Men's Health USA 10.2021

WHERE STRENGTH MATTERS MOST

ACTIVE RECOVERY...
FORYOUR BRAIN
Your muscles aren’t YOU CRUSH IT in the weight room or
the only things that your brain looks a whole lot like the active
need time to rest. on the track, and you know better than to recovery techniques you apply after the
Your mind performs go back out and do the same thing again gym. Which means they require a little
better with a little active the next day. You’ve got to offset those energy and a bit of strategy.
recovery, but some high-octane workouts with “rest” days of
types of recuperation low-intensity activity to help pummeled Last year, research published by scien-
are far better than muscles bounce back more quickly than tists including Andrew Bennett, Ph.D.,
others. BY GINNY GRAVES they would if you just recovered on the who’s now in the department of man-
couch. Same goes for your brain. Hus- agement at Old Dominion University,
tling 24/7 turns it into mush, too. And it found that even ten minutes of intense
turns out that the best way to un-mush concentration was enough to induce
mild fatigue and diminish attention

ILLUSTRATIONS BY EDDIE GUY MEN’S HEALTH | OCTOBER 2021 49

MIND MENTAL RECOVERY

and vigor. The good news is that breaks that giving the brain something novel experience. (Also worth noting: Choos-
as short as one to nine minutes provided activated the pleasure chemical dopa- ing to watch a brief clip to revive yourself
a significant reboot. The better news mine in mice, which spurred them to mid-workday is fundamentally different
is that breaks that engaged the brain— learn things more quickly. Our brains are from numbing your mind with hours of
that involved active recovery—were so responsive to novelty that you likely passive viewing at night.)
more restorative than ones that didn’t. don’t have to do anything dramatic. In
“Attention and focus are finite resources fact, people in Bennett’s study who spent DETACH FROM WORK
that need to be replenished at regular their breaks watching Saturday Night
intervals,” says Bennett. “If you want to Live clips had significantly increased WHEN EMPLOYEES put work aside and
reenergize your brain, it’s helpful to do vigor and attention and less fatigue com- don’t stress about unanswered emails or
something mildly engaging.” And do it pared with those who did a relaxing activ- mull their to-do lists in the evening, they
frequently, he says. ity like stretching or even meditating. feel more engaged and happier at work
“Humor is novel—and novelty is a power- the next morning, according to research-
The three-pound cerebral powerhouse ful way to reenergize your brain,” he says. ers in Germany. Known as “detachment,”
between your ears needs restorative And people enjoyed the clips more than cognitively distancing yourself from
strategies throughout the day, not just stretching or meditating, which likely work during the day can give your brain a
every once in a while. Without them, added to the restorative effect of the new boost, too. You can detach in a variety of
you’re putting yourself at risk of exhaus- ways, like searching Airbnb for a vacation
tion, burnout, and a decrease in your cog- rental or making a new workout playlist.
nitive firepower. Mental fatigue makes In studies, detachment researchers
you less efficient and more distractible, sometimes instruct people to think about
irritable, and error prone. Brain drain a hobby or leisure activity they enjoy.
impairs you physically, too, reducing “Just stay away from anything stress-
endurance and performance in everyone ful or cognitively demanding,” advises
from soccer players and boxers to swim- Adam Gazzaley, M.D., Ph.D., a neuro-
mers and cyclists. scientist at the University of California
in San Francisco and a coauthor of The
To feel more engaged and productive Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a
at work—and have enough mojo for the High-Tech World. And don’t check email!
gym when you’re done—you have to know It can take your mind off the task you’re
how to “do” mental active recovery. Try a doing, but it’s still work.
few of these science-based tactics.

TAP THE POWER OF THE NEW

BENNETT’S MICROBREAK study con-
firmed a quirk of the brain that cognitive
research had suggested for years: We’re
charged up by new experiences, espe-
cially ones we enjoy. “New sights, sounds,
smells, or activities can revive you,” says
Bennett. (Monotony may be one reason
we all felt so dulled down during the pan-
demic.) Interestingly, watching a funny
video counts as a “novel experience” for
your brain in the middle of the workday.
Last year, researchers in Belgium showed

Breaks that engaged
the brain—that involved
active recovery—were
more restorative than
ones that didn’t.

50 OCTOBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH

THREE COMMON
“RECOVERY” STRATEGIES

THAT AREN’T

Many of us turn to screens for relaxation, but digital engagement
can be a hidden source of stress, says Chris Bailey, author of Hyperfocus:

How to Be More Productive in a World of Distraction.

The worst faux recovery options:

CHECKING THE NEWS BINGE-WATCHING ANYTHING POSTING ON SOCIAL MEDIA
“The news is designed An episode or two of Forged in Sharing content may actually
to be engaging enough Fire can distract your tired brain drain mental resources, sug-
to keep you watching, and keep you entertained. But gest the authors of a study
but that often means hours of it can interfere with done at Cornell University.
it’s anxiety provoking— sleep, according to a study in Scientists gave people the
the last thing most of the Journal of Clinical Sleep option to repost a message
us need in the middle Medicine that found an associ- to social media. Then the par-
of a stressful workday,” ation between frequent binge- ticipants read an unrelated
says Bailey. viewing, poor sleep quality, and science article and were
increased fatigue. “The one tested on their comprehen-
indispensable brain recovery sion. Those who reposted the
tool is a good night’s sleep,” says message had worse compre-
Dr. Pillay. “It’s best to avoid any- hension. Doomscrolling can
thing that interferes with it.” intensify stress, too.

SWITCH TO DEFAULT MODE wandering because it doesn’t require you world is an ideal place to experience it,”
to engage your prefrontal cortex. If you he says. Stroll through a park for five
WHETHER YOU’RE writing a report, find yourself ruminating about unpleas- minutes, look out the window and watch
making sales calls, or sketching plans for ant work issues, try positive constructive some trees blowing in the wind, or notice
a building, your brain’s prefrontal cortex daydreaming, a version that demands the reflections in a puddle for a minute or
(PFC), which is responsible for work- slightly more cognitive control, sug- two. “Bottom-up attention is relaxing and
related cognitive functions like focus gests Dr. Pillay. Imagine a situation like restorative, because you’re allowing your
and attention, is in go mode. But just as running through the woods with your mind to be gently pulled by your senses,
you need to avoid going heavy on leg sets dog or walking along a beach, he says. while top-down attention requires push-
on consecutive days, it’s helpful for your Letting your unfocus network out to play ing,” explains Dr. Gazzaley.
PFC to get a break from heavy lifting, not only reenergizes you but also bolsters
too. To the rescue: your default mode creativity, says Dr. Pillay. “It gives your TURN OFF THE LIGHTS
network (DMN)—or, as Srini Pillay, brain the chance to make unconscious
M.D., author of Tinker, Dabble, Doodle, associations that can trigger ‘aha’ IT MIGHT not seem like an active recov-
Try, calls it, the “unfocus network”—the moments. That’s why so many creative ery strategy, but your brain is plenty busy
regions of the brain that are active when breakthroughs happen in the shower.” when it’s seemingly offline. “Napping
you’re daydreaming and allowing your gives your brain’s focus circuits some
mind to wander. “When you work for GET A DOSE OF NATURE much-needed rest while other parts of
long stretches, the brain experiences the brain kick into overdrive,” says Dr.
focus fatigue, but if you weave periods of “WORK REQUIRES top-down, goal- Pillay. Naps not only improve alertness;
unfocus into your day, you give yourself directed attention,” says Dr. Gazzaley. they also refresh elements of executive
a chance to recover,” says Dr. Pillay. “It’s effortful, because you’re actively functioning, like working memory,
Daydreaming is different from dis- concentrating and trying to suppress which you rely on throughout the day.
traction in that you let your mind roam distractions.” But there’s another type, “Just five to 15 minutes can restore your
instead of trying to force it to think about known as bottom-up attention, in which energy and give you one to three hours
something specific. It’s also not doing you allow your mind to ponder whatever of clarity,” says Dr. Pillay. (Easier when
nothing—it’s more like you’re doing some thoughts spontaneously come up. “Giving working from home than in a traditional
mental housekeeping and clearing space your brain time for bottom-up attention office, we know.) The U. S. Army released
for a reset to happen. Get into your DMN in the midst of a hectic day can offset the its updated physical-fitness-training
by doing a rote activity—go for a walk, strain of top-down attention,” says Dr. field manual last year, complete with a
wash dishes, take a shower, or water your Gazzaley. The best way to flip the switch new section on napping, which encour-
plants—which sets the stage for mind from top-down to bottom-up? Try a ages soldiers to use short naps to “restore
hit of nature. “Bottom-up attention is wakefulness and promote performance.”
ancient and is driven by stimuli you take Why not deploy the strategy on the work
in through your senses, so the natural battlefield, too?

MEN’S HEALTH | OCTOBER 2021 51

MIND

WE’VE ALL BEEN THERE—those blurry,

bleary, chaotic mornings when we curse
ourselves for not going to bed earlier
or not getting up earlier. But what if it’s
possible not only to make morning the
best part of your day but to actually own
it? Owning your morning isn’t about
rising earlier than you usually do. It’s
about using the first few hours after you
wake up as a warmup that will prime
you for all the twists and turns—and
possibilities—in a day. No matter what
your current beginning-of-the-day
routine looks like (and whatever time
“beginning” is for you), you have the
power to transform it into a healthier,
happier experience. “A solid morning
routine offers you control and peace of
mind,” says Mary Kelly, Ph.D., the CEO
of Productive Leaders. “That way, if
something unexpected happens later,
you can flex with the situation. You’ve
already taken the time to accomplish
some important things on your to-do
list.” I’m so convinced that a morning
routine is essential that I wrote a
whole book about it. Even if you’re not a
“morning person,” these strategies can
set you up for all-day energy and focus.

SEIZE MIDMORNING GENIUS

1 Science shows that we’re primed

to be productive, creative, and focused in
the A.M., which makes it a great time to
dig into a complicated project. However,
that doesn’t mean you need to start the
grind before the sun’s up. It simply means
it’s smart to schedule your most mentally
demanding tasks on the early side.

2 STOP WONDERING,
GET STARTED

HIT SNOOZE Before a virtual event at which I was a
AND STILL OWN
panelist, the organizers shipped me
YOURMORNING
a very fancy high-tech camera. They
Four ways to set up your morning for all-day success . . . 
without getting up any earlier. BY LIZ BAKER PLOSSER wanted panelists and moderators to have

52 OCTOBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH high-resolution video in the livestream.

That camera box? It sat there. I told my-

self: “I’m tech savvy! I’ll figure it out on the

morning of the event, no problem.” What

actually happened: In the hour before the Jonathon Kambouris/Gallery Stock

panel began, I frantically tried all of the

camera’s settings, but nothing worked.

And I didn’t have enough time to ask for

help or to troubleshoot. So I swallowed the

lump in my throat as my blurry Liz box

appeared next to the crisp, fancy-camera

faces of my fellow panelists.

T H E E X P E R T : L I Z B A K E R P L O S S E R is the
editor-in-chief of Women’s Health and the
author of the new book Own Your Morning,
from which this article was adapted.

Ever since, “Open the box!” has reading and comprehension tasks, THE MANUALS
become one of my favorite morning man- according to research in the Journal of I think of the items in this bucket
tras. It’s actually a lesson I first heard Personality and Social Psychology. In as on-the-fly, where-and-if-you-can
articulated by life coach Corey Anker. other words, that presentation you need to-dos. Things like loading my credit
It’s empowering to know what’s ahead. So to craft could prevent you from giving 100 cards into Apple Pay on a new phone
take a peek at the email. Open the PDF. percent to something else. But there is a or updating the browser on my laptop
See how long the form is. You’ll save a lot science-proven antidote: Making a plan with the IT desk. It would be great to
of mental and emotional energy, and pos- to simply work toward that thing you’re get these done, but I’ll squeeze them
sibly even some midnight-hour anguish. putting off helps your mind set it aside, in when I can.
freeing you to focus on other tasks. (I’m
You don’t have to put the camera just talking about a list here—you don’t THE FLOATERS
together. Just take it out of the wrap- actually have to complete the task.) When These are tasks I’d like to complete in
ping. Look at the cords. Flip through the the study participants formulated lists of the next 30 to 60 days: a nonurgent
instruction booklet. Get started. This little to-dos, laddering up to their goals, email, a catch-up call with a college
process not only sets you up to tackle and the negative effects disappeared. friend. They feel amazing to finish but
execute but also Just. Feels. Better. also shouldn’t stress you out. Simply
This is why I organize my to-dos into writing them down is enough for today.
3 MAKE A SMARTER three buckets, a strategy I learned from
TO-DO LIST my good friend Phoebe Jonas, an actor
and life coach. Her method helped me FOCUS ON THE FUN
Whether you make your to-do list the stop getting down on myself about the 4
length of my lists and gave me a road map There is one nonnegotiable
night before or in the morning, it feels to get my stuff done. The buckets:

great to cross something off that list THE INDISPUTABLES to my mornings: coffee. I love each
These are the nonnegotiables that must
during the day. Studies about goal mak- happen today. Try putting a time of day step of the process: hearing it brew in
next to each one. For me, that means
ing show that an unfinished task causes things like going for a morning run at my coffee maker, pouring it into my
6:00 A.M., making the kids’ lunches at
interference—often unconsciously— 7:15 A.M., doing the school bus drop-off at mug, warming my hands around it,
8:04 A.M., attending the 10:30 A.M. staff
with other tasks you’re trying to com- meeting, and so on. inhaling the aroma, then taking that

plete. Translation: That task you didn’t first sip. And I especially treasure

do yet is hanging out in your psyche, the part when, like magic, my mental

cluttering the mental and emotional fog dissipates.

space that you could leverage in so many I’ve been a coffee drinker since high

more productive ways. school, and I trace it back to morning

People with unfinished short-term runs with my dad. In my teenage years,

goals performed poorly on unrelated he would convince me to get out of bed

and join him for a few miles of jogging

by promising me a latte at local Kansas

OWN YOUR WEEKEND, TOO City coffee shops, which doubled as the

Weekend mornings aren’t just made for pancakes and errand running. A.M.’s finish line.
I bake into these mornings time to get a jump start on the week ahead and
squash the Sunday scaries, which 80 percent of workers report feeling, Nowadays, I would never attempt
according to a LinkedIn survey. I’ve found that the best antidote to what
scientists call “anticipatory anxiety”—that nebulous, heart-racing to work out in the morning—or do
dark cloud hanging over the upcoming week—is a game plan. Try this:
anything else, actually—without first

prepping a hot, caffeinated beverage

to get me going. When I switched to

decaf for a time, I learned that it’s

DO THE WORST CHORE PLOT OUT YOUR WEEK as much about the ritual of morning
EARLY IN THE WEEKEND
Proactive Sunday-evening cal- coffee as it is about coffee itself. I
Knock out your have-to-do- endar management is one of the
it-but-really-don’t-want-to best ways to own the following discovered that in desperate times, I
chores first thing on a Saturday Monday morning. A key: Develop
morning. “Tackling your the skill of figuring out how long can swap in decaf or tea for my regular
most dreaded tasks as soon tasks actually take, and slot them
as possible will give you a in realistic time frames. For me, brew and still experience that satis-
feeling of success early in knowing that writing and editing
the weekend and prevent an- need uninterrupted blocks of time fying sense of my clarity sharpening
ticipatory anxiety from stealing helps me look out for myself so I
joy over those two days,” don’t get overbooked with meet- with each sip.
says Katherine King, Psy.D., ings and other obligations. Once
an assistant professor of you realize the dishes don’t take I know lots of people who opt for hot
clinical psychology at William an hour and an oil change really
James College. might, you’ll be better equipped to water with a squeeze of fresh lemon to
structure your days successfully.
gently awaken their brains and bodies.

Others love smoothies to fuel up for the

day. Some dig into a bowl of overnight

oats. Whatever makes you excited to

get out of bed is how you should start

your day. Embrace the anticipation of

those morning sips or bites.

© 2021 Hearst Magazines Inc., Published by Hearst Home

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 of the Center for Green Psychiatry in Austin.

