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CONTENTS COVER GUY: 70 TIM ROBARDS HUNGRY PHOTOGRAPHED BY: HEART JODY PACHNIUK 6 MEN’S HEALTH Who better to help celebrate our 25th birthday than TV star and fitness guru TIM ROBARDS? In a record- breaking fourth cover appearance, the man with the best body in the business reflects on his own impending milestone birthday (his 40th) and why it's making him hungrier than ever to achieve his goals.
127 116 INSIDE THIS ISSUE THE BEAR-GORILLA FLOW THE MH FITNESS AWARDS TACTICS What do you get if you cross a bear with Previously pro-level kit is increasingly available p32 Switch Off The Noise a gorilla? Aside from some pesky ethical to consumers. From smartwatches to smart New columnist Osher GÜnsberg on how to tune out mental static. concerns, a killer core and back! Fortify yourself dumbbells, we break down the gear that could p98 The Dude Survives against injury by unlocking the beast within. help take your fitness to new heights. How Hollywood heavyweight 80 20 Jeff Bridges beat cancer then COVID. DEATH BECOMES YOU BIG BROTHER MIND Ever wonder what happens when you croak? Actor Luke Hemsworth traded sanding floors p16 'Phubbing' Fix Join a very big club. The world's leading expert for the bright lights of Hollywood. Find out Snubbing friends for phones is a modern epidemic.Here's how to on near-death experiences reveals what he's how this down-to-earth bloke found a way to end digital dependence. learned from those who’ve seen the other side. emerge from you-know-who’s shadow. p44 Enough With Hustle Why the key to getting ahead at work may lie in doing less. NUTRITION p30 Perfect Salmon Knock up this ocean’s bounty to net a hefty protein and fibre haul. p40 Attack Food Allergies Adult-onset food allergies are on the rise. Discover the keys to keeping your lunch down. FITNESS p94 Diversity In Dumbbells Find out how Black-owned fitness brands are changing the gear game . p121 Welcome To Knee Hab Could a controversial 'cure' for chronic knee pain transform your athletic potential? SEPTEMBER 2022 7
EDITOR’S LETTER menshealth.com.au Men's Health Australia @MensHealthAU @menshealthaustralia Silver Lining SCOTT HENDERSON Editor “I GET KNOCKED DOWN, but I get In the years that followed the print launch of MH, the up again.” You sing along defiantly as digital revolution began to loom large, presenting an BEN JHOTY Tubthumping blasts through the stereo, the exciting avenue for men to research and discover aspects of Deputy Editor third time you’ve heard this anthem in as their health in a more private setting. As a former digital many hours thanks to the high rotation of editor of this brand, I know exactly what you were DANIEL WILLIAMS the So Fresh: Hits of Winter CD in your searching for – and let me tell you: you were NOT alone. The Associate Editor stacker. You adjust the volume as the subsequent advent and explosion of social media further melody competes with the blare of a nearby transformed how we were able to connect with you, our JASON LEE siren and your own car horn: another New audience. Social media offered you a line not only to our Creative Director Volkswagen Beetle has cut you off, this one team, but the talent and experts we profile and work with lime green. every month. Our unprecedented access to the brightest ALISON COTTON minds in the health world remains our greatest tool in Contributing Editor The commotion kicks off a fit of crying delivering the latest health information into the palm from your daughter in the backseat. She’s of your hand. NIKOLINA ILIC already on edge after the untimely passing Digital Editor of her Tamagotchi. “You’re never gonna Despite the best efforts of Men’s Health and others, 25 keep me down.” years down the line men continue to fall behind in most JESSICA CAMPBELL areas of health and wellbeing, with higher rates of physical Digital Content Writer You’ll likely miss tonight’s screening of illness, lower rates of engagement with medical services Titanic with your wife due to this traffic, so and much poorer mental-health outcomes. HANNAH CHAPMAN it looks like another night on the couch Contributing Designer watching Princess Diana tributes. What’s Yet the tide is turning. Male health and masculinity have more, you’ll forgo the gym for a fifth experienced seismic shifts, particularly in recent years, IAN BROOKS consecutive day – a real shame as your with burgeoning movements around toxic masculinity, Chief Executive Officer affinity for those new McFlurry desserts is racial and gender equality, and mental wellbeing starting to take its toll on your waistline. presenting the perfect moment to marry the goals of LLOYD O’HARTE optimum physical and mental health. The modern man is Executive Director The year is 1997, your job’s a joke, you’re gravitating ever more strongly towards a type of fitness broke and no one told you life was going to focused at least as much on the inside as it is on broad RACHEL SULLIVAN be this way. Mercifully, help is on the way. shoulders and visible abs. He is hungry for information, National Commercial Director inspiration and practical means to enhance his health. [email protected] Launched with the promise of providing “heaps of useful stuff”, Men’s Health I’ve often heard it said that it’s a tough time to be a man. CHRIS MATTHEWS Australia – a monthly guidebook to fitness, Perhaps, however, we needed a reckoning. And as we look Partnerships & Integration Manager nutrition, sex, fatherhood, mindfulness towards the next 25 years, I’d argue that there has never – hit the newsstands in the spring of 1997. been a better time to be a man; archaic stereotypes have JORDAN LOZINA The past 25 years have been a wild ride, with been dismantled and masculinity is ripe for redefining. Partnerships & Integration Manager reckonings aplenty, perhaps none more so The slate is clean and we, the men of now and the future, than for both men and magazines. can reshape men’s health in a way that supports and NATALIE WARD nurtures both ourselves and the world we inhabit. Commercial Consultant With that in mind, our goal here at Men’s Health remains EMILY WHITE the same as it’s always been: to equip the men of Australia Content Activations Coordinator with the wisdom to live their healthiest lives, armed with “heaps of useful stuff”, so that when life inevitably does EMMA-ROSE GREENWOOD knock you down, you will get back up again, stronger and Content Activations Coordinator healthier than before. LEE MCLACHLAN Scott Henderson Creative Services [email protected] JULIE HUGHES Subscription Manager [email protected] PARAGON DCN PTY LTD ABN 73627 186 350. PO Box 81, St Leonards, NSW 1590 14/174 Willoughby Road, Crows Nest NSW 2062 Ph (02) 9439 1955, paragonmedia.com.au JONATHAN WRIGHT President, Hearst Magazines Int. KIM ST. CLAIR BODDEN SVP/Editorial & Brand Director CHLOE O’BRIEN Global Editorial Brands Director INTERNATIONAL EDITIONS Australia, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, S. Africa, Spain, UK, US Published and Distributed by Paragon DCN Pty Ltd by Permission of Hearst Magazines, Inc., New York, New York, United States of America. Printed and retail distribution by Ovato Limited. Published 12 times a year. All rights reserved. Title and trademark Men’s Health © Hearst Magazines International. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission. Men’s Health is a registered trademark and the unauthorised use of this trademark is strictly prohibited. issn 13293079. © 2021 Paragon DCN. Men’s Health acknowledges the Cammeraygal people, Traditional Custodians of the land on which this publication is produced, and pay our respects to their Elders past and present. We extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today. 8 MEN’S HEALTH
MH RADAR Celebrating 25 Years FOR A QUARTER of a century, Men’s Health has been helping Australian men get fitter, eat better, work smarter and build more satisfying relationships. In the process, MH staff – writers, designers, other creatives – have amassed a lifetime of tell-your-grandkids memories. Here’s the pick of them Luke Benedictus Former Editor & Contributing Editor OCTOBER, 1997 In November 2018, I was at the Melbourne Ian Brooks Cup, cursing into my beer after backing CEO, Paragon Media My involvement with Men’s yet another loser, when a stranger in Health stretches back to the launch issue in 1997, when I a trilby tapped me on the shoulder. was a young accountant working for the distribution “I just wanted to say ‘thank you’,” the business. I joined the publisher a couple of years later and man said. “Your magazine inspired me SEPTEMBER, 2017 became good friends and to lose 25kg.” training partner with the then editor, Todd Cole. I’ve It turned out the man had picked up a remained an avid reader and supporter ever since. The previous issue of Men’s Health featuring one of our first brand has always stayed true to its philosophy of giving men ‘transformers’, Guy Sebastian, who with the help of trainers Chief the tools they need to be their best. Twenty years after and Em Brabon had achieved incredible results. Reading Guy’s starting my own publishing house, I am now proudly the story had motivated this man to start training. It hadn’t proved publisher of Australia’s leading men’s brand and very excited SEPTEMBER, 2008 easy, he admitted, but gradually the weight had started about its future. Tim Robards to drop off. Almost a year later, he was more energetic, slept better Ben Jhoty Deputy Editor Four-time MH Cover Guy and felt more confident at work. In my time at MH, I’ve been ‘forced’ to take on all manner of foolish pursuits I was in my mid-teens when For me, it was a special moment because it was a real-life that have pushed me out of my Men’s Health arrived in Australia comfort zone, from fighting my – and it inspired me like no other affirmation of the MH mission to give men the tools they need to colleague in the ring to eating the magazine ever has. Pimply and world’s hottest chilli. The most quite skinny at the time, the sight lead better lives. Meeting that hat-wearing stranger was a daunting, though, was the first: a of the classically shot MH cover non-tandem skydive. It was the only guys made me want to train hard reminder that a great magazine can deliver life-changing results. time in almost two decades at the and often. When I appeared on the brand that I came close to backing September 2008 cover, it felt both Scott Henderson Editor out of a story. But after a sleepless surreal and like a kind of destiny. night, I jumped. When the chute I’ve since been on three more – The undisputed highlight of my time at Men’s Health has been the opened my relief was all-consuming. and the thrill never wanes. people I’ve met along the way and the stories we’ve shared with Afterwards, I knew in some way I’d grown, which is all you can really Daniel Williams Associate Editor MH team are included. It’s the men and hope for in life, in a job, even perhaps, when you pick up a magazine. Though I’ve been an on-and-off sportswriter for more than three decades, June 28 last year marked the first time I’d spoken to Shane a tragic MH team, complete MH is as safe as it can be in their 10 MEN’S HE ALTH
Natalie Ward Jason Lee Creative Director The No. 1 rule of CrossFit Commercial Consultant is to talk about CrossFit to My part in MH started some eight years ago. I anyone who’ll listen, ideally remember vividly being part of the Light Up Your in acronyms (C2B and HSPU Run event in Sydney for MH and WH. My kids anyone?). My dream came have been part of my journey on MH, too – true when I was asked every step of the way, in fact. I’ve loved every to combine my love of JANUARY, 2020 minute of working with CrossFit and passion for such a great team. photography by shooting a cover of Men’s Health with the GOAT himself, Rich Froning. My jaw hit the floor behind the viewfinder of my camera when he started warming up with 60kg snatches. I was super- proud of how the shoot turned out and it remains one of the all-time highlights in my thick-as-a-phonebook MH portfolio. JUNE, 2022 Alex Dalrymple David Ashford Christopher Riley Former Multimedia Content Producer Former Creative Director A week of my life that felt more ‘Men’s Health’ than any other was Contributing Editor My most memorable MH spent trekking through the Andes, finishing at Machu Picchu. The There was a time when the MH brand moment (and there were highlight? Randomly coming across a group of kitchen staff who’d stood for washboard abs and ripped quite a few to pick from) carved a football pitch in the jungle. None of us spoke the others’ biceps. Then, as the world grew and was when most of the office languages, but we shared a glorious hour basking in our shared love changed, so did we. Now, the headed to Byron Bay for of the beautiful game in the most unlikely and exotic of settings. magazine seeks to inspire readers. a cover shoot with Chris For me, that’s what this story (above) Hemsworth. Actually, for Aaron Scott Former Associate Editor is all about. I first met YP in 2019 as me, it wasn’t just an MH part of the trailblazing rap group highlight; it was a highlight Who hasn’t watched a game of professional footy and thought: how ONEFOUR. A few days later, he was of my videography career. would I shape up against these guys? So, it was a special moment, sent to prison. For many, that could Chris had flown in from back in 2014, when Wayne Bennett invited me on a training run with have spelled the end. But YP spent his shooting a film in Thailand the Brisbane Broncos. I held my own in the cardio session. But when sentence training his mind and body just for this shoot. Aside from Bennett uttered the words “contact session” I beat a hasty retreat to for a return to the outside world. It being a massive movie star, the sideline. After all, it’s a healthy man who understands discretion is was a story about the power of fitness he was a very friendly guy the better part of valour. in helping shape people’s lives for the who sat and had lunch with better. It was a story of redemption. us, chatting about the music Bruce Ritchie For anyone who has ever experienced he loves and his workouts. adversity, this story was for you. Former Editor I couldn’t help but be a Ian Cockerill Former Editor little starstruck. Most memorable MH My favourite MH memory is charging up the quarter pipe to complete the Urbanathlon obstacle races staged in central Sydney and Melbourne in 2013. Two breathless occasions where we got to practise what we preach, shoulder to shoulder with readers.
