Have you given up?

[AllOkJumpmaster]

You never give up, you just adjust your target, always keep yourself in pursuit of a goal. Personally I love training, but training of all kinds. In 2019 I did a full Ironman because I had always wanted to do one, and I kept weight training on the dockett, but it shifted to a low priority, it was night change of pace from 20+ years of the same thing

 

[Figue]

I actually went through this experience when I was competing in the world of swimming during my adolescence and university years.

After having to give up high-level competition due to injuries, I fell in love with bodybuilding, but here I saw it with a different perspective, the privilege of being able to train, rest, and eat, simply working to add a little progress day by day.

For me, competing is like showcasing that final result; what I'm most passionate about is the process leading up to the stage, giving that final touch, no matter what happens on that day.

 

[traininsane11]

Best thing you did was go with luki

If he says you have potential .. he really means it he is not one to mislead for clients

Plus he carea for health

You so much more calm since you hooked up with him

Thank you and I totally agree I can’t wait to see how things progress over the coming months he’s a great guy and a great coach

 

[specter]

Given up, no.. adjusted my mindset deff i always looked to Branch Warren as the "ideal" for me, we are same height, we both have alot of aggression, overall i just like his "persona" in the gym and i just love his mass and graininess, but im not Branch and no matter how much i would blast and train i could never look like him, so i just try to be the best i can and try not to look at the new kids comin up, they are 20´ish im past 40.. im not gonna blow som kid out the water thats just facts..

 

[maxrep24]

Wanted to be a mass monster through my 20s, did a couple shows and it was a great experience but finally realized i just didn’t have the genetics for it and being a type 1 diabetic with a crazy fast metabolism it isn’t gonna happen so it just wasn’t worth the risk for me. Goals change, I’m 39 now with a family and today I’m more focused on just improving my physique day to day and actually being able to move and function, not just putting on as much muscle as possible.
20 years of lifting weights taught me how to not move, my shoulder is tore up, i had back surgery a couple years ago from a disc herniation that caused debilitating sciatica that put me in a wheelchair. Today I still train hard and eat like a bodybuilder and i always will until i physically can’t, no crazy cycles anymore but i still take a moderate dose of test and sometimes ill add a low dose anabolic. You can still be jacked, ripped, look great and stay healthy on lower doses. I don’t follow pro bodybuilding as much as i used to, Besides for YouTube i deleted all social media about five years ago and it was the best decision i ever made, some might disagree but unless you’re a business owner, social media ruined bodybuilding, it ruined gyms, it ruined alot of things in my opinion. You built yourself a great physique man, be proud of that, most guys would kill to look like that.

 

[-Spartan-]

not given up just changed perspective.
i started aas at 19. started at 180lbs, my heaviest was 242lbs and not lean enough. i tried my hardest to get to a 260lb lean.
found out my body just cant handle the amount of drugs it would take. getting colitis basically solidified it. cant grow if you cant get nutrition from the food intake.
and yea it does fuck with you seeing 20 year olds blow up easily all over the gram.
i feel you on the "damn im doing all this, taking years off my life to barely grow". i always got the "you look like a ufc fighter damn man" where as i'd rather look like markus ruhl lmao, but i'm tall and have skinny man genetics. now i need to focus more on keeping size and trying to repair the damage from heavy low rep workouts. i've ignored mobility for too long.

even though a lot of us feel like this, i'd bet most of us are still in the top 10% of physiques in our AO.

 

[Dumbbell2008]

social media ruined bodybuilding, it ruined gyms, it ruined alot of things in my opinion.

100%

 

[PissedPajamas]

not given up just changed perspective.
i started aas at 19. started at 180lbs, my heaviest was 242lbs and not lean enough. i tried my hardest to get to a 260lb lean.
found out my body just cant handle the amount of drugs it would take. getting colitis basically solidified it. cant grow if you cant get nutrition from the food intake.
and yea it does fuck with you seeing 20 year olds blow up easily all over the gram.
i feel you on the "damn im doing all this, taking years off my life to barely grow". i always got the "you look like a ufc fighter damn man" where as i'd rather look like markus ruhl lmao, but i'm tall and have skinny man genetics. now i need to focus more on keeping size and trying to repair the damage from heavy low rep workouts. i've ignored mobility for too long.

even though a lot of us feel like this, i'd bet most of us are still in the top 10% of physiques in our AO.

