how do you know if you have what it takes to be a pro?

[bulldog21]

here is my personal thing with a pro card, if I become a pro and can't be a competitive pro then what the fuck was the use of it all??

That's exactly how I feel about it brad, I am right with you on that. Like Dante said people need to think long and hard about it and about being realistic and honest with themselves. Guys need to make decsions taking into consideration risking their health and freedom to try and become something that they would have only been marginal at if they were lucky enough to ever get a pro card.

 

[Big Dave Smith]

good thing i never wanted to be a pro cause i don't have a chance in hell

maybe top 10 at Nationals one day, but that might even be a stretch.

doesn't stop me from trying to be my best though

I think that's pretty much how I feel. I think if I got my pro card (realistically it'll be by the time I hit Masters Nationals and have been using the latest myostatin enhancing drugs), that's when I would call it a complete end and just go back to normal and train 4x/week. I like being in the gym. Competing just gives me a reason/motivation to continue improving.

If I decide in a few years that I just suck at this sport... I'll probably put more emphasis on something else to improve on. It would take 10 years, but I'd love to become a BJJ black belt. Maybe that'll be the next thing for me...

 

[W8killa]

Look at the top guys from the 90s. All winning shows or making an impact by 25, some as early as 22. Shawn Ray, Cutler, Priest, Flex, Kevin, Cormier, etc. Based on that, I would say if you dont win your pro card by your third national try, you're done as far as being a good pro. But if you're realistic and do it for fun then why not go for it. Getting a pro card could be the ends to the means.

 

[eroc613]

I want to be a pro, and I feel I have the stucture for it. What my full potential is I don't know. Everybody calls my trainer partner a "freak", (even Dexter agrees)so I'm constantly reminded everyday I have a long road ahead.
But I've considerably closed the gap between us, which gives me hope.
Do I have what it takes to turn Pro, or even make a dime doing it? I don't know, but that's not going to stop me. I love to see the changes I make and if nothing else happens I'll be happy enough to move on knowing I'm giving my all.
There are alot of factors in this sport. In all honsety, I was a model for a while , it's selling a product for these companies that support bodybuilding that will make you a better living. Being completely honest, if you don't have the total package, looks and physique, your chances are low, to make money.
That's just a fact.
And IMO, if your a shorter bodybuilder, does that mean you can be the best? Should you stop doing it because your chances are "slim to none"?
None of us know the end result.

 

[OuchThatHurts]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned politics and marketing. Many things go into a pro besides genetics, dieting, and training. I'm not a pro but these are some things I see:

Drugs and SEO's - TONs of gear and chemicals (don't let anyone tell you different no matter what their rep or their stories)
Politics - some win year over year and some never even get a call out because of a shit attitude and the piss on all the judges, etc.
Marketing - Kind of like politics. Being able to market yourself well and not just be massive but be likable as well and have a good face too. They're not going to crown someone who has a face like the Hamburgler!
Posing - enough said.
Intelligence - if you are a moron with a great build, I hope you have a good manager/trainer because you are screwed.

All of that and for what? This is what bums me out the most. You make pathetic money and get free t-shirts and jugs of iso. BFD. I think you'd have much more quality professionals if the reward was more than a plastic trophy and a hood rat. Think about the amount of guys we have seen and know that could almost surely compete alongside pros and they just don't even bother with it? I'd definitely be more positive and eager about going pro if I knew it mean million dollar contracts and multi-million dollar sponsorships.

 

[zephyr22]

ouch that hurts...

My views exactly to the tee.....Good post.

 

[tkav1980]

I wasnt going to post in this thread but after reading all through it again i feel like i should say something.....to answer the origional question, theres only one way to know if you have what it takes to be a pro, TRY! even if you try and you fail you have accomplished more than most ever will. if you TRY you MIGHT fail. If you dont try you WILL fail. before dorian started training he had no idea weather or not he could be Mr. O but he TRIED. you can read all the articles and stories about all the top pro's and in every sngle one of them they all did one thing the same. they set a goal, and gave 100% towards reaching theyre goal. the person who makes excuses for why they cant and/or why they wont is guaranteed to never accomplish much. Is it really that big of a deal to try to be the next ronnie and fail miserably? No its not. it is a huge deal to give up before you start. We are so Lucky to be able to participate in this sport at any level when theres people who would love only to be able to walk! Give everything you do in your life 100% and you will never truly fail.

 

[PHIL HERNON]

Thoughts

1. Becoming a pro is a nice accomplishment because it means you won a pretty competitive show. Did you beat any pros? No, you just beat amateurs....
2. Thinking your life will magically change after you beat these other amateurs is ........basically dillusional. What will change? Your heath......your life expectancy.....your relationships.....
3. Unless you are top 5 or a highly requested guest poser.......you will lose money persuing whatever you are persuing......drugs, supplements........all will contribute to your debt.
4. Lets do the math........how many turn pro each year? 10? How many gyms in the USA.......50 states times 400? 20, 000 gyms.......how many competitors from each gym....maybe 5? 100, 000 competitors want to turn pro.......0001%.......now, forget about turning pro.
5. What have you done lately for anyone besides yourself? You wont have time even if it crosses your mind while tanning.......
6. There you go.....thats what it takes.

