Body Builder Vs. Gymnast..... Interesting!

[MelodicMetalGod]

lol yea sorry I get my panties in a knot over that sometimes cause most ppl just have no earthly idea how hard body builders work to look the way they do and ppl seem to undermine their strength too but yea ur right different disciples I agree.

I don't agree that they engage in unhealthy practices. in fact, anyone who sees a body builder thinks anything but someone thats UNHEALTHY. sure, they engage in extreme diets pre contest but thats only for a few weeks then its back to extremely healthy dieting with tons of protein, carbs and very little fat and tons of vitamins.

ppl seem to believe that a pro body builder looks the way he does cause he's using steroids lol. let me reassure you that EVERY pro body builder is an absolute freak of nature who wud be VERY big and strong without the use of steroids. there are hundreds of thousands of ppl around the world that body build but you only see maybe 10 on stage for the mr. olympia contest.

anyone wanting to compete in pro body building at that level uses steroids but so do hundreds of thousands of others so why don't you see them on stage competing? cause they don't have the genes that the pros have. same with just about any pro sport only 1% make it to the pros but many others are tryn tho...

there is nothing unhealthy about steroids. testosterone is the main component and its a naturally occurring substance in ur body. ever see the commercials for low T? yea cause men lose their test as they age and replace it with prescribed test. they never let their bodies starve of test. yes of course they do other drugs too such as HGH but HGH is considered the holy grail and helps fight disease, aging, repairs tissues, improves skin, etc....

look at sly stallone. he is a heavy user of HGH and steroids and admits it. do u think he looks unhealthy or is unhealthy? he looks like he 25 yrs old. well, his body at least does.

look at any pro body builder. do they look unhealthy to you? they look anything but which is why they are professional BODY BUILDERS. yes making their bodies strong as hell while trying to have as little fat (very bad for you remember) and as little water retention as possible.

people break balls about body builders using illegal drugs but the fact is EVERY professional sport has athletes using steroids and have since the 50's. ppl even make a huge deal out of cyclists using steroids or other enhancing drugs but when was the last time you heard anyone criticize the sport of Football for using steroids? pretty much never.

Apology accepted.

Now, as part of a constructive discussion regarding athletics and health:

Bodybuilding and health:
1) First off, I hope we can agree there are two approaches. The first would be with a focus on health with looks taking the number two spot. The second approach would be the reverse...looks at all costs, including any and all health risks.
2) For that second group, I think we can assume that it includes most professionals. After all, how can one compete naturally against an enhanced competitor? While there may be exceptions, they will be few and far between and the overall field will generally phase to mostly enhanced competitors as the enhancements yield more sport specific benefit from the same work.
3) As for bodybuilding with the aid of enhancements (steroids, HGH, stimulants, etc.), there is little dispute that the sport specific benefits are accompanied by equal or greater health risks. Just search "steroid risks" for a multitude of credible information. As an example, here's an article from MayoClinic.org that presents more than a few serious health concerns related to athletic performance enhancing chemistry, including steroids:

Performance-enhancing drugs: Know the risks

3a) Here's another article, from the NYTimes, that makes it pretty clear that there is no disputing the risks associated with steroid use.

Bodybuilders See Kidney Damage With Steroids

4) Even without use of performance enhancing drugs, high level bodybuilders engage in many unhealthy or, at the very least, risky practices in terms of their overall health. Consider this statement, but a former pro, from the NYTimes article above:

"Lifting weights in the gym is “extremely healthy for you,â€￾ said Kenneth Wheeler, a former elite bodybuilder known as Flex. “But if you want to be a bodybuilder and compete at the highest level, it has nothing to do with health.â€￾

5) Further reading on unhealthy habits adopted by bodybuilders at all levels. Those habits include under eating, eating TOO much protein, dehydrating, overtraining, and more. Even tanning is critical to competing and EVERYONE, I hope, knows that tanning is all about looks and has nothing to do with health.

Top 10 Dangerous Bodybuilding Habits


You suggest that looking at bodybuilders or Stallone is an indication that bodybuilding is healthy because these individuals look "healthy". But that makes the point in spades, which is that bodybuilding is all about the look, regardless of the actual underlying health. Can bodybuilding be done in a healthy way? Yes, to a degree. But at the professional level, there is little argument that health takes a back seat to the look. After all, it's the look that wins, not the health.

