Bodybuilding is a process of
developing the musculature of the body through specific types of diet and
physical exercise such as weightlifting. It requires great discipline, but it is
not about the goal, but more so about the journey and here I will explain to
you different parts of this journey.
Lifestyle
“The lifestyle of a bodybuilder
is simple, but it ain’t easy” (YouTube, 2015) . You basically do three things; eat,
sleep and train. Or rather, that is what you would do, if you were a
professional, and even then, this still would not apply to you. The thing is,
to be a bodybuilder is surely about these three things: to get enough food for
your goals, get enough sleep, and to train hard. However, more than likely it
is possible to have a normal life, spend time with your family, have a normal
job, going to school if you are still young. Even Ronnie Coleman, one of the biggest
bodybuilders of all time, still worked 8 hours a day as a police officer, and
still became Mr. Olympia 8 times. This shows that it is possible, even though
there are some who have other opinions and choose other routes.
Macros
If you are serious about
bodybuilding, it requires discipline, and you have to invest time in your daily
routine to make this possible. One of the necessary things is to watch your
calories, in other words, start tracking macronutrients, or macros for short.
This will enable you to decide what and how much food you can eat, as long as
it fits into your caloric number. This is a skill used by a lot of
bodybuilders, as well as normal people just trying to lose some weight. You can
do so by just measuring how much your food weighs, each part for itself, and
you write the numbers into an app, for example “MyFitnessPal”. This app is
great to use if you are trying to either gain, lose or even maintain your
current weight. Gaining weight is called “bulking”, while losing weight is
called “cutting”. The difference is simply the amount of calories you take in,
in addition to your exercise level.
Supplements
Another thing bodybuilders use is supplements, some use few, others use a lot. It is not essential to the journey, but it will make it a whole lot easier and faster. As the name suggests, it is to supplement for your lack of something. While nutrition is important, there is a reason supplements were created. For example, how would you like your protein, through 3 stakes a day, or simply 2 scoops of protein powder? It would be ideal to eat as much meat as you would want every day, but your wallet would probably not agree with you. Then there is the time it consumes to make every meal from scratch, as you have to when counting macros. Overall, supplements help you out, but you should not depend on them because you cannot outsmart a bad diet. These are some of the most frequently used supplements.
Protein: Probably the
most used supplement ever used in bodybuilding. It is important to get enough
protein, since it is what enables your muscle cells to recover and eventually
grow. Since it is nearly impossible to get all your protein from food, whey protein was created to enable you to hit your
goal without spending too much time and money. There are different types of
protein, like whey and casein.
Creatine: The most researched supplement on the market, creatine is believed
to make you stronger. This is somewhat true, the function of creatine is to
pump water into the muscle cells, engorging them and make them look bigger.
This also makes you somewhat stronger, but it does not make a huge difference. It
only increases your ATP (energy) levels for the time you are supplementing with
it.
PWO: Pre-Workout,
more or less like an energy drink, but with more effects. This supplement
usually contains beta-alanine (reduces muscle fatigue) and l-arginine (gives
you a better pump). None of these effects are necessary, but it is wanted, and
who does not want it in their workout. It is more or less like drinking several
cups of coffee, since it also contains a huge amount of caffeine.
The forms of Bodybuilding
Bodybuilding is considered
dangerous by many, even dirty. It is given a bad name, and with all due
respect, it deserves it. The art of bodybuilding has changed over the years,
from clean, to enhanced, and finally to dangerous and nasty. In social media,
bodybuilding is looked upon as dangerous and not impressive, the pure art is
forgotten, and all that remains is a twisted image of what bodybuilding once
was.
Stage 1:
Natural Bodybuilding
Natural bodybuilding or just
weightlifting. Utilized by many, this form of bodybuilding is the safest and
most widespread. It is also the most accepted. If you want to use supplements then
go ahead, they are not considered a cheat, neither are they essential.
Stage 2:
Enhanced Bodybuilding
Some consider it the next stage
of the journey and that it is inevitable. Considering the facts, the human body
has potential, but you can not force the body to produce massive amounts of
testosterone naturally, neither can you expect to make the same amount of
muscle gains year after year. To take the body to the next level, many
bodybuilders start enhancing themselves through the use of steroids. Steroids
are anabolic hormones that you inject into your body to enhance muscle growth,
or to be exact, increase testosterone production, which again will increase
your muscle gains. This process is not healthy, it is actually highly dangerous
for the body, and there will be side effects, no matter how you look at it. They still take the risk though, in order to
achieve greater bodies and to achieve their goals.
Stage 3: Dangerous Bodybuilding
This version is considered
extremely dangerous, and is often associated with the grotesque images you see
online. Injecting steroids will make you bigger, but it is when you combine
that with medical substances like growth hormone or synthol that it really gets
out of hand. Those using growth hormone violate the usage beyond all means, and
end up rupturing their body, including their stomach, because the inner walls
expand too much, and they end up looking pregnant. In addition, using synthol
is more or less the same as pumping coconut oil into your muscles, not very
safe!
