What sets these awards apart – and gives an extra stamp of approval to the winners – is that it’s you, the people using these products day in, day out, who decide the results.

From sustainable activewear pioneers, to manufacturers of the home workout equipment that allows you to stay in shape from your own front room, the shortlists in these five categories represent the crème de la crème of the fitness world – and this is your chance to vote for your favourites.

Click here to vote now.

The post Men’s Fitness Reader Awards: Vote Now appeared first on MensFitness.

Set against a backdrop of stunning coastlines and spectacular mountain passes, there’s a reason why Italy’s Grand Tour is called ‘the most beautiful bike race in the world’. 

These are the best e-bikes for riding on or off-road

It’s the first in a triumvirate of epic European stage races that have become the holy grail of bike racing. Taking place in May, the Giro d’Italia is followed in July by the famous spectacle of the Tour de France. The racing season is then bookended by the dramatic plains and hills of the Vuelta a Espana in September. 

Beginner’s guide to the Giro d’Italia

The Giro d’Italia is the first opportunity of the year for the biggest names in cycling to go head-to-head in a three-week stage, the pinnacle of professional mutli-stage races. The Giro, the Tour and the Vuelta each run the length and breadth of their respective country.

They often cross into neighbouring countries for commercial purposes too. This year the Giro crosses into Switzerland for a few stages mid-way through the race. Men’s Fitness caught the race as it passed through Verbier, as UK sports eyewear company and Ineos Grenadiers sponsor SunGod unveiled its new signature glasses for race leader Geraint Thomas.

How to win the Giro d’Italia 

As with any professional multi-stage bike race, the winner is the rider to arrive at the finish – in this case Rome – with the lowest cumulative time. They don’t have to be the one to cross the finish line first in Rome (in fact that happens extremely rarely); they just need to have taken the shortest time overall to get there.

These are the reasons why you should ride an e-bike

In fact it’s quite possible to win the Maglia Rosa (the leader’s iconic pink jersey) without winning any of the race’s 21 individual stages. It’s all about riding consistently over three weeks – on the flat spint days but particularly in the mountains and during the individual time trial stages. After the final stage the rider who is top the the GC (General Classification) wins the Giro. 

What other jerseys do riders compete for at the Giro d’Italia? 

As well as the overall leader’s pink jersey riders will fight for three other coveted competitions.

• The Maglia Cicclamino is the purple jersey worn by the leader in the sprint competition. (There are points to be won at intermediate sprints and at the finish line of every stage.)  
• The blue Maglia Azzurra is the prize for the winner of the King of the Mountains competition. That’s the rider who bags the most points on the summit of classified climbs. (Smaller climbs are designated cat 3, medium ones cat 2 and long, steep ones cat 1. The biggest summit finishes are designated super-cat, where the most points can be won. 
• The Maglia Blanca is the white jersey worn by the leader of the young rider competition. That’s the highest rider on GC who’s aged 25 or under. 

Check out the best running shoes

How long is the Giro d’Italia? 

This year’s Giro begins in Costa dei Trabocchi on the east coast. It finishes with a circuit around Rome on the final day. On the way the peloton will have ridden mountain passes in the Alps and the Dolomites.

When the riders reach the finish in Rome they will have ridden 3,489.2km (2168.1 miles) and climbed an incredible 51,400m (168,635ft). The average stage length over the three weeks is 166.2km per day (103.3 miles). Over those 21 days of racing riders will have just two rest days to recover. 

Who is the favourite to win the Giro d’Italia? 

At the beginning of the 2023 Giro d’Italia, the riders in the frame to win the coveted Maglia Rosa were Britain’s Geraint Thomas and Tao Geoghegan-Hart (both riding for the Ineos Grenadiers team), Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma), Belgium’s Remco Evenepol (Soudal Quickstep) and Portugal’s Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates).

However, at the time of writing Geoghegan-Hart has crashed out of the race. And Evenepol has been forced to retire following a positive Covid test. So it looks like it’s between Roglic, Thomas and Almeida…

The post Beginner’s Guide To The Giro d’Italia appeared first on MensFitness.

You’re likely reading this article on how to lose belly fat for one of two reasons. Either you’ve tried to burn belly fat in the past but ultimately not made the desired changes to your body shape, or you want to make your first attempt at changing your body for the better and strip away fat, fast, to sculpt a leaner and more defined physique.

First, though, a disclaimer: there are no exercises that are best for losing belly fat. To lose belly fat, you need to be in a calorie deficit, and the quickest way to achieve that is to take a look at what you’re eating and learn how to track calories.

‘There are no exercises that are best for losing belly fat. To lose belly fat, you need to be in a calorie deficit, and the quickest way to achieve that is to take a look at what you’re eating.’

Burning fat effectively isn’t easy – if it was, everyone would be walking around with washboard abs. And while this article will help you leant how to lose belly fat, it should be noted that there is no way to aim fat loss at just one area of the body (what’s known as ‘spot reduction’). Instead, overall fat loss is the name of the game: achieve that, and your stomach will follow suit.

Learn the difference between weight loss vs fat loss

But once you know the best ways to eat and train – as well as how to sleep better, stress less and enjoy life more – you will start shedding your unwanted fat faster than you ever thought possible. 

Types of belly fat

Within the human body, fat tissue exists in a range of varieties, including white, brown, beige and pink. According to Harvard Health, body fat can also be divided into subcutaneous and visceral. Subcutaneous fat is the layer you can feel when you pinch your skin. It’s also the most abundant type of fat in the body and, while it may wobble about a bit, it is generally considered to be harmless, unless you carry a very high amount. In fact, it plays an important role in cushioning your joints and bones.

