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We all have people we look up to, people who inspire us to do certain
things. Many
people affectionately look to their parental figures or friends for
motivation and for help.
Performers working stints in clubs look to the stars: if your a prospective
comedian you
might look to Chris Rock, Chris Tucker, Jim Carey, Ben Stiller or maybe even
Curly,
Larry and Moe. If you are a musician you might want to be the next B.B King,
Metallica,
the next great punk band, or the next DMX. | 
(Metallica will sue us for using this picture.) |
Athletes in general look to other athletes for inspiring them to attain
their goals,
sometimes for competitiveness if it is an athlete on your team that you are at
odds with or
it might be a professional athlete who as notoriety in a sport. Say ya wanna
be a ballah like
Allan Iverson, if you are a competitive rower you might be looking to be the
next Jack
Kelly (a famous sculler from the early 20th century) or maybe you wanna be
the second
coming of Michael Johnson or Roger Bannister(who in addition to breaking the
4 min.
mile was also a rower). IN BODYBUILDING, HAVING A ROLE MODEL IS AN
INDISPENSIBLE COMPONENT OF CRAFTING YOUR PHYISIQUE.
Now, you may be thinking "What good is this article, what I need is
training and diet info, not someone's philosophical analog" -- Bear with me
please, because I have found that having bodybuilders that I look up to has
been a BIG part in me attaining my goals. From the beginning I have stressed
the importance of having a well formulated plan of attack and having a body
the you aspire to is one of the most integral parts of that plan. You gotta
have something in the back of your head you want to get to someday or else
your efforts will seem fruitless because you will end up asking yourself what
you want.
When you go on a road trip it's the same way; you don't follow the
map aimlessly--you have a destination that and follow the best routes to get
there. In bodybuilding it is very much the same because your destination is
the body of your dreams and the role models you emulate are the trail blazers.
Say you wanna be a ball of mass like powerlifting champ Ed Coan...you
wouldn't be working out like Frank Zane to end up like Ed Coan. I mean Frank
had a proportionate, lean symmetrical body but he sure couldn't squat 1000lbs
or deadlift 901lbs like Ed Coan. Fact is whether you are training for
proportion and symmetry and going for a Frank Zane look or, at the other
extreme with Ed Coan getting b.a.f/s.a.s (big as fu*k/strong as sheeeit) you
will not be able to attain either unless you have something at the end of the
journey that you are trying to get.
Arnold, who is often given the nod as being the best bodybuilder of all
time, is a good illustration of how to use role models to fuel your efforts.
Arnold modeled his training and nutrition around a British Bodybuilder from
the 1950s named Reg Park. For his time (and even now) Reg Park had an amazing
physique with an amazing blend of mass, leanness and symmetry. Arnold set the
goal of one day building his body to look like Reg Park's. As a matter of
fact when Arnold was training to win the Mr. Universe he wrote to Reg asking
for insight and Reg invited Arnold to train with him. When Arnold began
training with his role model, Park helped Arnold bring up his weak calf
muscles-- Arnold allegedly gained 2 inches on his calves, doing standing calf
raises with 1000lbs, under the direction or Reg Park. Arnold's bodybuilding
efforts show us the benefit of having influential role models and coupling
them with goals ( you don't become the world's most developed man and become
one of the highest paid actors with out following others and setting goals).
Today's pro bodybuilders are no different in this respect. Shawn Ray and
rookie pro Melvin Anthony both were inspired by 1980s sensation John Brown,
and everyone from Flex Wheeler to Ronnie Coleman to Gunter Schilerkamp drew
upon the influence from guys like Lee Haney, Rory Callendar, Serge Nubret,
and Rich Gaspari. The bottom line is that these guys had and idea of what
they sought and they went after it with a vengeance, experimenting with what
their mentors did and incorporated into there own training and contest prep.
You too should do the same-- find a physique that you are trying to obtain,
see what they did to get it and use it in addition to finding out what works
for you.
Prsoar@aol.com
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