FireTitan
Legend
Ive never heard anyone compare out species to a shark, but I will admit I like it, it is a very accurate comparison.
USPlabs asks WHY dO you LIFT? Share your "WHY" story and WIN BIGLY!
- Thread starter USPlabsRep
- Start date
Ive never heard anyone compare out species to a shark, but I will admit I like it, it is a very accurate comparison.
Sparkss
Well-known member
I could not agree more! This is much of what motivates me (although still early to have grandkids, my daughter is only 9)
. Being around both physically and mentally to see my eventual grandchildren as well as watching my daughter grow and and to be able to participate in her life, versus just being a sidelined spectator, is my drive and goal!pulsefit
Board Sponsor
By the looks of this thread contributors I think I need to create a 50 and older grandparent sub-forum. I remember like it was yesterday when I started the 35 and older one...
Eh I have 3 daughters thankfully no grandchildren 18, 17, and 16.
SFreed
Board Supporter
Daughters hold a special place in a Father's heart, but three daughters? I'm assuming you haven't seen the inside of your bathroom for quite some time.
pulsefit
Board Sponsor
You don't even know. I try to be first at night then there's no way to get near it the rest of the night.
B5150
Legend
Two daughters and one son, 28, 26, 15 respectively. Girls are my favorite with an insane 14-17 yo time where I'm stupid and know nothing but boys can be as dumb as rocks sometimes even into their 20's
I've worked out the bathroom to where the master is mine and my wife and daughters use the others one.
kenpoengineer
Well-known member
Daughters grow up to take care of their parents. Sons grow up to take care of their family.
FireTitan
Legend
Wow. So well put.
Brandinooooo
Well-known member
Man I'm glad you guys did this thread. Its very humbling to read.
ChocolateClen
Well-known member
Or to help/be better at helping others around us.
pulsefit
Board Sponsor
Exactly. I enjoy training others now as much as myself. I want to see others achieve. Last week, we had 2 competing in bikini. It was great to see the improvements from the last competition.
BoloYeung1
New member
+1000
TheMovement
Well-known member
Wow Thanks, just getting back into town and Im speechless! Looks like its time for a call to action!!!
Sparkss
Well-known member
I never really thought about it, but you are spot on.
USPlabsRep
Board Sponsor
I have some reading to do tomorrow!
MidwestBeast
Legend
Gotta whip up one of Bob's Caramel Cookie Stix coffees and sip on that whilst reading.
...and probably those pancakes too
Driven2lift
Legend
I lift for a lot of reasons...
They change as well, certainly over recent years.
I started training young with my dad in our cheap garage gym. Didn't take it seriously until I got passionate about my fitness following a rebound from being overweight through highschool.
Through and after my medical issues it became a benchmark of my physical condition and helped me feel more in control of things.
It's always been a great way to de-stress. Seriously good for my self-image through tough times. It's definitely the single most beneficial activity to my overall well-being
Long story short it's good for my health both physical and mental, plus I love it. I daydream about it sometimes, all of us on here (I hope!) have fitness as passion.
I've never had an issue staying driven to lift
Last missed workout was... 4-6 months ago
They change as well, certainly over recent years.
I started training young with my dad in our cheap garage gym. Didn't take it seriously until I got passionate about my fitness following a rebound from being overweight through highschool.
Through and after my medical issues it became a benchmark of my physical condition and helped me feel more in control of things.
It's always been a great way to de-stress. Seriously good for my self-image through tough times. It's definitely the single most beneficial activity to my overall well-being
Long story short it's good for my health both physical and mental, plus I love it. I daydream about it sometimes, all of us on here (I hope!) have fitness as passion.
I've never had an issue staying driven to lift
Last missed workout was... 4-6 months ago
Clipper83
Member
I lift to look good, plain and simple. Sure I love getting stronger, but after being out of shape for so long in my late teens and early 20s, after watching jersey shore, I wanted to up my appearance.
May sound egotistical, but it's deeper. After years of extreme alcohol abuse and drug use, I ended up looking like a ball with gyno, and scrawny sticks sticking out.
Realizing I'd up my chances with the ladies with a better body, also just overall confidence.
After 2 years of lifting and a gyno surgery, it's more about maintaining what I've achieved and enjoying a healthier, hardworking lifestyle.
Went from a homeless alcoholic college dropout, to a logistics manager living with his girlfriend.
Look good to feel good... that's why I lift.
May sound egotistical, but it's deeper. After years of extreme alcohol abuse and drug use, I ended up looking like a ball with gyno, and scrawny sticks sticking out.
Realizing I'd up my chances with the ladies with a better body, also just overall confidence.
After 2 years of lifting and a gyno surgery, it's more about maintaining what I've achieved and enjoying a healthier, hardworking lifestyle.
Went from a homeless alcoholic college dropout, to a logistics manager living with his girlfriend.
Look good to feel good... that's why I lift.
The Solution
Legend
Gotta whip up one of Bob's Caramel Cookie Stix coffees and sip on that whilst reading.
...and probably those pancakes too
Having mine right now...
Invalid Link Removed
MidwestBeast
Legend
bwdill
Board Sponsor
As always, something to envy of Bob's.... I'll have to whip one up soon haha
The Solution
Legend
Envy?
Dude I am 12 days out from a bodybuilding show and eating 1200 calories.
