Innholdsfortegnelse for January - February 2018 i Men's Fitness South Africa

52 Mondays, right? Yup, it’s that time again. Time to dust off the resolution notebook from the year that’s passed, see what the scoresheet reveals and just exactly how many of the goals were met in 2017. This ritual will then be followed-up by writing an even more ambitious list of goals for 2018. Personally, I have found it a lot more manageable to actually keep these under “notes” on my phone; at least it’s easier to track – not necessarily easier to follow and meet said goals. A year seems like a long time, but essentially we only have 52 Monday mornings to make the most of the week ahead. Most of us, myself included, will only be back in the office on the second Monday of 2018 and…

Vin Diesel, may not be a kid anymore (he turns 51 this year), but he’s still got arms the size of armoured tank cannons — to shame guys half his age. Hell, to shame guys of any age. So how does he keep them perpetually loaded for battle? He attacks the biceps and triceps from all sides and often holds moves for teeth-grittingly long periods of time to really tease out the size and feel the burn. Turn to page 22 to check out his moves. Pray that when you put a few years on, you’ll still be packing even a fraction of the heat he is. LOCKED AND LOADED: VIN DIESEL’S ARM-BUILDING WORKOUT IS ONE FOR THE AGES.…

Think the whole “barefoot” sneaker trend is just for runners? Think again. According to researchers at Hong Kong’s Poly University, wearing minimalist shoes while exercising can make your legs and feet significantly stronger than wearing regular sneakers. The six-month study followed 18 runners in regular kicks and 20 runners in minimalist shoes (stretchy-fabric uppers, zero heel-to-toe drop, and a 3mm outer sole — no midsole cushioning or arch support). At the end, the regular-shoe wearers’ leg/foot muscles hadn’t grown — but the leg muscles of the barefoot-shoe folks had gone up in size by 7%, their foot muscles by 9%, forefoot muscles by 12%, and rear-foot muscles by 7%. And though the study was done on runners, researchers believe that wearing a similar shoe during other types of workouts, including…

Flanking the launch of the second generation Panamera comes the niche-filling Sport Turismo version that resolutely applies the same sporty credentials but combined with the accentuated practical and cosmetic changes permitted by an estate body style. A natural evolution on Porsche’s low-slung sedan, the Sport Turismo still carries an inseparable relation to the car it’s derived from, repackaged around the longer higher roofline that prompted a comprehensive alteration from the rear doors all the way to the lower tailgate. Opinions surrounding the design are less jagged than those uttered about the standard Panamera while transitioning almost into a standalone product that has no comparable rivals. The message to customers is different too; Sport Turismo whispers to the lifestyle market which was usually reserved for Porsche’s gamut of SUVs. Yet the…

Zero Sugar Diet, is an in-depth eating plan specifically designed to detox your body, bring your hormones into balance, heal your liver, and take away food cravings while delivering rapid weight loss. Generally speaking, it works by doing one thing very, very effectively: drastically lowering your sugar consumption while boosting your fibre intake at the same time. Zero Sugar Diet requires lots of whole foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole, unprocessed grains; plenty of lean, healthy, satisfying, sugar-free foods like eggs, turkey, chicken, and fish; and just the right amount of sugar-free fats, like guacamole. With the dishes here — a sampling of a full day’s worth of food courtesy of Zero Sugar Diet (Ballantine Books) — you’ll replace simple carbs with high-fibre foods and see your belly starting to…

A pot that takes your pasta seriously Not all pasta pots are created equal: Our biggest pet peeve is a too-short drainer insert that doesn’t fit enough noodles for a group. The Legend Euro Chef Stainless-Steel 24cm Stockpot, however, is the right size and has a clear lid so you can see what’s up and the 8.5L capacity is perfect for preparing large meals. It’s also dishwasher safe with cool-touch handles. R890, takealot.com A smart, affordable spiralizer The Humble and Mash quick prep spiralizer has a unique multi-blade system allowing you to create different types of noodles with three blades to choose from: ribbon, thin spiral and thicker spiral. You can quickly and easily enjoy endless creative possibilities using marrows, carrots, potatoes, apples, beetroot and much more. R500, yuppiechef.com Nobody’s…

What’s the best cut of beef to cook at home if I want a lean steak but one that still has lots of flavour? MATTM, PORT ELIZABETH “The merlot steak — some call it the velvet steak — is incredibly lean, but it’s also a beefy and extremely flavourful, quick-cooking cut. It’s roughly 450g and comes from the heel of the round, or the back leg. It’s something like a flank steak but without all the muscle fibres. Salt it an hour before you make it, then throw it into a hot skillet with a little bit of extra-virgin oil and cook it (three or four minutes per side for medium-rare), and that’s pretty much all there is to it. Let it rest five minutes, then slice it across the…

