The Benefits Of Bodybuilding

Bodybuilding has gained increasing popularity and supporters around the world in recent decades. The act is officially defined as “The process of enlarging the muscles through a regime usually combining strenuous exercise with a specialized diet (“Bodybuilding,” def. 2). Many of the practitioners, however, prefer a slightly different definition from the International Federation of Bodybuilding “Train to develop all body parts and muscles to maximum size, but in balance and harmony”. In modern times bodybuilding has evolved from a recreational activity into defining a way of life, and contrary to popular belief bodybuilding isn’t simply the act of picking up weights and placing them down. To better comprehend its culture it’s important to understand
its influence and rise in popularity. Arnold Schwarzenegger wrote in The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding that at the end of the nineteenth century there was a rebirth of the Greek Ideal- muscle development as a celebration of the human body (3). At this time weightlifting was a spectacle for Europeans to watch, a “multitude of strongmen would tour across Europe showing off their brute strength (Schwarzenegger 4). Their ungainly physique, however, made them anything but desirable to become. In the late 1890’s Eugene Sandow emerged to superstardom in weightlifting, gaining the title of world’s strongest man (Schwarzenegger 4). Eugene exemplified the Greek ideal, with his physical aesthetic and symmetry of his muscle development. Eugene’s great knowledge of developing his muscles earned him the title as “The father of modern day bodybuilding” and become a model specimen for others to emulate. Individuals not involved in bodybuilding may consider bodybuilders to be vacuous, but in reality a lot of knowledge and dedication goes into bodybuilding.
Bodybuilders constantly track what muscle group they work out, what supplements to take, and what they’re eating, all of these aspects make up the core of bodybuilding. When bodybuilders step into a gym, they don’t simply pick a dumbbell and wave it around. There’s an aim when working out, and that aim is to correctly and safely activate as many muscle fibers as possible by executing an exercise, and to create micro tears in the muscles to allow room for growth. An active bodybuilder also understands the benefits of taking certain supplements. Supplements can range from fish oils and multivitamins to testosterone boosters all of which are essential in helping a bodybuilding reach his desired goal. The real hidden secret to bodybuilding however, is knowing what to consume, when to consume it and how much of it to
consume. A common misconception linked to bodybuilding and gaining weight, is that all a person needs to do is stuff himself with food and they’ll gain muscle size. Understand that to gain muscle a person needs to consume more calories than burned, bodybuilders have a range of how many calories they intake per day. The calories need to be obtained from lean meats, grains, vegetables, and place within their “macro” count as well. Officially macronutrients are protein, fats, and carbohydrates obtained from consuming food (“Macronutrients,” def. 2). Once an understanding is had about how many calories to consume and how many grams of individual “macros” to intake, a bodybuilder creates a custom diet that targets his desired goal. Just how gaining weight too rapidly is undesirable for a bodybuilder, losing weight too quickly is essentially as equally damaging the individual. In order to promote lean muscle growth and definition, or to effectively reduce body weight to maintain his body pleasing to the eye, bodybuilders follow these healthy, lean diets. Bodybuilding has progressed throughout recent time, coming from the rare touring European strongmen to common individuals in modern day seeking a healthier lifestyle.
Although many people don’t fully understand bodybuilding and misconstrue it to simply lifting up weights. Bodybuilders know that a lot goes into bodybuilding and maintaining the lifestyle. From understanding how proper exercise creates muscle growth, to realizing a healthy diet is the key to muscle definition and aesthetics. Camille Paglia states “Modern bodybuilding is a ritual, religion, sport, and science, awash in western chemistry, and mathematics, defying nature, it surpasses
it”.