With a legion of zealous followers growing by the day, three bestsellers to his name and a unique nutritional vocabulary, Joe Wicks has become an unlikely and irrepressible force in the budding world of health and fitness. So who is the man driving his tank onto Men’s Health’s lawn? And is there anymore to him than #likes?As it turns out, the answer is yes
I have watched Wicks’ double-tapped journey with both fascination and barely concealed exasperation. Scarcely four years ago, he was but another anonymous personal trainer, stood outside Richmond station pushing flyers for his daily Rumble in the Park bootcamps. Today, he is the de facto face of health and fitness in the UK. And that face is everywhere.
Unless you’ve been training under a rock in recent years, you’ll be familiar with the man’s oeuvre. Perhaps you recognise him from his Channel 4 TV show, The Body Coach. Or maybe you’ve clocked his fitness column in The Sun.
Or listened to his podcast. Or seen his advertising campaigns for Uncle Ben’s rice. Maybe you were one of the 150,000 people who have signed up to his 90 Day Shift, Shape and Sustain nutrition plans.
No? Well, chances are you’re one of the 1.8 million people who follow him on Instagram or 321,000 subscribers on YouTube. No wait, you could be one of the two million-plus who have purchased his Lean In 15 cookbooks – you know, the ones that made him the bestselling author of 2016. You get the gist. You know exactly who he is. Fairly or not, this ubiquity has grated on me. There’s the speed and apparent ease of his success. Then there’s the suspicion he’s just another unqualified ’grammer, exploiting gullible followers in order to make a quick buck. And, while we’re at it, you have that voice – a fastforward mash-up of Jamie Oliver and David Beckham.
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