You can easily get this in your diet as well. its 1/2 scoop modern protein, coffee, and some fat free whip cream haha
bwdill
Board Sponsor
LoL probably get 3 or 4 in my diet......
rascal14
Well-known member
I've been following you on Instagram the past few weeks, you're looking good! Good luck at the show.
MidwestBeast
Legend
I’ve shared my story several times before, but for anyone who hasn’t heard it, here it is:
Ever since I was little, I always played sports. I did soccer, basketball, tennis, one year of football (8th grade), and baseball, but it was evident right from the start that I was way better at baseball than any of the others (and I also enjoyed it, which is important). So, I played on traveling teams as soon as I was old enough (60+ game seasons) and once I hit high school, I played for the high school team in the Spring, a local American Legion team in the Summer, and in a wooden bat Fall league that had its inaugural year my freshman year (which was very convenient). I did that for all four years (with only Winters being “off” from baseball and focused solely on training) and decided to hang it up when I went to college, because I majored in radio/TV broadcasting and my goal was to do radio play-by-play coverage of the baseball team (and I got to!). I had one year left of eligibility for my Legion team the Summer after freshman year because of my late birthday, so that was the last time I played competitive baseball.
From about the time I hit age 11 or so until high school started, I was kind of chubby. Looking back on it, I don’t know that I really was, but kids said I was and being an insecure kid myself, I obviously listened to it. Luckily, I didn’t care TOO much about it until high school hit and I was able to enjoy junior high pretty well (more than I imagine I could have if I had to go back and re-do it now with what I know/how I view things). Other than messing around at the YMCA in between games of basketball when the adults weren’t running us out, the first time I truly lifted was in 8th grade for football. Coach made us bench press (on that awkward plate bench press machine with the stack behind your head) the weight of the lightest kid on our team (I honestly want to say it was like 80-some pounds lol – his name as Boogie). The guy who repped it the most eventually went on to play football at a D1 FCS school (only because he got into some trouble and had the offers pulled from Michigan State and Iowa). I don’t remember the total number of reps I got, but it was just shy of 20, I believe. I do remember, however, that I was in the top 5 for our team and that was pretty cool.
As I’m sure you can imagine, a weight-training program for 8th graders wasn’t all that structured and we didn’t use the weight room very many times that year. So, my real introduction to the weight room was the following year with offseason training for the baseball team at our high school. The coach opened it up for anyone to workout through the entire season on an optional basis and I started right out of the gate trying to make a good name for myself in addition to making myself better. For anyone who played baseball, you know how un-sexy the lifting is that you get to do – a lot of shoulder and forearm work, core work, etc. – not exactly what a 14 year-old boy wants to do (“when do we do curls?!” lol). But from that time on, I never “skipped” the gym. I would take the Summers off from lifting aside from a session here or there because I could never do it without messing up my swing. Beyond those sessions, I would lift a little on my own at the YMCA, too. Once I was a junior and able to drive, the focus on girls was even stronger.
So, that led to more lifting and working out on my own outside of baseball. The Summer before my senior year is when it really kicked in. I was doing 1,000 crunches a night in addition to using one of my dad’s old dumbbells with the plastic plates to use as an ab wheel. By my senior year, I was running either 7 or 9 miles a night (in addition to the other training). Unfortunately, nobody taught us about eating proper and nutrition science, so in my head I needed to lose fat and that just meant eating less. So, I would barely eat and I wasted perfectly good opportunities to build more muscle and let my hormones do their thing. Instead, I surely screwed those hormones and my metabolism up, even though I never had any lab work to prove it.
Once I got to college, I didn’t have baseball anymore. I had always had organized sports and that outlet for exercise and competitiveness. I made friends easily enough once I got there, but I turned to the weightroom and that’s when it truly started. I tried working out with people a few times, but they were unreliable. And I refused to just skip out and not go because we didn’t feel like it. Sure, I would push a workout here or there, but people always wanted to do something else and find an excuse to not go – so from that point forward, I never worked out with a partner again. I started off with 3 days a week – Monday, Wednesday, Friday – doing compound lifts, upper and lower body splits, etc. And I was able to grow some nice muscle over that time, but I still could never shake the ghosts of my past in terms of feeling fat. Again, in hindsight it’s absolutely ridiculous, but that’s what I saw in the mirror. So I was always focusing on trying to lose that extra fat that was hardly there. By the end of my junior year, I started playing basketball when I saw one of my friends playing at the rec center – asked if I could play and I quietly observed while on the court and over time got good enough to be part of teams that would win all night long and we would play for 2-3 hours 3-4 nights a week in addition to my lifting, which had then beefed up to 4-5 days per week.
I kept that up through the next year as I rounded out senior year and then ended up sticking around to go straight into grad school. It was more of the same, but I had adapted my workouts to 5 days per week and was timing them out to do circuits and making other adjustments to make things more intense. When the Spring of my 2nd/final year of grad school came around, I was reading MD instead of just Men’s Health and Men’s Fitness (it was still before I’d found the forums and the knowledge they had to offer). That’s when I truly started working toward bodybuilding. I created a split that I still use to this day, 7 and a half years later. I’ve made adjustments to it, but the split has remained the same: chest, back, off, arms, legs, delts & traps, off, repeat. Once I found bodybuilding and the focus on truly building musculature for the appearance and not just performance, I felt at home. It was all I’d ever wanted after feeling insecure for a number of reasons (some of them just made up in my own mind). Just prior to starting that, I went on Spring Break to Florida with a group of my friends and I can look back at the photos in awe at how lean I was (I didn’t see it at the time). A few months later, I interviewed for a job in Kentucky and I moved.
