Is Bodybuilding A Sport? - [] 2023: CrossFitWereld

Is Bodybuilding A Sport
Bodybuilding is a sport that dates back to the ancient Greek appreciation for the muscular male physique. Modern bodybuilding was created by the Father of Bodybuilding, Eugen Sandow in the 1890s. The primary focus of the sport is to showcase a muscular, lean physique to the audience.

Is bodybuilding a sport or art?

Emotion Is the Goal – “Golden Era” bodybuilder Serge Nubret was arguably correct when he said, “Bodybuilding is not only a sport but first an art.” While bodybuilders are referred to as athletes because their practices are, indeed, athletic, what they are doing is an art form.

They create something designed to be observed and, in the process, evoke opinion or an emotional response.
This emotional response can be in the form of competitive judges being dazzled or just someone clicking the “Like” button on an image of a physique they admire.
It could be an inspiration that triggers motivation to go lift weights or the launching of imagination into visions of powerful superheroes,

The emotional response is the point, While success in other strength sports often relies on empirical, measurable results, success in bodybuilding depends on subjective, impulsive reactions from others. Yes, it can be corralled into a sporting competition, but bodybuilding is a living, breathing art form.

Why isn’t bodybuilding a sport?

Bodybuilders take in a lot of steroids – The very first reason why the IOC does not recognise Bodybuilding is the use of steroids by bodybuilders. The core essence of the Olympics is drug-free and fair competition between athletes from all across the globe.

Besides, the IOC has strict rules regarding doping wherein athletes who are found to have been in the use of any banned drug are banned or stripped of their medals.
It is impossible to conduct a fair bodybuilding competition where the bodybuilders have not used steroids and hence cannot be included in the Olympics according to the IOC.

The second argument which the IOC maintains is that they do not consider Bodybuilding to be a sport. They maintain that there is no athleticism maintained in Bodybuilding – the exact same reason why even Chess has not been able to make it to the Olympics.

Is bodybuilding an extreme sport?

Dead at 23 – Brandon Char-Lee A year earlier in 2018, police found Brandon Char-Lee dead in his Livermore, Calif., apartment four days before a show. They counted more than 100 needles and multiple vials of steroids. A friend said Char-Lee was on a strict diet for an upcoming bodybuilding show and “was not allowed to consume water during this time,” the police report stated.

At her son’s apartment, Carolyn Char Lunger took photos of the drugs she found, including five types of steroids, clenbuterol, diuretics and a bottle with the label T3 — a thyroid hormone — marked “NOT FOR HUMAN USE.” A coroner never asked for a full toxicology analysis, according to police records, but concluded the 23-year-old died of cardiac failure and noted a history of using anabolic steroids.

Many coroners and medical examiners do not routinely test for the battery of substances that bodybuilders use, and some don’t request toxicology reports at all. There is little medical research on bodybuilders, and in particular, the stacking of so many different drugs along with months of intense workouts and severe dieting.

So when searching for causes of death, medical examiners say they typically look for well-studied links to cardiac arrest or heart failure, such as the use of anabolic steroids.
Char-Lee’s mother knew that her son was supposed to compete in a bodybuilding contest in Fresno, Calif., and sent photos of the drugs to the show’s promoter.

She said she wanted answers but instead got an invite to “complete his journey” and attend the bodybuilding competition. The promoter, Steve O’Brien, had served for many years as a vice president of the NPC and a contest judge. Problems with drug use were obvious, he told The Post, and he had warned his own children not to compete in the sport.

But testing athletes rarely came up during meetings with federation officials. Instead, O’Brien said, promoters were advised to be prepared at shows with medical personnel. Bodybuilding has always been a sport of extremes, and the deaths of several high-profile athletes shortly after competing exposed the hazards of diuretics and steroids in the 1990s,

At the time, the IFBB was lobbying to make bodybuilding an Olympic sport. The organization began testing for steroids at certain competitions and taking away prize money from those who failed. “It’s not only the image of the sport we’re concerned with, it’s the health of the athletes,” Ben Weider, then president of the federation, told the Los Angeles Times in 1990.

“Bodybuilding is not body destruction.” Manion, who has led the NPC for decades, talked in the 1990s about the importance of testing in a story that appeared for years on its website: “In a sense, because some of them won’t protect themselves, we have to be protectors of their health and protectors of the sports we love.” But that story eventually disappeared from the website, and the movement for widespread testing dissipated.

The International Olympic Committee’s provisional recognition of the IFBB lapsed in 2001.

When did bodybuilding become a sport?

First large-scale bodybuilding competition – Sandow organized the first bodybuilding contest on September 14, 1901, called the “Great Competition”. It was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Judged by Sandow, Sir Charles Lawes, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the contest was a great success and many bodybuilding enthusiasts were turned away due to the overwhelming number of audience members.

The trophy presented to the winner was a gold statue of Sandow sculpted by Frederick Pomeroy.
The winner was William L.
Murray of Nottingham,
The silver Sandow trophy was presented to second-place winner D. Cooper.
The bronze Sandow trophy – now the most famous of all – was presented to third-place winner A.C.

Smythe. In 1950, this same bronze trophy was presented to Steve Reeves for winning the inaugural NABBA Mr. Universe contest. It would not resurface again until 1977 when the winner of the IFBB Mr. Olympia contest, Frank Zane, was presented with a replica of the bronze trophy.

Since then, Mr.
Olympia winners have been consistently awarded a replica of the bronze Sandow.
The first large-scale bodybuilding competition in America took place from December 28, 1903 to January 2, 1904, at Madison Square Garden in New York City,
The competition was promoted by Bernarr Macfadden, the father of physical culture and publisher of original bodybuilding magazines such as Health & Strength,

The winner was Al Treloar, who was declared “The Most Perfectly Developed Man in the World”. Treloar won a thousand dollar cash prize, a substantial sum at that time. Two weeks later, Thomas Edison made a film of Treloar’s posing routine. Edison had also made two films of Sandow a few years before.

