Have you ever wondered why you are such a different person as a bodybuilder than you were before you started taking fitness more seriously?
Compare yourself now to before you started and you will see what I mean. You can notice someone who is a real world bodybuilder from a mile away. You can tell by the way they walk, talk, and present themselves as well as the obvious features of leanness and muscular development.
I have noticed quite a few folks that have succeeded and I got to pondering what it is that separates them from other people. Bodybuilding requires being very motivated for a very long time.
How are we able to stay that motivated to eat the way we eat, train as hard as we do, pound each and every step on the treadmill for mile after mile? What makes him or her tick? Why are these people in the greatest sport of them all? What would I see in that person that clearly separates him or her from those that just don't care about improving themselves?
I also studied my past training blogs, nutrition logs, mission statements, etc. What separated me from the others that didn't succeed as well as I did? Despite each individual's evolution, bodybuilding being entirely different from the next, there were also many similarities among us.
These are the five factors that, in my opinion, prove beyond a shadow of a doubt what common bonds bodybuilders share and how they stand out from those that have yet to benefit from our wonderful sport.
1. Passion:
- We bodybuilders have a unique passion that extends throughout every aspect of our everyday lives, whether it is obvious or not. We want it, need it, have to have it, and would not know what to do without it. Failure is absolutely not an option.
We bodybuilders not only want to be the best bodybuilders we can be, but we also want to be the most loyal friends, we want to be the best children for our parents, the best parents for our children, and we not only want to be employee of the month, we want the award named after us.
- We are that
- to not just doing the best we can do; rather we want to be the best, period. Nothing will get in our way and we will not waver. Once we get truly inspired, we will succeed whether anyone else believes in us or not.
2. Dedication:
- We can all agree that succeeding in bodybuilding takes a lot of
- every single day. No obstacle, no distraction, and no type of adversity will stand in the way of a bodybuilder's track to success.
We have to be dedicated to the training, the cardio, the nutrition, the sleep, and keeping it tracked in our logs in case something isn't working. We have a goal or a list of goals and our entire beings are focused on those goals.
- Again, it isn't just bodybuilding that this falls under, but rather all aspects of our everyday lives. We start making everyday goals at work. We try to get more done at home.
If we happen to be playing baseball, we want to get our average up by the end of the season, and we will stay an hour after practice taking pitches. If we are playing basketball and hit 7 out of 10 from the free throw line, we tell ourselves that we will go 8 out of 10 or better next time. We will shoot 100 foul shots on the day in between the games to ensure that it happens.
3. Focus:
- Once a bodybuilder sets a
- , we set our sights on that target and it doesn't waver for any reason whatsoever. That goal is the objective and it shall be met. Each step we take is a step closer to the objective. If we happen to take a step back, we have to redeem ourselves by taking three more steps forward.
We are so focused on the objective that most people consider it an obsession. They think we might have a problem and become concerned for us. People that have yet to take fitness seriously just don't understand that bodybuilding is a lifelong commitment.
- You don't just drop 10 pounds and move on with your life like you never have to exercise again. You focus on dropping the next 10 and maybe adding 5 pounds of muscle in the next 12 weeks. Each rep you perform is focused on meeting the objective. Think about that.
This is not an easy sport by any means. A lot of folks have tried and failed or given up quick. So obviously those of us that have any measure of success have the willpower and focus to succeed a lot more. It is something we should be proud of and something that should be shared with the world.
4. Discipline:
- Obviously, we bodybuilders do not lead the exciting rock star type lives, do we? There are no groupies at the gym dying for our autographs, no throngs of fans waiting next to the blender, or agents beating our doors down to endorse a cologne or perfume or latest fashion trends.
We get up out of bed, we put the same clothes on in the same order, still tie the one shoe first, eat the same thing every day, train the same way every week, and go to sleep at the same time every night. It is like clockwork. We could probably do it blindfolded and backwards.
- We understand that if we take a day off that we are not supposed to, the repercussions would be disastrous. We can lose the contest if we miss that meal or get a Big Mac and fries instead. First place and second place could be decided by those last fifteen to twenty minutes of
- we want to skip.
For those of us that are real world bodybuilders, our goals would not be met without the discipline to follow the game plan to the T. The discipline that a bodybuilder has may be the greatest attribute of all. If it isn't, then the last one certainly is.
5. Patience:
- We all know that Rome wasn't built in a day and neither is the bodybuilder. It is an ongoing construction job that always has more to be added or sculpted. We never truly finish bodybuilding, do we?
It is well understood that it takes a long time to reach the culmination of our destinies and we enjoy every step of that journey we take. Bodybuilders take the time to enjoy the scenery that the journey provides. We understand that if we rush it, we cannot truly appreciate the benefits that it provides.
- Some of those that have quit in the past did so because they got too impatient. They thought that just because they walk in the doors of the gym they should walk out an hour later looking like Mr. Olympia or the next great fitness model on Bodybuilding.com.
We who have succeeded in the greatest sport of them all know all to well that it doesn't work that way. Bodybuilding doesn't take 12 weeks. Those 12 weeks are just a small part of the entire process.
Conclusion
Whether it is muscle gaining, fat loss, setting a new one-rep max, training for a marathon, meet, contest, 10K, or big game, all of us have these qualities and many more. I feel that these 5 are the best of them. You might agree or disagree, and I would love to hear your opinion on this whatever it may be.
One thing will always be true though. We bodybuilders always respect the other bodybuilders for what they have done, are doing, and will be done because even though we took a different route to our goals, it is on the same map and we are meeting at the same place.
We support each other through the bad times and praise the accomplishments of others as much, if not more, than our own. I truly feel that if everyone in the world was a bodybuilder, that it would be a better place.
Once we get to our respective destinies, let's congratulate ourselves and invite others to take the journey we took and help them along their way to their ultimate destinies. Who knows? The person we help may be the one to blaze a whole new trail for us to follow in the future.