SO YOU FINALLY persuaded HR to buy you that standing desk. Congrats! (Also: Welcome to 2018.) Maybe you’ve invested in a stress ball, tomato timer, foam roller, and standard-issue sound-cancelling headphones, too. This is all great stuff to improve your daily grind, and we wholeheartedly approve. But if you think you’ve done everything you can to pimp your workspace for the sake of your productivity, you’ve still got a ways to go. With the smart buys that follow, you can turn any drab cubicle into an oasis of good energy and intense focus where great work gets done. Because when you’re at the office, you should work smarter and faster, not harder. Get a more charitable foundation Sure, a standing desk helps break the office monotony, but it also shifts…

When you Google the words male friendship, you get articles with headlines like “Do Men Suck at Friendship?” Well, do they? Men do not suck at friendship. Men’s friendships just look different from women’s friendships. There’s a myth that somehow because we’re not as emotionally or physically expressive as women, our friendships are less than. So how do men’s friendships actually work? Men like to get together, but they like to get together shoulder-to-shoulder, not face-to-face, like women do. They feel more comfortable doing activities with other guys. Men would rather play golf or watch the game than sit together in an intimate French restaurant sharing a bottle of wine. Can shoulder-to-shoulder friendships be meaningful? Absolutely. Shoulder-to-shoulder allows you to get into highly personal stuff. What happens is that, for…

SUCROSE Also known as table sugar to you and me, it’s the granular stuff, teaspoon or two you add to your coffee, those fine white crystals dusted over a deep-fried koeksister. It’s a slightly complicated molecule, so our bodies don’t really want to have to deal with it. In fact, within seconds of sucrose hitting our intestines, our enzymes split it into two separate molecules: glucose and fructose. GLUCOSE This is simple sugar found in all carbs that is used immediately by our bodies for energy or stored in the muscles and the liver as glycogen. That’s the stuff that shoots directly into the bloodstream and causes our pancreas to pump out insulin; insulin pulls it out of the bloodstream so the body can use it, and if there’s too…

THE NUMBERS THE GUY 80kg, 1.8m, 35- year-old active male Recommended Baseline Macros CALORIES 2 600–2 800 PROTEIN 1.7g/kg body weight = 135g protein daily, 27g per meal (20% of total calories) CARBOHYDRATES 357–385g (55% of total calories) FAT 72–77g (25% of total calories) No question about it: Protein is king. But more isn’t necessarily better — there’s a limit to how much your body can use in a setting (about 30g). Plus, to avoid breaking down muscle protein, you need to pair it with just enough carbs (yeah, the macro you keep neglecting) to repair damaged tissue and stimulate new growth. More specifically, complex carbs help restore glycogen levels and shuttle protein quickly and more efficiently to depleted muscle cells. Timing is crucial, too: Studies show that getting about…

STRENGTH TRAINING 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 Chris Powell, C.S.C.S. Trainer; author; transformation specialist, ABC’s Extreme Weight Loss 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 DERMATOLOGY 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 PHYSICAL THERAPY Jay Dicharry, M.P.T., C.S.C.S. Director of biomechanics, Rebound Physical Therapy FOOD Danny Boome Celebrity chef, currently on…

1) EZ-BAR CURL Sets: 3 Reps: 8–10 Rest: 60 sec Hold an EZ-curl bar with a shoulder-width grip. Keeping your upper arms against your sides, curl the bar until your biceps are fully contracted. 2) DUMBBELL HAMMER CURL Sets: 3 Reps: 10–12 Rest: 60 sec Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing your sides. Keeping your upper arms against your sides, curl the weights up. 3) EZ-BAR REVERSE CURL Sets: 3 Reps: Work for 60 sec. Rest: 60 sec Hold an EZ-curl bar with an overhand grip, hands spaced shoulder-width apart. Don’t allow your elbows to drift forward as you curl the bar. 4) TRICEPS PUSHDOWN Sets: 3 Reps: 12–15 Rest: 60 sec Attach a rope handle to the top pulley of a cable station and hold an end…

Eating a big, healthy salad that’s chockfull of a variety of colourful veggies — kale, peppers, broccoli, tomatoes, carrots — for lunch is an easy way to get a wide range of essential daily nutrients. And a study from 2015 revealed that simply adding some eggs to your salad can bump up your body’s ability to absorb antioxidants called carotenoids by up to eight times. Now a follow-up study has found that tossing three cooked eggs into a salad can increase your absorption of vitamin E nearly sevenfold. Vitamin E — found mostly in leafy greens, oils, seeds, and nuts — has potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, supports the immune system, and may help prevent heart disease, so use this easy trick to up your levels without taking supplements. Curry…

