I grew up watching all the movies that kids should be made to watch. Movies starring Bruce Lee, Arnie, Stallone, Van Damme and Lundgren. Now what did all these guys have in common apart from questionable acting skills? (to be fair, Arnie did have some sort of award following his first movie and Rocky even got an Oscar!). The guys all had great presence, strong bodies and they could kill you (at least on screen). Everything that a man should be, or so you thought when growing up. People naturally gravitate to strong looking individuals. We associate that with power, leadership and success. Almost all these guys used muscles to get where they are today. Look at Arnie's master plan - it's absolutely phenomenal to think that a country boy from Austria could have achieved his level of success.
Anyway, all these strong stereotypes do in fact help a lot of people decide that they want to get involved in fitness and getting in shape. I don't think that is a bad thing. Every fitness publication available has pics of ripped guys or gals adorning every page. It's something to aspire to, if that is what you want. Remember, however, that you need to be in it for the long haul as those types of results ain't easy. If they were we would all look like that. I had a guy from Germany training the other day, and he said that the younger generation are not prepared to work for anything nowadays. They want to take a pill and be in great shape. They are not prepared to put in the effort. I agree. People enter a gym with an ideal and an ambition, and then are slowly crushed after a few sessions when they don't see Arnie staring back at them from the mirror. Go easy on yourself, realise you are making gains and you are getting better.
There was a post on Facebook the other day about how some people hate to see pics of skinny/ ripped people with slogans telling you how you can get there and achieve this cover model physique. I don't mind that sort of thing as its what you do as a kid isn't it? You have a poster of someone on your wall and you want to aspire to that. We are all kids inside. What might be better is doing some reading on what these people do to actually get where they are. Read some biographies, search the net. Not about the workouts they do but the sacrifice they have made. Relationships, family, money and jobs all to get where they want to be. Then after taking on board what would be required, decide if that is for you. Cut yourself some slack. Maybe you like to eat ice cream, so thinking you will be 5% body fat all year might not be right for you. Whatever you choose just be the best at being you.
