This isn't going to be a long blog, but I thought I'd write about what was on my mind.

To me, there's two type of gym rats. The first type is one who is all about himself and fails to encourage others. He's usually one who walks around the gym, chest puffed out, headphones blasting, grunting, yelling out the vulgar lyrics of the song he's listening to, and giving dirty looks to everyone for no apparent reason. The only reason he might stop any of these behaviors is to go creep on a girl. I honestly wish these type of guys would just buy some weights and never come back to the gym. Don't get me wrong, there's some guys who grunt and drop weights because they are pushing themselves to their limits. I respect that and it's not something that irritates me. But believe me when I say I can differentiate these type of guys from the obnoxious ones. What is making a scene in the middle of the gym doing for your fitness goals? Do you believe that by grunting louder you're packing on more muscle? No. So do everyone a favor and tone it down a notch.

On the other hand, there's the gym rat who is humble and dedicated to making something better of himself without needing to cause a ruckus. These type of guys encourage me. It always brightens my day to see a guy stop in the middle of his workout, take out his headphones, and offer someone a spot or guidance on the proper way to preform an exercise. He may even take a moment to give you encouraging words and explain fitness 'do's and dont's'. Chances are you've probably had your own personal experiences with these type of guys and know how much the slightest compliments can encourage you to go hard for the rest of that workout and the workouts following. So why not pass on what has been given to you? Every time you hit the gym, I challenge you to compliment someone on the progress they've made. You'd be surprised to know how far a couple kind words could drive someone in their own fitness goals!