Anyone Stopped Competing?

[1992mag]

Anyone use to compete but then just stopped? Just asked yourself if it was worth it? I'm currently 10 weeks out from a national level show and I was really excited, and now I'm just questioning myself whether I should even still compete. It's in the NPC by the way. The way I was looking at it was you put in the weeks and weeks of very strict dieting, cardio, etc. just to get up on stage for a couple of minutes and possibly get screwed over cause 1.) politics, sponsors, etc. 2.) judging usually sucks in NPC and theyre more concerned with making money than putting on a good show. And I'll also add that I do physique not bodybuilding. In my first show I clearly looked best, was the biggest, yet I placed very poorly because they said my v-taper was too much, lats too big/too wide...wtf??!?! Put in all the money for that NPC card, registration for the show, tanning, traveling, hotel, etc. I enjoy doing it and its a lot of fun but I sometimes wonder if its worth it all. I can still have a ton of fun just lifting and watching my body change. Unsure what to do. Anyone been in a similar situation?

[Metalject]

I understand the way you're feeling. It's a lot of work, a lot of suffering and a lot of insanity for almost nothing at all. Consider this:

1. Will you make money? No
2. Will you win admiration & fame? No
3. Will your friends think your bad ass? No
4. Will your life be dramatically improved? No
5. Will you spend massive amounts of money? Yes

I know the above sounds depressing but it's simply reality. But if you enjoy bodybuilding simply for the sake of bodybuilding, it's a hobby you enjoy and it's not damaging your life, meaning you're not hurting your wife, kids, etc. then by all means do it. If you're doing it so you can say things like "I'm trying to better myself" please discontinue speaking, lol! Bodybuilding's all about ego with a little caveman attitude thrown in when it's done right.

Anyway, I do give competing a hard time pretty often - on one hand I wasted a lot of time and money on it and I've seen countless guys destroy themselves because of it and for nothing. But I've also seen some, the minority who do it, love it and move on with their life just fine.

Physique - I'm not a fan of it because it's impossible to judge fairly. Bodybuilding is already difficult enough to judge fairly, but physique seems to be even worse. How do you define too much or too little v-taper? How is it possible to be too hard? I've seen this more than once, guy competes in physique, wins a show, competes in another one 1wk later, looks the same maybe a little better and doesn't place. Gets beat by less muscular fatter guys. How does that make sense? Of course it doesn't make any sense but it happens constantly.

Anyway, if this is something you're going to continue to do, you have to find a reason to do it that you enjoy. That doesn't mean the diet and prep is going to be a whole lot of fun, but there has to be a purpose that you get some satisfaction out of.

[1992mag]

I understand the way you're feeling. It's a lot of work, a lot of suffering and a lot of insanity for almost nothing at all. Consider this:

1. Will you make money? No
2. Will you win admiration & fame? No
3. Will your friends think your bad ass? No
4. Will your life be dramatically improved? No
5. Will you spend massive amounts of money? Yes

I know the above sounds depressing but it's simply reality. But if you enjoy bodybuilding simply for the sake of bodybuilding, it's a hobby you enjoy and it's not damaging your life, meaning you're not hurting your wife, kids, etc. then by all means do it. If you're doing it so you can say things like "I'm trying to better myself" please discontinue speaking, lol! Bodybuilding's all about ego with a little caveman attitude thrown in when it's done right.

Anyway, I do give competing a hard time pretty often - on one hand I wasted a lot of time and money on it and I've seen countless guys destroy themselves because of it and for nothing. But I've also seen some, the minority who do it, love it and move on with their life just fine.

Physique - I'm not a fan of it because it's impossible to judge fairly. Bodybuilding is already difficult enough to judge fairly, but physique seems to be even worse. How do you define too much or too little v-taper? How is it possible to be too hard? I've seen this more than once, guy competes in physique, wins a show, competes in another one 1wk later, looks the same maybe a little better and doesn't place. Gets beat by less muscular fatter guys. How does that make sense? Of course it doesn't make any sense but it happens constantly.

Anyway, if this is something you're going to continue to do, you have to find a reason to do it that you enjoy. That doesn't mean the diet and prep is going to be a whole lot of fun, but there has to be a purpose that you get some satisfaction out of.

Exactly. Although I don't mind the hard work, the dieting, cardio, etc. I love it. It's fun to watch it all pay off in the form of looking incredible. And it hasn't affected me negatively in any way since competing. I've only done two shows, but me getting screwed over so badly in my first and getting told my v-taper is too much and I was too wide is a bit ridiculous. There was a guy that looked like he'd probably been lifting for about 6 months and was just really skinny, got 3rd. Made no sense to me. Just don't want to put in the money and everything just to have some scrawny kid beat me out whos put in 1/16th of the work I've put in. I'm only 21 as well so I feel like stopping already is too soon. But I also know some guys just a couple years older than me who've also stopped competing for all the reasons I'm talking about. Maybe not even completely stop competing, but at least get out of the NPC and maybe move into the WBFF.

[Metalject]

Exactly. Although I don't mind the hard work, the dieting, cardio, etc. I love it. It's fun to watch it all pay off in the form of looking incredible. And it hasn't affected me negatively in any way since competing. I've only done two shows, but me getting screwed over so badly in my first and getting told my v-taper is too much and I was too wide is a bit ridiculous. There was a guy that looked like he'd probably been lifting for about 6 months and was just really skinny, got 3rd. Made no sense to me. Just don't want to put in the money and everything just to have some scrawny kid beat me out whos put in 1/16th of the work I've put in. I'm only 21 as well so I feel like stopping already is too soon. But I also know some guys just a couple years older than me who've also stopped competing for all the reasons I'm talking about. Maybe not even completely stop competing, but at least get out of the NPC and maybe move into the WBFF.

