...They die hard
After living in Wisconsin for one month I have learned one thing, old habits die hard. All of last year I spent trying to better myself not only in physical form by going to the gym, but I was also working on losing my sense of shyness and my lack of "I don't give a fuck" attitude, two of my worst attributes. In the last couple of weeks I have taken steps backwards in reaching my goals. I have reverted to being shy and the "I don't give a fuck" attitude is fading away. Fortunate for me I have realized this issue before it got any worst.
The problem all derives from a lack of comfort. I was comfortable just being me because I knew I had a fall back, one of my closest friends(lets just call him Paul). Paul was somewhat of a self improving coach to me. As long as Paul was around I didn't care if I made a fool of myself, whether or not he was in the same room or even in the same 5mile radius didn't really matter. He understood what I was doing, I was trying to better myself(you'd be surprised how many people look down on that). Along with Paul I had all my other friends and my brother, so the comfort level was pretty high.
Comfort is your worst enemy...
Yes, I did say my problem derives from a lack of comfort, so you're probably thinking "Marco, then why is comfort bad"?
Relying on comfort destroys your goals, if you're comfortable you will never truly achieve anything. I was making real progress, my friends were noticing my increase in confidence. But what happened as soon as I became uncomfortable, I reverted to the old me again(that guy really sucks). So put your self in uncomfortable situations. Strive to improve, and if you fail well keep at it. Don't let the comfort of your average, normal, easy life pull you into its clutches. It will keep you there and you will never improve.
So stay uncomfortable, and go get those gainz....whatever they may be.
Friday, September 26, 2014
Friday, September 19, 2014
Keep Dreamin
After a fun trip to the mall with my sister the car ride back to the apartment became somewhat philosophical, some real talk homie... anyways. She asked me what my biggest goal in life was, the nature of the question threw me off. I have many goals, I wouldn't know how to determine which were more important to me. My dream of owning my own business, my dream of having a studio(separate from another business), the one where I own a small house in the burbs with a few of my all-time favorite cars, or the one where I invest in other peoples businesses, and the list goes on. I couldn't decide because in my mind none of these dreams can exist without another, they are dependent of one another. At least I couldn't decide until I remembered my all time craziest dream.
One day I hope to rent the house where Tony Montana(played by Al Pacino) lived in. I want to rent the famous California mini mansion for one weekend and have a huge nerf gun war (maybe re-enact the ending to Scarface...oh don't snort the pile of flour guys it's just for show). If you can't tell by now, yes, Scarface is one of my favorite movies.
I decided this was my biggest dream because it's the most ridiculous of all of them and it seems the least likely to happen. But that's okay, it's okay to dream big and ridiculously. We need something to chase after, to keep us going. If my biggest dream was for me to live in an apartment, attend a few years of community college, and work a dead end job where I'm just some company's bitch I would have been set a year ago. But that's not what life is about...that's not what the gainz are about. So keep dreaming and keep chasing those dreams, whatever they are. If in forty years I find that I failed at all my dreams, well at least I will have tried while most others would have given up, played it safe, and never accomplished any of theirs as well. We really have nothing to lose from our pursuit for our dreams, because the worst case scenario we end up with what we started.
Till next time, keep dreaming everyone.
I decided this was my biggest dream because it's the most ridiculous of all of them and it seems the least likely to happen. But that's okay, it's okay to dream big and ridiculously. We need something to chase after, to keep us going. If my biggest dream was for me to live in an apartment, attend a few years of community college, and work a dead end job where I'm just some company's bitch I would have been set a year ago. But that's not what life is about...that's not what the gainz are about. So keep dreaming and keep chasing those dreams, whatever they are. If in forty years I find that I failed at all my dreams, well at least I will have tried while most others would have given up, played it safe, and never accomplished any of theirs as well. We really have nothing to lose from our pursuit for our dreams, because the worst case scenario we end up with what we started.
Till next time, keep dreaming everyone.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Reaching Perfection
If you are reading this I will admit I am very surprised, most people would read the title of this article and probably think to themselves "damn, Marco is so cocky" or somehow paint me as this narcissistic douche who thinks highly of himself. Rather this post is about quite the opposite.
