This content is from the experts at Men's Fitness magazine.
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Friday, January 29, 2016
Nike Just Released the Ultimate CrossFit Shoe
The Nike Metcon 2 has one of the best features we've ever seen on a CrossFit shoe.
How to Party and Stay in Shape
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Alex Mytton will be at a party tonight (McQueen in Shoreditch for the launch of his new single “Letters”, to be exact), but it’s a safe bet that he was out last night and will be out tomorrow night. Such is the life of a DJ. It’s also a safe bet that Mytton will look good. Such is the life of a cast member of Made in Chelsea.
That doesn’t mean he’s not exhausted. When we spoke to him, he told us he had a quiet one the night before watching The Revenant at the cinema – but he had nodded off for five minutes.
Since we could all do with looking a little less damaged the morning after a big night out, we asked Mytton what he does to avoid looking like a haggered wreck all of the time.
Choose your Drink Wisely
“I used to drink vodka, lime and soda all the time. If you’re trying to watch the spare tyre, I thought it was the best one for it. But I’ve been reading recently about how tequila is this amazing booze in the sense that it doesn’t make you put on weight, so I’ve been drinking tequila, lime and soda instead. The only problem is it gets you really drunk quite quickly.”
(Turn off) All the Lights
“When you’ve been listening to very loud music your body’s senses are quite heightened so when you get home you’re buzzing. I’m quite bad for drinking Red Bull between sets so that adds to it as well. The best thing to do is to avoid drinking any sugar or caffeine a while before you finish, then as soon as I get back I turn the lights off and try to get off my phone.”
Don’t Let Your Hangover Fester
“For a hangover, actually get up, get out and go for a walk or go to the gym – that always really helps even if it is super, super painful. But you’ve got to keep it light at the gym – I’ve tried to go back to a normal training regime and pulled muscles and torn things. Now I do lots of light running, light weights and rowing. And try if possible to resist eating really shit food, or you just end up sinking further into the hangover afterwards.”
Get Food Delivered
“I’ve just started doing a food delivery thing called Fresh Fitness Food. They bring you three meals a day which is really handy because I don’t really have time to cook. The meals are really nutritious, and designed to help you lose weight and maintain a healthy body. But sometimes there are weeks when I just eat crap – a bit of time off to relax and enjoy myself. I do that quite a fair amount.”
Spend Three(-ish) Hours a Week in the Gym
“I try to get to the gym two or three times a week for about an hour. I start off with some intensive cardio. I don’t like doing long runs and stuff like that, I don’t find it benefits me. I prefer doing sprints on the bike or the running machine. After that I will go into a session of weights and squats, focussing on different body parts every session.”
Drink the Bags Away
“I do find that I get bags under my eyes. I started moisturising, using under-eye cream I got bought for Christmas. I think it does help, but I found drinking lots of water all the time actually sorts out your skin and makes you look a lot less tired, more so than if you’ve been using moisturiser.”
Alex Mytton’s new single “Letters” is out now. Buy on iTunes. Buy tickets for the release party from designmynight.com.
29 Jan 2016
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Nigel Owens: “My Entire Career is Down to Missing a Conversion”
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“What a guy” is really the only way to describe Nigel Owens. The Welshman officiated the Rugby World Cup final in 2015, is one of the most respected referees in the game and has publicly discussed his sexuality, for instance in the BBC documentary True to Myself, where many might shy away.
Just as impressively, as he revealed to Coach, he can go from a European Cup match on a Saturday night to an Under-12s game in Wales on a Sunday morning. What. A. Guy.
What inspiring behaviour have you witnessed on the rugby pitch?
Just after I blew the whistle at the World Cup final, David Pocock, the Australian number 8, ran over to shake my hand and say, “Thanks very much, Nigel, you had a great game.” This guy had just lost out on a winner’s medal and the first thought in his mind was to find me and say thanks. Bloody hell, I thought, that shows a lot about the sport I’m in and the integrity of people like him. And then 20 seconds later, Jerome Kaino, the All Black back row, ran over to say, “I watched your programme about coming out as gay on the BBC last night, and I thought it was great. You can be very proud of yourself.” For him to interrupt celebrating the biggest moment of his rugby career to share that with me was amazing.
