How did you get into fitness/bodybuilding?

[Leggoddess]

How did you get into fitness or bodybuilding?
Who inspired you to start training?
What are your fitness/bodybuilding goals?

[exitseven]

I was in 9th grade and I was a fat kid that everyone picked on. I could not do 1 pushup. I pestered my parents to let me join a gym that opened in the next town. This was in the 80s when working out with weights was not a very mainstream activity. Bodybuilding was considered strange. Arnold had just shown up in the movies. I wanted to work out where nobody would know me. There was a group of older guys that showed me how to train and really encouraged me. They were all pretty ripped and into the lifestyle. It didn't hurt that most had muscle cars and hot girlfriends. They were supportive when I started to see results. By the time I was in junior year, the football coach asked me to go out for the team. These guys also gave me advice about school, girls and other stuff. They were the big brother I never had, Igot in pretty good shape. I was not a bodybuilder as much as a fitness enthusiast. I became a strong swimmer as well as a marathon runner. Now that I am 50 I just want to stay strong and keep as much of my endurance as I can.

[Diodoro]

I wanted to be physically stronger for basketball. It worked. After two years I wanted to do better in my sport and look sexy in clothes. After basketball I wanted to be athletic enough/strong enough to handle myself in a fight and look sexy lol

Pretty much always had Performance alongside Sex appeal in mind outside my first year of training which was 100% focused on strength gains for sport. I wasted too much time training my abs tho. They were cut, strong, and did help me in sports, but I would have been better putting that energy into other things

[SaraSmithishere]

I was always fit, but I started reading forums on BodyBuilding. com as a teenager, and I was really fascinated by the human body, how muscle and grow and shrink given certain conditions, etc. It got me hooked on working it, and I started going to the gym at age 14, although these days, I have a personal trainer, which makes my life easier.

[siseñor]

many of my role models over the years have been figures in the fitness industry & my brother introduced me to so many of the things i really love today, including working out

[MotorcycleMan]

Started in high school as an extension of gym class. Had a 1 hour workout every morning. Stuck with it for quite a while, but some injuries knocked me back a bit. Current goals are the typical more muscle/less fat/more endurance/better health (including mental health).

[Whislelowblow]

Never got into bodybuilding because it was really boring for me, so I did power lifting and it was a lot of fun lifting heavy ass weight. But I didn’t want look like a power lifter so I did Thai boxing and Brazilian jujitsu. I liked martial arts better because you feel more of a connection with the other students. It’s always something new to do and you’ve got to stay focused on the drills. You can’t get distracted and think about Instagram followers or some miscellaneous shit. It helps you focus a lot better. I hated the gym because nobody cares about getting strong or healthy, they just go to the gym because of their insecurities or for external validation. January is the worst time to go to the gym because all the fat people go for New Year’s Revolution. They just go for a month and then give up. So avoid going in January.

[t-8900]

I was down in a rut for many years but eventually I guess I decided to pull myself out. I was talking to this one girl and we were together for something like 5 months. But she was working on her body and I started trying to work on mine more. But then we broke up at some point and I fell into a rut. Talked to a group of great ladies who built me back up to get back into the groove and now making hella progress. Mine is more for fat burning and just toning tbh. I've gained mmmm probably almost an inch on the arms I think and I'm down 65 lbs atm and blood pressure is good. I felt like I was mentally getting ready to start looking into serious relationships and marriage and so I wanted to really start whipping myself up into something more desirable to catch attention. We'll see how it goes lol. I'm nowhere close to done yet.

[60minman]

I am a rebel and an introvert. I rebelled against getting picked on at a younger age and body building was something I could do alone which proved to reduce the bullying. Also, my self confidence needed a boost and I thought bodybuilding would help. But what I have learned is it pushed my self esteem through the roof, but my self confidence is still very low. There is a difference. As for my goals, I'm pretty much in a continuous recomp mode. I sometimes go on a mild cut from time to time. I'm 6-4 and 230 lbs... I'm always trying to shed some boyfriend... but I hate full blown cutting. Anyhow leggoddess, that's how it came to be for me and thanks for the question!

[60minman]

Sorry... should be body fat and not boyfriend.

[exitseven]

great tale of grit and determination.

[cutsleeveboy]

I got into weightlifting for sports in middle school then kept at it for sports in high school and also for how it makes me look. love looking buff shirtless at the fair and other summer events and being more popular with people too. easier to make friends and chat with more people when you have a nice build as more people want to be around you.

[The_Shadow_Dweller]

I just needed to stay in shape. So first I started to go to parks and exercise there but then I got a subscription for a gym and then went there.

I was already in shape but somehow I felt that I needed to stay in a more active one. My build from my childhood has been heavily shaped by the Kung Fu and Judo classes my parents took me to. Was a state level champion in Judo.

[Andres77]

I need to get back to it.
I used to be in great shape, broke my back, felt sorry for myself, gained a LOT of weight.
When I broke the toilet seat it woke me up... so I changed most of my fat to muscle but I'm still overweight by about 20 lbs.
I just need to set a better example for my kids.
I'm working on it now but I'm moving too slow.
I need a kick in my butt.

[Julious0202]

I started because there was a lot of bullying about me being too thin when I was a teenager…my goal is to get big but not over the top

[haooy]

I used to be skinny, people used to try to bully me physically.

[LegendaryIcon]

people who do, typically have nothing else going on in their life, so they spend their entire lives in the gym.

[Iron_Man]

I just worked out not to become a bodybuilder

[This_Is_My_Opinion8]

To be strong, hot, confident and healthy.