Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2020 i Men's Health South Africa

MEET GREMLIN Calvin Potgieter aka GREMLIN is a DJ known for his curated, party-starting mixes on 5FM and Goodhope FM. Recently, he trumped five of SA’s best DJs to snag the Redbull 3Style National Championship. Take his lessons from the decks to the daily grind and thrive. I’ve got a house party coming up. Any rules for creating a playlist that won’t leave guests begging for the AUX cord? DJ rule of thumb: when in doubt, play for the ladies. No guy – in his right mind – is ever going to ask you to change the music if the women are having a good time. Know your crowd, have some classic party anthems ready and don’t go too hard, too early. Any tricks to getting the club DJ to…

1/ HOLLOW ROCK Wait for it, it will burn. This one looks simple but when done right, the hollow rock is one of our core-strengthening favourites. Lie on your back with your arms and legs extended. The goal is to get in the shape of a bowl, which forces your deeper abs to work harder. 2/ SUPERMAN HOLD To begin, lie straight and face down. Fully extend your arms. This is the start position. Simultaneously raise your arms, legs and chest off the floor and hold. 3/ TUCK JUMPS Start standing, feet hip-width apart. Slightly bend your knees and extend arms out. Using your legs, bend and jump straight up, lifting your knees to touch your hands. Land softly with knees bent. 4/ MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS Start in a plank position,…

01 BANDED KNEELING CRUNCH 4 sets of 10 reps, 60sec rest Loop a heavy resistance band over a pull-up bar and kneel down, holding the band behind your head (A). Contract your abs and flex forward until your elbows approach your knees (B). Pause, then reverse slowly. The band forces you to work harder during the rep and maintain tension at the top. There’s no respite, basically. 02 RING KNEE-RAISE TO L-SIT 4 sets of 10 reps, 90sec rest Hold a pencil-straight position on the rings with your arms at your sides and your toes down (A). The instability will engage your whole body. Slowly raise your knees until your thighs are parallel to the ground to contract your six-pack, then lift your feet up to finish in…

Under the guidance of his coach Sarah Lotter, Michael reached new heights and broke through his physical and mental barriers. Use her advice to stage your own comeback. 1. See the bigger picture. Set a goal that scares you slightly, but excite you at the same time; one that takes years, not just months; one that will force you to learn and grow both as a person and an athlete. 2. Find a coach who is as invested in your journey as you are. This will ensure your coach always has your back and will always have your best interests at heart. 3. It’s all about balance. Remember that there is more to life than the pursuit of physical or aesthetic goals – this will allow you stay grounded and…

Whether you keep a two-litre of cooldrink on your desk or you’re just looking to avoid weight gain this year, you already know it’s a good idea to cut back on sugar. Too much sweetness can tip your calorie-in, calorie-out balance, leading to weight gain and a host of health complications. But quitting the white stuff is hard. Although “sugar addiction” isn’t an official affliction, research shows neurochemical similarities between how drugs and sugar affect the brain. These include symptoms like bingeing, craving, tolerance, and withdrawal. Some experts recommend going cold turkey, while others advise a gradual reduction. Each approach can work, says registered dietician, Karen Ansel, author of Healing Superfoods for Anti-Aging. Here’s what happens when you actually do it. —Melissa Matthews The First 24 Hours: MAYDAY! MAYDAY! YOUR…

WHEN I WAS IN UNIVERSITY, I got a case of gingivitis so miserable my gums bled in my sleep. The reason? I wasn’t flossing. And I wasn’t going to start doing so overnight – my gums were just too sensitive. So I got a water pick. “The water pressure flushes out bacteria under the gumline and in between the teeth where your brush may not be able to get to,” says Dr. Elisa Mello. It was like a set of training wheels on my journey toward flossing. After a few years of using it, my gums improved, and I now floss every day. Waterpik R999 takealot.co.za…

