Friday, June 22, 2012

Guys: Stop Time

A dab of lotion on your face cannot counter years of abuse. These strategies from Dermatologist Brad Katchen, M.D., will help you face the passage from your college years to middle age.

20s - The problem is acne now, sun damage later. In the morning, apply an SPF 15 or higher moisturizer to prevent dryness and shield UV rays. Try Eshu Moisturizing Sunscreen SPF 30+. $30, sephora.com. Discourage blemishes with a cleanser. Avoid harsh scrubs, these can actually stimulate oil production if you rub too hard. An exfoliating cleanser with glycolic acids does the job without elbow grease. Try Anthony Logistics for Men Glycolic Facial Cleanser, $21, anthony.com




30s - The problem is that your career is taking off--And so are your wrinkles. Every morning, use a cream with sirtuins and other ingredients that can stimulate cell growth and collagen production to bolster the fragile skin around your eyes. Try Lab Series Skincare of Men Mas LS Instant Eye Lift, $42, labseries.com. Evening is the best time to treat pigmentation and lines. Swipe your face before bed with an exfoliating pad; the fruit acids can gently clear off old cells and reveal fresh skin. Try Origins Brighter by Nature, $40, origins.com




40s - The problem is that wrinkles deepen and skin loses elasticity. The fine lines from your 30s become crevices (Jesus!). We need antioxidants. Sunscreen remains key, and a cream that contains Vitamin C can protect against damaging free radicals generated by sun and pollution. Try Kiehls Powerful-Strength Line-Reducing Concentrate, $58, kiehls.com. A lightweight serum added under a lotion (or worn alone) can keep your skin cells reproducing as you rest. Try Dermalogica Overnight Repair Serum, $60, dermalogica.com. Visit your dermatologist regularly for treatment and cancer screenings. Exfoliating treatments from chemical peels to Fraxel laser resurfacing can return the luster to your face.

Source: Men's Health

Monday, June 18, 2012

Age-Proof Your Eyes

Wrinkled, baggy, or dark skin around your eyes can make you look years older than you really are. Save them now. Dermatologists Joel Schlessinger, M.D., and Ariel Ostad, M.D. give their advice for DIY solutions.

Eat Healthy Meals - The more salt and booze you consume, the more fluids you retain, puffing your eyes. But back on both, as well as sugar. A high-sugar diet can generate harmful molecules that damage collagen, leading to wrinkles.


Sleep on Your Back - If you're on your side or stomach, the pressure of your head pressed against the pillow can cause permanent creases around your eyes. Try sleeping face-up and elevate your head with an extra pillow to prevent fluid from pooling in your face.

Wear Tea - Green, chamomile, and black teas have astringents that constrict blood vessels and pull skin taut. Steep two bags, let them cool. Wrap each in a clean dishcloth and lie down while placing a bag over each eye closed for five to ten minutes.

Don't Squint - The skin around your eye is 1/13 the thickness of the skin on your palms. Habitual squinting can forge deep crevices. Wear sunglasses outdoors.

Use Your Ring Finger - It's weaker than your pointer finger. Touching your eyes with your stronger finger tends to stretch the skin.

Peel a Potato - Potato starch has anti-inflammatory properties, so it's good for soothing redness and irritation. Peel and grate a raw potato, and then mash it and wrap it in a clean dishcloth. Lie down and place the pouch on your eyes for fifteen minutes.

Source: Men's Health

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Wake-Up Call!

What you need to know to keep your face looking good.


Fast foods, skipped workouts, fights with your boss, and lack of sleep will eventually take a toll on your face. Besides sun damage, loss of collagen is a prime reason men's faces show signs of aging. This protein gives skin its plumpness--a baby's cheeks have plenty of it; your favorite beatnik's mug does not. So, if you want to avoid looking like the crypt-keeper later, adopt good habits and start using better skin-care products now.

Try these tips to look fresh and alert all day


Dark Circles -  Allergies and sinus problems cause the blood vessels around your eyes to dilate, creating a purplish hue. Another culprit: aging. Loss of collagen thins the skin around the eyes, making blood vessels more visible. An eye cream with caffeine constricts blood vessels. Pat a pea-sized amount onto circles morning and night. I suggest Vita-K Dark Circles. It's around $12 at WalMart.

Lackluster Skin -  Alcohol, caffeine, and stress inhibit skin cells from turning over at a normal speed, leaving behind a layer of face dulling dead skin. Morning and night, use a moisturizer with alpha hydroxy acids. It hydrates your skin and sloughs away dead cells. I suggest Neutrogena Healthy Skin Moisturizer with 15 SPF. It's a multi-vitamin treatment with alpha hydroxy. Around $11 at Target.

