Catholicism and Bodybuilding: Friends or Foes?

"The Church, without any doubt whatever, approves of physical culture, if it be in proper proportion" Pope Pius XII

The current culture of bodybuilding and hyper-fitness is ravaged by narcissism and egos big enough to pay back our nation's debt. Part of the problem of the current culture is that it decided to choose the incorrect ideologies for the sport at its beginnings. Many faith-filled people on the outside looking in would write off the sport entirely, something i can't say that I would fault them for. But the sport and the heart of the lifestyle does have good within it. Many bodybuilders, Mike Mentzer for example, have endeavored to bring philosophy, reason and intelligence into the sport but the mainstream bodybuilding media saw him and most like him as a kook. Bodybuilding in its truest and purest form is about beauty and discipline. Beauty of the body and and discipline of the will. As creatures of God we are meant to realize our full human potential. We have a vast array of talents and abilities that our loving Creator infused into us, reasoning, logic, sympathizing, and (by far the most important) holiness, are all given to us as goals to be achieved in order to become more and more worthy of heaven. Physical fitness and health are also God-given and therefore meant to help us get to heaven.

I think first I need to explain what kind of bodybuilding I am speaking of. The freakish bodybuilders of today do not exhibit the beauty of the body. Grace, athleticism, and proper proportion have all but left the current Mr. Universe competitions or most any other bodybuilding competitions. What was meant to portray the human body at its physical peak has become the slanderous and outrageous need for more size, most of the time at the expense of actual health. While I am not for the displaying of male or female bodies for people to gawk at, reaching your physical pinnacle is a beautiful and wonderful thing. The sport of bodybuilding has taken a very ugly turn to the immodest. When I speak of bodybuilding please do not think that the current ogres of the fitness world define the true heart of the sport, the philosophy behind the mud is golden. The ancient Greeks as well as the great artists like Michelangelo had a much better understanding of the role of human physical beauty and the need to try for the best.
“No citizen has a right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training…what a disgrace it is for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.” -Socrates

In all things we are meant to strive to be the absolute best we can be. Knowledge of truth, love of God, and love of neighbor are not only supposed to be the desires of our hearts we were made to strive for perfection in all of these divine and beautiful things. And such it is with the body, we are meant to want to be beautiful or handsome. The true philosophy and heart of what bodybuilding is has nothing to do with men in Speedos chock full of injected testosterone and human growth hormone. What real bodybuilding is about is the striving for perfection. Being that we are all made up of a mind, a soul, and a body, and true balance derives from the continual up-reach towards heaven of all three, our bodies must be on that celestial ladder just as much as our minds and souls should be. Servant of God Fulton J. Sheen once said, 'Peace is not a passive, but an active virtue.' Our bodies will never have peace unless we are actively pursuing the peace we crave which will only come about when we have full control of our passions and a healthy and active exercising life can help us achieve that temperance. "For no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body"- Ephesians 5:29

There are numerous stories of young men that were living a life of debauchery and crime and through the lifestyle of bodybuilding were able to get out of the rut that their sins had placed them in. "The Iron is the best antidepressant I have ever found. There is no better way to fight weakness than with strength. Once the mind and body have been awakened to their true potential, it’s impossible to turn back." - Henry Rollins (Former Competitive Bodybuilder) If we as Catholics were able to harness that ability of weight lifting to help young men and women to continually strive for a life of perfection, not only in their bodies, but in their souls and minds, we could have a generation of balanced and value-hearted individuals. We should never idolize physical perfection but, "I think the time is right for a "theology of bodybuilding" as well: for greater appreciation and deeper understanding of the body's capacity for strength, endurance, and robust fitness, to serve as a dynamo of charity toward our neighbor and for the greater glory of God." - Dr. Kevin Vost, Fit for Eternal Life. Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati's motto, 'Verso l'alto' meaning 'to the top' applied not only to be able to climb mountains but to strive for Christian perfection in all things should be the motto for anyone wanting to try out bodybuilding.

Beauty is in the Eye of The Creator: Part 3

Many marital problems that have occurred through the past come about because couples find out that they have 'nothing in common', no goal that they are striving for together. While the first and foremost goal that they should be striving for is to get their husband or wife to heaven, one of the issues is that they have no hobbies or anything to share. For example, my wife and I have very different interests. While our faith and our children are the most common and best thing that we love and have in common, our physical and mental hobbies differ. She enjoys making rosaries or small crafts of some kind, while I enjoy reading. She loves to bake while I love to grill. She enjoys chick-flicks while I enjoy 'cine'MAN'togrophy'. Many couples struggle to find the similarities between their individual, material interests. One thing that my wife and I have always had in common is our love of exercise. I have noticed alot of benefits a couple can experience that exercise can offer.

