Most people who have trained for any significant length of time typically do not make resolutions for the new year. Our trite response is that if we want to make a change in our lives, we will do it at any point during the year instead of waiting for January 1st. As a collective, we tend to think we are better than everyone else; making a gym resolution is below us.
Because I refuse to go after anyone who wants to better themselves after the first of the year, I will instead go after the bumptious passel who does not seem to have a need for any type of self-reflection and sees no traits in themselves that could stand to be revisited or reevaluated. If ever I like to dish out shit, it's to those who rodomontade; it's my jam.
I am going to pose three questions to consider for 2025. I am also going to assume this relates to you, the reader, but if you insist that it does not, pass it on to someone you feel could use the advice. And it should be noted that, unlike Arnold, I do not give out "da wrong advizes." Here is the caveat, though: you have to answer the questions honestly by setting aside your ego and what I call "faux altruism" (which is technically altruistic hedonism, but I have neither the time nor inclination to explain this any deeper).
1. Do you need to demonstrate an exercise on social media?
Understand that I am not saying you do not know how to instruct or demonstrate proper form. There are already well over one hundred thousand videos on YouTube that explain every single exercise you could ever think of, and you still feel the Internet needs your video. Of those one hundred thousand videos, maybe one thousand are what I would consider incredibly well-done, concise, and provide nuanced and accurate information on the proper mechanics of an exercise.
READ: Surf the Curve for Maximum Gains
The question I pose to you is this: What will your video provide that hasn't already been provided thousands upon thousands of times? Do you truly have the ability to break down an exercise and explain its nuances beyond the rudimentary stage that almost every single person who has trained for at least one year would already know?
2. Do you need to opine about your frustrations with "Resolutioners" for the next two months?
We get it; we all do. You are inconvenienced by all the new people in "your" gym. The parking is horrible, and you had to walk another fifty feet because the parking lot was so busy. *yawn* You had to wait for a machine because some fat guy was using it. Three kids were working out together and on their phones between sets. One of them was taking a video of the other while bench pressing. Who do these people think they are acting like this in your gym? Don't they know who you are? How dare they. There is something so incredibly off-putting about a middle-aged guy who does not look much different than the new people in the gym (other than in his own head), who thinks lesser of the people who want to try to make a change for the better after the first of the year.
The loser is not the newbie; the loser is you. Read that again, especially if my statement bothers you. Too many gym regulars think too highly of themselves.
And if you still insist on being that guy who whines and complains, find a better gym. I can honestly say that I do not notice anything negative or anything any different in the gyms I have trained for at least the last ten or twelve years. Why? Because my gyms do not suck, and I am not above anyone else who comes to the gym to train. I would never train at a franchise gym and expect it not to be chaotic in January.
3. Does the Internet really need your opinion of someone else's opinion?
Whether I am dealing with the comments after one of my podcasts or comments after my articles for the eleven years I have written for elitefts, it always amazes me that so many people have opinions on the opinions I just gave.
Let me be very clear and say that everyone has the right to opine; I am not denying that. I am asking you if your opinion is of any real value, considering the people who usually opine are those with the least credentials or experience. Logic and common sense should say that if someone has been doing something for forty-plus years, their opinion is coming from quite a bit of knowledge and experience. I think most sensical people will agree that countering with an opinion that has only a fraction of that experience would be silly. Yet, it happens in almost every comment section after a podcast or article that I have been a part of for more years than I care to count. And for the record, I am obviously not the only one who has to deal with this.
A lot of what we do in this industry is opinion, and it is based on the methodology of that specific trainer and their experience. The people at the top of the food chain are rarely if ever, argued with by their peers. The arguing comes from the bottom of the food chain. If you do not like that assessment, I am going to bet that your position is at the bottom of the food chain.
Gym Resolution Honorable Mention
4. Does the Internet need one more online trainer?
The short answer is, "Not at all." I know that you think you have something of value to add, and your "love for the sport" is just boiling over, but of the tens of thousands of people who call themselves online trainers, the world would do just fine with less than five hundred—hell, maybe even only one hundred of them.
What could you possibly say that has not been said before? If I had a dime for every time I have heard someone say something I said fifteen or twenty years ago, I would be rich. To add insult to injury, not only do they say it, but they are also lauded by their minions for being a super-genius (like Wile E. Coyote when he was putting nitroglycerin in the carrots while Bugs Bunny was pulling the shed onto the railroad tracks, but I digress).
I would laugh if it were actually funny, but I never seem to find the humor in it. The next person to claim online-trainer status is doing nothing but watering down the already giant sea of turds that is our industry. I feel sorry for the people who have to wade through the chest-high, murky water and try to figure out who is full of shit and who isn't.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, you have given thought to the above questions. However, most will understand that the questions were purposely rhetorical. I have guttural emotions for people who think too highly of themselves. I am not misanthropic, though I have been known to jokingly refer to myself as such. As I rack up years in this industry, I find myself on Cynical Highway, watching the exit signs for the town of Misanthrope as they pass by, and I wonder to myself, "When am I going to take the exit?" For now, I'll stay on Cynical Highway—Just Sayin'.
Ken “Skip” Hill has been involved in the sport of bodybuilding for almost 40 years and competing for over 20 years. Born and raised in Michigan, he spent 21 years calling Colorado home with his wife and their four children. Four years ago, he and his wife traded the mountains for the beach, relocating to South Florida. His primary focus is nutrition and supplementation, but he is called upon for his years of training experience, as well. He started doing online contest prep in 2001. He is considered one of the original contest prep guys when the bodybuilding message boards were still in their infancy. Skip’s track record with competitive bodybuilders is well-respected, and he also does sport-specific conditioning, including working with professional athletes.
