EGOS & FALTERS Of The Fitness Industry

But now the kind of “hard work” that needs to be done may not necessarily require you to move around physically. Taking health and compounding the problem with excess food and sometimes too much of processed junk food that is available very easily. In such a situation, there is no way out except a conscious effort to keep your body physically fit, agile and active hence bringing about a structured fitness industry.

To shine amongst people, to stand out, one would obviously strive to take his or her fitness levels to a superlative degree. But this also has its own emotional, psychological, physical and mental consequences.

Just like there is competition everywhere, it is very much now there in the fitness industry which is a very positive sign. But if you need to stress or hurt yourself to succeed, the very purpose of your fitness journey is lost.

One of the very beautiful ways to present yourself on stage is to participate in a bodybuilding competition. But remember that it takes time to build a body in a healthy way. Taking short cuts can hurt your health and it is actually “anti-fitness”. Remember that the people, who have already been around and have been competing since a while, have their experiences to offer and need to be respected. There need not be a hurry to supersede anyone, because this should be looked upon as a lifelong journey. 

We need to be fit to improve our quality of life. Not to make ourselves miserable. You need to be fit, to be happier and live better. That includes mental and emotional fitness as well as spiritual enhancement and maturity.

Every person has his or her place under the sun. You are unique and special. No one can take your place and so, you stand out. That is a wonderful thought to give you the confidence and boost your morale. I have seen many women come forward and say that they probably didn’t win because they were older or have been through childbirth or the pangs and agonies of a challenging life. Sometimes they hold the judges responsible for that.

It so happens, that the judges have to look upon the contestants extremely objectively, from a completely detached perspective. In fact it is highly desirable that the judges do not know anyone personally. For the judges, what matters at that point of time is that, “Who looks the best on stage?” The sanctity of the post demands that, the rest of everything else is put aside.

Whether you are a nice person or not, your age, your challenges in life and so on, are immaterial. And that is how it should be. And what then follows is the question that if you feel that you cannot beat the ones with better genetics or the younger contestants, then should you compete at all?

This is an extremely significant and relevant question. After months, if not years of preparation, hard work, spending time and money, you finally are ready to go on stage and realize that there are so many other contestants, doing the same, some of them gifted with great genetics, some of them having many more privileges. Should you feel at all that it is not worth it? You are wrong. Every bit of it has been worth it. You just need to bring about a paradigm change in your mind set and thought process.

While bodybuilding at a competitive level is usually done by very passionate athletes, there must be an endeavour on the part of the athlete to make it a self-sustainable journey. Don’t overdo on supplementation. Nothing is more precious than life. Understand your potential and life-situation.

While genetics, circumstances, finances. etc. can cause impedances in your progress, one shouldn’t feel disheartened or undermine the goals of others. Every athlete who is on stage has worked hard spent money and given up a lot. But not every one of them wins.

The frustration shouldn’t get into you. While preparing for a contest, one must keep in mind what he/she wants to achieve from the show besides just a medal. Your target should be to aim for a good body that you can maintain forever and look great. Stage photos are unspoken testimonies of the wonderful work done by you and treasures for life. The love and adulation you get from the audience is priceless. These things will stay with you long after you have stopped competing. Creating your own place for yourself will help you create a base for business and work in the fitness industry.

While preparing for a competition you see your body transform into a piece of art. That teaches you a whole lot of things, improvising you as a person even without you realising it yourself. The habits developed in this period will stay with you for life. Hence while you will enjoy better health, strength and aesthetics, you will be able to pursue whatever you have always wanted to do or learn irrespective of your chronological age, because you will live a disease free life and remain stronger.

The competitive world teaches us to respect our fellow contestants, realising what it takes to achieve the superlative level of fitness and also become compassionate and empathetic.

The stage photos, accolades and experiences are records that are priceless testimonies that will stay with you forever. Irrespective of the fact, whether you won a medal or not, the pictures say everything that you are capable and have achieved a beautiful body. The idea is that you have to look at the entire journey as a whole, learn and enjoy the process. But if you look only towards the end journey and not the whole process, it may not be happy and pleasant as it should be and can make you miserable. You just cannot compare yourself with anyone else. A competitor must also understand and appreciate that since her pursuit is for professional reasons, he or she will obviously look fitter than people who are otherwise associated with other professions. The fact that they are pursuing their fitness journey even though that is not their profession and are managing their time and energy to be there and follow a healthy lifestyle, must be given utmost respect. Every person has a story. They have overcome various challenges of life in their own way.

