What age did you begin bodybuilding?

[StoryOfTheYear]

What age did you begin bodybuilding? How many years have you been in the sport? What inspired you to start in the first place? Feel free to throw in any more information that might relate to the topic also! I was just curious and figured I'd throw it out there! -StOrY

 

[thebrick]

I started toying around with a #110 Sears home weight set at 17. You know the ones, plates made out of concrete with a hard plastic shell? I benched right off the floor too. Put 'em on some books so I could slide under the bar. When I bought some 25 lb plates to go with that I thought I was strong At 140 lbs and 17 years old I was skinny and I wanted to put on some weight. When I reached 160 lbs, I thought I was huge. I wanted to look like those guys I saw on the old Muscular Development magazine covers I saw in the store. I even bought some of that old Weider weight gainer. I think that stuff was pure sugar! Then I switched to the Hoffman protein. Good stuff. I kept working out at home until I joined my first gym at 24. Then I was hooked bigtime. From 17-18 until now…37 years... holy sh*t!!!!

 

[patrick]

age 16

started at 16 with regular fitness. After noticing some progress and reading the usual magazines i got into bodybuilding.
I am now 28. Been out of the game for two years due to my education and busy job. But recently graduated and i have a little more spare time. Oh and i almost forgot the fact that not training for 2 years and not dieting isnt really good for my body But that's why i hired Phil this time

 

[jm425]

I started late. 20 years old and looking for something to stay away from trouble. My ex also dumped me so I was depressed and had to find something to do to get my mind off that shit. I started at 5'7, 165 pounds and after 8 years I'm 225 pounds, 15% bf. Bbing has helped me mentally as well as physically because before this, I had many health problems such as high cholesterol, high bp and high triglycerides. Thanks to bbing, my cholesterol is normal now and no more high triglycerides although I still do have high bp but that's also due to the fact that it does run on my dad's side of the family.

 

[tkav1980]

I started at 18. i went to college to play football and in highschool was always just strong, not big but pretty damn strong. when i got to college compared to everyone else i wasnt so strong anymore, and the first day of camp i saw this senior, he looked like a 300lb mountain of muscle. he was probably somewhere around 230 or 240 but to me he looked like the biggest guy ive ever seen. so i started lifting with him. yeah i fooled around in the gym before but nothing serious. this guy took me under his wing and i followed the program he used to a t for 4 years and made some damn good gains. ever since then i was hooked. its been 10 years and i dont see myself ever stopping.

 

[Dado5]

Starter martial arts when i was 10. Been lifting home made cement weights atage 19 then stopped. Joined the gym 10 y ago on and off. Started seriously lifting 5 y ago ( at 28 y old) at 6'3 160 lbs. Today at 33 y old weighting 245 lbs.
Love it

 

[Lenny]

I ran cross country and track in high school while loving to train with weights. I did my first competition at age 18. Bodybuilding always was a hobby and something I could enjoy. I did not compete again until age 25 and 26 because I went to college and then my career right after. I never stopped training in college, just did not compete and eat like I do now.

I plan on doing another competition in the near future just because I love having that as goal to drive me even harder. Otherwise, bodybuilding is a hobby and I enjoy having that iron attitude day in and day out.

 

[Papa Van Smack]

I started working out for football at 15, my first summer i made really nice gains, that was in 97 I believe. I enjoyed working out very much and really put everything I had into it. After some time, the bigger guys in the gym(all juiced) took me under their wing w/ the training and diet and really helped me to progress along. Never once did they mention juice, never pushed it on me, at the time, i didn't know they did, but I was 16, so they exercised appropriate behavior. My gym owner hosts a BB contest every year and always has a big name guest poser...my senior year of High School i couldn't afford a ticket to the show, he knew i was down about it but didn't say much. On the day of the show, i was working out, he called me over and threw me an official "show staff" t-shirt and asked me if I'd work a door and check ticket stubbs.....I was so exstatic I could hardly contain myself. Up until then, I loved working out but wasn't huge into the BB look. The guest poser that year....Ronnie Coleman, after his 1st or 2nd Olympia victory....I think. He was off season, i liked that look a lot better. I had never seen a pro in person. After that show i completely shifted my focus to BB and sought the juice out on my own, by then I knew for sure that it was a part of it. I trained my ass off and did my first BB show in 01 or 02 and got third place in my division. Haven't done a show since. In fact, i'm just returning to BB after a 2 year layoff, to focus on a career. Those were some great times, i'd love to live em all over again. Learned a lot about myself as a person during those years.

