I do an excessive amount of people watching in the gym…I’m sure most people there think I’m a bit weird as I’m always scanning the room observing what everyone is doing, and I’ve come to the realization that although on the surface it seems that everyone is there simply to ‘workout’ and ‘get in shape’ there is much more going on under the surface.

Is your workout invigorating or a punishment?

I came to this realization when I started paying attention to the facial expressions of each person while they’re at the gym.

Some look calm, some look happy, others look determined, some look desperate, and some look like they’re flat out in pain, and other look hopeless.

All of these expressions are completely separate from the story their physical body is telling.

In some cases a person who seems to be in good ‘shape’ looks desperate and stressed. In other cases an individual who obviously has a ways to go in order to get into what would be considered good ‘shape’ has a calm and confident look on their face.

In some cases it appears that people are there not for the invigorating and gratifying experience that working out can deliver but rather as a self mortification ritual…in other words, to punish themselves.

It has become apparent to me that when someone is attempting to get in shape part of the journey is diet, and other is exercise. Diet is much harder to stick to and commonly has feelings of failure and guilt associated when things don’t go as planned. It would seem that at least some people use the gym to punish themselves with exercise for their failings in dieting.

This can create a vicious cycle that leads to a miserable experience in both aspects of dieting and exercise and could sour a person to the entire journey for good.

If you currently workout or are thinking about working out, think about why you do it, and never use exercise as a form of punishment. If a workout doesn’t feel good, or invigorating or gratifying then you’re not in the correct mindset to be there. Take some time off, re-evaluate what you’re doing the approach your next workout with a fresh mindset.

Your workout should always be a positive experience for both mind and body.

John

The latest Adonis Index and Venus Index contest winners have just been announced and the pictures blew me away. Check them out if you haven’t already.

Adonis Index Contest Winners PIX

Clipped from: www.adonisindex.com (share this clip)

Venus Index Contest Winners PIX

Clipped from: www.venusindex.com (share this clip)

Congrats to all the winners.

This is what it’s all about. Setting a goal, and then doing what it takes to achieve that goal. The results speak for themselves.

Our next contest starts in January 2012 and the competition is just going to get better and better.

John

Earlier today I was browsing my facebook updates, procrastinating and just plain ol’ wasting time when I came across a picture of the villain in the forthcoming batman movie. This villain is called “Bane”. He is apparently a super genius who creates some form of serum (it’s known as venom) that makes him a super human juggernaut. In other words he develops some sort of super steroid that make him immensely powerful with an enhanced capacity to heal…hmm interesting, where else have we heard that one before? Maybe in the recently released captain america movie, where captain america is essentially a guy on steroids.

So in one case steroids make a man the villain, and in the next case they make another man a hero.

In fact there have been quite a few action/comic book movies where the hero or the villain was nothing more than an average guy who took some sort of drug or was infected or exposed to some sort of chemical reaction that makes them super strong and super big.

Apart from aliens from other planets like superman, or mutants who were born this way, it seems that hollywood, comic book fiction and even pro sports is teaching us that an effective way to become a hero is to take steroids…but you’re only a hero if you don’t get caught.

…and that is the apparent paradox.

Hero or Villain? McGwire during his time at St. Louis when he broke the homerun record

In real life steroids are looked down upon as some sort of taboo. When a sports figure it caught using them it’s considered cheating, unsportsmanlike and just plain old ‘wrong’. But before those same sports figures are caught when they are achieving super human feats of strength, power or endurance we all tune in and revere them for their seemingly super human abilities. For example, the ratings for baseball were amazing when Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds were breaking/setting/and re-breaking the homerun record.

Well we all know how that story ended…most of those home runs were hit with the extra thump of steroid induced muscle…but at the time it was happening nobody cared because we were watching something that was truly ‘superhuman’…as in, no normal/natural non chemically enhanced human can do this! It was like seeing a comic book hero come to life. And then when they were finally exposed for using drugs, they became the villain.

