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“The non-cook is in a helpless position,” says former New York Times food editor Raymond Sokolov, author of How To Cook. “Much like that of a car owner who can’t change a tyre and has to depend on mechanics to keep his car running.” Movie director Robert Rodriguez puts it more bluntly in his video recipe for puerco pibil, the slow-roasted pork dish fetishised in his film Once Upon A Time In Mexico: “Not knowing how to cook is like not knowing how to fuck.”

The point? By learning to cook, you’ll be better equipped to prep healthy food from the simplest ingredients, making it easier to eat well without spending too much time or money. And here’s the better news: cooking doesn’t have to mean squinting at endless recipe books and buying 15 sorts of fresh herbs you’ll never use.

Adam Gray (adamgraychef.com), who’s executive chef at Bourne & Hollingsworth Group, the owner of a Michelin star and runs healthy cooking courses, has selected the recipes you’ll find over the next few pages as the best ones to teach you the basics of knife skills, ingredient prep and cooking on the hob. Once you’ve nailed those, it’ll make everything else easier.

LEANPIZZA

Even if you don’t feel the need to go gluten-free, cooking with gram flour and cauliflower makes this pizza a low-GI option, saving you the bloodsugar spike you’d get from your shop-bought American Hot. By going home-made, you’ll also cut down on the preservatives and fats your typical takeaway includes as non-optional extras, and you’ll be able to add toppings that help, rather than hurt, your efforts to get lean.

Ingredients

FOR THE BASE

400g gram flour (chickpea flour) / ½tsp baking powder / 200g cauliflower, grated / 1tsp ground cumin / 1tsp ground coriander / 3 spring onions, finely chopped / 160ml semiskimmed milk / Natural sea salt / Ground white pepper / 50ml rapeseed oil FOR THE TOPPING 300g organic passata / 200g cooked free-range chicken breast, sliced / 50g baby spinach leaves, washed / 50g fresh parmesan cheese

Why cook with…

GRAM FLOUR

Otherwise known as besan, gram flour – made from chickpeas – is lower in calories than wheat flour but more nutritionally dense: it’s high in fibre, iron, potassium, manganese and vitamin B6.

CAULIFLOWER

Frequently overshadowed by broccoli, the other cruciferous veg that comes in florets is high in betacarotene, quercetin and vitamin C and, according to a study published in Molecular Nutrition And Food Research, is linked to a reduced risk of several cancers.

RAPESEED OIL

Rapeseed has half as much saturated fat as your extra virgin olive oil –although the jury’s still out on whether that’s important – but it’s also worth cooking with because of its omega 3 content and high smoke point, which keeps it stable for cooking.

Keyskills

Know your onions

Most people throw away too much of their spring onions, but prep couldn’t be simpler. Rinse them under cold water, then chop just above the stringy roots to remove them. Take about 2cm off the top, then “roll” your knife – keeping the tip on the surface of your cutting board to cut the rest as you feed them through with your other hand.

Use ’flower power

This recipe uses cauliflower to bulk out the pizza dough – but it’s a good substitute for carbs elsewhere too. Blitz it in a food processor to make a healthier substitute for couscous and rice, or steam it for ten to 15 minutes and then mash it up like potatoes with a splash of coconut milk.

Pick your toppings

Not feeling the chicken? There’s more to life than Hawaiian and pepperoni. Top your crust with red onions for folate and potassium, or mushrooms for selenium and hard-to-acquire vitamin D.

How to make it

• Mix the gram flour, ground cumin, ground coriander, chopped spring onions and grated cauliflower together in a large bowl.

• Add the milk and mix until it forms a doughlike consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.

• Wrap cling film around the bowl and leave the mixture to rest for ten minutes in the fridge.

• When the dough is rested, remove from the bowl and place on a clean work surface. Use the palm of your hand to gently press the dough flat until you have a disc about the size of a small dinner plate and about ½cm thick.

• Lightly grease a flat baking tray with half the rapeseed oil and place the dough base on it.

• Spread an even layer of passata over the pizza base.

• Place the chicken slices and the baby spinach leaves on top of the passata in an overlapping pattern.

