Bodybuilding | A matter of the heart

MORE THAN JUST A WAY OF LIFE...

Day in and day out, I see many people going to the gym and training for the wrong reasons. Why do I dare say that they are doing it for the wrong reasons? I can see it in people's faces. They don't have the fire in their eyes, the grit in their training, the deep desire for change. They train because they "have to" and are forced to do so by modern social norms. Nowadays, going to the gym is no longer just a trend, it has become a kind of compulsory event and is considered "good form" for many people in today's society. Who doesn't train?

Unfortunately, so many people forget that bodybuilding is something that comes from the heart... a passion, a way of life.

How do I "pull myself together" to go to the gym five or six times a week? Because I have so much fun doing it every time and it's usually the highlight of my day, especially during the semester. When I'm at university, I spend most of my time thinking about training or something else that has to do with sport.

Why is it not difficult for me to forgo "so much" delicious food? Because I don't even feel the need to. I really like eating delicious things, but food only really satisfies me when it tastes good and I know at the same time that it offers my body a certain added value and is not just "empty calories" in the form of sugar and fat. Then the food tastes particularly good and I can really enjoy it.

I have dreamed of having a muscular body since I was a little boy. This whole topic has always fascinated me and I always wanted to be like my role models. As a little boy, I would do push-ups in my room and then look in the bathroom mirror to see if I had changed. I knew even then that one day I would look in that very mirror again and then I would look the way I had longed to for so long.

At some point in my youth I gave up football and judo and concentrated on athletics, not because I was better or more successful at it. But because I occasionally had the opportunity to go to a weight room and in my eyes professional athletes were much more "attractive". Their appearance was more in line with my own ideal than that of athletes in other sports (this is NOT meant to be discriminatory towards anyone, appearance plays a primary role in hardly any other sport than bodybuilding, it was just different for me).

I've dreamed of it my whole life. Of course, when I started weight training properly at 18, it was also about pleasing women and earning the respect of other boys. But as I've already described, all extrinsic motivation has now completely disappeared from me. I only do all of this because I love this sport and everything that has to do with it and it makes me and my life fulfilled and perfect.

Therefore, I ask you to do bodybuilding for the right reasons for you personally, because you enjoy training just as much as you do and it gives you pleasure and, above all, makes you happy. Fitness should be an enrichment, not an additional pressure that you put on yourself. Don't do it because it's trendy and hip and you feel obliged to do it.

Bodybuilding is a matter of the heart! (Competitions are of no importance in this context). Eating healthy should be fun. Training should be fun.

I would like to ask everyone who can identify in any way with what I have said to find out for themselves as soon as possible why they are doing this, with the aim of rediscovering their intrinsic motivation... because half measures have never got you anywhere in life. If you do it with heart and joy, then success will come naturally. Learn to enjoy the journey and the path to your dream body, with all the ups and downs. Then all of this can only make you stronger and help you live a happier life!

I really hope that someone can take something away from my words. These are some very intimate and emotional thoughts of mine and I thought for a long time about whether I should even publish something like this... well, I just hope that this and everything I write here is helpful to some of you out there and I wish everyone who reads this the best on their journey!

Your Malte