Here is the short list of steroid induced hero’s and villain’s (or something that is similar to steroids in that its some sort of chemical or gas or reaction of an external compound that makes them a super huge ass kicking muscle machine)

Bane (Bad guy in the next batman movie) – His vemon is a form of serum that gives him massive strength and muscle size)…in other words; a guy who was smart enough to develop his own steroids

Villain - "Bane" from the upcoming Batman Movie

Captain America (Good guy from the recently released movie) – Skinny twerp given super soldier serum giving him super human strength labelled as the ‘pinnacle of human development’)…in other words; a guy on steroids developed by the military

Incredible Hulk (Sometimes good guy, sometimes bad guy) – Gamma radiation alters his DNA allowing him to become super humanly strong and immune to harm…in other words; a guy who was accidentally exposed to radiation that makes him look like he’s on steroids when he is pissed off

Abomination (Bad guy from the recent incredible hulk movie) – Emil Blonsky see’s what the gamma radiation accident did to Bruce Banner to turn him into the hulk. Blonsky willingly subjects himself to the same radiation in order to gain super human strength…in other words: a guy who purposefully exposed himself to radiation to make him look like he is on steroids.

Human Juggernaut (Bad Guy) – has a magical gem that gives him super huaman power, strength size and durability)…in other words; a guy who found a new type of steroid in gem form

Black Panther (Good Guy) – Eats a special herb that gives him super human strength, agility, speed and power to the ‘peak of human development’)…in other words; a guy who is on ‘herbal’ steroids

Hero - Arnold as "Conan"

Mr Hyde (Good guy from the movie the league of extraordinary gentlemen) – When Dr. Jekyll ingests a chemical concoction it gives him super human strength size and stamina and an invulnerability to harm)…in other words; a doctor who developed his own steroids

Nick Fury (Good guy from recent marvel movies Iron Man, Thor, and the upcoming avengers movie) – Infinity Formula keeps him from ever aging…ok so it’s not necessarily the same as a steroid that makes him huge, but eternal youth is even better…in other words; a guy on anti aging drugs

Green Goblin (Bad guy from the recent spider man movies) – Norman Osborn takes his own serum that he was developing for the military as a super soldier formula, it gives him super human strength, power, agility and speed)…in other words: a billionaire CEO contracted by the government to create a steroid, who took his own drug once he created it.

Ok so those are just comic books, what about hollywood celebrities that portray other non comic book action hero’s? Well we got Rocky and Rambo and we know Stallone has been found with growth hormone. We got the Terminator and Conan and we know Schwarzenegger has admitted to using steroids. We got WWE wrestlers like Hulk Hogan who have been caught using steroids, and the list goes on and on.

Hmm…do we have any action hero’s at all that aren’t on steroids?…not likely.

It seems to me that comic books, hollywood and professional sports all teach us that drug use is synonymous with being both the hero and the villain. In hollywood and comic books both good and bad guys use drugs to get superhuman powers. In professional sports and hollywood athletes and celebrities use drugs to be the best at what they do and adored as a hero, but as soon as they are exposed for using drugs they are regarded as a villain.

I guess this is why celebrities and sports figures who use drugs never tell anyone and only admit it once they’re caught red handed. The day they are exposed is the day they go from drug induced hero, to drug abusing villain.

John

When I started working out I was about 16-17 years old. A buddy of mine and I both got weight sets and we worked out at each others houses in our basements. I was about 5’10 or so and 145-150lbs. I was pretty lanky, and I didn’t really know what I was doing. All I knew is that I wanted to be bigger, that’s it.

Best shape of my life at age 37

I read bodybuilding magazines to find out how to workout (the internet didn’t exist back then). After about a year of working out with weights at home I was finally ready to graduate up to going to a gym. This was an entirely new experience. There was so much more equipment and so many new exercises to try. There were also so many new people to talk to and observe. I tried every exercise I saw the bigger guys doing.

I talked to as many people as I could and tried to find out what worked best for them. I wanted to experiment with everything they had done so I could experience for myself.

This lead me to experimenting with all kinds of workout patterns and philosophies, supplements and even drugs. I wanted to experience it all.

