What is really a gymbro?

Within admiring, wondering, or misunderstanding, here we guide you about the good and the bad of being so.

 

If you are one of these guys who spend your every free time by training or standing at the gym, if you’re updated about supplements, if you pay your membership timely, if you’re watching in very detail what you eat (what includes how, how much, when, and why), if you’ve turned an expert to decode the nutritional facts charts – anyway, if your personal and social life spins around the gym, you’re maybe a gymbro (from gym brother).

 

By extension, at least in Peru, gymbros are these training partners whom you share the same right lifestyle at the same right place, as much as the relationship that began at the gym can transcend to other circles of your life.

 

“In general, the gymbros begin by sharing the same machine, and they soon match their whole life to work out the same muscle group, to use the same supplement, and even reaching the moment that if one of them leaves the gym, the other one follows him,” a trainer tells us.

 

When yes, when not

The gymbros can turn real communities, the gymfrats (from gym fraternity). For the people who don’t belong to the fitness world, this can wonder them and even a trigger to make fun (there are many memes about), but for many professional trainers, meeting gymbros is a serious matter because they can be capable to move customers agreeing or disagreeing, depending on the experience they have at the gym.

 

“everyone who are trainers today started being gymbros upon a time ago,” they add us.

 

There are also who use the term to mask a romantic or sexual relationship that began at the gym rooms. First of all, it’s not bad to fall in love with your gymbro, but it would be good not to use it as an euphemism for avoiding to say lover or friend with benefits, especially if you go to a medical check due to some little sexual health problem – the medical doctors are not fool, although you think so.

 

Benefits & risks

Is it good or bad to be a gymbro, fitness freak, or gym-rat? Like we use to say here, it depends on the situation.

 

• Positive – your time is better organized as much as you life quality visibly improves compared to the average.
• Negative – You reach to the point that you are at the gym without other reason than being right there believing you won’t be happy somewhere else.

 

• Positive – Your gymbro turns your main motivator for never giving up the training, as much as the sparring-type methodologies work wonderful for you.
• Negative – Going to the gym depends on your gymbro goes to. If he doesn’t go, you don’t go. In other words, you nullify your proactivity.

 

• Positive – You’re not easily teased by the advertising when it’s about to introduce you some new product.
• Negative – You become freak, turning you into a compulsive buyer of every supplement, apparel, clothes, method, or ‘miracle’ that is advertised.

 

• Positive –Your gymfrat is not only in good times, but in bad and especially worst times either.
• Negative – Believing your gymfrat is the only posse which you can aspire to.

 

• Positive – your gymbro Will ever encourage you to achieve a new asset.
• Negative – Your gymbro pushes you to behave the opposite to the sport.

 

Have in mind…

After that, being a gymbro  is not bad at all even provided you know how to take it locked at the gym, or if it suddenly becomes a great physical support and emotional support. But if it begins to infest your other dimensions, get concerned – maybe, you need professional support to see what is going you wrong.

 

Finally, dont confuse a gymbro and a gympro, who is the guy training aware at a gym because he lives through his body, whether a competition or a career which the physique is key (models, artists, security agents, lifesavers). In fact, a gympro knows he must give the necessary dedication to the training, but he is also aware he must keep a physical, mental, or social balance.

 

Would you like to share us your story as a gymbro? Tell it to us on our Twitter account or at chulucanasgym@gmail.com. Maybe, it would be good to post it.

  

The Importance of Celebrating Achievements Over Time for a Bodybuilder

In the world of bodybuilding, every stage of physical transformation represents a challenge that demands dedication, discipline, and patience. From long hours in the gym to careful nutrition planning, bodybuilders put in a tremendous amount of effort to sculpt their bodies.

 

However, amid this focus on continuous progress, a fundamental aspect of the journey is often overlooked: celebrating achievements along the way.

 

Acknowledging Progress

Bodybuilding isn’t just about the final goal; it’s a journey made up of small victories. Every increase in strength, every visible change in musculature, and every improvement in technique are accomplishments that deserve recognition. Celebrating these milestones is a way to stay motivated and remember that success doesn’t happen overnight but through consistency.

 

Acknowledging personal progress also helps maintain a positive mindset. In a sport as competitive and demanding as bodybuilding, it’s easy to fall into the trap of excessive self-criticism. Valuing the achievements made strengthens self-esteem and provides a more balanced perspective on physical development.

 

Reinforcing Motivation

Motivation is a key factor in the success of any bodybuilder, and celebrating achievements, both big and small, can be a powerful motivational booster. When a goal is celebrated, the brain releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and reward. This release not only generates a feeling of satisfaction but also encourages continued work toward the next goal.

 

Moreover, these celebrations foster a mindset of continuous progress, where each achievement opens the door to new possibilities and challenges. This helps maintain long-term energy and enthusiasm, essential factors in a sport where perseverance is key.