• Drizzle the remaining half of the rapeseed oil over the pizza and finely grate the parmesan evenly over the top.

• Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C/gas 4 for 18-20 minutes, until the base is golden brown and the cheese in the topping is melted.

The final dish

FAT TORCHING SOUP

A can of store-bought soup often contains more sugar than a bowl of Frosties, alongside other undesirable elements that include MSG, modified starches and mechanically separated meat. This home-cooked version cuts out all the bad stuff, and packs in a double-dose of capsaicin-heavy peppers to kick-start your metabolism. Serve it hot in the winter or chilled with a dash of herb oil in the summer – either way, it’s a spicy little number.

Ingredients

8 red peppers, de-seeded and cut into 2cm pieces / 1 large onion, chopped / 2 red chillies, finely sliced / 8 plum tomatoes, roughly chopped / 100ml rapeseed oil / 1.5 litres vegetable stock / Salt and pepper

Why cook with…

RED PEPPERS

If you’re cooking with peppers, bet on red: they have the highest concentration of vitamin C, as well as fatburning capsaicin and an array of other helpful phytochemicals, including a rare combination of six carotenoids.

CHILLIES

Go hot if you can take it – the spicier the chilli, the higher it is in capsaicin, a fat burner that’s may also help reduce some types of inflammation. There’s also some evidence that chillies can reduce blood cholesterol and triglycerides, lowering your risk of a heart attack or stroke.

PLUM TOMATOES

Tomatoes – canned or fresh – are your best source of the carotenoid pigment lycopene, which studies suggest can help prevent prostate, lung and stomach cancers. They’re also an exception to the rule that cooking destroys nutrients – lycopene is better absorbed when it’s been heated.

Keyskills

De-seeding factors

Prepping peppers is laborious unless you know how. Slice off the top and bottom, then make a neat vertical slice down the pepper, allowing you to open it up. Put it skin-side down and work the knife along the inside with the blade parallel to your worksurface, removing the “ribs” and seeds as you unroll it. You’ll end up with a flat, seedfree pepper, ready for chopping.

Sautéeing sorted

Cooking onions is something you’ll do a lot, so do it right. Keep the pan on a medium heat until your oil shimmers, then toss them in. Stir occasionally – you don’t need to throw them around like it’s a cooking show. Unless the recipe demands it, don’t let them start to brown. And remember: red onions are sweeter, so you can get away with cooking them less.

Blitz tactics

Rule one of using a blender: be careful with hot stuff. When you blend soup, steam forms and increases the pressure, which can pop the top off. The fix? Either remove your blender’s central plug and cover the hole with a tea towel or, if you’ve got a holeless blender, start on low and blend gently. Alternatively, invest in a handblender and do it all in the pan.

How to make it

• Prepare the peppers, onion, chillies and tomatoes as directed.

• Heat a large thickbased sauce pan to a medium heat. Add the rapeseed oil to the pan.

• Add the onions and chillies to the pan and cook for five minutes, stirring with a spatula until they start to soften.

• Add the red peppers and continue to cook for a further five minutes, stirring occasionally.

• Add the tomatoes and continue to cook until

• Add the vegetable stock and bring to the boil.

• Simmer the soup gently for 15 minutes, then season with salt and pepper.

• Serve the soup chunky, or blitz it in a blender if you prefer a smooth consistency.

The final dish

BULKING LASAGNE

Step away from the ready-meal aisle. Lasagne might have the whiff of intimidation about it, but it’s actually a dish that’s simple enough to make, and arguably better when reheated a day or two after you make it. This recipe substitutes sweet potato for starchy carbs, but you don’t have to leave the swaps there – once you’ve tried it once or twice, sub in turkey or lamb for the beef mince, and experiment with the cheese ratios for a solid hit of protein.

Ingredients

500g lean, organic minced beef / 2 red onions, peeled and finely diced / 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed / 3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced into 2-3mm discs / 300ml chunky passata / 100ml rapeseed oil / Worcestershire sauce / 500ml low-fat natural yogurt / 100g mature cheddar cheese, grated / ½ bunch of fresh basil leaves, stalks removed and finely chopped / Maldon sea salt / Ground white pepper

Why cook with…

BEEF

Disregard the red meat scare stories – the ones linked with carcinogenic effects are talking about the processed kind, not raw beef. Good-quality mince is packed with vitamin B12, zinc, selenium and iron, as well as 36g of protein per 100g.

