...a slight waiver...

Well, my body is sore. I don't think I'm to the place where would I say something trite like "I'm sore in muscles that I didn't even know I had," but I'm certainly feeling the effects of several days worth of working out.

I've been reading and reading and reading, when I have the chance, about techniques, programs and supplements and boy oh boy oh boy has it gotten confusing! Expert A says this will work then Expert B says that this other thing will work then Expert C runs around shaking his fists in the air screaming "where do these myths come from?!?!?!" And spying some bloke in the gym who's got the look you're going for and then asking him "what did you do to get that way?" isn't necessarily going to get the needed information, especially when his response is as likely to be "I follow exclusively the Expert Q program" as it is to be "Visualization. See in your mind's eye what you want and the rest will follow."

I suppose I should just be happy that I've made the decision to go to the gym and get some exercise. I should just take it day by day and sooner or later I'll become more comfortable with myself and the gym environment and I'll be able to weed through the crap that some people preach and concentrate on the things that make sense and the things that, with some intelligent trial and error, work for me.

Let's remember: I'm a 47 year old guy that has never done anything like this in his life! As a kid in school I avoided the gym like the plague. I hated that place, and with good reason. I didn't fit well into the athletic culture. I was tall and skinny and wasn't interested in competitive sports and I never got any encouragement from anyone in the athletic department at school nor any constructive criticism regarding what little physical activity I engaged in.

Enter low self esteem.

Well, none of that really matters now. I've started anew. I am determined and I know I have a long hard road up ahead. I can read until the words are burned on the back walls of my eyeballs but I just need to get out there and do some work. Exact diet? Screw it. Just start with being more aware of what I'm eating and when. Start paying attention to calories, fat, carb and protein content. The pacing and portioning will come with time.

As for training programs - hell! Try Expert A's routine. If it feels good, then fine. That doesn't mean that I can't check out Expert B or C's or even Expert Q's method. And visualization never hurt nobody. I realize that there will always be more opinions about right and wrong, good and bad, effective and ineffective than there will be time to prove or refute any of them. And, perhaps, this is where being an artist can help.

Being an artist means being adept at seeing - seeing without translating. Artists must be able to view the world with a clarity that allows them to tear it apart and reassemble it in a crucial, meaningful and effective way. This ability can be directed toward objects, emotions and even situations. Artists are masters of perseverance. They must be willing to repeat a technique until it becomes transparent to the message. Above all, an artist must be resilient, thick skinned and at the same time, sensitive and hyper-aware. These are skills and talents that can be effectively turned toward the process of physical self transformation.

"Pygmalion! Noble Artist-King! Sculpt thyself!"