waste of money????!!!!

[1day]

well was bored last night and so i was forced to think for once, and the thing that came to me was $$$$$$. im pretty sure i am down at the cheaper end of bodybuiding(as far as trying to limit supps to a 'must' ,more than a 'should' use ) so i dont take to much coin away from family. and so i worked out that i spend $60 on supps p/wk and $15 p/wk on gym membership, now correct me if im wrong ,but that works out $75 a week spent on me, that means thats $3,900 a yr(so rounded $4,000). now for that $4,000 a yr what am i really getting out of this sport??

the negitives

-pain (as the mrs says, 'dnt come moaning to me wen u sore , u do it to urself') :shifty:

-loose time (an hr or more a day)

-eat boring food that really arnt honestly your favorite foods

and the positives

-becoming stronger (helps in everyday life and cool to show off :wink: )

-staying healthy (eating the right foods to help u get threw the day with more energy etc)

-slooowly looking better ,trying to achieve that body that uve always wanted, (but more so to please urself as most others couldnt care less what u looked like)

i told my wife all this and she said "dont give it up , its somthing u love and have a real passion for, and i dont want you to be unhappy with yourself because you stop". (what a woman ahe :wink: )

So just wondering -how many others look at this in the same light as me (mabe more so with peps with familys/kids), in the fact that this sport is taking time and money away from our loved ones just for self satisfaction?

- have u added up ur yrs worth of costs?

-and do u think u get your moneys worth a yr?

(see this is wot happens wen i get bored and think :doh: )

[musclenz]

Mate I hear ya Bro. I dont think you are being selfish. You are only spending a small portion of your day doing something for yourself that you are passionate about & is generally good for you. In the end if you are happy with who you are physically, mentally, emotionally & spiritually, You are going to be a better Father & Husband, Brother, Friend, Workmate, Person. Certainly, this can be one of the most expensive sports to be involved with & I often query myself as to how much this costs in money & time. Most people do not have an understanding of what drives us. Often it is not a tangible thing. I think it is a Force that should not be supressed, but used in a sensible & balanced way to achieve an overall Being strong in body, mind & soul.

[1day]

:cry: that was beautiful mate,lol

naa cheers for that , makes sence :wink:

[BainTrain]

Mate I hear ya Bro. I dont think you are being selfish. You are only spending a small portion of your day doing something for yourself that you are passionate about & is generally good for you. In the end if you are happy with who you are physically, mentally, emotionally & spiritually, You are going to be a better Father & Husband, Brother, Friend, Workmate, Person. Certainly, this can be one of the most expensive sports to be involved with & I often query myself as to how much this costs in money & time. Most people do not have an understanding of what drives us. Often it is not a tangible thing. I think it is a Force that should not be supressed, but used in a sensible & balanced way to achieve an overall Being strong in body, mind & soul.

[teamfatboy]

I know exactly what you mean - there are days when I wish I enjoyed running - a coupla hundred bucks a year on some shoes n shorts and I'd be away laughing with money in the bank.

Truth is, tho - I'm not a runner, I don't enjoy it as much as lifting and shaping the body.

There are intangible benefits - you'll be healthier, longer, and have more energy and vitality, and like MuscleNZ said, you'll be better off for it.

Sure, BB'ing's not cheap - but a triathlete can spend $10k on a bike, and a grand or more on clothing, and other hobbies can soak up as much or more, it's all relative, eh!

Plus, altho it may seem selfish, everyone has to have their "me thing" - something GMM said about gym time being for her. All of us face three kinds of pressure on us - we have to balance work, family, and 'me', whoever we are. Whether that's going into the hills to hunt, or sailing out on the harbour, or being stapled to the floor by a heavy bar, that's what we have to do to keep us sane.

Oh, and it sounds like your wife's a "keeper", eh! :nod:

[1day]

Your wife sounds mint.

Oh, and it sounds like your wife's a "keeper", eh! :nod:

she sure is, that y been with her for 10yrs (since 15ys old ) she put up wit so much crap from me, allways talkin bout bb'ing etc , i know she really hates it deap down,lol :pfft:

[Loochi]

Dude I have similar thinking to you lol. I always think of how greedy we are when we are bulking when there is people in Africa dying and stuff.

