Why I Have No Interest In Entering Contests

Richard Sullivan @ age 52

A trainer at my gym who otherwise never speaks to me suddenly asked if I was interested in competing in an upcoming contest. He was very complimentary—which was both kind and welcome, but seemed put out when I told him I didn’t have any desire to stand on stage, nor did I relish contest prep and all that it required.

When in my late 40s and early 50s I was almost continually “contest-ready,” according to others’ opinions, whenever I worked out at Gold’s Venice or ate at The Firehouse or visited bodybuilder stores like Max Muscle. People just didn’t accept that I maintained the condition that I did “just because,” with no endgame in mind.

What I didn’t mention to them, so as not to offend, were two things: that I don’t care about approval from others, and that during the 1980s when I watched bodybuilding contests on ESPN and attended quite a few in person with my gym friends, that the person who I/we were sure was going to win often did not. Judging in bodybuilding contests at that time was suspicious if not sketchy. In fact it was known that some bodybuilders did special favors for judges in order to influence their vote.

I fully understand the ego lift that official accolades bring, but I also have witnessed the enormous investment that some bodybuilders I knew made to be recognized and went unrewarded, and how that affected them mentally and physically. Depression among bodybuilders is common, and when someone is pumped up to win, but loses badly after many months of sacrifice, grueling work and preparation, they can really crash.

Living and working in Hollywood as a professional photographer as I did for many years I was continually exposed to men and women who were certain they would make it bigtime in films or music, only to see 99% of them disappointed. I counted myself lucky in that I had no desire to be an actor, model, rock star or any other kind of celebrity for that matter.

Competitive people like to think of themselves as strong. In fact they think there’s something wrong with those who are not competitive. However being competitive means having a strong drive—a need in fact—to prove oneself as being as good or better than the next guy.

Some people already know they’re as good, or better, than the next guy.