Training with the Best: Elite Bodybuilding
In the gym, there are many types of people. Some are there to socialize, others are there because they feel guilty if they are not. Some are trying to slim down, to lose a few extra pounds, while others are in season, supplementing their practices. Some are there for one time and one time only, maybe with a friend or on a free trial, while others are there every day, training for a marathon. The gym is the crossroads of every aspect of fitness and athleticism.
But within individual trainings, within individual sports, there are even more levels of intensity, a spectrum of goals. In bodybuilding, individual goals are important: the desired result affects every individual exercise along the way. Elite bodybuilding is a sport in a completely different realm than body sculpting; just because a man or woman picks up a set of weights does not mean he or she is on the road to world championship power lifting. Before anyone hits the weight room, he or she has to decide exactly what his or her ultimate goal is; if it is ultimate muscle mass, than elite bodybuilding is the perfect choice. But if it is anything else, a less intense, more subtle lifting program is key.
Step by Step
When individuals want to slim down, meaning drop body fat but gain lean, cut muscle, body sculpting is the best choice. This type of lifting involves lower weights with higher repetitions, and a large amount of cardiovascular exercise. Nutrition is important, of course, as diet plays a huge role in burning fat and keeping it off, but the large amounts of protein needed in elite bodybuilding are not needed in body sculpting. A sculpted body is attractive and a testament to good fitness, but for those who want more muscle, or who want to enter competitions, the ideals behind body sculpting are not enough. Elite bodybuilding is the only way.
Elite bodybuilding involves a very structured, very specific regiment of weight lifting. Heavy weights and smaller repetitions, combined with large amounts of protein and calories, result in hefty muscle mass. Bodybuilders will have far more muscle than the average athlete, and even less body fat; in order for muscles to appear cut and defined, the body cannot be covered in fat.
Otherwise, any muscle gained from elite bodybuilding will be hidden anyway. Bodybuilders basically build their lives around their competitions; while those hoping to sculpt their bodies find gym time whenever they can, bodybuilders live in the gym. They base their meals around it. They base their sleep around it. It is their life, their sport, their competition, and they would not trade it for the world. Elite bodybuilding requires a dedication unheard of in any other sport.
