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        <title>AskMen</title>
        <description><![CDATA[AskMen is the No. 1 site to help men improve their lives—from discovering new products & trends to getting advice on dating, fitness, grooming & more.]]></description>
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                <title><![CDATA[This Surgeon Is Making Eyelid Surgery Something Men Are Really Considering]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/fitness/health/this-surgeon-is-making-eyelid-surgery-something-men-are-really-considering.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/fitness/health/this-surgeon-is-making-eyelid-surgery-something-men-are-really-considering.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Daniel ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[  ]]></description>
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                    <![CDATA[ There&#039;s a version of surgery most men picture when they hear the words. Hospital gown, general anesthesia, a week off work, and a result that announces itself before you&#039;ve said hello. This image has kept a lot of men out of the conversation, even when the concern of heavier lids, a persistent look of exhaustion, upper eyelid skin that wasn&#039;t there a decade ago, is as valid for men as it is for women, and affecting how they also move through the world.
Dr. Sumeet Jindal, a board-certified ophthalmologist and oculofacial cosmetic surgeon based in Raleigh, North Carolina, is actively changing that reality. Not by rebranding surgery as something it isn&#039;t, but by developing a legitimate, unprecedented clinical alternative that sits in the aesthetics space.
RELATED: How to Make Yourself More Dateable

The Missing Piece

For years, patients with mild to moderate upper eyelid hooding have faced a common frustration. As one option, there are lasers, radiofrequency devices, and skin-tightening treatments that smooth the surface but don&#039;t actually remove excess skin. Results are limited, often temporary, and rarely satisfy someone who wants a real change. And the other option is traditional blepharoplasty, a surgical procedure that delivers lasting results but comes with sutures, cautery, general anesthesia, and a recovery window that can stretch to two weeks or more.
For a patient who isn’t ready for full surgery but has moved well past what a non-invasive treatment can offer, few options exist. And that&#039;s exactly the type of patient Dr. Jindal is setting out to serve.

A New Category

Serving as the principal investigator of the Phase 3 clinical trial for the device, Dr. Jindal worked alongside the company, Osheru to refine the product (ZipLyft) and validate the outcomes before it reached patients.
The procedure removes excess upper eyelid skin without sutures, without cautery, and without general anesthesia. It runs about 10 to 15 minutes under local anesthesia, and patients go home the same day. Recovery time is roughly half that of a traditional blepharoplasty.
Two weeks of visible bruising and swelling is a non-starter for a lot of people. Cutting that window in half, while still achieving permanent skin removal and artistry puts the procedure in reach for someone who couldn&#039;t previously justify the downtime.
JIYA Eyelid and Facial Cosmetic Surgery is currently among the first practices in the area offering ZipLyft, a position Dr. Jindal takes seriously. &quot;We offer the most advanced and comprehensive eyelid surgery available, but now we also have a faster, simpler option for the right patient,&quot; he says. &quot;It&#039;s about giving people a real choice.&quot;

Who It&#039;s Actually For

Dr. Jindal is deliberate about communicating ZipLyft not as a universal solution. The procedure is designed for patients with mild to moderate hooding. Enough that it&#039;s noticeable and bothersome, but not so advanced that a full surgical approach is necessary. Early patient outcomes have been strong among good candidates, with meaningful results and minimal downtime.
For patients who do need a more comprehensive plan like significant ptosis, fat repositioning, or complex revision cases, Dr. Jindal continues to offer and excel at the full surgical spectrum. That includes ptosis repair, fat sculpting and grafting, canthopexy, and the signature Winged Blepharoplasty.


The Awake Surgery Shift

This new technology represents a deliberate move toward awake, local-anesthesia procedures across multiple treatments. Dr. Jindal performs awake blepharoplasty, awake brow lifts, mini fox eye procedures, and mini midface lift techniques, all without putting the patient under general anesthesia.
The practical advantages of avoiding more involved procedures include shorter scheduling windows, faster recovery, reduced systemic risk, and a patient experience that&#039;s considerably less intimidating. Also reflective where cosmetic medicine is heading, is patients (increasingly male patients) wanting results without the infrastructure of a traditional surgical event. They want to know what&#039;s happening, stay in control, and get back to their lives.
Men are among the fastest-growing demographics in cosmetic surgery, and the procedures gaining the most traction tend to be the ones that don&#039;t require a dramatic commitment of time or explanation. A 15-minute, in-office eyelid procedure with a one-week recovery fits that profile in a way that traditional surgery simply doesn&#039;t.

Why Raleigh

Men don&#039;t typically plan a trip across state lines for a cosmetic procedure. But that&#039;s exactly what&#039;s where male patients are in this conversation right now. They&#039;re researching. They&#039;re serious. And when they find the right expertise, geography stops being a barrier. Clinical credibility is a different kind of trust. Dr. Jindal’s niche expertise is what brings patients to Raleigh from well outside North Carolina.
Cosmetic surgery is no longer a category men are quietly opting out of. The stigma is eroding, the technology is catching up to the demand, and procedures like ZipLyft are removing recurring excuses. For a generation of men who want to look as sharp as they perform, Dr. Jindal is the first surgeon to look at.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not substitute for professional medical advice. If you are seeking medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, please consult a medical professional or healthcare provider.

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Cosmetic Treatments Popular With MenPlastic Surgery for MenHow Fitness Chewing Gum Can Sharpen Your Jaw Line ]]>
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                <pubDate>Thu, 04 Jun 2026 16:11:35 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[The Reinvention of the American Barbershop]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/grooming/hair/the-reinvention-of-the-american-barbershop.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/grooming/hair/the-reinvention-of-the-american-barbershop.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Matthew ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[ How New Technologies Are Helping Barbers Join the 21st Century ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/grooming/hair/the-reinvention-of-the-american-barbershop/askmen-lead-image-2x1-1779816167.png" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
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                    <![CDATA[ There are few things as iconic as the red and white stripes on a barbershop pole. Barbershop quartets continue to be an enduring staple of the music scene. And men, women, and children all over America seek out professionals to trim their hair on a regular basis.
While the act of cutting hair may be similar to what it’s always been, though, the way barbershops operate has changed significantly. Let’s look at the history of the barbershop business model and see how technology is disrupting things and opening up a new frontier of the barbershop experience in 2026.
RELATED: Grooming Awards 2026: Best Hair Care Products

The History of the Barbershop (and Its Business Model)

The barbershop is one of the oldest professions. Barbers were busy trimming whiskers and cutting locks for Egyptian nobility 6,000 years ago. They’ve stayed busy ever since. While it may be a long and prestigious tradition, though, the barbershop business model has changed dramatically over the millennia. 
In the Middle Ages, for instance, barber-surgeons combined the two services that they were named after. (They started splitting into barbers and surgeons around 1300 A.D.)
Barbershops have remained a consistent part of life over the centuries. Even when the Internet began shuttering brick-and-mortar retailers early in the 21st century, cultural interest ramped up, leading to a resurgence in barbershop patronage in the late 2010s. And now, the art of cutting hair is entering yet another transformative stage.

The Barbershop Has Been in a Technological Transition for a While Now

While fresh interest in hair grooming ramped up in the years leading up to the pandemic, the business tools barbers used remained relatively primitive (comparatively speaking). They might build a responsive website using a tool like Wix, WordPress, or Squarespace. They also integrated schedulers like Calendly to allow customers to book on their own, add bookings to their personal calendars, and so on. 
On the back end, different business tools were needed for a host of administrative details, as well. Bookkeeping software, up-to-date payment platforms, payroll — each of these meant a modernized barber renting a single chair or even a small shop might have a tech stack with a dozen or more tools just to keep their customers and cash flowing.
The tech was there. But it was scattered, fractionalized, and expensive. And this is where the new shift is taking place, coming out of the pandemic years.

Consolidation Is the New Name of the Haircut Game

Technology is reimagining business everywhere, but the early years of this transition have been sloppy. Tech stacks have ballooned to unbelievable numbers. Chiefmartec reported that as early as 2023, the average tech stack in business consisted of 291 apps with an annual spend of over $50 million. Torii added that in 2025, 54% of company apps on average were shadow IT (meaning employees used them for work without knowledge, approval, or oversight).
This unwieldy situation naturally led to a push for consolidation — and barbershops were no exception. New platforms are now providing comprehensive suites of tools that help shop owners manage and scale their businesses. These roll everything into one dashboard, including appointment scheduling, point-of-sale, payments, payroll, and customer relationship management.
But the ones that are truly reimagining the barbershop game are going further.

A Dual-Sided Solution: Bringing Barbers and Their Customers Together

Some of the most innovative barbershop platforms are going beyond consolidating back-end management. They are building dual-sided platforms. 
One of the best examples of this is SQUIRE — an all-in-one, end-to-end, barbershop technology platform that serves businesses and their clients at the same time. On one side, it offers barbers and shop owners an integrated system to efficiently run their daily operations.
 
On the other hand, SQUIRE operates a consumer marketplace that allows clients to discover barbers. Once they find someone they want, they can book appointments and pay seamlessly right through a mobile app. 
This combination simplifies operations while also driving new client traffic to shops. Again, the key here is consolidation. Everything a barber needs, from administration to customer acquisition and payments, is in one place — and this new model is not just a good idea. It’s a proven concept that thousands of shops and over 30 thousand barbers are already using.

The Future of the American Barbershop Is Here

SQUIRE isn&#039;t alone in seeking to enhance the barbershop experience. Private equity has seen the potential and has expanded the offering of its holdings in adjacent verticals. SQUIRE continues to stay ahead and has recently been bringing AI solutions to shop owners to help improve their marketing efforts, as well as perform functions like answering the shop phone so barbers can stay behind the chair. Barbers are using these to streamline administrative workload, minimize operational costs, maximize profits, and stay focused on the most important thing of all: cutting people’s hair.
The future of the American barbershop is here. It’s been unfolding in fragments for several years. Now, everything is coming together into a streamlined, frictionless barbershop experience that is helping barbers stay booked, and men, women, and children across America maintain their hair without headaches and hurdles at every step of the process.
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                <pubDate>Tue, 26 May 2026 17:40:25 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[How to Get Fit in Your 40s and Beyond]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/fitness/workout/how-to-get-fit-in-your-40s-and-beyond.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/fitness/workout/how-to-get-fit-in-your-40s-and-beyond.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Anouare ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[ Make the Most of Your Middle Age by Preparing Your Body for Everything ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/fitness/workout/how-to-get-fit-in-your-40s-and-beyond/askmen-lead-image-2x1-1761763075.png" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
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                    <![CDATA[ People say that 40 is the new 30 — but things can look a little different on the fitness front as you enter your forties. You can thrive at any age, but you may need to tweak your workout routine to adapt to realities such as hormonal changes and a higher risk of injury.
For example, research shows that testosterone levels tend to decline by about one percent a year as you get older. This can affect your ability to gain muscle or lead to weight gain. The good news is, staying fit can help you offset some of the effects of aging and stay strong and healthy for years to come. So, you should absolutely keep setting and crushing fitness goals regardless of your age.
RELATED: Why It&#039;s Time to Stop Using Your Age as an Excuse
Here are eight simple but important tips to help you stay in shape and hit your athletic goals after 40.

8 Principles for Achieving Fitness Success in Middle Age

Use It or Lose It
Austin Treadwell, doctor of physical therapy and telehealth provider, says that “use it or lose it” is a golden life — and fitness — principle that becomes even more important in your forties: “If you’re not staying physically active and constantly putting your muscle to work, they will shrink up. Even worse, the older you are, the more easily you can lose your gains.”
Treadwell adds that the production of important muscle-building and fat-building hormones, such as Human Growth Hormone (HGH) and testosterone, also decreases as you age, which makes staying consistent with your fitness routine crucial.
“While this may seem cliche, the most important thing a man can do is incorporate exercise into their daily habits and routine. Once this becomes ingrained into your life, it has a significantly higher likelihood of continuing for years,” says Eddie Lester, CEO of Fitness Mentors.
In other words, if you want to achieve fitness goals after 40, being consistent with workouts and healthy habits isn’t a luxury.
Prioritize Strength-Training
Prioritizing strength-training is the second most important thing you can do. “I recommend prioritizing strength training to preserve muscle mass, boost metabolism, and support bone health,” says certified personal trainer and Programme app founder Sean Klein.
As Treadwell puts it, when it comes to reaching your fitness and body composition goals, “there’s no substitute for a good lift.” He recommends working each major muscle group at least twice a week for best results. According to Klein, focusing on compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, and bench presses is key as well, as it improves functional movement and balance, which become increasingly important with time.
Pace Yourself And Stay Patient
According to Lester, one of the big differences between achieving fitness goals after 40 versus when you’re younger is the time it takes to see results: “Most men remember how quick and easy it was to lose weight or gain muscle in their 20s, but decreases in testosterone and other age related hormones decrease the speed of progress significantly.”
This means that staying patient is important. Keep hitting the gym and training for strength. The results will come. Wondering how much to challenge yourself? Just because you’re in your 40s doesn’t mean you should stop lifting heavy — but pacing yourself and focusing on progressive overload (increasing resistance gradually) matters more now than it did before.
“It’s important to think more long-term for your fitness goals. As you’re planning your workouts, keep in mind that you&#039;re at a much higher risk for an injury or over-training than you were when you were in your 20s,” says Treadwell. “Try to keep all of your workouts around an hour or less, and take plenty of breaks. Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
Shift Your Focus to Holistic Well-Being
Klein notes that many men over 40 shift their focus from training for looks to training for overall health and well-being. Consider doing the same, as it will help keep your motivation high for the rest of your life. “[Set] goals that prioritize strength, cardiovascular health, flexibility, and balance rather than just trying to achieve a certain look or body fat percentage,” recommends Klein.
Set Goals Around Rest and Recovery
Setting goals around rest and recovery instead of playing things by ear on that front makes a lot of sense after 40. Incorporate rest days and recovery techniques such as foam rolling and stretching into your routine, suggests Klein: “It can help prevent overtraining, injury and improve overall movement quality.”
Additionally, make sure you’re getting plenty of high-quality sleep. “Sleep is one of the most important elements to optimize for success in achieving a fitness goal after 40. Its role in hormonal optimization and muscle repair is crucial,” says Lester.
Warm Up and Cool Down Properly
Also, add warming up and cooling down properly to your list of things that are no longer an option after 40. “Your muscles become less pliable as you age and you’re at an increased risk for soft-tissue injuries; starting and finishing your workouts with a nice 10 to 20 minute walk will help prevent those injuries,” says Treadwell.
Eat Enough Protein
As you get older, your body requires roughly 50 percent more protein than a younger adult, according to Health Hub. To avoid letting your workouts go to waste, make sure you’re eating a source of protein at every meal.
While individual needs vary, the minimum recommendation for adults is a daily intake of 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight — and you’ll probably need more if you’re lifting weights. Consider working with a dietitian or nutritionist to optimize your protein intake.
Mind Your Alcohol Consumption
Finally, decreasing your alcohol consumption can go a long way when it comes to reaching fitness goals after 40. Drinking can affect both your sleep and hormones, so it may slow down your progress in the gym. “It is so common to unwind with a drink or a few drinks, but this is counterproductive for almost all health and fitness goals,” says Lester.
This information isn’t meant to make you feel discouraged about the effects of aging on your body, but to empower you to take care of it for decades to come. It’s all about focusing on a long-term, sustainable approach to fitness. Apply the tips above to your routine and you may just feel better and stronger than ever.
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Common Ab Exercise MistakesThe Best Pre-Workouts to Add to Your RoutineHow to Build Bigger Quads ]]>
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                <pubDate>Wed, 13 May 2026 12:55:47 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[What Are the Benefits of a Polar Plunge? Here’s What Experts Say]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/fitness/health/the-benefits-of-a-polar-plunge.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/fitness/health/the-benefits-of-a-polar-plunge.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Rebecca ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[ Plunging Into Icy Waters Can Have These 5 Health Benefits ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/fitness/health/the-benefits-of-a-polar-plunge/askmen-lead-image-template-6-1705016119.png" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
                <media:credit role="author" scheme="urn:ebu"><![CDATA[  ]]></media:credit>
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                    <![CDATA[ LeBron James swears by an ice bath for recovery after a big game. Chris Hemsworth reportedly finishes his workouts with a cold plunge. Even David Beckham is a fan of immersing his body in frigid waters. In case you haven’t noticed, tons of people are turning to cryotherapy, aka cold therapy, in the pursuit of improved health. 
One example of this is the ever-popular polar plunge. Also known as the polar bear plunge, it’s a group activity that entails jumping into an icy body of water in the dead of winter. Why would anyone do this, you ask? Well, there are lots of valid reasons.
The hashtag #polarplunge has already garnered 212 million views and counting. And while cold water immersion may be a somewhat new wellness craze, the truth is that people have been using this therapeutic technique for centuries. In fact, the Ancient Greeks used cold therapy for a number of benefits including relaxation and social interaction. 
RELATED: What Is Cold Therapy? And What Are the Benefits?
Ready to take the plunge? Whether you’re toying with the idea of signing up for a polar plunge, or you’re just curious about what it can do for your health, read on for some expert advice and research-backed insight on this divisive trend.

What Is a Polar Plunge?

A polar plunge, also sometimes referred to as a polar bear plunge, is a winter event during which a group of participants jump into an icy ocean, lake, or river. Often — but not always — it’s used as a fundraising opportunity for charitable organizations.
Jeremie Walker, MD, a physician at Opt Health, says he’s witnessed an uptick in questions from patients about cold exposure.
“Polar plunges have gained popularity as people increasingly seek natural and holistic methods to enhance well-being,” says Heather Sandison, a naturopathic doctor and founder of Marama.
The winter itinerary at Wise &amp; Well — a luxury wellness retreat based in Wisconsin — often includes a polar plunge at the on-property lake. According to McKenzie Wisdom, Founder &amp; CEO of Wise &amp; Well, here’s what that experience entails step by step:
A collective Wim Hof-style breathwork sessionA 20-minute sauna detox in the cedar-clad, wood-burning saunaA walk to the frozen lake for the invigorating polar plunge, during which a Wise &amp; Well breathwork coach guides participants through the experience with controlled breathing and affirmations

Possible Health Benefits of a Polar Plunge

There’s a limited — but growing — body of research on how cold water immersion can improve health.
&quot;What I love most about cold plunge therapy is the mental resilience and discipline it cultivates,” says Wisdom. “Enduring the discomfort of freezing ice water has significantly enhanced my stress tolerance for daily challenges. The post-plunge effects are remarkable — a sense of conquering the world, heightened focus, energy, and an unparalleled mood lift. Cold plunging boosts dopamine levels by 250%, providing sustained benefits for hours. As someone who struggles with ADHD, cold plunging has been a game changer for me, significantly improving my focus, mood, and productivity.”
Not only that, but Wisdom notes that the polar plunge challenge fosters “unforgettable memories” with other participants while cultivating a sense of camaraderie. 
Here are some potential perks of polar plunges with promising studies behind them.
Reduced Post-Workout Soreness
Studies have repeatedly shown that cold water immersion can reduce soreness after exercise and accelerate muscle recovery.
Note, however, that research has suggested that cryotherapy can only have a beneficial effect on inflammation if the water temperature is lower than 59 degrees Fahrenheit — as is the case for a polar plunge. 
Researchers believe that cold water exposure has these effects because it decreases the circulating levels of creatine kinase, an enzyme associated with muscle soreness.
Enhanced Immune Function
Could polar plunges lead to fewer colds? Maybe.
“There is minimal evidence that cold plunging may activate the immune system to a slight extent, but the jury is still out on to what extent,” says Erin Stokes, a naturopathic doctor and MegaFood Medical Director.
A 2016 study found that when people took a 30-90 second cold rinse immediately following a hot shower, they experienced a 29% reduction in sickness absences from work. 
Of course, that’s only how many days they called out sick from work, not the actual days they felt ill. Still, other research papers have shown that cold water immersion may trigger an increase in white blood cell count — which then boosts your body’s ability to fight off infection.
Reduced Inflammation
It’s well known that chronic inflammation is linked to a slew of diseases and conditions, from cancer and heart disease to diabetes, asthma, and Crohn’s disease.
Some studies show that cold water immersion can trigger the release of anti-inflammatory markers.
Researchers believe that this is because exposure to cold water causes an increased release of epinephrine (AKA adrenaline), which then dampens the body’s inflammatory response while increasing the production of natural chemicals that have an anti-inflammatory effect.
Improved Mood
“Some people also choose to cold plunge because they say they feel a tangible mood boost from the experience,” says Stokes.
Studies have shown that spending time in nature — and more specifically, open-water swimming — can have profound effects on mood and mental health at large. People have reported that open-water swimming can almost be a meditative experience, making them feel more in tune with their bodies, and even offering an opportunity for mindfulness.
One reason why a polar plunge may have a positive effect on your mood is that cold water immersion can cause a surge in dopamine, a chemical associated with feelings of pleasure and satisfaction. 
For this reason, Walker recommends doing a polar plunge first thing in the morning to reap the potential mood-boosting benefits all day long.
RELATED: What It&#039;s Like to Try Whole-Body Cryotherapy
Better Stress Management
You’re probably well aware of the toll that stress can take on your body. 
According to a 2018 study, cold water immersion increases blood flow to your brain while slowing down your heart rate, thereby better equipping your body to cope with stress. Another 2021 study revealed that winter sea bathing is linked to lower levels of stress. 
RELATED: Benefits of Ice Baths for Muscle Recovery
Here’s why: Cold water therapy can help to dampen your fight-of-flight system, also known as the stress response — training it to be less activated over time.

Possible Risks of Polar Plunge

Because research shows that cold water immersion can put quite a strain on your heart — making it work harder — it’s not recommended for anyone with a history of any heart conditions, or anyone with cardiac risk factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or a family history of heart disease. 
According to Sandison, a polar plunge is also not advisable for anyone with neuropathy (nerve damage).
Cold water pulls heat away from the body 25 times faster than cold air. So, even if you don’t have these particular health issues, there are other potential risks to know about, according to the National Weather Service. Those include hypothermia and cold shock — which can trigger hyperventilation and seizures. These risks increase the longer you stay in the water. So the best way to stay safe is to keep your polar plunge super short — ideally, just 1-2 minutes max.
“Anyone who is considering cold plunging needs to talk with their doctor first,” says Stokes. “If your doctor does give you the green light for cold plunging, it&#039;s important to start slowly and never attempt a polar plunge alone.”
Sandison recommends priming your body for a polar plunge by gradually increasing your cold exposure. For example, you might try taking cold showers or ice baths at home in the weeks leading up to your polar plunge so that it’s not as much of a shock to your system.
According to The American Heart Association, you’re still at risk of hypothermia after you get out of the water — which is why it’s so important to change out of your wet clothes and warm up with a beverage or near a heater/fireplace as quickly as possible.

Where to Do a Polar Plunge

Each year, The Special Olympics hosts polar plunges all over the country. The best part is that by participating in these events, you’re helping to support the athletes. 
You can also find polar plunges at some wellness retreats. For example, Wise &amp; Well, a luxury wellness retreat based in Wisconsin, typically includes a polar plunge in the winter retreat itinerary.
And if you’re still struggling to find group opportunities for an icy dip, try just Googling “polar plunge near me” or “polar plunge in [your city or state].”
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The Health and Fitness Benefits of a Cold ShowerDo Cold-Temperature Workout Classes Actually Benefit You?The Best Workout Recovery &amp; Myofascial Release Tools ]]>
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                <pubDate>Wed, 13 May 2026 12:54:55 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[10 Best Exercises for Bigger Biceps]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/top_10/fitness/6_fitness_list.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/top_10/fitness/6_fitness_list.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Emily ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[ If you want to build arms that women would love to hang on to, then these 10 exercises will have you pumped in no time. ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/top_10/fitness/6_fitness_list/askmen-lead-image-2x1-1765199682.png" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
                <media:credit role="author" scheme="urn:ebu"><![CDATA[  ]]></media:credit>
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                    <![CDATA[ Ask any guy at the gym what one of his biggest fitness goals is and we&#039;re pretty sure he&#039;ll say getting bigger arms. No shame in wanting to flex on &#039;em, especially since according to the American Council on Exercise, the biceps brachii (biceps muscle) is one of the most coveted — and most overtrained — muscles in the body.
&quot;A majority of guys want to get bigger biceps solely for aesthetics,&quot; says Ben Sweeney, certified personal trainer and coach at Brick New York. &quot;There&#039;s no harm in that, but having that strength is important for loads of other things like carrying groceries, or for me, my french bulldog on the subway. Plus they&#039;ll also help you with any pushing and pulling movements in your workout routine.&quot;
So then, what&#039;s a guy to do to get cut-off-T-shirt-worthy arms, worthy of year-round play? According to Kyle Parker, USAW coach and director of business development at Exceed Physical Culture, it&#039;s two-fold. &quot;Seventy five percent of building muscle is fueling appropriately,&quot; says Parker. &quot;The gains window, or the 45 minutes after you work out, is critical for hitting your goals. Another huge part is, of course, picking the right movements, but then structuring them in a way that will help you, not hurt you.&quot;  
RELATED: Best Leg Workouts for Men
Below you’ll find 10 different biceps moves, focused specifically on that muscle group. Some of the top fitness trainers in New York City have created everything from bodyweight, to TRX, to 10-minute workouts focused entirely on developing the bicep (with a side of metcon). Ready, set, flex.

The 10 Best Bicep-Building Exercises

21s
Equipment Needed: Dumbbells
How to Do Them: For the first seven reps: Stand with feet at hip-width distance holding dumbbells by thighs, palms facing out. Lift weights to halfway point, creating 90 degree angle with arms at elbow level. Slowly return to start for one rep.
For the next 7 reps: From 90-degrees, curl weights toward shoulders.
For the last 7 reps: Complete full bicep curl, from bottom of movement at thigh to shoulder. 
Lying Barbell Curls
Equipment Needed: A barbell
How to Do Them: Kneel on an inclined bench, with your chest leaning against the back rest and your arms hanging over the other side. Hold a barbell a little less than shoulder-width apart, making sure that your arms form a 90° angle with your chest at all times, and curl the bar 8 to 12 times.
Reverse Grip Curls with a Bar or Cable
What You Need: Barbell or cable machine
How to Do Them: Hold a barbell or the straight attachment on a cable machine, with your palms facing down and your hands a little less than shoulder-width apart, and curl. Do 8 to 12 reps.

