It's as true about anything as it is about bodybuilding that there's just as much myth out there as solid fact. But why in all things fitness related would SO many people blindly follow the most baseless information, programs and advice- especially when it continues to fail them and disappoint their results time after time. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting to yield a different result. We're lucky to live at a time where there's scientific work out there that directly benefits us in our diet and training, and yet so few people pursue it. I have encountered so many men and women who base their entire routine and diet on heresay, and snippits of things they've read in Flex, etc. Why are you doing this to yourself!? And even worse why do they do it season after season, year after year?
When people come to me shaking their heads telling me about yet another competitor they know who's shooting themself in the foot with their prep I say the same thing: "Bodybuilding is as much a sport as a science. And the sooner they come to terms with that fact and respect it, the sooner they will progress." I don't care what shows your prep coach has won, how big they are, or how many big words they know; how are they qualified to prep you? My husband played basketball for years and once told me something about the game that I feel holds true to bodybuilding as well: All players do not necessarily make good coaches. Just because they're able to play the game doesn't mean the have the means to teach that to others. Teaching and doing are two very different things. Even more so in bodybuilding than other sports.
Because I'm a female, most of the typical meat-heads leave me alone.. That and my tendency to mean mug and shoulder check any dude who tries to interrupt my workout. But my guy friends and clients are always getting talked at by these types of guys. Some of them involuntarily, and some because they find it as entertaining as I do how delusional people can be about their workouts and diet. My friend and fellow competitor Darin has some of the most random encounters - by nothing more than bad luck - or good if you like a good story. He's like me- in the gym he's very solitary between sets, not striking up conversations but focused on the set ahead, minding his own business. But this doesn't stop people from tapping him on the shoulder, and sometimes stopping him mid-deadlift [a cardinal gym etiquette sin] to tell him how everything he's doing is wrong. And besides being completely unsolicited, it's almost always coming from someone who's never been below 15% bodyfat, and whose workouts have likely consisted of nothing but chest, biceps and abs for the last two decades. Yet this doesn't stop them from reciting to him things they once read in Muscle and Fitness, or bassackwards competition heresay they've overheard over the course of 25 years of hanging out in the gym with their fellow chest and bicep buddies... Those same idiots would probably watch this video and tell you there was NOTHING wrong with this dudes supposedly perfect form. In fact it's idiots like this who likely filmed it in the first place:
It's not that we as competitors shouldn't be open to doing things differently, or that we should feel our way is the ONLY way. I have plenty of friends who compete and who's methods differ with mine in some areas, and they are no less successful for it. Even with all the new emerging research out there, each coach may interpret and apply it differently to their clients. But those who go about their workouts blindly, and without reason are wasting their time and money.
Even worse it makes me sick when people prep poorly, show up unprepared, and then blame the judges, competitors and pretty much everyone in the room but themselves for how they placed. Yes accidents may happen for first time competitors who didn't allow enough time, and there may be big shows where they're more competitive than others, but you have to have some level of awareness of what's required. While there may be some variation in judging from show to show, it will always be consistent with who falls at the top, and who does not place at all. If you have not taken the measures to educate yourself about the sport, get lean enough, or you have not trained as hard as you should, it's not one's fault but your own. The sport will not change to meet the level of conditioning you're willing to hit.
I'm sick of people with slightly better than average physiques showing up thinking they're 'good enough.' If you're serious about competing- GET THOSE WORDS OUT OF YOUR VOCABULARY! C'mon people - let's face it, in this country being better than average means not morbidly obese. And if that were the case, then why diet or train at all? I know you've seen magazines and online photos of shows and their winners - so how can you think you're at that level of conditioning, when you've not even come close to the work that was necessary to get there?
And I don't want this to come off as a sales pitch - because trust me, hiring a coach whether it be myself or anyone else, does not guarantee success. This is nothing more than me venting in a personal space. Any program is only as good as the individual's work ethic. But more importantly, while contest prep is a growing profession, there are just as many people out there that train, diet, and even go to shows completely on their own, and STILL win pro cards. While hiring a good prep coach will ease much of that, either way, whether you're working with someone, or working on your own, there's certain questions that you need to ask before you take any advice. I really respect people that put us through the wringer before they hire us, people who've done their homework and know that this is not for the faint of heart. For those of you working on your own, you need to have that same attitude with every article you read, every piece of personal advice you consider taking, and every person you let have an opinion on your contest prep. Because at the end of it all YOU are the one onstage in your skivvies, and you are they one who will be made a fool of if you've chosen to follow what you wanted to hear, rather than what you needed to hear.
Don't just work hard - work smart.
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