In contrast, visceral fat – which sits deep in the abdominal cavity and surrounds our digestive organs and heart – may be largely undetectable from the outside, but it has been linked to a range of diseases, including diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers. If that wasn’t enough, it also releases a range of inflammatory substances which can promote insulin resistance. Due to its tendency to reside in the abdomen, excess visceral fat is often seen as the main culprit of belly fat.

Are all fats bad?

While carrying excessive fat can certainly be harmful for your health, it’s important to note that certain fats play essential roles in the functioning of the human body, including the regulation of hormones, controlling the body temperature and aiding the absorption of vitamins and minerals.

Key factors for fat-loss success

Of course, the usual mantra of eat right, move more and subsequently end up in a calorie deficit (the key driver for fat loss) is the number-one solution when you want to learn how to lose belly fat, but there are ways of reaching that point in an accelerated timeframe.

Key fat-loss factors – think good sleep patterns, elevated daily movement habits and more varied training stimuli – are easily neglected.

But experts in strength, conditioning and nutrition know that taking a broader approach can speed up your fat-loss in the weeks ahead. It can also create a more sustainable, long-term fat-burning solution.

Read on, put our advice into action, and you’ll be amazed at how quickly you look, feel and perform better than ever.

Need workout inspiration? Our 6-week fat loss plan will get you in serious shape for summer 

How to lose belly fat (and overall body fat):

1. Build more muscle to lose body fat

When you’re looking to shift fat, it’s tempting to tip the cardio-strength scales in favour of the former. But that would be a big mistake.

“It might sound counterintuitive to someone looking to decrease body fat, but increasing muscle mass is the best solution,” says fat-loss expert Matt Jones, a performance coach for human performance experts P3RFORM.

“For every 0.5kg of muscle gained, you will burn 6-10 extra calories. So if you gain 4.5kg of muscle mass alone, that can equate to burning around an extra 100 calories per day. This is without even taking into consideration the additional calories burned from the lifting exercises themselves.”

Lifting weights will also help to keep you looking toned and strong when you start cutting down on the calories.

“Strength training in itself helps to preserve muscle mass while in a calorie deficit,” adds Jones, “as long as adequate protein is also being consumed.”

Try this 30-minute fat loss workout

2. Use HIIT to burn fat

“High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is all the rage. While it can be useful if you are short on time, interval training in its less intense form can be useful for fat-loss, too,” insists Jones.

“The primary difference between HIIT and interval training is the recovery periods. HIIT has shorter recovery periods to keep the intensity high, while interval training is performed with longer recoveries.”

That means you can train more consistently: interval training will place less stress on your body than HIIT to keep you coming back more often. It also empowers you to combine interval training with your favourite cardio. This is as opposed to joining dedicated HIIT classes.

“That’s especially helpful for individuals who want to change up how they do their favourite running, cycling or rowing sessions,” says Jones.

So try restructuring your cardio sessions into fat-burning interval workouts.

“Break the session up into smaller chunks of very high-intensity activity, and very low-intensity activity which you will use for recovery between the harder efforts,” says Jones.

“For a running workout, this could be 6 sets of 30-secong efforts at a fast speed, and two minutes of easy recovery jogging or walking in-between. For a rowing workout, that may be rowing 200m as fast as possible, then doing 800m at an easy pace for recovery, repeated 3-5 times.”

3. Increase your NEAT 

When it comes to learning how to lose belly fat, your fat-burning training regime is important, but so are your daily movement habits.

“NEAT – non-exercise activity thermogenesis – means the calories burned outside of exercise, eating, and sleeping,” explains Jones.

“It includes all your movements, however big or small, throughout the day. From climbing the stairs, to standing at your desk – even fidgeting.

“Fat loss is not just about how many calories you burn in a day, but how many you burn over an extended period. So, NEAT plays a huge factor in assisting you to lose fat.”

Try to picture your whole day as an opportunity for movement and activity, not just the windows when you can fit in an organised exercise session.

Learn how to improve your NEAT

4. Improve sleep quality to enhance your physique

Lying in bed might not sound like the best way to burn fat, but a healthy amount of sleep is vital for your fat-burning ambitions.

“When we don’t have enough sleep we all know that just about everything in our lives suffers, from our concentration to our mood,” explains Jones. If you’re tired, you will make poor food choices and find it harder to train.

“Sleep deprivation is also linked to an increase in a hormone called ghrelin. This increases hunger levels in the body.

“A two-week study found that during a period of calorie restriction one group that slept normal hours (8.5 hours per night) experienced 55% of their reduction in body weight specifically as fat loss. This was compared to another group with restricted sleep (5.5 hours per night) and experienced only 25% of their reduction as fat loss.

“That suggests sleep loss increases the loss of muscle mass during dieting. So, use your phone or wearable device to track your current sleep patterns and try to improve the quality and volume of your sleep.”

Check out these strategies for better sleep

5. Vary your exercise to lose belly fat

To achieve your fat-loss goals you need a healthy combination of organised routines and fresh challenges.

“Losing body fat is about consistency across a period of months. This entails both consistency of managing your nutrition, and consistency of regular exercise,” concludes Jones.

“But one area where people often fail is when they get into a routine and then get bored with their programme. It is better to get some important variety into your training.”

If you want to learn how to lose belly fat, a wider variety of stimuli will boost your motivation and challenge your body in new ways. It will also enhance your longer-term weight-control strategy.

“For weight training, that could simply be switching in some different exercises that work the same muscle groups. Or, you could change how many sets and reps you perform. For cardio exercise, it could be changing up your modality from running to cycling or swimming.”

Learn how to make cardio more fun

6. Ensure you’re in a moderate calorie deficit

It’s not new, or particularly fun, but the simple fact is that if you want to reduce your body fat you need to ensure you’re in a calorie deficit. Put simply, that means you burn more calories than you consume. However, there are some smart ways to achieve it.  

