Whether you're a newbie to the gym, anxious to start putting on some size with simple moves, or a grizzled veteran after a fresh way to add muscle mass quickly, our bulk up plans range from beautifully simple and easy to cutting-edge and hardcore. Our readers have put on hundreds of pounds of muscle over the years using scientifically-calibrated plans created exclusively for Men's Health.
Were it Swiss, Seiko’s reputation on these shores would be even higher than it already is. In its native Japan, where it was founded in 1881, it’s revered, seen as one of the great historic brands and recognised for high quality production standards that cover every aspect of watchmaking. Its slightly muddied rep over here is partly down to its role at the heart of the quartz revolution that swept the world in the 1970s, all but crushing its traditional Swiss watchmaking equivalent with its cheap timekeepers. But Seiko’s list of firsts is deeply impressive, as is its contemporary collection, which is full of intriguing innovations. Forget the past, Seiko is a fine company.
Seiko’s 1980s watches paved the way for the smartwatches of today. In 1983 it made the world’s first TV watch and the first watch with a sound recorder, and in 1985 it made the UC-2000, a watch that came with a keyboard accessory that turned it into a computer.
It demonstrates balance and control over your body, something we happen to put great importance upon here at Nerd Fitness. It’s also one HELL of a party trick, something you can work on without a single piece of equipment, builds functional strength and muscular endurance, and it’s a skill you can work on in just a few minutes every single day.
How do I know this? Because I’m typing this while in a handstand RIGHT NOW. Okay, I can’t do that. But Jim, Master of the NF Fitness Universe can:
jim typing
I love working with gymnastic rings, because they have such a great tutorial level. Handstands are exactly the same way: it’s a great skill to work on as a beginner, but also is infinitely challenging depending on your skill level.
Plus, in addition to Jim, Luke Skywalker does them. It’s time to stop looking at other people doing cool things and start today saying “hey, I can do that too!”
Why handstands are awesome
Jim-Bathurst
Team Nerd Fitness member Jim Bathurst has been training and working on handstands for years. From humble beginnings, he taught himself a standard handstand and eventually worked his way up to one-handed tricks like the photo above.
Now, you won’t be doing this anytime soon, but it doesn’t mean you can’t start today learning how to go inverted.
Fun fact: I can’t say the word inverted without thinking of Top Gun’s line “because we were inverted,” but that’s only because I used to watch that movie with my brother every day from ages 3 to 5.
I’ve fallen in love with handstands for a few reasons:
Like other bodyweight training, there’s no excuse. If you have room to stand up, you have room to practice handstands.
It recruits DOZENS of muscles in your body. From arm strength to wrist mobility to core strength to shoulder mobility and muscular endurance, handstands do it all. When you are trying to balance, it makes your body work as one complete unit.
It scares you – yes, that’s a positive. We grow outside our comfort zone and for many people, just the thought of a handstand is enough to make their palms sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy. Vomi… nevermind. The point is that the handstand is just as much of a mental challenge as it is a physical one. How scared do you think this guy gets on a regular basis?
Do you train hard and see little in the way of muscle gain? How about an endless toil in the gym, struggling to lose fat? The chances are, you're going about it all wrong. The real way to hit your training goals is adapting your plan to your body type.
Men can generally be classed as one of three body types.
Ectomorphs: skinny guys that struggle to gain weight. They're your classic “hard-gainers”.
Endomorphs: large-bodied and generally soft, these bodies gain bulk easily but also store fat along the way.
Mesomorphs: the ones everybody envy because they're naturally lean and athletic. They can put on muscle comparatively easily and they don't require huge amounts of maintenance.
The hot potato squat may sound like a kid’s recess activity, but don’t be fooled—it’s also a cutting-edge fat-loss exercise that will get your heartpumping and your muscles burning in almost no time, says BJ Gaddour, C.S.C.S., owner of StreamFit.com. It starts with one of the most effective exercises invented: the squat. When done correctly, a squat trains a lot of muscles, particularly big ones like your quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes. In fact, it burns more calories per rep than almost any other exercise.
But why stop there? Gaddour throws an airborne dumbbell into the mix to make this classic move even more challenging and beneficial. “Holding the weight on just one side of your body increases the demand placed on your core to keep your body stable,” he says. “As the weight changes from side to side, your core muscles are worked from every angle.”
The plank strengthens the dozens of muscles between your shoulders and hips.
But if you jack your feet in and out as you do it, the plank suddenly becomes so much more than just a core builder.
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The quick movement of your feet provides a great dynamic stability challenge that makes your abs scream, and ramps up your heart and metabolic rate.
And you can make it even more difficult by changing up your arm positioning. This creates an unbalanced foundation, so you have to work harder to perform the same exercise.
Put it all together using the plank jack complex below. Do each of the following four plank variations for 15 seconds each without resting. Once you’ve completed the fourth exercise, rest one minute. That’s one round. Perform up to five total rounds.
Do you train hard and see little in the way of muscle gain? How about an endless toil in the gym, struggling to lose fat? The chances are, you're going about it all wrong. The real way to hit your training goals is adapting your plan to your body type.
Men can generally be classed as one of three body types.
Ectomorphs: skinny guys that struggle to gain weight. They're your classic “hard-gainers”.
Endomorphs: large-bodied and generally soft, these bodies gain bulk easily but also store fat along the way.
Mesomorphs: the ones everybody envy because they're naturally lean and athletic. They can put on muscle comparatively easily and they don't require huge amounts of maintenance.
You think you know leg-day pain? PT igh-volume supersets will leave you duck-waddling down the stairs for days. It'll also build you pins that look like they're carved by Rodin. Complete each superset twice, then move on to the next bit of kit.
Nearly two thirds of gym memberships go unused. Don’t let yours be one of them. Make sticking to your fitness plan effortless with these five easy ways to boost motivation. And if you don’t have a plan yet, use ours: sign up to our free Men’s Health #5in5 workout programme to lose 5kg fat and gain 5kg of muscle in just five weeks!
Pepper your day with casual clues – trainers by the front door at home, gym bag ready-packed in your car, protein shake on your desk at work – as reminders of your intention to train, and take time to recall how great you felt after your last workout. Positive memories of your last session send motivation levels soaring, found researchers at the University of New Hampshire. Just be sure to focus on how great you felt after squeezing out that squat, rather than how difficult it was to walk down the stairs to the changing room afterwards.
People who report their progress to others are more likely to carry on with a training plan. But that reporting doesn’t have to be face-to-face, according to research in the Journal of American College Health. The study authors found that logging fitness activity online for others to see inspired as much motivation as regularly working out with a group. But remember: you are notJen Selter. Spare your followers an endless stream of #fitspiration by signing up for the Men’s Health Personal Trainer tool and get access to training and nutrition plans personalised for your unique strength, stats and training goals.
Would you be more likely to go to the gym if you had to fork out a fiver for skipping it? If the answer is yes, you’re not alone, according to a handful of studies and the creators of Pact, a clever smartphone app that has users check in at their gyms via GPS and charges them for missed workouts. Each week, money is pooled from the non-exercisers and distributed among Pact users who have managed to hit their workout goals. Sign up and never skip a workout to earn money and muscle.
If you work out with a buddy, make sure he’s in similar shape, suggests a study in the journal Science. Researchers found participants who exercised with partners similar in BMI, age, and fitness level were more than three times as likely to stick with their fitness plans as those with less compatible partners. Whatever you do, don’t work out with someone much fitter, say scientists. That sets unrealistic goals and undermines motivation.
Large goals can seem unattainable. Instead, focusing on incremental victories brings better results, report scientists in the Journal of Consumer Research. So rather than dwelling on the 15 pounds you want to lose, think about doubling your current 3-pound loss.
Dame Sally Davies, England’s chief medical officer today stated in her annual report that tackling obesity should be a national priority to avert a “growing health catastrophe”.
While the report looked specifically at women, England’s top doc said obesity was so serious that is should be a priority for the whole population. She also warned that the food industry needed to pull its socks up or face a sugar tax (do we need a sugar tax? Join the debate).
Obesity throughout the country is an epidemic, and we need to act fast before it overwhelms our body, the NHS and the economy. It’s causing a fatal class divide and thousands of deaths. If something isn’t done, our nation could collapse under its own weight.
Men’s Health investigates what can be done…
You don’t need a time machine to glimpse this fatter future. A trip to Coatbridge, Lanarkshire will do. According to market researchers CACI, this Scottish town has the UK’s fattest residents. One in five has a BMI above 30 and cabbies limit loads to two passengers. It’s no coincidence that Britain’s fat capital is also one of its most deprived areas. A map of the UK drawn by the National Obesity Observatory (NOO) shows a stark class and geographical divide. The fattest areas include the North East, where unemployment rates are among the highest at 9.6%. Earning power seems directly linked to your girth, with only 21.6% of top-earning households seriously over weight, compared with 29.3 % of households where cash is tight.
If we don’t act, our ‘fatocalypse’ will become reality. The Foresight report predicts that by 2050 we’ll have an economic and health crisis if current trends continue. If you’re one of those making up the far-too-round number, the personal consequences will be dire. The British Dietetic Association warns that risk of fatal disease increases by 1% for every pound you’re overweight. Obesity ups your risk of heart disease by 82%, your risk of type 2 diabetes doubles if your BMI hits 25 and University of Aberdeen research found a 20lb (9kg) weight increase cuts your chances of fatherhood by 10%. Harvard Medical School has even coined a new term for patients suffering from obesity-related diabetes: ‘diabesity.’
Looking at the big picture, the cost to society will be crippling. NHS spending will increase from £104 to £114bn by 2015, but in real terms it will be static, thanks to rising costs and patient numbers. Health charity The King’s Fund and economic think tank The Institute of Fiscal Studies estimate this leaves a £20bn funding gap. “There’s a gap between what we’d like to spend and what we have, and obesity comes into that,” says King’s Fund health economist John Appleby. “NHS funding is flat in real terms and the cash just won’t be there.”
While the NHS budget flatlines, obesity costs are soaring. Over 5.5m over-16s are on obesity registers, a rise of 250,000 in the past year. Research by Diabetes UK shows the impact of this in a 5.5% rise in type 2 diabetes cases in a single year. Treating diabetes costs the NHS an annual £8bn, the cost of prescription weight-loss drugs is up 13% to £47m, and obesity operations 40% to £32m. Perhaps the most shocking figure is that each NHS hospital spends an average of £60,000 annually on ‘supersizing’ beds, wheelchairs and equipment for heavier patients. All this while cancer drugs are being rationed.
Related: Are you sleepwalking your way towards type 2 diabetes?
The predicted cost to the nation also includes the amount taxpayers will be funding in incapacity benefit for those whose obesity-related health problems mean they can barely walk, let alone travel to an office. “The consequences are so wide-ranging that no country, however wealthy, will be able to afford the fallout – whether it’s pervasive diabetes affecting 30-50% of adults or heart disease, ar thritis, cancers or respiratory problems,” says Professor Philip James, chair of the International Obesity Task Force. He points out that the fat epidemic is already responsible for half of all the increasing costs of the US health sector.
So far, the government’s response has been to ‘nudge’ the public into slimming down, with initiatives like cinema tickets for children who walk to school. The Department of Health says it is ‘concerned’ about the prevalence of obesity and its ‘serious implications’. A spokesman told MH that ministers were ‘working hard’ on new measures but ‘nannying’ people to lose weight is not on the agenda. “The Government’s role is not to lecture people, not to nanny them, not constantly to be legislating or taxing them,” says the DoH spokesman. Many experts argue that more drastic action is needed.
Some German politicians have already suggested fat people should pay higher taxes because of the burden they place on the health system. Or there should at least be a tax on fatty food. “A junk food tax is sound in principle,” says Paul Sacher, specialist dietician at Great Ormond Street Hospital.“ But it will only work if it’s high enough to stop people buying high-fat, sugar and salt foods. Otherwise it just becomes a tax on the poor.” And, he argues, cash raised through a tax on unhealthy foods should be used to subsidise more nutritious foods. Sacher also supports limiting advertising unhealthy foods to children to ‘minimise’ the ‘pester power effect.’
The influential health journalist Ian Marber takes a more radical stance, calling on the Government to bring in National Insurance pay bands which reflect our individual lifestyles. Those who don’t exercise, or have a high body fat, should pay the top band. “Those who don’t drink or smoke and eat healthily should pay the lowest amount,” says Marber. “It’s like any other type of insurance. You pay according to your risk.”
How we stop the next generation from supersizing is one of the most vital issues. Children are feeding their ‘fat future’ before the age of five and parents are often to blame, argues Terry Wilkin, professor of endocrinology and metabolism at Peninsula Medical School in Plymouth. His long-term research found sons of obese fathers are six times more likely to be obese, and he stresses that we need to tackle parents to stop this ‘conveyor belt’. “Obese parents are ‘recycling’ their obesity through inappropriate feeding,” says Wilkin. The demise of family mealtimes has an impact, he argues, because we no longer understand the impact of portion sizes. It’s a theory backed by University of Wales research, which showed children who don’t have set mealtimes don’t learn appropriate eating habits. “It’s vital that we educate children at an early age, but it has to be a whole family approach – the parents buying the food need the knowledge and understanding, too,” says Sacher. Wilkin’s solution is controversial: “We should target obese couples pre-conception.”
Related: Obesity is gentic but it can be fought!
Obviously blame doesn’t rest solely at the (partially obscured) feet of overweight individuals. Many stress that the food industry’s role in the global obesity crisis needs to be tackled. No one force-feeds us quarter pounders, but are they playing with our minds? Dr David Kessler, former commissioner of the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), warns that food chains – including supermarkets – are manipulating us so that we consume more. His book, the New York Times bestseller The End of Overeating, highlights the use of salt, sugar and fat as the most commonly used ingredients, in terms of dietary manipulation. His investigations revealed that some restaurant chains deliberately increase these ‘killer’ ingredients in starters, so we eat more throughout the meal and are more likely to develop addictive eating behaviour.
Related: 11 of the best exercises to lose weight
A first step in controlling the food industry could – and many say should – be to ban the use of trans fats. These chemically-altered vegetable oils are public enemy number one, according to Professor Lindsey Davies, president of the UK Faculty of Public Health. They’re in many of processed foods because they’re cheap, bulk ingredients, which prolong shelf lives. But they have no nutritional value, Davies points out, and cause a redistribution of fat tissue into the abdomen, upping your bodyweight, even when you’re controlling calorie intake. Their link to obesity has been confirmed in research by Wake Forest University in the US. “Thousands are dying from them,” says Davies. “And we get hysterical about E. coli, which may kill a handful of people. Trans fats are contaminating food.”
If our weighty issue isn’t tackled now, we could be facing a bleak nutritional future. Wilkin believes there will come a time when there will be draconian measures, just as society came round to a public smoking ban. The Future Foundation goes further, predicting a Christmas Future where sugary foods are banned and chocolate is rationed. It’s not so improbable. In the US, education chiefs in Pennsylvania have drafted regulations limiting classroom birthday parties to one a month.
In the meantime, maybe it’s better to give that burger a miss.
