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D A V I OLDER
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 “As long as I’m fit and
healthy and my family
is healthy, that’s all
I care about.”
—DAVID BECKHAM, P. 66

FE AT U R E S
51 FIT (AND FUN) 74 THE BRAVE
NEW WORLD OF
AT ANY AGE! MIDDLE-AGE
The quest to live MEDICAL TOURISM
longer and stronger, Millions of men are flocking
in seven parts. to foreign countries for
everything from hair
transplants to stem cell
52 DO YOU EVEN therapies. Is this the
MAXX, BRO? passport to better health?
The extreme self-care BY RINA RAPHAEL
protocols shaping a
generation of young men. 82 THE ANCIENT
BY MICKEY RAPKIN GREEK DESKPROOFING
WORKOUT
58 RACQUET They trained for strength
NATION and longevity. Turns out,
For major health benefits, their plan holds up for the
you might want to modern man, too.
start hitting the court. BY MICHAEL JOSEPH GROSS
BY NICK PACHELLI, LAUREN
LARSON, ANDREW GUTMAN, 88 “LIVE AS IF IT’S
CORI RITCHEY, CSCS, AND THE LAST DAY OF
EBENEZER SAMUEL, CSCS YOUR LIFE, BUT
PLAN AS IF YOU’LL
66 THIS IS 50?! BE HERE FOREVER.”
David Beckham on how Brunello Cucinelli, style
he’s stayed forever fit. powerhouse, shares the
BY GORDON SMART secret to living a longer
and more serene life.
72 THE BY RICHARD DORMENT
MOST DANGEROUS
BIRTHDAYS
Fix when you age fastest.
BY JULIE STEWART On the cover: David Beckham photographed exclusively
for Men’s Health by Scott Trindle. Fashion direction by Ted
Stafford. Styling by Cathy Kasterine for CLM Agency. Styling
assistance by Jasveen Manku. Makeup by Miranda Joyce
for Streeters. Hair by Ken Paves for Rouge Artists. Set design
by Josh Stovell for Lalaland Artists. Lighting by Fabian
Nordstrom. On the cover: T-shirt by James Perse; sweatpants
by Beckham x Boss; underwear by Boss One Bodywear.
This page: Track pants by Dior; underwear by Boss One
Bodywear; sneakers by Beckham x Boss; socks by Falke.

PHOTOGRAPH BY SCOTT TRINDLE MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 5

 CONTENTS

GROCERY
GAINS
Power your cart.
(See page 31.)

LIFE
31 This year’s
Best Foods for Men
gets real (not
ultra-processed)!
34 Swole chef Eric
Adjepong hits the
gym, then builds a
salmon burger.
36 Denim just
keeps getting better.
Captain America:
Brave New World’s
Danny Ramirez
shows you how to
wear the best jeans,
shirts, and jackets.
40 We’re close to
finding a way to
reverse gray hair.
(Plus, what to do
while we wait.)

MIND
43 The psychedelic
renaissance is upon
us. What does that
really mean for your
mental health?
46 Deploy the tool
of “explore or exploit”
to help guide your
biggest decisions.
FOOD STYLING: MICHELLE GATTON/HELLO ARTISTS. PROP STYLING: JJ CHAN/BA-REPS.
47 How I Keep
It Together:
Activist (and actor!)
MH WORLD BODY Rudy Reyes.
11 What you’re doing 15 Now that CGMs 22 Yes, “manopause” 48 Athletes have
now to futureproof are OTC and RFK, Jr., is a real thing. Prepare long used brain-
your life. Also: spies! is taking on chronic yourself the smart way. training tools to find
diseases, everyone is their edge. Now you
talking about metabolic 24 The Portsmouth can, too.
health. Here’s how to Spartan Kettlebell
optimize yours. Club is building far +
more than fitness. 92 Six Pack: Country
18 The biggest buzzword music trailblazer
in fitness is hypertrophy. Kane Brown.
Understand the science
behind the process
and you’ll unlock more
muscle, faster.

6 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH PHOTOGRAPH BY TED CAVANAUGH

• 2 tsp Hidden Valley® Original Ranch® Seasoning,
Dressing & Dip Mix Shaker cipe.
ll re
• Hidden Valley® Original Ranch® Dressing (for dipping) fu
e
ge t t h

• Nonstick cooking spray, for air fryer basket

• 2 lbs chicken wings and drumettes
n to

• 1 tbsp olive oil

a
Sc

For safe meat preparation, reference the USDA website.

 TEAM OFFICE
PA RT Y
Editorial Advertising WHAT’S
Richard Dorment INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP
Elizabeth Webbe Lunny Style & Beauty
YOUR FAVORITE
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Jennifer Levene Bruno Home & Design FORM OF
Jamie Prokell Creative Director
Abigail Greene Executive Managing Editor
Chris Peel Travel, Tech, CPG &
Emerging Markets GROUP
EDITORIAL
Ben Court, Kengo Tsutsumi Executive Editors
CATEGORY LEADERS
Haley Bachmann, Corianne Carroll,
FITNESS?
Ebenezer Samuel Fitness Director Karen Deutsch, David Hamilton,
Nojan Aminosharei Entertainment Director RW Horton, Courtney Pappas, YOGA. EVERYONE
Rachel Epstein, Paul Kita Deputy Editors William Upton, John Wattiker MOVING AND
Marty Munson Health Director BREATHING
Brett Williams Senior Editor MEN’S HEALTH TOGETHER HELPS
Evan Romano Culture Editor Brent Williams Allen GET ME “IN THE ZONE”—
AND INSPIRES ME
Cori Ritchey Associate Health & Fitness Editor VP, Brand Strategy & Development TO HOLD MY CROW
Cesar Bustamante Social Media Editor Marnie Braverman Brand Strategy Lead POSE LONGER.
—GREGORY BROWN, MD
ART HEARST MAGAZINES MH ADVISOR
Matt Ryan Senior Art Director Sherri Chambers Chief Marketing Officer
Leanne Mattern Design Associate Tom Kirwan Hearst Media Solutions
Taryn Colbert Digital Designer Mike Nuzzo Hearst Data Solutions
Jason Speakman Visual Editor Rachael Savage Ad Revenue Operations BOXING.
ROTATIONAL
David Rockefeller Media Services POWER, ABS,
HEARST VISUAL GROUP
Alix Campbell Chief Visual Content Director AND STRESS RELIEF,
PUBLIC RELATIONS ALL AT ONCE.
Sally Berman Visual Director Jaime Marsanico —EBENEZER SAMUEL
Allison Chin Deputy Visual Director Senior Director, Public Relations FITNESS DIRECTOR
Kristen Mulvihill Senior Visual Editor
FINANCE & OPERATIONS
FASHION & COMMERCE Karen Ferber Business Manager
Ted Stafford Fashion Director
Christian Gollayan Deputy Editor, Commerce CIRCULATION SOLO
Rick Day VP, Strategy and WALKS IN MY
Ryan Brower Senior Gear & Commerce Editor NEIGHBORHOOD
Joseph Cheatham Style & Commerce Editor Business Development WHERE OTHER PEOPLE
Charles Thorp Fitness & Commerce Editor PUBLISHED BY HEARST
ARE WALKING, TOO.
Sean Zucker Grooming & Commerce Editor THAT COUNTS, RIGHT?
Steven R. Swartz President & —MATT RYAN
Imani Granger Assistant Fashion Market Editor Chief Executive Officer SENIOR ART DIRECTOR
COPY William R. Hearst III Chairman
Janna Ojeda Assistant Managing Editor Frank A. Bennack, Jr.
Marli Higa Copy Chief Executive Vice Chairman
David Fairhurst Associate Copy Editor
HEARST MAGAZINE MEDIA, INC.
I USE BARRY’S
RESEARCH Debi Chirichella President BOOTCAMP,
Jennifer Messimer Research Chief Brian Madden General Manager, MOSTLY FOR THE
Judy DeYoung Assistant Research Editor Hearst Enthusiast & Wellness Group SOCIAL ELEMENT.
Lisa Ryan Howard —CHRISTIAN GOLLAYAN
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS DEPUTY EDITOR
Milo F. Bryant, Michael Easter, Global Chief Revenue Officer
Philip Ellis, Garrett Munce, Zachary Zane Lucy Kaylin Editorial Director
Regina Buckley Chief Financial &
VIDEO Strategy Officer; Treasurer
Dorenna Newton Executive Producer Lindsay Horrigan Consumer Growth Officer

LENWORTH JOHNSON (BROWN). PHILIP FRIEDMAN (SAMUEL, RYAN, GOLLAYAN, COLBERT, ZUCKER).
Elyssa Aquino Senior Creative Producer Daniel Bernard Chief Product &
Kyle Orozovich Senior Video Editor SALSA.
Technology Officer MEMORIZING A
Janie Booth Associate Producer Jonathan Wright President, DANCE ROUTINE IS
ADMINISTRATION Hearst Magazines International A BRAIN EXERCISE.
Catherine A. Bostron Secretary —TARYN COLBERT
Carol Luz Director of Editorial Business DIGITAL DESIGNER
Kate Remulla Editorial Business Manager Gilbert C. Maurer, Mark F. Miller
Publishing Consultants
MEN’S HEALTH INTERNATIONAL EDITIONS A GOOD TEAM
Australia, Germany, Italy, Japan, HEARST MAGAZINES INTERNATIONAL RUN. I WAS IN PHILLY
Mexico, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Kim St. Clair Bodden AND TOOK A JOG WITH
SVP/Global Editorial & Brand Director SOME BUDDIES TO
United Kingdom, United States THE ROCKY STEPS
Chloe O’Brien (CORNY, I KNOW). IT
Global Editorial & Brand Director WAS A HIGHLIGHT
OF THE TRIP.
—SEAN ZUCKER
GROOMING EDITOR

HOW TO REACH US: Customer Service: To change your address, pay a bill, renew your subscription, and Men’s Health carries the latest Men’s Health
more, go online to menshealth.com/service, email mhlcustserv@cdsfulfillment.com, or write Men’s Health health, fitness, and nutrition is a
Customer Service, P.O. Box 6000, Harlan, IA 51593-1500. Editorial offices: 300 W. 57th Street, New York, reporting to provide you with use- registered
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mailing label or exact copy to: Men’s Health, Mail Preference Center, P.O. Box 6000, Harlan, IA 51593-0128. practitioner. Printed in USA.

8 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH

 MAKE
YOUR
NEXT
BIG MOVE

1. NORMATEC 3 LEGS 3. BACKBRIDGE 5. LIVING FIT SLAM BALL

2. TIE BAR RIBBED SWEATER 4. SCOTCH PORTER

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 TO LIFE.

First step
THE is to get
help for my

FUTURE
own mental
health.
@jbphilbrick

LOOKS GOOD Training 6x a week, limit

alcohol consumption,
limit sugar intake, high
WHAT’S ONE THING protein diet. Life is better.
@lukemadden95

YOU’RE DOING NOW TO HELP

Working out
consistently, gett
my cardio, and ke ing
Taking a GLP-1 consistent with m eping
medication despite @yanishramku
mar
y diet.
some hesitation.
Future me is proud
for getting help.
@rickyyurkon

Limiting
smartphone
TRAVIS RATHBONE/TRUNK ARCHIVE.

use and
using it as
a landline
SUNSCREEN phone.
@daddiodad @primatecuisine

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 11

 WORLD ASK THE E.I.C.

Products featuring peptides, amino acids, and AND YOU

hyaluronic acid can help preserve collagen. GOTTA SEE
Ursa Major Alpine Rich Cream is a good one.
Garrett had more to say about dermatologist THIS…
interventions involving neuromodulators,
Like Men’s Health
radio-frequency microneedling, and ultrasound magazine? Then you’ll
therapy, but he also mentioned a far simpler ap- love what we’re doing at
MensHealth.com.
proach that we could all benefit from: managing
expectations. As we get older, a lot of us tend to
compare how we look to other people our own age
(in real life, in the movies, on social media), and
if we’re unhappy with the comparison, we feel
like there must be something we’re not using or
doing to keep the frown lines, crow’s-feet, and THE FUTURE U
sagging jawlines at bay. SERIES
As the buzz around life-
I’m writing this letter from the campus of
extending science grows,
Stanford University, where the school’s famous we put together the ulti-
Center on Longevity is hosting a conference on mate video guide to living
longer and stronger. It’s
the revolution underway in aging. What should called Future U, and you
How can you have the the average 40-year-old look like? How much
muscle mass or testosterone should the average
can find it all at Mens
Health.com/futureU.

SKIN OF A 20-YEAR-OLD 50-year-old have? Does the average 60-year-old

have the physical and mental stamina to launch

when you’re 90 years old? a start-up? There’s no clear answer. All of us age
differently based on genetics, past and present
@GIOELEFERRETTI
lifestyle choices, and how much of our time,
money, and energy we’re willing to invest in
OH, MAN. THAT Timothée Chalamet look-alike “optimizing” our bodies and minds. Comparing
contest has really gotten into peoples’ heads, huh? yourself to someone else is tempting, but it’s
I’m going to guess you’re not being literal here, ultimately not going to tell you a whole lot. THE 2025
GROOMING AWARDS
since the average 90something has weightier We publish our Fit At Any Age issue every year Soap, shampoo, deodor-
things on his mind than fine-line reduction, because we believe that aging is both a process ant, moisturizer, serums:
more than 50 of the best
but let’s seize on the essence of your question— and a practice, and like every practice, most of products for your face, hair,
how can an older person create or maintain the us can do it a little bit better. In this issue we have skin, and more, all tested by
skin texture and tone of a younger person?— Gen Z’s misguided pursuit of perfect jawlines, our staff and dermatology
advisors. MensHealth.com/
and go from there. middle-age adventures in medical tourism, and groomingawards2025.
For help, I turned to Garrett Munce, Men’s David Beckham, who is turning 50 and reveals his
Health contributing editor and the all-knowing personal fountain of youth may be…jellied eels?
expert behind our annual Grooming Awards. If there’s one takeaway from this issue, it’s this:
Here’s his feedback, with product recommenda- Consider the jellied eel. And then there’s this:
tions (and Grooming Award winners!) you can Instead of fixating on the idea of acting/looking/
buy on MensHealth.com. (See sidebar for details.) feeling “younger,” let’s act, look, and feel like
• Pretty much every dermatologist agrees that the best version of whatever age we actually are.
the best thing you can do for your skin is to wear That starts with making smarter choices today
sunscreen. UV rays are responsible for a lot so we can reap the benefits down the road, and it
of the signs of aging we see in the mirror. Try means being honest with ourselves about what
ALLIE HOLLOWAY (DORMENT). JEFFREY WESTBROOK (PRODUCTS).

Supergoop Unseen Screen SPF 50. we can and should expect from our aging bodies THE MH MUSCLE
NEWSLETTER
• Antioxidants during the day and retinol at and minds. You might not have a Chalamet-like Introducing our new 3x/
night. Antioxidants protect your skin from complexion, but pretty soon, he won’t either. week fitness newsletter that
free radicals, which cause oxidative stress (and We’re all aging, all the time, and when I con- puts fun, science-backed
workouts right in your inbox.
can intensify signs of aging). Retinol helps sider the alternative (RIP), I feel grateful for the These will be available only to
accelerate the cell turnover that is important wrinkles and spots I see in the mirror. Getting Men’s Health MVP members.
If you’re not one, sign up at
for skin’s regenerative abilities. Go with Drunk older is a gift. Try to enjoy it. MensHealth.com/signup now.
Elephant C-Luma Hydrabright Serum and
Paula’s Choice PRO Retinaldehyde Dual-
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Have a question for Rich?
• Research shows we produce about 1 percent + Hit him up at @MensHealthMag
less collagen every year starting around age 25, on Instagram, TikTok, or X with
which is why wrinkles form and our skin sags. Richard Dorment, Editor-in-Chief the hashtag #AskMHRich.

12 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH

 GOALS WORLD

FOOD I CAN’T
LIVE WITHOUT
A good steak.

MVP RICHARD
CASEY
HOW I STAY
MOTIVATED

MEMBER
OF THE
STATS:
AGE: 66
I continually set
personal goals.

MONTH OCCUPATION: IN MY GYM BAG

Business owner Earbuds, workout

ASK AN LOCATION:
Middle River,
Maryland
gloves, sweat towel.

DREAM CELEBRITY

ADVISOR FEATURING
WORKOUT
PARTNER
Arnold Schwarzenegger.
DON SALADINO,
MH FITNESS ADVISOR MY PUMP-UP JAM
Anything Stevie Ray
Vaughan.

Q.IHow
make
do WHAT MAKES ME
FEEL STRONG
A good pump.

treadmill MY NUTRITION
runs GOAL THIS YEAR
Eat more fruits and
more fun? vegetables.

THE BEST ADVICE

A. Play with pace

and intervals.
If you’re aiming for
MEN’S HEALTH MVP members gain access to the best
health, fitness, and entertainment coverage anywhere. And
each month, we survey our MVPs to choose one guy who is
I’VE HEARD
If you are dissatisfied
with your situation and
you keep doing the
changing his life. Sign up at join.menshealth.com and you
low-impact cardio, same things, try doing
could see yourself here one day. things differently.
walk on an incline for
30 to 60 minutes. And
don’t think you have THE MEN’S HEALTH POLL
to do a set routine like BLACK BAG, A STEVEN SODERBERGH SPY THRILLER
TikTok’s 12-3-30.
We’re all different, so
WITH MICHAEL FASSBENDER AND CATE BLANCHETT,
challenge yourself IS OUT THIS MONTH. WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME-FAVORITE
SPY MOVIE FRANCHISE?
PETER HURLEY (SALADINO). COURTESY OF SUBJECT (CASEY). ALAMY (AUSTIN POWERS). GETTY IMAGES (3).

appropriately,
keeping your heart ANYTHING
rate between 110 and JAMES BOND
THE BOURNE
140 bpm. To increase TRILOGY 34.1%
intensity, start with 32.9%
AUSTIN POWERS
running intervals 15.9%
that are 15 to 30
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Build up the speed
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prefer curve tread-
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own force.
Based on a @MensHealthMag poll on X with 580 votes.

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 13

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 WHY IS

EVERYONE

This gizmo—a
continuous glucose
monitor—keeps
track of how your
blood glucose
responds to food,

TALKING exercise, and life.

Some experts say
it’s key to total-
body health.

ABOUT

Scientists have harped on the perks of a STRONG

METABOLISM for decades. Now, a new source of ENERGY
is joining them: INFLUENCERS, PODCASTERS, AND BIOHACKERS.
BY ANDREW ZALESKI

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JUSTIN STEELE MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 15

 BODY H E A LT H C R A Z E

AS YOU MAY have noticed,

the term metabolic health is all over
ENTER THE METABOLIC followed closely by Abbott’s Lingo CGM.
(Stelo is Levels-compatible.)
social media, hyped by influencers, cre-
dentialed doctors, and crafty marketers
DISRUPTORS The Meanses are regulars on the
podcast circuit, too: Casey on Andrew
PERHAPS NO ONE has done more to
who want to sell you the next book or tool bring metabolic health into public con- Huberman’s Huberman Lab last spring,
that’s going to right-size your metabolic versation over the past year than the Calley on Gary Brecka’s Ultimate Human
health and fix your whole life. Stanford-educated brother-sister duo in the fall, both on The Tucker Carlson
Your metabolism involves so much more Calley Means and Casey Means, MD. The Show and Joe Rogan’s podcast last year.
than your weight, science now knows. It’s siblings coauthored that 2024 best seller Combined, the siblings have more than
the engine that drives every chemical pro- Good Energy: The Surprising Connec- a million followers on Instagram. Their
cess that happens in our cells: movement, tion Between Metabolism and Limitless messaging around metabolic health
core temperature, the body’s ability to Health. “I think we have a crisis of chronic largely centers on making the unknown
fight off disease, how fast aging happens. disease in the country, and it’s just de- known: “We know less about what’s going
Get your metabolism in order, the influ- monstratively tied to metabolic health,” on inside our bodies than we know about
encers say, and you’ll have more energy, says Calley, a 39-year-old former consul- what’s going on inside our car,” says
increased focus, less stress, and a longer tant for food and pharma companies. Calley. Sleep trackers, glucose monitors,
life overall. Plus, okay, you might even lose The Meanses each have their own at-home blood pressure cuffs—they all
a pound or two (or 10, or more!). Surely all health-care start-up. Calley cofounded offer us valuable insights, he says.
this can’t be true. Right? Truemed in 2022. The company aims Some critics fault the Meanses for bud-
Let’s hope it is true, because the most to help consumers use their HSA and dying up to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. The sib-
recent data available shows that more FSA accounts to buy healthful food, lings do have a lot in common with some of
than 30 percent of American adults have gym memberships, and dietary supple- the fringe elements of the MAHA (Make
metabolic syndrome—and its prevalence ments. Casey has Levels, a company she America Healthy Again) public health
is rising. What’s more, a 2022 study in the cofounded in 2019. Levels has pioneered agenda. You’ll often hear them champion
Journal of the American College of Cardi- the mainstream spread and adoption of the supposed benefits of raw milk or lam-
ology found that among 55,081 American tech that allows users to track their blood baste seed oils for their dangers.
adults, just 6.8 percent “had optimal car- glucose with a proprietary app and a con- Yet the Meanses are broadcasting the
diometabolic health.” tinuous glucose monitor (CGM). benefits of metabolic health—something
So the field is ready for disruption. CGMs promise to revolutionize your doctors and dietitians have been doing
metabolic health by meticulously track- for decades.
ing blood glucose. Last August, Stelo,
from Dexcom, entered the chat as the
first over-the-counter CGM in the U.S.,
THE DANGERS OF
DYSFUNCTION
WHAT WE KNOW about our metabolism
is well established. “Metabolism is ba-
sically everything that your body ever
does,” says Matthew Rodeheffer, PhD, a
metabolic researcher at the Yale School
of Medicine. “Literally anything that
your body does to convert one thing into
another thing.”
For a doctor to diagnose you with
metabolic syndrome, they’d need to be
able to check at least three of five boxes.
Weight is one of them, but in this case,
doctors typically talk about the circum-
ference of a person’s waistline, as extra
abdominal fat puts someone at a higher
risk of heart disease. High blood pres-
sure is another, as is a blood glucose level
that’s higher than average, which can
COURTESY OF LEVELS (2).

lead to type 2 diabetes. Having an ele-

Calley Means (above, left) and Casey
Means, MD (above, right), with Joe Rogan. vated level of triglycerides is the fourth
Casey’s company, Levels, uses an app box. Triglycerides are a type of fat found
(right) to track multiple factors in metabolic in the blood, and higher levels can raise
health, including A1c and triglycerides.
your cardiovascular risk, a perfect segue

16 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH

 up for debate among health professionals.
Someone with type 2 diabetes absolutely
needs one, but for someone who isn’t dia-
betic, CGM usage is more nuanced. Health
zeitgeist heavyweights such as Peter
Attia, MD, extol the benefits of CGMs for
people who don’t have diabetes but are in-
terested in optimizing their health and,
specifically, in seeing how blood glucose
levels fluctuate with different kinds of
food, stress, sleep, and exercise.
Some nutritionists recommend doing
an audit (like a digital food diary) with a
CGM, so you can see exactly how what you
eat and drink affects your blood glucose
level. Yes, you probably know your blood
glucose will spike if you drink a soda, but
actually seeing that chart race up (and
seeing how long it takes to decline) can be
more motivating and empowering than
just knowing the science.
However, Abby Langer, RD, a Men’s
Health nutrition advisor, notes that
CGMs can lead to obsessive tracking of
blood glucose, which can distract people
from basic, solid health habits. “Let’s
stop majoring in the minors and focus
on the basics: Protein, fat, and carbs at
meals. Three-plus cups of vegetables a
day. Lots of plants, lots of fiber. Activity.
Sleep. Less stress. How many of us are
achieving that?”
into the fifth box: a low level of HDL, the A temporary CGM can be the shot in
good cholesterol.
How to address metabolic dysfunction
REAL METABOLIC the arm you need to adhere to your diet
and exercise plan, but there are also
can be challenging. We know the factors:
a poor diet with lots of ultra-processed
MANAGEMENT plenty of no-tech ways to go about im-
proving your metabolic health. As Langer
PRIOR TO LEVELS’ ascension, if people
foods, a lack of exercise, poor sleep hab- wanted to monitor their metabolic health, says, eating whole foods can help balance
its, smoking, excessive alcohol intake, they’d have to go to the doctor, who would out blood sugar.
and chronic stress. As a result, metabolic conduct a clinical assessment, ordering Going outside instead of staying seated
dysfunction tends to build over time. But blood tests for glucose, lipids, and organ indoors all day helps with our stress level
there isn’t exactly one moment you wake function based on factors like age, and and blood pressure. Exercising regu-
up and know you have some sort of meta- gauging metabolic syndrome risk. The larly—anywhere from at least 75 minutes
bolic problem. doctor would look for red flags and review of vigorous aerobic activity per week to
“Dysfunction is a continuum,” says the clinical and lab tests with the patient. 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aero-
Prasanna Santhanam, MD, an associate (For example, a fasting glucose level above bic activity per week, or a combination of
professor in the division of endocrinology, 100 mg/dL, as Dr. Santhanam points out, both—will improve our cholesterol and
diabetes, and metabolism at the Johns is a sign that your blood glucose level is help us regulate our weight. It’s because
Hopkins University School of Medicine. moving in a bad direction.) this is what our bodies—and cells—have
“When does this [metabolic] process get Calley says that Levels puts the pa- always thrived on.
disrupted is the major question.” tient—rather than their doctor—in con- That prescription is too boring for
And so it is within this continuum trol of their data. “Anything that can give the podcast circuit, but it’s time- and
LINGO CGM COURTESY OF ABBOTT.

that the quest for metabolic health has us insight into the leading indicators of research-tested: “As long as you are eating
become monetized and, as some critics our metabolic health is a good thing. It healthy, engaging in physical activities,
say, politicized. “Health doesn’t hap- frankly lets us know what to optimize.” avoiding smoking and alcohol, living
pen in the doctor’s office,” Calley says. It’s a message that sells. Levels reported healthy overall, and getting periodic
“Health happens when we have actual $21 million in revenue in 2023 alone. checkups,” says Dr. Santhanam, it’s pos-
information to allow us to change our But who actually needs a continuous sible to prevent or reverse many metabolic
micro-decisions every day.” glucose monitor and tracking app is still health–related dysfunctions.

