My BodyBlog

This is the story of what happened to me at the gym two days ago.  It’s a simple story that’s probably repeated many times at gyms everywhere everyday…but for it to happen to me is something special.  This story illustrates how much bodybuilding has changed me, not only physically, but in other ways too.

It was deadlift night.  I love this exercise for how it helps muscle growth and for the feeling of accomplishment and just plain fun it gives me!  I’ve been doing it for 7 months and had gone from lifting 135 to 345 lbs up to last night.  I’m following a lifting program based on suggestions and info I’ve found on bb.com, with the goal being to increase my lifts by 5-10 pounds each month.

Anyway, I was doing my lifts, and there were only 4 other guys at the gym.  Nearby, 3 of them were working together doing bench press.  They are experienced lifters, strong guys, benching in the mid 200’s.  I don’t know them well, just to say hi.  I was using the barbell from the squat rack, just off to the side.  One of the guys asked if I had many more sets left, they wanted to use the squat rack.  I said I only had two more lifts to go, he told me they were in no hurry, take my time.

By that time I had set up for my lift of 330.  As I got into position I could see the 3 guys benching in the mirror, behind me.  The guy who wasn’t lifting or spotting looked over at me and I saw him do a double take when he saw how much weight I had on the bar.  I went ahead and did the lift, and he watched me.

I was feeling good.  I had little trouble with the 330 lift, so I decided my last lift would be 350, a new personal best if I could do it.  I took a sip of water and a brief rest, then I added the plates I needed.  At the same time, the 3 guys were finished their sets on bench and removing their  plates.  Soon I was standing over the bar, focused on what I had to do.  I bent over to grasp the bar and get a solid grip with the help of my straps.  I didn’t notice what was going on behind me until I heard one of them say (in a friendly way) "you’ve got 4 pairs of eyes watching you…can you take the pressure?"  I looked up and saw in the mirror that the 3 guys, along with the other guy working biceps nearby, had stopped what they were doing and were all standing in a group watching me!  I said "I don’t know, this is 5 pounds more than I’ve lifted before."  Something happened to me at that point.  My focus sharpened, I felt confident, I was ‘in the zone’.  I knew I was going to do that lift.  I finished setting up, took a couple of deep breaths, and nailed it!  It was heavy, but I didn’t labour too much, and I lowered the bar with great control.  The lift over, I wanted to shout with pleasure, but I kept my cool and just took off my straps and started to take off the plates.  One of the guys said ‘we’ll do that, a man who just lifted that much shouldn’t have to take off his own plates.’  The 3 of the them started at it, I said ‘are you sure?’ and they said ‘no problem’.  I know they were waiting for the bar and for me to get out of the way so they could do their decline barbell presses using the squat rack, but it was nice of them to do that for me.  As I got my water bottle, one of them said ‘that’s some heavy weight you lifted there, I wouldn’t even go near it."  I said ‘I started low and worked up to it gradually’.  Another guy said ‘I’ve never done deadlifts, I think it would kill my back.’  I said ‘Your legs do the work and if you do it right you won’t hurt your back.  I’ve never had any problems.’

They continued with their workout and I continued with mine, doing some Power Cleans.  A little while later, changing in the locker room, one of the same guys was there.  He said ‘You like powerlifting do you?’  I said ‘I started doing deadlifts about 7 months ago, I do them every couple of weeks, they’re a nice change of pace.’  We chatted about it for a minute and he seemed impressed with my accomplishments.  So, that’s the story of what happened to me at the gym last night?  What does it tell me about how bodybuilding has changed me life?

Physically, the changes are obvious.  I’m much leaner, muscular and stronger.  When I look in the mirror I’m happy with what I see and I want to keep it going in the right direction.  However, there have been changes in me that you can’t see on the surface, but when I think back on it, these changes are no less dramatic or important.  When I started working out over 4 years ago, I was very self-conscious about how I looked.  The body fat I carried weighed me down emotionally and I had always disliked how I looked.  In my mind that translated to "when other people look at me they see how fat I am and they won’t like me".  Feeling that way affected how I interacted with others.  I was shy, quiet, and hated being the centre of attention.  Starting at the gym magnified these feelings, since I was around a lot of fitter and (in my mind) much better looking people.  If some people thought me unfriendly in those early days, I apologize.  I was so wrapped up in feeling bad about how I looked I couldn’t reach out to others very well. 

Over time, all this has changed!  Transforming my body has given me such a feeling of pride and achievement that my self-esteem has improved and my whole outlook on life is much more positive.  I’m much more confident and out-going, and if anyone I see wants to judge my character based on how I look then that’s their short-coming, not mine.  I’ve now gotten to the point where I feel like an equal to everyone I encounter at the gym - we’re all just human beings with different bodies trying to improve ourselves.  To my surprise and delight, it even feels nice to be the centre of attention for a change…it felt GOOD to have a small audience watching me do my deadlift!  It’s another testament to how far I’ve come as a bodybuilder, and motivates me to keep working for new accomplishments.  So I say THANK YOU to bodybuilding for not only transforming my body, but also for helping to transform my outlook on life and making me a much happier person! 

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 25th, 2008 at 7:40 am and is filed under Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.