Health Weight Gain
a differnt take on body image
by Melissa Schaaf
Obesity has increasingly become a hot topic in American culture, resulting in much more emphasis on weight loss rather than weight gain. This makes it easy to forget about those who are trying to gain weight because they are too thin, for medical purposes or for athletics.
According to Jason Vasa, general manager of the GNC in the Harmony Shopping Center peer pressure is one of the main reasons for attempted weight gain.
“Whether it be in the gym, playing a sport or hanging out with friends, there is always the pressure of being compared to the next guy,” he said. “And if you’re not bigger, better or stronger, you might feel insecure.”
Vasa said that the largest demographic that comes into the store looking for weight-gain supplements are males between the ages of 13 and 25 who are generally underweight. While being underweight is one of the reasons for looking to put on a few pounds, another area that has a great focus on weight and body maintenance is that of body building.
One of the diet supplements that is prevalent in the body building world is Creatine. Creatine is a substance that is on the low end of muscle enhancement where as steroids would be on the high end. Creatine is not a steroid but rather a volumizing muscle supplement that works by rapidly increasing body mass almost exclusively due to the movement of water from the blood stream into skeletal muscle, according to creatinemonohydrate.net. Although risks from Creatine are generally low, they include gastrointestinal distress, stomach cramps, nausea, diarrhea, muscle strains, cramps and tears. It is currently one of the most used muscle enhancement supplements for those looking to improve their appearance and physique.
Fort Collins resident Betsy Jiron participates in competitions that place a great deal of importance on weight and strength. The 32-year-old uses muscle enhancement supplements to help improve her ability.
“I pop Creatine like Tic-Tacs,” she said. “I’ve never experienced any side effects except for the desired effect of the substance.”
Jiron also uses Whey protein, which can be effective in building lean muscle while helping increase energy levels. It can come in a powder form that can be mixed into liquids. Jiron’s preference is the chocolate-flavored type in whole milk.
While Jiron doesn’t participate in body building events, she does compete in physique and fitness competitions.
“It’s basically a Barbie doll show where all of the contestants have very lean body mass,” she said. “They still take a lot of work, training and discipline, but I have a blast doing them.”
Before every competition, all contestants are required to take a drug test 24 hours prior to competing in order to test for steroids, which are not allowed.
The spunky 5-foot-3-inch, 109 pound single mother of three boys puts a great deal of time and effort into training for these competitions, and maintaining her body mass and weight as well. She is in the gym constantly and completes a vigorous workout three times per week that includes weight lifting, cardio and muscle-isolated exercises to improve strength. While she tries to maintain a healthy diet as well, she said as a working mother of three, life can get hectic and does not always allow for the healthiest meals. However, she said it’s never really been a problem because of one reason in particular:
“I got lucky. I have a really high metabolism,” Jiron said as she sipped her Starbucks venti caramel macchiato with whipped cream and caramel sauce.
Jiron competed in her first physique and fitness competition in Aug. 2007 and took third place. She is happy with her placement, however, she believes that she should have placed higher.
“I have 14 tattoos and when you’re standing on stage in front of a panel of judges, they’re not exactly easy to hide,” she said. “I tried to cover them up with tattoo-covering make-up but some of them are too difficult to cover completely, and for every visible tattoo the judges take a certain amount of points off of your total score.”
Constant training is necessary, but she really focuses on her diet and exercise about a month prior to the competition by cutting out all sugars and breads and increases her protein intake. It’s a difficult process and takes a great deal of perseverance and will-power, but there are perks during competition time.
“The morning of the competition you can eat all of the peanut butter cups you could ever possibly want,” Jiron said. “That’s my favorite part.”
Becoming involved in weight lifting and physical fitness goes back to Jiron’s childhood roots.
Growing up, Jiron’s dad was a body builder who pushed his kids to be in top physical shape. Jiron participated in basketball, free-style wrestling and boxing for training and endurance purposes.
“I was basically born in a gym and I’ve been training my whole life,” she said. “I’m now doing it for myself and my own fitness, but it’s really all I know.”
Her dad even went so far as to build a complex gym in their home so he could monitor their workout routines and the frequency they did them.
Now that Jiron is a mother herself, she tries to instill good eating and exercise habits into her sons without the added pressures of excessively working out and improving their bodies.
“My kids are punk skateboarders,” she said. “I don’t want to pressure them the way that I was pressured; I want them to do what makes them happy.”
Zeke Rhodes, a junior pre-med student, got into weight lifting when he was a freshman at Malone College in Canton, Ohio, which eventually led to his current hobby of body building.
“I’ve been lifting for a long time and this was just something I wanted to try,” he said. “It’s a great stress-reliever for me, too.”
The 23-year-old native of Kenya believes exclusively in diet and exercise and that the results can be achieved without the aid of weight gain products or diet supplements.
“My theory is that you can gain weight just as effectively and healthier if you stick to natural sources,” he said.
And naturally is exactly how to explain his diet and exercise routines.
Rhodes’ diet consists of 10 eggs per day, as well as one serving of beef, a portion of veggies, fruits and protein or calorie drinks. Exercise is also very important to him; lifting for nine to 10 years, Rhodes has found workout routines that suit his body and achieve his desired results.
“I’ve come to the conclusion that high-intensity workouts are the most effective over a short amount of time, especially for improving strength and weight control,” he said.
Not only does he participate in body building for personal reasons, Rhodes additionally draws from his spirituality as a source of strength and motivation.
“My goal is to make my body as good as God gave me the ability to make it,” he said. “This is my test; it’s my experiment with my body.”
At a current 195 pounds, sticking to his natural methods has proved successful. Rhodes has taken first and second place in body building competitions, which he participates in “just for the fun of it.” Even with the pressures of the body building world to be the biggest and strongest, Rhodes has never taken muscle enhancements or diet supplements in order to improve his performance.
“There’s nothing wrong with taking it,” Rhodes said. “Users just need to be weary how it’s affecting their body.”
Diet and exercise vary from person to person and involve trial and error to determine what works best for individual needs based on fitness and health goals. There are thousands of diet supplements and ability enhancers on the market; however, some can be dangerous and individuals looking to use them should research the product and talk with a nutritionist or health specialist first. Although supplements may give an extra boost and improve results, they shouldn’t be exclusively relied upon, whether looking to gain weight, lose weight, increase energy or increase muscle mass.
“Anything that’s good in life takes work,” Rhodes said. “There are no shortcuts.”