On the one hand, it was bad: A big handful of the best players in the world ditched the tour, lured by the deep pockets of Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf. Phil Mickelson was the biggest name LIV swiped, but the left-hander is tumbling toward the end of his career at this point. In terms of talent, LIV’s bigger gets were players like Cameron Smith (who won the Players Championship and British Open last year), Dustin Johnson (a clear top-10 player in the world, though he’s no longer ranked as such), and Brooks Koepka (a four-time major winner who is clearly fading but probably still has some good golf left in him).
On the other hand, 2022 was… kind of exciting? The PGA Tour still has a deep bench of outrageously good players who are either in the middle of or entering the prime of their careers. Last year, stalwarts like Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, and Justin Thomas were as good as ever, while 20-somethings Scottie Scheffler, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Will Zalatoris jumped into the ranks of the best players on the planet.
As the PGA Tour heads into a new schedule that will get its best players on the same courses more often, there’s reason to think 2023 will be a pretty fun year of men’s golf, LIV notwithstanding. As golf fans gear up for the season to come, here’s a look at six players who have established themselves as ascendant threats and could win some big tournaments this year.
For a clearer picture of where they stand at the moment, I’ve also included their 2023 Masters odds (as of Jan. 11), where available. The odds are from FanDuel, and +3500 means a $100 bet can return a $3,500 profit.
PGA Tour 2023: The Rising Stars to Watch This Year
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What do French fries, oysters, and dirty martinis all have in common? Aside from being timelessly delicious, they strike the perfect balance of salinity. The latter, of course, is a mainstay at cocktail bars, stirred with aplomb with vodka or gin, vermouth, and briny olive juice. But there’s a brazen new riff coming in hot for 2023: the pickle martini.
Pickle juice has been biding its time at your local dive, enjoying notoriety as a fun weekend classic that’s a bit less deserving of a pinkie waggle. Enter the pickleback shot, a boozy, salty pairing of whiskey and pickle juice. Sticking to picklebacks is (so they say) one of the best methods for avoiding a next-day hangover, due to the pickle brine’s high-electrolyte content. That’s all the more reason to give its classier cousin, the pickle martini, a chance.
Rise of the Pickle Martini
Looking at cocktail trends over the past couple years, it’s not difficult to see why the pickle martini would become a hit—as the wave of ‘90s and ‘00s nostalgia has reigned supreme. Martinis, in particular, have been thrust back into the spotlight with the re-popularization of favorites such as the espresso martini and the passion fruit-packed pornstar martini.
Pickles, too, have been on an upward trajectory, finding themselves infused into everything from ice cream and potato chips to Mountain Dew. Yelp has even projected pickle-flavored products to be among the top trends of 2023. With all that hype, the briny pickle martini can now be found on a growing number of cocktail menus, particularly in cities like New York.
Taste it in spritz form at New York’s Chez Zou by way of a pickle spritz, consisting of a house-made pickle brine, verjus, Dolin Vermouth de Chambry, and Moet and Chandon. Manhattan-based bar The Belfry offers a classic pickle martini with vodka and a spicy, sour brine. At San Francisco’s ABV, you can find it combined with smoky mezcal, orange juice, lime, and beer in the restaurant’s La Botana cocktail.
“The application of pickles has been trending in many forms, and it’s about time it became a part of cocktail menus outside of the classic pickleback shot,” says Selina Ardan, beverage director at the aptly named Maison Pickle in Manhattan. “We’ve used a variety of different house-made brines in different cocktails, from margaritas to martinis to frozen painkillers. I’m sure the trend will continue as the pickle category expands with new brines and items that can be pickled.”
Choosing Your Brine
Maison Pickle’s signature Maison Martini* calls upon Fords Gin and a house-made Hot Sour Brine. Ardan encourages those trying a pickle cocktail, whether at home or at the bar, to pay attention to how a brine can completely change the flavor profile of your cocktail. That means if you tried a pickled beverage that wasn’t to your liking, that doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t for you.
