There were bodybuilders who died at a young age. Some of them even died right after performing in a bodybuilding competition. What causes their death is debatable but there are things you have to know about bodybuilding other than strict exercise and training. What is your main goal when you start working out? Do you want to improve your health? Do you simply want to lose weight? Look more muscular? Are you purely muscle minded?
Professional bodybuilders live far beyond our normal lifestyle. Can you imagine how many egg whites and how many kilograms of chicken breast or meat they eat every day? The diet is very strict, not to mention the supplements that they take, sometimes much more than the recommended dosage. Too much of anything can never be a good thing.
Some bodybuilders go to extremes to prepare themselves for a bodybuilding competition. You may be at risk if you go to extremes as follows.
1. Extreme training
Training for four to six hours a day can increase the risk of suffering from cardiomegaly, overtraining syndrome, joint and muscle injury.
2. Extreme diet
Bodybuilder diet is often very high in protein but very low in carbohydrates and fat. What are the bad effects of a diet like this? Low carbohydrate intake causes the body to use fat and protein as its sources of energy. This condition often causes the blood to abnormally high in acid substances called ketone.
The high levels of ketone can keep your brain from functioning normally because the brain is an organ that purely relies on carbohydrates to function properly. Blood with high levels of acid substances can also cause problems to the enzyme system.
Prior to the competition, bodybuilders also dehydrated themselves by not taking any water one or two days before the contest. Dehydrating yourself repeatedly can cause damages to your kidney. Too much or too little fluid can lead to electrolyte imbalance. Some of the electrolytes include sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium.
3. Drugs
It’s common for professional bodybuilders to take drugs to create massive and well-defined muscular look. Some of the drugs include
– Diuretic
Diuretic drugs are normally used by bodybuilders to dehydrate themselves by forced urination.
– Insulin
Insulin is often used to get the growth factor effect. If too much is injected and the insulin level drops drastically, sweating, shaking, or even coma or death can happen.
– Steroid
The use of steroid is debatable. Some reports link the use of steroid to long term health damages. The steroid may be harmless for short term, but the long-term effect is dangerous. The long-term effects of steroid include cancer and damages to heart, liver, and kidney.
– Synthol
Synthol is a fatty acid material injected into the muscle to increase its size. This is more like silicone implant.
This topic is debatable but health is number one asset. If you really have to dehydrate yourself, do it for a maximum of 12-14 hours. Get medical supervision if you go to such extremes. Get medical help if you experience extreme health problems like blurred vision, loud heart sounds, difficulty breathing, etc.
Featured Image: lockerdome
Source by Julian Hee