The Baby Jogger Summit X3 has been one of the most popular running strollers available for several years and it has been a useful addition to our household during testing, making it easy to get out for a run while my infant son sleeps. 

It’s an expensive purchase and there are areas where the design could be improved, such as the non-adjustable handlebar, but the Summit X3 is a great all-round stroller that copes brilliantly with off-road runs and walks.

Baby Jogger Summit X3: Price And Availability

The Baby Jogger Summit X3 was originally launched in 2016 and costs $549.99 in the US and £529 in the UK.

How I Tested This Running Stroller

I’ve been running regularly with the Summit X3 over the past four months, and my wife has also used it during this time. I have used it mainly for runs in a local forest, which has been muddy for most of my testing, as well as on runs on paved surfaces.

Design And Assembly

The Summit X3 is a stroller with three air-filled wheels, all of which have suspension. The large front wheel can be set to fixed, which you need when running, or swivel, which is more useful for everyday use. You can change the wheel setting using a lever on the side of the stroller.

There is a brake on the handlebar and a strap you can use to tether yourself to the stroller, both are important for staying in control when running downhill. The height of the handlebar can’t be adjusted and it was a little low for me when running—I’m 6ft and my wife is 5ft 8in, and the height suited her better.

The reclining seat is padded and the five-part strap, while is fiddly to do up at times, holds your child in place comfortably and, most importantly, securely when running. There is a large adjustable hood that provides protection from the sun (it’s UV 50+-rated), and it folds down far enough to keep the wind out of a child’s face when running. There are mesh windows on top you can use to check on your kid while running.

There is a rear pedal brake you can use to anchor the stroller. Once this got muddy I found it hard to operate the brake with my foot and often had to reach down to press it into place with my hand. Although the instructions weren’t particularly clear, it was easy enough to assemble the stroller in around 10 minutes. 

Running With The Baby Jogger Summit X3

The Summit X3 is smooth to run with thanks to the large wheels with suspension, even when taking it off-road. Most of the runs I did with the stroller were on forest paths with muddy and rutted sections, and it handled them well. The stroller feels sturdy and I’ve not had any punctures.

One problem with runs in the mud or along leaf-strewn paths was that the front wheel can get clogged up quickly. On one outing I had to poke a stick through the gap at the top of the wheel several times to clear it out. My wife has also experienced some front wheel wobble when running with the Summit X3, which hasn’t been a problem for me yet.

Running with any stroller isn’t the most natural movement, but this was exacerbated for me because of the fixed handlebar, which was low for me. The stroller is wide and has some weight to it, which is good for stability especially on uneven ground, but means it can feel heavy to push up hills on the trails. This wasn’t such a noticeable problem when on asphalt though, and you can run quite quickly with the Summit X3 when on hard, flat ground. I’d prefer to save my speed sessions for when I’m not pushing a stroller.

I can’t speak for every child, but mine always fell asleep quickly when I ran with the Summit X3—it was generally an easier and more reliable way to get him down for his afternoon nap than pushing him in his pushchair.

Folding And Daily Use

The Summit X3 has a one-handed folding system where you pull the strap in the center of the seat up and the whole stroller collapses into place. There’s a knack to this. First you pull the small loop with a finger and then the larger loop with the rest of your hand. 

It can be done one-handed, but only with practice, and then actually lifting the stroller with one hand isn’t that easy, since it weighs 28.4lbs/12.8kg and is large and awkward. I needed two hands to unfold it because of this. The wheels are so large it’s not the easiest to store even when folded, especially as it doesn’t stand unsupported, but it did fit the trunk of our small car comfortably.

The wide base of the wheels is useful for running, but makes it hard to maneuver the Summit X3 at times, especially in narrow store aisles. While we did use the Summit X3 regularly when not running—and it’s great for walks on rough terrain—it can be cumbersome to use around town compared with a non-running stroller.

There is a large compartment under the seat for storage, which is useful for shopping, and a mesh pocket on the back of the seat you can pop a water bottle in when running, though I found it hard to reach into the pocket without coming to a stop.

Is The Baby Jogger Summit X3 Worth It?

The Summit X3 is an expensive purchase but one that can make a huge difference in fitting in your exercise while looking after children. My wife and I enjoyed using it for regular runs and it was ideal for the forest paths we predominantly used it on. I used a Out ‘n’ About Nipper Sport (UK only) with our eldest child and found the Summit X3 to be an improvement on that, with a smoother ride especially when off-road, though the Nipper is cheaper. 

To run a marathon successfully you need a plan, a few good months of training behind you, and a whole lot of kit for the day itself. You need good shoes, comfortable clothes, and nutrition and hydration products, all of which you’ve hopefully tested out during your marathon training.

Peloton instructor Ben Alldis is running the London Marathon for the second time this year, and when we spoke to him about his kit for the race it was clear a lot of careful thought and testing had gone into picking it out. That means there’s a lot to be learned from his selections if you’re not sure about your own marathon kit just yet.

Are you excited for the London Marathon?

“I’m so excited because I’ve done it before and I know what I’m letting myself in for,” says Alldis. “I was overwhelmed with the support last time, the fact that at London there are people cheering at every single spot. When you’re in it, it’s so amazing.

“Things have also come on a long way since I ran it in 2018. All the hydration and nutrition, the trainers and the kit has all evolved so much. It’s been fun trying different things out and testing things along the way.”

What running shoes are you using for the marathon?

“I was going to go for a racing shoe, but I’m actually going to stick with the Hoka Arahi 7,” says Alldis. “I’ve been training in them and they feel great. I’ve got slightly wide feet and a lot of the race shoes are quite thin. I have tried the race shoes and they do feel good, but I just don’t want to get injured because of the job I do. I’ve got to teach a class on Wednesday!” 

What nutrition products are you using for the marathon?

“I’ve tried quite a few things,” says Alldis. “I don’t eat a lot of sugar, so when I started with some of the gels, they were so hard on my stomach. They do work, but I get a bit of a stomach ache.

“The ones that I’ve actually loved using are from Veloforte. I’m using a mixture of the gels, the energy chews and also the energy bars, just because too much of one thing is a bit much for my stomach. Mixing up also keeps it interesting across however long it’s going to take.”

I rate Veloforte’s products too and they feature on my selection of the best running gels. Just remember, you should never try a new gel for a marathon—stick with what you’ve been using during training. 

“I also like to suck on the SaltStick electrolyte fast chews,” says Alldis. “I take a lot of electrolytes for my general life and my job, but obviously you can’t really get the tablets out and put them into bottles [during the race]. These are little tablets that you can just suck on. You have maybe two every half hour or something and it just keeps salt levels up. This has helped me massively, because the last marathon I did, I started to cramp up. I think that was because I tried to just survive on one jelly baby a mile! When I look back, that’s probably why I was cramping up because the salt levels in my body were probably low.”

If this is the first you’ve heard about electrolytes, find out what you need to know with our guide to electrolyte drinks.

How are you carrying all this?

“I’ve been using a Peloton running belt in training,” says Alldis, “but I’m actually going to use a CamelBak one because you can put water in it. Obviously, there are water stations along the way, but it’s helpful just to have a little bit on you.”

What other running gear will you be wearing?

“I’m going to be wearing the Lululemon X Peloton collaboration gear—it’s super soft and super light,” says Alldis. “It doesn’t get too much sweat in it. I also like to wear under shorts just to keep the compression on the quads and the hammies. Lululemon also do amazing socks with compression.”

Are those knee-high or ankle-high compression socks?

“I’ve tried both,” says Alldis. “I think it depends how hot it is on the day, because it can get a bit claustrophobic sometimes when you’ve got too much compression. If it’s a bit warmer, I’ll just go for ankle-high, but if it’s a bit cooler, I might wear knee-high, or I might wear compression sleeves.

“I used to be a sprinter and so my typical running style when I get lazy is on my toes, so my calves get a battering. To have a bit of pressure on them helps a little bit.”

I’ve looked ahead to the London Marathon weather forecast and Alldis might be better off going for ankle-high socks.

What running watch and headphones do you use?

“I’m going to be wearing an Apple Watch,” says Alldis. “I’ve been training with it, and I use the Apple Watch Ultra 2. I’ve always liked the Apple Watch. I wouldn’t say it’s the best of the best watches out there, but it’s the watch that I wear and it’s really helpful for me. It just helps you pace yourself, which is good.” It’s a good choice in my book, I’ve reviewed the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and rate it as the best smartwatch for running.

“I’ve been training with Apple Airpods,” says Alldis, “but I’ve just been recommended this brand of headphones called Shokz which sit on the back of your head and it means you can still hear the crowd.” Shokz makes bone conduction headphones that transmit sound through your cheekbones to your inner ear, keeping your ear free to hear other sounds.

“It’s about getting a balance between trying to take in the crowd versus having a bit of motivation,” says Alldis. “I like to listen to a mixture of podcasts and music. Four hours of dance music can get a bit repetitive! So a good podcast and some music for the end.”

Spend your days running and hiking through gorgeous natural landscapes, before whiling away your nights listening to live music and DJs with thousands of other adventurous, active types. If that sounds like your idea of a good time, then the Love Trails Festival is something you should know about.

Ever been on a diet and found it tough to stick to? Perhaps you’ve tried cutting out food groups or restricting calories but found it a struggle to sustain and reach your goals. Mindful eating could be the answer.

Dr Romi Ran is a clinical psychologist specializing in food, eating and body image, who champions a compassionate approach to food in Bite-Sized Peace: Change How You Eat, Accept Your Body, Transform Your Life. Mindfulness is proven to help with mental health, and, according to Ran, mindful eating can help fix your dieting problems—in fact, it can change your relationship with food entirely.

What’s the secret to eating mindfully?

“The most important thing of all is to learn to make this connection with your body's innate wisdom,” says Ran. “Your body knows what, how much and when to eat. Rather than relying on external diet rules, societal norms, or even your thoughts, learn how to listen and trust your body’s signals. If you do that, you’ll find it will tell you what it needs.”

Ran shares an example. If it’s 11 o’clock and you’re hungry but lunchtime for you is usually at 1 o’clock, it’s OK to eat now. The idea is to eat when you’re hungry, choose foods that nourish you and make you feel good, and then stop when you’re full, even if that means leaving food on your plate.

Ran’s book, Bite-Sized Peace contains exercises to help you listen to your body’s signals. She suggests developing a hunger scale, where for example:

• Five is neutral, not hungry or distracted by food;
• Four is starting to get hungry or feeling like a snack;
• Three is craving specific food, losing focus on other activities;
• Two is getting irritable, stomach growling, craving exact dishes;
• One is when you would eat anything, you’re starting to panic about getting food;
• Zero is feeling dizzy, sick or faint with hunger and almost going off food. 

Ran suggests spending a couple of weeks tuning into your hunger at different levels and working out what hunger cues feel like for you. This enables you to recognize the perfect level of hunger when eating feels most satisfying and enjoyable, and when you’re less likely to overeat.

“Mindful eating can help you become aware of how different foods will affect your mood, how they will affect your energy levels, and how they can make you feel physically, mentally and emotionally,” says Ran.

“Your whole relationship with food, your body and eating will change if you really nurture that connection with your body’s innate wisdom and let that guide you rather than following external cues,” says Ran.

Will I lose weight?

“The best approach is to set value-based aims rather than goal-based ones,” says Ran. A goal-based aim might be losing 15 pounds, for example. “That is driven by fear and thinking that you’re not good enough, that you need to change yourself.” A value-based approach on the other hand would be something like, ‘I want to start nourishing my body better’.

“Now that’s compassionate, that’s coming from a place of love, from feeling worthy,” says Ran. “It says ‘I deserve to eat good, nourishing food that makes my body feel well and satisfies me’. The emphasis is completely different. One is about changing and the other is about being.”

You may well find that you lose weight with this approach. But in shifting your focus from slimming to improving your health and wellbeing, coupled with kindness and self-acceptance, you may also find that you no longer care about the number on the scale because your whole outlook has changed for the better.

Way back in 2017, on a hunch, Coach contacted a few CrossFit boxes to find out if anyone had found love in a sweaty place. Of course they had and we featured four so-called CrossFit couples. Since then we discovered that it wasn’t just casual CrossFitters who had coupled up. Some of the sport’s elite had become involved romantically, too. So for Valentine’s Day 2024, we’re revisiting the feature and sticking our noses into the relationship of CrossFit Games athletes Elliot and Jamie Simmonds. The pair live in Abu Dhabi and are founders of Quintessential Health & Performance.

Elliot Simmonds, 30, and Jamie Simmonds, 32

Time together: 10 years 

Favorite part of CrossFit: Both love the community element, but exercise-wise Elliott is a fan of low–impact rowing—“I know I can do it forever,” he says—while Jamie loves a muscle-up.

Where did your relationship begin?

Jamie: We both moved to the Middle East in 2014. I’m from New Zealand and Elliot is from England. I moved there two weeks after Elliot and I began to train at the gym he was coaching at. We had to travel for the Dubai Fitness Championship (DFC) and we ended up staying overnight. All of us were too cheap to get more than one bedroom so there were three of us in the room and you get to know people better when you hang out with them that long. I then ended up working at the same gym as Elliott. 

Elliott: When I first moved I had a girlfriend, but after the DFC Jamie and I got to know each other a little bit better. It was one of those things where the timing was just right. We got on well and we needed a female coach at the gym. Jamie started working for us and I guess it went from there. 

When were you officially a couple? 

Elliot: I think our first official date—just me and Jamie—was at about 9.30pm at either Nando’s or this Australian burger place after work. We were in our gym gear. 

We didn’t define ourselves as a couple until I knew I was going home back to England for Christmas in 2014 and I invited Jamie back to the UK with me to save her staying in the UAE. We then got married in 2020.

You work together and live together. What’s your training routine like?

Elliot: We tend to train at the same time, but not do the same thing. On average it’s two sessions a day to get better for the CrossFit season. I ‘in-person coach’ Jamie, so I won’t write programs for her, but if she needs help on how to approach workouts, I’ve always helped. Sometimes we’ll jump into each other’s workouts or do qualifier workouts and go head-to-head.

Jamie: On holiday in New Zealand we did one session per day, but also outdoor stuff like mountain climbing, hiking, swimming. We get outdoors as much as possible. 

Elliot: We train, work and live together. People ask, ’Are you ever apart?’ and the honest answer is, no we’re not, but for some reason, it’s always worked!

You’re made for each other! Any advice for couples training together?

Elliot: There are still times when your patience wears thin especially when you’re tired and you’re in the middle of a workout and you get a dirty look! It’s more about understanding your partner I guess. There’s no specific advice other than to be attuned with your partner and know when to say something or when to keep quiet. 

How do you know when to speak or be quiet with each other?

Jamie: You need to know when he or she is in a bad mood and that now is not the time to speak up, or it’s about approaching something more diplomatically. Make suggestions rather than delegation! And don’t take in-the-moment comments personally.

Elliot: That’s something you learn as a coach of athletes, not just your partner. In the heat of the moment, it isn’t the person speaking—it’s their ego responding. As a coach and as a partner, you have to know that nothing is meant personally when your heart rate is high and you’re emotional.

Is there an exercise that makes you two really competitive?

Elliot: I wouldn’t say ‘exercise’ [laughs]. We’re both competitive people. Whenever we do the same workout we’re competitive with each other. Sometimes we do go into a workout and know someone is better than the others so it’s easier to know a loss is going to come. The longer a workout gets, the more likely I will win; the shorter it is, the more likely Jamie will win.

Do you compete together?

Elliot: We’re going back to our roots this year. The 2015/2016 CrossFit season, the first year we were together, we podiumed at the CrossFit Games as a team so that’s high in our memories and we did a couple of partner comps. Since then we’ve entered as individuals in most comps. 

This year we’re in the same team for the season and hopefully the CrossFit Games 2024. 

What is it that you each admire in each other in terms of training?

Jamie: With Elliot it’s his dedication. He shows the passion he has for it by the time he spends on the fine details. There’s no one in CrossFit who does it quite the same. He’s a very smart athlete—that’s why I go to him. 

Elliot: For me, Jamie has unwavering trust in herself. She goes into her workout and just backs herself. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but she always has the effort. There’s never an excuse, never a reason, just pure heart whenever she does it and that’s what I’ve admired the most about her. 

Many people say that they can’t run and treat regular runners like a different species. Until her mid-30s, Susie Chan was one of those running-averse people. She smoked, drank a lot of alcohol and had never attempted a 5K. Now in her 40s, she’s an ultramarathon runner and a Tread instructor at Peloton.

“I got into running because I wanted to get fitter. I was a single mum and running was something I could do on my lunch hour without access to a gym,” says Chan. She started off running for two or three minutes at a time, gradually building up the amount of time she could run for. After a while, her brother convinced her to sign up for a half marathon.

“I went from doing a half marathon to ultramarathons in two years,” says Chan.

As someone who didn’t get into running until later in life, Chan firmly believes that anyone can start running at any age. We asked her to share some advice for beginners who are looking to get started.

How To Get Into Running

Start Small

There’s no need to put lots of pressure on yourself to run a certain distance at first. “When I started I tried running around a football pitch, which I couldn’t do without stopping. I remember thinking I failed or I wasn’t doing it right,” says Chan.

“If you’re moving faster than walking, then you’re running,” says Chan. “If you’re jogging along and thinking ‘I can’t run’ or ‘I’m not a runner’ then you’re not going to be able to enjoy it—and you need to enjoy it.”

To keep a positive mindset, set manageable goals that you’ll be able to achieve. If you’ve never run before, you’re very unlikely to be able to run 5K without stopping—that’s the case for almost everyone. 

Chan recommends that you set yourself a movement goal, rather than a running goal. For example, go out and move for 15 to 20 minutes. “This might mean running for one minute then walking for two minutes for that period of time,” says Chan.

Take Walk Breaks

“People think that you’ve got to be running the whole time, but that is a myth,” says Chan. “I have been running for quite a long time now and I still take walk breaks or stop mid-run and that’s absolutely fine."

Peloton has Run/Walk classes. Usually, they’re 50% running and 50% walking, and they’re a great way for beginners to get started. You can either do these on a treadmill, or listen to these guided sessions while running outside (there are pairs of the best running headphones which only cost $20/£20). Coach’s couch to 5K plan also uses run-walk intervals.

Train Regularly, But Don’t Overdo It

If you’re new to running, you might be tempted to throw yourself into it and run multiple times a week, but Chan says that running once or twice a week is more than enough to see improvement.

You don’t have to run for a very long time either. “Some people think you’ve got to be training for an hour to get a proper training session in but that’s not true—15 or 20 minutes is fine,” says Chan. “As you train, you can run for longer so you might want to add five or 10 minutes to your run.”

Don’t Start Too Fast

“Always start off easy and try to get faster, rather than the other way round,” says Chan. “Starting too fast is a classic mistake people make. It’s easily done, even for experienced runners. I’ve been known to run too fast at the beginning of a race.”

Invest In A Pair Of Running Shoes

If you can afford it, it’s a good idea to buy a proper pair of running shoes. “If you’ve got the wrong footwear on, you might be more prone to injury,” says Chan. “It’s also a good way to stay motivated—if you’ve bought yourself a new pair of shoes you’ve got to use them!”

Check your local specialist running store to see if they offer gait analysis. This may suggest you could benefit from a stability shoe at first. Also, don’t be put off by the price of the shoes on display, our guide to the best cheap running shoes has plenty of affordable options.

It’s summer and if there’s one thing better than the wall-to-wall sport on offer, it’s making an occasion of it and watching with friends. After all, big sporting moments are exciting, but they’re better experienced together. To make your home the place where friends and family want to gather, add a screen that’s smarter than a smart TV. The best TV for watching sports—Sky Glass.

Sky Glass is fully-loaded with the latest audio and visual tech to bring the sights and sounds of match day into your home—it’s as close as you can come to experiencing what it’s like to be there without actually being there. The colours are vibrant and the powerful Dolby Atmos® speakers give a level of detail to the sound that brings the game to life. Sky’s Auto-Enhance sports mode recognises when the game’s on and automatically amplifies the vividness of the colours and the sound of the crowd to bring the stadium atmosphere into your home.

The ability to pause, rewind or restart live TV means you can delay the start for late-comers, or bring them up to speed on the biggest moments of the game so far. You can also watch and rewatch contentious decisions over and over again in the post-game post-mortem. Everything is stored in the cloud so there’s no need to fret about storage either, and there’s no more hunting for the remote—voice control means you can ask Sky Glass to play any live match, and it’ll find it in a flash.

Sky Glass is also a worthy centrepiece for any modern living room, and with five stylish colours (and 10 speaker fascia colours if you want to add an accent), it’s sure to suit your design scheme. You don’t have to worry about installing a dish, finding a place for the soundbar or work out how to hide the wiring either—it’s all built-in, making for one sleek package.

It has another trick up its sleeve to help you share big sporting moments with others. Sky Live is a 12 megapixel, HDR-capable camera that is exclusive to Sky Glass TVs.

Sky Live instantly makes your TV smarter, more social and more interactive, adding gaming, workouts and video calls. Its Watch Together feature is especially appealing to sports fans—a tap of the button turns your screen into a video call so you can invite friends and family to watch what you’re watching.

The camera’s wide field of view and Auto-Tracking tech ensures everyone will always be in shot and in focus, while background noise suppression means your voice—and opinion on that contentious VAR decision—will always be heard. 

With Sky Live, there’s no need to scroll through social media or wait for the halftime interval to get stuck into the debate, you can chat and react as the action unfolds. 

Now, with the addition of Sky Live and Watch Together, you can strap in for that penalty shootout, Grand Slam decider or checkered flag finalé with your friends and family by your side, wherever they are in the world—all from the comfort of your home. It’s the ultimate front row viewing experience for this unbeatable British summer of sport. 

To find out more visit sky.com/glass. 

My dad started me on my fitness journey. At the age of four I was racing him from the end of the road to our front door. Not long after that he was challenging me to press-ups, wall sits and 5K runs. At school I joined all the teams I could, and my infatuation with sport continued through university. If ever I found myself struggling, sport was my outlet.

More than 20 years later, we find ourselves equally obsessed with keeping fit. Dad may have vowed never to run a marathon again and he’s finished with Sunday League football after accepting his Achilles isn’t as well oiled as it once was, but he’ll still put in a shift of burpees, boxing or whatever else is put in front of him. 

When I completed my first HYROX—an indoor functional fitness race—I was surprised that he didn’t believe he was fit enough to complete one, so I challenged him to race in the next event with me. Here’s how he prepared for it. 

Training

Before signing up, my dad was completing up to six home workouts a week using the workout app Fiit, so his base level of fitness was obviously decent, but the moment we entered the race, he started fretting. He committed to 12 weeks of training and decided on five sessions a week which included:

• 30-minute interval runs on a treadmill
• 45-minute HIIT partner workouts, including some of the exercises from HYROX to improve his work capacity
• One weight-training session focusing on strength

A fitness professional may well have suggested a different approach to HYROX training and there are plenty of HYROX gyms you can otherwise join, but Dad felt he had enough information from friends and family to manage his own program.

Dad wasn’t bothered about his splits on the 1km runs, neither was he bothered about placing among the pros. His one goal was to complete the race knowing that he’d tried his hardest.

Race Day

My Dad felt confident about his physical ability going into the race, but he was less prepared for racing on a day when 3,500 people crossed the start line. “It’s difficult to concentrate because there’s a lot going on, unlike in the gym where you solely focus on you,” he told me.

All the same, there were still moments when Dad needed to dig deep and push through more challenging movements such as the sled push where I was lagging and needed him to take more of the weight. That’s the beauty of racing as a pair, you can work to each other’s strengths! Despite each having moments of struggle, we both beamed as we crossed the finish line. 

And Dad felt inspired after finishing. “Instead of believing I’m in a minority of people my age that try hard, I realize there are loads of people my age that enjoy pushing themselves. It really reinforced to me that excuses like, ‘Those events are for young people’ or ‘I can’t be that fit any more’ aren’t valid. There are no reasons not to do it”.

My Dad and I had a lovely weekend just us two—something we haven’t done since I was in my early teens. And we want to do better next time, which is why we’ve entered another!

The Youth Sport Trust is launching a new initiative to encourage more physical activity among young people, after a recent survey from YouGov revealed that many parents are unaware of how much time children should be active for each day.

Advice from the UK Chief Medical Officers (CMO) has said that all children between the ages of five and 18 should be “highly active”—meaning a raised heart rate—for 60 minutes each day.

