As I slid another 45-pound plate onto the bar, I had an odd sensation of nostalgia. This felt somewhat disturbing, so I stopped and wondered when the last time was that I had lifted as much weight. For the better part of the last year, my workout had consisted of exercises unrelated to weightlifting, such as running long distances and doing a bunch of jumping jacks.
Getting back into the weightlifting routine, I realized I was a whole lot weaker on the bench than I had been a year and half ago. This decline merited further examination.
Measuring progress and fitness can be a challenge. Many newcomers make the big mistake of comparing themselves to gym queens at the YMCA. This can be intimidating and discouraging. After discussing working out with my friend “Incitatus”, we agreed that a very good method for measuring progress or degradation over time is yourself. Here is what he said:
id go nuts if i didnt work out. modern man has no battles to fight, just apathy
i started working out and continue to workout solely for the feeling i get, looking the way i do being appealing to females is just a side effect. but doing it for myself solitary, on a rigid schedule, created for me personal battles id engage in with myself, and to me defeating a weaker form of myself is more than i could ever get lifting more than someone else.
I asked him why and how this method of introspection applied to physical exercise works for him:
i take the mentality into my workouts that its a literal struggle for my life, and if i wouldnt give the same amount during a time of physical conflict, then i dont deserve to live
yeah i really internalized that concept, of killing off an old version of myself
thats why when i hear people saying they need to have a workout partner to get them motivated, i know they havent lit the fire yet
My employment over the last decade has given me hard numbers of many aspects of fitness that I accomplished in the past. I have noticed I can run faster whenever my schedule stabilizes and I can run more often. Could I outrun myself 10 years ago? No, but I have not degraded too far from that point.
As for lifting weights at the gym, from the squat rack to the bench, I am at the point where I can lift about 30 to 40% more than I could 10 years ago. Aside from comparing fitness with one’s own self, you could ask other questions related to it.
As for “killing off an old version of myself,” if i could to get in a physical altercation with myself from 10 years ago, I am pretty confident a present-day version would come out on top. Other factors such as knowledge, experience, and jadedness would come into play on this one. Taking this thread a little further, if i were to play the most dangerous game with myself of 10 years ago, I still think today’s version would win.
This internal comparison caused me to look at people I know. A lot of my friends were in great shape when they soldiered beside me many years ago. It’s sad because more than a few of them have up clearly declined from that level since then, and I have noticed that the slide into has-been status correlates with a decline in socioeconomic status.
Buying big trucks with deployment money is no longer an option for some. Whether one causes the other, I do not know, it just correlates. Some of my friends have been able to maintain or exceed what they were in the past and their success also correlates with a higher socioeconomic status.
What can one do to avoid the slide into has-been status? First thing that comes to mind is the obvious: continue doing what put you into shape in the first place and not stop. Second, avoid poisoning your body by smoking and drinking. Eating at McDonald’s won’t really help improve yourself. A cut flower will always die, no matter how often you change the water the vase.
A lot of people think they were heroes in their own time. Even more think they are still heroes in their own mind. Stop and think about whether the accomplishments you brag about seem to be in your distant past, and if so, what direction you are heading in. Could you kill a past version of yourself?
Read More: Self-Improvement Is Not Just For Young Guys
This concept of self-improvement does make you think. As we push forward in life, we are always competing with ourselves. I may have to incorporate this mentality into my own regimen as I have also looked to compete with others for improvements. Great article.
But could you beat the SAME version of you in a mock turtleneck??
Self improvement is one of the most important elements that we as men, must understand.
As we are now in the New Year, it provides us with the opportunity to make a fresh start and change our old habits and ways. This can be the time to get in shape, start to create a new budget and savings target, to try and develop a new reading list, pursue our entrepreneurial spirits etc.
The list of targets and goals are endless. But what is important is that we follow through with them. Remember, there are men, who are only thinkers- people who tell you they are going to do something, but later, do not follow through with what they told you. Then there are men who are doers- people who actually do follow with what they tell you and accomplish their goals.
