Men's Health AU 02.2022

TACTICS

3 FIND THE GOOD –

SCIENCE-BACKED EVEN ON YOUR
SOCIAL MEDIA
BENEFITSOF ALTRUISM
Everyday Twitter users have enlisted in the FOH Army.
If you were truly
altruistic, you wouldn’t Its mission? To change as many lives as possible

care about your TO ANYONE who has ever viewed the $130,000 in one night for Hurricane
personal return. So Internet as evil, consider the FOH Army, Harvey relief in 2017).
consider these mere a collective of Twitter do-gooders
perks of a life led in armed with little more than a hashtag, a Serrano says his motivation for any
service to others Venmo account and an urge to pay it FOH Army action comes from an
forward. Its de facto leader is writer understanding of what it’s like to be
EMOTIONAL STABILITY Shea Serrano, 40, who is kind of like poor, having grown up on government
Mother Teresa if Mother Teresa roasted assistance. “I know what it feels like
Selfless people experienced J. Cole’s rap skills. (“FOH” stands for when you can’t pay a bill or you
more long-lasting happiness the decidedly un-Mother-Teresa-like scrape by on food for the next week
and contentment than those “fuck outta here”, a sort of rallying cry.) or so before the little food-stamp
who were more self-centred, booklet gets here. This is a way to fill
The group’s operation is simple: that bucket.”
according to a French Serrano sends out a tweet to raise
researcher. Plus, selfless money for a cause or person by using And though sending a one-off
people were better able to the #FOHarmy hashtag. Then his donation may seem like a modest act,
weather life’s ups and downs, followers Venmo cash to him or directly Nicole Palafox Gamat, 32, says there’s
to the person in need. something special about becoming
the researcher found. part of the group: “It feels like helping
In only a few years, FOH has raised out family, which is such a weird thing
GOING WITH THE FLOW hundreds of thousands of dollars; its to say about Internet friends. We’re in a
good deeds range from the small weird time and place where the
The same French study deter- (helping a teacher make a student-loan Internet is normally just filled with
mined that selfless people payment) to the midsize (raising more doom, but pop over to Shea’s Twitter
than $9000 for a San Antonio girl’s and the people and causes he helps
also felt more in harmony with quinceañera after her father died) to out directly – it just feels really good to
the people and environments the holy-shit (raising more than see humanity on a smaller scale.”

around them and with their @wcfbook @alexmolina_jr
deep personal aspirations. In
short, their good mood wasn’t We did it! Thanks to @ Thank you so much to the 6 beautiful people
as affected by (or dependent SheaSerrano & #FOHarmy as that donated to me and my family in our time
of closing time, we’ve received of need. I was able to surprise my family by
on) others. 259 online orders! That’s as paying off the bill in full with the donations I
many online orders as we received. Shoutout to @SheaSerrano and all
FEELS FOR ALL normally receive during the of the #FOHarmy RISE UP!!!
ENTIRE holiday season! Thank
Recipients and deliverers of you to everyone who chose @aprilh1980 @RyanTClarke
an altruistic act report feeling to support our 40-year-old
more positive emotions and feminist bookstore! The love keeps pouring @SheaSerrano took
in! We were able to pay the time to give me
fewer negative emotions in CHANGE A LIFE NOW: off one of our $800 writing advice when I
the days immediately follow- med bills today! It’s only was in college trying to
ing the act, a study published Follow @SheaSerrano and the tip of the iceberg make it as a journalist.
in the Journal of Positive Psy- #FOHarmy on Twitter. but we are feeling the On a whim, I just told
chology found. What’s more, love! It’s an amazing him about publishing
those on the receiving end of feeling! my first book, and HE
the altruistic act said that they @SheaSerrano you ORDERED A COPY!!!!!!
planned to “pay it forward”. are an ANGEL! #FOHarmyforever, man.
#FOHarmy
CHOW YUN-FAT #fuckcancer
#weallwegot
Actor
The Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
star has reportedly amassed a $700
million fortune – and plans to donate the
majority to charity upon his death. Chow,
a former taxi driver, has said only this
about his rationale: “When you die, you
can’t take your money with you”.

FEBRUARY 2022 101

Tamberi and
Barshim during
their (shared)
victory lap.

TURN PAIN JOIN FORCES, CHANGE A LIFE NOW:

INTO POWER The Australian
Sports Foundation
Peter Mutabazi has fostered 16 kids – (sportsfoundation.org.au)
six of them during COVID – because he helps athletes, sporting
feels he has a debt to repay BY PAUL KITA clubs and organisations
to fundraise.
SWIPE THROUGH Peter Mutabazi’s Instagram (@
fosterdadflipper) and you’ll see the always-smiling dad SHARE THE
posing with kids. Swipe more and you’ll notice the kids change, WEALTH BY MILAN POLK
in number and in who they are – because Mutabazi is a different
kind of dad. Tokyo’s 2020 Olympics: high jumpers
Gianmarco “Gimbo” Tamberi of Italy and
The 38-year-old escaped an abusive home in Uganda when Mutaz Barshim of Qatar both clear 2.37
he was 10. After he spent several years living on the streets, a metres. Rather than having a jump-off, the
family that had been helping him encouraged him to go to athletes decide to share the gold, an act of
school. Then university. After uni, he says, “I felt like I had been sportsmanship built over more than a decade
given so much, and it was time to give back – to participate in
someone else’s life and not only to do well but do better”. 2010: THE INTRO 2018: INJURY #2

So in 2015, he moved to Oklahoma and started a house- Tamberi and Barshim meet Barshim injures his left
flipping business. In 2016, he renovated his own home in at an athletic event. Tamberi ankle but still gets married
preparation for signing up as a foster father. “The agency was says that he’d heard Barshim the same year. Tamberi,
surprised to have a single guy who wanted to foster,” he says. was a dynamic athlete, continuing to recover from
but then he met the guy: “I his own injury, travels to
After fostering his first child in 2017, Mutabazi opened his remember walking and we attend the wedding.
home to 15 others, sometimes two or three at a time, from ages came across each other,
four to 17. And he’s used his past trauma to help him do so. “I and he was just, like, full of 2019: THE BIG WIN
was one of those kids who had nowhere to go, who was abused energy, like, ‘Oh, Barshim!
and neglected. I knew what I lacked, what I longed for. I could Crazy high jumper! Hi!’ ” Barshim, now healed, takes
help these kids navigate emotionally, mentally – in ways other the world title. Tamberi says
people can’t.” 2016: INJURY #1 the victory “motivated me.
[I told myself] ‘You can learn
CHANGE A LIFE NOW: Become a mentor, Tamberi injures his left from him’. ”
deltoid ligament during
foster parent or adoptive parent or make a training, a mishap that nearly 2021: THE HUGE WIN
donation via barnados.org.au. derails his career. He begins
a long rehabilitation. Tamberi, now 29, and
Mutabazi with Barshim, now 30, tie in the
a full house 2017: THE SETBACK Olympics. “It’s life changing.
in October. Ever since that moment,
Tamberi and Barshim we’ve been celebrating,”
102 MEN’S HE ALTH compete in Paris. After a Barshim says. Tamberi:
“terrible” performance, “Behind a great sports rivalry,
Tamberi locks himself in his there can be a great respect,
hotel room. Barshim finds such a one that it then turns
him, and Tamberi lets him in. into a friendship and makes
“He spoke to me and stayed you support each other
at my side, as only a true even in the most important
friend would do." moments of your careers.”

TACTICS

REWORK WHAT IT MEANS MAKE SURE
WHAT YOU
TO “DONATE” BY DR PRITHA GUPTA AND NIK PATEL GIVE COUNTS

In August, when Afghan refugees arrived, we volunteered People often donate to
ineffective charities,
to open up our house to host a family. And then our family grew a 2021 study found.
Maximise what you give
IT WAS LATE AT NIGHT when they arrived a family of three; they are a family of three. We
– Abdullah, his wife and their son, who was 18 have sons the same age. We thought, Hey, we FIND A ROCK-SOLID CHARITY . . .
months old, the same age as our son. They had have a guest house, a converted garage. This is
left Afghanistan days earlier, not long after the a good thing to do. Charity Navigator has rated
Taliban took control of Kabul. After they came 160,000 charities whose work
to our house from the airport, Abdullah told us That first night, the family was exhausted. ranges from local to global.
what happened. But they were also excited. Abdullah asked us Its 100-point rating factors in
about LA and what to do here. The next day, he accountability (using funds
He was 12 when American troops arrived in rode the bus, navigating the terrible traffic. They ethically), transparency
Afghanistan and he later became an interpreter all wanted to see everything. (how easy it is to find info
for the US military. When the US pulled out about the organisation) and
of the country in August after two decades, he During the three days they stayed with us, financial health (how much
said he was lucky. He and his family went to the our sons played like any two kids on a playdate of the charity’s money goes
airport, but there wasn’t a rush and they were and blew bubbles in the backyard. It struck us toward the cause it supports).
able to get on a plane. They landed on the East how different each boy’s life had been but how charitynavigator.org
Coast days later and were routed to LA, because they might grow up to know each other. It
they knew someone in Sacramento. That’s where makes us happy to think they might one day . . . OR GO WITH
they would ultimately settle. meet again. ONE OF THESE NINE . . .

