105 Best Bodybuilding Quotes That Are Full Of Strength

Devangana Rathore
Dec 12, 2023 By Devangana Rathore
Originally Published on Feb 25, 2021
Edited by Monisha Kochhar
Young woman exercises in gym holding barbell on shoulders.
?
Age: 0-99
Read time: 12.9 Min

The motivation to train and workout and reach your body goals in the gym can only come from yourself - and nothing external.

If you are looking for bodybuilding quotes and motivational quotes to finally hit the gym, or return to it, we have the perfect quotes for you. Do also check out Endurance quotes, strong man quotes and Ronnie Coleman quotes for more inspirational quotes.

Bodybuilding needs discipline, effort, and a lot of motivation.

They call it the "grind" or the "hustle" but the bottom line remains the same - that in order to have a heavy body, you need to be ready to put in the work and start to lift heavy. However, this motivation may be hard to find because of various reasons, but one should never lose hope.

The true victory of a bodybuilder is to keep going even when the world thinks he is defeated, and these quotes on bodybuilding will help you do just that.

Motivational Quotes By Veteran Bodybuilders

Bodybuilding is the activity of exerting your muscles to strengthen them and make them more prominent. People have been building their bodies since the ancient days, with philosophers like Plato known for their muscular physique.

These bodybuilding quotes and inspirational quotes by people such as Kai Greene are bound to make you all pumped to start your bodybuilding journey as soon as possible. Whether you are at the gym, training your body, or just looking for bodybuilding motivation, these quotes will definitely do the trick!

1. "Wanting something is not enough. You must hunger for it. "

– Les Brown.

2. “The road to nowhere is paved with excuses.”

-Mark Bell.

3. "The application of consistent, logical effort, over a prolonged period is the key to reaching your physical muscular potential.”

-Craig Cecil, 'Supermen: Building Maximum Muscle for a Lifetime'.

4. "It’s not about having time. It’s about making time."

– Unknown.*

5. “I hated every minute of training, but I said, don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.”

-Muhammad Ali.

6. "The wolf on the hill is not as hungry as the wolf climbing the hill."

– Arnold Schwarzenegger.

7. "You can have results or excuses. Not both."

– Arnold Schwarzenegger.

8. “The worst thing I can be is the same as everybody else.”

– Arnold Schwarzenegger.

9. “The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.”

-Ayn Rand.

10. "Blood, sweat, and respect. The first two you give and the last one you earn."

– Dwayne Johnson.

11. “Positive thinking can be contagious. Being surrounded by winners helps you develop into a winner.”

-Arnold Schwarzenegger,  'Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder'.

12. "The muscle and the mind must become one. One without the other is zero."

– Lee Haney.

13. “Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder but don’t nobody want to lift heavy weights!”

– Ronnie Coleman.

14. "There’s no secret formula. I lift heavy, work hard, and aim to be the best."

– Ronnie Coleman.

15. “Find YOUR Balance.”

-Kayla Rose Kotecki.

16. "A bodybuilder is a sculptor who carries with him his own material."

– Serge Nubret.

17. “Pain is temporary, pride is forever.”

– Unknown.*

18. "The last three or four reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides the champion from someone who is not a champion."

– Arnold Schwarzenegger.

19. “Bodybuilding isn’t 90 minutes in the gym. It’s a lifestyle.”

— Lee Priest.

20. "Suffer the pain of self-discipline. Or suffer the pain of regret."

– Jim Rohn.

21. "To be a champion, you must act like a champion."

– Lou Ferrigno.

22. "A champion is someone who gets up when they can’t."

– Jack Dempsey.

23. “Half-reps may build your ego but they also build half a physique.”

-Craig Cecil, 'Supermen: Building Maximum Muscle for a Lifetime'.

24. "Skill is only developed by hours and hours of work."

– Usain Bolt.

25. “Champions aren’t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them-a desire, a dream, a vision.”

Muhammad Ali.

26. "Once you have commitment, you need the discipline and hard work to get you there."

– Haile Gebrselassie.

27. “Strong people are harder to kill than weak people and more useful in general.”

- Mark Rippetoe.

28. "The first and greatest victory is to conquer self."

– Plato.

29. "You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction."

– George Lorimer.

30. "Discipline is built by consistently performing small acts of courage."

– Robin Sharma.

31. "When you have a well-developed body and you're confident, you see people bending your way, wanting to be on your side, wanting to do things for you.”

-Arnold Schwarzenegger, 'Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder'.

32. "If I want to be great I have to win the victory over myself…self-discipline."

– Harry S. Truman.

33. "Strength is the product of struggle. You must do what others don’t to achieve what others won't."

– Henry Rollins.

34. "Discipline is the bridge between your bodybuilding goals and bodybuilding success."

