I am a bodybuilder.

It's been quite some time since I've been able to say that. Some 30 years or so ago, it was as true about me as if to say, "I breathe the air." Every moment of every day was spent in some fashion devoted to carving and shaping my physique. Every meal was carefully crafted, every rep of every set was performed with intention. It was as if I lived for it. And I did. My whole life, my very being, centered around the idea that I was creating and sculpting my body to be its absolute best.

But, as they say, life happened, and suddenly, keeping my body in its top condition became secondary, if not less, to everything else that screamed for my attention. There were kids, jobs, wives and so many other things grabbing at my focus, that there just was not any left to devote to staying in top form. Sure, I still lifted, but it was not my primary goal. I was no longer a bodybuilder. I was just another of a nameless rabble of people who went to the gym daily and worked out. I maintained a decent condition, but that's all I did, maintain.

Suddenly, at the age of 52, I find myself in the position of being able to call myself a bodybuilder again. I have committed to compete in a contest in April 2011. Suddenly, I have a reason to be in the gym other than to lift weights. I have a focus, a goal, an end result in mind. I am carefully carving a new physique, paying attention to the way each rep produces subtle changes in the muscle. Little by little, the striations appear, the muscle belly peaks, the tie-ins tighten. Every minute and every drop of sweat spent on the treadmill has a purpose. I now have a visible goal. And every day, I am sure to accomplish something toward that goal.

I am a bodybuilder. I am proud to say that, but more so, it tells the world of my mission for the next 24 weeks.

What about you? Are you training or just going through the motions? By the very definition of the term, if you are just "maintaining," you are not progressing. Find a goal, find a reason, find a "why" as I have said before. Give yourself a real, tangible, visible reason for working out. Post motivational quotes, or pics of your favorite competitor where you can see them frequently. It will help you to visualize where you are going. Because if you are not going forward, you are either going backward or standing still. And neither of those are acceptable to a true bodybuilder.

We here at Rhino Fitness are experts in fitness, We each have certifications and lots of education and experience to back them up. We spend a lot of our free time researching new techniques, new methods and staying on top of the latest trends in health and fitness. It's our lives. Sum it up: we know what we are doing. When a prospective client comes in and tells us that they have this or that particular reason for not exercising, we know exactly what to tell them. We know all of the ways to get them through any issue with exercise. There is, after all, no excuse for not exercising.

I say all of this, not to toot our own horns, but to let you know something. All of a sudden, the Nike is on the other foot. Since committing myself to compete next year, I find that I am sitting on the other side of the table and I am experiencing all of the things that our clients and prospective clients go through on a daily basis.

I'm talking about everything from nutritional woes to lack of motivation. I now understand what our clients are feeling when we tell them we need a "before" picture of them. I now feel the pain they feel when I ask them to step on the scale or wrap their fingers around the body composition machine. There's some kind of cold reality that hits you when you see those numbers. No matter how low they may be, they never seem to be good enough. And it's painful. I know.

Taking my shirt off and having a picture taken is akin to getting slapped in the face. I don't even want to look at the picture. Just take it and hide it away somewhere. I'll look at it later, when I am in better shape. It really hurts.

I know what it feels like when I know that I need a particular supplement or gadget, or new exercise accessory but the price tag is staring me in the face as if to say, "You can't afford to get into shape!" There seems to always be a reason why I shouldn't spend the money right now.

And then there's the motivation. I know it's only my second week, but it seems like things just are not happening quickly enough. I look in the mirror and say to myself, "I don't look a whole lot different than when I started. Why is the fat not just melting off?" I want to do more to make it happen more quickly, but at the same time, I feel like I have to drag myself to the treadmill each time to get in the necessary cardio workout.

But it finally hit me. I am a client. For the first time in more years than I care to remember, I am being trained. I am no longer exercising or working out, I am training. I have a particular goal and end result in mind, and I am seriously working toward that. And, along the way, I am coming face-to-face with all of the obstacles that I hear my clients talk about. There they are, those larger-than-life hurdles, mocking me. Telling me I'm too old. I lack the willpower. It's too expensive. I'm way too out of shape to ever expect to get there.

But you know what? For the first time, I hear myself and the rest of the staff speaking in my ear and quietly reassuring me that this CAN be done. I hear things like, "Keep your focus on the goal. Don't let little things or (big things) discourage you. You CAN do this!" "Be patient and keep working hard. It'll happen. How bad do you want it?"

So, I guess I may be apologizing if I have ever given anyone the impression that I think weight loss and fitness is easy. It really isn't. I want to tell you that I feel your pain, your frustration and your discouragement. And I want to tell you that I am right there with you, literally every step of the way.

And, I want to tell you that I need your encouragement, motivation and support as well. This is not easy for either of us, but we can get through it if we are there for each other.

Deal?

I've never felt like I have to explain myself to anyone, but....

If you don't know it yet, I am preparing for my first bodybuilding competition in almost 30 years. Someone asked me the other day why I would undertake such a task at this time in my life. That question caused me to think back to why I even started working out with weights at all.

When I was younger, I was a fat kid. There's no sugar coating it, I was fat. Whatever the reason was, I was overweight, WAY overweight. I got made fun of a lot, and bullied around quite a bit too. I started lifting weights as a way to get stronger for wrestling and found out that I could also lose fat doing it. So, I used the weightlifting the best I knew how to get rid of the "baby fat" and stop the teasing. And most of you who know me, know the rest of the story.