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 17

 BODY GET JACKED!

THE NEW SCIENCE TO WORKOUT 1: LOWER BODY

SUPERSIZE DIRECTIONS: Do the moves

in order, adhering strictly to
the rest periods. On each
exercise, during your first
two sets, focus on form. Use

YOUR MUSCLE weights that allow you to finish

each set 1 to 2 reps before
failure. Your final rep of each
set should be slower than your
initial reps. On the final set of
each exercise, use a weight
Emerging research has given us an efficient
that’ll push you to your limits.
path to building muscle. Leverage that (and rethink If an exercise calls for partial
how you’re eating for gains) with this workout plan. reps, the partial reps should
feel hard. Every two weeks,
BY EBENEZER SAMUEL, CSCS aim to add at least 2.5 more
pounds to your working weight
on the first two exercises.

long as the move is repeated until near-failure.

full range of motion on every exercise, because your muscles gener-

ability to do full-range exercises) and drop sets.

(B)
hub, available at MensHealth.com/muscle-building-plan.

WARMUP:
SPIDERMAN LUNGE
Start in pushup position, then
shift your right foot just outside
Workout Schedule your right hand, keeping your
left leg straight (A). Squeeze
Train four days a week, doing each workout twice per week. On all other days, aim
to get in light activity (think: taking a walk). On at least one nontraining day, push yourself your left glute. Raise your right
athletically, going for a 20-minute run, taking a group fitness class, or playing hoops. hand toward the ceiling, follow-
ing it with your eyes (B). Reverse
D AY 1 D AY 2 D AY 3 D AY 4 D AY 5 D AY 6 D AY 7 the moves back to pushup
position, then repeat on the
LOWER UPPER REST REST LOWER UPPER REST
BODY BODY BODY BODY other side. That’s 1 rep; do reps
for 60 seconds. Do 2 sets.

18 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH PHOTOGRAPHS BY JUSTIN STEELE

 2
START HERE

1
HYBRID SUMO DEADLIFT
Stand with your shins touching a loaded
barbell, feet just wider than shoulder
width, then push your butt back and lower your
torso until your hands can grasp the bar, shins
just outside your arms, back flat. Stand explo-
sively, squeezing your glutes. Lower to start.
That’s 1 rep. Do two sets of 6 to 8 reps, then two
more sets of 4 to 6 reps. IF YOU’RE TIRED

4
HIP THRUST
Sit on the floor, shoulder
blades against a bench, feet
near your butt, a loaded barbell just
above your hips. Your hands should
be on the barbell. Squeeze your
glutes, driving the barbell upward and
creating a straight line from shoulders
to knees (while still flexing your abs).
Lower your butt to within an inch of
the floor, then drive up. That’s 1 rep.
Do two sets of 12 reps. After the 12th
rep, sit back on the floor. Rest for five
seconds. Then do another 4 to 6 reps.

until your right knee is an inch from the floor. Shift back to the start. That’s
1 rep; do one light warmup set, then do two sets of 8 reps per side.

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 19

 BODY GET JACKED!

WORKOUT 2: UPPER BODY

1
INCLINE BENCH STRETCH ROW
Lie with your stomach on a bench set to a 30-degree angle,
glutes squeezed, dumbbells in your hands, held naturally. Your
chest should be just off the bench. Round your back and reach for
the floor with your dumbbells. Then squeeze your shoulder blades
and pull the dumbbells toward your hips. Hold. That’s 1 rep; do two
sets of 8 to 10 reps. Then do a set of 6 to 8 reps.

WARMUP:
FOAM ROLLER T-SPINE OPENER
Lie on your right side, knees and hips at 90 degree
angles, a foam roller between your knees. Your hands
should be in front of your chest, palms together.
Squeeze the foam roller and plaster your right arm to
the floor as you reach your left arm behind you, aiming
to touch the back of your hand to the floor. Return to the
start. That’s 1 rep; do 10 reps per side.

2
DUMBBELL INCLINE PRESS
Lie with your back on a bench set to a 30-de-
gree angle, dumbbells held directly over your
shoulders, abs and glutes tight. Bend at the elbows and
shoulders, lowering the dumbbells to within an inch
of your chest. Press back up. That’s 1 rep. Do two sets
of 8 to 10 reps. Then do a set of 6 to 8 reps. After the
final set, lower the dumbbells to within an inch of your
chest. Press them up a few inches. Do 6 reps like this.

LEARN
MORE!
Scan the QR code for
an advanced muscle-
building workout
plan—and fully guided
video workouts!

20 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH

 NUTRITION PLAN

THE ULTIMATE
3a
HAMMER CURL
MUSCLE-BUILDING
Stand holding dumb-
bells at your sides,
AMINO
abs and glutes tight, BY DEZI ABEYTA, RD
palms facing each
YOU KNOW PROTEIN matters. Now,
other. Without moving
master leucine, a critical branched-
at the elbows, curl the
chain amino acid (BCAA).
weights toward your
chest. Lower. That’s WHAT IS LEUCINE?
1 rep. Do 8 to 10 reps. Meet your most important BCAA.
Then lower to the start. Leucine drives muscle protein
Do 4 to 6 more reps, synthesis and helps keep muscle
raising the dumbbells proteins from breaking down.
until your forearms are
parallel to the floor. AND LOAD IT!
SUPERSET! Go straight Much like you can carb-load before
into the next move a big running event, you can leucine-
without resting. Do load, too. Aim for 2.5 grams of leu-
three sets like this, total. cine in your critical leucine-loading
meals. Good sources include beef
(3 ounces delivers 2.5 g of leucine),
START HERE IF YOU’RE TIRED
firm tofu (1 cup has 3 g), and black
beans (1 cup has 3.3 g).

BUT WHEN?
You’ll want at least 80 percent of
your meals to be leucine-rich. These
JM PRESS
meals send signals to your muscles
Lie with your
to rebuild. Focus especially
back on a
on your post-lift meal, your pre-
bedtime meal, and breakfast.

AND IF YOU’RE VEGAN?

You can still thrive. Animal proteins
deliver leucine most effectively, but
plant-based eaters have advan-
tages. In general, they’ll have a diet
rich in anti-inflammatories. And they
can keep leucine levels high with
smart meal combinations, like a half
cup of rice and a cup of black beans.

4
HOLLOW BODY
DUMBBELL
ANTI-EXTENSION
Lie on your back, legs straight,
a light dumbbell held in both
hands directly above your chest.
Press your lower back into the
floor. Raise your legs an inch off
the floor. Hold this position as
you reach the dumbbell back
behind you. Hold, then pull back
to the start. That’s 1 rep. Do reps
for 40 seconds, then rest for
40 seconds. Do three sets.

tano and shorts by gymshark;

sneaoers by reebok.

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 21

 BODY T TIME?

IS T HIS I ENTERED MY 50s eight years ago

feeling pretty invincible. I was single and

“MANOPAUSE”?
dating, playing competitive sports against
guys half my age, and generally redlining
my day-to-day. But as I was exiting this
pivotal decade—married now, with a
daughter—I felt more like Mike Tyson in
the eighth round against Jake Paul. Some
Low energy, low sex drive, days were low enough that I worried there
might be something seriously wrong.
low everything. This may be what I scheduled a full medical workup, but
the only red flag it raised was slightly ele-
middle age feels like—but does it have to? vated cholesterol. Whew. So how could I
BY NICK HEIL explain the fatigue, dwindling libido, loss

22 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH ILLUSTRATION BY DOM MCKENZIE

 “ If you believe the pitch,
of focus, and other symptoms? I wondered
TRT is a wonder treatment
if I might be in the clutches of something that delivers more energy,
else: male menopause.
Also known as late-onset hypogonad- more gains, more optimism,
ism, andropause, or the more colloqui-
al “manopause,” male menopause is and more sex.”
defined, essentially, by low testoster-
one—or, as Instagram has no doubt been
firehosing at you, “low T.” This hormone of testicular shrinkage,” says Justin crinologist up to date on dosage, delivery
typically peaks in men by age 20 before it Houman, MD, a urologist and men’s sex- methods, and complementary therapies.
begins a slow decline of about 1 percent per ual health specialist in Los Angeles. Add All my research left me pondering some
year in your 30s. For some men, this drop in acne, man boobs, and possible blood deeper questions. Namely: What should
can steepen in our 40s, 50s, and beyond, clots and you begin to get the picture. The it feel like to move through your second
exacerbated by factors like obesity, chron- good news, however, is that long-standing half-century? What could it feel like?
ic stress, poor sleep, and a bad diet. While a concerns about cardiovascular disease “That’s where the moral and ethical
robust industrial complex has sprung up for and prostate cancer, which had all but challenges arise,” says Jeff Foster, direc-
women entering menopause, that kind of shut down the testosterone business for tor of men’s health at Manual, a men’s
attention has lagged for guys. And because decades, have recently done an about-face. health clinic in the U.K. “You’re 50, not 25.
hormone deficiency is typically more grad- In particular, a large double-blind study When guys come in feeling tired and their
ual and insidious in men, it often remains called the TRAVERSE trial, published in levels are normal, you have to spend more
unnoticed until symptoms crop up. The New England Journal of Medicine in time and see what their lifestyles are like.”
I got my T checked for the first time ever. 2023, followed more than 5,000 men, ages As any responsible provider will tell
My total testosterone level was normal, 45 to 80, for an average of 33 months. It you, lifestyle is the first line of defense
even a little above average, but my free concluded that supplemental testosterone when it comes to low T and feeling blah.
testosterone—the amount of T your body did not increase the risk of adverse car- I like to think I’m pretty dialed on healthy
can readily use—was near the bottom of diovascular events for those with hypogo- habits—I’m mindful of my diet and I’m in
the clinically normal reference range. nadism, nor did it cause prostate cancer. the gym at least twice a week—but I have to
“There’s now considerable evidence that Other, smaller studies have even produced remind myself that I’m the (relatively!) old
free testosterone is more important than some evidence that T can reduce inflam- new dad of a toddler, meaning some sleep-
total testosterone,” says Abraham Mor- mation and help with glycemic control. less nights and a whole new level of stress.
gentaler, MD, an associate professor of Because I fall into a wellness gray area, “Stress is the apex predator of testos-
urology surgery at Harvard Medical School having healthy lab values but still feeling terone,” says George Papanicolou, DO, a
and the author of Testosterone for Life. The suboptimal, my course of action is wide men’s health specialist at the UltraWell-
problem, he adds, is that many doctors, open. My thinking was that a bump from ness Center in Lenox, Massachusetts. “It’s
and even professional organizations, still supplemental testosterone could help going to impact your sleep, and if you’re
don’t look at free testosterone. The most me get ahead of the drop, even if I didn’t not getting proper sleep, you’re not allow-
recent guidelines from the American Uro- quite qualify yet. There are certainly ing your body to calm down and produce
logical Association, for example, rely on plenty of outlets that would be happy to the hormones it needs.” Plus, high stress
total T to aid diagnosis and treatment. set me up on T with minimal screening. and low sleep can lead to a poor diet and
This left me curious if I might be a can- By 2022, supplemental testosterone had weight gain, another enemy of T.
didate for testosterone replacement ther- become a $2 billion industry, and the mar- Ultimately, I decide I’m not quite ready
apy, or TRT, something I’ve been hearing keting behind it is similarly supersized. for TRT. My levels aren’t low enough to jus-
a lot about lately. It’s become less stigma- I have to admit, the thought of TRT is tify it, and there’s still some room for life-
tized, less associated with enhanced phy- pretty enticing. I’m not very worried about style improvement. In the meantime, I now
siques and unscrupulous athletes than fertility. And a few people at my gym have have a baseline to help assess my general
it used to be. And it certainly has some tried it and insist that TRT has helped well-being. “Testosterone is the single most
high-profile advocates, including Joe them in myriad ways, with negligible predictive measure of your overall health
Rogan and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.—nei- downsides. These guys aren’t “blasters” status,” Dr. Morgentaler says. “Something
ther has revealed a low T diagnosis, but who just want to get swole. They’re normal like glucose might tell you your risk for
both have hopped on exogenous testos- dudes and dads like me who liked the idea diabetes, but low testosterone puts you at
terone presumably to prevent their levels of feeling their best and getting an extra risk of diabetes, obesity, dementia, low
from declining. If you believe the pitch, boost from workouts. And there’s a contin- bone density, and other major issues.”
TRT is a wonder treatment that delivers gent of men who want to take a little T to With a few exceptions, though, hardly
more energy, more gains, more optimism, keep their levels from dropping with age. any of my friends knew their testoster-
and more sex. What could go wrong? I probably align with a growing number one levels when I asked. If you’re over 50
Plenty, actually. On TRT, “you’re going of men who are interested in finding that like me, why not know? If you feel fine,
to shut down your own testosterone pro- hormonal sweet spot. But it requires due great. But if you’re struggling—in the bed-
duction, you’re going to shut down your diligence, money (insurance may not cov- room, in the gym, or in your head—you may
fertility, and you may have some degree er TRT), and the help of a urologist or endo- have more options than you realize.

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 23

 BODY SLUG

THE MOST
IMPORTANT PART OF

RECOVERY IS
EFFORT,
PORTSMOUTH, OHIO, HOLDS the unfortunate
crown of “Opioid Crisis Capital of America.” The hilly
city lies 100 miles east of Cincinnati, separated from
Kentucky by the Ohio River. In the early 2000s, Ports-
mouth was littered with pill mills, where broken-bad
doctors pushed OxyContin, fentanyl, and other addictive
substances. Many of these docs were eventually impris-
oned for illegal distribution of opiates. The aftermath

AND WE TRAIN THAT. was a city rife with “boarded-up businesses, high crime
rates, and a complete void of anything positive,” accord-
ing to native son Dale King.
King left Portsmouth in 2003 to join the army, where
In a community ravaged by the he spent five years, including two tours in Iraq. He re-
opioid crisis, the PORTSMOUTH turned to his hometown and was crushed to find it strug-
gling. King’s motto was “No one is coming to save us,”
SPARTAN KETTLEBELL CLUB which meant he needed to find a way for people to help
themselves. He had trained on his own for years and
builds a different form of strength. discovered CrossFit through other soldiers in 2007.
“CrossFit helps people make psychological gains as well
BY ROBERT WEINTRAUB as physical ones,” he says. In 2010, he opened the Ports-
mouth Spartan Kettlebell Club (PSKC) in a warehouse
PHOTOGRAPHS BY ZACHARY C. BAKO downtown and charged $5 per workout.
 POWER LUNCH Led by
instructor Rickey Ellis,
the Nasty Nooners
grind through a WOD
called Diane. Ellis (in
the P-TOWN MADE shirt,
lower left) says he loves
seeing people step out
of their comfort zone
and achieve their goals.
The club borrowed
its motto from rocker
Henry Rollins: “Pain is
not my enemy; it’s my
call to greatness.”

At PSKC, King and his staff have embraced what they

call the Portsmouth Method, a combination of behavioral
therapy and CrossFit. He’s also layering in nutritional
guidance from MetFix, CrossFit founder Greg Glass-
man’s newest venture, which seeks to battle chronic dis-
ease with nutrition and exercise. “The most important
part of recovery is effort, and we train that,” says King,
44. “We focus on partner and team workouts to focus on
skills such as communication, teamwork, and account-
ability.” The lessons learned inside the gym reinforce
resiliency outside.
At his gym, King hasn’t merely welcomed people bat-
tling addiction; he’s hired several as staffers and has
contracted with local counseling facilities and prisons
to provide regular exercise as a rehabilitation method.
Multiple other businesses followed King’s example in
opening up downtown, eventually leading to a revitaliza-
tion of the area that has Portsmouth residents optimistic
for the first time in decades. “To see the domino effect has
been awesome,” he says. “In a town devastated by weak-
DALE KING
ness, we chose strength.” King started his reintegration into civilian life by
PSKC has 120 members, many of whom are there to working out with kettlebells. “I got kicked out of the
“get after it” on a brisk afternoon just before Christmas. gym for carrying in my own kettlebells,” he says. But
This is the usual 12 p.m. workout for a group that calls that led to an offer to teach others. “High-intensity
itself the Nasty Nooners, and on the menu is attempted exercise has positive physiological benefits,” espe-
PRs in the deadlift after two months of training, then a cially, he stresses, when performed in “small teams.”
The collective effort has “an effect on results—you
WOD called Diane (21-15-9 reps of deadlifts and hand- feel part of something bigger.” During this session,
stand pushups for time). Amid the clanging and grunt- King goes for a deadlift PR of 505 pounds and just
ing emerges an unmistakable spirit. “We’re as much a misses. The Nooners fist-bump him anyway.
social center as a fitness club,” says King.

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 25

 BODY FIT TRIBES

MEET THE SPARTANS

RICKY SHAW
Shaw is a coach at PSKC and em- plains. “The only thing you think
blematic of the changes the gym about is the next rep.” Shaw once
has wrought in the community. had trouble climbing a flight of
An addict his whole life—mari- stairs, but on this day he deadlifts
juana, opiates, meth—he was 455 pounds. The struggle never
imprisoned and sent to multiple ceases, he says, but kicking the
rehab centers. Through PSKC, he habit “gets easier when you have
began doing CrossFit. “It helped the classes and all these people
me get out of my head,” he ex- around you who care.”

MAX BYLES
“I am a product of the opioid
epidemic,” says Byles, a
Portsmouth native who was
hooked for years until he got
clean in 2012. He now serves
as a chemical dependence
counselor when not putting
up 700-pound deadlifts.
“Social work values the
importance of human con-
nection and helping people
find what works best for
them,” he says. “CrossFit, and
especially the Portsmouth
Method, is great at adapting
as needed.”

SARAH WALKER
Walker is a paramedic who still often deals with drug-related health emergen-
cies. “We see the same people all the time in the ambulance,” she says. Walker
is also a Nasty Nooner newbie, and this session is the first time she completes
Diane without compromise. She is the last to finish, but she does every rep,
showing the dedication that has enabled her to lose 40 pounds in nine months.
“You don’t get nearly this kind of encouragement in other gyms.”

26 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH

 JIM DONNALLY
Straining to get his first-ever
muscle-up, Donnally, a 60-
year-old the others call the
“Gray Ghost,” knows he can
rely on the PSKC team to be
there until he succeeds. “They
never give up on their end of
the bargain,” he says. “I’ve
been to many CrossFit gyms,
but none have the quality of
instruction and deep sense
of care that PSKC does.” Don-
nally was part of a group of
businessmen and -women
who helped King revitalize
Portsmouth while working out
in the noon class. “We gath-
ered in the gym, developed a
vision, shared it, and rebuilt
the town from right here.”

JILLIAN WERRING
“The term we use is mutual suffering,” says
Werring, PSKC’s communications manager. That
explains why she feels so at home after a decade
at the gym. “I was severely overweight and badly
needed stress relief. I discovered this gym and
found people who gave a shit—that’s not some-
thing I had growing up.”

DARIN LISTON
In 2020, an accident at Liston’s rail- ‘I don’t know either, but we sure can
way job caused the amputation try.’ Because of him, I’ve never felt
of both his legs above the knee. It insecure here.” Liston modifies
would’ve been easy to fall into addic- workouts as needed, swapping out
tion. Instead, the 49-year-old joined deadlifts for bench presses or using
PSKC, having heard of the gym’s sandbags during power cleans.
Some Assembly Required program. “The mental aspect is so huge,” he
“Three days after I got my prosthet- says of the workouts. “I haven’t
ics, I was here,” he says. “I told Dale, talked to any shrinks. I just come
‘I don’t know if I can do this.’ He said, here and work the demons out.”

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 27

adver tisement

REWRITING
THE FUTURE
OF LIVING WITH
HEMOPHILIA B
THROUGH
GENE THERAPY
– BECOMING HIS
BEST Michael working out weeks after his HEMGENIX infusion. Source: CSL Behring

Then as an adult, a worst-case scenario happened. Michael’s body began to produce an increased
Michael suffered a serious injury, tearing one of amount of factor IX, which it couldn’t do before.
his pectoral muscles while lifting weights during The best part he says is that due to the increased
PRESENTED BY a workout. “I had to undergo surgery, which was factor IX, he hasn’t experienced any breakthrough
terrifying because hemophilia B puts me at a higher bleeds since receiving HEMGENIX and he no
risk of bleeding during the operation and recovery,” longer needs regular infusions.
he said. Michael had to rely heavily on his family
during this time as he had to increase his self-infu- “I’ve noticed that I feel more confident and less
sions. While Michael recovered without any serious stressed, not worrying when I exercise and play
Growing up, Michael was always on the move. complications, the constant fear of bleeding and the basketball if I need to self-infuse before or after
Whether it was basketball, golf, or swimming, he need to adhere to a strict infusion schedule took a because I know my factor IX levels are steady,” he
was the epitome of an active kid. But unlike other toll on him physically and mentally. said.
kids his age, he had to navigate life with a unique
challenge. Michael had already started learning from his care HEMGENIX has given Michael a newfound sense of
team about HEMGENIX® (etranacogene dezapar- freedom. He looks forward to earning his MBA and
Michael was diagnosed with hemophilia B at just 4 vovec-drlb)—a one-time infusion that can elevate spending more time doing the things he loves, with
years old. Hemophilia B can cause prolonged bleed- factor IX levels for years, offering greater bleed less worry. “Continuing to talk to my healthcare
ing and increases the risk for spontaneous bleeding protection and significantly reducing or eliminat- team about the challenges I was having led to a
and bleeding into joints due to the body not ing the need for regular factor IX infusions—and new treatment for me. I encourage others to do
producing enough clotting factor IX. Every scrape while he was already considering it, the experience the same to find what’s right for them.”
or fall could result in a bleeding episode requiring solidified the decision.
treatment. For Michael, this usually meant a visit to
the hospital for intravenous (into a person’s veins) “I’ve had needles stuck in me multiple times a
infusions of factor IX replacement therapy, which month since I was 4-years old and the potential to
are necessary to prevent or stop bleeding. not need regular infusions anymore was absolutely
life changing,” Michael said.
Tired of the constant visits to the hospital, Michael
took a significant step by learning to manage his Following pre-screening tests and securing approval
condition by self-infusing factor IX intravenously from his insurance company, in March 2024 Michael
on a regular schedule in middle school. Self-in- received HEMGENIX. “For me, the process was
fusing reduced the number of hospital visits, but simple. The infusion took about an hour and then
breakthrough bleeding from simple accidents—like I had to stay for about three hours for monitoring
jamming his finger playing basketball—were still a for infusion-related reactions. My grandmother and For more information on gene therapy for hemo-
constant worry. I then simply drove back home.” philia B, visit https://www.hemgenix.com.