When I moved to Kentucky, I was 208 lbs., with a 6 pack and absolutely ripped (by my own standards). I had almost a year here where my progress kept going and I felt great. But slowly, the scale started to climb up. I couldn’t put my finger on it, so I just kept altering things to counteract it – upping cardio, cutting calories. Nothing seemed to matter. Slowly that 208 turned into 230 and my abs were gone. I was pissed, but that’s not the end of the world. Except it didn’t stop there. For the first time, I went to a doctor to get blood work done to see what was going on. My testosterone levels were around 450, which wasn’t low, but obviously wasn’t great, but the biggest thing standing out was the elevated TSH. Hypothyroidism. Okay, that seems like an easy culprit; makes sense. I’ll take some synthroid and be good to go! So they started me on a 50mcg dose and even with placebo effect going in full effect, nothing good came of it. They kept upping the dose and I even convinced them to let me use a low dose of T3 with it, but to no avail. The doctors didn’t seem to care and everyone kept giving me the whole “you just have to eat less than what you burn” speech in addition to a doctor even telling me I would have to stop lifting heavy because that’s how you gain weight.
By the time it was all said and done, I had seen over 10 different doctors, including endocrinolist specialists at both University of Louisville and Vanderbilt. No one cared as much as I did and by my own research and efforts, I had everything that could possibly be an issue tested. Many things looked slightly off or like they could be the culprit, but each time it was like a dead end. This all started at the end of Spring 2010 and once 2012 was here, I was over 260 pounds. I still lifted. I still ran. Heck, I was in a flag football league and playing safety at 280 pounds the next year. But it just didn’t seem to matter. Ultimately, a dynamic brain MRI revealed what is almost certainly a prolactinoma (small tumor on my pituitary gland), which would explain the elevated prolactin levels (another joy I got to deal with in the midst of all this) and the other thyroid levels and hormones being off by secondary or tertiary means. The Rx for Cabergoline brought the PRL levels down, but that didn’t help with the weight.
To be honest, I don’t have a real answer for things other than I can tell you two things: I finally took, at my heaviest and darkest times, and went to the altar at church during worship and fell down on my knees and bawled my eyes out and prayed. I was raised in church and never had a moment where that belief wasn’t with me, but in my entire life, I had never fallen to my knees and surrendered like that. Additionally, I’d researched it previously when all this had started up, but never resorted to it because I felt like I respected the potential danger and I tried everything within my own means to correct/address it first, but I started using DNP.
From 300 pounds, I went down to 240 within 5 months’ time for my wedding day.
Since then, I can’t say I’ve found a better answer or had a doctor tell me what was wrong and how to correct it, but that’s okay. I came to terms with my circumstances and know plenty of people out there who are worse off than I am. It’s just a part of my story now and it fuels me. I wake up every single day and acknowledge the body image and food issues that I have. And I battle them a day at a time, just like I hit the gym. I’m currently around 225 lbs. and in as good of shape as I’ve been in a long time. I still don’t have my core as tight as I did back in 2009/2010, but I also have substantially more muscle than I did. And I’m working on tightening back up every single day. There have been plenty of “poor me” moments over those times, but I come back to reality and tell myself that feeling sorry doesn’t accomplish anything. It doesn’t change things and it doesn’t help. Life isn’t fair and not everything is equal. Sometimes you wind up ahead and others you are behind. But you choose how to act on your circumstances.
I lift because I care about my health. I like the way it makes me look, but I care about what it does to the inside of me, too. I want to be a father and I want to play with my kids one day without worrying about the number that dictates my age in terms of what I can do with them. The endorphin rush I get after working out beats any other high I’ve ever felt and it provides me mental clarity. The gym is my medicine and I know what I’m like without it. I lift because in my eyes, there is no other option.
Ever since I was little, I always played sports. I did soccer, basketball, tennis, one year of football (8th grade), and baseball, but it was evident right from the start that I was way better at baseball than any of the others (and I also enjoyed it, which is important). So, I played on traveling teams as soon as I was old enough (60+ game seasons) and once I hit high school, I played for the high school team in the Spring, a local American Legion team in the Summer, and in a wooden bat Fall league that had its inaugural year my freshman year (which was very convenient). I did that for all four years (with only Winters being “off” from baseball and focused solely on training) and decided to hang it up when I went to college, because I majored in radio/TV broadcasting and my goal was to do radio play-by-play coverage of the baseball team (and I got to!). I had one year left of eligibility for my Legion team the Summer after freshman year because of my late birthday, so that was the last time I played competitive baseball.
From about the time I hit age 11 or so until high school started, I was kind of chubby. Looking back on it, I don’t know that I really was, but kids said I was and being an insecure kid myself, I obviously listened to it. Luckily, I didn’t care TOO much about it until high school hit and I was able to enjoy junior high pretty well (more than I imagine I could have if I had to go back and re-do it now with what I know/how I view things). Other than messing around at the YMCA in between games of basketball when the adults weren’t running us out, the first time I truly lifted was in 8th grade for football. Coach made us bench press (on that awkward plate bench press machine with the stack behind your head) the weight of the lightest kid on our team (I honestly want to say it was like 80-some pounds lol – his name as Boogie). The guy who repped it the most eventually went on to play football at a D1 FCS school (only because he got into some trouble and had the offers pulled from Michigan State and Iowa). I don’t remember the total number of reps I got, but it was just shy of 20, I believe. I do remember, however, that I was in the top 5 for our team and that was pretty cool.