This is what defines and seperates the winners from the losers. Therefore, it is essential that we as men, continue to endevour and strive through our time on Earth, reaching and living our lives to the fullest, by constantly working and improving ourselves.
I can say without reservation that 30 year old me could kick the shit out of 25 year old me.
This motivational AMV is for any of you Red-Pillers that were DBZ fans as teenagers.
When I was in college, we compared cramming for tests to how DBZ characters would spend 19 minutes of a 22 minute show charging up for one big attack.
Nice. I was a bit too old for this, I was Robotech/Appleseed/Akira kid myself.
Have any of you seen the toon on Cartoonnetwork called SheWow(SheZow)?
Its about a boy who turns into a superhero- as a transvestite.
And you tell me there isnt a concerted effort to fuck up the minds of little boys?
The Japanese did it before with Ranma 1/2.
did what? That anime features boys turning into girls/trannys to save the world? What year is that from? Thanks.
It’s from the 80s, I think. I haven’t really seen it, but heard about it when I used to be into anime. I think that he saves the world, but wished to be a woman or something so that he could sneak peeks at girls in the dressing room or something like that.
Close enough. I think he was cursed that he would turn into a woman in a cold shower and back into a man with a hot shower. Had no interest in watching it either so you aren’t alone there.
I’ve only seen Akira from your list, and it is obviously a classic . I think some anime can be pretty damn red-pill. DB/DBZ is all about self-improvement and breaking your own limits. And DBZ absolutely does not sugar-coat relationships with women… I think other cultures with longer historical context already have a grasp of what women are really like, and it bleeds into their art.
Even blue-pill Japanese anime is better than our cartoons. The director Miyazaki tends to gloss over the depths of male/female BS in favour of creating stories that deal with even broader themes. He intentionally and clearly presents his characters as unrealistically innocent and pure. He creates an ideal world to explore spiritual truths. Contrast that to the show you described, SheWow, where the main attraction is the fact that the main character is a transvestite… I haven’t seen it but I truly doubt that it has any educational value whatsoever.
That’s a solid assessment of beta/alpha transitions within a cartoon paradigm. My awakening came through Cowboy Bebop. That show was all Red from Spike being sentenced to death by his ex to Jett being a law enforcement official who couldn’t let go of his past. I guess the episode must have been Black Dog Serenade. Jett was chasing the man who shot his arm off, only to realize his best friend and work partner shot it off. He spent years blaming a criminal when it was his close friend who he may have even invited to meet his ex-fiance. The same former friend murdered the falsely accused criminal and left his holster empty so that the friend he betrayed could kill him. And what does the dying former friend say as he is passing on? “I guess I couldn’t quit smoking after all.” Must have been 16 when I saw that episode. No fan fare. No great moral. Just the cold ruthlessness of self interest and the waft from a smoking gun to watch the episode trail off. Never saw anime the same way again.
Miyazaki was red pill? I could be mistaken, but wasnt he the guy who directed movies like howls moving castle and princess mononoke? I ask bc if he did DBZ in the 90s, and made movies like these in the 2000s, well thats a hell of a shift…those flicks are all grrrl power…
Akira Toriyama did DB and DBZ. Miyazaki is just hailed as a superb animator.
Maybe I was unclear.
I’m saying Miyazaki was beta, but I think the artistic quality of his work far exceeds our bullshit animated programming.
I’m suggesting that Miyazaki bypasses red-pill blue-pill and focuses almost exclusively on the imaginative and innocent worlds of children. He has both young boy and young girl protagonists. By avoiding the jadedness of adult male/female dynamics he gets to explore more universal truths. His work IS quite blue-pill… but I think it is quality nonetheless.
I would also recommend Death Note, one of my favourite anime’s.
Cowboy Bebop is my favourite show of all time period.
