Month: August 2018

STRIKE A POSE

You’ll find it difficult to stay mindful if you’re trying to extract your gym shorts from awkward places mid-pose. To fast-track your mental contentment, make sure you’re wearing the right gear. The new range from yoga specialist Manduka is kind both to the environment (it’s made using a combination of recycled polyester, plant-based material and organic cotton) and to your body. The Minimalist tank (pictured, £32) is made with a lightweight stretch mesh fabric to aid movement, while the Atman tights (pictured, £72) have contoured flat-locked seams and an elastic waistband to maximise comfort and performance. manduka.com

Practising mindfulness, a form of meditation, could offer a host of mental benefits such as improved memory, accelerated learning and reduced stress, according to research from Harvard Medical School. Scientists compared brain scans of long-term meditators with those of a control group and found that the former “had more grey matter in the frontal cortex, which is associated with working memory and executive decision making”.

If you’re new to mindfulness, it can be tricky to achieve the serene state that allows you to enjoy the full effects. If that’s the case, you may want to take up yoga, which will deliver the mental benefits while also giving you a workout that helps to strengthen your core and reduce your risk of injury.

Gentlemen’s Tonic in Mayfair was one of Britain’s first dedicated men’s grooming salons – but you don’t have to travel in to central London to get the benefit of GT’s expertise. The new Gentlemen’s Tonic Advanced Derma-Care range is the world’s first cosmeceutical skincare set – meaning it has both cosmetic and medicinal properties – to be developed exclusively for men.

Its active ingredients – including a combination of peptides, the amino acid compounds that support the proteins in your skin – are all natural and powerful. All the Advance Derma-Care products, which were created during five years of intense research and development with one of Europe’s leading independent laboratories, are free from synthetic materials and harmful chemical additives. Focusing on anti-ageing, the range includes a cleanser, a moisturiser, two serums, an eye cream and a “time control” peptide solution. From £39,gentlemenstonic.com

1 INVINCIBLE

Use it when… you’re going on a date

Special power The woody and fresh fragrance will make you feel confident and smell irresistible.

2 COOL POWER

Use it when… you’ve finished your gym session

Special power It contains a cooling agent that is released on contact with water, giving you an invigorating post-exercise clean.

3 HYDRA ENERGETIC

Use it when… life gets busy

Special power This is L’Oréal’s first shower gel to contain taurine, which will make you feel fresh and energised in the morning.

4 TOTAL CLEAN

Use it when… you’re in a rush

Special power It contains carbon, which acts as a dirt magnet, removing impurities. Shower gel is only one of its identities – you can also use it as a shave gel or moisturiser.

5 CLEAN POWER

Use it when… your skin gets sweaty and greasy

Special power Sounds like a barbell move, cleans like a demon, using citrus fruit ingredients to eliminate impurities.

6 HYDRA POWER

Use it when… you’re dehydrated

Special power If your skin has been dried out by central heating and winter chill, fight back with this 24-hour moisturising gel that’s enriched with mountain water.

Asics lightweight running backpack

A durable bag with room for all your work gear to make your commute more comfortable.

£36, asics.com

Oral-B Genius electric toothbrush

With smart triple pressure sensor technology, this gives a “fresh from the dentist” feel.

£109.99, oralb.co.uk

Under Armour Speedform Gemini 3 shoe

This light yet sturdy running shoe has responsive cushioning for constant comfort.

£110, underarmour.co.uk

Pulsar Accelerator M-Sport watch

A high-precision timepiece made with the M-Sport world rally team’s needs in mind.

£195, pulsar-watches.co.uk

Plantronics BackBeat Fit headphones

These rich-sound buds are sweat-proof and secure with eight hours of audio per charge.

£109, plantronics.com

Groomarang shaving comb

Tame your beard with this double-toothed comb that makes sculpting your style easy.

£24.99, groomarang.com

BooHoo Man jacket

A stylish, twisted-sleeve khaki bomber jacket with distinctive orange side panels.

£30, boohooman.com

Lab Series PRO LS All-In-One Hydrating Gel

A lightweight and fast-absorbing moisturiser that cools and calms your skin.

£12.50, labseries.co.uk

Tumi Knox backpack

A versatile, spacious bag perfect for work or travel with multiple organiser pockets.

£365, tumi.com

STRIDE PATTERN

The standout design feature on this lightweight packable jacket is the collage effect, which runs throughout the new Björn Borg spring/summer 2017 range. Wearing these bold geometric shapes will put you ahead of the style pack this year.

FULL STRETCH

This lightweight jacket contains 11% elastane stretch woven fabric to maximise mobility. It also has a slim-fit cut, making you feel fast and aerodynamic on the move.

WEATHER THE STORM

Under Armour’s Storm technology repels water but retains breathability. This loose-cut lightweight jacket has been designed to maximise mobility and is wind-resistant so you can keep working hard in all conditions.

LIGHT WORK

If speed is what you’re chasing, this lightweight shell won’t slow you down. The fabric is water-repellant and it also keeps you shielded from the wind – and when you’ve run through the storm, you can pack it away and keep on moving.

When Nike unveiled its original Air Max in 1987, Margaret Thatcher was prime minister and Ronald Reagan was in the White House. At first glance not much has changed in 30 years – the UK has a female Conservative PM, a former TV star is the US president and Nike’s revolutionary trainers still have those innovative air-cushioned soles. But look closer and the changes are obvious (to the shoe, at least). Nike has taken a technological leap with the new Air VaporMax, making the entire air pocket a standalone unit – removing the need for a bulky rubber midsole – to create a lightweight and flexible trainer that never compromises its consistent cushioning. £TBC,store.nike.com

4.12pm

The time in the afternoon when office workers are most likely to reach for high-fat and high-sugar snacks, according to a study by Seasonal Berries. Have a pint of cold water at 4pm to kill your cravings.