Arj Thiruchelvam is a UK Athletics coach. He says that calorie consumption should be viewed from a wider lens than daily targets. “The process of fat loss doesn’t follow a day-to-day nature,” he says, “but instead works on higher and lower calorie days. This allows you to maximise moments of less hunger, the desire to eat more and socialise, while concurrently allowing you to achieve your body composition goals.”  

Learn how to track calories with MyFitnessPal

7. Slow down when you’re eating

As well as what you eat, focus on how you’re eating it. “When you eat too quickly, you don’t notice how full you are and your receptors can’t keep up,” says integrative health coach and nutritionist Arina Kuzmina. “Try slowing down, take a break from running around for ten minutes, sit down and actually enjoy your well-deserved meal.” That also means eating away from the TV, emails or social media.  

Here are some more ways to eat better

8. Lift smarter to lose belly fat

Instead of focusing on isolation exercises – for example, cable work, crunches and biceps curls – make heavy compound lifts the basis of your strength training. Squats, deadlifts, pull-ups – all these lifts recruit more than one joint and muscle group at a time. “When these functional exercises are performed correctly with challenging loads,” says personal trainer Sana Shirvani, “you will burn more calories, as you’re performing a larger volume of work in the same amount of time.” 

Discover the best deadlift variations

9. Fill up on protein

Protein is the most filling macronutrient and could stop you reaching for junk food that will only add to your belly fat.  

“Protein encourages the body to tap into your fat stores, rather than muscle tissue,” says Nick Mitchell, CEO and founder of Ultimate Performance. “When you’re in a calorie deficit, your body will start to convert those fat stores to give you energy. But, particularly if body composition is your goal, then a combination of high-protein foods and resistance training will signal the body to tap into your fat stores, rather than your muscles.”  

Get your fill of lean proteins, such as chicken, fish, tofu and legumes. Mitchell recommends anywhere between 2.2g to 2.8g of protein per kilogram of lean body mass. However, estimating the magic protein requirement for you will be very subjective. 

Fuel yourself with the best healthy protein powders

We should all drink more water throughout the day, not just during exercise | Shutterstock

10. Drink more water

Water plays a vital role in processing calories, whereas mild dehydration can slow your metabolism. In one study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, adults who drank eight or more glasses of water a day burned more calories than those who drank four. To stay hydrated, drink a glass of water before every meal. Also snack on melons and citrus fruits, which naturally contain lots of water. 

In a 2015 UK study, those who drank 500ml of tap water half an hour before each meal lost 1.3kg more over a 12-week period than the control group, who didn’t drink the water before eating. The authors commented that those trying to learn how to lose belly fat, or body fat in general, could try drinking a pint of water before every meal, three times a day. 

RELATED: Five Of The Best Healthy Soft Drinks

11. Try intermittent fasting for fat loss

Some people swear by intermittent fasting; others think it’s a load of nonsense. As with every major health debate, the answer lies somewhere in between, and is highly subjective. It’s important to note that fasting is mainly another means of getting into that state of calorie deficit (if you’re not eating for half the day, chances are you’re not going to be overconsuming calories). Although Dr Michael Mosley, creator of The Fast 800 diet, sees other advantages:

“Short-term fasting can lead to several changes in the body that make it easier to burn belly fat,” he says. “This includes reduced insulin, increased growth hormone and a small boost in metabolism. According to a 2014 review, intermittent fasting can cause weight loss of 3-8% over three to 24 weeks. 

“Time-restricted eating is very straightforward. Simply ensure that for at least 12 hours within each 24-hour period, you do not consume any calories. Some people prefer to shorten their eating window further, to ten or even just eight hours, although recent research shows that a 12-hour period away from food is enough time to give your body significant benefits.” 

Check out our beginners guide to intermittent fasting

12. Manage your stress levels

There’s research to suggest that high levels of stress and a lack of sleep can increase inflammation in your body, which in turn can lead to increased fat storage around the stomach area. If you want to learn how to lose belly fat, start by prioritizing relaxation. Of course, finding ways to reduce stress is often easier said than done, but yoga, meditation or even regular fresh-air walks are some tried-and-tested methods. 

Interested in trying yoga? Here’s our beginner’s guide to yoga for men

13. Eat alone to tune into your body

Research in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found people eat up to 44% more food when eating with others. It noted one cause is that we still lean towards ‘social facilitation’, an ancestral mechanism that ensured equitable food distribution. Eating alone also allows you to savour your food, and listen to your body when it tells you it’s getting full.

Try the best supplements to build lean muscle

14. Accept that six-pack abs take sacrifice

If you’re hoping to not only lose belly fat, but carve out a serious six-pack, Ultimate Performance’s Mitchell says you need to learn how to deal with tiredness, fatigue, hunger and cravings to get to the place you want to be:

“This is usually the stumbling block, and why so many never really turn their vague abs outline into a solid six-pack. People may reach 11-12% body fat, but be unable to withstand the social sacrifice and internal symptoms to push further.”

Here’s our guide on how to get six-pack abs

15. Understand your emotions to lose belly fat

Aside from hunger, often there are other factors that cause us to dip our mitts into the cookie jar.

“One of the main reasons for eating more is emotion,” says Kuzmina. “We try to fix a broken heart with chocolate, overcome sadness with pasta, deal with disappointment or frustration with ice cream, or compensate for a lack of direction with biscuits.” 

Or you may simply be tired and bored. Kuzmina says it’s important to find the root cause and deal with that, instead of automatically reaching for the comfort of food. Before every snack, ask yourself a couple of simple questions: ‘Why am I eating? Am I physically hungry?’ “The key to losing weight,” Kuzmina concludes, “is not only figuring out what you are eating, but what is eating you.” 

