Nuke Your T Killer: Are You Tough Enough?

PRIEST’S
OLYMPICTRIATHLO AINING PLAN CONFESSION

“I LOST 30KG
IN 3 MONTHS.”
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WHO
E AT S
ROO?
SHE
E AT S
ROO.
Kangaroo,
th e su p er l e a n
red meat.
Tiffiny Hall
ELITE ATHLETE, TRAINER.
AVA I L A B L E N AT I O N A L LY AT
INDEPENDENT SUPERMARKETS AND
Cooking tips and recipes at iloveroo.com.au #iloveroo

apr.
32
She wants you
to slip, slop, slap
115
Turn comfort-food
fails into health-
food winners
Breakthroughs Game Changers 106 Columns Features

JUST SIX
WEEKS TO A
21 News 32 Unsound basis HARDCORE 56 The Bear
Why static stretching Don’t expect a “base” SIX-PACK essentials
is no longer a no-no. tan to shield you from Adventurer Bear Grylls
the sun for long. on his fave moves and
22 Upgrade exercise philosophies.
Your legs won’t be 34 Slow biz
shrimpy after you bust How anyone can com 63 Street-tested
out the shrimp squats! home to a delicious workouts
slow-cooked meal. The calisthenics you
24 Fitness
36 Pecs-tra remember from school
New 3-D-printed
development has gone badass...
soles will give your
feet an, er, hand. Expert strategies for
70 Lost & hound
adding 2cm to your
26 Nutrition Owning a dog and
chest in four weeks.
Seaweed: sustainable 25 other non-standard
and super-nutritious. 38 On the downloa ways to lose weight.
Our fitness app picks
28 Success 79 Train with
Loving your job won’t 40 Wouldn’t eat your brain
just help you mentally that for a bet! Answers eight key
but physically, too. Father Brendan didn’ questions to discover
and he shed 30kg and your muscle IQ.
30 Health reaped the rewards.
Done right, meditation 86 Protein poor?
can provide more pain 43 Matched malts Are you getting enough
relief than morphine! Over beer samplers? — and at the right time?
The whisky equivalen New research says no!
takes taste testing
to a whole new level. 94 Vertical growth
Booming in popularity,
46 Cruise for more climbing will take your
than views
fitness to new heights.
On expedition cruises
your ship is only the 102 Strongarm
start of the adventure tactics
Modified Strongman
70
Pet pooches and 25
Training (MST) can aid
athletes of any size.
more of man’s best

fat-fighting friends
apr. 94
Been hitting
the wall in
training? Try
climbing it!
63
Calisthenics goes
guerrilla in the street
workout scene
86
Why you can pig
out on meat to
max your protein
The Body Book Regulars
12 View from the top

106 Abs-olutely 118 Shake-up!
focused 14 Ask Men’s Fitness
New smoothies
A six-week program for every taste and 16 Training diary
to burn fat and get type of workout. 18 Hotshot
you that six-pack.
120 Moving on 50 In his own words
113 The “10,000 Stop targeting one 52 Road to Rio
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Find out why we’re 118 Fitness shakes
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seiko.com.au
V IE W FRO M T HE T O P
Always back ’
yourself EDITORIAL
Editor Todd Cole
todd@mensfitnessmagazine.com.au
Associate Editor Ashley Gray
W
ait up. Got a quick question for ART
Art Director Tania Simanowsky
you: who’s going to be there if
things go seriously pear-shaped SUBSCRIPTIONS
SUBSCRIBE TO
MEN’S FITNESS Subscriptions Manager Julie Hughes
PRIEST S
and it comes down to fight or flight? (02) 9439 1955; subs@mensfitnessmagazine.com.au
OLYMPICTRIATHLON TRAINING PLAN CONFESSION
Yep, the answer is just you and

“I LOST 30KG
IN 3 MONTHS.”
P40
PUBLISHERS
THE NEW MEASURE OF SUCCESS
your body. Your physicality might be the difference Todd Cole, Ian Brooks
KILLER ABS IN JUST 6 WEEKS!
PECS NUKE between life and death. ADVERTISING

YOUR
ADD2CMTOYOUR
CHESTINNOTIME!
PERFECT PROTEIN:
GUT Bear Grylls recognises this indisputable fact, and Advertising Director David Lee
GROW MUSCLE
david@mensfitnessmagazine.com.au; 0410 485 700
IN YOUR SLEEP!
trains for it accordingly (page 56). In fact, he has made
25 a stellar career out of entertaining people with it. Advertising Executive Tim Fernandes
GRYLLS’
SMASH BEAR UT CHALLENGE tim@mensfitnessmagazine.com.au; 0405 983 707
ENOUGH? WILD WORKO
The key is, he trains for what he will likely encounter,
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12 MEN’S FITNESS APRIL 2016

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● Top tips
ASK
I’ve been following
Q the same diet as
my fit colleague but I’m
You ask, we answer… with a
little help from our friends.
not seeing the same
MEN’S FITNESS
effects. Why?
You’re doing the same
amount of physical activity
too, right? The answer may
lie in the results of a recent
study published in the life
sciences journal Cell, which
found that the same meal
is metabolised diferently
from one person to the next.
To find out which foods are
holding you back, nutrition
experts recommend an
elimination diet, in which
you remove one food at
a time from your intake
and monitor the results.
Alternatively, just sabotage
your colleague’s eforts so
you feel better!
Can I do genetic tests

Q to see which sport my
son will be best at?
Hoping you’ve produced
the next Adam Goodes or
Johnathan Thurston? Well,
genetic tests that claim to
identify athletic prowess in
children are available — but Devouring burnt
they’ve been rubbished by animal flesh will not
the British Journal Of Sports turn you into a lard-arse.
Medicine, which branded
them unreliable. Want more
proof? In 2013, 22 companies
were selling them, but 14
have since folded. You’ll
have to find out if young
Messi is good at sport the
Q Is it true that if
I eat too much
protein I’ll get fat?
■ This old and somewhat bizarre myth stems
from a study in the American Journal Of
Clinical Nutrition, which found that 30g of protein
old-fashioned way. per meal was the best for building muscle and
that upping it to 40g didn’t improve the mass-
I’ve noticed I’m gaining effects. But that doesn’t mean excess
Q getting more tired
and irritable recently. protein is converted to body fat — that simply
Am I just turning into isn’t an energy-efficient means of dealing
a grumpy old man? with it. Still need convincing you won’t get tubby?
There’s a chance you
may have Testosterone
Nineteenth-century explorers who ate nothing
Deficiency Syndrome (TDS), but protein developed a condition called “rabbit
which can cause low libido, starvation”, a form of malnutrition that occurs
irritability and reduced
muscle mass among other
when the body doesn’t get any fat.
things. A study presented
at the British Endocrine PR EST S
OLYMPICTRIATHLON TRAINING PLAN CONFESSION
Society’s 2015 conference

“I LOST 30KG
IN 3 MONTHS.
P40
found that 46% of men

with TDS believe their KILLER ABS IN JUST 6 WEEKS!
symptoms are age-related SUBSCRIBE TO PECS NUKE

YOUR
GET IN TOUCH
and don’t seek treatment. MEN’S FITNESS
ADD2CMTOYOUR
CHESTINNOTIME!
PERFECTPROTEIN:
GROWMUSCLE
GUT Post your fitness questions.
INYOURSLEEP!
One of the authors, Dr David You’ll get 12 issues 25 AUSTRALIANMENSFITNESS

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SPECIAL
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APR L2016$8 50
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so it’s important that low
testosterone is treated”. NEED A QUESTION ANSWERED? MAIL US AT
If you’re concerned,
see your GP. askMF@mensfitnessmagazine.com.au
FOLLOW US ON
honda.com.au | 1300 1 Honda

● Training diary
1 MONTH
AWAY
April
Nike Run Club
Where: Adelaide,
2 MONTHS
AWAY
May 29
Climb For Cancer
Where: Brisbane, QLD
3 MONTHS
AWAY
June 4
YMCA Of Canberra
Winter Series
SA; Melbourne, VIC; What: Test your cardio Where: Stromlo
Sydney, NSW against the 37 floors Forest Park, ACT
RUNS
What: Free to join and (810 stairs) of Waterfront What: Choose between
open to all skill levels, Place. Then enjoy the runs of 2km, 3km or
the Nike Run Club offers rooftop view and the 6km on this off-road
expert coaches and satisfaction of having course just outside
pacers at every session. raised some dough the nation’s capital.
Just turn up and go hard! for cancer research. Contact: canberra
Contact: nike.com/au/ Contact: ymca.orga.au/
en_gb/c/running/run-club climbforcancer.org.au runnersclub
April 5-9 May 3-6 June 25

Hawaiian Ride Tenterfield To Rocky Trail
For Youth Murwillumbah Shimano MTB
Where: Albany Four-Day Ride Grand Prix
Where: New England Where: Ourimbah,
RIDES
to Perth, WA
What: Riders on this and Tweed Valley, NSW NSW
unique five-day trip will What: Raise money What: Whether
raise funds to combat for mental health you opt for the “Fast
youth suicide while research by taking part Grand Prix” or the
delivering motivational in an unforgettable “Furious”, get ready
talks to youngsters. series of rides — 66km, for an epic ride!
Contact: ridefor 83km, 60km and 67km. Contact: rockytrail
youth.com.au Contact: gtoc.com.au entertainment.com
April 17 May 1 June 5

TRIATHLONS
Nowra Triathlon Tri Port Stephens Coral Coast

Festival Where: One Mile 5150 Triathlon
Where: Nowra, NSW Beach, NSW Where: Port Douglas,
What: With a fast, flat What: Choose from QLD
course and plenty of the standard triathlon What: An institution
options for beginners (1.5km swim, 40km on the tri calendar, this
and experts alike, this bike, 10km run) right event offers races of
is a highlight of the down to the TRYATRI Olympic distance and
triathlon calendar. (200m/10km/2km). smaller, with teams
Contact: eliteenergy. Contact: eliteenergy. permitted in the biggies.
com.au/category/ com.au/category/ Contact:
festivals/triathlon festivals/triathlon ap.ironman.com
April 3 May 28 June 26

Cooly Classic Swim Noosa Winter Mile
Where: Coolangatta, Where: Noosa Heads Swimming Carnival
QLD Surf Club, QLD Where: Brighton, VIC
SWIMS
What: Tackle famous What: Test your What: Melbourne’s

surf breaks Snapper guts and endurance cold-water paddlers
Rocks, Coolangatta in the big blue in will turn out in droves
and Kirra while one of four distance for the 1600m, 800m
competing over 1km, races: 3.8km (ironman and 150m dash. Note:
2km or the new 3km. equivalent), 2km, 1km expect a bit of shrinkage
Contact: worldseries and 500m. in the 12° drink!
swims.com.au/cooly- Contact: ap.ironman. Contact: brighton
classic/ com bathshealthclub.com.au
April 23-24 May 7-8 June 25

Rogue24 True Grit Tough Bloke
ADVENTURE
Adventuregaine Where: Caudo Challenge 2016

Where: Lake Vineyard, Cadell, SA Where: Appin, NSW
Manchester, QLD What: This course What: An 8km trail
What: Buddy up consists of military- dotted with 25+ fiendish
and trek, kayak and style obstacles such obstacles? What are
mountain bike through as the “The Trenches”, you waiting for? They’ll
as many checkpoints “Casualty Drag” and even hand you a free
as possible in 24 hours. “Swimmer Scout”. Why beer after you cross
Contact: not report for duty? the finish line.
rogueadventure.com/ Contact: truegrit. Contact: toughbloke
adventuregaine/ com.au challenge.com.au
Got an event in your state that MF readers can train for in 2016? Email details to ashley@mensfitnessmagazine.com.au with a couple of good action photos.

● Hot shot

Downward spiral p p p
deceptive, unforgiving nature will condemn you to life in a wheelchair
if you miss the entry point by a few bastard centimetres? Quite slow
apparently. “Once you’re in the air, seconds start to feel like an eternity,”
says Colombian Orlando Duque, a Red Bull Cliff Diving champion, pictured
here diving from St Nicholas Tower in La Rochelle, France. Divers actually
hit the blue stuff at speeds of 100km/h-plus, having twisted, turned and
Red Bull content pool
coiled themselves into various bird-like positions to impress a bunch

of judges. But it’s worth it in the end, says Duque. “When I get out of
the water, my hands are usually shaking and I can’t stop grinning!”
APRIL 2016 MEN’S FITNESS 19

NOBODY PUTS
CAMBER IN THE CORNER
Trail riding is all about enjoying the most diverse terrain. Be it fast
climbs, steep descents, or that perfect stretch of sweet, flowy
single-track. With lightweight frames and balanced geometry,
trail-tuned machines like the Camber deliver spot-on performance
over every type of trail. specialized.com
Challenge the “Static” Quo
Roadkill movement-oriented warms muscles and IF YOU’RE NOT
on the “dynamic stretching” readies the body for DOING STATIC
R side — like arm circles and movement — before STRETCHING,
of the leg swings — we now static stretching, YOUR MUSCLES
Fitness accept as the only which will then ARE MISSING OUT.
Highway: that’s what stretching needed to lengthen muscles
“static stretching” limber up and ward and improve their
became about 10 of injuries. Wrong! range of motion.
years ago, when As it turns out, And though static
studies seemed both static and stretching was indeed
to show that dynamic stretching, found to reduce
warming up with if part of a regular strength if performed
slow, deliberate warmup routine, just seconds before
“static” moves — help reduce injuries an exercise (as
like touching your and boost flexibility, opposed to dynamic
toes and holding according to an stretching, which
the position for extensive new study boosted strength),
20 to 30 seconds — review in the journal the reduction was
could damage cold Applied Physiology, minuscule — just
muscles and even Nutrition, And 4.8%. So pick a
sap strength during Metabolism. diferent time to
a workout. To create the do them and your
Taking its place most efective power levels won’t
as the warmup of warmup, do dynamic take a hit at all.
choice: the more stretching — which —ADAM BIBLE
St yiing by Christina Simonet ti; Grooming by Natasha Leibel/
E xclusive A r tists usin g Ke rastase

Upgrade Breakthroughs
Build injury-
proof knees
Introducing the shrimp
squat, your no-weight
tool for ferocious leg strength.
A
For the man looking to build

leg strength outside the gym,
options are limited. Your quads,
hamstrings and calves are already
hauling your upper body around
B
all day, so they need much more
load to shock them into growth.
The pistol squat — where one leg
stays out in front as you lower
— is one option, but requires
more ankle and hip flexibility
than strength. Something else
is needed.
Enter the shrimp squat. With no
extreme mobility requirements,
it builds balance and leg strength
at the same time, making it the
perfect tool for runners and
touch footballers in need of more
strength around the knees and
quads. It’s your go-anywhere
solution for improved legs.
Wo r d s Jo e l Sn a p e Ph o to g r a p hy D a n ny B i r d M o d e l C a l l u m M e l l y @ va n d e r l a m m i e.o m n / Il l u s tr a ti o n s Su d d e n Im p a c t
How to do it
■ Start in an upright position, then

bend one knee, lift the other leg
behind you and grab your ankle — like
you’re doing the classic footballer’s
quad stretch. Slowly lower until your
back knee touches the ground, then
stand back up. Too hard? Do it without
holding your ankle. Too easy? Hold
your ankle in both hands.
UPG THE TEA-BREAK POSTURE FIX The office is ruining your posture. Fix it in the time it takes to boil a kettle.
DESK STRETCH WALL W STANDING BATWING

Grab a ruler or something else that lets you keep Stand with your back and forearms against Keeping your back flat, take a small step
your hands 30cm apart. Press your elbows down a wall. Lower your arms to form a W shape, away from the wall, then press your elbows
onto the desk until you feel a stretch in your lats. then back up. You’ll protect your shoulders back until your thumbs touch your armpits.
and activate the surrounding muscles. Pause for ten seconds and repeat once.

A fresh take
on an icon.
New styles out now at blundstone.com
@blundstone @BlundstoneAU facebook.com/BlundstoneAU

Fitness Breakthroughs
What can a 3-D

printer make?
Happier feet.
Do you dream of the day
when, each time you slam
D kilometres down on the
pavement, your feet feel as
cushioned and coddled as two babes
being rocked in their mother’s arms?
Lucky for you, here comes Mama!
Or, to be more accurate, here
comes design firm Nervous System,
which was tasked with helping
running shoe giant New Balance
RADICAL NEW create a midsole for a runner’s
3-D-PRINTED
MIDSOLES TAKE arch — a notoriously tough spot to
“CUSTOM FIT” support because of all the physical
TO A WHOLE forces at play. But instead of going
NEW LEVEL. the conventional route, Nervous
designers decided to 3-D-print the
midsoles, making foam structures
that mimic natural cellular designs
(like those in wood and bone) so they
adapt more quickly to a runner’s foot
than the usual man-made foams.
“We recorded data using a grid of
sensors under the foot to design the
foams,” says creative director Jessica
Rosenkrantz, a process similar to the
way your foot will be sized up when
you buy the shoes in-store.
A foam roller that’s You’re just what study found that
flat-out cool I need, sugar after three one-hour A limited-edition model with a
workouts per week, 3-D-printed midsole will be unveiled
■ A neat, clean, ■ For maximum both lifters and yogis at the Boston Marathon in the US
unsweaty roller is energy during lost about 4% body in April, and New Balance aims to
a workout boon — endurance work, fat and were equally have a store version out in 2017.
and a pain in the take a hit of fit overall (though
From top: Cour tesy of Ner vous System Inc.: Cour tesy of Brazyn
arse to tote around. table sugar, say the yogis won out in
Until now: meet the researchers at stretching, duh).
Morph, the world’s Britain’s Bath Uni
first collapsible roller. after testing carbs’
■ Training alone can be a drag. In fact, one study
Push in one end to effects on long-
conducted by Kansas State University found that
fold it flat, then pull distance cyclists’
people who worked out with even a projected image
two cords to pop it energy levels. Ya gotta of a partner could exercise longer yet feel less tired.
open. A Kickstarter Down 1.5 tbsp sugar have friends Now Yaye, a free app for Android and Apple,
hit, the Morph goes in 100ml water can provide some of that team spirit. Use it to
where other rollers hourly for sessions share workouts, progress reports, and encouraging
can’t — like a gym beyond 2.5 hours. (or, when necessary, arse-kicking) IM chats
bag, tiny locker or with your own private group of mates or family
carry-on. Gluteus members as you motivate one another to stay
The gym or the mat?
maximus, meet on task. It also tracks steps taken (no extra devices
roller minimus. needed), calories burned, workout duration and
■ Which gets you in
your activity level versus other Yaye participants.
$68; out in better shape — yoga
Exercise and nutrition programs are also available.
April, pre-order or lifting? Answer: Visit yayeapp.com for more info. — S E A N H Y S O N
at kickstarter.com. Both. A Texas Uni

Nutrition Breakthroughs
Kale of the sea

As a Westerner, you
likely eat seaweed on
A just two occasions:
when you’re out for
sushi (and then only
because rolls come wrapped
in the stuff), and when there’s
a gun to your head.
But, news flash: seaweed’s
blowing up — and you should
get in on the action. The aquatic
vegie is super-nutritious — full
of vitamin C and iodine (good for
the thyroid gland) and loaded
with calcium, iron, copper,
potassium, selenium and zinc.
And, bonus: unlike some foods
(factory-farmed beef, some
prawns), it can be sustainably
and ethically produced.
For starters, pick up a seaweed
salad at a sushi joint or grocery.
(Trust us, it’s terrific — just watch
your teeth; it likes to get stuck.)
Or buy snacks made out of
savoury, salty nori sheets (aka
sushi-roll wrappers) or bacon-y
were closely linked
dulse flakes you can sprinkle
J a r r e n V i n k / F o o d s t y l i n g b y B r e t t K u r z w e i l /A r t D e p a r t m e n t ; C h o c o l a t e : W i l l i a m & S u s a n B r i n s o n
Cranberry juices We’d sell our souls to eating disorders.
up your heart for chocolate, ice- Lest you think on salads, add to sandwiches
■ Cranberry juice
cream and chips food addiction or even lightly pan-fry. Check
may boost the heart’s isn’t really about the ingredients and opt for
bloodflow and vessel ■ We’ve all joked processed foods, snacks with just seaweed, oil
function, the University that we’re “addicted” nuts — the first and salt, and watch that last one
Of Düsseldorf in to a food — but the nonprocessed item
Germany has found. — seaweed’s naturally high in
joke’s really on us. to show a similar
Cranberry is a rich sodium, so try to stay within
Using 504 students effect — came in only
source of polyphenols, the RDA of 2,300mg a day.
an antioxidant which as guinea pigs, US No. 20 on the list.
improves blood researchers found
circulation and that processed foods
kidney function. like chocolate, ice-
Strung out? It’s not cream, chips, pizza But pears actually And Horticulture
Frie that? you — it’s the addictive
and biscuits scored What a pear! kick arse, research Innovation Australia
qualities of your favourite
■ Too much fried processed foods. sky-high on the shows. A Minnesota reports that eating
food (burgers, chips, Yale Food Addiction ■ Pity the poor pear: University study one Asian pear,
battered anything) Scale. (Addiction The Forrest Gump from the US found or drinking 200ml
ups heart disease risk
symptoms include of the fruit world, it’s that a medium pear of the juice, before
by 56% — even more
than takeaway pizza, loss of control over always the underdog gives you not just (not after!) partying
Mexican or Chinese eating and the — eking out just 10th ample vitamin C can reduce next-day
food, says a University inability to stop place on the most- but also a full 24% hangover misery
Of Alabama study. eating despite eaten list, left behind of your daily fibre, by up to 21%. (Pear
So skip the regular having a strong if there’s an apple putting the beat- compounds may
KFC runs and give desire or suffering or banana in the down on both apples metabolise booze
your ticker a rest. negative effects.) bowl, shut out of the (17%) and bananas faster and cut the
The same foods smoothie scene. (a measly 12%). head-banging toxins.)

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I
Success Breakthroughs
your relationship who surveyed 468 difficulties.