The problem with bodybuilding
today is that this is what the world want[GML2] s to see, it is by using these classified
substances that you win Mr. Olympia. 75 % of bodybuilding contests today are
for those “on the gear”, in other words those who use steroids, and other
non-natural substances, and it has become the most accepted form of competition
in the bodybuilding world. Special classes for “natural” bodybuilders have been
created, since it is now obvious than more than
half of the competitors use some kind of drugs.
Below
is a poll created by Bodybuilding.com in an article about a man talking
about his life with steroids. The poll was created for the readers, and the
question was if they thought the federations hosting the “all natural”
bodybuilding championships and contests really were hosting it for the
naturals. The reasoning behind the question is that there have been scams about
the competitors, questioning if some of them really were natural or not. As you
can see, the results speak for themselves:
In the past, bodybuilding was all about proportions and aesthetics, not like now, where it is all about size. Growth hormone makes everything in your body grow, even your brain and heart. The ones competing in Mr. Olympia at the time looks almost pregnant because their stomachs are so enlarged. Moreover, this is supposed to be a journey, it is supposed to be healthy. It has ended up as a race, a race of who can look the best before their body collapses.
Incorporating
the bodybuilding lifestyle into daily life
How does all this fit into a
normal life? How is one person able to track his calories, work out, and then
maybe get hold of illegal substances, to then become Mr. Olympia and become
Arnold Schwarzenegger the 2nd? How would a bodybuilder’s normal day
look like, and how would that effect s/he surroundings? Is it a positive or a negative lifestyle, and would it be healthy
for others to do the same? We already know the food is important;
it helps with energy and recovery. What if it is taken to a whole other level
and it requires an individual to consume about 250 grams of protein every day,
alongside a huge amount of carbs and almost no fats. It is usually a problem.
Maybe not for a bodybuilder, but for the average man, this would be nearly
impossible without the right tools, knowledge, time and dedication a
bodybuilder has at s/he disposal.
Here are three different scenarios:
College: A young man going to college might not have all the time to
prepare all his meals ahead, get enough sleep, training every day and
fulfilling his duties as a student. If he pulls this off there will probably be complications with
the social network around him. Prepping chicken every day, measuring all your
food, and then train one to two times that day. His friends would eventually start wondering
what is going on, and it might get complicated.
Relationship: The same young man is now having a relationship with this gorgeous
girl, but his bodybuilding career is somewhat getting in the way. His girl
starts getting annoyed, because they never can get out to eat because he has to
measure everything, and because he does not pay enough attention to her because
he is too occupied with himself. In the end, this can cause many complications,
and a simple hobby should not do that.
Work: When this young man takes his meal boxes with rice and steak with
him to work, his fellow coworkers might start to wonder, in addition to him
eating every third hour. His behavior seems strange to them, and it might be
difficult to relate to him because he is so self-centered.
These were just different
scenarios that might happen, it is not bound to happen, but the possibility
should be considered. The behavior of those who commit themselves to this art
may be a bit strange for the rest of the world; it shows in a mental way just
as much as the physical part. Most people like grilled chicken, but when one
meal contains more chicken then the rest of the
family’s summed up; people can not just let it slide. When you look three times
the size of a normal man, and walk around in a tank top or even shirtless and
your six pack is fully revealed just like that, you are bound to get some
stares, it is only natural.
Bodybuilding is considered a
subculture, since whenever there is a gathering, only people with the mindset
and values of bodybuilding are present, you will not find a spectator being
there “just because I was curious”, it would be like visiting a Metallica
concert just because you were curious, and not because you liked their music.
Bodybuilding as a subculture
Considering bodybuilding as a
subculture is not wrong, it is just that here in Norway it is not as common to
see ripped or jacked shirtless men, it is a different story at a beach in Los
Angeles or California. The mindset of perfection is what drives most bodybuilders,
or just to be better than they were yesterday, to see their abdominals(men), or
just get bigger buttocks (women). Bodybuilding does not discriminate between
men and women, but it is usually the men’s goal to get muscular and the women’s
goal to be fit. This does not apply to everyone, since there are women who want
to become just as big as men, and there are men who do not train for the
purpose of muscle gains.
The art of bodybuilding in itself
is not bad, it is some of the individuals that turned it into a grotesque and
twisted version, which then became mainstream and is now what most people
associate with this sport.
If you want to get into
bodybuilding, you do no not have to buy supplements, you do not have to
prep your meals or track your calories, and you certainly do not have to meddle
with steroids or any other illegal substance. All you have to do is to be
dedicated, and have enough willpower to pull through. An individual training at
a local gym is not a bodybuilder, but s/he can choose that route and the
lifestyle that follows if he or she wants to.
Bodybuilding
is defined by the strive for physique perfection. Discipline, dedication and
willpower are elements practiced and preached at a daily basis.. The mindset of
people following this way of life might differ from others, and they might be
looked upon with skepticism and aw. But they follow through, because it is
their dream!
