![\"\"](\"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/1205847589_41cb473f2c_b-e1327041111409.jpg\" "\\"Rules")
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Eat better. Move smarter. Relax harder.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the mantra here at Lean, Mean, Virile Machine. In order for most of us guys to do this successfully, we need to learn primarily three skills:<\/p>\n
But these things don\u2019t tend to come to us naturally. Worse, they seem to run counter to what we have been led to believe is optimal.<\/em><\/p>\n Shouldn\u2019t we be spending as much time as possible hitting the gym? Shouldn\u2019t we be finding out which pre-packaged meals are best for us? Shouldn\u2019t we be cutting back on sleep in order to get more done?<\/p>\n This \u201cpath of least resistance\u201d is advocated by most men\u2019s health authorities, but falls apart when we try to fit it into our modern lives.<\/p>\n The old ways don\u2019t work anymore.<\/p>\n The world has changed. And you must change with it.<\/strong><\/p>\n There\u2019s a good reason why most men have no idea how to cook: we\u2019ve never had any cultural incentive to do so.<\/em><\/p>\n It used to be that the woman of the house (either the wife or the mother) prepared all the food that the family ate. This is a pretty consistent pattern across cultures, and likely has a pretty strong historical significance.<\/p>\n If you were a guy, you didn\u2019t even have to think about eating a diet of primarily Real Food. That\u2019s all there was. And, more likely than not, someone else was making it for you.<\/em><\/p>\n But over the past few decades, most women have largely abandoned a role they felt was unfairly dumped on them.<\/p>\n On the whole, this has been a VERY positive achievement. Everyone, regardless of sex, race, religion, or anything else, should be free to do as they please with their lives.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s important to acknowledge the negative things that have resulted from this largely encouraging development. One of which is the disappearance of home-cooked meals as mainstays of most everyone\u2019s lives.<\/em><\/p>\n Another development during this time is the embrace by the restaurant industry of such cheap and time-saving ingredients such as sugar and seed oils.<\/p>\n Not only can we no longer assume that we\u2019ll have a home-cooked meal waiting for us at the end of the day, but neither can we hope to get a healthy meal from a restaurant if we choose to eat outside the home.<\/strong><\/p>\n It may be hard to believe, but \u201cworking out\u201d is a relatively recent phenomenon.<\/p>\n Up until a couple of decades ago, the only exercise most people would get would be that naturally found in their daily lives. The lower classes would get the most activity, doing such things as manual labor and farming, while even the upper classes could still expect to get a fair amount due to the lack of sitting and motorized transportation.<\/p>\n Recreational exercise and bodybuilding only started to catch on a short while back, with people like Arnold Schwarzenegger increasingly making the idea of \u201cexercise for everyone\u201d into a more attractive life pursuit.<\/p>\n At first, the only people who really got into this were people who aspired to be professional athletes, bodybuilders, and powerlifters. Their accomplishments are no doubt impressive.<\/p>\n The shrewdest of the bunch capitalized on the public\u2019s fascination with their perfectly chiseled physiques to start selling supplements, equipment, and fitness protocols\u2013the same things that helped them get into such great shape.<\/p>\n Yet most of us simply cannot devote the kind of time to working out that these guys did. During his prime, Arnold was working out 4 to 6 hours per day<\/em>.<\/p>\n At this same time, the work lives of most people became more and more sedentary. Now most of us spend the majority of our days sitting on our asses in front of a computer, surrounded by grey cubes and bathed in fluorescent lights.<\/p>\n Not only can we no longer expect to get physical activity in our daily lives, but most of the fitness advice out there assumes you can spend at least an hour a day at the gym.<\/strong><\/p>\n The increase in chronic stress can be seen in every part of our culture, and in no place more obviously than our current \u201cbadge of honor\u201d that we give to people who deprive themselves of sleep.<\/p>\nOnce Upon a Time\u2026<\/h2>\n
Pumping Iron<\/h2>\n
Counting Sheep<\/h2>\n