Jimmy is Trying

Nasser El Sonbaty and Mamdouh Elssbiay, by Itadori Syu

When life is tumultuous and threatens to throw your plans and aspirations out of the window (I haven’t had the chance to go to the gym more than twice a week so far this year), it helps to remind yourself why you’re doing this to begin with. I’ve been looking back at the guys who inspired me, remembered through the work of artists I respect, and it has been keeping me hopeful.

Roelly Winklaar, James Lewis, Gerald Maragos, Sangram Chougule by Silverjow

Joan Pradells posing for various photo shoots

It’s hard to find someone who embodies the word ‘chunky’ as much as Joan Pradells. This young Spaniard looks immense from every angle. What a unit.

Anuj Kumar Taliyan looking tonk

I talked about Anuj Kumar Taliyan before. Enormous member of the Indian armed forces who doesn’t seem to waste time on trying to look pretty. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of how strong he looks.

Art by @trialsofsaint14

I’ve always been a huge fan of Destiny since it was first released. I began life as a squishy but Jedi-like warlock, but it should come as no surprise that I inevitably ended up as a brawny titan instead.

Art by @alanide-arts

In reality, the character models for all classes are the same no matter what you pick, but with titans you can choose armour that gives the illusion of being a massive brute. After much scientific testing, this was the best I could put together, and I frigging love it:

Kinda proud.

Krizo looking huge as always despite recovering from a huge muscle tear.

I've been increasingly impressed by pictures of guys who communicate more than simple muscle mass. I've been inspired by guys who can evoke a sense of stature—presence, no matter how tall they may actually be.

Every so often, a photo of Bruno Santos turns up and I remember that the dude is one of my favourite bodybuilders for a reason. The man is incredibly beefy, even his neck, something so often neglected by many at the gym. I highly recommend looking him up - the man is hench and insanely unappreciated by many outside his native Brazil.

Story time!

A couple years ago (when I was bigger), I was doing a stint at a very fancy Catholic private school. Somehow, the massive commutes and long hours made me even more determined to make sure I got to the gym in the morning. I had no idea I had gained size until my roomy business shirt collars were suddenly unable to contain my neck. I was genuinely worried, as other teaching assistants had been turned away at the door for not being sharply dressed enough. One day, I was 'assisting' (aka teaching all the lessons while the actual teacher was grading papers outside) during an open school day. All the parents were in the classroom, observing their kids' classes. I thought everything was going well until lunchtime when I realised that not only was my attempt to hide an open collar with a tie knot failing, but my left arm had busted out of the sleeve, tearing it up Hulk-style. I had been teaching with the torn sleeve all morning without realising it.

I got back from the UK at 11pm last night (31 hours travelling fml) and, despite the fatigue and killer jet lag I didn’t just complete my arm workout, I demolished it. Why? Because of photos.

Once, I abandoned a back workout ⅓ of the way through because my head just wasn’t in it and I got so frustrated. I got home and sat deflated in front of my lunch. Then my partner showed me a picture on his phone.

My reaction was:

“Damn, that dude’s back looks cool - I’m so jealous that he’s even got lats. Wish I had lats 😞 Huh…he’s got the same table and chairs as m-”

Then I was fucking shooketh. Bear in mind I had never seen my back before, and until then, I was sure I was born without any lat muscles. And later, when I took photos of myself from similar angles, it just never looked as good.

Fast-forward to yesterday. Family shared photos of me on the beach, and if there’s one thing I can say about my gym-free eatathon of a trip, it’s that I’ve now got a lot of ‘BEFORE’ photos.

So, today I did my arm workout. I haven’t been to a gym in a month and before that I was recovering from an arm injury, yet today I was lifting heavier than ever, getting more reps in than before and waiting for the next set felt like forever. I even had time to do cardio afterwards, and despite Japan feeling like Satan’s armpit, I could have easily doubled the time.

Ole Kristian Vaaga has been a great source of inspiration today, but honestly, those Weight Watcher-level photos the family took of me motivated me the most. I might post some of them here when I have some ‘AFTER’ photos to go with them :P

So the lesson of the day is:

Seeing yourself through the eyes of others is powerful - have them take a photo of you candidly and you'll see what you’re like without all your bullshit.

Anyway, konnichiwa from Japan

Aaaaaand I’ve already changed my wallpaper in honour of Flex Friday xD. Never let it be known that I’m not wild like that.

Petar Klancir has been on my radar for years. He’s huge and has always had a clean look to him that I appreciate. I really like his social media because he’s mostly posting the most useful, approachable workout tips I’ve seen online.

As you might have noticed from my widgets there’s NO gyming while I’m traveling around England (RIP all my gains - I’ve never seen mass fall off so fast in the face of so much cheese), but I’ve taken the opportunity to read up and try to get everything ready for the second I return.