Is Mr Olympia a sport?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mr. Olympia
The Mr. Olympia stage in 2008
Location	United States
← 2022 Mr. Olympia 2023 Mr. Olympia →

Mr. Olympia is the title awarded to the winner of the professional men’s bodybuilding contest at ZAID Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend —an international bodybuilding competition that is held annually and is sanctioned by the IFBB Professional League.

Joe Weider created the contest to enable the Mr. Universe winners to continue competing and to earn money. The first Mr. Olympia was held on September 18, 1965, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York City, with Larry Scott winning his first of two straight titles. The record number of wins is eight each by Lee Haney (1984–1991) and Ronnie Coleman (1998–2005).

Hadi Choopan currently holds the title. The film Pumping Iron (1977) featured the buildup to the 1975 Mr. Olympia in Pretoria, South Africa, and helped launch the acting careers of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, and Franco Columbu, There is also a female bodybuilder crowned, Ms.

Is mens physique a sport?

What is Men’s Physique? How many categories are in Men’s Physique? Bodybuilding is the sport of building muscle and losing fat. Bodybuilding is divided into three categories- Physique, fitness, and figure. Men’s Physique is the most popular category because it encompasses all bodybuilding activities like lifting weights, cardio, etc., and focuses on improving one’s overall fitness level.

In an effort to give recognition to the male Physique as a sport discipline, the IFBB Executive Council and IFBB International Congress voted unanimously in favor of recognizing men’s Physique as a new sport discipline on 11 November 2012.This comes just months after the World Anti-Doping Agency recognized bodybuilding as an “integrated sport,” opening up the sport to more participants.The decision was based on a motion by Men’s Physique UK representatives, which argued that there is enough variety and variability within men’s physique competitions to warrant its separate category.”It’s been clear for some time now that there is significant potential within the men’s physique category, with athletes from all over the world competing at the highest level,” said Men’s Physique UK CEO Lawrence Epstein.

Why are bodybuilders big but not strong?

Why are Bodybuilders Big But Not Strong ? – Bodybuilders specifically focus on inducing hypertrophy in their skeletal musculature, and less so on recruiting the fibers of said musculature in a manner that maximizes force output. This eventually results in a significant amount of muscle mass that is less conditioned to lifting extremely heavy amounts of weight – alongside several other non-muscle related factors that contribute to a bodybuilder being comparatively weaker to other weightlifting athletes.

Why athletes don t train like bodybuilders?

The Downside of Training Like a Bodybuilder – Is Bodybuilding A Sport The main issue with athletes training like bodybuilders is that the workouts don’t prepare them for the physical demands of their sport. As previously mentioned, most bodybuilding routines are calculated, controlled and muscle-specific. Sports are none of these things.

A standard bodybuilding plan doesn’t typically focus on key athletic qualities such as speed, power, quickness and agility. Five sets of Concentration Curls may be able to help get you some nice biceps, but they aren’t really going to help you perform better on the field. Many of the isolation exercises necessary for bodybuilding aren’t going to give you the best bang for your buck in terms of sports performance.

Lastly, there does come a point in athletics where too much muscle can become an issue. While there’s no doubt that a larger muscle has the potential to be a stronger muscle, there’s certainly a point of diminishing returns. If muscle mass limits your ability to meet the demands of your sport due to issues such as a lack of mobility or faulty movement patterns, that’s a problem.

Why bodybuilding is the hardest sport?

Schwarzenegger had it right – body building I am going to make a blasphemous statement that will probably lead to massive riots. Bodybuilding is the hardest sport out there. I will get to why in a second, but first let me share some history for you. On Sept.18 the 50th Mr.

Olympia was held in Las Vegas with Phil Heath winning his fourth title.
An accomplishment that would not have occurred had it not been for the perseverance of Ben and Joe Weider and Eugene Sandow.
The Weiders are the ones responsible for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s fame.
Sandow is the founder of modern bodybuilding.

The sport itself started back in the late 1890’s when it became popular to show off massive feats of strength. Unfortunately, these men were also fat, until Sandow showed up. At the time, he had not only good strength, but also balance in his physique that caused people to want to be like him.

He eventually began traveling around Europe promoting competition for bodybuilding and by 1901, the first show was held. Fast-forward to 1965 where bodybuilding was in the midst of the golden age yet there was no way of determining the best of the best. That’s when Joe Weider comes in. He founded Mr. Olympia that year and crowned Larry Scott as the champion (for those of you fond of the preacher curl it is actually called the Scott curl).

The next 5 decades saw the crowning of 13 champions; Arnold claimed seven Lee Haney with eight, Ronnie Coleman grabbed eight, Dorian Yates with six and both Jay Cutler and Phil Heath with four. Now back to my original statement. Bodybuilding is the hardest sport.

Not to take way from other sports like football, which are very difficult in their own right, but bodybuilding is different in many ways.
First and foremost it’s an individual sport.
That’s right, no coach, no teammates, not true support other than your own mind.
Now sure, some people have lifting partners, but the most successful lifters usually train by themselves.

The second point is the training style. In most sports the weight training involves either explosive training or heavy training. In bodybuilding, most of the time it is high-volume training. Most bodybuilders will do anywhere between 25 to 50 sets for a specific muscle group whether it be arms or legs.

If that’s not enough, the workouts are intense.
Now I know most of you reading this are going to cry foul claiming you train hard and I am just going to call BS.
Over half of you do not train legs or if you do you cannot even get past a quarter squat and at least 90 percent of you have the energy to talk to your buddies in there for five minutes.