Why do rugby players respect the referee more than footballers?
There are a lot of good people involved in football, and we can’t take a moral high ground because there is plenty that rugby could do better. You’ll see people trying to gouge an eye out, or kicking an opponent in the head when they’re on the floor. But what rugby does well is discipline. People are punished harshly, and nobody would last in the game if they continually used foul behaviour.
It starts with dissent – that’s a no-go in rugby. Referees can add an instant ten yards to a penalty, or brandish a yellow card, and we know we will be supported by the governing bodies, by the players and even most of the crowd.
Why did you want to be a referee?
I was playing full-back for my school team and we hadn’t won a game all season. In the last minute of the final match, we scored a try to make the score 12-12, and I told the captain I would take the conversion. It was right in front of the posts, and I thought I’d be the hero of the school. But I sliced it so wide it nearly hit the corner flag.
A sports teacher called John Beynon took me aside and gently suggested that I try refereeing. My entire career is down to missing that conversion.
Who helped you at the start?
I once gave two players in youth match a huge bollocking in front of everybody. One of the parents who was watching, who had played for Llanelli himself, told me afterwards that if a referee had done that to him, he wouldn’t have respected him. It would be much better to tap them on the shoulder as they were running to the next line-out, and quietly say, “I saw what happened back there, lads, now don’t do it again”. It’s actually far more personal, and that means it will get the point across more effectively that any dramatics.
What qualities does a referee need?
You need to be able to cope with abuse. That talent is either in you or it isn’t. A few people try refereeing and after a couple of weeks, they say, “I just can’t cope”. If you can deal with the moaning and swearing, it usually means you can deal with all the other pressure too.
Are you ever tempted to answer back when you’re being booed?
As far as the crowd goes, there are definitely times where you feel like answering back, or saying, “I’m right. I’ve read all the law books, have you?” But you can’t do that. A smile is sometimes the best tactic, although it does infuriate angry people even more.
How did it feel to referee the World Cup final?
I still haven’t sat down and taken it all in, how lucky and privileged I am. The World Cup only comes round every four years, so in 40 years’ time, there’ll only be another nine people who have done it. Probably more people will have gone to Mars. I haven’t actually watched the video yet. I want to save it for a special occasion, like when I retire, or on my mum’s birthday because she’s no longer with us.
What was your happiest experience in rugby?
I had to referee Leicester against Ulster in a European Cup match on a Saturday night in 2013. The next day, I had promised a local Welsh team called Pencoed that I would referee their Under-12s in a match against Cwmbran. To see the kids’ faces when I walked into the changing room to check their boots, well, that was a moment when I thought, “This is what the game of rugby is about. This is why I got into the game, not for the cup finals or the Tri-Nations deciders.” To cap it off, one of the kids shook my hand at the end of the game and said, “Thanks very much, Nigel. And by the way, you were much better today than you were on the telly last night.” Brilliant!
Nigel Owens is patron of children’s charities Bullies Out and Wooden Spoon. The Six Nations begins February 6.
28 Jan 2016
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Head to Toe Fitness Trackers from CES 2016
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There’s no shortage of fitness gadgets and wearables on the market, but it’s still a nascent area with plenty of directions to go in. Coach visited the Consumer Electronics Show, the annual conference where tech companies gather to display their latest products, earlier this month and discovered fitness trackers aren’t just for wrists anymore – fitness tech companies are annexing other parts of the human anatomy. There's nothing for your member at the moment, but give it time.
Head: Platysens Marlin
The quintessential wearable for swimmers, Marlin attaches to the back of your goggles and has an earpiece built in to let you know your lap times, speed and distance when in the water. For the more adventurous, it provides route tracking and directions in open water so you don’t end up swimming to France by accident.
Available June, $120 (Around £84), platysens.com
Glasses: Oakley Radar Pace
Intel and Oakley previewed the Radar Pace at CES 2016, with the key feature of the smart eyewear being the user’s ability to interact with them by speaking. There are earphones attached to the glasses, which will provide runners and cyclists with on-the-go feedback on progress and performances.
