How long did it take for you to realize that you never be a Top Pro Bodybuilder?

[TooPowerful4u]

Funny how things play out when someone busts their ass to achieve something...

Dont feel alone on that one...Phil has something stupid to say to everyone.


For me it took longer at first I grew so fast it seemed like my potential for size was limitless, and my mistake was believing size was all that mattered.

When I did my first National Level Show it hit me full force, I was a below average bber genetically. And that the guys who made the top had both genetics and work ethic.

I bet that gave your some extra strength.

We're gonna be cheering up for you when your name here turns red. And being as young, you should aim for Olympia stage.

This made me LOL pretty hard! He told me I could be pro, then outlined a cycle he thought would get me there... all while he was preaching low doses here on the board.

I've only come to the realization that I will never be a pro, or even a top amateur, within the last 6 months. I spent 10 years in PL before switching to BB, tripled the amount of drugs I was taking, and went "all in" for about 2 years. I really didn't get that much bigger, and it took a lot of work and strict dieting to get lean. All the while, my training partner was taking less than half of what I was, ate like garbage and was 50 lbs heavier than me and leaner. I really don't think bodybuilding as a sport will be good for me or my life in the long run, but I am having a hard time coming to terms with just being another gym rat.

LOL never forgot and well you bet the first top 10 i snagged even WAY off my peak was an "eat that" moment in my head.... 3rd at USA solidified it wasnt a fluke.... Nationals went rough but you all know why and i still landed 13th in one of the toughest super classes i can remember having spilled like niagra falls (no, not bs i posted pics proving it). Lets see how USA goes i should be 245+ and i dont care if i lose muscle im giving myself an extra 8wk diet il be peeled


good thread

 

[Queefer]

About tens seconds after I put posing trunks on for the first time.

Tried flexing with a friend at the gym who was competing. I just felt weird and awkward. Not for me.

I enjoy lifting, bulking, and seeing how cut I can get when dieting. I'm happy with that.

I'm sure social anxiety plays a big role. I don't like people looking at me. I don't like the attention.

Once I put those trunks on, I knew I wanted to dance around in a banana hammock with my favorite song in the background and 500 juiced up meatheads in the crowd yelling my name and cheering for me.

 

[LEX]

Too long. The best dreams die hard.

 

[rippedyearround]

I think I've "realized" this several times over the years...but somehow I've also realized that being a top pro, or a pro at all, isn't really the goal for me.

I live this life because I love it.

 

[Swifto]

Never really tried bodybuilding or devoting my life to it and sacrificing the rest.

But I know my genetics wouldn't allow me to be a pro, there is absolutely no chance. I realised at about 17-19 I wasn't cut out to be a bodybuilder, realising some my age where stacked and I wasn't, even on a similar diet and training program.

 

[Marvin Martian]

well - we are ALL pros here guys :headbang:

 

[Growman]

I noticed really quickly. I figured if i didnt have the best genetics out of my group of friends, then i probably didnt have what it takes.

Then after a few cycles i was sure because i had an idea of what a pro might take, and just knew my body couldnt handle it. Plus even if i was able to take those amounts i just would not grow like that. I remember meeting Ronnie at an autograph signing and being like yeah my body cant get that big, no matter what.

I hate the idiots that are like "oh if i took what they take i would look like that" its like no you wouldnt.

 

[little slice]

I noticed really quickly. I figured if i didnt have the best genetics out of my group of friends, then i probably didnt have what it takes.

Then after a few cycles i was sure because i had an idea of what a pro might take, and just knew my body couldnt handle it. Plus even if i was able to take those amounts i just would not grow like that. I remember meeting Ronnie at an autograph signing and being like yeah my body cant get that big, no matter what.

I hate the idiots that are like "oh if i took what they take i would look like that" its like no you wouldnt.

true.. but I always wonder what I would look like lol

 

[Growman]

true.. but I always wonder what I would look like lol

I mean i woulda been huge, but huge for me which is nothing near even a national level competitor.

I mean i have never done tren, dbol or anadrol, and never did test above a gram a week. And when i did a gram it was for a month then i scaled it back. So im sure i could get much better, i just would hold water and get oily skin so i was sure higher doses and stronger shit would not benefit someone with my genetics.