Inclined Curls
Equipment Needed: Dumbbells
How to Do Them: Sit on an inclined bench with dumbbells in each hand and hands down by your sides. You can do hammer curls (where you keep your palms facing your body at all times); regular curls (with palms facing up); or supinating curls (where you start with your palms facing your body, and about halfway through the movement, you turn them facing up). Do 8 to 12 reps.
Supinating Curls on Ball
Equipment Needed: Exercise ball and dumbbells
How to Do Them: Hold dumbbells in each hand and with your arms by your sides, palms facing inward. Sitting on an exercise ball, curl both arms at the same time, turning your palms up about halfway through the movement, so that you complete the curl with your palms facing upward.
Pull-Ups
Equipment Needed: Pull-up bar
How to Do Them: This military training standard is great for biceps, as well as shoulders and overall upper-body strength. Ideally, the bar should be at least a foot higher than you are with your arms extended above your head. Hold on to it, with your palms facing you, and pull yourself up as high as you can; aim for bringing your chin higher than the bar. Remember to lower your body in a controlled manner as well. Do as many as you can, aiming for 15 reps.
Preacher Curls
Equipment Needed: Preacher bench and dumbbells
How to Do Them: Using a preacher bench, sit holding dumbbell in each hand, palms facing up. Slowly curl dumbbells up toward shoulders, pausing a few inches from the chin. Bring weight back to start for one rep.
Bicep Curls
Equipment Needed: Barbell or dumbbells
How to Do Them: The standards never go out of style. Grab a barbell loaded with weight or two dumbbells, with your palms facing outward, and curl. If you want an extra challenge, lower the barbell or dumbbells very slowly (i.e. take a full four seconds to do so) and feel the burn.
Cable Bicep Curls with Rope Attachment
Equipment Needed: Cable machine with rope attachment
How to Do Them: Secure the rope attachment to the lowest hook on a cable machine, and grip it with your palms facing inward, right under the rubber ends. Contract your biceps, slowly turning your palms upward so that they&#039;re facing you by the end of the movement. Do 8 to 12 reps.
Cheat Curls

Equipment Needed: Barbell or dumbbells
How to Do Them: Cheat curls aren&#039;t for beginners, and should only be undertaken with real caution towards your lower back. It is essentially a regular curl with a bit of &quot;body language&quot; added. They&#039;ll give you a great bicep workout, with extra body movement in the hips, pelvis and lower back to &quot;swing&quot; the weight up. You want to make sure to use these sparingly, only after a proper warm up, and this should only be undertaken by intermediate to advanced weightlifters.

The Best Bicep Workouts

10-Minute Workout
Created by Rafique &quot;Flex&quot; Cabral, NASM-certified trainer at Trooper Fitness
Equipment: Kettlebells, Resistance Bands
Do: Each move for 40 seconds, 20 second transition, 3 rounds
Trainer tip: &quot;You want to do each move as many reps as possible throughout the workout. If you&#039;re only going for 10 minutes, you&#039;re working until exhaustion.&quot;
Chin-ups: Grab pull-up bar with palms facing body. Hang, fully extending arms, gripping bar tight. Pull bodyweight up until chin clears bar. Slowly return to start for 1 rep.Goblet Squat Curl: Start with feet wider than hip-width, turned slightly out, holding kettlebell. Sit hips back, lower into squat with chest up until kettlebell meets floor. Curl bell up toward shoulders, lower. Continue curling bell for 40 seconds.Resistant Band Rows: Start sitting on floor with legs outstretched. Place resistance band around soles of feet, holding end in each hand. Pull back on band, keeping elbows close to sides, until hands meet chest. Slowly return to start for 1 rep.  
Trainer tip: &quot;Focus on fast pull back and a slower controlled extension,&quot; says Cabral.
HIIT Workout
Created by Michael Jock, trainer at Exceed Physical Culture
Do: 40 seconds per movement, 4 rounds, 2 minute rest between each
Equipment: Barbell, kettlebell, dumbbells
Deadlift High-Pull: Start with feet wider than hip-width, toes turned slightly out, knees tracking over toes holding kettlebell. Deadlift bell, fully extending knees and hips with arms straight. Pull bell up toward shoulders, keeping it close to the body, until it gets above collar bone. Release the shrug, deadlift bell back to the floor for 1 rep.Bent Over Row (Barbell, Dumbbell, or Kettlebell): Stand with feet at hip-width distance holding dumbbells. Hinge forward slightly at the hips, allowing dumbbells to come down to roughly knee height, maintaining a flat back. Row dumbbells up toward chest, keeping elbows close to body. Pause at top of movement, return back to start for 1 rep.Jump Pull-up: Jump up, grab pull-up bar with palms facing away from body. Pull bodyweight up until chin clears bar. Slowly lower bodyweight, then drop to floor for 1 rep.Renegade Row: Start in a high plank position holding dumbbells. Do one pushup, return to start. Row dumbbell toward chest with right hand, keeping hips square. Repeat on opposite side for 1 complete rep.Alt. Lunge w/ Dumbell Curl: Stand with feet together holding dumbbells. Step forward with right leg about two feet, lowering down into lunge, creating 90-degree angle at both knees. At bottom of movement, curl both weights up to shoulder height. Lower weights back toward floor, press through front heel to return to start for 1 rep. Repeat on opposite side.
TRX Workout
Created by Kyle Parker, USAW certified trainer, director at Exceed Physical Culture 
Equipment: TRX, rower
Segment 1
2 Rounds: 40 sec working intervals, 10 sec rest intervals
Note: Switch sides on power pull and resisted torso rotation for second round
TRX Bridge Row: Lie down grasping TRX handles with both hands, keeping arms extended, feet on floor. Pull handles and drive hips as high as possible in the air. At the top of the movement, pull handles until they touch shoulders. Lower body back to start for 1 rep.TRX Bridge Bicep Curl: Face toward TRX, grabbing handle in each hand, palms facing up. Lean back until arms are extended. Bend elbows until hands frame face, simultaneously pulling body upward. Return to start for 1 rep.TRX Power Pull (Single-Arm Rotating Row): Stand with feet slightly wider than hip-width distance, facing TRX, holding handle with right hand. Keeping left arm extended, rotate torso to left side, creating a “T” shape with arms. Drive  right elbow back in rowing motion, rotating torso to face TRX. Slowly return back to start for 1 rep.TRX Resisted Torso Rotation: Stand facing TRX system, holding handle with both hands, arms extended at chest height. Lean back slightly and distribute some weight to heels, maintaining body alignment. Rotate torso and extend arms as one unit to right side, stopping at head height. Pull TRX system to chest. Return slowly to start for 1 rep.
Complete 500-Calorie row (Goal: Complete in 2:00 or less)
Segment 2
3 Rounds: 30 sec working intervals, 10 sec rest intervals
TRX Single-Arm Bicep Curl, Right: Stand next to TRX apparatus with feet together. Grab single handle with right arm, turn sideways. Extend arm fully to side, lowering body toward ground. Pull yourself back up by doing a bicep curl. Return to start for 1 rep.TRX Single-Arm Bicep Curl, Left: Stand next to TRX apparatus with feet together. Grab single handle with left arm, turn sideways. Extend arm fully to side, lowering body toward ground. Pull yourself back up by doing a bicep curl. Return to start for 1 rep.TRX Y-Fly: Start with feet together facing TRX. Holding handles, slowly walk feet in front, creating 45-degree angle with ground, arms extended. Open arms into “Y” position, engaging core. Slowly return to start for 1 rep.
Complete 750-Meter Row (Goal: Complete in 3:00 or less)
Segment 3
3 Rounds: 20 sec working intervals, 10 sec rest intervals
TRX Underhand Grip Pull-Up: Start with feet hip-width apart, holding TRX handles with palms facing up. Walk feet under apparatus until body is at 45 degrees. With arms fully extended, pull bodyweight up toward handles, engaging your core and keeping elbows close to side body. Pause for a second at top of movement when wrists meet chest, lower back to start for 1 rep. Narrow Push-Ups: Start in high plank position with hands closer than shoulder-width distance. Lower chest to floor, keeping elbows in line with side body. Press body back up to start for 1 rep.TRX Wide (Overhand) Grip Pull-Up: Start with feet hip-width apart, holding TRX handles with palms facing down, in Y-shape from torso. Walk feet under apparatus until body is at 45 degrees. With arms fully extended, pull bodyweight up toward handles, engaging your core and keeping elbows close to side body. Pause for a second at top of movement when wrists meet chest, lower back to start for 1 rep.
Complete 1000m Row (Goal: Complete in 4:00 or less) 
Bodyweight Workout
Created by Justin Norris, co-founder, LIT Method based in Los Angeles
Equipment: Towel
Directions: Do each exercise for 1 minute; Complete each circuit 2 times
Circuit one: Pre-Exhaust Phase
Mountain climbers: Start in plank position; explosively drive knee to chest, then switch legs in quick fashion.Inch Worms: Stand with feet hip-width apart, hinge at hips, touch  palms to floor, and slowly walk hands out to plank position. Hold for 5 seconds, return to start for one rep.Commandos: Start in high plank position, feet hip width apart, and hands directly in line with shoulders. Slowly lower onto forearm one arm at a time, then lift back up into high plank position, alternating arms.
Circuit two: Isolation Phase
Push-Up With Isometric Bicep Shoulder Tap: Start in high plank position. Do a push-up, keeping elbows close to the side of your body. As you return to start, tap hand to opposite shoulder and squeeze bicep for 15 seconds. Repeat on opposite side for one rep.Isometric Bicep Towel Hold: Start in kneeling position with towel. Place towel underneath knee, holding towel in hammer curl grip, thumb up. Perform isometric bicep curl, bringing towel toward shoulder. Hold in static position 15 seconds, lower back to start for one rep.Tricep Push Ups: Start in high plank position with hands closer than shoulder-width distance. Lower chest to floor, keeping elbows in line with side body. Press body back up to start for one rep.
Dumbbell Workout
Created by Chris Hudson, trainer at Barry’s Bootcamp
Equipment: One set of 20-pound dumbbells
Directions: 3 sets of each movement
Seated Wide Dumbbell Curls: Start seated on bench holding dumbbells with arms extended down, palms facing out to sides, and shoulders externally rotated. Curl weights up to shoulders, lower back to start for 1 rep. Do 30 reps.
Tip: &quot;Try to keep the pinkie side of your hand slightly higher than the thumb side of your hand (wrist supination),&quot; says Hudson. &quot;It will give that bicep a little extra pop at the peak of the contraction.&quot;
Seated Single Arm Heavy Concentric Hammer Curl: Start seated on bench holding dumbbell in one hand, palm facing in toward body with thumb up.  on a bench hold a heavy weight in one hand palm facing in towards your body. Curl weight up slowly (about 3 to 4 seconds). Slight pause at the top, then lower back to start in 1 second. Do 6 to 8 reps; repeat on opposite side for 1 set.
Standing Medium Weight Bicep Curl: Stand with feet at hip-width distance holding dumbbells, palms facing forward. Curl weights up toward shoulders. Lower weights half-way down, hold for 10 seconds. Repeat; hold for 7 seconds. Repeat; hold for 5 seconds. Repeat; hold for 3 seconds. Repeat; hold for 1 second. Finish with 5 full bicep curls to complete the set.
Heavy Dumbbell Eccentric Concentration Curl: Sit on bench holding one dumbbell. Place right upper arm against right inner thigh. (&quot;The arm in this position removes some of the emphasis from helper muscles and really concentrates the work in the bicep,&quot; says Hudson.) Curl weight up to shoulder, pause for 3 seconds, lower back to start for 1 rep. Do 6 to 8 reps.
Twisting Curl 21&#039;s: Stand with feet at hip-width distance holding a medium set of dumbbells. Starting with hammer curl, thumbs facing up, curl weight halfway. Slowly return to start for 1 rep. Do 7 reps. Switch to palm-up grip. Curl weight to shoulder with palms facing up, then return to  halfway point, creating 90-degree angle at elbow, for 1 rep. Do 7 reps. Finish by completing both phases together for one movement, doing 7 full-range twisting curls to finish the set.

You Might Also Dig:
Best Stretches for Men Over 30
How to Create a Calorie Deficit Without Losing Muscle
The Best Shoulder Workouts ]]>
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                <pubDate>Mon, 11 May 2026 09:27:16 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[The Best Sexting Apps]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/dating/dating_advice/the-best-sexting-apps.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/dating/dating_advice/the-best-sexting-apps.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Kara ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[   ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/dating/dating_advice/the-best-sexting-apps/askmen-lead-image-2x1-1756486688.png" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
                <media:credit role="author" scheme="urn:ebu"><![CDATA[  ]]></media:credit>
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                    <![CDATA[ It can be a real paradigm shift to realize there’s more to sex than just penetration. But even as you start to come to terms with all the possibilities of oral and manual stimulation, it’s also worth remembering that there’s more to sex than in-person touching.
That’s because sexting — sending sexually charged messages with one or more other people — can also offer meaningful gratification for your erotic desires. You might not be able to reach out and touch the person you’re sexting with, but you can exchange photos or videos so you can see what each other’s bodies look like, and you can exchange text messages so you can come to understand and revel in each other’s deepest fantasies.
But, just like in-person sex, sexting requires a little bit of know-how in order to do it right. While everyone will like something a little bit different, knowing how to keep the conversation flowing, which subjects to touch on and which to avoid, and which angles to touch on to drive your sexting partner crazy with desire.
RELATED: Supercharge Your Sexting by Figuring Out Your Lust Language
Whether you’ve been sexting with others since the days of flip phones, or are just getting interested in all that sexting has to offer, there are plenty of apps out there designed to help you find others for digital hookups quickly and easily, and ensure the information you share is safe and secure. Read on to discover the best hookup apps to get your sexting game on.

What to Look for in a Sexting App

There are a few main qualities we look for in a sexting app:

	Discretion/Privacy
	Community of like-minded kinksters
	Ease of use

The first should be self-explanatory: you don&#039;t want to go about writing about your most intimate fantasies with someone else, only to discover that all your personal information is available for all to see. It&#039;s easier to be kinky when you know your real-life identity is secure.
But what about the community? Well, the simple truth is that, while it&#039;s possible to meet sexting partners on any old dating app, you&#039;ll have a much easier time if your app&#039;s community is already pre-selected for kinky, sext-loving users. That&#039;s why we prioritized apps with a dedicated following geared towards hookups and casual fun.
Finally, ease of use: you&#039;re here to have fun, not spend 20 minutes figuring out a new user interface and enter your credit card and social security info just to speak with other people.

How to Sext

We wrote an entire guide on the art of sexting, but if brevity is your thing, here are a few rules to follow:

	Escalate slowly
	Feel out the other person&#039;s interests
	Treat it like improv: agree and escalate
	Don&#039;t ask for pictures if you aren&#039;t also prepared to send them

The worst thing you can do is go from 0 to 100 too quickly, so be patient and enjoy the journey. If you do end up exchanging nudes, remember that there are better ways of taking a dick pic. And as always, exercise some discretion: you don&#039;t want to be sending nudes in which you&#039;re identifiable to total strangers.

The Best Apps for Sexting

XMatch

Best for: An entire night of steamy virtual adventures
Why we like it: Why chat just one match when you can join forums and group chats full of singles in your area sharing their fantasies? Logging on to XMatch feels like a sexy &quot;choose your own adventure,&quot; from the group and forum options in their &quot;Sex Academy&quot; to filters that allow you to search for matches based on what they prefer in the bedroom.
Pros: If things get hot and heavy textually and you want to take things to the next level virtually, XMatch has webcam capability to get the job done.
Cons: A basic profile is free, but if you&#039;re looking to get in on XMatch&#039;s more premium features, you&#039;re looking at $20 a month.
Learn more at XMatch
Kasual (formerly Yumi)

Best for: Getting the most for your money
Why we like it: If your end goal is to get some steamy conversation going without risking your privacy, Kasual has got you covered.
Pros: There are no social accounts involved in the sign up process or an email address – all you need to get started is a photo (and it doesn&#039;t have to be of your face, as the site suggestively states). Once you&#039;ve found a match, users have a three-hour response window to get a steamy conversation going, which means no one&#039;s shy about making the first move.
Cons: After their free month trial, you&#039;ll need to fork over the $19.99 to keep the fun going – but can you really put a price on safe text?
Learn more at Kasual
Dust

Best for: In-the-moment sexting pleasure
Why we like it: For the most pleasurable sexting experience, let your guard down instantly when you communicate using Dust, the service that automatically turns everything you send to “dust” after 24 hours.
Pros: You can stick with the standard 24 hour time slot or customize messages to disappear even faster, such as immediately after they are opened. All content is highly encrypted so you can essentially delete messages off other people’s phones ensuring there’s no trace of your conversation. Other perks include the privacy of having your identity hidden on one-to-one messages and instant notifications if any screenshots are taken.
Cons: Because it’s so high on privacy, there’s bound to be instances where you don’t really know “who” you’re chatting with – which might put a damper in your textual escapades.  
Learn more at Dust
Wickr

Best for: Sending photos and videos
Why we like it: Sometimes, if you just want to communicate in a private, secure digital environment you can skip the online dating route and go straight to an app that is best known for trusted transmission of information such as Wickr.
Pros: The extremely secure app ensures you have full control over messages, files, photos, and videos you share, either in group settings or in one-on-one communication – something that&#039;s obviously a priority when you&#039;re sexting with strangers. Every single message is encrypted with a unique key and you can control who sees it as well as how long it is live. Better yet the app doesn’t require any personal information to sign up, so even your email and phone number stay private. The app is used by everyone from human rights activists to celebrities for personal security and offers a unique twist on sexting in a totally protected digital environment.
Cons: You’ll need to know who you’re sexting before you log on, since finding matches isn’t an option.
Learn more at Wickr
Confide

Best for: Total privacy
Why we like it: If privacy is a top concern when it comes to sexting, you’ll find relief using Confide, the confidential messenger service that works with iMessage, texts, photos, documents, and voice messages.
Pros: It’s well known for providing end-to-end encryption and disappearing messages, but the most notable aspect is its screenshot protection that uses special technology so screenshots are captured as a grey blur on most platforms. Perfect for those who thrive off of visual stimulation, the app allows you to send even your most suggestive photos with peace of mind knowing that if a screenshot is attempted, it probably won’t come out right — plus, the recipient will be ejected from the message and you, as the sender, get alerted.
Cons: It lacks the community aspect of the previous apps – but it’s a great option for taking things to the next level with someone you’ve already met.  
Learn more at Confide
Signal

Best for: Secure messaging
Why we like it: Endorsed by famous whistleblower Edward Snowden, Signal is one of the most secure messaging apps currently available
Pros: Because Signal offers the highest level of end-to-end encryption, it&#039;s one of the safest way to exchange messages you wouldn&#039;t want going public, including explicit photos. Furthermore, the default settings protect your privacy. You don&#039;t have to opt in to privacy settings, or opt out of sharing your data; Signal just lets you converse in private from the get-go.
Cons: It isn&#039;t specifically built for meeting new people or flirting with strangers. You&#039;ll need to get someone&#039;s phone number first.
Learn more at Signal
BONUS: Plenty of Fish

Best for: Connecting quickly
Why we like it: Certainly not a new app, but most definitely a staple, Plenty of Fish offers a casual hookup environment where sparking a conversation is incredibly easy.
Pros: In one of the rare cases where the app version is seemingly years ahead of the desktop experience, the Plenty of Fish app is incredibly easy to navigate and gives you plenty of options for discovering others, including searching by who is nearby, browsing who has already viewed your profile, and playing a Tinder-like hot or not game. The app even has a section that shows you which profiles are most likely to respond to you, greatly reducing the time it takes to get a satisfying sexting conversation rolling.
Cons: You’ll need to fish through the members who are here looking for something more serious.

Learn more at Plenty of Fish
BONUS: Zoosk

Why we like it: Zoosk has arguably one of the best online dating app interfaces on the market with a clean, distraction-free design.
Pros: The online dating platform isn’t really intended for any one specific use, so you’ll find individuals on it who are interested in all ranges of sexual interaction. As a perk, the app features a photo verification feature so you know the person you are communicating with actually lives up to the photos they’re showcasing. The app is used by 40 million members worldwide, has over 8 million verified photos, and facilitates the sending of over 3 million messages per day. If you want a low pressure environment where you can trust the person you’re communicating with actually looks as good as advertised, Zoosk is a no-brainer.
Cons: Since you’re accessing a wide range of intentions, finding someone to sext with can be more time consuming than the other apps.

Learn more at Zoosk
BONUS: Wild

Best for: Connecting with real users
Why we like it: Chatting with a profile you can tell is fake takes the fun out of sexting -- but on Wild, users need to be verified (sending a thumbs up photo to the app to check against the pictures you&#039;re claiming are you), so your fantasies won&#039;t be ruined by the sudden thought this person might actually be pretty gross looking.
Pros: You can also set your search parameters to filter out anyone who&#039;s here for something more serious, which makes the experience even more efficient. Plus, you can set your profile to invisible while you&#039;re chatting with a match to minimize distractions.
Cons: You’ll need to verify your photo, so if you’re looking for more anonymity this one might not be for you.
Learn more at Wild
You Might Also Dig:

	How to Ask Her to Send Nudes
	Sexting Rules for Online Dating
	How to Talk Dirty Like a Pro
 ]]>
                </content:encoded>
                <pubDate>Mon, 11 May 2026 09:26:23 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[Should Men Shave Their Pubic Hair? What Women Really Think]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/grooming/appearance/what-women-think-about-men-s-pubic-hair.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/grooming/appearance/what-women-think-about-men-s-pubic-hair.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Jennifer ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[  ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/grooming/appearance/what-women-think-about-men-s-pubic-hair/askmen-lead-image-2x1-1767196043.png" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
                <media:credit role="author" scheme="urn:ebu"><![CDATA[  ]]></media:credit>
                <content:encoded>
                    <![CDATA[ To go trimmed, clean-shaven or au naturel? These options are on men&#039;s minds a lot more than they admit — trust us. Men&#039;s body hair is a touchy subject for most guys, but women have been dealing with it forever. They get regular waxes to rid themselves of leg hair, use laser hair removal to tackle armpit hair, tweeze their eyebrows, and trim/wax/shave their pubic hair. So, in this era of expanding possibilities for men and masculinity, it&#039;s time to have a serious conversation about men&#039;s pubic hair.
RELATED: Shaving Your Balls: A How-To Guide
Grooming below the belt isn&#039;t new, so whether you fully embrace your unkempt furriness or you started manscaping long before manscaping was even a thing, you must be at least a little curious to know what women prefer — especially when it comes to your nether regions. 

Who Do We Have Pubic Hair?

You might think it&#039;s unsightly, or inconvenient, but the truth is pubic hair exists for a reason — we just aren&#039;t sure what reason that might be. Evolutionary biologists have suggested that pubic hair is an indicator of puberty, an evolutionary signal that we&#039;re ready to reproduce; another hypothesis argues that pubic hair serves to trap pheromones, and that shaving it all off therefore means we lose out on the benefits of olfactory attraction.
Bacteriologists have long noted the ability of pubic hair to trap sweat, dirt and bacteria, thereby preventing potential infection-causing bacteria from reaching the genital area — a much more important function for women than for men. Pubic hair also reduces skin irritation and chafing, which are major causes of genital infections.
RELATED: I Got a Brazilian Wax for Men and This Is What I Learned
The takeaway is that you might want to think twice before removing all of your pubic hair, and instead opt for something closer to a trim. If you do decide to go bare, take some precautionary measures to stave off infections or skin irritations, including using a skin balm on your newly-shaved genital area.

Pubic Hair Styles

When it comes to pubic hair style, men definitely get the short end of the stick: women tend to have far more options and flexibility when it comes to opting for a unique style. That having been said, men have their own style variations.

	Bare: You could opt for a total shave, leaving no hair behind. This involves a lot more effort, especially in the scrotal area, as well as some aftercare, since shaved skin is especially sensitive and prone to infection.
	Trim: The most common option, and also the easiest and most low maintenance. A quick trim — whether with scissors or an electric shaver — will tame your unruly pubic hair without making it look like you put too much effort into your appearance.
	Scrotal shave: Some men concentrate their efforts on shaving their testicles, either for aesthetic or sexual reasons. If you go down this path to shave your balls, just be extra careful, as the skin on your testicles is thinner and easier to nick.


Do Girls Like Pubic Hair on Guys?

To find out, we asked the women of guyQ — AskMen&#039;s Q&amp;A platform — for their opinions. Do women prefer men&#039;s pubic hair that&#039;s trimmed, styled, or even shaved bare?
It all started with the following thread: 



In adult mags for women, men are completely shaven. Do women find it sexy and prefer this?


See QUESTION


While it&#039;s safe to say that tastes and preferences vary from one woman to the next, an AskMen female reader might have given many men the best incentive to go bare. 


I&#039;m a fan of shaved also. Less hair more head!!

See Answer




Personally, I prefer shaved.

See Answer




I am personally not a fan of being completely shaved, but trimming and keeping your space clear only benefits you in the long run. As a woman, the thought of getting a mouthful of hair is completely disgusting and will definitely turn me off from certain sexual acts. Just my opinion :)

See Answer




I like to be able to see the full length of the penis and it&#039;s hard to see, pun intended, if there is a jungle down there. It doesn&#039;t have to be shaved bald but trimmed is good. That&#039;s just my opinion. ;)

See Answer




Every woman is different. What I would do is trim it short, but not shave it all the way. Its a good balance and sends a message that you care about your appearance. 
You can also ask for her preference. Some do like overly hairy guys, some like clean shaven. But try trimming. Basically giving you that feeling that you still have hair.

