Men's Fitness South Africa April 2017

Modern Day Gladiator I’ve been involved in some form of martial arts for the better part of the last decade and a half, be it as a human on the kickboxing mats in high school or an analyst and colour commentator for our own world class MMA promotion, the Extreme Fighting Championship. There is just something desperately honest about hand-to-hand combat in its purest form, a true separating the strong from the weak type scenario. The one place where you cannot hide behind laziness and get by only based on your natural talent and ability, in this arena it will cost you more than just a bruised ego. Legends of a previous era: Lidell, Silva, Couture, Penn have since passed and it’s the dawn of a new day, a super…

STRENGT HTRAINING CJ Murphy, M.F.S. Owner, Total Performance Sports, Everett, MA Jim Smith, C.P.P.S. Owner, Diesel Strength & Conditioning Zach Even-Esh Owner, Underground Strength Gym, Edison, NJ WEIGHT LOSS Bob Harper Fitness expert; trainer, NBC’s The Biggest Loser Frank G. Bottone Jr., Ph.D., R.D. Author, The Diet Denominator: Fill Your Tank for Less FINANCE Roy Cohen Career counselor; author, The Wall Street Professional’s Survival Guide; careercoachny.com Chris Bart, Ph.D. Business consultant; author, A Tale of Two Employees DERMATO LOGY Tina West, M.D. Board-certified dermatologist; founder of the West Institute, westskinlaser.com Annet King, Director of global education, the International Dermal Institute and Dermalogica PHYSICALTHERAPY Jay Dicharry, M.P.T., C.S.C.S. Director of biomechanics, Rebound Physical Therapy FOOD Danny Boome Celebrity chef, currently on Good Food America for Veria Living Candice Kumai Author, Clean…

F Few discoveries in fitness will likely ever match this for sheer excitement: The recent finding that three 20-second intervals of all-out exertion the same health benefits as 45 minutes of moderate exercise. In a 12-week study at Canada’s McMaster University, 27 sedentary men performed three weekly training sessions, one group doing three intense 20-second cycle sprints, the other, 45 minutes of moderate cycling. Yet both groups showed a 19% rise in cardio ability and better insulin sensitivity. Sounds like a brilliant way to get fit in no time flat, right? Not so fast. Though the untrained subjects did benefit from the short HIIT bursts, untrained people will always benefit from increased activity; chances are fit folks won’t see the same gains. And studies show that 20–30 minutes of HIIT…

A Ancient peoples made the first “aspirin” using acetylsalicylic acid, an ingredient found in plants like willow trees. Over the centuries, salicylic concoctions became known as the most effective anti-inflammatories and pain relievers on earth. Now aspirin’s reputation as a wonder drug is getting another good polishing: The US Preventive Services Task Force has declared that a daily dose of the little white pill can cut the risk for heart attacks, strokes, and colon cancer for people over 50. Taking aspirin regularly also lessened the likelihood of tumours in 4000 brain cancer patients, according to a study presented at an annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. The drug is thought to block a body compound linked to inflammation and tumours. Study scientists also checked to see if…

W What do America’s top surfer Kelly Slater and NBA Orlando Magic’s player Aaron Gordon have in common? Their love for underwater workouts. Water is 800 times denser than air, so resisting it as you raise weights or do squats gives you a super-intense workout without stressing your joints. Slater runs on the ocean floor carrying rocks to boost lung power and muscle strength; Gordon became a high-leaping dunk king by carrying a huge kettlebell across the bottom of a deep pool. To start, go to mensfitness.com/underwater for some great H2O workouts and links to underwater-exercise videos from Speedo USA, then find yourself a beach or pool and some kettlebells or dumbbells and hop in. Speedo gear • To make underwater training more comfortable and effective for land-dwellers, Speedo has…

• We call them dumbbells, treadmills, and spin bikes. What do billions of bacteria call them? We’re guessing “carnival rides”. Fitness reviewer FitRated recently swabbed 27 pieces of equipment at three gyms and found they were crawling with millions of potentially harmful bacteria. Worst offender: free weights, with 362 times more germs than a toilet seat. To stay safe, avoid touching your eyes/mouth during a workout, and be sure to wash your hands afterwards.…