I started workout out in 2020. Pandemic gave me time to exercise. I thought that i can continue to workout without distractions since i have no responsibilities that time. Fast forward today, its 2025 and i barely gained any muscles, more on weight.

I think its hard to get a chiseled body, but i know that i lack dedication to the pursuit as well. There were a lot of obstacle to the workout today that i have no time and no wish for that for that type of body. Though it wouldn't hurt have a six pack abs.

Here is why i started to workout:

Here is why i started to workout:

I was balding. I think this is the main reason. My thought process was, “if i were to be bald, might as well look fit/jacked so that im not looked as a loser”. It is in my genes to be balding. A curse that i bear and few others reading this.I did not look at this as a boon nor a benefit, but a built in biology blunder. I have come to embrace it after months of experiencing this and im fine with it. Me gaining pounds of muscle while bald(not balding) would make me look scary or intimidating. So bald + muscles = hunky alpha type.

I want to be fit. I was fat when i got to grade 4. Because life was good back then. Now that i am an adult, i would feel insecure comparing myself to people who are my age who is better looking at me, no, actually, who are better than me in general. It may be called as insecure, but to be honest, i am insecure about my body not being able to execute some things that other people can do.Building my body could decrease the gap between the people who are better than me, one step at a time. A good body has a few positives, not just only for health but other things as well.

I want to learn to fight. I may not have gone to a natural art school, but when i started to workout, i also stumble to fighting videos on YouTube. And i also watch anime with hand to hand combat so i wanted to learn as well. I thought that if i learned to fight, i would become a badass. Maybe it would do that, but i still have to be consistent at this practice. I also think that it is a must, even today, as a man to learn to fight. I think that we gave all imagined or atleast accidentally thought of protecting our family against bad guys.

I want to attract the ladies. Im just a boy uwu. Research said that the ladies love muscles, and hey, i was single that time and no prospects in sight. Also again with being insecure and judging myself, i ask me, “would females look at me as a person of interest romantically? Am i worth loving?”. I know physical attraction is just getting the foot in the door, but that foot will be the judge if you can enter (shout out to all the foot fetish peeps here). A healthy mind is sexy but you cant have sex with brains. Mind and body should match, and the first thing that you can fix is your body, which also affects your brain positively, so its a win-win.

PI am a man. If did not see the pattern, I like to “should” myself. “I should do this, i should be like that”, unhealthy but helpful in some ways. It pushes me to do something, and i barely do anything if not held at gunpoint. As a man, i “should” be strong, yes? I should be generally stronger than females, can fight equally to other men and not feel that i'm at disadvantage. This reason of “I am a man so that i must be strong” feels like a natural thing to aim for so i aim at it. I don’t think most people want weak fathers, brothers, male friends, so atleast physically, we must be strong.

I also found art of manliness at this time, which is why i wanted to be the best version of me. I’m heavily inspired by Sir Brett McKay.

Now let’s see head back to the present. I’m barely what i want. Yes im muscular, but i also have fats. Based on my latest check online, im 19% body fat, almost fit. I play basketball with coworkers and i can barely play for a whole quarter. Now let’s see what i think made me had this result.

What caused of the mediocre result?

Poor proper nutrition. In the Philippines, it is normal for the kid to be with their family for a long time. So what the food in the house, is also my food. We have a kid here as well, so we stack up on junk foods, which ended up all on my stomach, a big reason why im not as hunky i would have been. I learned that i need more protein to build and repair muscles, but i have no money so i just make do, i eat oatmeal with peanut butter, less rice more meat. But i am not a disciplined individual, far from it. This is a big reason why i have less defined muscle as i should have been since the nutrition is the main reason for muscle growth.

Poor Proper sleep. I started to work out in the pandemic, so im at home everyday. And some times i talk with my online friends and you forget how fast time went by when you are doing something fun. So i sleep very late at night regret it the next day. Sleep is another factor for muscle growth, you gotta sleep good so that you feel good and the muscles can repair good. Sleep is where you take a rest, and the body repairs itself so that the next day, you can function well and refurbish or better yet, upgrade the parts of you body that you usually use so it does not damage itself to destruction.

Half-assing the workout. The most thing im lowkey embarrassed to tell and main thing i dont progress far enough. I hate pain, working out is fine but when my muscles cries for pain, i gotta hal ass the sets. Instead of 15 pushups, i do 15, then 13, then 10. Instead of pike pushups, i do knee pushups. Yes there is still progress but i can grow past that. Arm workouts are really hard for me for some reason. Bench pressing 30kg including the bar is the worst. I reduce the weight so that i can finish the set, then it takes me long time to get to the average weight i can lift. I try to make some reason that, i can still lift, or i still fee stronger than before so no need to push my limits. That is a big part of my mediocre result.

