Alcohol & Substance Abuse and Bodybuilding: Extremes from Opposing Worlds
To get things started, this article has nothing to do with steroids as some may think due to the title. I’ll probably take some flak for this statement here but I personally don’t consider steroids as ‘drugs’ despite what the government deems them as (how many deaths and problems do we have from hardcore street drugs, not to mention prescription drugs...oh, and alcohol too, which is legal?... Where's the real problem?). Much of the negative impact of steroid use you hear about is what the media has blown completely out of proportion in order to achieve a headline. In any case, this doesn’t mean that I condone steroid use either as with any substance, even aspirin, there are potential side effects. I say 'to each their own' in this case, but that's for another topic, another day.
Now that we’ve covered that, let’s get into meat of this article. Bodybuilding, whether you compete or just do it recreationally like most of us, is indeed an extreme lifestyle. Who in their right mind wants to get underneath hundreds of pounds of weights and press them? Why would anyone want to go train until they’re close to puking? That sounds crazy but those of us who do it, love it and we do it with passion. With that extreme personality trait it’s very easy to let other extremes creep into our lives. And I know too many people, myself included as I don’t mind putting myself out there if it means it could help someone, who have struggled with different extremities in our lives. Some of the most obvious extremes are alcohol and/or substance abuse. Now I know some of you won't understand this because it sounds ridiculous that someone would train so hard yet have problems with something like drugs or drinking that seems to be so counterproductive to building a better and stronger body. Here's something you need to know about people with extreme personalities; the bottom line is we have a tendency to go overboard on everything we do and most of us have a deep longing to do something great with our lives. That being said, it doesn't take much to send us over the edge. When things are good, we're on top of the world but when something happens (whether it's a bad decision we made or something out of our control) we tend to sink to a very low and sometimes dark place. We'll go train insane and pound the weights like there's no tomorrow because that's part of what makes us who we are. But in those darker moments there's a force pulling us in different directions; a demon sent to torture us, if you will.
Unfortunately some of the extremes that we feel we get pulled into are not only detrimental to our health and well-being, but are (obviously) damaging to what we’re trying to achieve in the gym. It’s not that we want this and it often seems as if we just woke up one day with these addictions. Sure, at the end of the day we all make our own choices but we must also realize that some of us were granted certain personality types (aka we're all different). That’s a hard pill to swallow (no pun intended) for those who don’t have these inner battles; they simply can't fathom this, as with many who don't understand what they do not know or haven't experienced. If you're one of these people, consider yourself fortunate, and don't throw stones. But for those of us that do struggle with this, it’s simply a fact of life for us. However, we do have the power within us to control these urges and to fight. You see, if we really are called to do something great with our lives and if there are indeed evil forces among us then we are a threat to those dark forces. It makes sense that we'll be attacked. So we can either prepare ourselves for battle, being on guard at all times, or we can give in thus choosing to have a lesser or no impact on this world which opposes our true calling.
Now that we’ve covered that, let’s get into meat of this article. Bodybuilding, whether you compete or just do it recreationally like most of us, is indeed an extreme lifestyle. Who in their right mind wants to get underneath hundreds of pounds of weights and press them? Why would anyone want to go train until they’re close to puking? That sounds crazy but those of us who do it, love it and we do it with passion. With that extreme personality trait it’s very easy to let other extremes creep into our lives. And I know too many people, myself included as I don’t mind putting myself out there if it means it could help someone, who have struggled with different extremities in our lives. Some of the most obvious extremes are alcohol and/or substance abuse. Now I know some of you won't understand this because it sounds ridiculous that someone would train so hard yet have problems with something like drugs or drinking that seems to be so counterproductive to building a better and stronger body. Here's something you need to know about people with extreme personalities; the bottom line is we have a tendency to go overboard on everything we do and most of us have a deep longing to do something great with our lives. That being said, it doesn't take much to send us over the edge. When things are good, we're on top of the world but when something happens (whether it's a bad decision we made or something out of our control) we tend to sink to a very low and sometimes dark place. We'll go train insane and pound the weights like there's no tomorrow because that's part of what makes us who we are. But in those darker moments there's a force pulling us in different directions; a demon sent to torture us, if you will.
Unfortunately some of the extremes that we feel we get pulled into are not only detrimental to our health and well-being, but are (obviously) damaging to what we’re trying to achieve in the gym. It’s not that we want this and it often seems as if we just woke up one day with these addictions. Sure, at the end of the day we all make our own choices but we must also realize that some of us were granted certain personality types (aka we're all different). That’s a hard pill to swallow (no pun intended) for those who don’t have these inner battles; they simply can't fathom this, as with many who don't understand what they do not know or haven't experienced. If you're one of these people, consider yourself fortunate, and don't throw stones. But for those of us that do struggle with this, it’s simply a fact of life for us. However, we do have the power within us to control these urges and to fight. You see, if we really are called to do something great with our lives and if there are indeed evil forces among us then we are a threat to those dark forces. It makes sense that we'll be attacked. So we can either prepare ourselves for battle, being on guard at all times, or we can give in thus choosing to have a lesser or no impact on this world which opposes our true calling.
The first step to overcoming is seeing things for what they really are. Most of you have heard this more than once but admitting that we have a problem is crucial, otherwise we’re deceiving ourselves. This may also mean doing a change-up in our social circle. We can’t expect to change if we continue to hang around people who have the same tendencies choosing not to recognize them for what they are (or if we continue to hang out at places that condone and feed these tendencies). More so we have to surround ourselves with people who genuinely care about us and will push us to the next level of greatness. This next one goes without saying, but we put so much effort into the gym and our nutrition and taking supplements; we can’t ruin it all with the abuse of this other garbage. Finally I believe we have to call upon a higher power (for me, Christ). Many may have a tough time accepting they can’t do it on their own. But the fact that they have a problem proves just that.
We have to remember why we do what we do. We have to constantly remind ourselves of all the mental and physical reasons we push our bodies to the maximum and then some on a daily basis. We pay our own dues and fight our demons; we must not let ourselves be overcome by the evil that wants to destroy everything we work for and the person we are meant to be. We must not allow these forces to prevent us from living an effective life and having a great impact on those around us. Instead, we must allow our love for the gym, the weights, and the unexplainable joy of pain through pushing those last few reps to filter into every other aspect of our lives, shaping and molding us to become great and to fulfill our true calling in this life.
We have to remember why we do what we do. We have to constantly remind ourselves of all the mental and physical reasons we push our bodies to the maximum and then some on a daily basis. We pay our own dues and fight our demons; we must not let ourselves be overcome by the evil that wants to destroy everything we work for and the person we are meant to be. We must not allow these forces to prevent us from living an effective life and having a great impact on those around us. Instead, we must allow our love for the gym, the weights, and the unexplainable joy of pain through pushing those last few reps to filter into every other aspect of our lives, shaping and molding us to become great and to fulfill our true calling in this life.
by Jason M. Stallworth, posted on June 9th, 2010 (revised March 28th, 2011)
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