Online muscle fantasy at the expense of one's own muscle?

[divis24]

Anyone else, like me, find that his interest in muscle is geared toward that of others almost exclusively, with not much effort given to developing his own?

If so, are you cool with that? I'm ambivalent about it, and I'm sure a shrink could have a field day (... with me, that is... I'm not trying to pathologize anyone else's take on this)

If you *were* like that, but managed to flick some mental/emotional switches toward focusing more on your own muscle... how'd you do it? Did you go through a period of cold-turkey from ogling massive muscle gods on line, or did you just manage to integrate it all into your life?

These are some of the things I think about while generating morphs. Time spent making huge guys even huger, versus time spent making this soft out of shape guy, well, more presentable.

Any thoughtful responses welcomed... flames, not so much.

Cheers,
divis24

[TheMM]

Originally Posted by divis24

Anyone else, like me, find that his interest in muscle is geared toward that of others almost exclusively, with not much effort given to developing his own?

If so, are you cool with that? I'm ambivalent about it, and I'm sure a shrink could have a field day (... with me, that is... I'm not trying to pathologize anyone else's take on this)

If you *were* like that, but managed to flick some mental/emotional switches toward focusing more on your own muscle... how'd you do it? Did you go through a period of cold-turkey from ogling massive muscle gods on line, or did you just manage to integrate it all into your life?

These are some of the things I think about while generating morphs. Time spent making huge guys even huger, versus time spent making this soft out of shape guy, well, more presentable.

Any thoughtful responses welcomed... flames, not so much.

Cheers,
divis24

Your own muscle and powah is better than anything else (erotic anyways) in this world. While muscle worship is hot stuff, getting off on your own muscle is even better. Now personally, I honestly tried for an entire year to attain that goal. I did everything under the sun to try and get bigger (except 'roids, that's the single line I wouldn't cross), but to no avail. My body, is not ever going to get huge (unless something like myostatin blockers are made, but even then, it's not a guarantee), so I've given up (something I don't do often) and simply enjoy this site, even more.

[agreatguy6]

heh, i actually just posted a thread tryin to cure my issue kinda related to this xD

I'm skinny as f$+@, but I can't stand it, so as much as I'm trying to CHANGE that, i'm still far more interested in how much bigger other ppl are >.<

heh, shrink shimnk i really don't care how bad it may look to freud, all I know is that huge guys are hot, and skinnies.... sometimes not. Not to bash non-huge ppl, but my eyes are rather biased (who's aren't?)

[abbraxis]

Well, it started out of jealousy. The, "I want to look like that" mentality... but I didn't want to work for it. I always hoped and dreamed that some day it would be like in an MG story. I find a blue liquid, drink it and become AWESOME!

But after a few years of waiting, I never found my muscle cocktail, so I decided to join a gym with a friend of mine. I'm skinney, but I am seeing small gains, and I wanna hit the gym kinda hard in the next month or two to get ready for beach season.

I'm still skinney... but I'm not emaciated anymore.

Anyway, I had the same pathos as you, divis24, but then I personally got tired of waiting. It took a few years to muster up the courage to go to the gym... and I still refuse to go alone (unless I can garuntee it's empty).

[Aikuchi]

---

I suppose the feeling has been more integrated - although when I was younger (not that far long ago ) the over-riding feeling of wanting to watch muscular guys was stronger.

Now, I feel I should begin to pursue what I found attractive early on.
I couldn't just sit back and wonder how wonderful those guys looked and how it would feel to be near them. Its time I at least, began to wonder how it would feel to be that muscular (or at least try) - and at best, attract a few myself with similar physique.

(shrugs) Unless I'm still dreaming that is

I go to the gym as often as I can now, without trying to strain myself of course - and I've learnt to disregard other people, as much as a crowd (which I dislike) means I'll have to wait a bit to use the machines or the weights.
As another great poster once said - I'm there for me.
No one else.

And I look at others to see what part of their physique is great, and looks good and what exercises they're doing.
Its getting rather selfish I admit - but I'm going to see it through.

