The moment you fell in love with bodybuilding...

[Gaoshang Xiongshou]

Do you remember it? Do you remember what you felt? Can you even think about life without it now?

[GirlyMuscle]

No,no and no.

[sassy69]

1981, YMCA, Universal / Leg Press = 100 lb for 10 reps.
Yes = this is pretty damn cool... Hey Dad! Check this out!
No, I would probably be in a rubber room w/ a long-armed vest on w/o it.

[quadrablue]

No, no and no like GM, but I do remember my first prep and show. What a nightmare! But once I got on that stage I was ready to endure it all again, and again, and again.....

[french tips]

I'm not a bodybuilder, would fitness apply here as well :o:p

[Valkyrie]

I was 17 and started lifting to correct some serious muscle and back trouble. I soon found it was a way to justify the muscle I had developed from working on a farm that people thought was so freakish.

When I stopped working on the farm to raise my family I missed the hard physical labor. So lifting was a way to fill that void.

I cannot pin-point an exact moment when I fell in love with lifting. The early training was very, very painful due to the problems I had with my muscles and spine. But that never dissuaded me from continuing training on my own once I left the care of the PT that got me started.

I've hated each and every enforced down time. I cannot even contemplate a future without lifting.

[Valkyrie]

I'm not a bodybuilder, would fitness apply here as well :o:p
Absolutely it applies here.

[musclegoddess65]

Never having been a tiny petite ballerina type build, always feeling out of place and ackward having broad shoulders and looking more like a line backer... Yes the first time I fell in love with bodybuilding is going to see a friend compete, Nov 2002, and seeing what a muscular woman could look like... and realizing I may never be a ballerina type but I CAN be a bodybuilder.

I have still struggled with being more muscular then the average female.. but I've become a lot more comfortable in my own skin these days... but what bugs the shit out of me, is guys that feel this need to stare, and not in a kind way but a rude asshole type way...

But even with that... I don't think I ever wanna go back... I like what I see more and more every single day...

[kiMbergman]

I was a child... there was a teenage guy that pumped gas at the store near my house... I insisted my father take me to "see the muscle man" EVERY DAY!! He then went to work at a automotive parts store.... daddy had to take me there often too! It was an early obsession of mine!!

(note: this man is a close friend of mine to this day!!)

[Gunz]

I started as a figure competitor because I was sick of marathons and long biking tours - I needed another challenge, but my husband introduced me to BB about a year and a half ago. The first several months of training he didn't push me to my max (he didn't want me to hate it!!), but this past six to nine months - nothing was held back, and I have to say, that's when it HIT me!!!

[DistinctChoice]

Never having been a tiny petite ballerina type build, always feeling out of place and ackward having broad shoulders and looking more like a line backer... Yes the first time I fell in love with bodybuilding is going to see a friend compete, Nov 2002, and seeing what a muscular woman could look like... and realizing I may never be a ballerina type but I CAN be a bodybuilder.

I have still struggled with being more muscular then the average female.. but I've become a lot more comfortable in my own skin these days... but what bugs the shit out of me, is guys that feel this need to stare, and not in a kind way but a rude asshole type way...

But even with that... I don't think I ever wanna go back... I like what I see more and more every single day...

On behalf of the kind and respectful members of my gender, I am sorry that some guys stare at you in the "rude asshole" type way.

Whenever I see a muscular woman in person, I always make it a point to pay them a respectful compliment for the hard work they've put into their great looking physique.

You ladies rock! :)

[Kelly Baker]

1993 when my distance track coach insisted that we lift, and not just lower body. I wasn't the typical distance runner build, I wasn't fast, but I could OUT LIFT all those girls and I loved that. I stepped away from it for far too long after being injured and in 2006 started to lift daily after hiring a PT. Now I can't imagine NOT lifting 6 days a week.

[Erin]

It happened gradually... when I realized how great it makes you feel. Mentally, emotionally, and physically.

[fitQuest]

interesting answers...

[Viking]

Bill Phillips Body For Life

The first ever contest....I was 13

[Angela123]

I was a child... there was a teenage guy that pumped gas at the store near my house... I insisted my father take me to "see the muscle man" EVERY DAY!! He then went to work at a automotive parts store.... daddy had to take me there often too! It was an early obsession of mine!!

(note: this man is a close friend of mine to this day!!)


so funny!!! "the muscle man"...i love it!

omg..every day...awesome! and then you followed him to another store. classic. just great story.

[SallyAnne]

I saw Corey Everson on TV and that was it. I though to myself, "I want to look like her".

[Erin]

I was a child... there was a teenage guy that pumped gas at the store near my house... I insisted my father take me to "see the muscle man" EVERY DAY!! He then went to work at a automotive parts store.... daddy had to take me there often too! It was an early obsession of mine!!

(note: this man is a close friend of mine to this day!!)

Hmmm I have a similar childhood story, but mine revolves around a "wanted" man. I saw this horrible mugshot of a man hanging in my Dad's police station (he took me with one day to stop in) and I became obsessed with the man. I asked my Dad daily about him. He got so tired of it he made up some story about catching him and was now in jail. I became obsessed with law enforcement (or bad boys) at that point, I think. ;)

Odd that I never pursued it as a career. OK sorry. Back to bodybuilding...

[fitbody]

Do you remember it? Do you remember what you felt? Can you even think about life without it now?

It was 19 yrs old
when i walked into the Brownwood Athletic Club
Brownwood, Texas a gym owned by my ex-husband
Powerlifting Legend Doug Young
the music was deafening
everyone who trained there was hardcore
the vibe was electrifying
there was nothing like it
i walked in there
and it was all over for me
i was hooked
when i met Doug it was love at first sight for both of us
I went from being a Arabian Horse Trainer
to a Bodybuilder
I qualified for Nationals in Powerlifting my first meet
I won Nationals my 2nd meet
my 3rd meet i pulled a 501 lb deadlift
all this i did to put on as much mass
as i could for bodybuilding
25 yrs later i'm still as in love with bodybuilding
as i was then
I'm passing on everything i learned from Doug
and all the other great training partners
I've had over my life and other great trainers
had the opportunity to work with
so many of my clients have gone on to be personal trainers
themselves and are passing on the love and enthusiasm
for bodybuilding
it's contagious...

[DistinctChoice]

I saw Corey Everson on TV and that was it. I though to myself, "I want to look like her".

SallyAnne: judging by your avatar pic, some might say (dare I say it?) you look better than Cory. You rock!

[Buff_Mama]

1999 after the birth of my last child. I was 225lb & said no more!!! I joined a gym & as the months went by, I saw my body transforming. I still carry my "fat picture" in my gym bag for those days when I say to myself, "I'm tired. Why do I keep doing this?" I look at that picture and take my ass to the gym.