ASK MH Fix your focus with a deep work session. Q THE BIG QUESTION I work 10-hour days, yet I’m always running behind. Can you help? –HM Oh, we know the feeling. You sit down to work on full focus after each interruption. Over the course of the WORDS: SCARLETT WRENCH; LEE BOYCE; LUCY GORNALL. PHOTOGRAPHY: SUN LEE. PROP DESIGN: that marketing strategy, when an email from your boss day, small annoyances can be fatal for productivity.” pops up – better read that. Soon, you’re on Slack looking for a message they sent last week, when you scroll past a And it’s not just disruptive to your work schedule. Task financial report. Which reminds you, wasn’t there a completion is good for our mental health, while the business article you meant to read? Better Google it . . . hamster-wheel existence of managing an overflowing inbox has the opposite effect, says Yongo. Task-hopping is inevitable in today’s workplace, but it’s a killer for productivity. Which is why we’d suggest Logging in to a live, virtual co-working session (which familiarising yourself with ‘deep work’. Coined by the Flown and others offer) is one solution, providing author Cal Newport, deep work is when you direct your full accountability when you’re not in the office. Yongo also attention to a task, says Micah Yongo. A novelist, Yongo advises diarising dedicated time for distraction-free work first became interested in it when writing a book alongside rather than just dipping in when you feel like it. “Don’t his day job. Now, he develops the deep-work curriculum at overdo it: 45-50 minutes of focused work, followed by five- Flown – a start-up that trains members to work to 10-minute breaks, will keep your output high,” he says. uninterrupted. Got a presentation to put together? Switch off your phone and emails and block out an hour to do that and just that. Yongo points to a phenomenon known as ‘attention The difference will surprise you. residue’. “It’s like a mini-hangover your brain experiences whenever your concentration is interrupted,” he says. More good news? “Due to a process in your brain called “Studies show it can take up to 23 minutes for you to regain myelination, the more you do it, the easier it gets,” says Yongo. Practice makes progress. 12 MEN’S HE ALTH
AQrpAAwe.lanliHc.aoonrIMonctruaafrwsioirymtloemreismmndnhdnygyoob?oettyucfWAfaoorlasSldefhrhmnrxsoameaIahpentiaelPypdedwepuetnlporrpoie;etfttdrouhoIawioeblarnobdaGsydmarc?nmlaierhgaaemlotifTi;tmrosbyaaont.ol3i.d5f6oBfC Ask the MH girls the questions you can’t ask anyone else. They’re three women who speak their mind, so don’t expect sugar-coated answers TEXT A NUTRITIONIST ASK THE GIRLS IN THE OFFICE Any good WFH snack ideas? And please don’t say fruit. – JB “My new girlfriend keeps bringing up stuff from her sexual past, Today 10:48 am which I have no interest in. It seems like she expects me to talk about my past too, I’m always hungry a couple of hours but I’m not comfortable with that and after breakfast. What can I reach for feel it couldn’t lead anywhere good. that’s satisfying and good for me? What’s my move?” –BK You want something nutrient-dense Nik: Hmm, this is an interesting one. that won’t cause a big rise and dip in Becky: You’re just going to have to say your piece, BK. If blood sugar. Look for high-protein you don’t want to go into the ins and outs of your sexual foods or pair your carbs with a small history, tell her that. It’s a perfectly reasonable position. portion of fat to keep you feeling full. Nik: Yep, I would sit down with her and explain that you don’t want to hear about her past exploits – Gotcha . . . like what? and why you’d rather not go into any detail about yours. How about grilled chicken and avo on Jess: Relationships aren’t a confessional. a wholemeal cracker? Or a boiled egg It’s up to both of you to respect the with some edamame beans. boundaries around what the other party is happy to share. My view: the past is the Sometimes I just crave crisps, though… past. And it seems a little weird that she’s so intent on wheedling this In which case, try roasting chickpeas information out of you. Like you, I can’t with a pinch of salt and spices. They’re see how any of it will help the a fibre-rich crisp alternative. relationship. But I can see how it could hurt it. I just wish I wasn’t so peckish Nik: If she’s perceiving your all the damn time. reluctance to spill on that stuff as a lack of trust, that would be strange Are you eating enough at breakfast? too. I wouldn’t put sexual history on Cravings and energy dips indicate your the list of things you’re obliged to blood sugar’s out of balance. Make sure share. you include protein, too. Becky: You’ve got to wonder why she keeps bringing it up. It would trigger an Just FYI, don’t discount fruit due to alarm or two for me around issues of its sugar content. It’s a good source of control, jealousy and insecurity. And vitamins and minerals, as well as fibre. straight nosiness. Eat it with nuts for a slower blood sugar Nik: Maybe she just isn’t aware how response. + uncomfortable it’s making you, BK. In which case, let her know in plain I’m already raiding the fridge! language. Becky: Yeah, it could be that she’s Gail Madalena, registered nutritional therapist at The Natural Balance oblivious, because the past – even when it involves a subject as fraught as sex – isn’t an uncomfortable topic for everyone. She might have absolutely no idea that you’re finding the whole business excruciating. Got a query? DM us via Instagram @menshealthau SEPTEMBER 2022 13
YOUR MONTHLY DOWNLOAD 09 22 OF THE LATEST LIFE ENHANCING RESEARCH Put the big squeeze on muscle decline. WGAIITNH’TGHRIASNSAWTEEEMTUTSIPCLES SUPER SEEDS The overlooked pomegranate has been linked As a stand-alone snack, it’s not up to much. to some surprising bodybuilding side effects. Try these suggestions instead Could it help your gym efforts bear fruit? ADD JUICE TO YOUR SHAKES WORDS: ANNIE SCOTT. PHOTOGRAPHY: ROWAN FEE THE POMEGRANATE has had a strange cultural – your cells’ energy centres. As we age, our bodies journey. They were the seeds that condemned become less efficient at clearing up broken-down A Plos One journal study Persephone to a life half-lived in the underworld, dysfunctional mitochondria, causing a build-up found that Olympic- according to ancient Greek mythology, and that makes muscles less efficient. This process style weightlifters provided the world’s most troubling description can start as early as our thirties. Working out is who chugged a glass of breasts in My Dad Wrote A Porno. The fruit has only half the battle to preserve muscle strength; before training were able to recover represented everything from death to blood to supporting your routine with good-quality whole more quickly. fertility. Rarely, however, has it been associated foods makes all the difference. with gym gains. POP A 250MG CAPSULE Foods containing ellagitannins help to But perhaps it should: a study from the supercharge cells and keep muscles healthier Pomegranate extract University of Washington has linked production of for longer. Apples, strawberries and walnuts are has been shown to the compound urolithin A with improved muscle other sources of this type of polyphenol – but protect levels of blood strength. Key to the gut’s production of urolithin A pomegranates are notable for their particularly flow-boosting nitric is a diet rich in ellagitannins – a type of polyphenol high levels, as well as providing vitamin C, another oxide, helping you push harder. found in the ‘fruit of the dead’ – the pomegranate. nutrient linked to age-proof muscles. Plant the seeds for growth. THROW IT IN YOUR DINNER Urolithin A works by revitalising mitochondria As well as vitamin C, a handful of pomegranate seeds dishes up bone- strengthening vitamin K. Add to quinoa salads or slow-cooked lamb. SEPTEMBER 2022 15
THE FEED 0922 YOmWS“YPUoThOreuHRObtUhbYaPiFnRngRYj”uSPmsIOtNiErgHuUhNdUtOesnNBDigeNnsBSEsaElEIFNDOGRTO WE’VE ALL DONE IT. You’re in the pub and your mate is in the middle of a story about his Quit being crumbling crypto portfolio. Suddenly your phone a slave to beeps. Without thinking, you look down and see your phone. an update in your WhatsApp footy-tipping group. Davo is tipping the Tigers this weekend. Is he on drugs? You begin formulating a witty missive until it dawns on you that your mate sitting opposite has gone quiet. You look up to find him peering at you, miffed. Sound familiar? You ignore the flesh-and-blood friends sitting right in front of you for whatever hit of digital dopamine your phone might deliver. Or, just as likely, you’re the one who’s been rudely sidelined by a mate’s pinging smartphone. But while most of us have come to accept a little rudeness as the price of having a constant digital companion in our pocket, the reasons behind phone snubbing (or “phubbing”) are more troubling than you might imagine. A new University of Georgia study has found depressed and socially anxious people are more likely to phub their friends, with personality traits such as neuroticism influencing phubbing behaviour. “Some people who have high social anxiety or depression are more likely to be addicted to their smartphone,” said Juhyung Sun, the study’s lead author. Particularly pernicious, in terms of social interaction, is the habit of constantly reading notifications that pop up on screen, adds Sun. “People are really sensitive to their notifications. With each buzz or sound, we consciously or unconsciously look at our phones.” Significantly, the study found agreeable people – those who are cooperative, polite and friendly – are less likely to engage in phubbing in the presence of their friends. “In face-to-face conversations, people with high levels of agreeableness consider phubbing behaviour rude and impolite to their conversational partners,” Sun says. If you’re worried about your level of phubbing, you have options. First, the nuclear one: turn off your phone. If that’s too much to bear, either switch off your notifications or turn your phone over, a gesture that shows a level of respect – and an intention to focus on the person you’re with. REVERSE 01/ 02/ 03/ 04/ 05/ THE RUDENESS Stop when someone is If you’re the pedestrian, Give up your seat on the bus/ Stand when someone Open the car door for your TREND even approaching a thank the considerate train. No need to make a joins your table in a partner. (And catch them if Sorry, but it’s not time to let the old ways die pedestrian crossing. driver with a wave. fuss. Just get up and move. café/restaurant. they faint.) 16 MEN’S HE ALTH
THE FEED 0922 LET BRAIN FADE TAKE THE WRAP For a younger brain, digest this Here’s some food for thought: the latest research suggests a wisely topped taco could be your ally in the fight against cognitive decline bite-size tip. FIBRE HAS SUFFERED something of an image WORDS: SCARLETT WRENCH. PHOTOGRAPHY: LOUISA PARRY. problem in recent years, associated as it is with such unglamorous things as bowel movements, bloating and the sort of breakfast cereals you’d find at the back of a kitchen cupboard, with a best-before date that’s older than your first child. Yes, it might not have the marketing appeal of protein, nor inspire the kind of tribal allegiance that the debate around carbs does – but, of all of the nutrients on your plate, fibre is perhaps the one that’s most worthy of your attention. On average, Australian men are thought to fall short on this gut-loving nutrient by about 10-15g per day. But you’ll find that its benefits extend far beyond healthy digestion and appetite control. According to a new study of 3500 adults, published in the journal Nutritional Neuroscience, those who ate the most fibre also had the lowest risk of developing dementia – an affliction that currently affects an estimated 400,000 Aussies. One theory posited by the scientists is that, by altering the composition of your gut bacteria, eating more fibre might directly reduce inflammation in the brain; its role in rebalancing blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol likely also plays a part. Notably, one type of fibre, called soluble fibre, was more closely linked with a reduced risk of dementia than the insoluble kind. Among your best sources? Black beans, avocado and sweet potato – in other words, superlative toppings for any meat-free taco. Pick and choose from the ingredients below to meet your 10g-per-meal target. Hold the mezcal. JUST ROLL BLACK BEANS SWEET POTATO AVOCADO RED CABBAGE VINE TOMATO SALSA VERDE GRATED CHEESE WITH IT 8.7g fibre 3g fibre 3.5g fibre 1.5g fibre 1.2g fibre 0.4g fibre 0g fibre Guanajuato wraps are our choice for authenticity. per 100g per 100g per 50g per 70g per 100g per 20g (but add it anyway) Now pick your fillings 18 MEN’S HE ALTH