“Any injury you sustain can be exacerbated. The Following his infusion, Michael was monitored for
fear of an injury or spontaneous breakthrough side effects such as headaches, flu-like symptoms,
CREATED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
bleeding was always in the back of my mind,” he fatigue, nausea, or feeling unwell, and had several
recalls. follow-up appointments to monitor his liver and
blood enzyme levels, as well as his factor IX levels.
adver tisement BRIEF SUMMARY OF PRESCRIBING INFORMATION
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION These highlights do not include all the information needed
to use HEMGENIX safely and effectively. See full prescribing
What is HEMGENIX? information for HEMGENIX.
HEMGENIX®, etranacogene dezaparvovec-drlb, is a one-time gene therapy
for the treatment of adults with hemophilia B who: HEMGENIX® (etranacogene dezaparvovec-drlb) suspension,
• Currently use Factor IX prophylaxis therapy, or for intravenous infusion
• Have current or historical life-threatening bleeding, or Initial U.S. Approval: 2022
• Have repeated, serious spontaneous bleeding episodes.
INDICATIONS AND USAGE
HEMGENIX is administered as a single intravenous infusion and can be HEMGENIX is an adeno-associated virus vector-based gene therapy indi-
administered only once. cated for the treatment of adults with Hemophilia B (congenital Factor IX
deficiency) who:
What medical testing can I expect to be given before and • Currently use Factor IX prophylaxis therapy, or
after administration of HEMGENIX? • Have current or historical life-threatening hemorrhage, or
To determine your eligibility to receive HEMGENIX, you will be tested for • Have repeated, serious spontaneous bleeding episodes.
Factor IX inhibitors. If this test result is positive, a retest will be performed
2 weeks later. If both tests are positive for Factor IX inhibitors, your CONTRAINDICATIONS
doctor will not administer HEMGENIX to you. If, after administration of None.
HEMGENIX, increased Factor IX activity is not achieved, or bleeding is not
controlled, a post-dose test for Factor IX inhibitors will be performed. WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS
• Infusion reactions: Monitor during administration and for at least
HEMGENIX may lead to elevations of liver enzymes in the blood; therefore, 3 hours after end of infusion. If symptoms occur, slow or interrupt
ultrasound and other testing will be performed to check on liver health administration. Re-start administration at a slower infusion once
before HEMGENIX can be administered. Following administration of resolved.
HEMGENIX, your doctor will monitor your liver enzyme levels weekly for • Hepatotoxicity: Closely monitor transaminase levels once per week
at least 3 months. If you have preexisting risk factors for liver cancer, regular for 3 months after HEMGENIX administration to mitigate the risk
liver health testing will continue for 5 years post-administration. Treatment of potential hepatotoxicity. Continue to monitor transaminases in all
for elevated liver enzymes could include corticosteroids. patients who developed liver enzyme elevations until liver enzymes re-
turn to baseline. Consider corticosteroid treatment should elevations
What were the most common side effects of HEMGENIX in occur.
clinical trials? • Hepatocellular carcinogenicity: For patients with preexisting risk fac-
In clinical trials for HEMGENIX, the most common side effects report- tors (e.g., cirrhosis, advanced hepatic fibrosis, hepatitis B or C, non-al-
ed in more than 5% of patients were liver enzyme elevations, headache, coholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), chronic alcohol consumption,
elevated levels of a certain blood enzyme, flu-like symptoms, infusion-related non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and advanced age), perform
reactions, fatigue, nausea, and feeling unwell. These are not the only side regular (e.g., annual) liver ultrasound and alpha-fetoprotein testing
effects possible. Tell your healthcare provider about any side effect you may following administration.
experience. • Monitoring Laboratory tests: Monitor for Factor IX activity and Factor
IX inhibitors.
What should I watch for during infusion with HEMGENIX?
Your doctor will monitor you for infusion-related reactions during admin- ADVERSE REACTIONS
istration of HEMGENIX, as well as for at least 3 hours after the infusion The most common adverse reactions (incidence *5%) were elevated ALT,
is complete. Symptoms may include chest tightness, headaches, abdominal headache, blood creatine kinase elevations, flu-like symptoms, infusion-
pain, lightheadedness, flu-like symptoms, shivering, flushing, rash, and elevated related reactions, fatigue, malaise and elevated AST.
blood pressure. If an infusion-related reaction occurs, the doctor may slow
or stop the HEMGENIX infusion, resuming at a lower infusion rate once To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact
symptoms resolve. CSL Behring at 1-866-915-6958 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088
or www.fda.gov/medwatch.
What should I avoid after receiving HEMGENIX?
Small amounts of HEMGENIX may be present in your blood, semen, and USE IN SPECIFIC POPULATIONS
other excreted/secreted materials, and it is not known how long this contin- No dose adjustment is required in geriatric, hepatic, or renal impaired
ues.You should not donate blood, organs, tissues, or cells for transplantation patients.
after receiving HEMGENIX.
Based on November 2022 version. HEMGENIX is manufactured by
Please see brief summary of prescribing information for uniQure Inc. and distributed by CSL Behring LLC.
HEMGENIX.
HEMGENIX® is a registered trademark of CSL Behring LLC.
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to
the FDA.Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088. ©2024 CSL Behring LLC 1020 First Avenue, PO Box 61501, King of Prussia,
PA 19406-0901 USA USA-HGX-0915-DEC24
You can also report side effects to CSL Behring’s Pharmacovigilance Depart-
ment at 1-866-915-6958.
DID YOU KNOW
HEMGENIX IS BEING
ADMINISTERED
THROUGHOUT
THE COUNTRY?

Scan the QR to see what sites are currently

ready and able to administer HEMGENIX.

HEMGENIX is manufactured by uniQure Inc. and distributed by CSL Behring LLC.

HEMGENIX® is a registered trademark of CSL Behring LLC.

© 2024 CSL Behring LLC

1020 First Avenue, PO Box 61501, King of Prussia, PA 19406-0901 USA
www.CSLBehring.com www.HEMGENIX.com USA-HGX-0706-MAY24
 CHANGE FOR THE BETTER

THE As politicians clash with Big

Food over processed products,
we found the good stuff.
BY PAUL KITA AND KELLY STAIKOPOULOS

PHOTOGRAPH BY TED CAVANAUGH MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 31

LIFE SMART CART

WHAT MAKES A FOOD

THE BEST? OR “REAL”? MMMJerk y,
Given the heated politics around ultra-
Cracked Black Pepper
processed foods, we defined “real” See the marbling in this jerky? That’s
because it’s made from brisket (not
as products having short ingredient
top or bottom round), so it’s extra
lists with few to no unpronounceable flavorful—and still high in protein.
words. We picked new(ish) items that Two ounces has 16 grams.
are high in muscle-building protein,
stomach-filling fiber, and heart-healthy
fats, yet also low in added sugars. And
we ran the list by Dezi Abeyta, RD, one of
our nutrition advisors, for a gut check.

Fo r G o o d
SweeGr anola,
t C u rr y
Buckwheat
Almonds, pumpkin seeds,
coconut, chia, and a robust
spice blend make for a mix
that tastes equally great in
a salad, over ice cream, or
straight out of the bag.

SkinnyDipped Salty + Sweet

Cashews, Cinnamon Crunch
These have that cereal-flavor vibe, but with only
two grams of added sugar. Two ounces has six grams

Meati Crispy Cutlets Organic

These “chicken” patties are actually made of myce-
No antibiotics. No growth
cutlet has a—what now?—17 grams of protein and 8 hormones. No fillers. Just really
grams of fiber, plus a host of vitamins and minerals. tasty, well-raised pork.
 For way more MH-approved foods to
fill your grocery cart, head to
MensHealth.com/bestfoods2025.
Freekeh Harvest
Protein Pita Chips,
Everything
Just 12 of these hearty, nutty-tasting

of protein and three grams of fiber.

Crispy Green
Piña Picante,
Chili Chili
Sweet-sour dried pineapple
meets the double burn of
cayenne and habanero to
deliver an actually exciting
way to work toward your five-
servings-a-day produce goal.
A bag has three grams of
fiber and zero added sugar.

Mush
Protein Bar,
Peanut Butter Hodo Vegan All-Day
Chocolate Chip Egg Scramble
Creamy PB, dates, oats, honey,
The tofu wizards at this company
FOOD STYLING: MICHELLE GATTON/HELLO ARTISTS. PROP STYLING: JJ CHAN/BA-REPS. COURTESY OF BRANDS (PRODUCTS).

chocolate chips, and a hit of vanilla

combine in a bar with 15 grams finally nailed the creaminess of the
of protein that you’ll genuinely look real stuff. Black salt, turmeric, and
forward to eating. smoked paprika elevate the flavor.
Twelve grams of protein. Four
grams of fiber. Just heat and eat.

Acme Smoked
Fish Sesame
Crusted Smoked
Yellow fin Tuna
This lean, wild-caught fish is lightly
smoked, so it’s ready to roll up with
avocado, cucumber, and/or thinly
sliced carrots for a snack. Three ounces
has 13 grams of protein.

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 33

 LIFE W EIGHTS & PL ATES

B I G
U R G E R . Fit chef
ERIC ADJEPONG
chases his workouts
with this high-protein

BBIG G E R feast-in-a-bun.
BY PAUL KITA

34 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH PHOTOGRAPH BY TED CAVANAUGH

 I
F YOU FEEL like you’re too
busy to work out, consider
Eric Adjepong. The Top Chef
alum just opened Elmina,
a West African restaurant, in
Washington, D.C. His cookbook,
Ghana to the World, comes out
March 11. And he’s hosting a Food
Network show, Wildcard Kitchen,
now in its second season. (Oh, he’s
also a dad.) Yet there’s Adjepong,
at the gym four days a week, get-
ting in reps precisely because
he’s so busy. “I wear many different hats, and
no one day is the same,” he says. “So I’ve found
FOOD STYLING: MICHELLE GATTON. PROP STYLING: JJ CHAN. ELIJAH JAVANNI, JVNNI STUDIOS (GYM). COURTESY OF SUBJECT (ADJEPONG IN KITCHEN).

that eating as clean and aiming to maintain as

much of a routine as possible is imperative for
my overall mental health and well-being.” But:
“I also love a burger when the moment calls for
it,” he says. Like this one, which combines the
meatiness of fresh salmon with the BBQ flavors ADJEPONG’S
of smoked salmon.
GO-TO
MOVES
FULLY LOADED SALMON BURGERS 1
This recipe from Adjepong swaps turf for surf, delivering close to 60 grams of ROWING
“It’s low-impact
muscle-building protein and a strong dose of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.
and a full-body
W H AT YO U ’ L L N E E D HOW TO MAKE IT workout.”
1/3 C UP GR EEK 4 OZ SMOK ED 1. In a small bowl, mix the yogurt, garlic, 2
YOGURT SA LMON, 2 Tbsp parsley, 1 Tbsp chives, 2 Tbsp dill,
ROUGHLY BENCH PRESS
1 GA R LIC CLOV E , and the 2 tsp lemon juice. Season with “It’s tried-and-true,
MINCED CHOPPED salt and set aside. hitting everything
¼ C UP MINCED 1 T B SP MUSTA R D 2. In a food processor, add the salmon fillet upper body.”
PA RSLE Y P OW DER and pulse until broken down into small chunks,
3 T B SP MINCED 1 T B SP OLI V E OIL about 15 times. Transfer ¾ of this salmon to 3
CHI V ES BURGER a large bowl. Add the smoked salmon to the SQUATS
BUNS, T HINLY food processor and pulse until a paste forms, “These are the big-
5 T B SP MINCED
FR ESH DILL SLICED R ED about 20 times. Transfer the salmon paste, gest challenge for
ONION, LE T- the mustard powder, 1 Tbsp lemon juice, the me in my routine.
2 T SP LEMON T UCE LE AV ES, But I enjoy chal-
remaining herbs, and ¼ tsp salt to the large
JUICE , PLUS A ND SLICED bowl. Mix until well combined and then form lenging myself,
1 T B SP TOM ATO, 4 equal patties. Set aside. so I look forward
11/2 LB S SK INLES S FOR SERV ING to them.”
3. In a large pan, heat the olive oil over
SALMON
FILLET, C U T medium high. Add the burger patties and
IN TO 1-INCH sear, 5 minutes on each side.
PIECES 4. To serve, layer a salmon patty on a toasted
bun with the yogurt sauce, onion, lettuce,
and tomato. Feeds 4

NUTRITION PER BURGER: 526 calories,

58 g protein, 26 g carbs (2 g fiber), 20 g fat

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 35

 LIFE BACK TO BLUE

Denim’s
NEW FLEXAthleisure is great and all, but let Captain
America actor DANNY RAMIREZ introduce
you to the awesome next generation of jeans.

FUNCTIONALITY
IS BACK
Lots of big
pockets, rivets
for reinforcement,
the hammer loop—
carpenter jeans
have returned
(and, be honest,
you missed them).
Gap offers this
railroad striped
pair, which comes
double-reinforced
at the knee for
extra durability.
T-shirt ($30) and jeans
($90) by Gap; sneakers
($85) by Converse.
 DUAL DENIM
WORKS
The key is to match
similar colors
but mix textures.
Up top, Ralph
Lauren’s trucker
jacket features
tapered button
pockets, a pointed
collar, and a faded
look. Below, keep
it simple with a
solid or slightly
distressed pair.
Jacket ($188) and jeans
($125) by Polo Ralph
Lauren; T-shirt ($40) by
Armani Exchange;
watch by Tudor.

NIKE C1TY G.H. BASS LARSON WEEJUNS LOAFER ASTORFLEX BITFLEX CHELSEA BOOT
The Nike C1TY unites suede and mesh From the office to date night, this shoe The ergonomic footbed and cush
for enhanced breathability. It’s dresses up everything. It’s built with crepe rubber sole make all-day
casual but still classy—and works best real leather, which makes blue, gray, wear easy. They pair perfectly with
with straight-leg jeans. $100 and, yes, even white jeans pop. $175 (what else?) boot-cut jeans. $250

PHOTOGRAPHS BY AARON RICHTER MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 37

 LIFE BACK TO BLUE

WATCHES
INSPIRED
BY DENIM’S
COLLARS
VIBE KEEP
THINGS
COOL
This one’s made
with corduroy,
for style points.
For function, the
jacket traps heat
with the help of
a quilted-blanket
lining. Match it
with baggy utility
MOVADO HERITAGE pants for your new
SERIES CALENDOPLAN weekend uniform.
Its cobalt dial goes well Jacket ($350) and
with blue jeans. A 41 mm T-shirt ($28) by Lee;
pants ($90) by Gap.
stainless steel case means
it’s as rugged as your
favorite denim, too. $695

SEIKO 5 SPORTS SERIES

The U.S. Special
Creation edition’s stripe
pays homage to vintage
race cars. Plus: a steel
case, water resistance,
and rotating bezel. $350

TEXT: JOSEPH CHEATHAM. GROOMING: MELISSA DEZARATE/A-FRAME AGENCY.

FASHION DIRECTOR: TED STAFFORD. ASSISTANT STYLIST: IMANI GRANGER.

VERSATILE SHIRTS
DO IT ALL
Dockers’ work shirt
is built for pulling double
duty as a lightweight
jacket or a stand-alone
layer. With its darker-blue
wash and two-pocket
TUDOR BLACK BAY design, it delivers a laid-
CHRONO COLLECTION back, utilitarian look
The tough-as-nails steel that’s practical but also
band matches all sorts still comfortable.
of denim. And the classic Shirt ($60) by Dockers; jeans
chronometer face just ($98) by Levi’s; boots ($395) by
looks cool as hell. $5,875 Koio; watch by Seiko.
NEW CUTS FIT
WORKOUT
GAINS
Especially if you’ve
been hitting leg
day. Abercrombie
makes an elastane-
laced athletic
straight cut, which
means it has space
for—and bends
with—bigger
quads without
ever looking
baggy. To match,
pull on a ribbed
tank with some
stretch. You’ve
earned it.
Tank ($24) by Skims;
jeans ($80) by
Abercrombie & Fitch;
sneakers ($120)
by Adidas.

amirez Looks Super

Danny R

LIKE ANY TRUE superhero, Captain America: Brave love the functional combat boots worn by the charac-
New World star Danny Ramirez dresses down when ter he played, Joaquin Torres, a young Air Force lieu-
he’s not in costume. Hoodies. Sneakers. Jeans. “As a tenant who assists Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie).
kid, my identity was ‘athlete,’” the 32-year-old says. Ramirez says he’s acclimating to walking the red
He played football and fútbol until injuries sidelined carpet, too, as he did for 2022’s summer blockbuster
him and he decided to try acting. That’s when he Top Gun: Maverick. “Whatever my stylists put me
found a new calling, one that has since cemented him in, I’m starting to feel comfortable,” he says. “In the
as Captain America’s wingman. In 2021, Ramirez beginning I used to be like, This is a different person.
joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe on the Disney+ But now it makes sense.” Still, if he’s going to dress
hit The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. He came to himself? Hoodies. Sneakers. Jeans. —eric francisco

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 39

 LIFE HEADS UP

PITT. CLOONEY. DENZEL in

G OING
Gladiator II. There’s certainly nothing
wrong with leaning into silver fox status.
But who among us hasn’t wondered, as
the hair collects on the barber cape, if
there is a way to trade out some salt for

G R AY? more pepper? Dye is temporary. (And

messy.) Supplements are shady. (And
$$$.) Cue-balling is an option. (But cold.)
Why hasn’t science fixed this yet? Actu-
ally, researchers are zeroing in on a solu-

NOT tion. The result could mean slowing, and

one day even reversing, gray hair. Here’s
the idea behind all the geeky science—
and what to do until it becomes reality.

SO FAST. WHY HAIR

Cutting-edge tech might GOES GRAY
DON’T BLAME THE HAIR ITSELF. Within a
reverse how your hair looks as you age. hair follicle (the part of the hair attached
Really. BY GARRETT MUNCE to the skin) lives a type of cell called a
melanocyte. These cells determine skin
and hair color. As you age, melanocytes
“become less active, leading to hair that
lacks pigment and looks gray, silver, or
white,” says New York–based dermatolo-
gist Morgan Rabach, MD.
How to reverse graying remains one
of those bodily mysteries that no one
has quite cracked yet. What’s complex
is that the melanocytes in a hair follicle
don’t show the same pattern of aging as
the ones in our skin, Dr. Rabach says.
“We believe the reduction in activity is
a mixture of genetics, oxidative stress,
and the depletion of the melanocyte stem
cells over time.”
To complicate things even more, gray
hair is a polygenic trait, meaning it takes
many genes to activate. (We warned
you that this was going to get geeky.)
Untangling which genes have what effect
on hair color makes reversing gray hair
difficult to figure out, says Beth Sullivan,
PhD, a professor of molecular genetics
and microbiology at Duke University.
This gene variability explains why one
sibling may go gray earlier than another
even though they have similar genetics.
Then there’s the very valid idea that
NICK DOLDING/GETTY IMAGES.

stress can lead to prematurely going gray.

“Free radicals, which are oxygen mole-
cules that lose their electrons from stress
and damage, cause signaling in the cell
that can lead to premature aging,” says
Dr. Rabach. She doesn’t mean just job or

40 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH

 family stress either. Lots of factors can
stress your body (and hair follicles) and COLOR CORRECTORS
lead to free radical formation: pollution, Eating a healthy diet, managing stress, and using mild hair-care
products may help delay (but won’t prevent) the graying process,
diet, UV rays, smoking, and more—
says New York–based dermatologist Morgan Rabach, MD.
which makes you curious…
Which products, you ask?

CAN GRAYING BE
STOPPED?
IN THE SHORT TERM, YES. Studies have
found that alleviating the stress of
difficult events or conditions—such as Arey To The Root Leonor Greyl
relocating or the sudden loss of a job—can Serum, $55 Energizing Serum For Ageless Anti-Gray
re-pigment gray hair. “It’s more of a Not only does it Thinning Hair, $120 Hair Serum, $78
temporary fix,” says Robert Finney, MD, strengthen and volu- It’s packed with You’ll find palmitoyl
a dermatologist in New York City. “Like if mize hair, but its Mela- antioxidant green tea, tetrapeptide-20
someone went through a really stressful 9 complex (which protective maca extract, in this serum,
event and got a few extra grays, if you contains palmitoyl and Indian gooseberry (!), as well as caffeine,
tetrapeptide-20) may a natural anti-ager that to help reduce
remove the stressor, then they get better.”
help slow graying. could help delay grays. oxidative stress.
But in the long term, the answer is
maybe. The current scientific consen-
sus is that, barring extreme events and
JAMIE MCCARTHY/GETTY IMAGES (SLATTERY). KEVIN MAZUR/GETTY IMAGES (MARTIN). DIMITRIOS KAMBOURIS/GETTY IMAGES (COOPER). MICHAEL BUCKNER/GETTY IMAGES

underlying diseases, “the onset of

graying hair is largely genetic and age- GRAY TO NO WAY
related,” says Dr. Rabach. Some scien- There’s not a treatment for reversing age-related grays. (Yet.)
tists are making headway by reactivating
nonfunctioning melanocytes, and others
are trying to stimulate the follicle with
stem cells, but both methods are in their
too-early-to-tell stages.
But then there’s palmitoyl tetrapep- Steve
(FIERI). DIA DIPASUPIL/GETTY IMAGES (BRIDGES). JEFF BOTTARI/GETTY IMAGES (RYAN). UNIQUE NICOLE/GETTY IMAGES (GLOVER).

Martin
tide-20. This new hair-care ingredient
has promise. It’s biomimetic, which
means that “it acts as an agonist of the
pigment process and mimics our own
peptide that stimulates our melano-
cytes,” says Dr. Finney. Some early stud-
ies back up palmitoyl tetrapeptide-20’s John
Slattery
effectiveness, and some brands (Arey, for Anderson
one) are already launching products with Cooper
it, like scalp serums that claim to slow the
graying process and re-pigment hair.
As with any product, though, absorp-
tion is key, says Dr. Finney. “Palmitoyl
tetrapeptide-20 is a large molecule that
doesn’t penetrate through the epidermis Jeff
as well,” so getting it to melanocytes Bridges
might be tough, he says. One essential for Guy
reversing gray, even with palmitoyl tet- Fieri
rapeptide-20, is that the hair still needs
some active melanocytes to stimulate.
Nothing has been shown to re-pigment
hair that is completely white.
So while total re-pigmentation may
still be science fiction, there are very real Rob Danny
steps you can now take to delay the gray. Ryan Glover
(See Color Correctors, top right.)
 deckiez.com

geneticlabsaustralia.com

newbarnorganics.com

⇒tkingshop.com
PM IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES (BRAIN). IVAN MIKHAYLOV/GETTY IMAGES (MUSHROOMS).

Plant-based, mind-altering drugs are taking center stage

in public health debates. Our go-to psychiatrist breaks down what’s real
about the new momentum behind psychedelics for mental health.
BY GREGORY SCOTT BROWN, MD

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 43

 MIND PSYCHEDELICS

A DECADE AGO, using magic WE NEED

mushrooms—especially in a ther-
apist’s office—seemed cringey,
MORE
extreme, and not helpful for what OPTIONS
patients were there for. Today… MORE THAN 60 MILLION American adults are dealing
with symptoms of depression and/or anxiety, despite all the
it’s complicated. Tech bros and meds available. While SSRIs such as Prozac, Celexa, and
CEOs are trumpeting their use Lexapro can be helpful, they don’t work well for about a third
of mushrooms (psilocybin) to of people with depression. They also aren’t effective for about
40 percent of people who have PTSD, and there hasn’t been
optimize performance and im- a new medication approved for PTSD since 2000.
prove emotional well-being, and With millions left struggling, scientists at institutions
new science is probing the mental like Johns Hopkins reignited research in 2019 on psyche-
delics for conditions such as PTSD, major depression, and
health benefits of these and other certain types of substance use disorders. That science
psychedelics. The conversation builds on what we already knew: In the 1940s, researchers
began looking into these drugs’ mind-altering effects; by the
is likely to get even louder, as
1960s, certain psychedelics were found to help terminally ill
MAHA champions them for be- patients experience less physical pain and fear about death.
ing outside of Big Pharma’s hands New research is likely to turn up more benefits; one lab is
even looking at whether psychedelics can help people break
(largely) and being “suppressed” free of tobacco addiction.
by the FDA, according to Robert
F. Kennedy, Jr. Meanwhile, plenty
of people aren’t waiting for gov-
ernment approval before exper-
imenting: About 8 million U.S. PSYCHEDELICS
adults reported using psychedel- HELP…
ics in 2023 (often for fun), ac- SOMETIMES
cording to a RAND Corporation
DURING A dosing session Regimen-wise, seeing a
survey. Now there are psychedelic with MDMA (midomafe- mental health boost from psy-
happy hours, mushroom retreats tamine) or psilocybin, a chedelic treatment doesn’t
abroad, and chocolate candies for couple of helpful things always require a big invest-
are thought to be happening ment of time. Some studies
microdosing. in your brain. First, the neu- show that after just two doses
“The promise of psychedelics roplasticity process allows of MDMA, people had re-
is real. But these are profoundly your brain to form newer duced PTSD symptoms for up
and stronger pathways. to 17 months. Other studies
novel and disruptive therapies, That enables your neurons have found that just one or
and they were bound to spark (or brain cells) to communi- two doses of psilocybin can
cate with each other better. improve people’s depression
resistance and backlash, as they
Second, psychedelics also for up to six weeks; two doses
did in the 1960s,” says Michael flood your brain with of it reduced alcohol intake by
Pollan, author of How to Change mood-boosting chemicals 83 percent. When combined
such as serotonin and dopa- with talk therapy, psychedel-
Your Mind. Welcome to the (new) mine, as well as hormones, ics might open a window into
psychedelic revolution. Here’s including oxytocin, that the mind that could help you
your hallucination-free guide to allow you to feel calmer and think differently about your-
experience a stronger sense self in a way that promotes
where we are now. of connection. positive change.

