The modern day gym philosophy

DAN POLISCHUK, THE CORD WEEKLY (WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY)

WATERLOO (CUP) – At its core, western society has always been based around the assumption that “more is better.” We want to own the fastest cars and all the latest accessories. Quite startlingly, however, this rule of thumb now applies to our physiques. We not only want the best-looking bodies, we’re seemingly willing to spare no expense to get it.

One only has to look at the most recent sales figures by NBTY – a leading manufacturer, marketer and distributor of nutritional supplements throughout the United States and the world – to understand what a large industry sports nutrition has become. In the month of May alone, NBTY brought in $19 million in North American sales, which was just a small portion of their $166 million total.

All of this does not necessarily surprise athletic therapist Jamie Carlson, who considers this type of consumption to be a reflection of the “expectations” that come with living in such a commercialized culture.

“It’s such an impatient society. [People] don’t want to put in the two, three, four months of hard work. They want to, maybe, work out for six weeks, take all the ‘stuff’ and be ready to go,” said Carlson, adding, “That’s just the way western society is now.”

The ‘stuff’ Carlson speaks of is what fills the shelves of health supplement retail stores everywhere, including those in close vicinity university campuses across the nation. More specifically, these include protein powders – used to make shakes, tablets containing nitric oxide (or NO2 as it is more commonly referred as, which increases blood flow helping to reduce recovery time for muscles and increase frequency of workouts) and glutamine, among other things.

Carlson admits that, when creating a regimen for athletes, he may recommend taking a protein shake “if they do want to get bigger for whatever reason,” without having to eat lean meat, like chicken, constantly. He still holds the belief, though, that consumption of the aforementioned supplements is simply “more about image” as well as “just gimmick stuff.”

“I’m not saying all the stuff is a waste. I guess you have to figure out what you’re taking it for ... There probably is some benefit [with those supplements],” he said.

“For the most part, though, a lot of these supplements are for people that don’t have the patience [to work out regularly].”

He cited the most recent work he has done with a women’s hockey team to prove his point, explaining how a simple twice a week weight workout has contributed to a 55 per cent increase in dead weight strength, “without gaining an ounce.”

“Their body weight even dropped a little bit,” he commented.

Carlson continued by saying that strength work is not always “about getting bigger. It’s about getting you stronger.”

But thanks to many of the sports fitness magazines on bookstore shelves, the misconception remains that big muscles get you strong.

When asked if initiatives to inform student athletes about sports nutrition are a benefit to the student population, Carlson was all for it.

“It’s better to educate, because if they’re going to take it, let’s give [the consumers] information that’s valuable instead of just having them go up and start taking it.”