Anti-Aging Remedies

American males come from a hodgepodge of sources. A few arrived on these shores wealthy; others came as slaves. Still others came for work in our fields and factories, building our railroads and cities. Many are the descendants of the dregs of Europe, sprung from a motley collection of convicts or near-convicts, drifters, religious fanatics, impoverished farmers and laborers, or assorted groups of oppressed rebels. The British, for example, before they began sending their political prisoners to Australia, used to send them to America.

The common denominator was often work. We arrived in America to earn a living by the sweat of our brow. Immigrants who have followed from other culturessuch as Asian and Latin American in particularare no exception. Our beginnings were decidedly blue-collar. Most Americans have had to earn their livings from plain hard work. Yet (as now), the workplace has tended to be harshly exploitative.

In this setting, any notion of fun became synonymous with total inactivity. Movement is duty. Sitting around motionless with the wife and kids on Sunday in front of "the tube" can be the cherished ideal of the good life. The same applies to that once famous tradition, the Sunday family drive to the country after church and the big Sunday meal. As the old saw goes, "Anybody who has to exercise after a busy day on the farm hasn't worked hard enough." You've come a long way, baby, with air-conditioned tractors and CDs du jour.

This ethos can go mighty deep. Look at a simple device such as self-propelled lawnmower. We go out and spend hundreds of dollars to buy a machine that drinks gas and belches out carbon monoxide and other pollutants, all the while denying us the same exercise that we pay hundreds of dollars a year for at a fitness club. Ditto for a leaf blower, which accomplishes a function that can be done just as well (and probably nearly as quickly) with a $10 rake. My recommendation is (1) don't buy a leaf blower, (2) buy a $10 rake, (3) help prevent air pollution, and (4) earn calorie credits for your dinner by raking and collecting your leaves.

Starting an exercise program can be like starting to build a housethat impending task can seem overwhelmingly daunting. Thus, the truly inveterate couch potato can experience "exercise block" with the best of them. In both cases, such laziness can lead to a nasty cycle of militant inactivity.