GARLIC

There’s some evidence that the more you smash your garlic, the better it is: chopping activates alliinase enyzymes, which will eventually convert to allicin – a sulphur compound linked to keeping blood pressure under control.

SWEET POTATOES

The sweet potato vs “real” potato war isn’t as clearcut as you think: the former are far higher in vitamin A (438% of your RDA as opposed to, er, none) but otherwise it’s a nutritional near-tie. They’re also a good source of slow-burn energy, making them an ideal sub for higher-GI carbs.

Keyskills

Crush it

How much flavour garlic gives your dish depends on how you prep it: the more cells you rupture, the more potent it gets. Full cloves are bland and even slicing doesn’t do much; crushing with a press or the flat of a knife makes things more pungent, but for ultimate intensity invest in a microplane, which finely minces your cloves for a serious flavour punch.

Slice it fine

In this recipe, you’re replacing sheets of pasta with sweet potato, and thickness is key: make them too hefty, and they’ll be too crunchy by the end of the cooking time. To make thin-slicing easier, get yourself a full-size chef’s knife and keep it sharp – five minutes on a whetstone every couple of weeks will do the trick.

Know your herbs

Chefs will tell you fresh herbs are better than dried, and they’re mostly right – but sometimes it’s fine to reach for the jar. Herbs that flourish in hot, dry climates contain flavour compounds that stay stable at high temperatures. Basil is best used fresh but with dried oregano, bay leaves, sage or rosemary you’ll notice little difference once they’re cooked.

How to make it

• Heat a large thick-based sauce pan to a medium heat. Add the rapeseed oil and then the onions and garlic.

• Cook the onions and garlic for three to four minutes without letting them brown.

• Add the minced beef, making sure you break it up as it cooks using a wooden spoon or spatula so that it browns evenly.

• Continue cooking for a further five minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the passata and mix thoroughly.

• Bring the mixture to the boil and simmer gently for ten minutes, then add a good splash of Worcestershire sauce and the chopped basil, mixing thoroughly. Season and remove from heat.

How to build it

• Spoon some of the beef mixture into a shallow ovenproof baking dish, so that it completely covers the bottom.

• Place the discs of the raw sweet potato on top of the beef mixture, ensuring that it completely covers the beef mixture.

• Repeat the process so that you have two layers of beef mixture and two of sliced sweet potato, then finish with a layer of beef on top.

• Cover the top layer of beef with yogurt, and then scatter the grated cheese over the top.

• Place the lasagne in a preheated oven at 180°C/gas 4 for 25-30 minutes.

The final dish

It may have achieved unprecedented popularity in the past few years but whatever you’ve heard, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) isn’t new. In 1912, Finnish athlete Hannes Kolehmainen used interval-style training in his preparation for the Olympics, and came away with three golds in the 5,000m, 10,000m and cross-country events. In 1952 Emil Zátopek, one of the most celebrated distance athletes of all time, won the Olympic marathon on a regime that included 400m interval sprints. And in the 1970s, Sebastian Coe’s father Peter used HIIT principles to create sessions of repeated 200m sprints that shaped his son into one of Britain’s best ever middle distance runners.

What’s changed since then is the science. You’ve probably heard of the Tabata regime – eight sets of 20 seconds’ high-intensity work with ten seconds of rest, based on a 1996 study by Professor Izumi Tabata – but that research is just the tip of the iceberg. In recent decades, there’s been a huge amount of research into exactly how different work-rest intervals, levels of intensity, and movements affect the results you get from HIIT.

And yet, when a lot of trainers explain it, the only description given is “hard work, short rests”. In short, there’s a better way to do HIIT.

HIGH ENERGY

First, it’s important to understand that while HIIT is an effective fat burner, it has a host of other benefits: upping your VO max (the amount of oxygen your body can use and an indicator of cardio fitness), reducing lactate accumulation (so you can train harder, for longer), and increasing enzyme activity to reduce fatigue. When you start, almost any format will work, but as you get better adapted to the workout method, tweaking your routine will help you focus on what you need to improve.