DID THE PANDEMIC on board with that position.It’s possible
that in some people the diagnosis was
GIVE ME ADHD? missed when they were kids. But more
If you’re having trouble focusing, you’re not alone. likely there’s something else going on.
But before you reach for the Ritalin, it’s smart to get to
Checking your phone a million times
the bottom of why your mind is wandering. an hour doesn’t always mean you have
ADHD. Neither does being unable to sit
BY GREGORY SCOTT BROWN, M.D. through a whole movie anymore without
doing something else. That’s because it’s
“DOC, I CAN’T FOCUS. to detail; he’d lose his train of thought, just easier to get distracted when there’s
forget where he put stuff, and always less structure in your life. The pandemic
Can I get a prescription for Ritalin?” fidget with whatever was on his desk. gave us more unstructured time for our
Lately that’s the question I’ve been He’d even started wearing his house minds to flit to the next thing before we
keys on a lanyard around his neck so he really even got into the first. To change
hearing from guys in our sessions. It wouldn’t lose them. “That’s the story that, it’s important to create structure
happens several times a week. They’re of my life these days,” he said the first where you can: Use a planner, avoid email
convinced they have attention-deficit/ time he came to my office. Like many of on the weekends, or designate specific
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and my patients, Cooper was certain he had times to do your foam rolling or have
that the drug—generally prescribed somehow developed ADHD as an adult virtual coffee with your brother. These
to kids with the issue, and famously and thought Ritalin would help. bricks of certainty can go a long way to
abused by college students in an attempt keeping you attentive.
to study better—will help them concen- Maybe, but not so fast. The truth is,
trate and propel them to a whole new ADHD isn’t all that common; it occurs Still, you might find yourself check-
level of productivity. in only about 9 percent of children and ing all the boxes on an online ADHD
5 percent of adults. Some psychiatrists assessment as Cooper did—ticking off
Take a patient I’ll call Cooper, a argue that there’s adult-onset ADHD, but yes to having difficulty concentrating on
graphic designer in his mid-40s. Cooper there isn’t enough evidence for me to get what people say to you, finding it hard to
was having trouble paying attention relax when you have time to yourself, and
putting things off till the last minute.
But if your problems are new for you, it’s
probably not ADHD.

It’s crucial to tease out ADHD from
other mental illnesses, because almost
all of them—including depression, anxi-
ety, and bipolar disorder—can impair
attention like ADHD. So can feeling tired
or bored. You need to figure out what’s go-
ing on so you can get the proper treatment.

Finding the Root Cause

AMONG THE first things I do when
someone is concerned about ADHD is
ask when they started losing their focus
and whether they have trouble at work, at
home, or both. Since ADHD is a condition
that affects the brain, it doesn’t pick and
choose where it’s going to turn on and off.
If you can’t focus at work, you’re probably
not able to focus at home, either.

In Cooper’s case, I learned that he had
done well in school all the way up through
his master’s degree and never really had
difficulty staying on point until recently.
That’s when he started losing his keys,
too. But there were also a lot of changes
in his life: Work was exceptionally busy,
he was saving for a house, and he had just
broken up with his longtime girlfriend.
And, of course, there was a pandemic. He

54 OCTOBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH

admitted to feeling burned out and to TOM CORTESE
having a hard time motivating himself
to do almost anything. He’d felt that way IN 2012, Tom Cortese cofounded a little stationary-bike com-
for weeks, and he was so keyed up that he
wasn’t sleeping that well, either. pany called Peloton. Over the next nine years, he took what
used to be a boring hunk of metal in your gym and turned it
These were all signs of depression, a into an at-home social fitness sensation. Of course, that kind
condition that even in mild forms can of innovation doesn’t come from stationary thinking. Here’s
make it almost impossible to focus. So how the 40-year-old keeps the mental gears turning every day.
while the symptoms might look like
Matt Chase (sign). Jason Raish (Cortese). ADHD, depression requires an entirely 6:30 A.M. software and hard- 6:00 P.M.
different approach to treatment. ware. He breaks meet-
FIND SHOWER ZEN ings into two groups: PLAY ROSE
Getting the Right Treatment status checks and AND THORN
Cortese awakes to deep dives. For the for-
DON’T GET me wrong; I understand why chaos—three small mer, he plays boss and Cortese prioritizes
patients ask for stimulants like Ritalin kids needing to be gets everyone on the being home for dinner
and Adderall—they are a first-line dressed, fed, and sent same page. (Where are with the family. They
treatment for ADHD. But they are also off to school. He re- we at? Where are we have a ritual: “We go
controlled meds that can worsen anxiety groups first thing in the going?) For the latter, around the table. The
or precipitate mania or psychosis if shower. “There are few he plays teammate, kids and my wife and I
you have bipolar disorder. Even if you moments these days letting others own the do ‘rose and thorn.’ Tell
don’t have a mental-health condition, without screens and floor to spur creativity. us your rose of the day
stimulants can have side effects like phones,” he explains. Varying meeting styles and tell us your thorn
interfering with your sleep, speeding “It’s a clear moment of helps Cortese think of the day.” Cortese’s
up your heart rate, or causing you to lose being able to be truly differently. “It’s a great wife, Rachel, started
your appetite. So there’s lots to consider inward focused.” way to kind of separate this practice to ensure
before deciding to take one. That means emptying out the different parts there’s always space
the mind and finding of the brain.” for communication
Depending on what’s going on, people brief peace. and a time to celebrate
with focus issues may get medications 5:00 P.M. family achievements.
for depression or anxiety that can help 7:00 A.M. “It’s a reminder that
put them in a better headspace to process HAMMER, both ups and downs
what’s happening. Mindfulness-based SPIN UP IDEAS THEN HUDDLE will come each day. It
practices, such as yoga, can also help gives our family a fo-
slow racing thoughts and invite a sense With a day of meet- While Cortese likes rum to embrace both.”
of stillness. Another option is cognitive ings ahead, Cortese to power through
behavioral therapy, which can help you needs endorphins. He the workday, he be- 7:30 P.M.
explore irrational thought patterns that works out solo—on, lieves in the impor-
are throwing you off. of course, his Peloton. tance of getting out CLEAN UP
(He likes the 30- and of work early, too.
Since Cooper was experiencing mild 45-minute intense “Once a week, I’ll go Cortese and his wife
depression, he and I began weekly talk- classes.) “When I’m with a bunch of team try to finish the day
therapy sessions, and I wrote a prescrip- driving endorphins members for pizza doing an activity
tion for Wellbutrin, an antidepressant like that, I feel like my and drinks.” Cortese together. It’s usually
that can also help boost concentration. He brain is more focused. knows that successful the same one: clean-
learned to use mindfulness techniques to I have all sorts of great teams maintain strong ing the kitchen. “Is it
help slow his thoughts. Once Cooper had a business ideas that, bonds. Those bonds therapeutic? I don’t
chance to process all of the changes in his three hours later, I are built through rec- know. But we do it and
life, his mood, motivation, and attention realize aren’t so great. ognition at work and talk. If the babysitter
improved within a few weeks, and so did But in the moment, strengthened during stays late, we’ll go for a
his ability to get his work done. they seem amazing!” time away from the walk.” Cortese is in bed
office. “Getting out of by 10:00 P.M. “I feel like
Bottom line: Nothing works better 9:30 A.M. the work context and every time I read one of
than a stimulant for treating ADHD, but appreciating each these pieces, every-
most of the suspected ADHD cases that MAXIMIZE other on as many levels body sleeps for four
walk through my door aren’t ADHD at TWO MEETINGS as possible makes us hours and then works
all. That doesn’t make them less import- stronger together.” out for seven hours.
ant to treat. If you just can’t focus on Cortese works across Not me. I need my
anything anymore, it’s worth investing several management eight hours of sleep.”
time and energy to get to the bottom of it. teams overseeing
There are solutions that can help you get
back to being yourself.

MEN’S HEALTH | OCTOBER 2021 55



ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF

THE

JAMIE FOXX
SHOW

He already has an Oscar and a

Grammy, but JAMIE FOXX isn’t done.

Now 53, he has a new memoir,
Act Like You Got Some Sense, and will be

playing Mike Tyson in an upcoming
biopic. And there’s the role he takes most

seriously: being a good dad.
What’s driving Foxx to go so hard?

BY

GERRICK KENNEDY

PHOTOGRAPHS BY

AB + DM

57MEN’S HEALTH | OCTOBER 2021

R AISING KIDS is sort of life—and your household—since your ear-
liest consciousness. But I didn’t realize
like driving a boat—at least that’s how little I knew about him until I read Act
how Jamie Foxx thinks about it. Like You Got Some Sense before we met.
“You see a wave coming, what’s Foxx had always wanted to write about his
the first thing you want to do? life, he says, but it was the pandemic that
Throttle down, right? No. You forced him to sit still and look inward. He
can’t. You’ve got to throttle up,” he lived as we all did: navigating grief, find-
ing ways to keep busy at home (he’s gush-
says between sips of bourbon on ing about his new passion, pickleball), and
mapping out projects for a reopened world.
the rocks (specifically, BSB-Brown Sugar Bourbon, a And it’s that ability to change—in this
case, becoming an author—while staying
company he acquired in March). “Your kids are going authentically Jamie Foxx that has helped
him sustain his position in an industry
to test you. So you’ve got to drive through that shit.” where so many fizzle out.

Ruminations on modern-day parent- thing in the world is doing whatever you TO UNDERSTAND Jamie Styling: Ted Stafford and Jack Manson. Grooming: Deidre Dixon. Makeup: Shawn Janifer. Set design: Wooden Ladder. Production: Crawford & Co Productions.
ing from someone like Foxx—who’s spent do and maybe being successful at it but
the past 30 years entertaining us—are not being sure-footed with your kids,” Foxx, and to appreciate why writing this
anecdotes about his children and friends’ Foxx says. “It’s a look at my life and how memoir was so important for his own jour-
kids (who call him “Uncle Jamie”) that I grew up, what I went through, and how ney, you have to go back to his childhood.
come punctuated with impersonations it prepared me, or didn’t prepare me, for Everything he first learned about life
and timing so sharp and effortless he’s when I had kids.” Act Like You Got Some came from Estelle Marie Talley and Mark
got everyone in his immediate vicinity Sense—its title gleaned from a phrase his Talley, the couple who adopted him at
at West Hollywood’s scenester seafood late grandmother Estelle told him often— seven months old and raised him in tiny
eatery Catch hanging on the edge of their hilariously and poignantly details his Terrell, Texas. His upbringing was rather
seat, waiting for the punchline. upbringing as well as his experiences rais- complicated. When he was five, he learned
ing daughters Corinne, 27, and Anelise, that who he believed was his sister was
And with Jamie Foxx, there’s almost 13, while orbiting Hollywood as one of its actually his mother and who he thought
always a punchline. biggest and hardest-working stars. was his mother was his adoptive grand-
mother/aunt by marriage.
That’s what makes him so great at Foxx does it all: There are the films (Soul,
everything he brings to the screen or to the The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Ray, Django “I was writing that shit like, yeah, yeah,
stage or to his music or as a bon vivant over Unchained, and Collateral, to name just yeah, yeah, yeah. But then when I read it
plates of sushi and Wagyu. Foxx entrances a few), the TV projects (The Jamie Foxx back, I was in tears,” he says. “And there
simply by throwing all of himself into Show, Beat Shazam), and a music career was certain things that I didn’t want to
whatever he’s doing. that’s handed him a Grammy and several say but maybe I’ll say later. But shit was
platinum plaques to go along with his really fucked up.”
Boom, Foxx moves on to recounting Oscar, Golden Globe, and other awards.
another dad tale—this one involving his Covid-19 put a halt to all that. Foxx’s grandmother is his greatest
preteen nephew, a wayward basketball, inspiration and his rock. He’s shared that
and a window—that has me, two waiters, “I’m always go, go, go, go, go, go, go,” Foxx in nearly every interview he’s ever done,
and several tables of strangers doubled says, recalling how the pandemic offered and she plays a major role in the story-
overin laughter.“When the window broke, what he calls a “therapeutic opportunity.” telling in his book. It was Estelle who per-
I’m sitting in my bungalow trying to enjoy “Listen, the pandemic was terrible for suaded a five-year-old Foxx, then known
my shit, and some of the glass hit me in a lot of people, especially me, on the home by his birth name, Eric Marlon Bishop,
the motherfucking head! I went crazy,” he front. But it did allow me to lock down and to take up classical piano, which paved
says, flailing his arms. “Like . . . goddamn, get things done artistically that I may the way for a music scholarship to United
bro. Why’re y’all playing basketball inside not have gotten an opportunity to do. . . . I States International University. And it
the house? They’re dunking on each other started out, I was crazy, like, ‘Get away from was Estelle who let him watch The Tonight
and shit. I get it. I’m a kid, too, so I was like, the windows—Covid is right outside.’ I was Show Starring Johnny Carson and then
‘Did you at least dunk? Now, get out here that. And then we got hit bad with my sister try out jokes on her, which turned into full
and clean this shit the fuck up!’ ” passing away. That just took the life out of stand-up routines when Foxx was in the
me,” he says, choking up as he talks about third grade. “There were eighth and ninth
Parenting has been on Foxx’s mind losing his 36-year-old sister, DeOndra graders coming to my show. In the third
a lot these days—and not just because it Dixon, last October. “I still can hear my sis- grade! And by the time I got to be seventh,
provides endless comedic fodder. The ter’s voice, laugh, and stuff like that.” eighth grade, the whole city was there,” he
53-year-old father of two spent much of the recalls. “But that was my grandmother’s
past year working on his memoir, Act Like Now, if you’re Black and in your 30s like tutelage. My grandmother was funny as
You Got Some Sense: And Other Things me, Jamie Foxx has been a part of your fuck. My mom was, too. They always knew
My Daughters Taught Me. “The toughest I had some shit. My grandmother would
be like, ‘I don’t know where you’re going

58 OCTOBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH

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Buck Mason; shorts by
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Sport watch by Bulova.
This page: Hooded
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with this, but you’re going somewhere.’ ” Black cult classics Booty Call and The Play- In Act Like You Got Some Sense, he
We first met Foxx in 1991, when after ers Club—and that was before he got the recounts how hard it was to be taken seri-
chance to show his range in blockbuster ously as an actor in Hollywood. Though
years of working the stand-up-comedy films including Any Given Sunday, Ali, he had made the leap from TV to film, he
scene in Los Angeles, he landed on In Liv- and Ray, the movie he won the Academy hadn’t been in anything that gave him
ing Color, the wondrously hysterical and Award for in 2005 (making him just one the cachet of peers like Martin Lawrence,
groundbreaking sketch-comedy show of four Black men to earn a lead-actor tro- Eddie Murphy, and Chris Rock. When he
that shot the Wayans family, Jim Carrey, phy). Instead, they probably know him got his shot to audition for Oliver Stone’s
David Alan Grier, Tommy Davidson, Rosie best as the guy behind R&B hits like the football drama Any Given Sunday, he was
Perez, and Jennifer Lopez to stardom Grammy-winning “Blame It” and collab- rattled when the director told him plainly,
and ushered in an era of Black culture orations with Drake and Kanye West, or as “You’re no good.” Foxx eventually scored
that would define the ’90s. It was Foxx’s the host of the game show Beat Shazam, or the lead role of quarterback Willie Beamen
portrayal of Wanda, a bawdy woman with as the Spider-Man villain Electro. (after Puff Daddy didn’t work out), but
overly exaggerated features and endlessly that moment of doubt from Stone made
quotable lines—like when she’d pucker her Dipping into different mediums has me think about how often white directors
lips and turn “Heyyyy” into a come-hither allowed Foxx to reside in a rarefied space may have overlooked Black talent simply
purr—that helped make him a standout on in Hollywood, but his ability to do so suc- because they had trouble looking beyond
a series thick with comedic brilliance. cessfully without alienating the Black core the culturally specific roles of the actors’
fan base he rose up with is a superpower. past. I ask Foxx how he’s been able to dab-
Foxx has been at this long enough that It’s what I’ve always found most fascinat- ble in all these worlds while staying so
there’s an entire generation not privy to ing about him: how he’s accomplished so firmly connected to his community.
his growth from sitcom star on The Jamie much without getting pigeonholed.
Foxx Show to big-screen presence in the

