Men’s Health Matters Because Men Matter (…Physical Training Is Part Of The Solution…)

Key Takeaway: Modern life can set men up to fail health-wise. It can also be detrimental to the attainment of the masculine ideal. Physical training is part of the solution. I know this from personal experience. 

It has been simultaneously interesting, gratifying and perplexing to see major left-leaning publications like The New York Times and The Washington Post take an interest in men’s health in the recent past. 

It’s good because there’s clearly big issues among men in the Western world, and I celebrate the fact that the Overton window has expanded to allow men’s health and modern-day emasculation into the realm of acceptable discourse. 

But it is also perplexing (and a little frustrating) because these outlets - and the urban intelligentsia in general - have purposefully had their head in the sand for a long time on this topic.

The topic I refer to is this: by many metrics (health, sociopolitical, educational) men are in trouble.

Why does this matter?

Men’s heath matters because men matter.

It should be obvious, but sadly it needs to be stated that:

- Men matter. A lot, as it turns out.

Men matter because fathers matter. Men matter because husbands and sons matter. Men and masculinity matter because police and soldiers matter. (Please don’t wish for an effeminate police force or army). 

Men matter because women don’t want to pair up and have children with deadbeats.

Men matter because good men will stand up to sexual predators, and protect their wife, sister or female friend from sexual harassment or sexual abuse.

Why do I care about it?

This men’s health crisis has a physical dimension. And, as I’ve discussed elsewhere, physical training has been immensely beneficial for my own health. But more than that, it has helped me as a man.

When I reflect on my own experience in this regard, I realise that my personal identity has been powerfully shaped by my being male. Training has had immense metaphorical significance in helping me to strive towards what I consider to be the masculine ideal. More on that below.

Moreover, I am convinced that the mode of discourse surrounding issues which touch on gender is having an alienating effect on many men.

When you proceed from the assumption that modern society is irredeemably patriarchal, the system is rigged against women, and men are guilty until proven innocent (which is, admittedly, an exaggeration but accurately conveys the tone of the zeitgeist), it is no wonder that a bunch of men check out from polite society and withdraw into the world of online gaming, the manosphere, incel-dom and “MGTOW”. 

This withdrawal is NOT justified, and it is certainly unwise and destructive. Men who nurse their grievances and capitulate to a siege mentality, imagining themselves simply as innocent victims, willingly fall into the same identity politics which drives anti-male sentiment. They become their own adversary.

But if the withdrawal is not justifiable, it is totally predictable. It’s predictable that careless derision of men as a class of people, without singling out individuals and without an openness to a reply or a discussion, will cause alienation and a simmering, bitter resentment which will NOT help women.

What’s more, much modern day discourse is infected with a zero sum framework and reductionist thinking. According to this way of thinking, the answer to the problem of discrimination against females is change the direction of the discrimination and point it at men: if one group has been historically mistreated, we now need to move towards a fair and just society by mistreating the inverse group. So goes the thinking. 

To make an omelette, you need to crack eggs. 

Because some men have been, and still are, violently misogynistic, all men are now suspect.

When this sort of thinking goes unchallenged for so long, of course it drives people crazy! Of course it bugs and alienates men. It certainly bugs me. 

And, people who think this way (like many HR professionals it seems) often have free reign in large organisations. The net effect of this is that you can feel peppered with anti-male propaganda all day long - at your work, in the media, at the school gate picking up your children.

The Masculine Ideal

It will be obvious by now that I have strong opinions on topics which relate to gender. My views are informed by my Christian worldview. My political instincts are conservative. Not all Christians share my opinions, however. That being said, here is what I consider to be the masculine ideal.

In short, a man should have gravitas. By which I mean weightiness, strength, steadiness, predictability.

Men ought to be;

• Proactive Providers and Protectors

• Strong, Stable & Safe

Yet men are often reactive, passive and lazy.  It seems an especially male temptation to be slothful and indifferent, not energetic and proactive. I know many women who can’t sit still, who are busy busy busy (to a fault, even). Guys tend to have the opposite temptation (myself included). And yet it is also very common for men to lash out in anger and to be totally unhinged. 

The challenge seems to be one of harnessing strength to serve others and overcoming indifference, passivity and self-centredness.

Physical training is very much relevant in this discussion.

A Perfect Storm

There are dynamics within an industrialised, modern economy and western culture which can create a perfect storm for some men. These occur on a physical and cultural level, but they influence and reinforce each other and amount to an emasculating ethos. 

Physical Factors

Presently, modern life does not present enough opportunities for men to be sufficiently physically active to maintain a desirable level of strength and physical capability. 

For many men, who do have high levels of physical capability but whose skills and attributes do not square neatly with the educational system and highly automated economy, it is often not clear to them whether they have much to offer the world.

Cultural Factors

The experience of the modern workplace can be very controlled, sterile and risk free. It can also be quite hard to obtain sufficient autonomy in your work, which fosters a sense of infantilisation. When combined with the bureaucratic nature of large organisations, with a heavy emphasis on rule-keeping and compliance, the result can be a soul destroying work environment.

Our physical inactivity is combined with high levels of emotional stress, meaning we have few physical outlets for psychological tension. This affects men and women, but for men it can often manifest as low sex drive and erectile dysfunction, both of which can undermine one’s self-concept as a man.

These factors can be positively influenced by physical training.

What Can Training Achieve For Men?

Training can re-introduce an element of wildness, risk and exertion - especially if undertaken in nature.

It can foster a sense of self mastery (“self-efficacy” in health speak).

The physical ritual of regularly engaging in training can help you to have a disciplined mind and calibrated emotions.

You learn to make yourself do things which you do not feel like doing.

Lifting heavy weights or running fast is quite similar to being in an emotionally stressful situation - where your mind tells you to “stop!” or “get out of there!” When you stare down those thoughts and keep going, you build your capacity to keep a cool head under stress (a key element of gravitas), instead of resorting to “fight” or “flight”.

That’s just the psychological side of things, the physical benefits to men are also immense.

But I’m homing in on the psychological side here to highlight the metaphorical significance and benefit of physical training to men in the face of modern day emasculation (where I define the masculine ideal as above).

I also see great potential for men’s exercise groups to be a positive social environment which can help to build men up, and one that is not closely associated with anti-social and harmful behaviours like binge drinking and casual sex.

Physical training is by no means a perfect solution to the environmental issues which I have outlined. But it is a wonderful step on the road to reversing the trend of emasculation on an individual level. For me, it has been instrumental in addressing the factors which I experienced as being corrosive to my soul. The metaphorical significance of training has helped me pursue self-employment in an industry which I enjoy and has helped me to become the sort of person who is willing to put his head above the parapet and stir the pot with articles like this!!

Thanks for your attention,

Tim Karajas

For The Male Reader: An Afterthought About Physical Training And Sexual Intercourse

Another reason why physical training can help with men’s physical and psychological health is that it can enable a sufficient degree of physical athleticism to make sex more enjoyable.

(NB: Push ups, crunches and squats are your friend here…)

If you have a sedentary job, and you are not physically active, it can be difficult to maintain the positioning needed for enjoyable sex.

What’s more, it is natural and good that you’d want to be sexually desirable to your partner. It is good to consider how she may experience your physique.

You can, of course, trip yourself up here with unhealthy comparisons to Calvin Klein models or air brushed celebs. Vanity is not a good thing. Long term healthy habits ARE a good thing.