However, the YouGov survey revealed that many believe children need to be active for half of this, around 30 minutes a day.

With less than half of all young people in the UK (47%) participating in activities for 60 minutes each day and almost a third (30%) averaging fewer than 30 active minutes, the Youth Sport Trust believes that lack of awareness is the culprit. 

Young people in the UK face a wellbeing crisis, and additional research (commissioned by the Youth Sport Trust and conducted by Teacher Tapp) has found that 97% of teachers are “concerned” about the mental health of young people in their school.  

And while the same number of teachers (97%) agree sports and play can support mental health, only 35% of teachers are aware children should be active for 60 or more minutes a day, highlighting the need for more support and training for schools and teachers. 

National Schools Sports Week

With this in mind, Youth Sport Trust created National School Sports Week in partnership with Sports Direct, with the aim of building awareness of the CMO guidance The charity hopes to get more children “playing for fun, playing for 60” from 19th to 25th June. 

The purpose of National School Sports Week is to boost children’s activity levels by encouraging people and organizations to make a #PledgeToPlay for 60 minutes every day during this week. 

Working with families and schools across the country, the campaign will ensure that people are better informed of the many benefits of sports and play for children. Making a “pledge to play” gives you access to resources and material to help with the goal. 

Alison Oliver MBE, chief executive of the Youth Sport Trust, says: “We know children are leading increasingly sedentary lives. Screen time is up, and time spent in nature is down—it’s no surprise that parents and teachers are increasingly concerned about children’s physical activity levels and the consequence of this in the classroom. 

“Children’s formative years can influence their wellbeing, development, education outcomes and physical activity levels well into adulthood. There is a compelling evidence base for more play and sport in children’s lives. Pockets of innovative practice that are unlocking new ways to inspire young people to get active are emerging, but raising public awareness of the CMO guidance should be a priority alongside action to help schools and families respond. 

“National School Sports Week is a great opportunity for us to engage with schools and families. We’re excited to share some brilliant ideas and guidance as well as uniting a movement of organizations to help amplify why this is important and what’s available at a local level. We are inviting the nation to #PledgeToPlay. 

“Today we issue a rallying call. Daily physical activity, play and the development of physical literacy through physical education and school sport should be an integral part of every childhood, and we are really excited to work with Sports Direct to make play and sport more accessible for more young people and in turn help them lead happier and healthier lives.

Schools, families and organisations can start to take action by supporting the Youth Sport Trust’s National School Sports Week campaign.”

This Sunday, thousands of runners will set off through the streets of London for the London Marathon. Among them will be runners of all stripes running for charities, PRs and world records. 

Each year a number of famous faces sign up, often raising funds for causes close to their heart. From actors, comedians and TV presenters to musicians and even Olympic medalists, there are plenty of celebrities to keep an eye out for on April 21. Golden Globe-winner Ruth Wilson, comedian Romesh Ranganathan and Ted Lasso star Phil Dunster will all be making their London Marathon debut this year.

Celebrities Running The 2024 London Marathon

Here are the celebrities who will be running the London Marathon 2024, with the charity they are running for in brackets.

• Aimee Fuller – former snowboarder and winter Olympian
• Ali Jawad – Paralympic powerlifter (Crohn's & Colitis UK)
• Alexander Lincoln – actor, Emmerdale (Centrepoint)
• Baasit and Raza Siddiqui – Gogglebox
• Ben Murphy – 2023 National Chef of the Year (Hospitality Action)
• Charlie Hodgson – former England rugby union player (Muscular Dystrophy UK)
• Chloe Meadows – The Only Way Is Essex (Crohn's & Colitis UK)
• Chris Newton – former Olympic cyclist (Anthony Nolan)
• Christopher Eccleston – actor, formerly Doctor Who (The Big Issue)
• Dan Hudson – comedian and podcast host of A Gay and A NonGay (Marie Curie)
• Danny Crates – Paralympian (Sports Aid)
• Darren Turner – racing driver (Hope for Tomorrow)
• Emma Barton – actor, EastEnders
• Emily Clarkson – influencer and Should I Delete That? podcast host
• Emon Choudhury – winner of BBC’s Race Across the World series two
• Erin Doherty – actor, previously in The Crown (Young Minds UK)
• Esther Manito – comedian (World Animal Protection)
• Gary Rowett – football manager
• Harry Judd – McFly drummer (The Children’s Trust)
• Helen Thorn – author and comedian
• Jack Derges – actor (Child Bereavement UK)
• James Cracknell – former Olympic rower
• Jamie Borthwick – actor, EastEnders
• Jamie Jones-Buchanan – former rugby league player (Sue Ryder Care)
• Jamie Peacock – former rugby league player (Sue Ryder Care)
• Jenni Falconer – Smooth FM radio presenter
• Joe Kellaway – 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medal winner (Mental Health Foundation)
• Josh Cuthbert – former Union J singer (Samaritans)
• Joshua Patterson – TV personality, Made In Chelsea (Samaritans)
• Laura Hamilton – presenter, A Place in the Sun (WellChild)
• Lauren-Nicole Mayes – actor (Action on Postpartum Psychosis)
• Lawrence Robb – actor, Emmerdale (Samaritans)
• Natalie Pinkham – Sky Sports F1 presenter and Flackstock co-founder (Samaritans)
• Phil Dunster – actor, Ted Lasso (Young Lives Vs Cancer)
• Rangan Chatterjee – host of Feel Better, Live More podcast
• Romesh Ranganathan – comedian and presenter (CALM)
• Ruth Wilson – actor (Alzheimer’s Research UK)
• Ryan Hand – TV presenter (Marie Curie)
• Shane Williams – former Wales rugby union player (Velindre Cancer)
• Suzanne Shaw – TV personality and singer (WellChild)

London Marathon FAQs

When is the London Marathon 2024?

The London Marathon will take place on Sunday April 21, 2024.

When does the London Marathon start?

The London Marathon start time is 10am for runners in the mass-participation field, but runners set off in waves so the celebrities above may not start running until 11:30am. Follow their progress using the London Marathon tracker app. 

Can you watch the London Marathon on TV?

You can try and catch these celebrities on the BBC’s official coverage of the race. You can watch live on BBC One and Two, online, or on the iPlayer app, with coverage starting at 8.30am BST (3.30am EST). All the details of the BBC’s live coverage of the London Marathon 2024 (all times BST) are below, and there is also a highlights show for the event at 6pm on BBC Two on the day.

• BBC One: 8.30am-2.15pm
• BBC Two: 2.15pm-3pm
• BBC Online and iPlayer: 1pm-6pm

How can you run the London Marathon 2025?

There are a number of ways to gain a race place in next year’s event, but the most popular ways are through the London Marathon ballot and getting a London Marathon charity place. The ballot opens on Saturday April 20, 2024, and you can throw your hat in the ring without putting money on the table, so it’s well worth a go.

One of the most memorable moments in London Marathon history is when Matthew Rees stopped to help David Wyeth down The Mall to the finish line. This selfless act inspired the Spirit of the London Marathon Awards, which recognizes the stories of participants, volunteers and supporters.

Jeremy Joseph, owner of London nightclubs G-A-Y and Heaven, and 12-time (soon to be 13) runner of the London Marathon, received the award in 2022. Coach grabbed the chance to talk to him about his London Marathon journey and his award.

We speak as he hits mile two of his final long run before the big day. As he clocks up the miles, I ask how he ended up entering so many London Marathons.

Joseph says he was living with an eating disorder and frequently running on a treadmill to try and burn calories. One day a power cut forced him outside and that is how he was introduced to non-treadmill running.

Soon his running distances were increasing each week. A staff member at the time was training for the London Marathon and Joseph decided to sign up too, running for Amnesty International. It was the 30th anniversary of Heaven, so Joseph set out to raise £30,000—£1,000 for every year the club had been open.

The ease with which he reached his fundraising goal kept him coming back for more. “People are so supportive,” he says. “Even with all the other fundraising events we’ve done, nothing has raised money like the London Marathon. It’s an event that brings London together and I think people look at it and think ‘this is amazing, I’m going to support this’.”

Rainbow Row

One of the reasons Joseph was given the Spirit of the London Marathon award was his contribution to Rainbow Row, a new initiative for the 2022 event.

Rainbow Row is a stretch on the London Marathon route just past 21 miles that celebrates the vibrancy and inclusivity of the LGBTQIA+ community. 

“London Marathon organisers contacted me saying they wanted the London Marathon to be more inclusive and represent more communities, and one of these communities is the LGBTQIA+ community,” he says. “They asked if I had any ideas, so we discussed it and the idea of Rainbow Row came up.

“They then looked at the logistics and chose Rainbow Row as a key part of the race. With five miles to go, it’s the final stretch and the route home.”

When I ask Joseph how he felt on the day of the London Marathon 2022 as he approached Rainbow Row, he laughs and says he was otherwise occupied.

“I did an interview with the BBC at the London Marathon Expo and they asked me to stop at Rainbow Row for an interview. We had to coordinate where the cameras would be, so my first thought when I hit Rainbow Row was where to run to do the interview.

“Restarting was absolutely hell on Earth. I could hardly move my legs. But stopping was the best thing I ever did, I loved being interviewed! It was just the most amazing feeling. I actually deep down hope I get asked again this year because I love to be a part of it.”

London Marathon 2023

Regarding  the upcoming marathon, Joseph says he’s apprehensive thanks to pain from an injury. “I’m very nervous—I don’t know where my legs are going to be next week. It’s a very nerve-racking thing so please sponsor me!”

Our call is interrupted briefly by the sound of my border collie barking in the background, prompting Joseph to share some of the charities closest to his heart, including Dogs Trust.

“Without my dog Jacob, I wouldn’t have gotten through lockdown. It was really important to me to make sure they were one of the charities that I’m running for,” he says.

Joseph is running for 13 charities in 2023:

1. Great Ormond Street
2. Bab’s Army
3. Trans Plus
4. Out and Proud African LGBTI
5. Southall Black Sisters
6. AKT
7. MIND Out
8. Kaleidoscope Trust
9. HIDAYAH LGBT+
10. Human Dignity Trust
11. Opening Doors LGBT
12. Switchboard LGBT+ helpline
13. Dogs Trust

His goal is to raise a total of £130,000; £10,000 for each charity.

“I think it doesn’t matter the amount you sponsor someone because [however much it is,] it does really encourage people,” says Joseph. “If you can only afford a couple of pounds, that’s fine! No-one expects anyone to donate and then struggle [for money], but if you do donate just a little bit to whoever you know running, I think it’s an amazing way to show support.”

Spirit Of The London Marathon Award

After more marathon chat, we get on to his award, which Joseph says he was shocked to win. “I don’t actually think I deserve it,” he admits, “because London Marathon Events changed me as a person. I want to give them the award.

“The way I look at fundraising is all because of the London Marathon. The people behind the London Marathon are the most incredible people. To be able to be involved with them is such an honour. And they should get more credit.”

Joseph is in the process of changing his businesses, moving shares from G-A-Y Group Ltd into his G-A-Y Foundation, so that part of the business can become a charity. This, he says, is a result of COVID-19 and lockdown. “I felt that when we reopened after COVID and lockdown, I was going back to where I was two years ago and just worked,” he says. “I felt like I had no purpose any more. I wanted to not just work, but for work to have a purpose.”

He reiterates that he doesn’t want to take the credit for his fundraising efforts, instead praising every single person who has donated and helped along the way.

“The London Marathon should again take the credit. Without the event, we’d never have raised the money.”

You can find Joseph’s fundraising page on the TCS London Marathon website.

Feeling inspired to raise money in next year’s event? Here’s how to run the London Marathon for charity.

Setting any Guinness World Record is hard, even/especially the one where you grow your fingernails for 25 years. However, we have a hard time imagining a more physically challenging record than the one Craig Peters is set to attempt on 3rd December, when he will try to do more than 9,600 burpees in 24 hours.

Those aren’t just any burpees, either – they’re chest-to-floor burpees. That means Peters’s chest has to hit the floor on every rep, 400 times an hour, every hour, for 24 hours. Then he has to push himself back up and jump straight up.

“Guinness states that as long as my chest hits the ground and my feet leave the ground upon the jump then that’s classed as a chest-to-ground burpee,” says Peters. “It doesn’t matter how high you jump. I must have two bits of tape on the ground which are half my height apart. One for my hands to go in front of, the other for my feet to land behind.”

It sounds an absolutely appalling way to spend 24 hours to us, and Peters will know better than most how hard it’s going to be, because he has attempted the record before. 

He tapped out about 3,000 burpees short of the target on that occasion, but he trained at home by himself for that attempt. This time around his prep has been aided by working in the gym with PT Oliver Dowding of IN2FIT Personal Training. Peters is also now a sponsored athlete of Optimus Gyms.

“I have done this before and reached 6,560 burpees,” says Peters. “However, that was before I’d even set foot in a gym. I completely respect the challenge ahead, but I know this time things in and out of the gym have been on point, and I have a wonderful team around me.”

Peters is motivated by more than just the world record with this attempt. He is raising money for St George’s Hospital Charity and to support its Fetal Medicine Unit at St George’s Hospital, London, where his twin boys underwent a life-saving procedure in 2014. Peters has previously raised £17,000 for the charity by doing a monstrous 67,000 burpees throughout 2016, as well as 6,500 burpees in 24 hours. 

As part of this record attempt Peters is aiming to raise another £5,000 for St George’s Hospital Charity. You can sponsor him on the JustGiving website.

More Impressive Feats

• This British Woman Holds The Guinness World Record For Most Bodyweight Squats In One Minute
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• Ultramarathon Runner Sorrell Walsh Helps Women Get Into Running

When you first start lifting weights in the gym, being able to squat your own bodyweight on a barbell is a great target to work towards. After a few months of lifting regularly you might be able to do a set of bodyweight squats.

What you probably won’t be able to do is perform 42 bodyweight squats in a minute, which is exactly what powerlifter Karenjeet Kaur Bains did to set a new Guinness World Record. Bains is the first Sikh female to represent Great Britain in powerlifting and is a five-time British champion, but attempting the record took her well beyond her normal approach to training.

We spoke to Bains about the record, and also got her advice on how to squat.

Why did you decide to attempt the record?

I was approached by Guinness to attempt the record. I never thought I’d be attempting a record – whenever I used to get the book when I was younger, I’d be in awe of the strength records. 

I was deciding between the records I could attempt and they dropped in the fact that I only had two weeks to do it because of the publishing deadline. So I didn’t really have any training time. As a powerlifter I normally only do five to eight reps, so to do 42 reps was very different!

What was the previous record? 

They set me a standard of 30 reps I had to beat. The record had been attempted previously by a male lifter, but never a female one. The male one did 34 reps I think, so I’m really happy I beat him! I remember when I was training for it I did about 20 reps in 30 seconds as a first go, but I was starting to get very tired. There was a lot of zoning out and not thinking about the huge amount of lactic acid in my legs.

How did you get into powerlifting? 

I started aged 17. My dad is my coach – he’s a former bodybuilder and powerlifter himself. I grew up watching him train and I was really intrigued by strength. I have two older brothers who were 400m hurdlers at a national level and I started in athletics. I used to do the 100m, 200m, long jump, hammer. I transitioned to powerlifting at 17 just to get more fit for running and found I loved it. I picked up the squat, bench and deadlift quite quickly – years of watching it helped me. Within three months of starting my dad entered me into a competition and I won that. Since then it lit a fire in me – it feels good to be strong.

Did you change your training for the record?

I was training for an All-England bench press competition around the same time, so I was gearing my training towards that, and then doing stuff for the record as well. I would almost say I wish I’d trained for it more, because I had to do my training sessions and then do the attempts after my sessions, so I only attempted it four or five times before the record attempt. I had two weeks of stressing out to get it done before the publishing deadline. They said, “you can do it afterwards, we’ll put you in the following year’s book,” and I was like, “I don’t want that, I want this year!”

What tips do you have for people who squat?

I also coach, so I can help people with the basics of powerlifting. Basically, get good coaching, focus on good technique and progress slowly. A lot of people want to get to the big weights straight away, but it takes time. I suggest starting off with unweighted squats. 

If you’re not very good at squatting low you can squat to a bench or something else you can aim for. Remember to keep your back straight. Lots of people have their heels elevated when they squat – you can stand on a mat or something. 

What advice do you have for people who find the idea of powerlifting daunting?

It is daunting, especially if you’re female. I’ve been lifting weights for nine years now and I still think I look feminine. I think a lot of girls are scared of lifting heavy weights because they think they’re going to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger with a wig on! It’s not possible, unless you’re taking testosterone, to get that bulky! I’m always encouraging ladies to lift heavy and break norms. On the world stage I see tiny girls deadlift 200kg. I think it’s a really empowering feeling. Plus, there’s the benefits of muscle for your metabolism, and the benefits of being stronger later in life.

• This Man Is Attempting To Do More Than 10,110 Burpees In A Day
• Strength Training For Women: A Beginner’s Home Workout Plan
• Weights Workout From Women’s Rugby World Cup Winner Vicky Fleetwood
• How To Master The Barbell Back Squat

Sanam Saleh lost her first born, Idrees, at just five days old after he was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). Her husband started running marathons to raise money for the British Heart Foundation (BHF) in Idrees’ memory, and this year, Sanam is taking on the challenge for the first time.

Could you tell me about your story and why you’re raising money for the BHF?

When I was pregnant with our first child, Idrees, he was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect. It was diagnosed quite early on in my pregnancy due to scientific research from the British Heart Foundation which has allowed doctors to detect these issues in the womb.

Idrees was diagnosed with one of the most serious heart defects, called HLHS. We were told that there was a 50/50 chance that he would make it to birth, and if he was born alive, he would have to have life-saving open heart surgery as a newborn to give him any chance at life. With HLHS, the heart doesn’t develop properly in the womb, so the surgery is necessary to be able to breathe and for the body to pump blood around properly.

Like most people, my husband and I didn’t know that this was something that could happen. The British Heart Foundation has a lot of informative fact sheets and offers help and support for families who find themselves in similar situations. We found that really useful to help prepare us for what was to come. 

Our baby was born full term and everything went OK at the beginning, but he did have a few other complications, which meant that the doctors didn’t recommend him for the open heart surgery. He passed away at just five days old.

Ever since Idrees’ birth and death we’ve committed ourselves to his legacy. A big part of our grieving process and trying to make sense of everything that has happened has been to focus our efforts on raising money and awareness, not just for congenital heart defects but also other heart research. We learned more about the incredible work that charities like the British Heart Foundation were doing, and focused a lot of our fundraising efforts around raising money for them.

My husband ran his first marathon a few months after Idrees passed away, and he’s run three more since. This year will be my first one.

What made you decide to run the marathon this time?

I think you could call it a a postpartum high! We were in the hospital after I had my son. I turned to my husband and said, “One day I’m going to run a marathon.” To be honest, it was an idea that was completely “out there” because I’ve never really been a runner. At the time I said I was going to do it, I couldn’t even run 5K! But it felt like one of those life challenges that you set yourself.

I was supposed to run the London Marathon in 2020 and I was midway through my training when it was cancelled, which was a bit of a blow. In the end I deferred it to this year.

How have you found training for the marathon?

Training is tough! It’s gruelling, it’s time-consuming and it can feel very intense. The fact that you have to train alone, going out early in the morning, means that it can feel lonely at times.

When I set myself the challenge of running the marathon, I wasn’t a runner at all, but I’ve now completed a couple of 5Ks and a half marathon, so I’m a bit more experienced at this point and know what to expect.

Luckily the weather has been great, although the heatwave has brought its own challenges!

What do your two children think about you running the marathon and raising money?

They’re aware that I’m running it and they’re very excited. They actually think I’m going to win it! I don’t have the heart to tell them that that’s probably not going to happen, but they’re only five and six so I’ll let them think that for now!

They’ve been part of the mini marathon in their school, which is one of the London Marathon initiatives. Primary school children around the country commit to running a mini marathon, so they have a month to do 2.6 miles. The class walks or jogs around the playground and they count up how many laps everyone does. Everyone gets a certificate to say that they’ve completed the mini marathon.

What are your top tips for anyone running a marathon for the first time?

I’m a project manager, so I really approached it as just a massive project. My main tip would be to do a lot of research and prepare properly – it’s not something that you can blag. When training gets really intense, there are a lot of things you need to look at outside of the actual running, such as avoiding injury, conditioning and nutrition. Those things seem like extras, but in some ways they’re actually a larger part of preparing than the running itself.

Another thing would be to talk to people who have run a marathon before because they can give you invaluable advice.

What does it mean to you to be able to do this for the British Heart Foundation?

After everything that we’ve been through, we know that the biggest impact that anyone has in this life is the legacy that they leave behind. As parents of our son, who sadly didn’t live very long, we believe that it’s our responsibility to set his legacy. We commit to doing these challenging things with the intention of raising money for future parents who might find themselves in a similar situation, and through the light of making Idrees’ legacy as positive an impact as possible.

• How To Get A Charity Place For The London Marathon
• What It’s Like To Run The London Marathon For A Charity

You can donate to the British Heart Foundation on Sanam’s JustGiving page. 

The British Heart Foundation is the official Charity of the Year for the 2022 TCS London Marathon. It aims to help heal hearts across the UK by aiming to raise over £3 million for research into regenerative medicine that could one day find a cure for heart conditions.

This year, Team BHF runners will be running to help fund cutting-edge research into regenerative medicine. The BHF has identified nine regenerative medicine research projects to benefit from the money raised at this year’s London Marathon. These projects aim to find ways to regrow, repair and replace damaged heart muscle and blood vessels – and could one day find a cure for heart failure.  

Among this year’s BHF marathon runners is Professor Sanjay Sinha from the University of Cambridge, who is leading the groundbreaking research behind the Heart Healing Patch.

Made of stem cells, the patch could be applied to the heart to help repair damage caused by a heart attack and could help save and improve the lives of millions worldwide affected by heart failure. This year the BHF wants the nation to rally behind Sanjay and help get the Heart Healing Patch over the finish line. To find out more and to support Sanjay, visit gosanjay.bhf.org.uk

Trying to put together an objective list of the best hikes in the UK is a thankless task. There are so many wonderful routes to consider, and people will always have their own preferences when rating a hike, from the type of terrain to the amount of climbing involved and the views.

It’s a lot easier to use what’s popular as a proxy for what’s best. Sure, you’re unlikely to find solitude, but if thousands walk the same route, word would get round pretty quickly if it was rubbish.

And it’s easy to find out what’s popular thanks to Strava, which has used the data from its 100 million-strong user base to rank the six most popular hiking stretches (known on Strava as segments) in the UK. It’s as close to an objective list as you can get, since people have literally voted with their feet by walking the routes. 

As you might expect, the UK’s biggest mountains feature prominently in the list, with routes up or around Ben Nevis and Snowdon taking spots one and two on the list and two of the Yorkshire Dales’ Three Peaks – Pen-y-Ghent and Whernside – coming third and fourth.

Another big mountain – Pen-y-Fan – comes in fifth, but actually it’s a specific route down that proved to be popular with Strava users. Rounding out the list is a tough climb in the grounds of Belfast Castle.

Using Strava segments is clearly not a foolproof way to pick the best hikes, since people might stray off the exact route and not add their data to the pile as a result, but there’s no doubt that the six routes produced are all excellent hikes and worth adding to the itinerary of any trips you might be taking to the relevant areas.

The UK’s Most Popular Hikes Based On Strava Segment Data

Ben Nevis, Scotland

This challenging route covers the last section of the climb to the top of Ben Nevis, with 575m of ascent in total. See the segment

The Llanberis path to Snowdon, Wales

The most popular segment around Snowdon is this route down the final section of the Llanberis Path, one of the longest routes up and down the mountain, but the one with the gentlest elevation change. See the segment

Pen-y-Ghent, England

Pen-y-Ghent is the smallest of Yorkshire’s Three Peaks, but the most popular Strava segment around it still involves a meaty 112m of climbing in just over a kilometre. See the segment

Whernside, England

Whernside is the tallest of the Three Peaks in the Yorkshire Dales and this hike takes in the entire climb of the mountain from Ribblehead up to the summit at 736m. See the segment

Pen-y-Fan, Wales

You drop 468m in this segment on Pen-y-Fan in the Brecon Beacons, hiking from the summit all the way back down to the road. See the segment

Belfast Castle, Northern Ireland

The average grade of this challenging climb in the grounds of Belfast Castle is 10%, but the views from the top must be worth it, given the amount of people that tackle it. See the segment

Everyone knows that riding downhill on a bike is fun. And everyone can guess that cycling on traffic-free trails in the countryside is fun. Those two things alone mean mountain biking is double fun for beginners.