ZOOM WHITENING An in office procedure using advanced technology LED light combined with 25% hydrogen peroxide gel to achieve results of up to eight shades whiter in as little as 45 minutes’ chair time. A full Zoom Whitespeed procedure consists of 3 x 15 minutes in the chair, plus customised whitening trays and a home kit. Some practices will include a cleaning and take-home maintenance products to help you keep your teeth looking their whitest. AVERAGE COST: R5 000 per treatment BONDING AND RECONTOURING The advancement in resin material in dentistry has opened up the opportunity for dentists to reshape, recontour and rebuild teeth while the patient is in the chair, says Cape Town dentist Dr Marc Sher. The resin materials and bonding techniques available today allow dentists to change…

All he had was a garage, a coffee machine and an unflinching certainty it was all going to work out. “Seriously, I didn’t even have a name yet, no name at all,” says Sikelela Dibela, laughing. Those early days, when Sikis Koffee Kafe was an unbaptised pipedream, a coffee shop with no identity in a township where people were sceptical of gourmet brews, were the hardest. But instead of giving up, Sikelela started a conversation. UNFILTERED When Sikelela talks about coffee, it’s clear he’s a convert. He analyses the grind, describing how cold weather shrinks the beans and how you have to load up the hopper and keep making adjustments to brew the perfect cup. It’s part science, part art. He’s a disciple of the third wave of coffee, a…

“IF YOU WERE IN AN elevator with your perfect prospect and you had just 20 seconds to describe what you do, what would you say? Most people would say what they do. That’s why most people are quickly forgotten. Instead of saying what you can do, say what you can do for them. Imagine you were in a lift with a stranger. You ask him what he does and he says: ‘We’ve developed this really amazing accommodation booking app’. You’d probably be praying the lift was a fast one. But what if he answered, ‘We enable you to book rooms with locals rather than hotels.’ If nothing else you’d want to know more. That means you’d ask a question that leads to a conversation that carries on beyond the opening…

THE PROTEIN Kudu is an untapped and over-looked source of protein. But it shouldn’t be. Game usually contains more minerals than store-bought red meat. And kudu meat tends to be leaner and lower in kilojoules than beef, too: 100 grams of homemade kudu meat contains 477 kilojoules, 22 grams of protein and 2 grams of fat. The same amount of grilled, generic sirloin steak has 765 kilojoules, 30 grams of protein and 5 grams of fat. BUY IT Head to your local butcher for kudu meat and ask for a blend of 90 percent meat and 10 percent fat, if possible. This is exactly the ratio you want for meatballs that hold their shape and won’t turn your sauce (or face) greasy. COOK IT Kudu Meatballs in Spicy Tomato Sauce…

Once you get past the chalky conversation hearts and sappy Instagram captions, you start to notice that Valentine’s Day is a pretty useful holiday for kicking the tyres on your relationship. “Tune in to your own feelings and don’t get too pressured by all the hype,” says sex therapist Dr. Susan Block. Plus, research shows that couples who do regular maintenance on their relationship – aka discussing its future direction – like each other more and report more relationship satisfaction than those who tend to place greater focus on themselves. So here’s how to use February 14 to your advantage as a couple, whether that means defining a new relationship or strengthening the one you’ve already got. YOU MET ON TINDER LAST WEEK THE TALK: Making V-Day plans when you’re…

Different strokes for different folks? We don’t think so. Here’s Letourneur’s four-part guide to the perfect paddle A/ Stand tall, with a bend in your knees and your feet shoulder-width apart. Grip your paddle in both hands: one hand resting across the top, the other gripping halfway down, with your palm facing your body. B/ Straightening your arms, bring the blade across your body and bury it in the water as far ahead of you as you can comfortably reach – don’t lose your balance. Keep your eyes fixed on the horizon. C/ Twist and rotate from your core, sharply dragging the blade back in parallel with your board until you’ve reached your feet. Four short strokes are more efficient than two long ones. D/ Then, in one fluid movement,…

01 Perform 10 Strict Pull-Ups Clocking 10 pull-ups is a serious achievement. Olympic gymnast Nile Wilson explains how to raise your bar this year. 01/ Manage Your Middle “Most people underestimate how much they use their core during a pull-up,” says Wilson. It’s likely that’s your weak spot. Wilson prescribes weighted planks. Load on a heavy plate and hold for 30-second bursts. 02/ Resist the Machines Assistance machines offer stability, but that does nothing to prep your core. “Use resistance bands instead, or have a partner help you,” says Wilson. “If you’re almost there, they can support you for that last bit.” 03/ Put Your Back Into It “Your lats are more powerful than your biceps,” says Wilson. “Focus on squeezing your shoulders together and really tensing…

