Why do you (or dont you) compete?

[Swifto]

I plan to compete in my first show next summer in Masters Physique if all goes well this year.

I should be working with a coach at the end of next month.

This year will be about adding overall size (mostly back, chest, delts) and then we target a show next summer.

See what happens.

 

[Ranchhand]

I plan to compete in my first show next summer in Masters Physique if all goes well this year.

I should be working with a coach at the end of next month.

This year will be about adding overall size (mostly back, chest, delts) and then we target a show next summer.

See what happens.

Damn, Swifto, you and I are on identical paths. Your goals stated above literally overlay mine. In the last few days, I've been in communication from someone on the board about being coached. I'm hoping by the end of the month things will be in place to hire them as my coach. First stage for me will be adding size as well, most likely the rest of this year and all of next year will go to gaining size with some shaping mixed in there. The following year a show could be targeted to get into the groove of being on stage. I fall into the NPC Master's 50+ Division, maybe Physique, but most likely Classic Physique because of my frame. I could easily do Men's BB, but at my age I'm not sure I want to put my body through that just to compete at that level and size. Same here, we'll see what happens.

 

[monsterzombie666]

I am a naturally very competitive person.

I competed in bodybuilding once and in powerlifting several times, mostly to see how far I could push myself -- or at least how close I could get to my best at that point in life.

As for bodybuilding, I can’t say I enjoyed the actual competition very much. The prep was rewarding, but the show itself really was not my cup of tea. Powerlifting meets were not much better. They lasted around 12 hours, which is a ridiculous amount of time to make nine lifts lol.

My favorite form of competition was training with my workout partner of more than seven years. We had very different builds. I was very tall with long arms, and he was about a foot shorter with a huge chest. He was usually stronger on pressing movements, I was usually stronger on pulling movements, and we were pretty even on legs. Because we were so close in strength, every set turned into a competition. If I got 15 reps on shoulder presses, he was going to try for 16 -- and then I would do the same back to him on every set, every exercise, every workout. Often times, we would hardly speak to each other, but we practically read each other's minds at that point. Our training goals were intertwined, and communication was through our actions.

We pushed each other hard, probably harder than either of us would have pushed alone. To me, that was the best kind of competition I ever had in my bodybuilding journey.

 

[buck]

I competed a few times when i was younger. I mostly liked training them dieting down to see what i had achieved. And i could do that without competitions. I have often i found what judges thought was best or how they thought guys should look was not what i thought was the best. So i saw no reason to compete any more as i hade already had the experience.

 

[Sectør]

I enjoyed it in the past, and I still very much enjoy the sport

I think the most off-putting thing about competing again in the future is just the chemical warfare aspect. I really don’t want to have run tren and multiple orals the last few weeks. Tren just doesn’t do anything good to me psychologically.

And I know there’s going to be people that say “well you can still compete and not run those things”, but without elite genetics, and without those compounds, you’re likely not going to beat someone with the same (or better) genetics and who is running those compounds. Losing just doesn’t interest me at all, if I was going to commit, i know I’d be all in and push things way too far with the goal of winning.

I think as we get older just putting that kind of strain on your bloodwork and system just shortens your lifespan dramatically

 

[kadafi2]

I think there are two other things that can motivate someone to compete:

1) The desire to test ourselves. Will we be able to endure ~10 weeks of preparation? Will we be able to grit our teeth and do everything to feel confident on the day of the show that we've given it our all, even when life suddenly becomes full of stress and various challenges?

2) Image: If we're coaches, photos from the stage always make a good impression.

 

[cm]

I can take my family on a weeks vacation pretty much anywhere in the US for a week for the cost of an npc card, travel, hotel, entry fee, spray tan, trunks. No thanks. The beauty is in the discipline, not the pageantry.

Complete opposite

 

[bbxtreme]

I think everyone’s reason will be different to some degree and you have to ask your “why”.

For some people it’s just to say they did it and mastered that level of discipline.

