I made it to age 40 without a concrete plan on how to stay fit and I am a doctor. Like most American men, I had chosen a fat, sedentary lifestyle, one that universally rewards males with bellies, boobs, diabetes and erectile dysfunction. Residency and fellowship had taken their toll. With weight ballooning and fitness plummeting, I was headed down this path. Then the world turned. In February 2004, I received a call from the Army. The message was simple: Once I finished fellowship in September, I would be headed to Iraq as a field surgeon. Professionally, I was prepared. Physically, I was a marshmallow. With deployment looming, I needed to get back in shape. In 2004, Iraq was still a shooting war and doctors were expected to move out with the troops. The advance warning gave me six months to lose my ample belly. "Easy" I thought "I'll just start working out again" and promptly made every beginner's mistakes. I overestimated the caloric value of jogging and weightlifting and underestimated the impact of my eating habits. For two months, nothing budged. Despite eight years of medical education, I was failing in this basic task. Through trial and error and more error, I did get fit. In Iraq, I kept with it, lifting and running nearly every day. After serving, I returned home to the same time crunches any man faces: work, home, family. Without two hours to linger at the gym, I needed to modify my program so it was efficient but still effective. What does a good doctor do? Research! Immediately, I discovered the usual sources for fitness information were little more than anecdotes, information without foundation. Deep within the medical literature awaits a trove of bona fide research. Slowly, I began changing my program and building THE MAN PLAN. There is an obvious link of fitness and manhood. The erosion of our bodies begins the day we set aside our running shoes. Testosterone starts a steady decline; muscles evaporate as belly fat accumulates. This course is predictable but not necessarily inevitable. Every man has the genome of an athlete and survivor. With the right stimulus, he can remain fit and fertile into his 80s or beyond. The essence of THE MAN PLAN is creating the right stimulus. Most men have little more than a hint on how to stay a man. THE MAN PLAN is an educated wakeup smack that presents a medically based strategy to avoid emasculation. It opens with a concise physiologic review of the descent into frailty that occurs with aging and inactivity. The remainder of the book is a succinct reconditioning program centered on endurance and strength training. THE MAN PLAN provides the foundation and elemental information to infuse a personal program with lifelong success. THE MAN PLAN is fully supported by medical studies and personal tales of failure and finally success. Every MAN needs a PLAN.
About the Author: James Toombs, MD is a board certified physician, published author, medical editor, 30 year military veteran, onetime Army pilot, multiple marathoner, 50 mile race survivor and a former fat boy. Dr. Toombs graduated from the University of Missouri-School of Medicine. After finishing residency in Family Practice, he completed a Pain Medicine Fellowship at the University of Iowa. He is board certified in both Family Medicine and Pain Medicine. Dr. Toombs has a full-time practice as the Director of the Pain Rehabilitation Center at the St. Louis Veterans Affairs Medical Center in St. Louis, Missouri. He works nearly exclusively with male patients and includes fitness coaching as part of the Center's Interdisciplinary Pain Rehabilitation Program. Dr. Toombs has maintained a parallel career in the military spanning more than 30 years. He joined the USMC Reserves while in high school then transferred to the Army National Guard in college. Dr. Toombs completed flight training with the Army in 1988. During Desert Storm, he commanded an air assault helicopter company in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq. Dr. Toombs has completed three deployments to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He currently serves as the commander of the Medical Detachment for the Missouri Army National Guard. He holds the rank of Colonel; his awards include two Bronze Star medals, Meritorious Service Medal and two Air Medals. He is a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Rehabilitation Research & Development and medical advisor for Pain Treatment Topics. Dr. Toombs is the author of numerous peer reviewed medical articles.