Looking Healthy vs Being Healthy

[Ibarramedia]

Over the weekend I stumbled upon a blog by Figure competitor Kari Keenan that discussed Looking healthy vs being healthy. I thought that this was a very good answer to questions a female bodybuilder or her significant other or admirer might encounter regarding their looks and FBB competitions. With her permission, I'm posting this so that other people can be better informed about the differences between the two states of being.

When I was a little boy, I often wondered how they got that way and if the look was permananent after training so hard to build muscle. They looked like superheroes to me back then with all that muscle.



Friday, May 21, 2010

Looking Healthy vs Being Healthy



I read a blog the other day that discussed the gap between BEING healthy and LOOKING healthy. These two things are NOT the same, yet so many people confuse them and link them together.

So let me set the record straight. When fitness, figure, and bodybuilding competitors are standing on stage, they're very unhealthy at that point. They're at an unnaturally lean body composition, they're starving, and they're dehydrated. And yes, many are pumped full of illegal (in the U.S.) substances.

Sure, their muscles are bulging and their skin looks tan, both of which are considered "healthy" things. But the reasons their muscles are bulging is not because they're "healthy"; it's because they starved themselves to an unhealthy lean body mass, depleted their bodies of essential nutrients, and dehydrated themselves either through natural (sodium, water) manipulation or unnatural (prescription diuretics) means. Their skin is tan because they're wearing paint the color of a dark tan. Yes - it's just paint. Applied with either an actual foam paint brush or a soft car wax-type applicator. The paint either stains the skin like a dye, or soaks in like a protective coating, clogging the pores and sweat glands, and staining clothes. Still think these competitors are "healthy"?

My tan of choice: Jan Tana

Now let's talk about how they feel while preparing for a show.

Contest prep can be very stressful and exhausting. It requires 100% consistency, dedication, and focus. And at times can seem to overtake everything else in one's life. It can become all-consuming. Life is an endless cycle of cardio, meal, train, meal, sleep ... lather, rinse, repeat. Time is spent shopping for food, cooking food, preparing food, measureing food, packing food, eating food, and thinking about food. In between all that, time is spent planning cardio, training, and meal times.

It's a very structured, disciplined, regimented existence. There's very little variety in anything. And everything has a purpose. Every exercise, cardio session, and movement is done for a specific reason; no movements are wasted, as anything more than a necessary movement requires energy the competitor doesn't have to spare. How is that healthy?

What about a social life? Competitors respond, "What's a social life?" What about holidays? Competitors respond, "What's a holiday? That's no excuse to miss a workout, cardio session, or meal. It's no excuse to not follow the diet." What about travel and vacations? Competitors respond, "I pack all my food and bring my cooler with me."

I have one just like this, but in Pink!

The week of the show ...

Competitors have very little energy, and do as little as possible the week of the show. Many take time off work a couple days before the show because they can't think straight. Others try to lighten their workload until they return from the show. For many, the diet changes the last week. Some introduce new food that hasn't been in the diet at all up until this point: pancakes, candy, jelly, burgers, soda, chocolate. Healthy food? I think not!

Common "carb up" food

The day of the show ...

Almost every competitor I've talked to (including me) doesn't sleep well the night before a show, and they're up at the crack of dawn, putting on that last coat of paint, or eating food to "carb up." Many shows begin at 9 am, with check-in at 8 am. Competitors need to be ready to go and at the venue before then. At this point, most competitors have stopped drinking water or have drastically reduced their intake to a small percentage of what they normally drink. Most are hungry, tired, and thirsty. It's very common to have at least one competitor cramp up at some point during the day, and some are light-headed from lack of nutrients and electrolyte imbalance.

There are 2 parts to a show: Pre-judging and the Evening show. It's rare for the Evening show to end earlier than 10 pm, which makes for a very long day for competitors. After the show, gluttony is the name of the game! Since they've been deprived of so many foods for so long, competitors are well known to eat after the show until they can't move. And they're not just eating healthy food - they're eating whatever the heck they want to eat!!

Jerry enjoying calamari after the Lehigh Valley show

So tell me again how similar LOOKING and actually BEING healthy really are! I'll be the first to admit that competitive bodybuilding is not a healthy sport. It's an extreme sport, and just like any other extreme sport, it has its health risks. Do you really think Lance Armstrong is completely healthy? What about marathon runners? Any form of extreme sports comes with its share of unhealthy qualities.