For others it’s to win and keep chasing that dopamine hit and high you get before walking onto the stage. It’s a hard feeling to top.

Some will do it because someone else said they should or would be good at it.

But for me I compete because I love to train. Not the other way around. I love the process, the learned patience, the earned changes you see in the mirror, the difference in how you perform and honestly just chasing human potential or the best version of myself.

But more so than that I have found that all of that bleeds into the rest of my life. Work, life and relationships- the patience, etc it makes me a better person.

And if I win along the way, well it’s that much better.

Now all that aside- if you’re someone who is super social, a food person, loves events, concerts etc then competing to win at a high level will be very hard.

This sport is won by consistent variables. You can’t throw tren, orals, an hour of cardio and clen ontop of a stressful life with a scattered sleep and social schedule and not expect the body to crash. Add to that not missing a meal or meal time.

There’s a cost to competing to win. It’s not for everyone, nor should it be. But I do think everyone should experience the discipline and lessons from a deep prep and competing at least once in this sport. Just never let competing ruin bodybuilding as many do that and forget that competing is a season, being a bodybuilder is the long game.

At the end of the day very few people will treat you differently as a bodybuilder if you don’t compete vs do. In a room full of bodybuilders, you’re all just that- bodybuilders.

 

[DOGGCRAPP]

I have struggled with this for the entirety of my training career. I want to want to compete but every time the same things happen 1) I just can't bring myself to care about the pageantry of the stage so things like posing never get practiced 2) Genetically it seems very hard for me to hold sub 8-10% for a length of time without feeling the effects on energy, motivation drops, cravings hit hard, guilt over not pushing harder, etc. 3) Number 2 brings about negative mental health stuff and relationship with food.

I know these things are common and hit everyone to some degree. I have struggled with it lately because I enjoy pushing, living the lifestyle daily, being locked in but I guess I crashed out after dieting since Jan. AJ said I was holding 8 weeks out for months and my body just couldnt sustain it any longer. That I pushed through medication adjustments, hypothyroid diagnosis, starting a job that had me up at 3am... and I loved it and felt great... until I didnt. But I feel mentally weak and like I failed myself. Which I dont know why. I love all things being a meathead... training hard, phasing... growth vs diet, having a meal plan, locking down routine, etc. The best feeling is smashing a crazy back or leg workout and then hammering a brunch or sushi feast feeling jacked and locked in. Why do I feel less than for living that lifestyle like it isnt as valid or not a "bodybuilding" unless you compete?

Again, I know this hits everyone to some degree during hard diet or prep but I just dont seem to tolerate it well at all... Or even as I type that I think "or am I being a pussy?" lol. And that really bothers me. I feel mentally weak. Like I must be missing a gear that those that push through have. But why do I care? Why do I need the stage to validate myself? I really dont care about it other than to say I did it.

I was in my early 20's when I found Dante and DC training and I think of him... a guy who lived the life every single day. Go massive, immersed himself totally in bodybuilding, training, competitive bodybuilding, business, etc. Never stepped on stage. But he is as bodybuilder a bodybuilder as anyone or more so than the genetically elite that put half the effort in. I dont look at him as unproven or less than. So why do I do that to myself?

I guess this isnt so much a "Why do you or dont you compete?" vs a crash out/existential crisis from me about what's next lol

Honestly man and this is not going to go over well in here. I went to compete twice. Both times because everyone was prodding me to do it and I was more like "well I guess if you want to call yourself a bodybuilder....thats what you got to do". First time if i remember right early 2000's I went from 296 to 258 with a I think 3 weeks left and TN was a 2 man operation at that time and i couldnt even think straight, I was getting behind in everything, business was suffering because of it, cardio 2x a day, low carbs, suffering to come in shredded, falling asleep at my desk and i was like "WTF am i doing? I am not pulling my 50% here!" I felt really unfair to my business partner and i was not doing my part. We both gave up careers to start TN, and I was screwing things up. I pulled out and went back to being a businessman and to what was fair to my business partner. Great decsion upon looking back. Second time maybe 18 months later early 2000's everyone on me again to do a show (wife was going to do show too)...292 to 263 with about 4 weeks left, father calls up " I have liver cancer son...." My wife and I pull out because its the right thing to do but to be realistic. Thank god! I didnt want to compete. I could care less about getting up onstage in posing trunks to be judged by others and trophies etc. Could care less! I have always been an individual who does not need reaffirmation of themselves as a bodybuilder. Its always been me vs me. The only person that i need to judge me is me. If i am not happy with myself as a bber, no trophy or show winning would rectify that. I dont need a jury of my peers to rate me as a bodybuilder.