As I’m sure you can imagine, a weight-training program for 8th graders wasn’t all that structured and we didn’t use the weight room very many times that year. So, my real introduction to the weight room was the following year with offseason training for the baseball team at our high school. The coach opened it up for anyone to workout through the entire season on an optional basis and I started right out of the gate trying to make a good name for myself in addition to making myself better. For anyone who played baseball, you know how un-sexy the lifting is that you get to do – a lot of shoulder and forearm work, core work, etc. – not exactly what a 14 year-old boy wants to do (“when do we do curls?!” lol). But from that time on, I never “skipped” the gym. I would take the Summers off from lifting aside from a session here or there because I could never do it without messing up my swing. Beyond those sessions, I would lift a little on my own at the YMCA, too. Once I was a junior and able to drive, the focus on girls was even stronger.
So, that led to more lifting and working out on my own outside of baseball. The Summer before my senior year is when it really kicked in. I was doing 1,000 crunches a night in addition to using one of my dad’s old dumbbells with the plastic plates to use as an ab wheel. By my senior year, I was running either 7 or 9 miles a night (in addition to the other training). Unfortunately, nobody taught us about eating proper and nutrition science, so in my head I needed to lose fat and that just meant eating less. So, I would barely eat and I wasted perfectly good opportunities to build more muscle and let my hormones do their thing. Instead, I surely screwed those hormones and my metabolism up, even though I never had any lab work to prove it.
Once I got to college, I didn’t have baseball anymore. I had always had organized sports and that outlet for exercise and competitiveness. I made friends easily enough once I got there, but I turned to the weightroom and that’s when it truly started. I tried working out with people a few times, but they were unreliable. And I refused to just skip out and not go because we didn’t feel like it. Sure, I would push a workout here or there, but people always wanted to do something else and find an excuse to not go – so from that point forward, I never worked out with a partner again. I started off with 3 days a week – Monday, Wednesday, Friday – doing compound lifts, upper and lower body splits, etc. And I was able to grow some nice muscle over that time, but I still could never shake the ghosts of my past in terms of feeling fat. Again, in hindsight it’s absolutely ridiculous, but that’s what I saw in the mirror. So I was always focusing on trying to lose that extra fat that was hardly there. By the end of my junior year, I started playing basketball when I saw one of my friends playing at the rec center – asked if I could play and I quietly observed while on the court and over time got good enough to be part of teams that would win all night long and we would play for 2-3 hours 3-4 nights a week in addition to my lifting, which had then beefed up to 4-5 days per week.
I kept that up through the next year as I rounded out senior year and then ended up sticking around to go straight into grad school. It was more of the same, but I had adapted my workouts to 5 days per week and was timing them out to do circuits and making other adjustments to make things more intense. When the Spring of my 2nd/final year of grad school came around, I was reading MD instead of just Men’s Health and Men’s Fitness (it was still before I’d found the forums and the knowledge they had to offer). That’s when I truly started working toward bodybuilding. I created a split that I still use to this day, 7 and a half years later. I’ve made adjustments to it, but the split has remained the same: chest, back, off, arms, legs, delts & traps, off, repeat. Once I found bodybuilding and the focus on truly building musculature for the appearance and not just performance, I felt at home. It was all I’d ever wanted after feeling insecure for a number of reasons (some of them just made up in my own mind). Just prior to starting that, I went on Spring Break to Florida with a group of my friends and I can look back at the photos in awe at how lean I was (I didn’t see it at the time). A few months later, I interviewed for a job in Kentucky and I moved.
When I moved to Kentucky, I was 208 lbs., with a 6 pack and absolutely ripped (by my own standards). I had almost a year here where my progress kept going and I felt great. But slowly, the scale started to climb up. I couldn’t put my finger on it, so I just kept altering things to counteract it – upping cardio, cutting calories. Nothing seemed to matter. Slowly that 208 turned into 230 and my abs were gone. I was pissed, but that’s not the end of the world. Except it didn’t stop there. For the first time, I went to a doctor to get blood work done to see what was going on. My testosterone levels were around 450, which wasn’t low, but obviously wasn’t great, but the biggest thing standing out was the elevated TSH. Hypothyroidism. Okay, that seems like an easy culprit; makes sense. I’ll take some synthroid and be good to go! So they started me on a 50mcg dose and even with placebo effect going in full effect, nothing good came of it. They kept upping the dose and I even convinced them to let me use a low dose of T3 with it, but to no avail. The doctors didn’t seem to care and everyone kept giving me the whole “you just have to eat less than what you burn” speech in addition to a doctor even telling me I would have to stop lifting heavy because that’s how you gain weight.
By the time it was all said and done, I had seen over 10 different doctors, including endocrinolist specialists at both University of Louisville and Vanderbilt. No one cared as much as I did and by my own research and efforts, I had everything that could possibly be an issue tested. Many things looked slightly off or like they could be the culprit, but each time it was like a dead end. This all started at the end of Spring 2010 and once 2012 was here, I was over 260 pounds. I still lifted. I still ran. Heck, I was in a flag football league and playing safety at 280 pounds the next year. But it just didn’t seem to matter. Ultimately, a dynamic brain MRI revealed what is almost certainly a prolactinoma (small tumor on my pituitary gland), which would explain the elevated prolactin levels (another joy I got to deal with in the midst of all this) and the other thyroid levels and hormones being off by secondary or tertiary means. The Rx for Cabergoline brought the PRL levels down, but that didn’t help with the weight.
