There is a lot of nonsense around fat loss: detoxes, fat burners, fasted cardio and diets that ban entire food groups. The truth is simpler: The fastest safe way to lose fat is to create a calorie deficit you can maintain while eating properly, training well and preserving muscle. Crash diets may make the scales fall quickly, but some of that loss will be water and muscle—and they are far more likely to leave you exhausted, hungry and back where you started. How quickly should you lose...

Strength, muscle, fitness, fat loss, running, athletic performance and hybrid training—explained simply. There is no perfect training programme. There is only a programme that suits: what you want to achieve; what you can currently recover from; how often you can train; what you enjoy enough to continue doing; and what your body is ready for. That distinction matters. A well-designed strength programme will not look like a marathon programme. A plan for building muscle should not be organised...

There is a significant difference between exercising in a group and receiving personal training within a group. In a large fitness class, the coach will usually lead everyone through the same workout. It can be energetic and enjoyable, but there is naturally less time to adjust exercises, monitor individual technique or track each person’s progress. One-to-one personal training offers the highest level of individual attention, but it is not always necessary — or financially realistic — for...