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Looksmaxxing for men over 40: Skin Edition (Science-Backed): Skin quality at 40+ is driven by: • Collagen preservation • Collagen stimulation • Inflammation control • Sleep & hormonal signaling • UV + oxidative damage management Anything that doesn’t help with at least one of these is noise. A. TOPICALS 1. Tretinoin (retinoic acid) • Increases collagen I & III synthesis • Reduces MMPs (enzymes that degrade collagen) • Improves fine lines, pigmentation, skin thickness • Gold-standard with decades of RCTs 2. Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) • Required cofactor for collagen synthesis • Improves photodamage and pigmentation • Works synergistically with tretinoin • Needs proper formulation (pH + stability) 3. Niacinamide 5% • Improves barrier function • Reduces inflammation • Improves uneven tone and fine lines • Solid human data, low irritation 4. Moisturizer (boring but critical) • Reduces TEWL • Improves appearance of wrinkles • Crucial if using tretinoin long-term 5. Sunscreen • UV exposure = #1 driver of visible aging • Use when excessive exposure is unavoidable • Sun ≠ evil but too much causes chronic damage B. PROCEDURES 1. Microneedling • Induces controlled dermal injury • Lower risk than lasers, repeatable • Stimulates fibroblasts → collagen + elastin • RCTs show improvement in acne scars and wrinkles 2. Botox • Reduces dynamic wrinkles • Indirect anti-aging effect over time • Prevents repetitive mechanical skin folding • Doesn’t improve skin quality but improves appearance C. SUPPLEMENTS (human trials only) 1. Collagen peptides Human RCTs show modest improvements in: • Skin elasticity • Wrinkle depth • Hydration It's not magic but helps. 2. Vitamin C (oral) • Supports collagen synthesis systemically • Works better combined with adequate protein 3. Glycine • Precursor for collagen • Improves sleep quality • Sleep → GH → skin repair • Quietly high ROI 4. Omega-3s • Indirect but real • Reduce systemic inflammation • Improve skin barrier and hydration in some trials D. LIFESTYLE (most underrated) 1. Sleep Poor sleep increases: • Cortisol • Glycation • Inflammation Studies show visibly worse skin after sleep deprivation 2. Resistance training • Lowers inflammation • Improves insulin sensitivity • Improves skin perfusion indirectly 3. Aerobic fitness • Improves endothelial function • Better nutrient delivery to skin • Lowers systemic oxidative stress 4. Staying lean • This matters more with age, not less • Adipose tissue is an inflammatory organ • Chronic inflammation accelerates collagen breakdown Lower body fat → better insulin sensitivity → better skin quality Here’s the part most people miss: Skin aging isn’t a skincare problem. It’s a systemic health signal showing up on your face. Topicals help. Procedures help. Supplements can help at the margins. But if you’re underslept, inflamed, insulin-resistant and sedentary, no cream is going to save you. That’s why “looksmaxxing” only works when it’s built on: • Sleep • Movement • Recovery • Metabolic health Do those well, and your skin starts to look younger without looking like you're trying. That’s the goal.

How to apply cuticle oil, according to a pro nail artist - Glamour UK apple.news/AoFygN97rSAWNL…

I've tried the world's best Pilates classes – 6 takeaways that actually changed my body - Women’s Health UK apple.news/Af2mLpHhlQOSxF…

6 Best Base Coats to Make Your Nail Color Last, According to Nail Artists - Glamour apple.news/AwC2u-LfrSSatC…

9 Health Metrics Men Over 40 Can't Ignore Body fat percentage < 20% Fasting glucose < 90 mg/dL Testosterone > 400 ng/dL Sleep duration > 6 hours Blood pressure < 120/80 Daily step count > 7000 Resting heart rate < 60 ApoB < 90 mg/dL Hb A1c < 5.5% This is your new standard.

His life advice is GOLD (functional strength!)

