Who or what motivated/inspired you...

BlackLabelSimian · Who or what motivated/inspired you...

To take up training?

Any specific people, events or things?

When I was a kid, I was fascinated with superheroes and pro wrestlers. I wanted to be larger than life like they were.
Once I got a bit older, I just wanted to shed that geeky, nerdy thing and be the baddest motherfucker on the block. Laugh

Far as people and things that inspired or still do drive me to train hard...Arnold was extremely impressive, of course. Shawn Ray (showed me a "smaller guy" could look very impressive), Dorian Yates (For his blue collar, ball busting effort), the WWE guys whom I still find impressive from a physique and athletic standpoint and most recently, the movie '300' itself and the articles showing what hard work could get you.

And of course, I wanna impress the chicks! LOL

Oh, and on a serious note...The people here have motivated me with their dedication and very impressive results. Whether in diet or training, I see a lot of great looking, dedicated people here. Cool

ReddyMcMeaty

My husband did. I was always interested in losing weight and getting fit as an ungainly teenager because my sex drive was through the roof and of course the better looking you are the better your chances of getting sex. I started to train a bit with weights in highschool, but after meeting my husband I had a VERY strong drive to look the best I could because I wanted him to have a hot wife. After beginning to work out I motivated myself, the better I felt the fitter I wanted to be for the purpose of just feeling as good as I could. And of course feeling like I was hot too Laugh

BlackLabelSimian

Indeed. Once you get past the "superficial" aspect a little (because I don't think it ever truly goes away), you kind of get more into the aspects of training in and of itself...Looking to improve, learn more, feel better, etc.

adwred

When I was in my early twenties and obese, a friend of mine (who weighs 98 lbs soaking wet and who is very athletically inclined) dragged me to a rock climbing gym. I was so scared! I have no idea how she convinced me, but mostly by saying it would be fun and not like exercise (at that point, I wanted desperately not to be fat anymore, but I was so out of shape that exercise was pretty daunting). So I went about 3 feet up a wall and chickened out and was even afraid to sit back the harness and be lowered down! I had to climb back down Laugh

I was afraid the harness would break from my weight, which is hilarious, considering how strong those things are.

Anyway, I went away with my tail between my legs, but somehow she convinced me to go back one more time (she's very agressive Laugh

) and try again. So I did. And I did it - I got up one of the 10-foot walls - a couple of times, actually. I felt so good about myself that I started going more often and eventually ended up going 3 times a week for about 4 hours at a time and was climbing 60-foot intermediate level climbs. I never got all that good at it, but I lost about 40 lbs from doing it and from eating less, which lead to the rest of my weight loss. I was so incredibly motivated by watching the people in that gym and my little friend totally kicking ass and climbing like pro-stars! And their bodies were phenomenal. And I love that it's totally uncompetitive - it's just you against yourself, always trying to improve.

BlackLabelSimian

That's cool. I've never tried rock climbing (other than traversing crappy terrain in the service...lol), but would love to sometime.

I've also debated at times buying or building a wall peg board.

teknodamage

My dad and my older brother influenced me when I was growing up...
My dad, now and old man, use to be a big muscle bound dude with a lot of military training behind him (vietnam vet). I remember watching Pumping Iron as a kid with my brother and always watching him lift... he got really huge in high school and afterwards was always off and on... he's back doing it again and he's back up to 300lbs bench presses and what not. So anyway, I've always been around it.
I grew up practicing martial arts off and on as well... karate, boxing, and kung fu with a little bit of grappling experience... After a knee injury I pretty much stopped everything. Now that my knee is better I'm focusing on building up strength again so that I can continue martial arts... I plan on doing some Brazilian JuJitsu training in about 6 months coupled with Muay Thai and hopefully some Greco-Roman Wrestling... thank God there's MMA schools popping up everywhere now. I just need to get my cardio in real good shape... damn cigarettes!

BlackLabelSimian

Scout Finch

My dad used to swim the Golden Gate back before there were organized events with supervising kayaks and boats around, and even though there is ship traffic out there constantly.

Once when I was about 14 or 15, I said I wanted to do it too, so he took me with him. I was a good swimmer anyway, but had only been in the water at Aquatic Park and not out in the open Bay/Pacific. So I swam near him, he stayed on the Pacific side of me and swam at the speed I was going so that I was always parallel to him. About halfway across (it's almost 2 miles across), I knew I wasn't going to make it, and I yelled out to him that I was too tired to finish. So he said, "hang onto me, and we'll finish together."

I clung to him and we finished, coming up right to the base of the North Tower. My mom drove over the Bridge to pick us up and was waiting for us and asked how we did, and my dad said, "Great! She finished it on her own!"

To me, the Gate swim is STILL more difficult than Alcatraz because of the size of the swells. I've done it about 6 times since that first time years ago, and every time I do it I think about my father all the way across while I'm swimming. He always thought it was ridiculous to swim out there the way they do it now with kayakers and boaters "supervising" and "directing." He called it "getting in the way." He just wanted to swim without anyone else around him.

dimi1

Scout that is a wonderful story about your father.

Johnny Ace

I can't ever remember a time when exercise of some sort wasn't a part of my life. My father was an extremely talented basketball player with a very promising basketball life ahead of him, had he not stopped growing in the 10th grade. Three of his brothers were marathoners, one of them qualifying for Boston several times. The fourth brother was always inhumanely strong, playing football, baseball, basketball, and whatever else he could. Both of his sons were college QBs, although neither made the pros.

My mother's brothers were both state champion wrestlers. One of them was also a solid football player. The other brother's son is a spectacular soccer talent. One of her brothers-in-law was a talented wrestler and football player, too. His son is a professional extreme athlete.

It was never a question that I would exercise. I was a long-distance runner like my father's brothers, completing several half-marathons and 10 mile races. My times were respectable, albeit not competitive. Oddly enough, the longer the race got, the more competitive my times got. If it wasn't so wildly unhealthy, I'd probably be training for Ironman triathlons. My stupendously bad eyesight doesn't matter if the sport is "run straight". Laugh

At the moment, I've settled into training with bodyweight calisthenics. I can crack off hundreds of squats, hold a handstand and gymnastic bridge, and do lots of other fun stuff. Low-carbing (I'm not a pure meat man) and calisthenics have gotten me leaner than I've ever been, even when I was gladly running 65 miles a week!

brklx

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