#sometimes less than 24 hours after being reinforced

[unicornofgt]

re my most recent gtms post: y’all do not get to decide if it was uncalled for for me to acknowledge the last year’s worth of events. it is not up to you. you do not have to like how or that i did it: it is not up to you, i do not care how you feel about it. as i said in my post, i did not make it as a call out, i made it as an acknowledgement to move forward. and to the people whose reaction was “why didn’t you just say no/that you were uncomfortable”: re-evaluate that take. i am not interested in dragging this out further than it needs to be and will not be addressing it again.

[aronasouris]

ESports Grows A Following In Sub-Saharan Africa

Throughout the world, e-sports are taking off as an alternative to traditional video games, heightened by the steep increase in digitisation that the world is currently witnessing. eSports began in the late 2000s as amateur engagements and have risen to popularity in the last decade; transitioning into professional, organized multiplayer tournaments with huge followings.

Access conducted a 15-country study to explore the sentiments of both those who view e-sports and those who participate actively in them. Today we look specifically at viewership of esports in sub-Saharan Africa.

Young working professionals set the e-sports trend

In this region, the trend towards esports is taking off as much as in other parts of the world. Interestingly, two-thirds of esports enthusiasts globally are working professionals, with this percentage being mirrored in South Africa and Nigeria. In Kenya we see a higher incidence of students and work-seekers spending time on esports, with fewer working professionals showing interest than in other countries.

The age group that dominates e-sports interest is the 25 to 35 group, reinforcing the demographic of young working professionals. In Kenya, we see a younger following too, with 16 to 24s comprising quite a high percentage – understandable given their higher esports following amongst students.

Puzzle games and sports video games most popular in the region

Most viewers watch between two and three genres of video games, with puzzle games being a clear favourite in South Africa. In Kenya and Nigeria, puzzle games and sports video games are the most popular genres. Racing games are the second most popular genre in South Africa although they are not as prominent in Kenya and Nigeria.

eSports usually watched after work or on weekends

eSports viewership has a fairly new following, with 65% of viewers globally having only gotten into it in the last one to three years. South Africa and Kenya are inline with the global trend but Nigeria has a high incidence (13% of those who claim to have watched esports for more than 10 years).

The majority of esports viewers watch their preferred genres whenever they get time, this mainly being after work and on the weekends. South Africans have a higher incidence of watching before bed than Nigerians and Kenyans, perhaps due to improved internet availability. Kenyans watch after school or college, presumably related to the fact that this country has a younger viewer base.

South Africans watch esports for slightly longer than viewers in Nigeria and Kenya do. Globally three-quarters of viewers spend less than 10 hours a week watching esports, with Nigeria and Kenya having very few viewers who watch for as long as 15 hours per week.

Sub-Saharan viewers watch recorded events as much as they do live ones

Most e-sports enthusiasts globally watch live events sometimes but mostly recorded games. In sub-Saharan Africa, there is a slightly higher incidence of those who watch live and recorded events equally, than what we see in the rest of the world where live is the order of the day.

YouTube is by far the main platform on which e-sports are viewed. Streaming TV and Facebook Gaming are next, at a global level. In sub-Saharan Africa, streaming TV has a much higher incidence of streaming TV than the global average, as a way to watch esports. While Twitch is used by Europeans and also South American viewers, it is not very popular in sub-Saharan Africa yet.

Friends and social media are the main influences that drive people to watch e-sports. In sub-Saharan Africa, sports channels on television also inspire e-sports viewership.

eSports set to continue to grow as the world becomes more digital

As sub-Saharan Africa and the entire globe become increasingly digitised, esports has the potential to grow even further. As we have seen, online engagement has burgeoned due to lockdown, in terms of work, shopping and also entertainment.

Having explored the world of esports viewership, we will next be focussing on e-sports participation, both professional and amateur. Look out for this article on how esports players have gotten to where they are today.

[frederiksen19frederiksen]

Better Cat Care Tips For Better Cat Owners

A lot of people get a cat because kittens are so adorable. Then, when they get the cat home, they're not sure what to do. They are not always as expressive as dogs are, so cats can sometimes be puzzling. Here are a couple ways you can keep your cat happy. Keep your cat groomed. Just like dogs, cats require regular brushing and de-tangling. This leads to a cleaner cat. Also, this can eliminate the constant shedding that you will deal with. Regularly grooming keeps cats looking well and keeps your home neater. If your cat is female, you need to get it spayed at the proper age. Even if you have an indoor female cat, if it escapes when it's in heat it could get you a bunch of kittens you weren't planning on having. A spayed cat is a safe cat. Taking your cat to the vet is part of being a responsible pet owner. They should go in for a routine check-up at least once a year, possibly more if they need important shots. Cats need to be seen by a vet right away if there are injuries or health problems that don't go away. Keep an eye on early warning signs of health issues in cats. Cats usually display warning signs if they are struggling with health issues. اكل القطط to look out for include eating habit changes, sleeping habit changes, not being able to groom properly, changes in eating habits, changes in sleeping habits, depression, sneezing, increased thirst, watery eyes, changes in behavior, hiding, and vomiting. If they display these symptoms, take them to a vet right away. The sooner you take, them the better. If your cat seems to want to avoid his food bowl, try getting a different kind of bowl. Plastic can sometimes turn a cat off if it isn't cleaned constantly, and can hold on to certain scents. Try glass or a metal bowl for best results, so your cat will keep eating. Cats are great pets, but their litter boxes can be unsightly and have an odor. If you can't stand the sight of your litter box, then it is time to go shopping. There are many different styles of litter boxes on the market. Some are even disguised as fake potted plants. Not only does it look better, it controls the smell as well. If حليب قطط want a cat that is well-behaved and not prone to biting and scratching, make sure that you do not try to adopt one when it is too young. It takes 12-16 weeks for a kitten to learn proper cat behavior from their mom and all of their siblings. Do not try to bathe a kitten that is less than four weeks old. It is not very easy for a young kitten to regulate the temperature of their body. This may result in the kitten getting a chill. To be on the safe side you should wait between 12 and 16 weeks after they are born to bathe them for the first time. Never try to teach a cat to use a litter box. This is the sort of thing which flows naturally. Don't force your cat into the box or you will traumatize them. You cat needs to get used to being in a carrier. You cannot train a cat the same way you train a dog because they react differently to punishment. They need positive reinforcement. Place the open carrier in an area that your cat visits often and outfit it with a favorite toy and blanket. طعام قطط will enter it on its own. This makes transporting much easier. Frequent or misdirected urination may warrant a trip to your vet's office. This sort of behavior is common among cats with UTIs and other health problems. Some cheap antibiotics can get rid of some dangerous illnesses. If your cat is bitten by another cat, try to get him to the vet within 24 hours. The vet can put him on antibiotics that will protect him from infection setting in, and causing serious health problems. Cat bites can trap bacteria under your cat's skin, forming an abscess, or other dangerous infection that can cost you hundreds of dollars to treat later. After reading this article, you are probably going to be better at taking care of your cat. Try each tip out, to see what your cat responds best to. You can always find out more, so make sure you keep learning about cats so that yours always feels taken care of.

[shoemaker01pickett]

Better Cat Care Tips For Better Cat Owners

A lot of people get a cat because kittens are so adorable. Then, when they get the cat home, they're not sure what to do. They are not always as expressive as dogs are, so cats can sometimes be puzzling. Here are a couple ways you can keep your cat happy. Keep your cat groomed. Just like dogs, cats require regular brushing and de-tangling. This leads to a cleaner cat. Also, aromatic polyurea can eliminate the constant shedding that you will deal with. Regularly grooming keeps cats looking well and keeps your home neater. If your cat is female, you need to get it spayed at the proper age. Even if you have an indoor female cat, if it escapes when it's in heat it could get you a bunch of kittens you weren't planning on having. A spayed cat is a safe cat. Taking your cat to the vet is part of being a responsible pet owner. They should go in for a routine check-up at least once a year, possibly more if they need important shots. Cats need to be seen by a vet right away if there are injuries or health problems that don't go away. Keep an eye on early warning signs of health issues in cats. Cats usually display warning signs if they are struggling with health issues. Some common signs to look out for include eating habit changes, sleeping habit changes, not being able to groom properly, changes in eating habits, changes in sleeping habits, depression, sneezing, increased thirst, watery eyes, changes in behavior, hiding, and vomiting. If they display these symptoms, take them to a vet right away. The sooner you take, them the better. If your cat seems to want to avoid his food bowl, try getting a different kind of bowl. Plastic can sometimes turn a cat off if it isn't cleaned constantly, and can hold on to certain scents. Try glass or a metal bowl for best results, so your cat will keep eating. Cats are great pets, but their litter boxes can be unsightly and have an odor. If you can't stand the sight of your litter box, then it is time to go shopping. There are many different styles of litter boxes on the market. Some are even disguised as fake potted plants. Not only does it look better, it controls the smell as well. If you want a cat that is well-behaved and not prone to biting and scratching, make sure that you do not try to adopt one when it is too young. It takes 12-16 weeks for a kitten to learn proper cat behavior from their mom and all of their siblings. Do not try to bathe a kitten that is less than four weeks old. It is not very easy for a young kitten to regulate the temperature of their body. This may result in the kitten getting a chill. To be on the safe side you should wait between 12 and 16 weeks after they are born to bathe them for the first time. Never try to teach a cat to use a litter box. This is the sort of thing which flows naturally. Don't force your cat into the box or you will traumatize them. You cat needs to get used to being in a carrier. You cannot train a cat the same way you train a dog because they react differently to punishment. They need positive reinforcement. Place the open carrier in an area that your cat visits often and outfit it with a favorite toy and blanket. The cat will enter it on its own. This makes transporting much easier. Frequent or misdirected urination may warrant a trip to your vet's office. This sort of behavior is common among cats with UTIs and other health problems. Some cheap antibiotics can get rid of some dangerous illnesses. If your cat is bitten by another cat, try to get him to the vet within 24 hours. The vet can put him on antibiotics that will protect him from infection setting in, and causing serious health problems. Cat bites can trap bacteria under your cat's skin, forming an abscess, or other dangerous infection that can cost you hundreds of dollars to treat later. After reading this article, you are probably going to be better at taking care of your cat. Try each tip out, to see what your cat responds best to. You can always find out more, so make sure you keep learning about cats so that yours always feels taken care of.