That is not intense. If you want intense do four to five sets of 12 reps per exercise with 30 to 60 sec in-between each set. That’s intense and you should be drenched in sweat and exhausted when you’re finished. The third thing that makes bodybuilding so difficult is the diet.

The purpose of the pre-contest diet is to lose body fat (get down under 5 percent) and build or maintain muscle.
Most people who weight lift can eat a diet that allows them to maintain right around 10 to 15 percent without a problem, but that’s not the hard part.
The hard part comes when you have to manipulate your calorie intake.

Each and every meal has to be weighed properly in order to know for sure how many grams of carbs, fats and protein you are consuming. Still not much of challenge the week before the contest is the hardest. For that week carbs must be under 30 grams per day and then you must eat a lot of carbs at least 24 if not 48 hours prior to coming onstage.

If you have short muscles with small bellies, too bad, no bodybuilding carrier for you.
Oh sure, every sport has their genetics for speed and size, but in those sports hard work goes a long way in bodybuilding you can work your butt off and still lose to a person with better genetics and half the work ethic.
I want to wrap things up by saying all sports are difficult and challenging and we all have our opinions about which is more difficult than the other.
In the end given the information I have presented I think it is safe to say, that bodybuilding is one of, if not the, toughest sport out there.

Are bodybuilders strong in real life?

Summary – While both bodybuilding and strength training might look similar on paper, there are many differences.

The main difference is that strength training aims to make your muscles stronger, while bodybuilding aims to make them bigger.
Bodybuilding is about physical appearance, while strength training is about improving physical performance.
If you train for bodybuilding, you will undoubtedly become stronger in the process. However, strength is not the primary goal of bodybuilding. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that a bodybuilder can’t use their muscles for anything practical. Many bodybuilders are tremendously strong, although not as strong as the best powerlifters.
If you train for strength, you’ll get bigger muscles as well. Strength training is not optimal for building muscle, though, so you likely won’t end up with the muscle mass of a bodybuilder. Of course, powerlifters and strongmen, especially heavyweights, carry a tremendous amount of muscle. However, it is not as symmetrically developed as a bodybuilder’s physique and is often covered by more body fat.
Strength sports in general have low rates of injury, but bodybuilding stands out compared to strength training as the safest type of weight-training.

As you can see, bodybuilding and strength training share both similarities and differences. Neither is inherently “better” than the other. It all depends on your goals. Training like a bodybuilder is obviously the better choice if you want to build muscle and compete in bodybuilding.

Are bodybuilders actually healthy?

It lowers the risk of osteoporosis and arthritis. – Aside from muscle growth, bodybuilding is also known to promote bone health. Resistance exercise remains to be one of the physical activities that prevent bone loss. Like muscle mass loss, the frailty of our bones can be associated with aging and calcium or vitamin D deficiency.

With aging, the most common threat to bone health is osteoporosis or the weakening of the bone structure, resulting in fractures and bone breaks.
When it comes to maintaining bone density, stress is also needed, much like in retaining muscle mass.
Therefore, strength training is an effective way to reduce the risks of osteoporosis.

In the same way, it can also manage arthritis. The growth of muscles around the joints protects the latter and prevents the development of pain.

Are big bodybuilders healthy?

Negative Effects – Overtime, weightlifting puts a tremendous amount of stress on your joints, tendons, and ligaments. As a result, many bodybuilders have tendinitis, back pains, shoulder pains, and other forms of joint problems. These injuries, if left untreated, will remain and significantly get worse.

By the end of their career, these problems may become a huge burden on mobility and everyday life. The elbows, knees, and shoulders take a beating during intense workouts. We may not feel it now, but as we get older, we will start feeling some pain. The reason is because the body produces less and less synovial fluid as we get older (a fluid secreted in our joint cavity and lubricate our joints during movement), thus increasing friction among opposing surfaces of cartilage causing joint pain,

However, bodybuilding doesn’t necessarily translate to joint pain in the future. You can greatly reduce your chances of joint pains in the future if you: – Stretch and warm up properly before workouts – Overtraining, either too much volume or short rest days (Basically, not allowing the muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments to recuperate) – Train with heavy weight, low reps – Avoid Incorrect form – Avoid Lack of nutrition ( Omega 3 Fatty Acids can help decrease joint pain.

It’s true.) Unlike sports like basketball, football, tennis etc; bodybuilding is a sport that allows you to compete well into your fifties, sixties and even seventies if you want.
You just have to make the proper adjustments.
Many top bodybuilders including Chris Dickerson and Frank Zane actually reached their peak after the age of 40.

Nonetheless, joint pain is still a very common result of long term bodybuilding, but the effects can be drastically reduced if you train smart. Heavy squats and deadlifts can compress the vertebral column and thus compress the intervertebral discs. Naturally the aging process weakens our discs, and can result in chronic back pains, numbness, or decreased range of motion.

Constant heavy squatting can actually speed up this process of disc degeneration.
In order to decompress my spine, I normally hang from a pullup bar after each workout for approximately 60 seconds.
This can be done with added weights as well. Try it.
It actually feels really good after heavy sets of squats and deadlifts.

Liver damage may occur as a result of excessive supplement use in the past. Your liver is your body’s filter and gets severely damaged if you take too many supplements. Off the top of my head, I’d like to say that creatine makes your liver work extra hard, and without enough water, your liver can be damaged.

To avoid this, research the supplement you are thinking about taking before buying. If you are taking more than 5 supplements, a multivitamin and protein ; then I’d say that you might be taking too many. Stretch marks can also be a problem after long term bodybuilding. Even though this isn’t as big a problem as the ones I’ve mentioned above, it may still bother some.