So while physique competitors may LOOK healthy during contest prep, most are actually much healthier when they're in the off-season. Their diets are more well-rounded, they're not overtrained, and they have more balance in their lives. No, they're not going to look as lean, but they're look more "normal." And to me, actually BEING healthy is much more beautiful than just LOOKING healthy.


http://figuregirlworld.blogspot.com/...g-healthy.html

[HammerStrength12]

I can't get to the link for some reason. Is this the same girl that was in Bigger, Stronger, Faster?

[Ibarramedia]

The link works for me. I doubt she was in bigger, stronger,faster. She is a member here. Try this main one instead.

http://figuregirlworld.blogspot.com/

[tight booty]

Very spot on!

[Suzanne]

well may be her view but not how my prep goes

i have plenty of energy to do other things sure i get tired but hell i get tired of season too

don't cut out water

don't do crazy low cals sure they get low but towards the end certainly not for the entire prep

i still socialize sure i eat my food but who cares i am still social and go out places with friends and family

eat much healthier than 95% of the people if i wasn't doing this i would probably never eat a vegetable lol

and whenever i go to Dr i am the specimen of health aside from some nagging tendinitis

certainly more healthy than when i was severely overweight and smoked but that seems to be acceptable

[sassy69]

well may be her view but not how my prep goes

i have plenty of energy to do other things sure i get tired but hell i get tired of season too

don't cut out water

don't do crazy low cals sure they get low but towards the end certainly not for the entire prep

i still socialize sure i eat my food but who cares i am still social and go out places with friends and family

eat much healthier than 95% of the people if i wasn't doing this i would probably never eat a vegetable lol

and whenever i go to Dr i am the specimen of health aside from some nagging tendinitis

certainly more healthy than when i was severely overweight and smoked but that seems to be acceptable

There's a lot to be said about learning how to dial yourself in with enough time so you're not doing some crazy dramatic changes to get on stage. The last week of prep is all about short term water manipulation. This is a sport (ok we can argue that) but its a short term. Boxers do crazy water depletion to make weight, other sports have other extremes to hit the competition date. Its definitely not for the less-than-dedicated.

The foundation of comepetition is the lifestyle. And yes... to the rest of the world it looks "unhealthy", but when you look at what people consider "normal"... "normal" is pretty fuckin' unhealthy. If you look at the stress people put their bodies thru for years of their lives, how can you tell me that a week of more extreme cutting is any more unhealthy than 40 yrs of obesity, alcoholism or smoking?

[Ibarramedia]

In the US boxers do anything to rig the water out of their system until the weigh in which is more than 24 hours before the fight. (mid afternoon Friday beofre the fight on a Saturday night at 1:30 or 11:00) After the weigh in, they can rehydrate up to 10-15 pounds over. Very few were reportedly able to put 20 pound more overnight! And these few guys are guys that are too big to be fighting in thst weight division.

Not so in Canada because the weigh in is on the day of the fight. Like hours before. So not much of a rehydration factor compared to the US. Anyway the main idea in the post was the difference between contest condition and offseason condition.

I'm no expert here as I never ever prepared for a bodybuilding competition but I've been here and in other forums long enough to know that you are indeed at your weakest during contest time, hence the long drawn out faces. As opposed to the offseason where you are bulking up to build more size. Of course you lose some definition and striations too.

[JAM]

Is this supposed to be shocking news. I thought it was pretty much a given that if you want to look absolutely freakishly shredded and in shape you will probably feel like shit and suffer and sacrifice for it to extreme measures. That is why bodybuilding is an extreme sport. It's definitely not for everyone(Not being a gym rat or fitness buff, I'm talking full on bodybuilding).
So ya, whenever you have to deplete your fat reserves, use extreme dieting techniques and strategies and then purposely dehydrate yourself all in an effort to peak for one moment at a single time on a single day...you're not going to be the epitome of health. But then again, it is only for one moment on one day. It's not like these people walk around in this condition on a daily basis. So while at that moment they might not be up to par as far as health goes they are generally healthy people. Ibarramedia makes it sound like you have to choose one or the other. Be healthy or be in condition for a show. Its just not that black and white.

[Ibarramedia]

Is this supposed to be shocking news. I thought it was pretty much a given that if you want to look absolutely freakishly shredded and in shape you will probably feel like shit and suffer and sacrifice for it to extreme measures. That is why bodybuilding is an extreme sport. It's definitely not for everyone(Not being a gym rat or fitness buff, I'm talking full on bodybuilding).
So ya, whenever you have to deplete your fat reserves, use extreme dieting techniques and strategies and then purposely dehydrate yourself all in an effort to peak for one moment at a single time on a single day...you're not going to be the epitome of health. But then again, it is only for one moment on one day. It's not like these people walk around in this condition on a daily basis. So while at that moment they might not be up to par as far as health goes they are generally healthy people. Ibarramedia makes it sound like you have to choose one or the other. Be healthy or be in condition for a show. Its just not that black and white.

