Bodybuilding is Dead?

[Guest guest]

I'm forwarding the editorial from this week's online Testosterone mag, including

copyright acknowledgements.

What a powerful and compelling editorial.

Ken O'Neill, MA, Kyoshi

Tucson, Arizona

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Guest Atomic Dog

Bodybuilding is Dead

by Shugart

The Atomic Dog is a weekly feature that isn't necessarily about weight training

or bodybuilding. Sometimes it's about

sports in general, sex, women, or male issues of some kind. At times it's

inspirational, but it can also be informative,

funny, and even a little weird, but hopefully, always interesting and a little

controversial. We hope it reflects the

nature of Testosterone magazine in that, just as no man is completely

one-dimensional and only interested in one

subject, neither are we. If it makes you think or laugh - or even get angry -

it's served its purpose.

Sometimes, it's a journalist's job to speak for the devil.

That's what an editor of a popular men's magazine once said. He's right. Some

things just have to be said, damn the consequences.

Most of the time, people will be shocked, offended, and even pissed off. Yet

most of the time, what's being said is exactly what

they'd been thinking all along, despite their public show of righteous

indignation.

Take competitive bodybuilding, for example, or what's left of it. There are a

lot of things we're not supposed to say about bodybuilding.

I'm going to say them anyway. Why? Because it's the truth. And not speaking the

truth is just the same as lying.

The truth is that bodybuilding, as a sport, is dead. It's no secret that today's

top bodybuilders are using insanely unhealthy

amounts of steroids and a host of other drugs to look the way they do. Steroids

have been part of bodybuilding since the late

1950's or the early 1960's. I don't know the exact dates, but Ziegler, the

physician for the US weightlifting team,

developed a synthetic Testosterone molecule (methandrostenolone) some time in

1955. Today we just call it D-bol. I'm sure

it didn't take long for bodybuilders to discover what athletes had discovered

just a few years before.

Arnold used steroids. Zane used steroids. Lou used steroids. All of the

old-school heroes used steroids. But back then it was still

a valid competition, still worthy of being followed. The pros spoke and people

listened. Today it's different. The drug use has

skyrocketed. Pros seldom cycle off and instead simply add more and more to their

drug stacks until they're no longer recognizable

as human beings. Then they inject Synthol, a potentially dangerous oil, into

their lagging body parts. Milos Sarcev, once known

as one of the smarter pros, almost died from this incredibly dumb practice.

Some get artificial calf and pec implants. Glute implants are becoming popular.

Hell, at least with 'roids, they were building

real muscle, but Synthol and saline and plastic? And let's not forget regular

gyno surgeries, liposuction, and ab etching. I have

nothing inherently against those things, but when used for a competition (or to

sell a fancy ab training book), it goes beyond

just insulting the intelligence of the masses, it becomes downright sleazy. Then

these drugged-up, surgery-etched, toxic waste

factories push pills and powders to teenagers and sell themselves as realistic

role models. It's a shame.

A couple of years ago I was walking through an airport with a poplar

pro-bodybuilder. He was huffing and wheezing so badly I

started to ask him if I could carry his luggage for him. I thought at any minute

he was going to keel over dead or fall to the floor

and flop like an epileptic fish out of water. This guy, who'd been featured on

the cover of a muscle magazine whose slogan is

" For Super Fitness and Vigorous Health " could barely walk without losing his

breath. This guy, who'd posed in GNC-sponsored

contests with that company's logo " Live Well " hanging ironically above his head,

was turning bright red (a sign of high blood

pressure) just carrying a piece of luggage.

This is an athlete? This is a " star " of our sport? No, this is a walking side

effect. And it was embarrassing. Embarrassing because

since I lift weights, eat a lot of protein and write for a muscle magazine, I'm

lumped into the same category as this panting, balding

mound of zits.

Likewise, bodybuilding, as a source of inspiration and motivation, is dead.

First, not many people even want to look like the pros

anymore. Most people look at today's top pros and come away discouraged, not

motivated; disgusted, not inspired. Arnold caused

generations of men to pick up the weights, but today's sideshow freaks only make

them run away. We all wanted to look like

Arnold did in the 70's, but does anyone want to look like today's Mr. Olympia

with his distended GH gut and his quads so big he rubs

bleeding sores on himself? Yeah, I suppose some do want to look like this, but I

have to wonder if they really know what goes into

achieving this look.

