100 MensHealth.com | December 2016
This is the scene at the recent Oklahoma City finals
of American Ninja Warrior, and Jon “Rockman”
Stewart is tackling Bungee Road, an obstacle that has
humbled several competitors half his age. The wiry
145-pounder hurls himself into empty air, floats, locks
onto the beam, swings a few times, and dismounts.
The crowd cheers and whistles.
The eye-popping move secures the Utah-based con-
struction manager a trip to the show’s national finals.
Stewart comes by his fitness naturally. “I got my
core strength from working our family farm as a kid in
Idaho,” he says. His ripped upper body and never-quit
legs were forged from 20 years of scrambling up rock
faces and frequent, rigorous mountain-bike outings.
In other words, Stewart sculpted his incredible phy-
sique and athleticism by following his bliss. He’s not
alone. “People are coming at fitness from all these dif-
ferent angles now,” says Daniel Kunitz, the author of
Lift, a book on fitness history. Online videos have led
to an exciting cross-pollination among fitness tribes.
CrossFitters are doing parkour and MMA; distance run-
ners and triathletes are trying Olympic lifting.
This newly omnivorous approach to staying in
shape highlights an element that’s often missing from
exercise programs. In the pursuit of ripped abs and
flagstone pecs, many of us have lost sight of that most
essential property of physical recreation—fun.
Maybe it’s time for you to find a plan that can give
you the body you want without it feeling like forced
labor. A plan that’s both engaging and effective, a
challenge for your brain and biceps alike. Submitted
for your approval: the new pillars of lifelong fitness.Forty years ago, during the Pumping Iron
era, fitness was defined by how you looked
in a Speedo. If you didn’t have softball
biceps and single-digit body fat, you had
no business calling yourself fit.
Today, says Kunitz, “most guys realize
that getting super jacked and lean is diffi-
cult to do and takes years.” A recent NCAA
analysis found that single-digit body fat
is rare, even among elite athletes in their
prime. For example: The average body fat
percentage for running backs at the NFL
Combine from 2006 to 2013 was nearly 12
percent. Indeed, extreme leanness and
muscularity—the kind you see in supple-
ment ads—is not only an unrealistic goal
for most busy guys but also unnecessary
for athleticism.
Stop staring in the mirror and focus on
performance instead. Work on nailing
your first pullup, then your first five. Try
cracking 21 minutes in a 5K, then 19. Con-
quer a 5.2 rock face, then a 5.3.Train for Performance
Consider the fitness journey of Scott Fer-
rara, 42, a teacher in Los Angeles. “In my
20s, my goal was to be as big as possi-
ble. I was in pain. I was eating 10 chicken
breasts a day. It wasn’t enjoyable.” Ferrara
eventually switched gears. He completed
an Olympic-distance triathlon and then
participated in numerous obstacle course
races on the West Coast. Now that he’s
more concerned about his finishing times
than his arm circumference, he’s respect-
ing his limits. “I check in to see what my
body needs on a given day,” he says.
Ironically, Ferrara says he looks better
now than he did when he was pumping
iron—a common result of switching to
performance training. “Aesthetics are best
obtained from training for performance,”
says Mark Rippetoe, the author of Starting
Strength. “Form follows function.”