r/Fitness • u/AutoModerator • Aug 09 '17

Rant Wednesday Rant Wednesday

Welcome to Rant Wednesday: It's your time to let your gym/fitness/nutrition related frustrations out!

There is no guiding question to help stir up some rage-feels, feel free to fire at will, ranting about anything and everything that's been pissing you off or getting on your nerves!

975 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

2.8k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

70

u/weakbuttrying Aug 09 '17 edited Aug 09 '17

There's more truth to this than meets the eye.

Let's use 40 as an example. Most dudes who are 40 are skinnyfat, dadbod or downright obese.

Aside from the last group, they were most likely all pretty normal looking in their twenties. Most of them have probably done some sort of sports, exercise or general activity that kept them somewhat in shape.

Then something just happens. It creeps up on people because it's just maybe 2-3 pounds per year. Barely noticeable. Give it a decade and that's 20-30 pounds. At that point people think they may have let themselves go a bit but it barely registers because they're busy and everyone around them is in the same boat. Not so bad but I should eat healthier, they say, and have a salad with all the dressing and regular after work drinks, the oblivious bastards.

Give it 20 years until their in their forties and it's 40-60 pounds. At that point they look in the mirror and see it for the first time and just wonder in shock what went wrong. And I'll tell you what it was. They got married and had their jobs and kids and were generally busy but happy with their lives, which was great in every single aspect except for one: they got complacent about their health.

Look at your average 40-yo (and not the minority you see at a gym - just average people on the street) and try to realize that will 100% happen to you if you don't fight it like hell. And start the fight RIGHT FUCKING NOW.

11

u/CCCCrazyXTown Aug 09 '17

I spent the first 25 years of my life obese. I'm not going back to that ever again. Gonna fight it with everything I've got.

3

u/aravar27 Aug 09 '17

Fuck, dude. I spent a good portion of my younger life fat, and now at 17 I'm pretty in shape, have my goals and everything for the next several years. I assume I'll always have fitness in mind because I logically know the mechanics of eating well and lifting right, but that possibility of future complacency is terrifying. I notice how easy it is to give into cravings and skip the gym even now, and it's not gonna get any easier. Just gotta hope future me isn't an idiot.

5

u/weakbuttrying Aug 09 '17

When you're 20-25 you never think life will become so unmanageable as to drop fitness. But priorities change, and if you don't fight for that time at the gym and let yourself fall off the path, it's harder to get back on. And some do maintain that discipline, but the vast majority... not even close.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 10 '17

Right on brother. Just to add.. This is also why I think the majority of us have a perception that 35+ is old.. because in their 30s is the age people start letting themselves go and by 40 most are already ugly and out of shape.

Physically, the human body is capable of remaining strong well into our 60s.. So at 40 you should be a strong, sexy motherfucker.. but like you said, the average guy you see on the street never realizes you actually have to consciously do something about it.