[conner90harding]

Better Cat Care Tips For Better Cat Owners

A lot of people get a cat because kittens are so adorable. Then, when they get the cat home, they're not sure what to do. They are not always as expressive as dogs are, so cats can sometimes be puzzling. Here are a couple ways you can keep your cat happy. Keep your cat groomed. Just like dogs, cats require regular brushing and de-tangling. This leads to a cleaner cat. Also, this can eliminate the constant shedding that you will deal with. Regularly grooming keeps cats looking well and keeps your home neater. If your cat is female, you need to get it spayed at the proper age. Even if you have an indoor female cat, if it escapes when it's in heat it could get you a bunch of kittens you weren't planning on having. A spayed cat is a safe cat. Taking your cat to the vet is part of being a responsible pet owner. They should go in for a routine check-up at least once a year, possibly more if they need important shots. Cats need to be seen by a vet right away if there are injuries or health problems that don't go away. Keep an eye on early warning signs of health issues in cats. Cats usually display warning signs if they are struggling with health issues. Some common signs to look out for include eating habit changes, sleeping habit changes, not being able to groom properly, changes in eating habits, changes in sleeping habits, depression, sneezing, increased thirst, watery eyes, changes in behavior, hiding, and vomiting. If they display these symptoms, take them to a vet right away. پنل فالوور take, them the better. If your cat seems to want to avoid his food bowl, try getting a different kind of bowl. Plastic can sometimes turn a cat off if it isn't cleaned constantly, and can hold on to certain scents. Try glass or a metal bowl for best results, so your cat will keep eating. Cats are great pets, but their litter boxes can be unsightly and have an odor. If you can't stand the sight of your litter box, then it is time to go shopping. There are many different styles of litter boxes on the market. Some are even disguised as fake potted plants. Not only does it look better, it controls the smell as well. If you want a cat that is well-behaved and not prone to biting and scratching, make sure that you do not try to adopt one when it is too young. It takes 12-16 weeks for a kitten to learn proper cat behavior from their mom and all of their siblings. Do not try to bathe a kitten that is less than four weeks old. It is not very easy for a young kitten to regulate the temperature of their body. This may result in the kitten getting a chill. To be on the safe side you should wait between 12 and 16 weeks after they are born to bathe them for the first time. Never try to teach a cat to use a litter box. This is the sort of thing which flows naturally. Don't force your cat into the box or you will traumatize them. You cat needs to get used to being in a carrier. You cannot train a cat the same way you train a dog because they react differently to punishment. They need positive reinforcement. Place the open carrier in an area that your cat visits often and outfit it with a favorite toy and blanket. The cat will enter it on its own. This makes transporting much easier. Frequent or misdirected urination may warrant a trip to your vet's office. This sort of behavior is common among cats with UTIs and other health problems. Some cheap antibiotics can get rid of some dangerous illnesses. If your cat is bitten by another cat, try to get him to the vet within 24 hours. The vet can put him on antibiotics that will protect him from infection setting in, and causing serious health problems. Cat bites can trap bacteria under your cat's skin, forming an abscess, or other dangerous infection that can cost you hundreds of dollars to treat later. After reading this article, you are probably going to be better at taking care of your cat. Try each tip out, to see what your cat responds best to. You can always find out more, so make sure you keep learning about cats so that yours always feels taken care of.

[beringwynn3]

Better Cat Care Tips For Better Cat Owners

A lot of people get a cat because kittens are so adorable. Then, when they get the cat home, they're not sure what to do. They are not always as expressive as dogs are, so cats can sometimes be puzzling. Here are a couple ways you can keep your cat happy. Keep your cat groomed. Just like dogs, cats require regular brushing and de-tangling. This leads to a cleaner cat. Also, this can eliminate the constant shedding that you will deal with. Regularly grooming keeps cats looking well and keeps your home neater. If your cat is female, you need to get it spayed at the proper age. Even if llc in minnesota have an indoor female cat, if it escapes when it's in heat it could get you a bunch of kittens you weren't planning on having. A spayed cat is a safe cat. Taking your cat to the vet is part of being a responsible pet owner. They should go in for a routine check-up at least once a year, possibly more if they need important shots. Cats need to be seen by a vet right away if there are injuries or health problems that don't go away. Keep an eye on early warning signs of health issues in cats. Cats usually display warning signs if they are struggling with health issues. Some common signs to look out for include eating habit changes, sleeping habit changes, not being able to groom properly, changes in eating habits, changes in sleeping habits, depression, sneezing, increased thirst, watery eyes, changes in behavior, hiding, and vomiting. If they display these symptoms, take them to a vet right away. The sooner you take, them the better. If your cat seems to want to avoid his food bowl, try getting a different kind of bowl. Plastic can sometimes turn a cat off if it isn't cleaned constantly, and can hold on to certain scents. Try glass or a metal bowl for best results, so your cat will keep eating. Cats are great pets, but their litter boxes can be unsightly and have an odor. If you can't stand the sight of your litter box, then it is time to go shopping. There are many different styles of litter boxes on the market. Some are even disguised as fake potted plants. Not only does it look better, it controls the smell as well. If you want a cat that is well-behaved and not prone to biting and scratching, make sure that you do not try to adopt one when it is too young. It takes 12-16 weeks for a kitten to learn proper cat behavior from their mom and all of their siblings. Do not try to bathe a kitten that is less than four weeks old. It is not very easy for a young kitten to regulate the temperature of their body. This may result in the kitten getting a chill. To be on the safe side you should wait between 12 and 16 weeks after they are born to bathe them for the first time. Never try to teach a cat to use a litter box. This is the sort of thing which flows naturally. Don't force your cat into the box or you will traumatize them. You cat needs to get used to being in a carrier. You cannot train a cat the same way you train a dog because they react differently to punishment. They need positive reinforcement. Place the open carrier in an area that your cat visits often and outfit it with a favorite toy and blanket. The cat will enter it on its own. This makes transporting much easier. Frequent or misdirected urination may warrant a trip to your vet's office. This sort of behavior is common among cats with UTIs and other health problems. Some cheap antibiotics can get rid of some dangerous illnesses. If your cat is bitten by another cat, try to get him to the vet within 24 hours. The vet can put him on antibiotics that will protect him from infection setting in, and causing serious health problems. Cat bites can trap bacteria under your cat's skin, forming an abscess, or other dangerous infection that can cost you hundreds of dollars to treat later. After reading this article, you are probably going to be better at taking care of your cat. Try each tip out, to see what your cat responds best to. You can always find out more, so make sure you keep learning about cats so that yours always feels taken care of.

[marquez48massey]

Better Cat Care Tips For Better Cat Owners

A lot of people get a cat because kittens are so adorable. Then, when they get the cat home, they're not sure what to do. They are not always as expressive as dogs are, so cats can sometimes be puzzling. Here are a couple ways you can keep your cat happy. Keep your cat groomed. Just like dogs, cats require regular brushing and de-tangling. This leads to a cleaner cat. Also, this can eliminate the constant shedding that you will deal with. Regularly grooming keeps cats looking well and keeps your home neater. If your cat is female, you need to get it spayed at the proper age. Even if you have an indoor female cat, if it escapes when it's in heat it could get you a bunch of kittens you weren't planning on having. A spayed cat is a safe cat. Taking your cat to the vet is part of being a responsible pet owner. They should go in for a routine check-up at least once a year, possibly more if they need important shots. Cats need to be seen by a vet right away if there are injuries or health problems that don't go away. Keep an eye on early warning signs of health issues in cats. Cats usually display warning signs if they are struggling with health issues. Some common signs to look out for include eating habit changes, sleeping habit changes, not being able to groom properly, changes in eating habits, changes in sleeping habits, depression, sneezing, increased thirst, watery eyes, changes in behavior, hiding, and vomiting. If they display these symptoms, take them to a vet right away. The sooner you take, them the better. If your cat seems to want to avoid his food bowl, try getting a different kind of bowl. Plastic can sometimes turn a cat off if it isn't cleaned constantly, and can hold on to certain scents. Try glass or a metal bowl for best results, so your cat will keep eating. Cats are great pets, but their litter boxes can be unsightly and have an odor. If you can't stand the sight of your litter box, then it is time to go shopping. There are many different styles of litter boxes on the market. Some are even disguised as fake potted plants. Not only does it look better, it controls the smell as well. If you want a cat that is well-behaved and not prone to biting and scratching, make sure that you do not try to adopt one when it is too young. It takes 12-16 weeks for a kitten to learn proper cat behavior from their mom and all of their siblings. Do not try to bathe a kitten that is less than four weeks old. It is not very easy for a young kitten to regulate the temperature of their body. This may result in the kitten getting a chill. To be on the safe side you should wait between 12 and 16 weeks after they are born to bathe them for the first time. Never try to teach a cat to use a litter box. This is the sort of thing which flows naturally. Don't force your cat into the box or you will traumatize them. You cat needs to get used to being in a carrier. You cannot train a cat the same way you train a dog because they react differently to punishment. They need positive reinforcement. Place the open carrier in an area that your cat visits often and outfit it with a favorite toy and blanket. The cat will enter it on its own. This makes transporting much easier. Frequent or misdirected urination may warrant a trip to your vet's office. This sort of behavior is common among cats with UTIs and other health problems. how to start an llc can get rid of some dangerous illnesses. If your cat is bitten by another cat, try to get him to the vet within 24 hours. The vet can put him on antibiotics that will protect him from infection setting in, and causing serious health problems. Cat bites can trap bacteria under your cat's skin, forming an abscess, or other dangerous infection that can cost you hundreds of dollars to treat later. After reading this article, you are probably going to be better at taking care of your cat. Try each tip out, to see what your cat responds best to. You can always find out more, so make sure you keep learning about cats so that yours always feels taken care of.

[kristoffersenstryhn19]

Better Cat Care Tips For Better Cat Owners

A lot of people get a cat because kittens are so adorable. Then, when they get the cat home, they're not sure what to do. They are not always as expressive as dogs are, so cats can sometimes be puzzling. Here are a couple ways you can keep your cat happy. Keep your cat groomed. Just like dogs, cats require regular brushing and de-tangling. This leads to a cleaner cat. Also, this can eliminate the constant shedding that you will deal with. Regularly grooming keeps cats looking well and keeps your home neater. If your cat is female, you need to get it spayed at the proper age. Even if you have an indoor female cat, if it escapes when it's in heat it could get you a bunch of kittens you weren't planning on having. A spayed cat is a safe cat. Taking your cat to the vet is part of being a responsible pet owner. They should go in for a routine check-up at least once a year, possibly more if they need important shots. Cats need to be seen by a vet right away if there are injuries or health problems that don't go away. Keep an eye on early warning signs of health issues in cats. Cats usually display warning signs if they are struggling with health issues. Some common signs to look out for include eating habit changes, sleeping habit changes, not being able to groom properly, changes in eating habits, changes in sleeping habits, depression, sneezing, increased thirst, watery eyes, changes in behavior, hiding, and vomiting. If they display these symptoms, take them to a vet right away. The sooner you take, them the better. If your cat seems to want to avoid his food bowl, try getting a different kind of bowl. Plastic can sometimes turn a cat off if it isn't cleaned constantly, and can hold on to certain scents. Try how to start an llc or a metal bowl for best results, so your cat will keep eating. Cats are great pets, but their litter boxes can be unsightly and have an odor. If you can't stand the sight of your litter box, then it is time to go shopping. There are many different styles of litter boxes on the market. Some are even disguised as fake potted plants. Not only does it look better, it controls the smell as well. If you want a cat that is well-behaved and not prone to biting and scratching, make sure that you do not try to adopt one when it is too young. It takes 12-16 weeks for a kitten to learn proper cat behavior from their mom and all of their siblings. Do not try to bathe a kitten that is less than four weeks old. It is not very easy for a young kitten to regulate the temperature of their body. This may result in the kitten getting a chill. To be on the safe side you should wait between 12 and 16 weeks after they are born to bathe them for the first time. Never try to teach a cat to use a litter box. This is the sort of thing which flows naturally. Don't force your cat into the box or you will traumatize them. You cat needs to get used to being in a carrier. You cannot train a cat the same way you train a dog because they react differently to punishment. They need positive reinforcement. Place the open carrier in an area that your cat visits often and outfit it with a favorite toy and blanket. The cat will enter it on its own. This makes transporting much easier. Frequent or misdirected urination may warrant a trip to your vet's office. This sort of behavior is common among cats with UTIs and other health problems. Some cheap antibiotics can get rid of some dangerous illnesses. If your cat is bitten by another cat, try to get him to the vet within 24 hours. The vet can put him on antibiotics that will protect him from infection setting in, and causing serious health problems. Cat bites can trap bacteria under your cat's skin, forming an abscess, or other dangerous infection that can cost you hundreds of dollars to treat later. After reading this article, you are probably going to be better at taking care of your cat. Try each tip out, to see what your cat responds best to. You can always find out more, so make sure you keep learning about cats so that yours always feels taken care of.

