Body-building

Several members of the United States Navy posing in a physicoculture contest.

Bodybuilding or bodybuilding is a physical activity consisting of carrying out a weight training program in a gym with the intention of developing and controlling the muscles, for through various types of strength exercises, aimed at generating muscle hypertrophy.

It is an activity that is usually carried out in gyms, and whose purpose is usually to obtain a strong and defined musculature, as well as to maintain the greatest possible definition and symmetry of it. The activity aimed at hypertrophying the muscle is also often called bodybuilding (its difference with bodybuilding is that bodybuilding does not require poses as the objective of muscle work).

Bodybuilding is a sporting activity different from fitness, weightlifting, powerlifting, calisthenics, athletics, and sports that complement their workouts with anaerobic exercise. In some countries it is not formed as a competitive sport.

History

Eugen Sandow, the father of modern physicoculture.

Bodybuilding is physical activity aimed at maximum muscular development (of visible musculature) of the human being. From this point of view, it shares certain methods and skills with other sports, although its purpose is markedly different. This activity has its first manifestations in figures on Greek vases; Apparently, hand weights (as ballast) were already used to perform jumps or exercises in order to increase the strength and length of the jump. These are behaviors fundamentally aimed at developing strength or its size, with the objective of survival as a clear goal, or as religious rites on specific festivities.

Their first historical references, therefore, could take us to ancient Greece where the human body had a cultural relevance that has been resurrected in our days. The muscularly hypertrophied bodybuilder or athlete can be seen in multiple sculptural representations: Hercules, Laocoon, friezes with warriors, etc.

The word bodybuilding comes from French. It is considered that it was in France in the 18th and 19th centuries where the birth of a sports discipline took place whose purpose was aesthetics, a word that is directly related to physical culture.

Eugen Sandow (1867-1925)

Eugen Sandow was an athlete of Prussian origin considered the father of modern bodybuilding, since he was the first to perform exhibitions in which he showed his musculature. Sandow espoused a "Greek ideal" regarding the proportions of different parts of the human body and was one of the first to market mechanical exercise equipment, such as weights and pulleys. Sandow also organized the first bodybuilding contest., held on September 14, 1901 at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The contest was called The Great Competition (The Great Competition).

In Sandow we also find direct antecedents of one of the essential elements of bodybuilding: the pose. With Sandow, the displays of the musculature are made under certain poses that forcefully demonstrate the muscular development achieved. The pose will be fundamental in subsequent professional bodybuilding, to the point that the bodybuilder works to pose on stage before a group of judges who will assess his development from the execution of certain poses.

1950s and 1960s

Bodybuilding became more popular in the 1950s and 1960s with the advent of more sophisticated gym equipment, the joining of the sport of gymnastics champions, and the simultaneous popularization of muscle training, most notably by Charles Atlas, whose advertising in comic books and other publications encouraged many young people to weight train to improve their physique and look like comic book superheroes.

Notable athletes of this era include American John Grimek, national gymnastics and powerlifting champion, and British Reg Park, winners of bodybuilding titles in newly created competitions such as Mr. Universe and Mr. America.

The appearance of specialized magazines, such as Strength & Health or Muscular Development had great success and repercussions. The cast of some bodybuilders in the movies was another important vehicle for the dissemination of this sport. Among the most famous actor-bodybuilders are Steve Reeves and Reg Park, who appeared in the roles of Hercules, Samson and other legendary heroes, very fashionable in a genre of cinema called peplum. Dave Draper gained public fame through appearances in the Muscle Beach Party, a film series with Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon.

Other rising stars in this period included Larry Scott, Serge Nubret, and Sergio Oliva. The International Federation of Bodybuilding (IFBB) was co-founded by Joe Weider and his brother Ben. The IFBB eventually displaced the Amateur Athletic Union from the Universe titles and also the NABBA (National Association of Amateur Bodybuilders of the United States).

Golden Age (The Golden Age)

The "golden age of bodybuilding" is called the moment of maximum development and popularity of this sport, between the 1940s and 1970s. During this period figures such as Vince Gironda, Steve Reeves, Franco Columbus, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Frank Zane. It coincided with a new, more commercial vision of this sport, thanks to the encouragement of figures like Joe Weider and the creation of new contests, among which the Mr. Olympia stood out. Meanwhile, new research continued to be developed in the world of nutrition, supplementation and training.