It was only the night before that we had We were also struck by how many people GiveWell has already
learned about Abdullah and his family through worked to help Abdullah and his family, giving tabulated the top nine
the International Institute of Los Angeles them phones and food and helping them find global charities based on
(IILA), an organisation we’re involved with a place to live. We now want to host again effectiveness. That means that
that helps refugees and asylum seekers find whenever there is a family in need. what you give goes towards an
housing and become self-sufficient. Because of organisation whose money has
the influx, they didn’t have housing set up yet We texted after they left LA. Abdullah said a tangible, data-backed impact
for Abdullah’s family. We talked it over. We are they were well and that he was learning to drive on the cause, be it mosquito
a truck. He asked about our son. In the text, he nets to fight malaria or
called him “brother.” – As told to Joshua St. Clair treatments for parasitic-worm
infections. givewell.org
Patel and Gupta with CHANGE A LIFE NOW:
their son in 2021. . . . OR GIVE YOUR TIME.
To donate to help refugees in
Australia contact the UNHCR Money isn’t everything. You
(unrefugees.org.au) or the can volunteer through the
Asylum Seeker Resource Australian Red Cross
Centre (asrc.org.au) . (redcross.org.au). Food banks
can almost always use your
assistance unloading and
unpacking boxes or with food
donations (foodbank.org.au).
Not sure how you can help?
Catchafire.org will match your
availability, expertise and
interests with a nonprofit
in need.

FEBRUARY 2022 103

JIM BELUSHI,

THE ICONIC COMEDIAN AND SITCOM DAD ALSO
GROWS WEED TO HEAL HIS SOUL.

NOW HE WANTS TO SAVE ALL OF US –
ONE DANK, WONDROUS, STICKY-ICKY TRIP

AT A TIME

BY PHOTOGRAPHS BY

ALEX RAFAEL
PAPPADEMAS ASTORGA

104 MEN’S HE ALTH

TACTICS

Jim Belushi showcases
the harvest from

inside Mothership 2, a
greenhouse on his farm
in Eagle Point, Oregon, in
August. This Santa Marta
Gold strain was featured
in Growing Belushi, his
TV series on Discovery.

FEBRUARY 2022 105

TACTICS

ne tuesday afternoon, I was standing on the
bank of the Rogue River in southern Oregon,
naked, and in the water below me, also
naked, was Jim Belushi. He smacked the
water’s surface a metre or two from the
riverbank, showing me where it was deep
enough to jump and saying, “Right here”.

I wasn’t dreaming. And although this is a story about drugs Belushi, in briefs and his cowboy freaked-out audience surrogate
– marijuana, specifically, which Belushi grows commercially here in hat, toasted the foot of a Cuban in the latter, witnessing the
Eagle Point, about 20 minutes outside Medford – neither of us was high.  cigar with a torch lighter. He’s not horrors of war like Fozzie Bear
quite ripped, but it looks like farm touring hell.
We’d known each other for about seven minutes. We’d walked work agrees with him.
across the field that separates the business part of Belushi’s farm from For decades, that was his
his house and the river that flows behind it – me, Belushi and Taro, the “This – all of this – was an niche – regular guys, tough or
massive German shepherd who follows Belushi nearly everywhere he accident,” he said. “I wasn’t otherwise, reacting to often-
goes on the farm. looking to change my career or irregular situations. In 2001, he
looking to get out. I invested in started playing an irascible TV
He walked slowly, unhurriedly, like a frontiersman in a western, an this property, and this energy dad on ABC’s According to Jim,
Albanian John Wayne. He’d been working outside all morning as the here led me to where I am today.” your basic early-2000s network
heat climbed. As we approached the water’s edge, he said, “I think I’m sitcom about the everyday
gonna jump in the river” and invited me to do the same.  He’d never dreamed of being struggles of a white guy with a
a farmer, much less a cannabis pretty wife, an archetype Tim
I said something about running back to my car to grab some shorts, farmer. He grew up outside Allen, Ray Romano and Kevin
and Belushi told me, “Sure, go ahead”. But when I looked over at him, Chicago, in Wheaton, Illinois’s James might have created
he’d discarded his shirt, his khaki shorts, and his sweat-printed tight-knit Albanian community. specifically for Belushi to follow.
cowboy hat on a picnic table by the water and was in the process of His mother, Agnes, worked at As a study of white maleness
shucking his bright-white Hanes.  a pharmacy; his father, Adam, besieged by modernity, Jim
ran short-order diners and then wasn’t exactly Mamet. But by the
I understood that I could do this or not do it, but I couldn’t do it a couple of white-tablecloth end, he was reportedly pulling
halfway. Belushi leaped from the bank. Taro followed him, entering steakhouses before the mob ran in $500,000 an episode, a pile he
the water like a thrown knife. Belushi looked at me and said, “One, him out of the business. calls his “comedy bucks”.
two, three”. 
In 1978, following in the Onscreen or off, he’s never
THE HIGH LIFE footsteps of his older brother, seemed like a let-me-show-you-
John, Belushi joined Chicago’s my-sweat-lodge type of guy,
If you’re even slightly famous, there are much easier ways to get into the legendary Second City theatre yet here he is, showing me his
weed business than growing it yourself. Invest a little money, partner company, and he’s been a working sweat lodge, pointing out how it’s
up with a grower, sign off on a few package designs, and boom – you’ve actor ever since. More to the positioned “in the vortex between
got your own line of cannabis products, just like Snoop Dogg, Seth point, he’s been working ever two of the most spiritual places
Rogen, Willie Nelson and countless others. since. Sixty films. TV shows in this valley”, Table Rock and
from Laverne & Shirley to Twin Mount McLaughlin. It’s one of
Belushi also has a cannabis brand. But unlike the other celebs, he’s Peaks: The Return. Broadway. many indications that he’s not
growing the cannabis himself. For five seasons up here in Oregon, he A surprising amount of voice the kind of guy he used to be.
and a staff that ranges from 12 to 15 people, depending on the season, work in cartoons and talking-dog
have been working to keep the pot plants that fill their greenhouses movies. Give him a stage and he’ll Another is the way he talks
fed and watered and alive and productive and tasty, too. And when dance on it – improv comedy, about losing his brother, who
it’s harvest time, Belushi puts the product in big plastic bags, then he blues bands, reality TV. Dude wrestled with addiction after
and Chris Karakosta – a cousin from Belushi’s old neighbourhood is 67 and he’s on TikTok now. becoming a star and died of a
in Illinois, who’s become the GM of Belushi’s Farm and a sidekick- heroin and cocaine overdose in
majordomo personal chef of sorts – pile into Karakosta’s He became a bona fide movie 1982 at 33, when Jim was 27. He
Ford Explorer and drive around Oregon, doing meet and greets at star around 1986, thanks to believes John was self-
dispensaries and selling their crops for whatever the ever-fluctuating performances in About Last medicating undiagnosed CTE
market price of a pound of choice bud happens to be that week. Night . . . (based on David left over from his high school
Mamet’s play, Sexual Perversity football career. In interview after
But Jim Belushi isn’t growing weed just to make a profit, or even in Chicago) and Oliver Stone’s interview, he’s said – quoting
simply to help more people get high. He’s self-aware enough to admit Salvador. He’s a vivid lout in John’s friend Dan Aykroyd, who
that this back-to-the-land adventure has been a crucial part of his own the former and an affectingly
healing process, one that’s helped him deal with both terrible tragedy
and deep psychological trauma that for years he never realised existed.

We were air-drying by the water now. I’d retrieved my underwear.