Try these apps to improve your physical and mental wellbeing

16. Switch off from your screens

The greater the time spent on screens, the greater the chance of weight gain. That’s according to research from the World Cancer Research Fund International, and is largely because the majority of our time on screens is spent sitting down.

“Being inactive can also actually trigger your appetite at the worst time: when you’re burning the least amount of calories,” says Dr Deborah Lee, of Dr Fox Online Pharmacy. 

RELATED: The Best Workouts For People Who Sit Down All Day

17. Pick the right coloured plate

Bright colours stimulate your appetite, so Dr Lee recommends eating from dark plates. “Darker colours suppress appetite,” she says, “because portion sizes appear bigger against darker backgrounds.” 

Check out these quick & healthy recipes

Burpees are a brutal but effective fat-burning tool | Shutterstock

18. Do more burpees

It’s true that nutrition holds the key to burning body fat, but you can improve your chances by doing the right type of exercise, too. The burpee is an undeniably brutal bodyweight movement. But Reiss Mogilner, trainer with global functional fitness community F45 Training, says it’s an invaluable fat-burning tool. “This move majorly works your core, as well as your shoulders, chest, lats, triceps and quads,” he says. “It gets your heart rate going and your blood pumping, and acts as the perfect warm-up or finisher exercise.” 

TRY THIS: 

• Set your stopwatch. 
• In the first minute, do 1 full burpee (chest to the floor), then rest for the remainder of the minute. Easy!  
• Do 2 burpees in the second. See where this is going? 
• That’s right: 3 in the third.  
• Keep aligning the number of burpees with the number of minutes, and resting for the remainder of each minute.  
• Simply stop when you can’t complete the set number of burpees within the minute. 
• If you can make it to 20, consider yourself a certified burpee machine.

RELATED: Pros And Cons Of High Intensity Impact Training

19. Avoid binge drinking to lose belly fat

You’ll be pleased to know that we aren’t here to warn you off alcohol altogether. Although beer bellies are real things, if you can’t imagine dinner without a glass of pinot, then you’re in luck. How about drinking more regularly, but less intensely? A study published in the Journal of Nutrition found that those who drank infrequently but heavily had more abdominal fat than those who consumed the same amount but drank regularly.

Discover the best low-calorie beers

20. Focus on fibre

Studies have found that eating more soluble fibre – whole grains, fruits and vegetables – can help you lose belly fat and stop it from creeping back on. A study in the journal Obesity found that a tiny 10g increase in soluble fibre was linked to a 3.7% lower chance of gaining tummy weight. Just one cup of oats contains 8g of the good stuff, while a banana contains around 3g. 

Learn more about the health benefits of fibre

21. Sort your gut health out

A happier gut is a leaner gut. And what makes a happy gut? Variety. Previous research discovered how those with a more varied gut microbiome (the bacteria that live in our intestines) had a lower risk of belly fat. Plus, 2022 research conducted by the University of California found that eating too much food, too often, resulted in poorer microbial and metabolic health, potentially proving that a three-meal-a-day eating style is ideal. 

Discover more ways to improve your gut microbiome

22. Balance blood sugar

Avoid the rollercoaster of cravings throughout the day by getting your meals in check. “Keep your blood sugar balanced by eating sufficient good-quality protein, unprocessed whole foods rich in vegetables, and some fruits – eat a rainbow every day,” says nutritional therapist Fleur Borrelli. 

Check out the winners from the Men’s and Women’s Fitness Nutrition Awards

23. Snack smarter to lose belly fat

Studies have found that grazing throughout the day can significantly increase daily caloric intake. This is because many of us graze on high-fat and high-sugar foods. These can subsequently lead to excess fat sitting in your belly. If you find yourself grazing, set a timer on your phone to signal your next eating ‘point’. Borrelli recommends having two to three protein- and fibre-rich meals per day, with at least a five-hour fast between meals, to avoid snacking. 

Try these healthy snacks to keep your nutrition on track

24. Eat more black garlic

Black garlic has been proven to help reduce visceral fat: the dangerous fat that sits internally around organs. Essentially, black garlic is aged, ordinary white garlic, but it packs in twice the antioxidants of the white variety.

Research has also found that black garlic could regulate blood sugar (to stop the snacking) and protect your brain health. Pick up black garlic in major supermarkets and independent stores. 

The post How To Lose Belly Fat appeared first on MensFitness.

“I was so scared that the whole thing would tip over and we’d all die.”

By rights it should never have flown. The mini-BMX bowl suspended below one of the biggest balloons ever built in the UK weighed two tonnes, and swung around so violently when hung from a crane that rider Kriss Kyle doubted it would ever get off the ground. If it did, he feared the consequences.

Kyle’s whimsical, lockdown-inspired vision of riding his bike through fluffy clouds quickly turned into a gut-churning fever dream. Riding the bowl on the ground merely sowed the seeds of doubt in his own abilities, as he battled to even breathe under the pressure of the bowl’s leg-shreddingly tight quarters and the weight of an 8kg parachute.

An interminable wait for a weather window gave these doubts time to slowly curdle his nerves. No one had ever done this before – but there was a reason for that. This is the story of what committing 100% actually means when you dream big enough to break things…

Related content:

1. Best kettlebells for building your cycling conditioning
2. How to improve cycling fitness
3. Best e-bikes (for road or trail)

Kriss Kyle: ‘Don’t Look Down’ – watch the video below

When a dream collides with reality

Kriss Kyle is known for both freestyle BMX and mountain biking, and his previous stunts include dropping out of a helicopter onto a heli-pad in Dubai. He’s on a mission to bring BMX to a wider audience, but it’s not just for clicks. “I’m just quite a creative person,” he says. “I’m always thinking outside the box, and instead of doing a normal riding video, I want to take it to the next level and beyond, and do something completely opposite each time.”

This drive led him to daydream about riding a BMX bowl in the sky. “But you need to be careful what you say at Red Bull!” he adds.