See Answer



And just in case you&#039;re curious to know how other dudes go about manscaping down there, some men also weighed in on the topic. 




Well, completely shaven looks a bit pre pubescent.. I don&#039;t know if chicks like that. The upside is that it makes my tools look much bigger! However trimmed closely is best, can&#039;t go wrong with that!

See Answer





Hey man, shave it all off. Just think what a great blow job she will give you. If you ass is very hairy get that waxed she will love rimming you. Girls just love not getting hairs in their mouth. It does not make you gay to excite your female partner.

See Answer




I keep most of it trimmed. But the boys are shaved clean. Seems to be appreciated.

See Answer

So now that you have a better idea what reasons are on women&#039;s minds when it comes the sex appeal of a guy going completely bare or a guy who&#039;s more of a simple pubic trimmer; removing pubic hair can be a slippery or a prickly slope. We have some suggestions on the best tools for removing male body hair from any area hair grows. 

If you&#039;re scared of removing all your pubic hair, trimming neatly is a more sensible option (and one that is also appreciated). It’s important to please the ladies, but are you up for the daily maintenance that comes with keeping the boys completely bare? If so, get prepared. When cleaning up your nethers, it&#039;s crucial to have the right tools on hand. So let&#039;s jump into some of our favorite products for below-the-belt grooming. 


The Best Men&#039;s Grooming Products for Shaving Pubic Hair


Bevel Pre-Shave Oil


Get your nether-region properly prepped for a shaving session by using a priming oil like this one. It helps soften hair while retaining moisture in your skin, two things that make it that much easier to glide your razor over some of your most sensitive parts. Once you try it, it&#039;s bound to become your pre-shave ritual for life.

$14.95 at Amazon.com

King C. Gillette All-in-One Styler
For you first timers, trimming and then finishing up with a razor can make the job much more manageable and less painful. Use a razor specifically designed to handle this sensitive terrain, like this all-purpose styler. It has a trimmer to take hair down, paired with three different blade length options to give you total control over your shave. Add to that the non-slip ergonomic handle and you have yourself the best a man can get... down there.

$29.97 at Amazon.com

Cremo Shaving Cream, Cooling Formula



You may be completely hairless below the waist, but she’s not going to be feeling you if your downtown area is covered in shaving bumps, ingrown hairs, and irritation. If razor burn is a concern, this lubricating shave cream made with aloe and macadamia seed oil should help you achieve smoother, bump-free results. It’s a thin, concentrated formulation (not a puffy foam) that sits on your skin and allows you to see what you’re doing. Remember, fewer passes with the razor results in less friction and redness. Nobody wants to nick or cut the family jewels. And if that isn’t all the reason you need, it won’t clog your razor either

$9.99 at Amazon.com

Philips Norelco Bodygroom Series 5000

You can shave or trim, wet or dry with this handy body groomer with an ergonomic grip. It&#039;s showerproof and cordless with a one-hour battery to get the job done, and it&#039;s easy to clean with a quick rinse under the faucet. Its blades have rounded tips for better gliding, and it comes with three guards to choose your preferred length.

$44.96 at Amazon.com

Happy Nuts Comfort Powder
If you’re a jock, shaving your whole body can increase your athletic performance. It can also keep you smelling fresher, especially when you keep the boys dry with a few pats of this talc-free body powder. It absorbs moisture to prevent friction and irritation all day long (no matter how sweaty you get), and it won’t clump up either.

$19.95 at Amazon.com



You Might Also Dig







	Best Shaving Gels for Men
	Best Razors for Men
	Body Hair Do&#039;s and Don&#039;ts
 ]]>
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                <pubDate>Wed, 06 May 2026 12:06:57 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[Ways Guys Scare Their Crushes Off]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/dating/dating_advice/ways-guys-scare-girls-off.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/dating/dating_advice/ways-guys-scare-girls-off.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Rebecca ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[  ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/dating/dating_advice/ways-guys-scare-girls-off/askmen-lead-image-template-3-1725635770.png" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
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                    <![CDATA[ It started off pretty promising. You gave them your number. Maybe you even exchanged a few flirty texts. You were finally gearing up to ask them out and then — they went MIA. 
Now you’re left scratching your head about what you did wrong. Did you say something offensive? Did your jokes fall flat? Did you creep them out somehow? Or did you just come on too strong? 
The truth is, there are lots of ways that guys can scare their crushes off.
“Finding the right balance in showing interest while dating is like walking a tightrope — you need to be attentive without being overbearing, and interested without seeming indifferent,” says Seth Eisenberg, a licensed PAIRS relationships skills trainer and president/CEO at PAIRS Foundation. 
“If you’re too reserved, the other person might think you’re not genuinely interested,” Eisenberg explains. “On the other hand, if you’re too forward or intense, it can come across as desperate or overwhelming.”
“So,” he concludes,” the key is to engage with thoughtful gestures and communication that match the other person’s level of interest. Pay attention to their cues and adjust accordingly.”
Everyone is different, so keep in mind that what draws in one person may be a total turn-off for another. Above all else, remember to be yourself — and eventually, you’ll attract someone who you’re genuinely compatible with.
At the same time, though, experts suggest avoiding the following dating missteps that might drive your crushes away.
RELATED: Common Dating Mistakes Men Make in the First Few Dates
1. Love Bombing
“It may surprise you how many women get scared away when the man they are seeing love bombs them in the beginning,” says Sofie Roos, a licensed sexologist and relationship expert at Passionerad.
More isn’t always better — and that’s true when it comes to showing interest and affection in dating, particularly early on. 
Overdoing it on gifts and grand gestures, also known as “love bombing,” can be a major red flag because it’s associated with manipulation. It doesn’t matter if your intention isn’t to shift the power dynamic in your favor — it may still send off alarm bells in your crush’s head.
RELATED: Red Flags in a Relationship 
“Rushing into serious topics or making grand gestures early on can make the other person feel pressured or uncomfortable, like planting seeds and expecting a full-grown tree overnight,” says Eisenberg. “Instead, focus on enjoying the time spent together and let deeper feelings develop naturally.”
So, if you’re calling your crush “babe,” planning elaborate getaways, or texting them around the clock after one hang-out, you may want to cool it. Even excessive compliments or intense talks about the future can be seen as love bombing during that early get-to-know-you stage.
RELATED: Why Grand Romantic Gestures Are Total B.S.
“Show that you want her, not that you desperately need her,” adds Roos.
2. Seeking Constant Reassurance
It’s normal to feel a little insecure during the early phases of crushing on someone. After all, you haven’t really established whether their interest matches yours yet. 
But according to Eisenberg, many guys push their crushes away by over-seeking reassurance. 
For instance, this might look like repeatedly asking them whether they had a good time hanging out, or double texting when you haven’t heard back from your crush within an hour or two.
This kind of behavior conveys a lack of confidence — and let’s be honest, nothing is unsexier.
“Giving the other person space and maintaining a life outside of the relationship is essential,” says Eisenberg. “Trust that the connection will grow naturally if it’s meant to be, and avoid rushing or forcing communication.”
RELATED: Signs the Person You&#039;re Dating Is Pulling a &#039;Slow Fade&#039;
That doesn’t mean you can’t text them a lot — doing so is perfectly normal in developing relationships. It just means that it is possible to scare someone off by texting them a bit too much, and paying attention to their rhythms of response and how often they start conversations is a good idea. 
3. Talking About Yourself Too Much
Next time you’re talking to a crush, pay attention to whether or not you’re dominating the conversation. According to Eisenberg, this can make the other person feel unimportant — not to mention, make you seem self-centered.
“When men focus solely on their own experiences and achievements, women often find it off-putting,” explains Michael Sartain, a relationship and performance coach, podcast host, and founder of Men of Action mentoring.
If your crush asks you a question, remember to pivot the conversation back to them after answering. And of course, when they take the time to share something about themselves, make sure to listen. All of these simple efforts can go a long way in showing that you’re a caring and attentive person — which makes you a more viable potential partner.
RELATED: How Listening Will Make You Way Sexier
 “Showing genuine interest in the other person’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences creates a more balanced and meaningful connection,” says Eisenberg.
4. Pushing Boundaries
Perhaps the biggest mistake a guy could make is assuming that when their crush says no to something, that’s an invitation to convince them or coerce them. 
RELATED: Setting Healthy Boundaries in Relationships 
“Ignoring or pushing boundaries is a surefire way to turn someone off,” says Eisenberg. 
For example, if your crush says they can’t text you during work, make sure to wait until you’re totally sure they’re out of the office before sending a message.
And even if your crush doesn’t explicitly verbalize a boundary, Eisenberg strongly recommends paying attention to non-verbal cues like body language when you’re interacting with them. For example, if they suddenly cross their arms or start averting their eyes when you bring up a particular topic, that can signal that they’re uncomfortable.
5. Bringing Sex Into It Too Soon
As much as sex may be on your brain — particularly if you’re super physically attracted to someone — experts recommend keeping that topic off the table for a bit. 
According to Roos, bringing up sex a lot while you’re getting to know your crush might scare them away. (And yes, that includes peppering an occasional eggplant or peach emoji into your texts.)
Why is this a turn-off? For one, your crush might assume your one-track mind means you’re only interested in a casual hookup — which could deter them if they’re looking for a serious relationship.
“Instead of making this mistake, you should climb the intimacy ladder first,” says Roos. “As a general rule, don’t start talking sex before you’ve been physically intimate in any way — say, making out. This will allow you to talk about it in a way that feels natural without unintentionally creating feelings of pressure or discomfort.”
6. Talking About Your Ex
Speaking of topics to avoid with your crush, experts say talking about your ex is the ultimate kiss of death to any budding romance.
According to Roos, bringing up your ex can send the message that you’re not over them, which is sure to scare someone away. On the flip side, if you’re bashing your ex every time you bring them up, they may find themselves wondering if you have trouble taking responsibility for your own actions. 
RELATED: Green Flags When Dating Someone New 
Talking about past relationships is normal, says Roos — but not necessarily when you’re first getting to know someone. If and when it does eventually come up, Roos says it’s important to maintain a balanced perspective rather than trash-talking your ex.  
This demonstrates a certain level of self-awareness and emotional maturity — both of which are universally attractive.
You Might Also Dig:
Dating Mistakes That Make Men Seem &#039;Thirsty&#039;How to Text Your Crush and Get a Response BackDating Conversation Turnoffs to Watch Out For ]]>
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                <pubDate>Wed, 06 May 2026 12:06:32 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[The Top Diet Mistakes Men Make (and How To Fix Them)]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/sports/foodcourt/fixing-common-diet-mistakes.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/sports/foodcourt/fixing-common-diet-mistakes.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Rebecca ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[  ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/sports/foodcourt/fixing-common-diet-mistakes/askmen-lead-image-2x1-1762282463.png" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
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                    <![CDATA[ Whether you’re looking to lose weight, build muscle, improve your heart health, or live as long as possible, being mindful of your diet is one of the best strategies you can employ. But it’s easy to get overwhelmed and confused by all the conflicting diet advice out there. 
Yesterday’s headlines revealed intermittent fasting can reduce inflammation and improve cardiovascular health, but today’s headlines indicate that it’s linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular death. One influencer is telling you to eat more veggies, while another is saying they’re high in anti-nutrients like lectins and oxalates. How are you supposed to make sense of it all — and make smart choices when it comes to eating?
Something to keep in mind: The U.S. weight loss market is currently worth a record high of $89.9 billion — so very often, the messaging is rooted in an attempt to sell you something (that in all likelihood you don’t need). That’s why experts advise getting back to basics with your nutrition philosophy. 
RELATED: How to Make Your Food Healthier
“Guys often overthink nutrition,” says Chris Mohr, a registered dietitian and Fitness and Nutrition Advisor at Fortune Recommends Health. “They think that sticking to rigid diets or only eating certain ‘healthy’ foods is the best way to reach their fitness goals. This isn&#039;t necessarily true. It’s better to have a balanced diet with a variety of foods.”
Whatever you do, don’t fall into the trap of making these all-too-common diet mistakes. 
1. Focusing Only on Protein
A lot of men have a one-track mind when it comes to their diet. More specifically, they’re laser-focused on their intake of protein — and protein alone.
“Focusing on just one macro — like protein — will not help you achieve your weight or health goals,” says Dawn Menning, a registered dietitian with the Nutu App.
“You need the right balance between the macronutrients, including carbs and fat as well.”
According to Avery Zenker, a registered dietitian with EverFlex Fitness, guys also tend to underestimate the importance of micronutrients — in other words, vitamins and minerals.
“Relying only on macros is too simplified,” she explains. “This can lead men to choose low-quality foods to align with their macro goals and ignore nutrient-dense foods.”
Zenker advises choosing whole foods whenever possible in order to make sure you’re supplying your body with both the macronutrients and micronutrients it needs. That includes anything with only one ingredient like meat, fish, fruits, veggies, whole grains, nuts, and seeds.
2. Skipping Meals
Maybe it’s because you repeatedly hit the snooze button and don’t have time to whip up a healthy breakfast, maybe you’re too lazy to pack a lunch for the office, or maybe you just don’t have the energy to cook dinner after a long workday — but whatever your reasoning, you might want to rethink skipping meals. According to Mohr, this often just leads you to overeat later on in the day.
“Being overly hungry can lead to overeating and poor food choices,” he tells AskMen. “And it can mess up your energy levels and metabolism. You should eat regularly throughout the day to help keep your blood sugar levels stable.”
Mohr recommends meal prepping — say, on a Sunday before the work week starts — so there are no excuses to miss meals. Even just buying pre-grilled or roasted chicken, or chopping veggies and fruit in advance, can go a long way in making it easy to throw together some healthy meals.
3. Eating Out Every Day
Studies have shown that people who cook meals at home more frequently consume fewer carbohydrates, less sugar and less fat — even when they aren’t trying to lose weight. They also consume about 140 fewer daily calories than people who eat at least one takeout or restaurant meal per day.
“Portion sizes at restaurants can be excessive,” adds Zenker. “These meals often lack vitamins and minerals, fiber, and quality micronutrients. In addition, restaurant meals usually lack satiety factors, making you more likely to overeat.”
If for whatever reason, you have to eat out daily — for example, because you travel for work — Zenker recommends researching restaurants that offer more nutritious options whenever possible. Placing a pickup or delivery order? Apps like DoorDash and Grubhub allow you to filter specifically for healthy restaurants near you.
RELATED: Simple Diet Changes for Weight Loss
“Cooking at home empowers men to feel confident and have more control over portion sizes, ingredients, and healthier preparation methods,” adds Zenker. “Take small steps to cooking more often. Browse recipes online or watch cooking videos on YouTube and Instagram. Start with a simple recipe,and once you’re confident making that, build from there.”
4. Not Eating Enough Veggies
We know that people who eat more vegetables have a lower risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers and are less likely to be overweight. Yet for some reason, research has consistently shown that men are way less likely to eat their veggies than women.
This is a big mistake, says Zenker, no matter what your health goals are.

“Vegetables provide essential fiber, antioxidants, and vitamins/minerals that support overall health, digestion, and immune function,” she explains. “And for those who are trying to lose weight, they provide volume to meals with minimal calories.”
An analysis by Harvard revealed that five servings per day of fruits and veggies — which could mean three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit — is the ideal amount for maximum health benefits. Zenker strongly advises aiming for diversity so that you can reap a wide range of nutrients. So, if you’re a creature of habit, challenge yourself to eat at least 2-3 different vegetables every day, and rotate your selection at the grocery store each week. For extra credit, specifically seek out vegetables that are currently in season, as studies have shown that these tend to be even more nutrient-dense.
5. Distracted and Rushed Eating
It goes a little something like this: You sit down in front of the TV with a plate of bolognese, and next thing you know, your plate is clean and you’re past the point of stuffed. Or, you start checking Instagram while snacking on some chips and by the time you’re done scrolling, you’ve reached the bottom of the bag. Distractions can make you far more likely to overeat because you’re not paying attention to your body’s fullness cues. 
That’s why Zenker recommends making it a point to avoid eating while you’re at your computer, on your phone, watching television, or driving in the car. You’re also more likely to eat too fast when you’re distracted, says Zenker, which not only impedes digestion but also doesn’t give your brain enough time to register that you’re satiated.
 
“Start practicing eating more mindfully,” she tells AskMen. “Mindful eating involves being fully present and noticing how your food looks, smells, and tastes — and how you feel mentally, emotionally, and physically while eating it.”
Pro tip: Sharing a meal with someone else can help you to slow down during mealtime, because you have to take breaks in between bites to keep the conversation going. If you live alone, consider FaceTiming a friend or family member during meals.
6. Saving up for “Cheat Meals”
Overly restricted diets are a huge mistake for many reasons, says Menning. Not only is it next to impossible for you to meet your body’s nutrient needs this way, but research has shown that these types of diets can also disrupt hormone balance and weaken your immune system.
Oftentimes, men who adhere to diets that forbid entire food groups or severely restrict calories will reward themselves with a “cheat meal” or “cheat day” at the end of the week, which may entail loading up on wings, nachos, or pizza, and washing it all down with beer. But there’s a big problem with this strategy, according to Mohr. For one, it keeps you in a disordered eating cycle of restricting and binging and may increase feelings of guilt and shame around food.
Instead, to maintain a healthy and mindful relationship with food, consider following the 80-20 or 90-10 rule: eating healthy foods 80-90% of the time, and then treating yourself to occasional indulgences 10-20% of the time.
7. Following Fad Diets
Not long ago, it was all about raw veganism and keto. Now people have moved on to the carnivore diet. It’s hard to keep up with the latest nutritional fads — and according to Menning, it’s not even worth trying — because most of these diets are impractical and unsustainable.
“While the short-term focus of eating a certain way may be on aesthetics or performance, what’s arguably more important is the long-term benefits of good nutrition,” says Zenker.
When considering a new eating pattern, ask yourself: Is this a diet I could realistically maintain for years to come? If not, then skip it.
Another thing to keep in mind is that we’re all ultra unique — so whatever diet works for your buddy, your boss, or that shredded celebrity you follow on IG, might not work for you. Rather than hopping on the latest TikTok trends, experts advise consulting a registered dietitian (RD) for a personalized diet plan based on your health history, lifestyle, and goals.
“If you’re not seeing any progress towards your goals, a RD can work with you to help you pinpoint what the barrier is and provide recommendations based on individualized needs and health goals,” says Menning.
Zenker notes that RDs can also help you learn how to analyze food labels, make healthier choices when eating out, plan and cook nutritious meals that accommodate any dietary restrictions, and manage any chronic diseases.
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A Guide to the Blue Zone Diet and LifestyleWhat Is a Green Mediterranean Diet and Should You Try It?How to Improve Your Mood Through Your Diet ]]>
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                <pubDate>Tue, 05 May 2026 10:40:40 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[Everything You Need to Know About Hookups]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/dating/dating_advice/gentleman-s-guide-to-hookups.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/dating/dating_advice/gentleman-s-guide-to-hookups.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Rebecca ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[  ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/dating/dating_advice/gentleman-s-guide-to-hookups/askmen-lead-image-template-4-1725635924.png" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
                <media:credit role="author" scheme="urn:ebu"><![CDATA[  ]]></media:credit>
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                    <![CDATA[ Hookups are perceived as “no strings attached” pleasure — but that doesn’t mean there’s no etiquette involved. While dinner dates and flowers may not be expected, some basic respect is. Because this probably goes without saying, but the best kind of sex is the kind that leaves both people feeling good.
Unfortunately, recent research shows that women are getting the short end of the stick. More specifically, they’re reporting a lot more negative post-hookup feelings than men, including rejection, regret, loneliness, and general unhappiness. Meanwhile, men are reporting happiness, self-confidence, and even a boost in their mood.
“There are several possible explanations for this, but one that I think is particularly important is that female pleasure just isn’t prioritized in the context of hookups,” says Dr. Justin Lehmiller, a researcher who focuses on casual sex and sexual health, and Scientific Advisor at Arcwave. 
“Casual encounters are actually where we see the largest orgasm gap between women and men. So it stands to reason that, on average, women will have more negative feelings about their hookups than men at least partly because women are less likely to have their sexual needs met during them.”
 RELATED: Why You Should Go Down on Her on Your Next Hookup 
The good news? You have the power to give your hookup partner a positive experience. “Clear communication and self-awareness can prevent misunderstandings and make it so much better — and more pleasurable — for everyone involved,” says Milla Impola, a sex and intimacy expert with ONE Condoms. 
Here’s how to handle hookups like a gentleman.
1. Be Upfront
Before you start tearing any clothes off, experts say it’s crucial to make sure you and your potential hookup partner are on the same page. 
“Open communication helps build trust and can alleviate anxieties or uncertainties, making the experience more comfortable and mutually enjoyable,” says Rachel Marmor, a licensed mental health counselor and Chief Wellness Officer at PAIRS Foundation
Marmor suggests saying something along the lines of: “Let’s talk about what we both want from this. It’s OK if it’s different, but I think it’s important we understand each other.&quot;
RELATED: Best Dating Apps for Hooking Up
Make it clear that you’re only interested in a casual hookup, and if your partner doesn’t enthusiastically express interest in the same, consider pumping the brakes.
2. Be Careful With Substances
If there’s one rule to abide by, according to certified sex and relationships coach Sam Morris, it’s this: “Don’t hook up when you are intoxicated.
Taking someone home from the bar might seem like a great idea in theory, but there are several reasons why you’ll want to think twice.
For one, it’s impossible to get true consent from someone if they’re under the influence of alcohol or other drugs. We can’t stress that enough.
Not only that, but you’re far more likely to say something you don’t mean or otherwise behave out of character when you’ve had a few. And why run the risk of accidentally acting like a jerk when you’re hammered — particularly when you won’t even be able to apologize for it because you don’t remember it the next day?
3. Discuss Boundaries
“Before hooking up, have an open conversation about what you&#039;re comfortable with and what you&#039;re not,” says Impola. “You can totally make it sexy, too!”“What kinds of things feel good for you?” is a good place to start, followed by, “Is there anything you definitely don’t want to try?”
RELATED: Dirty Talk Phrases That Are Also Sexual Consent Questions 
“This conversation can help ensure you’re both comfortable and avoid misunderstandings.”
Bringing this up before you’re naked is ideal, because it can be a lot harder to be honest and level-headed in the heat of the moment.
If your partner shares anything they aren’t willing to explore, remember that’s not your cue to convince them otherwise.
RELATED: How to Talk About Sex, Explained
“Always listen to and respect your partner&#039;s boundaries, and don&#039;t push for anything they&#039;re not comfortable with,” adds Impola. “This helps build trust.”
4. Stay in Your Comfort Zones
Whether you’ve been toying with the idea of finally trying anal or you’re eager to bust out those whips and chains you impulsively bought from a local sex shop, experts say your first hookup with someone you don’t know may not be the best time to do so.
RELATED: The First-Time Sex Tips You Should Know 
“Be careful about moving too far past your comfort zone with a new casual partner,” explains Lehmiller. “In other words, now isn’t necessarily the time to try something really adventurous or risky. Save that for situations where you’re with a trusted partner with whom you have excellent communication in order to reduce the chance of things going poorly.”
Once you’ve hooked up with someone two or three times, you may have built up a better foundation to experiment. But at least for that initial encounter, it may be smarter to stick to more familiar terrain — even comparatively vanilla sex if the other person hasn’t expressed any clear interest in kinky stuff.
5. Use Protection
Safer sex is better sex — that’s our motto.
Keep in mind that even if your hookup partner can’t get pregnant, whether they’re on some form of birth control or don’t have a uterus in the first place, that doesn’t protect you from sexually transmitted infections — which is why Impola strongly recommends wearing a condom for all encounters that involve intercourse. 
If you’re having oral sex, consider using a dental dam to protect you from herpes, gonorrhea, chlamydia, hepatitis, HIV, and syphilis.
Don’t forget to get regular STI screenings — and don’t be shy about asking your partners if they’re doing the same.
6. Follow Up and Check In
A follow-up text only takes a minute to send — and this simple gesture can go a long way.
“How you interact after a hookup is just as important as what happens during it,” says Marmor. “Even if the encounter was meant to be casual, a small gesture like checking in afterward can go a long way in making the other person feel valued.”
RELATED: Rules for Casual Sex and How to Make It Work 
Here are some of Marmor’s suggested dialogue ideas to get you started:

“I had a good time last night. How are you feeling about everything?”“Just wanted to check in and see how you&#039;re doing today. I think it’s important to stay connected, even if we’re keeping things casual.”“I wanted to make sure you feel good about how things went last night. Was there anything that made you uncomfortable, or that you really enjoyed?”

“This reinforces a sense of mutual respect and care, reducing the likelihood of negative feelings such as regret or disappointment,” adds Marmor.
7. Self Reflect
In addition to checking in with your hookup partner, experts advise checking in with yourself, too.
RELATED: How to Know if Hooking Up Is Right for You
“Take time to reflect on how the experience made you feel and what you learned from it,” says Marmor. “This self-awareness can help you understand your emotional needs better and guide your decisions for the future.”
Consider asking yourself: “What was my favorite part and least favorite part of that experience?” “Is there anything I’d do differently next time?” and “What do I want from future hookups?” 
“Reflection promotes personal growth and ensures that future hookups are more aligned with your values and emotional well-being,” adds Marmor.
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First Time Hookup Mistakes Guys MakeHow to Have Casual Sex — Without Hurting People&#039;s FeelingsCan Casual Sex Turn Into a Serious Relationship? ]]>
                </content:encoded>
                <pubDate>Tue, 05 May 2026 10:41:41 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[How to Gamify Your Routines to Make Any Habit Stick]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/career-money/self-improvement/how-to-gamify-your-routines-to-make-any-habit-stick.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/career-money/self-improvement/how-to-gamify-your-routines-to-make-any-habit-stick.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Kaitlyn ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[ Use Habit Loops &amp; Rewards to Transform Your Life for the Better ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/career-money/self-improvement/how-to-gamify-your-routines-to-make-any-habit-stick/askmen-lead-image-template-1726239964.png" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
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                    <![CDATA[ Building new healthy habits and routines is no small feat — but there’s no better feeling than realizing a habit you once wanted to form has become second nature. Habits like working out on a regular basis or reading a certain number of pages each day don’t just form overnight, though, and it can take serious self-discipline in order to go from, say, the occasional gym-goer to someone who never misses a morning workout and swears working out is the best form of endorphin generation.
Fortunately, there are certain tricks that can help your mind while you’re trying to build a new habit. The key is making habit-building enjoyable and fun — and rewarding yourself for your habit streak by gamifying your routine is one of the easiest ways to slip a new habit into your day-to-day without giving it a second thought. Gamifying your routine — if you do it properly — should make it fun and simple to build a new habit, no matter what it might be.
RELATED: How Habit Tracking Works
We spoke to a handful of healthcare professionals and business owners to understand exactly why — and how — gamifying a new habit is one of the best ways to work toward a healthier future without dropping off the habit before it gets ingrained. Here’s what you need to know if you’re looking for a cheat code to make a new habit stick for good.

