In pursuit of a new beauty ideal, American men are exercising themselves to death. 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.