How many mamils does it take to change a light bulb?

I was chatting to a neighbour last weekend that had dropped her husband off at his local golf course early on a Sunday morning.  You should have seen all of the mamils out there this morning, she exclaimed.  I could smell the bait but I wasn't biting.  My straight bat reply was so there was a lot of wild life on the golf course.  What are we talking about kangaroos, wallabies, bats?  No!  Don't you know what I'm talking about? I've seen you on your bike, aren't you one of them? All those middle aged men in lycra riding their bikes. I wish I'd invented the stuff, she lamented.



Ok, so I'm in my mid 40s, but does that fact alone make me middle aged?  Isn't middle age more of an attitude thing along the lines that you're only as old as you feel?  Society, the media and academia have a need to label and categorize and with the mamil, it's a term that's stuck and besides they do display some odd nocturnal habits like their animal namesakes.  Does the fact I bought my first pair of cycling knicks at the age of 16 preclude me from this group?  Can I re-badge myself an AIL (always in lycra) or a PIL (persistently in lycra) now that I've graduated from a TIL (teenager in lycra)?

Middle Aged Men in Lycra.  Is there a more pilloried group on two wheels at the moment?  Let's not forget it wasn't that long ago it was the weekend hacker who would cop their fair share of flack for all their talk about Big Bertha, disappearing for 5 hours on a weekend, a quick 9 holes mid-week, the occasional trip to the driving range to sharpen up their long game and short game and the putter in the office.  Dare I start on the ridiculous clothes some wore and the rules that go with the game?  I think I'll just leave it there.

For about the past 10 years I've been hearing that cycling is the new golf and I'm inclined to agree.  In this time poor world we live in, so much of our entertainment and exercise is being packaged up in 2-3hr time slots and the traditional 18 holes of golf on a weekend over 4hrs plus a visit to the 19th hole afterwards is in decline. 

Golf v Cycling could be debated all day so I decided to objectively analyse golf and cycling side by side from a health perspective to see how they stacked up

According to the averages of several web sites who proclaimed to know an 80kg man will burn 351 calories per hour playing golf pulling or pushing his buggy (less for cart users and more for those who carry their bags).  So over 4 hours that's just over 1400 calories, less a couple of beers at the 19th hole where a Pot (285ml) of mid strength has 78 calories or 105 full strength. Let's make it 1200 calories after 2 or 3 frothies, less 142 for the soft drink at the half way mark to bring the total calories expended to 1060.

On the other hand an 80kg man will burn 654 calories per hour for moderate cycling.  Let's say our man has only two hours to exercise, rides 50km, drinks water and then retires to his local cafe for a full strength cafe latte, which is 135 Calories, which brings his total calories consumed to 1173.  

Whilst this is a light hearted simple comparison, it does go some way towards showing the time effectiveness of cycling.  Cycling is going to elevate the heart rate for a longer period of time compared to walking a golf course which according to the excellent BBC doco shown on SBS titled the Science of Exercise revealed that High Intensity Interval Training has far greater health benefits than moderate exercise.

So to all my middle aged comrades out there, male or female, it’s time to stand up and claim our mamilhood and mafilhood, knowing we are more likely to be in better shape because we’ve chosen cycling over golf (not that there’s anything wrong with golf).  And Mamils and Mafils remember, when you’re next out on your bike, warm up, play with the speed, take a turn out the front and burn a few more calories.  And to answer that question in the title, my answer is none, because they're too busy riding their bikes, having a great time.  Just ask a MAWL (Middle Ager without lycra) could sort out that light bulb.

For those of you yet to be convinced here are a few links to articles on the health benefits of cycling.





Comments

  1. CraigWells23 February 2014 at 08:54

    Good article thanks..from our MAMILS! www.mamils.com.au

    ReplyDelete

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