Whip this out to
healthy. In fact, how married individuals Saying “thank
keep her smiling
often you express and found that you” was especially Gluten-hating
gratitude to each spouses who felt helpful during may be doing
■ Just a simple other can even appreciated were tough times — such nothing for
your health.
“thank you” — determine how long more respectful as when couples
said sincerely you’ll stay together. toward each other were having money ■ Have you thought
and regularly — That’s the news and better at difficulties — the about ditching gluten
can keep your from US researchers working through study found, because, well, everyone
partner happy and at Georgia University relationship because it helped says you should? Time
them avoid the to think again.
feelings of anger, New research from the
University of Tasmania
unhappiness and
reports that athletes
BEING HEAD withdrawal that who self-diagnose and
OVER HEELS FOR so often lead to follow a gluten-free
breakups.
YOUR JOB DOES “Every couple has
diet are often lacking
in calories and gain
WONDERS FOR challenging times no benefit.
YOUR HEALTH. and disagrees on The study tracked
issues,” says study 13 cyclists for two weeks
and found no difference
author Dr Allen
in performance between
Barton. “The negative those who included
effects come from gluten in their diet and
how you handle those who didn’t.
them. Saying ‘thank Head researcher Dana
you’, making sure Lis said the gluten-free
your partner feels fad meant athletes were
appreciated, and stressing unnecessarily
about their diets instead
keeping a sense of
of focusing on fuelling
humour can reduce up and eating healthily.
the negatives She hoped the research
and help make a would make people more
partnership thrive.” objective when making
Tell her about it. dietary choices.
Put your tongue to work!

■ Grow up speaking more efficiently,
two languages? You as juggling
must be enjoying two languages
the extra cash. constantly
Speak just one? “exercises” the
You’re heading brain’s grey matter.
for mediocrity. Benefits could be
According to a seen after subjects
new, “conventional had studied a new
wisdom”-defying language for even
Love your job,

report by UCLA in just a short time,
the US, children proving that it’s
who speak both never too late to
■ You’ve heard it a million
love your life

English and another pick up a life skill
times: choose a career language at home — or two.
you love, something that even if the English
interests you. Well, turns is learnt as a second
out it’s great advice. New language in school
research shows that if you’re emotionally attached to your job, you’ll perform — get better jobs
and make up
better, feel more satisfied and be healthier all around.
to $2,800 more
The study, in the Journal Of Occupational And Environmental Medicine, a year than one-
split almost 5,000 Danish elder-care workers into 300 groups for 18 months language kids.
and found that employees who were devoted to their jobs weren’t just more Makes sense.
committed as a group, they were also physically and psychologically healthier, Scientists at
sleeping more soundly than workers who couldn’t really give a rat’s. Northwestern
Uni in the US
Do you count the seconds till you can escape your desk? Fantasise about
recently found
winning the lotto so you can tell them all where to go? Science says get
shutterstock
that bilinguals
out and find something you truly enjoy. To put it another way: do what solve problems
you want. And how often in life do you hear that? — J A M E S R O S E N T H A L and process info

Health Breakthroughs
foods, including
Back away from everything from Fight cancer, join
that burnt toast scorched potato the March Charge
chips and fries to
Twice-an-hour
■ Sure, everybody charred toast. ■ When Jacob Walker sex soups up
knows that eating The evildoer (pictured) had trouble your sperm
seriously cinder-ised is acrylamide, a concentrating at work
meats from the grill chemical that’s been two years ago, his GP ■ For better or for
isn’t the smartest connected to cancer wrongly diagnosed worse (depending on
your current, uh...
move you can make in lab studies. It’s him with “anxiety”
life goals), having sex
(unless you’re trying produced not only — the truth was way
twice an hour can make
to get cancer, in when tobacco is Where there’s smoke, more sinister. The 30- a triathlete. Now your baby batter three
which case have we burnt, but also when there’s cancer. Burn year-old TV producer an ambassador for times more fertile,
a starchy food like
got a blackened rib- foods containing toast and you create
had a cancerous the March Charge say researchers
eye recipe for you!). water, sugar and a carcinogen. tumour on his brain (themarchcharge. at London’s North
But a study amino acids are burnt that not even a five- com.au), a national Middlesex Hospital.
review just put out at higher than 120°. hour operation could movement which In the study, 73
hoping-to-conceive
by the UK’s Food The higher the entirely remove. asks people run,
couples were
Standards Agency temp a food is cooked He is now required ride or swim down
given intrauterine
has found that the at, the blacker it to have MRI scans cancer this month, insemination (IUI),
same cancerous gets, increasing every three months Jacob says embracing which places sperm
substances acrylamides. to monitor the fitness has helped directly into the womb.
that show up in Acrylamides disease, but that him come to terms IUI typically has
overgrilled meats have also been hasn’t stopped with his condition: about a 6% success
can also lurk in linked to nervous the courageous “Having fitness rate — but when the
system damage. sperm was from a
overcooked starchy Melburnian from goals and achieving
fresh batch taken
running the New them gives me the
within 60 minutes of
York Marathon (just strength to set more the first milking, the
eight months after goals and hopefully rate jumped to 20%
the op) and becoming overcome cancer.” — just 4% less than
HOW’D YOU LIKE in vitro fertilisation.
TO FEEL 27% LESS
PHYSICAL PAIN
AND 44% LESS
Mindfulness:better
EMOTIONAL PAIN?
THINK ABOUT IT…
than morphine?
What if there were a no-cost, nonsurgical,
W drug-free way to “close the gate” that lets the

feeling of pain into your brain? Well, there is,
say US researchers from Wake Forest Baptist
Medical Center — you just have to use your head.
For the study, 75 volunteers were burnt with a thermal
probe set at 50° (“A level of heat most people find
very painful,” the report notes) while their responses
were recorded in an MRI. Subjects were then split
into groups: one got four days of real training on
mindfulness, like deep breathing/meditation, and
three got fake lessons, a placebo cream or nothing.
When the subjects were dragged — er, asked —
back to the MRI to be burnt again, the results were
mind-blowing: those who used their bogus treatment
to try and handle the pain said it was lessened just a bit
— likely a placebo effect — while the real mindfulness
learners reported 27% less physical and 44% less
emotional pain. In comparison, even morphine has
been shown to reduce physical pain by only 22%.
The study, says lead author Dr Fadel Zeidan, “shows
mindfulness meditation can be used with existing
pain therapies” — a potential pain-management
boon for everyone.

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www.speedo.com.au
Those sunnies will
protect your eyes,
but don’t expect
the hard-earned
tan to protect
your skin...
Living in tan-tasy land
If you built up an all-over “base” tan this summer, you won’t burn as easily, right? Wrong!
According to research in Scientific American magazine, the diference between pale and
tanned may be as little as 10 more minutes in the sun before skin begins turning painfully pink.
“A base tan only provides an SPF, or sun protection factor, of 3 or less, according to the US
Surgeon General,” explains the piece. In other words, as cool as your island-holiday tan
looks, you still need to be just as careful next time you venture out into the sun for any
length of time. What’s more, base tans that come courtesy of a tanning salon are even less
efective and, according to an additional study, may only equate to an SPF of around 1.5.

One-step
wonders What do you get when you use an old-fashioned slow
cooker to whip up healthy, hearty recipes that require
just one — yes, one — easy step? Cheap, simple, super-
nutritious meals that practically make themselves.
By Don Orwell Photographs by William and Susan Brinson
Lemon roast
chicken.
Everything goes
into the same pot
and cooks at the
same temp.

Game Changers Cooking
To most guys, a
one-step meal is
Meatballs with cannellini beans.
a microwaved frozen Pre-packaged meatballs speed things up even more.
pizza — but that’s GO SLOW!
all about to change. EASY ONE-

With these healthy STEP MEALS
one-step recipes, you Gotta love recipes
simply drop your favourite protein this easy to follow.
and vegies into a slow cooker in the RECIPES SERVE 4–6
morning, press “cook” and come
home at night to a hot, juicy chicken Lemon Roast
banquet or robust meatball stew. Chicken
These guilt-free dishes are packed INGREDIENTS
with rich flavours but contain not 2.5kg whole chicken,

skin removed
an ounce of butter, cream or fake
2-3 cups diced
processed food — so calories stay carrots, turnips
low while nutrients soar. There’s or parsnips
1 tsp dried oregano
never been an easier — or healthier —
2 tsp minced garlic
home-cooked meal. Sorry, microwave, 2 tbsp coconut oil
it was fun while it lasted. ¼ cup water
3 sprigs rosemary
3 tbsp lemon juice
(for a stronger
Your one-step primer flavour, add when
cooking’s done)
One-step meals are less about following a recipe Salt and pepper
than about knowing a simple set of rules. Read DIRECTIONS
this, then go create your own one-step combos.
Add all ingredients to a
slow cooker. Cook on
Cheap meat is OK vegetables like low 7 to 8 hours.
tomatoes, onions
■ Tough, inexpensive Certain ingredients Breakfast is
and mushrooms
cuts of meat actually are better as a better slow, too Meatballs with
will eventually melt
get tender and juicy finishing touch Cannellini Beans
and turn into sauce. ■ Slow cookers
after cooking for a ■ If a recipe calls for
Leafy greens will wilt transform oatmeal. INGREDIENTS
long time. While lean dairy products, leafy
if added too soon. Add steel-cut oats, 1 800g pre-
cuts are better for greens like spinach packaged
dried fruits, cinnamon
the stove or grill, any Broth turns or fresh herbs like meatballs
stew into soup and some milk
meat will turn out mint, basil or dill, 2 tbsp coconut oil
before bed and wake
great in a slow cooker. ■ A bit of broth or add them near the 1 sprig dried thyme
up to the best hot
tomato paste boosts end of cooking. Add cereal you’ve 1 400g cannellini,
The slower the better drained and rinsed
a dish’s flavour, but them too early and ever tasted.
■ The longer a food know that it won’t overcooking will 4 cups beef stock
cooks, the more boil down the way it diminish the flavour. 1 large onion,
Don Orwell is the author chopped
intense the flavours would in a saucepan. of Crockpot Dump Meals.
become. A vegie-only 1 bunch parsley,
In other words, you chopped
dish can be cooked on need only around a Save even more time 1 cup chopped
low in as little as four half a cup. More liquid carrots
by building several
hours; for meat, the (two to three cups) is MAKE- meals beforehand Salt and pepper
larger the animal, sometimes needed for AHEAD DIRECTIONS
the longer it needs beans and grains like FLAVOUR ➙To speed up the
to cook. Beans will PACKETS week’s prep, shop for Add all ingredients to a
rice and quinoa. slow cooker. Cook on
Food st yling by C yd McDowell; Prop st yling by Sarah Smar t
take as long as beef. and chop up a week’s

low 7 to 8 hours.
Oil isn’t essential worth of ingredients
Fish goes fast and put them into
■ You don’t need
■ Seafood can cook separate zip-lock Slow-Cooked
much oil — just two bags for freezing. Pork Loin
in two hours or less tablespoons will cover First toss in the
on high; never cook the bottom of the pot main vegies (celery, INGREDIENTS
mussels in a slow before cooking. carrots, onions, leeks, 750g pork loin
cooker for longer garlic, ginger) and 1 cup tomato sauce
than an hour. Thickeners turn some salt and pepper. 2 zucchini, sliced
soup into stew Next, add your protein,
1 head cauliflower
Some veggies melt including beans if
■ For a thicker stew, 1-2 tbsp dried basil
you’re using them.
■ Root and add a tablespoon THE LONGER Finally, add seasonal Salt and pepper
cruciferous of gluten-free flour FOOD COOKS, vegies like cauliflower, DIRECTIONS
vegetables are like almond flour THE MORE green beans, broccoli,
hearty enough to or cornstarch 30 INTENSE ITS and red and yellow
Add all ingredients to a
slow cooker. Cook on
withstand eight minutes before FLAVOURS capsicums. low 7 to 8 hours.
hours on low, but serving up. BECOME.
Game Changers Training
CABLE FLYES
DONE SLOWLY
EXHAUST THE
PEC FIBERS.
Pecs
Add 2cm to your chest
with these training tips.
appeal
By Sean Hyson
Photographs by James Michelfelder
S t ylin g by Chris tina Simone t ti; G ro omin g by Natasha Le ib e l / E xclu sive A r tis ts u sin g Ke ras t ase
There’s more to chest
training than just
presses, flyes and cable
crossovers done week
after week — but that’s
the only approach most
guys know. Allow us
to shed some light on
the science of build-
ing muscle so you can
attack your pecs with
a more precise strategy
— one that could add
up to 2cm of muscle
in four weeks.

hit type I fibres.”
TIP NO. 1
This can be done
Slow down
by training chest
■ While the term twice per week, with
pumping iron is a heavy stimulus
ubiquitous, it’s one day and what
a fairly poor Saladino calls a
description of “pump day” four
how properly days later. Note that
executed repetitions these workouts must
are performed. be spread out for
Mechanically optimal recovery.
pumping out your On the heavy day do
reps allows you to low-rep sets of bench
rely on momentum presses, and on the
and the stretch reflex pump day work your
to lift the weight, machine presses,
rather than forcing flyes and other
the muscles to isolation moves.
work their hardest
to do so.
TIP NO. 3
Lower the
Deload to reload
weights on presses
and flyes with a ■ Nobody can go
slower cadence and all-out all the time.
perform the lifting When you feel
motion with power. your performance
Balancing act.
Lighter exercises A review in The beginning to sufer, or
like flyes provide Journal Of Strength you just need a break
contrast to pressing. And Conditioning from hard training,
Research found that throw in a deload
muscle gains were week. Deloading
maximised when is a short period of
the lowering phase reduced training
of a rep takes two intensity designed to
to four seconds and lower injury risk and
the upward phase promote recovery for
lasts one to three. better gains to come.
Additionally, a 2015 It’s not optional.
study from Sports “Deloads give your
Medicine found that joints a break from
muscles grow with the pounding of
rep durations up to heavy weights,”
HARD “What should I eat

after a workout
Physiology has
shown that muscle eight seconds. says Saladino. “You
also need them when
FACTS
to get the best contractions facilitate
you have adapted
insulin spike?” glucose transport TIP NO. 2
into muscle cells, to a program and
Go heavy, go light
OUR TRAINING essentially mimicking you’re not seeing
DIRECTOR, SEAN ■ It’s time to clear the work insulin does. ■ It seems that any more gains.”
HYSON, SOLVES up one of the biggest In other words, lifting with chest training There are several
YOUR WORKOUT misconceptions primes the pump for especially, guys ways to implement
CONUNDRUMS about post-workout fall into one of two
you, so you don’t need a deload. You can cut
nutrition. It’s been a sharp rise in insulin camps. They’re either
(correctly) reported
the volume you do
to get nutrition into always loading up the in your workouts
that your body needs the muscles. bar to bench-press in half for a week —
a rise in insulin to So, rather than
drive protein and as heavy as possible, so if you were doing
spend money on fancy or performing high
carbohydrates into 20 sets in a session,
post-workout supps
the muscles to help reps on machine or perform only 10.
that spike insulin, eat
them recover and isolation exercises, You can also reduce
a piece of whole fruit.
grow. Starchy foods Fast-digesting carbs denying their the loads you lift,
accomplish this, are still important muscles the intensity using only 60–70%
which is why rice and after a workout of training heavy. of the weight you
potatoes are staples in because they halt Traning expert Don used in the previous
any bodybuilder’s diet. muscle breakdown, Saladino says you week’s workouts.
But here’s the funny so a mere banana will need to mesh both Or, Saladino says,
thing: the one time of get the job done.
day you definitely don’t
approaches. “You simply begin a new
need to boost insulin can develop a bigger program with lighter
Sean Hyson is the Men’s
is immediately after Fitness training director
chest by lifting heavy loads and focus on
a weight workout. and author of 101 Best weights, which work higher rep ranges.
Research from the Workouts of All Time, the type II muscle In short, take it
Journal Of Applied 101bestworkouts.com . fibres, and light easy and come
weights, which back stronger.

Game Changers Training
Health kicks:
A good fitness app
can be more addictive
than Candy Crush.
Get fit
on your
phone
Thousands of apps claim to
make us leaner and healthier.
These ones really will.
Forget texting/sexting
F or whatever the hell it
is you waste half your
life doing on your mobile
phone — its most useful function is
keeping you fit and healthy.
We kid you not.
Men’s Fitness have sampled a
shedload of apps to come up with
the most engaging and easy to
use, so that you can save time
choosing the best ones to suit
your fitness aims.
Want to undergo a full-body
transformation? Tick. Need a PT
to kickstart your running program?
Tick. Struggling to lose that chick-
repelling beer gut? Tick. At a level
to test yourself against runners and
cyclists around the world? Tick.
Download these apps and reap
the benefits.
FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR

RUNNING WITH TRACKING BLASTING RACING THE TRANSFORMING FIRING
A COACH YOUR GAINS BELLY FAT WORLD YOURSELF YOURSELF UP
Runtastic Tanita Health Planet 7 Minute workout Strava JEFIT Endomondo

(Android, BB, iOS, (Android, iOS) (Android, iOS) (Android, iOS) (Android, iOS) (Android, BB, iOS,
Windows) Windows)
■ Monitor the changes ■ 7 Minute Workout ■ Turn lonely runs and ■ As well as suggesting
■ Without structured in your body composition gets you doing 12 kit-free cycles into competitions workouts, JEFIT has a ■ Endomondo records
sessions you’ll soon (weight, body fat, body exercises for seven between you and the progress report section more than 40 activities and
give up. As well as setting water, muscle mass, minutes, three to four almost-definitely- that encourages you to has a huge community.
goals (distance, duration, metabolic rate, etc) times a week. Go flat-out cheating scoundrels take a pic each week. Not many of our Facebook
calories), this app has and track your progress and it’ll turn your body into above you on the Strava This tangible, visual proof friends care we’ve just
pre-set interval training with this neat app. THP a flab-burning furnace. leaderboard. A powerful of your changing body done our fastest run,
modes and pace will help take your fitness Perfect for blokes who motivator to pick up makes skipping the gym but on this? Digital high-
Shutterstock
feedback that scolds to the next level! are strapped for time. the pace. much harder. fives all round.
you for dawdling.

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Game Changers Inspiration
“The nuns now say:
‘You can’t be Father
Lee. We knew him
and he was a fat man.
Where did he go?’”
wasn’t easy, but
Brendan’s faith kept
him on target. “I often
thought I would give
up, but you have to
have confidence in
what you’re doing.
I remembered that
saying: ‘In doing great
deeds it is glorious
even to fail.’ I knew
that even if I didn’t
make it, I would have
given it my best shot.”
TALE OF THE SCALE The results were
BRENDAN LEE sensational: while
everyone else was
AGE: 44 out celebrating the
LIVES: ALBURY, NSW nation’s birthday,
HEIGHT: 177CM Brendan was busy
having himself
WAS: 110KG
photographed on the
NOW: 80KG gym scales, which
LOST: 30KG revealed he had shed
30kg in just three
months — down to
a streamlined 80kg.
He had won the bet.
hitting that I’d have to The efect on his
lift my game.” life and the people
He blocked out the around him was huge.
advice the naysayers “People think I’m a
Competitive spirit were giving him

about how difficult his
goal was and
relentlessly pursued
diferent person now.
It’s true: when you’re
fat people tend
to think you’re
Father Brendan Lee bet his brother he could lose 30kg in just three months. a high-protein, low undisciplined, but
A shedload of punishing gym sessions and a junk food-free diet later, he did. carb and high-water when you’re slim
diet. Workout-wise, he they think you’re in
completed a session control of your life.
in the morning to get “There are a group
his metabolism going, of Filipino nuns here
did a fast walk in the and they say: ‘You
which only served a local businessman
■ “I get invited to
afternoon tea
and dinner by families
he’d been a champion
sprinter and rugby
league player with a
to compound the
problem.
bet him he couldn’t
lose 30kg by
middle of the day
then smashed a low
weight/high reps
can’t be Father Lee.
We knew him and
he was a fat man.
and they always put super-lean physique. “I filled in time with Australia Day — gym session at night. Where did he go?’”
on a big spread for Indeed, Brendan’s food,” Brendan says. a period of three “I did as much cardio His tip for losing
me,” says Brendan, weight began to Things didn’t get any months. It was a as possible,” he says, weight is simple:
an assistant priest at balloon seven years better as he went on monumental task “and stuck to the “Food isn’t
Holy Spirit Catholic ago when he quit leave for a year and — one that even most crosstrainer until entertainment, it’s
Church in Albury on playing sport to focus ended up living in personal trainers I was ruined.” fuel. There are no
the NSW/Victoria on the pressures he an old pub. would steer clear of He also politely better words to follow
border. It’s one of was facing at work. Fortunately, — but it was just the told parishioners he than ‘eat less, exercise
the prime reasons At the time, he his work problems spur Brendan needed. wouldn’t be able to eat more’. Losing weight
the 44-year-old felt despondent about were eventually “I attacked it like as much as he used is about having a new
clergyman had his life and sought resolved but his body a one-day cricket to when they invited way of life.
blown out to 110kg refuge in junk food. issues weren’t. “I’d match,” Brendan him over. “It was OK, “I went to the
late last year. McDonald’s, KFC been trying to lose says. “Instead of runs though — 95% were supermarket today
His poor physical and Hungry Jack’s weight for years but per over, it was kilos with it. I’d have a to buy lollies and
condition was a far became his comfort just couldn’t budge it,” per week, so over 12 cofee but without the came away with
cry from his school diet as he moved to Brendan says. In weeks I knew it sugar and only one fruit. It’s something
days in the Blue a small rural church October last year, his would be 2.5kg per scone instead of two.” I would never have
Mountains where with little to do, brother David and week, and if I wasn’t The transformation done before.”
If you’ve a story like Brendan’s you’d like to share, send an email to ashley@mensfitnessmagazine.com.au with clear before and after photos (photos must be at least 1MB each).

