Innholdsfortegnelse for Jul/Aug 2024 i Men's Health South Africa

HAD YOU ASKED US that question five years ago, our answer might have been a little different. But 2024 is the year of the hybrid athlete—and an increasing number of trainees, both elite and recreational, are challenging themselves to target seemingly incompatible goals, simultaneously. For example, ticking off a marathon while PB’ing their power lifts. If you’re concerned about this approach, then you’ve probably heard about a phenomenon called the “interference effect”—the idea that endurance training compromises gains in strength; or that too much cardio cannibalises your muscles. But it’s not something you should worry too much about, according to Phil Price, a senior lecturer in strength and conditioning science and biomechanics at St Mary’s University in London. At the elite level, it might be smarter to focus your attention…

FEW ATHLETES UNDERSTAND how to train for speed better than the world’s best sprinters, and few understand grip strength better than elite climbers. But when the Olympics kick off in Paris this July, you’ll have a chance to see more than those athletic basics. The athletes from a handful of lesser-known Olympic sports (surfing, taekwondo, sport climbing, triathlon and rowing) have mastered ultra-specialised skills to reach the pinnacle of their professions. Learning their lessons can propel you forwards in everyday life—and help you crush your fitness goals, too. IMPROVE ROTATIONAL POWER LIKE TAEKWONDO ATHLETE C J NICKOLAS • TAEKWONDO REQUIRES agility, grace, speed and power. You’re part ballet dancer, part assassin. CJ Nickolas started at age three. Now 22, the 188cm-tall athlete says he relies on his jumps and spin moves,…

AGE: 34 | WEIGHT: 84KG | HEIGHT: 180CM AFTER YEARS OF pumping iron, the metal had lost its lustre. Sure, Kevin Deutsch, 34, was getting results, but he was clocking in at the gym like a guy working the night shift… on a Monday. “Those classic moves just got tedious,” he admits. It was clear that he’d hit a wall. And if he didn’t break through, his enthusiasm for fitness was going to sputter out. If you know any CrossFitters, this origin story should feel all too familiar. While many guys can heave, lift and grunt through the same 5x5 programme for the rest of their lives (and revel in the results), there are just as many that need a “hook” when it comes to their sweat sessions. Disclaimer: you…

Having worked For Apple, Google and NASA, what attracted you to the world of fit tech? “When you work at NASA, you build amazing things that leave the planet, but I never really felt like I was doing something that would make this world better. Then I went into a lot of different robotics. The problem with self-driving cars is it’s an amazing technology, but it takes so long to develop. When it breaks through, it’s going to help a lot of people, but until then, it’s just a lot of work without really having an impact. When you come to Whoop, people get to use the product, and you can build things that help them live better and healthier.” Whoop Coach: how did it come about? “In 2022, when…

SAVOURY OATS WITH SESAME, KALE & EGGS TOTAL: 20 MINS. SERVES: 4 ♦ 2 TBSP OLIVE OIL♦ 1 TSP FRESHLY GRATED GINGER♦ 425G BABY KALE♦ 2 VEGETABLE STOCK CUBES♦ 180G ROLLED OATS♦ 1 TSP TOASTED SESAME OIL♦ 4 SOFT-BOILED EGGS, HALVED♦ HANDFUL TOASTED SESAME SEEDS, NORI STRIPS AND SLICED SPRING ONIONS, TO SERVE METHOD Step 1 Heat the oil in a large saucepan on a medium heat. Add the ginger and cook, stirring until fragrant, 1 min. Then add the kale, season with ¼ tsp of salt and cook, stirring occasionally just to wilt, 2 mins. Transfer to a bowl and discard any leftover liquid from the pan. Step 2 Add 1L of water and the stock cubes to the same saucepan and bring it to a boil. Stir in…

DIRECTIONS: Do the exercises in order. Do 3 sets of each exercise and rest 90 seconds between sets, unless otherwise noted. Do this workout 4 days a week; on all other days, go for a 20-minute walk or run. WARMUP WALKOUT TO SCORPION ▶ Start standing, then place your hands on the floor. Gradually walk them forwards until you’re in push-up position, then lower your chest to the floor (A). Keeping your chest plastered to the floor, raise your right leg in the air; try to touch it to the floor near your left hand, stretching your hip and lower back (B). Reverse the movement and repeat on the other side, then walk back to standing position. That’s 1 rep; do 3 to 5. Do 2 sets. WORKOUT 1 GOBLET…

I get deeply emotional when I watch sports. I commit, I get overly involved and I unashamedly shed tears of joy when my team wins, an athlete breaks a record or a sportsman overcomes impossible odds. It’s a shared moment because champions aren’t just the sum total of their medals and world ranking. Champions are people who have found an inner strength to push themselves to do the impossible. I enjoy experiencing that moment with them and learning how they got there. Elite athletes train with the sort of dedication we could all emulate. But tapping into a champion mindset isn’t just about learning the right mental lessons. All-day commitment means a 24-hour devotion to the cause and—just like those performing at their peak—that means eating, breathing and (ultimately) living…

