FOR HER FOR HIM FOR THEM

I am in my early 30’s, I am gay, I am 100% Mexican, I am an immigrant, I grew up outside of Chicago and currently reside in the Windy City. My pronouns are he/him/his. My sun is in Virgo, my moon in Sagittarius. My Meyers-Briggs personality type is INTJ.

All of these statistics do not paint a whole picture of who I am. That is impossible. You cannot know me from a few lines of text on a screen. However, because I am creating something publicly, I believe it is necessary to share who I am, as best as I can, so you can better understand where I am coming from. I want you to understand my intention.

INTENTION

I’ve been working out religiously for over a decade. Once I started working out, my Virgo type A personality thrived in a world of keeping track of numbers - weight, pace, miles, calories, pounds, size, protein, grams of saturated fat- the list never ends, believe me. Initially, this was all great for very obvious reasons. I can control everything! That is power. That is self-accountability to the max. I loved it and to some extent I still do it now. We all have to practice restraint, but the intention behind it makes a world of difference. This is important. When my physical fitness goals get bogged down with winning a medal at a race, or hitting a certain weight, I try to remind myself of my intention. Do I feel good? Is this making me happy? If not, I need to readjust my thinking and attitude towards fitness. Find intrinsic motivation and forget the extrinsic. There is nothing wrong with having specific physical goals but the motivation behind them is of paramount importance.

WELLNESS

Wellness can never be measured with numbers on a scale or by the amount of weights on a bench press. Physical activity and physical fitness are a few tools (but there many others) that I use to strive for overall wellness.

Everything with balance. I lift, run, and practice yoga - not for flash in the pan results but for longevity’s sake. The types of physical activities will change over time, I know that. Age, new health problems, accidents, injuries are inevitable. My goal is to always be doing some sort of physical activity to the best of my ability because it improves my overall wellness. So when I’m 80 years old - you can catch me at a water aerobics class with all the other ladies listening to retro Gaga.

PAY IT FORWARD

Over the years, friends, family, partners, co-workers and even strangers of all shapes, colors, and sizes have seen my dedication to physical activity and have felt comfortable asking me for a helping hand. I was delighted to share my favorite hobby with them! From helping train the shortest lil’ Latina you’ve ever seen run her first 5K to helping an addict incorporate a daily gym routine into his recovery. Along the way, there have also been others who have reached out to me to simply go on a run together. When I get these running buddy requests, I always think back to when I started running and I get excited for the new person. I think “Of course I’ll share this super fun activity with you!” (Check out my past blog post “OK Go” for my running Origin Story).

TOXIC MASCULINITY

I’ve worked out in every type of gym you can imagine. From holes in the walls where the locker rooms were reminiscent of a Degrassi set and some shady character offers you “performance enhancing supplements” (STEROIDS), to gyms that I would be sure to shower in every day because the bathrooms were infinitely more luxurious than my own bathroom (not a difficult task but still). On vacation, I buy day passes in whatever city I am in. I’ve likely tried every gym chain you can name. I have been the lone male sitting in that Step class or Pilates class. You name it, I’ve tried it.

I am confident in myself and the workout program I’ve developed for myself when I am at the gym. I am usually unfazed by the noise around me. I am there to work out and let my mind get out what it has to get out. Unfortunately, I hear, see, and feel toxic masculinity at most places. Herein lies the catalyst to create this blog. The hang-ups that I’ve heard from those I’ve helped in the past are : gym culture intimidation and lack of knowledge.

BE A HELPER

Let me help you! We all do things wrong. We all make mistakes. We all walk to the end of the gym to a piece of equipment only to find that it is occupied and we are left standing there for a few minutes looking like a dang fool but thats ok! Everyone saw, but who cares! Walk your butt to another end of the crowded gym and do it over again.

This blog is more intended to impart my viewpoints relating to wellness and physical activity. The Instagram page with the same name shall have more practical information regarding workouts and motivation. Hopefully you can use it and learn from it so when you do go to that one piece of equipment you wanted to use and it is occupied, you can easily change course and do something else with your head held high. Plus from reading my blog, you will learn to not commit the cardinal sin: impatiently waiting next to an occupied piece of workout equipment for 30 minutes looking annoyed. Tsk tsk. (Future blog post).