Week 204 :: How Do You Balance Bodybuilding With Your Other Hobbies?

[the_fake_webmaster]

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* Note: How can I win? 1. Answer all questions in the order that they are asked. 2. Go over reviews (located at the bottom of past TOTW articles) and see what was said about those that did not win. Good Luck!
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TOPIC: How Do You Balance Bodybuilding With Your Other Hobbies?

For the week of: June 17th - June 23rd
Tuesday @ Midnight Is The Final Cut (Mountain Time, US & Canada).

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Bodybuilding can have a major impact on one's lifestyle, social life, hobbies, etc. Many athletes and hobbyists have to balance or find common ground between their hobbies and bodybuilding.

How do you balance bodybuilding with your hobbies & lifestyle?

What are some good hobbies that go well with bodybuilding?

Are there any hobbies that clash with the bodybuilding lifestyle? *How do they clash?

* IMPORTANT: Please make sure your responses are original and not copied from previous topics.

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[UCIMTHEROCK]

How do I balance being a champion bodybuilder with my hobbies?
For me it is a priority thing, right now bodybuiding is about 5th on my list of priorities. First comes my Family and feeding them. then comes commitments like coaching my daughters softball team being at my sons baseball games and taking care of my wife who is pregnant with our third child. then comes bodybuilding.
The funny thing is I don't miss workouts! I either train at 5:00 in the morning or late at night. I am off season right now but still never go more than three days without getting to the gym. I train for one hour of intense lifting and many times need rest and recovery before I hit it hard again. I find it easy to commit myself to hard training even in the off season.
I know that the gym will always be there and i don't have to spend the whole day there to get in shape, many people train way too much and never get the results they want.
when I am getting ready for a show bodybuilding will come to third on my list (my family and feeding them will always be #1 and #2
I will still make sure to golf, play with my kids, visit my freinds and live my life even when I am getting ready for a show.
lets be real here if you have trained for many years like me. it does not go away in a couple days a week or even a month. if you train and go home that takes up a whopping one or two hours of the day. you have the rest of the day to play visit your friends and completely forget about the gym. your muscles don't know your brain is thinking bodybuiding 24/7 and they do not grow from it either. I know I've tried it. they grow from being consistently overloaded more than they are used to period. then sound nutrition either gets you big or cuts you up.
live your life and enjoy all the hobbies that keep you sane. bodybuilding will be much more enjoyable if you take off the pressure of no I can't do that I have to train 6 days a week.
I train natural 3 days a week even when I am getting ready for a show and I still enjoy my hobbies and family.
What would you do with your life if you knew you could not fail? failure is not doing what you know you should! losing a show is not failure, failure is not filling out the entry form!

[Armbender]

Bodybuilding can have a major impact on one's lifestyle, social life, hobbies, etc. Many athletes and hobbyists have to balance or find common ground between their hobbies and bodybuilding.

TOPIC: How Do You Balance Bodybuilding With Your Other Hobbies?

Bodybuilding is a lifestyle that encompasses the majority of my time along with my Hobbies. I am a Professional Arm-Wrestler for Team Canada and also a husband, father, and an Officer in the Canadian Navy.

In order to balance them properly, I have to prioritize each of these;

1. Family
2. Arm-Wrestling
3. Bodybuilding

Everything in my life is built around sacrifices and comprimises. It is the only way to be happy and competitive.

The sacrifices I make are the same my family makes when I train for both sports. They also have to balance there lives around my schedule and I owe all of my success to them. This question in that regard, is more so directed towards the families of the bodybuilders.

In order to maintain my physical fitness level, I have designed a program with my trainers in order to be able to Arm-Wrestle each week, get into the gym and train 4-6 times a week, and also hit the essential cardio I need in order to maintain my weight for competitions.

I usually wake up at 4:30 each morning for my regular breakfast and take the bus into work for my daily 6km run. If I am unable to make it into work for that time, my boss allows me to take 2 hours for my run during work hours.

After I get home from work, roughly 5:30pm, I make supper for my family and spend time with my son. The gym is open 24hrs so I go late to the gym for a couple hours to get my training in without sacrifices "family time".