First, when both the man and woman exercise they both have something they want to achieve. Whether it be to lose a couple pounds or to gain strength the couple has something that they can help the other complete. Not only is there a common goal but there is someone right next to you cheering you on to be the best that you can be. It also creates a fun pursuit that each of you can challenge the other in. For example, my wife has always been able to run for long distances at a very good pace. I am more of a weightlifter and have never been one to run for miles on end. So, between the two of us we challenge one another to reach out and try the other's interest. Now both my wife and I run and lift weights. We rarely have the opportunity to work out or run together, but the overall goal is to help each other be in the best health possible, and what better way than to grow in health together. We men are meant to 'tend and keep the garden' given to us by God and our wives are meant to help us be the best spiritual and physical heads of our households, aside from a prayerful and sacramental marriage, exercise is one of the best things to help each other reach their God-given roles.

Secondly, our vows require us to look after our spouse's health. "In sickness and in health" was not suggesting that whether you want to be lazy or active or whether you want to eat pork rinds or salads is fine by your spouse. Being a child of God hands on the responsibility of taking care of our own health and when you said 'I do' you promised to keep your spouse in his or her best health as well. There is always a balance to be had when it comes to our diets and our activity levels, within right reason a person can stay in shape and keep their spouse in shape, decently easy. With a little help from the theological virtues you can both grow together in mind, body and soul. Fortitude will help when you want to be lazy. Temperance will help when you want to eat fast food every day. Justice will help a couple give each other the love and respect due to a creature of God. Prudence will help a couple find the right plan to achieve each other's goals.

Third, I don't think any man or woman wants their partner to lose the physical attraction that originally brought them together. Men want their wives to feel safe when they are together and want them to know that no other person could harm her as long as she has her man. "His arms are rods of gold...His legs are pillars of alabaster..." - Song of Songs 5:14-15. Women want to feel attractive, they want their husbands eyes to light up when he sees her and to feel that he can always brag about his beautiful wife. "Oh Noble Daughter, your curving thighs like jewels, the product of skilled hands." - Song of Songs 7:2. The poetry of the Song of Songs is the poetry of the theology of the body, the beauty that we all contain should be something we are proud of and therefore should be kept and cared for as the prize that it is. Physical attraction is part of our human nature, we are called to look beautiful and handsome, but we are not called to put it out on display for all to see. A marriage is meant to allow a man and a woman to give all that they have to each other, especially their bodies, wouldn't you want to look the best for your spouse?

I hate what the world offers as the 'ultimate goal' for a man and woman to achieve. Stick figure women and muscle-bound freaks are shown as what a real man and woman are supposed to look like, but those are not what God originally intended at all. The different sizes and shapes of our bodies were given to us by a loving Creator and therefore should be treated as such. But, a woman should want to look feminine and a man masculine, these are our God-given roles. One of my favorite things to do as a family is to wrestle or play hide-and-go-seek with my sons. My wife and I can spend hours wrestling and play boxing with my boys and this truly brings us closer as a family, not to mention burns a decent amount of calories. There are all sorts of ways to get leaner or gain endurance, whether it be that after dinner walk together (an excellent opportunity to pray a rosary) or keeping each other's cravings under control (my wife and I found it very helpful that if one person has a right-before-bed-snack craving the other will say 'I won't if you won't', funny, but it works!) growing together physically is a great way to grow together spiritually. 'My Lover belongs to me and I to him' - Song of Songs 2:16

