Author: Hussien Jabai
Website: HussienJabaiFitness.webs.com
Instagram: @HussienJabaiFitness
Twitter: @Hgwarrior71
Is bodybuilding heading the same route
as the dinosaurs? A question that many individuals will look at and
find irrelevant, not covered by media, and seems to be an exaggerated
conclusion. There are plenty of red flags that trigger the thought
that maybe power lifting will become the new hype in the fitness
community.
Without a doubt, gear, aka vitamin S,
is a huge factor in the role of a bodybuilder's career. Most commonly
referred to as steroids/anabolics/pro-hormones/etc, have become a do
or die power ball when it comes to how far along the professional
ladder a bodybuilder will succeed. Your first response would be
something like, “What about natural divisions and federations?”
Okay let's face facts, not every natural division or federation drug
tests all of their athletes, if not some of them. I know as a
lifetime drug-free NPC competitor, I have never been drug tested in
my life. Winners are not tested at these events as well. Alright, so
let's just say natural divisions are tested at an event. Athletes
find clearance time of drugs and when to cycle off prior to a show in
which they can then test clean on a drug screening. Anytime there is
some kind of reward from any type of competition, there will always
be individuals trying to cut corners or cheat the system. Face it, if
you are ignorant or oblivious, gear plays the biggest role in a
successful bodybuilder's career due to the hype of standards and size
on stage.
Power lifting, on the other hand, has
a more acknowledgment of the significance and pride of achieving your
strength potential while maintaining a drug-free lifestyle. Every
time I compete or attend drug tested federation based power lifting
meets, athletes are being tested randomly, as well as the winners or
record breakers. There is not a physical appearance standard, leaving
training to be the factor in the way an individual can achieve a
competitive standing in the ranks of the power lifting world. I
personally feel this also gives athletes a more achievable goal as
far as natural competitions go, while not being detrimental to their
health.
Health is a major concern when it
comes to bodybuilding, whether it be from the over/misuse of drugs,
depletion tactics, dehydration for stage presence, etc. The standards
of the appearance and overall conditioning of a bodybuilder has
skyrocketed due to the use of gear, that competitors go to extreme
measures to deplete water and dry out. The kidneys take a major toll
during this process, and when do wrong, can lead to dehydration,
organ failure/malfunction, or even deem fatal at extreme conditions.
I personally have gone a day or two simply sipping on water to dry
out and stay as stage ready as possible on some occasions. The most
desired circumstance? Definitely not. But some athletes do what they
have to in order to obtain that pro card. There is a time and place
for depletion, but to what extent?
Power lifting on the other hand, is a
performance based sport. Dehydration might only be necessary when an
individual wants to obtain a specific weight class. This tactic has
become popular due to the top level athletes who sauna and dehydrate
prior to weigh-ins in order to achieve their desired weight. I can
admit to dehydrating water, and manipulating my diet to drop 10-15lb
in a one week period in order to meet a specific weight range to
chase after a national record. Shit like this happens on the daily.
Is it healthy? Hell no. But in all honesty, this happening is more
rare than in the bodybuilding community due to the demand of a dry
and grainy stage presence during bodybuilding.
The size game and freak standard has
destroyed the vision that is aesthetic bodybuilding, and makes the
smaller athletes stray away from the sport due to genetic
limitations. Drugs, drugs, and more drugs. That is about the extent
as to how to play this game called bodybuilding in this generation.
Athletes are stacking anabolics with anabolics. Pro-hormones on
pro-hormones. The modern day of bodybuilding has become the war of
the needles. Even in the natural bodybuilding federations and
divisions, athletes will cycle off of gear just in time to pass a
drug test and win a natural show. Any coach or individual active in
the fitness community will inform you, that to be at the top level of
any federation, you must play the game of the gear. Along with
vitamin S, genetic freaks set major standards as to how competitors
should look. When you step on stage, it is an immediate comparison
war as to how well you stack up against athletes that aren't even on
the stage with you. You hear people being compared to over and over
again with the best of the best in the bodybuilding world. Genetic
freaks seem to be visualized as the set standard and place the bar
high 'af for every athlete even after that generation.
To be honest, the genetic game is
played in both sports, but the fact that Power Lifting is not a mass
game, and more about overall performance and strength at a specific
weight, the size of muscle isn't as relevant or detrimental to an
individuals career. Genetic freaks as far as structure and leverages
for specific lifts do count as a major factor in the sport, but that
limitation to other athletes doesn't hinder their progress or
standard.
Bodybuilding, due to the industry's
set standards, lack of knowledge of drug misuse and role in the
sport, judgment of appearance rather than performance, etc, pushes
athletes toward the sport of power lifting. Power lifting seems, from
my personal experience, less judgmental and more accepting of who a
person is, their limitations, genetics, abilities, etc. “Newbies”
are welcomed with open arms and cheered on for their abilities,
rather than handicaps. I am not saying bodybuilding is a mean sport,
but you will see way more hate in the Bodybuilding community of this
generation than any other sport. Why has it come to this? There isn't
a specific factor or origin of this hate. I will blame social media
personally. Why? Media sculpts and molds the mind of the masses, in
which ignorance and lack of knowledge is spread, along with standards
and comparisons.
Whether you feel the same way or not,
I feel like modern bodybuilding and the fitness industry in the
fitness show community is striving to achieve the way of the
dinosaurs. Power Lifting is becoming more and more popular and I feel
like this sport is the hype of this generation. As time goes on, I
wouldn't doubt that this sport will increase in popularity and size
of competitor circle.
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