I didn’t like Black Dog Serenade until like the 3rd time I watched it and now it is one of my favourite episodes. Jett was in some ways my favourite character. He personifies the good-natured middle aged man who works hard with his hands and how this world can so easily betray him. Jett is a friggin sci-fi MGTOW… If only he learned Game.
And yeah between Spike’s story and Faye as the high-maintenance solipsistic 9.5, that show has quite a bit of red-pill truth in there.
Spike’s oneitis for Julia was his undoing…
Cowboy Bebop has one of my all time favorite soundtracks. Some of those tunes are great for when you need to drive faster.
DN was great but only season 1.
code geass is even better. lelouche lamprouche is basically a better, modern day count of monte cristo.
That’s funny but you’re right! I wouldn’t have thought of him as MGTOW but he lost the woman he loved, didn’t care for anything other than some answers, which he got none, lost his arm and job, only to go independent, utilize his resources and all but forgo society. No woman, no hopes, no aspirations other than smooth living and to be around the people he cares for.
Spike was amazingly red pill. If he hadn’t been obsessed with Julia, the lone saving grace in the life of murder he chose, he would have been free. While the creator emphasized later Spike could still be alive, the point is clear, if he left his past behind aside from what he had to deal with, he would have lived on after he faced Vicious.
There are few shows that had so much weight to it like Bebop but some other favorites of mine are Deathnote, S-Cry-Ed, Trigun, Golgo-13, to name a few. I only wish other story creators took their craft as seriously as Japanese animators.
Spike is interesting because he was compassionate to everyone he met… Except Vicious of course…
Everyone trusted that Spike’s true nature was good even though he was a bounty hunter by trade.
I absolutely loved Trigun as well…
I’d like to recommend Samurai Champloo. Its by the same team who did Cowboy Bebop, and although Bebop is the all-time classic S.C. carries the torch very well. It takes place in Samurai era and instead of a jazz theme (aka Bebop) it has a hip-hop theme all the way through. It is just as red-pill as Bebop and just as hilarious.
Samurai Champloo is another one while I didn’t recommend it, is another favorite easily. The slow reveal of character and straight up bad assery involved while two men, clearly the last men of a bygone era, must forge a way to protect their manhood while evolving with the times. I made it a tradition to watch the show over annually. This year will probably be no exception. Any time the profession of prostitution and race can be discussed with clarity is a time where I’ll pay attention.
Trigun had three intense moments where you get shaken to your core. One is when Knives jettisons the human race for destruction because they proved to be racist and destructive. The second was when Legato declares with nihilism how worthless his life is and how it is farce for Vash to be benevolent before he forces Vash to assist him in suicide, and the final
moment would be the morning after. It took me years before I realized the value in facing your actions, especially when they go against your moral code.
One of my favorite animes has to be History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi. The protagonist is about as beta as you can
get, but there is one small, strong, alpha component to him. His
determination. It proves to be his strongest trait as the story does everything it can to break him. It is his desire to have the strength to protect what he loves and his desire to protect a woman, who is kind of his betrothed in that she has no eyes for any other man, that unlocks all of his best strengths and reveals some of his worst. Also one of the few times, a desire for love pushes someone forward in the right way. Try finding chastity now.
Right on man.
Glad to come across someone who has a deeper appreciation for great anime. Some of it truly is sublime.
Not sure if I still remember my favorites but Tank!, The Real Folk Blues, Space Lion(if there was any song I want as my send off that would be it), Mushroom Haunting, and my personal favorite aside from New York, Want it all Back.
You and me both! Anime gets a lot of flack because a lot of people who are looking to promote themselves as the epitome of maturity. Some might also just not like them. I appreciate great story as it is the lifeblood of showing truths without harping on someone or forcing someone to experience them themselves. Also not all anime are created equal and it takes a special person to see a show for what it is, and not the fan fare created by it. I think anime gets a bad wrap due to many teens and young adults who dress like Goku and Final Fantasy 7 characters or the girls who make you feel like a pedophile as they dress as Sailor Moon characters and Pokemon figures. Move past them and you get some of the richest story-telling to grace the planet since the tales of Conan the Barbarian and Sherlock Holmes.