44 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH

 T H E E X P E R T : G R E G O R Y S C O T T B R O W N , M D, is a psychiatrist, a Men’s
Health advisor, the founder and director of the Center for Green
Psychiatry in Austin, Texas, and the author of The Self-Healing Mind.

MICRODOSING IS A
MAYBE
SOME RESEARCH shows that years ago, while I was taking a
microdosing with LSD or psilocy- break from my shift covering a

AND SAFETY ARE bin may boost your mood (even if

you aren’t depressed) or help you
detox unit, I caught a glimpse of
a documentary about the supple-
BIG ISSUES feel more creative and sociable. ment kratom that was playing
But other studies don’t report a in the physicians’ lounge; the
PSYCHEDELICS ARE still illegal on noticeable effect on mental health. show claimed that it might be
the federal level as well as in most states. With adults in their 20s and 30s the next potential cure for opioid
Psilocybin has been decriminalized in drinking less, some find micro- addiction. That same night, I was
Colorado, psilocybin therapy is legal in dosing happy hours to be a good treating patients who were actively
Oregon, and last year Missouri allowed the way to have fun without the health detoxing from kratom, and the
use of psilocybin for the medical treat- risks of alcohol (or the hangover). FDA later warned that it could
ment of conditions like PTSD and end-of- Except there’s no conclusion have serious health consequences,
life care for people age 21 or older. That yet about how safe microdosing including addiction.
doesn’t mean psychedelics are completely actually is. Altered heart rhythms When it comes to psychedelics,
safe. In Massachusetts, voters shot down and bad trips can happen with I’m cautiously optimistic but not
legalizing these drugs after news showing psychedelics at any dose. quite ready to recommend them to
an increase in ER visits and fatal car acci- So are psychedelics the next my patients. Perhaps one day we’ll
dents due to “drugged driving.” blockbuster mental health treat- be tripping our way to improved
Potential safety issues were behind the ment? Unfortunately, science mental health, but until then, let’s
FDA’s decision to deny approval for an moves slowly, and it’s still too all take a deep breath and wait for
MDMA-based drug that Lykos Therapeu- early to tell. Consider this: A few the science to catch up to the hype.
tics investigated to treat PTSD. While
the research showed that an astonishing
88 percent of people with PTSD got better,
the FDA was concerned that MDMA may WHAT ABOUT
cause insomnia, anxiety, or heart rhythm
problems. Psychedelics can also spike
blood pressure and cause nausea and K E TA M I N E ?
vomiting. And some, like MDMA, can
potentially become addictive.
With limited access to psychedelics TECHNICALLY, KETAMINE ISN’T A PSYCHEDELIC;
in the U.S., people are getting their trips it’s part of a class of drugs called dissociative anesthetics
abroad. Companies such as Beckley Re- that are used in certain surgical procedures. Yes, this was
treats offer popular, if pricey, psychedelic the substance found in Matthew Perry’s system after his
experiences in places where the drugs are death—but in extraordinary concentrations that you’d typ-
legal, like the Netherlands and Jamaica. ically see only in general anesthesia. However, for years,
These generally upscale retreats (one doctors have prescribed much lower doses of intravenous
charges $4,800 for a five-night package) ketamine or ketamine lozenges as off-label treatments for
include group circles, meditation classes, conditions like depression or physical pain. This means that
and psilocybin ceremonies, but they the FDA didn’t necessarily approve these forms of ketamine
don’t always include an on-site licensed for such purposes, but there was enough research that some
physician guiding the sessions (not ideal docs believed the benefits outweighed the risks. In 2019, the
considering the FDA’s safety concerns). FDA approved a nasal-spray version of ketamine called esket-
Limited access in the U.S. is also driving amine for depression that hasn’t responded to typical antide-
people to get psychedelics in question- pressants. (These are tough cases, and the spray helps up to
able places, like from the microdosing 58 percent of people.) Note that ketamine might cause heart
chocolate bars and gummies by Diamond or respiratory problems, and it can be addictive, so it’s import-
Shruumz—which were recalled by the ant to get it only under the supervision of a licensed physician.
FDA after they were allegedly linked with
73 hospitalizations and three deaths.

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 45

 MIND STRESS LESS

GO AHEAD.
ORDER THE MEAT LOAF.
Sure, the burger might be the safer bet. But when you
learn to weigh the benefits of new options versus familiar
standbys, the big decisions (about work, about life,
about diner food) become a whole lot easier.
BY ALEX HUTCHINSON
 RUDY REYES
Retired recon marine RUDY REYES is the founder of Force Blue,
an ocean conservation charity, and a cohost of Fox’s Special
Forces: World’s Toughest Test, now in its third season. Here’s
how he manages all of it—plus PTSD—at the same time.
—AS TOLD TO CHARLES THORP

6:00 A.M. and 50-pound ball

slams. He hits a gym
the shooting pro-
gram. “It’s nice to
PULL where he knows have that change in
DOUBLE DUTY people, “because command,” he says.
“There’s something the best piece of
great about starting
your day with learn-
equipment is a train-
ing partner,” he says.
3:00 P.M.
ing and completing Then it’s 45 minutes PET THERAPY
a task,” says Reyes. of martial arts. A walk and tug-of-
For him, that means war with Hank,
listening to the news
or a history podcast, 12:00 P.M. his German shep-
herd, helps Reyes
like BBC’s History BREAK THE FAST manage PTSD. Prior
Extra, while doing Reyes doesn’t eat his to having Hank and
last night’s dishes. first meal—usually his two cats, he’d get
chicken, vegetables, pulled into thoughts
8:00 A.M. and rice—until mid-
day. “I used to be ob-
of war. But caring
for them helps keep
BUILD A
sessed with eating him present.
BATTLE PLAN
within 30 minutes of
Relief work and TV
work have one big
thing in common:
a workout,” he says.
“But now I push it 6:00 P.M.
further.” Being hun- POWER DOWN
SEAN LOCKE/STOCKSY (BURGERS). SAM KAPLAN/TRUNK ARCHIVE (MEAT LOAF). JASON RAISH (ILLUSTRATION).

unpredictability.
gry reminds him of “I have lived in a lot
“You have to strike
running lean during of loud and uncom-
when the opportu-
military survival fortable places,
nity is there, and you
training, when he so I work to keep my
can’t do that without
lived on deer moss home like a quiet
being prepared,”
or lizards. What temple,” he says.
he says. So he logs
on to his computer about cravings? “I’ve He’ll take two hours
to nail down ideas felt hunger before, to make and eat din-
for the show and to and I’ve never actu- ner, accompanied
check in with the ally been hungry in by a documentary
Force Blue team on civilian life.” and a glass of wine.
what missions need
to be organized. 1:00 P.M. 9:00 P.M.
FIRE OFF STRESS ZZZ…
10:00 A.M. He hits the gun Sleep, he says, “has
GET IN PT range not just to stay been an issue since
“I honestly can’t comfortable with my time in the mil-
fall asleep unless the tools of his trade. itary.” Most of his
I’ve put in some Known for his car- operations were at
sort of hard training ing instruction and night, and “even on
Alex Hutchinson’s new book,
during the day,” guidance, Reyes base I slept pretty
The Explorer’s Gene: Why We
Seek Big Challenges, New Fla- says Reyes. He also likes it because light.” Action-
vors, and the Blank Spots on does 20 sets of four he gets to let go of packed days and
the Map, will be published on exercises, includ- steering others — peaceful nights help
March 28 (Mariner Books). ing bench presses someone else leads it come easier.

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 47

 MIND GAME ON

WHAT WOULD YOU do to get an

edge—at work, in sports, in life? Would
you spend X amount of dollars? Would
you take X kind of supplements? Would
you even subject your brain to emerging
technologies that may or may not work?
Professional athletes have been the early
adopters in the brain-training space.
NFL quarterbacks are entering flow
states with help from Dune-like, Bene
Gesserit–style instruction. NBA players
fine-tune their hand-eye coordination
with virtual reality concentration exer-
cises. MLB batters boost their averages
through disrupted-vision drills. The pro
versions of these tools are pricey, but
there’s good news for those not named
Jalen, Steph, or Shohei: The tech is trick-
ling down to us civilians.
“The democratization of the science
is driving consumer interest,” says cog-
nitive neuroscientist Greg Appelbaum,
PhD, a psychiatry professor at the Uni-
versity of California, San Diego, who has
studied this field for more than a decade.
“There’s no doubt the technology has
gotten cheaper. Now you can get many of
these products for the price of one or two
pairs of Nikes.”
Yes, some of this still-early-days tech
has stronger marketing than it does peer-
reviewed research. But many experts

STRENGTH
believe that the future for brain trainers
AND is promising. One of the biggest and most
encouraging categories: cognitive train-
ing tools that buff up visual processing
skills. “The brain is like a muscle you can

SPEED TRAINING isolate,” says Murali Doraiswamy, MD,

a professor of psychiatry and behavioral
sciences at the Duke University School
of Medicine. “Many of the products

YOUR BRAIN
that are like video games are backed by
FOR evidence-based science to improve your
reaction time.”
Appelbaum, who recently published
a systematic review of more than 100
studies on sports vision training, is also
on the cautiously bullish side. “It’s clear
that you can train certain visual skills
and that this training can fix multiple
Welcome to the booming world of high-performance bottlenecks,” he says. “There’s real
evidence that these regimens work for
mental training, where tech tools offer
specific applications.” Whether you want
amateur athletes (like you!) a chance to wield more focused brain waves or
enhance your vision, here’s a deeper look
at pro-level focus, calm, and control. at three of the more exciting products in
BY PETER FLAX this new world.

48 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH

 REFLEX AND
COORDINATION
TRAINING
THE PROMISE: Any athlete can use high-tech virtual reality drills to
improve depth perception, tracking, reaction, and hand-eye coordination.

THE PRODUCT: Reflexion Go, $29/month (requires Meta Quest headset,

sold separately), reflexion.co
STROBOSCOPIC
BEFORE A NEW user starts playing training games on Go, the applica-
tion’s virtual coach asks questions to determine preferences and baseline TRAINING
abilities and then builds out a regimen with daily and weekly goals. Right
now, Reflexion has about 10 games on the platform to boost cognitive
THE PROMISE: Strobing is
based on the well-studied prem-
performance. One game, called Portals, challenges you to catch targets
ise that intermittently disrupting
of different colors, each on various flight paths, to improve your mental
vision can lead to improved
flexibility. Other games challenge you to quickly stop a motor action you
sensory performance.
started, as you might when you realize an incoming pitch is a ball and not
a strike. As users train with Go, the system adjusts the difficulty of the THE PRODUCT: Senaptec
games. The data on effectiveness is still incoming, but in one small study, Strobe Pro, $399, senaptec.com
a cohort of NCAA Division I quarterbacks used a similar training protocol
THIS SPORTY EYEWEAR
and decreased the time it took them to find a receiver by 9 percent.
initially developed at Nike has
helped pro athletes level up their
performance. The lenses can

NEUROFEEDBACK flicker on and off in eight different

patterns (the longer the blackout
period, the greater the chal-
THE PROMISE: Leveraging technology that measures brain activity, lenge), and users can also choose
consumers gain feedback on how their mind operates and learn to to have the top or bottom half of
access a flow state—in sports or daily life. each lens completely blacked out
THE PRODUCT: Myndlift, from $150/month, plus Muse 2 headband (even tougher).
($199), myndlift.com Tiffany Frankovich, CEO of
Senaptec, recommends that
USING SOFTWARE that was first called SMR where you have high consumers new to the device
developed for clinical purposes, alertness,” says company founder train with the eyewear for 10 or 15
Myndlift collects specialized and CEO Aziz Kaddan. After an minutes three times a week. “You
data from different parts of the initial brain health assessment should start with simple tasks at
brain. Users are always paired through the app, you’ll talk to first—maybe just walking on a
with a neuro coach through video the neuro coach to discuss your treadmill, for instance,” she says.
or messaging, as if they were results and goals. Your protocol “And then slowly increase the dif-
working with a clinic. “The goal may include playing games that ficulty—say, start doing lunges.”
is to help you reach a relaxed hone your ability to focus and The mechanism is interest-
focus state—a specific brain state enter that SMR brain state. One ing: Your eyes take in way more
JASON SPEAKMAN (ILLUSTRATION). COURTESY OF BRANDS (4).

game involves two racing aliens, information than your brain can
with your alien picking up speed process. If you limit what your
as your EEG data indicates you’ve eyes see while you’re performing
reached a state of focus. (Fun, other tasks, you can help your
right?) “The promise of neuro- brain process faster by relying
feedback is that it can help people on your other senses. One study
enter a flow state—this is the thing analysis found that this process-
that differentiates truly great ing exceeds 200 gigabytes of
athletes from everyone else,” says information per second—but
Dr. Doraiswamy. And research research indicates that you can
suggests that anyone—from pros train your brain to work faster and
to regular joes—can train them- smarter if you force it to process
selves to do so using EEG. visual input more efficiently.

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 49

LEVEL-UP
YOUR GAME

Win Big with Men’s Health!

M E N S H E A LT H . C O M / L E V E L U P
 AT
AT

ANY AGE!
SORRY, FELLAS, you’re probably not going to be able to live to 150 after all, according
to the big brains at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who determined that “radical human
life extension is implausible this century.” Sure, you can eke out incremental lifespan
gains by pounding lentils and guzzling EVOO, doing endless sessions of cardio in zone 2,
and sleeping eight hours a night, but even with great exercise, diet, and lifestyle
choices, less than 5 percent of men will make it to 100. But lifespan is only one measure
of a good life. There’s healthspan and a bunch of other “spans” that can measure
and reflect how well you’re futureproofing your body, mind, and life today. The following
stories tap into those powers—and could help extend your life by a decade, too.

YOUR SEVEN SPANS FOR A BETTER AND LONGER LIFE!

LOOKSSPAN FUNSPAN FITSPAN LIFESPAN HEALTHSPAN MUSCLESPAN MINDSPAN

Look like the Play has The activities The tactics Stay active The ancient Forge
best version powerful and protocols to combat and avoid practices purpose and
of yourself physical, to maintain the two times chronic you need to a positive
at every age— cognitive, and performance your body diseases and fortify your outlook
starting social benefits, and delay ages fastest— the disabilities body for for the long
when you’re no matter aging, 44 and 60— of aging— modern life, haul with
a teenager. how old you are. starring and elongate and get your regardless insights from
Few games David your life. body the care of your age. Italian style
hit the benefits Beckham. and treatment powerhouse
trifecta it needs. Brunello
like racquet Cucinelli.
sports.

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 51

52 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH
 FIT ( AND FUN) AT ANY AGE! : LOOKSSPAN

GEN

Chewing-gum workouts
for SHARPER JAWLINES. Specialty
products for FEATHERED BANGS.
So. Much. COLOGNE. One man’s
exploration of the AURA-ENHANCING
SELF-CARE trends shaping an
entire generation of YOUNG MEN.
BY MICKEY RAPKIN
ILLUSTRATIONS BY EDDIE GUY
54 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH
 me that story over Zoom from his home in support for mewing’s jawline-sculpting aware of physical appearance than they
London. The tale begins with his father, claims is as thin as dental floss.” And used to be,” says Keith Valone, PhD, a psy-
John Mew, who ran afoul of the U.K. med- “these trends, popularized on social me- chologist in private practice in Pasadena,
ical establishment in the ’90s by claiming dia, raise significant concerns about their California. “And they’re not embarrassed
that traditional orthodontics was funda- safety and efficacy.” It’s worth noting that or shy or feel that it’s somehow strange or
mentally flawed. Braces were designed to John Mew lost his medical license in 2017 vain to talk about physical appearance.”
pull the lower jaw forward to meet the top after being found guilty of making unsup- This isn’t new behavior. Men have been
jaw, he said, describing orthodontics as a ported claims. But on the Internet, pissing concerned about their appearance since
one-size-fits-all solution to crooked teeth off the Establishment is the surest sign the first caveman saw his reflection in a
that’s not only detrimental to puddle. But two things have
our health but also prone to re- changed. Cosmetic proce-
sult in relapse. dures have “grown exponen-
But braces also ignore a tially in popularity with the
much bigger problem, the elder development of social me-
Mew claimed. Sometime in the dia,” says Joshua Zeichner,
last 200 years, he posited, the MD, a dermatologist at Mount
human skull changed for the Sinai Hospital, “as more peo-
worse. He blamed the advent of ple are in front of the camera
processed foods, which made on the regular.” Terms like
chewing much easier, but what- brotox have made their way
ever the reason, he said our into conversations, he adds.
skulls no longer had room for “As more men are taking to
all 32 teeth, which led to a rise social media and are becom-
in sleep apnea, wonky smiles, ing more conscious of their
and (worse) “ugly faces.” Want appearance, I am seeing an
to see some nice teeth and uptick of patients coming
a hot jawline? Forget Equi- into the office asking for jaw-
nox; check out the Museum of line-enhancing procedures.”
Natural History. But we’re not just staring
John Mew promised he could at ourselves all day (though
fix all of that. His technique— that would be concerning
which he named orthotropics— enough). We’re getting push
typically begins earlier than notifications poking at our
traditional orthodontics and insecurities as revealed by
involves installing a device in our search history. As Mike
the mouth that makes more Parent, PhD, an associate
room for the teeth while also GLOW UP American Psycho dropped 25 years ago, but the professor at the University of
opening up the airways. He character played by Christian Bale is a Gen Alpha role model. Texas at Austin who special-
experimented on his children, izes in young male behavior,
according to an A24 documentary called that you’re doing something right. explains, “Advertisers have done about as
Open Wide, and in lieu of scientific stud- Last Christmas, Mike Mew launched much as they can do to make women feel
ies on orthotropics (there are none), the an app called Mewing by Dr Mike Mew. bad about themselves—and profit off of it.
movement now puts forward Mike Mew’s He truly believes his family’s work can not Now they’ve turned to men.” It seems to
own face as all the proof one needs. just make people better-looking but also be working. Parent told me about a 2009
And his jaw really is something—an ex- reduce sleep apnea, which in turn could study on male college athletes ashamed of
aggerated right angle that looks like it was raise a person’s IQ by 10 points, he claims. their own bodies, proving that even a 20-
drawn by a caricaturist. But he became an “Self-interest isn’t driving me,” he says. something Adonis can feel insecure. Per-
incel poster boy by putting the power back “I want to make the world a better place.” haps that’s why the bottle for a popular
in the public’s hands. Mike Mew promises cologne, Le Male by Jean Paul Gaultier, is
that you, too, can have his jawline with a shaped like a torso with a bulging crotch.
little practice. All you have to do is press
your tongue against the roof of your mouth
NEARLY A YEAR before Gladiator
II stormed theaters, a photo of actor Paul
And the pressure campaign is real.
Within exactly one day of beginning
for hours a day. The extremely online have Mescal went viral. He was standing on a my research for this story, my feed was
dubbed his technique “mewing,” and that street corner in New York City, holding a flooded with ads for self-help products.
hashtag has been viewed more than 2 bil- Sweetgreen salad, dressed in short shorts I also started to see a lot of ads for Jaw-
lion times on TikTok. with thighs for days. He looked like every liner gum, which is 10 times harder to
ALAMY STOCK (2).

When asked about mewing, a represen- guy at my gym posting selfies in their ath- chew than a standard piece of gum and is
tative for the American Association of Or- leisure fits. I must have texted Mescal’s designed to tone the masseter muscles
thodontists sent me a lengthy statement curbside thirst trap to a dozen friends. I in your face. The founder of Jawliner,
that included this burn: “The scientific guess I’m not alone. “Men are much more a German named Anton Perl, reminds

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 55

me that he didn’t invent and more like an on-
insecurity. If anything, he line support group.
says, he’s selling a solution: Still, I was starting
“A ny kind of motivation Before
to wonder if looks-
to change something on your maxxing might also
body, I think, is always the be an echo chamber.
best.” The company claims to Mor e i mp or t a nt—
have sold more than 1 million and this isn’t a dig
pouches of gum. at Shami—shouldn’t
Thankfully, I wasn’t wor- straight men be talk-
ried about my own jawline. ing to women about
I’m 46. I know what I look After what they want? I was
like. But what if I were 15? reminded of another
What if I were inadvertently of Pat r ick Bat ema n’s
training social media algorithms quotes: “There are no girls
to prey on my own insecurities? with good personalities.”
Would I be one of those guys on
Reddit, awake in the middle of
the night, obsessively talking
about my self-doubts from be-
THE FILM VERSION
of A m e r i c a n P s y c h o
hind an avatar of a swole cen- came out 25 years ago, but
taur? Where’s the line between Bateman’s influence lives
standard-issue angst and body on. Challengers director
dysmorphia? SELF-CARE TOP: Jawliner’s “fitness gum” promises to “sculpt, Luca Guadagnino just
It’s a legitimate concern. Casey tone, and strengthen your jawline.” ABOVE RIGHT: Kareem announced he’s working
Lewis likens looksmaxxing to Shami, in 2020 and 2022, runs Mogwarts Academy, a looks- on his own adaptation,
the “pro-ana” (or pro-anorexia) maxxing school. BOTTOM: British orthodontist Mike Mew’s starring Austin Butler.
movement, in which young peo- @Orthotropics has almost 600,000 followers on YouTube. It was time for me to check
ple struggling with eating disor- in with some teenagers
ders find one another online (cool) and Intrigued, I spent some time on the IRL. So I put out a call on Facebook and
feed off each other (not cool). “There Mogwarts site taking Shami’s Looks- TikTok for people interested in smell-
have always been those guys” obsessed maxxing 101 course, which includes tips maxxing and mewing.
with their appearance, she says; it’s just on achieving “hunter eyes,” which are an- A 13-year-old from Montclair, New Jer-
that now “they have so many new plat- gled toward the nose to create a stare that sey—a kid named Max—told me he heard
forms to meet.” young women supposedly find irresistible. about mewing on social media maybe a
That’s how I found myself lurking on I have no idea if that’s a thing. But if Sha- year or two ago. He tried it, he said, but
a site called Mogwarts Academy, which mi’s own before-and-after photos are legit, “I didn’t really care for it,” which doesn’t
bills itself as a “School of Looksmaxx- the guy’s doing something right. Mog- sound like something a 13-year-old would
ing & Profound Self-Improvement.” The warts claims almost 3,000 paying mem- say but I swear it is. “I know a lot of people
name is a play on Hogwarts, the school for bers. But from an outsider’s perspective, say it’s supposed to fix your jawline. To see
wizards from the Harry Potter series. But the site appears to be more about the mes- actual results, you have to do it a lot.”
it also invokes the term mogging, youth sage boards than the curriculum. And like When I asked if he knew anyone who was
slang for the art of intentionally standing a teenager’s hormones, they’re extremely doing it a lot, he said no. “I think it kind
next to a less attractive person in order to active. In one post, a chiseled 16-year-old of just became kind of a meme.” A joke.
make oneself look hot. shared photos of himself and asked users Maybe he was right. After all, one of the
COURTESY OF JAWLINER (GUM). COURTESY OF @SYRIANPSYCHO (SHAMI).

