I was at the gym tonight and being Sunday and not too long before it closed, it was pretty empty. I normally go in the evening, because I tend not to do well with morning workouts, even though I feel better after them. It is like I can't push as hard, or I can't concentrate as well.
I am a night person anyway.
And today was the longest night.
That is 5 hours and 21 minutes of daylight.
And I wouldn't say that there is much light withing those hours anyway, since the sun doesn't travel much past the horizon all day. It kind of just bobs up for a moment, and then down again, as you can see from the degrees. It both rose closer to south than east, and set closer to south than west.
Now, you might be wondering what are the silly pictures in this article, but I did it as a bit of an experiment. I am not a selfie person, but see people all over the place taking selfies, including at the gym. Women posing in the mirror, pouting and looking for the best angle of their butt, and men (young men) flexing and taking shots.
It is brazen.
And I just don't have the confidence to stand there in the mirror, surrounded by people, taking pictures of myself. I don't even have the confidence to take pictures of myself when no one is around. I took a picture of me with our puppy the other day, and I felt sorry for the dog having to witness it.
I am closer to 50, than 40.
So I thought fuck it.
Not that I am going to start taking selfies of myself all the time, but I thought I would take some at the gym to see how it felt and I can tell you - it didn't feel good. But I wonder if there is some kind of psychological influence it could make where the people who take "gym selfies" are more likely to stick to routines and diets than those who don't. Perhaps because they are looking in the mirror at themselves so much, they are being "physically reflective" in the same way I write and explore my experience. Or perhaps, they can body shame themselves into being stricter, or pushing out an extra rep or something.
Does the photographic evidence carry some accountability?
What I do know though is that being too reflective can warp the view, whether spending too much time looking in the mirror, or too much time looking into the head. Too much focus suffers from two main problems. One is that it starts to lose comparative judgement with reality because it limits external experience. and two, the focus can keep narrowing onto smaller and smaller pieces, blowing them out of proportion. It is like looking at the face with one of those 5x magnifying mirrors. The horror.
Even if we don't admit it, we all compare ourselves to others.
Comparison is just a necessary part of our lives, even when there is no one around. We compare the taste of two different fruits, or two types of meats, or where we are standing right now in the sun, to that place over there in the shade. We compare to help us decide what our next steps are going to be. But then, we also compare for psychological safety, trying to make ourselves feel better about ourselves. Or to make ourselves feel worse about ourselves, when we don't live up to our own desires.
There are too many selfies.
The rise of individualism over the last four or five decades has been supercharged by the rise of anti-social media, where people are only there to push a view of themselves out to others, and compare the view of others to themselves. It is all a selfish act. Even the term "views" as a metric speaks to the isolationism of it. It is voyeuristic, not interpersonal. The engagement between humans doesn't matter, it is all about driving individual humans to view an advert, or an agenda.
Should I have an agenda?
Maybe I should make a "New Year Agenda" instead of a resolution.
I haven't been doing too much heavy power work lately, as I have a torn muscle (or done something) in my groin, so heavy squats are out. Mostly, I have been stretching and doing some light leg work to rehab my lower legs after the surgery. I would like to be able to do some dynamic movements like box jumps, but the injury won't allow me to. I don't even know how I got the injury!
The joys of aging.
But hey...
I managed a new experience for the day. Gym selfie.
Am I an influencer now?
Taraz
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lol.... Nice gym program i assume... What sort of program do you do? (usualy) Its so beneficial.
Im not going to chat about the psychology of selfies... however, funny story from, look im going to say 3 months back? Im at a big gym here in Aus, it DOES have a ladies only section, but i never use it, never feel the need. 99% of the people at the gym are great, they get on with their gym program and wait about 3 months before they even started to occasional nod hello to a "lady" in the gym. Ive had no concerns, most of the guys are too busy to be dicks, and the boys are only interested in rolling their sleeves up and looking at themselves in the mirrors. Its odly enough the girls that piss me off more. I find they are more self entitled that the boys with something to prove.
Anyway 3 months ago this "influencer???" comes down stairs while i was sweating it out on the chest press... and i swear to god, she is in designer shoes, the tiny arse scrunching bike pants that are smaller than anyone elses sensible pair of underwear, a boob enhancing crop top. she had LONG NAILS, and her hair all loose and blowy... rings and makeup and all the shabang. she looked dreadful... but no doubt she thought she was hot as. over to the cable machine she went, put it on the lightest she could and then stands their for 5 mins pretending to "work out" while she set her phone up to take photos, duck face and everything... then she moved to another machine... it was so "embarrasing". She was full on posing for long shots.
