These gym bros are “gymaxxing” at Fitness Con. Photo by Marcelo Maximilian.
By Marcelo Maximilian Staff Reporter
Steve Urkel was a fictional character from the 90s sitcom Family Matters.
Urkel is easily one of the most famous examples of a nerd in pop culture, known for his signature look of large bifocal glasses, colorful suspenders and holding his pants ridiculously high on his thin and frail stature.
In between the silliness of Urkel’s constant references to highly intellectual trivia as if it were common knowledge, the running joke was his persistence in stealing the heart of Laura Winslow, the crush that humorously rejected him in almost every episode… Almost.
One of the show’s most memorable episodes was when Steve becomes Stefan; a handsome, stylish, suave, sexy version of himself, gaining the attention of Laura.
Urkel’s extreme transformation is a prime example of “Lookmaxxing,” the present-day term for when a person who is generally a nerd puts in the effort to “max out” their looks.
“Looksmaxxing” can be a wide array of actions a person can do to improve their appearance such as a skincare routine to clear up acne, creating a new wardrobe with better fitting and stylish clothes, a haircut that compliments the shape of your face and overall improving grooming standards.
“Looksmaxxing” is an umbrella term for self-improvement and can often be broken down into more specific categories. For example, the commonly used term “gymaxxing” is a term for those who work to get physically fit from exercise.
The “looksmaxxing” community is refreshing especially because many communities within nerd culture accept their fate and blame their poor appearance on bad genetics, lack of motivation and other factors.
The “looksmaxxing” community can be supportive of each other with discussion boards where people can give and receive advice, upload before and after content and ask for advice.
Folks interested in getting into “looksmaxxing” can start where I did: YouTube. I’ve caught myself on YouTube watching endless hours of “looksmaxxing” videos and filtering through the suggestions I could apply to myself. One can start slowly by scheduling barber appointments more frequently, adding accessories to outfits and being more active.
This idea can be applied to all aspects of one’s life. There’s “gymmaxxing,” “financesmaxxing,” “networkmaxxing” and “businessmaxxing.” The point of it all is to give yourself space to work on yourself, whatever that may look like is completely up to you.
