Men's Health USA 09.2021

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WHERE STRENGTH MATTERS MOST

HOW WAYNE FEDERMAN IS a veteran

LAUGHTER stand-up comedian who has written late-
LIFTS night monologue jokes for Jimmy Fallon
and appeared on Curb Your Enthusiasm
YOU UP and Silicon Valley. But his ability to find

The right sense of humor in just about any situation
humor can defuse stress helped him cope particularly
well in quarantine. “During
and boost your outlook. the pandemic, I’m shut
Shift yours to gain down. All my gigs are can-
more from each celed,” he says. “I’m alone
ha-ha moment. in the house, and I find out
my ID is stolen. I’m like,
BY STEVE KNOPPER ‘Yes! This could be the best
day I’ve had in years.’ ”
ILLUSTRATIONS BY DOUG CHAYKA The more he thought
about it, the funnier the
situation seemed. “Some-
times you think you don’t

matter in life, and you wake up and
think, Hey, somebody wants to be me,”
he says. “That’s awesome.”

MEN’S HEALTH | SEPTEMBER 2021 47

MIND HAVE MORE HA-HA MOMENTS

48 SEPTEMBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH

Why can’t
stressful things
seem funny?
“Comedians
just look at life
slightly askew,”
Federman says,
“and that makes it
fun, all the time.”

GETTING THE LAUGHTER want to test your material and concen-
YOU DESERVE trate on making it inclusive.

MY QUEST TO BE the kind of guy who For instance, one day, during a writing
laughs easily—with others or at virtually class I teach via Zoom, a student named
anything—without being the punchline Cat referred to a story she might write
began with writing down what amused about her lifelong trouble finding the
me on social media. There was that map right dog. I’m more of a cat person, so I
of Italian words for “vagina” on Twitter could have been gently self-defeating and
and Monty Python’s fish-slapping dance recalled how a couple of dogs bit me when
on YouTube. In addition to self-defeating I was a kid, or I could have been aggres-
humor, I found that I have a tendency sive by making fun of dogs to the group,
toward self-enhancing humor, which in- which would have embarrassed the stu-
cludes laughing by myself at stupid, silly dent. Instead, the dad joke that came to
things. (Sarcasm can be self-enhancing, me hinged on wordplay. “I hear Cats and
too, so long as it’s not used in a hurtful dogs don’t get along,” I said. It wasn’t the
way.) Then I took an extra step by calling funniest joke, but it brought the class to-
friends and asking them to describe gether. They laughed. Affiliative humor!
what they notice I find funny. My sense of Another healthy style.
humor is, well, repetitive, one said: “Your
jokes are like every five seconds! It’s the Next, my daughter sent me two photos
constant search for the pun.” from college, one of some pretty trees
on campus and one with some friends
I also took some advice from Bagdo- sitting around smoking a joint. I could
nas, who suggests you can use funny TV have told her she must’ve been high to
shows or movies to enhance your world- send me that second picture, but that
view in general. “When we’re making would have been aggressive and not what
time to watch something comedic before I was looking to do. Instead, I verified
bed instead of a horror movie, we are that the trees were indeed pretty but
feeding our brains,” she says. (For me, admonished her not to smoke them.
that meant rewatching Bill & Ted’s She totally ignored me, but that’s the
Excellent Adventure for the 11th time beauty of a self-enhancing joke. If she
instead of doom scrolling.)
liked it, she laughed. If she
Gradually I began to feel more upbeat. didn’t, no one got hurt.
The more I focused on being open to Either way, I was starting
laughter, the less bummed out I felt. But to amuse myself.
to McGraw’s point about how
comedians constantly try out
new lines and assess audience
reaction, at some point you’ll

MIND 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, and the founder and
director ofthe Center for Green Psychiatry in Austin.

S EBCETRTHETETE T O
R

With the world constantly in flux, you have to be open to change.
The trick is knowing when to adapt and when to dig in.

BY GREGORY SCOTT BROWN, M.D.

FOR THE PAST few months, I’ve listened to my patients talk about their to manage security and change at the
same time is to keep a few aspects of your
struggles with adapting. First to locking down, then to changing how they work, life—like your morning coffee routine—
forming new friendships in new ways, and starting over in a new city. One of the most consistent. Habits and routines buffer
useful things the pandemic taught us was the importance of being flexible. So why, now the effects of emotional stress. Choose
that it’s time to adapt again—to getting back to the office, to being social, to moving more than one area of consistency so
forward—do so many of my patients find themselves wanting to dig in their heels? that if you need to adapt in one, you have
something else to fall back on.
I’ll be honest: I’m not the guy who readily embraces change, either. (My wife gets
annoyed with me for ordering the same boring thing—grilled fish with basmati rice Unlearn Some Things
and vegetables—every time we go to our favorite Mediterranean restaurant.) Although
adapting can be challenging, not having strategies to deal with the stress of change (from WHEN TECH INVESTOR Natalie Fratto is
new office protocols to a significant life change) can lead to major depression, adjustment deciding which start-ups to support, she
disorder, and even PTSD over time. Becoming better at adapting helps you move through looks for signs of adaptability. One clue:
your chaotic days with more ease, more energy, and less stress. Adaptable entrepreneurs are willing to
unlearn what they think they know. To
Some business consultants use a be stable in certain areas so that you figure out what needs to be unlearned,
short quiz to measure your adaptability can be flexible in others and not end up look at uncomfortable situations in which
quotient—your ability to adjust, change breaking. Use this tool kit to help find you’re being challenged to do things
course, or learn to perform better by the right balance. differently and are tempted to shut down
performing differently. It’s not an the idea immediately. Before Covid, some
official diagnostic tool, and I like the Establish a Stable Base of my patients asked about online visits,
idea of thinking about how adaptable and it always felt awkward saying I didn’t
you tend to be, especially since most of WHEN CHANGE IS everywhere, it can offer them. Even though the question kept
us can improve. But that doesn’t mean I feel as if there’s nothing secure in your coming up, I thought everyone preferred
think we should fall for the notion that life to hold on to. This can cause you to meeting with a psychiatrist in person.
adaptability equals being flexible about start resisting change altogether, which Since I’m not always quick to adapt, I had
everything, all the time. You need to also may close you off to opportunities
that might make life better. The way

50 SEPTEMBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH

to intentionally challenge what I thought JON FAVREAU
I knew about what my patients wanted.
When you use resistance as an opportu- WHEN EVERYTHING nearly imploded in 2020, most of us
nity to unlearn, you can then relearn at a
pace that works for you. It makes adapting couldn’t stomach the news. But Jon Favreau—a cofounder
easier, because no one is forcing it on you. of Crooked Media and a host of Pod Save America, which has
around 1.5 million listeners per episode—dived headfirst
Focus on Your Core into the chaos. Here’s how the former chief speechwriter for
President Obama finds his balance. BY JOSH OCAMPO
UNDERSTANDING WHAT’S MOST
Dan Saelinger/Trunk Archive (stretchy toy). Jason Raish (Favreau). 5:30 A.M. You have to have struc- 5:30 P.M.
important to you—knowing your core ture,” he says.
values—keeps you from losing yourself WORK OUT CELEBRATE
in the process of change. Ask yourself 11:45 A.M. BATH TIME
questions like: Why did I decide to take Because he cohosts
this job in the first place? What originally a “no-bullshit conver- PHONE A FRIEND Before the pandemic
attracted me to my partner? Why did I sation about politics,” hit, he’d expected to
choose to live here? Change can quickly Favreau, 40, keeps up Despite crafting spend the election year
lead you in the wrong direction if you let it with the news cycle. In speeches for four years traveling. “Instead, we
pull you away from these values. an election year, that in the Oval Office, were on lockdown and
meant checking his Favreau still runs into my wife was pregnant,”
Being intentionally adaptable means social-media feeds writer’s block. “Sitting he says. He tries to clock
reinventing yourself on your own terms. before even getting at a computer and star- out at the same time
While I’m not sure what changes lie out of bed. “I was on ing at a blinking cursor each day to spend time
ahead in my office, the next time I’m at my phone constantly,” is just going to increase with his one-year-old
the Mediterranean restaurant, I still he says. One thing anxiety,” he says. So son, Charlie, feeding
know what I’m having for dinner. that’s helped him get he unplugs by reading him, giving him a bath,
by: Most mornings, he long-form articles to and reading him a story.
What’s Your heads to a local gym help him come up with “I don’t have to pay at-
in Los Angeles for HIIT new ideas. “Back in the tention to the news at all,
Adaptability classes—though he’s White House, I’d also and that’s really nice.”
Quotient? currently in recovery call my parents and
from a shoulder injury. friends I hadn’t seen in 7:30 P.M.
Use this mini quiz to assess your skills as “I was looking down at a while. Talking to peo-
a change agent. Answer honestly! my phone and tripped ple can really unlock NETFLIX AND
on the sidewalk. Now that block.” CHILLAX
SCORE YOURSELF my goal is just to lift my
1: never / 2: seldom / 3: regularly arm above my head.” 1:15 P.M. Before bed, Favreau
and his wife hit the
4: frequently / 5: always 10:00 A.M. EAT ALL couch and scroll
THE CHEESE through streaming
I am able to shift gears with PLAN, PLAN, PLAN channels or binge-
minimal complaints. Two years ago, Favreau watch shows like
To record two Pod adopted his own Schitt’s Creek. “I
I challenge myself to question Save America episodes version of a keto diet. gravitate to comedy
what I presume to know. a week, Favreau has He cut down on carbs because I deal with
learned the value and upped his veggie stressful news envi-
I am frequently on the lookout of an outline. It’s his intake. Life’s good ronments all day,” he
for new ideas to consider and test. way of organizing without bread, he says. says. “When I worked
his thoughts and the “I feel [like] I have more on campaigns or in
My habit is to reach out for help and revolving door of energy. I didn’t use the White House, we’d
acknowledge the assistance. celebrity guests and the pandemic as an party, not get much
politicos. “I’ll write a opportunity to just sort sleep, and then be
My failures present opportunities. sentence of what we’re of pig out on every- somewhat hungover
going to cover, then thing, which is great. the next day. That was
ADD UP YOUR RESPONSES: discussion questions And I don’t have to life in my 20s. Now de-
on that topic. I was worry about how much compressing is much
5–8 You likely struggle with change and never an outline writer, I’m eating with this low- more like sitting on the
would benefit from mentoring and but podcasts are a carb diet. I can, like, eat couch and actually
other forms of guidance. collaborative effort. cheese all day long.” getting some sleep.”

9–12 You’re somewhat adaptable but
have room to improve.

13–19 You’re open-minded yet could stand
to sharpen your adaptability skills.

20–25 You’re change-agent material and
should be mentoring others.

Source: Executive Agenda

MEN’S HEALTH | SEPTEMBER 2021 51

MIND MENTAL STRENGTH

INSIDE COA,THE NEW GYM FOR
MENTAL HEALTH

This mental-fitness start-up is out to prove that expensive, hard-to-access therapy is not
the only way to get psych help. Can it really tone up your mental health?

BY MICKEY RAPKIN

I HAD MY first panic attack in college a campus restroom convinced I was having Anhalt is a cofounder and the chief
few months before graduation. Kevin a heart attack. clinical officer of Coa, a Bay Area start-
Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers had his in up that bills itself as the first “gym for
front of millions of viewers during a tele- We’d both waited for a crisis to finally mental health,” which is exactly what it
vised game against Atlanta. The stakes seek treatment, which is the second (and sounds like. Coa offers small group class-
were slightly different, but the symptoms probably last) thing I have in common es in emotional fitness starting around
were remarkably similar. “It was like with the NBA all-star. Though it’s good to $25 each. Although the pandemic forced
my body was trying to say to me, ‘You’re know that waiting way too long to ask for the company to hit pause on its brick-
about to die,’ ” Love wrote of the expe- help is a dude thing, according to Emily and-mortar plans and move its classes
rience, adding: “I ended up on the floor Anhalt, Psy.D., who advocates for a more online, one can see the appeal in a Soul-
in the training room, lying on my back, proactive approach to mental health. Cycle for mental health. Group classes
trying to get enough air to breathe.” As “It’s like waiting until you’re diagnosed are more affordable than traditional
for me, I was on the floor of a beer-stained with early signs of heart disease to do one-on-one therapy, and the camaraderie
cardio,” she says.

