Over the last decade, the form and shape of the ideal man has changed in the eyes of the high-street.

With just a single trip to your shopping centre, you will see plastered down the walls an image of effeminate males, wearing clothes that seem to be clinging on to their rib cages to halt their inevitable drop to the floor.

As the model’s began to shrink from the muscle-mad 90′s, through to the boney-ballistic noughties, so have the racks. Of course, when it comes down to it, this is probably a good thing as nobody wants to advertise for unhealthy eating, but when quality looks, trends and offerings are being cut off at a 36” waist…well, that just isn’t on.

High and Mighty are a brand that, fortunately, do not hold such an ideology. The company are affiliated with some of the largest brands in the world, such as Ben Sherman, Ralph Lauren and Henri Lloyd, as they ensure that size doesn’t have to be compensated for.

“Unlike other retailers, who rarely cater for larger sizes and usually have a ‘self service’ ethos, personal shopping is key to the High and Mighty experience. By providing a welcoming, comfortable space for people looking for larger sizes of menswear, the in-store team provides a personalised service for every customer.” Said Gill Politis, Managing Director of High and Mighty.

We are going to delve into this aspect in much more detail next week, answering the completely valid question ‘Are larger people less worthy of looking nice than others?’ This may seem like a question purely to rouse annoyance, but what possibly could be the explanation that a larger man HAS TO go out of their own way to find sartorial excellence? But, as we scan over research, pose questions and just generally annoy people with our persistence, visit the High and Mighty website and scan through their catalogue.

Today we have one mission; to dispel a few rumours about a past time affiliated only with the boring. There are a few major reasons why a vast majority of you fella’s would never even consider the possibility of walking being more than something other than your least favoured commuting medium.

Firstly, why would you use walking as an exercise when it’s everything that isn’t the metallic shimmer of the gymnasium? Secondly, no one cool has ever donned a pair of Wellingtons and strolled across the moors. And thirdly, many of you would not really consider walking as even close to an adequate replacement to a hard work out on the treadmill.

So as you are nodding along, it seems that our mission has become even harder, as the reasons you knew have been set in stone. Well, now that they are concrete, let us be the bulldozer.

Benefits to mental health

My apologies to start off so deep chaps, but the bash needs to rock the boat. Although we all keep up a very decent front, the stress of modern life can not just effect you in the short term, but can have a vast influence on how you pan out your entire. Exercise itself can have a massive impact on your mental condition, but to get yourself out in the parks and countrysides is a venture that allows you to release all worries and enjoy the scenery and fresh air.

Battling illness

Yes, you are right to be dubious as this is a little broad, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Just last year, a study carried out by the World Cancer Research Fund found that around 10,000 cases of Bowel and Breast Cancer could be prevented each year through simple, brisk walking. A further study from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, concluded that daily walking helps strengthens the brain’s memory circuit, and Alzheimers could also be prevented through a recommended six miles a week for healthy people.

Longer Living

Jane Dall was at a very healthy innings of 106 when it was revealed that the secret to her lengthy life was walking absolutely everywhere, and in fact, she had never been behind a wheel in her life. But facts is what you want, so let us back up the romance of Dall with a fact-bomb that says that fit and healthy people have about half the risk of cardiovascular disease compared to inactive people.

Bolstering your immune system

Finally, a solid reason for why so many of our Christmas’s are ruined by the sniffles. The American Journal of Medicine found that regular 30-minute walks increase the levels of Leukocytes in the body, and as a vital part of the immune cells that fight infection, the more of them the better. So the less walking we do over Christmas due to the cold has a direct effect on our likeliness to induce some form of man flu. We should have put this bit at the top.

Strengthening the bones

Like all athletic past times, the more practice you get the better you become, which is why taking walks across the difficult country paths and rocky roadways can have a vast positive effect on your bone structure. As you take on such difficult walkways, your bones will obviously become more stronger, thus leaving you very unlikely to have a impromptu sprain or twisted ankle as you run for the tube, for example.

So as change is firmly on the agenda, go over and visit www.hi-tec.com and invest in a pair walking boots that will prove a live-enhancing decision. Just because ‘Mad Men’ doesn’t include a walking episode doesn’t make the practice uncool.

By now, the general consensus of the world is an echoing bellow of ‘It’s over now, so get back on the ball.’

Although these chimes are deafening, as all around you everyone seems to have shrugged off the Christmas lethargy in the same way they chucked their wrapping paper over their shoulder on Christmas Day, for some of us it’s just that little harder to get back into rhythm.

So, if you’re like me, the first stage of stepping onto the treadmill of weekly work is getting rid of that Mince Pie Podge that has leached itself onto your sides and stomach. For some reason, feeling like a dumpling is OK over Christmas, but as soon as New years’s day leaves, so does that comfort.

