Anyone else NOT athlete BEFORE they started lifting?

[wend]

Too funny, Anya! (the tomboy-til-the-boobies thing). The same with me.

I ran the two-mile in track in HS, and later I started biking...not competitively, just for fitness and transportation.

I started lifting weights in junior high...not with a lot of regularity, but often enough. I went to the Y with my dad.

I didn't get to do it for years at a time, when I didn't have access to a gym (like in college...the gym was tiny and poorly equipped and populated by jocks). When I got married and moved to DC (over a decade ago), the first six months or so I was sedentary, completely. I took the bus to work because my husband was afraid I'd be assaulted walking. But that was horrible! I got fat and depressed. So I started walking....three miles to and from work every day (which actually turned out to be faster than the bus!). Now down south, post childbearing (with kids old enough to spend time in the nursery), I'm finally back in a good gym, and I'm loving it! I also now have a car (thanks, Santa!), so I don't have to ride my bike for transportation anymore! I've been lifting seriously since the summer, and I'm loving it.

I can't imagine how people can stand to be sedentary. I think it's horrible.

 

[LaDyBuG]

i played lots of sports growing up....my big ones were basketball, softball and cross-country...i played softball my freshman year in college and then picked up on intramural sports at my university....right now i'm in the process of taking up golf...my boyfriend is teaching me....i've been familiar with weights since i was about 15...we would lift (mostly circuit training) for athletics and such...i wasn't taught very good form though...started getting fairly serious when i got in college though..and joined this site!!! keep up the good work ladies!

 

[Shak]

i attempted to join track in high school, but i got bad tendonitis and spent most of my time soaking in an ice bath. after that joyous experience, i focused on homework and playing the violin.

 

[TigerLynn]

I have an athletic body but I never participated in any sports before I began lifting. Once my body got the taste of activity, it hungers for more. I now participate in any and all sports possible. Not only because I love the game, but because it keeps me active. The body can be moulded and created. An athletic past doesn't necessarily guarantee a successful career in bodybuilding. Keep strong, keep going.

 

[spiderwoman]

I have been a mediocre long jumper, runner, swimmer, basketball player, aerobics instructor, and many other things. However, I think I have been the best at managing my diet [including dealing with the consequences of bad behaviour] and hitting the weight room. I have learned alot from this board, and I am still learning.

 

[Sassy69]

I ran track & played basketball in school & on an afterschool league in middle school. I ran track in high school. At 16 I started playing a lot of racquetball with my dad & in a league at the YMCA.

While waiting for the racquetball courts to open up for my matches, I would spend time messing around on the 3 million year old Universal machine in the little weight room outside the courts. And the weight lifting just stuck from there. Other stuff over the years has been volleyball, biking, 1/2 court basketball, and more running.

 

[ScottsBlonde]

Being athletic was the furthest thing from my mind growing up. Rock and Roll and bands seemed alot more fun. And a career I would have for many years. I picked up "Arnold's Bodyshaping for Women" in 1979 and Lisa Lyon's book in 1981 and started working out with weights by myself. I was a weakling back then and loved the look of women with muscles.

In the early '80's when Better Bodies gym - geared towards women opened in New York I joined. Many of the pioneers of women's bodybuilding trained there especially when Ms. Olympia and Night of Champions was held in NY. It was owned by Gladys Portugues's boyfriend Brian Moss (pre being Mrs. Jean Claude Van Damme.) I also belonged to Natural Physique then owned by Nicole Bass and her husband.

I trained with Gladys from the beginning way before there was such a thing as personal training. You joined a gym, worked out together and advice was free in those days. Never did I dream then I would become certified as a personal trainer years later.

Actually I still don't consider myself athletic.

 

[Puddles]

I took a few years of dance, swimming and ice-skating lessons when I was young, I tried softball but was afraid of the ball, then did some repelling and skiing in high school, but after that I was always busy working, then I was a stay at home mom, then busy working again. Lifting is the only thing I've done as an adult but it's been the most fun and rewarding sport I've ever tried. I like sports you can do by yourself as opposted to team sports.

 

[Tri Girl]

I was a lifeguard in highschool, and ice skated competively. Discovered crew (rowing) in college which led to the weights, triathlons, and other endurance sports I'm into now.

I love the lifting, but it's easier for me to make time to run or bike, vs hitting the gym. Though, I always feel and look better when I'm weight training.

 

[plowboy]

played ball in high school done martial arts swimming skiing have lifted weights off and on my whole life. but only been steady at it for the last 5 years or so.