Australian culture can seem quite impenetrable from the outside.Vegemite and fairy bread; hooning in your Commo; using ‘yeah nah’ to signify both agreement and disagreement… We’re a weird bunch of people, it must be said.Even more strange is our decades-long-love of the mullet: widely considered the worst haircut you can ever get, Aussies have instead embraced it as a cultural icon. Rather than being something to despise, they’re something to celebrate – as these young bucks have demonstrated.Hilarious curator of Australiana Kook of the Day shared a video of three young boys, fresh out of a barber’s rocking insane skullets (the final boss of the mullet world), who in a strangely heartwarming moment of haircut camaraderie, are stroking each other’s fresh do’s – “nothing better than stroking your best bro’s mullet”, they quip.

 

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Some might consider it bizarre, but we think it’s quite wholesome: Aussie men tend to be stoic, sarcastic and a bit too macho for our own good. We shouldn’t be so afraid to compliment each other and build each other up every once in a while instead of the constant barrage of gentle bullying and posturing that’s so common between Aussie men.RELATED: ‘Slop Shaming’: 1950s Mentality Australian Men Need To Ditch This SummerWhat we’re saying is – go out and stroke your bro’s mullet. Or rather, remember to compliment your male friends every once in a while, whether that’s about their haircut or their handshake.Everyone likes a bit of positive feedback.

Read Next

• American Men Adopting Surprisingly Old School Hair Loss Solution
• European Men Being Rewarded For Getting David Beckham’s Worst Haircut

The post Young Bondi Boys Take Pride In Fresh Mullets appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

We all have a chip on our shoulder. Brits (silently) seethe at being called Polite To A Fault, Americans loudly reject being cast as loudmouths, Spaniards yawn at your lazy tropes, and the French sneer when you call them arrogant.Australians? We’re desperate to prove our sophistication – something particularly on show when we visit Europe.Full of a rabid desire to prove the Foster’s swilling, criminal ancestor having, goon sack skulling stereotypes false, we do our utmost to show we can wear multiple hats (and not just Snapbacks).RELATED: The Awkward Truth About Australian Tourists’ Relationship With EuropeThe result? Pretension. Speaking from experience I can say sitting in a cafe and ordering a ‘noisette’ for the first time in France made my heart tingle.Then there was the moment I started saying espresso not expresso.Finally, when I learned to enjoy burnt “cortados” from a cracked glass in Spain it instantly went to my head. That was it: I was a coffee connoisseur.I then returned to Australia, looking at my friends’ Cappuccino and Mocha orders in the same way an Instagram model might look at a cream cheese bagel (disgusted, but longingly).I continued in my ‘espresso and long black only’ ways for a good three years (on my darkest days secretly slurping Soy Flat Whites), railing against grown men who order piccolo lattes ‘to go’, tourists who take photos of their coffee, those who refuse to enter anything but the highest Tripadvisor rated cafes and of course those heathens that take their coffee with milk.Blasphemy!Then, recently, in an attempt to validate my deepest feelings of insecurity – to lend a sheen of expertise to my amateur socio-cultural theory that, unless you drink espressos or long blacks, you are a ‘basic’ coffee drinker, I got in touch with the reigning Australia barista champion Matthew Lewin.

 

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Lewin (kindly) set me straight. Apparently drinking coffee without milk doesn’t make you a better person. Say what?On top of that, Australia’s espresso culture isn’t necessarily lagging behind Europe as much as you might think. Again – say what?As Lewin puts it, “Without comparative data I can’t say I agree [that Australians drink fewer espressos than Spaniards and Italians], as Australian coffee culture is built on espresso with 1 in 10 drinks being espresso.”“USA however is driven by filter coffee heritage seeing minimal espresso culture. Overall espresso is a 10 x stronger drink than filter coffee, so they are worlds apart in terms of black coffee.”