Before Kyle knew it, the engineers crafting Red Bull’s F1 success had been drafted in to build the world’s only carbon-fibre BMX bowl, and a UK company had been commissioned to hand-stitch a hot air balloon, gargantuan enough to lift the 2.5-tonne rig.

MF was there to witness Kyle riding the bowl for the first time, on the ground in a Red Bull racing hanger. It was much smaller than the usual BMX bowl, and the sound of his wheels on the carbon was unexpectedly violent as he fired his bike off the ramps to execute tricks high above the bowl.

It was a baptism of burning legs. “The bowl itself is so tight,” says Kyle. “It’s just like ‘pump, pump, pump’ and you never get a second in there like to breathe. It’s so hard on your legs, because you go straight into the next transitions and into the next trick.”

A humbling realisation

It’s fair to say that Kriss Kyle pushes the boundaries of what’s possible on two wheels, but his physical preparation for previous stunts had been relatively simple: go and ride your bike. For this stunt, however, he would have to ride wearing a self-opening, 8kg parachute, because the balloon would be at base jump height. That’s essentially like strapping another BMX to your back.

“It takes out your legs instantly,” he says, “and when you’re doing flips and spins and stuff, you need to pull so much harder for it to come around. It feels like someone is holding you back the whole time.”

And, because the bowl is suspended, moves. In fact, Kyle’s drone pilot would later report that, during the flight, the balloon was randomly rising and dropping up to four metres in an instant, making it impossible for him to fly his drone under the bowl’s rails.

All of this movement meant Kyle had to push his body even harder to compensate. During training ahead of the flight, he realised that, for the first time ever, he wasn’t fit enough to meet the challenge.

“I was doing loads of cardio on my mountain bike and working out with a weighted vest,” he says. But then he rode the bowl with the parachute – and it didn’t look good: “I felt so weak, like I had tiny legs on me, I just couldn’t do it. Even just pumping into the skatepark, I was knackered.”

Kriss Kyle was so humbled that he went back to Red Bull and told them he didn’t think riding with the parachute was going to work. “They simply told me, ‘You have to, otherwise it’s not going to happen.’”

Kriss Kyle poses in front of the hot air balloon that’s about to take him – and his bike – thousands of feet into the sky

Working outside the box

“This is the biggest project I had ever done,” says Kyle. “It was solely my idea and my objective, and I realised that any obstacle that was put in front of me, I’d have to try to smash through myself – I had to turn this into reality.”

He had owned the dream, but now he had to embrace the painful reality of using his body to smash the barrier to his ambitions – and find a solution in an alien world of exercise equipment and protein shakes.

Riding freestyle BMX in a skatepark bowl relies less on pedal power and more on pump power. That means using arms and legs to drive the bikes up and down the ramped surfaces, to launch into the air past the coping of the bowl, or onto a rail – there’s no time to pedal your bike up to speed.

It’s a technique that relies on full-body strength and a high anaerobic capacity. The smaller and tighter the bowl, the more force has to be absorbed in landings to be channelled into the next trick, in a continual flow that requires core strength for days.

By adding an 8kg parachute, Kyle was asking more of his body than any BMX rider before, without a playbook on how to build the fitness and strength. “I never normally physically train for a project,” he says, “because I think that time on the bike is more important than anything – but for this one I just had to.”

The answer came when he discovered that he could use a WattBike to replicate riding in that agonising crucible of a BMX bowl at 2,500ft, being swung around by ropes and buffeted by winds.

“It felt exactly how it would when I was in the bowl,” he says. “You’re completely puffed out and your legs are burning, and it’s just horrible. So I started smashing the life out of it! Without the WattBike I don’t even think I would have been able to jump my bike out past the edge of the bowl.”

You only get one shot at stupid

Flying a balloon across UK airspace over a patchwork of fields, while a BMXer jumps out of a skatepark strung underneath it, is as sketchy as it sounds. The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority is only ever going to allow you to do this once; one shot, one chance, one 35-minute flight to decide success or failure.

Kyle knew that if he bottled it, or if he couldn’t perform well enough to make a video, or if he bailed over the side as soon as he dropped in, then the whole thing would have been a colossal waste of everyone’s time, money and patience.

The balloon flight required a five-day forecast of still, sunny conditions, so even when all the preparations had been made, Kyle was forced into a long, nervy wait for the weather gods to give the nod.

Adding to Kyle’s anxiety was the fact that no balloon pilot, even the hugely experienced Pete Dalby, had ever flown with such a load hung from the balloon. “Pete had never even flown it or landed it before,” says Kyle, “so how was it going to react? I was terrified that the bowl was going to dig in when we landed, and it’s still two and a half tonnes – if it flipped we would be dead.”

Finally, the crew got the nod that the flight would happen, and Kyle’s fears crystallised into a knot of apprehension: “I was pretty nervous. I believe this project might be the hardest I ever do, just from the sheer movement of that bowl in the air.”

The balloon took off one cold, crisp December morning, and rose to 2,500ft, at the mercy of the wind, which gradually pushed it through the sky above a patchwork of fields, bathed in golden light.

It looked idyllic, but it was -12°C up there and Kyle had no opportunity to warm up. He had to commit and drop into the bowl – which, to reiterate, was in constant motion, swinging from side to side and rising and dropping.

“Sometimes when you pump,” he adds, “the bowl is pushing away – going away from you – then then other times it’s coming back towards you. So you can’t guarantee if you’re going to land a trick, or case it [crash the bike frame into the edge]. You cannot guarantee where your wheels are going to land. One of the tricks I was doing was on the back rail. And if you miss that rail, you’re going over the edge.”

