Don't let Chris Hoy put you off Lycra, chaps - here's how to exercise with your dignity intact

In the genteel village of Ashtead you see them in droves; men of a certain age, shoehorned into lycra, lumps and bulges protruding at alarming angles. They don’t care. After a latte and a slice of cake at the near-iconic Bike Beans cycling café, off they pedal into the Surrey Hills on road bikes worth more than most cars.

The MAMIL (Middle Aged Man in Lycra) is on the rise in these environs, made famous by the Olympic cycling course; in fact, if numbers continue to increase, he may well start to displace that other indigenous Surrey species, the golfer. 

This population boom has been largely driven by two factors: Chris Hoy and Bradley Wiggins, the ultimate MAMIL totems. Yet this week, after a long weekend puffing up and down Box Hill, many of their acolytes may be looking in the mirror forlornly, wondering if their hero worship and high-speed sprints have been in vain. The reason? Chief MAMIL, Hoy has dissed his devotees.

In a style column (and apparent irony oversight) for GQ magazine, the 14st Lycra-wearing Olympian declared that skin-tight fluorescent sportswear “generally looks awful on pretty much anyone heavier than eight stone and with more than five per cent body aerodynamic fat.”

He poured particular scorn on men in white cycling shorts, which are “terribly unflattering”, making the nether regions, when viewed full frontal, “look like a percentage sign”. Instead, he advises that the average amateur stick to ‘understated’ and ‘smart’ fabrics and mix-and-match items.

To a degree, he has a point; my brother-in-law is a fanatical cyclist who spends more time on two wheels than he does on two feet. He lives in Lycra and, as a result, I'm often not sure where to look.

But this Lycra backlash should not put men of a certain age off the pursuit of fitness and the thrill of the open road. In fact, a new study reported yesterday suggests it is middle-aged men who might benefit from reaching for the the elastic polyurethane, the most.

Norwegian researchers at Oslo University Hospital tracked 2,000 men aged between 40 and 60, who were recruited in the 1970s and had their fitness tested every seven years, and discovered that even couch potatoes who got in shape were less likely to suffer a stroke over the next three decades than those who had been fit but had stopped working out.

Erik Prestgaard, from Oslo University Hospital, said even after decades of little physical activity, those who change their habits in middle age had as good a chance of a healthy retirement as those who maintained fitness from their youth: “If you become fit or remain fit, there’s no difference — that’s a good message. If you’re 50 and not fit, over the next few years you can become fit and lower your risk. It’s never too late.”

Good news for the six million middle-aged Brits who do not even take a brisk walk once a month, according to last week’s warning from Public Health England, and are subsequently at risk of prematurely developing serious health conditions including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, dementia and cancer.

Several studies confirm the dangers of this inactivity epidemic. A University of Gothenburg study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology last summer, tracked a cohort of men for 40 years and concluded that in “middle-aged men, low aerobic capacity was associated with increased mortality rates, independent of traditional risk factors, including smoking, blood pressure and serum cholesterol”.

Clearly, there is good reason for male couch potatoes to get off their behinds and start exercising away that dad bod (come on, no one believed it was attractive in the first place). As a fanatical gym-goer who started exercising seriously in my early forties, lost two stone and recently beat several athletic Australian men half my age in a race over a floating inflatable obstacle course, I can attest to the regenerative powers of exercise.

For those worried about torn muscles, back problems and knee and hip pain, there are rules to follow, which should prevent any unfortunate injuries. Experts advise starting slowly and setting a goal – such as inch loss (weight loss can be misleading as muscle weighs more than fat). It may also be prudent to get advice from your GP first. 

Men increasingly lose muscle as they age, so middle-aged exercise virgins should concentrate on both cardio-vascular and resistance training to burn calories, increase core strength and build depleted muscle mass. Low-impact exercise such as swimming, brisk walking and cycling will also reduce the chances of strains and joint pain.

Progress will be quick. Both aerobic or strength training can improve mood within days, reduce stress, fight depression and improve sleep. Performing three, 30-minute, moderate-intensity aerobic sessions a week for at least 10 weeks can reduce symptoms of depression, according to the US-based Association for Applied Sports Psychology. Better aerobic endurance is usually apparent in as little as two weeks, when exercising just three days a week, and gains in strength can occur in just one or two weeks after beginning a new strength-training programme. 

And the benefits are not limited to physical improvements. Exercise can improve co-ordination, balance and brain function; another recent study found that even dance - for the dad dancers out there - can reverse the signs of brain ageing. 

So, instead of sneering, we should be admiring MAMILs’ complete lack of self-awareness in the pursuit of fitness. Although, for men over 40, there are definite gymwear no-nos, including vest tops, ¾-length tracksuit bottoms, those silly split-toe trainers and baseball caps. Lycra is a grey area. It should be used with caution. The best advice I can offer is to use it as a base layer, with a loose short and t-shirt over the top. Think of it as Spanx for men - a modest background leveller, rather than a shop window display unit - and you will be able to exercise with your dignity intact.