ADVANTAGE STAY AHEAD OF THE GAME BIG BROTHER Aussie actor LUKE HEMSWORTH went from Ramsay Street to sanding floors to Hollywood. A father of four, surfer, trailbike rider, painter and, of course, fierce older brother, he’s proof that when it comes to forging a career, a can-do attitude and reservoir of resilience are vital if you want to make a name for yourself BY BEN JHOTY 20 MEN’S HE ALTH
HEMSWORTH IS STEPPING INTO THE LIMELIGHT FOR HIMSELF. SEPTEMBER 2022 21
IF YOU HAPPENED to have been out one evening in Toronto about surname is. You could call it his superpower, but given he’s a decade ago, you might have seen a forlorn figure, hands dug unlikely to front his own comic-book franchise any time soon, into his pockets, shoulders stiff to ward off the cold, trudging let’s just say he’s done what all smart guys eventually learn through the streets, wracked with doubt and heavy with regret. to do: play to your strengths. That could probably describe more than a few of the frigid pedestrians on the city’s streets that night, but this particular fellow BROTHERS IN ARMS was Luke Hemsworth, a faded Aussie soap star and former owner of a flooring business, among other things. He was wondering if Hemsworth is in Vancouver to work on a project he can’t disclose he’d blown his shot at a Hollywood career and the chance to make but assures me is “something cool”. He’s just flown in from a his name in America. conservation trip to Kenya, where he was tracking elephants and is rapturous about the African landscape. “It looks kind of like the Hemsworth had won the lead role on the pilot of a big-budget outback,” he says. “There are bits that are really red with lots of show. He’d found out on a Thursday, flown to Toronto to begin stunted trees. But then you’ve got giraffes and hyenas and rehearsing with the cast on the Monday, only to be fired on the elephants everywhere. It was beautiful and beguiling.” Tuesday. The reason given? He wasn’t “New York enough” for the part. As he walked the icy streets that night, Hemsworth feared he Born in Victoria, the eldest of three brothers (pretty sure you might have made a huge mistake in pursuing his American dream. know the other two), Hemsworth has a first-hand appreciation for Was he being silly striving for something that hinged so heavily on the stark beauty of the Aussie wilderness, having spent a portion luck and taste, when he could be, perhaps should be, staying in of his childhood on a cattle station in Arnhem Land. Initially, his his lane back in Australia? Maybe even getting back on the tools? parents helped fence his aunt’s property before taking over the community’s local mum-and-pop general store. “I was in Toronto by myself,” recalls Hemsworth, who’s chatting to me today from a Vancouver hotel room that overlooks the water. “They had a walk-in fridge,” he recalls fondly. “And I remember “It was freezing. And they were like, ‘Well, there’s no easy way to because it was so hot there. That’s where you’d go when your feet say it. But they’re going to recast your part’. I was like, ‘Okay’. And were burning. We’d go in there on the cold floor and steal I remember being bewildered. I was walking the streets that night Creaming Sodas.” going, Oh, what do I do now? Is that it? Is that the end of my career before it’s even begun over here? How do you come back from this In his teenage years, the family moved first to Sassafras in the when you haven’t done anything?” Dandenong Ranges, before later heading to Phillip Island. Summer holidays were spent on the Mornington Peninsula, where he got Good questions to ask yourself. Even better if you can find into surfing and riding motorbikes. “My grandparents lived there answers to them. In his disappointment, Hemsworth leaned into and we had a holiday house we shared with a couple of families,” some advice from his brother Chris’s agent. “He said, ‘Look, you he says. “And so, we would spend every weekend there surfing, can shrink away with your tail between your legs, or you can use snorkelling and generally running amuck at the beach.” it and get better and come back’.” As you might imagine with three boys, there was no shortage Hemsworth knew there were things he needed to address. His of roughhousing going on, with reports of dodging ninja stars and audition process had been rushed. He hadn’t nailed the accent. other forms of cartoonish mortal combat. “Me and Chris used Ultimately, when his big moment came, he didn’t meet it. “I wasn’t to be very combative with each other,” Hemsworth confirms. prepared enough for the role,” he says. “I’d got it very quickly and “And then Liam came along and we found a common enemy. been rushed to Toronto. I still had the script in my hand when So, Liam had to learn to defend himself from a very young age, I was rehearsing, which the director didn’t like. So, I used the which he did very well.” experience as a catalyst to get better. To become better at the New York accent, to become a better actor. And it worked. I think In case you’re wondering, sibling rivalry doesn’t extend to their it’s a common lesson: your failures teach you more than your respective careers. “I don’t compete with them for anything in successes ever do. And if you don’t recognise that, then I don’t acting,” Hemsworth says. “They might compete together because think you’re growing. Those failures, those knockbacks are a they’re both six foot four and knock down gorgeous. But it’s fun to chance to step up.” be supportive. It’s fun to learn lines with them. It’s not like we’re not critical of each other, that’s for sure. But it’s criticism designed to In a two-decade career that’s seen its share of setbacks, take a performance to another level. In everyday life, we’re normal Hemsworth has never missed an opportunity to learn and grow. brothers. We definitely try to one-up each other. We like to have He’s needed to. Home truth: not everyone is a leading man. Most fun. We like to laugh.” of us aren’t. And while it would be too easy to call him a character actor, the 41-year-old father of four does a reasonable impression A footy family, Hemsworth played centre and half-back flank on of being an ordinary, knockabout bloke inhabiting a larger-than-life a couple of under-18 premiership teams for Ringwood. “I never world. He’s dressed today in a trucker cap and wears a Deus jacket had the height for anything else,” he deadpans. He would love to over a floral, Hawaiian-style shirt. Built like an AFL midfielder, which have taken his footy further, he says, “But I think my ambition may he once was, he possesses the kind of crinkly smile that might have outweighed my ability.” A Bombers supporter growing up, he disarm a waitress in a country pub. His earthiness and larrikin spirit eventually caved and joined the rest of the clan in supporting the feel like a throwback to simpler times – he even starred in a Bulldogs. “My dad was born in Footscray and he played for Tourism Australia ad for chrissakes. To me, he feels like a bloke you Footscray reserves,” he says. might have known in high school. The footy player who went on to become a tradie, likes a punt and a beer or two. You know A self-professed class clown, Hemsworth discovered a love of the bloke. Shakespeare at school. “It clicked in my brain for some reason.” While initially aspiring to be a marine biologist, he later had a brief That he’s more man’s man than matinee idol is probably a flirtation with becoming a pilot. “I think the idea of pretending to fly good thing, for it just might be this everyman quality that defines planes was a little more attractive than actually going and his career, helping him dissolve into the characters he portrays to subjecting myself to the dangers that go along with it,” he laughs. the point where you forget who he is, maybe even what his “And I always loved acting.” Eventually he did a short course at NIDA before studying contemporary arts at Deakin University. 22 MEN’S HE ALTH
His first major role after uni was on Neighbours, playing the TACTICS thuggish footy player Nathan Tyson. After that he “did the rounds of Australian TV, Blue Heelers, All Saints, pretty much everything”. And HAMMER AND then the roles started to dry up. That was okay. He’d had a decent NAIL TIME run. He could have adequately occupied a ‘Where Are They Now?’ listicle on social media; forever be referred to as “the other brother”. Hemsworth does circuits to Heck, he almost was. Almost. boost his conditioning, like HANDY MAN this ‘Murph’-inspired workout. Use it to sand off Hemsworth has always been good with his hands. He and your rough edges his dad built the family’s home in Phillip Island. A pragmatist, 1.6km treadmill run Hemsworth knew that if he was going to try and make it as an 5 chin-ups, actor, he needed a back-up plan. He just never saw his plan B + becoming his main meal ticket. But that’s what happened. 10 push-ups “There’s a reason why actors + tend to be bartenders, waiters and have a lot of menial jobs,” he says. 15 squats “I did a lot of construction labouring x 10 rounds and worked on the side of roads, planted plants and the only reason 1.6km treadmill run was that I needed to be able to drop it all to go and do a part. I quit a lot of jobs HEMSWORTH WENT just to go to auditions.” FROM SANDING The carousel of manual temp jobs would FLOORS TO REACHING expose him to a cavalcade of oddballs and FOR THE STARS . eccentrics he would one day draw on for onscreen inspiration, he says. “It ends up fuelling a lot of SEPTEMBER 2022 23 creativity in terms of the characters you meet. There’s just so many strange people out there working these jobs. You learn how to fit into a lot of situations.” In 2007 he married partner Samantha and began a family. Looking for more stability, he got into the flooring business with his friend Chaz. “He’d lost his licence, so I drove him around for two years, me and him in a van going to house after house, sanding floors, polishing floors, laying floors. He’s a perfectionist so I became very, very good and from there, went out on my own. I sort of solved two problems by having enough money that I could work and support the family, but also because I was my own boss, I could go and do auditions.” As rewarding and secure as it was, though, Hemsworth missed acting. Not that he ever thought time had passed him by. He just couldn’t get a gig. “I never stopped auditioning,” he says. “And I never completely wrote it off because I enjoyed it so much. I thought if there’s a way to come back to this, I’ll come back to it. A lot of acting is being in the right place at the right time. I was quite happy to just
RAPID FIRE Favourite exercise? Burpees. Least favourite? Burpees. Cheat meal? If there’s chocolate in the fridge, I can’t pass it up. Karaoke song? Like a Stone, Audioslave. Last book you read? Empire of the Vampire, by Jay Kristoff. Hero? Chris Hemsworth is my hero. And mum and dad. Motto? “At the end of the day, it’s the end of the day”. I guess that’s about letting stuff go. At the end of the day, the day doesn’t matter. It’s a new day tomorrow. 24 MEN’S HE ALTH
