Negative Impact of Body Building on Health

The first thing that comes to mind when someone sees a body builder (after the initial gasp of wow) is that the person must be a health nut. Body building does require a certain dedication to healthy living. There is much attention that is paid to nutrition, diet, caloric intake, resistance training, weight training and the general physique.

Is Bigger Healthier?

Body builders are big. Not necessarily tall big, but lean cut up mass big. We tend to associate this bigger, better cut mass of muscle an indication of someone’s general health. The question is, is a persons outward physique an indicator of good health?

The simple answer is yes and no. Looks can be deceiving. Bigger is not necessarily healthier, although the majority of time it is. There are a few instances that come to mind when we talk about big and healthy.

Anabolic Steroids
Steroids are used for a variety of medical conditions. When a doctor prescribes steroids it is usually for some medical condition that can be improved by using steroids. The use is strictly monitored by the doctor and includes a battery of periodic testing to insure that liver damages is not occurring and other maladies that can be a side effect is also not present. When anabolic steroids are used in the gym to increase size more quickly, and health is not monitored by a physician to insure that there are no health risks this can lead to health problems that will increase in severity as time passes and it is left unchecked. There are many supplements on the market geared toward body building, as with anything else anything taken in high doses may have some serious health risks involved.

Weight Training
Resistance training using weights can also cause irreversible damage to the muscular system in the body, torn muscles, torn ligaments and sprains are common mishaps when over doing the weight training.

Diet and Nutrition
Diet and nutrition may also be a huge factor in whether someone bigger is healthier. A person can look healthy on the outside and suffer from malnutrition from neglecting certain food groups or focusing to much on protein and carbohydrates and not paying attention to nutritional value of the food.

Most body builders are very healthy, but some body builders take everything to the extreme and jeopardize their health in the process.