 

Setting New Goals

Each celebration of an achievement is also an opportunity to reflect on the journey so far and to set new goals. A bodybuilder who takes time to celebrate their achievements is also better prepared to define the next steps in their evolution. This process of reflection and planning is crucial for sustained growth in the sport, allowing each victory to become the foundation for future success.

 

Creating a Healthy Balance

Bodybuilding, like any other high-performance sport, can be mentally and physically demanding. The pressure to constantly improve can create stress, which could affect both mental health and physical performance. Celebrating achievements helps maintain a healthy balance between the ambition to reach new goals and the need to enjoy the present.

 

Taking time to celebrate doesn’t mean stopping progress but rather acknowledging the effort made and enjoying the journey. This balance between hard work and reward is crucial to avoiding burnout and maintaining a positive attitude over time.

 

In summary, celebrating achievements over time is an essential part of a bodybuilder’s journey. It not only reinforces motivation and helps maintain a positive mindset but also provides the necessary balance for sustainable development. By valuing every milestone reached, bodybuilders can keep their momentum, enjoy their accomplishments, and continue moving toward their goals with greater enthusiasm and determination.

 

The model for this entry is José Escobar. Follow him on Facebook and Instagram. | Follow us on X | WhatsApp | chulucanasgym@gmail.com

  

Importance of mentorship and legacy in bodybuilding

Bodybuilding has held on alive such itself since it began to spread and promote in Europe in the second half of 19^th century, and in the U.S. in the beginning of 20^th century, and from both social and cultural spots toward the entire world. Today, it’s very rare the corner of the planet where it doesn’t do, especially if we talk about nations with a high sports vocation as Brazil, here in Latin America.

 

It wasn’t only about opening more gyms – rather, the gym is the ideal space for what the tradition keeps ever alive, but the history tells us since Lacedemone, Ancient Greece, 18^th century B.C., until Esse, actual Germany, 1852 A.D., and then up to date, the importance of this institution ffor learning and developing the physical culture has not fallen down – quite the opposite.

 

Let’s consider this first idea: it’s not the physical facility what makes the bodybuilding to everlast. The first gyms were big open-air lots delimited with walls where the athletes trained fully naked. Today, although the idea could sound very exotic to rescue, what we have are buildings that keep the same concept of these big lots but under a roof (the most) and with the comfort of modern architecture.

 

Obviously, most of us already don’t train naked but even at the time of our routine, we unavoidabily end giving up to the marketing of big sports brands. Let’s remember we also can train in the open and we could get the same effect if we do it correctly.

 

Then, a second idea we should consider is the gym, before the physical space, it’s about a 38-century-old institution, and as a human creation, it’s the presence of persons training and inspiring others to continue training and getting new goals, no doubt.

 

How does our example influence in the motivation that many bodybuilders and athletes have to start their own sport careers, or a healthy lifestyle at least? The truth is it influences much, if not, think of who inspired you to attend that very first day and to continue persisting until getting your first results, your actual achievement later.

 

These models inspiring us, whether we meet them in person or not, are called mentors in pedagogy – the persons who form in our heads that we wish or want to be. We have mentors for everything: our profession, our fashion style, our criteria for choosing mates and friends… anyway. Think of your actual life and you’ll understand that somebody inspired you to be who you are, and there’s somebody who is inspiring you to be someone else.

 

It’s probable we don’t propose to be mentor of anybody and we are in our right, but we are an example the same, and somebody is going to see in us for continuing to train, or leaving to do it. And as the years go by, that one we have inspired to, it’s going to inspire another new generation, and so and so.

 

But if you are aware of how much your example can influence in the life of other person or other people and you want to take control of the situation, it would be actually good you have a plan or a methodology in mind that allows who you inspire to learn the bodybuilding in a progressive and sequential way, that they appreciate it in a positive way, and that they value their first achievements as an won creation they can go improving.

 

So, you go building a legacy or heritage of knowledge and attitude around the bodybuilding, which purpose must be the improvement of the training ways, the increasing of life quality, the affirmative and positive self-validation, and the long of who come behind evolve the physical culture for their benefit and the one of who will come behind them. In this sense, the mentorship and the legacy will do the bodybuilding as a sustainable activity in time and space.

 

You’re not a substitute

This implies you to educate, to get ready for when that new bodybuilder or athlete gets close to you, you have true, precise, and inspiring answers. It’s not about you are going to turn in his physical trainer, but you could complement favorably the work of those professionals so that person gets motivated to ccome back working out the next day, and the next week, and the next month, and the next year.