106 MEN’S HE ALTH

XXXXXXX

Belushi gets ready to turn
a large jar of Captain Jack
cannabis into joints. At
Belushi’s Farm, the pre-
rolls are done by hand like
quality cigars.

said it first – that if John had been LA, he went to look at some property.  called Gulzar Afghanica, colloquially known as Captain Jack,
able to medicate with marijuana, You’re either gonna love it or after the onetime tuna-boat skipper and legendary herbsman
he’d still be alive today.  who brought the strain to America in the ’70s. In a phone
you’re gonna hate it, Belushi was conversation, Jack told me he discovered it while travelling in
The younger Belushi has reached told. “My wife hated it, and I loved Afghanistan, chasing rumours of herb as potent as LSD.
a kind of peace with being John’s it,” he said. 
brother, the one who lived, and By the mid-’70s, Jack had met the comedy writers Tom Davis
through all that bulldog work he’s Belushi bought even more acreage and Al Franken; this was how he found his way to the Blues Bar,
built a career that stands on its not long after Oregon legalised the a private late-night party spot owned by Saturday Night Live
own. But he’s also come to terms cultivation of recreational cannabis, stars Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, located in a dilapidated
with how that loss affected and and although he hadn’t been a real building on Hudson Street in NYC. Gulzar Afghanica, known
shaped him – how it became part of stoner since high school, pot seemed for inducing an extremely creative high, became integral on the
a broader inheritance of pain that he like a more interesting thing to grow 17th floor of 30 Rock.
speaks about in a notably un-sitcom- than cabernet vines. 
daddish way. “You could fly an F-16 on it, or judge a murder trial,” Aykroyd
That was in 2015. Today, Belushi’s said during a Live Nation chat in August. “It was just what we
Everything changed about 10 Farm cannabis products – extracts, needed to stay at it through three, four, five in the morning.”
years ago. Belushi and his family pre-rolled joints, and old-school
were visiting friends who’ve had a bud – are available at dispensaries in “I do believe it opens those doors in the top of your head a bit
place on this same river for years, four states. He has two greenhouses more,” Jack said.
and one day he went skinny- running, Mothership 1 and
dipping, just as he did today. Mothership 2, and he’s just built At Aykroyd’s suggestion, Belushi invited Jack to Oregon
two more. in 2016, when all he had was “a bare field – nothing, nada,
“That’s when the crossover zero”, and in nine months he’d produced some “beautiful,
happened. Entering into another Inside, in meticulously climate- beautiful plants”.
realm, another space,” he said. controlled air, under computer-
“There’s a physiological thing that programmed lights, Belushi is WEED OUT YOUR DEMONS?
happens when you submerge into ice growing Chocolate Hashberry and
water – an adrenal, nervous-system Black Diamond OG and Grapefruit Belushi’s Farm does sell a few knock-you-on-your-arse strains,
shock that brought me into my body. Kush and a strain called Cherry Pie, with up to 32 per cent THC, because consumers (and therefore
But spiritually, it cleansed me to the which he refers to as the Marriage dispensaries) will pay more for those. But his obsession is with
point where I could see a vision and Counsellor, because when you smoke terpenes, the organic chemical compounds that give cannabis
that vision was I like this area. I like it, he said with a smile, “you can its smell and flavour and contribute to the varied effects of
this river.” listen to your wife talk and talk and different strains. Buying pot based solely on its THC content
talk, and she sounds beautiful”.  “is like saying, ‘Give me a bottle of wine that has 28 per cent
The next time he came up from alcohol’. It’s terrible”.
He’s also growing a rare varietal
Belushi describes himself as a “microdoser” when he does

FEBRUARY 2022 107

“ADDICTION JUST COMES So once somebody dies in your family
INTO A FAMILY LIKE A SNAKE from an addiction, you look for
AND SLOWLY SQUEEZES alternative medicine. And cannabis
UNTIL SOMEBODY DIES” is the safest, I believe.” 

partake. But he’s been off weed hospital stateside, he’d been given a PTSD diagnosis and The science is inconclusive on
entirely for a while, because he’s a bottle of Oxycontin. He’d opted for cannabis over opiates whether cannabis is an effective
going through some personal stuff but still struggled to connect with his family. treatment for addiction, in part
and trying to clearheadedly process because the law makes it hard to
his emotions. “He said, ‘Your Black Diamond OG is the only strain I’ve test. Belushi’s right about one thing:
found that allows me to talk to my wife, talk to my kids, and if you’re going to self-administer,
The day before I was supposed sleep’,” Belushi recalled. “And he kind of teared up and he better weed than booze. “And
to fly to Oregon, news broke that hugged me deeply. I’m like, ‘Man, I didn’t make this stuff’. And everyone here knows that when this
Belushi had filed for divorce from he goes, ‘No – but you were a steward’.”  [pot] goes out, it’s going to relieve
Jennifer Sloan, his wife of 23 years. somebody of something,” he said. 
“The pandemic either brought people That was the moment this all started to feel like something
together or split them apart” is what more than a fun endeavour, something akin to a spiritual THE BLUES, BROTHER
he had to say about the situation on calling – a mission from God, if you will. 
the record. He dates the beginning of Belushi spent the rest of the
the end of his marriage to March 17, “Alcohol has always been our go-to medicine,” Belushi said. afternoon showing me around the
2020, “the day [COVID-19] really hit “But it’s a poison, y’know? Addiction just farm. He didn’t put a shirt on again
California. It just blew up my family. comes into a family like a snake and slowly until the sun set and Karakosta fried
We couldn’t keep it together”.  squeezes until somebody dies. Hence John. up fish and zucchini for dinner.
These days, Belushi sticks to a plant-
“His house in Brentwood is for HIGH TIMES From left: Belushi with older based diet and doesn’t drink.
sale,” said Belushi’s friend Jim
Orr, who directed him in the 1990 siblings Marian and John; Jim and John About 15 years ago, he published
romantic comedy Mr. Destiny and backstage when The Blues Brothers played at a book called Real Men Don’t
is one of the executive producers of Universal Amphitheatre in 1978; Dan Aykroyd Apologize. A lot of it is alpha-male
Growing Belushi, a reality series on guide-to-life bullshit that he later
Discovery documenting Belushi’s with Jim performing at House of Blues admitted was largely ghostwritten
adventures in the weed trade; its Chicago in honourof John’s birthday in 1995. by the guys in the According to
second season was scheduled to Jim writers’ room. But here and
begin airing in late 2021. there, glimpses of a deeper Jim
poke through.
“[Oregon] is the future. He’s
made many marks in many different For years, he wrote, “John’s legacy
areas of culture, and this is his felt like a cross I had to bear, and I
next mark.” lashed out in a lot of different arenas
in my life. I got angry; I screamed; if
But it isn’t only a business. At one the fries weren’t hot enough, I yelled
of those dispensary visits, early on,
Belushi met an Afghan-war veteran
who’d come out to thank him. The
guy had been a medic, and at the VA

