What’s The Quality of Yo’ Gains?

Everybody talkin’ about #gains.  What I’m asking you is, what is the quality of your gains?

Instagram Gains

Let me start explaining what quality gains are by describing what they aren’t.  The opposite of quality gains are what I will term as Instagram gains.

Don’t misunderstand me.  I’m not dissing Instagram or the folks who use it in the gym.  I get it.  I may even get my own account soon because of how valuable it appears to be for fitness professionals like myself.

These are Instagram Gains:

• Gains that are fought for solely to get likes and envy on social media
• Gains built by crash diets, dangerous workouts, and other unhealthy shortcuts for the sake of quick results, and therefore, quicker posting to one’s social media
• Gains that really aren’t gains at all; rather, they are the skillful masquerading of the appearance of gains, achieved by careful picture taking, lighting and photo-editing skills, again, for the sake of promoting an image on social media

It reminds me of a bible scripture where Jesus was instructing folks on how to pray.  Even if you aren’t a Christian, I think you can appreciate the following scripture.  Notice the bold words:

“When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get.”

Wise words.  Those folks praying just to be seen are guaranteed to get zero real results from prayer because their motives are wrong.

Hey, the same goes for how you get your gains.

If you’re working out just to be seen, are you going to be getting the best, most beneficial gains?  The answer is most likely nah, man!  If you’re beating yourself up just to get attention, you’ll be pressured to take shortcuts for gains, or you’ll hurt yourself in the pursuit of gains.  I don’t think it is wrong to want to look good, but we open up big cans of worms when we’re working out just so we can look certain ways in front of others.

So now, let’s define quality gains.

Quality Gains, Defined

Quality gains are as follows:

• Gains that are acquired the old fashioned way, through consistent, well-rounded exercise routines and consistent healthy diets that are heavy on the nutrition and light on the indulgences
• Gains that consider the whole being of a person, not just the way he/she looks
• Gains that last because they are built with sustainable lifestyle changes
• Gains that don’t have to be faked by skillful picture taking, photo-editing and wearing of certain clothes.
• Gains that are acquired for real purposes (to be around for family, to live a higher quality life, to improve in a sport, to truly encourage others, etc.)

In a nutshell, quality gains are real gains.  They’re gains that last.  Do you have #quality gains?