To be honest, I don’t have a real answer for things other than I can tell you two things: I finally took, at my heaviest and darkest times, and went to the altar at church during worship and fell down on my knees and bawled my eyes out and prayed. I was raised in church and never had a moment where that belief wasn’t with me, but in my entire life, I had never fallen to my knees and surrendered like that. Additionally, I’d researched it previously when all this had started up, but never resorted to it because I felt like I respected the potential danger and I tried everything within my own means to correct/address it first, but I started using DNP.
From 300 pounds, I went down to 240 within 5 months’ time for my wedding day.
Since then, I can’t say I’ve found a better answer or had a doctor tell me what was wrong and how to correct it, but that’s okay. I came to terms with my circumstances and know plenty of people out there who are worse off than I am. It’s just a part of my story now and it fuels me. I wake up every single day and acknowledge the body image and food issues that I have. And I battle them a day at a time, just like I hit the gym. I’m currently around 225 lbs. and in as good of shape as I’ve been in a long time. I still don’t have my core as tight as I did back in 2009/2010, but I also have substantially more muscle than I did. And I’m working on tightening back up every single day. There have been plenty of “poor me” moments over those times, but I come back to reality and tell myself that feeling sorry doesn’t accomplish anything. It doesn’t change things and it doesn’t help. Life isn’t fair and not everything is equal. Sometimes you wind up ahead and others you are behind. But you choose how to act on your circumstances.
I lift because I care about my health. I like the way it makes me look, but I care about what it does to the inside of me, too. I want to be a father and I want to play with my kids one day without worrying about the number that dictates my age in terms of what I can do with them. The endorphin rush I get after working out beats any other high I’ve ever felt and it provides me mental clarity. The gym is my medicine and I know what I’m like without it. I lift because in my eyes, there is no other option.
KingLeonidas9
Well-known member
Why do I life? The better question is why not?
Back in high school, i was 100 pounds. I played soccer all 4 years but I always the skinny one with a gut. But on my summer break before senior year, I started going to the gym because I wanted to get stronger and get the girls(wasn't this everyone first reason to start working out?). By the time senior year started I was 130. Newbie gains the bodybuilders and powerlifters at my gym said. I ate everything in sight and I was at the gym 2 hours every day that summer, good old jack3d, and mono creatine along with a mass gainer was what I took for 3 months. When my senior year started I had 3 selective classes that I chose on purpose, french, Italian and study, all freshman in the language classes. I was one of the ' biggest' guys in my senior year not counting the football guys but in those languages classes, i was muscle god lmao. I got with 80% of the girls in french class and 4 from Italian classes.
After high school was over I stop doing jiu-jitsu(did it from age 6 to 18) because of money and started investing my money in the gym, food and supplements. I was at the gym for hours until one day the owner said he would hire me to stay there from 2pm until 11pm when closing I said hell yes. I didn't get paid much but he did give me supplements every 2 weeks and i got to train and learn from a lot of the bodybuilders and powerlifters. I wanted to look like Lee Priest, he was such a beast. I kept working out hard because my friends were all rich and good looking. I was poor and ugly so I had to have something going for myself.
I spent years working out but never really seeing results. One day I went to do a medical and i found out that i had Tuberculosis. Did the treatment for 9 months, taking pills daily and getting my blood work done every month. My first visit to the doctor he said because of these pills i had to stop drinking alcohol, soda, and start eating a little bit cleaner. I did just that and i dropped about 10 pounds but was so much leaner! It was when I 'realized' that diet really was important.. Started eating so much cleaner and the results were very clear.
In the end of 2012, i decided to join the army. I was in Brazil and hot 100 degrees everyday I was out running and sweating my ass off so i could run 2 miles in under 17 minutes. Doing Kris Gethin's DTP every other day to not lose muscle. When I got to basic training in Fort Benning georgia it was the same 100+ weather and i was the oldest guy at 27, everyone was 18-21. I wasn't the fastest but I busted my ass on every run. I was 175 pounds when i got to basic, when i graduate top 20 out of 207 guys I was 155 pounds. Left basic and when i got to my unit they said i was going to deploy so i started working out hard again to put on weight back because i had lost a lot of my strength doing so much cardio everyday and i wanted to be ready for everything that might have happened while on deployment. When I deployed in September of 2014 I was 175 again. We were only 32 guys on the deployment and first 2 weeks in it was 130 degrees everyday. Everyone stayed in their tent and I was going to the gym, eventually guys stared asking to workout with me and teach them and 2 months in about 24 guys were working out everyday now. Everyday someone would workout with me or we be in a group of 5 or 6.
In December 2014 I got injured really bad, was in bed for 3 weeks but after I could put my foot on the ground and got crutches I started going to the gym again. Did do legs cuz of my foot but I did everything that I could sitting or laying down. I got a lot of heat for it because I couldnt do any work but I was going ot the gym so i volunteered to be the official driver for every mission and whatever we had to do. At first they said no but then the Captain said hey if he can work out then he can drive the humvee and the van, he dont need the left foot to drive. Even while on shift I would go to the gym to help out one of the guys. When i got called on the radio i would crunch my way back to the tent and fire up the humvee. At this time I was taking Test Powder and Ultimate T, AMAZING COMBO!!! After 2 months I could started walking again without crutches and I was able to squat again. To my surprised my strength was through the roof thanks to that combo and while still in pain I squatted 3 45s each side for 2 reps. Everyone called me the Illusionist Chemist cuz i used to make my own pre with a bunch of things and do stuff in the gym that amazed them.
