A colleague of mine grew up playing competitive hockey in Canada. Fast. Strong. Durable.

Even into his 50s, he was still playing hard men’s league hockey until a shoulder injury forced a pause.

When he finally got back on the ice, he said something simple:

It can’t be exactly like it used to be.

Not with regret. Just recognition.

He’s still competitive. Still capable. But the reason he plays has changed.

Hockey now is less about skating faster or hitting harder, and more about staying fit, staying social, and staying healthy enough to keep playing.

That shift is subtle—but important.

Most Men Aren’t Neglecting Their Health

Most men don’t think of themselves as neglecting their health.

Some stay active—but train the same way they did at 35.

Some work hard—and let work replace movement.

Some plan to get back to it—assuming their body will wait.

What’s usually missing isn’t effort.

It’s clarity about what they’re actually training for.

Healthspan Is the Question That Matters

There’s a lot of focus on longevity and how many years you can add.

Healthspan asks a different question:

How well does your body work as you age?

Can you get out of a chair without thinking about it?

Can you get up off the floor if you need to?

Can you move without hesitation or self-protection?

Loss of independence rarely starts with disease. It usually starts with loss of function. Falls, injuries, or pain that quietly changes how a man moves through the world.

That can happen to men who are inactive.

It can also happen to men who are very active but training for the wrong outcome.

What Actually Matters Physically

Strip away fitness trends and the question is straightforward:

Does your body still do what life asks of it?

Stand up.

Sit down.

Carry things.

Turn quickly.

Catch yourself when you misstep.

Get up when you’re down.

These aren’t training concepts. They’re daily requirements.

Men don’t lose them because they stop caring.

They lose them because what they’re doing no longer supports resilience, coordination, and confidence.

Looking fit and being reliable are not the same thing.

One Concrete Example (Without Turning This Into Fitness Advice)

I see this often with men who lift regularly.

They’re strong. Impressive numbers. But they train almost exclusively in controlled positions—bench, machines, straight-line movements.

Little work that challenges balance, rotation, or getting up from the ground.

Then one day they tweak a knee stepping off a curb.

Or strain a back picking up luggage. Or hesitate during sex because a certain position feels risky.

The problem isn’t strength.

It’s that their training stopped resembling real life.

Where Sexspan Fits

There’s a newer term emerging in sexual medicine: sexspan.

Not performance. Not frequency.

But the ability to remain sexually active, connected, and confident as you age.

Sexual health tracks closely with healthspan. When physical confidence erodes, sexual confidence often follows long before anything is medically wrong.

I see men whose erections are technically fine, but anxiety creeps in because they don’t trust their bodies anymore.

What if my back goes out?

What if my knee gives way?

What if I can’t shift positions without pain?

That hesitation alone is enough to shut things down.

And if exertion brings on chest pain or shortness of breath, sexual activity may be off the table entirely.

Healthspan and sexspan aren’t separate concerns. They rise and fall together.

One Line on Recovery

What actually changes with age isn’t competitiveness.

It’s recovery—how quickly your body adapts, repairs, and shows up ready again.

Ignore that, and soreness turns into injury. Fatigue turns into hesitation.

And hesitation is what quietly limits intimacy, travel, and everyday confidence.

The Only Question Worth Training For

Not: How do I get back to where I was?

But: What does my body need now to stay capable later?

For the hockey player I mentioned, the game still fits. He just plays it with clearer priorities.

That isn’t backing off.

That’s choosing a body you can keep.

And for most men, that decision has less to do with the gym—and more to do with whether they want to keep saying yes to sex, movement, and life without wondering if their body will betray them.