ROCKLOCKRIDGE’S BLOG

Basically I want to know what it is that would help motivate you.  Any of the stories? The prp talks, poems, or do you want a specific rant.  Comment on this post between now and Monday and I will write the next blog based on the results.  I look forward to your comments.

ROCK

Besting yourself every day.

Overcoming adversity to meet goals.

Destined for greatness.

Yearning to learn more.

Becoming what you always wanted to be.

Underneath the exterior is where I am truly the best.

Inspiring others to chase their dreams.

Living my own dream every day.

Despite the pain, I live for this.

Every day is another challenge for me to meet.

Respect for myself, for others, and for the sport I represent.

There are over 200,000 BodySpace pages right now.  They from all countries of the globe.  So your progress that you monitor in the US can be seen by an online friend in Japan.  Among all these people are different goals and different methods to reach those goals.

There are competitive bodybuilders, powerlifters, strongmen, wrestlers, and models.  People are doing the various transformation contests such as Body-for-Life, Muscletech, Gold’s, bb.com, or Transformation 2009.  Seniors, kids, male, female, all kinds of people are here.

Among all 200,000 plus of us though there is one bit of common ground. We are looking to achieve a better level of health and achieve our best.  I believe we all also want to inspire others to join us in our challenge to better ourselves.  As good as it feels to bench 400 or run a 5:00 mile, that feeling is a tenth of knowing you helped someone else reach their destination.

This feeling is the same in the USA, the UK, Canada, Japan, UAE, or Australia.  Knowing you helped one person regardless of where they live is the greatest accomplishment a bodybuilder wants to achieve.  That only backs up another one of my theories.

If everyone in the world were bodybuilders, the world would be one helluva better place. I just hope there is enough protein powder.

ROCK

I have submitted my entry into the Trans. of the Week folks today.  I truly feel I would be a good feature.  You don’t hear of people putting on 120 lbs. of muscle naturally often.  If you wish to support me in my efforts, let it be known loud and proud. Email the transformation of the week folks, post blogs, whatever can be done,any and all support will be appreciated.

I will have a new motivational blog within the next day or so.  Thanks to all of you for your knd words and support of my blogs. It has become a driving force for me to succeed.

ROCK

Let it be known tried and true

That I am a bodybuilder through and through

I take on all challenges every day

There is no price I will not pay.

I take on the iron with the intensity of a freight train.

I look at the weight and I say "bring the pain".

I look forward to all the perspiration

Knowing to someone I am an inspiration.

Being one of the elite means I overcome adversity

Even though to some my ways cause controversy

Although the results of my labor can be seen externally

It is a fraction of how I benefit internally.

Whether it is cardio, legs, arms, or back

Improvement is something I will never lack

So when you see me train and you wonder what it is I do

Know I am being a bodybuilder through and through.

I got to see one of the first folks I helped as a fitness instructor the other day.  We chatted, caught up, and she is doing really well.  I am not going to give her name due to confidentiality.  You see, I first met her at my other job about 8 years ago.  I worked at a domestic violence shelter.  The same shelter I stayed at as a child.  I am a child victim of domestic violence.  But back to her, she had to literally start all over.  Get a new job because she worked for her then abusive husband.  Move to a new place because it was his house. Get a new car because that was also his and when the judge was considering giving it to her, he went and totaled it.

While she stayed there, she saw I was working out and she wanted to tag along and get some stress out.  She was hooked immediately.  She signed up that day and I started training her.  In her first year, she lost 101 pounds.  She busted her ass like no one I had ever seen.  She is now an aerobics instructor.  She is now re-married with someone she met at her gym.  She had promised me that someday she would pay me.  On this day, she was going to write a check and I told her to donate it to her local shelter or the one she stayed at. She said she would.  The only thing better than giving back in one aspect in your life is to do it in two.  I was very proud.

All this does is back up one of the principles I have said all along.  Bodybuilding is more than abs and glutes.  It is literally LIFE building.  This woman had to go back to zero and thrived.  If she can do as well as she did despite all she had to overcome, why can’t we?  This can be done.  You can do it.  This lady never took no for an answer.  You shouldn’t either.

ROCK

In case anyone hasn’t noticed, I am getting a lot closer to my goal of 1,000 friends. I have been going around BodySpace basically adding anyone who is online. Why am I adding anyone in sight to reach my goal?

I feel I am passing on a positive message and I want anyone to see and receive it.  I am going after my goal much like I go after my goals when I am in the gym.  I am that passionate about this.  By God, if you go after something, go after it all the way.