 

[chris250]

I dont think about turing pro anymore like I use to when I was younger ...but now I compete for the fun of it...It keeps my dreams alive and gives me something to strive for ...

chris

 

[terryd5150]

1. Becoming a pro is a nice accomplishment because it means you won a pretty competitive show. Did you beat any pros? No, you just beat amateurs....
2. Thinking your life will magically change after you beat these other amateurs is ........basically dillusional. What will change? Your heath......your life expectancy.....your relationships.....
3. Unless you are top 5 or a highly requested guest poser.......you will lose money persuing whatever you are persuing......drugs, supplements........all will contribute to your debt.
4. Lets do the math........how many turn pro each year? 10? How many gyms in the USA.......50 states times 400? 20, 000 gyms.......how many competitors from each gym....maybe 5? 100, 000 competitors want to turn pro.......0001%.......now, forget about turning pro.
5. What have you done lately for anyone besides yourself? You wont have time even if it crosses your mind while tanning.......
6. There you go.....thats what it takes.

I was wondering if you were ever going to chime in.


Glad you did.


P.S. How many times you have to suck some dude's schlong so you could pay your Motel 6 bill?

I mean, 'cuz if it's less than 10 I might still hold on to my "PRO" dreams, but if it gets much more than that I'll think I'll take up golf.

Just wondering, according to this thread that goes on a lot. LOL.

 

[tatteredxangelx]

1. Becoming a pro is a nice accomplishment because it means you won a pretty competitive show. Did you beat any pros? No, you just beat amateurs....
2. Thinking your life will magically change after you beat these other amateurs is ........basically dillusional. What will change? Your heath......your life expectancy.....your relationships.....
3. Unless you are top 5 or a highly requested guest poser.......you will lose money persuing whatever you are persuing......drugs, supplements........all will contribute to your debt.
4. Lets do the math........how many turn pro each year? 10? How many gyms in the USA.......50 states times 400? 20, 000 gyms.......how many competitors from each gym....maybe 5? 100, 000 competitors want to turn pro.......0001%.......now, forget about turning pro.
5. What have you done lately for anyone besides yourself? You wont have time even if it crosses your mind while tanning.......
6. There you go.....thats what it takes.

Awesome post phil.

 

[OuchThatHurts]

Okay I cleaned up the thread and ask that everyone keep on topic as I re-open it. This is Professional Muscle and many people are here and aspire to be pro one day or compete on some level in some sport. No more of this destructive BBing hate thread shit. If you feel that becoming a pro means you can't maintain being a good person and still have a life and stay out of jail then leave this board.

There are many pros with alternate careers and resume after their BBing career is over and the ones that get caught up in selling drugs and videos and prostitution don't have ANYTHING else going for them other then muscle and they won't go anywhere either. Becoming a professional BBer is not synonymous with being a loser.

So keep positive, keep your goals focused, and take care of your loved ones. Don't forget where you came from and try to be humble and secure and good things happen - whatever those things are, only time will tell.

Keep it clean and carry on gents.

 

[LATS]

KNOW ONE KNOWS, AND I MEAN NO ONE, IF THEY HAVE WHAT I TAKES TO BE A PRO UNTIL THEY WRAP THEIR HANDS AROUND THE IRON.. i dont care what someone looked like before they touched a weight.. does not matter.. what matters is what happened to them once they lifted that weight.. i have seen many "skinny" guys who looked like they would have no potential just explode when they touched the weights..

so we can see the skinny pictures of cutler, and samir ect when they were teenagers and say "see.. they did ..so can i ".. how gullible.. many will say "i just need to take what they took".. very niave.. what many do not realize is that these guys have something special.. maybe a predisposition to adding slabs of muscle by lifting the iron.. maybe they have the great affinity to respond to drugs.. some have both.. some have one of the other..

i have seen guys who lifted with calculated moves and logged everything they ate took legal supplements out the ass and avoided overtraining and did not look like they had genetics 1.. then took 25 mgs of dbol and became a different person.. that is genetics..

i have seen those who lifted twice a week .. never even strained.. ate like shit.. drank way too much beer and looked awesome.. that is genetics..

but even if you have all these tools (respond well to drugs and grow from looking at weights) if you dont have the discipline.. its game over.. if you cant get your ass to the gym.. its game over..

i had vince taylor tell me that i had one of the best structures he had seen.. does not matter.. my happy ass is undisciplined about eating and getting my ass to lift on a consistant basis.. and when i do i get injuried by blowing leaves lol.. i can hardly lift a weight some days without waking up the next morning saying "what the hell did i do to my elbow?".. lol.. and i trained legs the night before lol..

so it is a combination of everything that makes a pro.. structure, response to gear, response to training, consistancy, consistany, consistancy, diet , food assimulation, strong joints AND THAT IS JUST TO PLACE WELL AT NATIONALS.... so you see the list is long.. some will turn pro.. and do nothing with it after.. but, they made it.. some will turn pro and place well enough to make a living at it.. but, make no mistake about it, very few turn pro.. most should just be overjoyed to place in a national show.. so in order to turn pro you need everything i mentioned X 2!!.. unless you are kenny jones.. but, that is a whole different story..