Cool thanks for all the recommendations.
Yeah I agree… even the classics of anime were way ahead of any Disney bullshit the West was producing. The first time I watched Akira all the way through my head almost exploded… it went waaaay beyond anything animated I’d ever seen… Same with Ghost in the Shell…
For me growing up the most hardcore cartoons from the West were Spawn, the movie Heavy Metal, or the music video for Do the Evolution by Pearl Jam. Everything else was mostly cookie-cutter… but still better than the ADHD kid-crack we have now.
I also want to mention the 90s X-Men animated show which practically defines the best of the animated 90s IMO. I woke up Saturday mornings just to watch that show and then went back to sleep afterwards. I still have VHS tapes of them somewhere in my house from recording them back in the day.
But even so… and feel free to disagree with me… DB/DBZ had a something something else that no western kids cartoon could touch… Definitely it had some awesome themes, ideas, the most epic build-ups ever, and it tried to push the envelope without any restrictions (Goku dies, makes friends in the afterlife, trains with an eternal guru, and then comes back and literally propels the show into outer space…)… but what I think really made it shine as the most classic anime media of all time… is its magical charm… they weren’t always fighting… and in those peaceful moments the show didn’t just break down… the characters knew how to just live, start families, cultivate friendships, and have good humour.
Cheers mate.
To your point, the 90’s was the last period of quality cartoons in America. To that list of X-Men, I will add Gargoyles. There were many more that I could add to that list but the episodes would be sporadic and reasons varied as to why I would choose the quality or issues discussed within each. For example a fairly unpopular cartoon, Bonkers, of the Disney Afternoon cartoon block on weekdays in America discussed the theme of death in an unusual way. The cartoon characters were living in the real world, quite similar to Roger Rabbit’s world. However, someone had released paint thinner/turpentine on the denizens and the characters were disappearing one after the other. They culprit was found but not before Bonkers, the hero the title was named after takes a dip. As he fades away he says his goodbyes and you realize to the characters of that world, he made a difference. It struck me long term but currently kids receive more instruction on sex than they do about quality of life.
On Dragon Ball Z, there is a secret within that show. The main character is crafted after two things, The Monkey King mythos and Children’s Day. On Children’s day in Japan, a national holiday, the kids are celebrated and that day is seen as a true day to be glad. Retained within Goku, is a level of naivete about life, a decision to stay true to your goals, and a piece of mind that your truest goals, will bring the people you need and the best quality of life imaginable. And the cemented unifier? The Spirit Bomb. This country bumpkin. This alien reject, could raise his hands and move the universe to trust him to protect them all. The planet itself moved for him. And as naive as I might have been at that age, I wanted to believe a man could make a difference if he asked the universe for something. It is that hidden gem that makes DB and DBZ a life long classic that should be shown to new generations.
Within that show we learned who will tame the princess and the shrew alike, the alpha. And we also learned who are the ones who should be asking the universe anything and who can move the world. It is also us men. Thanks for the reminder Kal, as I haven’t thought of that show in depth in years.
I revisited DBZ through YouTube the last few months as I spent days and days editing my Masters work (which drove me nuts btw). Somehow it was the perfect thing to watch… My paper was Frieza/Cell/Buu, and I was Goku hahaha.
Anyways, like you said Goku tames Chi-Chi and gives her Gohan… He sticks to his mission always to be the very best he can be and thus maintains her affections throughout the show. Goku even brushes off Bulma’s whorish attempts to manipulate him in DB.
Goku is not a thug-alpha… or a faker… or an asshole… or a cruelly power-driven person… Goku represents the True Alpha. Just like Conan the Barbarian (another favourite of mine), life flows out of Goku… and anyone that be-friends him becomes greater themselves… It takes Vegeta all the way until the very end of the show to accept that Goku is the true alpha, and that his ultimately good nature is part of the equation.