108 MEN’S HE ALTH

XXXXXXX

at the fry girl; if I got cut off on the freeway, I’d follow the jackass He paused and laughed.  with her. “Maybe it was me being a
home; I drank too much; and once, when I was on SNL, I threw a “On a fucking Vespa! I wish it big baby . . . She was a lovely person.
fire extinguisher at the show’s producer, Dick Ebersol”. had been a Harley.”  She had a rough time in life.” And
when she struggled – “like every
Today, he says that anger was really about his brother FULL (CROP) CIRCLE other mother in those days” – doctors
– of course it was. “Like, ‘John, come on, man, didn’t you prescribed her pills. “Treating the
think about us? Didn’t you think about how it’s gonna affect But the epiphany doesn’t always symptoms. If my mum smoked pot
everybody? What were you thinking?’ ” But it was also about find you. Sometimes you have to back then, maybe it would’ve been
the public nature of what had happened. “The world knew. And go looking for it. That’s what led a little different,” he added with a
I felt judged. And it was an incredible amount of energy for an him to Peru about 10 years ago, and smile. “But also maybe I wouldn’t
insecure guy to handle.”  to ayahuasca, a ceremonial brew have been an actor. Looking for love.
of two psychoactive plants with I forgave my mother, and once that
Back then, he knew he was getting through certain doors hallucinogenic properties. He’s happened, love filled my heart. And
because of his name – John Belushi had been the biggest done it a bunch of times, but he says the journey I’ve been on since then is
comedy star in the world as well as a countercultural icon the first time was the big one – his forgiving myself.”
thanks to Saturday Night Live, Animal House and The Blues entrance into a series of experiences
Brothers. At auditions in the years after John’s death, Belushi that brought him to where he The sun dipped low in the sky,
explained, “when I walked in the door, they would see John is today.   molten orange behind a haze of
Belushi. That was the burden”. Now, he said, “I have a different wildfire smoke. 
relationship with that legacy”.  “It really does break down the
ego,” Belushi said. “It just shits all Belushi says he’s read a lot
Things began to shift in the ’90s, when he and Aykroyd over your ego, and if you resist it, about trauma and its impact, how
performed together as the Blues Brothers for the first time. it becomes a terrible journey. At a it can impair the limbic system’s
Belushi was wary but says Aykroyd insisted, claiming, “It’s like certain point, I was really having a functions. He thinks he had PTSD
a law firm. When one of the partners goes down, the brother or hard time, and the shaman said, ‘Are after John died. “My poor family
the son takes over”. He played Zee Blues, the long-lost brother of you all right?’”  never knew when that would get
John’s character, Jake. He doesn’t remember the first time he triggered. I would scream and yell
saw himself in the iconic shades and hat, but he does recall the Belushi, immersed in his vision, and keep people away from me.
first time he got up onstage in front of a packed House of Blues calmly said he was surrounded by Because I didn’t know I was lost.
to sing “Sweet Home Chicago”. chattering monkeys. You have to kinda re-create an
experience and retrain yourself how
“During that first chorus, the crowd was screaming, and the “He goes, ‘Okay’, and then he to get out of it.”
band was playing behind me, and I, like, floated.” He held his started singing and hitting these
arms out wide. “And I was like, ‘Oh, John – wow. I see what you bowls – bing, bing, bing, bing – and This is what it’s all about – this is
were doing. Thank you’.” It felt “like a fuckin’ hatchet cut open I just dropped to the ground and lay why he makes people jump into the
my chest, pulled my heart out, and” – he mimed massaging on my back. And like 10 minutes river. It’s a historical reenactment of
an organ – “put it back in. Because at that point, I was going later, he said, ‘Are you all right?’ I go, that first shock to the system,
through my second divorce. Career was starting to take a little ‘What the hell did you do?’ And he the one that inspired him to
bit of a dip. I was, like, despondent, and Danny just revived me”. said, ‘Oh – I shot all the monkeys’.” reprogram himself, the beginning
Belushi laughed. “And I go, ‘Well, of his journey from insecure fire-
He’s been an adjunct Blues Brother ever since. He and those monkeys are messengers, extinguisher-throwing asshole
Aykroyd played Zee and Elwood at a benefit show in October; from the gorilla. Let’s go gorilla to psychedelic gorilla hunter to
the event, held at Mandalay Bay’s House of Blues in Las Vegas, hunting’. And he fuckin’ smiled,” whoever he is right now. The farmer.
was in support of the Last Prisoner Project, a restorative-justice Belushi continued. “And then? I The work in progress. A man
organisation dedicated to freeing the countless Americans went deep.”  slightly less at the mercy of his
– mostly Black and Hispanic – who remain incarcerated for own amygdala.
cannabis crimes even as legal pot becomes a multimillion-dollar On the floor in a ceremonial
industry run by white guys. hut next to a different river – the “I’m the same guy as when I was
Amazon, just outside Iquitas, Peru on According to Jim, but I’m not the
At the farm, Belushi keeps a small amount of his own – in the middle of the night, Belushi same guy,” he said. “So that’s how I
memorabilia around, including a poster declaring the young remembered, “what I pulled out was know this medicine, cannabis, will
Jim wanted for “telling corny jokes”. John’s face, on the other the forgiving of my mother”. help people.”
hand, seems to be on every wall, looking down at us. John as
the Samurai, John in Blues Brothers Ray-Bans or wearing bee Except nothing was really wrong
antennae, John looking wild, John looking happy. 

Those two new greenhouses? They’re code-named Jake
and Elwood; the characters’ likenesses appear on every box of
Belushi’s Working Man’s Brand joints. “We’re gonna bring all
that spirit into these healing plants,” Belushi said. I asked how
he managed to get over that anger. 

“I don’t know,” he said. “One day I was riding on my Vespa
and I looked up and I said, ‘John, I’m not mad at you. I forgive
you, because I know you didn’t mean for this to happen. I know
it was an accident. And I’ve learned so much from it, and I want
you to know everybody in the family is doing great . . . Please
move on to the next space. With all my love’. And that was kind
of a beautiful moment for me.”

FEBRUARY 2022 109

SwEeT.
SoUr.
SpIcY. TheDIYguideto

MODERN CHINESE
FOOD that’s super fresh,

mouthwatering and

HoT. reallygoodforyou
BY CLARISSA WEI
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALEX LAU

110 MEN’S HE ALTH

NUTRITION

ChInEsE fOoD iN
AuStRaLiA hAs a lOnG
hIsToRy oF bEiNg
aSsOcIaTeD wItH
cHeAp aNd hEaRtY tAkEaWaY
fOoD. PlAsTiC cOnTaInErS
oF mOnGoLiAn lAmB dReSsEd
wItH MsG aNd sUgAr-gLaZeD
sWeEt aNd sOuR pOrK aRe tHe
cLaSsIc hEaVyWeIgHtS oF
ChInEsE cUiSiNe hErE, oFtEn
sErVeD wItH a sIdE oF dEeP-
fRiEd sPrInG rOlLs.

For decades, this food – tasty and wonderful
in its own right, if not the most healthful –
was the only Chinese food westerners knew,
thanks largely to generations of immigrants
from one small part of this vast country.

Much of the high-carb, low-cost
food referred to as ‘Chinese’ is actually
Cantonese, adapted for our tastes with a
limited list of ingredients.

It stuck around largely because – guess
what? – a lot of people quite like high-carb,
low-cost food (pizza, fries, burgers).

It wasn’t until the 1980s that other
Chinese peoples started immigrating to
western countries – Australia, the US and
Britain – and new provincial dishes began
to appear. The children of these immigrants
grew up to open their own restaurants,
giving birth to this more diverse cuisine.

Over in Los Angeles, there’s Johnny Lee,
specialising in Hong Kong–style barbecue
informed by southern-state barbecue
culture. At Dumpling Daughter, Nadia Liu
Spellman serves an updated version of her
Fujianese mum’s spicy cucumber salad –
crispy chunks of cucumber marinated
in umami-tinged vinegar and tongue-
tingling chillies.

And they’re just two of the mavericks
leading the new wave of Chinese cuisine
that’s healthier, tastier and still totally
satisfying. Learn how to take their lead.

FEBRUARY 2022 111

1. GATHER YOUR GeT CoOkInG
INGREDIENTS
We took four amazing recipes from some of the top modern
The must-haves and the good-to-haves Chinese restaurants and had them simplified for the home
cook. Each one will completely alter how you think about
Gold Plum Chinese food. And, put together, they make a spectacular
Chinkiang Vinegar four-course meal

Chinese black vinegar is 2. GATHER YOUR TOOLS
known for its malty-earthy
taste. “It has a deeper You could get by with what you alread
flavour than white cooking requires the right arsenal of
vinegar, but it’s a bit
lighter than balsamic,” Wüsthof Classic 20cm
says Jason Wang of Xi’an
Famous Foods. Chinese Cleaver

Juan Cheng This heavy-duty blade cuts through thick chunks of
Pixian Douban
meat and bone with ease. Made out of high-carbon
This fermented broad-
bean paste is cured with stainless steel, it’s an investment, but you can also
chillies, flour and salt.
Choose one from Pixian, Taylor & Ng Natural Nonstick use it to scale fish or smash garlic cloves.
the district where the 35cm Carbon Steel Wok ($149.90; teddingtons.com.au)
paste originated, for a
deep umami taste that’s Its steep, sloping walls can handle large
earthy, salty and sweet.
amounts of ingredients. This model is
Pagoda Shaoxing
Huadiao Cooking Wine lightweight and comes preseasoned, which

The Chinese equivalent helps it retain its nonstickiness.
of dry cooking sherry,
Shaoxing wine adds ($90; u-buy.com.au) Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy Zebra
complexity to marinades
and stir-fries. NS-ZCC10 Rice Cooker Stainless

The Mala Market This micro-computerised cooker will Steel Spatula
Sichuan Peppercorns
cook your rice perfectly in 40 minutes. A good metal
These provide a tongue-
numbing sensation in Every time. ($325; u-buy.com.au) spatula helps you
dishes, says Harvey Liu
of Duck House. The Mala scrape the sticky
Market insists on fresh,
quality peppercorns. bits off your wok.

Kadoya Pure Plus, it’s easier to
Sesame Oil
clean than wood.
Sesame oil is usually
added at the end of ($63;
cooking and provides
a nutty finish. It is also au.homeloftglobal.
fantastic with desserts –
try adding a drizzle of it com)
over vanilla ice cream.

