Workout Routine
These last couple of months I have become fascinated with gym culture, especially how it is presented online. As I became more consistent with my routine and comfortability in the gym I followed more “motivational” pages on my instagram account. These accounts are filled with recipes for high protein desserts, how to optimize your training, and the occasional gag video. And while it might not be the post itself, the comments are teeming in this urge for power. The biggest issue I’ve seen is with men degrading men. This isn’t a new phenomenon in sports, where competition is the life blood, but there is something different in the type of insults that land in these comment sections. They focus entirely on body image. Occasionally someone will be accosted for their form or how much they lift, but the male body is the primary focus. Criticism on the lack of muscle mass is a popular comment, used as a tool to discredit someone who has an opposing opinion to the content. Men always attack men where they are most vulnerable, and when physique is involved it's like a dagger to the chest. While these seem like school yard insults the message settles deeper in our skin. We are not welcome. Even the most muscular of men don’t have the “perfect physique” and need to work harder in the gym to achieve what is unattainable. I have recently been seeing a lot of posts about how the first day in the gym is the last time you will be happy with your body. Then investigating the comments I see men who are struggling with body dysmorphia, something I’ve struggled with myself, leaving comments about how they will never settle with how their bodies look. Which is devastating. Being a man comes with millions of advantages, but the biggest disadvantage is that we will always wish we were stronger and better than the next man. It’s almost like we all want to be the best hunter but what we can’t seem to grasp is that in a planet of billions of people we can’t all be the best. We are all blessed with our own genetic makeup and cursed with the ideology that we wish we were different. Some of us wish we could lose weight faster, or run a quicker mile, or gain muscle faster so we can be like that influencer or that celebrity. But you can only go as far as your body was made to go. And that’s okay. It’s okay to be exactly where you are supposed to be, because you can crush every goal you set for yourself but if you don’t find home in your own skin then you will always be unsatisfied. There is no perfect physique but there is a perfect version of yourself that involves eating enough food and complimenting people’s achievements instead of bombarding them with negativity. Find peace in your body and the rest will follow.
