The Bodybuilding Machine ...Past and Present

(Part 2)

by Mick Hart

There exists an elite group of hard core bodybuilders who pump like hell and just love strutting round and showing off their muscles and only focus on competitions and winning them and making a space in their trophy cabinet. This is all very well but their training does have a basis and continually keeps up with the ever rising standards that are expected at modern day physique contests with regards muscular form.

These contests in fact play a major role in dictating bodybuilders hopes and inspirations. There is a vast media coverage of these competitions in muscle mags and they give in depth guidance in how bodybuilders should perform in the gym. They basically focus on the big guys that win the biggest contests and reveal every fine detail regarding their training program and routines.

So we have seen just why such contests are so important to set high standards in the bodybuilding world so now let's have a look at the judges themselves and the criteria they employ to reach the necessary goals required to keep the ball rolling.

Who for example 'polices' the judges? How do they judge? What qualifications should a physique judge have, for example should a pre-judging eye sight test be compulsory. I ask this because I am NOT joking, when I say I once sat behind a judge who actually kept turning around to me and asking me to confirm the number on the contestants trunks.

Apart from sight problems though, there are still problems with international judges who may be suffering from jet lag which has lead to some extremely controversial decisions being made in the past. Fortunately there are very sophisticated scoring systems now in place which help the prevention of individual judges making stupid decisions.

Most modern day sports are backed up by professional refs or judges and our sport is no different. They certainly show no favoritism and only show absolute dedication. The financial rewards are not that high either but that is not the reason for doing what they do anyway. The judges are just guys who have spent most of their lives in the sport and just want to carry on being part of it even though they can't compete any more. Even though some bad decisions are made you can't criticize anybody whose only wish is to give back what they can to a sport that they have just lived for.

The role played by the judges though is one that can influence greatly the personal goals set by competitors. Some comments made in the past make the picture quite clear, for example Russ Warner a famous photographer said that judges can either send you home a hero or cast you into a pit and Rick Wayne a legendary Weider writer once said that Judges were like a sect and that nothing of a competitor's life could influence them.

These though are only a couple of personal decisions. Charisma and reputation always play an important part in our human subconscious minds and subsequently the decisions we have to make. Beauty certainly is "in the eye of the beholder." Although we are talking about doctors, lawyers, teachers and practicing and retired bodybuilders, judges are just human beings and therefore have to be open to criticism regarding their own qualifications and decisions.