Real (Western) Men Lift Weights: How Yoga and Marathon Running went Mainstream

Last week, I discussed the strong connection between vegetarianism and the political left. The incredibly fallacious claims of hippie vegheads and their academic mimics reflects the quest to denigrate anything associated with European males. This week, I'll discuss two fitness trends championed by these same alternative medicine hucksters: yoga and marathon running.

Yoga, or as I call it "extreme stretching", has an extensive history in Asia, especially in India but with parallel exercise regimes in other parts of the continent. The original yoga practitioners sought an incorporeal experience described by Hindu and Buddhist ideology, with Western yoga promoters subsequently excising most of the explicit religious language. The poses are actually physical manifestations of deities and the corresponding breathing and mediating techniques were means to elevating one's consciousness.

The pernicious cultural iconoclasts of the 1960s and 70s brought yoga to America, dampening its basic religious foundation and fitting it into the "spiritual but not religious" dictum still popular today. But its place of origin remains the most important reason why yoga went mainstream. As with vegetarianism, yoga comes from outside the West, from cultures free of toxic edifices like racism and sexism. Yoga represents the profound sagacity of non-Western peoples, particularly Asians, with this being a common theme in post-60s America. In movies, characters such as Mr. Miyagi encompass the almost divine omniscience of Asian culture. Fittingly, in the upcoming film Eat, Pray, Love, Julia Roberts finds personal serenity by traveling to Bali and India. Additionally, fortune cookies and the concocted ambiance of chain restaurants like PF Chang's reflect the view Westerners now have of Asian wisdom.

So yoga, along with carb loaded diets, becomes another way to displace Western empiricism with Asian mysticism. Further, yoga builds no muscle and thus undermines masculinity! [Update: Though I do believe meditation and similar practices are highly effective in reducing stress and bringing forth the corresponding benefits.] The second disturbing physical fitness trend intended to extol non-whites and disparage masculinity is marathon running. HalfSigma has fastidiously covered this trend, noting the sad but frequent deaths associated with this SWPL pastime.

I think you get the point by now, so I'll be terse. Long distance running was an evolutionary requirement for East Africans and other non-white peoples who lived in flat, arid climates. No one's running a marathon in the snow of Scandinavia or the mountains of central Europe. Further, women did the gathering and expended cardiovascular energy, while men exercised in bursts via hunting and fishing, tasks that required brute strength and explosiveness.

I'll end with the first comment from HS's post:

There have been two great American health lies since WW2. The first is already about dead: that meat and animal fat are harmful and starches are healthy. The second has not yet emerged, but its head is above water: that slow, steady exercise is the key to fitness. In fact, a diet rich in animal fat is an essential part of good health, and the best route to fitness involves quick and explosive movements.

And now you know why. The left has promulgated outright falsehoods as a means of feminizing and disparaging Western men. And we're fat, disease ridden, and socially and politically enervated as a result.