[quote]theBird wrote:
Yo, you got a problem? theBird will solve it!!
Hey kiddo,
So where do you work? Isnt there some where more private where you can work out?
Personally I would find it akward having my fellow workmates watching me grimace, lift, groan and push the limits of man-kind.
tweet tweet[/quote]
“Groaning to push the limits of man-kind” ??
I think he meant man-hind…
[quote]Nards wrote:
[quote]theBird wrote:
Yo, you got a problem? theBird will solve it!!
Hey kiddo,
So where do you work? Isnt there some where more private where you can work out?
Personally I would find it akward having my fellow workmates watching me grimace, lift, groan and push the limits of man-kind.
tweet tweet[/quote]
“Groaning to push the limits of man-kind” ??[/quote]
Give it time, it’s early. Once you look like your training is paying off people will (potentially) fuck off. Your earliest training sessions should be as isolated as possible, though, in my opinion. Ego is just too strong a driving force. Once there is something to “show off”(muscles, weights, etc…) you won’t get any gruff. It comes in phases(at least in my experience):
Phase 1: Small, goofy, don’t know what I’m doing. Endless concentration curls, pec deck flys, and leg extensions as I watch people from my personal bubble.
Phase 2: Started eating, got some size, looks like I’ve started to figure this lifting stuff out, more lifts but not a lot of weight. Dedication is there.
Phase 3: I’m big. I’ve discovered cut-off’s. I’m not cut but my arms look legit in said cut-off. Personal bubble is gone. I still watch people but now I’m watching them watch me. I grunt when it’s not entirely necessary, use cheesy phrases like “good lift brah” or “LOOK TWO FINGERS! PUSH THAT SHIT OUT”, and my calves and forearms are pathetic. Arm day is my favorite day.
Phase 4: Still “big” by general standards but not as much bulky. More cut. Better proportions(esp. calves and forearms). Personal bubble is back. I don’t watch people(unless they are fucking up royally so I can post it in a T-Nation forum). Favorite day is leg day. Back’s a close second. Gym time has become my time.
Point is it might be lame now but people will always be assholes. Look at where you’ve come from, assess where you are, and picture where you wanna go. People will only get in the way.
And don’t post lifting quotes on facebook; serious posts are often retarded. Unless it is about Randy Macho Man Savage’s death, shit was not cool.
[quote]Bmacres wrote:
Give it time, it’s early. Once you look like your training is paying off people will (potentially) fuck off. Your earliest training sessions should be as isolated as possible, though, in my opinion. Ego is just too strong a driving force. Once there is something to “show off”(muscles, weights, etc…) you won’t get any gruff. It comes in phases(at least in my experience):
Phase 1: Small, goofy, don’t know what I’m doing. Endless concentration curls, pec deck flys, and leg extensions as I watch people from my personal bubble.
Phase 2: Started eating, got some size, looks like I’ve started to figure this lifting stuff out, more lifts but not a lot of weight. Dedication is there.
Phase 3: I’m big. I’ve discovered cut-off’s. I’m not cut but my arms look legit in said cut-off. Personal bubble is gone. I still watch people but now I’m watching them watch me. I grunt when it’s not entirely necessary, use cheesy phrases like “good lift brah” or “LOOK TWO FINGERS! PUSH THAT SHIT OUT”, and my calves and forearms are pathetic. Arm day is my favorite day.
Phase 4: Still “big” by general standards but not as much bulky. More cut. Better proportions(esp. calves and forearms). Personal bubble is back. I don’t watch people(unless they are fucking up royally so I can post it in a T-Nation forum). Favorite day is leg day. Back’s a close second. Gym time has become my time.
Point is it might be lame now but people will always be assholes. Look at where you’ve come from, assess where you are, and picture where you wanna go. People will only get in the way.
And don’t post lifting quotes on facebook; serious posts are often retarded. Unless it is about Randy Macho Man Savage’s death, shit was not cool. [/quote]
Fuck with the guy pushing the prowler because he doesn’t look like hes been pushing a prowler? Jesus that’s lame.
C’est la vie. What can I do? Sure, facebook was a mistake, I see that now. But honestly where can you vent about something like this?