After growing to two hundred plus pounds and being massive throughout your bodybuilding days, your muscles will slowly start to shrink. The severity and speed of muscle atrophy, a typical response to lack of use, will of course depend on your current lifestyle and if you are still active or not.

This muscle shrinkage will lead to stretch marks, particularly on the arms, shoulders, chest, and calves.
Theobroma oil (Cocoa Butter) can lessen the appearance of visible stretch marks.
Like I said, it’s not a big concern for most.
As you can see the negative consequences of long term natural bodybuilding isn’t that bad, especially since most of the negative effects can be greatly lessened with the proper precaution, stretches, and supplements like flax seed and glucosamine for the joints,

The positive benefits greatly outnumber the negative consequences in my opinion provided you have trained safely and stayed injury free throughout your life, which actually isn’t hard to do if you know what you are doing.

Which country have most bodybuilders?

BODYBUILDING

RANK	COUNTRY	RATINGS
1	USA	★★★★★★★★★★
2	CANADA	★★★★★★★★★
3	BRAZIL	★★★★★★★★
4	GREAT BRITAIN	★★★★★★★★

Is weight lifting a sport?

Weightlifting

Characteristics
Olympic lifter Lasha Talakhadze lifting 258 kg at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil
Highest governing body	International Weightlifting Federation
First developed	Ancient Greece, Egypt, China, India
Contact	No
Mixed-sex	No
Type	Strength sport
Equipment	Barbells, weight plates, collars, chalk, tape, shoes, belt
Presence
Country or region	Worldwide
Olympic	Men: 1896, 1904, 1920 –present; Women: 2000 –present
World Games	Women: 1997

Weightlifting (often known as Olympic weightlifting ) is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with the aim of successfully lifting the heaviest weights. Athletes compete in two specific ways of lifting the barbell overhead.

The snatch is a wide-grip lift, in which the weighted barbell is lifted overhead in one motion. The clean and jerk is a combination lift, in which the weight is first taken from the ground to the front of the shoulders (the clean ), and then from the shoulders to over the head (the jerk ). Each weightlifter gets three attempts at both the snatch and the clean and jerk, with the snatch attempted first.

An athlete’s score is the combined total of the highest successfully-lifted weight in kilograms for each lift. Athletes compete in various weight classes, which are different for each sex and have changed over time. Weightlifting is an Olympic sport, and has been contested in every Summer Olympic Games since 1920.

While the sport is officially named “weightlifting”, the terms “Olympic weightlifting” and “Olympic-style weightlifting” are often used to distinguish it from the other sports and events that involve the lifting of weights, such as powerlifting, weight training, and strongman events,
Similarly, the snatch and the clean and jerk are known as the “Olympic lifts”.

While other strength sports test limit strength, Olympic-style weightlifting also tests aspects of human ballistic limits (explosive strength): the olympic lifts are executed faster, and with more mobility and a greater range of motion during their execution, than other barbell lifts.

What percentage of the population are bodybuilders?

Demographics – Bodybuilding is practiced by millions of men, women, seniors, and teenagers around the world. It is especially popular in Europe and North America. In the United States, weightlifting (a similar activity to bodybuilding), is the second most popular exercise activity, next to walking, according to the U.S.

Who is the most muscular man in the world?

2. Ronnie Coleman: – Is Bodybuilding A Sport “Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but nobody wants to lift no heavy-ass weights!” One of the most iconic lines spoken in the world of professional bodybuilding, strength training, and gym culture was spoken by Ronnie Coleman. Hailing from Louisiana, Ronnie Coleman came from a rough life and recalled barely having enough money to eat.

It wasn’t until Brian Dobson, amateur bodybuilder and owner of Metroflex Gym, offered Ronnie Coleman a free gym membership that he started training.
But the membership came with one caveat.
Ronnie had to agree to let Dobson be his personal trainer for a competition in 1990.
And, as they say, the rest is history.

Since then, Ronnie Coleman has won 26 IFBB Professional Titles. A few major highlights include:

Eight consecutive Mr. Olympia wins from 1998-2005 (Tied with Lee Haney for most consecutive wins) First bodybuilder to win both the Arnold Classic and Mr. Olympia title in the same year in 2001

To put it lightly, Ronnie Coleman is regarded as the strongest and biggest bodybuilder of all time. This would arguably make him the greatest and most compelling athlete to ever step on the big stage. At 5’11”, weighing around 300 pounds for competitions and 330 pounds during the off-season, very few men will ever even come close to this size.

Was Arnold Schwarzenegger Mr. Olympia?

Mr. Olympia – Schwarzenegger’s goal was to become the greatest bodybuilder in the world, which meant becoming Mr. Olympia, His first attempt was in 1969, when he lost to three-time champion Sergio Oliva, However, Schwarzenegger came back in 1970 and won the competition, making him the youngest ever Mr.

Olympia at the age of 23, a record he still holds to this day.
He continued his winning streak in the 1971–1974 competitions.
He also toured different countries selling vitamins, as in Helsinki, Finland in 1972, when he lived at the YMCA Hotel Hospiz (nowadays Hotel Arthur ) on Vuorikatu and presented vitamin pills at the Stockmann shopping center,

In 1975, Schwarzenegger was once again in top form, and won the title for the sixth consecutive time, beating Franco Columbu, After the 1975 Mr. Olympia contest, Schwarzenegger announced his retirement from professional bodybuilding. Months before the 1975 Mr.