But as the balloon burned fuel fighting to maintain height, Kyle knew that it was now or never: “You can’t be messing around up there – even if you’re not ready to send something, you’ve just got to bite the bullet and give it a go anyway.”

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The power of vision

Kyle is a big believer in the power of visualisation, and he always visualises his projects ahead of executing his tricks. This time he had a whole year to mentally prepare due to the weather. “I didn’t know what to be like up there, but I did visualise over and over,” he says, “thinking what it would be like and, to be honest, it was kind of spot on to what I visualised in my head.”

Watching the film edit from the flight shows that, in the end, Kyle’s painstaking preparations led to him achieving his ambition and landing all the tricks he set out to do in that BMX bowl in the sky.

And when Pete Dalby brought the balloon into land, he managed to avoid disaster, settling the swinging bowl without tipping it over. When MF caught up with Kyle after the flight, he said the experience had changed him:

“There’s no better feeling than looking at something, then you land it and you’re going ‘Oh my god I can’t believe that we’ve done that.’ Before this, I’d be scared and hesitant, and dither around for a bit, but now, even though I’m still scared, I just send it.”

Kyle thinks he may have tapped into a universal truth that we can all apply to our own goals and scary ambitions.

“After this project I feel I can do anything I want, and it’s the same for everyone. As with everything in life, just commit to the bloody thing!”

The post Riding High appeared first on MensFitness.

For a full roundup check out the best gym shirts and workout tees

BEST FOR OUTDOOR TRAINING

Picture Organic Dephi Tech Tee

BUY IT NOW:

£45 (not available in the US), picture-organic.com 

PROS:

• Made from sustainable materials
• Relaxed, airy fit

CONS:

• A shade heavy for some workouts

Comfort: 4/5
Fit: 4/5
Sweat wicking: 4/5
OVERALL: 4/5

If your workouts and training find you battling the big outdoors as often as hitting the gym floor, the Dephi Tech Tee literally has your back. Made for high-intensity summer adventures from fast-packing to mountain biking, it combines classic cotton-tee looks with high-tech performance.

Picture Organic Dephi Tech Tee features

It uses innovative Poly-Tencel fabric – a mix of recycled polyester and Tencel – that not only gives it the breathability, comfort and softness of a performance technical tee, but also makes it friendlier to the environment. 

Get the right workout footwear with the best gym shoes

It has a loose and airy fit, more like a regular cotton tee, so it’s not too body-hugging. However, at 180g, it’s heavier than many of the training tops we tested. For a heavy-duty tee, though, it’s surprisingly good at shifting sweat off the body and you can use it for lower-intensity gym sessions, too. 

Pair your new tee with one of the best shorts for men

The fabric features odour-fighting antimicrobial tech, so in theory you can tackle multi-day adventures without kicking up a stink. Though a lot depends on how much you sweat. It’s also treated with UP50+ protection, to offer a screen from ultraviolet rays and to boost its hot weather workout credentials.

We had no problems with durability. This went through multiple wash cycles without losing shape or leeching colour. Speaking of colours, the subtle tones and classic tee styling makes it a good option for kicking back pre- and post-adventure, too.  

Want something longer? These are the best sweatpants

The Dephi Tech Tee comes in three colours and five sizes from S to XXL. It also has reflective detailing for extra visibility when your adventures go on beyond sunset.

The post MF Tests: Picture Organic Dephi Tech Tee appeared first on MensFitness.

BEST FOR LIFTING SESSIONS

Gymshark Power T-Shirt

BUY IT NOW:

$36 / £28, gymshark.com

PROS:

• Ideal for layering for warm-ups
• Thick and durable 

CONS:

• Not very versatile

Comfort: 4/5
Fit: 4/5
Sweat wicking: 3/5
OVERALL: 3.5/5

If you’re not familiar with pump covers, they’re basically oversized hoodies, T-shirts and sweatshirts that you wear on the gym floor while you’re warming up your muscles to a state of visible ‘pump’. You whip them off once you’re ready to unveil your swollen biceps, abs or quads to the world with a flourish. 

Gymshark Power T-Shirt features

This pump cover-style tee has a classic wide, loose, oversized fit with big baggy arms, a straight hem and dropped shoulder. That makes it perfect for layering over a regular training top for your warm-ups or workouts where you want a little more room to manoeuvre. 

Get the right workout footwear with the best gym shoes

It’s made from 95% cotton, so is much thicker and heavier than polyester-based tops. Although it has 5% elastane for added stretch and flex it’s not great at wicking sweat. You wouldn’t stick this on for upbeat, high movement cardio sessions where things are likely to get hot and sweaty. It’s really only suited to lifting, warm ups and cool downs, or post-gym chilling. So it lacks the versatility of some do-it-all workout T-shirts. 

Pair your new tee with one of the best shorts for men

If you’re used to close-fitting tops, the lifting-specific oversized cut can take some getting used to. But the flattering shape gets a big thumbs-up. There’s plenty of freedom to move and this is a great option for hitting the gym for upper-body and legs day.   

Unsurprisingly the Power tee also pretty durable. It will go through multiple wash cycles without losing its shape. 

Want something longer? These are the best sweatpants

One style point: it comes with a whopping great screen-printed Gymshark logo across your upper back. 

The Gymshark Power T-Shirt comes in ten colours with seven sizes from XS to 3XL.  

The post MF Tests: Gymshark Power T-Shirt appeared first on MensFitness.

With a 3:55 marathon result at Malta in 2022, where I’d struggled to push myself to get under four hours, I’d completely overhauled my training plan to do much better at London in 2023, looking to beat my personal best result of 2:52, achieved some 25 years earlier at Prague.  

