You will compare yourself to others. Even when that passes, stage fright and nervousness might set in. As you can tell a bodybuilding contest is very challenging and comes with alot of down sides. But I believe there are more positives than negatives.
Competing will give you a sense of pride and strength, not only physically but emotionally and mentally also. You will feel way better. There is no feeling on earth to describe how you feel after a contest.
It feels great. Just stepping on stage and seeing thousands ok maybe less than that sometimes of people looking at you.
You get an incredible 'pump' that is very hard to describe. As you can tell it's not about the trophy. Winning the trophy is just the topping of the cake, like getting your last rep in on a hard arm workout. But even if you don't win, that's okay, you will get a lot out of the experience.
You will have fun showing your body off, and at the end you will win. Even if you don't come in first, you will gain a lot of motivation for building yourself, and as a bodybuilder motivation is needed. Millions of people each day try to take control of their lives and fail.
But you will be able to set a goal, make a plan, achieve it and be in control for the whole 10 or 14 weeks that you're preparing. The adrenaline rush when competing is amazing.
It feels like pumping out the last rep on a set of heavy squats. Your stomach is full with overgrown butterflies and you are trying to stay in control. And all you're doing is standing on stage and posing. It says that you are disciplined and that you live a life worth living. You're not just a slacker waiting the days to go by until they die.
You have a desire for life, for challenges and you will let nothing stand in front of your goals. Your self esteem will be high; you will feel good about yourself and what you accomplish, and at the end that's all that counts.
There is a saying that goes: 'Winning isn't everything', this is right. When you compete in a bodybuilding show, it's not about winning, but about gaining important values though your experience. But hey, I wouldn't mind getting a 1st place trophy! Positive Benefits Of Competing. By now you are asking yourself what are the positive benefits of competing. As you noticed so far, there are way more positives than negatives, and that's what makes bodybuilding so great.
It is a distinctive sport that nothing else on earth can match or come close to. That's why people that fall in love for bodybuilding stay in love for their whole life. There is nothing like it and once you find it, the rest is history As one man once said, "You can take man away from bodybuilding, but you can't take bodybuilding away from man".
There is a special connection that makes this sport so positively charged. And now here are some positive benefits:. Discipline is great and through bodybuilding you will gain it, but through competing you will blast it. Competing takes a lot out of you, and discipline is something that will help you.
By competing you will be in touch with yourself, and more confined about everything you do, on and off the stage. You will be able to feel great for the time you are on stage, and the world will feel like it's going at mph everything will seem exciting. He he sounds like an effect of a drug, but it's not, it's one of the positive benefits of competing in bodybuilding. In addition, wisdom and knowledge will be gained. You could learn a few tips from other contestants, or you could learn from your mistakes and do better next time.
You will feel good all over, mentally and physically, so by competing in a contest you will gain tons of positive benefits, too many too list in fact. Negative Benefits Of Competing. Now with everything good, there will always be something bad.
Bodybuilding is no exception to this rule. Although not as many, there are negative benefits of competing in bodybuilding. They might not seem so obvious from a bystander's point of view, but ask an amateur or pro and they will tell you the same, 'there are some negative benefits in competing. That will make you feel very moody. Low food supply and higher burning of energy will turn into exhaustion. You will be moody and won't feel like talking to people, especially in the last weeks.
Weight training will suck also. All your lifts will go down lbs and that will usually result in a loss of motivation and asking questions. Also you will ask yourself if you look too small or too fat and might regret why you started the process in the first place. It is no walk in the park and most average people that cannot get through a hard leg workout will not get through this.
This is not for whiners or 'girlie men' but if you look at it at the end it will be a positive benefit from all the hard work you did. I have lost many good friends, but in the end it will be all worth it. And by inviting them to your contest, you might change their thinking. Also do not expect to have a lot of free time for video games and playing around. Most likely you have a job or school and that will make your journey even more challenging. Do not be hesitant to take the last 2 weeks off from work, because even if you go, you won't be in the 'working mode'.
It is your choice on deciding but take my word for it and compete at least once in your life. Your whole perspective on humanity will change.
Bonus Question For Competitors:. What was it like competing in your first show? I have competed in only one show. It was a local show made possible by two gyms in my area. The prize was 1 year free membership in any of the two gyms and a trophy with your name on it. Me, being 5' 6" was in the lbs. For me stepping on stage was magical. It was like something I was born to do. I heard the crowd of about a hundred people cheering and I felt very good. They were cheering for me.
