...Bodybuilding and Steroids: An Ongoing Controversy Throughout many generations as well as the present day, bodybuilding has been a much favored sport in the fitness industry. The question first begins with what a sport is determined to be. The definition seems to be: “a human activity capable of achieving a result requiring physical exertion and skill, which by nature, is competitive” (Kennedy 121). Conceivably, bodybuilding fits the definition; However, the primary problem that bodybuilders, the industry, and just the name, bodybuilding, in general face are the numerous controversial issues about the usage of anabolic drugs commonly referred to as steroids. The FDA has banned any and all steroids, causing them to be illegal; Yet, in the sport of bodybuilding, in order to manipulate one’s body, one must consume hormones that are beyond a days dosage of organic foods and minerals. The sport of bodybuilding, is without a doubt, one of the most respected sports due to its extreme discipline of the body and mind. Thus the controversy remains as this: why would the FDA continue to ban anabolic drugs from an industry that, for a portion of its influencers, need these hormones to continue to live up to the bodybuilding legacies? Why is the FDA banning these substances? Also, another controversy that is frequently brought up is: why cant fitness experts, such as master trainers and nutritionists, etc... come up with substitutes that correspond to the drugs, yet remain legal? As a...
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...and my athletic abilities. All my life, I grew up playing sports. My fondest memories were those long hours spent in the gym practicing my pull-up jumper in basketball or those sweat and tears left behind on the school track. I live for competition and know that health and nutrition in bodybuilding is vital. To be a winner, one must be the fastest, strongest, and most trained. Our bodies are our engines, and we must put the correct fuel in them to keep them going to work at their full potential. The three well-known, tested workout meal plans that I have researched are: Arnold Schwarzenegger, P90X, and Johnny Ahl’s plan. This paper seeks to explore what each bodybuilding meal plan entails and how these popular plans compare and contrast. I will begin with the history of bodybuilding and nutrition; then I will break down each meal plan one by one and compare the plans. The goal of this research will be to find out what it requires to gain lean muscle mass for strength and performance in sports. In fact the website, www.bodybuilding.com has 162 articles on how bodybuilding can improve sport performance in many different sports. Giving clear studies and research on how muscle strength and training play a significant role in the performance of the athlete. This research will provide guidance for all male bodybuilders and athletes between the ages 14-60 to help them reach their peak performance. The History of Bodybuilding: In the 1920’s and 1930’s, it was made clear that health...
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...opportunity, the United States of America. Arnold was born on July 30th, 1947 in the town of Thal, Austria and, from a young age, he took a keen interest in physical fitness and bodybuilding, going on to compete in several minor contests in Europe. However, it was when he emigrated to the United States in 1968 at the tender age of 21 that his star began to rise. Up until the early 1970's, bodybuilding had been viewed as a rather oddball sport, or even a mis-understood "freak show" by the general public, however two entrepreneurial Canadian brothers Ben Weider and Joe Weider set about broadening the appeal of "pumping iron" and getting the sport respect, and what better poster boy could they have to lead the charge, then the incredible "Austrian Oak", Arnold Schwarzenegger. Over roughly the next decade, beginning in 1970, Schwarzenegger dominated the sport of competitive bodybuilding winning five Mr. Universe titles and seven Mr. Olympia titles and, with it, he made himself a major sports icon, he generated a new international audience for bodybuilding, gym memberships worldwide swelled by the tens of thousands and the Weider sports business empire flourished beyond belief and reached out to all corners of the globe. However, Schwarzenegger's horizons were bigger than just the landscape of bodybuilding and he debuted on screen as "Arnold Strong" in the low budget Hercules in New York (1969),...
