Gyms May or May Not be Stupid AND Sinful

I've finally been convinced that a gym is not stupid or sinful... always.

I grew up working and slacking. What I mean is that I was always taggin' along some blue collar gig - getting dirty, cut-up and dog-tired in order to make money. When I had money I had fun (the slacking part). I hope it's not surprising that my youth lacked any prudence and discipline. I was a prophet of public schooling as I lived logical expression of the relativism and pragmatism I was taught.

Anyway, my work had a purpose. I also learned a simple southern view of work - it's good and... it's just what men do. Folks like JPII and Josemaria drive this point home quite well. As much as I pretended at times, I never really got that into sports because the very thought that I would work most of my ass off for the sake of playing another team in a game and that if we won I got something.. trophy or girl or something (sometimes those are the same thing) - this just didn't appeal to me.

I was wrong about sports. I can see now the value and lessons taught there. Did I miss out? Nah, I got the same things elsewhere and met my wife on the fence, not on the field. But I had a lot of friends that spent those hours at the gym and I would go there and it always seemed like the main goal was not actually physical fitness but being able to physically dominate or to physically look good. Very different from what physical fitness is. It's a real machismo mentality. "I'm working hard so that I wont get beat or so that my bicep is as round as my head." No thanks.

So, just to recap why I, years later as a Catholic, always felt that I had a philosophical issue with gyms: (a) working out to be able to dominate is a goal based in insecurity and/or pride, and (b) working out just to look good is vanity. Both issues seem to have a hefty dose of the old Adam and revolve around intention. I gained muscle from cutting down trees, digging holes, laying brick, shoveling shit, detailing cars, planting trees, changing oil, roofing, building shed, etc. etc. You can see the inherent value in physical work that has a goal outside of yourself, lessons for life and not to mention cash at the end! The working man is fit because he's doing what men do, but the gym fit man is fit for himself.

Manual labor is how men are suppose to stay fit, not air conditioned rooms with a cushioned floor and mirrors everywhere.

But then I got into different work. I put the boots up for some Allen Edmonds and after a while of that I couldn't see what kind of shoes I had on...

Somehow our world has made it difficult for men to do things that we've been doing for centuries - like work. No longer do I store logs from a tree to chop later for the fireplace. Nope, I just flip a damn switch to a fire that I can't even poke behind the damn glass. I hate the glass...

So, I need to go to the gym. It's just a reality. My life is just situated in such a way that I don't get opportunity to work (though I did just design the landscape for my FSSP church and will put it in when the time comes). I have a family and they don't need to wheel their patriarch around in an over-sized stroller.

But, I'm not doing something until I can reconcile it in my head. Blessedly,a real man came to my rescue on this issue. I don't know who he is, but I should thank him someday, somehow.

I started going to the rec center ran by the local government. I figure they take my money to keep it open so I might as well go. I have to pay to get in which sounds like double taxation to me. Anyway, in that rec center I saw the man who changed my mind about the gym. He was in cut off jean shorts, loafers and his undershirt - I guess this was the closest thing to workout clothes he has, which I dig. And he was old. Somehow he managed to workout without paying other companies to use his body as an advertisement (you're a person not a billboard for Adidas).

He was there to stay alive. He was old and knows that he's not in a world where he's milking cows and gathering berries, so he better do something. That's a reason I can get behind to to the gym. His arms hang down with stretched tattoos he probably regrets from military days. His arms are awesome because I can tell that he's strong, even though he doesn't look like the young men next to him with glistening biceps strapped with and iPod blasting Creed or Praise and Worship (you can't tell the difference without hearing the words closely). I think the reason they like iPods strapped to their muscles is because it makes muscles look bigger since iPods are so small. This must be the reason no one strapped walk-mans on back in the 90's.

I can tell he's strong and worked hard. I remember when people would show up to work in muscle shirts and some skinny old guy would work circles around him and be able to lift more. There's a big difference in the strength and big muscles.

I'll follow that man in the undershirt. I'll go to the gym, because I need to. I want to stay alive for my kids, I want to be healthy, I want by body to know I'm in charge and I want to see that man again pumping iron and scowling at the punks that get in his way.

By the way, this is not saying it's ok to wear your undershirt in public, t-shirts are undershirts... unless it's your only t-shirt and your at the gym... that would be awesome.

The Virtue of Thrift and the First Tip

Thrift is indeed a virtue, so if there's a store with that in the name it might just be virtuous to shop there instead of other places. Why? Here's some of my reasons:

• What better way to fight materialism than to buy the "toss-outs" before they get shipped to South America? In some cases these items are not the best of quality, but they'll serve a purpose and in that case I feel fine buying there. Whereas shopping at a retail store stocked with sweatshop merchandise draped over anorexic manikins makes me feel icky. There's a cycle in clothing where you buy something, feel satisfied, then become unsatisfied and toss it - this is a bad cycle. Since we're not so shaky in our understanding of things, we can capitalize on this and draw something from it - like a good shirt.
  
• Thrift stores have real clothes. As in clothes made by people in the USA - and made to last! You can find some seriously top shelf (talking thousands brand new). It takes patience, but that's the next point...
• You don't always get what you want. To build a wardrobe from thrifting can take years, but in the end you can have a great wardrobe (fir for a man) at a ridiculous price. This built-in patience, I think, is a good thing. Instead of saying, "I want this, so I'm going to this store and I'll get it" you must have an idea of what you're looking for and then wait until it shows up. This requires consistency. Which brings us to the first tip of thrifting:

It ain't easy so stop by often. Learn to drop in at thrift stores when you get a moment and just glance around. Don't look at everything, just survey what's there and if something stands out (color, size etc. - looks right) then examine it. If it lacks holes and smells (both of which can be fixed sometimes) then pay the $1.75 and get back on the road. Expect to find nothing most of the time, but there are days when you just can't believe what you find. One of my first trips I found a pail of Allen Edmonds in my size practically new. These shoes are 300+ new, and you can send them back to the manufacturer at any time for re-crafting. I'm still wearing them years later, but soon I'll send them off to be renewed again. I'll have these shoes the rest of my life - quality, comfort, style... yeah, that was a good day.

And if you're reading this on folding chair in sweatpants, read this article to get started:

Dress Like a Man