 

[grundle]

An hour lol

 

[02z06]

You mean, I'm not going to make it???

In all seriousness it took me a few years. I was very, very delusional when it came to my goals. I've always been the type that can bust my ass & make things happen the way I want, so it was a eye opener that I couldn't do that here.

That there was literally a entire different playing field I couldn't even get close to touching.

 

[jcc80]

I never aspired to compete. You guys are gonna laugh, but it was about 13 years ago and I started seeing these Bowflex commercials and I wanted to look like THAT GUY. I bought one, paid the ridiculous payments, and started working out. Wasn't long before I joined a real gym, and the Bowflex is still at my mom's house collecting dust.

Anyways, back then the goal was to get big and get girls. Now that I got the girl (and the kids), I still like the attention and the confidence derived from lifting. I couldn't ever imagine stopping.

 

[Marvin Martian]

true.. but I always wonder what I would look like lol

The fact is that if the genetic elite take only what you do they look INSANE... not saying some don't take huge amounts but if you have ever personally known someone with that kind of genetics you know what I am talking about...
There seems to be major confusion over what great genetics means - there are guys that have great genetics naturally but then there are guys that may or may not look huge naturally but their response to AAS is TEN times what a "normal" guys would be... Unless you have seen it I guess it can be hard to believe but its a fact.. I don't claim to understand the science behind it - just know its true.. I respond pretty fast and very well - but I have met a few guys over the years that blew my mind..

 

[Growman]

The fact is that if the genetic elite take only what you do they look INSANE... not saying some don't take huge amounts but if you have ever personally known someone with that kind of genetics you know what I am talking about...
There seems to be major confusion over what great genetics means - there are guys that have great genetics naturally but then there are guys that may or may not look huge naturally but their response to AAS is TEN times what a "normal" guys would be... Unless you have seen it I guess it can be hard to believe but its a fact.. I don't claim to understand the science behind it - just know its true.. I respond pretty fast and very well - but I have met a few guys over the years that blew my mind..

100%. I mean thats basically the point i was trying to make. Kevin Levrone benched 400 pounds naturally and he said when he took his first shot of test cyp he exploded... and i believe it. I dont blow up after several bottles lol...

 

[GreenEarth]

I realized it twice. First time was in college when I started tracking my diet to a T every single day, attempting to bulk @ 3200 cals (6' tall, ~180lbs), and despite hard training and strict adherence to diet (and a hell of a lot of determination), I gained more fat than I did muscle.

Second time was gear. I think for a lot of us that didn't get great mass gains with good dieting and strict training, steroids were this magical solution that could render our otherwise crappy genetics meaningless. First cycle was just test and epistane, went up a good 30lbs and only gained about 1-2% bodyfat, I felt unstoppable. But afterwards (again, strict diet/training), I lost a lot of it, kept maybe 10lbs but still had noticeably higher BF. It took two more rounds of using gear to realize that my body was EXTREMELY averse to going above 220lbs, and if I even got up to that much I would likely have to be a bit chubby. The amount I had to eat to get above 220 would probably result in 4lbs of fat for every 1lb of muscle I could get. I think that 220lbs hurdle (not even lean ) is what really drove it into my head.

I've settled on healthy living, but not without muscle. Still plan to train my ass off and diet well for the remainder of my natural life. If I could get to be a very lean 195 @ 6' year-round, I'd be happy. Probably moderate gear usage here and there from now on (curiosity always gets the better of me), but for those of us that do realize the competition aspect of bodybuilding was not intended for us, I think health has to weigh heavier on our minds in terms of our goals. Pumping gear into a body that doesn't respond well to it is like doing moderate renovations to a haunted mansion...it'll look better, but still won't ever look spectacular. Especially compared to that newly built penthouse down the street (Olympia stage).

 

[alfresco]

Good thread. Why I just noticed it, heaven only knows.

My training information and experiences are probably too well chronicled here at PM, but the short
version, if I may digress a bit, is that I started training in 1972 with zero intentions of being a pro or
ever setting foot on a stage. That does not mean I did not aspire, want to look like a bodybuilder,
I certainly did.

