Defending the Bodybuilder?

by Mike Westerdal

Elliott is one of my best friends and we have so much in common it’s a little scary sometimes.  But when it comes to his post yesterday I’m going to have to go ahead and defend bodybuilding.

Training for muscle growth or looks is the opposite of wanting to fit into skinny jeans.  Go ahead and call a true bodybuilder skinny and see if they like it.  And just because you want to look jacked and ripped doesn’t mean you want to be an underwear model.  Arnold was pretty freakin jacked and ripped and you didn’t see him in underwear commercials.   In my opinion just because someone cares about their appearance does not make them a sissy.

The post did make me re-evaluate my reasons for training.  Currently these are my top three reasons for training.  What about you, why do you train?

My Current Training Priorities. 

1.  Health and Vitality has to be number one on my list. What good is being strong if I’m dead in 10 years?
2.  Strength.  If you’re strong I agree with Elliott, the muscles will appear on their own.
3. Muscle Growth/Body Fat Reduction aka aesthetics

When I was in High School in College These Were My Training Priorities.

1. Performance athleticism for football which included strength.
2. Looks for confidence and meeting girls.
3. Didn’t really think about health too much, figured I’d worry about that later.

In yesterday’s post we basically asked you what was more important strength or looks.

After reading the reactions to yesterdays posts I can honestly say that it’s undisputed that 98% of the readership wants to attain a physique that is not only strong and vibrant but also looks the part.  Many of you said why do we have to choose one or the other?  Why not find the right balance and I agree.

As a powerlifter I have met people that place no value on health or aesthetics.  The only thing that matters is how strong they are.  Even if that involves gaining massive amounts of body fat simply to improve their leverages so they can lift more weight.

I’ve admitted that I was guilty of this to an extent which is why I started Lean Hybrid Muscle Training with Elliott.

The program itself is meant to combine the best of many different training philosophies while striving to achieve multiple goals at the same time.  I said it before and I’ll say it again, I want to have it all. I want to be strong, be healthy, athletic and look good at the same time.

Seriously, the name of this site is Lean Hybrid Muscle… NOT Hybrid Strength.  That means we want to build muscles, we want to stay lean doing so and we want to keep our strength and build upon it with functional hybrid training.

Growing up the kinds of guys I looked up to weren’t the super strong fat guys that weighed 300 lbs lifting more weight than anyone in the gym and it wasn’t the skinny fitness model either.

I always wanted to look like guys that were super strong and still looked like a bodybuilder. To me this was the best. I wanted to a be powerbuilder.  Someone who’s strength could back up their muscular appearance.  I don’t want useless artificially swollen muscles.  But how about muscles that are huge for a reason, because they are strong and powerful!  That’s what I’m talking about, I’m a greedy SOB and don’t’ want to pick one or the other, give me all of it!  I was impressed with guys like Franco Columbu that won bodybuilding and powerlifting titles!

I’ve reached the point in my life now where I don’t’ care what people think of me anymore. I know that the only one I have to answer to is God and the man in the mirror.  But I’ll tell you what, looking the part sure helps improve your confidence.  If you look in the mirror and see a fat dude that can overhead press 500 pounds, hasn’t brushed his teeth in a week, hasn’t shaved or showered in days, smells like crap, goes to work with his pants falling down and shirt half tucked in with a wrinkled collar, I don’t care how strong you are, you’re still a slob and a physical disgrace.

And for those of you who say you don’t care about physical appearance, what if your wife said the same thing?  What if she decided to stop wearing make-up and quit shaving her legs because she was following your lead of “appearances don’t matter”?

Say what you want about bodybuilders.  Sure they may be narcissistic, but they’re not all like that.  Some that compete on stage may even care too much about what judges and others think of their bodies. I don’t think that’s healthy one bit.  You should never do anything in your life simply to seek the approval of the others.  However many find the perfect balance of self improvement balanced with the politics of the sport.