It starts with your body’s energy pathways. There are three: the ATP-PC, which fuels high-power, short-lived activities like explosive weightlifting or sprints; the glycolytic, which takes over for moderate-duration activities; and the oxidative, which is in control for anything beyond that. The first two are anaerobic, which means they don’t use oxygen, and the last is aerobic because it does. HIIT works both your aerobic and anaerobic systems, but how it works the different energy pathways depends on the work/rest ratios you’re using.

In a 2001 study, for instance, researchers found that the aerobic system’s contribution to energy rockets from 6% after ten seconds of exercise to 45% after 60 seconds. But the same happens during repeated sprints: in one Loughborough University study, the anaerobic systems provided all of a test subject’s energy for the first of ten six-second sprints (with a 30-second rest), but by the end they were supplying around 35%, with the rest coming from aerobic fitness.

What does that mean? Well, it means that 30 seconds’ rest isn’t enough to improve power, but the main takeaway should be that your workout doesn’t have to leave you in a pool of sweat on the floor (depending on your aim). A 2011 study published in the Journal Of Strength And Conditioning Research found that test subjects doing a “descending” sprint protocol, which was rated easier than an “ascending” protocol that used the same distances, experienced a higher rise in growth hormone and testosterone. Sometimes, it’s not about how exhausted you feel.

FEEL THE BURNOUT

If you’re feeling worn down in the first place, of course, HIIT isn’t the session to go for. “A common mistake with HIIT is the assumption that it trumps steady-state cardio at all times, which isn’t true,” says trainer David Jordan (thefittingrooms.com). “HIIT is highly effective because it requires less time and burns calories during recovery. However, to reap the benefits of HIIT you need to attack it with a lot of energy. On days when you’re feeling less than 100% or, more importantly, you’re sore from your previous workout and are at risk of pulling a muscle, then steady-state cardio is probably more effective – and safer.”

Finally, it’s important to consider how often you can do “real” HIIT. “It’s true that HIIT can trigger protein synthesis but it also causes protein breakdown,” says Jordan. “Doing several HIIT sessions a week would be catabolic so while you’d lose weight overall, some of that loss would be muscle mass. If building muscle is a goal, proper weight training still needs to be your primary focus with HIIT as a supplement. A training split of two weights sessions and two HIIT a sessions a week would keep you lean, while making sure you aren’t overtrained.”

Remember: it’s supposed to be short, intense and infrequent, not an everyday effort. Read on to find out how to structure your HIIT workouts.

01 FOCUS ON A GOAL

Decide on your main aim for the session: is it power production, fat loss or the ability to sustain endurance efforts at high intensity? “You need to choose a goal before you start, or you’ll end up in the middle ground, not achieving as much as you can,” says Philippe Ndongmo, a personal trainer at Dolphin Square Fitness Club in London.

02 KNOW THE VARIABLES

There are five: learn what they do, and crank the sliders accordingly

WORK DURATION

You can measure this in time under tension or reps. Either way, it’s dependent on your goals: shorter/harder is better for power; longer/more builds endurance.

REST DURATION

More rest builds power, less builds cardio. Minimal rest is best for fat loss, but you’ll compromise on intensity.

WORK INTENSITY

“You need to know your target heart rate or understand the rating of perceived exertion (RPE),” says Ndongmo. Rate the latter out of ten and try to keep the effort constant across every interval.

RECOVERY INTENSITY

Are you going to stop completely, or do “active” recovery like pedalling slowly on the bike? Sometimes, the latter can help to flush away lactate, which is something to think about when you’re choosing exercises.

VOLUME

It’s easy to do too much, which is when intensity drops. As a rule, start with low volume and go as hard as possible. When it feels easy, add a round or two. You’ll have to drop the RPE slightly.

03 CHOOSE YOUR WEAPONS

Some tools are better than others

FOR CARDIO AND FAT LOSS

KETTLEBELLS

A Louisiana University study that compared kettlebell swings, cleans and deadlifts with a more traditional sprint training programme found that maximum heart rate was only slightly higher in the sprints, while calorie expenditure was bigger with the bells.