It may seem like a difficult sport to try, but not if you know about the trail centres that are dotted about the UK. These locations offer graded manmade trails along with bike rentals so you can venture out, safe in the knowledge that you have the right kit and won’t be greeted by some of the more gnarly obstacles you might encounter on natural trails – unless you want to.

Even if you don’t have ambitions to take up the sport, a visit to a trail centre makes for a great day out. Find your nearest one with this guide to the UK’s trail centres from Coach’s sister title Mountain Bike Rider, then read on for more advice to help you make the most of your first time mountain biking. 

What To Bring

If you’re hiring a bike and a helmet, there aren’t many more things you need. A drink and snacks (think carb-heavy energy bars) will ensure you don’t run out of oomph. Since you don’t want them bouncing around in a non-sport specific rucksack on your back, a bumbag, if you have one, is ideal. A hydration pack is even better as it will keep everything tight to your body.

If you’re bringing your own mountain bike, a helmet is essential, as is the kit for fixing a puncture: so tyre levers, a spare inner tube and a pump, or tubeless plugs if you use tubeless tyres. A multi-tool can also come in handy to make adjustments on the fly. 

Finally, don’t leave your phone in your car. Not only can you take a snap of the map of the trails to refer to on your ride, but it’s essential for getting assistance in an emergency.

What To Ride

Some mountain bikes have suspension at the front and back wheels, but it’s a good idea for beginners to start with a hardtail bike where there’s only suspension at the front. They’re often lighter, so you need to put in less effort to get around the trails, and they have more than enough suspension for beginner trails.

And if you take to mountain biking, a hardtail is a wise first purchase. They tend to be cheaper and easier to maintain, since you’re removing some complexity, and often feature superior componentry elsewhere on the bike than similarly priced full-suspension models. 

A case in point is the Cube Attention SL with RockShox suspension, Shimano 12-speed gearing, Schwalbe tyres and flat-mount disc brakes. The front suspension can be locked out for road riding, and with mounts for kickstands, mudguards and pannier racks, it can be transformed into a workhorse commuter bike. Aficionados, too, will find plenty to like in the attention to detail, and there’s an option to upgrade to a dropper seat, which connects to a button on your handlebars to raise and lower your seat in a jiffy.

How To Ride

There is very much a right way to ride, and that’s the right way round. All trail centres are one-way, so make sure you’re following the direction of traffic. It’s also worth beginning with the easiest grade if you’re a first-timer, or a grade below what you normally ride if you’re at a new trail centre.

From easiest to hardest, trails are colour-coded green, blue, red and black. The green ones will be flat and won’t have any tricky obstacles and they’re a great way to get used to handling a mountain bike. 

A blue trail will add a few ups and downs, and some challenging features, but confident road riders should be able to roll through these trails without any difficulty.

Once you get up to red you’ll be expected to have a greater degree of experience and be able to recognise technical obstacles and manage your speed accordingly. Black is not for the faint-hearted.

If you’re cycling along a straight, flat section, or uphill, lock out the suspension and have the saddle at hip height to make it easier to cover distance quickly, but if you’re facing a downhill with obstacles, unlock the suspension and lower the saddle so you have more room to move around on the bike.

Content warning: This article mentions a family member taking their own life.

Peter Crocombe lost his father Paul to suicide in 2020, which was just around the time Peter was getting into running. He found that the sport helped him deal with his grief in the aftermath of his father’s death, and he realised he could use running to raise awareness of mental health problems and fundraise for Sport In Mind, a charity that uses exercise to improve the lives of people struggling with their mental health.

After first tackling a 100km run along the Thames and running the London Marathon in 2021 to raise money, Peter and three friends – Gus Barton, Jack Mayhew and Liam Bendell – are approaching the start of their biggest challenge yet. They aim to run from Land’s End to John o’Groats (LEJOG) in just seven days and set a world record in the process.

The team of four are being supported with running shoes from Hoka, and will run in shifts of 90 minutes to cover the distance of 1,500km, resting between stages in camper vans following them along the route. You can track them on the Mental Miles website, where you can also donate to Sport In Mind to help the team hit their fundraising target of £20,000.

We spoke to Crocombe ahead of the challenge to learn more about the charity and how running has helped him manage his mental health.

Can you share what happened with your father?

My dad and mum have been happily retired for a few years. We knew dad was slightly ill and struggled a little bit with depression after a successful teaching career where he was an incredible sports coach. But it was a big shock to find out he had taken his own life. 

My dad had tried the traditional treatments which the GP prescribed. Counselling didn’t quite work and with medication, he found it was just taking him further away from the man that he was. He was incredibly enthusiastic and energetic. 

How did that lead you into taking on these running challenges?

At that time, I had started my first little forays into running. I was about to turn 30 and I wanted to get a challenge in the diary, which actually was meant to be two days later. The plan was to run 100km from my home in Brixton up the Thames to Henley.

I decided I would still do this challenge a few weeks later. Two weeks after dad’s funeral, we did the run. At that stage we scouted out a charity called Sport In Mind. They put on sports or coaching sessions for those who are really struggling with mental health. The NHS has taken them on as an approved partner and it’s now another method for treating people struggling with mental health. We’re closing in on about £100,000 raised for Sport In Mind.

Have you found that running helped you with your grief?

Yeah, hugely. I was a big sportsman, but running was always a byproduct of other sports. It became a lot more relevant in my life, and with lockdown as well it was somewhere I could channel a lot of my pain and grief. 

I think with other sports I’ve done, like golf, you can play for three months but you’re not necessarily going to be any better. If you run for a month and you’re consistent with your training, you are going to be better. It’s going to be easier. That process and the time you get on the run to process, I’ve found it to be quite therapeutic.

What do you see being the hardest part of the upcoming LEJOG run?

This challenge more than anything is going to come down to nutrition. Sleep is also a key part of it, and logistics. We’ve got three drivers in two camper vans which will be constantly moving, so no stopping for showers!

Can you tell us a bit more about Sport In Mind?

Its main goal is to improve the lives of those who are struggling with mental health, and they do that through the power of sport and exercise. It’s a lovely little charity which is growing and they really resonated with what dad was all about. Rather than go for one of the big charities, it was nice for us to really make a big difference. 

When life is difficult, Samaritans are here – day or night, 365 days a year. You can call them for free on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org, or visit samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.

We reckon a healthy lifestyle is something best enjoyed by families as a whole, and we aim to help you get the whole clan involved with advice covering topics like how to get your kids to open up, become more active, or just eat more fruit and vegetables. We also have reviews covering the best children’s bikes and scooters, running buggies and fitness trackers for kids.

For anyone thinking of going on their first UK climbing break, where better than the place that started it all? Rock climbing originated with Victorian mountaineers who developed the skills needed to ascend and cross rocky mountain faces in their bid to conquer the great European peaks. The sport came about as an offshoot of this and the first recorded rock climb in the UK was an ascent of the Lake District’s Napes Needle in 1866. 

The Lake District is best known in the climbing world for its abundance of multi-pitch mountain routes. "If you're in need of some guidance, you'll easily be able to hire an instructor to show you the ropes (literally). As well as guiding you around some of the best multi-pitch locations they’ll also be able to teach you the necessary skills to make the jump (not literally).

It’s also a great area for indoor climbers to make their first foray into the outdoors. Just be prepared for a decent walk into the mountains and be sure to pack accordingly. As well as climbing kit, you’ll need a good pair of walking shoes, waterproofs, warm clothes, plenty of liquid and some snacks. If you book an instructor they’ll discuss climbing kit with you and should be able to sort you out with anything you’re missing.

Picking Your Route

A day climbing in the mountains on a classic route is hard to beat. There are some great days out in the Borrowdale valley, with Little Chamonix a perfect first multi-pitch route. Dow Crag in the Coniston Fells is another good option, and there are plenty of options around Langdale as well. Or you could just opt for the pioneering route at Napes Needle. 

For a detailed overview of the best multi-pitch routes to try, we suggest picking up a copy of Classic Rock by Ken Wilson.

Booking An Instructor

If you’re planning to book a guide or instructor for a multi-pitch route, aim to use someone who is registered with the Association of Mountaineering Instructors (AMI) or British Mountain Guides. Doing this ensures you’ll be hiring an instructor or guide who is well qualified and has the right skills to make sure you enjoy your day out safely. It also means they will have appropriate insurance. 

Climbing Festivals In The Lake District

Climbing festivals offer a great way to explore a local area and enable you to access experts and guides who can supply you with knowledge on everything from improving your climbing to buying new kit. They’re also ideal if you want to find inspiration for your trip or enjoy a few rest days between activities.

Kendal Mountain Festival and Keswick Mountain Festival are both great opportunities to watch films about the outdoors, hear talks on mountain adventures, and check out products from outdoor clothing manufacturers.

The Arc’teryx Academy weekend is another event worth attending. As well as films, food, music and the chance to demo some climbing kit, the weekend provides skills training. This covers everything from introductory rock climbing and multi-pitch sessions to learning to lead, rescue skills and scrambling. All training is provided by the  International School of Mountaineering and is heavily subsidised by Arc’teryx, meaning you’ll get first-class tuition at a great price. Spend a couple of days skilling up and then get straight on to the crag to put your learning into practice.

• Rock Climbing For Beginners
• Best Activity Holidays In The UK

Where To Eat And Drink In The Lake District

The Lake District is one of the best places in the UK for food and drink, whether that’s at the end of a long day on the mountains, or long leisurely lunches to pass the time if the weather hits hard and you need to kill a day or two.

Some of our favourite options for food in the Lake District include The Round in Keswick, Kysty in Ambleside for breakfast, Rattle Ghyll Deli in Ambleside for snacks and sandwiches, and Sticklebarn National Trust café if you’re in Langdale.

For drinks, we suggest Hawkshead Brewery in Staveley, The Old Dungeon Ghyll in Langdale, The Drunken Duck and The Golden Rule in Ambleside, and The Sun in Coniston. 

Places To Buy New Kit In The Lake District

As you can imagine, there’s no shortage of places to pick up some new outdoor equipment and clothing in the Lake District. Our recommendations are Needle Sports in Keswick and The Climbers Shop in Ambleside, which are superbly stocked and have knowledgeable and helpful staff.

Things To Do If Your Climb Is Called Off

Let’s be realistic, the weather doesn’t care about your plans or what season it is. It’s well worth having a few back-up activities ready so you can still make the best of your trip.

If you absolutely have to do some climbing on your climbing holiday – and who would blame you? – there are some great climbing walls in the Lakes. Our favourite locations are Kendal Wall, the bouldering venue in Ulverston, and Kong at Keswick.

And if you fancy a break from climbing, why not give outdoor swimming a go? Suzanna Swims offers a number of group swimming opportunities in some of the Lake District’s most picturesque locations – although you may want to think about wearing a wetsuit in the colder months.

While we have not had enough of experts by a long shot, there’s wit and wisdom to be found from people of all stripes – from a star athlete or celebrity, to an ordinary person doing something incredible or even something pretty regular. Learn something new through our interviews with all sorts of people.

Diet plans, training routines, workouts and advice to help you make a big change to your body composition, whether you’re hoping to lose fat, build muscle, or both. Just remember that a healthy lifestyle is something you have to put in place for the long-term. A short-term transformation project can be a great way to get started.

We take a holistic approach to our careers advice here at Coach, which means alongside things like productivity tips and hacks to make you happier at work, we’ll also advise on how to avoid assholes in the office. And, of course, because many people’s residences now double as their office, we have advice for making the most of working from home, including our picks of the best standing desks and advice on how to improve your desk posture if you do prefer to stay seated.

While we have nothing against a relaxing beach break, we tend to prefer our holidays to involve some sort of adventure. That could be sea kayaking, kitesurfing, coasteering or just good old fashioned hiking. You’ll find reviews of our experiences below, plus a whole load of other suggestions for adventurous and active breaks. If you need to pick up some new outdoor gear before your trip, browse our gear guide for kit like walking boots and backpacks.

If you’ve ever wanted to know the fitness secrets that help celebrities stay in shape, we’ve done our best to prise this insider info out of them. We have interviews with huge stars from the silver screen, as well as musicians and a host of other big names with top fitness tips to share.

The Lions will be playing three extremely intense, highly physical test matches, with only a week’s rest between each game. How will you build their fitness to cope with that high workload?
With the coaching crew we’ve got every session will be intense, so we’ll be training above match intensity all the time in pockets during the week. Then obviously there’s a massive premium placed on recovery and nutrition after games and between training sessions so the lads are ready for the matches at the weekend. There’s a lot of travel involved too which will lead to travel fatigue. That’s something else we have to try to get over.
 
How important is the work you do in the gym to prepare them for the physicality of the matches?
We’ve got some big, strong explosive boys but we won’t be looking to make big gains in strength in the gym. We’ll just be getting them ready for the matches. They’ll probably have three big gym sessions each week: a whole-body strength session first, then an upper-body strength session in the middle of the week, and finishing with a power-orientated session two days before match day. That last session will involve a lot of explosive work, such as power cleans and high pulls, and sprinting drills that act as a primer for the match.

What’s the most important physical asset the Lions team will possess – speed, endurance, power? And how will they achieve this?
The Lions squad will have the best players from every individual team, so the game becomes faster by default. Everyone’s executing the skills faster, so the game will always be 10-15% more intense than a normal domestic game. If you lack something in any one area then you’re going to get found out. If you’re really strong but not fit then you’ll be struggling 20 minutes into the game. So we’d like to think that all of our players possess all of those qualities in abundance. But, strength and power-wise especially, we need to be doing plenty of strength because Australia are an explosive, strong team and we need to try and win the game.

Where do you expect the match to be won and lost?
The battle in the forwards is going to be massive. Our forwards are always pushing maximum strength work because that is their game. We also need to be able to repeat what we do over and over again during the game. The last 20 minutes of the game will be key. With England we push for this so we can finish strongly in matches, and I know that the Welsh side do too. The endurance focus is big as well. It’s about being able to repeat what you do – tackle someone, get up off the floor, hit the scrum, hit a ruck, go again. You’ve got to be able to do that over and over again for 80 minutes.

Rugby is obviously very stop-start, and recovery is vital, so what are the best fitness drills to prepare the players for this stop-start nature?
You’ve got to train as specifically as you can for the game. So, your training will involve a lot of running, a lot of getting up off the floor, a lot of pushing movements and pulling movements. Our training is very interval based. We’ll work at a 1:1 ratio of work to rest. This is one of our shuttle drills: run five metres, hit the floor and jump back up, run back five metres and do another down and up, run ten metres, do the same, then run 20 metres down and up, and then finish back at the start resting the same amount of time it took you to complete. Then we’ll repeat that a few times. We also do lots of wrestling drills. Three players work in a five-metre square. Two have 20 seconds to push each other out of the square. Then, they’ll rest for ten seconds before the next man is in and we’ll keep rotating. They will be working for 20 seconds and resting for ten. These drills replicate a match really well.
 
Are the players on a strict diet? What will they be eating and drinking before and after tough training sessions?
Nutrition has improved hugely over the past ten years in rugby. Unless you eat well you won’t get by these days. Two to three hours before training the boys eat protein-based meals with a bit of carbs to get them through the session, such as chicken with potatoes and plenty of veg for antioxidants and the occasional bit of bread but not too much. During training, the boys will be sipping on sports drinks. We use Maximuscle which has got some amino acids in it, some protein and some carbs. After training they’ll take a recovery shake depending on the nature of the session. If it’s a weights session it might just be a protein shake but, if it’s a heavy rugby training session, it will include some carbs to help drive the protein to their muscles for recovery. Then they will try to get another protein-based meal in within the hour.

Could you give our readers a mini workout based on what you will put the Lions players through?
Try this interval sprints session in the park or on a treadmill. Sprint for 30 seconds followed by 30 seconds’ rest for eight repetitions. Rest for a minute. Then sprint for 20 seconds with 20 seconds’ rest another eight times. Rest for another minute. Then finish with a ten-second sprint and ten seconds’ rest for ten reps. In total it should take less than 20 minutes.
 
What is your number one fitness tip?
You’ve got to be specific to what your needs are. Establish what your goal is and how you’re going to get there. There’s no hiding from it. If you don’t work hard, you wont make any gains. If you’re lifting, you’ve got to lift and you’ve got to be tired when you finish. It’s got to be intense. If you’re running or training for cardiovascular fitness, you’ve got to train hard. If you don’t try hard there’s no point to your training.
 
Paul Stridgeon was speaking at the Maximuscle rugby day, part of the Protein Project. Stridgeon has been helping the contestants achieve their goals. See their results and vote for your winner at facebook.com/maximuscle

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The new MF interactive iPad magazine is also out now. Click here to download it.

The first thing you should do after your kid consumes their Halloween haul of sweets and chocolate is NOT clean their teeth.

“Never brush your teeth just after eating sugary or acidic food or drink!” says Dr Jerome Sebah, ambassador for oral health brands Arm & Hammer and Waterpik. “The enamel is getting attacked by the acid so the tooth is more fragile. It is best to rinse with water and wait 30 minutes after the last sweet before brushing.”

If that came as a shock to you, then you should definitely read on for more advice from Sebah on keeping young teeth and gums in good shape…

What are the impacts of too much sugar on children’s teeth?

Tooth decay is the main problem. Some of the bacteria in the mouth eats sugar to produce energy and grow in number. They produce an acid that first destroys the crystals in the enamel, which is 92% mineral. The second layer in the teeth – the dentin – is only 70% mineral, so it is much easier for the acid from the bacteria to destroy.

Once the dentin is affected it can reach the nerve and cause a toothache. If a child is complaining from toothache, it could be too late. If lucky, the child could get a filling to fill the hole, but in most cases the nerve needs to be removed or the tooth extracted.

Are there any sweets that are worse for your teeth than others?

Sticky, sour sweets are the worst because they combine acid and sugar, which sticks to the teeth, especially in between the teeth where it’s hard to reach with the toothbrush. Caramel toffees are also a culprit, having both sugar and stickiness.

Is a one-off binge on Halloween likely to damage teeth?

It is better to have a one-off binge on Halloween instead of having a consistent regular intake of sweets.

See related 

• How To Stop Your Kids Eating Too Much Sugar
• How Much Sugar Should You Have A Day?
• The Best Electric Toothbrushes 2020: Keep Your Teeth Clean And Protect Your Gums From £20

Do you have any advice on how many sweets kids should eat in general?

If kids have sweets close to their mealtime, that is OK because they will brush their teeth not long after. The main problem is snacking on sweets during the day.

It’s better to have ten sweets just after dinner because you will be brushing your teeth just before going to bed – that’s if you’re able to sleep from the sugar rush! This is better than eating one sweet five times during the day, because the prolonged period of acidic erosion will have a worse effect.

Jane Gilmour and Bettina Hohnen are clinical psychologists and academics with a specialist interest in neuropsychology. Their new book, How to Have Incredible Conversations With Your Child (£14.99, Jessica Kingsley) is out now. In this exclusive contributed article, they suggest ways to spark incredible conversations after school. 

Strong relationships are built on good conversation skills, and they’re also linked to lifelong mental and physical wellness, so get them high on your parenting to-do list. To get good at anything, whether that’s holding a plank, learning a language or developing conversation skills with your child, you need to practise it and use good technique.

As with anything, your first attempt is not likely to be your best. There will be bumps in the road and some conversations will feel like hard work. But with persistence and patience you and your child will enjoy the benefits of great communication, and – most importantly – this will help your child form positive relationships throughout their life.

We’ve focused on school pick-up here because, according to attachment theory (a key child development framework), a sensitively managed reunion like school pick-up can strengthen family bonds. These five tips will help bring out the incredible in the conversations you have with your child, build your relationship and set them on a lifelong trajectory of wellness.

1. Read The Room

You might be hoping for a list of good questions to ask your child but the secret to great conversation is being able to read the room. Strong evidence shows that reading our child’s emotional state is one of the most important parenting skills, so the first question we are going to suggest is one that you should ask yourself. As your child emerges from the school gates, read their body language and facial expression, and ask yourself what they need. Some kids are talkers, but others need to decompress for a bit at first and if that’s the case, one of the greatest bonding strategies for school pick-up is to let them be and wait a bit before you talk.

2. Name It

If, on the other hand, your child comes out the school gates full of emotion, perhaps angry and shouty, name what you see. There is strong neuroscientific evidence showing that simply naming an emotion can mean distress will settle more quickly (we can see this happen in MRI brain imaging scans). Only when they are calm will they be able to engage in the to and fro of conversation, reflect and think in a meaningful way.

So, let’s say you now have a calm kid ready for a conversation on your hands. What now?

3. Start Talking

A good tip is to tell your children about your day. That way you are modelling the very conversation skills we want your child to learn. Social Learning Theory consistently shows that watching how parents interact with the world is one of the most powerful teaching techniques for children, so you should try to share at pick-up too. Tell a story or a memory they have never heard before because there is nothing more tantalising than stories about parents which have been previously embargoed.

See related

• How To Get Three Portions Of Fruit And Veg In Your Child’s Packed Lunch
• How To Support Your Child’s Mental Health During The Pandemic
• How To Limit Your Kids’ Screen Time Without Provoking Massive Tantrums

4. Talk About The Hard Stuff Too

If your child has had a bad day, listen and remain calm (otherwise they might shut down and stop talking). We know that the capability to understand negative emotions is key to lifelong wellbeing, because if we don’t articulate these feelings they may lead to mental health concerns in the future, so let your kids talk about the hard stuff. If you’ve had a bad day, talk about it too. Think about what you are teaching them here: your message is that we discuss and figure out our struggles together. Incidentally, do also share your triumphs and feelgood stories – it’s all about balance. If you show them that talking about difficult experiences is on the agenda, it means they will share their tough stuff, because they have learned through lived experience that it’s OK to share anything.

5. Get Creative

Primary school children in particular find the abstract concepts in conversation pretty challenging. Their stage of cognitive development means that ideas are best expressed using real things as vehicles of expression, like drawing on a line to show how good something is – one end of the line is the best ever and the other end is the worst. You don’t need fancy materials or even to be sitting down; in fact, we would recommend talking when you are on the move. Small changes on the line can show minor changes in feelings that are very difficult to express in words for younger children, but are very much felt nonetheless. You can use a line in a sandpit or the condensation on the car window but try to make it real, because that helps your child both express themselves and understand concepts with much finer gradations without the need for a nuanced vocabulary.

If you need some more inspiration, our new book How To Have Incredible Conversations With Your Child includes lots of carefully scaffolded conversation topics that cover four points of the wellbeing compass: Who are you? How are you? What helps you? And what gets in the way?

Visit Gilmour and Hohnen’s Instagram page @incredibleconversation for more advice.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted everyone’s lives, and one of the unfortunate results of the stress caused by the disease has been a decline in mental health among both the young and the old.

To help people cope with the issues that have arisen due to the pandemic and the lockdown, Public Health England is running the Every Mind Matters campaign.

The latest stage of the campaign is aimed at helping children, young people and parents in particular, which is where the focus is required at the moment given the recent return to normal schooling for most families in the UK.

“Everyone has struggled in the pandemic and during lockdown, but for children it’s been particularly difficult, because they found themselves being taken out of school and then being at home with parents or carers who are also really stressed,” says NHS psychiatrist Dr Max Pemberton.

“We know children tend to be quite resilient providing there is a kind of stabilising force, namely their parents or their carer, in the background. One of the difficulties was that this was less stable for them. Then, just as they’re getting used to this new pattern, suddenly they are back at school, so they face disruption again.”

We asked Pemberton for his advice on how you can support your children during this uncertain period. Here he suggests and explains five things to focus on.

1. Be There To Listen

Of course parents listen to their children all the time, but this is about something different. This is about listening out for things they might be saying, or flagging up, that show the child is having a tough time or is stressed about things.

Set aside ten minutes a day where you sit down and ask your child how their day was. Don’t go in mentioning feelings or moods, because often children struggle to articulate their feelings. Sometimes things will manifest themselves in other ways, so instead of saying they’re really anxious, they might say they’re having difficulties at school, or problems with not wanting to eat or with not sleeping, which we would call biological symptoms. There can be quite significant changes in their behaviour which the adults can then pick up on and talk about their feelings on the back of that.