And i an eternal Return On Investment person. I dont get killing yourself to get a trophy...I really dont. (especially drug wise at the highest levels) It doesnt bring money....and honestly nobody really gives a shit but yourself. There was a guy in my high school who everyone called "Touchdown Goguen" as a joke because all he could talk about for the next 20 years after high school was the touchdown he scored. Sometimes i see the same thing in bodybuilding. Guys talking about a show or trophy they won way back in the day and you look around the room and see that most people "could give a flyin F" and are instead into whatever is going on in their life right then. That husband and wife you just walked by in aisle 3 of the grocery store does not care you won your class in "Mr Golden State" back in 2014


Sorry to be so blunt...but thats how i personally see it. My true goals that were important to me because i came from meager means, and was absolutely dirt poor in my 20's (maybe poorer than 98% of you in this forum at one point with no car, no place to live and 64 dollars to his name at one point in my 20's after college)....was to be a very successful businessman, a father, a husband and a really good bodybuilder according to me. I accomplished all of that. I do not get the return on investment in competitive bodybuilding...I dont. I do get the return on investment with social media influencers, businessmen in bodybuilding, and people who create a career or great opportunity with their interest in bodybuilding. Winning shows does not do that. Being a gogetter with a never say die attitude to success does.


I am not disrespecting anyone here who competes and loves to compete. This is just my own personal view on things concerning this sport probably severely jaundiced by the number of people i have seen die, or created great harm in their life healthwise. Coming out to Cali and seeing pro bbers living in their car or who were dirt poor yet the facade was they were "living large" in the magazines....was pretty shocking to see. David Dearth comes to mind when i say that because the guy was living in his car...the mags were promoting him....what did he end up getting from everything in bodybuilding? Working on horse farms if I remember right in his 50's struggling to make ends meet and having a massive heart attack at 56 and dying.


Probably not going to be a popular post in here among the competitors but I have seen guys give up lucrative careers, screw up valuable relationships with their significant others because they went "all in" to competive bodybuilding only to regret it greatly later on in their lives. Obviously guys like Hawkmoon and others are not in that group...more power to you guys.


Just this last month I went off on a friend who came to me with a GFR of 37 and creatinine over 2 and asked for my help to get him healthy. I read him the riot act and started the process and out of nowhere he tells me about 3 days before the weekend that he is competing....and he did....and he won his class and is probably ecstatic to get that trophy. Me I look at that as complete utter stupidity. Because i know what he had to do to win that class and it goes directly against having healthy kidneys. So im am presently writing him an email of "Have you actually studied dialysis and what it involves?" and im going to rip into him.


So its things like that that really mold me on "return on investment".....its not across the board with everyone....but I guess with everything in life the question is always "Is that what you pursue...worth it in the end for the reward"

 

[Fleezy]

Just this last month I went off on a friend who came to me with a GFR of 37 and creatinine over 2 and asked for my help to get him healthy. I read him the riot act and started the process and out of nowhere he tells me about 3 days before the weekend that he is competing....and he did....and he won his class and is probably ecstatic to get that trophy. Me I look at that as complete utter stupidity. Because i know what he had to do to win that class and it goes directly against having healthy kidneys. So im am presently writing him an email of "Have you actually studied dialysis and what it involves?" and im going to rip into him.

