Men's Health Australia July 2022

MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, strong themes emerge when we’re creating an issue of Men’s Health. Leitmotifs pertaining to health, training and society materialise during the planning process, weaving their way subtly through the pieces that make up a specific edition. Always, larger themes are thoroughly thought through and planned for, such as our annual Strength and Earth issues. Sometimes, however, certain thematic threads emerge organically from a notable characteristic of the cover man or an unavoidable global crisis. As you read this month’s issue, which is jam-packed with advice on our staples of muscle-building, mental health and self-improvement, I’m sure you’ll notice one pervasive theme: positivity. The positive vibes start on the very first page with our cover man, Scotty James (p62). Having competed at the highest levels of snowboarding…

MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, strong themes emerge when we’re creating an issue of Men’s Health. Leitmotifs pertaining to health, training and society materialise during the planning process, weaving their way subtly through the pieces that make up a specific edition. Always, larger themes are thoroughly thought through and planned for, such as our annual Strength and Earth issues. Sometimes, however, certain thematic threads emerge organically from a notable characteristic of the cover man or an unavoidable global crisis. As you read this month’s issue, which is jam-packed with advice on our staples of muscle-building, mental health and self-improvement, I’m sure you’ll notice one pervasive theme: positivity. The positive vibes start on the very first page with our cover man, Scotty James (p62). Having competed at the highest levels of snowboarding for more than…

THE BIG QUESTION Q I keep seeing the phrase ‘intuitive eating’ on social media. Is this just another fad? – NP We’d forgive you your scepticism, NP. But, technically, it’s the opposite. Laura Thomas, nutritionist and director of the London Centre for Intuitive Eating, describes it as “an anti-diet approach to eating”, rebuilding an uncomplicated relationship with food by tuning in to your body’s wants and needs. That might sound suspiciously simple – and in a way, it is – but if you’ve been bouncing from keto to paleo, carb cycling to kilojoulecounting, 5:2 fasting to 16:8, it’s likely you’ve lost the ability to properly recognise and respond to hunger – or to identify what you actually want to eat at any given time. There are 10 principles of intuitive eating, built around…

THE BIG QUESTION Q I keep seeing the phrase ‘intuitive eating’ on social media. Is this just another fad? – NP We’d forgive you your scepticism, NP. But, technically, it’s the opposite. Laura Thomas, nutritionist and director of the London Centre for Intuitive Eating, describes it as “an anti-diet approach to eating”, rebuilding an uncomplicated relationship with food by tuning in to your body’s wants and needs. That might sound suspiciously simple – and in a way, it is – but if you’ve been bouncing from keto to paleo, carb cycling to kilojoulecounting, 5:2 fasting to 16:8, it’s likely you’ve lost the ability to properly recognise and respond to hunger – or to identify what you actually want to eat at any given time. There are 10 principles of intuitive…

YOUR MONTHLY DOWNLOAD OF THE LATEST LIFE ENHANCING RESEARCH TO BECOME A worldclass triathlete, Lesley Paterson found herself pushing her limits “beyond what most thought were healthy”. Missed birthdays, early mornings, holidays ruined by searching for a pool to train in – her account of what it takes to reach the top will inspire some, but deter others. And with many of us finding our motivation in all aspects of our life sapped by working from home, such commitment seems out of reach. Might as well give up trying? If that thought has crossed your mind, remember that exercise – and the benefits it confers – isn’t an all-or-nothing proposition. Even a small amount of it could be just what you need to fire you up once more – and that’s in…

FOR AMERICAN BANDLEADER Art Blakey, jazz offered a kind of secular baptism. Performing it, he said, could “wash away the dust of everyday life”. Gamers, chess masters and athletes have long reported similar feelings of liberation while immersed in their own activities; when psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi began to investigate flow in the mid-1970s, he formalised the study of a phenomenon familiar to anyone who has ever pursued a goal for its own sake – and lost themselves in that pursuit. To be in the flow is to enter a zone of heightened focus. As with many forms of meditation, it causes the ego to fall away. Psychologists describe it as when “optimal experience” occurs, and its documented benefits are myriad: a University of Bath study linked flow states to enhanced athletic…