I don't make it sound like you have to choose one way or the other. Just merely saying that what you see onstage is not what it really looks like. To people who don't follow bodybuilding, they will think that all bodybuilders look like that everyday. That simply is not the case. And that is what Kari was saying in her post that I read. She was talking about the condition they are in the day of the show, that very moment onstage. I know as far as health goes, they are generally healthy people.

[babytatten]

I don't make it sound like you have to choose one way or the other. Just merely saying that what you see onstage is not what it really looks like. To people who don't follow bodybuilding, they will think that all bodybuilders look like that everyday. That simply is not the case. And that is what Kari was saying in her post that I read. She was talking about the condition they are in the day of the show, that very moment onstage. I know as far as health goes, they are generally healthy people.

Thanks for posting this on here, Ibarramedia!

Your words are exactly what I was getting at when I posted this. No, it's not supposed to be shocking news at all; anyone who competes knows this stuff. But I get a lot of questions from non-competitors about competing and health, so I thought I'd give my perspective on it.

Interestingly enough, after my boyfriend read the post, he pointed out that I was probably at my healthiest the day BEFORE the show because I still had some energy, I was still drinking lots of water, and I had no sugar or artificial flavorings in my body.

I agree that the bb lifestyle (except for the time on stage) is actually relatively healthy. We eat healthy food, we don't dump alcohol into our systems, and we exercise. When we compete, though, we take things to an extreme, just like any other extreme sport.

[HammerStrength12]

The link works for me. I doubt she was in bigger, stronger,faster. She is a member here. Try this main one instead.

http://figuregirlworld.blogspot.com/

There was a girl in the movie that talked about the same thing. I guess its not her though

[sassy69]

I find it fascinating that people think you're a complete aberration if you eat a clean diet that doesn't involve going out all the time, drinking, eating shit, etc. and then ask if its healthy - when you look at what THEY do and don't think twice about. It really illustrates what people consider "normal" just because the rest of the world does it. Like - its "great" if someone goes on The Biggest Loser and drops 150 lb in 4 months but if you follow a structured lifestyle, you're a complete freak. People don't realize just how important the LIFESTYLE is and how well your body responds to LIFESTYLE vs these extreme and dramatic diets that people do with ridiculous expectations - OMG I NEED TO LOSE 40 LB NOW BEFORE SUMMER! WHAT PILL CAN I TAKE? But no, I don't have time to prepare clean foods and I don't want to have to eat unless it looks really good w/ extra butter on it.

[babytatten]

I find it fascinating that people think you're a complete aberration if you eat a clean diet that doesn't involve going out all the time, drinking, eating shit, etc. and then ask if its healthy - when you look at what THEY do and don't think twice about. It really illustrates what people consider "normal" just because the rest of the world does it. Like - its "great" if someone goes on The Biggest Loser and drops 150 lb in 4 months but if you follow a structured lifestyle, you're a complete freak. People don't realize just how important the LIFESTYLE is and how well your body responds to LIFESTYLE vs these extreme and dramatic diets that people do with ridiculous expectations - OMG I NEED TO LOSE 40 LB NOW BEFORE SUMMER! WHAT PILL CAN I TAKE? But no, I don't have time to prepare clean foods and I don't want to have to eat unless it looks really good w/ extra butter on it.

LOL Soooo true! I just had a co-worker tell me [in a hushed and guilty voice] that she and another lady were talking about <gasp> bacon! Then she went on to say, "I really shouldn't be talking about bacon in front of you!" Wha?? Apparently people feel guilty talking about food in front of me ... maybe because to them my lifestyle represents their conscience??

[HammerStrength12]

severely overweight and smoked but that seems to be acceptable

Smoking's definitely not acceptable in today's world, smokers are far more heavily criticized than bodybuilders/marathon runners/extreme sports people.

The health risks of being overweight are constantly brought up on the news, tv shows, magazines, etc...

I consider myself healthy - I'd probably be "healthier" if I didn't eat 7,000 calories a day (even thought its all clean), pull 1 rep maxes in the squat and deadlift every month. etc.. But w/e, it's what I like to do. Back at school, other guys would always come up to me in the gym and compliment my build, and level of health and fitness. No way they'd ever say that to someone whos fat and smokes.

[~gymdiva~]

depends on where you live on that smoking perception....NC? totally acceptable here in the tobacco state


my lifting and diet? totally criticized, scrutinized, and admired....go figure, eh?