Lee Kum Kee Joyce Chen 25cm
Hoisin Sauce Bamboo Steamer

The best stuff contains The wooden steamer coaxes
soybeans, sesame, dumplings and seafood to moist
chillies and garlic and perfection. ($34; amazon.com.au)
tastes incredible in smoky
meat marinades. AND DON’T WORRY ABOUT THE MSG

WHERE TO BUY: You can find While you don’t need this flavour enhancer to make delicious Chinese food, it’s a
most of this at your local Asian popular way to add that distinct umami taste to your dishes. And despite carrying a bad
grocery store. If you don’t have rap for decades, based on racist misconceptions lacking scientific support, it’s an
one near you, order online: authorised food additive, according to Food Standards Australia New Zealand.

sayweee.com/en
ettason.com.au
myasiangrocer.com.au

112 MEN’S HE ALTH

NUTRITION

THE FIERY FIX:

SLICED BEEF
IN HOT AND
SPICY OIL

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

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

2 TBSP SHAOXING COOKING WINE
1 TBSP SOY SAUCE
225G R A M S B E E F B R I S K E T, T H I N LY

SLICED
2 TBSP CORNSTARCH
1 CUP BEAN SPROUTS
2 LARGE LEAVES FROM A NAPA

CABBAGE, CUT INTO 5CM PIECES
2 TBSP VEGETABLE OIL
1 TBSP MINCED GINGER
2 CLOVES GARLIC
1 SPRING ONION, CUT INTO 5CM

PIECES
4 DRIED CHILLIES
1 TBSP SICHUAN PEPPERCORNS,

F I N E LY G RO U N D
3 TBSP SPICY BROAD-BEAN PASTE
1 TBSP WARMED VEGETABLE OIL,

FINELY MINCED SPRING ONION,
MINCED GARLIC, AND CRUSHED
RED-PEPPER FLAKES FOR GARNISH

HOW TO MAKE IT

1 In a large bowl, stir together the
cooking wine and soy sauce. Add the
brisket and marinate for 15 minutes.
Add 2 Tbsp water and stir in the
cornstarch. Set aside.

2 In a large pot of boiling water, cook the
bean sprouts and cabbage till slightly
wilted, 2-3 minutes. Strain and
rinse under cold water. Place in a
serving bowl.

3 In a wok over medium heat, heat the
vegetable oil. Add the ginger, garlic,
spring onion, chillies and Sichuan
peppercorns until aromatic, about 1
minute. Add the spicy bean paste and 2
cups water. Bring to a boil, then reduce
heat to low and cover for 10 minutes.

4 Strain out the solid ingredients and add
the beef, simmering for 1 minute.
Transfer beef to the serving bowl with
bean sprouts and cabbage. Ladle in
some broth. Garnish and serve. Feeds 2

FEBRUARY 2022 113

THE BEST BARBECUE
YOU’VE NEVER HAD:

SMOKY AND
SWEET CHAR
SIU PORK

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

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

1¼ CUPS SUGAR

¼ CUP HOISIN SAUCE, PLUS 1 TBSP

2½ TBSP CHU HOU PASTE (OR ADD
2½ TBSP MORE HOISIN SAUCE
IF YOU CAN’T FIND THIS)

⅓ CUP DARK SOY SAUCE,
PLUS 1 TBSP

¼ CUP SHAOXING WINE

¼ TBSP CHINESE FIVE-SPICE POWDER

1.1 K I LO G R A M S P O R K B U T T, C U T I N T O
2CM-THICK STEAKS

⅔ CUP HONEY

HOW TO MAKE IT

1 In a large bowl, stir together the sugar,
¼ cup salt, ¼ cup hoisin, the chu hou
paste (or more hoisin), ⅓ cup dark soy
sauce, the Shaoxing wine and the
Chinese five-spice powder. Add the pork
and marinate overnight or for at least
3 hours.

2 Preheat your grill to medium high. Place
the pork on the grill over indirect heat,
close the lid, and roast until a meat
thermometer inserted into the thickest
part of each steak registers 70°C, about
45 minutes.

3 In a small pot, stir together the
remaining hoisin and soy sauce, the
honey and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil
over low heat and reduce until the
glaze is slightly sticky. Cool to room
temperature. Brush this glaze over the
pork and serve. Feeds 4

114 MEN’S HE ALTH

NUTRITION

THE LIGHTNING-QUICK ANYTIME MEAL:

TOMATO AND EGG OVER RICE

From: Hong Kong

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

WHAT YOU’LL NEED HOW TO MAKE IT

2 EGGS 1 In a small bowl, beat the eggs well
with ½ tsp salt, 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 TBSP VEGETABLE OIL and 1 Tbsp water. In a large pan over
medium-high heat, add 1 Tbsp
3 SPRING ONIONS (SMASH vegetable oil. Moving quickly, add the
THE WHITE PARTS WITH eggs and cook, pushing and folding
THE FLAT SIDE OF A constantly with chopsticks until just
KNIFE AND SLICE INTO set, about 10 seconds. Remove from
2CM SEGMENTS; MINCE heat and transfer to a plate.
THE GREEN PARTS
FINELY FOR GARNISH) 2 Wipe out the pan and return it to
medium high. Heat the remaining 1
2 MEDIUM TOMATOES, Tbsp oil. Add the spring onion whites
PEELED, CORED, AND and cook, stirring, until aromatic and
CUT INTO 1CM-WIDE just beginning to brown, about 15
WEDGES seconds. Add the tomatoes and cook,
stirring constantly until they begin to
SUGAR, TO TASTE break down, about 3 minutes. Season
with salt and sugar to taste.
STEAMED RICE, FOR
SERVING 3 Add the cooked eggs to the tomato
sauce. Stir to combine, about 15
seconds. Remove from heat and
garnish with the spring onion greens.
Eat with warm, steamed rice. Feeds 1

THE ANTIDOTE TO LETTUCE FATIGUE:

CUCUMBER SALAD

From: Shanghai

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

WHAT YOU’LL NEED HOW TO MAKE IT

1 ENGLISH CUCUMBER, 1 In a medium bowl, toss the cucumber
CUT INTO THUMB- with ½ Tbsp salt. Allow to sit for 1 hour.
SIZED PIECES
2 In a large bowl, stir the sugar and
½ CUP SUGAR vinegar until the sugar dissolves. Rinse
the cucumber well, add it to the vinegar
½ CUP WHITE-WINE mixture and refrige
VINEGAR
3 Strain the cucumber, discarding the
2 GARLIC CLOVES, MINCED marinade and toss in a large bowl with
the garlic, oils and soy sauce. Serve
1 TBSP SESAME OIL chilled. Feeds 4

1 TBSP CHILLI OIL

1 TBSP SOY SAUCE

FEBRUARY 2022 115

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120 BUILD A BODY THAT SCREAMS ‘STRONG’ 126 A GREAT WORKOUT DESERVES A GREAT REWARD 128 TRAIN LIKE AN ANIMAL

BECAUSE FIT IS THE NEW RICH

SHOULDERS
OF GIANTS

One of the brains behind Body Fit Training,
Cameron Falloon, wants you to work out like
the AFL elite he used to prepare for matchday.
While this won’t be easy, your payoff – total

