How do people decide whether to compete?

[MrKeenan]

In the future, I would love to literally love to compete. However I was just wondering what people on here who are going to/have competed thought that is what they wanted to get involved in, in other words making the transition from just working out to competing against others. Is it comments from others training around them that think they have potential to compete? Are people sound that they have the genetic potential to compete and win? Or is it just for a hobby? Is there an age were its too late to think about competing? I'm 19 now and have 3 years training under me just so people don't think I'm just starting out.

 

[bjg]

some professional bodybuilders started competing around 40 years old! so 19 years old is pretty young.
deciding to compete depends on your expectations. If you just want to do it for fun and do not Really care about the outcome then go for it if you like it.
If you have the genetics and are eager to win and make BB as your job, then here is the deal: competing in bodybuilding is not a fun life at all and not healthy at all it requires sacrifice on both your social life and your health unless you choose not to go into AAS then you cannot compete against juicers and win.
so it all depends really on how serious you want to get..
the healthy approach is to compete but not worry about the results keeping your health as your primary focus that what i would do if i were you.

 

[Powermaster]

competing in bodybuilding is not a fun life at all and not healthy at all it requires sacrifice on both your social life and your health unless you choose not to go into AAS then you cannot compete against juicers and win.

I know a few who actually enjoy competing and there are "all natural" competitions.

Bottom line is if you want to do it, just go for it. No one starts at the top unless they are some genetic freak or something but for the rest it's rewarding to climb the rungs getting better every time. Even if you don't get anywhere beyond a small local competition, it's way better than always wondering why (or regretting) you never tried.