So, I was just sitting here earlier today, shooing some young whipper-snappers off my lawn, when it occurred to me that kids really do have it better today than when I was growing up.
Not so much in terms of jobs, economic mobility, etc. (heck, even us old folks don’t seem to have that anymore), but in terms of training and especially in terms of lifting.
Way back when dinosaurs roamed this great land and you couldn’t stand still for long without melting the soles of your shows (the Earth was still cooling you see) – so basically before 1985 – if you said out loud to someone that you wanted to be a bodybuilder you would have been ridiculed. The only reason anyone went to a gym was to…well actually almost no one went to the gym. Weight training was not a part of high school sports because “bulk” (aka “muscles”) only slowed you down. It might be okay for the occasional high school line backer to lift weights but even he couldn’t do it often for fear that those muscles would not only slow him down but tighten him up so badly that he couldn’t move. And a girl lift weights? Not even if everyone thought she was a lesbian (which she would never admit back in those days by the way).
Nutrition consisted of pretty much anything you could put into your mouth, well sweets weren’t good so you only had them after dinner, but there was no real talk of protein, fats, carbs, or anything else.
Now, some people may still be ridiculed for wanting to be a bodybuilder, but today you have guys (and gals) openly talking about working on their “six pack,” adding a few pounds for the summer, and proudly taking pictures of themselves while locked in their bathroom to show off any new gains (okay, so maybe bodybuilding isn’t completely out of the water closet yet). And it seems that everyone is aware of their diet these days (did you see what I did back there with “water closet?” cute, huh?). Though most of us clearly don’t pay attention to nutrition despite knowing the rules.
So, all in all, I think that there are advantages to training in the early 21st century, even without flying cars. What do you think?
Next up: why you are driving to gosh darn fast!
Journeys With Dave 