fitness – will make the effort worthwhile

BY DANIEL WILLIAMS

FEBRUARY 2022 117

READY FOR BFT’s Falloon is you moving in numerous footy and to start thinking
ANYTHING bringing elite different planes.” about Plan B.
training practices
to your ’hood. The AFL player, Falloon To this day, he is grateful
continues, is the classic to a renowned spinal
A training program that has you smugly “hybrid athlete”: he does surgeon who could have
finetuning your strengths isn’t worth everything well. He can reached for his scalpel but
the paper it’s written on. Time to make sprint; he has a mighty instead told Falloon to go
yourself the complete package engine for the long haul; away and learn how to
he has the strength, make himself strong.
IN WHAT MUST FEEL was coming up, Chad Tee more snugly – your balance and control to
to him like a previous life, walked over, gave me training needs to be change direction on a Falloon did just that,
Cameron Falloon used to a pat on the bum and progressive. Compared 10-cent piece; and he has enrolling in an anatomy
work in high performance said, ‘Thanks, Cam with other group-workout sufficient armour (muscle) and physiology course at
at the Port Adelaide Football – that was awesome’.” models, BFT’s point of to withstand the hits while Monash University. “What
Club, where one day a difference is that you’re staying supple enough to I learnt in that period was
veteran showed him the Falloon is reliving that expected regularly to up the avoid needless injuries. All how little I knew,” he says.
mindset of the proud, episode while talking to ante during training blocks up, it’s a solid template for From there, he attained a
don’t-go-quietly athlete. Men’s Health from Los in which your intensity and any guy. fitness certificate before
Angeles, where as a technique are monitored by heading abroad for a few
“Towards the end of cofounder of group-workout technology and sharp-eyed ORIGIN STORY years to work as a PT in
his career, Chad Cornes phenomenon Body Fit coaches respectively. More London and Malta. At the
approached me in the Training (BFT) he’s just than just huffing and Lucrative deals aside, same time, he fixed his own
pre-season and said, ‘Look, wrapped a mega-deal with puffing with some vague Falloon has been doing body but decided against
I know I’m on the outer, I Xponential, the American expectation of getting fitter, it tough of late. Six weeks rolling the dice by lacing up
know I’m almost done, so I fitness giant that will now you’re targeting discernible, prior to our chat, he his boots again.
want you to push me harder lead expansion of the BFT measurable gains. underwent a dual operation
than I’ve ever been pushed brand in the US and in Melbourne that removed Back in Australia, he met
and if I break down, I break Canada. Falloon and his “Very few people in a an inflamed appendix and a former National Soccer
down’,” Falloon recalls. co-founder, Richard Burnet, gym setting tap into their repaired an umbilical League player who helped
retain the rights to BFT physical capacity – and hernia. This morning, he’d him land a job at Derby
It didn’t take long for everywhere else, including that’s the difference managed a light, solo County FC, where he
Cornes to get his wish. Australia, where some 120 between us mere mortals workout at BFT’s Santa trained elite juniors aged
studios have sprung up and the elite,” says Falloon. Monica studio, but his six to 16. That was the
It was a Saturday since 2017. “The elite have an ability to post-op training has forerunner to his work in the
morning and Port’s work through the pain consisted almost entirely of AFL, initially with Geelong,
fresh-faced draftees were Central to BFT is the barrier to the point where walking. “I’ve been dying to where his ideas about
watching on as Falloon put notion that the training the challenge becomes do something strenuous,” optimum training for the
Cornes through a series of methods of certain elite mental. Some of them have he says. everyman crystallised.
400-m sprints. “At the end athletes are something that that real want to get into the
of the third one, he threw you and I – everyday fitness hurt locker and stay there, His need for vigorous While you might think
up. Then he starts yelling fiends who also hold down because they know that’s exercise is both physical borrowing the training
[abuse] at me,” he says. day jobs – can borrow and where the competitive and psychological. Now 48, methods of professional
prosper from. No one’s advantage lies.” he says he lifts weights to footballers seems
Falloon blew his whistle saying you should be offset the effects of old ambitious, even foolhardy,
for the next repeat and soon pushing the limits as Those years between injuries and everyday aches Falloon says not all these
it was his turn to start Cornes did that morning; 2005-12 when Falloon had and pains. At those times guys are Supermen. “To
hollering because Cornes only that you’d probably stints at three AFL clubs – when circumstances get in give you an example, Travis
was running too slowly. The benefit from going a little Geelong, the Western the way of working out, it Varcoe, who played for
stalwart lost more of his harder than you are now. Bulldogs and Port – were will tend to show in his Geelong in multiple
breakfast at the end of that the making of him. “BFT’s moods. “My wife will often premiership sides, couldn’t
sprint, before heaving again Chances are, despite methodology is based off say to me, ‘I think you need do one chin-up when he
after his fifth and final effort. your best intentions, you’ve how AFL players train,” he to go to the gym’.” was drafted. It takes 5 to 7
slipped into a training rut. says. “Every week, you can years on a program to get
“So, he’s completely You’re going through the hit your aerobic system, For Falloon, born and them robust enough for the
exhausted,” says Falloon, motions. That’s a pity, anaerobic system, raised in Melbourne, before week-to-week battles they
“and these poor draftees because to improve – fast-twitch muscle fibres for there was any interest in go through on the l field.”
have got their jaws on the whether that means power, slow-twitch fibres for training there was a love of
ground thinking, Oh, my performing better in your hypertrophy, plus we get footy. He was a promising ALL BASES COVERED
God, is this what life is next 5K or filling out your junior midfielder eyeing the
going to be like? As I was summit until a debilitating Fitness is about choices.
talking to them about what back injury knocked him on You can choose to pound
his butt. Doctors told him he the pavement five times a
would never play top-level week, or to load up a
barbell every day and shift

118 MEN’S HE ALTH

GO HYBRID

ALLOW 45 MINUTES FOR THIS DOOZY, LOOSELY
BASED ON BFT’S POPULAR BUT CHALLENGING
“SHRED” WORKOUT. IT’S FOUR BLOCKS OF AMRAP
COVERING OFF TOTAL-BODY STRENGTH AND
CARDIO. RECOVER FOR ONE MINUTE BETWEEN
BLOCKS. FOR EACH RESISTANCE MOVE, CHOOSE A
WEIGHT THAT’S CHALLENGING BUT ALLOWS YOU

TO COMPLETE ALL REPS WITH GOOD FORM

BLOCK 1

CARDIO

• Medicine Ball Slam x 20
• Star Jump x 40
• Bear Crawl 5m forwards, 5m backwards x 5

BLOCK 2

UPPER-BODY MUSCLE

• Dumbbell Bench Press x 10
• Renegade Row x 10 (each side)
• Military Press x 10
• Crunch x 20

BLOCK 3

CARDIO

• Repeat Block 1

BLOCK 4

LOWER-BODY MUSCLE

• Kettlebell Squat x 15
• Barbell Lunge (weight held overhead)
x 10 (per leg)
• Prisoner Good Morning x 15

it. You can be a Pilates guy. friends on the weekend Chasing more brawn? You wonder whether it’s very hard to get all those
Or a yoga guy. You can do or do anything strenuous A progressive approach is there’s a ceiling when it things perfect.”
whatever you want. But all around your home – you central to building muscle, comes to building strength
Falloon’s experience tells have to train for it.” but don’t think the only way and power. Now in his late Once his midsection is
him that your best course to progress is to keep 40s, Falloon would have healed, Falloon plans on
is a balanced program. You’ll be amazed, says adding plates to the bar. peaked a while back, throwing himself into the
Falloon, how committing to “There are so many wouldn’t he? cycling challenge of
“The weekend warrior a more well-rounded fitness alternatives to that,” says Everesting, where you pick
wants to be generally fit program will improve your Falloon. “Try increasing Think again. There’s a hill and do nonstop
and injury-free,” he says. performance in a favoured the range of movement a tendency to view these repeats of it until you’ve
“And when you tend to train pursuit that you had so that now you’re attributes through too climbed the equivalent of
one way, in one modality, previously trained for with controlling the same weight narrow a lens, he says. Mt Everest – 8,848m. It’s
you are at a higher risk of absolute specifity. Runners through a better range. “Strength isn’t just about going to test the
getting injured because have told him they’re That’s a great progression.” the weight you’re lifting. entrepreneur because at
you’re stressing the same recording faster times in About a decade ago, I got 86 kilograms he’s a solid
joints and same structures 10K events because of BFT, Too few guys serious about kettlebell unit who looks more like an
via the same movement even though they’re now understand the difference training. And one of the first NRL centre than someone
patterns. So, for example, running less. The between training for things someone said to me you could imagine in a
we talk about swimmer’s explanation is simple, strength and training for was, ‘Just understand that yellow jersey.
shoulder: they’re doing the Falloon says: their bodies power, he adds. For power, you will never ever do the
same movement all the are working better now. back off on load and perfect KB swing’. At the “It will go beyond the
time and it stresses the “Their glutes, quads perform the concentric (or time, it was a hard concept physical,” he says, “and that
shoulder joint. and hammies are all upward) phase faster – for me to grasp, but now I fascinates me. I want to
coordinated, stable and indeed, explosively. It’s get it. Because every time explore how far I can push
“If you want complete strong, and as a result you gains in power that you do a swing there are myself. You want to learn to
fitness – which might be run more efficiently and it translate better to most 12 different things you trust your body. You’ll find
the ability to do a fun run, feels less like hard work.” sports, he says. could be focusing on, and out it’s far more capable
play a game of soccer with than you think it is.”

FEBRUARY 2022 119

YOUR WORKOUT #1
FOUR-WEEK
STRONGMAN PULL THE PIN
PLAN
Nothing screams ‘strong’ quite like a back
the size of a barn door. Rest for 3 mins

between sets for your first move, 2 mins on
your second and just a minute between your
carries. Rest as much as you feel you need
to ensure maximum-quality reps, not ‘reps

by any means’. And be mindful of your
form on your final deadlifts, too.
If you’re injured, you won’t be
training for a while,
after all.