When I was in Afghanistan last year, I had to workout at 4am due to the amount of people who use the gym on the base. These are sacrifices that Bodybuilders make in order to reach there goals. Planning and setting realistic goals helps with this balance to see if you're on track or if you have bitten off more than you can chew.

My off days are always spent with my family. I am deployed a lot with the Canadian Navy so this time is crucial to me and to them. In order for them to support me, I must first support them. To keep this schedule up, I have to maintain a great diet consisting of lots of good calaries and protein. All my meals are timed and layed out ahead of schedule so I dont have to run around getting my lunches and shakes together in a panic.

So, to recap on what is essential to properly balance your bodybuilding lifestyle with your hobbies, here is a list on what you need to do to be successful;

1. Prioritize
2. Sacrifce
3. Comprimise
4. Meal Planning
5. Communication (with your family)
6. Realistic Goals
7. Family, Family, Family

What are some good hobbies that go well with bodybuilding?

Are there any hobbies that clash with the bodybuilding lifestyle? *How do they clash?

I can only really reflect on the experiences I have had concerning what hobbies are good or that clash with bodybuilding. I find that my Arm-Wrestling career has impacted my bodybuilding in a positve and also a negative way.

Positively - It has really devloped my balance between strength training and mass training. My forearm development has been soley due to my sport specific training. Cardio is not really a part of my favorite list for training regime's, however, in order to compete, I must maintain my weight which forces myself to run each and every week. So now I am running cycles to incorporate all of these elements;

1. Strength Training Cycle
2. Mass Training Cycle
3. Cut Cycle

Negatively - I have incurred injuries from Arm-Wrestling that have debilitated my training in the gym. Elbow injuries affect all workout routines and prevents and slows down my progress and personal records. My legs take a back seat in my training due to the amount of weight that would be gained. This is certainly a downfall as my upper body can only get so far without bringing my lower body into the picture.

However, if I were to weigh the pro's and con's, Arm-Wrestling would still be one of the best sports that I have ever competed in and will continue to compete in for as long as my body and my family allow.

[Greek_Elite]

How do you balance bodybuilding with your hobbies & lifestyle?
I personally work a full time job and am also a full-time graduate student, and still MAKE the time (not FIND the time) to pursue my goals in this sport. We all know that bodybuilding requires sacrifice, and sometimes, we must sacrifice certain recreational activities and hobbies to reach our goals. Still, that does not mean completely abandon all your favorite hobbies just so you can spend an extra few hours in the gym, after all, its often our hobbies that help keep us sane from the everyday stress we experience.

My balancing comes in the little spare time that I have left over from my other priorities, and so that I don't get bored doing one hobby, I like to change it up every so often. Some of my favorite hobbies include playing basketball or paintball, rock climbing, and even just reading. For the physical activities I try to schedule them on my days off from working out so I'm not overly exhausting myself. Plus if it is a physical activity like basketball or paintball, it contributes quite a bit of cardio. Each week I will try abd do something different, playing basketball for a couple hours one day, a round of paintball the next week, or occasionally go for a walk or just sit on the beach at sundown/night to unwind from a hectic week, and sometimes I'll bring a fishing pole with me just to cast out, not caring if I catch anything. I rarely ever do the same thing more than twice in a row so that I do not get bored of that activity so that it will be just as enjoyable the next week.

For my everyday lifestyle of working and heading up to class, I make sure to prepare everything I need for the day the night before, including food, which is one of the most important aspects of my day. Forgetting my food would leave me needing to resort to other sources, and unfortunately, there is not much you can buy out there with the same nutritional quality. I also ensure to bring the proper number of protein shakes with me to use as meal replacements since I am cutting, and I even have a protein bar or two in my car as a last resort option.


What are some good hobbies that go well with bodybuilding?
Some of the best hobbies that I found that go well with bodybuilding can be split into 2 groups, exercise and relaxtion. For exercise hobbies, sports like basketball, football, and soccer, as well as biking, can help burn some major calories, a giant plus if we are cutting/dieting. Another great hobby is rock climbing. While it can be both an exercising and relaxing hobby, rock climbing helps build tremendously strong forearms from gripping the holds, lats from pulling yourself up, and calves for staying on your toes on a hold.

