For best result, Wrestling First! Then weights and then fighting.
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Pretty much this ^
Also, I would watch Rambo from ages 10-13 and do hundreds of push-ups and sit-ups. That soundtrack worked wonders. Aside from Sly, Dolph and Arnold have always been my motivation.
Did anybody else start chugging eggs after watching Rocky?
Me and my brothers did. My dad finally clued us in a little and told us to throw some nutmeg and milk into the blender with it.
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I honestly did not put in the work to get enough our of it. Read: I quit after a month, didn’t always do the whole workout and was no good at following the eating plan.
Chugging eggs actually tasted better than my first tub of cheap Wal-Mart protein. I used to hold my nose and slam the stuff like I was chugging a beer.
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New Here.
Growing up, I was a nerdy, introverted oddball (and inside I still am). I was into reading and other nerdy pursuits. But I always felt alienated from sports and was in awe (and a bit fearful) of big strong guys. Sports and muscle were those things I wasn’t. I was a short, chubby kid who didn’t realize that I actually had a decent build for strength, if I just made the effort.
After high school, I went through some personal issues, and I needed something to pour my anger and rage into. Although still introverted and still kinda nerdy, I started to get involved in physical activities, sports, etc… At the center of it all was weights. I started with machines, but soon found myself doing free weights. I was inspired by all the images of strength you could see in movies and comics and such (others have said this also, but seeing these images of what you are not can drive you to become that!). I was also inspired by Henry Rollins, who was formerly of Black Flag, and who often wrote music and spoken word work that dealt with making yourself strong. That was over 25 years ago.
Although still nerdy inside, now people hardly ever see me that way. People always comment on my strength and muscle, and people who don’t know me too well always respond to me like I’m a musclehead jock. It always amuses me that I have both of these sides to me (the very nerdy inside and the jockish outside) and I’ve managed to become something I used to feel very apart from.
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That sounds like me too.
It was so neat when a couple of weeks after I started lifting that I saw an issue of Muscle & Fitness at the supermarket and realized, “Hey! I can buy that and use the information now!” That may sound silly now, but even then it wasn’t like I thought I’d look like Arnold or whoever by copying their routine, I mean the general fitness and weight training information. I was part of a sport now, in a way.
Dad bought me a weight set because he wanted me to be a champion wrestler. I was six. My hometown dropped wrestling due to lack of interest a few years later. Kept lifting because I liked being strong.
When about 17, Some Feeemale I had a huge crush on told me about some guy she gave her digits to on the weekend. Said he made her laugh like me, same height but… “twice as thick, like… you couldn’t push him around” 
For the next 6 months my workouts looked exactly like this…
(well in my mind anyway)
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I sobered up and needed something to do. Preferably something early in the morning that forced me to go to bed early. Enter lifting - pretty hooked ever since.
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reflection in the mirror inspires me the most. I want to take part in the local bodybuilding contest one day
Played football.
Somewhere during my senior year, I realized I liked the off season conditioning and lifting more than the game.
I love that I’m responding to a zombocalypse thread with a serious answer.
And that answer is Arnold. Arnold was my absolute #1 inspiration.
I came from being really, really small as a kid and young adult, and I wanted to know what strength felt like. I wanted to know what it felt like to be big. Just what that life was like as a whole.
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Years ago I began lifting for the chicks. Once I was off the market I began to lose motivation until I discovered powerlifting. Powerlifting gives me set goals which is what helps me stay motivated.
And how does it feel flip?
He feels really narrow. Nothing you can do with those clavicles.
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I wanted to be stronger and faster not necessarily bigger. But that didn’t work out lol.
I used to like watching world’s strongest man. I used to think, quite irrationally, that strength was completely innate and couldn’t be improved. That held be back for a long time. Plus I wanted to bend an iron bar once I could do it (i.e. a long bar) I was hooked on it. That is until I kept injuring my hands by not getting a good base. Later I wanted to get stronger and faster for sprinting but got too fat for that eventually.
Just want to keep healthy and strong in middle age.
High school - cause the cool kids were doing it. Quit after a few weeks.
20 years later - To bring myself out of a very dark place. Can’t envision stopping, really.
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After struggling with an eating disorder for nearly 14 years. I decided to channel the dedication, obsessive-like behavior, and commitment from hurting myself, into something that would better myself and my body. Took a very very long time to reprogram my mind from that action:reward cycle I had put myself in for years. I enjoy being free, and being able to eat, to nourish myself, to train, and to see what my body is capable of.
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A lot about my perception changed over time. I remember very specifically that I thought if I got to around 180 lbs and lean, I would have ‘made it’. That was my ultimate goal. Basically 20 lbs lighter than I am now at a comparable bodyfat.
A big part of the change was my shift in goals, because I cared so much more about aesthetics than strength. I experienced the biggest change in my lifting life when I started caring about leg strength, and I began squatting regularly. I began to love chasing heavy lifts, hitting pr’s, the pressure on the body of full-body lifts like squats and deadlifts. Then when I began competing, it took things to another level. I love competition now. I love training specificity.
But I guess to answer your question more directly, I would never want to go back. I like who I am much more. This lifestyle has costs to be sure. Time, money, and energy go into this. But for me it’s all well worth it. It’s a cool feeling to walk into just about any room in ‘real life’ and know I’m the strongest guy there, or that i’ve got easily the best physique. I love dwarfing the lifting bros. A lot of self confidence came with lifting. On top of that, I learned discipline. I didn’t grow up with it, but I have learned it through the gym, and it’s translated well to the rest of my life.
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