What made me do it was the challenge. I've always wanted to be a bodybuilder and I really wanted to start out young and not waste anytime. Of course I wanted something local, because the lack of experience, but I really made a good choice with this. As the contest progressed, my weight class stepped down. I watched as the other guys from the middle weight class jump on stage. Most of them were tall and not so muscular and I actually thought I had a shot. Big mistake. As soon as the middle class was done, the heavyweights stepped on stage.
There were a few tall people, a few muscular people and one beast. The dude was about 35 years old, 5'9 at around lbs. He was shredded to the bone with an incredible symmetry and vascularity. I thought it was a joke. I didn't think people like that existed in my town. There goes my victory I said.
But I was still cheerful and didn't loose hope. At the end I ended up in 4th place, it was all worth it. Since I was the youngest in my group, I got a special award; free tanning for 4 months. I felt very happy and not an ounce of me regretted what I did, even though I didn't win.
This experience has given me a lot of confidence. I learned a lot about myself and I do not regret doing it. I would do it all over again if I had the chance. I gained wisdom and knowledge from the winner; he taught me some tips that really gave me a boost in my training. Competing helped me not only in bodybuilding but in real life. Now I am more confident and I never give up on my goals. As for the future, I do plan on competing more. I've been told I have good genetics, but I'm the only one that knows myself real good and I think it's more hard work than genetics.
Sure genetics are important but without work, you cannot achieve anything. I plan on going somewhere with bodybuilding, and making a mark in the bodybuilding community.
For anyone wondering if they should compete, just do it, you won't regret it! Why Enter A Bodybuilding Contest?
The preparation and dedication it takes to participate in a bodybuilding contest is one of the most physically demanding tasks you can put on yourself. So you may ask yourself, is it worth it? Should I do it? What are the benefits? Well there are plenty of reasons why someone would want to enter a bodybuilding contest and many people actually enjoy having to deal with responsibilities and staying on task. Believe it or not bodybuilders love what they do, if not, they would choose a different lifestyle.
Bodybuilders love to make their bodies a work of art, so why wouldn't we want to show our art to the world? It would be like Picasso keeping all of his work to himself. Would you ever question someone if they wanted to be the heavy weight champion of the world? I thought so. So what would be so different from someone wanting to win a bodybuilding contest?
Everyone is allowed to dream. Therefore, if entering a bodybuilding contest has ever crossed your mind, there's no doubt you should act on your intuitions. Why People Enter Bodybuilding Contests. Many of you may think you will never be good enough for a physique contest. Well you're dead wrong. You think you're not big enough. Again you're wrong. There are many different categories in which one may qualify.
Don't think you're going to be up there flexing with Ronnie in your first show. And guess what, you have as many muscles as Ronnie.
So don't be discouraged. Bodybuilding contest have been growing and expanding all over the world. What many people are ignorant of is the fact that bodybuilding is a sport! Not just any sport, but one of the largest sports across the world.
Just like every other sport, there is extreme joy and downright pain. There's the pleasure of victory, and the heartbreak of defeat. I really can't convince you to do anything you don't want to. Again participating in a bodybuilding contest isn't a walk in the park. But if you really want something that will help you succeed later on in life, don't look any further, and join a bodybuilding contest now! You will have to make many sacrifices but at the end it will all pay off and you'll thank yourself.
Most of all you're going to have to make bodybuilding your major priority. Note: Waxing your chest will make your eyes very teary. But all the benefits from competing will no doubt outweigh any of the negatives. At the end you won't see the negatives as negatives but more like a simple task. My first show was a battle between gyms around my area. Each gym had 5 representatives. My gym owner had told me about the opportunity and I surely jumped all over it. I had less than 4 months to prepare for it.
The competition was held last July. Before entering preparation for it, I thought it wasn't as hard as it sounded. Boy was I wrong. Within the first 3 weeks the thought of quitting never left my brain. But through much determination and effort I didn't quit.
I was in the best shape of my life with all the cardio they had me doing. The week before the competition I had that same feeling I use to have a week before my birthday or Christmas. I always fell asleep thinking about it.
I remember the day before I had the worse case of insomnia ever. The day of competition I woke up like an hour earlier than usual and certainly couldn't go back to sleep. Being backstage with your competition is awkward also. You don't expect them to be nice to you, but they are.
They weren't being hypocrites, they were just trying to be friendly. And what better place to score the tricks of the trade than from 3-time Mr. Olympia Phil Heath. Strength, conditioning, and a blend of the two that works for you.