Delay eating the doughnut

It might seem too simple to be effective, but telling yourself (ideally not out loud) that you’re not going to have that sweet snack now but you will later in the day is often enough to quell your cravings, according to research published in the Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology. This approach means you’re not technically denying yourself, although the chances are you won’t be bothered later on and so avoid snacking altogether.

Kill cravings with water

Feeling hungry can often be your brain misinterpreting a thirst, so next time you’re tempted by the biscuit tin have a glass of cold water to see off your cravings. Research published in the European Journal Of Nutrition found that 500ml of water is enough to stretch your stomach and send signals to tell your brain you’re full. The study also found people who drink half a litre of water before a meal eat 22% fewer calories than those who don’t.

Be smart on social media

Whether you’re trying to lose weight or just eat healthier more often, a sensible strategy is to get off social media. Simply seeing food can stimulate cravings and hunger and even increase portion size when you next sit down to eat, according to research published in the International Journal Of Obesity. Limit your exposure to stomach-rumbling food pics by unfollowing all those avocado-loving accounts on Instagram and other social media.

1 Build your chest

Archer press-ups work your “pressing” muscles and enable you to overload them unilaterally to trigger growth.

How to do it

Start in a press-up position, then straighten your right arm out to the side. Bend your left arm to lower your chest, then press back up using your right arm for support. At the top, switch arms and repeat.

The workout

Do archer press-ups for 30sec then go straight into 30sec of regular press-ups. Rest for 60sec then repeat for a total of five rounds.

2 Broaden your back

Hit your back, biceps and forearms to help build a V-shaped torso.

How to do it

Hang from a bar with an underhand grip. Keep your core tight and pull yourself up until your chin clears the bar.

The workout

Do as many chin-ups as you can until your form fails. Put your feet on the ground, then jump back to the top. Hold for a second, then lower. Repeat until you can’t do another rep, then hang from the bar until your grip goes. Rest for 90sec. Do four rounds.

3 Get big shoulders

This routine works your delts, chest and triceps.

How to do it

Place your hands shoulder-width apart on the floor 15-30cm from a wall. Kick up into a handstand with your heels on the wall and keep your body tight. Engage your shoulders by trying to push the floor away and hold the position.

The workout

Start a timer and get in position. After 30sec drop down and do 30sec of press-ups, then 30sec of incline press-ups. Rest for 90sec. Repeat for five rounds.

4 Strip away belly fat

Hit your quads, hamstrings and glutes with this fat-torching combo.

How to do it

Start with reverse lunges. Take a large step back with one foot and lower until both thighs are parallel to the floor. Return to the start and swap legs. Then for jump squats, lower and push off the ground explosively.

The workout

Do ten reverse lunges per leg, then ten jump squats, then 20 bodyweight squats (squat deep but don’t lock out your knees at the top). Rest for 2min. Do five rounds.

5 Sculpt a six-pack

Target your abs, obliques, delts and chest to transform your torso.

How to do it

Start in a press-up position then lower yourself onto your forearms so you’re in a plank, one arm at a time. Then reverse the movement. That’s one rep.

The workout

Set a timer and do press-up-to-plank reps for 30sec, then hold the press-up position for 30sec (or you could even do press-ups for that time if you’re feeling strong). Rest for 30sec then repeat. Do six rounds in total.

6 Up your heart rate

Here you’ll tax your upper-body muscles, heart and lungs.

How to do it

Start in a press-up position. Lower your chest and bring your right knee in to your right elbow. Press up and repeat with your left knee. Then bring both knees to your chest and do a tuck jump. That’s one rep.

The workout

Start the clock. Do a rep, then hold the press-up position until the timer hits 1min. Then do two reps and rest until it hits 2min, and so on. Stop when you can’t do the target reps within the minute.

30

The number of days it takes for your liver to completely repair damaged tissue, according to University of Iowa research. However, scar tissue caused by excessive alcohol can’t be healed

In the pursuit of getting lean you probably already know you should steer clear of alcohol – it’s called a beer belly for good reason, after all. But if you don’t want to give up the grog then you should aim for at least one night of abstaining a week to help prevent the onset of cirrhosis, which is a build-up of fatty tissue in your liver that can be deadly. As your main detoxification organ your liver filters out damaging toxins, and going to bed sober gives it time to repair, according to the Journal Of Hepatology. Research found that people who drank six nights a week had a significantly lower chance of developing cirrhosis than those who drank every day.

Eating too much sugar is being increasingly blamed for the Western world’s obesity epidemic, but there is one type of sugar – honey – that is actually really good for your health, according to a study published in the Journal Of Agriculture And Food Chemistry. Subjects who were given honey had higher levels of antioxidants in their blood plasma – and the higher your level, the better your body can combat the cell-damaging free radicals that are behind ageing as well as many diseases. With people consuming an average of more than 70kg of sugar and artificial sweeteners a year, adding honey to tea or porridge instead of sugar could provide multiple health benefits, said the scientists behind the research.

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Honey’s score on the glycemic index, making it a medium GI food unlike other sugars. This makes honey a smart source of post-workout carbs because it doesn’t lead to a big blood sugar spike.