What is “Natural”? Part II
So what does it mean to be a "natural" bodybuilder?
You might think this is a simple question with a simple answer: "You’re natural if you don’t take illegal performance enhancing substances, like anabolic steroids." So far so good. Problems arise when we put too much emphasis on "illegal" in this definition. I’ve heard lots of people say you’re natural insofar as your supplements are approved by state or federal laws. But the problem I have with this definition is that it turns "natural" bodybuilding into something like "legal" bodybuilding.
Imagine for the sake of argument that the federal laws of your country permitted the use of anabolic steroids. On this definition, whatever is legal is good to go. So you can happily stick that needle in your ass and call yourself a natural bodybuilder. "No!" I hear you cry out. "That’s wrong." And I agree. Even if it were suddenly legal to take anabolic steroids, I would say taking them would put you outside the "natural" category.
But now we’re back right where we started. What is it that makes you a natural bodybuilder? What is it about illegal performance enhancing substances that makes them "unnatural"? You might think that they became illegal for a good reason, which is probably true: you could point out the negative side effects of steroids, the possibility of addiction, etc. But what if (again, for the sake of argument) someone created an anabolic compound with no negative psychological or physiological side effects? Would taking it still make you a "natural" bodybuilder? "No!" I hear you say, "it wouldn’t." And I agree.
At the very least, you have to admit defining "natural" is not easy.
Any thoughts?
March 2, 2009 at 5:20 pm
I’d say a natural lifter learns from their mistakes and takes no ‘product’ that eliminates trial and error and effortlessly adds mass.
An un-natural lifter is a lifter that cheats using chemicals/drugs (no matter if they’re legal or not).
March 3, 2009 at 10:52 am
Natural is not synthetic. Supplements and herbs are natural just like Vitamins and Minerals are natural. In our Biology of Drugs class they defined a drug as anything that alters the body. For that matter food could be considered a drug. But we are talking about naturally occuring. I went to a Wholistic Nutritionist who had a gym and he had all kinds of supplements. A drug, illegal or not, is a drug. I am very into health foods and I don’t even take an aspirin unless I absolutely have to. Drugs do bad things to the body. Health supplements do good things to the body.
March 3, 2009 at 11:06 am
Very broad idea… people have different thoughts. I think when KIDS
March 3, 2009 at 11:07 am
My comment got cut off…
rest is
realistically anyone under 30. Who take test boosters or supps of that nature are harming themselves. Do I consider that natural? I honestly can’t say.
I like how destiny said, "Drugs do bad things to the body. Health supplements do good things to the body." But look at to much iron, to much GABA, CAFFEINE.
I can’t consider focus, energy, and boost in metabolism harmful but in excess definitely.
and more specific to NATURAL bodybuilding … Whatever if you get past the test. Because that’s the point of bodybuilding. COMPETING.
Natural bodybuilding and healthy / fit lifestyles are different. I consider myself a fitness enthusiast nothing near a body builder.
Good blog. =)
March 3, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Great responses everyone.
I have a suggestion I want to share with you. Maybe we’re running into difficulties with defining ‘natural’ because we’re looking at specific features that supposedly constitute drug-free, natural bodybuilding. As a result, we keep finding exceptions or counter-possibilities — and then the very idea of ‘natural’ seems to fall apart.
My suggestion, then, is that we take a different approach. Rather than look for specific details, let’s think about broader commitments that define the essence of natural bodybuilding. I’m thinking the category of ‘natural’ could almost be like a political category: if you say you are a member of group A ("insert political party") you’re basically saying you have a shared set of commitments with other people belonging to group A. That’s not to say you agree on everything. Nor is it to say you share specific political views. Rather, it expresses a kind of broad sense of unity with a certain group of people — perhaps a unity based on a common goal.
The idea of natural bodybuilding might be like that.
So, what are the commitments you believe make you apart of the natural bodybuilding community?