revexrevex said:
Someone on this board will laugh at your ass when he will sign a multi-million contract for being a fat 300+ powerlifter
With respects (because I like you and enjoy your posts), who might that be?
Don't misunderstand me; I don't agree with the sentiments to which you are responding. I would hope that a powerlifter (who with a few exceptions, usually aren't THAT fat...Eddie Coan's a muscular guy; Kaz was a monster, etc.) COULD have a great opportunity thanks to his talent...
But then again, I've NEVER heard of ANY powerlifter signing a contract valued at over 200,000 dollars/yr., let alone MILLIONS. Kaz is probably the closest thing to something like that, working for Met-RX, and he definitely isn't making
millions. Most people don't even know the distinction between powerlifting and Olympic lifting...and to my knowledge, I've never, ever seen the former televised with top billing. It has to be popular before it pulls down big bucks. (Maybe someday...IMO, it definitely deserves recognition.)
With equal respects, I also have to disagree with George's idea about 40 year-old bodybuilders--like...hmm...Vince Taylor?--having no financial future beyond or at that ~40 yr. old point. Vince might've whined to the contrary, but he has a pretty decent deal with a supplement company--a deal MANY guys half his age would KILL for. I saw his picture in a magazine just the other day in a Cybergenics advert, IIRC.
As far as powerlifting being popular on the high school or collegiate level, I think there's more to that than meets the eye.
For one, when was the last time you met a number of credible teenage bodybuilders? There are plenty of good noncompetitive kids, but at shows like the Teen Nationals, the quality drops from "very good" in the top five to "broomsticks with a tan" for the most part. Even regional winners of NPC shows, while very good for their age, are runts next to even amatuer divisions in local NPC shows.
The kids aren't dumb...most realize they're not ever going to be like Ronnie Coleman or Nasser, so they know a future in competitive bodybuilding is simply not an option for them.
Second, IMO, bodybuilding is potentially THE hardest lot of the strength sports if it's done "right," with very few exceptions (coughcough, Paul Dillett coughcough). And people avoid what is very hard.
I mean, no other strength sport limits what you can eat and drink to the extent that you can
lock up like a fuckin' statue onstage
And yes, I've seen this happen without Lasix!
Next to getting big, shredded, AND dry, which takes most of us months of CONSTANT effort on a boring, punishing diet with very, VERY little margin for error, lifting even a massively heavier 1 RM
could seem like a piece of cake. Anyone with a good strength background can at least
try that, yet very few can simply walk in off the street and compete favorably in an amateur bodybuilding show.
But this isn't an attempt to prick-measure the sports, which are very hard to compare in truth I think. Besides, I never really cared for the distinctions, and didn't see why powerlifters couldn't ALSO be bodybuilders and vice-versa. Why the dichotomy? (The way I see it, many powerlifters ARE good bodybuilders who just don't like to diet
.)
Back to the blame issue: I think bodybuilding
itself is a fine "sport," really no more or less worthwhile a pursuit than raw strength training (and in some cases maybe more worthwhile...remember that appearance-oriented culture bit, which is ever-present/100%, vs. the frequency w/ which someone will need to deadlift the end of cars in daily life, which is almost zero %).
Like I said, it can be a real test of fortitude. And proper bodybuilding training has done NOTHING to hurt strength training...if anything, it's definitely
enhanced it.
BUT, what
bodybuilding means to a lot of people HAS hurt strength training in general. People look up to ubermensch like Gunter Schlierkampf who, in a ghost-written article for Uncle Joe's magazines, says you must "shock the body," must get a "huge pump"--basically EVERYTHING EXCEPT WHAT YOU REALLY NEED: progressive resistance.
Blaming bodybuilding in general is foolish. Blaming what bodybuilding often means to people, with the biceps peaking, pumping, cable crossovers and other bullshit?
...I dunno. I think I'm in full agreement with Big Booty there.
Only a few of bodybuilding's real icons have continually emphasized the need for massive protein, ever more massive weights, and the like to build a huge physique. Many now and before have gone the "feel the squeeze" and "throbbing with blood volume" route, which unfortunately defines what most people think of when they hear "bodybuilding."
Proper methods ARE more widely known now than they were 20+ years ago, to be sure, but that's only to those who really seek out the information. Most kids will still start on some misguided retard's program that was made up for FLEX magazine, on hearsay and a muddy understanding of what it takes to get big and strong. They're all casualties of how the bastarized form of "media bodybuilding" has corrupted strength training.
Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below 
