ISSUE 2 53 MAY 2021
Rejoice! Gyms are back. Which means firstly, congratulations are in order for prising yourself away from the steel embrace of the squat rack – don’t worry, it’s not leaving you again. To butcher a well-worn phrase, absence makes the heart grow stronger, but if you’ve become reacquainted with your local weights room since 12 April you may have discovered the same can’t be said for human muscles. And that’s OK. A year of home workouts and lighter weights is going to have benefitted your body in myriad other ways: from cardio fitness to mobility, not to mention a previously unseen level of training efficiency. All that can be taken into your gym sessions, and while it might take a bit of time to build back up to your pre-pandemic strength, in the long run your overall conditioning is going to be all the better for the balance brought by a year of shifted priorities. Turn to our Back to the Gym Survival Guide (p32) to find out how to hit your straps safely and effectively, while ensuring those home-training benefits don’t go to waste at the first sight of a barbell.
The rest of this issue – as you will have noticed from the cover – steers in a different direction. From our interview with the man bringing some much-needed diversity to the sport (p38), to expert advice from YouTube sensation Danny MacAskill (p50), we’re celebrating cycling in all its forms. At a time when we’re more locked into our screens than ever before, cycling gets you out in the open, away from modern-day distractions, with all the fitness benefits that come from endurance exercise. In the pages that follow you’ll find the tools you need to dust off your bike and hit the road (or trail) for a summer of two-wheeled escapism.
Isaac Williams, Editor isaac.williams@kelsey.co.uk