BUT.

I'd rather spend all this money on improving my over all physique and gaining health benefits and good attention rather than spending it on booze/drugs and doing up cars and shit.. (My opinion).

I don't find this too expensive.. I mean oats and brown rice are cheap, cans of tuna are pretty cheap.. Vege's aren't bad and sometimes meat isn't bad either. I think the clean foods are a lot cheaper than the unclean.

Only thing that I would say expensive is whey/gym membership. I only buy Whey/multi's/fishoil stuff anyway and that's every 2-3 months I guess.. And I can always remedy the gym membership price by going to the uni gym if I really wanted to.

I don't know dude.. Plus the whole game just makes you feel better.. Mentally n physically.

[Gym rat]

Dude I have similar thinking to you lol. I always think of how greedy we are when we are bulking when there is people in Africa dying and stuff.

BUT.

I'd rather spend all this money on improving my over all physique and gaining health benefits and good attention rather than spending it on booze/drugs and doing up cars and shit.. (My opinion).

I don't find this too expensive.. I mean oats and brown rice are cheap, cans of tuna are pretty cheap.. Vege's aren't bad and sometimes meat isn't bad either. I think the clean foods are a lot cheaper than the unclean.

Only thing that I would say expensive is whey/gym membership. I only buy Whey/multi's/fishoil stuff anyway and that's every 2-3 months I guess.. And I can always remedy the gym membership price by going to the uni gym if I really wanted to.

I don't know dude.. Plus the whole game just makes you feel better.. Mentally n physically.

I have also thought and wondered at times when I am bulking and thought of people in africa who are dying etc or the average person who is strugling to put food on the table. On the plus side I rather be spending on food and supplements etc like this mounth for example I spend $151.90 on supplements which has to be a record for me comapre to other mounths it varys from time to time plus living the lifestye of this sport makes you healthy and having more engery and I enjoy spending money on supplements,food,flex magazine.

[rooney111]

there is nothing wrong with spending money on cars

only expensive thing for me is protein powder around $150 for 4kg last around a month and b alanine

gym membership is $120 for a year at uni so thats all good

[Loochi]

I know there is nothing wrong with spending money on cars? It was my opinion like I stated..? Lol

Such stupid replies somtimes. :pfft:

[Android]

Everybody feels the pain of spent money, spent time, spent energy, all on this crazy thing called bodybuilding.

I guess the intensity and energy that each of us puts into it will determine how much we are into it and how it affects our lives. When i was at uni just 5 years ago I used to budget $100/mth for supps, a few cans of tuna extra for food, and did workouts in my lunch hour at Uni. Now I spend an extra $100 on food, $300/mth on supps, and have cardio and posing time added to my training time.

Healthy?

Depends on how extreme you take it.

it's not healthy for me to to eat 1kg - 1.5kg of meat every single day that's for certain. I also can't help thinking that I have the same joints I had when I was 68kg but now at the gym I am moving 3 times the weight with them rather than what I could manage back then. Time will tell if that's a good thing...

Family?

I am also under no illusion that money, time, and energy is diverted AWAY from the family and into bodybuilding. You can earn more but lost time cannot be replaced. I feel for my family and any 'extra' effort I make to offest this lost time is just that, an offset.

Money's worth?

Hmmm, it's cheaper than racing cars (no pun intended to the boyracers who now get theirs crushed) but as TFB says it's more expensive than simply running.

I don't happen to think it's money's worth but does that matter?

Why bother?

We don't need a reason., humans can convince themselves of absolutely anything and everything and we're all going to have our own reasons.

Among all of this quite negative post of mine I can say that bodybuilding has directly attributed to pushing myself further in my professional career. I needed to earn more to sustain this lifestyle and have achieved this, to bodybuilding I owe some gratitude for where I am today :clap:

[Loochi]

You the man Android!

[runveerun]

It's better than wasting your money on booze, fags and junk food to then die early! I think it's totally worth any amount anybody spends on it $75 a week or $200 a week, whatever you do. You live a happier stress free life and for longer! (and you'll look great too!)