---



(I hope i don't regret what I posting - feeling rather less-self-censored today_

[Geek2Jock]

As a frequent RPer who chats with others in muscle-growth fantasies, I find that with that genre there are a lot of people whose primary aim is to grow the other person(s). If its consentual than usually its, 'you grow me, I grow you' so that both parties get to experience the same.

Not sure there's anything about this requiring psychiatric attention though, I feel totally normal!

[RPM]

Originally Posted by agreatguy6

heh, i actually just posted a thread tryin to cure my issue kinda related to this xD

Funny, I was thinking about posting one myself as well.

Although I don't visit this particular board much at all, I've been spending enough time looking through other fitness boards or model sites that I wonder if the time I spent looking at pics/vids and sharing them with other people or reading and writing about muscle in general could've gotten me to the point of the people in some of the pictures.

It's hard to break habits though, especially with no presonal guidance.

[divis24]

Thanks for the responses, guys. Nice to know I 'm not entirely alone in feeling this way.

I agree, RPM, about the personal guidance. I guess I was hoping, by starting this thread, to get a little of that, or to get a sense of how to go about getting it in my real 3-D life.

Any further thoughts?

Thanks again to those who've responded.

Cheers,
divis24

Originally Posted by RPM

Funny, I was thinking about posting one myself as well.

Although I don't visit this particular board much at all, I've been spending enough time looking through other fitness boards or model sites that I wonder if the time I spent looking at pics/vids and sharing them with other people or reading and writing about muscle in general could've gotten me to the point of the people in some of the pictures.

It's hard to break habits though, especially with no presonal guidance.

[RPM]

Not a problem

As for the personal guidance? Get ready to have your bank account raped. Affordable trainers are few and far between, let alone the ones who actually know what they're doing.

I couldn't afford it, not for the amount I'd really need to get going, and I won't be able to for a long time, so I pretty much sit around waiting for that spoadic dash of good will which I suppose I'm not truly expecting any more.

The transition to college seem to be the point of no return for most people. Everything in life up to that point has added up far enough that their career, activity and relational paths have been formed. If you missed the athletic bandwagon by then, your "crews" are pretty much set in stone and it's almost rocket science to change them up. Up until then, you're forming the concrete; this is the part where the cement's dried and you need a sledgehammer to do any reworking, sloppy as it may be.

What I've noticed about the successful college-age or older athletes is that it's something they grew up with. They got baseball practice some years, football practice some other years, track and field some more years, and whole variety of coaches with a whole variety of takes on what optimal training is. With that experience, it's not hard to start making your own personal tweaks and upgrades to everything you've taken in. Very, very, very few of these wonder-bodied people ever started late in life, and if they did, even fewer had to do it on their own or with just a few sessions. What these people built was accomplished through years of coaching, not just a few sessions. No personal trainer will be able to match that experience (unless of course you're a millionaire and could afford one for a whole year or two).

So, there's my further thoughts.

Yeah, I really don't know.

It's not like I don't have the time. It's not like I won't put up the effort. It's not like I can't manage the diet. I just need to know how to invest those things. With as much effort as bodybuilding takes, you just can't afford to waste it, nor find out via injury that you didn't get it quite right.

In the end, I usually just opt for the stuff I'm already good at.

But I know I'll have to get to it someday. My gym membership will be closing out this year and I'll probably renew again, but hopefully I'll somehow gain the knowledge to make good use of it. I mean, sure there's enough eye candy to drive almost anybody here bonkers, but honestly that's the last thing I pay attention to while I'm working out. I do the stuff they say I should do, get like nothing out of it, stop for a while, repeat. I know it's probably just simple tweaks, but seriously, I get a million questions and hardly get any answered. So much of it depends on first-hand example and somebody being able to watch you and spot what's wrong; this is just one of those things you can't do over the internet or through books. The do-it-yourself struggle just doesn't seem worth it, knowing that there's people who could save you years if not decades of experimenting in a few months. I just wish some could look beyond money and see that investing in motivated people could bring about far more than a paycheck.

[Aikuchi]

I have to say, RPM.

Thats reads like a depressing post though much truth comes from bitterness anyways.

I suppose by those accounts, I've really late, and will be working on sledgehammering concrete at the age of 30 to reshape by body.

