10/17/2024
My Observation Of The Current State Of Amateur Bodybuilding
First let me give y’all a little back story. I started lifting like a bodybuilder at the age of 12 because I wanted to get bigger, stronger, and better for football. Fast forward to my early years as a personal trainer, I was about 215lbs, relatively lean, and never came close to a PED. I started contemplating bodybuilding because I was in seek of something competitive since my football days were behind me. First coach I had a consultation with was enhanced & he spent majority of our first meeting talking about drugs & quite honestly it was a turn off for me. Second coach I consulted with was actually a co worker at the time, who was a competitive natural bodybuilder himself. I gravitated towards his approach because it was based off sound nutritional principals & training hard, which is something I loved doing since I started lifting. I then proceeded to compete in a few natural shows and I’m glad I went through the process because it opened up the doors for me as a coach. Shortly after I transitioned to a performance focused gym and this felt more like home. Chasing numbers & developing as a well rounded athlete was more appealing to me and has been my focus since.
What I observe now with the Amateur Bodybuilding community is so many competitors will put blame on their coaches for their lack of progress but when you ask them how long they’ve been lifting, they’ll say about 3 years or sometimes less! This is comical to me because I put in 10+ years before I even thought about the sport. Amateur competitors now will find inspiration through social media, hire the first coach who’s a good salesman, get on a ton of gear, look okay for an amateur show, and then there’s no exit plan. They either have to stay on gear for the unforeseeable future and/or they never were educated on a sustainable approach to nutrition & training. If you’ve been a follower of mine for some time, you can tell my focus as a coach & athlete has transitioned to Performance based training. But if you are a competitor and are in need of a coach who will give it to you straight, educate, provide you an exit plan, then shoot me a message. If you want a juiced out cheerleader, I’m not the guy for you😂
SN: as a 39yr old father & business owner, I am an advocate for TRT
Also shout out Joe Hartfelder
