The Official O35 Motivation Thread

[drudixon]

We've all seen numerous posts come and go asking for motivation, and with the advent of "Resolutioners' Season", perhaps it makes sense to have a thread dedicated to showcasing the powerful motivational stories held by members of the O35. These are stories of members who've faced difficult, life-changing situations and they either turned to bodybuilding / power-lifting / strong man or they persisted in their chosen fitness endeavor in spite of what they faced. If this thread can show new members that they CAN make life altering changes themselves, then it will have served it's purpose.

There are so many rich stories that inspire me daily and make me proud to be associated with the members who lived them. There are members in their 60s, 70s, and 80s. There are members who have had heart attacks, strokes, hernias, missing limbs, been in debilitating car accidents. Members who have battled obesity or taken their bodies to the extreme. Wartime members, separated from their families and friends, who inspire us all with what they accomplish in spite of being deployed. These are the stories of the O35 and personal victories that our members have every day.

Please, if you have a personal success story or that of someone who inspires you to get your ass in the gym, to be more, to settle for less - Share It!

I would ask, if sharing the story of someone other than yourself, do try to respect his / her privacy if the person hasn't made certain details widely known.

Thank you for sharing. Thank you for reading. And, in the immortal words of IronWill2008, "Good luck with your lifting goals in 2013".

[drudixon]

To kick things off, I'll start with some highlights of members who inspire and motivate me. Rather than go into great depth on each, I'll briefly highlight the things about them that motivate me. I think it'd be an honor were they to share the particulars of their stories themselves.

For my own lifting goals, I have a strength meets aesthetics goal. I want to wow myself and my friends with what I'm able to do and I want to look incredible doing it. CMoore, BoFlecks and Timberwolf. (and Kimm4 - I don't want to look like a woman, just saying she truly is top caliber and I'd like to reach that echelon)

Since I'm currently facing my first overuse injury (bicep tendonitis) and trying to keep my sights on the horizon, itching every day to get back in the saddle DungeonMistress, Flex, and FittoFattoFit inspire me. Each has dealt with multiple joint issues and are still absolutely tearing it up. This reminds me that there is life after injury and that I can get back to full health.

From time-to-time, I get bummed about my own health limitations. When I read about over-coming car accidents, open heart surgery, hernias and diabetes I'm truly humbled to see what is possible and how small my personal issues really are. The stories of BodyHard, InducedDrag, TheMyth, HammerFelt, Corbi, and Getsum are truly incredible and show over-coming odds.

Beginning my lifting journey at a SWOLE 148lbs and still progressing, when I stall, take a step back, or get frustrated, I look at the incredible transformations of HighIso and ArchAngel. The incredible distance each of them came to arrive in their incredible conditions shows me that with the right approach and hell-or-highwater thinking, I can do it too.

Lastly, we have members who've been through it all and been doing it for decades. They look amazing and their strength is through the roof. They also still take the time to help others with their experience and expertise. A huge thank you to IronWill2008, HoustonTXMuscle, and JerryB.

There are many, many more members I look up to and admire. These listed are simply those who popped into mind as I wrote this. There also are people who have incredible stories I may not know. Thank you all, sincerely.

[highiso]

Firstly, thanks Dru, glad I can add some inspiration to your consistent drive. I'm thrilled to have made the list of people that inspire you!!! Secondly, anyone who is new here should most certainly follow your lead as you show the dedication it takes to stay in the game. I would love for this to become an epic transformation thread for someone starting out who shows the determination it takes and actually makes it.


Back in January 2010 I became a resolutioner.

I lifted before in my younger years but never followed a nutritional plan and consequently never made progress and quickly gave up. I got married, had kids, got fat, got divorced and got even fatter. I was at the lowest point in my life...



When I came back here in 2010 I decided to DO IT RIGHT, which meant doing lots of nutritional research and following others to find out what worked for them. I wasn't spoon fed a thing, I had to read and read some more and most importantly I experimented to see what worked for me.

After almost exactly 3 years of extremely hard work and dedication things are finally starting to pay off. This year in 2012 I was lucky enough to make the "Over 40 Transformation of the Week" and the "Top 10 of 2012." Never in a million years would I have thought this was possible especially since I had let my body deteriorate so badly. Now I truly know that anything is possible if you STAY truly dedicated.





From experience these are just some of the things resolutioners will experience for the next 1 to 2 years, take notice to the trend:

• You'll be hungry EVERYDAY
• You'll not want to go to the gym
• You'll look in the mirror and see change but be completely UNsatisfied
• You'll want to give up
• You'll be completely fed up with slow progress
• You'll compare progress pics and look at them in disgust
• You'll become tired of eating the same things every day
• You'll want to give up
• You'll cut the weight and look skinny
• You'll bulk up and look fat
• You'll think you see abs, take a pic, no abs
• You'll want to give up

It's all a matter of your will to succeed being greater than your will to give up.

I'd like to wish ALL resolutioners good luck and the hopes of having the same success I've had. Unfortunately 95% or more of you will fail. Who's got the will to stick with it for a couple of years or more? Post in this thread and make a commitment to succeed!

[ArchAngel'73]

"Thirty years from now when you're sitting around your fireside with your grandson on your knee, and he asks you, What did you do in the great World War Two? You won't have to say, Well, I shoveled sh*t in Louisiana"- Gen. George S. Patton jr.