“It’s all about personal taste preferences and matching the characters of a pickle brine with the botanicals in the gin and other ingredients,” says Ardan. “I always recommend a 50/50 style base—equal parts gin and vermouth—so the brine can shine through and isn’t overpowered by the gin.”
Depending on your taste preference, you can go for a tangy, slightly sweet option like canned cocktail brine by Gordy’s, the original pickle-liciousVan Holten’s (crafted over a century ago), or go new age and sip on a probiotic-infused LiveBrine.
Some Like It Hot
For Mark Gibson, the owner of The Wren and Bua in New York City, a spicy brine is the key to a great pickle martini. Trends be damned, Gibson has had a pickle martini on his cocktail menu at Bua for over a decade now, which calls upon a house-made spicy pickle brine to add a kick of flavor in each sip.
Gibson also encourages those attempting to pickle their martinis at home to avoid skimping on the good stuff. “Like anything, the results are a product of the quality of your ingredients,” he says. Use the best-tasting pickle juice you can get.
“Personally, I don’t think the standard store-brand pickle juice has enough punch,” he says. “We use tons of McClure’s Spicy Dill pickles for grilled cheeses and the brine is perfect for martinis.” Of course you can always make your own, too.
Another hot tip? Gibson suggests adding pickle brine into other savory cocktails like bloody Marys.
Try Different Types of Pickles
Setting aside your standard pickle, there are endless ways to incorporate brine into your cocktails at home that invite even more use of the imagination. Cocktail bars have already begun to pick up on this, creating inventive new cocktails with anything from pickled pearl onions to pickled mushrooms. At Little Donkey in Cambridge, MA, just across the river from Boston, chef Ken Oringer has created multiple iterations of a pickled martini—the latest of which features pickled red cabbage.
Oringer pickles his own red cabbage in-house with coriander, juniper, and clove, which can easily be done at home with nearly any vegetable. All you need is vinegar for pickling liquid, your vegetable of choice, and botanicals. The end result is a vibrant red martini with bright acidity that cuts through the high-alcohol content.
*Recipe: How to Make the Maison Pickle Martini
Ingredients
2 oz Fords Gin
2 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth
¼ oz hot sour brine (house-made)
3 dashes Bittermen’s Orange Citrate
Method
Add all your ingredients to a cocktail glass full of ice.
Stir thoroughly, for at least 30 seconds.
Strain into a chilled martini glass.
Garnish with a pickled pepper, or whatever pickles you’re loving at the moment.
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The winter and spring are fraught months for those of us who build our lives around sports. The World Cup wrapped right before Christmas. The college football and NFL postseasons come next on the sports calendar. The NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments are just around the corner, as are spring playoffs in hockey and basketball. There are lots of sports to watch and, if we want, to freak out about—also known as experiencing fan anxiety, or “fanxiety” for short.
This is the best time of the sporting year. But it is also a brutally stressful time on the schedule, packed with spiking heart rates, sweaty palms, and existential dread that the puck will bounce the wrong way in overtime or a field goal will clank off the upright and end a team’s season in misery.
Sadness is going to come. That’s part of the contract we all sign when we agree to care about sports. But sometimes, devastation really hits hard, and stress over sporting events becomes a genuine setback in our day-to-day lives. Nobody wants that. Fortunately, we don’t have to let it happen.
Here are six tips to help you let go of fanxiety and focus on the more joyful side of fandom, with commentary from a sport psychologist on how to reframe your thinking. (Disclosure: I have personally ignored all six of these tips at different times in my fandom. I will do my best to follow them in the future.)
Fanxiety: Expert Tips for Dealing With Sports-Related Stress
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This article is an installment of the Men’s Journal Everyday Warriorseries, which features advice, key interviews, and tips for living a life of consistent impact, continuous growth, and continual learning.