“Yet milk base coffee drinks are familiar, comforting stemming from us all being babies totally reliant on milk as food. Inherently we all at some level are deeply connected to milk via this default so I feel it’s a strong reason why milk coffee out-ways espresso. Also espresso is a strong short drink that typically packs a punch, not for the faint hearted and definitely not for kids.”

The more I listened to Lewin, the more I realised, thinking back on it, I probably met more Cappuccino drinkers in Europe than I did Espresso drinkers (and created a snobby European espresso culture in my head, more from a neurotic reading of Culture Trip than from real-life experiences). But I digress.RELATED: Cappuccino Drinkers Are Killing Australia’s Drinking Culture On my idea that cappuccino drinkers are ‘basic’ for spoiling the ‘pure’ taste of the bean, Lewin raised another interesting point, telling us cappuccinos in fact may give you a ‘purer’ taste of the bean than another Australian favorite: the flat white.“Cappuccino originated in Italy, named after monks with their robes. Typically in Italy the cappuccino is characterised via thick dense layer of foam continued here in Australia – difference is we’ve added chocolate sprinkles on top. Choci on top has become a staple identifier of cappuccino in Australia yet more specialty coffee roasters & shops are refraining from this addition.”

“Easily understood it can mask the nuance of what makes the coffee ‘special’ with subtle elements from the farm overshadowed by after-market chocolate dusting. Yes sprinkles are delicious, yet the question is does it speak to specialty coffee’s truest core values and message…? We’ll let customers, roasters, baristas decide that one.”

“Cappuccino is a stronger drink than a flat white when compared in same cup, as a cappuccino traditionally more foam equates to more real estate in the cup (mostly air space) hence less milk resulting in stronger espresso to milk ratio = stronger drink. A flat white is then more easily understood by contrasting composition with less foam, more milk = weaker drinker. Flat whites are drinkable, smooth easy crowd pleaser, cappuccino is richer, more coffee forward expression for bolder milk base drinking experience.”I stand corrected.

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• I Tried Sydney’s Most Expensive Coffee & It Ruined Me For Life
• The Coffee Skill Australians Think They Know But Really Don’t

The post The Embarrassing Espresso Blunder Australians Still Make appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

2020 has become a vicious meme. But before you laugh it completely off, psychologists are urging us to consider – and counter – some of its impacts on our mental health.In between bushfires, COVID-19, a recession and the theatrical release of Cats, it’s been a year filled with tragedies. While we might not be able to kiss a stranger at midnight on the 31st – and the prospect of having all your family over for Christmas isn’t so tempting with the looming threat of The Bat Kiss, too – 2021 will come as a huge relief for most of us.But as this New York Times opinion piece examines, we’re not out of the woods yet, and the full impact of 2020 won’t be felt until much further down the track.Drew Holden, a public affairs consultant and freelance journalist, is concerned about the social impact of lockdowns, particularly as parts of Europe and the United States look to renew lockdown orders once again over the holiday season and into the new year. It’s not just the economic or social impact of lockdowns that we should be worried about, but the health impacts of lockdown – above and beyond coronavirus.“Extended social isolation can have serious health implications, from heart disease and dementia to depression and death. During the pandemic, our diets and lifestyles got worse, increasing our vulnerability to the very disease that isolation is meant to help address.”

“Our mental health suffers, too. The psychological effects of loneliness are a health risk comparable with obesity or smoking. Anxiety and depression have spiked since lockdown orders went into effect…To be sure, the increasing prevalence of mental health challenges is not all due to the lockdowns. The attendant health risks of a global pandemic to an individual or their loved ones must certainly be a contributing factor, too. But our understanding that social isolation can seriously damage physical and mental health predates the pandemic.”

“Some researchers worry that the social isolation has inflicted damage to mental health that will outlast even the worst of the pandemic. We may not have a full accounting of the consequences for years to come.”