[yildizburt49]

Better Cat Care Tips For Better Cat Owners

A lot of people get a cat because kittens are so adorable. Then, when they get the cat home, they're not sure what to do. They are not always as expressive as dogs are, so cats can sometimes be puzzling. Here are a couple ways you can keep your cat happy. Keep your cat groomed. Just like dogs, cats require regular brushing and de-tangling. This leads to a cleaner cat. Also, this can eliminate the constant shedding that you will deal with. Regularly grooming keeps cats looking well and keeps your home neater. If your cat is female, you need to get it spayed at the proper age. Even if you have an indoor female cat, if it escapes when it's in heat it could get you a bunch of kittens you weren't planning on having. A spayed cat is a safe cat. Taking your cat to the vet is part of being a responsible pet owner. They should go in for a routine check-up at least once a year, possibly more if they need important shots. Cats need to be seen by a vet right away if there are injuries or health problems that don't go away. Keep an eye on early warning signs of health issues in cats. Cats usually display warning signs if they are struggling with health issues. Some common signs to look out for include eating habit changes, sleeping habit changes, not being able to groom properly, changes in eating habits, changes in sleeping habits, depression, sneezing, increased thirst, watery eyes, changes in behavior, hiding, and vomiting. If they display these symptoms, take them to a vet right away. The sooner you take, them the better. If your cat seems to want to avoid his food bowl, try getting a different kind of bowl. Plastic can sometimes turn a cat off if it isn't cleaned constantly, and can hold on to certain scents. Try glass or a metal bowl for best results, so your cat will keep eating. Cats are great pets, but their litter boxes can be unsightly and have an odor. If you can't stand the sight of your litter box, then it is time to go shopping. There are many different styles of litter boxes on the market. Some are even disguised as fake potted plants. Not only does it look better, it controls the smell as well. If you want a cat that is well-behaved and not prone to biting and scratching, make sure that you do not try to adopt one when it is too young. It takes 12-16 weeks for a kitten to learn proper cat behavior from their mom and all of their siblings. Do not try to bathe a kitten that is less than four weeks old. It is not very easy for a young kitten to regulate the temperature of their body. This may result in the kitten getting a chill. To be on the safe side you should wait between 12 and 16 weeks after they are born to bathe them for the first time. Never try to teach a cat to use a litter box. This is the sort of thing which flows naturally. Don't force your cat into the box or you will traumatize them. You cat needs to get used to being in a carrier. You cannot train a cat the same way you train a dog because they react differently to punishment. They need positive reinforcement. Place the open carrier in an area that your cat visits often and outfit it with a favorite toy and blanket. The cat will enter it on its own. This makes transporting much easier. Frequent or misdirected urination may warrant a trip to your vet's office. This sort of behavior is common among cats with UTIs and other health problems. Some cheap antibiotics can get rid of some dangerous illnesses. If your cat is bitten by another cat, try to get him to the vet within 24 hours. The vet can put him on antibiotics that will protect him from infection setting in, and causing serious health problems. Cat bites can trap bacteria under your cat's skin, forming an abscess, or other dangerous infection that can cost you hundreds of dollars to treat later. After reading this article, you are probably going to be better at taking care of your cat. Try each tip out, to see what your cat responds best to. how to start an llc can always find out more, so make sure you keep learning about cats so that yours always feels taken care of.

[aronasouris]

ESports Grows A Following In Sub-Saharan Africa

Throughout the world, e-sports are taking off as an alternative to traditional video games, heightened by the steep increase in digitization that the world is currently witnessing. eSports began in the late 2000s as amateur engagements and have risen to popularity in the last decade; transitioning into professional, organised multiplayer tournaments with huge followings.

Borderless Access conducted a 15-country study to explore the sentiments of both those who view e-sports and those who participate actively in them. Today we look specifically at viewership of esports in sub-Saharan Africa.

Young working professionals set the e-sports trend

In this region, the trend towards esports is taking off as much as in other parts of the world. Interestingly, two-thirds of esports enthusiasts globally are working professionals, with this percentage being mirrored in South Africa and Nigeria. In Kenya we see a higher incidence of students and work-seekers spending time on esports, with fewer working professionals showing interest than in other countries. The age group that dominates e-sports interest is the 25 to 35 group, reinforcing the demographic of young working professionals. In Kenya, we see a younger following too, with 16 to 24s comprising quite a high percentage – understandable given their higher esports following amongst students.

Puzzle games and sports video games most popular in the region

Most viewers watch between two and three genres of video games, with puzzle games being a clear favourite in South Africa. In Kenya and Nigeria, puzzle games and sports video games are the most popular genres. Racing games are the second most popular genre in South Africa although they are not as prominent in Kenya and Nigeria.

eSports usually watched after work or on weekends

eSports viewership has a fairly new following, with 65% of viewers globally having only gotten into it in the last one to three years. South Africa and Kenya are inline with the global trend but Nigeria has a high incidence (13% of those who claim to have watched esports for more than 10 years). The majority of esports viewers watch their preferred genres whenever they get time, this mainly being after work and on the weekends. South Africans have a higher incidence of watching before bed than Nigerians and Kenyans, perhaps due to improved internet availability. Kenyans watch after school or college, presumably related to the fact that this country has a younger viewer base. South Africans watch esports for slightly longer than viewers in Nigeria and Kenya do. Globally three-quarters of viewers spend less than 10 hours a week watching esports, with Nigeria and Kenya having very few viewers who watch for as long as 15 hours per week.

Sub-Saharan viewers watch recorded events as much as they do live ones

Most e-sports enthusiasts globally watch live events sometimes but mostly recorded games. In sub-Saharan Africa, there is a slightly higher incidence of those who watch live and recorded events equally, than what we see in the rest of the world where live is the order of the day. YouTube is by far the main platform on which e-sports are viewed. Streaming TV and Facebook Gaming are next, at a global level. In sub-Saharan Africa, streaming TV has a much higher incidence of streaming TV than the global average, as a way to watch esports. While Twitch is used by Europeans and also South American viewers, it is not very popular in sub-Saharan Africa yet.

Friends and social media are the main influences that drive people to watch e-sports. In sub-Saharan Africa, sports channels on television also inspire e-sports viewership.

eSports set to continue to grow as the world becomes more digital

As sub-Saharan Africa and the entire globe become increasingly digitised, esports has the potential to grow even further. As we have seen, online engagement has burgeoned due to lockdown, in terms of work, shopping and also entertainment. Having explored the world of esports viewership, we will next be focussing on e-sports participation, both professional and amateur. Look out for this article on how esports players have gotten to where they are today.

[because-i-am-barely-even-human]

4 times Buck and Eddie pretend to have sex to get rid of someone + 1 time there's no need to pretend

prompt

1) Shannon Diaz

You see, the first time it happened it was totally an accident and misunderstanding (not that Eddie complains how the things turned out in the end).

Shannon just showed up after leaving Christopher (and him) a few years ago. And it seems like she not only wanted to see Chris but expected to get back together with Eddie like there’s no bad blood between them. And that was a firm Nope. No, he does not want to have anything to do with her. He’s not sure he wants to let her into Christopher’s life after her abrupt leave. For Christ’s sake, she didn’t even call to check how their son is doing! What did she expect? A warm welcome? He ranted about this to Buck.

So, the second time she shows up, unannounced, might he add, Buck is conveniently at Diazes’ house. Both of them just came back from 24 hour shift. Chris is at Abuela’s still. So when Shannon comes over she did not expect the half naked guy to open the door to her (technically) husband’s house. He looks like he just came out of the shower and before she can say (yell) anything (like “who the hell are you and what are you doing here undressed like that?”) Eddie comes from down the hall in only a fucking towel.

Eddie: Cariño, who’s there?

Shannon is speechless. She knows enough Spanish to understand this. In all the time that they were together Eddie never called her sweetheart. And by the looks of it she does not need any context here, it’s pretty much obvious what they were doing.

She leaves abruptly without a word, forgetting to ask after Christopher. It is obvious that their marriage is officially over.

Both men quickly guessed to what conclusion she might have came. It was hilarious. And incredibly convenient for Eddie. Buck didn’t mind the assumptions at all.

2) Taylor Kelly

The second time it happened because Buck panicked. Taylor Kelly was at the station. Eddie is not a fan, Buck is not as well. She shamelessly flirts with Buck ignoring the fact that he looks extremely uncomfortable because of her attention. The reporter just does not get a hint. Buck hides in a locker room, that’s where Eddie finds him. He’s freaking out and practically begs Eddie to help him to get rid of Taylor. And Diaz is totally on board with that (not to mention that he might have sought Evan with familiar suggestion).

Eddie just finished working out which helps to reinforce their act. His hair is sticking out like someone ran their fingers through it. And he’s flushed and sweaty, perfect. Buck, though, doesn’t look convincing. So Eddie has some ideas™. They’ve been friends for a few months and they got close quickly. Some might say they ended up real close. They liked to kid around and were shameless and sometimes had no boundaries concerning each other. It felt natural. So Eddie gave Buck some hickeys, both of them giggling the whole time while doing it. Buck gave Eddie some too, you know, to make it look real.

After the dynamic duo’s impromptu departure and then their sudden appearance, firefighters of 118 took a note of how Taylor Kelly was pissed and acted even more bratty than before. She stopped chasing (because that’s what it looked like) Buck and left station with her crew soon after. The team sighed in relief.

No one said anything about hickeys because everyone is used to Buddie’s weird behavior.

3) Abby Clark

The third time, Buck was a bit oblivious when it happened. After Abby came back to LA, and with a fiancé no less, Buck was moody. Not because he missed her (that ship sailed a long time ago), but because he was annoyed and pissed at her behavior. He talked at length with Eddie about his abandonment issues and how Abby contributed to it.

She wanted to talk. Buck did not. Abby kept calling Buck a few times a day but he never picked up.

Then one evening, after a long shift, Eddie and Buck were hanging out at his loft. Evan was a bit distracted at the moment. You see, his bad leg was hurting so Eddie was giving him a massage, it was a normal occurrence. So when Abby fucking Clark called again Buck wasn’t mindful of what kind of sounds he made or what he was saying while answering.

Eddie: Is this ok?

Buck: Of course it is! Fuck, don’t stop, Eddie.

Buck asked what did she want and please, stop calling me, I’m busy.

Abby was mortified. She finally left Evan Buckley alone. Her apologies were too late and not needed anymore.

Though Buck was oblivious at first, Eddie certainly knew what he was doing and how did it sound to Abby. He was a little bit petty, so what? Plus when Buck realized what did they sound like they lost it again. It was like that time with Shannon. When they told the team about it they lost it too, for different reasons though.

4) Ana Flores

The fourth and last time it happened, it turned real.

Eddie was seeing Ana for a few short months, frankly speaking, he didn’t know why he asked her out. She was pretty (not completely his type tho) and nice at first, then she started to act snobbish. They had nothing in common, and she creeped him out after their math date™ or whatever the fuck she tried to turn it into. Ana was pushy about being intimate when he hadn’t felt any sort of attraction to her. He thought maybe it was because she was practically a stranger and they needed time, but she was adamant on getting into his pants and he noped right out of this, because fuck if he was going to let someone to pressure him into doing anything he didn’t want to.

He told Buck about this shit and he suggested to break this thing off and fast, this is not healthy.

So Eddie broke up with Ana the morning the shooting happened after she snooped around on GoFundMe site. Evan was aware of the break up.

So imagine Eddie’s frustration when he was getting discharged and Ms Flores thought it was a brilliant idea to show up and try to convince him to start over.

Eddie got the message from Hen that Ana was coming to his room at the hospital (let’s say Hen was there restocking the ambulance when she noticed her). Buck was trying to help Eddie dress into sweatpants when the door opened and Eddie had a second to come up with their usual plan of making people to fuck off. He put his hand on Buck’s neck and quietly asked him to play along.

