“Train hard, eat well, party hard.”
– Zyzz
While online this morning, I stumbled on a hive of dweebs circle-jerking about muscles being overrated and stupid. Their argument, “Hollywood promotes an unhealthy, overly muscular image for men.” All that was missing was a clever tagline like “real men have curves.”
I’m not sure what culture these guys are living in, because most of the actors and comedians I’ve seen aren’t exactly Ronnie Coleman. For every Hugh Jackman and Dwayne Johnson, there’s a Micheal Cera or Seth Rogan. For every 50 Cent, a Rick Ross.
While reading their complaints it immediately became evident that none of these whiners have ever actually lifted. With their worries of getting “too big” and looking like a “monster,” it’s doubtful they even have a friend who’s in-shape. My coach, who used to lift competitively, once went a full year without seeing any gains. Yet these guys imagine that a week in the gym will leave them looking like Arnold.
At 17 I was six feet tall and weighed 138 pounds. I could wrap my hand around my “biceps.” Medium shirts were like wearing circus tents. My arms would get tired from carrying groceries. I was looked and felt weak.
I spent the next year eating right and doing body weight exercises. I gained some muscle and lost my skeletal appearance. While I wasn’t big, I had definition. Going to the beach, I could show off my abs.
During the summer of 2012 I got sick while in Nicaragua. I lost a lot of weight and shrunk down at 148 pounds. For several months I wasn’t feeling well enough to exercise. It took until September before I started to gain any weight. I clocked in at 154 pounds.
In December I started seriously lifting. I never missed a day, never skipped an exercise, and rarely took a cheat meal. While I felt stronger, I didn’t see a lot of physical change until March.
It’s been close to a year since I started working out. While I’ve seen a lot of growth, I’m nowhere near looking like a professional bodybuilder. However, my appearance has improved greatly. I went from “living stick figure” to being well built. Random girls tell me I’m handsome, people I haven’t seen in forever comment on how different I look, and I no longer feel like the smallest guy in the room.
Any guy who claims that working out is pointless, has no idea what he’s talking about. “I don’t want to get too big” is an excuse for being lazy. I’d rather waste my time building muscle, than invest it in such noble activities as eating junk food and playing video games.