In previous articles I've been writing how some of the best athletes in hockey, football and basketball make the greatest musky fishermen... Today I'm going to be touching on how since reaching 40, I've definitely seen a lot in life, seen a lot of change in these sports because of the new technology, some say we're already living in a social credit system because of the rise of social media which is leading to even more massive competitiveness amongst athletes, I've written about what some Alphas are doing so they can cancel other athletes out, making up stories, doing lots of weird shit, those that are in the youtube fishing game realize some of the new weird shit going on, really don't need to touch on that again... But I think a lot of this competitiveness is leading into even more temptation in taking PEDs because of the need for popularity, sponsors, power, fame, fortune, girls etc...

If you don't know, recently there was another bodybuilder influencer that passed named Jo Lindner, aka Joesthetics, at only 30 years of age. I've heard a lot of people liked the guy, he definitely inspired a lot of people to join the sport and help them focus on something very constructive such as bodybuilding. Now, there's no telling if his use in steroids caused his aneurysm or not, some like Gregg Douchett are hinting to it did, some say it was just genetic predisposition, I'll say this, it's not normal to die that young in that healthy of shape at such a young age. Same could be said for Leo and Longevity, who was supposedly experimenting around with all types of weird supplements to supposedly hack his body into performing longer and staying up longer without sleep. Both influencers blew up pretty quickly and took their claim to fame for their uniqueness, but are these recent revelations kind of exposing the dark side of social media and these sports?

Getting back to the speech Carl Weathers gave in Rocky 4 "you think you're changing, but you can't change what you really are, and you can forget all this money and stuff you got all around you managed because it don't change a thing you and me we don't even have a choice see we born with a killer instinct that you can't just turn off and on like some some radio we have to be right in the middle of the action cuz we the Warriors and without some some challenge without some damn war to fight in the war you may as well be dead stallion!"

There's definitely a lot of truth to that type of mentality within a lot of young men, it's something you have to be careful with I think when competing in these extreme sports, but sometimes it's also after retiring from an extreme sport which can create a downward spiral. While I myself don't live by that statement exactly, I can still relate to it and understand where Carl Weather's character Apollo Creed is coming from... Definitely gets back to the piece I wrote on chasing adrenaline rush with safer sports like musky fishing. And how even this mentality even happens with skateboarders like this piece Vice did on Trevor Jacob after retiring from skateboarding! And look, I don't expect all these high strung athletes are going to like Musky fishing... It's not for everyone, it takes time to learn the sport, it takes time to find the fish, there's a bit of a learning curve just using a baitcaster that's why I showed you can still use a spinning reel, and still there's a lot of patience within this sport that most will not be able to abide by. However, as I've shown getting involved with other hobbies such as doing hunting, weight lifting, maybe even muscle cars(lol), both of these can be a somewhat or safer alternatives to what some of these extreme athletes have got themselves into!

I loved how Tyson Fury came out, made himself very vulnerable by showing one of his major weaknesses by talking about his depression when after reaching the top, afterwards he explained how it was kind of downward spiral which almost lead to him committing suicide, it definitely takes a real man to do that. As he explains to Joe Rogan, he's figured out what treats his depression, which to sum it up, he always has to have some type of challenge or motivation to keep his mind busy.

I think this also gets back to what Powerlifter Louie Simmons said about being between heaven and hell, Purgatory, because he could no longer train and compete like he used to... Louie still found his gateway, by teaching others how to powerlift, even inventing new weight machines like the reverse hyper to heal one's back, and also inspiring others by talking on podcasts!

The whole point of this, I think, is just finding the right balance between competing in these sports in what you love and not going overboard with extreme supplements, drugs, and PEDs in general. One thing that's great about both weight lifting, cars, musky fishing, and hunting is you can still participate in them at a very older age! Remember age is just a number!!

Even Dorian Yates found another sport to participate in after doing so much damage to his body after bodybuilding like tearing his bicep, believe it or not he's found Yoga after bodybuilding.

In this podcast Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub talked about the aftermath of being a fighter, how Rogan had to have a sort of intervention to finally convince Brendan to retire... While some may think this isn't a big deal, believe me it's much bigger than you think with a lot of athletes and men in general. In recent years there's been sort of a cancel culture going after Schaub saying what a poor comedian he is and liar, but regardless of all that, he brought a lot of great dialogue to the podcast community on YouTube, as well commentary to the UFC and other sports... Despite what you think of Shaub, it was great to see him and Rogan have this discussion about retiring in a podcast for others to relate to, then finding a sort of gateway after extreme sport of cage fighting and finding a meaning in life... And despite what a lot of people say about Schaub, he's accomplished more than any of them every well in their own lifetimes, social media is also breading a lot of haters, remember no one is perfect in this life!

Don't quit, find a sport or hobby you will love after competing in these extreme sports. I believe there is something the Great Outdoors can provide for everybody! Carl Weathers - "You know me Stallion, always think of something else!" And yeah, that's basically what you have to do...

I've watched a lot of 30 for 30 Documentaries and Sports documentaries in general, the common thing I hear is, athletic pro career makes up a small percentage of your life. You'll have to find something later in life to keep the warrior inside of you appeased!