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When can you label yourself a bodybuilder?

When can you label yourself a powerlifter?

When can you label yourself a surgeon?

Is it when you first start caring about what food you put in your mouth? How about when you really start caring, when you stress over every little detail?

Is it when you pick up your first weight? How about about when your lifts start reaching some arbitrarily large number?

Is it when you pick up your first biology book? How about your first day in med school?

No, in my opinion, none of those things will qualify you as a bodybuilder, powerlifter or surgeon. You don't earn those labels until you put yourself out on a limb, completely vulnerable.

You're not a bodybuilder until you step on stage, rocking the banana hammock for the whole world to see. No more hiding those last 5 pounds or touch-ups with instagram filters.

You're not a powerlifter until you suit up in the singlet, putting your lifts at the discretion of the 3 judges and lights. No more hiding that "parallel" squat, touch-and-go bench press and hitched deadlift.

And you're certainly not a surgeon until you operate on your first patient, accepting full responsibility that this is a real person's life on the line. No more hiding behind textbooks and cadavers.

As Ronnie Coleman is famous for saying, "Everybody wanna be a bodybuilda, but don't nobody wanna put on the banana hammock." Or something like that.