‘Midlife Muscle Meetup’ brings virtual community together

WASHINGTON — A small group of fitness enthusiasts gathered in Washington earlier this month, with some driving six hours or more to reach the small town for their get-together.

The four men were members of an online community of about 100 male fitness enthusiasts, who say their experiences with a shared exercise and diet program helped improve their lives since starting it in October. The meetup was their first chance to see one another face-to-face.

“I feel like I know these guys because I’ve been on coaching calls, Zoom calls with them,” said Matt Greiner, who hosted the meetup, given Washington’s central location among those interested. But it comes with a caveat: “We can’t lift weights together online, we can’t walk together. I don’t think people are getting to know each other, or are getting enough fulfilled with relationships in present-day, with all of the online communication.”

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Members said the group worked better than other fitness programs they’d tried, largely because the community offers accountability. Aside from routine group video calls, participants use a platform called Skool to ask questions, share updates, and give advice to one another.

Member Clint Roberts said he — and countless others — joined initially hoping for a quick workout regimen, expecting to get a copy of any reading materials and dropping the program after a few months.

That didn’t happen. He stuck with it, largely because of the relationships it helped him build.

“You can download any workout program, and go to the gym, do the exercises and you can get results,” he said. “Or you can put a little effort into it and not change much. But when you have a group behind you and you’re all sharing what you’re doing … it takes it to another level, when you’ve got all these other guys rooting each other on.”

Interviewed during a group dinner on the first night of the meetup, member Paul Martino said the group helped members not only get physically fit, but improved their interpersonal, emotional and professional lives as well.

He described it less like a gym membership and more like a collective life-coaching endeavor.

“It’s more of a betterment program, to me,” he said. “Overall just being better men, being better community leaders, being better husbands, fathers, friends.”

The participants acknowledged that their strict diet, rules and workouts may seem odd to outsiders. But member Aaron Cabanaw said it was hard to argue with the results, noting that their program urged members to say “yes“ rather than finding excuses to say ”no.“

“I never could have imagined me driving five hours to meet three … random guys to talk about life, and lift,” he said. “I think just making a better connection with these gentlemen is all that’s needed, and it’ll be worth it.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com