Hi my fellow tech-savvy readers! One of the things that I wish that I had done earlier in my younger days is to get to know more bodybuilders. With Facebook, doing this cannot be any easier. When I was preparing for Mr Kuala Lumpur 2010, I had so much help from so many local bodybuilders. And I was in the best shape of my life so far despite a nasty diarrhea. After I knew how to properly diet for a contest, I felt so bad for doing it so wrong the first few times I competed.
With Wandy, double winner at Muscle Explosion 3.
I discovered so much when I began to open up my social network to competitive bodybuilders. It's a totally different world. The pool of knowledge and norms are as different as yin and yang, earth and sky, black and white. If you mix with casual gym-goers, the only advice you'll get is "If you want to lose weight, eat less rice loh" and plenty of rhetorical, stereotypical and generalized advice whereas when you mix with people who dedicate their lives to look their best, you'll learn exactly what it takes to be like them!
With Adrian Tan, Mr Singapore 2006.
A few things to note. When adding bodybuilders on Facebook, send them a message. Let them know that you're as passionate for the sport as them too. This is because quite often we receive friend requests from gay dudes or fake accounts with hot profile pictures. I'm not against homosexuality. It's really the person's choice and I'm like, whatever.. But if a guy expects me to have sex (or anything related) with him, then I'm sorry, no can do.
With Ronnie Coleman, well, I don't think I need to tell you who he is, right?
And even if you're straight and have a genuine account, hey, some people pay loads to get advice from experienced bodybuilders to get in shape. So you can't blame them or hate them if they don't accept your friend request or don't answer your questions for free. I have bodybuilding friends who have haters because they don't give other guys free advice. We're not being arrogant. But we're not obliged to give out free advice. Plus, we must be fair to our paying clients.
But perhaps there's something you can offer to these guys you're adding on Facebook if you decide not to use the direct method of paying them for their training services. But you MUST be sincere! And it's easy to guess what it is - friendship. You see, I probably gave free advice and trained with many of my friends whom, if I charged, I would have made hundreds of dollars from them. Yes, appreciate it HOMEBOYS!!! And by sincere, I mean asking them out, have fun, party and perhaps enjoy some outdoor activity. If you have plenty of laughs and memorable moments with them, how could they refuse?
And lastly, don't start dissing people when you're new to the sport. You might think that a certain bodybuilder might not be that successful, but he has friends and is a member of this small and tightly-knitted bodybuilding community. You mess with this guy, you're making it hard for yourself. How do you think you can progress from then on? I'm not asking you to be a pushover, but if someone doesn't mess with you, don't mess with him either.
Happy making friends!
OH WAIT!! There's one more way that you can be widely recognized in your local bodybuilding scene - Start a bodybuilding blog and report on local bodybuilding events. But I guess not everyone would take the trouble to do that, right? :)
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Update! One of my bodybuilding bros just posted this up as his Facebook status. Haha. Good explanation. I know some gay guys who are pleasant, fun, respectable and don't do inappropriate things with straight guys, but the ones whom my friend has outlined are the worst ones.
With Wandy, double winner at Muscle Explosion 3.
I discovered so much when I began to open up my social network to competitive bodybuilders. It's a totally different world. The pool of knowledge and norms are as different as yin and yang, earth and sky, black and white. If you mix with casual gym-goers, the only advice you'll get is "If you want to lose weight, eat less rice loh" and plenty of rhetorical, stereotypical and generalized advice whereas when you mix with people who dedicate their lives to look their best, you'll learn exactly what it takes to be like them!
With Adrian Tan, Mr Singapore 2006.
A few things to note. When adding bodybuilders on Facebook, send them a message. Let them know that you're as passionate for the sport as them too. This is because quite often we receive friend requests from gay dudes or fake accounts with hot profile pictures. I'm not against homosexuality. It's really the person's choice and I'm like, whatever.. But if a guy expects me to have sex (or anything related) with him, then I'm sorry, no can do.
With Ronnie Coleman, well, I don't think I need to tell you who he is, right?
And even if you're straight and have a genuine account, hey, some people pay loads to get advice from experienced bodybuilders to get in shape. So you can't blame them or hate them if they don't accept your friend request or don't answer your questions for free. I have bodybuilding friends who have haters because they don't give other guys free advice. We're not being arrogant. But we're not obliged to give out free advice. Plus, we must be fair to our paying clients.
But perhaps there's something you can offer to these guys you're adding on Facebook if you decide not to use the direct method of paying them for their training services. But you MUST be sincere! And it's easy to guess what it is - friendship. You see, I probably gave free advice and trained with many of my friends whom, if I charged, I would have made hundreds of dollars from them. Yes, appreciate it HOMEBOYS!!! And by sincere, I mean asking them out, have fun, party and perhaps enjoy some outdoor activity. If you have plenty of laughs and memorable moments with them, how could they refuse?
And lastly, don't start dissing people when you're new to the sport. You might think that a certain bodybuilder might not be that successful, but he has friends and is a member of this small and tightly-knitted bodybuilding community. You mess with this guy, you're making it hard for yourself. How do you think you can progress from then on? I'm not asking you to be a pushover, but if someone doesn't mess with you, don't mess with him either.
Happy making friends!
OH WAIT!! There's one more way that you can be widely recognized in your local bodybuilding scene - Start a bodybuilding blog and report on local bodybuilding events. But I guess not everyone would take the trouble to do that, right? :)
Subscribe to Fabodylous for more great articles!
Update! One of my bodybuilding bros just posted this up as his Facebook status. Haha. Good explanation. I know some gay guys who are pleasant, fun, respectable and don't do inappropriate things with straight guys, but the ones whom my friend has outlined are the worst ones.
