I'm still alive and still loosely follow this thread. It fills me with nostalgia and has encouraged me to reflect. I've been on Smogon for well over 10 years now and below is a collage of the first 'fitness' picture I ever posted on these forums alongside a more recent one from a few days ago. A 10 year transformation if you will.
Is this an impressive change over the space of a decade? That would vary based on opinion but I'm sharing it because it is honest and I believe it to be a more accurate representation of the progress that you can expect, as opposed to the dubious transformation pictures on places like Instagram. I'm a pretty normal guy - in fact I was always considered to be puny growing up - who has trained consistently for around 14 years (and yes, I'm a life-time natural). Over those years I've developed 5 golden rules and I'm going to share some those here, for the benefit of the next generation of Smogoners.
1. Think long-term
Too many people expect mind blowing results in 6 months and overlook the fact that fitness is a life-long pursuit. There will be ups and downs, backs and forths...the progress is not always linear. I don't believe that I train particularly hard. I've seen people in the gym screaming, puking, crying...they never seem to last long. My advice would be to incorporate your fitness regime into your life in such a way that it is sustainable in the long-term. By all means set short term targets but always think long-term. It's not glamorous and it's not what people always want to hear, but it's what they need to hear. Look at what you're doing and think 'could I do this for the next 5 years?' If the answer is no then you need to reassess.
2. Question everything
You live in a wonderful time for fitness...there are a thousand online articles on every subject, an army of experienced coaches on hand to share their expertise. Use it. Read everything. Go to T-Nation and just go nuts. But question everything. No matter how many citations an article has, no matter how qualified the author - some things just need to be learnt and experienced personally. You are your own test-subject. Trial and error the shit out of anything that piques your interest. Don't be that gym douche who strays away from cardio because he read that it would cost him his gains. Don't avoid stretching because such-and-such an article said it was ineffective. Don't persevere with a certain way of training because 'apparently' it's the best way of doing it. Try things for yourself, keep the useful and discard the useless. As long as you're working hard at something, it doesn't matter. Here's an example; when I was younger I wanted to 'tone up.' Even mention those words in fitness circles and you'll be mocked, ridiculed...told it's impossible and that you should just lift heavy weights. As a stubborn young man I ignored those comments and started doing lots of movements for high reps with low weight. I'd cycle through movements with short rest periods. Whether I 'toned up' is debatable but I did end up regularly doing a workout that would, by today's standards, be recognised as HIIT - a lauded, hugely effective style of training. It wasn't really a thing back then though and I certainly didn't know I was doing it. But I had noted that it was effective and that I was getting fitter and stronger. I still do a version of this workout now - a workout that, had I listened to the conventional wisdom of the time, would never have existed.
3. Don't stop learning
This kinda overlaps with the above one but never, ever assume you know everything. I've been training for 14 years and even this year I've discovered things that have changed the way I approach my training. Don't go stale.
4. Always have a rival
This goes against all those feel-good messages of 'your only competition is yourself.' Rubbish. We (especially males) are naturally competitive and that should be harnessed. Walk into a gym, identify somebody who is more advanced than you and think 'I'm going to surpass him.' Join a running club, find somebody who's a little bit faster than you and aim to beat him. Then pick a new rival. And so on. There are really only two ways of measuring your fitness; i) how you are now compared to how you used to be and ii) how you are compared to others. Utilise both of these means of measurement. Don't be a dick about it though - your 'rival' doesn't even need to know you exist.
5. Walk Alone
Another controversial one. A lot has been written about the benefits of training with others. Those benefits are common knowledge so I won't repeat them here...I'll merely state that I do recognise them. However, I believe a fitness journey should always have an over-riding theme of staunch independence. If your training hinges on the participation of another person then you'll never truly be in control of your own progress. Relying on others takes away your autonomy. By all means train with your friends, join clubs etc. But always put yourself first and always be prepared to train alone.
Till next time Smogon dudes.