60 OCTOBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH

Maybe that’s the Rapid line up, they were still
Fire

answer, I suggest, to WORKOUT ANTHEM? so supportive. We got

how he’s managed to “ ‘So I’m outside of the three or four more

avoid career stumbles, club and you think I’m a movies with them,
which isn’t something punk.’ ” [Rapping Bone and we’ll come back
many of his peers can Crusher’s “Never Scared”] with something else.”

say. “I’ve had it, though. FRENEMY EXERCISE? Whereas Corinne

I’ve had it in every situ- “Bear crawls that you do is following in her
ation,” he corrects. “We on the basketball court, father’s footsteps
tried to do a television with a towel on each hand by acting and pro-
show, and we tried to so you can slide.” ducing, Anelise has

do it in the pandemic CHEAT MEAL? inherited his musi-

and thinking shit was “White pizza with sausage cal passion. When
funny, but it really from Gio’s.” she joined us for din-

wasn’t.” He’s referring LAST TIME YOU CRIED? ner with her mother,
to the Netflix sitcom Kristin, she was
“Earlier today, watching

Dad Stop Embarrass- cartoons with my kid.” so focused on the

ing Me!, which he LAST SHOW YOU HYPED songs pouring into
produced with Corinne. TO A FRIEND? her earbuds that she
“Sometimes it’s a trick didn’t hear any of
bag. Sometimes you “Yellowstone. Kevin the prideful gushing
Costner in his bag!”

miss. But I know if I HERO? over her widening
miss and they give me interest in music.
the pass to come back “My grandmother.” Which brings me to

and do it again, good. MEAL YOU COOK FOR Foxx’s music career.
If they turn their back, DATE NIGHT? He has been largely
then you feel a certain dormant since releas-
kind of way. I don’t “Omelet: eggs, shrimp, ing his fifth album,
and cheese.”

know, I just feel good EUPHEMISM FOR SEX?  2015’s Hollywood:

when Black folks laugh. “I can hear my daughter A Story of a Dozen

I feel good when Black say, ‘Dad, what do you Roses, with the
folks feel good about it. mean, ‘Hokey Pokey’?” exception of turning

’Cause they built me; up on slain rapper

they sustained me.” Pop Smoke’s 2020

T-shirt by A few weeks before we met for dinner, album. But that’s changing soon, Foxx
Rhone; pants by
Banana Republic; Netflix canceled Dad Stop Embarrassing tells me, as jam sessions at his home have
sneakers by Nike.
Me! after just one season. The idea for the led to new recordings.
“The one thing I know I need, I need Black
people. I don’t give a fuck about nothing series, like the one for his new book, was Because he has been in the public eye for
else,” he says. “I once went and did a movie
[1999’s Held Up], and it wasn’t no Black peo- pulled from his own relationship with his so long now, with a breadth of success that
ple on the set. Every time I did a joke: ‘Oh,
ho, my goodness, Jamie! What you’re doing daughters, and while no actor-producer has made him a star who transcends gen-
right now.’ And I was like, ‘Word?’ And I
start believing everything they was say- wants to see their show canceled, Foxx is erations, we feel like we’ve always known
ing, right? So when we got to that premiere,
[other Black people] were like, ‘Yo, money, the kind of guy to admit when he can’t just Jamie Foxx. But he has never been the type
what the fuck is this shit?’ ’Cause I didn’t
have [anybody] to be like, ‘Yo . . . that ain’t throttle up and drive through the shit. to overshare about personal matters and
funny. That’s goofy.’ And the thing is this: It
wasn’t their fault. They don’t know what our “You can’t have The Jamie Foxx Show tells me he’d prefer not to discuss his dat-
funny is. When you watch the BET Awards,
that is the pinnacle of you made it, because and then come with this. . . . You want that ing life. However, in Act Like You Got Some
Black folks be like, ‘Motherfucker, none of
that shit hot.’ So with me, I know that if I hot shit. You want that hot motherfuck- Sense, he reveals a little about long-term
make that motherfucker in the ’hood laugh,
I got you. If I don’t, I’m in trouble. All the ing movie. But once you do it, they want relationships, which opens the door to a
time, every aspect.”
it again,” he says. “I’m a realist, though. question about marriage. “Some people

And I’m also thick-skinned. We missed. can want to be married their whole lives,

Let’s move on. The great thing about doing and then some people can not want to be,”

Dad Stop Embarrassing Me! was that my he says. “I don’t think that puts us in any

daughter was my executive producer. My different air. I just never thought mar-

daughter was fighting those battles and riage was for me. I used to tell some of my

figuring things out. So that was the bright friends, ‘You belong to the universe.’ ”

spot: to see my daughter handling [the Some of us would say you belong to the

show] in a pandemic. We couldn’t even be streets, I joke.

on the same set. We didn’t even have a live “When I’m with my upscale friends, I

audience. But what was great about the sit- say, ‘universe.’ When I’m with the homies,

uation was that Ted [Sarandos, co-CEO of I say, ‘I belong to the streets,’ ” he says

Netflix] and everybody else at Netflix was with a laugh. “When I felt heartbreak

just so supportive. Even though it didn’t for the first time, I was like, ‘Oh, what’s

MEN’S HEALTH | OCTOBER 2021 61

this shit? What’s this in my chest?’ You “We tried to do a television show,
know that motherfucker right there will and we tried to do it in
make you lose your fucking appetite.
It’s too much. And maybe I’m a Sag— the pandemic and THINKING
committed to being not committed. SHIT WAS FUNNY, but it REALLY
But . . . weirdly, though, if I’m in a rela-
tionship that I really dig . . . I’m good.” WASN’T. I’m a realist, though.
And I’m also thick-skinned.
AFTER SPENDING the past
WE MISSED. LET’S MOVE ON.”
year inside, Foxx is ecstatic to get rolling on
the many projects he dreamed up during tunity to dream, and the opportunity to with her music. Foxx reaches his hand out
lockdown. His slate was already full pre- realize those dreams because of his talent to his daughter and asks her to tap out the
Covid. Last year, he signed an overall deal (and, frankly, his star power). rhythm of whatever song is streaming into
with Sony Pictures to develop and produce her buds. He wants to show her mother how
feature films alongside producing partner “Opportunity gets me moving. Great Anelise is able to identify beat movements,
Datari Turner, and this past March the duo idea, then I went to sleep and I woke up and and his face widens with a smile when she
signed a production deal with MTV Enter- that shit was in my dream. Now, I wrote begins to tap her finger across his hand.
tainment Group that will be focused on the Black Ocean’s Eleven, or I just rewrote
BIPOC creators and diverse storytelling. Misery,” he says, before telling me that his The answer was clear, but I still needed
flip on Stephen King’s psychological horror to know: What does Jamie Foxx want his
Throughout quarantine, he wrote an novel is an over-the-top take on an encoun- legacy to be?
hour-long stand-up show (the first full set ter he once had with a couple who won an
he’s worked on in some 15 years), and he’s evening with him in a charity auction. “I can only say, you hope with every-
been building muscle in preparation to “You know what an actor loves more than thing that your kids can really be suc-
portray Mike Tyson for a biopic (although money? Compliments. I was supposed to cessful, really have their own thing, their
he’s tight-lipped about the project). He’s got be there for 30 minutes. I ended up staying own identity. I think that’s what we call a
two Netflix films in the can: Day Shift, in there for two hours—doing shit from Ray. legacy,” he says. “Everybody that you see
which he plays a blue-collar dad whose pool- But then it got weird. So I built upon that.” that’s a parent, you look to the kids to see
cleaning job is a front for his vampire- how things turn out—especially in my
killing business, and They Cloned Tyrone, Before another round of Foxx’s bourbon business. You can see somebody so suc-
a sci-fi mystery pegged as Friday meets arrives at the table (it’s smooth enough that cessful and then see everything around
Get Out. And, of course, there’s the highly it takes me a bit to realize we’ve got a buzz them maybe not be. So I think, if we’re able
anticipated Spider-Man: No Way Home, for going), I ask him about legacy. It’s a weighty to have them have their own, I think that’s
which Foxx will reprise his role as Electro. question, especially considering part of what you would consider legacy.”
“Those motherfuckers are good” is all he his legacy is literally seated right next
will say about his forthcoming slate. to him—oblivious to her parents telling GERRICK KENNEDY is the author of Didn’t
me about the progress she’s been making We Almost Have It All (coming in 2022).
When I ask Foxx what keeps him up at
night and jolts him awake in the morning,
the answer’s the same for both: the oppor-

GET JACKED LIKE JAMIE At 53, Jamie Foxx still trains hard. For cardio, he swims for 30 minutes every morning.
Then he attacks giant sets like this one from his longtime trainer, Ahmad Baari (@damhas).
DIRECTIONS: Do this as a circuit, keeping rest between sets minimal and using light to medium weights. Do 3 rounds. Rest 60 seconds between each round. 

UNDERHAND BARBELL PULLUP INCLINE-ANGLE 3-WAY AB-WHEEL Ben Mounsey-Wood (illustrations)
OVERHEAD PRESS CLOSE-GRIP PUSHUP ROLLOUT
Hang from a bar using an over-
Sit on a bench, holding a bar- hand grip, hands slightly wider Get in pushup position, hands Get on all fours, hands on an
bell at your shoulders with an than shoulder width. Pull up until directly below your shoulders, ab wheel directly below your
underhand grip. Without arching your chin is nearly even with the feet on a box, chair, or bench. shoulders. Roll the wheel out as
your back, straighten your arms, bar. Lower. That’s 1 rep; do 10 to Tighten your abs. Bend at the far as you can without arching
pressing the weight over your 12. Struggling? Do as many as elbows and shoulders, lowering your back. Roll back. Repeat,
head. Pause, then lower it back you can, return to the floor, take into a pushup. Press back up. rolling out to the right and then
to the start. That’s 1 rep; do 15.  a breath, then do more reps.  That’s 1 rep; do 12 to 15.  to the left. That’s 1 rep; do 3 or 4. 

62 OCTOBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH

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boxing shorts by

925Cowboy; leggings
by Nike, available at

Dick’s Sporting Goods.



1

STAYING HEALTHY IS A NUMBERS GAME,

BUT WITH THE NEWS CYCLE CONSTANTLY

HEALTH METRICS, IT’S HARD TO KNOW

INVESTIGATED SOME OF THE MOST
COMMONLY CITED—AND OFTEN

HOLD UP AGAINST CURRENT SCIENCE.

BY SCARLETT WRENCH

10,000-steps-a-day thing traces
back to a Japanese company’s pedometer,
called a Manpo-kei, or “10,000-steps

professor I-Min Lee, M.D., Sc.D.

THE TRUTH BEHIND THE NUMBER: NIH study found. In the same study, to vigorous-intensity aerobic activity
those who averaged about 12,000 daily each week, plus two or more days a week
Many data trackers support the theory steps were at a 65 percent lower risk of muscle-strengthening activity. (One
that 10,000 is the ideal target for steps of dying within the ten-year follow-up study in JAMA found that people who
in a day, but it’s more complicated period than the group who did 4,000.  did more vigorous activity were less
than that. Let’s say you average only likely to die over a ten-year period.)
8,000 a day. You could still have a Racking up steps is great; the CDC That aerobic activity can include every-
51 percent lower risk of death than recommends that every American thing from running or biking to a tough
people who average 4,000 a day, an adult get 75 to 150 minutes of moderate-

6Ou4ncesTHE NUMBER YOU KNOW:Eight8-ounceglassesofwaterhave
looooong been recommended to maintain hydration and
prevent fatigue and loss of focus. The problem is that
water needs vary from person to person—and a blanket
figure doesn’t account for a person’s environment (hot
or cold?), activity level (active or not active?), or overall
health (some might need more water than others).

THE TRUTH BEHIND THE NUMBER: Water isn’t your only source of . . . water.

“Much of the fluid we consume comes from our food,” says Adam Collins, Ph.D., a
professor at the University of Surrey. That said, dehydration can impair your exer-
cise performance, so avoid it if you can. For instance, someone running a marathon
in a hot climate may lose more than a gallon of sweat—an amount they could never
replace at the water stops. The answer is to start hydrating for your
workout early (like, hours before). Compared with sipping, chugging
all your ounces at once can negatively affect how much water your body
absorbs. Plus, who likes doing burpees with a sloshing stomach?

66 OCTOBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH

THE BETTER NUMBER: TRAIN HARD AT
LEAST 225 MINUTES WEEKLY for a stronger
marker of good fitness. That’s about four
hour-long workouts. If that’s too intense,
450 minutes of a moderate activity like yard

225 work, brisk walking, or yoga delivers, too.

Minutes

CrossFit session. But as with the THE NUMBER YOU KNOW: THE TRUTH BEHIND THE NUMBER:
step data, there are bigger benefits
to challenging yourself. A study of The half hour after In regard to your workout, when you
roughly 660,000 people discovered lifting has been eat protein is less important than how
that those who hit between three dubbed the “anabolic much of it you eat over the day. Your
and five times the government’s window”: the time you body actually absorbs different types of
activity recommendation had the have to pound protein protein at different rates. According to
lowest mortality risk overall. for gains. But new data researchers in Australia, it can absorb up
suggests that the win- to ten grams (about a third of an ounce)
255, 255, 224 dow is more like a barn in one hour—and it’s highly possible
THE BETTER NUMBERS: door, and total, con- that when you hit the gym, your stomach
THIS RGB COLOR CODE OR LIGHTER sistent protein intake is still digesting from your last meal. If
is more powerful than you’re trying to build muscle, there’s no
INDICATES YOU’RE HEALTHY any one dose of it. strong evidence suggesting that you can’t
AND HYDRATED. (Just look in the consume protein before, during, or after
a workout. But if you eat four protein-rich
meals a day, you’ll give your muscles a
constant supply, a study in the Journal
of the International Society of Sports
Nutrition found.

1:1 THE BETTER NUMBER: SHOOT FOR ONE GRAM OF
PROTEIN FOR EVERY POUND OF YOUR TARGET BODY-
WEIGHT, SPREAD ACROSS YOUR MEALS. It’s not hard
to hit the 1:1 ratio if you have meat, fish, seafood,
dairy, and/or protein shakes (plant-based or other-
wise). Consume at least 30 grams per meal and
it’ll get you close to this muscle-building mark.

MEN’S HEALTH | OCTOBER 2021 67

THE NUMBER YOU KNOW:

Nutrition guidelines
recommend that ev-
ery American eat one
and a half to two cups
of fruits and two to
three cups of vegeta-
bles a day, as part of
a healthful diet, to
reduce the risk of car-
diovascular disease,
type 2 diabetes, some
cancers, and obesity. 

As in

THE TRUTH BEHIND THE NUMBER: ive of optimal health outcomes,” says Ryan DIET (FOUR OUT
Andrews, R.D., C.S.C.S., the principal nutri- OF FIVE MEALS)
Eating any produce helps your case. A meta- tionist at Precision Nutrition.  IS BASED ON
analysis of 16 studies in The BMJ found that NUTRIENT-RICH
each daily serving of fruits and vegetables A better slogan, he suggests, would be: “Eat WHOLE FOODS,
lowers the risk of mortality by 5 percent, with a wide range of minimally processed foods.” you don’t need
the benefit capped at five servings. Unfortu- That includes fruits and vegetables, but it to crunch num-
nately, food marketers have exploited this also allows for generous amounts of legumes bers on fruits
good advice. Prepackaged foods advertise (chickpeas, lentils, beans), whole grains, and and vegetables. 
that they’ll help you hit your daily quota: nuts/seeds, with smaller amounts of plain
cauliflower-crust pizza, kale-infused pasta, dairy, meat, seafood, and eggs. 
coconut-milk ice cream, etc. These highly

8Hours THE NUMBER YOU KNOW: The idea that you should divide
your days into “eight hours’ labor, eight hours’ recre-
ation, and eight hours’ sleep” dates back to the 19th
century. And it’s contestable.