52 SEPTEMBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH ILLUSTRATION BY ISRAEL G. VARGAS

of a passionate cheering section keeps with plans to expand nationwide.) Chris Jones, 39, was about to launch
you coming back. This isn’t your average Through the classwork, Jones recog-
community support group—it’s support
with licensed therapists and smart “This type of intervention may be a
branding. If it seems like a gimmick, With the pandemic maybe finally
it may be, but Silicon Valley is all in;
Coa raised $3 million in an initial seed “We want to be big,” says Anhalt.
round last fall and counts Kevin Love
and Casper Sleep founder Neil Parikh MEN’S HEALTH | SEPTEMBER 2021 53
among its backers. “We spend so much
time talking and working on our physical
health,” Love told me when I asked him
about his investment. “If mental health
was given the same amount of attention,
we’d make massive strides to help those
who need it.”

CLICK BOOM! PUT ME IN, COACH

THE WELLNESS SPACE has increasingly days when you feel like garbage.
attracted the attention—and cash—of we don’t say.”
VCs and professional athletes. Who
better to break down long-held stigmas
about mental health than high-achieving
gladiators in touch with their feelings?
U. S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe and
Minnesota Vikings linebacker Eric
Kendricks are both investors in a start-up
called Real that’s raised $16 million;
it lets users stream eight-week courses
on topics like anxiety and communica-
tion and live events for as low as $28 per
month. Michael Phelps, who has been
vocal about his battle with depression and
substance abuse, is a spokesperson for the
talk-therapy company Talkspace.

With access to care strained and ther-
apists reporting growing waiting lists,
these apps are filling a very real need. But
this isn’t about burdening some bot with
your problems. What Coa offers is online
group therapy (in a slick package) coming
from an action-oriented approach. “The
world wants a quick and easy fix for a prob-
lem that is not quick or easy,” said Anhalt.
“Who we are as people is nuanced, it’s
layered. And the only solution that’s going
to work is one that honors that complexi-
ty.” Do you even lift, bro?

Coa’s curriculum is rooted in Anhalt’s
Seven Traits of Emotional Fitness, which
she developed from her own research
on emotionally fit individuals. (These
people practice self-awareness, empathy,
mindfulness, curiosity, play, resilience,
and communication; Coa’s classes help
you firm up those areas in your own life.)
Coa offers targeted eight-week online
classes like Emotional Fitness for Mental
Wellness, Emotionally Fit Leadership,

ONBACKFALL STYLE VE
GTROTIHNE D

THE MO

Leave your schlubby
WFH clothes in the before

times. The key to post-
lockdown style—offices,
restaurants, concerts!—is
pieces that look dressy but
still deliver serious comfort.
Let ALEXANDER LUDWIG, star
of the new Starz series Heels,
show you how it’s done.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANDRE PERRY

STYLING BY TED STAFFORD

Grooming: Marcos Gonzalez. Production: Katherine Prato Productions. THE THE Versatility is the most important quality in clothing Jacket ($135)
right now, what with the boundaries between work by Ben Sherman;
CARDI-CAN sweater ($90)
MVP and home dissolving. Consider this BenSherman by Tommy
Your old college corduroy bomber jacket the Most Versatile Player in Hilfiger; pants
sweatshirt is super- your wardrobe. Wear it with a T-shirt and jeans to the ($170) by Banana
comfortable, but you game, then switch to tailored wool pants like these Republic;
can’t wear it to the boots ($400) by
office or a dinner date. from Banana Republic when you head to the bars. Wolverine;
The ribbed knit of this watch ($4,725)
Armani Exchange Mixing rugged and refined pieces dresses up your by Tudor.
cardi makes it feel like a
hoodie, but it’s dressier. look without making you seem like a stiff.
Throw it over a T-shirt
and stretch-corduroy
pants for a look that’s
equally appropriate for
work or play or (hey, why
not?) riding your hog
through the streets of

New Orleans.

Knit cardigan ($160) by
Armani Exchange; T-shirt
($68) by Mack Weldon x

Men’s Health Capsule
Collection; pants ($208)
by Citizens of Humanity;
sneakers ($175) by Rothy’s;
Lunar Pilot watch ($995)

by Bulova; sunglasses
($250), Eyewear by
David Beckham.

MEN’S HEALTH | SEPTEMBER 2021 55

BACKFALL STYLE
GTROTIHNE D

THE EASY UPGRADE
Your default is to throw on a ratty tee when you’re running around town, Henley ($128) by
but it’s just as simple to choose a Henley instead and add some subtle style. 7 for All Mankind;
The long sleeves and button neck of this 7 for All Mankind Henley instantly jeans ($90)
dress you up, but—and here’s the kicker—it still feels exactly like a T-shirt. by Levi’s; boots
Wear it with Levi’s dark stretch jeans and a pair of rugged boots to finish off ($445) by Allen
your super-casual-Friday or weekend-warrior look. Edmonds;
watch ($350)
by Citizen.

56 SEPTEMBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH

THE

EVERYWHERE
PANTS

The technical wizards
at Mack Weldon know

exactly how to make
you look your best
whether you’re lifting or
lounging. And that’s why
we collaborated with
them to create these
stretchy, weatherproof
pants that are so
comfortable you’ll forget
your baggy sweats. Wear
them with the body-
mapped fitted tee in
Men’s Health red to show
off your gains all day,
even after you’ve left the

gym behind.

T-shirt ($48), pants ($98),
and bag ($228) by Mack
Weldon x Men’s Health

Capsule Collection;
sneakers ($175) by Rothy’s;

watch ($750) by Bulova.

INTRODUCING:

A new capsule collection
featuring eight versatile
pieces (think T-shirt, polo,
pants, jacket, and more)

for work and play and
everything in between.

Buy them all at
mackweldon.com/

menshealth

MEN’S HEALTH | SEPTEMBER 2021 57

THE BACKFALL STYLE
GTROTIHNE D
RETRO
REBEL

Need to be formal and
fun? Add a collar. A Todd

Snyder bowling-style
button-front knit pulls
double duty—button it up
for an important meeting,
then let those buttons

loose when you hit
happy hour (undershirt
recommended). Play
up the vintage vibes by

pairing it with simple
tailored pants. Park the

sneakers at home—
penny loafers add polish
without effort (or laces).

Polo ($248) by Todd
Snyder; tank ($26, pack of

three) by Hanes; pants
($325) by Closed; loafers
($110) by G. H. Bass & Co;

watch ($6,500) by
TAG Heuer.

STYLE SHIFTER THE UN-SUIT
Sometimes you need to go from the home office to the actual
YOU PROBABLY recognizeAlexander office then to dinner, with no time to change. This unconstructed and
flexible Banana Republic Standard blazer helps you fit in anywhere.
Ludwig from Vikings, on which he Pair it with a soft, stretch long-sleeved tee and slim trousers in the
kicked ass in leather and fur for five same color family to get the stylishness of a suit without the fuss.
seasons. The 29-year-old Canadian
actor says he’s always had a “chame- Motion Tech jacket ($229) by Banana Republic; T-shirt ($68) by Mack Weldon x Men’s
leon” personal style that allows him Health Capsule Collection; pants ($208) by Citizens of Humanity; sneakers ($175) by
to slide into different roles. This Rothy’s; watch ($995) by Bulova.
month, he’s playing the hotheaded
wrestler Ace Spade on Starz’s new
dramedy Heels. “Ace is supposed
to be a rock star in the ring, and
I needed to do that justice,” says
Ludwig, who grew his hair for eight
months, learned all sorts of stunts,
and worked out like a madman.

During our shoot, he showed
some bold moves, including grab-
bing his favorite piece, the Todd
Snyder button-front knit opposite.
“My wife was like, ‘You have to take
this shirt,’ ” he says. “So I begged
the stylist. And he was like, ‘Yeah,
you can have it.’ So I’m wearing that
a lot.” We admire that commitment,
to work and to style. —EVAN ROMANO 

MEN’S HEALTH | SEPTEMBER 2021 59

jusFt tinuoarwnllneyTc,dshaCh6elHlo0itnwRo,gaIu,SLntgThadhOweensPs&ohtHwoOcEtohrRspdeaMe’osnrnEbd:LOaTlOocVrvkgNiawnInigisitzhheihsdilsCiferi.me.

By ANNA PEELE by BEN WATTS
Photographs

60 SEPTEMBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH



THEY ARE WALKING
WITHTHEIRBORDER
TERRIER ALONG THE
HUDSON ON THE WEST
SIDE OF MANHATTAN.
IT’S A LATE-SPRING
MORNING,ANDSMALL
SWELLS OF RIVER ARE
flicking at the wooden posts poking out
of the water, ghosts of an expired pier. “Don’t go too close to the body!” Sherman in his mid-50s and coming into, Meloni Styling: Ted Stafford. Grooming: Danielle Crawford. Makeup: Becca Perkins.
Christopher Meloni asks Sherman, his calls out while dialing. “It’s a crime scene.” says, “a world he doesn’t understand. You Set design: Rob Strauss Studio. Production: AREA1202 Productions.
wife of 26 years, if they’ve gotten a bid know, you’re a white cop of a certain age, Location: Skyline Drive-in NYC.
on demolition—they just purchased an “I know it’s a crime scene!” Meloni you’re not allowed to do a lot of things,
entire floor of a co-op in the West Village, shouts. “I do this for a living!” and you’re being challenged on your
and Sherman, an artist and former bona fides on both sides. How woke are
production designer, is going to lead the Chun-chun. you? And how much of a man are you?”
renovation of the investment property. That is how Meloni merrily turns the
story of a placid morning into the cold One could also ask these questions of
Meloni tells her he’s going to let Scotty open of an episode of Law & Order: SVU, Christopher Meloni. Yet this past spring,
off leash, which Sherman warns is against the corner of the Dick Wolf multiverse Americans seemed to spontaneously and
park rules. “He’ll be fine,” Meloni says, in which he spent 12 years bashing perps. simultaneously cathect on this white man
unclipping the dog and turning back to the He played Detective Elliot Stabler, who of a certain age who plays a cop. Orga-
reno updates. No one recognizes the actor, retired from the force in 2011 due to an nized Crime debuted in April, followed
a rare occurrence lately. After a few min- offscreen contract dispute with NBC. a week later by an on-set photo posted
utes, they wonder: Where is Scotty? Mel- Meloni spins his tale of corpse finding to a neighborhood Facebook group that
oni whistles for him, lowering his NYPD from the 26th floor of a luxury high-rise depicted Meloni’s butt girth appearing to
hat and turning until he sees the wiry little purchased with the money that enticed rival Kim Kardashian’s, and then, a few
dog in the sunlight, sniffing a full plastic him to return to Law & Order in his own days after that, a tweet by Queen Cher:
bag on the waterline. “Get away from spin-off, Organized Crime. Stabler is now
that!” he says, annoyed. “You know, these
fucking guys throw garbage away, and
it just floats up on our shores.” Sherman
grabs Meloni’s extravagantly muscled
bicep. “I don’t think that’s trash,” she says.
Meloni finally understands that the bag is
actually a body bag: There’s been a grisly,
perverted murder. “Call 911,” Meloni says
over his shoulder, running toward what he
now realizes are the remnants of a victim.