I do have to give respect where respect is due.  It’s easy for me to say that getting oiled up and standing on stage in a pair of bikini bottoms is a bit feminine, but hey if I had single digit body fat levels, maybe I’d reconsider.  Actually, nah probably not.  I’m still getting used to being on video on the Internet.  Standing half naked in front of a crowd flexing reminds me of a bad dream I had where I went to school without any clothes on!  Have you had that dream?

Honestly I don’t see myself ever being a competitive bodybuilder, but I can tell you I’ve been a non-competitive one since I was 16.   Bodybuilding or muscle growth and fat reduction has always and always will be part of my workouts even if it’s not my only priority.

One of my new year’s resolutions is to be more accepting and open minded toward other people and their views.  I can honestly say that I admire the hard work, sacrifice, dedication, extreme dieting and courage it takes to compete in a physique competition.  It takes months of preparation and the will power to eat so strict for so long is amazing to me.

I prefer to compete in strength sports, but I must say I have more in common with my brothers in iron that compete in bodybuilding than I do with the typical lazy couch potato that does nothing with their free time.  Besides who am I to judge?  Train for whatever reasons you want, I’m just glad you train.  To each his own, I really feel that way.

In fact I’ve said this before but when designing the Lean Hybrid Muscle program we’ve borrowed training ideas from many different sources to compliment the strengths we have. 

One of the people I talked a lot with is a good friend of mine named Brian Cannone.  In fact I help Brian out with his Web site which is called FitnessAtlantic.com.  He runs one of the country’s biggest Natural bodybuilding, fitness, figure, and bikini competitions.

Brian used to compete as a bodybuilder himself and now he focuses on helping athletes further their careers and promoting his competition.  Here’s where it gets cool. Brian has made friends with so many high level drug free physique stars it’s insane how much insider information he has attained.

I’ve been telling him for years that he shouldn’t keep all this info to himself and that there are lots of people that would give an arm and a leg for the tips.  I mean who wouldn’t want to know exactly how these guys and gals eat and train before getting ready for a show?  Brian sent me a copy of his 14-Week Pre-Contest meal plan schedule.  It’s actually a bonus item you get with his new eBook called, Stage Ready Nutrition & Training.

Whether you compete or not wouldn’t it be cool to follow this diet before going on vacation, hitting a reunion or wedding.  Wouldn’t it be cool if people could look at you and know that you are strong without you having to demonstrate it for them? 

Besides we’ve had a lot of the ladies emailing us and asking when we were going to recommend something they could use as well.  Well top figure, fitness, bikini and model competitors have all provided input for Brian’s book.

And in case you already know you don’t’ ever want to compete the program isn’t about competing it’s about getting ins shape as though were going to compete.

We also got Brian to throw in Mo Mendez’s Maximum Muscle Mass Book as well.  Mo is freakin huge and ripped and his program is a nice fit for those of you really wanting to pack on some mass.  If you’re wondering who the pic of the “swole” guy sitting on the bench pictured above, well that’s Mo!  I dare you to call him a sissy pretty boy.  He’ll have you wrapped up in a pretzel before you have time to scream Mo Mercy, Mo Mercy, Mo Mercy!

Anyway if you want to be Stage Ready, Beach Ready, or Life Ready check out Brian’s new release.  I got him to leave the discounted price for you until Friday. Go here to see some of the other bonuses he’s throwing in until Friday.  There’s an even a physical DVD included that has girls doing back flips and summersaults. You’ll see what I mean, go here:  http://tinyurl.com/ydg96dc

If you don’t care about your appearance than this probably isn’t for you, but if you do care, than these are the guys and gals that can really add some ammo to your arsenal.

Now as a fun little poll, I have a question for you.  You guy have been following us for a few months now.  Just for fun, who do you think is more likely to ever wind up doing a bodybuilding show in the future, me (Mike) or Elliott?  Leave a comment below.

Also feel free to list your reasons for training and what your priorities are. Than go here and see what the hoopla is all about http://tinyurl.com/ydg96dc