THE TRUTH BEHIND THE NUMBER: Many sleep scientists consider seven to

nine hours of shut-eye to be the benchmark for healthy adults. But it’s also about
when and how you sleep. A recent study used Fitbit data to measure the effect of
bedtimes on resting heart rate (RHR), a marker of cardiovascular health. Fall-
ing asleep just 30 minutes later than usual was linked to a higher RHR during
sleep and into the following day. “Having consistent waking and sleeping times
is crucial,” says Conor Heneghan, Ph.D., the senior staff research scientist at
Fitbit. Consistency correlates with more time spent in the restor-
ative deep and REM stages of sleep. A study in Diabetes Care found
that a one-hour variation in sleep timing can increase the risk of
obesity, high cholesterol, and hypertension.

68 OCTOBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH

25BMI THE TRUTH BEHIND THE
NUMBER: BMI is a “quick and
THE NUMBER YOU KNOW: In the early 1900s, a statisti-
cian at the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company cheap” way to assess weight, says
started developing tables using height and weight as Spencer Nadolsky, D.O., an
tools to quickly assess the risk levels of policyhold- obesity-medicine specialist. In a
ers. By the 1970s, a large-scale study had verified the meta-analysis of BMI data from
validity of the body mass index, or BMI, as a basic more than 10 million people around
measure for public-health researchers and doctors the world, scientists determined
to evaluate a population’s risk of obesity-related dis- that those in the “obese” category
eases. Research over the years has shown that for were at the highest risk of death. The
adults, a number between 18.9 and 24.9 indicates a researchers also found that people
healthy weight, or so the theory goes. . . . with a BMI between 20 and 25 had
the lowest risk of mortality. (That’s
between 148 and 183 pounds for a
six-foot-tall man.)

The downsides: “It alone can’t
diagnose overweight or obesity,”
says Dr. Nadolsky. BMI doesn’t take
into account your muscle mass,
frame, age, ethnicity, or gender—all
of which can affect the weight range
within which you might be deemed
“healthy.” So “athletes oftentimes
will be in the overweight category
despite having little fat,” says Dr.
Nadolsky. A true metabolic-health
assessment includes markers of
obesity-related disease like blood
pressure, blood sugar, triglycerides,
and HDL cholesterol or conditions
such as osteoarthritis, sleep apnea,
and (whew) reflux.

That said, we do know that fat
stored around your belly and waist is
likely to signal more fat around your
organs and therefore an elevated
disease risk, says Dr. Nadolsky.

15 just above the top of your hips. Breathe out, relax, and pull the tape
THE BETTER NUMBER: SET A so that it’s taut but comfortable. Then look at it. FOR MEN, A MEASURE-
15-MINUTE WINDOW FOR YOUR
GOING TO BED/WAKING UP TIMES. MENT OVER 40 INCHES IS A RED FLAG INDICATING THAT YOU NEED TO
You may wake periodically about SPEAK TO YOUR DOCTOR AND UNDERGO A FULL HEALTH ASSESSMENT.
55 minutes a night. Build in a buffer.
Additional reporting by MICHAEL EASTER.
SCARLETT WRENCH is the features director of Men’s Health UK.

MEN’S HEALTH | OCTOBER 2021 69

BEING S A M
ASG H A R I

HE’S BEEN OUTFOXING PAPARAZZI AND TRYING
TO #FREEBRITNEY FOR YEARS, AND NOW

THE FITNESS-TRAINER-SLASH-ACTOR

WANTS TO BE MORE THAN JUST THE MOST
FAMOUS BOYFRIEND ON THE PLANET.

BY NOJAN AMINOSHAREI
PHOTOGRAPHS BY SHAYAN ASGHARNIA

MEN’S HEALTH | OCTOBER 2021 71

SETTI NG
F O O T ON

SAM ASGHARI’S LOS ANGELES PHOTO SHOOT oneovercastday GOING SOLO
Sam Asghari at a
in July is like stepping into an episode of Entourage presented by private residence
Men’s Health. We’re squatting in a 1930s-era Hollywood Hills in the Hollywood
mansion borrowed from a designer friend of Asghari’s manager, Hills in July.
Brandon Cohen, a one-man operation who also represents Salt-
N-Pepa and Naughty by Nature and has been with Asghari since Pages 70–71: Shorts by
2017. While our proprietors chitchat with us about local pastimes Fabletics; sneakers by
like botched plastic surgery and edibles, the KN95-masked crew is Nike. This page: Tank by
setting up a shot by an infinity pool overlooking Universal Studios. Alo; shorts by Centric;
sneakers by Nike.
Asghari does his initial round of handshakes, then quietly
hangs back until he’s called on to pop his shirt off and glide into But for almost as long as there has been a conservatorship,
position, standing, literally, on top of the world. His friend/ there’s been a small but vocal segment of Spears’s fans who
groomer/de facto stylist Maxi (one name) stands at a distance have rallied against it. And they, too, at times have met Asghari
and eggs him on—“Flex those abs until you shit yourself!”—but with resistance ranging from conspiracy theories that he’s a
doesn’t make a dent in Asghari’s Blue Steel. It’s a scrappy, tight- conservatorship plant to, more often, protective skepticism.
knit group dedicated to a dreamer who’s found himself at the For example, when Asghari was recently seen gamely signing
center of a media storm he could easily whip up even more with a few autographs for a fan, it raised the hackles of some Spears
one PR stunt, if only he were interested in that kind of fame. devotees. Yet you can’t exactly accuse him of using his associa-
tion with the pop star to jump-start his own fame. A lesser man
For those who haven’t been following the #FreeBritney saga would take the first Sharknado 23 cameo to come along or reveal
of late, let’s recap: Asghari, a 27-year-old Iranian American himself to be the Caterpillar Conquistador on The Masked
personal trainer turned actor, has been dating Britney Spears Singer, but Asghari has instead slowly, assiduously been work-
since the two met on the set of a music-video shoot in 2016. ing his way up the IMDb food chain.
Whereas most new boyfriends might face a firing squad of gal pals
over dinner or have to run the gauntlet of an overbearing parent or He’s turned down lead roles in questionable projects to try to
two, Asghari has instead faced something uniquely challenging. build a résumé of small (and progressively less small) roles on
For the past 13 years, Spears has been under a conservatorship shows that will put some respect on his name. Take a line on NCIS
arrangement, managed largely by her father, Jamie Spears, that here, a small part in a mid-tier rom-com there, and soon TV leg-
has restricted virtually every facet of her life, including her rela- end Jean Smart is sitting on your lap while you’re improvising as
tionships with her two teenage children, her friends and peers, a sexy Santa on the critically loved HBO Max series Hacks. What’s
and her potential partners. more, the creators and cast members of these projects all, with
varying degrees of bemusement, report that Asghari is . . . good.
In recent months, Spears’s contemporaries, like *NSYNC’s
Lance Bass, have said that the conservatorship has in the past
blocked them from making contact. Asghari himself either doesn’t
quite know how he was able to slip into Spears’s orbit or isn’t willing
to share how he was able to muscle in. When I ask him, he pivots
quickly to the virtues of going with the flow. “A lot of crazy things
have happened in my life, and they continue happening,” he says.
“But also a lot of beautiful moments. All the rest of it is something
I tried not todeal with.”Which, implausibly,actually soundsplau-
sible when Asghari says it. He seems to consider his words—and
especially their impact in the news-cycle echo chamber—carefully
before speaking, then plows forward with conviction.

Though he stands six-foot-two with shoulders that seem
almost as broad, he isn’t imposing. In fact, he’s downright
unassuming, moving breezily and soundlessly. I imagine him
carrying himself through the world the same way a hulking
stealth ship glides below radar. You let a circa-2016 version of
Asghari into the oppressive machinery you’ve built to control
your famous daughter’s life for the same reason you let Clark
Kent into your lair. What’s the harm?

72 OCTOBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH

“I just want her to be H A P P Y.
If something makes her

happy, I’ll do it. I’m not
going to argue.”

Styling: Maxi. Grooming: Lauren Alex. Paul W. Downs, one of the cocreators behind Hacks, recently O N WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, Spearswasremotely
said in an interview, “I wish we had an extended scene of them patched in via phone to a Los Angeles County
improvising, because they had a blast together. . . . He was a natu- court. While it was standard protocol amid
ral improviser. It was really great.” a seemingly never-ending pandemic, it was
a medium that was particularly appropriate
After Asghari’s three-episode arc on Showtime’s cult com- for a star whose life has been both so public and so remote for so
edy Black Monday, Casey Wilson recounted what it was like many years. Instagram, after all, has been her primary mode of
working with him on her Bitch Sesh podcast. “Am I trying to be interaction with the wider world since her Las Vegas residency—
respectful ’cause he’s a really nice guy and he’s just an actor try- during which she performed 248 shows over four years to sold-out
ing to do his job and he’s lovely and funny? Yes,” she said. But she audiences 4,600 strong—ended on New Year’s Eve 2017. She was
also pressed for some details about her favorite pop star and appearing to address the court for the first time about the havoc
“didn’t get shit. . . . I left and I’m like, Wow, this is who I want the conservatorship had wrought on her personal and professional
for her. He did her so right.” Asghari has since landed a role on lives. For 23 minutes, she commanded the courtroom’s attention—
the next season of Hulu’s Dollface, starring Kat Dennings and and the attention of what felt like everyone with Twitter or Slack
produced by Margot Robbie. or a pop-culture-savvy group-text chain on their smartphone. Her
voice didn’t have the Disney Princess lilt her online followers were
Fame, Asghari says, was never exactly on his vision board, used to. Though it quaked at times, and though the judge had to ask
and certainly isn’t now that he’s found himself bearing witness her to slow down as she nervously barreled through parts of her
to just how dark and complex it can become. “Fame is not a job,” statement, her voice was resolute, commanding, and it was angry.
he says. “So I don’t want to take it too seriously. And I don’t think
that’s ever going to change, to be honest. I don’t want to mess As she detailed the many indignities of the unusually long and
with my happiness or mess with my spirit. No fame in the world restrictive arrangement, live tweets from fans and journalists
is worth that.”

MEN’S HEALTH | OCTOBER 2021 73

in the courtroom traveled through social media MAKING A HIT
like seismic waves. One detail in particular Asghari trains at an
sparked a queasy outrage: Spears has an IUD MMA gym and prac-
inside her body against her will and hasn’t been tices stunt work so
allowed to remove it. The literal invasiveness of that he can stay ready
that fact became an undeniable touch point not for whatever’s next.
only for the #FreeBritney cause but also for an
overdue reevaluation of the legal levers that con- Shorts by Centric.
trol conservatorships nationwide.
“ F A M E is not a job. I don’t
But beneath that shock and indignation was an want to mess with my
undertow of sadness for Spears, that she couldn’t
even enjoy the quotidian motions of an average life happiness or mess with my
that many of us take for granted. Family planning spirit. No fame in the
was taken off the table in a profoundly violating way,
yes. But so, too, were the basic building blocks most world is worth that.”
people use to construct their lives. “I want to have
the real deal. I want to be able to get married and
have a baby. I was told [that] right now, in the con-
servatorship, I’m not able to get married or have a
baby,” Spears said in her court statement, later add-
ing, “All I want is to own my money, for this to end,
and my boyfriend to drive me in his fucking car.”

By the time Spears logged off, the media was in
a frenzy. Which wasn’t unusual. Spears does, after
all, wield the digital presence that launched a thou-
sand conspiracy theories (some, it turns out, true),
controversies, and tabloid stories. Meanwhile, I like
to imagine that Spears herself was able to return to
a small, jury-rigged oasis of normalcy, dare we say
banality, that she and Asghari have quietly built
within the walls of her Ventura County home.

I have to imagine it because when Asghari paints
a picture of their inner life together, he mostly
draws around the margins. That is understandable
when what would be the normal details of any other
couple’s personal life are for you potential exhibits
in a legal battle that’s only now kicking into gear.
(In July, Spears was granted the ability to hire her
own lawyer, and she’s had more court dates this
fall.) No, he does not volunteer his feelings about
IUDgate. He made a point of saying he wouldn’t
discuss the conservatorship for our interview. He
also avoids using Spears’s name in any way that
might make it easier to manufacture more spin,
although it’s hard to tell if that’s intentional or
because he’s a romantic. Asghari refers to her as
“my girl.” He doesn’t share too many details, even
of the sandwiches he likes to make her at home.
He loves to cook, but those are Spears’s comfort
food of choice (“My girl loves my sandwiches”); he
doesn’t eat them (“I don’t like a lot of bread”).

Between Asghari’s background as a trainer
(he still runs an online personalized fitness and
nutrition program called Asghari Fitness) and
Spears’s background as a dancer and choreog-
rapher, the two build much of their leisure time
around sports and fitness. “A lot of people don’t
get that she’s a crazy, crazy athlete. We play tennis
together. We play ping-pong together. She’s really
good at ping-pong. It’s a real competition,” he says.

74 OCTOBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH

Getty Images (Spears and Asghari). Britney Spears/ “And I’m competitive, but I try to take STAYING STRONG Left: Spears and
Instagram (workout still). it easy. Not because she’s a woman. Asghari work out in an Instagram
Not because she’s weak, because she’s video from May 2018. Above: The
not. But I grew up with three sisters, duo at a film premiere in 2019.
so I learned that taking competition
too seriously can lead to hurt feelings. enthusiastic bids to fit in at his Ventura County high school,
Family take it easy on each other.” shone in drama classes and on the improv team, and his
teacher suggested he try acting.
They do couples yoga. “There’s a lot
of yoga that she likes to do. She’s flexi- If Asghari’s goal was to be part of the L. A. crowd, then
ble, she has endurance, she does hand- this was fine counseling indeed. So he took a career path
stands on my legs. I’m not good at it, as well trod as Runyon Canyon in the pre-brunch hours of a
but I do it because she wants to do it,” Sunday morning: part-time personal trainer and aspiring
he says. “I just want her to be happy. actor. As an actor, he cycled through the usual casting calls,
If something makes her happy, I’ll do squint-or-you’ll-miss-it extra gigs, and failed auditions. “I
it. I’m not going to argue. What’s that went through a thousand auditions before booking my first
saying? ‘Happy wife, happy life.’ ” It’s TV show,” says Asghari of his walk-on role on CBS’s NCIS.
a cliché so old that it might be painted Three years earlier, he’d had an uncredited spot as a greased-
on a cave wall somewhere, but hearing up construction worker in the music video for Fifth Harmo-
it, you can’t help but flash back to Spears’s statement about ny’s “Work from Home.” Through previous acting gigs, he’d
wanting to have the freedom to get married to whom she metMaxi,thecelebritymakeupartist andboisterousprovo-
wants. It’s just such an ordinary thing to say about such an cateur who struck up an unlikely bromance with Asghari.
extraordinary situation. It was Maxi who called him up and told him to come to the
set of another music video that needed a male lead. With-
In the months surrounding Spears’s day in court, she and out knowing what the video was or who it was for, Asghari
Asghari let their guard down on social media. For his part, showed up to Britney Spears’s “Slumber Party” shoot. When
Asghari commented #FreeBritney on one of Spears’s posts the cameras weren’t rolling, she and Asghari got to talking
and began to speak up himself. “I have zero respect for some- and a few weeks later made plans for a sushi date. It’s a detail
one trying to control our relationship and constantly throw- he’s shared before and one he doesn’t seem to want to elabo-
ing obstacles in our way,” he posted in an Instagram Story. rate on. The rest is for his inner circle—and his family, who
“In my opinion Jamie is a total dick.” They later sparked a have for their part welcomed Spears into their lives.
brief tabloid frenzy when Spears was photographed wearing
what looked like an engagement ring. Asghari, who says he “Of course they know my girl,” he says. “Everybody knows
likes to “fuck with the paparazzi,” confirms that the ring her. My grandmother knows my girl.” His sisters offer him
Spears had on her finger was “not an engagement ring, no.” guidance and don’t mince words. “When I need an honest
Though, laughing nervously, he adds, “We’ll see. Maybe. It’s opinion, I go to my sisters,” he says. “I learned a lot about
ongoing. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow. But, you know, love women from them, and I learned a lot about respecting
isn’t just a piece of paper.” women. I had to; otherwise I would get my ass kicked.”