Often the child won’t have anything particular to say, which is fine. At least they know deep down that they have that opportunity every day where if there is anything on their minds, they can talk about it.

If your child really struggles with that scrutiny or attention you can combine it with something else, like washing up or bath time, so there’s a distraction for the child. Young children often find it difficult to sit there and talk about their day, and so do teenagers, who can feel persecuted, so they’ll often respond with grunting – but persevere. Try combining it with something like driving somewhere, where you’re in the car and you’re not looking at each other – it takes the focus and pressure off the child.

2. Support Positive Routines

Routine is fundamental, and people, particularly children, can withstand quite a lot of stuff provided they have some sort of routine. The difficulty is the routines will be disrupted and now we can’t even guarantee the routine we’ve got will stay the same. There might be changes with local lockdowns, or schools might be shut if there’s an outbreak so we can’t rely on school to provide a structure anymore.

Set up your own structure and routine outside of school. Stick to mealtimes and bedtimes, and lead by example. Make sure that there is structure on weekends too, such as on Saturday we always go for a walk at this time, or on Sunday we always do this one activity, so there’s a sense of structure and rhythm to a child’s life.

See related 

• Support Your Kids’ Mental Health During The Pandemic With This Guide And Helpline
• The Every Mind Matters Campaign Can Help With Your Mental Wellbeing During COVID-19
• Struggling With Your Sleep During The Pandemic? You’re Not Alone, And This Advice Can Help

3. Encourage Interests

Children haven’t been able to do a lot of their hobbies, so it’s important to encourage them to get back into the swing of things. Help them to get out and re-form friendship groups, see members of the family and get back into social circulation again.

4. Take Their Concerns Seriously

Some things that particularly younger children get worried about might seem a bit daft to us, or not that important. For example, we’re using words like shielding, which to a child sounds strange, and a child’s understanding of what a shield is relates to knights and wars and people needing to use shields. For us it might seem silly, but it can be a source of concern for them.

Try to take their concerns seriously. Engage with them, and try to understand where they’re coming from.

5. Stay In Their Lives

This is particularly for people like grandparents, brothers and sisters who may not live with their siblings, or children who don’t live with their parents or only with one of their parents. Make sure you make an effort to keep communicating. For example, it can be easy to just tell your parents how your children are doing, but make sure grandparents and grandchildren actually have a conversation so each knows the other is thinking about them.

Normally that wouldn’t matter so much if they’re meeting in person, but now people have to make a special effort to communicate with a child if they don’t live with them. Text them, email them, call them. Set up a regular time. This can be really important because these people can often notice changes in the child that people living with them day in and day out might not.

Find more advice for parents and young people on the Every Mind Matters website

The vast majority of coaches in the UK and European Union are volunteers, and while it speaks volumes about the character of those people who willingly give up their time to help others, it also means that they don’t always have official education and/or qualifications, or any support.

iCoachKids was set up to fill that gap, and the non-profit programme has recently partnered with Nike to expand what it offers coaches, with digital resources and an online community to provide youth coaches with a network and education they can rely on.

“We [iCoachKids and Nike] want to get children moving, and we understand that the coach is a very important part of that environment,” says Sergio Lara-Bercial, iCoachKids co-founder.

“We wanted to work together to recruit more coaches and give them a chance to develop the knowledge and skills to be the best possible coach they can be for the children.”

Since women and minority ethnic backgrounds are underrepresented in youth coaching, iCoachKids aims to encourage more diversity.

We spoke to Naadrah Hafeez, who is a youth coach and worked on the iCoachKids digital content, about her experience of coaching kids and why people should consider taking it up.

How did you get into coaching?

I’ve been involved in coaching and teaching throughout my life. My mum’s a teacher, so I grew up around that environment. I started taekwondo at the age of 10 and attained my black belt, and then at the age of 14, I started coaching the three- to four-year-olds. In high school, we had something called the Sports Academy, where I’d go around various schools and coach the younger ones there in multi-skill sports. At uni I decided to follow my passion, and I did the undergraduate sports coaching, which I absolutely loved. Then I did my level one boxing qualification.

Why did you decide to coach kids in particular?

Coaching, for me, is all about development. Coaching young ones to develop into who they’re meant to be, regardless of what sport it is or what background they’re from. It’s about the child first and them becoming the best version of themselves.

What’s the most rewarding thing about coaching kids?

The growth in all aspects. Whether that’s in their mindset, skills or confidence. I’ve had kids walk through the gym door and they’ve been very low in confidence, or they’ve been quite shy and reserved, and after a couple of months you just see them flourish and be the person who they were meant to be. It just needed unlocking.

How does iCoachKids help with the challenges youth coaches face?

Coaching is a selfless career path, especially when it’s voluntary and it’s coming out of your own time. What I love about the Nike and iCoachKids coaching essentials is the accessibility. Sometimes getting the resources you need is difficult and when you’re first starting out in coaching, it can be quite difficult to build a network. This is providing that network and it’s allowing people to gain knowledge.

What advice would you give to people thinking about coaching kids?

I would 100% urge them to get into it. The longer you spend thinking about it, the more likely it is you’re not going to do it, so just get involved. I think naturally, people who are thinking about coaching, they’ll have something within them, something that draws them towards coaching. If you’ve got that something in your mind, it’s there for a reason. Go for it.

What’s the best thing about coaching kids compared with adults?

Kids don’t overcomplicate things. Kids just naturally will try anything out, and they don’t take things too seriously. I think sometimes as adults, we overthink, or we take things way too seriously. The best times, the fun times, and the times that we learn the most, are times where we don’t take ourselves seriously and we’re just open to learning. I think that’s what kids do best.

As well as being a trained GP and working in emergency medicine, Dr Rupy Aujla has published three Doctor’s Kitchen cookbooks. His latest, Doctor’s Kitchen 3-2-1, contains simple, one-pot recipes that are full of plant-based goodness.

With the country opening up again after lockdown and children returning to school, Dr Aujla has launched a campaign to encourage parents to include three portions of fruit and vegetables in their kids’ packed lunches. “This tragic event marks an opportunity to reaffirm healthy eating; to improve our general health and wellbeing,” he says.

Although eating well won’t prevent any further pandemics, Dr Aujla sees it as the best way to increase our and our children’s resilience to disease. “We know that those worst afflicted by the pandemic were those with conditions linked to poor diet: obesity and other medical issues which are largely preventable.

“The packed lunch campaign is about reinforcing the importance of healthy eating from a really young age, and getting parents involved in a conversation with their kids so that we can all live healthier, happier lives.”

We spoke to Dr Aujla about why and how to improve children’s packed lunches, as well as getting tips on how to keep costs down, deal with fussy eaters, and become more creative with food.

Why is it so important to get more fruit and veg into our children’s lunchboxes?

For both adults and kids, increasing our fruit and veg intake is the best way of increasing antioxidant levels, and of ensuring we eat enough plant fibre which supports a healthy gut and immune system. We need to eat more colourful foods containing a higher micronutrient density and plant chemicals that help us stay healthy.

The end of lockdown restrictions in the UK should mark a conscious change in our approach to health and wellbeing, and not just among adults. I think this is a good opportunity for parents to take control of what they’re feeding their children.

If you look at a typical lunchbox, it’s full of refined sugars, a white bread sandwich, perhaps some sort of cheese dip. Highly processed food has become normalised and it shouldn’t be. We really need to be looking at improving the health of our children to prevent issues like cardiovascular disease, dementia and obesity later in life. Also, most people don’t know the extent of children’s dentistry issues: every year there are 40,000 episodes of children having teeth removed under general anaesthetic in the UK because of poor dental health. That is directly related to the quality of the food that we put into their lunchboxes.

How can we make fruit and veg fun to eat?

I think instead of being authoritarian with our children – “you must eat a banana” or “you must eat hummus” – get them involved in the conversation. Do they like particular colours or textures, a bit of crunch, or silky-smooth dips? If they like sweet things, work out how you can mimic that with dried fruit instead of chocolate bars. Make sure that the kids know what’s going into their packed lunch and that they’re on board with it. If they’re not, they won’t eat it and it will go to waste.

Do you have any suggestions for dealing with fussy eaters?

Getting them to choose what they’re going to eat is really important, but also encourage them to try things they may previously have decided they don’t like. Just because they didn’t like corn or broccoli or seeds earlier in life doesn’t necessarily mean they still won’t like them a few years later.

You can try preparing veg in different ways: roasting, sautéing, blending. Work on introducing foods at home before you put it in their packed lunch. But if all else fails you can always hide it! Blend veggies into dips, into sauces and so on.

Does it matter if they mostly eat the same vegetables (or fruit) on repeat? How much variety do they need?

You want to try to get as many different types of plants into your weekly diet as possible. If they’re very fussy and they’re only eating one thing then that’s OK, but variety is definitely what we should be aiming to achieve. You want them to be eating somewhere between 15 and 20 different varieties every week. That may sound unachievable, but it includes nuts and seeds, different types of greens, colourful vegetables and fruit – they all offer an abundance of plant chemicals which our bodies need.

Some parents may be worried about the additional cost of buying so many different types of foods. How would you advise parents struggling with shopping costs?

That’s a legitimate concern, especially with food insecurity on the rise. But often the cheapest ingredients on the shelf are the most nutrient-dense, such as red cabbage, seasonal veg, even the root veggies. These are all fantastically nutrient-dense ingredients that we need more of in our diets. But it’s really not about exotic ingredients: everyday, affordable and accessible ingredients such as an apple or a carrot are the key to good health.

I’ve also made a BBC series, Thrifty Cooking in the Doctor’s Kitchen, where we create meals for less than £1 per person, and they all contain three types of veggies.

See related 

• How To Stop Your Kids Eating Too Much Sugar
• Here’s Where To Find A Bunch Of Healthy Meal Ideas For Kids
• Make This Healthy Banana Flapjacks Recipe With Your Kids
• Vegetable-Led Weaning For Babies Explained
• Eat More Veg With This Five-Day Meal Plan For Families

Working parents are often short on time – and therefore creativity – when it comes to preparing packed lunches. Do you have any tips to help them?

When it comes to culinary creativity the shows on the BBC are fantastic, and there’s a bunch of them on my website as well. For kids’ packed lunches, I would say think of three different categories that you want to put in them: a dip; some sort of robust vegetable, crunchy crudités for example; and something sweet, either dried fruit or whole fruit. With those combinations, it’s actually quite easy to get three portions in your kids’ lunchboxes.

Many schools have banned nuts and seeds from lunchboxes because of allergy sufferers. That means no hummus, for some. Do you have any tips on alternatives?

This is a bit of an issue as nut and seed allergies are on the rise especially among children. You may not be able to put nuts and seeds in their lunchbox, but you can give them plenty of nuts and seeds when they’re at home – as long as they’re not allergic, of course.

An alternative to hummus, which traditionally contains sesame seeds, would be blending up whole beans instead of seeds. You could make a white bean hummus with olive oil and seasoning and some other flavourings. You can also give them whole veggies, chopped into matchsticks, and dried fruits instead of nuts.

I think we need to make it cool! Veganism is definitely on the rise, although a vegan meal doesn’t necessarily mean a healthy meal. You can do some really fun vegan stuff and make it healthy, too.

I think we need to do some lateral thinking – subsidised fruit or schools offering it for it free. Start a campaign to make school meals more interesting, like a five-veg lasagne, or bean burgers – there’s lots you can do. I was talking to Prue Leith about this the other day and she visited a whole load of schools which had massively reduced their food bill by going largely vegetarian, apart from Fridays. It’s a fantastic initiative. They make the food cool, appealing to the kids, and mimic what they would otherwise want to eat.

You can find recipes, podcasts, TV programmes and more on Dr Rupy Aujla’s website, The Doctor’s Kitchen

Had enough of beach holidays and city breaks? Whether you’re looking for a one-day activity or want to spend weeks on a serious test of your fitness, there’s something for you in this list of extreme (and not-so-extreme) challenges.

With a little training – or in some cases no training at all – everyone will be able to tackle the beginner challenges on the list, but if you fancy one of the advanced or extreme challenges then it’s going to take some serious preparation and, in the case of the extreme adventures, probably a fair chunk of your annual leave. Whichever challenge you opt for, however, you can be sure you’ll have a great experience and undoubtedly get a little fitter at the same time.

Beginner Outdoor Challenges

1. Cycle Up Bealach Na Bà

This winding mountain road in the Applecross Peninsula in north-west Scotland is the biggest climb you’ll find on British shores, ascending 626m from sea level over the course of just 9km. It’s scored as 11/10 in terms of difficulty in 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs by Simon Warren, the only rating above 10 on Warren’s list of the toughest British ascents. In short, it’s a challenge that should be on every cyclist’s bucket list, perhaps as part of the annual 145km Bealach Mor sportive. cyclinguphill.com/100-climbs/bealach-na-ba/

2. Swim From Nevis To St Kitts

The Narrows is the strait between the islands of Nevis and St Kitts in the Caribbean and every year a couple of hundred people swim the 4km of open water between Oualie Beach on Nevis and Cockleshell Beach on St Kitts as part of an organised event. Taking on that distance in the sea is no small feat and beginners are encouraged to use training fins to make it easier, but it’s a truly beautiful stretch of water to be in, and getting to spend time on a Caribbean island before and after is no great hardship either. nevistostkittscrosschannelswim.com

3. Finally Learn How To Surf

Surfing should be great fun, but in reality you’ll often spend most of your time waiting about, missing good waves and then getting unceremoniously dumped in the wash when one does finally arrive. The multi-million pound Adventure Parc Snowdonia is home to the world’s first artificial inland surfing lagoon, consistently churning out perfect rides that run for 150m. We had always struggled to stand up on a board, let alone make it to the end of the wave, but managed it in an hour or so here. Highly recommended. adventureparcsnowdonia.com

4. Rough It In The Woods

He might be a tad more familiar with hotels than he originally let on, but Bear Grylls still knows his survival stuff. These hands-on courses, designed by the man himself, range from an overnight adventure in the South Downs to a five-day survival course in the Scottish Highlands, including a self-rescue survival challenge. beargryllssurvivalacademy.com

5. Reach New Heights In Germany

Indoor climbing is a brilliant way to keep fit, but nothing beats heading out and doing it for real. The world-famous spot Frankenjura in Bavaria has over 8,000 established routes, including nearly 300 graded for beginners. There are a variety of route lengths, so there’s something for everyone in this land of limestone crags and picture-perfect forests. climb-europe.com

6. Go White-Water Rafting

You don’t have to head Down Under to get the thrill of hurtling along on an inflatable dinghy – but the Tully River in Cairns, Australia, is regarded as the best place in the world to give it a go. It encompasses 44 rapids winding through a World Heritage rainforest, complete with huge waterfalls and dramatic gorges, nearly all of which are suitable for people who’ve never even picked up a paddle before. raft.com.au

7. Take The Bull By The Horns

As far as physical challenges to tick off the manly bucket list go, this takes some topping. The Rodeo Bull Riding School in Houston, Texas, is run by one of the world’s best rodeo cowboys and promises to teach you all aspects of the sport, before letting you loose on the real thing. We can’t find anything on its site that states we definitely won’t get gored, though. Reassuring… greatamericandays.com

8. Swim Between Two Castles

The RNLI Castle 2 Castle Swim sees 450 swimmers (and no more, so don’t delay your entry) complete a one-mile (1.6km) open-water swim across the Carrick Roads estuary in Cornwall. The two castles in questions are Pendennis Castle in Falmouth, where the event starts, and St Mawes Castle on the Roseland Peninsula. The event boasts a fun and friendly atmosphere, and costs £25 to enter, though you’re also expected to raise at least £50 for the RNLI. eventbrite.co.uk/e/rnli-castle-to-castle-swim-2023-registration

Advanced Outdoor Challenges

9. Complete George Fisher’s Tea Round

Named after the George Fisher store it starts and finishes at, this 30-mile (48.2km) route around the Lake District involves summiting the 10 fells you can see from the top floor of the store, climbing almost 12,000ft (3,657m) in the process. You can run or walk the route either clockwise or anti-clockwise, and finishers are rewarded with some goodies from Montane, which sponsors the Tea Round, and a cup of tea and a slice of cake in the George Fisher store. georgefisher.co.uk/pages/george-fishers-tea-round

10. Take On Ten Y Fan

A true test of anyone’s mettle taxes mind as well as matter and this climbing challenge places both your body and brain under significant stress. If you know your Welsh mountains, you will have already guessed what this challenge entails. For everyone else, it’s climbing Pen Y Fan ten times. In 24 hours. The 886m Brecon Beacons peak is the highest in south Wales but it’s not exactly K2, so your first climb may very well be a breeze – but it will only get trickier. You’ll have to cope with the tempestuous Welsh weather as well as the setting of the sun (providing there is any). Take extra care to follow the safest route, but one that allows you to reach the summit in sufficient time. 10yfan.com

11. Swim A 10K

The UK’s first open water 10K event, The Dart, is an incredible journey down south Devon’s Dart estuary. Making your way along a river with 1,600 other swimmers is an experience like no other. And because this isn’t a race (everyone takes it at their own speed), you don’t need to worry about getting accidentally kicked in the face or swum over by screw-faced competitors. outdoorswimmingsociety.com/dart-10k

12. Go Heliskiing Or Heliboarding

Getting taken up a mountain by helicopter isn’t just a fancy way to skip the ski-lift queues. You’ll get dropped off in pristine, untouched powder before making your way down on a route untouched by anyone else that day. It’s not just for 80mph black run bombers, either – in Whistler, Canada, while there are trips for gnarly adrenaline junkies, total powder novices are catered for too. whistlerheliskiing.com

13. Race The Scotland Coast To Coast

Use your feet, pedals and paddles for 169km as you run, cycle and kayak from one side of Scotland – which is certainly not the world’s flattest country – to the other. The race starts at Nairn on the east coast and heads south west to the finish past Fort William, taking in Loch Ness along the way. It’s a two-day event, although the brave (and exceptionally well prepared) can attempt it in one day. ratracecoasttocoast.co.uk

14. Escape From Alcatraz

In its 29 years as the world’s most infamous maximum-security prison, no-one ever escaped alive from the shores of Alcatraz. Now, each June, 2,000 of the world’s best triathletes assemble in San Francisco to try. To be fair, security isn’t what it was, but this triathlon with a brilliant novelty factor is still a gruelling affair. A 2.4km swim through frigid waters from Alcatraz Island to shore is followed by a 29km bike leg, then a 13km run through the rugged trails of Golden Gate Recreation Area. Set against the famous skyline of San Francisco, it’s little wonder the event draws over 20,000 spectators. escapealcatraztri.com

15. Cycle Mont Ventoux’s Three Ascents

Lance Armstrong called Mont Ventoux “the hardest climb in the Tour de France”. But the Tour only ascends it once – the real challenge is to cycle up all the mountain routes in a day, racking up a Herculean 4,443m of ascent and 68km. You can face winds of 100km/h or more near the summit. cycling-challenge.com

16. Learn To Kitesurf

One big, fat, undiluted serving of adrenaline, this. You can learn to harness wind power on the water pretty much anywhere these days, and KiteWorldWide offers package holidays with lessons all over the world – in Greece and Italy but also Cape Verde and Panama. Blow as much of your holiday time on it as you can, because it’s not especially easy to pick it up, but once you do, hoo boy, you’ll feel like you’re flying. kiteworldwide.com

17. Ice Climb Ben Nevis in Winter

Britain’s highest summit is a straightforward hike in normal conditions – but in winter, covered in ice and snow, it’s a different beast. There are routes of all lengths and difficulties; make sure you have the necessary skills or go with an experienced guide. visitfortwilliam.co.uk

18. Cycle Across England

Around 13,000 people cycle coast to coast in England each year – the challenge is to complete the C2C route in a weekend. The traditional route starts at Whitehaven on the west coast and ends at Tynemouth, taking in the Lake District. Most of the route is quiet country roads, cycle paths and off-road trails, so there’s plenty of scope to let loose. Going west to east takes advantage of prevailing winds, as well as short uphills and long downhills. sustrans.org.uk/c2c-or-sea-to-sea

Extreme Outdoor Challenges

19. Run Britannia

This challenge certainly falls into the extreme category, so much so that you’re getting more than two years’ notice about it so you have adequate time to prepare if it does tickle your fancy. Run Britannia 2025 takes place in June and involves running the length of Britain, completing a 1,000-mile (1,609km) route from Land’s End to John o’Groats. The event is organised by Rat Race, which has picked out a runner-friendly route that avoids the biggest roads and includes some of the country’s most scenic walking trails, although that does mean you’ll be racking up 70,000ft (21,336m) of ascent along the way. 

There are only 40 spots available in the challenge, and the 2023 event sold out in less than six hours, so if you are keen to take on Run Britannia in 2025, it’s worth signing up to be notified when places are available. One last thing to note is that it’s a very expensive event at £7,950, but you can use the ample prep time to do some saving. ratracerunbritannia.com 

20. Walk The South West Coast Path

The Pennine Way may be more remote and muddier, but the South West Coast Path is England’s longest National Trail. The 1,014km route starts in Minehead, Somerset, and follows the wild coast around Devon and Cornwall into Dorset, finishing in Poole. To walk it in one go you’ll need a couple of months, but you can tackle its tough ascents one at a time for a satisfying hike. While the coastal weather doesn’t always smile on walkers, the scenery is outstanding – the path has sections designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Heritage Coast and World Heritage Site. southwestcoastpath.com

21. Race The Ironman 70.3 Aix-en-Provence

The idea of a half Ironman is much less intimidating if you take part in one somewhere bright and sunny rather than grey and gloomy. The Ironman 70.3 Pays d’Aix – a qualifying race for the Ironman 70.3 world championship – takes place in the city of Aix-en-Provence, which apart from its promise of sunshine has a reputation as a training mecca for French cyclists and triathletes. Competitors swim 1.9km, cycle 90km and run 21km, with the bike ride the most challenging part and not just because of the distance. The course includes the famous mountain pass in Provence, around Mont Sainte-Victoire, immortalised by the painter Paul Cézanne. The road isn’t in good condition and there are some long, torturous ascents. ironman.com/im703-aix-en-provence

22. Run The Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc

Why? It’s simply the most challenging foot race in Europe. The 166km trail loops the Mont Blanc Massif, with a total height gain of 9,500m. Competitors must carry all their requirements and while super-athletes finish in around 20 hours, most runners take 30 to 45 hours – that’s if they finish at all. Shorter races and a team 300km are also available. ultratrailmb.com

23. Walk The Pennine Way

This is the classic long-distance trail in the UK. The record for the 431km stomp along the backbone of England is a maniacal two days, 13 hours and 35 minutes, although most mortals will take 16-19 days. The trail leads from Edale in the rugged Peak District through the Yorkshire Dales, along Hadrian’s Wall to the giant Cheviots and the Scottish border. Although notorious for foul weather and treacherous peat bogs, the Way has the wildest and best upland walking in England. It was too tough for arch-rambler Alfred Wainwright: “You won’t come across me anywhere along the Pennine Way,” he said. nationaltrail.co.uk

24. Paddle From Devizes To London

The Devizes Westminster International Canoe Marathon, the longest nonstop canoe race in the world, goes 200km from sleepy Wiltshire up the Thames to Westminster and requires about 30 hours of hard work. Training is essential to complete the race: “many ‘fit’ people have turned up to take part,” the organisers say, “but most collapse and fail within a few hours.” Paddling through the night, fighting exhaustion and mental fatigue, is a real test of fitness and character, and finishing in under 24 hours is seen as a good time. The intensity of training required is said to be the closest you can get to Olympic training. dwrace.co.uk

25. Run One Of The Big Three Rounds

The big three rounds are three epic ultramarathon-distance runs in the UK that take in some of the most challenging and breathtaking scenery the country has to offer. The most famous of them is the Bob Graham Round, which involves tackling 106km (66 miles) and 42 peaks in the Lake District, with more than 8,000m of climbing. The Paddy Buckley Round is set in Snowdonia and is 100km (62 miles) long with 47 summits and more than 8,500m of climbing. The Charlie Ramsay Round is in the Scottish Highlands and requires you to run 90km and climb 23 Munros, including Ben Nevis, for a total of more than 8,600m of ascent.

