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How to build a minority sport


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Heard this interview on Murray Deaker's SportsTalk show on NewsTalk ZB this afternoon. It was on NZ's performance at the Olympics, but I thought it was quite relevant to bodybuilders, too, since it talked about how to nurture struggling minority sports.

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/thisweek/11615.wma

(Interview starts 9mins into the recording)

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Is that the interview where he aludes to professional coaches and building depth within sport? Sound platforms to speak from, and sure, professional coaches in bodybuilding would be a great start, but all these sports mentioned (athletics, cycling etc) are hugely popular with the populus at large. We do have a history steeped in success at a Commonwealth and Olympic level with athletics (Walker, Snell, Halberg to name a few) and other sports, but Bodybuilding again doesn't have enough international clout to get exposure for this country. I'll mention drugs, because this is important, most minority sports in NZ get funding ONLY if they have a 100% clean record. Only touch rugby heads off BB in terms of positive tests!

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I think you are right drugs are important and I think more than a few of the top level spots are protected when it comes to drugs rugby and league are both big high profile sports here, and as such get good funding but also get away with a lot more in the drugs department.

I have heard mention of few players at top level, shielded or not so randomly tested so they get away with it so as to speak. A sport like ours which is small of course is going to get hit hard and there will be no protection because we are minor players on the world stage.

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I would have to agree with Deegee here. I've been told by a reliable source that this shielding of some players from drug tests happens regularly & that several top level rugby players would most likely fail a drug test.

Wot?? thats shocking. But I guess if they're doing it here, then they're doing it in rugby teams overseas as well... Just like how top rugby players commit crimes that the average Joe would be flamed for. And because of their talent, we all look the other way. Sucks.

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I think you are right drugs are important and I think more than a few of the top level spots are protected when it comes to drugs rugby and league are both big high profile sports here, and as such get good funding but also get away with a lot more in the drugs department.

I have heard mention of few players at top level, shielded or not so randomly tested so they get away with it so as to speak. A sport like ours which is small of course is going to get hit hard and there will be no protection because we are minor players on the world stage.

That's what I'd always figured. It would be difficult to carry as much muscle mass as some rugby players do in addition to the amount of aerobic exercise they are required to do and the tendency of most of them to drink alcohol and what have you. Also, given that for them to play on drugs would tend to make already rich people even richer, it more or less stands to reason that they would be allowed to play on drugs. It's all about the money da-doo-da-doo-dah-dah-doo-di-doo-doo.

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corn fed ther nothing wrong with drinking a few beers. its not gonna be the difference between becoming an allblack and not.

and they dnt have to be on drugs to carry "that much muscle mass" and to have great aerobic fitness even tho ther muscle mass isnt tht great. just remember thts their fulltime job all they do is train. wat do u expect?

just because ther the best in ther sport doesnt mean ther on shit. its rugby not bodybuilding

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I wouldn't want to speculate on the number of top level sports people on performance enhancing drugs. However what I can say is that 99% of the these people are, to coin a phrase, Alpha Males (or the comparable female term). Meaning that they are genetically superior to your average coach potato. That is what has gotten them into their position in the first place. They are fitter, stronger, physically larger, recover faster and are more suited to physical, high strength sports like rugby etc. Humans have a natural grading system which from an early age dictates to a certain extent whereabouts your character traits are of most benefit. Bill Gates would never find himself on the rugby field. He could use all the drugs under the sun and still not perform well enough to even make a provincial team. He doesn't need to play rugby as he is more suited to other pursuits.

You could say that this is an enviromental development and that if he as a child was exposed to the same environment as say Tana Umaga he would have become an All Black captain. But no - his body isn't genetically programmed that way.

Certainly there may be drugs involved in high level sports - but it's not what gets 95% of sports people to that position. It may help keep them there a little longer, and improve their performance once there, however these people have natural abilities and genetics that most of us either don't have or don't take advantage of.

Contrast that to bodybuilders and I would have to say that the majority of bodybuilders who compete use drugs long before they stand on stage for the first time. Meaning - these people don't allow themselves to become top level bodybuilders in their own right. They don't allow for natural selection - they rely on drugs to get them there.

That's why there are so many crap BB's out there with disproportionate, bloated and overly muscled, ugly bodies. They should never have been BB's to start with as it's not what they are designed for. The real "Alpha" bodybuilders will either join in the circus and shoot themselves full of all manner of goodies, slowly rising to the top, or choose to go the natural or less assisted route and hardly even make an impact on stage. Using drugs before you find out whether you're naturally any good at something is pointless. If people would stop taking such short term views, and focus on long term gains, the quality of bodybuilding as a whole would improve. It's like giving a 5 year old a calculator and never teaching them how to add or multiply. It stunts the natural development and in the long term doesn't benefit them any more than having waited until they'd learned their times tables or long division. Just as being able to use a calculator doesn't make a child a genius, shooting yourself full of drugs doesn't maketh the athlete.

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Anyone care to help list initiatives seen this year to help promote/get people started in BB? I can think of:

The 'Phat Camp' (mind you, the ladies coughed up $500+ per head)

Club Physical BB Club/Champs

BB Seminar in Wellington recently

I'd also hazard a guess and say if Moe can get his show happening this year, we might see some greater interest.

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