Mogwarts is run by the beauty influencer to “tell me everything you think I should first jokes in 2024’s Ryan Gosling film The
Kareem Shami, who has more than 1.8 mil- improve,” which seemed dangerous to me. Fall Guy is about his jawline.
lion TikTok followers, and his site operates According to a report on the news site The What was more remarkable about this
on a subscription model: For 19 bucks a Conversation, that line of questioning is call and the others was how at ease these
month, users get access to his online tutori- fairly common, and men who receive low kids felt talking about their own appear-
als. Shami comes by his auramaxxing bona scores on their “sexual market value” have ances and their skin-care regimens, which
fides naturally. According to a New York been encouraged to take their own lives. involved regular trips to Sephora. When
Times story, he and his family fled the civil Yes, the Internet is cruel. Though this kid I was a teenager, we all cared about how
war in Syria in 2012 and landed in Beirut, looked like a boy band heartthrob and was we looked, but to talk about it would have
where Shami was teased for his light skin. maybe fishing for compliments? invoked a whiff of gay panic. In the sixth
Homeboy later mistook American Psycho But a lot of the posts come from teenag- grade, I begged my mom for a pair of Z.
for an instructional video, beginning a ers asking genuine questions, often about Cavaricci shorts—the ones with the white
relentless transformation that involved how to improve their skin. And they’re met label running vertically down the crotch.
(among other things) mewing. His TikTok with sincere, almost emo feedback. It feels But I didn’t talk about those shorts in the
and Instagram username? “Syrianpsycho.” less like an AMA for basement dwellers cafeteria. But these kids I spoke to? They

56 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH

had no shame. And why should they?
Aidan, a 15-year-old high school fresh-
man from Rutherford, New Jersey, got
on FragranceTok last year after hearing
kids at school talking about colognes over
lunch. “I wanted to be more involved in the
conversations,” he says. After borrowing
an Armani scent from his dad, he went on
an expedition to the mall with his friends.
Midway through our call, he schooled
me on the difference between parfum and
eau de parfum, between top notes and
middle notes, sounding less like an incel
than a parfumier.
Max was similarly fluent, having fallen
down a social media rabbit hole, engaging
with content from influencers like Fra-
grance Knowledge, who gives fun reviews
of colognes to his 1 million TikTok follow-
ers, sometimes joined by his grandmother.
His government name is Evan, and I tried
to interview him for this story. “Sweet,” he
replied, adding, “Right now I’m busy on a
brand deal when I get back I can sure.”
Aidan has about 18 colognes, he tells
me, including the pricey Althaïr from Par-
fums de Marly ($365 for 125 ml), which he
describes as a “mix of orange and vanilla,”
adding, “It’s very unique.” He and his
friends sometimes walk through Sephora
or hit the counter at Macy’s, where they’re
more liberal with free samples.
They’re in good company. As Sephora
beauty director David Razzano tells me,
“Cologne has long been one of the first
steps a young man takes on his journey
into finding his style and self-care. In attraction is a confidence game. In the whatever way they can. I just hope in five
the age of social media, many young men end, what concerned me most about young years people will be doing it in a healthy
are now exposed to the power and status men and their obsession with looksmaxx- and natural-appearing way.”
of luxury colognes, like seeing your first ing—and auramaxxing and their jaw- On the bright side, there are already
sports car and dreaming of obtaining it, lines—wasn’t mewing but rather what led minimally invasive ways to get a stron-
but colognes are much more obtainable. to mewing’s rise: a lack of media literacy ger jawline. In the aughts, I knew a guy
Showing up to class in a soft cloud of Jean coupled with a distrust of experts. who had a chin implant; the surgery
Paul Gaultier Le Male Elixir [$152], with In 2023, a deepfake video of the pod- was expensive and brutal, and until
its warm woody notes and touches of lav- caster Andrew Huberman went viral: He the swelling went down, he looked like Jay
ender, is a personal statement of maturity appeared to champion fitness gum’s abil- Leno. That was 25 years ago. Now AbbVie
and sophistication.” ity to “alter the structure of your face.” Allergan Aesthetics has Juvéderm Volux
When asked about his generation’s ob- The video was clearly doctored, but it XC, an FDA-approved filler “to improve
session with cologne and why it’s such a had been reposted so many times—and chin projection,” Dr. Rossi says, and
big business, Aidan explains, “I would so quickly—that Huberman was forced you can probably have the procedure
definitely say it’s about confidence. And to post a denial on X, reminding his fol- done over lunch.
people always talk about how girls like it lowers, “I have no financial relationship If all else fails, you could also just grow
more when you smell good. So I think that to any of those companies/products and a beard. Seth Rogen once shaved his face
was a huge influence on it.” do not endorse.” clean after years of growth; he said his
Gazing into the crystal eau de toilette beard had given him something he’d never
bottle of looksmaxxing’s future, Dr. had before: a chin.
THE WAY AIDAN tells it, cologne is
like a glamour—a spell designed to make
Zeichner says, “While I hope the move-
ment will go away, I don’t believe that will mick ey r a pk in is a journalist and
one more attractive. And that’s maybe be the case. I think people will constantly screenwriter whose first book, Pitch Per-
what this whole story is about. Because be trying to improve their appearance in fect, inspired the film series.

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 57

Racquet
 FIT ( AND FUN) AT ANY AGE! : FUNSPAN

CONSIDER THIS YOUR

SIGN TO HIT THE
COURTS THIS SPRING:
THERE’S SOME PRETTTTY
STRONG EVIDENCE THAT
RACQUET SPORTS, FROM
TENNIS TO PICKLEBALL TO PADEL,
CAN INCREASE YOUR
LONGEVITY. NOT
CONVINCED? EXPLORE THE
AGELESS BENEFITS
OF PLAYING THESE FUN
SPORTS, AHEAD.

Photographs by
Jenna Gang

Nation MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 59

THE LONG I’d been to a dozen US Opens
before, but the fans at this year’s
edition seemed doubly fired up.
Sitting in the stands at Arthur
Ashe Stadium for an early-round
match, I overheard so many con-

GAME
versations in which people new to
the game asked questions about the
scoring, the footwork, and who the
players were and where they were
from. What stood out most during
the match, though, was the huge
slogan plastered on the court, on
the Jumbotron, and basically on
every billboard across the center’s
grounds:
Tennis has become

FASHION DIRECTOR: TED STAFFORD. PROP STYLING: JJ CHAN/B&A. GROOMING: CHARLES MCNAIR/SEE MANAGEMENT. PREVIOUS SPREAD, LEFT IMAGE:
the world’s healthiest sport.
synonymous “Is that a thing?” I asked my boy-
friend. With all the superlatives
with health and floating around tennis—including

TOP BY LULULEMON, SHORTS BY ASICS, SWEATBANDS BY PRINCE. RIGHT IMAGE: TOP BY ASICS, SHORTS BY VUORI, SNEAKERS BY ASICS.
longevity. But can a resurfaced study that suggests
tennis may be the best sport for in-
the sport really creasing your lifespan—it seemed
help us live longer? fitting that the United States Ten-
nis Association, which organizes
We dug into the the US Open, would lay down this
claims to find out. claim, too. But honestly, as some-
one who has played tennis his
BY NICK PACHELLI whole life and wrote a book about
the sport, I just had to laugh. Yes,
tennis is one of my favorite pas-
times, but it’s also an infuriating
one that strains and can even break
my body if I’m not careful.
“Sure, why not?” he responded.
LAST SUMMER, THERE was a good a cable-knit sweater. At my neighborhood A few days later, when I went out to play
chance you noticed how horny people were tennis courts in Brooklyn, the battle to get with a friend, fighting to hit the ball harder
for tennis. Partly thanks to Zendaya and time on a court felt as intense as a Sinner- and with more spin, hoping for better foot-
the erotically charged, racquet-smashing Alcaraz matchup. work, I kept thinking about that slogan.
boys in Challengers (which premiered Come September, the craze manifested Is this really the world’s healthiest sport?
last April), the Internet became feverish at the 2024 US Open, which smashed its If I keep at this mentally vexing and phys-
for the sport. Suddenly, we had influenc- attendance record by attracting more than ically brutal game as I have since I was
ers and celebrities picking up a racquet for 1 million people to the USTA Billie Jean 9 years old, will I live a longer life?
the first time or showing off the forehand King National Tennis Center. Hats with
they learned as a kid. Then the tennis-core the event’s simple logo and a swooshing LET’S JUST GET this out of the way:
There is no agreed-upon ranking of the
healthiest sports. But if you’re one of the

Jannik Sinner
FITNESS GAME CHANGER:
LANDMINE ROTATIONS
Sinner has historically
lacked the physical prowess
of his competitors, so the 23-year-old has
gone all in on strength and mobility work.
He does landmine rotational exercises
such as the hollow body landmine press,
which builds upper-body power.

60 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH

 Racquet Sports Nation

millions of people worldwide who play ing tennis and living significantly longer. poor strength has been linked to an in-
tennis, you may find yourself with some As a possible explanation, the researchers creased risk of death, and the easiest way
serious health benefits. pointed to the potential impact of social to determine if someone has adequate
Tennis involves a combination of aer- interaction and community, as the ac- muscle strength and function is to test
obic and anaerobic exercise. Aerobic ex- tivities showing the greatest increase their grip strength. The researchers did
ercises use oxygen to perform continuous in lifespan require two or more people. not pinpoint why the tennis players had
movements (cardio), while anaerobic Social connection is strongly linked to better musculoskeletal function, but Otey
exercises use energy stored in your mus- longevity, as it can help keep loneliness, has a simple explanation: Tennis pushes
cles for quicker bursts of high-intensity which raises the risk of Alzheimer’s and your body in lots of directions—and
movement. In tennis, your aerobic sys- dementia, at bay. “Those connections pushes it hard. “This leads to more integ-
tem gets a serious push as you’re running, generally get associated with purpose, rity in your tendons and ligaments and ev-
repositioning yourself, and bouncing on and it’s the purpose that keeps people go- erything else, because [playing] is going
your feet waiting for a return. Meanwhile, ing when times get rough,” says Deborah to add stress,” he says. “And that stress is
every stroke requires classic gym-built Kado, MD, a professor of medicine spe- going to add an adaptation to the body to
power (anaerobic energy). Both types of cializing in geriatrics and a codirector of make it get stronger and more durable to
exercise have positive effects on cardio- the Stanford Center on Longevity. sustain playing tennis.”
vascular health, and good cardio health Then again, you could argue that play- Unfortunately, this stress can also lead
has been proven to lead to increased blood ing any sport is social and therefore to injuries (tennis elbow, anyone?), which
flow (check), improved brain function healthy. But what makes tennis (and all is why it’s critical to incorporate strength
(check, check), and a significantly lower racquet sports, for that matter) so next- training into your routine. “Sometimes
risk of developing cardiovascular disease level isn’t just that you’re moving with people will go, ‘It’s going to affect my
(check, check, check). your buddies but how you’re moving with tennis game,’” says Otey. “Well, no, not
So does this mean playing tennis gives them. In the gym, we often move in the lifting will affect your tennis game, be-
us a better shot at living longer? The best sagittal plane, or forward and backward cause then you won’t be as strong as you
QUINN ROONEY/GETTY IMAGES (ALCARAZ). KELLY DEFINA/GETTY IMAGES (SINNER). LINTAO ZHANG/GETTY IMAGES

empirical evidence we have to support this (think walking, running, bench presses, need to be when it comes to sustaining
is a viral 2018 study in which researchers deadlifts). Many sports, like basketball that. The people who are more prone to
(DJOKOVIC). FIONA GOODALL/GETTY IMAGES (SHELTON). DARRIAN TRAYNOR/GETTY IMAGES (TIAFOE).

observed 8,577 Danish residents, ages 20 and football, also push us to move mostly getting injured are those who don’t work
to 93, from 1991 to 2017. Those who regu- in one direction, while only occasion- out and don’t do these things on the back
larly played tennis lived an average of 9.7 ally changing direction. Racquet sports, end. That can go for tennis, that can go for
years (!) longer than their sedentary coun- however, force us to utilize all planes of marathon runners, that can go for any lei-
terparts. And those tennis gains beat out movement. We can’t help but shuffle from surely everyday sport.”
the gains from other activities: badmin- side to side along the baselines, and ev- So, yeah, playing tennis—and all rac-
ton (6.2 years), soccer (4.7), cycling (3.7), ery serve, forehand, backhand, and vol- quet sports—is pretty good for you and
swimming (3.4), jogging (3.2), and calis- ley demands that we rotate through our me. Over the years, I had never really
thenics (3.1). The category called “health hips. Rotational movement in particular thought about the impact tennis could
club activities,” which included the tread- results in improved mobility, agility, and have on my longevity, but now I’m going
mill, elliptical, stair-climber, stationary power, says David Otey, CSCS, a Men’s to continue to pick up my racquet for as
bike, and weight rack, added only 1.5 years Health advisor. This helps prevent pain long as my body lets me. After all, I feel my
in the studied population. and injury in the long term—the real key sharpest, most pliable, and most social
While the researchers did not include to longevity. when the sport is a regular activity in my
several sports popular in the U.S. (I wish One 2019 study, which compared 43 life. And who knows, maybe next I’ll get in
they had looked at basketball, baseball, tennis players and 47 nonplayers, ages 18 deep with the padel community. Just don’t
or, hell, even pickleball), and the partic- to 65, found that those who played tennis ask me about pickleball—that’s for you to
ipants didn’t necessarily play just one had vastly better grip strength and knee explore on the next page.
sport (so it’s unclear if tennis alone was re- strength than their nonplaying counter-
sponsible for the gains), the findings show parts. Grip strength is a research-backed nick pachelli is a journalist, a pro-
there’s a strong association between play- biomarker for longevity, says Dr. Kado, as ducer, and the author of The Tennis Court.

Novak Djokovic Ben Shelton Frances Tiafoe

FITNESS GAME CHANGER: FITNESS GAME CHANGER:
DEVOTION TO LONGEVITY EXPLOSIVE STRENGTH MOVES
He’s been around this Known for his consistently
long for a reason. Djokovic, fast serves, Shelton, 22, relies
37, eliminated gluten and dairy from his on single-leg training, using dumbbells to
diet, started practicing mindfulness do lateral lunges, step-ups, and even Bul-
techniques like conscious breathing and garian split squats. He focuses on exploding
visualization, and even brought a hyper- upward on every rep so he’s ready to attack
baric chamber to the 2019 US Open. the ball on each serve.
RACQUET SPORTS 101
By Cori Ritchey, CSCS

TENNIS BADMINTON PING-PONG PICKLEBALL RACQUETBALL SQUASH PADEL

THE BASICS
Played on a large Played on a small Also known as Played with a pad- Instead of using Think racquetball Played on a small
rectangular court court using a table tennis and dle and a hollow a net, players but no ceiling play, court enclosed by
with a stringed racquet with an played with a plastic ball with bounce a rubber and with a narrower four glass walls,
racquet and a pres- oval-shaped head, mini paddle and holes on a small ball off the court’s racquet face, a lon- with a net and a
surized felt ball. a high net, and a a small plastic court that’s about a walls and ceiling ger racquet stem, a rubber ball that’s
shuttlecock: a cone- ball on top of a quarter the size of a using a narrow smaller rubber ball, less bouncy than a
shaped projectile. stationary table. tennis court. stringed racquet. and a smaller court. tennis ball.

LE V EL O F DIF FIC U LT Y*
P H Y S I C A L LY

M E N TA L LY

WORKOUT TYPE
High intensity, Moderate intensity, Low intensity, Moderate intensity, High intensity, High intensity, High intensity,
high impact moderate impact low impact moderate impact high impact high impact high impact

ACCESSIBILIT Y R ATING**
A A C B C B C
Free or cheap Yard space + cheap If you can’t find a Courts are Declining pop- You might struggle The sport is
courts are net kit = success. table, it will cost popping up ularity means to reserve the few rapidly growing,
everywhere. you a few hundred everywhere, but new courts are courts in your area. but courts are
bucks to buy one. you’ll likely wait hard to find. available only in
in line for them. select locations.

BENEFITS
Improved cardio- Birdie drops Improved coordi- The social With no wall Focusing on “de- The combo of net
vascular health, mean you need to nation without the benefits reign off-limits, you’ll ception” in your and wall will put
agility, balance, change level posi- higher physical supreme while develop keen shots provides your speed and
and coordination. tions quickly—pro- demands of other still giving you a spatial awareness mental stimula- agility to the test.
viding a stealthy racquet sports. great workout. and hand-eye tion while you
cardio workout. coordination. work up a sweat.

THE VIBE
A full-body Backyard Olympics Your go-to cruise “In da clurb court, Your dad’s dad’s Nobody puts Pickleball’s posh
workout disguised meets…the actual ship activity. we all fam.” (It’s a favorite pastime. squash in the cor- Gen Z cousin.
as play. Serious Olympics! meme. Contact ner. It’s coming for
inquiries only. your local teen.) the LA28 Games.

*E ASY MODER AT E DIFFIC ULT * *A TO F, W IT H A = GR E AT A ND F = T ER R IBLE . EQUIPMEN T A ND C OUR T R E SERVATION FEE S

W ILL VA RY DEPENDING ON T HE BR A ND S/ MODEL S P URCH ASED A ND T HE LOC ATION.
 Racquet Sports Nation

MY DILL-IANT to luring him over to the pickleball courts.

“I wore him down.”
“Now I wear him down,” Temesvari says.
“He does. He plays tennis in the morn-
ing, and then he’ll come play pickleball.”
Sometimes, Boynton adds, Temesvari

FRIEND
does three-a-days, playing squash after
pickleball.
How two men, three “I try to limit myself,” Temesvari says
decades apart in age, wryly. “I say, ‘At my age, I’m not supposed
to be doing this.’”
found fitness and healing But studies have shown that pickleball
in pickleball—and in their is exactly what older adults should be do-
friendship. BY LAUREN LARSON ing at his age. The sport was invented in
the 1960s, but participation was reinvig-
orated during the COVID-19 pandemic,
WHEN TODD “HAPPY” Boynton is his head in cumulus curls. They both wear when Americans were seeking new modes
vetting someone new for his pickleball T-shirts, Temesvari’s bearing the logo of of socializing outdoors. Now courts and
squadron, he asks them to accept four a pickleball doubles challenge the friends clubs are popping up across the country,
rules: Don’t get hurt, have fun, don’t be traveled to Washington, D.C., for in 2024— and the Association of Pickleball Players
a dick, and “the more the merrier.” The they were one of six intergenerational pairs estimated in early 2023 that nearly 50 mil-
last is not so much a rule as an existential from across the country selected to partic- lion Americans of all ages—the average
mandate for the 56-year-old Boynton, ipate. Though they’ve known each other age of players was 34.8—played pickleball
who approaches possible recruits with the only a couple of years, and though nearly in the previous 12 months, with more find-
pleasant persistence of a missionary. three decades separate them, the men ing the sport since then. Players young and
So it was with 82-year-old Gabor “Gabe” speak like old high school friends. When old are drawn to pickleball’s health bene-
Temesvari. Two years ago, Temesvari was they address each other, they do so ribb- fits, which include improved balance, co-
hitting a tennis ball by himself on a court ingly, but when they’re talking about each ordination, flexibility, and cardiovascular
in the small town of Deerfield, Massachu- other, they speak with complete earnest- health, as well as reduced stress. The low
setts, not far from where Boynton, who ness and total admiration. barrier to entry, as well as the frequent ro-
lives in the nearby town of Greenfield, “He played hard-to-get a lot more than tation of players in and out of games, also
was playing pickleball with some friends. he says he did,” Boynton recalls. “There makes it unusually social.
Temesvari, a retired schoolteacher, was were quite a few days of ‘There’s that Temesvari and Boynton both discovered
a lifelong tennis and squash player, but old guy over there again, hitting tennis pickleball at pivotal moments. Temesvari
he had never tried pickleball and was balls.’ ” Boynton would approach him, had just lost his wife after nearly 54 years
reluctant to join the others. However, and Temesvari would say he was content together; he had always joked around and
when Boynton approached him, lent him hitting alone. But Boynton and the other been active, but her death, along with the
a paddle, and began hitting with him, pickleball players admired Temesvari’s recent death of his youngest daughter,
Temesvari took to it quickly. “I didn’t strong shots, and Boynton was committed tested him. “Pickleball has really been my
think that I was as good as I wanted to be
right away, but I said, ‘Eh, I think I can
handle this,’” he says. That afternoon, he
bought a paddle of his own and returned
the next day, and most days since. “I ad-
mired this guy’s scorpion-sharp shots over
the net,” he says of Boynton. “I started
calling him ‘Scorpion’ all the time. He
hooked me on the sport.”
Today, the two men sit side by side in
Boynton’s living room in Greenfield, rem-
iniscing about the meeting that would
prove fateful for both of them.
Temesvari is lanky, with a hel- Temesvari (left)
met of thick white hair; Boyn- and Boynton at
COURTESY OF SUBJECTS.

ton, a longtime roofer who now a birthday cele-

owns his own roofing and sid- bration for one
of their fellow
ing service, is stockier, with pickleball crew
light-gray hair that is short members in
on the sides and erupts atop October 2024.

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 63

Racquet Sports Nation

“PICKLEBALL HAS REALLY

BEEN MY SALVATION,”
TEMESVARI SAYS. “IT’S BECAUSE
OF ALL THE NEW FRIENDS
I’VE MADE THAT I’VE BEEN
ABLE TO GO ON.”

salvation,” he says. “It’s because of all the

new friends I’ve made that I’ve been able
to go on. My happiest moments now are on
the court, in the presence of these people.”
Boynton, who has been playing for
three and a half years, was newly sober
when he found pickleball. Just before the
pandemic began, he had spent a week
in an alcohol detox program, and while
many Americans started drinking more
at the time (heavy alcohol use increased efits of pickleball even mirror those of sibility, which applies not just to players
by about 20 percent during the pandem- its higher-intensity cousin, tennis. Both of different skill levels but to players of
ic’s peak years, a USC study found), Boyn- sports were played for a long period of different generations. The sport is gen-
ton hunkered down and sobered up. “If time (on average, people played pickleball erally easy to learn for beginners, it has a
COVID hadn’t hit, I probably wouldn’t for 90 minutes, compared to 81 minutes smaller court (resulting in less stress on
be here today. I needed to stay sober for a for tennis), with participants averaging joints compared to other racquet sports)
couple of months, and society said, ‘We’ll a peak heart rate of 70 percent of their and a lighter ball (which contributes to an
stay home.’” estimated maximum heart rate. Though overall slower pace of play), and it doesn’t
When lockdowns eased, pickleball tennis players averaged a slightly higher require a ton of equipment. Dr. MacRae
became his social life and an avenue to 152 beats per minute, pickleball players also hypothesizes that because pickle-
fitness. A former recreational ice hockey weren’t far behind at 143 beats per minute. ball players are closer to each other on the
goalie, Boynton reached 350 pounds af- Pickleball “is incredibly powerful as a court, compromised hearing is less of a
ter he stopped playing and subsequently means of maintaining your musculoskel- factor, making it ideal for older people.
dealt with alcoholism, depression, and etal fitness and your cardiac fitness,” says All of these benefits have been im-
a divorce. As a roofer, he’d found he was Calum MacRae, MD, PhD, who led the portant for Boynton and Temesvari, but
loath to exercise after a day outside. “You study. “We saw clear evidence that peo- their friendship has been the most crit-
drink, you eat, whatever else. My path was ple were getting their heart rates into the ical. They doubt they would have crossed
pretty much figured out for me,” Boynton same heart rate zones as when they were paths outside of pickleball, even in a small
says—and it was not a healthy one. Pick- playing tennis.” A 2022 study published in community like Greenfield. “He’s not my
leball drew him back to exercise after he the Journal of Aging and Physical Activ- father, but he’s probably within days of
stopped drinking, and now Temesvari ity confirmed that pickleball placed older the age of my actual father. I love yelling
keeps him on the ball. “By hanging out adults (their average age was 62) in moder- things over the net that I maybe couldn’t
with him, he’s keeping me alive,” he adds, ate to vigorous heart rate zones. (The CDC yell at my dad,” Boynton says with a laugh.
nodding toward Temesvari. “He’s got me recommends 150 minutes of moderate- But his connection with Temesvari is dif-
working out every day, and it’s fun. I do it intensity exercise per week for adults.) ferent from those with his other friends,
because I look forward to it.” Dr. MacRae was also surprised to find even the ones he’s known his whole life. “I
The fun of pickleball belies its heavy- that pickleball players and tennis players still haven’t talked to them as much as I’ve
hitting benefits. A 2022 study found that, were both much less likely to experience talked to him,” he says.
compared to walking, playing pickleball depression than the average study partic- “We do horse around a lot on the courts,
doubles increased players’ caloric expen- ipant: Pickleball players were 60 percent and we do razz each other quite a bit,”
diture by 36 percent, their perceived exer- less likely to indicate a depressed mood, adds Temesvari. “But I think humor is es-
tion by 44 percent, and their “enjoyment and tennis players 51 percent less likely. sential. Physically, it’s great to move and
KEVIN WOLF/AP IMAGES.

levels” by 150 percent. Research from the Beyond the positive effects on mood that to stay in shape, but if you can’t laugh and
2023 Apple Heart and Movement Study, any exercise can have, one systematic re- have a good outlook on life, there are too
which used data collected from 82,809 view pointed to pickleball’s inclusiveness many things that could get you down.”
Apple Watch users from November 2019 as a factor in its effect on players’ well- Shannon Jarrott, PhD, a professor of so-
to November 2021, showed that the ben- being. This begins with the game’s acces- cial work at the Ohio State University who

64 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH

 THE ULTIMATE PICKLEBALL
focuses on intergenerational communi-
TRAINING GUIDE TAKE YOUR SKILLS TO
THE NEXT LEVEL WITH
THIS WORKOUT PLAN.
ties, suggests that in addition to keeping
players physically fit, the intergenera- By Ebenezer
Samuel, CSCS
tional connections that pickleball players
like Boynton and Temesvari make can help Split-Stance
them age more successfully in concrete Pallof Press
ways. Spending time with an 82-year-old WHY: You’ll build core stability and
like Temesvari, who exercises twice a day, learn to keep your body balanced so
is likely to give a younger player a more pos- you can reach for those tough shots,
itive attitude toward aging. And that, Jar- especially in the kitchen.*
rott explains, is vital. “If you’ve got a more HOW TO DO IT: Stand with your right
negative idea about getting older, you self-
limit,” she says. “I might
not allow myself to seek
Temesvari (left)
and Boynton out new friendships
(right) playing in when I lose friends due to
an intergenera- old age. I might assume
tional pickleball that the aches and pains
tournament last
I’m dealing with are nor-
September at the That’s 1 rep; do three sets of 8 per side.
National Mall in mal and that nothing
Washington, D.C. can be done about them. *We’re referring to the non-volley zone on both sides of the net, not an actual
I might not advocate for kitchen—though it’s cool if you want to take some shots there, too.
myself when I go to the doctor who says,
‘Well, you’re 70 years old, Shannon; what
did you expect?’” Several studies have
shown that a negative attitude toward ag-
ing can affect our health; one from Yale
University’s School of Public Health even
showed that it can shorten our lifespan by
7.6 years.
For Temesvari, who says that most of the
people he spent his life playing tennis with
have passed away, pickleball has meant
a new crowd of opponents who match his
vim. Devout pickleballers commonly
praise the sport for its noncompetitive
culture, but Temesvari is an exception. “I
do not like to lose,” he says, laughing.
Boynton is as flummoxed by Temes-
vari’s vigor as he is awed by it. A few months
ago, he received a dreaded phone call: Te- Mini Band Side Plank Clam
mesvari had been taken to the emergency WHY: You’ll build the raw glute strength to move
with speed on the court, while also training your
room from the pickleball courts. Boynton
Dumbbell Chop outer glutes—the key to moving laterally and
was driving home from a medical appoint-
WHY: Rotational power is preventing knee pain long-term.
ment, and he grimly headed straight to the
hospital. critical in all racquet sports; HOW TO DO IT: Set up in a left side plank, left
you’ll build that here, while also elbow and left knee on the floor, knees stacked.
He found Temesvari in good spirits: He
enhancing shoulder strength to A light mini band should be just above your
had merely crashed into a post while rac-
make way for a killer backhand. knees. Squeeze your glutes as you raise your
ing for a top shot. Dehydrated from play-
HOW TO DO IT: Kneel on right knee as high as possible. Hold for one
ing pickleball all morning, he’d fainted.
your left knee, holding a second, then lower. That’s 1 rep. Do two sets of
“He knew I’d be mad at him for breaking 10. (Too hard? Skip the mini band.)
rule number one, which is don’t get hurt,” medium-weight dumbbell with
Boynton recalls. both hands at your left hip.
KYLE HILTON (ILLUSTRATIONS).