NAME: GREGORY CAMERON AGE: 52 LOCATION: JOHANNESBURG OCCUPATION: CREATIVE DIRECTOR AND STORYMAKER TREATMENT FOR: PTSD THE SETBACK In 1987, Greg Cameron spent three months on the frontlines in Angola during Operation Moduler. There, he fought in the trenches and grappled with the brutal consequences of chemical warfare. When he finally returned home, he was sworn to silence. As a result, he suffered in silence, too. To distract himself from the trauma, he threw himself into his career, completing his studies, then working in graphic design and advertising. “I was a shooting star, but I was just running away from what I had to deal with,” he says. This led to excessive anger, anxiety, severe nightmares and immobilising flashbacks. “It affected me terribly when I got out. Back then men were…

A NOTE ON APPROACH “I would encourage people to seek out practitioners of cognitive behavioral therapy,” says Lazarus. Focusing on corrective thoughts and actions, behavioural therapy aims to provide everyday strategies for the stresses of the here and now. But avoid “monotherapy” – an approach that employs only one method. Choosing a behavioural treatment is like mixing a cocktail: it should include techniques tailored to the individual. These are some of the more common CBTbased approaches you’ll likely come across. Assertiveness Training/Interpersonal Effectiveness Helps you: Learn to say no without feeling guilty. It also helps you express your feelings and desires in a responsible manner. Best for: Those looking to express themselves in healthier ways. Cognitive Restructuring Helps you: Shift your thinking from negative and self-defeating patterns to more realistic…

01 - To exert one’s muscles to the degree that they become engorged with blood, stretching the cell membranes and stimulating growth - the pump 02 - To pursue and really relish the sensation of that muscular engorgement - chasing the pump 03 - Wresting both the process and the sensation away from the dubiously supplemented blockhead, giving you a thoroughly modern guide to using this maligned style of training to build more muscle, more strength and, yes, more honest-to-goodness size than ever before - reclaiming the pump…

HUGE INFLATION NEGATIVES Slowing down the eccentric part of the lift will keep your muscles under tension to fire up more fibres and so flood the muscles with extra blood. DROP SETS After finishing your set with a heavier weight, pick a lighter load and perform another set straight away to take your muscles to genuine failure. GIANT SETS Perform four moves back to back on the same muscle group with minimal rest in between. The extended working time will leave you feeling jacked. And tired. FORCED REPS You’ll need a buddy for this one. When you get close to failure, your workout partner takes some of the load to help you push out a few extra reps. TOTAL LET-DOWN PARTIAL REPS Using a shortened range of motion with a…

This is a damn good issue... Read it! Properly, don’t just look at it. Start on P.98 by getting the best advice you will receive in 2020. As someone who has, over the past year, tried to lay off take-aways (successful) sugar (sporadic) and alcohol (hopeless), I know things can’t be timetabled and turned off like a tap. You need to be in the zone, be ready and really, really want it. So we have enlisted the assistance of experts in their various fields: learn how to perform 10 strict pull-ups, create healthier drinking habits, even become a nicer guy. And just by reading this magazine, you’ll spike your serotonin and rewire your brain. Plus, we have a special section on how to ‘Power Up your Mental Health’ before it…

1. The Organiser MacBook Pro + iPhone “These go hand-in-hand as I’m always managing my music, bookings and marketing on the go. Having a seamless transition between my smartphone and laptop is a major plus for me.” 2. The Workhorse Audio Technica ATH-M70X “Perfect for everyday use as well as professional work. Real quality and bang for your buck.” 3. The Mule UDG DIGI Backpack “The only backpack I’ve used for the last five years. It’s got a million compartments, it’s waterproof – yep, I’ve tested it – and it’s rugged. I could live out of it if I needed to.”…