62 SEPTEMBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH

CHRISTOPHER MELONI THIS PAGE: SWIMWEAR to grunt through 80 minutes of box jumps,
IS EXCELLENT, BY EMPORIO ARMANI; pullups—Meloni does 25 while I manage
CHARISMATIC ACTOR. zero, which he nonverbally attributes to
“Zaddy!” the Internet cried. And SANDALS BY APL. a total lack of lats and rhomboids with
Zaddy Meloni welcomed his new acolytes ON PAGES 60–61: TANK a grim tap to the outside of my shoulder
onto his thickly quaded lap. When I tell BY JACQUES; SHORTS BY blade—and something called “the saw,”
him he’s having a cultural moment, he AARMY; SNEAKERS BY a move as unpleasant as it sounds. I am
says, accurately, “My ass is.” And Meloni, informed that this is a light workout. Mel-
with his butch blend of off-color blunt- HOKA ONE ONE; SUN- oni is balletic in this beastly show of force,
ness and gleeful mugging, is enjoying GLASSES BY RAY-BAN. though there’s a cost. “You have trauma,”
the high. “It’s cool as shit,” he says of he says, “and your tissue doesn’t go back
having a renaissance in the back third Men’s Health?’ I said, ‘Certainly not at to normal. Then you have a scar, so you
of his life, sipping espresso out of a mug age 60.’ ” In other words, if Meloni and his don’t have flexibility of the tissue to move.
with his face printed on it. “The aspect of melons were going to happen, they should The pliability of it is compromised. So I’m
age comes into play as far as the cover of have happened already. So why does compromised. I feel my compromisation.”
[this magazine] and how I feel about it. A America want him to be its Zaddy now?
friend of mine said, ‘Did you ever think After the workout and an egg-white
in a million years you’d be on the cover of MELONI HATES BULLSHIT.Can’tstand omelet with cheese that has raised
Meloni’s blood sugar to a level at which
it. When I show up at his building ten min- socializing isn’t so burdensome, I
utes early—thinking I’d wait while setting propose we stay in the no-bullshit zone.
up in the gym where we are supposed to do Meloni agrees, though throughout the
a punishing workout together—the door- interview it becomes clear I didn’t need
man says Meloni wants me to meet him in to make the request. During our time
his apartment, where he is scowling and together, he will animatedly point out
rubbing out knots with a Back Buddy mas- that I’ve spat on him, and after I explain
sager. “I’m edgy,” he says by way of greet- what a recurring dream is with an exam-
ing. He’s on hour 12 of an intermittent fast ple of one of my own, he says, “Can I be no
when we head down to the building’s gym bullshit? Let’s not talk about dreams.”

Meloni grew up in a home thick with
silence and bullshit. His parents were
Catholic, and every Sunday he and his
brother and sister would attend Mass
with them. “Going to church was close
to death,” he says. “Saturday afternoon
would roll around, and my weekend was
over. That’s how much I dreaded going to
church.” It was the lack of honesty and
clarity that bothered Meloni so much.
“Who exactly is the big dog?” he says of
the moment of his disillusionment. “I got
a Father, I got a Son, I got a Holy Ghost.
I remember asking a nun about Jesus and
God, and she couldn’t give an answer.
I was about nine, maybe 11. I was like,
‘You know, I feel like I’m done.’ ”

At home, things weren’t any more
transparent. “Living in that house was
like living in a dark cloud,” Meloni says.
“They were so quiet and so reserved, but
you feel it.” Or at least he did—no one
else in the family seemed bothered by the
silent tension. “I just remember always
looking around, like, ‘Am I fucking
crazy?’ ” No, Meloni decided. He was
acknowledging reality. “Get the fuck out
of here,” he says he thought of the entire
situation. “I could feel it.” It is still there,
compromising him. “The trauma of
childhood is real,” Meloni says. “And I
carry that with me.”

MEN’S HEALTH | SEPTEMBER 2021 63

Meloni graduated from the University of Then, suddenly, what Meloni was doing this the fucking theme we’re going with?
Colorado Boulder with a degree in history, started working. In 1997, he got a role on Because I’m not going to stand for it.”)
focusing on contemporary U. S. diplo- one of HBO’s first prestige dramas, Oz,
macy and communism. Not long after he as inmate Chris Keller. A year later, he Meloni was being crushed by the
graduated, he says, “the Berlin Wall fell, debuted on SVU. Just after taking on the success he sought, a dog getting run over
so it was all a moot point.” Obsolete degree leading role, Meloni woke up in the mid- by a car he’d managed to catch. “When
in hand, he went to New York to train at dle of the night trembling uncontrollably. my career started to happen, I could feel
an acting studio, then embarked on more He got out of bed so that he wouldn’t wake it,” he says of the powerful position he’s
than a decade of mostly unsuccessful audi- Sherman during what he thought might attained again. “But I didn’t want to trust
tions. When they would go badly—which be his dying moments. “When something it, because I had struggled for so long—or
was almost every time—Meloni would weird and out of the norm happens, I don’t at least it felt like I’d struggled for so long—
stand in front of a mirror in the apartment panic,” Meloni says. “I always sit with it and I didn’t want it to go away. I don’t know
he shared with three others and scream and go, All right, let’s experience what’s how many people get this opportunity to
at himself: “What the fuck are you doing? happening, because getting tenser is not dream a dream and have it come to frui-
You get the opportunity to be in the room going to help the situation.” When he tion. Because everyone does the first part,
to take this job, and this is what you do? realized it was merely a deluge of anxiety, but to have it come to fruition then starts
This is the best? That’s what you did? You he let it subside and went back to sleep. a whole other journey of Now what? And
sucked!” He demanded he answer for his This occurred two more times over the What is this? And How do you manage?”
failure. “What are you doing?” he shouted next few months. (“Is this ‘Chris Meloni’s Meloni knows this is a top-shelf problem.
at the person he knew could do this but just unstable’?” he asks about the thesis of “This doesn’t fall under the category of
kept blowing it. “What are you doing?” this article in his brusque deadpan. “Is burden or anything like that,” he says.
“It’s just a new world. You’re so used to the
old way of: I have to keep this mindset and
I’ll just dream a dream. But if the dream
actually happens, then you’re like, Okay,
now we have to manage the dream. We
have to . . . what do we do, actually?”

Around the time he was shaking
himself awake, Meloni was called back to
the church. It was Christmas Eve, and he
and Sherman had just moved into a SoHo
loft and were about to start a family. His
career was exploding, and he was won-
dering what that meant for him. While he
was out for a walk, it began to snow, just
enough for the sidewalk to glitter under
the streetlights. Meloni remembers
thinking, “Oh my God, if this is not a sign
to come back to the fold. . . . I was legit-
imately pensive, feeling the moment.
I was just overwhelmed with the love,
the beauty of it, the spirituality of it, the
potential of it. I remember almost float-
ing to Mass.” The church was packed, and
Meloni joined the flock. The father came
out, and everyone stood, ready to receive
the Word. And lo: “This guy could not
have been more bored, more uninvested,
more by rote,” Meloni says. “He might as
well have been reading the phone book.
And I went, ‘There you go. You’re just as
tired as you were when I left you.’ ” Meloni
would have to find his own answers.

LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME

has been a more successful return to a
sacred institution. Meloni left in the first
place when contract negotiations broke
down. He says he told NBC, “Well, if it’s
this”—meaning this amount of money—

THIS PAGE: HENLEY
BY JOE’S; JEANS BY
JOHN VARVATOS; BOOTS

BY WOLVERINE.
OPPOSITE: TANK BY
MACK WELDON; JEANS
BY JOHN VARVATOS.

“then this is the way to go around so you Canyon. He departed the stolid world of way, then turned to me with this sly
don’t have to pay this”—meaning this procedurals, bringing the weirdness that smile and said, ‘There’s kind of a thing
larger amount of money that Meloni emanates from him in person onto the about my butt. People are really into it.’ ”
wanted. He got creative. “My thought was: screen, as the fridge-humping camp- Meloni was in small projects for which,
Instead of 22 episodes, bring me back for cafeteria chef in Wet Hot American he says, “you’re a little sapling trying
nine episodes, or bring me back for 18 Summer and as the star of a two-season to find the light.” But what he calls the
episodes. They literally came to me on a Syfy show called Happy!, which he tries “800-pound gorilla” of Law & Order kept
Thursday night and said, ‘This is the deal. to entice me to watch by screening a scene stomping through.
We want the answer by tomorrow. It’s our in which his character has pink cartoon
way or no way.’ ” And that, to Meloni, was diarrhea. He had a minor but excellent Then in February 2020, Dick Wolf
some bullshit. He says he told them, “I part as the stepfather in Marielle Heller’s summoned Meloni to Burbank and
don’t want to fuck around with you guys. directorial debut, The Diary of a Teenage proposed he return as Elliot Stabler on a
This is what I want. If you can’t do it, that’s Girl. Heller says she initially found him series built around the character, who is
fine. Let’s figure out my exit.” (That may “intimidating”: “I remember my first avenging his wife’s murder by the Mafia.
be the downside of the “no bullshit” dic- phone call with Chris, and thinking, Wolf says he’d wanted to reunite with
tum. Despite his decades at NBC, Meloni God, he’s so intense and gruff.” During Meloni “since the day he left” Law &
says he has few friends there. “I’m just not production, she discovered the sillier side Order, and he finally got his wish.
a showbiz guy,” he says, crediting that to of Meloni. “There was a moment when
being “horrible” at schmoozing.) we were filming and this fan came up to It worked. Organized Crime is the 12th
him and asked to take a picture of his most watched TV show in America and
Meloni spent a few of his post-exit butt,” Heller says. “He posed in a funny the fifth most watched scripted series.
years living in L. A. at the base of Runyon Meloni owns two large homes in Manhat-
tan and a lake house where he can water-
“WHEN SOMETHING WEIRD HAPPENS, I DON’T ski. There’s a better-than-decent chance
PANIC. I ALWAYS SIT WITH IT AND GO, ALL RIGHT, his ass is trending right now.
LET’S EXPERIENCE WHAT’S HAPPENING.”
People missed Meloni’s Stabler—his
banter with Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia
Benson, which always stayed respectful
and nonharassing; the fact that he was
obviously capable of hurting others but
only ever did so when they were bad, bad
people; the well-meaning paternalism

MEN’S HEALTH | SEPTEMBER 2021 65

“EXERCISE IS THERAPY, CHURCH, MEDITATION, THERE ARE MANY paintingsinMeloni’s
AND A KIND OF PERSONAL REENGAGEMENT
WHERE THE BRAIN AND THE BODY GET TO TALK.” home, but two stand out. They are nearly
life-size portraits of Meloni and Sherman,
that made you feel like “If we’re stuck comfortable with it being depicted rendered by artist Andrew Myers on what
with the patriarchy, at least this pow- onscreen. He’s rabidly protective of his appear to be gigantic pieces of ripped-out
erful white man has good intentions.” family—the only times he goes off the binder paper. Around the figure of Meloni
Organized Crime’s showrunner, Ilene record during our conversation are when are assessments, like what you might see
Chaiken, who also created The L Word, we talk about them. And the sole time in the comments section of an elementary-
says, “He’s a good one. If we have to have Meloni refuses to answer a question is school report card, which the artist wrote
a daddy, let it be him.” when it seems like they are the answer: down after talking to him. Meloni, like
When I ask if he’ll tell me why he went Elliot Stabler, is not much for self-
Meloni seems to share some of Sta- back to Law & Order, Meloni oscillates reflection; when I ask him how he feels
bler’s core qualities, or at least grapple his head along the no axis and says, “It after our workout, he has a hard time
with them. When his character in The felt good to have to make that decision— answering. “It’s very strange,” he says after
Diary of a Teenage Girl was rewritten which was a big yes-or-no decision—with a pause so long I assumed he either hadn’t
to have an affair with his stepdaughter’s a sense of clarity and a sense of certain heard or was ignoring the question. “I
15-year-old friend, he called Sherman things being correct.” never talk [about] or discuss it.” Exercise,
to make sure their daughter would be he says, is “therapy, church, meditation,
and a kind of personal reengagement
where the brain and the body get to talk

66 SEPTEMBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH

TANK BY HANES; GLUTE CIRCUIT Thanks to his love of running and waterskiing, Christopher
SWEATPANTS BY TODD Meloni already had strong glutes. But throughout the win-
SNYDER X CHAMPION; ter, the Law & Order icon used a bodybuilding split that

SNEAKERS BY ASICS. (HOW MELONI GOT BACK) emphasized his lower body and further sculpted his glutes
(as the Internet noticed). “Chris had some permutation [of
leg training] every day,” says his trainer, Matt Pietrantonio, NSCA-C.P.T. Add these four moves to
your workouts for serious glute gains. —EBENEZER SAMUEL, C.S.C.S.