Explosively raise the dumbbell

“But rule number two is have fun,” Want access to
up and across your body, over
Temesvari says, unbothered. “I was the full PICKLE-
your right shoulder, keeping
having fun.” BALL WORKOUT
your arms as straight as possi-
ble. Lower with control. That’s 1 PLAN? Scan the
lauren larson is an Austin-based staff rep; do three sets of 10 per side. QR code.
writer at Texas Monthly magazine.
 FITSPAN E C K H A M is
FI T ( AN D FU N
) AT A N Y A G E! :
n D AV I D B
d s ty le i c o h e ’s s t i l l
Soccer a n h a l f, and
e’s sec o n d n t a lly.
i n g l i f n d m e
e n te r — p h y s i c a lly a
d a ily
e s h a p e n g o u t
i n e l it e d o i t ? W o rki
d ing
d o e s h icto ri a ) , te n
How it h h i s w ife , V
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BY
GO RD ON SM AR T

G R AP HS BY
PHOTO
S C OT T E
TRINDL
trophies, although he never brought home a World
Cup. He is both the goat and GOAT of English
football, igniting both fan fury and fan adoration
throughout his career. Beckham retired in 2013,
but his body and mind still bear the scars of carrying
a nation’s hopes, as well as the grind of playing more
than 600 games for clubs and country.
On the cusp of 50, and enjoying renewed knees or my ankles? My Achilles was a bad
global interest thanks to his hit Netflix doc- injury toward the end of my playing career,
umentary, Beckham still looks like he could but it never troubles me now, despite rup-
kick it: quads sculpted, physique shredded, turing it. It’s actually the lower left side of
hair perfectly scruffy. He’s now busy off the my back and my left hip that give me the
field, co-owning Major League Soccer’s Inter most grief. I’ve had it all X-rayed, MRI’d—
Miami team, launching the supplement it’s just wear and tear.
brand IM8 (available at IM8Health.com), I’m better at looking after myself now.
and raising his four kids, ages 13 to 26, with It’s working on things with my friend and never really upper body. I never had pecs
Victoria, a.k.a. Posh Spice. He rolled up early trainer Bobby Rich. I’ve never been the until I met Bob [Rich]. You could say I’ve
to our photo shoot in London in a racing- best at taking supplements. You know, gone up a couple of cup sizes as a result.
green Rolls-Royce, and after several hours Victoria would always put them out for me, I’ve never had a chest. I never really had
in front of the camera, he grabbed a bag of and I’d always forget or I’d think, There’s a desire to, either. I was determined to be
salt-and-vinegar Kettle chips and talked to 16 tablets there—I just can’t be arsed. It’s as lean as I could be. But since I’ve retired,
MH about how he’s bending it—time, that the reason that I created IM8. There were I’ve put a bit of meat on my pecs. I hated
is. Beckham may train hard and primp so many supplements, so many tablets, pullups with a passion. I could literally
meticulously, but looking good, he says, will and so many powders. One person saying only do two or three—three at most. Bob
never come at the expense of a decent bag one thing is the best and others would dis- decided to focus on press-ups and pullups.
of chips. agree. IM8 works for me. Gut health, en- I hated both, and now we do them most
ergy, focus—all of it is improved. days. I’ve been trying to get Victoria to
Men’s Health: The saying goes that your work out with Bob for years, and she finally
body keeps the score. How are you hold- MH: What does your workout look like? agreed to adjust her workout. Now we do
ing up these days? DB: The strength work that I do for my core five days a week, sometimes six, together.
David Beckham: My body’s actually feel- and upper body helps with the backaches
ing better than it has done for a long time. that I’ve got. When I was playing, the only MH: Do you do the same exercises?
People ask where I feel it the most—is it my strength work I did was on my legs. It was DB: She still does the StairMaster or the

68 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH

 Page 66: Sweatpants by
Beckham x Boss; underwear by
Boss One Bodywear. This page:
Sweatpants and sneakers by
Beckham x Boss; underwear by
Boss One Bodywear.

VersaClimber. She’ll do half an hour on and my family is healthy, that’s all I care really, I’ve been able to eat whatever I want
there, then she does an hour with Bob and about. For my 50th, I’m going to keep it whenever I want. But I’m still quite strict
me. I love training with Victoria. I give her really simple. I want good food, good on how I eat. There’s not many things I don’t
a lot of shit. We both give each other plenty wine—that’s it. All my closest friends. like, so you can always have your cheat day.
of shit. She’s not very good at listening to There’s nothing wrong with that. You’re
Bob. Well, she’s good at listening, then MH: How has your approach to eating allowed to do that. If you want a burger, if
she does her own thing. She’s not great at changed? you want some chocolate, if you want some
taking a rest. He’ll get her to have 90 sec- DB: I’m very lucky. My best mate Dave says crisps—it’s all in moderation.
onds’ rest, and she’ll be ready to go after I have a metabolism like a Ferrari. He hates
25 seconds. But when it’s good in the gym me for it. We’ll go out and I’ll eat and eat MH: What are your favorite foods?
and we’re both in a good mood, it doesn’t and eat and I won’t get any bigger. He looks DB: I’m an East End [of London] boy, so I
get any better than that, I suppose. at a packet of Hula Hoops and he thinks he’s grew up eating [beef] pie, mash [potatoes]
put on weight. I eat virtually everything. and liquor [parsley sauce], and jellied eels,
MH: Is approaching 50 fazing you at all? My diet hasn’t changed over the last 20, 30, so that really is my favorite food of all time.
DB: It doesn’t bother me one bit. People are 40 years, in all honesty. Even throughout I love a roast dinner. I love gammon egg
asking me about it gently, like it should be my career, I was able to eat what I wanted. chips and pineapple, but I love all foods.
a big issue. It’s not something that I’m wor- Obviously, it was more strict throughout My love of cooking came from my mum. I
ried about—as long as I’m fit and healthy the time where I played professionally, but always used to cook with my mum at home.
And then, obviously, when I moved up to
Manchester when I was 15 years old, I lived
in lodgings, and I just cooked and I loved it,
and it’s something that I always felt took
me back to my childhood.

MH: What’s a classic David Beckham

dish?
DB: Well, obviously, my wife eats differ-
ently to me and the kids, so my wife’s would
always be like a salt-baked fish or a grilled
sea bass or something with some avocado
and some greens. Mine and the kids—they
love Italian food, so I feel that I perfected
the ragù and the fresh pasta, so it would be
like a Bolognese. Cooking is a real passion
for me now. We were in Miami for a few
weeks, and I really fancied a Spanish om-
elet. I set myself the challenge of master-
ing a Spanish omelet—and I did. I’m not a
baker, baking bread eludes me, but I make
a decent lemon drizzle cake. But I would
love to be a great baker at some stage.

MH: What are your goals with the Inter

Miami soccer team? MH: How do you deal with stress? friends going, and I’d feel I was missing
DB: This was a real opportunity, not just DB: I ride my motorbike. I drive myself out. A couple of my boys were snowboard-

STYLIST: JASVEEN MANKU. HAIR: KEN PAVES/ROUGE ARTISTS. MAKEUP: MIRANDA JOYCE/STREETERS.
to create a franchise but to create one of everywhere. I used to drive myself up the ers, and I knew that I wanted to be a snow-
the best sports franchises in America. It M6 [a major highway in the U.K.] and boarder. I wanted the cool clothes. I wanted

FASHION DIRECTOR: TED STAFFORD. STYLIST: CATHY KASTERINE/CLM AGENCY. ASSISTANT

all comes from me trying to help the future back. It always sorted my head out. The to look good. It took me three or four days

SET DESIGNER: JOSH STOVELL/LALALAND ARTISTS. LIGHTING: FABIAN NORDSTROM.

of kids in America, giving them the oppor- bike is the same. Also, my chickens in the to learn, three or four painful days—it was
tunity to play the sport we love. That’s ul- countryside, being in my garden, hanging horrendous. But the moment you get it,
timately what it all boils down to and what out with friends, having a pint or a glass there’s no better feeling. It’s my favorite
I’ve always wanted to bring to America. of wine. That’s what I love. We had the holiday. I can have a bit of anonymity. I like
From day one, I wanted to establish an chickens, vegetable patch—all down at feeling healthy, like being out in the open
academy system. We have a lot of young the country house. It’s something I’m so air. You’re up early and you’re in bed early.
kids that are playing in our academy and proud of. When we go through the harvest The best part is having those chats on the
graduated to the first team. Just look at of the honey and I sit there in my kitchen lifts or in the gondolas. You get into them.
Benjamin Cremaschi coming through. looking at it all, I get quite emotional. I The kids can’t go on their phones, they’re
Three years ago, he was playing in the turn around to my kids, looking for their just sat there, and we’re all chatting—it’s
Under 17s. All of a sudden, not only is he respect, and they’re like, “Yeah, whatever, amazing. I’m pretty sure I’ll still be trying
playing on the USA national team; he’s Dad.” It’s so satisfying for me, though. So to go down the slope at 70—hopefully.
playing alongside Leo Messi, the greatest I’ll keep going.
player to ever play the game. It’s unbeliev- Also, I love snow, so not being able gor don sm a rt is an award-winning
able. It’s also really exciting to see the new to go skiing my whole life up until I fin- British journalist who has anchored Good
stadium happening, too. I won’t feel com- ished playing [because of insurance con- Morning Britain and is a regular host of
pletely happy until we win an MLS Cup. straints] was painful. I always used to see BBC Morning Live.

70 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH

 AT 50, Beckham says his goals are to
remain lean, strong, and pain-free,
according to his longtime trainer
Bobby Rich. “It’s about fine-tuning
his biomechanics on the major
moves and staying consistent.”

1 CALISTHENICS
To keep strong, carve his core, and stave
off back pain, Beckham does pullups,
hanging knee raises, and pushups most
days. Rich says Beckham sometimes calls
him “Boring Bob” because he emphasizes
the same exercises, but he considers
these foundational functional moves.
And Rich does mix it up by varying the
tempo, reps, and sets.

2 STRENGTH
Two decades of playing soccer means
Becks has done a lot of leg work and now
focuses on full-body training sessions,
including the Big 3: deadlifts, squats,
and bench presses. But Boring Bob adds
Track pants by Dior; spice by mixing in variations, so one ses-
underwear by Boss sion it’s deadlifts with a barbell, the next
One Bodywear;
sneakers by
with kettlebells, the next with dumbbells,
Beckham x Boss; so the actual sessions are always fresh.
socks by Falke.

3 CARDIO
Beckham likes ”any fitness challenge,”
SUPPLEMENT CHECK and while he’s a fan of SoulCycle, Barry’s
Our editors test out IM8 Daily Bootcamp, and boxing, his current
favorite cardio is playing padel, the
Ultimate Essentials, Beckham’s
tennis-squash hybrid. When in Miami,
92-ingredient superpowder.
he plays three times per week. It revs
his cardio, tests his agility, and serves
COLOR: Between Mussallem, DO; and It’s NSF Certified for
as QT with his family and friends.
crimson and Red former NASA scientist Sport.
Devil red, thanks to James Green, PhD.
the beet, cherry, and DISLIKES: $99 per
pomegranate. The pre-, pro-, and month—very posh! 4 RECOVERY
postbiotics, plus After training, Beckham often makes
TASTE: Refreshing digestive enzymes. EXPERT TAKE: “It’s “a protein shake with a little bit of cre-
and tart. Not medici- certainly convenient atine, coconut water, two bananas,
nal (or grassy) at all. The 100 g of the coen- to have all of these almonds, lots of ice—that’s it.” He’s a
zyme Q10, which sup- products in one fan of acupuncture and cupping, which
LIKES: The science ports heart health. place, but you could he says helped him overcome injuries
team, including buy a multivitamin, a during his career and help whenever he
Cedars-Sinai microbi- The 30 mcg of vi- probiotic, CoQ10, and has any aches or pains. Beckham also says
ome expert Suzanne tamin D3, 65 mg of magnesium and save he “prefers ice baths over cryotherapy”
Devkota, PhD; Mayo magnesium, 900 mg money,” says Brian and likes to do contrast sessions from
Clinic integrative of vitamin C—classic St. Pierre, RD, an MH sauna to ice bath. This can boost circula-
oncologist Dawn multivitamin stuff. nutrition advisor. tion and reduce inflammation.

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 71

TH E MO ST

WHEN IT COMES to how your

body ages, 44 might not just be one year
older than 43. One recent study suggests
that humans age rapidly in two bursts—one
around age 44 and another around 60.
While many guys say they feel older at
these ages, “we’re pulling the curtain back
a little more on exactly what’s going on,”
says study author Michael Snyder, PhD,
director of the Stanford Center for Genom- BEFORE
ics and Personalized Medicine at Stanford
TURNING
Medical School. In this study, he and his
colleagues analyzed all kinds of molecular
changes—they looked at 135,000 substanc-
es, including messenger RNA, proteins, CONSIDER CUTTING YOUR CALORIE BUDGET.
and lipids—in 108 people over time and Anti-aging scientists have studied calorie restriction—
noticed that, at around age 44, there was eating less without missing essential nutrients—for
a dramatic increase in molecular changes decades; they think it’s likely that it helps protect
that indicate a spike in cardiovascular risk, DNA as you age. A study in Nature Aging saw that an
decreased alcohol and caffeine metabolism, average calorie reduction of 12 percent was associated with a
and faster skin and muscle aging. 2 to 3 percent slowdown in aging. Some scientists recommend
Another wave of aging happened around getting fewer calories via an intermittent fasting approach, as the
age 60, with more bad news for the cardio- absence of food seems to stimulate age-protective changes.
vascular system, skin, and muscles. Enter-
ing your 60s, the molecular shifts also
suggested decreased immune and kidney
function and reduced carbohydrate metab-
olism that could portend type 2 diabetes.
BACK OFF STAY ACTIVE.
Snyder was
“Clock time is immutable and linear, but
biological aging is far from linear,” says Elissa
ALCOHOL. surprised by
the muscle-
Epel, PhD, a professor in the department of
A slowdown
aging markers
psychiatry at the University of California at in alcohol in 40somethings. “My
San Francisco. These sudden bumps depend metabolism guess is that it’s due to
on genes and lifestyle, plus how those two poor habits leading into
factors interact. “Our daily habits and emo-
means your body is that time,” he says. Like
tional well-being affect our biochemical more sensitive to the sitting more/moving
makeup and cellular functioning,” she says. drinking’s toxic effects less vortex that can come
That means that of the major forces at play, with busy jobs and lives.
you have direct control over only the lifestyle on cells and organs. Aim to keep up or pick up
choices that drive—and help hold back— “Knowing that you’re your activity level before
rapid aging. Research by Allison Aiello, your 40s, and don’t
becoming more
PhD, a professor at Columbia University, discount walking. One
has shown shifts in heart and brain func- susceptible to alcohol study saw that people
tion starting as young as 19, suggesting it’s as you hit your 40s, with higher average daily
never too early to fight aging. It’s also never step counts had a lower
too late to start.
maybe have one less
biological age than those
So here’s what you need to do to make 44 drink,” says Snyder. who moved less.
and 60 just like any other birthdays.
 FIT ( AND FUN) AT ANY AGE! : LIFESPAN
HOW TO DELAY THE BURSTS

SLEEP NOW
FOR MORE ENERGY
LATER.
Bad sleep doesn’t
just make you look
old, it could age
your body. Research from
UCLA found that people who
RECOMMIT TO PROTECT YOUR
said they got six or fewer
STRENGTH IMMUNE SYSTEM.
“We expected
hours of shut-eye per night TRAINING. changes in the 60s,
Age-related
because we know that
were biologically 15 months muscle loss gets
some people’s risk for
older on average than their serious at this
cancer and cardiovascular
age. “People lose
chronological ages. something like 1 to 2 percent
disease goes up—their immune
system declines,” says Snyder.
of their muscle mass every The immune system dip can
year, and so they lose make you more prone to
their mobility, and their diseases like cancer, he
GET SERIOUS ABOUT health just plummets,” says explains, because your immune
Snyder. Strength training
YOUR HEART BEFORE can help keep muscle
system clears out cells and
tissue that shouldn’t be there,
YOUR RISK TICKS UP. where it belongs. (Snyder helping keep cancer cells from
If you can’t remember your is in his 60s and lifts daily.) multiplying. And since your
last cholesterol check, you’re In a recent study from Brazil, immune system isn’t as robust,
probably due. Depending people middle-aged and you’ll want to pay attention to
on the results, your doctor older doing 12 weeks of being up-to-date on flu shots
might recommend cholesterol-lowering progressive strength training and other preventive vaccines,
statins as you approach your 40s, delayed or reversed age- as well as cancer screenings
says Snyder. Start paying attention to related muscle loss. such as colonoscopies.
heart-healthy habits, too. A study in
the Journal of the American Heart
Association showed that a better score
on the AHA’s Life Essential 8—a rubric STAY HYDRATED.
VALERII EVLAKHOV/GETTY IMAGES.

that takes into account healthy diet,

physical activity, nicotine exposure, To protect yourself from declines in kidney
sleep health, body mass index, choles- function, drink plenty of water, says
terol and triglycerides, blood sugar
Snyder. Water helps your kidneys filter
level, and blood pressure—was associ-
ated with a younger biological age. waste from your blood and make urine.

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 73

 PHOTOGRAPH BY ADAM VOORHES ILLUSTRATIONS BY LIAM EISENBERG

74 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH

 FIT ( AND FUN) AT ANY AGE! : HEALTHSPAN

T HE B R AV E
NE W WOR L D
OF MiD D LE -A G E
MEDiCAL
T OU R i S M
BY RINA RAPHAEL, JULIE STEWART & BEN COURT

NEW TEETH, NEW HAIR, NEW KNEE, NEW OUTLOOK ON LIFE.

Medical tourism is bouncing back from the pandemic and overcoming its shady
reputation for botched plastic surgery. More than 2 million Americans travel abroad
annually now for everything from dental work to orthopedic surgeries to stem cell
therapies. A lot of it comes down to money: Procedures can cost 25 to 75 percent of
what they would in the United States. That's due to higher pay for doctors and other
health-care workers in the U.S., the burden of administrative fees, and the cost
of malpractice insurance, explains David Vequist, PhD, director of the Center for
Medical Tourism Research at the University of the Incarnate Word. But price is not
the only motivating factor. “It’s younger people, Internet-savvy people, and people
who may distrust the health-care system,” says Josef Woodman, CEO of Patients
Beyond Borders, a global medical tourism company. “These are not medical refu-
gees with no other options." They’re people shopping around for the most affordable
care. Maybe you share their frustrations with American medical care and have an
issue you want to fix. We talked to doctors, researchers, and guys who have sought
treatment abroad to learn how to best navigate this new frontier. Safe travels!

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 75

 HAiR
TRANSPLANT
iN TURKEY
To upgrade his mane, writer
CHRIS WALLACE traveled to ISTANBUL,
Matthew Smith pre-op in San José, Costa Rica, in the hair transplant capital of the world.
January 2024, and 12 months later, 130 pounds lighter.
TYPICAL SAVINGS 50%–65%

WEiGHT LOSS
SURGERY iN
COSTA RiCA
After his insurance company refused to pay for a sleeve
gastrectomy, MATTHEW SMITH went south. Way south!

ESTIMATED SAVINGS 60%

“I’VE HAD A WEIGHT PROBLEM my whole adult life and spent years
yo-yoing up and down. I tried dieting and exercising more. I gained and
lost 100 pounds a couple of times. At 40, it was time to consider weight- RIGHT: The
loss surgery to remove part of my stomach. I did all the pre-op evalua- author before
tions and scheduled a sleeve gastrectomy, but about three weeks before his transplant.
my surgery date, my insurance company sent me a denial letter. After ABOVE: After!
doing some research, it looked like it was going to cost me $30,000 or
more. I was nervous that I could experience a complication and end up in
the intensive care unit. That could be a life-changing financial hit.
“I started looking into other options on Reddit, Google, social media,
and I watched YouTube videos from people who had the procedure done
abroad. I learned that many Americans have had this procedure in Costa
Rica, where there are high-quality hospitals and practitioners that treat
American expats. I opted for Clínica Bíblica in San José. It’s a full-service
hospital, so if something were to go wrong, they would be equipped to
handle it. A couple of weeks before I traveled, I spoke in English with my
surgeon, Jacobo Zafrani, MD, who reviewed my medical records and pre-
scribed my pre-op routine, including a regimented low-calorie diet that is
high in protein and vegetables, low in carbs and sugar.
“When I got to Costa Rica, we did a half-day medical exam. My surgery
was two days later. The procedure lasted about 90 minutes. I had pain,
but it was manageable. I spent two more days in the hospital and five days
in a hotel before flying home. I even had enough energy to walk around
San José before I left. Even with travel expenses, the procedure cost
about a third of what it would have cost in the U.S. I still see a dietitian
virtually through Clínica Bíblica to help me eat well with my smaller
stomach. My only regret is not doing this surgery earlier. I have lost 130
pounds, and my resting heart rate and blood pressure have dropped into
healthy ranges and my quality of life is much improved.”
SECOND OPINION: Costa Rica’s life expectancy is 77, the same as in
the United States, and it’s known for the high quality of its health care,
iN MEXiCO
ranking above the U.S. in a 2023 report by the Prosperity Institute, DEVANTE DODGENS, a 32-year-old
a London think tank. While GLP-1s and other new drugs show great operations analyst in Chicago,
promise, new research reveals that minimally invasive bariatric traveled across the border for multiple
surgery is the lowest-cost, most effective long-term treatment for obe- tooth transplants.
sity, according to Ann Rogers, MD, a professor of surgery at Penn State
College of Medicine. She cautions that follow-up care, both a month
TYPICAL SAVINGS 50%–80%
after the surgery and annually for five years, is important.

