Diet and Exercise for Men : The Real Man Workout

When presented with the issue of an exercise article especially for men..I drew a blank on the "especially for men" aspect.

What makes an exercise just for men, what diet or exercise actually is of more benefit to men than women ?

Exercise and diet is rather universal, if you think gender specific than i think your considering a diet that may promote the more masculine or feminine aspects of ones figure or health.

In this regards,I immediately think of hormones, but really another article that focuses on testosterone increasing diets seems of little use. But the gender and exercise concept does bring up one controversial topic.

I must admit, its not an original concept, I first heard it expressed in the Chuck Pahliunuk book, Fight Club.

Its a pretty well known phrase. The character Tyler, played by Brad Pitt, glances at a Calvin Klein advertisement of hairless muscular man in bikini briefs and asks, "Is this a real man?"

The self improvement industry empire that pervades western culture isnt specific to a gender. Issues with body image pervade both sexes, a women is never skinny enough or big breasted enough to match the figure of the Barbie she once played with but neither is a man ever muscular enough to contend with his GI Joe action figure. The plastic culture prevails.

If you had asked me at 12 years old what a "manly activity" was , would I have answered:

"I want to spends an hour a day or more surrounded by grunting sweating men at the gym followed by a relaxing chat in the locker room while showering with naked men. Later in the day I imagine getting a spray on tan or stopping by the tanning booth.

I want to drink light beer, eat low calories salad dressing and flex my muscles in the mirror before drifting off to bed early.

If I get really good and big, I will wax my entire body and find a very small pink bikini so I can parade and flex in front of an audience while hanging around with dozens of oiled up muscular men.

In case it wasnt obvious...the answer is a resounding no

Strength training doesn't have to devolve into frivolous ego inflating masturbatory motions, Certainly real men exercise, I wouldn't be able to leave my house if I claimed that boxers and martial artists were not "real men". The distinction in the workout pattern is utility. Real men create useful and utilitarian muscle, a full body workout isnt required for aesthetic purposes, its required for a balanced and effective body.

If your not a fighter are you less of a man, no, of course not. But, if you find yourself with a bottle of baby oil and a full length mirror (by yourself) you may want to reconsider your current life choices.

There is an activity, a truly manly activity at that, that is so effective for strength training and core power that its often mimicked in the gym.

Chopping Wood!

Lumberjacks are real men, their every day life leads to bodies capable of real power. Moving weight all day...with purpose.

The wood chopping motion itself targets the obliques in a manner that is irreplaceable with any other motion.

The chopping wood exercise can be done on 3 levels of manliness.

3. The cable exercise:

Since you are most likely to be in a gym for this exercise and you are using little nancy boy pulleys for the exercise it gets the lowest grade on the man scale.

2. The Medicine Ball:

Medicine balls are manly. Simple sentence, simple truth.

3. Actually Cut Wood

You want a manly workout? Find some woods, find a downed tree, quarter tree, drag quarters to manageable space, section and split wood, carry chopped wood.

Now Howl at the moon and flex your useful muscle.