Admitting to insecurity isn’t really the sort of thing most internet tough guys are willing to do — by acknowledging that your capital-letter laden confidence waivers in the physical realm, people worry that their words will somehow carry less weight when arguing with strangers on the internet.

So allow me to clear something up: we’re all a little insecure sometimes.

If you’re like me, and you’ve devoted a fair portion of your adult life to fitness, you’ve probably noticed that those things you feel self-conscious about don’t simply evaporate as your fitness level increases. As you get better, your insecurities evolve with you. In my early twenties, when I could have eaten nothing but cream cheese with a spoon and still retained a six pack, I was self-conscious about how strong I was. When my friends threw two plates on each side of the bar to knock out reps of 225, I’d watch and wince, aware that I could only muster five or six reps at that weight.

I can sense some of you thinking to yourself sarcastically, “Wow, musta been really hard on you, not being able to bench press 300 pounds.” I get it — when you’re struggling to squat 205, it’s hard to feel bad for a guy that’s worried that he can only squat 300 — but that’s the nature of insecurity, folks. It’s not based in reason; it doesn’t dissipate once you cross an imaginary number on the bar or the clock. Insecurity exists on the mental plain, not the physical one, and as such, there’s very little you can do physically to mitigate it.