1B

Not all strength training is created equal.
These three workouts are designed to prime
your body for life’s everyday challenges –
 while building gains that show and go

STRENGTH IS THE never slow you down, 1A
foundation on which all then ‘modified strongman’
athletic skills are built is your prescription. 1 2 WORDS: ANDREW TRACEY; PHOTOGRAPHY: PHILIP HAYNES
– from power to speed.
And it makes everything It’s a far cry from the DEADLIFT FROMBLOCKS BARBELL ROW
else in your life a little feats you’re used to
easier, whether that’s seeing performed by (8 reps X 3 sets) (5 reps X 6 sets)
a Sunday morning behemoths in World’s This one’s a heavy hitter. Set up a Next up – rows for the bros. First,
kick-around with the boys, Strongest Man events, but heavy barbell around 15cm from the hinge over and grip the bar (A).
a DIY project in the garden this workout plan steals ground on plates or in a rack. Hinge Make sure you keep your back
or just lifting the kids on the fire from those gods over and grip the bar (A), then take a straight and parallel to the ground,
and off the climbing frame and gives us everyday breath, brace your core and drive then row the bar up and into your
ad infinitum. mortals a chance to lift your feet into the ground, lifting the stomach (B). Pause here
heavy, carry fast and get bar to standing (B). Carefully lower for one count before lowering back
When we look at our weird and the bar to the plates and repeat. to the ground. Repeat.
training through the lens of wonderful with
‘strength first’, we can odd lifts and
improve other qualities in unstable loads, so
the gym, such as becoming we can crush the
less prone to injuries when rest of our day.
running and shifting more
weight on the bench press. Elite coach Tom
And we benefit from a Kemp is no stranger to the
hormonal balance that strongman scene and has
keeps us as healthy on the the silverware to prove it.
inside as we look on the Here, he offers up a
outside. Oh, and you’ll fill four-week blueprint for
out a T-shirt better, too. some real-world strength.
Hit each session hard,
So, if you’re looking for leave a day of rest
a training style that doesn’t between each workout,
just come with surprise then repeat with added
benefits to life outside the gusto. Before too long,
gym, but one that is tailored many more plates will be
to ensure daily obstacles on the bar.

120 MEN’S HE ALTH

3A
4B

2A
3B
4A

3 42B

CREDIT HERE: NAME HERE DUMBBELL FRONT RACK CARRY DEADLIFT

(4 X 30M) (3 X 60s Max Effort)
It’s like walking, only harder. Grab Last move now, so empty the tank.
a pair of moderately heavy Again, hinge over and grip the bar
dumbbells and clean them up on (A), then take a deep breath, bracing
to your shoulders, elbows pointing your core and driving your feet into
forwards (A). Purposefully stride the ground before lifting the bar to
forward, keeping your torso upright stand up (B). With control, lower the
and chest proud (B). At the halfway bar and repeat. Remember, we’re
mark, turn around and return. going for maximum-quality reps, so
keep it tight or drop the weight.

FEBRUARY 2022 121

WORKOUT #2

THE BIG PUSH

This is your push day, which means we’re
going to be hammering your shoulders, chest
and triceps. Work through each movement,
lowering your rest throughout the session. As
before, you’ll rest for 3 mins between sets for

your first move, then for 2 mins on your
second and just a single minute between

your carries. Make sure you rest as
needed to achieve your best
possible output.

1B

2B

1A 2A

1 2 CHARCOAL AND BLACK TIEDYE SHORTS BY SUPERDRY (SUPERDRY.COM); VIOLET AND
FLUORESCENT YELLOW ‘MARLIN’ TRAINERS BY VEJA (VEJASTORE.COM)
DUMBBELL CLEAN AND PUSH PRESS CLOSE-GRIP FLOOR PRESS

(8 reps X 3 sets) (5 reps X 6 sets )
Nothing says ‘strong’ like taking This is the bench press’s brutal,
something heavy from floor to ceiling. power-building bro. Lie flat on your
With your dumbbells by your feet, back beneath a barbell, with knees
hinge down and grip them with a flat bent and your feet flat. Explosively
back (A). Engage your lats and stand press the weights above you,
upright explosively. Use the locking out your elbows (A). Lower
momentum to shoulder your bells, dip the bells slowly until your upper
at the legs and drive them overhead arms are resting on the floor (B).
(B). Lower the bells and repeat. Pause for a quick count and repeat.

122 MEN’S HE ALTH

3A BUILDING BLOCKS
4B
CLEANING UP
3B
The clean and press is a move
34 with so much pedigree, it’s almost
mythical. But you can break the
HEAVY GYM RING FARMER’S CARRY SINGLE-ARM DUMBBELL PRESS movement down with these
progressive steps
(4 X 30M) (3 X 60 Secs)
A little hack for huge gains. Pass the Time to add some spice. Hinge down 1/ SINGLEARM
strap of a gymnastic ring through a and grip a heavy dumbbell between DUMBBELL CLEAN
set of weight plates, attach your ring your feet (A). Explosively stand up,
and pull tight. Repeat with another pulling the bell on to your shoulder Hinge down with
set. Grab the rings, stand tall and (B). Dip at the knee and drive the bell soft knees and grab
brace your core (A). Purposefully overhead. Lower back to your a moderate dumbbell.
stride forward (B). At the halfway shoulder and repeat as many times With a tight core,
mark, drop your weights, turn as possible in 60 secs, switching explosively stand
around, re-grip and return. sides as needed to keep the reps up. upwards, using the
momentum from your
hips
Bend
keep
clos
to yo Lower
and
4A on e

2/ D
PUS

Clea
to yo
plac
shou
Bend
stan
drive
upw
shou
over Lower
and
perf

3/ D
DUM

Hing
knee
mod
the fl
core, stand up, using the
momentum to pull both
bells up. Bend at the
elbows and do one final
pull to get both weights
on to your shoulders.
Lower and repeat
for 8-10 reps.

FEBRUARY 2022 123

WORKOUT #3

TREE TRUNK

If a strong upper body is the house, your legs
are very much the foundations. Carb up

before this session – it’s a big one, so do it
justice. And you know the drill when it comes

to rest now – follow the same protocol as
sessions one and two, lowering your rest
time as needed throughout the workout

to ensure that you give your final
move the maximum effort

2A that it deserves.

1A

2B
3A

3B

1B

1 2 3 4 CHARCOAL PERFORMANCE JOGGERS BY SUPERDRY (SUPERDRY.
COM); GREEN, WHITE AND BLACK ‘MARLIN’ TRAINERS BY VEJA
BACK SQUAT BARBELL WALKING LUNGE PLATE PUSH DUMBBELL SQUAT (VEJASTORE.COM)

(8 reps X 3 sets) (6 each leg, 5 reps X 6 sets) (4 X 30M) (3 X 60 secs)
Because you can’t fire a cannon out Apologies in advance for tomorrow’s The only time you can push the First, acquire a sick bucket. Now,
of a canoe. Take a barbell out of a sore glutes. Re-rack your bar across weight plates away. Stack some on hold a pair of heavy dumbbells at
rack, rest it securely across your your traps and stand tall (A). Keeping the floor and drop down on to all your sides and brace your core (A),
traps and stand tall (A). Keeping your chest up, step forward with one fours, hands on the bottom plate. Lift squat down until the crease of your
your torso as upright as possible, leg and bend your front knee until the your knees from the ground (A). hip passes below your knee, touch
take a deep breath and squat down back one touches the ground (B). Drive with your legs and push the the bells to the floor (B), stand back
until the crease of your hip passes Stand up, pause and repeat with the plates forward (B), then close the up explosively, repeat for as many
below your knee (B). Stand back up other leg, moving forward. gap and repeat. Turn around at the reps as possible. Then avoid the
explosively and repeat. halfway mark and push back. stairs for a while.

124 MEN’S HE ALTH

MASTERY MATRIX

A FOUR-STEP APPROACH

THE KEY TO PROGRESSIVE IMPROVEMENT IS TO GO AT YOUR OWN PACE  DO WHAT

WORKS FOR YOU. USE THIS MATRIX TO IDENTIFY YOUR OPTIMAL MOVEMENTS

PILGRIM DISCIPLE MONK MASTER

1 Perform goblet Perform double As prescribed Perform front
squats quats squats

4A

2 Perform Perform As prescribed Perform dumbbell
bodyweight bodyweight front-rack walking
reverse lunges
lunges lunges

3 Perform plank Perform bear As prescribed Perform heavy sled
crawls pushes
4B shoulder taps

4 rform As pres Perform as Perform
ight squats front-rack as heels-elevated,
dumbbell squats
front-rack
dumbbell squats

FEBRUARY 2022 125

REFUELLING? IT PAYS TO
SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF

Keeping your meals healthy and supportive of your training goals
is one thing. But snacks – too often sugary and ill-conceived – can
be a trapdoor to disaster. Author and cook Luke Hines has your back

BY LUKE HINES What if I told you I’ve created the ultimate post-workout snack that is almost
better than dessert? Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is it! One of the things I
ONE THING I’VE LEARNED over the years love most about this parfait is you can easily make a massive batch of the
is that, when it comes to diet and nutrition, you granola so you always have some on hand for this recipe and when you’re on
can do a lot of damage between meals. This the go; multiply the quantities accordingly
tends to be when your guard is down: you’re
famished, you’re short on time – and hey, it’s PEANUT BUTTER POST-WORKOUT PARFAIT
just a snack, right? Unfortunately, make poor
choices twice a day and these tide-me-overs WHA METHOD
can add some serious kilojoules to your total 1 Preheat the oven to 160°C and line a large baking tray
intake, blurring the muscular definition you’d (SERVE
otherwise be showing off at the beach. • 250 g with baking paper.
plain co
My new book, Guilt-Free Snacks you 2 To make the peanut butter granola, place the peanut
ongst your three • 155 g (1 butter, sweetener and coconut oil in a bowl and mix to
blueberr combine. In a separate bowl, combine the rolled oats,
without sacrificing taste. Here’s all macadamia nuts, collagen powder and vanilla and
you need to know about one of my favourite PEANUT B mix well.
refuelling options. • 3 tablespo
plus extra 3 3 Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and
mix until all the dry ingredients are incorporated. Tip
• 3 tablespoon onto the prepared tray and spread out, making sure it’s
coconut nect nice and flat so it cooks evenly.

