EDITOR’S LETTER
Staying healthy, for most people, is a confusing business. Blame the 24-hour news cycle, the rise of ‘clickable content’ or whatever else you like – the relentless info-barrage of conflicting advice often leads to what I’ve literally just decided to call ‘fit-igue’, that weird state of apathy characterised by going, ‘Oh, well, they change their minds every two weeks, don’t they? They’ll probably decide cake’s healthy next.’ Then inhaling a Victoria sponge.
Well, no. They don’t change their minds every two weeks. Among those who take it seriously, the principles – eat more veg and protein, move about a bit more, don’t inhale cake – are pretty well established. And that’s where Joe Wicks comes in.
Although there’s a touch of Che Guevara about his haircut, his fitness ideas aren’t exactly revolutionary. He’s all about healthy, easy-to-make meals, short, intense workout sessions and forming habits that last. It’s sensible and sustainable, but what’s game-changing about it is the way it’s delivered. With 385,000 Instagram followers at the time of going to press, Wicks is spreading the word in a way few fitness professionals can. Yes, he’s making a lot of money, but he’s also giving away a lot of advice for free – and with no-one seemingly capable of doing anything about the obesity crisis, maybe he’s just what we need. Find out more on p50.
For men who’ve gone beyond the self-improvement basics, of course, there’s plenty more in the issue. We’ve been trying biohacking (p58), running in the latest ‘maximalist’ shoes (p44) and subjecting ourselves to chaosbased workouts to see what works best (p139) – plus we’ve been roadtesting the all-new FitBrit challenge to ensure that it’s a worthy test for the UK’s fittest people (p84). We’ve