Olympia contest, filmmakers George Butler and Robert Fiore persuaded Schwarzenegger to compete and film his training in the bodybuilding documentary called Pumping Iron, Schwarzenegger had only three months to prepare for the competition, after losing significant weight to appear in the film Stay Hungry with Jeff Bridges,

Although significantly taller and heavier, Lou Ferrigno proved not to be a threat, and a lighter-than-usual Schwarzenegger convincingly won the 1975 Mr. Olympia. Schwarzenegger came out of retirement, however, to compete in the 1980 Mr. Olympia. Schwarzenegger was training for his role in Conan, and he got into such good shape because of the running, horseback riding and sword training, that he decided he wanted to win the Mr.

Olympia contest one last time. He kept this plan a secret in the event that a training accident would prevent his entry and cause him to lose face. Schwarzenegger had been hired to provide color commentary for network television when he announced at the eleventh hour that, while he was there, “Why not compete?” Schwarzenegger ended up winning the event with only seven weeks of preparation.

Having been declared Mr. Olympia for a seventh time, Schwarzenegger then officially retired from competition. This victory (subject of the documentary The Comeback ) was highly controversial, though, as fellow competitors and many observers felt that his lack of muscle mass (especially in his thighs) and subpar conditioning should have precluded him from winning against a very competitive lineup that year.

Why do bodybuilders tan?

Tanning Improves Muscle Definition – That’s really the long and short of it. If you spend months and years building up and shredding out your physique to participate in a bodybuilding competition, you want your body to look as cut and defined as possible.

Does bodybuilding age you?

Muscle mass tends to decrease as you age beyond your twenties. However, taken to the extreme, bodybuilding can accelerate the aging process and may even lead to an early death. According a number of research studies, men who lift weights on a consistent basis look much years younger than their years.

Is bodybuilding a male dominated sport?

TOPIC: What Are The Differences Between Male And Female Bodybuilding? The Question: Traditionally, bodybuilding is a sport mainly practiced by men. However, female bodybuilding came along and brought some equality in the sport among both genders. What are the differences between male and female bodybuilding? How do diet, training and supplementation differ? What are some of the similarities between male and female bodybuilding? Bonus Question : Male bodybuilding seems to be more mainstream than female bodybuilding, why do you think this is? Show off your knowledge to the world! The Winners:

johnnyfry View Profile
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Prizes:

1st place – 75 in store credit.

2nd place – 50 in store credit.

3rd place – 25 in store credit.

1st Place – johnnyfry View This Author’s BodySpace Here, History Since the dawn of time man has engaged in challenges of strength, dominance and competition, You can look at any period in human history and view this fact. From the samurai in Japan to the gladiators of the Roman Empire, to the jousting combatants in England, this had primarily been the sole domain of men and men alone, until most recent history.

In our more civilized society humans generally prefer to use non-violent and means to compete; this is done through sports and games among other means. Bodybuilding continues this legacy in a non-violent manner in which men and now women can compete. Along with many any social changes that society has fought and won around the globe, is the right for women to engage in many activities in society that they had been barred from in the past, bodybuilding is one such activity.

There was a time when being a female bodybuilder was unheard of and certainly taboo. Although, it is a sport still dominated by males, there are a number of world class female bodybuilders in the world today and a much higher number of recreational female bodybuilders than there was in the past.

It is believed that the first legitimate bodybuilding competition for women took place in 1978 in Canton, Ohio.
In 1980, the female bodybuilding competitions got their sanction.
Named the National Physique Committee.1980 was a breakthrough year as the Ms.
Olympia was held for the first time.
By comparison, the male’s premier title, Mr.

Olympia had its inaugural year in 1963. Though the development of bodybuilding as a sport is generally attributed to Eugene Sandow; as far back as the late 1800’s. He started his bodybuilding paradigm with the “strongman” competition, later evolving his ideology to include development of muscle and posing in his shows. Differences What Are The Differences Between Male And Female Bodybuilding? The differences between male and female bodybuilding is evident at all levels of participation. It is important to make this distinction, as bodybuilding is enjoyed at all levels and encompasses the recreational, amateur and professional/competitive level bodybuilder.

Certainly there are far more recreational bodybuilders than professional. At the competitive level, females are at a disadvantage in a direct comparison physiologically for the purposes of bodybuilding as it currently judges its competitors. Bodybuilding at the competitive level is judged by primarily by the competitors mass, definition, proportion, symmetry, stage presence and posing routine among other things.

Females can compete through the same hard work to obtain all of the ingredients that a great bodybuilder is judged by except in the area of muscle mass. Testosterone levels and fat metabolism mechanism are the major difference in the physique differences.

Women do not have nearly the same amount of testosterone as males and this translates into the finished product that one sees onstage with far less mass.
All things being equal, a female will have significantly less muscle mass than the male.
Furthermore, the manner in which the female body metabolizes differs from the manner in which males do.

Females generally have higher fat percentages than males, and they store it in different areas of the body, (hips and thighs, rather then the abdomen as males do). The body can more easily metabolize fat in the abdomen area then it can the thigh and hips.

A further difference is that in many female bodybuilding competitions there are contests with titles that include words such as “fitness” in them.
These contests seem to cater to the more accepted stereotype of the beauty and agility of the female body, rather than the muscular.
These contests do not exist for male competitors.

Other differences include a lower number of participants at all levels, though this is particularly true at the competitive level. Part of this has to do with the difference in available money for male bodybuilders versus their female counterparts. This extends to bodybuilding magazines and endorsements (how often have you seen a female bodybuilding on the cover of a mainstream bodybuilding magazine?). Diet, Training & Supplementation How Do Diet, Training And Supplementation Differ? Diet, training and supplementation do vary slightly between the two sexes; however, there are many similarities in these three components of bodybuilding as well and this must be explained in order to understand the differences. I will outline both in my response. “> Diet: High doses of protein are required to build muscle fibers after they are damaged by workouts. High calories are also needed to feed the muscles, maintain and/or grow, depending on ones bodybuilding goals, This is a universal truth regardless of gender.