The longer I’m alive, the more I realize that there are some people who I will just never understand

Was talking to a friend at the gym, mid 40’s on half a gram of test a week. He works a busy job and has 3 kids.

He’s not a big guy at all. You wouldn’t assume he was on gear or even lifted seriously

He told me his blood pressure was regularly around 190/120

I’m like holy shit dude, get on Telmisartan and nebivolol immediately

He’s like


Nah I feel fine

 

[hawkmoon]

Honestly man and this is not going to go over well in here. I went to compete twice. Both times because everyone was prodding me to do it and I was more like "well I guess if you want to call yourself a bodybuilder....thats what you got to do". First time if i remember right early 2000's I went from 296 to 258 with a I think 3 weeks left and TN was a 2 man operation at that time and i couldnt even think straight, I was getting behind in everything, business was suffering because of it, cardio 2x a day, low carbs, suffering to come in shredded, falling asleep at my desk and i was like "WTF am i doing? I am not pulling my 50% here!" I felt really unfair to my business partner and i was not doing my part. We both gave up careers to start TN, and I was screwing things up. I pulled out and went back to being a businessman and to what was fair to my business partner. Great decsion upon looking back. Second time maybe 18 months later early 2000's everyone on me again to do a show (wife was going to do show too)...292 to 263 with about 4 weeks left, father calls up " I have liver cancer son...." My wife and I pull out because its the right thing to do but to be realistic. Thank god! I didnt want to compete. I could care less about getting up onstage in posing trunks to be judged by others and trophies etc. Could care less! I have always been an individual who does not need reaffirmation of themselves as a bodybuilder. Its always been me vs me. The only person that i need to judge me is me. If i am not happy with myself as a bber, no trophy or show winning would rectify that. I dont need a jury of my peers to rate me as a bodybuilder.


And i an eternal Return On Investment person. I dont get killing yourself to get a trophy...I really dont. (especially drug wise at the highest levels) It doesnt bring money....and honestly nobody really gives a shit but yourself. There was a guy in my high school who everyone called "Touchdown Goguen" as a joke because all he could talk about for the next 20 years after high school was the touchdown he scored. Sometimes i see the same thing in bodybuilding. Guys talking about a show or trophy they won way back in the day and you look around the room and see that most people "could give a flyin F" and are instead into whatever is going on in their life right then. That husband and wife you just walked by in aisle 3 of the grocery store does not care you won your class in "Mr Golden State" back in 2014


Sorry to be so blunt...but thats how i personally see it. My true goals that were important to me because i came from meager means, and was absolutely dirt poor in my 20's (maybe poorer than 98% of you in this forum at one point with no car, no place to live and 64 dollars to his name at one point in my 20's after college)....was to be a very successful businessman, a father, a husband and a really good bodybuilder according to me. I accomplished all of that. I do not get the return on investment in competitive bodybuilding...I dont. I do get the return on investment with social media influencers, businessmen in bodybuilding, and people who create a career or great opportunity with their interest in bodybuilding. Winning shows does not do that. Being a gogetter with a never say die attitude to success does.


I am not disrespecting anyone here who competes and loves to compete. This is just my own personal view on things concerning this sport probably severely jaundiced by the number of people i have seen die, or created great harm in their life healthwise. Coming out to Cali and seeing pro bbers living in their car or who were dirt poor yet the facade was they were "living large" in the magazines....was pretty shocking to see. David Dearth comes to mind when i say that because the guy was living in his car...the mags were promoting him....what did he end up getting from everything in bodybuilding? Working on horse farms if I remember right in his 50's struggling to make ends meet and having a massive heart attack at 56 and dying.


Probably not going to be a popular post in here among the competitors but I have seen guys give up lucrative careers, screw up valuable relationships with their significant others because they went "all in" to competive bodybuilding only to regret it greatly later on in their lives. Obviously guys like Hawkmoon and others are not in that group...more power to you guys.


