo Alpine Village and the base of the
hill that Tit and I had taken to calling “Aussie
Everest”. We were quietly confident. Tit had
read that one woman had reached the peak
pushing a baby in a pram.
It cost $17 to get the car into the Kosciuszko
National Park, which is reasonable, but later
we had to pay an additional $78 to get our
blended family of four up the scenic chairlift,
which isn’t.
The tone for our journey was set when
we crossed a road over a carpeted bridge. I
don’t think I’ve ever been on a carpeted
bridge before.
We stopped to pick up supplies at the
bakery, where a sign asked, “Going for an
adventure? Why not take a salad roll?”
I’m sure Scott of the Antarctic asked
himself the same question.
I bought some salt-and-vinegar chips
from the ski-resort supermarket, then we all
boarded the chairlift. It was a long ride to the
top. The boys spent the whole time pretending
not to be scared.
M H
D A D
I wasn’t expecting much from the
mountain, but my cynicism melted away
when I saw the snow hadn’t. There were wide
white fields of snow on the way to the top of
the mountain, and we climbed up a snow trail
to look out upon plains of snow from the top.
We even slipped a few times.
At the top of the snow trail, Tit said, “I
think that pram story was a lie.”
After about two-and-a-half hours of fairly
gentle – but sometimes slithery – progress, we
reached the highest public toilet in Australia.
This was my kind of adventure.
The track disappeared as we neared the
top. Icy winds rose and dropped, just like on a
proper mountain. One chip packet in my bag
swelled up like a pillow and the other burst.
“Why not take a salad roll?” I thought,
too late.
I ran out of water – a potentially fatal
mistake – and went to fill my bottle from a
mountain stream. This was the most rugged
thing I’ve done since Nepal. And the bottle
top was screwed on so tightly that I had to
bite it off, just like Bear Grylls would’ve done.
Unfortunately, I lost the bottle top.
At the summit, my son stood on the sign
that marked the highest point in Australia
and, for a moment, he himself was the highest
point in Australia. The boys were both elated.
It really was their Everest. (In fact, it was
better than Everest, because Everest, as many
people might know, is the highest mountain
in Nepal, which is a very small nation indeed.
Kosciuszko, meanwhile, is the highest
mountain in Australia, an island so large it is
almost a continent, and the greatest country
in the world.)
We came down via the same snow trail,
which was a bit trickier on the descent, forcing
the older members of the party to slide on
their bums – and anything involving bums is
still hilarious to a 13-year-old boy.
The kids were still buzzing back in
Thredbo. We had only walked for about five
hours, but that was three hours longer than
my son had ever walked continuously in his
life. For him, it had been 13 kilometres of
unalloyed adventure.
We ate a second, celebratory steak dinner.
This time, my son spoke and joked all evening
with cheerful enthusiasm and hard(ish)
–earned confidence. He was a Man from
Snowy River in the company of other Men
from Snowy River in The Man from Snowy
River Hotel.
My son had never been so high, and I’d
rarely seen him feel so high.
It made my heart burst and, if I had known
he would get so much out of it, I would even
have taken him camping. Maybe.
May 2019 113
 TR AINER
118 Your ultimate get-shredded workout 123 Train slower, get bigger 128 Armed and dangerous

B E C AU S E F I T I S T H E N E W R I C H

STAR PERFORMERS:
BERNARD FOLEY
(LEFT) AND KURTLEY
BEALE IN WARRIOR
(II) MODE.

FREEDOM FIGHTERS
NSW Waratahs Super Rugby players are using yoga
to unlock their bodies and fend off Father Time

DANIEL WILLIAMS JASON LEE

May 2019 115

 TWISTED LOGIC
Why even collision-sport athletes
are tweaking their training towards
less flex, more flexibility

What would you expect to see

at a yoga class in which the
only participants are rugby
players? I can tell you what I
expected: shenanigans.
Horseplay. Not at
kindergarten levels – these
guys are professionals. But I
figured someone, however
gently, would poke fun at a
less-than-supple teammate,
and that there’d be at least a
little bit of smirking, jovial
self-deprecation and paper-
plane throwing. I was wrong.
Unfolding on a patch of grass
overlooking the beach at
Sydney’s North Bondi on a
pristine morning, this was 45
minutes of serious business.

