Any thoughts? That used to be me.

[PHIL HERNON]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/bizarro.asp

 

[Meat_head]

Hahaha

I think you definitely need a balance in your life. Training and dieting are obviously important to us all, but to lose complete sight of EVERYTHING else around you is not healthy, and not fair. When the muscle is gone someday, you want to have something else to show for.

 

[big-al]

There should always be balance in your life. Have more than a couple of things that you enjoy doing, and try to do things in moderation although that is hard for most of us meathead types. We tend to take everything we do in life to extremes.

 

[DOGMA]

I WISH

I wish I could go back and all I worried about was lifting weights. Now my life is just crazy with me running my own business and trying to launch a new one to raising a 14 year old daughter who's seriously going on 21..... Sheesh I feel I am on a rocket to where I dont know. I know what you mean though, I remember when I thought what am I going to do with this life, there's got to be more than just pushing this iron. LOL...

 

[Homer]

It was much easier being that way when we were younger. I am going to be 40 in 6 months and I really would like to get back in the gym hardcore again. I have the time now that my boy is 16 and has a car to get around on his own and my wife is in school every night when i get home from work. I just don't know how much punishment my 40YO ass can take in the gym anymore. I doubt I would take it as serious as when I was young but its hard for me to do anything halfway. I need to find a training partner for extra motivation.

 

[Tough Old Man]

Looks like your ready to cut up. Still holding the size I see

 

[OuchThatHurts]

I'm much bigger than that psychologist. LOL

 

[VNV]

When I first started lifting, I thought that if I put in the same effort that pros do, I could be a 250-lb. monster too. Sure, I knew genetics played a role in how easily I could accomplish my goals, but I really had no idea how important it is.

After gaining 40 lbs. of muscle in five years, I still feel like I've invested so much effort with so little return. I've reached the point where if I want to be any bigger, I'd have to quit school, not get a job, and probably sell steroids just to get by. And it's not worth it.

Realizing that your potential has limits is hard to accept, but I think everyone needs to. Now that I know what it takes, I'm putting bodybuilding aside for other priorities. It's still important, but people need to understand that if you don't have the elite genetics that can make you a pro, you need to make bodybuilding a hobby--not a lifestyle.

 

[nandro]

i'm much older myself and trying to make a come back hardcore. life is different for me now and being a big monster isn't that important for me these days. i lived for the gym years ago and basically it did nothing for me except break my back and herniate a disc and ruin my marriage and keep me paranoid legally...lol. i hope young guys today can have fun with it and realize that the lifestyle of a big player sucks ass. i'm older, smarter, wiser now. balance training with life is key. so what if you miss a few training sessions to enjoy life....muscle doesn't waste away that fast! believe me...i tried for 4 years sitting on my ass...lmao

howdy homer...long time no see.

 

[BrooklynBB]

Smart Ass Comment Ahead:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/bizarro.asp

You used to be psychiatrist??

 

[LATS]

i think we have all been there at one time or another.. the point is not to be there now.. i may never compete again.. dont know.. dont care.. if the urge hits me.. i might do it.. but, i have my priorities in much better order than in the past.. best job i ever had was being a gym owner.. when i owned my gyms, i worked there.. ate there.. trained people there, lifted there.. had great fun there.. but, still could not wait to get home to my kids and wife.. i find that i can still get my meals in.. still take a hour a day for myself and lift and still come home and play with the kids and chase the wife around the house..
like i said.. we have all been there.. some deeper than others..i was entranced to be the best at one time.. bodybuilding was the end all.. it gradually changed.. and it changed on its own.. just happened.. now with the new job, i can not train as often as i would like.. but, i still get them in.. i still eat.. and i still try and take a hour to myself 4 times a week or so and train my ass off.. i still hit the weights as hard as ever.. the difference is when i am finished with the workout.. i am finsihed.... bodybuilding is still a great love.. no other words to discribe it.. i love the shows.. i love the magazines.. i love the gyms.. the smell ect...
but, like tonight.. the kids are in bed.. the wife is sick and i could train.. but, i am not.. why?..because my kid fell asleep laying on me and i dozed off too.. now, i am a little groggy and not wortha crap.. oh well.. ill train tomorrow and make up for it.. .. we have learned form our mistakes.. we are still bodybuilders.. we still train hard.. we still make gains.. we just sometimes have other shit to do.. it is who we are.. nothing wrong with that.. you can be big.. muscular.. train hard and still have family.. wife.. and enjoy life.. the training comes when we have done all our other responsibilities..
the funny thing is my wife will guilt me if i do not train.. she likes em' big fellas.. its just all about priorities.. its a different mindset now..i train not because i feel i have too (like the old days).. i train because i want too.. like i said.. we have grown..

