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A trainer says this exercise is better than regular planks for building ‘upper-body strength and core stability’ – all you need is a set of dumbbells

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A trainer says this exercise is better than regular planks for building ‘upper-body strength and core stability’ – all you need is a set of dumbbells

The plank isn’t everyone’s favourite, but there’s no denying it’s very effective for building core strength, full-body stability, and endurance. The only exercise that’s potentially better for all the above is the plank row.

This variation uses a set of dumbbells to “combine upper-body strength with core stability”, says Mark Harris, a level 4 personal trainer who works with Mirafit. While one arm stabilises you, the other lifts the weights from the floor.

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Yeah, Lenny Kravitz Wears Leather Pants to Work Out. He Finally Told Us Why.

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Yeah, Lenny Kravitz Wears Leather Pants to Work Out. He Finally Told Us Why.

BACK IN 2024, legendary rock star Lenny Kravitz went viral when he was filmed during a workout. The video wasn’t notable because of the weights—it was more about his outfit: Leather pants, a mesh shirt, and shades.

The clip caused a stir with news articles ranging from confusion to skepticism on whether he (and his personal trainer of almost 30 years, Dodd Romero) even knew what they were doing. But anyone who has scrolled through Kravitz’s Instagram can spot his hard-earned washboard abs.

Now at 62 years old, the “Fly Away” singer is still in great shape. He continues to rock a six-pack (which can sometimes look like an eight-pack or 10-pack during an intense core workout, as covered in his recent MH cover interview). He also hasn’t given up his leather pants gym attire.

Kravitz isn’t just aura farming. In the interview, from the latest issue of Men’s Health, the rock god said there was a practical reason for wearing jeans and pants when working out.

“I perform onstage in leather, denim, whatever, so those are the pants I wear to train,” Kravitz explained. “It also means I can fit in a workout anytime, anywhere.”

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Kravitz is already someone who prefers exercising outside rather than being cooped up in a gym, as he previously told MH in 2020. This adaptability is key to maintaining some of the most famous abs on the planet during his travels—like the two-year world tour and work on a new album, set to release early next year.

“It’s the work you do when no one is watching,” said Kravitz, who says he squeezes in a 45- to 60-minute workout five to six times a week. “I’m in better shape than I was 10 years ago, 20 years ago. Ten years from now, I will be in better shape than I am now.”

Jocelyn Solis-Moreira, MS is the associate health & fitness for Men’s Health and has previously written for CNN, Scientific American, Popular Science, and National Geographic before joining the brand. When she’s not working, she’s doing circus arts or working towards the perfect pull-up.

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How Diplo Built a Lean, Athletic Body at 47 – and Why He Stopped Training Like a Bodybuilder

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How Diplo Built a Lean, Athletic Body at 47 – and Why He Stopped Training Like a Bodybuilder

Diplo, the Grammy Award–winning DJ and producer, lives in a $13 million Malibu home that once belonged to Kid Rock. The property is expansive – lush and green, with wild parrots in the trees – though the natural setting belies a home gym heavy on tech. Diplo has all of the toys you’d expect (cold plunge, sauna, hyperbaric chamber) and some you wouldn’t. He recently had the engineers at Hypoxico build an altitude chamber large enough to fit his Peloton, so he can simulate riding at 10,000 feet.

‘People think I’m just, like, a drug addict or something because I’m a DJ,’ says Diplo, who goes by Wes offstage. The guy barely drinks, pointing out the obvious: playing a set in Vegas at 3 in the morning is still a job, one he’s paid hundreds of thousands of dollars per night to do with big-beat energy. ‘Can you go into your office and rip a bottle of tequila?’

One can be forgiven for making assumptions. This is, after all, the dude who famously ran the Los Angeles Marathon high on LSD in 2023 (in under four hours, no less). But point taken. When you’re on the road for 200 days a year – and producing for Beyoncé, Bieber, and BTS – you’ve gotta nurture your body and mind. Especially when you’re 47. There’s a mythology around touring artists – the groupies, the parties, the drugs – but Diplo is part of a generation of musicians intent on changing that narrative by approaching health and fitness like an elite athlete.

