mens health-related stories
Jump Rope - 5 Reasons to Jump In
Sometimes old school is the way to go. Jump ropes aren't just a playground staple -- boxers and other athletes have relied on the jump rope to improve fitness and agility for years. Men's Health shares five reasons you should include jumping rope in your fitness routine: - Cost. You don't need to save up for a jump rope -- you can buy a decent one for $15 or less.
- Portability. Lightweight and convenient, a jump rope can go wherever you go -- on business trips, vacations, and so forth.
- Strength gain. Jumping rope is a weight-bearing activity so it's good for bone growth and muscle development.
- Improved coordination. If you're into sports, good footwork is important. Jumping rope will help you improve your timing and will increase your agility.
- Fat loss. Jumping rope is a great cardio activity and works a variety of muscle groups.
I have one more reason to add to the Men's Health list ... jumping rope is fun! And when you enjoy your workout, you're much more likely to stick with it.
Obama works on fitness, quitting smoking
Fitness, Celebs & Entertainment
Bethany has been wondering what presidential candidate Barack Obama would address in his November Men's Health article. Now we know -- the magazine, with Obama gracing the cover, is currently on newsstands.
So, Bethany, and all others who are dying to know what this man has to say, here's a sneak peak.
Obama reports that he works out for 45 minutes, six days a week. Sometimes it's a squeeze to get his workout in, and he admits there are times when sleep trumps time at the gym. When he does make it to the gym, he goes before he starts his work day. And while there, the 47-year-old lifts one day and does cardio the next. Obama's wish -- besides scoring that job as President of the United States -- is that his exercise sessions were longer. A 90-minute workout would be ideal.
'Evolutionize' your running with these 4 tips
Human beings are built to run. It's why we're sweaty, almost hairless, and stand upright. Our muscles and tendons have also adapted to our need to chase down prey, and to be able to do so over long distances. Our necks, for example, have a ligament that prevents our heads from bobbing back and forth when we run. Several animals we prey upon, including pigs, don't have this ligament, hence the creation of the ham sandwich.
Men's Health took a close look at how humans run, stating the following four secrets can keep us up and running for most of our lives:
1. Build a Solid Foundation. Use stability exercises to help prevent injury. Toe curls: use your toes to pick up a golf ball for three sets of 10 reps. Alphabet balance: stand on one foot with the other an inch or so off the ground and write the alphabet with it.
Barack Obama on the cover of Men's Health
Fitness, Celebs & Entertainment
It's got to be difficult to exercise and eat right when you're busy campaigning across the country, there's no doubt about that. But maintaining a healthy diet and workout routine is a great way to relieve stress. And with only a little more than a month left until Election Day, I'm guessing stress is a pretty big part of Obama's daily life.
I'm curious to see what direction Men's Health steers their interview. Will they ask him about his personal fitness routine? How he'd maintain that routine if he's elected President? Or will the focus on the broader issue of health care for all Americans? We'll just have to wait and see until the issue comes out.
If you could ask Barack Obama or John McCain a diet or fitness related question, what would it be?
Who knew? Your car's seat warmer cooks and kills sperm
It's still pretty summery in most places but soon enough fall and winter will be here, which means instead of cranking the A/C on your way to work you'll be hitting the seat-warmer switch. Or maybe you'll want to think twice about that...
A recent study in Germany found that the heated seats found in more and more vehicles as a luxury option are not only heating people's chilly bums but they're also essentially cooking men's privates and causing them to have significantly lower sperm counts.
Of course this is really only an issue for guys who are trying to have a baby, in which case experts recommend wearing loose undies, making frequent stops on long trips, and trying to use the heated seats as little as possible.
Via Autoblog
Male fertility clinic
Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Nutrition & Supplements, Men's Health
While it may seem like the plot of the film "Children of Men," a real-life drama is unfolding that may someday be an actual threat to the furtherance of the human species. Studies show that male sperm counts are on a precipitous decline. In Great Britain alone -- where, ironically enough, the aforementioned film takes place -- sperm counts have dropped by 50 percent in the last decade, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal.The good news is that there are a number of vitamins and minerals that can certainly help prevent such a drop from occurring. Zinc, vitamin C, vitamin B12, selenium, and vitamin E are just a few of them. But, inasmuch as consuming these vitamins and minerals appears to be vital to keeping things copacetic, there are also foods that should be avoided, for they have been found to inhibit sperm production.
Coffee. Men's Health magazine reports that University of Milan researchers discovered that caffeine reduced sperm count by lowering levels of leteinizing hormone and testosterone, both of which are needed for sperm production.
