Page 38 - LionKing

FEATURE
“ ABOUT THOSE THAT CARRY
“Chop! Chop well well!”
A local nightclub bouncer was giving workout advice to my scrawny friend at our local gym as they both rested from a rather long Saturday morning workout session.
His size alone begged respect and his form did not leave room for anything but muscle. There was no confusion about his strength; as quiet but observant fans, we had seen him lift near impossible weights and pull massive truck tires across the long distances. His formula? Eat well, train hard, sleep well. His results spoke for them- selves. And that was the mental image that had us ‘carrying weights’ five times a week at the gym!
The definitive cuts and curves, the ripples of muscles mass that carve out the built physique, and the charismatic chiseled form of the bodybuilder are all a result
of a biological process called muscle ‘hypertrophy’. It involves strenuous phys- ical exercise in order to strengthen and enlarge the muscles of the body. Three main strategies maximize this; strength training, nutrition, and rest. Yes. actual sleep. Bodybuilders often shorten these three steps into the well-known motto “eat clean, train hard, sleep well.”
The art form (well some argue it is any- way) is perceived as a sport and equally as a deeply satisfying hobby. At the professional level, bodybuilders compete at regional, national and international competitions where muscle definition and size are compared to determine the most built physiques, governed by The International Federation of BodyBuilding and Fitness (IFBB), headquartered in Las Rozas, Madrid in Spain.
It’s in your genes, right?
Looking at the “mass monsters”- those
WEIGHT”
By Daniel Okpapi
38 | The Lion King | April - June 2019