There are several ways to enhance the quality of a workout, and some changes can even be made during each rep. Bodybuilders do cardio training such as running and using a StairMaster StepMill to burn fat and make their muscles more visible. They would come up to me and ask me if I use them. But I always took it as a compliment. I lifted like crazy my sophomore year and I started playing football but I gave that up for bodybuilding. My sophomore year in high school I was just experimenting with the weights.
My body rapidly changed. I made up my own programs, I overtrained a lot but I wouldn't have known how to train if I never did.
My junior year I played football, it got me behind in bodybuilding, but it has helped me too I weighted my junior year at 6ft. The iron was my best friend, the only thing I had to do to keep me out of trouble and discipline. I made my self workout when I didn't want to and it has helped me with life as it is now.
When I pump iron it turns me into an animal. I scream, get pissed and I always win against it. Now it's the summer and I'll be a senior and my bench press is and I weigh at 6ft at 17 yrs old. Bodybuilding has changed my whole life, given me discipline and gave me confidence and I never had to get my revenge back either.
I used all my anger and used it for bodybuilding. And now I don't get picked on or get beat up. All the muscle it gives me shines on me like armor. That's why I love bodybuilding and I'll never give it up for anything, I'll keep on doing it 'til the day I die and after that too.
I am 20 years old. Before I came to the University, I used to be very skinny and people used to call me all sorts of names. I decided to do something about it. I joined the weightlifting club Now, if I meet someone I see they are pleasantly surpised because I am really a man now, so to speak. My confidence has grown now and I feel I can do anything and can be anyone I want to be.
I have been bodybuilding for just over a year now. The reason I started bodybuilding was because I was overweight, and my self-esteem couldn't go any lower than it already was. I was lbs. So, I went on a diet, and started going to the gym. I still have pictures of when I was overweight, and now I look at them and wonder, 'Why didn't I go to the gym sooner? I lost the weight I wanted about 6 months ago. I look in the mirror now and I love what I see, and I hear comments all the time now, like 'man, you just keep getting skinnier everytime I see you'.
And now I have been going to the gym to get bigger and stronger. It is a part of me now, a way of life. I can't imagine how my life would be without bodybuilding.
I took a picture a couple of days ago, and I looked at it, and I was amazed at how I looked. It seemed like I was looking at a picture in a magazine. That satisfaction is the greatest feeling in the world. In High School I wasn't in the popular group and the only way to get Positive attention was to out do as many guys as I posslibly could. So I began in the gym! By my Senior year, it felt GREAT that I was in awesome shape, had muscle definition and that I could put the majority of the "legends of their own mind" in their place!
After High School, I had back surgery due to my job. Now the reason I'm still lifting is because I would like to say to my Dr. I love the feeling it gives me during working out and the results that keep coming after time!
Now the only prob is, it's hard to find women's shirts in stores to fit me. Pride - You feel so much more confident in everything you do and have a growing hunger to do so much more. After you've hit that high intensity level in the gym over and over and over again, you have learned so much about yourself and have accomplished something you never thought would mean so much at an inner-self and personal point of view.
Be proud to have started and have kept going with building a beautiful physique! The feeling is so much greater than words can say. I'm a proud loser! Keep spreading that positive attitude and smiles, we want the hunger for bodybuilding to be contagious! I'm a 43 year old female who's been lifting for three years now. I love to watch the progress. This is the one thing I feel like I can control. It takes a lot of self discipline. The reward is definitly worth the hard work.
I look forward to the end of my work day so I can workout. It's a great stress reliever. For the first time in my life, people come to me for assistance and advice to improve their physical appearance. Bodybuilding has heightened my self esteem and has impowered me to make decisions in my life that a few years ago I would have never challenged.
I highly recomend it to everyone. It works! I love bodybuilding for a couple reasons. I have learned to love it because I know that pain means pleasure. Whenever I feel pain I can't bear I keep going because I know it will make my muscles bigger. I love bodybuilding because: 1 After stress at work, there's nothing better than to take it out on some iron 2 After the workout, I feel and look great; the stress is gone and the evening is all mine in which to relax 3 I enjoy setting my own goals and achievements.
I know that bodybuilding is not about trying to look like someone else, but to push yourself so that you look and feel at your best with the body that you want 4 I enjoy the creativity in devising my own workout programmes and diets taking tips and advice as guidelines 5 I enjoy the attention!! It's a great site, I really think the tips and workouts are excellent, so keep up the good work.