1  FRONT-LOADED KB GOOD MORNING 3  BARBELL SUMO DEADLIFT
Stand holding a kettlebell at your chest, With your feet wider than shoulder width
core tight. Push your butt back and bend and pointing out, bend at the waist and grab
at the waist, lowering your torso until your the bar with a shoulder-width overhand grip.
chest is nearly parallel to the floor. Pause, Squeeze your glutes, push the floor away,
then stand, squeezing your glutes. That’s and stand. Pause, then lower. That’s 1 rep;
1 rep; do 3 sets of 15. do 3 sets of 4 to 6.

2  HAMSTRING WALKOUT 4  BARBELL HIP THRUST
Lie on your back, heels near your butt, Sit with your shoulder blades against
feet flat. Lift your butt and lower back an inch a bench, heels near your butt, holding a bar-
from the floor, then slowly walk your feet bell with an overhand grip, directly over your
away. When your knees are nearly straight, waist and an inch off the floor. Squeeze your
pause, then walk back. That’s 1 rep; do 3 sets glutes, driving your hips high. Pause, then
of 10, taking at least 2 seconds per rep. lower. That’s 1 rep; do 3 sets of 12.

Ben Mounsey-Wood (illustrations) to one another”—apparently so he doesn’t he didn’t know the first time: “There are intoning the existential question of success
have to speak about it himself. Still, Meloni bigger things, more important things. I with the confidence of someone who has
found being interviewed by the artist ther- know how important this is to me, but I very literally restricted his fructose con-
apeutic. “[Intense]ly funny,” the painting have a clearer vision of life. I know a little sumption to achieve the tuchus we extol.
says. “What/who are you protecting?” “You more about love. I know a little more about “How much am I allowed to enjoy this?”
seem to be questioning the questions!?” real pain. I know about joy. I know better
management skills. As you go through life, While we look out over the Hudson and
At the top of the painting is a letter you get a clearer understanding of things, Meloni eats peanut butter, we talk about
grade, which Meloni assigned himself. B+. of your holes and of your gifts.” the flow state—how sometimes, like right
Why didn’t he give himself an A? “Because now for him, you hit all the green lights.
I don’t know what an A looks like,” he says. Meloni finally asks: What is a “Zaddy,” When I tell him I’ve been killing flies with
exactly? “I just thought it was a cutie incredible accuracy lately, he says, “I
But Meloni no longer wakes up in thing,” he says, as adorable as a hulking catch flies with my ass cheeks, like a Venus
the middle of the night terrified by the 195-pound man can be. I explain that a flytrap.” He giggles wildly. “I’m clever
thought of failing. If things fall apart—if Zaddy is a distinguished vintage. “Daddy with my ass cheeks!” he says, cackling.
Organized Crime eventually gets canceled plus?” he asks. “Daddy platinum?” Then Moments later, a fly lands on the table.
(it was renewed for season 2) or he comes he gets why he couldn’t be our Zaddy Meloni raises his hands. There’s a clap,
to another impasse with NBC or, God before now. “It’s reserved for an older gen- then silence, and Meloni is smiling, once
forbid, his glutes pancake—it will be okay. tleman,” Meloni says in wonder, his cobalt again looking down at a dead body.
“This time around with the Law & Order eyes widening. This moment couldn’t
ride, I’m not stressed by: Will it go well? have happened until now, because Meloni ANNA PEELE is a culture writer and
Will it not go well? Not that I know how it’s wasn’t yet who he is now. “How much am editor who has written features for
going to go. Just that, eh, just ride. Just do, I allowed to taste of this fruit?” he says, Esquire, GQ, and New York Magazine.
just be.” Because Meloni knows now what

MEN’S HEALTH | SEPTEMBER 2021 67

MEN’S HEALTH 

NFL 2021///  /// 

How Travis Kelce—the

toughest player at the
toughest position in
football—forges speed,
strength, agility, and

grit. Plus, 15 other

muscle, recovery, and
nutrition tips from
the NFL’s fittest men
and sharpest minds.

Featuring DK Metcalf,
Lavonte David, Justin
Herbert, and more.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY

ARTURO OLMOS

First and

The Fitness Secrets

Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce
has racked up five 1,000-yard

receiving seasons—and has
missed just two games in his

seven-year NFL career.

#Goals

of NFL All-Pros

MEN’S HEALTH | SEPTEMBER 2021 69

GET NFLFIT

TRAVIS KELCE and other NFL tight ends showcase
all-around athleticism.

Here’s How to Train
Like Them

BY ANNA KATHERINE CLEMMONS

HIS RIGHT outerhipwasn’t receivers have more pure speed, offensive It’s the toolbox every guy can use.
firing. And Travis Kelce wasn’t linemen are bigger and stronger, and cor- Think about it: You don’t need Olympic-
having it. nerbacks can instantly change direction. sprinter speed every day. But you do
need a dose of explosive energy to catch
It was a hot June morning in Kansas But from Kelce to Tampa Bay legend Rob that train you’re about to miss, a burst of
agility to keep up with your kids during
City, and the Chiefs’ tight end was mid- Gronkowski to hyped Atlanta Falcons a game of tag, and the strength to pick
up that Amazon box at your door. And
way through a workout. Minutes earlier, rookie Kyle Pitts, modern tight ends have Kelce’s cerebral, nuanced approach to
fitness can help you build that while bul-
Kelce had dashed five yards upfield, all those traits—and more. letproofing your body against injury, too.

planted his right foot, and cut across the Every Sunday, the 31-year-old Kelce KELCE BEGAN HONING his fitness
approach long before he was catching
field for a catch. Now he was running the needs enough speed to run past defensive passes from Patrick Mahomes and push-
ing the Chiefs to back-to-back Super Bowl
exact same play, but this time he took two backs and enough lateral quickness and appearances. In the fall of 2005, when he
was a sophomore at Cleveland Heights
baby steps before his cut and followed raw power to block giant defensive line- High in Ohio, his gym persona, “Trainer
Trav,” was born. Kelce failed French class
with another catch. men. He needs the core rigidity to shrug the previous year, which automatically
made him ineligible to play football.
The catch didn’t matter; Kelce was off would-be tacklers and the jumping
Except Kelce’s father convinced him
thinking only about that sleepy right outer ability to pluck passes out of the air. “Ask to work with the team behind the scenes.
So Trainer Trav taped ankles and gave
hip, which stabilizes your knee when you yourself, ‘What is a tight end?’ ” says out water on the sidelines of games. “That
was the start of my appreciation for the
change direction, preventing injury and Kelce. “It’s not just one position or one anatomy of the body, understanding
being healthy and at your peak athleti-
helping you explode. He walked up to his thing. We’re like the utility guy. What- cism at all times,” he says.

trainer, Alex Skacel, and pointed to his ever you need done, we have to be able to It blossomed when Kelce started
playing at the University of Cincinnati
hip. He was done running routes. Kelce have that attribute or that ability to just in 2009. Early on, he suffered a shoulder
injury and was assigned to work with
finished with 45-second side planks with have success.” a physical therapist. Instead of going
through the motions of rehab, Kelce
his upper leg raised. “It’s on now,” he told

Skacel. A day later, he was back to running

routes. “I’ve really focused on the small

stuff that keeps the big picture in mind,” Shot on location at Freight House Fitness, Kansas City, Missouri.

Kelce says. “The rehab, the prehab, and

what you can do to stay on the field and at “I’ve really

your peak athleticism.”

It’s all that small stuff (yes, really)
that turned Travis Kelce into the six-five,

focused on the255-poundmanimalheisnow,aplayer
who enters the 2021 season as the NFL’s

small stuff thatbesttightendafterthreestraightseasons

of 90-plus catches and six Pro Bowl keeps the big
appearances. He’s also one of the NFL’s

best real-world athletes at a position that’s

picture in mind.”finallygettingthecredititdeserves.Sure,

70 SEPTEMBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH

To strengthen
his core and

ready his body
to go hard,

Travis Kelce
does (clock-

wise from
top left) mon-

ster walks,
battle-rope
waves, Pallof
presses, and
depth jumps.

NFL 2021 MEN’S HEALTH ///  /// 

mentally cataloged the exercises that therapist,” and Florida-based Tony been very closed as an athlete my entire
would build the muscles around his scap- Villani—help Kelce do this, and the tight life,” he says. “So what that does is it puts
ula, protecting his shoulders. He came to end contributes to those discussions by the AC joint at a very vulnerable position
understand that he needed strong rhom- dissecting every single pass pattern he if I get hit the wrong way. Doing a lot of
boids and rotator-cuff muscles. “I was runs, just as he did on that June morning. trap stuff, scapular stuff, lats, and really
locking them in to where if I got a hold of a But he refuses to do it on some 24/7/365 triceps . . . peels back more so that your
big, 300-pound guy and he’s throwing me schedule. After the Chiefs fell to the posture is better and your overall athletic
all over the place like a rag doll, it keeps Tampa Bay Buccaneers in February, Kelce build is in a more safe position.”
my shoulders protected,” he says. took more than a month to do anything
but fitness, an off-season tradition that he Skacel supplements those exercises
By the time he was in the NFL, Kelce says readies his body to perform optimally with consistent cupping and dry-needling
wanted to focus on training his stabiliz- once he dives back into training. “The sessions designed to relax Kelce’s tightest,
ing muscles. That jibed perfectly with thing is that the six months you’re in the sorest muscles, both during the season and
Skacel, whom he began working with in season, you focus on it so much,” he says. in the off-season. Dry-needling and cup-
2017. Sure, he did exercises like squats, “That’s a huge part for me to just rewind ping encourage blood flow to muscles to
lunges, and rows. But he also got a heavy and regroup and just relax.” help speed healing. But instead of relaxing
dose of lighter-weight motions. (See after each round of therapy, Kelce imme-
“Real NFL Muscle” below.) “We don’t Once Kelce starts his off-season, he diately gets up and works through a light
want Travis’s body to rely only on the big- focuses intently on those shoulders, movement for ten to 12 reps to drive even
ger muscles,” Skacel says. “All the things a trouble spot for him throughout his more blood flow. So if Skacel dry-needles
that make him great come off of that career. (He had shoulder-labral-repair the tight end’s front shoulder, Kelce might
stable foundation that he’s built.” surgery in 2017.) Trainer Trav happily do no-weight overhead presses or lateral
pops out to discuss them, too. “I’ve been raises to stimulate the joint even more.
A pair of trainers—Skacel, who a very bicep and chest and deltoid—I’ve
describes himself as a “sports physical It’s all made him one of the league’s
must durable players; he’s missed just two
REAL THE STRONGEST, most durable NFL games since 2014. “He invested in his body
bodies are built with more than and he really, knock on wood, hasn’t had to
NFL squats, lunges, and deadlifts. Insert deal with anything major,” Skacel says.
these stabilizing-muscle moves from
MUSCLE Alex Skacel into your workouts to stay ALL THOSE SMALL movements prep
healthy (and get fast and strong, too). Kelce’s body to train all out. He does that in
three phases. Early each off-season, he’ll
▲WALL SLIDE ▲SINGLE-LEG ▲ SINGLE-ARM train his “get off,” exploding from a non- Brown Bird Design (illustrations). Getty Images (Metcalf, David).
moving stance. Then he’ll train “immedi-
Lie with your right side on BOX SQUAT SNATCH ate acceleration,” focusing on picking up
a bench, back and legs speed as he runs routes. Finally, he’ll train
plastered to a wall, legs Start seated on a bench Stand with a dumbbell his body to stop and start, something it
slightly bent, wearing or box, core tight. Lift at your hip. Push your must do whether he’s running a route or
socks. Your heels should your right foot off the butt back slightly, then blocking a giant lineman.
be against the wall. Press floor. Lean forward stand explosively, pulling
your left heel into the just slightly. Stand up, the dumbbell upward. Once he has started his off-season
wall hard; without losing squeezing your glutes. Once it reaches shoulder training, he never misses a workout.
contact with the wall, Without putting your right height, punch it overhead, Skacel remembers traveling with him to
open your leg as wide as foot back on the floor, straightening your arm. Paris Fashion Week in 2019, and after a
possible. Bring it back slowly lower to sit on the Lower the weight to your day full of shows and events, at 12:30 A.M.
down. That’s 1 rep; do 3 box again, then stand shoulder, then to your hip. the pair realized they hadn’t trained.
sets of 15 per side. again. That’s 1 rep; do 3 That’s 1 rep; do 3 sets of 6 Kelce’s fix: They walked to a bridge
sets of 10 per side. to 8 per side. that crossed over a canal and ran eight
400-meter sprints. “I don’t know anyone
who would spend a full day at these run-
way shows and then be like, ‘It’s 1:00 A.M.;
let’s go run and work sprints and speed
work,’ ” says Skacel. “It was so important
for him to know he’s taking advantage of
every moment he has to get better.”