Bloodshot Eyes - When eyes are oxygen depleted -- from booze, allergies, or starting at a computer screen-- they pump extra blood to compensate. Replace moisture by using eye drops a few times a day. Drops also keep you from rubbing your eyes, which can make things worse.

Source: Men's Health

Thursday, June 14, 2012

The Power of the Peel

Sometimes beauty truly is skin deep. Research has revealed specific benefits to eating the colorful outsides of many fruits and veggies. Eat these five foods skin-on and buy organic when possible.

Eggplants - The pretty purple skin contains a powerful antioxidant called nasunin, which is known to have heart-protecting qualities.
Apples - Antioxidants in apple peels may reduce digestive tract inflammation--could be good news for those with chronic stomach trouble.
Cucumbers - It may seem like they're all water, but cucumbers are jammed with bone-boosting vitamin K, concentrated in and near the peel.
Potatoes - Eat those potato skins to get a dose of vitamin C and potassium, and almost eight times as much iron as in the flesh of the potato alone.
Pears - A skin-on pear provides potassium, vitamin C, and a cancer-fighting antioxidant called chlorogenic
 acid.

Source: Health Magazine

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Banish Your Man Boobs


Firm up your chest and shed weight with these supersets—two exercises done back-to-back. “These exercises not only blast your chest, but also target your back muscles and glutes—body zones that contain the most muscle mass,” says Gaddour. Elevating your metabolism is all about how much muscle you activate at once. By doing big-muscle exercises, you’ll boost your metabolism and testosterone levels more than you would just working your pecs, he says. (Now that you don’t have to buy yourself a bra, here’s what to buy her for Valentine’s day.)

DO THIS Use a pair of 15 or 20-pound dumbbells and do each pair of exercises as a superset. Beginning with exercise 1 A, do as many reps as you can in 30 seconds. Then rest for 30 seconds. Next, do exercise 1 B, completing as many reps as you can in 30 seconds, and then rest for 30 seconds. That’s 1 round. Complete 4 rounds of superset 1, then rest 2 minutes before moving on to superset 2 for 4 rounds. Add these supersets to your workout routine 2 or 3 times a week.

SUPERSET 1

1 A. Lying Supported Neutral-Grip Dumbbell Row 
Grab a pair of dumbbells and lie chest-down on a 45-degree incline bench. Let your arms hang straight down, palms facing each other. Row the dumbbells to the side of your chest by bending your elbows and squeezing your shoulder blades. Pause and lower the weights.
1 B. Dumbbell Goblet Box Squat
Stand 4 to 6 inches forward of a knee-high bench or box. Cup the end of a dumbbell with both hands and hold it vertically in front of your chest, your elbows pointing down. Keeping your back naturally arched, push your hips back, bend your knees, and squat. Sit on the bench for a moment. Keeping your heels pressed into the ground, stand back up.



SUPERSET 2

2 A. Dumbbell 1 1/2 Pushup
Grasp the handle of a dumbbell in each hand and assume a pushup position with your arms straight. Your hands should be about shoulder-width apart, and your body should form a straight line from head to ankles. Bend your elbows and lower your body until your chest nearly touches the floor. Pause, and then push yourself halfway back up. Pause again, then lower your body back to the floor. Push yourself all the way back up to the starting position, and repeat. (Like this twist on the standard pushup? Continue to build a powerful facade with these 14 smart pushup improvements.)

2 B. Dumbbell Skier Swings 
Holding a pair of dumbbells at arm’s length next to your sides, stand with your feet hip-width apart and your knees slightly bent. Without rounding your lower back, bend at your hips as you simultaneously swing your arms backward. Now explosively thrust your hips forward and raise your torso until you’re standing upright, while allowing your momentum to swing the weights up to chest level. (Don’t actively lift the weight.) Swing back and forth for the duration of your set.


Source: Men's Health

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Health Threats You Can't Ignore!

Usually when you get a nosebleed or a pimple your first instinct is to head to the doctor's office. Most of the time, it's not something to worry about. Sometimes something that seems small is an indication of something bigger going on. These are "third-tier" complaints that just might be trying to warn you about a first-tier problem.

