guest post by Peter Baker

I posted a status on my Facebook the other day that, at first, was intended as partially tongue in cheek. The more I thought about it, the more I realized the gravity of what I had posted. The post stated “PR = Personal Revelations.” I had discovered something personal about myself through a series of questions I had regarding the way I was feeling.

We are all familiar with the term PR in the sense of what it means regarding our physical development–a Personal Record. This is a good starting point. For a personal record is something newly revealed within us. It is a revelation. And I will now elaborate on what I believe a PR is.

On the outset, practitioners of GM might look like they have their idiosyncrasies (and I am sure we all do) with the way we touch our toes or raise our hands after every set of every exercise we do. We might also look a little weird because our form is not that of the text book. One could go so far as to be inclined to say that the sole basis of GM is to be neurotic. This is not the case.

The sole premise from which all of our conclusions are revealed to us is a question. It doesn’t matter always who asks us a question, but whether we ask ourselves the question. The more we look within ourselves the more we can assess and the more we can ask. Here are some starting points:

• Am I happy in my current existence?
• Do I love/hate my job?
• Is this the best possible deadlift form I could be using?
• How many stimuli that I can control are bringing me pain/pain relief/euphoria?
• Is there something I can do to make any of these areas better?

How you answer will dictate the actions you take. If the ensuing actions do not provide you with satisfactory answers, you will start to ask more questions and more will be revealed to you.

The word “apocalypse” has many connotations. Originally, it comes from a Greek word–ἀποκάλυψις (apokalupsis)–which means to take off a veil, or to reveal. Since John had his apocalypse detailed in the Book of Revelations, it has come to be associated with a cataclysmic events leading to the end of the world. While the latter part of that may or may not be true, your PRs can be cataclysmic in their own way insofar as your old world view might have been destroyed by your new revelations.

Peter Baker is a musician from Tampa, Florida who happens to have an
enthusiasm for fitness, writing and a veritable mileu of artistic
endeavors. You can find him as a musician at
https://www.facebook.com/bitterparadoxmusic and you can find him as a
writer at www.deathmetalanddeadlifting.blogspot.com