This is an interesting thread. I never spent much time lifting weights. To gain strength for high school sports was really the only time I've ever lifted weights in the traditional sense. I understand weightlifting as a form of exercise. I understand the idea of body building for sport. Also, if the goal is to look "better" in order to attract a mate or whatever, I get that. Here's what's puzzling to me, and please realize this is not a cut on anybody, I do plenty of things that people question and might consider dumb (150mile bike rides, week long solo camping trips, etc), but: -if you're married and claim not to be interested in attracting more mates -ingesting possibly dangerous chemicals -obsessing about going from 12% body fat to 10% Do you ever stop and think, "Why the hell am I doing this?" Again, this isn't a knock against anybody. Just trying to understand it from a psychological point of view.
Males are inherently/genetically polygamous. Females too, just more subtle about it. Why do women get boob jobs? There are a lot more women with breast augmentation than there are male bodybuilders.
I agree completely. Seriously, I do. What about the people who say they are happily married, not looking for anyone else...?Maybe they're just being careful about what they put on the interwebs.
No to continue replying with rhetorical questions, but why improve your golf game? The rewards to fitness are massively +asym to the risks (oxidative stress of ultramarathon runners, heart enlargement, etc). I think most guys get into fitness as a hobby and get a "runner's high" from the endophins. They begin to look and feel better and it often leads to obsessive behavior. I've done gear because it's a short cut. Would you blood dope if it made your hill climb 22% more efficient? No, but some subset will jump at the chance.
No, but do you know where I can score some EPO? That's a joke and besides it's apparently not too difficult to get considering a guy here in NY just tested positive after winning a Gran Fondo(a wanna-be bike race). In his confession he touched on what you also mentioned, how his hobby(cycling) turned into an obsession. "Two things happened recently that put into prospective just how off the deep end I was. The first was that I tested positive for EPO at the Gran Fondo. A week and a half after that I broke my leg in three places in a racing accident. For the first time in years, I was completely off the bike. These two things gave me the perspective to examine just how insane I was acting. The reality is I became obsessed with racing, and maybe even more, with being a part of something. It took these external forces to literally knock me off the bike and out of the ridiculous place I allowed myself to get into. I donât say this as an excuse; only to say what was going on."
Good example. Cyclists often become obsessive due to reaching some arbitrary barrier; VO2Max, resting HR, etc. It's certainly not to appeal to a mate as they are fit but not necessarily achieving an aesthetic. I met a guy doing a hill climb on Mt Rose Hwy from the Reno terminus all the way to Incline. The guy was 6'2" and weighed 140lbs. The only fat stores he has are within his CNS. We're talking perhaps 5% body fat. The climb is brutal. The first 9 miles is a 5-8 degree grade (averages 6) and it's like 27 miles in all, <10 of which is downhill. He does an elite climb 3x a week simply to improve his time.
I am natural--always have been. Can't say for sure about the future. No one can. Happily married and not looking (don't need the additional headache). Knowing that I could have just about any woman I want is, and seeing women check me out at the beach is enough satisfaction for me. The serious training and meticulous diet are not about attracting the opposite sex. Women generally care more about other things than looks (men often think that women are just like them--focused on looks and body), like personality. I do this above all for health and for personal pride. Trying to fight the hands of time is actually fun: I know that in the end I am going to lose, like everyone else, but I enjoy the fight anyway. I also like looking and feeling younger than I am. Now that my kids are getting older, I also like thinking that I am a good example to them about the importance of lifelong health and fitness. I don't like intimidating people as a practice, but sometime there are pricks out there, and you need to stand up for yourself. Being strong and looking strong doesn't hurt. I've done this for 28 years, and as far as I am concerned, I'm one day going to be the healthiest, strongest, best looking-and-feeling guy in the retirement home someday.
I was at a fundraising event recently where I was seated at a table with 7 other guys. After about 30 minutes of bullshitting with everybody at my table, the leader of the event gave each person a piece of paper. We were instructed to write down one word that best described each person sitting at the table. After a few minutes of pondering, everybody wrote down their answers and turned them in. To my surprise, I was the only person at the entire event who received the same one-word description. The word was "intimidating". I was pretty shocked to hear that to say the least. I thought for sure it was going to be "personable" or "easy-going" or something like that. After each person explained the logic behind their answers, it made a lot more sense to me. As it turns out, men very much want to be in a peer group where they feel they are generally on the same level (both mentally and physically) as the others in the group. So for example, most American men in their 40's are out of shape and are sporting some level of beer gut. When asked about their past, they can easily tell you about a time in their lives when they were "in their prime". When a 40-year old guy like myself comes rolling into the group sporting a size 30 waist and 16 inch biceps with veins running down his forearms, most men find this intimidating as hell. There are other characteristics they find intimidating too, but I want to stick with the physical part so this thread stays on track. My point is this. I enjoy fighting the clock and trying to become a better version of myself with each passing year, especially when I achieve more than I even thought was possible. Like smilingsynic said, I know it won't last forever and that age will eventually catch up to me, but that fact shouldn't stop me from trying, especially when the benefits encompass not only looking my best, but FEELING my best. Although my motivation for doing all this comes from within, it's definitely a good feeling knowing that I'm separating myself apart from the crowd, and that the crowd actually sees the results too. After the event I described above, a few of the guys at the table came up to me and started confessing to me out of the blue how they haven't worked out in forever and that they need to get back to the gym. And we weren't even talking about working out before that moment. It's like they felt guilty just being around someone who's fit, especially someone whose older and fit. I suppose that's because they realize that getting older shouldn't be a catch-all excuse for why every new pound of fat materializes. So although I push myself because I actually enjoy the process of it all, and because I especially like looking at myself in the mirror and seeing improvements from the year before, it's definitely nice knowing that other people can be intimidated by me at first, but then motivated later on to make some positive changes in their own lives.
I hear what you're saying, Baron. I'm in the over 40 age bracket as well and recently while camping with a group of friends they were talking about all the different medications they were on. Statins, reflux meds, blood pressure control etc. After a while one of my friends said, "The only one without health problems is Uptik". To which another one replied, "yeah, because he's the only one who's not a fat f*ck". I try to eat well and I ride my bike a lot. When I take my dog for a walk I'll do some burpies and do the vita-fit course a bit. My weaknesses are like yours, wine. And vodka. And gin. I like beer too. As a whole, I'm also trying to , "fight the clock". In large part for my children's sake. What I find interesting is the extremes some people go to. Using drugs, supplements and other possibly harmful substances for the sake of going from 12% body fat to 10 or 8%. And atticus (and my reference to the doping cyclist) covered that and put it into the obsession category.