Men's Fitness South Africa March - April 2019

That elusive 1% As people who have a passion for staying fit, working out and living a better, healthier life, we can often become obsessed with it. Sitting in a seminar a couple of months ago I recall the whole 1% theory that was preached. There are different applications, methodologies and ideas around it, but the one that stuck out the most for me was the following: Trying each day to be 1% better than the day before. This can have quite a significant effect in your life on all fronts. Yes, there are athletes that compete at the highest level, there are multiple Olympic champions and this applies to them too. Just compete with yourself and push yourself to be 1% better than the day before and your entire…

The sushi secret Japanese people are some of the healthiest on the planet. They have the highest life expectancy for men (76) and women (86), and, at 3%, the lowest obesity rate. (The US sits at a flabby 32%.) They also have the lowest risk of death from all causes, along with reduced odds of dying from cardiovascular disease and stroke. So what the hell are they doing so right? Eating sushi. Or, to be more specific, eating salmon, tuna, cod, mackerel, octopus, eel, a little beef, some chicken, and a whole lot of rice, buckwheat noodles, carrots, cucumbers, mushrooms, pickles — well, basically what you’d see on the menu at your local sushi spot. Yes, according to a new study published in the journal BMJ, it’s the typical Japanese…

EJACULATING AT LEAST 13 TIMES A MONTH LOWERS YOUR CANCER RISK. READY, SET… GO! The more often you ejaculate, the lower your risk of prostate cancer will be, US-based Harvard University is reporting — and it doesn’t matter if you’re making sweet love to your honey bunch, banging a bridesmaid in a cab, or choking the chicken in your mom’s guest bathroom. The recent 10-year follow-up to a 2004 study confirmed that men who ejaculated more than 21 times a month had a 20% lower risk of prostate cancer than those who got off only 4 to 7 times a month. “Even 13 or more ejaculations per month led to significant reductions in prostate cancer risk”, says study head Jennifer Rider, PhD. She and her colleagues speculate that getting rid…

IF YOU WANT MORE HEALTHY VARIETY IN YOUR MEALS, START BOWLING. Instead of eating off a plate (how common!), the hot new restaurant trend is plopping everything into — wait for it — a bowl. What, not revolutionary enough for you? Well, it’s actually a pretty mind-blowing, fit-body-building idea. No longer are you forced to limit yourself to just an entrée and two sides stuck on a dreary plate, looking like they’re doing time on the same cell block. Now you can pile on just about anything your heart desires — proteins, whole grains, vegetables, sauces — to make up an exciting, balanced meal with layers of complementary tastes. Bowl meals are especially popular at American healthy fast-food joints like Sweetfin Poké, Sweetgreen, and Chopt, which are spreading across the…

HOW MUCH YOU SPEND ON GIFTS DOESN’T EQUAL HOW MUCHYOU CARE. You may think you’re frugal, but chances are that frugality goes right out the window when you shop for someone you love. In a study in Judgment and Decision Making, subjects shopped for one of three items: A wedding ring, a storage container for either a grandfather clock or a cremated grandfather (ha!), or birthday cupcakes for a loved one. Results: When buying for someone they loved, most subjects felt it was inappropriate to question a price, look for a cheaper option, or haggle — even when prices were negotiable. For example, 91% of wedding-ring shoppers chose high-priced rings that weren’t necessarily high quality, and most buyers of crematory containers and b’day sweets said okay to any price quoted.…

BOXING MELTS CENTIMETRES OFF YOUR GUT. IT DOESN’T HURT YOUR STREET CRED, EITHER. Put your beer boep down for the count by finding your inner Ali. That’s the word from Down Under, where for 16 weeks researchers at the University of Western Sydney, Australia, put 12 overweight but fairly healthy people into two test groups: One that walked briskly four times a week for 50 minutes per session, and one that hit a heavy bag for the same amount of time, and did five boxing-related interval exercises — heavy bag, focus mitts, circular body bag, footwork drills, and skipping — in 3-minute intervals (2 minutes on, 1 minute rest). Four months later, the boxers had clearly won the bout: Their waist size was down almost seven centimetres, they’d dropped an…