Just this last month I went off on a friend who came to me with a GFR of 37 and creatinine over 2 and asked for my help to get him healthy. I read him the riot act and started the process and out of nowhere he tells me about 3 days before the weekend that he is competing....and he did....and he won his class and is probably ecstatic to get that trophy. Me I look at that as complete utter stupidity. Because i know what he had to do to win that class and it goes directly against having healthy kidneys. So im am presently writing him an email of "Have you actually studied dialysis and what it involves?" and im going to rip into him.


So its things like that that really mold me on "return on investment".....its not across the board with everyone....but I guess with everything in life the question is always "Is that what you pursue...worth it in the end for the reward"

Thanks for sharing this, Dante. It’s an perspective that needs to be voiced, even if it runs counter to the majority forum narrative.
Going all-in on a pursuit has its place, but without temperance and a clear view of reality, the trade-offs rarely add up.

Regarding your mention of me - which I appreciate - I consider myself remarkably fortunate.
I was able to achieve what I did by remaining moderate, protecting my health, and keeping my career and family intact. Doing that while navigating life in a foreign country added its own layer of friction, but it kept me grounded.

I sometimes worry about sounding preachy or dismissive, which is never my intent. I don't claim to have the master blueprint; I've just been lucky enough to build a life that is "enough" across the board - professionally, financially, and physically.

 

[TheOtherOne55]

Ooo you know its a good one because Dante replied lol

I mean...I AM the exact person this hypothetical is about. I'm a bodybuilder...but im not a GOOD competitve bodybuilder. But i love, enjoy, and WANTED to be a freak. Even before I thought about the "dangers" of it, I still somehow felt compelled to provide some sort of "report card" every year. I NEED TO KNOW if im progressing. If not, you will aimlessly spend years chasing nothing. Like i can understand the idea of not killing yourself for the trophy....but someone making excuses that "well technically staying lean is hard and genetically i cant do it..." Ugh no one can. That's the point. I mean, IF YOU can judge progress at 12%, more power to ya. You dont need to be a competitor, but you should be living the life and thats means trying to measure your progress somehow. Mine just happens to be "what i look like on stage." I know im not pushing anyone for their pro card or being a high level challenger....but i like chasing my own individual goals. I do it for no one but myself.

I willl say that I have an out game and the vast majority of guys I know DONT have an out game. In my head, its not BBing thats dangerous, its where bodybuilding takes you. BBing took me to 330+. Big big like that doesnt live long. If you can get paid for being 330+lbs, hell yeah. But I cannot. So the risk doesss give me an end point.

 

[cdnyc85]

People can still be very competitive by nature but not be particularly "inspired" by the competition of being judged on stage in what's basically a pageant that's so highly subjective and corrupt...run by a bunch of mafia like creeps that are the Manion family. If you know the kinds of shit that the judges and insiders of the ifbb have been up to and a part of over the years and the blllshit with judging, why sacrifice years off your life to stand on a stage like that? The answer for most is because they need validation and have some sort of chip on their shoulder or insecurity. For many getting a "pro card" validates their life long obsession. Except most of the world doesn't give a shit. Bodybuild because you love it.

 

[blazencruise]

Simply put, for bodybuilding, I don't want to suffer to get to sub 10% bodyfat. I can look huge to the people who actually matter (gf, friends, family, coworkers) by being 15-20% bf year round. So what if I'm considered fat to people I have never and probably will never meet in real life? I do like to compete in local powerlifting competitions though.

I have huge respect for the guys here that do have the discipline and drive to shred down to 5% and step on a bodybuilding stage though. Its just not for me.