A SGHARI IS 12 YEARS YOUNGER than When it comes to troubleshooting in his life, Asghari
Spears, so he just missed the age when tends not to leave much to chance. This year, he’s started
he might have had a Britney poster on his to spend a few days a week at the Black House MMA gym
wall. He was four when . . . Baby One More to learn how to fight, and he’s been taking lessons with a
Time was released in 1998. He was also liv- stunt coordinator. Not because he’s landed a role that
ing in Tehran. By the age of 13, he was bouncing between requires it but because one day maybe he’ll audition for
the U. S. and Iran while his father worked to navigate the one that does. “I want to offer something when I walk into a
red tape required to emigrate Asghari’s three older sisters, room filled with guys that look like me, that dress like me,
a slow process familiar to many Iranian immigrant fami- that sound like me,” he says. “That are exactly the same
lies. “I’m fortunate to have grown up between two extremely as me.” He wants to build something instead of letting
different cultures,” he says. Even now, he speaks with the something be built around him.
slight, inscrutable accent a lot of members of diasporas find
themselves with in adulthood. But as a teenager, he was in
a hurry to fit in. “We moved here to live here, to speak the
language, to contribute to this country.”

In high school, he learned English; started taking odd
jobs at an auto body shop, car wash, and catering company;
made the football team; and became friends with jocks and
theater kids alike. His sisters, the youngest being ten years
older than Asghari, were already on their way to careers in
the medical field, and he was looking for his place in their
new life. Asghari’s playful personality, well honed by his

MEN’S HEALTH | OCTOBER 2021 75

Homing

Billy Eichner,
comedy boss

mode.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY
JEFF MINTON

JACKET ($498) AND PAJAMA
PANTS ($99, PART OF A SET)

BY BROOKS BROTHERS;
SHIRT ($98) BY LULU-

LEMON; SLIPPERS ($100) BY
UGG; TIE ($25) AND SOCKS
($8) BY TIE BAR; LUMINOR
LOGO WATCH ($5,000) BY
PANERAI; GLASSES ($357)
BY OLIVER PEOPLES.

from Work

WITH MORE AND MORE of us returning to some version

of office life over the next few months (or maybe you never left!),
here’s your complete guide to translating the best habits, hacks,

and practices of working from home to your new office routine.

BY THE EDITORS

Back but Better

WETEND to talk about the pandemic as a collective expe- colleague. It turns out a slight nod is really affirming!
You learned a lot about your coworkers. You saw them
rience. We went through this. We made it work. For the as whole humans. You saw their homes, their kids, their
first time in history, everything about working changed partners, their art, their plants, their guitars, their
for everybody. We were beamed up from our offices and cereal boxes. You learned you work better with music.
into our homes one week in March.   You learned you need to see people less than you thought.
You learned you need a break at exactly 3:15 every day. Or
Only it wasn’t collective. Each experience was sin- maybe you learned the opposite of each of those things.  
gular. No one went through the same thing. For some
of us, it was quieter, less anxiety inducing, easier. Kind The point is: This was enlightening. 
of . . . nice, actually? For some of us, it was hell. Being Also, you learned you can do this. And that you might
in a tiny apartment downtown with two kids under the want to keep doing this. A Gallup Panel survey in January
age of five is just not the same experience as having a found that 44 percent of Americans working remotely
dedicated second-floor office in the suburbs.  wanted to continue doing so when states began lifting
Covid-19 restrictions. A Pew Research Center survey
Instead, think of the past 18 months as a work project. found that “among workers who are in the same job as
In March 2020, your boss called you into their office and they were before the coronavirus outbreak started, more
offered you an opportunity—one they were extending than six in ten say they are as satisfied with their job now
only to their most valuable, resilient, nimble people. It was as they were before the pandemic and that there’s been no
called Project Whiplash. And it involved changing literally change in their productivity or job security.” 
every aspect of your job except your duties and responsi- Was the project a success? That’s hard to say. But it
bilities. You were still expected to collaborate with people was a rarer-than-once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see
and produce at the highest level—you just wouldn’t be our jobs from a remarkable distance.  
able to work near them. “I know you and Jayden like to As the project ends, a new one begins. You’re not going
bubble-tea it up around 3:00, but that’s over. You’re work- back, really. What’s waiting for you in this next phase of
ing from home starting tomorrow. And you’re not coming work is not the same. You’ve changed. Your colleagues have
back till October. Of 2021. You in? There’s no time for changed. Maybe your office has changed, too. No more
mulling it over. You’re in! And it starts on Monday.” assigned spaces. Instead, you’re “hot desking” (which is
way, way less interesting than it sounds).  
Well, you’re 18 months into that project. And it was It’s not a return. It’s an integration. Your new proj-
deeply weird, often awkward. You may or may not be ect? Taking the best habits, hacks, and practices of
going back tomorrow—or maybe you never really left. your pandemic work life and bringing them with you to
Oh, but the learnings! You learned so much—about how this new reality. 
to work better and the value of connecting (and discon- You set boundaries at home. You can set them at
necting) with colleagues. work. You were more efficient at home. You can be more
efficient at work. You did deskside bodyweight exercises
You learned that there are advantages to Zoom, to between the all-hands and the one-on-one with your
having every meeting participant on the same plane, boss on Tuesday. You can do that at work, too. 
with the same audio latency. You learned how to speak It’s going to be weird. It’s going to be intense. But if you
more clearly, pointedly, efficiently. You learned to see do it right, it will feel like a promotion. Here’s how. 
yourself as others see you—that you smirk when you
think you’re smiling or squint when you’re skeptical.
You learned to give visual cues as a way to support a

MEN’S HEALTH | OCTOBER 2021 77

Homing from Work

The Commute Reboot!

MOST OF US used to live two very distinct lives. There was Work You and from Harvard, the University of Michigan, the University of North
Carolina, and the University of Zurich. Just thinking about the
Home You. We became whoever served us best upon arrival—even if tasks ahead can lead to a more positive day, says Jon Jachimowicz,
wecomplainedaboutthejourney.Butifyouwereoneofthe70percent Ph.D., an assistant professor at Harvard Business School. And there
of Americans who worked from home in April 2020, or even part of are plenty of ways to hack the trip itself for more enjoyment. “Focus
the 51 percent from earlier this year, you might actually be missing on what it is you’re getting out of your commute,” says Susan Handy,
your commute—or at least missing the mental-health benefits of Ph.D., director of the National Center for Sustainable Transporta-
your commute that you may not have even recognized before. tion at UC Davis. “If you’re listening to a podcast you love, it doesn’t
feel like wasted time.” Here’s how four men recently switched gears
A commute can be a calming ritual that reduces anxiety and in their commutes to feel more fulfilled. —MILAN POLK
helps you be more productive or relaxed, according to researchers

Run to Recharge Enjoy the Alone Time Pedal to Play Around Relax, Read, and Reset Styling: Jenny Ricker/A-Frame. Prop styling: Ward Robinson/Wooden Ladder. Grooming: Jason Schneidman
using the Paste by TheMensGroomer. Tailoring: Karine Gasparyan. Production: Wonder Partners.
Jeff Rasmussen, 41, biologist, Dan Burnett, 36, manager at a Harry Hill, 51, federal employee, Tommy Lutz, 38, engineering
Seattle, WA financial-services firm, Atlanta, GA Falls Church, VA manager, South Oyster Bay, NY

MY WIFE, my two children, and I USED to dread my commute BEFORE THE pandemic, I’d bike I USED toliveinNewJerseyand

I live three and a half miles into Atlanta. The traffic is ter- to the subway station—about would ride my folding bike 12
from where I work. When rible. What might be 20 min- a mile—and take it in. Now miles to my job in Manhat-
my kids weren’t in school, utes normally is 45 minutes we’re back more regularly and tan. Sometimes I’d even sail a
my wife and I would trade off during rush hour. I saw sit- I’m riding all the way there. folding dinghy I built and bike
taking care of them. Often I ting in traffic as a hindrance. It’s just five and a half miles. the rest of the way to work. The
didn’t have time to work out, Then the pandemic hit and I trip made the day stand out. 
so I started running to work began working from home. I’m primarily a mountain
four days a week. Almost biker, but for my commute I After Covid shut down the
immediately my mood began Now I’m going back to the ride my cross-country bike. office, my wife and son and
to improve. It takes about office four times a week, and I That way I get to play around a I decided to move to a small
half an hour to wind my way look forward to those 45 min- little bit—jump off curbs, ride town on Long Island, on the
through Capitol Hill to the utes each way. It’s 100 percent on grass. I’m not thrilled about shore. I’m going back to the
densely forested Interlaken me time. I’m remembering returning to the office, but I’m office three days a week, and
Park, full of birches, maples, all the things I missed. If I happy I get a chance to ride a bit I ride the train. That’s okay.
redwoods, and elms. To have want to blast Joey Bada$$, I more. I still get that look from A train ride can be a kind of
time when my mind and body can. I’m reconnecting with some white riders, like “What meditation or good for read-
are in a state of flow has been friends, too. I’m a dude and I are you doing out here?” [Hill ing books. I try to find small
a source of replenishment. won’t just pick up the phone is Black.] Especially riding in moments to breathe, observe,
I arrive at work sweaty but to chat. But when I’m sitting my work clothes. They don’t and relax. I surround myself
with a clear mind. I return in traffic, it’s easier for me know I have four bikes at home with nature in my “real” life,
home energized. I eat better. to call my mom or catch up and can ride circles around and that allows my com-
I sleep better. with a buddy I haven’t seen in them. It’s just that this one is mute to be just a commute.
a long time. the most fun for the commute. —INTERVIEWS BY JOSHUA DAVID STEIN

HOW TO RETURNING TO in-person work may feel exciting, overwhelming, annoying, who knows. Personally, anytime I’m
feeling sensory overload—and I live in New York City, so this happens often—I do this very simple meditation
MEDITATE based on a single word: and. There’s no need to sit cross-legged, close your eyes, relax—none of that. Just be
ANYWHERE. right where you are, eyes open, in the midst of the stress and overwhelm and noise and crazy, and feel your chest
rise and fall with one single breath. Realize that both of these things are happening: both the craziness and the
EVEN IN simple feeling of being in this body, breathing, in this moment. You’re here; it’s now. Stuff is buzzing around and
TRAFFIC. the mind is awake and aware. There can be a moment of stillness even in the middle of a lot of movement. This
jostling and this stillness. And you can do this 100 times a day if you want. Small moments, many times—that’s the
way to sanity. —JAY MICHAELSON, PH.D., MINDFULNESS TEACHER ON THE APP TEN PERCENT HAPPIER

78 OCTOBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH

EARLY-MORNING “Instead of commuting, “I started making my daugh- “Writing in my journal:
MAINTENANCE I started running each ter pancakes for breakfast. I’ve found that I have
morning before work. It made me feel so good to better clarity to reflect
Odds are you found new ways I’ve dropped 30 pounds. make her happy. Now I make on the previous day in
to optimize your early hours Now that I’m back at the a batch Sunday night and the morning, to help
during the pandemic. How office, I am continuing heat some up each day [so me think through what
some guys are planning to keep my morning runs.” they’re] fresh.” accomplishments or
the momentum going: Tim Anderson, Christopher Beardsley, challenges I got done.”
Norwalk, CT Blue Bell, PA Bill George, Raleigh, NC

TANK BY ALEXANDER BILLY EICHNER
WANG; SWEATPANTS
($138) BY ALO; SLIPPERS Knows the Power of a
($110) BY UGG; NECKLACE
($225) BY DAVID YURMAN; PANDEMIC
BRACELET ($3,500) BY PAUSE
CARTIER; GLASSES ($95)
BY WARBY PARKER. After years of nonstop work, the
actor and writer found a better
way to get ahead. BY SPENCER DUKOFF

FOR MOST OF the past decade, Billy Eich-
ner has operated at breakneck speed.

“I have a very full, chaotic life,” he says.
Eichner has filled that life with work—
writing, pitching, acting, auditioning,
producing, and screaming at strangers
on his madcap game show, Billy on the
Street—rarely taking a minute to breathe.
So there was some panic when,
four weeks before he was set to begin
shooting Bros, a star vehicle for Eichner
that he’d written with Nicholas Stoller
and that Judd Apatow was producing,
all production in Hollywood ground to a
halt. But as he begrudgingly settled into
quarantine, Eichner discovered some-
thing more productive: peace.
“I remember in those first few weeks of
Covid, I went back and I watched Ground-
hog Day and Broadcast News,” he says.
“I was able to read and watch and absorb
things and actually just enjoy them.”
Eichner, who acknowledges the priv-
ilege of being able to not work during
this past year, says taking a productivity
hiatus had a “profound” impact on his
creativity. “It reminded me why I got
into all of this in the first place,” he says.
That inspired him to rewrite the Bros
script and make it even better. “I was
able to look at it with fresh eyes. And not
in a frantic, anxiety-ridden state. Not
because someone was telling me I had
to, but because I wanted to.”
As he prepares for a postpandemic
life that includes a turn as Matt Drudge
on FX’s Impeachment: American Crime
Story, he’s holding on to the lessons he
learned. “Life is short, don’t take shit
from people, and fight for your vision.”

MEN’S HEALTH | OCTOBER 2021 79

Homing from Work THE TRY-HARD

Reset Your IRL They show up early, stay late,
Relationships and love to point out how
much harder they work than
Admit it: You missed your everyone else.
coworkers, even the quirky,
kooky ones who drove you nuts WHY THEY ANNOY YOU:
with their office antics in the When other people set high and
before times. Here’s how to potentially unhealthy expecta-
reset those relationships tions for themselves, you might
and make the most feel pressure to do the same to
difficult officemates avoid looking bad, says clinical
your new favorite neuropsychologist Judy Ho, Ph.D.
allies. BY LAUREN VINOPAL
JUST REMEMBER: Try-hards
rely on external validation to com-
pensate for low self-esteem, says
Ho. Now more than ever, they may
want to show they can perform.

HOW TO RESET: The next
time they throw shade at your
arrival or departure, try using “I”
statements. Saying, “I can’t be
there for my family when I come
in as early and stay as late as you
do” may help them see how their
criticisms aren’t fair, says clinical
psychologist Carla Manly, Ph.D.

THE SUPER SOCIALIZER  because they’ve missed contact.
“Tolerating that irritation, to an
These extroverts love small talk, extent, is a healthy skill to hone,”
big talk, and gossip and get en- says clinical psychologist Paul
ergy from interacting with others. Greene, Ph.D., as long as you set
new limits.
WHY THEY ANNOY YOU: For some
people (maybe you?), too much chatter HOW TO RESET: Put construc-
can be draining and even cause anxiety tive feedback in a compliment/
if you feel your space is being invaded, criticism sandwich, says therapist
says psychiatrist Tracey Marks, M.D. Nick Bognar. Say, “It’s great to see
you, but I have to get back to work.
JUST REMEMBER: Super socializ- Thanks for letting me focus.”
ers may be extra revved up right now

9 WAYS YOU’VE ALREADY proved you can work smarter 2. Set your phone’s alarm for the scheduled end
time of any meeting that might run over. When it
TO KEEP YOUR and remain productive. To avoid getting sucked goes off, it will signal that time is up, alerting the meet-
back into always-on mode, here are nine work-life ing organizer in a way that won’t blow back on you.
BOUNDARIES hacks that we use in the Men’s Health office. 3. If you get an hour for lunch, stop working
for an hour and recharge! The workday is a mara-
1. Keep your work calendar updated, thon, not a sprint.
including blocks of time for heads-down work.
Less “free time” equals fewer time sucks.

