I Care

     You know, sometimes I wish I could be one of those people that just don't give a fuck. I wish, at times, that I could just roll out of bed each day and not give a rat's ass about what other people say or do. But I'm not that type of person; at all. I care. I care when I see people bragging about retarded beginner shit that they shouldn't be bragging about. I care when I see people giving out advice that they have no business giving out to people who are too naive, gullible and insecure to know when they're being bullshitted.
     Now don't misunderstand me, I'm all for people boasting and being proud of their accomplishments. When you're a novice lifter, everything is a major deal to you, it was to me and kind of still is. Every new session has the potential to bring a PR and damn it, you should be proud when those numbers jump. You should let people know what you're achieving and let your work make you shine the crazy fucking diamond that you are. BUT....If I see you being all bad ass about what you moved on your mighty leg press machine and how "beast mode" you can go and then see you being proud of doing sets of a dead lift weight that probably isn't even half your body weight, I'm going to get pissed. However, I don't say anything because, well, we don't want to call anyone out in 2016 right? We don't want to hurt feelings. We want to encourage everyone to be the special fucking snowflakes that they are. So rather than let out my frustration as it comes, I hold it all in and let it fester. Because what could go wrong there?
     Then I see today someone being given the sage advice of judging your progress based on your looks. A couple of points here a) I don't know the full context so my opinion may be off mark, but it lends itself as a good springboard for discussion b) I understand that looks are important to a certain segment of the fitness world, that being physique and bikini competition. with those two points in mind, I will continue with my rant....
     To tell someone that the BEST way to track progress is by looks is misleading. How we perceive ourselves can change based on our mood and attitude. How do I know? because I do it all the time! I may be be feeling super pumped about myself one day and think that my legs look pretty good, shapely, muscular, etc. The next day I may be an emotional basket case and think my legs are on the same level with a baby grand piano. If you fashion yourself to be some sort of advice-giver, or guru, then could you please pull your head from your ass, and check your ego and ulterior motives at the door? The BEST way to track progress is with a log containing the progressively heavier amounts of weights that you're moving and a tape measure to get actual measurements of your body. Period. Anything else is more than a little subjective. And to a deeper end of this, there are a lot of insecure women who are getting into lifting. They'll look for praise on their appearance from any man they can get it from and it leads them to being a huge target for predators with questionable morals. It kills me when I see weak minded women making their bodies strong (supposedly) but doing absolutely nothing to strengthen their character and backbone.
     The further I travel into this strength game, the more I come to realize how much I'd love to be a trainer. I'd love to spend every day helping people to change their entire lives around to a stronger, healthier, more capable way of life. Will this dream ever be a reality? Who knows. I read every day about techniques and the science of lifting. I read about my own injuries and learn how to train around them and through them. I deal with setbacks and successes and I share, truthfully, what I've learned. So to see people being down right stupid is aggravating to say the least. 
     It goes further than that though. Today there's anger because I'm also harboring jealousy. Jealousy because while they are in the gym moving weight, I'm only managing one workout a week and getting excited over completing a 50lb lunge. Jealous because I feel I've gone to pot when I was making great progress. Jealous because I'm not putting my money where my mouth is.
     I saw this meme today:

I asked myself what fear am I conquering today? I answered with: my fear of admitting that I'm not doing all that I can be and should be. So with that in mind, and a little prompt from Justin, I blogged. I conquered part of that fear. The other part will be stepping up to the plate and doing something, anything to move when I get home. We're going to start clearing and cleaning out the weight room tonight. Maybe we'll get enough space cleared for a few squats. I've been itching to get back at them. Although it will only be with an empty bar, it's a step. I will be thrilled when I can start posting actual training logs again rather than all this emotional, insightful baloney. But this serves a purpose too, I suppose, and it is all part of the mind, body, spirit connection. 

     Onwards and upwards...