What is different is the general requirements due to the size differences in competitors.
A 260 pound professional male bodybuilder requires consumption of greater calories and protein than a 160 pound female bodybuilder to maintain and gain further muscle mass.
Of course, this same concept applies to any two competitors of the same gender if there is a large discrepancy between weight; however, females in general compete at a much lower weight.

Therefore the main difference between men and women exists in the quantities used. With women requiring more work than men in burning fat, many women use low carbohydrate diets and seek out foods that help increase metabolism to overcome some of the physiological disadvantages that females have. “> Training: Training at the competitive level between the two sexes is more similar than different. The theories and practices that are required to develop muscle and/or decrease fat exist between both males and females. Both females and males need to increase their weight poundages, intensity and/or reps to break down muscle.

This is because muscles in both sexes adapt to the work done in the past so a progressive workload is needed to force the body to grow and compensate for the increase in demands. Of course, due to males having a higher level of testosterone in the body, their bodies generally respond more dramatically to the increase in the workload, especially in the upper body where men enjoy an advantage in shoulder strength, though this same advantage does not exist proportionally in the lower body region.

In regards to losing weight by training methods, both sexes follow the same approach. The theory of being calorie deficient suggests that one exerts, burns or puts out more energy (in calories) than one takes in. In contrast, having a calorie surplus; or taking in more calories than one burns, is needed to increase mass and size.

This training approach goes hand in hand with ones diet as it will determine the amount of work done in the gym depending on one’s goals. Women bodybuilders at the competitive level tend to include more cardio and high rep training to aid them in tightening up certain areas of the body, this is more easily achieved by their male counterparts who burn the excess fat more efficiently.

Among recreational bodybuilders, there is a tendency for females to focus more on “toning” and shaping their bodies. This generally includes a lot more cardio with their bodybuilding to decrease their body fat composition. Whereas male recreational bodybuilders tend to take an approach similar to professional bodybuilders in that they increase their weights and resistance but without the genetic advantages and dietary discipline that competitive bodybuilders enjoy and adhere to. “> Supplementation: Supplementation between both males and females differs depending on their bodybuilding goals. Women do tend to use more fat burning products due to their disadvantage in fat metabolizing, and along with diet, they adjust their requirements to meet their goals.

Both men and women will gain the same benefits with increased protein, ATP replenishing effects in creatine, the same calories in mass gain formulas and such. There are numerous supplements marketed exclusively to females to try and overcome the physical differences, but these products are only marginally different.

Steroids is a different issue to address, there are differences in the anabolic and androgenic effects on males versus females. In males, they generally suffer from a various degree of side effects as: breast development, shrinking of the testicles and many others. Similarities What Are Some Of The Similarities Between Male And Female Bodybuilding? At the professional and competitive level, the similarities are astounding. All competitors are judged by the same standards in both gender competitions. As I have alluded to already, there exists the same requirements for bodybuilders of both genders to develop mass and “cut-up” in preparation for a contest.

Of course, the exceptional dedication, demands and commitment to the development of the physique is required by both males and females and regardless of whether a bodybuilder is male or female; they handle and work through the same physical challenges. In the recreational bodybuilder, there is a desire by both men and female to increase their health and muscular attractiveness.

This includes losing weight, muscle toning, increasing their cardio efficiency and using bodybuilding as a positive hobby and challenge. It is generally used an extension of a commitment to a healthier lifestyle and even to increase ones sexual attractiveness. The Mainstream Male Bodybuilding Seems To Be More Mainstream Than Female Bodybuilding, Why Do You Think This Is? Male bodybuilding is more mainstream than female bodybuilding due to the double standard applied by society. Female bodies are viewed more appealing when they are curvy, somewhat soft and shapely. Men have more positively accepted and are viewed as appealing when they are muscular.

A female is generally perceived as “abnormal” if she has the same muscular physique and hardness. Unfortunately, it is still viewed as going against society norms and “unfeminine” if a female bodybuilder has a great deal of muscle. Although much as the professional bodybuilding community accepts female bodybuilders, general society still views the female body through stereotypical models.

For these reasons alone, many females who may want to become bodybuilders and who may in fact have the genetics and dedication to become great bodybuilders, shun away from even trying. With societies prejudices and opinions of what is “normal,” comes mainstream acceptance.

Men go out to the gyms and buy the supplements and try to develop great strength and muscle size.
In turn, businesses cater to the males in order to survive as an industry.
Therefore, you will see in movies the muscular superhero; you will see on the cover of magazines the muscular male etc.
It is not any different then the baking industry focusing on females as their main consumer.

Society norms have dictated who is “invited to the club” and being a female bodybuilder is still viewed as being on the fringe of the community. Finally, since bodybuilding is about size, mass and quality, and males have the obvious advantage, the common perception is that male bodybuilding is superior to female bodybuilding.

Both require the same dedication and hard work, but due to the physical nature of the sport, females as a whole will never achieve what a male will. The same theory can be applied to most sports, The mainstream acceptance, although changing, still favors the male athletes and male sporting events. The number of male sporting leagues and attendance levels at the professional level far outweighs that of females.

Therefore, where the money goes, business will follow, the visuals of muscular men will be far more evident than those of females and the perception that male bodybuilding as “the big leagues” will persist. Bibliography/References:

www.bodybuilding.com
www.drugabuse.gov
www.body-building-resource.com
ezinearticles.com
http://sportsvl.com/rest/bodybuild.htm
muscle-pro.com

2nd Place – mawt View This Author’s BodySpace Here, Bodybuilding was started as a solely male sport and the trend has not really changed even though female competitions have emerged. Female bodybuilding started in the 1970’s and this did some justice to both genders. Women have never been known for strength and it has always been men who have been a symbol of power and muscularity which is the main reason female bodybuilding has not grown. Differences What Are The Differences Between Male And Female Bodybuilding? “> Natural Differences: While understanding the differences between male and female bodybuilding it is quite necessary to understand the difference in hormones that are naturally produced in the bodies of both males and females. The main differences being the natural production of testosterone in men while a very low production of the same hormone in the opposite gender.