DBZ comes across as silly most of the time… But after re-watching it I’ve come to realize how truly brilliant it is. Toriyama is Master Class.
BTW Red Hood, I just wanted to say your writing style has developed quite a bit since the last time we conversed. I dare say that RoK is making us all better writers.
Robotech (The harmony Gold conflation of Macross, Southern Cross, and Mospeada Animes) Was pretty damned red pill as well. Especially when you start looking at the Zentreadi and the reactions of characters like Lisa Hayes and Lin Minmei.
As one of the first syndicated animes in the US, the story was completely rewritten from that of the original anime, and it actually is a much better story on all fronts.
A few of you guys have mentioned it. I think I’ll check out the dubbed version.
I never expected to find anime fans in the manosphere. This comment section was a pleasant suprise.
I’m more of a Gungrave type of guy. Either that or GTO.
GTO is hilarious. I never got into Gungrave. That Vampire Hunter D or Claymore. Claymore is dull as shit. But for a fun show with a female lead, check Black Lagoon.
Onizuka is the shit. True alpha, in a way most guys could relate. Highly recommended. I got a book for free at an anime convention and that was it. Bought the books and the first season anime. There is a lack of alpha characters in anime. It seems inundated with strong female characters
GTO was a good show.
I guess I should check out Bebop.
One of the last good series I saw was Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi (its about 10 yrs old).
Wasn’t there a recent blue ray remake of the macross saga? Check this out
There’s been like a dozen Macross remakes of various flavors. Macross Saga, Macross Blaster, Macross space fortress, Super Space fortress, a bunch more I probably don’t know about since I stopped being interested in Anime when I became an adult.
That is a solid assessment all around Clark. It always blew my mind how quick some adults were to look down on anime and then fawn over good sheeple story-telling. Hunger Games is a solid example of this as it is now well known Battle Royale was blatantly ripped off for the Hunger Games to be crafted. Story-telling is both tribal and universal as the tales of Hercules has been retold for centuries. As have the tales of Anansi. And let’s not even get started on the parallels one can draw between Anubis and Batman. Ra’s Al Ghul even dons the head of the Jackal.
The entrenched symbolism of ancient stories is another discussion entirely. But while others may watch anime because they deeply appreciate the sub-culture, I watch anime because of it’s respect of quality story-telling.
Thanks for noticing the improvements. I have often said this, ROK has some of the brightest and most fluid minds I’ve ever encountered while on this planet. The fact that there are no pretensions here are a huge plus. In a former life, I would often think up characters and silently dreamed of being a story-teller. Then payment issues came about and as most dreamers do, I woke up. Some day soon, I may rest and start to dream again. If that happens, I may just start crafting stories of my own.
In some ways, while we gather on this site and sharpen each other with logic and wit, we may start to become true brothers in arms. Warriors of sorts, banded together determined to have a higher quality of life.
Ah Man! I didn’t even see that last line! Best line from that series:
You’re Gonna Carry That Weight.
You won’t be disappointed. Not sure if you familiar with comics but at times the fanfare it received was as grossly overrated as that given to the destructionist comic Watchmen. It is an amazing series but only if you watch it closely. Otherwise it will go over your head easily as over-hyped nonsense. Every episode is like it’s own story. At times the episodes will throw you off but the episodes to be mindful of, if you are being linear with your viewing, are 1,5,6,8,10,12,13,16,19,22-26. Some of the other episodes do well to flesh out characters but hidden within each episode, beside it’s illustrious cinematography and pacing, are solid red pilled gems that are hard to miss due to the pacing.
I will take a look at Magical Shopping Arcade since I’ve never heard of it. Never can find enough quality stories.