Distracted. Again, i started at the pandemic.I have time to do anything else. I learned to 3d model specifically 3d sculpting which i really love doing. I started streaming since we have faster internet. And other things as well that i did, i forgot but i did things at home. I did initially do bodyweight workouts everyday or 3 times a week. Which gave results fast. But the next year, i barely notice everything. Maybe i was focused on 3d and streaming that my workouts became few and far between. So i was distracted, but still did few workouts here and there.

My body right now is still mediocre, i have the love handles which when i see after i shower, i kinda want it to be gone. I want to see my 8 pack abs even for a day to see how aesthetic may body could be. Ahh but oh well… Anyways, here are the things i would do to get my fit body.

What would be my strategy to be fit

Fix sleep, nutrition and workout. The main things. If were to just focus on these three things then i would be jack (not that jacked but you know what i mean). The fundamentals of being bigger. My sleep is better, nutrition part is so whack since im saving and living alone in the city so my budget could not be better. And for the workout part, currently my job can be physically demanding so i tend to skip working out. But i am trying to workout again at least three times a week for my muscles to be worked up. Thats it. Sleep for 7-9 hours if im lucky, Eat more chicken and rice for protein and energy, and workout 3 times a week WITH A PLAN, not just doing random workouts, but i will focus on doing the compound lifts since its a bang for my time.

Extra things to do

Go to martial arts gym. For fighting. I did a bit of nogi jiu jitsu and i had fun. I just cant do it since again, im an inconsistent individual. But yeah, with a proper budget, i would probably do Muay Thai or Kick boxing and Jiu Jitsu again, even though i suck!!!!!! This would probably boost my confidence in terms of being around people who looks like they want to start some beef. Also it could teach me to be humble, since from what i’ve heard, people who learns to fight tend to avoid fighting. Also not a body-enhancer but, i want to learn to handle handguns as well. Martial arts for melee combat and a pistol for a long range fighting.

Run. The company I'm in holds an annual basketball tournament, just a friendly fade with coworkers. And from the performance of myself in the past games, my stamina suck, probably because i'm carrying too many body fat. Running can enhance my stamina, a sprint can enhance my explosiveness and keep up with my team and foes. Also running is good for the cardiovascular health, and can be used in other activities like running away from a fight, running for the closing elevator, and longer sexy time. I will probably do cardio after weightlifting since i heard that running first will result in poor lifting power afterwards.

Mix working out with socializing. Gym has other people so why not try to talk to them? I used to try to engaged in conversation first, but tend to fail since i am really not a talker in nature, i tend to be quiet. So when in gym, i try to atleast talk to a person when near at them like “are you using this rack?” or something like that to just start a conversation. Sometimes they start the interaction which is nice, since they acknowledge me that im there. Also having some gym friends will motivate you to lift harder and be consistent going.

Find activities that works out the body. The gym is not the only place to work the body out. In running, my lady and i go out and find a place where people would jog, and we jog there. We can also do other activities like hiking, trekking which also works the body, and different from other activities. These activities can also start friendly conversation since most of the time, to start trekking/hiking, you have to join a joiners to ease up the fees of doing said activity. Another 2 birds in one stone, workout outside the gym, talk to other people and connect, and also, experience nature or other things that could define how you enjoy your life. So thats like 3 birds.

Meditation. To be honest, this does not improve your physique, but it does improve your mental state. Think of meditation as lubing up the slide so that when you use it, it doesnt hurt going down. Meditation clears up the mind. It makes you see things clear in your life, maybe it would affect me positively and help me workout, in a sense that you have to be present when working out. Being in tension forces you to be in the present, and with meditation, it escalates how fast you can be in that state. So meditation does not increase muscle, but it increases your muscle and mind connection.

Conclusion

Working out is fun. You get to move and moving give your brain some good hormones. It helps us be fit and healthy. And for me, i am thankful for discovering working out. I wished i did it sooner but this is fine, atleast i started. For the people who are starting to their working out journey, i suggest taking it slow. Do bodyweight lifting first, do the easiest form, and gradually step it up. Focus in proper form, warm up before working out, and cool down after. Some might take months to see progress, and some for a while. Remember that a good physique is just a by-product of a better gain, which is being in the present, taking care of yourself, and those likes in facebook and instagram when you post your progress!