Beauty is in the Eye of The Creator: Part 2

In the last post of 'Beauty is in the Eye of The Creator' we discussed the over-all need for physical health as well as the divine calling to keep our bodies from being destroyed. In this post I would like to discuss several of the latest fads of the fitness world that are not only dangerous but also very illogical. When a young man or woman picks up a copy of the latest muscle or health magazine, most if not all, will have big, bold letters with sayings such as, 'Lose 20 lbs in 2 weeks', 'Gain muscle like the Pros' or 'Better Buns by Brunch', these sayings are meant to and are very effective at drawing the attention of a person wanting to believe in the dreams that are promised. These magazines and articles are mostly filled with rock-star dreams and the unhealthy lifestyles of rock stars to match. The amount of science, or should i say lack thereof, is horrendous. To a person that only wishes to stay in good health or maybe to even have some fitness goals they would like to attain by the end of the year, the fitness culture is offering mostly garbage. The nonsense that is fed to us continuously is supposed to be backed by 'scientific research' from people with the entire alphabet following their names indicating that they know what they are talking about. But I think Arthur Jones, founder of Nautilus training systems and grandfather of 'High Intensity Training', said it best over 30 years ago, "With the physical-training media having been dominated by commercial interests for the last thirty years, we have eventually reached a point where even self-evident truth is ignored, and where outright lies are published as scientific fact." -Iron Man Magazine Article November 1971.

When trying to decide which routine and dietary habits to choose a person can always use the old saying of, 'If it's too good to be true, then it probably is'. If the article or book you are reading about one of the latest fitness miracles says that you can achieve the impossible, it is probably just that, impossible. Fitness and dietary goals are just like any other goal, they should be realistic and well within your own reach. Just like trying to learn a new language, your long-term goals should never be affected by short-term dreams. Daily habits should be formed so that each day you make a little more progress towards the light at the end of the tunnel. For example, did you know that if a person subtracted an extra 100 calories a day, that's two Oreo cookies, that within one year, everything else staying constant, that person would lose 10 pounds in one year. 10 pounds in one year does not sound like much but if you think of it in long-term goals within 5 years that person would lose 50 pounds, simply by not eating those two after dinner cookies. (The science behind this is based off of the simple and easy rule of thumb, 3500 calories = 1 pound of body fat.) Throw in a little extra exercise, burning say 100 calories, by the rule of thumb you could lose 20 lbs in one year! So, a lot of the unhealthy dietary habits that are pushed through the media and 'fitness tabloids' is nonsense. We have to be very careful about the programs we choose to adhere to. If health and fitness were as easy as they claim we would all be able to wash our clothes on our abdominal muscles.

This being said, there are plenty of reasonable and very logical workouts that a person can use and see the real, lasting results we all crave. There are small habitual practices that we can include in our daily lives in order to keep our calorie intake reasonable. One type of exercise that I enjoy and am a big fan of is called 'High Intensity Training' or HIT for short. This type of exercise includes very brief, infrequent, yet highly intense workouts that are very well proportioned for a father or mother with busy lives. (If you Google 'High Intensity Training', there are plenty of articles and information for those interested.) There is no need to spend hours and hours in the weight room or long bouts of exercise, in fact, there s a possibility it could reverse the progress desired. So, when trying to find the best diet and exercise plan, take reasonable measures in account and keep from feeding into the lies of the current exercise culture.

Lastly, I would like to discuss the spiritual dangers of practices like Yoga. Webster's Dictionary Library gives this definition:"Yoga is a system of Hindu philosophy, strict spiritual discipline, practiced to gain control over the forces of one's own being to gain OCCULT POWERS, but chiefly to attain union with the Deity or the Universal Spirit." Fr. Amorth, who is the Vatican exorcist, says "Yoga, Zen, and TM are unacceptable to Christians. Often these apparently innocent practices can bring about hallucinations and schizophrenic conditions." While there are many beautiful things to celebrate from the eastern cultures, yoga and new age practices are not consistent with Christian values and beliefs and therefore should be steered away from. Many people say that the yoga practiced by many Christians today does not include the spirituality aspect of eastern mysticism, but those aspects have been a part of yoga since it's creation and so to try and remove those aspects would be extremely difficult, or for the 'not-so-advanced' practitioner almost impossible. Being a Kinesiologist from the campus of the University of North Texas, I can safely say that yoga has entered the 'core' of the exercise world as a praised routine in order to gain flexibility, but, every person that spoke of it in our classes could not leave out the idea of 'centering yourself' or finding your inner 'being', which is way too pagan for the reasonable Christian with a logical outlook on exercise. Even putting the key into Pandora's box allows for the evil inside to prepare for domination. We should keep our head on our shoulders and see exercise for what it is, the tending of a Temple the Holy Spirit given to us by a loving Creator.

In the next post of 'Beauty is in the Eye of The Creator' I will discuss the role of exercise within a marriage and how a healthy lifestyle can bring a husband and wife closer together.