Best wishes, Alex Laidlaw. The self achievement, the way friends look up to me and joined the gym after seeing my success. The pride of looking in the mirror and seeing a body you're proud of. When most people try to avoid looking at their body you could say I'm the opposite, I like flexing my body in the mirror!
You could say I'm a compulsive flexer : Walking round shirtless ever so proud of my body. I also love the feeling of being so pumped after a workout I can barely lift my arms. I love bodybuilding for one simple reason, the girls. I love it in the summer when you know women are looking at you. That's something what would have never happened 2 years ago when I was a 10 stone weakling. I love bodybuilding because of the respect, confidence, self assurance, and overall motivation it brings.
I'm currently 15 years old and have been working out since the beginning of 8th grade. Being a very self-conscientious person, working out made me get the confidence I needed and I now have the best physique within my grade. A lot of my friends have recently taken up smoking weed, but I know that through my discipline of lifting, I wont make the mistakes they all have.
And they chat with you and the way they look at you with wide eyes. Well, those are my reasons Bodybuilding is not a spectator sport.
I love bodybuilding because it's my way out. There's no comparison to the natural high you feel when you pump out that last rep screaming for more--when your arm or leg is about to rip out of socket. To feel the satisfaction that you know you won the strungle, over the weights.
And to go to the rack and look for a heavier set of dumbbells you can defeat. It's the pump you get when you arm looks abnormally huge and you just want to hit more and more weights until you beat everything in the gym. Nothing is better than the satisfaction you feel when you walk out of the gym, knowing that you put your all into it.
And to meet others with your passion of lifting is just anther added bonus, not to mention the girls that go there. I love bodybuilding because face it nothing compares to the feeling you get when your muscles become engorged with blood.
When you beat your past personal goal and come back into the gym stronger than you were before. You feel healthy and good about yourself when you eat and exercise clean.
Wherever you go you show off the fruits of your labor. It's something about having a set of arms so wide that you literally stretch the sleeves of your shirt beyond their limit. This stands out and tells everyone around you, I'm a bodybuilder. I am 17 years old and I have been lifting for about 2 years now. These past years have been like my entire life my life actually started at this point in time when I started to lift.
I have gained so much discipline from this and muscle which is good. I first started lifting because I saw Arnold Swarzenegger on all the movies you know like Predator and The Running Man the good ones, but anyway after seeing him I was like man I would love to look like that. I started training on my own and my parents were happy that I was actually doing something good. The memories I have of when I first started and to now are like they just happened yesterday well actually they did because I went into the gym just yesterday.
I go to the gym 5 to 6 times a week and those times are hard and fun. Central Bodybuilding contest and i took first in my weight class I am light weight lb and 2nd overall I have 15 inch arms about a forty something chest thirty inch waist and like twenty something inch legs i still have work to do if i want to win Mr.
Central next year so i am going to lift harder and more precise switching up exercises and talking long enough rest but that is another reason i love the sport so much. John Kenny. I am only 16 years of age but my dad had me strength training since i was 5.
I am not going to go on about drugs alcohol or any crap like making friends, when i go into the gym i mean business and the people around know i mean business, i don't go into the gym to socaialze, the best part of bodybuilding in my opinion is the pump, your muscles swell and it feels almost like your skin is goint to explode, i love the feel of that first heavy rep and you instantly feel the blood rushing to the muscle. Basically i just love the feel of the blood gourged pump.
I love bodybuilding for many reasons. I love when people that I haven't seen in a while come up to me and they cant believe its really me. I've gained tons of weight in the time that I've been lifting, and everyone has noticed. But that's only a small portion of it. The best feeling is knowing what you've accomplished. Raising your max bench up a few pounds, or finally getting in 2 more reps to you're heavy squat. That's what it's really all about.
It's about setting a goal and striving for it. Then when you get there, throwing that old goal out the gym doors and set your sites for the next level. It's not about who's the best or who can lift more, it's about self satisfaction to the fullest extent. I love bodybuilding because of the great feeling of intensity and energy that you get from a great workout and from being pumped.
I love standing apart from the crowd and being different and admired for something that so few posses; a great physique. I also love the way that my body looks in the mirror when I am at my best with tight abs, flaring triceps and bulging pecs.
I feel like an animal full or energy and intensity, as if I could conquer the world. I love bodybuilding because of its healthy nature when getting competition ready. When bodybuilding, you realize the true seperation between mind and body. I think everyone has experienced those days when your mind is not ready to workout but you have the best workout of your life because your body was feeling great that day.
