I wonder how bodybuilders would do as athletes. Football especially. I believe Ken Wahler used to play in Canada but I am curious. They ahve so much muscle you would think there is potential there. Any thoughts?
If you mean pro bodybuilders, then no. Don’t even go there. Most of those guys are so bloated and out of shape (yes you read that right) that they’d croak of a heart attack after the first two plays. And NFL lineman would eat them alive for the sheer protein intake. Muscle doesn’t equal ability.
Bodybuilders would get their ass handed to them on the football field. Those dudes are so out of shape they can’t even get up a flight of 15 stairs with out taking a blow. Not only are they out of shape, but they would be extremely slow. Bodybuilders hardly if ever train explosively, and don’t know how to harness their strength into athletic movements. They may have a lot of muscle, but there is now way Ronnie Coleman could even budge Tony Baseli, or Jonathan Ogden.
the average fan would probably do better than the average "pro"bodybuilder.
bodybuilders, would die. What i wonder about is elite Olympic lifters. Like howabout Shane Hamman in Football or basketball. Basketball, wouldn’t be practical but c’mon the guy is 5’9 360, and he can dunk. That would be funny to see him slam one down on shaq.
is the question how would bb’s do as football players or as athletes??
i am a bodybuilder.
i am an athlete.
i would make a lousy football player.
Check out Ray Lewis (yes, I’m from Baltimore). He’s coming to camp at 240 with 3% bodyfat. Can run down all the speedy running backs from behind and stop the power backs like a brick wall. He’s built like a bodybuilder (not a roids monster, tho). He’s probably the ultimate example of someone who trains for functional strength and speed.
This is a nice topic. I think you have to differentiate between how bodybuilders would do as athletes once they’ve been bodybuilders for several years vs how they would do as athletes before they even began training as bodybuilders. Quite a few top bodybuilders were good athletes before they took up bodybuilding…Paul Dillet played pro football…Flex Wheeler was a martial arts champ and countless others were excellent athletes in some other sport. Does this mean they’re still great athletes?..No…but I think the average trainee would be better off spending a few years training for functional strength and athleticism before training strictly as a bodybuilder. I feel the enhanced neural drive and coordination of athletic training can lead itself to larger size increases in the future.
Someone like Frank Zane would probably do good in sports. He seems to have the right agility and no protruding gut that gets in his way. A bodybuilder like Greg Kovacs would wheeze as loud as that Fatty McGhee character from Adam Sandler’s fisrt CD just from sitting on the bench. I think the closer a bodybuilder is to a sprinter, the better athlete he is. I know, I know. Bodybuildrs and Sprinters are much alike, but sprinters are better at recruiting more explosive movements which is necessary for certain (but not all) sports.
Certainly, if you were to examine it from the opposite viewpoint, there would be a great contrast. Athletes (football players) would (and do) do better as BB’s than BB’s (pro heavyweights that is) do as athletes (football players).
Interestingly though, many pro BB’s were in fact, at least at one point, athletes on one level or another. So, an arguement can be made to support a transformation back. Just as many athletes would need to employ the tactics BB’s use to become BB’s; BB’s would train like athletes. That is, if a bodybuilder chose to revert back to his or her “natrual” limitations, he or she could perform quite well.
The problem with bodybuilders as athletes is conditioning. If they put themselves through very poised, ambitious sprinting/running/general conditioning sessions, they will probably come out with an advantage in full-body sports such as football, but think about GOLF, I’m not sayin this is a sport, but its funny imagining a guy with tons of mass packed tightly onto his body trying to move to swing a golf club.
I have heard of bodybuilders tryin out for the NFL and they can handle it the arent atheletic in the sense they can move very quickly.Most have no ability as an athelete other then lifting a wieght. And anyone can do that.
katana, if ray lewis is comeing to camp at 3% bodyfat I guess he is comeing in a bodybag 'cause he must be dead. he is a scum bag anyway. but I was wondering if ANYONE still considers bodybuilders athletes? there is NOTHING athletic about that “sport”. peace hetyey225
I think just the raw size affects athletic ability…I look at pro wrestlers…when they attempt to do things like spinning hook kicks…as a MA, it is painful to watch. If any of them even tried to throw one at a competitive fighter he would get trashed in about 10 seconds flat. Wrestlers are good athletes to a degree…but asthetics play a huge part, so I think in many cases they are sacrificing function for size, so from there you can just imagine how bad off a real bodybuilder would be athleticly. This is just my opinion of course, but I do see that when I gain too much size in my legs, my kicks suffer in terms of speed. Power increases just due to the additional mass, but what difference does that make if I am blocked because I am too slow?
(top) bodybuilders do not need functional muscle. THEy need lotsa muscle and in proportions. THose 2 things won’t help at all. you need functional muscle re-read the 1st pavel article if anyone needs somerehashing on hypertrophy
Check out the worldrecords of the longest drives made in golf… a few years ago the longest drive was made by a bodybuilder allthoug not a pro he was competing on nationallevel at least.
I think it would depend on the sport. My guess is they would do well at golf, because they could adjust their swing areound their mass (LPGA players have won tournaments when they’re 8 months pregnant, and that’s a lot of ‘mass’ to swing around.) I think they would do poorly at anything requireing running or endurance. I can’t imagine a bodybuilder on the rugby field, just hauling all that weight around for a 90 minute game would be exausting, let alone the power to sprint, hit and everything else. Bodybuilding focuses on size and form and symmetry - correct me if i’m wrong. Athletics focus on speed, strength and agility, athletes may end up looking like smaller scale bodybuilders, but I don’t think it works in the other direction.
Anyone remember the Colts linebacker Chip Banks? Played in the late 80’s and early 90’s. He certainly had the physique of a body-builder and probably had the genes to make a career of it if he wanted. Pretty good player too from memory.
Just a thought, but pertinent to this thread…U.S Special Forces, SEALS, Marine RECON, etc. etc. have known for YEARS that the “musclebound” guy would often be the first to wash out. He would often LOOK impressive, but would lack the functional strength, upper body strength (despite huge pecs!) and often the areobic capacity to make it. The concept of a “lean, mean, killing machine” is more than just a chant…it seems to descibe the ideal soldier…
I think we have all agreed that Pro’s just aren’t in the shape anymore to handle athletic activity. What about the recreational BB’er though? Would someone following say a Berardi Bodybuilding type split and periodizing his traning into bodybuilding ,strength and power succeed in his athletic endeavors.Well I should say enhance his performance through training. Or what about even traditional Bodybuilding slits with added GPP? just curious…Mike