So do not consider yourself superior to others just because you look fitter than others. There is a lot more to life. A lot of athletes also ask for support and sponsorship in the name of bringing glory to the country. While undoubtedly winning international accolades and putting up Indian presence on world stage is great and that bodybuilding and fitness endeavours are great examples of striving for excellence and it also gives a boost to the growth of fitness industry, opening many new avenues for employment and enrichment. And yet, it is not a favour to the country. It is your own personal journey too and hence your responsibility. Do not make your family suffer; do not sell your mother’s jewellery to pursue this career. Do not let your loved ones compromise on their quality of life and don’t let your mood swings affect them. You need to understand that every athlete has a shelf life. Be it any sport. One cannot compete at highest international levels forever. And therefore whatever glory and accolades that have been achieved actually are helpful in forming a strong foundation. Once you step out of the limelight your actual life journey begins and how you have been as a human being and treated others will make all the difference, to the rest of your life.

It should also be mentioned that the athletes are generally working for passion. They may not be directly earning or getting any wealth out of competing whatsoever.

Sometimes, they give up everything they have and end-up with a lowered self-esteem. So, even before beginning to prepare for a competition, an athlete must be very sure of what his/her aim is besides getting a good placing. What are the benefits that you can get in the long run? Besides a great learning experience, it can also be a platform to showcase what you can achieve and that what your genetic potential is. One can also learn and try various training methods, schedules and how at different times the same may or may not work for various people.

Being a part of the competitive world teaches you to respect others and gets into you the essence of sportsmanship. It teaches an athlete to handle glory as well as manage disappointments graciously which manifests itself in everything else in life. 

In the course of his/her journey, an athlete understands that powerlifting and bodybuilding are different goals. It can be disastrous to mix the two. These can still be done in different periods of time but not at the same time. While in bodybuilding, the body is virtually chiselled out and carved by intelligently understanding and fine tuning everything, the primary goal of power-lifting is to lift heavy, safety being the top priority in both the fields. The goal of the body building athlete is just not to stand out amongst the few people in his local gym, who are not even professionals. His/her goal should be the larger stage, where the ultimate result should be to stand out amongst champions, at international level, by building a world class body. On the stage it wouldn’t matter how much weight was lifted, what will matter is the body that has been formed. It is so important to have that clarity in mind while working.

We also see athletes being very obsessed with social media and followers. This is very relevant in today’s commercialised world. But one shouldn’t get so preoccupied with it that the actual substance and target is compromised upon. It also snatches away the peace of mind and can make you miserable. Once your work stands out, it will show for itself. The key is to strike a balance.

Some support is certainly expected from sponsors. It is not always that a sponsor does due justice to the athlete. It is of course certainly the prerogative of the athlete if he agrees to the terms and conditions and gets exploited when he/she has to give and do too much for too little. But this issue must be addressed. An athlete cannot possibly give his/her 100% if he/she has to spend time earning money. Bodybuilding at a competitive level is actually a 24 hour sport. Ideally, a sponsor must ensure that the athlete gets sufficient time for training, rest and nutrition, without having to worry too much about meeting his ends. The athlete must reciprocate by giving his/her 100%. But be very aware that since the competitive career and sponsorship is not forever, he/she must realize his/her strengths an interest in the field and plan for the long term future so that he/she has a secure, safe and happy life ahead.

Create your own niche and place and be the best version of yourself so that you have the fitness as well choice to pursue a great career and the life that you have always wanted to live.

This is an extremely significant and relevant question. After months, if not years of preparation, hard work, spending time and money, you finally are ready to go on stage and realize that there are so many other contestants, doing the same, some of them gifted with great genetics, some of them having many more privileges. Should you feel at all that it is not worth it? You are wrong. Every bit of it has been worth it. You just need to bring about a paradigm change in your mind set and thought process.

While bodybuilding at a competitive level is usually done by very passionate athletes, there must be an endeavour on the part of the athlete to make it a self-sustainable journey. Don’t overdo on supplementation. Nothing is more precious than life. Understand your potential and life-situation.

While genetics, circumstances, finances. etc. can cause impedances in your progress, one shouldn’t feel disheartened or undermine the goals of others. Every athlete who is on stage has worked hard spent money and given up a lot. But not every one of them wins.

The frustration shouldn’t get into you. While preparing for a contest, one must keep in mind what he/she wants to achieve from the show besides just a medal. Your target should be to aim for a good body that you can maintain forever and look great. Stage photos are unspoken testimonies of the wonderful work done by you and treasures for life. The love and adulation you get from the audience is priceless. These things will stay with you long after you have stopped competing. Creating your own place for yourself will help you create a base for business and work in the fitness industry.

