That feeling you get when you walk into a room and just know you are the biggest and strongest mofo in the room. I have only been in one competition (1984) but it is a high point in my life. (Yes, I am as old as dirt.) I will also argue with anyone that it helps keep you young! Most friends my age have a gut and look like a sack-o-bones while I plan on competing again in 2003.
I am convinced that old guys go to the gym just so that they can walk around the locker room naked. Ever notice how they waste time, lingering around, weighing themselves, going into the sauna, whatever, just to waste time so they can walk around naked longer. There is some homoerotic shit going on there, I sspect.
Being an extremist, a compulsion to be the best at everything you do, a perfectionist. Somehow I think most guys here fall into these categories, we don't want to be normal! Going through life as some average bump on the log is just not worth it, it's that constant striving to better yourself (not just in the gym but in everything you do).