So with my body feeling a lot softer than it did before, I turned to the guys at Slendertone, who have ever so kindly offered to help me in my surge for a more steely consistency. The ‘Slendertone System-Abs’ belt uses Electronic Muscle Stimulation to create deep muscle contractions, giving you that extra boost you need for a toned body.

Now, although I have been warned by the Slendertone guys to not over do it, they SAY that a firmer and flatter stomach can be clearly delivered in just 4 WEEKS. Just as long as I keep a healthy regime, the results should be pretty clear. Well, watch this space chaps.

Click Here to join me in my Slendertone Challenge

Lumpiness, lethargy and an overwhelming bloated feeling are just three things that Father Christmas so kindly offers to us every year, but as the gifts weren’t presented to us in wrapping paper, we left them under the tree until we came across them a few days ago.

Yes, just as we enter the complete come-down from Christmas, as we pack up our decorations and wave Sayonara to the last morsels of chocolate that stood so proud just a week ago, waiting for friends to consume, our bodies seem twice as heavy and the comfort of the bed becomes impossible to leave.

A regime of comfort

To flush away such traits is quite a difficult one to achieve in the short term, as to get back into the stride of working-out seems a long way away, so a helping hand in attaining a general boost to your body could be a vital acquisition to the process of making you feel more like a celery stick than a mince pie.

Atone, a new natural enzyme support brand, have started 2011 in inspiring form, under the realisation that to bring to the market a range of helpful supplements for the consumer in January can only be a positive move for both consumer and brand.

Confused?

Enzymes are protein molecules that act as a regulator for all our bodily functions, so when they are in short supply, the result is a slower metabolism and a weaker immune system. Atone have released six completely individual supplements, each arranged specifically to deal with the many aspect of ones life that can be effected by a slack in Enzymes.

A reinvigorating addition to the market, Atone will aim to install a modern way of thinking, presenting products that deal with the many trials and issues that modern man has to deal with.

Co-Owner of Atone, Naomi Murtagh, said “Most of what’s on the market ends up concealed in your desk draw, hidden in the bottom of your bag, or worse, left at home. We are not promising miracles, we believe Atone works best when you work with it – eat well, sleep well, exercise sensibly and enjoy life.”

All six products are now available from the Atone online store. Click here to visit

After just returning from a hectic business trip to Helsinki, where I stayed in one of the Crown Plaza group’s hotels, I have to report on one of the highlights of my trip. thisworks – Sleep. A tiny box of 2 x 5ml solutions which are designed with relaxation in mind. Sleep contains Breathe In and Deep Calm Pillow Spray. Crown Plaza have teamed up with thisworks to launch ‘Sleep.’ Read more →

I don’t know whether its our own jealousy towards the affection that Santa Claus receives through the winter months, but our own bodies do tend to expand over Christmas, creeping our waist line towards the rotund form of the great Saint Nick. Maybe this is because we subconsciously think that if we get a little more rounder, our friends and family may celebrate our own existence just as much as they celebrate that other fat bloke. This is, of course, not the case, but our appetite for all the things we have avoided during the previous 10 ½ months grows unlimitedly, leaving us with a lot of work to do in January.

Launched last week, Slim Sticks are a renovation in curbing your anti-dieting antics.

Containing the amply titled, active ingredient Fabuless, Slim Sticks have been demonstrated to reduce your food intake by up to 30%, through reducing the pace of which you digest your food. In turn, your next meal will involve a smaller portion, and with the aid of Slim Sticks, this will have a knock on effect on all your meals, leaving your body slimmer by the day.

DR Jason Halford, appetite and obesity reader at the University of Liverpool, said “ The only effective way to lose weight and to keep it off is to change your lifestyle by changing dietary habits and increase daily activity. Even so, many people find weight loss difficult and weight regain a problem. Here there is a role for products with proven health benefits that help control appetite without diminishing the enjoyment of eating.”

The sticks themselves couldn’t be easier to include into your eating regime. Simply add a single sachet to a beverage of your choice, and drink before Breakfast and Lunch. This should be continued for the first month of your Slim Stick plan, and when that month is completed, one sachet per day should suffice.

Slimsticks can now be purchased from www.slimsticks.com, and will be on the shelves of over 1,000 Lloyds pharmacy’s across the UK from November 2^nd.

We all know sugar is a stimulant. A great pick-me up during times of tiredness. Sugar excites the cells, injects immediate energy and causes WRINKLES!

Read more →

Over the last decade, male fashion has changed significantly, and it is this transition that could be blamed for the rapidly increasing number of Males suffering from eating disorders. I think we can all agree that a short stop to any High-Street fragrance store can really effect a man’s confidence, as the boxes are lined up with unrealistic handsome and toned men emblazoned on the front.

We look and wonder ‘what if’ for a moment, before the complex leaves us. But now the problem is imploding at a ridiculous rate to the public majority, and it’s leaving a lot of males with concerning health issues. Read more →