Author: Richard C. Trotter

Indoor biking, either at home or at a spin class, has become more enticing (and popular) than ever thanks to high-quality set-ups and a variety of tech to keep it interesting. Gone are the days of staring at a blank wall while counting the very sweaty minutes until you are freed from being “behind bars”—handlebars, that is. But one thing we still have to deal with? How much stationary bike seats hurt. A stationary bike can (and should!) be comfortable enough for you to enjoy a spin class or ride without constantly shifting around on the seat. And figuring it…

For many people with a uterus, period cramps are par for the course just about every month (ugh, I know). But if you get cramps when you’re not on your period, you might be scratching your head, either totally confused or concerned. The good news? These pelvic cramps aren’t usually serious. “Pelvic cramping without a period can happen due to ‘normal’ or physiologic changes,” says Susan S. Khalil, MD, board-certified OB/GYN and assistant professor in the Raquel and Jaime Gilinski department of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive science at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Still, sometimes period-like symptoms…

Wendy Adams suspects she got Lyme disease in the late 1990s. She never noticed a tick bite or a telltale rash, but Adams, who lives in Menlo Park, California, and works in biotech, says her Lyme disease symptoms began around 2000: burning sensations in her legs, heart palpitations, and profound exhaustion. “If I took my dog on a 20-minute walk, I was in bed for the rest of the day,” she says. “Forget about going to the gym, despite the fact that I had been an athlete growing up.” Then there were the cognitive issues—memory lapses, brain fog, confusion. “I…

For the majority of our existence on Earth, humans have sought to live forever—looking for immortality through art, achievements, or quests for life-giving objects like golden apples or the Holy Grail. While a real-life fountain of youth that instantly reverses the aging process doesn’t exist (at least not yet), longevity expert Maddy Dychtwald argues that the secret to adding years to your life doesn’t lie in any mythical spells. On the contrary, she says one way to boost longevity is by making a few simple adjustments to what you’re regularly eating. As a “futurist” and the co-founder of Age Wave,…

With the Well+Good SHOP, our editors put their years of know-how to work in order to pick products (from skin care to self care and beyond) they’re betting you’ll love. While our editors independently select these products, making a purchase through our links may earn Well+Good a commission. Happy shopping! Explore the SHOP If you could use a little color, you needn’t worship the sun. The best liquid bronzer can lend your complexion a sun-kissed wash of color without the UV. Such options blend nicely into the skin to make you look as if you’re perpetually basking in golden-hour light,…

With the Well+Good SHOP, our editors put their years of know-how to work in order to pick products (from skin care to self care and beyond) they’re betting you’ll love. While our editors independently select these products, making a purchase through our links may earn Well+Good a commission. Happy shopping! Explore the SHOP Some people will tell you that the secret to a happy relationship is communication. Others will tell you that it’s affection, or intimacy, or being able to admit when you’re wrong. For my partner and I, though, the key to success is an Eight Sleep mattress. As…

With the Well+Good SHOP, our editors put their years of know-how to work in order to pick products (from skin care to self care and beyond) they’re betting you’ll love. While our editors independently select these products, making a purchase through our links may earn Well+Good a commission. Happy shopping! Explore the SHOP Whether its Oprah or your local news anchor, TV hosts all seem to have one thing in common: flawless complexion. Somehow, even when viewed through high-definition camera lenses, there’s no redness, fine lines, or breakouts in sight. So what’s their secret? I knew that odds are, not…

It took actress Busy Philipps decades to learn that she was neurodivergent. Her moment of clarity came when she took her daughter Birdie, then 10 years old, to get tested for attention-deficit / hyperactive disorder (ADHD). “We were sitting in the doctor’s office and he was going through the checklist for ADHD, and I looked at my ex-husband and could tell we were both thinking, ‘Wait, I have every single one of these at the highest level,'” she recalls. The experience motivated Philipps to “figure out what was going on with my own brain,” and ultimately led to an ADHD…

Vriko Kwok knew the fourth day of her six day ultramarathon was going to be the hardest one. She had some ground to make up if she was going to achieve her goal of running a total of 300 kilometers (a little over 186 miles) over six consecutive days— around 50 kilometers (31 miles) every day. She woke up at 4 a.m. ready to work, and did she ever. She ran non-stop, except for gear changes, for nine and a half hours straight. But just two loops away from her day’s goal, she sat utterly gassed in a rest tent,…

I’ll never forget the day I started my period. I was just 10 years old, and I was so scared I’d done something wrong that I hid my stained underwear in my closet. At that age, I didn’t know anything about menstruation. When my mom found out, she was shocked it happened so early. It was also the beginning of another journey for me, although I didn’t know it at the time: a decades-long battle with endometriosis and its debilitating symptoms. Since that very first period, I’ve dealt with a heavy flow and agonizing cramps. When I reached my early…