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...Most bodybuilders are in the sport to compete. They want to get on stage with their well formed muscles and win trophies and admiration for all their hard work and dedication. If you haven't yet reached a competing level yet, it's time to get started. Bodybuilding takes a long time to achieve. It takes hard work, dedication and self discipline. But it also requires a few body building sports supplements. Most of the bodybuilders you see on stage are using one or more body building sports supplements. They're using protein powders, creatine, multi vitamins, amino acids, fat burners and probably a number of others. Ask any bodybuilder what they're using to achieve such impressive physiques and you'll probably get a long list. Of course they are also getting their protein and other nutrients from massive amounts of food, but it's the body building sports supplements that pushes them above and beyond the competition. Health Food Stores Walk into any health food store and ask the clerk about body building sports supplements and you'll probably be faced with many options. If you're just starting out, be careful about loading up on body building sports supplements. When you're just starting out in bodybuilding, you...
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...Part 1 | Part 2 If drugs were to disappear from the bodybuilding scene, in what state would this leave the sport? How would the inevitable "down-sizing" of competitors' affect the marketability of what is essentially a pursuit of extremes? Competitors and the paying public alike have increasingly puzzled over this dilemma as the sport has evolved into a quest to out-size the next guy, an activity where winning at all costs has become the main aim. In fact, never in the history of sport in general and bodybuilding in particular has there been a more contentious issue: drug use among the elite. In many respects the lay public and, more disturbingly, the media, even tend to associate bodybuilding, and bodybuilders with drug use, like the two are somehow inextricably connected. The truth is, there are two definite camps on the issue: one that considers a drug-free approach the best option for all concerned, and those who support the individual's right to use every advantage to win. While some feel that a drug-free stance would sanitise the sport to where it is more publicly accepted, thus helping to remove the sideshow status it is often encumbered with, others feel any professional sport has its risks and that all advantages must be taken to win at the highest level. And although anabolic drugs such as anabolic/androgenic steroids, insulin and Human Growth Hormone do help the bodybuilder to achieve their full potential as athletes, reported drawbacks to the use of such...
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...Muscularity, Masculinity, and Adolescent Men The relationship between muscularity, masculinity and dominance, propagated by advertisements and mass media, gives adolescent men a negative body image discrepancy. Men’s self-esteem is often tied to this discrepancy between the ideal body image and how they view their own bodies. Adolescent men attempt to diminish the difference between the perceived ideal body and their own bodies by lifting weights and taking supplements. Unfortunately, as they build more muscle their ideal body becomes more muscular, instilling a cycle of constant low self-esteem in adolescent men. This cycle is based on problems and contradictions inherent in this traditional notion of masculinity. Muscular, powerful male bodies are assumed to be related to social power. This gives them a perceived dominance over smaller, weaker men. Men believe that they will gain more self-esteem as they become more muscular. When confidence and self-esteem are defined by body image, men will never be confident because their body never reaches what they perceive to be the ideal. White and Gillett point out the fallacy that social power is related to physical power, when in reality social power is more closely tied to economic and political structures (35). White and Gillett summarize Brod’s ideas about the two primary reasons that cause men to feel insecure about their masculinity. The first is that there is an increasing gap between the institutional and personal forms...
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...Personal Background 5 normal sider. Schwarzenegger was born in Thal, Austria, a town bordering the Styrian capital, Graz, and christened Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger. His parents were the local police chief Gustav Schwarzenegger (1907-1972), and his wife, the former Aurelia Jadrny (1922-1998). Arnold had a good relationship with his mother and kept in touch with her until her death. As a boy, Schwarzenegger played many sports, but discovered his passion for bodybuilding when in his mid-teens his soccer coach took the team for weight training. He attended a gym in Graz. Schwarzenegger served in the Austrian army in 1965, to fulfill the one-year service requirement expected at the time of all 18 year old Austrian males. During this year he sneaked off the base to compete in his first bodybuilding competition, the junior division of Mr. Europe, where he won first place. He was punished for sneaking off, but the respect he gained from his superiors was obvious. He made his first plane trip in 1966, attending the Mr. Universe competition being held in London. He arrived in England knowing little English. He came on second place in the competition, but won the title the next year, becoming the youngest ever Mr. Universe (at age 20). Schwarzenegger moved to the United States in September of 1968, with little money or knowledge of the English language, and trained at Gold's Gym in Santa Monica under the patronage of Joe Weider. It is here where Schwarzenegger became good friends with...