 

It would be interesting if these mentorship and legacy strategies are precisely coordinated with the physical trainer for having unity in the messages and the quality of examples. Also, beyond how much weight you lift, it can turn in a natural opportunity to forge constructive social relationships that form a community which you ever could count.

 

Prepare and tell us your experience or let’s interchange tips. Let’s talk on our Twitter account, or also at our e-mail chulucanasgym@gmail.com

Coming next - we link you to the developing experience in Callao, Peru.

The model featured on this entry is José Escobar. 

Rules are also equal for athletes

 

While the world hopefully looked at the vaccination like a wway to diminish the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact, the laureate Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic decided not to immunize. Like him, there are many people who consider the vaccines as hazardous stuff for human health, although the medical evidence has proven effectiveness to prevent or reduce the symptoms of several health conditions two centuries ago.

 

The Djokovic’s denial for vaccination ccosted him not to play the Australia Open in January 2022. This is one of four Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP)tournaments that allow to add scores to make the world ranking which the tennis player is one of the leaders. The Australian politic authorities ruled to prohibit the entrance of any person without full vaccination as a health measure for avoiding new outbreaks.

 

But Djokovic’s rejection was not the only thing playing against him. Before trying his entry to Australia, it was revealed he have been positive to the infection and that being infected, he gave an interview to a medium in France – he even posed for photos not using a mask, one of the preventive barriers against the virus. Ultimately, a court took the tennist out the nation of kangaroos and koalas, and he was legally prohibited to enter for other more three years.

 

France, the next ATP’s destination, also issued a prohibition for any non-vaccinated athlete to enter. As well, the U.S., other place where the tournament is played, issued it. Djokovic’s homeland Serbia has protested alledging a world conspiracy against its champion and it’s called him symbol of freedom because he held his denial for vaccination.

 

 

Although as a general rule, any athlete’s organisms have a better immunologic response due to the training and the whole lifestyle, this doesn’t mean they are physiologically invulnerable to any disease. In fact, it’s probable the own care reduces the aggressiveness of symptoms compared to a person who doesn’t work out or doesn’t have a healthy lifestyle, but that doesn’t mean they can elude those issues, rather if their own activity or lifestyle exposes them to risk situations.

 

Otherwise, whether the discipline any athlete does, there are rules ordering each procedure, each winning way, and even each penalty once any fault is proven. And every athlete knows he has to submit them for his participation to be in equal conditions regarding other contenders.

 

And when it’s avout coming out the own country to contest in other one, every athlete knows once the national territory is left, the country’s rules are over the sport rules – the reasonable is submitting to them. If you don’t agree, you can quit unless the country gives a special treatment to each case and allows the access. But while that prerrogative is not used, the land is flat for everybody.

 

And above the rules, every athlete, as his image grows up, turns into a reference for hundreds, thousands, or millions of followers. Then, what he does or he leaves to do, although he doesn’t want it, influences. So, part of his responsibility consists in measuring and caring the impact of his behavior. This doesn’t mean he lives obsessed by the sanctions but he lives convinced of it’s the right way to act.

 

It’s not a better athlete who gets more priviledges but who wins the recognizement of everybody based upon humility, perseverance, and positive attitude. Obviously, Djokovic is not the only case of this kind but the one that caused more controversy globalwide in the last times. Nevertheless, the lesson applies to the previous cases, the other actual ones, and what could emerge today to up.

 

This is a Good topic to talk about with the trainer, other athletes, and, why not, the community in general. Even, we propose you to dialogue and discuss it in the comment box below or on our Twitter account. You also can write us at chulucanasgym@gmail.com 

8 habits may last your life

Turning 40 is not the end but a new beginning.

 

A non-published study applied on American veterans, quoted by CNN.com on July 24^th, 2023 assures adopting eight healthy lifestyles can increase your life rate (the longest lapse you can live)  up to 24 years. That means, for example, if your life rate is 75 years, you could last until 99.

 

The key is starting at 40 years old supposing you never had those habits before in your lifetime. If you start at 50 years old, the life rate increases 21 years, and if you start at 60, you can add 18 years at the most.

 

“There is a 20-year lapse which you can make those changes, whether you make them gradually or all at once,” said study’s senior author Xuan-Mai Nguyen, a health sciences specialist with the Million Veteran Programme, who works in Boston, Mass. healthcare system.

 

They’re indeed possible

The eight habits are things we’ve ever heard all the time: doing exercise, healthy diet, not smoking, reducing stress, sleeping well, growing positive social relationships, not drinking much, not becoming addict to opioids.

 

• If you’re a 40-year-old man adopting just one of those lifestyles, you add 4.5 years to your life rate. If you adopt two, you add 7, and if you adopt  three, it’s about 8.5 additional years to your life rate.
• If you’re a woman, adopting just one habit adds 3.5 years, as well as adopting two adds 8, and three adds more than 12.5 years.
• “Making all eight adds a synergetic effect,”  Nguyen said.