The plank strengthens the dozens of muscles between your shoulders and hips.
But if you jack your feet in and out as you do it, the plank suddenly becomes so much more than just a core builder.
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The quick movement of your feet provides a great dynamic stability challenge that makes your abs scream, and ramps up your heart and metabolic rate.
And you can make it even more difficult by changing up your arm positioning. This creates an unbalanced foundation, so you have to work harder to perform the same exercise.
Put it all together using the plank jack complex below. Do each of the following four plank variations for 15 seconds each without resting. Once you’ve completed the fourth exercise, rest one minute. That’s one round. Perform up to five total rounds.
In life, each of us tends to move at our own pace. Some of us walk, talk, and eat faster or slower than others.
Research tells us that different speeds come with different costs and benefits. Walking faster, for example, burns more calories than walking slowly. Those who talk faster are more persuasive. And those who eat fast tend to eat more.
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So someone struggling to lose weight might be advised to eat slower and walk faster, and to beware of fast-talking salesmen trying to push the latest supplement miracle.
It’s no surprise that in the gym, we also lift at different speeds. The open
It demonstrates balance and control over your body, something we happen to put great importance upon here at Nerd Fitness. It’s also one HELL of a party trick, something you can work on without a single piece of equipment, builds functional strength and muscular endurance, and it’s a skill you can work on in just a few minutes every single day.
How do I know this? Because I’m typing this while in a handstand RIGHT NOW. Okay, I can’t do that. But Jim, Master of the NF Fitness Universe can:
jim typing
I love working with gymnastic rings, because they have such a great tutorial level. Handstands are exactly the same way: it’s a great skill to work on as a beginner, but also is infinitely challenging depending on your skill level.
Plus, in addition to Jim, Luke Skywalker does them. It’s time to stop looking at other people doing cool things and start today saying “hey, I can do that too!”
Why handstands are awesome
Jim-Bathurst
Team Nerd Fitness member Jim Bathurst has been training and working on handstands for years. From humble beginnings, he taught himself a standard handstand and eventually worked his way up to one-handed tricks like the photo above.
Now, you won’t be doing this anytime soon, but it doesn’t mean you can’t start today learning how to go inverted.
Fun fact: I can’t say the word inverted without thinking of Top Gun’s line “because we were inverted,” but that’s only because I used to watch that movie with my brother every day from ages 3 to 5.
I’ve fallen in love with handstands for a few reasons:
Like other bodyweight training, there’s no excuse. If you have room to stand up, you have room to practice handstands.
It recruits DOZENS of muscles in your body. From arm strength to wrist mobility to core strength to shoulder mobility and muscular endurance, handstands do it all. When you are trying to balance, it makes your body work as one complete unit.
It scares you – yes, that’s a positive. We grow outside our comfort zone and for many people, just the thought of a handstand is enough to make their palms sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy. Vomi… nevermind. The point is that the handstand is just as much of a mental challenge as it is a physical one. How scared do you think this guy gets on a regular basis?
Do you train hard and see little in the way of muscle gain? How about an endless toil in the gym, struggling to lose fat? The chances are, you're going about it all wrong. The real way to hit your training goals is adapting your plan to your body type.
Men can generally be classed as one of three body types.
Ectomorphs: skinny guys that struggle to gain weight. They're your classic “hard-gainers”.
Endomorphs: large-bodied and generally soft, these bodies gain bulk easily but also store fat along the way.
Mesomorphs: the ones everybody envy because they're naturally lean and athletic. They can put on muscle comparatively easily and they don't require huge amounts of maintenance.
You think you know leg-day pain? PT igh-volume supersets will leave you duck-waddling down the stairs for days. It'll also build you pins that look like they're carved by Rodin. Complete each superset twice, then move on to the next bit of kit.
Your body is a machine that constantly reinvents itself. Every minute of every day, it breaks down its own tissues and replaces them with new stuff it makes from a combination of the food you eat and recycled material it scavenges from other tissues.
No matter how old your Facebook profile says you are, your component parts are considerably younger. Even your bones replace themselves every 10 years. By that standard, your muscle cells, with an average age of 15 years old, are the adults at the party.
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Your workouts will cause the protein in your muscles to break down and build up much faster than it does in ordinary circumstances. In fact, when you work out with the goal of becoming more awesome than you are now, the entire point is to get that protein to turn over. But it only helps if you end up with more than you had when you started.
There are two ways to do that. The first, and by far the easiest, is to eat more protein than you currently do. Protein, all by itself, is anabolic. It wants to be stored in your muscles. The second is to work out in a way that disrupts your muscles and forces them to respond by getting bigger and stronger.
The combination of a diet rich in high-quality protein (like this whey protein powder from the Men’s Health store) and a great strength-training program is the oldest, best, and only non-pharmaceutical way to reach that goal. This article will show you how much protein you need to eat, and when.
Citrus fragrances tend to be fresher and more immediate. With lemon, neroli and pink pepper, this is as punchy as ambassador Chris Evans’ superhero alter-ego. £46.50 for 50ml boots.com
Scents get richer and more complex as they get “older” – like you, hopefully. The eau de parfum version of this warm, spicy modern classic has even more depth. £57.50 for 50ml boots.com
This has been around since 1965 and spans the ages in both senses thanks to its versatile combination of youthful citrus with more grown-up spices and leather. £48 for 50ml debenhams.com
Just like dark colours add gravitas, so wood and incense convey sophistication. It helps that this contains smoky oud – one of perfume’s priciest ingredients. £142 for 50ml harrods.com
Tobacco is another note that suggests age. Redolent of power, influence and Monte Cristo cigars, this is more appropriate for a gentleman’s club than a night one. £175 for 50ml lessenteurs.com
Start your search early. “Not only will your senses be more alert, the air in stores won’t be as heady,” says perfumer Roja Dove. The accumulated body odour of the day’s shopping scrums can curdle even the strongest scent.
Don’t just spray and sniff. Sampling is essential. Your unique body chemistry affects the way a fragrance smells and behaves (it lasts longer on oilier skins, for example). Never assume a scent that smells great on someone else will suit you just as well. Especially if you’re dating them.
Smelling lots of different fragrances overloads your nasal receptors. Reset them between whiffs with something neutral. Fragrance Designer Azzi Glasser suggests sniffing the inside of your arm. Not the bit you’ve been spraying fragrance on.
Most fragrances are constructed in three separate layers – with a top, middle and base. Base notes often take an hour or more to become apparent on the skin, so it’s important not to rush into a fragrance purchase based on what you smell initially. Once you’ve made a shortlist, spray each scent on your skin and see how you like them a couple hours on.
Some stores, such as Debenhams, offer a ‘Try A New Fragrance Guarantee’ option for guys shopping on their website. After purchase, you receive a sample of the fragrance along with the full size bottle. If it doesn’t float your olfactory boat, simply return the unopened full bottle to a store or online for 28 days and get your money back. Handy.
The fragrance world has never been given to informality: adverts often sound as if they’ve been scripted by Byron and their descriptions can require a dictionary to decode. But learn to speak their language and you’ll be less likely to walk out of Duty Free smelling like a bordello doorman. In this case, bergamot is a small yellowy-green fruit that gives your fragrances – and Earl Grey tea – their citrus note. "It’s used in scores of scents to add freshness," says James Craven of independent perfumery Les Senteurs. That’s because bergamot is more ‘rounded’ (translated, less bitter) than lemon and grapefruit, while not as tangy as orange. So if you favour a spritely aroma but don’t want to smell like a teenager, check for bergamot on the label. It’s like comparing cheap plonk with something richer. Oh, and on that note, bergamot is pronounced with a hard ‘T’ – like Moet.
Acqua Di Parma – Blu Mediterraneo “The finest bergamot comes from Calabria in Italy,”says Craven. Which is where the oil for this fresh but spicy cologne originates. £52 for 75ml
Ermenegildo Zegna – – Italian Bergamot This summer scent isn’t just fresh and zingy: it’s warm and herbaceous too, ideal for work and play. £145 for 125ml
Maison Francis Kurkdjian – - Aqua Universalis “Bergamot is present in the full composition, not just the top note,” says Craven. If that’s your cup of Earl Grey. £110 for 70ml
Deciphering fragrance parlance is easier said than done. Wading through references to myriad notes and fougere can leave your head swimming and have you reaching for the wrong kind of bottle. However, with the expertise of WIll Andrews (what’s his title?), MH has identified the only four words you need to remember and finally make sense of scents. Forget talk of Bergamot or sorting your vetiver from your vanilla, deploy these terms in any fragrance shop and you’ll find your new favourite scent in no time.
What does it mean: Made from notes of fresh fruit. Expect these to feel and smell fresher, lighter and cleaner. This family has become increasingly popular with the rise of sports fragrances.
When to use it: This aura of clean is perfect post-gym, helping to reinvigorate you after a hard session. Pack a bottle in your gym bag and carry with you at all times.
Buy it: Boss Bottled Unlimited
What does it mean: This family is created from Mediterranean herbs. Whilst still fresh and energising they also feel more masculine.
When to use it: This should be your go-to office fragrance. It’s a serious scent and the masculine edge is a perfect partner to your power suit. Keep one in your top drawer to reapply after lunch.
Buy it: Lacoste Blue
What does it mean: Made from sandal and cedarwood, just like cigar boxes, these fragrances have a more old-school manly feel. They’re deeper, smoother and more soulful.
When to use it: Once the initial smell subsides and you’re left with the woody dry down, these scents last much longer and are great for all day use. Keep this one in your bathroom and spray at the weekend before a day out with mates.
Buy it: Boss Bottled Night
What does it mean: The warmest collection of fragrances made from edible notes like vanilla and chocolate. They smell rich, sweet and are guaranteed crowd pleasers.
When to use it: This family is the most seasonal and work best in winter, but suit evenings just as well. Plus, they also last the longest and are therefore perfect for a night out. Spritz just before you leave for the restaurant and come home smelling just as good.
Buy it: James Bond Seven
It all started with some fish-shaped cufflinks in 1990. Since then, Links of London have gone from strength to strength: opening over 100 stores across the world, from Hong Kong and Shanghai to New York and Athens.
Their men's collection is constantly evolving to suit the needs of the modern man, and this year, as the innovative brand celebrate their 21st birthday, they've made some seriously stylish additions to their men's collection
ou need a wallet that shows you’re serious about money. In your student days you might have got away with one of those plastic ‘travel’ numbers for your NUS card. But in the big leagues of work, and with gold cards and £20s to accommodate, it has to be leather or mock-croc. Whipping out one of these shows you’re clever with wedge – and that gives you an edge.
A ringleader of the Mulberry family, streetname: 'Heathcliffe'. Seen here in oak-brown vintage leather, but may also appear in chocolate and black leather guises. Soft structured but well built, it serves as a portable office with padded laptop sleeve, penholders and various zipped pockets for documents. Optional shoulder strap for hands-free mobility.
If there is one bag that will last you the rest of your days, this is it. It gets better with age: as the leather wears, the natural oils burnish to produce a smooth dark patina. It's more refined than the standard-issue nylon and Velcro laptop case and it won't ruin the shoulder of your suit like a courier satchel would. Plus it's smarter (and more masculine) than a tote.
This version goes well with grey and navy tailoring, camel coats, brown leather shoes, belts and gloves.
Arm yourself with a leather protector (Liberon Leather Cream, £9.95 fromtooled-up.com) to prevent tide stains if you get caught in the rain. And remember tan leathers will clash with black leather accessories or a black suit – even in Italy where they try to get away with this kind of caper.
Double wrap
Chunky bracelets work best as standalones – especially if, like this bracelet-within-a-bracelet, it’s effectively two-in-one anyway. £80 Miansai at oki-ni.com
Stone rises
Forget 50-baht traveller beads: this is made with genuine ‘tiger’s eye’ gems interspersed with silver beads, so you look like you have a job. £120tateossian.com
Head candy
This Italian-made leather double- wrap with a gold and crystal skull is practically a wrist cuff. So go easy on stacking it with other bands. £65 Alexander McQueen at selfridges.com
Adult move
If you want something you can wear on the weekend and your company’s black-tie dinner, this sterling silver band has smart-casual wrapped. £150linksoflondon.com
Primary rule
When stacking bracelets, all your normal material-matching rules go out the window. In this instance, blue and red make perfect partners. £75 miansai.com
Hair metal
Made from plaited black calfskin with silver caps, this band is a little bit rock’n’roll yet refined: the wristwear equivalent of Bryan Ferry. £89thomassabo.com
“Up to a point, but not too closely,” says Shaun Dangerfield, co-founder of Ardour Brand (ardourbrand.com). “Matching colours in shiny fabrics like silk can look cheap and boorish but similar shades on textured fabrics like wool, canvas or tweed make for a more sophisticated combination. For instance, try swapping a silk tie for a woollen one.” The pattern and texture of the tie and square differ but the colours complement each other. “Mixing patterns also works if there is harmony in the weight of cloth,” says designer Jeremy Hackett.
“Mix colours from similar palettes and half the work is done for you,” says designer Joe Casely-Hayford. Earth tones are the most versatile.
“It’s a myth that brown should never be seen in town – combining different shades gives your outfit a smart early 20th century look. Caramel, beige and tan can be matched with a wide variety of colours,” says Dangerfield.
“If you’re looking to buy an investment bag, keep it classic,” says Rory O’ Hanlon, Smythson designer. “You can have your (cheaper) fun with pocket squares.”
Dip into the rainbow coat trend
Catwalks and stores alike are awash with technicolour raincoats this season. But one of the best around hails from a tiny island near Stockholm, Sweden. Brand founder Alexander Stutterheim based the design on his grandfather’s old ’60s coat but slimmed it down to make it, well, cooler. Yet despite Stutterheim’s fashionable status (it has recently collaborated with contemporary label Whistles), it’s no fairweather fad. “Their coats are the real deal and incredibly well-constructed,” confirms Selfridges’ menswear buying manager Luke Mountain. In other words, they’ll weather many more seasons to come.
Buy a brolly with some real welly
It’s time to stop pouring money into falsely economical umbrellas that break at the slightest gust. “A quality umbrella should have a long-lasting wooden shaft, strong steel-sprung ribs that won’t budge in the wind and a canopy that is stitched taut on the frame,” says Jamie Milestone, the graphic-designer-turned- founder of modern umbrella brand London Undercover. “Assess the fabric in the same way that you would with clothing: a cheap one will feel stiff like paper; a good-quality one will feel smooth and silky.” Plus, the more you spend on it, the less likely you’ll be to absent-mindedly leave it somewhere.
Yellow Umbrella £125, Blue Umbrella £110 and Orange Umbrella £95 all London Undercover; £225 Anderson & Sheppard
Adjust your timepiece to one that waits for no tide
The sea of diver’s watches available far exceeds the number of divers. That’s because they’re often more rigorously engineered than ones that just look good on the surface: reassuring when timing your oxygen supply and otherwise. Boasts of being water-resistant at 20,000 leagues are thus a useful dipstick of overall quality. Then there’s the form that follows function: oversized with big numbers in bright colours for legibility and toughness. The result is a striking, masculine piece, whether it has hidden technical depths or just looks like it.
