Stepping into the gym, you are suddenly met with the sound of enthusiastic yells of encouragement. Perplexed, you turn a corner only to find a group taking Instagram boomerangs of themselves lifting weights. You’re weighed down by questions: how come it sounds like a fraternity party? Was the gym always this active? The answer lies behind the new wave of ‘gym bros.’
Recent social media trends have highlighted the growing ‘gym bro’ community. Their most popular social media posts often consist of the terms ‘Gainz,’ ‘Daily grind,’ ‘PROTEINZ,’ and pictures of their athletic progress or new personal records.
And yet, what exactly is a gym bro? Typically, a gym bro is someone whose life revolves around the gym. Imagine waking up and wanting to go to the gym, grudgingly going to school, and then going back to the gym. There are of course many reasons why people become gym bros, some being looks, health, or a job.
Roosevelt senior Silas Colombara, a semi gym bro, mostly works out in his home and rarely goes to the gym. When Colombara does go to the gym, he says that “most people are not judgmental and are always willing to help each other.”
When asked why he works out, he says it is mostly for himself because it gives him time to de-stress, but that he also prioritizes his shoulders for aesthetics.
Colin Vanderberg, Wyatt Wise, and Charlie Griffith working out in the Magnuson Athletic Club
Another Roosevelt senior, Kyin Rowe, attends Western Athletic Club with his friends and works out four times a week. His personal goal in the gym is to achieve personal records on heavy weights for squats or the bench press. Like Colombara, Rowe works out for himself and he plans to continue lifting in college.
Roosevelt junior Jack Wilson enjoys working out because it motivates him to achieve new personal records. His favorite areas to target when exercising are his legs and quads and he works out anywhere between one to six days per week. Because he is busy, he tries his best to keep a consistent schedule.
Gym bros typically maintain a strict workout schedule with specific days coordinated to focus on one or two muscle groups. In addition to exercise, diet and calorie count is important for them to keep in mind when they are trying to bulk up.
Colombara states, “I have a fast metabolism, I need to eat a lot of calories.” His diet is nothing special: unrefined grains like brown rice and wheat bread. “I genuinely like the flavor and texture of them, so it doesn’t feel like a diet to me at all,” he says.
Colombara tries to eat lots of proteins, fruits, and vegetables. Although he still enjoys junk food like burgers and cookies, he says, “the only diet that works is one that you can have for the rest of your life.”
Rowe doesn’t check his calorie intake, saying, “I think I burn a lot of calories based on my weight.” Rowe maintains an athletic lifestyle, with lots of running and cardio.
As part of his diet, Wilson eats as much as possible, stating, “It’s bulk season.” He doesn’t keep track of his calories but he knows that he wants to get bigger.
Gym bros are known to hype each other up. Some may even say they build muscle to impress each other. Wilson says, “I think that there’s always that competitive edge in there, with everyone just wanting to outdo each other. But that sort of feeds into the culture itself.”
While peer-to-peer competition can often serve as a source of motivation for gym bros, toxic masculinity is often an unhealthy part of the community’s culture that participants have to grapple with. The pressure for the male physique to be huge and their attitudes to be overconfident and alpha-like is a reality for many in the athletic community.
When asked about the presence of toxic masculinity among gym bros, Colombara says, “Physical health is just one of many qualities that a person can have, and it is not what makes a man ‘manly.’”
Wilson says, “I think that [perpetuating toxic masculinity] comes with [having] an ego in lifting, which personally I don’t have.”
As a whole, gym bros are often viewed negatively by the general public. Colombara and Wilson both agreed that gym bros aren’t always viewed in the best light. Colombara says, “I imagine most people think we’re annoying and cocky.”
Wilson agrees, saying, “I’m sure that [a douche is] all that we look like from the outside.”
Yet making the effort to get to know gym bros may make you change your thoughts about them. “Once you get in there, you really see kind of how much of a brotherhood it is,” says Wilson. Colombara makes a similar statement, saying that the gym community is very supportive, even if it may not look like it from the outside.
All in all, gym bros are dedicated to their workouts and always have a goal they want to achieve. While in the public eye it’s just a group of boys egging each other on in the gym, only gym bros see the supportive community they’ve built for themselves.
