🚨 Welcome to this week’s issue of Generation Xcellent. I’m Stephen Perrine, New York Times bestselling author and former top editor at Men’s Health and Maxim. And like you, I’m doing all I can to survive the moshpit of midlife. Thanks for joining me on the journey! If you like what you see, send me an email—and share this newsletter with another guy who could use our help.

📩 Thanks for joining the conversation!

- FITNESS -

Burn Fat Faster—at 45+!

If you’re working out and not getting the results you want, this is the game changer

By Stephen Perrine

And a massive review of studies found that HIIT improved strength, endurance and metabolic health (read: belly fat) in elite athletes, moderately fit civilians, and couch potatoes alike. If you are working out, and not getting the results you want, a little intensity can change everything.

Related   For a Lean, Healthy Gut, Eat THIS

What is HIIT?

HIIT simply means incorporating short bursts of intense effort into longer periods of slower and more sustained exercise. And you don’t need to learn a new sport, join a new gym, or splurge on any new gear. All you need to do is to tweak your favorite workout—from walking to weight-training to distance running. (Sports that involve sprinting and stopping—think hoops or soccer—are naturally HIIT workouts, which is why LeBron looks like that in his 40s and you don’t.) But any workout can be turned into a HIIT workout—once a week, twice a week, or any time you exercise. Here’s how:

HIIT for Weight Training: You’ll do a series of exercises using a weight you can lift with good form for multiple sets. But instead of counting reps, you’re going to time yourself. You’ll lift continuously for a set time period, then rest, then move on to the next exercise and repeat:

Beginner: 30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest, 4 exercises, 4 sets

Intermediate: 1 minute work, 30 seconds rest, 5 exercises, 4 sets

Advanced: 1 minute work, 15 seconds rest, 6 exercises, 6 sets

So if you’re doing a chest/shoulder workout, the beginner plan might be:

• :30 bench/:30 rest

• :30 shoulder press/:30 rest

• :30 chest flies/:30 rest

• :30 dips/:30 rest

  Rinse and repeat for four sets

Remember: Form is crucial, so don’t rush through your set. Focus on execution, not on how many reps you can squeeze in.

HIIT for Cardio: Cardio workouts, on the other hand, simply involve adding short periods of intense exercise into your regular workout. Whether you’re swimming, running, biking, or using an exercise machine, you can follow this program:

Beginner: 10-minute workout with three 20-second sprints (about one every 3 minutes)

Intermediate: 30-minute workout with five 30-second sprints (about one every 5 minutes)

Advanced: 30-minute workout with four 4-minute sprints spread throughout

Make sure to end your workout on a low-intensity note, to help your body cool down. That’s it. Keep doing what you love. But do it with intensity.

—Adapted from The Full-Body Fat Fix, by Stephen Perrine (St. Martin’s Press).

Battle of the ‘90s Crushes: Week #5
Salma Hayek vs. Susanna Hoffs

>Welcome to round 5 of our epic March Madness–style tournament. Last week, Alyssa Milano showed Christina Applegate who’s the boss, taking their head-to-head matchup in a squeaker and extending the dominance of brunettes over blondes—at least when it comes to our teenage crushes.

This month, Bangles lead singer and side-eye specialist Susanna Hoffs takes on Academy Award–nominated actor, producer and tariff-exempted import Salma Hayek. Which of these crushes will move on to the quarter finals? Only YOU can decide! 

We’ll have a new showdown every week, with more Gen X goddesses competing for your vote. And check out our social pages (we’re on Instagram, Facebook, and Threads) for updates and a full rundown of the winners.

- MONEY -

How to Maximize Your Money Right Now

Four finance gurus on the smartest place to put your cash

By Bob Larkin

>Happy Tax Day! Which is a little like saying, “Happy Colonoscopy Day!” Unless you’re one of those lucky bastards expecting a refund. The average tax refund for 2025 is around three grand. Nice.

But also… with markets in turmoil, what the hell are you gonna do with that bonus cash?

Seventy-one percent of Gen Xers are more afraid of being broke than dying, according to a 2024 Allianz study. That’s even more than Boomers (53%), who are literally on deck to die next.

We reached out to some smart guys who might have a few ideas: Shark Tank investor and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban; Money Unplugged host Chris Hill; financial advisor and author Joe Saul-Sehy; and Shares for Beginners host Philip Muscatello.

Turn debt into returns

Now is the time to pay down debt, Cuban suggests. “If you owe money on your credit cards and the rate is the normal 29 percent, you’re getting a 29 percent return on whatever amount you pay down,” he says. “That’s a guaranteed return and probably better than you will do in the market.” In a recent survey, 33% of Americans say they’re using their refund to pay off their debt, up from 20% last year.

