|
|
|
Written by Craig Titus
|
|
Wednesday, 25 April 2007 |
|
Page 1 of 2 Dear Craig, I heard that all the female athletes in our sport (bodybuilders, fitness, figure) are now required to decrease their muscularity by twenty percent. What the hell gives? I've always liked the muscular chicks. Shouldn't the athletes be allowed to make their own choices about their appearance? Isn't this the heart of bodybuilding?
First of all, they're focusing mainly on the fitness and figure girls. I watched in disbelief as Kelly got hammered in the physique rounds by women who looked like they should have been competing against Iris Kyle and Lenda Murray. Look at Jen Hendershot! She looks exactly like Lenda and Iris. The message that's being sent at these contests is completely wrong. I mean, the girls have huge capped delts, striated legs, and very masculine faces.
So now they want to decrease the muscularity of these women. What they really mean is that they want everyone to come in looking the way Kelly did. She presented exactly what the judges requested and look at the reward she got. She's got the perfect package: petite and tight. If you take photos from the Fitness Olympia and cut off the heads, you'd swear you were looking at the Ms. Olympia lineup.
Check out the poll on bodybuilding.com. There were 825 votes for Kelly to have placed higher, and nearly 500 saying that she should have won. Female fitness athletes should not display such extreme muscularity. A tight, healthy, toned body is the ideal standard. Kelly epitomized this standard at both the Arnold and the Olympia and got penalized for it. The judges need to stick to their own agenda.
DO A BIG ASS GUT SOME GOOD
I'm 26, 5'9", and weigh about 300 pounds with a big ass gut. If I do cardio every day with situps three times a week, will my stomach get hard and not lose the fat, or will it slim down? A lot of people have told me I should lose the weight before I work on my gut.
I absolutely believe you should do situps at least two to three times a week, along with your cardio. When you eventually strip the fat off, you'll have muscular abs underneath. Without the ab work, you may have a smaller gut, but it will be soft. Cardio will strip the fat away, but it won't give you a six-pack. Only direct ab work can do that. Having said that, let me remind you that thousands of sit-ups will not burn fat off your midsection. Spot reducing is a myth. Cardio will burn the calories. The combination of cardio and diet are the best ways to rid the entire body of fat. Then the ab exercises will tone and develop the muscles so you can show them off properly.
IS THIS CRAP THE REAL THING
Craig, I'll ask you because you're the only one who won't bullshit us. Are we wasting our time with the new pro hormones like M1T and so forth? Should we stack up before the ban? Or should we save up for a good mail order? What do the professionals (you) say about the stuff when nobody's watching?
Truth be told, I have never used the pro hormones. In the past I used some of the andro poppers that Pinnacle has made. They were very effective but are no longer available on the market. I've never even heard of the one you mentioned, so I have no clue. I'm not sure when the ban will go into effect either. Be very careful if you're thinking of mail ordering athletic enhancement drugs. The Victor Conte BALCO scandal hit the airways on 20/20 recently. Believe me, there will be a crackdown on sports technology. Don't be one of the poor bastards getting caught in the web.
BIG TIME SNITCH
Craig, holy shit! You're not going to believe what I just saw. On 20/20, that same dude who interviewed Michael Jackson just interviewed Victor Conte of BALCO Labs. I saw pictures of Ronnie Coleman, Milos, and other bodybuilders in this huge ass steroid expose. Victor was sitting there giving the whole steroid cycles of all these top athletes, including Marian Jones (allegedly). He was naming stacks that I already knew. I was baffled as to why he was doing this. Isn't he afraid of getting his ass shot to pieces?
Victor Conte came out cuz he had nothing to lose. He's letting everyone know that this has been going on for the last forty years. The media and the powers that be are acting like it's a huge, underground secret. Who are they trying to kid? They've known about the rampant drug use in baseball, football, track and field, and all the other sports. After a few celebrity names got caught, they're like, ‘Omigod! Where did this come from?' Give us a break!
People are playing stupid, but this has been happening since day one. Anytime an elite athlete is trying to break a world record, don't you think they'd do whatever it takes? Look at Kelly White. She set world records and got two gold medals. Then she tested positive for EPO and other substances and got stripped. But then the second place winner tested positive, too. In fact, I think the third place finisher tested positive, also. See where I'm going with this?
Victor Conte is coming forward cuz he wants to let people know that using these substances is not cheating; when everybody is using them, it evens the playing field, makes it level. It's absurd that people are acting like they have no clue. Some of the athletes were saying that they rubbed cream on their bodies but didn't know what it was. I'll tell you right now, if I was rubbing anything on my body, I'd sure as hell know what it was.
I think the average sports fan deserves to know. Will they be able to handle the truth? Common sense tells you the story. An athlete who won gold in Australia and barely anything at the last Olympics was probably unable to use anything due to the recent scandals. Professional bodybuilders have known about these other athletes for years. This is where bodybuilders get the shit end of the stick. The average Joe looks at us and thinks we're using because of the muscle. That same guy will look at a baseball player and not assume a thing cuz the ballplayer doesn't look like anything. Those drugs are enhancing his ability, technique, and power but not really his muscularity-at least not to the point where it's blatantly obvious. That's why the drugs have always been painted toward the bodybuilding world instead of other sports. Now the truth has finally come out. I think it's a good thing.
As far as repercussions for bodybuilding, I don't think it will affect us much at all. Everything is fine in our sport. Ronnie repeated, as expected. 2005 is shaping up to be a barnburner. The future of bodybuilding is in good hands at moment.
|
|
Supp of the Month 
