In a sport such as bodybuilding, which is an individually driven expedition, the notion of a teammate seems quite unnecessary.
Where you can rely on your teammates in team sports, you can only rely on yourself in an individual sport. In bodybuilding/fitness, you can’t hide behind teammates. You are the only one that governs your success. You are the competition. The burden of your performance relies on you alone. Therefore, you need high amounts of self-reliance, self-acceptance, discipline, focus, and passion.
While it be a perfectly healthy challenge to endure a lifestyle to achieve these physical goals, complete isolation might actually be detrimental to your success. After all, who would you have to share your success with when all is said and done?
That is where the importance of good rapport with your teammates comes in. Obviously, you cannot rely on them to push you through every workout, or remind you to eat your meals. It’s not like that at all. Teammates become a support system through the rough times as well as positive inspiration and reinforcement to continually achieve greatness.
As my contest preparation journey goes on, I’m understanding the importance of networking with like minds. My teammates push me to better myself everyday. Whether they purposely aim to inspire or not. Sometimes, just reading or seeing a social media post is enough. Other times, I may seek there assistance. And surprisingly, they seek mine as well.