Memoirs of a reluctant Bulker

Granted, today’s bodybuilders (BB) are more humungous and gargantuan than the fella’s from the sixties, seventies and early eighties; but, has anyone else noticed that they have also taken on an almost inhuman appearance? I compare the muscle bellies of your John Grimeks, Frank Zanes, Arnolds (no last name necessary) Lee Haneys, Mike Mentzers and Robbie Robinsons from back then to the Markus Ruhls, Ronnie Colemans and even Gustavo Baddells of today and ask, "What happened?" Isn’t bodybuilding supposed to be about a healthy lifestyle, as well as having aesthetically pleasing, fully developed muscles? Please do not try and convince me that a large man, that weighs over 300 pounds for most of the year, has a huge distended belly and sits around for the better part of a day is HEALTHY nor visually interesting in anyway (Okay, maybe in a train wreck sort of way): Not buying it, thank you very much!

I remember watching Pumping Iron, and seeing those guys running around on the beach and playing football….healthy stuff right? Haven’t seen a whole lot of that from a large majority of todays top pros.

I understand that there have been chemical enhancements made to most of todays top tier bodybuilders, but what I don’t understand, is why have we as a bodybuilding community allowed the sport that we so love and admire morph so far away from what it was originally created, developed and intended for: A healthy lifestyle and appearance. Is it just me, or is it crazy to really sit and think about the fact that the BB’s we are watching and paying money to in the magazines and the shows are just absolutely accomplishing alot of what they are doing with the assistance of little known about, and little studied (in the big picture) pharmaceuticals? That is crazy right? Well, it’s reality, unfortunately!

Let’s just face the facts, when you observe todays BB’s appearance (distended guts, abnormally shaped muscle bellies and ridiculously huge gluteus maximus’) along with their extremely out-of-breath post routine commentary, it’s readily apparent that they not only look somewhat freakish (which I regretibly understand is what wins competitions), but that they cannot possibly be in good physical condition. We ask what is wrong with bodybuilding today and how come its populartiy surge of the late 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s is a thing of the past? Well, lets just take a look………Hhhhmmm, large bellied men, with huge butts walking around in string-thong bikini panties, struggling to maintain their normal breathing pattern after walking accross the room: I’m guessing is just not all that the American public is quite ready to cheer for. I give props to the top guys of today, as I know they work hard to maintain the abnormal bodies they have built over the years. And I’m excited to know that a person can actually weigh over 300 pounds while being shredded to the bone, but please God, let them now show us what those same bodies would look like at a natural weight of around 240 to 250 (Ya know, actually human looking and all). 

Quick reality quesiton: Why didn’t Shawn Ray ever win a Mr. O? Honestly, wasn’t his body type what we should be expecting from our top pros? Healthy, fully developed muscle bellies, and aesthetics to boot?

I say, let’s get serious about what the IFBB tried to do last year and begin to reward todays bodybuilders who not only have very well developed muscles (Dexter Jackson), but can run for some distance, can carry on a conversation, and for the most part display a healthy appearance as well as one that is actually aesthetically pleasing and human in nature (Melvin Anthony). 

I just find it funny that any time a person turns on the television, radio or even computer nowadays, there seemingly is something touting the magic pill, magic diet, magic training regimen, or magic device that has the cure to any health, training or diet conundrum we as humans experience. The fact of the matter is that, great health, more muscle, less fat, or better overall health cannot be achieved (at least currently) by one super invention of a sort. At the end of the day, the combination of a sensible diet (not exactly restrictive by any measure), and a consistent dose of weight training and cardiovascular work (again, absolutely non-superfluous by any means) is still and will forever be the best means by which any individual can create, develop, reach and maintain their fitness / overall health goals.