Is bodybuilding still "exciting" to you?

[Ryce]

Its a legitimate question. Remember how when you were younger around your late teen's early 20's when you started to lift weights. Remember back to that point when you would be excitied to go to the gym to work out?? Buy the newest bodybuilding mags for info, buy creatine, HMB, even andro and think it was gonna get you as big as Lee priest was in those old twin lab ripped fuel ads. Even when you first took the plunge and used AAS. Remember how excitied you used to be? Not to want to miss a workout because you were afraid of missing out on gains.

I saw two young kids probobly 19-20 in the gym yesterday lifting. These kids were honeslty trying and doing what they should be and it got me thinking back to when i was there age. As I get older this got me to thinking about years gone by.

To me I still love the gym atmosphere but as i get older life gets in the way as do responsibilities and sometimes my training suffers for it. Also that luster or excitement isnt there anymore and that saddens me. I guess its human nature once the " newness" wears off it doesnt have the same effect.

A buddy of mine told me he went through a similar phase except he just got sick of it. Tried of going every day and eaiting only certain foods 5x a day. He said he just wanted a normal life. I could understand that and then a few months ago he came back to the gym and I asked him why. he said he missed it and he now has that same mentality he did when he was a teenager after about 3 years off.

Any of you guys have this or think about this??? Just a general thought of the day if you will.

 

[Big Bapper]

You hit the nail right on the head buddy, one of the main difference between champs and also runs IMO. I sit here in my gym and watch all the 18 year old kids bounce trough the door and watch them train high intensity with perfect fourm.

I went trough a time were I just could not be bothered, work comitments and a new born baby etc. I said to one of the younger guys that works part time for me how much energy he gave me for the sport by watching him train.

I told him he was the reason I am still a Bodybuilder, I said I sit at my desk getting physed up for my workout taking ephi, no-xplode etc and being also on test and gh and he comes bounceing trough the door geared up and ready to go on nothing but weight gain powder and a possitive attidude. He got me to do a deit out for him as he does allot of MMA and was finding it hard to put on muscle. Six week later he had gained a full 14lb of muscle on food alone.

People like this give me a real zest for bodybuilding.

 

[buldog9]

Im 52

There are days when I am really excited to get to the gym.I still enjoy watching the pump I get.I still like the achievements I make. I like thinking that BB is some thing I can farly well control in my life and make progress with.Like you said life some times gets in the way and its hard to stay on course. BB has changed,its not as popular as when I was young so that makes a difference in how I fell. At my age there are less women that take interest in me or I in them. That takes away some of the enjoyment also.It is one of the few things in life I look forward to [not many left]. When I was young the average person knew nothing about steroids. Now days every one has heard of them and when people see me they think differently as compared to when I was younger. They think all I do is take drugs and set around and get big. They think Im harming my self. I do have people say to me Damn you look good for your age. In one aspect it makes me fell good in another it reminds me Im not thirty any more and getting older. Three years ago I was a tipical fat fourty nine year old couch patto.I didnt fell to good about myself, now I like me again.To answer the question no I don't like it as much as when I was younger but I still love it.

 

[maldorf]

I can remember first starting out back in 85, weighing just 140 lbs then 2 yrs later I graduated high school at 185 lbs. 45 lbs in two years, I felt like there was no end to how much I could grow and imagined myself looking like Barry Demay someday LOL. A few years later and at 230 lbs and reality sets in. It is great though when you first start out and grow like that from just eating and lifting. Heck you dont even have to train and diet great, just keep at it. I probably could have done a lot better if I had known then what I do now. I can remember using those stupid Cybergenics kits and everything that hit the market. Certainly the prime target of the sports supplement industry.

 

[JETHRO TULL]

I still love it, but far more so when I am in shape.

I used to enjoy it all the time. But now when I am shape I enjoy it one hell of a lot more. I enjoy it when I can actually see the muscle, veins, and thin skin doing their thing. Powerlifting and being somewhat heavy used to be okay. Now when I start getting strong and fat I worry about the looming spectre of injury. Takes some of the fun out of it for me.

I can always get motivated when I have abs and veins in my legs. It's like you look in the mirror and say..."hell yeah!"

 

[MAINEVENT]

Ive been through my phases over the years. I actually quit working out a couple times for 6-12 months just because i got burnt out on it and just wanted to live a normal life (whatever that means). The last time I took a break I realized bodybuilding is just a huge part of my life and that I always come back to it. Its hard to explain but it just makes my life complete.

I will admit that Im disappointed in myself that after all these years Im not bigger than I am. I always enjoy the training, its the eating (not eating enough) that is my biggest obstacle.

I still enjoy it though as much as I did when I first started. The BS on the internet sometimes takes away more of my joy than anything.

 

[JohnnyPro]

I remember when Pumping Iron came out. I told my friend to go with me to see it, and I told him that after the movie we would go work out. He thought I was crazy.

