In days gone by, it would have been safe to assume that training for a Men’s Health cover meant a lot of chest, arms and mirror muscles. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, obviously.
But we’re now firmly in the age of the hybrid athlete, the functional fitness phenom and the general understanding that our training should make our bodies less ‘ornament’ and more ‘instrument’. The goal isn’t just to look like you train. It’s to look like you train, then be able to back it up.
Spencer Matthews’ prep for his cover debut sits right in that sweet spot.
Crafted by elite physique competitor Shaun Stafford, the plan had a fairly simple mission on paper: add size to his frame, strip away body fat and bring in the version of himself he wanted to immortalise on the cover.
Simple stuff, in theory. But there was a wrinkle in the works.
Matthews wasn’t just training for a shoot. He’s also deep into an endurance training block, chasing the fairly punchy ambition of a 2:45 marathon – a target that demands serious running volume, careful energy management, and the sort of nutritional discipline that doesn’t leave much room for guesswork.
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That meant Stafford couldn’t simply throw the kitchen sink at him in the gym and hope for the best. The lifting had to support the running, not sabotage it. The muscle-building work had to be hard enough to cut the mustard, but measured enough to recover from.
Yes, it’s designed to help you build muscle, bring up your upper body and sharpen your physique. But because it was created to sit alongside a demanding endurance goal, it’s also a smart blueprint for anyone trying to keep one foot in the performance world and one foot in the looking-decent-with-your-top-off world.
Run, ride, row, play sport, train for Hyrox, chase a PB or simply want to build muscle without giving up your engine? This is the sort of template you can steal from.
The full plan is available to Men’s Health Squad members on the MH app, but the workout below gives you a taste of the action.
Want to train like Spencer? His coach, Shaun Stafford, has created a four-week plan exclusively for members of the MH SQUAD. Join the MH SQUAD to access the plan, or existing members can head straight into their app.
The Workout
This session is built around heavy pressing, higher-rep upper-body work and short-transition supersets. Use the bench press as your main strength movement for the day, then keep the accessory work controlled, purposeful and repeatable.
Upper-Body Strength
6 sets – 12, 10, 8, 5, 5, 5 reps
Use this as your main strength move. Build the load as the reps drop, taking your time as things get heavier. Those final sets of 5 should feel like proper work, but not a full emotional event. Rest properly, keep your reps clean and don’t turn the session into a max-out circus.
Upper-Body Superset
Complete 3 rounds
A1. Incline Bench Press x 12 reps
A2. Dumbbell Thruster x 12 reps
Move from the incline press into the thruster with minimal rest – around 15 to 20 seconds, or just enough time to set yourself up properly. The aim here isn’t to turn every rep into a blur. You still want control, range and tension. But you also want to keep the session moving, building useful volume without spending half your life scrolling on a bench.
Upper-Body Tri-Set
Complete 3 rounds
B1. Chest Dip x 15 reps
B2. Bench Dip x 15 reps
B3. Rope Triceps Overhead Extension x 20 reps
This is where the session shifts from strength work into something a little more lactic, pumpy and uncomfortable. In a good way. You’ll move from dips to bench dips to rope overhead extensions, stacking up pressing volume and triceps work while keeping the pace high.
As with the rest of the plan, the goal is not to annihilate yourself for the sake of it. Stafford’s approach here is about progressive resistance, controlled reps and enough time under tension to make the muscle work. Don’t just move the weight from A to B. Keep your head in the game and make each rep count.
The Takeaway
The bigger picture is straightforward: track your lifts, progress where you can, fuel the work properly and recover like it’s part of the programme – because it is. If you’re also running, riding or playing sport alongside this, resist the urge to turn every session into a heroic last stand. Consistency outperforms intensity on a long enough timeline.
Read our full interview with Spencer at this link. You can subscribe to Men’s Health by clicking here.
With almost 18 years in the health and fitness space as a personal trainer, nutritionist, breath coach and writer, Andrew has spent nearly half of his life exploring how to help people improve their bodies and minds.
As our fitness editor he prides himself on keeping Men’s Health at the forefront of reliable, relatable and credible fitness information, whether that’s through writing and testing thousands of workouts each year, taking deep dives into the science behind muscle building and fat loss or exploring the psychology of performance and recovery.
Whilst constantly updating his knowledge base with seminars and courses, Andrew is a lover of the practical as much as the theory and regularly puts his training to the test tackling everything from Crossfit and strongman competitions, to ultra marathons, to multiple 24 hour workout stints and (extremely unofficial) world record attempts.
You can find Andrew on Instagram at @theandrew.tracey, or simply hold up a sign for ‘free pizza’ and wait for him to appear.