80 OCTOBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH ILLUSTRATION BY RODRIGO DAMATI

THE SENSORY OVERLOADER that makes it difficult for them to consider YOUR
how their actions affect others, says Manly.
They microwave fish for lunch, clip HOMING-FROM-WORK
their nails at their desk, and talk and HOW TO RESET: To start, ask if they’d mind
type super loud. not doing the offensive activity, because it’s REENTRY KIT
something you personally find distracting.
WHY THEY ANNOY YOU: Those who act If the person refuses, prepare to adapt. You This MH-tested gear
obnoxiously around others may not be aware— can go out for lunch or relocate to a common brings the comforts of home
or maybe don’t care—how rude they seem. area. “Protect yourself rather than trying to to the office.BY DALE ARDEN CHONG
fix someone else’s behavior,” says Dr. Marks.
JUST REMEMBER: Sensory overloaders
may have a sense of oblivious entitlement

THERAGUN THERABODY WAVE

DUO “Sitting is awful for our health,
and IT bands get tight,” says MH
advisor Drew Ramsey, Ph.D. When-
ever you need a break, three to five
minutes on this Bluetooth-connected
roller with five different vibration
levels can fix that. $99; theragun.com

THE CURMUDGEON THE HAPPY-HOUR MONSTER EMBER MUG This app-controlled
mug has a warming system that
They are grumpy complain- Whether it’s an assistant or an exec, they have keeps your beverage at your chosen
ers, and their latest gripe a few drinks and all hell breaks loose.  temperature. So you’ll never have to
is being “forced” to come slurp cold coffee again. From $100;
back to the office. WHY THEY ANNOY YOU: Obviously, seeing ember.com
coworkers lose control—and the appropriate work-
WHY THEY ANNOY YOU: place filter—can get uncomfortable, says Bognar. CUSHION LAB BACK RELIEF
Someone sharing excessive neg- LUMBAR PILLOW This easily pack-
ative energy is exhausting, and it JUST REMEMBER: People tend to drink at the pace able pad relieves back pressure and
can be challenging “because they of those they’re around; they may also drink more supports your posture in any seat,
often have a point,” says Bognar. because they’re insecure or uncomfortable. from the office to your car or sofa.
$64; thecushionlab.com
JUST REMEMBER: Some peo- HOW TO RESET: Trying to help a drunk colleague—
ple will miss work-from-home especially a supervisor—can become awkward quickly, VICTURE WI-FI CAMERA Relax
flexibility more than others, so and it might not be in your best interest to get involved, and keep an eye on your pandemic
while you may empathize with says Bognar. Your options: Talk privately and tell them pup’s home life with this 360 degree
their frustration, don’t let them they’ve probably had too much and should switch to camera featuring two-way audio,
drag you down. coffee, or just leave so you have plausible deniability. noise and motion detection, and
night vision. $25; govicture.com
HOW TO RESET: Whatever
the issue, just ask, “Do you want
some suggestions or are you just
venting?” If they keep grumbling,
acknowledge their feelings before
exiting the conversation. “I hear
you, commuting is the worst, but I
have to get back to my work now.”

Courtesy brands (products) 4. Set a hard leave time by booking 6. Don’t ask for “a day off” on short 8. Don’t spend all day at your desk. Move
a workout class or joining a carpool. notice. Instead, tell your boss you need a around the office, or step out for an hour to
A commitment is a commitment. mental-health day. (It’s generally also true.) work at a coffee shop if you need some space.
5. No Slack after 6:00 P.M. unless it’s 7. Use the “send later” function with 9. Be tactical after 4:30 P.M. and save an
urgent (and really urgent). Otherwise, email. That way, you’re done but don’t easy win (say, good news about a project) for
send an email and know you might not set the expectation that others need to tomorrow morning. It’s a great way to look
get a reply until 9:00 A.M. respond after working hours. 110 percent more productive.

MEN’S HEALTH | OCTOBER 2021 81

How to stay sharp A blazer instantly dresses 3
and keep your up your appearance. This
comfortable, sport jacket has knit fab- WEAR-
at-home vibe. ric and an unconstructed ANYWHERE
lining, for stretch and STAPLES
BY TED STAFFORD flexibility, so it’s as cozy as
your favorite sweatshirt.
Sport jacket ($1,150) by
Canali; canali.com.

These smart stretch This soft, long- UNBOUND
pants are polished and sleeved knit cotton MERINO WOOL
professional enough sweater has a stylish
for an office but feel like collar to immediately CREWNECK
sweatpants. They’re elevate your look, yet T-SHIRT
also moisture wicking, it feels as if you’re
so they’ll stay clean wearing a pj shirt. This shirt’s cut is flatter-
no matter what you Sweater polo ($159) ing and forgiving for every
spill on them. Stretch by Todd Snyder;
chinos ($98) by Vuori; toddsnyder.com. body type, with natural
vuoriclothing.com. breathability. Works as an
Dressed-up undershirt or on its own if
sneakers that are
simple, sleek, and neu- the office heats up.
tral can easily replace $75; unboundmerino.com
lace-up oxfords. What’s
extra sweet about these LULULEMON
is that they’re as com- UNDERWEAR
fortable as a pair of slip-
pers. Low-tops ($175) by Ergonomically designed
Rothy’s; rothys.com. performance underwear
keeps your crotch cool and
comfortable. You get the
support you want at a frac-

tion of the weight.
$28; lululemon.com

READING GLASSES ($436)
BY OLIVER PEOPLES.

STAGE YOUR “A framed picture of my “Coffee mugs. Virtual “I brought a lamp RHONE
COMEBACK mother and myself. We races have been into my office from ESSENTIALS
lost her in August 2020 all in on these in the home with a warm
Your home “office” was just the due to a long battle with gift bags. I have a white lightbulb. I MIDCALF
right temperature and you could cancer. I remember the collection that’s feel much more SOCKS
play tunes as loud as you wanted. great things about my not welcome in the relaxed and at ease
A few personal items can make past while also looking house, meaning they in the morning.” These are durable
any work zone feel like home. towards my future.” Josh don’t match.” Brent Donny Mangen,
Vervack, San Diego, CA Davies, Toronto, ON Roseville, MN enough for the gym and

will still look smart

with loafers. Whatever

the occasion, you can

expect to have extra

cushioning for support

and a dash of style.

$18; rhone.com

82 OCTOBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH

Homing from Work

“Wow! You SURVIVE THE
Look . . . Different.”
ZOOMBIE
Lockdown grooming experiments gave you a new appear- APOCALYPSE
ance—sometimes good, sometimes, uh, not. Use these
tips from celebrity groomer Melissa DeZarate to introduce Love it or hate it, teleconferencing
your WFH look to the office. BY GARRETT MUNCE isn’t going away. Here’s your no-
frills guide to looking enlightened
wherever you’re taking the call.

BY DALE ARDEN CHONG

AT WORK

You Have Long You’ve Become a You Grew a Beard, LUME CUBE VIDEO
Hair Now Beard Guy but You’re Over It CONFERENCING
First, trim it to stubble. LIGHTING KIT
Shape and control Smooth your scruff You’ll see your face again This compact light
your mane with a styl- by working beard oil and reduce irritation with an extended run
ing cream. It gives you through your whis- when you shave it off. Try time packs up as easily as it clips onto the
structure, hold, and kers and into the skin This: Panasonic Precision top of your computer screen. Casts warm or
flow. Try This: Fellow below. Try This: Jack Power Beard, Mustache cool light as it charges. $70; lumecube.com
Black Beard Oil, $26 and Hair Trimmer, $150
Styling Cream, $25

You’ve Gone Gray Your Skin Is Looking Your DIY Buzz Is $27; amazon.com
Lean into the distin- a Little Tired Growing Out
ON THE GO
guished salt-and- Perk it up with a sheet If your head looks like a
pepper look with a mask to exfoliate and fuzzy helmet, smooth QIAYA SELFIE LED
gray-highlighting po- some pomade on to add RING LIGHT
made. Try This: Oribe hydrate. Try This: shine and texture. Try Pocket-sized, drop-proof,
Silverati Illuminating HeTime Revitalizing This: Jillian Dempsey rechargeable, and
& Hydrating Sheet Roomie Hair Pomade, $34 brightness adjustable—
Pomade, $39 aka the perfect portable
Mask, $6 ring light. $19; qiaya.com

Courtesy brands (products) “AND YOU SMELL NICE, TOO.” DRACAST
HALO PLUS
Want to banish any B.O. or bad breath that plagued you pre-Covid? Start with the right LED 100
comboofDegreeMenMandarin&VetiverAntiperspirantandasubtlecologne—welikeDior Offering stage-light
Homme or Montblanc Explorer Ultra Blue—and remember to never refresh in the office. quality, this circular,
(Use a cologne stick instead.) Scent your desk with an unlit candle that smells like dimmable, touch-sensitive
vetivertoboostalertnessorlemongrasstoreduceanxiety.Keep bacteria-fighting mints unit folds up between uses
on hand to kill bad breath instead of covering it up. And don’t reheat fish at work—ever. and fits right into a travel bag.
$69; bhphotovideo.com

MEN’S HEALTH | OCTOBER 2021 83

Homing from Work

The Art of Postpandemic BEATS FOR
Productivity Breaks
THE GRIND
A top executive coach and the author of The Practice of Groundedness,
Brad Stulberg, M.P.H., talks about how to ace back-to-work season. Matching the right tunes to the
time of day can boost productivity
BY JOSEPH LONGO and mood. Cue the MH Playlist,
based on research by Indre
Has working from home How can we treat What are some other Viskontas, Ph.D., author of How
shown us how to be more work like interval train- productivity hacks? Power Music Can Make You Better.
productive? People are ing in an office? Instead
naps work for some people, BY SPENCER DUKOFF
realizing the importance of one-hour meetings, absolutely. Do we have to get all
of little breaks throughout schedule 50-minute fancy and have, like, corporate 7:00 A.M.
the day. If you’re an Olympic meetings. Instead of 30- napping rooms? Probably
athlete training your body, minute meetings, sched- not. You can probably do it at GET UPBEAT AND AT ’EM
or you’re a knowledge worker ule 20-minute meetings. your desk. We all did it at our Stress can cause you to reach
focusing on a spreadsheet, Use these ten-minute desk in eighth grade. Another for junk at breakfast. So
the sweet spot for work is periods to take a walk trick: Try walking meetings. kick things off with a mellow,
between 30 and 90 minutes, around the office. Do Walking doesn’t fall into that positive vibe.
followed by breaks of five to the stairs once or twice. category of [distracted] multi-
30 minutes. It’s almost like Listen to music. It doesn’t tasking, because you’re just “Graceland Too,”
interval training.  have to be physical.  moving your body. by Phoebe Bridgers

YOUR EVERYWHERE GUIDE TO “My Sweet Lord,”
by George Harrison
LASER FOCUS
“Fireman,” by Katy Kirby
Four essential tools for staying in the zone—no matter who
(or what) is trying to distract you. BY DALE ARDEN CHONG 12:00 P.M.

Sony WH-1000XM4 Embrava Blynclight Amazon Echo The Noisli App FIND YOUR MIDDAY MOJO Courtesy brands (products)
You’re paying for This beacon syncs Frames Career coach Tune in to some relaxing,
Stacey Staaterman immersive music to slow your
high-tech noise can- with Microsoft These smart glasses suggests white heart rate and help you take a
cellation, plus smart Teams, Zoom, and have a blue-light filter noise to tune out much-needed breather.
features like speak- to reduce eyestrain, distractions. She
to-chat technology Slack to show if so you can focus on likes Noisli because “Bonny Light Horseman,”
and adaptive sound you’re on a call or in its natural sounds by Bonny Light Horseman
a virtual meeting. your screen longer, (river, rain, wind) in-
control. All with Or just use it as an and audio capabilities crease engagement “Not in Our Stars,”
enough battery life and productivity. by William Tyler
for a full day of work. obvious “do not that’ll let you take a Free; noisli.com
$350; amazon.com disturb” signal. $50; call without messing “My Little Brown Book,”
by Duke Ellington and
embrava.com with a headset. John Coltrane
$270; amazon.com
3:00 P.M.

AMP YOUR AFTERNOON
Higher-BPM jams will get your
heart rate jumping.

“Let It Happen (Soulwax
Remix),” by Tame Impala

“All My Life,” by Foo Fighters

“Levitating (Don Diablo
Remix),” by Dua Lipa
featuring DaBaby

6:00 P.M.

SET A NEW MOOD
Variety can help you decom-
press. Try these upbeat songs
to settle into the evening.

“Be Sweet,”
by Japanese Breakfast

“Dragonball Durag,”
by Thundercat

“Hardlytown,”
by Hiss Golden Messenger

84 OCTOBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH

ENJOY A FITNESS
SNACK OR TWO!

Soothe your old office
aches with this ultraquick,

anytime, anywhere set
of stretches.

BY EBENEZER SAMUEL, C.S.C.S.

INCHWORM TO SCORPION STRETCH
Place your hands on the floor and grad-
ually shift into pushup position. Lower
your chest to the floor, then lift your left
leg in the air and reach it over to your
right side, twisting your hips as you do.
Aim to touch your left leg to the floor.
Reverse the leg movement and repeat on
the other side. Do 3 to 5 reps to fire up
your core and loosen your hip flexors.

JACKET ($648), SHIRT ($114), LUNGE TO BOW AND ARROW
AND TECH CHINO PANTS Start standing, then step your left foot
($118) BY BROOKS BROTHERS; back to do a reverse lunge, bringing your
TIE ($35) AND SOCKS ($10) left knee to the floor. Now extend both
BY TIE BAR; SHOES ($140) arms in front of you. Keeping your right
BY TOMMY HILFIGER; BELT arm extended, reach your left arm as
($195) BY PAUL SMITH; far behind you as possible. Return it to
SANTOS-DUMONT WATCH the front and repeat with the right arm.
($5,850) BY CARTIER; GLASSES Stand explosively. Do 5 reps per side to
($95) BY WARBY PARKER. strengthen your hips and glutes and re-
lax tight shoulder and back muscles.
SQUATS AT YOUR DESK? KINDA.
PLANK-SWITCH SHOULDER TAP
Making work its own workout can burn an extra 800 calories per day, says trainer Joey Start in pushup position, hands directly
Thurman, C.P.T., author of 365 Health & Fitness Hacks That Could Save Your Life. below your shoulders. Without letting
your hips shift, lift your left hand and tap
MOVEMENT GYM EQUIVALENT ESTIMATED your right shoulder. Return it to the floor
CALORIES BURNED* and repeat on the other side. Without
shifting your hips, step your feet forward
TAKE STAIR CLIMBING, 48 into a bear plank, knees under your hips,
THE STAIRS MODERATE PACE (5 MINUTES) then tap each shoulder. Repeat for 40
seconds, then rest 20 seconds. Do 3 sets
Even one flight each day adds up over time, and it’ll boost your endorphins. to reignite your core.

GET UP, SQUATS 8 MEN’S HEALTH | OCTOBER 2021 85
SIT DOWN (1 MINUTE)

To keep moving, count every time you sit down and stand back up as a squat.

Rodrigo Damati (illustrations) PACK RUCKING 76
SOMETHING EXTRA (WALKING WITH 25 TO 49 LBS,

10 MINUTES)

Add some books to your work bag so you’re shouldering a heavier load.

WALK POWER WALKING 106
AND TALK (WALKING 4.5 MPH,

10 MINUTES)

Take a call outside the office for more gains. Shoot for brisk but not breathless.

*According to the Compendium of Physical Activities, using 200 pounds (the average U.S. man’s weight) as the baseline.

Homing from Work

THE PICNIC IS THE NEW POWER LUNCH

As we head back to the office, those DIY outdoor lunches can still be the thing to do.

TRY A HEARTY SALAD IN A JAR, REINVENT YOUR SANDWICH. MAKE A HEALTHY CHEESE BOARD,

says Moore. Build it from the Slapping protein and a says Harbstreet. Go with
hard cheeses like cheddar
bottom up: Start with a vin- salad’s worth of greens and Gouda and a soft cheese
like cottage. Pair pita bread
aigrette, then add chickpeas, between whole-grain or crispy crackers with jerky
or low-sodium deli meats.
carrots, tomatoes, olives, bread works well, too: Try Then toss in pistachios and
blueberries.
and cucumbers. Add feta to sliced turkey or canned

the top for a salty, tangy fin- tuna, topped with sprouts,

ish. Close, and shake when cucumbers, leafy greens,

ready to eat. avocado, and tomato.

TASTIER
SNACKS!