 

[OuchThatHurts]

Here's the hard part: bodybuilding and strength at the highest levels require 100% dedication. At the highest levels, all sports do. The major question to you and me is how far do I want to take it? You might enjoy swimming but if you're going to compete with Michael Phelps, you're going to have to do more than swim occasionally in between meatball subs. How many olympic athletes are still competing past 20? Some, but it drops off pretty steeply. The reasons are many. First of all, you can't devote 100% of your time to the sport and still expect to have a full life outside the sport. I'm here to tell you that if your life is 100% inside a sport, you won't have much outside and what you do have will be taken on the run. Other sports, your career is all but over at 18.

The last thing I would want to do is discourage anybody from taking his shot. Some of us guys with jobs and wives and children and pets and (heaven forbid) other hobbies, we just have to decide how much of our life are we willing to sacrifice to the sport. We may have to resign ourselves to the notion that we can perhaps get one try at it... or maybe never. Does that make it all worthless? It was suggested to me in another thread that unless you plan to go all the way, it's all a waste. What a crock! If that were true than there should only be perhaps a 100 guys in the country BBing. Getting on a stage is the pinnacle of what we do but here are some other reasons:

health
mental outlook
improved confidence
strength and stamina
increased bone density
increased sex drive (50% of the time this is probably bad, haha)
longevity
athleticism
be more attractive (not you, JT)

In addition to all the problems with training, injuries, supplements you also have to realize that BBing is not just image related. A guy might look good on stage but inside, he may be in a whole world of hurt. He may not even know it but I bet his family and friends could tell you. Yet a whole crowd of people would say "That's my goal right there!" How many get involved in clandestine activities to make ends meet? How many have faced or almost faced legal consequences? How many wrecked relationships? Is winning that trophy worth your soul?

Also, you can't believe many of the things you hear that would suggest that "Hey, that was easy!" - You'd think these guys had a scotch and some french fries before their workouts. In my opinion, that level of size and low bodyfat requires a partial, if not complete obsession. It doesn't happen all at once but it does happen. First it's workouts, then it's meals, naps, then it's posing, watching salt, water, to the point where almost every minute of every day is consumed. So what's left over if you take all of that out of the equation? This is the most important question. If you take out everything that is strength and BBing, what is left over? For some, plenty. For others, nothing. Many of you have much more experience than I but even so, I can tell you right now with complete certainty, that if you don't have anything else going on for yourself and those around you besides fitness, then you are one serious injury away from having nothing. And that's a pretty dark place.

Win or lose, are you going to be able to look yourself in the mirror and feel good about yourself? Is your desire, directly or indirectly, hurting those around you? The ones you love the most? It IS possible to maintain equilibrium inside this sport (balance) but it requires yet another discipline (sorry guys): LEARNING WHEN TO SET IT ALL ASIDE.

LOL. Oh yeah. That's right. If your girl's on the couch crying and you walk out the door to go train? I'd say you have a serious problem. If your children are sick and you leave them with your wife to go get protein? Not too good.

In the end, we all take something away from this. Whether it's learning from our mistakes or others, or learning from our successes we walk away broader people. It may take a big man to win the Mr. O, but it takes an even bigger man to give up the Mr. O to take care of his RESPONSIBILITIES.