Kelsey CEO on chasing a London Marathon PB at 54

I knew I needed to make a lot of changes. Chiefly, my low-milage cross-training approach was not the answer for a good marathon. Nearly everything had to change – the only constant was the focus on cross-training, which for me was mostly cycling but also some swimming. Having taken a lot of advice, I’d come up with a six-point plan: 

1. A focus on higher mileage 
2. Lots of slow recovery runs 
3. Regular speed work and shorter distance racing (5k to half marathon) 
4. Core strength and flexibility training  
5. The right nutrition plan for training and for the race 
6. A fast pair of racing shoes 

All was going as well as could possibly be expected, including a sub-17-minute 5k at the British Masters race at Battersea Park, a 60-minute hilly 10-mile result (Canterbury) and sub-80-minute hilly half marathon (Tunbridge Wells). But… I’d then suffered a calf injury racing the Paddock Wood Half Marathon early in March, which seriously impacted on the following three weeks of training.

I did then manage to get one 20-mile training run in, and also a reasonably decent ten-mile race a month before London: the Folkstone 10 on my 54th birthday. But I really didn’t know if I’d done enough to deliver on my dream. 

Related content:

1. Our pick of the best men’s running shoes
2. Best running shorts for unrestricted movement
3. Best resistance bands for building a stronger, injury-resistant body

The morning of the race

After a restless night’s sleep (not unusual before a big race) I drank two coffees then made up 75cl of Tailwind energy drink, plus my protein drink for after the race. I then made a bowl of porridge with raisins and honey, and two large jam sandwiches.  

Tailwind Endurance Fuel

BUY IT NOW:

£36, tailwindnutrition.co.uk

While not wanting to overdo it with the food, I also planned to eat two Maurten energy bars in the hour before the race, and take five Maurten caffeine gels on the race with me. I found the second jam sandwich went down quicker than I thought it would, while still on the first train, and I ate the first Maurten bar just before we got off the last train at Maze Hill.  

Steve’s tried and tested kit list, including New Balance shoes and Maurten caffeine gels

Arriving at the start for the London Marathon

It was probably a good ten-minute walk to the Green Start, but it was well sign-posted and we arrived around an hour before our 10:01am start. It wasn’t as cold as had been predicted, but we did have rain while waiting around for the race to start.  

I always believe in dressing for the second mile, as the saying goes, so I wear a vest rather than a t-shirt, and have no gloves or hat. I have, however, started to wear short compression skins under my shorts, for muscle support rather than warmth. I also use compression calf supports as that’s my main injury risk area.

For my feet, I have a good but thin pair of socks and my super-comfortable New Balance FuelCell racing shoes. While I was using my Garmin Fenix 5 for monitoring my pace, I decided to carry my phone with me so my friends could track me around the course with the London Marathon App. 

Under starter’s orders – and we’re off!

There wasn’t much of an opportunity for a pre-race jog, as both the Green Start zone and holding pen were very crowded, but I did manage to do some on-the-spot stretching and aerobic warm-ups, which I always think are important for getting off to a good start. I know it’s important not to get carried away and set off too quickly, but I also didn’t want to lose a minute over the first mile 

I was targeting a pace of 6:30 per mile, which I was hoping to maintain for as long as possible around and beyond the 20-mile point. It’s important, when considering your pace, to also consider how you’re going to approach any hills. London is a reasonably flat course, but miles three and four have the biggest downhill sections, and there are other gentle downhill parts in the first half of the course.  

Steve is still on schedule for a PB at Canary Wharf

My first mile was six seconds faster than planned at 6:24 – no disaster, no need to panic. Mile two was 6:25, but then three and four were 6:04 and 5:59. I’ve done lots of hill running and do like to open my legs up and make the most from any downhills, so was quite relaxed at this point about being a lot faster than planned.

The following four miles averaged 6:26, so I was getting closer to my target of 6:30, feeling generally good and hoping I wasn’t pushing too hard – I’d done eight miles but still had more than 18 left.  

Nutrition strategy

The energy gel plan was one at six, ten, 14, 18 and 22 miles, and I stuck to that, taking a little water either from the water stations before or after taking the gel. I passed the halfway point with an average pace of 6:25, and while I might have wanted to convince my body that I only now needed to do a half marathon to complete the race, I could feel the impact of the first half in my legs.

I was trying to maintain the pace, and at this point started to believe there was a real possibility of me getting an all-time PB at this race – as long as I didn’t hit the wall or get a calf injury.  

My average pace at 15 miles was slightly faster at 6:24, and still stood at 6:24 at 18.5 miles, as we passed through Canary Wharf. I was very pleased, but beginning to tire. I knew I had to dig deep.  

Steve completes the London Marathon in a new PB of 2:50:02

The painful home straight – finishing the London Marathon

Pretty soon I passed the 20-mile point and was still able to more or less maintain the pace. Just the 10k left now, constantly counting down and trying to work out how much spare time I had in the bag. I started to see a lot of people in trouble that had stopped or were just walking. While I was tiring, I knew I had fuelled up really well and was reasonably confident I could continue to push through.  

The Marathon App shows I passed 21.75 miles at an average pace of 6:25. Unfortunately my Garmin got a bit lost around Canary Wharf and through the tunnel leading to the Embankment, so at the time I was less confident of the pace it was reporting to me, since it thought I had done two miles in over seven minutes.

However, as I approached 24 miles I was still running a sub-6:30 pace. I had expected to slow down a lot more by this point, but I also started getting a little pain in my left calf, so decided I should concentrate on a careful and steady last couple of miles.

Course recce pays off

I’d run the last six-and-a-half miles of the marathon in an easy taper run on the Wednesday evening before the race, after picking up my number, and mentally that was really useful. I wanted to be familiar with this section of the race, and it definitely helped with my confidence running down the Embankment towards Westminster Bridge.

A right turn up to Buckingham Palace left just 400m to go to the finish, and I knew by now I was going to get a PB – and possibly even finished in under 2:50.  