All my life I have heard the statement "no one is perfect" and I couldn't agree more. The problem with this is people take it as an excuse to continue living under the bar (barbell?... no?, okay let's move on). It's almost as if they just found a loophole that allows for them to be lazy. Reaching perfection is impossible, but that doesn't mean you can't try.
Some people reading this might think to themselves (or out loud, whichever floats your boat) "I don't need to be perfect to please other people, what do I care what other people think". It's not about other people, it's about trying to be the perfect you for you. It's about looking in the mirror and knowing the person standing before you won't settle for anything less than living up to your potential. We owe it, not to our friends, co-workers, neighbors, classmates, or even our parents, but to ourselves.
So no perfection can't be achieved, but there's no harm in trying. In fact nothing but good can come from it, nothing but progress...nothing but gainz.
All my life I have heard the statement "no one is perfect" and I couldn't agree more. The problem with this is people take it as an excuse to continue living under the bar (barbell?... no?, okay let's move on). It's almost as if they just found a loophole that allows for them to be lazy. Reaching perfection is impossible, but that doesn't mean you can't try.
Some people reading this might think to themselves (or out loud, whichever floats your boat) "I don't need to be perfect to please other people, what do I care what other people think". It's not about other people, it's about trying to be the perfect you for you. It's about looking in the mirror and knowing the person standing before you won't settle for anything less than living up to your potential. We owe it, not to our friends, co-workers, neighbors, classmates, or even our parents, but to ourselves.
So no perfection can't be achieved, but there's no harm in trying. In fact nothing but good can come from it, nothing but progress...nothing but gainz.
Monday, September 8, 2014
Who's it for? (Origin Story)
How did it start?
Talk to any bodybuilder, any gym rat, or fitness fiend why they decided to change their lives and chase the gainz. The response received should sound something like "I was unhappy with the way I was". For most people it stems from a lack of joy in their lives or possibly a tragic incident that ignites a want for change. Since I've started my pursuit for fitness over a year ago I have met many fellow gain chasers and heard their origin stories. A few stories involved a partner's infidelity, others a non mutual break up, and for some the feeling of physical weakness is enough to push for a change.
Why am I doing this?
I started because I was unhappy with how I looked. My self esteem was low, so low I couldn't land the confidence to ask out, who at the time I thought was, "The girl of my dreams". I felt physically/ mentally weak, I was tired of taking people's shit. At 5'10", weighing 130 pounds, and slouching constantly, I could do very little to assert myself. I had to change, I couldn't keep living in weakness. Above all other reasons, I was tired of being average. Surrounding myself with failure, I felt as if the person I was on the outside did not match the person on the inside, or at least not the person I wanted to be.
Why I keep doing this?
I could tell you it's because I don't slouch anymore. I could tell you it's because I feel myself becoming stronger, both physically and mentally. Or maybe because I feel more confident than I have ever been. Maybe it's an accumulation of all those things. But individual reasons aside, I was happier in the last 12months than I was the 4years before I decided to start a fitness lifestyle.
Why are you doing this?
You can have a thousand reasons, but as long as your doing it for yourself the reasons don't matter. People will hate you for it, they'll make fun of you. Sometimes the worst comments will come from your closest friends. But don't ever listen to them, because you and you alone know why you have chosen to chase the gainz. You and you alone are putting in the hard work to achieve your goal. It doesn't affect them one bit, so their comments don't mean a damn thing.
So keep your head up, back straight, legs shoulder length apart and
...Just keep chasing the Gainz
Talk to any bodybuilder, any gym rat, or fitness fiend why they decided to change their lives and chase the gainz. The response received should sound something like "I was unhappy with the way I was". For most people it stems from a lack of joy in their lives or possibly a tragic incident that ignites a want for change. Since I've started my pursuit for fitness over a year ago I have met many fellow gain chasers and heard their origin stories. A few stories involved a partner's infidelity, others a non mutual break up, and for some the feeling of physical weakness is enough to push for a change.
