Part of me is rather wary to put this one out. That’s not because I can’t attest to this or say I don’t understand this topic. This is one of those controversial topics that I cant say is for everyone in the industry of course but it definitely is a very common thing I have been through/still going through and watching others with a similar mentality go through. It is also one of those unspoken things we all tend to go walk with and sometimes become too afraid to admit. Especially as we as individuals tend to achieve great things for ourselves goal wise and want to help others either achieve or as simply help them attain a healthier lifestyle. As people who tend to show case their results or their PR’s ( Personal Records) not so much out of vanity but excitement. We tend to forget about the small things that sometimes wishing you had a more naïve nature could only fix. Mental Health can be explained in many different topics and details depending on ones nature as an individual and that definition is theirs alone. But hopefully I can portray the basic similarities that so many of us have while allowing an open mind to understanding each individual has it unique. At the end of the day we all create a different atmosphere for ourselves and just to let you all know you are not alone and it is rather more common than you would be able to perceive if you were to talk to us in person or online. What I will be going through are some of the various types of personalities I tend to see and elaborate on mines as well at the end. Without further a due let us dive right in.
The One Whose Always Shredded
Wash board Abs, veins galore, high definition body always smiling, always shouting positivity, always preaching diets and health. ( I’m extremely exaggerating this) Now within this type of person there tends to be three types of people. One is people who have this naturally and can speak as a real individual who don’t have any problem staying that lean year round. The second is someone who is beyond precise to stay the way they are because maybe there body holds more fat naturally and they fight to stay that way. Then the third is the quote on quote hard gainer ( who eats 3k calories and still has difficulty gaining weight/ muscle) Their problems don’t coincide with their diet or their looks they live a normal life, train, eat, sleep and go about life without much problem. Most times with this type they tend to actually have a harder time gaining muscle or losing bodyfat. Their focus outwardly tends to put them in a rut on either comparing their size to someone else’s or just wanting to be bigger. They tend to keep looking for different ways to train or better ways to eat. For this type of person their habits tend to be focused narcotically. They will tend to sit on either spectrum of the narcotic scale. All out or nothing. What people don’t realize is how narcotic these individuals are. How much focus and attention goes into everything they do. Focusing like this can stray an induvial and actually make things harder on themselves. The thing you don’t see as the person outside looking on some days they are going to beat themselves up over themselves. I ate too much, I didn’t eat enough, I could have had one more rep, I could have done one more cardio session Focus is surreal for them and without it they tend to feel a little lost. Ultimately for some this can be a down fall into depression towards themselves but all you’ll see is the hard work they put in and what appears to be a outstanding body but all we might see is we have work to do still and this isn’t enough.
I Bench 315lb For Reps
This individual will always post his or her strength performances for great reason as their strength is outstanding. It has nothing to do with the likes or shares. This person does this for them and their Personal Records. They may or may not have a little extra weight on them and they are happy with that. Diet? Maybe a tad to stay healthy which will fuel my body right and be able to keep my strength going. But drop calories to 1,500 for a week Ha fat chance! Unless you’re looking to hit a weight class but I promise you the weight will go back up the moment it becomes allotted. These individuals are narcotic about training protocols and exceeding what tends to be humanly impossible for some. They can take their mentality to the next level in the moment and push through the extremes. I can’t emphasize this enough. Try being crushed weighing 165lb and sitting down and standing up with 600lb on your back. But what starts to happen when an injury starts to persist and all of a sudden training for a 600lb isn’t even the question anymore but trying 300lb is now the new difficult? Getting depressed, frustrated, irritated beating yourself up all starts to unfold. It’s more common than you think. Bright side you’ll see a post, ” Coming back from an injury! #wewillrebuild”. Post. But really feel ” Fuck I have a long ways to go again.” Which you might actually see us post once in awhile that we’re torn. ” But you can’t keep posting the reality because then people will think you’re looking for pity”. Cringe the smile and deal with it yourself. Which those statements are rather exaggerated in all honesty. Not everyone stays in that mentality, some really live for the climb of the adventure rather than the goal at hand. But not everyone.
Stuck between a Rock and a Hard Place
Basically what I have just described are body builders and powerlifters. Mainly because these two types tend to intermix with each other creating a lot of individuals who do both. In reality aspect both types are very similar and have similar aspects to them. Now you don’t have to be a bodybuilder or a powerlifter to have either of these mentalities. It’s just if you are, you might be able to understand and resonate with this a little better. For those on the outside this is to shine light on the inside of what we tend to go through. It isn’t always smiles and sunshine for us. A lot of the times we are rather hard on ourselves. The thing is we might win in the aspect of achieving a goal, being able to help individuals with similar goals but we tend to lose ourselves in the process if we are not careful. When we take a picture of our abs we tend to look exactly where there is still fat that’s needed to be removed. When we post a shot of our PR for a lift we tend to see the slight nuisance mistake in form or depth. When we have PR’d got into the best shape we can imagine or shot for the heaviest weight, sometimes we tend to have life go haywire and we wonder should I have really only focused on that goal while I let life deal me a bad hand? Because when that happens we will blame ourselves again for this.We tend to get on ourselves more than you might be able to perceive and we have no idea how to portray that to an average individual but luckily for some of us we have friends in the industry that have the same views which were able to get it. But not all of us. Especially the ones just starting out. That tends to be the deal breaker for some who end up quitting in the industry early on. Without a community some of us will not make it. Not because we didn’t have the best training program or the best protocol to lose weight. But because mentally we shot ourselves in the foot multiple times.
Positivity over Negativity any day
Here’s what you can do which ever side of the board you sit on. Whether live the lifestyle or watch the life style online.
DONT BE A FUCKING DICK
Scream fucking positivity. Don’t be fake about it, if you’re offended move the hell on. Instead of tapping the comment box and spending 5 seconds being ignorant. Take your little thumb or index figure and push it up a little. that 5 seconds turned into 1.5 seconds and you can be on your mary way and enjoy what instgram has to offer rather than angrily utilizing your finger muscles because you got offended.
If you want to leave a nice comment by all means, if you want to toss out a little advice by all means.
Now unless you’re Layne Norton who knows his shit and calls people out on the truth ok totally different story. That’s a cause and saving people from Zealot mentality is actually healthy to a degree. But unless you know your shit I’d advise not going that route and stay in your lane.
Which I am going to leave off on that note. Be more positive in the community, see someone go in the wrong direction, help them out, they don’t want it ok cool move on. Say something nice, lift them up, be a good human because everyone’s going through their own shit in life. Just because we don’t post it doesn’t mean we aren’t going through hardship or problems. Then for those in it, just keep moving forward and don’t stop. Ignore the shitty people in the world because the ones who are there for you will always outweigh the shit. What you do is unique and if you feel it’s the right thing to do never give up on that. Peace out.
Steven Personius 