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Mix it up
Game Changers
WHO DOESN’T
ENJOY A TASTY
THREESOME?
Flightplan
Turn yourself Mark Twain and drunk than ever says: “Wine lovers have 1) Pour lightly. Don’t fill you get from the alcohol in
once quipped, before. And its popularity been doing back-to- your glass — you want the whisky, enabling you
into a whisky M “Too much continues to grow. back comparisons for 30-60ml at most. to pick up the other subtle
pro with three flavours present.
of anything is “We’re in the middle decades, but the whisky 2) Swirl the whisky
expertly chosen
bad, but too much good of whisky’s golden age, flight is fairly new.” so it coats the glass, then 4) “Chew” your drink.
trios to try — whisky is barely enough.” with more brands and With that, we asked breathe deeply with your Roll the liquid around in
and the tasting That’s truer now than varieties available than Rothbaum to create three nose about 3cm from the your mouth, exposing
tips that will help ever. Inspired by distilling ever before,” says spirits custom flights to try at liquid. Open your mouth as it to your entire tongue
them shine technology medieval expert Noah Rothbaum, home with friends, each you inhale to let the alcohol so you can pick up each
monks brought to Ireland author of The Art Of progressing in flavour fumes escape so you unique flavour.
By Brian Good
— the first recorded American Whiskey. and complexity. can better discern other
Photographs by 5) Breathe through your
mention of the spirit was One of the best ways But before you even flavour notes.
Levi Brown nose as you swallow so
in an Irish tome from to enjoy the trend — and think of lifting a glass, 3) Add a splash of water that the fumes rise up into
1405 — whisky is booming educate your palette here are the basic tasting to your glass. Seriously. your sinuses — the best
in Australia, with more in the process — is to rules to follow to get the Even a few drops will help way to appreciate the
being imported, produced try a whisky flight, he most out of each sip: reduce that familiar burn spirit’s finish.
Game Changers Mix it up
Wild Turkey Master’s Keep
Kentucky Straight Bourbon
■ By moving its barrels of bourbon
between wood and stone warehouses,
Big and Wild Turkey (unwittingly) maximised
Bold the butterscotch and brown butter
flavours that allow Master’s Keep to
taste significantly younger than its
17 years. $200
Hibiki Japanese Whisky
■ The 21-year-old is the gold standard
of Japanese whiskys — rare and
dangerously drinkable — but it’ll cost
you a for tune. So maybe go for one of
the younger varieties. $120 (12yo)
Hillrock Estate Distillery
Single Malt Whisky
■ A specialty impor t, Hillrock prides
itself on tradition, distilling its single
malt with AD800 tech. The taste is grain
and more grain — think toasted Cheerios
with a hint of smoke. US$100
TASTING WHISKYS Blanton’s Original Single

BACK-TO-BACK HELPS Barrel Bourbon Whisky
YOU APPRECIATE EACH ■ This exceptionally smooth spirit
BRAND ON ITS OWN. helped kick-star t America’s whisky
Refreshingly renaissance when it was launched in
Complex 1984 as the world’s first single-barrel,
small-batch bourbon. Look for hints
of burnt sugar and cloves as well as
orange peel, nuts and light chocolate
as you drink. $70
Rittenhouse Rye
■ A repeat award winner, Rittenhouse
tastes great neat, on the rocks or
in cocktails. Notice the peppery,
leather-like scent as you pour and
the combination of caramel, red pepper
and vanilla flavours that mingle in
each sip. $80
The Glenrothes Vintage 2001
Single Malt Scotch
■ Distilled back when Steve Waugh
was still Australian captain, Glenrothes
2001 single malt has a “nose” that smells
of orange, cherry and caramel; while
the “mouth” combines vanilla, charred
wood, and the spice and sweetness of
cinnamon-dusted autumn apples. $100
Mister Katz’s Rock & Rye

■ Imagine a batch of your favourite
Old Fashioneds (sugar, bitters, whisky
and citrus rind) dumped in a bottle
Smooth and ready to chug, with the taste of
and Easy tar t citrus, sour cherries and a hit
of cinnamon heat. All that’s missing
is a final dash of bitters. $67
Compass Box Great King Street

Glasgow Blend Scotch Whisky
■ An ideal entry-level, before-
dinner Scotch, this blend combines
Drink st yling by Angela Campos/Stockland Mar tel
grain and malt whiskys. The resulting

mix ture is then aged twice, in two
different kinds of barrels — the first
providing that familiar note of oaky,
peaty flavour, and the second bringing
in a light, sweet finish that’s similar
to a fine sherry. $60
Redbreast 12-Year-Old
Irish Whisky
■ A trad Irish whisky, Redbreast’s
12-year is rich, spicy and smooth,
with a subtle fruit flavour. Look for
a nutty smell when it’s first poured
and a creamy, custard-like taste at
the end of each sip. $100

Why your next brave adventure into the unknown
— whether it’s to paddle, swim, hike or bike —
Safaris bysea should begin and end on a cruise ship.

By Crai Bower
From floe to woah!

Watch 10 storey-tall ice
blocks fall in Alaska’s
Glacier Bay National Park.

Game Changers Experience
Most holiday
passenger ships
use nightly musicals
and endless buffets
to make you forget
you’re out on the open ocean.
Then there’s expedition cruising,
in which the boat is simply a
vehicle to get you as close to
adventure as possible — chasing
orca pods, watching glaciers
calve, even heading off on day-
long hiking missions.
Offered by just a handful of
firms, these voyages transport
you on ships small enough to
slip through narrow straits
into pristine, party boat-free
coves but cushy enough to
always have a bartender or
resident naturalist on hand.
Wintry games.
Paddle with
wacky penguins
in Antarctica.
Santiago, Argentina,
GLACIERS AND JURASSIC WORLD T HE G R E AT REMOTE CANADIAN
GRIZZLIES WHITE SOUTH you’ll fly to Ushuia, then OUTPOSTS
Galápagos Islands
Alaska Antarctica sail to Antarctica, before Nova Scotia
■ Most of us think spending the majority
■ The 36-passenger of the Galápagos as ■ The expression of your time getting up ■ During your 10-day
Safari Explorer and remote, prehistoric- “the experience of a close and personal with East Coast Maritimes:
60-passenger feeling, lizard-laden lifetime” gets thrown the landscape and its Fins And Fiddles trip,
Wilderness Adventurer, islands off South around a bit too often, inhabitants — and yes, which traverses
used during Un-Cruise America, but they’re so but in this case it’s true. that means penguins. Canada’s eastern
Adventures’ eight-day much more than that. This case being the Expect Zodiacs, kayaks, maritime provinces,
Discoverers’ Glacier There are few places Lindblad Expeditions- hikes and expert advice your home will be
Country trip, are in the world better for National Geographic every step of the way, the 120m Russian
basically mother ships, wildlife spotting — both 12-day Journey To on everything from your icebreaker Akademik
sending kayakers out to on land and underwater Antarctica: The White personal wellness to Ioffe. First stop: Sable
paddle among the tufted — so snorkelling and Continent adventure. getting the best photos. Island, a deadly sandbar
From top: Cour tesy of Un - Cruise Adventures/ Ryan McNamee: Louie Psihoyos/Corbis
puffins, sea lions and diving around the islands Beginning in either From $16,700 per person, that’s been responsible
jettisoned glacier bergs. are particularly exciting. Buenos Aires or au.expeditions.com for more than 350
Alaska has a tendency During the 11-day shipwrecks and is
to make one feel pretty Galápagos Islands approachable only by
small, and it’s no Explorer cruise, guides small inflatable craft.
different here. It’s not from O.A.R.S. will lead But making landfall
uncommon for a kayaker you on ocean excursions each day is the primary
to witness Dawes that get you up close and objective of this
Glacier releasing a personal with bat rays itinerary, as the ship is
10 storey-high block and marine iguanas; loaded with mountain
of ice into the waters on kayaking forays, bikes, kayaks and
of the Endicott Arm, you’ll paddle among the expert guides. Once
or a paddleboarder to penguins and sea lions; you disembark, head
spot a young male and during hikes on dry off to trailheads in
grizzly bear searching land, you’ll walk within moose-filled Gros Morne
for salmon off Baranof feet of red-footed National Park, or set off
Island. During your boobies and 200-year- to bike through the
downtime, you can enjoy old tortoises. For a hillocks and salt ponds
a sunrise yoga session, stark contrast, embark of Québec’s Îles de la
talks by a naturalist, on a rugged trek up the Madeleine, with a pit
or Alaskan microbrews volcanic cinder cone stop in former fishing
in the library before overlooking the barren village La Grave for a
your dinner of locally caldera, then deep into Go large in Galápagos. moules-frites (mussels
caught halibut steaks. the lava tubes. Lucky divers may get to and fries).
swim with a whale shark.
From $4,200 per person, From $6,750 per person, From $4,200 per person,
un-cruise.com oars.com oneoceanexpeditions.com

Learn It!
How to (actually)
work from home
Because, trust us If you’re one of the millions doing freelance work
RULE NO. 1
Set in stone the time and the place
— we’d all rather sleep in Australia today — or even just a dude savvy
in or watch Walking enough to get your boss to occasionally let you Sure, you can roll out of bed at noon, sit
Dead marathons. “telecommute” — you know as well as I do that it in front of your computer without taking
can be hard as hell to get things done in your own a shower and start churning out emails.
personal dojo. There are good days, of course, But that doesn’t mean you should.
when you savour being your own boss, enjoy your insane wealth of privacy and
Your irst step to becoming a killer
manage to motor through tasks with a Jedi-like focus. But on the bad days, the
telecommuter is recreating oice hours.
distractions mount, procrastination rears its ugly head and you inevitably get
P r o p s t y l i n g b y M e g a n Te r r y/J u d y C a s e y
It’s important to maintain the same

through little more than a solid Netlix binge session.
Believe me, I know. Ever since I left my tech-support job and went solo more than rhythm you had in your commuting life
a decade ago, I’ve been working hard to build my own media company. It all began and bring a semblance of balance to your
with small segments talking tech on the radio; I eventually worked my way up to home-working life. So I’d encourage you
the national stage, not only writing for Men’s Fitness but also appearing regularly to make it a goal to get everything done by,
on talk shows. And somehow I’ve managed my whole new career from my home say, 6pm, and only then peel of to meet
oice. And because I’ve spent years honing what I consider the perfect system the guys for a drink at the pub.
for working remotely, I promise that with these simple tips, you’ll stay on track, Or if you know you get your best work
boost your productivity and ultimately stay sane. done in the morning, make sure you’re

EAT
by Mario Armstrong
getting up extra-early, and maybe you can RULE NO. 4

inish your workday by early afternoon. Be prepared to feed your face
(Interestingly, a 2011 study in Thinking
& Reasoning found that solving insight You never want to stop to igure out where
FIT
problems — ie, getting a “lash of brilliance” your next meal’s coming from, so make
— is actually easiest at a person’s non- sure you’ve got easily accessible foods you
optimal time. Night owls tend to come up can eat to keep yourself fuelled.
with insights in the morning and early In my pantry, for instance, I keep boxes
birds at night. So consider iguring that upon boxes of quick snacks — granola and
into your scheduling.) energy bars, mostly — that I can substitute
When you’ve got your hours set, then for a meal in a pinch. For when I need a bit
create a workplace. Of course, this can more, I make sure to keep the freezer well
be as simple as putting a desk in the stocked with frozen fruit so I can whip up
living room, as long as you don’t wake up a nutritious smoothie in minutes and get
in the morning and have to decide where back to work without having to sit down
you’re going to work. and take an extended break to eat.
And the more set apart the work area Plus, eating a few extra lunches at the
home oice each week will save you
is, the better: if you’ve got papers on the
cofee table and a laptop on the bed, you’ll thousands of dollars over a year. REAL MEALS FOR REAL MEN
start to feel like work is everywhere and RULE NO. 5
you can’t escape it. So choose one space Tell everyone to ignore you
as your work zone and own it.
TH TING
EA
E C IS
LE SU
I’m married to my business partner —
AN E
RULE NO. 2
my wife is the CEO of our company, and
Shower power: Reboot
I’m the lead on creative projects. The
your day when things go bad FIT FOOD
FOR BLOKES
arrangement can be tough, as we’re often
No worker in any profession likes to sharing the same space. We manage this
101
EAT TO GET
by establishing a ton of rules about how we
have a bad day; it happens to the best of us.
But when you have a bad day as a freelancer, manage our space and time. RIPPED FOODSFOR
POWER,
it’s especially awful, because it’s easy to The irst is that, when we’re working, the STRENGTH&
other person doesn’t exist. If I see my wife STAMINA
sink into a funk in the coninement of your
own apartment than at an oice, near in the oice plugging away at her keyboard
compassionate colleagues.
Whenever this happens, I ind it helps
— or she inds me in the basement setting
up a video camera — we don’t so much as
+
THE RIGHT
TIME TO EAT
to “reset” my day and start all over again. acknowledge each other’s presence. If I PROTEIN
25 FAT-LOSS
For instance, I take advantage of the fact want to talk to her during business hours, TIPS & TRICKS
that I’m at home and hop in the shower. I set a meeting with her as if I would a THE ONLY
SUPPS YOU’LL
That might sound crazy, but hear me out: future client. We email each other despite EVER NEED
there’s something about going through the the fact we’re only in separate rooms.
process of starting your day all over again
— physically washing of the stress, putting
You can put this tip into practice even
if you’re not married — just make sure OUT
W
BODY-BOOSTING EGGS FLORENTINE – SUPER FAST MUSCLE PLAN
SMOOTHIES p101 EF STYLE p66
on some new clothes, and sitting down you set strict boundaries with roommates
for a second time that can help get a bad that, whenever you’re working, they
business taste out of your mouth. respect the fact that you’re still “at the
oice” and not at all available to grab
RULE NO. 3 a beer and hang.
No cat videos! (Or any other kind.) Finally, there’s one rule my wife and
Without co-workers, a boss and an IT
I have had for more than a decade that
I believe is more responsible than anything
A cookbook,
department watching over you, it’s easy to
else for keeping our marriage alive: no meal planner and
get distracted by “just one more” YouTube
video or the endless wall of junk-food links
work talk in the bedroom. It’s all about
mindset, structure and focus — with the
nutrition handbook
on your Facebook feed. To keep myself
focused, I turn on the Freedom app, which
right combination of elements, you’ll be for men. What to
allows me to block websites that can serve
more productive, have more free time,
and never have to settle in any aspect of
eat to grow muscle,
as distractions while still allowing me to do
research and get things done.
your work-life balance. ■ trim down and
If you really need space, block the internet Mario Armstrong is a digital outperform your
completely for a set period of time. lifestyle expert.
competition.
● In his own words
Captain marvel
Sleek, skilful and speedy, Scott Pendlebury is one of the AFL’s hardest-working midfielders.
With the 2016 season about to kick off, the Collingwood skipper reveals his training secrets.
By Ashley Gray
In the
away Hot Pie . Pendlebury
I game
evades Dyson Heppell’s
tackle — and hair.
against the
Gold Coast last season,
Scott Pendlebury
delivered 35 disposals,
three goals and eight
inside 50s. It was
the kind of stellar
performance that has
made him one of the
Pies’ all-time favourite
sons. Although
Collingwood finished
outside the eight in
2015, Pendlebury’s
form never wavered,
but at the end of the
season, he was forced
to undergo surgery
for a hip injury. Despite
the disruption to his
training, Pendlebury
is now fitter than
ever, thanks to a
disciplined exercise
and diet regime in
the of-season.
■ There was a She makes sure I get is important in our ■ I’m focusing on working on our
problem with the right balance of game because we my marking and communication.
cartilage poking out. carbs, proteins and cover so much stoppage work.
That’s why I had to fats. It’s been like that ground on match day. For marking, I’ve done ■ In the preseason,
have hip surgery at for ten years. That said, You can never do a lot of time with the you to need make
the end of last season. I do like to try new enough. Squats and speccy bag. I’m also sure you have a solid
That meant I had to restaurants. We went deadlifts are also working on my ground in endurance.
rest and look after to a new Vietnamese good base-building timing, and jumping Footy-wise, having
myself really well so one in Port Melbourne exercises that engage of backs. As far as skills on both sides
that I could come back called Tenpin which legs and core, plus the stoppages go, with of the body are
and start training with was great. lower back. ruckmen Brodie crucial if you want
the rest of the group. Grundy, Jarrod Witts to get better. ■
■ I couldn’t train ■ GPS monitoring is and Mason Cox, Scott Pendlebury is
■ It’s good to get much after surgery. a good feedback tool. we’ve just been a Puma ambassador.
away from footy To begin with I did What it’s shown
during the break. mobility exercises me is I have to keep
I got married in with club specialists, up high-intensity
October in Bali and followed by thera- running at over The Numbers Game
spent 10 days there band work to increase 16km/h or ¾ pace
with family and the hip’s time under throughout, and that Age: 28 Highlights:
friends then went tension. Then I did generally means I’ve
Height: 191cm • 2010 premiership
on a honeymoon to upper bodyweights had a good game. Alex • 2010 Norm Smith
and walking. and I have invested Weight: 88kg
New York and Hawaii Medal
for three weeks. in co-ownership of a Collingwood: • 5 x All-Australian
■ I can bench 120kg gym in Cremorne, so 214 games Team (2010, 2011,
and do 20 chinups (141 goals) 2012, 2013, 2014)
■ My wife Alex I get to play with lots
getty
is a nutritionist. in a row. But running of new toys there, too.

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● Road to Rio
Atkinson is
Australai’s best
peformed athlete
in the Olympic tri.
Gunning
foratrilogy
Triathlete Courtney Atkinson is targeting a record-breaking
■ third Olympic Games. Here he tells MF’s Ashley Gray how
he’s prepping for the greatest show on earth.
At 36, Gold Coast- be up against on Rio’s holding the length of

based Atkinson is at famous Copacabana the stroke when I’m
an age when most Beach. If all goes to beginning to fatigue, The Rio Olympic
triathletes are plan, he might just be instead of just going course will suit
considering hanging belting out Advance harder and getting Atkinson’s strengths.
up their high-tech, Australia Fair on the more fatigued. There
lightweight polyester podium in August. are other cues I’m
suits. But with the Rio monitoring, too:
Olympics beckoning, ■ Take us through like keeping my competing. I get to swimmers and split
and the chance to the swimming hips stable, which is the start and I can’t them from the field.
become the first training you’ve something that can recognise the names The bike leg has big
Australian triathlete been doing with go when you’re tired. on their backs or the hills, which will be
to compete in three Richard Scarce. I’m also practising country codes. tough on the legs and
Games in a row, I’m trying to increase with my head space; take out the speed
Atkinson is training my sprinting speed, getting into the frame ■ You’ve already element. That will
hard to make history. so I don’t get left of mind so that I’m had a trial run on the mean more guys will
At Beijing in 2008, behind at the ready to go fast. Rio course. Can you be tired, making the
he finished 11th and beginning. The depth better your result running leg more of a
at London in 2012 of the field has grown ■ How has triathlon from London 2012? slog and less a sprint.
18th, as Britain’s — there used to be 20 changed since the I’m confident this can
Brownlee brothers guys at the first buoy, London Olympics? be my best Olympics. ■ A couple of years
stole the show. A gun now there are 70. The depth of talent The course at ago, you took time
Get t yimages cour tesy of Red Bull
swimmer — he rates If you don’t get into from around the Copacabana Beach out from triathlon to
it his strongest leg — the race at that point, world is much suits me. In the compete in ironman.
Atkinson has been you won’t get greater. Australia, swimming leg there What did you learn?
working with Richard anywhere. I used US and Britain used won’t be any wet I understood why
Scarce, the coach of to have a long, lazy to be the strongholds, suits in the surf [they the average person
Australia’s latest pool stroke, now it’s more but now there are are only permitted in wants to do ironman;
sensation, Cameron powerful because so many more temperatures under because it’s so
McEvoy, to get an I’m using my core. countries, like guys 20°] which will much longer, it’s an
edge on the guys he’ll I’m also relaxing and from eastern Europe sort out the bad achievement just to

“Every week, I swim
20-25km, cycle 250-400km
and run 80-120km,
plus gym sessions.”
finish. But 20 minutes to back of and give I’ve been focusing

into my first ironman my body a rest. on activating my
The Numbers Game I realised it wasn’t I’m also monitoring glutes: circuits where
really for me. I finished stress levels. The I lift them on a swiss
the race, but it felt young guys I race ball, bear crawling
like it was more about against eat, sleep and and squats. I also use
survival than actual train triathlon but I a piece of wood and
racing, and I like to can’t do that because a belt to work at
race. But I got really I have kids, and I have mobilising my ankle
good base fitness to look after their joints. Every week,
out of training for it commitments and I swim 20-25km,
and when I returned my professional cycle 250-400km
to triathlons, it made commitments, too. and run 80-120km.
them seem so much So it’s about
shorter, which they are. monitoring that. ■ Got any victory
Age: 36 Training for a tri is celebrations
Lives: Gold Coast ■ You’re 36 and a in many ways an planned if you make
Height: 176cm veteran — how is your escape from stress. the podium?
Weight: 68kg body holding up? (Laughs) I’d just be
It’s alright. I’ve started ■ What areas of very humbled. It’s my
Olympic Games: Beijing 2008, 11th; London
2012, 18th; highest-placed Australian to make my recovery your body are last Games so I want
Achievements: 6 times Australian tri champion diferent now. I’m you working on to bow out gracefully.
aware of when I need in the gym? This one is for me. ■

● Road to Rio
Program
Tips
Courtney’s tri training plan ● The bike and run on
Wednesdays are very

The goal is to complete each session (in the table below) in the required time at a pace which doesn’t important. They build
force you to stop, exhausted. In later weeks, maintain a consistent pace and try to increase your speed. confidence in your
ability to complete
distances.
● When training in a
group, stick to your

own pace. Handicaps
are a good way to
train with people
of different fitness
levels while keeping
your own pace.
● Add strength to
your training. These

three exercises can
be tacked on to the
end of two runs :
Front and side planks

15 to 30 seconds
each hold, 3 cycles
Walking lunges
10 steps then
rest, 3 cycles
Single leg superman

(raise back leg, lean
forward and balance
with arms out in front)
5 each leg, 2 cycles
WEEK 1 WEEK 2 WEEK 3 WEEK 4 WEEK 5 WEEK 6 WEEK 7 WEEK 8
MON Run 10min Run 15min

Run 20min Run 20min Run 25min Run 30min Run 35min Run 20min
+ 5min walk + 5min walk
Swim 500m Swim 400m

Swim Swim
TUES Swim 400m Swim 400m Swim 500m Swim 600m (50m easy/ easy/4 x
6 x 50m 2 x 200m
50m fast) 25m fast
Ride 30min Ride 30min Ride 30min Ride 30min Ride 30min Ride 30min
WED Ride 30min + run off + run off Ride 30min + run off + run off + run off + run off
bike 5min bike 7.5min bike 10min bike 15min bike 20min bike 10min
Swim 600m, Swim 400m

Swim Swim
THURS Swim 400m Swim 400m Swim 500m Swim 600m (100m easy/ easy/4 x
4 x 100m 2 x 200m
100m fast) 25m fast
Rest or Rest or Rest or Rest or Rest or Rest or Rest or

30min free 30min free 30min free 30min free 30min free 30min free 30min free
Rest
FRI choice choice choice choice choice choice choice
exercise exercise exercise exercise exercise exercise exercise
Run 10min Run 10min Light swim

Run 20min Run 20min Run 25min Run 30min Run 30min
SAT + 5min walk + 5min walk and/or bike
Ride 60min,
Ride 40min Ride 45min Ride 50min Ride 45min Ride 50min Ride 55m
very easy
RACE DAY
SUN