Im not sure if it was lack of awarness of how dumb she looked, or total self confidence, or lack of caring about other people or what.... The "fakeness" of it was astounding. maybe im just getting old. im slightly closer to 40 than 50...
Do you get those at your gym as well? not just posing for a quick selfie to say "im at the gym" but full on glorifying the gym in makeup and jewery? i mean there was so much of it that it was 100% unsafe to operate the equipment. No way could she ACTUALLY go to the gym with the 2 inch nails she was wearing.
I hope your injury improves, its so frustrating when you injur yourself and it puts training behind and you have to be more "creative' with exercises.
It is pretty complex.... Lift heavy things. :D
100% - they have been raised to believe that they should get whatever they want, however they want. I know that sounds inflammatory, but I don't mean it to be.
Sets up a camera, and then catches some guy looking at her in the background, then posts about some creep at the gym and gets a million views. I don't care what people wear at the gym, but I think there should be a ban on taking videos. Most gyms here have camera in them for security. If they have a problem with other members, talk to the employees and police with the evidence - not post it on social media for attention and likes.
Confidence is not a bad thing. Unjustified confidence is. They are basing their identity on how they look, without recognising that looks change. Yet, they are leaving themselves largely skill-less.
I feel injury is my default now and it isn't because of my training :D
nah its not inflamatory if it is true....
thats why my husband says... lift stuff across main muscle groups till you can't lift it no more... eat protein...
100% she would be the first sort to complain that someone was looking at her arse... i mean you could try looking at her clothes only... but that would be slim pickings... lol.
Yeah we are not supposed to be able to take video in the gym... but i think, as you say, everyone was too afraid to go tell her to pull her head in in case she started shrieking about girls rights or something... Which i believe in after all, i am female. But they give girls just as bad a bad name as the leering boys do which spoils it for the rest...
Whoa Mr Swole - you juicing bro?! Hahaha kidding.
I actually made a bit of an astrological lesson of the solstice with my kiddo today. I try to make sure he knows the equinoxes and solstices because they are actually really important events in the grand scheme of things. People didn’t spend insane man hours building things like Stonehenge that align with these astrological events for the fun of it.
I always sucked at night workouts - morning for me dude!
Watching my macros.
(I don't really know what that means)
Are there big changes in the light hours where you are? I think in some way here, the lessons are built into the culture, because it is such a difference from the summer to winter months. But it is also worth spending time talking to kids about how it can affect us physically and mentally. Just think about how the vitamin-D levels change in the body.
Freak.
The definition of influencer changed over the years...from broader figure of the society to digital natives....I usually wonder how they influence someone just making shitty content...or people just get influenced by blindly following them..... your selfie does surprises me..it was not their before.. but seems you are influenced by other how to kill time in gym.😉... go slow and steady at this age..
My theory is that the influencers are influenced by others, abd at the core is just the add revenue platforming influencing all of them. That shitty content isn't there to be good, it is there to have something to doom scroll past more adds.
You influenced me to think about the value of resting and exercise and the common experience of pulling a muscles without knowing it until days later. Your influence did not extend to me buying a product or getting out of my chair quiet yet, but did get me to physically stretch and think about some reflecting so yes in a sense: You are an influencer^^
Can I interest you in buying a ...
:D
Hopefully you get off your butt and I can say I did done good today.
I know what you are saying about working out early. We tend to do it simply because it fits better in our schedule, but on days when I have been up for a bit and then I work out, I can often exercise longer and harder than on days when I get out of bed and do my workout immediately.
I wonder if it is a biological thing, or a mental thing. I do feel good for the day if I workout early, but then - the workout is crappy and I don't get great results from it. What is that about? :D
Man, if I knew the answer to that I probably wouldn't be 260 pounds! I just get up and do the grind hoping that at some level it is making me healthier. Getting old sucks!
Selfies are cool, but taking them almost all the time, like I see some people do, while making funny poses, seems silly to me. I take selfies but I can't say I love taking them.
You look fit in the pictures. Evening gym time looks appealing as there's less distraction due to fewer people so it's easy to focus and concentrate. Seeing your pictures reminded me of a bodybuilder or a powerlifter even. Your gym efforts are certainly paying off even if you don't feel that way. Have you gone to the hospital for your groin injury?