14 Yogic Ways to Attract Positive Energy - Yoga Basics apple.news/AoYg6w1DiOXi93…

This is the most important thing to do when working your abs, according to a personal trainer | Tom's Guide tomsguide.com/news/this-is-t…

Today I turn 55. I’m the fittest, sharpest, and happiest I’ve ever been. If I’m an outlier, it’s not because I’m built different or discovered a secret formula. The truth is far less glamorous: It’s a million tiny choices, compounded over decades. Here are 55 of them: 1. Walk 15+ miles a week, even if you do other exercise. Humans are uniquely made to move slowly over long distances—it’s critical to longevity. 2. Develop a writing practice. It’s the single best way to sharpen your mind. And remember, you don’t have to be a good writer to write. Start with 10 minutes a day. 3. Swap out your toothpaste, deodorant, lotions, soap, shampoo, and other personal care products for natural versions. Here’s a rule of thumb: Don’t put anything on your skin that you couldn’t safely eat. 4. If you have a positive thought about someone, don’t keep it to yourself—share it immediately. Encouragement defies the laws of physics: When you give energy, you also receive it. 5. Wear shoes with a wide forefoot (I like Topo Athletic) and wear toe spreaders around the house (search “yoga toes” on Amazon). Spine health begins with the feet. 6. Get sunlight regularly. Moderate sun exposure (without sunscreen) is hugely important for overall health. 7. Do a 3-minute deep (“ass to grass”) squat every morning. Deep squats are often called the anti-aging exercise. It’s been said that, “It’s not that you can’t do deep squats because you’re old, it’s that you’re old because you can’t do deep squats.” 8. Explore minimalism (it’s not what you think it is). 9. Set boundaries on toxic relationships. We tend to cling to relationships past their expiration date, and it takes a bigger toll on our health than we recognize. 10. Eat real food. Not too much. Don’t eat garbage. Binge occasionally. Fast occasionally. That’s the diet. 11. Learn about FIRE. It’s a great framework for financial success. 12. Don’t take antibiotics except in emergency situations. They’re massively over-prescribed and aren’t needed in most cases. Antibiotics have done untold damage to our guts, which is where health begins. Great natural alternatives are out there. 13. Get 8 hours of quality sleep each night. To optimize sleep: —Don’t eat after 6pm —Get blackout shades and cover LEDs with black tape —No screens 2 hours before bed —Try ashwagandha (an herb) to calm the nervous system 14. Stop drinking, even in moderation. People find all sorts of ways to justify drinking, but there’s no escaping the simple fact that alcohol is a toxin and it limits your potential. 15. Travel as much as possible. Nothing expands the mind like seeing the world. And travel doesn’t have to be expensive—the best experiences happen outside of fancy resorts, when you live like a local. 16. Let go of resentment. When you forgive someone, you release the prisoner, and the prisoner isn’t them… it’s you. 17. Show up on time, every time. Poor time management limits success more than most people realize. If you struggle with punctuality, stop everything else and fix that first. 18. Spend lots of time in nature and touch the earth. Humans evolved over 300k years to live in harmony with nature, and only recently have we retreated indoors. If you don’t spend time outside, you’re fighting biology (hint: You won’t win.) 19. Stop doing dumb things. As Leo Tolstoy said, “People try to do all sorts of clever and difficult things to improve life instead of doing the simplest, easiest thing—refusing to participate in activities that make life bad.” 20. Find your happy place and (eventually) move there. Most people live where they live because... that's where they live. We are products of our environment—choose yours carefully. 21. Find a hobby and pursue mastery. You can’t have a happy life without a passionate pursuit that isn’t your vocation. Your work—even if you enjoy it—isn’t enough. 22. Avoid mainstream medicine except as a last resort. The results are in—our healthcare (or more appropriately, sick care) system is badly broken and only makes people sicker. 23. Have a mindset of abundance. There is no advantage to being a pessimist—even if you’re right, it’s a miserable way to live. In a very real way… whatever you believe, you’re right! 24. Do hard things. Choose courage over comfort. Everything you want is on the other side of fear and hard work. As Jerzy Gregorik said, “Hard choices, easy life. Easy choices, hard life.” 25. Ignore haters. Hurt people hurt people. Negative/toxic people live in a prison of their own design. Don’t join them! 26. Say no. Protect your time and energy like it’s your most precious asset… because it is. 27. Become a water snob. As an alien said on Star Trek, humans are “ugly bags of mostly water.” You are what you drink—literally! We have Mountain Valley Spring water delivered in glass 5-gallon jugs and also have whole-house water filter (Aquasana Rhino). 28. Stop drinking sodas and sugary energy drinks. After a few weeks you won’t miss them, and a few months later they’ll seem disgusting. Refined sugar causes inflammation, which is the root of most disease. 29. If you’re over 35, find a good functional/longevity medicine doctor and start tracking your hormones. Modern life is hell on the endocrine system and restoring healthy hormone levels can change your life. As we get older, we either accept a slow decline in performance or we do something about it—choose the latter! 