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They can be found cooking their
meals weekly, investing heavily in
huge amounts of food. The time
commitment is significant, and
shows just how much work is
required to achieve the desired
results.
That other 30% is no joke either.
Designing a work out programme
is very involved. Another Arnoldism
highlights the difficulty of this life:
most gainers’ biggest problem is
that they do not have a clear body
goal. Body type plays a huge role
in how to exercise which body part
and when. Add to that the fact that
the work out industry needs to
constantly reinvent itself and you
are faced with a daunting range of
moves and approaches.
Do you pyramid your lifts, moving
from light to heavy weights with
ever reducing repetitions? Do you
break your sets into five, four or ten?
All the different muscles have
different requirements. The
shoulder alone is nuts, containing
a range of smaller muscle groups
which require very different moves.
It would seem it is not enough to
just lift super heavy weights.
And this pain occurs before you
even step into the gym. Once there,
the time commitment is as serious
as a heart attack. To achieve
significant results, at least three
days should include a massive gym
session. Times vary from the bare
minimum of 45 minutes to a couple
of hours. Lifting needs to be fairly
excruciating to have any real effect.
Many lifting procedures require
failure, meaning that the muscle
is fatigued to the point where it
cannot function.
Obviously pushing two 40kg
dumbbells into the air until the
relevant muscles can no longer
hold them is a recipe for a caved in
cranium, which factors in danger
to the sport. For this to work, a
spotter is vital. And not everyone
has a friend who is committed
enough to stand above a sweating
and spitting, puce-coloured body
builder. However, without this
service, it is difficult in the extreme
to make the gains.
Injury of all kinds is a constant
threat. Certain joints - I am looking
at you, wrists - simply cannot take
the weights that the big compound
(i.e. moves that require more than
a single joint to move, such as the
deadlift) need. Again, plenty of
shoulders pop during big moves.
One shoulder going puts the whole
scheme in peril, as there aren’t
many upper body moves that don’t
need it.
There are plenty of other
challenges faced by the amateur
body builder beyond the expense,
the logistic nightmares, the
constant and mindful eating, the
pain of the workouts and the risks
to life and limb.
Minor ones include the difficulty
of finding clothes that fit. Another
is the fact that this body is not
sustainable. After a couple of
months off, a footballer can still
kick a ball. A body builder will find
their body consuming itself as the
caloric surplus becomes a deficit
and they deflate like a discarded
balloon left at a children’s party.
These are minor inconveniences
compared with some of the other
dangers. Steroid abuse is real and
has lasting consequences. With
the pressure to make all these
sacrifices tangible, many are drawn
to the quick fix that comes with an
injection. Less common but equally
dangerous, body dysmorphia
(called “biggerexia” in gyms) has
been known to kill. Like anorexia,
victims create an incredibly vivid
mental image of what they look like,
with some hugely-muscled hulk
only seeing a skinny dweeb in the
mirror.
Behind all the muscles, body
builders are singularly determined,
well-read and focused individuals.
Their sacrifices should be admired
for more than just the gun show
and rock-hard abs.