Testosterone being androgenic is the hormone that leads to natural muscle growth in men at puberty while estrogens in the female body lead to what we call a feminine body. So it is quite natural that women cannot naturally build a huge amount of muscle. The ratios of gains that come in naturally are at the ratio of about 1:10 with females not being able to gain anything close to what men can.

With lower amounts of muscle and gains it becomes even harder to be a female bodybuilder. “> Competition: When coming to competition even the prize money differs with female bodybuilders being paid a lot lesser than their male counterparts which is discouraging and also means lesser appreciation for women in the sport. This is at times due to lesser sponsors for competitive female bodybuilding and at other times just because men are the ones who organize the shows.

For example, at the 2005 Olympia, the men competed for a total prize fund of $550,000, while the women competed for only $71,000 (with an additional $55,000 available for the fitness contest, and $35,000 for the figure competition). So women have 2 extra fitness and figure competitions that are not held for men and are more popular at times.

Figure competitions leading to fitness modeling, a career which has a lot of money involved. “> Side Effects And The Use Of Steroids: Moreover when it comes to male bodybuilding affects such as hair loss, body hair and deepening of the voice even come naturally but when it comes to women these affects of steroids can cause serious problems. Women at times even lose their monthly cycle and get stretch marks on their skin so the sport becomes a bit more complex for them.

Even when it comes to natural (dope tested) competitions, women aren’t able to do much as men with their natural hormones – men can build quite a lot of muscle while women, without the use of testosterone based steroids, are only able to build a very small amount of muscle. So men still can build a noticeable amount of muscle without the use of steroids while women cannot.

These steroids also have to be restricted as they harm estrogens which are in a large amount in the female body and this leads to complications. “> Body Fat Levels: Women have an extra water retention and fat problem due to natural estrogens in the body and body fat levels are not as low as in male competitive bodybuilding and so it becomes more difficult for women to lose fat and come more muscular on stage. Women tend to gain fat a lot more quickly and it is a lot more difficult for them to lose this fat due to low testosterone levels. Diet, Training & Supplementation How Do Diet, Training And Supplementation Differ? “> Diet: Talking about diet, it almost remains the same. Female bodybuilders have to be even stricter because of their higher levels of fat and it is an equally strict and tough routine as for male bodybuilders. It is the same for female bodybuilders when it comes to calorie consumption and muscle growth and when close to competition it is the same kind of hardcore dieting with as minimal cheating as possible. “> Metabolism: Male and female bodies do not react in the same way to training and nutrition and the female body produces a lower amount of energy surge. Metabolism of the female body is a lot slower than the male body which means nutrients will not convert as fast into muscle. “> Training: With a lower amount of muscle mass women in the sport are unable to lift as heavy as men and so their training is a little different from men. Women need more time in recovery and need more cardio in order to maintain their specific desirable fat levels.

More rest is required as the metabolism is slower and so women are unable to be as frequent with their workouts.
The monthly cycle is another hindrance to the training program and disrupts the process.
Women have to workout with a lot of intensity to make up their inability to lift very heavy and this makes workouts almost as difficult as men.

Does Mr. Olympia allow steroids?

Does Mr. Olympia allow steroids? The Mr. Olympia contest was the brainchild of Joe Weider. In 1965, Joe organized the first edition of Mr. Olympia. However, Joe and his brother Ben Weider had created the regulatory body which organized the Mr. Olympia contest in 1946.

They named it the International Bodybuilding Federation (IFBB). As the sport evolved, each competitor strived to build more muscle, get more shredded and become more vascular. Over the years, multiple former Mr. Olympia winners have admitted to using steroids. Thus, people have always had questions regarding steroid use in Mr.

Olympia competitions. ADVERTISEMENT Article continues below this ad In 2004, the IFBB the World Anti-Doping Code. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) regulates and updates the list of banned substances in sports each year. The IFBB also follows and prohibits the drugs WADA has flagged.

The agency updates the list of banned substances on the January 1 of each year. WADA bans a substance based on three points. WADA bans a drug when it conforms to two out of three points. Three criteria are: the drug has the potential to enhance or enhances athletic performance. A drug puts an athlete’s health at risk or has the potential to do so.

It violates the spirit of the sport (giving the athlete an unfair advantage over his peers.) Hence, it’s safe to say the IFBB does not allow its athletes to use steroids for the contest. Organizations often strip athletes who get caught doping of any titles they might have won.

Is bodybuilding considered art?

Competition Time – Competition came, and I was asked to do a drugs test just ten minutes after registration. It was weird having to pee into two tubes in front of an old guy you have never met before, before he talked his way through tightening them up and labelling them A sample and B sample; but it made me feel great.

I was drugs tested because I look great, I told myself. I had my tan applied, and that was another weird experience. This involved stripping naked and putting my asset into a sock, before being painted bronze in a small tent. Seriously. During the tanning process, my abs began to cramp due to the dehydration.

In order to look as ripped as possible it is common for competitors to stop drinking water before shows in order to lose water from under the skin. This creates the dry look that is craved, and stops you looking bloated, or soft. Weirdly, one of my toe nails also fell off.

I assume it was down to some deficiency through dieting for 12 weeks.
I cracked on with the show, and I finished a respectable second.
Normally I would feel bitter about coming second, but it opened my eyes to just how flawed bodybuilding is.
I thought I should have won.
Even now, looking at photos I believe I should have won.