A study by Indiana University Bloomington showed that couples who trained together were more likely to stick to their exercise routines than those who exercised independently. Whether your goal is to lose weight or build strength, we’ve got you covered. Personal trainer, Lindelani Mqwa and his girlfriend, stuntwoman Lana Katz, designed these workouts to help you make the most of your down time with your SO. The pair met on the TV show The Longest Date and have been growing from strength to strength ever since. Use their routine to take your fitness goals to the next level. HIIT Things Up This full-body high-intensity interval workout is perfect for couples looking to torch kilos. Do this workout three days a week for the best results. Complete as many reps as…

01. INSIDE TRACTS The idea that your overall wellbeing begins in your gut is increasingly gaining credence. Safeguard your “good bacteria”, the thinking goes, and you’ll set up both body and mind for a healthier outlook. But don’t reach for those yoghurt shots just yet. Your best bet is to take your probiotics in an acid-resistant capsule that protects them from stomach acid until they reach your intestines. For maximum payload, pop a supp 30 minutes before breakfast. 02. BUGS OF WAR The effects of your first dose can range from effortless bowel movements to diarrhoea. If you suffer from the latter, don’t worry. Fatigue-causing yeast overgrowth – the result of eating too much sugar or refined carbs – begins a turf war with the incoming good bacteria. This can…

TOM BRADY, noted overachiever that he is, aims to be in bed by 8:30pm. LeBron James plans his life around nabbing ten hours of shuteye. Pro baseball player, Justin Verlander, clocks between ten and 12 hours every night. (And he does it sleeping next to Kate Upton.) In the past few years, the world’s premier athletes have discovered a new performance-enhancing supplement for their training regimens: sleep. A number of recent and tantalising studies have suggested that simple, restorative sleep can help you think, perform and recover better. It’s compelled the world’s leading players (often prompted by their teams’ sleep coaches) to reprogram their social lives and change their priorities. It’s why pro teams’ practice facilities include nap rooms – the Bulls’ sleep room contains 22 beds. “The room is…

UP OIL CHANGE Thorough groin hygiene is good practice, but soaps can cause irritation and even balanitis. If you’re sensitive, use an emollient bath oil for a clean bill of health. BMJ UP WORK THE ANGLES Splashes from urinals spread bacteria on your trousers. Minimise splash-back by aiming just below 45°. American Physical Society UP CANNED HEAT Popeye was right: spinach gives you superpowers. Its folic acid has been linked to sustained erections. Suddenly those forearms make sense… Andrologia UP BEAN COUNTERS Your morning cup of Joe can perk you up in more ways than one. Two to three cups of coffee a day have been proven to reduce ED. Swap Viagra for a venti. Plos One UP COMPOUND INTEREST Heavy lifting, especially compound movements such as deadlifts, can boost…

Sure, a bronze-case watch offers versatility between dressed-up and casual looks. But the anticorrosive alloy also develops its own patina over time, so the watch becomes more distinctive as you wear it.…

ULTRA-SLIM Colgate’s slim soft toothbrush is designed with bristles that are up to 17 times slimmer at the tips to give you better cleaning power in-between your pearly whites. Colgate 360 Charcoal Toothbrush R50 clicks.co.za GOOD VIBRATIONS This brush vibrates at 12 000 cycles per minute to gently clean your teeth and stimulate your gums. It uses the extra power of vibration to achieve better results than a manual toothbrush. GUM Sonic Battery Toothbrush R189 dischem.co.za BRUSH AWAY This cross action toothbrush head surrounds each tooth with bristles angled at 16 degrees and 2D cleaning action oscillates and rotates to bus plaque. Oral-B Vitality 3D White Rechargeable Toothbrush R250 clicks.co.za…

THE GLOBAL teeth-whitening-products industry is expected to reach R105 billion by 2024. That doesn’t mean all these products work the same... or at all. Whitening toothpastes, for example, contain mildly abrasive calcium carbonate, which can remove surface stains but won’t make your teeth any whiter. “What people are actually asking for,” says Dr. Brian Kantor, a cosmetic dentist at Lowenberg Lituchy & Kantor, “is bleaching, which is making teeth whiter than they actually were.” All at-home bleaching products use hydrogen peroxide and “cause a chemical reaction that seeps into the tooth and breaks up molecules that cause staining,” he says. What makes one work better than another hinges on how much hydrogen peroxide there is in the product and how much contact it has with your teeth. That’s why “you…

