Was it one thing or one event that flipped the switch in the back of your head to be as physically fit as possible? Was it an injury that gave you a greater appreciation for training? A loss of a loved one? What is your story?!?! What keeps you going to the gym? I mean really. Dig deep and ask yourself. For me I think it is two fold, One being shear vanity and the other being the fact that I’ve seen enough tragedy to know that I better use and appreciate what I got cause two minutes from now it might all be gone.
Late D.R.
For me, I was always intigued by body building and played around with it every now and then. I got serious after lower back surgery when the Doc told me to get in the gym and strengthen my back. I got serious and once I started seeing results, I was hooked. Now, I like the way I look and feel and never want to be “normal” looking again. Herc
October 2000, Georgetown v. Navy rugby game. Navy’s #3 in the nation, we got stomped. Near the end of the game, I’m walking, hands on my head toward the sidelines,trying to catch my breath, when I got plowed from behind, something pops in my back, and some asshole punches me in the throat. So I can’t walk right or breathe, flopping around like a fish outta water. Ruined my weekend! So a year later I’m carrying 25 pounds more muscle, bench+squat+clean is up about 300lbs. We don’t play navy any more, so I’m looking to get payback on the teams in our new league. I just tell myself I’m never gonna get outclassed physically by anyone else.
That, and vanity.
The one thing that keeps me going is when people look at my workout print out for the week (renagade) and say “hmmm …now what this workout suposed to do for you.” or when they ask “Is today bi’s and tri’s day?” And I usally say this workout is to be able to crush anyone in my way. They usually dont get it.
Will
Good Q. Renegade. In a nutshell, I was always a fat basterd. About 5’11, 225 was my tops. Doesn’t sound that bad, but my body comp. sucked! Lots of baby fat and titties. Not exactly a Tman. I even managed to look like this while playing and starting at linebacker and o. guard throughout HS. This is when I started lifting though. Religiously. Got pretty strong too: 525 dead, 285 clean, 295 bench, 415 squat. Won some meets as well. This is where the passion started. But, I thought what’s the point in lifting if you can’t see any muscle. So after my senior season the diet began. My mindset: I’ll show everyone and MYSELF what I’m capable of. Within a hellish 10 monthes, I was big and ripped. I first got my BF down to about 4-6, then put on the lost muscle. I looked awesome. Still look pretty good, but gained about 7pds back. It was just too hard for me to maintain that look. That was one yr. ago. Still motivated though and going strong as ever. So, I did show everyone what Ryan was capable of. And myself. Now, I’ve learned anything is possible through grueling work, dedication and unrelenting faith in Jesus Christ. In fact, this is my battle cry in college right now. I guess that was not the nutshell version.
Between my dad and friends being the muscular kind guys they were, I sort of grew up around it. I worked out a bit and liked the attention I got from having muscle tone. Vanity played the primary role in being determined to regain that muscle tone after a huge weight gain from my pregnancy. However, the most vivid ‘turning point’ came last January when I finally got some pics from an August camping trip developed. Pics don’t lie and I looked like hell. Funny how you can rationalize/justify/deny your appearance but when confronted with reality - you just can’t anymore. I’d been focusing on one aspect of my life and ignoring my health. Not the case anymore.
Its the competitiveness in me. I dont need music, or some moron yelling in my ear. Its me living my primal nature as a man. To dominate, conquer, and survive. I am Roman and like my ancestors before me, I feel the urge to compete be it in a physical manner or not. You may have a better car or house than I, but when you strip someone of everything but their character, will could come up short.
I can’t lie, vanity is a part of it. But more importantly it was the thought of working an office job for the rest of my life. So I decided I didn’t want to do that, wanted to become a strength & conditioning coach (one day), and play college hockey again.
That was about a month ago .
I got interested in it when I was 14. I also saw what bad eating habits and no exercise did to my Dad. Vanity is ofcourse part of it as well.
Simply: in HS, I wanted to be bigger and stronger. After HS, to maintain a healthy and fit lifestyle - and now? To keep that asthma at bay and to maintain stamina, accentuate “punching power” for such things as MA and boxing.