The greatest invention in romance since condoms, dating apps are pure efficiency: thousands of women, no long profiles to read, no grammar mistakes to harrumph over, nothing but the essentials: picture, age, first name, and a fortune cookie. If you’re interested only in hook-ups, there’s a mathematical strategy for maximising hits: Swipe right for everyone. This works when you think about dating the way a shark thinks about eating. But if you’re looking for love — or simply good company — you’re in for “Hot or Not?” the video game. And, like any gamer, you need a winning strategy. WHEN YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A SITE TO GET SEXY ON YOU THINK: All single women are on Tinder and variety is my ally. SHE THINKS: Tinder is a Greyhound bus full…

Q: Tell us a bit about yourself and your history as an athlete. A: I’m a Physiotherapist by profession, running two physiotherapy departments at two specialised TB hospitals. As a child growing up, I was very athletic and active. I played all sports and often found myself playing cricket, soccer and games with the boys during school intervals and holidays. I always made it onto the school athletic and sports teams, competing in sprints, long distance running, long jump, high jump, netball, etc. I never had a problem with my weight or health growing up. I used to eat like a horse and still have a healthy weight because I was so active. I excelled in sports and academics. When I had completed my Honours degree in Physiotherapy at UWC…

Rejoice, fellas: You needn’t banish your favourite bowl of gloppity goodness to cheat days, or — even more depressing — load your go-to sauce on some underwhelming pasta understudy (see: “whole wheat”, anything labelled “gluten-free”).Easy-to-make spiralised vegetables — whole veggies sliced into spaghetti-like threads — can turn the tuber or legume of your choice into a to-die-for Italian feast. Unlike flour-based pastas, noodles made of squash, beets, sweet potatoes, et al, are low in calories, high in smart carbs/fibre, super filling (because of their water content), and won’t spike your blood sugar. Best of all, with the right sauce, they’re flat-out tasty as hell. BOX IT UP: The Best Premade Veggie Noodles Great alternatives to the typical wheat - or rice-flour noodles. Happy Earth People Chickpea Pasta (TAKEALOT.COM; R84) Subtly…

Sure, Swedish-born chef Gabriel Hedlund is a Michelin star winner. But seeing his lean physique and massive bi’s, it’s words like “fitness freak” not “full-time foodie” that instantly spring to mind. One of his secrets: the vegetable-heavy, intrinsically healthy New Nordic fare (like raw mackerel with nasturtium, green tomato, and horseradish) he’s become famous for. But Hedlund follows an even simpler diet at home and sticks to a strict fitness regimen, too. We asked the chef, whose new joint N’eat (short for “Nordic eatery”) just opened in NYC, USA, for specifics. How do you balance a chef’s lifestyle — crazy hours, tons of food — with staying fit? It’s about staying focused. What I cook at the restaurant is all about flavour; what I cook at home is more like…

1)Don’t Hide Behind Headphones If you’re using them to avoid interruptions, don’t, says Ellwood. It’s better to attack confrontations head-on and gauge the level of urgency. “Ask them if it’s urgent, how much time it will take, and then pick a time frame when you’ll respond”, he says. “Get back to them on your terms, not theirs.” 2)Face the Wall Visual distractions are fuel for procrastination. To prevent them, says Ellwood, turn your desk to face the wall. It will focus the mind and help you keep your goals on track. Is it boring? Sure. That’s why you should take occasional breaks and walk around. 3)Never E-mail When You Can Talk If you have something to say, say it – don’t e-mail it — and this holds especially true if…

MEN’S FITNESS: WHAT GOT YOU INTO THE GYM? GIVE US SOME DETAILS ON YOUR UPBRINGING, YOUR BACKGROUND AND YOUR TRANSITION INTO FITNESS. JACQUES FAGAN: I grew up in the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town and from a very young age I’ve been an active person, always doing a variety of sports like rugby, cricket, athletics and tennis. Rugby has always been my favourite sport, but being a skinny guy I lacked a bit of confidence. I knew that if I wanted to make it far in rugby I would need to build a stronger and bigger body, to help improve my confidence levels. I started training in the gym at the age of 14 and began following fitness icons like Greg Plitt and doing research on training and supplements. Coming…