Why Gamifying Works

Gamifying works by creating reward systems that act as a stand-in while you’re still building upon a new habit. Putting these more reward-driven practices into place will keep you motivated until the habit is more solidified in your mind and routine. Here’s how it works:
Habit Loops and Rewards
According to Jabe Brown, founder of Melbourne Functional Medicine, gamification relies on the classic habit cycle: trigger, routine, and reward. “By introducing game mechanics like points and rewards, you reinforce positive behaviors,” he explains. “For example, when someone exercises right after waking up, they earn points, creating a small, satisfying reward for their effort. When the behavior is sustained over multiple weeks, they get non-linear bonuses like extra points or a leaderboard ranking, fueling further motivation.”
One powerful motivator is streak continuation, says Brown. Apps like Duolingo use this well — miss a day, and the chain breaks. “In fitness, missing one workout can trigger a loss of points or penalties, while completing multiple weeks could give additional bonuses,” he explains. “This helps users stay on track and builds intrinsic motivation through a sense of progress.”
Extrinsic and Intrinsic Rewards
Self-development are intrinsic rewards that users seek, says Brown, and gamifying these habits by incorporating levels, points, and badges creates a sense of accomplishment that drives people forward.
“A common misconception is that habits are formed in 21 days but research by Lally et al. shows that it can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days (66 on average),” he explains. “This is why it’s critical to gamify in a way that keeps users engaged long enough for the habit to truly form — adjusting difficulty and rewards as time progresses to maintain motivation.”
Brown mentioned that he has applied these principles in health coaching with great success, helping people not only build new habits but sustain them long-term.

How to Gamify Your Habits and Routines

If you’re actively trying to make a new healthy habit stick, here are a handful of expert-backed tricks for gamifying your habits and routines to make your day-to-day more fun while also working toward a future date where you won’t need external cues in order to stick with the habits you want to build:
Introduce Random Rewards for Unpredictability
“I created a ‘mystery box’ system in which I would randomly allocate a prize after finishing tasks,” says Gary Hemming, owner and finance director at ABC Finance. “As an example, I&#039;d put rewards like a favorite snack or a spontaneous day off into a jar. The unpredictability was key — it made every task feel more exciting, like unlocking an unexpected prize in an arcade game.”
Hemming added that the element of surprise in this case was what made gamifying his habits work — it protected him from falling into routine boredom and made habit-building more enjoyable.
Use “Power-ups” on Tough Days
“When I felt drained or unmotivated, I introduced the concept of power-ups,” says Hemming. “On particularly challenging days, I&#039;d allow myself an extra hour of sleep or an easier version of a task, like walking for 20 minutes instead of running.”
Create Levels to Your Game
Bayu Prihandito, certified psychology consultant and founder at Life Architekture suggests breaking down your big picture goals into smaller ‘levels’ or milestones. For example, if your goal is to exercise more, Prihandito suggests starting with a daily walk for a week. Then &quot;level up&quot; to jogging. “This will keep the process exciting and prevent it from becoming too overwhelming at the start,” he explains. “Think of it like completing quests in a game, each small step gives you a sense of achievement and momentum.”
Track Your Progress
Smart watches, for example, have activity rings that track your movement, exercise, and standing time throughout the day and closing these rings becomes a daily challenge to keep you motivated. “Treat each ring as a ‘quest’ to complete, turning a simple walk or standing break into an opportunity to ‘level up’ your health stats,” suggests Prihandito. “This practical, real-time feedback loop keeps you aware of your progress and encourages you to start again the next day.”
Join a Community
Gamification often works best when it comes with accountability. “Whether it’s competing with friends on leaderboards (like Duolingo does for learning a new language) or joining an online community (Reddit) where you share progress, it adds an extra layer of motivation,” says Prihandito. “Having a group of people working together toward the same goal can make the process feel more like a team effort where you don’t want to let them down.”
Create Measurable Wins
“I divided my everyday habits into smaller, more doable chores with clear point values,” says  Roman Zrazhevskiy, founder &amp; CEO at MIRA Safety. “For example, I gave points for doing morning stretches, drinking water, and reading. Achieving daily ‘high scores’ became an enjoyable challenge that pushed me to enhance my routine over time.”
Use Competition
“I turned fitness into a competition with my friends, setting weekly targets such as 10,000 steps per day,” says Zrazhevskiy, adding that the individual who took the most steps at the end of the week would receive a little prize, such as a paid lunch. “This friendly competition added motivation and made sticking to habits more fun.”
Include Visuals
“I utilize a chart or app to visually track my progress toward personal and corporate goals. This provides me a sense of accomplishment, similar to moving through levels in a game,” says Zrazhevskiy. “I used this when launching a new product, breaking down tasks and seeing the progress kept me motivated to push forward.”
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How to Put Yourself FirstWhat Is an Alpha Male?How to Meditate ]]>
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                <pubDate>Tue, 05 May 2026 10:42:12 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[The Spooning Sex Position, Explained]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/dating/love_tip/spooning.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/dating/love_tip/spooning.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Maddie ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[  ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/1080x540/dating/love_tip/spooning-1097217-TwoByOne.jpg" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
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                    <![CDATA[ If you own more than one spoon, you can likely imagine the position and benefits of spoon sex. 
Stacking two bodies beside one another is undoubtedly more involved than putting silverware away, but if you’re new to the spooning sex position, there are plenty of reasons to try it. 
Low-effort but still lots of fun, this classic position benefits both partners involved — and did we mention it&#039;s super easy to execute? 
RELATED: First-Time Sex Positions for Virgins 
That being said, like any sex position, it does have a handful of downsides. Here&#039;s everything you need to know about the spoon position, as told by experts and enthusiasts: 

What Is the Spoon Sex Position?

If you&#039;re familiar with doggy style, the spoon sex position is a variation thereof, done lying down on your sides. 
“Like two spoons stacked together, the two bodies are stacked together with one person&#039;s butt pushed into the other person&#039;s groin region,” explains Dr. Jenni Skyler, LMFT, certified sex therapist for AdamEve.com. “The legs are typically bent, and heads are nestled close to each other.”
If you’re having trouble picturing it, here’s an illustration: 

Illustration by Carlee Ranger.
In any spooning scenario, there&#039;s someone who plays the role of the “big spoon” (the partner in the back), who cradles the “little spoon” in front. 
RELATED: Sexual Positions Women Enjoy 
When it comes to cuddling, which partner plays which role is largely up to preference (though the bigger partner may have to maneuver to curl themselves up more if they want to be the small spoon). 
In a sexual scenario, the penetrating partner plays the big spoon so that they can enter from behind; hetero couples will often find this a familiar dynamic if the penetrating partner is a man and larger than his female partner, but queer couples or straight couples who want to explore pegging play may want to experiment with switching things up. 

Benefits of Spoon Sex

Spoon sex is often a go-to position for morning sex, or for one of those days when both partners are feeling lazy and horny. 
RELATED: Low-Effort Sex Positions for When You&#039;re Feeling Lazy 
“This is a great position for those who are feeling tired, those who want the full-body closeness and intimacy, or those who have injuries or physical challenges,” Skyler explains. 
Unlike labor-intensive positions like reverse cowgirl, neither partner needs to do much in terms of mobility for spooning sex to work. 

“Any time I&#039;m in the spoon position when I&#039;m cuddling, I end up getting horny,” says Claire, 23. “My butt is right there pressed up against it, and it makes me want to do it, so usually we&#039;ll just stay in that position, strip down and do it that way.”

The little spoon can press their body into the big spoon to generate pressure and movement; the big spoon can slowly move their hips in and out, or a combination of both. 
Since both partners are cuddled up next to each other, this position also doesn&#039;t require a ton of space. If you&#039;re feeling horny while hanging out together on the couch and don&#039;t want to relocate, spoon sex can easily be done right then and there. 
RELATED: Sex Positions Best Performed on Your Couch 
The spoon position offers maximum body-to-body contact, making it a strong option as a winter sex position when it’s chilly out, and for feeling more of a physical connection with your partner. 
Spoon sex also leaves your hands free to do other things with. 
“[Spoon sex] allows for easy access to the clitoris and perineum, making additional stimulation simple to incorporate,” explains Rachel Wright, licensed psychotherapist and sex expert for Zumio. 
Plus, it&#039;s super versatile. “Spooning can be adapted for vaginal intercourse, anal sex, assisted masturbation with hands or a toy,” Wright continues. 
Since the spoon position allows for more shallow penetration than others, it can help people with penises last longer, Skyler points out. 
“Spooning can be great for those in the last semester of pregnancy and need to be in a side-line position for comfort,” she adds. 
RELATED: Best Sex Positions to Try During Pregnancy  

Drawbacks of Spoon Sex

While the closeness of both people’s torsos and heads makes for some degree of intimacy, if you&#039;re someone who likes to lock eyes with your partner during the act, you may be disappointed that the spoon sex position makes this all but impossible. 
RELATED: Relationship Between Eye Contact &amp; Attraction, Explained 
And, if you&#039;re a visual person who likes to see your partner&#039;s body during sex, limited visibility is also something to consider here, especially if you’re spooning under the covers. 
Additionally, the range of motion this position affords might not be for everyone. 
“The position can restrict the range of motion and thrusting power,” explains Wright, which may limit the ability of some people with penises to reach orgasm during spoon sex. 
“The penetration angle might not be ideal for everyone, and it might require adjustment to find what feels best,” she continues. 

“Having sex in this position seems like a good idea in theory, but I could never get the angle right with my ex,” says Jada, 27. “He&#039;d always slip out, and I&#039;d be afraid of crushing his [penis] with my [butt], so we&#039;d just cuddle in the spoon and move on to other positions.”

Ways to Make Spoon Sex More Fun

Want to get more creative in the spoon position? Here are a few expert tips.
Change Up the Angles
“The receiving partner can adjust their leg positioning (like raising or straightening the top leg) to allow for different penetration angles and depths,” Wright explains.
RELATED: Sex Positions for Partners With Height Differences 
Switch Who&#039;s in Control
“Sometimes, the front partner can push back into the other, taking control of the rhythm and depth,” says Wright. 
This can make it a great option if the penetrating partner’s got a big penis and needs to be careful not to injure the receiving partner. 
RELATED: The Best Big Penis Sex Positions, Revealed  
Try Anal Sex
If the receiving partner has a vagina, well, FYI that spooning can also be a solid anal sex position, too. Just don’t try to switch from vaginal to anal without warning — anal sex requires not only enthusiastic consent, but also some prep work. 
 “This makes for easy-going, shallow anal sex for those beginning or for those who want it more shallow,” says Skyler.
Try Adding Toys
If you’re comfortable with sex toys, try using a vibrator to introduce additional stimulation into the mix, particularly for the clit or perineum of the person in the little spoon position. 
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Positions to Help You Last LongerStealthy Sex Positions That Don&#039;t Make Much Noise
Best Sleep Positions for Couples ]]>
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                <pubDate>Tue, 28 Apr 2026 12:15:55 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[How to Set Up for the Classic Powerlifting Movements]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/fitness/workout/how-to-set-up-for-the-classic-powerlifting-movements.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/fitness/workout/how-to-set-up-for-the-classic-powerlifting-movements.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Geoff ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[ Expert Technique Advice for the Deadlift, Bench Press and Squat ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/fitness/workout/how-to-set-up-for-the-classic-powerlifting-movements/askmen-lead-image-template-1715174539.png" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
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                    <![CDATA[ Sun Tzu said that “every battle is won before it&#039;s ever fought.” Winning, in this case, means setting yourself up for success. You do this by finding positions where great mechanics happen automatically and where training stresses are directed into the places you want them most — like your quads, your glutes and your chest — without unnecessary wear and tear. It’s about efficiency, reproducibility and getting stronger over the long-term. And it all begins with a great setup.
RELATED: What Is Resistance Training?
We’re going to look at the classic powerlifting movements — squat, bench press and deadlift. These aren’t the only ways to get strong but they’re popular, time-tested options. That’s why AskMen spoke to three seasoned coaches about how they set their clients up for success in the gym.

Deadlift

Vivek Padhiar is the senior coach at Bang Personal Training in Toronto. “Just because you’re deadlifting, it doesn’t mean that you have to deadlift off the floor. You can lift from whatever height helps you be successful. If you’re a taller dude, you might want to lift from [mid]-shin height. The fact that the plate has a 9-inch diameter is pretty arbitrary,” says Padhiar.
Begin with your feet under the bar. “If you’re wearing shoes, think about the knot of your shoelace being under the bar. If not, the front of the ankle joint. Breathe in to create abdominal pressure and hold most of it. From there, hinge back. Think about your bum pushing back to a wall behind you and your head pushing out to the wall in front of you. You’re going to get to a point where you can’t get your hips back any further — and you might be freaking out because you can’t reach the bar from there. At that point, bend at your knees (keep your butt behind you).” Breathe in fully, squeeze the bar and get ready for the hard part.
“What most people have trouble with is coordinating the next part of the movement,” says Padhiar. “That’s where you [need] a little bit of pre-tension through the feet into the floor.” 
He describes the muscular effort here as pushing instead of lifting — “As if you’re trying to leave permanent footprints in memory foam.” From there, he instructs you to “bend the bar” or “squeeze lemons under your armpits.&quot; Padhiar says that the key is to smoothly ramp up your output. “You’re not going from 0 to 100 right away.” 
Here, he points to an extra sensory cue: “You’ll notice there’s a bit of rattling when you pick a bar up. When you coordinate that movement of pushing your feet through the floor and taking the slack out of the bar with your lats and upper body, you’ll hear a click well before the bar moves,” says Padhiar. That’s when you know you’re in a good place.
 

Bench Press

Iordan Krouchev is a Montreal-based physiotherapist with a passion for strength and performance, so AskMen asked him for advice on how to perfect the setup for a bench press. 
First, you want the right amount of arch — not flat but not high. “So depending on your height — and the height of the bench — I might put a plate underneath your feet. What we&#039;ll do from there is place [your] eyes right under the bar. We need to make sure that the bar is at the end of the hooks as well. Those are important little things that sometimes we forget… we might hit the hooks on the way up — and with significant weight that can be a big issue,” says Krouchev.
 
When it comes to grip width, “I usually start people with a medium grip… about between the knurling (the textured part of the bar) and the first ring… Now, you&#039;re in a good position: your feet are flat on the plates or floor; you are properly engaged through your trunk; there&#039;s no big arch, you&#039;re not rounded through your back; you have good contact with the soles of your feet.” Here, Krouchev wants you to feel stable on the bench — you should be able to hold the position against someone trying to push you off. 
RELATED: The Ultimate Bench Press Guide
“Grip the bar hard,” says Krouchev. You can try to bend the bar or pull it apart. “I think those are all good ways to feel that we&#039;re very connected and contracted and engaged with the bar… So that&#039;s going to make us feel more engagement through the whole shoulder. From there, ensure that your arms are locked out as you lift it from the hooks or receive it from a spotter. Bring the bar forward until it’s in the most stable position possible — where you could hold it with straight arms for the longest amount of time. “Depending on the load, we&#039;re either going to inhale as we go down and exhale as we press — or, for a very heavy load, inhale, before the movement starts and hold the breath as the bar goes down.” As you lower the bar from above, “we&#039;ll see that [your elbows] are at about 45º angle. So it will look like an arrow.

Squat

Montreal-based trainer, Rich Thaw, knows a ton about strength training athletic performance. So, when AskMen asked him how he sets up the barbell squat, he immediately goes to movement.
“The squat should be an elevator-type action of the pelvis… an up and down action.” For new exercisers, this typically means a goblet squat or front squat. Stronger lifters will go right to a front squat or Zercher squat (where the barbell sits in the crook of the elbows). “I front-load everyone to start,” says Thaw. “Usually, with a heel-lift because the more front-loaded someone is, the easier it is for them to stack their bodies vertically.” He’ll progress to a safety squat bar from there, which brings the weight further forward than a conventional back squat.
RELATED: How to Squat
“You can do more in a back squat than in most other lifts,” says Thaw, which makes it tempting to focus on it. However, he doesn’t typically prescribe a back squat unless you’re preparing for powerlifting competition. For everyone else, the priority is strength and muscular development. “The gym isn’t where they’re going to perform; they’re not barbell athletes. I want them to feel their legs and maybe their abs. Anything else doesn’t really matter. People will say, ‘My legs are fine but my abs are smoked.’ That’s good!” 
When it comes to other details, like hand position or foot width, Thaw says “it’s all secondary to vertical movement with a braced trunk.” Here, he refers to the feeling in your abdominals that comes from a hard exhale. “Head over heart over hips. Back it up! Get that exhale! You don’t have to maintain the exhale; you have to maintain the sensation of the exhale. Then go hard. Less thinking; more doing! If it’s too cerebral, you’re not ready for a good lift.”
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Strength Training Accessories That Actually WorkHow to Start RunningBest Chest Workouts ]]>
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                <pubDate>Tue, 28 Apr 2026 12:16:24 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[Grooming Awards 2026: Shaving Products]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/grooming/shaving/grooming-awards-2026-shaving-products.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/grooming/shaving/grooming-awards-2026-shaving-products.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ AskMen ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[ Achieve a Closer Shave and Banish Unsightly Bumps for Good With These Top Shaving Essentials ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/grooming/shaving/grooming-awards-2026-shaving-products/shave-2x1-1776260420.jpg" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
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                    <![CDATA[ Sick of nicks, cuts and unsightly razor burn? Eager for a shaving upgrade that will simultaneously look great in your bathroom and perform great on your face? Or maybe you&#039;ve decided 2026 is the year you&#039;re finally going to grow out your facial hair, and you need the grooming tools necessary to get the most of your mustache?
Whatever your shaving needs, our panel of judges has you covered, with the year&#039;s best creams, balms, after-shaves and razors.
Best Shave Cream
Fur Shave Cream

The irony of its name takes nothing away from Fur’s satin-soft, lightweight shave cream. A guaranteed maximum glide with zero razor burn makes this a medicine cabinet staple that can also be used for the underarms, chest, and the notoriously sensitive pubic area.
$34 at FurYou.com 
Best Shave Gel
Davines Pasta &amp; Love Softening Shave Gel

Those obsessed with Davines’ iconic shampoo and conditioner line will also enjoy this softening shave gel-to-foam, complete with trendy Alkekengi extract for its optimal soothing properties. Its trademark citrus fragrance is also an added bonus — subtle enough to be appreciated while not overpowering other facial products.
$32 at Davines.com 
Best Beard Balm
Fable Beard Co. The Hero Beard Balm


It’s no fable that Fable Beard Co. has emerged as one of the best beard balm makers on the market. The Hero, arguably its hero product, smells of warm tobacco and amber. But if it’s not your vibe, the company stands by a clever “worry-free scent exchange” so that you can swap it for something that better suits your preferences.
$23.99 at FableBeardCo.com 
Best Beard Wash
Beard Guyz 2-in-1 Beard 2-in-1 Wash and Tame

Beard hair also deserves the shampoo treatment and Beard Guyz delivers with this 2-in-1 wash and tame solution. The powerful tube’s contents clean and condition while also removing build-up and softening coarseness, making it an essential first step in morning grooming.
$7.49 at BeardGuyz.com 
Best After-Shave
SolSoller Skinlit Bellini



While it may not bring the same joy as a peach bellini during weekend brunch, SolSoller’s Skinlit Bellini serves as an excellent and sweet-smelling after-shave with its thoughtful blend of niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, coconut-derived ingredients, and vitamin C. Manufactured especially for sensitive skin, it’s also well-suited for those who may be prone to conditions like rosacea or acne.
$62 at SolSoller.com 
Best Razor Bump Treatment
The Cut Buddy Bump Buddy Razor Bump Treatment

Those most susceptible to ingrown hairs, razor burn, and pesky bumps will treasure this jar of The Cut Buddy’s Bump Buddy razor bump treatment. Apply the aloe, tea tree, and witch hazel cream to soothe the skin, calm redness, and ward off shaving’s many annoying side effects.
$17.99 at TheCutBuddy.com 
Best Razor
Leaf Single Edge Razor

Any search online or in a store will prove that there are plenty of modern razors to choose from, yet Leaf has found a way to go back to basics with its single edge model that is as sleek as it is effective. Turn over a new leaf by ditching abrasive, mainstream varieties that irritate the face and opt for this eco-friendly, plastic-free tool that is designed for more skin contact and less build-up with disposable blades.
$79 at LeafShave.com 
Best Trimmer
Dollar Shave Club 3-in-1 Freestyler


We love a tool that does it all and Dollar Shave Club’s 3-in-1 Freestyler excels at trimming, shaving, and shaping, making it a one-stop shop for neat and tidy beards. The built-in guard with ceramic blades can also be adjusted to three lengths to accommodate unique styles and individual stubble preferences.
$37 at DollarShaveClub.com 
Best Body Groomer
Meridian The Trimmer Original

Trim the more sensitive areas of your body with care, precision, and confidence by using Meridian’s The Trimmer Original. It’s waterproof, designed to avoid nicks and tugs, and is powered by a battery with a whopping 90 minutes of life before requiring a recharge.
$71 at MeridianGrooming.com 
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 ]]>
                </content:encoded>
                <pubDate>Wed, 22 Apr 2026 10:29:34 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[Grooming Awards 2026: Face Care Products]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/grooming/skin/grooming-awards-2026-face-care-products.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/grooming/skin/grooming-awards-2026-face-care-products.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ AskMen ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[ Upgrade Your Smile, Clear Up Your Skin, and Freshen Your Breath With the Year&#039;s Best Grooming Products ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/grooming/skin/grooming-awards-2026-face-care-products/face-2x1-1776257146.jpg" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
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                    <![CDATA[ We&#039;ve spent a quarter-century urging men to take better care of their faces, and we&#039;re not changing our tune in 2026. Most guys don&#039;t have much of a facial care routine, and when they do, it rarely consists of more than just a simple wash. We&#039;re here to tell you even a three-step, five-minute morning face care routine will help you fight off blemishes, tighten your pores and keep wrinkles at bay.
Interested yet? Our panel of grooming experts made things even easier on you by picking out the year&#039;s best face care products, from washes and acne treatments to moisturizers and masks.
Best Skincare Brand of the Year
OSEA Malibu

Debuting hit after consecutive hit, family-owned OSEA Malibu has evolved into one of the most celebrated beauty brands on the market. Its mission to incorporate seaweed-derived ingredients is one of a kind, touting the ocean plant’s vitamins, nutrients, and minerals that repair, restore, and replenish the skin from head to toe. Standouts include everything from an Undaria algae body oil to a lightweight, mattifying blemish balm that is the cure-all for an oily t-zone. OSEA Malibu constantly reinvents itself by introducing new products while always revamping its preexisting lineup, making it a company that is equal parts reliable and exciting.
Find out more at OSEAMalibu.com 
 
Best New Skincare Brand
Strive

A skincare brand is only as good as the science that goes into it and Strive founder Angel Olavarria has dedicated his career to researching the ingredients that yield smoother, healthier, and compliment-worthy skin. The result is a line made for men who “strive” to be better versions of themselves, with products like a best-selling, plant oil-based miracle face moisturizer and a jojoba face scrub that have earned it staying power in a notoriously oversaturated industry. Needless to say, we’re excited to see what the company has in store as it continues to attract an already-impressive number of loyal customers.
Find out more at StriveSkin.com 
Best Anti-Aging Treatment
Eonian 40+ Starter Edition

This dynamic duo with a daily moisturizer and night treatment keeps skin hydrated and protected during the day while supporting collagen and firmness as you sleep. It’s an effective two-step approach for the guy who wants to simplify his skincare routine and not navigate through a medicine cabinet full of products.
$156 at EonianSkincare.com
Best Face Cleanser
LILFOX Tomato Milk Cleanser

We know the importance of a well-rounded diet of fruit and veggies. This extends to skincare products, as well, with LILFOX’s garden-forward tomato milk cleanser that smells as if you’ve extracted the oils of a peppery green tomato vine and rubbed it into your face. The formula is rounded out by papaya and pineapple enzymes that scrub away buildup while black willow-derived salicylic acid refines texture.
$134 at LILFOX.miami 
Best Exfoliating Cleanser
Plantkos Gentle Exfoliating Daily Gel Cleanser

Shed the day’s layer of dirt and grime with Plantkos’ Gentle Exfoliating Daily Gel Cleanser. The pH-balanced blend of turmeric, willow bark, bilberry, and panthenol can be used daily to remove impurities without over-drying, leaving your face feeling both clean and rejuvenated.
$27 at Plantkos.co 
Best Toner
Goshi Super Vitamin Elixir Toner

 
Take your vitamins, but also rub them into your face with Goshi’s Super Vitamin Elixir toner that refines, smooths, and hydrates. The vitamin E, virgin sesame oil, wild thyme, and plant oil combo feels like a quick spritz of water, but leaves the skin feeling soft and bouncy to stand up to additional layers of products.
$56.18 at Goshi.com 
Best Toner Pads
Jaxon Lane Glow Up Pad 

