T Nation

What are Your Goals in Bodybuilding?

Beginners
#1

I’m wondering what are some of your goals if you don’t plan on competing on stage. I just want to get an idea of some of your thinking of why you train the way you do and eat the way you do in order to achieve this goal. For example, someone might use strength as a goal and continue to progress in moving bigger weights, but to me that might be more powerlifter than bodybuilder. Some might use size as a goal and taking measurements as a way to track progress. This would explain why many are on a continual bulk and would make no sense to cut. Some like me like to use the mirror as a goal. If I see what I like, then I’m progressing.

This, however, makes the bulk/cut method discouraging. There would be months maybe years that I don’t like what I see in the mirror. Let’s say I do put in my time and get to 250 (currently 5’9 200lb) and can finally cut to reveal whatever muscle I’ve built, then what? Would it be just maintenance from then on? There’s no contest to prepare, so why would I bulk again? If I was looking to get bigger, then why would I waste a few months cutting earlier? I’m beginning to wonder if my thinking is completely wrong and I don’t even have the right goal to start with.

As a newbie still searching for answers, please share what some of your goals are and what bodybuilding means to you.

#2

Yeah dude, it’s really good to know why you’re lifting.

Keep coming back.

#3

[quote]
I’m wondering what are some of your goals if you don’t plan on competing on stage[/quote]

Getting strong and getting laid.

#4

7728b_ORIG-Capture.jpg977×650 109 KB

[quote]tiburontiburon wrote:

I’m wondering what are some of your goals if you don’t plan on competing on stage

Getting strong and getting laid.[/quote]

Speaking of getting laid. You bumped every thread from the past 2 months with less than 10 replies.

#5

[quote]tomkade wrote:
I’m wondering what are some of your goals if you don’t plan on competing on stage.[/quote]

Maybe cuz they like the way they look, feel good about it and simply enjoy the activity of training, gives a feeling of accomplishment and a little bit of “me” time outside of work, home and family duties.

It’s no different from people who play soccer, bbal, deadlift or train martial arts several times a week without ever considering to compete. It’s a very personal thing, one that satisfies and entertains the person. Once removed from a context of crude survival, a person needs continuous mental and physical stimulus.

Different people find that in different ways. Some (or I guess most) of T-Nation’s readers find it in bodybuilding, or at least in activities that involves moving heavy shit on a regular basis.

In other words, it it makes you happy, do it. If it no longer makes you happy, do something else that does.

#6

I enjoy the challenge, pushing myself, being healthy. Plus I’m an extremely competitive and active person, so its a great way to get some energy out

#7

Just answering the ladies’ questions. But thanks for the spot bro.

#8

Even if you never compete, it’s nice knowing you are stronger than the majority of people on the planet.

You don’t need to compare youself to other people. Compare yourself to yourself a year ago. There is always something you could do to make yourself better, whether it be with your mind, body or w/e.

Google “The Adonis Complex”.

#9

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:
tiburontiburon wrote:

I’m wondering what are some of your goals if you don’t plan on competing on stage

Getting strong and getting laid.

Speaking of getting laid. You bumped every thread from the past 2 months with less than 10 replies. [/quote]

I think reborn_TN is back. And this time, he’s not sparing the lesser forums.

#10

Great thread.

The reasons you get under the bar are the same reasons you get out of bed in the morning. And the point of life is whatever you want it to be.

I had a buddy who took every line of the Bible literally. I asked him what his kids were dressing up for this Halloween and he said, “Oh, we don’t celebrate that.” People like this are like lifters who worship at the feet of Simmons or Tate or Rippetoe or LaLanne and believe everything uttered from a specific oracle, without applying logic or reason to the information they read.

I lifted with another guy who read the Selfish Gene by Dawkins and somehow convinced himself that the point of life was to get laid as much as possible. Interesting guy, knows a lot about STDs, has biceps you would kill for, but he couldn’t make it 1/2way through The Ancestor’s Tale. He’ll talk your ear off about The Game if you get him started. And he knows 30 ways to work your tris.

Some people, maybe the toughest people you know, just want to be there tomorrow when the sun rises. They’re fighting crime, they’re fighting fires, they’re fighting terrorists. And they’re lifting because if they aren’t the strongest man in tomorrow’s fight, then they’re dead. They squat, they clean, they bleed, they press.

Other people think that life is some sort of competition. Who built the bigger nest, who killed the bigger mastodon, who has the bigger TV, who has the bigger crank? These people are usually sport-specific. They lift so they can go over the middle on 3rd down, or snatch more than the Russian next to them, or hit the softball longer than anyone in the league. First place drives them. (There are similar people who think that point of life is to celebrate and have a good time. These are the most interesting people you will ever meet. They bounce around from program to program, have lots of good equipment in their garage, like to drink a lots of beers after they squat, etc.)

Some people’s goals are to get down to their tight-whiteys, cover themselves in oil, get on stage, and flex in front of other men. I’m not sure what this equates to in real life.

Other guys, old guys like me, are tired and have families and mortgages and too much debt from grad school. They just want to be strong so that when they get H1N1 or get hit by a bus or get jumped by Chris Brown they have enough in the tank to hold on and to provide.