Okay, so one day I was doing the leg press at the gym and some guy just came and told
me to add more weights because in his words, I have very fat laps.
And I just think that, I think that, you know, that was just one aspect of gym culture that
I'm not really comfortable with because it just feels very intrusive.
It just feels like, you know, people are always trying to tell you what to do or just make
statements that are overly familiar.
It's just one, it's one, it's a combination of like Lagos culture and Nigerian culture.
Everybody just feels they're entitled to tell you what to do.
I was, I was on the bench press.
I was doing 15 kgs, right?
And then one guy was waiting for me to finish and I finished.
I stood up and he just started shouting, Add am (add more), Add am (add more), Add am (add more).
I was like, bro, chill now.
He wanted me to add 15 more, so it would be 30.
Then I was like, okay, no, wahala.
I added it.
Then he went, he hook the bar for neck, man. (The bar got stuck at his neck)
Why are you not being serious?
Why is your blood so hot?
I don't know.
It's this, it's the adrenaline when people are working out in the gym?
There's just very, it's like men are all of a sudden more manly.
Yeah, I think, I think that's, that's one thing.
Like it's supposed to be a very macho place.
Or like, well, it's not supposed to be, but like typically people just, you know, make
it so.
It's in everything, you know, the way everybody walks into the gym, the overly aggressive
handshakes and you know, people will say, ah, this one too small for
you now, boss.
Exactly.
People won't talk quietly.
Like you just notice that their voices are just, you know, just raised a bit.
Everything's supposed to ginger you and push you, you know, go the limits, go past the
limits.
That's what like, that's basically what like gym culture is.
And it's just, you know.
But do you think in some way that you actually kind of need that?
Like there's a, there's a, you know, a big part of working out is actually like psyching
yourself up, you know, to do one more rep, to do one more set.
So it's like that whole environment kind of engenders that in a manner of speaking.
Yeah.
Well, yeah, I guess, I guess some people do.
One more for your mummy.
I guess, I guess some people, I guess some people do need that, but you know, being the kind
of person who, I don't know, I don't think I need that.
So it just, it can make me, it can make me uncomfortable sometimes, you know.
Do you remember the guy that said, that said that really, really big guy, That was like six feet,
six inches or something and he was really huge.
And then they were asking him like all the guys in the gym were very curious, like bro,
bro, how you take big like this? (how did you get this big?)
He now said, "oh, I just, dey chop the protein supplement with spoon". ("I ate protein supplements straight out of the jar")
Yeah, I remember that guy, I remember that guy.
You know, obviously he did look like, he was huge.
He looked like someone who was chowing.
Pretty supplements man.
But yeah, that's, that's just, I don't know.
I guess people need different things to like push themselves and then, you know, based
on like, or depending on your own personality or your, you know, your type of person, it
can either be something you look forward to or just, or just do like.
What is the source of wanting to be that physically domineering?
What do, why do you need to be that big?
Why can't you just be, you know, fit, nice, good body and like carry on with your life?
Why must you be 115 kg before you know that you are gyming (working out)?
Human beings are like insatiable.
There's always a new body for you to look forward to, I guess, you know, it's just, it's because
when you think about it, right?
I don't think, I don't think that among the gym faithful, like people who are really into
the gym, I don't think being healthy, right?
Is there, is there, it's not included in their, in their vision, right?
I think it's all about the look, you know, it's all about being muscular, right?
And there's just, there's just always going to be muscular guys around you.
You need to, you need to stand out.
You just keep, you just keep pushing, right?
Yeah.
So I think that's it.
People just want to be, to look, you know, like they are in charge.
Yes.
They want to look like they go to the gym.
But, but to be fair, it's like, okay, this year when I increased in weight, right?
I've actually noticed very specifically a difference or a change in the way people like
address me and the way people look at me.
it's so ridiculous.
It's very present, very, very present.
And it makes sense why you just want to keep this like reinforcement, like just want to
keep reinforcing that feeling, you know, but for me, I try to dissociate myself from it
actually.
All right.
Because it's like for me personally, I don't really like, it's kind of the way I dissociate
myself from being an engineer, being a software engineer, right?
Because the software engineer side of me is different from like me as Timilehin.
Yeah.
Same way.
I don't want to be attached to like my weight or like my muscular build because it can change.
Like that's not, it's something I work towards, but it's not something that is necessarily
going to be with me forever.
Right.
And like, that's fine.
Anything can happen.
You could like, I mean, we don't want that, but you could fall sick.
You could just, you know, be too busy to work out for a period of time or stuff like that.
And doesn't mean, it doesn't change who you are.
Yeah.
I hear that.
You know, the funny thing is when, when I started working out like properly, when I
started going to the gym in January, I started noticing the changes in my body.
Right.
And for a very, I don't know, I would say, I wouldn't say it's a very significant amount
of time.
Right.
But I was, I felt, I felt myself change.
I began to, I began to kind of look at myself more, which is not something that I was accustomed
to doing.
