started when i was 18.. 15 years later still at it
still... im sick of it, but if i miss days/week, i feel that i have missed out or somethign... doesnt really bug me, but still.. its just a way of life now
(i go on lunch break.. i have ~40 mins)
now.. if i could just hone in that diet, id be fine.. but...
i used to compete in amateur karate tournaments and was looking for an edge
overweight/out of shape may be good for others but i will not tolerate it in myself
i wanna look good naked
when i was in my 20s (early 1990s) i heard of a study that said many people in nursing homes were there because they could not get around unassisted. a short exercise program helped something like 50% of them throw away their canes and walkers.
i wanna eat whatever i want
i train kickboxing and wrestling with a bunch of guys half my age (i'm pushing 50) - i don't have to be the greatest opponent, i just have to not be easy and make them work.
now that i'm older, its really cool being the the guy everyone sees working out and asks "how the hell does he do that?"
@gem4him So I'm turning 40 this year and started looking back at my life and thought about what I would have done differently with the first half of my life to make life better for my current self. I thought about it for a while and realized I can still do all of the things I should have done then right now to make life better for my current and future self.
TL;DR - You are accountable to your future self. Why look back and wish you had worked out when your body was able?
But, on a day to day basis, when the alarm goes off at 5am and i'd rather sleep? Knowing that I will feel awesome all day. Knowing that by the time I get to work, I will already feel that I have accomplished something awesome.
@gem4him For me, it's all about health. Vanity plays very little part in it, because if it the primary purpose of working out was to attract a sexual partner, I would have stopped once I found my SO. No, I've been hitting the gym since my 20s because I realized that no one else is responsible for my health, and having a high quality of life is very important to me. My parents didn't take the greatest of care with their health, and while I couldn't blame them because they were busy working and supporting our family, I could see the impact on their lives even before they got old. I wanted to avoid that, so I made health and fitness a priority.
@gem4him I have to really like what I'm doing so I try to find new fun stuff. This summer my cardio is inline skating. I had not been on blades in 20 years. It's a real rush and that's what keeps me out there.
I also like to find things where there's a skill involved. For example when I started this summer I had lost my crossover step and I was not good with uneven pavement. That's been coming back / getting better.
@gem4him I want to look good for my wife, because sex. More importantly though, I want to be able to keep up to my kid. I want to go hiking and biking and camping and everything else with him. I'm only 32, and he isn't even 2 yet, but I want to go go go with him.
Keeping up isn't easy if you're dragging a 50 lb spare tire around with you.
@gem4him I was a fat kid, got in shape in highschool, got fat in college and yoyoed afterwards for years. Now I have two kids and want to stay in shape to keep up with them.
@gem4him Cause I am single at 37 and I like to drink. I see my friends in mid 30s and looking like they are 47 ... Just fat and lifeless.
I got a couple of friends who are early 20s and I don't want to be that old guy.
@gem4him I feel like I'm the only person working out not to look good naked. It sounds stupid, but I really don't like being so focused on looks because I think it can lead down a road of narcissism. I really just work out for functional strength and to be healthy. I'm a very weak guy naturally, so I am really trying to get to a reasonable level of strength just for doing projects around the house and things like that.
I will admit that part of it is also not being fat so I can weak better fitting clothes so I can look good with clothes on. However, to me that's less about narcissism and more about self confidence.
@gem4him I want to be able to do things that the average person can't do - like the 5K I'm swimming in a few weeks, another 5K in October, and an 8K in January.
I also am lucky to have a father that is over 70 and still very active, though he's stopped running he still gets 4-5 rounds of golf in every week, bikes around town, has no real degenerative problems with his body at all. It's obvious that he is this way because he did triathlons well into his 40's, and ran (well, jogged, let's be honest here) 5K's well into his 60's. Sometimes I'm ashamed it took me so long to see him as the inspiration he is.