Four easy ways to boost

your energy at work. (Buh-

bye, vending machine.)

BY HEATHER MAYER IRVINE

BALANCE CHO AND PRO
Combine carbs and protein for
long-lasting energy, says Marisa
Moore, R.D.N., an integrative
dietitian. Mix roasted, lightly
salted sunflower seeds and
dried blueberries in a small
jar for a snack that’s sweet,
salty, and crunchy. Bonus: The
unsaturated fats in the seeds
will keep you feeling full.

HAVE A MINI MEAL

A favorite of Cara Harbstreet,
R.D., of Street Smart Nutrition,

is protein- and omega-3-rich
tuna or salmon (StarKist
makes packaged versions)
spread on sliced cucumbers or
mini bell peppers. Drizzle with
your favorite hot sauce for a
tiny yet protein-packed meal.

MAKE LUNCHABLES SHIRT ($55) BY TIE BAR;
TECH PANTS ($285)
Jordan Mazur, R.D., director BY THEORY; TIE ($60)
BY BANANA REPUBLIC;
of nutrition for the San ICON WATCH ($135) BY
TOMMY HILFIGER; BELT
Francisco 49ers, suggests ($195) BY PAUL SMITH.
these key ingredients:
shredded rotisserie chicken
for lean protein; pistachios,
walnuts, pumpkin seeds,
dried tart cherries, and dark
chocolate chips for a healthy
trail mix; and antioxidant-rich
blueberries or grapes.

STAY MINDFUL

Don’t go more than three to
four hours without eating, to
help keep your blood sugar
steady. You can avoid mindless
snacking by setting an alarm
to get up every hour instead
of reaching for the chips, says
Kelly Hogan Laubinger, R.D.

You’re Back CHEERS, AND
in the Office
—Now What? WELCOME
BACK
Getty Images (nuts). Courtesy brands (cans). MANY PEOPLE may feel “a bit lost” and “unsettled” as they transition back to the office,
Bring your WFH happy-
says Darcy Gruttadaro, the director of the Center for Workplace Mental Health. But hour favorites to toast
you’ve got this. And in case you have any doubt, Men’s Health asked more than 100 your return to the office.
MH MVPs—our term for the subscribers to our exclusive membership program, which
provides access to premium videos and workouts and expert advice—for their own BY SPENCER DUKOFF
return-to-work mantras. (Read the rest of their answers on MensHealth.com.)
VINO
Here are three of the greatest to remember—and repeat as needed:
UNDERWOOD PINOT
“I can do anything “Don’t go back just to have “Stick to the schedule GRIS (13% ABV)
from anywhere.” things be as they were and leave ‘work’ This crisp, crushable
before; go for better.” at ‘work.’ ” canned wine hails
Christopher Simone, from Oregon, which
Scott J. Clark, Oshawa, ON Ken Conway, Shrewsbury, MA has become a haven for
Portland, OR small-scale wineries
focused on craft and
There will still be new challenges. For those who are continuing to work from home sustainability.
part of the week, flipping back and forth between isolation and socialization can be jar-
ring. But you’ve already proved you can evolve and adapt. In this case, clinical psychol- BEER
ogist Carla Manly, Ph.D., recommends setting aside time during your morning routine
to check in with how you’re feeling, either by doing a mental exercise or by making a BREWDOG ELVIS AF
journal entry. If you’re feeling more outgoing, it will be an easier day in the office. If not, NON-ALCOHOLIC
you can mentally prepare, “knowing you’re in a more sensitive space,” she says.  GRAPEFRUIT IPA
(0.5% ABV) Skeptical
And if anything does upset you, just remember: “Children throw tantrums; adults about near beer?
negotiate,” says therapist Nick Bognar. “What that means is that children fixate on We were, too, until
the problem and approach it with helplessness and victimhood.” Before getting upset, we tried this hoppy,
ask yourself three questions: zesty NA alternative
that won’t make you
1. 2. 3. miss the “real” thing.

What are the What are the parts What’s the best COCKTAIL
parts of this that that I just have to possible outcome
DOGFISH HEAD
I can control? deal with? for me here? DISTILLERY CHERRY
BERGAMOT WHISKEY
Then focus on controlling only what you can, letting the rest go, and—whatever you SOUR (7% ABV)
do—taking a beat to make sure you’re not putting too much energy into solving some- Tart but not grimace
thing that you can just as easily add to the let-it-go list. As your time at home has probably inducing, this low-
taught you, the one thing you can control most is . . . you. octane cocktail can be
its own adventurous
conversation starter.

DON’T PRETEND What We Missed the What We’ll Happily The Best Part
Most “Having a structured Leave Behind “Con- of Work-Life
YOU DIDN’T ‘lunch hour’ is much bet- stantly riding the mute Separation
ter for my diet than an ‘I’ll and video-off buttons to “Home will feel
MISSTHIS eat something in the af- keep a screaming naked more like home.”
ternoon when I’m hungry’ baby from interrupting Keith Johnson,
approach.” Michael Walsh, my call.” Joseph Lipan, TX
Avon Lake, OH Juhnke, Chicago, IL

For additional answers to these questions and more, head to MensHealth.com.

MEN’S HEALTH | OCTOBER 2021 87

BY PHOTOGRAPHS BY

ALEX GAGNE

88 OCTOBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH

It’s not
smoke that
kills most

When one
woman found
a link between
the gear
her husband
and other
firefighters
wear and the
cancers they
suffer, it set
off a six-year
battle to find
answers—

PAUL COTTER’s
cancer diagnosis
in 2014 cut short
his beloved career
as a firefighter.

It was winter 2015,and Diane Cotter was Gleason scale, whatever the hell that was.
Bad, but could be worse, the oncologist
in the cellar, tearing through boxes. Upstairs, the inside of explained. They could excise the tumor,
the tidy southern New Hampshire home she shares with her the hotshot surgeon in Boston said to
husband, Paul, is something of a shrine to firefighting— them. Nobody mentioned the eventual
Paul’s commendations on the armoire, photos, boxes of swag side effects—the incontinence, the im-
and mementos accumulated from a lifetime on the rescue potence, the weakness—but none of that
truck in Worcester, Massachusetts. But Paul’s firefighting matters when you start measuring your
gear was packed away in the cellar. It was too hard to look at. life expectancy in five-year chunks. The
rhythms of Paul’s life changed from shifts
Even at 55, Paul was in top physical two guys in the firehouse who could climb and calls to regular blood draws, post-op
shape. Thick and barrel shaped, with up the three-story fire pole. His diagno- meetings, and fears of relapse.
close-cropped hair, he is a bear of a sis—prostate cancer, aggressive—on
man. At his peak, he could deadlift 495 November 20, 2014, was shattering. In the cellar, Diane muscled Paul’s fire-
pounds, and he liked to boast, in his heavy Overnight, his life became medicalized. resistant trousers out of the box. She was
Worcester accent, that he was one of only The tumor scored a seven out of ten on the no firefighter, but Diane knew her way
around what the squad called “turnout
gear.” For almost 40 years, since he had

90 OCTOBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH

Paul and his wife, culprit, the reason why Paul was the only gruesome. But today, most active-duty
Diane, turned her man in his large family to be diagnosed firefighters do not die from falling beams
craft room into a war with a cancer known to run in families. or back drafts—they die from cancer.
room where they Why was it that cancer had torn a hole in Cancer is now the number-one killer in
fought to get to the nearly every firefighting family they knew, the fire service. Firefighters have a 9 per-
truth about what was all across America? cent higher risk of cancer, and a 14 percent
killing firefighters. higher risk of dying from cancer, than the
Late one night on the Internet, she dis- rest of the population. “Every firehouse is a
first flashed a smile at her from his baby- covered that the lining that was part of cancer cluster,” Diane likes to say, and she’s
blue Cadillac during her junior year of all firefighting gear might be a cause. It right. A firefighter is twice as likely as a ci-
high school, Diane had been by Paul’s side. wasn’t until two years later that she found vilian to get testicular cancer, 53 percent
Although she raised two kids and worked out more: that it contained man-made more likely to contract non-Hodgkin’s
half a dozen jobs over the years, her home chemicals called perfluoroalkyl and poly- lymphoma, and 28 percent more likely to
was always open to hundreds of firefight- fluoroalkyl substances, or PFASs. This is a develop prostate cancer, like Paul.
ers from Local 1009 and their families ubiquitous class of chemicals, the stuff that
whenever somebody made captain or makes Teflon slick and Scotchgard stain- Paul doesn’t like to talk about what
didn’t come home from a shift. She was resistant—but, she would soon learn, it cancer took from him, but he talks to all
terrified for Paul’s safety, but she knew he also includes widespread environmental the firefighters who call, for as long as
lived for the job. Plus, she couldn’t deny toxicants and substances that interfere they want, about treatments, disability,
she loved the smell of smoke that clung to with the body’s hormonal functions. It’s the things nobody tells you—the anxiety,
him when he walked in the door. linked to various adverse health effects, in- the depression that comes from having
cluding cancer. She stopped the Googling a job you loved, a purpose, torn from you
The diagnosis had forced Paul into a and picked up Paul’s gear. She shined his too soon. Paul says he’s one of the lucky
retirement he wasn’t ready for and sunk old field flashlight at the high-tech lining, ones. Doctors say he’s cancer-free now,
him into depression, but it had thrust and light poured through several holes near though treatment left its scars, both
Diane toward a new obsession: finding the the groin. The chemical-laden lining was physical and mental.
degrading. She wondered if that was the
trouble. If so, Paul had been vulnerable, Most firefighters assume their cancers
day after day, week after week, for a decade. comesolelyfrom carcinogensin thesmoke
they inhale. But for the better part of a
It was the beginning of a six-year odyssey, decade, Paul and Diane have been out to
a quest to protect firefighters from the gear prove that not all cancer in the fire service
that was supposed to save them, an under- is directly related to the fires they fight.
taking that would, to the Cotters’ devastat- Some of firefighting’s most common can-
ing surprise, alienate friends and pit them cers, like testicular and prostate, may not
against their union and some of the most be tied to breathing in smoke at all and in-
powerful corporations on earth. Given stead could be more closely related to four
that PFASs are also in all kinds of common letters that have come to dominate the
household products, was it possible that fire- Cotters’ lives: PFAS. “These people don’t
fighters were the canaries in the coal mine? know they’re being poisoned,” Paul says.

Diane felt ill. To understand the problem, you need
to go all the way back to April 6, 1938, to
PAUL NAMES FROM A LIST a New Jersey laboratory owned by the
READS chemical giant DuPont. That fateful day,
in the Cotters’ make- an experiment went awry. Instead of mak-
shift war room—a for- ing a refrigerant, a young chemist acci-
dentally created a brand-new substance,
mer crafting room with one of the slipperiest materials on earth.
The molecules that defined this new class
a listless Internet connection, no cell ser- of chemicals formed a profoundly strong
carbon-fluorine bond. Substances coated
vice, and a lot of yarn—while Diane prac- in it not only repelled water and resisted
stains; they could handle extreme tem-
tices a speech for a conference on peratures and insulate electrical wires.
DuPont patented Teflon, and by 1956 the
toxic chemicals and activism. It’s a late- first nonstick pans were on the market.
Soon after, companies began developing
Maymorningearlierthis year,andPaulhas new, related PFASs that would appear in
products like Scotchgard and Gore-Tex.
just gotten over the mild symptoms of his Today, PFAS compounds—there are thou-
sands of them—are popularly known as
second Covid shot. His list, stored on an ag- forever chemicals because of their strong
bond and refusal to degrade. A better
ing yellow notepad, is up to 32 neatly written

names. Each is a firefighter who has reached

out to him, and beside each entry is a let-

ter—P for prostate, T for testicular, B for

brain, and so on. “When I came home after

my surgery, I started getting calls,” he says.

“I was getting one a month. I still get calls.”

There are many ways to die in the fire ser-

vice, and firefighters train to avoid the most

MEN’S HEALTH | OCTOBER 2021 91

name might be everywhere chemicals: ready made some disturbing discoveries. course of his career, Paul would be wearing
They’ve become a mainstay in engines As early as the 1950s, researchers found it—multiple times a day. As the gear sheds
and electronics, carpeting and couches, that PFASs attached themselves to pro- chemicals, firefighters likely breathe it in
stain-resistant pants and wrinkle-free teins in human blood—and they persisted and absorb it through their skin.
shirts, shampoo and floss. And, of course, in the body. Throughout the 1960s and ’70s,
an integral part of firefighting gear. DuPont and 3M conducted animal studies Although PFAS exposure is rampant—
that showed that PFAS exposure was toxic studies estimate that about 95 percent of
“YOU SEE ‘THE RABBIT to animals and led to kidney and liver is- Americans have measurable amounts of
WANNA sues.In1981,a studyofDuPont’sownpreg- the compounds in their blood—firefight-
hole’?” Diane asks, nant employees found elevated PFAS levels ers have significantly higher levels. There
opening up her AOL in their blood; among eight children born, are currently moves to ban PFASs in food
two had birth defects. At both 3M and Du- packaging and some other products. Sci-
account on the Cot- Pont, a material-safety data sheet—a doc- entists don’t know what a safe amount of
ument required by OSHA that outlines the PFAS exposure is. The quantity you con-
ters’ desktop PC. She calls herself a fat lit- hazards of chemicals and how they should sume when you apply a single coating of
be handled—clearly stated the carcino- PFAS-laden lip balm may be negligible,
tle housewife, which is untrue except for genic potential of PFAS exposure for work- but scientists worry that the successive
ers. Regardless, both companies continued exposures add up. We are all part of an
her diminutive stature, and she speaks to market their wonder chemicals. unprecedented experiment, and Paul and
Diane wanted to see it stop.
with the thick accent of her native Worces- Early on, Diane knew none of this. And
she had no idea that some firefighters are “This is a global problem,” says Rob
ter (or “Woosta,” as she puts it). If Paul is exposed to still other sources of PFASs Bilott, the crusading attorney who put
aside from their gear. For decades, PFASs PFAS exposure on the map and DuPont
the counselor to firefighters everywhere, were a component of the firefighting foam in the spotlight—the man portrayed by
employed at airports and military bases. Mark Ruffalo in the 2019 film Dark Wa-
Diane is the advocate. And the rabbit hole Firefighters who used the foam, called ters. “We have these firefighters, the ones
AFFF (aqueous film-forming foam), had we ask to help us, to save us, to put their
is the AOL folder where she files all the higher PFAS levels in their blood than the lives at risk for us—we need to know what
general public. But Paul, like most fire- they’re being exposed to.” Diane vowed to
emailsshe’ssentin hersearchforthetruth fighters, never handled AFFF. Something find out. But she didn’t count on the fact
he did handle all the time, though, was his that, because of a tight culture and poten-
about PFASs and firefighters. On this May gear. When he joined the fire service in tially tainted dealings, not all firefighters
1988, he says, guys wore rubber waterproof wanted to know what poison might be
day, it’s at 15,000-plus. She is a prolific coats and knee-high boots—old-school lurking in their gear.
gear. But the development of new materials
emailer, and her missives are something to drove the modernization of turnout gear.

behold: Formatting is rough and capital- The National Fire Protection Association
(NFPA), a nonprofit, nongovernmental
ization abitrandom, the senderlinehasno agency that sets the standards for firefight-
ing gear, mandated that all turnout gear
name (emails just arrive from “d”), and the include a composite of three layers: a tough
outer shell, a thermal insulator to keep heat
recipients include union bosses, heads of out, and, sandwiched between, a moisture
barrier to keep the firefighters dry. What
environmental groups, and senators. It miracle material could do all this? Over the

can all seem like the ravings of a crank, ex-

cept Diane has meaningful correspon-

dence with these people. “It’s easier for

people to give me what I want than to have

to keep putting up with me,” she laughs.

