Why I love Bodybuilding

A week from now, all top professional bodybuilders will assemble in Las Vegas for the Olympia, the ultimate bodybuilding competition. As someone who follows the sport off and on, I feel that this is an appropriate time to talk about why I like the bodybuilding lifestyle. Before I get into that, you might say that Bodybuilding is not a sport. You might say that it is like a beauty pageant. All heavy lifting and dieting bodybuilders do is in preparation for this "pageant", but there is no physical activity during the show. However, those who say this do not realize that flexing muscles on stage is something that is immensely draining physically. To get a feel, try to contract your pectorals as hard as possible.

Now that we've got terminology out of the way, let's get to the main point of this post. Bodybuilders are one of the most disciplined athletes---be it training, diet, or recovery methods. They control their cravings and eat very little junk food, have regular sleep and training schedules, all around the year. Heck, even their junk-food intake is planned. They go through hell while preparing for shows---depleted of carbohydrates, sodium, with water management so that they end up dry on the day of the show, so dry that they have visible striations on their glutes. It is this discipline and determination that I admire, and wish I had half as much discipline.

I'm not a big fan of bodybuilding shows though. Meatheads with oiled up bodies in posing trunks is not my cup of tea. Moreover, the high dose of diuretics they take to get that dry is not healthy at all. I know what you are thinking: I haven't even mentioned performance enhancing substances! Well, these downsides never take away anything from the discipline that's required to live a bodybuilding lifestyle.