Sometimes, that just means getting his
right outer hip firing.

ANNA KATHERINE CLEMMONS is a national
freelance writer and an assistant professor of
media studies at the University of Virginia.

72 SEPTEMBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH

SPEED YOUR BODY UP! NFL

SPEED

Upgrade your acceleration and

brakes like DK METCALF.

THIS PAST SPRING, Seattle Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf, 23, decided to test his
speed against world-class sprinters in an international track meet. But while he’s
one of football’s best deep threats, his 100-meter results weren’t impressive: He
finished in ninth place in his heat (10.37 seconds). Game speed doesn’t translate
into sprint competition, says Metcalf’s trainer, Nic Hill. Metcalf doesn’t focus on
straight-line speed at his day job. Receivers must run fast—and change direction
quickly, too. So he trains for speed but must also refine his ability to slow down. “He
needs to be not just fast but able to stop on a dime, change direction, and reaccel-
erate at a high-level speed,” says Hill. Master these drills and you’ll do both, too.

. . . AND THEN SLOW IT DOWN!

1. Trap Bar Deadlift 2. Quick Jumps 1. Split Drop 2. The Runaround

Stand inside a loaded trap bar. Metcalf trains his ability to Start standing, feet together. Mark off a 5-yard distance and a
Tighten your abs, push your land and then explode quickly Jump a few inches off the floor. 10-yard distance. Sprint 5 yards
butt back, lower your torso, and with hurdle hops, spacing four Land with your left foot forward as hard as possible, then slow
grasp the bar’s handles. Stand 36-inch-high hurdles about 2 and right foot back, lowering down quickly. (It may take you
explosively, squeezing your feet apart. He’ll jump over each quickly into a reverse lunge. a few steps when you first do
glutes. Do 3 sets of 3 reps. Don’t one, land, then take off over Stop your back knee before it this.) Backpedal back to the start,
focus on lifting heavy, says Hill. the next hurdle as quickly as hits the floor. Pause, then press then sprint 10 yards. Slow down
Instead, work to lift the weight possible. No hurdles? Use any 4 back to standing. Do 3 sets of 5 quickly again. Walk back to the
quickly every time. obstacles you have. Do 3 sets. reps per side. start. Do 4 sets.

NFL MUSCLE + EXPLOSIVENESS

STRENGTH The exercise David credits for his
ability to explode on the field is the
Build all-purpose muscle power clean, a lift that has you hinge
forward, grasp a loaded barbell on the
like LAVONTE DAVID. floor with both hands, and quickly
hoist it onto your shoulders. Skip the
NFL PLAYERS often create entire careers around one ath- barbell and learn the move with dumb-
letic trait. But linebacker Lavonte David of the Super Bowl– bells: Grasp 2 dumbbells on the floor,
champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers can’t do that. Lineback- then explosively stand, rising onto
ers need weight-room strength, speed, explosive agility, your toes and pulling the dumbbells
and lateral quickness. To develop all these skills, David, 31, upward to shoulder height.
builds his regimen around exercises like the power clean. Squat down slightly to “catch” the
Master it, David-style, and enjoy the power. dumbbells on your shoulders. Do 3
sets of 5 reps twice a week.

NFL 2021 MEN’S HEALTH ///  /// 

NFL NFL Alex Lau (smoothie). Getty Images (remaining).

FOCUS FUEL

Handle pressure situations like Upgrade to a
vegan protein shake
L. A. Chargers QB JUSTIN HERBERT.
like LAWRENCE GUY.
ON EVERY PLAY, Justin Herbert, 23, must ignore on-field chaos and
focus on processing data. He does it well, too, which is why he threw YES, YOU NEED protein after your
31 TDs last year. His three moves for focus also work off the field. They workout, but no, that doesn’t
just might help with your next quick-trigger decision at your job.
amounts of chicken breast. New
BREATHE.
Lawrence Guy, 31, who is vegan,
Hours before a game, Herbert does this Wim Hof breathing drill for prefers this ultra-filling postlift
calm. Start by inhaling, then exhale through your mouth. Inhale shake, which he’s guzzled after
again into your belly, then exhale. Do this 30 to 40 times. Inhale every workout for the past two
one more time. Exhale, then hold your breath for as long as you can.
postworkout meal for a serious
SEE IT. dose of good fats and protein.

When Herbert played at the University of Oregon, he worked INGREDIENTS
through mindset programs. “The night before a game, [strength
coach Aaron Feld] would have us visualize every play,” he says. A (MAKES 2 SERVINGS)
day before a big meeting or event, try to picture the entire thing. 1 CUP ZUCCHINI, CHOPPED
2 CUPS FRESH COCONUT MEAT
TRUST YOUR PREP. 1 CUP CAULIFLOWER FLORETS
½ CUP CHAI CONCENTRATE
In the heat of the moment, Herbert doesn’t work to process each 2 TBSP MCT OIL
individual bit of data. He relies on the instincts he built during the 2 SCOOPS HEMP PROTEIN POWDER
week of practice and film study and lets his body react. “Overthink- 2 CUPS COCONUT MILK
ing can slow you down,” he says. Nutrition: 574 calories, 13g protein,
29g carbs (10g fiber), 49g fat
74 SEPTEMBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH
NFL

ADVOCATES

Five years after Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling

protest against racial injustice, these

faces are leading the charge for a more
inclusive and socially active NFL.

NFL

TOUGHNESS
Bounce back from injury like SOLOMON THOMAS.

B EFORE 2020, SolomonThomashadneverhadsurgery.ButinFebruary
2020, the then 49ers defensive lineman tore his labrum. About a month
later, he underwent surgery for a bone spur in his ankle. He managed to
recover and start the 2020 season. But after only two games, Thomas
tore his ACL, ending his season. Adding injury to injury? His fourth surgery,
in December 2020, for yet another bone spur. “I was healthy for maybe three or
four weeks—total—in 2020,” Thomas, 26, says. “It was a long year.”

Not just for his body, either. To get ready for the 2021 season, Thomas, who’s
now with the Las Vegas Raiders, had to rebuild his mind, learning to trust a
body that had betrayed him. Here’s Thomas’s five-step process for forging the
grit to endure psychologically.

1 23 45

AP Images (Nassib, Mayhew, Javadifar). Getty Images (remaining). ACKNOWLEDGE DO MENTAL JOURNAL RECOVER AT RESPECT YOUR
THE PAIN MUSCLE REPS YOUR PROGRESS A GENTLE PACE TIMELINE
AND SETBACKS
Thomas tore his ACL on Thomas began his rehab By December, Thomas “You can’t expect the
September 20 against after two weeks, getting It’s easy to see phys- was ahead of schedule, process to be perfect;
the Jets and underwent physical therapy and ical progress during squatting with weight. it’s six to nine months,”
surgery two weeks later. working to regain range rehab, but Thomas Then he felt a pinch Thomas says. He
Days afterward, he had of motion in his knee. needed to see mental in his ankle. He had understood that after
a good cry. “I started He also made time daily progress as well. So he another bone spur. After his second bone spur:
bawling,” he says. “I was to improve his mental began journaling once surgery to correct that, Even if you’re ahead
like, ‘I’m so sick of being state, doing guided a day. He’d start each he returned to training— of schedule, you must
in pain.’ I couldn’t see meditations from his morning by recording with a slower mentality. expect hiccups. “It’s a
a light at the end of the mental coach, Graham daily affirmations, then “A key is balance,” he grind,” he says.
tunnel.” The cry helped Betchart. (He used the he wrote down how he says. “You have to be
him feel better mentally, Headspace app, too.) was feeling (good, bad, intentional about having
and for good reason: “The meditations,” he indifferent). that reset and energy
Research has shown says, “are a great reset. to focus again.”
crying can help alleviate [I remind myself] ‘This is
perceptions of pain. a temporary feeling.’ ”

Carl Nassib Robert Saleh Andrew Berry and Maral Javadifar Najeh Davenport
Martin Mayhew and Kevin Henry
In late June, the fifth- The ex–49ers Javadifar is entering
year defensive lineman, assistant coach, who Berry is the Cleveland her third year as assistant The retired players led
who plays for the Raid- spent 19 years working Browns’ second-year strength and conditioning a lawsuit that made the
his way up the ranks, GM; Mayhew is the Wash- coach of the Tampa Bay NFL end race-norming,
ers, became the first is now the Jets’ head ington Football Team’s which evaluated demen-
active NFL player to first-year GM. They’re Buccaneers. She’s one tia claims using separate
come out as gay, making man—and the first two of the five Black GMs of a handful of female standards for white and
the announcement Muslim head coach strength coaches in the Black former players.
in the NFL.
on Instagram. in the NFL. league.

MEN’S HEALTH | SEPTEMBER 2021 75

SWEET.
SOUR.
SPICY.

THE DIY GUIDE TO

MODERN CHINESE FOOD

THAT’S SUPER FRESH,
MOUTHWATERING, AND REALLY
GOOD FOR YOU. By Clarissa Wei

PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHINESE FOOD IN AMERICA

ALEX LAU has a long history of being associated
with cheap and hearty takeout. Platters
of chop suey dressed with MSG and
sugar-glazed chicken are the classic
heavyweights of Chinese American
cuisine, often served with a side of
deep-fried wontons or a fortune cookie.
For decades, this food—tasty and
wonderful in its own right, if not the
most healthful—was the only Chinese
food Americans knew about, thanks
largely to generations of immigrants
from one small part of the vast country.

“For over a century, from the time of the gold rush
through the 1960s, the Chinese population in Amer-
ica was mainly Cantonese, as was Chinese food in
America,” says David R. Chan, a food historian who
has eaten at more than 7,500 Chinese restaurants in
America. In the 19th century, droves of immigrants
from the southeast region of China adapted their
dishes for the American palate using a limited rep-
ertoire of ingredients—the high-carb, low-cost food
that became associated with the cuisine as a whole.

It stuck around largely because—guess what—
Americans have an affinity for high-carb, low-cost
food (pizza, fries, the hot dog). It wasn’t until the
1970s and ’80s, after the U. S. reestablished diplo-
matic relations with mainland China, that other Chi-
nese peoples started immigrating to America and
new provincial dishes began to appear. And, in many
cases, it wasn’t until the American-born children of
these immigrants grew up to open their own restau-
rants that this new cuisine—one that’s melding
authentic recipes with surprising new flavors and a
greater variety of nutritious ingredients—was born.

Consider Johnny Lee in Los Angeles, who spe-
cializes in Hong Kong–style barbecue informed by
southern-U. S. barbecue culture. Over in Massa-
chusetts, Nadia Liu Spellman serves an updated
version of her Fujianese mom’s spicy cucumber sal-
ad—crispy chunks of English cucumber marinated
in umami-tinged vinegar and tongue-tingling
chiles. They’re just two of the mavericks leading
the new wave of Chinese cuisine—a bit healthier, a
bit tastier, and still totally satisfying.