 

[Uluwatu]

When I first started lifting, it was fun. It was a hobby that I enjoyed, just like baseball or surfing when I was a kid. Then in about 1998 I found out about powerlifting. Again this was fun and a new way to train, then the competition bug bit me. It went from fun to almost like a second job, with stress. Back in 2003 at the end of my powerlifting stint, I was injured all the time, had to eat like crazy to keep my weight up, and was constantly on gear. We would train at 4:30 in the morning before work. Then the closer to a meet we got, training would be twice per day, our main workout and then an extra workout to bring up weak points. My last meet was November of 2003. I had hit my best numbers yet, and was at my biggest and strongest. Two weeks later during a squat workout I partially tore my patella tendon. After that happened, instead of being excited to workout after I was healed, burnout set in. I was out of the gym from May of 2003 until February of this past year 2007.

The layoff did me some good. I actually lived a "normal life" dropped down to an out of shape 200lbs, ate whatever I wanted and didn't have to schedule in my feedings. I was much more relaxed and and concentrated on building my business.

Then back in February, I was driving down the road and I don't know what made me do it, but I turned into a 24hr. fitness parking lot. I guess the iron was calling my name again. I signed up that day.
This time I am going the route of recreational bodybuilding. Eating good quality food, training hard, adding in a little gear when necessary, and just living a healthy lifestyle. Since February I turned an out of shape 200lbs into an in shape 220 lbs and I feel great. Hopefully obsession won't set in this time and I will just be able to enjoy this hobby of mine. It feels great to be back in the gym.

 

[steele]

Ahhhh, to have a "normal life"

I am SEVERELY tempted by this as my job (which really makes me happy) takes more and more priority in my life. The longest lay off from the gym I have had in almost 6 or 7 years was 3 months.
i was getting tired of lugging around the cooler with my food in it, drinking water all the time, watching the clock so i don't miss my next meal, etc. so i decided to take some time off.
i watched my belly go out and my chest come in, my whole body in a state of atrophy... i couldn't handle it. i could'nt stand to watch 6+ years of work shrink away so I came back. and i am SOOOO glad i did.
maybe, i am a bit mello dramatic but when i finally returned to the gym after those 3 months and my hands gripped and squeezed a pair of dumbells, under my breathe and to myself i said,"this is where you belong..." STEELE

 

[VanR__]

It was more fun on juice.
It's more routine now.

 

[norm1220]

I walked into my first gym in 1978 and I still look foward to each and every workout. Eating by the clock, tracking macro-nutrient ratios and calories, finding ways to train around injuries.... this is a normal life for me. It is a huge part of who I am, who I choose to be many years ago. I do not regret that choice.

 

[Thor]

JT I can relate !

I used to enjoy it all the time. But now when I am shape I enjoy it one hell of a lot more. I enjoy it when I can actually see the muscle, veins, and thin skin doing their thing. Powerlifting and being somewhat heavy used to be okay. Now when I start getting strong and fat I worry about the looming spectre of injury. Takes some of the fun out of it for me.

I can always get motivated when I have abs and veins in my legs. It's like you look in the mirror and say..."hell yeah!"

Same here man winter sucks for me, going out in the cold and having to "bundle up" and then when I get to the gym and finally warm up to where I can take my shirt off I see how white and smooth I am , but in the summer Tan, hard, ripped and veiny looks and feels so much better, although I am bigger and stronger in winter. So it's a trade-off. When I was first starting out certainly it was more exciting, but I still love it and sometimes if I don't feel like going i go anyway and am ALWAYS glad that I did. Lifting is like therapy for me, when I walk thru the gym door i leave my life behind and nothing else matters, I used to lift with different guys at different gyms, but now I prefer to train alone, much better focus.

 

[buldog9]

Yes it makes the worries go away and gets ones mind on some thing positive. I wounder if Arnold ever misses it.

 

[qwerty12345]

Makes me Really not wanna grow old.

 

[champ00]

not only exciting but doing comps id the shiznit, its a life style to me not an obsestion any more

 

[Phidias]

Simple answer to your original question... NO. And far from it.

But for most of us, it's in our blood... always back at it sooner or later

 

[healthfreak79]

Right now im not excited about bodybuilding, so what i did was i started training mma.

 

[MightyJohn]

I still like working out an all but after injuries & all the politics I see in competing bodybuilding doesn't excite Me at all anymore, hence why I started hockey again

 

[Flex4777]

To answer the question to your thread >>> MORE THAN EVER, AND KEEPS GETTING BETTER!!!!!

 

[craig3758]

I absolutely love every minute of it.Sure I get tired sometimes and I'll take off,but never more than 2 weeks.I go crazy man!LOL!Doing my first show in July and can't freakin wait to start dieting.I wanna start now,but don't want to miss out on 2 more months of growth.