Hindrances to exercise - Male Edition

Hindrances to exercise (Male Edition)

Exercise has many proven benefits to the body and soul. The risks of dying from cardiovascular disease are diminished and many diseases are kept at bay by regular exercise. Obesity (yes it is a disease) and its complications such as Diabetes, Heart disease and joint pains can be eradicated with a structured exercise programme.

However, like all ‘universally accepted to be good’ things e.g. making money, dressing well or speaking well for that matter, it is always easier said than done.

During a trip to Nigeria, I noticed that friends, who are mainly over forty years of age, had all sprouted ‘pot bellies’ to go with their receding hair lines. The only fit men I seemed to see were the young students, the street vendors who ran after cars all day and the brick layers who displayed astounding muscular anatomy as they went about their duties bare chested. I was so impressed I considered doing two weeks of brick laying and labouring at a Lagos building site to help me re-acquire my six- pack that went missing twenty five years ago.

But (there is always a but) I could not bear to have calloused hands and feet seeing that people who shake my hands comment about how soft they feel.

All men have excuses on why they do not have the aerobic fitness of street vendors and the beautiful chests and abdomens of labourers. Let us dive in.

I am not a labourer!

Many men especially the educated ones work with their brains usually sitting in a chair and sipping tea with sugar all day long. This lifestyle in which the body does no activity makes excess fuel to be stored in the abdomen.

Everyone looks down on a labourer but the body was built for labour and not for sitting down. A sedentary life style will cause muscles to weaken and bone strength to diminish.

What is the purpose of working hard for money and committing nutritional suicide with the proceeds? Eat well, exercise hard and postpone that befitting burial! We may not all have the opportunity to lift bags of Dangote cement all day long but we can lift weights in the gym after office hours.

Do you know my age?

Well if you do not like the age you have cut it! Men generally, as they get older start to be called daddy by their wives (If they are Nigerian). Nothing slows your muscles down like being called daddy. To hide the bald patch and big stomach, the ever intelligent Nigerian culture has devised ‘fila’ (hat) and ‘agbada’ (voluminous robes) which are better than lipo suction in making a rotund man look fetching. Dressed like a daddy, you get fed like a daddy; five planets of pounded yam and twelve pieces of beef with a bottle of Guinness to wash it down.

Two groups of people have a way to a man’s heart. The cardiologists who go in via the femoral artery during angiograms (investigations of the coronary arteries) and the wives who serve fatty foods that travel through the stomach and ultimately get to the heart where they block the coronary arteries.

Daddy, madam is simply plotting a homicide via Ogbono rich in poly-saturated fatty acids and your only escape from a certain heart attack is to exercise like a farmer who does not own a tractor but just a hoe.

Men gather and start to talk about ‘we need to be careful at our age’. Run from such groups. Watch football matches, see young men running for the ball and affiliate yourself mentally with them. Fifty is the new twenty five

I do not have time

Uncle! Haba! No time for a thirty minute daily work-out? But that your small girl-friend on West street, you see her thrice weekly. (Should I really be writing this?). And then there are the Barcelona FC games and the English Premiership games that consume eight hours of your time weekly. May I remind you ‘Uncle’ that you watch these games drinking beer and pepper soup?

Ironically, you are getting unfit while watching young men get fitter and richer.

Please make the time to benefit your body.

I am too ill to exercise

What people usually mean is that they are too ill to do a particular type of exercise.

The one with knee pains may not be able to run but can swim or lift weights while seated.

No one is asking the dying to exercise for obvious reasons but exercise is actually more important to people who have chronic conditions like Hypertension, Diabetes or a previous stroke. Consult your Doctor before embarking of any exercise program if you have a medical condition

I live in a dangerous area and I cannot go running

That is true for some areas. Some streets have no places for pedestrians to walk on talk less of runners.

I suppose that was why skipping was invented. There are so many exercises that can be done at home and a quick YouTube search will provide you with something that is do able

I cannot share the gym with small boys

Uncle I have already told you to cut your age. You are a small boy!

Some older men are embarrassed to turn up in gyms due to that feeling of intimidation you get when you walk in with your tight T shirt and find out you are the oldest and least fit person in the gym.

Not knowing how to work the equipment can also be embarrassing. I suppose that is why you should have a gym induction. Also go to the gym when it is less busy which gives you time to learn to operate the equipment without every eye gazing at your big fat stomach and tiny legs.