Albert K. Park

            As much as I want to believe that everyone is compelled to live healthy and active lives, this is not the truth. In fact, individuals like us are the minority. Most of us fitness heads are alone in a group of friends. Think about how many friends you have. Now ask yourself, do you have to sift through all of them to find that one other friend who likes to workout to go to the gym or on a run with you? Yeah, you know what I’m talking about. We all have done it. The reality is that we are in fact a rare breed but possess an incredible ability to positively influence others and welcome them into our unique tribe.

            I was reminded of our minority status while grabbing some dinner with a friend of mine. He had invited some of his friends who were visiting from out of town and I got the opportunity to get to know them over dinner and some microbrews. We talked about everything from Jersey shore (love this show) to BP’s oil catastrophe and the night was entertaining. Eventually fitness popped up as we learned about each other’s careers and I was instantly thrown into the hot seat. (Insert the Hot Seat music from “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” here)

            Before I could ask for the check, I was getting grilled like a burger on the 4^th of July. They couldn’t stop criticizing the training lifestyle. No aspect of fitness was safe as they went on to talk about how gross protein shakes were and voiced negative opinions on the growing obsession people had with working out. Although I do agree with them on the dangers of societies negative pressures in obtaining an ideal body image, I had to let them know that I was part of a different genre of fitness freaks.  

            I am part of a unique tribe that has “healthy” and “fit”, engraved into their DNA. It’s not a hobby and no it’s not a phase I’m going through, it is a lifestyle. No, I’m not alone. We are running in the streets, hiking on trails, taking over gyms, and training in our homes. The growth of this group is exponential because the passion for a better life is contagious.

            This isn’t something you can read about and comprehend; you have to catch the feeling to truly understand. The feeling ignites a new vigor for life and opens your eyes to an unlimited potential. I truly do feel that we owe it to ourselves and others to live dedicated to longevity and health. We owe it to our kids, our co-workers, our friends, our families, and everyone we come into contact with to be able to give them our best. We can’t let something we can control, like our fitness and health, hold us back from giving our best.

            Let me get one point very clear. Do not mistake us for the annoying gym hooligan. You can spot them out at any gym, just look for the “socializer”, usually dressed in color coordinating workout clothes and has more gym accessories than sweat on their shirt. Their workout includes a warm up on the treadmill, 35 minutes of socializing, 1 machine exercise, and then an unnecessary post workout supplement drink.

            To the outsider, what we do, how we live, how we train, and how we eat is completely foreign and weird. It’s crazy! All we can do is smile and think about the next time we train. We are everyday people that live everyday lives but train like psychos and eat like cavemen.

              It was too hard for me to organize the rest of my thoughts so I just started listing reasons that make us a unique tribe dedicated to being fit and healthy. See if any of these describe you and if you have any more you would like to add, please post them or email me, I would love to see more.