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11/25/08
Today’s crop of professional bodybuilders is the most amazing example of muscularity that the Earth has ever seen. Men are 260 to 320 pounds, sitting at 2 to 3% body fat. They are pushing the limits of how much muscle the frame of a human being can hold.
The reason behind this new level of physique development is, of course, the advanced sports medicine technology. The use of human growth hormone, synthetic testosterone, IGF-1, and insulin has created growth way beyond that which any human being was ever supposed to be able to attain. Not only are their muscles growing, but their jaws, foreheads, elbows, hand and feet are growing too. Their internal organs are growing. The long-term effects of insulin misuse and growth hormone agromegaly have barely been scraped upon. And, bodybuilders are dying as a result of insulin use. Incorrectly time carb use with insulin, and you die, plain and simple.
For all of these reasons and many more, many purists of the sport, as well as fans, supplement companies, and magazine publishing firms, are all calling for a return to the classic physiques. They’re calling for a reduction of the drug use, and judging standards which reward the smaller, more symmetrical physiques, instead of the overgrown messes of physiques that win so often today.
This would take place through the implementation of a decade-long drug “reduction” policy, along with a coinciding incremental change in judging standards. Baseline levels of testosterone, growth hormone, and other substances would be taken from every pro bodybuilder. Each year, the baseline level would have to decrease by some set percentage, or the athlete would not be able to compete. At the same time, the judging standards would be modified slightly each year to reflect a 10% desired step closer to completely rewarding the classic physiques.
As the next decade passes, each year things would improve a bit. Every year, the levels of drugs used by the top pros would decline by ten percent. At the same time, judging would become 10% more friendly to more symmetrical bodybuilders. At the end of the decade, the physiques would be near drug-free status. Fans, judges, and the bodybuilders themselves would have a full decade to become acclimated to these new changes, and it would happen so slowly that most people would not even notice it. Less drug use means less deaths from abuse, less bodybuilders appearing ‘pregnant’ from uncontrolled waistlines, and above all, the potential for more mainstream coverage as physiques returned to a more marketable look.