Now 20 years later I can say I know whats its like to train with a world class powerlifting team, top level amateur bodybuilders, varsity athletes (hockey, football and rugby), and most recently fitness and figure competitors.

I know what it feels like to use steroids and bulk up to 250lbs, and I know what it’s like to come down off of those drugs and rediscover my body without drugs and find it’s natural strength and size limits.

Along the way I’ve worked at multiple sport supplement companies and had access to products and ingredients and used them at doses that nobody would dare try and could not afford (unless they were working there with me).

I’ve tried low carb diets, high protein diets, high fat diets, mega bulk up diets, you name it I’ve tried it.

I guess you could say that the past 20 years has been an ongoing experiment with my body, exercise and diet. The experiences I’ve had have led me to the creation of my current workout system for me the Adonis Index Workout and the Venus Index Workout for women.

The experiment isn’t over. At 37 years of age I’m in what I could easily say is the best shape of my life and my next order of business is to see how long I can maintain this condition.

Working out and paying attention to the way your diet affects your body isn’t a passing fad, or a phase that you go in and out of…at least not if you expect to have lasting results. This is a lifestyle, and something that has to be placed at the top of your priority list.

The point is that this is a process that never stops, and that doesn’t necessarily have a destination. It may have detours and stops along the way, but overall the look, shape and condition of your body will always be your responsibility and within your power to control if you choose to.

Your job is to decide what you want to do with your body, and then start the process that will make it happen.

John

I was at the gym yesterday, just like any other day. I was doing some squatting and I between sets I just sorta hang out at the squat rack, scanning the gym. I’ll glance at whatever game is on TV, then I take a quick look at the clock to see how much rest I have left, then I scan all of the other people in the gym. I can’t help it, I’m always observing everyone else. I guess this is a normal human reaction…perhaps I’m a bit more judgmental than others. But I like to think that I don’t ‘judge’ as much as I ‘label’.

In any event, on this particular day I found that my observant eye kept coming back to a particular girl in our gym. She is a rather muscular girl, too muscular, as in drug  induced muscle. Now I’ve seen this person 100 times before and she’s a perfectly nice girl but for some reason today her presence seemed to stick out.

At what point does it become too much?

What I noticed was that she seemed to be training harder than everyone else, I noticed the expression on her face during each rep of each set…and the expression wasn’t want I expected. It wasn’t an inspiring look, I wouldn’t describe it as determination, or an expression of serious focus or effort…it almost looked…desperate.

Then I started looking at her overall presence and actions, and I couldn’t help but perceive her as a totally desperate person (again this is my own perception).

I’m not sure why I felt this way, but I think it had something to do with the fact that she is clearly using steroids and has long since past any feminine or even fitness model level shape, she now looks much more like a man than a woman. Her determination and exhausting effort to build muscle seemed like a vain attempt to change or fix some other issue in her life.

It actually made me want to leave the gym because for a moment I wondered if I also looked so desperate, and as I type this I realize why it bothered me so much.

It reminds me of my former steroid days when I must have looked equally desperate. I was over 250lbs lifting as much weight as I could and never satisfied, always wanting to lift more and be bigger…nothing was ever enough. And now I look at this girl doing the same thing…and I wonder, when will she figure it out? When will she realize she is already too big, and already past what looks good, or what is healthy? When will it ever be enough for her?

Some people may look at her as a beacon of drive and determination and an example of dedication and discipline, but all I see is a desperate person who will never be satisfied with their body.

I guess the moral of the story is that working out can become an unhealthy obsession if you find your way into one of it’s bizarre subcultures.

I’m not suggesting that this happens to all people who compete, or take bodybuilding or powerlifting seriously…BUT it can if you  let it.

As with anything, there is a sweet spot that is just right, and then there is a level that simply becomes too much that ceases to be healthy.

At some point you have to be honest with yourself to know if you’ve crossed the line from healthy exercise habits to an obsessive compulsion.

Knowing where to draw the line and creating a healthy balance is one of the keys to adopting exercise and weight training as part of a lifelong strategy for health and well being. The point is you must always be in control if it, and not let it control you.

John