MEN’S HEALTH | SEPTEMBER 2021 77

THE DIY GUIDE TO MODERN CHINESE FOOD

FIRST: GATHER YOUR GET COOKING

INGREDIENTS We took FOUR AMAZING RECIPES from some of the
top modern Chinese restaurants in America and had them
The must-haves, the good-to-haves, and simplified for the home cook. Each one will completely alter
the one thing you don’t really need. how you think about Chinese food. And, put together, they
make a spectacular four-course meal.
Gold Plum
Chinkiang Vinegar GATHER YOUR TOOLS

Chinese black vinegar is Its steep, sloping walls can han- Wüsthof Classic 7"
known for its malty-earthy dle large amounts of ingredients. Chinese Cleaver
taste. “It has a deeper fla-
vor than white vinegar, but This model is lightweight and This heavy-duty blade cuts through
it’s a bit lighter than bal- comes preseasoned, which thick chunks of meat and bone with
samic,” says Jason Wang of ease. Made out of high-carbon stain-
Xi’an Famous Foods in New helps it retain its nonstickiness. less steel, it’s an investment, but you
York City. It helps cut the $65; taylorandng.com can also use it to scale fish or smash
heft of fat in heavier dishes.
garlic cloves. $200; wusthof.com
Juan Cheng
Pixian Douban Zebra
Stainless
This fermented spicy broad- Steel Spatula
bean paste is cured with
chile peppers, flour, and salt. A good metal
Choose one that comes from spatula helps
Pixian, the district where the
paste originated, for a deep, you scrape
unique umami that’s earthy, the sticky bits
salty, and sweet. off your wok.
Plus, it’s easier
Pagoda Shaoxing to clean than
Huadiao Cooking Wine
wood. $12;
The Chinese equivalent amazon.com
of dry cooking sherry,
Shaoxing wine adds Joyce Chen 10" rice perfectly in 40
complexity to marinades $220; zojirushi.com
and stir-fries. Bamboo Steamer

The Mala Market The wooden steamer
Sichuan Peppercorns coaxes dumplings and sea-

These provide a tongue- food to moist perfection.
numbing sensation in $21; amazon.com
dishes, says Harvey Liu of
Duck House. The Mala
Market insists on fresh,
quality peppercorns.

Kadoya Pure
Sesame Oil

Sesame oil is usually
added at the end of cook-
ing and provides a nutty
finish. It is also fantastic
with desserts—try adding
a drizzle of it over vanilla
ice cream. Really.

Lee Kum Kee
Hoisin Sauce

The best stuff contains
soybeans, sesame, chile
peppers, and garlic and
tastes incredible in smoky
meat marinades.

Where to Buy: You can find most of this
at your local Asian grocery store. If you
don’t have one near you, order online:

sayweee.com/en
freshgogo.com
themalamarket.com

78 SEPTEMBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH

Food styling: Tyna Hoang. Prop styling: Stephanie Yeh. Courtesy brands (products). THE FIERY FIX:

From: Sichuan Province
The lip-tingling, slow-build burn of
this entrée has made it a best seller
at Duck House Chinese Restaurant
in Portland, Oregon, where it’s
most often eaten over rice. Duck
House co-owner Harvey Liu rec-
ommends washing it all down with
either a harder cider or an IPA.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

2 TBSP SHAOXING COOKING WINE
1 TBSP SOY SAUCE
½ LB THINLY SLICED BEEF BRISKET
2 TBSP CORNSTARCH
1 CUP BEAN SPROUTS
2 LARGE LEAVES FROM A NAPA CABBAGE,

CUT INTO 2-INCH PIECES
2 TBSP VEGETABLE OIL
1 TBSP MINCED GINGER
2 CLOVES GARLIC
1 SCALLION, CUT INTO 2-INCH PIECES
4 DRIED CHILE PEPPERS
1 TBSP SICHUAN PEPPERCORNS,

FINELY GROUND
3 TBSP SPICY BROAD-BEAN PASTE
1 TBSP WARMED VEGETABLE OIL, FINELY

MINCED SCALLION, MINCED GARLIC,
AND CRUSHED RED-PEPPER FLAKES
FOR GARNISH

HOW TO MAKE IT

1. In a large bowl, stir together the
cooking wine and soy sauce. Add
the brisket and marinate for 15 min-
utes. Add 2 Tbsp water and stir in
the cornstarch. Set aside.
2. In a large pot of boiling water,
cook the bean sprouts and cabbage
till slightly wilted, 2 to 3 minutes.
Strain and rinse under cold water.
Place in a serving bowl.
3. In a wok over medium heat, heat
the vegetable oil. Add the ginger,
garlic, scallion, chile peppers, and
Sichuan peppercorns until aromatic,
about 1 minute. Add the spicy bean
paste and 2 cups water. Bring to a
boil, then reduce heat to low and
cover for 10 minutes.
4. Strain out the solid ingredients
and add the beef, simmering until
just cooked through, about 1 minute.
Transfer the beef to the serving bowl
with bean sprouts and cabbage.
Ladle in some broth. Garnish and
serve. Feeds 2

MEN’S HEALTH | SEPTEMBER 2021 79

THE BEST BARBECUE
YOU’VE NEVER HAD:

From: Hong Kong
This protein-rich meal comes
from chef Johnny Lee of Pearl
River Deli in Los Angeles. It’s
inspired by the fast-casual
Chinese-barbecue shops of Hong
Kong, where glistening cuts of
roast pork and poultry hang in
window displays. “My memories
are eating this out of Styrofoam
boxes over rice,” Lee says.
“This recipe works with most
cuts of pork, including pork loin,
tenderloin—even ribs.”

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

1¼ CUPS SUGAR
¼ CUP HOISIN SAUCE, PLUS 1 TBSP
2½ TBSP CHU HOU PASTE (OR ADD

2½ TBSP MORE HOISIN SAUCE
IF YOU CAN’T FIND THIS)
⅓ CUP DARK SOY SAUCE,
PLUS 1 TBSP
¼ CUP SHAOXING WINE
¼ TBSP CHINESE FIVE-SPICE POWDER
2½ LB PORK BUTT, CUT INTO 1-INCH-
THICK STEAKS
⅔ CUP HONEY

HOW TO MAKE IT

1. In a large bowl, stir together the
sugar, ¼ cup salt, ¼ cup hoisin, the
chu hou paste (or more hoisin),
⅓ cup dark soy sauce, the Shaoxing
wine, and the Chinese five-spice
powder. Add the pork and marinate
overnight, or for at least 3 hours.
2. Preheat your grill to medium high.
Place the pork on the grill over indi-
rect heat, close the lid, and roast
until a meat thermometer inserted
into the thickest part of each steak
registers 155°F, about 45 minutes.
3. In a small pot, stir together the
remaining hoisin and soy sauce,
the honey, and 1 cup water. Bring
to a boil over low heat and reduce
until the glaze is slightly sticky.
Cool to room temperature. Brush
this glaze over the pork and serve.
Feeds 4

THE DIY GUIDE TO MODERN CHINESE FOOD

THE LIGHTNING-QUICK ANYTIME MEAL:

TOMATO AND EGG OVER RICE

From: Hong Kong

“There are limitless variations to this recipe,” says Lucas
Sin, the head chef of Junzi Kitchen in New York City. “I
grew up in Hong Kong, and my father ambitiously grew
tomatoes. I remember those fresh tomatoes being cut up
and stir-fried with eggs. It’s one of those perfect tomato
dishes, sort of like spaghetti and meatballs.”

WHAT YOU’LL NEED ing quickly, add the eggs
and cook, pushing and fold-
2 EGGS ing constantly with chop-
sticks until just set, about
3 TBSP VEGETABLE OIL 10 seconds. Remove from
heat and transfer to a plate.
3 SCALLIONS (SMASH THE
WHITE PARTS WITH THE FLAT 2. Wipe out the pan and
SIDE OF A KNIFE AND SLICE return it to medium high.
INTO 1-INCH SEGMENTS; Heat the remaining 1 Tbsp
MINCE THE GREEN PARTS oil. Add the scallion whites
FINELY FOR GARNISH) and cook, stirring, until
aromatic and just begin-
2 MEDIUM TOMATOES, PEELED, ning to brown, about 15
CORED, AND CUT INTO seconds. Add the tomatoes
½-INCH-WIDE WEDGES and cook, stirring con-
stantly until they begin to
SUGAR, TO TASTE break down, about 3 min-
utes. Season with salt and
STEAMED RICE, FOR SERVING sugar to taste.

HOW TO MAKE IT 3. Add the cooked eggs
to the tomato sauce. Stir
1. In a small bowl, beat the to combine, about 15 sec-
eggs well with ½ tsp salt, onds. Remove from heat
1 Tbsp vegetable oil, and and garnish with the scal-
1 Tbsp water. In a large pan lion greens. Eat with warm,
over medium-high heat, add steamed rice. Feeds 1
1 Tbsp vegetable oil. Mov-

THE ANTIDOTE TO
LETTUCE FATIGUE:

CUCUMBER
SALAD

From: Shanghai

“This dish is built on balance—refined yet simple,” says
Nadia Liu Spellman, the owner of Dumpling Daughter
in Massachusetts. “The acid, sugar, and salt all play an
important role and bring out the best in cucumber.”

WHAT YOU’LL NEED HOW TO MAKE IT

1 ENGLISH CUCUMBER, 1. In a medium bowl, toss
CUT INTO THUMB- the cucumber with ½ Tbsp
SIZED PIECES salt. Allow to sit for 1 hour.

½ CUP SUGAR 2. In a large bowl, stir the
sugar and vinegar until the
½ CUP WHITE-WINE sugar dissolves. Rinse the
VINEGAR cucumber well, add it to the
vinegar mixture, and refrig-
2 GARLIC CLOVES, MINCED erate for at least 12 hours.

1 TBSP SESAME OIL 3. Strain the cucumber, dis-
carding the marinade, and
1 TBSP CHILE OIL toss in a large bowl with the
garlic, oils, and soy sauce.
1 TBSP SOY SAUCE Serve chilled. Feeds 4

MEN’S HEALTH | SEPTEMBER 2021 81





A CLEAR MORNING disciplines. Among active athletes, he’s
set more world records and won more
in early September championships than any other diver, yet
2019, a Russian diver he still heads out every year to compete—
bobs gently on the if only against himself. At a competition
sparkling blue surface in the Bahamas in 2018, he pushed the
of the Mediterranean world record in constant weight (held by
none other than—you guessed it—Alexey
O N nexttoasupportraft Molchanov) from 129 meters to 130. The
a mile off the shore of depth goal today is the same, but the wa-
the French Riviera. At ter is much colder than in the Bahamas,
five feet 11 inches and nearly 190 pounds, Alexey making this a more demanding dive.
“the Machine” Molchanov is sheathed in a golden
wetsuit, his feet snug in a sleek black monofin. He When the judge gives the signal, Alexey
looks far larger than the lean safety divers who waits ten seconds and then dips his body,
surround him in the water, waiting for the world’s hovering on the surface for a moment
reigning freediving champion to begin his descent. before flipping headfirst into a duck dive,
his monofin hitting the water behind
him with a single delicate slap. The dive
may test his physical limits, but he’s
chasing something beyond records. By
continuing to venture as deep as possible,
he’s able to explore more of this majes-
tic, otherworldly realm. For most of his
life, figuring out how such submersions
affected people was a family quest. Until
it led to a loss he never expected, one that
has only driven him to go deeper.

