I was skinny as a rake as a kid, got a set of weights for my 16th birthday and never looked back.
After 6 months or so of training in my bedroom, one of my neighbours encouraged me to join the local gym where he worked. I went with my friend and after our first session, my friend turned very pale, felt sick and never went back, it wasnât for him. I, however, was totally hooked.
I loved everything about the gym, I loved training, I loved talking about training with the fellas in the gym, I loved about my diet. One thing I wasnât enjoying was my sever lack of progress. After about 2 years of training Iâd gone from 120lbs to about 130lbs.
Sure I was a lot stronger with some muscularity but I was sorely disappointed with my meagre gains considering the effort and dedication of the last 2 years.
It wasnât until I started college at 18 when things really started to happen. During my three years at college, I shot up from 130lbs to over 180lbs and I was lean. I had no idea of measuring body fat back then but I estimate now that I would have been around 10-12%.
Looking back, I do believe my initial two years of mediocre gains was simply down to age (and genetics). My mother used to tell me I wouldnât get bigger until I stopped growing (taller), âyou canât grow up and out at the same timeâ she used to say. I used to dismiss her motherly advice as nonsense, what did she know about bodybuilding. Now, I can see she was talking sense and âmums really do know bestâ ;).
At 16, my body simply wasnât ready to add the sort of muscle I was aspiring for through my training and diet efforts; perhaps it was simply too busy growing taller. It wasnât until I was around 18 that I reached my full height and the muscle started piling on.
Despite my early years of bodybuilding seeing disappointing gains in terms of muscle mass, I probably gained the most in terms of attitude, I learnt the importance of perseverance. Week after week, I continued to train and eat well with minimal rewards and yet I kept going. Eventually, the gains did come and my perseverance paid off.
The lesson of perseverance had been well earned and was now ingrained into my general attitude towards myself and others, an attitude that and has served me well in all aspect of my life.
Being physically strong keeps me mentally strong. Looking good makes me feel good about myself and I believe that comes across in how I conduct myself and interact with others.
I believe bodybuilding teaches you one of the fundamental rules of life, if you want something good, you're gonna have to work for it. Bodybuilding helps ingrain this rule into your mindset, which you then implicitly apply to other aspects of your life, career, relationships etc.
Also, bodybuilding teaches you that you and you alone are responsible for how things turn out. You canât blame or commend others for your progress and gains. However good or bad things are going, itâs all a result of your efforts and your efforts only.