Over my 20-odd years in magazine journalism, never has the concept of a long-lead title felt so anachronistic. I’m writing this on a scorching evening in late July. You’ll be reading it in the last weeks of September, possibly in early October. I have an ice-cold cider on the go, following a sweaty, shirtless run. Meanwhile, there’s a good chance that you’re wearing a jumper.
This much was ever thus. We’re used to writing about Christmas in autumn and summer in spring. It’s not usually too much of a stretch. We have a fair idea that, in the build-up to sunnier months, you’d like to shift some timber. Come January, we know that you’ll be looking for ways to reboot your mind, body and soul. But right now, I couldn’t tell you with any certainty what’s going to happen tomorrow.
Yesterday, I ventured into the office. It was my third time since March. There was no special reason to do so other than that working from home has gradually morphed into living at work – I wanted a change of scenery. The desks were spaced a good 3m apart and largely unoccupied, but still, the return felt like a step towards normality. At lunchtime, I paid my first visit to the gym since being introduced to that dastardly phrase, “social distancing”. It was revelatory. The machines, the towels, the air conditioning, the posh shower gel – living room workouts are great; carpet burns, less so. Back home and buoyed by Instagram pictures of friends enjoying last-minute holidays, my wife and I discussed whether we could go away after all.
This morning took on a different complexion, however. Swaths of northern England are heading back into lockdown. During a ramshackle press conference, Boris Johnson announced that it was time to “squeeze the brake pedal”. Coronavirus is resurgent across the continent. On the breakfast news, we learned that the number of new cases in France had risen by 54% in just a week. This is not the kind of wave I had envisaged surfing just 12 hours ago.
Whether any of the above will have intensified or dissipated by the time you read this letter is impossible to know. And it would be foolhardy to predict whether the intervening two months will see more events as seismic as a global race reckoning or the collapse of industries. All of which makes pulling together a magazine that feels vital and germane to life in 2020 fairly difficult.
Hopefully, we pass muster. Our Guest Speaker columnist this month is Dr Winston Morgan, an academic in toxicology. On page 50, he makes a compelling case for social inequalities being the real reason why black men are three times more likely to die of COVID-19 than white men. Elsewhere, we rate the 26 Most Influential Men in Health & Fitness. At a time when good leadership is in
short supply, our list of scientific game-changers, fitness pioneers and healthy voices of reason is a welcome reminder that we do still have benevolent power at the wheel.
Another good man with not insignificant influence is this month’s cover star, Bradley Simmonds. I happened to be in New York with Brad on a promotional trip the week before lockdown was called. “Come on, what have I got to do to get on your cover?” he asked. “It’s a big ambition of mine.” I told him I’d think about it. Then, over the course of the past four months, it became apparent that few in the training world had worked harder to help others stay in shape while Rome burned. His simple but effective Instagram Live workout sessions were a godsend to incarcerated gym-goers.
The body you see on this cover is testament to his approach: Brad’s preparations for our shoot were conducted entirely within the confines of his garden, using little more than his own bodyweight and the odd dumbbell. Whether we’re back in lockdown with a second wave raging by the time you read this, or your local club simply doesn’t stock toiletries as posh as mine, the bodyweight focus in this Men’s Health UK Magazine issue will see you right.

TOBY WISEMAN, EDITOR IN CHIEF

Download from:

NitroFlare

• Australian Model Railway Magazine – October 2020
• Maximum PC – October 2020