Its strange, because only now have I been able to make enough to maintain my lifestyle (slowly changing healthier I hope), my family and now the gym.
I couldn't afford it back in college although I had ample time then and I do understand, that the body was more supple and ready for change than it is now.

I got a friend or two showing me the ropes and they've been going for years. They're overall aims are different of course (one is keeps trim because he's keeping off the weight) and the other is building for strength.
I go to their gym once a month to get some tips and techniques from them.

I've always had the realization that I would like to get big contrary to my build throughout school and college. Its just now that I'm really realizing it.
But hey, I feel better for it that I've begun and I'm keeping positive if not realistic goals about what I can achieve.
Barring genetics and failure to purchase expensive supplements.
But glad I finally began.
I'll take what I can and revel in it.

Yea, I'm pretty easy to please

(much love, hugs and muscle support) RPM

---

[RPM]

On re-reading it, I suppose it does sound more depressed than I really was. I'm a very lax person and almost always speak plain and straight-forward, people or things rarely get more than a raised eyebrow from me at my most excited, and I suppose that doesn't translate to text very well. So no, I wasn't moping, I was just pointing out an (admittedly off-putting) observation I've noticed from the last few years.

The battle's far from impossible, but the winning components grow harder and harder to attain. I wasn't hoping to discourage anybody, but just to be prepared for how much it will take. Expect the worst and hope for the best, yeah? Just so you don't think it's going to be a breeze then quit in a few months when everything doesn't go great. It's a complicated science if you even want to begin to master it.

I should probably just learn to have fun again and do it whether or not it produces perfect optimal results, but life in America is a financial crunch as anybody who isn't a self-improvement specialist or CEO will testify, so there isn't much room for fun beyond survival. Maybe I should make breaking that mentality my primary project. Kinda hard to do in this environment though, not to mention I can't help but feel like I have to catch up on so many lost years when it comes to fitness.

Maybe I should add a psychologist to the mix. That would be great - my entire months' rent for 4 hours with the shrink and 4 hours with the trainer.

You've got a good deal with those buddies though, take in everything you can from them and never take any of their input for granted.

As for physiques, I gotta admit my "get big" drive actually diminished from elementary school to now. I used to think biggest was best, but now I'm admiring the "natural" physiques more and more - those top "Natural Bodybuilding Champions" and the bigger gymnasts like Jason Gatson. I'd rather be one of those perfect physiques with everything in equal proportion and exact symmetry and top condition at 200 lbs than huge at 300 lbs. You really have to see some of these guys in person to truly appreciate the size, and I finally did that when I saw a bodybuilder of barely 200 lbs (and 5'9") talking to a group of "normal" people in the gym and got to talk with him a bit myself, I realized right there that 200 lbs was some freakin serious body if built right, and more than enough separation from the "normal" crowd than I could ever need. It's like that old physique ideal of being able to look "normal" when fully dressed but looking like a bodybuilding model when the shirt comes off. I'd like to think that's at least realistic

[Aikuchi]

I suppose we all read text (especially online) in our own voices. I’m often enthusiastic and whenever I read text online, I try to de-intensify the voice in my head to be safe.

I don’t expect to master anything, at the very least I’d like to adopt something healthier for myself and this seems to be working.
Isn’t that a boy scout thing ‘Prepare for the worse, but hope for the best’, or am I getting confused?

I’m in it for the long run because I realize I need something self progressively stable. My job can be quite varied in stress levels and consistency as a designer, and this would be me good. Especially when I remind myself I can’t drop and go as I wished when I was in college or in my 20s.

I’d be happy just knowing I get good results now, and still trying to figure out whats optimal. But its ok, if I never do, after all -- striving for something makes it worth being attainable.

But I am curious what you meant on the state of financial America.
I’m coming from a progressive industrial third world country (I checked online!) and with some media bias from the Western hemisphere of the world, may not be as well aware of the state of things in the ... well, States.

I feel like I have to catch up on so many things, every time I leave my job and find out someone younger is taking over it - or rather getting younger and more skilled as the years go by.This is emphasized strongly when I go to the gym, but I’m getting pretty good as quashing any feelings of comparative jealousy.
There’s a sort of, objective pride in knowing how much effort these guys are putting in to look good and be healthy.

