Some bodybuilding problems are hard to avoid.
Life has its share of challenges for the everyday average Joe. Whether it’s getting to work on time or having to pay the light bill, there’s always something that needs to be considered in order to get through life. Bodybuilders are no different. They face the same problems as the average person. But there are some things they have to tackle that a normal person would never have to think about. Call it bad luck or the price of making gains, when it comes to packing on massive muscle there are bound to be some consequences.
Shopping For Clothes
Sometimes you may end up a store and they’ve run out of your size shirt and you find yourself being a bit discouraged. Now take that feeling and multiply it by ten and you’ll probably know how it feels for a bodybuilder when they go shopping for clothes. Hell, when it comes to jeans and pants it’s no doubt a major headache. Phil Heath put it best. With a 30 inch waist and 30 inch leg circumference, how the hell are you going to find jeans that fit properly. Short answer is you’re not. Bodybuilders have made no secret of the fact that they have to get their clothes specially made for them. Next time you can’t find a pair jeans and think about getting frustrated, just remember all the hassle the big guys go through to get clothes and things will be put into perspective.
Meal Prep
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That’s all most people have to worry about. Not a bodybuilder. You have to map everything you’re going to eat throughout the day. Watching your macro nutrient ratios can get irritating, but if you want to see gains then you have to struggle and structure everything beforehand. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Bodybuilders eat many more meals than that throughout the day, sometimes six small to moderate meals, all of them strategically planned out. It can become tedious and frustrating, but no one said this lifestyle was easy to follow.
Having an Extremely Understanding Partner
This lifestyle also weighs heavily on the people around a bodybuilder as well. Sometimes bodybuilders find it hard to keep relationships simply because people can’t understand the lifestyle, the sacrifice that it requires, the multiple hours spent torturing themselves at the gym. It’s a lot for some people to process and requires a unique individual to be a relationship with a bodybuilder. It takes understanding and an extreme level of patience to be able to have a successful relationship. Sometimes keeping a girlfriend through all the lifting and meal prep can be a high mountain to climb. If they aren’t careful, a bodybuilder could easily find themselves lonely.
Public Transportation
Hate taking the bus or the subway? Think it gets a bit too crowded? Imagine being on an airplane in coach and having to squeeze into one of those “spacious” seats with a 260 lbs frame, all of it solid muscle. How comfortable do you think you’d be? That’s what every bodybuilder must face when they’re forced to use public transport. Unless they’re flying first class, have your own car, or can pay for a car service then a bodybuilder is likely going to be finding themselves squashing their fellow passengers. It can’t be helped, but just imagine if more people would lift? You’d have to make seats much larger just to accommodate. Coach seats are small enough as is. Having massive muscle isn’t likely to help the situation.
What other problems do bodybuilders face? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.
