Men's Health July/August 2021

TRAVEL IS ESCAPE— from the indoors or the ping of your in-box—and on page 33, we found nine destinations to help you get away. So we asked you: Where in the world are you planning to escape to next? The gym! @vegetarier.pfleger.paolo I think I’ll blindly pick a spot on a map. @danhdz75 I’m going to Disneyland! @theninja909 Somewhere with a beach, hopefully. @edward.baidoo Hong Kong. I’ve wanted to go there for nearly 30 years now. @bennie.woodell The Kennedy Space Center. I am such a science nerd. @wendy.y.lawrence Lake Tahoe, if I still remember how to drive more than 20 minutes at a time. @bob.hunnicutt1…

—@cgtn4 FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK, @cgtn4. As I’m lying down to write this note (oh, like you don’t?), Men’s Health’s YouTube channel has just reached one million subscribers—that’s a lot!—and I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the hows and whys of it all. So: thoughts, in no particular order… 1 It’s hard to talk about YouTube as one monolithic thing, because YouTube is basically just a microcosm of the Internet (and, I guess, the world)—there’s amazing stuff and awful stuff, smart people and not-so-smart people, and the beauty and the burden of the platform is that bums like you and me get to figure out what’s what. 2 There is so much fitness on You-Tube—tens of thousands of channels with millions of hours of video that range from the most vanilla basics…

Q. Can grilling meats really cause cancer? —LEWIS, SEATTLE, WA A. Yes and no! Throwing meat on the grill does produce chemicals (HCAs and PAHs) that may increase your risk for cancer—but the increase appears to be small. The hotter and/or longer you grill meat, the more likely these chemicals are to develop, so limit well-done steaks. Using a low-sugar marinade (such as vinegar, yogurt, lemon or lime juice, or dark beer) with herbs and spices (such as rosemary, onion powder, fresh garlic) can lower HCA and PAH formation, and including lots of fresh fruits and vegetables can diminish their cancer-causing activity. —BRIAN ST. PIERRE, R.D., C.S.C.S.…

Men’s Health MVP members have access to the best health and fitness articles out there. Each month, we survey our MVPs and choose one whose story catches our eye. Sign up at join.menshealth.com and you could see yourself here one day. MY FITNESS GOALS I got Covid-19 in August 2020 and was one of the unlucky ones to become a long hauler. I was in bed for a month and unable to work out for five months. I lost about 25 pounds. My goal is just to feel like myself again. WHY SHAZAM IS MY FITNESS HERO Zachary Levi is ripped, but not Mark Wahlberg ripped. He’s not waking up at 2:30 a.m. for a six-hour gym session. I STAY MOTIVATED BY … Talking to colleagues. We have a Peloton Slack channel. Everyone does rides together…

PICTURE YOURSELF at the top of a staircase with steel railings. Next to it is a five-inch-wide, seven-foot-high wall. How would you get down? If you’re like most people, you might stroll down the stairs. But if you’re Gabriel Nunez (above), the 37-year-old CEO of the Tempest Freerunning Academy in Chatsworth, California, all you see is possibility. You might sprint and jump into the wall, plant your feet, and then leap and flip off it, landing on the stairs below. Or you might grab the lip of the wall, lower yourself halfway, push your feet off, and flip onto the ground. Then maybe you’d hop up to the railing, run down it, and side-flip to the landing at the bottom. “Usually you start by climbing onto something,” says Nunez. “Then once…

↓ DIRECTIONS: Do this workout as a circuit. Do each move for 40 seconds, rest 40 seconds, then go on to the next move. Do 3 rounds of the circuit. Enjoy the sweat. WARMUP WORLD’S GREATEST STRETCH Start in pushup position, hands directly below shoulders. Shift your right leg to just outside your right hand and tighten your left glute. Pause. Reach your right hand toward the sky, following it with your gaze (a). Return your right hand to the floor, straighten your right leg, and rock backward, stretching your hamstrings (b). Return to the start. That’s 1 rep. Alternate reps between sides for 60 seconds, then rest 30 seconds. Do 3 sets. WORKOUT 1 LATERAL BEAR CRAWL Get on all fours, hands directly below your shoulders, knees about shoulder-width apart. Tighten your abs and glutes,…