The 50 Plus Male

My immediate family has been graciously supportive of my efforts in the conception of this blog and my opening posts.  This support has extended to suggesting future topics to discuss in The 50 Plus Male.  During a conversation with my mother today, she broached the subject of baldness, an idea no doubt buoyed by the way her eyes inevitably drift up to my, shall we say, “less than hirsute head” whenever she visits.

I began to lose my hair in my late thirties.  There were clues leading to this:  my maternal grandfather was semi-bald and while I had a full Afro in college, my hair was wiry and on the thin side.  The good news, I suppose, is that the loss began and ended quickly.  The sides and back of my head are still full; it’s the top that has the vacancy sign flashing…we’re only 20% full…OK, maybe 15%!

Oddly enough, the way I get my hair cut has been all the rage the past couple of years for men with  my “condition.”  I keep my remaining hair extremely short, as in military-style short.  Having long ago abandoned the need for my barber to use scissors when cutting my hair, the instrument of choice is now solely the electric clippers.  Clippers can do varying amounts of damage shearing depending on whether you get cut with just the bare-bones clippers or also use the snap-on attachments all of us MPB ( male-pattern baldness) guys know as #1, 2, 3 or 4.  Use of the clippers without any attachment leaves your hair the shortest, while use of the clippers with an attachment leaves your hair progressively longer as the attachment # increases.

I used to get my entire head cut using the #2 attachment, a practice that went on for a couple of years. On a whim, I tried a haircut one day with the #1 and stuck with that for most of the past 10-12 years.  After seeing a number of MPB guys wearing their hair even shorter than me, I took the bold leap to getting cut without any attachment, just my skin and the clippers coming together for an eventful meeting.  After the initial shock of seeing me with a haircut “just this side” of the Bruce Willis look, my wife and family/friends strongly suggested going back to using the #1 for future cuts.  There was one problem with this unanimous request; I absolutely loved the new look, and continued with it until this past February.

That’s when I started going to a barber in my neighborhood (author’s note:  the 50 plus male’s relationship with his barber will be the subject of a future post) and he suggested getting a #1 on top and gradually fading to a 0 (as in bare-bones clippers) on the sides and back, since this would look like a more professional haircut.  This has become the de rigueur look.  I’m not going as far to say that my wife is placated, but she has stopped calling me “Bruce.”

-Neal

I thought it appropriate to begin The 50 Plus Male focusing on the topic of health, specifically what it really means for a man to be deemed physically fit. After all, it’s said that if you don’t have your health, nothing else matters.

My inspiration for this post comes from an article in the April 2009 edition of Men’s Health magazine written by Christopher McDougall. I was so enthralled with the subject matter and how deftly Mr. McDougall put the reader squarely in the middle of the action, that I knew within the first four paragraphs I was going to save this article for future reference. The article centers on Erwan Le Corre and his discipline of MovNat or “Natural Movement,” which he teaches in a tiny village in the Brazilian rain forest. Le Corre is acknowledged as one of the world’s most physically fit men (this affirmation, if possible, seems modest by the time you’re done reading the article), and teaches how men who may be in amazing shape as judged by normal standards actually do not have what he calls a “smart body.” Because of this, Le Corre’s disciples (and any of us mere mortals) initially cannot come close to performing everyday movements such as running, jumping, and lifting at the incredible level demonstrated by Le Corre. The importance of this is that such movements are practical ones that we need to master in order to swiftly and confidently call on the basic physical skills needed not just in everyday life, but in dangerous situations that may call for high-risk, heroic action. The basic idea isn’t to work out for building size, but rather, as Le Corre states, to become lean, quick and incredibly mobile…what is referred to in the article as “functional fitness.” This is not what is always preached at your local gym nor does it jibe with the reason so many of us exercise, which is to just look fit, as opposed to truly being fit.

My overall health and fitness level became a key concern of mine when I turned fifty a few years ago. This wasn’t because I was in bad shape (most of my family and friends would agree I’ve kept myself in pretty decent shape), but rather because I was afraid that turning fifty was the precursor of the inevitable downfall of my general fitness level. This concern was abetted by some recent physical setbacks such as rotator cuff surgery which now prevented me from performing certain exercises (for example, overhead presses with free weights). The simple truth of the matter is that physical fitness is a primary component of maintaining the “warrior mentality” I alluded to in my previous post, and I was afraid of losing this edge. Have any of you succumbed to this apprehension? Please send your comments. In future posts, I’ll let you know how I’m trying to physically and emotionally conquer this roadblock.

-Neal