how has lifting effected your life?

When I was at my biggest I avoided clothes shopping. Took no pride in my appearance. Ate out a lot. Made very little effort towards general daily activities like housework, food shopping.
Lacked energy and friends.

Fast forward 2 years....

Every wardrobe in my house is full of gorgeous clothes and shoes, I was a size 6 in January and struggled to find clothes small enough that wasn't in supre. I own and fit into 6 different bikinis.
I am so busy socially my husband has synced my Google calendar to his to see when I'm available. LOL but we head out a lot more now on our "date night's" where we dress up and head somewhere nice.
Have tonnes of friends from PTC and have travelled Aus wide with Powerlifting. Have had a few minutes of fame in newspapers and internal work media.
But best of all, my little niece did a project on me and powerlifting at school that she presented it to her class on a big sheet of pink cardboard. Sweetest thing ever!

kaz said:

Have tonnes of friends from PTC and have travelled Aus wide with Powerlifting. Have had a few minutes of fame in newspapers and internal work media.
But best of all, my little niece did a project on me and powerlifting at school that she presented it to her class on a big sheet of pink cardboard. Sweetest thing ever!

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Awesome to have that support and acceptance Kaz.

Virtually every moment of my day is improved by the knowledge that I can lift heavy things. The glow of a PB can last for days.

But on the downside, the combination of the time I spend at the gym and the time I spend on ausbb and studying the subject causes significant domestic disharmony. Injuries, DOMS and fatigue are viewed as robbing the family of my time, energy and mental focus. I'm told that the wider community makes no distinction between powerlifting and bodybuilding, and that it's generally viewed as weird and self-obsessed.

It aint all bad I love to lift, I don't mind admitting it's a good feeling been in better shape than my peers, it's nice knowing I'm stronger than my colleauges. But there are definite downsides for me training through injury and having it become chronic cause you are scared of losing gains, lost time, obsessing about what you eat, been moody when you miss sessions. I can't help but think if I invested 2-3 hrs every other night in study or a sideline business instead of lifting I would be much better off financially.

I still honestly believe if you are gonna keep at it for years and years you have to be OCD or obsessive about the way you look, those in it just to be 'fit' or look a bit better never seem to stick with lifting for the long haul.

For better or worse I got the bug and it ain't going anywhere.

I think the positives outweigh the negatives.

When I first started lifting, I was very serious. Nutritionally, training wise etc. I made plenty of mistakes along the way, stupid ones, dangerous ones etc. All in the chase of a better physique.

I've never really experienced any dis-morphia of any sort, always been happy with my size - in that regard I was always thick and have no issues retaining or building muscle.

At its peak, social events, eating out, affects on the family etc were all very real. Particularly at times when you're trying to get into single digits and beyond, and you're the only one in a household doing it.

It's so much easier if someone holds you accountable, or you have someone to train with on the same path. Like minded people. Which is why logs & diaries are paramount, and helped me get into tip top shape. Been planning on doing one here on AusBB, just waiting until a bit of calm and I am actually training 5 days a week. Body needs it!

Now I am living more balanced, well, due to my business, probably unbalanced - in favour of poor diet and training. I'll be tipping the scales back in my favour though.

I can say over 12 years I have trained without any yoyo training, on for 5, off for 6 like i've seen others do (apart from injuries I have had while doing MMA etc, unavoidable)

To be honest, it depends on what your goals are. You can still "build your body" and live a comfortable, balanced life.

Let's not kid ourselves. It comes down to priorities and what you REALLY want. The hard reality is this; no one gets to the top by living a 'balanced' life. Unless they're absolute freaks (genetic or otherwise), any top athletes or entrepreneurs (steve jobs and co.) led an unbalanced life. Hard work, A LOT of sacrifice, pain, trials & tribulations along the way - eccentric, OCD type lifestyles. Go getters. Lateral thinkers. The very opposite of a 9-5'er. Very few people have major success just falling into the lap unless very lucky or they've inherited it.

I do not regret lifting weights. It has had a profound influence on what shaped me (both physically, and mentally). I look good, I feel good. I will always take the toil and pain of sacrificing hours preparing/training whatever over the alternative, because the pros outweigh the cons.

I think the "balance" lifitng and training in genral is great- a few weeks missed and im grouchy, dissapointed in my self, tend to be a prick towards close people.

when im into it- im buzzing like a freekin bee on speed and just gernrally feel good, although shape reflects otherwise when im training i know im doing somethign about it so i dont care any were near as much

You got to lift like your life depends on it, because it does, it certainly saved mine.

But most of all, it's taught me that good things, really good things need to be done in moderation.

At twenty years of age you've got another 30 years worth of productive training days.

Stressing and getting grumpy over missing a week or two is really insignificant and unhealthy for your mind, body and spirit.

There ain't too many older blokes (over45) lifting consistently or regularly in gyms.