Fellas, the era of the waify male has ended

Joe Holder on flag football with Tim Cook, and launching a new newsletter.

This week, I’m 90% offline because I’m on my honeymoon. Instead of going dark, I handed the keys to Feed Me over to a few friends, kind of like when Johnny Carson would let Frank Sinatra fill in for him. The newsletters and comments will be available to all readers this week.

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What’s up, Feed Me Readers. It’s Joe Holder here. I’m a big fan of Emily and honored to be taking over the newsletter today. I work on a lot of random things so I jokingly like to call myself an Idea Guy™. My friends call me a “professional doer”, which doesn’t really sound that good in all honesty. I live in Brooklyn and I’m a GQ Wellness Columnist, Nike Global Trainer, health & wellness consultant, and someone you might have seen training celebrities and models back in the day. I am also currently working on a book, which I selfishly do hope you buy when it comes out next year. In the meantime, I’m working on starting my own Substack, so if anything I’m about to discuss sounds interesting, don’t be shy and give me an (early) sub.

I like to talk about how culture, health and wellness intertwine, because I think that’s often ignored. We tend to think about wellness as this side-kitschy project that we have to begrudgingly do, when it’s naturally just a component of … almost everything. Besides money and politics, health & wellness is the largest cultural force of the moment. It’s also a BIG business, with a larger market cap than the fashion industry.

I spent a bit of time at Apple HQ this week, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch. It reminded me just how deep that anchor of well-being has immersed itself in the American psyche.

In honor of the anniversary, Apple deemed April 24 “Close Your Rings” day, where they encouraged all 115+ million owners of the watches to move their bodies and burn calories. The company brought out about 95 thought leaders, trainers, influencers, and media members. We hung out with Apple leadership and, no lie, had a giant field day. I want to act too cool for school and pretend it was corny, but it wasn’t. The dinners were superb, Apple’s campus is beautiful and Tim Cook even showed up to watch the flag football game.

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I know people have a lot of feelings about the watch, from love to ick. But it’s an important living relic of how intertwined health & wellness is in our routines.

I’m mixed on data overload. It’s a quandary. One of my favorite books/art exhibitions, Hyperemployment, talks about how having to be always on, and giving wearables our data, turns everything into a non-compensated competition. But when used correctly, technology gives us the nudge to better take care of ourselves and even catch life-threatening conditions in the moment.

At the farewell dinner Wednesday night, I talked to one of Apple’s product marketers who had been at the company for 20 years. He hit me with the question of what’s next in this space. I have a lot of thoughts. I’ll save some of them for a future post, but the question got me thinking more about the most interesting developments happening right now.

Here’s what’s on my radar:

• Recovery is the hottest new thing in the market. I’ve even invested lightly within the space. Everyone is doing ice baths and saunas. Massage guns are everywhere, and Nike is releasing a collaborative shoe with Hyperice that heats your ankles and massages your feet. Athletes and Olympians love it.

• Oura ring is doing tens of millions in sales at Best Buy. Lil Wayne rapped about one in his song. Gucci not too long did an exclusive designer ring for them. Sleep scores are becoming a new status symbol.

• Bryan Johnson, the guy who wants to live forever, is still tweeting about how long he and his son’s night time erections are and why that’s important to health. No further comment.

• The Kardashians, of course, are taking advantage of the moment with Khloe recently launching a protein popcorn — a larger trend in the cutthroat CPG industry that all the cool kids seem to be enamored with these days.

• AG1, the greens powder embraced by the likes of Huberman and more, has vending machines popping up in airports. Rumor has it even more products are about to launch. They are projected to sell $600 million worth of their SINGLE product this year.

• Function Health, one of the many direct to consumer blood testing companies founded by RFK Jr apologist Dr. Mark Hyman, is seeking a $2.5 billion valuation as that market only continues to grow. That’s happening at the same time as the Supreme Court hears a case that might take away much needed no-cost preventative medical screenings Obamacare provided for much of the US population.

But I’m all about action, not just musing. So here are seven ideas to make you feel better that aren’t that hard to get into!!!

1. Try “exercise snacks” — bite-sized breaks of movement or shorter workouts. Not every session has to be long! It works wonders for busy people, and research backs it up! When I used to train Naomi Campbell, this tactic was one of my go-tos.

2. Lift weights, even if it’s just once a week. No ladies, you won’t get bulky. Fellas, the era of the waify male has ended. Lifting weights is one of the best things you can do for both your health and aesthetics.

3. Go to the doctor. Actually. Consistent check-ups will go a long way to catching preventable conditions. Sorry we are getting older. Don't fight it!!!

4. Nourishment, not restriction. In the era of Ozempic, everyone is focused on eating less. Research hints the trick to long term well-being is actually not extremely restricting your calories, but instead focusing on nutrient density.

5. Take breaks. You don’t have to meditate or practice extreme mindfulness. But if you never take breathers and reduce your phone addiction, feeling stressed truly might kill you.

6. Protect your sleep. Reduce unnecessary artificial light at night. Get a chic eye mask. Create a sleep routine.

7. Be kind. Don’t be an asshole. In the era of ego and individualism, one of the best things research shows you can do is have quality connections in real life and not just on the internet.

I still want to connect with you all online, though. Would love to hear from y’all on the wellness trends you’re obsessed with and the ones you hate. And I’m here for any kind of health & fitness FAQ. I’ll get to them in the comments and DMs.

Have a good weekend!

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Disclaimer: Joe is an investor in Hyperice and AG1