But that little end bit of a marathon is always longer that you think, and I finally finished in 2:50:02. Still, more than two minutes faster than the PB that I set 25 years earlier, and an hour and five minutes quicker than the Malta Marathon I ran last year. 

While I was exhausted, a feeling of relief and achievement washed over me. My body was sore, but I’d not picked up any injuries, which was a big bonus. Now, onto the next one!  

New Balance is the official shoe and apparel sponsor of the London Marathon. Shop the running range at newbalance.co.uk

The post Kelsey CEO’s London Marathon Race Report appeared first on MensFitness.

Resistance bands come in various shapes, sizes and levels of tension. But even if you’re an experienced gym-goer you can reap the benefits from the smallest design: the mini resistance band.

Try the Body Power Mini Band Set

BUY IT NOW:

£3.29 / fitness-superstore.co.uk (not available in the US)

What is a mini resistance band?

A looped band that’s generally 30-45cm in length, they might appear a bit limited compared to longer power bands or those with handles on each end. But the benefits of mini resistance bands are plentiful, and they can be a very handy tool to have in your gym bag.

Put your kit to the test with the best resistance band exercises

The colour of a resistance band tends to denote its level of resistance

Benefits of mini resistance bands

1. Versatility

“I use mini bands with all of my clients,” says Darren Bruce, PT at Third Space. Similar to other resistance bands – where there are various levels of resistance available, depending on the colour band that you pick – as soon as you start to stretch a mini resistance band, the muscles under load are forced to start working.

“They are able to improve your muscle strength, can be used across multiple planes (unlike free weights which are just generally up and down), and are easier on joints, but there are specific uses where mini resistance bands come out on top.

Discover the best resistance band exercises for leg workouts

2. Activation work

Bruce says that he predominately uses mini resistance bands for warm-ups and muscle activation, before continuing a workout with free weights or machines:

“With glute activation – so getting your hips ready for whatever you’re about to do – you can put mini bands either around your knees or ankles or both, and they basically start to activate the lower body. You could be on your back and doing glute bridges, or you can do side-to-side crab walks in them.”

RELATED CONTENT:

• Fabric resistance bands vs rubber bands
• What are resistance bands?
• Resistance bands vs weights

3. Level up bodyweight exercises

They have their uses beyond the warm-up too, and can be used to increase the load of bodyweight exercises. For example, when a mini resistance band is looped around your quads during a squat, your muscles are engaged at all stages of the movement, rather than just during the lowering stage.

It’s not just bodyweight exercises either; they can perform the same stability-benefitting difficulty during a barbell exercise.

For some exercise inspiration, these are our favourite barbell exercises for every body part

4. Simple and effective

Finally, mini resistance bands are effective because, as their name suggests, they’re the smallest of all the bands. Compact, easy-to-store, and generally the cheapest set of resistance bands around, it’s possible to add some lower-body activation and stabilising benefits to your workouts without breaking the bank.

The post Benefits Of Mini Resistance Bands appeared first on MensFitness.

When investing in resistance bands, there are a number of things to consider. They include whether you opt for bands with handles. if you need an individual band rather than a set, and the level of resistance that you need. Fabric resistance bands vs rubber bands can be added to that list, and there are a number of pros and cons to both materials. Here’s all you need to know when making your decision.

Try the TRX Bandit Resistance Band Kit

BUY IT NOW:

$49.95 / £69.95 / amazon.co.uk

Benefits of fabric resistance bands

Fabric resistance bands, like the Eono range, are generally made from cotton blends that include a small amount of latex. That combination provides the stretch required for the resistance band to function as designed.

This cotton core makes them much stronger than a rubber alternative, and they’re therefore much less likely to break under load. Their material also makes fabric resistance bands easier to grip. And they’re less likely to slip from the muscles you’re actually targetting compared to a rubber alternative.

Most fabric resistance bands are machine washable – which is handy if you get a sweat on when working out – while their durability makes them a much more environmentally friendly purchase.

Discover the best resistance band exercises

Disadvantages of fabric resistance bands

One of the big selling points of resistance bands is that they’re relatively cheap compared to free weights, but this is only really true for rubber bands. A single fabric band can often cost the same as a whole set of rubber ones. That means it can often be the case of weighing up whether you’re after something low-cost and potentially short-lived or are happy to pay a premium for longevity.

Also, while they do offer enough stretch for lower-body-targetted activation and strengthening, they’re not as effective for upper-body exercises.

RELATED CONTENT:

• Benefits of mini resistance bands
• What are resistance bands?
• Resistance bands vs weights

Rubber bands are cheaper and easier to find, but aren’t as environmentally friendly

Benefits of rubber resistance bands

As the name suggests, rubber resistance bands are made 100% from latex. This gives them a lot more stretch than a fabric alternative, and they’re therefore a lot more adaptable.

Their low-cost material also means you can often pick up a pack of five different resistance options for under £20. That makes them an affordable and cheap way to add resistance band training to your workouts, or an easy way to supplement your gym work with home equipment.

Try the Amazon Basics TPE Resistance Band Set

BUY IT NOW:

£8.84 / amazon.co.uk (not available in the US)

Disadvantages of rubber resistance bands

The biggest downside to rubber resistance bands is that over time they wear down and will eventually snap. That is potentially dangerous if it occurs when combining resistance bands with free weights. But the best way to minimise this risk is by checking rubber resistance bands for tears or warping before each use.

If you’re using two simultaneously (for example, to add a stability element to a squat or bench press), you should make sure that the load is shared equally between bands.

Another downside to rubber resistance bands is that they can be prone to slipping. They can start to dig into your skin if pulled tightly, too, and shouldn’t be used if you have a latex allergy.

Put your resistance bands to the test with this leg workout

The post Fabric Resistance Bands vs Rubber Bands appeared first on MensFitness.