Men's Health UK March 2022

TOM COWAN PHYSIOLOGIST Want to amp up your stamina? Harley Street specialist Cowan shares his rules for lifting your limits and lasting the distance p17 STACEY STAATERMAN CAREER STRATEGIST Burnout is on the rise. Before you make any big decisions, reflect on Staaterman’s words of wisdom p47 FAISAL ABDALLA MH ELITE MEMBER Mr Positive Mental Attitude shares the lessons behind his athleticism – and his even more impressive mindset p20 ANDY GALPIN MUSCLE PROFESSOR When building up your lats and biceps, give them a little TLC, too. Galpin, a prof of muscle physiology in California, shares his tips p138 DANNY GRAY CAMPAIGNER Gray is the founder of JAAQ, an AI-based mental-health platform, which aims to change how we seek support. Is this the future? p72 HERMAN PONTZER ANTHROPOLOGIST A prof of evolutionary anthropology, Pontzer is a status-quo-upsetting expert on the science of metabolism. He gives you a…

As a rule, we try to take a positive line. Men’s Health is about proactivity. We exist to arm you with the tools and tricks to make the most out of life, to realise your physical and mental potential and to… well, you’ve heard all this before, not least from me boring on. But sometimes, we stumble across stories that demand to be published, whether or not they fulfil the wholesome, feel-good brief. At the end of the day, we are a health magazine – and not all health is good. On page 86, you’ll find a feature titled The Great Divide. It concerns life expectancy. But more specifically, it’s about the unprecedented directional change in which life expectancy is heading. In September last year, after more than a century-long trend…

01 LONG-LIFE CYCLES 02 GIVE UP GIVING UP It’s a cliché that the fitness programmes we zealously commit to in January often feel uninspiring a few weeks into the new year. Analysts at tech company Foursquare have even identified an annual ‘Fall Off the Wagon’ day – when a rise in fastfood sales meets a drop in weekly gym visits – in mid-February. But perhaps our obsession with willpower and wagons is part of the problem? Relying on sheer self-discipline to get you to the gym on a cold winter morning is fallible. Most research shows habit building, not resolve, is likely to keep us on course. This explains why research published in the journal Sports Medicine has shown those who habitually travel by bike live longer, healthier lives. The review looked at…

03 MUSCLE DOWN Gravity is a fickle friend. It helps you build strength, but it can humble you, too – especially when you’re challenging yourself with a move as tough as the muscle-up. The ‘eccentric’ version is the simplest way to turn gravity into an ally. Here, the focus is on the lowering phase of the movement, so you overload your triceps, shoulders and core to add size and develop strength for the real shebang: a favourite show-off move for the recreational gymnast, rivalled only by the handstand press-up. ‘The eccentric part of the muscle-up is underutilised,’ says MH fitness editor Andrew Tracey. ‘You’re stronger through the lowering portion of a movement, so by jumping over the bar and slowly controlling yourself down, you’re building strength… and drilling the movement pattern.’ Aim to perform…

04 ON THE JUICE 05 ADDED VALUE 01 FLUID DYNAMICS The old foodie platitude about a dish being only as good as its ingredients has never been truer. For the ideal blend, mix the four categories below in descending order of bulk. Time is pressing… i GREEN ARMY Kale and spinach are at the juicing vanguard with good reason, but wresting much liquid from them is hard. Force through with heavier ingredients for a better yield. ii ROOTS MANOEUVRE A high veg:fruit ratio means a big hit of antioxidants without overdoing the fructose. It can also mean a glass resembling pond water. Adding carrots will lend a natural sweetness. iii FRUIT MACHINES Sweet tooth? You can get too much of a good thing. An average 150ml of fruit juice per day is optimal. If you’re bigger on apple and…

01 FILL YOUR TANK If going full-send leaves you in a quivering heap, check your diet. When your body is asked to perform repeated, forceful muscular contractions, it taps into stored carbs for fuel: ‘They’re used at a fast rate during high-intensity efforts, so make sure you don’t go in depleted,’ says exercise physiologist Tom Cowan. Dehydration also impairs the delivery of oxygen to your muscles, while increasing heart rate and strain on the body. And box jumps are hard enough. 02 HEAL THE BURN ‘At high intensities, when oxygen demand from the working muscles exceeds supply, those muscles rely on anaerobic pathways to produce energy,’ says Cowan. Carbs are broken down to produce lactate, and hydrogen ions start to accumulate, leading to The Burn. Training raises your anaerobic threshold, so you can…