It’s confronting just how quickly we’ve come to adapt to a COVID-19 world – although we’ve still got a long way to go, and we haven’t seen the last of it either.One area of human life that’s changed dramatically is how we go about romance. The social isolation that lockdown has imposed on us has forced many people to become more creative about how they seek human contact. One of the most enduring trends of 2020 has been people using the ‘passport’ feature of dating apps such as Bumble or Hinge to virtually travel around the world, checking out the dating pools of different cities and chatting with people you might never meet in real life (or have no intention of meeting).RELATED: Modern Singles Bucking Trend By Looking For Love Outside ‘Safe Zones’Social isolation was a problem even before COVID-19, with one of the great ironies of our digital world being that we’ve never been more interconnected, yet also never been more lonely. The pandemic has only sharpened these problems that already existed, with apps like OnlyFans and Houseparty perfectly poised to take advantage of lockdown. To use a medical pun, they’re all symptoms of a broader issue.It’s not all bad news. Some adaptations 2020 has precipitated have arguably been beneficial, with gyms becoming the new nightclubs and men using lockdown as an opportunity to improve their physical and mental health.Feeling down? Read how even simple changes can have a big difference when it comes to your mental health.

Read Next

• Miner’s ‘On Site’ Pledge Reveals Scary Truth About Australia’s Drinking Culture
• Mark Ruffalo Shares ‘Luxurious’ Birthday Ritual More Men Should Practise

The post 2020 Was As Bad A Smoking On Your Health appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Athletes aren’t usually known for their shy and retiring characters. Combine a persistent, competitive attitude with vast natural talent and a huge ego, and you tend to have a recipe for braggadocio.

When they’re not wearing their team’s uniform, compression tights or athletic gear, celebrity athletes normally dress with the same sort of vivacity that they display in their sports – that is to say, flashy. For them, it’s disarmingly casual: take Lewis Hamilton rocking up to a race in Pyer Moss and Prada or how Conor McGregor draping himself in Gucci and Hermès just to go to the pub.

But the most consistently flashy dresser (or just person, really) would easily be McGregor’s one-time rival, Floyd Mayweather. The dude’s nickname is literally ‘Money’, and he happily lives up to that moniker: barely a week goes by without the 50-0 fighter and erstwhile entrepreneur posting some photo showing off expensive clothes, watches or bundles of cash.

Not all of these outfits are great – take this questionable Louis Vuitton jacket he wore to this year’s Super Bowl – but his latest ensemble actually looks really crisp. Taking to Instagram to promote his Las Vegas strip club, the 43-year-old boxer showed off a wet weather outfit consisting of a Dior ‘Oblique’ anorak and duck boots; distressed Amiri jeans and diamond-bedazzled sunglasses.

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A post shared by Floyd Mayweather (@floydmayweather)

Wearing a raincoat inside isn’t normally that polite, but when you own the place we suppose you can get away with it. Besides, he might need it for some wet weather protection…

The Dior ‘Oblique’ monogram which covers Mayweather’s jacket and boots is one of the French luxury house’s most iconic patterns, and has seen a revival in recent years by the house under current creative directors Kim Jones and Maria Grazia Chiuri.

Taking its name from a collection created by Christian Dior (the man himself) for Fall/Winter 1950/51, the Oblique monogram was created in 1967 by Marc Bohan, who was the atelier’s creative director from 1961 to 1989. Its modern revival has been spurred on in a large part thanks to the success of the B23 high-top sneaker – a luxurious take on the classic Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star.

RELATED: How To Wear High-Top Sneakers For Every Occasion

Mayweather has made headlines in recent weeks after agreeing to an exhibition match against the outrageous and controversial social media star Logan Paul, who’s never won a professional boxing match. This seems crazy on paper, but Mayweather is both outweighed by and is significantly shorter than Paul, and both parties are said to be taking the fight extremely seriously. It’ll go down in February 2021, with a specific date still yet to be locked down.