● Essential tri kit
Get up to speed
Buy the right gear and you’ll be ahead of the pack before the race begins.
1) Trinity Advanced Pro O 2) Specialized Shiv 3) Specialized S-works 4) Speedo Futura Biofuse 5) Specialized S-works
Pro Race Trivent Pro Goggle Evade Tri
■ Wanna give Courtney
Atkinson and his mates a ■ Chasing a new PB? The ■ The most highly ■ Open-water swimmers ■ Aside from protecting
run for their money? This Shiv Pro Race’s aerodynamic engineered triathlon shoe need to be able to scope your noggin from the
bike is designed to be the carbon frame and fork will in the world, the Trivent buoys, the distance to the unforgiving tarmac, this
fastest set of racing wheels enable you to whistle past features a revolutionar y next competitor and random, awesome helmet also
on the planet. The frame and strugglers in the peloton closure system designed man-eating sharks. These has a magnetic buckle to
bayonet-style fork will have and secure that well-earnt to minimise transition time super-comfy and easy-to- quicken transitions, smart
you slicing through the wind victory you’ve been dreaming and get you to the finish adjust goggles will do the aerodynamic design and
like an Exocet missile. of for years. line faster. trick every time. cooling ventilation.
$7,499, giant-bicycles.com $7,799, specialized.com $449.95, specialized.com $54.95, speedo.com.au $299.95, specialized.com

Bear
Grylls
needs
you …T O I M P R O V E YO U R L I F E . T H E W O R L D ' S G R E AT E S T A D V E N T U R E R
I S AT P E A K P H Y S I C A L F I T N E S S — A N D H E ’ S F E E L I N G I N S P I R AT I O N A L .
Bear Grylls, it’s fair to say, is a man who makes things AGE OF ADVENTURE
These days, Bear Grylls is a global megabrand.
happen. “OK, who’s in charge?” he says, striding into our
His TV shows have been seen by more than
photoshoot during a tight window between his regular a billion people, and his biography was voted
morning workout (more on that in a minute) and all the other “Most Influential Book” in China in 2012.
But he’s also a father of three sons who hasn’t
daily commitments that come with being a successful
lost his love of adventure, and being in shape
businessman, a best-selling author and one of the most is a top priority. How does he get that done?
recognisable TV stars in the world. Ten minutes later he’s That’s what we’re here to talk about.
“I’m itter now, at 41 years old, than I’ve ever
in front of the camera, improvising poses, making suggestions Wo r d s Jo e l Sn a p e Ph o to g ra p hy Jo e l A n d e r s o n A r t d i r e c ti o n Pe d Mi l l i c h a m p
been,” says Grylls, in between doing Turkish
and joking with the team. This is someone who knows how get-ups with a 16kg kettlebell. “When I was
to get things done. training with the military, it was mostly about
endurance, so I never felt as strong then as
I do now. After that it was climbing stuf, which was all endurance
That’s not surprising: Bear Grylls has been getting things done for again, and then I did that classic male thing where I went to the
most of his life. He learned to climb and sail young, got a black belt gym but never felt very it. Then three or four years ago Natalie
in shotokan karate as a teenager and went hiking in the Himalayas and I started training. I’ve totally changed in shape, in itness level,
after leaving school. He failed his irst try at SAS selection — too slow in basically everything during that time.”
on one of the marches — but was invited back and made it second Natalie is experienced personal trainer Natalie Summers,
time around. In 1996, he crushed three vertebrae in a parachuting who was training Olympians and rehabilitating athletes when she
accident and was in danger of never walking again; a year later, started working with Grylls’ wife Shara. “It was actually Shara who
he summitted Ama Dablam, a peak Edmund Hillary once described arranged it,” says Grylls. “And I thought it would be a girly workout,
as “unclimbable”. After that, he climbed Everest, circumnavigated which was my irst mistake. I thought, ‘How can you train in half
the British Isles on a jetski and crossed the North Atlantic in an hour?’ But it was revolutionary.”
an inlatable boat. Grylls’ new training plan combines kettlebells, bodyweight
Then he started really getting things done. moves and primal stretching in short, high-intensity workouts that

“I'm itter now at
41 years old than
I've ever been.”
G r o o m i n g L a u r a Tu c k e r
N’S FITNESS 57
Bear’s necessities
Strip your fitness back to basics
with Grylls’ five-point plan.
Stay flexible
■ “I’ve done a lot of yoga because

of back injuries, but I’ve got so many
friends who work in offices and their
backs have gone through inactivity.
They start going to the gym and
pumping iron, but that just makes it
worse. Stretching is important.”
…And stick at it
■ “Men are scared of yoga,

but these sessions are real
strength-building stuff.
You’re thinking, ‘Why can’t
my body hold out, why can’t
I maintain these positions?’
But once you get there, you
start being able to do stuff
other people of your age can’t.”
Up the intensity
■ “I use a lot of Tabata-style

training — 20 seconds’ work and
ten seconds of rest, or sometimes
30 and 30. Push it hard, take a quick
breather, then get straight back in.”
Never go easy
■ “I used to train with people who’d

always stay within their comfort zones.
But the fittest people I’ve seen training
— Olympic athletes, those kind of guys —
get to vomiting point. They know how
to push themselves.”
Think 80/20
■ “I use the 80/20 rule when I eat —

staying sugar and wheat-free 80% of
the time, then having the odd blowout.
You can still make things delicious
and super-healthy.”

“People love to challenge themselves. They want to
feel they have some of these traditional man skills
and feel like they can look after themselves.”
are designed both for function and form. a big spaghetti bolognese made out of heavy packs over long distances, and now
“I wasn’t able to do huge weights but over buffalo mince with buckwheat pasta — it’s a much more dynamic sort of strength.
the months I was getting leaner, stronger non-wheat but it’s great, really healthy, I’m an honorary colonel to the Royal Marine
and more lexible,” says Grylls. “Suddenly delicious stuff — and then I made a big Commandos now and I’m down at the
I realised it was all coming together. I only chocolate mousse with raw cocoa, maple commando training centre a lot, and I see
run occasionally these days but the strange syrup and coconut oil and an egg.” soldiers diving over walls and carrying their
thing is, I’m much better at it than I used Perhaps inevitably, Grylls has a nutrition buddies over their shoulders, sprinting,
to be. My heart and lungs are so much bigger book due out this winter. “That means I’m rolling, moving. What we do is definitely
because we do so much high-intensity stuf. experimenting with a lot of recipes — and inspired by that, and also by the wilderness
My VO2 max has gone up. And I still get that the boys love it as well. I wish at school — a lot of crabs, crawls, leopard and panther
‘shaking muscles’ feeling a day later — I used someone had taught me to eat healthy. stuf. Plus the stuf I do when I’m on the road
to have to train for three hours to get that. If I ran a school I’d teach how to train, how to — improvising with jerrycans or whatever
It’s changed my whole approach to itness.” eat healthy, how to build teams, how to lead weights we can ind.”
people, how to take risks… life stuf.”
FEED THE BEAR Grylls doesn’t run a school (yet, anyway) EPIC WIN
On screen, Grylls’ culinary achievements but he’s created the next best thing. The BG That improvisational approach to training
are near-mythical, the subject of countless Survival Academy now runs courses for all has informed Grylls’ latest venture. BG Epic
YouTube clips and internet lists: there’s ages, including a parent-and-child option Training currently occupies four warehouse-
the one where he eats a rhino beetle that’s booked up for years in advance. sized spaces dotted around the UK, each
(“crunchy”), the one where he bites the So does he think these skills are being lost? decorated with little more than a few pullup
head off a tick, the one where he takes “I think people love to challenge bars, a rack of kettlebells and a couple of
a bite out of a camel carcass he’s sheltering themselves,” he says. “They want to feel suspension trainers. The lagship is half an
inside… and, of course, the many, many they have some of these traditional man hour’s drive from the nearest train station,
times he drinks his own secretions. skills — which really apply whether you’re in Marlborough, a market town of 8,400
Off-screen, his attitude to nutrition is far a girl or a boy, of course — and feel they can people — and it’s already packed.
more conventional. “Basically I don’t have look after themselves.” “I said, ‘Let’s start a gym in the worst place
wheat, sugar or dairy, and when I have And they don’t just do what Grylls calls in the world to start a gym,’” says Grylls.
meat it’s good-quality, lean, grass-fed stuf,” “the boring bushcrafty stuf ” — a lot of it “It’s a terrible demographic, but already
he says. “I cooked last night, actually — got is based on the special forces training he we’re seeing people who never train getting
back from ilming in the mountains for three knows well. “That’s changed a lot now,” massively into it. We don’t have Jacuzzis and
days and said, ‘Right, I’m cooking.’ I did he says. “In the old days we just carried showers — people want to train, to get it done
before work or on the way back. They turn
up, do half an hour and come out absolutely
knackered. My new approach to itness has
Bear facts The numbers that took Grylls to the top. made it fun instead of a chore — people love
the concept of pay-as-you-go, turn up and
get it done. That’s the reason these gyms
have exploded so quickly.”
7,600m
M O U N TA I N M A N
And that, as Grylls gives out handshakes and
prepares to head of, seems to be the point.
For Bear Grylls, itness — like jumping out
of a plane, climbing a mountain or drinking
yak blood — is what outdoor people call Type
2 fun: tough, frightening or downright awful
at the time, but life-enhancing in retrospect.
“You don’t have to go to the ends of the
world for adventure,” says Grylls. “Just grab
23 -60 1.2BN ° a tent, get a friend, tell someone where

you’re going and go climb a mountain. We all
want to climb mountains in life but it’s a case
of doing it and not just dreaming it."
■ The age Grylls was ■ The temperature ■ The amount of ■ The altitude where And with that he’s gone, heading of to climb
when he reached low he encountered viewers around the he set the record for his next mountain. With most people you’d
the summit of Mount in an attempt to world who’ve seen an the highest open-air
Everest, 18 months after paramotor over the episode of Man Vs Wild formal dinner, eaten
assume it was a metaphorical one.
breaking his back. summit of Everest. or Born Survivor . in a hot-air balloon. With Grylls, you never know. ■

Build primal flexibility
■ Power stretching makes up the injury-proofing part of Grylls’s exercise routine, in which
he combines flexibility and strength moves into a fat-burning circuit. Do each move for
30 seconds, then move on to the next. Repeat three times, and do two sessions a week.
1 BABY BACK BEND 4 DOWNWARD DOG

In a standing position bring your arms overhead, palms together, and reach Start on all fours with your weight distributed between your hands and feet.
back behind you as far as is comfortable. Reverse the move slowly. Press your hips back and up until your legs are almost straight.
2 WARRIOR ONE-TWO 5 WILD THING

Stand with your feet double hip-width apart, drop your shoulders and brace Start in downward dog, then lift your right leg into the air, bending your knee
your abs. Turn your left foot outwards so it’s at 90° to your right. Bend your and bringing your heel towards your glutes, rotating slightly. Lift your right
left knee and drop into a lunge, turning your right hip forwards to keep your hand off the floor and rotate your body towards the ceiling, putting your
hips square to your shoulders. Lean forwards slightly, extending your arms right foot on the floor. Reverse the whole move back to the start. Continue,
with your palms facing in. Extend your arms, turning your rear palm down and alternating sides.
your front one upward.
M o d e l C h r i s t o p h e r R e n d e l l @ B G E p i c Tr a i n i n g
3 TRIANGLE 6 JUMP TO CROW

Stand with your feet hip-width apart, drop your shoulders and brace your Start in a plank position. Walk or jump both feet forwards so they’re just
abs. Turn your right foot 45˚ inwards and your left foot outwards. Stretch your outside your hands. Keep your hips low, engage your abs and bend your
arms outwards to form a T-shape, then ‘windmill’ your upper body towards elbows, pressing them into your knees. Lift your toes off the floor, keeping
your left leg, resting your left hand on your left shin. Hold for 15 seconds, your body tight as you balance your weight on your arms.
then repeat on the other side.

Prepare for anything
■ Grylls uses kettlebells to combine high-intensity intervals and strength training, for a lean
mass circuit that also builds cardio. Do each move for 30 seconds, then move on to the next.
Repeat three times, and do two sessions a week.
1 LU 4 HIP BRIDGE TO CHEST PUSH

Holding the kettlebell in a rack position with your other palm facing up, take Lie on your back with your knees bent so your feet are close to your glutes,
a big step forward. Bend your knee into a lunge, simultaneously bracing your hugging a kettlebell against your ush
abs and pressing the kettlebell overhead. Alternate sides. your hips off the floor In this bri ards,
then lower under co
2 KETTLEBELL POWER PLANK 5 STANDING 8 TO WO

Start in a plank position with one hand on the ground and the other on the Pass the kettlebell between your legs in a figure-of-eight motion. As it comes
kettlebell. Bring your free hand off the ground steadily and hold the plank around the back of your leg, swap hands and drive it up to your opposite
position for 15 seconds. Switch hands and repeat s gh your legs and continue the
m
M o d e l B e n C o l e s @ B G E p i c Tr a i n i n g
3 CRUNCH TO STANDING 6 POWER PRESS-UP

Lie on your back with your legs bent, gripping the kettlebell by the horns.
Get into a press-up position with one hand on the kettlebell. Lower yourself,
Exhale and curl your upper body up, bringing the kettlebell overhead and
then press back up. At the top of the move, shift across and switch hands,
putting your weight on your feet. Stand up. Then reverse the move, hingeing at
then lower into the next rep.
the hips, bringing your tailbone to the floor and rolling back to a lying position.

ONE DAY AT THE VERY SAME TIME ALL OVER THE WORLD
MAY 8, 2016
MELBOURNE, 9PM
100% OF THE ENTRY FEE GOES TO SPINAL CORD RESEARCH
Chris Luera holds the
planche, a phenomenal act
of vein-popping strength.
A growing army of athletes are proving that you don’t need

fa n cy g y m s o r h e av y b a r b e l l s t o g e t l e a n , s t r o n g a n d m u s c u l a r.
Meet the elite bodyweight warriors combining outrageous
aerial acrobatics with brute strength in the sport
of calisthenics.
David Holbrook
BY NICK LEVY
Until he takes hold of the bar, that is. He begins by pulling it comes to use of the pullup bar at your local park —
his chin up to the top of the steel frame before effortlessly the rise of calisthenics is an indisputable fact. In the
gliding up and over it, straightening his arms above the American College Of Sports Medicine’s annual survey
bar. Slowly, he rotates his body back underneath it until of 3,000 fitness professionals, bodyweight training is
he’s lying dead horizontal, as if floating on a bed of air, cited as the number one exercise trend for 2016.
before folding his body into a right angle. Then he spins There’s no doubt that calisthenics is establishing
his legs through his arms to hang flat, face-down, high itself both as an effective way to build muscle and as a
above the concrete floor. This series of gravity-defying competitive sport in its own right, and calling it “street
moves — muscle-up into front lever pullup into one- workout” makes it sound ultra-modern. But its origins
arm L-sit into reverse lever — is performed with all the are ancient. Before the battle of Thermopylae in 480BC,
elegance, precision and control of an Olympic gymnast. a small group of around 300 Spartan warriors (yes, those
Not that you’ll spot the Los Angeles native turning out for ones), realising that they were being spied on by Persian
Team USA at the Rio games this summer. Luera, you see, is scouts, performed their own version of street workout.
no gymnast, but a practitioner of the fastest-growing sport in Or as they knew it, kalos sthenos — beautiful strength.
the world today. Calisthenics — also known as street workout, It was basically the Ancient Greek equivalent of doing
owing to the urban arenas from which it emerged and where biceps curls before an arm-wrestling contest. So sure,
continues to thrive — is a jaw-dropping mash-up of the aerial bodyweight training is a modern trend, in much the same
acrobatics of gymnastics, the flair of breakdancing and the way philosophy, Euclidean mathematics and yoghurt are.
playfulness of parkour. In Australia it has taken off with However, in the two and a half thousand years between
outdoors groups such as Bondi Beach Bar Brutes in Sydney, Leonidas and Luera, calisthenics suffered from an image
which as the name suggests, promotes street workout and crisis. In the 1960s and 70s especially, it was what cold-
calisthenics techniques using little more than a pullup bar. hearted, steel-bodied Soviet soldiers did to stay in shape,
and the reason for the ubiquity of star jumps in school
“ T H E T H I N G I S , G Y M N A S T I C S I S V E R Y, V E R Y S T R I C T , ” PE sessions. By no means creative; in no way fun.
says Luera,33, who — with his California drawl — both looks It has no such problems with perception today.
and sounds like a character from Grand Theft Auto. “The While Luera and his fellow bodyweight warriors are the
younger generation wants to do tricks, they want to get strong, driving force behind the rise of modern calisthenics,
but they don’t necessarily want a coach or someone that’s its rebirth began with one man, and one video.
drilling them to keep their toes pointed.” He has the utmost
respect for the guys in lycra doing stride swings on their T O D AY A S L A N S T E E L , 3 1 , I S O N E O F T H E T O P S T R E E T
pommel horses, he says, but it’s the rules and regulations that workout athletes in the world, a professional course
he finds stifling. “In calisthenics, you don’t have to do every tester for Ninja Warrior, founder of calisthenics crew Bar
gymnastic movement — iron cross, swallow, this and that… Mob and, along with Luera, a senior figure in the World
Just go out there and invent something. Show us what you’re Calisthenics Organisation (WCO). He first saw the “Hannibal
going to bring to the table. Your personality. You.” For King” video while he was still getting to grips with
This emphasis on creativity over discipline is just one bodyweight training. “I was just starting to get pullups,
reason behind the growth calisthenics has experienced working on my muscle-ups, then I saw what Hannibal could
in the past few years. While the precise number of do and I was like, ‘Jesus Christ.’ It seemed impossible.”
people forsaking the gym in favour of street workout is The influential four-minute video shows Hannibal
hard to quantify — there’s not a lot of paperwork when Langham — shirtless and hyper-cut — performing a

Aslan Steel (left)
and Luera smash
a hanging leg raise.
sequence of skills that would set the bar for calisthenics
in the 21st century. At the time, in 2008, few people had
heard of Langham, aside from his fellow residents at
the homeless shelter and the families at the playground
he used as his gym. Then a friend uploaded the clip to
YouTube. Ten million views later, “Hannibal For King”
is recognised as the modern origin of street workout.
That’s not where the internet influence ends. Moves
like handstands, planches and human flags are highly
photogenic, as are the shredded physiques of the men
performing them. Forget sunsets, kittens and avocado on
toast — this is what Instagram was made for. “YouTube,
Facebook, Instagram have all exploded calisthenics,” says
Luera. “You’ve got guys like me and Aslan and Hannibal
constantly fighting for better, stronger moves, and we’re
putting out all that content on social media. People are
seeing that and being drawn in. It’s a very big part of why
we’re growing so much.” We challenge you to watch a
video of Luera slowly lowering himself from a straight-
arm planche into a reverse lever without breaking a sweat
and not immediately go looking for a set of parallel bars.
And there lies possibly the greatest appeal of calisthenics,
another tried-and-tested hand-me-down from ancient
Greece: its democratic nature. No matter who you are,
what your background, education, financial situation,
age or gender, you can start bodyweight training. “As
long as you’ve got a pullup bar at your local park, or
even just a tree branch, that’s all you’re ever going to
need for calisthenics,” says Steel. “You don’t need a gym
membership, you don’t need expensive, fancy equipment.
Anyone can do it. And it starts with just one pullup.”
I T ’ S N O C O I N C I D E N C E T H AT S O M E O F S T R E E T W O R KO U T ’ S
biggest names have more in common than their love of a
well-deployed V-sit. Hannibal Langham was a sometime bike
A bad childhood and jail
mechanic, most-of-the-time cannabis dealer who couldn’t time were no barriers to
afford rent, let alone a gym membership. Terroll Lewis, Luera becoming a street
workout champ.
founder of the highly respected London-based crew Block
Workout, served an 11-month prison sentence thanks to
his involvement with a notorious gang. When he got out
he attempted to join Fitness First, but was turned away
because he didn’t have a bank account from which to set up
a direct debit. Thwarted, like Langham before him, he took
his workouts to the monkey bars at his local playground.
It’s a familiar story for Luera. “When I was younger, I got
in a bit of trouble and went to prison a couple of times,”
he says. What sort of trouble? “I was on drugs. My birth
parents both died when I was young. My mum overdosed.
My dad gave me up for adoption and soon after I went to
the foster home, he got shot in a bad drugs transaction.”
Luera was three years old.
He soon entered the adoptive care of his great-aunt
and uncle, who he now talks of affectionately as his “real
parents”. He nevertheless found it difficult to stay out
of trouble, hence his familiarity with the correctional
facilities of southern California. Eventually, determined
to turn his life around, Luera took a bartending job

Mastering the
back lever takes
supreme strength
and balance.
The vertical ring hold

requires maximum
power — and lots of tatts.
Your no-gym strength plan
BEGINNER ■ Choose your exercises wisely,

Sets 10 Reps 5 Rest 2min and you don’t need weights to
build strength. Do each of these
I N T E R M E D I AT E
sessions once a week, leaving
Sets 5 Reps 10 Rest 90sec
at least 48 hours between them,
A D VA N C E D using the recommended rep
with a local catering company. It paid the bills and kept Sets 10 Reps 10 Rest 60sec ranges below.
him out of trouble, but he was miserable.
T H E R E A L B LO W W O U L D C O M E I N 2 0 1 2 W I T H T H E D E AT H WORKOUT 1 PUSH
of his great-aunt. He fights back tears as he talks about

losing the one constant he’d had in his life. “I couldn’t Archer pushup
sleep at night. I’d just dwell on how she wasn’t here
Start in a pushup position
anymore. I started going to the gym to get tired, to distract but with one arm straight out
myself, to make sure I wouldn’t try to kill myself in the to the side. Lower yourself
middle of the night thinking about how she’s gone.” to the floor, then press
back up. Do half your reps
It was at the gym that he first saw someone doing a muscle- on one side, then switch.
up, raising his torso up and over the pullup bar. Luera was
inspired and began a regime of bodyweight training. “Before Bodyweight
I found calisthenics, I had no passion,” says Luera. “I was skullcrusher
just working, dreading my job. This gave me passion.” You’ll need a table, chair
Sport has long been recognised for the transformative or other surface of similar
height for this. Put your
effect it can have on someone’s regular health, wellbeing hands together on it and,
and happiness. But there is arguably no sport with a keeping your body as
more consistent or more powerful track record for straight as possible, lower
yourself until your head’s
positively overhauling lives than street workout. below your hands.
Less than four years since he unceremoniously hoisted
himself up into his first muscle-up, Luera is now the two-time Crucifix pushup
middleweight champion of Battle Of The Bars — one of the
Lie face-down on the floor
most prestigious calisthenics competitions in the world. with your hands spread
wide to your sides. Getting
THE COMPETITIVE SIDE OF STREET WORKOUT IS IN ITS up onto your fingertips if
you can (palms if you can’t),
infancy, but many involved in the sport hope it will soon lower your chest to the
attract the TV cameras and elevate calisthenics into the floor and then press
mainstream. The format is simple: over the course of three back up, feeling the stretch
in your chest.
three-minute rounds, competitors take it in turns to throw
down a sequence of moves which their opponent must then
match and improve on. The other guy does a handstand WORKOUT 1 PULL
pushup midway through his routine? You do a single-arm

Negative muscle-up
handstand pushup. He bounces on his palms; you’d better
bounce then lower yourself into a planche. Judges (usually You’ll need a pullup bar for
this workout. Jump — or
well-respected athletes in their own right) choose the winner get a friend to help — so
based on familiar criteria: difficulty, creativity, control, you’re above the top of it,
execution and crowd interaction. Think Step Up, if Channing then lower yourself into the
bottom position of a dip, then
Tatum could do a 360° spin at the top of a muscle-up. through a reverse pullup.
When not wiping the floor with all comers, Luera Jump back to the start.
and Steel run WCO-certified workshops around the
Head banger
world to introduce bodyweight training and its various
progressions to new audiences. The message is simple: With your palms facing away
from you, pull up to a bar until
don’t pay for the body you want, get creative instead. your chin’s above it. Extend
“In calisthenics, you get caught up with gaining more your arms until they’re
strength to do the next move, or to get a longer hold, and straight, keeping your head
high, then pull back to the
the amazing by-product is you get ripped,” says Steel. bar and finally drop down.
“And the shape is a natural shape, a balanced, well- Caution: do not try this on
Illustrations James Carey@Debut Ar t
proportioned shape, and you can tell it’s useful. a home pullup bar.
Those muscles are used for something.”
True. They’re used for balancing horizontally over a Inverted row
giant anvil, for nailing 360° spins over the top of 2m-high Lie under a waist-height bar
bars, for using the power and potential of the human (or table) with your feet on
body in ways that no trained athlete has ever even the floor and your body in
a straight line. Pull up until
considered. It’s more than safe to say those Spartan your chest touches the bar,
warriors had no idea what they’d started. ■ pause, then lower yourself
under control.