76 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH

 “I HADN’T BEEN overly obsessed with be avoided temporarily, and sleep on your
the depletion of my ‘do or anything—not back with a travel pillow—wasn’t that bad.
consciously, anyway. But at 44, I was “As far as results, I have to let other
beginning to thin out on top. My hairline, people judge. After a couple of years and
especially at the temples, had receded several stages of shedding—when much
substantially. I was, in a very general of the new follicles drop their hairs and
sense, feeling some despair over my start regrowing them—a couple of good
waning desirability—and perhaps grasp- friends now regularly congratulate me on
ing at any old straw (gym, diet, etc.) to the results, and I figure that is probably as
improve my lot. good as one can get. Easy presto, a very
“I heard Istanbul was the place to go nice boost to my self-image—and I spent
for hair transplants but confess that I did several days exploring Istanbul with my
not exactly prepare or research exhaus- essary but makes it easier for the nurses bandaged head.”
tively. I just picked the best-rated place who do the work.
on Google—Sule Hair—and booked it. To “Then, the work. After giving me a SECOND OPINION: When considering
answer the first and most practical ques- Xanax to cool me out, the nurses popped a hair transplant, it’s best to look for a
tion, my procedure cost about $2,000— my forehead with an anesthetic needle. surgeon accredited by the International
versus at least 5 to 10 times that amount in A very big one. And then hit the top and Society of Hair Restoration Surgery,
America—plus another $3,000 for airfare, side of my head with a normal syringe says Corey Hartman, MD, a professor
hotels, grilled fish, and local Efes Pilsener. full of some sort of local numb-er. And of dermatology specializing in hair
“The second question I get is about then went at it, with a FUE pen, which, as restoration at the University of Alabama
the actual procedure. Like, did it hurt? I understand it, functions like a very tiny at Birmingham. In Istanbul, he recom-
Depends on the person, I suppose, but I ice cream scoop, digging out healthy fol- mends Ozlem Bicer, MD, Musbeh Arslan,
reckon that the nightly news causes you licles from densely populated regions of MD, or Koray Erdogan, MD. Dr. Hartman
more pain and even more boredom than the scalp. In the course of my sitting, the also notes that platelet-rich-plasma
my nine-hour surgery caused me. When revolving team of nurses extracted some injections for hair loss are growing in
I arrived at the clinic, a bland space in a 9,000 hairs from the sides and back of popularity and are best done at the first
black-glass office building, the doctor my head, which they stitched into the top signs of hair loss, combined with a drug
mapped out a new hairline on my scalp and front of my scalp. No big deal. Really. treatment, such as Propecia or Rogaine.
in ink and then whisked me off to have “Even the recovery, where you must They typically cost $1,500 to $3,500
my head shaved. You can pick your own treat the top of your head extremely del- and can be repeated every three to six
hairline, and shaving isn’t absolutely nec- icately—exercise, sex, and alcohol must months, as needed.

“MANY PEOPLE IN my family work over three days. I was Clinic in Bangkok took care of
have bad teeth. I first needed a concerned about the trauma the scar with steroid injections
bunch of fillings in my teens, but and pain because it was a lot and laser smoothing for about
a dentist did the work improp- of work, but they made sure $1,000. It healed fantastic and
erly and I ended up having seven I had the right pain meds. looks much better than before.”
teeth pulled in my early 20s Everyone spoke English, and
because they were infected. By they followed up and gave me SECOND OPINION:
the time I finished college, I was e-records and images to share While Los Algodones is
missing all my back teeth and it with my dentist in America. a global dental hub with
was impacting my bite, what I He actually told me the work more than 300 clinics,
could eat. I talked to my dentist I’d had done was excellent there are also some top
about implants and other work, when I later went for my regular clinics in Playa del Car-
and he gave me an estimate of cleaning. Having great teeth is men where patients can
$55,000—even with insurance, months as I made my decision. I a confidence booster, and I can recover at beach hotels.
I didn’t have the funds for that. picked Sani Dental because the eat whatever I want. Look for accreditation
COURTESY OF SUBJECT (SMITH, WALLACE, DODGENS).

“My aunt, who is a nurse in team seemed the best qualified. “The whole experience from the Commission
Los Angeles, suggested I go to “I sent Sani Dental my X-rays was so smooth that it opened on Dental Accreditation,
Los Algodones in Mexico, right and talked with the dentist my eyes to medical tourism. says Tyrone Rodriguez,
across the border from Yuma, regarding options. The estimate Several years later, I cut my face consumer advisor
Arizona. Some of her friends had for four implants, three crowns, and had a prominent crescent- spokesperson for the
excellent, inexpensive dental a root canal, bite alignment, and shaped scar. Plastic surgeons American Dental Asso-
work done there. I was freaked whitening was $5,000—abso- in America said it would cost ciation. And ask about
about the whole idea as well as lutely insane. $30,000 to remove. I did some follow-up and a two- or
the language barrier, but I Goo- “They picked me up at the research and found out I could five-year warranty to
gled different clinics and talked border, took me to a hotel near get good, affordable work done ensure you’re covered if
to different dentists over six the office, and then did all the in Thailand. The Rajdhevee something goes wrong.

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 77

 iVF iN COLOMBiA
Naturopathic doctor MAGGIE QUINN and
her husband, RICARDO ESCOBAR, headed
south for affordable fertility care.

TYPICAL SAVINGS 30%–60%

Clay Nelson post-op in Cancún, Mexico, in 2022.
“MY HUSBAND and I were trying to conceive
NEW KNEES iN MEXiCO and underwent testing at a clinic in Orange
County, California, and were diagnosed with
‘unexplained infertility.’ I tried supplements,
After decades of high-impact sports and construction
work destroyed CLAY NELSON’s knees, joint replacement herbs, diet changes, massage, acupuncture,
surgery in Mexico provided much-needed relief. and also intrauterine insemination. None of it
worked, so we explored in vitro fertilization [IVF].
The problem: Our health insurance plan did not
TYPICAL SAVINGS 60%–70%
cover IVF, and the estimate we got was $25,000.
It’s also hard to budget for IVF, because the meds,
“I COULD BARELY WALK in my Then I flew to Mexico a few days lab tests, egg retrievals, and embryo transfers are
50s. Just crossing the street was before each procedure. The priced à la carte. Since IVF is not always successful,
daunting. Decades of construction second time, we even spent a you don’t know how many services you will need.
work, weightlifting, and trail run- few days at a resort to have some “We had moved to Miami, and my husband is
ning—along with an old meniscus fun first. The surgeries were suc- from Colombia, and his mother told us about Juan
injury from high school football— cessful, and I got up and started Luis Giraldo, MD, and the Human Fertility Institute
left my knees grinding bone on walking around within hours of INSER in Medellín. They offer a package where
bone. I went to a surgeon in Col- each one. The hospital surprised you can undergo several rounds, if needed, over
orado, where I live, to discuss my me—it looked cleaner than the 18 months at one set price of $5,250. Meds aren’t
options. The X-rays and MRIs were American hospitals where I had included, but they are cheaper in Colombia. This
clear. My knees were just toast. It meniscus surgery before. Plus, made budgeting easier.
was time for knee replacement sur- my surgeon used the same brand “Our egg retrieval yielded four embryos, but our
gery. However, I’m a self-employed of artificial knees the U.S.-based first two embryo transfers were not successful. We
general contractor with a high- surgeon would have used, so then paused IVF for just over a year while plan-
deductible health insurance policy. there was no compromise there. ning our wedding. Two months later, we started
Each knee replacement was going “Returning to the U.S., the only IVF again and had a successful embryo transfer.
to cost $40,000. My doctor intro- thing that was a little tricky was I gave birth to our son in October 2023. If you go
duced me to a travel-for-treatment my physical therapy. My surgeon this route, a flexible schedule helps. We took three
program called the Network for referred me to a PT as part of my multiday trips to Colombia, and I had to book some
Advanced Specialty Healthcare recovery, and it took six weeks. trips with just a few days’ notice depending on my
[NASH] to coordinate the pro- It’s painful because your tendons cycle and response to medications. We recently
cedures at the Galenia Hospital aren’t used to being used this began IVF again for a second child.”
in Cancún, Mexico, for about way again. I also had check-in
$30,000 total, including airfare. appointments with my medical SECOND OPINION: Fertility treatments require
“I had two knee replacements team at 30 days, 90 days, and six multiple visits, and the process can be stress-
through this program. I did pre-op months post-op. I’d do it all again ful, so proximity and a relaxing location are
blood work and evaluations with in a heartbeat. It was a short time important when choosing a clinic, says Josef
a physician’s assistant in the U.S. of inconvenience for the quality Woodman, CEO of Patients Beyond Borders. He
to ensure I was healthy enough to of life I got. I’m now doing every- recommends the Fertility Center of Costa Rica,
COURTESY OF SUBJECT (NELSON, QUINN).

travel and undergo the surgery. thing I want except running.” housed in Hospital CIMA in San José, and the
Advanced Fertility Center in Cancún.
SECOND OPINION: NASH was founded in 2016 and works with partner
hospitals in Cancún and Monterrey, Mexico—where the focus is on
orthopedic work, bariatric procedures, and cosmetic surgeries—and Maggie
also a pharmacy in Toronto, where people can get specialty meds. This Quinn,34,
kind of service, along with top American hospitals sharing protocols and Ricardo
Escobar, 37,
with foreign hospitals, is becoming more popular, says Vequist, the
in Medellín,
medical tourism researcher, because it can alleviate some of the fear Colombia,
patients may have undergoing treatment abroad. 2023.

78 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH

 STEM CELL THERAPY iN HONDURAS
Sun, sand, and experimental gene and stem cell therapy? Sure. But not without risk. BY RINA RAPHAEL

IT’S AN UNLIKELY PAIRING: swimming with sharks are willing to pay for the promise of a more able-bodied future:
in the Caribbean Sea on Monday, then receiving stem less sickness, fewer disabilities, and more strength. “There’s
cell injections on Tuesday. But that’s what Jim Cripps this huge movement of people wanting to live longer,” says
signed up for. If you’re going to get medical treatment, the Jonathan Edelheit, CEO of the Medical Tourism Association.
thinking goes, might as well get treated in paradise. But while patients venture offshore for “cutting-edge” ther-
For years, Cripps, 46, experienced arthritis pain in his apies, they aren’t always well informed about how to evaluate
knees. His doctor told him that he might want to consider whether a clinic can deliver on bold cure-all or “longevity”
knee replacement at some point in the future. The Tennessee claims. “Anybody can launch a website today and make any
business coach became increasingly health conscious, ex- statement about their treatment and even lie about the re-
ploring treatments promoted by biohacking podcasters who search,” cautions Edelheit. “Patients just don’t know the right
dabbled in cold plunges and ozone therapy. He admittedly was questions to ask to properly vet that.”
“really kind of going down that rabbit hole.”
Cripps wanted to find someone to fix his knees. In August THE GARM CLINIC sits on the beach, mere minutes from
2023, he visited the GARM Clinic, a regenerative medicine snorkeling and sailing excursions. This idyllic setting, with
center in Roatán, Honduras. He’d take a private boat tour of coral reefs, swaying palm trees, and turquoise-blue waters,
the island, do a bit of snorkeling, and then top it all off with provides a serene backdrop for the medical treatments offered
stem cell treatment. The procedures, travel, and lodging here, notably stem cell injections and gene therapy. In 2024,
would cost a little under $14,000. “My local doctor thought I GARM made headlines when Bryan Johnson, the 46-year-old
was crazy,” Cripps says with a laugh. venture capitalist and longevity lab rat, visited the clinic. In
If Cripps is crazy, he’s certainly not the only one. Pro golfer his pursuit of longer life, Johnson underwent a proprietary
Brandt Snedeker turned to GARM’s stem cell therapy for procedure offered exclusively at GARM: follistatin plasmid
sports injuries, while Joe Rogan treated a torn rotator cuff gene therapy. This $20,000 treatment is based on a study
with a doctor who has been affiliated with the clinic. If there that demonstrated promising results in enhancing muscle
were a dozen stem cell clinics several years ago, now there are growth and extending lifespan in mice. Johnson referred to
a hundred. Americans, especially those with some extra cash, it as “an extreme medical procedure that could change the

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 79

future of humanity.” It was all a splashy, documented affair:
Johnson had a film crew tape the treatment as he pursued his
goal of surpassing a 120-year lifespan. “I am officially now
a genetically enhanced human,” he proudly declared post-
procedure as he revealed a shirt under his scrubs emblazoned
with his slogan, “Don’t die.” A physician could be seen gen-
tly patting Johnson on the back. “Good luck on your quest,”
he said in a Southern drawl. It was Glenn C. Terry, MD, co-
founder of the GARM Clinic.
With his tousled white hair and big clear glasses, Dr. Terry
resembles a grandfatherly version of Harry Potter. He runs
the clinic with his wife, Heather, and the two are known for
their hospitality, friendliness, and down-to-earth approach-
ability. Patients appreciate Dr. Terry’s calm demeanor and
how he patiently explains various interventions as well as nu-
trition and fitness adjustments. For some U.S. patients, that Bryan
might be a new experience. But more than that, they’re at- Johnson
undergoing
tracted to Dr. Terry’s credentials. He was the head physician gene therapy
of athlete care for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. “That at the GARM
really set my mind at ease,” says Cripps, who admits that Clinic.
going to a third-world country for stem cell therapy “sounds
ridiculous and scary.” Jim Cripps
took this
Most commonly, patients visit GARM seeking stem cell selfie
treatments for orthopedic issues such as arthritis or back during his
pain. They want to avoid surgery or dependence on pharma- stem cell
treatment
ceuticals. “Our philosophy is getting to the root cause of the at GARM.
problem rather than just throwing a bunch of symptom reliev-
ers at the problem,” says Heather Terry, the clinic’s CEO.
Clinics like GARM advertise their offerings with a near-
magical marketing term: natural. Since the late ’90s, there’s EVERYTHING CHANGED IN the third month. Cripps sud-
been steady hype surrounding how stem cell therapies utilize denly—almost miraculously—had no pain. He soon felt well
the body’s innate healing abilities. “The idea that there could enough to hit up CrossFit. “My knees are better than they’ve
be something that is potentially in your own body that you can ever been,” he says. He now works out six days a week.
use as a curative to regenerate whatever the thing is that went Stem cell research has made significant scientific prog-
wrong has a very great appeal,” says Zubin Master, PhD, an ress, but there are currently only a few FDA-approved stem
associate professor at the Wake Forest University School of cell therapies, mainly used to treat a few genetic disorders
Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and a member and certain types of cancer. While there is evidence that cell-
of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. Medical based therapies may be beneficial for some orthopedic and
experts note there’s nothing “natural” about the process of sports medicine conditions, many scientists agree that more
extracting, processing, and putting cells back into the body. robust studies are necessary. “Most are not ready for prime
GARM staff applied local anesthesia before removing a time,” says Shane A. Shapiro, MD, medical director for clinical
spoonful of fat from Cripps’s abdomen, like a tiny liposuc- regenerative medicine at the Mayo Clinic’s Florida Campus.
tion. From there, lab technicians extracted stem cells, which Brian Feeley, MD, chief of the sports medicine and shoulder
were injected into his knee joints—eight in the right and six surgery division at the University of California at San Fran-
in the left. The procedure took about an hour, but the impact cisco, and director of its muscle stem cell lab, says we aren’t yet
COURTESY OF NETFLIX (JOHNSON). COURTESY OF SUBJECT (CRIPPS).

lasted much longer. “I didn’t anticipate my knees hurting close to an injectable treatment for arthritis. “The problem is it’s
quite as much as they did,” says Cripps, who likens stem cell not nearly as exciting as saying, ‘I got this stem cell injection.’”
injections to braces that aggressively move all your teeth at Medical experts are open to the possibility that patients
once. Joints expand and swell. “There’s a couple of days where like Cripps might feel better. Stem cell therapy might reduce
it’s hard to walk.” During the next two months, Cripps still inflammation in the knee, offering temporary relief. In that
had knee pain as well as pain at the injection site. “I really sense, it may not be any better than what’s already available,
wondered if I had wasted my money,” he admits. like a steroid injection or over-the-counter anti-inflammato-
ries, says Master. Other experts note the placebo
effect, that arthritis injuries wax and wane, and
that weight loss or physical therapy could also be
“I GO HARDER IN THE GYM THAN responsible.
BEFORE, WITH MORE MOBILITY Heather Terry says there’s “tons of literature” to
back up the clinic’s regenerative treatments, but
THAN I THOUGHT I COULD HAVE.” that’s not yet the official scientific consensus. She

80 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH

suggests that the proliferation of clinics selling unproven, dan-
gerous therapies has led the FDA to crack down on the entire
field. Indeed, there are clinics advertising solutions for Alz-
heimer’s disease, long COVID, autism—you name it, they sell
it. GARM sells stem cell treatments for “anti-aging” and brain
optimization and an IV therapy (in which a patient’s stem cells
are injected into the bloodstream via an IV drip). Cripps says
the IV therapy he received at GARM gave him a surprising
boost of energy, particularly in the bedroom. “I felt like I was
20 years old again,” he shared. “That was a nice surprise.”
To date, there is not enough high-quality evidence that
such treatments work, stresses Master: “There is little clin-
ical evidence to give an unproven stem cell therapy outside of
a clinical trial or outside of a research context.”
Safety is the big issue. Unregulated and unproven proce-
dures carry risks, as a lot depends on how the cells are pre-
KNOW BEFORE
pared and administered and the sterile conditions in which
the procedures take place. While rare, patients suffer compli- YOU GO
cations ranging from tumors to severe bacterial infections.
CONSIDER THE $8,000 RULE
In May 2024, the CDC reported that three Americans who A good barometer of whether your medical trip is finan-
received embryonic stem cell injections in Mexico were in- cially worthwhile is the $8,000 rule, says Josef Woodman,
fected with a serious, highly drug-resistant form of bacteria CEO of Patients Beyond Borders. If your total quote for
related to those that cause tuberculosis and leprosy. Recovery U.S. treatment (including consultations, procedure, and
usually entails over a year of treatment and potentially multi- hospital stay) is $8,000 or more, you will probably save
ple surgeries, says Charles Daley, MD, chief of the division of money traveling abroad for your care. If it’s less, you’re
mycobacterial and respiratory infections at National Jewish likely better off having your treatment at home.
Health in Denver, who treated the American patients. “The
risk is small but catastrophic when it happens.” CHECK CREDENTIALS
Research clinics on websites such as medicaltourism
Since these clinics operate outside the FDA’s oversight, no
.com, dentaldepartures.com, patientsbeyondborders
one tracks them. No one follows their research, documents
.com, and the Medical Tourism section of the CDC’s
complaints, measures outcomes, or oversees their protocols. Yellow Book. Three accreditations that indicate high
GARM, which counts numerous positive testimonials, isn’t quality are the Joint Commission International, Temos In-
immune from negative experiences. For instance, one Google ternational, and Global Healthcare. Also, look up doctors
reviewer claims he was treated by a doctor at GARM and now and clinical research at clinicaltrials.gov, says Jonathan
suffers numbness and a “permanent burning sensation” in his Edelheit, cofounder of Global Healthcare Resources.
arm. GARM declined to respond about that patient.
Even those who advocate accelerated medical research are ASK FOR PATIENT REFERENCES
hesitant to disregard the FDA’s oversight. “The FDA wants an It’s best to speak with patients in your age range and at least
intervention that works,” says Jay Olshansky, PhD, a profes- one-year post-treatment, says Edelheit. If a clinic rejects a
sor of epidemiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, request for references, avoid it. Discuss any complications,
post-treatment care, lasting effects, and whether they did
and an expert on aging. “It’s just that you have to use sound
anything else that might have impacted their results.
science to prove it.”
Regenerative medicine treatments vary from country to GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING
country, clinic to clinic. Some are better than others. Still, Dr. Did you have a great call in which you were promised
Daley cautions, buyer beware: “If it sounds too good to be true, five-star accommodations, smoothies on demand, and
it is.” Clinics may hawk treatments that have yet to undergo post-op care? Ask for a list of all services and costs in
rigorous clinical trials or the standard regulatory process. Dr. writing. Also note that you might not be able to sue the
Daley has had multiple patients who received treatment and clinic or doctor for malpractice. (Depending on the
had zero complications—but it didn’t help them either. treatment, a corrective procedure may be available.)
Cripps was aware of the risks. He knew there are no guar-
antees in medicine, least of all in regenerative medicine. But BE SMART ABOUT MONEY
he considers himself an “early adopter,” understanding that Don’t wire money. Pay with a credit card, which will
better ensure you have recourse, such as seeking a
the science is still evolving.
refund, says Edelheit.
“I go harder in the gym than before, with more mobility
than I ever thought I could have,” Cripps says. Still, to this ARRANGE YOUR FOLLOW-UP CARE IN ADVANCE
day, he concedes, “My local doctor just shakes her head.” Before you go, alert your primary care physician (in
case something goes wrong) and also be sure to have
rina r aphael is the author of The Gospel of Wellness: a detailed follow-up plan with the appropriate paper-
Gyms, Gurus, Goop, and the False Promise of Self-Care. work, records, and/or imaging.

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 81

82 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH
 FIT ( AND FUN) AT ANY AGE! : MUSCLESPAN

OR CHARLES STOCKING, long hours at the

F desk are part of the job. As a scholar of ancient Greek and a uni-
versity professor, he spends many hours sitting almost every
day. And all his desk work, which may appear to be mainly
work of the mind—reading and writing—also trains his mus-
cles. Teaches his muscles how to be, or how not to be.
Sitting in a chair, he unconsciously teaches groups of muscles on the front of
his body, flexor muscles, to tighten—including upper-body muscles that pull the
arms and shoulders forward, such as the biceps and pectorals, and lower-body
muscles, at the junction of the pelvis and legs, that pull the hips forward.
The pernicious engagement of those muscles—as well as disengagement of
the opposite sets of muscles on the back of the body—helps explain why, after
sitting for a while, he feels stiff and starts to ache, even though he’s in good
shape and not quite 45 years old. Standing up, moving around a bit, he feels
more comfortable again. Aches and stiffness subside when he engages the
extensor muscles on the back of his body, including upper-body muscles that

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 83

retract the shoulders, such as the rhomboids, and lower-body muscles that pull As a coach, Stocking identified basic move-
the hips back as he rises from his chair, such as the glutes. ment patterns in various sports, then designed
Still, the training effect of all that sitting time persists. When steady, low- training programs that emphasized the opposite
level engagement of those flexors on the front of his body continues for weeks, movements, to reduce athletes’ risk of overuse in-
months, and years, the body changes. This is how Stocking sees the situation: juries. For example, when you extend your leg to
“Left to its own devices, your flexors will tighten up and take you back to the fetal kick a ball, the main muscles involved are the hip
position, whence you came—if you don’t do something about it.” flexor muscles on the front of the legs, extending
Stocking is probably the only classics professor who is also a record-setting from hips to knees. Athletes who do a lot of kick-
powerlifter. He broke the junior state record for his weight class in California ing, Stocking says, are wise to balance that work
by squatting 562.1 pounds in 2003—triple his body weight at the time—when by training muscles that pull in the opposite direc-
he was 23 years old. He went to graduate school in classics at the University of tion—the hamstrings and glutes, which are exten-
California at Los Angeles while at the same time working as a strength and con- sor muscles on the back of the legs spanning from
ditioning coach for several UCLA Bruins teams and for individual U.S. Olympic buttocks to knees.
athletes. Coaching, he likes to say, was his “ethnographic fieldwork in physical As a professor, Stocking now applies the same
culture,” though he was, and still is, a participant observer in physical culture, principle to his own body, to manage what could
simultaneously inside and outside the phenomena he studies. be called the desk job–specific paradox. Starting
He is the author of four books, including Homer’s Iliad and the Problem of work each morning, he knows that some flexor
Force, a study of eight Greek words for strength in the ancient epic about the muscles on the front of his body will be pulling
Trojan War, and he is on the faculty of two academic departments at the Univer- forward most of the day while some extensor mus-
sity of Texas at Austin. He teaches both classics and kinesiology. cles on the back of his body will spend those hours
For one person to work in these two very different fields is unusual, and it may starved for attention. So, before the sitting starts,
be unique, but Stocking’s hybrid expertise makes poetic sense. Getting to know Stocking tries to compensate for some of his exten-
him while researching my new book, Stronger: The Untold Story of Muscle in sor muscles’ impending deprivations.
Our Lives, convinced me that one of the best ways to understand exercise is as a A short routine, he says, “locks the body into
kind of language—a language that sustains our ability to enjoy some of the best proper posture, which sitting will inevitably de-
things in life. With life, in Stocking’s case, meaning helping to care for his fam- stroy.” It’s a simple regimen of two exercises: a low-
ily, friends, and students as they all grow older; writing more books at his desk; er-body move and an upper-body move, one for the
and many more years of daily walks with Bhima, his Cane Corso bulldog mix. butt and one for the back. The biggest muscle in the
butt, the gluteus maximus, is a priority because it is
the biggest, thickest, most powerful muscle in the
body—and the significance of this muscle would be
ACK IN HIS COACHING DAYS, a big part of difficult to overstate. “Being endowed with promi-