‘When I was younger, I wanted to be massive. I’m not trying to be ripped now,’ he says, adding that his workouts these days have a single goal: to keep him from ‘ever getting hurt’.

For the record, Diplo is in enviable shape. We took a boutique fitness class together in Malibu – a combo of yoga and boxing – and he tore his shirt off, revealing a tight core and the kind of yoked biceps you don’t get from spinning records. As a kid in Florida, he wrestled in middle school and ran in a trash bag to make weight. His daily routine has evolved since, now including a mix of running, yoga, swimming, and sauna, with a focus on functional training.

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‘Small movements,’ he says, ‘getting my hamstrings open, a little bit of chest and bodyweight, but it’s mostly animal-style calisthenics.’

Whatever he’s doing, he says, he wants it to be ‘effective for my life’.

Clayton Cotterell

Diplo running near his home in Malibu, California. on June 9, 2026

When I ask about his sleep habits, he actually shakes his head, saying, ‘I don’t even want to talk about it.’

Sometimes he gets just four hours on the road, and that’s not a brag. He has a partnership with the fitness wearable Whoop, and after its team looked at his sleep data, ‘they were like, “Are you dying?”‘

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Everyone is on him about it, including the longevity enthusiast Bryan Johnson, a friend who regularly sends Diplo ’40-minute’ voice notes advocating two things: drinking olive oil that’s high in polyphenols and sleeping more.

2026 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival - Weekend 1 - Day 3
Kevin Mazur//Getty Images

Major muscle: Diplo spinning at Coachella, April 12, 2026

He’s working on it (and has the cold-pressed olive oil on the counter to prove it). But his life entails some unique challenges. DJ sets require standing for hours on end, and according to his frequent trainer Stephen Cheuk, founder of a New York–based studio called S10, their workouts are designed to boost Diplo’s mitochondrial capacity – his energy production, basically. They involve a lot of zone 2 cardio (an intensity at which you can hold a conversation), which, when done in an altitude chamber with less oxygen, trains your body to use energy resources more efficiently. His workouts are also highly intentional, which might mean boxing one day and big-toe stretches (to combat plantar fasciitis) another. Cheuk praises Diplo’s consistency: he’s the rare client who might do a 20-minute yoga session on the plane and then go from the airport to the gym.

For Diplo, that commitment – drilled into him by his father, a military vet – is about much more than his physical health.

‘It’s my mental state,’ the DJ says. From a young age, Diplo has dealt with ADHD. It remains an almost comical challenge. While we talk, at various points he’s distracted by an errant squirrel, his cell phone, and a neon green didgeridoo he’s just 3D-printed, putting his lips to it to prove it works. Earlier this year, he flew to Uganda between Coachella weekends for an off-the-grid adventure, but also because he couldn’t sit still.

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A shirtless man performing a push-up with dumbbells outdoors, surrounded by greenery and palm trees.
Clayton Cotterell

Diplo’s training is a mash-up of lifting, calisthenics, yoga, and running.

A muscular man with tattoos exercises outdoors using resistance bands.

Clayton Cotterell

He’s wildly competitive, telling me he goes into group yoga classes with the intention of ‘winning’, whatever that means. But working out also helps to quiet his mind so he can be the best version of himself. What we’re circling is one big idea: sweating as a form of meditation. What really gets him going is running, a decidedly analogue sport. He often runs while touring, he says, telling me about running the beach in Copacabana or some New Zealand trails through Middle-earth.

Perhaps surprisingly, Diplo doesn’t listen to music while he jogs, choosing instead to be alone with his thoughts – sometimes working through to-do lists, other times contemplating his goals (which include doing a triathlon and possibly running another marathon). In 2024, he started Diplo’s Run Club, a 5K that’s grown to include races in nine US cities (with major corporate sponsors and international invitations pending). He’s quickly become one of the most powerful evangelists for the sport.

Man performing a kettlebell exercise outdoors with palm trees and a house in the background.