LT H Y
HEA
MF
KS
LI
FE HAC
get
a dog
(and 25 other surprising
ways to lose fat)
■ IT’S NOT ALL KETTLEBELL SWINGS
AND KALE CHIPS. SMALL CHANGES ADD
U P T O B I G FAT LO S S , A N D E V E RY O N E
OF THE TWEAKS YOU’LL FIND HERE IS
S I M P L E , S M A R T A N D S U S TA I N A B L E .
READ ON – AND GET READY TO SHED. BY MARK BAILEY
70 MEN’S FITNESS SEPTEMBER 2015

A dog’s life:
Mutts lessen stress — and
01.
force you to walk them.
GET A POOCH
A dog isn’t just a man’s best

friend — having a mutt can
also keep you greyhound-
slim. Everyday stress
floods your body with the
hormone cortisol, which
triggers the storage of fat,
but a University Of Missouri
study proved that hanging
with hounds releases the
feelgood hormone oxytocin
to keep belly-bloating
stress at bay. Dog owners
are also 34% more likely
to get out and exercise.
For the greatest benefit,
choose the most suitable
breed of dog for your
preferred type of exercise
(see below) — shuffling
around with a wheezing pug
gives off the wrong vibe.
PICK THE RIGHT DOG

Make sure your new BFF
matches your activity.
RUNNING
Dogs bred to hunt
(like Labradors and
Weimaraners) or to pull
sleds (huskies) will keep up
with you even on marathon
runs. For a smaller option,
a Jack Russell has almost
boundless energy.
WAT E R S P O R T S
If you’re an open-water
swimmer or a kayaker,
a Newfoundland — with
its thick, water-resistant
fur — is perfect. If you have
no space (they can weigh
65kg), a small, Portuguese
water dog is non-allergenic.
M O U N TA I N M E N
An all-rounder like
an English or Irish
setter can easily
cope with vertiginous
hikes, although serious
walkers might prefer
the power of a Bernese
mountain dog.
02. EAT EGGS FOR BREAKFAST
Swapping your morning toast for a three-egg omelette could be the easiest fat-loss trick 03. Eat grapes before you shop
you pull today. Research in the Journal Of Three American College Of Nutrition found that
replacing a grain-based breakfast with eggs boosts fullness and cuts your lunch intake ■ If you often hit the supermarket with a list of vegies but
by more than 160 calories. In fact, the effect lasts for 36 hours, so you’ll still be eating come home with bags of pastries, it’s probably because
smaller portions tomorrow. your willpower is starved of glucose. Research in the
Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology proved
that willpower drops with your glucose levels, so eating
glucose-rich grapes before you shop will sweeten your
chance of avoiding the cake aisle.
04. Munch on cheese

■ Giving up cheese in a bid to slim down is a bad idea.
In a study published in the Journal Of Agriculture And
Food Chemistry, a group of men who ate a cheese-rich
diet had higher levels of the compound butyrate, an
anti-inflammatory fatty acid that boosts your fat-burning
metabolism, than those who ate other dairy products or a
control diet. If you’re concerned about your fat intake, stick
to cottage cheese and feta, which are relatively low in fat.
05. Drizzle lemon on your lunch

■ Give your stomach some lemon aid by squeezing lemon
juice into everything from stir-fries and salads to fish
dishes and fruit shakes. It blunts the post-lunch insulin
spike that causes your body to store fat and helps it store
carbs as fuel instead of blubber, so you’ll feel citrus-fresh
for your next trip to the gym.
06.
CHEW GUM
IF YOU CAN’ T HELP

snaffling a bag of jelly
babies every time you
pick up your copy of
Men’s Fitness magazine,
chuck a stick of gum into
your mouth on the way to
the shop. A study in the
journal Appetite proved
it reduces cravings for
sugary snacks. Plus,
We’re not yolk not even a lolly tastes
Eggs boost full good when you’ve got
for 36 hour mint-mouth.
07 08
READ THE LABEL CLENCH YOUR FIST TO FIGHT HUNGER
People who understand legally bound to put Next time you walk their impulses, giving
food labelling weigh the biggest one first. past the office vending you more chance of
4.5kg less than people If your protein bar’s machine, tighten your fist ignoring that shiny Picn
who don’t, according first, second and into a ball. Research in bar. It will also come in
to research published third ingredients are the Journal Of Consumer handy next time your
in Agricultural varieties of sugar Research revealed that finger is hovering over
Economics . Check (sucrose, fructose and people who clench a the Buy button for a $20
the ingredient order saccharin, say), it’s muscle for 30 seconds shirt you know you don’
— manufacturers are basically a sugar bar. are better able to control really need.
k

09.
LISTEN TO POP MUSIC
Working out to cheesy

pop tunes like Katy
Perry’s “Firework” or
David Guetta’s “Titanium”
can help you exercise for
longer and shed more fat.
Research in the Journal
Of Sport And Exercise
Psychology confirmed
that synchronising
your running pace to
music with a tempo
of 125bpm — as those
tracks have — causes
a 15% improvement
in endurance. Check
out jog.fm for more
125bpm fat-burners.
Work out to tracks with

a tempo of 125bpm
and your endurance will
improve, resulting in
greater energy expenditure.
10.
SPICE UP YOUR DINNER
Chop up an extra chilli in your stir-fry. A study in

Physiology & Behaviour showed that spicy foods
slash cravings for fatty, salty and sweet grub, while
the University Of Wyoming found that the capsaicin
in chillies increases your fat-burning metabolism.
11. SWEAT FOR TWO MINUTES
Whether you hit

12. Enjoy a two-course meal the treadmill during
your lunch break,
■ Bulldozing straight into your main course at dinner time commute to work on
could turn you into a pork chop. Experts at Pennsylvania
your bike or just nail
State University discovered that eating a starter of
a post-work sprint
vegetable soup satisfied diners’ grumbling guts before
for the bus, find
the main course arrived and they consumed 20% fewer
a way to knock
calories overall. In other words, double your courses
and can fat for good.
out a two-minute
all-out effort today.
A report in the
13. Choose a coloured bowl journal Applied
Physiology, Nutrition
■ Next time you graze on chips or biscuits while watching And Metabolism
football on TV, eat them out of a red or blue bowl. A study showed that just
in the journal Perception showed that the brain is tricked 120 seconds of
into thinking snacks served in coloured bowls taste more high-intensity
intense than those from white bowls, so you’ll scoff less effort increases the
without even thinking about it. Final score: beach body 1, potential for fatty
belly fat 0. acid oxidation so
your body burns
more fat whatever
14. Eat slower you’re doing.
■ Chewing your food slowly might make you look like
a camel but it will also help you shift the fatty hump
around your middle. Research in the Journal Of Clinical
Endocrinology And Metabolism showed that men
who ate ice cream slowly produced higher levels
of appetite-busting peptides in the gut than those
who wolfed down their food.
15.
COOL YOUR BEANS Just two minutes of
hardcore exercise
A D D I N G R E S I S TA N T will ramp up fat burn.
starch — a type of fibre
found in beans — to meals
increases your body’s
ability to burn fat by 23%,
according to a study in
Nutrition & Metabolism .
And if you cook the beans
the night before and
allow them to cool,
you’ll crank up the
resistant starch
content for additional
fat-torching gains.
Go down swinging:
Reduce weight by
pushing harder.
16 17
T U R N O FF YO U R I PA D E AT LU N C H A LO N E
According to the 18% drop in leptin, a Whatever you to consume 18% more
Lighting Research hormone that tells your tuck into at lunchtime, grub. We wouldn’t
Centre, gadgets reduce brain you’re full, and a try to eat it alone. suggest ignoring your
production of melatonin 28% increase in ghrelin, A study published girlfriend or kids at the
— a hormone that helps which triggers hunger. in Physiology & dinner table — but a
you sleep — by 22%, Ditch the iPad after 9pm Behaviour proved that weekday lunch is one
while the University to bag more shut-eye eating with people you meal you can enjoy
shutterstock
Of Chicago found that and dream your way know wrecks your alone without making
sleep loss sparks an to a better body. focus and causes you your family hate you.

18. DEVOUR PORRIDGE
Muesli may look like a cold version of porridge but scientists from Sydney University
found that porridge’s gloopy consistency makes it twice as filling, even when the
portions contain the same amount of calories, so you’ll find it easier to reject that
mid-morning office doughnut. 19. Take a morning walk
■ Yes, walking obviously burns a few calories, but it’s the
timing that really matters. Scientists at Brigham Young
University in the US found that 45 minutes of moderate
State of porridgin’:
exercise in the morning reduces the desire for food later
Its density fills
you up faster. in the day — giving you a 24-hour fat-dodging bonus.
20. Use a smaller plate

■ Shrink your plate and you’ll shrink your gut. A study
published in the American Journal Of Preventive Medicine
showed that people given a larger bowl served
themselves 30% more food than those given a smaller
bowl — even though they were no hungrier. If your
dinner plate is the size of a satellite dish, swap it for
a Hobbit-sized plate and you’ll eat less.
21. Snack on plums

■ Next time you’re ambushed by the munchies, reach for
a plum. Research by the University Of San Diego’s School
Of Exercise And Nutritional Sciences showed that plums
suppress hunger better than cookies, so you feel fuller
for longer. Not bad for just 30 calories and 0g of fat.
24.
BUY A HEAVIER SPOON
INVESTING IN WEIGHTIER,
higher-quality cutlery won’t
just impress your guests
at dinner parties — it’ll
automatically slash your
food intake. Research at
Oxford University showed
that heavier cutlery
captures your attention
when you eat and tricks
your brain into thinking
your food tastes better.
With a happy belly you
won’t be raiding the snack
cupboard two hours later.
22 23
STOCK UP ON OLIVE OIL BAG A BREAK
If you can’t ditch your using olive oil instead If you enjoy running, break during cardio
passion for belly- of butter causes diners rowing or cycling in exercise helps you
bloating buns and to eat 23% less bread the gym during your metabolise more fat
loaves, slosh some and consume 16% lunch hour, take a than simply exercising
olive oil over your bread fewer calories overall, break halfway through without stopping.
and you’ll eat much so your stomach will the session and Try nailing that three-
less. A study in the soon look more like a you’ll nuke more fat. minute plank you’ve
shutterstock
International Journal thin chapatti and less A Japanese study been gunning for while
Of Obesity showed that like a burger bun. found that taking a you’re resting.

25.
RUN ON GRASS/SAND
Switching your morning

pavement plod to a run
through a grassy park
or sandy beach will
help you torch more fat.
A study in the Journal
Of Experimental Biology
revealed that running
Jogging on uneven on soft surfaces burns
surfaces means the 1.6 times more energy
than running on
body’s muscles have pavements because your
to work harder and muscles have to work
use more energy. extra hard on uneven
terrain. There’s less
chance of stumbling
across a pie shop full
of cream buns, too. ■
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Photography Steve Neaves / St yling Hayley Lawrence /Grooming Beck y Rule / Model Chris Rober ts@vanderlammie.com
R E A D O N , A N D M A K E S U R E YO U R B R A I N ’ S F I R I N G O N A LL CY L I N D E R S .
BY JOEL SNAPE
Q
What muscle is
the best signal of
full-body strength?
A: The forearm
Hand-grip strength
is a good predictor
of total-body
muscular strength
and endurance,
according to a
study in the Journal
Of Strength And
Conditioning
Research — while
other studies show
that a powerful
grip’s also linked
to longevity.
Strengthen
yours with fat-
grip moves: wrap
a towel around
the bar before
rows, curls or
deadlifts, and you’ll
strengthen your
grip alongside your
other muscles.

Q
Which activates
your back muscles
better — a pullup
or a chinup?
A: It's a tie
Just to clarify: chinups

are when your palms
are facing you, pullups
are when they’re
facing away. And
depending on what
you’ve been told,
you may be surprised
to find that in a study
published by the
Journal Of Strength And
Conditioning Research,
electromyographic
(EMG) signals were
collected from
volunteers doing
Q
both exercises, and
muscular activation
in the latissimus dorsi
— the biggest muscles
of the back — was
roughly the same
for both.
The difference?
Are dumbbells or Chinups average
barbells better for higher activation
in the biceps, while
chest growth? pullups make the
lower trapezius
muscles — the
A: Dumbells triangle-shaped bit
in the middle of your
True, you can For a high- back — work harder, so
probably shift more definition finisher, it’s worth doing both.
weight with a bar. do a final set of Combine them as a
But technically, pushups on a finisher: set a timer
the main function medicine ball, and do sets of two to
of the pectoral stopping at the four pullups every 30
muscles during top of each rep to seconds — then when
pressing exercise “squeeze” your you can’t do any more,
is “transverse hands together as switch to chinups and
adduction”, or hard as possible — carry on.
bringing the you’ll feel your pecs
arms towards the activate. Hold for
centre of the body. five seconds, then
Obviously, there’s do four more reps
a limit to how much for a set.
you can change
your arm position
with a bar, but
dumbbells will give
you a longer range
of motion: let your
hands go below
chest level at the
bottom of the move
and then bring the
dumbbells together
at the top.
Q
Which athletes
have the best
calf strength?
A: Dancers
Jumping and
sprinting are
highly dependent
on your posterior
chain — that’s your
glutes, hamstrings
and back muscles
— which is why it’s
Q
possible to have
tiny calves and
still be successful
in anything from
basketball to the
100m hurdles. One
place you can’t
get away with it,
though, is ballet.
Name the three
To stand in the muscles in your
position known
as demi-pointe,
upper arm
dancers train for
up to ten hours a
A: The biceps, triceps and brachialis
day, mostly with
a variation of the
You probably got your muscles
calf raise known
the first two, but throughout each
as the relevé.
it’s the third you curl, then pause
“A normal person
should focus on for two seconds
should be able to
if you’re heading at the top of each
do 20 single-leg
for the gun show. rep, trying to
calf raises on each
The brachialis squash your biceps
side,” says trainer
sits directly with your forearm.
Chad Waterbury.
underneath the Do ten reps, then
“But most people
biceps and plays a finish the set
can’t. Do three or
key role in making with a 20-second
four unsupported
your arms look squeeze. You will
calf raises on each
bigger. Training burn — but you
side to activate
with hammer- will grow.
your ankle
grip curls will help,
muscles, then
but it’s not the full
put your fingers
story — as speed
against a wall or
of movement
desk for balance
increases,
while you do an
brachialis
all-out set on each
activation
side, starting with
downshifts,
your strongest
pushing more
leg. Repeat three
stress onto the
times a day, take
biceps. Fix them
48 hours off, then
with super-slow
do it again. In a
curls: squeeze
couple of weeks
you’ll have bigger,
stronger calves.”
Tights optional.

Q
Which of your leg muscles should you train to
prevent knee pain?
A: The VMO
It stands for your knee. Not that football bottom, come

vastus medialis surprisingly, players are up a quarter of
oblique, but don’t your local bro- constantly tearing) the way, then
worry about that. scientist might is higher during go back down
Known as the tell you that leg leg extensions and come up
“teardrop” muscle extensions are the than even on until your knees
by bodybuilders, best way to train heavy squats or are short of
it connects your it, but don’t head leg presses. lock-out. That’s
patella (kneecap) to for the machines The solution? one rep. Do four
your femur (thigh just yet — a study Use 1¼ squats, sets of four.
bone) and plays a in the Journal Of which Olympic
key role in running, Biomechanics skiers swear by to
jumping and found that slope-proof their
almost any other shearing tension knees. Squat down
movement that on the ACL (the slowly, taking five
involves extending fragile ligament seconds to hit the
Q
What’s the best
piece of equipment
for building a
stronger core?
A: The abs wheel
Forget the six-pack) and

crunches. obliques. Add
In a study a “pulse” for
comparing optimum time
“traditional” under tension:
abs exercises do ten reps, stop
including at the end of
crunches and the movement,
sit-ups with then do ten mini-
moves using kit reps where the
like suspension wheel moves
trainers only a couple
and the Abs of centimetres.
Revolutionizer You’ll still need
(no, us neither), to eat right to see
the wheel your abs, but at
was the clear least you’ll know
winner, scoring they’re there.
higher muscle
activation
across the upper
and lower rectus
abdominis
(that’s your

Q
What’s the
strongest muscle in
the human body?
A: The gluteus maximus
Fine: if you’re leg day. Stand with

being picky, it’s your feet shoulder-
actually the width apart and
masseter muscle toes touching a
in the jaw, which wall, then squat
works on a shorter back and down
lever than the without your
bigger muscles knees brushing
and can exert up to the brickwork.
4,337 Newtons of Do three sets of
force. But in terms five and you’ll feel
of cross-sectional your glutes firing
area — and overall during weighted
muscle-fibre count moves.
— it’s the glutes,
which are key
in everything
from squatting
to sprinting.
To make sure
they’re awake
and firing, do
wall squats before
BR AIN WORKOUT SCORES
HOW MANY DID YOU KNOW?
0-2
Do you even science,
3-4
Not bad, but a quick
5-6
You certainly know your
7-8
Near-flawless, as long
bro? Nobody’s saying refresher wouldn’t hurt. gastrocnemius from as you’re converting
you need a degree in Ask a PT what muscle your gracilis (probably), those brains into gains
biology, but knowing groups you’re working but there’s room for by hitting the iron as
which muscles you’re during your next session: improvement. well as the books.
working helps. you might be surprised.
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We all know protein is the single most impor tant building block
of muscle growth. But, amazingly, science is only now discovering
exactly how much protein we should be getting and — just as
impor tant — when we should be getting it.
A small plastic pouch filled with who studies how protein supports
muscle growth, tells me that 110g per
dark brown, organic matter arrived
day should be ample. I bump up my
at my doorstep today. No, I didn’t intake accordingly, nearly doubling it.
immediately bolt down the stairs Two weeks later I’ve dropped
in hot pursuit of some teenagers. 2.2kg — most of it off my belly.
Instead, I took a closer look and I’m stacking on extra weights for
found that the bag actually contained chest and shoulder presses. But the
something else entirely: dead most profound change is in recovery.
crickets. Alex Drysdale, founder of The throbbing quads and calves I’d
Crik Nutrition, was so eager for me sufer after long runs? Gone. And when
to sample his lagship product that I overload my muscles while lifting
he shipped it express via DHL from (think: big burn), the soreness lasts for
his office in Winnipeg, Canada. mere hours instead of days.
Now I crave protein like a drug. I eat
I just hadn’t expected it so soon.
it in the morning and, as you’ll soon
Drysdale, a former communications technician who quit his job last year to cash in
learn why, before bed. I eat everything
on today’s protein boom, swears that his critters “are loaded with nutrients because from omelettes to salmon to crushed
they’re made from whole, crushed-up cricket — you’re eating the exoskeleton and insects that look like shit. And here’s
all the organs”. I try not to picture cricket guts when I open the pouch and take the thing: I’ve never felt better.
a whif. Surprisingly, the smell is sweet and nutty. Feeling ballsier than usual, I shove Later, when I convey my experience
a spoonful in my mouth. Compared with gritty whey and soy powder varieties, to Dr Robert Wolfe, one of the early
this stuf dissolves instantly on my tongue and tastes like almonds and honey. pioneers in protein science, he’s not
surprised. “When you look at the
Crik is just the latest form of protein I’ve happily eaten lately; research, it’s impossible not to be
the others include protein-infused granola, protein pancakes, impressed with the beneits of a higher
high-protein Greek yoghurts and the gamut of powders — whey, proportion of protein than the RDI in the diet,” he says. Eat more protein
soy, pea, hemp and now cricket. The protein industry reaps about and “by and large, you’re going to be itter”.
$9 billion annually, a igure that’s quadrupled since 2005. Some
dismiss this as just another leeting food fad, the result of a connection WHAT’S “ENOUGH” PROTEIN — AND WHAT’S TOO MUCH?
to certain popular high-protein diets, such as Paleo. A few experts
claim we’re eating too much protein. But, I’m happy to report, Despite everything we know about the connection between protein
scientists who study protein insist otherwise. and muscle growth (for the record, protein refers to the amino acids
For the record, the Australian Recommended Dietary Intake (RDI) from foods that our bodies require to be healthy and strong but don’t
oicially recommends just 0.75g of protein per kilo of body weight. produce intrinsically), it wasn’t until very recently that scientists began
“That’s designed for the average person to just exist — hang out, to determine just how much protein we should be eating, what types
watch TV, do whatever,” says Dr Mike Nelson, an exercise physiologist (animal or plant), when (morning or evening) and how much.
and fitness coach who espouses a high-protein diet. “But,” adds “Back in the early 1980s, we used to think that if you averaged out
Nelson, “if you’re not the average person, and you’re exercising more your recommended protein intake over a week, you were OK,” says
intensely, you’re going to need more protein.” Dr Nancy Rodriguez, a professor of nutritional studies at the University
At 73kg, the RDI puts me at 55g per day, which is hardly more than Of Connecticut in the US. “But fast-forward 10 years, and we realised it
a cup of Greek yoghurt at breakfast and a small chicken breast for wasn’t just having protein every two or three days. You should be eating
lunch, with zero protein for dinner. But based on recent indings, it every day and distributing it among meals and snacks.”
protein scientists now advise at least 1.4g per kilo and up to 1.6g if For decades, dietitians and trainers generally adhered to the RDI.
you’re doing intensive weight training (more than two hours daily) But Dr Donald Layman, a US professor of nutrition, suspected this
and want to bulk up fast — which would put my recommended intake number might be too low. Often regarded as a leader in protein
at almost 120g per day, divided into four servings, consumed roughly requirements, Layman had been investigating how humans
four hours apart. Because I exercise ive or six days a week, Dr Stuart metabolised amino acids and whether there was a threshold amount
Phillips, a professor of kinesiology at McMaster University in Canada, required to trigger protein synthesis, the biological mechanism that
P r o p s t y l i n g b y A r i a n a S a l v a t o /A p o s t r o p h e
spawns muscle. In 1999, Layman conducted experiments on rats and