LOST 21KG GUY BENSON was eating healthy, but the frequency of his meals was pushing the limit. Factor in a diet heavy in starchy carbs, calorie-dense fruits and an abundance of sauces, and no wonder he was slathering on kilos at a steady pace. The goal: scale back his meal frequency and get back into shape. THE WAKE-UP CALL Last year, Benson ran the Knysna Half Marathon with a few of his friends. Before tackling the race, he stepped on the scale and watched as the needle cracked over a century. He weighed 108kg, the heaviest he’d ever been. Benson said his daily gorging was the result of stress, and that extra weight led to a “lethargic” race (by his standards). He finished the half marathon in 2 hours and 11…

MHLENGI GWALA Age 33, Triathlete 750m swim, 20km cycle, 5km run Growing up in a small township in Durban, Gwala hasn’t had an easy road to the Olympic Games. With jobs in short supply, he began swimming so that he could land a gig as a lifeguard. It was the first of many defining moments: in the water he not only discovered his new passion, but those first strokes also marked the beginning of his triathlete career. He showed incredible promise, participating in numerous competitions wherein he built a reputation as a relentless competitor. But in 2018 his life took a tragic turn. The athlete was attacked during a training session in which his assailants attempted to sever his legs with a chainsaw. They sawed into the calf of his…

THE MH VERDICT PULL WINS! When push comes to shove, pull movements triumph in this tug of war. Though pushing targets your ego-boosting mirror muscles, the reverse activates the larger muscles of your posterior chain for faster, more impressive gains. Start pulling your weight.…

A party speaker doesn’t just need to be portable and durable, it also needs to go loud—really loud. Capable of reaching volumes of up to 126dB (most Bluetooth speakers hover around the 80dB range), the Soundboks is a sound-pumping powerhouse that will have no trouble getting the party started. The original device was created by three friends endeavouring to engineer the most powerful festival speaker yet. Version “4” packs in years of tech innovations to give you a speaker that doesn’t just turn your playlist up to a crystal-clear 11, but is also built to withstand the unavoidable tumbles and spills that go hand in hand with throwing a rager. Of course, our heavy-duty party-friendly flight case and legendary swappable battery system are still there. The Soundboks 4 features a…

01 COLD OPEN A rise in body temperature is one of the things that wakes us up in the morning, whereas a low temperature is linked to sleep. Counterintuitively, an ice bath fires you up, while a warm one makes you drowsy. “After cold exposure, your body heats up,” explains Calum Sharma, head of exercise science at The Body Lab in London. With regular exposure to the cold, your body starts to adapt and gets better at temperature regulation. 02 SORE POINTS “A cold dip causes blood vessels to constrict,” says Sharma. This reduces blood flow to the extremities and shunts it into deeper tissues and internal organs, minimising heat loss. In the process, blood becomes more oxygenated and nutrientdense. Step out, and blood vessels dilate. “This oxygenated, nutrientdense blood now flows…

CONNECT TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4 Its face hides an app interface for language translation, hands-free payments and a golf range finder. It also tracks heart rate, pace and distance. POR ENDURE Durable, corrosion-resistant titanium and ceramic watches are big right now. And they’ll last. Tudor Pelagos FXD A titanium hood that’s waterproof up to 200 meters houses a self-winding mechanism and a massive 70-hour power reserve. (Forty is typical.) R79 300 Longines Spirit Flyback A chronometer and a stopwatch that resets and restarts with one button are both armoured within a titanium case with a rock-solid ceramic bezel. R107 100 Victorinox INOX Titanium Chronograph The tough titanium case and sapphire-crystal display boast ISO-certified shock and magnetic field protection. R22 495 Rolex Yacht-Master 42 This sleek Oyster Perpetual…

01 ROUGH SEAS ■ Strap into the rower and set the display to calories. Start by driving with your legs, pushing through until your knees are fully extended. Then lean back, opening your hips, before finishing with a pull of the arms. Touch the handle to your sternum to complete a full stroke, before reversing the movement. 02 PUT ’EM UP ■ Hit your calorie target, hop off the rower, then grab your kettlebell. Stand with the weight between your legs. Hinge at the waist to push your glutes back marginally, before contracting them and exploding through your hips to drive the bell up. Once it reaches eye level, pull it towards your face slightly, before pressing overhead. 03 BACK TO BACK ■ Reverse the movement, making sure to maintain a flat…

ANSWER Bodybuilding IT’S NOT EXACTLY NEWS that we South Africans are sleep-deprived. According to a data collected by the app Sleep Cycle, only 27% of us are getting the recommended eight hours of shuteye despite hitting the hay earlier than most nations. Part of the problem is that many of the antidotes simply aren’t much fun (renounce your nightly half-bottle of wine; shun the TV) or that realistic (switch off your phone; develop sudden amnesia with regards to that recent work screw-up). Thankfully, research points to a more attractive solution to all those restless nights: bodybuilding. Yep, grunting through a heavy set of bicep curls may just be the answer to your bedtime woes. Researchers from Iowa State University assigned 386 inactive adults with three different exercise routines, while a control…