Available late 2016, price TBC, oakley.com
Ear: Lumafit
If you’re not keen on flashy wrist wearables you might fancy tucking your tracker away behind your ear. The Lumafit offers real-time coaching in a variety of cardio and bodyweight exercises, and the app has a series of interactive workouts for all fitness levels.
Available now, $149 (around £104), lumafit.com
Shirt: Hexoskin Smart
You can now dispense with tracking accessories entirely and get all the details from your shirt. The second-generation Hexoskin Smart weaves sensors into its exercise tops that track all manner of in-depth fitness stats, including heart rate, breathing and calories burned. And you can wear it to track your sleep too, although it’ll probably need a wash in between.
Available spring, pre-order for $299 (around £208), hexoskin.com
Back: Upright
A personal posture trainer that sits in the small of your back, gently buzzing each time you slouch away from the perfect position. You can develop a training programme via the app, with UpRight suggesting 15 minutes a day will be enough to teach you how to sit and stand correctly.
Available now, $129.95 (around £91), uprightpose.com
Wrist: Fitbit Blaze
Fitbit has taken steps to ward off the threat of smartwatches with the Blaze, which it’s billing as a “Smart Fitness Watch”. In practice, this means that the Blaze provides some basic smartwatch capabilities, such as notifications for calls, texts and calendar alerts, but remains a fitness tracker at heart. And a mighty fine one it is, with automatic walk, run, sleep and cycle tracking and five days of battery life.
Available March, pre-order for £159.99, fitbit.com
Wrist: Casio WSD-F10
The snappily-titled WSD-F10 has a pretty solid argument for being the best smartwatch on the market (or will be, when launched), especially if you’re keen on outdoor pursuits. Its chunky, rugged design is indicative of its toughness; the Casio will go where other smartwatches fear to tick. Waterproof to 50m, and with a monochrome display option that will extend battery life up to a month, it’s a smartwatch capable of extended excursions into the wild. And it even has a fishing mode.
Available late 2016, $500 (around £349), wsd.casio.com
Wrist: Misfit Ray
Misfit has always prided itself on making minimalist, stylish wearables, and the Ray extends that tradition while swapping the svelte circular shape of the Shine for a tube. The waterproof Ray will last six months before its battery needs changing, can be worn as a wristband or a pendant, and automatically tracks your daily activity and sleep.
Available spring, $99 (around £69), misfit.com
Wrist: Mio Slice
The Slice’s appeal lies in Mio’s condensing of all traditional tracking metrics – like steps, calories and distance – into one number. The PAI (personal activity intelligence) score is based on a 20-year-long Norwegian health study on 20,000 people. Users are given a tailored PAI score every seven days, as well as feedback on individual workouts, with the aim of keeping it above 100. If you do, you might well live forever.
Available autumn, $99 (around £69), mioglobal.com
Read more: 7 Fitness Trackers For All Levels of Athlete
Fists: Corner Athletec
UK start-up Athletec is aiming to create the ideal tracker for boxers, with the Corner’s twin sensors slipping inside your handwraps to provide feedback on every punch thrown. A nifty feature of the sensor is that you can clap to move through the app’s screens, as smartphones are notoriously tricky to use when wearing boxing gloves.
Available summer, £49.99, athletec.io
Ring: OURA Ring
Wearing a bulky tracker is more likely to hinder than help sleep, so the OURA ring’s sleek design is a welcome move towards less disruptive wearables. The ring tracks rest automatically, keeping tabs on heart rate, temperature and motion to ensure your slumber is of the highest quality. It’ll also keep tabs on your activity in the daytime if you’re happy wearing the ring out and about.
Available now, €299 (around £227), ouraring.com
Belt: Belty Good Vibes
The original Belty smartbelt was a huge hit at CES 2015, and in 2016 French start-up Emiota upped the ante with the second-generation Belty Good Vibes. The stylish smart belt will nag at you throughout the day, vibrating to remind you to keep active, and can also guide you through breathing exercises if you’re hankering for a moment of calm.
