THE BASICS
EVEN IF YOU THINK you're healthy, the following tests tell you how proactive you need to be about changing your lifestyle or taking medications.
CHOLESTEROL PANEL This blood test measures total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL ("bad" cholesterol), and HDL ("good" cholesterol). Most doctors focus on LDL, which has been most closely tied to the risk of heart attack and stroke. Your specific LDL goal depends on how many risk factors you have for heart disease, but a level greater than 130 mg/dL is considered elevated. Start this check at age 20 at the latest, and get it every three years, at least.
BLOOD-PRESSURE CHECK High pressure in your arteries wears them down and increases the buildup of heart-attack-causing plaque. Get your BP checked each year at the doctor's office, or just grab your own cuff (ideally from the list of accurate ones at validatebp.org) and aim for less than 120/80.
A1C TEST
Diabetes greatly increases the rate of plaque buildup in your arteries. The easiest way to screen for diabetes is the hemoglobin A1C test, which reflects your average blood sugar over several months. It can be done with a cholesterol panel. Normal is below 5.7; prediabetes is between 5.7 and 6.4. Above that indicates diabetes.
THE ASCVD RISK ESTIMATOR PLUS TEST
Denne historien er fra April 2023-utgaven av Men's Health US.
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Denne historien er fra April 2023-utgaven av Men's Health US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Say What? - Hearing loss isn't just a thing that happens to your parents. Nearly one in five people in their 20s show signs of it already. And it puts your brain and well-being in danger, too. Luckily, new tech can help. Listen up.
Hearing loss isn't just a thing that happens to your parents. Nearly one in five people in their 20s show signs of it already. And it puts your brain and well-being in danger, too. Luckily, new tech can help. Listen up. An estimated 15 percent of American adults-that's about 38 million peoplehave some level of hearing loss, according to the CDC. Research increasingly suggests that untreated hearing loss can lead to other significant health issues, including depression and Alzheimer's disease.
Back-Round Check! - Tap into next-level total-body strength and supercharge muscle gains by learning when and how) to round your back in the gym.
Lift with your legs, not with your back. It's a cue many trainers use anytime you bend down to lift something heavy. It makes sense, too, since conventional wisdom holds that rounding your back with heavy weight leads to injury. But if you look closely at a strongman like Tom Stoltman hoisting a 300-kilogram (661-pound) Atlas stone, you'll notice that his spine isn't ramrod straight at all. Instead, he's almost hunching forward, curling his entire spine around the stone. And if you scroll fitness social media long enough, you may come across an exercise called the Jefferson curl, which asks you to stand holding a light barbell, then lower the barbell while simultaneously rounding your back as much as possible.
Christian Mccaffrey is Him - He's entering his eighth season in the NFL, but the league's most electric running back is not slowing down.
Every off-season for the past seven years, Christian McCaffrey, the San Francisco 49ers' All-Pro running back, has met up with Brian Kula, C.S.C.S., a trainer he's worked with since eighth grade. They talk about any injuries and any niggling pain from the previous season, do a battery of strength and movement tests, and then create a program "to turn CMC back on."
A Merciless Sun
Just over a year ago, Kekoa Lansford watched from a hilltop as the Maui wildfires incinerated his hometown.
TREN NATION
HOW AN OBSCURE BUVINE STEROID BECAME GYM GEN Z'S FAVORITE SOCIAL-MEDIA MUSCLE FLEX.
ARE YOU THERE, GOD? IT'S ME, JAKE
How societal menace and serial disrupter JAKE PAUL is trying to change the sport of boxing, influence influencer culture, and, gulp, maybe change the world, too.
THE REINVENTED QUARTERBACK
A 2023 bookended by injuries pushed the Bengals' JOE BURROW to reconstruct his entire approach to fitness and nutrition.
THE WRECKING BALL WIDEOUT
DK METCALF pursues an old-school path to hardcore strength: PUSH. YOUR. LIMITS.
FATHERHOOD BUT WITH QUESTION MARKS
I've always wondered if I'm a good dad. So I did something drastic: I asked my kids.
CAN MARVEL REGAIN ITS SUPERPOWERS?
Critical savaging. Box-office meh-ness. Cultural irrelevance. How did the MCU lose its dominance over all screens, and what will it take to restore it?
