Running stark naked into the ocean in winter might seem loopy. But a new Scandinavian study (where else?) found that cold-water immersion followed by hot sauna recovery can give you an advantage when it comes to losing weight.

In the study, researchers monitored the vitals of a group of young men who had spent at least two years swimming twice a week in cold water and compared them with a non-swimming control group.

They found those who regularly swam then sat in a sauna burned more calories via brown fat (the type that keeps you warm). In short: Cold-water immersion followed by hot sauna bouts can increase energy expenditure and promote weight loss.

If you’re thinking of taking the polar bear plunge this year, consider these tips:
Get naked: Less is more when it comes to clothing. It may keep you toasty on land, but as soon as garments become wet, they cling to skin, making water feel even colder. 
Plug your ears: If you’re prone to “ice cream headaches,” use earplugs to keep freezing water from entering your ear canal.
Skip the shot of whiskey: Booze lowers your body temperature, making cold water tougher to handle.
Practice: Sit in ice baths or take a cold shower for 2-3 minutes in the weeks leading up to the plunge.
See your doc: If you have heart issues, check with your physician first, as cold water can cause a spike in heart rate and blood pressure.

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You know the drill: Move more, eat your greens, and take it easy on the booze. For 2021, we wanted to give you a better blueprint to become a well-rounded man where it counts—’cus at the end of the day it really doesn’t matter how many pushups you can do.

Here’s how to develop a stronger mental fortitude, be a more engaged citizen, a better partner, and stop blowing your lid with simple steps on conquering conflict. In short, this is your guide on achieving peace of mind this year (and beyond).

Expert Tips on Becoming a Better Man in Every Facet of Life
1. How to Overcome Mental and Physical Adversity When You Want to Give Up
Adventure racer Jason Magness attests that certain wilderness survival skills are applicable to the everyman, too. You might not be faced with extreme physical stress or life-threatening conditions, but these tips will serve you just the same.
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2. How to Make Your Great (Socially Distanced) Escape
The best places to visit in 2021 are remote locales across America. Thanks to COVID-19, we saw the return of the great American road trip. Here, we highlight where to go to get away from it all.
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3. How to Argue Better and Cope With Conflict—Without Losing Your Cool
Perhaps you had a few conversations in the past year you regret. Maybe your friend, neighbor, or family member went apocalyptic, and you matched the intensity. Rosalie Puiman, leadership coach and author of The Mindful Guide to Conflict Resolution, says that doesn’t have to be the case.
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4. How to Break the Barrier to Therapy
Not comfortable talking about yourself? Like to learn from listening and observing others? Currently missing that feeling of community support? Group therapy may be the most approachable form of talk therapy for you then, says Rachel Kazez, therapist and founder of All Along, a consulting firm that pairs people with therapists. Without any of the personal pressure, it’s like having a beer with your buddies, except some people talk about their feelings.
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5. How to Build Intimacy in Your Relationship and Be a Better Partner
If months of working, eating, breathing, and spiraling into pits of despair with your partner has left you feeling more like roommates than lovers, you might need to zero in on your intimacy, says Dana McNeil, licensed marriage and family therapist and founder of The Relationship Place. These tips will help you hone your sexual and emotional intimacy.
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6. How to Get Smarter and Be a More Informed Citizen
With each year, your habits, beliefs, hell, even your vocabulary can seem to grow stagnant. But with a little effort, you can keep your mind malleable, get smarter, and be a more informed citizen. Try these strategies and apps.
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7. How to Be More Efficient With Your Time and Energy
People are apt to dawdle away gained time. It takes a lot of work to be efficient with your time and energy. “The biggest mistake is not having a plan,” says Craig Jarrow, founder of Time Management Ninja. Consider this yours.
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You could say Mark Wahlberg’s most at home when he’s training. His inner drive is genetic and by some standards borderline obsessive—but that’s why the man’s so successful. He previously spoke with Men’s Journal about his daily routine, saying “breakfast is at 3:45 a.m., by 4 I’m training, 5 a.m. is prayers, and I’m golfing at 6.” So it was only natural for him to make a personal venture into supplements. Enter Performance Inspired.
After all, what better way to maximize recovery and gains than to have a direct hand in optimizing pre-workouts, BCAAs, creatine, and bars? From the beginning, Wahlberg adopted a startup mentality, hustling to research the competition and reaching out to distributors (you can read all about his journey into the supplement biz here). His partner, Tom Dowd, worked at GNC for 25 years and was involved with an exhaustive range of product development. His know-how and Wahlberg’s determination to provide clean, natural products to everyone from student athletes to weekend warriors made PI a success.