Read Next

• NBA Star Kyle Kuzma Adds Fuel To 2020’s Biggest Men’s Fashion Trend With ‘Russian’ Headwear
• I Wore The Official F*ckboi Footwear Of 2020 For A Week & It Changed My Life

The post Floyd Mayweather Lives Up To ‘Money’ Moniker With Luxurious Dior Ensemble appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

With used car prices so high right now in Australia thanks to The Bat Kiss, you’d be hard-pressed to find a car with less than 150,000kms on the clock for less than $5,000. Take a zero off the odometer, and potentially add a zero on to the price – it’s that competitive.

Australia is a big country, with huge distances between cities, and cities themselves being sprawling, congested things. Case in point: Sydney alone is bigger than all of Lebanon or Jamaica, and Melbourne is bigger than all of Cyprus, and twice as big as Luxembourg. Cars Down Under rack up miles quicker than Usain Bolt down a running track.

So finding a car from 1994 with just over 1,000kms on the clock – let alone a rare Ferrari Testarossa supercar – is nothing short of a miracle. But that’s exactly what the legends at Lorbek Luxury Cars in Melbourne have done.

Lorbek reckon it’s “the most original… most pristine, perfect example EVER.”

“Finished in [the] stunning, most sought after colour combination of Rosso Corsa and beige leather interior… it still even has the factory original plastic wrap on the carpets in footwells and on the door sills! Totally and completely factory original everything,” they gush.

“This vehicle has never been registered before and was built in the original Ferrari factory. Factory RHD… sold new from Singapore in early 1994 then imported to Australia in August 1994 and then sold from Ferrari Adelaide to the previous owner with only 450kms and now has travelled only 1,034kms from new. She would be the lowest mileage in the world on the market currently.”

Lorbek communicates that it’s been garaged for most of its life and shockingly, only driven four times. It’s a veritable time capsule of a car – it’s hard to think of any other Ferrari from this era in a similar condition outside of a museum.

The Testarossa was a 12-cylinder mid-engine grand tourer produced by Ferrari from 1984 to 1996, and was most famous as the car of choice for Don Johnson’s character James “Sonny” Crockett in the 1980s television series Miami Vice, where he drove a white example. Other celebrity owners of the Testarossa include Dr. Dre, Elton John, Jordan Belfort, Michael Jordan, Mike Tyson, O.J. Simpson and Rod Stewart.

The 512 TR, of which Lorbek’s car is an example, was a redesign of the Testarossa that was produced from 1991 to 1994, and was effectively a completely new car from the ground up. The 512 TR not only featured a redesigned body with even more aggressive aerodynamics but made 315kW, a solid 28kW more than its predecessor. It also had a much slicker gearshift than the earlier Testarossa, one of the few criticisms of the original car, as well as improved driver ergonomics.

Listed for just under 560,000 AUD, this time-warped Testarossa is a steal and a half. The real dilemma is this: do you keep it in the pristine condition that its previous owners did, or do you go hell for leather on what’s effectively a blank canvas?

Read Next

• Rare 1960s Mercedes-Benz Is Australia’s Most Expensive Second Hand Car Right Now
• This Globetrotting $1.7 Million Aston Martin DB5 Is Immaculate… But There’s A Catch

The post Ferrari Testarossa For Sale Australia appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

The pointy end is full of terrors. From the crippling pressure to make the most of it to being driven mad by your valet’s attention, first-class can (sometimes) be more stressful than business.

Unless you’re flying Air France, however, in which case passengers will – apparently – do anything to avoid the airline’s “abysmal” business class offering.

Enter: a hilarious open letter from James Asquith, the Guinness World Record holder for being the youngest male to visit all 196 countries, a bestselling author, and a frequent first and business class flyer.

Asquith on Wednesday took issue with Air France allegedly selling first class “fake fares” to stimulate demand, then downgrading those who bought them to business. Asquith claims this is not the first time during the pandemic they have done this, and they “have a history of doing this for years.”

Asquith purchased a first class fare, but was downgraded to business class.

Asquith told DMARGE this penny-pinching tactic does happen “to smaller degrees” across the industry, but “no one is anywhere near as bad at this practice as Air France.”