Relaxing hobbies such as reading and fishing can give us the time off that our muscles need to heal after a grueling workout. Since muscle repair is crucial in growth, a little time off from strenuous activity is a great benefit, and why not spend that time relaxing on a boat or by a lake, sipping on a protein shake and watching some nice scenery.


Are there any hobbies that clash with the bodybuilding lifestyle? *How do they clash?
Hobbies that could clash with bodybuilding could be anything that could keep us from performing our best in our next gym session. For example, contact sports such as football or rugby could leave you bruised and battered, not able to press or lift the same weight you had done last time. Not to mention the risk of injury that could keep you out of the gym for an extended period of time.

Still, if something is your favorite hobby nobody can tell you not to do it, just be sure to be safe and enjoy yourself, clear your mind, and help prepare yourself to get back into the daily grind.

[LifetimeStudent]

I am currently unemployed and am not a student either. I'm not having trouble on my job hunt or haven't been laid off, it's a matter of mental health. As of July, 2008 I've been dealing with the mental illness psychosis and it though I am much healthier mentally now than I was during the worst period I still have a little bit of trouble with concentration, focus, and am more prone to stress. Because of these reasons it wouldn't be a good idea for me to be working right now and because of my illness I am receiving aid from the government; it's not much but it is enough for me to stay on my feet for another few months until I feel ready to return to school.

I am making the most of a bad situation by taking full advantage of my abundant free-time and subsequent ability to exploit a near perfect diet and workout routine. Initially it was a big investment but long-term unless you have a vehicle or live within close walking distance of a gym I think it is worth investing in your own equipment. I've done this so I have the luxury of being able to workout whenever I want and never have to worry about being in a place where I can't eat healthy or take a supplement when I feel it is the right time for me to do so.
[^^^
Not specifically a part of the article/issue response, just a little relevant background if one is curious to hear about mine before reading my article response!]


How do you balance bodybuilding with your hobbies & lifestyle?

I've been making the most of my spare time but it won't last forever, I'll be soon returning to the workforce and education system; I am going to take a community college course on Health/Wellness/Fitness so it will be an atmosphere/environment that will be understanding of my lifestyle and will be more accommodating of it than many other classes would be. In fact I am planning on taking a 'half-day' program which is luckily offered by a local community college. Think of it like a part-time job except instead of work it's school, it'll take twice as long but give me twice as much extra time to dedicate to my social life, hobbies, bodybuilding, and employment potential.

I love to enjoy a few drinks with some friends or go to the odd house party but I try and make sure I do so in moderation. Similar to cheat meals I consider having a few beers or a few glasses of rum a cheat activity. I try and limit myself to 3 drinks a week, and one party (where I will still have a moderate 6-8 drinks) per month. Rather than make sure I do this every month, I leave it open and not a requirement; sometimes I do it, sometimes I don't... and I never overdo it.

Writing is a passion of mine so I take the time to occasionally incorporate bodybuilding, and general fitness/health/nutrition into my writing which keeps my mind focused on fitness whilst continuing to engage in an activity I enjoy. Likewise reading is an interest of mine and independent education so I also take advantage of resources such as this website for furthering my knowledge.

Swimming is my other main passion in life so I try and fit it into my rest days (I follow a 5-day split) with a bit more intensity/time spent, whereas I make sure I keep it somewhat limited on workout days. I take advantage of the cardio element experienced with swimming and am able to use my hobby as a day's cardio workout (which I normally dislike: running, jogging, stationary bike, treadmill, etc.).

As for my social life, I have told most of my better friends that I spend more time with about my bodybuilding and they're usually pretty understanding of why I need to eat frequently and healthily. Before I go out, to say, play tennis with a friend and hang out at his home for a while I'll bring a backpack with a big water bottle in it and some healthy food that I can make at his or her place. Sometimes I will do things like go to a music gig, go to a movie in the theater, or go to a stock car racing event in which I will not be able to conveniently bring food or do any kind of fitness activity but I just try and minimize the frequency of these events. I justify them to myself as I still need to allow myself to have some fun from time to time as I am not a bodybuilding on a professional level. Obsession or too much of anyone thing is always bad; balance is the most important thing in any facet of anyone's life.