We get letters all the time from 17-year-old guys wanting to know how to look

like their favorite pros. What do we tell them?

See, it's a fine line. If we lay out the total truth - insane and expensive drug

use, health problems, prostitution (more common

than most want to admit in high level competitive bodybuilding and fitness

competitions), limiting genetic factors etc. - we risk

dissuading them from starting a weight lifting program. That's the last thing we

want to do.

But if we paint an air-brushed Weider-dream for them and tell them that with

hard work and discipline, they too could look like

Mr. O, we risk causing them to quit altogether out of frustration. Because soon

enough, they'll realize this just isn't possible,

certainly not naturally, and unless they have the right genetics, it's not even

possible with extensive drug use.

Do we tell the 17-year-old kid that he could spend thousands of dollars on

steroids, break the law on a weekly basis, give up on

the rest of his life, and sell his soul to the " sport " only to win a third place

trophy at the Mr. Salt Lake City contest some day? Do

I point out how pathetic most retired pros are these days after their few years

of " fame, " standing at fitness expos hoping someone

will come and talk to them and buy an autographed picture from the glory days?

In the end, we tell the kid a little of each side of the

story and let him learn the rest for himself.

And pro-level female bodybuilding? Please. It died years ago, although its

rotting corpse is still lying around stinking things up. And

how many women have never picked up a weight in fear of turning into one of

those chemical abominations, one of those she-males

who go on talk shows and deny that they use steroids. Modern female

pro-bodybuilding has driven women away from the gym in droves.

And for that it deserves our disdain. Its corpse needs to be embalmed and

buried. Hopefully, its lingering stink will dissipate quickly.

Want to hear something else I'm not supposed to say? Competitive bodybuilding is

a tad gay. Not-that-there's-anything-wrong-

with-that, as Seinfeld would quip. Really, I have nothing against gays and even

have a couple of gay friends. They love bodybuilding

even though they don't lift weights. Hey, put a bunch of shaved, oiled up,

well-built studs on a stage in tight bikini underwear and

what do you expect? After all, when they do this with women during spring break,

we call it a T & A contest, right? So naturally,

bodybuilding attracts a large gay following and has an active fetish community.

An insider in the pro community once pointed to a

photo of the top ten bodybuilders and said he knew at least four of them had

......... Do I tell the 17-year-old kid

about what his heroes sometimes do for drug money? Am I spoiling his dream or am

I saving him a lot of heartache?

And picture this. A man, shaved and oiled, walks up on stage and poses. He puts

his hand to his ear

and beckons the crowd to cheer louder. They're going to have to beg before he

gives it to them. They

cheer louder and louder and finally he rewards them by ripping his trunks up

into his butt crack to

reveal the striations on his glutes. The crowd of men goes insane. This happens

all the time at

bodybuilding contests. Now, tell me if that doesn't look flamin' gay?

Not-that-there's-anything-wrong-with-that.

Listen, I love lifting weights. I love building my body and helping others build

their bodies. And I

admire those who have the ..... discipline to enter a local contest. It's a good

way to test yourself

and you'll learn a lot from the experience. Several T-mag contributors have

stepped onto the stage

themselves and walked off with trophies, and I'm not trying to insult them at

all. But even they'll

admit that the sport of bodybuilding, at least at the upper levels, has gone too

far. And because of that,

it's dying. Today, people go to the Arnold Fitness Weekend and don't even attend

the bodybuilding show,

unless they want to laugh at the carnival freaks.

Training with weights as a means of looking great and being healthy is on the

rise. I love it. As annoying

as newbies can sometimes be, I like seeing the gym packed with them. I love

seeing women losing their

fear of weight training and I love seeing the results this time of year as the

shorts and baby T's come out

of the closet.

Powerlifting, Olympic lifting, athletic preparation, strongman contests, or just

lifting weights to look

good naked - I love it all. But competitive bodybuilding is dead. It died when

Arnold retired. It died when

Zane and Draper quit competing. It died when Corey and stepped off the

stage. It died when steroid

use turned into steroid abuse. And although it could possibly be resuscitated,

no one is going to try. And

perhaps that's not so bad.

Rest in peace.

© 1998 - 2002 Testosterone