And you know, honestly, the reason why I didn't like to look at myself was because I just,
I had always felt like my body shape was a bit weird.
You know, it was just, it's just, I didn't think I had decent proportions or something,
but then I was, I was filling out, you know, and my arms that used to be a bit skinny now grew
And then that thing you talked about, about other people looking at you, it makes you
more aware of yourself.
Right.
I was just having a random conversation with somebody and then she just said, you are hot
now.
Now.
I was like, what do you mean by now?
Right.
I mean, it's, you know, that kind of thing.
But like what you said, you know, you have to, you have to distinguish yourself from
your, from your body or you, because like it'll fluctuate.
Yeah.
Since, since we started, my own body has like fluctuated seriously, you know, so like, yeah,
I think, I think it's important to just, to just keep it different, but people, people
do look at you differently.
People do, you know, talk to you differently.
And we're, we're Nigerians, we're Nigerians, like it's a very Nigerian thing to make comments
on people's bodies.
Yeah.
Like it's ridiculous.
From your mother to your, to everybody, to your auntie, to the random person on the
road.
Like sometimes you can, you can like gauge the person's intention behind it.
You know, it's like you're looking buff or something like that.
You know, it's like,
When I went to Abuja, and Henry said, ah, Timmy, you go beat me now.
Exactly.
Like you can just understand that, okay, this person is being appreciative, you know, but
it just, you know, it just helps if everybody just looks at you and they don't treat you
differently, but they will, or at least they do.
I mean, it's okay.
I mean, it also does something for, I don't know how, I mean, obviously we're speaking
about this from a, from like the male perspective.
Yeah.
I feel like we should have gotten a female guest.
Maybe we should have, but like it actually also changes the way you approach the world.
There's, there's an increased amount of confidence.
You feel, cause you feel healthier, you feel more present.
You're, you're just generally healthier physically, mentally, like working out is actually a whole
thing of better wellbeing.
And so it does change your, your mental state a little bit, which, which I think is good,
which even though like I'm saying, I like to dissociate myself from like my body in that
way.
It's also acknowledging that when I'm healthier, I am happier.
And like that, that's perfectly fine.
Yeah, that's, I'm approaching the world in a different way is
such is such a very nice way to put it.
Right.
Like waking up in the morning and knowing that I can carry something heavier than I
carried two days ago is actually such a good feeling.
Yeah.
You know, I like to, I'm the kind of a person who just like has very random scenarios in
his head about things that might happen to me during the day.
And I just felt, I just felt more comfortable just knowing that if there was a scenario
in which I had to do some heavy lifting, I wouldn't, I wouldn't be, I wouldn't be lagging
behind.
I thought that was cool.
That was cool.
Yeah.
But it's like balance, balance is like just the important thing.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
The balance.
I feel like we should make an argument for, you know, there's an entire demographic of
people that think like working out sucks, right?
Like I understand the sentiment.
I feel like we should make that argument.
Like there's a reason to frown upon working out because, okay, so when we talked about
balance now, there's an entire demographic of people that don't balance, right?
And just like, I mean, if you're a bodybuilder or like, like an Olympic lifter or something,
and I mean, working out is essentially your career, it is pretty much understandable.
Even then I wouldn't also say you make it your personality because it's still a job and your
job shouldn't be your person all the way, except you are really into that.
But that's excessive.
Yeah.
Always talking about it.
Has gym bro in
his twitter bio
Has gym bro
in your bio
Yeah, I'm like, yeah, I get, I get that, you know, it's like what we're saying when we're
talking about just making it your personality.
Like that's the, that's going, that's going overboard.
A person can have a conversation with you without it being related to the gym.
Yeah.
You know, you just, I don't know, you and your friends are, your friends are talking
and then some, some guys just talking about just educating everybody on protein shakes
or something.
But to be fair though, like if you have, I feel like everything is relative.
Let's say you are in a group of friends, all of you are really, really into working out.
Like you guys are just, you just think the human body is the temple and like you want
to, you want to treat it with respect and that's just your friendship group.
Right.
Then I feel like, you know, fine, like that's how you are living your life.
That's how you're enjoying yourself.
That's your person.
Yeah.
But like I'm not, I'm not considering that kind of scenario.
I'm talking about regular people, people with different, you know, or regular views on the
human body.
Right.
And then there's this person who, who is always worshiping at the temple of exercise.
I just want you to just talk to you.
It's almost like a religion.
Yeah.
like convince you, you know, like you should start working out.
If a person tells you, you know, exactly what are you, you know, you start policing what
you're eating or trying to, then it just, it just, it becomes very uncomfortable to
be around, around such a person.
Yeah.
And it's very, it's very easy rather to fall into that trap because like it gets, because
of the positive feedback, because of the positive reinforcement, it's very easy to fall into
the trap of just always wanting to maintain it as tightly as possible.
Meanwhile, like, I don't know.