At home, it’s different. Diane met Paul in

1977, when he, a high school senior, pulled SOME WHEN THEY ENTER

up next to her at a stoplight in downtown your body, make
TOXICANTS, theirpresenceobvi-
Worcester. Diane saw stars—literally, she

insists—and five years later they married ous, breaking mem-

in Paul’s Armenian church on the hottest branes and causing cells to explode. PFASs

day of the year, everyone drunk on the in- are stealthier. They appear to mimic the

cense and the humidity. But as they were fatty acids you get from your diet, the run-

courting and Teflon was taking over the of-the-mill residents that ensure all sorts

world, scientists at the companies that of healthy cellular function. Under this

manufactured PFAS compounds had al- guise and unbothered by your body’s de-

fenses, PFASs glom on to protein mole-

cules, and once they do, things go haywire.

“We have a growing amount of research

that clearly shows this class of chemicals

is associated with a whole range of adverse

health effects,” says Linda Birnbaum,

Ph.D., who, as director of the National In-

stitute of Environmental Health Sciences,

was the country’s top toxicologist until

she retired in 2019. It’s very difficult to

prove, medically or legally, that a person’s

cancer came from any one contaminant.

Yet that doesn’t rule out a relationship be-

a brotherhood. tween them. “These chemicals have long

been associated with cancers,” Birnbaum

says. Research has shown an increased risk

92 OCTOBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH

When Paul was fighting fires (above,
2008), he had no idea that PFAS
compounds were in the gear he wore
(right). Scientists later found sky-
high levels in the materials that were
supposed to protect firefighters. But
nobody wanted to hear about it.

Alan J. Brackett (Cotter). Alex Gagne (coat). of various types of cancer (includ- this point had recovered from surgery but Massachusetts State House, standing be-
ing kidney, liver, and prostate) in was nervously awaiting results from the neath the golden dome and central colon-
connection to PFAS exposure. blood work doctors carried out every 90 nade, to testify at a hearing about PFAS
days to hunt for cancer, made the trek out exposure. Inside the hearing room, lug-
“PFAS is insidious; it’s one of to Notre Dame, too. ging a heavy set of turnout gear as a prop,
the most persistent chemicals ever Diane saw union officials and firefighters
made,” says Graham Peaslee, Ph.D., a pro- When Peaslee got the results from this from across the state, people the Cotters
fessor at Notre Dame and one of the world’s initial test, the readings were shocking. “It had known for years. But no one looked
leading PFAS researchers. Peaslee, an ex- was bigger than anything I’d ever seen in a happy to see them.
perimental nuclear physicist, invented a textile,” he says. Later research found that
way to uncover where PFASs are lurking the gear was likely shedding PFASs every- Since 2017, the word on PFASs in gear
and measure how much of the chemicals where. High PFAS levels were found in fire- had gotten around—almost wholly thanks
is on an object. That’s why, in 2017, Diane houses, in trucks, even on lab assistants’ to Diane. She became prolific on social me-
came calling. “I get this email,” Peaslee hands after they had handled the gear. dia and wrote an article for a trade publica-
says. “It’s five pages long—a short letter Peaslee, who, like most folks, had always tion, summarizing her own investigation,
for Diane, I know now. She’s frustrated. All liked firefighters, gained a new respect for that quickly went viral within the fire-
she’s asking is someone to test some gear.” the profession as he met more and more of fighting world. She finagled funding from
them. He was horrified to learn that fire- a Boston foundation for Peaslee to conduct
Although she had found an article dis- fighters wore their gear constantly, on rou- a preliminary study of turnout gear—one
cussing the presence of certain PFASs tine calls, to the grocery store—that they that would determine the full extent of ex-
in turnout gear, the gear manufacturers wrapped their newborns in it for photos. posure. But she also began criticizing the
said it was minimal—“trace amounts,” “PFAS exposure pertains to all of society,” gear manufacturers and, critically, the
she kept hearing. She had emailed regula- Peaslee says. “The firefighters are just out union—the International Association of
tors and Congress members, talked to the in front, like they always are.” Fire Fighters (IAFF)—for its inaction.
health and safety folks at the firefighters’
union, and nobody seemed to give a damn. PAUL AND KN E W TH E Y WE RE People didn’t take it kindly: Airing
They took the manufacturers at their ruffling feathers. But dirty laundry isn’t something done in
word. She was at her wits’ end. But Diane DIANE a brotherhood. Commenters online at-
poked, prodded, and harangued. “I barely they didn’t know the tacked her. Old friends didn’t return
graduated high school,” she says. “I felt calls. Her assertiveness rubbed people the
so intimidated writing to Graham.” Pea- extent of it until Sep- wrong way. But it wasn’t because Paul and
slee, like so many before and after him, Diane were wrong. Larger forces—like the
relented to her pressure. tember 2019. They were in Boston, at the

She sent Peaslee samples taken from
a brand-new set of gear she’d purchased,
one that wouldn’t be contaminated with
ash from burning buildings. Paul, who at

MEN’S HEALTH | OCTOBER 2021 93

union these men had belonged the field of firefighting. There,
to their whole careers, the one
that fought for their benefits the committee in charge of turn-
and raises—had smothered
this kind of dissent before. out-gear standards includes a mix

Outside of the union, other of gear manufacturers, labor reps,
folks who were supposed to pro-
tect firefighters—the gear man- lawyers, and firefighters. It aims
ufacturers—were also quick to
placate and obfuscate. One gear for a balance of interests, yet in
company, Lion, funded its own
study, carried out by Exponent, 2007, this committee decided that
Inc., a firm known for producing
scientific research for the to- one component of turnout gear, an
bacco industry that downplayed
smoking’s health impact. Its internal moisture barrier, must
testing found there were very
few to no detectable PFASs in pass a UV-light test. But the mois-
samples of the company’s gear,
even though Peaslee’s research ture barrier, something inside
had shown the opposite.
the trousers, never sees the sun.
A letter to the publication
FirefighterNation from Paul There was only one class of mate-
Chrostowski, Ph.D., an envi-
ronmental-health scientist rials that could reliably both block
who was a consultant to Lion, called the
alarms about PFASs in gear causing can- water and withstand UV light:
cer “misleading and unsupported” and
said “it would be irresponsible to dis- materials containing PFASs. The
suade firefighters from using their pro-
tective gear out of fear of cancer.” Lion’s light test was proposed by a profes-
crisis consultant told Men’s Health, “Dr.
Chrostowski’s report says it all for Lion.” sor with ties to the gear industry,
Other manufacturers contacted for this
story did not respond. according to reporting from E&E

Companies denied the presence of cer- News, and it sailed through the
tain PFAS compounds in their gear—ones
that had been proven to be toxic and that NFPA committee. With this rule
the chemical companies had phased out
years earlier. But there was a catch to most in place, Peaslee says, firefighting
of their denials. New PFASs, says Birn-
baum, the former top governmental toxi- gear could not be PFAS-free.
cologist, “are being intentionally made or
inadvertently produced all the time.” So For the Cotters, “the shun-
while firefighting gear didn’tcontain a few
of the most notorious PFAS compounds, ning,” as they call it, which began
Peaslee’s study found other, lesser-known
types still lurking in the gear. Harold Schaitberger, a char- When Paul was in 2018, was devastating. The
ismatic powerbroker in D. C. inducted into the union had been an integral part of
This switcheroo was all perfectly legal. known to squash internal Worcester Fire their lives for three decades, the
“We assume chemicals are innocent until dissent. During his 20-year Department in 1988, guys Paul hunted and fished with.
proven guilty,” says Jamie DeWitt, Ph.D., tenure, gear manufacturers he and Diane had “People were uncomfortable with
a toxicologist at East Carolina University. no idea how risky the
In other words, in the U. S., hypotheti-
cally, you can release a new PFAS into the loaded up the union’s mag- job would really be. her relentlessness,” a local union
world every day, if you like, and you don’t
have to prove it’s safe before it’s used. azine with ads for new kit, official told me. “And she uncovers

The union and the gear industry were manned booths at annual conferences, more information, and that’s uncomfort-
close, too, which likely didn’t encourage
transparency on the issue. At the time and even sponsored the IAFF symposium able. And she starts questioning who in the
Diane was making her findings known,
the IAFF was the fiefdom of its president, on firefighter cancer. Union health and union has known what and when. Is this a

safety officers repeated rhetoric from gear scandal?Nobodywantstobeapartofthat.”

manufacturers, infuriating Diane. “When Diane and Paul retreated to the darkest

a firefighter wants to know what time it is, placethey’dbeensincePaul’sdiagnosis,but

they call their local union president,” Paul their message was being heard. The IAFF,

says. “When they want to know about turn- folks realized, wasn’t doing its job. “Under

out gear and cancer, they go to the union. Harold Schaitberger, the IAFF traded our

And when the union says they’re crazy, safety for sponsorship,” says Frank Ricci, a

don’t worry about it . . . ” He trails off. retired union president and battalion chief

Schaitberger became a frequent target inNewHaven,Connecticut.Moreandmore

of Diane’s. In October of 2018, she tweeted firefighters were realizing the dangers of

a link to a blog post that was sharply crit- PFASs, and they wanted change. (Schait-

ical of him. “Harold Schaitberger’s IAFF berger is currently being investigated by

long ago gave up its once premier role the FBI, the U. S. Attorney’s Office, and the

in protecting us,” it said, praising Diane DepartmentofLaborforpotentialfinancial

for her efforts to uncover PFASs in turn- improprieties when he led the union.)

out gear. Almost immediately, the Cot-

ters were ostracized. Friends told Diane FOUR AND A UNIVERSE AWAY
they weren’t supposed to speak with her. HOURS
A local union legislative agent bashed from Worcester, Captain
Nate Barber of the Nan-

her and Peaslee on Twitter. tucket Fire Department

There were other, more systemic road- bounces his flatbed truck over cobble-

blocks, too—like the National Fire Protec- stone roads toward the town dump. Bar-

tion Association, the obscure nonprofit on ber beeps his horn twice at everyone he Courtesy subjects

the outskirts of Boston where industry em- knows along the route—which is a lot of

ployees,gearmanufacturers,andfirefight- beeps, since he’s one of those rare Nan-

ers meet to hash out the rules that regulate tucket creatures, a native. His connec-

94 OCTOBER 2021 | MEN’S HEALTH

tion to the island, and his wife and two HOW TO IAFF. When it comes to how the tide turned,
kids, made the frequent stints in Boston LOWER YOUR “you gotta give Diane credit,” he says.
for cancer treatment even harder. “Any DAILY
news on the PFAS yet?” he asks the dump Armed with Peaslee’s gear study, a fire-
attendant as he pulls up. She demurs. PFAS DOSE fighter-turned-lawyer in California has
filed several lawsuits against makers of
The landfill is loaded with old furniture PFASs are everywhere—an esti- gear, foam, and PFASs for damages sus-
and appliances and garbage, the sea breeze mated 95 percent of Americans tained by firefighters that they allege are re-
is light, and the dump has views over the At- have measurable amounts in lated to PFAS exposure. It’s part of a huge,
lantic. Somehow, like most of Nantucket, their blood. Here are some basic nationwide suite of suits involving PFASs.
it is postcard pretty. “Yeah, but it’s on fire, ways that three top toxicologists
like, every year,” Barber says. “And when changed their habits to lessen After years of denials and being hounded
it catches fire, we just dump tens of thou- their daily exposure. as kooks, it’s bittersweet vindication for the
sands of gallons of water on it. I’ve been Cotters. The research they helped birth is
here, like, six times for that.” Barber is STOPPED MICROWAVING ALL evidence that PFASs are in gear; firefight-
convinced that PFASs from the dump will ers across America care and are taking ac-
be found in the groundwater here—and PLASTIC. Heating certain food tion; even the union is changing. “Nothing
eventually everywhere—like they were containers and wrappers is a great would have happened without Diane,” Paul
in drinking-water wells near the airport, way to leach PFASs right into your says with a pride tinged by the bitterness
where toxic foam was used for training. food, says Linda Birnbaum, a re- that this was foisted upon her. But Diane
tired U. S. government toxicologist. doesn’t feel triumphant. She still hasn’t
service, thanks to rising awareness of the She also brings glass containers forgiven the union. And she wants congres-
chemicals’ toxic presence in firefighters’ to restaurants for takeout. sional hearings to investigate the manufac-
lives—and thanks to Diane Cotter, whose turers and the fire-service institutions. “I
Facebook posts alerted him to the pres- FILTER ALL THEIR WATER AT HOME. have mixed emotions,” she says from their
ence of PFASs in his gear in the first place. backyard. “It took too much out of our life.
Up to 110 million Americans may There have been hundreds of small victo-
“When I got cancer, I just thought it’s have PFAS-contaminated water, ries, but we haven’t won the war.” She’s still
something that people get,” says Barber, but filtering helps. Reverse osmo- so deep in the fight that, in many ways, she
who found out he had testicular cancer in sis systems are best at removing can’t grasp the scale of her success.
2019, when he was 38. “But then I learned these contaminants, but some
one of the main cancers PFAS causes is pitchers with a charcoal filter can Earlier this year, gear manufacturers
testicular.” He wondered if a bad fire had also be effective. Ask your munic- began developing PFAS-free equipment.
exposed him to something toxic, then ipal water district for PFAS test It will be slow going, since current NFPA
dismissed it. “No firefighter wants to say results, suggests the University of standards still require a moisture barrier
this, but we don’t fight that many fires,” he Arizona’s Jeff Burgess, M.D., so you that withstands UV-light testing, which
says. There are plenty of calls, of course, know what you’re dealing with. means it contains PFASs. But on Nan-
but mostly they’re false alarms or traffic tucket, a familiar story is playing out.
accidents. Actual exposure to burning STOPPED BUYING WATERPROOF
couches or cancer-causing fires? That’s After Nate Barber’s diagnosis, his
infrequent in a small-town fire depart- CLOTHES. Totally water-repellent wife, Ayesha Kahn, was radicalized. She’s
ment. “Most nights we sit around and clothes contain higher amounts of talked to the Cotters and is helping to lead
watch Game of Thrones.” Any PFAS ex- PFASs. Look for “water resistant” the charge to get the NFPA requirements
posure, he figured, would have come from instead, Birnbaum says, or apply changed, convincing firefighters to sign
years of using AFFF and from his gear. wax-based waterproofing to your on, and aiming to see that the Nantucket
It was the kind of sentiment Diane and boots the way your grandpa did. Fire Department gets the first fully PFAS-
Paul Cotter had been trying to cultivate free gear available and the island becomes
for years—and one Barber discussed with CHECKED OR CHUCKED PERSONAL- the first PFAS-free locale in America.
them on Zoom calls last year.
CARE PRODUCTS. Applying PFAS- Back in southern New Hampshire, Paul
Last summer, things started to change loaded balm to your lips or water- is still adding names to his yellow notepad.
and fast. In June, Peaslee’s bombshell proof mascara near your tear ducts A young firefighter, a “hell of a guy” named
gear study, the one Diane helped to secure increases the risk of ingestion or Bryan Goodman, 36, from Virginia, called in
funding for, was finally published. He absorption. Jamie DeWitt, Ph.D., the spring to tell Paul about the high level
found large amounts of PFASs in turnout of East Carolina University, recom- of PFASs in his blood and his infertility. The
gear—not just in the lining, but in the outer mends finding PFAS-free versions work Paul and Diane have done inspired
layer as well. And the chemicals were in of the products you use most, him, and Goodman says he’s not going to sit
everything the gear and the guys who wore such as floss and sunscreen. back. He’s going public and advocating for
it came into contact with. The firefighting his brothers and sisters in the service. “As
world took notice. One candidate to replace says she even got a call from a union medi- firefighters,” Goodman says, “we are in the
the union president campaigned on PFASs ator last summer who said she would be for- business of saving lives, but sometimes we
and chatted with Diane regularly. Diane given if she apologized to the union. (She have to pause and save ourselves.”
declined.) In early 2021, a union official and
coworker of Nate Barber’s at the Nantucket DAVID FERRY is a reporter in Los An-
Fire Department, Captain Sean Mitchell, geles who has written for Outside,
wrote a union resolution that would ban the Wired, and The Atlantic.
IAFF from taking money from gear man-
ufacturers. It passed easily. “We should
all be asking the question of whether fire-
fighter safety took a back seat to corporate
interests,” says Ed Kelly, the new head of the

MEN’S HEALTH | OCTOBER 2021 95

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