I guess I’m getting less intermingled with my desire to look and feel muscles on others when I focusing inward on myself. But I’m still not going to say no, if anyone lets me drool over them
(yes, this is my way of staying on topic )

Actually these friends of mine (old friendships rekindled from college days) seem to enjoy the company. Both of them workout at different places and I’m going to both on different days. One of them has pretty much been on his own for the last year with some acquaintances here and here but he enjoys actually having a friend to share his workout with!

Big is relative.
A gymnasts or abled athletic swimmer is a nice and muscular goal for me already!
On a fantasy bent, Huge is Great!
But realistically, I’d be bloody happy with naturally shaped good sized musculature!

So I totally get you, when you mention that 200 lbs of great muscle is already impressive. I see great physiques at my gym from guys who range around 180 - 220 lbs.
Wow - I love that!
Totally looking ‘fit’ when wearing clothes and awe-inspiring with a shirt off!

---

[monstermusclebe]

I've never been a total online muscle fantasy sort of guy, so those of you who are, I don't know if our situations will relate close enough for you.

That said, I've been into muscle growth fantasies since puberty. It's my main sexual outlet, even before I ever found a community of like-minded men (and their stories) on the 'net, which didn't really begin until my early 30s.

I worked out a bit in high school and college, but my body didn't really make any improvements. I eventually got sick of fantasizing about my getting big when I wasn't doing anything about it. I'm now in what I consider my second real leap into real bodybuilding for myself, and there is no sign of this one ever coming to an end.

F**k yeah!

[COLOR=LemonChiffon]THE SELF-FOCUSED or OTHER-FOCUSED ORIENTATION
[/COLOR]I think a part of this has to do with your orientation, and by that I don't mean gay or straight. I mean are you primarily other-focused in your sexuality, or are you self-focused, or somewhere in-between? The assumption being you are into male-on-male muscle growth, regardless of these other distinctions.

Let's clear something up before I move on. Some people think -- and society in general says -- that it is a good thing to be other-focused and not as good to be self-focused when it comes to sex and intimacy.

However, my experience (in my job I have worked with many hundreds of people about this) tells me that it is important to most healthy sexual dynamics between people that one of the persons have a strong side of themselves which is primarily self-focused, and it is equally helpful to have the other partner have a strong side of themselves which is primarily other-focused.

This does not mean that one of the partners gets to be totally narcissistic all the time, and the other one is supposed to faun all over that person. What it means is that there are dynamics, and it is good to embrace your "type" as it were -- i.e. self-focused, other-focused, or somewhere in-between -- and then to work toward integrating your opposite.

So the guy who is other-focused to the exclusion of all else is indeed narcissistic to a fault. But the guy who is other-focused (without feeling guilty about that, but rather honestly accepting this about themselves) but is also working to also pay attention to his partner more, is one who is growing.

Vice-versa for the other-focused guy. Yes, be other-focused, but also learn to take care of yourself, and to ask for what YOU want from your partner, too, and stand up for yourself to ensure you DO get what you need from them.

[COLOR=LemonChiffon]SO HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO MUSCLE GROWTH?
[/COLOR]I think guys who are self-focused (like I am) would be more likely to get into muscle growth in reality, and guys who are other-focused would tend not to work as much on that... EXCEPT if it were to please their partner (i.e. a real person, not some picture or fantasy).

I think it's also probably true that most muscular men out there like being with other muscular men... It also seems to be true that there are far more men out there who are INTO muscular men than actually ARE muscular men. These are most definitely generalizations.

There are probably lots of muscular men who like twinkies, or guys with huge bellies, etc.

But I would imagine -- and I have certainly not studied the matter much, so please take this with a TINY grain of salt -- that on the whole muscular men are into generally into seeing muscles on their partners.

You can do the math on this point. The numbers are arbitrary of course. Let's assume there are 100 muscle guys out there, and 200 or so ordinary non-muscled types who are into muscle guys. This simplifies it, as there are probably way MORE "ordinary" guys into muscle guys than the ratio above indicates. Perhaps we should have 300 ordinary guys, or even 1000 or more. But let's work with these numbers anyway.

