Basic Training: A Fundamental Guide to Fitness for Men

PART ONE:

Motivation

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

WHAT BASIC TRAINING CAN DO FOR YOU

In these pages you will find exercises, activities, and photographs of men of all shapes and sizes that, I hope, will inspire you to begin a fitness program of your own. The most difficult part of embarking on such a program is finding direction: knowing where to start and at what level of intensity and how many times a week to work out. Basic Training is intended to give you that direction: to teach the exercises by guiding you through each move with perfect form; to create a personalized training routine that meets your needs and fits your schedule; to set realistic goals that you can accomplish while looking ahead to new ones.

When you say I’m working out, I want you to refer not just to one day’s exercise and weight-training regime at the gym or at home, but to a change in lifestyle that brings with it improved health and stamina, greater strength and agility, and a heightened sense of the possibilities and pleasures of life itself. The idea behind Basic Training is to present fitness not just as a physical skill but as a positive, healthful, enjoyable part of your life.

In a way, beginning a fitness program is like learning a new language: You have to admit to a beginner’s awkwardness as you memorize vocabulary words; you may stumble through your first simple sentences, but eventually you will develop fluency and the delight of expressing yourself in a new yet somehow familiar mode. Gradually, imperceptibly, you find yourself at home in this new world, and you don’t ever have to lose this ability. That’s what having fitness in your life is about.

A fitness program doesn’t have to be a solitary, lonely business. This book may encourage you to meet others in a health club, at the beach, while sailing or playing volleyball, or at a city playground or park for some one-on-one basketball. The burgeoning of expensive, massive health complexes and sports clubs may create the impression that fitness is an elitist activity, but by its very nature, fitness is inclusive, democratic, pluralistic—a lifestyle for everyone.

Throughout Basic Training I’d like you to consider your goals—improved health; a stronger, more flexible, more skilled body; an active and pleasurable lifestyle—not just as a product, the tangible result, of all your hard work, dedication, and commitment, but also as a process, the experience of the moment. The way I see it, getting there isn’t half the fun; it’s fun all the time you’re doing it! Think I’m exaggerating? Consider this: How many of us stop in the middle of some wonderful experience to recognize our own pleasure in being? Exercise can provide countless examples of that kind of pleasure, the almost subconscious joy in living that can help us make it through tough times, invigorate our daily, mundane routines, and inspire moments of real transcendence, when we look past the ordinary, the familiar, into the realm of human delight. Call it spiritual recognition or call it an endorphin high, it’s something to reach for and achieve again and again: Be in the moment.

THE SECRET

Many people believe there must be a secret to obtaining the body beautiful. The truth is there are no secrets. You can change the way you look and feel by exercising, eating well, and focusing on the progress these changes are making in your life. But there are myths surrounding fitness, and I’m going to dispel them for you here and now.

IF I STOP WORKING OUT, MY MUSCLES WILL TURN TO FLAB! This statement is the theme song of the Sour Grapes school of life, and to take it at face value would be ridiculous. Let me explain: Progress from a skinny or flabby frame to one of firm, taut muscles is a gradual, microscopic one, rooted deep within the muscle fibers. If you were to decide to take a break from your workout to sit on your duff or for whatever reason, the loss would occur just as gradually as the gains—even slower. But here’s the bonus: Once you have worked your body to a certain point of fitness, getting back to that level after a long hiatus takes less effort than it did to achieve the original gains. For instance, if you’ve exercised and lifted weights for six months, improving cardiovascular and muscular health, and then you veg out in front of the TV for another six months, it would take only three months of work to bring you back to your initial level of fitness. The muscles have memory, we say, and the cards are stacked in your favor.

IT’S TOO LATE FOR ME, SO WHY BOTHER? This is not so much a myth as an expression of defeatism that can dog a man and interfere with progress, pleasure, and achievement all his life. When you think about it, isn’t that statement perfectly crazy? Why sweep the floor when it’ll just get dusty again? Why shower when I’ll just have to do it again tomorrow morning? Each of us is unique, irreplaceable, and capable of the improvement we want and are willing to work for. Of course, some men are genetically gifted, born with a predisposition for a trim, muscular physique or have inherited muscular coordination or athletic ability. But everyone—and I mean everyone—has some quality, inherent or developed, that he can work on to optimal advantage. And these qualities are pleasures leading to other benefits, such as a natural inclination to achieve a toned body more easily.

"IT’S SO HARD …" Perhaps the biggest and best-kept secret about making changes in your life regarding exercise and diet is how much fun it is. The myth has it that fitness requires hours of exhausting, grueling work, combined with hearty lashings of self-denial and sacrifice—no more bacon cheeseburgers with a double order of fries, an end to late-night pints of Häagen-Dazs in front of the TV. Well, to some guys this might indeed signal the end of happiness as they know it. But look at it another way: How about the pleasure of putting your body through its paces for an hour or so three times a week and feeling it capable of things you never thought it could do, seeing and feeling it firm up and strengthen? What’s so bad about biting into a juicy peach or a hunk of fiery-red watermelon instead of a Krispy Kreme doughnut? And is late-night TV so much more of a treat than a bracing shower after an energetic game of volleyball, followed by dinner with your teammates? Even if we don’t consider the very real pleasures of possessing a trimmer body, one that looks good both in clothes and out of them, the process of getting it that way can and should be seen as a delight rather than a burden and a chore. It’s a matter of perspective—so maybe it’s time to change yours and to see exercise, weight training, and healthy diet as their own reward.