I’ve noticed that push as well. The creator of Creator of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo worked on a coming of age story with a woman as a lead. Former convict who birthed a girl before entering the prison system titled Michiko to Hatchin. At best it is a B- grade anime. The story is solid and ‘nice’. But the problem is women are complex and usually uninteresting to watch long term unless it is in regards to sex. Not because sex is their main focus but they aren’t selfless on a grand scale. It is rare and unbelievable to see a woman do anything that can affect they greater community without assistance. In most male oriented stories, when the male is selfish, his goals can still affect innumerable lives. That self sacrifice is key to giving a story a lasting moral. No push will change what is inherently not a woman’s trait.
You are judging Disney all wrong, Disney is not meant to be Akira in anyway or form. The old Disney stuff, even the 90’s Disney was pretty awesome. It’s just that like everything else, it got beat with the PC stick until it wasn’t even fir for kids most of the time, at least the stuff they show on TV these days.
lol how did anime find its way on to this site? well count me as another anime fan….though I’ve never thought of dbz as red pill wisdom before….though i suppose it could be true….
while I love dbz that got me started on anime….my favorites are ghost in the shell and evangelion. sure not high on red pill wisdom…well maybe they are I cant remember off the top of my head. still great deep thinking shows….but maybe deep thinking is red pill in and of itself?
cowboy beepop is certainly a close third in the anime category.
though as much as i love anime…and i really do love it….a lot of it pure blue pill nonsense. men and boys freezing around girls and girls getting away with virtually murder. Inuyasha is popular anime one of the most popular ones and while I confess it is a guilty pleasure that Ive seen it 100 times, it is very blue and very typical of a lot of animes.
however a good anime is generally speaking 99% of the time better than most other TV shows out there. American TV has turned to shit….while anime is turning into shit, it still produces a lot of high quality stuff…..unlike America TV that never produces high quality anymore.
Did you check Berserk out bro ?
I saw the first couple of episodes at a buddy’s place.
Do you think it’s worth checking out?
https://ww1.gogoanime.io/berserk-golden-age-arc-i-the-egg-of-the-king-episode-1
I’d suggest you start here man. There are three movie remakes of the original anime which have better quality and focus on the most important things only. This is the first one. You’ll get hooked once you finish the first movie trust me. There is nobody like Guts out there. Let me know what you think , when you see it.
Robotech was just the best.
Didn’t watch anime until senior year when I decided to see what this Evangelion business was all about…
But I played WoW instead during highschool so I was a nerd by another name.
Out of all of the DBZ characters, I think Vageta is the best motivation. He always gets his ass kicked, but he keeps on training and pushing himself to his limits.
I’d go with Goku any day. No comparisons needed and he just made improving yourself seem like such fun! I remember playing with weights at 15 and getting a solid body of muscle going. 50 push-ups straights. Walking with weights strapped to my legs. That sense of out-doing yourself and comparing to (albeit fictional) greatness was a feeling like nothing else. While Goku was doing 300 times gravity, everyone was watching Goku trying to get his secrets. Real boss status.
Vegeta did make you feel like a boss come fight time. When he entered the ring everyone looked like shit. And then he got cocky and like clockwork, the medics would roll in for that man.
One time, when I wanted inspiration before I went to the gym, I watched the part when Goku was training up to 100x earth’s gravity in preparation for namek. Goku did 1000 push-ups and sit-ups, and I was like “Well damn.”
“i take the mentality into my workouts that its a literal struggle for my life, and if i wouldnt give the same amount during a time of physical conflict, then i dont deserve to live”
Sounds like a pretty intense workout – and a quite a profound idea. I’m nearly back to my peak level of fitness (gym fitness more than weights) after a couple of years of decline, and realising that feels pretty good. But of course that wasn’t the question. One follow up question though might be, if one could defeat one’s old self, should one do it with extreme prejudice? A further question on the same theme, could you defeat your own dad? (don’t try this at home). Your own granddad (beware of the grandfather paradox) etc? If the decline is as real it seems then chances are you couldn’t.
