What is “Natural”?
I’m sure you’ve heard this before. Some guy in the gym proudly saying he’s “all natural” because he doesn’t use supplements, like whey power or creatine. This is clearly a misuse of the term. “Natural” bodybuilding refers to “drug-free” bodybuilding, and supplements like whey powder and creatine are obviously not drugs. But why do we hear people talking like this? Why do people insist they are “natural” when they’re not taking supplements? I’m not sure it even makes sense, but I could be wrong. Do they mean they don’t take any synthetic products? So they would then be opposed to supplementing with vitamin C? If so, they would not be allowed to eat any food products that contained preservatives or other synthetic ingredients. But then what makes the non-synthetic foods they eat natural? Is it natural to cook your foods? Some cultures don’t think so, and animals (who are in a “state of nature”) don’t cook their food. So they would have to go on a "raw food" diet… You get my point. It’s absurd and it doesn’t really make sense to call “supplements” like whey and creatine “non natural.”
November 2, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Natural means no exogenous hormones or diurectics.
November 2, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Because people have weak minds and they can’t think like large huge intergalactic champions, that’s why.
I’ll add this, anyone who earns enough to buy supplements, and doesn’t, is a ***. A big ole sacraligious ***.
November 2, 2008 at 4:48 pm
I agree with you on this one and have often wondered why people get all hyped up when i tell them i just take supplements which is not the same as steroids. Then they are like "thats not natural". WHATEVER. Great point.
November 2, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Excellent point! I think "natural" and "drug free" can be separated or combined. I competed in a Lifetime Natural Powerlifting Society Nationals several times. It was actually a drug-free event. You can’t, of course, prove lifetime drug-free…but it is an excellent statement of lifters making an attempt at making gains without pharmaceutical help. I have always been proud that I have never used steroids, but in the same breath I am not opposed to steroids. It’s quite a debate!
November 2, 2008 at 4:53 pm
I think most who say this regarding sups like vitamins, whey, and creatine are just ignorant. They don’t know what they don’t know. I hear natural and I think "drug or steroid" free. That is me anyway. Keep pressing guys!
November 2, 2008 at 5:00 pm
EXCELLENT points made by everyone so far. I guess it’s still a mystery to me why some dudes insist that they’re natural when they really mean they don’t take supplements. In my view it’s not that different from guys who say working out with weights is not natural. As if lifting rocks or running up a mountain in the snow (think Rocky IV) is the only "real" way to build a body.
November 2, 2008 at 7:44 pm
I think everyone should be juiced.
November 2, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Natural to me means no hormones and drug free.