30. Develop a morning routine and follow it faithfully. Win the morning, win the day! 31. Invest in experiences, not things. People frequently regret buying things, but rarely regret investing in great experiences (especially when shared with loved ones). Remember, there’s nothing you can buy in a mall that you’ll remember in ten years. 32. Explore spirituality. It’s arrogant and small-minded to believe there’s nothing going on in our universe that is beyond our comprehension. We know less about our universe than an ant meandering on a sidewalk understands about this planet. 33. Have a strong bias toward action—doing rather than talking. If you ask a bunch of old people about their regrets, they’ll talk about the things they *didn't* do—the shots they didn’t take—more than the things they did do (even if it went wrong). As Wayne Gretzky famously said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Most people don’t take enough shots. 34. Stay lean. Men in particular are obsessed with muscle mass these days, but bulk doesn’t age well. The goal is to be strong but lean. The fittest guys in their 50s and beyond aren’t meatheads, they’re lean guys who are serious about a sport. 35. Curate your inner circle carefully. Surround yourself with people you admire and who challenge you to grow. Remember, we’re the average of our 5 closest relationships. 36. Be the fittest version of yourself. Your body is your only vessel for experiencing life—so treat it as such. Fitness isn’t working out a few times a week, it’s a lifestyle. The older you get, the more time you need to devote to your health. 37. Take the time to appreciate art and beauty in all its forms. 38. Think globally, but act locally. Too many people put their energy into far-away problems they don’t understand and can’t impact, while ignoring problems right under their nose. Want to change the world? Start at home. 39. Try psychedelics. It’s one of those things everyone should do at least once, and it might be the breakthrough you’ve been looking for. 40. Limit bad habits, including unhealthy thought patterns. We all have them—practice avoidance and find substitutes. Get professional help if needed. 41. Be a lifelong learner. Your brain is just like a muscle—if you don’t feed and flex it regularly, it will atrophy. 42. Find your purpose. People with a strong sense of purpose are happier and live longer. Lack of purpose sucks energy and magnifies depression. 43. Only take advice from people who embody the traits you want to have. Talk is cheap—emulate those who have DONE it. 44. The goal is not to retire and do nothing, it’s to build a great day-to-day life that you don’t need to escape. A life of leisure is a slow death. Happiness isn’t possible without a little struggle, uncertainty, and skin in the game. 45. Have fun! Do frivolous and silly things that make you smile. As George Bernard Shaw famously said, “We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” 46. Whatever you want to do or achieve in life, start NOW. Don’t fall victim to “someday thinking” because someday never comes. 47. Accumulate assets—things that grow in value over time. It’s the #1 habit of rich people, and it can be done in tiny chunks. Instead of spending $100 on an impulse purchase that has no lasting value, put that money into an index fund or Bitcoin. It becomes addictive (in a good way). 48. Don’t ignore the big 3 canaries in the coal mine for health: —Low libido (and ED) —Frequent sinus & respiratory issues —Depression These usually aren’t medical conditions in themselves, they’re symptoms of an underlying problem. Find a good doc (outside of the mainstream) and figure out the root cause. 49. Have a clear vision for your future. How can you decide which direction to go if you haven’t clearly defined the destination? It sounds obvious, but 95% of people haven’t defined their “Ideal End State” in detail and in writing. (Check out my thread on this topic.) 50. Make your own decisions. We live in an era where most of what society tells us is wrong. Don’t be afraid to break from societal norms—if people say you’re crazy, it’s a sign that you’re doing something right. 51. Get hardcore about mobility exercise. As you age, it’s usually the knees, hips, and lower back that limit physical performance. 30 min a couple times a week can spare you a lifetime of pain. YouTube is a great resource. 52. Go all in on family. Get married, stay married, have kids. Burn the boats. In the end, family is all that matters. 53. Be ruthless with your time. Money comes and goes. Time only goes. Audit your calendar ruthlessly—cut the trivial, double down on the meaningful, and spend your hours like your life depends on it. (Because it does.) 54. Have a strong bias toward action. Be curious, try things, meet people—it’s how you increase your surface area for serendipity, the most powerful unseen force in our lives. 55. Reinvent yourself every decade. Over time, we slowly drift off course from our priorities, values, and true identity. Take stock and don’t be afraid to hit the reset button. Bold, calculated moves made for the right reasons almost always pay off—usually even more than you can imagine. 🎁 P.S. If you enjoyed this post, would you give me a birthday gift? Repost or comment with the item number(s) you liked best?