Sore Throat - Swallowing is sheer masochism when you have a sore throat, yet according to a recent study in the Journal of American Medical Association , up to 40 percent of adults pop antibiotics for the condition, even though there's no evidence that the cause is bacterial. Most men go the other extreme and try to wait out a sore throat, no matter how much it hurts or for how long. Not a wise move, especially if the sensation of crushed glass in your throat lasts more than 3 days or changes the way you speak. These are signs of strep throat. "If the infection gets deep into your tonsils, the lymph nodes and surrounding tissure are overwhelmed with pus and can't drain," says Dr. Oz. "That can close your airways so you can't breathe."

 Your doctor can swab your throat and test for the condition within minutes. If it comes back positive, then antibiotics are the best answer.

Source: Men's Health

Friday, June 8, 2012

Stay In The Game

Swing a racket with your legs - "People forget to use their legs when they're hitting their serve or other strokes," says Doug Spreen, A.T.C., trainer of tennis pro Andy Roddick. For instance, when you toss the ball up for a serve, you'll stress your lower back if you're not using your legs. "Bend your knees and push up and through the serve with your legs. You'll gather power from the strongest part of your body."

Loosen your shoulders - "An injured rotator cuff can shut down a shoulder," says Spreen, who suggests adding external- and internal-rotation stretching to protect your cuffs.

External: Stand with your right arm straight out to the side and parallel to the floor. Bend your elbow so your arm forms a right angle and your forearm points straight up. Keeping your elbow in place, move your hand back until you feel slight tension in your shoulder.

Internal: Same as above, except that your forearm should point straight down toward the floor at the start. Hold each stretch for 30 seconds.


Source: Men's Health

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Glucosamine and Chondroitin


Glucosamine is a building block of connective tissue, while chondroitin helps cartilage retain water so it stays flexible. Together they soothe sore joints. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine reports that 79 percent of men who took 1,500 mg glucosamine and 1,200 mg chondroitin daily felt a significant reduction in chronic knee pain. Glucosamine-chondroitin supplements take longer to work than NSAIDs (non-steroidal pain killers like aspirin and ibuprofen), but have fewer side effects and last longer. Russian researchers also found that chondroitin reduces back pain.

Conditions: Knee pain, Back pain
Recommendations: Try 2 to 3 capsules of Cosamin DS daily

Interactions & Side Effects: Shellfish allergy. Reactions are rare but if you’re allergic to shellfish (glucosamine is made from shellfish shells), check with your healthcare provider before you take the supplement, or try a vegetarian version. Insulin -- May reduce effectiveness

Source: Men's Health

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Worst Sandwich


Worst Sandwich
The Cheesecake Factory Grilled Shrimp & Bacon Club
1,890 calories
N/A g fat (24 g saturated)
2,964 mg sodium

It's hard to blame a diner for thinking he or she might be taking a safe route by opting for this sandwich based on its menu description: "Charbroiled Shrimp, Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato with Our Special Dressing." Only through a feat of dark nutrition arts did the Cheesecake Factory cram more calories than the worst fast-food burger has into such an innocuous-sounding sandwich. (In fact, you can have the hearty Factory Burger and save nearly 1,200 calories.) Why would a restaurant knowingly subject its loyal customers to such punishment?

Source: Eat This, Not That

Monday, June 4, 2012

Beauty Tricks That Make You Look Thinner


Slimming Hair Trick: Grow Your Hair and Get Highlights


“Highlights help to create vertical lines, which can give the effect of a slimmer you,” says Joel Warren, co-owner of the Warren-Tricomi Salon. “Also, if you have a round face, don’t ask for a short bob. Rather, grow your hair long—all one layer—to elongate your facial structure and body type. If you have longer, curly, wavy hair, it gives the effect that your body is smaller than it is!”

Source: Glamour

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Taylor Lautner: Vary Your Volume


Vary Your Volume
Heavier isn't always better. To maximize gains, Lautner regularly varies reps and the amount of weight he lifts. "If you want a balanced body, you have to do that," says Yuam. The more your muscles are forced to adapt to a new routine, the more they grow. Instead of always doing 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps, for example, occasionally reduce the weight and shoot for 4 sets of 15 reps. A recent study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that men who regularly varied their rep counts and trained different muscle groups increased their bench strength by 28 percent and their leg-press strength by 43 percent.

Source: Men's Health


Friday, June 1, 2012

Do it:Mud Bath


Splurge: the Mud Bath
If the mere idea of lounging around in a tub of dirt doesn’t creep you out, you’ll thoroughly appreciate this detoxifying body treatment, which not only soothes and rejuvenates chronically irritated skin but also helps alleviate achy arthritic joints and sore, overworked muscles.

Source: Glamour

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