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Day 26<br />
Take the Marine Corps Fitness Test<br />
During the 30 Days to a Better Man project, we’ve been doing a lot exercises<br />
for our mind and character, but it’s equally important to exercise our bodies.<br />
A man’s health is his most important asset. If you suffer from chronic<br />
health problems, it can take a toll on your job, on your bank account, on<br />
your family, and on your psyche. And being out of shape and unhealthy<br />
saps one’s manly confidence and spirit. Unfortunately, for the past few decades,<br />
the fitness level of men, particularly American men, has been going<br />
down hill. With cars replacing walking as the primary mode of transportation<br />
and desk jobs replacing manual labor, men have become more and<br />
more sedentary.<br />
There may have been a time when you were in pretty good shape. Maybe<br />
it was in high school or college. But since then, you’ve gotten a job, a mortgage,<br />
a wife, and 2.5 kids. But in your mind’s eye, you still think you’re<br />
the guy who could bench press 300 lbs and run the 40 yard dash in 4.5<br />
seconds. You might be a bit softer, but overall you feel good. But the mind<br />
can play tricks on you. Slowly through the years the body adjusts itself to<br />
a less active lifestyle. The change happens so gradually, that you don’t even<br />
notice it. That is until you try to lift a big bag of dirt for your garden or<br />
play a pick-up game of basketball. And all of a sudden you’re hit with the<br />
realization that you’re not the strapping lad you once were.<br />
While humbling moments like the ones mentioned above can give you<br />
somewhat of an idea of your fitness level, an actual fitness test can do a better<br />
job because numbers don’t lie. So today we’re going to give ourselves a<br />
gut check by taking a physical fitness test. And not just any physical fitness<br />
test. We’re taking the U.S. Marine Corps Fitness Test.