Health: The Strong Skinny Type

Originally published in the Globe and Mail. Read the full text here.

Today’s male body ideal is about more than just being fit

Imagine a sloped treadmill that’s on such a sharp incline it seems to be trying to buck you off. Until three weeks ago, I’d never run on a machine, but I figured I could handle one. After 30 seconds on the sadistic Woodway Curve, I wasn’t so sure. It was just part of a 50-minute session at Toronto’s Fuel Training Club, which also involved squats, push-ups and knee-high runs, as well as resistance work while dangling from the ceiling with TRX straps, plus explosive 30-second intervals on the Assault AirBike and the erg rowing machine.

I went just once, in the service of journalism and curiosity. Tim Hayos goes as many as six times a week. The 25-year-old Suncor Energy sales manager has been cultivating a lean, ripped body to match the classical Greek ideal: broad shoulders, a slender waistline, biceps so defined you can see them through a sweater, and, of course, a six-pack. I’m 30 and stay relatively fit, but nothing – not even the terrifying indemnity waiver I was asked to sign – could have prepared me for Fuel.

I felt high the entire time, my skin wept sweat and during a plank on the TRX I heard something pop inside my chest. It was one of the most intense physical experiences of my life. For Hayos, it was a workout like any other.

This pursuit of a slim physique marks a move away from the bulky bodybuilder look of the eighties and nineties. “In the past,” Hayos says, “guys maybe wanted to look like Schwarzenegger, but now many would rather look like Adam Levine,” the lithe, toned and tattooed singer from the Los Angeles band Maroon 5.

“He’s the model of what a sexy, fit guy looks like today.” That desire for sinewy strength requires a new kind of regimen: bursts of explosive movement powered by vegetables, unsalted nuts and egg-white omelettes rather than slow, repetitive weightlifting powered by steak, steroids and protein shakes.

Tim Hayos, right, uses TRX straps while working out at Fuel Training Club in Toronto. (Photos by Darren Calabrese for The Globe and Mail)

We all know the significant benefits of regular exercise: A stable BMI and blood-pressure level correlate with a decreased risk of heart disease and diabetes. And for those who practise physically demanding hobbies such as dirt biking or hockey, some added strength is an asset. But nobody needs a torso that’s as textured as terra cotta tiling.

I talked to Hayos and about eight other guys of roughly his age and fitness level to get a better sense of what drives a man to get ripped. Why commit to such an undertaking? And where’s the line between an impressive regimen and an excessive one?

I learned a few things: One, unless you’re genetically gifted, you can’t get ripped casually. Two, when we talk about “fitness,” we’re talking about other things, too. And three, the difference between ambitious versus pathological exercise is more a question of mindset than of hours spent at the gym.

This is an excerpt. Read the full text here.