what started you all lifting?

[PCxPete]

for me it was walking into the gym joined on to where i played squash and realising i was 173cms and 89kgs and only 15 or 16. for the next year or so i hit machine weights 5 days a week pretty much and started eating better, then about, 6 months ago i moved onto free weights really seriously and havnt looked back since.

ive got to hand it to my bro but, hes a year younger but built like a right big prick and ive always just done my best to keep up, which means pushing myself everytime i hit the gym.

how bout you all?

 

[spatts]

Attention, then later, performance.

I have had a 6 pack since I can remember....since childhood. I remember my mom, sisters, and others asking me to show it to people like I was a freak show. What did I care? When you're 5 years old, attention's attention.

Then later it was, "OMG, look at your quads!" Especially during track season (around ages 9-12). I was so self-conscious about them, as they were very disproportionate to everything else. I sprinted for various teams year round, and looked alot different, in terms of muscle mass, than other girls around me. I started dreading wearing shorts, and would only take my sweats off RIGHT before a race, and then put them back on really fast.

Then when I was about 13 a track coach put me on a regimen to take time off my 200m, and one of those key things was building up my shoulders to increase my speed. Not only did it work VERY well, but it balanced my physique out too, and I was suddenly alot less conscious of my quads.

Between fast results in the gym, and increased performance, I was hooked.

 

[louden_swain]

I wanted to get bigger and stronger for wrestling. . .

I was 119lbs.

I also used weight training to develop strength for summer basketball and track and field.

I notice changes almost instantly so I became addicted.

 

[EliteBB]

Great story Spatts! I started when i was 15 and have been going strong since! 8 great years of bodybuilding!

 

[CobraUTAH]

Graduating from high school at 6'1" and 135 pounds. I knew that I wasn't going to fill out much naturally so it was time to hit the weights. Plus my dad had always lifted so I started with him and then moved off on my own routine and times. It's been the single greatest hobby of my life and I don't regret a single minute or dollar spent trying to better my understanding and performance. I reached 232 pounds about two weeks ago before I began cutting. I would have never thought back then I could get that damn big. I'm a skinny kid by nature and to make that big of a change in size was pretty incredible especially on a 6'3" frame.

 

[ffknight84]

I attempted lifting a few times around 12 years old, not much, I started regularly right after i turned 14 with Freshman football, And started hardcore first year in college due to spare time. My dad is a long time lifter started when he was 18, now 43, so it gives me some extra motivation to catch up and surpass him.

 

[hellboy]

Divorce.

About a year before the divorce I knew it was coming. I would look in the mirror and see this short fat guy (24% bodyfat) and think... No way am I EVER gonna get laid again looking like this. I looked like shit and I did NOT want to spend the rest of my life being a fatboy.

So I started dieting and running. Eating salads and running 3 miles 3x a week. I absolutely HATED running but I couldnt argue with the results. Eventually I cut the fat down enough that I wasn't too embarrased to go to the gym. And once I got into the gym and started lifting it was LOVE. SO much more fun than running. So much easier to measure my improvements. There was just something satisfying about it.

And once the muscles started to actually show up in the mirror there was no turning back.

 

[spatts]

Divorce.

About a year before the divorce I knew it was coming. I would look in the mirror and see this short fat guy (24% bodyfat) and think... No way am I EVER gonna get laid again looking like this. I looked like shit and I did NOT want to spend the rest of my life being a fatboy.

So I started dieting and running. Eating salads and running 3 miles 3x a week. I absolutely HATED running but I couldnt argue with the results. Eventually I cut the fat down enough that I wasn't too embarrased to go to the gym. And once I got into the gym and started lifting it was LOVE. SO much more fun than running. So much easier to measure my improvements. There was just something satisfying about it.

And once the muscles started to actually show up in the mirror there was no turning back.

Good story, man...good story.

 

[SofaGeorge]

I was one of those screaming 12 year olds who had to study martial arts after watching all the Bruce Lee movies. The early schools I went to were very tough... brutal by today's standards... full contact sparring was coming into vogue. (We didn't have safety equipment back then.) I wanted to be able to fight with the top guys... so I need weight and strength.

 

[SurfinDaily]

I was tired of being a 150 lbs senior in highschool, and i also joined the Marines which gave me an extra motivation, so i started "liftin for the ladies" and at first i didnt know what i was doin so i gave up, but now i mapped out a whole new program, i have gained around 17-20 lbs in the last 3 1/2 months, and my muscles are starting to show up alot better....