With each of the three rounds the challenge is to complete it in under 24 hours, which is a stern test for anyone. You can also adjust the challenge involved by going for it in different seasons, changing the direction you do the round in or, if you’re truly mad, by going for a double round and doing it twice.

If you can’t choose between which of the rounds you’d like to do, then you could always do all three. Inov-8 ambassador James Gibson did the trio in one winter, coming in under 24 hours for all three. Impressive.

More Adventures

• Munro Bagging: A Great Way Of “Escaping From Our Modern Sanitised World”
• Six Top Tips For The Rat Race Coast To Coast Adventure Race
• The UK’s Best Adventure Races
• Why You Should Try Fell Running
• The Best UK Adventure Holidays
• 5 Things Worth Knowing Before You Try To Learn How To Kitesurf

It’s easy to underestimate the amount you moved when you had to go to an office every day. During the COVID-19 pandemic much of that movement was lost, and many people are still working from home more regularly. In addition, often that work is now done on a laptop while sitting on a sofa, bed or kitchen chair, rather than at a desk that has probably had a safety assessment and been set up to be as comfortable as possible.

This change risks all manner of posture-related problems – so we spoke to Rachel Brammer, physiotherapist and clinical lead at Vitrue Health, to get some advice on how people can adjust their working from home routine to be as healthy as possible.

What extra problems can working from home cause compared with going into an office?

It’s the amount of daily activity you do. If you commute by train or bus you’re walking to your stop. Then later you may leave and walk to get a cup of coffee. Perhaps you have to print something and walk to the printer, or you go and have a chat with somebody at their desk. The overall amount of activity you’re doing is much less when you’re working from home, and you end up taking fewer breaks. No matter how amazing your desk set-up is, unless you move around regularly, remaining in any one posture for a prolonged period of time is going to cause you aches and pains.

What problems can arise from a bad home working routine?

The big thing that people are reporting is lower-back pain. That’s from being in a seated position for a long period of time, and maybe not getting the best back support from their chair.

The next one is neck pain, which is to do with the screen height. You want it arm's length away and level with your eyes.

Another thing is wrist pain. That can come from not having a separate keyboard and mouse, so people may be keeping their wrists in one position for a long period of time, or they can get repetitive strain injuries.

Then there’s tension in the shoulders – when working from home, perhaps not in the best set-up, people are using more of their shoulder muscles so they get tightness.

Another thing people may not associate with their desk set-up is headaches and migraines. A lot of people are getting headaches because they're not getting as many breaks away from their screen. And again, if your head is bent forwards because of your screen height the tension in your shoulders can also give you headaches.

What are the key things to look out for in your desk set-up?

You want your chair to be height-adjustable so your feet are flat on the floor and your knees are bent at 90°, and it should have some kind of lower back support. If you don’t have that you can use a towel or pillow behind your back so you sit up straight.

If you are using a laptop there are lots of things you can do to raise the height of your screen, so you’re not tilting your head down and forward which puts strain on your neck and shoulders. Either pile some books up, or get an adjustable riser. You will have to use a separate keyboard, because you don’t want to have to bend your elbows higher to use the keyboard. You want your elbows bent at 90°.

Buy a separate keyboard with a wrist rest, so you’re not causing any repetitive strain through your wrists. Get a separate mouse as well and move the side your mouse is on once a day, so you have half a day with it on the right-hand side, and half a day with it on the left. Try and become ambidextrous to give one side a bit of a rest.

If you can, try to use an area with good natural light and airflow. Not everyone is able to have that with smaller spaces, but it helps to have a separate area, a separate brain space.

Can a standing desk help?

There is certainly lots of literature to support them, but it’s about making sure that people do what’s right for them. Some people are able to stand for 45 minutes to an hour, but if you have someone who’s not used to a standing desk, standing for that long might result in a posture that’s not advantageous.

If you’re new to standing desks, take it slowly. Start with five minutes and then sit down again. Build it up over time and listen to your body. Using a standing desk to change your posture regularly can help break up the day.

What can you do apart from sorting your desk set-up?

If you have an amazing work set-up and you’re still getting pain, get up and move. It can be as simple as setting yourself a challenge of doing 10 squats after every meeting. Make sure you have breaks scheduled into your diary, and you set time aside for your lunch. If you can have it in another room you’re getting some movement and a new environment.

You can make your set-up more productive too. Make sure you have light – have your curtains open! Sometimes in a meeting I see people with their curtains closed so there’s no reflection on the screen, but natural light is so important to us. Take a walk during work to get light, fresh air and movement – at the moment it’s freezing, but even opening a window just for an hour to get some fresh air into your space can help.

If you have a fitness tracker that reminds you to move every hour, how much can that help?

We get very stuck into our work and anything that prompts you to get moving is good. “Little and often” is important when it comes to movement. Even just resetting your position. When working you might only realise after an hour you’re curved over into this horrible C shape like the hunchback of Notre Dame. Set that reminder on your tracker or whatever works for you, even if it’s just to reset your position and look away from the screen for 20 seconds. All those little things you do have a cumulative effect. So doing neck stretches and forearm stretches throughout the day is useful. Quite often we do them for a day and then forget, so those little reminders are brilliant.

More Helpful Advice

• How To Make Sure Working From Home Doesn’t Result In Back Problems
• The Best Standing Desks And Why You Need To Try One
• Use This Posture Workout To Combat The Effects Of A Sedentary Lifestyle
• How To Prevent And Treat Back Pain

Weaning is an exciting time for a parent. Introducing your child to the world of food is the first step on a journey that will hopefully result in a love and appreciation of a wide variety of tastes and textures.

Weaning is also frequently a frustrating and downright messy experience, but that’s all part of the process. If you’re ever concerned by this, be assured that pretty much any negative reaction your child might exhibit is completely normal and will pass in time. Probably.

Vegetable-led weaning is one of the most common approaches recommended by experts, so we enlisted registered nutritionist Charlotte Stirling-Reed – an expert in infant and toddler nutrition – for more information on it, plus some tips for what to do when things aren’t going to plan.

Stirling-Reid is also sharing her advice during a free Zoom workshop in partnership with children’s furniture brand Stokke. The workshop takes place on Tuesday 8th December at 8pm. Sign up on Eventbrite.

What is vegetable-led weaning?

It’s kicking off the process of weaning by introducing your baby to savoury and bitter vegetables at the very start. So for the first 10 days to two weeks of weaning, offer a single taste of veggies each day. Thereafter it’s about building in a wide variety of other foods while continuing to offer plenty of savoury vegetables.

Should you offer finger foods or mush?

A bit of both. Lots of parents are anxious about starting weaning and telling them to provide only finger food can be daunting, and at the same time lots of parents don’t like the idea of only providing purée, so you can have a combination of the two.

When it comes to purée, it’s important to move through those textures quite quickly so your baby doesn’t get really accustomed to thin purées, because they should get used to having lumps and bumps in the food. You can move through the textures by stealth – make them a bit thicker daily.

How is weaning advice different from, say, 10 years ago?

It’s not that recommendations have completely changed, but 10 years ago weaning was traditionally started by introducing sweet veggies or sweet fruits, so things like apple or pear purées, or baby rice. Now we know from a lot of research that it can be beneficial to start with vegetables to create an acceptance and a liking for those, because babies will already accept and enjoy sweet tastes – they’re born with that acceptance. The whole point is to introduce something totally new that they’ve never had before, rather than reinforcing their existing preference for sweeter taste.

With vegetable-led weaning, is the hope that your child will be less fussy when it comes to food later in life?

Exactly. I’m not saying it’s a magic bullet that will make all children not fussy, but as long as you’re offering a wide variety and encouraging a love for food from a young age, and starting with veggies, then you’re more likely to have a child that will readily accept vegetables when they’re older.

When should you start veg-lead weaning?

In the UK we say around six months of age, but look out for three main signs of readiness in your baby. First, that the baby can sit up and hold their head and neck steady. Second, that they can see food, pick it up and put it towards their mouth by themselves. And the third one is that they have less of a tongue thrust reflex, so when they start they can swallow more food rather than push it back out with their tongue.

Once you see those signs, start with vegetables. Variety is key because if you offer broccoli five days in a row, well… I wouldn’t want to eat broccoli five days in a row, and a baby certainly won’t. It doesn’t have to be a different vegetable every day but do vary it. This way your baby won’t get sick of certain vegetables, and if they get windy with some vegetables they get a break from them.

It’s a short thing – 10 days, two weeks, then you move on to introducing your baby to a much more varied diet.

See related 

• Make This Healthy Banana Flapjacks Recipe With Your Kids
• How To Stop Your Kids Eating Too Much Sugar
• The Best Running Buggies
• How To Limit Your Kids’ Screen Time Without Provoking Massive Tantrums

Are there any vegetables to avoid?

In other countries they do sometimes recommend limiting things like spinach, but that’s not a recommendation in the UK because we limit the amount of nitrates in our foods, and we’re only talking about tiny tastes. They won’t be eating whole bags of spinach.

Don’t expect them to clear their plate – that’s so important. In those first couple of weeks it’s really tiny tastes, getting that taste on the tongue.

Should you feed the baby or let them feed themselves?

Definitely encourage self-feeding, but I’m a big fan of letting the baby lead you. Some will take to finger foods and they will just grab it right away and start feeding themselves. Others will splash their hands in the purée and spread it around their face and a little bit will go in. You can try offering some food on a spoon – it’s not a problem – but as soon as your baby shows interest in grabbing that spoon off you and trying to self-feed, I would encourage that. Try the two-spoon trick where you each have a spoon and when they grab yours you take the other and load it up for them to grab back off you again.

What’s the advice for after that initial period of 10 to 14 days?

Variety is key. There’s loads of research showing that the more variety you can offer children from a young age, the more variety they will eat when older, and that includes those savoury veggies. You want to make sure they are still a regular part of the child’s diet so they are familiar, because familiarity leads to acceptance.

There are only a few foods they need to avoid at this stage: salt, sugar, honey, and things like unpasteurised cheeses, uncooked meat and shellfish, certain other types of fish and rice milk. Apart from that you can have a lot of variety.

What can you do when they’re just not eating the veg?

First of all, the main thing is to know that it’s normal. We’re not expecting children to gobble it up, especially because vegetables are such a different taste. It’s a gradual process so try not to panic, keep going and do lots of role-modelling – if your baby sees you eating broccoli and sticks of courgette they’re more likely to accept and try them themselves. Keep going, because we know from research it can take 10 to 15 attempts before a baby accepts some of these new foods.

Nowadays many of us stream music through our smartphones, tablets and laptops which makes traditional speaker units seem a little outdated when there’s tangled wires and portability issues to contend with. That’s why we’d recommend a Bluetooth speaker. They offer a high-quality sound over a wireless connection which is especially useful for pumping up the volume when following workout apps or Youtube videos to keep fit through Covid-19.

Not only are most Bluetooth speakers small and portable, a few are waterproof, while others are powerful enough to fill the room with a rich and clear sound. Some are compatible with Siri and Google Assistant thanks to built-in microphones, and a few high-end models can charge your phone wirelessly, or even use technology which adjusts the EQ to match the room.

Navigating the world of Bluetooth speakers is easy when you’re in the know and we’ve compiled a short buyer’s guide and a roundup of the best Bluetooth speakers to quickly get you up to speed. 

See related 

• Best Fitness Trackers
• The best smartphones for fitness

Buyer’s Guide to Bluetooth Speakers

Portable or fixed speakers

Quality portable speakers have built-in batteries that give a music playtime of eight hours or more. Naturally, the battery life varies between speakers — depending on its size and how much you spend. Comparatively, fixed Bluetooth speakers don’t come equipped with a battery and have to be plugged into a mains supply but what they’re lacking in portability they make up for in the quality of their sound.

Ruggedised and waterproof speakers

Rugged speakers will be shockproof, which means they can survive occasionally being dropped or thrown around, while water resistant models come with a waterproof rating (known as an IPX rating) to let you know how long they can be exposed to water for. Most models have an IPX4-rating which means they can withstand the odd splash. Pricier Bluetooth speakers often come with an IPX7-rating, as they can survive being submerged in up to 1m of water for 30 minutes.

The Best Bluetooth Speakers Of 2022

You get two for the price of one with the Juice Duet speakers. Thanks to a clever magnetic mechanism, the speakers can be played together as one unit or separated up to 10m apart to deliver stereo sound. Each of the units feature a 3W driver, they’re IPX4-rated which means they can withstand a few slashes and dust exposure, and have a six hour playback time. That’s impressive for dinky Bluetooth speakers that cost under £20.

These speakers tick an awful lot of boxes considering they’re just £30. The IPX7-rating means it’s waterproof to a limited of being submerged in 1m depth of water for up to 30 minutes, and with a 24-hour battery life, you’re all set for day trips – even weekend getaways if you don’t need music while you sleep. Hiding in its diminutive frame are dual 6W power drivers and control buttons on the top which makes it easy to adjust the volume and switch songs. The sound can wobble at higher volumes as other speakers in the list, but for this price it’s fantastic value.

None are more portable than the JBL Clip 2 Bluetooth speaker. Use the carabiner to attach the circular speaker to your clothing or backpack and take your music on all your travels. Its fully waterproof and rugged design means it’ll outlive all of your adventures and it can be paired with another JBL Clip 2 speaker to give a louder sound. Small, versatile, and durable, the JBL Clip 2 gives a high-quality sound (just don’t expect it to fill a big room) and has a built-in microphone for hands-free calls.

The Ultimate Ears MegaBoom 3 comes with many cool features but our favourite is that it can float on water while it plays music. Combine that with a dustproof and shockproof design, a powerful, omnidirectional sound that’s complimented by a strong bass and treble, a wider Bluetooth range than earlier models and 20 hours worth of playtime, and you’ve found the perfect party speaker. You can even pair the speaker with up to 150 other Boom and MegaBoom speakers for an even bigger sound.

Buy from John Lewis | £169

This small, portable Bluetooth speaker from Bose gives an exceptional sound that’s capable of filling a mid-sized room. Its Stereo and Party modes give you the freedom to pair with other SoundLink Revolve speakers for an amplified sound and with an IPX4-rating, there’s no need to worry about spills. A single charge gives 12 hours worth of playtime, while the built-in microphone gives access to Siri and Google Assistant. Plus, with a clever volume-adaptive EQ algorithm, the speaker will maintain a refined sound without distortion even at loud volumes.

Consider the B&O Beoplay if you’re a fan of the JBL Clip 2 but want a crisper, richer sound. Unlike the Clip 2 which has an RMS power output of 3W, the Beoplay A1 uses two 30W amplifiers to power its aluminum core subwoofer and tweeter to give a refined sound. The portable device’s strap makes it easy to cart around, its circular design and sleek black colour looks stylish and with an included microphone it’s ideal for conference calls, which is ever needed in today’s climate. The lightweight Bluetooth-enabled speaker also lasts a full day on a single charge.

This Danish audio brand has thrown technology’s kitchen sink at this speaker: connect to it over Bluetooth or WiFi; run it off the 12-hour long battery or the mains supply; use the integrated Amazon Alexa, Spotify Connect or AirPlay 2; and control the whole caboodle through an intuitive app that’s easy to get to grips with. Its zipped design makes a statement but also means you can remove and clean the cover, or replace it if you fancy a change of colour. It's a pricier Smart speaker than the likes of the Echo family, and it doesn’t come with waterproofing, but its powerful sound makes up for that.

The Naim Mu-so Qb (2nd Gen) Bluetooth speaker boasts many useful features, including an illuminated volume dial, a compatible Naim app and small remote control. Inside the speaker you’ll find high powered drivers - one bass, two mid-range and a pair of tweeters - which are powered by 300W amplification. The result? A clear, rich and impressive sound that’s enough to full all room sizes. The Mu-so Qb is the priciest Bluetooth speaker to be included on this list but it’s truly the best of the bunch in terms of delivering a top class sound.

Buy from John Lewis | £749

If you work in an office, the chances are you will have received some guidance from your company regarding the best way to set up your desk to ensure good posture. You might have even had a visit from someone in HR to help you, or requested a special chair to better support your lower back.

If you have, you might well be worrying about the effect of the current long spell of working from home during the COVID-19 lockdown. There are no home visits from HR posture experts, after all.

Fortunately, the importance of maintaining perfect posture throughout the working day may have been overblown.

“The idea of good posture and bad posture is a complete myth, it’s not borne out by the evidence,” says Claire Small, clinical director and specialist musculoskeletal physiotherapist at Pure Sports Medicine, Canary Wharf.

“We can’t say there is such a thing as a good posture, and in part that’s because everyone’s body is different. What works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for someone else.”

So there you go. However, there are steps anyone can take to keep yourself in good shape while working from home. Here’s Small with more information, starting with a question that is very close to our hearts.

Is it bad to sit on your sofa all day when working from home?

A lot of the ideas about what is good and bad posture are societal things. Take what looks acceptable in an office environment. If you see someone sitting slumped on a sofa or in a chair, your assumption is they’re slacking off. In the medical profession, we thought you had to stand or sit in a certain way to avoid putting excessive amounts of stress on the spine especially, but we’ve learned that’s not true. So if you’re comfortable slumping on the sofa, that’s absolutely fine.

The biggest thing is that our bodies are made to move. If you just walked around with your fist clenched all day, it would start to hurt. It’s the same thing with our spine if we just sit in one position all day.

You need to move more than just during your daily exercise, then?

Anecdotally, people are going out for a run, or doing their specific form of exercise they’re allowed to do in lockdown, but the rest of the day they’re pretty much sat in one position. When we’re working we walk to the station and catch the train, or bike to work, go out for lunch, walk to meetings – we’re moving around a lot more. It is all about movement and variation. So if you’re comfortable sitting on the sofa, do that for a bit, and if you’re comfortable on your bed do that for a bit.

Find what feels comfortable for you. I’m staying at my parents’ during lockdown and my mum had this old office chair that I sat on for a couple of hours one day and I had to get rid of it because it was so uncomfortable. I’m more comfortable sitting on a dining chair. That’s one of the myths, that an office chair is going to be the right thing for you. It’s what feels good.

See related 

• Essential Exercises To Help Manage Back Pain
• Exercises To Relieve Back Pain That Are Safe, Simple And Office-Appropriate
• Simple Ways To Improve Your Desk Posture
• The Best Standing Desks And Why You Need To Try One

What problems can arise from an uncomfortable set-up?

Lower-back pain, and some people get pain in their hips. The other thing we see is neck and upper-back pain, between the shoulder blades. That may be due to the fact people have their laptop too high, so they’re raising their shoulders and holding them in one position.

What can you do to prevent and alleviate this pain?

A lot of the pain and discomfort people get can be alleviated by movement and stretching as soon as they start to feel those aches and pains. And ideally try to move before you get it! You don’t have to move for very long – stand up, bend sideways, touch your toes, twist around in your seat, stretch your neck sideways, roll your shoulders. Just get your body moving. If you’re taking a call, take it walking. When you go to make a cup of coffee, don’t stand there waiting for the kettle to boil – do some stretches, bend over.

One of the advantages of working from home is that in an office environment you usually can’t get up from your desk, lie down on the floor beside it and do stretches to loosen up your lower back. In the privacy of your own home you can do a hell of a lot more.

People may also need to do things like putting their laptop up on a couple of books so it’s at a better height for their shoulders. It’s all about comfort. If people feel like their laptop is too low and they’re craning their head forward or dropping their head down, then try lifting it. Experiment. Find what works and what feels comfortable. And make sure you have stuff close to you so you’re not having to reach too far. Then, if you are still struggling, that’s when you should consult an expert.

Can you still see a physio at the moment virtually?

Absolutely. It’s been interesting – patients have been surprised by how much they’ve got out of virtual consultations. You can examine someone, see how they’re moving and do a lot of education. Education is such a key aspect of treating people.

The COVID-19 lockdown is an unprecedented event that has led to people all over the world being largely restricted to their homes to slow the spread of the disease. If you live in a big house with a garden, while the lockdown is certainly an inconvenience, it’s a more manageable one than people shut in small flats with roommates.

If that’s you, we hope you know those people well and like them, but even if that is the case there’s every chance the unusual situation might cause your relationship start to fray at the edges.

Here to help is adventurer Dr Loel Collins, from the National Outdoor Centre Plas y Brenin, who has tackled long expeditions during which he spent weeks in the close company of just a few people in high-pressure situations. We spoke to Collins to see what people currently trapped in small flats with friends or family can do to minimise the chances of major fallings-out.

What kind of things tend to annoy people living at close quarters?

“It’s going to sound odd, but it’s the normal things that in a normal setting you wouldn’t think twice about,” says Collins. “It’s the fact that somebody sucks though their teeth, or slurps a little bit when they drink their tea. Normally when you find someone a little bit frustrating you tend to pop outside, so really it’s the proximity that’s the problem.

"Some things are dead obvious though – a colleague of mine was stuck in a tent for seven days with somebody who was learning the harmonica. That tended to annoy him a little bit.”

How can you make it clear you need some time alone without insulting people?

“If you make it obvious that you have your head buried in a book or have your headphones on, it’s a question of reading the body language of the person,” says Collins. “The flip side is not to be offended when people want that, because we all need a little bit of me-time now and then. It’s learning to read to the signs, and recognising that you might misread the signs. And when someone says ‘I’m busy enjoying the sunset’, don’t take offence.”

What tips do you have for people living in small flats with others right now?

“I recommend four key strategies for getting along with people when under pressure,” says Collins.

1. Use The Shared Mental Model

“On expeditions there’s quite a bit of work that needs to happen. You need to set up camp and there’s a whole routine that goes with that. The trick is to make sure you all have a part in that routine, and you all know what everybody’s part is in that routine, so you share the mental model of how to set up camp at the end of the day.

“That way everybody has a role, so everybody has value. That’s the shared mental model. It’s a concept you see a lot in small, high-performing teams that operate in challenging environments.”

In your flat this could mean planning out the day-to-day jobs that need to be done, so all the chores get completed without people feeling they’ve been stuck with the lion’s share of the work, something that’s certain to cause ill-feeling over time.

“One of the biggest frictions you get on trips is people who aren’t pulling their weight, or are perceived not to be pulling their weight,” says Collins. “But if you all have a shared view of what needs to happen, if your job takes ten minutes and another person is clearly struggling, then you can go and assist. It’s all about having the shared image of what needs to be happening.”

2. Have Something To Escape Into

Anything that can take your mind out of the standard routine will help, whether that’s a hobby, exercise or a chore.

“The most obvious thing is a book, but there are other things you can do,” says Collins. “You can get absorbed in the physical activity of something, entering a flow state doing routine jobs. In a flat it might be as simple as putting a set of headphones in, putting a DVD in, or getting involved in a game. It’s all about finding something that takes you out of your current existence and into something else – an altered state.”

3. Deal With The Bear Closest To The Tent

“When you look out of your tent and you see a bear, it can either be a long way away or it can be a bear really close to the tent,” says Collins. “The trick is to recognise something you should respond to, and not respond to the things you don’t have to. If the bear is a long way from the tent you don’t have to respond; if the bear is close then you do. It’s about keeping perspective and not stressing over the little stuff. Do I really have to tell that guy that I’m fed up with the fact he slurps his coffee in the morning? Honestly? Probably not.”

4. Embrace Eccentricities

“Expedition teams are always made up of individuals who bring different skills to the team,” says Collins. “What makes someone useful also sometimes makes them slightly eccentric. The guy who feels he has to spin his cup three times before he’ll drink his coffee out of it in the morning, or the guy who has a particular way of packing his bag for the day. Variety is the spice of life. Embrace that people are diverse. It’s what makes them more loveable.”

School’s out, extracurricular sports are suspended, and playgrounds are shut for the time being, so the onus to keep kids active falls squarely on parents and carers. Thankfully, there are plenty of options, and not just Joe Wicks’s 30-minute morning workouts, which is a good thing too because the NHS advice is for children between the ages of five and 18 is to aim for an hour of moderate to intense activity every day.

One great idea for slipping in some more sport is this set of 12 Tennis At Home games from the LTA, the sport’s governing body in Britain. The activities are split into two age groups, four to seven and eight to 11, often with the same game tweaked for different age groups.

The LTA has designed these games to be accessible to as many people as possible. “The activities are easy to complete in small spaces with siblings, parents or carers,” says Chris Pollard, the LTA’s head of strategy and innovation. Five of the 12 games also don’t require rackets so all you need is a ball, and not even a proper tennis ball. Bigger, soft balls are used in the demonstration videos – pretty wisely in our opinion, otherwise the LTA would be hit with bills to replace damaged TV screens up and down the nation.