Ana determined to make Edmundo see reason and get back together was quite shocked at what she saw. Evan (his best friend, she should have known) was on his knees before Edmundo who definitely wasn’t wearing pants and moving his head quite enthusiastically, while Edmundo looked down with the dark eyes and the hottest expression on his face (she wished he looked at her like that). She should have known this was the reason he was so harshly refusing to get intimate with her. Edmundo was fooling around with Evan this whole time! How many times did they do this behind her back? How dare they?

And yeah, Ms Flores never entertained the thought that she might have been the problem all along and she had some creepy vibes (many of her exes can attest to that).

Embarrassed and angry that another one of her relationships ended in disaster, she stormed away.

The thing is that during their little play Buck actually slipped Eddie’s boxers off, not that Eddie minded. They promptly forgot about Ana or anything else.

----

If someone’s interested in writing this, please tag me when you’re done.

[dropintomanga]

I Give Up on Anime (Almost) - A Discussion on Anime vs. Manga

Over the past few years, I started to enjoy anime a lot less than I used to. I used to watch quite a bunch of anime series around 2013-2015. Since then, my anime viewing has went down to almost zero while my manga consumption increased steadily. I sometimes felt I was the only person left behind as almost all my friends and peers talk about what’s hot and not each and every new anime season.

I don’t know if it was a sheer coincidence, but I found a Reddit manga thread that spoke to me and maybe some other people. A user on the platform honestly asked “Is anyone else literally unable to watch anime since you got into manga?”

The premise behind the post was that the user felt like anime takes too long to get going while in a few short minutes, plot development in manga ramps up. There were about 750+ comments chiming into the discussion. A majority of fans do feel that anime wasn’t worth their time as manga is still serialized even when a 12-24 episode anime season ends. Some fans feel that a lot of anime adaptations tend to be subpar. There’s also still the argument that anime adaptations are just advertisements for the source material that is the manga. Some discussion about clever usage of manga panels telling a quicker story was mentioned as well. And of course, multiple fillers is another big reason for fans’ preference of manga over anime.

But when I think about the argument about anime adaptations being ads, isn’t that a good thing? This is true especially in America, where most fans tend to read/buy manga after noticing how hot an anime series is. In Japan, a decent number of manga sells well before an anime adaptation is announced. However, even constant “ads” become annoying over time when the novelty wears off.

It doesn’t mean that certain series are necessarily better as manga though. The best example I can give is Gintama. Sunrise, the studio behind the anime adaptation, goes balls-out on the series. I love how all the Gintama voice actors take so much pride in their roles. I sometimes find Hideaki Sorachi’s art to be lacking in certain areas and Sunrise helps to enhance it. It’s funny because reading chapters of the Gintama manga made me enjoy seeing its eventual anime adaptation. I think it depends of the kind of series you want as anime. I don’t think every seinen series should be anime as a good number of them are much slower-paced even if there’s action. Certain slice-of-life series (Yotsuba&!, a much-demanded series for an anime adaptation, comes to mind here) might have pacing issues when put on a TV screen versus a drawing board. 

Someone on the Reddit thread did point out a potential elephant in the room - isekai light novel adaptations. Isekai is pretty much everywhere and a lot of the series aren’t always of the best quality. But so many fans worldwide eat it up because of fantasy tropes. I remember reading a convention recap of New York Comic-Con one year and the writer, who is a manga reviewer, of that recap noted that while waiting inside a panel room for a manga panel, he went through a Sword Art Online panel. The writer found it somewhat depressing that there were a ton more fans at the SAO panel compared to the manga panel that happened later. I think he said what he said because the lovable diversity of manga titles out there is being passed over for an isekai series whose reception gets divisive pretty fast.

What to say about fantasy tropes? I remember trying out one of the hottest video games today, Genshin Impact. After playing it for a few hours, I just gave up and that’s not because of the gacha mechanics. I wasn’t invested in the story as it sounds like stuff I’ve heard over and over again. Genshin Impact plays up fantasy anime tropes that I’m mostly over at my age.

I think maybe my mind is not satisfied by tropes that are just easily rehashed. However, that kind of thinking has been challenged at times. For starters, I really enjoy Kaguya-sama: Love is War. I don’t like romantic comedies, but the way the story is told in Kaguya-sama and how it gives every character a good amount of emotional depth has left me impressed. The serious stories being jumbled in reminds me so much of Gintama.

Maybe the real elephant in the discussion is the usage of common tropes and how often they’re used to cater to the lowest common denominator. I know manga can be guilty of this, but anime adaptations make them a lot more visible. That’s because most people would prefer watching anime a lot more than reading manga. Anime is a more mainstream form of media. You need to appeal to those fans a lot more as they bring in more money via other means (The Demon Slayer: Mugen Train movie is a big case of this right now) than just manga volumes. 

Combine that with how consuming anime is more passive than reading a manga and you may have fans who just don’t stop and think about the media they consume. I sometimes feel that anime production committees view fans as mindless consumers of media and only think of them as such. I also wonder if fans reinforce that thinking since corporations enable them to do so.

Honestly, I think in my case, when you learn something that’s outside your comfort zone, you start to come down with uncomfortable truths. I’ll admit that there’s a little cognitive dissonance, but I’ve accepted that my mind has changed. Maybe I was never much of an anime fan in the first place. Maybe I realized watching anime takes up much of my time. A lot of folks stay away from certain truths since people are afraid to admit that they may be wrong about certain things. This is what happens when you begin to understand more about the psychology of crowds/groups and public opinion. I like being in solitude to reflectively gather my thoughts. Being outside of a “popular” group doesn’t subject you to certain cognitive bias that can become damaging over time.

I watched a panel featuring the digital manga service Mangamo and one of its executive editors said that he’s always been more of a manga guy. He said he doesn’t watch much anime with some exceptions (Japan Sinks 2020 was a relevant example, he gave). I’m still going to watch anime series here and there because hey, I got to preach some notable series worth everyone’s time.

I know I’m talking out of my butt here, but I feel that discussing a topic like “why manga over anime?” and vice versa (in a way that doesn’t become a shouting match) is warranted. Hell, I think it’s best to discuss both at the same time. It’s conversations like this that develop into newer insights. I wish more people realize that despite whatever you prefer, anime and manga are very much yin and yang to each other. I think experiencing both anime and manga worlds lead to a better appreciation and understanding of why Japanese pop culture media fascinates us and will continue to do so.

[granteddrop]

Big disclaimer: In art, the phases of the moon are generally used to convey mood, or for purely aesthetic purposes, rather than as a timekeeping implement. Also, when considering the accuracy of phases of the moon in stories far offset from the modern day, it may be unwise to place specific dates based on the moon, but in Novae, events matched up well enough that I figured I may as well use the moon to help mark time.

Another disclaimer: Specific dates are (generally) arbitrarily chosen by nitpicking the wording characters use so take those with a grain of salt xD The time between the chapters and the general time of year are the parts that I’ve tried to nail down here.

(Last edited: 07/29/2020) 

Explanations to follow >:3

DECEMBER 1672:

Raz is 22 at the start of Novae (character bio), which starts in 1672 (pg 4). 

Novae must start on or after Raziol’s 22nd birthday, specifically December 6, 1672.

During Ch 2, Raziol and Sulvain enjoy a dark, moonless night of stargazing. This puts the phase of the moon sometime between 1st quarter and 3rd quarter, anywhere between the 11th and the 27th of December, 1672. (idk Paris is pretty far north so the moon doesn’t get very high in the sky anyway)

(also for Saturn to be up and Orion mostly upright in December of 1672, that puts the time for night between 10pm and 12am, but that’s nitpicky at best xD)

Raz says he hadn’t changed since last Wednesday (pg 12), so to allow ample time for that and for the phase of the moon to kinda match in Ch 2, we can push the start of Ch1 to the fourth week of December. 

Ch 1 starts at dawn (pgs 1-18) and ends in the late evening/early night of that same day (pgs 19-31). 

Ch 2 starts (pgs 32- 39) in the night of that same day (“The meeting is tonight” from pg 17) goes to midday (idk, the lighting looks midday-ish xD) of the next day (pgs 40-42) to evening (pgs 43-47), and through the night of this second day (pgs 48-66).

Chapters 3 and 4 (pgs 67-142) continue the night of the second day.

So by the end of Chapter 4, Raziol and Sulvain have known each other for less than 48 hours.

Ch 5 pt 1 (pgs 143-164) and Ch 5 pt 2 (pgs 165-1st panel of pg 172) take place a few days after the end of Ch 4 (pg 145) and I’m assuming all in the same day because Raz doesn’t change out of his ink stained shirt. Sulvain asks to borrow Raz for the afternoon (pg 169), and the shadows are pretty long when he leaves the morgue(?) (pg 164) so I’m assuming pt 1 takes place in the morning? Also Jean noticed he was being stalked earlier that morning (pg 148- maybe closer to dawn?). Putting this part close to Christmas but not on Christmas day would explain why the Academy empties out, but why a tailor shop is open in pt 2. (I’m rather hand wavey on this bit but oh well xD)

JANUARY 1673:

Idk maybe they just go on lots of dates and panels 2 and 3 of pg 172 are just one example.

I have a few reasons why I think the last panel on page 172 takes place in February but I’ll get to that.

FEBRUARY 1673:

Raz wears his new overcoat and Sulvain is in an entirely different outfit (last panel of pg 172), so it’s reasonable to assume that a fair amount of time has passed since the tailor took Raziol’s measurements. They spend the day together and we head into the evening (pgs 173 and 174) before Jeans’s death. This is assuming “I’ll see you tomorrow night” (pg 174) refers to the very next night we see Raziol and Sulvain together (pg 175).

“These past couple of weeks” (pg 176) implies they haven’t spent months together yet, so we can’t be much later than February if they met back up at the end of December. The morning that Jean is killed, we can see a waning crescent moon, meaning we’re just a little bit before a new moon. This places Jean’s death in the third week of February 1673.

We see that there is some snowmelt (pgs 172 & 173), but with trees still bare and nights still frigid (Ch 8 & 9), and we also see snowdrops and crocuses blooming together (pg 331), which all together seems to indicate we’re somewhere in early spring, which reinforces my thought that we’re in February. To be fair, from the sources I’ve glanced through, both snowdrops and crocuses can bloom in January, which could bump all of this forward a month, so take that as you will xD

Raziol and Sulvain leave the observatory before dawn after stargazing all night (pg 175 and on) and by the end of Ch 6, the sun has risen (pg 209). 

Ch 5 pt 2 (pgs 175-192) takes place in early pre-dawn hours around mid February 1673.

Ch 6 (pgs 209-219) takes place just after dawn on the same day as pgs 175-192.

The page comments on pg 220 place the start of Ch 7 a few days after the end of Ch 6, likely in the early hours of the morning assuming Raz saw meteors while staying up for Jean’s funeral (pg 266). Over the course of the chapter, the color scheme moves from rosy orange (pgs 224~233) to pale yellow (pgs 235~287, Ève comes in at the start of this) to golden (pg 260~269) as we go from dawn hours to morning.

Ch 7 (pgs 220-269) takes place in the morning, a few days after the end of Ch 6.

Sulvain asks “Tonight?” (pg 264) which indicates that Ch 8 happens the same day as Ch 7

Ch 8 takes place at sundown the same day as Ch 7 (pgs 270-277) until dawn the next morning (pgs 278-313)

Ch 9 takes place on the same day as the end of Ch 8, picking up right around dawn and currently we’re about ~24 hours after the fight with Ève (pgs 314-351)

Ch 10 (thus far) continues the same day of Ch 9 (pgs352-?)

No moon is seen rising or setting, so Ch 7, 8, 9, and 10 might take place on February’s new moon, give or take a day, which fits the waning crescent we see in pg 176.

