LEAN & RIPPED - THE NEW SCIENCE OF BURNING FAT

1. TWO WEEKS TO GIVE YOUR ENDURANCE LEVELS A REFRESHING SPIKE

Post-run hydration can be a prickly issue. A bottle of Gatorade may bring you back from the brink, but beyond a few extra carbs, are sports drinks working hard enough to boost our performance? Our verdict: they could do better. Research conducted by the Tunisian National Center of Medicine and Science in Sports found that a daily intake of just 150ml of cactus juice – a trending health drink – can make you both faster and fitter. It’s time you caught up.

After two weeks of quenching their thirst on cactus, unfit test subjects were able to run further and found exercise easier. The cactus had even increased their VO2 max – the maximum rate at which your heart and muscles can effectively use oxygen during exercise. Experts consider this measure to be the most accurate indicator of a person’s overall fitness. The study’s cardio amateurs, however, significantly raised their upper limit in a mere two weeks simply by switching beverages.

The cactus juice also protects your muscles against exercise-induced decay. The compounds that make training so painful were found in far lower concentrations in the blood of the cactus juice drinkers post-run. So, whatever your ability, you can spike your stamina levels by refreshing your hydration plan. We’ll drink to that

2.THREE HOURS TO PIG OUT ON BBQ RIBS AND CLEANSE YOUR LIVER

There's no shame in admitting that spring is the season of excess. Come October, you’ve earned the right to reward yourself after months of hard, cold-weather training. That means chilled rosé and barbecues – and lots of them. So, rather than waste our breath piously urging moderation, we prescribe a smart protein option that could provide, well, at least a little damage limitation.

According to research in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, choosing the right kind of meat for your barbecue can help to protect your liver from the wine you consume while you cook it. Drinking too much alcohol, even for just a few days, causes a build-up of fats in the organ that could lead to fatty liver disease and ultimately result in liver damage or diabetes. A healthy liver should contain little or no fat. The essential nutrient choline, which is found abundantly in pork ribs, can assist you in trimming yours.

Choline keeps your liver lean. One of its key roles is to transport fat from the liver to other areas of your body, where it can be put to better use. Fortuitously, devouring just five barbecued ribs will supply you with your recommended daily intake. So, let yourself enjoy the warm weather with no need to nurse a soda water and lime while you wait out the three hours it takes to slow-cook your meat. Grab some napkins and pig out – then pour yourself another guilt-free glass.

3. TWO HOURS TO BURN FAT AND BUILD STRENGTH WITH YOUR EYES SHUT

The night owls among us will not want to hear this, but most Australians are declaring “lights out” too late. Hey, we sympathise: tearing yourself away from the soothing effects of a Netflix binge is a rigorous test of a man’s self-discipline. But according to new research, setting yourself a 10.30pm bedtime is the simplest way to score a substantial hit of human growth hormone to build more muscle as you snooze.

Your endocrine system – your body’s way of sending messages using hormones – is closely linked to your circadian rhythm. A paper published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation found that you are flooded with HGH at around 11pm, with a smaller influx at around 2am.

These timings were developed over millennia and they’re not likely to change to accommodate your Ozark obsession. So, a later lights-out is depriving you of a massive natural injection of a hormone that one study in the New England Journal of Medicine showed can produce a significant gain in muscle mass and give fat loss an impressive boost.

If you find it hard to nod off an hour or two earlier than usual, a simple change in your habits could help. Avoid caffeine after 2pm, and read a book in bed until your eyelids get heavy. The important thing is to stick with it. Think of it as the second part of your workout, if you like. Just a lot less strenous.

4. TWELVE HOURS TO BOLSTER YOUR MEMORY WITH A POST-WORK DRINK

There are many things a couple of cold ones are known to improve – your confidence, your proficiency at pool, your enjoyment of a meal deal. But your powers of recall not so much.Well, forget everything you think you know about memory: research from the University of Exeter suggests a work-night drink can be a very smart idea indeed.

In a new study, social drinkers were subjected to a memorisation task, after which half of them were given a free pass at the pub, averaging a glass and a half of booze each. When retested the following morning, the drinking group performed notably better.

The reasoning is deceptively simple: alcohol interacts with the brain’s hippocampus, inhibiting your ability to learn new information. This frees up space to consolidate your pre-pub memories, moving them from ‘short-term’ storage to ‘longterm’. In other words, you might not recall exactly who paid for the last round, but the meeting notes you were reading over at 4pm will remain unblurred.

So don’t feel guilty about unwinding with a beer or a glass of red (we’re partial to McWilliam’s McW Reserve 660 Hilltops Cabernet Sauvignon, $23.99) at close of business. It could prove just the mental tonic you need before a big day in the office. Just don’t try claiming that on expenses.

In "Australian Men's Health", Australia, November, 2018, excerpts pp. 15-20. Digitized, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.