Dude, throw your car in neutral and push it around the parking lot. People will likely ask you “do you need help?” instead of the stupid questions you’re getting now, and you’ll get your health benefits along with maybe helping out this country’s “I am a wheezing land whale” problem.
I’m only half serious.
I don’t look like I workout (yet) and I have to deal with similar stuff often. People just bring up the topic for no reason, be it nutrition or working out.
At work I eat quite often, so sometimes someone would just start a conversation with “I don’t need to eat so often to feel good with myself”. What the…
Or “I’m quite happy with how I look, I don’t want muscles”.
I think that it’s a defensive attitude. They feel threatened for some reason and I never comment on anyone’s lifestyle or nutrition (except few friends) because I don’t care, so I have no idea why they bring this up.
I think the worst was one of my bosses asking me for counceling, because he wanted to start at the gym (his girlfriend started to do bodypump and he was “asked” to go with her) and I told him that if he wanted to get strong, he needed serious progress, eating, etc. and not bodypump and eating randomly.
He started to get so mad that he ended “You have nothing else in life, just your weights and your diet” or “with your restrictive diet you’re missing the pleasures of life”
So yeah…
I wonder how their attitude will be when I’m 10-15kg heavier…
but it is funny watching people push prowlers. i chuckled the first time i saw some people push one. they were doing an outdoor bootcamp fitness kind of class in the park and i had a few lolz. of course i also admired their efforts.
try not to worry about them. just turn up your i-pod, get into the zone, and do your thing. they probably will continue to shake their heads and chuckle a little, but so what? people do weird stuff all the time and working out is only one of them.
if it is convenient to push the prowler where you are pushing it then keep doing it.
just do your thing, dude.
I really wouldn’t worry too much about what other people think.
Honestly, there has been many threads posted here that say basically the same thing: no one understands why I train this way, eat this way, I’m the only girl in the gym lifting heavy (a personal favorite of mine, really whaaaa who fucking cares), everyone seems to think they are so special because people judge them in some way!
But hey, guess what, everyone judges whether they like to admit it or not. If it’s not your prowler work, it’s your clothes, your job, your car etc. So either get over it or pass your time worrying about what other people think.
OP, you said you are not going to stop training at work, so good, I train at work too and I am not going to stop due to a few un-educated people’s dumb remarks.
That you get an hour paid to train is awesome, BTW.
[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
… Most of the time all I get is people telling me how they’re 1) planning on joining a gym 2) Used to be in awesome shape 3) Know this dude who won the Golden Gloves like a million times 4) THEY won the Golden Gloves/sparred all time/won some tournament “back in the day” 5) they really should join a gym but it’s a) too much money b)they don’t have time…etc. etc. etc.
I never ask about any of this, I don’t know why people tell me these things.
[/quote]
They want to relate to you in some way. Simple social behavior (to gain acceptance by someone they view as a peer).
This happens to me quite a bit as well. Someone telling me of their wrestling days, or that they were on their collegiate rowing team, and they had good physiques.
The funniest (and most annoying) ones are when older dudes tell me they used to have long hair (with the connotation that they were radical hippies or some shit). They then show me an old picture of themselves with long hair and it’s usually a crappy pic from the 70’s… and their hair barely touches the collar, and it’s combed and feathered back on the sides.
LOL
I’ve always had a haircut you set your watch to.
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
… Most of the time all I get is people telling me how they’re 1) planning on joining a gym 2) Used to be in awesome shape 3) Know this dude who won the Golden Gloves like a million times 4) THEY won the Golden Gloves/sparred all time/won some tournament “back in the day” 5) they really should join a gym but it’s a) too much money b)they don’t have time…etc. etc. etc.
I never ask about any of this, I don’t know why people tell me these things.
[/quote]
They want to relate to you in some way. Simple social behavior (to gain acceptance by someone they view as a peer)…
[/quote]
This.
