Bodybuilding isn’t a display of discipline in the gym, or superior work ethic, or good program design, or superior genetics. It’s mostly a display of access to and willingness to take drugs of all kinds.
To get anywhere in bodybuilding some combination of the following types of drugs will commonly be used.
Testosterone and its derivatives (both oral and injectable)
Diuretics (both oral and injectable)
Insulin
Growth Hormone
Stimulants (ranging from ephedrine, to thyroid hormone and even cocaine)
Given this background of drug use there is little practical advice you can take from bodybuilding circles that will apply to your training and fitness goals.
And don’t kid yourself, many ‘fitness models’ are also using some combination of these drugs as well.
Bodybuilders represent the most exrteme case and most people don’t want to go as far as they do. However they represent what is possible and thus present a choice of what people could have if they wanted it.
A continuum of potential body shape and size is created. The far left is defined by no workouts and no attention to calorie intake (average couch potato), the far right is defined by massive drug use and rigorous attention to diet detail (high level bodybuilder)
The rest of us are somewhere between these two extremes. All you have to do is choose how far along the spectrum you want to go to get the look you are after.
John
