Teen wants to inspire others as he excels in fitness
Artem Sokolov does curls as part of his workout routine. • Submitted Photos
By Tom Victoria
When Artem Sokolov hit his teenage years, he was thin and lacked confidence. At 17, the Ukranian is anything but those after starting a fitness regimen.
“I started out at 13 years old,” Artem said. “I wanted to change something in my life because I was a very skinny boy. And I wanted to build muscle mass.”
Artem posts about his fitness journey on Instagram.
“When I was 13 years old, I wasn’t confident,” he said. “Now, I’m much more confident because of working out. It made me stronger physically and mentally.”
Artem decided to make a change after watching sports.
“I was really inspired by lots of famous athletes,” he said.
Artem said working out helps him overcome difficulties in life.
“I want to work out during my entire life because it makes me feel happier and stronger,” he said. “I don’t want to stop.”
Just as Artem was motivated by others, he hopes to do the same for those who come across his posts.
“I really am glad to motivate other people,”
Artem ensures he hits all areas of the body for his fitness training.
“I do lots of exercises for all muscle groups,” he said. “I do super sets for chest, triceps, back, neck, legs, shoulders.”
Along with traditional workouts with weights such as bench presses and curls, Artem adds weights to his pull-ups as well. He incorporated such weighted exercises at 15 after he advanced past simple pull-ups.
Artem enjoys reading about psychology to understand people's behavior.
Artem exercises up to 90 minutes daily. His goal is to improve each day.
“Every time I work out is harder than the last time,” Artem said.
He always is searching for something different to add to his repertoire.
“Every day, I teach myself something new,” Artem said. “You have to challenge yourself.”
In addition to strength training, he also does cardiovascular conditioning.
“I also run every day in the mornings,” he said.
Artem also plays tennis and swims.
“We have the lake in our region,” he said about where he swims. “It's also very healthy. It develops all muscles groups - back, arms, shoulders. It’s really good. You burn a lot of calories.”
Artem works with weights in various exercises to create the physique he's developed.
Although Artem is not obsessed with calories, he does watch what he eats.
“Diet is very important,” he said. “I’m trying to focus on healthy foods. I’m avoiding products like chips.”
Artem prefers such fare as brown rice and vegetables.
In Ukraine, students graduate from their equivalent of American high school a year earlier than their counterparts. Artem will be studying Business and Marketing at a Hungarian university next year.
However, he spends much of his free time reading about psychology.
“I like to read about that - about the character of people,” Artem said.
One topic that intrigued him was what makes people angry.
“There are different reasons that could lead to anger, such as childhood traumas resulting from the death of a close person or being in an abusive relationship,” he explained. “Also, a choleric temperament type of person is prone to experience more often if he or she is not working on it.”
Artem said people should avoid conflicts with people who are not positive influences.
“That negative energy carries to you,” he said. “To not fall under the influence of someone’s anger, you should detach yourself either visually or mentally and be optimistic about life.”
Despite coming a long way from being a small youth by developing an impressive physique, Artem does not rest on his laurels.
“Every time I see myself in the mirror and I see progress, it motivates me a lot to continue to be stronger every day,” he said.
Artem posts on social media to inspire others to follow his path.
“I want them to be motivated,” he said. “I want to show them everything depends on you. Only you can change yourself, your body. No one else. If you are working hard, everything is possible. I want to motivate people to change something in their lives. I just want to show them that you still don’t give up. Even if you are having a very bad day, you don’t have to give up. You always have to try to overcome your difficulties and problems.”
The link to Artem's Instagram account is: https://www.instagram.com/sokolov_aesthetics/