And people are social creatures who live in comparison to others. To some extent, we can’t help it. For example, I’m happy that I got a B on the test, until I know everyone else got an A. The grade is meaningless until I know how it compares to everyone else. It’s human nature. There have been studies about people’s “happiness” and most people are happiest if they are doing about the same, or a little better than their peers. If you are the poorest guy in the neighborhood, you are probably less happy than if you lived in a neighborhood where you are average or a little better.
It’s good to be aware of this, not because you can avoid it completely. You can’t. But I’ve found that some of the best things in life happen when you attempt to live by your own internal standards. The more you can do this, the easier it will be to find joy in your own measures of “success” whatever that means to you. It also makes it easier to sincerely be happy when other people succeed, instead of feeling jealous or diminished in some way.
Most of the comments I’ve gotten from people over the years about my level of fitness, have been complimentary. As a longtime runner, I do have people tell me about how they “used to run but got hurt”. Some people seem to want to warn me from that, so I think that’s well-meaning. Then I’ve had a few pretty negative comments from overweight sister-in-laws. I don’t have any blood relatives who are fat. Not one. So, there’s obviously some genetics at play, but they tend to make comments to the effect that either I’m very lucky to have good genes(which I am), lucky that I like vegetables, or that they could never do it. I think there’s a bit of jealousy there, and also disappointment that it isn’t an easy fix. Like, I just take this supplement and the weight stays off. When we are all together on a family vacation, it becomes pretty obvious why my husband and I are so much leaner. 
We eat a lot more healthfully, and move a lot more. And am I a little judgmental of them? Yes. It’s hard to escape it completely.
I also get some smirks and some jokes from my co-workers when I crank out my lunches of scrambled egg, tuna ground beef, oatz, almond butter (or random combinations of the above) and bags of mixed nuts.
However, I look big/strong enough for them to see that it’s obviously working for me. Also, it’s manual labor, so strength and fitness are not looked down upon here.
It also helps to stay friendly and calmly explain how the undefinable goo I’m eating gives me the strength to work properly.
The only thing I find annoying (this is outside my workplace though) is that every single person who casually lifts weights waltzes up to you and thinks he instantly is your best friend because he has also seen a gym from the inside once or twice.
Not than I’m anti-social person; quite the opposite actually but it is a bit of a weird dynamic
and one of the reasons why I said good-bye to commercial gyms about 3 years ago.
[quote]Dre the Hatchet wrote:
The only thing I find annoying (this is outside my workplace though) is that every single person who casually lifts weights waltzes up to you and thinks he instantly is your best friend because he has also seen a gym from the inside once or twice.
Not than I’m anti-social person; quite the opposite actually but it is a bit of a weird dynamic
and one of the reasons why I said good-bye to commercial gyms about 3 years ago.[/quote]
I find that a lot less annoying than the people who feel the need to make be a smart ass or warn me of my dangerous habits. I’m okay with listening to other people’s glory stories of when they used to work out.
[quote]ARobb77 wrote:
This is probably a re-hash of a thousand other threads, but I’m pretty sick of lazy dumbasses acting like I’m abnormal because I work out.
Long story short, Thursdays I take a sled and a homemade prowler to work for conditioning. There’s a lot of big open grassy areas to work out on that I don’t have at home. Plus we’re all given an hour of work time to exercise, why would I not use it?
As I’m working out I collect a few of stupid comments. One from a guy who doesn’t work who tells me I’m going to either have a heart attack or slip, fall and knock my teeth out on the sled. The other from a jogger who thinks it’s really funny to tell me I need to pull an entire set of tires (my sled is made out of an old tire).
Then one of the security guys comes up and thinks it’s really cool to tell me that he and a bunch of the other guards, most of whom are overweight, were alternately making fun of me and ogling some high school age cheerleaders who were taking a picture in front of one of his planes. Like being a fat, lecherous bastard makes him really cool.
I get home and being pretty annoyed by this, I post a quote from Rippetoe on facebook and start some minor drama there. Again, people who don’t train the way I do feel the need to make a smart-assed comment to prove something.
I don’t get it. Yes, I train pretty hard. But I’m still pretty new and I don’t have a particularly good physique, show off, or brag about weights I lift, etc. Nor would I even if I had any of those things. I don’t preach, hell I don’t even give advice unless asked. I live and let live, people can’t seem to do the same.