1 LIGHT IT UP Whether it’s because we’re transfixed by our phones or avoiding the weirdly talkative neighbour down the road, we’re spending more and more time indoors. But this shut-in behaviour is not only taking its toll on your health – studies have shown that indoor air quality can be five times worse than outdoor inhalations – you may also be hamstringing your productivity. Researchers at Cornell University found that workers in offices with access to natural daylight reported a more than 80% decrease in headaches, blurred vision and eye strain (which in turn led to gains in productivity, say the authors). Want an easier time crossing off tasks? Find a room with a view. While it might be difficult to dethrone the lucky guy who managed to…

01 GREAT SHAKES Where once the simple G&T was your only option, creative mixologists and an influx of small-batch gins are mixing things up. That’s a good thing: distillers use botanicals to create unique flavours, while infusing the drink with health benefits, too. Let Massimo Serpelloni at Mr Fogg’s House of Botanicals show you how. A SAKURA The Japanese sakura flower, known here as cherry blossom, has potent anti-ageing and anti-inflammatory qualities. It’s a key ingredient in Roku gin, so think of it as your new elixir. B CORIANDER Whether you find it zesty or soapy, this herb will freshen up your fitness, courtesy of nutrients such as iron and magnesium, which are associated with improved athletic performance. You’ll find it in the local ClemenGold Gin. C LIQUORICE The…

On February 15, the ancient Romans didn’t give each other foil chocolates or red roses. Instead, they sacrificed goats and then priests ran around whipping women with leather thongs. (It was supposed to increase a woman’s fertility, or something.) No, you can’t smack your girlfriend’s rear in public – please never be that guy – but a little love tap on her back pocket during your walk from the parking lot to dinner is a hot way to get your Lupercalia on without earning funny looks from the restaurant hostess.…

1944 Sam Elliott is born. 1963 Valentina Tereshkova makes 48 painful orbits around Earth as the first woman in space. 1967 Christiaan Barnard Performed the world’s first heart transplant. 1969 True Grit, John Wayne. 1994 Nelson Mandela After 27 years in prison, steps up to lead a country. 2000 David Blaine spends 63 hours encased in a block of ice. 2003 Aron Ralston gets trapped in a Utah canyon for five days and cuts off his own right arm to escape. 2008 Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood. 2010 True Grit, Jeff Bridges. 2015 The Revenant, Leonardo DiCaprio. 2015 Audiences sit through the bear scene in The Revenant. 2019 The Springboks Lift the Webb Ellis Cup. 2020 600 Grit The finest sandpaper.…

IT’S EASY, WHEN you see an A-list actor in great shape, to think: what’s so impressive about that? To scoff. After all, if it was your job to be in great shape – if you had a top personal trainer, a private gym, a chef – you’d be in great shape, too. Piece of cake. But when you see Henry Cavill in prodigious nick in The Witcher – the Netflix swords-demons-and-leather fantasy drama that dropped over the festive season – know that this thought is far from the whole picture. Or, in this case, eight-episode series. Filming for the show, which predominantly took place in Hungary, was anything but a typical day at the office. “There were eight hour-long chunks of screen time to fill, rather than [a normal movie’s]…

FULL DISCLOSURE: My approach to work was forged in the Hobbesian, hierarchical world of television news in the 1990s and 2000s. While my workplace has become immeasurably more humane in recent years, I nonetheless retain an unfortunate amount of the militant, suck-it-up ethos that was drilled into me as a younger man. Which is why, when the editors of this magazine asked me to write about the benefits of taking a mental health day, my initial reaction was: You’ve come to the wrong guy. But then I realised that I’ve had something of an evolution on the subject over the past few years. It began with a rather obvious case. One day in February 2012, I was sitting backstage at our studio in Times Square after having anchored Good Morning…

LEAD OFF by telling your boss something like “First, it’s nothing very serious, but I’d really appreciate a bit of time off to deal with some personal and family matters.” Start vague and then get more specific as needed, says psychologist Dr. Clifford Lazarus. Bringing up family may seem disingenuous, Lazarus adds, but sometimes complete honesty isn’t psychologically healthy. If your manager presses for more info, simply say it’s a “private matter” but that “I really appreciate your understanding.” Mentally rehearse the conversation by picturing every detail – the room, your manager. Visualise success, but also run through different variations, like your manager asking you for specifics. Rehearse with a friend or a partner before you do it. Some managers may be okay discussing a mental health day, but you…