Orange £57 Swatch; Yellow £130 G-Shock; Blue £835 Tissot
Stop carrying water weight
The rising tide of backpacks in recent seasons can be explained by high-end designers such as Lanvin and Givenchy making them in luxurious fabrics and taking them out of the playground. But more importantly, they’re just practical: an easier, safer way of carrying stuff that doesn’t knacker your arm or make you lopsided, and a hands-free device that frees you up to do other important things, like looking at your phone. These utilitarian rucksacks are specifically constructed to make light work of heavy rain – but still pack plenty of style.
This neat tablet case boasts a battery pack to top up in transit and a unique ID number for when you inevitably leave it in the back of the seat in front.
£119 knomobags.com
The Galaxy S6 Edge, well, edges it with a battery that lasts three hours from just 10 minutes’ charge, plus the planet’s most powerful mobile camera.
£600 samsung.com/uk
Like Pacman, these headphones are light but pack a punch. Unlike him, they fold flat and block noise (crying babies, duty-free announcements).
£150 philips.co.uk
‘If it ain’t broke…’ doesn’t always apply: take aircraft maintenance. Or Ray-Ban, which uses plane tech to make its new Liteforce Wayfarers harder and lighter.
£120 Ray-Ban at Sunglass Hut†
Inspired by the iconic (and ontrend) MA-1 flight jacket, this orange-lined carry-on can be a messenger bag or a rucksack.
£375 mrporter.com
Scrunch up this blazer if needs be – its crease-resistant cloth means you’ll still land looking a million units of local currency.
£515 (trousers £200) paulsmith.co.uk
Folding to matchbox size, this travel blanket can be deployed when the cabin temperature dips over Greenland, and on the beach (unless you land in Greenland).
£18 matadorup.com
Crossing time zones like a Gallifreyan? Citizen’s Satellite Wave F900 can display two at once and auto-updates to local time within three seconds.
£1495 citizenwatch.com
What’s worse than a confiscated fragrance bottle? A smashed one. This 30ml spray comes in a leather case with snap-opening for a quick refresh on landing.
£74 uk.acquadiparma.com
Skip the overpriced airport coffee and in-flight ‘java’: this all-in-one portable maker lets you grind and brew your own beans anywhere with hot water.
£65 cafflano.com
Clarks x V&A
As part of Clarks’ sponsorship of the V&A museum’s ace exhibition on the history of footwear – Shoes: Pleasure and Pain – the near two-century-old British brand was granted access to an archive encompassing four centuries of everything from clogs to high-tops.
Thankfully, Clarks surfaced from this deep dive clutching not a pair of Chinese foot-binding boots (they’re in the exhibition, and they’re terrifying), but menswear emblems from the 50s and 80s; the teddy boy brothel creeper and the gothic ankle boot. The former’s gleaming leather upper rears on a chunky crepe sole, and the latter comes in either faux-snakeskin or a buckled take on the desert boot you can imagine Nick Cave stepping out in. It’s a collection that deserves its own glass display case.
The Clarks x V&A collection is available from £100, at clarks.co.uk
Oi Polloi x Reebok Classic
This coming together of two northern institutions – Bolton-founded sportswear giant Reebok and Mancunian menswear destination Oi Polloi – is an instant classic. Fitting, considering it’s a reworking of a 30-year-old Reebok Classic, the NPC UK II, – which crossed from tennis courts to streets thanks to an all-white upper and abrasion resistant outsole that kept your look super clean – constructed from a buttery leather and sock lining stamped with minimal Oi Polloi branding. It’s as subtle as all-white sneakers get.
Which makes them perfect for today too, since boxfresh bleached trainers have spent the last couple of years transitioning from trend to style staple. Rock them beneath pinrolled denim, deploy them to inject new life into your navy suit, or nod to their origins with an oversized sweatshirt and tennis shorts. Just ensure the rest of your outfit isn’t all white, unless you’re actually on centre court at Wimbledon.
The Oi Polloi x Reebok Classic is available from £75, at oipolloi.com
Yeezy x Adidas Boost 350 Pirate Black
Ahead of the first Yeezy 350’s drop, we saw some enterprising hypebeasts camped out in front of a nearby Foot Locker two days before the shutters went up. So don’t expect this all-black version to hang around any longer than its siblings. We think it’s worth the overnight exposure, though.
The monochrome styling, bulbous base and monochrome one-piece knit upper will draw appreciative looks ever from non-sneakerheads. And if you do manage to grab a pair and decide you don’t like them, the fact the previous version is selling for almost $2,000 on eBay should cushion the blow. Almost as effectively as its Boost sole.
The Yeezy x Adidas Boost 350 Pirate Black is available on Saturday 22 August from £150, at mrporter.com
Drake x Nike OVO Air Jordan X
Kanye’s Adidas hype makes it easy to forget that Yeezy was once all about that swoosh, until a falling out over cash and creative control sent him into the German brand’s three-striped arms. Filling his shoes – literally – is the man currently perched on rap’s throne and Canada’s foremost exponent of emotional bars.
Drake’s take on the Air Jordan 10 is as luxe as ‘Ye’s is gritty. A white stingray leather version is queued to launch in September and its black cousin purportedly lands later this year. A handful of the year’s most-hyped trainer appeared at an LA pop-up in April and disappeared in minutes, reappearing almost instantly as the most sought after trainer on the resale market; with eBay price tags currently approach £10k. If you’re not feeling the 10s then an equally monochrome take on the Air Jordan 12 is also pending. No confirmation yet that the leather is specially treated to ensure it’s not stained by tears.
The Drake x Nike OVO Air Jordan X is available on 12 September from £150, at selected Air Jordan retailers
Christopher Shannon x Cat Footwear Colorado Boots
Christopher Shannon and Cat Footwear is a perfect mix. The Liverpudlian’s designs are always utilitarian, a sports-inflected take on streetwear that fizzes with youthful rebellion; tracksuits that un-pop to the crotch, or the kind of cozy knitwear your nan would send you out in, were it not emblazoned with a “Thanks 4 Nothing”-stamped plastic bag.
So it’s natural he’d hook up with a brand whose boots are popular with builders, the Wu-Tang Clan and school kids giving an up yours to their uniform’s demand for black lace-ups. Shannons version of the Colorado swaps the eyelets and leather for nylon mesh and canvas, reimagining an iconic shoe for a future where ruggedness and durability are vital. It might not be a fun future, but it will look sensational.
The Christopher Shannon x Cat Footwear Colorado Boots are available soon, price on application, from catfootwear.com
Saucony x Offspring Shadow 6000 “Stealth”
Ignore the logic of taking a shoe inspired by the Stealth Bomber – an aircraft with a $45bn design aimed at avoiding detection – and giving it panels fashioned from super reflective 3M material. Focus instead on how Saucony’s 27-year-old Shadow 6000 has been given an otherwise all-black makeover courtesy of sneaker mecca Offspring, whose name appears in a rather harder-to-spot rubber heel stamp. Then grab a pair as soon as you spot them. A torch should help.
Adam Brady from London Barbershop, Ruffians, and resident MH grooming guru reviews the latest mops to make their way out of this year’s LC:M. Not only that, but he also explains how to get the style you like the look of and whether your can pull it off.
The side parting has always been a commercially viable option for men’s hair as it is easy enough to achieve with any hair type, product and face shape. However, usually it’s seen on men’s catwalks in tailoring looks, styled with a wet look pomade which keeps the finish sharp and austere. This season, however, we saw the side parting as a focal point for most looks, both casual and formal. It was seen either pushed forward over the face in a falling fringe, or swept back with a softer, more textured finish (unlike the sleek looks we’re used to).
Commercial Interpretation: A fringe veering to the side, or a simple swept back side parting – but use your fingers rather than a comb for a more on-trend finish.
How to style: Find out where your natural side parting sits and separate the side section with a comb. For the fringe, apply a salt spray or paste to damp hair and blow-dry forward, using your fingers to shape the look and add texture. For a swept back look, apply a small amount of water-based pomade to damp hair, and comb back, diagonally, to achieve the shape you want. Run through your fingers for a more up to date, textured look.
Who it suits: Side-partings are really adaptable and can be used to emphasise good features or conceal worse ones. If you have temporal recession, the side fringe may help to conceal one side of the thinning spot – however, this may accentuate the other side’s recession so be aware of finding a good balance. A sweep back side parting, depending on its height, can help to square off your face and accentuate your bone structure. If you’ve got a long face, style your sweep back lower; if you’ve got a round face, make it higher – all this in order to make it better proportioned.
(Related: How to thicken your hair)
Fringes have always been a popular look at LC:M and this season was no different. There were a couple of notable sorts of fringe – a choppy, wearable look, and a more designed style, which saw longer fringes cascading down the forehead, textured.
Commercial Interpretation: While we saw plenty of experimental, flowing, cascading fringes (Craig Green, Pringle) there were wearable options on the catwalks, seen in the Christopher Kane and E. Tautz walks, notably. These fringes were choppy, casual, and set on a simple short back and sides haircut. The cropped look takes into account the texture we are seeing elsewhere at LC:M.
How to style: Apply a clay to dry hair, and work in from the roots. Vigorously rub into the fringe and bring down over the forehead. If you’ve got longer hair, a paste will work better.
Who it suits: This sort of cropped fringe is good for those who have finer hair – the clay will coat the hair, giving it the appearance of more thickness. It’s good for those with a high forehead as bringing some hair down will shorten it and make the face look better proportioned.
(Related: How to get rid of nose hair)
It still reigns this season. Most haircuts would have been scissor cut, with a complete departure from clipper work.
Commercial Interpretation: The easiest on this list that can be replicated in a barber shop or at home. The haircut is a simple short back and sides, with length and texture left on top. This should be fully scissored (so no clipper) work, and point cut with scissors on the top section (vertical cutting) to increase texture.
How to style: For a strong hold with glossy finish, apply a paste at the roots of dry hair, and use your fingers, sweeping back and upwards to create a tousled style. For a dry finish, sprinkle a texturizing dust into the roots of your hair and scrape through with your fingers. For increased texture, spray in a sea salt spray to damp hair and work through with your fingers.
Who it suits: The best thing about this cut is that it is simple and easy to style and maintain. It works best for those with a slight wave to their hair, and can be adapted to suit most face shapes.
A popular choice this season, and stylists are adding a bit more diversity to what has previously been slick back wet looks. Joseph and J.W. Andersen have created wearable wet-look styles, which don’t look sharp and austere.
Commercial Interpretation: A casual, rather than formal, wet look. Swept back off the face and styled with hands, rather than a comb.
How to style: Apply a water-based pomade to wet hair and tousle in with fingers.
Who it suits: This is a finish rather than a cut, so it can work with anything as long as the cut is good! Just make sure you don’t have thinning hair, as this could make it particularly visible.
(Related: Which moustache style suit you)
Was embraced this season, with a more varied manipulation of afro styles than the usual buzzcut. High-tops were present, the square silhouettes evocative of 90s hip-hop culture, as well as more rounded 70s styles.
Commercial Interpretation: a high top is a taller version than a flat top – so if you don’t want to go too extreme, then you could just ask for it to be a bit shorter.
How to style: wash your hair once a week, with Ruffians Anti-Dandruff Shampoo & Conditioner. This contains Manuka honey, which is really good for the scalp and tea tree extract which helps to cleanse and bite through grease. Towel dry the hair as much as possible, but not vigorously – be gentle, so as not to rip out/knot any hairs. Use a wide tooth afro comb and place back into the shape that the barber cut it. It may require snipping some stray hairs. Add some hairspray to keep set in place.
Who it suits: it’s an eccentric look, so if you have the confidence to pull it off, then go for it. This can work with a tight and a loose curl, but if you’ve got the latter, then make sure you add more spray.
Unless you’re using one of the new breed of wet and dry shavers – which can be used with or without water – you'll get much better results from an electric shaver if your stubble is bone dry and stiff. To make sure it’s free of dirt and sebum (the skin’s natural oil) use an alcohol-based pre-electric shave product. Most are formulated with ingredients like vitamin E, ensuring that your skin is protected and irritation is kept to a minimum.
Hold the shaver at right angles to your face, and use your free hand to pull your skin taught as you shave so the hairs stand upright. This will ensure maximum contact with the skin, reduce shaving time and minimise snagging. Foil shavers work best using just back-and-forth strokes, while rotary shavers should also be used with circular motions.
(Related: How to shave off your beard)
Due to the fact that they’re motorised, most shavers generate a degree of operational heat – bad news for sensitive skin as it can cause irritation. Always tackle the sensitive areas like the neck first while the shaver is still cool. Press lightly and don’t go over the same spot repeatedly.
Shavers are like cars: they perform better if properly maintained and any worn out parts are replaced. Many now come with their own cleaning systems. If yours does, use it. Not only will it help to deliver a better shave, it will prolong the product life, too. Use the cleaning brush provided to remove any whisker dust from the cutters and foil after each shave but be gentle as these parts are delicate and easily damaged. Never tap the shaver on the edge of the sink to remove residues.
If you’re using a foil shaver, the foil will need replacing every 1–2 years, depending on the toughness of your stubble. Most men neglect to do this, and if you do you’ll end up pressing harder to get a decent shave and irritate the skin in the process. Details of replacement parts come with the manual so make sure you keep it safe.
(Related: 5 quick ways to improve your shave)
Patience is a virtue with any kind of shaving technique but it’s especially important if you’re a newbie to electric shaving. If you've been using a wet razor all your life and decide to go electric, your skin can take several weeks to adjust to the new shaving technique. Stick with it, even if you experience some mild irritation to begin with.
As if you’d need telling, DIY and your pearly whites don’t mix. However, home teeth-whitening kits containing dangerous levels of hydrogen peroxide are on the rise, according to the Local Government Association. But what’s the worse they can do? Cause mouth infections, blistering and burns to your gums. Basically, it’s like washing your mouth with bleach.
Fortunately, there's a way to a better smile without the equivalent of scrubbing your teeth with Cilit Bang. You just need to follow some basic tips, which have been provided by Dr Richard Marques of Wimpole Street Dental.
Brushing is still the simplest and best way to beat tooth decay and bad breath. Twice a day after food remains the gold standard but, if you’re using the wrong tools, not all cleans are created equal. “Using an electric toothbrush removes 80% more plaque than a manual,” explains Dr Marques. Splashing out on some high-end bristles could save you far more in dentist’s bills further down the line. Marques recommends the Philips Diamondclean (£98; johnlewis.com) but admits even a battery-powered manual is better than nothing.
Used as a supplement to – not instead of – brushing, mouthwash is an effective way to further improve oral health. There are specialist options on sale to tackle particular problems; Corsodyl (£5; boots.com) – the one with nasty ‘blood when you brush’ adverts – is great for improving gum health, while Colgate FluoriGard (£4.50; boots.com) saves your teeth by preventing cavities. “For general use I recommend a non-alcohol mouthwash like Listerine Total-Zero, which freshens breath and prevents any gum problems or cavities,” says Marques. There’s also been research suggesting a link between alcohol in mouthwash and an increased risk of mouth cancer. Put down the bottle.
