A five-day mindful adventure on the Knoydart peninsula – one of the last great wildernesses in the UK – offers the chance to fully unwind and leap into the unknown

It’s a relief to lay my rucksack down, plunge hot feet into the cool stream and pause to revel in the fairytale surrounds. Foxgloves stand tall against a cornflower-blue sky, ferns look almost luminous, the water glints in the early summer sunshine. A patch of moss-covered ancient forest provides shade, a cuckoo calls in the distance, mountains layer on the horizon.

I’m in Knoydart in the Highlands of western Scotland, one of the last great wildernesses in the UK, on a hiking and wild camping adventure. No roads cross the 22,000-hectare (55,000-acres) peninsula, a rugged place where a trio of Munros soar skyward, sandwiched between sea lochs Nevis and Hourn (poetically translated as heaven and hell). Over five days our group of eight will explore this land on foot, carrying our sustenance and shelter on our backs, led by two guides from The Living Project, Josh and Emily.

We need protein to build muscle, produce hormones, regulate mood and appetite, and strengthen bones. But how much, and what kind, should you eat every day?

Eating protein is non-negotiable. Like carbs and fats, it’s a macronutrient that bodies need in relatively large, regular doses (compared with micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals). But our protein needs change throughout life, according to age, sex, activity levels and more. In fact our requirements can be highly individual and hence easily misjudged, especially when, says the dietitian Linia Patel, “There are conflicting messages around how much protein we should be eating.” On the one hand, the National Diet and Nutrition Survey shows that we exceed our daily protein recommendations, which scientists say could shorten our lives. On the other hand, says Patel: “What I see in my own clinical practice is that around 80% of my clients are not eating quite enough.” The booming protein industry, with its bars, pouches and shakes, would have us believe the more is always the merrier. So how much protein should we be eating?

It has gone from the sidelines of American sport to become a competitive global phenomenon that might one day make the Olympics. We meet the international teams bringing the cheer

When photographer Christian Sinibaldi first visited world champion cheerleaders London’s Unity Allstars Black , in January 2020, he had no expectations. In fact, he admits , he had “a few stigmas associated with cheerleaders”. What he learned that day surprised him. “I loved the energy, the connection between people,” he says. It kickstarted a fascination that would take him around the world to capture a sport on the cusp of global popularity, a project that took him from the markets of Ho Chi Minh City to the tunnels of Lagos stadium.

Cheerleading has long been associated with high school movies and glittery sideline entertainment, but it has a rich history – one that has fascinated me since I cheered at high school in the 90s. My master’s thesis was an ethnography of cheerleading, following a squad throughout a season. For my doctoral dissertation, I wrote a cultural history of the sport. Cheerleading began in the US in the late 19th century, growing out of the civil war and finding a place among the sidelines of elite all-male higher education institutions. There were almost no women cheerleaders until men went to war in the 40s. In the latter half of the 20th century it was feminised and sexualised, before evolving into a competitive athletic endeavour of its own as a result of second wave feminism. It has since been further democratised and radicalised – there are squads of all ages and genders, advocating for all manner of social justice causes.

Main image: junior members of Kazakhstan’s Cheer Republic team perform in Independence Square in the capital city, Astana, in front of the Hazrat Sultan mosque. Above: members of Athens’ Amazons cheerleading team practise in the seaside suburb of Vouliagmeni

Lenny Kravitz has been working out in leather and Cuban heeled boots, but he isn’t the first to sideline athleisure in favour of his signature style

Workout selfies of gym bunnies wearing figure-hugging leggings, short-shorts and biceps-baring tops have become as commonplace as spotting someone slugging down a protein shake on your morning commute. That is to say rife. But this week, the American singer Lenny Kravitz took the genre to a whole new, unforeseen level.

Posting a video to his Instagram , Kravitz was filmed lying on a decline bench press thrusting weighted barbells into the air while his trainer gripped his legs. While his workout technique has received heavy criticism from gym professionals , it is his choice of gym wear – a pair of black leather trousers, a sheer vest, black Cuban heeled boots and bug-eyed blackout sunglasses – that has garnered the most attention online.

Marvin wants Lil to exercise for her mental health, but she won’t be told what to do by a ‘robot of the patriarchy’. You decide whose argument is fit for purpose
Find out how to get a disagreement settled or become a juror

I’m not trying to control Lil. She just needs to leave the house. It’s really unhealthy to sit for hours

I’m a grown woman and can decide if and when I need to exercise – I have other priorities

Experts say best form of recovery will be to stay active, process traumas and set healthy targets

Most people would consider running a marathon the pinnacle of fitness – but not Russ Cook. The endurance athlete has just completed a 9,940-mile (16,000km) run along the entire length of Africa.

While Cook told reporters that he was a “little bit tired” and in need of a strawberry daiquiri after completing his odyssey, scientists who spoke to the Guardian suggested the road to recovery could be rockier than he anticipates.

Being more flexible than the average person can have its advantages, from being great at games such as Limbo to feeling smug in yoga class.

But researchers are coming to understand that being hypermobile can also be linked to pain in later life, anxiety, and even long Covid.

Madeleine Finlay hears from the science correspondent Linda Geddes about her experience of hypermobility, and finds out what might be behind its link to mental and physical health

Read Linda Geddes’ article on hypermobility here

When Sian Davies was waiting for spinal surgery, she stayed sane by planning things to look forward to. Most notably, an extraordinary feat of endurance

When she was 61, Sian Davies decided to row across the Atlantic Ocean. In March 2021, the retired sports and leisure manager was one of 12 crew members who set out on the 3,000-mile journey from Tenerife to battle sun, salt and fierce currents. “We would row in three-hour shifts and only sleep for an hour or so every six hours,” she says. “For the first 15 days I was seasick, so I didn’t eat a thing – I was just rowing and collapsing. I went through some pretty dark times.”

But she didn’t give up, and after 42 days on the water, she reached Antigua to become one of only six women in the world over the age of 60 to have rowed across an ocean. “I was exhausted and I was also so proud of myself,” she says. “It was empowering to push the limits at my age and find out just how much I could do.”

This is the perfect time to make lasting changes – whether embracing exercise, learning a new language, planting seeds or painting your house

Take it from a hopeless dopamine addict, spring is inarguably the best season to get into outdoor exercise. The trick to building the habit – as with any habit, really – is to start small, and reduce friction. Decide what you’re wearing and charge your phone before you go to bed. For your first few sorties, don’t worry about distance, speed or doing a whole workout: just get yourself used to getting up and out of the door. Counterintuitively, it can help to not dress like an athlete: if you go out covered in Lycra, it can feel mortifying to slow to a walk, but if you’re less formally dressed you can stop for a coffee. Keep it playful, and enjoy what your body can do: if that’s some step-ups on a bench or pull-ups on a tree branch, great, but even if it’s just going a little bit faster when a good song kicks in, the endorphin rush is what you’ll remember the next time it’s wet and windy. Oh, and don’t underestimate the value of a well-curated playlist. Many’s the morning I haven’t wanted to go anywhere, only for this Rihanna/Game Of Thrones remix to put a spring back in my step. Joel Snape, fitness writer