 

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A post shared by James Asquith (@jamesasquith)

“Last year CX [Cathay Pacific] had ‘mistake fares’ and honoured them all. Air France… doesn’t. Goodness for if the unwashed peasants like myself were to sit in their carpentry shop built ‘la premiere’ first class seats, and my derriere was to be sat in the same place as the Renault CEO.”

“BUT $2,200 isn’t even a mistake fare, it’s still a lot. Just good value versus normal.”

“BA, Lufthansa and American Airlines have all had similar deals for First Class recently,” Asquith added.

DMARGE has reached out to Air France to seek a response, but is yet to get through. In the meantime, we urge you to read the full open letter (see: Asquith’s Instagram post above) or the abridged version we have included below.

Air France Open Letter

Dear Ms Rigail,

I feel the need to write an open letter to Air France after your airline basically ran away and hid from tickets you sold to many passengers – very akin to Napolean in the battle of Waterloo in 1815.

Just to introduce myself, my name is James, and I’m just a guy that flies quite a bit. I travel with a mini stuffed koala bear called Tony (he’s kind of a big deal) and he’s into the finer things in life, unlike myself who is a bit of a peasant really.

So, when I suggested to Tony that we fly on Air France First Class (La Premiere as you so eloquently put it dans Francaise), he initially said he would rather sit on a baguette than fly Air France. Don’t worry, I disciplined him for this, but he then said, and I quote: ‘I would rather dunk my fluffy face in a tub of Camembert than fly Air France.’

I digress. A while later, after convincing Tony that Air France first class has a curtain divider akin to an IKEA shower curtain, and a few mid to average fine wines onboard, he came round to the idea… Regardless we passed over our hard earned $2,200 to book an Air France ticket, which considering the current awful situation for aviation, one would expect that is great revenue for Air France, potentially keeping more staff employed.

Now, again, I’m a peasant and have flown perhaps over 1,000 economy flights in my lifetime, on all sorts of airlines. I know luxury items are quite the ‘thing’ in France, but to be honest, I’m very un-materialistic and simply occassionally like to fly in a nice seat.

Therefore, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but your business class cabin sucks. It’s truly abysmal. I would indeed rather flush my head down a toilet than fly Air France business class (and you don’t even want to know what Tony said). You can therefore imagine my dismay when you send an email downgrading all the tickets because of your ‘mistake fare.’ This is not the first time you have done this to me during Covid…

…not only have you done it to me several times, but many other people too. I really don’t care too much about myself or flying Air France, but employees need support from people, why are you trying your hardest to antagonise paying customers. How many people have you done this to?

Furthermore, under EC261, you are entitled to pay all these downgraded passengers compensation, not just tell them you have downgraded them and expect them to feel grateful, so please, for goodness sake, stop ripping off people supporting your airline in tough times.

Now, I have a solution regarding my ticket. I was once quoted in the media as saying: ‘I would rather get waterboarded (again) than fly on Air France’ – yet here we are again. Being a bit of a sadist, here’s my proposal to you: downgrade me yet AGAIN, into economy, and donate 10,000 baguettes (or the equivalent, which at €0.90 a baguette on average I calculate to be €9,000, to the humanitarian food crisis in Yemen). This way it will be part me and part you contributing to a good cause. This is Air France’s chance to shine, just how Napolean couldn’t.

The cursing from Tony as I write this is ridiculous, the thought of Air France economy is palpably nauseating to him, but I’m happy to do it for a good cause. 

I will even wear a French beret and striped shirt, whilst walking around with a little French flag to plug the world’s 80th best airline, whilst singing Joe Le Taxi and randomly belting out Vive La France.

His chances of success? When DMARGE reached out to Asquith, he said, “I would estimate there is about a crumb of a baguette’s chance they come good on it.”

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• Hidden Benefits Of Flying First Class Business Class Passengers Have No Idea About
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• Business Class ‘Slammertime’ Ritual Sparks Outrage At 40,000ft

The post Air France Busted Selling Fake First Class Tickets appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Kyle Kuzma isn’t just one of the most skilled basketball players active today, he’s also one of the best-dressed – a big call, considering how stylish the NBA is these days.