–CH 2CH(CH 3) 2
foundthataspeciicamountoftheessentialaminoacidleucine,contained
in all protein, is necessary to kick-start synthesis. Leucine alone can’t
create muscle — you need all nine essential amino acids to do that; leucine
Feeling ballsier than usual, I shove is just the catalyst that ignites the process. “Until you get enough
a spoonful of crickets in my mouth. leucine, protein synthesis won’t run at 100%,” Layman explains.
Compared with gritty and bitter whey Whenheextrapolatedhisdatatohumans,hedeterminedthatforsomeone
like me to optimise post-workout muscle growth, I should be
and soy powder varieties, it tastes consuming upward of 30g of protein per meal, which provides 2.5g
fabulous — like almonds and honey. of leucine. (For that, a whey- or soy-based protein smoothie with

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3) LEAN BEEF
■ Just avoid the fatty
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24g
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Protein per 100g: 30g Protein per 100g: 25g 9) EGGS YOGHURT
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eminently portable snack
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NONFAT GREEK
Protein per 100g: 27g Protein per 100g: 24g Protein per 100g: 13g Protein per 100g: 10g YOGHURT

a half-cup of yoghurt added would do the trick; so would a tasty 120g T-bone steak.) professor at Maastricht University in
But what happens if I eat more than that? Would devouring, say, 90g of protein in a the Netherlands, adding that he favours
single sitting — or about 350g of salmon — triple muscle growth? No-one knew the answer whole animal foods like beef because they
until Dr Doug Paddon-Jones, a professor of nutrition and metabolism at the University digest slowly — a steak can take 24 hours for
Of Texas, consulted with Layman for a study. In 2009, Paddon-Jones enlisted a group the body to process — so it provides a steady
of volunteers, including eight men in their early 30s, all weighing about 80kg, and fed protein supply all day.
them each a 120g steak with 30g of protein. Five hours later, he took blood samples and If you’re a vegetarian or vegan, good
muscle biopsies from the volunteers. “There was a 50% improvement in muscle protein old-fashioned rice and beans, and tofu are
synthesis,” says Paddon-Jones. When he repeated the test but ramped up the size of the acceptable alternatives. But remember: by
meal, eventually tripling protein intake, synthesis remained the same. “That suggests that proportion, animal meat packs up to three
somewhere around 30g [for an 80kg male] there is a ceiling efect for your ability to use times the protein content as plant-based food
actual protein-rich foods to build and repair muscle,” Paddon-Jones says. For bigger guys, like legumes and nuts. So with tofu, for example,
of course, those numbers will rise proportionately. If you clock in at 115kg, for instance, you’ll have to eat a lot more of it to get the same
your per-meal protein intake would rise to 42g. (And there are other factors that can push protein you would dining on a 200g sirloin steak
that number even higher, such as genes.) or a three-egg cheese omelette. Some plant-
But too much protein in a single meal is like illing the 60-litre tank in your SUV with 180 based proteins are also high in carbohydrates,
litres of petrol — two-thirds of the fuel gets wasted, spewing onto the pavement. (Excess which, if not readily burned of, end up as fat.
protein ends up in your urine.) “You don’t have a protein storage site,” explains Phillips. (Crickets are about 70% protein by weight.)
“You can’t pack it away for further use.” If you’re going the supplement powder route,
Paddon-Jones warns about racking up extra calories: “The biggest problem with scientists suggest you choose whey, the wildly
overconsuming protein is you’re going to get fat. There’s an upper limit in terms popular animal-based protein derived from
of what your body can process at one time. You can eat more, but it’s likely not doing cow’s milk. For a 2015 study in the Journal Of
your muscles much good at all.” Food Science, Phillips analysed whey, soy and
rice powders and found that whey had the highest leucine content
BEFORE WORKING OUT OR AFTER: of the three. “And when we’re talking about regenerating muscle,
WHAT’S THE PROTEIN-SMOOTHIE SWEET SPOT? the key is protein higher in leucine,” he says. “Based on our work,
whey tops the list.”
At the University Of Connecticut, Rodriguez hones diets for Whey also ranks irst in its ability to feed muscles faster than any other
collegiate and American professional athletes, including those protein type. “Whey protein is absorbed really quickly in the blood,
in the NFL, NBA and NHL. She instructs them to get about 35g within 15 to 20 minutes,” Paddon-Jones says. Train hard and your body
of protein per meal and scales it up for heavier guys. But will burns stored carbs and fat to produce glucose for energy. But unlike
any protein do? Rodriguez cites several new studies that have fat, there’s no protein cache to tap for making muscle. And as van
examined plant versus animal proteins, and whole foods Loon points out, “When you combine exercise with protein, you get a
compared with supplements. The upshot: to grow new muscle synergistic response — muscle protein synthesis is doubled.” That’s why
and get bigger while adhering to a low-calorie diet, whole, animal- experts love whey: its rapid absorption improves the rate of rebuilding
based sources are preferable, speciically meat, poultry, ish, eggs compared with other protein sources.
and dairy (milk, cheese, yoghurt). Now, you might be wondering But timing is everything. When muscles contract during strenuous
about the recent World Health Organization (WHO) report from exercise the cells become more anaerobic, and protein synthesis
late last year that caused carnivores to panic because it labelled shuts of. So chugging a protein smoothie right before hitting the gym
meat a carcinogen and lumped bacon with tobacco in the certain- or while exercising is pointless — and a few studies suggest it may
death category. Not to worry. First, the WHO study surveyed even be counterproductive, impeding your muscle’s ability to grow.
people who consumed almost nothing but — that is, heaps of meat “There’s no good reason to do it,” Phillips says. On the other hand,
every day. These folks are also often overweight and sedentary. researchers have measured the largest gains in lean muscle growth in
So does meat give you cancer? Or do you get it from being fat and athletes who consume whey protein 30 to 90 minutes after training.
lazy? The answer is almost certainly the latter, meaning that if “That’s when you get the biggest bang for your buck, because the
you’re it and work out regularly, a modest serving (120g) a few machinery is set up to resynthesise muscle,” Rodriguez says.
times a week of beef or bacon isn’t going to put your health at risk.
“I don’t think you can become the best athlete you can be CAN YOU ACTUALLY BUILD MUSCLE WHILE YOU SLEEP?
without meat,” says Dr Luc van Loon, an exercise physiology
When we bulk up in response to resistance training, it’s because there’s
–CH CH SCH
a net gain of new muscle growth. Squats break down quads, which
2 2 3
respond by rebuilding themselves bigger and stronger — a process that

protein ampliies. But like other scientists, van Loon once believed
this occurred only when we were awake. Then three years ago, he
I now crave protein like a drug. met with colleagues at a bar and “after too many beers, we thought,
I eat it in the morning and before ‘What happens if we give people protein during sleep?’ ” Scientists
bed. I eat everything from omelettes had never considered whether protein could be metabolised at night,
or if it could, whether muscle synthesis would occur.
to salmon to dead insects. And you When you eat protein, its amino acids are dispatched to various
know what? I’ve never felt better. tissues — muscle, organ, bone — where they’re used to repair and

—CH 2CH(CH 3) 2
YO U R P R O T E I N P O W E R C A LC U L AT O R
What, when and how much to eat, in four simple steps.
=$ 160 g day
STEP 1 STEP 3
WHAT TYPES? HOW MUCH?

■ Mix it up: beef, pork, chicken, ■ Disregard the Recommended
seafood, tofu, even hemp seed, which Dietary Intake, which suggests
has more protein by weight than any 0.75g of protein per day, per kilo of
other vegie source. Variety is not only bodyweight. At 75kg, for example,
more fun, it also feeds muscles with that’s 56g, or roughly one large
a good medley of micronutrients and chicken breast. That’s not enough.
aminos. If you’re the type who insists Increase it to at least 110g, or 1.4g
on bang for the buck, opt for foods per kilo. If you’re in the gym daily and
that rank highest by protein-to-weight trying to bulk up, up to 2.2g per kilo
ratio: lean beef, tuna, chicken breasts of bodyweight is OK.
and whey.
35g
B R E A K FA ST
35g
LUNCH
70g
DINNER &
SNACK = 90%
STEP 2 STEP 4
WHEN? ANYTHING ELSE?

■ Let’s say your weight puts your ■ Yes, at 90% protein, whey tops the
ideal protein intake at 140g per day. supplements — and even whole foods
Research suggests there is likely like steak and salmon — in protein
a threshold for protein, and your density and also digests faster.
muscles can use it only in small So pairing a whey smoothie with
batches. You should divide your a workout is a no-brainer. Thirty to
daily intake into four servings. 90 minutes after exercise, get 35
In this scenario, that’s 35g per meal to 40g of it. (Mix it into a smoothie
— breakfast, lunch, dinner — and a with berries, banana, honey and milk.)
fourth snack right before bed. Also Timing’s essential: post-workout, your
— and this is important — at least one body sucks up protein like a sponge
of these meals should immediately and converts it to new muscle almost
follow a workout (see Step 4). twice as fast as other times.
rebuild cells. But to determine what happens at night, van Loon Based on his results, van Loon recommends a “fourth meal”
had to pinpoint the exact where and when of this process. So at a of protein 30 minutes before bedtime — that would be about 30g for
university animal research facility in the Netherlands, he rigged a guy my size. But keep calories low, since anything in addition to
a Holstein cow with intravenous tubing and pumped in $40,000 the protein isn’t going to burn of. Good choices are Greek yoghurt,
C ock wise from ef t: Christopher Grif fith; Stock food/Food Collection;
worth of chemical compounds called tracers that allow scientists cottage cheese or a protein smoothie, assuming you minimise sugary
to follow them throughout the body. From the cow’s milk, illers like berries and juice. “Protein prior to sleep gives you a greater
van Loon derived a protein supplement he could give to window of opportunity to facilitate muscle reconditioning,” van Loon
human test subjects and then track the amino acids throughout says. “It turns out that nighttime is an unused period when you can
their bodies. “I could see the digestion and absorption, how much of stimulate the adaptive response to exercise.”
the protein becomes available in the circulation, and how much
of what you eat lands in the muscle over a few hours,” he explains. WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO GET YOUR PROTEIN HIGH?
C h r i s t o p h e r G r i f f i t h ; M a r e k U l i a s z /A l a m y
Next he conducted two separate protein-and-sleep studies

by recruiting healthy men in their early 20s. In the irst experiment, Because I’m a carnivore, to me more protein means more seafood,
the men exercised in the evening, then half took a protein chicken, pork and beef. On top of ample salmon and kangaroo — two
supplement before bedtime, with the remainder fed a placebo. of my favourite foods — during my investigation, I added van Loon’s
Van Loon found the protein was efectively digested and absorbed fourth bedtime “meal”, as well as whey after workouts.
while the men slept, and muscle rebuilding was also higher. In the And my grocery bills went out of control.
next study, he had the subjects lift weights for three months in Ultimately, I decided to mix things up: a few times a week I now
the evenings, with half taking a protein supplement before bedtime splurge on pricey seafood (often tuna or snapper, among the protein
and the other half a placebo. He found the group who consumed kings of ish), and for smoothies I go with organic, grass-fed whey
protein prior to sleep had a greater increase in muscle mass. or Drysdale’s Crik powder: the yummiest of the supplements, but —

–CH 2CH(CH 3) 2
After two weeks, not only do I feel great

but also I’m 2.2kg lighter, chiefly because
protein makes me feel fuller and satiated,
which keeps me from snacking.
at roughly $5 for a 32g serving of protein — also the most expensive. Both Phillips and Paddon-Jones recount tale shared among protein
Primarily, though, I rely on protein-packed basics like yoghurt, eggs, geeks, which involves a team of Aussie Rules players. During the
peanut butter and cheese. For breakfast, I do one cup of nonfat Greek of-season they’d meet every Friday at a gym for weight training.
yoghurt, blended with blueberry keir, a tablespoon of peanut butter Afterward, they’d go drinking at a nearby pub.
and a teaspoon of honey. I follow my late-morning workout with “No one was getting stronger,” Paddon-Jones says. A coach with a
a whey smoothie, using the provided scoop to get the correct amount hunch about the booze changed their training to Tuesdays — a less
of protein, then sweeten it with whatever fruit happens to be in convenient night to souse it up — “and they put on a ton of muscle
the fridge — and call that lunch. Dinner varies, but the main dish is mass and strength. Alcohol was shutting down protein synthesis.”
almost always a high-protein whole food, such as pork or salmon, Last year, Phillips led the irst-ever experiment to test the theory.
eyeballing the portions to get roughly 250g. Before bed, I might snack He gathered eight men ages 21 to 26 and put them through an exercise
on a bowl of cottage cheese topped with sliced chicken or turkey routine that included weightlifting, cycling and high-intensity interval
breast, dishing it out based on the serving-size info on the packaging. training. After the workout, he gave them each 50g of protein over a
After two weeks, not only do I feel great but also — as previously four-hour period and then got them trashed. Over the subsequent
mentioned — I’m 2.2kg lighter, chiely because protein makes me feel eight hours, he took tissue biopsies from their quad muscles. The
fuller and satiated (which keeps me from snacking), and because of result: muscle-protein synthesis had dropped by 24% compared with
protein’s thermic efects (I actually burn calories while digesting it). his control group, who got protein but no booze. “Eight solid drinks
I notice something else with my new diet: I’m always thirsty. As it of vodka deinitely messed up their muscles’ ability to utilise protein,”
turns out, protein is hygroscopic, which means it attracts water like he says. “Alcohol afects your ability to regenerate and repair muscle
iron ilings to a magnet. “If you shift to high-protein, you should drink and get it ready for a subsequent workout. If you’re an athlete,
50% more water than you were drinking before,” Layman advises. consuming more than one or two drinks a day is not recommended.”
Besides dehydration, what other potential risks might protein There’s still one question that can’t be overlooked:
pose? Low-carb diets, like the Atkins, which became popular in the how will consuming 100-plus grams of protein a day for years
’90s, preached all-you-can-eat protein. You can ill up on steak and on end impact long-term muscle health? “We can’t answer that
eggs as long as you limit carbs. With Atkins, protein functions like quite yet,” Layman says. One sure fact: men in their mid-40s will
an inert, low-calorie iller: consume enough of it and you’ll be too ind that their muscles begin to naturally shrink. “As we get older,
stufed to eat more. (In contrast, the Paleo diet embraces protein we’re less eicient at turning protein into muscle,” Layman says.
for its superior nutritional value. But it falls short because it doesn’t This has led nutritionists to assume that adults need less protein
prescribe how much to eat or when. It also rejects dairy — even Greek as we age. Having documented what high protein does
yoghurt, which research has identiied as a superlative protein.) for younger men, scientists now challenge
At the height of the Atkins craze, reports of health problems that assumption and plan to conduct
surfaced, the most serious being kidney failure. I ask Phillips whether longitudinal studies to track men and their
I should be concerned, and I’m told no. Because many of the Atkins muscles over a lifetime.
dieters were overweight, he explains, they were also “verging on When such a study occurs, I tell
type-2 diabetes”, a disease that can include kidney dysfunction. Layman he should enlist my dad,
“But as the circular logic went, the high protein caused the kidney who turned 82 last month and
failure in the irst place, and that’s not true. There’s no evidence remains an avid athlete.
of that.” The other myth is “protein is bad for your bones”, Rodriguez He devours chicken and
says. The theory used to be that protein-rich foods nudged your salmon, plays tennis with
body’s pH balance toward higher acidity — and too much acid would guys half his age and often
leach minerals like calcium from bones and lead to osteoporosis. But begins his day by paddling
current research proves just the opposite: protein increases bone his kayak 3km.
density by improving calorie absorption. “We’re realising that eating Is it protein, exercise,
adequate protein, along with calcium, is good for bones,” Rodriguez lucky genes or all three?
says. In a 2008 study in The American Journal Of Clinical Nutrition, No matter. The jump
Layman wrote, “Higher protein diets are associated with greater in strength and recovery
bone mass and fewer fractures when calcium intake is adequate.” I begin to experience
As I worked to harness the beneits of protein, I discovered that after disregarding the RDI
the plant-based soy doesn’t build muscle as fast as animal protein or and doubling my protein
whey. “Soy is about 60% as efective as whey,” says Layman. “But if intake is reason enough
you use a small enough amount, say 12 to 15g, you will get no muscle- to stick with it long term.
building efects.” I also learnt about one big protein no-no: booze. Bring on the crickets. ■

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Fitness goes
With the explosion of

climbing gyms across the
globe, MF ’s Scott Christian
heads to New York to
scale the heights where it
all began. But as he soon
discovers, clambering up
walls next to hot girls isn’t
just addictive, it also gets
you seriously ripped.
PHOTOGRAPHS
BY JORG BADUR A
Tktkt ktkt t
a tasty, less
sauce, ditch
drippings.
94 MEN’S FITNESS MARCH 2016
The “inish” is maybe two metres away, but at this point it hardly matters.
I’m dangling three metres in the air, completely sapped of energy and doing
my best just to hold on as a razor-like burn courses through my forearms and
shoulders. Below me, a it young crowd has assembled — it’s the type of
“grab life by the short and curlies” scene reminiscent of a beer commercial
— and I try to regain my focus as they ofer words of encouragement. But the
truth is, I can’t. Bizarrely, I’ve started laughing, as if in some state of itness-inspired euphoria.
If I were to fall and break my neck, I think to myself as the Black Keys come wafting up through the
rafters, at least I’m not in a gym that’s playing ‘Uptown Funk’. My ingers give out, and I fall backward
for the fourth time today (by now, I’ve perfected my Hans Gruber–in–Die Hard impersonation),
and I land gently on the soft padding below.
“Gravity — it’s the great equaliser, man,” says Mike Stewart, defying gravity, scurrying her way up an incline with the ease of an
general manager of the Brooklyn Boulders climbing gyms in ant climbing a blade of grass. When no one’s paying attention,
New York and one of my climbing partners for the day. If you I quietly haul myself to my feet, reapply some chalk to my hands
were looking to cast a movie about rock climbers, Stewart and march back to the wall.
would be your guy. Cut and compact, with short, mussed
brown hair, he has that halo of rugged outdoorsy-ness that
gives you the impression he leads expeditions up Kilimanjaro CALLING ROCK CLIMBING A SPORT IS A DISSERVICE; IT ’S MORE
on the weekends. “Gravity doesn’t care how much money like an obsession. And for a long time I was among the obsessed.
you have, what school you went to, what demographic you Like a lot of male climbers out there, I irst got into the sport
are — it’s indiscriminate. You’re going to fail, and you’re going because of a girl. It was her hobby, and she was consistently better
to fall.” Out of context it doesn’t sound like much of a pep talk, at it than I was, which drove me to log serious hours inside dank and
but sitting there on the padded loor, surrounded by climbers dark climbing gyms in hopes of impressing her. Admittedly, I never
of all stripes and skill levels, it’s surprisingly motivational. did meet her skill level, but I did get really it as I tried.
There’s no shame in failing here. That was four years ago.
In fact, it’s the failing part that keeps you coming back. Today, rock climbing — and the chic rock-climbing gym, in
I just wish I could fail at the level I used to. It’s been more particular — is one of the fastest-growing fitness trends in the
than four years since I laid a chalky hand on a climbing wall, world. “Over the past three years we’ve had pretty much double-
and my former skills have all but evaporated. “The sport can digit growth,” says Mike Helt, editor in chief of Climbing Business
be pretty unforgiving in that respect,” says Luke Livesey, Journal. “Almost every state and almost every major metropolitan
Brooklyn Boulders’ head climbing instructor. “If you don’t area has a climbing gym.” The Sydney Indoor Climbing Gym is
climb for even a few weeks, you really feel it when you come a massive 3,700 square metre facility that has hosted World Youth
back.” Although I used to climb at an intermediate level, and Oceania Climbing Championships. While in Melbourne, the
S t y l i n g b y D e l v i n L u g o ; G r o o m i n g b y M a t t h e w Tu o z z o l i /A t e l i e r M a n a g e m e n t u s i n g D i o r H o m m e
today I may as well be a beginner. I can feel it in my hands and Cliffhanger Climbing Gym boasts the highest walls — 20m — in the
forearms. I can especially feel it in my back — imagine doing southern hemisphere. In the US, Stone Summit in Atlanta, Georgia,
15 pullups and then immediately trying to hoist yourself up a features towering four-story climbing walls alongside gleaming,
rope, and that’s basically how the last third of any climb feels. modern gym equipment and a rock slide. And then there’s Vertical
But fortunately, in climbing, diiculty isn’t really a matter Endeavors in Minnesota and Chicago, the biggest rock climbing
of the steepness of the grade; it’s the pattern and protrusion gyms in the country with 4,200 square metres of climbing wall each.
of holds that form what’s known as the route. My current But no other gym represents the new “climbing-gym lifestyle”
white whale is this moderate-grade zigzag of yellow lumps quite like Brooklyn Boulders, with headquarters in Brooklyn,
stretching just 5m in the air. New York but currently expanding all over North America.
As I sit there and begin to recalculate my approach to the The brand is doubling down on a strategy that has made rock
route, I notice, like everyone else in the enormous room, climbing all the rage among a new breed of itness junkies, namely
a microsize girl on a nearby, prohibitively diicult climb, millennials and Silicon Valley types. “Most people think in terms of
who has apparently discovered some wizard’s spell for work-live-play, in that order,” Stewart says. “But we prefer to think
of it as play-live-work.” He says that’s a philosophy long embraced
by the Facebooks and the Googles of the world, what with their
expansive toy-and-amenity-festooned campuses that include rock-
climbing walls amid conference rooms and cubicles.
IT FELT LIKE SOMEONE “We saw that people would bring their work to the gym,” says
HAD CRAMMED THE Jeremy Balboni, who, along with Lance Pinn and Stephen Spaeth,
WORLD’S COOLEST founded the original Brooklyn Boulders in 2009. “They would work,
PLAYGROUND INTO A GIANT they would climb, they would go back to work, but on, like, shitty
NEW YORK ART GALLERY. little benches. They were just happy to be part of the environment,