1. Most muscular men like other muscular men. Let's assume that this ratio is no more than 60-60, even though I suspect it is much higher. But for our example, this leaves 40 muscle guys left. These are:
2. A minority (40) of muscle guys who are into the ordinary (less-muscled) types -- i.e. some muscle guys are into twinkie-types, others into bears or gainers or chubs etc. YOU, Mr. Ordinary Non-Muscle Guy, would of course have to match his sub-type interest. But let's stick to the generalization.
3. As a reminder, there are more ordinary guys (200) who are INTO muscle guys than there are muscle guys out there (100). When you take out the muscle guys who are into other muscle guys, we have 40 guys available for 200 ordinary non-muscled men.
4. That means that, AT BEST -- and remember, or example is WAY padded -- a non-muscled ordinary guy who is into guys with muscles has no more than a 20% chance of hooking up with one on a long-term basis.

Those odds suck.

And I was being as nice as I thought I could!

Meanwhile, let's say you end up working out and putting on some real muscle, but you find out that the massive guy at the gym you want to be with actually likes is into gainers or chubs. Not a problem! Just start eating! Muscles are MUCH harder to put on than fat.

[COLOR=LemonChiffon]SELF-REFLECTION AND SELF-EVOLUTION
[/COLOR]There is another point to consider. I think that changing and evolving ourselves is the most difficult thing there is to do. It is far, far easier to remain just as you are (no matter how miserable you may feel deep inside about it). There is so much to distract us these days from that deep inner despair that it becomes easy to not get involved in a real self-examination of ones own motivations.

Yet in the long run, what makes us truly happy is only that which helps us to grow and evolve. All else, in the end, is mere window dressing. Many peoples lives are simply that: window dressing.

My suspicion is that, deep inside, many (though not all) guys who fantasize about muscle on other men (but don't do anything about it with their own bodies) are dealing with (as are most gay men today) issues of:

• [COLOR=LemonChiffon]Lack of SELF-ACCEPTANCE[/COLOR]

Yes, we've all come out to ourselves (to one degree or another). The problem is that many of us think that is the end of the journey. "Ok, I'm gay, and I'm used to it!" As if that was the beginning and end of the whole story.

No, coming out to yourself is only the BEGINNING of true self-acceptance.

As a key part of this self-acceptance for a gay man, there likes dealing with...

• [COLOR=LemonChiffon]Inability/Fear of claiming our own MASCULINITY
  [/COLOR]

This is another huge one, and its also true even for some of the hyper-masculine or totally muscle-bound gay guys out there.

Many gay men share a core belief -- fostered in them by parents and culture and religion, and self -- that there is some part of themselves that is not fully male. So many of us are so comfortable with our feminine sides, actually. But claiming the masculine side of ourselves is often far more difficult. This belief is rarely fully conscious, and is generally buried deep in the unconscious. Yet it essentially runs the person until they learn to face it. You can't simply build on top of it and hope it will die out. Unfortunately, that doesn't work.

I think it is far easier to fantasize about hyper-masculine guys than to imagine yourself as one of them, when -- underneath, deep in your unconscious -- you may believe that you simply aren't fully male, or that you are just an awkward geek who when he tries to do anything masculine, tends to fail. So why try when you're just going to make a fool of yourself?

This is sort of how the inner argument can go. However, much of it may take place beneath the surface, conscious thought process.

Of course, some guys fight this core belief, proving it wrong by becoming huge muscle-bound freaks (F**k yeah! Bring it on!), but not because they simply love getting freaky huge, but rather to prove to themselves and others that "Yes, I too am male and masculine. See!" Yet deep inside they may have a small, tiny little frail boy that still thinks he may not be truly all male. And so their fight to get huge always has anger in it, and there is little celebration about where they are with their growth and muscle and size at the moment. They always need validation from self and others that yes, they are male. They always have to keep trying to prove it... because deep inside they still don't believe it.

