A professional bodybuilder who has been working as a fitness trainer at Hardic since the past 15 years, Shyam Shrestha, however, was never recognized like his female counterpart. With a defined physique, he has a unique personality that cannot go unnoticed. But even after 21 years into competitive bodybuilding sports, his name, however, is still far from being noticed. [break]
“Bodybuilding sports is neither popular like other sports nor is trendy in the glamour field,” says Shyam.
A bronze medalist at World Bodybuilding & Physique Sports Federation Men’s World Bodybuilding Championship, he has claimed numerous national titles too. But very few people know about Shyam or his success at the world championship meets. Nonetheless, lack of media coverage or hype doesn’t lessen his commitment to the bodybuilding sports. An ace bodybuilder who never loses in his weight category during national competitions, and regardless of the rare media attention, it is in fact a matter of “pride,” as he puts it, that motivates him.
Bodybuilding is generally regarded as the process of developing a person’s musculature through resistance exercises. The competitors are judged according to symmetry, muscularity, and conditioning of their body through an elaborate display of their muscles by a group lineup and individual rounds.
According to Shyam, bodybuilding is not a new concept in Nepal. When he was in his late teens, there was a growing trend of young males getting into gym and start “pumping iron.” “When I was 19, some of my friends said that going to the gym was beneficial for health and I just tagged along,” he says.
After two years of weight training, he first participated in an open bodybuilding competition in 1992 and won a bronze. “It was such an unexpected result. The open competitions are regarded as really tough and to be placed in one of the top positions was a big motivation for me,” says Shyam.
He adds that there used to be a lot of such competitions back then. Unlike in the present context, cash prize was not even introduced when he started participating in those competitions. “It was all about name and fame,” he says with his usual charismatic smile.
But he wasn’t the only one who was motivated into professional bodybuilding because of such amateur competitions. Sachit Shrestha, 35, another professional bodybuilder who has already claimed three gold medals at South Asian Men’s Bodybuilding Championship, was also inspired to take up the sports after being awarded second position at Mr Kantipur in 1998. It was Sachit’s first time when he participated in any bodybuilding competition.
“I was into karate before getting into bodybuilding. For sometime after taking up bodybuilding, I also continued karate. But after being awarded the title at my first ever participation at a competition, I decided to dedicate my effort to bodybuilding,” he says. He has also represented Nepal in the Asian Games and has always managed to secure top positions.
Though both bodybuilders agree that the quality of bodybuilding sports is escalating with each passing year, the native competitions are gradually decreasing at the same time. “There are very few competitions that take place regularly. And even the regular ones are being organized once in two years,” says Shyam.
PHOTO COURTESY: SHYAM SHRESTHA
Photo Courtesy: Shyam Shrestha Shyam Shrestha with the Nepali flag after being awarded gold in bantam weight category at 7th South Asian Men´s Bodybuilding Championship.
He adds that the trend of awarding cash prize is the reason behind the cutting off of competitions. But he argues that the addition of cash prize, which nowadays ranges from one hundred thousand rupees to one hundred and fifty thousand rupees, has added glamour to the bodybuilding sports.
Bodybuilders prepare for the competitions through excessive fat loss, increasing protein intake, an elaborate meal plan that needs them to avoid many food items that can affect the progress of their desired musculature. Their fitness regime gets strict before six months from the competition and gets stricter with every passing month. During the last few days before the competition, they reduce the salt intake to minimum and rely heavily on dehydration.
Their routine that includes intensive weight lifting exercises, careful diet plan and enough rest requires a lot of financial reliability. Though the cash prizes offered in bodybuilding competitions are lucrative, the bodybuilders say that their expenses sum up to be more than the prize money.
“Many people have come in the bodybuilding scene in Nepal in the last decade and have discontinued because of this very reason,” says Sachit. The difficult technique of the bodybuilding sports and its heavy expenses may have limited many from continuing this sport, but this sport is also not preferred by many as it is deemed as unnatural.
To pump up their muscles, the diet plan of the professional bodybuilders lists foods that are rich in protein and are completely different from the conventional diet habits. From 12 eggs a day to supplement protein shakes, many regard these methods are being aberrant. In addition, dehydrating their body in order to define the muscles also may result to sever health consequences.
“Due to high protein intake, bodybuilding sportsmen can suffer from health issues such as uric acid and complications in kidney functions,” says Dr Ajay Rana, a senior sports doctor. In addition, he adds that they can also have excessive wrinkles if they stop their training without proper plan. He emphasizes sportsmen to focus on diet control and detuning exercises before retiring from the bodybuilding sports.
The sportsmen themselves, however, claim that bodybuilding sports keeps one away from bad habits and projects one’s life to a certain discipline. With increased strength and a shapely body, the motivation to attain better physique helps people conquer their weaknesses, according to them. For both bodybuilders, picking up a five-kilogram dumbbell is no big thing, which for others may have been a Herculean task. Each one posing with the dumbbells seemingly effortlessly, they say that any of the flaws can pose as an obstacle to all the hard work they have put in. The sports, therefore, for them is a reason to live a disciplined way of life.
“There are also cases of drug abusers who have been sobered up once they took up this sport,” claims Shyam.
Sachit, on the other hand, adds that when one is into bodybuilding sports, one small mistake can take away all the hard work that a bodybuilder has been putting in for a year. “Smoking, drinking, or giving in to such temptations can result in big blunders. So, there’s no other option than staying disciplined,” he says.
While bodybuilders are also blamed of using steroids and are deemed aggressive and violent due to their physical structure, Shyam and Sachit are some examples that break such stereotype. Nothing is earned without hard work, but these sportsmen, even such dedication and commitment to the sports and with best results in national and international games, are still vying to earn the respect and acknowledgement from their fellow citizens.
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