Extreme pumping

Bae Seon-u

• Published Mar 13, 2014 5:01 PM KST
• Updated Mar 13, 2014 5:01 PM KST

Professional bodybuilders and their insatiable desire for bodily perfection

Big, bigger but never biggest

A peek into the ultra-competitive world of professional bodybuilding

By Jung Min-ho

Professional bodybuilders devote their lives to lifting weights for the singular purpose of becoming bigger.

Their passion is incomprehensible to many who gawk at their sculpted physiques and don’t hesitate to label them as "freaks.’’

So what drives these men and women to be so eager to push their bodies to the extreme, frequently at the cost of their health?

Many professional bodybuilders who talked with The Korea Times said they first lifted weights just to look fit and sexy within the ``normal’’ realms of beauty.

But they were never able to stop there because they developed an insatiable desire for bodily perfection.

"You are never ever satisfied with the size of your biceps,’’ said Choo Hyung-ju, a 25-year-old bodybuilding veteran.

When Choo first started lifting weights at the age of 19, he was seeking a career as a model. But bodybuilding proved to be a profound experience that altered who he wanted to be.

After winning multiple bodybuilding contests, he was able to enroll at Kyung Hee University’s physical education department as a special admission. He has won eight more bodybuilding competitions since then, most recently last year’s Mr. Seoul Classic.

However, despite his impressive trophy haul, Choo is still not happy with his body size.

“I want a stronger and bigger body. I guess I am like a woman who never likes the way she looks in the mirror,’’ he said.

“It is a competition. If I lose, I feel like ‘I could have beaten that guy if I just lifted once more.’ This is what keeps you going.’’

Choo says that the best part about being a bodybuilder is that the effort you put in is rewarded with a result that is unmistakably visual. Your body is either impressive or it is not and there is no room for other interpretation.

“It is also a harsh battle,” said Ko Jae-su, an older bodybuilder who won the 1998 Mr. Korea contest.

“It is a battle against yourself, and you face it every workout. It’s about how far you can push yourself to improve.”

Ko said he was an angry and confused young man out of the military when he first began lifting weights at the age of 21. The 48-year-old credits his passion for bodybuilding for keeping him on the ``right track’’ since.

“There were temptations. But bodybuilding prevented me from doing harmful things. Because I had a clear objective, I could stay away from those,” Ko said. “After my parents had died early, I was looking for something to put my heart into.”

Ko is considered a trailblazer, gaining a reputation as a professional bodybuilder in the 1980s when many Koreans didn’t even know such a profession existed.

When he started out, Ko had trouble finding Koreans who he could compete with. The competition he invented for himself was magazine photos of a young Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Ko became a well-known public figure in 1997 when he won the Mr. Asia contest, which cemented his status as the face of Korea’s budding bodybuilding scene.

Female trainer Yu Hal-la, who works with Ko at the Star Fitness gym in southern Seoul, also describes bodybuilding as a life-changing experience.

“As your body changes, your confidence gets a boost,” Yu said. “This confidence also changes your attitude. It’s not just about building muscle; it could be a life-changing experience.”

When asked if she thinks her muscles are “too much,” another bodybuilder Bae Seon-u said, “Don’t you think bodybuilders are supposed to have ‘too much’ muscles?”

Great body comes with pain

Valuable things in life tend to come at a cost. The most difficult part of bodybuilding is not the physical stress, but the constant feeling of loneliness.

"Bodybuilders do everything alone from workout to eating. Think about it. You spend at least four to five hours in the gym and eat chicken breasts, eggs and vegetables all the time. Who would hang out with you?” Choo said. “At some point, I found myself alone.”

Although the schedule varies among bodybuilders, they basically have about a four-month season, intense workout period ahead of competitions, and an off-season.

“For a five-minute showcase, they are not supposed to eat anything that has carbohydrate or fat. Besides, they should not do anything other than building muscle because rest is important, too. Of course, no drink, no cigarettes and no sex,” Choo said. “Your life becomes clean to the point where it is almost like a saint’s.”

For the last three days, bodybuilders don’t drink water to make their muscles look more defined. It’s dangerous. Some people actually die from dehydration.

“That’s why many bodybuilders date other bodybuilders,” Yu said. “Not eating normal food causes many problems in socializing with friends, let alone dating.”

“Even if you get a boyfriend, it is difficult to hang out. I mean what else would you do other than eating delicious food on a date?”

During off-seasons, bodybuilders indulge themselves in eating things they endure for months ahead of contests, but still with concern. They also work out just as much as the seasons.

“It feels I am always on standby,” Choo said.

Sport or art?

Although bodybuilders may look extremely athletic and powerful, some people question whether bodybuilding is a sport when the goal is achieving a certain standard of aesthetics than defeating competitors with strength, speed and skill.

Others argue that bodybuilding is a dedication-oriented sport, where bodybuilders’ movement on the stage still matters for judgment.

In fact, the Korea Olympic Committee recognizes bodybuilding as a sport, and bodybuilders competed at the 2002 and 2006 Asian Games where it was dropped because of a judging controversy.

Few bodybuilders believe it will return to any major sporting event because “bodybuilding is very close to illegal drugs such as steroids.”

“Using illegal drugs is pervasive in the bodybuilding world. And it is extremely difficult to eradicate the problem in the current system where most bodybuilders use them and know how to manipulate drug tests,” a bodybuilder said on condition of anonymity.

“The drugs help them build muscles for years. What is judged is an accumulated accomplishment not just one-time performance. That is why it is very difficult to root it out.”

Career vision

The vision of bodybuilding is twofold; as a sport, it is quite bleak because of prevalent illegal drug use, but as a lifestyle, it is very bright with an increasing number of people interested in a “cool body.”

“If you think about how many gyms are in your neighborhood, it is obvious that fitness is a huge market with a rosy future,” Ko said.

Bae Seon-u, 24, a 2013 WBC Open World Body Classic winner in muscle division, works for Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s health care department. After work, she spends most of her time at the gym.

Bodybuilding is her passion, but so does the company job. The former wrestler said her body makes her stand out wherever she goes. “That is quite a good feeling,” she said.

Also, it opened new doors for her career.

She said her bodybuilding career helped her get a job as a fitness club trainer, a wrestling judge and the drug manufacturing company employee. It was an unexpected benefit because she knew bodybuilding itself would not help her financially.

“Even if you win a competition, in many cases, there is no whopping prize money. It’s all about honor,” Bae said. “But it could open new doors for people in many ways.”

“Above all, it is purely fun to see my body changes. It is a tonic for my life and work,” she said.

Her body also made her famous; she has over 5,000 friends and fans on Facebook and hundreds of people visit her blog every day.

Byun hyun-sun, 36, also made a successful business model with her bodybuilding career. The 2011 Asian Grand Prix Bodybuilding and Fitness winner in the over-160-centimeter division now runs fitness club Bodyholic that has four branches in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province.

After graduating from Seoul Women’s University with a physical education degree, Byun started her career as a trainer at the age of 26 at a fitness club near Ewha Womans University. Even then, she did not see the potential in bodybuilding.

After working at some major fitness clubs across Seoul, she started bodybuilding when she was 29, believing that it would give her career wings. And it did.

It was still rare to see female bodybuilders about 10 years ago. The pretty-faced Byun, standing at 167-centimers, was soon on the lips of everyone in the field.

Unlike many other sports (or arts), bodybuilders reach their prime in their late 30s. She believes she has not seen her best body yet.

“I thought about doing interior design business after college, and I’m glad I didn’t,” she said.