Success means different things to different people. For some, it may be achieving financial stability or career advancement, while for others, it may be finding happiness and fulfillment. Regardless of your definition, the cost is often high. Author Brian Tracy said, “The price of success must be paid in full, in advance.” We recently wrote about the three things it takes to succeed: planning, preparation, and execution. Now, we explore the cost of success and ways to pay in full while staying healthy.
Time
Time is our most valuable commodity. How we use it is a significant factor in determining our level of success. Nearly all successful people sacrifice their time by working long hours, taking on additional responsibilities, and even living to work. Vince Lombardi once said, “The price of success is hard work, dedication… and determination.” While true, we must also have enough discipline to set boundaries, prioritize responsibilities by the level of importance, and ask ourselves whether our actions are a good return on investment. This may mean delegating tasks, saying no to additional commitments, and setting limits. There’s no way around working hard if you want to succeed; then again, earning it is part of what makes success feel so great. Still, you can be dedicated while continuing to care for yourself. Self-care prevents burnout, helps you maintain balance, and gets you that much closer to achieving your goals.
Social
Another cost of success is the toll it can take on our social connections and relationships. Highly driven people can sometimes hyper-focus on their goals, leaving less time for socializing and maintaining friendships. This can lead to isolation and loneliness, causing people to lose touch with loved ones. Maintaining and strengthening relationships is key, which may mean setting aside dedicated time for socializing, staying in touch with loved ones, and being open and honest about the demands of your career or personal goals. It may also be helpful to seek support from friends and family if you feel overwhelmed or isolated.
Mental and Physical
The mental toll of striving for success can be significant. When the pressure to perform and achieve becomes overwhelming, it can lead to anxiety, stress, and depression. In addition, constant demands can take a physical toll when people neglect their health to pursue their goals. This may be skipping meals, cutting sleep, or engaging in unhealthy habits like smoking or excessive caffeine consumption. To minimize the mental and physical impacts of success, we must prioritize our well-being. This may involve setting aside time for relaxation and hobbies, regular exercise, a healthy diet, and getting enough sleep. It’s also important to proactively schedule routine doctor appointments and seek help from a mental health professional if you’re struggling.
Early Adjustments
While success can bring a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment, it’s imperative to recognize that it can also come at a cost. Be mindful of how pursuing success may impact your time, social connections, and overall well-being. Take steps to mitigate these costs whenever possible. Also, defining success and developing achievable goals can keep you motivated and prevent the disappointment of striving for unrealistic or unfulfilling goals. Making a few early adjustments can increase your chances of achieving success in a healthy and fulfilling way.
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At the start of this century, Ronnie Coleman and Jay Cutler were arguably the two most prominent names in bodybuilding. En route to his legendary run of eight consecutive Mr. Olympia victories (1998-2005), Coleman relegated Cutler to second-place on four occasions (2001, 2003-2005). When push came to shove, and Cutler was ready for his long-awaited moment of glory, he would finally dethrone Coleman in 2006 and capture another title over his ripped peer in 2007.
Over a decade and a half later, Coleman and Cutler are two primary fixtures in the extended lore of bodybuilding history. The two former titans have a combined 12 Mr. Olympia titles (eight for Coleman, four for Cutler) and continue to be influential voices intimately concerned with the happenings of the modern sport. On Jan. 10, 2023, a video posted on Cutler’s YouTube channel features the two icons, joined by bodybuilding YouTube personality Jesse James West, plowing through a collaborative training session. Per the caption of Cutler’s video, the workout took place sometime during the 2022 Mr. Olympia weekend on Dec. 16-18, 2022.
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The central focus of the three men’s joint workout was to chisel their respective back and biceps muscles. To commemorate the two legends he was training with, West had headbands and sleeveless flannels for everyone involved to adorn. A torn towel (reminiscent of these headbands) was a Cutler trademark look during the early parts of his career. Meanwhile, Coleman made wearing a sleeveless flannel his own staple during his dominant run as Mr. Olympia.