 

[Ashop]

What age did you begin bodybuilding? How many years have you been in the sport? What inspired you to start in the first place? Feel free to throw in any more information that might relate to the topic also! I was just curious and figured I'd throw it out there! -StOrY

I started the interest at an early age,,,,started getting real serious at about 16-18yrs old.

 

[Jarconis]

19

 

[StoryOfTheYear]

Starting with yourself is typically not a bad place to begin.

And besides, it will buy me some time to get my thoughts
on paper.

My story is very boring compared to a lot of your guys' stories!! I'll work on throwing something together though! -StORY

 

[Incoldestblood]

I started lifting weights for football when I was 14 or so. I got pretty big I guess for being a teen, but once I stopped doing sports and got into college, I developed the worst eating habits, didn't work out, and I got really, really fat. I got sick of that after a few years and got a gym membership, doing mostly my old football workout and a low carb diet, and lost a lot of fat. My uncle (aeliop on this board) got me interested in bodybuilding and that type of physique, and wrote out a workout and diet for me back in like april of 2007, which I hammered away at until I took the next step and hired Phil Hernon this last summer. I love the discipline and I love having such a positive factor in my life to hammer away at.

 

[madmick]

1986... many moons ago cause I was a skinny dweeb and wanted to look good for the chicks

 

[StoryOfTheYear]

1986... many moons ago cause I was a skinny dweeb and wanted to look good for the chicks

lol that's awesome! I think that was something that motivated me to start working out also!

 

[Phidias]

16

 

[Dave_19]

I was 15 but I took a combined 3 years off in the last 11 years since starting. Each time was due to a g/f, and always was a mistake.

 

[dragonfire101]

My father was into lifting and I began wrestling at about 12 yrs old. Started using his weight set in the basement at around that time just some curls and benching. These were the all steel plates.He had 50s and 25s.Benches were all steel welded. Still have them and they are 30 years old at least.The stuff you see in the pumping Iron movie. The 25s felt like 45s at the gym. I would sometimes go to the local gym. These bodybuilding brothers where on my paper route and friends with the owner at local gym. They would let me come in and mess around with the weights. By 14, I was doing your typical bodybuilding routine I blew up instantly after a few months. I was around 150 at 12-13 and freshman year in HS 160s. By the time I graduated I was close to 200 pounds at 5 9'. I lived in inner city neighborhood and was one of the only white kids. My nickname was Marky mark because he was popular around that time.Nobody bothered me and often kids from the neighborhood would come over and lift with me and wanted to know how to get as big as I was. Nobody really ever bothered me since I was the only one who had weights at their home. Still lift to this day with some of those guys from the old neighborhood and are good friends.

I must say I had respect back then form being a fairly good looking kid and being built. Was captain of the football and wrestling team and looks matched the part. No problem getting girls I had lucky adolescents when it came to that stuff that a lot of kids struggle with. I did work at it though, but it came easy for me than most because of genetics.

I think most start lifting freshman year in HS if they join football.

 

[gator_mclusky]

17 yrs old and 138 lbs and I'm 38 now. Ive trained off and on 20 yrs. Did my first cycle at 18(early...I know) at 148 lbs. Got up to 238 recently. Ive cut down to 215. May hit 245-250 this summer at 5'9"

gator

 

[MR. BMJ]

At 14 years of age...end of 8th grade and definately from freshman year to present

BMJ

 

[Retriever]

I'm probably one of the least experienced members here. I've always done something (push-ups, dumb bells...) but I got more serious about it when I was 38 (I'm 40 now)