INSTRUCTOR
KIRSTEN SCOTT HAS
TURNED THE 200-CM
ROB SIMMONS TO
THE POWER OF OM.

Okay, it might be a stretch
to claim, for example, that
Bernard Foley looked every
bit as focused while
executing a tree pose as he
does when lining up a
penalty shot in a World Cup
semi-final. But the difference
really was negligible.
And just as well. “I take
my work seriously,” says
instructor Kirsten Scott. “Not
too seriously. But we’re here
for a reason.”
The players could not
agree more. They do these
non-compulsory sessions on
their days off because they
believe yoga is improving
them as footballers and
extending their time at the
top. “None of the boys is
going to become a yogi,”
says hooker Damien
Fitzpatrick. “But the point
is we’re in better shape
than we were.”
Growing out of a shared
association with athletic
apparel retailer lululemon,
the Waratahs-Scott
relationship began at the
start of last year and reflects
the broader trend of men
taking up yoga in pursuit of
pain-free movement and
greater agility. “As recently as
five years ago there might
have been one male in my
classes – and he’d be in the
corner looking embarrassed,”
says Scott. But in the last
year or two, things have
turned upside down. “Now
some of my sessions are 80
per cent male.”
At long last, argues Scott,
guys are wising up on what a
balanced fitness routine
looks like. Wall-to-wall
weights workouts are
murder on joint-and-
muscular health. “Guys in the
gym are just getting tighter
and tighter,” says Scott. “And
they’re getting injuries. And I
think they’re starting to see
that their body is aging
quickly as a result of lifting all
those very heavy weights.
They need some sort of
recovery tool that’s going to
help them out.”
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Scott begins this morning’s
session with a query:
“Anything I need to know
about? Injuries? Trouble
spots?” After a weekend bye,
the players are unscathed.
Not surprisingly, it’s the more
senior Waratahs – Foley,
Fitzpatrick, Kurtley Beale
– who make up the bulk of
the group. “When you’re
young you feel invincible and
you bounce back from the
batterings,” says Foley, 29.
Young bucks don’t seize up
in the wake of intense effort
or battle chronic soreness.
The mature warrior, on the
other hand, can be weighed
down by self-doubt. How can
you trust your body – how
can you release it – when you
fear it might snap? “I’ve just
turned 30 and yoga allows
me to keep up my flexibility,”
says Beale, who looks
chuffed when Scott remarks
on the improved depth of his
yogi squat.
It took Scott a matter of
moments to size up the
Waratahs. After 10 years in
the fitness game, “I know the
minute I see someone what’s
weak, what’s tight and what
they need,” she says.
Footballers’ shoulders, she
explains, tend to be their
most compromised part: it’s
all that bench-pressing,
combined with the constant

