At the beginning of the year, the stock value of wishes and promises goes really high. “I want to learn Chinese, karate, tennis, and judo while improving my poetry and piano skills,” wrote Johnny in his journal on January 1st. Cool story, bro. It’s 8 months later. Did you do it or am I catching you eating pancakes in your pajamas?
One of the sectors affected the most by this ambition spike is, of course, the world of muscle and shreds. The weight rooms are packed during the first two months of the year. Hordes of gym virgos eager to get in their ultimate shape start spreading DNA on the bench presses.
Meanwhile, the greedy gym owners are counting the bucks and laughing out loud. There’s almost no other feeling like making a bunch of suckers sign an annual membership while knowing very well that they will soon return to their previous lifelong relationship with candy bars, chocolate, donuts, waffles and rust removers but will continue paying you for the rest of the year nevertheless. A lot of cash could be made during Q1, especially if your gym is equipped with the latest cardio equipment.
When somebody joins the muscle game his head is full of illusions installed there by the mainstream media in all of its forms. When people think of muscle construction, they immediately associate it with their favorite action heroes, boom-boom movies, fighting and what not. This is a problem because the conventional wisdom and ideas spread by the media are usually manipulated.
The stupid Hollywood mindset has convinced everybody that you can transform into Rambo in three months. It’s true that a lot of weight can be lost in 90 days, but you are not going to become huge or exceptionally strong in three months. It’s just a start.
Training is an investment that requires more time to give you a true reward. In order for it to work properly, it has to become a part of your lifestyle. You don’t have to live to lift or anything like that, but you can’t expect to negate the effect of 20 waffles by sitting on a bike set at “easy” for 30 minutes while reading celebrity gossip written for mental midgets.
Of course, I also have to mention the absolute fact that 90% of the transformations out there are not natural, or at the very least the photos are digitally altered. Steroid use is more than common among professional bodybuilders and fitness models whereas digital alterations are the femur of beach body propaganda. There are many fragile boys who look small as hell in real life, but through proper lighting, favorable angles, tanning, shaving, oiling, and Photoshop are made to appear huge.
Consequently, when an ordinary person gets to that level, they feel weird and disappointed. “Is this it,” many ask themselves like it’s their first time buying donuts. Yeah, that’s it. Welcome to real world.
Got Motivation?
I think that this world is suffering from too much false motivation. It’s the new thing. Are you motivated? I am not. Go sell your routine somewhere else.
My favorite is when people spam the Internet with motivational clips cut from brainwashing Hollywood movies. Very often an old guy backed by epic string hits and choirs is dropping “sick” knowledge. “How bad do you want it,” screams the old guy. Shut the fuck up and eat a banana.
Motivation like that works for a little while (January and February), but the real drive is found deep within you. It usually thrives on tiny but real successes. It’s better to start small and finish big than to start big and don’t finish at all.
At the end of the day, quotes and speeches can only do so much. You either want it or you don’t. As I’ve told you before, the only motivation that matters is the one that starts when the music stops playing.
In conclusion, most new year’s resolutions fail because we are brainwashed, weak and have unrealistic expectations preventing us from understanding that the path to our desired results requires more time and a different mindset.
