 All right you guys, what is going on? Welcome back to another video. Today's video is gonna be the first of a series of videos that are gonna go in a question and answer sort of format. I've received questions throughout the last six months or a year on my YouTube channel or my Instagram page. Questions that have come up that I've addressed in the past, but I haven't addressed probably the last 12 months. To do with my personal life, to do with things I've done in the past, bodybuilding, my gyno surgery, stuff like that, things that I want to give my knowledge and my experience on a certain topic with you guys and update you on what's happening as far as my journey into that topic goes. So with that being said, today's video we're gonna start with, will you ever compete on a bodybuilding stage again? I've received that question recently, to be honest, not too many times, but it is a question that I do get asked, especially in person, and it's a question that I want to address because I have been thinking about it probably more so than I have done in the last six or 12 months, just recently. So I competed twice in bodybuilding. I am a complete, I'm a natural athlete. I'm a lifetime natural athlete. What that means is that I've never taken any performance enhancing drugs. I've never taken any psalms. I've never taken any pro hormones. All I've taken is your general vitamin shop supplements, creatine, pre-workout, protein powder, and some multivitamins. So, I am still a lifetime natural. As you can probably tell, I went through an injury or a phase of an injury. I went through about six months worth of having a leg injury. That happened at the same time as I had my gyno surgery. Now, this is gyno that's come from puberty, obviously, because I haven't taken any steroids, anything that would mess up my natural test and estrogen levels. So I am still coming from a natural athlete standpoint. And to be honest, as a natural, having watched years and years of bodybuilding shows, not only natural, but also, you know, your IFBB, NABBA, things like that, I've come to the realization that it is not in my best interests. It is not worth it for me to try and compete on a bodybuilding stage as a natural athlete. It's torture. And I didn't even get as lean as what you have to do. You know, basically a natural bodybuilding show nowadays is who can get the most lean? Who can get the most shredded? Doesn't matter what size you are. These guys are like sticks on stage, at least the amateur guys. And yeah, they're shredded, but they've got no size. They've got no fullness. And it just, it doesn't look good. It's not a look that I'm interested in. So with that being said, I guess the answer to my question, you know, is no. I won't be competing on a bodybuilding stage again. Although I do still love it. I do still have this huge passion for bodybuilding. I still watch every show. I still follow all the top guys. And I think I'm going to continue doing that. So I'm 27 at the moment. I competed when I was 24, twice. I competed in men's physique in the IFBB. And I competed in a fitness model in the WBFF. Now both of those federations are untested. I went in there as a natural athlete wanting to do that. You know, back then I was quite firm on people being natural. I thought if you took steroids, you know, yeah, it was your choice, but you're cheating. That's how I thought. But nowadays I am, you know, I couldn't be further from that. Anyone can do whatever the hell they want with their own body. And I've come to realize that as a natural, you do only have, you know, you do have a genetic limit. And I suppose, you know, I've pushed that genetic limit as far as weight goes over the past few years, multiple times. And I haven't been able to get over 105 kilos. That is my max. And at that point, you know, I was pretty soft around the midsection. So I've been up as high as 105. I've been down as low as 86 for my shows. So that's nearly a 20 kg span. And that's naturally, okay? So you can put on weight, you can get lean. You know, getting shredded, really shredded for a show as a natural is, I mean, you try it. It's gonna be weeks and weeks and weeks of hard dieting. You don't have that exogenous testosterone in your body to keep yourself jacked up, to keep your muscles full, to keep your strength up. You don't have it. You got no help. It's only you and your fucking balls as a guy. So, you know, it's personally as a natural, it's not gonna be worth it. I wish that natural bodybuilding awarded someone who had a little bit more fullness, possibly a more, you know, I guess, but to be honest, in amateur natural bodybuilding shows, you're not gonna get a huge amount of talent. There's too many of them. They're all over the place. And I guess natural bodybuilding is a real niche. Bodybuilding as a whole is performance enhancing drugs. It just is. If you wanna be at the top of your game, and like I just mentioned before, if you wanna shred down, if you wanna get to 5% body fat and still retain your strength and still retain your muscle size, and all of it, and if not even grow a little bit into the show, you know you're gonna need some help. So, I guess, moving forward, am I gonna compete in the near future? No, but I still love bodybuilding and I still would really love to compete one more time, but be competitive on stage. And what that requires, I'm not even gonna say in this video. So, I guess that gives you a little bit of an answer. It's a bit trivial. I'm not ruling it out in the future, but I have given my opinions on natural bodybuilding and that's the standpoint that I come from. And I enjoy going to the gym, eating, being able to shred down, and rely on my diet and training only, and not bring anything else into the fucking picture because that just complicates things. It's gonna create a toxic situation and I don't need that. So, my question is, will I compete on bodybuilding stage again? And have I competed in the past? Yes, I've competed twice at the end of 2015. That was three years ago now. Great experience. I didn't do very well. I wasn't lean enough, but to be honest, I wasn't prepared to push my body to the limits that I needed to get that lean. As a natural, I felt like fucking shit and so will you. So, you know, I'm gonna leave it there. I hope you've had a fantastic day. If you have liked this video, if you wanna support me, you wanna support my channel, going forward, hit the like button. If you wanna subscribe, please do. We're coming to you from a natural athlete standpoint. We always have, we always will, but if that was to change, I would absolutely get you guys to know, okay? So right now I'm sitting at about 93.5 kilos. That's right in the middle of my, you know, lowest and highest weight. I am leaner than I probably was at this weight this time last year, so we're making progress. You know, slow and steady progress. The fitness journey is a marathon, not a sprint, and I'll leave you with that.