What are some good hobbies that go well with bodybuilding?

In my personal experience reading and researching things of your interest lend obvious benefits to bodybuilding, as with anything else knowledge is power or in this case I guess will lead to physical power.

Light to moderate intensity activity outside of weightlifting can also contribute to your level of energy and motivation. If you sit around on the couch watching TV for 10 hours a day then try and get up and do a 45-60 minute intense weight lifting session it might not be so easy to motivate yourself to get up as you're acclimatizing your body to a very low physical activity level.

If you are the competitive type then try adding a little competition to motivate you when you are doing things like running. Try and give another competitive buddy a call and see if he/she would be interested in going out for a run with you. You can even place a bet if you feel so inclined, say both of you put up 10$ and the winner of an endurance run will take all. Little things you can throw into your day to enhance your enjoyment while still keeping a fitness focused mentality can have a great synergistic effect.

Are there any hobbies that clash with the bodybuilding lifestyle? *How do they clash?

Moderation is something that is very important to take into account when considering this question. For example: having a single drink every other night will be unlikely to cause problems with your bodybuilding especially if you're in a bulking phase. 5 beers a night on the other hand would quickly have deleterious effects on your bodybuilding.

Sports are another one that can or cannot be negative for your bodybuilding. Extreme sports such as skateboarding or other similar sports can take quite a toll on your body as they have a higher risk factor than most traditional sports. That being said you might find yourself pulling muscles or just nursing varying levels of soreness which might put you out of weight lifting for a few days at a time. Another risk with some sports is over-training. A good example of this is if you were spend a few hours swinging a heavy baseball bat on the day after your deltoid working day then you run the risk of overworking your shoulders. On the other hand if moderation and smart decisions are made you can keep things a little lower in the risk factor and enjoy your sports to an intensity that would align itself with your cardio workout.

For women the (traditional) beauty or modeling industry is an obvious contrast to bodybuilding. The requirements are simply unhealthily slim with no muscularity and you're encouraged to eat far too little to have any type of nutritional value.

As a rule of thumb hobbies that are generally considered to be bad for you in general are also bad for bodybuilding. Excessive gambling and recreational drug abuse are two good examples. The stress from gambling is counter-productive as the more stressed you are the less you'll look forward to lifting.

[TrainH.]

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Bodybuilding, or to put it in broader terms, weight lifting, is an intense hobby. Most people who start it end up going to the gym at least 3 times a week, even going up to 6 times depending on which workout program they choose. As a result, other activities, such as school sports, clubs, hanging out with friends and more, are pushed to the side to make room for this important stage of your life.

Or is it? I've found that nearly all people who weight lift find a way to still continue with their normal lives, balancing it well with their other hobbies and even using it as an advantage in sports to bolster their strength, speed, endurance, toughness, and more. Why not drag your friends to the gym with you, instead of having to tour the town again and again while missing your gym time? There are multiple techniques to help, and I can pretty much say I've used a lot of them.
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How do you balance bodybuilding with your hobbies & lifestyle?
Well, first off, someone who thinks gym-wise would say: How do you workout quicker? To answer this, you could simply Superset (move from one exercise/set to another without pause) exercises that usually have opposing movements, such as a bicep curl to a cable pushdown. I usually do this since my routine (at the end) has exercises which chronologically allow me to Superset.

Now, let me branch off the main course and talk a little bit about my hobbies. I'm a second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, moving for third later this year seeing as I've been doing it for nearly 9 years. I've also been playing the piano for 9 years, my third year in jazz coming up, having also competed in an international recital, earning 8th place out of thousands from the age group 13-17, being 13 myself. Soccer is one of my favorite sports, and I've done it year after year without pause.

See, when I was younger and I didn't weight lift, I was convinced that as I went through puberty I would automatically become big and strong, and that my sports would assist me in that. Now, and of knowledge that came hand in hand with knowing what a bench press was, I know that's not true. Therefore, I had to learn to balance. I specifically chose a 3-day split because my Tae Kwon Do is only two days a week, piano three, and soccer on the weekends. So:
Choose a workout program from the Workout of the Week database that is tailored to days where you have "off" from any hobbies.