TACTICS enjoy the kids and my wife and just take it as it comes.” HEMSWORTH When he wasn’t working, he’d paint. “I still do a lot of painting,” AND CO-STAR ISABEL LUCAS IN he says. “I like to keep my hands working to free my mind.” What BOSCH & ROCKIT. does he paint? “Nothing very good, that’s for sure. But I’m a landscape man.” Funny how the only thing these jack-of-all trades types tend to master is self-effacement. As the rejections continued to pile up, you wonder what led him to keep turning up to casting calls? Hemsworth likens the battle to break through to athletes who might fail at their first attempt to make it at the elite level before going away and coming back stronger and hungrier – your Justin Langers or Peter Bols of the world. “All great athletes have usually suffered losses first,” he says. It was the 2012 Channel 10 show Bikie Wars: Brothers In Arms about the Milperra massacre that changed things for Hemsworth. The meaty material and “cast of lunatics” gave him an inkling that he might have the chops to pursue more nuanced roles. Suddenly, all his life experience became something he could mine. “It was a fascinating show and a wild group of actors,” he chuckles. “Matt Nable, Richard Cawthorne, Luke Ford. These guys were all just living it. And it was so cool and so infectious to be back amongst them. I think that was the catalyst that drove me over to America.” He sold his flooring business and after a brief stint in London headed for Hollywood. By this time, Chris had become Chris Hemsworth. Having his younger brother in LA made the transition easier. “Chris was obviously having a lot of success and so the idea of going to Hollywood became more of a reality,” Hemsworth says. “All of Liam’s friends became our friends, too. We had a support network straight away.” He would end up working as Chris’ personal trainer on Thor: The Dark World in 2013, an experience he enjoyed while also helping him realise just how much he wanted to be an actor. “While I loved training with Chris, love going to the gym and I’m quite obsessive about the science of it, it was clear to me that I still loved acting far more,” he says. “I think all it did was drive me further towards acting.” Sometimes you have to rule out what you don’t want to do, in order to confirm what you do. BACK TO BASICS “I don’t think my feet were ever off the ground. I’ve When Hemsworth’s break finally came it was a big one. In 2014 he always been a normal bloke” landed the role of Ashley Stubbs in the sci-fi hit Westworld, although the show didn’t actually premiere until 2016. Suddenly the chaos Hemsworth’s plan is to base himself here, while jetting off to and uncertainty of the industry dissolved. He had security and shoot when he needs to. While everything seems to have fallen into structure, he and his family making their home in Malibu for the next place, you sense Hemsworth has been around the block too many few years, only a short drive from the studio. “I would sleep in my times and experienced too many disappointments, to get own bed, drop off the kids at school some days and then drive to complacent. I wonder if his time out of acting has helped him keep work,” he recalls. his feet on the ground now that things are taking off. His answer doesn’t surprise me. The show’s bi-annual shooting schedule has allowed him to work on film projects in between, one of those being the upcoming “I don’t think my feet were ever off the ground,” he says levelly. Bosch and Rockit, in which he plays a father who goes on the run “It’s probably more having a wife and kids that keeps you grounded. from the law with his teenage son, played by 16-year-old pro surfer And maybe seeing what my brothers have gone through, with the Rasmus King. The two became fast friends in the surf in the lead-up paparazzi parked outside their houses and stuff like that, has given to the shoot, Hemsworth says. “We became best buddies. We me an insight into the pitfalls of that side of it. But I’ve always been surfed a lot, hung out in the trailer. Very quickly on screen, you see a normal bloke. I always liked doing stuff around the house. I like the love between us is real. There’s no faking it. And I drew on my life taking the kids to school. I’ve even gone back to mowing my own as a dad. So, there’s a lot of that part of me bleeding through.” lawn. We paid gardeners when we were in the States. But if you want the job done properly, you’ve got to do it yourself.” Shot in Byron at the height of the pandemic in 2020, the role was one of Hemsworth’s first since returning to Australia in 2019. I nod. I know a few blokes who would say something like that. While he and Samantha had agonised about uprooting their kids Bosch & Rockit is in cinemas on August 18. from their friends and life in Malibu, the children quickly took to the Byron lifestyle and the chance to be around their family. For Hemsworth, it doesn’t hurt that he can surf every day, either. “My whole life, I said if I could live anywhere, it would be somewhere that I could walk to the beach and surf,” he says. “Now I can walk out my back door and there’s a beautiful beach. I’m still very cognisant of making sure the kids are ready for school, so I’ll surf either side of that getting-ready period between 7 and 8:30. After that, see ya.” SEPTEMBER 2022 25
MUSCLE START HERE LEARN TO GROW WITH THE FLOW Fire up your core muscles 1 KNEELANDDELIVER while building serious strength Start in a half-kneeling with the HALF-KNEELING stance, your right foot in front KETTLEBELL SNATCH TO of you. Using your right hand, WINDMILL. It’s a whole lot more fun than a plank tip a kettlebell towards you; tighten your abs and squeeze CLASSIC ABS MOVES such as THE V-sits, bicycle crunches and plank your shoulder blades. variations are not without their BEST merits. But there are far more 2 SWING FOR STRENGTH dynamic, not to mention EXERCISE efficient, ways to train Keeping your core tight, and your your core. YOU’RE NOT hips and shoulders square to the DOING front, aggressively pull the bell The half-kneeling back between your legs. Push kettlebell snatch to windmill might 4 BRACE AND TWIST your butt back as you do this. have a clunky name (we’d opt for Keeping your eyes on the HKSTW when jotting it down in bell, push your butt back 3 EXPLODE UPWARDS your Notes app), but it’s a smooth, and rotate your torso until fast flow that will develop strength your left hand touches the Swing the bell forwards, in your abs while raising your heart floor. Squeeze your shoulder thrusting your hips forwards, rate and adding muscle to your blades, then brace your abs then aggressively pull it towards back and shoulders. In other your shoulder. Punch upwards words, it’s an invaluable tool if your and glutes and drive your as it reaches shoulder height, goal is bigger lifts, better posture torso back to upright. That’s 1 straightening your arm. or beach muscle. rep; do 6, then switch sides. “This is a total-body move masquerading as a core move,” says elite fitness coach Ebenezer Samuel. “If your core is weak, you’ll struggle to complete the flow.” The more you practise, however, the stronger your core will become. Aim for three sets of six reps per side and build up to a weight that feels challenging but allows for – as per usual – fluid, controlled movement. What You’ll Gain ABS TOO DESK-POSTURE ELITE CORE FINISH PHOTOGRAPHY: TYLER JOE GOOD TO HIDE ANTIDOTE STABILITY 26 MEN’S HE ALTH
Elegance is an attitude Regé-Jean Page HYDROCONQUEST
HEALTH 02 04 01 03 05 01 WHAT HAPPENS WHEN 04 WORDS: YO ZUSHI. ILLUSTRATION: PETER GRUNDY. *JOHN READ IS A PROFESSOR OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF EAST LONDON QUICK FIX …I TAKE SSRI MEDS? LONG HAUL As the first waves In recent years, 1 in 6 Australian adults have relied Side effects are of the pandemic hit on antidepressants to make life tolerable. But do you common, ranging their peak in 2020, really know how they impact our brains and bodies? from agitation to ED. worldwide antidepressant “SSRIs can also prescriptions induce a state of surged. Yet our emotional numbing,” demand for them warns psychologist was growing long John Read*. “They’re before COVID. Since recommended for the financial crisis of people with moderate 2008, debilitating to severe depression, mental illness has but are often used for trebled in young adults. Lack of mild cases.” access to talking Treatment usually therapies is another continues for at least likely factor. six months after you feel better, but the drugs may be prescribed indefinitely. 02 03 05 BLUES BLOCKERS SLOW BURN RISK FACTORS The most common SSRIs usually need to be taken for 2-4 weeks before you Coming off SSRIs can be tricky. antidepressant is a class of begin to feel their benefits. When they kick in, you might Though guidelines suggest that drugs known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors feel better equipped to take on challenges that feel withdrawal reactions normally (SSRIs). SSRIs are thought to impossible amid a depressive episode – including trying last 1-2 weeks, a review by work by boosting levels of other treatments, such as cognitive behavioural therapy. Read found it is “not serotonin, a neurotransmitter But for some, the spike in serotonin will have little to no associated with good mood. effect. The rate of positive response varies from 40- 60 uncommon” for people to have When you take your daily dose hallucinations for some – typically 20-60mg, if per cent, and a third of those taking SSRIs develop prescribed a fluoxetine SSRI – recurring depressive symptoms even while in therapy. months. “Just over half report the drug blocks the natural withdrawal effects and, of reabsorption of serotonin so that more of it is available. those, about half say they’re ‘severe’,” he says. SSRIs are no 28 MEN’S HE ALTH miracle cure – but, for many, they remain the best hope of recovery.
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PERFECT SALMON FOOD STYLING: PEARL JONES. PROP STYLING: JOJO LI. EVERY SINGLE TIME Why grill this tasty fish and risk overcooking it when you can gently pan-sear it instead? Thirty grams of muscle-building protein. Ten grams of stomach-filling fibre. A whole lot of awesome BY AKIKO THURNAUER PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHELSEA KYLE To drink? Pair your meal with The Shadow Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir from The Group ($20, thegroupwines. com.au). It's a delicate, cool-climate drop with perfumed florals and bursts of cherry. Available at Liquorland, Vintage Cellars and First Choice Liquor Market. 30 MEN’S HE ALTH
30g Wait, what’s 30/10? NUTRITION 10g 30/10 brings you filling, muscle-building meals with 30 grams of protein and 10 grams 10g THE FIBRE of fibre. For an entire month’s worth of recipes, head to MensHealth.com/30-10. The lentils alone will push 30g THE PROTEIN you over the 10 grams of fibre Just 140 grams of cooked wild salmon delivers a you need to stay full. The potent 36 grams of protein – not to mention being a carrots are an easy bonus strong source of heart-helping omega-3 fatty acids Roasted Turmeric BUY IT Tasmanian salmon and King salmon (farmed Carrots and imported from New Zealand are particularly high in omega-3s. But bear this in mind: wild salmon brings Preheat your oven to 190°C. In a large more flavour than farmed. roasting pan, toss 680g carrots (peeled Perfect Seared and cut on the diagonal) with 2 Tbsp Salmon coconut oil, 1 tsp sea salt and ½ tsp ground turmeric. Roast the carrots in the This recipe makes four big bowls of ramen, meaning oven till tender and evenly browned, about you can reheat leftovers for lunch or dinner all week. One super-important note on reheating: remove the 30 minutes. Feeds 4 eggs before microwaving or they’ll explode. Just add Nutrition per serving: 540 kilojoules, them back to the hot broth and they’ll warm up 2g protein, 17g carbs (5g fibre), 7g fat WHAT YOU’LL NEED CurrySpiced Lentils SERVES 4 In a medium pot over medium heat, melt 2 • 4 (170g) skin-on wild salmon fillets Tbsp coconut oil. Add 1 medium onion • 1 Tbsp coconut oil • 2 limes, halved (thinly sliced), 4 garlic cloves (thinly sliced), 2 Tbsp fresh ginger (finely chopped) and ¾ *Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish or eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness. tsp Madras curry powder. Sauté till the onions soften, 4-5 minutes. Add 1 cup METHOD brown lentils, 1 cup tomatoes (chopped), 1 Blot the salmon fillets dry with paper towels and and 5 cups chicken stock. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender, season both sides of each fillet with salt and pepper. 20-25 minutes. Season to taste with salt 2 In a large nonstick pan over medium high, heat the and pepper. Feeds 4 coconut oil until it shimmers. Place the salmon skin side Nutrition per serving: 940 kilojoules, down in the pan and sear until the skin is evenly brown 15g protein, 26g carbs (10g fibre), 7g fat and crispy, about 6 minutes. Using a spatula, carefully flip the fish and sear the other side, about 1 minute. SEPTEMBER 2022 31 3 Plate the fish and squeeze half a lime over each fillet. Nutrition per serving: 1225 kilojoules, 36g protein, 2g carbs (0g fibre), 15g fat HOLYSH!T KITCHEN TRICK SET LOOSE THE JUICE Stubborn lemons and limes are no match for the microwave. Just zap them for 15 seconds, slice, squeeze and watch the juice inside unleash.