Billy Strings covering “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” Today is the 50th anniversary of the wreck. The Captain’s last words over radio were “We’re holding our own.”

Want Your Nail Polish to Last Longer? A Manicurist Shares the Secret to Preventing Chips and Peeling - Real Simple apple.news/AnA5UFr9DT96e6…

Unpopular Opinion: the average American male at 5’10 shouldn’t weigh more than 160 lb. if they have optimal body composition. You have way more body fat than you think.

Top 5 Exercises for every Major Muscle Group Shoulders / Deltoids Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press High Incline Dumbbell Press Machine Shoulder Press Smith Machine Shoulder Press Lateral Raises Chest / Pectorals Flat Dumbbell Chest Press Plate Loaded Chest Press Decline Chest Dips Low Incline Dumbbell Press Triceps Tricep Pushdowns Overhead cable extension JM Press Reverse Grip Press Machine Dips Back Thickness / Density Seated Cable Row Pronated wide grip row T-Bar Row Plate loaded Row Bent over Row (any style that works for you) Back Width Wide grip pulldown Close Grip Pulldowns Neutral Grip Pull-Ups Rack Chin-Ups Wide Grip Pull-Ups Biceps Preacher Curl (cables) Preacher Curl (machines) Strict Barbell Curl (Straight or EZ Bar) Dumbbell Curls Hammer Curls Quadriceps Hack Squat Pendulum Squat Front Squat High Bar Back Squat Bulgarian Split Squat Glutes Hip Thrust Romanian Deadlift Reverse Lunge 45° Hyperextension Step-Ups Hamstrings Seated Leg Curl Lying Leg Curl Stiff Leg Deadlift 45° Hyperextension (ham/glute focus) Calves Standing Calf Raise Seated Calf Raise Donkey calf raise Single leg calf raise Core / Abdominals Incline Sit-Ups GHD situp Leg Raises Rope crunch

Anekdote zur Senkung der Arbeitsmoral - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anekdote_…

Letter to Allen Ginsberg, June 10, 1949 "I want to be left alone. I want to sit in the grass. I want to ride my horse. I want to lay a woman naked in the grass on the mountainside. I want to think. I want to pray. I want to sleep. I want to look at the stars. I want what I want. I want to get and prepare my own food, with my own hands, and live that way. I want to roll my own. I want to smoke some deer meat and pack it in my saddlebag, and go away over the bluff. I want to read books. I want to write books. I’ll write books in the woods. Thoreau was right; Jesus was right. It’s all wrong and I denounce it and it can all go to hell. I don’t believe in this society, but I believe in man, like Mann. So roll your own bones, I say." Jack Kerouac

Experts Agree, These Are The 9 Reasons You're Not Losing Abdominal Fat - Shape apple.news/Acr0kfZrxSuiip…

A lot of men are "fat jacked" and dont know it they think they have WAY more muscle than they actually do, but their bodyfat is well over 20% But visually they look...okay. They are not obese. They look reasonably fit But internally, they are not healthy. High visceral fat They are slowly working towards heart disease and they dont know it