It’s the fiddly bit of dental hygiene and therefore the first part of your morning routine to be scrapped when you’re in a rush. But don’t; brushes don’t touch between the teeth and decay will start to fester, eventually developing in your gums and even resulting in teeth falling out. Choose standard floss over interdental brushes (you have more control) and draw the floss up and down over the triangle of gum between your teeth for the most effective technique. “There is also a new method of using an air-flosser (£60; johnlewis.com),” says Marques. “Which targets between teeth and can be filled with mouthwash for an anti-bacterial boost.” The future is here, use it.
If you’re guilty of letting things slip between your lips then book in a session with you hygienist. Spend 15mins in their care every six months and you’ll have a clean slate to work with. “A full clean with polish removes all stains and improves the colour of your teeth,” says Marques. Good news if you’re a slave to morning coffee, or enjoy a crafty fag with that glass of wine.
Don’t believe the adverts, whitening toothpaste alone isn’t enough to undo the damage completely. It’s packed with sodium bicarbonate and lifts lighter stains but won’t achieve the pearly whites you truly covet. Stay away from the off-the-shelf kits too, Ross Geller. Avoid comedy choppers with in-clinic laser whitening. “It involves the application of a hydrogen peroxide gel to your teeth, which is then activated by a laser to lift stains,” says Marques. “And because enamel is porous it can reach inside the teeth and clean all the way through.”
Train tracks are fine when you’re a teenager; you’ve got acne and a cracking voice box to contend with, who cares about a bit of dental bling? But walking into a boardroom doing your best impression of a Bond villain is tough to pull off. Luckily for you, crooked teeth today can be sorted without you being railroaded. “There are two options,” says Marques. “Invisaline retainers (like a clear gumshield) or a new system called Incognita, which works like train tracks but are attached behind the teeth.” Your move, brace face.
Spring may be on its way, but as we all know, the weather in the UK can take a turn for the worse almost instantly. A big coat is always worth having.
If you already have one congratulations and look away now because maybe, just maybe, as you stand on a lonely platform, late at night, the cold creeping into your fingers, the thought might cross your mind that maybe you haven't bought the right one. Sure, it's big and woolen and *looks* warm but you're still stood here stamping your feet, hunching your shoulders to reduce the amount of neck you're exposing. Why? Because you’re probably not wearing a down-filled coat.
New technology is great and there has been much done by outerwear companies to keep you warm when it's absolutely Baltic but really, the best way to do that is to rely on ducks. Their down - the fluffy layer beneath their feathers that keeps them warm when they're gliding around on lakes traps air like no other. And that's the science to it – nothing more complicated than that – in order to stay warm you need to trap air around you.
Once that's in place you need only choose which manufacturer to go for.Canada Goose is an obvious and excellent choice, with their bomber designed to protect against a Canadian winter. While at the same nodding to current trends.
For something lighter, both in terms of weight and on your wallet, tryParajumpers’ Kochi jacket. Wear it under a blazer and remain warm without obscuring your suit.
Finally, Penfield’s Hossac parka goes the whole hog and will cover you from thigh to neck. The beauty of such a jacket is that unless it’s sub-zero out here, you should be able to wear just a shirt underneath and still stay snug (and smug).
Whether you’re in the market for a new pair of leather suit shoes, or quality suede desert boots to pair with rolled-up denim, footing the bill for a set of quality wheels can kick out a sizeable chunk from your pay cheque.
However, given proper care, parting with your cash can be a sound investment. Quality footwear doesn’t go out on style (unless you opt for pointed toes, obviously) and should last you from season to season. But you need a little more knowledge than simply not kicking through puddles or, heaven forbid, breaking down the heels to slip on shoes in a hurry. Which is where the experts from the Leicester’s luxe shoe brand, Northern Cobbler, come in. Here they outline the simple steps you can take to protect your proper shoes.
Do you need to go through hell for leather?
Well, not necessarily. You’d be forgiven for thinking that forking out for fancy leather shoes would mean tiptoeing along every pavement. However, reassuringly expensive shoes are usually synonymous with high quality leather, which is far easier to care for. More often than not it isn’t coated or corrected, which helps it react positively to treatments like moisturising and polish.
We don’t blame you for doing a double take there. Yes, we said moisturise. That’s because, according to the guys at Northern Cobbler, leather is just like your skin. Wearing your shoes regularly can stress the leather – creasing across the toes, for example – which is why they recommend applyingleather conditioner once a month. Use a cloth to apply evenly, it’ll stop your shoes drying out and maintain their original finish by injecting life back into the leather.
Avoiding water altogether is impossible, but getting your shoes wet isn’t the end of the world. Sure, the leather is porous and will absorb liquid, but they’ll dry out, too. Shoe trees allow your recently worn shoes to contract and dry up to their ideal shape, explain the Northern Cobbler shoe nerds. The fundamental time for using them is the hour after you have removed them from your feet. The shoes will then return to their natural form and the trees can be removed.
Should you spit and polish?
Yes, just hold the spit. Follow this step-by-step guide for a shining master class.
– Make sure the surface of the leather is clear of any dirt and dry.
– Apply the polish evenly across the surface of the leather with a cloth.
– Opt for a polish slightly darker than your shoes; it’ll lighten over time.
– Leave the polish to absorb into the leather. 10 minutes should be set aside as an absolute minimum, even if you’re in a rush. A few hours will work wonders – overnight is even better.
– Use a leather brush to shine the surface of your leather; you can be quite aggressive with this procedure. If you want extra shine on the toe area, an old pair of tights can be used to buff, although it’s up to you to find your own way of sourcing these, we’re afraid.
What about suede?
– Use a crepe block (crepe is natural rubber) to clean the suede, which is a total dirt magnet.
– Then buff with a suede brush to fluff up the natural texture of the suede nap.
– A scotch guard spray can be used at the end of this process to add a water resistant film over the surface of the suede, but note; this will not make them waterproof. It will, however, stop them getting waterlogged, which can distort the shape.
How do you save your soles?
Leather soles may look great, but they are also porous and so will absorb water. Opting for rubber, which is the most common sole material, will not only make your shoes more hardwearing, but easier to repair too.
Not sure when to re-sole? It is simple; when you start to see areas where the leather or rubber is becoming very thin they need replacing. This will likely be across the heel or the area around the ball of your foot. Ideally, don’t wait until you have a hole because then it becomes much harder to repair them.
In your search for a decent cobbler, word of mouth is always a good indicator. But just to be safe, ask them what they plan to do before you agree to it. You don’t want any nasty clodhoppers superglued to your brogues. Chunky soles might be in, but we recommend leaving that to the designers, not Dave at your local Timpsons.
Hard-boiled detective, apocalypse preventer and hot tip to be the next Bond: boxset-loving superstar Idris Elba has been busy. But he still made the time to turn up to Regent Street last night for the launch of his brand new collection, Idris Elba x Superdry.
Elba welcomed fans into the store before rolling in with seven models sporting his new line. As a higher-end high-street brand, Superdry’s understated street style complement’s Luther’s laid-back cool. It’s a huge range, with over 250 items in Elba’s name, but the tailored-fit peacoats and cashmere crews make it a smart choice for the next few Autumn/Winter seasons.
Monogram Reversible Bomber Jacket, £250
The choices made by Elba and Superdry co-founders James Holder and Julian Dunkerton are evident in the muted colour scheme, which underlines the traditionally masculine look of the collection. Our personal favourites include the leather racer jacket sported by Idris above, the monogram reversible bomber and the Director Grandad shirt with fine-thread tailoring.
Northamptonshire has arguably been the global Mecca for men’s shoes since the Middle Ages, thanks to its abundant local oak bark being ideal for leather tanning. It was here too that Goodyear welting – a superior way to attach the upper that makes shoes waterproof and able to be endlessly resoled – was developed. Small wonder that the big names – Cheaney, Crockett & Jones, Alfred Sargeant et al – do endless private label work for fashion brands, or that in 1999 Church’s was snapped up by Prada.
Key purchase
Grenson’s limited-edition green brogues with white wedge sole: old and new. £370
By the mid 1800s there were some 18,000 machines cranking out socks in Leicester, making it an international hub for hosiery. Credit goes to local William Lee, whose 1589 invention of the stocking frame was one of the first stocking-footed steps in the Industrial Revolution. Among the most famous of the city’s 200-odd manufacturers were HJ Hall and Pantherella - who still make for the likes of Richard James and Brioni using a unique interweaving of Victorian innovation and slightly more modern machinery.
Key purchase
Pantherella’s Danvers style was worn in Baartmans & Siegel’s latest catwalk show. £12
These two counties' textile-making history dates back to the 1600s, when ancient methods of hand-spinning and looming at home saw it win a reputation as the go-to region for cotton shirting fabrics in particular. That’s why world-renowned cloth merchants Thomas Mason and Acorn Fabrics are based here, and why shirt-making supremos Turnbull & Asser and Budd come here for their raw materials – not to mention fashion-forward brands that prize made-in-Britain button-ups such as Margaret Howell.
The name might have seemed unpromising, but James Winter’s 1807 invention of the “gloving donkey” – a brass-toothed clamp that enabled more even stitching – in Somerset ensured that the West Country would become Britain’s centre for glove-making. Dents, one of the oldest makers, was established in nearby Worcester, and Chester Jefferies in Dorset: both are still going strong, their generations of expertise in the surprisingly fiddly process ensuring a precise fit that attracts custom from around the globe.
Key purchase
Reiss has fingered Dents to make gloves for its new Premium Collection. £95
The northern island makes the most famous tweed partly because inhabitants hand-make it at home, partly because of Vivienne Westwood rebooting interest, and partly because its quality is protected by an Act of Parliament. But it’s just one of many varieties hand-woven in the Outer Hebrides, where brands such as Nike, Junya Watanabe and Marc Jacobs have all called in to get a piece of the original, fashionable-again fabric, with its natural water resistance and warmth-trapping air pockets.
Key purchase
Soulland has turned tweed into a bomber rather than a shooting jacket. £419
The small town of Hawick has been the epicentre of the Scottish knitwear and cashmere industry since the 1770s. This one-time home of the likes of Pringle, Lyle & Scott and Ballantyne even prompted Chanel to buy into the local skills with the acquisition of Barrie, one of Scotland’s most historic mills. It’s also where Hermès and Louis Vuitton come to have their super-soft sweaters made. A tartan or argyle pattern is strictly optional; the local waters, said to give garments a superior “handle” (industry speak for feel), are probably not.
Key purchase
Brandon Flowers is 15 minutes late for his interview. But he's got a good excuse. "My gym is closing down today so it took a lot longer to get out: everybody was saying goodbye," explains the Killers frontman, apologetically. "Being in the city, it's the closest we get to that small-town sense of community."
As I've got older I've worked out more. The more comfortable I am in my own skin, the more comfortable I am in front of a camera
The city where Flowers makes his home is fabulous Las Vegas. Such a vivid, lurid locale can't help but infuse and inspire much of his muscial output. If The Killers' indie and dance-tinged debut Hot Fuss was a love lette to Britain and '80s bands such as New Order, Depeche Mode and The Cure, then their subsequent records have been an epistolary romance with Vegas, soundtracked by epic stadium rock in the Springsteen tradition. Sam's Town, The Killers' second album, was named after a Vegas casino, and Flowers' first solo record, Flamingo, after the road on which it sits. The lead track is called Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas.
Flowers' second, as-yet-unnamed solo album, due out this spring, promises to be a departure in more ways than one. Although he's in the studio without his regular bandmates, he's not completely alone, working with up-and-coming producer Ariel Rechtshaid. "Fresh: that's the word for Ariel," says Flowers, and not just because of Rechtshaid's background in hip-hop. (He's also produced Vampire Weekend and Haim.) "He's got a completely different approach to making records than anything I'm used to," says Flowers. "I feel like there's something authentic and a little bit more adventurous about this one, that's for sure." Thematically, Flowers is also leaving Las Vegas behind to an extent – or at least, not moonlighting for the tourist board.
You might expect that a rock start who has permenant residence in Sin City must live a life of such unbridled hedonism it would make a showering-while-swilling-whisky Nicolas Cage check into rehab posthaste. But Flowers is conspicuously, incongruously clean-living, certainly compared to the legendarily debauched rock stars of yesteryear. "Yeah, it's a new breed of rock star," he laughs. "I'm rebelling against the stereotype." He hasn't drank, or at least been drunk, for "probably seven or eight years." He doesn't smoke. He doesn't even drink coffee. And his much-publicised faith – he's a Mormon, a member of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, which issues guidelines on alcohol and caffeine consumption – is not the only explanation. Indeed, many of his lyrics are about struggling to remain virtuous and resist temptation.
"I had kids and started realising what I want and what I don't want in my house," says Flowers, now a father of three. "There were other deciding factors. I believe it's made me a better performer and given me more longevity with my voice. I know it has, because I was there on stage when I was drinking and smoking consistently and I just didn't... my pipes weren't as strong and I didn't have the energy that I do now."
That's probably because, instead of partying all night, Flowers goes to the gym five times a week. "I do cardio and weights," he said. "I mix the cardio up: I do elliptical, StairMaster and bike to distribute the damage and not put it all on my knees..." And he doesn't see it as a penance: "There are lots of things I like about it. I need to get out of the house sometimes. I really feel the benefits of running in my brain. I feel lighter on my feet. I've got a lot more energy." That extra wattage has, in turn, helped Flowers and his Killers generate a reputation as one of the most electrifying live bands around. "I don't know if I sing correctly but it's physical: I sing with my body," he says. "Fitness has helped me with the performances."
Given the opportunity, Flowers would rather fill his newly fortified pipes with fresh air. "If I can do cardio outside then I prefer to go trail running or hiking," he says. "The Mojave Desert around Vegas is beautiful for that: we have great trails and hikes. I take advantage any time I can." That includes the height of summer: "We'll go at night, when it cools off, and hike with flashlights." And he doesn't let touring stop him either: "We've hiked all over the place. I've taken down Snowdon. The Alps. We've done good ones in Chile, Sweden... all kinds of places. It's always on my mind, where we should hike on days off. I love it."
It's not your typical frontman's idea of getting high. On tour is where rock starts are supposed to go off the rails, not on trails. For most performers, being on stage is intoxicating, and in this regard Flowers is no exception. "I can't sit still for long after. I pace a lot. I'm talkative. I'm high, I guess, like a drug addict."
But where other performers might seek something similarly stimulating to postpone the comedown when they come off stage, he swerves the after-parties altogether: "I just don't go. There are only so many Cokes you can have at a bar... the whole thing doesn't attract me any more." In fact, for their Day & Age tour, The Killers had two buses: a party one and a, um, non-party one. "The party bus!" he recalls. "There are nights when it's still around... but the longer I go on, the easier it is to stay off it."