August of 2015 we returned from deployment and i was 205 pounds. This was the heaviest I ever been in my life. I was some what fat too. I was trying hard to lose weight but my foot injury kept me from running. So i did lot of bike. Didnt help that i got a gf and she likes to eat. She didnt like working out with weighs only doing the stupid step machine. got her to start doing squats, and everything else and she started doing more weights then cardio. Her butt grew more and my weight dropped to 185 by January 2016.
In May of 2016 my contract with the military ended and i decided to move to florida. By July when i moved to Tampa I was 178. I was working with AC all summer here and didnt even need cardio, just being in the heat and attics all day was enough to get a sweat going. I woke up at 5:30 worked and got home at only 7pm most days but I still made it to the gym for 30,40mins. I didnt have a life at all till October and I was now 160 pounds. I havent been this weight in so many years... I havent worked in a month as heat is down and noone wants new AC in their home so while i look for new work and go to interviews Im eating cleaner and working out everyday. Its almost november and I'm back to 168 pounds. Eating as clean as possible and hitting hte gym every day even if its only for 30mins with 20 sec rest.
I work out cuz i live in Paradise, florida. I want to look good and i want to be healthy for as long as i can be.
Back in high school, i was 100 pounds. I played soccer all 4 years but I always the skinny one with a gut. But on my summer break before senior year, I started going to the gym because I wanted to get stronger and get the girls(wasn't this everyone first reason to start working out?). By the time senior year started I was 130. Newbie gains the bodybuilders and powerlifters at my gym said. I ate everything in sight and I was at the gym 2 hours every day that summer, good old jack3d, and mono creatine along with a mass gainer was what I took for 3 months. When my senior year started I had 3 selective classes that I chose on purpose, french, Italian and study, all freshman in the language classes. I was one of the ' biggest' guys in my senior year not counting the football guys but in those languages classes, i was muscle god lmao. I got with 80% of the girls in french class and 4 from Italian classes.
After high school was over I stop doing jiu-jitsu(did it from age 6 to 18) because of money and started investing my money in the gym, food and supplements. I was at the gym for hours until one day the owner said he would hire me to stay there from 2pm until 11pm when closing I said hell yes. I didn't get paid much but he did give me supplements every 2 weeks and i got to train and learn from a lot of the bodybuilders and powerlifters. I wanted to look like Lee Priest, he was such a beast. I kept working out hard because my friends were all rich and good looking. I was poor and ugly so I had to have something going for myself.
I spent years working out but never really seeing results. One day I went to do a medical and i found out that i had Tuberculosis. Did the treatment for 9 months, taking pills daily and getting my blood work done every month. My first visit to the doctor he said because of these pills i had to stop drinking alcohol, soda, and start eating a little bit cleaner. I did just that and i dropped about 10 pounds but was so much leaner! It was when I 'realized' that diet really was important.. Started eating so much cleaner and the results were very clear.
In the end of 2012, i decided to join the army. I was in Brazil and hot 100 degrees everyday I was out running and sweating my ass off so i could run 2 miles in under 17 minutes. Doing Kris Gethin's DTP every other day to not lose muscle. When I got to basic training in Fort Benning georgia it was the same 100+ weather and i was the oldest guy at 27, everyone was 18-21. I wasn't the fastest but I busted my ass on every run. I was 175 pounds when i got to basic, when i graduate top 20 out of 207 guys I was 155 pounds. Left basic and when i got to my unit they said i was going to deploy so i started working out hard again to put on weight back because i had lost a lot of my strength doing so much cardio everyday and i wanted to be ready for everything that might have happened while on deployment. When I deployed in September of 2014 I was 175 again. We were only 32 guys on the deployment and first 2 weeks in it was 130 degrees everyday. Everyone stayed in their tent and I was going to the gym, eventually guys stared asking to workout with me and teach them and 2 months in about 24 guys were working out everyday now. Everyday someone would workout with me or we be in a group of 5 or 6.
In December 2014 I got injured really bad, was in bed for 3 weeks but after I could put my foot on the ground and got crutches I started going to the gym again. Did do legs cuz of my foot but I did everything that I could sitting or laying down. I got a lot of heat for it because I couldnt do any work but I was going ot the gym so i volunteered to be the official driver for every mission and whatever we had to do. At first they said no but then the Captain said hey if he can work out then he can drive the humvee and the van, he dont need the left foot to drive. Even while on shift I would go to the gym to help out one of the guys. When i got called on the radio i would crunch my way back to the tent and fire up the humvee. At this time I was taking Test Powder and Ultimate T, AMAZING COMBO!!! After 2 months I could started walking again without crutches and I was able to squat again. To my surprised my strength was through the roof thanks to that combo and while still in pain I squatted 3 45s each side for 2 reps. Everyone called me the Illusionist Chemist cuz i used to make my own pre with a bunch of things and do stuff in the gym that amazed them.
August of 2015 we returned from deployment and i was 205 pounds. This was the heaviest I ever been in my life. I was some what fat too. I was trying hard to lose weight but my foot injury kept me from running. So i did lot of bike. Didnt help that i got a gf and she likes to eat. She didnt like working out with weighs only doing the stupid step machine. got her to start doing squats, and everything else and she started doing more weights then cardio. Her butt grew more and my weight dropped to 185 by January 2016.