The 25-year-old Lakers power forward has one of the most varied wardrobes in the celebrity fashion world, effortlessly flitting between tropical Chris Pine-esque looks to ultra-cozy oversized fits or crisp tailored suits, and even starring in fashion shoots alongside his glamourous girlfriend, Canadian model Winnie Harlow.

His latest outfit might be his best yet. Posing outside his Los Angeles home (and next to his Lamborghini Huracán) for American luxury publication Haute Living, Kuzma looks particularly bohemian in a suit from boutique LA fashion house Grayscale, big 70s shades, and what appears to be a new Ulysse Nardin Executive Dual Time (ref. 243-20/43) on his wrist.

But the crowning glory of the outfit is undoubtedly the patterned, ‘babushka’-style scarf he’s wrapped around his head – a bold sartorial choice that adds further fuel to the stylish fire that is 2020’s most impactful men’s fashion trend.

 

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A post shared by BJ Gray (@grayscaleic)

Kuzma’s not the only male celebrity who’s worn a scarf like this in recent years. The style was popularised by fashion-forward rapper A$AP Rocky, who’s been rocking the look since 2018 and even released a single last year – the hilariously titled Babushka Boi – all about his scarf steeze.

RELATED: Gucci’s Star-Studded Men’s Tailoring Campaign Upturns 2020’s ‘Predictable’ Fashion Scene

2020 has seen the start of a big shift in men’s fashion, with conventionally masculine celebrities more openly adopting ‘feminine’ styles of dress. Harry Styles has been a particularly notable example, but he’s by no means the only celeb who’s been doing their bit to break down gender norms in fashion. Neymar Jr.’s been wearing women’s sneakers, Dan Levy wowed the Emmys red carpet with his dress… Even tough guy Jason Momoa wore a pink tux and sparkly scrunchie to the Oscars last year.

It seems to be the direction that fashion’s moving in, even if many Australian men are still reluctant to wear gender-neutral or feminine fashion.

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The post Kyle Kuzma’s Fashion Trend With Russian Headwear appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Forget brain training and emotional growth; getting ‘shredded like Zyzz’ is a goal we all furtively harbour. But life realities mean the majority of us spend more time shredding cheese (and our fingers on a keyboard) than we do in the gym.

It doesn’t have to remain that way though. And for those that want to peek through the looking glass at their abs’ possibilities, transformation coach James Kew recently took to Instagram to show you what the various stages of being shredded really feel (and look) like.

The infographic shows a series of body fat percentages, from 18% to 6%, alongside how you feel when you’re at them (ranging from “awesome” to “kill me now”). The image is also captioned alongside an explainer.

“So often we can get so caught up in wanting to get leaner that we can forget how being lean influences how you feel!” Kew writes. “Here is how I have felt at different body fat [percentages].”

 

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A post shared by James Kew (@jameskewfitness)

At 18%, Kew writes he feels as follows: “Loads of energy, feel strong in the gym! Able to eat loads of calories and feeling very full.” Then at 14% he’s: “⁣Still feeling good and looking a bit tighter” and his “abs [are] starting to become visible.”

Then at 10% “it’s now requiring some degree of conscious effort to stay this lean,” he writes. This is compensated though as at this percentage he is “looking very respectable with the shirt off.” The downside? “Hunger is creeping in and [he is] starting to get a bit more stressed about food in general.”

“Workouts feel tougher as energy dips.⁣”

Next, at 8%, Kew says, “I’m really having to restrict calories to get this lean, and definitely feeling the effects.” Additionally, “Every training session is incredibly draining, and I’m very dependent on caffeine to just get through the day. Looking great with the shirt off, but smaller in clothes as there’s no layer of fat to help me fill them out.”⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Finally, the toughest of nuts – 6%. Of this body fat percentage, Kew says, “Being this lean feels awful. I have no energy, zero interest in sex, and a pathological obsession with food. I spend hours watching food porn instead of pornhub. My face looks gaunt, and everyone keeps asking why I look so ill. Look shredded when naked, but look skinny in clothes.⁣⁣”

This leaves us with just one question: is it really worth it? Or should we just stick to our biscuits, beer and baggy cargo pants?

