Bodybuilding changed my whole life and mindset

I was about 19 when I was introduced to real bodybuilding. The doctor told me that I was able to train again after I suffered from a knee injury that lasted about 2 years. So I stopped playing soccer and decided to join a gym to get a bit bigger. I was fairly small at the time and weighed about 62 kg (136 pounds). But there was a point where I weighed about 58 kg (127 pounds). I walk around at 71 kg (156 lbs) and about 9% body fat at the moment.

I just followed some training routines from magazines back in the day and didn’t count calories. One year later I met a personal trainer and that’s when everything changed. The results were nice but they could be better. I didn’t get why you should walk around fat most of the time so I went my own way.

That’s when shit hit the fan.

I recently stopped training and got into MMA.I’m a competitive person and I didn’t want to compete in natural bodybuilding. I chose to fight. I still train though. I do both weights and mostly calisthenics once or twice a week. Most people link bodybuilding to a lot of things and they’re all pretty negative. Those things include

·         eating chicken, broccoli and rice 6 times a day

·         Steroids

·         Over tanned meatheads (I call those  Oompa-Loompas)

·         Guys who’re posing in the mirror all the time

·         Shirtless selfies (every guy has those make no mistake about it)

So bodybuilding has a pretty negative image but this made sure that I grew towards my best self. It wasn’t until yesterday that I did realize how much it had influenced me.

I was a different person before I started bodybuilding

I was a pretty annoying kid when I was little. My parents told me that I would always ask why a lot of things. It drove people crazy because they told me things like “because I tell you so” or “that’s why”. I mostly ended up doing the opposite of what they told me and got in a lot of trouble. I was pretty different from the other kids but everything changed when I went to high school. There was a point where I changed to blend in. I became a lazy kid who was afraid to get out of his comfort zone. I became the opposite version of the younger me. But I blended in sine I mostly blamed others for my mistakes. I still got in a lot of trouble though.

It’s safe to say that bodybuilding changed my life drastically. Well in combination with my journey to become a better person.

Bodybuilding learned me to deal with failure

I was suffering from the natty delusion just like most guys. That delusion made me think that I would become the biggest and most shredded dude in the gym. That’s not possible when you’re natural but I didn’t realize it. The worst part was that I gained a lot of weight and fat so I had a dad bod (that wasn’t considered sexy back in 2013). My ex-girlfriend laughed at me and told me that I was wasting my time. She told me that I didn’t have the right genetics and asked me to quit. So I did what every reasonable guy would do and kept on training. We split up a couple of months later and I was determined to be in shape in summer. So I had about 5 months to get in incredible shape.

I failed because I didn’t have the knowledge and I was facing the first signs of depression at that time. But I still managed to get in shape it just took me a bit longer.  In all those years I never skipped a workout but I skipped a lot of classes. Bodybuilding was my way to escape the adversity that I had to face. It wasn’t the best solution but my head was clear for the period that I trained. I assume that training is some kind of meditation.

Society tells you that failing is extremely bad but I’m here to claim the opposite. You need to fail to become a better person. Failure makes you a lot stronger. Bodybuilding learns you how to fail and push on. You’ll use this mindset in your personal life as well after a while.

Bodybuilding learned me to get out of my comfort zone

I still remember the day after my first workout. I was so sore and couldn’t move properly for a week. But I returned to the gym and learned to deal with the pain. I hated bodybuilding at first but I realized quickly enough that you’ll hate every sport at first. Mostly because it exposes all your weakness and you’ll be sore the day after as well. So most people quit rather quickly because it wasn’t their thing.

Bodybuilding learned me to toughen my mentality

I had one training where I almost blacked out. I was training three times a week but I pushed myself during that lower body workout. You’ll always hit a point where you’ll want to quit and you need to toughen up and get over it. Only pussies cry and give up. You’ll approach life in the same way at some point. People who don’t do any sport mostly have a bad mentality because it shows the fact that they can’t push themselves. They’ll give up as soon as life gets tough. They’ll always look for the easy way out.  I’ve got some extremely bad news for those people: you’ll gain nothing in life if you’ve got that mindset.

Bodybuilding became part of my morning routine

I tried to work out before I had to go to college. I believed in the fact that you needed to be in shape to get better mental health. The theory became reality once I got my life in check. I got in the best shape of my life and became a lot more confident. It wasn’t because I got a lot bigger but because I got a better posture. People with low self- esteem never have a good posture. Just look at all the people who’re dealing with mental problems most of them won’t practice any sports. I was one of the exceptions but I can deal a lot better with my problems now. I learned to use the power of now and  I can deal with tons of adversity and hate now.

It’s not that hard to shrug it off once you’re in a calm state of mind. I became a powerhouse both mentally and physically

I still prefer morning workouts, to be honest. You feel so alive after you’ve done those. I always finish them off with a cold shower.

So everybody needs to do bodybuilding?

Not everybody should do bodybuilding but everybody should do some kind of sport. It would be weird that I would tell you to do bodybuilding while I’m doing MMA. People need to get active again because they turned into some lazy ass bums. You’ll gain nothing from eating all that fast food in front of the television. Get out and get in the best shape possible.

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Till next time

Alex

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