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...10/31/13 Mrs.Budd English 111 ANABOLIC STEROIDS IN SPORTS Sport: “An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment”.-websters dictionary. The new additive to this definition would be science. The new supplements we put forth today can push the human body to new physical strains, with the simple injection or consumption of steroids. Steroids a synthetic hormone developed by scientist’s to artificially enhance ones testosterone and protein synthesis. This superhuman creating compound can push the body past ones normal limits causing great strain on many athletes trying to stay clean of them in today’s world. These A.K Kitman. Pharmacology of anabolic steroids. 26 may 2008. . “Steroids can seem necessary to compete at the highest levels, and the quick rewards can outweigh the long term consequences to the user's health.”(-Howard Berman.) this quote by Howard Berman is as real as it gets in the world of sports as athletes are pushed to always be bigger and stronger than their opponents stopping at nothing to succeed. The quick effect of steroids is very appealing to the young and older athletes allowing them to turn into a form of super human. The effects of steroid use let the user workout, practice, and perform for longer durations without rest, allowing them to get the most bang for their buck. and in the competitive world of sports entertainment it is promoted by owners, and coaches...
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...If you are looking for ways to transform your body, then congratulations you have come to the right place! Bodybuilding is the only sport that can get your body tuned up by responding to progressive weight resistance training which leads to hypertrophy. Today however, bodybuilding has become an industry and sadly the beauty of it has transformed into the supplements that you take rather than the physical and mental preparation. If you google bodybuilding workout, you will get more than 25 million results! The sport of bodybuilding has never been more popular as athletes of all sports, movie stars, pop icons are amongst the most notable ambassadors of this sport. A simple walk to the nearest bookstore is enough to introduce you to the chiseled physiques staring at you from the shiny magazine covers, it is the rock and roll of the 21st century! With all that information in front of you it is very hard to find the right approach that is going to suit your lifestyle. Every magazine publishes hundreds of articles annually that contain “the secret” to big guns, to wider back, to chest like Arnold Schwarzenneger and etc. One thing that all those “secrets” have in common however is located at the back of the article. Once you are done with your mega boosting workout system, you need to fuel up your body. This is where companies promote their newest protein powders, BCAAs and only God knows what else. For the potential trainee, who has never stepped inside a gym and is looking for...
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...Bodybuilding Anaerobic Exercise & Respiration, Muscular Growth and Supplement Intake Ajay Sabhaney, Carlen Ng, Di Wu, Kelei Xu Bodybuilding Page 1 of 59 Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. The Body & Muscle Groups a. Muscle Growth b. Physical & Psychological Benefits of Exercising 3. Weight Training: Anaerobic Exercise Mechanics & Impact on Muscle Growth a. Energy Transformations During an Exercise b. Investigating Torque in Weight Training c. Muscles Acting as Levers d. Impulse in Weight Training e. Intensity versus Speed 4. Protein Supplementation a. Protein supplementation b. Combining Protein Supplementation 5. Cellular Respiration & Effect on Weight Training a. Glycolysis b. Aerobic Respiration c. Anaerobic Respiration (inc. lactic acid) d. Carbohydrate Loading 6. Creatine Supplementation a. An Introduction b. Lab: Effect of Phosphocreatine on Lactic Acid 7. Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids a. Reactions within the Body involving steroids b. Side Effects of Steroid Intake c. Detecting Steroids in the Human Body 8. Conclusion 9. Works Cited 10. Miscellaneous Bodybuilding Page 2 of 59 I. Introduction Exercise (essentially any form of physical exertion which results in the contraction of a muscle) has become a widespread interest over the past several years, especially in areas of weight training. While exercise is generally intended to promote good physical health, bodybuilding more specifically concentrates on building muscle mass and many individuals in society...