[rodger]

hmmm its a damn good question, i often think how much money i would save on food and sups. but in saying that when i watch the guys at work hoe into takeaways my food is mch beta for me (maybe expect the amount of meat) and actually costs less and some of my m8s spend stuiped amoounts of cash on the piss each week. But if i wasnt doing this i would be bored shitless doing something else, and i know what ever else i took up i would go nuts at and spend time and money on it.

the biggest pain is the missus going on and on and still on telling me i dont really need to eat that much protein. she told me off yesterday when she saw how mch i was taking for the day. sigh.

[Luigi]

its only a waste of money if you stop doing it :nod:

[Gym rat]

When I walk by a fish n chip shop and see people getting there take aways I think what a waste of money and I rather to spend my money on much more healthy stuff like clean food and supplements. I thought that was very well put by Android.

[knock knock]

I used to easily spend $75+ on a Saturday bbq and drinks, this would be after what ever I spent on Friday. Body building is much better value for me, the health benefits alone worth it, although I'll still spend the odd dollar on a blow out. I feel it's a healthy obsession, there's a lot worse things you could be addicted to.

[startinfromscratch]

I feel it's a healthy obsession, there's a lot worse things you could be addicted to.

amen to that! any reasonable drug addict would out spend our hobby!

to me, i do spend alot of my free income, but there is no price to be put on it - looking in the mirror in a years time and barely recognising yourself - priceless..

[auck_builder]

its only a waste of money if you stop doing it :nod:

i agree

[gazza]

its only a waste of money if you stop doing it :nod:

i agree

yes, but unlike some sports if you have a break for a few years it's not that difficult to get back into it in some shape or form and you can do it well into your later years.

[teamfatboy]

Meat - yum =P~ - especially good old fashioned grass-fed free range NZ beef and lamb and venison and (cage-free Murellen) pork and and

Some of meat's bad press comes from America, where most cows pass their lives in blissful ignorance of what grass is, fed on GE corn in feed lots. Is it any wonder their beef tastes so bad...

Why is this relevant to "Bodybuilding's a waste of money" ? 'cos IMO a bodybuilder's probably spending their food budget more wisely than a non bb'er.. so no, that money's not wasted.

Another thought was "Is BB'ing more a waste of money and time than hunting, or golf or cycling or yachting or fishing?"

Each of those has a lot more in the way of equipment costs and/or time costs than BB'ing.

By the time you've driven to the marina, put the boat in the water, sailed in a race or two, hauled-out and driven away, a good part of a day's gone, so how does that match up against the fact that most of us would train in the early mornings or evenings - time other folks spend sat in front of the idiot box?

[trainharder]

i agree with most of what you say tfb

i think the reason bodybuilders are aware of how much they spend on food is the quantities

i never used to realise until i needed to eat 6 or 7 times a day what i was spending never cared

now i find i need to get the best vaue and quantity i am aware of what i spend daily and plan better.

i spent my money on food , supplements women, drugs the rest i just waste hehehe

[GHOSTN]

if you compare a bodybuilders diet with someone that eats takeaways/goes out to restraunts and that eats most foods out of a packet you will find the bodybuilder most likely spends less on food..

supplements: if you spend wisely on supplements and dont go for the hype i think you will definatley be spending less on supps then most people spend on piss a week..

[greyghost]

Was just going through the weekly divvy up of supplements and thought about this post. Looking at it all spread out it represents significant coin. And this is apart from gyms fees, PT fees, food and whey / creatine etc. This pile is mainly pre comp supplements. I don't see it as a waste of money as I become a healthier stronger and better conditioned person.

I could blow the money on booze, electronics, cars etc and still feel fat and lazy. Yes it does take funds out of the family kitty but it was probably going to go on some type of hobby anyway.

Every year my conditioning improves and my body fat learns to stay lower. So nope - don't see it as a waste of money.

Plus the bb community is great.

[vincent vega]

Your wife sounds great. My wife is the same. It does cost a bit but she says i am very relaxed and happy after a workout and thats priceless.

She says if i am happy the whole family is happy.

Shit i must be a really moody b'stard on rest days :evil: