What makes everybody motivated to continue?

[LiftforEva]

This is just a general question to all of the fellow bodybuilders out there. What makes all of you guys motivated to continue in the sport whether it be competitive or recreational? I mean we all have to work and go to school and family obligations and what not. But with all of the stress and bullshit we face everyday what makes you want to set aside an hour or whatever everyday year after year to consistently go to the gym?

 

[Chris V.]

I dont go to the gym my bedroom is basically a gym since I have about $5000 worth of equipment in here.
At first, I trained to rehabilitate my injured arm. Then I began to see impressive gains and got hooked.
For a few years I stop working out due to personal reason thats when I realized that bodybuilding was the only thing that kept me going. Before my motivation was all for the wrong reasons(girls & sex) Now I am more mature and had a moment of epiphany in my life.
Right now Im training so I can be prepared next year when I join the service and to basically live a healthy lifestyle.
Bodybuilding is my life. I am back to the Iron Game and harder than ever.
Thanks everyone for all the great advice and motivation
(Jennifer BFL chick, bigNate, GenetiKing and for the old-school Hulka) Been on this site for nearly five years and It has been a great knowledge database and has fueled my motivation even more.

 

[absolute hardgainer]

A better life...

better as in healthier, stronger, fitter, faster, harder, more determined, disciplined, focussed, self-motivated, goal-attaining, life-style-improving kind of life...

I could add dozens more positive adjectives but hey, these should be enough.

hardgainer (double pump)

 

[blood_drinker]

OK , once you get into the sport (especially as a fat ass or a skinny noodle) train your ass off, eat correctly, learn and read and read, and finally get the physique you want, you'd be stupid to revert to your old ways - whatever your reasons are to get into this sport.

I love the sport. I'm 15 - and it has become a lifestyle already. And my reasons are not for sex. I like looking good. I like looking healthy. I love the feelings and pumps and the extreme inner effort you have to put into those massive lifts. I'm in love with this shit.

I particularly love the transformations. You walk into the gym one day as a fat ass, and soon enough you're turning heads in the gym as you walk by. It's great...

Then again, if you never see results, I guess I have
1)no respect for you as you prolly don't try hard enough to learn or 2)you're looking for a quick fix to get in shape (see #1) 3) you don't know what to do (stay around @ EF!)

if you try, you will see results. but try hard. and you'll see results. that's how it works with everything in life.

Peace

 

[katana]

I was born with terrible genetics, ( narrow clavicles, wide hips bones, and long thin limbs). I started weight training at 17, I was 185. lbs, 37% bf, and could not curl a 12. lb dumbell more than once, ( not to mention walk a flight of stairs and not get winded). Bodybuilding gave me a real sense of acomplishment, If I tried hard, I could change and adapt and not have to settle for anything less than the best I could be.

Literally it saved my life. I went from being suicidal, to empowered. I now weigh 285. lbs at 15%, and have gon as low as 6%. I will not quit as long as I can become better, stonger, leaner, faster, and more powerfull. I do all kinds of things now because of bodybuilding, ( Rockclimb, martial art, bicycling, running, swimming, you name it.) This is the greatest, and now I will enter my first contest, ( nervous as hell), but it has been a goal for 14 years. I can't see doing anything other than the most possible.

Have a great one!!!! E

 

[peter8581]

pussy

 

[SSAlexSS]

This is just a general question to all of the fellow bodybuilders out there. What makes all of you guys motivated to continue in the sport whether it be competitive or recreational? I mean we all have to work and go to school and family obligations and what not. But with all of the stress and bullshit we face everyday what makes you want to set aside an hour or whatever everyday year after year to consistently go to the gym?

Because it is the best part of my life, going to the gym!

Yeh! I want to see how far i can take my body.

What motivates me: getting bigger muscles and probably an uglier head. I want to take off my short and do a cool chest/bicep pose infront of group of people and see their reaction.

YEH!

 

[newyork24]

well to be honest with you i could not live without my gym anymore.

its cool to show some guys that they are not the biggest even if they think so

 

[GA.Boy]

The Juice man The Juice

 

[mike peters]

I continue for results and won't stop until my heart stops.

 

[fallenangel]

I only started last year because i had put on weight from drinking so all this weight stayed on my stomach! I went in the gym aiming to burn off the fat and not to use weights (as i thought i was too weak to use weights) anyway i strated to use weights after being in the gym for like 20 minutes and have not looked back! what keeps me going is keeping the fat off and some of the compliments people give you! some of my mates have taken to calling me popeye cause of my bi and tri's and its better than beinbg called fat bastard!*LOL

 

[tomcat]

Seeing the looks I get from my wifes friends (women) and the look on her face afterwards...

 

[Belial]

http://www.musclemagazine.com/bb/showthread.php?threadid=36533


4th post down.

And what everyone else said, too.

Too many reasons to list, I guess.

 

[natasan]

Because you can always improve.

 

[DIESEL_5]

because i'm a competitive bastard! there is no other bigger critic of myself than myself. I work out and live this lifestyle because i like to challenge myself. i like to show myself that I DO have enough disipline to stick to eating right, working out when i'd rather go home and rest or go out with the boys, and pushing myself through pain and struggle to the next level. there isn't a more gratifying feeling than reaching a new personal best in the weight room.

 

[tubby74]

FAT people motivate me!!!! I don't want to be fat anymore. So I bust my ass in the gym and anytime I get a little "tired" of working out I just look around me and realize I HAVE to go to the gym. Basically it's the single most consistent part of my life right now because I control when I go and don't go.

 

[southern rage]

its all about heart and how it makes you feel,like you know the rush you get,when you go in there and you put those extra plates on,and your patrner and your buddies are watching, thinkin to themselves can he really lift that much and you know you've been working your ass off andthen you you put up more weight than you ever have before, and you look them all in eye,knowing you've made it to that next plateau, nothing needs to be said after that,its f'in gloriuos

 

[GenetiKing]

Thanks everyone for all the great advice and motivation
(Jennifer BFL chick, bigNate, GenetiKing and for the old-school Hulka)

I could write a book on this subject, but I'll spare you guys, lol!

To surmise:
Bodybuilding is my lifeline...without it, I am a dead person.

Belial,
Excellent MM post.

 

[Nathan]

Among other things, I like BB cause I get to eat tons and not get fat. Mmmmmm....food.

 

[GenetiKing]

Among other things, I like BB cause I get to eat tons and not get fat. Mmmmmm....food.

Really?

Enlighten me! I'd love to partake in this particular endeavor!! LOL!!!!

 

[FitFossil]

It's the best anti-aging weapon there is. Several years ago I read an article about this 70 year old woman who started bodybuilding in her 50's. Her body looked like a 20 year old athlete. That's how I want to be, not some frail, stooped-over little old lady who needs help walking across the street.

That's what got me started. I keep with it because I like the constant challenge, and it feels good to be strong. I get to eat a lot too!

 

[Nathan]

I suppose a person's definition of what a ton of food is is relative. I eat every 1-3 hours usually and peopla are always telling me how lucky I am that I can eat so much and not get fat. Correct me if I'm wrong but for every lb of muscle you gain, you need an extra 30-40 cal. per day to maintain it = more food. Years of training = more musle (hopefully) = higher metabolism = more food. Also, working out 5 days a week requires fuel as well. Are you telling me that you don't eat more than 2500 cal per day GenetiKing, cause I think that's about what most people eat each day and they don't get hungry every damn 60 minutes.

 

[GenetiKing]

I suppose a person's definition of what a ton of food is is relative. I eat every 1-3 hours usually and peopla are always telling me how lucky I am that I can eat so much and not get fat. Correct me if I'm wrong but for every lb of muscle you gain, you need an extra 30-40 cal. per day to maintain it = more food. Years of training = more musle (hopefully) = higher metabolism = more food. Also, working out 5 days a week requires fuel as well. Are you telling me that you don't eat more than 2500 cal per day GenetiKing, cause I think that's about what most people eat each day and they don't get hungry every damn 60 minutes.