116 menshealth.com.au

protective hunching and
colossal impacts that occur
in rugby. Her sessions with
the Waratahs, Scott says, are
less pure yoga than a combo
of yoga and mobility work –
“yobility”, she calls it.
“The sessions were
humbling at first,” says
Fitzpatrick. The players knew
they were being broken in via
elementary poses, yet they
still found them challenging.
The players were like you,
probably: they thought they
were strong. And they are, of
course – immensely so, in
many cases. But it’s a certain
kind of strength you build by
ILLUSTRATION: SONNY RAMIREZ (ILLUSTRATIONROOM.COM.AU)
shifting barbells through the
same old arcs.
Guys walk out of their
first yoga class drenched in
sweat, says Scott. “They’ve
been looking around at these
girls doing amazing things.
They’re used to being so
explosive, to moving quickly
all the time. And now they’re
being asked to slow down,
to assume positions they’re
not used to and to hold them.
That can be hard, physically
and mentally.”
TUCK AND MAUL
Foley’s attendance is
predictable: cut from the
same cloth as the Lleyton
Hewitts and Cooper Cronks
of the world, he’s a
meticulous customer forever
hunting for an edge: “You
keep looking for something
that makes a difference . . .
for that extra one per cent.”
But if you’re someone
who’s neglected flexibility for
years, taking up yoga could
prove to be less a one-
percenter than a game-
changer. Stiffness you’ve
attributed to age may fade or
disappear. “It’s really good
for us to come here,” says
Foley, taking in the grass, the
sunshine and the ocean, into
which the players will plunge
when the session concludes:
“To open up our bodies, to
stretch, to feel good and to
turn on some muscles that
don’t normally activate
– that’s what this is about.”
Rather than subtracting
from their lifting, yoga has
improved it, the players say.
They report being able to
shift more weight with their
FREEDOM FIGHTERS
“Stiffness you’ve attributed
to age may disappear”
MAT FINISH
Complement that strength work and
fortify your joints with these top 5
moves from yogi Kirsten Scott
1
CHILD’S POSE
Easy lower-back stretch that
comes as blessed relief in a
taxing class. Breathe deeply.
AFTER THE STRETCHING, ABOVE AND
LEFT, COMES EARTHLY CONNECTION,
TOP, FOR LOCK ROB SIMMONS.
2
more limber bodies – and of DOWNWARD-FACING DOG
feeling safer in the process. Classic pose that
Their experience is strengthens and
science-backed: men in a elongates a host
Colorado State University of muscles.
study who did eight weeks of
yoga were able to pull 13 per
cent more weight in the
deadlift. Scott advises fitting 3
in a yoga session before UPWARD-
hitting the sack on a day FACING DOG
Another all-body
when you’ve competed or
his one goes
awakener, th
trained like a demon; it will after dorma nt glutes.
tame tomorrow’s DOMS.
The physical benefits are
only the half of yoga’s payoff,
Scott argues. The ancient
4
discipline is a form of
CRESCENT LUNGE
meditation. “When they’re on
Increased
the field and in those intense strength,
scenarios, the players can stability and
a
keep a steady mind because ow
balance flo
they’ve learnt to do that on from this one.
o
their mat,” says Scott. “It’s
what you can take from the
mat into the real world that’s 5
both the point and the hard WARRIOR II
part. If you can take that Alignment
calmness into your game matters in
this pose
you’re going to make better
that opens
decisions. You’re going to tight hips.
think more clearly.” You’re
going to be, in other words,
very hard to beat.
May 2019 117
 OUR FASTEST EVER
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1B
LEAN IN 18 MINUTES
To help you land the most
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we’ve made all of the moves in
this workout a combination of
two exercises. You’ll perform
each super-move pairing for
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30-second break in between.
Complete three rounds in total,
for 18 minutes of kilojoule-
torching intensity that leaves
no muscle unworked in your
quest for a leaner physique.
118 menshealth.com.au
1A
2B
2A
1|| KNEELING HAMMER CURL 2|| FLAT-BENCH CHEST
TO FRONT RAISE FLY TO PULLOVER
(3 rounds of 60sec) (3 rounds of 60sec)
In the first two weeks The perfect pairing to
of your plan, perform sculpt your chest and
this workout on Mondays back. Lie on a bench
and Fridays; in your with your arms fully
second two weeks, on extended above your
Wednesdays. Kneel down chest. Keep your arms
holding two dumbbells as straight as possible
at your sides. Curl both as you lower the weights
PHOTOGRAPHY: PHILIP HAYNES
up (A), squeezing your down wide to stretch
biceps, before lowering your chest (A). Pull
them back down to your them back to the start
hips. Without letting position. With a slight
go, bring both arms up bend in your elbows,
in front of you (B), lower both arms behind
before lowering again your head (B), then
to work your abs, biceps bring them back over
and shoulders hard. your chest.
 R A PID W EIG HT-LOSS

THE
SPEC
MUSCLES

WORKOUT
18
MIN
RESULTS IN
4
WEEKS
LEVEL
HARD
3A
4B

3B 4A

3|| RENEGADE ROW 4|| GOOD MORNING TO

TO BEAR CRAWL BENT-OVER ROW
(3 rounds of 60sec) (3 rounds of 60sec)

At the top of a push-up, Finish the round with a

while holding a dumbbell kilojoule-torching legs
in each hand, set your move. Hold the weights
feet wide and keep your in the top of a hammer
core tight as you row curl, as if there were a
one dumbbell up to your band around your hips
chest (A), before pulling them back. Let
returning down. Repeat your hips hinge to 90°
on the other arm. Then (A), keeping your chest
“walk” both hands up and back flat.
forward (B) and bring Extend both arms below
each foot to the push-up you (B), before pulling
position. Don’t stop for them into your sides.
60 seconds of love Drive your hips forward
handle-shifting effort. to standing. Two more
rounds await.