What are some good hobbies that go well with bodybuilding?
Sports may go well with weight lifting for the simple reason that the latter will improve the first. Besides the fact that you'll look awesome when you take off a shirt to celebrate your team winning, your endurance and strength will increase weekly, giving you significant and noticeable results in your hobby, as long as you don't do either too strenuously, since your body does need time to rest and recover. Muscles grow when they rest, not when they're working.

In all honesty though, there are few hobbies that "go well" with bodybuilding since, as the name implies, you're simply building your body - making your physical appearance better. I can say that you'll pull more eyes at the beach, or taking a stroll through town, so that's always a hobby to keep in mind.

Are there any hobbies that clash with the bodybuilding lifestyle? How do they clash?
Yes, there are. If you're a high school student, like I am, and you're in a school sport, which I'm not (I wanted to take weight lifting seriously), then you're at a disadvantage. If your school is like most schools, and if you actually care about the sport you're doing, then you're going to be practicing at least 4 times a week, running, doing push ups, squats, fitness tests, and most of all, practice. As such, you're already limited to 3 days of good-quality lifting, optimistically. Most likely you'll be so tired on those days that you won't be able to lift with your potential, and your muscles won't make any gains due to overtraining.

If you're training for something other than a bodybuilding competition/power lifting meet, such as a soccer tournament, a musical challenge, a play at school, setting up a party or whatever it might be, and you can't even think about what would happen if you took a break,that will conflict with your weight lifting. That's why you have to space hobbies out, and give whichever one you care about the most priority.

Bodybuilding really does change your life. Positively or negatively, that's up to you. Ultimately, you're the one who decides how it balances in with other hobbies, but I hope that what I've written will help you with choices and decisions.

[jdog60]

How do you balance bodybuilding with your hobbies & lifestyle?

Balancing bodybuilding with your daily routine and other hobbies can be a challenge. But by establishing clear goals and planning accordingly, you will be able to successfully incorporate bodybuilding into your lifestyle while still leaving room for your other hobbies.
I have found that spending quality time thinking about what I want out of bodybuilding makes integrating a training program into your daily schedule much simpler. If you hope to dramatically change your physique, then you will need to make bodybuilding one of your top priorities. If your goals are more modest and bodybuilding is not one of your top priorities (outside of your health, job, etc.), then it would be appropriate for other activities to take precedence over bodybuilding. The more you want out of bodybuilding, the more you will have to sacrifice. I personally treat training, sleeping, and eating/meal preparation just like my job or classes. I have scheduled them into my daily routine and try not to deviate from that schedule. By maintaining a routine and preparing ahead, I am able to balance bodybuilding with hanging out with friends, spending time with my girlfriend, watching sports, reading, and all the other activities that I enjoy doing.
I am currently attending graduate school and my apartment is a thirty-five minute walk from campus. Since I have no car or bike, planning ahead is essential. I cook my meals the night before and take them with me in a cooler to campus, which is where I work, attend classes, and go to the gym. I find that preparing my meals in advance prevents me from rushing and making the mistake of not packing adequate supplies in the morning. For my main meal I typically make extra of whatever I am cooking for dinner and use the leftovers as the following day's lunch. In addition to lunch, I also pack some kind of simple-to-make sandwich (e.g. peanut butter, canned tuna, cheese, etc), a snack (nuts, cottage cheese, fruit, salad, etc.), and on training days, a post-workout shake, which I mix at the gym. I find that it is especially helpful to take the shake with me because by the time I walk home from the gym (which inevitably takes a little longer on leg days) and prepare a shake, forty-five minutes have elapsed. This food preparation system ensures that I have enough fuel to get me through my workout and back home after sitting in class and at work all day.
I have also adapted my training schedule to fit my lifestyle. I take advantage of being on campus for work and/or classes Monday through Friday by following a Monday-Wednesday-Friday training split. This split helps me to avoid walking over an hour (sometimes in rain or snow) to and from the campus gym during the weekend.
Similarly, I have changed my sleep schedule to accommodate my bodybuilding program. Although I used to be a night owl, I committed to going to bed earlier when I began graduate school and changed jobs. After all, the earlier you have to wake up in the morning, the earlier you should be heading to bed to ensure that your body is well rest and healed. Changing my sleep pattern, food preparation/eating schedule, and training routine were all sacrifices I was willing to make to integrate bodybuilding into my work and school schedules.
The last (and for some, the most difficult) step in integrating bodybuilding into your lifestyle is to make sure that your friends, family, and/or significant other understand that the time you dedicate to bodybuilding inside and outside of the gym is important to you and should be viewed by them as such. It is important that you let them know that workouts are not flexible.
going to the gym as something flexible that cannot be postponed. I have found that if both you and those you are in daily contact with treat the time you are at the gym as if it were work or an important appointment. Bodybuilding does not have to consume all of your time. After all, eating, sleeping, and (for some) cooking are all everyday events anyway, and prepping six meals a day does not have to take much longer than three once you get into a routine. Additionally, training a few times a week does not take very long, and still leaves me enough time to relax, hang out with friends, catch a game, etc. The key is to set goals, create a plan and stick to it.

