Going to quit the Gym

[ElectricEgregore]

I'm really glad I managed to stick to the gym,
or lets just say commit to a movement routine.

Now around 2 months later I suddenly have a strong gut feeling of quitting this bs.
What are we? Some plebs artificially slaving us away in a box?
Full of the toxins people sweat out, polluted gear everywhere, especially since the global plague?

If I want to torture myself I might as well see the world while doing it (cycling, hiking)
or learn a skill like climbing or martial arts?

Also yoga or swimming... all of these are more rewarding that being locked up with some
narcissist/low self esteem body dysmorphia hybrids that compensate their 9 to 5s?

Why do you think it is that the truly powerful people in this world are never jacked,
just the semi ultra wealthy new around the block ones like Bezos or Hormozi do this
self torturing thing...

I must say the cheap option of using the sauna and my knowledge about the connection of
mitochondrial energy production in correlation to muscle mass made me go there again.

And I was kind of proud to stick to it, see my muscles grow pretty fast,
even some surface level girls looked twice.

But who are we? Some bred and abused horses?
Some catalog stickers?

I might as well just do 50 burpees every few days and have the same effects.
I will go for cycling and more natural things while saving time and money.

What do you think?

Do you also think it might be not you but the gym that's the issue of not sticking to it?

 

[HoldAll]

When trying to get fit, most people will think of gyms as the go-to solution, and I think that's short-sighted. I've only ever had a gym membership for supplementary training or for days when I couldn't make it to the dojo on time. Sometimes I'd sit among all those weights and think, "This is ridiculous. We've invented all sorts of machines to do the heavy lifting for us, and now we're doing it ourselves all over again? It would be ok if I were stacking sacks of wheat or something useful but raising a barbell over my head only to bring it down again? It's like performing pointless physical labour, only without being paid!"

I think it's more rewarding to learn and hone a specific skill like in the martial arts you already mentioned (I've written how to get started in my Forum Journal) or play some team sports where you can chase a ball around. There's a sport for every mentality. Some like steady uniform movements and prefer running and cycling while others would just get bored and prefer disciplines instead where it's short high-intensity bursts that matter, as in soccer. I never could be one of those iron pumpers; I'm less interested how my body looks and more in what it can do, like maintaining my balance during complex maneuvers - nice pecs, bro, but can you turn a cartwheel?

Like I wrote in my post: there has to be some emotional investment in every human endeavour, otherwise it will just peter out over time. Peer pressure is another major factor that's more or less absent in the gym where strangers may secretly compete with one another but never directly as in races, sparring, or (amateur-level) contests.

 

[Robert Ramsay]

When trying to get fit, most people will think of gyms as the go-to solution, and I think that's short-sighted.

Gym employee: Sorry sir, but to cancel your membership you have to come in & fill out paperwork.
Me: sigh FINE. Where are you located?