 

[hawkmoon]

Ooo you know its a good one because Dante replied lol

I mean...I AM the exact person this hypothetical is about. I'm a bodybuilder...but im not a GOOD competitve bodybuilder. But i love, enjoy, and WANTED to be a freak. Even before I thought about the "dangers" of it, I still somehow felt compelled to provide some sort of "report card" every year. I NEED TO KNOW if im progressing. If not, you will aimlessly spend years chasing nothing. Like i can understand the idea of not killing yourself for the trophy....but someone making excuses that "well technically staying lean is hard and genetically i cant do it..." Ugh no one can. That's the point. I mean, IF YOU can judge progress at 12%, more power to ya. You dont need to be a competitor, but you should be living the life and thats means trying to measure your progress somehow. Mine just happens to be "what i look like on stage." I know im not pushing anyone for their pro card or being a high level challenger....but i like chasing my own individual goals. I do it for no one but myself.

I willl say that I have an out game and the vast majority of guys I know DONT have an out game. In my head, its not BBing thats dangerous, its where bodybuilding takes you. BBing took me to 330+. Big big like that doesnt live long. If you can get paid for being 330+lbs, hell yeah. But I cannot. So the risk doesss give me an end point.

I can relate to some of this, especially the using the stage as a definitive check point.

I like having a solid goal, a finish line that is "outside my control". Like a project deadline that must be met.

I didn't care if I won - though I wasn't unhappy when I did - I just wanted to be better than last time. When that stopped being the trend line is when I decided to step away.

Now there are things that no amount of effort or discipline will help me conquer, so the game is over - and I'm ok with that. It won't change very much for me.

 

[specter]

Honestly man and this is not going to go over well in here. I went to compete twice. Both times because everyone was prodding me to do it and I was more like "well I guess if you want to call yourself a bodybuilder....thats what you got to do". First time if i remember right early 2000's I went from 296 to 258 with a I think 3 weeks left and TN was a 2 man operation at that time and i couldnt even think straight, I was getting behind in everything, business was suffering because of it, cardio 2x a day, low carbs, suffering to come in shredded, falling asleep at my desk and i was like "WTF am i doing? I am not pulling my 50% here!" I felt really unfair to my business partner and i was not doing my part. We both gave up careers to start TN, and I was screwing things up. I pulled out and went back to being a businessman and to what was fair to my business partner. Great decsion upon looking back. Second time maybe 18 months later early 2000's everyone on me again to do a show (wife was going to do show too)...292 to 263 with about 4 weeks left, father calls up " I have liver cancer son...." My wife and I pull out because its the right thing to do but to be realistic. Thank god! I didnt want to compete. I could care less about getting up onstage in posing trunks to be judged by others and trophies etc. Could care less! I have always been an individual who does not need reaffirmation of themselves as a bodybuilder. Its always been me vs me. The only person that i need to judge me is me. If i am not happy with myself as a bber, no trophy or show winning would rectify that. I dont need a jury of my peers to rate me as a bodybuilder.


And i an eternal Return On Investment person. I dont get killing yourself to get a trophy...I really dont. (especially drug wise at the highest levels) It doesnt bring money....and honestly nobody really gives a shit but yourself. There was a guy in my high school who everyone called "Touchdown Goguen" as a joke because all he could talk about for the next 20 years after high school was the touchdown he scored. Sometimes i see the same thing in bodybuilding. Guys talking about a show or trophy they won way back in the day and you look around the room and see that most people "could give a flyin F" and are instead into whatever is going on in their life right then. That husband and wife you just walked by in aisle 3 of the grocery store does not care you won your class in "Mr Golden State" back in 2014


Sorry to be so blunt...but thats how i personally see it. My true goals that were important to me because i came from meager means, and was absolutely dirt poor in my 20's (maybe poorer than 98% of you in this forum at one point with no car, no place to live and 64 dollars to his name at one point in my 20's after college)....was to be a very successful businessman, a father, a husband and a really good bodybuilder according to me. I accomplished all of that. I do not get the return on investment in competitive bodybuilding...I dont. I do get the return on investment with social media influencers, businessmen in bodybuilding, and people who create a career or great opportunity with their interest in bodybuilding. Winning shows does not do that. Being a gogetter with a never say die attitude to success does.