A skincare routine gamechanger, Jaxon Lane’s toner pads help to wipe away dead skin, dirt, sweat, and even makeup while exfoliating with PHAs and AHAs. Use the biodegradable rounds daily to reveal skin that glows and prepare the surface for the brand’s impressive arsenal of other dermis-strengthening topicals.
$38 at JaxonLane.com 
Best Face Essence
Origins Plantscription Youth-Boosting Essence

If you’re looking to awaken and prep the skin before applying toners, serums, and creams, Origins’ Plantscription Youth-Boosting Essence is a good place to start. The shea butter and salicylic acid-based wonder has also been clinically proven to reduce the appearance of fine lines and rough skin texture in as little as two weeks.
$76 at Origins.com 
Best Face Serum
NassifMD Niacinamide Biopeptide Serum

Peptides are all the rage and E!’s most famous plastic surgeon, Dr. Paul Nassif, has found a way to bottle the miracle ingredient in a serum that promotes anti-aging. Consider it a superfood for your face with the addition of antioxidant-rich cranberry extracts that enhance glow and radiance.
$55 at NassifMDSkincare.com 
Best Face Oil
Maya Chia The Super Couple Ultra Luxe Face Oil

 
The term “ultra luxe” isn’t hyperbolic after spreading Maya Chia’s The Super Couple Ultra Luxe face oil into your delicate dermis. Antioxidant astaxanthin, in tandem with chia, omega fatty-acids, antioxidants, and minerals, work together to combat inflammation while imparting an enviable dewy aura that will last all day.
$86 at MayaChia.com 
Best Face Scrub
Maelove The Exfoliator BHA + Clay Facial Scrub

Buff away impurities with Maelove’s beloved The Exfoliator, formulated with BHA and clay to awaken rough, dull, and congested skin. Use it up to 2-3 times per week to notice long-lasting results in as little as a month.
$40 at Maelove.com 
Best Face Moisturizer
Beau Domaine The Cream

 
We’ll take any opportunity to look more like Brad Pitt. His uber-popular skincare line, Beau Domaine, will have to suffice in the meantime with its most talked-about product, The Cream. Its luxurious texture practically melts into your skin and is powered by a potent blend of patented actives and antioxidants to improve elasticity and combat free radicals.
$99 at Beau-Domaine.com 
Best Face Moisturizer for Acne-Prone Skin
Starface Star Cream + Salicylic Acid 

Starface is so much more than an acne-targeting line with fun and colorful packaging: It’s got products that work, including this salicylic acid-based moisturizer that can be a last step for practically any nightly skincare routine. We also love to rub it into pimple-prone areas of the body such as the back and shoulders for a featherweight, non-clogging layer of moisturization.
$15.99 at Starface.world 
Best Moisturizing Stick
Deinde Moisture-Locking Face Stick

Deinde’s Moisture-Locking Face Stick is a convenient item to keep in a bag or pocket for an on-the-go burst of hydration. It’s also ideal for city dwellers in need of an extra layer of protection against environmental stressors such as pollution.
$36 at Deinde.com 
Best Sheet Mask
Patchology Serve Chilled On Ice Hydrogel Firming Face Mask

If you love the feeling of ice on your face, chill out with Patchology’s Serve Chilled on Ice hydrogel firming face masks. They reduce redness and inflammation while strengthening the skin with peptides, vitamin C-rich cloudberry extract, and plant-based retinol.
$12 at Patchology.com 
Best Eye Cream
Dr. Barbara Sturm Super Anti-Aging Eye Cream

Eye creams often get a bad rep for being nothing more than high-priced moisturizers, but Dr. Barbara Sturm has broken through the noise with a product that actually works. This small yet mighty jar is jam-packed with puffiness- and dark shadow-reducing ingredients like Persian silk tree extract, red ginseng, and hyaluronic acid to make tired eyes look and feel alive again.
$225 at DrSturm.com 
Best Night Cream
Setú Moisturizer with Retinol, Maca &amp; Açaí

 
Retinol, maca, and acai team up as a p.m. power trio to smooth and refine skin overnight. A little goes a long way, making this vegan, science-backed, Latin America-inspired moisturizer a wise investment and perfect finisher to any evening skincare routine.
$25 at SetuPersonalCare.com 
Best Sleeping Mask
Emma Lewisham Supernatural Sleeping Mask

The body doesn’t just rest and recover while you sleep — it also restores the skin, and New Zealand-based Emma Lewisham debuted a sleeping mask that accelerates this process. Engineered using a proprietary Physiology Synchrony Unlock method, this bedtime essential combines 22 active ingredients to form a synergistic skin system that “mimics the cellular pathways of your skin” and “triggers the skin’s own restorative and preventative action.”
$90 at EmmaLewisham.com 
Best Acne Treatment
Skin Pharm Crystal Clear Clarifying Pads

 
Blackheads and cysts don’t stand a chance against Skin Pharm’s Crystal Clear clarifying pads that not only clean and tighten pores, but also prime the surface of the face for the brand’s impressive line of other high-end, acne-fighting products. This can include bestsellers like the peptide-filled Youth Serum and High Beam brightening lotion.
$50 at SkinPharm.com 
Best Acne Patches
Good Molecules Pimple Patches

 
Dare we say that pimple patches are fun? Good Molecules’ stickers are as easy to use as they are effective, offering an ultra-thin, hydrocolloid-based product that will prevent notorious pickers from squeezing and irritating their faces.
From $8 at GoodMolecules.com 
Best Acne Spray
Personal Day Trust Me On This Hypochlorous Acid Spray

Trust us on this and spray away any impending bumps and pustules with Personal Day’s Trust Me On This hypochlorous acid spray. The bacteria-killing mist can be used for a quick refresh throughout the day, but especially during moments like post-gym where you may not have immediate access to a sink or shower.
$27 at PersonalDay.com 
Best Face Sunscreen
Round Lab Birch Moisturizing Sunscreen UVLock SPF 45+ Broad Spectrum

Most dermatologists will argue that a good sunscreen is, perhaps, the most important anti-aging product you can put on your face each day and Round Lab has concocted a winning formula that is protective, moisturizing, and non-greasy. With over 10 million bottles sold worldwide, it’s also no surprise why this has been declared Korea’s number one sunscreen.
$28 at RoundLab.com 
Best Toothbrush
Nimbus Regular Microfine Toothbrush

The Nimbus Regular Microfine toothbrush makes a wonderful addition to any oral hygiene routine, especially for those who are gum-sensitive. Its extra-soft, duo-sized bristles remove plaque while a full brush head and long handle allow users to get into all of the mouth’s nooks and crannies.
$19 at NimbusDental.com 
Best Electric Toothbrush
Supersmile Zina45 Sonic Toothbrush

It’s electric! And it’s not going to sit near a bathroom sink collecting dust. Supersmile’s Zina45 sonic toothbrush has redefined what it means to be a cutting-edge oral hygiene product with features like a one-of-a-kind polishing head and four distinct cleaning modes to help you effectively clean above and below the gum line. 
$175 at Supersmile.com 
Best Toothpaste
TheraBreath Fresh Breath Toothpaste

Therabreath quickly emerged as one of, if not the best mouthwashes on the market. As a result, we were obviously way too excited to see the brand’s highly anticipated foray into toothpaste. Unsurprisingly, it’s also a hit with a clinical-strength formula that successfully fights bad breath with a pleasant mild mint flavor.
$10.99 at TheraBreath.com 
Best Mouthwash
RiseWell Balancing Mouthwash

Rise up against bad breath with RiseWell&#039;s alcohol-free mouthwash that eliminates odor-causing bacteria with Xylitol and baking soda. The formula also supports a healthy microbiome by nurturing good bacteria which, in turn, balances the mouth’s pH level and leads to a minty-fresh smile.
$26 at RiseWell.com 
Best Whitening Product
Lumineux Whitening Strips

Attaining coveted pearly whites is easy and affordable with Lumineux’s whitening strips. Dead Sea salt, coconut oil, and lemon peel work overtime to whiten and brighten without the sensitivity that comes with more mainstream alternatives.
$50 at LumineuxHealth.com 
Best Lip Balm
Harry’s Black Lip Balm

This isn’t an invitation to relive high school days as a goth. Instead, Harry’s black lip balm goes on clear and matted, providing the utmost in hydration without feeling too heavy on the skin.
$20 at Harrys.com 
Best Face Tool
Therabody TheraFace Depuffing Wand

Eye bags? Swollen cheeks? Double chin? Kick them to the curb. Inflammation has met its match with Therabody’s beloved depuffing wand that cools, heats, and massages with precision and ease. Along with morning coffee, it’s become our favorite way to start the day.
$169.99 at Therabody.com 
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Grooming Awards 2026: Best Hair Care ProductsGrooming Awards 2026: Best Shave ProductsGrooming Awards 2026: Best Body Care Products ]]>
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                <pubDate>Wed, 22 Apr 2026 10:29:11 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[Grooming Awards 2026: Hair Care Products]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/grooming/hair/grooming-awards-2026-hair-care-products.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/grooming/hair/grooming-awards-2026-hair-care-products.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ AskMen ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[ Clean, Shape, and Style Your Locks With the Year&#039;s Best Hair Care Products ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/grooming/hair/grooming-awards-2026-hair-care-products/hair-2x1-1776261242.jpg" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
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                    <![CDATA[ If you&#039;re blessed to have a good head of hair, you actually owe it to yourself to take care of it. Don&#039;t look at shampooing, conditioning and regular combing as a chore, but as an investment in your appearance. And if hairloss does run in your family, good news: there&#039;s more you can do today to slow it down or even reverse it than there was 20, 10 or even five years ago. 
To help get you started, our grooming experts have picked out the year&#039;s best hair care products, from simple shampoos to elaborate pastes, waxes and pomades.
Best Shampoo
Highland The Wash

You don’t have to search high and low for a shampoo that exceeds expectations in care and cleaning abilities. Highland’s The Wash does it all with a pH-balanced, versatile cleanser that encourages follicle growth while nourishing the scalp with clinically-backed botanicals and proteins.
 
$36 at Highland.style 
Best 2-in-1 Hair and Body Wash
Jack Black Blue Midnight Body &amp; Hair Cleanser

If showering is a chore and time is of the essence, the always-reliable Jack Black has long touted its Blue Midnight body and hair cleanser that doesn’t neglect one over the other. Instead, the soap lathers and cleans with a lingering scent of black pepper and French lavender that will turn heads in the best way possible.
$24 at GetJackBlack.com 
Best Conditioner
Colleen Rothschild Renew &amp; Replenish Clarifying Conditioner

Brittle and flat hair gets a much-needed boost with Colleen Rothschild&#039;s Renew and Replenish clarifying conditioner. The green pump strengthens as much as it smooths with a mix of peptides, amino acids, and magnesium that improve elasticity and protect your mop from humid weather, blow dryer heat, and sticky styling products.
$32 at ColleenRothschild.com 
Best Dandruff Treatment
AntidotPro Scalp Treatment Kit

Our testers were wowed by the AntidotPro Scalp Treatment kit’s efficacy at targeting and treating pesky dandruff. This completely eliminated flakes and redness, all without stripping the hair of its natural oils. And at under $45 for long-term results, the three-bottle purchase is an absolute steal.
$44.95 at AntidotPro.com 
Best Hair Loss Solution
Hairmax Lumina 272 Laser Hair Growth Device

A proactive hair loss prevention routine will certainly include prescriptions like Finasteride and a topical supplement like Minoxidil, but it’s wise to take things one step further with red light therapy. Hairmax Lumina has one of the most straightforward, effective devices on the market with 272 medical grade lasers that restore density and regrow visibly thicker and fuller hair. And it only requires a few, 7-minute sessions per week!
$1,999 at Hairmax.com 
Best Hair Oil
 
Brickell Argan Hair Oil

 
Parched and lifeless hair will practically lap up Brickell’s argan hair oil. The product revitalizes strands from root to tip, offering a high-shine result that is full of bounce and body without the breakage. It’s also a gamechanger for gents rocking longer, luscious locks.
$35 at BrickellMensProducts.com 
Best Dry Shampoo
MANE RX Dry Shampoo

 
Daily shampooing can wreak havoc on some guys’ scalps. A wise alternative is a dry shampoo and MANE RX’s non-aerosol, derm-developed iteration is one of the most raved about. Going beyond simple oil control, this green bottle naturally lifts hair and targets itching, and it&#039;s even travel-friendly.
$29.99 at TheMANERx.com 
Best Curl Cream
Pete &amp; Pedro Curl Cream

Curly-haired boys are often forgotten when it comes to men’s haircare products, but Pete &amp; Pedro have created a cream that will accentuate and celebrate kinky and wavy tendrils. Jojoba oil and sunflower seed extract deliver natural shine while enhancing bounce and reducing frizz, leaving hair touchable and, most importantly, manageable before styling.
$22 at PeteAndPedro.com 
Best Hair Spray
 
CHI Enviro 54 Natural Hold Hair Spray

We’ll pass on shiny, crunchy dos and welcome matted, flexible holds like those provided by this red can from CHI. If you’re prone to hair-styling perfectionism, the formula will also allow you to comb out any snafus and start from scratch.
$25 at CHI.com
Best Texture Spray
Celtic Strand KiwiSalt Spray

Bouncy, ocean-kissed hair waves can easily be achieved with Celtic Strand’s KiwiSalt spray. Made from real Irish Atlantic sea salt, the kiwi-scented creation adds natural texture and volume, but keeps hair soft and stylable for all-day wear.
$35 at CelticStrand.com 
Best Hair Paste
Sun Bum Sonny’s Original Surf Paste

You don’t have to spend a day in the sun to channel the effortless style of a professional surfer. Instead, opt for Sun Bum’s Sonny’s Original surf paste to tame unruly flyaways while adding grip, volume, and, most importantly, the look of coveted, wind-swept texture.
$16.99 at SunBum.com 
Best Hair Wax
Gummy Professional Ultra Hold Styling Wax

Stray hairs don’t stand a chance with Gummy’s Professional ultra hold styling wax that can temper practically every mop and at every length. Its water-based structure doesn’t make hair oily and comes with a fruity watermelon scent that you’ll actually look forward to sniffing throughout the day.
$9.99 at GummyProfessional.com 
Best Hair Pomade
Blind Barber 151 Proof Pomade

Blind Barber offers a solution for practically every hair need, but none more than the ability to style with ease. Its 151 Proof pomade with a tonka bean aroma, high-shine, and strong hold gets the job done and is also formulated with beer hops to make it certifiably more “manly.”
$24 at BlindBarber.com 
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Grooming Awards 2026: Best Body Care ProductsGrooming Awards 2026: Best Shave ProductsGrooming Awards 2026: Best Face Care Products ]]>
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                <pubDate>Wed, 22 Apr 2026 10:28:46 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[Grooming Awards 2026: Body Care Products]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/grooming/appearance/grooming-awards-2026-body-care-products.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/grooming/appearance/grooming-awards-2026-body-care-products.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ AskMen ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[ The Year&#039;s Best Body Washes, Lotions, Deodorants, and More ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/grooming/appearance/grooming-awards-2026-body-care-products/body-2x1-1776184679.jpg" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
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                    <![CDATA[ For too many guys, a &quot;body care routine&quot; boils down to using a crusty bar of soap in the shower. But if you want to take care of your body, fight the signs of aging, and look and smell your best, day in and day out, you need to invest a bit more time and effort into taking care of yourself.
Thankfully, we&#039;ve got you covered, with a comprehensive array of products that will cover you from top to bottom (literally, as it turns out), addressing every variety of body issue from dry skin to sun burns.
Here are the best body grooming products of 2026:
Best Body Wash
 
Sans Savon Charlevoix Boreal Forest Blend Body Wash

 
Stench stands no chance against botanical-forward Sans Savon, a soap-free, sustainably-sourced cleanser that smells as if you’ve walked “through a boreal forest with balsam fir and spruce.” Notes of blue spruce and peppermint round out the vegan showertime indulgence that also protects your skin’s microbiome with prebiotics and 100% natural essential oils.
$49 at SansSavon.com 
Best Bar Soap
 
Pacha Soap Co. Vanilla &amp; Sage Bar Soap

 
Men who prefer cleaning with a traditional bar will relish Pacha Soap Co.’s handcrafted vanilla and sage soap. The ocean-hued block is chock-full of moisturizing shea butter and Bulgarian lavender with the alluring, spa-familiar scents of vanilla and fresh sage.
 
$6.99 at PachaSoap.com 
Best Body Lotion
 
Santu Lima Mexicana Body Lotion

 
A soft body is a happy body and Santu’s Lima Mexicana lotion delivers hydrated, radiant skin. Made with locally harvested Mexican lime, Guerrero eucalyptus, and rosemary de la madre tierra, the self-care showstopper will inevitably find a permanent spot in any evening skincare routine.
$42 at SantuBeauty.com 
Best Stick Deodorant
 
Blu Atlas 48-Hour Natural Deodorant

 
If armpit smells have you feeling blu, this natural deodorant from Blu Atlas — without aluminum and harsh chemicals — will step in to neutralize odor at the source and leave you fresh and confident for 48 hours. The classic scent includes hints of bamboo and sage, though the stick is also available in santal cedar for the more woodsy-inspired gentleman.
$28.09 at BluAtlas.com 
Best Spray Deodorant
 
Dr. Squatch Rainforest Rapids Spray Deodorant

We’re not entirely sure what  “rainforest rapids” would smell like (“crisp jungle rainfall,” according to the brand) but we’re grateful it exists as part of Dr. Squatch’s robust line of scented spray deodorants. Best of all, the dermatologist-tested and -approved products are of 98% natural origin, which means they’re safe to use in practically every nook and cranny of the body.
$13 at DrSquatch.com 
Best Body Deodorant
 
Fine’ry Alleged Deodorant Body Spray

Your pits aren’t the only sweat-accumulating crevices that demand a frequent refresh. Upgrade that scented body spray from high school with Fine’ry’s line of cologne-based deodorant body sprays. We’re big fans of the company’s Alleged scent, which is composed of coriander, green sage, and patchouli.
 
$14.99 at Target.com 
Best Hand Soap
 
Homecourt Mandarin Basile Hand Wash

 
Actress Courtney Cox wows with an extensive (and cleverly named) line of organic home products and this Homecourt handwash is, perhaps, its crown jewel. The iconic mandarin basile scent (which often sells out) features sparkling mandarin, fresh green basil, and ripe fig, making it an excuse to constantly get your hands dirty.
$36 at Homecourt.co 
Best Hand Cream
 
O’Keeffe’s Working Hands Cream

Calluses, begone! O’Keeffe’s Working Hands Cream works overtime to provide relief for cracked, dry palms and digits. Frequent use also creates a protective barrier to prevent further moisture loss, making it a beauty routine essential, especially during winter months.
From $7.97 at OKeeffesCompany.com 
Best Foot Cream
Badger Peppermint &amp; Tea Tree Foot Balm

 
If your heels are cracked and your soles need love, it’s time to invest in an effective moisturizing balm. Badger impresses with its concentrated base of olive oil, castor oil, and beeswax that softens even the most terrible of trotters, all while cooling essential oils of peppermint, tea tree, and rosemary invigorate and refresh so that feet feel alive again.
$13.99 at BadgerBalm.com
Best Sunscreen Lotion
EltaMD UV Lotion Broad-Spectrum SPF 35

Protecting your face from the sun is a critical step in any skincare routine, but we often neglect our bodies. EltaMD’s silky-smooth, broad-spectrum SPF lotion gives anyone an excuse to lather up on the daily with active zinc oxide to shield from the sun and hyaluronic acid to retain lost moisture.
From $35 at EltaMD.com 
Best Sunscreen Spray
MDSolarSciences Quick Dry Body Spray SPF 40

The guy on the go demands a quick-dry body spray that is equal parts protective and easy to use. MDSolarSciences has perfected their sunscreen formula with a lightweight, non-aerosol can that leaves no white cast and is water-resistant for up to 80 minutes.
$26 at MDSolarSciences.com 
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Grooming Awards 2026: Best Hair Care ProductsGrooming Awards 2026: Best Shave ProductsGrooming Awards 2026: Best Face Care Products ]]>
                </content:encoded>
                <pubDate>Wed, 22 Apr 2026 10:28:21 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[What Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/fitness/mental-health/what-is-cognitive-behavioral-therapy.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/fitness/mental-health/what-is-cognitive-behavioral-therapy.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Anouare ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[ Should You Try CBT? The Benefits of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/fitness/mental-health/what-is-cognitive-behavioral-therapy/askmen-lead-image-template-1-1715092549.png" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
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                    <![CDATA[ When you hear people say they go to therapy, most of them are likely referring to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). It’s one of the most popular therapeutic approaches these days for a reason: It’s highly effective when it comes to treating a variety of mental health issues — or even simply managing stress. 
“First, it&#039;s incredibly versatile, effectively treating various disorders ranging from depression and anxiety to phobias and PTSD. This broad applicability makes it a go-to for many therapists,” according to Sal Raichbach, LCSW, PsyD, Chief Clinical Officer at  Haven Health Management. “Secondly, CBT is evidence-based, meaning it has been rigorously tested in clinical trials and shown to be effective. This empirical support reassures both practitioners and patients of its validity and effectiveness.”
RELATED: How Therapy Can Change Your Life
But what exactly is CBT? From unpacking what really happens in a one-on-one session with a therapist to understanding the benefits of the approach, here’s what you need to know to determine whether it’s right for you.
 

What Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)?

 
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is based on the premise that your thoughts inform your feelings, which then drive your behavior and can therefore reinforce certain thoughts. When you frequently have unhelpful thoughts, you can get stuck in negative patterns of thinking, feeling and acting. 
CBT helps you break those patterns and create healthier ones by making you more aware of the way you think and behave — and how this affects your emotional well-being. “CBT is about empowering individuals to become their own therapists by understanding the connections between their actions, emotions, and outcomes. It&#039;s like having a toolbox for life&#039;s challenges,” says Dr. Shmaya Krinsky, founder of Anxiety and Behavioral Health Psychotherapy.
 
While this may sound a little bit abstract at first, know that CBT is actually super structured and action-oriented. Through conversations with your therapist, you learn strategies and skills to manage issues like anxiety and improve your mental health based on personal goals. 
For example, let’s say that you struggle with impostor syndrome at work. In therapy, you realize that this feeling of not being good enough has permeated your entire life. Your therapist helps you uncover thoughts that have become so automatic you don’t even realize you’re having them on a daily basis — thoughts like, “I am a failure” or “I am not as smart as other people.”

Challenging Unhelpful Thought Patterns Through CBT

 
These continuous thoughts are called cognitive distortions. They create a filter through which you experience the world, but they’re not rooted in reality. Your therapist teaches you to first become aware of them, then gently challenge them with more rational thinking. 
For instance, you may catch yourself thinking yet again that it’s only a matter of time before you get fired. This makes you feel terrible and leads you to work on evenings and weekends to try to make up for it. You overextend yourself and start making mistakes, which reinforces your fears of getting fired.
 
In this case, challenging unhelpful thoughts may look like gathering insights about what kind of feedback you’ve received from your boss or peers lately. Do you have reasons to believe that you are underperforming at work? 
Wait a minute — you just received praise during a meeting a couple of weeks ago. And you keep being given more responsibilities, which is a good sign. You feel better. The next time you catch yourself beating yourself up, you repeat the process and remind yourself of the facts.
 
Not only does this approach help you manage your feelings of anxiety about not measuring up, but it also leads you to adopt healthier behaviors like embracing a better work-life balance and being more focused at work. This feeds into a new positive loop of thoughts, feelings and actions. 

The Benefits of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

 
“One of the biggest benefits of CBT is that it empowers you to take control over your own thoughts and feelings. You learn to identify and challenge negative patterns of thinking that may be causing distress, and replace them with more positive and realistic thoughts,” says Raichbach. 
The payoff? “Improved self-esteem, increased confidence, and better coping mechanisms for dealing with stress or anxiety,” adds Raichbach, who also notes that it’s possible to see results in a relatively short amount of time with CBT.
 
Krinsky agrees: “CBT offers individuals the opportunity to experience significant improvement relatively quickly. With its focus on practical actions, CBT provides tangible steps for individuals to implement in their daily lives.” 
Whether you learn how to constructively work through relationship struggles or find better ways to cope with stress, one of the most powerful benefits of CBT lies in the fact that it equips you with tools that you can use for the rest of your life.
 

Should You Try CBT?

 
So, should you try CBT? Both Raichbach and Krinsky say that it can benefit anyone who wants to improve their well-being and manage stress — in fact, CBT can be used as a preventative tool to help you develop healthy coping mechanisms before more serious issues arise. 
However, both experts also note that it’s essential to be motivated to actively participate in the process and embrace new ways of seeing and doing things. “Additionally, those with severe mental health conditions may require more intensive or specialized treatment,” says Raichbach.
 
If you want to invest in your emotional well-being and are willing to put in the work, CBT can be a wonderful option. If you are experiencing mental health struggles such as depression, it’s always best to consult a mental health professional to explore the best course of action for your unique needs.  
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                <pubDate>Wed, 22 Apr 2026 10:59:18 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[How Much Protein Do You Need]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/fitness/nutrition/how-much-protein-do-you-need.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/fitness/nutrition/how-much-protein-do-you-need.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Jack ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[ Unpacking the Science Behind High-Protein Diets ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/fitness/nutrition/how-much-protein-do-you-need/askmen-lead-image-template-1717610364.png" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
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                    <![CDATA[ One of the most contentious debates in all of fitness surrounds protein intake — specifically, how many grams you should consume each day. The typical Internet fitness guru advises a protein intake of anywhere from 0.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight on the low end to 2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight on the high end, well above the USDA’s recommendation of 0.36 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight. So, you may ask, who is right? 
RELATED: How to Add More Protein to Your Diet
As is often the case with questions like this, the answer is closer to it depends than a cut-and-dry, single figure, but it’s still worth having a good estimate of your own body’s needs because optimizing your protein intake is the solution to a lot of common health problems and a great hack for adding muscle, battling fatigue and even keeping your brain functioning at a high level.