Now, they’re welcoming a new ownership union with pro golfer Bryson DeChambeau. He’ll take an active leadership role in shaping PI’s line of products and work with Wahlberg to inspire others to lead healthier lifestyles through fitness and nutrition. (We foresee many brainstorms happening over a round of golf.)
“The PI team created a full line of all-natural, clean products you can trust and their commitment to quality is what drew me to their products,” DeChambeau said in a press release. “I look forward to helping them develop more products and introducing healthy options to the golf and fitness community. Everyone is looking for healthy options on the course and at home, and I can’t wait to help inspire others to improve their golf fitness and their overall health, the right way!”

The hope is to develop a “Golf Fitness” strategy largely influenced by DeChambeau. (If you’ve been following his 40-pound bulk-up, you know why.) DeChambeau’s been creating a buzz ever since he beefed up—prioritizing strength, flexibility, and nutrition—and started driving the ball, on average, 322 yards. He finished the 2020 PGA Tour season as the longest hitter in the history of professional golf. If it seems like DeChambeau and Wahlberg are a match made in heaven, that’s because they are.

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I’m a med student and former wide receiver. My brother’s in the NFL. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is on my mind.
I’m settled into a desk chair with my coffee, fueling up for another day of Zoom medical school, broadcast live to my New York City apartment. The bloc we’re on now—neurology—is a doozy. Well, truthfully, they’re all doozies.
Today’s lecture topic: traumatic brain injury.

The fourth lecture slide includes a picture of Mike Webster, the former Pittsburgh Steeler whose story was made famous by the 2015 film Concussion—starring Will Smith as the physician who discovers the explosive link between football and a neurodegenerative disease found in athletes and others with a history of brain trauma called chronic traumatic encephalopathy—or CTE.
I know what’s coming. It’s not often you get a football reference during a med school lecture. The next few slides outline the consequences of repetitive head trauma. Here it comes. CTE.
My classmates are aware I’m an ex-football player. I get a direct message from one of them: “Knowing what you know now, would you play again?”
It’s not the first time I’ve been asked. I’d asked myself that same question a long time ago.
Football is deeply ingrained in my family. My father and both grandfathers played in college. Justin, my younger brother, is the starting quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers. My youngest brother, Patrick, is a freshman tight end at the University of Oregon.

I played 11 years of football, four of them as a starting wide receiver at Montana State University. During all that time, I never had a diagnosed concussion. That isn’t to say I haven’t had my fair share of violent collisions.
Emma Dau/UnsplashAfter my career at MSU, I had an opportunity to attend an NFL team’s rookie mini-camp—basically a tryout for undrafted players. I declined for a few reasons. I knew I wasn’t cut out to be an NFL wide receiver. I also wanted to start the long journey to become a doctor.
My brain health wasn’t a factor in that decision.
Tracing the timeline of CTE discovery
The first link between football and CTE was unearthed in 2005 by Bennet Omalu, M.D., a neuropathologist who’d examined the brain of former Steeler and NFL Hall of Famer Mike Webster while working in a coroner’s office in Pittsburgh.
“Iron Mike,” as he was known, played in 220 NFL football games. The most of any player in Steelers’ history. He’d suffered repeated head trauma during his career.
Webster’s symptoms are now characteristic of repetitive head trauma: memory loss, behavioral and mood changes, cognitive impairment, and dementia.
The underlying process in the brain tissue is an accumulation of an abnormal protein called tau, which forms neurofibrillary tangles. Tau is also believed to be one of the culprits behind Alzheimer’s disease. Because similar regions of the brain tend to be affected, most individuals display these characteristic symptoms.

