When a simple person, uninitiated in this way of training, hears the word “bodybuilding,” they sometimes bring to mind the image of bodies with lots of muscles and excessive volume, people who do nothing with their lives, exercisers without personality and interests, who only do weight lifting, eating, and taking medication – and of course the words they rarely think of are “sport” and “athlete.” ”. 

But that's not the case at all. There may be a small percentage of bodybuilders who only think about "how to build a body," but they are the exception, not the rule.  

The right to take care of your body image by bodybuilding and the privilege of having a well-toned body does not automatically imply the right to be taken seriously if you do not treat yourself with respect and seriousness towards others.

Natural bodybuilding

Resistance training (weight training), which is the basis of natural bodybuilding, is an essential physical activity and exercise method for everyone, men and women, teenagers, adults, and the elderly, in which, when done correctly and systematically, muscle mass and strength increase, while at the same time reducing the percentage of body fat, and improving overall physical appearance, muscular endurance, cardiorespiratory fitness, and flexibility.  

In addition to the physical benefits, the person who engages in natural bodybuilding improves mentally, emotionally and spiritually, gaining greater self-confidence, emotional stability and a more open mind.

Anyone who trains with the aim of improving their body image is essentially doing bodybuilding-style training.

Types of natural bodybuilding

There are two basic types of natural bodybuilding training: competitive (with the aim of participating in competitions) and recreational/amateur (without competitive participation being an end in itself). In both cases, the aim is to achieve "physical perfection", a harmonious physique, while the "physical condition" factor is a secondary (but not negligible) pursuit.  

Natural bodybuilding, whether competitive, even at a professional level, or recreational, has - or should not have! -  anything to do with prohibited doping substances , eg with drugs such as anabolic steroids, or other illegal ways of achieving results, eg gene doping, blood doping.

Typical benefits of weight training and natural bodybuilding g

Although everyone who starts weight training in the gym has their own main goal, and this goal can differ quite a bit from one exerciser to another, e.g. another may want to increase body weight and muscle mass while another may want to lose weight and reduce body fat, all exercisers can have significant benefits from bodybuilding training, but always in combination with the appropriate diet.

Some of these benefits are:

• Promoting health and a sense of well-being.

• Prevention, reduction or cessation of unhealthy habits such as smoking, alcohol abuse, the use of addictive substances, unnecessary late nights, junk food, etc.  

• Improvement of everyday life, such as better sleep quality, greater endurance and resilience, increased work efficiency, more effective support of daily motor requirements, reduction of problems associated with a sedentary lifestyle and the risk of injury.

• Improving metabolic rate, improving fat/muscle ratios and physical appearance, strengthening muscles and bones, preventing premature wear and tear of the muscular and skeletal systems.

• More efficient functioning of all body systems, not just the muscular system, contribution to the control of resting blood pressure, lipids and blood sugar (glucose), strengthening of the immune system.  

• Increased self-awareness, self-discipline, self-confidence and self-esteem, reduced anxiety and stress, makes the practitioner feel more confident about himself and more enjoyable when exercising, creates a more positive and optimistic attitude towards life.

• The most basic: Systematic weight training/bodybuilding teaches you, on the one hand, to set realistic goals (goal setting) and to try to achieve them, on the other hand, it is a process that you can do for a lifetime, until old age, and through it, through the mistakes and the right things you do, it feeds you with experiences and knowledge - "I grow old forever learning!" (Socrates).