In my last post, I asked, ‘Why are you training anyway?‘. Turns out a lot of people have a flawed answer.
Just pop by a commercial gym, and you’d see many people hammering away at their activities. You’d probably come across the sight of the young adolescent male doing his 5th set of bicep curls, or the young lady going for a 3 minute mile, or the middle-aged guy doing lateral raises in front of the mirror.
If you’re bold enough, ask someone why they’re training. Most of the time, you’d get a simplistic answer. Something like, “To stay fit”, “To tone up these arms”, “To look swole”, “To prevent myself from looking old”, “To look great naked”, and so on.
Evidently, most people who train really hard don’t know why they’re training really hard. They just assume that they should be training that way.
Yet, it would be unfair to simply state that people are clueless. Obviously the answers above hint at some greater purpose, however vague that may be.
But they didn’t own that purpose. They pick and chose from one of the pre-defined societal urges that direct where they think they should be striving for.
So would people actually obsess over their training, and go to great extents (including many negative ones, like steroids) to get better, all for some funny vague goal that isn’t even theirs?
Well, Yes. And I think it’s Pluralistic Ignorance at work.
In simpler terms, courtesy of Wikipedia, “No one believes [insert subject], but everyone thinks that everyone believes [whatever subject]” Eg: Guys believe that Girls like Big Biceps and a Chiseled Chest. Girls believe that Guys want a tiny waist and a nice butt.
We still need an answer to the question, “Why am I training?” Why not create an outcome that you can control, instead of relying on someone else to supply it to you? Of course, many people will continue on the same old path, after all..
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- Why are you training anyway? To gym rats, the fitness junkies, and the washed-up meatheads....
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I train because I can.
Power to You!