If you want to get your hands on new rackets you can buy them from the LTA shop, with junior rackets going for as little as £12.34, or try your luck in a competition the LTA is running. Sign up to its newsletter by 11.59pm on 3rd April for a chance to win a racket. If you’re after some new balls, sports superstore Decathlon has softer baby tennis balls for £2.99 a pop, which should save your flatscreen if you’re playing indoors.

See related 

• How To Limit Your Kids’ Screen Time Without Provoking Massive Tantrums
• Fitbit Ace Kids’ Fitness Tracker Long-Term Review
• Make This Healthy Banana Flapjacks Recipe With Your Kids

And even if you have no intention of taking your little ones to a proper tennis court for a match once the lockdown lifts, the games will help their physical development. “As well as being a fun way to stay active during this difficult period, the activities in these videos will also develop balance, co-ordination and other essential motor skills that children develop through playing tennis,” says Pollard.

We’ll be trying them with our kids, although won’t be making the mistake we made with the PE lessons shared with us by our eldest’s preschool. Never ask your (well, our) kids if they want to do a PE or tennis lesson. Just familiarise yourself with the game and dive straight in. In the case of the LTA’s videos, we’ll start by getting a game of catch going, then weave in the tennis games as extra challenges.

For many people the first step towards a more mindful approach to their everyday life is to switch off their smartphone, thus blocking the incessant stream of notifications and the stress they create. However, that would actually be a disservice to the marvels of modern technology, which include many excellent mindfulness and meditation apps that are available to all.

As with all kinds of fitness apps, there is a lot of chaff out there. To help you pluck out the wheat, here’s our selection of the best mindfulness apps to consider. Just make sure you turn off your other notifications before opening them.

Thrive

This free app comes recommended by the NHS and is designed to help you keep tabs on your mood and learn a variety of evidence-backed stress management techniques, such as breathing exercises, meditation and deep muscle relaxation. The Thrive app was originally only available through organisations like the NHS, insurers and charities, but has been opened up to everyone during the COVID-19 pandemic, and will continue to be free to all afterwards as well. You will need to request an access code to use it, but all it takes is entering your email on the Thrive website.

Download from App Store and Google Play | Free

Headspace

This app aims to make meditation simple, with spoken-word exercises that you spend ten minutes a day doing. There are hundreds of session to try, including short “SOS exercises” designed to be used in a pinch if you’re feeling anxious. Headspace does good job of not alienating people who might be suspicious of meditation, with a practical approach that’s easy to follow and devoid of mysticism. It’s not cheap, but a one or two week trial is available, depending on whether you opt to pay monthly or annually after your trial expires.

Download from App Store and Google Play| Free, premium £9.99 a month, £49.99 a year

Calm

Like Headspace, Calm will teach you how to meditate through a series of guided sessions, which are from three to 25 minutes long, so you can pick one that fits with the time you have available. The app also has breathing exercises and over 50 “Sleep Stories” – adult bedtime tales to help you drop off.

App Store and Google Play | Free, premium £13.49 a month, £44.99 a year

Buddhify

Try more than 80 different meditation sessions, lasting between five and 30 minutes, that are tailored to everyday situations. There are 14 different scenarios, such as walking in the city, taking a work break and trying to sleep, with several meditation sessions designed for each. Buddhify has an edge over other popular mindfulness apps in that it costs £4.99 up front, with no monthly subscription or additional fees. One less thing to worry about.

Download from App Store and Google Play | £4.99

Yogaia

The benefits of regular yoga are both physical and mental, and if you’re looking for a way to practise mindfulness that’s more active than sitting in place then it’s a great option. The Yogaia app offers both live yoga classes, where you can join via video link so the instructor can see you and offer advice, and recorded video sessions you can do any time. There are also many dedicated meditation sessions on the app, with the step-by-step guidance from an instructor being especially useful for beginners learning how to practise mindfulness.

Download from App Store or Google Play | Free, premium £14.99 a month

See related

• The Best Yoga Apps
• A Simple Mindfulness Exercise Everyone Should Try At Least Once

PAUSE

Just about as simple as an app gets. You move your finger across the screen to expand a coloured blob, a process which is apparently designed to trigger your body’s “rest and digest” response. There’s a chance this stripped-back approach will annoy you immensely, but it might also be just the ticket for some quick relaxation. It’s worth giving it a try.

Download from App Store and Google Play | £1.99

Monument Valley 2

For some people actively chasing mindfulness with a dedicated app will never work, so it’s worth trying a less direct approach. The Monument Valley series of games is beautifully designed, with a calming soundtrack that will naturally relax you as you solve a series of puzzles.

Download from App Store | £4.99

Insight Timer

This free app hosts a vast amount of sessions – over 6,000 in fact, from more than 1,200 teachers – which means that given enough time, just about anyone can find something to suit them. The huge user base also means that the app has a thriving community where you can discuss anything to do with meditation and mindfulness, as well as getting recommendations for sessions to try.

Download from App Store and Google Play | Free

While adding a little romance to the world is no bad thing, Valentine’s Day can also be hard for many people. If you’re single, it’s all too easy to feel lonely in the face of the onslaught of love and affection on social media.

If you are feeling down this Valentine’s, or have found that using a dating app has started to negatively affect your mental health, then heed this advice from Pablo Vandenabeele, clinical director for mental health at Bupa UK.

Can your mental health be affected by being single, on Valentine’s Day or at other times?

Valentine’s Day can be tough on your mental health, whether you’re in a relationship or not. Days which are supposed to celebrate love and togetherness can sometimes highlight how different, alone or low we feel.

Feeling lonely isn’t a mental health problem in itself, but it’s something that a lot of people with mental health conditions struggle with. Valentine’s Day is often full of people sharing their happiness on social media, and this could make you feel worse.

Feeling lonely can be very stressful and it can affect our wellbeing. Valentine’s Day can also be tough on our self-esteem, because there are a lot of unrealistic and idealised relationships to measure yourself up to.

Practising self-acceptance is a good place to start, if you’re feeling alone or low. Self-acceptance is about embracing all the different parts of yourself – both the good and the bad. Try to be compassionate with yourself. Tune in to your inner voice and take note of how it speaks to you. If you recognise that it isn’t caring towards you, practise talking to yourself in a way that you would to someone you care for. It might feel strange to do this at first but give it a try and see if you notice a difference.

How can dating apps affect mental health?

Dating apps can be great for meeting new people and stepping out of your comfort zone. They allow you to check compatibility before you meet in person, meaning fewer awkward dates. But if they’re not used in a healthy way, they could affect your self-esteem, body image and stress levels.

Feeling rejected can be a frequent experience on dating apps, and this feeling can wreak havoc on your self-esteem. As with loneliness, having low self-esteem isn’t a mental health problem in itself, but if you experience low self-esteem for a while, you may start to feel depressed or anxious.

There are many ways you can try to improve your self-esteem and it’s important to remember that different things work for different people, so try what you feel comfortable with. Aim to be kind at times when you feel like being self-critical, and surround yourself with people who help build you up, rather than those who criticise and put you down.

See related 

• How To Recognise Stress Drinking And What To Do About It
• How To Deal With A Fear Of Commitment

What can you do if your wellbeing is affected by dating apps?

If you notice that certain apps are consuming too much of your time, this could be a sign to switch off. Likewise, if you find yourself feeling worried, panicked or anxious when you use the app, it’s probably time to take a break. Experiencing low self-esteem or having worries about your body image are warning signs to watch out for, too.

Here’s a few tips on how to have a positive relationship with dating apps:

Remember, you are not your profile. It’s impossible to show all your unique and individual qualities in a handful of photos and captions, so be mindful that swiping left isn’t a rejection of your complete self.

Practice self-compassion. We all have an inner voice that comments on what we do and say. Think about yours for a moment: if things go well, do you mentally congratulate yourself or are you dismissive? Are you overly critical of yourself? Lots of us don’t talk very kindly to ourselves and it’s important that we change this.

Be mindful. Keep track of how you feel when you interact with dating apps. If you notice that certain apps leave you feeling anxious, worried or low, it’s time to switch off.

Even if you want to make a significant change to the way you look and feel, you may be put off by the common misconception that the journey there is going to be horrible. In fact, you may deliberately make it as gruelling as possible because you think that’s the only way to get results. In fact, the approach that’s most likely to succeed is one that makes life as simple and painless as possible. Follow these tips from the experts at New Body Plan for a better chance of success. Take it away guys.

1. Don’t Dive In

If your gym membership card has been gathering dust, the worst thing you can do is launch into a regime that would make an Olympic weightlifter wince. Your aim with your first week of workouts should be to make them challenging but enjoyable. You want to leave feeling motivated and like you want to come back again next week. So blow the cobwebs away, get back in the groove and adopt a progressive plan that gets harder as you get fitter.

2. Keep Your Diet Simple

If you’re confused about what you should or shouldn’t eat then we don’t blame you. There’s so much poor and conflicting information out there. Here’s what you need to know in the simplest terms possible: try to eat a variety of fresh food. Variety is key because then you’ll be getting the range of macronutrients and micronutrients that your body needs. Of course, this isn’t everything you need to know about healthy eating, but the point is that eating well is simpler than a lot of people would have you believe.

The other thing we’d suggest you do is control your portion size, because being in a small calorie deficit (ie burning slightly more than you consume) is the key to successful and sustainable fat loss. If you’re in a calorie surplus, you’re likely to gain weight and if you’re in a substantial deficit, you’ll lose weight, but you’ll also be miserable.

3. Don’t Beat Yourself Up

Let’s say you’re following an eight-week plan. It would be unrealistic to think that you’re going to sail through those 56 days on a wave of healthy eating glory. The chances are that you’ll have nutritional slip-ups. And you know what? If that happens, it’s no big deal. We’re not saying we want it to happen, but the world won’t come to an end if the lure of the delivery app is too much and you order a pizza. In the event that does happen, the best thing you can do is refocus, remind yourself why you started and make sure your next gym session is a belter. And maybe delete the food delivery app.

See related 

• The Ultimate Body Transformation Plan
• A Fat-Loss Meal Plan That Doesn’t Sacrifice Flavour

4. Don’t Rely On Willpower

If you want to transform your body you need superhuman willpower, right? Actually, you’re better off arranging your life so that you don’t need much willpower. Let’s look at booze. If you want to lose fat, reducing your alcohol intake is one of the simplest ways to make an impact because booze contains lots of calories (about 200 in a pint of lager) but very few nutrients. If you keep a few cold beers in the fridge then every time you open the fridge door you’ll be greeted by the tempting sight of a bottle, but if it isn’t there then you won’t get tempted and you won’t need to draw on your willpower reserves.

The same goes for motivation. When you’re running late in the morning, it’s easy to head out of the door without searching around for your gym kit. But if it is packed and ready to go the night before, it’s easy to take with you. It’s simple to make these small adjustments, and it means you can save your effort for the gym floor.

5. Don’t Be Your Own Coach

Your job is to lift the weights. Let someone else worry about the exercises. There are a couple of reasons why you should follow a plan written by someone else. First, if you write your own plans you’ll always tend to favour the exercises you’re good at, rather than the ones that will have the biggest impact on your body shape. Worse, if you wing it and don’t follow a plan at all then your training will be aimless and you’ll drift through visits to the gym. You won’t make progress and, sooner or later, you’ll give up. The lesson: always follow a plan.

If you want to get a complete fat loss transformation programme, visit New Body Plan and use code coach20 at checkout to get £20 off

If you want to build your best ever body, your first step is to find the perfect plan to help you realise your goal. Because with the best will in the world, embarking on a mission to build a bigger, stronger or leaner physique is doomed to fail without a smart and detailed blueprint that will get you to where you want to be in the fastest possible time.

The New Body Plan Plus programme is just that: an eight-week training programme tailored to your body-composition goal – whether that’s losing body fat or building lean muscle mass – with extra training time dedicated to those muscle groups you most want to improve. It also includes a supporting eight-week meal planner, with recipes, so you can eat the right foods at the right time for faster progress.

A two-week sample of the Muscle plan, which was used by Joe Warner to build a cover model body, is below. Pair it with this high-protein, muscle-building diet plan to help you add lean size fast.

How To Build Muscle FAQ

I’ve tried to add muscle in the past but failed. How did you get the results you wanted?

The most important part of any body transformation challenge is to have a plan. Without one, all the motivation and determination in the world won’t be enough to deliver the results you want. Once you have a challenging but achievable plan you can fully commit yourself to your muscle-building mission to start making gains and build more and more confidence in your plan and your abilities.

Where do most people go wrong when trying to build muscle?

There are two main reasons that people struggle to add muscle. The first is that they don’t train hard enough or smart enough. To coax your muscles into growing you need to push them to get to a point where they’re pumped with blood and burning with fatigue. It sounds horrible, but it’s one of the most satisfying feelings you can get in a gym.

The second is people lift too heavy. That might sound strange considering I’ve just said you need to train hard, but there has to be a compromise between lifting as heavy as you can while maintaining perfect form and doing each rep in a slow and controlled fashion to work as many muscle fibres as possible. That’s what causes the muscle pump and burn.

What about eating for muscle?

When your main training aim is to build muscle, your diet is just as important as when you want to lose fat. You need to consume enough protein to repair your damaged muscle fibres so they grow back bigger and stronger, as well as fats, which are essential for keeping your muscle-building hormone levels high. And if you are naturally lean, you will benefit from eating more carbs around your training sessions to fuel and then refuel your muscles, so more of the protein you eat can be used solely for laying down new muscle tissue.

The Training Plan Explained

Explaining the two-week muscle-building block that allows you to build all-over muscle as well as add size to individual muscle groups.

Split

In this two-week training block the workouts follow a pattern. The first session of both weeks is a “push” workout, which hits your chest, shoulders and triceps. The second is a “pull” session, which targets your back and biceps. The third session works your legs, while the fourth and final workout targets the muscle group you most want to make bigger and more defined – your abs, arms or chest. Train on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and then Saturday or Sunday to give yourself maximum recovery time.

Structure

Every workout in this two-week block is made up of six different exercises, which you’ll perform as straight sets. This means you do all the sets and reps of exercise 1, sticking to the tempo and rest periods detailed, and then move on to do all the sets and reps of exercise 2, and so on until you finish all the reps of the final set of exercise 6. This approach will fully test your muscles to improve your strength levels, while also creating the ideal stimulus for your body to start adding lean muscle mass.

Progression

The second week of this block is similar to the first week in that it follows the same muscle-group split – push, pull, legs, then a body-part specific session – in order, for your four weekly sessions. The moves are also the same and in the same order, but with one major difference: to help you add size faster you’ll do an extra two reps in every set of the first two moves of each session, and then do a full extra set for the other four moves. Try to lift slightly heavier weights for each move in the second week.

Tempo

Alongside the sets, reps and rest period details for each exercise you’ll see a column marked “tempo”, which is a four-digit number. Tempo is the speed at which you perform one rep, and the number is the time in seconds you take to lower and lift the weight, and pause at the top and bottom. For example, a 2010 tempo for the bench press means you lower the bar to your chest in two seconds, with no pause at the bottom, then lift the bar in one second, with no pause at the top. X means you should do the move explosively.

Specialisation

For the fourth sessions of both weeks you choose which muscle group you train. There are three options: abs, arms or chest. Pick just one. These muscle-group goal workouts use straight sets like the other three weekly sessions, so do the exercises in order as instructed to add serious size to your chosen muscle fast. In the second week, as with the other three sessions, do two extra reps per set of the first two moves, then a full extra set of the next four moves to train both harder and smarter.

How To Warm Up

When you’re looking to build serious muscle you’re going to be pushing hard in the gym, and the workouts below are going to test your body to its limits. That means it’s imperative that you devote some time to warming up before you start.

By warming up we don’t mean a short, slow walk on the treadmill while you check your phone. We mean a thorough, workout-specific warm-up that targets the muscles you’re about to use.

Start with this seven-move weights warm-up routine, which will wake up muscles all over the body so they’re ready for the next stage of the warm-up, which is some workout-specific exercises. The simplest way to do this is to run through the exercises in the workout you’re about to do using a very light weight – lifting just the bar for barbell moves is a good example of this – or no weight at all.

Spend five to ten minutes running through that and you’ll hit the first set of your workout primed for success, rather than risking injury and underperforming in your first few sets.

Workout 1: Push Session

The session starts with two compound moves to get your chest, shoulders and triceps working hard. Fully straighten your arms at the tops of moves 1 and 2, and move through a full range of motion. For the next four moves, stick to the 2011 tempo, with the final “1” being a one-second squeeze-and-hold in the end position to recruit more muscle fibres.

Workout 2: Pull Session

For all six moves, ensure your posture is perfect with your chest up and abs tight before starting a set. This puts your body in the right position to allow your back and biceps muscles to do the heavy lifting safely, and minimises momentum which will switch off your muscles. Keep to the tempo for maximum muscular time under tension.

Workout 3: Legs Session

For your front squats keep your chest up, elbows high and core engaged so you can lift heavy but safely to hit your quads, glues and hamstrings. Moving through the session, focus on how the working muscle “feels” as you move through each rep, because this will forge stronger mind-to-muscle connections and lead to quicker gains.

Workout 4: Specialisation Session

How to pick your specialisation: Do one of the following sessions as your fourth workout of the week. Simply choose the body part you most want to develop. In the second week, as with the other three sessions, do two extra reps per set of the first two moves, then a full extra set of the next four moves to train both harder and smarter.

Option 1: Abs

Option 2: Arms

Option 3: Chest

Muscle-Building Tips

Follow these tried-and-tested tips to pack on size quickly.

Feel the tension

For every rep of every set of every exercise, think about the muscle you’re working and lift at a controlled tempo rather than swinging the weight around. You may need to lift a lighter weight to achieve this. That’s fine. All that matters is you lift in the way that stimulates the maximum number of muscle fibres, because that’s what makes them grow.

Stay in the zone

If you want to listen to music in the gym switch, your phone to airplane mode so you aren’t tempted to check your emails or social media or to take any phone calls. You’ve got the rest of the day to get on with work or check the news, and the more focused you are each time you step into the gym, the quicker you’ll get the results you want.

Don’t skimp on sleep

Sleep is the third pillar, along with training and nutrition, that determines how quickly you add muscle. Aim for eight hours of good-quality sleep every night, which means lowering your caffeine intake and limiting time spent in front of your TV, laptop or phone in the hour before bed. Doing so will significantly increase your chances of falling asleep faster – and then staying asleep for longer – to give your mind and muscles the maximum amount of rest, recovery and recuperation.

A fundamental part of the Coach canon is that there’s an activity out there for everyone. Even if you thought PE ruined physical exertion for you for life, there’s something that will transform your life for the better. And perhaps that thing is… yoga on a paddleboard? Or hugby? (That’s rugby with hugs.) These are both things we didn’t know existed until the Movers List was released. It’s a 50-strong roll call – compiled by Lucozade Sport and judged by the likes of boxer Anthony Joshua and England footballer Nikita Parris – of people who are making a difference to people’s lives by getting them moving in new and unexpected ways.

It’s an easy way to find something new and get inspired, so scroll through to see if someone’s doing something that appeals in your area. And even if there’s not, you can visit the Movers List on the Lucozade Sport website to find opportunities to move, including fitness classes and the like, near you.

It’s the first major service we’ve seen that makes use of the OpenActive initiative, which asks sports and fitness booking platforms to share their event data, making it easier for people to find opportunities to get active in their area. As long as a website pulls together that information, of course – so hats off to Lucozade Sport for putting this new service together.

And a standing O to everyone on the list, which we’ve reproduced in full and in alphabetical order below – we’ll sure you’ll agree there’s some real sterling work going on. Give it a peruse, find something that or someone who inspires you, and get moving.

1. Al Hopkins, Edinburgh

Hopkins thought traditional sports environments could be intimidating for the LGBTI+ community so joined and is now the president of the Edinburgh Frontrunners, which is part of a global community encouraging LGBTI+ people to move, make friends and belong.

2. Alex Gibson, Brentwood

After Gibson was diagnosed with motor neurone disease he started Challenging MND, a charity dedicated to providing support to those living with MND to complete memorable activities.

3. Asa Waite, Newport

Waite set up a basketball team, the Newport Aces, to encourage local children to get moving. He now runs seven teams and has hundreds of kids taking part in a sport that inspires confidence.

4. Bella Mackie, London

The author of Jog On, a memoir about how running helped to ease her anxiety which became an instant best-seller in 2018. It has inspired thousands of people to take to the road and run to better their mental health.

5. Benjamin Wimbush, Manchester

Wimbush broke his neck in a trampolining accident eight years ago, leaving him with life-changing injuries. He started the #20isplenty movement to help disabled people, able-bodied people and those with mental health issues to connect with and motivate each other.

6. Born Barikor, London

After working at a leisure centre and realising that he could not afford to join it himself, Barikor created OurParks to change the way people exercise Hundreds of thousands of people now enjoy free group exercise classes run by fitness experts in community spaces.

See related 

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• Join GoodGym To Combine Running And Helping Others Out During The Pandemic
• This Girl Can Has A New Campaign To Get Mums Moving

7. Carl Adams, Ashford

Along with partner Steve Denby, Adams co-founded Primal Roots, a social enterprise that runs forest fitness classes helping people in recovery and those who have experienced homelessness rebuild their lives through movement and kinship.

8. Dr Catherine Walter, Oxford

An Emeritus Fellow in applied linguistics by day and captain of Oxford University’s Linacre College female powerlifting club by night, 72-year-old Walter wants to encourage other women to lift weights and believes it is never too late to find a sport that you love.

9. Charlie Dark, London

Dark founded Run Dem Crew, a community for like-minded people to meet, exchange ideas, and run. The Crew is now 500 members strong and regularly “runs” London and other cities across the world.

10. Charlotte Roach, Chester

After a near-fatal cycling accident put an end to her promising athletic career, Roach launched Rabble, a business that stages classic playground games as high-intensity exercise and has over 900 regular members across several UK cities.

11. Charmaine Daley, Nottingham

When she was made redundant for the third time, Daley attended a Zumba class and decided she wanted to do it for a living. She trained as an instructor and started organising Zumba networking events in her community. Full of positivity, Daley was chosen to inspire others through the national This Girl Can initiative.

12. Dan Charlish, Hove

Charlish started Snow-Camp to teach disadvantaged young people how to ski and snowboard after hearing a group of teenagers say that Xbox snowsports games were the closest they would get to winter sports. It is the UK’s only charity inspiring inner-city young people to excel through snowsports.

13. Dan Edwardes, London

In 2005 Edwardes founded Parkour Generations, which is now the leading authority on parkour education. It’s a multi-national organisation that runs coaching certifications, school programmes, workshops and major events in more than 45 countries around the world.

14. Dave Musgrove, Leeds

Musgrove was involved in several access and conservation projects across all the Limestone crags in Yorkshire, ensuring there are safe places for people to share his passion and start climbing.

15. Dave Player, Newbury

A former serviceman with the Royal Engineers, Player suffered a spinal cord injury and started Kartforce and Team BRIT with the aim of inspiring disabled and struggling veterans to overcome their troubles by being part of a team again.

16. Dee Ripoll, Edinburgh

Ripoll set up Coldwater Surf and has taught across France and her native Scotland. After two traumatic accidents she moved to Edinburgh and re-established the school to teach people of all ages how to master the waves. She continues to surf all over the world.

17. Edwina Brocklesby, London

Brocklesby founded SilverFit in 2013 to promote lifelong fitness. The organisation runs activities in venues across London, offering exercise opportunities to OAPs from Nordic walking to tai chi.

18. Francesca Lewis, Swansea

Lewis started playing tennis aged eight and went on to play at an elite level, but has since dedicated herself to coaching disadvantaged people in Swansea, covering an age range from three to 98.

19. Gundeep Anand, London

Anand is the mind behind The Last Stand, a street football tournament created to unite communities and break down social, cultural and religious barriers through sport. It has inspired similar events to start all over the world.

20. Hannah Hawkey, Plymouth

Hawkey quit her teaching job to set up RockFit, a fitness class set to a heavy metal and rock soundtrack, a concept that has spread with classes in Bristol and Glasgow as well as Plymouth.