Everything You Need to Know About Protein Intake

Protein is one of the vital macronutrients, and it’s worth understanding its role in the body, regardless of whether you want to eat more or less of it each day. 
What Are the Benefits of Protein?
In the popular imagination, protein intake and muscle mass are tightly correlated. Want to look like Arnold? Eat more protein, bro! That link exists because your body breaks down protein into amino acids, which it then uses to repair damaged muscle tissue. Inadequate protein intake impairs that process. But protein has many more benefits to your body, on top of maintaining and building muscle, such as: 
Increasing bone density: Higher protein intake has been proven to promote greater bone density and stave off osteoporosis, which only becomes more important to you as you age, since bone density tends to decline with time.Lowering blood pressure: In a recent meta-analysis of the effects of protein intake on health, a link was established between higher protein diets and decreased blood pressure, both systolic and diastolic. Even better, another major study finally put to rest the supposed link between higher protein intake and heart disease, so you can drop that concern as well.  Staving off cognitive decline: A famous study from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition looked at the diets and long-term health outcomes of more than 77,000 men and women and found a positive correlation between higher protein diets and long-term cognitive function. Specifically, every 5% increase in protein versus carbohydrate intake was associated with an 11% lower risk of developing dementia. Improve skin elasticity: Aging might be inevitable, but that doesn’t mean we want to look old. Thankfully, there’s been a proven link between high-protein diets and improved skin elasticity, preventing wrinkles and fine lines and keeping your skin looking youthful as you age.
If it isn’t already obvious, let’s just say it outright: protein intake is about a lot more than just muscle mass, and optimizing your protein intake has all kinds of benefits to your overall health and well-being. 
What Are the Signs of Protein Deficiency?
There’s a lot of controversy surrounding protein intake on the high end, but there’s very little disagreement about the perils of protein deficiency. In other words, while reasonable people can disagree about what the upper end of the protein intake range looks like, those same people agree that too little protein is a disaster for the body. If you suffer from protein deficiency, you’re likely to experience some or all of the following:
Chronic fatigueEdema (swelling of the body)Thin skinBrittle nailsWeaker hair strandsDifficulty gaining muscleChronic coldsAnemia (reduced red blood cells)Greater hunger pangs
Does the Source of the Protein Matter?
Absolutely! One of the problems of studying the impact of high-protein diets on health is that not all protein sources are equal. If you have a fast-food hamburger for both lunch and dinner, you’re probably meeting your protein goals, but there are vastly fewer nutrients (and many more preservatives, nitrates and other undesirable additives) in the fast food burger than in, for example, a grass-fed sirloin steak. 
If you need inspiration for quality protein sources, Harvard Medical School offers an excellent list, including lean meats and fish, beans, peas and lentils, quinoa, eggs, nuts and seeds. These sources are desirable because they offer not only protein but also a wealth of other nutrients, including vitamins and minerals, that your body needs to function well. 
Who Should Eat a High-Protein Diet?
Bodybuilders and other strength athletes need a high-protein diet, but who else can benefit from upping their protein intake? Multiple studies have shown that high-protein diets are beneficial for promoting weight loss, first because protein itself requires energy for the body to break down and use, and next because it promotes satiety (the feeling of fullness) and therefore makes it easier to stick to your diet. 
There are also some specific niche cases where it can be a huge boost to your body to pretend you’re a bodybuilder: if you’re injured, for example, especially if you’re bedridden, a higher protein intake can help your body retain its muscle mass and delay or offset atrophy.
Endurance athletes (think swimmers, bicyclists, runners and rowers) also benefit from increased protein intake, since the effects of prolonged endurance exercise are highly catabolic to existing muscle tissue. 
Is Eating Too Much Protein Bad for You?
One of the enduring myths about protein intake is that there is an upper limit beyond which your body can process protein, and that going beyond this limit could cause damage to your kidneys. The science on this one has been in for a long time: unless you already have kidney disease, your high-protein diet isn’t going to damage your kidney. For most people, the worst thing that can happen from overconsumption of protein is that you store the excess calories as fat on your body, and even that is unlikely because it’s very difficult to overeat protein compared to, say, carbohydrates.
Stop Stalling — I Want a Number
Alright, alright, here’s the TL:DR for those of you out there that don’t care too much about the whys and wherefores and just want some actionable information. The USDA’s recommendation of 0.36 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight is probably fine for most men, but definitely inadequate for athletes and anyone trying to build muscle or lose a lot of weight. 
If you regularly lift weights, if you’re trying to build muscle, or if your bodyfat percentage is over 30% and you want to diet down, start with 0.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight and experiment from there. Good signs you’re moving in a positive direction by adding protein to your diet include increased energy, faster recovery, and progressive strength gains.
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Adjusting Protein Intake for Weight LossBest Protein PowdersThe Best Energy and Protein Bars ]]>
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                <pubDate>Tue, 21 Apr 2026 13:32:31 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[Why Dating Apps Can Make You Feel Lonelier Than Ever]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/dating/dating-advice/datings-apps-loneliness.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/dating/dating-advice/datings-apps-loneliness.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Anouare ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[ Dating Apps Are All About Making Connections. So Why Do They Make Us Feel So Lonely? ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/dating/dating-advice/datings-apps-loneliness/askmen-lead-image-template-28-1715706671.png" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
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                    <![CDATA[ No, it’s not just you: In a sea of online dating profiles and potential matches, it’s possible to feel lonelier than ever while using dating apps. 
“On one hand, it&#039;s super easy to meet loads of people, but on the other, it can feel kind of lonely and disconnected. It&#039;s weird how swiping through profiles, trying to find that &#039;perfect match,&#039; can actually make us feel unseen and unsatisfied,” says Dr. Brooke Keels, chief clinical officer at Lighthouse Recovery. 
Nearly 4 in 5 people aged 18-54 experience some level of emotional fatigue or burnout when dating online, according to a Singles Reports study. Moreover, men are more likely than women to experience those feelings often. 
RELATED: How to Make Online Dating Work for You 
Knowing that others share your struggles may be comforting. But it still doesn’t address the core of the issue: How can dating apps breed so much disconnect while simultaneously providing so many opportunities to connect? Here’s what you need to know – and what you can do if swiping has you feeling lonely. 

5 Reasons Dating Apps Can Make You Feel Lonely

Online Dating Can Feel Superficial 
At first, online dating is full of promise. 
“Dating apps can give the impression of limitless matches, potential partner similarity, and the ability to connect from the comfort of your home,” says Dr. Tarra Bates-Duford. 
However, it’s easy for frustration and confusion to creep in with every swipe. 
First, there’s the focus on physical appearance. In real life, looks may also be one of the first things that you notice about someone and vice-versa. 
RELATED: How to Have Dating Success No Matter What You Look Like 
There’s nothing wrong with that per se, but when you’re mindlessly looking at dozens of different faces in the span of minutes, it can start feeling superficial. 
It Can Be Hard to Foster Authenticity
It can also be difficult to get a sense of someone’s real vibe – or convey yours – online. Context can get lost when you’re reading profile descriptions and exchanging DMs. 
RELATED: Common Mistakes Guys Make Sending Dating Messages
“Online dating profiles can be misleading, missing cues like facial expressions, body language, and genuine comments — not catchphrases generated by an app,” says Dr. Bates-Duford. “It can be hard to gauge authenticity and sincerity.”
Some people even lie on their profile. There’s pressure to present yourself in a certain way, which can further erode authenticity. And since authenticity is the backbone of meaningful connection, using apps can leave you feeling empty. 
Getting Matches Can Be a Challenge
Plus, if you’re a heterosexual man, getting matches can be a challenge. 
“Men and women simply swipe differently,” says Kristian Boe, founder of Swipestats.io. “While men swipe right on about 35% of profiles, women only swipe right on about 2.5% of profiles. So if you&#039;re not in the top 20% of profiles as a man, you basically get zero action, which contributes to frustration.” 
RELATED: Why Women Have Higher Standards in Dating 
Men Are More Likely to Experience Loneliness Generally
As Bates-Duford notes, loneliness is not the physical state of being alone, but the emotional feeling and/or state of being alone.
“Loneliness involves a lack of deep and satisfying relationships, connection, and negative quality of existing relationships,” she explains. “Dating apps can exacerbate feelings of loneliness, as it often takes an extended period of time to build relationships with someone you meet online.” 
Unfortunately, men are more likely to experience social isolation and a lack of quality relationships in the first place. Recent research shows that men’s social circles are shrinking, and it’s worse for younger men. According to an American Perspectives Survey, over one in four men under the age of 30 reported having no close social connections. 
So, if you turn to dating apps because you crave connection in general, you may quickly end up feeling lonely. 
RELATED: The Importance of Close Friendships for Men 
Real Connection Takes Time 
Even if you’re meeting plenty of people, it doesn’t mean that you’re going to connect with them on a deeper level. 
“When you dive into online dating, the real challenge isn&#039;t just about finding someone,” says Keels. “It&#039;s about finding real, meaningful connections that go beyond just chatting online.”
RELATED: The Difference Between Attraction &amp; Compatibility 
“It feels like there&#039;s this silent struggle with feeling lonely, especially with all the pressure from society to seem always connected and totally in control,” she adds. “But what we&#039;re really after is someone who gets us, someone we can share true intimacy and understanding with.” 

5 Tips to Counter Dating App-Induced Loneliness

While online dating comes with downsides and frustrations, it can still lead to positive experiences. There are ways to enjoy using apps and replace pangs of loneliness with more hopeful feelings. Here are a few tips: 
Separate Your Self-Worth From Outcomes 
“I wish men knew how to separate their dating app results from their self-worth,” says Boe. 
In order to do this, it’s important to adjust your mindset. Are you hoping to get matches for a boost of validation? If so, a lack of matches will get you down. 
RELATED: How to Get More Right Swipes on Dating Apps 
However, being open to exploring whether there’s mutual interest without taking things personally will lead to a more satisfying online dating experience. 
Take Breaks As Needed
Sometimes you just need to take a step back. 
“Taking a break from the thing that makes you feel lonely does help,” adds Boe. 
RELATED: How to Handle Online Dating Burnout
You can’t combat dating app fatigue by forcing yourself to try again and again. It’s usually a sign to shift gears and tend to your emotional needs in other ways. 
Talk to People in Real Life
This may sound like a crazy idea, but try talking to people in real life. 
“Attend social groups, speed dating, start up a conversation with someone interesting, go out with friends, and go to places where people you may be interested in will be,” says Bates-Duford. 
RELATED: How to Chat Up Attractive Women in Person
Even if it doesn’t lead anywhere, it may well help you feel more connected than looking at your screen. 
Engage in Self-Reflection 
If you’re feeling lonely, it’s a good time to check in with yourself. What do you value? What are you looking for in your romantic life? Do you feel satisfied with your other relationships? 
“Doing some self-reflection to figure out what we really want and need can help us create more meaningful connections, both on and offline,” says Keels. 
Embrace Vulnerability 
Being vulnerable can be scary, but it can also lead to more meaningful interactions. So, try showing more of who you are while dating. It won’t guarantee that everyone you meet on apps will be genuine, but it will increase your chances of experiencing genuine connection. 
Finally, if you feel chronically lonely, you may want to try opening up to a trusted friend or professional. It’s more common than you think, and talking about it is one of the best things you can do to combat isolation. 
You Might Also Dig: 
Ways to Meet Women Outside of Bars &amp; ClubsDating Tips for Shy Guys
Why Dating Sucks, Revealed ]]>
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                <pubDate>Tue, 21 Apr 2026 13:31:58 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[Best Leg Exercises]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/fitness/workout/best-leg-exercises.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/fitness/workout/best-leg-exercises.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Jack ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[ Forget abs and biceps for a change and focus on sumo squats, dead lifts and lunges with these 10 leg exercises. ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/fitness/workout/best-leg-exercises/askmen-lead-image-2x1-1766149699.png" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
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                    <![CDATA[ Your legs are, quite literally, your body’s foundation. They have the difficult job of carrying the weight of the rest of your body, and everything from standing up to jumping requires a coordinated effort from multiple lower-body muscle groups.
The benefits of strong legs don&#039;t just accrue to athletes, though. They’ll help you injury-proof your body, correct your gait, and improve your posture. And let’s not forget about the aesthetic benefits. A strong chest, boulder shoulders, and bulging biceps are great and all, but if they’re attached to a pair of stick legs, you’ll find yourself wearing pants all year.
RELATED: How Often Should You Work Out Your Legs?
Now that you’re resolved to train your legs, though, where do you start? We’ve picked out the ten best leg exercises for muscular growth, strength, and athletic performance. You don’t have to do all of them; feel free to mix and match. We promise, if you focus on progressing in these movements, you’ll grow a pair of legs to be proud of, and you’ll never again be ashamed to wear shorts.

Barbell Back Squat

What’s good about it: The barbell back squat is not only the single best leg exercise, but possibly the best single exercise, period. It recruits a huge amount of your musculature, enabling you to lift heavy weights and progress quickly, and the strength you build in this exercise directly translates into athletic performance. There’s also something deeply satisfying about heavy, full-range squats; they’re a marker not only of your strength but of your flexibility.
What muscles it works: Quads, glutes, hamstrings, and core
Technique tips: With your feet shoulder-width apart and the barbell resting on your shoulders (not on your neck), and while keeping a tight core, descend to the ground by dropping your hips. Maintain core tightness and a neutral spine, and descend until your quads are roughly parallel to the ground. Pause for a split second at depth, and then drive through your heels to return to the starting position.

Lunges

What’s good about it: To properly train your legs, you need to work them in tandem and in isolation, and lunges are a painful, willpower-testing way to torch those muscle fibers. Many athletes happily take to the squat rack but shy away from lunges – and we can understand. These require good core stability, strong and flexible hips, and good muscular endurance. You don’t need to use very heavy weights. What you need to do is concentrate on perfecting your form and lunging to your full range of motion.
What muscles it works: Quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, calves, and core
Technique tips: While holding two dumbbells or a barbell over your shoulders (as in the back squat), lunge forward until the knee of the lunging leg is roughly over your foot, making your upper leg parallel to the floor. From this position, push through your front foot, driving yourself back to the starting position. Repeat these exact motions with the other leg.
RELATED: Should You Do Squats Every Day?

Barbell Front Squat

What’s good about it: The front squat is the often-neglected baby brother of the back squat. You won’t be able to use as much weight or recruit as much muscle fiber, but that doesn’t mean front squats don’t belong in every self-respecting leg routine. They emphasize the anterior chain, especially the quadriceps, and athletes – whose movements are often quad-dominant – need to pay particular attention to their front squat strength, since this movement also has high applicability to all kinds of sports. Another big benefit to the front squat is the barbell position: if you can get the requisite flexibility in your shoulders to hold the bar in front of you, you’ll take a lot of stress off your back and spine. Many people recovering from back injuries find front squats much easier to perform.
What muscles it works: Quadriceps and upper backTechnique tips: With your feet shoulder-width apart, rest the barbell on your front delts, while keeping it in place with your fingers under the bar and your elbows at shoulder-height (this might require some work on your flexibility). Descend by lowering your hips, while preventing your knees from caving inward. Stop when your quads are parallel to the ground, and then return to the starting position by pushing into the floor. Make sure your elbows don’t drop, as that will cause the bar to roll out of position and possibly fall.

Leg Press

What’s good about it: The leg press is a safe and effective way to train your legs at a high volume. For this reason, they’re a staple exercise among bodybuilders, who are always seeking to maximize time under tension, but athletes shouldn’t neglect it, either. A bigger leg is, generally, a stronger leg, and few exercises contribute to leg growth quite like the leg press.
What muscles it works: Quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings
Technique tips: The leg press requires a leg press machine, in which you sit with your back tight against the pad. Place your legs on the leg press platform at roughly shoulder-width distance, then, when you’re ready, disengage the safety mechanism (these vary by machine) and push into the platform, driving through your heels, until your legs are almost straight. Then descend slowly, controlling the weight, until your quads are parallel to the platform. If this is your first time doing the leg press, deliberately lower the weight until you’re familiar with your limits.

Stiff-Legged Deadlifts

What’s good about it: If you live in the modern world, there’s a good chance your posterior chain is weak and underdeveloped. Why? Because you probably spend an inordinate amount of time sitting in a chair. Here’s an iron law of human musculature: muscle imbalances lead to injuries, and one of the more common imbalances is overdeveloped quadriceps and underdeveloped hamstrings. Stiff-legged deadlifts directly address that weakness, enabling you to fortify your posterior chain.
What muscles it works: Glutes, hamstrings and lower back
Technique tips: Stand tall, while holding either a barbell or a pair of dumbbells in front of your quads. Lower the weight by sticking your butt out and bending at the weight, doing your best to keep your hamstrings straight. Your flexibility will determine your range of motion, so stop when you begin to feel a slight discomfort, and then rise up with a straight back to the starting position.

Hip Thrust

What’s good about it: Hip thrusts are an old-school exercise that fell out of favor until very recently, when some Instagram influencers discovered that they’re extremely effective at building up the glutes.
What muscles it works: Glutes, hamstrings, hip adductors
Technique tips: Hip thrusts can be done with or without weights, and with or without the assistance of a machine. The basic setup involves you on your back, with your knees raised and your butt and feet flat on the floor. Contract your glutes to drive your butt up until your quads and your torso form a straight line. That’s the end point. From there, descend slowly to the original position. That’s one rep. A more common variation involves using a barbell, as demonstrated below.

Deadlift

What’s good about it: The deadlift competes with the barbell back squat for the title of “single best exercise,” and for good reason. It recruits muscles from across the entire body, and enables you to work with very heavy weights. Making progress in the deadlift will directly translate into athletic performance, and help you see strength gains across your body, from larger muscle groups like the hamstrings and glutes to smaller groups like your forearms.
What muscles it works: Hamstrings, glutes, back, core, traps, forearms
Technique tips: Approach a loaded barbell on the floor, with your feet shoulder-width apart, until the bar is over the midpoint of your feet. Use a hip hinge to lower your hands until they can grasp the bar, and then pull the slack out of the bar, while keeping your back straight. You’re now “locked in” and ready to lift. Push into the floor, engaging the quads, to get the initial lift off, and then use your hamstrings and glutes to “unhinge” until you’re standing straight, with the bar at your thighs.

Leg Extension

What’s good about it: Leg extensions get a bad reputation, mostly because if done incorrectly they can be dangerous, but if used correctly, they’re a great way to tax your leg muscles safely and stimulate growth, particularly in the quadriceps. Keep the weights low, control your tempo, and don’t fully lock out your legs at the conclusion of each rep. Do that and you’ll see tear-drop-shaped quads in no time.
What muscles it works: Quadriceps
Technique tips: This exercise requires a machine. You’ll be seated, with your legs beneath a padded lever that you can only move by contracting your quadriceps until your legs are straight. One important point: don’t fully lock out your legs at the extension point. You’ll save your knees a lot of stress and keep stress where you want it, on your quads.

Power Clean

What’s good about it: If the benefits of an exercise were the only consideration, power cleans would be up there with squats and deadlifts: they’re that beneficial. We’re talking increased strength and increased explosive power, all of which directly translate into better athletic performance.
What muscles it works: Quads, hamstrings, glutes, core, traps
Technique tips: Here’s an immediate caveat: the power clean is an Olympic lift, and like all Olympic lifts, it’s extremely technical. That means you almost certainly need a coach or veteran Olympic lifter to observe and critique your form, because as a beginner, you will make mistakes, and if you make mistakes while attempting a heavy or even moderately heavy lift, you can do real damage to your back. So what follows are instructions, but consider purchasing some in-person coaching before you attempt this lift with anything heavier than a broomstick.
The power clean begins like a deadlift, with the bar on the floor and your stance and address identical to the deadlift. The initial “pull” is identical to the deadlift as well, but because the weight is lighter and because you’re training explosiveness, you’ll be able to “get under” the bar once it reaches its apex, at which point you “catch it” as if you’re doing a front squat.

Calf Raise

What’s good about it: Calves are a common weak point (see early Arnold Schwarzenegger), requiring high volume and high frequency to grow. Calf raises isolate your calves, making them a great finishing move at the conclusion of a leg routine. They’re also easy to perform with bodyweight, even outside of a gym, so feel free to crank a few sets out at the office or in your home.
What muscles it works: Calves
Technique tips: Standing tall, simply shift your weight to the front of your toes, until you’re up on your tippy-toes, then descend to flat feet again. One time up and down is a single repetition. You can increase the degree of difficulty by holding on to a weight or by increasing the range of motion by standing on a plate.

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                <pubDate>Mon, 20 Apr 2026 10:55:07 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[The Right Way to Rock a Clean Shave]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/grooming/shaving/the-right-way-to-rock-a-clean-shave.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/grooming/shaving/the-right-way-to-rock-a-clean-shave.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Anouare ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[ Ditching Your Low-Maintenance Facial Hair? Here&#039;s How to Rock the Beardless Look Like a Boss ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/grooming/shaving/the-right-way-to-rock-a-clean-shave/askmen-lead-image-template-1717764964.png" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
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                    <![CDATA[ Once upon a time, being clean-shaven was the standard in professional settings. Scruff was associated with being unkempt, while a clean shave sent the message that you were put-together and cared about your appearance.   
Thanks to cultural and economic shifts, like the hipster beards of the 2010s that followed the Great Recession, attitudes about what’s considered appropriate and attractive have evolved.  Stubble is now welcome, and men are expressing their individuality by embracing a wide variety of facial hair styles – the “Top Gun mustache,” for example, has recently spurred a ‘stache revival.
 
RELATED: Best Razors for Men

Is the Clean Shave Still in Style?

 
But is it still OK to wear a clean shave if you feel like it? While trends come and go, some looks remain timeless. Even though it decreased in popularity in the past couple of decades, the clean shave will never go out of fashion.“The total clean-shaven look has always been around, but with more men returning to the office as [remote work opportunities] decrease, many are now opting to remove their low-maintenance beards,” according to Tom Yates, founder of Cut Throat Club. 
So, yes, the clean shave is still in style. It’s also practical. With warmer temps, more men are looking to knock off their facial hair, says professional groomer and barber Jovan Figueroa. If you feel inclined to try it out, here’s the right way to rock a clean shave.
 

Tips to Rock a Clean Shave

Mentally Prepare
First, get mentally ready, says Figueroa: “This may not seem like a step for some, but for anyone with a full-grown beard, it could be intimidating.” 
If you’re used to seeing yourself with a beard, you may want to ease into a clean shave by trying a shorter style first before fully taking the plunge.
 
Get the Right Tools
 
Getting your hands on the right tools and using the proper shaving technique is also crucial if you want to achieve a smooth, close shave (more on that below). You don’t need anything fancy, but your blades need to be sharp. 
“Dull blades not only provide an uneven shave, but can also pull hairs and cause skin irritation, leading to ingrown hairs,” says Yates.
 
Don’t Neglect Post-Shave Care and Skincare
 
What you do after you shave makes a big difference in terms of wearing the clean-shaved style well. Post-shave basics like rinsing with cold water and using an aftershave balm are more than soothing – they also protect your skin from irritation. 
Now that you’re going to showcase your skin, your skincare routine is that much more important. Look for products adapted to your skin type. Keep your face cleansed and moisturized while using sun protection daily. Exfoliating on a regular basis will also help prevent ingrown hairs.
 
Consider Grooming Your Eyebrows
 
You certainly don’t need to groom your eyebrows to sport a clean shave. But if you were blessed with extra-bushy brows, you may find that they clash with your new sleek look. Trimming your brows can help balance the overall aesthetic.    
Own Your Look
 
It could take you a couple of days to get used to seeing your bare face again. You may get comments from friends and family. Don’t let any of those initial reactions deter you. Have fun experimenting with outfits and hairstyles that make you feel confident and complement the sharpness of your clean shave. 

How to Achieve a Perfect Clean Shave

Eager to shave off all your facial hair? If you’re working with a full beard, trim it down first. Once you’re ready to get started on the close shave, Figueroa recommends a straight-edge razor – think, your classic Gillette pick – or a safety razor, which features an extra-sharp single blade. Both options are equally effective and can be used in a similar manner, but the latter is a little more advanced if you’re not used to maneuvering a razor. 
Next, take a hot shower or apply a hot towel to your face to soften your hair and open your pores. The hot towel will enhance the whole experience if you have the time for the extra step. “Place a wet face towel in the microwave for about a minute and a half, open it up, and apply the steam towel to the face,” suggests Figueroa.
 
Then, apply a pre-shave oil to your face. Oil and shaving cream work hand in hand, so use both. “Creating a good barrier between skin and razor is extremely important to limit any irritation, razor burns, or cuts,” adds Figueroa. 
The way you hold and move your razor also matters. “Grip the razor comfortably with your thumb on the shoulder and fingers wrapped around the tang. Short, controlled strokes are key,” says Yates.
 
According to Yates, you should tilt the razor slightly and pull your skin while moving the blade across your face. You may need multiple passes for a close shave, but with gentle pressure. Avoid shaving against the grain and follow the direction of your natural hair growth. “Although you may feel this gives a closer shave, it&#039;s often the culprit behind ingrown hairs and irritation,” says Yates. Take your time and prioritize safety and technique over speed. 
Once you’re done, rinse off with cool water, apply a soothing aftershave balm and moisturize. Your skin should feel baby smooth at this point. Take good care of your skin, and show off your facial angles to the world with confidence.
 
