HOT TOPIC: What made you start bb'ing?

[Pseudonym]

It seems appropriate that for our first ever Hot Topic, we start with:

What made you start bodybuilding?

I have a theory on why people do bodybuilding. I think most bodybuilders have generally come from either end of the physique spectrum - that is, they start training because they felt they were either a bit too fat, or a bit too skinny. They don't start out thinking, "I'm going to be a bodybuilder." But when they see the changes they can make happen, they become addicted!

It's certainly where I've come from - I was sick of being skinny. And gradually, in the quest for better gains, my pushups turned into a home gym machine, which turned into a gym membership, and the diet got better and better - until finally I realised I was actually bodybuilding...

:?: But what about you? What made you start?

[jerume]

well first of all i was 14 and did correspondence school at home and was depressed and my olds got a home gym,so i started doing bench press and curls and the usual stuff,then i started getting lil muscles and loved it,i finally got a car at 15 and then got a job and joined club physical too have more choice in machines and weights,then i started plateuing with my gains so i started taking supplements,now i train 4 days a week(weights)and i cant seem too get enough of the gym,i wanna do a competition but my family background and religion is in my way,so i'm gonna keep up the hard training and try improve myself everyday,i look fwd too hearing yur reasons,laterz

[jono]

was too skinny, now im 20+kg heavier and looking to compete in a year or 2

[Brick]

I totally agree,

Unless you are blessed with great genetics, usually you come from either end of the scale, to fat or to thin.

Regardless we are unhappy with how we look, or how we think others perceive us, and find the need to change.

For myself i was from the fat end of the scale, never did much in the way of training but had put on so much weight that i knew i needed to change, not only to feel happier, but for the health aspect.

Intially it was only to loose weight, wasnt really interested in lifting weights at all, that soon changed though.

Seeing some of the guys in the gym has motivated me to train hard and lift weights, ok ill never look like Ronnie Coleman, but hey id be happy to have as much muscle as his ex girlfreind.

[bleat]

I was too skinny, and short of a hobby. Just broke up with long term gf so was also looking for a bit of a lifestyle change. Bodybuilding filled the gap

[hawkeye]

i was about 6 or 7(in about the late 70s) when i saw a pic of arnold,lou & franco on friends brothers wall, something i always remeber.

few years later my brother brought the trojon bb system,the pics in the book blew me away.had it in the back of my mind for years,brought home gym at 18 workingout well,at 19 i found parties & drinking,4 next 10 years kept up the fun life but also kept buying bb mags each week.couple of years ago joined a gym 2 loose some weight before i got married.

i wish i had started all thoughs years ago,what a waste.(fun parties though,met my wife).

[carma]

I was a gyn goer but it wasnt a regular thing. I then met a guy who owned a gym in auckland for years and was big into the bb scene. He had moved to chch and was keen to get back into the whole fitness scene so we started up a personal training business and created a line of protein powder. Through all of that i started to really get interested in bb and i had an awesome teacher who had knowledge and experience that not too many people have. We are now not together,but competing is something i have wanted to do for a while now and i am aimimg to make this year the year to do just that. I love weight training and although the dieting etc can be tough at times i reckon its all worth it.

[deegee]

I was reading an article about this just recently, mostly amateurs and all for different reasons some of them

saw Arnold and wanted to be him

Bullied at school

sand kicked in the face at the beach

wanted to get into modeling

attract the opposite sex

wanted to compete

Most the answers were from men and I guess those from women would be a bit different

Be interested to know what got people here started. Me I just looked in tthe mirror and didnt like what I saw some months later I noticed is was getting worse and decided that that was enough.

Still dont see what I want to in the mirror but I am alot happier with what I got now than I was.

[Growth]

I just started lifting weights at the gym, along with alot of cardio to get into shape, once i started noticing changes in the mirror i was hooked.

[frogie2001]

just to get active more than anyting. then I started finding it as a source that cleared the head for my study, almost euphoric feeling, at the end of a hard work out to know that your limits have been pushed and the muscles are pumped. Now the targets have been set 85kg lean mass, I'm trying to get to that before I'm 30yrs. always have to have targets !

[Tammy]

remember getting teased as a child for being chubby, Was by no means fat but it hit a nerve with the very sensitive me!!! Had always been quite sporty playing at rep level in netball, rugby and basketball. Ended up developing an eating disorder for many reasons in late adolescence and after having kicked it and working hard with a psychologist to accept myself and realise I deserve good things to happen I decided to do something for me. I have always admired the sporty look on women and I wanted to feel strong withing myself. The sense of satisfaction and pride in myself and my body that I felt after standing on stage in my 1st competition was a moment that I will never forget and is very powerful. Can't wait to feel that again.

Have enjoyed reading this thread, its amazing the different things that inspire people to live this lifestyle!

[spartacus]

I was skinny and hated the way I used to look like...that's why I used to go every now and then in the gym but I had no ideea about nutrition and workout whatsoever.Now I learned a lot of stuff about bbing, mostly from internet...

In order 2 b more consecvent with the training I've got now a home-gym (no machine though,only free weights ) and I can't imagine life without working out at least 4 days/week.

[keats]

I was skinny AND tall, the worst combination.

[Varven]

6,0 100 kgs ( more fat less muscle )at high school.

Got to uni and quickly realized If I intended getting any @$$, I had to change quick .