May 2019 119

 1A
NON-STOP INTENSITY
With its one-minute intervals
and use of lighter weights, this
workout keeps the intensity
high to help you expend extra
kilojoules. “When you push past
the 30-second mark, lactic acid
builds up. It’s at this point that
you’ll create the most metabolic
stress to drive weight loss,”
explains trainer Mark Ross. So,
think of this workout as cardio
and weights rolled into one –
the most time-efficient way
to carve out a defined body.
120 menshealth.com.au
1B
1|| SIDE BEND TO
LATERAL LUNGE
(3 rounds of 60sec)
Commit to this workout
on Wednesdays in weeks
one and two, and on
Mondays and Fridays in
weeks three and four.
For the first combo,
hold a dumbbell in your
right hand. Flex your
torso sideways to lower
it to your knee (A).
Extend back up. Perform
a lateral lunge with
your left leg, lowering
the dumbbell to your
foot (B), then rise to
standing. Switch sides
after 30 seconds.
2A
2B
2|| BULGARIAN HIP
HINGE TO REVERSE FLY
(3 rounds of 60sec)
With one foot on top of
the bench and dumbbells
by your sides, take a
step away with your
other leg. Imagine your
hips are being pulled
back so your chest
lowers down towards the
floor, keeping your
arms fully extended
(A). From here, lift the
dumbbells out to your
sides (B). Lower the
weights, then raise
your upper body back to
the start. After 30
seconds, switch legs.
 R A PID W EIG HT-LOSS

THE
SPEC
MUSCLES

WORKOUT
18
4B

MIN
RESULTS IN
4
WEEKS
3A
LEVEL
MED

4A

3B

3|| BULGARIAN SPLIT 4|| FRONT SQUAT TO

SQUAT TO LATERAL RAISE ARNOLD PRESS
(3 rounds of 60sec) (3 rounds of 60sec)

Now for your quads. Standing with the

Start in the finish dumbbells in front of
position of the last your shoulders, palms
move to perform a one- towards you, drop into a
legged squat, dropping squat (A). Return to
your opposite knee to standing, press the
the floor (A). Before dumbbells above,
you come back up to the twisting your elbows out
starting position, lift (B). Lower the weights,
both dumbbells out to reversing the move so
your sides (B), your palms return to
squeezing your delts face your shoulders.
at the top. Control the After a minute, rest for
weights back down, then 30 seconds. You’ve got
press back up through two more rounds to
your heel. After 30 create the biggest
seconds, switch legs. kilojoule-burn possible.

May 2019 121

 T R A I N S LO W, B O O S T G R O W T H

TRAIN SLOW TO BOOST GROWTH

The weights on the bar aren’t everything. Mastering the “time under tension”
lifting method will help you smash through plateaus to unlock new muscle.
Perfect your form and you’ll add centimetres in weeks

WHY IT WORKS
CHANGE IT UP
Learn these variations to ensure you’re never just going
Upping your time under
tension (TUT)
will fast-track your
gains. We’ve weighed
through the motions in pursuit of more muscle up the heavy science

Partial rep
What does it involve? Using a limited range MIND TO MUSCLE
During slow
of motion for a move: stopping before locking
eccentrics and
your joints, say, or even halfway up the rep. partial reps, you
How does it help? Not only does it extend your can vividly feel
time under tension, it also targets the weakest the targeted
muscles working.
part of a lift. That means earning new PBs
This improved
when you perform the full move. connection between
Best exercise: Bench press. your mind and
muscles carries
over well when it
comes to lifting.

Slow eccentric
What does it involve? Deliberately slowing DAMAGE LIMITATION
In contrast to
the speed at which you perform the plyometric
“lowering” phase of your lift. training or heavy
How does it help? It damages muscle sets, the lighter
fibres, resulting in more nutrients weights used in
time-under-tension
reaching your muscles for repair. training, such as
Best exercise: Cable push-down. drop sets, cause
less joint damage,
yet still build
muscle. You’ll be
able to recover
more quickly
between your
Pause rep sessions.
What does it involve? Holding an
isometric contraction, muscles tensed, at
the bottom of a move before lifting.
FAULTLESS FORM
How does it help? During an isometric A focus on control
hold, the body can activate more motor lifts form and
units than usual. It’s a test of strength, as cuts injury risk.
you can’t use any momentum to produce
force – only your muscles.
Best exercise: Barbell back squat.