Elevated adrenaline levels:
Clockwise, from top left: New
York-based artist Hyo Kim hits
the gym’s pullup wall; Michael
Wideburg, a composer and
musician, scales a “training
wall”; Brooklyn Boulders’
Evelyn Park with her trusty
safety gear; bouldering
essentials — shoes, chalk
bag and harness; the gym’s
youth programs manager,
Ashton Horton, on a difficult
bouldering problem.
Social climbing:
At Brooklyn Boulders’
max-luxe Queensbridge
location, climbers tend
to get “hooked up” in
more ways than one.
even if they weren’t climbing. That’s when we realised we’d created
an environment where people just wanted to be.”
Now, with Queensbridge, there are not only desks and work
spaces and wi-i, but also art on the walls, a café and a glass-walled
conference room — all meant to appeal to today’s growing band of
coders, investors and creative classes.
Of course, this is all a far cry from your standard climbing gyms
of just a few years ago. When the irst indoor rock-climbing gym
opened in America in 1987, it was simply a place for outdoor
climbers to keep it during the winter. As the gyms proliferated,
they remained little more than dark caves stufed into industrial
warehouses on the outskirts of town where hardcore climbers took
the winter edge of. Even when the sport expanded in the early
2000s, climbing gyms stayed geared toward hardcore climbers.
“It’s easy to sell climbing to climbers,” says Mike Helt. “They’ll
go to a dirtbag cave and climb, no problem. But to sell climbing to
a non-climber takes a diferent approach.”
That approach is evident as I tour the new Brooklyn Boulders
Queensbridge facility, where it feels as though I’m walking inside
a pyramid. There’s a work space just past the front desk that
Cyrena Lee, a Brooklyn Boulders employee, tells me will soon have
overhead pullup bars. A short lift ride takes us down to the main
climbing loor, where pale wooden walls are adorned with holds
that look like great gobs of rainbow-coloured chewing gum. In the
centre are towering climbing walls with ropes dangling from the top
like jungle vines. Down yet another loor there’s the glass-walled
conference room intended to appeal to techies, a yoga studio and
an event space that has so far featured concerts, mixology classes
ROCK THE COOL
and a table tennis tournament. There are even plans for hosting CLIMBING LOOK
TED talks. Tucked inside both the men’s and women’s locker rooms There’s no gym more social than a climbing gym, so
here’s how to look your best — without compromising
are cedar-paneled saunas. There’s art on the walls — so far a couple power or safety.
of specially commissioned paintings by New York artist Shantell
Martin, with more to come — and the place is drowning in sunlight. CLIMBING HARNESS
All I could think during my tour was that someone had igured out
■ The Black Diamond Momentum SA Harness ($99.95,
a brilliant way to cram the world’s coolest playground into a giant blackdiamondequipment.com ) is suitable for any kind of
New York art gallery. climbing, so you can use it outdoor and indoor. A pre-threaded
speed adjust waistbelt buckle saves time and eliminates error
when tying in, while “Dual Core Construction” ensures comfort.
L I K E M O S T C L I M B I N G G Y M S , B R O O K LY N B O U L D E R S I S B R O K E N CLIMBING PANTS
into three areas for three diferent types of climbing: bouldering,
■ You want stretch without going full Lycra. “Prana makes
top roping and lead climbing. Both top roping and lead climbing some really great pants that are jean-esque yet have
involve ropes and a technique called belaying, in which one climber stretch,” says Mike Stewart, general manager of New York’s
applies tension on one end of a rope to keep another climber on Brooklyn Boulders. He recommends the Bridger Jean ($79,
the other end from falling. Bouldering, on the other hand, is done prana.com ). “These come with gusseted crotches, so you’re
not gonna blow them out. They have a cotton-spandex blend,
without ropes and generally maxes out at a height of around six so you’re gonna have that natural fibre feel and good movement
metres. The only equipment needed to boulder are a good pair of — and once again, no spandex thing going on or too much
climbing shoes, a bag of chalk and a padded loor to ease your falls. polyester to make noises when you walk down the hallway.”
In terms of diiculty, climbs start at beginner level, essentially
CLIMBING SHOES
like scaling a wonky ladder designed by a drunk, and go up to
pro level, which probably ■ “Climbing shoes have to be super-snug. Usually everybody’s
at least a full size down,” says Stewart. You can’t go wrong
means you’re slinging webs with the Evolv Defy Climbing Shoe ($89, evolvsports.com ),
and saving fellow citizens which has a lush bedroom slipper feel and comfort for extended
from costumed villains in wearing, plus soft midsole and sensitivity for feeling the rock
your of-hours. IF ALL YOU’RE and smearing.
One of the aspects of DOING IS CLIMBING, NECESSARY ACCESSORIES
climbing that makes it EXPECT TO GAIN
■ For the perfect grip, go with high-performance chalk which
addictive is you can get STRENGTH VERY works to absorb moisture on the hands to increase the friction
better at it quickly. This QUICKLY — NOTHING between the skin and the crag. We like the Black Diamond
is because most men can IS BETTER AT Refillable Chalk Shot ($9.95, blackdiamondequipment.com ).
compensate for a lack of CONFUSING YOUR It’s specifically blended for climbing to keep sweat at bay,
technical ability at the MUSCLES. ensuring maximum grip no matter how hot or humid it gets.

Height of fashion:
The latest indoor
rock climbing gyms
incorporate yoga
classes, weight rooms,
wall art, conference
centres and cafés.
beginning with strength. “When you start climbing, it’s super
rewarding to see that rapid progress, because your body is pretty
quick to adapt to it,” says Livesey. Such adaptability is the result
of the intense nature of the workout, similar to HIIT, which gets
you really fit really quickly. Of course, to continue to succeed,
itness must eventually be matched by technique, and that’s what
slows your progress at the intermediate levels. Good technique,
it turns out, is as difficult to acquire as muscle, if not more so.
“When you’re a good climber trying to get a little better, it’s a lot
of hard work,” Livesey says.
But you can make that work a lot easier by improving your
strength and flexibility. Chiefly with pullups, of course, but
also with workouts like yoga, which, thanks to its emphasis
on flexibility, core strength and bodyweight exercises,
can dramatically improve your abilities. One thing that surprises
a lot of beginners is how much you use your legs in climbing. Think
about it this way: you wouldn’t pull yourself up a ladder using only
your arms. It’s the same with climbing.
Also important to keep in mind if you start climbing is muscle
balance. Since climbing is all about pulling, you want your exercises
in the weight room to involve pushing, especially with regard to
your chest and triceps.
But if all you’re doing is climbing, expect to gain strength
fairly quickly. Muscle gains require variety, of course, and
nothing confuses your muscles like rock climbing. “One of the
big differences with rock climbing is the variety of movement
Brooklyn Boulders’ general
you’re performing,” says Livesey. “Your body doesn’t adapt to manager, Mike Stewart (far left),
it as it does with more regimented exercises. So you keep getting with a Friday afternoon crowd.
stronger.” Most rock-climbing gyms will change the routes every
four to six weeks as well, so your body never even has a chance
to get in a rut. And as for the workout itself, besides the obvious itself requires a tremendous burst of physical exertion, which means
muscle groups of arms and back, it also works your legs and, that most of what you’re actually doing while you’re at the gym
toafairlyaggressiveextent,yourcore.Frankly,I’veseenmoresix-packs is resting. “While you’re resting your body to be able to succeed,
in rock-climbing gyms than in any other workout space I’ve ever you can talk to the people around you,” says Jeremy Balboni.
been to. And though climbing rewards a good strength-to-weight Mikhail Martin, a coder and a regular at Brooklyn Boulders, says
ratio, anyone can climb. One of the most elite climbers of the 1980s, he often goes in just to hang out with other climbers, even when he
in fact, was John Dunne, a Brit known as much for his 90kg frame doesn’t feel like climbing. “I’ll go anyway and just have a good time.
as for his crazy skills. And those are the days when I end up climbing my best.”
Best of all, climbing is mentally engrossing. “I know from personal And, it’s worth mentioning, rock climbing attracts an inordinate
experience, when people go to a conventional gym, they’re clock number of women. Fit women. Like Sierra Blair-Coyle, who is
watching,” says Livesey. “With climbing, you almost have the an occasional model and, more important, a two-time national
opposite problem, where you’ve been climbing for two or three champion rock climber. Actress Lea Michelle apparently loves
hours and suddenly realise you should have been out of there 40 climbing so much she once conducted a magazine interview at a
minutes ago.” (I can attest to this: I became so engrossed in that climbing gym. “I think we can take credit for at least two marriages
one climb that I blew right past an 8 o’clock dinner appointment.) right now,” says Stewart, who notes that it’s much easier to strike up
This is due to the problem-solving aspects of climbing. Routes a conversation with a woman while climbing than on the treadmill.
are literally called “problems,” and when you inish a climb, you Just don’t give her a lecture. “One thing that drives me crazy is when
“send” it. The mental focus required to send the problem puts you guys try to mansplain how to climb to women,” says Cyrena Lee.
in a zone where you lose track of everything else that’s going on You’ll not only look like an arsehole, but it’s likely that you’ll be
around you. Imagine powering through a CrossFit or SoulCycle giving “advice” to someone who’s better than you.
workout while at the same As I rest for the last time on the padded floor in front of my
time working through a moderate climb route, I can’t help but stare at the girl burning up
Sudoku puzzle, and you the hardcore climb next to me. She’s clearly focused on the problem
have some understanding in front of her — so in control, so determined, that I wouldn’t dream
of what rock climbing is. I’VE SEEN MORE of trying to talk to her — well, at least not now. That’s when I’m
As corny as it sounds, SIX-PACKS IN reminded of a conversation I had earlier with Balboni. “It’s easy to
climbing is also communal. ROCK-CLIMBING bond here around this single purpose,” he told me, his hand patting
“We’re all about getting GYMS THAN IN ANY the wall, “which is succeeding at something that’s really hard.”
people to t ake their OTHER WORKOUT So maybe I’ll strike up a conversation with her afterward, whether
headphones out,” says SPACE I’VE EVER it’s by the gym’s café or near a water cooler. After all, I’ve fallen on
Stewart. The act of climbing BEEN TO. my face for the past two hours. I could use some expert advice. ■

Photographers: Keith Ladzinski and Sandra Salvas
USE.
DESIGN.
ENGINEER.
BUILD.
REPEAT.
seatosummitdistribution.com.au
enquiries@seatosummit.com.au
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● Body Book Ripped
CRUNCH- PHASE I:
3 WEEKS:
D AY I
FREE ABS
See your abs in six weeks with this
1A
FRONT
full-body workout. SQUAT
By Robert Yang Sets: 4 Reps: 6–8
Photographs by James Michelfelder Rest: 0 sec.
Grasp the bar with
■ Believe it or not, if you want a ripped

midsection, training your abs directly
should be last on your list of priorities. The
hands at shoulder width
and raise your elbows
until your upper arms
first step is cleaning up your diet. The second are parallel to the floor.
should be this program, which focuses on Take the bar out of the
rack and let it rest on
training the biggest muscles in your body
your fingertips. Step
to burn the most calories (thereby shedding back and set your feet
the fat that covers your abs). In six weeks, at shoulder width with
you’ll already be revealing some of the toes turned slightly out.
definition you’d buried beneath your belly. Squat as low as you can
And you’ll be shocked at how few abs without losing the arch
in your lower back.
exercises it took to get there.
1B
DUMBBELL
OVERHEAD
PRESS
How it works Sets: 4 Reps: 8–10
Rest: 0 sec.
■ This program comes
Directions Stand with feet
in two parts. You’ll do
shoulder-width apart
one phase of workouts and hold a dumbbell in
Alternate each
for three weeks and each hand at shoulder
workout (Day I and
then another three- level. Brace your core
Day II) for three
week phase with and press the weights
total sessions per
different workouts. straight overhead.
week, resting a day
The first part has
between each.
no direct ab training
So you can do Day I
at all, just circuits of
on Monday, Day II CHOOSE LOADS THAT ALLOW 1C
tough, big-muscle YOU TWO TO FOUR REPS MORE
exercises like squats
on Wednesday
and Day I again on THAN THE PRESCRIBED NUMBER. SQUAT
and presses that rev Sets: 4 Reps: 8–10
Friday in the first Rest: 60 sec.
up your metabolism.
week. (You’ll do
In the second phase, Nudge the bar out
Day II’s workout
once your body-fat of the rack and step
twice the second
levels are down enough back, setting your feet
week and repeat
to reveal some ab shoulder-width apart
the cycle.) The first
definition, we’ll target with toes turned out.
three weeks make Bend your hips back and
the six-pack with
up Phase I. After squat as low as you can
a hanging leg raise
the third week, without losing the arch
and weighted crunch
switch to the in your lower back.
variations, two of the
workouts in
most effective moves
Phase II, which are
for adding dense ab
done the same way.
muscle that pops
Exercises
through the skin.
marked “A”, “B” and
“C” are done in
sequence. Perform
one set of each,
and then rest
after C. Repeat for
the prescribed
number of sets.
Note that in Phase
II, the ab exercises
are A and B (not C),
so rest after B.
2A 2C IF YOU NEED HELP
BALANCING, HOLD
DUMBBELL FEET- A LIGHT WEIGHT
BENCH ELEVATED AT ARM’S LENGTH
PRESS PUSHUP IN FRONT OF YOU.
Sets: 4 Reps: 8–10 Sets: 4 Reps: As many
Rest: 0 sec. as possible Rest: 60 sec.
Hold a dumbbell in Get into pushup position

each hand and lie back and place your feet on
against a flat bench. a bench or box. Lower
Position the dumbbells your body until your
at shoulder level. Press chest is just above the
them over your chest. floor, and then push up.
2B 3
SINGLE-LEG FARMER’S
SQUAT TO WALK
BENCH Sets: 3 Reps: Walk
60 sec. Rest: 30 sec.
Sets: 4 Reps: 8–10
(each leg) Rest: 0 sec. Hold a heavy dumbbell
Set a bench or box in each hand and walk
behind you that’s tall as quickly as you can.
enough so that when Keep your shoulders
you sit on it your thighs back and chest out.
are parallel to the floor.
Extend one leg in front
of you and bend your
hips back to sit on the
bench, but don’t relax
on it. Extend your hips
to come back up.
P H A S E I : 3 W E E K S : D AY I I
1A 1B 1C
DEADLIFT WIDE-GRIP SWISS BALL
Sets: 4 Reps: 6–8
Rest: 0 sec.
PULLUP LEG CURL
Sets: 4 Reps: 8–10 Sets: 4 Reps: As many
Stand with feet hip- Rest: 0 sec. as possible Rest: 60 sec.
width apart and roll a Hang from a pullup bar Lie on the floor and rest
barbell up to your shins. with your hands twice your heels on a Swiss
Bend down to grasp shoulder-width apart. ball. Brace your abs and
S t ylin g by Chris tina Simone t ti; G ro omin g by Natasha Le ib e l / E xclu sive A r tis ts u sin g Ke ras t ase
it outside your knees. Pull yourself up until drive your heels into the
Keeping your lower back your chin is over the bar. ball to extend your hips.
in its natural arch, push From there, bend your
through your heels and knees and roll the ball
extend your hips until toward your butt.
you’re standing with
the bar in front of
your thighs.

2A 2B 2C 3
WIDE-GRIP BACK SEATED BATTLING
BENTOVER EXTENSION CABLE ROW ROPES
ROW Sets: 4 Reps: 12–15
Rest: 0 sec.
Rest: 60 sec.
OR BEAR
Rest: 0 sec.
CRAWL
Secure your feet on a Attach a V-grip handle Sets: 3 Reps: Work for
Set a barbell on a rack back-extension bench to the pulley of a seated 30 sec. Rest: 30 sec.
and grasp it with hands and set the pad just cable row machine. Set
under the crease of up on the bench with Secure a rope around
twice shoulder-width a fixed object and grasp
apart. Take it out of your hips. Bend your knees slightly bent and
hips and lower your grasp the handle with one end of it in each
the rack and step back. hand. Whip the rope
Bend your hips back torso as far as you palms facing each other.
can without losing the Row the handle to your into the floor as hard
and lower your torso and as fast as you can
until it’s parallel to arch in your lower back. sternum, drawing your
Squeeze your glutes shoulder blades back for 30 seconds. If you
the floor. Pull the bar don’t have a rope, get
to your belly button. and extend your hips and pushing your chest
to lockout so your body out. As you lower the on all fours and crawl
forms a straight line. weight, allow your torso forward like a bear for
to bend forward so your 30 seconds.
lats get a stretch.
P H A S E I I : 3 W E E K S : D AY I
1B
DUMBBELL
FRONT
1A SQUAT
BULGARIAN Sets: 4 Reps: 8–10
SPLIT SQUAT Rest: 0 sec.
Sets: 4 Reps: 6–8 (each Hold two dumbbells or
leg) Rest: 0 sec. kettlebells under your
Hold a dumbbell in each chin and perform the
hand and stand lunge front squat as described
length in front of a on Day I.
bench. Rest the top of
one foot on the bench
behind you. Bend both
1C
knees and lower your JEFFERSON
body until your rear SQUAT
knee nearly touches Sets: 4 Reps: 12–15
the floor. Keep your Rest: 60 sec.
torso upright.
Straddle a barbell with
your feet at right angles
to each other. Squat
down and grasp the bar
at arm’s length. Drive
through your heels to
stand up with it. Change
the leg that points
forward each set.
EXERCISES
THAT WORK
THE BIGGEST
MUSCLES DO
THE MOST
TO REVEAL
YOUR ABS.
2A
OVERHEAD
PRESS
Sets: 4 Reps: 6–8
Rest: 0 sec.
Set the bar on a rack at

shoulder level. Grasp it
with hands shoulder-
width apart. Nudge the
bar off the rack and step
back. Raise your elbows
so your forearms are
perpendicular to the
floor and brace your
abs. Press the bar
overhead, pushing your
head forward as the bar
clears your face.
2B
DIP
Rest: 0 sec.
Suspend your body

over parallel bars.
Lean forward as far
as possible with knees
bent. Lower your body
until your upper arms
are parallel to the floor.
2C
INCLINE 3A 3B
DUMBBELL HANGING HANGING
PRESS LEG RAISE KNEE RAISE
Sets: 4 Reps: 10–12 Sets: 3 Reps: As many Sets: 3 Reps: As many
Rest: 0 sec. as possible Rest: 0 sec. as possible Rest: 60 sec.
Set an adjustable bench IF YOUR Hang from a pullup bar Bend your knees
to a 30- to 45-degree TORSO BENDS and extend your legs 90 degrees and raise
angle. Hold a dumbbell BACKWARD beneath you. Brace them to hip level.
in each hand and press ON THE PRESS, your abs and raise
them over your chest. LIGHTEN THE your legs until your
WEIGHT. toes touch the bar.
P H A S E I I : 3 W E E K S : D AY I I
1A
SUMO
DEADLIFT
Sets: 4 Reps: 6–8
Rest: 0 sec.
Stand with feet outside

shoulder width and toes
turned out 45 degrees.
Bend hips back to grasp
the bar at arm’s length.
Push your knees out and
drive through your heels
to extend your hips to
lockout, lifting the bar
until it’s in front of
your thighs.

1B 1C
DUMBBELL HIP THRUST
SWING Sets: 3 Reps: 12–15
Rest: 60 sec.
Rest: 0 sec. Sit on the floor and roll
Stand with feet a loaded barbell into
shoulder-width apart your lap. (You may
and hold a kettlebell need to wrap it in a
(or dumbbell) with both towel or use a bar pad
hands. Bend your hips for comfort.) Lie back
back so the weight against a bench, bend
swings between your your knees and plant
legs and behind you. your feet on the floor.
Explosively extend Brace your abs and
your hips and allow the drive through your
momentum to raise the heels so you raise
weight to eye level. your hips off the floor
to full extension.
THE BARBELL HIP THRUST

STRENGTHENS THE GLUTES,
HAMSTRINGS AND CORE WITHOUT
RISKING BACK STRAIN.
2A
RENEGADE
ROW
Sets: 4 Reps: 8–10 (each
side) Rest: 0 sec.
Hold a dumbbell in
each hand and get into
pushup position with
your feet spread wide.
Brace your abs and
shift your weight to the
left side. Row the right-
hand dumbbell. Repeat
on the other side.
2B 3A
CABLE ROW WEIGHTED
TO NECK SWISS BALL
Rest: 0 sec.
CRUNCH
Attach a rope handle Rest: 0 sec.
to the top pulley of a Lie back on a Swiss ball
cable station and grasp holding a weight plate or
an end in each hand. dumbbell on your chest.
Stand away from the Allow your body to
machine to put tension mould around the ball
on the cable and row so you feel a stretch in
the handle to your neck, your abs. Raise your
flaring your elbows out. upper back off the
ball while driving your
2C lower back into the ball,
NEUTRAL- contracting your abs.
GRIP LAT 3B
PULLDOWN SWISS BALL
Rest: 60 sec. CRUNCH
Secure your knees Sets: 3 Reps: As many
as possible Rest: 60 sec.
under the pad of a
lat-pulldown station Perform the same
and attach a V-grip crunch movement
handle to the pulley. but without the
Pull the handle to weight plate.
your collarbone.