Although whisky and vodka have a reassuring presence on The Killers' rider, there's also kombucha – a fermented tea containing stomach-friendly probiotic bacteria. But it's not at Flower's request: "That might be down to Mark [Stoermer, bass and backing vocals]. My wife drinks that kind of stuff. I don't like it. In fact, nutrition is one area where Flowers isn't saintly. Although he's consistent with his breakfast (cereal with almond milk, banana, an Actimel), he occasionally strays from the path of righteousness. "I'm not great with diet," he admits. "It's something that I need to work on. But I love food, so fitness affords me that pleasure. Going to the gym makes it a lot easier to hit the In-N-Out Burger drive-thru and not feel so bad about myself." Hey, a rock star's got to have some vices.
Flowers' devotion to fitness has benefits extending beyond performance, and the excuse to keep up a fast food habit. Photo shoots like this is one. "As I've got older I've worked out more. The more comfortable I am in my own skin, the more comfortable I am in front of a camera," he says. Not that he has reason to feel otherwise. Even within the dandified sphere of rock frontmen, Flowers is frequently feted for his style. "It's born from the first music I listened to," he says. "It was always very style-driven, even though it was good music. People like The Smiths, New Order: they looked the part. It's like there's an obligation once you sign a record deal that you've got shoes to fill. I've taken some style risks and failed. It's always a gamble."
The odds are stacked in your favour if you can get shoes and perhaps a skinny black suit from someone like Hedi Slimane. Flowers was a disciple of the designer during his Dior Homme heyday, which coincided with the release of Hot Fuss. "Hedi was great and he did so many things for me," says Flowers, who remains faithful now Slimane heads up Saint Laurent Paris: "It's pretty apparent he's the best at it. He's got his finger on the pulse. He captures classic stuff and makes it feel new."
Although he doesn't place as much emphasis on being a dedicated follower of fashion now he's a family man – "it can be time-consuming" – Flowers still knows where the pulse points are: "I love Dries Van Noten and Burberry Prorsum. Now Levi's is bring back the classic T-shirts and denim from the '40s, '50s and '60s, so that's a real treat." Denim and biker jackets – rock classics as ageless as, well, Springsteen – are, like Vegas, recurring themes in Flowers' career. The same cannot be said of the snakeskin Dior Homme tracksuit top he wore around Sam's Town. "There's still a wardrobe somewhere with all that stuff in," he says. "I don't really wear it any more. But I kept some of the more... let's say interesting pieces." He says his style has matured and become more sure-footed as he's aged: "As I get older, it gets a little bit easier."
Which brings us to the killer question. Flowers' style has changed tempo with his record releases, from the guylinered Dior Homme of Hot Fuss to the feather-customised Dolce & Gabbana of Day & Age. So what's the look for the new album?
"I'm working on it," he laughs. "Sometimes you think, I want to wear this or that,' then you go on stage and you realise it was completely the wrong choice. I want it to be something that I feel comfortable in and comfortable performing in. Just because because Mick Jagger looks good in it doesn't mean you're going to. You've got to find your own style." Amen to that.
Nearly two thirds of gym memberships go unused. Don’t let yours be one of them. Make sticking to your fitness plan effortless with these five easy ways to boost motivation. And if you don’t have a plan yet, use ours: sign up to our free Men’s Health #5in5 workout programme to lose 5kg fat and gain 5kg of muscle in just five weeks!
Pepper your day with casual clues – trainers by the front door at home, gym bag ready-packed in your car, protein shake on your desk at work – as reminders of your intention to train, and take time to recall how great you felt after your last workout. Positive memories of your last session send motivation levels soaring, found researchers at the University of New Hampshire. Just be sure to focus on how great you felt after squeezing out that squat, rather than how difficult it was to walk down the stairs to the changing room afterwards.
People who report their progress to others are more likely to carry on with a training plan. But that reporting doesn’t have to be face-to-face, according to research in the Journal of American College Health. The study authors found that logging fitness activity online for others to see inspired as much motivation as regularly working out with a group. But remember: you are notJen Selter. Spare your followers an endless stream of #fitspiration by signing up for the Men’s Health Personal Trainer tool and get access to training and nutrition plans personalised for your unique strength, stats and training goals.
Would you be more likely to go to the gym if you had to fork out a fiver for skipping it? If the answer is yes, you’re not alone, according to a handful of studies and the creators of Pact, a clever smartphone app that has users check in at their gyms via GPS and charges them for missed workouts. Each week, money is pooled from the non-exercisers and distributed among Pact users who have managed to hit their workout goals. Sign up and never skip a workout to earn money and muscle.
If you work out with a buddy, make sure he’s in similar shape, suggests a study in the journal Science. Researchers found participants who exercised with partners similar in BMI, age, and fitness level were more than three times as likely to stick with their fitness plans as those with less compatible partners. Whatever you do, don’t work out with someone much fitter, say scientists. That sets unrealistic goals and undermines motivation.
Large goals can seem unattainable. Instead, focusing on incremental victories brings better results, report scientists in the Journal of Consumer Research. So rather than dwelling on the 15 pounds you want to lose, think about doubling your current 3-pound loss.
Dame Sally Davies, England’s chief medical officer today stated in her annual report that tackling obesity should be a national priority to avert a “growing health catastrophe”.
While the report looked specifically at women, England’s top doc said obesity was so serious that is should be a priority for the whole population. She also warned that the food industry needed to pull its socks up or face a sugar tax (do we need a sugar tax? Join the debate).
Obesity throughout the country is an epidemic, and we need to act fast before it overwhelms our body, the NHS and the economy. It’s causing a fatal class divide and thousands of deaths. If something isn’t done, our nation could collapse under its own weight.
Men’s Health investigates what can be done…
You don’t need a time machine to glimpse this fatter future. A trip to Coatbridge, Lanarkshire will do. According to market researchers CACI, this Scottish town has the UK’s fattest residents. One in five has a BMI above 30 and cabbies limit loads to two passengers. It’s no coincidence that Britain’s fat capital is also one of its most deprived areas. A map of the UK drawn by the National Obesity Observatory (NOO) shows a stark class and geographical divide. The fattest areas include the North East, where unemployment rates are among the highest at 9.6%. Earning power seems directly linked to your girth, with only 21.6% of top-earning households seriously over weight, compared with 29.3 % of households where cash is tight.
If we don’t act, our ‘fatocalypse’ will become reality. The Foresight report predicts that by 2050 we’ll have an economic and health crisis if current trends continue. If you’re one of those making up the far-too-round number, the personal consequences will be dire. The British Dietetic Association warns that risk of fatal disease increases by 1% for every pound you’re overweight. Obesity ups your risk of heart disease by 82%, your risk of type 2 diabetes doubles if your BMI hits 25 and University of Aberdeen research found a 20lb (9kg) weight increase cuts your chances of fatherhood by 10%. Harvard Medical School has even coined a new term for patients suffering from obesity-related diabetes: ‘diabesity.’
Looking at the big picture, the cost to society will be crippling. NHS spending will increase from £104 to £114bn by 2015, but in real terms it will be static, thanks to rising costs and patient numbers. Health charity The King’s Fund and economic think tank The Institute of Fiscal Studies estimate this leaves a £20bn funding gap. “There’s a gap between what we’d like to spend and what we have, and obesity comes into that,” says King’s Fund health economist John Appleby. “NHS funding is flat in real terms and the cash just won’t be there.”
While the NHS budget flatlines, obesity costs are soaring. Over 5.5m over-16s are on obesity registers, a rise of 250,000 in the past year. Research by Diabetes UK shows the impact of this in a 5.5% rise in type 2 diabetes cases in a single year. Treating diabetes costs the NHS an annual £8bn, the cost of prescription weight-loss drugs is up 13% to £47m, and obesity operations 40% to £32m. Perhaps the most shocking figure is that each NHS hospital spends an average of £60,000 annually on ‘supersizing’ beds, wheelchairs and equipment for heavier patients. All this while cancer drugs are being rationed.
Related: Are you sleepwalking your way towards type 2 diabetes?
The predicted cost to the nation also includes the amount taxpayers will be funding in incapacity benefit for those whose obesity-related health problems mean they can barely walk, let alone travel to an office. “The consequences are so wide-ranging that no country, however wealthy, will be able to afford the fallout – whether it’s pervasive diabetes affecting 30-50% of adults or heart disease, ar thritis, cancers or respiratory problems,” says Professor Philip James, chair of the International Obesity Task Force. He points out that the fat epidemic is already responsible for half of all the increasing costs of the US health sector.
So far, the government’s response has been to ‘nudge’ the public into slimming down, with initiatives like cinema tickets for children who walk to school. The Department of Health says it is ‘concerned’ about the prevalence of obesity and its ‘serious implications’. A spokesman told MH that ministers were ‘working hard’ on new measures but ‘nannying’ people to lose weight is not on the agenda. “The Government’s role is not to lecture people, not to nanny them, not constantly to be legislating or taxing them,” says the DoH spokesman. Many experts argue that more drastic action is needed.
Some German politicians have already suggested fat people should pay higher taxes because of the burden they place on the health system. Or there should at least be a tax on fatty food. “A junk food tax is sound in principle,” says Paul Sacher, specialist dietician at Great Ormond Street Hospital.“ But it will only work if it’s high enough to stop people buying high-fat, sugar and salt foods. Otherwise it just becomes a tax on the poor.” And, he argues, cash raised through a tax on unhealthy foods should be used to subsidise more nutritious foods. Sacher also supports limiting advertising unhealthy foods to children to ‘minimise’ the ‘pester power effect.’
The influential health journalist Ian Marber takes a more radical stance, calling on the Government to bring in National Insurance pay bands which reflect our individual lifestyles. Those who don’t exercise, or have a high body fat, should pay the top band. “Those who don’t drink or smoke and eat healthily should pay the lowest amount,” says Marber. “It’s like any other type of insurance. You pay according to your risk.”
How we stop the next generation from supersizing is one of the most vital issues. Children are feeding their ‘fat future’ before the age of five and parents are often to blame, argues Terry Wilkin, professor of endocrinology and metabolism at Peninsula Medical School in Plymouth. His long-term research found sons of obese fathers are six times more likely to be obese, and he stresses that we need to tackle parents to stop this ‘conveyor belt’. “Obese parents are ‘recycling’ their obesity through inappropriate feeding,” says Wilkin. The demise of family mealtimes has an impact, he argues, because we no longer understand the impact of portion sizes. It’s a theory backed by University of Wales research, which showed children who don’t have set mealtimes don’t learn appropriate eating habits. “It’s vital that we educate children at an early age, but it has to be a whole family approach – the parents buying the food need the knowledge and understanding, too,” says Sacher. Wilkin’s solution is controversial: “We should target obese couples pre-conception.”
Related: Obesity is gentic but it can be fought!
Obviously blame doesn’t rest solely at the (partially obscured) feet of overweight individuals. Many stress that the food industry’s role in the global obesity crisis needs to be tackled. No one force-feeds us quarter pounders, but are they playing with our minds? Dr David Kessler, former commissioner of the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), warns that food chains – including supermarkets – are manipulating us so that we consume more. His book, the New York Times bestseller The End of Overeating, highlights the use of salt, sugar and fat as the most commonly used ingredients, in terms of dietary manipulation. His investigations revealed that some restaurant chains deliberately increase these ‘killer’ ingredients in starters, so we eat more throughout the meal and are more likely to develop addictive eating behaviour.
Related: 11 of the best exercises to lose weight
A first step in controlling the food industry could – and many say should – be to ban the use of trans fats. These chemically-altered vegetable oils are public enemy number one, according to Professor Lindsey Davies, president of the UK Faculty of Public Health. They’re in many of processed foods because they’re cheap, bulk ingredients, which prolong shelf lives. But they have no nutritional value, Davies points out, and cause a redistribution of fat tissue into the abdomen, upping your bodyweight, even when you’re controlling calorie intake. Their link to obesity has been confirmed in research by Wake Forest University in the US. “Thousands are dying from them,” says Davies. “And we get hysterical about E. coli, which may kill a handful of people. Trans fats are contaminating food.”
If our weighty issue isn’t tackled now, we could be facing a bleak nutritional future. Wilkin believes there will come a time when there will be draconian measures, just as society came round to a public smoking ban. The Future Foundation goes further, predicting a Christmas Future where sugary foods are banned and chocolate is rationed. It’s not so improbable. In the US, education chiefs in Pennsylvania have drafted regulations limiting classroom birthday parties to one a month.
In the meantime, maybe it’s better to give that burger a miss.
There are many claims on our sympathy nowadays, so Britain’s fattest man Carl Thompson was never going to get much of a look-in. The 33-year-old weighed 65 stone when he died in June, housebound and basically bedridden. He was alone but not out of sight – tabloid infamy had confined Carl to a thoroughly modern bedlam, where newspaper readers and daytime TV viewers were invited to survey this fleshy catastrophe. Step right up! You could gasp in mock horror at Carl’s food diary, feel disgust at the rolls of fat that seemingly merged his head with his sternum, work up some moral outrage about the NHS funds spent on cleaning and caring for him… do anything but feel some human empathy for the fact that this was a relatively young man whose life had moved disastrously out of balance, and who was heading inexorably toward a miserable, early death.
You can’t legitimately sneer at many people these days, but fatties are still fair game. And they’re a boon for the sort of TV producer who spends their life looking for something that’s going to make Benefit Street look like Émile Zola. A blubbery subject can be trailed from takeaway to takeaway accompanied by comedy trombone parps; a wretched red-top Gagool whose sole accomplishment is getting booted off The Apprentice can binge her way to a few extra pounds, lose them and then claim this empirically proves the obese are just weak and lazy; a public schoolboy can switch off the suppressor on his inner Flashman by proposing a tax on the obese – generally with extreme examples drawn from northern mill towns or southern housing estates. Like most British political issues, obesity comes with an ugly, oft-denied but obviously prevalent class dimension.
Willpower behaves a lot like a muscle: it can be strengthened, but it’s going to tire out if you ask it to do too much. Don’t go in all guns blazing; try to change your diet and quit smoking at the same time, and you’ll only fail in both.
Describe what’s happening to you in the third person, as if you’re an onlooker: “The soldier is about to capitulate and gobble the doughnut.” Yes, you will look slightly mad to any actual onlookers, but this technique helps to suck out the emotional cues that make you reach for the sugary snack.
Don’t see a Danish pastry sitting provocatively on the counter. Think of it as a small pool of brown-coloured fat that has been extracted from between your organs. See it for what it isn’t and it will be easier to defuse cravings.
The ‘If, then’ rule says that when you encounter temptation, you have a preset choice that you must always commit to. So, “If I see chips on the menu… Then I’ll order a side salad.’ This will stop you being caught off-guard.
Try putting an imaginary frame around your temptation and see it as a picture. Or imagine it in black-and-white newsreel footage, or in a music video from the 80s. This distance makes it less real and cuts your physical connections to the food.
There are two parts of your brain working when you make decisions: a hasty, emotional, greedy part, and a cooler, more analytical part. You can learn to rely more on the cooler part by simply counting to 10 and visualising your end goal: long-term happiness, not a few frenzied moments wrestling a cream cake into submission.
