Lorenzo Fraquelli lost almost 20kg, by counting calories and honing his exercise routine
Lorenzo Fraquelli, 40, is a former accountant turned Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructor. He lives in Chiswick
I started Brazilian ju-jitsu when I was 25, as a way to keep in shape and learn to defend myself. It’s like an extremely physical version of chess – it’s all about grappling rather than punching or kicking, and there are near-infinite numbers of techniques, counters and re-counters to learn. I earned my black belt in nine years, and by 2013 I’d decided to open my own academy, quitting my accountancy job to become a full-time instructor.
Will Hide (left) enlisted the help of running coach James McCann
Credit: Geoff Pugh
When I ran the New York City Marathon 15 years ago, my favourite sign in the crowd as I finished 25,917th was the one reading “your feet only hurt because you’re kicking so much ass”.
Since then, my running journey has pretty much conked out. I could use a dodgy bunion as an excuse but really it’s a lack of will power. Sofa or run? Hmmm, let me just grab the TV remote and think about that.
But, like for many “of a certain age” in lockdown, running is something I’ve wanted to get back into; for the fresh air, to escape endless Zooms and, as an often-sedentary 53-year-old, to shed some corona kilos.
‘After a midlife health scare, I almost halved my body fat in just three months’
From Midlife Fitness Files: The Telegraph’s health series, where we glean advice from experts as they talk us through their weekly regime
4 April 2021 • 5:00pm
Jonathan at the gym he has been using during lockdown, made from a shipping container
Credit: John Lawrence for The Telegraph
Jonathan Beech, 48, is a lawyer and managing director of Migrate UK, an immigration law firm. He lives in Wantage, Oxfordshire, with his wife Angelique and their children Elena, 17 and Olivier, 15.
In my 30s and early 40s, I would dabble in cycling and running to keep the midlife pounds off. But just before I turned 45, I was knocked down by a bad flu for two weeks. Towards the end of that, I suddenly developed a severe cough and one night, got chest pains and couldn’t breathe. My wife called the paramedics out, who thought I was having a heart attack and fitted ECG pads to test my heart. It turned out, the
Dr Rupy Aujla: ‘I was ready to have heart surgery aged 24 – but then simple lifestyle changes fixed the problem’
From Midlife Fitness Files: The Telegraph’s health series, where we glean advice from experts as they talk us through their weekly regime
16 March 2021 • 4:00am I had every test I could and saw several specialists but no cause was found
Credit: Rii Schroer/The Telegraph
Anna Magee talks to Dr Rupy Aujla, 35, a practicing NHS doctor and author. He lives in West London with his partner and their puppy
I grew up in an Indian household and while my mum’s core knowledge was Indian food, she was also an experimental foodie. From around 12, I’d watch her in the kitchen with the cooking channel on. She has a condition called anaphylaxis and figured out how to reverse it through food and lifestyle. She’s always believed in food as medicine.
How Rishi Sunak’s new diet keeps him trim – from fasting to kicking the fizzy drinks addiction
He’s put the country on a diet, but what are the secrets behind the Chancellor’s svelte physique?
Rishi Sunak in his Stanford sweats earlier this week
In his role as guardian of the nation’s finances, the small matter of whether Rishi Sunak is an unstoppable feeder or miserly belt-tightener is still up for debate – and probably best left to colleagues who can count.
What’s less ambiguous is the Chancellor’s policy on his own waistband. In that department, it seems, he’s very much led by data and not dates (though, incidentally, dates are high in fibre and antioxidants), and the data is telling him that nutritional austerity is the best way to go.