I am not disrespecting anyone here who competes and loves to compete. This is just my own personal view on things concerning this sport probably severely jaundiced by the number of people i have seen die, or created great harm in their life healthwise. Coming out to Cali and seeing pro bbers living in their car or who were dirt poor yet the facade was they were "living large" in the magazines....was pretty shocking to see. David Dearth comes to mind when i say that because the guy was living in his car...the mags were promoting him....what did he end up getting from everything in bodybuilding? Working on horse farms if I remember right in his 50's struggling to make ends meet and having a massive heart attack at 56 and dying.


Probably not going to be a popular post in here among the competitors but I have seen guys give up lucrative careers, screw up valuable relationships with their significant others because they went "all in" to competive bodybuilding only to regret it greatly later on in their lives. Obviously guys like Hawkmoon and others are not in that group...more power to you guys.


Just this last month I went off on a friend who came to me with a GFR of 37 and creatinine over 2 and asked for my help to get him healthy. I read him the riot act and started the process and out of nowhere he tells me about 3 days before the weekend that he is competing....and he did....and he won his class and is probably ecstatic to get that trophy. Me I look at that as complete utter stupidity. Because i know what he had to do to win that class and it goes directly against having healthy kidneys. So im am presently writing him an email of "Have you actually studied dialysis and what it involves?" and im going to rip into him.


So its things like that that really mold me on "return on investment".....its not across the board with everyone....but I guess with everything in life the question is always "Is that what you pursue...worth it in the end for the reward"

Damn you went to Polk High ?

 

[Mute]

Got damn this is a good read. Genuinely like reading everyone’s perspective on how or why they do or don’t compete. It all comes back to the drive of wanting to just live the lifestyle.

 

[Cv215]

I’ve loved bodybuilding for 20 plus years. I have no desire to compete. I’m not a fan of dieting and suffering because of the diet. I bodybuild to feel good and because it improves my quality of life. I don’t have the time to suffer from the dieting down. Don’t get me wrong I can get strict and get pretty lean, but what competition requires is a whole other level.

 

[TheOtherOne55]

I can relate to some of this, especially the using the stage as a definitive check point.

I like having a solid goal, a finish line that is "outside my control". Like a project deadline that must be met.

I didn't care if I won - though I wasn't unhappy when I did - I just wanted to be better than last time. When that stopped being the trend line is when I decided to step away.

Now there are things that no amount of effort or discipline will help me conquer, so the game is over - and I'm ok with that. It won't change very much for me.

Dude, the definitive checkpoint or goal is so dead on to me.
I just made an IG reel basically telling people, lifestyle regular lifters, that they should periodize and structure out their year.
If they don't (which the average lifestyle lifter does not), the idea of "I'm just going to lose 10 pounds" or "I'm going to get ready for summer" continuously goes on for months and years and years. The "I'm going to lose 15 pounds" ends up being a "for the next five years" type goal because there is no end point.

Nothing kicks your ass into gear and forces you to make changes or look yourself in the mirror than a goal with a definitive end date.
And again, it doesn't need to be a contest. I don't think everyone should or wants to compete, but it should be a wedding. It should be your own end-of-summer date. I know that when I hang up the trunks, which is very, very soon, I'm going to have one hard cut a year just because I want to have one hard cut a year.

 

[metabz]

I just loved lifting and getting bigger and stronger. Competing in BB'ing was something I never seriously considered until injuries in powerlifting made pursuing anything in that sport unrealistic. Unfortunately, structural deficiencies and the visible aspects of those same injuries made achieving anything meaningful in competitive BB'ing equally unrealistic. Simply put, I think I could have had all the variables perfect and taken every compound out there at high doses... and likely still would have never achieved anything beyond being a mediocre heavyweight in a state show.

So, I settle for being bigger, stronger, and leaner than 99% of guys my age and spend most of the year on 20mg Test Cyp and 2.5IU of GH/day. Bloodwork is great and my cardiovascular conditioning is solid.

Unrelated to competing, I will say that Reta may be changing what I consider to be a sustainable bodyfat %; stuff is amazing.