– Felicity Luckey.

35. "Biceps are like ornaments on a Christmas tree."

- Ed Coan.

Inspirational Bodybuilding Quotes

Strong man with big muscles posing for the camera.

People have dedicated more than 20 years of their life to bodybuilding. They make their body their profession and work for years to have the perfect physique.

If you are looking for bodybuilding quotes that are bound to become your favorite, then you must absolutely read these famous quotes. If you are still on the fence, then do check out these inspirational bodybuilding quotes - ready to remind you that pain is temporary - but the results of your work will stay forever.

Spoken by veterans in the industry, their wise quotes are bound to give you the spark of motivation you need to be like them and build your muscle.

Now read on, and get a move on! Your dream body is waiting for you - but are you ready for it?

36. "Self-discipline is about controlling your desires and impulses while staying focused on what needs to get done to achieve your goal."

– Adam Sicinski.

37. “It took me 20 years of hard training to get the physique I have today. What you need is what I had – belief in yourself!”

– Branch Warre.

38. "Self-belief and hard work will always earn you success."

– Virat Kohli.

39. “Sell yourself short on nutrition and you’re selling yourself short on maximizing your physique development.”

- Ernie Taylor.

40. "Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day-in and day-out."

– Robert Collier.

41. “I don't diet and exercise. I eat and train.”

-J.R. Rim.

42. "When it gets difficult is often right before you succeed."

– Jeffrey Walker.

43. "Fortunately, there is a solution, and it’s not performing multiple sets of whatever cable Kegel exercise is being pushed as 'The Answer.' Just a little hard, smart, basic work."

- Jim Wendle.

44. "You were born to win. But to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win."

– Zig Ziglar

45. “Vision creates faith and faith creates willpower. With faith, there is no anxiety and no doubt – just absolute confidence in yourself.”

– Arnold Schwarzenegger.

46. "Haters don’t hate you, they hate themselves. Because you’re a reflection of what they wish to be. "

– Unknown.*

47. “Intensity builds immensity.”

— Kevin Levrone.

48. "My old routine was McDonald's on the way to the gym, coffee during my workout, Burger King and Copenhagen post-workout."

- Dave Tate

49. "Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly."

– Robert F. Kennedy

50. "Your love for what you do and willingness to push yourself where others aren't prepared to go is what will make you great."

- Laurence Shahlaei.

51. "Losers quit when they fail. Winners fail until they succeed."

– Robert T. Kiyosaki.

52. “Let go of toxic control, in order to regain healthy control.”

-Kayla Rose Kotecki.

53. "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."

– Winston Churchill.

54. “For me, life is continuously being hungry. The meaning of life is not simply to exist, to survive, but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer.”

- Arnold Schwarzenegger.

55. "When you hit failure, your workout has just begun."

Ronnie Coleman.

56. “Bodybuilding is much like any other sport. To be successful, you must dedicate yourself 100% to your training, diet and mental approach.”

- Arnold Schwarzenegger.

57. "Failure doesn’t kill you… it increases your desire to make something happen.

—Kevin Costner.

58. "Tough times don’t last. Tough people do."

– Robert H. Schuller.

59. "If you think lifting weights is dangerous, try being weak. Being weak is dangerous."

- Bret Contreras.

60. "What is the point of being alive if you don’t at least try to do something remarkable?”

– John Green.

61. “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.'”

- Mary Anne Radmacher.

62. "The body always fails first, not the mind. The trick is to make the mind work for you, not against you."

– Arnold Schwarzenegger.

63. "If you aren’t begging for rest. Then you aren’t training your best."

– Unknown.*

64. "There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure."

– Paulo Coelho.

65. “Some are born strong and others are made strong.”

-J.R. Rim.

66. "People who avoid failure also avoid success.

– Robert T. Kiyosaki

67. “Don’t measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.”

- John Wooden.

68. “Don’t have $100.00 shoes and a 10 cent squat.”

– Louie Simmons.

69. "Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude."

- Thomas Jefferson.

70. "I'm the strongest bodybuilding who ever lived, I think."

- Franco Columbu.

Bodybuilding Quotes To Help You Reach Your Lifting Goals

Bodybuilding quotes don't have to be serious and somber. In fact, some of the most famous ones are funny bodybuilding quotes.

We have listed some of the best bodybuilding quotes around - not just to inspire and motivate you, but also to tickle your funny bone just right.

Bodybuilding itself might be serious business and hard work, but there is no reason why you can't have a few laughs while building muscle.

The body you want is just within your reach, only if you put in time, effort, and dedication to it, just like you would to anything else you'd like to master. We hope that reading these quotes will give you the motivation to aspire to bigger, better things.