21. Helen Mackenzie, Ripon

Mackenzie started Ripon City Netball Club when she was recovering from breast cancer and wanted something to enjoy with her two daughters. She wants to inspire women of all ages to take up a competitive team sport and enjoy the health and social benefits it can bring.

22. Ivo Gormley, London

Fetching a newspaper for an elderly neighbour sparked an idea for Gormley, who decided to combine running with good deeds. The resulting project is called GoodGym, and it’s a community of runners who are helping combat loneliness and isolation by running (literally) errands for those who need it and by doing manual labour for community projects.

23. Jen Blackwell, Preston

Blackwell founded DanceSyndrome, a group for similar people to come together and experience happiness through dance.

24. Jess Melia, Leeds

Melia created Rollin’ With The Girls, a skating group inspiring women to hit the ramps and give skateboarding a go. Using social media to arrange meet-ups, post video clips and grow awareness, Rollin’ With The Girls now has over 1,000 members.

25. John Croot, Chesterfield

As chief executive of Chesterfield FC’s Community Trust, Croot pioneered modern Walking Football to engage the over-50s in the area. It is now played in over 50 countries around the world, and there are over 60,000 players in the UK alone.

26. Josh Landmann, Poulton-Le-Fylde

Landmann was paralysed from the chest down after an accident and has been determined to keep moving ever since. His involvement in a ToughMudder went viral and inspired people around the world. In April 2019, he broke the Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon completed in a non-racing wheelchair.

27. Kate Rew, Somerset

Author Rew’s love of swimming outdoors stems from childhood. In 2006 she discovered swimming in rivers, lakes and seas was dwindling and founded the Outdoor Swimming Society, with a mission to inspire other people to swim outdoors and give them the information to do it safely. Starting with just a handful of swimmers, the society has helped created a nationwide movement and has grown to over 70,000 members.

28. Katee Hui, London

When keen footballer Hui moved from Canada to London she could not find enough opportunities for women to play football. So she started her own and founded the Hackney Laces, which now runs as a social franchise in three London boroughs, and as an off-the-pitch programme designed to inspire and support participants beyond football.

29. Keith Whitton, Doncaster

Whitton goes the extra mile inspiring newcomers to try the sport he has loved for over 50 years, Rink Hockey. He saved his local club, Sheffield Wildcats, from disbanding in 2015 and it has since gone from strength to strength with multiple teams competing on a weekly basis.

30. Khadijah Safari, Milton Keynes

Safari started the first women-only martial arts club, Safari Kickboxing, as a safe space for Muslim and non-Muslim women to come together, train in self-defence and keep fit.

31. Lauren Gregory, Leamington

Gregory founded Run Like A Girl after gaining confidence from a charity ultramarathon that she took part in. What started as a social media post to local mums became a running club with over 30,000 members throughout Warwickshire and beyond, with the organisation having expanded to Australia as well.

32. Leanne Davies, Leatherhead

Davies set up a small Facebook group after struggling to keep to structured running times after having a second baby. It began as three women, and six years later Run Mummy Run has reached over 62,000 members.

33. Leanne Pero, London

In 2001, at the age of just 15, Pero set up The Movement Factory to create lasting community impact through her love of dance, which has inspired over 500,000 young people to move.

34. Linda Hesselden, Plymouth

Hesselden is a licensee of Silver Swans, a Royal Academy of Dance initiative that enables students aged 55 and over to learn ballet. She has been active in the community for over 20 years and taught everyone from pre-school children to men and women in their 80s.

35. Louisa Chatwin, Selston

Over the last decade, Chatwin has taught hundreds of adults and children how to improve their skills on the ice. In the 2017 World Winter Games, she was selected as Team GB head coach for the Special Olympics following her work with para-skate star Meg McFarlane.

36. Mac Ferrari, London

The founder of Bikestormz and the unofficial godfather to the UK #BikeLifeMovement, former gang member Ferrari has encouraged thousands to take part in mass rides and promotes the message of “Bikes Up, Knives Down”.

37. Melanie Timberlake, Aylesbury

Timberlake overcame post-natal depression and brain surgery to inspire others through a shared love of sport. She is the manager of three disability football teams and runs martial arts classes for the disabled, earning the prestigious Disability Coach of the Year award.

38. Michaella Robb, Angus

Robb was one of the first paddleboard yoga instructors in the UK. After discovering the sport while travelling, she brought the concept home to Scotland to inspire others and motivate them to enjoy the sport in the great outdoors.

39. Oliur Rahman, London

Rahman started the Active Communities Network to engage young people living in areas of high deprivation to develop an interest and build careers in sport and exercise. The programme supports members in a range of weekly sessions from boxing to basketball.

40. Paul Sinton-Hewitt, London

In 2004 Sinton-Hewitt started parkrun, the free 5K run, with 13 people in Bushy Park, west London. It now has five million registered runners worldwide with over 280,000 people regularly running each week in 1,500 global events.

41. Phil and Shaun Webb, Glasgow

The brothers founded Glasgow Ultimate Frisbee Club and are credited with helping establish and expand the sport throughout Scotland in universities, parks and communities.

42. Philip Collins, London

Collins is chair of Out To Swim, an aquatics club for LGBTI+ adults in London, Brighton and Bristol. Founded 25 years ago by a small band of swimmers, it is now the biggest LGBTI+ swimming club in Europe.

43. Sarah Javaid, London

Javaid set up Cycle Sisters to help Muslim women connect and exercise through cycling. It started with a friend and her two sisters-in-law and has since grown to over 50 members.

44. Shannia Richardson-Gordon, London

Richardson-Gordon became a coach with Boxing Futures and the Limehouse Boxing Academy aged just 19. Passionate about how the sport can help others, she travels all over London to teach mental health patients, people with disabilities and young offenders.

45. Simon Northcott, Worcester

Worcester Warriors rugby coach Northcott developed a passion for creating more inclusive forms of sport and invented “Hugby”, in which scrums, line-outs and tackling are done by hugging the opponent.

46. Skye Stewart, Wolverhampton

Stewart is the founder of Black Country Fusion FC, the first LGBTI+ inclusive team to enter a non-gay league in the West Midlands. The open-minded club has gone on to establish a female team and a veteran’s team for men over 35.

47. Sophia Warner, Ockley

Born with cerebral palsy, WArner became a Paralympic track and field athlete. She founded the Superhero Series in 2016 to allow disabled people to take part in sport alongside their friends and families.

48. Tanayah Sam, Birmingham

Sam is an ex-convict working with young people in schools and prisons who are at risk of joining gang culture. His 12-week programme uses cricket to encourage social cohesion and steer young people away from crime and anti-social behaviour.

49. Wendy Rumble, Maidenhead

Rumble leads a buggy running movement with an educational website, online community and a running club, Buggy Squad, to inspire parents and families to find freedom in exercise.

50. Wendy Russell, Brighton & Hove

Russell set up the first deaf hockey session in the country at Brighton & Hove Hockey Club, and developed 40 new sign language signs for hearing-impaired players of all ages.

Earlier this year I completed an eight-week body transformation that saw me go from overweight 37-year-old to becoming a cover model. I used the New Body Plan, and if you follow it then I’m confident that you’ll experience a similarly dramatic change to the way you look and feel.

There is, however, one extra element that will determine the outcome of your efforts. You see, it’s not just the exercises you perform that count – it’s the way that you perform them that will have the biggest impact on the result you achieve. To ensure that you get the results you’re looking for, try to implement the following 16 tips every time you train. It may take a bit of adjustment at the start, and you may also find that you end up lifting less than expected – but, funnily enough, that’s probably a sign that you’re lifting properly.

1. Have a plan

If you walk into the gym without knowing exactly what you want to achieve from the session then there’s no chance whatsoever that you’ll have a productive workout. At best you’ll crank out a few biceps curls before wandering around for a quarter of an hour and then hitting the shower. Make sure you’ve got a workout programme to follow – you won’t waste your training time and you’ll achieve your goals faster.

2. Use mental cues

Your overall goal should be to perform every rep as well as you can. One way of helping yourself get focused before the start of a set is to use a verbal or physical cue to tell your brain, “right, time to go to work”. You could say the word “strong” to yourself. Or you could quickly tense your muscles. See what works for you.

3. Create a pre-set routine

To take that idea a step further, you could create a pre-set routine. This might involve something along the lines of purposefully planting your feet, taking three deep breaths and visualising the first rep before you get the weights in place. You’ll find that this will have a positive impact on your session.

4. Turn up the volume

Training to your favourite music is the quickest and easiest way to ramp up your results, so put together a playlist of your top tunes – ideally those that get your head nodding and feet tapping. Multiple studies have found that music lowers the rate of perceived exertion (or RPE), which in essence means hard exercise feels easier than it would without your own session soundtrack.

5. Plant your feet

At the start of a set it’s well worth pressing your feet into the ground because it will fire up the muscles of your legs, glutes and core to help create a solid and stable base. Get an even stronger foundation by imagining you’re screwing your heels down to get all those small but crucial stabilising muscles fully activated.

6. Set up to be stable

Before you lift, always brace your core by taking a breath and contracting your abs. It also makes sense to recruit your glutes to give your entire body more stability and make it more able to perform the lift.

7. Think about the muscle

This is another old-school bodybuilder technique. You’ve probably heard of the mind-muscle connection, and it’s real – studies have shown that thinking about the muscle you’re trying to target will have a positive impact on the effectiveness of your session.

8. Squeeze the antagonist muscle

The antagonist muscle is the one on the opposite side to the target muscle. So, if you’re training your biceps (the front of your upper arms), the antagonist is the triceps (the back of your upper arms). Before you start each rep, squeeze the antagonist muscle to ensure you use a full range of motion and also send the right signals from brain to muscle to maximise muscle fibre recruitment.

9. Squeeze the bar

Squeezing the weight before you lift will send a signal to your brain to recruit muscle fibres and help you move the load. It will also help to get your mind focused so you can put maximum effort into the exercise.

10. Make the first rep count

You will always be comparatively fresh at the start of each set, so it’s easy to switch off for the first couple of reps. Remember, the way you perform the first rep will determine the quality of your set.

See related 

• Here’s How This Man Lost 10Kg Of Fat in Eight Weeks
• The Weight-Loss Workouts Which Helped This Man Shed 2.5kg Of Fat In Two Weeks
• Diet Tips From The Man Who Lost 10kg Of Fat In Eight Weeks

11. Squeeze the target muscle

You may not end up looking like a bodybuilder but you can borrow some of the big guys’ techniques. At the top of each rep, squeeze the target muscle so that you feel it properly contract. The better the contraction, the better the outcome.

12. Control the eccentric

The eccentric (lowering) phase of a lift is important because it’s an opportunity to expose your muscle to stress in its strongest part of the lift. Take the bench press, for example: if you drop the bar to your chest rather than controlling the lowering phase of the lift, you’re missing out on a huge proportion of the exercise’s potential benefit.

13. Don’t use momentum

If you swing the weights around, you aren’t properly applying tension to the target muscle. And it’s the application of tension, rather than the number on the weight, that really matters. Using momentum might help to grow your ego but it won’t do much for your muscles.

14. Keep tension on the muscle

Rather than jolting your joints and locking out on every rep, aim to maintain tension in the muscle by keeping a softness in your joints, particularly during machine and isolation moves. For heavy compound lifts, such as deadlifts, squats and bench presses, it is safer to lock out each rep.

15. Get your breathing sorted

Breathing properly will ensure that you are strong and stable in the key parts of a rep. Take a breath before you do a rep and exhale as you complete the rep, then take another breath and repeat the cycle.

16. Make every rep look the same

Each and every rep should take roughly the same time, and you should always be in control of the weight. The exception is the final couple of reps of each set, which you may have to fight for.

Last year I watched my colleague Jon Lipsey go from clinically overweight to cover model using the New Body Plan we developed. Towards the end of his eight-week training plan, I joined him in his sessions and started dropping body fat, but I wasn’t lean. Seven years ago I was. After a 12-week plan under the guidance of Ultimate Performance founder Nick Mitchell I was shredded. But then, I’d just turned 30 and age was on my side. Now, staring 40 in the face, I wanted to find out how much of a factor age is in building a bigger, stronger and leaner body – because if I could do it so can you, regardless of your age. The good news for all of us is that it’s never too late to get into the shape of your life, as long as you remember this: it’s not just about training hard. It’s about training smart.

In your 20s you can get away with murder. Too many pints last night? That won’t stop you smashing chest day in the morning. You recover from anything faster, even on less sleep.

But as your early 30s give way to your almost-40s, life comes at a greater cost. Work is harder and more stressful but you’ve got less energy to deal with it. Family and friends need more of your time, which is already at a premium. And you can do a tough workout on a Monday and still be feeling the effects at the weekend.

As we get older it’s easy to assume that our best days are behind us, but don’t despair. Because the reality is it’s never too late to make huge changes to how you look, feel and perform. If you, like me, can see 30 receding into the distance in your rearview mirror, my training programme should be just right for you. It’ll help you add lean muscle and strip away fat to transform your body, while also rejuvenating your energy levels, sending your motivation levels soaring and getting back on top of every area of your life.

If you’re under 30 you can do the plan too, but be warned – you’ll need a whole new wardrobe after you bust through all your shirts Hulk-style.

How I Built A Better Body

The eight-week programme I used was formed of four two-week blocks. Each block had a different body-part split and session structure because regular changes to the key training variables – exercise selection and order, sets, reps, tempo, rest and weight – keeps training physically and mentally stimulating to fast-track your results. 

I did four workouts a week. The first three hit all my major muscle groups, while the final workout was dedicated to just one muscle group – the one I most wanted to make bigger. For the first half of the plan I dedicated these specialisation sessions to my arms; for the second half it was my back which, after years of bench pressing, needed bringing up to speed.

Try This Two-Week Training Plan

Try this two-week muscle-building block that allows you to select specific sessions to add size to individual muscle groups.

Split In this two-week training block the workouts follow this pattern: the first session of both weeks is a “push” workout, which hits your chest, shoulders and triceps. The second is a “pull” session, which targets your back and biceps. The third session works your legs, while the fourth and final workout targets the muscle group you most want to make bigger and more defined – your abs, arms or chest. Train on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and then Saturday or Sunday to give yourself maximum recovery time.

Structure Every workout in this two-week block is made up of six different exercises, which you’ll perform as straight sets. This means you do all the sets and reps of exercise 1, sticking to the tempo and rest periods detailed, and then move on to do all the sets and reps of exercise 2, and so on until you finish all the reps of the final set of exercise 6. This approach will fully test your muscles to improve your strength levels, while also creating the ideal stimulus for your body to start adding lean muscle mass.

Progression The second week of this block is similar to the first week in that it follows the same muscle-group split – push, pull, legs, then body-part specific session – in order, for your four weekly sessions. The moves are also the same and in the same order, but with one major difference: to help you add size faster you’ll do a extra two reps in every set of the first two moves of each session, and then do a full extra set for the other four moves. Try to lift slightly heavier weights for each move in the second week.

Tempo Listed alongside the sets, reps and rest period details below the name of each exercise you’ll see a column marked “tempo”, which is a four-digit number. Tempo is the speed at which you perform one rep of an exercise, and the four-digit number is the time in seconds you take to lower and lift the weight, and pause at the top and bottom. For example, a 2010 tempo for the bench press means you lower the bar to your chest in two seconds, with no pause at the bottom, then lift the bar in one second, with no pause at the top.

Specialisation For the fourth sessions of both weeks you choose which muscle group you train. There are three options: abs, arms or chest. Pick just one. These muscle-group goal workouts use straight sets like the other three weekly sessions, so do the exercises in order as instructed to add serious size to your chosen muscle fast. In the second week, as with the other three sessions, do two extra reps per set of the first two moves, then a full extra set of the next four moves to train both harder and smarter.

Smart Training Tips For Faster Results

Training smarter begins with scheduling your weekly workouts. I planned mine for Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and then Saturday or Sunday. This schedule strategy gives you the maximum amount of recovery time between workouts, giving your body enough time to repair and rebuild your muscles stronger so you can push yourself harder every time you train. And getting the first session of each week under your belt on a Monday is a really positive start to the week, and massively increases your chances of completing the other three sessions.

Weights

For the best muscle-building results each set must last between 40 and 70 seconds, which means you need to use the right weight to let you hit a target of eight to 12 reps at a slow, controlled tempo. Leave your ego at the door and select a weight that is heavy enough to fatigue the muscles thoroughly but not so heavy that you can’t do all the reps or maintain correct form.

Tension

Swinging weights around is a waste of time and leads to injury, not results. Learning to properly contract and apply tension to the working muscle has a huge impact on your capacity to build muscle, and burn fat. Before each set think about the muscle you’re going to work, then lift at a controlled pace so it’s your muscles that move the weight, not momentum.

Focus

A training diary is essential for focused workouts. Ahead of each session write down that day’s workout plan, including sets, reps, tempo, rest and weight, then fill it in as you go. You can include other key info too, such as pre- and post-workout nutrition, energy and performance levels out of ten, and what went well or didn’t go to plan. This should help you tweak the variables for better performance in future sessions.

Workout 1: Push

1 Dumbbell bench press

Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 2010 Rest 2min

Targets Chest, triceps, front shoulders

Lie on a flat bench, holding a dumbbell in each hand at chest height. Plant your feet on the floor directly underneath your knees. Brace your core and back muscles and press your feet into the ground. Keeping your whole body tight and your chest up, press the weights directly up until your arms are straight and the weights touch over the middle of your chest. Slowly lower the weights back to the start position under complete control. Don’t “bounce” the weights at the bottom of a rep to help initiate the next one. Instead keep each rep smooth and controlled.

2 Dumbbell overhead hammer press

Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 2010 Rest 2min

Targets Shoulders, triceps

Stand tall, holding a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder height with your palms facing each other. Keeping your chest up and abs engaged, press the weights directly overhead until your arms are straight and the weights touch above your head. Slowly lower the weights back to the start position.

3 Dumbbell lateral raise

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2010 Rest 2min

Targets Side shoulders

Stand tall with your chest up, abs braced and feet hip-width apart, holding a light dumbbell in each hand by your sides with your palms facing one another. Keeping a slight bend in your elbows, raise the weights out to the sides, no higher than shoulder height. As the weights approach shoulder height, rotate your wrists slightly so that your little fingers are pointing straight up – this will contract your side delts harder. Pause and hold this top position for a second, then lower the weights under complete control.

4 Low-cable cross-over

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 2min

Targets Chest, front shoulders

Stand in the middle of a cable machine with a split stance, holding a handle attached to the low pulleys in each hand with your hands back and behind your body. Keeping your arms straight, your chest up and your abs braced, raise both your hands and cross them in front of your body at chest height. At this top position, squeeze your chest hard by twisting your wrists so your palms and forearms are facing the ceiling, and hold this position for a second. Slowly lower your hands back to the start position under complete control.

5 Cable rope overhead triceps extension

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 2min

Targets Triceps

Stand tall with your back to a cable machine with your chest up and core engaged, holding a double rope handle attached to the low pulley in both hands behind your head. Lean forwards slightly from your hips, but keep your chest up and your back straight. Keeping your elbows locked in position either side of your head and pointing straight up, press your hands up and forwards to straighten your arms. When your arms are fully straight, pause and flex your triceps for one second. Slowly return your hands to the start position, then squeeze your biceps hard before starting the next rep.

6 Cable rope triceps press-down

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 2min

Targets Biceps

Stand tall in front of a cable machine with your chest up and core engaged, using both hands to hold a double rope handle attached to the high pulley. Keeping your chest up and your elbows tight to your sides, press your hands down until your arms are fully straight. Hold this bottom position and flex your triceps to keep the tension on them. Slowly return to the start position, without letting your elbows move away from your sides at any point. When you return to the top position, squeeze your biceps.

See related :

• How To Build Muscle: Use This Gym Training Plan
• The Best Workout Plan To Transform Your Body
• How To Build Muscle Naturally
• The Tried-And-Tested Muscle-Building Workout

Workout 2: Pull

1 Lat pull-down

Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 2011 Rest 2min

Targets Lats, biceps, forearms

Adjust the machine so you’re sitting with your knees secured, holding the bar with a shoulder-width overhand grip. Keeping your chest up and abs braced, pull the bar down, leading with your elbows. Hold the bottom position for a second, squeezing your biceps and back hard, then reverse the movement back to the start.

2 Wide-grip seated row

Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 2011 Rest 2min

Targets Upper back, biceps

Position yourself on the machine with your feet against the foot rest, holding a bar cable attachment in both hands with a wide grip. Keeping your chest up, back straight and core braced, row your hands in towards your body, leading with your elbows. Once your hands are by your body, pause for a second and squeeze your back and biceps muscles hard, then reverse the move back to the start position.

3 EZ-bar preacher curl

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 2min

Targets Biceps, forearms

Sit or stand at a preacher bench, holding an EZ-bar with an underhand grip. Keeping your upper arms and elbows on the bench, curl the bar up towards your chin until your forearms are vertical. Pause in this top position for one second, squeezing your biceps hard. Lower the bar slowly and under complete control, fully straightening your arms at the bottom.

4 EZ-bar upright row

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 2min

Targets Upper back, biceps, shoulders

Stand tall, holding an EZ-bar with an overhand shoulder-width grip. Keeping your chest up, row the bar upwards towards your chin, leading with your elbows. Pause and hold for one second in this top position, then slowly lower the bar until your arms are straight.

5 Cable bar biceps curl

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 2min

Targets Biceps, forearms

Stand tall with your chest up and core engaged, holding a bar attached to the low pulley with an underhand grip. Keeping your chest up and your elbows tight to your sides, curl the bar up until your hands are at chin height. Pause and hold this top position and squeeze your biceps to keep the tension on them. Slowly return to the start position, without letting your elbows move away from your sides at any point. At the bottom position, flex your triceps.

6 Cable face pull

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 2min

Targets Upper back, rear shoulders

Stand tall in front of a cable machine holding a double-rope handle in both hands, with thumbs closest to you. Keeping your chest up and abs engaged, stand so that there is tension in the cable when your arms are straight. Bring your hands up and to the sides of your head, so your hands end up above your head with your elbows bent at roughly 90°. Pause and hold this top position for one second, squeezing your upper back and rear delts, then reverse the movement to the start position.

Workout 3: Legs

1 Front squat

Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 2010 Rest 2min

Targets Quads, glutes, hamstrings, core

Hold the bar across the front of your shoulders, either holding it in your hands with your elbows forwards and upper arms parallel to the ground, or with your arms bent and crossed and your fingers resting on the opposite shoulder. Stand with your feet at least hip-width apart and your toes pointing slightly outwards. Keeping your elbows and chest up and core engaged, squat down until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor. From this bottom position, drive through your heels, pushing your knees out to the sides, to stand back up to the start position.

2 Romanian deadlift

Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 2010 Rest 2min

Targets Hamstrings, glutes, core

Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a barbell with an overhand grip just outside your thighs. With a slight bend in your knees, hinge forwards from the hips and lower the bar down the front of your legs until you feel a good stretch in your hamstrings. Reverse the movement back to the start and push your hips forwards at the top.

3 Leg extension

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 2min

Targets Quads

Prepare the machine, following the instructions to make the necessary adjustments so when you sit on it you’re positioned correctly and safely. In the start position you should be sitting upright with your chest up and shins against the padded bar. Lift the bar by raising your feet until both legs are fully straight. Hold this top position for one second, keeping as much tension on your quads as possible, then slowly lower back to the start position.

4 Hamstring curl

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 2min

Targets Hamstrings

Prepare the machine, following the instructions to make the necessary adjustments so when you sit on it you’re positioned correctly and safely. In the start position you should be sitting upright with your chest up and straight legs, with the padded bar against the back of your ankles, above your heel. Lower the bar by bending your knees and pulling your feet down underneath your body. Hold this bottom position for one second, keeping as much tension on your hamstrings as possible, then slowly raise your feet back to the start position.

5 Dumbbell lunge

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 1010 Rest 2min

Targets Quads, glutes, hamstrings, core

Stand tall with your chest up and your abs engaged, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Take a big step forwards with one foot, then lunge down until both knees are bent at right angles. Push off your front foot to return to the start. That’s one rep. Repeat, leading with your other leg. Continue, alternating your leading leg, until you have done all the reps.

6 Dumbbell step-up

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2010 Rest 2min

Targets Quads, glutes, hamstrings, calves

Stand tall with a raised platform or bench in front of you, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Keeping your chest up and your core engaged, step up onto the raised surface with one foot, then the other. Step back down, leading with the foot that stepped up first. Repeat, leading with the other foot, and step back down again. That’s one rep. Continue, alternating your leading foot, keeping your torso upright throughout the set.

