Bodybuilding- A jekyl and Hyde story- Dan Marashi

Dan Marashi outside Muscleworks Gym after JW Training went to train for the day in one of the top bodybuilding gyms in the country.

Bodybuilding: a Jekyll and Hyde story
I know last post I left you guys with a bunch of unanswered questions about what the bodybuilding lifestyle is truly about. Well in order to answer these questions I need to go into detail of the results of my exploration into this unorthodox sport.
I can tell you that the sport of bodybuilding has two sides to it. There’s the image of bodybuilding that you are most accustomed to, as this is the side you see in fitness magazines and on TV. This bodybuilding in essence is advertising. You will see these hugely muscularly developed blokes making claims that a certain product or certain brand was a main contributor to their physique. These guys are there to portray to you a vision of health. Now while I have no doubt that the products these guys endorse have made some contribution to their bodies, it is certainly misleading in that they don’t let you in on the darker side of bodybuilding. Drugs.
I was very naive in my views of bodybuilders and any other athletes for that matter. The fact is, unfortunately, that bodybuilding is one of the few sports that don’t perform drug tests. I’m not debating the side effects of performance enhancing drugs, but from my own research I know that the media is responsible for over exaggerating and fabricating a lot of these claims. And I acknowledge the fact that it is still more or less a level playing field in regards to fair competition, although the guy who can afford the most drugs will have the edge. But besides that, what bothers me is that professional bodybuilding is selling people an unreachable dream. People who are naive like I once was are being misled to think that they can train themselves to become monsters like these huge guys, when really it is not possible without the use of performance enhancers.
Saying this, I want to note the importance that genetics have in this sport. Everyone has a genetic limitation to how much muscle their body can build. Some people find it easier to, and are able to build more muscle than others. I must admit that I seem to be one of these people. Others find that they struggle to put on any size. Now while I truly believe that through the correct training and nutrition you can still put on a decent amount of muscle, even if you aren’t so genetically gifted, but in regards to bodybuilding competitively it will be the genetic freaks that excel. So where I’m going with this, is I want to emphasise that these professional bodybuilders who are taking performance enhancers still have amazing genetics, and even if they didn’t take performance enhancers they would still be huge, just not as huge. And these guys still have to train hard and follow strict diets. Obviously not as hard as if they didn’t take anything though.
This leads me to the topic of natural bodybuilding. Natural bodybuilding does incorporate drug testing, and therefore is selling an achievable dream to the average person. Natural bodybuilding in essence is the positive face of bodybuilding as being a vision of health that you see in advertisements in magazines and on TV, but it’s the real deal. It’s eating healthily, training hard, and not polluting your body. This is what bodybuilding and the bodybuilding lifestyle is truly about, not just preparing so to pose in front of a panel and be judged. It’s about discipline and strengthening the body as well as the mind, making your body perform to its ultimate physical and mental potential. Bodybuilding sets you on the track for a long and prosperous life. This is the bodybuilding that Schwarzenegger promoted in what is dubbed the Golden Era of the sport. While it is true that steroids were used at that time, they were nothing compared to what, along with other drugs like Human Growth Hormone for example, are currently being used today.
This brings me to my current ambition. Like I mentioned before, I appear to be one of those people with the genetics to easily pack on muscle – a mesomorph. My game plan is to continue to build my physique as much as possible, NATURALLY, until I’m truly convinced that I’ve reached my genetic potential. I urge all of you reading to train to attempt to reach your own natural genetic potential too, whether it’s in increasing muscle mass or whatever else your training goals might be. The ethical question is that once absolute genetic potential has been reached, then would it be more acceptable to experiment with performance enhancers? That’s a question I don’t think myself or any of you will have to face yet for a very long time.
Train hard and take care.

Dan Marashi