Fitness Motivation in the Coronavirus Era

Adapting to a New Paradigm

Me at Fitness SF Mid Market in San Francisco after a super intense chest workout, feeling super pumped. Photography: Karthik (gym friend).

If you didn’t know what a paradigm shift is, I think now you do because it’s what we are currently experiencing on a global scale. Merriam Webster defines a paradigm shift as an important change that happens when the usual way of thinking about or doing something is replaced by a new and different way.

I had a great conversation about this with an old friend from the gym who recently called me out of the blue. I had almost forgotten about him and was happy to hear from him. One thing he said that truly resonated with me was that this may be the greatest paradigm shift of our lifetimes — things will never be the same and we have to seize this opportunity to create the best version of ourselves — emerging better and stronger. Then he went on to try to sell me TRT — Testosterone Replacement Therapy.

I thought this was pretty funny because I’ve tried TRT before a few years ago in 2016. In case you don’t know, TRT is basically like steroids — it makes your muscles bigger along with several other side effects — both positive and negative, however they vary from person to person. When I first tried it in 2016 I did a lot of research and talked to a lot of people about it and decided I wanted to experience it for myself, so I went ahead and did it.

The process involved having my blood drawn in an initial consultation so the doctor would know my beginning numbers, then he prescribed a certain dosage of testosterone injections twice per week for a three month cycle at a cost of $225/month. I felt very positive results just a few hours after the first injections and saw very noticeable results within about two weeks. I was very happy with the results however decided to discontinue the treatment after the first three month cycle — mostly because I thought it was too expensive.

Now, my gym friend was offering me pretty much the same thing, except the cost was only $125/month, so the price has come done significantly since 2016. I told him I would think about it and get back to him. But quite honestly, I don’t think I really need TRT, especially since I’m young and healthy. I’ve realized it’s much better to put in the hard work and achieve gains naturally.

Right now I’m 37 years old, and I definitely notice I get tired faster and I’m not able to work out as hard as I could in my 20s. Going to the gym however being surrounded by a lot of strong, great looking young men definitely helps get my energy up — just walking into the gym I feel like I get an energy boost. But now that gyms are closed, how can we get that motivation and inspiration? For me, it has come from YouTube.

A friend of mine who is a graduate student in design refers to YouTube as the University of YouTube because he feels like he learns more from YouTube than from his academic coursework at his university. There’s abundant information there that we can all extract inspiration and motivation from. My recent favorite is Marino Katsouris, based in the UK.

I think I’ve learned more about body weight exercises in the last two weeks than I ever knew before. I’m learning how to challenge my body and muscles in completely different ways, that it’s definitely shocking my muscles into the kind of soreness that I would usually only get at the gym. Even after this lockdown is lifted, I will continue to do some of his workouts at home when I’m not able to make it to the gym.

Here below are some of my recent favorite at-home-fitness videos:

Back to my TRT friend — even though I won’t be starting a TRT treatment anytime soon, it’s important to recognize how I felt empowered and inspired by a lot of the things he said — that we are experiencing a time of monumental change and a new world is taking shape before our eyes. There is no exit strategy and we’re all making it up as we go along. The people we were just a few weeks ago no longer exist. We are all brand new and need to reflect and go forward asking ourselves: how can I be the best version of myself? How can I serve others? And what do I want to be known for? I don’t quite have answers to all these questions yet, but I’m definitely taking some time to consider them thoughtfully.

I’m also running along the Embarcadero every day. It feels great to get outside especially on these nice spring days.

This story was originally published on Medium, Fitness Motivation in the Coronavirus Era, on April 13, 2020.