Male Bodybuilder - Christian Mayti aka "XN"

Occupation: Graphic Artist, Head Bodybuilder Coach for The Next Level: Team-Based Competitive Bodybuilding program, head coordinator for the PhysiQulture Collaborative

Personal Website: http://www.physiqulture.net

Gym: Rock City Body, and Momentum Fitness

Gym Location: Allston, MA (Rock City), & Woburn, MA (Momentu

When I Started: Nov, 1992

How I Started: When I was young, back before 1992, I was living my life "for the neck up." There was only one reason my body was important to me: it was a way to bring pleasure to my brain. By the time I turned 21, my life was hitting a horrible, depressing, self-destructive and addictive low point. It was either look at things honestly, or end it. With help from several very profound mentors, I began transforming my sense of self-care. Soon, with that change in attitude, I began learning that the body has a will and intention of it's own. Regardless of what my brain wanted, my body had needs beyond just "feeling good". My body was my responsibility, and what I did with it would be the difference between living a joyful life, or just running around trying to always have "a good time". Joy is permanent, pleasure is temporary -- I needed to start living with a joy for my body. Through this learning process, I soon realized that exploring my body's abilities was going to be vital for maintaining my self of self-respect, self-appreciation, and dignity. I needed to look beyond mere health and fitness; I also needed to look at abilities like my sense of personal strength, growth, healing, power, and so on. Looking at these aspects of who i am helped me not slide back into my old, crazy, destructive ways. And looking soon turned into action -- and I was led into the gym . . . In the end, you could say that what got me started in bodybuilding was a change of heart. If I didn't take the path of difficult, rigorous honesty and self-care, I probably wouldn't be here to take any path at all.

Why I Love It: Look, I always hated all you muscle guys. I had nothing but insults to sling at you muscleheads, gym jocks, cocky bastards, nightclub prettyboys, gym rats and all the rest . . . all I knew how to do was mock that which was foreign to me. yeah -- I was a real little bitch. But that resentment I had was (is?) actually all about something else. It is not the bodybuilders and athletes who I get angry with -- it is something in ME that needs adjusting. Working my body helps me explore what those resentments, jealousies, and my impatience for others might all be about. So, I love the surface results, but it is the self-discoveries I keep making on the journey that really hold the most joy for me. Seriously. No joke.

How I Stay Motivated: if I was poor-sighted, I would need glasses to see clearly. And it would HAVE to be EVERY day -- I couldn't just pick and choose which days I "felt like'" wearing my glasses. I would need to put them on every day to see my world clearly. Self-care is the same way. And seeing how bodybuilding has so many self-care tools within it, I would be a fool to not pick them up EVERY day. It is simple.

BB Accomplishments: Using my work to help others reduce suffering in their life. Period. It would cheapen the accomplishment to boast about the details. Ask those around me for details.

Forum Signature: Bodybuilding could have done without it, but now can't afford to ignore it:http://blog.bodybuilding.com/The_ Real_XNREAD THE BLOG! BIG IS INSIDEOff the hook. Out of bounds. Mess with your mind. And occasionally even spell checked!Help, ideas, humor, insights, contest/league reviews, editorials, history, culture, analysis, forgotten facts, call-outs (and of course the occasional rambling) about Physique Culture & the bodybuilding world.

An Athlete should never go to a contest to win a prize. An Athlete should only ever go to a contest in order to display one.

Goal (Long): To use my work in the sport to help reduce chaos and eliminate suffering in my fellows. To see growth and change in individuals and communities that's motivated by excitement, betterment and joy, rather than motivated by fear, greed, conceit and inadequacy. To keep on my game so long as it is of service to others. To be a vital member of the revitalization and recreation of the sport of bodybuilding by helping create cooperation among and between the athletes and the organizations, rather than by forcing policy with bullying tactics or regarding an athlete's worth in terms of financial revenue. To be an essential role in physique sports, helping them operate with more equanimity and within more meaningful parameters, by encouraging understanding rather than placing demand.

Christian Mayti XN Photos

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