That’s not to say the person who did win, didn’t deserve to. I just deserved to, more, But bodybuilding is subjective, and it’s based solely on appearance. It doesn’t matter if I was bigger, or stronger, or trained harder, on that day the judges deemed him better in appearance than me. The subjectivity irked me, and yet it was liberating. Bodybuilding, is an art. However weird one might think these people are, it is an art form to prepare your body to look the way that top bodybuilders do.

You must shape the muscles and work your proportions in the gym, before fine tuning and knocking off the rough edges when dieting, just like a sculptor would with a block of marble.
It requires so much dedication and effort, that anyone who can get themselves in that condition is already a winner.
The problem is, that whilst it is an art form, and is impressive, it is just for show.

Large aesthetic muscles, and being ripped, is not (and I hate to say it) functional. You cannot move the way you should, and regardless of how good you look, your body is not balanced in the way that it should be. There are always exceptions to the rules, and there are some athletes out there now who are as strong and powerful as they look.

However, Terry Crews said it best in Brooklyn Nine Nine, when he says, “You all know these muscles are just for show”.
It is not great not being able to grab your seat belt because you lack the mobility in your shoulders.
It is also not great not being able to touch your toes.
You feel slow, and you feel tired.

As a bodybuilder, when you look your best, you feel your worse — and your performance is also at its lowest. Coming second, I qualified for a national competition which was 6 weeks later. I went because it was an experience that I didn’t want to pass up, even if it meant another 6 weeks of feeling crap.

It is not every day that you get to stand on stage and be classed as the top 8 in the country for your category, in anything.
I should have simply maintained, but I took it to the extreme and decided to diet even harder and I ended up looking depleted and unhealthy, and did not place in the top 3.
I was relieved when the day was over.

Looking back, I failed to enjoy the day itself because of how uncomfortable I felt. I went in with no expectations because I knew I had messed up and knew that I didn’t look great. Would I ever do it again? Not a chance. Would I advise anyone else to do a show? Possibly.

I learned a lot from the process, and I am now able to diet and gain weight without counting calories or making a diet plan. I can now intuitively lose or gain weight with small adjustments to my food choices or portion sizes. It also made me reassess why I turn up at the gym. I love the process of training, and I love improving myself.

For me, looking great was not worth the price of losing strength. After a year or two spinning my wheels and not knowing what to do with myself I decided to pursue Olympic weightlifting. Whilst I will never be a pro, I feel amazing in comparison to my bodybuilding days.

My flexibility and mobility is as good now as it was when I was a child, and most of the time I feel light on my feet despite being over 16 stone. I look forward to training knowing that I am going to get quicker, and stronger. And provided that I don’t do anything stupid, I will be healthy and mobile in my older age because I am now using my body in ways more suited for my body.

No, my biceps aren’t bulging out of my shirt, but my muscles are denser and stronger and I look strong. That might sound like a weird thing to say if you aren’t familiar with what a “strong” muscle looks like, but after years of training and being around lifters in the gym it’s something that is pretty straight forward to distinguish between.

A dense, strong muscle, looks powerful and quick.
A big, soft muscle looks full of water and looks slow and weak.
Of course, these are generalisations.
There are some extremely strong bodybuilders.
I would wager, however, that those bodybuilders train more akin to powerlifters than typical bodybuilders.

Bodybuilding too, prays on the insecurities of young people and pushes them into a dark circle of health problems and further risks. The need to improve yourself and to look better when you are already feeling insecure only reinforces more insecurity as you strive for something that cannot be attained.

However big, or lean you get, you never feel satisfied.
There is always a need deep within to want more.
With bodybuilding this is attained through the attention you receive by looking good, but there is always someone leaner, bigger, or just better proportioned.
Being judged on your appearance is the worst possible thing for someone already feeling insecure over their appearance, and that is the literal objective of bodybuilding.

It forces you to lose more weight, train harder, and in some cases forces you to take drugs in order to gain every single advantage. Bodybuilding is an art. Done correctly, it is something that should be admired — and the human form should be admired,

The issue is that it strives for form in a world that already cares too little for function.
Our bodies should look good, but not at the expense of the ability to perform the way it needs to perform.
Society already places too much onus on appearance.
We see it everywhere around us, and nowhere is it more prevalent than social media.

Influencers look great, but they capture themselves with the best lighting and the best angles, and usually with the help of drugs. It provides an image for the common folk to reach for, but will always be out of reach in a healthy way. It reinforces low self-esteem, and provides the illusion that looking good is the most important on the route to success.

This is further backed up by the amount of likes that these images get.
We also have programmes like Love Island, where attractive people with no personality and questionable morals reach stardom because of their appearances.
Whatever way you look at it, young people should not be idolising looks in any shape or form.

They should be idolising health and performance, integrity, intelligence, and kindness. It would be unfair of me to place bodybuilding in the same category as Love Island, or to imply that bodybuilding is a terror of society. But it is fair of me to say that bodybuilding is a reflection of modern day society where outward appearance is viewed as more important than anything else and that is potentially very dangerous for so many people.

Is building muscle an art?

Muscle building is truly an art. There’s no exact or concise blueprint as to how you can precisely build muscle. However there are some general proven guidelines which have stood the test of time, and remained after gimmicks and fads have been and gone.

Is physical fitness an art?

In Conclusion – As you can see, there are many ways that fitness can be viewed as an art. Various forms of exercise can be constituted as art, such as martial arts workouts like boxing or Kung Fu, or dancing, such as Jazz, Hip hop, or ballet. Many of the art elements and principles are used in fitness as well.

What is bodybuilding classed as?

Well, there are a few reasons why bodybuilding is considered a sport instead of just a modeling competition: It requires physical training and discipline.