Crazy, you verbalized exactly how I feel. Totally fucked up my gut with pounding food, gave myself ulcerative colitis and in the process of fixing it I stripped away a good 15lbs of muscle cause it wouldn’t go away unless I dropped protein hard and pulled back on the training. Struggling to put it back on while rebuilding lol. Some people just aren’t meant to bodybuild but it’s about putting one foot in front of the other and just keep on keeping on

 

[chooch]

I’ve “settled” on being happy being bigger than most of the population without trying to be the biggest guy around. If you’ve ever actually known a mass monster, believe me you wouldn’t want to walk in their shoes. One of my closest friends is 6’ tall, 310lbs, with 24” arms. And not a powerlifters “fluffy” build. It looks super impressive but man I wouldn’t trade places with him for anything. I’m pretty short, at 5’4” tall once I pass 190lbs life starts getting miserable. Sleep sucks. Stairs suck. Cardio sucks. Sex sucks. I couldn’t imagine wanting to push past that point. There comes a point where it’s just not worth the loss of quality of life and I’m fine with that.

 

[Tomgrass]

not given up just changed perspective.
i started aas at 19. started at 180lbs, my heaviest was 242lbs and not lean enough. i tried my hardest to get to a 260lb lean.
found out my body just cant handle the amount of drugs it would take. getting colitis basically solidified it. cant grow if you cant get nutrition from the food intake.
and yea it does fuck with you seeing 20 year olds blow up easily all over the gram.
i feel you on the "damn im doing all this, taking years off my life to barely grow". i always got the "you look like a ufc fighter damn man" where as i'd rather look like markus ruhl lmao, but i'm tall and have skinny man genetics. now i need to focus more on keeping size and trying to repair the damage from heavy low rep workouts. i've ignored mobility for too long.

even though a lot of us feel like this, i'd bet most of us are still in the top 10% of physiques in our AO.

10%???? You mean like 0.1% and i am not kidding - i easy has best physique in my age group almost all the time. Streets , gyms but it shows the most on the parents evening at school. It is horrible how many guys after 30 let them self go. And that is 30 something. I am 45 - at that age is even more scary. I dont get it why would like to feel like shit, lets even forget the look but not be able do 10 pushups or 1 chinup?? I
mean you can do whatever you want but why? In the past I was nearly 120 kg in the offseason but my body hated it- everything was struggle- i decided look is not worth it not even close so i decided to shrink to size where i feel good. Best decision ever. I would never try to reach that number again. Even if somebody would pay me.

 

[mexbeast]

Oh dude, I’m training intensely till I’m in the casket. It’s moreso asking myself if pushing drugs and extreme amounts of food is worth it when you aren’t gifted. If 80% of health and effort are sacrificed for 10% of gains then you gotta start asking yourself if this is really for you.

And I know it’s not, but nothing in my routine will change regardless. Maybe less drugs and no wild offseasons going forward, but training is what got me into this in the first place

I don't know if this will help, but in my case I can't eat as much as i want to due to getting h pillory about 5 years ago. I struggle to eat 100gs of protein a day and most days i take less than 2000 cals, but my weight has been steady at about 210 at 5'5 -5'6 as for aas it's between 4 to 600mgs a week and only one 10iu bottle of GH a week.
As for giving up on being a pro i realize it long ago, no one here would agree with me that it's all about genetics!

 

[BLKGUY2006]

Never had a desire to be a mass monster nor did I have the genetics. But I love bodybuilding and been following since Dorian was Mr O…
I wanted to look and move like an athlete. I held 5’10” 225 at 8% from bout 25-40 years old. I was plenty big for me, fast and pretty strong for my size. Perfect for my job in the fire service. Could even dunk a basketball till bout 35.

I’ve struggled with getting old and not being able to do the same shit I used to do. Joints tell me to go to hell!!
That could be a post in itself.

 

[stevecleves]

I’ve been through 2 stages of my lifting career. In my late teens and twenties and not late 40s and 50s.

