FIT OR FAUX Which health and fitness trends are worth breaking a sweat over in 2017?

You’ve tried protein loading, and put your name down for a 15km run with obstacles, but which of 2017’s key health and fitness trends are actually worth signing up to? JOSIE COPSON sorts myth from must-do…

POWDERED FOOD SO WHAT THE HELL IS IT?

Eating? So last year. Meal-replacement powders Huel and Jake claim to contain all the nutrients you need, thus eliminating the need for actual grub – and they sound suspiciously like what astronauts eat in space. The powders promise to save you precious time and help with weight loss. It’s ‘the future of food’, apparently. In fact, the future is doughnuts that fly into our mouths, or cake that makes us lose weight. Surely?

“This is nothing but a gimmick that promotes dangerous and unhealthy behaviour,” says expert nutritionist Miguel Toribio-Mateas. “Natural food provides a complex matrix of nutrients that are absolutely impossible to replicate in a powder that’s been made in a lab. Trace minerals, fat-based nutrients such as vitamins A,E, D and K and polyphenols from bright-coloured foods will all be damaged by the processing of these powders.” Tim Peake can have ours, then.

ELITE ENDURANCE SO WHAT THE HELL IS IT?

Previously the domain of people who said things such as, “Yah. I absolutely smashed my PB this weekend” out loud. Now, half your office is probably training for a Tough Mudder. Competitive bruise chat = the new hangover moan.

Fine – if you train properly. “It is important to establish a good baseline level of fitness or you’re at risk of injury. There’s no way around it – you need to commit to 10 hours minimum a week,” says sports professor at the University of Essex, Dominic Micklewright. Increase your distance by 10% each week, and fit in three weekly sessions – one long and steady, one speedy and one recovery. Studies show training three times a week instead of twice decreases the odds of injury.