When you go after your goals in bodybuilding, you go after it with a full head of steam.  If someone tells you they are going to stop you by locking the doors to the gym, run straight through the damn wall to get to it. You can not and will not be stopped.

You will bust your ass like no other person does to reach your goals.  You aren’t just any average person trying to lose a few pounds. You are a bodybuilder, and you will go to the extreme to reach your destiny.  No obstacle, no adversity and no barrier stops a bodybuilder.  If someone tells you you can’t set that 1RM, you make it a 2RM. This is your time, and the doubters best stay out of the way or get inspired.

Whether it is squats, curls, treadmill, heavy bag, bench, or deads, bodybuilders take the daily challenges and turn them into accomplishments.  You beating the challenges shows just why you are a successful part of the greatest sport of them all.  You show why you are a real champion.  You won’t be stopped. Hell, you won’t even be slowed down.  Goals can’t wait and neither can bodybuilders.  Now go and prove me and yourselves right in saying that you are the best in what you do.

ROCK

I was sitting here after I got off work, trying to figure out something I could write about for this blog.  I got stuck for quite a long time, finally deciding I was going to just work on it tomorrow. Right before I did though, I got to thinking about when I got stuck on a plateau in training. I would get so frustrated. I would work harder, lift heavier, and nothing seemed to work.

I finally figured out that maybe just trying to change things up a bit could make a huge difference. Instead of doing triceps with shoulders and chest, for example, I did them with biceps and it made a world of difference. If I got stuck on cardio, I would change machines and use an incline and I would burn twice the calories. I was amazed that something so small meant such big improvements.

The changes meant more opportunity for success. That rejuvenated my motivation to the point that I wanted to get to the gym as often as I could. That meant more challenges for me to tackle. That meant more of a sense of accomplishment when I finished my workout.  I change my workout every 4 weeks.  I change what I eat too so my body don’t adapt to that either.

Come up with new diets, new training, new cardio and log your results. Stick with what works and throw out what doesn’t.  If something isn’t working, quit it sooner rather than later. You won’t get as frustrated and will get more motivated to succeed.

By the time I figured all this out, I realized I had my blog. I hoped you enjoyed it.

ROCK

Even though my 10 year anniversary of bodybuilding is still over a month away, I have found myself looking back on all the memories of those ten years. They are memories that will last a lifetime.  My first truly proud moment was when the Greenbrier Health Club inducted me into their Hall of Fame after only one year of being a member.  It blew my mind when the manager told me about all the people I influenced. I was this 18 year old kid walking to and from the health club regardless of the weather, a skinny kid that was full of piss and vinegar that wanted so bad to be as big as the other guys.

As much as I enjoy the memories, I also recall all the values and morals I have learned by being associated with bodybuilding.  Values and morals that today as a 27 year old man I will live by for the rest of my life.  I would like to share them now.  I hope many of you agree with me.  If you are new, I hope you accept these as well. The journey will be that much more memorable for you.

1. Patience is a great virtue and the reward is worth the wait.

2. The strength you gain physically is 10% of the strength you gain mentally.

3. In order to truly appreciate the big achievements, you must recognize all the little ones that build them.

4. In order to inspire, you must be inspired.

5. If the world had more bodybuilders, the world would be a better place.

6. The biggest reward of all is the reward of inspiring others.

7. You can read all the magazines and see all the pictures, but the desire to succeed must come from within.

8. You never fail if you never quit.

9. Sometimes the biggest sign of progress requires the smallest of steps.

10. If you don’t notice the scenery of the journey, you never truly appreciate your destination.

This applies to all aspects of life.  It can be family, business, relationships, anything in life at all.  I can’t think of anything that these principles couldn’t apply to.  If you recognize these and accept them as your own, then my journey is all that greater and you will make the journeys of those that you inspire that much better.

ROCK

After reading many positive comments about my blogs, I have finally decided that I am going to try to get out there and see what happens.  If you have any possible connections or suggestions, please let me know.  Also, the friend total is at 400.  I am inching closer to 1,000.  Thanks to katnap and mommie 6 for their help. thanks to the rest of you that have spread the word from the beginning.  Ryan DeLuca, bodybuilding.com CEO now knows about the blogs and likes them as well.  Thanks, Ryan.  Please comment and let me know if you think I should do it and if you have any suggestions.  If you are reading my blogs for the first time, please read my previous posts and give me an assessment.  If you all think I can really do this, I am going for it, full throttle, like I do with anything else.  I will probably post a blog tomorrow and then I will be out for a couple of days.  Stay motivated, get stronger, leaner, faster, and better with every step you take, every bite you eat, and with every pound you lift. Thank you for your support.

ROCK