阿诺.施瓦辛格健身百科全书-Book1-Chapter02.pdfVIP

c H A p T E R 2 The ABCs of Bodybuilding SPORT VS. EXERCISE SYSTEM Bodybuilding as a system of exercise is the most effective and efficient way to strengthen and develop the muscles of the body. Some think body- building is only an intense form of competition but not a sport. However, I think bodybuilding qualifies as a sport for a number of reasons. One is the incredible amount of athletic effort involved in training, in developing the physique to prepare it for competition. Another is the high level of athletic demand involved in the performance part of bodybuilding-that is, posing and flexing onstage. As well go into in more detail later, to be able to pose during a contest, to squeeze and flex your muscles, be able to hold poses for as much as an hour or more at a time-and to do it really well, with high energy levels and full control of your entire body the whole time-is an athletic feat comparable to a boxer going twelve rounds for the heavyweight championship of the world. One reason people have trouble understanding the nature of body- building is that there are two basic kinds of sports-those judged by mea- surement (how far, how fast, how high, and so forth) and those judged by form (diving, gymnastics, ice skating). Bodybuilding is a sport ofform, but instead of movement the form involved is that of the body itself-the size, shape, proportion, detail, and aesthetic quality of the physique as devel- oped in the gym, prepared by dieting, and displayed by performing body- building poses. In any event, although bodybuilding has not yet become an Olympic sport, it has been accepted by the international amateur sports community 48