As the health and fitness industry explodes, fitness/bodybuilding competitions are becoming increasingly more popular. The idea of looking and feeling like a modern-day Arnold Schwarzenegger feels exhilarating. Having minimal body fat, glistening skin, popping muscle bellies, and skyrocketing self-confidence is secretly the dream for the majority of people.
However, this God/Goddess-like feeling doesn’t come without its disadvantages. Like anything else in life, the universe requires equilibrium. This equilibrium comes in the form of sacrifice and these sacrifices must be thought about before pulling the trigger on living the extreme lifestyle of bodybuilding competition.
This industry requires an incredible amount of time. This time, for most, comes in double-digit numbers of years. This is just for the possibility to become successful. If patience isn’t your game, then you may be in for a big surprise. You need the time to prep your food and to keep your nutrition on point every day. Sacrificing date nights, family outings, and events become a regular occurrence. You’ll find yourself hauling your food and water everywhere you go, and every day is going to seem like Groundhog Day.
Success in bodybuilding, like anything else in life, will require sacrifice.
Only for the lucky few this industry can become monetarily rewarding. For 99.9% of everyone else, it’s nothing but a financial burden. The cost of food, travel, recovery, competitions, supplements, etc. can add up to tens of thousands of dollars extra per year.
Get ready to throw your fluffy pillow out of the window because comfort is going to be a thing of the past. Pushing the body to build muscle is painful. Dieting into the low single-digit body fat percentages is mentally and physically exhausting. Learning your body’s biomechanics and nutritional requirements is going to be a whole new world and developing new daily habits is going to change the entire way you live your life.
Taking all this into consideration, this is going to have a drastic impact on your romantic and personal relationships. Personally, this industry has been the demise of many relationships because the sacrifices required don’t fit the traditional agenda. It’s very rare to see a relationship last when one person is in the industry and the other is not. It’s unfortunate, but it’s true.
Success in bodybuilding, like anything else in life, will require sacrifice. That comes in forms like time, finances, relationships, comfort, patience, etc. We all need to be aware of the potential downsides this industry can dish out in order to help combat them. Like scheduling dates, improving time management, and organization, becoming more financially responsible, etc. With some little tricks and time, it can become easier to live this extreme life.
The only person stopping you is you. Be willing and prepared to sacrifice what you must to succeed. If you’re not, that’s understandable as well because it’s not easy. However, we cannot expect reward if sacrifices are not made