SWITCH OFF THE NOISE In this first instalment of a new MH column by one of Australia’s most compelling television personalities and podcasters, OSHER GÜNSBERG reveals his strategies for quieting the insidious, negative self-talk that can drain the pleasure from your everyday life and fill you with doubt and self-loathing. The reward: a fresh start THERE IS A RADIO station in my head It wasn’t until I started to work the input KFUK, but there’s nothing to that I sometimes can’t shut off. seriously with a psychologist for the back up what you’re saying so I’m just first time that I discovered this station going to press on”. I started my broadcasting career in was playing in my head all the time. radio, doing the overnight shift at an The third phase was humbling for FM Station in Brisbane. For five years Phil (the shrink) was a very kind a self-centred asshole like me. I had in the mid-’90s I turned on the and very patient guy, who taught me to accept that I wasn’t actually that microphone between Bryan Adams how just to notice the thoughts like important to other people. I might and Savage Garden songs to you’d notice the music when you’re think that everyone is laughing at encourage people to keep listening buying groceries or socks or whatever. me because I tripped on my thongs after the 3:20am ad break because Just because the supermarket is getting off the escalator, but the reality there was more Bryan Adams and playing Pitbull, doesn’t mean you have is that everyone else has far better, far Savage Garden on the way. to like Pitbull. You can actually just more interesting things to do than notice the music while still being able laugh at a stranger who Whenever I spoke, I would need to to grab some miso paste and rice stumbled a bit. And say the positioning statement before I noodles, then walk away from the even if they did said anything else. It’s the thing the store while Mr. Worldwide fades away get a giggle, radio station does, and every radio behind you. It was a revelation. they’d forget station says it to define what they do almost every time they speak. “AM If that pestilent music followed me IT WAS HUMBLING FOR A 788: More Talk, Less Sport…”; “99.6: around, though, Phil taught me a way SELF-CENTRED ASSHOLE: Music your Mum loves…”; or “FM 109: to make it feel less potent. I HAD TO ACCEPT THAT I Rock, Sport and the CheeseMan in WASN’T THAT IMPORTANT the morning…” Say I’m down the shops and it’s TO OTHER PEOPLE early December. Michael Bublé has I’d take any of those stations over been awoken from his hypersleep to the noise I can pick up on my own begin the dreaded 48 days of internal channel. It’s a station in my Christmas, yet instead of being ‘Holly head with a distinct callsign, like KIIS Jolly’, the Canadian Crooner is singing in Sydney or K ROCK in Geelong. You’re a piece of shit and everybody hates you, your wife doesn’t love It’s “KFUK FM: All Negative Self Talk you and your daughter too – and – ALL THE TIME”. one more thing, your dog is faking it when she wags her tail, Johnny You may have heard it? It’s the gimme the horns!” station you hear after you leave a first date, or a job interview, or when you My psych showed me how trip over getting off an escalator. to say “Thanks, Michael, great “Oh my God, I’m such an idiot. Why singing – but I’m going to just did I do that? They must hate me!” keep shopping for my tofu That’s KFUK. and some Tamari”. The worst thing about KFUK is that This allows me almost before I realised it was there, I sang instantly to separate myself along to every song they played – and from the negative thoughts. they play the hits. If they persist, phase two is to look for evidence. In my late teens the big song was Where’s the evidence that Women Don’t Want To Have Sex With I’m a piece of shit? If my You Because You’re A Fat Loser by wife is a bit annoyed at Barry and the Binge Eaters. When I me that’s one thing, but moved to Sydney in 1999 That where’s the evidence Stranger Thinks You’re A Worthless that she doesn’t love Piece of Shit by Stranger Danger was me? More often than played every hour. And No One’s not, there is none. It’s Going To Hire You Ever Again Ever just negative self-talk. Because Of That Mistake You Just So I say, “Thanks for Made by Axis of Unemployment was a massive hit in my 30s. 32 MEN’S HE ALTH
TACTICS DUMP BUTTON: CUT OFF YOUR DOWNER INNER VOICE. it in less than five was that these seconds, get on with negative thoughts whatever they were manifested into actual doing, and never ever reality. Because if I think of me again. This start to irrationally think was tough for my colossal that a person doesn’t like ego to bear at first, but it’s me, or that such and such a absolutely true. thing will turn out badly, then I Challenging negative will constantly look for the thing that self-talk might be a stretch will make my irrational thought seem if you’ve never tried it, because until more real. you’re aware of them, your negative My initial defensive reactions ideas about yourself are as real and to people that I irrationally felt didn’t valid as your positive ones. Why would like me would instil a negative you ever question them? For me it was response in them – which to me learning to recognise in my body made it feel like they actually didn’t when things felt icky, and that is like me. I WAS RIGHT! probably a sign that my brain might be It’s a cruel, self-reinforcing loop getting creative with perceptions of that is devilishly hard to escape from. the input I’m getting from the world. If any of this sounds familiar, I Understanding that I can happily thoroughly recommend doing what carry on with whatever I was doing I did: see your doctor, quick sticks. In (playing with the kids, driving to work, my experience, getting on meds really a massive pitch-meeting for a new TV helped me find the space in my project), all while that negative radio thinking between thought and station is blaring away, is a very reaction, and helped me to challenge powerful thing. And after a bit of those thoughts, to reframe them and practice, the volume can get turned create new neural pathways. With down very quickly. practice, the new ways of thinking Having said that, there was a time about things gradually became the in my life when I was quite mentally automatic response. unwell, and I was unable to challenge So if you have time today, check to those negative thoughts. Those see whether that icky feeling about a thoughts became so overpowering person, place or thing is actually real that they essentially became real. – or is it KFUK FM? I had lost the ability to reframe them. I should say, it’s important you What began to happen then name your radio station. The sillier the callsign, the better. Even name the DJ, if you like. Give them a stupid DJ voice. Anything to put some space between rational, present you and the irrational negative thoughts. One final thing: if your radio station is telling you to “come on down to meet the street team and get your hands on some icy cold cans to make it all feel better”, well, that’s something we’ll talk about another time. For more of Osher’s insights into self-acceptance, fulfilling your dreams and getting the most out of life, listen to his bi-weekly (every Monday and Friday) podcast, Better Than Yesterday SEPTEMBER 2022 33
MIND ROLLE IS NOW A KEY PLAYER IN A VERY DIFFERENT GAME. MYRON ROLLE’S MENTAL FITNESS PLAYBOOK BANGING HEADS and fixing heads might seem like totally different pursuits, but The NFL player turned neurosurgeon has spent his life Dr Myron L. Rolle says that doing the one fine-tuning the tactics that powered his professional prepared him to do the other. Football transformation and help him manage stress, failure “has given me so much. Friends, fitness, and grief – skills the rest of us can use, too focus, and the intangibles: communication, teamwork, structure, BY TAYLYN WASHINGTON-HARMON discipline and overcoming adversity.” SEPTEMBER 2022 35
As he details in his new book, The 2% Way, Rolle learned one of the most important Rolle’s hands play a major role in his work, Rolle was a standout safety at Florida State mental skills from FSU coach Mickey having converted from catching interceptions University, but instead of playing his senior Andrews (who learned it from legendary to artfully making people’s brains whole year, he went to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Alabama coach Paul “Bear” Bryant). He’d again. At med school, he trained himself to He returned a year later, was drafted in the shout, “‘Myron, 2 per cent better on your be ambidextrous by using his left hand to sixth round in 2010, and played three years backpedal, 2 per cent!’ It’s about taking very write, suture with shoelaces, and perform in the NFL until he was cut by the Pittsburgh small steps of improvement daily towards a other knot-tying and stitching drills surgeons Steelers. After that, he put his energy into bigger goal that sometimes seems do. Rolle deals with the stress of surgery studying for the MCAT, which took him to overwhelming,” he says. “You break it down by spending hours rehearsing his hand Florida State University College of Medicine piece by piece and have those small victories movements, visualising the surgery the same and eventually to a residency at Harvard- that empower you and motivate you.” way he prepared for a play on the field. Massachusetts General Hospital. Many of the “Because if A and B fail, based on anatomy processes and mental skills that helped him It also requires a sense of vulnerability, that I wasn’t expecting, or there’s a bleed or a find success in football prepared him to excel being able to recognise and acknowledge leak that happens that I wasn’t aware of, what in the operating room. your own weaknesses so you can improve. are options C and D?” he asks. “I need to Rolle applied the 2 per cent way to both his have other plans so that I’m not flustered and Rolle is Zooming from the sunny physical training (whether focusing on his first paralysed in the moment. In the shower, I’ll Bahamas, but there’s no sand between his step or his vertical leap) and med school close my eyes and my hands move as if I’m toes. Currently a senior neurosurgery resident (getting extra practice tying sutures and lifting up a part of the tissue using my right and the global neurosurgery fellow at studying obscure cases). He even applies it hand with a tumour forceps, imagining myself Harvard-Massachusetts General Hospital, in his personal life, recently making an effort going through it over and over again. I he’s spent the past nine months on a to be more punctual and to call his parents anticipate [extra blood] the same way I medical mission to improve care in more often, micro adjustments that help anticipated a receiver running an in-route low-resource settings. That involved him incrementally become a better version but he runs a hitch or a stop-and-go.” If you’re performing surgeries at Princess Margaret of himself. prepared for contingencies, it’s easier to Hospital in Nassau, as well as working on stay calm. policy, training and education and doing USE FAILURE TO whatever he could to help elevate STOKE MOTIVATION RELEASE YOUR EMOTIONS neurosurgical treatment in the Bahamas, TO STAY IN CONTROL especially for people who face systemic Playing in the NFL is an experience Rolle barriers to care. In 2010, his aunt Annie calls his biggest failure. “I did everything I Rolle must deal with patients with everything Smith, a native Bahamian, was hit by a car could. It didn’t work out [as I wanted it to]. The from gunshot wounds to the head to while walking and died from a traumatic brain NFL is known for Not For Long,” he says, cancerous lesions on the brain. Losing a injury. “My aunty did not see a neurosurgeon referring to his brief playing career. He retired patient is a reality of the job, but he refuses for seven hours,” says Rolle, 35. “No MRI, no from the NFL at 26. That experience to be jaded and acknowledges that it hurts. CT scans, no diagnostic work, and she died recharged his desire to go to medical school, “If I ever get to a point that I get so numb by without any medical care. That moment a goal he’d harboured since his older brother situations that are poor or negative, then I encouraged and motivated me to want to tossed him, at age 12, a copy of the book should no longer be a physician,” he says. do something.” Gifted Hands, in which Dr Ben Carson “I want to feel that pain, because it describes his journey from child in inner-city humanises the situation and makes me go It’s what Rolle does: try to make a Detroit to noted neurosurgeon. A deeply harder for the next patient and the next family. difference. He follows his philosophy of religious man, Rolle wonders whether having If we have this blockade about expressing seeking small improvements in all aspects his time cut short in the NFL “was the Lord our emotion, it will drive you to dysfunction. of life, including his mental fitness, and it’s saying, ‘This is not for you right now, and I’m You can’t have that when your hands are helped him with everything from dealing with protecting you from hurting your hand or responsible for lives in the operating room.” hate-spewing patients and tricky surgeries to getting a concussion and not being able to When Rolle lost his first patient, a middle- managing stress and disappointment. These be a neurosurgeon’.” He embarked on the aged woman with a partially blocked carotid are some of the key tactics that have worked six-year journey, all the while using the 2 per artery, in 2013, he cried all the way home and for Rolle. cent way to find small victories that kept him called his father the next day. He expected on track. his father to tell him to toughen up, but his dad only affirmed his choice of profession, IT’S ABOUT TAKING SMALL noting his sense of caring and empathy. “I STEPS OF IMPROVEMENT don’t mind a good cry, especially in spaces TOWARDS A BIGGER GOAL THAT where I feel comfortable and safe with my SEEMS OVERWHELMING brothers, my wife, my parents, my best friends,” he says. “It’s an expression of sorrow, but also an expression that I feel comfortable with you and I can share the emotions that are happening to me. Crying is part of life.”
