Let's go retro: bodybuilding needs to get back to its roots - Articulashawn

I've been in the sport about 15 years, and I've seen many trends come and go. I've kept a lot of magazines over those 15 years, and sometimes I thumb through them--occasionally even discovering a "new" routine or something different to try. It's amazing what you can pick up from those back issues.

From what I see in some of today's bodybuilding publications, you're better off with the older ones. I'm talking about the changing focus of what passes for bodybuilding press these days. You know what I mean--propaganda, sex, hardcore steroid use. You have to wonder what those publishers are thinking.

To me, bodybuilding is an art form, a sport and a lifestyle. When I was 16 and getting interested in training, I looked toward the older bodybuilders for weight training and nutrition knowledge. I wanted to learn how to be the best bodybuilder I could be. I didn't buy magazines to find out about sexual positions or how to smuggle drugs across the border. I don't need to see soft-porn photographs of strippers masquerading as "fitness models." So many bodybuilding mags have lost their focus.

Fortunately, not all of them have. I'm glad FLEX hasn't gotten caught up in the negative hype. Why worry about keeping up with the Joneses if the Joneses are giving the sport a bad name? But if I were 16 years old today, just beginning and reading some of those other mags, I'd be confused as hell about what bodybuilding is.

We need to get back to the meat and potatoes of the sport by starting a movement to revisit the grassroots of what we do. The message bodybuilding insiders are sending to the world is one reason more young people aren't coming into the sport today. So much of the content in many of these magazines and Web sites is empty and useless.

Bodybuilding is driven by muscle. Sure, even FLEX sometimes gets sidetracked by the personal rivalries and the trash talk in the sport, but in the end, each issue is about training, eating right, watching your body change and becoming inspired by the pros pictured in these pages. We must continue to emphasize the positive things bodybuilders do, such as when they visit kids in hospitals and schools, or when they donate their time to children's groups. That's as much a part of what we do as competing and guest posing.

The perception of our sport is being damaged by a few quick-buck artists, so it's up to us to come forward and present a positive image of bodybuilding. We need to put more focus on the youth, so they can become the heroes of tomorrow. We need to provide responsible guidance to the younger generation, so they have a chance to become the best bodybuilders they can be. It made a difference in my life, and it will in theirs, too.

To contact Shawn Ray, visit www.shawnray.net.

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