Dream kit for your home gym? TECHED-OUT ROWER 5% SQUAT RACK 42% FREE WEIGHTS 21% MORE SPACE FOR SAID HOME GYM 32% Want to upgrade your workout gear? Turn to page 62 for the best in sweat. ARE YOU DOING MEAL PREP? I’M SORTED FOR THE WEEK 30% SOMETIMES 35% I DON’T HAVE THE TIME 35% Only 30% of you are actually successfully meal prepping. Fear not, on page 54 we posit that snack prep is the new meal prep. STUCK IN A FITNESS RUT? YES 30% NO 35% IT’S COMPLICATED 35% If you’ve hit a plateau, don’t rest on your averagely fit laurels. On page 70 we’ve got 10 workouts to reignite your routine. WOULD YOU WORK OUT WITH AN AI TRAINER? I ALREADY DO 9% NO, I NEED HUMAN INTERACTION 27%…

WITH THE SPOTLIGHT ON THE OLYMPIC GAMES, there’s plenty of inspiration to go around. After all, who isn’t rearing to hit the tarmac after watching the world’s greatest sportsmen dash through a 400m sprint. The event is over in seconds, and that kind of zeitgeist-driven motivation is almost as short-lived. But take a closer look at those athletes, who train doggedly and without excuses for years only to spend a few minutes on the world stage. “When an athlete has a goal such as a competition, that goal creates a level of accountability that follows them in everything they do,” says Capazorio. “This is in turn can create more discipline.” He argues that capital “D” discipline can only come from tireless repetition—“Especially when you don’t feel like training or prepping…

01/WHAT DO MICROBES EVEN DO? GUT PROTECTION “Our bodies are quite clever,” says Jack Gilbert, a microbiologist at UC San Diego and the director of the Microbiome and Metagenomics Center. Enzymes our bodies make help us digest what we’re able to, then we rely on microbes—mainly bacteria in the colon—to digest the rest. Like you, microbes “poop” out by-products they can’t process. Depending on what they’re eating, these by-products can cause gas and other issues, or their “waste” can be useful things, such as vitamins B and K. A messed-up microbial mix is linked to common digestive ailments as well as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. MOOD STABILISATION The gut is packed with nerves that talk to your brain along the “gut-brain axis”, says nutritional psychiatrist Uma Naidoo, author of Calm…

EXCELLENCE IS A LOT messier than you think. Thirty or so years ago, mental-performance coaches would spend hours and hours with Olympians, aiming to help them have a flawless event. “There was a lot of focus on being in the zone—in your flow state—and basically trying to set up the perfect performance,” says Dr. Sean McCann, who has coached athletes for 33 years as a senior sport psychologist for the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee. But perfection is rare; chaos is everywhere. (See: the 2020/2021 Games and, well, life.) As the ideas of mindfulness and resilience gained status in research circles and the zeitgeist as ways to manage that chaos, they took root and got results in high-performance training, too. Mental-performance experts like McCann have started “focusing on moments of…

MEAL PREP IS A PAIN. Batch-cooked meals monopolise your fridge space, and no one really wants to eat the same dinner five nights in a row. Snack prep? Well, that’s different. Having a few nutritious options on hand disrupts any mindless eating, and it can save you quite a bit of money in the long run, too. (Have you seen the price of protein bars lately?) According to SA’s State of Snacking report, 78% of us will always make room in our monthly budget for snacks. And we’re most likelyto indulge in the morning, with many respondents admitting they’ll even sub out breakfast for a convenient morsel. But skip the chips. As well as bringing a little awareness to your eating habits, pre-prepping healthy snacks can help you target areas of…

COGNAC, LEMON AND orange liqueur—a sidecar is as simple as a manhattan or martini, only way less everywhere. If you’ve never had one, this version trades the orange for less in-your-face peach. The key is a high-quality liqueur, says Shay Prince, co-owner of Parlor, a cocktail lounge in the US. HOW TO MAKE IT In a cocktail shaker with ice, combine 60ml cognac (Prince likes D’ussé VSOP), 15ml fresh lemon juice, 15ml peach liqueur, and 15ml simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water). Shake until well chilled and strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube. START HERE NOT SCHNAPPS Yes, you could call fruit-based liquors “schnapps.” But not all of them suffer from sticky sweetness. Some have way more fruit flavour and far less sugar. Here’s how…

DIRECTIONS: Do the exercises in order. Do 3 sets of each complex and rest 90 seconds between sets, unless otherwise noted. Do this workout 4 days a week; on all other days, go for a 20-minute walk or run. WARMUP DEEP LUNGE ROCKBACK TO SPIDERMAN WITH ROTATION Start in push-up position, then step your right foot to just outside your right hand. Straighten your right knee and dig your right heel into the floor as you push your butt backwards; continue reaching forwards as you do this (A). Shift your weight forwards again, then reach your right hand towards the ceiling (B). Reverse the moves and repeat on the other side. That’s 1 rep; do 10. SINGLE-ARM COMPLEX DIRECTIONS: Grab your kettlebell, then complete the entire complex, doing all reps…