Hormone Changes in Competitive Bodybuilders by Jerry Brainum 9/26

 

 

 

Preparing for a bodybuilding competition is highly stressful. It takes a real toll on energy, mood, and even sleep—and how much depends on several factors, one of them genetic. Some people simply handle the stress of contest prep better than others, thanks to a genetic wiring that lets them process stress more efficiently. When I worked with world-champion professional boxers in the '90s, I often marveled at how many could nap less than an hour before a fight. Most people would be flooded with adrenaline and nerves at that point. But these boxers had trained themselves to control that response.

Overtraining is stress by another name — and it's the single most common mistake bodybuilders make, whether they're stepping on stage or just chasing gains in the gym. The idea that "more is better" is pervasive in the sport. I used to believe it myself, and I ran marathon training sessions that lasted eight hours. I was young, and my body somehow tolerated the abuse. I even made real muscle gains — for a while.

Winning a bodybuilding contest means attaining a very specific look: large muscles; favorable bone structure, including a small waist and hips; symmetry and proportion, with no muscle group overpowering the rest; and extreme muscular definition. Some of these, like bone structure, are genetic and beyond anyone's control. Others — symmetry, proportion, definition — are earned through disciplined training and dieting.

How much each factor matters shifts depending on the competition class. In professional bodybuilding, size now rules above all else. Muscle mass has always mattered, but the bar has risen to weights that would have been unthinkable a generation ago. Frank Zane won three Mr. Olympia titles at around 185 pounds. Samson Dauda won the 2024 Mr. Olympia at nearly 300. Some of that gap comes down to bone structure—Dauda simply has a bigger frame, built to carry more mass than Zane ever could. But frame alone doesn't explain it: under today's standards, Zane wouldn't crack the top 10, for all his titles. He'd still thrive in Classic Physique, though, where shape and definition win out over sheer size.

Preparing for a bodybuilding contest unfolds in distinct training and dieting phases. The first stretch — typically four to six months — is devoted to gaining as much muscle as possible. Bodybuilders once treated the fat that came with this "bulking" phase as an unavoidable cost of doing business. Years of trial and error changed that thinking: extra fat turned out to buy no real advantage, and it only made the "ripped," contest-ready definition harder to achieve later. So even during bulking, when a contest is months away, bodybuilders now manage their diet to favor . . .