And there we have it! (so far at least xD)

[thepartyresponsible]

a while ago, i signed up for a stony bingo challenge. and i failed spectacularly. but one of the squares was “backrubs/massages.”

so here’s a short fic about steve giving tony a post-mission backrub while they wait for clint to be cleared from medical.

everybody behaves with dignity and decorum. especially clint.

Steve ignores it for as long as he reasonably can. Tony has the money to fix his problems, and it’s not any of Steve’s business if he chooses not to. Tony’s been very clear about the line between his professional life and his private life, and he’s been even clearer about which side of that line Steve is on. Steve ignores it until the problem crosses that line.

They’re at SHIELD, waiting for Barton to be released from Medical. Tony didn’t go to Medical, because he has his own doctors and his own labs. Because he doesn’t like to be touched or prodded or forced to acknowledge his limitations. Because he has a whole set of hang-ups about being any kind of vulnerable in public.  

Steve wonders, as he watches Tony holding his coffee cup with his left hand, how well Tony thinks he hides that.

“Come here,” Steve says, because they’re still fresh enough from the field that Tony might actually listen. It’s not that he ever follows orders well. It’s just that, in the middle of a mission, his instinctive contrariness sometimes gets buried a little deeper.

Tony’s tired, but it’s probably the pain that makes him comply without thinking. He swings Steve’s way, still swigging coffee, humming a question he doesn’t think to ask until he’s halfway across the waiting room.

“What?” he asks, eyes sharpening a little. He comes to a stop, but he’s close enough. Within reaching distance. His gaze is muddled, distracted.

“Your shoulder,” Steve says.

Tony blinks. His eyes dodge tellingly to the right and then settle back on Steve’s face. “Still attached, Cap,” he says. “Present and accounted for.”

Steve used to wonder if it was in Tony’s nature to make everything more difficult than it needed to be. He’s learned, though, to look at it from a different angle. An engineer’s angle. Tony runs stress tests on the world around him, constantly pushing against the people in his orbit. Tony can’t trust anyone until he knows their fail points.

Steve took that personally until he understood that Tony never makes value judgements about other people’s flaws. The only person he ever seems to blame for having weaknesses is himself.

“You took a bad hit four days ago,” Steve says, keeping his tone bland and even, the way he’d talk about a weapon that malfunctioned. “Got jostled a bit again today. Noticed you’re favoring it.”

Tony tenses up, but he doesn’t shy away. Steve’s ready to call that a victory. Victories in this century aren’t ever as clear as they used to be, but he’s learning to make his peace with that.

“The suit took a bad hit,” Tony hedges. “I’m fine.”

“You were in the suit,” Steve says, because he can’t help it, and then he changes tracks before he lets his mouth get him into an argument he’s trying to avoid. “Let me see it.”

Tony’s eyes narrow for a half-second and then he leers at him. “Trying to get me topless, Captain?”

Steve raises his eyebrows. “You know, Stark,” he says, as mildly as he can, “this might sound hypocritical coming from me, but sometimes the answer to every problem isn’t to start a fight about it.”

Tony blinks and then smirks, mouth curling up before he bullies it back into a flat line. “Well,” he says, mumbling it into the dregs of his coffee, “at least you’re self-aware.”

Steve shrugs, because it’s difficult to be ignorant of your shortcomings when the entire world is playing them back to you on a 24/7 news feed. He doesn’t miss the war or the ration cards, but he misses the privacy of failing a mission and knowing that at least the talking heads on the evening news wouldn’t be outlining every one of his missteps that same damn night.

It’s just news for them. It’s a job. It’s entertainment. It’s how they build and reinforce the idea in the heads that they’re safe. Steve understands.

But the mistakes he makes in New York or Kiev or Chicago that result in a dozen extra civilian deaths, they’re mistakes he has to live with. And it doesn’t matter that more people would be dead if the team hadn’t interfered. It’s never enough. If one person dies, it’s because he failed them.

The feedback loop of misery gets to be a bit much, sometimes. That’s all. Steve can spend hours reading about each of the people he didn’t save.

But one redemptive aspect of camera phones and news footage, though, is that it’s really difficult for his team to hide injuries from him.

When he stands up, Tony doesn’t flinch back. He shifts his posture, rooting into the ground like he thinks Steve’s about to knock into him, and Steve doesn’t take that personally, either. Tries not to, anyway.

“Here,” Steve says. He’s slow when he moves his hands, lets Tony see what he’s about to do. And Tony seems so mystified, so baffled by this turn of events, that he doesn’t quite get his thoughts together fast enough to pull away or push Steve back or tell him to go to hell.

When Steve gets his hands on Tony’s shoulder, he finds the knotted muscle in seconds. He’s been thinking about it for hours. Calculating his approach, mapping the trajectory. Like it’s any other target, any other threat to his team.

It’s just a patch of muscle that went tight and never relaxed. It’s nothing, really, except that Steve knows it hurts. He’s spent days watching Tony’s face go blank and pleasant in that horrible way it does whenever he thinks he’s hiding pain.

Steve doesn’t know why the hell Tony didn’t just pay someone to fix this for him.

When he digs his thumb in, puts just enough strength behind it, rubs into the muscle and releases, Tony makes a noise in the back of his throat that Steve’s not used to hearing outside of bedrooms and closed blinds.

“Jesus,” Tony says, when Steve works at it, reminds Tony’s body how it’s supposed to fall together. “Jesus Christ, Cap, you’re wasted on the superhero business.”

“It’s just a muscle,” Steve tells him, a little inanely. He’s never heard Tony make a noise like that before, all low and guttural and pleased.

He expected Tony to be irritable. He expected a scowl, maybe an indulgent, thin-lipped smile if he were feeling generous. He didn’t expect Tony to go practically limp under his hands, shoulders falling, head tipping forward.

It’s just one bad muscle, but there are other knots, too, and Steve works at them, because he’s already here. And he’s not sure he’ll get the chance again. And, honestly, with the noises Tony’s making, Steve’s not sure he can find the will to stop.

“God,” Tony groans, “your hands.”

“They’re just hands, Tony,” Steve says. He’s embarrassed. He’s standing under the unforgivingly clinical brightness of a waiting room in SHIELD Medical, and Tony’s going loose and boneless and obviously, audibly pleased under his touch.

“Let me take you away from all this,” Tony says. “Forget saving the world. Who needs it? I’ll pay twice whatever SHIELD’s giving you.”

“For shoulder rubs?” Steve asks. He’s on the other shoulder now. Well, Tony never told him to stop. And all that compensating, that extra work his left side did while his right was weak, overworked the muscles here, too.

It just makes sense. Steve isn’t prolonging this. It’s a problem, and he’s fixing it.

“For whatever those hands’ll do,” Tony tells him. He probably doesn’t mean it to sound so suggestive. Tony flirts the way other people breathe. “Do you do backs? Necks? You know, I do a lot of acrobatic soldering, and I’m not that young anymore.”

Steve ducks his head. He’s blushing. Thank God Tony’s facing the other way, or this would get awkward fast, and then Tony would never let him do this again. And then Steve would just be stuck, watching Tony fail to deal with the problem, watching him in pain.

“There are professionals,” Steve points out, because he learned everything he knows from art books on human anatomy and field work with the bruised, banged-up Howling Commandos.

“There are no professionals,” Tony says, fervently, “with your hands, Steve.”

Steve stills, caught off-guard. Tony almost never says his name. He’s Cap, or Spangles, or sometimes just Rogers. And even when Tony does use his name, he sure as hell never says it like that.

“C’mon, Steve,” Tony says. He glances back over his shoulder, and the grin on his face is bright and amused and friendly, a little teasing. “We’ll spring Barton before he springs himself, and then we’ll go back to the Tower and do buddy massages. You’re the buddy, and I’m the one getting massaged.”

Steve can feel his blush getting worse. He clears his throat. It doesn’t help. Tony’s expression is shifting from smug amusement to something alarmingly shrewd, like he’s starting to work out that this whole situation is less of a joke than it should be.

“Sounds like a bad deal for me, Tony,” Steve says. The second after it leaves his mouth, he realizes he should’ve said Stark, should’ve planted some distance between them.

Tony raises his eyebrows. There’s a flash of that quick-calculating look that Steve loves to see in the field and hates to see anywhere else. And then Tony swings around, puts them almost chest to chest. “Now, Cap,” he says, with another one of those dangerous smirks, “don’t start casting baseless aspersions on my character. I’ll be glad to put my hands anywhere you want them.”

Steve blinks and blinks again. This is what happens, he thinks, when you get distracted by Stark’s shoulders and let him outmaneuver you.

He opens his mouth, unclear on his objective, thinking maybe he can buy himself some time by playing the well-worn I’m not from this century, and, gee, modern slang is confusing card.

And then Barton – like a merciful angel, like exactly the kind of hospital gown-wearing distraction Steve needs – comes jogging through the doors with a wide-eyed, hunted look on his face.

“Avengers assemble,” Barton says, kinda high-pitched, crashing right into them. “I used to date two of the three the nurse on duty. We gotta get out of here.”

Steve breathes out. “Barton,” he says, “you need to--”

“You need to come to the Tower,” Tony says. “Where you haven’t dated a single one of the nurses. And you’re in luck. Steve and I were just headed that way.”

“You’re heroes,” Barton says, side-stepping behind Steve. “I mean that. I know you guys have saved the world a couple times or whatever, but this is absolutely your finest hour.”

Tony laughs, low in his throat, and then looks up at Steve. “Oh, I don’t know about that,” he says, as they start toward the door. “I have serious ambitions for the next couple hours.”

[whitetomatoes]

9 Professional Athletes Share The Workout and Fitness Tips That Got Them to the Top

As a reader of Men's Health, it would seem a fair assumption that you know what's required to stay healthy, both in body and mind. Less known, however, is how the men and women at an elite level keep themselves at the top of their game for years — sometimes decades — on end, surpassing feats that previously weren't thought possible.

Below, we've compiled nine case studies from our annual Body Issue, an edition of Men's Health that celebrates a tapestry of world-beating champions, each with a body that's built for purpose — whether that's running 26.2 miles in under two hours, hoarding gold medals at the Olympics or being crowned The Fittest Man on Earth consecutively for four years. This is what it takes to reach the top.

Eliud Kipchoge The Greatest Marathon Runner of All Time: 35-Years-Old, 170cm, 56kg

In most sports, the issue of who is the GOAT is a matter of endless contention. In the world of long-distance running, however, there is simply no dispute: Eliud Kipchoge is the most extraordinary athlete over a distance of 26.2 miles that the world has ever seen.

In 2012, the remarkable Kenyan finished his first half-marathon in under an hour, the third-fastest debut ever. A year later, he won his first marathon in Hamburg, beating the field by more than two minutes and setting a course record.

For his first major in Berlin, just a few months on, he came second behind former world-record holder Wilson Kipsang. Even then, he still posted the fifth-fastest time in history. Since that relative disappointment, he has won every marathon he’s run on the world stage, including the gold medal at the Rio Olympics. That’s 11 in a row, including Berlin and London four times.

Then, last October in Vienna, Kipchoge set out to achieve the impossible. The sub-two-hour marathon had been mythologised possibly even more than the four-minute mile. He had trained relentlessly, clocking 140 miles per week, combining punishing speed sessions and strength training, all at high altitudes. But it was perhaps Kipchoge’s mental strength that proved decisive in Austria.“Some people believe it is impossible,” he said before the event. “My team and I believe it is possible. We will prove them wrong.” When Kipchoge broke the tape in Vienna, one hour, 59 minutes and 40 seconds after he started, he not only proved his doubters wrong – he turned a collective dream into reality.

"I believe in a calm, simple and low-profile life. You live simply, you train hard"

“It’s not just the speed at which he runs and the incredible endurance that sustains him,” says Rick Pearson, senior editor of Runner’s World. “It’s the way he does it. Kipchoge’s running style is a thing of beauty – pure poetry in motion. It’s smooth, it’s serene, there’s no wasted effort. And somehow, he tops it all off with a megawatt smile.”

