In lieu of Father’s Day here’s my Fodder, a guy I’d consider a real man sitting with a very legit dog.
What possesses that old school kinda guy to put his body through the pain and stress that is experienced in exercise.
I’m not sure if there is such thing as an authority on what real men are, but there are definitely some attributes that set a real guy apart from the rest. Much of it is how he acts, what he does, and what motivates him.
So, in no specific order, what does motivate that old school kind of guy to workout?
1. Health
When I think of health I think about my family, even my future family and how I am going to be 50 years down the road when they’ll still need me to be all there, in shape and a part of their lives. Being in great shape and being healthy is about making your life not only longer but a higher quality.
“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” Abraham Lincoln
Exercise and a healthy diet dramatically reduces your risk for a heart attack, but it also gives you more energy to do what you love to do. Being out of breath trying to chase your kid around is no way to live. On the other side of that, giving some validity to your kid’s claim that, “my Dad is stronger than your Dad,” is a pretty good feeling.
2. Pride
There’s a bit of a misconception out there that an real man doesn’t care about how he looks when it comes to his physique; rather, I think it’s the opposite as he takes more pride in his appearance than ‘the other guy’. He has pride, he wants to be at his best in every area of his life whether that’s being a father, a boyfriend, an employee, a boss, a friend, whatever it is, he wants to be at his best. And this translate to his workouts as well.
An old school guy busts his arse in the gym. He’s not standing there looking the mirror admiring his work, but he definitely gives a shite about how he looks and how he feels.
Of the fellas I know who I’d consider an ‘old school guy’ or a real man, each of them understand that we have one life, one body, and one chance to make it a successful one, so there’s no point in not getting the most out of everything we’ve been given. There’s a standard that exists, they might not be the most jacked guys in the world but they have pride in how they look, in what kind of shape they’re in and how they perform in each of the many roles that they have.
3. Performance
Yes, looks and pride are both motivations for working out and training, but so is performance, which I think is one of the things that separates an old school dude from the rest of em. It may even tie into that pride thing again, the competitive part of our personalities that aren’t necessarily competing against anyone but ourselves or even time.
Some guys don’t realize the importance of being in great shape until they get a bit older and they begin to slow down a bit, or the things that used to be easy aren’t so easy anymore. It’s almost never too late to start getting in better shape, but realizing its importance sooner rather than later is definitely a bonus.
Having a body you’re proud of is important. Having a healthy body is also something that is desirable. But having a good looking body, that’s healthy and can get the job done is the ultimate goal of a real man. Being able to perform as good, if not better in sports than you did in high school or college is an amazing feeling. So is picking your girlfriend up with ease or pushing a stalled car to a mechanic (any others?).
Bodybuilders workout for looks, other people workout for health but don’t get the looks because they either don’t care or they don’t know how to. Athletes and even former athletes train for performance which can automatically include the previous two reasons, but not necessarily. The real man, the old school, solid guy trains for all three, or at least aspires for all three.
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What motivates you to workout?