Once the workout got up and rolling, there was no stopping this whirlwind of strength and energy. The trio worked through respective sets of lat pulldowns, shifted to seated cable rows and single-arm machine rows, and implemented alternating traditional dumbbell curls throughout their routine. They did not specify the precise numbers and reps for each respective set.
In a treat for any spectating and diehard fans, Coleman and Cutler used the workout as an opportunity to swap unique anecdotes from Olympia legend to Olympia legend. It might have been an inside look at what it was like to be in the two men’s shoes while they were in their athletic primes.
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Coleman and Cutler are certainly astute enough to know that what they have to offer bodybuilding now is more in line with their replete wisdom and experience. That’s what made their enthusiasm for watching Hadi Choopan finally climb the Olympia mountain post-workout palpable.
For a time, they were rivals. In the present, Coleman and Cutler can happily embrace their roles as stewards of bodybuilding’s past and future.
Got a race coming up? Trying to boost your performance? Pro tip: Layer up before you hit the treadmill or bike for your next training session. Turns out heat training really can benefit endurance athletes, according to research published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.
In the study, Norwegian scientists monitored the cycling performance of young, fit men who biked five days a week, averaging 50 minutes each time. The cyclists wore heat suits consisting of a wool base layer, wool hat, nylon jacket and pants, and a down jacket.
At the end of five weeks, athletes saw a 2.6 percent increase in their hemoglobin mass (the amount of red blood cells), indicating a significant boost in performance since red blood cells are used to transport oxygen from the lungs to the muscles.
Heat training isn’t new: Pro athletes frequently train in heat chambers or travel to hot countries to give their red blood cell count a boost. But for those who can’t afford high-tech rooms and international tickets, layering up appears to have the same benefit (the scientists also had a group train in a heat chamber with similar hemoglobin benefits). Want to give heat training a try? Hit the gym as if you’re going skiing:
Base layer (try Smart Wool Intraknit Thermal Merino Base Layer Crew, $125; smartwool.com)
Ready to smash your New Year fitness goals? Men’s Health and Women’s Health have teamed up with Lindahls to host a series of high-impact workout classes at Circuit Society – and you’re invited.
For the uninitiated, the concept of Circuit Society is simple: each 45-minute class has six stations, where you spend between one and six minutes before moving on, with a 50/50 split between cardio and strength training. Cardio stations include machines such as curved runners, ski-ergs and air bikes, while strength stations include dumbbells, kettlebells, workout benches, TRX and training discs.
Circuit Society
The event series will also offer state-of-the-art boxing classes, masterminded by the team who founded boxing phenomenon KOBOX. These are led by the world’s most advanced performance punch trackers to monitor your work rate, punch rate, punch power and speed – the type of stats that get you hooked because you want to beat your PB in the next round.
We’re running three of each type of class this January at Circuit Society’s premium new Bayswater studio, and we’d love you to sweat it out with us. No matter how you like to train, everyone’s welcome – the classes are designed to cater to all fitness levels, with modified options for beginner, intermediate and advanced moves throughout.
After class, you can refuel with protein-packed refreshments from Lindahls – with 18g protein in every Pro pot and 23g protein in the drinks, your tired-out muscles will thank you.
The Men’s Health x Lindahls class schedule
Monday 23 January
Circuit training: 6pm Boxing: 6pm Followed by Lindahls refreshments
Wednesday 25 January
Circuit training: 6pm Boxing: 6pm Followed by Lindahls refreshments
Friday 27 January
Circuit training: 6pm Boxing: 6pm Followed by Lindahls refreshments
This story is part of the 2023 Fitness Awards. To see the full list of winners, click here.
Accessories can make any day more convenient, and the same goes for your training regimens. From the utilitarian to the tech-riddled, there are plenty of options out there to help ensure each workout is as enjoyable as the last.
Our daily fitness setups employ a plethora of helpful gear and devices, including shaker bottles, gym bags, data-tracking watches and beyond. Here’s a roundup of our favorite fitness add-ons to give your training a well-deserved spark this year.