 

The author clarifies it’s better starting when you’re younger, but if you start since 40s, even the smallest change is still benefitial. “This is not out of reach, it’s actually atenniable by general population.”

 

Key facts

The research included about 720,000 U.S. militia veterans aged between 40 and 99 years old forming Million Veteran Programme, that looks for studying longitudinally their health and well being.

 

It considered ages, different ethnicities and marital status. But it clarifies it only focused on militia veterans, so it couldn’t transfer to other social groups, at the moment. But, indeed, it took many of tested don’t follow military training, are not in active duty, already.

 

It also analyzed people with chronic diseases having those lifestyles and the outcomes seem to be positive. The study was presented on July 24^th, 2023, in Nutrition 2023, the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition.

 

Check the original full story | Comment on X | chulucanasgym@gmail.com

  

How to reduce the pain after training

Fasting in Bodybuilding and Fitness: Benefits, Risks, and How to Practice It

If you've ever wondered whether fasting can help you on your journey as a bodybuilder or athlete, the answer isn't as simple as a "yes" or "no." Intermittent fasting and other forms of dietary restriction have gained popularity in the fitness world, but before incorporating it into your routine, it's crucial to understand its benefits, risks, and the best way to practice it according to your goals.

 

What Is Fasting in Fitness and Bodybuilding?

Fasting, in general terms, is the voluntary abstinence from food for a set period of time. In the world of fitness and bodybuilding, intermittent fasting is the most commonly used method. This involves dividing the day into feeding and fasting windows, with the most common protocols being 16/8 (16 hours of fasting and 8 hours of eating) and 20/4 (20 hours of fasting and 4 hours of eating).
The idea behind fasting is to take advantage of certain metabolic processes that can optimize fat burning, improve insulin sensitivity, and allow for better hormonal regulation.

 

Benefits of Fasting for Bodybuilders and Athletes

When implemented strategically, fasting can offer multiple advantages:

• Fat loss without muscle loss: By reducing the eating window, you can facilitate a caloric deficit without severely affecting muscle mass, as long as your protein intake is adequate.
• Improved insulin sensitivity: This enhances nutrient partitioning, ensuring that the carbohydrates you consume go to the muscles rather than being stored as fat.
• Hormonal optimization: During fasting, growth hormone and norepinephrine levels increase, which can improve fat burning and muscle preservation.
• Greater mental clarity and stable energy: By reducing insulin spikes and allowing the body to use fat as an energy source, you may experience improved focus and less fatigue.
• Simplified eating habits: Reducing the number of meals per day can make diet planning easier, helping to avoid overeating and reducing food-related anxiety.
•  

Risks and Disadvantages of Fasting for Athletes and Bodybuilders

Fasting isn’t all positive, and its impact can vary depending on your training level and goals:

• Performance loss: If you train intensely and don’t have enough glycogen stores, your performance may suffer.
• Muscle loss: While well-managed fasting doesn’t necessarily lead to muscle breakdown, insufficient protein intake or excessively long fasting periods can compromise muscle gains.
• Difficulty meeting caloric requirements: If you need a high caloric intake to build muscle, a shortened eating window can make it harder to achieve.
• Fatigue and poor recovery: Lack of nutrients at key moments can affect post-workout recovery and daily energy levels.
• Negative hormonal impact in some cases: Especially for athletes with low body fat percentages, prolonged fasting can affect testosterone production and other key hormones for muscle growth.

 

How to Practice Fasting Effectively in Fitness and Bodybuilding

If you decide to try fasting, follow these recommendations to avoid issues and maximize benefits:

• Choose the right protocol: If you're a beginner, start with the 12/12 or 14/10 method and gradually adjust.
• Consume enough protein: Make sure to ingest at least 2g of protein per kg of body weight within your eating window.
• Plan your training: If you train while fasting, focus on lighter sessions or moderate cardio. For intense strength training, consider breaking your fast beforehand.
• Don’t neglect post-workout nutrition: Prioritize protein-rich and complex carbohydrate meals after training to optimize recovery.
• Stay hydrated: During fasting, drink water, black coffee, or unsweetened tea to avoid dehydration.
• Listen to your body: If you experience strength loss, extreme fatigue, or decreased performance, fasting may not be the best option for you.
•  

Fasting in bodybuilding and fitness can be a useful tool for fat loss and metabolic optimization, but it's neither mandatory nor ideal for everyone. If you choose to incorporate it, do so wisely, ensuring adequate nutrient intake and adapting it to your lifestyle and goals.
Remember, the key to progress will always be consistency in training and proper nutrition. Listen to your body and adjust based on what works best for you! | Follow us on X | WhatsApp | chulucanasgym@gmail.com