[Mother Russia]

This guy was tagged as one of the best, and possibly could have achieved legend status, but he retired before achieving the latter. Still, he could have kept himself in shape after retirement but didn't, for whatever reason. From what I read he retired due to injuries to his hands which didn't heal right. Also he got into a major car crash in 2006, years after retiring for which he spent a stint in prison, after which his weight shot up. I wonder if any drugs/anti depressants could be involved, because he certainly has the money to hire the best trainers/nutritionists





Even his wife appears embarrassed being seen with him:







http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/art...-wife.html

[Gmac]

Quote:

[Teutatis]

Somewhere in that article the person writing it calls the wife "stunning"

[void]

If the first pic is in the prime of his career, he must have had a shitty diet (probably too much carbs, not enough meat/vegetables). After he stopped working out and continued his diet, he exploded.
The body language says everything.

[Phoenix]

I see your Naseem, and raise you...

[Thomas the Rhymer]

Odd, I was reading an article earlier on this same topic, but dealing with the bodybuilding world.











source: http://proteinfart.com/before-and-after-...st-it-all/

[Peregrine]

[Vacancier Permanent]

Thomas,
Please tell me those pics are fake. It just can't be to go from being uber jacked to limpy! It cannot!

[davyjose]

I see this a lot with players of Gaelic sports here in Ireland. Once they retire in their mid-30's or so they just don't give a shit.

They hit the Guinness hard, forget about healthy eating and stop going to gym; within a relatively short period of time they never look like they ever played sport.

From what I gather it's because they trained to such a high, intense level in their playing days, by the time their limbs start to creak at retirement age they just don't give a crap anymore and any sort of fitness becomes an unbearable chore.

[Mother Russia]

(09-13-2015 10:50 AM)Thomas the Rhymer Wrote:  

Odd, I was reading an article earlier on this same topic, but dealing with the bodybuilding world.











source: http://proteinfart.com/before-and-after-...st-it-all/

Well this is different. Each of these bodybuilders, like Flex Wheeler in the second pic (black guy with tattooed arms) ran into organ failure due to steroid abuse or dueritic abuse. They had to immediately get off or die.

Flex for instance was a successful IFBB pro, however years ago his kidneys gave out. I think it was due to diuretics mostly, but I am not sure. Diuretics are not steroids, but they are used by bodybuilders right before competition to immediately loose water weight, to get to 1-3% bodyfat on competition day and look shredded. Unfortunately it is hell on the kidneys, just like anabolics in pill form. That pic on the left is right after he got off, and started a recovery process.

here is what he looked like 16 months ago:



Nothing compared to what he was but still quite good, especially at 49 years of age.

[GoldHawkStar]

I would argue that this happens to the majority of high school athletes after graduation. Part of it is due to not being involved in sports after school and part of it is their metabolism running out around this time in their lives mixed with having a shitty diet like the majority of the western world.

It's only been a little over two years since I graduated and I've already seen some better-looking people get pudgy and gross.

[nek]

It reminds me of that saying: Pretty girls and athletes die twice. I suppose that the reason for letting themselves go is the same, that no matter how hard they work out, they can't capture their old glory, which frustrates them and causes them to quit. Particularly attractive women when their younger might not even have to work out. Imagine having to worker harder at an older age (just to stay in shape) than you did in your youth in order to get even less results (in terms of dating prospects). That's the reality for women.

Another thing to note, Athletes have a high divorce rate after retirement. While part of it may be letting themselves go, part of it may be the woman seeing him on the "decline" and her being normalized to being with a man in the spotlight.

[Easy_C]

You see that a lot with guys from the Army. It's fairly common for someone to stop their fitness regime but keep eating as if they didn't with a predictable result.

[Dusty]

[Hotwheels]

Well, Arnie is getting old as fuck...

[Dusty]

(09-13-2015 09:35 AM)Mother Russia Wrote:  

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/art...-wife.html

One of the top rated comments:

   

[Handsome Creepy Eel]

How is this physically possible? EXPLAIN!!!

[Dusty]

(09-13-2015 12:31 PM)Handsome Creepy Eel Wrote:  

How is this physically possible? EXPLAIN!!!

[The Lizard of Oz]

This is Arnold a little over a month ago (the picture is from August 2 2015):

[Quintus Curtius]

This sort of thing can happen a lot more easily than people think. I've seen guys who were Special Forces badasses in their twenties and then just let themselves deteriorate. I think the major contributing factors are:

1. Getting married to Western women who soak up too much of their time with bullshit and nagging. This detracts from their training, and saps their self-confidence.

2. Many men--here at the forum and elsewhere--make the mistake of equating muscularity with mental toughness. There is some correlation, but you need to remember that just because someone has big biceps doesn't mean that (1) he is in shape, or (2) he has the willpower necessary to go the distance in life. I see a lot of this in the manosphere. Too much emphasis on lifting weights and taking supplements, and not enough on all-around fitness.

3. Psychologically, many of these high-performance athletes end up hating their sport and subconsciously rebel against it once they have achieved what they want to achieve. They feel like they want to take a new direction in life. Remember that many of these guys (and women) spend years--many, many years--defining their identity based on their sport. At some point, they just snap. They are done.

4. Many of these guys have not mentally prepared themselves for what the aging process entails. They are not equipped to handle the fact that their bodies change, and some of them just crash and burn.

So if we take all these factors into account, we can see how it can happen.

[civpro]

Looks like he decided to run Starting Strength.

[rudebwoy]

Flex Wheeler had to battle with injuries and some rare disease.

He looks amazing at 50.

[jariel]

Visual "L", she kept her hand in her pocket the entire time.

[RexImperator]

This is more relevant to military guys, but it applies to both...basically anyone who pushes themselves relentlessly can get injured and wear their body out.

[TheSlayer]

I can't remember which NBA player said this but basically the point was that most athletes after retiring still eat like they used to back when they were players and end up getting fat because you are obviously not burning the same amount of calories. QC already mentioned that some of these athletes also 'rebel' against their sport and fitness in general.

I think the answer here is simple calorie management. Most athletes don't adjust to their post-playing days and continue to eat whatever they want.