Back when I was fourteen, my "Why" was to get people to stop making fun of me. But what about now?

About six months ago, a friend, and former competitive bodybuilder, asked me if I ever thought about competing again. He mentioned something about a "Masters Class" and how he thought I should give it a shot. I gave him the basic "been there, done that" story and told him I had nothing to prove to anyone. And that was the end of that............

Right.

Since then, I have almost been bombarded by friends and colleagues and even a stranger or two, who posed the same question. "You could do it!" they'd say. I thought they were all being kind. But then I started noticing something. You see, at my age, one's friends begin to disappear. Not that they stop being your friends, they just get sick and die. But mine were disappearing at an alarming rate. I'm amazed at how many people I knew from high school and college are either dead or dying. I had decided a long time ago that I would do everything within my power to not let that happen to me. But somehow now, this was different.

So, why am I doing this? I'm doing this to show myself and everyone around me that being 52 is not a reason to lie down and die. Illness and injury come and go, but death is forever. Not that I'm afraid of dying, I just don't want to get there too fast, and I sure want to enjoy the years I have left with some degree of quality.

Yes, I have something to prove. I want to prove to myself and everyone around me that it can be done. A guy who should be, by all accounts, sucking down beer in front of the TV and letting death slowly creep over and puts its hand on my shoulder, is not only well and living a decent quality of life, but is taking it to the next level and trying to see where that can take him. Am I addicted? Am I extreme? A little insane? Possibly. But I consider the alternative and decide that I really wouldn't like being underground in a satin-lined brass box anyway.

That's my "Why." What's yours? Don't have one? You'd better find one, or your desire and motivation for staying (or getting) fit won't last long. "I want to do it for me." I hear that a lot. That's good, but you had better be a lot more detailed than that. Really sit down and figure out what is important to you. I've blogged this before, but it's worth repeating. Get your priorities straight and you won't stray.

Let's suppose you just bought a brand new, fairly expensive luxury car. (Whether or not this may be your taste in vehicles is not the point. Bear with me here for a moment.) So, you drive the car off the lot and into your driveway at home. What do you do next? Well, you probably grab the owner's manual and sit at the dinner table devouring the tips, how-to's and maintenance schedules. You review and memorize what type of motor oil, transmission fluid and windshield washer fluid the manufacturer recommends for your beautiful new car. You commit to memory how often you should check the levels and top off as necessary. This is your new baby, and it deserves only the absolute best of care.

Sound familiar?

Well, maybe you've never owned a brand new vehicle, but I'm sure you can identify with my analogy.

I have a question for you: what kind of food and supplements are you putting into your body? Are you eating crap and expecting your body to function at its best? Are you buying your vitamins and supplements at the grocery store and wondering why you're not getting the results you desire?

Shame on you!

I have something to tell you. You only get one body. When this one wears out, there is very little you can do. There is no engine rebuild for your body. Granted, medicine has come a long way in organ replacement, etc., but, in the long run, everything will wear out sooner or later. Shouldn't you be giving your body the absolute best nutrition you can afford? Isn't your longevity thousands times more important than the life of your vehicle? Get your priorities straight!

If you eat junk, sooner or later, your body will show it. If you use cheap supplements, sooner or later your health will suffer. I promise. It reminds me of the old commercial for (I believe) Fram Oil filters. The mechanic says to the camera, "You can pay me now, or pay me later."

I, for one, believe that it is much wiser and more cost-effective to eat properly and use the higher-quality supplements now, rather than pay a surgeon later.

And, when you are shopping for supplements, do us both a favor: read the labels. Compare the cheap with the expensive. Research the manufacturer, their methods and their quality control practices. Trust me, it all makes a difference.

Just get it straight in your head. Food and supplementation is one of those areas where you get what you pay for (most of the time). Cheap vitamins are cheap for a reason. Spend your money wisely, but be aware that cheap is not necessarily best, and may cost you in the long run.

Something came up this weekend in a discussion with my wife. We were doing our food planning for the week and trying to create menus that were healthy, delicious and most of all, convenient. This got us to thinking: how many times have we sacrificed nutrition for convenience?

I thought about the times that we got home just too late and tired to bother crafting a nutritious meal. It was much easier to hit the local eatery and grab some "food." I thought about the times that we were just plain out of anything to cook at home because we slacked on going to the grocery and getting what needed. I thought about how we really shouldn't be eating at 9:00 pm anyway. Then I really got to thinking.

How many of those times that we didn't eat properly could have been averted had we planned in advance?

And you know what? It’s really not that difficult. I used to do it religiously. And it made a real difference. It’s a matter of planning the week’s menu and getting everything prepared in advance. Maybe this means making sure you have the items you need to prepare a good lunch at work. Even if you have to pack a cooler each day, you can have everything ready to go beforehand and just drop it all in the cooler each morning.

Perhaps being prepared means having all your veggies chopped and cleaned and ready to drop in the steamer. Big zip loc bags full of a day’s worth of lettuce are really handy. Or maybe you need to grill a week’s worth of chicken or fish or whatever and have it in baggies ready to be warmed-up again.Maybe being prepared means getting yourself to the grocery store and stocking up on what you need before you launch into the week and don’t have the time to do it.

What’s important here is that you make it as easy and convenient on yourself to get a meal prepared as possible. This way, you will be less inclined to wimp out and hit the fast food. And, just as importantly, you will be able to have your meals at the proper times. I hope you don’t think I’m being too anal here. But it really does make a difference in your weight management if you seriously plan ahead.