There is huge pressure on people who make living off their physical appearance. This is more so in case of bodybuilders, and some of them resort to cosmetic surgery for enhancing their physical appearance. Now, numerous questions arise on this count, like if it’s unbalancing the highly competitive playing field of competitive bodybuilding, and whether it’s ethical.
image via marnsarts.blogspot.com
To some people spending hours in gym is no more appealing, as they prefer taking pill once a day, or get a quick surgical procedure. With a short recovery time, slimming down or bulking up is a matter of spending cash to get fast results. So why wait and slog out for four months to get noticeable results, when you can have them overnight?
This may be great for all those who don’t have time, and have tons of cash, but where is that line drawn for bodybuilders who are interested in entering competitions where participants are judged on the bases of years or hard work and discipline?
One may argue that cosmetic surgery is all about enhancing the parts of body. Mostly, for bodybuilders cosmetic surgeries lie in the arena of calf and breast implants over the muscle. These kind of surgeries not only apply to male bodybuilders, but females ones as well. Bodybuilders choose cosmetic surgeries to get definition in the body areas they cannot get the looks the way they want.
The question about whether all these cosmetic surgeries are ethical or not should be considered from multiple angles. This question mainly exists due to bodybuilding competitions, because nobody would’ve bothered if nothing was on line. Nobody questions people in every day life when they are interested in enhancing body parts. However, in competitions the winner gets millions and praises, which raises the question of ethics.
Muscle enhancers and cosmetic surgery can be considered as a form of cheating where you pay to achieve enhanced physical appearance instead of earning it through hard work in gym. So in these circumstances, the bodybuilder with lots of money can become a winner. Therefore, cosmetic enhancements in these cases are unethical. Muscle injections, calf implants, use of steroids and various other artificial methods of bulking up are considered as cheating. Although contestants are tested for drugs before competitions, but how often are they tested for ‘posing oils’ like Synthol?
Bodybuilding requires ambition, dedication, mental focus, and strength. Other factors are proper nutrition, perseverance, and intense workout, and most importantly lots of time and efforts to get the desired results. Time is key in all aspects of bodybuilding as it helps in balancing all the above listed things.
So the use of muscle enhancers and cosmetic surgery in bodybuilding is unethical for various reasons. Synthetic products are against the spirit and principles of bodybuilding. Both women and men compete on the basis of their overall body appearance for which they’ve worked so hard, and most of them expect awards.
Cosmetic surgery will continue to be a hot topic in the world of bodybuilding, but as with other things in life, you should judge the use of these means on the situation and case by case scenario when considering whether it’s ethical or not.