What are some good hobbies that go well with bodybuilding?

Hobbies that go well with bodybuilding are ones that do not interfere with your recovery, training or nutritional plan. Aerobic activities such as swimming, running, and bicycling help to strengthen the heart and improve circulation, as well as reduce body fat and promote the growth of capillaries (which help shuttle oxygen to the muscles). (
(bodybuilding.com/fun/cardio_benefits.htm). Thus any cardiovascular activity would certainly be beneficial to a bodybuilding program. Yoga can also be beneficial to the bodybuilder by improving flexibility and aiding in recovery. (bodybuilding.com/fun/stretch.htm;bodybuilding.com/fun/jason12.htm;bodybuilding.com/fun/issa117.htm). Sedentary activities such as watching a movie or reading a book can also be beneficial in that they allow the bodybuilder to rest and recover (both physically and mentally) while still partaking in a hobby.

Are there any hobbies that clash with the bodybuilding lifestyle? *How do they clash?

I began bodybuilding the summer after ninth grade. I was on the wrestling team and was strong for my age, but I looked like a bag of bones. Cutting weight for wrestling made me look even more emaciated, and I was sick of people constantly commenting on how skinny I looked. That offseason I made bodybuilding my top priority and put on ten pounds, most of which was lean body mass. Everyone started to comment on how much healthier I looked, and I was feeling great. The first day back at school I ran into the wrestling coach. He looked me up and down, paused for a second, and then asked, "What the hell happened to you? You'd better start running, we need you back at 125." So, I stopped lifting, started running three miles a day, and began lowering my caloric intake, because at the time, wrestling was just more important to me than bodybuilding. Intense two and one-half hour practices five days a week plus wrestling at a weight well below my natural bodyweight simply did not mix with bodybuilding. Something had to give, so I decided to put bodybuilding on hold.
That season I was totally miserable. I had made the mistake of trying to fully dedicate myself to both wrestling and bodybuilding. I should have realized that these two activities clashed and consciously decided to focus on wrestling for the rest of high school. By doing so I would not have needed to find out first hand that bodybuilding and wrestling could not coexist in my world.
This does not mean that wrestling and bodybuilding are not compatible. If both activities are performed recreationally rather than at a competitive level, then the two could complement each other well. The key is setting goals and creating a routine to achieve those goals. The more challenging the goal, the more space it will occupy in your schedule and the fewer secondary activities you will be able to partake in.
There are, however, some hobbies that generally do not work well with bodybuilding. How much they clash with bodybuilding depends on how often you participate in them and what you want to achieve in bodybuilding. Extreme endurance sports, such as running marathons, and dangerous sports, such as base jumping, work against the bodybuilder's goal of gaining lean muscle as quickly as possible. The former will make putting on weight more difficult, while the latter will put you at risk of missing training due to injury. And finally, any activity that induces mental stress will be detrimental to bodybuilding because stress has a negative effective on the development on muscle mass.