I've seen and experienced this myself first hand. There are times when you are legitimately beat and times that your placing makes little to no sense. There is often very little consistency from one show to the next in how its judged. Even the IFBB is stuck in this mess and has been for years.

The WBFF, it showed real promise for awhile in terms of being fair in terms of how the shows are judged. I haven't kept up with it recently and have heard some of the same negative things you hear about the NPC and IFBB. That's not surprising but I can't speak on the validity.

Good luck to you and welcome to the messed up world, lol!

[stirated]

I respect the above comments and would like to add my reasons. I got asked to prepare someone for a show and all of a sudden the fire was relit, now I had done pretty well in my early years placing at a national level 100% clean.

I look at it like this I cant control what the judges see and to be quite honest nor do give a rats arse, this is a sport not a life defining moment and if im not good enough on the day then so be it.

We need to enjoy what we do none of us is going to be the next MR O if im not mistaken.

Drug use in this sport is out of control and what I have seen worked 10 years ago would now be considered a cruise.

For most including myself we are never going to reach the top because we just are not good enough, compete because you enjoy it, don't put your relationships ,work, marriage and friendships at risk.

Just my thoughts and I hope it helps, bodybuilding is a great sport but its a sport which dose not define us.

[1992mag]

I respect the above comments and would like to add my reasons. I got asked to prepare someone for a show and all of a sudden the fire was relit, now I had done pretty well in my early years placing at a national level 100% clean.

I look at it like this I cant control what the judges see and to be quite honest nor do give a rats arse, this is a sport not a life defining moment and if im not good enough on the day then so be it.

We need to enjoy what we do none of us is going to be the next MR O if im not mistaken.

Drug use in this sport is out of control and what I have seen worked 10 years ago would now be considered a cruise.

For most including myself we are never going to reach the top because we just are not good enough, compete because you enjoy it, don't put your relationships ,work, marriage and friendships at risk.

Just my thoughts and I hope it helps, bodybuilding is a great sport but its a sport which dose not define us.

Very true. Yeah I decided what I'm going to do. My original plan was to do 2 shows this summer, back to back weekends, the second one being a national level show where'd I'd be going for my pro card. I calculated the cost to do both shows and it came out to about $685 without the cost of traveling and the hotel. So then it'd come out to probably $1,000. And I stopped and thought to myself "Why am I in such a rush just to go pro?" When really, going pro means nothing really...other than you can say, "yeah i'm a pro" cool, so what. And also I'm only 21 so i got plenty of time. So I decided to skip those two shows since I want to be all in and 100% focused if I'm going to be doing them and especially paying that kind of money. Dont want to be half assing it, second guessing myself. So instead I'm just going to do a show nearby in late August that I did last summer that qualified me for a national level. This will give me way more time to prep adn itll be a much slower relaxed prep and it'll give me another shot at competing and since its just a smaller regional show there no pressure and I see whether I want to keep doing this or not. And shit, I might not even ever really bother with a national level show and maybe just do these smaller regional shows just for fun every summer. Just to stay a little competitive. But who knows. I'm still really young and got plenty of time. I really shouldn't even be thinking about this so much in the first place cause like you said Striated, it doesnt define us its just something we really enjoy doing. Thanks for your guys responses though. Both helpful in making my decision.

[stirated]

Very true. Yeah I decided what I'm going to do. My original plan was to do 2 shows this summer, back to back weekends, the second one being a national level show where'd I'd be going for my pro card. I calculated the cost to do both shows and it came out to about $685 without the cost of traveling and the hotel. So then it'd come out to probably $1,000. And I stopped and thought to myself "Why am I in such a rush just to go pro?" When really, going pro means nothing really...other than you can say, "yeah i'm a pro" cool, so what. And also I'm only 21 so i got plenty of time. So I decided to skip those two shows since I want to be all in and 100% focused if I'm going to be doing them and especially paying that kind of money. Dont want to be half assing it, second guessing myself. So instead I'm just going to do a show nearby in late August that I did last summer that qualified me for a national level. This will give me way more time to prep adn itll be a much slower relaxed prep and it'll give me another shot at competing and since its just a smaller regional show there no pressure and I see whether I want to keep doing this or not. And shit, I might not even ever really bother with a national level show and maybe just do these smaller regional shows just for fun every summer. Just to stay a little competitive. But who knows. I'm still really young and got plenty of time. I really shouldn't even be thinking about this so much in the first place cause like you said Striated, it doesnt define us its just something we really enjoy doing. Thanks for your guys responses though. Both helpful in making my decision.

Good luck mate you seem to have a decent head on your shoulders and im sure you will make the right decision. I wish you all the best in your future endeavour's.

[Bert]

If not into it, just don't do it.

[auswest]

Got any photos to back up your claims of others looking worse and placing better, at 21 you may be a little deluded in your appearance, why physique? If you have already been told you don't have the physique for it (v-taper to large) why not set your goals a little higher put the time and effort in and compete in bodybuilding..physique looks for a physique much different to bodybuilding it is not how some people see it as a smaller version of a bodybuilder the look is completely different in so many ways. Once again I suggest you post some photos before complaining.