71. "Remember - If you want to beat the man, you've gotta out-eat the man!"

- JM Blakely.

72. “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments.”

– Jim Rohn.

73. “I don’t do this to be healthy; I do this to get big muscles.”

Marcus Ruhl.

74. “The barbells and dumbbells you hold in your hands and the way you use them have stories to tell.”

-Craig Cecil, 'Bodybuilding: From Heavy Duty to SuperSlow'.

75. "There is no such thing as overtraining, just under nutrition and undersleeping."

- The Barbarian brothers.

76. "Don’t wish it were easier. Wish you were better. "

– Jim Rohn.

77. "I'm not sold on one diet philosophy. I'm sold on whatever will work for you."

- Dave Tate.

78. “Rule of thumb: Eat for what you’re going to be doing and not for what you have done. Don’t take in more than you’re willing to burn off.”

-Lee Haney.

79. "I'm not the kind of guy who tries to run between the drops. Sometimes you gotta get a little wet to reach your destination"

- Erik Fankhouser.

80. "You have to be at your strongest when you’re feeling at your weakest."

– Unknown.*

81. "Discipline is doing what you hate to do, but nonetheless doing it like you love it."

- Mike Tyson.

82. "Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will."

– Mahatma Gandhi.

83. “Learn it all, then forget it all.”

- Bruce Lee.

84. “If you lack motivation, I can't help you with that. That's your problem to solve.”

- Stan Efferding.

85."Mediocre athletes that tried like hell to get good are the best coaches."

- Mark Rippetoe.

86. "Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever."

– Lance Armstrong.

87. "Most champions are built by punch the clock workouts rather than extraordinary efforts."

- Dan John.

88. “If I have to die tonight, if this weight is going to kill me tonight, so be it! I’m dying where I wanna be…”

-Kai Greene.

89. "There's more to life than training, but training is what puts more in your life."

- Brooks Kubik.

90. "I would like to be the first man in the gym business to throw out my scale. If you don’t like what you see in the mirror, what difference does it make what the scale says?"

- Vince Gironda

91. "Come in the gym like you’re going to war."

– Unknown.*

92. "Don't ever believe you have nothing to lose. There's always something to be lost when you change something or try something new. Nothing is ever free. Not even experience."

- Paul Carter.

93. "There is no strength without struggle."

– Unknown.*

94. “Stimulate don’t annihilate.”

– Lee Haney.

95. “Being negative and lazy is a disease that leads to pain, hardships, depression, poor health and failure. Be proactive  to achieve success!”

-Unknown.*

96. "Push yourself because no one else is going to do it."

– Unknown.

97. "There is no reason to be alive if you can't do the deadlift!"

- Jon Pall Sigmarsson.

98. “I don’t eat for taste, I eat for function. ”

- Jay Cutler.

99. "The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you're a god. The Iron will always kick you the real deal.

The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. The Iron is always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. "

- Henry Rollins.

100. "Trust me, if you do an honest 20 rep program, at some point Jesus will talk to you. On the last day of the program, he asked if he could work in."

- Mark Rippetoe.

101. "At the end of the day it's not a weight contest, it's a visual contest. And it doesn't matter what you say about your weight, if you don't look that big then you don't look that big."

- Dorian Yates.

102. "I never think about losing - only the next weight I train."

- Lou Ferrigno.

103. "It's a rare individual who lets themselves be steered by what they feel is their own passion."

- Dave Tate.

104. “They can crack jokes. They can sit back and analyze and criticize and make all the fun they want. But I’m living my life, I’m doing it and pulling my weight. What are you doing?”

- Kai Greene.

105. "On the Internet, everyone squats. In real life, the squat rack is always empty. You figure out what this means."

- Steve Shaw.

*Do you know where this quote originated? Please email us to let us know at hello@kidadl.com

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Best Bodybuilding Quotes then why not take a look at Stone Cold Steve Austin quotes, or Arnold Schwarzenegger movie quotes.

We Want Your Photos!
We Want Your Photos!

We Want Your Photos!

Do you have a photo you are happy to share that would improve this article?
Email your photos

More for You

See All

Written by Devangana Rathore

Bachelor of Arts specializing in English Language, Master of Philosophy

Devangana Rathore picture

Devangana RathoreBachelor of Arts specializing in English Language, Master of Philosophy

Devangana is a highly accomplished content writer and a deep thinker with a Master's degree in Philosophy from Trinity College, Dublin. With a wealth of experience in copywriting, she has worked with The Career Coach in Dublin and is constantly looking to enhance her skills through online courses from some of the world's leading universities. Devangana has a strong background in computer science and is also an accomplished editor and social media manager. Her leadership skills were honed during her time as the literacy society president and student president at the University of Delhi.

Read full bio >