Meet the Innovators Reassembling Your Image of Health
Men's Health UK|April 2016

The Wild West of fitness may be full of fads and faux science, but it’s also home to genuine pioneers. You may not have heard of them, but these are the men behind the workout kit you covet, the gym programmes you follow and the fitness advances you don’t even know about, yet...

Jamie Millar
Meet the Innovators Reassembling Your Image of Health

The Stay at Home PT

Shaun T has turned workout DVDs into a powerful business. As in, 10 million copies shifted, $35 million in sales, and franchised fitness classes on every continent. But now the man behind Insanity wants to train your mind as hard as your midriff.

I was a track athlete at high school but let my fitness slip when I went to college. I gained 50lb in my first year. There needed to be a change. At first I was going to the gym and getting on the treadmill for 10 minutes a day – because after gaining 50lb it’s not easy to run very far. Eventually I started getting really into fitness and changed my major to sports science.

I moved to LA to audition a a dancer and was teaching at a gym when Beachbody asked me to do a test tape, then a workout DVD.

The first two were dance-based. For the third, they wanted something really intense. On my first day of high-school track, the coach made us run a mile, then do stretches and drills. At that point you’d think you were done – but you still had 400m intervals to run. I was like, “I need to recreate something as intense as that in the home.” So the Insanity warm-up is those same stretches and drills, and then it’s time to work out. People are like, “This mutha is crazy.”

But think about it. When you feel like you can’t go any further and then actually push yourself to go three times longer, it becomes less physical and more mental. People tell me all the time that once they finish Insanity, every other workout becomes easy. Not because there’s no workout that could be harder, but because mentally they’re ready for anything.

This story is from the April 2016 edition of Men's Health UK.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the April 2016 edition of Men's Health UK.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM MEN'S HEALTH UKView All
Every Question You Ever Had About Really Eating Well
Men's Health UK

Every Question You Ever Had About Really Eating Well

Nutrition is a maddening business. Foods are in one day, compost the next; vitamins that cured ills last week are promptly debunked. We all want to eat better, but who has the time to sift fact from fad? Rest easy because this is your easily digestible, bite-sized guide to doing precisely that

time-read
10+ mins  |
June 2019
The False Prophets Of Wellness
Men's Health UK

The False Prophets Of Wellness

Muscle, fat loss, wisdom… Whatever you seek, there is now an entrepreneurial guru armed with hashtags who claims to have the answer. But is it gospel?

time-read
2 mins  |
June 2019
The Brexit Diet
Men's Health UK

The Brexit Diet

Whether you voted Leave or Remain, the EU has transformed the way we eat – and crashing out threatens to deal a mighty blow to both our palates and our nutritional health. MH spoke to the experts worried that the true impact of Brexit will leave a very bad taste in our mouths.

time-read
8 mins  |
April 2019
Stamina? It's As Easy As Pie
Men's Health UK

Stamina? It's As Easy As Pie

Don’t flake on post-workout pastry. Pie and mash is your new performance enhancer

time-read
1 min  |
July 2018
The Trip Treatment
Men's Health UK

The Trip Treatment

Once the poison of the counterculture, psychedelic drugs are gaining credibility as a powerful, viable mental health tool that could transform the way we understand ourselves. Are you ready to turn on, tune in and dose up?

time-read
10+ mins  |
July 2018
Men's Health UK

The Gastropub​ Nutrition Plan

New research suggests you don’t need to cut back on flavour either to satisfy your cravings or to cook off kilos. Better pass that piccalilli

time-read
2 mins  |
April 2018
Your Detox Doner Card
Men's Health UK

Your Detox Doner Card

 The vilified sat fat in your kebab is actually the antidote to offset booze’s impact on your liver. How convenient

time-read
1 min  |
April 2018
Reach For The Stars
Men's Health UK

Reach For The Stars

He has crossed the Atlantic, from Peckham to Hollywood, carrying multiple blockbusters on his newly broad shoulders. But while John Boyega’s star is in the ascendant, his feet remain firmly on the ground – thanks to a few fundamental life lessons learned along the way. Take note and look up.

time-read
10 mins  |
April 2018
One Word Answer #43
Men's Health UK

One Word Answer #43

As tedious as they might have seemed at the time, most of the lessons our parents taught us as kids were worthy of adherence. Sit up straight at the table; look people in the eye when you thank them; try not to spit at strangers – even as an adult, these are values to live by.

time-read
1 min  |
April 2018
Men's Health UK

Son Of A Gun

For most men, joining the family business is the easier option. Not so for Scott Eastwood, a man whose father might just be the most iconic Hollywood hard man ever. But while he is, in many ways, a chip off the old block, the firebrand’s son has his own life well figured out

time-read
10+ mins  |
May 2017