Should you be stepping on stage that early?
- Mar 24, 2016
- 4 min read
Like anything in life most of us want it now, we don’t want to wait. We live in a fast paced society were if anything takes longer than expected than it must be broken or not working correctly. Remember how long it used to take to load a website 6 years ago? If you did, you know that it’s incredible how today we don’t’ even have to type the full URL of the site we are looking for, as it’s already probably suggested and that site is already being loaded up before you even clicked on it. That’s the mentality though that we carry over to the fitness world and our own bodies.
Even with the heavy use of anabolic steroids in the fitness industry, this can’t be accomplished without time and consistency. Marketing, forums and certain athletes make us think that it’s all possible if you buy their product line or take what they are taking. This creates a youth that’s also inpatient for optimal change in their bodies and wants to prove it sometimes on stage. I clearly remember my first show. I was 19 and I had just arrived in the U.S. the year before that. It was a dream of mine since 16 to step on stage and start that lifestyle. I worked hard and took 3rd out of 3 in the teen bodybuilding division. You’d think that would unmotivate me but it did not, contrary, it motivated me to keep growing and step again on stage. I took almost 3 years off and stepped again on stage at 21 and won my lightheavy weight division as a bodybuilder in a natural show. So whom am I to tell the younger population to wait a few more years before they step on stage? Well I’m the guy who’s’ been competing for 10 years now straight every year non stop, placing top 10 in the Mr. Olympia and living the life of a competitor and fitness spokesman for multiple international companies. So I have experience. Personal experience. Something that many these days in the fitness world don’t and like to preach when they haven’t even stepped the path or have only once but now have a lifetime of knowledge they want to pass. Let me make this clear, no two shows are alike. One show can physically be tough and mentally be easy and then the next will almost destroy you mentally but be easy physically.
I’m not telling younger generations to not compete but I am encouraging them to wait a few more years to develop the body and more importantly the mindset needed to truly become champions on stage. Competing does have it’s pro’s. It lead me to build discipline in my life; outside and inside the gym. I built discipline towards others in life and it made me learn how to be patient. However when younger populations now surrounded by social media (something I did not grow up with) see all these mid 30, 40’s year old athletes and want to look like them without considering the years and years of training that went behind that, the first thing they want to do is rush it. How do they rush it? The first thought that comes in mind is with the heavy use of anabolic steroids; to which they don’t even understand the ways they work or should be used. I’m not against AAS but like anything you put in your body they must be respected and used correctly. Most teens and younger adults just google how to use AAS and what others are using. That’s ridiculous. Most recreational gym goers these days use more AAS than competitors with worst results.
With the pressure of having to look a certain way on stage in ‘X’ amount of weeks or days people will do whatever it takes to win a $10 trophee and the tittle. What people need to understand, is that it takes a long time to develop the body of your dreams. I’ll say that again….takes time. Stepping on stage doesn’t create the right atmosphere to take your time and become the best you you can possibly be, instead it puts pressure on the individual to rush things and do whatever possible to look the way they have too. See what’s wrong there? ‘Look the way they are supposed too’ and health is not even a matter of consideration. Social media is a huge reason why teens and younger adults seek fast results. They believe that looking a certain way will make them better in life. Attract the girls (or guys), make them the ‘alpha’ etc…While bodybuilding or any type of exercise that challenges you is exceptional if not even needed it’s a different world when you decide to want to step on stage. The maturity in most teens heads is not enough and they want to rush being on that stage to prove something. If you truly want to be the best on that stage and competing is something you truly believe inside of yourself to be your life than wait a few years. Allow your body to develop at least into you mid 20’s and than see what type of damage you can do. True…the best of the best started early in life. But that’s a 5% of the population that knew from the time they were 12-13yrs old that that’s they wanted to do. They usually come from families of bodybuilders or athletes and they have it imprinted into their soul from birth. I’m not saying that’s not you, but be very realistic with yourself. Goal setting and day dreaming are different and you are talking about your body and health here. Not a material thing you can dispose when you are done with it once you are done with the fad.
Think really well if stepping on stage at a younger age will benefit you. Will it make you a better person? If you believe that it’s your ‘call’ in life and that it’s what you were meant to do, by all means start early and kill it. However, don’t fall under the web temptation that you need to step on stage at that early of an age to prove something to anyone. Build a solid foundation to your physique and than keep improving on that until you feel you are truly ready.
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