Of course, the truth is that all of us gay men are as male and masculine as we want to be. We can take a lesson from the transgendered and fully-transitioned men out there on this one. They believed they were male so strongly and fervently they changed their bodies entirely, to fit who they saw themselves to be.

[COLOR=LemonChiffon]SO WHAT'S YOUR POINT?
IF I'M FANTASIZING ALL DAY ABOUT OTHER GUYS GETTING HUGE, BUT I'M NOT WORKING OUT OR GETTING MUSCLES MYSELF, IS THIS A PROBLEM?
[/COLOR]In conclusion, let me say this to the twinkie-types or couch and computer-station potatoes lying around out there, fantasizing about us guys who are doing something about getting huge and massive:

Ten or 20 or 30 or 40 years from now, you may live to regret never giving your body a chance to really workout and grow and change. Do you want to face that, then, when you could have done something about it NOW?

If you are so obsessed with muscular guys... then perhaps one day you may even meet the man of your muscle dreams, only to see him look at you and say "Damn! You'd be perfect... you are so sweet, you love me and my muscles totally. Awesome! I could get off on that for a while. But yet... If only you had some decent muscles on you, yourself, I could be with you forever!"

And if instead he's into twinks or big bellies, well, you know, it isn't all that hard to give up the weights and either diet or else eat to grow a whole different part of yourself, if that's what you want.

But beyond that, I personally think you'll find great, GREAT satisfaction in giving this whole muscle growth thing a try, yourself.

Don't wait for the regrets to come, for when they do also comes the realization that you MISSED THE BOAT and it may indeed be too late for you.

Don't jerk yourself off every night into oblivion, avoiding this harsh truth that maybe, maybe, way deep inside, you just MIGHT LIKE getting bigger yourself... even just a LITTLE bigger.

[COLOR=LemonChiffon]GETTING STARTED IN THE GYM
[/COLOR]Of course, getting to the gym and working out consistently is a whole other battle. It has taken me 25 years to get to the point myself where I now consider myself a true bodybuilder. So don't think I don't know how hard it can be, changing your whole perspective on who you think you are.

I was once a guy afraid of his masculinity, afraid that I might not be male on some level. I was a thin, frail bookworm, and stepped aside whenever a big "real" guy walked in my path. I was deeply afraid to accept the dark, ugly sides of myself -- the self-pity, the self-denial, the self-hate, the self-anger, the self-dispair, the self-anxiousness. It took years and years of work, slowly learning to polish and clean these dark and initially yes ugly sides of me up, though years of hard work and thousands of errors and mistakes, and a huge voice inside my head saying "Give up! It's just too hard. Go back to the way things were. It was easier that way."

But after those years of work, I now find myself whole, happy and content. And what do I want to do?

GET BIG.

[COLOR=LemonChiffon]CONCLUSION
[/COLOR]So if you have even a tiny, tiny QUESTION about this for yourself, do your future lying-on-your-deathbed-looking-back-at-this-very-moment-self a huge favor.

Get off your butt and get thee to your new church as quick as you can:

By church I mean: the gym.

You won't regret it. And you just might make your future muscle-bound partner VERY VERY happy. Not to mention your future self -- you -- very happy, too.

[Aikuchi]

Monstermusclebe,

What you've written is inspiring and well-constructed to say the very least.
I get the sense that I've just read a workout motivational book / programme, which is great because I feel it does put that inkling of a thought in my head.
And inkling of a thought that I've begun to make better decisions about self body improvement, both for myself and any future-potential partners I may be seeking.


Thanks

---

[TheMM]

Originally Posted by Aikuchi

Monstermusclebe,

What you've written is inspiring and well-constructed to say the very least.
I get the sense that I've just read a workout motivational book / programme, which is great because I feel it does put that inkling of a thought in my head.
And inkling of a thought that I've begun to make better decisions about self body improvement, both for myself and any future-potential partners I may be seeking.

Thanks

---

Agreed. His post seriously deserves a rep. I just don't know how to do that.

[Aikuchi]

I added a rep to his post alreadyY

[mewletter]

Nice one, Monstermusclebe. It take commitment & persistence to achieve just about anything.