 

[JETHRO TULL]

Awesome post, Lats!

KNOW ONE KNOWS, AND I MEAN NO ONE, IF THEY HAVE WHAT I TAKES TO BE A PRO UNTIL THEY WRAP THEIR HANDS AROUND THE IRON.. i dont care what someone looked like before they touched a weight.. does not matter.. what matters is what happened to them once they lifted that weight.. i have seen many "skinny" guys who looked like they would have no potential just explode when they touched the weights..

so we can see the skinny pictures of cutler, and samir ect when they were teenagers and say "see.. they did ..so can i ".. how gullible.. many will say "i just need to take what they took".. very niave.. what many do not realize is that these guys have something special.. maybe a predisposition to adding slabs of muscle by lifting the iron.. maybe they have the great affinity to respond to drugs.. some have both.. some have one of the other..

i have seen guys who lifted with calculated moves and logged everything they ate took legal supplements out the ass and avoided overtraining and did not look like they had genetics 1.. then took 25 mgs of dbol and became a different person.. that is genetics..

i have seen those who lifted twice a week .. never even strained.. ate like shit.. drank way too much beer and looked awesome.. that is genetics..

but even if you have all these tools (respond well to drugs and grow from looking at weights) if you dont have the discipline.. its game over.. if you cant get your ass to the gym.. its game over..

i had vince taylor tell me that i had one of the best structures he had seen.. does not matter.. my happy ass is undisciplined about eating and getting my ass to lift on a consistant basis.. and when i do i get injuried by blowing leaves lol.. i can hardly lift a weight some days without waking up the next morning saying "what the hell did i do to my elbow?".. lol.. and i trained legs the night before lol..

so it is a combination of everything that makes a pro.. structure, response to gear, response to training, consistancy, consistany, consistancy, diet , food assimulation, strong joints AND THAT IS JUST TO PLACE WELL AT NATIONALS.... so you see the list is long.. some will turn pro.. and do nothing with it after.. but, they made it.. some will turn pro and place well enough to make a living at it.. but, make no mistake about it, very few turn pro.. most should just be overjoyed to place in a national show.. so in order to turn pro you need everything i mentioned X 2!!.. unless you are kenny jones.. but, that is a whole different story..

I liked the part where you wake up in the morning after training legs and said, "what did I do to my elbow"? Trust me I can relate. I could weight 300lbs and be in pretty good conditon. I KNOW IT. I have short biceps, but everything grows. I start getting carried away and bam...something gets hurt for no apparant reason or my blood pressure gets so high my nose bleeds when I tie my shoes....honestly.

Great post, man!

 

[Phidias]

1. Becoming a pro is a nice accomplishment because it means you won a pretty competitive show. Did you beat any pros? No, you just beat amateurs....
2. Thinking your life will magically change after you beat these other amateurs is ........basically dillusional. What will change? Your heath......your life expectancy.....your relationships.....
3. Unless you are top 5 or a highly requested guest poser.......you will lose money persuing whatever you are persuing......drugs, supplements........all will contribute to your debt.
4. Lets do the math........how many turn pro each year? 10? How many gyms in the USA.......50 states times 400? 20, 000 gyms.......how many competitors from each gym....maybe 5? 100, 000 competitors want to turn pro.......0001%.......now, forget about turning pro.
5. What have you done lately for anyone besides yourself? You wont have time even if it crosses your mind while tanning.......
6. There you go.....thats what it takes.

And here you're only talking about the US, Phil... just think about the millions of guys outside America who devote their life to BB thinking they'll soon come to California, make the cover of Flex and become the next Arnold... they're chasing an even more unrealistic dream. Cause unless you're American or truly one of the best in the world (ie Mr O caliber such as Denis Wolf), there's no way in hell you'll make it big in the industry... sponsors want "home town boys".

Look at all the guys from Eastern Europe, Russia, the Middle East or South America you never hear about in the mags but who could destroy basically every athlete in a National show inside the US...

As OTH outlined, politics are a huge factor in this sport...


PS Phil, your #5 cracked me up!!!

 

[GoneForever]

IMO you'll know your first few years of training if you have what it takes or not as becoming a REAL PRO is all about genetics.

 

[tatteredxangelx]

Phil's #5 is the most important part of his message IMO.

 

[garrithv]

to answer the title of the thread...

http://www.professionalmuscle.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29393

i think Massive G got it right here. if you dont have the base size in 4-5 years then chances are you not. JMO

 

[joeyrods]

to be pro i feel its all a mind set
set your mind to anything you can do it

 

[terryd5150]

What???

to be pro i feel its all a mind set
set your mind to anything you can do it

It sounds nice, but I think you've been watching too many After School Specials on the Hallmark channel.