DMARGE got in touch with Jeffrey Choi, a Level 3 Personal Trainer at Fitness First Top Ryde Platinum who specialises in body transformations for both men and women, to get his take.

Broadly speaking, Choi agreed with Kew’s infographic, though pointing out “how we feel at each range of body fat percentage will differ from person to person, so I wouldn’t say there are hard and fast rules.”

“That said, anything below 8% isn’t very sustainable and it’s likely you’ll feel worse at this range. I don’t see the point of aiming for this unless you are preparing for a bodybuilding show or professional photoshoot, or you are an athlete that requires low body fat percentage to make weight, for example MMA fighters.”

Ben Lucas from Flow Athletic echoed this sentiment, telling DMARGE, “Getting under a certain percentage of body fat will definitely affect your mood, energy, possibly your social life too. There is a reason why body builders fluctuate in weight and one of those reasons is that it is not sustainable to be under 8-10% body fat all year round. Thats why a lot of them will get ‘comp ready’ and then they will carb cycle to get back to a more sustainable weight.”

“I personally don’t feel as good when in the higher 15-18% range, as I really enjoy my workouts and don’t feel as mentally sharp at this level. However, for most people this is a perfectly healthy place to be and to most people you look good and healthy.”

Choi, who has competed in Natural Bodybuilding shows in both the Fitness Model and Men’s
Physique categories, placing in the top 3 (Both ICN AND WFF), and who has conducted his own tests at different stages of body fat percentage, using Dexa scans, inbody and pinch test with an experienced coach, then provided DMARGE with his own take on how you feel at various body fat percentages.

Male: 18 – 15%   Female: 20 – 23%

• Enjoy flexibility of food choice
• Some people can stay at this bodyfat percentage range without diet and training
• Even for the average person, this range is easily achievable and sustainable without affecting their social life
• You look above average among the general public

Male: 12 – 15%   Female: 17 – 20%

• Still enjoy flexibility of food and nutrition – however require some effort and discipline
• It is still sustainable and achievable but you definitely need a combination of training and
  nutrition
• Optimal for muscle hypertrophy
• You look good among average gym junkies

Male: 10 – 12%   Female: 14 – 16%

• Require some degree of effort and discipline in terms of training and nutrition
• Probably starts to affect social occasions
• Likely to be the most shredded person in an average commercial gym
• Sustainable for those who enjoy being shredded and who spend a dedicated amount of time in the gym each week, having consistently trained for years
• For some females their menstruation cycle will be affected

Male: Below 8%   Female: Below 13%

• Definitely start to affect both physiological and psychological state
• Impairs performance in the gym (not good for strength training and more prone to injury)
  due to calorie restriction
• Affecting hormones for example, decrease in libido for female menstruation cycle will definitely be affected
• Feeling hungry all the time, cravings
• Not optimal for muscle hypertrophy in long run

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• Salt Bae’s Body Fat Percentage Will Blow Your Mind
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The post The Dangers Of Being ‘Shredded’, According To Gym Junkies appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

The last twelve months have been nothing but disastrous. But bushfires, floods and pandemics have nothing on Chelsea boot f*ckbois.Before you throw your mason jars at me: hear me out. I’m not saying Chelsea boots are bad. I’m not even saying f*ckbois are bad (I’ll leave that to these guys). What I am saying, is Chelsea boots becoming the official footwear of the f*ckboi is very bad.Why? Mainly because those who don’t ~identify~, but who occasionally like to dabble (read: me), now have to endure being lumped in with the ripped jean wearing, White Claw-drinking, man bun-toting, Plato-quoting lotharios.My outrage at my favourite smart casual item being co-opted came to a head in November 2020, when the following video was shared by a colleague, in a gleeful personal attack.Adding insult to injury, the comedian was not only was wearing the exact kind of jacket I had worn throughout the entirety of September but utterly destroyed any sense of individuality I thought I had left with quips like “just thinking about Hershel backpacks” and “cold brew coffee is my personality.”Further hot takes from the clip included:

“You mean the man bun for your feet?”“Jack Johnson makes me lactate.”“Chelsea boots are stable, unlike me – my life’s in shambles.”

