Beyond health and safety, pro natural bodybuilding wants to bring beauty back to physiques.
Undoubtedly, the main goal of natural bodybuilding is to provide a healthy, safe, and fair sport free of performance enhancing drugs. And while that philosophy about being drug free is important – it has other goals beyond health. It’s also seen as a way to bring back beauty into bodybuilding physiques.
It’s no secret that mainstream untested bodybuilding has faced criticism over the years for mass monster physiques looking lackluster as whole. Fans and athletes alike have complained about the amount of bubble guts and soft bloated physiques make it onto the pro stage. They even make their way onto the Olympia stage – which is supposed to be a display of the best bodybuilders in the world.
Ever since the term mass monster was introduced into the sport – bodybuilders have chased bigger and bigger physiques. The introduction of the Classic Physique division was an attempt to bring back the “classic Golden Age” aesthetic into the sport. To make beauty more important than size.
Despite this new division – the Men’s Open continues to be the highlight of the IFBB. Mass monsters still reign supreme. Natural bodybuilding and the Professional Natural Bodybuilding Association (PNBA) aim to change that. During our time filming Generation Iron: Natty 4 Life – this mission statement became very clear.
By focusing on athletes being drug free, mass monster size doesn’t reach the insane levels you see in untested leagues. More importantly, because athletes can’t use steroids for faster recovery – they need to stay in shape nearly year round. This is as opposed to the bulk/cutting cycle many other leagues have popularized through its athletes.
Without the use of steroids to chase size and bulking, natural bodybuilding puts focus on being as aesthetic and shredded as possible. They certainly try to be as large as possible as well – but the end result showcases bodybuilders that look more like Frank Zane and Arnold Schwarzenegger rather than Dorian Yates and Ronnie Coleman.
This is by design. The PNBA started in large part to bring back the Golden Era physiques of yesteryear. They understand that many fans miss aesthetic over size. If this is really true, natural bodybuilding should be a welcome change of pace. If only fans could look past the taboo of the sport being drug free. PNBA athletes hold some incredible conditioned physiques that would be much loved to critics of the mass monster era.
You can check out the full clip from Generation Iron: Natty 4 Life above. You can also own your own digital copy today. Available now. Click here or the banner below to stream and download!
