I have been thinking about how my commitment to working out at the gym has remained all these years since I was 15. That makes it a total of 15 years of working out by myself at the gym (I am 30 now).
When I was younger, my parents would frown on me attending the gym. They gave reasons that it would stunt my growth and I would not get good influences at the gym. I believe they had a perceived idea of the gym as a homoerotic place or a place that delinquents or lowlifes would go to. I don't blame them given that they come from a completely different generation from my own. Back then, I would go to the gym at Jurong Country Club (while my parents wished I had played golf with them there). I felt super intimidated by the guys there because they were all muscly and strong. In school, my classmates were in CCAs like swimming, rugby, tennis etc. while I was more committed to the gym. Sidenote: ngl but my draw to the gym was largely also due to my attraction to masculinity and hot men and during that period of my life I was exploring my sexuality, buying Muscle & Fitness / FLEX magazines to admire the great physiques of men. I wanted to be like them. To fit in.
Now as I look back at those classmates who were once really fit from the sports CCAs they were in, and compare them to where they are today in terms of fitness, I can see a stark difference in how they are now. Many have given up fitness to slog it out with work and family. They have beer bellies smoke their health away at nightclubs, and reduced their need for walking significantly ever since they got their own family/sports car. That is how society builds a man to be, but I am glad I did not fall into that cog in the wheel. Fitness and bodybuilding in the gym kept me committed to living a healthy lifestyle.
Today, even though family and friends do not outright tell me that they admire my commitment to the gym, their awe and envy of my physique and my daily routine signal to me that I am doing great.
The gym is much more than just building muscle, strength, cardiovascular health, stamina, and flexibility, it is also:
- A sanctuary from the stress of work and a busy life
- A ritual of discipline and effort
- A promise kept to my future self toward a healthier ageing and a better quality of life
- Something I keep in control amid a world that feels out of control
- A daily dose of emotional well-being
- A process, a journey, a way of life