Myth #1: Lifting slowly builds bigger muscles
Womens Health, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Men's Health
A gym is a great place to put in a solid workout, but it can sometimes be one of the worst places to get health and fitness advice. It's easy to assume that someone with a great physique must be an expert on health and fitness, but that may not necessarily be the case. Their advice, though well-intentioned, may not exactly be sound. Remember, not all great players make great coaches (ask Isiah Thomas). The approach to fitness these individuals take may work well for them, but for you they could potentially lead to disaster. Fortunately, there are thousands of scientists who study the effects of proper diet and regular exercise. More to the point, they use their brain -- rather than their brawn -- to determine what foods are best for the body and what fitness moves produce the greatest results. In doing so, they dispel rumors, put an end to myths, and cancel out some very common fitness half-truths. This may not make the musclehead -- who swears by tri-setting every body part and following a diet of 12 chicken potpies a day -- all that pleased, but it will save you from over-training ... and wanting to puke.
Men's Health magazine recently tackled this very issue in their article 7 Muscle Myths - Fact vs. Fiction. In it, researchers take a look at some common gym misconceptions and, in efforts to clear up any confusion and prevent potential injury, present their own expert advice . I'll be highlighting one of these myths for the next seven days. Here's a look at Myth #1:
Look 'abulous' this summer
Womens Health, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Nutrition & Supplements, Men's Health
If you've been blasting through rep after rep of crunches, yet your abs are still M.I.A., it may be time to get off the floor and onto a treadmill. In order for your six-pack to start popping, you have to reduce the amount of subcutaneous fat it's hiding behind. To do that, adding even more crunches to your ab workout really isn't the answer; while cutting back a bit on your caloric intake and ramping up your cardio workout should make all the difference. The first step in this process is to determine your body fat percentage. Then, use that information to tailor your proper ab-unveiling cardio workout. The following tips from Men's Health should help you along.
- If you have less than 15 percent body fat, do cardio 3 times a week. Results should show in one to two weeks.
- If you have 15-20 percent body fat, do cardio 3-4 times a week. Results should show in 2-3 weeks.
Snack on this
Womens Health, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Nutrition & Supplements, Men's Health
For those of you who know your way around a kitchen, you're at a bit of an advantage over the rest of us when it comes to whipping up some healthy food.No word of a lie, two nights ago I actually screwed up Jello. How is that even possible? Evidently, it is -- because I somehow pulled it off. My goal was to make something tasty without throwing my meal plan into a tailspin. That was my plan, anyway. The result of that plan was a bowl of half-solidified raspberry Jello and red colored water. My culinary incompetence is the reason why I always get excited when I come across recipes for easy to make healthy snacks and meals. That's why I've been pretty psyched about trying this one for avocado toast, which I found in the Celebrity Diet Secrets book released by Men's Health.
To make avocado toast, you need:
- 2 tsp of honey mustard
- 2 slices of whole-grain bread
- 1/2 avocado, peeled and sliced
- 1/2 tomato, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 4 fresh basil leaves
- 1/2 tbsp ground flaxseed
The Daily Turn On! 5 Symptoms Men Should Never Ignore
Life is too short not to be fully "turned on." The Daily Turn On! energizes all aspects of "you." Every Monday The Daily Turn On! with That's Fit Life Fit expert Laura Lewis will provide you with ideas and tips to awaken your mind, your body and your life as you journey through each day of the week! Check in each Monday to get your tip for Turning On every day of your life.Speaking stereotypically, women tend to be more in tune with their bodies than men. Women also have a tendency to go to the doctor when they notice something amiss with their health while men tend to ignore the problem. Here are five health issues men should never ignore.
- Chest Pain. Okay, I can hear you already ... DUH! ... but according to CNN Health Expert Dr. Joseph Scherger, a clinical professor of family medicine at the University of California, San Diego, men do have a tendency to ignore this alarming heart attack symptom. Chest pain is the number one symptom of heart attack. Learn more on this video.
- Big Belly. The worst place for a man to carry additional fat is around the belly. According to Dr. Harry Fisch, a professor of clinical urology at Columbia, "A big belly is a sign a man has low testosterone levels. And the lower the testosterone, the greater the risk of diabetes and coronary artery disease."
- Impotence. Impotence is one health issue mean really do not like to talk about with anyone ... not even their doctors. Dr. Harry Fisch states, "The penis is the dipstick of the body's health." Impotence may be caused by psychological reasons, but it could also be a symptom of several life-threatening conditions. It stands to reason that if the arteries that move blood to the penis are not properly supplying enough blood for it "to do its job," then the arteries that supply blood to the heart and brain might not be working so well either. Coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol may all be linked to erectile dysfunction.
- Frequent Urination. Urinating more frequently than normal without a significant increase in fluids can be a sign of prostatitis, or inflammation of the prostate gland. If a man is getting up two or three times a night to relieve himself, he should go to the doctor for a prostate exam.
- Popping Prescribed Pills. Dr. Joel Heidelbaugh, a family medicine specialist at the University of Michigan Medical School, warns, "Men sometimes don't realize they're addicted to prescription drugs." As a matter of fact, many times their spouses, colleagues and friends don't even notice. Vicodin and Oxycontin are two of the more common, and highly addictive, painkillers. Sadly, I have an ex-boyfriend who was wonderful except for the fact he was addicted to pain killers, taking handfuls per day and I never saw him take one! Nicest guy. He ended up going into rehab and to this day fights the daily battle of avoiding the temptation. Now he has a girlfriend with "great addiction radar"! My current guy pops supplements and that's it!
