Men's Health June 2021

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Run. It’s like active meditation for me. @steven.j.harvey.5 Talk to my therapist. I figure they have better credentials to help me through it. @drococu Take a break for a day or two and reflect to recharge. Maybe a hike alone or a walk on the beach. @bill.browne.37 WE BELIEVE that mental strength is just as important as physical strength. So we wanted to know: How do you stay mentally strong? Make a to-do list that is achievable and start crossing items off. @jeff.crow.16 Check in with myself. Ask what I need to do to feel fulfilled on any given day. @raymond.gillette GET YOUR OWN TEE For Men’s Health Month, we joined forces with Rhone to launch the (Men)tal Healthy campaign—complete with a T-shirt ($48; rhone.com). All net proceeds will benefit the nonprofit group Mental Health America.…

Q+A WITH THE E.I.C. —@sharphusband SO THAT’S NOT really a question, but I get what you’re going for, because I’ve been there—three times!—and so have tons of other guys. In a landmark 2015 study, researchers from Northwestern University tracked more than 10,000 men over a 20-year period and found that new dads who lived in the same house as their children gained an average of four and a half pounds, while nondads lost about a pound and a half over the same time period. (Let’s assume that we’re not talking about four and a half pounds of muscle here. We can also assume that my personal weight gain was, uh, slightly higher than four and a half pounds.) The struggle to stay fit with a newborn is quite real. Not nearly as…

Q. Squatting hurts my back. What am I doing wrong? —DENIS, AKRON, OH A. Check your form. Your chest should be upright to avoid rounding your back, which can cause lower-back pain while squatting. Another fix: Elevate your heels. Squatting with a weight plate beneath each of your heels increases your mobility and takes further pressure off your lower back. If squats are still painful, then try single-leg exercises, such as alternating lunges, which allow you to train your legs without overloading your back. And if the pain doesn’t go away, it might be time to visit your doctor, pronto! —BEN BRUNO, C.F.S.C., A MEN’S HEALTH TRAINING ADVISOR Have a question for Rich? Tweet us at @MensHealthMag with the hashtag #AskMHRich and ask away.…

The Setback When New York City shut down in March 2020 due to the pandemic, I lost my restaurant job. I was working toward joining the FDNY Fire Academy to become a firefighter, but they postponed until further notice. I was distraught. I shut down for three weeks, slept late, woke up late. The Catalyst for Change One day, I read a quote that really kicked me in the ass—something like “If not now, when?” If I have all this free time, I gotta try something. Running became a huge escape from whatever was going on in the world and helped me maintain emotional and physical balance. So I started running five times a week, five miles from Brooklyn to Chinatown. I wanted to be ready for the FDNY Fire Academy if they…

TORPEDO IN THE GOAL. This is my only thought as I sink to the bottom of the pool during a Deep End Fitness workout in Hawthorne, California. My right hand clutches a ten-ounce camo-colored rubber torpedo. My left hand is free, ready to Heisman anyone trying to keep me from the goal, four yards away. I swim toward it underwater and get within two yards when Chuck Patterson and Giorgio Gomez, a pair of professional surfers, converge. Chuck comes from the right, and Giorgio guards the goal. I reach the torpedo forward, baiting Chuck. He bites, grabbing my upper arm and pulling me down toward the pool floor. I roll with him, then spin out and stiff-arm Giorgio—and almost score! Damn, there’s Chuck again. I wriggle past him, switching the torpedo…