Alexey wraps his fingers carefully crosslike around his neck, and adjusts its ALEXEY’S PARENTS LOVED 
around a dive line descending from the tiny metal arms over each nostril. With
floating platform beside him. Inhaling a minute to go, he begins packing—a the water before they loved each other.
and exhaling slowly, he prepares for the breathing technique that looks like the Both children of the cold war, Natalia and
single breath he will hold for the nearly desperate cheek flapping of a fish out of Oleg met as teens during a swimming
four minutes he plans to spend under- water—filling his lungs in spaces most of meet. Later, after they were married, they
water. His target: a metal ring lined with us will never put to use. moved to Volgograd, along the Volga River
white tags, suspended at the seemingly in southwest Russia, to start a family.
impossible-to-reach depth of 130 meters To the casual observer, freediving can
(about 426 feet). Round trip, that’s a journey seem like an unforgiving sport. It’s not Before the age of five, Alexey set a na-
roughly equivalent to two and a half soccer uncommon for divers who push beyond tional record in his age group with his per-
fields. His goal is to grab a tag and then their limits to suffer short blackouts from formance in the 500-meter backstroke.
swim back to the surface before his lungs a lack of oxygen or have blood in their Soon he was a champion in freestyle and
expire or his muscles give out—or both. lungs from the extreme pressure. In fact, butterfly, too. On vacations to the Black
just a couple days earlier, in another dis- Sea, he donned archaic diving gear that
“Three minutes,” a judge shouts from cipline, involving diving to more than 90 towered over his frame and began to
the raft. With that, the countdown to Alex- meters with no fins at all, Alexey blacked explore the deep.
ey’s gold-medal attempt in freediving’s out briefly as he surfaced and was struck
premier open-water competition, the AIDA by a hypoxic fit, or loss of muscle control, As Alexey neared high school, his par-
Depth World Championship, begins. known in the sport as “samba.” ents separated, but his mother made sure
his training continued uninterrupted.
Competitive freedivers—those com- The mishap didn’t discourage him He was accepted into the Raduga Swim-
pelled to dive as deep, or as far, as possible from continuing. One of his favorite ming Sports School of Olympic Reserve,
on a single breath—have several ways to sayings is that these extreme compe- a specialized school for Russians with
distinguish themselves: with or without titions are “just a game for adults”—as gold-medal dreams. Then, in 2002, Nata-
fins, the assistance of the dive line, or though willfully ignoring the potential lia told Alexey about a new sport she had
weights, or even hitched to a heavy sled. for disaster. Over the past decade, Alexey discovered that combined their shared
Today’s event, known as constant weight, has kept that mindset while continually interests and skills: swimming, competi-
is Alexey’s specialty, and while most div- raising the peak of human performance. tion, the sea. It was called freediving.
ers wear a weight belt to aid their descent, (Before fellow divers called him “the
he relies solely on the weight of his mono- Machine,” he was known affectionately In 2004, Alexey entered his first free-
fin and his powerful mermaid-style kick. as “the Golden Retriever.”) diving competition and won, setting the
Russian national record in a back-and-
As the time ticks down, Alexey slips At age 34, he’s now ranked at the forth pool discipline known as “dynamic”
on his noseclip, which has been hanging top of most of freediving’s open-water at 158 meters. That same year, he traveled

84 SEPTEMBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH

to Cyprus to watch Natalia in an open- Researchers found, for instance, that lungs are compressed to a third of their
water competition. There he ventured a Croft’s body adapted to conserve more surface volume. Now negatively buoy-
hundred feet down through the royal-blue oxygen underwater and that Mayol’s ant, he enters the opening stages of free
water to examine the Zenobia, a famous heartbeat decreased from 60 beats per fall and starts to sink. The fight, for the
wreck with propeller blades longer than a minute to 27 during his dives, a phenom- moment, is over.
man, entirely on one breath. “I was follow- enon discovered previously in Tibetan
ing her, and she took me in this exciting monks in meditation. Alexey is moving at roughly one meter
world, which looked like a dream,” he says. per second. He need only give himself a
Studies like these ultimately fueled slight boost, a kick every ten meters—
Holding one’s breath to dive deep our understanding of the mammalian which he does with an uncanny accuracy,
into the sea is something that humans dive reflex in humans. This physiologi- on autopilot—to maintain his speed. This
have been doing for thousands of years. cal reaction, which occurs in all aquatic is Alexey at his most beautiful: smooth,
The story of freediving as a competitive mammals, is triggered by immersion in fluid, at peace. Mid-metamorphosis, he
sport, however, starts in 1949, when water—particularly of one’s face—and glides as his body mutates, his stomach
Hungarian-born Italian air force captain apnea, holding one’s breath. The reflex hollowing out as the air in his lungs di-
Raimondo Bucher dove some 100 feet to allows divers’ bodies to adapt to extreme vides into still-smaller fractions.
reach the seabed off the coast of Naples depths, if they can learn to harness it.
to win a bet against fellow diver Ennio Clipped securely to the dive line by a
Falco. Bucher astounded those who had FOR THE FIRST 20 meters below cord attached to his wetsuit, he focuses
been convinced that the water’s pressure not on navigation but rather on dili-
would crush him to death. the surface of the Mediterranean, Alexey gence. The main task: the transfer of
works hard. He fights against his body’s air between his mouth and his sinuses
By the time AIDA—the International buoyancy with a steady pulse of dolphin to equalize the pressure in his body’s
Association for the Development of kicks. His arms are extended and snug cavities in the hope of avoiding a squeeze,
Apnea—was founded in the early ’90s in against his ears in streamline. Eyes a pressure injury to the lungs, ears, or
southern France, pioneers such as Amer- closed, he wears no goggles, entering the sinuses. As he does so, he holds his mind
ica’s Bob Croft, Italy’s Enzo Majorca, and depths blind to his surroundings. At 20 in a rigid yet gentle state of extreme calm,
France’s Jacques Mayol had pushed depth meters, he floats his arms down to his keeping at bay the syrupy embrace of
records to more than 100 meters. The sides as, under the sea’s pressure, his nitrogen narcosis, an effect of nitrogen
sport even got the Hollywood treatment saturation that can cause panic or giddi-
with Luc Besson’s The Big Blue in 1988. Molchanov in his signature wetsuit at the ness or both, depending on the dive and
2017 AIDA Freediving World Championships the day. The rapture of the great depths,
These early freedivers also served in Roatán, Honduras. Jacques Cousteau called it—or, in scuba
as guinea pigs in the still-developing talk, getting narc’d.
study of underwater human physiology.

This page and opening spread: Courtesy Russian Freediving Federation

WITHIN A YEAR ofdiscoveringfree- “Many people, whenthey
reach50, they think life
diving, Natalia Molchanova had become a
self-taught expert, with several national is over. I want to show them,
and a few world records to her name. And there is more they can do.”
Alexey was on her heels.
Deep dives always involve risk. But while be catastrophic, but Alexey escaped the
Over the next decade, the Molchanovs dozens of freedivers, including spear fisher- whole ordeal with no more than a severely
rose quickly through the ranks of competi- men and recreational divers, die each year, squeezed lung, which left him coughing up
tive freedivers, trading national records for among competitive freedivers fatalities are blood. In One Breath, Keenan recounted
world records, world records for new world rare. The tragic 2013 death of Nick Mevoli, how, afterward, Alexey thanked him but
records. By 2005, Natalia was living in Mos- the subject of One Breath, remains the downplayed the accident, as if he were “in
cow, leading the Russian Freediving Fed- sport’s only fatality in official competition. total denial.” Six days later, Alexey got
eration and running a freediving program back in the water and set his world record.
at a university. Alexey had moved there, Close calls, however, are more common. “It just shows his resilience and determi-
too, in pursuit of a software-engineering Yet Natalia and Alexey grew comfortable nation,” said Keenan, “and the psychology
degree. With a training course that Natalia with the trade-off. The same year that of the strongest freediver.”
developed, they would certify more than Mevoli died, Alexey went to Greece for a
100 freediving instructors. then-world-record attempt of 128 meters On August 2, 2015, just one month be-
in constant weight. He’d recently had a fore the annual AIDA Depth World Cham-
Natalia also dedicated herself to cold—a punch to the sinuses—but he was pionship, Natalia was in the water off
researching the potential effects and ben- feeling confident and strong. On the way Formentera, an island near Ibiza, giving a
efits of the sport. “She would give a lot of up, though, at a depth of 110 meters, he was private dive lesson to two students. During
love, always,” Alexey says. “She was always struck by a reverse block, an injury to the the lesson, the students watched as she
taking time to talk to people, to explain, to middle ear that scrambles a diver’s spatial disappeared below the surface in a dive
help with advice, about anything.” awareness, and became disoriented. later estimated to have been a little more
than 100 feet in depth. It should have been
In 2009, off Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, At 30 meters, he passed out, and a safety routine for the Russian champion—at 53,
in the Red Sea, Natalia became the first diver, the accomplished Irish freediver she was now the most decorated athlete in
woman to pass 100 meters, diving to 101 in Stephen Keenan, had to drag him to the freediving history, with 41 world records
constant weight. Three years later, on her surface. Such deep-water blackouts can and 23 world-championship titles. They
50th birthday, she broke the world record waited for her to resurface. And waited.
for a no-fins dive by going to 66 meters. The Molchanov atop the podium in Turkey They saw no signs of her ascent, and an
next year, she smashed a half dozen more in 2018 after winning one of his 14 world- underwater search was launched. Natalia
world records. “Many people, when they championship titles. never resurfaced.
reach 50, they think life is over,” she told
the writer Adam Skolnick for his book One When Alexey received the call, he flew
Breath: Freediving, Death, and the Quest to Ibiza and heard the report from the
to Shatter Human Limits. “I want to show search party out on the water. But he knew
them, there is more they can do.” there was little hope: Going missing at sea
is almost always a death sentence. There
would never be an official statement, the
final word on what happened to Natalia—
many speculated it was a powerful current
or an injury—but Alexey felt one sickening
certainty. “If I had been there,” he said
years after his mother’s disappearance, on
a podcast called The Freedive Café, “most
likely nothing would have happened.”

AT 129 METERS, Alexeyfeelsforthe Getty Images

marker that will indicate he’s reached his
depth. Below this is the metal ring with its
white tags, gently waving in the water like
a ghostly mobile. He grabs one and turns
skyward. Unlike the journey down, a task
that eases with depth, climbing out of this

