December 15, 2005

Boobs and Bellies

First of all, I want to welcome my Western colleague, photographer David Ford, on board. I would also like to thank David for his flattering comments about my coverage of bodybuilding over the years. It is always encouraging to hear words of praise from my peers in the industry.

I admit that I have been very lucky and feel blessed for the recognition I have enjoyed in this sport for so many years. The real truth is, when I was back in school many years ago, I did very poorly in English. I struggled just to put a sentence together. In fact, when I wrote my first report for MuscleMag on the 1978 Canadian Bodybuilding Championships, it became a difficult challenge as I stumbled from sentence to sentence. My grammar, spelling, and sentence structure were pitiful! So how did this nearly illiterate lad from the backwoods of New Brunswick manage to get so far in the bodybuilding world? Good question, but I guess it all comes down to ambition, love of bodybuilding, forged friendships, and a lot of luck at the right time.

As a skinny kid, I literally worshiped big muscles. I got hooked on working out when I was 15 and seeing my muscles grow was like a drug. I became addicted, and bodybuilding was all I thought about (with the exception of girls, of course), even to the detriment of my schoolwork (which might explain my problem with English). I literally devoured everything I could get my hands on that dealt with bodybuilding. The magazines were my escape into another world far removed from my normal day-to-day existence in rural New Brunswick. So, armed with a vivid imagination and a love for bodybuilding, I persevered and worked hard at learning photography and expressing myself on paper. Of course, as luck would have it, I came into contact with MuscleMag publisher Robert Kennedy, and General Secretary of the IFBB, Winston Roberts. Both shared my passion for bodybuilding and I was fortunate enough to develop a close friendship with them. Winston got me into many of the early contests, and Bob gave me a huge break in MuscleMag with "Canadian Corner," and the rest is history.

So what have I learned in almost 30 years of covering the scene? Well, I would like to think that I am now wiser and more tolerant of the oddities I see in the sport. Unfortunately, that is not the case as I have become disgusted with at all the stupidity I see out there. I doubt very much that I am getting smarter, which means that a lot of competitive athletes must be getting stupider! In fact, I am starting to believe that very little about the competitive aspect of the sport makes sense anymore. Back in the ‘70s, we took up bodybuilding to look better and improve our health. I fear that is not the case today, as looking good and health-building are far from what motivates the majority of bodybuilders. Yes, there are still some incredible athletes out there, as evidenced by recent winners, but for every good one there are several who take chances with their health, doing stupid things that defy commonsense and the imagination.

What do I think of the current scene after all these years? Well, honestly, I feel that there are certain factions of the present generation that have gone insane. They want to get bigger and bigger at the expense of everything else. There is definitely a huge number of the population that worships the "bigger the better" syndrome! I am beginning to believe that the word "quality" has been stricken from the bodybuilding dictionary. This was evidenced at this year’s Canadian BodyBuilding Championships in Laval, Quebec, where I witnessed some bizarre interpretations of what a good physique should look like. Unfortunately, it failed to include symmetry, proportion, aesthetics, and balance!

I don’t like picking on the women, but what is their motivation to get breast implants that are so large that they often look ridiculous? It’s not just isolated to rare individuals; a lot of these gals sport huge, bulging oversized breast implants. Often the implants are the biggest part of their physique! I may be just an old fuddy-duddy, but I personally feel that otherwise excellent physiques are ruined by these large silicone appendages. I have nothing against a lady improving her physical appearance with implants, but for God’s sake, keep them in proportion with the rest of the physique. Quite simply, if they are obviously noticeable, then they're too big.

Women’s bodybuilding should be about increasing the muscular beauty of the female form, where each muscle is developed to its full potential, keeping symmetry and proportion as a guide. Often, in an effort to balance the implants, these desperate athletes develop huge, bulging, drug-induced muscles which only appeal to a small, isolated fan base. I have heard many female bodybuilders whine and complain in disgust at not getting any publicity and not being on the covers of the magazines. Hello! Publishing companies are not going to give you publicity if you can’t help them sell their magazines. Fortunately, the public is not buying the freaky, excessively muscular look. This is why women’s bodybuilding is now under siege. Don’t take my word for it, just look at the current struggles that women’s pro bodybuilding is going through. Unless there are some serious changes, we could see the end of women’s professional competitions soon.

In fairness to the women, there are also huge problems with the men as well. At this year’s Canadian Championships, I heard horror stories of amateur athletes taking mortgages on their homes to buy bodybuilding drugs. These misguided individuals spend thousands of dollars on whatever drugs some Internet guru or self-proclaimed expert preaches that they should take, thinking that it will make them a champion. Now does this make sense? Not to me! When are these desperate individuals going to learn that it doesn’t matter what junk you shove into your body, you can’t alter genetics or buy the kind of muscle development that wins contests? They seem to think that if "so and so" takes this much growth hormone stacked with the latest designer steroid and they take the same amount, they will look just like him. Guys, wake up, and use some commonsense before you kill yourself!

I see guys at the Canadian Championships coming in juiced to the gills, sporting huge distended bellies and moving up in weight classes only to place lower than they did the year before in a lighter weight class. Unless the weight you gain improves your overall shape, muscularity, and symmetry, you are wasting your time, money, and health. All that extra food you ate and drugs you injected were a waste.

I have even seen natural guys with pristine conditioning decide to hit the juice, adding noticeable size but with no improvement to their overall symmetry. Yes, they gained muscle, but at the expense of muscularity. Make no mistake; using the juice properly requires a great deal of self-knowledge and expertise in exactly how your body will respond. You are dealing with a scientific product – that is, if the stuff you are using is actually even real. If you don’t know what you are doing, it’s just as if you were taking a gun to your head and pulling the trigger. Dying from an insulin-induced comma is not my way of going out. Do you think your parents, loved ones, and friends will comment on how good you look in your burial suit?

The competitive scene is currently like an old, lawless Wild West town, where anything goes. There’s absolutely no control or discipline over which drugs and how much of them you should use. I fear that if the insanity continues, we will see more and more guys end up in a pine box. The truth is, some already have. Let’s start changing that!

...Garry Bartlett
garryb@seriousaboutmuscle.com

SeriousAboutMuscle.com contributor Garry Bartlett is the leading authority on Canadian bodybuilding, fitness and figure. Garry's "Canadian Corner" column has appeared in MuscleMag for over 25 years and has provided an unsurpassed level of exposure and publicity for Canadian bodybuilding, fitness and figure enthusiasts.