Jan 15 – Redivivus
I have a new training programme coming, and I see it as solace, finally. My high volume training has been both a blessing and a curse. High volume is something to be preserved for pre-contest preparation, when the marbled flesh, the exoteric layers of fat and water are stripped down to reveal the grainy, dense muscle and vascularity hidden beneath. It’s a magician’s trick, really; and for a bodybuilding neophyte like me, whose image of the practicing bodybuilder is inculcated through magazines and youtubes which portray professionals in a perpetual state of freakish conditioning, the misconception is that these athletes MAINTAIN that type of physique year-round.
The truth is that these shots and videos are taken immediately post-contest, when the athletes are at their leanest; it’s basic Capitalism 101: to arouse feelings of insufficiency in the reader, whose physique is doubtless far inferior to those quilted glossies dressing the pages of their favourite muscle-building mags; and, of course, once that sort of negative self-regard is enkindled, the muscle-making supplements endorsed by these freaky pros can be hawked in plenty – a muscle brobdignag in which the athletes are prostituted by the pimpery of Joe Weider et al.
What they don’t tell you is these guys, these superfreaked musclemasters, some coming up close to 300 lbs (think of that, a defensive lineman in the NFL is on par there, but likely carrying another 20 to 30 lbs of fat and water, at about 10% body fat), criss-crossed with a ropy veinature not unlike the Nile estuary graphed on skin, are on a veritable pharmacopia of drugs; on top of that, they lead an absolutely ascetic lifestyle, asocial in the extreme: eating 6 to 7 meals per day, of lean meat, complex carbohydrate, and mild amounts of healthy fats; sleeping 10 to 12 hours per day; minimizing all stressful situations, often isolating themselves from family and friends; meditating, visualizing; stretching; posing: this is life boiled-down, reduced; this is focus, determination and sacrifice in the extreme.
It’s really unlike any other sport, and the more I pursue it, the more the dedication and sacrifice of these individuals impresses me, and, of course, fills me with doubt: can I gently ease my lifestyle into this 24/7 succession of cyclic sacrifice? More importantly, can I abjure this erroneous image of “the bodybuilder” as this perpetually “ripped” super-creature of muscular declivity, whose diaphanous skin is near transluscent enough to pass sunlight and permit the sight of viscera?
You know, I think I can. The focus has to shift; desire has to move to a new goal: size and strength. And that reward I think is much more gratifying than merely the narcissism of being superlean, or “peeled”. lol. My coach referred to it as ‘narcissism’ today (isn’t this what bodybuilding is about?); however, in my case, I disagree: I believe it has to do with a deep self-loathing: the achievement of a really lean physique is the byproduct (and not the aim) of a destructive training pattern — I overtrain, and undereat. It’s in part my education as an endurance athlete, in which the goal really was to achieve some catabolism (loss of mass) and to be nearly as lean as possible, relying on glycogen stores, and not fat stores, for energy.
For a bodybuilder, however, periodization in mass is very important. In the “off season” one must raise body fat and water levels for many reasons, not the least of which is to prevent injury. A better hydrated body, and a body with some fat preserves connective tissue; also, most importantly, the psychological pressure to maintain ‘contest condition’ year-round WHILE gaining muscle is absurd; it brings about severe anxiety, and radical overtraining. The athlete loses rationality, because the body image becomes the entire goal, whereas the goal should be squarely on mass and strength increases. Strength increase is almost a guarantee of muscular gain.
And so my focus must shift. I won’t beat myself up if I struggle at first. But I will follow through with the training plan and with the diet. On Monday I will post them both here as a template. It will help keep me accountable!
One thing’s for sure, I’ll have a heck of a lot more spare time, and energy, which will expose just how empty my life truly is! Perhaps this will galvanize me to pursue some of my other interests, particularly intellectual and creative.
I also seem to need a second job…lol
Yours irroneously,
Sexton Hardcastle