Available December, €360 (around £274), wearbelty.com
Shorts: Lumo Run
Make sure you’re running with perfect form by wearing Lumo’s impressive shorts, which not only track a slew of valuable metrics like cadence, pelvic rotation and stride length but will also offer on-the-go coaching through your headphones.
Available March, pre-order $99 (around £69), lumobodytech.com
Pocket: Withings Go
The small disk can be worn anywhere – on a keyring, around your wrist, on a belt strap or even tucked away in a pocket – and its low-power E ink display means you won’t have to change the battery for eight months. To make things easy, the Go tracks automatically. Whether you’re running, swimming or sleeping, you don’t have to tee it up by clicking a button.
Available spring, £49.95, withings.com
Socks: Sensoria Socks Walk and Run
If smart shorts alone weren’t enough to sort out your running, smart socks are the logical next step. Sensoria’s are infused with sensors that analyse where your foot lands and cadence, giving voice feedback through the app on what’s right and wrong about your technique with the aim of improving your running and minimising the risk of injuries.
Available now, $199 (around £139), sensoriafitness.com
Shoes: Digitsole Smartshoe 01
The futuristic-looking Digitsole Smartshoe not only tracks distance covered and calories burned, but also heats your feet and tightens at the touch of a button to ensure a perfect fit.
Available autumn, $450 (around £314), digitsole.com
27 Jan 2016
The True Story That Inspired the 'Outsiders'
The WGN show grew out of urban gentrification and two historic government standoffs.
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Healthy Crisps
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Even the most draconian of dinnertime dieters can be far less scrupulous when it comes to healthy snacks, and plenty of worthy lifestyle goals are sabotaged every afternoon as desk drawers are opened to reveal multipacks of savoury saturated fats.
The UK loves crisps, and even though substantial efforts have been made to make them more nutritious, these little flakes of potatoey heaven remain firmly in the unhealthy camp. However, no one is expecting you to quit crisps cold turkey (one of the least popular flavours, that). There are plenty of healthier options, and Coach has run the rule over them.
5 Healthier Alternatives to Crisps
Chirps Egg White Crisps High in protein and less than half the fat of regular crisps, Chirps have made a strong play for the regular gym-goer.
Coach says: An undoubted success, the salt and black pepper flavour in particular really hits the spot, and don’t worry – there’s no eggy aftertaste. £1.49, twochicks.co.uk
Kettle Chips Vegetables They’re not overly “healthy” as there’s no drop in the calorie or fat levels, but you are getting a load of fibre, so these will fill you up.
Coach says: Perhaps the most satisfying crisp replacement, in that you won’t feel tempted to dip back into the snack drawer ten minutes later. 85p, kettlefoods.co.uk
Itsu Seaweed Thins These are a mere 24 calories per pack, so if a quick salty fix is all you’re after, these tasty thins might be the answer.
Coach says: They taste good but unless you’re really disciplined, they won’t be substantial enough to see you through a long afternoon. £1, itsugrocery.com
Metcalfe’s Popcorn Crisps From buttery cinema staple to health food phenomenon, popcorn is an excellent low-fat alternative, and now it even comes in a dippable form, which tastes great.
Coach says: Of course they taste nice – it’s popcorn, after all. 85p, metcalfesskinny.com
InSpiral Kale Chips The leafy tendrils of kale have infiltrated our snacks. These chips are higher in protein and fibre than regular crisps, but just as fatty.
Coach says: These are chewier than you think, and wild flavours (Beetroot & Acerola, Cacao & Cinnamon, Wasabi) add appeal. £2.19, inspiral.co
Taste Testing More Kale Chips
Daylesford Raw Organic Sun-dried Tomato Kale Chips 30g, £2.49
Coach says: “This is the Rolls-Royce of kale chips. It’s the first time I’ve tried them, but they taste just like you would expect. Only softer.”