I was once at a concert waiting for it to start, and a young guy and his girlfriend were sitting in front of us. Rather than talking to her, he spent a full hour trying to get a perfect selfie. If I had been single... ;D
Here it is pretty full. The after work crowd from 5-8ish. I normally go around 7 so then I can stretch and do some weights, before a little cardio.
Not yet. Will see how it goes over the next few weeks. I go to the doctor enough as it is.
Looks like you are sporting new facial hair :)
I am not a night person, but I also always felt that working out after 11 AM is much more pleasant.
The hair comes and goes - depending on my level of lazy :)
11am might be doable. It is the 7am that sucks. On a side note, I had a friend in AUS who turned down a great job (lawyer) because they wouldn't give him an hour for lunch so he could do a 30 min run. He found another great job soon after that would.
Chair yoga bro! haha
:D
Does it matter what kind of chair? Sex swing might be a good option.
I believe yours are the first gym selfies I see not intending to show up the body. I like how you look on them.
I wish I had a body worth showing off!
Though, I am starting to appreciate "for my age" talk, considering how some other people in my age group are looking these days. I don't focus on my looks, but due to all the other issues, I have to try and look after myself more than those who haven't the issues. I think that those who haven't suffered enough, take their condition for granted.
The whole world is currently obsessed with selfies. I think the young people of today's world are used to taking selfies with their mobile phones wherever they go, it has become a regular habit. You are a little bit of an exception there. But it is also true that I am not used to taking selfies, even in public places or in empty spaces.
Perhaps there should be an AI that limits selfies to one a day. No matter if it is good or bad.
That would be really cool. Because a lot of people see people dying or in danger instead of helping them, taking selfies with them or taking selfies with the dead or taking selfies like that, which is actually embarrassing.
Well, this seems like a valid experience and a win to me. Influencer or not, you influenced at least one reader to think a bit more waking up early and going for a walk tomorrow. So tanx!
I bet some people go to gym for just taking such selfies, while others prefer to stay behind the camera.:)
Btw it seems you have got weight 🙄
I absolutely think some people do that.
Definitely from my profile pic which hasn't changed in 9 years :D
yesterday(?) I saw a TV show with Gordon Ramsay. He tried to help a struggling restaurant. It turns out that the chef/ owner forgot that she is a chef and tried to be celebrity/ influencer instead. She wanted to sell her spices so much that she basically ignored the cooking part.
Lol. People want the result, without working on the core.
When I was in high school, going to the gym was fun. The idea was to work out with friends, but now it's like you described: they only go to take pictures to sell you the idea that they're healthy, fitness people. It's all about selling you a false image of life.
Not only that, there's the danger of being called a stalker or rapist for sitting on a machine, looking at the wall to rest for a while, and then a girl walks through the wall, sees you, turns around, and accuses you of being there all alone, even though you were there first, just to stalk her and stare at her butt. That happened to me once. Luckily, another girl saw everything, went up to her, and yelled, "Shut up, bitch, we want to work out!" That got rid of the troublemaker, but the feeling of dread stayed. From that day on, I never went back to a gym! Boom, an anecdote just popped up without me even realizing it.
i hear you there, (other side) im a girl and like all the guys at our gym are "there to work out" not try and perve at the girls.. they are too busy looking at their own arms in the mirrors.. lol
Ive never had an issue. However it does take them a few months of seeing me around before they nod and say hi... no doubt ... as you say... they are either TOO BUSY or worried about a girl accusing them of something.
you SHOULD be able to nod and say hi to everyone there if you want to..
I was saying above i find the girls more annoying at the gym than the guys.
It's great that you're still enjoying the gym. I haven't been back since that day, for obvious reasons. This time someone saw everything and was able to save me, but if it happens again, will there be no one who saw it? What can I expect? It's better not to risk it. I'll have to exercise at home, but calmly.
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STOPShoulders like bowling balls man! You're killing it!
I thought you said you were fat??
Social media fueling that comparison trap, it's turned us into a bunch of polite peepers😂 Thanks for the laugh and the wisdom. Cheers to less selfies and more real life 😊✨
Congratulations, you're a Gymfluencer now! Could you please post your protein shakes and pictures of the raw eggs and chicken you consume every 3h 39min 42sec? 😛
I didn't take any comparison pics, but I do remember how I looked 2 years ago. Very skinny. Always tearing something. I was in bad shape, in the middle of the burn out. Now, I gained a lot of muscle, went from around 75kg up to 83kg, and I'm very pleased with the results - it's notable that I'm healthy and exercising. And I'm not hurting myself as much as before.
Yeah. Sure. Totally unknown where a torn muscle in the groin could come from. 😝