As a kid growing up, I enjoyed cartoons such as Batman The Animated Series, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Alvin & The Chipmunks, Scooby Doo, He-Man and many others, read a comic here and there and played video games but it wasn't until I was older and really heavy into training and working out that these things in Pop Culture gave another meaning to how you can look at things in real life.
I wasn't called a nerd so much when I was school but as time went on, I just embraced that side of me and it makes working out that much more interesting. It's the imagination that gives me that drive and thinking like a superhero or a Jedi or Sonic The Hedgehog just thrusts into the element that you can improve with the use of the mind and body together. Many use the word nerd in a very derogatory sense but that's also because they don't understand what it's like to have that need of running from reality or seeing something so exaggerative that it becomes hero-like to a little kid.
Certain aspects of Pop Culture such as Comic books show a fictional ideal of what society is in currently or the idea of what it could be in an alternate universe. Did you know the concept of the X-Men with Xavier & Magneto was the premise of the time centered around Civil Rights activists Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X? A time where certain people weren't accepted because of their race? A lot has changed in that time but there's still ideals that remain where we view the world from a certain perspective.
Now, what does all this have to do with working out or exercising? Well, imagine what it would be like to be the Flash and be able to sprint so damn fast that by the time someone said hello, that person would be in another town on the other side of the world maybe. What it would feel like to Heal like Wolverine and be impervious to injuries, could you imagine the type of athlete who had that ability or be able to train without getting injured? The true outlook of this is not always the workout aspects but the concept of understanding that if you were very fast and couldn't be caught, there's temptation there too but also the dream of being able to run from something so horrible that escaping is the only way. The healing ability is a favorite of mine because if I could heal like the man with adamantium claws, I wouldn't need to have surgery and have pins being put into my legs, my bones and surrounding tissue would just piece themselves together. It's the idea of looking at things and either wishing we had it or looking at it as to understand empathy for others who have sustained horrifying injuries.
Being a nerd helps understanding that certain aspects of pop culture have a lot of aspects of real life but in the exaggerated sense. No we can't levitate off the ground or fly without wings but we have things that make that possible such as anti-gravity and having suits that help you glide through the air without a parachute. The Noun aspect of a nerd is "a foolish or contemptible person who lacks social skills or is boringly studious" and the Verb is "engage in or discuss a technical field obsessively or with great attention to detail." The weird thing is, anybody can be a nerd and not have the stereotypical aspects of a fool with glasses and never having able to kiss a girl or boy along with the obsessed outcome of paying attention to detail. A nerd can look like anybody from a bodybuilder to a maid, a blue-collar worker, a bartender, an athlete or even a School Principle and not what a certain look people have.
Someone who trains but also has a vast love for Comics, Cartoons, Science, Music & other things can be some of the nicest people on the planet and share a common trait with those who also have a vast love for things like that. If you want to talk nerdiness and someone who also works out, look at Lou Ferrigno, the guy who went from an introvert and nearly deaf kid into one of the greatest superheroes ever seen on TV and yet has a collection of various Comics, Star Wars stuff and collectable treasures that even someone like Sheldon Cooper would envy. A nerd is just a human being like the rest of us, if he works out as well, it is another cherry on top of a bad ass Sundae.
There are a lot of nerds out there who aren't weak and frail and are crazy strong and powerful. Don't make any mistakes about it, there's a lot of good people out there that have a view on life that is as crazy as a comic book, stranger than a cartoon and certainly a lot more interesting than any video game. The biggest perk of being a nerd that trains, you look at workouts very differently and more imaginative than just a person who works out. Embrace your nerdiness, be yourself and make the most of what is possible to have the best life.
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