I listen politely to and read countless hours of discussion of the bull shit other people are interested in. Their stupid cars, how drunk they get on a regular basis, TV, movies, on and on and on but if I start to talk about training in even the most general terms I’m some kind of preachy, smug asshole.
I truly don’t want to believe that people are that damn insecure, but it sure looks that way.
Screw 'em.
[/quote]
You get an hour at work to workout, not including lunchbreak?
If so, thats freaking awesome, what do you work as if you dont mind me asking?
To avoid the judging bullshit you just need to hang out with a bunch of like minded people. Find a group to train with if possible.
[quote]supa power wrote:
[quote]ARobb77 wrote:
This is probably a re-hash of a thousand other threads, but I’m pretty sick of lazy dumbasses acting like I’m abnormal because I work out.
Long story short, Thursdays I take a sled and a homemade prowler to work for conditioning. There’s a lot of big open grassy areas to work out on that I don’t have at home. Plus we’re all given an hour of work time to exercise, why would I not use it?
As I’m working out I collect a few of stupid comments. One from a guy who doesn’t work who tells me I’m going to either have a heart attack or slip, fall and knock my teeth out on the sled. The other from a jogger who thinks it’s really funny to tell me I need to pull an entire set of tires (my sled is made out of an old tire).
Then one of the security guys comes up and thinks it’s really cool to tell me that he and a bunch of the other guards, most of whom are overweight, were alternately making fun of me and ogling some high school age cheerleaders who were taking a picture in front of one of his planes. Like being a fat, lecherous bastard makes him really cool.
I get home and being pretty annoyed by this, I post a quote from Rippetoe on facebook and start some minor drama there. Again, people who don’t train the way I do feel the need to make a smart-assed comment to prove something.
I don’t get it. Yes, I train pretty hard. But I’m still pretty new and I don’t have a particularly good physique, show off, or brag about weights I lift, etc. Nor would I even if I had any of those things. I don’t preach, hell I don’t even give advice unless asked. I live and let live, people can’t seem to do the same.
I listen politely to and read countless hours of discussion of the bull shit other people are interested in. Their stupid cars, how drunk they get on a regular basis, TV, movies, on and on and on but if I start to talk about training in even the most general terms I’m some kind of preachy, smug asshole.
I truly don’t want to believe that people are that damn insecure, but it sure looks that way.
Screw 'em.
[/quote]
You get an hour at work to workout, not including lunchbreak?
If so, thats freaking awesome, what do you work as if you dont mind me asking?
To avoid the judging bullshit you just need to hang out with a bunch of like minded people. Find a group to train with if possible.[/quote]
I’m a dual-status employee of the Air National Guard…
Can you say thin skinned?
Toughen up.
OP, getting stressed is pretty normal. I’ve been annoyed at work or with people I know many-a-time. I get at least one comment about my physique a week. Just make a joke and talk about something else. If they ask advice, throw them a bone.
One of my co-workers works out at the same gym as me. She’s been obviously gaining weight over the last few months, yet constantly talks about how she’s losing weight. I guess she likes to talk to me about it because we work out at the same gym. I try to be as friendly as possible, but it is hard. Just this weeks she told me that shes “giving up meat” to lose more weight. What am I to say to that? I try to give the most basic information I can. “That might work, but maybe you should check out fitday.com” or some-such.
Anyway, I guess my point is don’t worry about it. It won’t stop as you get fitter, it’ll just change.
[quote]ARobb77 wrote:
… a jogger who thinks it’s really funny to tell me I need to pull an entire set of tires (my sled is made out of an old tire).
[/quote]
I can see how the other stuff would be annoying. But the advice to pull an entire set of tires seems funny to me. I think I would have laughed at that one, if I had been in your position. Unless I was already in a rotten mood from the other stuff. But even then, I probably would have laughed while thinking about it sometime later.
I don’t think many people have seen a Prowler so they might think some guy had stolen one of the bull sleds from the local high school football team.
People treat you like you’re abnormal because you ARE abnormal. Remember that “normal” in American society means fat and lazy. Anybody who works out is abnormal by those standards.