Hahaha! Yeah, I understood what you meant bro, I was just kidding. Although I have a damn good appetite...I'm making gains but if I ate absolutely anything I wanted at any quantity, I would be a big lardass regardless of training. Your metabolic rate is apparently a little faster than mine...

 

[Exodus]

I started working out becuse i saw a few movies when i was younger, starring a very large man with a funny accent and an impossible last name to pronounce at 5 years old.

now it is the highlight of my day....... anytime i walk into that place...... no matter my life, day, situation, anything..... i leave feeling great..... clearheaded.

i talk to GOD when i work out......i call to him and for help and just plain questions..... he answers......ALWAYS....... my best friend is my training partern....... i don't go to the gym to bond...... it's my work place....... but like the old saying goes...... find a job you like and you will never work a day in your life....

my motivation.......... it's just too much fun for me

oh yeah...... the compliments and stairs always make me smile....lol

 

[Welsh power house]

I dont compete and i dont have any ambition to do so, i ldont use any gear and probably(never say never!) in the future.
I lift weights because i enjoy the physical challenge it presents me and the feeling of going one on one with yourself.....there is no better competition in the world than with yourself, its good to train and compete with friends, but when it comes down to it, you are competing with what you see in the mirror.
I think lifting weights has no bad points, they improve you mentally as well as physically, they build charactor and confidense along with your body.

BOTTOM LINE, BODYBUILDING RULES!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Welsh power house]

I dont compete and i dont have any ambition to do so, i dont use any gear and probably(never say never!) wont in the future.
I lift weights because i enjoy the physical challenge it presents me and the feeling of going one on one with yourself.....there is no better competition in the world than with yourself, its good to train and compete with friends, but when it comes down to it, you are competing with what you see in the mirror.
I think lifting weights has no bad points, they improve you mentally as well as physically, they build charactor and confidence along with your body.

BOTTOM LINE, BODYBUILDING RULES!!!!!!!!!!

 

[USAF OKIEONE]

what motivates me i guess is the fact that i was always the small guy back in my high school days. i am in the service now and when i go home on leave. i make buds look scrawny. that is what motivates me. maybe they will get there lazy asses in the gym.

 

[Maximum Intensity]

I am my own modivation to train. It is not something I choose to do, it is something I have to do. It is inherent within me. I can't help it and I can't change it -- it is a need that I must feed. Quitting is not an option just as breathing is not an option, it is something that we inherently know to do. Why do I continue -- to deny me this opportunity is to deny me the life I have come know and understand. To deny me this opportunity is to deny me my life.

Because I want to . . . Because I have to . . . Because I need to . . . Because I can!

 

[Winstrol the Pooh]

I love it so much because I see it as a challenge. A challenge to constantly better myself. It is just me versus a stack of plates. I know what the score is going in, but the question is who is going to come out on top in the end. To be 100% honest, when I was younger I did not stick with a lot of things in this life. I would bounce around from sport to sport, relationship to relationship and had my ups and downs with college. But the weights were the one thing that I have always made a solid committment to. My perserverance with the weights over the years has also taught me to strive to stick with something and not give up no matter how difficult the task at hand seems. The weights, for me are not only a tool for enhancing myself physically, but also a charcter building tool. I have lifted for the last seven years and will do so as long as I am physically capable. I have lifted through injuries that required surgeries to repare and through the rehab to get back into my heavy poundages. I am here to stay.

 

[FatGuy]

The one most important thing that makes me go to the gym everyday has to be this:

My daughter! I want to see her grow up and being the big guy, my mistake fat guy i am , i need to lose it all and get healthy. I will lose all my weight and get in to shape. I will watch my daughter grow to her elder years.

FatGuy