First Post

I'm James. This new and first blog of mine is about looking better while naked. Some people call it 'bodybuilding.' This blog is about what I have learned. I'm not a personal trainer or a bodybuilding competitor.

Despite the frankness of the title, I could think of no better way to explain the subject matter of this blog. If it were called a "bodybuilding" blog then the point is already defeated for most readers. "Bodybuilding" has certain meanings for everyone; not necessarily good meanings.

"Bodybuilding" is hard to define and should not be limited to what the competitive bodybuilders do.

So this blog is entitled as it is because it is about benefits and not preconceived notions about how to experience those benefits.

Arguably the most famous bodybuilder* defined bodybuilding this way:

"Bodybuilding is about the maximum aesthetic development of the entire physique."

I find that definition to be sufficient but this definition of bodybuilding works too, if it's not better:

Bodybuilding is about looking better naked.

They're pretty much the same definition, but with one difference. Forget Arnold's bit about "maximum," which is for competitive-bodybuilders only--a subjective term that is ultimately vague and so makes for unattainable goals. Make realistic goals that are concrete and achievable and you'll be successful. Otherwise prepare for "frustration" and "disappointment," created in one's mind when expectations aren't met for what one did or invested.

If you have been disappointed and frustrated by a big gap between what you expected and what you actually got, I would wager that it is because of your procedure; how you went about it. This applies to bodybuilding too. This blog will be about re-examining procedure.

Arnold is not the ultimate authority in bodybuilding and so I'm not suggesting that he is. He might be the most famous bodybuilder, but that is not the same thing. The ultimate authority in bodybuilding is you.

Arnold's book, "The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding" is the so-called "Bible of Bodybuilding," but it is not the final word. A couple of exercises are described vaguely. The recommended competition training program will likely amount to overtraining (very bad) and may be overdoing it for most guys who just want to get bigger but not make a career out of it. I am not saying don't read it. It might be worth reading to you. Most, but not all, of what he explains is correct, I have found. Maybe check the book out from the library? If you're serious about building muscle, it is a good start. I say that because I started with that book; that's what I did, and it worked for me.

I was moved by his anecdotes about lifting so hard, making his arms so sore that he crashed his bicycle into a ditch; that he was so self-conscious about his flimsy calves that he cut off the bottoms of his pants so everyone could see his legs, creating motivation through a sort of self-imposed shame. I read it while imagining him narrating it, in his voice and accent. Doing that made it a fun read; and it's mostly pictures.

At that time, I was naive about competitive bodybuilding and steroid use. I didn't know then that competitive bodybuilding was saturated with steroids. So I am just saying be wary. He made a career out of bodybuilding.

Anyway, 'live and let live' is a good motto, I continually rediscover.

His perspective is that of a competitive bodybuilder, it's not the perspective of regular guys, everyday people with productive jobs. Arnold argues that the very best way to build muscle was discovered by competitive bodybuilders through their collective trial-and-error process and so everyone, even people who don't care to compete, should do what the competitors do.

If it's true, then why wasn't the so-called "Bible of Bodybuilding" authored by the whole lot of bodybuilders?

It's just Arnold and ghost-writer Bill Dobbins as the authors of the book. And Arnold doesn't describe all the common activities of competitive bodybuilders, especially the details that might be self-incriminating in print. If the book really is the "Bible of Bodybuilding," why wasn't it published by the sanctioning body, the IFBB?

Why doesn't the IFBB have enough authority to publish this "collective knowledge" of bodybuilders into a reliable reference book so that it can benefit the whole of society?

Competitive bodybuilders do not own any original information about weight training or physiology, so they are not authorities on it. You don't have to plan to look like them or train like them if you just want bigger muscles.

Arnold recommends hanging up pictures of competitive bodybuilding professionals so you can strive to look like them. That is exactly what bodybuilding magazines try to do--never mind the discrepancy you will eventually face when you don't arrive at that "goal" he sets in his book. Instead, get the poster "THE MUSCULAR SYSTEM," the anatomical chart similar to what you would see in a doctor's office which shows and names the muscles, but without the skin and fat of an actual person.

This blog does not consist of instructions. These are observations of mine for comparison to what others may have noticed too. I'm still figuring it out myself. Sometimes I use "you" too often before editing my writing, and I do it in the colloquial, conversational sense. I'm not specifically instructing anyone to do anything. But if you asked for my [current] opinion, this is it. This is a work in progress.