Middle-Aged Dude’s Fitness Guide

Ahoy there, Gen-X gentleman! Yes, that Hawaiian shirt looks well on you. I, too, am partial to New Balance sneakers. And isn’t it wonderful how spacious cargo shorts can be?

Like the rest of us fellows born in the Sixties and Seventies, you are in the prime of life, going out to slay the bear every day. But modern bear-slaying tends to involve a lot of sitting at desks, the gym is kind of far away, and Debbie from HR keeps making those wonderful brownies. The next thing you know, when you look down in the shower, all you can see are the tips of your toes. It happens to the best of us. (Well, maybe not to Gary the Marathon Guy, from Accounts Receivable. May he choke on his creatine shake.) More often than not, by the time age 50 comes into sight, we’ve all gone a bit Hitchcockian in the midsection. What was once anthracite now feels more like tapioca.

About the Author

Kyle Smith

Kyle Smith is the film critic for the Wall Street Journal.

Ahoy there, Gen-X gentleman! Yes, that Hawaiian shirt looks well on you. I, too, am partial to New Balance sneakers. And isn’t it wonderful how spacious cargo shorts can be?

Like the rest of us fellows born in the Sixties and Seventies, you are in the prime of life, going out to slay the bear every day. But modern bear-slaying tends to involve a lot of sitting at desks, the gym is kind of far away, and Debbie from HR keeps making those wonderful brownies. The next thing you know, when you look down in the shower, all you can see are the tips of your toes. It happens to the best of us. (Well, maybe not to Gary the Marathon Guy, from Accounts Receivable. May he choke on his creatine shake.) More often than not, by the time age 50 comes into sight, we’ve all gone a bit Hitchcockian in the midsection. What was once anthracite now feels more like tapioca.