Geschatte leestijd: 5 minuten
Flex Cup 2014
A bodybuilding competition is the ultimate expression of self-control and motivation. It’s like presenting a painting of yourself that you’ve been working on every day for a year or longer, and it starts to fade when you don’t work on it for a day. And then there’s some jerk who says your painting is only beautiful because you used the same paint Van Gogh used. The result wouldn’t have been achieved by your hard work but by what you used.
“Sporting and Injecting”
I saw the crew walking around that day and thought, by reporter Danny Ghosen (whom we know as the man responsible for parking management for embassies in The Hague), that it was for Pownews. So, I already assumed that the whole item would be about anabolic use.
The title says it all. The whole program was indeed about anabolic use, even though it was a broadcast by the EO and not Pownews. In every conversation reporter Danny Ghosen had with athletes, it was about anabolic use.
Not exactly what these participants were waiting for, I probably don’t need to explain. Months of hard work and sacrifice in the kitchen, having to explain to friends and colleagues over and over again why you really have to eat your rice with broccoli and chicken breast now and can’t go out for dinner. All those hours training in the gym and posing in front of the mirror to get yourself in the best shape and learn to present it as well as possible on stage. Finally, you’ve given yourself the appearance you’ve always wanted. That appearance that most will never achieve because they don’t have the willpower and perseverance for it. Proud as a peacock when a television crew comes up to you. Now all of the Netherlands can see the result of your hard work. The first question you’re asked is, “Is it all natural, or do you use steroids?”
“Muscles from a Bottle”
It’s strange that this was necessary because despite the cases of Lance Armstrong and doping scandals in cycling, a reporter during an amateur round wouldn’t ask everyone if they’re using EPO.
The rest of the program was devoted to a young user who almost lets himself be injected by the reporter (journalistic ethics far away, therefore) and the reporter Johan Eikelboom who will train and eat well for 10 weeks. The latter says at one point: “I have to take creatine daily. One more step and I’ll definitely be on steroids.” Sorry, but then I really think: “If you don’t know what you’re talking about, shut up!” And by the way, what the f#ck does 10 weeks of training and eating well mean? Bodybuilding is a lifestyle. Results are built in terms of months to years, and you have to keep at it to maintain them. I’m sure Johan has long since lost his result given that he spoke like a wimp about the “hardships” he had to go through.
Very unfortunate that broadcast. The roots of the reporter Danny Ghosen were clear. I had hoped for the quality of a “KRO reporter” or “Keuringsdienst van Waren” instead of the “quick-score-through-sensation-mentality” of Pownews. On the other hand, it was the EO. Possibly that has something to do with the overly moralistic pointing finger.
Again, easy scoring: Go to someone who has prepared for months for a bodybuilding competition. Someone who has starved himself in the last weeks by hardly eating carbohydrates to be as dry as possible. Someone who is not in his best mood already due to malnutrition and exhaustion plus the tension and pressure of the stage. You then ask that person first if it’s all natural. Not once, but repeatedly you ask the same question. And then finding it strange if you eventually get an angry answer. Then it’s of course again “those bodybuilders who are aggressive due to steroid use.” A bit like walking into Amsterdam West with a megaphone and proclaiming that all Moroccans are jerks and then writing about aggressive immigrants when you get beaten up.
Report on bodybuilding competition by Fitsociety
This was a so-called C competition. The Flexcup is also a C competition, the class for beginners. At this level, you mainly see participants who want to get the best out of themselves and use a competition as motivation for this. In many, if not most cases, these are people who do not have the ambition to become professional bodybuilders or bikini fitness models.
On stage, you see various physiques. In Hoogeveen, I hardly saw anyone and thought: “That could never have been achieved without steroids.” And that in itself says nothing. Those guys you suspect have used can have tremendous talent, train naturally, and sacrifice everything for the sport. At the same time, there may have been athletes walking around of whom you wouldn’t be immediately impressed, who do use anabolic steroids in an attempt to compensate for a lack of talent, dedication, and knowledge. So, you just don’t know.
However, such a C competition is by no means comparable to competitions for professional bodybuilders, just as the Tour de France cannot be compared to the Ronde van Purmerend.</ p>
Natural Bodybuilding vs. Steroids
Don’t get me wrong. I wish that whole mess had never been invented. Then the bar would be set lower again for everyone, and no one would have to try to compensate for a lack of talent and dedication with drugs intended for medical care. Not for nothing have I always trained naturally and never used anabolic steroids, which has become a matter of principle for me. However, that doesn’t mean that I participate in the witch hunt against people who have made a different choice in this regard. Everyone makes their own choice in this, often based on the goals they have, the extent to which these goals are achievable naturally, and any difference between them. I am fortunate that I can achieve my goals without anabolic steroids, etc. Whether this is because I didn’t set my bar too high or because I have reasonable talent for dry muscle mass or work harder doesn’t matter. For some, there is a gap between their goals and results, whether due to talent or dedication, and some try to fill this gap with anabolic steroids.
“19-year-old steroid user”
Just returning to that guy who used steroids in the broadcast “Sporting and Injecting.” That guy, Fernando, is, in my opinion, typical of how it should not be done. At the same time, perhaps it’s good that they showed him. Because if that’s the result of steroids, few will likely feel tempted. The guy doesn’t exactly have a physique to envy (in my opinion). With a few years of good training and nutrition, he could look better without using steroids. Unless he has absolutely no talent, and you won’t fix that with steroids either. However, he wants to become the biggest bodybuilder in the world, “a body like Schwarzenegger.”
Denial of Own Weakness
A certain winner’s mentality is needed to show the dedication and discipline required for bodybuilding. That mentality means making sacrifices that others wouldn’t or couldn’t make. However, this automatically puts you in a situation where “others still don’t understand you.” This is the situation in which some also begin to think about steroid use as simply another example of sacrifices others wouldn’t make. Some, yes, but certainly not all.
So, the next time you’re ready to judge bodybuilding, first consider whether you could make all those other sacrifices before you focus on that one aspect.