Why am I doing this?
I started because I was unhappy with how I looked. My self esteem was low, so low I couldn't land the confidence to ask out, who at the time I thought was, "The girl of my dreams". I felt physically/ mentally weak, I was tired of taking people's shit. At 5'10", weighing 130 pounds, and slouching constantly, I could do very little to assert myself. I had to change, I couldn't keep living in weakness. Above all other reasons, I was tired of being average. Surrounding myself with failure, I felt as if the person I was on the outside did not match the person on the inside, or at least not the person I wanted to be.
Why I keep doing this?
I could tell you it's because I don't slouch anymore. I could tell you it's because I feel myself becoming stronger, both physically and mentally. Or maybe because I feel more confident than I have ever been. Maybe it's an accumulation of all those things. But individual reasons aside, I was happier in the last 12months than I was the 4years before I decided to start a fitness lifestyle.
Why are you doing this?
You can have a thousand reasons, but as long as your doing it for yourself the reasons don't matter. People will hate you for it, they'll make fun of you. Sometimes the worst comments will come from your closest friends. But don't ever listen to them, because you and you alone know why you have chosen to chase the gainz. You and you alone are putting in the hard work to achieve your goal. It doesn't affect them one bit, so their comments don't mean a damn thing.
So keep your head up, back straight, legs shoulder length apart and
...Just keep chasing the Gainz
Thursday, September 4, 2014
What is "The Gainz of Life"
The term "gainz", a spiced up take on the word gains, is popular amongst the fitness world, used by weight lifters as a reference to muscle building. For the determined gym rat the pursuit for gains is less of a hobby and more of a lifestyle. We eat, sleep, breathe, and live in such a manner that will further assist in sculpting our bodies into the nearly perfect image we work day after day to achieve.
We must not limit the definition of gainz to a simple gain in muscle size and strength. The gainz are all around us. We push our limits at the gym, we try a heavier weight, we go for one more rep, all in hopes that we increase our PR (Personal Record). Gainz aren't just made in the gym, they are made any time we attempt to become better at any single act. I want to read faster, well then I read more. I want to make more money, so I work harder. I want to be smarter, so I study more. Our gainz are our improvements, we work to achieve a goal and we never stop because there is always room for improvement, there is always room for gainz.
I made the decision to become a fitter/ healthier person sometime in the summer of 2013, this proved to be the best decision of my life. I officially joined a gym August 2013. Training with my brother, he himself already having two years of experience with weightlifting proved to be an astounding and capable trainer. Since then I have become noticeably more confident in my self and a much happier person. In other words the gainz have been good to me. Thus I have found it to be my duty to spread the joys of not only the fitness lifestyle, but the Gainz lifestlye as well. The Gainz of Life will include progress with my pursuit for fitness gainz, my pursuit to better myself, along with my take on all things gainz related.
Until next time, remember...There is always room for gainz.
We must not limit the definition of gainz to a simple gain in muscle size and strength. The gainz are all around us. We push our limits at the gym, we try a heavier weight, we go for one more rep, all in hopes that we increase our PR (Personal Record). Gainz aren't just made in the gym, they are made any time we attempt to become better at any single act. I want to read faster, well then I read more. I want to make more money, so I work harder. I want to be smarter, so I study more. Our gainz are our improvements, we work to achieve a goal and we never stop because there is always room for improvement, there is always room for gainz.
I made the decision to become a fitter/ healthier person sometime in the summer of 2013, this proved to be the best decision of my life. I officially joined a gym August 2013. Training with my brother, he himself already having two years of experience with weightlifting proved to be an astounding and capable trainer. Since then I have become noticeably more confident in my self and a much happier person. In other words the gainz have been good to me. Thus I have found it to be my duty to spread the joys of not only the fitness lifestyle, but the Gainz lifestlye as well. The Gainz of Life will include progress with my pursuit for fitness gainz, my pursuit to better myself, along with my take on all things gainz related.
Until next time, remember...There is always room for gainz.
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