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                <pubDate>Mon, 20 Apr 2026 10:54:39 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[Best Back Strengthening Exercises]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/sports/bodybuilding/best-back-strengthening-exercises.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/sports/bodybuilding/best-back-strengthening-exercises.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Tanner ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[  ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/sports/bodybuilding/best-back-strengthening-exercises/askmen-lead-image-2x1-1749569912.png" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
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                    <![CDATA[ Most guys who frequent the gym have no issues working their mirror muscles. If you’ve ever been to a gym on a Monday, you know this. Dubbed the &quot;international chest day&quot; by the internet, Monday is the day when the weight room is full of guys camping out on the bench press (and likely following their bench session up with curls).
But there is almost always something interesting about the guys who spend so much time benching. They may be able to bench press a respectable amount of weight, but very few of them actually look like they lift.
And that’s because most guys focus on training the wrong body parts.
When it comes to developing a physique worth noticing — the kind that makes it known that you lift whether you’re wearing a tank top, a hoodie or a coat — you need to develop a big back.
RELATED: Best Back Workout Routines
From an aesthetic standpoint, a big, well-developed back is going to have the most dramatic impact — clothed and unclothed. It can fill out even the baggiest of clothes and add another dimension to your physique when you’re shirtless.
A well-developed back shows the world that you’re strong, and not in the new age, hit-chest-every-single-day way either. It helps you develop that coveted V-taper look, which also happens to be pretty important when it comes to attracting ladies. A classic V-taper shape is associated with strength and virility.
So, how do you build your back?
The back is comprised of a large number of muscles, some of them rather large and some of them rather small. They all play a part in helping us move and lift things every single day, which means they’re used to taking a beating. While some muscle groups, like your arms, can respond to lesser volume, that isn’t the case with the back. You’ve got to treat it to a healthy dose of heavy lifting, and quite a bit of training volume.  
Knowing why you need an iron back, and having a vague idea of how to train your back isn’t enough. Which is why I’ve written up a back workout you can start using to blow up your back.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Building Up Your Back Muscles

Every good back routine requires both a warmup, to properly prepare the muscles for what&#039;s coming, and a balanced workout comprised of exercises that target the back muscles in all their various planes of motion. In practice, that means both vertical and horizontal pulling exercises. Here&#039;s how to start:
Pre-Exhaust Superset
We’re doing these to get your blood flowing and cause a small amount of fatigue. Pre-fatiguing your muscles before heavy compound movements helps muscle growth by increasing the number of muscle fibers you’ll recruit during your workout. Do each exercise back-to-back, rest about 60 seconds and repeat for three rounds. 
A1) Band Pull-apart — 3x20A2) Dumbbell Pullover — 3x15
The Workout 
A) Barbell Row — 5x10B) Neutral-Grip Lat Pulldown — 5x12C) Single-Arm Dumbbell Row — 4x10 per sideD) Snatch-Grip Row — 3x8
On the rows, be sure to let your shoulders completely protract at the bottom of the movement for a bigger range of motion, and take about two minutes of rest between sets.
For the lat pulldowns, know playing with your hand positioning can dramatically alter the movement (and where you feel it). In this case, using a neutral grip will help you get a bigger stretch in your lats while also hitting your mid- back muscles more effectively. Keep your torso positioned properly: You don’t want to lean back too much and turn this exercise into a rowing variation.
The single-arm dumbbell row is a classic exercise to build a great back. Be sure to let your shoulders protract at the bottom of the movement for a bigger range of motion. 
Rest about 90 seconds between each set. If your grip is limiting you, using lifting straps can help tremendously.
We started with the barbell row, and we’re ending with a variation of it. The snatch-grip row works especially well to widen the back because it places extra emphasis on the lats. Take an extra-wide grip and perform the movement as you would perform a traditional barbell row. Because of the widened grip, your back is going to be forced to work harder, which can lead to better overall growth. Rest about 90 seconds between each set. 
Bear in mind that the back responds well to more volume. So it would be wise to start doing this back workout a couple of times a week, every single week. The more you train your back, the better your physique will get.
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                <pubDate>Wed, 15 Apr 2026 11:18:36 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[How to Deal With Anxiety]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/fitness/health/how-to-deal-with-anxiety.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/fitness/health/how-to-deal-with-anxiety.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Stephen ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[ A Guy&#039;s Guide to Dealing With Anxiety — Everything You Need to Know ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/fitness/health/how-to-deal-with-anxiety/askmen-lead-image-template-1-1720205740.png" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
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                    <![CDATA[ Racing thoughts. Trouble concentrating. Fear of the unknown. Fixating on the worst possible outcomes.
Sound familiar?
If so, you might just be experiencing symptoms of anxiety, a mental health issue that one in five men is affected by, according to Edward-Elmhurst Health.
Anxiety can present in a variety of different intensities; it typically manifests as an overall feeling of uneasiness that can present itself in a slew of different ways.
According to Vladimire Calixte, founder of Therapy For Black Men, anxiety in men can manifest in various physical, emotional, and behavioral symptoms, often affecting their overall well-being and relationships.
But what does full-fledged anxiety look like for men and how does it impact one’s life?
“When we hear the word ‘anxiety,’ we typically think about feeling afraid, nervous, or jumpy,” said Dr. Eran Magen, founder of Parenting for Humans and CEO of Early Alert. “While these elements can all be part of how people experience anxiety, it&#039;s important to realize anxiety can also show up in other, more subtle ways.”
RELATED: The Mental Health Basics All Men Should Know 
Given that anxiety is not the easiest thing to talk about — particularly amongst men — we’re using this space to review and discuss steps men can take to better identify anxiety’s symptoms and better manage it as they move forward to lead their best lives.

How Anxiety Shows Up in Men

We know anxiety can manifest itself within the body in a multitude of different ways — affecting mental, physical, and emotional health — and because its influence can be so consistent and pervasive, the “normalization” of anxiety within one’s body and mind can make it hard to detect as anxiety.
“Anxiety often manifests as an inability to stay in the present moment, causing us to get stuck in loops of dwelling on the past or catastrophizing about the future,” says Shira Lazar, co-founder of Peace Inside Live. “When this happens, our brain shifts into the sympathetic ‘fight-or-flight’ mode rather than the parasympathetic ‘rest’ mode, making us more reactive, easily triggered, and easily distracted.”
These symptoms, Lazar says, “can lead to poor sleep, digestive issues, and difficulty concentrating. Over time, anxiety can impact our ability to work effectively, enjoy our relationships, and maintain overall happiness. It can also lead to nervous habits such as nail biting, jaw clenching, and chronic pain.”
According to author and crisis counselor Lisa Sugarman, other physical effects of anxiety include increased heart rate and high blood pressure brought on by stress that can turn into hyperventilation or shortness of breath.
“Prolonged stress of emotional pressure can also lead to stomach issues or loss of appetite along with muscle aches, tension, and headaches,” Sugarman says. “It can also cause a disruption in our sleep and can also — in some cases — lead to substance abuse as a way to cope, so there&#039;s a lot more attached to anxiety than meets the eye.”
RELATED: Things We Do That Are Bad for Our Mental Health 
And that’s what can make anxiety all the more sinister: Not only does it affect different areas of one’s overall health, it can also lead to seemingly unrelated consequences that stem from men grappling with anxiety without realizing they’re experiencing anxiety.
“In men, anxiety can also show up as anger or aggression, which can look like general agitation or a stormy mood,” Magen says. “But it can also look like explosive reactions to seemingly minor frustrations.”
Now, if you experience any of these symptoms, does it mean you have anxiety? No — and to be clear — an anxiety diagnosis should be achieved by speaking with a therapist or another licensed medical professional.
But assuming you do identify with the symptoms, your identification can be the catalyst for you to put a magnifying glass over the areas of your life where the symptoms are bubbling up. From there, you can conduct a deeper dive of self to better understand the root of what you’re experiencing.
RELATED: What to Do if You Think You Have a Mental Health Issue 
According to Calixte, the following is a breakdown of the different ways anxiety shows up in men and how it can affect them:
Physical Symptoms
Increased Heart Rate: Men may experience a racing heart or palpitations.Sweating: Excessive sweating, particularly in stressful situations.Trembling or Shaking: Noticeable physical tremors or shakes.Shortness of Breath: Difficulty breathing or a feeling of being suffocated.Muscle Tension: Persistent muscle aches and stiffness.Fatigue: Constant tiredness or exhaustion, despite adequate rest.Sleep Disturbances: Insomnia or restless sleep patterns.Digestive Issues: Stomachaches, nausea, diarrhea, or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Emotional Symptoms
Excessive Worry: Persistent and uncontrollable worrying about various aspects of life.Restlessness: Feeling on edge, irritable, or easily agitated.Fear and Panic: Experiencing intense fear or panic attacks.Difficulty Concentrating: Trouble focusing or maintaining attention.
Behavioral Symptoms
Avoidance: Avoiding social situations, work, or activities that trigger anxiety.Controlling Behavior: Attempting to control the environment and routines to reduce unpredictability.Rigid Thinking: Insisting on things being done a certain way to avoid anxiety triggers.Irritability: Quick to anger or frustration, especially when plans are disrupted.Social Withdrawal: Withdrawing from social interactions and relationships.Overcompensation: Overworking or engaging in excessive physical activity to distract from anxious thoughts.
Effects on Personal Well-Being
Mental Health: Chronic anxiety can lead to depression, low self-esteem, and a sense of helplessness.Physical Health: Long-term anxiety increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, chronic pain, and weakened immune system.Sleep Quality: Poor sleep exacerbates anxiety, creating a vicious cycle.
Effects on Relationships
Communication Issues: Difficulty expressing feelings and fears can lead to misunderstandings and conflicts.Intimacy Problems: Anxiety can cause sexual dysfunctions such as erectile dysfunction or premature ejaculation, leading to strained intimate relationships.Isolation: Men may withdraw from partners, friends, and family, leading to loneliness and decreased social support.
RELATED: How to Talk to a Partner About Your Mental Health
Effects on Work and Productivity
Performance: Anxiety can impair concentration, decision-making, and productivity, leading to underperformance at work.Absenteeism: Increased sick days or avoidance of work-related tasks.Job Satisfaction: Chronic anxiety can reduce job satisfaction and motivation.
“Most men believe — and are taught by society — that they must be tough no matter what and to not ask for help,” Calixte says. “It’s crucial for men to recognize the symptoms and effects of anxiety, to seek appropriate help, and develop effective coping strategies for managing anxiety and improving quality of life.”

How to Manage Anxiety Effectively

While anxiety isn’t something that can be cured, its effects can be better navigated through therapy, medication, lifestyle changes, and daily mindfulness exercises — all of which require a willingness and participation from the individual in order to be effective.
Despite needing a prescription for medication or a referral for a therapist — if it’s determined you have anxiety — there are several free ways to work at better managing it. For many, those ways are simply getting back to the basics of what helps their minds and bodies function properly.
“Getting enough sleep, eating well, staying hydrated, moving your body, and spending time outdoors are vital,” Lazar says. “For me, mindfulness practices like meditation are crucial for returning to the present moment when I feel overwhelmed. Breathing techniques, such as box breathing [breathing for specific timed intervals] have been scientifically proven to shift the brain from a fight-or-flight state to a more restful and calm state, and journaling helps me process my emotions and focus on gratitude, which is proven to create new neural pathways.”
RELATED: Signs You&#039;re a Healthy Guy
Managing anxiety is thus more about getting back to safety within the body. How to get there depends on the preferences of the individual, but one thing remains consistent: Anxiety is the body in a dysregulated state with its host searching for stability.
“Anxiety can be managed by addressing root causes or by managing symptoms,” Magen says. “Possible root causes include genetics, unhelpful thinking habits, and exposure to too much stress. Genetics are hard to change, but thinking habits and exposure to stress can be changed.”
Further adding to anxiety’s complexities is that it can create what Magen calls a “self-reinforcing loop.”
“Poor sleep — for example — can make us more emotionally reactive, which can hurt relationships, which can lead to loneliness or fear of loneliness, which can then circle back and hurt our sleep,” he says. “Poor sleep can be managed by improving sleep hygiene — going to sleep at a regular time, avoiding screens and caffeine before bedtime. Constant worrying can be managed through therapy or medication. Anger outbursts can be managed by learning anger-management techniques through classes or therapy. There exists a number of free resources available to help with most aspects of anxiety.”
RELATED: How to Get Better Sleep 
If you’re unsure where to start, Magen suggests focusing on the core elements of sleep, exercise, nutrition and socialization.
“Start by doing what you can to get a good amount of sleep, moving vigorously at least a couple of times a week, eating reasonable amounts of food that is mostly unprocessed, drinking mostly water, and connecting with — or at least being near — other people,” he says.
According to Sugarman, the following is a breakdown of the different techniques men can explore to better manage their anxiety:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): CBT helps individuals identify and challenge negative thought patterns and develop healthier ways of thinking and behaving.Mindfulness and Meditation: Practices like mindfulness and meditation can help reduce anxiety by promoting relaxation and helping individuals stay present.Exercise &amp; Movement: Regular physical activity can reduce anxiety levels by releasing endorphins and improving overall physical health.Healthy Lifestyle Choices: Maintaining a balanced diet, getting enough sleep, and reducing caffeine and alcohol intake can positively impact anxiety levels.Breathing Exercises: Techniques such as deep breathing or the 4-7-8 breathing method can help calm the nervous system.Medication: In some cases, medication prescribed by a healthcare provider can be effective in managing anxiety.Support Systems: Talking with friends, family, or joining a support group can provide emotional support and reduce feelings of isolation.Time Management: Effective time management can reduce stress and anxiety by preventing overwhelming situations.Professional Help: Seeking help from a therapist, counselor, or psychologist can provide tailored strategies and support.Limiting Exposure to Stressors: Identifying and reducing exposure to sources of stress, when possible, can help manage anxiety.
“Combining these methods and finding what works best for each individual can significantly improve our ability to manage anxiety when life gets stressful,” Sugarman says.
The key is becoming aware of anxiety symptoms and having the courage to address them. Only then can we begin to normalize the idea of men having anxiety, and thus better treat those affected. The more men who can be vocal on the subject, the more we can collectively manage anxiety and overcome it with less stress on ourselves and those around us.

Normalizing Anxiety in Men

It may come as a real shocker, but the best way to normalize anything is to talk about it regularly. There’s a reason psychopaths repeat lies until they themselves believe them: The more something is discussed, the more it becomes normalized. Normalizing anxiety in men abides by the same principles. 
“Social media can be a great place to find community for those who struggle with loneliness,” Della Mathew, executive creative director at 22Squared co-leading the NO PAUSE Project says. “It can be an amazing catalyst for important conversations that could spark healing and change.&quot;
Healing and change that can come from any type of discourse — whether online or in person — by not shying away from the subject of anxiety.
RELATED: Misconceptions About Mental Health Guys Have 
“Talking about our anxiety helps normalize both the experience of anxiety and the experience of talking about anxiety,” Magen says. “It can be hard to say ‘I&#039;m feeling anxious’ for the first time, but it gets easier. It helps to remember that it doesn&#039;t have to be a big deal — you&#039;re not signing up for a diagnosis, rather you’re simply describing your experience. Just like you might say ‘My stomach’s been feeling funny,’ you could say ‘I&#039;ve been feeling a little anxious these past couple of weeks.’ Most people feel anxious sometimes, and feeling anxious at one point doesn&#039;t mean we&#039;ll be feeling anxious forever — just like having a stomach ache doesn&#039;t mean we&#039;ll have poor digestion forever.”
Just as anxiety can create a negative self-reinforcing loop, talking about anxiety in men can create a positive self-reinforcing loop that can help one man better address and manage his anxiety — and in doing so — encourage other men to do the same.
“We can normalize and destigmatize anxiety by creating safe spaces for open discussions and sharing our experiences,” Lazar says. “Vulnerability is key because, although each of us is unique, our experiences are often more similar than we realize. By sharing and listening, we can see that we are not alone in our struggles.”
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                <pubDate>Wed, 15 Apr 2026 11:18:11 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[How Do Porn Stars Last So Long?]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/sex/sex-tips/how-do-porn-stars-last-so-long.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/sex/sex-tips/how-do-porn-stars-last-so-long.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Jack ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[ Revealed: The Secret, Stamina-Enhancing Tricks of Male Porn Stars ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/sex/sex-tips/how-do-porn-stars-last-so-long/askmen-lead-image-template-1721222847.png" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
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                    <![CDATA[ We’ve already discussed at great length why porn is not a good or appropriate source of information for real-life sex, but if you spend enough time covering the conversation, you learn something kind of funny: most men realize that the average penis they’re seeing in porn is considerably longer and thicker than the average male penis, so they’re somewhat able to insulate their self-esteem from comparison, but they actually don’t realize one of the most unrealistic aspects of porn: how long the on-camera sex lasts!
The average porn scene is upwards of 20 minutes long, but study after study on heterosexual sex finds penetrative sex typically lasts a fraction of that time. The Society for Sex Therapy and Research, for example, polled their members on sex duration, and the most common response range was between three and seven minutes. Another, multinational survey conducted by the Journal of Sex Medicine found a median duration of just 5.4 minutes.
And while it’s important to point out that porn isn’t exactly an honest representation of real-life sex, it’s also worth noting a serious problem: heterosexual sex typically lasts under ten minutes, but heterosexual women, on average, require about 14 minutes to achieve orgasm. The math, as the young people say, isn’t mathing. 



RELATED: How to Last Longer in Bed



So what explains this massive discrepancy? Are male porn stars really just sexual gods walking among us, or is there another explanation? And what can men do to last a little bit longer and hopefully do a better job satisfying their female partners? We did some research into the tricks porn stars (and directors) use to both last longer in bed and appear to last longer in bed, and while some of these are best left to the professionals, the average guy can still learn a thing or two to help improve their (and their partner’s) experience during sex.

How Porn Stars Prolong On-Camera Sex

Camera Trickery
Let’s start with this one right away, so men everywhere can breathe a small sigh of relief: much of pornography’s outrageously lengthy sex duration can be explained by clever editing techniques. In actuality, the performers take breaks throughout the sex scene, masked by clever editing or camera work. Sometimes, what you think is penetrative sex is really just two people going through the motions (“faking it,” as they say), with the camera angles disguising the lack of penetration. At other times, the performers stop penetration at key moments of excitement (often the male performer will tap his female co-star repeatedly, signaling the need for a break) to prolong the scene, leaving it to the producers to edit out these lengthy transitions and give the viewer the appearance of a seamless sex scene.
Performance Enhancers
It’s not exactly a scoop to say that male porn stars use (and often abuse) erection-enhancing drugs like Viagra and Cialis, but millions of men out in the real world also rely on little blue pills to enhance their sex lives. The real secret weapon, and one we think should only be used sparingly (if at all) by average guys, is a numbing agent.
Numbing agents work by dulling the nerves in the penis, helping you prolong the duration at the expense of the sensation. If you’re really suffering from premature ejaculation, a numbing agent can be a great aid, especially if you are eventually able to wean yourself off it, but male porn stars often abuse them, using not only creams but even more powerful injections that, if used incorrectly or too frequently, can cause scarring and other lasting damage to the penis.
The takeaway? If you think you suffer from premature ejaculation, an over-the-counter numbing cream can help you last a little longer and maybe help you build up your sexual self-confidence. 
Sexual Variety
One key trick to prolonging the duration of penetrative sex is to vary your tempo. Sex shouldn’t be a race to the finish line, especially if you want the experience to be enjoyable for your partner, so remind yourself to take your time. If your excitement is building up in one particular position or with one particular pace, switch things up and slow things down.
This is actually one thing porn can teach men, as the average sex scene does tend to feature a lot of variety in terms of position. If you feel like you have more control over your orgasm in missionary than with your partner on top of you, begin with missionary and save the more exciting position for last. Or, if you really want to prolong the pleasure, don’t just vary the sex position; vary the sex act. There’s no law of sex that says that oral sex can only ever be foreplay; in fact, when you need to tamp down your excitement and give yourself a break from penetrative sex, going down on your woman is a great way to keep her excitement high while buying yourself more time.
Experience Builds Self-Confidence
This isn’t really a trick, or even very surprising, but it’s still a truth about how male porn stars perform so well that you can actually incorporate into your own sex life. Practice really does make perfect, in sex as in all things, and male porn stars get a lot of practice. If you’re a regular Joe, and perhaps especially if you’re not in a relationship and only having sex sporadically, it’s only natural that you’d be incredibly, incredibly excited.
Instead of judging yourself too harshly from a very small sample size, treat sex as a learning experience, something that you (and your partner) can get better at over time, especially as you learn more about each other’s wants and needs. The big mistake not to make is to think your orgasm has to put an end to the sexual fun. If you do orgasm early, that doesn’t give you a free pass to ignore your partner’s pleasure. Instead, show your gratitude by recommitting your attention to pleasuring her with your hands and mouth.
Men tend to overestimate the importance of their penises (shocking!) and underestimate how much pleasure they can give by other means, and once you learn that you don’t have to rely on a single tool to get the job done, you’ll stop putting so much pressure on yourself to perform. Ditching the unrealistic expectations will make you a better lover and help you build the kind of sexual self-confidence that women find genuinely attractive. It just takes practice.
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                <pubDate>Tue, 14 Apr 2026 13:53:01 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[Overrated Workout Moves, According to Fitness Pros]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/fitness/workout/overrated-workout-moves-according-to-fitness-pros.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/fitness/workout/overrated-workout-moves-according-to-fitness-pros.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Anouare ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[ These 7 Exercises Are More Hype Than Substance ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/fitness/workout/overrated-workout-moves-according-to-fitness-pros/askmen-lead-image-template-1718976827.png" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
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                    <![CDATA[ If you’re on a health and fitness journey, you may turn to Instagram or TikTok for tips and inspiration. While it can be a source of helpful information, social media also highlights workout moves that may look good on camera but aren’t all that effective – or safe to try on your own without any extra context. 
“These platforms often show us flashy, visually appealing exercises that may prioritize aesthetics over proper form and functionality,” says Wendell Albarran, ISSA-certified fitness expert and nutritionist at Real Elevate Fitness. NASM-certified personal trainer, and fitness influencer Victoria Petrella agrees: “People want to try these trendy moves because they see their favorite fitness personalities doing them, but these exercises might not always be the best for achieving their fitness goals.”
RELATED: The Best Shoulder Exercises
Cutting through the noise and focusing on the best exercises to get closer to your goals is key. Here are seven overrated workout moves you can skip, according to fitness pros.
 

7 Seriously Overrated Exercises

1. Bosu Ball Squats
Squatting on a Bosu ball looks impressive at first glance. And challenging your balance can be great for engaging stabilizer muscles. But doing squats on a Bosu makes the actual squatting part less effective and reduces the amount of force you can generate, says Albarran. 
It can also increase your risk of injury if you’re a beginner, and there are better ways to work on balance and stability. “If you want to work on balance and stability, try single-leg squats or lunges with a focus on control and depth,” recommends Albarran.
 
2. Smith Machine Squats
 
Add Smith machine squats to your list of squat variations to ditch. This time, it’s for the opposite reason: They don’t engage the stabilizer muscles enough compared to free-weight squats, according to Petrella. 
Plus, the fixed bar can also lead to unnatural movement patterns and may lead you to adopt bad form habits over time. “I recommend focusing on free-weight squats or goblet squats for better muscle engagement and functional strength,” says Petrella.
 
3. Bench Dips
Both Petrella and Albarran note that bench tricep dips are overrated, as they can put a lot of strain on your shoulders and wrists. “Bench dips are popular for targeting the triceps but often cause shoulder discomfort or injury because of the awkward angle and strain on the shoulders,” says Albarran, who adds that this move can stress the front of your shoulders too much and lead to discomfort and potential long-term issues if performed incorrectly. 
Try close-grip push-ups instead, which allow for a more natural range of motion while working both your triceps and chest muscles. Or go with moves like tricep pushdowns or skull crushers, which isolate your triceps without unnecessary strain.
 
4. Burpees
You may be surprised to see burpees on the list. Sure, they’re great for your whole body and will improve your cardio. But they involve a lot of impact, which can be hard on the joints. Without proper form, it’s easy to get injured performing burpees. “I think there are better, safer ways to get a good cardio workout without the high impact,” says Petrella. 
According to Luke Jones, movement coach at HERO Movement, moves like burpees should be layered on top of a base of strength, coordination, and mobility: “Without that foundation, most people haven&#039;t developed the strength to absorb the impact.”
 
5. Crunches
If you hate sit-ups, rejoice. Crunches are overrated, says Petrella. They only target a small portion of your abs. It’s more effective to focus on exercises that engage your entire core, like planks and leg raises.
6. Russian Twists
But what about Russian twists, which target the obliques – the side of your ab muscles? 
“While Russian twists can be great for oblique strength, they are often done with poor form and too much weight, leading to back injuries,” adds Petrella. There are safer ways to train those muscles, like side plans or cable woodchoppers. 
7. Jefferson Curls
 
According to Jones, exercises like Jefferson curls are often shown without context on social media, which can lead you to believe you should aim to try them right away. 
If you’re unfamiliar with the Jefferson curl, it involves bending your entire spine forward while holding free weights. Unless you’re an athlete, this is an overrated exercise that you shouldn’t attempt without working up to it and being coached.
 
“The truth is, it takes time to improve mobility and for joints and connective tissues to adapt. There&#039;s a very real risk of doing too much too soon. We don&#039;t want to fear-monger and make people feel fragile, but there needs to be a foundation and understanding of risks,” says Jones. 

Workouts Moves That Are Actually Worth It

 
So, if movements like the ones above are overrated, what kind of moves should you rely on to gain strength and muscle? It depends on your goals and fitness level, but keeping it simple and building a solid foundation is a good idea, recommends Jones. 
Petrella recommends building your workout plan around compound movements that work multiple muscle groups at once – think, deadlifts, bench presses, squats and pull-ups.
 