[soundcheck129]

Bodybuilding can have a major impact on one's lifestyle, social life, hobbies, etc. Many athletes and hobbyists have to balance or find common ground between their hobbies and bodybuilding.

There's no question about it - bodybuilding is a demanding sport and requires a lot of time and dedication. Often, it can seem to be more of a lifestyle than a mere hobby, as diet and training often overflow into the time one sets aside for other activities. However, too much of any thing - even bodybuilding - isn't ideal, so it's important to make time for family, friends and other hobbies and pursuits. Sure, having every day be leg day would be fun for a while, but eventually you'd run out of gas - and food!

How do you balance bodybuilding with your hobbies & lifestyle?

The key to balancing bodybuilding and the rest of your life is prioritizing. This may sound cheesy, but write down on a piece of paper what your main sources of obligation and entertainment are. Include your job, spending time with family, any hobbies you have, community service...whatever it is you do in your spare time. Next, arrange them in order of most to least important. This order will make it easy to see where you should be devoting your time.

Look closely - where does bodybuilding fit on the list? Are you more of a weekend warrior, or do you have plans to compete? Taking a moment to honestly assess how dedicated you are to bodybuilding can save you a lot of confusion and frustration later on. There's nothing wrong with having bodybuilding just be a hobby. In fact, it will free you up to enjoy yourself doing other things, and will allow you to be less strict with your diet and training. Once you've determined how much of your life, and lifestyle, you are willing to devote to bodybuilding, you can split your time appropriately between your other pursuits.

But just having your priorities set up doesn't guarantee success - you may have to arrange your schedule so that bodybuilding complements, rather than clashes with, the rest of your life. For instance, I have a number of hobbies outside of bodybuilding: playing guitar, reading, writing, cooking, etc. In addition to those pursuits, I also have school and work to worry about. However, I've been able to set things up so that instead of having bodybuilding interfere with other hobbies, it complements them.

Here's how I do it - obviously, school and work are at the top of my priority list, so working out can't interfere with those. Luckily, though, I'm not at the point where I want to compete, so I don't feel obligated to devote my life to bodybuilding. So what typically happens is I'll work out after class or work. And while I like to stay active, knowing that I just worked out means I know I have to give my body a rest to recover. This gives me time to play guitar and hang out with friends.

Bodybuilding also inspires quite an appetite, which allows me to get creative in the kitchen, as I may be eating up to six meals per day. In addition, reading up on nutrition aids in cooking, but also aids in bodybuilding as well.

Reading about exercise science and training is also a nice hobby that complements bodybuilding - the more I read, the more I can use in the gym. And reading also gives me the knowledge to write authoritatively on bodybuilding-related subjects. So instead of fighting for time in my busy schedule, bodybuilding and my other hobbies contribute to each other in a positive fashion.

There are also days on which I know I have obligations, so I try to design my workout split in such a way that my off-days are the days I need to devote to other things. As with any hobby, though, you have to be flexible. There will be times at which you can't get everything done that you need or want to, so having a list of priorities will help you decide how to best spend your time. Making sacrifices and compromises is part of life, and the decisions you make around bodybuilding will help you in making choices in other aspects of life as well.

One last thing to remember is the importance of planning ahead. When you have a lot of things you have to do, staying organized and planning out your day will help you calm down and see how you're going to make time for it all. Keeping a schedule will also help keep your relationships smooth, so people can know when you can be reached and when you'll be occupied.

What are some good hobbies that go well with bodybuilding?

Although bodybuilding is very demanding and requires a lot of time, there are hobbies that naturally go very well with bodybuilding. Most sports - baseball, basketball, football, hockey, rugby, etc. - go well with bodybuilding because lifting weights will make you stronger and help you perform better. These sports will also improve your endurance and conditioning, so you won't have to worry about doing as much cardio on your off days. Sports can also increase your anaerobic threshold, which will be helpful in your cardio and weightlifting sessions. Cooking also goes well with bodybuilding because if you're eating a lot, knowing how to make different things will add some much-needed variety to your diet. Modeling is another hobby that goes well with bodybuilding, as you're expected to be in great shape to be a model, and bodybuilding will definitely help you with that goal.

