EDITOR’S LETTER
THE MATERIAL YOU NEED TO CHANGE TRACKS IN 2018
Like a seasoned rock band relied upon to encore with its greatest hits, certain things are expected in a January issue of Men’s Health. Principal among these are the bounce-back stories: the columns that help you recalibrate mind and body after the festive onslaught; the features that get you back in shape for the ascetic months ahead. Together, these familiar riffs make up an album of greatest editorial hits entitled New Year, New You. We’d love to play you some of our new material, but now is not the time to experiment. Give the audience what it wants.
And yet, I’m not big on churning out the same old tunes year after year. Besides, as time has taught me, there’s more to a complete physical overhaul than a repetitive beat and catchy refrain.
For the last few Januarys, we have provided you with all the tools, rules and moves needed to completely transform your body in double-quick time. Each year we’ve updated the formula, tweaked the tips, improved the hacks. In this respect, our 2018 edition is no different. With the Men’s Health-patented Primal 9 manual that comes with this magazine, you will find the fastest, most effective, most comprehensive body transformation plan we’ve ever devised.
What we haven’t dealt with before, however, is the emotional benefit – or indeed cost – of embarking on such a life-changing programme. This, I have come to realise, is where we have been remiss. Over the past decade we’ve become unrivalled experts in telling you how to turn your fitness life around. What we haven’t explained is how this journey really feels, from riding the highs of fast progress to dealing with the lows of fatigue, isolation and intensity. Nine-week transformations are feasible, that’s true. But they are metaphysical rollercoasters as much as physical challenges. Sometimes dealing with the emotional side is as hard as the graft.
So, this time around, we’ve complemented our chart-topping instructional hits with a more contemplative number called Blood, Sweat & Tears: An Oral History Of Body Transformation. It records the true experience of five former transformers, from exertion to ecstasy via trial and tribulation. It documents the banality of eating chicken for breakfast alongside the reward of seeing the results of hard work. It puts real names to six-packs and gives before-and-after shots an honest context. It’s Men’s Health IRL. I hope you enjoy our new direction.