Before: Age 19, weight 21st (133kg), waist 44in (112cm)
Vices: Eating late at night, a diet of beer and pizzas
After: Age 21, weight 14st 4lb (90kg), waist 33in (84cm)
Victories: Men’s Health cover-model competition finalist
Dave Leather’s story is one of the most inspiring ever published in Men’s Health. Not only was he a Fat Burner of the Month, he also went on to be a finalist in the Cover Model Competition.
“I didn’t even realise I was getting fat – it happened over 10 years,” says Dave. “I was chubby as a child, but not fat. Then I went to university, ate pizzas and drank a lot – I got big. I’d cut down on food,” he says. “But I failed to lose weight because I didn’t know the difference between fats, proteins, carbs and sugars.”
He only started to burn serious amounts of fat when he got his head around the food science and started a daily training regime. “I now avoid saturated fat and try to eat 30-50g protein every three hours when I’m training hard, and five small meals a day when I’m not.”
For Dave’s full story plus all the latest nutritional science and a super-fast fat-burning workout plan, get your copy of the new Men’s Health book, The Fat Burner’s Bible, by clicking here
You’d be forgiven for associating all probiotics with bunk peddled by full-fat cats at dairy companies. But there are better, science-backed bacteria that speed up the rate you digest calories. Either buy them or cultivate your own stash to switch your gut to fat-fighting mode day in, day out. And each comes with a pro bono health boost too if you’re feeling greedy…
The Korean superfood and hipster staple speeds up digestion to stop fat hiding your abs. Start by salting cabbage and leave for six hours. Rinse and mix with fish oil, chopped onions, sugar, crushed garlic, ground ginger and chili. Let it ferment in a cool, dry place for four days.
“More melatonin is produced in the gut than the brain,” says nutrition researcher Kamal Patel. A kefir-loaded gut equals better sleep…and a healthier, leaner gut. Leave the grains (£8 rawandpure.co.uk) in coconut milk for 24 hours before drinking.
The Japanese comfort soup goes to work on sugar and other baddies in your stomach that can double-time weight gain, plus it helps bolster your bones. It takes 180 days to ferment so cheat by using instant paste (£2.40 clearspring.co.uk) and soup-up your gut.
Manuka (Steens Raw Manuka £33 ocado.com) isn’t a probiotic per se, but you can consider it the clean-up crew as this rare honey kills off the bad bacteria lurking in your insides. Studies link bad bacs to a sluggish metabolism and a bigger waist – forgo toast and have 1tsp each morning.
If you’ve been on the boozy breakfasts, try root-veg rehab. Kvass cleanses your blood and helps detoxify your liver, which results in a faster metabolism – even for those alcoholic calories. Mix chopped beets, whey, salt and water, cover and ferment for two days.
Compound your calorie burn with a pick-me-up. “A symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast or ‘scoby’ (£7.50 rawandpure.co.uk) is all you need,” says nutritionist Jessica Scott. Add it to sweet black tea and leave for 10 days. Just don’t have it at night – it makes coffee feel like Horlicks.
Looking for a delicious stop-gap that'll keep your hand out the biscuit tin? Or a post-workout pint that's more interesting than a shaker full of protein powder?MH has got you covered with three DIY weight loss shakes, created by online personal trainer Scott Baptie, designed to help you burn fat, beat hunger and breeze through your workout programme. Blitz the ingredients in a blender and down for a downsized waistline.
1 cup mixed frozen berries
1 very small pinch of chilli powder
400 ml milk
200 ml cold green tea
1 tbsp honey
Researchers at the University of California found the chemical capsaicin, which is found in chilli peppers, increases fat loss by raising your body temperature and energy expenditure. Other studies have shown that it can help suppress appetite too. Berries are an ideal addition to a low calorie, fat burning shake; they are rich in vitamins, high in fibre and some research has shown they can also improve blood sugar control, staving off diabetes. Rememeber, weight loss should also be about improving your health, not just restricting calories.
(Related: 7 ways to avoid diabetes)
1 handful of kale
1 apple, core removed
1 pink grapefruit, peeled
1 cup of water
1/2 cup natural yoghurt
1 tbsp. honey
Green juices are synonymous with foul-tasting health drinks you have to pinch your nose and suffer through, but this kale smoothie tastes as good as it makes you feel. Dark leafy greens are a great source of calcium, which research shows plays a key role in helping regulate body fat levels. However, it's the protein packed into a 1/2 cup of low-fat natural yoghurt that'll keep you trim. The protein increases satiety, helping you avoid snacks between meals, and minimises the loss of muscle most men suffer when dieting for fat loss.
(Related: How to feel fuller for longer)
1 orange
1 scoop of whey protein
Pinch of ginger
400 ml cold green tea
Handful of ice cubes
Oranges are packed with vitamin C, which helps combat the oxidative stress that causes DOMS, and researchers at the University of Georgia also found the anti-inflammatory properties in ginger help reduce muscle soreness after exercise. Green tea, as well as giving you a much-needed caffeine boost post-gym, contains the antioxidant ECGC, which has the power to boost fat oxidisation. Recovery is an undervalued part of every weight loss programme, but with the correct nutrtion you can keep your muscles fresh and maintain the motivation to burn maximum calories every time you hit the gym.
Pass: Fried breakfast
Plate: Scrambled eggs
If your days usually start with grapefruit and coffee, don’t shift too far as diet overhauls can cause constipation. “It’s better to have scrambled eggs,” says dietitian Dr Sarah Schenker. The fat and protein will nullify hunger pangs – and the cysteine will dull the pain of yesterday’s G&Ts.
Pass: Soft cheese
Plate: Hard cheese
Your body produces enough lactase to suit your regular diet, says Schenker. Treble your dose with a holiday brie and you’re understocked, which means bloating by the pool. Opt instead for hard and aged cheeses, which are lower in lactose, and goat’s cheese, which has shorter milk proteins that are easier for your body to digest.
Pass: Sex on the Beach
Plate: Bloody Mary
At Club Tropicana drinks may be free, but dodge anything with a paper brolly. Sugar masks even strong booze, says Schenker, so you won’t realise you’re eight shots in before lunch. Opting for tomato juice cuts the sugar – and your waist, according to Chinese research.
Pass: Pad Thai
Plate: Thai green curry
Starchy noodles lead to pool-side bloating tomorrow morning, hiding whatever number of abs you’ve teased out. Swap for Thai green curry’s bloat-shrinker turmeric, which comes with a side of appetite-crushing coconut milk fats to curb your dessert cravings.
Pass: Sorbet
Plate: Gelato
You might be happy to swerve ice cream, but don’t think the fruity alternative’s
a healthy choice. Sorbet is higher in sugar, “and it’s not satiating so you’re likely to overindulge,” says Schenker. The fats in gelato might mean more calories, but they also slow glucose absorption to avoid sugar spikes. Just set yourself a one-scoop limit.
Pass: Fish and chips
Plate: Calamari
“Don’t eat the ‘British’ food,” says Schenker. Not only does it display cultural clumsiness, it’s also stodge that spikes your blood-glucose levels. Battered squid is lower in carbs and the veg-heavy local tapas will pack more fibre and water, filling you up for fewer calories.
This low-fat fish is full of B vitamins to support lean muscle growth. That it’s one of the most low-prep forms of protein helps too.
If you’re looking to keep the carbs down, opt for a high-fibre, seeded wheat wrap. Stuff it with plenty of protein and salad – it beats two slices of bread, hands down.
This pseudo-grain is a great protein source, low in fat and high in fibre. Eat hot or cold as the base for a salad.
Add to salad dressings. The peel’s pectin turns into a sticky gel when you digest it, limiting sugar absorption to give you less of a spike (and subsequent crash).
It’s the phytonutrient oleuropein that makes olives so good for your heart, while the anti- inflammatories will help you recover from your midday cardio efforts.
A convenient source of monounsaturated fats, which improve insulin sensitivity (ie you get a longer-lasting buzz from every bite).
Calcium and vitamin D combine to preserve and build muscle after your lunchtime workout.
Full of beta carotene (the orange stuff) and vitamin C (the stuff in oranges), this will make your skin look brighter, as well as fill you up.
Rich in fibre and low in fat, these pulses are packed with energy- regulating minerals like niacin and riboflavin. Another easy option.
Cancer is estimated to afflict one in every three people at some point during their lives – and combating it can severely damage your immune system. As such, both prior to an incidence and during treatment, fortifying your body through a dedicated nutritional regime is crucial. Use the following weekly regimen to rally your defences.
Eat cherry tomatoes
These juicy fruits are high in flavonols – an antioxidant which fights cancer-causing free radicals in the body.
Roast whole cherry tomatoes with a few whole cloves of garlic and crush the lot into wholewheat toast for a healthy snack.
Allicin, a compound in the bulb, lowers your blood sugar to limit overnight fat storage.
Capsaicin fires up your metabolism, yes, but crucially it also makes dull food taste better.
A serving equals 200% of your RDA for vitamin A, plus vit K for bone health and vit C for immunity. Which means zero missed workouts.
Go grass-fed for higher levels of CLA (for fat burning) and creatine (for muscle repair).
Boosting your omega-3 intake enhances fat loss. Where possible, choose wild Alaskan; it packs a bit more of everything you’re after.
Your top source of electrolytes, replacing what you sweat out to prevent fatigue and cramps. You’ll have no excuses tomorrow.
Rich in selenium and zinc for hormone health and B vitamins for an energy lift. Use it to make meatballs, chilli – whatever you crave.
The curcumin that gives curry its colour reduces fat-tissue formation by impeding the blood vessels needed for the job. Sprinkle away.
This is your post-work alternative to spuds. Steam your cauli in the microwave, add a knob of butter, then puree the lot in a food processor.
A medium-sized apple provides about 4g of fibre, which speeds up your absorption of the cheese so less fat is ushered toward your love handles. Choose half fat: the smoky flavor means you won’t miss it one bit.
A strong cheese like parmesan needs to be paired with a punchy pickle. Beetroot – the world’s new favourite superfood – helps to improve your digestion, so you’ll squeeze every gram of goodness out of your after-tea treat.
One slice of Swiss packs a sizeable 8g of protein. The vitamin C in the tomato helps you suck up the other nutrients in the cheese, to level out any blood sugar spikes. The chilli raises your calories burnt, obvs.
Goat’s cheese has half the calories and half the fat of cheese made from cow’s milk. Top yours with cranberry sauce for a shot of polyphenols, which a Texas University study found limits weight gain. That’s good, whichever way you slice it.
Slathering yellow paste over your hotdog won’t absolve you of your calorific sins, but it’ll certainly do more good than harm. Oxford Polytechnic Institute research has found the thermogenic properties of mustard seeds boost your metabolism by 25% and can help you cut 45 calories from every meal. Mix seeds with white wine vinegar, leave for three days and blend with sugar and salt for a homemade wholegrain mustard that packs a punch.
Feeling guilty after a gut-busting burrito at lunch? Don’t. The cayenne pepper in Mexican food is packed with an ingredient called capsaicin, which stimulates your central nervous system to heat your body and melt fat, according to the Journal of Obesity. Knock-up a bowl of our protein-packed chilli after your next workout for a meal that cuts fats while building muscle.
A Friday night curry may taste like a cheat meal, but be liberal with the turmeric and you needn’t stick to salad for the rest of the weekend. Tufts University researchers found the curcumin contained in a sprinkle of turmeric restricts blood flow to fat cells, stunting their growth. Wash it down with on ofMH’s favourite health-boosting beers for an end of the week blow out, guilt free.
There are more ways to sweeten your pud than piling on sugar – and pounds around your middle. Cinnamon balances your blood sugar, lowers insulin levels and thus reduces the amount of fat your body stores after each meal. Can’t wait until dessert? Give MH’s mid-afternoon apple and cinnamon yoghurt a try to tide you over between meals.
You’ve probably heard a fitness guru declare, with biblical certainty, that “abs are made in the kitchen.”
It’s one of the more absurd clichés. The guys you see in Men’s Health, or in supplement ads, or posing down in a bodybuilding contest, built those bodies in the weight room, and then employed superhuman discipline tostay out of the kitchen while dieting down to photo-ready shape. But there’s one more part of their program, and it involves something the average meathead doesn’t like to think about: cardio. We know anecdotally that bodybuilders do a lot of it. But is it absolutely necessary?
“I think it is,” says Christian Finn of muscleevo.net, a veteran fitness expert who’s trained himself and others to get ultra lean. But it also depends on how low you need to go. “You can get ‘looking good on the beach’ lean without any cardio,” he says. “And there are folks with fast metabolisms who can get ‘abs visible from across the room’ lean without cardio. But for most people most of the time, some form is going to be necessary.”
(Related: How much fat is covering your abs - and how to get rid of it)
That brings us to the more pressing questions: how much cardio, and what kinds?
In a recently published case study of a natural bodybuilder, the authors reported that he did five 40-minute cardio sessions a week in the final month of his contest prep. He did well: In 14 weeks, he cut his body fat in half (from 14 to 7.2 per cent) and finished seventh out of 19 entrants. But he also lost 11 pounds of muscle, which was 43 percent of his total weight loss, and higher than expected. The researchers wondered if excessive cardio created too big a calorie deficit, noting that the less body fat you have, the less there is to lose.
Another possibility is one that a lot of cardio-averse lifters worry about: endurance exercise will interfere with their ability to increase or at least maintain their strength and muscle mass. A recent study in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitnessoffers two reasons for concern:
- Strength and endurance exercise develop different fibers in different ways, only one of which will look impressive on the beach.
Both types of exercise drain glycogen from muscles, potentially leaving a lifter with limited fuel for training when he’s simultaneously cutting calories.
- You won’t be surprised to learn that the interference effect is most pronounced in the muscles you force to do double duty. Running especially has been shown to affect strength and size in your lower body, due to the fact that running induces more muscle damage. Walking and cycling are safer choices.
Which brings us to intensity. We know high-intensity interval training—HIIT—causes less interference with strength training. But that’s because it’s so similar to strength training, which, as Finn points out, “is itself a form of intense intermittent exercise,” if you’re doing it right. Intense exercise requires recovery. Two forms of intense exercise only increase that requirement, especially when you’re also dieting down to reach single-digit body fat. “It can often lead to you feeling burned out, tired, and irritable,” Finn says.
(Related: MH's five best HIIT workouts ever)
That’s why cardio exercise, for lifters, is a lot like the 2016 presidential election. You have to decide which is the lesser of two unattractive choices. But unlike the election, one of those cardio options—low-intensity, steady state walking or cycling—is clearly better than the other. “Three to five hours of lower-intensity cardio, spread across four to five weekly sessions, is usually enough to get the job done,” Finn says. But if you can do less and still get the results you want, you should.
Now we get to perhaps the biggest irony of physique training: Those abs you see on the leanest guys may have been started in the gym. They may have been enhanced in the kitchen, mostly by staying out of it. But they were finished on the treadmill. Which could be the least motivational cliché of all time.
Lou Schuler is an award-winning journalist and contributing editor toMen’s Health. Check out his new book Strong: Nine Workout Programs for Women to Burn Fat, Boost Metabolism, and Build Strength for Life, with coauthor Alwyn Cosgrove.
