Myth #7 In Bodybuilding. Muscle Magazines Are Truthful
What a standard that has been set in the world of bodybuilding! By that, I’m talking about the standard that has been set by the bodybuilding magazine industry that has literaly created the bodybuilding profession and made it what it is from right around the year 1965 up till now. Over the duration of this booming bodybuilding magazine industry millions apon millions of readers have put complete faith into everything that is printed in these magazines and followed all the information they provide as a blue print on how to build the perfect body. Where does this lead all these inspiring bodybuilders to be. Well first clue, just look around. How many Jay Cutler or Ronnie Coleman look alikes do see combing the streets? Or lets lower the scale and ask how many Dave Draper or Larry Scott look alikes do see out and about? Well, if your like me, the answer is 0! Or if you have seen any of these look alikes it would far and very few between. Why would this be? Well, with all that vast knowledge of the pro bodybuilders printed in all these magazines telling all of us what workout to follow and what supplements to take you think there would be alot more amazing physiques walking among us. The answer to this is very simple. All these magazines are full of crap! The fact is that these magazines have abandoned the needs of normal people wanting to build muscle and lose bodyfat and have invested strictly in pro bodybuilders and pro competitions that are dominated by very heavy drug use! These magazines are huge frauds and have done enormous disservice to the sport and also all the consumers who purchase these magazines. They print workouts that will never work for an average person or drug free bodybuilder because with out heavy steroid use there’s no possible way you could recover fast enough to get anything meaningful out of these workouts. Then you’ll also find page after page of fraudulant advertising by supplement companies that have heavily juiced bodybuilders endorsing them, claiming to use these supplement and suggesting that you might be able to see similar results as what they do if you would only buy all the supplements that they say they’re using. I think it’s very sad to see the bodybuilding industry become what it is. Unfortunately people will continue to read these magazines, believe what they read and follow the advice thats given. This will result in countless injuries, wasted money and great deal of disappointment. For those who are aware of the drug use and want to take that route and try to reach pro status, well the success would be very short term and the consequences could be devastating later on down the road. It’s also worth mentioning that I ounce spoke to an IFBB Pro bodybuildier who told me that his drug bill which included steroids, growth hormones, insulin, and diuretics ended up costing around $200,000. per year. He explained to me that this was about the average cost that a pro bodybuilder would spend in 1 year on drugs. Take this into consideration the next time you read about the workouts and the supplements that the pro bodybuilders in the muscle magazines use. I will say that I have to give the Magazine Planet Muscle some credit for providing some good information on bodybuilding for those who choose to do it the natural way. They do still feature some drug laden pro bodybuilders but at least they’re making some attempt to cater to the needs of normal people and natural bodybuilders.
August 17, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Kudos!!
August 17, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Nice post.
The one thing, this crap sells, and like sex on TV, if people read they will print it. I for one haven’t bought one of these magazines in years. I do however ask a ton of questions to those people that have had success, and use this as my way of obtaining knowledge
August 17, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Great post. When I was in my 20’s I read M&F, and occasionally other mags. I finally lost interest in them because I rarely saw anyone who looked like a mere mortal. Like you said, my workouts just didn’t produce the results promised.
Now, I’m more interested in cutting BF, but not to become huge. Life balance is what is important. I have a wife & kids. Working out is to enhance life, not to become the primary focus. At least for me.
August 17, 2008 at 5:19 pm
i have to agree 1000%. nice wrieup. I have read those workout plans and there is no way my body can recover that quick. I take 3 days to get back to normal after a workout. I love how the pros say use these supplements ifyou want to grow like them. They were that big befor they ever touched the stuff.
Best of luck to you
August 18, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Thanks for putting this up, I hope it saves a lot of people time and money. "Time Past:" when I’d hit a plateau (once/twice a semester), I’d go out and buy a copy of Flex for motivation. The first thing I’d do is tear out all the pages that had nothing but advertising on both sides, then I’d use a black marker and put zig-zags down the single page ads. After clearing out all the "clutter," I’d study pics of Haney, Labrada, Ray, and co. Sometimes I’d tear out full pages and put them on my bedroom wall (see my Gallery), or I’d clip individual pics to put up in my cubicle, but generally I’d stash the slimmed-down mags so I could refer to them as my motivational needs required. Images of these "steroid monsters," not their written routines or the supplements they promoted, helped inspire me to my peak. (Heck! I even joined my gym based on the "steroid monsters" that lurked there!)
Best!
August 20, 2008 at 10:15 am
As someone said before, good write up. I read M&F, but I don’t follow the routines because they don’t look realistic. I read them to get ideas, and also visuals on how to do exercises correctly. I learned long ago that the supplements they advertise don’t work for the average person. I work out to be fit, and cut BF. It is sad how they stick these huge guys in a mag trying to push their products.
August 28, 2008 at 6:41 pm
I do agree whole heartedly that these companies are guilty of fraud and the use of juiced hulks in advertising should be banned outright.
However I am also entirely confident that most people nowadays are entirely aware that these super humans are drugged to the eyeballs, and if they didn’t, they would , as soon as they started using a gym.
I would also go as far to say, that in most cases of people who choose to stay clean, had originally been drawn to bodybuilding by images of heroes like Arnold.
I think work should be done to stop the use of drug abusers in marketing, this is clearly obvious, but I having an understanding of the thinking of users, know that steroids are simply regarded by most takers as a supplement.
If you take one, why not another? This is the question I ask myself, many of the legal supplements I have taken, have left me feeling light headed, given me a buzz, have given me the sh**s, given me severe cramps, and have even shrunk my knob.
Many of the substances used in one country as a medicine are banned in others, and on countless occasions history has shown the acceptable use of some substances that are now totally frowned upon. Who makes these decisions? Are they always right? What are their intentions?
Kind regards and happy training!
September 9, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Like a ray of light from above…."and the truth shall set you free!" Impressive brother. No drugs for me ever….the physical cost on you body is too high a price to pay for something that will not last. Stay natual guys and don’t fall into the trap mentioned above! Good work friend. Excellent post as always!
January 19, 2009 at 7:36 pm
thanks for the blogs. appreciate it.
April 10, 2009 at 11:58 am
Great post…
A lot of people worship Ben and Joe Weider…those guys are actually the worst crooks…scammers. But to read about them in one of their mags, one would think that the Weiders are modern day saviors, BB pioneers who boosted the modern-day fitness boom.