It's also important to have hobbies that aren't demanding on your body. While sports are fun, you will need some recovery time, so reading, writing, watching movies, and playing a musical instrument are great ways to keep yourself occupied while you're recovering. Yoga is also a great way to relax and rest up, while improving your flexibility and decreasing your chance of injury down the road. Similarly, personal training and consulting go very well with bodybuilding - in order to be a great trainer, you'll need a lot of knowledge about the body, which will complement your efforts in the gym nicely.

Are there any hobbies that clash with the bodybuilding lifestyle? *How do they clash?

While sports can help your bodybuilding pursuits, they can also be a hindrance. If you're participating in sports that are too physically demanding, this can hamper your recovery and jeapordize your gains. Also, you have to take into account that this extra activity burns calories, so you will have to eat even more if you want to create the caloric surplus necessary to grow. Obviously, injury is also a risk, and that will sideline you both from sports and bodybuilding, so be careful - remember to stretch and warm up and cool down sufficiently. For instance, I used to rock climb quite often, and the exertion from that combined with bodybuilding held back my gains because I didn't even realize how much stress I was putting on my body, and ended up overtraining.

In addition, endurance training, such as marathon running or cycling, can have a negative effect on bodybuilding, and vice versa. These activities burn a lot of caloires, and having a lot of muscle mass is not going to be conducive to speed, so you may have to pick one sport per season to focus on.

Some common social activities, such as smoking and drinking, can clash with bodybuilding. Alcohol lowers testosterone and interferes with fat oxidation, and smoking damages your lungs and can leave your fingers and teeth stained - not something that will impress a judge when you step on the stage! Smoking can also hamper muscle development, and alcohol may lead to the munchies, which is definitely not conducive to a six-pack.

Lastly, anything that involves a lot of stress - whether it be racecar driving or gambling - is not a good fit with bodybuilding, as it can increase your cortisol levels and compromise your efforts in the gym. In addition, high levels of stress can mean that you won't get the sleep that you need to keep your body in the best condition.

Even if your hobby clashes with bodybuilding, though, it doesn't mean you have to decide between lifting weights and your other favorite activities. You simply need to prioritize and make time for each. Having time off from bodybuilding to do other things will reduce your chances of overtraining, maintain your level of enthusiasm, and leave you with something to look forward to each and every time you hit the gym.

[Armbender]

Good luck to all of the entries!

[LifetimeStudent]

Good luck to all of the entries!

Agreed! I would LOVE to get a little in store credit... That way I can actually afford supplements! Going to be a real tough one though, all of these entries look real good... Dunno if I can hang. :/ We'll see!

EDIT: I think soundcheck will get first place for sure... Dude is an article beast! Winning a ****ton of these things.

[Armbender]

Agreed! I would LOVE to get a little in store credit... That way I can actually afford supplements! Going to be a real tough one though, all of these entries look real good... Dunno if I can hang. :/ We'll see!

EDIT: I think soundcheck will get first place for sure... Dude is an article beast! Winning a ****ton of these things.

lol..yeah man..hes a good writer for sure...i was pretty confident when i was the only entry..lol...

[LifetimeStudent]

Haha so is there a second place prize for this? like in another section of articles. I think I saw some with a top three to?
anyway, anyone have any idea how long it usually takes for the results (who placed in what position) to come out? I'm a bit new to this, or at least haven't seen it since 2004 when it was run a bit differently.

[Armbender]

Haha so is there a second place prize for this? like in another section of articles. I think I saw some with a top three to?
anyway, anyone have any idea how long it usually takes for the results (who placed in what position) to come out? I'm a bit new to this, or at least haven't seen it since 2004 when it was run a bit differently.

im not sure..this was my 1st article....

[LifetimeStudent]

im not sure..this was my 1st article....

Ah same. I hope you do well mate Your article's good.

[Armbender]

Ah same. I hope you do well mate Your article's good.

thanks man..you too

[Greek_Elite]

good luck fellas.. usually there are 3 (even 4 prizes) but its usually stated in the topic post, but this one doesnt have it so dont know

pickin winners can take a cpl weeks, even a cpl months..

[The_ScoTTmaN]

You need to turn bodybuilding into a hobby.