In May of 2016 my contract with the military ended and i decided to move to florida. By July when i moved to Tampa I was 178. I was working with AC all summer here and didnt even need cardio, just being in the heat and attics all day was enough to get a sweat going. I woke up at 5:30 worked and got home at only 7pm most days but I still made it to the gym for 30,40mins. I didnt have a life at all till October and I was now 160 pounds. I havent been this weight in so many years... I havent worked in a month as heat is down and noone wants new AC in their home so while i look for new work and go to interviews Im eating cleaner and working out everyday. Its almost november and I'm back to 168 pounds. Eating as clean as possible and hitting hte gym every day even if its only for 30mins with 20 sec rest.
I work out cuz i live in Paradise, florida. I want to look good and i want to be healthy for as long as i can be.
EMPIREMIND
Well-known member
I was an athlete in highschool, track and field, field events. I always trained religiously and exceeded in my events. By the time I got to college I was recruited by a coach, but the year I started at that school he had left and the program fell wayside. I lost focus on training all together. I left college pushing 280lbs and in terrible health. Drinking smoking, impulsive eating. I loved living large but was also uncomfortable in my own skin. Clothes didn't fit right, I would be sweating alot etc. When I started dieting and training I found my love for training again, found my abs lol (which I never imagined) and felt healthier than ever. Since my initial transformation I've made leaps and bounds, but the training is what I fiend for. The feeling of lifting heavy weight gives me a high like no drug I've done. I've stopped all the smoking and drinking not because I don't like it, but because I simply don't desire it anymore. Some loud music and heavy weights and I'm right at home.
rodefeeh
Well-known member
Initially, it was because I was starting to get a little pudgy. My dad started enforcing a few times a week push-ups, chin-ups, run around the block 2x.
Then it was to hit the crap out of a baseball.
Now it's, for general health, setting a good example for my kids, giving me the extra energy throughout the day. I really enjoy setting a goal for my body and taking a journey to achieve it. I think it helps me feel young. And I just enjoy being strong too and the benefits that come with that.
Then it was to hit the crap out of a baseball.
Now it's, for general health, setting a good example for my kids, giving me the extra energy throughout the day. I really enjoy setting a goal for my body and taking a journey to achieve it. I think it helps me feel young. And I just enjoy being strong too and the benefits that come with that.
USPlabsRep
Board Sponsor
the accounting department is going to be upset about this one...
justhere4comm
Banned
blueline438
Board Sponsor
Just like usplabsWe aim to please.
KingLeonidas9
Well-known member
But so proud of our accomplishments and the things we over came. And all the great new thing we will accomplish with the usp labs stack
ChocolateClen
Well-known member
You could just give us all free stuff and have them make the following entry.
Debit Business Expenses (for our free stuff) xxx
Credit Cost of Goods Sold xxx
Now the accounting books all workout like it never happened
Debit Business Expenses (for our free stuff) xxx
Credit Cost of Goods Sold xxx
Now the accounting books all workout like it never happened
Misfit28
Well-known member
My biggest reason to lift is my son.
Many here know that I started lifting back in 2011 at a weight of 335 lbs. and almost 45% BF. I dropped down to about 220 a while back, but recntly got back to around 290 before recently getting back in the groove. I'm now down to about 280 and don't plan on stopping until I get lean AND strong!
I had never really seriously worked out or lost weight in my whole life (I was 36 at the time).
I was disgusted with my body and knew I had to change if I was going to be there for my son. I also want to be a role model to him, so that he doesn't neglect physical fitness like I did for so long.
Although I kinda fell off the wagon a bit the last few months, I'm back at it and hitting it hard. I know the only one who can change this and get fit again is me.
I love all the support that people give on this forum, and appreciate all the support that has been given to me over my time on here.
Cheers to all of these great stories!
Many here know that I started lifting back in 2011 at a weight of 335 lbs. and almost 45% BF. I dropped down to about 220 a while back, but recntly got back to around 290 before recently getting back in the groove. I'm now down to about 280 and don't plan on stopping until I get lean AND strong!
I had never really seriously worked out or lost weight in my whole life (I was 36 at the time).
I was disgusted with my body and knew I had to change if I was going to be there for my son. I also want to be a role model to him, so that he doesn't neglect physical fitness like I did for so long.
Although I kinda fell off the wagon a bit the last few months, I'm back at it and hitting it hard. I know the only one who can change this and get fit again is me.
I love all the support that people give on this forum, and appreciate all the support that has been given to me over my time on here.
Cheers to all of these great stories!
justhere4comm
Banned
Love following your progress!!!
angcd3
Well-known member
Ok here is mine. And honestly it's much like a lot the other ones on here. And that's one thing that I've noticed about people like the ones on this board we all have a reason something that drives us to be better each and every day.
Like quite a few others on here I was always the chubby athletic kid. Played soccer, tennis, basketball and was good at them all even though I looked like I didn't have any business playing them. Blew my knee out playing soccer in 12th grade and that pretty much ended my athletic career. So when a chubby Italian kid stops pretty much doing any type of activity you can guess what happens. I gained a decent amount of weight all throughout college, never actually stepped on a scale so not sure how much. But found powerlifting as a junior in college and was able to add some muscle and was just a the “big” guy who was the bouncer at party’s carried the kegs… you know the drill. Needed something moved they called me….
