Men's Health UK March 2021

DAN JOHN FITNESS HISTORIAN Both the dumbbell and the kettlebell can transform your fitness – but which is more effective? John weighs in p72 SARAH COE NUTRITION SCIENTIST Research confirms that our first meal of the day is the most important – but what should it be? Coe serves up the science p34 STEVE BACKSHALL TV EXPLORER To chase down ageless fitness, first you need to rekindle your sense of adventure. Take the road less travelled with the host of Deadly 60 p30 LUKA HOCEVAR STRENGTH COACH Bulletproof your lower-body strength with the banded lunge deadlift, under the watchful eyes of elite trainer Hocevar p15 PETER DASZAK DISEASE ECOLOGIST A year since the advent of COVID-19, Daszak and others argue that hard lessons must be learned to prevent the next pandemic p78 DANIEL LIEBERMAN PALEOANTHROPOLOGIST Struggling to stick with your training plan? It’s only natural: Lieberman explains…

Recently, I’ve been joking with friends about how the course of these wretched lockdowns has followed the template set by the Godfather films. Not in the sense that I’ve begun waking up to severed horse heads in my bed, or that I’m continually being made offers I can’t refuse. Rather, it’s the grim realisation that while the second one turned out rather better than the first, frankly, the less said about the third, the better. For even the most positive of thinkers and sunny-side-up optimists, the past couple of months have felt especially tough. Such is our collective faith in the restorative power of a fresh calendar, many of us convinced ourselves that 2021 would see a corner magically turned. Hell, the lead cover line on our January issue declared it…

If your New Year’s resolutions unravelled shortly after the decorations came down, well, join the club. According to the University of Minnesota, 80% of resolutions are doomed to failure, with the majority already abandoned by the second week of February. It’s easy to lose hope when faced with such steep odds, but don’t put your new Pegasus trainers on eBay just yet. The remedy for your waning commitment to your weight-loss training is right on your doorstep. Researchers at the Université de Sherbrooke asked a group of participants to complete an hour-long cardio and weight training workout, three times per week. Half of the group sweated out their sessions in a gym, while the rest tackled the programme in the great outdoors. At the end of the 12-week-long experiment, the open-air…

APPLE WATCH SERIES 6 Along with the usual metrics, the Series 6 monitors blood oxygen, a good indicator of your fitness. From £380 apple.com BOSE SPORT EARBUDS They’re sweat-resistant, secure and sound huge. Plus, if a bud falls out, you can track it using the Find My Buds function. £180 bose.co.uk FREETRAIN VEST Run down your risk of injury by front-loading your phone, keys and gels using the Freetrain Vest. £30 freetrain.co.uk POLAR H10 HEART RATE MONITOR No phone signal? No problem. This strap’s built-in memory function continues tracking every beat until you reconnect. £180 bose.co.uk WORDS: ANNIE HAYES I PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY | DIGITAL MANIPULATION: SCRATCHINPOST.CO.UK…

The deadlift may be the king of lifts, but single-leg variations are stepping up to the plate. Training each leg individually fires up your stabilising muscles and addresses strength imbalances, helping you build new power in your quads, glutes and hamstrings. But what the single-leg deadlift giveth, poor form taketh away. Balancing on one leg is tricky, and adding weight stresses your lower back. This move takes care of all that. Grounding your back foot boosts your balance, says strength coach Luka Hocevar, while the trap bar brings the weight closer to your centre of gravity. The band adds tension only at the top of the rep, where you’re least susceptible to injury, Hocevar continues. Aim for eight reps per leg, controlling your descent for three seconds, before exploding back up. Tackle…

01 GREASE IS THE WORD Don’t turn up your nose at the fat content. The high temperatures of deep frying sear the surface of your food, forming a protective seal that the oil can’t penetrate. The food’s moisture then turns into steam, cooking it from the inside out and driving oil away from the surface. Dean Westcar, head chef of the Thames Table at Crockers (henley.crockersuk.com), proves that with some slick changes to your oil, you can bulk up the health benefits of any cheat-day indulgence. A PEANUT OIL Peanut oil’s high smoke point and neutral flavour make it the ultimate wingman for a healthy home fry. It’s also packed with youth-promoting vitamin E, which slows the ageing process of your cells to help you look younger and live longer. B AVOCADO OIL Pick a…