Not related to gains in the gym, but the most awesome compliment I ever received was during Bike Week in Daytona Beach many years ago. I had been out of the military for about 15 years and had an insignia on my vest that only those who have done what I have done would recognize or even know what it means. Ran into a guy who had just got out of the military that recognized it. We bullshitted for a while about the stuff we had been involved with. After a couple of beers and about an hour or so we concluded and said, hey, it was cool meeting you and he told me his name. I said, "yeah same here, nice meeting you too and told him my name." He said, "No fucking way. You're XXXX XXXXXX?" I said, "yeah, that's me." He about shook my hand off and said, "I can't believe I'm actually meeting you. Dude, you're a fucking legend." He then asked me about some of the stories - if this was true, if that was true - I said, "Oh yeah, that stuff really happened." He replied that he couldn't wait to tell some of his buddies that he had met me.
That one moment in time made all the shit I went through worth while. Nice to know they still tell stories about me back in the Navy. I'm proud to say that I earned those stories.