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Not Completely Natural
By: Keith Dobkowski, Sports Law Expert
For the very first time I was given an insiders view to the world of
bodybuilding. I watched the prejudging, the pose downs, the
oiling, the main show and the backstage preparations. However,
I learned more about the inner workings of bodybuilding from a
five-minute conversation with one of the bodybuilders.
As background, for me, bodybuilding has always been a fringe
sport. As is any sport that relies on judging instead of score or
speed. When the results are determined by judges, mistakes or
prior agreements may be in place that affect the outcome. Look
no further than the Winter Olympics and Ice Skating Episode or
the Marquez Featherweight Boxing championship Saturday Night
where a judge’s mistake altered the event.
I attended the 8th Annual Silver and Black Natural Bodybuilding
Championships held in Oakland California. To qualify for this
event, a bodybuilder must be drug free for the last three years.
And here is where the problem lies.
Most readers probably assume, as I did, that the best way to
determine drug free for three years would be a combination of
drug testing and possible lie detector exam. However, through
my conversations with Steve, I learned that the Silver and Black
event only requires a lie detector exam the day of the
competition.
Steve stated that in between the prejudging rounds and the
main show, a known Steroid user who was competing, stated
that he had practiced his answers to the lie detector before the
test. He stated that a book existed specifically for the purpose of
preparing for such an exam.
For those not in the know, a lie detector measures heart rate in
response to certain questions. You are asked to relax and then
are asked a series of questions requiring yes and no answers.
The truthful questions are simple and known. The lying questions
are tough and to the point. The theory is that one will respond
easily and calmly when giving a truthful response and thus the
heart rate will remain steady. However an untruthful answer will
cause the person’s pulse to increase and thus imply lying.
For instance, Steve would be asked a series of questions such as:
§ Is your name Steve?
§ Are you wearing clothes?
§ Did you take human growth hormones?
§ Are you a man?
§ Are you competing in the bodybuilding championship?
§ Did you take EPO’s last year?
The problem that remains with a lie detector exam is the
assumption that untruthful answers will create an increased
pulse rate in all persons and further that untruthful answers
cannot be practiced. The problem worsens when a contestant
knows the exact time and date of the lie detector exam. The
instant rush of an untruthful answer causing a raised pulse is not
as great when the essence of time is not a factor. If you know
what is coming and when it is coming, the shock of the question
cannot be as great.
The solution is simple when it comes to creating a drug free
bodybuilding event. Drug test the contestants. Create a
mandatory set of drug test to take place randomly during the six
months before the competition. Couple that with a lie detector to
cover the remaining two and a half years necessary to cover the
three-year drug free requirement and an answer is found.
Is this answer flawless? Of course not. But for Steve, who
finished third in his division, and believed that he would have
finished first had the competition truly been drug free, it is a
better solution than a standard lie detector test.
I must mention that my bias against Steroid use derives not only
from the unnatural use of drugs to gain strength, but is furthered
by my friendship and business relationship with a bodybuilder
who is completely natural. His name is Kenneth G. Williams and
he is a vegan. He placed second in his division during the
competition and will continue to compete naturally no matter how
many of his opponents cheat.
While the bodybuilding experience is new to me, it was exciting
and thrilling to see in a manner unlike other sports. Sadly, like
the mainstream sports of baseball and football, and international
sports like cycling, even Natural Bodybuilding has doping issues.
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