Your mind and body do eventually become one as you mature in the gym and that is an experience worth waiting for. I also love the sport because it enables me to learn, teach, and evolve into a more well rounded person overall! I love watching my body transform. I feel differently about myself when I look into the mirror, I am confident. I think one of the reasons we die hards love it so much is that it gives us a feeling of control over our lives.
The people that I form a relationship to in the gym are important in my life as well, we push each other to perform our best. I can not imagine my life without it. I love hearing the plates fall, I love it when I look in the mirror and seeing the muscles buldge. I like knowing that I am doing something really good for my body.
I am 16 yrs. It has been the best five months of my life. I have learned about dedication and I feel like I have the motivation and energy to do anything. I have a lot of support from my friends and family. That is what keeps me going to build a better body for myself. I have dropped my weight significantly and have so much self confidence thanks to weight lifting.
Bodybuilding is great because of the following reasons The looks that you get when you are around the pool on holiday, with girls approaching you to touch and feel your arms. A great excuse for not going out with people you don't like "sorry I need to get an early night because I'm training tomorrow". The feeling of extreme self confidence, from being huge and muscular. People seem to be a lot more polite to you when your legs are about the size of their chest. You look good in most clothes, and even if you don't there aren't many people that will take the piss.
And finally everywhere you go you get noticed. It's like you're a celebrity without having to go on television. I feel bodybuilding has been something I can be good at. I also enjoy the sound of the pounding plates against one another, and the grinding of my teeth in agonizing torture. I like to feel my muscle swell with blood and lactic acid right to the point where I am unable to lift a pencil or need assistance climbing a stair case.
And most of all I enjoy the science, dedication and determination involved, as well as the sense of belonging. Bodybuilding keeps me out of trouble and it is something I can say I am good at! I use bodybuilding to escape the boring daily life and to forget all my books. I'm a student at a university and often I'm very stressed.
Bodybuilding gives mean alternative to drinking, smoking or parties to escape the killing pressure. It's incredible what bodybuilding does to you! After a training I feel fantastic and the next morning I don't wake up with a hangover! My mind is all cleared up and I feel very relaxed. Bye, bye stress! I love bodybuilding because I know it's helped me get through difficult times in my life.
It also gives me more reasons not to smoke and drink. I look forward to go to the gym every day. It makes me feel like I can do anything and makes me feel better about my self. I love knowing I go to the gym to improve my health and my physique. Bodybuilding also makes it so I'm not ever depressed. Bodybuilding can make you accomplish things you can't even imagine. I have a high stress job where I only see customers and people I could rather do without.
For me, that short drive to the gym for 3 hours of excitement, meeting new people, talking with positive-motivated people, and building a better body makes me happy on the way home. This is my reward. No matter how I feel, I am ready to get in there and get my blood moving. It's a real pick-me-up. I make the time to do it.
I'm 18 and I love bodybuilding because it keeps you in shape and you're able to take on anything. Bodybuilding makes you think better about yourself, it keeps you off drugs and alcohol. As you increase in size you make yourself wanna go back everyday and try and get bigger. I box and I always wanna be bigger than my opponent. Intimidation I think is a way of life, because it always makes me wanna do better than anybody else.
Weightlifting has done a lot for me. In seventh grade I was obese and had low self confidence. I decided that summer to lose weight and become stronger. I did this by doing regular weight training and aerobic exercise as well as eat better.
Now, two years later I have lost 50 lbs of fat and doubled my strength because I motivated myself to do so. Now I care less about what people think of me and I have so much more pride and self confidence in whatever I do. All I had to do was set reasonable goals and try my hardest to reach them. Now I use my health knowledge to help my friends achieve their fitness goals. Bodybuilding is a great life-long benefit to do.
I'm 44 years young and have been a couch potato for the last several years and I look it. To get myself started I began with small aerobic exercises and increased till thought my stamina was built up enough.
I began to research programs and settled on one out of Men's Health. After only a few weeks of exercising even a blind man could see a difference in my appearance. Though I'm getting up there in age, bodybuilding helps keep the mind and the body young and active. I think though that the best of all is that my young son Mike he's 8 is becoming interested in the sport and hanging out with me more.
I'm learning more about my body know than I've ever known before and plan to keep growing mentally and physically. I'm only 16, but bodybuilding has kept me off of drugs, alcohol, and other terrible substances for your body, because in bodybuilding, you want what's best for your body, and when you do what's best, you feel good about yourself.
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