A Man's Fitness Part One: Laying the Foundation

In today's modern world, fitness may not seem all that important. Sure, you'll probably never have to run down a deer in order to eat, or repeatedly lift a heavy club to defend your home, but that does not mean that fitness is irrelevant in a man's life. On the contrary, fitness is just as relevant in today's world as it was thousands of years ago. Heavy items still need to be lifted, women need to be carried over thresholds, and long distances need to be traveled on foot. A lot of people say that intelligence is more important than fitness, because it has a higher likelihood of earning the average person more money over time whilst also allowing them to navigate social situations with deft skill. Yet, think about this; what good is intelligence if you are in such poor health you have trouble doing even the most simple of physical tasks? Fitness correlates to health, and health usually correlates to a longer life.

Not only will you live longer, but you will feel better about yourself. Show me a man in great physical shape, and I will show you a man who is confident about himself. And to be clear, great physical shape does not mean marathon-runner thin or bulging biceps. It means being able to move your body weight through space, being able to run a couple miles, being able to perform a repetitive physical task such as splitting firewood, and being able to lift moderately heavy weights with ease. A man should be able to do these things, because they are necessary in our world, modern or not. Splitting firewood with an axe is a much more efficient way of generating firewood and cheaper as well than modern hydraulic firewood splitters. Why not buy your firewood? Because you're a man, dammit. And you should be able to do it for a half-hour with relative ease. There are things in this world that most men will want to do, such as summit a mountain, or swim the English Channel, or ride a dirt-bike, or run with the bulls, or play a sport. All these things require certain physiological fitness levels to do, and are dangerous if one does not meet the physiological fitness levels.

And even if your physiological aspirations are less lofty, a higher level of fitness equals less pain due to enhanced strength, enhanced bone density, and enhanced tendon and ligament strength. Your body will be able to handle the stresses of life with greater ease and therefore, you will not feel the stress as much or at all. And even if you have no physiological aspirations, studies show that exercising makes one smarter. Also, more attractive people have a higher chance of earning a higher income. Guess what makes anyone more attractive? Being in shape and looking like you're in shape.

Every man should be able to do the following physiological items:

• 100 body-weight squats
• 20 pull-ups
• 20 dips
• 50 push-ups
• 50 horizontal rows
• 5 handstand push-ups
• 25 jump squats
• Run 2 miles
• Sprint 100 meters
• Climb a 50 foot rope
• Swim one mile
• Deadlift 225#

If you can do all of these, you are in-shape and hopefully you don't stop there; always set higher and higher fitness goals and continue to try to improve. A man who stops trying to improve himself, stops being a man.