Psychoanalytic Therapy Also known as: psychodynamic therapy The oldest (and perhaps now antiquated) technique involves tackling unresolved conflicts in your past and gaining insight through psychoanalysis. If a therapist uses the word analysis in his or her online profile, this is what you might be getting, says Lazarus. Think couches and discussions of your childhood. Really, it’s still a thing. Best for: The overly introspective, intellectuals. Humanistic Therapy Also known as: person-centered, existential, gestalt Popular in the late ’50s, this practice focuses on providing a safe and supportive environment to explore your thoughts and feelings. The therapist won’t challenge your ideas or give you any recommendations but will instead listen and allow you to work through your issues verbally. Best for: People who want passive, nondirective, sounding-board therapy.…

LEGS BULGARIAN SPLIT SQUAT DEATH SET Set up in the split squat position with your back foot on a bench, holding a dumbbell on the same side as your back leg. Grip a fixed object with your other arm for increased quad isolation. Do seven split squats, letting your back knee just touch the ground. Drive up on your heel. After seven reps, hold the front leg at 90º for seven seconds. Repeat the seven reps and seven-second hold cycle with a medium weight, then with a light one. Switch legs to repeat the cycle. Rest for two minutes. Do two rounds, then waddle home. ARMS BANDED TRICEPS EXTENSION AND HAMMER CURL Attach a band to a pull-up bar and hold the sides of the band in each hand with…

THIS MONTH Dating 1IN3 PEOPLE ARE DATING ONLINE, ACCORDING TO A KASPERSKY SURVEY. NEARLY 7 000 ONLINE DATING APP USERS FROM 30 COUNTRIES, INCLUDING SOUTH AFRICA, WERE SURVEYED. ONSCREEN DATING ON THE WEB: AfroIntroductions SouthAfricanCupid OkCupid DatingBuzz DateMyAge SpeedDate ON YOUR PHONE: Tinder Bumble Happn Badoo MatchMaker Hinge ON TV: First Dates South Africa Take Me Out SA Married At First Sight The Bachelor Moja Love 7 out of 1 HOW RESPONDENTS, ON AVERAGE, RATED THEIR SEX LIVES IN A 2019 SUNDAY TIMES SEX SURVEY. MILLENNIALS (AGED 22-37) GAVE A SATISFACTION RATING OF 7.1, WHILE GENERATION X (AGED 40-54) REPORTED JUST 6.9 ON THE SCALE. COUPLE GOALS Personal trainer Lindelani Mqwa and stuntwoman Lana Katz met on The Longest Date, an extreme dating show where 16 single contestants are paired…

Vuyo Dabula was enjoying life. At 86kg, he was a tank in a T-shirt and screen ready for his role on local mega-soapy Generations. But when Netflix gave him a call to play the agile, quick-footed spy Shandu in Queen Sono, Vuyo realised he needed to up his game – and fast. Joining the cast of Queen Sono was a big deal. Vuyo’s work would be watched in 190 countries and the 43 year old was determined to do the African continent proud. A month later, a shredded Vuyo stepped on set, ready to get to work. This is how he transformed in record time – and how you can, too. Training Day “Vuyo’s character needs to show that he’s military trained,”explains the series’ stunt coordinator Grant Powell, who’s worked…

Make sleep as important as your game. For those of us who aren’t paid millions to perform, the idea of finding more time for sleep can be daunting. When obligations pile up, it’s usually the first thing to go. That’s backward thinking. “If you increase your time in bed by even 15 to 20 minutes, you will notice a difference,” says Dr Meeta Singh, a sleep-disorder expert at the Henry Ford Sleep Disorders Center. Cut the bull. “I always encounter this type, the Silicon Valley dude who’s killing it financially, has kids, is trying to do a triathlon,” Winter says. “He goes to bed at midnight and wakes up at 4am. He says he’s doing great and needs four hours. But just because you can doesn’t mean you should.” Give…

