Chris Bumstead loved bodybuilding because it offered clear cause and effect: work hard, get results. He contrasts that predictability with the messiness of business and relationships, and credits the mental growth from facing hard situations with keeping him grounded while other bodybuilders lost themselves.
Chapters
There are a lot of bodybuilders that have actually ruined their lives outside of the sport. People talk about how difficult they were to get along with, how self centered they were, how tough in their marriage. You somehow been able to navigate all of that. How did you keep the rest of your life in balance?
I loved bodybuilding and I didn't just love working out and starving myself. I loved seeing the direct results that came from it. There's few things in life that you have so much control over or you've put X amount of effort in, you'll get X amount of result. You know, business doesn't work, relationship doesn't work like that. You don't know what's coming from it. But when you eat right and you train hard, you get the result. And when you put yourself in difficult situations, you're forced to be in a place to grow mentally. And I love that aspect of bodybuilding.