Dropped down to 75 kgs in a matter of months ( Who said loosing weight is hard?? )

Then realized I was getting more @$$ than a toilet seat lol.

Looked at my training log. Hey = i started Deadlifting at 40 kgs and now was pushing 120kgs . Im addicted to pushing more and gaining more muscle now.

Im skinny'ish but holding a bit of fat = love handles.

Ive decided after changing so much I have no reason no to be the person that I wanna be : goal for the end of the year 85kg @ 10 % body fat.

Nothings going to stop me from getting there.

[frogie2001]

i stuffed around at the gym for ages, not really knwing what i was doing. I say a photo of my fat out of shape arse, and snapped. pushed weights, took it seriously and eating properly.

I looked back and saw the before and the after photo and now I am hooked.

I think that is all the encouragement anyone needs. to see where you have come from and knowing where you want to be.

[Boney]

This'll shock ya!

Right , I'm a hard worker from way back ,{12-14hr's a day , 6-7day's a week} 2yr's ago was digging a hole in Naiper " to fix a broken pipe" as I was crouching down and about 2&1/2ton of the bank fell on top of me , Completely buried , Straining my gut's out I managed to keep my chest free enough to take very small breths of stale air :shock:

My work mate who genetically has no neck & is built like a Brick s@#*house dug me out by hand " Made his finger's bleed" But he got air to me & exspose my head after 10 or so minutes "LUCKY"

So after that I had a greater appreciation of life :wink: I gave up smoking , Went back to work the following monday,became supa aware of hazards in the work place, I carried on :roll:

Well 10 months down the track I found my self nearly in the same situation, Got home & fliped out .

Wife sent me to the doc "Post- Traumatic Strees Disorder" :crazy: Who sent me to ACC , 6month later after sitting on my butt I seemed to gain wait :shock:

So I got my fat ass to the local gym & cought a health bug, Love"n"it

Still not working yet , But working on it :wink: Addicted? damn skippy!!!!

[tallulahangie]

As an overweight child I was never too fond of exercise... I did want to be a dancer but my "mother" (i use that term lightly because mothers should never say such things to their children) told me I was too fat to be a dancer...

I started going to the gym when I was 12 and really enjoyed the aerobics classes and doing weights. Stopped for about a year and then rejoined when I was 14. I was doing really well and I dropped to my lowest weight ever. However a boyfriend came along and we ended up living together and the training went out of the window. After we broke up I was 16-19kg heavier than my lightest weight! (A result of eating chocolate and ice-cream ALL the time with the fat lazy boyfriend who joined a gym but only went once :roll: )

So February last year I got myself into a gym and have never looked back! About June last year I started training seriously and have eagerly wanted to do a bb comp ever since!

[Tom]

I know this is kinda off topic but what age did you guys start getting serious at?

What age do you think is ok to start without wrecking anything (if u get what I mean)?

[Pseudonym]

Hi Tom (and welcome!). I started around 18-19 with my home gym machine. It probably wasn't until a couple of years later that I really started bodybuilding "seriously" though. I only wish I'd started earlier, instead of avoiding anything to do with the gym at high school. When I think about where I could be now if I had... :cry:

As for how young someone can start lifting, well, I'd say it's fine once they've hit puberty. Supplements like protein powders and creatine would be ok too, but I'd steer clear of the fancier testosterone-boosting ones (tribilus, etc) until the hormones settle down again. A teen's testosterone should be through the roof anyway. :wink:

That's my opinion, anyway... Anyone else got other ideas?

[BlueCollarLifter]

As a kid i used to idolize wrestling super stars (WWF) :grin:

I think thats been the back-bone of all my thoughts and views on bodybuilding since then..

[lazyone]

kewl topic.

My partner started bodybuilding and I was amazed at the changes his body went through (but NOT his carb-depleted mood swings :roll: )

Vowed I'd try it once to see what all the fuss was about and... caught the bug, so to speak.

Just the thought of slogging your guts out in the gym, watching what you eat - day in and day out - and constantly visualising that moment you get to finally stand on stage and show it all off is hugely rewarding.

Gotta love it.

[of_wolf_and_man]

i was sick of being recognised as a 'lankster'... i was fairly tall and pretty skinny too. sometime last year (or the year before...can;t remember) , my mate who plays for Kings 1st XV (tank as mofo) gave me a workout at his gym and he pretty much killed me. after seeing him get so huge and feeling pumped after that workout, that kinda became my inspiration to start working out. at first i was some scrawny lil asian guy at the gym but i grew to be one of the 'bigger' guys at the gym (for my age anyway...) ...until i changed gyms...

having size and muscle is just truly awesome and after finding out about Mr. O, i was even more inspired and forced myself to work even harder at the gym. i just carried on from there... and i'll never stop.

[Tehhaxorr]

I saw Conan the barbarian.

[2guns]

but i grew to be one of the 'bigger' guys at the gym

at the west wave?

[Metz]

Skinny guy, drunk beer looked down at ma fat guts one day and told myself I'm over it lol

Went to support ma mate who entered his first comp in Wellington and he won his under 80kg grade. Had a realisation that bodybuilders don't all need to look like Arnold!!! Was hooked!!!

Dropped from 96 kgs to 68kgs lean to enter under 70kg comp, placed 3rd and have been training since. Sitting at 109kgs waiting to hit a comp when i know I'm gonna smash all opponents haha

Live to train, live to grow!!!!