I was never a mass monster, nothing but respect for guys that are, but that was just never me. But I was able to build a good physique that I was proud of.

I gave up in my 20s because I met the girl of my dreams who had model good looks and I refocused my life on my career and my family. All that work landed me the hottie. Lol. My world just changed. No regrets at all.

Fast forward 20+ years.

Sitting home during the initial lockdowns and my friends and I had a thread going on and we were posting pics of ourselves at our home setup. I was absolutely disgusted by what I saw. DISGUSTED.

That led me to my second journey where I am now. Completely changed my life around. Completely changed my body over the past 5 years. Lost 115 pounds of fat. Put on 20 pounds of muscle.

I’m still no mass monster at all, my life now is conservative TRT with one or two 8 week low key blasts of a couple hundred mgs of added anabolics.

Im nothing compared to the impressive physiques on here, you guys kill it, but I’m the most in shape 50 year old I know, I like what I see when I look in the mirror and my wife says “wow” when she sees me naked. My 13 year old thinks I’m jacked and guys at work have told me they wish they were my shape.

So yeah in one sense I gave up on those dreams I had when I was 18 and had pictures of Arnold on my wall, but thats life man. Try to take the wins were I can get them.

 

[fisther69]

I’ve always just wanted to be strong, fast, and dangerous..I still have all three…I never gave a shit if someone was bigger or looked better…

However, it used to irritate the hell out of me when someone was stronger

 

[control]

One of the things I like about this forum is that we have guys like Hawkmoon and some others that still look great as they age. Reminds me that getting older isn't an excuse to stop pushing hard and be a pussy.

 

[buck]

As my 66 year old ass is sitting in my chair as i peruse the internet while looking outside at the rain. I am thinking about giving up. But that may change, but maybe not as today is my HIIT day. My least favorite by far day to workout. Yesterday was legs so i may still convince myself to quit....... for today.

 

[gauge22-v2]

Someone posted that comparison is the thief of joy. This is absolutely accurate.

Social media has destroyed mental states for many people. Remember that social media posts are the highlight reels of people's lives. They are not always at the beach, eating wagu beef, or insanely vascular and ripped year round.

I am old enough to remember when the big joke was "come on over and watch home movies!". NO ONE wanted to watch other people's home movies, now it is extremely common place if not an addiction for people.

Compare yourself to yourself. However temper your expectations. There will come a day when you are like me looking at your chest, and other bodyparts, thinking "WTF is with that baggy skin!??!"

Father time is undefeated for all of us.

 

[Dog-Slime]

I have this strange thing in life where when I get offered something I thought I wanted I don't want it anymore. I realized that with my genetics and metabolism that being any kind of big would prob take twice as much gear AND FOOD than everyone else and it's already killing people.

I switched to MMA and just used for strength and aesthetics but had to drop the fighting due to life circumstances. Of course I kept my strength and aesthetic goal going tho. Guy in my town that competes told me in the gym that I could do a show in like 8 weeks and my bodybuilder dream went out the door..

Same thing when an amateur boxer with 29 wins who was going to Cali for professional once 30wins and he sparred with me doing MMA then said bro if you come to Cali with me I can turn you pro in less than 3 months and my pro fighting dream went out the door.

 

[carbs]

social media ruined bodybuilding, it ruined gyms, it ruined alot of things in my opinion.

It ruined dating, it ruined women, it ruined travelling, it ruined mental health.

 

[-Spartan-]

10%???? You mean like 0.1% and i am not kidding - i easy has best physique in my age group almost all the time. Streets , gyms but it shows the most on the parents evening at school. It is horrible how many guys after 30 let them self go. And that is 30 something. I am 45 - at that age is even more scary. I dont get it why would like to feel like shit, lets even forget the look but not be able do 10 pushups or 1 chinup?? I
mean you can do whatever you want but why? In the past I was nearly 120 kg in the offseason but my body hated it- everything was struggle- i decided look is not worth it not even close so i decided to shrink to size where i feel good. Best decision ever. I would never try to reach that number again. Even if somebody would pay me.

i mean i agree, but didn't want us to sound too cocky. i dont think i know another dude my age in this good of shape, they are all lazy beer drinking, wing eating, slobs.