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BODY
BOOK Cardio expert
Magic mark? You’ll be

suprised at where the
“ideal” number of daily
steps originated.
Do you really need to take

10,000 steps a day to be fit?
THE EXPERT
NAME:
MANDY
COLEMAN
When your arse is planted on an office seat all day long it can be hard to rack up SPECIALITY:
enough movement to please an activity tracker, but the sooner you do, the better. BODY
TRANSFORMATION
■ Activity trackers like Fitbit suggest we

should set a daily goal of 10,000 steps
— but what’s the medical basis for that igure?
you get simply by moving. Apple CEO Tim Cook
was exaggerating when he called sitting “the
new cancer” but if there’s one thing all modern
for losing that belly, but in fact it has
the potential to induce catabolism (the
breakdown of muscle for energy) and
There isn’t any. The igure stems from 1960s studies into longevity prove, it’s that regular encourage cortisol production, which in
Japan, when a pedometer called manpo-kei movement is the key to long life. turn encourages fat storage.
(which literally means “10,000 step meter”) A low-impact activity that can be done every It’s perfectly possible to be it without
was created. It was a goal that sounded day without straining joints or muscles, brisk worrying about hitting a target set by a
challenging yet achievable, and this became walking gets your heart working at about 60% Japanese marketing team 50 years ago, but
the core of its marketing strategy. of your max rate, enough to provide health aiming to take 10,000 steps a day is an easy
Although the 10,000 igure was arbitrary in beneits without overtaxing your body. You way to stay as healthy as possible. Get a tracker,
its conception, research conducted since the might think running would be a better choice make a game of it and reap the rewards. ■
1960s shows that people who increase their
walking to hit the target do experience health
beneits. One study showed that it reduces
blood pressure, while another found it has MEASURE YOUR STRIDE
positive efects on blood glucose levels.
For people who lead sedentary lifestyles, Reach your own step goals with these ace activity trackers.
aiming for 10,000 steps is a no-brainer on the
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Some might argue that you could just skip distance, calories analog watch with to screen calls
shutterstock
one latte a day instead — 10,000 steps burns burnt, floors the functionality and text, plus
climbed and of a modern control your
around 400 calories — but then you’d be
active minutes. fitness tracker. phone’s music.
missing out on the numerous health beneits

LISTEN TO YOUR HEART
ACTIVITY TRACKER SMARTWATCH HEART RATE MONITOR
FOUND AT YOUR LOCAL by

● Body Book Good eats
Fresh catch.
Wheat breadcrumbs and
Greek yoghurt make bog
standard fish and chips
healthy and tasty.
Comfort-food flips When you’re in the mood for comfort food, you want it to taste like
With just a few quick ingredient swaps,
it’s supposed to — rich, delicious… comforting — not all “healthified”
“illegal” comfort foods can be turned into
healthy — yet still delicious — treats. W (“low fat!” “sugar free!”) and cardboard-y. Well, prepare your taste
buds for the surprise of a lifetime, because we’ve come up with
BY VIKKI KRINSK Y recipes that do the impossible: combine solid nutrition with real,
PHOTOGR APHS BY WILLIAM AND SUSAN BRINSON decadent indulgence. We’re talking gooey macaroni and cheese, crispy fish and
chips, downright sweet brownies — all just slightly modified so you can enjoy the
flavours you crave without the kilos that usually come with them. Trust us, even
a health food junkie will find these dishes delectable.

2
Butternut Pumpkin
Macaroni & Cheese
MAKES: 6 SERVINGS
INGREDIENTS
FOR MAC & CHEESE

500g spiral pasta
1 tsp olive oil
½ medium onion, grated
1 tsp liquid amino acids
1 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp fresh or
dried thyme
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp nutmeg
2 cups frozen or fresh
butternut pumpkin
1 cup chicken stock
Yeast inspection.
Nutritional yeast ½ cup unsweetened
contains B vitamins almond milk
that help produce 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
serotonin, which
boosts your mood. ½ cup grated white
cheddar cheese
FOR GARNISH
2 garlic cloves,
smashed and minced
½ cup gluten-free
breadcrumbs
2 tbsp chopped fresh
parsley
DIRECTIONS
1) Boil pasta and cook

until tender, 12 to
14 minutes.
2) Meanwhile, place
a large saucepan
over medium heat.
Add oil, onion, amino
acids, pepper, thyme,
cayenne and nutmeg. F o o d s t y l i n g b y C a r r i e P u r c e l l ; P r o p s t y l i n g b y E m i l y R i c k a r d / Tr i c i a J o y c e
FOR GREEK YOHGURT ¾ cup finely grated 4) Place polenta pieces
TA R TA R S A U C E
THE ONLY WAY Stir until onions are
Parmesan in a bowl and drizzle oil translucent.
1 on top. Add Parmesan
YOU’LL STICK
1 cup 0% Greek yoghurt Pinch of black pepper WITH EATING 3) Add pumpkin, stock,
and pepper. Gently almond milk and yeast
2 tbsp sweet relish
DIRECTIONS
toss until polenta GOOD FOOD and bring to a boil.
2 tbsp chopped is coated. IS IF IT TASTES Turn off heat. With
Crumbed Fish fresh chives 1) Preheat oven to 190°. 5) Line a baking sheet BETTER THAN a blender, puree the
& Chips 1 tsp chopped fresh dill In a bowl, combine with foil and lightly JUNK FOOD. sauce until smooth.
PAG E 11 5 breadcrumbs, coat with cooking Stir in cheese.
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Parmesan, pepper spray. Place the 4) Strain pasta and stir
MAKES: 4 SERVINGS Juice of 1 lemon and flaxseed. coated polenta bites it into the sauce.
Pinch of salt on the sheet and bake
INGREDIENTS 2) Coat a baking pan 5) In a saucepan over
for 12 minutes.
Pinch of cayenne with cooking spray medium heat, add
FOR FISH pepper and place fish on it. 6) Divide polenta tots garlic, breadcrumbs,
¼ cup whole-wheat Dill pickles Sprinkle the crumb among plates and top and parsley and
breadcrumbs mixture evenly over each with a piece of cook for a minute.
FOR CHEESY the fish. Bake for fish; serve with a few Serve pasta in bowls,
¼ cup grated Parmesan
P O L E N TA T O T S 15 minutes. pickles and a dollop of garnished with
Pinch of black pepper tartar sauce. breadcrumb mixture.
1 (500g) tube organic 3) In a bowl, combine
1 tsp ground flaxseed polenta, cut into 3cm yoghurt, relish,
4 snapper fillets (100g rounds, then diced chives, dill, mustard, N U T R I T I O N (PER SERVING) N U T R I T I O N (PER SERVING)
each), without skin into bite-size pieces lemon juice, salt and 388 calories, 364 calories,
Drizzle of extra-virgin cayenne pepper. Chill 41g protein, 30g 10g protein, 68g
olive oil until ready to serve. carbs, 12g fat carbs, 7g fat

● Body Book Good eats
lengthwise, deep
enough to open them
4 in half. Line a baking
sheet with foil and
place sweet potatoes
flesh side down. Bake
American for 25 minutes.
Sloppy Joes 2) Place a pan on
medium-high heat and
MAKES: 4 SERVINGS
add oil. Add turkey
and break it up with
INGREDIENTS
a spoon. Lower heat
4 medium sweet to medium-low and
potatoes cook the meat.
1 tbsp coconut oil 3) Add salsa, tomato
sauce, honey, vinegar
450g lean turkey mince and mustard. Season
2 (300g) jars with salt, pepper
tomato salsa and garlic powder.
1 (500g) jar of Cook until the
tomato paste mixture thickens.
1 tsp honey 4) When potatoes are
done, scrape them
2 tbsp apple-cider with a fork to loosen
vinegar the skin. Place pota-
1 tbsp honey mustard toes, open side up, on
the plate, and scoop
¼ tsp salt
a heaping ladle of the
Ground pepper turkey mixture into the
1 tsp garlic powder centers. Garnish each
plate with parsley.
½ cup roughly chopped
flat-leaf parsley
N U T R I T I O N (PER SERVING)
DIRECTIONS
446 calories,
1) Preheat oven to 190°. 35g protein,
Cut sweet potatoes 44g carbs, 16g fat
¾ tbsp mint extract (or ½

cup fresh mint leaves)
5 2 tbsp maple syrup
DIRECTIONS
Brownies w/ 1) Preheat oven to 180°.

Whipped Mint In a high-powered
Cashew Cream blender, add dates,
tofu, cocoa powder,
MAKES: 16 SERVINGS almond milk, 2 tbsp
Mint condition. cacao nibs, vanilla,
Mint leaves promote INGREDIENTS chia seeds, cayenne
digestion and cleanse and salt. Blend,
the palate. FOR BROWNIES periodically pausing
12 pitted dates, soaked the blender to scrape
in warm water down the sides.
30 minutes 2) Add flour and baking
1 tsp salt 3) Transfer vegetables QUINOA’S powder and pulse
to a large mixing bowl 1 package silken tofu
3 1 egg
and add turkey and
STARCHY the blender until
½ cup unsweetened incorporated but do
2 tbsp chopped the quinoa mixture. NATURE cocoa powder not overblend. Coat
flat-leaf parsley Add salt and egg. MAKES IT A a 9-by-9 baking dish
Gently combine. SUBSTITUTE ½ cup unsweetened
FOR GLAZE with cooking spray
Quinoa Meat Loaf almond milk
½ cup organic ketchup
4) Line a baking sheet FOR BREAD- and transfer the
MAKES: 8 SERVINGS
with foil and lightly CRUMBS. 3 tbsp cacao nibs (or batter to the dish.
1 tsp Worcestershire coat with cooking mini dark chocolate 3) Top batter with the
sauce spray. Mold the meat chips), reserve 1 tbsp
INGREDIENTS 1 tbsp reserved cacao
1 tsp Tabasco sauce into a rectangular for garnish nibs and almonds.
1 cup quinoa, cooked shape in the centre.
1 tsp cumin 2 tbsp vanilla extract Bake for 40 minutes,
In a bowl, mix all the
1 tsp thyme or until brownies
1 tsp honey glaze ingredients 2 tbsp chia seeds are set. Let cool
1 tsp chilli powder together and brush
Dash of cayenne before cutting.
DIRECTIONS over meat loaf.
1 tsp black pepper pepper 4) Place all cashew
1) Preheat oven to 5) Bake meat loaf for
about 45 minutes, Pinch of salt cream ingredients in
½ cup unsweetened 180°. In a small bowl,
or until the internal the blender and blend.
almond milk combine cooked
temperature is well 6 tbsp brown rice flour To serve, place a
½ medium white onion, quinoa, thyme, chilli brownie on a plate
powder, black done (90° on a meat ½ tsp baking powder
roughly chopped thermometer). Let and top with a dollop
pepper and almond 1 tbsp sliced almonds of the cashew cream.
1 small carrot, chopped milk. Set aside. stand 5 minutes
before slicing. Garnish with a mint
½ medium red capsicum, 2) In a food processor, Sprinkle with parsley. FOR MINT CASHEW sprig, if you like.
chopped combine onion, CREAM
carrot, capsicum, 2 cups raw cashews, N U T R I T I O N (PER SERVING)
½ cup rocket N U T R I T I O N (PER SERVING)
rocket and garlic. soaked in warm water
2 garlic cloves Pulse until all are well 345 calories, at least 15 minutes 189 calories, 5g
chopped. Be careful 41g protein, protein, 20g carbs,
600g lean turkey mince not to overchop. 12g carbs, 17g fat 5 cups fresh spinach 12g fat

● Body Book Supps
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5 strawberries, stalks removed Handful of blueberries 100ml chilled coffee 1 orange, peeled
400ml milk Handful of blackberries 300ml almond milk 400ml pineapple juice
1tsp vanilla extract 2tsp manuka honey 1tsp cinnamon 1 banana, sliced
Water, to taste Water, to tastete Water, to taste Water, to taste
One regular strawberry contains A potent antioxidant cocktail that Trade your normal morning coffee for Winter’s the best time of year to enjoy
Henr y Car ter
20% of your RDA of recovery- will help stave off illness in the a bonus hit of calcium-heavy almond seasonal citrus fruits, when their
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BODY
BOOK Muscle expert
Full potential.
You won’t reach
it without total-
body exercises.
Should I train movements THE EXPERT
instead of muscles? NAME:

VERN GAMBETTA
SPECIALITY:
Put it this way: focus on one area and you do so at the expense of overall co-ordination. STRENGTH AND
CONDITIONING
■ When you irst go to the gym, it’s

tempting to just focus on your chest
and arms. It’s what most of your fellow
per movement in each workout, performed
back to back as a superset (any more increases
the risk of injury, which is another reason
exercises, barbell squats and dumbbell lunges
for your squatting exercises or alternating
dumbbell bench presses and pushups for
gym-goers will probably be doing — and to avoid spending a whole workout targeting your pushing exercises. To further reine
everyone wants to look good in a T-shirt. only one area). your workout, do any total-body exercises —
But in reality, whether you want to build for example, deadlifts for pulling or push press
a stronger body, get better at sports or just MOVE TO IMPROVE for pushing — at the start of the workout, and
prepare yourself for day-to-day life, it pays to An example would be to twin dumbbell high save exercises that are speciic to the upper
base your sessions on how your body works as pulls with kettlebell swings for your pulling or lower body for the end. ■
a whole rather than targeting speciic parts.
Weightlifting involves training your body to
be better co-ordinated when dealing with added
resistance and teaching your muscles to link up MAKE YOUR MOVES Gambetta’s picks for targetting the main movement patterns.
and work through diferent movement patterns
more powerfully and eiciently. If you focus 5
1
on and isolate speciic muscles, you reduce the PUSH ROTATION
amount of full-body co-ordination required,
and with it the relevance to real-life situations. PUSHUP RUSSIAN TWIST (right)
Compare training your legs using machine Keep your core and Tense your core to
leg extensions and barbell squats. The squat glutes tensed to stop your feet or the
illustrations: sudden impact / shut terstock
ensure you’re working kettlebell touching the

requires your hip, knee and ankle to work
your whole body. ground as you twist
together, while the leg extension isolates the from side to side.
quad and trains it out of context. Guess which
is more useful when you’re climbing a step? 2 3 4
Instead of splitting your workouts into PULL SQUAT BRACE
body parts, I suggest making them all full-body DUMBBELL ALTERNATING PLANK
sessions, and ensuring that each contains HIGH PULL (left) DUMBBELL LUNGE Keep your body
exercises that work through the ive main Think about spreading (above) tense and straight,
movement patterns: pushing, pulling, squatting, your elbows wide Keep your chest up and avoid the
bracing and rotating (see right). You don’t apart and pulling throughout, and push off temptation to let
need to train each pattern exhaustively, either. the dumbbells back your front leg to return your hips sag.
I recommend a maximum of two exercises rather than high up. to the start position.

BODY
BOOK Home workout
HOW IT WORKS
Each of these moves comes with
a form tweak to prevent cheating,
but you still need to make sure
you’re strict. Keep the movement
to the muscles you’re supposed to
be working and you’ll see benefits
from this plan faster.
DIRECTIONS
Do the sets and reps shown for
each move, resting for 45 seconds
between sets. Increase the reps as
you improve (as shown in the table).
Aim to complete the whole routine
twice a week.
WEEK 1 WEEK 3
Sets 3 Reps 6 Sets 4 Reps 6
WEEK 2 WEEK 4
Sets 3 Reps 8 Sets 4 Reps 8
W o r d s J o e S n a p e P h o t o g r a p h y R u p e r t F o w e r M o d e l F r e d d i e A b r a h a m s @ WA t h l e t i c
Light weights,
■ Get a set of weights for the house, the thinking goes,
and at some point you’ll outgrow them: conventional
Adidas Los Angeles shoe £65, adidas.co.uk
squats and curls won’t challenge you enough and it’ll

be time for a trade-up in size. But there’s a solution
big results
Self-limiting exercises toughen up workouts and
at hand. By picking moves where it’s impossible to cheat,
sometimes known as “self-limiting” exercises, you’ll
challenge the muscles you’re actually trying to target while
keeping larger muscles out of the equation. The workout
here targets five prime movers for a full-body session
give old dumbbells a new lease of life. that’ll challenge you even with the smallest of dumbbells.

REVERSE GOBLET LUNGE
■ Holding a dumbbell will stop you from swinging
your arms and keep the focus on your quads, where
it should be. Hold the top of the bell in both hands
in front of your chest, then take a big step back into
a lunge, letting your back knee brush the ground
before you step back up. Repeat on the other leg
to complete one rep.
A B
BENT-OVER ROW
■ Bend at the waist with a dumbbell in each hand,
keeping your legs straight. Row the weights up to
your chest, focusing on bringing your elbows back
rather than pulling with your hands. If your back
moves, you’re cheating.
A B
FLOOR PRESS
■ This limits you to a smaller range of motion
than the dumbbell bench press, safeguarding your
shoulders and forcing you to use correct form.
Press the dumbbells overhead, keeping your
shoulders pressed to the floor. Lower until your
triceps touch the floor.
A B
SLIDING SINGLE-LEG DEADLIFT

■ The SLDL usually has a “seesaw” effect — keep
your foot on a towel to stay under control and cancel
this out. Start with a dumbbell in each hand and lean
forward with your back neutral, allowing your foot
to slide backwards. Use your back and hamstrings
to straighten up.
A B
KNEELING
OVERHEAD PRESS
■ Always find yourself adding a bit of leg drive to
your overhead pressing? This fixes it. Kneel, holding
the dumbbells at shoulder height. Press up until your
arms are straight, then reverse the whole move.
A B
S EBOARD
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BODY
BOOK Body expert
No break.
Supersets ramp
up fat loss.
Can I really get a

six-pack in a month?
You can reveal your abs sooner than you think if you employ
THE EXPERT
NAME: CHRIS
WALTON
portion control and exercise to increase metabolism. SPECIALITY:
METABOLISM
■ How quickly you can reveal your

six-pack depends largely on how
committed you are — and how prepared to
the real way to reveal your abs. I routinely see
clients lose 10kg of fat in eight weeks. This is
done through portion control and by using
CARB ALARM
A lot of people go carb-free when trying to
lose fat. This is a mistake — the body reacts
ignore the standard advice. For example, diet to regulate the hormones controlling badly to a low-carb intake after two or three
health authorities advise dropping no more blood sugar and appetite. I also train clients weeks. First, your thyroid slows production
than 1kg a week for healthy weight loss. Not in a way that stimulates muscle growth, as of the cells responsible for metabolism, and
only is that based on poor assumptions, it’s also well as creating a “metabolic disturbance” second, there’s an increase in production of
totally unambitious. First, it assumes exercise that keeps their metabolism — the body’s the hormone cortisol. As well as storing fat
isn’t part of the plan. Why? Because the second fat-burning mechanism — high for up to around the belly, this breaks down muscle
assumption is that weight loss is achieved by 36 hours after training (see below). tissue and causes insulin resistance, which all
restricting calories. That’s in spite of mounting In fact, you can eat more thanks to the spells bad news for fat loss.
evidence suggesting losing weight isn’t as metabolism change that comes from building So, yes, it’s totally possible to see your abs
simple as a calories in/out equation. new muscle tissue. This will support further in four weeks. If you’re overweight it’ll take
Besides, getting a six-pack is not about losing lean tissue growth as well as ensuring the longer, but the immediate changes should
weight — it’s about burning fat. And losing body doesn’t feel “starved” and hold on to fat, be dramatic enough to keep you going until
1kg-plus of fat per week isn’t just possible, it’s thereby concealing your abs. a six-pack starts taking shape. ■
METABOLISM DISTURBERS
Start your workouts with supersets that put your body in fat-burning mode fo
1A DEADLIFT CH 2B CHINUP
Works the Works the
back of the he back of the
lower body the upper body
ody
2A
Wo
fro
lower body
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How hard is it to...
Dive to 100m
0-10m
At 10m the lungs
shrink to half their
Freediving is an exploration of the unknown — both of the normal size
ocean and of man’s physical limits. How deep could you go?
Raimondo Bucher 99% of blackouts

What goes down
dived 30m to win happen on
might not come up
a 50,000-lira bet. return to the
Competitive surface, 0.9% happen
freediving — diving We’re born to dive beyond 10m
as deep as possible
on a single breath “Humans can
— tests the limits survive at amazing
of human ability depths due to the The return feels like
in the most hostile mammalian dive swimming against
environment on reflex,” Skolnick a stiff current until
Earth. “Hundreds says. As the lungs the final 10m
of metres below contract, blood
the ocean’s surface vessels involuntarily
organs compress, constrict, pushing
light disappears blood to the core
and one mistake to fill the vacuum
could kill you,” says with fluid that can’t
Adam Skolnick, be compressed.
10-20m
author of One Breath: At the same time, The pulse can
Freediving, Death blood vessels in slow to as
And The Quest To the heart and brain little as 20bpm —
Shatter Human dilate, flooding known as
Limits. Yet it’s rarely them with oxygen
lethal. In 2013, bradycardia
so you can function,
American Nicholas and the spleen
Mevoli, the focus of contracts, sending a
Skolnick’s book, was fresh supply of red
the first death in over blood cells into the
35,000 comp dives. circulatory system.
You’ve already It’s breathtaking

mastered it
You must be able
Freediving is to hold your breath
universal. You’ve at the surface for
probably done it close to six minutes
yourself. “Anybody to be capable of
who’s ever dived to diving to 100m. “It
the bottom of a pool takes hundreds of
has done it,” says hours under water to At 20m underwater
20m+
Skolnick. Roman prepare your body for gravity takes

freedivers used it to the demands of deep
erect underwater sea equalisation,” over and you sink
barricades. The Ama says Skolnick. The like a stone
are mostly female hatha yoga pose
Japanese divers who uddiyana bandha, or
look for pearls in a upward abdominal
tradition said to go lock, is practised
back two millennia. daily by elite
Freediving freedivers. It helps
became a sport in them control their
1949 when Italian diaphragm and fight
Air Force captain the urge to gasp.
Herbert Nitsch
of Greece holds the
214m
What it takes No-Limits record of

214m set in 2007, using
● Zen-like calm a weighted sled to
● Six-minute lung capacity dive down and an
● 20bpm resting heart rate
inflatable bag to return
Difficulty rating 10/10
The depths of courage
You have to be able to hold

your breath for six months
at the surface before you
can freedive 100m.
■ No-one knows the

perils of underwater
diving better that
American Scott Cassell. A
counterterrorism combat
dive instructor to the US
Special Ops community,
Cassell attempted
a record-breaking
83km scuba dive from
Santa Catalina Island
to San Pedro Harbor,
California, in 2011. His
mission was to explore
the decline in the local
shark population, but
owing to an equipment
failure, he blacked out
after five hours and had
to resurface. Battling
hypothermia and
extreme dehydration,
he returned to
complete the record
dive — an incredible
feat. It’s only one of the
reasons why Cassell
is considered a legend
in undersea exploring.
He also documents
his discoveries for
science, and hunts down
lawbreakers whose
activities threaten ocean
ecosystems. On every
expedition he sports a
watch from the Luminox
Scott Cassell Special
3950 Series —
the rugged time piece
Men’s Fitness
recommends
for all divers.
Luminox
Scott Cassell
Special 3950
$700,
luminox.com
by Zak N.
©2016 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Waterproof case used.

Nuke Your T Killer: Are You Tough Enough?

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PRIEST’S

OLYMPICTRIATHLO AINING PLAN CONFESSION

THE NEW MEASURE OF SUCCESS

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Breakthroughs Game Changers 106 Columns Features

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12 View from the top

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