19 July 2016
I think for me the biggest reason is self-esteem. After every work out I feel better than who I was before the work out. I like that guy. I like being that guy who puts effort into being stronger and being fit. I like being the guy that built a habit of working out and stuck to it. I like the guy who looks at himself in the mirror and thinks, “I’m getting there. Slowly but steadily, I’m getting there.”
The second reason is that I’ve always been the small guy. Even though I’m an inch taller than the national average (India, mind you). I’ve always been the smallest guy. I weighed 90 pounds when I was a sophomore in high school. Yeah. Once I started working out and started getting bigger and I was sometimes displaying short bursts of strength where people said, “You’re pretty strong for a guy your size.” I don’t want to be strong for my size. I want to be strong. By this, I don’t mean that I define myself by my physical strength, but to build up physical strength from a point where I couldn’t do a single pull up, to 3 sets of 8 archer pull ups takes mental strength. Takes a lot of work to build up habits to eat right and work out right. And that’s what makes me stronger every day as a human.
The last reason, I can’t explain the feeling when a t-shirt sleeve that was once baggy stretches when you flex and hugs your bicep.