As public awareness of the links between repetitive brain injury, football, and CTE grew in the early 2000s, things began to change in the NFL. In 2009, the league introduced concussion protocol.
It was also around this time that Texas Tech University head coach Mike Leach was featured on the front page of The New York Times for having abused a player with a concussion by confining him to a small, dark space while the rest of the team practiced. Leach was fired.
The world was finally beginning to take notice—and action.
Fast forward to 2017, when a groundbreaking Boston University study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Out of 111 former NFL football players who displayed symptoms of CTE at death, 110 were found to have diagnostic criteria of CTE from brain autopsies revealing tangles of tau protein.
The ages of the NFL players, whose brains had been donated to science by family members, ranged from as young as 23 to as old as 89. The study encompassed all player positions. Most notably, 44 lineman, 17 defensive backs, 10 linebackers, and seven quarterbacks.

I remember reading about this study while gearing up for my fourth and final season on the gridiron at Montana State. The finding was monumental—an irrefutable argument that football caused CTE.
Or did it?
Lucas Andrade/UnsplashWhen it comes to CTE and football, the relationship isn’t black and white
The issue with the 2017 study and, really, much of the CTE research up to this point, comes down to who was included—and who wasn’t.
These brains had been donated by families for evaluation specifically because they displayed the characteristic symptoms of CTE from players with known head trauma.
“It’s biased sampling,” says Steve Kernie, M.D., professor and chief of Critical Care and Hospital Medicine at New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley’s Children Hospital, whose research focuses on brain self-repair following injury. “It’s hard to make really strong conclusions other than players in contact sports who have repetitive head trauma are certainly at risk,” Kernie adds. “This is also something we’ve known for 100 years.”
A control group would be required to un-bias the data—such as adding into the pool of participants the brains of former NFL players who didn’t exhibit signs of CTE, plus the brains of non-athletes.
Kernie references a condition originally called “punch-drunk syndrome,” first described by American pathologist Harrison Martland in a 1928 Journal of the American Medical Association essay about the strange behavior of boxers—another brutal, beloved sport long associated with head trauma.
“For some time, fight fans and promoters have recognized a particular condition occurring among prize fighters which, in ring parlance, they speak of as ‘punch drunk,’ ” Martland wrote. “Fighters in whom the early symptoms are well recognized are said by the fans to be ‘cuckoo,’ ‘goofy,’ ‘cutting paper dolls,’ or ‘slug nutty.’ ”
A decade later, the term punch-drunk would be replaced by the more appropriate dementia pugilistica.
It’s important to point out that the link between repetitive brain injury and CTE isn’t exclusively associated with football or boxing. Other contact sports like soccer and wrestling have been implicated too.
There are also documented cases of CTE resulting from military blast injuries.
“During the Iraq War, service personnel were coming back with symptoms that weren’t quite PTSD,” says Kernie, explaining a growing military merger with CTE in these cases, which hasn’t been nearly as mined by the media. “The NFL gets more attention than the military unfortunately,” says Kernie.
Back to my original question. Would I play football again?
Absolutely.
The friendships and life lessons I gained from over a decade of tackle football have shaped the person I am today.
Ameer Basheer; Ryan Reinoso/UnsplashMoreover, while I believe the association between repetitive head trauma, football, and CTE is real, I think the general public has a skewed perception. The presence of a concussion or two doesn’t guarantee a diagnosis of CTE. Many other factors are likely at play—including adequate recovery after an initial concussion and genetic predispositions to the disease.
My own hindsight question about playing football is now being asked at the outset by parents who are nervous about signing their kids up for the sport.
The dwindling numbers are telling. Peewee football participation is at an all-time low. Meanwhile, the waning interest in football appears to be providing gains for soccer, which ironically is not without its neurological risks.
I asked Dr. Kernie what his advice would be to parents considering whether or not to let their children engage in contact sports—particularly football.
“As a parent of kids who played sports, I think you can’t live in a bubble,” he says. “Everything we do carries some risk. It’s really about mitigating those risks as best you can.”
One significant way to mitigate these risks, especially in youth football, is by delaying the tackle element.
My brothers and I began tackle football in fifth grade. If you asked us now, we would have all put off tackling until late middle school or even high school. Not just to minimize repetitive head trauma, but to first master other football skill essentials like body positioning, blocking technique, and hand-eye coordination. All of these skills can be developed through flag football.

