Can we change gym "culture"?

I don't know why my interest in writing seems to ebb for so long. I start spending entirely too much time on Facebook being political, playing games, wasting time basically. It's almost a hyper focus to avoid the stress and anxiety. On the plus side I've been going to the gym 5 days a week and I'm actually seeing some progress. I'm sometimes surprised that I've stuck with it but at the same time I've become addicted.

As I've said before I've struggled with my weight my entire life. Almost lost that struggle. And then I did OK for a while, until I fell back into old habits. One of my go to comforts is food. Feeling depressed? Eat. Hurt? Eat. Tired and stressed out? Eat. I got down to 398 for a little while and then in the blink of an eye I was suddenly almost 440 again. I had to reevaluate just what the fuck it was I was doing. Eating crap, that's what I was doing. A snack here, another there. I was eating when I was hungry, I ate when I wasn't hungry. And I stopped paying attention to it.

I do not and never have believed in fad diets. I will never support this "keto" nonsense. "Clean eating" is a sales gimmick. What matters is a caloric deficit. That's the key. That's all. Of course quality matters too from a health standpoint, but not so much for losing weight. The level of utter nonsense surrounding weight loss and weight lifting is sometimes astounding. Something a person I follow on Instagram said recently; if they're trying to sell you something they're probably full of crap.

It's amazing what a difference simply paying attention to what and how much you eat can make

I don't lift really heavy, I just lift a lot

 Of course spending at least an hour lifting heavy (ish) things every day helps with that deficit. And that brings me to the point of this writing. Gym culture. Seriously, what the actual fuck is this nonsense? Personally I enjoy the gym I go to because there isn't a lot of that going on. It's a racquetball oriented club that happens to have weights and the clientele on average are somewhere north of 50. There are the occasional bros that show up but they're certainly the minority. I don't really expose myself to the "gym culture" until I go on Instragram or some of the websites I use. And it doesn't take long to figure out why so many people avoid the gym. These people are assholes. Judgmental little cunts that will eviscerate you (from the safety of the internet of course) if you don't put the weight on the bar facing the direction they think it should. Because apparently, according to bro science or some shit, this affects not only the weight but your ability to lift it. Because, ummm...bros.



Some of the comments I've read and even heard. Usually directed at an overweight person (usually female) who dared to enter the gym and take up their space. Because apparently they should just stay home on the coach. Oh, sorry, but not be far because gross. Don't dare take a walk or some truckload of fuckwidgets will yell out the window at you. Oh screw it, just die already. Because you know, the gym is only for the bros and the hoes. They were born with it. I despise this attitude. It actually makes me quite angry.

Speaking of bros. The utter nonsense they spew as gospel science. It's akin to hanging out with anti vaxers. One of the issues with weight lifting in general is the insane level of anecdotal evidence passed around as truth. Because some famous body builder did it this way and got ripped it must be the only way to do. I read this article in this magazine by this guy who got his personal trainer certificate online and it said..... so obviously it's true. Take this suppliment, it will make you look like Arnold. You drink pre workout mix right bro? No, actually I have half a pot of good coffee in the morning, it actually has the same active ingredient for a third the price, you freaking junkie. This is the kind of BS that makes so many people run from most gyms. And it's all pointless bullshit.

At the same time, on the other hand, if you want to go to the gym, go. Go find one and join it. Do you. Don't worry about the comments or the bros or the bullshit. Don't worry about "doing it wrong" or what others think. Go do you. You'll figure it out quick enough. It's not terribly difficult unless you want it to be. There's no special trick, no special exercise. There's the basics, there's the machines. And there's almost always someone who will help you if you ask them. For every douche canoe in the gym there is another decent person who will encourage and support you. Find them, ignore the bros. Go lift. Together maybe we can do something about the gym culture and make it more welcoming to everyone. Or just give me money and I'll open my own gym.