Start an emergency fund

If you don’t have any significant debts, Hill recommends you build an emergency fund—put it somewhere out of sight, but where it’s accessible if you need it. “Set aside enough money to cover three to six months of living expenses. It’ll help you sleep better at night.” Cuban recommends looking at a safe, short-term investment like old fashioned money markets. “They pay four percent plus,” he says. “And they don’t go down, only up. So your stress levels are much better.”

Buy (some) stocks

Recent chaos doesn’t mean you should stay out of the market completely. 

“If you zoom out and look over the past five to thirty years, you see that the stock market has steadily increased over time,” says Hill. “Take some money that you know you won’t need in the next five years and invest it in a basic S&P 500 ETF with a low annual fee.” The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF is a good example, or the iShares' Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV).  

Do it now: The longer your time in the market, the greater your opportunity to build wealth. “Future You will be glad you did,” promises Hill.

Related  The Easiest Way to Build Your Personal Savings Fast 

Invest in your side hustle

Nearly half of Gen Xers say that starting their own business and becoming a self-employed entrepreneur is now a “key component of their retirement plans,” according to a 2024 survey from ZenBusiness. A tax refund could be your chance to "grab life by the throat and create some new possibilities,” says Muscatello, who during Covid used his refund to start a podcast. “It’s freedom, and every buck I make is mine.”

You’ve got a thing too, he says. “That side project you shelved. The skill you buried. Dig it up. No one wants to be still hustling in their 70s. It’s not a long way off. Take action. Do it now. Man up and take the initiative.”

Your refund is a fork in the road, says Muscatello. “Most guys will waste it. Choose hard. Choose now. You’ve got more fight than you know.”

—Bob Larkin has written for Men’s Health, Esquire, The New York Post, and other outlets.

- GEN X CULTURE -

15 Gen X Facts that Will Totally Freak You Out

As a man named Ferris once warned us, life moves pretty fast. Here are some perspective-altering realities you might have missed.

By The Editors of Generation Xcellent

>Listen, we’re all aware of how the passage of time works. But sometimes it moves faster than our brains can fully grasp. If someone says, “Twenty years ago,” many Gen Xers automatically think, “Oh, they mean the mid-90s.” Sorry, but you might need to do the math again.

Here are just a few examples to remind you that we really are getting older, and the world is becoming more strange and unfamiliar with each passing day. You’re welcome!

➡️ A 14-year-old discovering Nirvana's In Utero today is the equivalent of a 14-year-old discovering the Beatles' Rubber Soul in 1997.

➡️ Just kidding. Kids today think Nirvana is a t-shirt brand.

➡️ According to The Simpsons, Bart was conceived after Homer and Marge saw The Empire Strikes Back, which opened in late May 1980. That means Bart was born in early 1981, making him 44 today. If he follows American Cancer Society recommendations, Bart should be scheduling his first colorectal cancer screening right about now. Ay caramba indeed!

➡️ If you’d taken that $30 you spent on Lollapalooza tickets in 1995 and invested in Amazon stock, it’d be worth $146,504 today. Hope seeing Sonic Youth was worth it.

➡️ OJ's white Bronco is now eligible for classic car license plates.

➡️ Tony Hawk, Flavor Flav, Billy Idol, Eminem, Jim Carrey, Lauryn Hill and Courtney Love are all grandparents.

⬆️ If Mickey Knox from 1994's Natural Born Killers went on a cross-country rampage today, he'd qualify for senior discounts at road trip pit-stops like Denny's, Super 8, and certain Exxon gas stations. Put down the weapon and enjoy the savings, gramps!

➡️ The youngest member of Green Day (bassist Mike Dirnt, 52) is the same age as the oldest member of the Traveling Wilburys when they formed (Roy Orbison, 52).

➡️ On Friends, Ross and Rachel’s daughter Emma was born April 4th, 2002. Which means in just two more years, she'll be too old to date Leonardo DiCaprio.

➡️ Among the historical artifacts at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, are the chair where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated; Rosa Parks’s bus; and “Teenage Bedroom, 1987.” 

➡️ The future in Back to the Future is now ten years in the past (October 21, 2015). 

➡️ When Talking Heads released “Once in a Lifetime” in 1980, the lyrics warned that “You may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile/ And you may find yourself in a beautiful house.” The average price of a house in 1980 was $47,200, and a car like a Buick Regal was $8,085. Today, the median price is $419,200 for a house and $47,542 for a new car. You’re less likely to ask “Well ... how did I get here?” than “Well… how can I afford this?

➡️ MTV has been a channel that doesn’t play music videos for longer than it was a channel that played only music videos.

➡️ The distance between the release of The Breakfast Club and today is the same as the distance between the release of The Breakfast Club and the end of WWII. Forty years goes by fast.