Drop set
What does it involve? Performing your sets
to just short of failure, then reducing the
weight and continuing with more reps. Put the brakes
How does it help? Compared to standard on for a faster
way to pack
sets that tax only the first layer of your muscle on muscle.
fibres, drop sets activate the deepest
muscles. Remember: even though you may
ILLUSTRATION: FLYING CHILLI

reach a point of failure with one weight, you

haven’t yet reached absolute failure.
Best exercise: Dumbbell lateral raise.

May 2019 123

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May 2019 125

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The 2019 Men’s Health Challenge has been a
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The first phase followed the fitness and
training programs of two very different
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After completing the six-week training blocks
tailored to their sporting discipline, the lads
took on two workouts together, putting their
conditioning and training styles to the test.
Which sporting legend came out on top?
You be the judge.

V
Matt Poole’s
Final Workout
For his final Ironman-forging
chaallenge, Pooley subjects Khan
to a classic test of endurance:
the
t dreaded beep test. Sure to
reignite high-school PE class
nightmares, the beep test
involves 20-m shuttle runs
between cones, with incremental
reeductions in time to complete
eachh dash. Work until failure – or
uuntil Pooley schools you in the
art of endurance.
Khan Porter’s
Final Workout
Showing why he’s still at the top
of the Aussie CrossFit scene, Khann
puts Pooley through this high-
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Follow their programs on menshealth.com.au

May 2019 127
 YOUR ULTIMATE ARM BLAST
It takes longer to master the biceps curl than you think. I’ve been there.
I used to make the common mistakes. But I’ve spent the past five years nailing
perfect technique.The secrets – time under tension, going slow to grow – are
in this workout. You’re going to need some new tees By Ebenezer Samuel, PT

DIRECTIONS: Do this workout twice a week. Train on 3 other th days.

d
Do 4 sets of 15 push-ups on one day, 4 sets of 10 dummbbell rows per arm
the next, and 4 sets of 15 jump squats on the last. Resst both other days.

THE WARMUP
Prep your arms with 2 sets of 10 reps Do 3 sets of each superset.
of each exercise. Rest for 45 seconds
after each set. End with 1 minute SUPERSET 1
off jumping
j i jjacks.
k 1a
HALF-KNEELING
BICEPS CURL
Kneel on your shins, thighs
perpendicular to the floor.
Hold dumbbells at your
sides, palms facing each
other. Curl the right
dumbbell towards your
chest, rotating your palm
as you do. Squeeze, then
Pause for return to the start. Do 10
3 seconds reps per arm, alternating
halfway. between 2 curls on the
right and 2 on the left.

EB SAYS:
“Too many guys rock
their torsos when
curling. Keep your
torso steady as you
do these.”
Keep a 90°
angle at
the knee.
1
HALFWAY-PAUSE DUMBBELL CURL
Curl dumbbells to your chest; slowly
lower. Pause when your forearms are 1b
parallel to the floor. Finish. DUMBBELL JM PRESS
Lie onn your back on a bench,
holding dumbbells, arms
Take 3 rai
str ight but angled
seconds to sligh
htly towards your
lower yyour forehead. This is the
torso. sta
artt. Bend at the elbows
and
d shoulders, lowering the
dum
mbbbells until their
hea
ads touch your
sho
oul
lders. Reverse the
mot
tion to return the
weigh
hts to the
sta
artt. That’s 1
rep
p; do
d 10.

2
SLOW CLOSE-GRIP PUSH-UP
Get in push-up position, hands
directly below your shoulders.
Lower your torso until your chest is
2 centimetres from the floor; take 3
seconds to do this. Push up.

