A new definition of the term bodybuilder

In the beginning...

Rachel McLish was one of the first female bodybuilders of the modern era. She won the first Ms. Olympia title. She became a star. And she ended her career before female bodybuilders started to look like male bodybuilders.

Before she took to the stage, McLish was simply a woman who trained with weights. She had built her body before she ever had a real opportunity to compete. She moved heavy weights without worrying about any judges. And she trained hard without knowing who she would inspire decades later.

Sure, there are many categories in which female exercisers can compete that don't require "masculinization". Natural-looking women can build muscle, get lean and show off their poses in physique, figure, fitness or bikini classes.

But is there a place for women who just want to build their bodies?

Female bodybuilders without a stage

Is there a name for women who want to move heavy weights and achieve the best possible look for themselves and not for a squad of judges? Yes, and you can call these women bodybuilders.

Women who build their bodies and train hard in the gym are tired of being asked what they're training for - as if the only reason to move weights is to prepare for a competition. This is a dubious compliment for serious female exercisers and sometimes even a slap in the face.

Why? Because they would train hard with or without a competition. They enter competitions because they can, because that option is always within reach - not because signing up for a competition is the only thing keeping them from sitting around lazily at home getting fat.

Who we are and what we do

We are bodybuilders and our muscles are our biggest fashion statement. We train. We eat well. We provide our bodies with what they need. We don't punish ourselves with food or crash diets. We don't calculate every gram of food we eat. Cardio is optional, a tan isn't necessary and judges don't matter. We would train with or without their scorecards.

We are bodybuilders and we are redefining that term. We are reclaiming this term from the women who have turned women's bodybuilding into a freak show. We're reclaiming this term from the substance-addled professionals and the judges who have rewarded this masculinized look by awarding trophies to the most extreme freaks.

Why does the term women's bodybuilding need to be redefined? Because stereotypes suck.

We are not women who want to look like men. We are women who want to express strength, resilience, dedication and beauty through a well-built but natural body. The perception of women's bodybuilding has been tainted by professional bodybuilders who have sacrificed the look of a healthy woman to become professionals and victims of fetishism, making muscles look grotesque instead of stunning.

We don't want to be part of this freak show. A hard female body can also be achieved with sweat, solid nutrition, good supplementation and the right attitude.

And we're tired of disproving the myths. We're tired of having to reassure other women that training with weights won't make them look massively like competitive bodybuilders.

Think about it for a moment - how much better off would a society be if women made their bodies healthier by working out with weights? And think of all the women who shy away from it because they're afraid of looking manly. Yes, it's a silly fear, but this image - this association between steroid-pumped women and the world of bodybuilding - has to go. It's outdated and not enough women know this.

By the way, women's bodybuilding is on the decline and slowly disappearing from the industry. Yes, you read that right. The women's bodybuilding category is slowly disappearing from bodybuilding competitions.

It's a shame and this category would certainly still be very popular if the judges hadn't decided to reward women for using steroids and the resulting disfigured bodies. We shouldn't hate these female professionals - we should feel sorry for them.

What female trainers know today

We know that the natural female body will not look masculine through heavy training with weights and a robust diet. This farce should have died back when Rachel McLish took the stage. We just want visible muscle and we cringe when you use the word "toned" in relation to us.

You don't have to wrap your head around the word muscles. We know that we can train as hard as we can for hypertrophy and aim to get as muscular as possible and end up with a look that is both powerful and sexy.

Bodybuilding is the pursuit of a well-built body. It's about achieving a visible look of power. It's about hypertrophy. It's about aesthetics, but all of this is accompanied by the added benefits of strength, confidence and definition. We know that good-looking muscles are not weak muscles - and building those muscles is not for the weak-willed.

We also know that building a phenomenal body doesn't require spectators. If you are driven to train hard for the purpose of sculpting your body with muscle, then you can call yourself a bodybuilder without ever having graced a competition stage.

Avoid the catabolism trend

Some women believe that training for aesthetic purposes requires tons of cardio, calorie restriction and getting to the lowest weight of your life on the scale. Many think that it is necessary to follow an extremely restricted diet, never take a day off from the gym and maybe even spend money on a trainer. These are common misconceptions.

First of all, you don't need a trainer to be a bodybuilder. And if you think that an aesthetically pleasing body is a body that looks malnourished, then you need to let go of that notion. You're not a bodybuilder if you believe that, because by definition you're not building your body up. You would tear it down.

Achieving your best look has nothing to do with starving yourself down. No woman who has dedicated her time to the art of bodybuilding would sacrifice what she has achieved with the help of heavy iron.

If you are a bodybuilder, then the scale is irrelevant to your goals. You know that building muscle creates a body that is efficient - a body that doesn't require constant regulation of weight on the scale, macronutrients or time on the treadmill. You know that building muscle creates a metabolism that runs at full speed. That's why cardio and neurotic calorie counting never need to be at the top of your to-do list. These are options, not basics.

