What goes through your mind, if anything, while you lift?
Why did you start, and why did you continue?
While lifting I am thinking about which muscle fibers types will be activated in my muscle groups. Between sets, I thought about what i would be doing next, how many seconds till the next set and why it was important to rest for allotted time period.
I started lifting "seriously" around 23yrs old. After a lifetime of people calling me skinny and weak, i devised a plan to do something about it. I also thought if I looked more "muscular" I would be "sexier" and everything that goes with it. During this time I had not accomplished many of the goals I had for my life and was looking for something to be good at. I had just dropped out of engineering school a couple years earlier "math challenges".
I read everything I could find on bodybuilding and nutrition. I studied bodybuilders with similar body types and backgrounds. With this information i created a workout. I had mediocre success. After talking to one of the Sergeant that looked like LL Cool J about what he did. Our squad deployed and I spent that deployment training. When we returned, I was surfing the net and I joined a bodybuilding website and it changed everything. I watched and observed for a few months and then became involved in the forum. I began to learn the real "secrets" to getting more muscular. using these methods i trained. I began a blog to track my workouts. Also, by training I did not have to participate in organized PT with my unit. I really do not like organized PT, so this motivated me to be consistent. I began to get noticed by the "guys" in my squad and comments were made. Most people would love this attention, i however did not so I would wear my uniform top all the time so people could not really tell that I was getting bigger but they noticed again when we would deploy. I hated that, I did not want that kind of attention.
So finally in the forum we started talking about competing and how that would be funny to act like bodybuilders. So then I had a new challenge to see if I could be a bodybuilder and understand what that means. I learned everything I could about contest prep and even had a prep guy give me a plan. I was able to study how meal manipulation and training frequency affected a dieting bodybuilder. I tracked everything from training to sleep. Finally, after 10 weeks of "dieting" i competed and won my novice show. One may ask if I did not want attention, why did I compete now. I was testing my theories and it was working so that was cool. i accepted that I would have to get on stage to evaluate the whole experience.
Competing was done and now I was trying to figure out what to do next. So I wanted to be strong and evaluate that process. Now have another theory to test. I learned what I could about how to deadlift and set a goal to lift 500lbs. I modified my bodybuilding training methods to incorporate the strength training regime. I tracked each step in the process while preparing to compete one more time. I competed again and came in 2nd place for my Pro Card. This proved to me that my bodytype and training methods would not work for bodybuilding and so after an empty promise to compete again, I never did. I kept training and exceeded my goal of 500lbs. I deadlifted 555. So, because my desire to bodybuilding was going away, I was also losing weight. I started practicing like I was going to diet down for a show. I was still lifting heavy though. 555lb deadlifts 415lbs squats, i hated the bench press (so did my body) Little did I know my body was breaking. I was not built for what I was doing. One day I squatted 425lbs parallel. This was a record for me and I was "dieting" as well. My body said "FU, bastard" and my lower back was sore but it was not because of the record squat. I was doing regular squats 405 in my 88% range and I stayed between the 88% and 97% range for 8 weeks. If one knows anything about strength training, this is not right. Like I said my back said FU 8 weeks after my record lift. I had to stop training.
3 months later i went back to the gym, it was not the same anymore. I exceed all of my expectations and with nothing left to analyze. I stopped going. It was done. All during the experience people would ask me for help to analyze their routines an nutrition. I even won a contest and ended up in a magazine ad in the 6 of the major bodybuilding magazines. My Commanding officer found out about this and singled me out on a deployment roll call and of course I did not like that. Everyone knew i lifted but I still never took my shirt off. I trained with a hoodie and sweatpants regardless of the time of years.
Now I am done. I have tried a few times to lift and I cannot do it from a mental standpoint. I have analyzed everything related to bodybuilding and my body, there is nothing left. When I exercise now, I do pullups, pushups and walk on the treadmill. I used to hate running when i was in the service but I might try it. at least it will be something new to analyze. I probably will not do it. I could try Tai Chi. i still get questions about training but I have little desire to lift myself. My body has gone back down but I still look a little muscular compared to the old me. Now I just look like a normal "sensor" that did not lift. That is ok with me. I have plenty of other things to occupy my mind than bodybuilding.
Note: I went back to school and finished a degree (Not a technical one but I did get one). I had a lot of credits from Business, Communication, Computers Systems, Nutrition and Anthropology. I am a Program Manager.