128 menshealth.com.au
 YO U R U LT I M AT E A R M B L A S T

SUPERSET 2
2a 2b
PAUSE SKULL-CRUSHER PAUSE-AND-ROTATE
Lie on your back, dumbbells directly over HAMMER CURL
your shoulders. Bend at the elbows, lowering Kneel on your shins, thighs
the dumbbells towards your head. Pause for perpendicular to the floor.
1 second when the dumbbells nearly touch Hold mediumm-weight
i ht
your shoulders, then return to start. Do 10. dumbbells ata your sides,
palms facin
p ng each other.
Curl both dumbbells
C d
EB SAYS: towards you
t ur chest, palms
“Keep your upper arms still facin
s ng each other.
perpendicular to the floor Lower the weights
L w until
throughout. Never move at your forear
y rms are parallel
the shoulder joint; only your to the floo
t or, then rotate
the dumbbells so your palm
t ms
elbows are moving.
moving ” face the ce
f eiling. Pause,
rotate the dumbbells so
r
your palms face each other
y r
again, then lower them
a
toward the floor. That’s 1
t
rep; do 8.
r Pause halfway when
lowering, rotate your
palms to the ceiling,
then finish the rep.

SUPE
ERSET 3
3a
ER CURL
SPIDE
Set an
n adjustable bench to a 30°
ne. Lie facedown on the bench.
inclin
Your chest should be just off it.
Hold a medium-weight dumbbell in Hold for 2
seconds.
d
wyour right hand, arm straight, palm
facing
g left. Curl the weight
to you
ur chest, then lower it with
contro
ol. That’s 1 rep; do 8 per arm.

EB SAYS:
“Don’t start
s swinging
your uppper arm; keep it
stationa
ary throughout.”
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALLIE HOLLOWAY

3b
KNEELING PAUSE KICKBACK
Hold light dumbbells at your sides.
Kneel on your shins and bend at the
waist. Keep your upper arms
parallel to the floor. Moving only
at the elbows, press the weights
back until your arms are straight.
Hold for 2 seconds, then lower.
That’s 1 rep; do 8.

May 2019 129

 ONE WORD ANSWER

QUESTION
What laptop
setting should
you change to
sharpen your
thinking?

ANSWER

Typeface

left and are full of

G you can look up,” – awkwardly slant 7° to the
“NEVER MEMORISE ANYTHIN comprehension. This
spite his genius, gaps that deliberately slow
said Albert Einstein, who, de covered to trigger
velist Stephen “desirable difficulty” was dis
was notoriously forgetful. No ding to a seven-
s haunted by “the the act of remembering, lea
King, on the other hand, wa in test scores. More
t”, to him, involved percentage-point increase
persistence of memory” – “ar ence in the real
rything”. In this than enough to make a differ
the ability to “remember eve world, too.
like Einstein: gs of a 2010
respect, most of us are more The study supports the findin
fting the perfect iana Universities,
memory is less a matter of cra paper from Princeton and Ind
ecking off all the a memory test on
horror story than mentally ch in which students were given
orths for our
ingredients we need at Woolw in either the
WORDS: YO ZUSHI; ILLUSTRATION: MELVIN GALAPON AT DEBUT ART

nsequences of a passage of fiction, displayed

Sunday meal prep. Yet the co Sans – a typeface
sery to easy-to-read Arial or Comic
forgetting can range from Mi for its cumbersome,
potato-free frittata, notorious among designers
Desperation: an unsatisfying gists discovered
panic when you’re scrawled style. The psycholo
say, or the Monday-meeting tive experience of
promised . . . but that “disfluency, the subjec
asked about that report you gnitive operations”,
difficulty associated with co
somehow neglected to start. Comic Sans group
lbourne’s RMIT enhanced results, with the
Thankfully, researchers at Me scoring an impressive 13 po
ints higher.
w tool to prevent urself when you
University have devised a ne So, don’t make it easy on yo
your health and list: ignore the
brain fade from consigning type up your next important
t Sematary. In a ts and choose the
career aspirations to the Pe derision of the design fascis
were tasked with ant font you can
recent study, 400 students most spine-chillingly ineleg
t, presented in two
memorising a passage of tex endure. It’s the simplest wa
y to keep your
rgetica. The letters
typefaces: Arial and Sans Fo prospects out of The Dead
Zone.
d by the RMIT team
of the latter – newly designe

130 menshealth.com.au
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