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...him to succeed in the field of bodybuilding, yet despite the prejudices of the time, Chris Dickerson has managed to establish itself as one of the most influential figures of muscle culture . HIS MOTHER, AN INSPIRING MODEL: Chris Dickerson was born on August 25, 1939, in the heart of Alabama, as an African-American parent. It comes at a time when segregation and racism towards African Americans is still alive today. After the economic crisis of 1929 and despite the New Deal, discrimination remains in terms of access to employment and the division of labor. With the advent of the Second World War, some African-Americans enlisted in the army to gain some economic security. But here...
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...Athletes take PED’s in hope that it will optimize their training and athletic performance. Athletes in today's society are far more aware of the drug use that takes place in competition than of the athletes of the 1950s (Use of Doping Agents, Particularly Anabolic Steroids, in Sports and Society,Sjöqvist). Much more information and research has been done so athletes are more knowledgeable than in the 50’s. Athletes today are the fastest and strongest they have ever been. Many elite athletes such as Lance Armstrong, seven time Tour De France Winner who was stripped of his title after admitting to drug use, justified their use of performance enhancing drugs by saying ,” By using, it just bought me to a level playing field with the rest of the cyclist.”. Harold Connolly, the 1956 Olympic hammer-throwing champion, testified, `The overwhelming majority of athletes I know would do anything, and take anything, short of killing themselves to improve athletic performance.'(Drug Use and Abuse in Sport,...
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...Having a presence on the internet as a YouTube video creator and as a rising natural bodybuilder, I am actively viewed and stereotyped by thousands of people on a daily basis. Many people are convinced that I took steroids or diuretics to get to the (far from amazing in my opinion) muscularity and conditioning that I displayed in many pictures I took in 2011. I am stereotyped as being obsessed about everything under the umbrella of bodybuilding, from food to training. I’ve learned that all of these stereotypes that I deal with online and offline help shape my identity, but fortunately in positive ways. “Roids!” That’s one of the most frequent words a successful bodybuilder hears. Why in the world would I want to be associated with taking steroids or any performance or cosmetic enhancing drugs? There’s something special about being a pure, 100% natural bodybuilder that differentiates it from being one of the big guys you’ve seen before in magazines. Not that I have anything against steroid users, but in terms of natural bodybuilding, there really is no deception; what you see is what you get. Being a lifetime natural bodybuilder, whenever I see the comment “Roids!” pop up on a video of mine or hear from a friend that so and so accused me of taking steroids, deep down I feel proud inside. To me, steroid accusations are...
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... Religious Features of Weightlifting Introduction Religion has evolved from a belief of a spiritual being. Many aspects of life and activities can be considered a religion depending on the context. Several sports, such as baseball and football, have been analyzed and identified as a religion. However, no research has yet to determine whether weightlifting can correspond as a religion. Through peer reviewed sources, fitness articles, a self case study and qualitative research, it is possible to identify the religiousness of weightlifting. Key Definitions of Religion Gautheir (2004) examined the factors that make a contemporary religion using raving as the subject. Raving focuses on meaning, intensity and community, with the usage of psychedelics a sense of collective euphoria is associated with the sacred experiences ravers feel making it like a religion (Gautheir, 2004). Blazer (2012) correlates sports and religion, stating that sports are considered a religion when the definitions are of: communities, creed, code and cultuses. Similarly, Woodhead (2011) offers a comprehensive definition of religion by breaking it down to five categories: culture, identity, relationship, practice and power. Both sports and religion have concerns, social systems, traditions, symbols and gather communities together (Stuhlsatz, 1994). Blazer's (2012) explanation of communities: as groups of people either formally or informally bound together by the creed...
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...train (the best championship), while bodybuilding and equipments does not exist at that time. This is a ESPN short documentary film as directed by Michael and Jeff Zimbalist, who helmed the excellent 2010 "30 for 30" doc feature "The Two Escobars." In other words, this feature story can be considered a human-interest type because it engaged in a viewer’s sympathy over another person’s real life problems. This piece started in chronological order like other short documentary. Rather than asking random questions, he was asked to explain, in details, how he pushed himself to the next level and to the point of being famous. Also, what did...
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