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Pour the perfect pint of beer, carry heavy things and properly parallel park are the topics in this week’s skills post.

Listen, I put these together in this post basically to keep you from getting your man card punched.

The last thing I want for you is to be at your backyard BBQ and your buddy asks you to pour a beer only to watch half spill over the side because you didn’t take a moment to consider the physics of a perfect pour.

Or put your back out lifting a bag of dog food from the trunk of your car…

Or getting hung out in traffic as the only parking spot available for miles just came open but you have to bypass it because your parallel parking skills lack the sniper like precision necessary to execute!

Pour Beer Properly

I’m going to stick with a pour from a bottle as it’s pretty rare at this age that you are pouring from a keg at a backyard shindig.

There is only one great type of “head”, and it has NOTHING to do with beer!

Head is the foam that forms on the top of the beer when you pour it (the result of the carbonation).

If you pour the beer correctly, you should have a finger-thick layer of head on top. If poured wrong, the beer will be mostly foam and very little liquid—DEFINITELY not what you want!

To pour a beer like a boss:

1. Tilt your glass at a 45 degree angle, and place the top of the beer bottle neck against the rim of the glass.
2. Slowly tip up the bottle to pour the beer gently against the glass. The beer should slide out of the bottle and down the glass with as little disturbance as possible.
3. Slowly tip the glass upright as it fills, and make sure to keep the pour steady.
4. Make sure the glass is fully upright by the time your bottle is 90% empty. This last 10% will foam up and form just the right amount of head on the beer.

Master this vital skill, and you’ll be the beer-pouring expert at EVERY party and barbeque!

Carry Heavy Objects Safely

The male physique is better suited to carrying heavy loads than the female physique—that’s not sexism, that’s science. The male body has a better musculoskeletal structure for carrying objects on their backs, shoulders, or in their arms. Thus, men have always been the ones to lift heavy boxes or carry larger packs than women.

Knowing how to lift and carry heavy objects safely can save you from a lot of pain—back pain, knee pain, shoulder pain, and other joint pains that occur when you lift incorrectly. Here is everything you need to know about carrying objects safely:

Spread your feet shoulder width apart. This gives you a wide base of support, like a tripod.

Squat, bending at the knees and hips rather than at the back. If the object is very heavy, try a half-kneeling (one knee on the floor) posture.

Stay straight and upright. Lift your eyes to look straight ahead, keep your back and neck straight, and push your shoulders back. This will straighten your lower back and reduce injury risk.

Lift from the knees and hips. Push up with your knees and hips, using your leg muscles to do the lifting. Your back should be straight, so your back muscles won’t need to engage.

Keep it close. Keeping the load tight against your body, preferably at belly button level, will help to reduce bending or leaning.

Set it down with your legs and hips. To set down a heavy load, reverse the process, using your leg muscles, knees, and hips to lower the weight. Your back should NEVER get involved.

Avoid lifting high. Heavy objects should never be lifted above shoulder level. Lifting this high takes your hips out of the equation and shifts all the weight onto your core (including your injury-prone lower back).

Follow these steps to stay safe while lifting heavy objects!

Parallel Park

Parallel parking is the most challenging of the driving skills to master, but the truth is that it’s a fairly simple process. All it takes is a basic understanding of angles and decent depth perception.

Let’s be clear: no new driver is going to master parallel parking on their first try. However, with a bit of practice, you should have no problem slipping into any parking space without having to try it over and over. A 3-point turn is more than enough!

Here’s how to parallel park like a boss:

Step 1: Find a parking spot. You want a space that has at least a foot or two of clearance in front and behind you. That’ll give you enough space to maneuver in. Bigger is always better!

Step 2: Line your car up. Slide in next to the car IN FRONT of your open space, and make sure your back wheel is aligned with theirs.

Step 3: Turn your wheel right. Before you start moving, turn your wheel all the way to the right. Once it’s turned, start backing up. The front of your vehicle should swing outward while the back bumper eases into the open parking space. Make sure to check your rear-view and right-hand mirrors as you back up—you don’t want to bump into anything!

Step 4: Turn the wheel left. Once the front right corner of the car behind you is precisely in the middle of your rear windshield, it’s time to start turning the wheel in the opposite direction. Once the wheel is turned all the way to the middle position, back up until the front of your car clears the rear of the car ahead of you.

Step 5: Full to the left. Now turn your wheel all the way to the left, and slowly back into the parking space. By keeping your wheel all the way to the left, you should be able to slide into the parking space easily.

A simple matter of angles and depth perception! Over time, it will become second nature and you’ll have no trouble parallel parking in even the tightest of spaces.

That’s it for your skills tutorial this week crew. Keep it simple and on your way to the next BBQ you will not only be able to parallel park out front, but also lift the bag of charcoal for the grill and pour beer like a pro!

If you liked learning these skills I’ve got another bunch posted over here

Keep your head up!