B Stocking’s job was guiding athletes through a sticky wicket he

calls “the sport-specific paradox.” He explains the concept to
me: “The more you do a sport, the better you get. But the better
nent rounded buttocks is the unique privilege of hu-
mans,” wrote the evolutionary biologists Françoise
K. Jouffroy and Monique F. Médina in their 2006
you get at the sport, that leads to overuse injuries, and eventu- study of the glutes, “A Hallmark of Humankind.”
ally not being able to do the sport.” No other mammal even has a gluteus maximus.
The gluteus maximus, therefore, ranks high
on the list of characteristics that make humans
human, in terms of comparative anatomy. In the
muscle’s enormous size, Jouffroy and Médina see
BODY: Charles
Stocking at a evidence that actions it enables “have been of par-
powerlifting amount importance during the course of human
meet in 2003. evolution.” The muscle is most active during pow-
His max was erful movements, including “jogging, running,
562 pounds. He
sprint-starting, leaping, and walking up stairs or
still squats, but
he focuses on a slope,” and “with straightening up from stooping
the deadlift now or squatting positions.” It is “inactive, or quasi-in-
and can pull active,” during normal walking and when a person
500 pounds. stands still, sits, or reclines.
The design of modern life has eliminated much
MIND: Stock-
ing giving a tour need for engaging the glutes. Standard heights of
COURTESY OF CHARLES STOCKING (2).

at the museum chairs, beds, tables, and desks make deep squat-
of the Olympic ting unnecessary in most people’s daily lives. Even
Games in central heating helps people “avoid squatting and
Greece in 2024.
crouching for hearth upkeep.” In such a world, the
evolutionary biologists write, properly stimulat-
ing the gluteus maximus often “requires re-creat-
ing unaccustomed conditions, to be found only in
sports and body-building rooms.”
 If people don’t seek out such unaccustomed conditions, making spe- deskproofing workout is a lot of work. “The de-
cial efforts to challenge the glutes, these muscles can become so es- gree of volume and intensity that’s required for
tranged from the nervous system that it’s almost as if they are forgotten. these muscles to stay tight—people underesti-
The sorry state of gluteal amnesia—an actual clinical term—can set in. mate that,” he says. “And the amount that has to
“Gluteal amnesia,” Stocking says with a half-chuckle, “is my favorite term in be done on a daily basis—people underestimate
the world.” Even as sarcasm, that’s quite a statement, because within the field that. When we sit all day, the hip flexors get really
of classics, Stocking is a philologist. From the Greek word philo, for “loving,” tight. The quads get really tight. We’re basically
and logos, for “word,” philology concerns how language is structured and how it just in that fetal position. And so the amount of
develops through history. Philology is a discipline of word-loving, and Stocking work you have to do just to be able to sit and not
loves words in seven languages. develop overuse injuries from sitting—it has to be
Stocking’s strategies for avoiding gluteal amnesia include the hip thrust. a lot, on a daily basis, the other way.”
With the lower edges of his shoulder blades pressed against the side of a bench,
a bed, or a sofa, and with his feet flat on the floor in front of him, his knees bent
and his trunk muscles braced—to keep his spine in neutral position—Stocking HE BALANCE OF mus-
extends his hips and contracts his glutes.
Hip thrusts teach the contractile tissue of the giant complex of muscles in
the rear to pull, faintly and constantly, against the force of the hip flexors, in a
T cular tension that Stocking
strives for is an ancient para-
gon—a central concept of the
balanced tug-of-war. That way, Stocking says, “you can sit for a certain amount only book about athletic train-
of time and not be crippled afterward.” ing that survived antiquity, the
Stocking’s favorite exercise for the upper body is the row. His favorite form Gymnasticus, written by Flavius Philostratus in
of the row is the reverse pullup. Positioning himself beneath a horizontal bar— ancient Rome around 170 A.D. Stocking has spent
like a railing at a playground or a barbell on a rack at the gym—he raises his years studying, translating, and writing about the
arms to grip the bar with his palms at shoulder width. He fully extends his legs, Gymnasticus, which presents athletic training as
with toes pointed up and heels dug into the ground—or, to make the move more “a form of wisdom, inferior to no other expertise.”
challenging, he digs his heels into a raised surface. Then, while stiffening the Philostratus said the whole point of training
muscles of his trunk and contracting his glutes and quads, all to fix the length is to create balance—which, he believed, could
of his body as a kind of lever, he pulls himself up and touches his chest to the bar be seen in an athlete’s symmetrically developed
while pinching his shoulder blades together. physique. Most of the Gymnasticus “is devoted
Stocking tries to do three sets of 20 or so repetitions, approximately every to a description of the athlete’s body,” Stock-
90 minutes or whenever his back starts feeling uncomfortable, each day that ing writes. Ideally, Philostratus said, an athlete
he spends mostly sitting at his desk. Even with a formula so flexible, Stocking’s should look like a sculpture of an athlete. His vi-

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 85

sion was related to a traditional sculptural ideal involving a certain set of pro- their dilemma. “Is it possible to appreciate and
portions, based on bodily symmetries. He thought that ankles and wrists should even praise the beauty of sport in a way that is free
be the same size, and so should forearms and shins, arms and thighs, and shoul- from the force of earlier ideological discourse?”
ders and glutes. Yet Philostratus may also have been ambivalent about symmet- he writes. “Can we appreciate the allure of sport
rical standards of beauty. His writing about the links between performance and without concern about the ethics of doing so?” He
appearance is marked by contradiction and inconsistency. thinks we can, if we take care to avoid false equa-
While propounding one optimal physique, Philostratus also approved a diver- tions of ancient and modern standards of beauty.
sity of athletic physiques, because, as he asserted, different kinds of bodies suit “The ancients saw the beauty of the body as a
the different movements involved in various competitive events. For example, signifier of movement,” he says. “They under-
the Gymnasticus says a sprinter’s “muscularity should be proportionate. Exces- stood the image” seen in sculpture “in reference
sive muscles are the bonds against speed.” to exercising bodies, not as an image unto itself,”
The Gymnasticus also says a boxer should not have “bulky calves” (the text the way many modern people have tended to do.
does not say why), but a substantial belly on a boxer was fine with Philostratus, “So the original understanding of these things
since the belly could “ward off blows against the face by sticking out in a way that works against modern concepts of body fascism.
impedes the forward motion of the punching opponent,” he wrote. Because beauty is a function of movement, not
Philostratus described wrestlers in more detail than he described other appearance, as the priority.”
athletes because wrestling was the most popular ancient Olympic sport. The As evidence of this ancient view of beauty and
Gymnasticus says wrestlers should have straight backs because straight backs movement, consider this passage Stocking trans-
are “pleasing,” despite the fact that “a slightly curved one is better suited to the lated from Aristotle’s Rhetoric, reflecting on
position of wrestling, which is curved and bent forward.” “Bodily Excellence” by specifying that “Beauty
Despite his inconsistencies, Philostratus generally emphasized form over is different for each age.” For each stage of life,
function, Stocking says, because he wanted “to cash in on the cultural capital of Aristotle named the predominant purposes of
the Greek tradition.” Stocking says the Gymnasticus recommended “the emu- beauty in his society. In youth, Aristotle wrote,
lation of sculpture that is based on the Greek tradition” as the way for Roman beauty was “for labor, running, and acts of vio-
imperial athletes to get in top shape, to excel in competition—and thereby to lence.” In the prime of adulthood, beauty was for
experience ancient Greek virtue. “acts of war,” to protect the city-state. “For an old
Many centuries later, these ancient beliefs that athletes should look like man,” he added, “beauty means being sufficient
sculptures took on very different meanings. As Stocking says, “Greek sculp- for the labors of necessity and to be free from pain
ture has been appropriated for body fascism in the modern era: conforming to by not having the typical ailments of old age.”
a certain standard of beauty.” For many, these appropriations have spoiled an- Aristotle did not say how to train to those ends—
cient Greek sculpture, if not all of ancient Greek culture. Stocking recognizes but Stocking is on a quest to figure it out.

86 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH

 prescription, but provide exercises ‘all impro-
vised for the right time.’” The key word there,
translated as “time,” is kairos.
The word kairos has no precise equivalent in
English, but Stocking interprets it as meaning
“the window of time or opportunity to act.” An-
other scholar, Catherine Eskin, calls kairos “the
ability to recognize the ‘right’ moment, and,
knowing that right moment, to take decisive
action.” That ability, Stocking believes, was the
essence of training wisdom for Philostratus. And
Stocking—who is writing a book about the Gym-
nasticus of Philostratus, which should appeal to
everyone who loves Ryan Holiday’s books about
the Stoic philosophers—is vehement about the
principle of kairos. There is no universal answer
to the question of which exercises will get us to the
end of the road in the best possible shape: “Some-
times it’s this,” he says, and “sometimes it’s that.”
Sometimes, though, a gimmick catches on
because it speaks to a genuine need in people
that has too long gone unfulfilled, and that may
be what’s happened in recent years with the hip
thrust exercise. You could probably spend whole
days on Instagram watching nothing but videos of
beautiful people working to make their backsides
more beautiful by doing barbell hip thrusts.
“Ironically,” Stocking says, “I bet there’s going
to be a lot fewer back injuries and hip replace-
TOCK I NG’S M A I N workout goal right now is a ments in the future,” even for people whose glute

S long-term one for the future, rooted in the wisdom of the

past. He wants to attain the beauty of an old man as Aristotle
defined it—or, as Stocking says, “I’m training to be ready to
training is mainly about appearance—because
hip exercises that make butts bigger often also
help to make them stronger. “As a by-product of
be 90 years old.” obsessing over large glutes,” Stocking says, a lot
He looks ahead and sees how mechanisms of movement get of people “will probably not need hip replace-
worn out: “What are the inevitable injuries that come from ments when they’re 90.”
old age? Hip replacements, knee replacements, rotator cuff injury.” Data Data supports that statement. In 2014, a ran-
backs him up. In recent years in the United States, total joint replacement domized controlled trial compared long-term
surgeries have become more common than heart failure. outcomes for two groups of people with hip
Though some age-related joint degeneration and damage are inevitable, osteoarthritis in Oslo, Norway. Both groups
it’s not possible to quantify how much. Joint damage may accelerate, though, received classroom education about arthri-
accompanied by lower back pain, when muscles and connective tissue wither tis, and in addition, one of those groups went
during long days of desk work. As those gradually tightening flexor muscles pull through a 12-week supervised exercise program
inactive limbs forward, they can curl and hunch our neutral sitting postures involving resistance, flexibility, and functional
almost into fetal positions, a process Stocking calls “fetal-i-zation,” before ad- training. Over the following six years, the exer-
mitting, “I’m making up a term here.” Stocking thinks, “If we can do things cise program reduced the need for hip replace-
from a muscular perspective to prevent those problems, then we should just be ment surgery by 44 percent.
doing that every day,” and that thought simplifies his training goal. So, the quality of your future may depend, in
The goal: “Stopping that process.” no small part, on what you do for your behind.
Stocking’s workout to maximize the chance of being strong and comfortable “Aristotle said that the source of movement
and mobile at age 90 involves the same exercises as his workout designed to min- is the soul,” Charles Stocking says, setting up his
imize the pain and damage of desk work. The same movements—hip thrusts and own punch line with a chuckle. “But biomechan-
rows—are part of his strategy for building enduring strength and functional ically it’s the glutes—so the soul must be located
alignment of the hips, back, and shoulders. in the glutes.”
And his strategy is constantly evolving, based on how he feels on any given day.
“Everybody wants the answer to be just one exercise,” he says, because “so much Adapted from Stronger: The Untold
of the history of fitness is a history of gimmicks and fetishization.” Stocking’s Stor y of Muscle in Our Lives by
countercultural commitment to improvisation is grounded in another ancient Michael Joseph G ross, available
exercise principle from the Gymnasticus: Wise trainers, Philostratus said, March 11 from Dutton, a division of
never follow training schedules for the schedules’ sake—they “do not train by Penguin Random House.

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 87

“L I V E
IT’S THE LAST DAY OF YOUR LIFE,
AS I F

BU T

PL A N YOU’LL BE HERE FOREVER”

AS I F

ST Y L E P OW E R HOUSE
B R U N E L L O C U C I N E L L I REVEALS
H IS LONGEV IT Y
AND SERENITY SECRETS.
BY RICHARD DORMENT
PHOTOGR A PHS BY SUSAN WRIGHT

ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS to go when you turn 70 has gotta be your ability to give
a good noogie. Maybe it’s your diminished grip strength, or maybe you no longer have
the bodily stability or the physical leverage to really dig in your knuckles and make your
buddy squirm, but at a certain point in life, noogies are really no longer on the table.
Except if you’re Brunello Cucinelli, the 71-year-old yet seemingly ageless Italian fashion
magnate, who could give one hell of a noogie were he so inclined.
It is a hot September morning in Solomeo, a medieval village less than a three-hour
drive north of Rome, and I’m sitting at the end of a long white table across from Brunello
(which he insists I call him, because everyone, from his longtime assistant Francesco
to his exceedingly cool daughter Carolina, calls him that) in his spacious office at the
company’s headquarters. One of the walls is filled with framed headshots of his personal
heroes and inspirations throughout history (Saint Francis of Assisi, JFK, and Barack
Obama make the cut), and Brunello’s own face—deeply tan and lightly creased from a
lifetime spent in the Mediterranean sun, with an angular profile straight out of a Roman
sculpture gallery—would fit in nicely with the collection.

88 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH

 FIT ( AND FUN) AT ANY AGE! : MINDSPAN

Brunello Cucinelli, seen here in Solomeo, Italy,

is a fitness Renaissance man, training two
hours a day in a variety of disciplines.

Within minutes of sitting, it becomes clear that

Brunello is not much of a sitter. Over the next hour,
in a rolling storm of facial expressions, hand
gestures, and body movements, punctuated by
frequent standing and walking, he tells me about
his practices and perceptions around strength and
nutrition, sleep and stress, and about building a
life of deep, considered purpose. We talk about the
company culture he’s built. We talk about the impor-
tance of daily naps. (He prefers his after lunch, no
clothes.) And we talk about his favorite influencers,
and by influencers I mean the ancient Greek and
Roman philosophers and Enlightenment think-
ers who shape his worldview. (Pythagoras, Plato,
Socrates, Marcus Aurelius, Saint Benedict, Kant,
and Schopenhauer all join our conversation.)
We also talk about his physio (or, as Americans
call it, physical therapist), with whom he’s been
working for decades. “My physio, he’s 77, and when
we met”—in the late 1990s—“he was training the
world champions of boxing, five or four of them,
just with massage. He does something really
unique. He gets your wrist and he presses in hard.
And then your hands. He massages your hands.
He does it on your face, too.” Brunello demon-
strates his physio’s kneading, muscle-shaping

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 89

 “We had a wholesome diet. Every day we would have the pasta
with tomato sauce, loads of vegetables. Meat twice a week. It was
a pretty healthy diet. I have always tried to look after my food,
what I was eating, all the time.”
When he turned 15, his family moved to the city, and from that
point, he says, “I spent 10 years of my life at the café. When I wasn’t
there, it was jujitsu, tennis, football, skiing, gym. I would run, but
they weren’t called marathons; they were called long marches,
and it was 15 to 20 kilometers. Just sports—that’s the only thing I
did then. And disco!” This was also around the time he discovered
philosophy. “The first I came across was Immanuel Kant when
I was 17, and I learned: Act always considering mankind, both
yourself and the others. From Kant, I was referred to Socrates and
Plato. I was brought up with the Greeks, they were the basis of my
life, and I started to think about living in a balance. And I decided
to break up life like Epicurus teaches us. Thirty-three percent you
get from your parents—you inherit from them; it’s not up to you
to choose. Thirty-three percent is destiny. And the remaining
thirty-three percent is up to you. You can’t just go through life
and hope that you’re lucky. You have to work out and eat properly.”
Decades have passed since those early revelations. He founded
and built his namesake company, starting out with simple cash-
mere sweaters in 1978 before expanding into the sportswear and
tailoring favored by the Succession set. (He took the company
public in 2012, becoming one of the richest people in Italy.) He
started and raised a family, with his two daughters (Camilla,
42, and Carolina, 34) and their husbands all working for the
family business. He bought and restored buildings throughout
Solomeo, a 12th-century hamlet that had fallen into disrepair
The weights are a little lighter than when he was in his 40s, but
Cucinelli still strength trains regularly. over the centuries and now appears both ancient and brand-new
at the same time.
He is, by any objective measure, a very busy guy, “but not that
movements with his hands, twisting and squeezing the air in busy,” he explains. Most days he rises at 5:30 and spends his
front of him, but a hand demo can only get him so far. He bolts morning exercising. The workday starts at 8 a.m. for him and
up from his chair, walks briskly down to my end of the table, and the hundreds of employees who work in the headquarters, and
performs his physio’s trademark technique, on me, right above at 1 p.m. everyone takes a 90-minute lunch break. Employees
my jawline. “You need blood in your face,” he explains as he digs can head to the company’s canteen, where they can eat a seated
his knuckle, or maybe it was his thumb, into my lower cheek and three-course meal, or they can go home and feed their families.
massages the area intensely. Granted, this wasn’t a noogie, tech- Brunello typically drives the six minutes back to his pale yellow
nically speaking, but it felt like one, and as Brunello returns to villa in the hills, and “then I take a 25-minute nap, naked. Just
his seat and my face pulsates with freshly summoned blood flow, like we fellas go to bed for the night. I get up, I take my shower,
I think: This man is alive. and I’m as good as new. And then 2:30 to 5:30, back to work, and
Well, yeah. He’s 71, not dead. But what’s the secret to being it is forbidden to overwork. That’s it. So I have always had a lot of
alive at 71 versus being not dead at 71? Brunello knows, and it’s time to look after my body.”
not really a secret. It’s all right there in the books he’s read and Which is critical for him, because in the world according to
the very simple rules that he follows, and he is more than happy Brunello, “when your body is healthy,” he says, “your mind and
to tell you all about them. Because while not everyone can afford your soul will follow. And when you make decisions, you are
to buy one of his cashmere sweaters, and not everyone has ac- smarter somehow.” Brunello says he exercises about two hours
cess to a physio with vice-grip hands, everyone can be alive like a day—a mix of walking, swimming, strength training, box-
Brunello Cucinelli, if only you know how. ing, soccer, and tennis—and he’s evolved his fitness regimen
as he’s gotten older. “When I was 55, I was playing soccer with
my friends, and I said, ‘I have to play in a different way and slow
down a bit.’ And then I thought about the gym, and I said, ‘I have
“I’VE ALWAYS BEEN LIVELY,” Brunello tells me as he to start using different weights—if it’s too heavy, I’ll get hurt.’
describes a childhood on a working farm in nearby Castel Now I do the very same exercises as when I was 40, but they’re
Rigone. “We lived in the countryside until I was 15, and we had lighter. I do my squats, but they’re slower. It’s the same kind of
no electricity and no television. Can you imagine what kind of exercises but less intense.”
life we lived in the fields? Climbing trees, building tree houses, The same principles apply to diet: “One needs to eat little—
walks in the woods with other kids.” Every day, his mother very little. I’m a little hungry, all the time. I always have an
prepared simple farmer’s meals for him and his two brothers. Italian breakfast. A cappuccino with a pastry and some jam.

90 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH

Cucinelli plays tennis often,
enjoying the social benefits as
much as the cardio, agility, and
mental challenges.

Then around 10, I have a small sandwich. At 1 p.m., pasta every be-logo’d) and pound his fists together before he starts working
day. Every single day. Maybe a salad or some vegetables. I’m not the bag, shuffling his feet and stepping into every jab and hook.
a great meat lover. At 4 p.m., a small snack, a piece of fruit or a Afterward he takes a break to practice the Five Tibetan Rites, a
piece of cheese. And then dinner, and I have close to no supper. series of breathing-guided yoga poses that have been around for
When you have four courses and when you’re 70, you don’t sleep centuries. He kneels on the gym’s wooden floor, his posture erect
well. And the morning after, you weigh 300 grams extra.” and breath steady and low: in through the nose, out through the
Brunello knows this for a fact. “I weigh myself four times a day. mouth, his hands at the back of his hips as his chest rises and falls.
Morning, before lunch, after lunch, before bed. When I see I’m Later that day, he delves into his other extracurriculars:
one kilo more, I just eat less. I eat half of a half of a half. It’s the big- He’s helped fund an organization called the Himalayan Regen-
gest sacrifice of my life. If you asked me what my biggest sacrifice erative Fashion Living Lab to support sustainable fash-
would be, it would be to go on a diet.” He has never been on a diet, ion; he delivered a speech at the 2021 G20 assembly that he
and he’s not one for counting macros or overdoing it on supple- called “Humanistic Capitalism and Human Sustainability”;
ments, either—“I am worried that my liver will suffer,” he says. he’s written an essay called “Technology, Humanism and
Four times a year, for one month, he takes three supplements Artificial Intelligence,” available to read on his site; he’s sup-
(ginkgo biloba, zinc, and tribulus) three times a day. “For mem- ported the development of various drugs to treat cancer and
ory, for health, for sex. I follow the Charlie Chaplin treatment. He metabolic conditions.
had a child when he was very old!” He also receives platelet-rich How does he find the time to do all this while remaining a
plasma (PRP) injections, a procedure in which a physician uses hands-on steward of his company and working out for two hours
a patient’s own blood to help heal other parts of the body. “They a day? He keeps the rest of his life very simple. “We need to work a
take the plasma out and they put it in my face and my hair, my fair amount, so we have time left for the body and the soul. Because
hands and my chest,” for two or three hours of my day, I basically lead the same life as a
Cucinelli uses a breathwork
Brunello says, touching monk. When I work out, or after that, I go out and take a stroll in
practice called the Five Tibetan the relevant parts of him- the village, I look up at the stars, I look at a fire, and I get dizzy with
Rites to find calm and clarity. self. “I believe in regener- beautiful thoughts. I wouldn’t call it meditation. I spend time
ative medicine.” with myself. I spend time with my mom and my dad, who passed
O n t he d ay of my away. I want my head to be busy. I want to lead a normal life.”
visit, I watch him work For now that means more swimming and tennis and napping
out in his home gym, a and working closely with his daughters to ensure the company
glass-topped solarium he has built remains healthy for future Cucinellis. “I want to live
with a small lap pool, a as if it’s the last day of my life, but I want to keep planning as if
treadmill and cable ma- I’ll be here forever. I am a temporary guardian of this,” Brunello
chine, some beautiful says, waving at the factories and offices and village he built and
wood-pa neled Nohrd rebuilt. “If you act and feel like an owner, you’ll be scared that
dumbbells, and a white you’ll lose it. But if you’re just a guardian of this factory and the
leather boxing bag em- plant, you’re free.” To live simply, to let go, to look up at the stars
bossed with his compa- in wonder: It works for Brunello. It might even work for you.
ny’s logo. I watch him
put on his boxing gloves richard dorment is the editorial director of Men’s Health
(also white leather, also and Women’s Health.

MEN’S HEALTH | MARCH • APRIL 2025 91

SIX PACK
2. Google Nest Audio
Brown’s wife, Katelyn, is also a
musician, so there’s always something
on the speakers. “We use our Google
Home soundbar to listen to music
while we are prepping meals and
cooking,” he says.
$100, store.google.com

3. Sony LinkBuds S
These low-profile, lightweight ear-
buds help Brown focus no matter what’s
going on around him. “I use them
whether I am on the plane watching
movies or working out in the gym.”
$160, electronics.sony.com

KANE BROWN 4. Louis Vuitton

Rush Bumbag
The crossbody pack houses so many
The country music phenom (and fitness fanatic) compartments, which help Brown organize
is on tour now to promote his latest album, stuff when he’s on the go. “This bag can
The High Road. Here’s what keeps him rocking. carry everything that I need,” he says.
BY CHARLES THORP $2,390, us.louisvuitton.com

1. Hammer 5. Ratio Six

Strength HD Coffee Machine
Athletic NX “Katelyn and I like to
Half Rack have a pot brewing every
“Having a gym morning,” Brown says.
at home makes This coffee maker delivers
getting my the perfect cup of pour-over
workouts in so for minimal effort.
much easier,” says $359, ratiocoffee.com
Brown. “I don’t miss
a session.” This
OMAR VEGA/GETTY IMAGES (BROWN). COURTESY OF BRANDS (PRODUCTS).

commercial-grade 6. Uno
rig has everything “Playing a little Uno is one
he needs to lift big. of our favorite ways to kill
$3,461, shop.life downtime at the airport or
fitness.com backstage,” says Brown, who
always has a deck on hand. The
competition escalates with
the occasional side bet: “The
wagering can get pretty intense!”
$7, shop.mattel.com

92 MARCH • APRIL 2025 | MEN’S HEALTH

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