{"id":418,"date":"2010-07-19T14:00:37","date_gmt":"2010-07-19T21:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leanmeanvirilemachine.com\/?p=418"},"modified":"2010-07-18T14:42:28","modified_gmt":"2010-07-18T21:42:28","slug":"the-four-big-reasons-why-you-need-to-get-your-ass-in-shape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/19\/the-four-big-reasons-why-you-need-to-get-your-ass-in-shape\/","title":{"rendered":"The Four Big Reasons Why You Need to Get Your Ass In Shape"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Every January, the gyms swell with people who have made the resolution to get into shape\u2026 and by April 1st<\/sup>, most of them have long stopped their treadmill-running and bicep-curling ways.<\/p>\n

We all desire to become and remain physically healthy. So why do we try so hard to get into shape yet fail so miserably? Perhaps it is because we don\u2019t understand exactly WHY we want to lose fat and gain muscle.<\/p>\n

After mulling this over for several years now, I have come to the conclusion that there are four innate reasons why people want to get into shape, which are “hardwired” into our DNA and not merely conscious choices on our part.<\/p>\n

If you ask someone why health, fitness, and wellness are important to them, you are going to get an answer that is any combination of these “Core Four,” although it may not seem apparent on the surface. Let’s take a closer look.<\/p>\n

1. Status<\/strong><\/p>\n

The desire to gain status is one of the most fundamental drives of not only humans, but most animals as well. Hierarchical societies (such as humans) have a subtle, though subconsciously understood ranking of the individuals therein. The higher up the status ladder you are, the more access to resources such as food and sexual partners you have. Hey, I know this isn\u2019t very P.C., but this site isn\u2019t here to dance around the facts.<\/p>\n

In modern societies, status is bestowed more on those with high incomes and conspicuous assets than those with superior physical ability, but it wasn\u2019t always this way.<\/p>\n

Before the advent of agriculture (about 10,000 years ago), humans were unable to \u201cstockpile\u201d much in the way of assets as they do today. As a result, status was given to those who were able to protect the tribe from violent outsiders and intimidate rivals from within the group.<\/p>\n

This \u201cprimal\u201d status recognition based on physical prowess is still understood by humans today, although we don\u2019t consciously recognize it as much. By building muscle and losing fat, we are actually priming ourselves to defend our “tribes” and intimidate the other guys trying to step on us on the way up.<\/p>\n

2. Attraction<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Closely related to status is sexual attraction. Think of these as the two politically incorrect reasons guys want to get in shape. Like the first reason, this has been deeply ingrained in us through eons of evolution.<\/p>\n

In species where female choice plays a big role in sexual selection (as it does in humans), what women want in a man plays a major evolutionary role. Those who don’t attract women don’t pass their genes on to the next generation, so our DNA has a vested interest in making us irresistible to the fairer sex. In addition to being high-status guys that lead and protect our groups, it is also important to embody the physical characteristics that women find attractive.<\/p>\n

3. Energy<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Have you ever had a day where you felt invincible? No illness, no injuries, no lethargy? You’ll have a lot more of these days the healthier you become.<\/p>\n

When I say “energy,” I’m referring to neither the scientific definition nor the New-Agey “woo-woo” one (although it is related to both.) Instead, I mean the ability to effect change in the world at the present moment, unencumbered by hindrances.<\/p>\n

When you build a strong, healthy body, you are less susceptible to sustaining physical injuries that could keep you in a state of lowered effectiveness and you are less likely to come down with the illnesses and physical maladies that sideline so many people. You feel energized, not willing to sit on your butt all day watching TV, but instead to get going and make things happen in your life.<\/p>\n

4. Longevity<\/strong><\/p>\n

If energy is concerned with the “here and now,” then longevity is all about the future. You may have all the energy to make things happen in your life, but how long can you keep it going? Most people want to live a long life, not burn out at a young age. (Think Sean Connery, not James Dean.)<\/p>\n

Although many guys are impatient and want to get into shape RIGHT NOW no matter what it takes, it’s important to do it in a way that doesn’t threaten to end your life at an early age. Instead, you should be getting healthy in an effort to EXTEND your life.<\/p>\n

The 9-9-9-9 Plan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Did you have any “a-has” when reading that list? Does it more or less sum up the reason why you want to get (or keep) your ass in shape?<\/p>\n

What most guys do is focus all their energy on one or two of these four. On a scale of 1-10, they want to be a 10 in, say, status and attractiveness. However, due to the law of diminishing returns, in order to get to a 10, you will have to put in a TON of time, energy, and possibly money, which means you’ll be neglecting the other areas.<\/p>\n

So guys will spend lots of time in the gym, drinking protein shakes and taking other supplements, possibly even taking steroids, but end up getting injured and possibly shortening their lifespan. Conversely, you can spend your whole life trying to extend it, doing caloric restriction, taking lots of vitamins, and eating a raw vegan diet, only to become emaciated and sallow.<\/p>\n

If you want to specialize like this, I certainly won’t stand in your way, but there is a better solution, which I call “The 9-9-9-9 Plan.” Here, you focus your health objectives on hitting the 80th-90th percentile of all men in status, attraction, energy, and longevity as far as you can control it. In backing off of perfection a bit, you open up a lot more space to focus on the other areas. And that’s what I plan to give you with this site – awesome, practical information to help you become one sexy, powerful, energetic, and long-livin’ dude!<\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every January, the gyms swell with people who have made the resolution to get into shape\u2026 and by April 1st, most of them have long stopped their treadmill-running and bicep-curling ways. We all desire to become and remain physically healthy. So why do we try so hard to get into shape yet fail so miserably? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[84],"tags":[94,90,92,93,91,89],"class_list":["post-418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lmvm-philosophy","tag-9-9-9-9-plan","tag-attraction","tag-energy","tag-longevity","tag-status","tag-the-core-four"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":449,"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418\/revisions\/449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}