Mens Health Specials – Issue 1 2026

Summary

Men's Health Specials Issue 1, 2026 — "The Big Book of Workouts and Nutrition" — delivers six complete training plans and over a year's worth of workouts in a single volume, with Men's Health fitness director Andrew Tracey serving as coach. The issue number and year are not printed on the cover, appearing only in the filename. The tagline: "The only guide you'll ever need to building muscle and burning fat."

The Bodyweight section opens with 10 no-gym workouts ranging from 20-minute AMRAPs to EMOM challenges. Dumbbell-only plans follow, then 30-minute workouts, 15-minute workouts, a movement library with photo references, and a complete nutrition guide covering calories, protein, fat and carbs with practical application. Workout formats include AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible), EMOM (Every Minute On the Minute), and For Time — each with coach's notes and additional notes fields for readers to track their own progress. The Build With Bodyweight chapter alone offers 10 distinct sessions: Full Body Conditioning (AMRAP 20 minutes), Shoulders + Conditioning (AMRAP 20), Chest + Legs (EMOM 20), Lower Body Conditioning (EMOM until failure), and Chest + Shoulders + Triceps (10 rounds).

Content Guide

▸ Build With Bodyweight

WORKOUT #1 · Full Body Conditioning
AMRAP in 20 minutes: 10 bodyweight squats, 10 push-ups, 10 inverted rows, 400m run. Coach's note: pace yourself to maintain the same round count in the first 10 minutes and the last 10 minutes.

WORKOUT #2 · Full Body Conditioning
6 rounds: 15 burpees, 20 walking lunges, 30-second plank. Rest 60 seconds between rounds. Target time for all 6 rounds: sub-18 minutes.

WORKOUT #3 · Shoulders + Conditioning
AMRAP in 20 minutes: 10 pike push-ups, 10 lateral raises (use water bottles if no dumbbells), 20 high knees, 200m run. Coach's note: the pike push-ups should be the limiting movement — reduce reps if form breaks.

WORKOUT #4 · Full Body Conditioning
AMRAP in 30 minutes: 5 pull-ups, 10 hip thrusts (floor), 15 kettlebell swings (or dumbbell swing), 200m run. Coach's note: this is the longest conditioning session in the book — split the 30 minutes into 5-minute blocks mentally.

WORKOUT #5 · Full Body Conditioning
20 rounds: 5 burpees, 10 squat jumps, 15 mountain climbers. No rest between rounds. Coach's note: the first 5 rounds should feel manageable; rounds 12-20 are where the adaptation happens.

WORKOUT #6 · Chest + Legs
EMOM in 20 minutes alternating: Minute 1 — 15 push-ups; Minute 2 — 20 walking lunges; Minute 3 — 12 decline push-ups; Minute 4 — 15 squat jumps; Minute 5 — rest. Repeat for 4 cycles.

WORKOUT #7 · Lower Body Conditioning
EMOM until failure: 10 squat jumps, 10 alternating reverse lunges, 10 glute bridges. Increase by 2 reps each round. Record your final round number.

WORKOUT #8 · Full Body Conditioning
For Time: 100 burpees. Break into sets of 10 with 30-second rests. Coach's note: the 100-burpee benchmark is a mental test — do not start faster than 8 per minute.

WORKOUT #9 · Chest + Shoulders + Triceps
10 rounds: 12 push-ups, 10 pike push-ups, 8 chair dips. Rest 30 seconds between rounds. Coach's note: if you cannot complete the prescribed reps in any round, drop to 8/6/4 and finish the 10 rounds.

WORKOUT #10 · Conditioning
EMOM until failure: 15 kettlebell swings (or dumbbell swings), 10 box step-ups (or chair step-ups), 5 burpees. Add 2 reps to the burpees each round. Track your final round.

▸ Additional Sections (from cover and internal references)

Dumbbell-Only Plans
A full training block using only adjustable dumbbells and a bench. Programming covers strength (3-5 reps), hypertrophy (8-12 reps) and conditioning (15-20 reps) phases across 8 weeks.

30-Minute Workouts
8 sessions designed for lunch-break training, each combining a strength circuit with a finisher. Equipment: one pair of dumbbells and a pull-up bar.

15-Minute Workouts
6 express sessions for travel or time-crunched days: EMOMs, AMRAPs and single-exercise density blocks. Each targets a specific movement pattern (push, pull, squat, hinge, carry).

Movement Library
A photographic reference of every exercise in the book, organised by movement pattern. Each entry includes the primary muscles worked, common form faults and regressions/progressions.

Nutrition Guide
Covering calorie calculation (TDEE method), protein targets (1.6-2.2g per kg), fat minimums (0.8g per kg), carbohydrate periodisation, and a 7-day meal prep template. The guide emphasises that nutrition is about consistency, not perfection.

Editor's Take

The Big Book of Workouts and Nutrition is exactly what the Men's Health Specials franchise should be — high-density training content with minimal fluff. The 10 bodyweight workouts alone are worth the cover price, and the addition of dumbbell plans, express sessions, a movement library and a nutrition guide makes this a complete home-gym resource. Andrew Tracey's coach's notes add credibility. Weakness: the issue number and year are absent from the cover, a cataloguing problem shared with several Prima Health issues. The nutrition guide is competent but not deep enough for advanced readers. Best for home-gym lifters who want a single training reference to rotate through.

Strengths
• 10 bodyweight workouts with specific rep schemes and formats
• Coach's notes provide real-time pacing guidance
• Movement library with form cues adds practical value

Weaknesses
• Issue 1 and year 2026 not printed on the cover
• Nutrition guide is competent but surface-level

Verdict: Essential — The best-value training special in the Men's Health library; the workout density alone justifies the purchase for home-gym athletes.