Bodybuilding is all-inclusive

Don't have a six-pack? Don't worry. Being defined is not a prerequisite for being identified as a bodybuilder. You also don't have to stop doing things like mountain climbing, dancing, running, yoga or baking and eating treats. Bodybuilding is inclusive. It just means that your main goal is to build muscle and achieve the look that comes with it.

Because of this goal, you will never go to the gym to compensate for a big meal or to lose vacation fat, nor will you punish yourself for missed workouts. For you, the gym is not a prison - it's your oasis. It's your place to grow.

Bodybuilders know that a more toned and compact body is a by-product of training with weights. Yes, ironically, a focus on hypertrophy frees bodybuilders from the pressure to be thinner and leaner.

Other benefits aside from fat loss include workouts that are both challenging and fun, better health and vitality, increased insulin sensitivity, big meals that bring you closer to your body development goals rather than detracting from them, and continuous effort that doesn't feel like martyrdom.

When your main goal is to build muscle, consistency becomes automatic. Your challenge is to build muscle through repeated effort and unlike the goal of getting skinny like a supermodel, this is a challenge that is within your reach.

Building muscle and doing good workouts is a positive reinforcement to continue building muscle and doing good workouts. Bodybuilding is all about impactful and effective workouts - the kind of workouts you enjoy doing again, rather than the punishing ones you try to avoid.

Your body. Your muscles. Your personal look

Rachel McLish once said that the great thing about bodybuilding is that it shows off your genetics. Let that statement sink in, because it will set you free.

This means that we don't have to worry about what other people look like or striving for a look that is not within the reach of our genetic potential. It also means that there is no reason to compare yourself to someone else with different genetic predispositions. And we all have different genetic predispositions.

You cannot achieve the same body development as another woman. Excellent. Because she can't achieve the same body development as you either. She has a different anatomical structure and the best look of the two of you will be dramatically different, but will still be equally attractive depending on who you ask and what you wear.

So don't worry about what other people's bodies look like. You have a unique set of genes and your bodybuilding lifestyle will determine the way those genes come out.

You may or may not have the potential to develop a round butt. Train hard anyway. Do squats, hip thrusts and deadlifts. Find out what your genetic potential has in store for your gluteus. A muscular butt is a great thing - no matter what shape it ends up being - and that shape will be determined by a number of factors including your bone structure and the width of your hips.

Build your body and develop your own kind of beauty - because no one else can achieve that look but you.

What future bodybuilders need to know

• Take part in competitions. Or don't. It's perfectly fine to use a competition as motivation. However, you shouldn't think that you have to sign up for a competition in order to achieve the goal of a muscular body. Build your body because there are a lot of other cool things that go along with building muscle. Then when you decide to compete, you already have a foundation. That opportunity will always be there - no matter how old you are or how much you've let your fitness slide in the past.
• Don't think that bodybuilding is any more superficial than what other people do on a daily basis. Most women (and men) want to achieve a certain look. People use their bodies to tell the world who they are. Their appearance reflects many things ranging from socio-economic status, to profession, values, vanity and hygiene. Exercising for aesthetic purposes is another tool in that toolbox - but it has more benefits than a manicure or designer handbags. And if you tell the world something about yourself through your appearance, what's wrong with telling the world that you are strong and disciplined?
• Be who you are. Bodybuilding may sound pretentious, elitist and exclusive. But that's wrong. We are all quite down to earth and there is no need to be embarrassed or shy. We will not judge. Beginners are more than welcome, as long as they don't ask us questions while we're doing a training set.
• Balls, bands, TRX straps and bodyweight exercises will not be enough if you want to transform your body and build a significant amount of muscle. There is nothing wrong with small training tools and techniques, but you should see them as support for your main exercises. They can't do for your body what real weights, dumbbells, barbells, cable pulleys or other machines can do. So if you're working with a trainer who refuses to show you how to move any significant weights, find someone else.

What we really train for

Bodybuilders may train with aesthetic goals in mind, but that doesn't mean they aren't pursuing other goals and continually challenging themselves. Our lives don't revolve around our looks, but we do enjoy being able to achieve the shapes and lines that only muscle can generate. Muscles are just one of our barometers for progress. They tell us that what we are doing is working.

Aside from achieving a real killer body, we train for many things. We train to build confidence in our careers and in the bedroom. We train for our bone health, our insulin sensitivity and our longevity. We train for increased energy because the work we put in is an investment that always pays off.

We train for mental clarity. We train because the goal of fat loss is a cliché and not fun. We work out because we want to look like Wonder Women instead of Barbie. We exercise because building muscle increases the production of hormones that burn fat, even if fat loss is not our main goal.

We work out to be the type of woman no one wants to mess with. We train to build strength of character. We train for habitual excellence. We train for ourselves.

We train because we are bodybuilders.

By Dani Shugart

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/redefining-the-female-bodybuilder