Let’s get the obvious reason you overeat out of the way: food tastes really good. And some of it tastes really, really good. The truth, though, is that everyone likes food, yet some people struggle to find their stopping point more than others. We asked Men’s Health Nutrition Adviser Michael Roussell to help you understand why. “Being aware of the reasons you might overeat can help you identify the behaviours that are holding you back from the results you want,” says Roussell. Use his advice so that you can fill up – without filling out.
“Food is more than just calories,” says Roussell. “It’s part of your culture and your experiences, and it’s also a great reward.” And that’s all good. But it’s easy to make rewarding yourself with food a regular habit, rather than a special event.
Ever had a hard day at work and said, “I deserve a glass of wine”—and then proceed to drink the whole bottle? Ever done that more than once in a week?
“You need to be realistic about the caloric cost of using food as a frequent reward,” says Roussell. Start noting all the places you allow high-calorie meals or binge-drinking to creep in because you “deserve it.” If it’s once a day, or even once every two or three days, you’ve identified a key area where you need to adjust your mindset.
See if this sounds familiar. You eat a slice of pizza for a snack, and immediately grab another. You hesitate, but then think, ‘What the hell, I’ve already blown my diet. I might as well eat the whole thing!’ (Researchers literally call this the “what the hell effect.”)
Try to keep a logical perspective: having an extra piece or two of pizza isn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of your diet. “You can just eat a little less later in the day, or adjust your diet a little tomorrow,” says Roussell. “Just remember that there’s a big difference between eating 300 extra calories of pizza versus 1,000 or more.” (Keep track of exactly what you eat and get daily protein, fat and carbs targets that will help you reach your goals with the Men's Health Personal Trainer tool.)
“The worst things you can do are beat yourself up when you eat junk food, or feel bad if the scale isn’t moving,” says Roussell. “Shame can drastically damage your weight loss efforts.”
For example, in one study, University of Toronto researchers rigged scales to make dieters think they had gained five pounds even though the participants had actually lost weight. Those who felt greater shame about their weight gain subsequently ate more ice cream than those who weren't as bothered by their results. Wake Forest University scientists observed similar findings.
The bottom line: “If you eat too much of a food that you really didn’t want to eat, don’t beat yourself up,” says Roussell. “Vow to do better the next time and move on.”
How often do you just eat—without watching TV, browsing Facebook, or working at your desk?
“Multitasking lessens your body’s ability to sense the amount of food you are eating and thus how full it should make you,” says Roussell. “In fact, studies show that eating while you watch a screen of any kind leads to consuming more food and a reduced ability to remember how much you ate.”
Roussell’s advice: engage in eating as its own activity, and be mindful of what you’re putting in your mouth. Scientists have found that those who could recall exactly what they ate for lunch downed 30 percent less than those who couldn’t. The scientists say that remembering recent eating might enhance awareness of how satiating the food was, which then has an effect on subsequent consumption.
Related: 5 Of The Best Snacks For Weight Loss
Lack of sleep and the ensuing fatigue has major implications on your ability to control overeating. Read: being tired saps your willpower.
A 2013 study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that not getting enough sleep can cause people to eat up to 5 percent more calories per day—primarily after dinner. Fatigue also increases stress, another driver of willpower depletion.
Focus on getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night to help strengthen your dietary resolve and curb overeating.
And for best results, try to keep a consistent sleep schedule, so that you aren’t as inclined to oversleep on the weekends. A recent Australian study found that people who sleep later than normal on Saturday and Sunday have greater levels of fatigue on Monday and Tuesday than those who rise at their regular time.
Once the preserve of trend-aware sisters and ladies who lunge, green juices have cemented their place in the mainstream with an entire industry built on the promise of liquid panacea. And while it’s true that you can get a bunch of your RDA’s from juice, it takes more than popping a bottle or two to rack them up – and a juice-centric diet is not something MH prescribes.
Though cold-pressing preserves more nutrients than other juicing methods, it still removes the all-important fibre, which you require in order to put a cap on blood-sugar spikes (the bit you should be worried about). Fibre is what stops your liver from turning that into fat, and where there is fruit there will always be sugar.
However, you can soften the comedown by combining your drink with low-GI, high-protein foods to slow digestion, says Oliver Barnett of the London Clinic of Nutrition. A chaser of raw nuts, hard-boiled eggs or cheese will take the heat off your liver. Alternatively, opting for flaxseeds as an extra ingredient when you’re at the juice bar will work too. When it comes to juicing, eating is most definitely not cheating.
Getting your nutrition right can make or break a training plan. Follow these five tips and use the Men's Health supplements package to keep yours on track.
Mornings can be an arduous task. The temptation to have that extra five minutes under the covers and skip breakfast can leave you running out the door, tie skewiff and laces undone. Calories burned? About 50. It's a start. Or so you thought. According to new research by the University of Bath, skipping breakfast may not be the beginning to your V-shape body after all.
The study, focusing on energy balance, examined the effect of daily breakfastcompared to morning fasting and found that those who ate around 700 calories before 11am experienced better blood sugar control than those who skipped their morning Muesli. It also found that the breakfast-savvy few were more likely to expend more energy - burning around 442 kcals having eaten in the morning, which is a solid 30 minutes on the treadmill.
So instead of burying your head under the duvet to delay the inevitable, or staving off those pangs of hunger that strike halfway through your commute and carbing up at lunch, stock up in the morning to shift those unwanted pounds and satisfy your stomach.
We know. Following a strict body weight loss plan is difficult. But what if we said you could strip the blubber with minimal exercise, cost and sacrifices to your diet? And that all these methods are backed up by peer-reviewed studies? That’s right, cancel your gruelling spin class and ditch that lump of kale: these are the shortcuts to slim you’re going to enjoy.
They say that you need to eat less to lose weight. They’re wrong. Simply add the foods below to your shopping basket to see the pounds fall off.
1. Chillies
This hot food staple is one of the fastest foods to burn off your blubber. Why? A study published in the British Journal of Nutrition showed that when compared to a placebo, capsaicin—the active ingredient in cayenne pepper—increases fat burning. It’s your guilt-free excuse for a curry night.
(Related: The ultimate guide to chillies)
2. Green tea
Swap your regular cuppa for a green brew won’t just change your tea break, but your body fat score too. How? The American Journal of Clinical Nutritionfound the catechins in green tea boost metabolism and increase your calorie burn by up to 4%. Say hello to your most sophisticated weight loss supp yet.
(Related: The 6 surprising health benefits of green tea)
3. Milk
Looks like the white stuff is also the right stuff. According to research published in Cell Metabolism, milk contains a compound called nicotinamide riboside, which increases the rate at which your body burns flab.
And that’s not all: because of its high protein content, chugging down a glass of semi-skimmed after your workout will grow your muscles up to 40% (yes, 40!) more than if you didn’t, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
4. Apples
One a day keeps the fat away, according to scientists at Pennsylvania State University. How? Due to its high fibre content, snacking on an apple 15 minutes before a meal consume 200 fewer calories. And no, downing a Bulmer’s before dinner won’t work as well.
(Related: The superfoods you need to lose weight in 2016)
5. Gum
Don’t worry, taking up this habit won’t leave you with Alex Ferguson’s physique – if you opt for sugar-free gum. University of Rhode Islandresearchers have found that chewing by itself reduces the amount you eat and speeds up your metabolism.
Need another reason? A study published in the journal Appetite found that working gum around your mouth will make you consume 36 fewer calories each time you snack because your appetite had been sated. Now that’s something to chew over.
(Related: How chewing gum will burst your stress bubble)
6.Water (before a meal)
That’s right, downing two glasses of plain old H20 before your dinner is enough to burn 15 pounds over 12 weeks. How? According to scientists at Virginia Tech University, zero-calorie water can make you partially full, meaning you’ll eat less grub during your meal.
Plus, downing a cold pint of the clear stuff (water, not vodka) after every meal is enough to raise your metabolism by 30% for 40mins, according to theJournal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. That’s a lot of burning for little effort.
(Related: How much water should I drink during a workout?)
7. Protein
If you want to lose weight then you’ve got to move out the whey, right? Wrong.The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that meal replacement andhigh protein shakes are a vital part of a weight loss plan. Don’t hold back.
Eat more, burn more. At least when it comes to breakfast, anyway. According to research from the University of Bath, eat 700 calories before 11am and you’ll have better blood sugar levels than those who skipped the most important meal of the day. It’s the best excuse you’ll have of sticking with a morning fry-up and avoiding a costly Starbucks lunch.
(Related: The 14 best breakfast foods on the planet)
8. Bacon
And they say you can’t eat like a pig and slim down. Scientists at Kyoto University found bacon is a great source of the hormone coenzyme Q1, which spikes up your metabolism when combined with a brisk walk. And here’s the best bit: the study showed eating six rashers of bacon an hour before your stroll to the office will double the fat burn. There’s no need to ration your rashers.
(Related: 6 reasons why you should eat more bacon and sausages)
9. Spinach
It might not build you like Popeye overnight, but add a bit of the green stuff on the side of your plate if you want to slim down - fast. It’s thanks to spinach’s ecdysteroids, natural compounds found in the veg that increase the levels of protein adiponectin, which makes fat cells more sensitive to insulin, and breaks down fat. It’s really that easy.
Sure, exercising will speed up your weight loss, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take shortcuts there too. Here’s the ones you need to know about.
10. Try HIIT instead of cardio
Want to blow away you belly without logging months of mind-numbing hours on the treadmill? There is another way. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)will kickstart your metabolism like no other workout, burning over twice the calories as a lighter and longer session, according to a study from Southern Illinois University. And the total amount of time you need to dedicate to HIIT: 20 minutes. It really is the least time exercising for the biggest results.
(Related: The beginner’s guide to HIIT)
Not sure where to start? Try this simple kettlebell circuit used by Joel Edgerton:
Kettlebell snatch
-Hold the bell in your right hand, swing it back between your legs.
-Squeeze your glutes to drive it forward.
-At eye level, punch up so as not to smack your forearm.
-Do 10 reps (5 each side).
Overhead swing
- Maintaining your stance, grab the bell with both hands.
- Swing it between your legs, but snap your hips hard so bell ends up level to your head.
-Do 10 reps
Burpee
-Put the bell to one side and squat to place your hands on the floor.
-Kick your legs back and perform a press-up.
-Jump your legs back in and stand up.
-That’s one rep. Three more rounds and you’re done.
11. Listen to music
Want to instantly burn more blubber in your workout? Research conducted at Brunel University found listening to your favourite tracks will increase your endurance by a massive 15%. And if you really want to turn your weight loss up to 11 then try the Men’s Health Workout album with the heavy bass that Social Psychological and Personality Science found increases your sense of personal power to help you get the most out of the gym.
(Related: What type of music will banish work stress?)
12. Walk or cycle to work
Avoiding the gym at all costs doesn’t mean you can’t shed the pounds. Simply swap your normal boring commute for a short cycle and you’ll keep the calories burning long after you step into the office, according to researchers at Loughborough University.
Don’t want to fork out for a new set of wheels? Just avoid the car and you’ll still speed away to your blubber. Why? Research published in Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health found that you can still lose weight by opting for public transport over your morning drive.
(Related: Lose weight the easy way with this simple cycle workout)
13. Workout at home
Gym memberships are expensive. Home workouts are free. You do the math(s). Need more persuading? Bodyweight workouts are the perfect way to burn the calories as you’re always setting the correct weight: yourself. It’s no wonder it made to our list of 2016’s top fitness trends.
(Related: Burn fat fast with this 20 second circuits)
Just starting out? Try this simple circuit (with each exercise lasting just 45 seconds) three times over:
Staggered press-ups
-Get into a press-up position with your hands staggered, so your right is further forward then the left.
-Lower your body until your chest is an inch from the ground then drive up explosively.
-Pull your hands off the floor and switch positions so your left leads, then repeat.
Pike press-up
-Get into a press-up position with your hands wider than shoulder width apart.
-Bend at the waist and lift your heels off the floor, keeping your back straight, so your body forms an upside down V-shape.
-Bend at your elbows to lower your head towards the floor.
-Push back explosively to the start position.
Rocket jump
-Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart with your arms by your side.
-Squat down halfway and jump as high as you can.
-Land softly and use the momentum to power into your next rep.
Lateral bound
-Start in a half squat position.
-Jump off your outward facing leg as far as possible before landing.
-Immediately return to the other side.
14. Exercise earlier in the day
Can’t be bothered training 5 days a week? Exercise early in the morning and you can cut out one of your sessions says a study published British Journal of Nutrition. The Reason? A bodyweight circuit before breakfast blasts away 20% more fat than a session at lunch. That leaves you the rest of the day to gloat about your results.
15. Sleep
Supposed to make that early gym class, but suffered a sleepless night? Give yourself a lie in. As research published in the International Journal of Obesityshows, getting eight hours shuteye will reduce your stress levels and double your chances of slimming down. It really is your dream weight loss method.
(Related: The expert guide to getting better shuteye)
16. Fidget
Colleagues annoyed by your constant posture changing and leg waggling? Just tell them you’re burning the calories. How? A study from the University of Leeds showed that those who fidgeted more often weighed less than those who didn't. Bottom line: reposition your chair all you want.
17. Play video games
Want to instantly crush your cravings by 24%? Load up FIFA instead of Netflix, says research published by the Plymouth University. Why? Spending time bossing virtual 40-yard free kicks is enough to distract your mind food, meaning you’ll eat less. Game on.
(Related: 7 reasons your should play more computer games)
18. Turn the lights off
Get slim at the flick of a switch. No, really. Research in the Journal of Biological Rhythms found sleeping in a blacked out room can speed up your metabolism while also ensuring you catch better Zs. You don’t even need to be awake to drop the pounds.
19. Escape your work chair
Hate being chained to your chair eight hours a day? Bug HR to get a stand-up desk and not only will you be able to casually see what your colleagues are up to, you could easily fight off obesity if you stand for a total of just an hour a day, according to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Break up your day and lose weight: it’s a win-win.
Whether you're a newbie to the gym, anxious to start putting on some size with simple moves, or a grizzled veteran after a fresh way to add muscle mass quickly, our bulk up plans range from beautifully simple and easy to cutting-edge and hardcore. Our readers have put on hundreds of pounds of muscle over the years using scientifically-calibrated plans created exclusively for Men's Health.
Were it Swiss, Seiko’s reputation on these shores would be even higher than it already is. In its native Japan, where it was founded in 1881, it’s revered, seen as one of the great historic brands and recognised for high quality production standards that cover every aspect of watchmaking. Its slightly muddied rep over here is partly down to its role at the heart of the quartz revolution that swept the world in the 1970s, all but crushing its traditional Swiss watchmaking equivalent with its cheap timekeepers. But Seiko’s list of firsts is deeply impressive, as is its contemporary collection, which is full of intriguing innovations. Forget the past, Seiko is a fine company.
Seiko’s 1980s watches paved the way for the smartwatches of today. In 1983 it made the world’s first TV watch and the first watch with a sound recorder, and in 1985 it made the UC-2000, a watch that came with a keyboard accessory that turned it into a computer.
