Last week, I explained that I have been doing some research into bodybuilding. It’s an area that interests me for a number of reasons:
- Bodybuilding used to be a small part of physical culture, along with weightlifting and other strength sports
- Many great bodybuilders were also Olympic lifters, like John Grimek
- Many great strongmen look like bodybuilders, like Mariusz Pudzianowski, Joako Ahola, Tom Magee and Manfred Hoeberl
- I think some modern functional strength advocates may have thrown the baby out with the bathwater. Big is strong, just ask Bill Kazmaier, the original powerbuilder
- Muscle mass is the single most important thing for long-term health (see Biomarkers)
- I am thinking about gaining some more weight as I am distinctly tall for my weight (75kg/165lbs at 5’10″)
- If I can get up to 90kg and be as strong pound for pound as I am now then I should be able to compete at lightweight strongman and not have my ass handed to me
- I want to gain weight more efficiently this time (i.e. without getting so fat)
- I have worked extensively in the doubles, triples and fives territories and I think that some variety would do me good
Functional strength?
Since I have done so much work around the pure-strength rep ranges and because I am such a fan of strongman and functional strength, I feel the need to justify my research into bodybuilding. Fifty years ago, people wouldn’t have been able to draw a line between the different types of strength work. Strong was big and big was strong and that was all there was to it.
These days, there is some general distaste amongst certain functional strength advocates for bodybuilders and bodybuilding. Many people see bodybuilders as:
- Weak
- Vain
- Unintelligent
- Muscle-bound
So it is with some trepidation that I venture into these waters…
But anyway. I will be bold.
Three more reasons I admire bodybuilders
- Hard work - there has been a trend in recent years for internet warriors to put bodybuilders at the back of the queue when it comes to handing out prizes for hard work. Somehow, the fact that they compete in a posing pouch and don’t have to burst blood vessels in competition has led to a less-than-optimum view of the work they have to put in. I know, though, just how hard it is to gain 20lbs and how hard it is to diet down to see a six-pack with decent definition. It was really, really hard to stuff myself with food for six months to gain the weight and it was even harder to eat virtually nothing for six weeks to lose the fat. Bottom line: bodybuilders work really, really hard. This alone deserves respect.
- Strength – whoever started the myth that bodybuilders are weak needs to be chained to a squat rack and forced to wipe it down after a horde of heavyweights have been through. I find that for any new lift, my weights go up to a certain point without adding any food or body weight. However, after a while, the gains plateau. Adding food is like a magic wand. Add food, gain muscle and suddenly the weights start going up again. Bottom line: I don’t care how many gurus tell me strength and muscle are not linearly related, for me there’s a pretty good correlation. Not everyone is going to be the next Lamar Gant. I’m certainly not.
- Health – until I read Biomarkers, I thought that bodybuilding was a polar opposite to health. When I realised that muscle mass was the most closely correlated factor with a long and healthy life, I sat up and paid attention. Bottom line: at the moment, most natural bodybuilders are probably healthier than me and they’ll probably be less likely to suffer from age-related illness.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some curls to do…
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