I just go to WAL-MART to get my inspiration to train,nothing like seeing a big pair of black xxxl capri pants stuffed with about 300 pounds of gravel to get your ass to the gym…
I have always thought of muscles as attractive. I tend to more muscular/strong than average…so I decided to see just how strong I could make myself. It is a never-ending challenge and very personal. You vs. the barbell…simple as that. The weight doesn’t have an “off” day and it doesn’t lie. It is a very honest indicator of one’s effort, discipline, desire. I want to be as far from average as possible. A favorite quote “average is just as close to the bottom as it is the top”
When I hit 242 at 5’7 and a 40 inch waist. I just got pissed off and learned about eating the right foods. A year later I was down to 164 and around 15% bodyfat. A few months later down to 155 and 8%. Everybody that saw me thought I was sick. I was muscular but it was just so much of a change to most people. Anyway that was 87 pounds in 14 months. I’ve kept it off for a year and a half now and gained about 10 pounds of muscle.
At first I was not aware how bad I’d gotten. I was out of shape, no muscle, weak as hell. And of course I wanted chicks. So I guess I started by doing it for others, but I didn’t make a lot of progress. I missed the much talked about beginner gains (how is that possible? imagine the worst diet in the world, like 95% carb). But after a while, I started to learn more. It became a passion. I started to do it not for others, but for myself. Now I realize I can never go back to the way I used to be, I wouldn’t ever want to.
My grandfather started my interest in strength. He was a pro-wrestler and strongman in Cuba. He owed a restaurant in Miami for 30 something years where I worked with him. While there I would hear his friends talk about his adventures and naturally I wanted to be just like him. I use to love beating people at arm wrestling in front of him, and I know he loved talking about how like him I turned out. He died 3 months ago so now more than ever I want to keep his memory alive through me.
When I was a kid I saw a Mr. Universe contest on TV and I remember seeing this one guy walk out and he looked awesome. I always wanted to look like that. I’m not very tall, I think I stunted my growth by starving myself in high school wrestling. My brothers are all taller than me so I just decided to get as big as I could and I always wanted to compete. My feelings on this were just like Rocky Balboa who said that he knew if he went 15 rds. with Apollo he wasn’t just another bum from the neighborhood. After I competed I knew I wasn’t just another bum from the neighbohood.I’m really lucky though as I’ve been blessed with exceptional strength. My goals keep me going, training and striving for more. I don’t believe in setting limits. If I thought that way I couldn’t see a reason to keep at it. Gotta go it’s time to train YES I can feel the intensity exploding. Thanks
The biggest turning point is when I realized that am happy right now, not I will be happy when I get buff, or get a girlfriend. Also I need to stay in shape so that I can do about 20 massages a week, and still train.
my passion for staying fit is 1) Life insurance. I have no desire to be a diabetic, have heart problems, colon and so on that accompany Mature adults. By eating right staying fit and pumping the iron along with selective supplementation I feel I’m doing all I can to ward off old fart health problems,plus I’m vain. 2) Everytime I see some lazy piece of shit lard ass (and God knows their are plenty in Ala.) who sloths their big ass around or see some fat shit rolling around Wal- Mart in a wheelchair because they are too fucking lazy to walk, plus the fact they are taking the wheelchair from someone who really might need it, it makes me want to be in the best fucking shape possible. Lazy fuckfaces make me want to be so different from them it pushes me harder. I cannot stand lazy shit for brains. Sorry for the rant. The compliments are also nice.
I was a freshman in high school, and they were doing those Presidential Fitness Tests that were all the rage in the 80s. I did one pullup. One. I felt like such a pansy that I started hitting the little weight room in the school. My first day, I couldn’t even lift an unloaded O bar. Had to have someone pull it off my chest. I’d wait till everyone left, then go to the Universal machine, and put the weight stack on 20 to do my bench press. 3 months later, I managed 11 pullups, and I was hooked. At this point, I’ve been exercising over half my life, and I can’t imagine what my life would be like without it. I have to force myself to stay home on off weeks, and injuries or illness are a real bear, since I can’t manage to stay away from the metal. even if it’s a few pullups, or some calf raises on a step, I can’t stop.
My reason is a bit more plain than the rest of you people.I decided that i was going to go thru my mid life crisis at age 37,so i stopped smoking after 20 years and began to lift weights.It’s been about 6 months since i started and i am at a point now that i am seeing some gains from the hardwork.Secondly,i am just amazed when i watch the “WORLDS STRONGEST MAN” competitions and now they have the womans one too.I feel like such a wuss after watching the powerful woman so you can imagine how much work i have ahead of me.