Daylesford Raw Organic Fig & Horseradish Kale Chips 30g, £2.49
Coach says: “OK, all bets are off. I was honestly not expecting that. This one has a very sharp, distinctive taste. Someone get me a glass of water.”
InSpiral Raw Wasabi Wheatgrass kale chips 30g, £2.19
Coach says: “Not as hardcore as the name suggests. Quite nice, actually. Crispy. If they weren’t green, you wouldn’t even know you were eating kale.”
InSpiral Raw Purple Corn Kale Chips 30g, £2.19
Coach says: “Cheese on toast-flavoured kale? Whatever next?! I didn’t even know there was such a thing as purple corn until just now. Good, and not as pricy as some of the others.”
InSpiral Tomato & Basil Pizza Kale-Os 12g, £1.29
Coach says: “This is air-dried, so it’s even healthier than organic kale. It’s so easy and light to eat. Best of all, though, it really does taste like pizza! Shame we only got to try a small packet.”
Make Your Own Kale Crisps
Posh vegetable crisps might be all the rage – but while the beetroot-and-carrot snacks are generally healthier than the regular kind, most still tend to be starchy, heavily processed and loaded with added sugar and salt. If you want a more waistline-friendly option, try these delicious DIY kale crisps instead. Rich in hunger-suppressing fibre and low in calories, they’re quick and easy to make and ideal for between-meal munching.
To make
Toss 50g of kale in 1tbsp of olive oil and spread it evenly on an ovenproof tray lined with baking parchment. Sprinkle chilli flakes, paprika and a little sea salt on top, then roast at 175°C/gas 3-4 for ten to 15 minutes until the edges of the kale leaves start to brown.
26 Jan 2016
How to Get Out of Debt Forever
These simple steps will help you eliminate debt and stay in the black.
Monday, January 25, 2016
5 of the Best Apple Watch Fitness Apps
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Once you’ve exhausted the comedy value of pretending to talk to K.I.T.T via your Apple Watch (a good six months, we reckon), it’s time to put the computer on your wrist to work. While the Apple Watch comes with fitness tracking built in, you’ve barely scratched the surface of your wearable’s capabilities unless you’ve loaded it up with apps. We’ve picked some options hikers, runners and cyclists will find useful, as well reference tools that will take you step-by-step through workout plans, yoga moves and bodyweight exercises.
Strava
Despite the abundance of fitness activities available nowadays, cycling and running remain two of the most popular sporting pastimes, and Strava is the ideal app for tracking both. There’s a vast array of data in the regular version, and obsessives can upgrade to premium for even more insight.
Free, or £4.99 per month for premium version, strava.com (also available for Android Wear)
Gymaholic
Gymaholic provides a selection of workout plans for all abilities, and you can also create your own from the vast library of exercises, each of which comes with a guide to how to do it correctly and which muscles it targets. The free version of the app will provide enough depth for most, but there’s also an option to upgrade for even more stats.
Free, or £2.59 for pro version, gymaholic.me
komoot
The app features maps that can be downloaded for offline access and suggested routes for hikes and cycles that can also be saved locally, so the lack of internet in the great outdoors won’t turn your day trip into a nightmare. The app and your local area map are free, but other regions are £6.99 each, or you can get the entire world for £22.99.
Free, £6.99 per extra region, komoot.de (also available for Android Wear)
Pocket Yoga
For those keen to take to the yoga mat, but not quite ready to do so under the scrutiny of a group class, this app can be your guru instead. Over 200 different poses are explained and used in 27 different sessions, and having the images on your wrist as well as your phone means you can keep an eye on the guide no matter what contorted position you end up in.
£2.29, pocketyoga.com
Custom Workouts
Put your whole body through its paces in just seven minutes, using only your bodyweight, a wall and a chair. The workouts are based around a frenetic 30 seconds of activity followed by a quick break before you move on to another exercise. The standard full-body workout is free, and then it costs £1.49 for any other workout you’re keen to try.
Free, £1.49 for extra workouts, perigee.se
25 Jan 2016
This content is from the experts at Men's Fitness magazine.
For more fitness, gym, workout and nutrition advice click here
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