MIND PLAY HARD, WORK HARDER At Florida State University, Dr Myron L. Rolle excelled as a safety; he then played three years in the NFL. He’s currently the global neurosurgery fellow at Harvard-Massachusetts General Hospital. Opening page: Rolle performing a craniotomy while at a residency in Lusaka, Zambia, in 2021. Being a Black neurosurgeon amid a white majority brings with it unique challenges. Rolle recalls how he’s been mistaken for a food-service worker or a member of the cleaning crew, and in one instance a patient’s brother used hate language when referring to him during a preoperative consultation. After discussing it with another surgeon, Rolle decided to go ahead and perform the surgery, because he wanted to turn a negative (the trauma of a racist insult) into a positive (saving a man’s life). Plus, he was a junior resident at the time and says he needed the surgical hours. In terms of how he focuses during an operation, Rolle says he thinks of his family. “My wife asked, ‘Myron, how do you get ready for a consult when the doctor calls you at 2am saying there’s someone with a brain bleed in the ER and you’re dead asleep?’ I say, ‘Well, it’s tough. You wake up, wipe the sleep from your eyes, and shake yourself loose’. At the same time, if this were my aunty or my mum or someone close to me, I’d want whoever was seeing her or him to be ready, charged up, mind acute and ready to go. I put myself in that position quite often, and that pushes me to try to be the best I can.” SEPTEMBER 2022 37
PUFF. WAIT. CALCULATE. Can one simple device help you energise your metabolism? BY MICHAEL EASTER PHOTOGRAPHY BY FREDRIK BRODEN MAYBE YOU’VE SEEN the hype. It concerns First, it’s important to understand how estimate kilojoules burned on a basic a simple handheld device that measures and your metabolism actually works. Basically, level. But a new device called Lumen claims to help you “hack” your metabolism it’s the process that takes the kilojoules claims to reveal what kind of kilojoules so it can be more “fit” and “flexible”. But what you consume and then burns those — those from fat or those from does that even mean? Is your metabolism so kilojoules to fuel everything you do, from a carbohydrates – your metabolism is easily manipulated? Or is this metabolic brainstorming session to a workout. Fitbit, burning at any given moment. You simply measurer just another hunk of junk sold by Whoop, Apple Watch, Garmin – all these blow into a Breathalyser-like mouthpiece wellness hucksters? trackers use their own algorithms to and, according to the company, Lumen 38 MEN’S HE ALTH
HEALTH can even tell you how adept your body is at HOW ideally with a food scale. (Which also means switching between the types of fuel you’re YOUR BREATH you’re most likely going to be eating less using (known as metabolic flexibility). Not REVEALS YOUR than usual.) adept? You get an eating plan to help METABOLISM change that, which might change how All this sounds great and techy and healthy you are. WHAT IT hackerish and kind of cool: you’re analysing MEASURES exactly how your eating decisions and Metabolic flexibility is a real thing. A lifestyle affect your metabolism in real time. healthy metabolism is always burning a mix You breathe out more carbon But here’s the thing: It’s not really all that of fat and carbs, and the ratio changes dioxide when you’re burning useful. You probably don’t need a $335 depending on factors including how Lumen device to improve or maintain your intensely you’re working out (low-intensity mostly carbs than you do metabolic flexibility. To the extent that you exercise primarily uses fat as energy; when burning mostly fat. All are able to control your metabolism (some high-intensity uses more carbs) and carbs means you’re exhaling portion of metabolic flexibility may be whether you’re fasting or in ketosis. as much CO2 as oxygen you’re genetic), “the best way to become more taking in. Lab machines that metabolically flexible is to be lean and And metabolic inflexibility is also a real exercise,” says Layne Norton, a nutritional thing. Scientific research has linked this reveal what fuel you’re scientist and bodybuilding coach. It doesn’t metabolic issue to some of the major health burning measure both matter if you become lean by eating carbs challenges of our time, including obesity, oxygen and CO2; Lumen or by skewing your diet towards fat. Eating diabetes, heart disease and cancer. One estimates fuel usage by healthier foods or eating less food than you cause of metabolic inflexibility: a poor diet. currently do is what helps, and you can do When you’re eating a good mix and amount CO2 alone. that on your own. of foods, your metabolism should be able to process them pretty well. But when you BEHIND THE Mor and her twin sister, Merav, who overload your system with too much or NUMBERS founded the company, came up with the possibly even the wrong foods (highly idea for Lumen while training for an Ironman caloric processed foods, mainly), the energy Changing what you eat will triathlon, as a way to track and test their engines of your cells – your mitochondria – shift what you exhale, which metabolism to improve performance. They start functioning like a deer in the can alter the score you see. say it helps, but there isn’t much research headlights. In the journal Cell, Duke On this test, you’re aiming for suggesting chasing metabolic flexibility can University researcher Deborah Muoio dubs enhance cardiovascular performance. But we this inflexibility “mitochondrial indecision”. the middle – a mix of both do know the opposite is true: people who Nutrients get backlogged and jam your carbs and fat. The theory is chase fitness performance seem to be less metabolism, which can lead to high blood that by knowing how your prone to the risk factors for metabolic sugar, high triglyceride levels and excess body rolls and adjusting for syndrome (which are also signs of fat around your waist. And all that inflexibility), according to a study conducted contributes to the development of those that, you can train your in Japan. Enter the old chicken-and-egg troubling conditions and diseases. metabolism to problem: Is someone healthy because they’re metabolically flexible, or are people So you can see why Lumen thought it be more flexible over time metabolically flexible because they’re smart to analyse what you’re burning when, and avoid issues like healthy? Probably the latter, says Norton. give you a score, and then offer diet obesity and diabetes. Follow basic health advice and your metrics, recommendations to prevent that backlog. not just on a Lumen device, will likely get Score a 1 and that means your body is considerably better. fuelling itself mostly on fat, so you should eat more carbs to keep your system from This is why Joseph Reagle, an associate tipping too far in one direction. Score a 5? professor at Northeastern University who That means you’re burning mostly carbs and wrote Hacking Life: Systematized Living and you need some healthy fats to stay flexible. Its Discontents, sees Lumen as simply Anything between those two numbers is another device in the sea of health gadgets more of a mix, and you just keep doing you. today. “It’s just this continual churn,” he says. Michal Mor, a physiologist and one of the It’s not necessarily a bad thing that people founders of Lumen, is thinking far beyond have so many ways to become more your individual nutritional fine-tuning and engaged with their health. This tracker likely says that the data the device tracks can isn’t hurting anyone, he says. “Just taking the “improve the world’s metabolic health”. step [of using a device] can give people a sense of control and optimism.” So if shiny Based on your score, you get a specific new tools inspire you to follow basic nutrition eating plan. For example, if you score a 4, and exercise advice, Lumen might help you you might get a “medium carb” daily plan of out. But you can find the right balance in your 193 grams of fat, 163 grams of protein and diet without a fancy Breathalyser, too. 180 carbs. Hitting these precise numbers requires that you measure what you eat, SEPTEMBER 2022 39
WHICH OF THESE FOODS MIGHT SUDDENLY KILL YOU? Adult-onset food allergies are on the rise and can make your life miserable – or worse. Here’s what’s happening behind the scenes and how to deal with it BY MATT JANCER PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDRE RUCKER MARTY SPARGO WAS IN his early 20s when began to feel funny. “My chest started getting hospital, carried him to the car, and rushed him a marshmallow almost killed him. heavy, and my heart was pounding so hard, and to the emergency room. Spargo’s diagnosis: he my vision was starting to distort,” he says. Panic had a previously undiagnosed and possibly He was on holiday from university with his set in among the group as Spargo grew dizzier late-developing allergy to gelatin, which friends, and they’d ducked away to the beach for and dizzier and seemed on the verge of losing marshmallows are loaded with. a bonfire with roasted jumbo marshmallows. A consciousness. His friends frantically called the few minutes after he gobbled one down, Spargo Although childhood food allergies get all the 40 MEN’S HE ALTH
NOT SO INNOCENT: FOODS HEALTH YOU ONCE ATE WITHOUT ISSUE CAN TURN NASTY. HOW TO TELL IF YOU HAVE THE USUAL (ADULT-ONSET FOOD ALLERGY) A FOOD ALLERGY SUSPECTS KNOW SUSPECTS S P E C I F I C A L LY THE SIGNS FINNED FISH Any fish with fins, including Talk to an allergist if anchovies, catfish, cod, salmon you have an itchy or and tuna. tingly mouth; hives and itching; swelling PEANUTS Peanuts, peanut butter, peanut- in your lips, face, butter cups. But because peanuts tongue or throat; are actually legumes, having wheezing, nasal a peanut allergy doesn’t mean congestion, or trouble you’re allergic to tree nuts. breathing; abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea SHELLFISH Can range from crustaceans or vomiting; or (prawns, crab, lobster) to molluscs dizziness or fainting. (clams, mussels, oysters, scallops, Call 000 if your octopus, squid). airways feel constricted, your pulse SESAME Sesame in all its forms, from is rapid, you’re dizzy or seeds you can see to sesame oil, light-headed, paste and flour. or you feel you’ll lose consciousness. TREE NUTS Almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, pecans, pistachios, RULE OUT AN walnuts. INTOLERANCE PROP STYLING: KELSI WINDMILLER attention, adult-onset food allergies have research strategy and innovation officer at Food An intolerance isn’t become a thing, too. A recent report in The Allergy Research & Education. actually an allergy; it’s Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In a digestive-system Practice suggests there are more adults in the What they do know is that food allergies issue. So you might US with a food allergy than children. While happen when your body misidentifies a protein have gas, cramps, many adult allergies are continuations from in a food or group of foods as a threat and nausea, heartburn, childhood, nearly half of the adults in this responds by pumping out antibodies that trigger diarrhea or abdominal report said theirs started in adulthood. And symptoms ranging from mild mouth-and-throat pain, but you won’t it’s only getting worse: almost every allergy itching to severe ones that send you into have breathing issues. expert agrees that there’s been a rise in the anaphylactic shock, during which your blood Lactose and gluten are number of people reporting food allergies, pressure drops and your airways constrict. classic causes of says Dr Scott Sicherer, one of that paper’s Reactions typically occur within a few seconds intolerance. Talk distinguished authors. to a few minutes, says Dr Pamela Guerrerio, to a doctor or dietitian chief of the National Institute of Allergy and about these It’s not clear why foods you used to eat Infectious Diseases’ Laboratory of Allergic symptoms. cause trouble for you now, and researchers Diseases. After that, the allergic response also don’t yet know why more and more adults happens every time the person is exposed to GET THE are affected by food allergies. “A combination the allergen, she says. RIGHT TEST of factors is likely to be responsible. It’s not just genetics. It’s not just the environment. It’s not These kinds of allergies can be annoying, Food-allergy test kits just the food we eat,” says Bruce Roberts, deadly or anything in between. Here’s what to look for allergy- look out for and how to manage all of it. stoking antibodies in your blood. The problem: you can have antibodies but not allergies. So experts advise against using these as screening tests. Instead, see an allergist who can figure out the problem with a few test options. Don’t dawdle. SEPTEMBER 2022 41