Workout 4 (Option 1): Arms Specialisation

1 Close-grip bench press

Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 2010 Rest 2min

Targets Triceps, chest, front shoulders

Lie on a flat bench with a shoulder-width overhand grip on the bar with straight arms. Brace your core and back muscles, and press your feet into the ground. Keeping your whole body tight and your chest up, lower the bar towards your chest under complete control. Lower the bar until it touches your chest, then press it back up powerfully to the start position. Don’t “bounce” the bar on your chest at the bottom of a rep to help initiate the next one. Instead keep each rep smooth and controlled.

2 Underhand lat pull-down

Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 2011 Rest 2min

Targets Biceps, lats, forearms

Adjust the machine so you’re sitting with your knees secured, holding the bar with a narrow underhand grip. Keeping your chest up and abs braced, pull the bar down, leading with your elbows. Hold the bottom position for a second, squeezing your biceps and back hard, then reverse the movement back to the start.

3 EZ-bar overhead triceps extension

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2010 Rest 90sec

Targets Triceps

Stand tall with your chest up and abs braced, holding an EZ-bar above your head with straight arms. Keeping your elbows locked in position and pointing straight up, slowly lower the bar back and behind your head. Without letting your elbows move, press the bar back up to the start position.

4 EZ-bar biceps curl

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 90sec

Targets Biceps

Stand tall with your chest up, abs braced and elbows by your sides, holding an EZ-bar using an underhand grip with your hands just outside your hips. Keeping your elbows tucked in to your sides, curl the bar up, stopping just before your forearms reach vertical. Pause in this top position for one second, squeezing your biceps hard. Slowly lower the bar back to the start position.

5 Cable bar triceps press-down

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 90sec

Targets Triceps

Stand tall with your chest up and core engaged, using both hands to hold a bar handle attached to the high pulley. Keeping your chest up and your elbows tight to your sides, press your hands down until your arms are fully straight. Hold this position and flex your triceps. Return to the start position, without letting your elbows move away from your sides at any point.

6 Cable bar biceps curl

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 90sec

Targets Biceps

Stand tall in front of a cable machine with your chest up and core engaged, holding a bar handle attached to the low pulley with an underhand grip. Keeping your chest up and your elbows tight to your sides, curl the bar up until your hands are at chin height. Pause and hold this top position, squeezing your biceps to keep the tension on them. Slowly return to the start position, without letting your elbows move away from your sides at any point. In the bottom position, flex your triceps.

Workout 4 (Option 2): Abs Specialisation

1 Kettlebell goblet squat

Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec

Targets Core, quads, glutes, hamstrings

Stand tall with your chest up and core engaged, holding a kettlebell or dumbbell at chest height with both hands, as you would hold a goblet. Keeping your chest up and back straight, initiate the move by bending your knees and pushing your hips backwards to squat down as low as you can. Keep your weight on your heels and press down through them to straighten your legs and return to the start position.

2 Kettlebell plank drag

Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 1111 Rest 60sec

Targets Core

Get into a straight-arm plank position with your body in a straight line from head to heels and a kettlebell positioned to one side of your body. Reach under your body with the hand on the opposite side to the bell, and drag it across to the other side. That’s one rep. Use the other hand to drag it back in the other direction, keeping your hips up and your entire core fully engaged throughout.

3 Gym ball weighted crunch reach

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 1111 Rest 60sec

Targets Upper abs

Lie with your upper back on a gym ball, holding a dumbbell or weight plate in both hands with your arms straight. Use your abs to crunch upwards, keeping your arms straight and raising the weight as high as you can. Pause and hold this top position for one second, then slowly lower back to the start position.

4 Gym ball weighted Russian twist

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 1111 Rest 60sec

Targets Upper abs, side abs

Lie with your upper back on a gym ball, holding a dumbbell or weight plate in both hands with your arms straight. Keeping your arms straight, rotate your torso to one side as far as you can go. Make sure your head follows the line of your arms. Reverse back to the start, then rotate to the other side. That’s one rep. Keep your abs engaged throughout.

5 Hanging knee raise

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 1111 Rest 60sec

Targets Lower abs

Position yourself in the machine or hang from a bar with a shoulder-width overhand grip and straight legs. Brace your core and glutes and, with your feet together, draw your knees up towards your chest. Hold this position, then straighten your legs to return to the start position.

6 Hanging knee raise twist

Workout 4 (Option 3): Chest Specialisation

1 Incline dumbbell bench press

Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 2010 Rest 2min

Targets Chest, triceps, front shoulders

Lie on an incline bench, holding a dumbbell in each hand at chest height. Plant your feet on the floor directly underneath your knees. Brace your core and back muscles, and press your feet into the ground. Keeping your whole body tight and your chest up, press the weights directly up until your arms are straight and the weights touch over the middle of your chest. Slowly lower the weights back to the start position under complete control. Don’t “bounce” the weights at the bottom of a rep to help initiate the next one. Instead keep each rep smooth and controlled.

2 Incline dumbbell flye

Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 2010 Rest 2min

Targets Chest, front shoulders

Lie on an incline bench, holding a dumbbell in each hand directly above your chest with straight arms and palms facing. Plant your feet on the floor directly underneath your knees. With a slight bend in your elbows, lower the weights out to the sides until you feel a good stretch across your upper chest. Squeeze your chest muscles to raise the weights back to the start position.

3 Dumbbell pull-over

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2010 Rest 2min

Targets Chest, lats, front shoulders

Lie on a flat bench, holding a dumbbell in both hands with straight arms above your chest. Keeping your body tight, your arms straight and your upper back on the bench, slowly lower the weight behind your head in a smooth arc until you feel a good stretch in your chest and lats. Raise the weight back to the start position, squeezing your chest and lats at the top.

4 High-cable cross-over

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 2min

Targets Chest, front shoulders

Stand tall with a split stance in the middle of a cable machine, holding a D-handle attached to the high pulley in each hand. Keeping your chest up, core braced and a slight bend in your elbows, bring your hands down in a smooth arc to meet in front of your hips. Hold this bottom position for one second, squeezing your chest muscles hard, then reverse the movement back to the start.

5 Cable straight-arm pull-down

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 2min

Targets Chest, lats, front shoulders

Stand tall in front of a cable machine, holding a straight-bar handle attached to the high pulley in both hands with an overhand grip and straight arms. Bend forwards slightly from the hips and, keeping your chest up, your abs braced and your arms straight, pull the bar down in a smooth arc so it hits your thighs. Hold this bottom position for one second, squeezing your chest and lats hard, then reverse the movement back to the start.

6 Incline press-up

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2010 Rest 2min

Targets Chest, triceps, front shoulders

Get on all fours with your legs and arms straight, your hands under your shoulders on a box or platform, and your body in a straight line from head to heels. Raise your hips and brace your core to keep your entire body stable. Bend your elbows to lower your chest towards the platform, but don’t let them flare out – they should stay tight to your sides. Go as low as you can, then press back up to straighten your arms and return to the start position.

Going through a divorce is one of life’s most emotionally wrenching events. That’s a statement that’ll come as no surprise to those of us who’ve parted ways with a spouse. But what might surprise you is just how many emotions the experience can pull on, and they’re often the same ones felt during a bereavement according to Linda Lamb, who’s been a solicitor since 1995 and is director of LSL Family Law. But it’s anger that we’re talking to Lamb about below. From how emotionally and financially damaging your rage can be during proceedings, to measures you can take to prevent it from getting in the way of the best possible outcomes for all parties, this is how you can keep your divorce as calm and civil as possible.

In your experience, what are the most common causes for divorce in 2019?

It’s down to an individual’s expectations, so obviously there’s a wide spectrum of reasons. Mostly, it’s not a case of both parties suddenly hating each other. Instead, one will realise that, over the years, they’ve grown apart and have less in common than before. There are so many different factors that can contribute – anything from marrying too young, to one person in the relationship changing their career and shifting their life goals. Other common causes I’ve found include sexual problems, disagreements on having children, the strain of having disabled children, relocating for work, all forms of domestic abuse, family involvement… there’s a lot of reasons.

What’s a common cause now that you wouldn’t have dealt with at the start of your legal career?

There’s a big trend for what we’re calling silver splitters. We’re seeing a lot of people retiring, realising that their relationship was strained even with work keeping them apart for most of the week, and that they can’t bear the idea of spending the next 25 years together solidly, every hour of the day. We’re also seeing far more people getting divorces and going into same-sex relationships, too.

So you’ve just discovered you’re facing divorce. What are your first steps to getting through it calmly?

I think it’s worth noting that it’s rare for both parties to be in agreement when it comes to getting a divorce. Usually one has gone through it in their head, so mentally they’re a few steps ahead. The thing people don’t understand about facing separation is that you go through the same mental trauma as a bereavement – there are stages of sadness, confusion, denial and anger. With that in mind, what’s important is seeking advice from people who aren’t focused on making things worse. That should mean going to a counsellor rather than to friends who are likely to have some level of investment in and bias about your relationship. And, of course, finding the right solicitor.

So how do you find the right solicitor?

Avoid the classic rottweiler who’s going to fire off threatening letters to your ex-partner. That only fans the flames. The situation will balloon out of control and, unfortunately, that’s when children get affected emotionally. Look for a solicitor that recommends dispute resolution – mediation or collaborative law. These are the least painful options, and also happen to be the least costly. With these, the family pot of money is preserved for the family and not spent on huge legal fees, which can get up into the hundreds of thousands of pounds. The courts should always be seen as the absolute last resort.

See related 

• How To Recognise Stress Drinking And What To Do About It
• How To Deal With A Fear Of Commitment
• A Perennial Source Of Relationship Friction – Solved

What’s one thing people shouldn’t do at the start of proceedings?

It’s hard, but it’s so important to not say negative things about the other party, both verbally but also, obviously, on social media. It comes back to children again. When they hear or see mum slagging off dad, they interpret that as “If you hate dad, then you must hate 50% of me”. Can you imagine the pain that must cause? If my clients are really angry and have a huge amount of rage directed at their ex-partner, I suggest drafting an email, parking it overnight, looking at it the next day, and not sending it.

What other tips do you have about keeping things civil during the process?

Again, I really recommend seeking counselling for the duration of the process. A counsellor is there to help with emotional support, and to put into context what’s happening. It’s so easy to get stuck in the past during a divorce – going over and over what went wrong and what could have been different – and a good counsellor will help you make sense of the situation in order for you to move forward.

Finally, should you stay in touch with your ex?

If you have children, then you will have to. You have to communicate. If you don’t, your kids will divide and rule. Going to parents’ evening together, for example, sends a really positive message and suggests you can agree on things, can be civil, but also are still equally invested in what your children are doing in life. If you don’t have children, then I don’t know what the purpose would be. I was divorced, like, a million years ago. I don’t really keep in touch with my ex-husband. That said, I was very fond of his mother, so I do speak to her, every now and again.

It can often feel like there’s no agreement on anything, but occasionally a new idea comes along that makes so much sense that almost everyone sees that it’s a good thing. The Daily Mile is one of those ideas, because it’s an easy way to make children more active by making exercise fun and inclusive.

We spoke to the founder of the Daily Mile, Elaine Wyllie, about it and also Go Run For Run, which is a series of running events for children being put on around the country.

What is the Daily Mile?

“The Daily Mile is 15 minutes of exercise outside every day in school,” says Wyllie. “You can run, jog or walk, but there’s an emphasis on trying to run as much as possible and get fitter. There’s no kit, no equipment, no training, no set-up or tidy up, and it’s almost all weathers. The children average a mile and many do more. We have just under 9,000 schools signed up worldwide – about 25% of schools in England and nearly half in Scotland.”

Does it take place instead of or during PE lesson?

“It’s not sport or PE, but it makes children a lot better at sport and PE,” says Wyllie. “We don’t encroach on sport or PE territory.”

What are the benefits?

The Daily Mile has been running since 2012 and early results have already demonstrated its effectiveness. A study looked at two primary schools in the Stirling area – one where the Daily Mile had been introduced and one where it hadn’t – and found that the children doing the Daily Mile were significantly healthier.

“We have evidence from the Universities of Stirling and Edinburgh that it makes children fitter and faster, and have more stamina,” says Wyllie. “They lose fat in their skin folds and they’re mentally healthier – they have less anxiety and better short-term memory.

“The key is that it’s not another initiative, a gimmick. It’s here to stay – it’s long-term and sustainable. If it lasted six months it would make no difference to children’s health.”

The Daily Mile has also just announced that Imperial College London is embarking on a three-year study to find out if participants show improved physical health and educational attainment, and whether those benefits are sustained.

See related 

• What Is Parkrun And Why Does Everyone Love It?
• Five Forest Holidays With Family-Friendly Bike Trails
• How To Stop Your Kids Eating Too Much Sugar

Should parents do it with their kids at weekends?

“There is evidence that children take it home with them, and some parents come in and do it themselves in school,” Wyllie says. “But if you don’t do it at home it doesn’t matter – you’ll still get all the health benefits of the Daily Mile. And a lot of children live in areas where it might not be safe to go out and play, so parents are happier for them to be in their bedrooms.”

What is Go Run For Fun and how is it related to the Daily Mile?

“Go Run For Fun is all about events,” says Wyllie. “Very lovely, child-friendly running events all around the country. The flagship one was held in Battersea Park in London recently. It looks a bit like the London Marathon – they have all the paraphernalia, the start and finish, and banners. Go Run For Fun is a special occasion with a lot of razzmatazz in a public area, whereas the Daily Mile is the day-in, day-out fitness-builder in the school.”

The Daily Mile website offers resources for parents and teachers to help start running the activity at their school

The first few weeks after you have a baby are a blur of activity, as you frantically try to learn everything you need to know to keep your child alive and happy. Or as happy as they can be when all they do is eat, sleep, cry and... you know.

It’s a knackering and yet magical period, but it’s also common to experience some form of the “baby blues”, where you feel low and unhappy.

Postnatal depression is believed to affect about one in ten women, with many more experiencing a milder case of the baby blues, with chemical and hormonal changes after birth a common cause.

Men don’t go through these same physical changes, but depression can still strike new fathers. As this year’s International Fathers’ Mental Health Day focuses on this issue, we spoke to Glenys Jackson, clinical lead for mental health at Bupa UK, to get more info on how to spot paternal depression, along with what you can do about it.

What is male postnatal depression?

The term is used to refer to a type of depression experienced by men at some stage after the birth of their child. The actual condition diagnosed is paternal postpartum depression [but] male postnatal depression is commonly used due to the widely established female version of the condition.

What are the symptoms?

In a similar way to mothers with postnatal depression, fathers suffering from the condition may feel extreme sadness following the birth of their child. They may constantly feel worry and fear over their competence as a parent. They can feel very physically and/or mentally tired and irritable, experiencing high stress levels and even intrusive, distressing thoughts about harming their child. They may feel completely unable to bond with their child and excluded from the family dynamic, perhaps even feeling irrational jealousy over the mother-child relationship.

How common is it?

Paternal postpartum depression has been stated in some studies to affect up to 10% of men around the world, though other research has shown the figure to be as high as 25% in the first two months from birth. It has been said that the numbers may well be higher, but due to the stigma around depression in men, many may not speak up and seek medical help. The figure is also said to be higher in those who have experienced past anxiety disorders.

See related 

• How To Recognise Stress Drinking And What To Do About It
• This Ex-MMA Fighter Shows Therapy Isn’t Just For Those In Crisis

How long after birth can it appear?

Paternal postpartum depression can be experienced shortly after birth, with figures thought to then increase in the first two to three months. However, some studies suggest that postnatal depression develops more gradually in men than women, with men more commonly experiencing symptoms 12 months after birth. There is also evidence to suggest that around 5% of first-time fathers show signs of depression during pregnancy.

What can you do to treat it?

Speaking to a GP is highly recommended, as well as self-care such as talking to friends and family, getting enough rest and eating healthily. Anyone who notices the signs in their partner should encourage them to seek help, because trained professionals will be able to recognise the signs and prescribe treatment, or in more extreme cases antidepressants, as necessary.

Psychological treatments can include recommending self-help courses or referring therapy courses, such as cognitive behavioural therapy. Having an understanding place of work can be a huge relief – for example, offering shared parental leave can allow an effective amount of time for fathers to readjust to their new role, bond with their child and be able to commit to the daily care and routine.

If you think you may need help, the confidential Mind Infoline from mental health charity Mind is a good place to start

Step 1

Turn to a blank page in your notebook and write down every single thing you want someone to know about you. Don’t hold back – you’ll edit it down later. If you’re feeling stuck, ask yourself questions like: how do you stand out in your field? What benefit would you like to bring to the world? How will your current skills and experiences lead you to where you want to be?

Step 2

Now take what you’ve come up with and try to fit it on a square sticky note. This forces you to choose what information to prioritise and determine what’s not crucial to share in a first interaction. If you’re having a hard time narrowing it down, a good framework to use is simply: your job title + company + what that means in layman’s terms + why you love it.

See related

• How To Get Organised At Work And Get More Done
• Learn How To Say No At Work
• How To Manage Tech Distractions And Focus On Work

Step 3

Read it aloud to make sure it sounds like something you’d say in a conversation, not something you’re reciting from a piece of paper. And cut the jargon! Lofty industry phrases like “strategic insight” and “leveraging influencers” won’t help your case here. Find a simple, straightforward way to describe what you do so it’s relatable and easy to understand.

The New Rules Of Work (£9.99, Crown Business) by Alexandra Cavoulacos and Kathryn Minshew is out now

Two weeks is not a lot of time to lose a lot of weight, but if you’re committed you can start to make big changes to your body composition and, if you stick with it, the changes can be immense. Just ask the co-creator of The New Body Plan, Jon Lipsey, who took his own advice and used the training and nutrition plan to lose 10kg of fat in eight weeks. 

Below, you’ll find a two-week “block” of workouts from the New Body Plan Plus’s fat loss plan. Pair it with this fat-loss meal plan and recipe guide to help you shift your belly without giving up the foods you love. But before you get started, here’s Lipsey’s motivation to do and experience of the plan. 

What made you start the New Body Plan?

It was very simple. I was overweight and unhappy with how I looked and felt. My energy levels were low and my stress levels were high. That didn’t happen overnight. An increasing workload and a busy family life made me feel like I didn’t have time to train. I also saw a topless picture of myself on holiday that and I was like “is that what I look like?” Until then I’d been kidding myself that I was in all right shape.

Had you ever done anything like it before?

Never. I had never trained with the intention of improving my body composition and I’d never had anything resembling a six-pack. In my 20s I’d done a few races, and then I got into strength training, but before I started the New Body Plan I hadn’t trained seriously for about five years.

Why hadn’t you done anything like this before?

If I’m brutally honest, fear. Fear of failure. I always doubted my ability to stick to a plan. And then I doubted that, if I did stick to it, I’d see any meaningful results so I nearly talked myself out of doing it before I even started. I realise now that it was just my mind that was holding me back.

Why did it work?

First, because it’s based on some really sound training and nutritional principles – concepts that are proven to get results. The other big thing is that it’s a plan that has been designed to be used in the real world. So it’s realistic about the time you have to spend training and it involves a sustainable way of eating, rather than one that makes you feel hungry and miserable. It has also been designed to be progressive, so as you get fitter, it gets more challenging. The idea is that you should look forward to, rather than dread, your next training session.

What’s your advice for anyone who wants to change the way they look and feel?

The first thing I’d say is that you can achieve more than you think is possible, if you use the right plan. Whether that’s the New Body Plan or another programme, it’s vital that you set yourself up for success. You need to ask yourself why you’re doing the plan and how much you want the result. Once you have an answer to those questions, commit to the process and take it one session at a time. Focus on executing each rep to the best of your ability and you’ll get the result you’re looking for.

Your transformation ended in May 2018. Have you kept it up?

I have. The experience changed my life. And because it is a sustainable system, I’ve managed to still exercise and eat well despite having a new baby and a heavier workload than ever. I’m 40 next year and my aim is to enter that decade in better shape than I was when I was 20.

How To Follow This Fat Loss Plan

Here’s the theory behind why the workouts are so effective, and how you can tailor the plan to your body shape goals.

Split In this two-week training block the workouts follow a pattern. The first session of both weeks is an upper-body workout, which hits your chest, back, shoulders and arms. The second is a lower-body session, which targets your legs. The third session works your upper body again, while the fourth and final workout targets the muscle group you most want to make bigger and more defined – your abs, arms or chest. Aim to train on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and then Saturday or Sunday.

Structure Every workout in this two-week block is made up of six different exercises, which you’ll perform as straight sets. This means you do all the sets and reps of exercise 1, sticking to the tempo and rest periods detailed, and then move on to do all the sets and reps of exercise 2, and so on until you finish all the reps of the final set of exercise 6. This approach will fully test your muscles to improve your strength levels, while also burning enough calories to start stripping away fat.

Progression The second week of this block is similar to the first week in that it follows the same muscle-group split – upper body, lower body, upper body, then a body-part specific session, for your four weekly sessions. The moves are also the same and in the same order, but with one major difference: to help you lose fat faster you’ll do an extra two reps in every set of the first two moves of each session, and then do a full extra set for the other four moves. Try to lift slightly heavier weights for each move in the second week.

Tempo Alongside the sets, reps and rest period details for each exercise you’ll see a column marked “tempo”, which is a four-digit number. Tempo is the speed at which you perform one rep, and the number is the time in seconds you take to lower and lift the weight, and pause at the top and bottom. For example, a 2010 tempo for the bench press means you lower the bar to your chest in two seconds, with no pause at the bottom, then lift the bar in one second, with no pause at the top. X means you should do the move explosively.

Specialisation For the fourth session of both weeks you choose which muscle group you train. There are three options: abs, arms or chest. Pick just one. These muscle-group goal workouts use straight sets like the other three weekly sessions, so do the exercises in order as instructed to add serious size to your chosen muscle fast. In the second week, as with the other three sessions, do two extra reps per set of the first two moves, then a full extra set of the next four moves to train both harder and smarter.

See related :

• Fat-Loss Workouts: Five Circuits To Build Muscle
• The Weight-Loss Workouts Which Helped This Man Shed 2.5kg Of Fat In Two Weeks
• The Four-Week Lean Muscle Workout Plan

Workout 1: Upper Body

To make the most of this session, concentrate on some key form tips. Don’t let the dumbbells clash at the top of the bench press and avoid leaning back to use momentum on the lat pull-down. For the biceps curl and the triceps press-down, try to minimise the movement of your upper arm. That will focus your effort on the target muscle.

Workout 2: Lower Body

Front squats are technically challenging, so if you can’t get your arms into the position pictured, do them with the bar resting on the front of your shoulders and your arms out in front of you. In the Romanian deadlift keep your weight on your heels and push your bum back, keeping the bar close to your legs, to make the move effective.

Workout 3: Upper Body

When you do the bench press, make sure that you use a full range of motion, even if that means reducing the weight. You’ll get a better result when you perform the move properly. On the seated row, pictured above, aim to minimise torso movement. That will focus the effort on the back muscles. Keeping your elbows in tight to your sides will also help.

Workout 4: Specialisation Session

How to pick your specialisation: Do one of the following sessions as your fourth workout of the week. Simply choose the body part you most want to develop. In the second week, as with the other three sessions, do two extra reps per set of the first two moves, then a full extra set of the next four moves to train both harder and smarter

Option 1: Abs

Option 2: Arms

Option 3: Chest

Fast Track Your Fat Loss

Use these tips to maximise return on your gym time.

Treat every session like it’s your last Imagine that every session you do is the last workout of the plan and that at the end of it, you’re going to have to step in front of a camera with your top off. If that’s what’s at stake, you’re less likely to coast.

Rest for succes It’s tempting to be generous with your rest periods – resting for 90 seconds, say, as opposed to the 60 seconds described in the plan. Resting for longer may allow you to lift a slightly heavier weight, which is good for the ego. But what’s good for the ego is rarely good for the waistline. Sticking to the rest periods will increase the energy demand (and therefore the calorie burn and fat loss effect) of the workout and help you to fatigue your muscle fibres effectively.

Remind yourself why Training intensely is tough, so when the workouts get challenging take a minute to remind yourself why you started. Also think about what you want to achieve by the end of the plan, and ask yourself honestly whether you think 50% or 100% effort is more likely to help you hit your goals.