I’m a climber so in a way I can see a similarity between a summit and a trophy in BBing. You can’t “take” the summit. The summit is there but it’s one of those things where you have to just grab it when you get a chance, enjoy the moment, and then get the hell off before the next storm comes in. I’ve always enjoyed the quote “Every peak, every summit I reach, I’m that much closer to the truth that is my life.” The reason this same quote can be applied to what we do is because of what we learn about ourselves along the way to that peak… On the way to that trophy.

Jon

 

[strongmind]

I’m a climber so in a way I can see a similarity between a summit and a trophy in BBing. You can’t “take” the summit. The summit is there but it’s one of those things where you have to just grab it when you get a chance, enjoy the moment, and then get the hell off before the next storm comes in. I’ve always enjoyed the quote “Every peak, every summit I reach, I’m that much closer to the truth that is my life.” The reason this same quote can be applied to what we do is because of what we learn about ourselves along the way to that peak… On the way to that trophy.

Jon

Excellent post, Jon. And I love this analogy.

 

[bigbaldbulldog]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/bizarro.asp

You don't know it is you till your out of the loop and game then you can see how sad it is to live like that ... spice it up in life. its too short to live like that ...

I used to be like that to a degree...

 

[PHIL HERNON]

YES

You don't know it is you till your out of the loop and game then you can see how sad it is to live like that ... spice it up in life. its too short to live like that ...

I used to be like that to a degree...

IT SNEAKS UP ON YOU.

 

[terryd5150]

For me it is not a hard choice, and I'm sure there are others that are this way as well:

I don't mind being wrapped up in training, etc. People in this world will come and go. Many will walk out of your life as quickly/easily as they walked into it.
So I say depend on yourself.

Never letting people in close enough means never giving them the chance to let you down or hurt you. Avoid the emotional roller coaster ride that comes with close personal attachments and focus on making sure YOU are taken care of emotionally and physically. You will never be able to make anyone else happy if you aren't happy with yourself.

Training will actually give you returns. Not much else in life does, other than your kids.

 

[PHIL HERNON]

Just a question

For me it is not a hard choice, and I'm sure there are others that are this way as well:

I don't mind being wrapped up in training, etc. People in this world will come and go. Many will walk out of your life as quickly/easily as they walked into it.
So I say depend on yourself.

Never letting people in close enough means never giving them the chance to let you down or hurt you. Avoid the emotional roller coaster ride that comes with close personal attachments and focus on making sure YOU are taken care of emotionally and physically. You will never be able to make anyon eelse happy if you aren't happy with yourself.

Training will actually give you returns. Not much else in life does, other than your kids.

Can you give 100% in a relationship? Can you be trusted not to hurt the other party? Do you feel that you will let the other person down?

 

[terryd5150]

Can you give 100% in a relationship? Can you be trusted not to hurt the other party? Do you feel that you will let the other person down?

Yep... I can, but I find that not many other people can/do. For the record I'm not only talking about romantic relationships.

Have you ever heard the saying "Nobody knows you when you're down and out"?

 

[HELLA SWOLE]

For me it is not a hard choice, and I'm sure there are others that are this way as well:

I don't mind being wrapped up in training, etc. People in this world will come and go. Many will walk out of your life as quickly/easily as they walked into it.
So I say depend on yourself.

Never letting people in close enough means never giving them the chance to let you down or hurt you. Avoid the emotional roller coaster ride that comes with close personal attachments and focus on making sure YOU are taken care of emotionally and physically. You will never be able to make anyon eelse happy if you aren't happy with yourself.

Training will actually give you returns. Not much else in life does, other than your kids.

This post is kinda depressing....it makes me sad.

 

[terryd5150]

This post is kinda depressing....it makes me sad.

Yea, I guess it does. It kinda' sounds like I'm a whiny bitch wollowing in self-pity, but I assure you that's NOT how I intended it.


My point was/is that some people don't mind the solitary lifestyle that BBing can sometimes bring about.