Indeed, what makes Kipchoge’s achievements all the more astounding is his humility. In between running, he works on the family farm, collecting and chopping vegetables. “In life, the idea is to be happy,” he says. “So, I believe in a calm, simple and low-profile life. You live simply, you train hard, and you live an honest life. Then you are free.”

Peaty harnessed his competitiveness to push himself to new lengths

Tom Watkins

Adam Peaty The Leviathan of the Olympic Pool: 25-Years_old, 191cm, 93kg

By Ted Lane

Hitting the pool is a tranquil way to boost fitness and sink stress – at least, it is for ordinary men. Olympic gold medallist Adam Peaty takes a more combative approach. “I love the aggression of racing,” he says. “You have to be very composed when you’re swimming, but I use that composure in an angry way.” If you’ve been following Peaty on Instagram during the lockdown, you will have seen him repping out parallette press-ups in a weighted vest, wearing all black and sporting a quarantine buzz cut. This militant aesthetic only serves to reinforce the brutality of his workouts.

This focused aggression has yielded exceptional results. As well as becoming the first male British swimmer to win the gold medal in the 100m breaststroke for 24 years at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Peaty has set 11 swimming world records. He became the first man to break the hallowed 58-second mark in the same event. Then he broke the 57-second mark.

“In the water, all of this comes from your core – it powers every stroke.”

“Adam has got reality distortion,” says coach and 2004 Olympian Mel Marshall. “He doesn’t see limits – he just sees opportunities.” Which comes in handy when Marshall floods his week with a staggering workload, both in the pool and on dry land. Peaty swims a breathtaking 50km each week; 5km in the morning, 5km in the afternoon, Monday to Friday. But it’s far from a mind-numbing slog. “Tuesday afternoon is intense,” says Marshall. “He does 40 25m reps – each one in 60 seconds. That’s 12 seconds of sprinting, 50-ish seconds of recovery, 40 times.”

It may lack a barbell, but it’s an EMOM workout to make you wince. “His other high-intensity session is 20 100m reps: four reps at lactate threshold [30bpm below his maximum heart rate], with one recovery, then three reps at his VO max [10bpm below his maximum heart rate], with two recovery, and repeat.” And that’s just his pool work.

Peaty’s gym sessions dovetail with his water-based workouts. On Mondays, he follows up a kick-based pool session with an upper-body shift pumping iron. There’s a lot of core work, too. “On dry land, you have the ground to offer stability and provide leverage for movement,” says Marshall. “In the water, all of this comes from your core – it powers every stroke.”

By his own admission, Peaty is intensely competitive – fiercely, even. But it’s his ability to absorb the workload that sets him apart. “He recovers incredibly quickly and he adapts incredibly quickly,” says Marshall. Curiously, his coach feels that it’s the foundations laid in the gym early on that are ultimately responsible for his success.

“Starting young means he can take advantage of all of those hormones coursing through his body,” says Marshall. “And those benefits then continue. The man is a workhorse.” Which is bad news for those playing catch-up before the next Olympics.

Joshua reclaimed all he had lost by learning to play to his strengths

David Venni

Anthony Joshua Unified Heavyweight Boxing Champion: 30-Years-Old, 198cm, 108kg

By David Morton

Men's Health: Last December, you went into your second fight with Andy Ruiz with a noticeably different game plan to when you lost your titles – WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO – to him earlier in 2019. Was that the key to winning your belts back?

AJ: I think it’s all about adapting. Different circumstances require different preparation. It was the same war, but I had learned a lot from the first battle. Ruiz isn’t the type of fighter that you go head to head with. For the first fight, I was planning on going in there and trading with him. But there’s an old boxing saying: “You don’t hook with a hooker!” So, what did I do? I went in there and hooked with a hooker and the actual hooker came out on top.In the second fight, I went in there and he tried to box with a boxer. And I came out on top. I had to learn what my strengths were and what his weaknesses were, and then I just boxed to those. That’s your basic foundation: never play to someone else’s strengths. In anything you do, everyone has their own strengths. If you play to theirs rather than yours, they are always going to come off better than you in the long run.

This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

MH: You weighed in almost 5kg lighter for the second fight and were under 108kg for the first time since 2014. How did you adapt your training to come in so visibly leaner?

AJ: Ha, ha! You want me to give away my secrets? You’ve just got to be specific. Training is all about what you’re trying to achieve. To prepare for 12 rounds of boxing, it sounds obvious, but you’ve got to box, box, box. And that’s what we did.

There’s not much point boxing and then spending time in the swimming pool to build endurance, because all you’re doing is building swimming endurance. The same goes for boxing a little bit and then spending hours lifting weights, because that’s for weightlifters. The best boxing stamina work you can do is to hit the heavy bag or shadow box. Everything that involves boxing without getting injured is the best form of training.

It’s a simple thing that’s easy to overlook. If you want to get good at something, do that thing. Focus on it. We try to add this and that, strip it back. But you need to box more if you want to be in shape for boxing.

Joshua found success in stripping back his approach

David Venni

MH: In what way did you change your nutrition? Is it true that Wladimir Klitschko advised you to reduce your salt intake?

AJ: I did cut out salt leading up to that fight. But the food was so bland! You don’t realise how much we depend on salts and sugars. When you remove them, you realise what the true taste of food is like. It had a real benefit, though, because it stripped my body of all the excess sugar and salt I didn’t need, and I managed to lose a shedload of weight.

Chicken and broccoli are tough when you can’t put any spice on them. Someone said to me that it’s not the chicken we like – it’s the spice and the sauces. That’s why I think vegetarians and vegans are onto something. We’re not meant to like chicken. They put the same sauces and spices on vegetables and get that taste and texture.

MH: What’s your diet like coming up to a weigh-in for a fight?

AJ: It’s pretty spot on. Weigh-in is usually about 2pm, so I will have had breakfast and lunch by then. Luckily, I don’t have to “make” weight, so I just continue my preparations like it’s another day. I don’t prepare for the scales; I just use it as an opportunity to showcase my work ethic and how hard I’ve been training.

MH: All boxers come in for criticism on social media. How do you handle negative comments or haters?

AJ: I think that it’s hard to ignore it. I’m not going to lie and say that I don’t pay attention to any of that, because it’s impossible not to see it. I started my social media on my own and, even though it has turned into a business page, I still handle a lot of it myself. I think that it’s fine to have doubters, as long as you don’t believe what they’re saying the whole time. You have to prove your doubters wrong. When they don’t believe, you should always believe.

"You’ve got to be specific: training is all about what you are trying to achieve"

The doubters aren’t always bad, either. You just have to try to find something positive out of it. They might say, “You’re shit, and you’re going to get knocked out because your hands are too low” – and I would think, “That’s a good indication I’ve got to keep my left hand up.” I use the doubters as a positive factor, not as a negative one.

MH: You’ve occasionally been called out for being more of an aesthete than an athlete. What do you think is the most underrated part of a boxer’s physique?

AJ: Their head! That’s where you take the most punishment. Everyone says it’s all about a good chin, but it’s actually your whole head. You get battered: left and right temples, forehead, nose, mouth, ears. The ears always hurt. Everyone looks at my biceps and the abs. But it’s your head that gets forgotten. What’s the best piece of advice that you would give to somebody who is trying to make it in boxing? I would tell them to talk to themselves and mentally prepare themselves.

You can always try to see a meditation specialist or a psychologist, but I think that the only way to test your greatness is to truly be in a position of adversity. You’re never going to find out how great you are by sitting on a beach. Boxers should talk to themselves more in the gym – build up those mental callouses. You’ve got to know that you are tough enough to get through this.

Murray returned to glory by channelling his will to achieve

David Clerihew

Andy Murray The Comeback Kid from Dunblane: 33-Years-Old, 190cm, 84kg

By Paul Wilson

At 5.09am on Saturday 4 August 2018, alone in a hotel bed in Washington, DC, two hours after he sobbed into his towel at the end of his first third-round win for a year, Andy Murray took a long, hard look into the black mirror of his iPhone and pressed record.

“It was a really emotional night for me, because I felt like I’m coming to the end and I’m really sad about that, because…” – his voice breaks, as he wipes tears from his eyes. “I really want to keep going but my body is telling me, ‘No.’ So… It hurts. And, yeah, I’m sorry that I can’t keep going.”

At the end of the 2016 tennis season, Murray was the world’s number one, the reigning Wimbledon champion and entering the imperial phase of his career. The following summer, a chronic hip problem got so bad that he couldn’t put on his shoes and socks. From there, he endured a two-year period during which he barely played, with two major surgeries, in January 2018 and January 2019 – the latter leaving him with a metal cap in his right hip socket.

“I think you look for miracles”

A week before that second op, there were more tears, this time in front of other people’s cameras at a press conference at the Australian Open, as he realised that the Grand Slam might be his last. (He lost his first-round match in five sets.) Tennis experts outside Murray’s circle thought he would never play again. Those inside knew that “never” is not in their man’s vocabulary.

“I think you look for miracles,” said Mark Bender, Murray’s physiotherapist, of competing at the top level with a metal hip. “But when you’ve got somebody who really wants to achieve and is going all-in, everybody buys into the hope that something magical can happen.” And, of course, it did.

Ten months after the DC dawn confessional, five after his second hip operation, Murray won the doubles at Queens in June 2019 and then the European Open in Antwerp in October – his first singles title for 30 months. After that, pelvic injury cut his year short. He hasn’t played in 2020.

Murray’s commitment to not merely return from setbacks but to excel makes him exceptional. He might well be enjoying (if that’s the right word) the current enforced lockdown – after all, there’s no pressure to be match-fit when there are no matches to play. But you can be sure that no one will be more determined to come back ready to play at the absolute best of his abilities.

Lewis Hamilton The Formula 1 Driver in Top Gear: 35-Years-Old, 174cm, 69kg

By Giuliano Donati

MH: Next season, you have the chance to match Michael Schumacher’s record of seven Formula 1 world championships. Nervous?

LH: I honestly don’t think about it much. I don’t want it to be a distraction. I’m currently the world champion but, every year, I start from scratch. I just want to be at the top of my game in a physical sense, just as I want my car to be the best in terms of engineering. How can I make sure I’m ahead of everyone else? How can I be more consistent, meticulous and precise? How can I better understand the technology? That’s what I focus on.

MH: What do you do to stay at the top, physically speaking?

LH: I like lifting weights, but I have to make sure that I don’t overdo it. Formula 1 drivers can’t be too heavy: more muscle means more kilos. It’s also disadvantageous to put too much muscle on your shoulders and arms, because you need to have a low centre of gravity in the car.

It’s important to have a good cardiovascular system as a driver. Over the course of a two-hour race, you might have an average heartbeat of 160-170bpm. During qualifying, it can go up to 190bpm. That’s why I do a lot of running. Sprints are a part of every workout.

MH: How has your training evolved since you started out in F1 almost 15 years ago?

LH: When I was young, I had a lot of energy and felt I could do anything. I didn’t have a strategy, and I didn’t stretch: I just got in the car and drove to win. But over the years, I’ve experimented with a number of different disciplines, like boxing and muay Thai. These days, I do lots of pilates, focusing on the core – the muscles beneath the muscles.

"I’m more mobile and in better shape than I was at 25"

MH: What’s your approach to nutrition?

LH: Three years ago, I decided to follow a plant-based diet. The only thing I regret is not having done it before. My taste buds have learned about things that I never thought I would eat and that I now love: falafel, avocado, beetroot, fresh and dried fruit. I’ve also noticed a marked improvement in my fitness level since I switched, which is motivating.