"I’LL NEVER LOOK LIKE THAT …" When I chose the photographs that illustrate this book, I had a specific intention: not to present near-impossible standards of beauty nor to make unrealistic promises about what my programs can do for you but to show you examples of men who, by exercising, weight training, and eating a healthy diet, have made themselves look the way they do. There are more than 40 different models—black, white, Asian, Native American—ranging in age from 22 to 45, each representing a different body type, a different look.

There is no single standard for male beauty; even Michelangelo’s David, once taken as the classical ideal of the perfect male physique, has been reduced to a refrigerator magnet to be dressed up or down. The joke speaks to our anxieties about perfection and an idealized aesthetic: The truth is that we are less attracted to perfection than we realize, and that there are so many ways, whether you are an ectomorph, endomorph, or mesomorph, to make your body into something of which you can be proud and in which you can take pleasure.

GADGETS—DO THEY REALLY WORK? We’ve all seen the infomercials for machines, from plastic Abdominators to elaborate and expensive gym machines adapted for home use, all endorsed by smiling semi-celebrities and available for three easy payments of stupidity. Do they work? Well, to some extent, and for some people (particularly those whose fitness level is a zero), yes, they can. But they require commitment and discipline, like any other lifestyle change. What good is a plastic shell intended to help you develop washboard abs if it takes up residence under your bed along with the dust bunnies and lost socks? And a ski machine can’t help you increase your cardiovascular fitness if you use it primarily as a high-tech clothes rack. In other words, use these aids to exercise as exercise. It’s not the manufacturer’s fault if you get bored with your Glitz Glider and stop using it.

I’M BIG BONED—I CAN’T HELP LOOKING THIS WAY. As I’ve said, to a certain extent we all have to live with genetic predispositions. But that doesn’t mean we can’t put up a fight: Just because your parents were overweight, you don’t have to face the same fate. With a concerted effort you can change the way you look. If you’re big boned (in our terms, a mesomorph), you can choose to upholster those massive bones with fat or with firm, taut muscle. Which would you rather have? It’s entirely up to you.

I DON’T WANT TO GET CAUGHT UP IN ALL THE VANITY. This is a central issue in fitness, and the question of vanity both defines and undermines all our ideas, preoccupations, and fears about the way we look. If beauty is, in fact, skin deep, then why should we care about the way we look? Well, for one thing, health is more than skin deep, and to the extent that we can influence our own well-being, fitness is certainly more than mere vanity. Psychologists distinguish between narcissism (an obsessive preoccupation with oneself) and healthy vanity, which speaks to our sense of self-image and the way in which we present ourselves to the world. Few things are less attractive than a preening, self-involved individual who doesn’t seem able to pull himself away from the mirror. But someone who has worked hard on his physical package and who has an easy and comfortable attitude toward himself is more likely to accept others in just that way. That’s the kind of person you want to be around. We’re working toward self-acceptance and pleasure, not obsession and narcissism.

"MY PHYSICAL ABILITIES LIMIT ME." Guess what? Everyone has limitations. I’m not expecting to turn every reader of Basic Training into a Ironman triathelete or a body-building finalist. But every man can improve his cardiovascular condition, build muscle, extend his flexibility, change the contours of his body, and learn a sport he can enjoy. Most important, everyone can take pleasure in feeling that he’s improving his fitness level, adding fun to his daily routine and years to his life.

WHERE DO I FIT IN?

In a world filled with so many types of men of all shapes, sizes, and colors, each with his own appeal, fashion incorporates the evolution of the male form. As we enter the new millennium, what men wear is not merely pants and shirts, but what’s under those pants and shirts. It’s not enough to wear good-looking clothes; a man needs to look good under them. And getting beyond the whims of fashion and fad, it’s not just the look of a toned, fit body that’s so appealing—it is the way that level of health and development makes you feel.

There are three basic body types: ectomorph, endomorph, and mesomorph. Relatively few bodies are purely one type; most of us exhibit the characteristics of two or even three types.

Mesomorph: Square and solid, with broad shoulders and narrow hips that are neither fat nor thin—these are the characteristics that define the mesomorph. Most men with this body type tend to make more accelerated muscular gains, increasing their strength and their size relatively quickly. John Travolta is a classic example: Possessed of rather slim, supple physique in Saturday Night Fever, he was trained by no less than Sylvester Stallone for his role as a buff dancer in Staying Alive. Other mesomorphs: Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson (again indicating striking physical changes this body is capable of), and Woody Harrelson.

Endomorph: Burly or husky describes the endomorphic individual, who tends to store more body fat than either of the other two. Their shape features rounder edges yet still maintains a strong and powerful stature. Dan Ackroyd, John Goodman, and Jay Leno are good examples of the endomorphic body type. Endomorphs need to be careful, but they can make extraordinary physical gains with proper diet and the right workout program.

Ectomorph: Long, lanky, and lean are good descriptive words for the ectomorphic type. This body’s characteristics are typical of many swimmers and basketball players. With a solid weight-training program, the ectomorph will make strength gains and improve definition, but packing on bulk may be more difficult. Some examples: David Letterman, Brad Pitt, James Woods, Michael Kramer Richards, Michael Jordan, and Dennis Rodman (obviously these last two are very highly developed ectomorphs, indicating the level of work to which you might aspire in your fitness, exercise, and diet