But suddenly men were presented with a demanding ideal that seemed achievable through hard work. And that myth persists. Marcus Schenkenberg, the first man to enter the stratosphere of supermodeldom, has released a new, photo-cluttered biography in which he shares his workout routine with average Joes. As society demands a fitter body, frowning on every pinch of fat, clinicians suspect an increasing number of men are crossing the line into exercise addiction. Signs of obsession include feelings of acute anxiety over a missed workout and an urge to make exercise a priority over friends and family.
Most trainers recommend working out no more than an hour a day.
It's coming out in the '90s as a preoccupation with muscularity and size. That might sound a little alarmist, but Pope says it's no exaggeration. The pressure on men comes from another direction, too. Suddenly men feel like they need to redivide the genders. They need things that are exclusively masculine, even hypermasculine.