The first rule of building serious mass: keep the reps low and the weight high, right? Not necessarily. “A lot of people believe they only need to do four to six reps with as many plates on the bar as possible,” says fightfighter and expert PT Wole Adesemoye. “It's not true. I’ve been training for 24 years. I’ve been there – I’ve done that training and it's boring and can spoil your gains.” The solution: Adesemoye’s superset circuit that will blow up your arm like the man himself (see the pic above for the final result).
But enough talk. It’s time to muscle up.
Some people thought they'd found the ultimate leg-day workout. They thought wrong. PT Phil Sims, the mind behind our brutal 400-rep arm-building workout, now brings you the 500-rep workout, soon to hit a gym near you. And critics (i.e. us) are already hailing this lower body-building circuit as the best (or worst, depending on your mindset) yet. Why? The extraordinarily high reps will shock your legs and eat into their glycogen stores, stripping your entire body of fat. Plus, it’ll send your lactate threshold and testosterone through the roof, transforming your legs into powerful pistons. Just be careful, this brutal workout is rated R for reps.
Just because it’s chest day doesn’t mean you're relegated to park your backside on a bench for your session. While the bench is a valuable tool for overall chest strength, it can place excess stress on the delts, which can be tough for those with injured shoulders. For pure pec muscle growth, there are several exercises that will get you off the bench and on your way to chest growth in PECtacular fashion.
Watch what you eat, sure—but don't watch reruns. A boring diet is hard to stick with. "There is no one set of foods you must always choose from in order to make your abs show," says nutritionist Alan Aragon, M.S.
Bok Choy
If you like . . . Broccoli
Try: Bok choy
Why: Like broccoli, this leafy vegetable has a crunch—and less than half the calories and carbohydrates of its cruciferous cousin.
How to prepare it: Separate, wash, and dry the leaves of one head of baby bok choy. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil on medium high. Saute the leaves with a thinly sliced garlic clove for about 5 minutes or until tender.
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There is no man that will say he enjoys the bottom of a barbell squat.
It’s the portion of the exercise where you probably feel the most uncomfortable. And if you fail or dump the weight, it usually happens when you’re in the hole.
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That’s why I want you to hang out in the bottom of the squat longer.
Related: THE 21-DAY METASHRED—an At-Home Body-Shredding Program That Strips Away Fat and Reveals Lean, Hard Muscle
A pause squat requires you to come to a full, extended stop at the lowest part of the rep. Now, this is by no means an Earth-shattering idea. However, it’s something I find many guys (coaches and trainers included) don’t do often enough.
Here are the main benefits of pause squats:
1. You strengthen the weakest portion of your squat.
2. You gain more confidence and learn to become more comfortable “in the hole.”
3. You increase your muscles’ Time Under Tension (TUT), which plays a major role with increased mass. In short: more TUT = bigger muscles.
Could your undies predict an economic uptick? According to a new survey by U.K. underwear retailer Deadgoodundies, colorful briefs signal a better economy.
That's right: Dudes tend to buy for practicality, not fashion, when times are tough, according to fashion blog The Underwear Expert. That means your classic Hanes boxers are the go-to, not bright boxers or the sexybriefs your girlfriend loves. But the reverse happens when the economy starts picking up—colors become more popular. So welcome back, economy! Can we have some money now?
The hot potato squat may sound like a kid’s recess activity, but don’t be fooled—it’s also a cutting-edge fat-loss exercise that will get your heartpumping and your muscles burning in almost no time, says BJ Gaddour, C.S.C.S., owner of StreamFit.com. It starts with one of the most effective exercises invented: the squat. When done correctly, a squat trains a lot of muscles, particularly big ones like your quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes. In fact, it burns more calories per rep than almost any other exercise.
But why stop there? Gaddour throws an airborne dumbbell into the mix to make this classic move even more challenging and beneficial. “Holding the weight on just one side of your body increases the demand placed on your core to keep your body stable,” he says. “As the weight changes from side to side, your core muscles are worked from every angle.”
The fitness industry is a crazy business, especially when it comes to abs. For example, if you want to reveal your six-pack, you generally have two product choices.
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1. The too-easy-to-work method.
You know this better as "5-minute abs!" or some such hype. But if this approach were really effective, even Chris Christie would have a washboard.
2. The so-hard-it-has-to-work method.
Think 60 to 90 minutes of exercise, 6 days a week. Now if you have the time and energy for this kind of regimen, we commend you. But plenty of people are missing one or the other. And that's just reality, not a cop-out.
So we wondered: Could there be an ab-sculpting program that actually works and is doable for most people? For the answer, we turned to Mike Wunsch, C.S.C.S., and Craig Rasmussen, C.S.C.S., creators of Men's Health's newest fat-loss plan, 24-Hour Abs! The answer: "Absolutely," says Wunsch, who teams up with Rasmussen to design the workout programs at Results Fitness in Santa Clarita, California. "That's exactly how we make our living."
The plank strengthens the dozens of muscles between your shoulders and hips.
But if you jack your feet in and out as you do it, the plank suddenly becomes so much more than just a core builder.
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The quick movement of your feet provides a great dynamic stability challenge that makes your abs scream, and ramps up your heart and metabolic rate.
And you can make it even more difficult by changing up your arm positioning. This creates an unbalanced foundation, so you have to work harder to perform the same exercise.
Put it all together using the plank jack complex below. Do each of the following four plank variations for 15 seconds each without resting. Once you’ve completed the fourth exercise, rest one minute. That’s one round. Perform up to five total rounds.
In life, each of us tends to move at our own pace. Some of us walk, talk, and eat faster or slower than others.
Research tells us that different speeds come with different costs and benefits. Walking faster, for example, burns more calories than walking slowly. Those who talk faster are more persuasive. And those who eat fast tend to eat more.
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So someone struggling to lose weight might be advised to eat slower and walk faster, and to beware of fast-talking salesmen trying to push the latest supplement miracle.
It’s no surprise that in the gym, we also lift at different speeds. The open
What you scarf post-workout matters for building and repairing muscle. And while scientists have long known that protein should be a key component of whatever you consume to get the job done, two new studies in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reveal one reason whywhey protein stands above all others: It’s the leucine.
“Whey is a high-quality milk protein that’s a rich source of the essential amino acid leucine,” says Stefan Pasiakos, Ph.D., a physiologist with the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine. And consuming lots of leucine leads to greater muscle protein synthesis—the intricate process that helps promote the remodeling, repair, and muscle growth that occurs after exercise, the study explains.
More from MensHealth.com: The Truth About Protein
In Pasiakos’ study, military members rode stationary bikes for 60 minutes at a moderate intensity on two separate occasions. Both times they chugged a beverage with equal amounts of protein, but one drink contained 1.9 grams of leucine, while the other packed 3.5 grams. (For reference: 10 grams of regular whey protein contains about 1 gram of leucine.) Researchers found protein synthesis was 33 percent higher after the larger leucine dose. “Leucine can help trigger complex signaling networks within muscles that turn on muscle protein synthesis,” Pasiakos says.
Meanwhile, the second American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study found that consuming 25 grams of whey protein that contained 3.5 grams of leucine after a resistance training workout led to higher blood concentrations of amino acids, including leucine, than when participants downed smaller repeat doses of whey meant to mimic another type of protein called casein. The reason? Whey is digested quickly, and makes essential amino acids available sooner—leading to a greater muscle protein synthesis response, Pasiakos says.
Doing 100 reps of any exercise isn’t easy.
Doing 100 reps of burpee-pullups as fast as possible may be one of the hardest challenges you’ll ever perform at the gym. It works every muscle in your body and leaves you feeling like your heart and lungs are going to explode.
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Related: THE 21-DAY METASHRED—30-Minute Cutting-Edge Workouts That Torch Fat Fast. One Guy Lost 25 Pounds in Just 6 Weeks!
Here’s how to do it: Stand in front of a pullup bar. Do a burpee, and then immediately jump up into a pullup. When your feet hit the floor, drop into a burpee again.
As pirates on the TV series Black Sails, actors Tom Hopper (above), Toby Stephens, and Luke Arnold have to look like men who spend all day heaving cannonballs, pulling sails, and climbing ropes.
In other words, utterly shredded.
Strength coach James White, the toughest trainer in South Africa, put them through a grueling boot camp to help them build brawn and cut fat—in just eight weeks.
The excess of abs in the photo above tells you everything you need to know about the effectiveness of White’s program, which is detailed in the April issue of Men’s Health.
After all, TV pirates aren’t the only ones who need to look good with their shirts off. Click to find out what it takes to get into the best shape of your life.
I am 23. This month, my boyfriend of one year broke up with me. I was totally surprised, and am still devastated by it and in love with him. I have asked a few times about getting back together, but he is not interested. So I am trying to move on, which isn’t easy. It’s even harder when we both turn up at the same holiday parties. I’m scared (but also sort of hoping) that we will be at the same New Year’s Eve party. But I don’t want to stay home alone. Help!
Nina, Brooklyn
Welcome to the Heartbreak Hotel, Nina. It is my sad duty to report that most of us have checked in for a spell (or three), often feeling mowed down by a fleet of midsize trucks. But in time, those trucks will feel more like flammable hoverboards, and eventually, like tiny children stepping on your toes. It gets better. And exploring this bummer with friends or a therapist will give you more emotional depth and make you smarter about the next guy. (And there will be a next guy — really.)
Bundle up, buttercup. A growing number of preschools are situating their classrooms under the open sky and towering trees, regardless of weather.
Currently, in the United States, improving physical fitness and overall levels of health is largely regulated to two different elements; that of exercise and diet. Yet, to simply focus only on these two elements of physical well being is to do a disservice to what is required to live a healthy, fulfilled life.
This section of our website is intended to shed light on a part of fitness that is often overlooked: that of mental health, stability, and wellness. The mental stability and well being of an individual is subject to disease and entropy just as the body is. This being said, when compared to physical and nutritional health, mental health and wellness is equally important. Hence, to truly live a lifestyle that is filled with good health and fitness, individuals must include achieving mental wellness as well.
One approach to ensuring mental balance and wellness that can be utilized, and has been for thousands of years, is the practice of meditation. While meditation can be, and often is, practiced independently, it can be paired with several other exercise types including Yoga and Pilates.
The earliest records of meditation date back to 50,000 years ago. The practice originally developed as a ritual involved in a number of different religions. In fact, almost every major religion utilizes meditation in one form or another, from Hinduism to Christianity. Throughout time, however, the practice has found a place outside of the realm of religion. This is most likely because people became aware of the vast array of benefits that meditation can provide a person even when it is void of any religious implications.
Although Meditation and Yoga are very closely related, Meditation as a formal and separate practice did not arise until much later, a little more than 5,000 years ago (actual recorded writings about Meditation). Granted, people have likely been practicing some form of meditation since the beginning of their existence. Any time that you take some time out to gather your thought or get some fresh air to clear your mind, you are technically using meditation to relax and focus your mind.
Living a life that is filled with good health, fitness, and mental well-being requires regularly exercising, consuming a well-balanced whole foods diet, and taking the time to calm and center the mind. A few statistics may give you a better idea of the general fitness level of the average American. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states thatnearly one-third of all Americans are obese.
In addition, a recent study conducted by Matthew Reeves of Michigan State University concluded that approximately 3% of Americans consistently lead a “healthy” lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle, as defined by Reeves, is a lifestyle that includes a healthy and nutritious diet, a healthy weight level, and a minimum of thirty minutes of physical exercise five days a week.
These two statistics highlight and represent the epidemic of poor health that a large majority of Americans are facing today. Simply put, most Americans, including both adults and children, are not living a healthy lifestyle.
General fitness, as defined by our website, includes incorporating a healthy and nutritious diet, physical activity, rest and relaxation, and mental stability and well-being into one's daily lifestyle.
Since the words "general fitness" encompass such a large concept, virtually everyone can determine an approach that best facilitates their own obtainment of a healthy lifestyle. Most individuals have a certain perception in their minds of what "getting healthy" involves.
While many of these common sense perceptions are valid, there are many less-obvious ways in which one can go about improving their general fitness levels. This website intends to provide a number of different tips, articles and approaches that can be implemented immediately into virtually any lifestyle, regardless of age and current level of health.
Our goal at Fitnesshealth101.com is to adequately explain and outline every factor that is involved in obtaining and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. This includes dieting, exercising, and the various mental aspects associated with the challenge of making a positive change to one's lifestyle.
Choosing to improve your personal level of general fitness requires not only a physical change, but a mental change as well. Being lazy, out of shape and mentally unfit is easy to accomplish. Why? Because it takes no effort.
This fact can be supported by simply viewing the statistics detailing the incredibly small percentage of people who actually lead a healthy lifestyle.
By knowing ahead of time that being physically fit requires effort, focus, discipline and determination, you will be better prepared to achieve your own personal fitness goals.
This website is designed to meet the needs of all individuals that are interested in improving their overall level of physical fitness. This includes everyone from the severely obese to the person who is already physically fit and simply looking to add to their breadth of knowledge. It is also our intent to avoid discussions associated with any unproven approaches or gimmicksrelevant to obtaining good health.
There is definitely a right way and a wrong way to go about improving your overall fitness level. The tips and strategies offered on this website have been extensively researched and have been proven to be safe and effective. While there may be differing opinions among the various medical and fitness communities, in relation to some of the more detailed aspects of fitness, the approaches and ideas presented on our website will focus solely on the most widely accepted, statistically-proven methods available.
The intent of our website is to assist our users in achieving a healthy and prosperous lifestyle by providing the most current, up-to-date health and fitness information available.
By continually striving to provide the most current, leading-edge, and scientifically proven health and fitness research, our hope is that we are able to provide our users with a comprehensive, understandable, and simple-to-implement approach to achieving all of their personal health and fitness goals.
By visiting our website, you have taken a very important first step towards achieving your personal health and fitness goals. At times, the decision to improve one's level of general health, fitness, and mental well-being may require a complete change in lifestyle. However, more often than not, this is simply not the case.
Although the transition to a healthy way of life is often viewed as a timely, difficult and unachievable goal, our belief is that this could not be any further from the truth. While there are no quick fixes or shortcuts to obtaining optimum health, generally, only a few lifestyle modifications are necessary to begin your path towards a healthier lifestyle.
We have designed our health and fitness website with the unique individual in mind. Our website focuses on providing a large spectrum of information relevant to all body types, physical conditions and lifestyles. Whether you are an individual that has not been physically active for several years, a professional athlete, or a personal trainer, our hope is that you will find the information on our website informative, educational, practical, and relevant to your personal fitness goals. To this end, we have divided the fitness articles into seven primary categories with the intent being to enable our users to navigate through our website more easily, efficiently and with greater focus.
David Lee, Vice President of Certified Pre-Owned at Tourneau, offers an easy-to-understand guide to the fundamentals of horology. It’s always a good time for a primer on setting and winding a watch—whether the timepiece is powered by a battery, requires near-daily winding, or winds itself when worn on the wrist.
The materials in this website are in no way intended to replace the professional medical care, advice,
diagnosis or treatment of a doctor, qualified personal trainer, therapist, dietitian or nutritionist OiiO Fitness.