While preparing for a competition you see your body transform into a piece of art. That teaches you a whole lot of things, improvising you as a person even without you realising it yourself. The habits developed in this period will stay with you for life. Hence while you will enjoy better health, strength and aesthetics, you will be able to pursue whatever you have always wanted to do or learn irrespective of your chronological age, because you will live a disease free life and remain stronger.

The competitive world teaches us to respect our fellow contestants, realising what it takes to achieve the superlative level of fitness and also become compassionate and empathetic.

The stage photos, accolades and experiences are records that are priceless testimonies that will stay with you forever. Irrespective of the fact, whether you won a medal or not, the pictures say everything that you are capable and have achieved a beautiful body. The idea is that you have to look at the entire journey as a whole, learn and enjoy the process. But if you look only towards the end journey and not the whole process, it may not be happy and pleasant as it should be and can make you miserable. You just cannot compare yourself with anyone else. A competitor must also understand and appreciate that since her pursuit is for professional reasons, he or she will obviously look fitter than people who are otherwise associated with other professions. The fact that they are pursuing their fitness journey even though that is not their profession and are managing their time and energy to be there and follow a healthy lifestyle, must be given utmost respect. Every person has a story. They have overcome various challenges of life in their own way.

So do not consider yourself superior to others just because you look fitter than others. There is a lot more to life. A lot of athletes also ask for support and sponsorship in the name of bringing glory to the country. While undoubtedly winning international accolades and putting up Indian presence on world stage is great and that bodybuilding and fitness endeavours are great examples of striving for excellence and it also gives a boost to the growth of fitness industry, opening many new avenues for employment and enrichment. And yet, it is not a favour to the country. It is your own personal journey too and hence your responsibility. Do not make your family suffer; do not sell your mother’s jewellery to pursue this career. Do not let your loved ones compromise on their quality of life and don’t let your mood swings affect them. You need to understand that every athlete has a shelf life. Be it any sport. One cannot compete at highest international levels forever. And therefore whatever glory and accolades that have been achieved actually are helpful in forming a strong foundation. Once you step out of the limelight your actual life journey begins and how you have been as a human being and treated others will make all the difference, to the rest of your life.

It should also be mentioned that the athletes are generally working for passion. They may not be directly earning or getting any wealth out of competing whatsoever.

Sometimes, they give up everything they have and end-up with a lowered self-esteem. So, even before beginning to prepare for a competition, an athlete must be very sure of what his/her aim is besides getting a good placing. What are the benefits that you can get in the long run? Besides a great learning experience, it can also be a platform to showcase what you can achieve and that what your genetic potential is. One can also learn and try various training methods, schedules and how at different times the same may or may not work for various people.

Being a part of the competitive world teaches you to respect others and gets into you the essence of sportsmanship. It teaches an athlete to handle glory as well as manage disappointments graciously which manifests itself in everything else in life. 

In the course of his/her journey, an athlete understands that powerlifting and bodybuilding are different goals. It can be disastrous to mix the two. These can still be done in different periods of time but not at the same time. While in bodybuilding, the body is virtually chiselled out and carved by intelligently understanding and fine tuning everything, the primary goal of power-lifting is to lift heavy, safety being the top priority in both the fields. The goal of the body building athlete is just not to stand out amongst the few people in his local gym, who are not even professionals. His/her goal should be the larger stage, where the ultimate result should be to stand out amongst champions, at international level, by building a world class body. On the stage it wouldn’t matter how much weight was lifted, what will matter is the body that has been formed. It is so important to have that clarity in mind while working.

We also see athletes being very obsessed with social media and followers. This is very relevant in today’s commercialised world. But one shouldn’t get so preoccupied with it that the actual substance and target is compromised upon. It also snatches away the peace of mind and can make you miserable. Once your work stands out, it will show for itself. The key is to strike a balance.

Some support is certainly expected from sponsors. It is not always that a sponsor does due justice to the athlete. It is of course certainly the prerogative of the athlete if he agrees to the terms and conditions and gets exploited when he/she has to give and do too much for too little. But this issue must be addressed. An athlete cannot possibly give his/her 100% if he/she has to spend time earning money. Bodybuilding at a competitive level is actually a 24 hour sport. Ideally, a sponsor must ensure that the athlete gets sufficient time for training, rest and nutrition, without having to worry too much about meeting his ends. The athlete must reciprocate by giving his/her 100%. But be very aware that since the competitive career and sponsorship is not forever, he/she must realize his/her strengths an interest in the field and plan for the long term future so that he/she has a secure, safe and happy life ahead.

Create your own niche and place and be the best version of yourself so that you have the fitness as well choice to pursue a great career and the life that you have always wanted to live.