Nick Walker entered the 2022 Mr. Olympia with legitimate aspirations of capturing bodybuilding’s most illustrious title. A top-five finisher in his debut in 2021, many presumed Walker would improve upon that result and push former two-time reigning champion Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay for the crown. As it turns out, Elssbiay would fall short of defending his title, but to Hadi Choopan instead. Walker would technically build upon his debut Olympia by finishing in third, but it still wasn’t exactly what he wanted.
On Jan. 1, 2023, Walker appeared in a YouTube podcast episode of The Mutant & The Mouth. The discussion saw him reflect on his 2022 Olympia performance and look ahead to potentially completing his ascent to the top of bodybuilding’s highest peak in 2023. (Note: There is NSFW language in the video.)
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Walker doesn’t mince his words about his performance. In a frank assessment, the athlete admits he was pleased with his third-place result but thinks he probably should’ve and could’ve finished even higher in an ideal set-up. At the same time, he acknowledged that he, Derek Lunsford (second place), and Choopan might be duking it out at the top of the current Olympia pantheon for a little while. That is unless rising stars like Samson Dauda (sixth place) and Andrew Jacked (eighth place) break up the party.
“I’m very happy I took third [place],” Walker explained. “But I think, as an overall package, I think I could have been second. Derek [Lunsford], Hadi [Choopan], and I will probably be battling this out for years unless Samson [Dauda] comes out of the woodwork or if Andrew [Jacked] nails it one time. I do believe us three will be there for quite some time.”
It’s the latter two competitors in Dauda and Jacked that Walker seemed surprised by. The pair made enough of an impression on Walker for him to believe they could make some real noise with the proper refinements over the next approximate year.
“I arguably could have probably had Samson [Dauda] beating Ramy [Elssbiay] to be honest,” Walker said. “Samson’s a freak. I’m definitely excited to see what he can do at the Arnold [the Arnold Classic in March 2023], and what he can do at next year’s Olympia [in November 2023]. My personal opinion of Samson is I think he should sit out the Arnold and focus on making more improvements for the Olympia. He could cause a lot of havoc. His only downfall was he wasn’t conditioned enough. … Andrew [Jacked] made us look like amateurs. When this man was just chilling in his little Speedo, just relaxing, you’re just like, ‘What the [expletive] is that?’ He is one of the nicest guys.”
Walker himself will not be participating in the 2023 Arnold Classic. Much like the year 2022, he will center his efforts on training for the Olympia to optimize his best hopeful possible results.
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Like many of his peers, the year 2023 will be pivotal for Walker. Already a household name in the bodybuilding sphere, all that’s left for him to accomplish is capturing his first career Olympia title. The next edition of the contest will take place sometime in November 2023 in Orlando, FL. Given some of the names he was impressed by, that task likely won’t come easily. As Walker assuredly understands, winning the sport’s most prestigious prize rarely comes without a few challenges.
This 18th century painting is disturbing: it depicts a woman swooning in deep sleep, a chimp-like demon crouched on her torso.
The creature is an incubus, a type of demon that appears in folklore around the world (it’s also commonly known as a succubus) and is notorious for visiting its victims at night, rendering them unable to move and filling their minds with dread.
What causes sleep paralysis?
The modern scientific explanation for the incubus is sleep paralysis, a condition where you’re unable to move or speak when you fall asleep or wake up, often accompanied by dream-like hallucinations or strong emotions.
Sleep paralysis is a condition where you’re unable to move or speak when you fall asleep or wake up. (iStock)
Your body naturally “paralyses” itself during rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep to stop you acting out what you’re dreaming, and when this system malfunctions it’s thought to cause sleep paralysis.
“You get the paralysis of REM sleep that is a normal phenomenon, but occurring before the brain actually goes off to sleep, so you’re aware of it,” Professor Ron Grunstein, a sleep disorder specialist from theWoolcock Institute of Medical Research
“Some people, they’re dreaming and they wake up, but they can’t move, but they’re still in the sort of dream – and that can be a quite disconcerting and absolutely hallucinatory sort of experience.”
