It seems like everywhere you turn these days on the interwebz you can’t help but find an article ‘fit shaming’ and bringing down guys who want to look good naked.
With the recent furore of the ‘dad bod’ it seems six packs are out and beer bellies are in.
So, Is it about time we cancelled our gym memberships, threw out our stringers and made our way down to the closest doughnut shop to drown our sorrows in sugary ringed goodness ?
No.
Not even fucking close.
I’m here to tell you that regardless of what a few insecure people will write and publish online, as a vessel for justifying their own lack of discipline and mediocrity, looking good and taking care of your physical appearance is still an admirable goal that every dudebro (h/t Roman) should have (don’t worry, you can still eat doughnuts).
Let others fall for the trap of the ‘Dad Bod’, you know better, that’s why you’re reading this.
There are several reasons why being lean is not only (fucking) awesome, but the sign of a strong – both physically and mentally – healthy, virile male.
1. ‘Stay Ready, So You Ain’t Gotta Get Ready’
Will Smith said that quote. And it’s perfect.
Being lean, healthy and strong keeps you ready for life. Not only does it create a mental fortitude that helps you better able to handle any adversities life may throw at you, but you’re not that guy who tires out walking up a flight of stairs or blows your back out picking up the grocery bags.
Your body becomes a lot more resilient and you can also get away with a lot more things that other guys wouldn’t be able to, epic cheat days without ruining your physique, for example.
You also don’t have to spend 3 months ‘dieting’ because ‘summer is coming’, like your friends.
2. A Lot Of Women Love The Cover Model Look
Regardless of what the dad bod aficionado’s will have you believe, women love the cover model look (aka ‘The Physiqonomics look’) – low bodyfat, symmetrical physique, lean and athletic.
We’re not trying to go for the ‘mass monster’, bodybuilder-esque physique, think more along the lines of Chris Hemsworth’s Thor or Ryan Reynolds in Blade 2.
A good physique also subconsciously signifies that you have traits of a successful mate (virility).
Besides, If a woman is insecure because you look good,do as Jay Z does and ‘On to the next’, you don’t need that kinda crazy.
3. You Look Good In Literally Anything You Wear
One of the greatest benefits is not having to worry about what you are going to wear. You can just rock out in a T shirt and a pair of jeans or sweatpants, and still look badass.
4. Increase In Confidence
While people will often claim that ‘abs won’t give you confidence’, I disagree. The better you look, the better you’re going to feel and the more outgoing and confident you will be, and women love confidence.
This confidence transcends the gym and other vain pursuits, training also teaches discipline and hard work. Which translates to all areas of your life.
Once you achieve one goal, like attaining your dream physique for example, this reciprocates to all other goals in your life. You begin to realize that if you can achieve one goal, you can achieve all your other goals.
5. Easier To Maintain
You’d think that maintaining a lean, athletic physique would be hard work, no thanks to the uber fetishitic glamorisation of the ‘fit life’ and ‘fitspo’ memes that are prevalent all over the net – but au contraire mon frere, once you achieve the physique you want, it’s actually really easy to maintain (and this is coming from a former fat boy).
You know how much you need to be eating and in what amounts without having to track everything, you can overeat one day and not do any harm, you can even miss a few days of training and not have to worry about losing muscle (muscle is actually a lot easier to maintain than it is to build). Which means less time in the gym to keep your physique and enjoying the rest of your, uh, you know, life?
6. Improved Health
While becoming extremely lean (<8%) can be detrimental to health , the good news is, the cover model look I refer to and encourage only means being between 10-12% body fat, which is a healthy range for any guy to be in.
While diet guru’s will have you believe that eating certain foods or types is the cause of every evil on earth, the number one cause for the majority of western diseases such as obesity is due to excessive body fat and a sedentary lifestyle.
As important as looking good is, we can’t forget that our aesthetic pursuits are complementary to our health.
In Conclusion
While this is not an exhaustive list, but some of the important points that illustrate why being lean and healthy is fucking awesome and not something to be ‘ashamed of’ or to be looked down upon.
Just like fad diets that come and go, let everyone else fall for the sensationalism and faddish body image trends that pop up every now and again, you keep training hard and rocking life, safe in the knowledge that a good physique is not a ‘fad’ but a part of a complete badass lifestyle.