Since the 1960s, the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness holds the Mr. Olympia contest every year to determine the man with “best physique in the world”. In the 1970s, the Golden Era of bodybuilding, the best body was considered to have a perfect amount of mass, symmetry, aesthetics, and definition. Legendary bodybuilder Steve Reeves influenced these standards. Reeves trained his body so that every muscle was symmetrical and proportionate. His philosophy was that each thigh should measure half the length of the chest, arms and calves should equal in length, and the body should have a small as a waist as possible. At that time, bodybuilders could do a vacuum pose, sucking in their stomach to display a lean, muscular upper body with a small waist-line. Reeves’ philosophy also included an adequate amount of mass while maintaining a body fat percentage of less than ten percent.
Today, symmetry and aesthetics are not involved in determining the winner. Competitors for the Mr. Olympia title simply have as much body mass as possible, disregarding proportion and quality of muscles. Present-day bodybuilders have distended abdomens that make them appear like pregnant women with six-packs, yet are still garnering titles. The physiques today are judged on who has the most body mass. The principles that were laid down by men like Frank Zane and Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Golden Era are ignored. Bodybuilders build as much muscle mass as possible without striving to make their body proportionate and symmetrical. Drugs play a huge role in this new philosophy. Bodybuilding legend Arnold Schwarzenegger has stated that modern bodybuilding is out of control and change needs to take place. He compares the athletic, narrow-waisted, and v-shaped bodies of the past negatively to the bottle-shaped bodies of today. He thinks the physiques of competitors today “doesn’t look right anymore” (Schwarzenegger).
As the pharmaceutical world has evolved, so has bodybuilding drug abuse. Performance-enhancing drugs were not in use during Reeves’ reign, but bodybuilders in the Golden Era did use anabolic steroids. Anabolic steroids were used to put on mass, but proportion and symmetry was not forgotten. Steroids like testosterone were used to increase muscle protein synthesis and overall building mass. While steroids are helpful in building large amounts of mass, they do not distend the bodybuilder’s stomachs nor interfere with their lean amount of low-body fat. Drugs like insulin and human growth hormone were not in use as they are today.
The abuse of modern drugs like insulin and human growth hormone (HGH) has negatively affected modern bodybuilding. The use of insulin, HGH, and other legal and illegal drugs have ended the Golden Era of bodybuilding as the philosophy of Steve Reeves is no longer envisioned in today’s Mr. Olympia.
Bodybuilders are now taking stacks of various drugs. As the dose of anabolic steroids has increased, insulin and HGH have been included in these doping cycles. Bodybuilders inject insulin to increase the skeletal muscles’ absorption rate of protein and other nutrients. The more protein absorbed, the more muscle mass that is acquired. Insulin is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreas and is central to regulating carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body. It affects cells in the liver, skeleton, and muscles. Glucose is stored as glycogen and in fat cells (adipocytes) it is stored as triglycerides. Insulin stops the use of fat as an energy source by hampering the release of glucagon (Ensafi, 2). While using insulin for anabolic purposes successfully builds large amount of muscle mass, side effects become an issue.
Insulin abuse has negatively affected bodybuilding in causing these bodybuilders to develop bloated stomachs. King Kamali tells how this cause of insulin abuse affects bodybuilding and eliminates the more pleasing aesthetic physiques of the past: “Yes, they are bigger, but at what cost? They have lost their aesthetics along the way Not long after they started using insulin and the guts came along”(qtd. in Kennedy, 879). Insulin abuse increasing intra-abdominal fat has ruined the physiques of today. Abuse of insulin can lead to irregular sensitivity and resistance to insulin, leading to intra-abdominal fat. On the website Myhealthywaist.org, there is an explanation on how insulin abuse causes intra-abdominal fat:
“One of the major conditions caused by excess intra-abdominal adipose tissue is insulin resistance, defined as the inability of insulin to perform many of its major metabolic functions. Most evidence points to a cause-
and-effect relationship between excess intra-abdominal fat and insulin resistance, as well as between insulin resistance and the health complications associated with intra-abdominal obesity” (Glucose, 7).
Human growth hormone is another of the new drugs that attributes to the decline of bodybuilding and perhaps is perhaps the most detrimental. It is the primary hormone that regulates human growth and development during childhood and adolescence. The hormone HGH regulates the growth of bones development and maintains proper amounts of glucose in the blood. In adults, HGH lowers body fat keeping muscle mass. Abnormal amounts of HGH result in problems with muscle development and average growth. Because some bodybuilders believe the hormone increases the growth of muscle mass, abuse is of HGH is problem in sports (Human). Although HGH may help build muscle mass and maintain low body fat levels, side effects negatively affect bodybuilders physiques.
Human growth hormone affects the human body in ways that are unnatural and unhealthy. It maintains low body fat levels, but it also causes growth in the mid-section. When a competitor abuses HGH, muscle mass grows, but so does the size of internal organs. The swelling of the internal organs causes abnormal growth in the body’s core where the intestines are located. Abnormally high levels of HGH may cause internal organs to become too large which may lead to organ failure, atherosclerosis, diabetes, or hypertension. In addition, bones are encouraged by the hormone to grow at an accelerated rate. This unnatural rate of skeletal growth increases the possibility that injury can occur during physical activity (Growth).
The present-day bodybuilders have lost sight of the original intention of the sport and changes should take place. Competitors have distended stomachs and unappealing proportions. Although they now have more mass, they have cast aside the beautifully aesthetic physiques of the past and replaced it with disproportionate, bloated bodies. Change can only occur when the public demands a return to the healthy training practices of the past. Drug testing should be mandated at every competition and strict consequences enforced. Governmental regulation of the acquisition of legal and illegal drugs should be rigidly enforced. The Golden Era of bodybuilding should be remembered to promote change in the sport today.
Works Cited
Ensafi, Ali Asghar, et al. "A supported liquid membrane for microextraction of insulin, and its
determination with a pencil graphite electrode modified with RuO2-graphene oxide."
Microchimica Acta (2015): 1-9.
Arnold Schwarzenegger Criticize Today's Bodybuilding - Arnold Classic 2015. Perf. Arnold
Schwarzenegger. Youtube. REALITY FILM & TV, 11 Mar. 2015. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnpt7han0SE>.
Kennedy, Robert. Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding: The Complete A-Z Book on Muscle Building.
Mississauga, ON: R. Kennedy Pub., 2008. Print.
"Glucose/Insulin Homeostasis." Myhealthywaist.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.myhealthywaist.org/the-concept-of-cmr/intra-abdominal-adipose-tissue-the-
culprit/complications-of-intra-abdominal-obesity/glucoseinsulin-
homeostasis/page/7/index.html>.
"Human Growth Hormone." Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia (2014): 1p. 1. Funk &
"Growth Hormone Side Effects | MD-Health.com." Growth Hormone Side Effects | MD-
Health.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2015. <http://www.md-health.com/Growth-Hormone-Side-Effects.html>.