This is a great way to take stock of one’s self. For the record, I would fucking destroy 27 & 32 year old me.
Yep. I’m embarrassed to look at pics of myself from my 20s. Underweight and badly dressed. Men age like wine, women spoil like milk.
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this gives me hope.
I like that this only relies on you. Sometimes it’s hard to find a motivated buddy and even harder to keep them motivated consistently.
Actually I wonder if Mickey Rourke asked himself this same question when he was training for his fight against Elliot Seymour at the grand old age of 62! I would love to see Rourke fight his younger self
That fight was rigged by the way…I laughed out loud at his silly grey/silver haired toupee. Dont get me wrong, he was pretty ripped for a 62 yr old.
did you have to tell me that. I’m disillusioned now. I didn’t even realise it was a toupee
sorry? Watch him in his prime then. Diner. Pope of Greenwich Village. Angel Heart. 9 1/2 Weeks. Dude was bad to the bone.
he still is
Depends what you are training for. At my strength peak 4-5 years ago I was 30 lbs heavier at probably an even lower BF% and would destroy my current self in a ring/octagon contest as well as any strength or power event. However, in any cardiovascular events, that old me would get smoked by the current me.
I’m in same boat, but about 2-3 years ago. I was bigger, about 10% stronger, and my workouts were like war. If I could sustain that for years on end I would have. I’m probably faster, still very strong, a bit wiser, and more accurate now. As long as the old me didn’t get a good hold of me now, I’d possibly win by a narrow margin. However, the cost in time & money it took to sustain the old me was not maintainable. I’ve proven what I needed to myself during those years, now my goal is to not slip more than 15% away from that level and refine the quality base I’ve built.
I’ve seen the problem in so many people of my generation (I’m 20) and the next one after mine. People simply don’t care, about anything. A large percent of the people from my high school graduating class are now sleepwalking Monday-Friday through some low paying job. All they live for is getting fucked up Friday and Saturday, spending Sunday hungover, then repeating the cycle. Caught up in Facebook and Twitter and other mindless entertainment, etc. The concept of self improvement in any form is just simply not in their heads. I really hope this is just a generational thing and not something that becomes a trend from here on out.
The sad thing is that this never really ends. I’m 25 and most of my co-workers live the same lifestyle, even the “successful”, higher up SuitnTie’ers.
This is the kind of stuff I come to ROK to read. Great article.
Being only 22 I can only draw from my teenage self. And yea, I could but the bar was not that high.
But if I tried to impart what I know now to my younger self he would probably not buy it.
Sobering truth
A cut flower will always dynamite, no matter how often you change the water the base.
What?
Felt like I was reading a translated Portuguese idiom or something
good catch
I’m thinking efficiency overcomes pure power. The current me would certainly defeat a previous version of me. If not, there’s always Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd & a Delorean to help out, heh.
Hmmm the old me from 8 years ago was a >320 pound fatty who couldn’t do 5 minutes worth of physical work to save his life.
The current me is ~250 pound not-as-fatty who works out 3 times or more a week and who can at least crank out a weekend’s worth of manual labor.
So yea! Definitely! And there’s no way he could catch up with me either!
If I went back in time to fight the 23 year old me, I’d wreck him. Then I’d sit him down for a beer, bust out my pay stubs and explain why it’s a bad idea for him to marry his skank ass girlfriend.
If it Don’t compute, the forty bottle is shattering over his head.
That’s an embarrassing reality check. My 40 year old self can lift more than my 27 year old self, but he boxed 3 times/week, was 15 pounds leaner, and spent more time running around lakes than running after toddlers. Pretty sure he would whip my ass
Uh no.
23-year-old Infantry Marine me would kick the shit out of me now. I have more muscle (a couple of decades later), but nowhere near the speed, endurance, or shear craziness I did then.
