"I'm on the bulk."
"Oh, I'm on the cut."
"How much do you lift?"
"How much do you bench?"
Along with around fifty other lines like this, I've heard it all. The gym has become something that our generation has fixated on. Instead of hanging out at the mall, our generation's go-to spot is the gym.
Working out has become the place for hanging out. While consistently working out is a great way to maintain a healthy lifestyle, "gym culture" can easily become toxic.
I've found myself going back and forth on how to lose weight effectively. The gym has always been something consistent in my life. It started when my dad took me to our local Planet Fitness in middle school, and I'd run on the treadmill as a simple way to sweat stuff out.
During high school, I'd consistently go during the summer. I slowly moved to lifting weights in my workouts, but never really paid attention enough to see steady progress. The gym seemed to be a quick way to get some physical exercise, and I never discussed the gym with my friends.
READ MORE: Beads of sweat: Examining gym culture on campus
Even when the gym spiked to become part of popular culture, and Planet Fitness' High School Summer Pass became a summer ritual for many, I never went out of my way to talk about my lifts. My friends would often share their progress, but for some reason, I never really mentioned it. Maybe it was because I wasn't so confident in my body and felt if I was weaker than my friends, it would've been embarrassing.
During college is when I decided to start tracking my gym progress. Taking my lifts more seriously would require counting calories, tracking sets, and splitting the gym into push, pull and leg days. But it got to a point where I felt the compulsion to go to the gym. If I didn't, I felt unproductive and lazy.
I even became obsessed with the gym. It was a must-have ritual, and on days where I didn't wake up at 7:30 A.M. before class to go, it was doomed to be a bad day.
But even when I started that freshman year, I didn't notice my weight going away. Being a first-semester freshman away from home and without someone telling me to eat when I needed to, I started to shy away from eating three meals a day.
Even after learning to properly eat, I began to watch what I ate. I always hated saying "cutting" or "bulking" because it felt like more of a disorder than an actual way to build muscle. I always felt like it was easy to improperly bulk or cut.
When I went home for the summer after freshman year, I learned how important eating three meals was. I learned about getting enough protein in, as well as learning what a proper calorie deficit was.
When I came back sophomore year and started living in an apartment with a kitchen, my roommate and I learned how to cook meals that would satisfy calorie needs and protein goals. I learned to count my calories in a good way, using MyFitnessPal instead of being scared to punch in the numbers.
I also found myself going to the gym whenever I got the chance, and not really lifting more than four times a week. I've learned to love my body and think of the gym as a way to clear my head rather than clutter it.
The gym doesn't have to be a place where comparison is constant. It doesn't even have to be something I talk about. But I've learned to love the gym for what it is and how it helps me.
For everyone, the journey is different. Learning to appreciate your own progress is key.
If you ask me what my best lift is, it's the weight I took off my shoulders when I learned that the gym should be a place to go to feel healthier, not less than.
Edited by Andrew Dirst, Sophia Ramirez and Natalia Jarrett.
Reach the reporter at gachatht@asu.edu.
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Gokul is a sophomore studying actuarial science. This is his fourth semester with The State Press.
