Regarding scrawny natural bodybuilders
First, let me say that I am extremely thankful for all the natural bodybuilding shows these days giving all kinds of folks the opportunity to step on stage and fulfill the "Pumping Iron" dream. Personally, I would have never competed again if I had to share the stage with a bunch of roiders!
And the fact that there are several professional natural bodybuilding organizations that crown new professional natural bodybuilders (every weekend) is kind of cool too. Becoming a "Pro" certainly wasn’t something I had on my radar several years ago, but now it is at least a possibility.
Having said all this, though, I’ve got to say that a lot of the guys stepping on stage at these shows are downright scrawny. I’ve heard someone call them shredded grasshoppers and I sort of like that description.
Look, I’m all for symmetry and such, but some of these guys, many of whom are winning shows, look more like swimmers/divers than bodybuilders. You know: lean with nice lines and a well defined core. They look more like they should be winning FAME male swimsuit comps than bodybuilding shows. Hell Michael Phelps is just about ready to win some of these shows!
Just because we don’t take drugs doesn’t mean we can’t have big muscles. I mean look at those muscle beach guys of the 40s and 50s. The only stacks they were taking were stacks of pancakes. Did those guys compete at 0% bodyfat? No. Did they need to compete at 0% bodyfat? No.
I mean if you’re 5′9" and weigh 300 pounds at 0% bodyfat you can afford to lose the muscle that it takes to get shredded glutes. But if you’re 5′9" and natural getting to 0% BF means that you’ll step on stage looking like, well, a shredded grasshopper, not a bodybuilder.
Note to the natural bodybuilding world: Let’s not ruin a good thing (natural bodybuilding) by forgetting that natural bodybuilders are still supposed to have big muscles.