ONE MY STRUGGLE WITH SUGAR IF YOU ASKED THE 25-YEAR-OLD ME TO PREDICT WHAT my 40s would look like, I would have used just one word to describe them: fat. Fat was my inevitable destiny. I’d grown up as a lonely latchkey kid with a serious sugar addiction; my best friends were the Three Musketeers, and all I knew of the world outside my suburban Pennsylvania neighbourhood was French vanilla, English toffee, and Dutch chocolate. When my 90 kilograms went into the US Navy Reserves after college, I could see the disgust on the faces of the basic-training instructors: Who sent us this leaky old tugboat? And how the heck are we supposed to turn it into a battleship? The Navy did whip me into shape — morning revelry of…

A simple, healthy diet — one that’s high in fibre and low in sugar, preservatives, and unhealthy fats — is all that’s needed to keep your body’s inner workings as smooth and sleek as the day they rolled off the assembly line. But for those rare (we hope) times when you’ve been overindulging in the bad habits of the past, help your body recover from an excess of abuse by going big on these nine foods. Asparagus ■It’s a natural diuretic, so asparagus can help relieve bloating and other unpleasant feelings. Its balance of amino acids and minerals may also work to alleviate hangover symptoms. Avocado ■This super fruit contains two oils, linalool and geranyl acetate, shown to have a positive effect on digestive disorders. In a study in the Journal…

“Our entire squad usually lifts together, either before or after our shift. It’s a great way for us to bond and stay fit and ready for the job.”OFFICER DUANE BRUCKER OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE Gains made by Cranberry Township police officers Average bench gain: 30kg Average squat gain: 45kg Average deadlift gain: 70kg One of the first things Officer Rob Capezio learnt in the police academy was that a strong, fit body is crucial to meeting the demands of the job. It’s a lesson that stuck with him. From that moment on, fitness was core to his daily routine. But when, after five years on the force, he left Pittsburgh and big-city life behind to move to a home in Pennsylvania’s smaller, more family-friendly Cranberry Township, he was also forced to leave…

Morning guys get out at the butt crack of dawn. Day guys try to squeeze something in at lunch. (Good luck with that.) Late guys hit it once the work whistle blows. But it’s all good as long as the workouts are consistent, right? Maybe not. According to a new study out of Northwestern University USA, muscle tissue runs on the same circadian clock — the internal 24-hour timer that regulates cell functioning — that the rest of the body does. If true, that means there’s an optimal time for muscle cells to use oxygen to create energy and allow for better performance. The study found that when the muscles in mice were genetically altered to ignore the little rodents’ circadian clock, they lost their ability to use sugar for…

Scratch most “regular exercisers” and underneath you’ll find someone who tried HIIT (high-intensity interval training) once and just couldn’t hack it — the short-but-extreme bursts of effort can be daunting for fitness pros and sweating-like-a-pig newbies alike. It’s a shame, because HIIT can boost your body’s fat-burning abilities and give you a time-efficient cardio and health strategy: Just 10 minutes, three times a week, can get you as healthy as the recommended 150 minutes a week of low-intensity exercise (see below). But there’s hope: Listening to music of any kind — as long as it’s your favourite tunes — during HIIT will make you not only enjoy it more but also look forward more to the next brutal session, says new research in the Journal of Sports Sciences. So pop…

There aren’t many ways to rebrand or repackage Land Cruiser’s Prado despite more than 60 years under the indomitable Land Cruiser belt - that intimidating reflection is still earnestly recognisable across a famously large and diverse distribution network. Truthfully there’s very little motivation to tear off a blank sheet of paper and re-engineer Toyota’s versatile family 4x4 for 2018. Unprecedented off-road luxury needs to remain intact and it’ll frown at anything branded as a part-time 4x4. Strength and durability are the over-arching principles with all-terrain support readily on hand for areas where cellphone signal plummets and the Prado confidently lends a helping hand. Body surfacing is dictated by a no-fuss solidness right from enabling the best wading depth, visibility and of course wheel travel. Larger than before with reworked styling…

• PHEDRACUT LAVA X: IT’S AN EXTREME THERMOGENIC CAPSULE WHICH NOT ONLY HELPS TO SHRED FAT QUICKLY, BUT ALSO GIVES ME A BOOST OF ENERGY. • USN BCAA AMINO LEAN: IT PROMOTES MUSCLE STAMINA, STRENGTH AND RECOVERY, BOOSTS MUSCLE TRAINING INTENSITY AND ENDURANCE. • USN PURE GLUTAMINE MICRONIZED POWDER: IT HELPS REDUCE EXERCISE-RELATED MUSCLE BREAKDOWN, IT MAY SPEED UP RECOVERY AND INCREASES MUSCLE STAMINA AND STRENGTH. • USN CREATINE MICRONIZED POWDER: IT INCREASES PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE IN SUCCESSIVE BURSTS OF SHORT-TERM, HIGH-INTENSITY EXERCISE.…

