Author: Gerardo Orlando

      Men using Botox?

      February 26, 2009 /

      I have to admit I was pretty surprised when I read these numbers.

      Botox is now being used by men, some of whom did not even run for President. The number of men in the U.S. who paid to get a series of tiny injections in their face nearly tripled from 2001 to 2007–to 300,000, or about 7% of the total Botoxed population. And despite the recession, those numbers aren’t going down yet; one of the many things the laid-off cannot afford is to look their age.

      Men usually get Botox to remove those two vertical lines between their eyebrows that make them look angry and confused and thus, one could argue, masculine. They also use the product to smooth out the horizontal creases in their foreheads, though, unlike women, they don’t tend to worry about crow’s feet. Men do, however, fret a lot more about the pain. “They get so jacked up worrying that it will hurt,” says Botox enthusiast and nine-time Olympic gold medalist Mark Spitz. “Maybe that’s why women have babies and we don’t.”

      When 1970s Olympic heroes–and mustachioed ones at that–get work done, it would seem to mark social acceptability among guys. Spitz, though, is a spokesman for Allergan, the company that makes Botox and has started to market directly to men via its website. Sure, Spitz first considered getting the world’s most common cosmetic procedure after a friend, former Olympic gymnast Nadia Comaneci, told him that the wrinkles between his eyes made him look old and overly serious, but he got a whole lot more interested when Allergan started paying him.

      Everyone is obsessed with looking younger, so we shouldn’t be surprised by this.

      Men's Health and Wellness, Xternal Fitness

      Mickey Rourke discusses his training methods for “The Wrestler”

      February 13, 2009 /

      After hitting rock bottom, Mickey Rourke resurrected his career with his role in “The Wrestler.” He’s received numerous awards and he’s also been nominated for an Oscar.

      Brad Balfour interviewed Rourke about his comeback, which included a discussion of his training methods for the film.

      Q: What did you do to get into shape to play “The Ram?”

      MR: It was a process over six months of putting on the weight. I had to put on muscle and not fat and I had never done that before. I’ve had to lose weight–20 pounds over 12 weeks–and I thought that was murder. So, I thought, ‘Oh great, I get to eat.’ You can’t just eat anything or you’re going to put fat on. But you’re going to put fat on anyway, because you’re eating six or seven meals a day.

      You have to make sure you’re doing the weight lifting and the cardio, so it’s like never ending in the gymnasium for me. I have to admit, since I’ve done the movie, I haven’t walked into a gym. I’ve just done weights at home. I just can’t go to a gym yet, because it was hell…

      Q: How many months did you train?

      It was six months. It was three times a day, under this Israeli ex-army commando guy, who was a martial arts champion. They met him in Miami and I thought, ‘Wow. This guy won’t take any shit.’ And I wanted someone who was very disciplined, because I didn’t want to control this. I wanted somebody who wasn’t going to kiss my ass. I didn’t want a trainer where I could go, “Well, I don’t feel like working out today.”

      This guy took it personally if I didn’t show up. Actually, I was staying at a hotel. I had a late night and I wasn’t answering my phone. He actually came up to the room, knocked on the door. I tried to roll up in a little ball and get the covers over me and hope that he’d go away. The prick went down and got the key…

      He was like, “You were out till five in the morning. I heard. I got the report.” He would know where I was and [that] I was out until five am. So after me doing that a couple of times, he pulled me aside and he says, “You see the pictures that we looked at that we want to look like.”

      And I say, “Yes.” He said, “When this movie goes, do you want to look like that or do you want to look like this the first time you see yourself up there?’ And I go, ‘I want to look like that.” And so he really put the wood to me… Even when I was out late, I managed to get my tired ass to the gym and just do endless hours, putting on weight. And every time my hands were empty, he’d stick a shake in my hand about this big, and say “Drink.”

      Cool quotes, Exercise, Interviews, Motivation, Xternal Fitness

      Cognition drugs are gaining in popularity

      January 17, 2009 /

      Is it really possible to pop a pill to improve your memory and concentration? In one sense this offers intriguing possibilities, but is this another example of people just looking for the easy answer?

      Facing an important job interview, the college graduate searches her closet for the perfect outfit, then rifles through her medicine cabinet for just the right cognitive-enhancement pill. Adderall, perhaps, to help her concentrate. Or Provigil, for alertness…or maybe a beta blocker to combat jitters?

      Doctors in the U.S. who track drug trends say scenarios like this could play out in a thousand variations as college students who grew up using prescription drugs as study aids enter the workforce. Many high-powered professionals are already popping such pills in secret. Within a few years they could be joined by millions of older adults, including baby boomers who decide there’s nothing wrong with using “smart drugs” to ward off senior moments. The drug industry will benefit mightily if public opinion swings this way.

      Many healthy people have trepidations about tinkering with the brain using addictive or otherwise risky pharmaceuticals. But those reservations are eroding for several reasons. A whole generation has come of age using attention-deficit drugs such as Adderall and Ritalin, a category valued at nearly $4.7 billion in 2007. A lot of teenagers have used them casually as study aids, often buying them on the Internet. And now, overworked professionals are seeing the appeal. “From assembly-line workers to surgeons, many different kinds of employee may benefit from enhancement and want access to it,” wrote Martha J. Farah, director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania, in a recent commentary in the science journal Nature. In the controversial essay, she and her co-authors, including Stanford Law School Professor Henry T. Greely, declared it’s time for people to overcome their squeamishness: “Mentally competent adults should be able to engage in cognitive enhancement using drugs.”

      I’d like to see more research before putting these things in my body. It’s amazing how much you can improve your concetration just by using common sense – turn off the TV and radio, stop checking your email every five minutes, or go to a quiet place where you won’t be bothered by friends and family. You might be amazed by the results.

      Anti-Aging

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