Clayton Cotterell
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Diplo runs in most of the club’s events and also DJs at the finish line – a pop-up day club that thrives on camaraderie and community. When asked what running means to him, this self-described poor kid from Florida praises its low-bordering-on-no barrier to entry.

‘It’s the most democratic sport you can do,’ he says. ‘You don’t need anything but shoes. You can do it anywhere you are.’

Plus, it helps him combat jet lag, which is a bonus when he’s often in multiple time zones in a single week.

For Diplo, a father of three, staying in peak shape is increasingly personal. He lost his sister, Amy, in 2023 to some combination of obesity and diabetes, he says, explaining a shift in his intentions of late. Ten years ago, his life was all about going on the road and making money. Now, he says, ‘what matters most is my health, my wellbeing. I want to be here for as long as possible, making music for as long as possible.’

A man with tattoos stretches on one knee using a block against a plain wall in a sunlit setting.
Clayton Cotterell

Mobility work helps Diplo crush 5Ks, carve waves, and slay long DJ sets

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Diplo is home in Malibu maybe eight days a month. When he’s in town, he likes to surf at Point Dume, comparing the chilly ocean water to a cold plunge (if you don’t wear a wet suit). Surfing is a full-body workout, he points out, saying he sometimes has to paddle a quarter mile back after catching a wave. But the benefits are maybe more intangible.

Recently, he says, ‘I was out there. You’ve got nothing going on. All you got is the horizon. Somebody behind you is going to talk to you about crypto – because it’s Malibu. I’m just like, Shut the fuck up. Then you paddle away and you stay on the sunset. Surfing is technical. But looking at waves? All that shit is supernatural.’


Photographs: Clayton Cotterell
Grooming: Jenna Nelson using La Prairie skincare for The Wall Group
Creative Director: Jamie Prokell
Visual Director: Sally Berman


fitness magazine cover featuring a muscular man with kettlebells

If there’s one thing Kori Sampson knows, it’s how to optimise your body composition for performance. To tap into his knowledge as an elite athlete and coach, we asked him to create a 4-week plan to help you move faster, recover quicker and keep pushing when the fatigue sets in – all while improving your muscle-to-fat ratio.

Ready to build muscle, burn fat and come out the other side looking, feeling and performing better? Click here to get 14 days of free access to the plan via the Men’s Health app.


Headshot of Mickey Rapkin

Mickey Rapkin is a journalist and screenwriter whose first book, Pitch Perfect, inspired the film series. Previously a senior editor at GQ, he has written for The New York Times, WSJ, and National Geographic. He lives in Los Angeles.

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30-30-30 rule popularizes healthy morning routine – WTOP News

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30-30-30 rule popularizes healthy morning routine – WTOP News

The rule gained popularity for being simple to implement: 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking, followed by 30 minutes of low‑intensity exercise.

The 30‑30‑30 rule is a catchy idea meant to promote weight loss and overall wellness.

It gained popularity for being simple to implement: 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking, followed by 30 minutes of low‑intensity exercise.

“It is something that a lot of people are reading about or finding on Instagram or TikTok,” said Dr. Allison Parker-Fahey, a primary care family medicine physician at Kaiser Permanente. “It’s a trend that, I think, will actually benefit a lot of people.”

The idea originally came from “The 4-Hour Body,” a 2010 book by Tim Ferriss, and has since become a popular social media trend. But Parker-Fahey said you don’t have to be strict about the number 30. The real focus is on building sustainable habits around nutrition, movement, sleep and stress.

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“It’s not really magic, but the principles are sound,” she said. “A protein-rich morning plus gentle movement can support steady energy, more stable blood sugar and fewer cravings later in the day.”

She recommended incorporating protein from natural sources such as eggs, Greek yogurt, fish, beans and nuts.

Parker-Fahey recommends adding movement to your morning by starting small and specific. For example, take a 10-minute walk with a friend.

“Aiming for more consistency over perfection,” Dr. Parker-Fahey said.

Rather than treating the 30-30-30 rule as a rigid diet, use it to shape your morning routine in a positive, sustainable way. Parker-Fahey said it can work for women, men and children.

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