What Is Bodybuilding

 What Is Bodybuilding?

There are two big reasons why I’m now proud to answer that question with "Of course, I’m a bodybuilder". The first is I’m much more secure with who I am and what I represent.

But, I want to talk about the second reason why I’m proud to be a bodybuilder; and probably why it’s easier for all of us bodybuilders to answer with Of course, I’m a bodybuilder. 

Have you looked around lately? Have you noticed that body building, has become main stream! Let’s compare some then and now examples of what I am talking about when I say bodybuilding as I (we) knew it 10-15 years ago.

Can you believe how times have changed? I can remember in my mid-twenties just hating it when people asked if I was a bodybuilder.

At the time there were many associations to being a bodybuilder that were not so great.

Take your pick - Steroids, narcissistic, no brains, no life outside the gym, etc. Knowing this, I’d answer, "If that’s what you want to call me". One thing for certain, I wasn't always as proud as I am today to be a bodybuilder.

Small Meals a Day:

Few years ago people thought we were nuts eating 5 or 6 meals a day. How funny is that! 

Today, you can’t turn on the TV or open a magazine without seeing the latest diet trend. Yes, you guessed it; all of them have one thing in common 5 or 6 small meals per day.

Of course all the physique competitors know they should be eating 5 or 6 meals each day. 

But, more and more, of our normal clients know that they should be eating more small meals, even before I suggest it.

They may not know what to eat, but at least I don’t have to work so hard on getting them to accept the fact that eating frequent, smaller meals is the best approach.

I met with a 50 year old female, first-time client whose goal was to start shaping up. When I asked what her current nutrition was like, she didn’t use the common terms, breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Instead she started, for meal one, I eat, and for meal two, and she went all the way through meal 5. 

This is a woman that lived her whole life eating breakfast, lunch and dinner, and now she calls it Meal 1 through meal 5. 

Sure, bodybuilders have trained since came up with the Principles in the late 1950’s. But, mainstream the recommendations were: at least three days a week of cardio and two or three day’s resistance training. 

On resistance training days do one exercise for each body part and 8-12 reps per exercise. Now don’t get me wrong. 

This is still good advice for anyone interested in improving his/her fitness level. If you were training for football, your coach had you training three days a week. 

We remember when coaches were 100% against weight training of any kind, but that was before.