6 A.M. With...the Olympic Fencer

Miles Chamley-Watson's workouts are filled with jokes-and rapier-sharp intensity.

- By Cory Ritchey

MILES CHAMLEY-WATSON grunts through his eighth pullup rep, then lowers his six-foot-four frame back to the floor. Hands on his knees, he catches his breath, then flips the bird and grins. "F* you guys." Moments later, he's doing a Copenhagen plank, a devastating side exercise that requires you to place one leg on a bench while the other hovers in midair. After 20 seconds, he collapses to the floor. "I need a Guinness," he says half seriously.

It's quintessential Chamley-Watson, cracking jokes and making quips to hide his quiet intensity. Truth is, the 34-yearold is going hard during this three-round circuit strength workout in the Men's Health gym in Manhattan partly because he knows exactly what's at stake: In three months, he'll be part of America's best hope for a team fencing gold at the Paris Olympics. But he needs to have fun, too. "I'm zoned in," the two-time fencing world champ says after a set of dumbbell bench presses. "But I always talk shit."