Suffice to say: the video cut deep. However, rather than quit my job and migrate hemispheres, having been so brutally seen, I decided to pull my socks up and take an anthropological deep dive. What better way to do that than to wear Chelsea boots for a full week?

‘Chelsea boots’ is a state of mind

Unlike a denim jacket, which is a much more transformative garment, Chelsea boots are a more subtle flex. Correspondingly, you need to mentally prepare. As per pop culture, before you put them on in the morning, you should have sent three “miss you” texts, four “brunch on me” texts (with no intention to pay) and have stared at yourself for at least 8 seconds in the mirror. I saw fit only to live up to the mirror staring (throwing in a quick wink for good measure).

People will see through it

Suede Chelsea boots are for guys who think they’re too sophisticated for R.M. Williams, but still want to look rugged. ‘Fauxencitity,’ if you will. People will see through it, but that’s not always such a bad thing. Some love a bit of arrogance. Others may want to punch you in the face.RELATED: Trailblazing Australian Weatherman Takes ‘R.M. Williams & A Suit’ To New Heights

They can help your dating life, but they’re no crutch

After my 6th train ride in a row without any mysterious stranger complimenting my footwear, I turned to relationship and sexual health counsellor Heidi Gee, to ask what she thought about Chelsea boots.

“Personally I think they are hot! We all have different tastes and styles and it really comes down to individual tastes. Some people prefer blondes to brunettes, some like short hair or beards, dresses over pants, suits over construction attire. The person wearing them needs to be authentic because this will show if they are comfortable or not rather than just trying to impress someone.”

(Organic, vegan, low FODMAP) food for thought.

They could help your relationship out of a stale patch…

Heidi also told me, “I have many clients who say, ‘I’m WFH because of Covid and my partner sees me in my daggy clothes which doesn’t make me feel sexy at all’… If we let things slide and not be mindful of our communication [and our] partner’s emotional needs as well as our own, making an effort by doing the little things, then we risk becoming too complacent, the relationship goes stale and we are not nurturing the relationship like we should be.”

“I see this way too often with some clients and some of the things I hear are, ‘I got too complacent,’ ‘I let things slide,’ ‘ My relationship wasn’t a priority,’ ‘I just figured spending time together meant being in the same room.'”

They give you a boost in height (and confidence)

If you’re 5’11” and three quarters, never fear. You can justify your 6′ Tinder bio with these bad boys (I presume).

Kanye’s casual ‘Chelsea boot stroll’ is harder to mimic than you think

They are the male equivalent of putting ‘I’m not like other girls’ in your Tumblr bio

I have to thank the commenters of the aforementioned video for this observation.

They’re easy to scuff

As someone who normally wears sneakers, I found myself cringing every time I bumped the toe of my brand new Chelsea boots against anything. Suede’s not the easiest thing to take care of.

They’re comfy

Comfier than my Timberland boots, but not as comfy as my Converse high tops. Comparable in comfort to a pair of leather sneakers.

They are the perfect multitool

The ideal footwear to dress up or down. This has been the one sense in which wearing Chelsea boots for a week changed my life – I now know how to make them work with pretty much every outfit I own (all four of them).

They make you question everything… but ultimately change nothing

Far from becoming a rampant f*ckboi, after a week of wearing Chelsea boots I reluctantly concluded no item of clothing can make up for a lack of personality.Beards, on the other hand…

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The post I Wore Every F*ckboi's Favourite Footwear For A Week & It Changed My Life appeared first on DMARGE Australia.