A few years after college I got married was around 260 at this time still power lifting up until I got married. Then it all stopped, I stopped going to the gym had a real job and just got comfortable in my life and just pretty much sat home and ate. After about 2 years I had ballooned up to 320 had no muscle tone at all and I honestly wasn't going to stop. It was changing everything, who I was as a person..my blood pressure was sky high so I was pretty much slowly killing myself… and my marriage wasn’t the same. I never wanted to go out do anything at all I was embarrassed of what I had become so I just stayed home and ate I wasn’t happy and I could tell it was very hard on her too. And I remember this day like it was yesterday My wife had a holiday party to go I really didn’t want to go but I was going to for her… but I didn’t have a suit. So we headed out the store Men’s Warehouse to be exact, and proceeded to try and find something to fit me. The salesmen must have brought me who knows how many pairs of pants to try and suit jackets, the amount of alterations they had to do to make it fit( which I use loosely) was ridiculous. I remember sitting in the dressing room sweating, pretty much in tears realizing what I had become, I can look back and laugh about it now, especailly the size of that damn zipper on those pants was ridiculous!! But from that night forward I said never again, I'm going to change I’m not going to be an embarrassment to myself or most importantly to my wife. Fast forward to today I am 215lbs I have two wonderful kids, and my beautiful wife.. and I don’t know what I would do without them. But who knows what would have happened if I didn’t get off my ass and back in the gym it not only changed my life but quite honestly saved it.
Like quite a few others on here I was always the chubby athletic kid. Played soccer, tennis, basketball and was good at them all even though I looked like I didn't have any business playing them. Blew my knee out playing soccer in 12th grade and that pretty much ended my athletic career. So when a chubby Italian kid stops pretty much doing any type of activity you can guess what happens. I gained a decent amount of weight all throughout college, never actually stepped on a scale so not sure how much. But found powerlifting as a junior in college and was able to add some muscle and was just a the “big” guy who was the bouncer at party’s carried the kegs… you know the drill. Needed something moved they called me….
A few years after college I got married was around 260 at this time still power lifting up until I got married. Then it all stopped, I stopped going to the gym had a real job and just got comfortable in my life and just pretty much sat home and ate. After about 2 years I had ballooned up to 320 had no muscle tone at all and I honestly wasn't going to stop. It was changing everything, who I was as a person..my blood pressure was sky high so I was pretty much slowly killing myself… and my marriage wasn’t the same. I never wanted to go out do anything at all I was embarrassed of what I had become so I just stayed home and ate I wasn’t happy and I could tell it was very hard on her too. And I remember this day like it was yesterday My wife had a holiday party to go I really didn’t want to go but I was going to for her… but I didn’t have a suit. So we headed out the store Men’s Warehouse to be exact, and proceeded to try and find something to fit me. The salesmen must have brought me who knows how many pairs of pants to try and suit jackets, the amount of alterations they had to do to make it fit( which I use loosely) was ridiculous. I remember sitting in the dressing room sweating, pretty much in tears realizing what I had become, I can look back and laugh about it now, especailly the size of that damn zipper on those pants was ridiculous!! But from that night forward I said never again, I'm going to change I’m not going to be an embarrassment to myself or most importantly to my wife. Fast forward to today I am 215lbs I have two wonderful kids, and my beautiful wife.. and I don’t know what I would do without them. But who knows what would have happened if I didn’t get off my ass and back in the gym it not only changed my life but quite honestly saved it.
MidwestBeast
Legend
angcd3
Well-known member
angcd3 -- love your story, brother. Good for you for fighting through and not giving up.
Glad there's a happy ending -- except, it's not an ending; just a "to be continued" but at a very good bookmark
Thanks brother.. I appreciate it.. Yours is amazing as well l.. a lot of similarities in our journeys. ! so you know where I'm coming from. But you are right its not and ending and never will be!
justhere4comm
Banned
It is a lot like other stories in this discussion. That doesn't discount your struggle and achievement.
I am thankful you shared your story. It validates this man's resolve to become fit for life again.
Hyde
Legend
What an excellent thread, with or without the promo!
Like many others, lifting began as a means to lose weight/improve confidence and health. What it has become though....something else entirely. As a powerlifter you would assume it's about the pounds on the bar for me, but really it's about reaching for something more.
Lifting is my resolute denial of all the bs and limitation this world tries to force me to accept. We don't get to choose many circumstances in life, but we do get to decide how we will meet them. What kind of man we will be in the face of adversity. Whether we will come quietly, or stand for something more, because it's what we believe in.
The iron is sanctuary. It's therapy. It's training. Lifting is a metaphor for life.
Like many others, lifting began as a means to lose weight/improve confidence and health. What it has become though....something else entirely. As a powerlifter you would assume it's about the pounds on the bar for me, but really it's about reaching for something more.
Lifting is my resolute denial of all the bs and limitation this world tries to force me to accept. We don't get to choose many circumstances in life, but we do get to decide how we will meet them. What kind of man we will be in the face of adversity. Whether we will come quietly, or stand for something more, because it's what we believe in.
The iron is sanctuary. It's therapy. It's training. Lifting is a metaphor for life.
Misfit28
Well-known member
Well said!
borobulker
Well-known member
I actually thought about this idea this morning, man.
Days just aren't the same when I don't get in and smash it.
The Solution
Legend
KingLeonidas9
Well-known member
i just read your reply out loud so my gf could hear it and i got slapped in the back along with a "who is this beach you been smashing every day when im not here??"
thorsdad31
Well-known member
I forgot to add this my oldest of 2 sons reppin usp!!!Invalid Link Removed