Somewhat subjectively, it is usually understood that the so-called "golden age" begins its decline in the 1980s and, above all, in the 1990s. From these dates, in bodybuilding competitions, the volume begins to be appreciated more than proportion, definition and symmetry.

During this phase the incorporation of Spain takes place. Timidly during the 1970s, in an accelerated manner from the 1980s.

Introduction

For its practitioners, bodybuilding is a lifestyle that, when analyzed under the aspect of maintaining a lifestyle based on physical exercise and proper nutrition, can be very healthy. However, on occasions, personal disorders coupled with an obsessive vision of sport can lead to psychopathological disorders, such as musculodysmorphia or vigorexia.

During the years when bodybuilding spread across Europe and the United States (1940s-50s) there were a large number of anonymous practitioners, for whom health and well-being were primary goals. So, with hardly any knowledge of diets or training principles, acquiring large muscle masses was complicated.

Bodybuilding is the process of increasing the size of muscle fibers through a combination of resistance training (weight lifting), increased caloric intake, and rest.

To achieve extraordinary muscular development, bodybuilders must focus on three basic lines of action:

• Weight lifting against resistance: Weight training causes induced transformations in muscle fibers. This is known as microtrauma. These small muscle injuries contribute to fatigue experienced after exercise. The repair of microtraumas (pape played by the so-called "satellite cells" found around muscle fibers) is part of muscle growth (hypertrophy). For body training routines are normally used in series and repetitions, together with temporary training planning (in micro-, meso- and macrocycles).

• A high quality diet incorporating additional proteins: muscle growth and repair, however, cannot take place without proper nutrition. A bodybuilder has higher protein requirements than a sedentary person to repair damage caused by weight training. In addition to proteins, carbohydrates are very important for energy input during training. The proportions that are usually recommended at the nutritional level are variable, depending on the athlete's biotype (ecto-, meso- or endomorph).

• A proper rest to facilitate growth. Without proper rest and sleep the body finds no opportunity to rebuild and repair damaged fibers. It is necessary to at least eight hours of rest for a physicist to meet in good condition at the next training session.

Competition

The bodybuilders Phil Heath and Kai Greene at Mr. Olympia 2012.

Professional competitive bodybuilders strike poses in front of a jury, which assigns scores and awards titles such as Mr. Universe or Mr. Olympia.

The bodybuilding competition is basically divided into two rounds; the first, known as pre-competition or semifinals, in which 4 symmetry poses and 7 mandatory muscle-building poses are performed to determine the degree of development, definition, size, symmetry, proportions, as well as aesthetics to settle the scores. The second part is called the final or competition, where between 5 and 6 finalists arrive, who each have one minute of music to perform a choreography of free poses.

Female bodybuilding

A bodybuilder posing at the London Classic and Stars of Tomorrow, November 2007.

Although in its beginnings it was a sport exclusively for men, in the 1980s women's competitions began to emerge.

In certain countries, women who practice bodybuilding tend to provoke a certain social rejection, due to cultural preconceptions about femininity. This fact caused an evolution of female bodybuilding and the appearance of new modalities where greater relevance is given to female forms than to size and definition itself. That is, closer to the image of femininity that society usually understands as acceptable. These modalities are the recent bodyfitness or figures and fitness, in which the competitors also demonstrate physical and choreographic skills. The world trend is for a better management of femininity and the new professional bodybuilding contests and competitions are promoting natural muscle growth, that is, without using chemicals that deform femininity, such as steroids, which, although they give muscle growth, can change the features of the face whether male or female.

Doping

Although no federation encourages their use, most professional competitors and at least half of amateur bodybuilders use drugs to dramatically increase their muscle mass, physical performance, and muscle definition.

Among these, the most widely used are synthetic hormones, commonly known as anabolic steroids or simply steroids (including some intended for veterinary use). In addition, other types of doping drugs such as diuretics, insulin, growth hormone, erythropoietin, gonadotropic hormone analogues, psychostimulants, sympathomimetics, etc. are usually administered. Some competitors also use other doping substances such as anabolics. Doping makes bodybuilding a rather dark sport, in which all competitors are in the crosshairs.

To counteract the adverse effects, liver protectors and aromatase enzyme inhibitors are often used, although the latter often carries risks.

Regarding their use by healthy individuals and in doses generally higher than therapeutic ones, the abuse of these drugs causes adverse side effects at the bone, immune, cardiovascular, hormonal, and psychological levels.