HEALTH WHY NOW? IT TAKES JUST ONE BAD GUY POSSIBLE TO MAKE A MEAL PERILOUS. MOTIVES ALLERGIES: NUT ALWAYS SO OBVIOUS LARGER AMOUNTS OF ALLERGENS READ THE EXPLORE PROTECT FIND RELIEF INGREDIENTS YOUR YOURSELF IN SCIENCE Sometimes food allergies don’t SENSITIVITY show up if you have a small amount Allergens aren’t Despite your best There’s now a drug to of the food. For example, you may necessarily where An oral-challenge efforts, a hidden help tame peanut be fine with a side of peas, but if you you’d expect. test is a safe way to allergen may come allergies in kids, as have pea soup or a meat substitute Always check labels figure out how much your way. If your well as a push to made with pea protein, there’s so and verify that an of a food would cause allergies are severe, develop more drugs much more protein that you may allergen isn’t in a reaction and what carrying an EpiPen for allergies, have symptoms. what you’re ordering symptoms to expect. is nonnegotiable. A including some that at a restaurant. Ask your GP whom generic version is would treat all types MORE CONTACT WITH Menu blurbs often you should consult to available that may of food allergies with CERTAIN PRODUCTS leave out important- get to the bottom of be cheaper. a single compound. to-you details. any issues. If someone has a latex allergy, they may also react to avocados, bananas, chestnuts and kiwis, since they have similar proteins. BACTERIA AVOIDANCE “People who live in farming communities have fewer allergies than people in cities,” says Sicherer. For example, in recently industrialised parts of China, people started to see more allergies as lifestyles shifted to more enclosed environments and less exposure to animals, gardening and the outdoors. Overly clean lives may reduce our ability to fend off allergies. Some researchers speculate that overuse of other bacteria killers – antibiotics – may also contribute to food allergies. EXTRA ANTACID USE “It turns out the acid in your stomach is really important for breaking down food proteins so that they are less recognised by the immune system,” says Guerrerio. WIN THE ALLERGY OPEN PEOPLE AGREEABLE PEOPLE HEAD GAME Adventure seekers had more allergy issues. The sort who put others’ needs ahead of their Research published in Could be they were out doing things that own tended to feel anxious or stressed about Frontiers in Psychology would expose them to more challenges, like allergies in social situations that revolved finding safe foods. Try: meeting novelty needs around food. Try: finding ways to speak up looked at the way through experiences other than food. to others about your food allergy. personality traits affected how an adult EXTROVERTED PEOPLE CONSCIENTIOUS PEOPLE food allergy messed with quality of life. The authors Outgoing, expressive types had more Responsible, organised souls had problems had some suggestions concerns around the personal and social finding a restaurant and were more likely to feel issues of living with a food allergy. Try: inviting bad if issues arose. Try: reminding yourself that if for everyone people to your home for gatherings where a challenge hits, it’s often due to outside factors, you can control the food. not a failure of planning. 42 MEN’S HE ALTH
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ENOUGH WITH HUSTLE You can have more focus, better sleep and way more energy for just about everything. All you have to do is less BY GINA LOVELESS SEVEN YEARS BEFORE Glover Teixeira TWIDDLE YOUR earned the UFC light-heavyweight INTENSITY DIAL TO championship in 2021, he was wiped. TAKE A BREATHER. “All I wanted to do was train more than anybody,” he says. But despite his hustle DOW NS TATE NO.1 DOWNSTATE NO.2 and his experience as a 35-year-old fighter, Teixeira was no longer Coffee o’clock Late afternoon competing at the same level as his much younger opponents. Don’t try to overcome your post-lunch lull with Like you, your heart works hard all day long. another run to Baskin-Robbins, says Mednick. Unlike you, it doesn’t get a break, which means So he turned to the UFC Performance Caffeine heightens stress and meddles with that days of prolonged stress can be especially Institute in Las Vegas for help. After trainers sleep. So instead, take 10 minutes after lunch rough on it, says Mednick. (If you’ve ever felt there assessed everything from his workout to run through a 2-2-2-2-2 exercise, which will lethargic at 3:30pm, that might be your heart regimen to his nutrition and sleep, they help set you up for a more productive afternoon. saying, “It’s quitting time”.) Indulge your heart in recommended something that surprised For the first two minutes, focus on the space the downstate and you might be able to stoke him: he needed to train less and concentrate just outside yourself (the few centimetres your energy – or at least lower your stress. Lie more on recovery. around your body). Then, for two minutes, pay down and elevate your legs against a wall. attention to your senses (smell, hearing, etc.). (Yeah, if you’re in an office, find some privacy.) In fact, the new plan that the UFCPI sent Next, spend two minutes on how you’re feeling Or, if that’s uncomfortable, prop up your hips Teixeira even told him to take an entire day (sad, mad, glad) and two more on what you’re with a cushion or block. Remain in this position off. (“I kind of felt guilty,” he says.) It took him thinking (This is silly and will never actually work for at least five minutes. some time to adjust, but eventually he . . .). In the last two minutes, compare how you started to access “rest mode” more often. He felt when you started with how you feel now stayed in bed 12 hours at a time. He built a (Oh, whoa, this kind of worked!). routine that was more in line with circadian rhythms. And after a while, Teixeira began winning more fights – his power, focus and energy not only returned but remained. Rest mode isn’t something you need a UFCPI plan to execute. Sara Mednick, a professor of cognitive science at the University of California, Irvine, says anyone can take advantage of what she calls the “downstate”, daily periods of relative calm that can improve your energy and sharpen your thinking. “Like every animal and plant, we have natural rhythms for our upstates and downstates, and tapping into these rhythms optimises your energy so you have more when you need it,” says Mednick, author of The Power of the Downstate (out now). Here are five opportunities to shift into downstate throughout your day. 44 MEN’S HE ALTH
MIND HOW I KEEP IT TOGETHER When Dawan Alford wanted to create a space for Black men to talk candidly about mental health, he launched Black Male Mental Health on Instagram in 2019. It resonated: BMMH has garnered 47,000-plus followers so far. Here’s how the 37-year-old puts some chill in his day – Taylyn Washington-Harmon DOWNSTATE NO.3 6:30AM 9AM 5:30PM After work GREET THE THRICE IS NICE CUT THE CORD MORNING Alford checks his email “In the evening, the right kind of physical only three times a day – at He signs off for the contact can help to settle our system, relax us Alford doesn’t live by 9am, noon and 5pm – a evening. “I think that and help us feel secure and safe,” says Kevin or believe in alarm Tim Ferriss trick. “After this idea of perpetual Gilliland, a clinical psychologist. So set and these 30-minute email enforce boundaries around distracting clocks. He wakes up with windows, don’t expect an grinding has been devices. Designate a bowl in another room gratitude and a word of immediate response.” really embedded into for phones and stash yours there. Power thanks, breathing deeply our culture,” he muses. down your laptop. Then move into the “What happens when present with your partner and/or kids. Bring and “acknowledging you grind something? an interesting question to the dinner table. that all my body is Make a point of holding eye contact. Initiate working well”. It becomes dust.” a great big family group hug. 7AM 12PM 6:30PM DOWNSTATE NO.4 TEND AND CENTRE TUNA TIME MENU MIXING After dinner He starts his day by Alford dishes up his How do you get a Early-evening sunlight signals to your brain drinking coffee and go-to lunch: a tuna melt peckish, picky-eating to decrease cortisol, the stress hormone, and nurturing his collection tween to eat dinner? increase melatonin, a sleep aid. Going for a of 35-plus plants, which with avocado, lettuce You compile a weekly 15-minute walk before sunset helps to further he sees as a metaphor for and tomato. He’s a menu of known likes à la ease you into the restorative, pre-bed Alford, such as salmon, downstate, says Mednick. When you’re back mental care. “I pescatarian, inspired pasta or a quiche with home, ensure you’re not taking in excess walk around spraying by Malcolm X’s diet – cheese. “It’s dad life,” he blue light, which can jolt you out of the minimal meat and few downstate. If the idea of wearing blue-light- them, seeing who’s starches – and is trying says with a laugh. blocking glasses, like Nightfall ELITE Blue growing, speaking nicely to dodge the health issues Blocking Glasses ($120; blockbluelight.com. to them, and it’s a really he’s seen plague others in au), sounds silly, fine. Your alternative is avoiding screens altogether. centreing practice.” his community. DOWNSTATE NO.5 8:30AM 3:30PM 9:30PM Bedtime AROUND THE WORLD MERGE WORK VINYL CHILL AND PLAY Sleep is your body’s most powerful Alford does a three- Alford winds down by downstate. Mednick recommends that you set series of push-ups, Alford shifts into dad listening to a selection go to bed by 10 every night. That’s because pull-ups and triceps mode but keeps his from his enviable vinyl you experience your most restorative chunk dips, sometimes adding of rest during the first deep wave of sleep, an 8-kay run. Living business going. After collection. “I try not she explains. The later you go to bed, the with PTSD, he says this picking up his 11-year-old to fall asleep [just more that wave is compressed. “When you practice prepares him for daughter from school, he align the downstate of your autonomic any dangerous situation. anywhere] around the nervous system with that first period of “I want to have enough engages with followers house,” he says. “With nighttime sleep, your whole restorative strength to manage my via comments and DMs system resonates,” Mednick says. “You get body in ways that are from his phone – “things a vinyl, you have to the most recovery from the day before, and I can do sparingly on my stop it yourself, so it’s you set yourself up to be best prepared the most helpful.” device” while helping her like saying, ‘All right, coming morning.” The good thing is, this can goodnight’” – before be easy – as long as you’ve already followed with homework. all the downstate-enhancing tips in the steps heading to bed. before this one. SEPTEMBER 2022 45