Arguing that practices like dehydrating, under-eating, etc. are not unhealthy is, at the very least, debatable. However, stating that "there is nothing unhealthy about steroids" as they are used in professional sports is to ignore an already massive and ever-growing body of evidence to the contrary. Can one "get away" with taking steroids? Sure. But that doesn't mean that the risk isn't there and that the risk isn't HUGE compared to the reward. The following article from WebMD addresses this sentiment as being similar to Russian Roulette. Just b/c you didn't get shot this round doesn't mean that the game is safe. I think the closing quote, from an actual doctor, from the article makes the point pretty clear:

"There are a lot of side effects of steroids," Mautner tells WebMD. "They are not good for you. It is like Russian roulette. Five people may take them and have no long-term problem. The sixth may end up dead."

Perhaps the bodybuilding community has collectively chosen to rationalize that performance enhancing drugs are somehow healthy. But there has been little, if any, debate in the medical community for quite some time: "Steroids are not good for you."


PS: The fact that performance enhancing drugs are prevalent in one sport or another is an aside and has no bearing on the health risks associated with these drugs. It merely supports the fact that athletes of all disciplines can be persuaded to risk their overall health for the sake of a competitive edge.

 

[TallTom]

Apology accepted.

Now, as part of a constructive discussion regarding athletics and health:

Bodybuilding and health:
1) First off, I hope we can agree there are two approaches. The first would be with a focus on health with looks taking the number two spot. The second approach would be the reverse...looks at all costs, including any and all health risks.
2) For that second group, I think we can assume that it includes most professionals. After all, how can one compete naturally against an enhanced competitor? While there may be exceptions, they will be few and far between and the overall field will generally phase to mostly enhanced competitors as the enhancements yield more sport specific benefit from the same work.
3) As for bodybuilding with the aid of enhancements (steroids, HGH, stimulants, etc.), there is little dispute that the sport specific benefits are accompanied by equal or greater health risks. Just search "steroid risks" for a multitude of credible information. As an example, here's an article from MayoClinic.org that presents more than a few serious health concerns related to athletic performance enhancing chemistry, including steroids:

Performance-enhancing drugs: Know the risks

3a) Here's another article, from the NYTimes, that makes it pretty clear that there is no disputing the risks associated with steroid use.

Bodybuilders See Kidney Damage With Steroids

4) Even without use of performance enhancing drugs, high level bodybuilders engage in many unhealthy or, at the very least, risky practices in terms of their overall health. Consider this statement, but a former pro, from the NYTimes article above:

"Lifting weights in the gym is “extremely healthy for you,” said Kenneth Wheeler, a former elite bodybuilder known as Flex. “But if you want to be a bodybuilder and compete at the highest level, it has nothing to do with health.”

5) Further reading on unhealthy habits adopted by bodybuilders at all levels. Those habits include under eating, eating TOO much protein, dehydrating, overtraining, and more. Even tanning is critical to competing and EVERYONE, I hope, knows that tanning is all about looks and has nothing to do with health.

Top 10 Dangerous Bodybuilding Habits


You suggest that looking at bodybuilders or Stallone is an indication that bodybuilding is healthy because these individuals look "healthy". But that makes the point in spades, which is that bodybuilding is all about the look, regardless of the actual underlying health. Can bodybuilding be done in a healthy way? Yes, to a degree. But at the professional level, there is little argument that health takes a back seat to the look. After all, it's the look that wins, not the health.

Arguing that practices like dehydrating, under-eating, etc. are not unhealthy is, at the very least, debatable. However, stating that "there is nothing unhealthy about steroids" as they are used in professional sports is to ignore an already massive and ever-growing body of evidence to the contrary. Can one "get away" with taking steroids? Sure. But that doesn't mean that the risk isn't there and that the risk isn't HUGE compared to the reward. The following article from WebMD addresses this sentiment as being similar to Russian Roulette. Just b/c you didn't get shot this round doesn't mean that the game is safe. I think the closing quote, from an actual doctor, from the article makes the point pretty clear:

"There are a lot of side effects of steroids," Mautner tells WebMD. "They are not good for you. It is like Russian roulette. Five people may take them and have no long-term problem. The sixth may end up dead."

Perhaps the bodybuilding community has collectively chosen to rationalize that performance enhancing drugs are somehow healthy. But there has been little, if any, debate in the medical community for quite some time: "Steroids are not good for you."


PS: The fact that performance enhancing drugs are prevalent in one sport or another is an aside and has no bearing on the health risks associated with these drugs. It merely supports the fact that athletes of all disciplines can be persuaded to risk their overall health for the sake of a competitive edge.

While I applaud your efforts, it's all been said before. Those that support the use of steroids, including huge amounts of naturally occurring ones, will simply tell you that none of these sources know what they are talking about. The best thing we can do is let them do is use them, and hope they don't kill anyone else in the steroid driven tempers that are also side effects of their excess use.