FOR ALL-OUT INTENSITY

BIKE

There’s a reason lots of studies use exercise bikes: going all-out on the pedals isn’t too technical, injury risk is low, and you can ruin yourself. For “supramaximal” efforts, which stimulate every available muscle fibre, the bike is the perfect choice.

FOR AN ALL-DAY BURN

BATTLE ROPES

In a College of New Jersey study, battle ropes beat 13 other exercises for energy expenditure, including burpees – and produced the highest average heart rate. The protocol: 15 seconds of single-arm waves, then 15 of double-arm waves, 60 seconds’ rest, repeated eight times.

FOR IMPROVED ENDURANCE

BURPEES

In the same New Jersey study, burpees beat four other bodyweight moves and every free weights exercise for VO response. If you’re short on time and space, use the Wingate protocol: 30 seconds all-out, then four minutes of rest, done four to six times.

04 PICK A PROTOCOL

Got an aim and staked out a corner of the gym for yourself? Go for it

BEGINNER TIMMONS METHOD

Developed by a team at Loughborough University, this one’s entry level. Do 20 seconds of all-out work, followed by two minutes of active recovery (walking/freewheeling will do) or complete rest. Repeat three times, and you’re done.

INTERMEDIATE 10-20

Also known as “reverse Tabata”, this doubles the rest and reduces the work intervals to shift the focus to anaerobic fitness. Use it if you’re aiming for power production, or if you don’t have the fitness for an all-out Tabata. Warm up for ten minutes, then do six to eight rounds.

ADVANCED 10-20-30

Now things get complicated. In this plan, you’ll do five “blocks” of work, made up of 30 seconds at 30% intensity, 20 seconds at 60% and ten seconds all-out. Result? Lots of volume, at manageable intensity.

NASTY TABATA

The most famous HIIT protocol is ideal for increasing V0 max – as long as you do it right. Twenty seconds of all-out work, followed by ten seconds of rest, repeated eight times, improved endurance as much as 30 minutes of steady-state cardio in a Queen’s University study. The key is keeping intensity high – if you can talk during the session, you’re getting it wrong.

WORKOUT 1: SPRINT

“Production training” workouts improve your ability to put out maximum effort, with short rest. Ultra-short, super-hard exercise intervals combine with long rests for a workout that’ll improve your power: one for a 500m row PB or white-collar boxing bout.

1 Mountain slider

Work 15sec

Rest 1min 30sec

Rounds 6

Start in a press-up position with your feet on a pair of small towels or Valslides, then bring one knee and then the other up to your chest as fast as possible. Think of it like a crawling sprint.

2 Thruster

Work 15sec

Rest 1min 15sec

Rounds 6

Holding a pair of dumbbells or a barbell at shoulder height, drop into a squat. As you stand up, drive the weight overhead, then lower straight into the next rep.

WORKOUT 2: SUSTAIN

“Maintenance training” workouts use longer work intervals and slightly shorter rests to increase your body’s ability to sustain exercise at high intensity, using both your aerobic and anaerobic systems. Use this one to improve your 5K time.

1 Kettlebell swing

Work 30sec

Rest 1min 30sec

Rounds 6

Using a moderate-weight kettlebell, swing it back between your legs and then pop your hips forward to swing it to eye level, letting it drop straight into the next rep.

2 Assault AirBike

Work 15sec

Rest 45sec

Rounds 10

The Assault AirBike forces you to use your full body for a short-butnasty experience. Haven’t got one? A regular exercise bike also works.

WORKOUT 3: STRIP

Shortening the rests and keeping the work rate high burns more calorie burn during and after your workout, for maximum fat loss. This session from Ndongmo will get you lean in your lunch break. Do all three exercises to complete one round, and repeat eight times.

1A Jump lunge

20sec

Explode off the ground and change legs in the air on each rep. Rest for ten seconds, then go straight into 1B.

1B High knees

20sec

Run on the spot, bringing your knees as high as possible. Keep the intensity high throughout, then rest for ten seconds.

1C Jump squat

20sec

Drop into a squat and then explode off the floor, landing as softly as possible. Rest for 30 seconds before you start the next round.

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.