MH: So, you credit your plant-based diet with helping you stay at your peak?

LH: I was already at the top before changing my approach to food, but I was definitely struggling more and my energy was inconsistent. I had days when I felt strong and others when I was just sapped. When I switched to a plant-based diet, those highs and lows decreased significantly.

I’ve also noticed positive effects on my sleep and on my health in general. The benefits keep coming, and I’ve honestly never felt better. I’m 35 now, and though theoretically I should be less fit than before, I’m more mobile and in better shape than I was at 25.

Smart tweaks to nutrition and training have kept Hamilton in the fast lane

David Clerihew

MH: F1 is high octane, high adrenalin. How do you rest and recharge?

LH: Unplugging is a fundamental part of my routine. It’s so important to decompress after a race, so you can face the next one with a clear mind. I love spending time with my friends and family. Being with them helps me relax and focus my energy. But I can’t live without adrenalin. I love anything that makes my heart beat faster, whether that’s skiing, sky-diving, surfing or training.

MH: What are you most proud of achieving in your career?

LH: I was the first working-class Black F1 champion. I’m proud to have paved the way for others. One of my favourite phrases is: “You can’t be what you don’t see.” Anyone who sees me on the podium, even if it’s a child, can be inspired to follow their dreams. If that happens, I’ll have done my job well. Diversity is a problem that Formula 1 has to face up to. I want to do my part in helping the sport make progress, not only by inspiring others but also by collaborating to create more opportunities for people from different communities.

Mental discipline made Fraser the undisputed king of fitness

Hamish Brown

Mat Fraser Reigning CrossFit Games Champion: 30-Years-Old, 170cm, 88kg

By David Morton

MH: How are you managing to keep up with your training in lockdown?

MF: I’m in Kentucky right now with my friend and training partner [female CrossFit Games champion] Tia-Clair Toomey. With all of the gyms shut down, we thought we’d make the best of it and came out to a buddy’s lodge, which is usually used by rock climbers. We kinda just moved in and brought all our equipment with us. Our partners are here, too, so we’re just congregating as a big unit.

MH: You clearly have a tight network. You share the same agent, and Tia’s husband, Shane Orr, is your coach. How important is that set-up for you?

MF: It’s crucial. You’ve got to be surrounded by good people – people you belong with, who are like-minded. We’re in a unique situation, because we’ve been able to come together during this pandemic and train and hang out and go through this rollercoaster of emotions as a group. But current events aside, I know that I perform better when I’m happy and life is good.

Training with Tia didn’t just come about because we were located in the same place. I’ve been located in the same place as other training partners before, and it didn’t work out quite as well. I started working with Shane not because it was convenient, but because I liked what he was doing. Regardless of the fact that I was around him every day, I saw what he was doing, liked his demeanour, liked his attitude to everything. And most of all, I liked his programming.

The fact that we get along well as friends is just a bonus. The four of us all lived together before the Games last summer. That was a rare situation but it worked, and we had a great time doing it. We woke up every morning excited to put ourselves through what we had to go through. That’s always been the most important thing for me – keeping that good headspace while in training.

MH: Here in the UK, most people are having to train at home without the sort of kit you guys have. What would you do if you only had your bodyweight and a dumbbell or kettlebell?

MF: We actually try to use minimal equipment quite often, because it keeps you thinking outside the box. Yes, we have access to a lot of equipment, but we’ve been making sure that we keep changing it up with burpees, press-ups, air squats.

Whenever I train with bodyweight, I try to set it up as an EMOM [every minute, on the minute]. For me, those longer workouts are more of a mental barrier than a physical one. I know that I’m physically capable of it, but it’s whether it can keep my attention and keep me engaged for long enough to get a good workout in. So, I always put it into an EMOM, where you’re only looking at 40 seconds of work and 20 seconds’ rest before moving onto the next station. I’m only looking 40 seconds ahead, instead of being two or three rounds into a regular workout and thinking, “Oh, my gosh! I’ve still got 30 minutes left. I’m not even halfway!” With an EMOM, the light at the end of the tunnel is only 40 seconds away, and then you can have a sip of water or sit in front of a fan.

"Lifestyle stuff came to the fore: terrible diet, terrible sleep schedule, terrible attitude"

MH: You alluded to mental strength there. You finished second twice at the CrossFit Games, before going on your dominant run. What was it that changed? Do you think it was your mental game?

MF: I’d say it was half-mental and half-lifestyle. The first time I came second at the Games, I had no real idea what I was doing. You know, I was brand new to CrossFit and showing up at the gym when I could. I was a happy-go-lucky youngster, that first year.

The second year was when all of my lifestyle stuff came to the fore: terrible diet, terrible sleep schedule, terrible attitude mentally. I can’t say that my time in the gym wasn’t great. I hit huge PBs that year, but they were spontaneous, sporadic. I would show up at the gym and not know what deck of cards I was dealing with, whether I’d have enough energy to train, whether I’d be too tired, or whatever.

On top of that, I had a terrible attitude at the Games. If something didn’t go well, I would throttle back and just say, ‘This one’s not for me.’ After that, I took some steps. I started eating better; I committed myself to a good sleep schedule; I began doing some recovery work and warm-ups. Basically, everything I was supposed to be doing, I actually started doing.

And in competition, my attitude completely changed – seeing the benefit of a bad situation and managing to find a silver lining in it, instead of just being miserable and stewing.

MH: Now that you’ve won multiple times, you exude a sense of confidence when you compete. Do you still get nervous?

MF: If I wasn’t nervous, I’d be questioning whether I cared about what I was doing. I hate the way it feels, the immediate effect. Before most events, I dry-heave or throw up, because I’m so nervous. It’s not enjoyable. But at the same time, I know that I care and I still have that excitement. Backstage, people will see me dry-heaving and they look at my manager and say, “God, is Mat OK?” And he’s like, “Oh, yeah, he’s good. This is good.”

This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

For Fraser, maintaining “a good headspace” is paramount – so he keeps his training varied with intense EMOM workouts

MH: Tia says that the reason you’re the world’s fittest man is your work ethic. She says that she’s never seen determination like it and that, in turn, it challenges her to get better every day.

MF: Well, the feeling is mutual. When I started training with Tia, it was immediately apparent that it was going to be different from any partnership I’d had before. She’s incredibly polished when she knows that people are watching, but she also has this aggressiveness that I’ve never seen in a female athlete.

We’re true training partners – gender never comes up. It’s almost like a mirror. I’ve never trained with anyone who has the same aggressiveness going into each and every workout, when it’s time to grind and you’re miserable and you’re not getting a pat on the back. You get to see someone’s true character when the conditions are less than ideal. You see this fight come out of her that you don’t see in many people.

MH: The Games season, as with all sports, is up in the air. At the moment, it seems that there will be a form of CrossFit Games, but on a smaller scale without fans. How do you feel about that?

MF: As long as the top people are there to compete against, it doesn’t matter. I have a soft spot for spectators who look forward to the event, and for sponsors and vendors, it’s their big opportunity, so it’s unfortunate. In the same breath, the whole world is dealing with a situation that we’ve never been in before. Everyone is understanding and everyone is dealing with the same problems. But as far as training goes, it’s business as usual.

Like all great sportsmen, Itoje has a powerful curiosity of mind

Hamish Brown

Maro Itoje The Thinking Man's Battering Ram: 25-Years-Old, 193cm, 155kg

By Ted Lane

Maro Itoje is not your average rugby player. This is the standard way profiles of the Saracens and England lock and flanker begin. Despite his size and talent, the reader is asked to marvel at his brain more than his biceps. It’s well known that his burgeoning rugby career dovetailed with a politics degree. He is revered as a gentle giant with a penchant for poetry. Hell, it’s even a trope we ran with ourselves after he arrived for a previous Men’s Health shoot carrying a book about the Nigerian civil war.

"He ended up having 74kg around his waist and doing a chin-up with ease"

But to gloss over his physique is to miss half the picture – half of what makes him a sporting powerhouse. Talking to the website Rugby Pass last year, Itoje’s Sarries colleague Alex Goode recounted a one-rep max test for chin-ups during one training session: “He came in, first day, and started on 20kg. He proceeded to go up and up and up. He was so unaware. He ended up having 74kg around his waist and doing a chin-up with ease. This is a guy a couple of days out of school.” Goode neglected to mention his own score.

Left to his own devices, Itoje likes beach weights. Training for fun means abs exercises and 21s, the quintessential biceps-building protocol. But disco muscles alone have not propelled him to the top of his sport. At Saracens, Itoje lifts three times a week. Monday is lower body, Tuesday is upper body, while Thursday is total body.

Mondays are most interesting because Andy Edwards, Saracens’ head of strength and conditioning, tweaks Itoje’s routine depending on where they are in the season. “His two main lifts are the trap bar deadlift for strength and the concentric squat for explosive strength,” he says. Low rep ranges are key. “If the priority is building strength, we’ll start with deadlifts. If the priority is being more explosive, it’s the concentric squat.”

Alternatively, if Edwards needs to maintain intensity at the business end of the season but reduce neural fatigue to avoid burnout, “We swap heavy deadlifts for weighted CMJs [counter-movement jumps], where Maro is jumping with a barbell on his back.”

Still, eventually, it’s Itoje’s mind that returns to the fore. “I’ve been at Saracens for 13 seasons and watched Maro develop from a kid,” says Edwards. “He’s always been the one to challenge me and ask: why? That craving for knowledge is unique to top sportsmen, and he’s got it.”

Chris Froome The Fastest (and Hardest) Man on Two Wheels: 35-Years-Old, 186cm, 66kg

By Paul Wilson

Chris Froome makes long-term and short-term targets central to his success. “I’m a forward thinker, always planning, sometimes way too far in advance,” he told Men’s Health in 2015, shortly before the second of his four Tour de France victories. “So, I enjoy reaching the smaller goals, which are motivating to reach the larger goals.” He could not have imagined that such targets would include “learn to walk again”, as they did after a horrific freak crash in June 2019.

On a recon of the time trial course at the Criterium du Dauphiné race in Roanne, France, gusty wind funnelled between buildings and took his front wheel just as he lifted a hand to clear his nostrils. Attempting to recover control, he veered off the road and into a wall, breaking his ribs, right femur, elbow, hip and sternum and the lowest vertebra in his neck. His team had clocked him at 54km per hour.

Such a calamitous accident was atypical in the extreme, and Froome’s rehabilitation came with many uncertainties. “It was progressive, really, because we just didn’t know how long it would take in terms of recovery,” said Froome’s coach, Tim Kerrison. “We had some different plans right at the beginning, but it’s been an ongoing review.” Not least because, despite the extent of his injuries, very quickly Froome began surpassing smaller comeback goals.

Seven weeks after the crash, it was said that he was “ahead of all predictions that were made initially of how long it would take to get to even this point”. In early August 2019, he was having three to four hours of physio every morning, then two hours of exercise after lunch. Afternoon shifts involved pedalling a stationary bike using only his left leg as his right leg healed, propped on a platform.

At the end of August, 10 weeks after the crash, he was doing track sessions on a bike; by the end of October, a team time trial at an exhibition race. In November, he had his final operation, which included removing from his right hip a 10-inch plate with screws as long as his thumb. In January this year, he joined a training camp with his beloved TeamINEOS. By February, he was performing on the UAE Tour –one that was unfortunately cut short by the pandemic – at which his stats were close to top-level.

“From that point on, it felt like everything was so positive.”

Upon reviving in intensive care in France, Froome was told by the surgeon that there was nothing to stop him making a 100% recovery. “That’s all I wanted to hear at that point,” he said later. “From that point on, it felt like everything was so positive.”

He immediately set a larger goal: to win the next Tour de France. At the time of writing this, despite some scepticism, that was scheduled to begin on 29 August. If it isn’t postponed, Froome will be 35 and very possibly in yellow-jersey form, having come back from – no hype, this – one of the worst injuries in his sport.