A little bit softer now
HealthWatch, Diet & Weight Loss, Reviews & Products
Like L.L. Cool J, I can't live without my radio. And just as he does, I like my music loud -- especially when I'm working out. But unlike the time when "my radio" literally meant my radio (when guys would walk around with enormous boom box radios carried up against their ear), these days it's all about .MP3 players.Inasmuch as I can't live without music during a workout, however, letting the volume on my iPod rip may not be the best idea. Common sense, I know, but this lack of it is something I sense is quite common. Men's Health magazine recently addressed this issue, stating that because iPod earbuds only block 1 decibel of outside sound, we tend to overcrank the volume to compensate (and drown out the sound of the 80s monster ballads that are always played on gym speakers).
By continuously pumping up the volume, you can eventually cause hair cells in your ears to swell and die, causing auditory nerves to atrophy. The end result, as you probably guessed, is partial or complete hearing loss.
The 5: Some other uses for potatoes
Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements
As I pointed out in a recent post about olive oil, many foods have a wide variety of applications that fall beyond simply filling up our bellies. This is certainly the case with the potato, which is, as the Men's Health article from which this information was sourced suggests, a utility player.Here are five less common uses the folks at Men's Health mention for this super spud:
1. Heal Injuries. Wrap a cold potato with plastic wrap to make an effective compress. A raw potato will help reduce the swelling around cuts and bruises.
2. Soothe Eczema. Cube and then lightly boil a potato. Next, fold it into a thick gauze and apply it to the affected area. The warm potato poultice can relieve inflammation in some cases.
3. Fight Heartburn. Drop an uncooked, white potato through a juicer and get ready for an awful tasting drink but an effective method of reducing heartburn. Drink a half a cup after dinner for best results.
Are you man (or woman) enough to run the Men's Health Urbanathlon?
Womens Health, Healthy Events, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Celebs & Entertainment, Nutrition & Supplements, Men's Health
What makes the Men's Health Urbanathlon and Festival different from other marathons? What makes it so special?
It's special because it's awesome. And I don't care if I sound like a 13-year-old for describing that way, either.
Apart from its advanced level of awesomeness, the Urbanathlon is also different in that it is more than just a run; it's a long-distance, urban obstacle course that's stationed over various parts of New York City (and also Chicago, which is its own separate event). Participants cover a total of 8.1 miles, starting from the Band Shell area in Central Park and -- after jumping over taxi cabs, navigating through a scaffolding maze, climbing the 52 stories of a skyscraper, and successfully overcoming a myriad of other obstacles -- eventually ends at a festival of live entertainment, health and wellness expos, interactive sports, and samplings and demos by a range of fitness-related vendors at Battery Park.
The 'perfect' man
Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Men's Health
Looking for the perfect man? Chances are he doesn't exist. Want to find the perfect man for you? Ah, now that is a much more attainable and realistic goal. Now for the guys out there reading -- do you want to BE the perfect man? Needless to say, perfection is an extremely subjective classification, so don't kill yourself trying to be all things to all people. However, an article in the recent issue of Men's Health (British Edition, mate) shows that it is possible to at least determine how you measure up against most other blokes. In your quest for perfection (or at least as close to it as possible), take note of these "perfect" statistics:
9am & 3pm - The perfect times to do 30 minutes of exercise four or five days a week to raise your metabolic rate
50.5 -- The perfect age at which to write your novel (based on an analysis of The Times bestseller list since 1955)
31 years, 9 months - The perfect age to get married (source: University College of London)
30 minutes - The perfect amount of time for a power nap to improve motor skills and cognition (according to the National Institutes of Health)
0.75 grams - The perfect amount of protein to consumer per pound of bodyweight while following a regular resistance training routine (source: University of Western Ontario)
The 5: Some other uses for olive oil
Olive oil is a great source of healthy fats, helping to lower cholesterol and the risk of cardiovascular complications. However, a recent Men's Health article listed five alternative uses for this healthy kitchen staple, many of which may come as somewhat of a surprise.1. Remove Paint From Your Skin. No longer do you have to deal with the putrid stench of paint thinner to wash that lavender wall paint off your hands. Evidently, olive oil's lubricant properties softens your skin and the paint itself, making it much easier to scrub away.
2. Ease Constipation. A doctor at the London Nutrition Clinic was quoted in the Men's Health article as saying that taking two tablespoons of olive oil will soften your stools and make your sit-down session a bit more tolerable (well, that's me paraphrasing what he said. His actual quote was far more charmingly British.)
3. Fight Bad Breath. Bacteria in your mouth is one of the main causes of raunchy breath. Rinsing once or twice daily with a tablespoon of olive oil will bind the bacteria together, helping to reduce the smell (and thus increasing your chances of finding a date for this weekend).
