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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.

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.

Who gives the judges their guidance and authorizes them how to judge? Does a judge need a certain standard of qualification to do what they do? I was once sat right behind a judge who kept asking me for the number of the performing contestant, so should they have to take a compulsory eye test for example?

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.

Just like soccer for example, this is a professional sport and refs or judges are extremely dedicated to their function and certainly don't have any favorites. They certainly don't get paid a lot for their efforts but it is a way for retired competitors to keep in touch with their favorite sport. My opinion is that although a few mistakes may be made by a minority, these guys are doing a great job in repaying a sport which has meant so much to them throughout their lives.

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.

That's a hard one to live up to. Charisma and reputation always influence our human subconscious minds and therefore the decisions we make. Beauty is indeed "in the eye of the beholder." Despite being lifted from the ranks of doctors, lawyers, teachers and practicing and retired bodybuilders, judges are all only human and therefore open to criticism over their own qualifications and decisions. (Coming Soon Part 3)