FATHERHOOD YOU GIVE UP PLENTY WHEN YOU HAVE KIDS. THE SANITY TRICK? LEARN TO PREFER THE NEW STUFF . THE CULTURE SHOCK me the illusion that eating healthy will stave off death, but it’s the same salad almost every day, You cannot both be a dad and keep up with life’s more leisurely and by the time I’m done throwing Parmesan pursuits. Making peace with that is tough – but not impossible crisps, tortilla chips, hard-boiled eggs and cheese on top, the “salad” has more kilojoules BY ADAM PALLY ILLUSTRATION BY AGATA NOWICKA than a pizza. For dinner, it’s wine and whatever my kids want to eat, so a steady rotation of THERE’S ONE QUESTION that is particularly I really loved was an alligator feeding, followed by chicken nugs, mac and cheese and burgers. infuriating to a father of young children, and it an omelette-cooking tutorial, which set up a If my wife and I get a date night out, it’s sushi, goes something like this: “Have you seen [insert hack to get the kernels out of a bag of popcorn, and we drink more than we eat every time and six-part, 10-hour-long HBO investigative series then on to a beautiful blonde playing the guitar are checking in with the sitter to see how soon here]?” The person asking the question isn’t solo from “Bohemian Rhapsody” in a string bikini, we can get home after the kids fall asleep, usually trying to start something with me (at least and, finally, Loki dancing on a British talk show. because we don’t want to put them to bed. I don’t think so) and either doesn’t have children That’s what’s in my queue. or their kids are older and can do things by I used to love going to the movies, seeing themselves (one can dream). What music have I been listening to? The concerts, going out partying till late, eating at fine other night I was lying in bed trying to watch restaurants, wearing nice clothes. I bet I would When I hear this question, my brain goes some sport, and my wife was having a freak-out still love it, but I don’t miss it. If you’re a dad worth numb and I’m seized with a combination of that her Bluetooth headphones wouldn’t connect his salt, you have given up even the slightest hint nostalgia and panic. Do you even understand and her Instagram Stories (she’s a fan, too!) were of being a cultured man for something more my life right now? Are you reminding me that playing out loud on her phone. So I guess the important: the wellbeing of other people. I was once at least somewhat tuned in? What song I most recently listened to was I’m begging is my favourite thing I’m watching right now? begging begging you the small waist pretty face Having a responsibility to these little prick Honestly, it’s Instagram Stories. If I do have a and big bank oh no, oh no, oh no no no no no. kids of mine has been the single greatest joy chance to sit down, it’s likely in a room where five of my life. I’ve grown to realise that life is about iPads and a television are blasting. My phone is Have I been to any great restaurants? Most of having people to love, people to need, and my only refuge. So the last thing I watched that the time I eat a salad in my car while I wait for my people to need you. If that means I missed Tiger children to get out of school. It’s a salad to give King for Daniel Tiger or haven’t read a book for at least three years, unless you count Lego instructions, or still haven’t seen whatever Matrix they’re on now – I’m fine with all that. And I’ll catch up on that HBO series when they start putting all their stuff on Instagram Stories. 46 MEN’S HE ALTH
THE SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR TACTICS NEW PLANT Uhhh, Is This Thing Okay? DADS Plants, like people, get Studies show houseplants sick when neglected. boost productivity and Diagnose what’s relaxation. But they can feel like a project. Plant happening, then treat it stylist (real thing!) Hilton Carter helps you pick the The problem: right one for any home Bright-yellow leaves The fix: Stop watering your BY plant so much. It’s better to water it less and give it more SHOW STOPPER light. “If your leaf turns yellow, that leaf is dead. It’s not coming Bird of Paradise back,” Carter says. Just trim it off so energy goes to the This tropical plant pulls a room healthier parts of the plant. together, though it requires near-daily attention. Lots of light and humidity is The problem: Dark-brown key. $44; interiorjungle.com.au edges around the leaves The fix: Now you aren’t Light / Water watering it enough. “If it starts to curl up or droop, you need to water it right away,” Carter says. The problem: Um, it’s dying? The fix: Try a new pot. For plants that dislike dry soil, stick to metal and glazed pots, which retain moisture. If your plant prefers to stay dry, opt for pots made of clay or stone, which pull moisture away from soil faster. WINDOWSILL WONDER BATHROOM BUDDY TOUGH GUY Zanzibar Gem Pothos plant Chinese Evergreen If you travel a lot and/or forget to water Also known as devil’s ivy, this plant grows Don’t let its delicate look fool you: this plants, go with a low-maintenance one, in low light. Put one near a window in your flowering plant is durable and can grow in Carter says. Pop this next to a window. humid bathroom – the steam will help it most environments. Place it in indirect-to- And don’t sweat watering – it thrives on thrive even if you fail to water it. low light and fertilise it once or twice a neglect $69; bloomd.com.au $50; cheekyplantco.com.au year. $89; indoorplantshed.com.au Light / Water Light / Water Light / Water SEPTEMBER 2022 47
TRIED AND TESTED COATS OF LAB APPROVED 2022 ARMOUR 2 Braced to brave the sting in winter’s tail? The MH Lab team faced the elements to select the best weatherproof jackets for your outdoor cardio endeavours DRESSING FOR for the weather MH is notoriously difficult at this time of year: a biting wind and sudden WINNER downpours one week; birdsong and T-shirt conditions the next. 1 But if you’re keen to start training outdoors again, don’t let an 1 STRONG STARTER 2 FAST, NOT LOOSE WORDS: HARRY BULLMORE; TESTING: YANAR ALKAYAT unpredictable forecast dampen your spirits. 82/100 90/100 Running outdoors has multiple Decathlon Evadict Men’s Trail Montane Unisex Podium benefits, from boosting mood and Running Waterproof Jacket, Waterproof Pull-On Jacket, burning extra kilojoules to ($139; decathlon.com.au) ($199; terratribe.com.au) increasing muscle activation. Throw in a few bench dips and burpees PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE (damp grass permitting) and you DESIGN DESIGN have a peerless engine-building EASE OF USE EASE OF USE workout. When others quiver at the mention of brutal metcon, you’ll be COST EFFECTIVE An affordable all-rounder, SPEED DEMON Montane designed this breathing easy. this jacket was designed with runners at all jacket with a focus on speed and levels in mind – whether you’re a newcomer performance, claiming to use one of the But you need to make sure bagging your first few kilometres or a seasoned lightest breathable fabrics around. Its you’re fully equipped for the strider boasting some serious mileage. race-day credentials are enviable, though occasion. That’s why we tasked the the absence of pockets will be a miss for Men’s Health Lab with assessing EXPERT OPINION We liked the fit of this some enthusiasts. the best waterproof jackets on the jacket, which provided enough room to layer market. Through a rigorous testing up underneath without being too loose. The EXPERT OPINION This half-zip jacket process, we found out which reflective stripes helped panellists feel safe and packs away into a natty bag that can fit products’ claims hold water – and the elasticated waistband made sure it didn’t in the palm of your hand. It also offers which are liable to leave you high ride up. protection from both wind and rain, making and not so dry. it a trail runner’s best friend. Our recommended jackets are all made from lightweight materials, offering a close, comfortable fit, but can be stuffed into your rucksack without breaking stride. Get up to speed with our elite selection. 48 MEN’S HE ALTH
GEAR 5 4 3 3 CUSTOM FIT 4 HIKING BUDDY RUN UP 5 RACE READY THE SCORE 77/100 85/100 79/100 Our panel of 24 runners Keela Saxon Jacket, OMM Halo Jacket, judged on these criteria Inov-8 Raceshell HZ Unisex ($183; ebay.com.au) ($196; catch.com.au) Jacket, ($204; catch.com.au) 1/ EASE OF USE PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE DESIGN DESIGN Jackets had to be DESIGN EASE OF USE EASE OF USE flexible and easy to EASE OF USE put on and take off. ON YOUR BIKE This jacket will suit runners HIGH AND DRY This jacket is made to MAIN EVENT For regular race-goers, and cyclists alike. The Flylite Aqua fabric is withstand harsh mountain weather, so it’ll 2/DESIGN this ultralight jacket might be more your both lightweight and waterproof, while take a jaunt around the countryside in its speed. It’s built for the fleet-footed, with Velcro straps and toggles around the neck stride. It’s under 100g, too, so won’t weigh Hoods, zipped pockets Inov-8 even using semi-transparent and wrists allow you to customise the fit. you down as you push for a PB. and toggles to adjust fit material so your number will be visible earned points. at all times – smart thinking. EXPERT OPINION Heavy rain and driving EXPERT OPINION With its well-fitted winds couldn’t touch our testers in this hood and cuffed wrists, the OMM Halo is 3/PERFORMANCE EXPERT OPINION Impressed testers hardy jacket. The arms were a bit too baggy sure to keep you dry, scoring top marks in said the material was so lightweight and for our liking, but we were big fans of its our waterproofing tests. We liked the Waterproofing claims breathable it was easy to forget they were adjustable elements and handy back pocket. design, though some said the looser fit were put to the test in wearing a jacket at all. Some found the flapped about on faster runs. the lab and the field. zipper was a little bit high and tight around the neck, but the clean design won plenty of admirers. SEPTEMBER 2022 49
RAISING THE TONE In the impossibly sexy shape of the ALFA ROMEO TONALE, the luxury Italian car maker is redefining its values – and leaving hoary motoring cliches in its wake BY ANDREW CHESTERTON I’M GOING TO let you in on a little front-end combine to deliver something speeds with gentle inputs, soaking up the motoring-writer secret. You know all those that definitely stands above the typical cabin ambience (which locks out plenty of over-used tropes you read in reviews all the plain-Jane pack. road noise), and trying to drive past time? Well, they’re mostly bollocks. reflective surfaces so you can catch a But if the fact the Tonale doesn’t feel like glimpse of its svelte exterior styling. The truth is that nothing actually handles your standard Alfa Romeo is the good like a go-kart (no, not even a Lotus, which news, the bad news is that it doesn’t really But the signs are good for the future actually produces a drive experience that’s drive like one either. A front-drive, modestly here. For now, the Tonale has just two far more violent, like you’ve been trapped in powered small SUV doesn’t scream Italian output options, with a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol a giant washing machine on its fastest spin performance, I know, but the Tonale’s engine tuned to deliver either 96kW and cycle). And if you truly want to ride in attempts to act like a sports car can be 240Nm or 118kW and 240Nm. There’s something that ‘corners like it’s on rails’, pretty grating. also a 48-volt mild-hybrid system on board then you’d better get yourself a train ticket to reduce fuel use and emissions, and and a good book for the journey. There’s plenty of grip at the front, almost to provide a little extra boost under no body roll, and the steering, while lacking flat-footed acceleration. But there are always exceptions. And in feeling, is super sharp. But it also feels a Alfa Romeo is one of them. Because, yes, little tightly wound, and on tight, twisty Next, though, is a high-performance the Italian brand really is stuffed full of roads, altogether too busy. The seven- plug-in hybrid variant, which should deliver passion like an over-filled cannoli. And, yes, speed dual-clutch gearbox is constantly more than enough petrol-electric power to historically, their cars have aged just as changing cogs to magic up some extra really take advantage of the Tonale’s gracefully as a dairy-filled breakfast pastry. grunt, and the engine noise is too loud and impressive ride and handling set-up. obnoxious, without actually producing But all that, says Alfa Romeo’s new much in the way of extra speed. And so a new Alfa Romeo is upon us. global boss, Jean-Philippe Imparato, ends And it’s one that might finally – and perhaps with the brand’s new and impossibly sexy A true sports car this ain’t, and your best mercifully – say arrivederci to the whole Tonale small SUV. Oh, and please read that bet is to keep it humming along at city ‘Italian car’ schtick. with an Italian accent. Nobody wants to drive a toenail. This is a man so laser-focused on changing Alfa Romeo’s reputation for questionable quality that he slowed production of the Tonale to just 25 cars per week, meaning each vehicle was dutifully inspected to ensure it met his standards before letting it loose in the wild. To put that output into perspective, Toyota builds almost 25,000 cars per day. So, has it worked? The short answer is yes. While Alfa Romeos of old were always a hoot to drive, they were sorely lacking in things like build quality, nice cabin materials and technology. The Tonale flips that script entirely. Its build quality feels excellent, like it’s been screwed together by the same people who make sure submarines are watertight, and the tech stuff in the cabin is great, thanks to a big 10.25-inch central screen, a second 12.3-inch screen in the driver’s binnacle, wireless Apple Car Play and Android Auto, wireless phone charging – and even Amazon’s Alexa onboard for digital help. It’s also predictably gorgeous, inside and out, which is no tiny feat in the small SUV space. Its curvaceous styling, massive 20-inch alloys and angry, mesh-filled 50 MEN’S HE ALTH
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