Hi! The name’s Mike, but my real friends call me Mike. I was born in Iowa, corn-fed and beef-raised, though recently my diet has comprised more of yogurt and bagel bites (not mixed together). I grew up with a saxophone in one hand and a comic book in the other, but my artistic flair has taken a backseat to my love of fitness. Hey – don’t judge. She’s always down 24/7 and she is a wicked, humbling temptress.


I joined the Iowa National Guard at the age of 20 and life was forever changed. It took until then to really care about my body and I’ve felt happier, more confident, and more content ever since. It helped clear the weeds from my path and made it obvious where my purpose was: not just fitness, but spreading the word. I want to be fit myself, sure, but what’s more, I want to help others be happy, confident, and content, too.


All of this is why I started this blog. I want to get the word out there…and maybe post the occasional picture of my calves. 2nd favorite body part? My calves. Don’t fret – as you read my blog you’ll soon discover that this façade of narcissism is really veiling the juicy stuff underneath. I often post about girls not liking me, reading books on the universe, how to avoid crying in public, and not being a bro, too. I’m not. I swear.


As you explore the blog you’ll explore with me fitness and fitness philosophy. Are you ready? Good. Grab a bottle of whisky and buckle up, because this is going to get weird

Sunday, October 25, 2015

It doesn't get better

  As a kid you wake up every day and make choices.  Who will I sit by at lunch?  What color trapper keeper will I have?  Is Jimmy my best friend or is Matt?  Tough decisions; every single one.  As we progress through adolescence we are faced with even tougher issues.  Will I get to sit with the cool kids?  Are my clothes cool?  Who should I take to winter formal?  And this cycle of increasingly difficult daily choices goes on, and on, and on, and on.  High school gets worse.  College seems impossible.  Working to live is terrible.  And working to live and going to college at the same time is just the worst.  I can't even imagine going to work, paying for school, paying a mortgage, and raising a tiny parasite person.

  The fact is life is hard.  More importantly life is subjectively hard. Growing up we didn't have the tools to deal with the stresses of carrying around the wrong color trapper keeper.  Our date to winter formal was a life changing decision.  What you choose to major in college will set the course of your entire life.  

  I was working the other day when a young lady, about my age, entered the gym.  I greeted her with a casual, "Hi there, how are you?"  Her dismayed response genuinely surprised me.  "Just terrible.  I don't have any time for anything I want to do.  Works taking over my life and I am just so stressed."  I gave her the "oh god I don't know what the hell I'm supposed to say to that" customer service smile and feigned any sense of caring and understanding with a half hearted reply of, "Well it gets better."  She huffed off and left me with my own words spinning in my head.

  Like a programmed robot I just spat those words from my mouth.  Not even truly believing them myself they spewed out of my mouth.  So I took a moment to think about what I said.  "It gets better."

What a crock of shit.

The truth is it doesn't get better.  Life only gets harder.  And nobody seems to want to say that.  We walk around with a false sense of confidence that tomorrow will be better.  Or once I get my degree then everything will be great.  Or after I get my dream job or go here or do this or do that, life will be better.

   Life is always hard.  But what matters is that through every hardship we face, whether it be a failed high school romance, the death of a loved one, or just facing the toils of every day life, we are growing.  We are growing and learning how to face these tough decisions every single day.  And it's not a matter of life getting easier.  It comes down to you getting better at life and having more tools to cope with these tough situations.

 So whatever it is you are struggling with, don't give up.  Today maybe wasn't your day.  Hell, tomorrow might be worse.  But get through it.  Because even if life doesn't get better, you will. 
With good health and strong hamstrings,
Mike
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