BUYING A TOOTHBRUSH is like buying a car. They all do basically the same thing, so why drive a Carrera when a Civic will get you just as far? You can shell out for an electric toothbrush tricked out with artificial intelligence, but it’s not cleaning your teeth any better than the manual one you snagged for free from the dentist. “It comes down to how much time you put into brushing your teeth,” says Dr. Michael Peske. The electric variety cleans more efficiently in a short period of time. But if you adhere to the dentist-recommended two minutes of brushing twice a day with a manual toothbrush, your smile will be just as bright as with an electric brush. According to Peske, the most important part of any brush…

THE SELL: CHARCOAL THE FACTS: Charcoal is perceived as a supercleanser for everything, but that’s not the case with your teeth. It not only doesn’t do the job (a 2017 ADA review looked at more than 100 studies and found insufficient evidence that it whitens), but long-term use is dangerous to your enamel. The abrasiveness of charcoal wears away your protective tooth coating, leading to sensitivity, yellowing and cavities. THE SELL: NATURAL THE FACTS: There are no rules about when companies can and can’t slap “natural” on their labels. Most of the time, toothpastes that claim to be all-natural don’t have any sodium lauryl sulfate, a foaming agent or preservatives. At worst, these could irritate the lining of your mouth, says Dr. Mark Wolff, dean of the University of Pennsylvania…

WHITENING KIT The five-minute treatment is a fast and effective way to brighten your smile. The whitening formula lifts stains and removes yellowing on the surface of your tooth enamel. White Glo Diamond Whitening Kit R270 takealot.co.za WHITENING STRIPS Non-peroxide professional teeth whitening strips are the latest innovation to safely whiten your teeth at home. The strips have been developed with a unique elastic gel formulation. Smile Science Professional Whitening Strips R263 clicks.co.za…

HIBISCUS Studies suggest this flower, bottled by Barker & Quinn in tonic form, could help cut blood pressure and blood fat levels. BUCHU Symmetry’s low-sugar tonic concentrate (that you mix with carbonated water) contains citrus and buchu. Buchu is used for digestive ailments. CUCUMBER This Cucumber & Watermelon tonic from Double Dutch is refreshing and light. Plus, cucumber also has potent anti-cancer properties.…

How do I tell my partner I want us to be more sexually adventurous without making it seem like I think she’s boring in bed? —Stefan, Tzaneen Don’t dive right into the deep end. Dip a toe first. Watch movies with fun sex scenes (Risky Business, Deadpool) while you snuggle on the couch. Try “silly” role-playing that doesn’t require a theatre degree. Give her a pocket-sized external vibrator (instead of splurging on a remote-controlled dildo). It’s all about making incremental changes to your sex life, even if it’s as simple as getting it on in a new position or a place that’s not the bedroom – like in front of the bathroom mirror. Enthusiasm is contagious; your quest for sexual adventure can rub off on her, as long as you’re…

Stand-up paddle-boarding (SUP) can look a little tame. Tranquil backdrops, lapping waters, a lone paddler gazing into the middle distance: it’s basically canoeing for the Instagram influencer. But there’s another kind of SUP that burns your core, leaves your shoulders in bits and tests your balance, coordination and stamina. This is the world of SUP racing, and I am its newest inhabitant. Balancing at the tip of a four-person board, I’m jostling for position with hulking eastern Europeans at the Dragon World Championships on Lake Annecy in south-eastern France. More precisely, I am up the proverbial creek de merde. Before I arrived a day ago as part of Team Nike Swim, the championships’ headline partner, I’d done a bit of paddle-boarding – but the 30 minutes I spent floating across…

ISO-HOLD BICEPS CURL Curl 2 dumbbells; hold the up position. Squeeze your right biceps as you lower the left dumbbell, then curl it up. Repeat on the other side. That’s 1 rep; do 3 sets of 10 to 12. THREE-WAY SHOULDER RAISE Stand holding light dumbbells at your sides. Raise them out to your sides, then lower. Raise them out to your sides at 45 degree angles, then lower. Raise them out in front of you, then lower. That’s 1 rep; do 3 sets of 5. DUAL CABLE REVERSE-GRIP KICKBACK Stand facing a cable machine and grab the 2 handles. Hinge forward at the waist until your torso is parallel to the floor – this is the start. Straighten your arms, flexing and squeezing your triceps; return to the start.…