Getty Images high-pressure zone is extremely demand- From top: Molchanov after another win; his With training, competitions, his
ing, as divers fight against their negative mother, Natalia Molchanova, winning at the business ventures, and a growing family,
buoyancy with bodies shot through with first women’s world championship, in 2005. Alexey shares the same stresses as any
lactic acid and carbon dioxide. top athlete. But in the time I spent with
that the ocean around is very big,” he him, he’d stop to play tricks on his fellow
Rather than think about whether he’ll says. “And it allows you to rethink your competitors, splash around in the shal-
make it or not, he trusts his body’s muscle scale, how small you are in this universe.” lows, or enjoy copious oysters. “He doesn’t
memory to pick up the slack. As he once reach high levels of performance by being
put it: “You need to be just performing. As anxiety provoking as the sport may this hyperintense person,” Kim says.
You need to clear your mind and you need seem to the uninitiated, freediving, when “He reaches it by being a hyperfocused
to focus on the things you know how to paired with mindfulness practices, can person, who is also very relaxed.”
do.” As he rises, Alexey switches back to reduce anxiety and aid with depression
manual, oscillating his body and fin in and trauma. This kind of work has helped Stern chalks this up to Alexey’s ability
varying rhythms, as if responding to the Alexey understand why he still felt so to keep the intensity of competitions sep-
water’s every stimulus. inexorably pulled to the water after his arate from the rest. “I had been told that
mother vanished. Put simply, it was— he was just a machine of a person, and as a
WHEN THE SEARCHforhis between the sensory deprivation, the diver, he is,” he says. “But as a person, he’s
elemental immersion, and the simulta- a big cuddly teddy bear.”
mother was called off, Alexey flew to neous control and surrender—an escape.
Egypt, to the waters of the Red Sea, his and His own form of therapy and his way to TWENTY METERS FROM the
Natalia’s preferred practice ground. In- process the loss. “Intellectually,” he says,
stead of paying his respects to those waters “I was realizing what I need to do, what I surface, the buoyancy catches Alexey,
and hanging up his fins, letting sadness or have to do, to continue her legacy.” and his legs calm. It’s just one, two kicks
fear derail his career, he was driven to do and then his arm is up, on the line, above
the opposite. He began to train with team- After Natalia disappeared, Alexey water. He completes the necessary sur-
mates from the Russian national team. A continued running one side of Molcha- face protocol to prove his body and brain
month later, he went forward with his plan novs, the freediving business they had are functioning correctly: the removal
to compete in the championship. started together. In 2018, he and two other of his clip, an “okay” sign with his hand,
big names in the sport, Adam Stern and and then, between deep, rattling breaths,
He came home with two gold medals. Chris Kim, who cofounded Molchanovs, the verbal “I’m okay.”
In 2018, in addition to breaking his own decided to relaunch Natalia’s training
world record in constant weight, Alexey protocols as the Molchanovs Freediving Once he dislodges the white tag from
set the world record in a different disci- Education System. Its tiered courses, where he has tucked it away in his hood,
pline, called free immersion, and early available in English, are similar to other several officials floating in the water in
in 2019 he set it in yet another, bifins. established freediving programs: You front of him grin to one another before
In 2020, he pushed the bifins depth still start at the basics and work up to longer flashing the white card. Alexey’s protocol
further and earned a Guinness World breath holds and deeper depths. You can has been approved; his dive is valid. The
Record for longest recorded dive under get certified to teach, and so far, more crowd on the raft erupts in applause. He’s
ice—nearly 600 feet. In March, he donned than 500 instructors have been minted. matched his record; the gold medal is his.
his monofin and an extra-thick wetsuit to
plunge below the frozen crust of Russia’s By midafternoon, he’s back on shore,
Lake Baikal, setting another record, for sitting in the competition’s open-air
the deepest dive below ice. And he plans to cafeteria, shoulders slightly hunched.
best himself once again at the AIDA world Everyone has been talking, all day, about
championship this month. his dive. Now, in this rare moment of free
time, he wants to see what all the fuss
Before his mother’s disappearance, is about. So with the day’s livestream
Alexey had been a fierce competitor and a queued, his iPhone propped against his
promising young diver; after, he became water bottle, he watches.
the world’s best. He’s become something
else, too: a kind of millennial evangelist When the dive is done, he presses pause.
for his sport. On Instagram, where he has Smiling, he says that it’s strange to see the
more than 114,000 followers, his posts difference between what one thinks one
demystify and destigmatize freediving looks like in one’s head when one dives
through stunning underwater vistas, and what one actually looks like.
free advice, and quippy captions. (“Work
life balance,” he wrote under a photo of “What do you look like in your head?”
himself in scrubs, cradling both his new- I ask.
born son and his cell phone.)
“Better,” he says with a laugh.
As he shares his mother’s philosophy When surface life fades away, anything
on diving, he is also developing his own. seems within reach.
“You can have a very unique experience
underwater, like that you are very small, SAMI EMORY is a writer based in Berlin. Her
work has appeared in The New York Times,
The Baffler, Wired UK, and Gossamer.

MEN’S HEALTH | SEPTEMBER 2021 87

TheForever

88 SEPTEMBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDREA MORALES

Soldiers

oftheForever
Wars

Twenty years since the
attacks on the Pentagon and
World Trade Center, and
with the U. S. war in Afghan-
istan coming to its long-
awaited end, four military men
who deployed in the days fol-
lowing 9/11 share what they’ve
learned about sacrifice, patri-
otism, and strength in the two
decades of fighting. By Matt Gallagher

Army Colonel Adisa King at the
Boots on the Ground memorial

at Fort Campbell in Kentucky.
The boots represent service
members killed since 9/11.

MEN’S HEALTH | SEPTEMBER 2021 89

A where I learned that the American Dream is a human
dream, a human pursuit, and not something to be dis-
generation later, it’s the smoke plumes that lin- missed in snark or cynicism.

ger most. Their darkness, their stark magnitude, gash- Still, the recent, long-overdue conversations and
ing that perfect empty sky. I don’t know if it had to end protests on matters of social justice and race here at
the hope for peace in our time, but it sure felt like it, even home have made it as difficult as ever to separate Amer-
then. We compared it to Pearl Harbor. The beginning of ican myths from American truths for many of us. Just
something new. because my family gained access to that ever-elusive
Dream does not mean it hasn’t been kept from others.
All these years later, September 11 remains one of
those historical markers that insists upon itself, fixed Who are we, really?
on the calendar yet still impossible to reconcile. Not just What are we fighting for? What is the state of the
all these years, either. I should be more exact. Yesterday American experiment, and what does that experiment
was a long time ago, now. Two decades. Twenty years. look like to those engaged in the fight, in the most lit-
eral sense of the word?
A lot can happen in 20 years. A child becomes a man. It’s my great privilege to introduce four men who have
Political leaders rise and fall. A country unites; a coun- devoted their professional lives to service and country
try divides. And a full military career transpires, from and have learned some answers to those questions along
enlistment to pension, cherry youngbloods becoming the way. Two asked that their identities be concealed to
battle-hardened senior leaders whose entire profes- protect their security because they continue to work in
sional lives can be traced through missed holidays and the shadows of special operations overseas. Maybe their
strategy changes and combat tours fought on the other stories won’t inspire a renewed sense of patriotism, as
side of the world. happened for me, but I do know they’ll inspire.
Four men, each one representing a major military
“We are At War now,” the late, great Hunter S. Thomp- branch. Four lives, four careers, many battlefields.
son wrote the day after the 9/11 attacks. “It will be guer- Infinite measures of sacrifice, commitment, resil-
rilla warfare on a global scale, with no front lines and ience, and vulnerability. Yes, vulnerability. That’s the
no identifiable enemy.” one that struck me the most. How these hard military
men abounding with bona fides spoke so openly about
There have been many different names for these wars, the old and easy masculine ways failing them. How they
another result of time’s relentlessness: the terror wars, had to open up and share themselves with their fami-
the shadow wars, the forever wars, the GWOT (global war lies, friends, and fellow service members. Not just to
on terror). Call ’em whatever. For 20 years now, they’ve endure. But to endure and then be even better.
been waged following America’s lead, though not always Wresting tidy lessons from these men’s lives and
fought with America’s attention. And now, around the their wars would be disingenuous given the multitudes
time of this essay’s publication, the American military involved. There are lessons, certainly, but they cut, they
will have withdrawn its remaining forces from Afghan- demand, they contradict, because that’s how they were
istan, even as the ripple effects of 9/11 continue. earned. War rebels against simplicity, but for all the
differences in their experiences, all four spoke of the
Such is life in the 21st-century republic. importance of hardship in learning and growing.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve recently felt my One of the men, Colonel Adisa King, brought up the
appreciation for country lagging. That’s no small concept of post-traumatic growth. That’s a term for
thing to admit, either; I come from a family for whom something most every human being on the planet con-
the American Dream proved very real and was some- fronts at some point: the chance to be transformed for
one who decided to fight for her in the aftermath of the the better in the wake of trauma and loss. These are war
9/11 attacks. I was a freshman ROTC cadet at the time, stories, to be certain, but of course it’s not only soldiers
with vague notions of a career as a military lawyer. That who experience trauma and loss. Which means their
smoke-filled day changed the life trajectory for many post-9/11 journeys offer the same thing September 11
people, and I was one of them. I decided if I was going to did—an opportunity to remember what has been lost
do the Army thing, I might as well do it from the front. and to use those memories to shape a stronger, more
A couple years and a lot of training later, I found honest tomorrow. Perhaps even a tomorrow that makes
myself in Iraq as a scout platoon leader, part of the available the American Dream to all America’s citizens.
fabled surge. That time remains a formative experi- These men taught me about themselves. They
ence, one I return to often, because it’s where I learned taught me about their fallen friends. And they taught
what everyday courage looks like in the flesh, from me about myself, too. My sincere hope is that their
American soldiers and Iraqi civilians alike. It’s where tales affect you in a similar manner.
I learned the limits of my country’s ambitions. It’s also They are testaments to what we can all be, as citizens,
if we remember America belongs to us all.
Never forget. And. Onward.

MATT GALLAGHER is a U. S. Army veteran of the Iraq
war. He’s also the author of the memoir Kaboom and the
novel Empire City.

90 SEPTEMBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDREA MORALES

Courtesy subject (Destin) Army Colonel ing units. Life is so precious. Today’s not promised to anyone.
Embrace the moment. Value what’s in front of you.
Adisa King
Physical pain. Spiritual pain. There’s depression and PTSD,
45 years old then there’s also post-traumatic growth. All these things I’ve
experienced. Going from a West Point football player to an Army
9/11: Mostpeoplesawitontheirtelevisions.Iwasasecondlieutenant colonel, in this era of deployments and long wars, it becomes a mat-
going up a mountain in Georgia during Ranger School. A Ranger ter of sustainment. It’s difficult to sustain yourself if you’re always
instructor just said to us, “Hey, Rangers, we’ve been attacked. This thinking about what didn’t happen, what could’ve happened.
is why you’re doing what you’re doing.” We kept going up the moun-
tain. There’s a lesson in that, I think. My outlook changed from Sometimes I get asked about the people in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“I want to serve” to “There’s a critical need for my service.” I tell them: They’re just like us. They want exactly what we want,
a good place to live, a chance at peace for their families, a strong
During multiple tours to both Iraq and Afghanistan, I’ve learned military. People are people, man, wherever you go. Value them.
a lot of things. A big one is: Value your tribe; maintain your tribe.
This is a hard life. For hard people. No one can do it alone. Over the years, I realized I couldn’t just muscle my way through
everything. I had to consider my mental health over the long run.
Being a Black man in the infantry, being an officer, too, I’m Thinking about the missions, the soldiers who were lost in our unit,
a unicorn. Meaning most of the people who have coached me, their families, my wife, my daughters, the people I’ve engaged with
inspired me, mentored me, did not look like me. in Iraq and Afghanistan, is a constant. I had to learn how to take
mental and physical breaks. This involved everything from
A lot of different people from all different types of backgrounds yoga and meditation to bodyweight exercises, boxing, and MMA
showed me the way. That’s what I like about the combat arms: the workouts. For example, I stopped doing max-weight lifts during
“I’m gonna give it to you real” approach. People with that in them deployments, because it caused too many injuries. I had to adopt
come from wherever. different methods to take care of my physical and mental fitness.

I’m proud of being Black. I’m proud of being American. I’m Another thing I’ve learned: It’s okay to disagree. It’s important,
proud of where I come from, Jackson, Mississippi. There’s hard sometimes. As long as everyone is taking ownership of the prob-
history to that. Call out that history and heritage for what it was. lem or issue, disagreement is how the best solution will be found.
I think that’s important. We’reallapartofcreatingabetterunion,
a better society. Just like when we were across the water. We needed One more: Do some hard stuff sometimes. That’ll remind you
our fellow soldiers, our allies, our Iraqi and Afghan counterparts. you’re vulnerable. I’ve recently been living in Carlisle, Pennsyl-
vania, attending the War College, and the schoolhouse is not the
My first deployment was to Samarra, Iraq, in 2006. I was assum- front line. You can forget what really matters. So when I took my
ing command of an airborne infantry company, and my execu- truck to the shop earlier, I decided to run back. Then I passed a big
tive officer was going to be this lieutenant named Mike Cerrone. ol’ rock and decided, Why not? Let’s see how far I can run carrying
Great guy. Very smart. We had breakfast to discuss things, and it this rock. So I did. Is that crazy? Maybe. But I’m a little bit better,
was a good conversation. I’m so glad it was, too. Because later that a little bit stronger, than I was before doing it.
day, Mike was killed by a bomb. On his last patrol before switch-
There’s a reckoning going on in our country now. That’s good.
Some of it is overdue. Remember the history, understand it. Then
it’s a matter of “What can we do now going forward?”

Left: Colonel Adisa
King at Fort Camp-
bell in June 2021.
Below: During the
first phase of Army
Ranger School near
Destin, Florida, in
October 2001.

Senior Master Sergeant
Robert Gutierrez on Joint
Base San Antonio in June

2021. Opposite, from
top: Gutierrez returning
to base after a mission in

Afghanistan in 2009
and at a reenlistment

ceremony in 2007.