"Earn this."- Captain Miller to Private Ryan

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”-Marianne Williamson


"DO IT OR GO START AN ANT FARM". - Bill Phillips



I watched my father die, it took 4 years for that tough S.O.B to kick off and he finally found peace at a young age of 56.
Sitting at 310 lbs. and being obese the majority of my life I decided I needed a change unless I wanted a similar fate.
I have weight trained since I was 15, loved it, I also liked eating...alot!
I knew the value of work but did not think I had it in me until helped by a forum member here named kimsquit.
He pointed me in the right direction to realize my childhood dream of setting foot on a bodybuilding stage.
I hired Layne Norton (also from bb.com) to help me with my diet.
I found out I was ill during this process.
Losing the fat eventually eliminated this medical condition.
It took me 2 years to go down from 310 to 214, my competition weight in my 1st ever drug tested bodybuilding competition.
It was and still is a COMPLETE LIFE OVERHAUL.
Transformations start from within, and to keep it going you're going to have to fight society, your friends, and your family...they do not and will not understand.
and during this process you get to learn what kind of stuff you're made of.

Are you gonna be the one who doesn't earn it or the one that shovels sh*t in Louisiana or the one who starts an ant farm?
Or are you gonna shine and become a beacon for what can be done despite the odds?

This is your choice.

There is a reason I changed my username on here from "Fiend_73" to "ArchAngel'73" after my transformation...
I beat my demon, me.

[ntrllftr]

<<< Butthurt that all my years of hard work wasn't mentioned.
Motivated to quit!













(NOT srs!)

[Brackneyc]

20 years worth of a fat reflection. Got tired of it, made a few minor changes. The end.

[Marius_Ursus]

<<< Butthurt that all my years of hard work wasn't mentioned.
Motivated to quit!

(NOT srs!)

You need a visit from the Jeep Brah to cheer you up.

Dru, my motivational speech is too long winded to write it again.

Here's the copy/paste from my journal.

I stole the title of this journal from the title of a book by a much-respected strength coach named Dan John. I think the overall premise of that book fits what this journal is about.

I first started training with iron when my daughter was two years old. That means it's been 15 years, and I've had a lot of setbacks. When I started out, like most others, I had no idea what I was doing, hundreds of reps for bench with a weight that was too light, ignoring my diet, no leg work, but to be fair about the legs at least, all I had was a bench and a barbell. Then I started reading books and magazines, started to get a clue, and to this day I'm still learning something almost every time I lift.

A couple of years later I got divorced, moved into a new house, bought some kettlebells, and joined a gym. I kept at it, lifting consistently but still ignoring my diet. Then I lost my job, had to move in with a friend and had to quit my gym, but I'd kept my bench and iron in storage and moved that with me when I moved to Texas from California.

I also got married again, but I couldn't find work for a while in my career field, so I took a job in a factory working 12-hour swing shifts. I lifted when I could which wasn't very often. Between the work and the son with behavioral problems, I was lacking sleep in a very big way, but I still trained when I could, mostly bodyweight and kettlebell exercise, sometimes getting under the bar if I had enough alertness not to kill me. It's a fact that bodyweight and kettlebells are more forgiving with form for the most part than barbell training is, so those were my go to most of the time.

I eventually found work in upstate NY and moved here but didn't have access to much of anything as almost all our possessions were in my wife's parent's barn for the better part of two years. When I got the barbell back and put it in our apartment basement, I continued, once again, doing what I could when I could and cleaned up my diet in the meantime. The training usually entailed front squats (from the clean), deadlifts, and overhead press (from the clean) and lots of kettlebell work.

Then I found an even better job and could afford to join a gym again. It was awesome having all the equipment at my disposal. I made the best progress of my lifting career, really applying myself to powerlifting, getting into Scottish games, and loving it all.

Then my wife got pregnant.

Then we had the baby.

Then my wife got sick, and long story short, I went 18 months with no training at all, but last December, Mrs. Bear laid down over a grand to get me a power rack with lat attachment, row attachment, and dip station plus a bench. We'd just bought a house, and so she wanted me to start training again. she knew how much I missed it, how much I needed it.

It's been a struggle for most of the years that I've been lifting, but I've never lost my desire to keep going, keep working at it, keep improving no matter how many setbacks I've had. I love resistance training. A lot.

But now I've hit a point where my training doesn't make sense. I'm not making any progress on any front not fat loss, not muscle growth, not strength, not even endurance, and I can't figure out why. I've tried everything I can think of, everything that's ever worked in the past. This is not just a plateau. There is seriously something going on with me, and I don't know what it is.

So, I'm going to make a radical change and go back to my roots, at least as far as where I started is concerned. I'm going to start "bodybuilding" training on Monday with a plan of going three months and hopefully make progress in one area (hypertrophy) until I start straight strength training again for next year's throwing season.

Hopefully if anyone reads this, it won't just be a tl;dr because I hope someone out there can take a little bit of what I went through and see that you haven't failed as long as you keep trying. Sometimes the trying needs to be something a little different, but all that matters is that you never let go.

[TCO76]

In for commitment. Just started lifting seriously 6 months ago. Have alot of the same influences as OP. I will tell my story when the time is right. Right now I can just say that for anyone new to the game, listen to the people that have posted. They make excuses null and void. And know that if you can't, it is because you won't. I will one day be a "BIG DEAL". Count on it!