IF YOU CAN, find a midworkday physical activity, like jogging or walking B. , says You psychologist wish! , Dr Clifford Lazarus. That’s because working B. the body can help relax the mind. If you can’t get active, use visualisation techniques. He says 20 minutes is ideal but even 10 minutes may be beneficial. Find a private spot and imagine being somewhere that makes you feel comfortable – say, a beach. See the water, hear the waves, feel the breeze. “Doing this for just five minutes, your body will throttle down and you’ll start to relax,” Lazarus says. Though colleagues might not appreciate you humming Bob Marley.…

KEEGAN BURSAW’S son was born “out of nowhere” at 26 weeks and five days. Then came three and a half months in the neonatal intensive-care unit. Doctors told Bursaw he had to be strong for his wife and son, but the too-new father wasn’t sure how to do that. So he asked Reddit. “I didn’t know where else to turn,” the 30-year-old says of the discussion-based social platform. On the website, Bursaw found communities, or subreddits, full of dads with similar experiences. He asked users on the /r/daddit and /r/NICUparents subreddits how to deal with worry, how to unwind without feeling guilty. They answered. One user told him that this was his chance to get himself right while doctors got his son ready for the rest of his life. “The…

IT STARTS WHERE everything starts: a Google search. Which leads to a Psychology Today directory. And from there you write down a few names. Some people located near your office. A couple maybe near home. Things cascade. It’s like the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie story, but it’s If You Give a Guy Some Mental or Emotional Distress. It begins as a panic-struck Sunday afternoon scrolling through streams of psychotherapists, certified counsellors, licensed social workers, all with any number of credentialing acronyms at the ends of their names. You ask a friend or two. Ask who they see, what they like. One sees a doctor who just doles out scripts. That’s too cold, and not what you need. Another builds sessions off pulling a card from a tarot…

SWOLEY COMMANDMENTS #1 “Trust me, if you do an honest 20-rep programme, at some point, Jesus will talk to you. On the last day… he asked if he could work in.” – Mark Rippetoe, strength and conditioning legend MH SAYS: Probably allegorical. But valid and makes the point that training with high reps will and should hurt a fair bit. SWOLEY COMMANDMENTS #2 “If a man tells you he doesn’t lift because he doesn’t want to get too bulky, then his testicles have been removed” – Paul Carter, bodybuilder and online strength coach MH SAYS: Biologically untrue. Ideologically un-woke. Beware. SWOLEY COMMANDMENTS #3 “The best activities for your health are pumping and humping” Arnold Schwarzenegger, bodybuilder and Terminator MH SAYS: He had a point. Not that long ago, there was…

First, a note on what the pump is not. It is not the same as hypertrophy, which is the growth and increase of your muscle cells. The pump is a training method in which you force blood to swell the muscle. Blood delivers oxygen and nutrients via the arteries, then flows away through the veins. When the muscle contracts for a sustained period, arterial flow continues while venous flow shuts off; the small vessels dilate and you get a temporary, T-shirt tightening boost in size. As for “chasing it”, that comes down to time under tension: 45 seconds seems to be effective. You can achieve that with 12-15 rep sets, so long as they fatigue you, or by doing fewer reps slowly. Both will achieve the pump and increase muscle…

Fluid Dynamics Keeping your muscle cells hydrated is key to unholy swoleness. Creatine monohydrate helps pump more fluid through your veins, leading to greater cellular rentention and increased vascularity. That you’ll be less sore the next day is also welcome. Nutritech Creatine Monohydrate (R149, 500g takealot.com) Carbed and Dangerous To maximise the effects, you need your muscles to be full of glycogen when you train. Not only will a fast-acting carb powder give you the energy you need for the higher reps, but it’ll also help your muscles look bigger and fuller. Which, let’s be honest, is the point. NPL Maltodextrin (R129, 1.5kg takealot.com) Ride the L Train Add L-citrulline and L-carnitine to your pre-workout. Both boost your nitric oxide levels, relaxing muscle tissue, helping blood flow to your muscles…