by Mark Mahon

Created on: October 03, 2009   Last Updated: October 04, 2009

My wife said to me the other day, "I wish that I had her boobs".

I replied, "Why? Then she wouldn't have any." I don't think that my wife got it.

I think that from the moment that we can see we start looking at others and comparing ourselves to them. We pick out little features here and there and wish that we could have them to enhance what we perceive ourselves to be.

I know this person. I know him as well as I know myself. More than thirty years ago I, I mean he, caught the bodybuilding obsession. This is a recollection of how he began to become entrapped with obsession and is a description of his constant thoughts and actions that took control of his being.

At fifteen, my mate was a healthy, good-looking type of guy. As a young fellow, he had a mesomorphic shape. He had small athletic joints and his muscles were full bellied and tapered into the joints in an efficient and tidy manner. It seemed that he would have a muscular appearance as an adult. However, at fifteen he was just growing out of the puppy stage. His disproportional limbs were waggling incoherently around his lean torso but there were signs that everything was coming back together again. This guy was an elite junior footballer and had been identified as a future professional.

Football dreams played constantly on the wide screen in his mind. Education was not a concern because football would pay the bills. At fifteen, he was playing against men in the local grades but it seemed that he was still a bit light. Therefore, off to the gym he went to 'put on a little bulk' to help him play better. Does this remind you of anyone?

It was an age where bones and muscle were being swamped by growth hormones. Looking at a dumbbell made his biceps glow. He learnt that on the other side of the biceps were triceps and if they were both worked equally, his upper arms would take on a shape like the old actors in the Hercules movies. Young people learn quickly. The new man learned about all of the bones and all of the muscles that moved them. He found that if he worked a muscle hard during the evening, the morning would bring feelings of growth in that muscle. He did not know at the time that the feeling was lactic acid and minor damage within the muscle. Behind the scenes, as the muscles repaired, they repaired bigger and stronger. If all of this happened in just one day, how big would he be in ten years? It seemed quite logical, unfortunately he could only spare four hours every evening. He was worried that

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