Why Competitive Bodybuilding is not mainstream

Posted by bodybuilder

Posted: July 8, 2008 - 10:52 am

In the quest to be as huge as possible, both male and female competitive bodybuilders will do just about anything in order to get noticed on a bodybuilding stage, even if it means putting their health at risk.

I was attracted to competitive bodybuilding in the early 90's, a time when women still had a feminine look and men had tiny waists and proportion to their physiques. An ex-female bodybuilder friend of my Mom's passed a stack of old 80's magazines on to me when I was about 13 years old, because she knew I enjoyed lifting weights and perhaps thought I would one day pursue bodybuilding.

I remember reading every last one of those magazines- all in black and white. The women were muscular, but very feminine and symmetrical without any sign of drug use on their bodies. This was back in the day of Rachel McLish, Bev Francis and Cory Everson, women who lifted weights to be strong- yet feminine and sexy.

Personally, I'm turned off by the drug use in Professional Bodybuilding- as well as at the amatuer level. Why promote good health and athletics just to give the illusion of a healthy body on the outside? Unfortunately, some bodybuilders who abuse steroids and other drugs live short lives or have heart attacks or kidney issues in their late 30's and early 40's.

And for what?

Competitive bodybuilding surely is not known for it's huge paychecks. If you are a woman at the pro level, first place entitles you to roughly $30,000 and a trophy- not to mention respect which IS priceless in the bodybuilding community I might add. The buzz from being the winner is worthy of pursuing the first place title over and over, but not at the expense of your health if drugs are involved.

The general public already feel bodybuilders are a bit nutty, what with our silly tanning oil, skimpy suits and strange poses. I always get a little irritated when people question why I engage in the bodybuilding lifestyle, but if I step back and look at what the Pros are promoting I begin to see it all from a different perspective.

The pros are GIGANTIC and do not resemble the average human being, especially the women. When will it change? I'm waiting patiently for bodybuilding to take af few steps back perhaps to the 70's and 80's where drugs were not as prevalent for men and most female bodybuilders did not touch them at all. Test the athletes at every show. The bulging gut, deformed delts and lumps in the glutes from site injection all look creepy and unhealthy.

Now all drug use aside, bodybuilders are some of the hardest training athletes on the face of the earth. Their discipline, that if it could be bottled and sold, would go for millions of dollars. The commitment to the sport is phenomenal, considering most competitors will never make it past the local level and will therefore never make any money at all. Alaska has a great bodybuilding community and I encourage everyone to go watch a show, they are exciting and even more fun if you know someone competing.

I love bodybuilding, I always have and always will. Competing onstage takes what you do in the gym to a whole new addicting level. Take your body to it's fullest potential drug-free and you might be surprised with how amazing and huge you can look and feel naturally. Genetics play a role as does dedication, proper nutrition and rest. Take those things to the max before you ever even think that drugs are the way to the top, because they're not.

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