When Lean is Your Life
Get ready for some post contest reflections. Except this time, it’s not my experience as a competitor but rather as a spectator.
The Emerald Cup is the largest amateur level bodybuilding/physique competition in North America. There are so many competitors it takes 2 full days to get through prejudging and finals for all the classes. I have the pleasure of doing the social media for this show as I have since hung up my figure heels. There was a time when I couldn’t even go to a show…think alcoholic walking into a bar…I knew the temptation to be lean and possibly the desire to step on stage would be strong. It’s only been a couple years now that I can be around it without getting the “bug” to compete. And I would say this show was a first that I didn’t feel like I needed to embark on a quest to get shredded after being around all these lean people.
When you are in contest prep mode, your life is all about getting as lean as you possibly can…getting to levels of leanness that are unnatural for the human body and come with a huge cost. The costs of getting lean often include: strict dieting, including the inability to eat at restaurants. It means twice daily workouts, even when you’re utterly exhausted. It’s socially isolating - because let’s face it, none of your friends want to sacrifice to that degree. You live in the gym. You’re constantly meal prepping. You don’t have time or energy to be social. You’re hungry and tired (read: grumpy) pretty much all the time.
Our bodies don’t want to be at levels of super lean. And our bodies will fight our efforts to get there. The constant hunger and fatigue is a sign that your body is not happy with the process. What is said to be the “health” industry, is really anything but healthy. It’s not healthy to put your body through starvation and extreme workouts. What you see on stage is often dehydrated and depleted. Not exactly the picture of health.
As I watched these athletes compete, I admired their physiques but I also know the price they paid to stand on stage for that moment in time. That one moment. I know the countless hours in the gym. The precision of their meals, down to the gram. I know the time they have sacrificed with loved ones…for that one moment on stage. For me, the cost is too high these days. I wouldn’t give up my life for a lower body fat.
It took me a long time to get to a place where I was okay with not looking “stage lean” all the time. One common experience of competitors is adjusting to life after contest. It is very difficult to come to terms with the fact that all that hard work (the months of hard work) latest a very short window of time - maybe a few days. In order to hold a stage condition, you have to live an unhealthy lifestyle. Because it’s next to impossible, it often becomes a mental challenge as competitors learn to accept their “post contest” body…and as they learn what their brains do after being in starvation mode for so long. (Your brain feels the need to stock up!!! Eat it while you can)
I’m not saying competing is bad or that people shouldn’t do it. I’m saying there is a cost involved and that it is important to be very well informed as to what that cost is and then become very prepared to handle your post contest time appropriately - mentally, physically and emotionally.