“Incorporating some form of mobility work is also crucial, taking the joints through a full range of motion with a combination of dynamic and more passive stretches,” adds Jones. 
Throw in some form of cardio-based training that gets your heart rate up for heart health, and you’ve got a recipe for success. It may not be flashy, but it’s tried-and-tested.
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Best Stretches for Men Over 30Best Back Strengthening ExercisesHow and When to Take Rest Days ]]>
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                <pubDate>Tue, 14 Apr 2026 13:52:34 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[How to Use Face-Sitting as a Secret Sex Hack]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/sex/sex-tips/the-under-appreciated-value-of-face-sitting.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/sex/sex-tips/the-under-appreciated-value-of-face-sitting.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Ian ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[ Face-Sitting Is a Seriously Underrated Bedroom Tactic. Here&#039;s How to Use It to Your Advantage ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/sex/sex-tips/the-under-appreciated-value-of-face-sitting/askmen-lead-image-2x1-18-1751462121.png" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
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                    <![CDATA[ With so much of the little sex education that people do get growing up devoted to mitigating negative outcomes like sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies, it&#039;s no surprise that the ins and outs of oral sex don’t exactly get their due.
And while recent decades have seen shifts in the cultural perception of cunnilingus from something demeaning for a guy to do to something that it&#039;s manly to excel at, just like penetration, one aspect of oral that still feels under-discussed is the magic of face-sitting. 
RELATED: Why You Should Go Down on Her on Your Next Hookup 	
Despite the fact that you almost certainly didn’t learn about it in sex ed class, face-sitting is hardly a new concept. Artistic depictions of it go back many hundreds of years, and it’s certainly plausible that people have been engaging in the practice for much, much longer than that. 
And why wouldn’t they? It’s a classic oral sex position that’s easily achievable if you have even a small bed. You don’t need to be crazy flexible or have tons of stamina. One person lies down, the other kneels on either side of their head. And the tongue gets to work. So what should you know about it? 

Why Is Face-Sitting Under-Appreciated? 

Face-sitting isn’t for everyone, and some vagina-havers report preferring oral where they’re lying on their back to the experience of kneeling and straddling a partner’s face. 
However, one big reason I think face-sitting is underrated is that some guys may see it as being associated with femdom — picturing a dominant woman and a submissive man. 
Since being a sub in bed runs counter to many cultural narratives about male power, it’s understandable that some guys might not seek to explore sex acts associated with a submissive male role, even if it’s something they ultimately might find enjoyment in exploring. 
And it’s absolutely true that face-sitting can be used to great effect by sex partners who want to emphasize the power of the vagina-haver who’s sitting on their counterpart’s face. 
RELATED: How to Be Dominant in a Relationship (And in Bed) 
Technically, the person riding can move and place their thighs, crotch and buttocks in such a way as to crush or smother their partner, as well as having their mouth and arms free to engage in degrading dirty talk or hitting, slapping or otherwise teasing the submissive with their hands. 
Furthermore, if there’s real kinky play in progress, the person on top can urinate, fart or defecate on the person below them, seriously adding to the Dom/sub dynamic. 
However, these possibilities also ignore the fact that, done right, the person receiving cunnilingus may find it hard to engage in more dominant, controlling behavior, and may even struggle to speak in coherent sentences.
RELATED: Oral Sex Pro Tips to Make Her Scream 
That’s because, with the top partner’s clitoris pressed directly on their partner’s mouth, the bottom partner has the ability to deliver powerful, ongoing pleasure from an extremely comfortable and non-physically demanding position. 
It also gives the prostrate partner the ability to use their hands to grab or play with the other person’s breasts and nipples, buttocks or feet, and those with longer arms (or shorter partners) could also reach their partner’s face area, meaning choking play, finger-sucking, etc. are viable options. 
Also fun? The prostrate partner can easily masturbate while they go down on the riding partner, meaning pleasure for both people simultaneously. 

A Massive Potential Benefit of Face-Sitting

Most importantly perhaps for men who sleep with women? It’s an absolutely fantastic tool for post-climax pleasuring. 
Ask straight and bi women what their least favorite aspect of sex with cis men is and a lot of them will mention guys who cum and immediately assume the sex is over. 
RELATED: Worst Things Guys Do When They Finish During Sex 
There are a few different factors at play there — for one, it’s understandable for guys in a penetrating role in common positions — like, say, missionary and doggy style — to be exerting more energy than their counterparts. 
When their brains are flooded with feel-good sex chemicals like prolactin, serotonin and oxytocin, which help encourage relaxation, it’s only natural for them to feel sleepy. 
RELATED: Why Do Men Feel Sleepy After Sex? 
Plus, since people with penises typically experience much, much longer refractory periods than people with vaginas, it might be too sensitive to continue penetrative sex. 
All this can combine to produce a physical reality where guys are no longer interested in continuing the action, and cultural scripts like scenes in TV, movies and porn clips where the male ejaculation is treated like the climactic moment of the sex scene reinforce this belief among many guys.
RELATED: Things Guys Need to Unlearn About Sex 
But suppose you’re in the woman’s shoes — you’re enjoying yourself, excited to have an orgasm at some point in the near future, your partner cums, and suddenly everything is over. Wouldn’t that feel pretty frustrating? Wouldn’t you feel disappointed and maybe even a bit resentful that the other person got to experience maximum pleasure and then essentially resigned from the game? 
That’s where face-sitting comes in. Because it features a guy lying on his back, it requires functionally no energy from you. The only thing that really needs to keep moving is your tongue — your legs, arms and torso can be completely relaxed and motionless, and you don’t even have to hold your head up as you do when giving oral to a partner lying on their back. 
So next time you climax before your partner’s ready for things to end, consider asking them to sit on your face. 
You can go to town on them with your tongue while the rest of your body gets its much-desired post-coital bliss, and your partner will get to experience the good times continuing to roll.  
Keep at it long enough and you just might find yourself ready for another round of penetration with a thoroughly pleased partner ready to go, too. Now that’s a win-win-win situation. 
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                </content:encoded>
                <pubDate>Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:53:24 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[Should You Do Burpees Every Day? (Plus, the Best Burpee Variations to Try)]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/fitness/workout/should-you-do-burpees-every-day.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/fitness/workout/should-you-do-burpees-every-day.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Alyssa ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[ This Simple Bodyweight Exercise Might Be the Secret to Torching Body Fat ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/fitness/workout/should-you-do-burpees-every-day/askmen-lead-image-2x1-1750683156.png" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
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                    <![CDATA[ Even people who work out regularly, who hit the gym daily, and who pride themselves on being strong and fit tend to avoid doing burpees. Pushups for strength, elliptical for cardio, right? Who wants or needs to be humbled by a humble bodyweight exercise? Thing is, avoiding burpees isn&#039;t doing your physique any favors.
It turns out that there&#039;s an unfortunate correlation between how much we dread an exercise and how good it is for us. Heavy squats, weighted dips, walking lunges and almost every ab exercise ever devised have two things in common: they feel awful while you&#039;re doing them but generate outsized returns on your effort. 
But don&#039;t take our word for it: “A burpee is a full-body exercise that hits strength, cardio, and plyometrics for an all-out calorie torcher that will quickly test your limits,” says Mike Donavanik, C.S.C.S., founder and president of Sweat Factor, a fitness streaming platform.
RELATED: Should You Work Out With Your Partner?
Here, learn more about the beloved burpee, including why you should be doing them more often, how to actually perform a burpee the right way, and how to modify the move to make it easier or, dare we say, even more challenging. 

How to Do a Burpee with Proper Form

You’ve likely seen the burpee performed a slew of different ways, and there are a ton of fun modifications and progressions (see below for inspiration), but there’s really only one way to do the traditional burpee exercise. Here’s how:

	
	Start in a high plank position with palms under shoulders, hips tucked, and core engaged.
	
	
	Perform a push-up, then immediately jump your feet wide to the outside of your hands.
	
	
	From this crouched position, push through heels to explode up, jumping into the air with arms to the sky. 
	
	
	Land softly with knees slightly bent, then immediately reverse the movement, coming into the wide, low squat with feet outside of hands.
	
	
	Jump feet back, returning to high, palm plank position. Repeat. 

Common Burpee Mistakes

Unsurprisingly, burpee no-nos tend to center around form rather than rep schemes or programming, says Donavanik. One of the biggest issues he sees is when someone “does the worm” during the push-up stage, by dipping their hips, arching and lowering their lower back instead of maintaining a tight core throughout the push pattern. 
Another common burpee mistake is jumping your feet inside of your hands rather than outside, which might be tempting if you have limited hip mobility but it actually puts more pressure on your knee joints, says Donavanik. 
Bottom line is that if your form is suffering, scale it back with burpee modifications that keep the exercise effective and efficient without sacrificing alignment.
RELATED: It’s Time You Add Push-Ups to Your Workout Routine

The Benefits of Burpees

Breaking down the burpee, it’s easy to see how there are a litany of advantages to this exercise, but there are a few burpee benefits that deserve the spotlight.

	
	It’s a full-body exercise: Many exercises claim to be a total-body movement, but a lot are just wannabes. You’d be hard-pressed to find a singular exercise that tackles your upper body, core, and lower body as well as the burpee. “You’re working almost every muscle in your body,” says Donavanik.
	
	
	It’s a complete workout: The burpee is essentially an entire workout crammed into one exercise. “You’re getting strength, cardio bursts, and explosive plyometrics in a single move,” says Donavanik. So, no matter what your fitness goal may be, say, power, strength, or stamina, the burpee can help you achieve it. 
	
	
	It won’t let you ignore weaknesses: At first glance, this might not sound like a bonus, but if you really want to level up your fitness, you have to target any current limitations, which a burpee can bring to light. Can’t get your feet to easily reach your hands? Your tight hips need mobility work. Lower back pain? Your core could be weak. Arms maxed out from the push-up before your endurance? Your upper body strength training could use some attention. 
	
	
	You’ll tap into mental toughness: You know those moments during a workout where you just want to throw in the towel but something in your head tells you to keep going even though your muscles are shaking? That’s mental resilience, and it has to be built. To know that you can get through hard things (i.e. a ton of burpees) you have to have previously proven to yourself you can do them.
	


Should You Be Doing Burpees Daily?

By now you know that burpees are a demanding exercise. You don’t want to overdo it, especially without adequate rest. “I wouldn’t recommend doing burpees daily,” says Donavanik. For what it’s worth, that goes for any single, specific exercise, he explains, nodding to the importance of variety in your workouts. (However, you should start planking daily.)
When programmed appropriately, burpees can be an integral part of your overall fitness routine. How you do them will depend on your specific fitness goals, says Donavanik. “For general fitness purposes, I’d say you can do them one to two times a week as part of a more cohesive program,” he says.
Try this fun fitness challenge to test either your time or reps: See how many burpees you can accomplish in two minutes or how long it takes you to do 20 reps of burpees — all with proper form. Record your results, then start building burpees into your workouts once a week. “It’ll be a good test to see how you’re improving week-over-week,” explains Donavanik. 

Burpee Variations to Make Them Easier and More Difficult

Mastered the OG burpee exercise and looking for a challenge? Or maybe you’re new to strength training and want to ease into the burpee party? Either way, there are a surprising number of burpee variations that can help you modify or progress the move. Here’s some inspo courtesy of Donavanik:

	
	Add a tuck jump: Instead of doing a regular jump at the end of the movement, turn it into a tuck jump. Explode up, tucking your knees up towards your chest as you lift off.
	
	
	Add a pull-up: If you have access to a pull-up bar, grab it at the top of your jump, then perform one pull-up. 
	
	
	Walk your feet in: Instead of jumping feet out wide to the sides of your hands and back out to plank, walk one foot in, then the other, and back out when returning to plank. This modification can be especially helpful for those with limited hip mobility, says Donavanik. 
	
	
	Drop your knees: Performing the push-up with knees on the ground can help you achieve faster and more explosive burpees while you build your upper body strength. 
	
	
	Skip the jump entirely: While you will lose out on the plyometric element to the burpee without the jump, if you’re rehabbing an injury or have joint issues, taking the jump out (and perhaps also utilizing the walk in/out modification above), may be best for you.
	


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 ]]>
                </content:encoded>
                <pubDate>Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:54:11 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[What Are Digestive Enzymes? How These Supplements Can Benefit Your Health]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/fitness/nutrition/what-are-digestive-enzymes-how-these-supplements-can-benefit-your-health.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/fitness/nutrition/what-are-digestive-enzymes-how-these-supplements-can-benefit-your-health.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Rebecca ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[ If Meals Leave You Bloated and Gassy, This Supplement Might Be the Solution ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/1080x540/2023/01/27-103844-what_are_digestive_enzymes_how_these_supplements_can_benefit_your_health.jpg" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
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                    <![CDATA[ If you feel bloated or gassy after meals — not just once in a while, but often — there’s a chance your body isn’t making enough digestive enzymes. These helpful little proteins help your body to break down and absorb nutrients from the food you eat. But when it doesn’t produce an adequate amount, you may struggle with some seriously unpleasant symptoms. So, what can you do about it? Fortunately, there are now digestive enzyme supplements you can take to help fill in the gap.
“Digestive enzyme supplements help mimic the digestive enzymes your body normally produces to help break down nutrients like protein, carbohydrates, and fats,” says Kelsey Kunik, a registered dietitian and nutrition advisor for Fin vs Fin.
Digestive enzyme supplements have a slew of potential benefits — but they’re not for everyone, and not every product is created equal.
RELATED: Vitamin Buying Guide: What Men Need to Know
Below, experts share what to know about how and why digestive enzymes work, and what to look for when shopping for supplements.

What Are Digestive Enzymes, and How Do They Work?

The main digestive enzymes — which are made primarily in the pancreas — include:

	Protease, which breaks down proteins
	Lipase, which breaks down fats
	Amylase, which breaks down complex carbohydrates

Others, which are made in the small intestine, include:

	Lactase, which breaks down lactose — or sugar from milk
	Sucrase, which breaks down sucrose — or fruit sugar

According to Jesse Feder, a certified personal trainer and registered dietitian contributing to HealthCanal, digestive enzymes break large food molecules down into smaller particles, so that it’s easier for your body to soak up all the complex nutrients the food contains.
“In a healthy functioning digestive system, digestive enzymes are produced and released as soon as food enters your mouth and continues through the digestive tract,” explains Kunik. “If your body doesn&#039;t produce enough digestive enzymes, taking a supplement can help you absorb more of the nutrients you&#039;re eating and prevent unwanted digestive symptoms.”

What Are the Benefits of Taking Digestive Enzymes?

Kieran McSorley, a registered dietitian and COO of Brentwood Physiotherapy Calgary, says digestive enzyme supplements can be beneficial for relieving the following after eating:

	Abdominal pain
	Gas
	Bloating
	Cramping
	Constipation
	Diarrhea

That said, though, these supplements will only provide those benefits if your body isn’t making enough digestive enzymes. If your symptoms stem from a different issue entirely, then taking a digestive enzyme supplement won’t help.
Catherine Gervacio, a registered dietitian and nutrition writer for Living.Fit, notes that digestive enzymes may also improve your body’s inflammatory response. For example, a supplement that contains protease can help your body break down protein into simpler amino acids.
“These amino acids play a significant role in the immune system and inflammatory response,” Gervacio adds.

Do You Need Digestive Enzymes?

Here are some signs that you may want to consider taking a digestive enzyme supplement, according to Meghan Novoshielski, a registered dietitian nutritionist at Set For Set:

	You frequently experience gas, bloating, cramping, diarrhea, or indigestion, after eating certain types of foods
	You often feel overly full after meals, even when you don’t overeat
	You experience unintentional weight loss, which may signal nutritional deficiencies
	You regularly have oily, white, or floating stools

It’s crucial to note that all of these symptoms can be caused by other health conditions — some of which may be serious — which is why Novoshielski strongly advises talking with your healthcare provider before taking a digestive enzyme supplement. Your doctor can help to rule out any other possible underlying pancreatic or digestive issues and guide you in finding the best treatment for your specific symptoms.
Feder often recommends digestive enzyme supplements for those with:

	Lactose intolerance
	Pancreatic problems
	Fat sensitivity
	Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth
	Irritable bowel syndrome

Eva De Angelis, a registered dietitian and nutrition writer at Health Canal, notes that digestive enzymes may also prove helpful for those with:

	Crohn&#039;s disease
	Ulcerative colitis
	Celiac disease
	Cystic fibrosis

By the way — De Angelis says your body naturally produces fewer digestive enzymes as you age. So, even if you don’t have any of these specific health issues, you may still benefit from these supplements in older age.

What Should You Look for in a Digestive Enzyme?

Novoshielski suggests keeping a log of your digestive symptoms after every meal. That way, you can pinpoint which types of foods your body is having trouble digesting — and look for supplements that contain the enzymes you need. For example, if you tend to experience gas and bloating after eating complex carbs like oatmeal and potatoes, you may benefit from a supplement with amylase.
RELATED: How to Get Rid of Bloat in a Hurry, According to Experts
Having trouble pinpointing the specific types of foods that cause your symptoms? Then try a broad-spectrum product with a variety of digestive enzymes, says Novoshielski.
“When choosing any supplement, make sure the brand you&#039;re purchasing is reputable,” adds Kunik. “Since supplements are not FDA-regulated like medications are, always look for third-party tested ones with a USP or NSF-certified seal on the label.”
Try to find supplements that offer a certificate of analysis — which ensures lab testing that can guarantee purity and quality.
Feder also recommends seeking out supplements that have an enteric coating — this means the enzymes are more likely to survive stomach acids and get used by your intestinal tract.
“Additionally, look for products that contain ingredients from natural sources like papaya and pineapple, which are known to be rich in enzymes such as bromelain and papain,” adds McSorley.
Before you try taking a new digestive enzyme supplement, McSorley says it’s important to consult your doctor or dietitian to confirm that it’s safe and effective for your specific needs.
“Your healthcare provider may also be able to recommend a specific supplement that would benefit your condition,” adds Feder.

What Are the Best Digestive Enzyme Supplements?

Here are some products that get the experts’ seal of approval:
My Girl Wellness
Reviewers call this supplement “pure magic” — and that may not be an overstatement, considering that it’s packed with a whopping 14 different digestive enzymes. It even contains some less common enzymes, like xylanase, which enhances your metabolism of fruits and veggies.
$36 at MyGirlWellness.com
NOW Foods Optimal Digestive System Full Spectrum Enzymes
NOW Foods
Kunik says this broad-spectrum supplement includes all the essential digestive enzymes to help digest protein, fats, and carbohydrates. It even includes alpha-galactosidase to reduce gas and cramping from high-fiber foods like Beans.
$12.18 at Amazon.com
Thorne Bio-Gest
Thorne
This product contains bile acids to help break down fats, Kunik says, making it an excellent option for anyone who’s had gallbladder surgery. It may also be helpful if you often deal with indigestion, gas, or bloating after eating red meat or other fat-heavy meals.
$46.55 at Amazon.com
Pure Encapsulations Digestive Enzymes Ultra
Pure Encapsulations
Mary Sabat, a registered dietitian and ACE certified trainer, says this supplement is one of her top picks — and it’s easy to see why. It features a wide variety of vegetarian digestive enzymes, with no artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, coatings, GMOs, fillers, or preservatives.
$59.80 at Amazon.com
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 ]]>
                </content:encoded>
                <pubDate>Thu, 09 Apr 2026 12:56:09 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[How to Get Out of Credit Card Debt the Right Way, According to Financial Planners]]></title>
                <link>https://www.askmen.com/career-money/money/how-to-get-out-of-credit-card-debt-the-right-way-according-to-financial-planners.html</link>
                <guid>https://www.askmen.com/career-money/money/how-to-get-out-of-credit-card-debt-the-right-way-according-to-financial-planners.html</guid>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Kaitlyn ]]></dc:creator>
                <description><![CDATA[ Don&#039;t Let Credit Card Debt Ruin Your Financial Future ]]></description>
                <media:content url="https://luna-askmen-images.askmen.com/career-money/money/how-to-get-out-of-credit-card-debt-the-right-way-according-to-financial-planners/askmen-lead-image-2x1-1749643056.png" medium="image" expression="full" width="1200" height="600" type="image/jpg"/><media:description/>
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                    <![CDATA[ Credit card debt is nothing to be ashamed of — over 60% of Americans carry some form of credit card debt month over month — but the high-interest debt can derail your financial goals if you’re not careful. 
It’s easy to swipe plastic without really thinking much about where that money is coming from (and it was designed to be that way) but if you’ve found yourself in a pile of credit card debt, it might be time to put down the plastic and take a look at how you can adjust your spending and debt repayment plan.
RELATED: 11 Things Wealthy People Never Waste Money On
If you want to handle your credit card debt once and for all, there’s a very clear way to do it, and it goes beyond just making minimum payments and hoping for the best. Below, we spoke to certified personal finance experts to get their step-by-step tips on how to work your way out of debt and the additional steps you might need to take if you feel like you might be in over your head:
Don’t Skip Your Essentials
“The number one priority is to take care of necessities (shelter, food, utilities). That includes paying the minimum on any secured debts, like a house (mortgage payment) or car (vehicle loan),” says Austin Kilgore, Analyst with the Achieve Center for Consumer Insights. “Between the two, pay the housing expense first. If you miss payments there, you risk losing your home and a place to live.”
Understand Your Precise Debt Numbers
It can be tempting to bury your herd in the sand when you’re not exactly where you want to be financially — but taking control and accountability is the only way to move forward and start working your way out of debt once and for all. According to Bobbi Rebell, CFP and Personal Finance Expert, you should start with an information download. Rebell suggests going through all of your credit card statements and listing out exactly how much debt you carry on each card and what the interest rate is that you’re paying on the debt.
Make the Minimum Payments on Everything
Rebell urges those trying to get out of debt to always make the minimum payments on every single card, no matter what. You’ll likely end up focusing more on one card at a time (more on that below) but ignoring a credit card statement will impact your credit score and can end up causing even more late payment fees on top of the already high interest rate you’re paying on the debt.
Consider Focusing on High Interest First
Only then does Kilgore suggest working on paying down credit card and other debt — and possibly starting with your credit cards with the highest interest rate. “Paying off a card carrying a 20% interest rate (today’s average rate is over 20%) is effectively a 20% return — better than almost any other investment. Plus, you’ll then have that money to do something more productive with,” he explains.
Figure out if there is any way you can pay down the debt on your own — using a good budget, and either the avalanche or snowball strategy. To do this, you must determine if you can pay the minimum on all your debts and then have additional money available to use strategically with the avalanche or snowball method.
Snowball Method: According to Rebell, the snowball method involves paying off the smallest amount first to get a sense of accomplishment and motivation and then move on to the next smallest one. This can be a smart option if you find you lack the determination to tackle multiple debts and need to see the needle moving in order to keep going.Avalanche Method: The avalanche method will save you money in the long run — but it can be harder to keep motivated if your higher interest debts are some of your bigger debt loads. This method is basically starting with the credit card or debt that charges the highest interest rate and is costing you the most and paying that down before moving onto the next-highest interest rate.
Be Communicative With Your Credit Card Issuer
“You can also try contacting your card issuer and asking for help,” explains Kilgore. “They may be able to change credit terms, set up payment plans, defer payments or waive interest (not eliminate debt).” It doesn’t hurt to call and ask — the worst they can say is no.
Take Advantage of Reminders and Accountability
Rebell suggests creating a system of reminders in your calendar, or using an app so you can stay consistent. “If you are comfortable, consider getting an accountability buddy to help you stay on track and to celebrate when the debt is finally paid off,” he adds.
Avoid New Debt Like the Plague
Rebell strongly suggests avoiding going into new debt while trying to pay off your credit cards. It’s not going to be easy — but cutting back on your overall expenses is the only way to work your way out of the hole. This might mean deleting delivery apps off your phone, doing at-home date nights, or putting off buying unnecessary clothes, concert tickets, flights, and any other non-essential spending. He also urges those trying to get out of debt to switch to a cash-only budget to pay for purchases, which will make you think twice versus the ease of swiping a card.

If You’re Not Able to Keep Up With Debt From Your Income and Budget Alone…

If the aforementioned steps do not allow you to pay off debt on your own, it’s time to get outside help, which could come in the form of one of the following:
Consider Finding New Streams of Income
This isn’t possible for everyone, but for some, it is. “Many people have taken well-paying part-time jobs or developed a side gig (anything from pet sitting to a creative business) to generate more money in order to pay off their debt and/or make ends meet,” explains Kilgore.
Look Into a Personal Loan
“A personal loan may offer a lower rate than your credit cards, depending on what you can qualify for (lower rates go to those with higher credit scores),” says Kilgore. “You then can use the funds from the personal loan to pay off the high-interest debt and be left with just one loan at the lower rate.”
Consider a Home Equity Line of Credit
“Some homeowners who are struggling with credit card debt are also sitting on a wealth of home equity,” says Kilgore. “If they can qualify, they may be able to access that equity and use the funds to pay off the debt.”
Shop Around for a Balance Transfer
These credit cards, with a low or zero interest rate, are usually available only to those with very good credit. According to Kilgore, the low promotional interest rate will expire, usually in 6-12 months (although there are cards with promotional periods as long as 21 months). “You MUST be able to pay off the balance in full before then,” points out Kilgore, noting that if you don’t, fees can be just as high. Carefully do the math to be sure that the fees won’t outweigh the savings from the transfer.
Use a Debt Settlement Company
“This can be an option for some people in some specific situations: when your income is such that you are having a hard time making even minimum payments, likely as a result of some type of major financial hardship (such as a job loss, major medical expenses, death of a loved one, divorce),” says Kilgore. “Debt settlement companies work on a consumer’s behalf to lower principal balances.”
Create a Debt Management Plan
Debt management plans are provided by credit counseling firms, says Kilgore. Through arrangements they have with credit card companies, they can offer a slightly lower interest rate on a credit card but consumers also pay a monthly fee.
File for Bankruptcy
This is generally considered a last resort, as it negatively impacts credit rating for 7-10 years. According to Kilgore, Chapter 7 bankruptcy does eliminate most consumer debt — although this type of filing is hard to obtain and can be expensive. Chapter 13 bankruptcy, on the other hand, requires a debt repayment plan.
“This filing is available to consumers whose state of residence determines, through its means test, to have sufficient income to repay some determined amount of the debt,” explains Kilgore.”Note that monthly payment amounts in a Chapter 13 filing are generally comparable to payments in debt settlement programs.”
In addition, Kilgore points out that bankruptcy filings are public, so anyone who wants to access the information can find it. It’s also worth noting that non-exempt assets (which could include a house or car) can be liquidated as part of a bankruptcy.
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