As I look at the astonishing physiques of 2007 Iron Man competitors David Henry (2nd last year), Toney Freeman (7th last year) and Mark Dugdale (5th last year), I can’t help but wonder what, if any, sacrifices were made to achieve their superhero-like proportions. Did they spend their lives meticulously planning what to eat, when to eat, when to sleep and when to workout? Just what exactly did they have to give up to achieve competitive status and could this undeniably attention-demanding “hobby be more than an interest so much that it can be considered an obsession?
As I sit here and contemplate this puzzler, I question in wonderment why little Johnson has been able to naturally grow an extra two inches in two months whilst the rest of my body; and by which I mean the most important area, my chest, has taken two years to grow this much. My mind wanders to a universal issue that confronts each self-proclaimed bodybuilder sooner or later; why are we so obsessed with this sport? Are we simply victims of this health kick of the 21st century where bodybuilding is the new black, or ironically, are we mindless addicts to a healthy activity so much that it becomes self-destructive, in an era where obesity is a soaring epidemic?
To answer this question, I looked inward as to why I started bodybuilding. Admittedly, my bodybuilding habits leave a lot to be desired and I’m probably the world’s worst bodybuilder, but as a self-proclaimed fitness junkie, it is an interesting contrast between why I shamelessly throw myself off huge rock ledges, and why I suffer hours of pain three times a week all for the goal of physical symmetry. And for what purpose other than to have the option of taking half-naked photos in the mirror because I’m too lazy to use the timer function on my digital camera, and then post them all over the Internet for everyone to see and have random strangers tell me that I look “a little bigger.
Without hesitation, I admit that the former is done in the search of adrenaline, the rush of adventure and the elation that occurs afterwards that often transforms me into what many people mistakenly believe to be an escaped patient from the local psychiatry ward on an endorphin overdose.
The latter? That’s an interesting one. At first, I reasoned that I was doing it for the opposite sex, after all, being a university student, I am constantly surrounded by very attractive members of the fairer sex. Then I realized hang on a second, maybe not. After all, if this was the case, once we, as males, are able to trick the opposite sex into marrying us (how clever are we!), we simply forgo the gym sessions and let ourselves go confident in the knowledge that the ability for a female to escape from a relationship is inversely proportionate to the achievement of marriage between two people.
I realize with a wry smile that I, like so many other bodybuilders, painstakingly monitor what we eat, when we eat and how we perform at the gym for more personal reasons, to make us feel attractive because maybe, just maybe, we get a rush from knowing that other people find us attractive.
This still doesn’t explain however why we look at ourselves in the mirror, measure ourselves for the umpteenth time and conclude that we still aren’t big enough. Do we simply, as a representative of a sect of the general populace, love ourselves with so much abandon that we put Paris Hilton’s music videos to shame? Do we get off seeing our own squat-perfected muscular butts while watching our pectorals perform the river dance?
To better understand this question, I asked a close friend, who tells me he does it because he no longer wants to be the fat kid, but despite maintaining a body fat percentage of 8%, which translates to pretty ripped, every time he looks in the mirror, he still sees the fat kid that greeted him in the mirror every year during his childhood. Personally, I want to eventually be so buff that the guys over at Abercrombie & Fitch say, “Oh dude! You’re so friggen ripped! Come model for us! to which I’ll reply, “Hell no!
So just how obsessed do we have to be to achieve our personal bodybuilding goals? Despite the health benefits of working out, the risk of being addicted can impact on our frame of mind leading to severe depression, negative self-image and low self-esteem effecting not only our psychological well-being, but also our physical health due to the possible abuse of our bodies. I don’t know if I’m addicted, but on reflection, I have been to the gym twice, been at an indoor rock climbing centre twice, and have spent half a day surfing at a local beach : and this was just in the last four days.
The question of whether each one of us is addicted to bodybuilding, is something personal that each one of us needs to answer and apparently isn’t as clear-cut as I expected. Sometimes, I don’t even know if I’m addicted to bodybuilding or just addicted to being so active but to be honest, if this is what it takes to achieve my bodybuilding goals, then guilty as charged.
On This Day
- Aimless Agenda #10 — 5/22/09 — 2009
- We Can be Heroes — 2007
- A Little Bit of Freak — 2007
- The Buffer Zone — 2007
- Photos from the Promo Photoshoot Uploaded — 2006
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