Though sleep paralysis is understandably frightening, especially the first time it happens to you, Professor Grunstein says it usually lasts a short time and that those who experience it regularly “kind of get used to it”.
People can experience sleep paralysis for genetic reasons, because of conditions like narcolepsy, if they’re going through stressful periods, or because of irregular sleep patterns.
“There’s higher rates [of sleep paralysis] in shift workers, people who are on call, stuff like that – their brains are a little bit more activated,” says Professor Grunstein. “If you look at the epidemiology of sleep paralysis, there seems to be evidence that more people have a disrupted sleep schedule.”
Sleep paralysis is on the same continuum as night terrors. (iStock)
What are night terrors?
Sleep paralysis is on the same continuum as night terrors – an equally unsettling condition characterised by intense feelings of fear and panic, usually in the first hours of sleep. If your child or partner has experienced night terrors, you might have been unable to console them… and it’s likely they didn’t even remember the incident the next day.
“They’re waking up screaming and their whole fear-and-flight systems are activated,” says Grunstein, a professor of sleep medicine at the University of Sydney.
Night terrors are a different beast to nightmares.
He says adults are less likely to get night terrors but they’re “remarkably common” in children, adding they can have a dire effect on both a child’s and their parents’ quality of life.
“When my youngest son was five or six, his friend’s parents were very keen for their son to come over for a sleepover,” shares Professor Grunstein. “Middle of the night, this kid had a terrible night terror, seemed inconsolable. In the morning the parents came and I said, ‘Do you know your kid has night terrors?’ They said, ‘No, we weren’t sure – but we thought you’d be able to diagnose him’.”
What causes night terrors?
Like sleep paralysis, night terrors often have a genetic or psychological basis.
“In adults who’ve got it, sometimes they don’t have it for ages, and then something stressful happens to them and it reactivates,” Professor Grunstein says. “I’ve had patients whose parent has died, and for the first time in 20 years, they’ve started to get their night terrors back.”
Alcohol is considered a trigger for night terrors by some sleep specialists. (Getty)
Alcohol is considered a trigger for night terrors by some sleep specialists. And, cruelly, night terrors themselves can trigger more night terrors because they deprive their victims of sleep.
“Their sleep’s disturbed by the night terrors… which probably impairs their ability to get back to sleep,” says Professor Grunstein. “Sleep deprivation is something that people with night terrors need to avoid… You’ll sometimes anecdotally see people say they caught up on my sleep and [they’re] better now.”
Night terrors vs nightmares: what’s the difference?
Note that night terrors are a different beast to nightmares. The former are likely to occur in the early part of the night during slow-wave “deep” sleep (kids experience more of this kind of sleep, which is why they’re more prone to night terrors), while the latter usually occur during REM sleep later in the night.
Professor Grunstein says a key difference between night terrors and ‘mares is their “story content”.
“[Nightmares] can be quite thematic – the story can be long and with a frightening sort of ending [whereas] night terrors are often like a sword suddenly appearing or some frightening image like that. They’re rarely thematic like a dream,” he says. “With night terrors, there’s not a strong association with post-traumatic stress. Whereas nightmares, there is.”
Night terrors are a different beast to nightmares. (iStock)
Crueller still, night terrors and related sleep disorders often aren’t taken seriously – as if they’re just bad dreams that sufferers should forget about.
“This is not a joke… [it’s] a serious problem for the people who suffer from it, and their families,” cautions professor Grunstein. “And we are a bit hamstrung, because there’s an absence of evidence for what the best approach is [to treat it].”
While medications can be used to treat sleep disorders like night terrors, one of the best defences against them is good “sleep hygiene” – aka good sleep habits.
“Encouraging regular sleep and avoiding sleep deprivation, avoiding too much fluid before you go to bed, avoiding alcohol,” suggests Professor Grunstein. “Try and make sure that your sleep is going to be less disrupted.”
