LIVE LIFE AND EMBRACE CHANGE FOR THE BETTER

I was reminded this morning that it’s 10 years to the day, give or take, since I was appointed editor of Men’s Health. Not only does that mean I’ve written more of these dispatches than I care to remember, it also gifts me a convenient theme on which to base this month’s letter. So here, addressed to my younger, greener, less-weathered self, and in timehonoured magazine style, are the 15 things I have learned over a decade in the chair running the most popular health and fitness title in the world. 01 There will be a near future in which men cease to prep for cover shoots by opting for a spray tan up top and stonewash denim down below. In fact, not only will it become frowned upon, people who were involved in such productions will wonder what on earth they were thinking. 02 The advent of athleisure will go some way to sorting this out. In the office, the tie will become obsolete. Sneakers will become commonplace. People will dress to go out at night not dissimilarly to the way they might for the gym. Hell, for much of 2020, men will work in their pants. 03 Sitting will become the new smoking. Until smoking weed becomes the new mindfulness. By which time standing will no longer be all it was cracked up to be. And people eventually agree that a life balancing healthy amounts of activity and rest is probably advisable and CBD/ THC is best chewed. 04 Muscle fuel will no longer begin and end with chicken, steak and rice. In fact, vegetables will have their day. True, by 2008 some of us were already into Michael Pollan: ‘Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.’ But arguably more were still into Pumping Iron lore: 1g of protein for every pound of bodyweight. Arnie is now mostly vegan. 05 What happens in bed will continue to be the kind of content a men’s magazine puts out there. Only now we’re talking about the importance of sleep. 06 Fitness won’t live exclusively in gyms. T-shirt arms won’t (necessarily) be the ultimate workout goal. It will become possible to train without the presence of multiple mirrors. Functional fitness will become as desirable as cosmetic pneumatics. The kind of people into getting sweaty will be conditioning their minds as much as their bodies. 07 The possession of a smartphone and social media account will become the unofficial equivalent of an off-the-peg PT/nutritionist qualification. 08 Something called Instagram will become a doubleedged sword in your life. It will breed many underqualified, overexposed digital ‘wellness gurus’. It will also give voice to as many smart, educated influencers as it does chancers. You will have arguments with people you don’t – and will never – know. Navigating it will be tedious. 09 There will be avocados. Many, many avocados. 10 Mental health. FFS, mental health! This is the big one. When I was you, very few thought that this was something we should broach. Not commercial. Off-brand. No matter that we’re talking about a title called Men’s Health. You’ll do it anyway – tentatively in the beginning, before quickly making it an editorial pillar. Nowadays it’s a consensus issue. MH started the conversation. It’ll become your proudest achievement. 11 Tech will become pretty big. Okay, it doesn’t take a genius to predict that tech will become big. But if I told you about Peloton now, you wouldn’t believe me. 12 People will come to learn that no one size fits all. To be honest, it’s something we’re still only getting to grips with. Everyone wants a magic bullet: the keto diet; CrossFit; HIIT; 16:8; compound, carry, conditioning; and so on. The fact is that people respond differently to different disciplines, different stimuli, different ingredients. Don’t let anyone kid you: it’s not simple. 13 For instance, five years from now you will train for a marathon and lose six much-needed kgs. In 10 years’ time you’ll do the same again, same training plan, and lose diddly squat. But after a dispiriting, disorienting 20 months of lockdown, it’s the discipline you’ll relish. It’ll keep you going. We need to talk to people’s lives as much as their fitness goals. 14 Your cover star one decade from now will be 53 years old and in better shape than all of your friends. 15 I know you wouldn’t describe yourself as an out-and-out Men’s Health man right now. Yeah, you like to be fit – but running, football, cycling and skiing have always trumped weights for you. You smoke, though you’ll give that up. You like good, local, healthy food, but you can still make short work of a few Big Macs. You struggle with your mental health, but you’ll realise that admitting it is the start of something better. In time, you’ll come to realise that you’re more of a Men’s Health man than you know.

TOBY WISEMAN, EDITOR IN CHIEF