I mean, not making any judgments for other people, but for me personally, I, I prefer
it as just another activity that improves the quality of your life.
All right.
Yeah, that's true.
We should talk about like one of my favorite aspects of going to the gym.
There are not many, so I shouldn't say one of my favorite aspects, probably my favorite
aspect is like gym clothes.
I think that gym fits.
The way they wear joggers and wear socks over the joggers looking like M.J.
I think, I think it's so, I think it's so important to like the aesthetics of the place,
the vibe.
Yeah.
Like I, I, I don't know what's the word to use now.
I encourage it.
Right.
I really like people, you know, going, I want to see, I want to see a guy walk into the
gym and like, there's no question about what he's here to do.
It's like, it's so, you know, he has like the headband, the headband, the tights.
Nigerian men in the gym are super obsessed with durags.
Like, it's so funny because like, some of them are proper bald.
It's not like they are, you know, covering anything, it's just cultural.
The one, the one that I can't get behind though is the sunglasses.
I don't feel like, I don't know why you're wearing sunglasses in the gym.
I don't get it.
So you're not wearing sunglasses inside any building.
is a bit sketchy.
You know, my favorite, my favorite guy at the gym, like when we're talking outfits,
just wears, wears the same thing every single time.
He wears the uniform.
It's like, he wears the yellow tank top, some like blue shorts.
And then his shoes are like black, they also have yellow.
He doesn't wear socks.
He's like, or ankle socks.
You can't see.
And he's just like, this guy's just here to pump iron, man.
I think, I think it's so funny.
I think, I think that's something cool.
I encourage every single person listening to this to go all out for their gym fit.
Yeah.
Yes.
I mean, I guess in a manner of speaking, I would, I wouldn't mind rejoining the gym.
So we have a home set up now.
Yeah, we do.
So we don't go physically to the gym as of now.
Logistics wise, gym is not super close.
We have to drive.
So it kind of made sense to set up one for ourselves.
But if there was a closer gym, like if we were to move somewhere else and then there
was a gym closer to the house, where we could probably like stroll to the gym, or like walk or jog to
the gym.
You think you'd want to rejoin?
I wouldn't mind.
Especially maybe for me, like right now that you're asking this question, I have a very,
very sedentary lifestyle.
Like I'm almost always, I'm almost always at home.
Work from home.
Yeah.
I look forward to just going to places.
I think it's just, you know, just important to just go out.
Yeah.
So I wouldn't, I wouldn't mind.
Also, I like, I like the fact that, you know, it feels like, you know, we go out, accomplish
something then come back.
Yes.
See, listen to me.
Human beings were meant to go out.
Like the instinct to go and hunt is still very present in our psyche.
Work from home is ruining our essence.
Exactly.
Like I understand, I understand the appeal of working from home, but I do remember when
I was working at, when I was working at Bouunce and I had to go, I had to go to the office.
I'd come back, I'd come back, you know, very tired, but it also felt very good.
Like just the aspect of going to just meet other people, do something, just do something
there and then just, and then come back.
So yeah.
Yeah.
I think, I think I'd like to rejoin the gym if it was like an easier, more manageable situation.
Yeah.
We don talk plenty. (We've talked a lot)
Yeah.
We have, we have opinions.
We have opinions and thoughts.
Just opinions.
No authority.
But yeah, this is all relative anyway.
But I think that, you know, in general, I think that there's something to feeling healthier.
It's a.
It's a whole thing.
Yeah.
It's the whole thing.
It's a good, it's a really good feeling.
I should have told the story about how, did I tell you how I joined my sister for like
leg workouts?
You know, my, like my sister, right?
And then she was like, oh, you have such big powerful legs that my workout will be too
light for you.
And I was like, don't worry.
That is, you know, I'll just manage.
She killed me.
I could not, I could not manage.
And the risk of sounding, of generalizing.
Yeah.
Right.
I do not do leg workouts with women.
They are, they are something, they are insane.
They do.
One time when we went to the gym, you know, I saw this, I forgot to say, I forgot to say
what the, what that particular exercise is, but you know what, where you lift with your,
with your calf.
Yeah.
And so like, she just, you know, she stood up, she said she was done.
So I decided to just do what she was doing.
Oh my God.
I was taking aback.
I was like, ah, how did she?
And the funny thing is, the way, the way you see a muscular man.
Yeah.
So you just, you just refrain from doing
what exactly he's doing.
Women are very unassuming in the gym
Like they don't look like the things they lift.
It was, it was something.
And the thing when you tell them they don't believe you, they'll think you're like, like
trying to whine them or something.
Yeah, exactly.
But like they're something else.
But they are really, they are really powerlifting.
Yeah.
I'm serious.
It's been real.
Yeah.
It's been super real.
It's also been TLDR.
It's been TLDR.
Absolutely. I'm Oluchukwu
And I'm Timilehin.
We'll see you next time.
Hopefully sooner than this.
All right.
Thank you.