• 2 tablespoons 4 Bake for 8–10 minutes. Carefully remove the tray from
the oven, add the shredded coconut and give
• 100 g (1 cup) g everything a good mix. Return to the oven and bake for
a further 6–8 minutes, or until the shredded coconut is
• 80 g (½ cup) rou lightly golden brown. Set aside to cool completely. This
macadamia nuts is when the granola becomes nice and crispy. Break
the granola into small clusters and begin to layer up
• 3 tablespoons unfl your parfaits.
collagen powder

• 1 teaspoon vanilla b
or powder

• 3 tablespoons shredd

5 Using a wide, tall glass, start with a few tablespoons of
granola, followed by 1-2 tablespoons of yoghurt and a
small handful of blueberries, then repeat all the way to
the top, finishing with a blueberry layer and a drizzle of
extra peanut butter. Repeat this process until you have
four parfaits in total. Dig in.

Serves: 4

126 MEN’S HE ALTH

Guilt-Free Snacks, Pan
Macmillan Australia, $15

FEBRUARY 2022 127

TSUHME WMEILRDWORKOUT WFIEBTIGUNHLEKTSSUSFPRFEIEX

Sure, standing in one place and doing exercises builds muscle. But if you crawl, lunge, jump
and actually move – which you’ll do in this six-exercise, animal-inspired workout – you’ll build
total-body power, have fun outdoors, fry extra kilojoules and break out of a gym rut

BY MILO F. BRYANT

DIRECTIONS: Do this workout as a circuit. WORKOUT A
Do each move for 40 seconds, rest 40 B
seconds, then go on to the next move. 1/ LATERAL
Do 3 rounds of the circuit. Enjoy the sweat. BEAR
WARM-UP CRAWL

WORLD’S Get on all fours, hands
GREATEST directly below your
STRETCH shoulders, knees about
shoulder-width apart.
A Tighten your abs and
glutes, and lift your knees
so your shins are parallel to
the floor. This is the start.
Keeping your back flat,
move your body to the left
5 steps (A), aiming to move
the opposite arm and leg at
once. Then move to the
right 5 steps (B). Work
back and forth until time
is up to challenge your abs,
quads and shoulders.

B
A

B

Start in push-up position, hands directly 2/ SQUAT TO BROAD JUMP
below shoulders. Shift your right leg to just
outside your right hand and tighten your left Start standing, feet about shoulder-width apart. Push your butt back and bend your knees,
glute. Pause. Reach your right hand toward lowering your torso until your thighs are parallel to the floor (A). Stand. Now push your butt back
the sky, following it with your gaze (A). and bend your knees, throw your hands backwards, and explosively jump forward (B).
Return your right hand to the floor, That’s 1 rep; repeat until time is up to build leg strength and elevate your heart rate.
straighten your right leg and rock
backwards, stretching your hamstrings (B).
Return to the start. That’s 1 rep. Alternate
reps between sides for 60 seconds, then
rest 30 seconds. Do 3 sets.

128 MEN’S HE ALTH

3/ SINGLE-SIDE
KICK THROUGH

Get on all fours, hands directly below
your shoulders, knees about
shoulder-width apart, back flat and
abs tight. Lift your right hand and left
leg off the floor; tighten your abs.
This is the start. Rotate your torso to
the right, kicking your left leg out to
the right as you do. Aim to finish with
your chest facing to the right,
shoulder blades squeezed. Rotate
back to the start and repeat, building
core strength and back muscle.
Do 1 set on each side.

4/ MIXED-STYLE
SKATER LUNGE

Start standing, feet shoulder-width apart, knees
bent. Lift your left leg off the floor and leap to the
left, landing on your left leg only. Quickly leap
back to the right, then leap again to the left. After
this third leap, hold for 4 counts. Repeat this
pattern (3 explosive skaters followed by a hold),
building glute strength and balance.

5/ BACK WIDOW

Lie
the
Squ
tigh
for That’s 1 rep; repeat for 40 seconds. You’ll build
mid

AB

OTOGRAPHY: KATHRYN WIRSING 6/ SPIDERMAN-CRAWL PUSH-UP

Sta
you
you
pus That’s 1 rep. Repeat this
pattern, building chest and triceps strength while also alleviating hip tightness.

FEBRUARY 2022 129

I GREW UP IN DUBBO, in class or anything, I was reading office in Santa Monica. I
central western NSW with a about these actors and their ended up chatting to him for
brother and sister, who were teachers. I’d never been a big 40 minutes and it was
nine and 10 years older than reader much before that, but incredible. Mel is such a straight
me. I used to long for the times I found I could just consume shooter and I had one of the
when they’d come home from pages of information about the most real conversations I had
university for holidays, because way these people had learnt over there. But I also remember
I loved them both. But I their craft. smiling to myself that it was all
particularly worshipped my so bizarre. There I was, a kid
brother. He was a really popular Despite all this, I finished from Dubbo, suddenly in LA
fella without being a big noter school still without having done talking to the man who’d made
and an awesome rugby union any drama. Then I took a year the film that change the
player. I just idolised him. off and went jackarooing out direction of my life.
One winter, when he was back past Bourke in the middle of
home, we hired out Braveheart nowhere on a sheep and cattle Five Bedrooms returns on Jan 1 on Ten
on video. That film moved me station. There was obviously no
DATE: so much. It just really spoke drama out there. Apart from
Tuesday, June 15, 1995, 8.49pm to me as a young boy still in chasing sheep around.
Year 9. Until that point, a movie
NAME: had never had such an It was only when I went
STEVE PEACOCKE emotional impact on me to Newcastle University and
and left me so pumped up. I broke my shoulder playing
F E AT: Afterwards, my brother and I footy that I finally auditioned for
After a viewing of Braveheart, were doing the washing up and a play called A Property of the
a throwaway comment from his talking about how cool Mel Clan by Nick Enright. I played
brother puts a boy on the path to Gibson had been in the role of a character called Ricko.
William Wallace. Suddenly, my I still remember the
his lifelong vocation. brother said: “Steve, why don’t moments before the
you do that? Why don’t you curtains opened up,
“THE CLOSEST become an actor?” because I was
THING TO petrified of public
Until that point, I didn’t know speaking and I still
HOLLYWOOD what I wanted to do. But I am to this day. But
FOR ME WAS remember walking out of the I remember sitting
VIDEO EZY ON room and thinking, “That’s it – there, waiting to
MACQUARIE that’s what I’m going to be”. And go on stage, and
from that moment on, it was all thinking: “Well,
STREET IN I thought about doing. Before this is it. You want
DUBBO” that my life revolved around to be an actor. So are
sport – playing cricket and you going to shit
tennis in the summer, and then yourself, or is it going to
rugby in the winter. But I be okay?” Then the
idolised my brother so much curtain opened and I
that what he said just kicked walked out there and felt
my imagination into gear. absolutely no nerves.

The closest thing to Afterwards the
Hollywood for me was Video professor of drama at the
Ezy on Macquarie Street in uni came up to me and
Dubbo. So I started watching all said, “Have you considered
the actors that I’d heard had getting into acting?
won Academy Awards. I went Because you could have a
through my Robert De Niro bit of potential.” That was
phase, my Marlon Brando the little nudge in the right
phase and my Al Pacino phase. direction that I needed.
I would devour every movie of
theirs that I could. Then I Years later, after my
started reading about actors. I career was underway,
read that De Niro, for instance, I signed up with some
studied at the Actors Studio agents in America
with Lee Strasberg. So I tracked where they send you
down these books about the to meetings with all the
Actors Studio and different different studios. One
acting techniques. Even though of them was Icon
I’d still never done a drama Productions and they
teed up a meeting for me
with Mel Gibson at his

130 MEN’S HE ALTH

Visit speedo.com.au/speedofit for all levels

SUTTON

AUTOMATIC

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