Cold-press juice is more nutritious and even lasts longer in the fridge. Calling all juicing fiends: If you haven’t invested in a “cold press” (aka masticating) juicer yet, do it now. That’s right: Now. Here’s why: Juicers come in two basic types. The most common, the “centrifugal” juicer, grinds and spins fruits and veggies at high speed to separate juice from pulp, in the process creating heat (hence “cold” in the name of its competitor, the “cold press”). But, more notably, a centrifugal juicer also creates oxidation, which can damage nutrients and affect the juice’s shelf life. (Think: Apple slices turning brown when exposed to air.) A masticating juicer, on the other hand, slowly crushes the fruit/veg and squeezes out the juice, which extracts more juice, especially from leafy greens.…

If I’m eating clean, is three hours of cardio a week enough to lose fat? ELIASS, JOHANNESBURG If you make the right meal (and drink) choices, get enough sleep, and do resistance training (to boost calorie burning), then, yes, three hours of cardio a week should do it. While you’re at it, try these tweaks to ignite extra fat burning: DURATION: Do 30–60 minutes of cardio at a time. INTENSITY: Keep your heart rate at 65–85% of your anaerobic threshold but spike it with higher-intensity intervals. FREQUENCY: I’d say daily, so it becomes routine. But bottom line, do what fits your schedule without adding stress — that raises cortisol, causing your body to hoard the very fat you’re trying to jettison. Just be consistent and have fun with it, because there’s…

1) Never: Set vague goals. “Get in shape!” is too ambiguous; keep ’em concrete. If you want to gain muscle, set a goal of “gaining muscle”. Period. 2) Never: Throw in the towel after a small relapse. Shit happens. Accept it. Don’t give up on losing 10 kilograms just because you had two cheat days in a row. Get back on your plan. 3) Never: Coast and forget. How many times have you made a resolution on Jan 1, then forgotten it by February? Make a point to toss a monthly reminder on your phone’s calendar. 4) Never: Brag about it to your friends. Even if you accomplish your goals, you become insufferable. Don’t be That Guy. 5) Never: Set unrealistic goals. This can backfire. So maybe your resolutions shouldn’t…

RELAX IN CASUAL LOOKS THAT HIT THE SWEET SPOT BETWEEN GYMWEAR AND HANGOUT GEAR.…

Kellogg’s All-Bran, 5.1g per 40g serving: ½ a donut PnP Full Cream Milk, 9.6g per 250ml cup: ¾ of a donut Simba Peanuts & Raisins, 8.1g per 45g serving: ¾ of a donut BRM Cooked Pork Belly Ribs, 13g per 500g serving: 1 donut Pineapple Salad, 12.1g per 100g: 1 donut Parmalat Medium-Fat Fruit Salad, 12.2g per 100g: 1 donut Steers Barbeque Sauce, 15.6g per 100ml: 1 1/3 donuts Heinz Tomato Soup, 18.8g per 400g can: 1 1/2 donuts All Gold Tomato Sauce, 21.3g per 100ml: 1¾ donuts BBQ Ribs (full): 2 1/3 donuts Coca Cola, 1 can: 3½ donuts…

LET’S NOT KID EACH OTHER: AS MUCH AS WE HIT THE GYM TO FEEL AWESOME, LIVE LONGER, COMPETE WITH OUR BUDDIES, RELIEVE stress, and, of course, have a damn good time slinging giant pieces of steel, it doesn’t hurt that working out makes us look damn good too. Which means that, if you’re a guy seeking to round out your sex appeal, you’re probably more than familiar with all the coveted (admittedly superficial) physical attributes that constitute a “perfect male physique” — the ones even hardcore gym rats have trouble achieving. These include the well-defined arm “horseshoe” (see: Mark Wahlberg in The Fighter), ridiculously chiselled V-cut abs (see: Brad Pitt in Fight Club), and the giant wingspan of a well-carved upper back (see: Hugh Jackman in any film in which…

Let’s say your goal for 2018 isn’t quite as ambitious as looking like a perfectly carved statue. (If it is, see “Your Perfect Body Game Plan”, page 95). If you just want to get back in amazing shape, feel great, and lose kilograms (let’s face it: that’s still a really tall order!), we’ve got the ultimate plan for you. With the plan that follows, you’ll see instant results in just a couple of weeks: Your face and jawline will have thinned out, your chest, back, and shoulders will have grown to shirt-tightening status, you’ll see visible veins in your arms, and your abs will emerge. Best of all: it’s beginner-friendly and built around the basics. But don’t let that word basic fool you — you’ll be drenched in sweat after…