I literally devoured evert bit of bodybuilding ‘literature’ I could lay my hands on but what was absent
was a real bodybuilder I could actually see with my own eyes. Nothing trumps reality. It was not until I
went to the original Golds Gym in Venice Beach in the early 70’s did I realize I had a snow balls chance
in hell of ever, ever, even closely approaching what a real bodybuilder looks like. (My Dad told me
this very early on ‘I did not have the genetics’ to look like what I then wanted to look like and I did not,
until much later, appreciate the wisdom and love he had for me as his advice was not meant to dissuade
or discourage me, only for me to set realistic expectations; the realistic part took a while. And to not
reach in the wrong direction. Just be the best you can be and be happy with what you have achieved.
I really miss him.) Bodybuilding I think, in many regards and more so than most other ‘competitions’ is
is dominated and ultimately controlled by genetic factors far beyond your control.

Getting back to the OP . . . once I was in a real bodybuilding gym (and I have been in many), it took me
about two (2) seconds to realize I was not cut from the same cloth . . . please see link below.

http://www.professionalmuscle.com/f...et-have-witnessed-training-2.html#post1150762

Many might argue I gave in to easily, never really gave myself a chance, pushed myself to the limit.
(Reminds me . . . see the movie Whiplash if you haven’t; great flic.) After all, we have all seen the
before and after fotos of many of the greats . . . who knew how they would turn out? I guessed
wrong in many of those cases and I dare say I am alone in saying that. I my case, I just knew.

Once I realistically, logically, looked at my bone structure and my l:d ratio, muscle attachments, metabolism,
starting strength, bla, bla, bla . . . not to mention the ‘advanced supplementation’ necessary to look like what
I wanted to look like, I soon, too late actually, calibrated my expectations and I have been very happy
with my decision ever since.

Could go on and on about to many tangential / related subjects, so I’ll just stop here.

 

[rotinaj]

After my first cycle I knew I could easily GO pro. But that would be it.
I'm gifted with average-width clavices, medium insterting last and the main issue is that I'm over 6' and have no desire to be 350lb off season. Took me 5 years to realize everything.

 

[Bigd50]

Even before you realized the potential of your physical genetics you should realize that being a pro bodybuilder means you would have to live a very selfish lifestyle, turn yourself in to a huge drug abuser, damage your health, break the law and risk your freedom, risk your livelihood and the ability to support yourself and your family, and lie to everyone. Anyone wanting to involve themselves in that would probably be diagnosed with mental illness by most mental health professionals and just plane crazy by normal people and I'm sure horrified by all to see someone fill up a syringe and inject themselves with multiple illegal drugs all over their body for years at a time.

 

[Bada Bing]

I dont post much on here but this is a really good thread. I have a ton of friends that compete and are pros. I am one that competes at regional and state shows but I never did have the drive to compete to be pro. Its funny people always but my balls and ask me why I do not go pro or try to go pro. I look at it this way I give 100 percent in everything I do. I choose not to do tons of stuff as I care about my health but I still push hard train right and eat right. Everyone has their motivation and drive and what pushes them each day. I am happy where I am and enjoy the gym time and my personal time. To each their own. I pretty much knew from the gate I wasnt going to be pro. I choose to train like I am going to be a pro but I do not need a paper or name to show that I train hard or am dedicated to the sport. It is funny I know a guy who is a physic IFBB and he buys all these belts with his name on it and sneakers stating he is IFBB he eat sleeps and breaths training to the point it has taken over his life. now that is his way of living and not mine but its sad to see some people get so over stimulated by the title it takes them away of the true sport of body building. Its more of a bragging right on FB and IG then anything to him and the worst part is he has been so pissed because his last shows he has been getting 2nd call outs 8th place 10th place etc. and it has now become his life to win again. I mean if it makes him happy great to each their own but its almost sad to see how he has become over the sport. I am not one to judge anyone but I have seen for some it comes ruins their families and marriages. then I have seen some that know how to balance the two and they are great guys and girls. I applaud those who can enjoy life and this sport. They are my idols in my book.

 

[concreteguy]

I never thought of being a Pro. I remember going to my first local show and being afraid of making an ass of myself. At that point I realized I had something for these guys on that level. So on I went and I in turn won The Philly and Pa state shows. Then the wake up call came when I went to my first national show. I placed fifth. But I was a Universe away from the top two guys.
ANYONE that doesn't know genetics are a H U G E part of this game will just remain in the dark or find out eventually. It can't be denied.

CG