I just passed the year mark for when I started working out. I’m dissapointed in myself. I said I was going to get into shape last year, and I only did the job halfway. I’m also suffering the consequences. But the past is behind us. Time to continue smashing those weights and cutting down the fat.
i hear ya but something is better than nothing. you’ll do better this year than last.
The nice thing is, although I’ve been dieting sporadically, I’ve been going to the gym pretty regularly, so in a sense, I was actually probably putting on some muscle when I was eating a shitload of food every day.
Hell, I’m in bad shape, but I’ve gone on low carb diets with workout regimes and dropped 30+ lbs very easily before, it’s just tough to stay on it.
Recently I’ve started doing quick tabata routines with simple body weight or medicine ball compound moves. I know this stuff works, i’ve done it before.
The main thing is to eat as little carb based junk and sugar as possible and do the exercises. I have a set of powerblocks for later but have an elbow RSI that needs to heal first. The one thing I’ve learned over the years is that you don’t need a gym.
Could I defeat a past version of myself?
Considering that I was a pussy till summer 2014. Id say yes. Not to mention that ive gotten in weightlifting.
Could I defeat a past version of myself?
Considering that I was a pussy for all my teenagehood id say yes.
This is a tougher question for a 40 something man. Age happens, you can’t stop it, you can’t avoid that fact. But you can fight it with healthy living and weight lifting, but even then, you still get aches and pains you didn’t know existed in the 35+ years of your prior life.
I’m nowhere near as fast as I used to be, running wise, in fact I despise running. Did back then too, but the 20-30 something of me ran anyway. Combat wise? Sure. I bench, deadlift and curl more than I did in my 30’s, and I was lifting then as well, so I’d have strength over my former self, plus no small amount of wisdom. The 30 something me was also well armed though, so there is that. Also, with increased strength and muscle mass comes less overall flexibility, which I’ve certainly noticed, I can’t even scratch my back without a backscratcher any longer due to my arms and shoulders being too big to allow what used to happen easily.
Eh, it’s a wash.
The lifting technique is fantastic though, putting yourself in the mindset of fighting for your life on the battlefield is something I’m curious to try.
funny you mention the flexibility thing, I have the same scratching- of- the- back problem. Im not that big of a guy, but Im not small (220, but honestly Im still 20 lbs over weight). I dont know how the hugely inflated Mr Universe- types even wipe their arses..
I probably could. I was faster and way more agile in my early 20’s and I was stronger in some ways. But I’m a lot more powerful in my upper body now and not as much of a bleeding heart.
I feel fairly confident in saying my 30 year old self would kick the ass of my 25 year old self but probably not by much….but my 30 year old self against my 15 year old self would likely lose pretty bad.
while I am indeed wiser now, and I cannot remember if I am stronger now or at 15….my 15 year old self has something I’ve long since lost. a feral wildness, balls, and fire in his eyes.
I dont know when i noticed my teenager self was a badass and now I struggle to get out of bed some days….but i noticed. even if my teenage self was weaker and dumber….he took shit from no one, was not afraid to throw punches, and generally speaking lacked anything known as fear.
in a lot of ways I am struggling to reclaim what I was then….hell my teenage self wasnt afraid to openly admit all women are stupid….in fact I was known for making that statement constantly despite this girls didnt hate me and men respected the blunt honesty. I was also known for saying that if you take the virginity of a girl you make them obsessed with you….I was a walking talking red pill badass. in fact my entire attitude about women then was they are fucking stupid and should be treated as such.
somewhere along the line i died. and now I struggle daily to reconnect with old wisdom I used to know by default.
the only thing my 30 year old self would have is possibly superior raw strength and size(I didnt get my last growth spurt until close to 20 or 19 and with it came 3 inches and 50 pounds) and wisdom…..but I’d lack the fire in your eyes needed to fight. the only way I’d win is if in the middle of the fight I found that fire even if temporarily.
since there was an anime discussion…..much like Adult Gohan is a pussy and deserves to get his ass kicked by his 11 year old self…..so do I.