As I see it, the focus for budding football players at a young age should be on developing those skills rather than celebrating the traditional physicality which inevitably comes later.
Despite the public’s skewed perception on the pervasiveness of CTE among football players, we can hopefully all agree on two things: First, minimizing repetitive head trauma. Second, tackling this problem progresses by delaying youth tackle leagues and promoting the fundamentals of a phenomenal sport.

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Toothpaste has come a long way since the late 19th century, when it first saw wide use. Nowadays, the market has grown beyond the many indistinguishable drugstore varieties to include natural alternatives, unique flavorings, and more. Choosing the best toothpaste involves parsing a lot of options—here’s what to look out for.

To Fluoride or Not to Fluoride?
Many of the new oral care brands tout their fluoride-free formulations as a selling point. But is fluoride really a bad thing? Because of its ability to prevent tooth decay, fluoride is typically added to both oral care products and tap water. But some people fear potential long-term effects of fluoride exposure, and brands have begun to offer fluoride-free alternatives.
Fluoride-free formulas won’t offer the same prevention against tooth decay as traditional ones, but that may not matter much: The brushing action of your toothbrush is more crucial in oral hygiene than the toothpaste you use. Using toothpaste offers other benefits, however, such as teeth whitening and breath freshening.
If you’re looking to upgrade from the usual drugstore tubes, new toothpaste brands offer perks like unique flavors, natural ingredients, and sustainable packaging. To help you in your search, we’ve rounded up some of the best natural and notable products on the market.

Buly 1803 Opiat Dentaire Mint Coriander Cucumber Courtesy Image
Buly 1803 Opiat Dentaire Mint Coriander Cucumber
French brand Buly 1803’s Opiat Dentaire is hard to resist just for its stylish, plastic-free packaging alone. But the fluoride-free formula also incorporates thermal spring water from the Castéra-Verduzan region of southwestern France, which is famed for its ability to treat periodontal maladies.
[$20; buly1803.com]
Get it Hello toothpastes Courtesy Image
Hello Activated Charcoal Epic Whitening Fluoride Toothpaste
Hello’s vegan, cruelty-free ‘pastes are made in the USA and stand out for offering both fluoride and fluoride-free options. For an extra boost of whitening, try the activated charcoal variety, which is made with mint and coconut oil for fresher breath.
[$6; hello-products.com]
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Marvis Whitening Mint Toothpaste Courtesy Image
Marvis Whitening Mint Toothpaste
Hailing from Florence, Marvis has been beloved for years for its colorful packaging and delectable flavors, ranging from jasmine to liquorice. Although it’s not all-natural, the Italian brand’s fluoride-free whitening toothpaste is particularly popular for eradicating stains from too many glasses of vino.
[$14; bigelowchemists.com]
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byHumankind Toothpaste Tablets Courtesy Image
byHumankind Toothpaste Tablets
byHumankind offers a new way to shop for personal care products (and cuts down on packaging waste) by selling refillable containers and all-natural formulations. Its toothpaste tablets, made with fluoride and microcrystalline cellulose to polish the teeth, are no different: Choose your container and purchase a one-time set of tablets or subscribe for discounted refills. To use them, just chew one and start brushing—no squeezing from a tube required.
[$15; byhumankind.com]
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Aesop Toothpaste
Certified B-Corp company Aesop has won fans the world over thanks to its high-quality skincare products, and the Australian brand brings its same mix of natural, luxurious formulations to its oral care line. This product offers a distinct mint and anise flavor, and there’s a matching mouthwash available for added freshness.
[$17; aesop.com]
Get it Davids Premium Natural Toothpaste Courtesy Image
Davids Premium Natural Toothpaste
Eric David Buss launched Davids in 2015 with the goal of making the best natural toothpaste on the market. The result? This fluoride-free formula with baking soda for whitening. The brand also includes a metal tool with purchases to help you get the last drop out of the recyclable metal packaging.
[$30; davids-usa.com]
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