Men's Fitness - Rolling in the Grocery Store Aisles

Men, gather round; I've something to say, and I think it's best if I say it without those ladies snooping and sniffing around. We are an unfit bunch-a big, big bunch. And not only does this deplorable state of health encourage snickering and sniggering from the trimmer sex, but we men are dropping like flies-big, big horseflies. Heart disease, prostrate cancer, strokes; men are even dying of breast cancer. Face it, it's time somebody whipped us into shape, and I'm just the man to do it. Now…someone fetch me a piece of jerky and a cupcake.

The appalling condition of men's fitness in has left many men rolling in the aisles; the grocery aisles-and not from laughing. Supermarkets pushing high fat foods and highly processed carbohydrates slather pound after pound of unhealthy weight on American men. The results? Just recently, the American Heart Association found a credible and distinct link between "western" dietary patterns and strokes. And every year 960,000 American red-blooded men die from heart disease. Fitness is no laughing matter, rather a serious health concern.

Take a gander at some statistics: In the year 2000, men took 50.9 million trips to the emergency room. In 2001, men in this country contracted 42,000 new cases of HIV, up 8% from the year 2000. Diabetes, cancer, heart disease-American men are taking the effects of neglected health right in the jugular. Despite these staggering and sobering statistics, men continue to smoke cigarettes; men continue to engage in unsafe sexually practices; men continue to shun exercise and healthy foods. Chalking cigarette smoking and safe sex up to readily fixable areas of common sense, the primary concerns surrounding men's fitness rest in two key realms: Diet and Exercise. To this effect, the American Heart Association spends $382 million each and every year in creating and promoting awareness of fitness related heart problems.

Diet

The South Beach Diet has romped and rioted its way from the sunny coasts of Florida to the sunny coasts of California. Pigeonholed as trendy diet and weight-loss scam of the month, in actuality, the South Beach Diet contains a myriad of healthy eating advice. The basic tenets of the program swirl around eliminating "bad" carbohydrates and fats. Disciples of the South Beach Diet, at least for the first 2 weeks, eschew highly processed carbohydrates, which are typically stored in the nick-knacks of sweets and snacks, as well as other baked goodies. Additionally, men's fitness adherents are instructed to buy whole grain breads rich in fiber, laced with B vitamins, and enriched with iron. Furthermore, sodium should be relegated to the shaker, not one's plate.

Exercise

Simple things often tend to be good things; running, arguably the simplest of activities, just so happens to be one of the more strenuous ways to utilize your body-meaning great exercise. Through running, a large variety of muscles find profitable outlets for all that energy you've been storing up in the form of potato chips. Circuit weight training is another popular and profitable option, which is endorsed by many patients recovering from heart surgery-due to the flexibility in goals and muscle development (lighter weights and faster repetitions provide a great cardiovascular workout, while heavier weights increase muscle mass and metabolism). A good cardiovascular workout should contain 20 minutes of continual exercise; making basketball or tennis perfectly viable options for those interested in men's fitness.

Many of the concerns surrounding the current state of men's fitness could be effectively quelled by a new-found, nationwide attention to diet and exercise. American men don't have to eat rice cakes three times a day to be fit, and they don't have to cross-train with Carl Lewis either. Eliminating foods exceptionally bad for one's heart and body while concurrently exercising bi-weekly would go a long way to improving men's fitness. So next time you're rolling in the aisles, make sure it's from laughing, and not from laffy-taffies.