The Bodybuilding Machine

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.

Physique competitions are the deciding factor on how bodybuilders are inspired and their hopes are the result of what comes after big events. The whole bodybuilding industry is covered in the muscle mags but they are responsible for giving the guidance needed by budding physique competitors. The top contests are reported big time and the winners reveal all their secrets on training, diet and anything else that may help them on the way to having the best physique in the world.

The high standards are the key to the ever improving physiques that come out of the contests as we have just seen, but let's make sure we have a look at the real players in this sport, who are the judges that are responsible for setting such high standards.

Judging is crucial in this sport so who governs the judges and tells them what to be looking for? Is there an existing standard to become a judge and what exams do they have to take? I was amazed one day while watching an international contest when a judge sat in front of me turned round and asked me what the number was on the competitors shorts. It makes you think that with such a responsibility they should at least be able to see properly.

You will find that many of the judges at these events come from other countries so they also have to deal with jet lag in some cases which have in the past lead to some really bad decisions being made, and if they struggle to see properly as well. Thank God that these types of errors carried out by individuals have been rectified by the introduction of extremely sophisticated scoring systems.

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.

It goes without saying though that the decisions made by judges can make all the difference to the world to the goals that are set by individual competitors. A couple of comments that were made in the past can really put things into perspective. Firstly Russ Warner who was a famous photographer was quoted as saying that judges can either send you home a hero or cast you into a pit, while Rick Wayne a legendary Weider writer once stated that Judges were just like a secret sect and that nothing of a competitor's life could ever influence them.

I enjoy quoting other peoples thoughts and opinions but that is all they are. Charisma and reputation always affect the human subconscious minds and hence the decisions we actually make. Beauty really is "in the eye of the beholder." Doctors, lawyers, teachers and practicing and retired bodybuilders all contribute to our judging panels, but judges are just human and therefore open to criticism over their own qualifications and decisions. (Coming Soon Part 3)