For Whitlock, playing the long game has meant becoming more strategic

Tom Watkins

Max Whitlock The Most Decorated Gymnast in Britain: 27-Years-Old, 167cm, 62.5kg

By Scarlett Wrench

Despite almost qualifying as a member of Generation Z, Max Whitlock is already a veteran of his sport. “Gymnastics is really demanding,” he says, by way of understatement. “A lot of people are already thinking about retiring by my age, because that’s when they start to struggle.” The lifespan of an Olympic gymnast is short, but while most burn out in their early-to-mid-twenties, Whitlock has no plans to fade away. Already the most decorated athlete in British gymnastics history, he has his sights set on Gold at the delayed Tokyo Games – then Paris 2024, too.

For Whitlock, playing the long game has meant tuning into his body’s signals. As a teenage prodigy, he could handle 35 hours of training per week; now, he has dropped it to a more “moderate” 20 hours of graft, split over six days. Whitlock has observed older gymnasts training like juniors and wearing themselves down. “I’m hoping I’ll never burn out, because I’m careful not to push myself too far,” he says. “I do what I need to – and what I know I can recover from – so the next day is always productive.”

His training is very specific to his sport. What most people consider “cardio” is of little use. He might run once a week in the build-up to a competition, “but it’s just a mile done as quickly as possible. We’re only on the apparatus for a minute and a half to two minutes. So, it’s still targeted.”

He doesn’t lift weights, either – it doesn’t build the sort of strength he needs. Conditioning workouts are purely bodyweight-based, incorporating handstand variations, ring work, triceps dips, wide-arm press-ups and leg lifts. “I also do a lot of joint-strengthening exercises to make sure my wrists and ankles are ready for my session,” he says. “As I’m getting older, my joints need more attention.” Staying leaner and lighter also helps with longevity. Excess muscle mass would hinder his flexibility.

[pi-cat000]

MSA time travel idea (part 26)

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Vivi POV, 8, 9, 10, Lewis POV, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, Lance POV 18, 19, Lewis POV 2, 21 , 22, Vivi POV 2, 24, 25

Part 27: here

LEWIS POV

Why is Arthur afraid of him? The question sits at the forefront of his mind, occupying his thoughts. Was it all him or was there something more, someone else, involved like Vivi suggests?

What can Lewis do to help someone who obviously doesn’t what it?  At least, he’s pretty sure Arthur doesn’t want his help. Despite her instance, for Lewis to not jump to any hasty conclusion, he is definitely partly responsible for Arthur running off without them. If he’s not the cause of Arthur’s initial fear, then he is surely at fault for driving a wedge between them with his less than stela reaction to Arthur’s panic attack. The echo of anger, at himself and the situation, is distant but ever-present.  Lewis quickly shoves the unruly emotion away, focusing on the less concerning sense of guilt.  

Honestly, Lewis isn’t enjoying this unwanted return to self-doubt and emotional insecurity. These last few years, spent working at the family diner, hanging with Arthur, and dating Vivi, have been his best by a long shot. Now all his old fears are back with a vengeance. In his front breast pocket, Arthur’s note seems unnaturally heavy and he resists the urge to pull it out and scan it for answers that didn’t exist. In his mind’s eye, every communication and interaction with Arthur flashes by. Was he too imposing? Too pushy.? Not friendly enough? Should he have stepped back and given Arthur more space? Mabey he’d give Arthur too much space?  

All the memories seem wrong now, which is knows can’t be right. Discontent grows. Lewis gives Vivi a light squeeze, trying to find a distraction from the building unease. Lewis is letting his current feelings colour his past recollections, and he needs to stop. This needs to be approached logically. Inadvertently, his free hand lifts to hover over his breast pocket. The piece of paper drags at his heart like a chain attached to a cement block, sinking slowly into the ocean.

“What are you thinking about?” The prompt breaks his worried silence. Vivi is staring pointedly, attention flicking between his hand and the pocket. This whole situation has got her wound into a ball of worried energy, jittery and irritable.

Lewis sighs to release tension, moving the hand to rub his eyes, “Just trying, and kind of failing, to find a rational explanation for stuff.” He lets the sentence hang so it can encompass all of everything. Arthur panicking, running away, Lance’s mysterious hospitalisation, being left stranded, and it all potentially being his fault.

“We can’t know why…” Vivi starts to reassure to which Lewis finishes quickly, “Without asking Arthur. I know…” He is still trying to incorporate it into this current mindset. He’s not been entirely successful but saying it out loud helps.  

Lewis continues doggedly, “But maybe, if we narrow the weird behaviour down to a particular point we’ll find some reason for it?” A reason that wasn’t him. He doesn’t say the last part. He doesn’t need to. Despite his preference towards sitting and silently thinking through a problem, talking benefits them both.

Vivi shuffles a bit to lean into him, her jittery leg movement stops. “Yeah, I was thinking about that as well. It has to be recent because I’m sure one of us would have noticed if it was a long-term thing.”

Lewis frowns at the highway, offering, “We haven’t really spent a lot of time with Arthur this last few weeks. So I guess that makes a bit of sense.”

As if picking up on his line of thought, Vivi comments, “Two weeks ago, the first day we started painting the van, Arthur ran off and spent all that time in the bathroom. I kind to thought it was odd, but, you know, one extended trip to the bathroom isn’t really that big a deal.  But then he also sat in his room for the rest of the evening….”

Lewis grimaces, thinking back, sorting through his recollections. Arthur had been awfully uncommunicative ad unsarcastically silent that day. Initially, he’d concluded that his friend was annoyed at him for ruining the budgeting, over-spending on paint. It sounds dumb in hindsight, but it’s the first time in a long while Lewis remembers being unsure on the direction of Arthur’s thoughts or reaction to a problem.

“Maybe” He responds noncommittally, wounding how to describe the weird disconnect out loud.

“This is going to sound weird…” Vivi continues, tapping her food to show her renewed agitation, “But I swear his face was moving funny that day.”

“Moving funny?” Lewis raises a brow at the odd statement. She shrugs loosely, leaning into him a bit more, so he’s supporting her full weight.

“Yeah, it was like, his face was different. Strange. I don’t know. Is that weird?”

“A little,” Lewis admits, catching Vivi’s thoughtful expression. Together they mull over the conundrum in more comfortable silence. Despite managing to narrow down a potential start date, they make little progress on possible causes, leading to more frustration.

Finally, a navy-blue pick-up truck with a compacted cab and shallow flat-bed slows along the main road, pulling off and forcing them to shelve any further conversation.  Vivi is up and moving before Lewis gets a chance to really process the arrival, knocking both him and Mystery to the side. While Lewis picks himself up, Vivi hails the driver, a darker-haired, flannel wearing middle aged man. The man, probably Jamie, waves a response, jumping from the vehicle, meeting Vivi halfway.

“I take it you’re the couple looking to buy a truck?” Lewis hears a confused greeting, drawing closer, close on Vivi's heels. Jamie is giving both him and Vivi a perplexed expression. Between Vivi’s blue and his purple, they make quite the pair, so the hesitation isn’t entirely unfounded.

“Is this the pick-up? It’s small,” Vivi steps to the side, dodging around Jamie and his outstretched hand to stare at the truck, “I thought it would be bigger.”

“It’s compact,” Jamie grunts, swivelling awkwardly to track Vivi’s quick progress past, calling, “One of the reasons I’m selling actually, not enough space for equipment.” Lewis represses the twitch threatening at the corners of his mouth.  Vivi’s complete disregard of social queues is as amusing as it is exasperating.

“Hey, I’m Lewis,” He introduces, catching Jamie’s outstretched hand. If there is one thing Lewis abides by, it's the idea that being friendly and making people like you pays off in the long run, even if it is emotionally exhausting and the last thing he really feels like doing.  Another grunt and the handshake is returned, “Name’s Jamie. Nice to meet you I suppose.”  Lewis is the subject of a critical once over and more confusion. The copious amount of purple tends to do that.

“Your cousin said this is good for an eight-hour drive? Is that true?” Vivi yells from where she is circling the truck. She hoists herself up, leaning in through one of the open windows, checking the interior.

“We have to get to a town called Tempo. It’s eight hours away,” Lewis elaborates quickly,  “The truck looks pretty new?”

“That’s because it is. The thing’s several years old but barely seen any use. What do you need to go all the way to Tempo for?”

Lewis starts to respond but hesitates when Vivi calls, “We’ll take it. $2500 right?”

“What,” Jamie stalls, turning to stare past him at Vivi, who is now crawling out from under the truck, where she’s presumably been checking for rust and or other defects, wiping dirt off her skirt.

“Right now?” He glances at Lewis as if to confirm, to which he nods, reinforcing her verdict. Neither of them knows a whole lot about cars, but they’ve spent enough time around Arthur that he trusts her ability to spot any potential problems.

“Yes. This second even…” Vivi presses.

Jamie, now squinting between them, narrows his eyes ever so slightly in obvious suspicion, “Yeah. I mean, there’s paperwork, we have to transfer the registration, and insurance…that’ll only take a few hours….You’re sure?”

“Definitely sure. Is it possible to do the paperwork stuff later? We really need to get going right this second.”

“Are you two in some sort of trouble…because I don’t want to be involved in none of that.”

Lewis waves the concern aside, projecting as much confidence as he can muster given how out of sorts he’s feeling. This is what all those hours spent gossiping and chatting with Tempo’s locals have prepared him for, convicting a random man to trust them not to screw him over.   “We’re not in any trouble or going to cause trouble. However, our friend might be. We need to find him as quickly as possible.”

“Right…” Jamie hesitates, expression clearing.

“He drove off with our only form of transport.” Sometimes, it’s best to give a bit of truth to build a better repour.  

“That’s rough…” Jamie scowls but appears a little more accommodating, “I suppose we could sort something out. But I’ll be taking both your details. If you go off and crash, I’m not taking any responsibility.” Lewis nods gratefully. Across the carpark, Vivi grins, relief splashed across her features, making the whole exchange worth it.

After paying the $2500, exchanging identification, contact details, signing a proof of sales, and a guarantee to register and insure the vehicle upon reaching their destination, they have their mode of transport. While Vivi jostles Jamie through the process, flicking through paperwork, and enlists the help of receptionist Claire to print and photocopy documents, Lewis finishes packing, throwing most their bags into the empty truck-bed. Overall, in no small part due to Vivi’s perseverance, they end up leaving a mere two hours behind Arthur. Lewis has never been more appreciative of her  ‘charge blindly ahead’ attitude until now. Thank god one them doesn’t turn into a useless over-emotional lump at the first sign of misfortune.  Does that make him a bad person?

Both Jamie and Claire gather to watch their departure. The truck lurches awkwardly, Vivi acquainting herself with the unfamiliar size and weight. Lewis grips the inner door handle, a bit of motion sickness mixing in with worry and other more unwelcome emotions.  With Vivi focused entirely on driving, Lewis is left once again to think in silence. Till now, Lewis has been doing his best to ignore it, but there is no denying the uninvited trickle of anger, underscoring everything, growing steadily. A small part of it is directed at Arthur, for not telling them what was wrong and thinking he had to face his problems alone. A more significant portion of it is directed at himself, his lack of control, his failure to recognise Arthur’s hate as fear, and for feeling the emotion in the first place. Mostly, the anger is purposeless, a foundation for his worry, apprehension and fear. However, if Vivi is right. If something is messing with Arthur and causing this sharp divide between the two of them...

Lewis clenches his fist.

NOTE: Lewis exercising his high charisma stats. Also, this part required way more words than I initially planned. Do people enjoy these character focused sections or does everyone just want to see the plot progress?

Part 27: here