This reminded me of a news article of a local bodybuilder due to the price he had being paying for over a decade. He spent over $50,000 in supplements & specialized food alone, no sponsorship and the bodybuilding association wanted to ban him for not taking drug test after competition. His reason was he couldn't urinate for it even after drinking water & waited 4 hours, due to his lowered fluid intake before competition.

It's sad since he is a very prominent bodybuilder, but the price tag of living a pro bodybuilding lifestyle is too high for him. Even us normal folks feel the rising cost of NORMAL livng...

Afterall, it's difficult to maintain a health body, relationships, emotions, sanity & bank account, ALL at the same time. After all, we're human.

Thus, many will resort to fantasy, online games & make-believe stuff to make a break from the hardships they face. Alas, these stuff gives only temporary pleasure, not life-long satisfaction. Am I straying from the topic too much?
[COLOR=White][/COLOR]

[monstermusclebe]

I appreciate the acknowledgment, thanks guys.

But whom I am most interested in hearing from is divis24. Was this helpful to you, guy? I'd love a solid response from you, as this stuff gets to the heart of my own fetish, which does go in two directions:

I love my own growing muscles -- more and more, the bigger I get. I'm now much more into the REALITY of getting huge than in the fantasies about it, actually -- but I also truly love and totally get off on inspiring other guys to get off their butts and do it themselves.

So your feedback is important to me.

Being an amateur editor, in my second read-through, well, the post could of course have used an solid second edit to clear up some of those darn nasty 1st draft errors and misspellings, etc. Oh well. But it still reads fairly well, in any case.

Thanks again, guys.

Best,

MonsterMuscleBe

[divis24]

Thanks, Monstermusclebe. I've kind of gotten the feeling of how other guys *don't* experience what I do, which is helpful in a way because it starts to show me where some of my roadblocks might not be as immutable as I think. If they've simply never been there for some guys, maybe they're not so hard-wired in me after all.

I was hoping to hear from more guys who *have* wrestled with the question of whether feeding the muscle fetish online is a hinderance, at least at the outset, to feeding your own sense of strength, size, and masculinity. I repeat: just because I sense that's true for me doesn't mean I assume it's true for anyone else... just curious if it is, and if so, what different conclusions guys have come to, and ideas on how to make them real.

Cheers,
divis24

Yes. To answer your question. Yes, I find that ogling over and creating muscle artwork wears me out to the point that I am not motivated to build my own body. I get off on my own creations knowing good and well that I have a body that responds to and can build muscle. A taller guy that I am, I was once a gym rat, spending 5 days in the gym and loving it. Back then, however, I was not so internet connected nor did I have my artwork or any other outlet. So for me now - the biggest deterrent is this monitor sitting right here that has me addicted to something synthetic.

But what is my personal solution? Now don't laugh (well you can if you want to) - Pushups. What a perfect exercise. It's not going to build you up into the muscular giant you wanna become - but it will start your motor running. Drop and give me 35 in the morning, 3 sets of 25 in the middle of the day and another 35 before bed. Do that every day for a week and let me know how you feel at the end of the week. Maybe at some point when you get stronger, you can throw in pullups. Say you can't do any? You gotta start somewhere. Perform them every other day with the pushups you've grown to love. Hey, what about those abs? How about some crunches or twists.
Not working your legs? Time to ditch the car and start walking.

Oh and just so that you know - I started out with 25 "modified" or "girlie" pushups with my knees bent on the floor. I did that for about a month before I found I actually had the strength to perform 25 flawless pushups - regular style. It takes time, persistence and determination.

Exercise for anyone has to start somewhere and why not use your floor or the street or that old chin up bar on your doorframe. Trust me - I am following my own advice and it's pretty cool. I know I need to turn off my computer and my programs and start living life in the REAL world more. Then and only then will I find the success I need for a healthy life more rewarding than any jpg or mpg will ever suffice.

[divis24]

Thanks, Moe, and to those who've responded to me privately. You've all been encouraging, and shared relevant experiences and advice.

I may not be minding my morphs thread very carefully for a little while. I hope you'll understand : ) (Doesn't mean I'll be gone *completely*)

Cheers,
divis24