Q: I was wondering if you explain to me exactly what bodybuilding is. Is it the process of lifting weights to get ever bigger and eventually huge muscles and definition or is it the process of trying to improve your body to make it stronger and get rid of excess body fat so that your muscular definition will show? The idea of lifting weights and eating well to aid your fitness and health by being stronger and getting your muscles to show is to most people a great idea.

I was watching a program the other day about teenage bodybuilders and it did seem it was huge muscle that they wanted and they did seem very obsessive about achieving their desired look ? not just punishing workouts more or less daily, but stuffing themselves with food for several months to bulk up then crash dieting to lose the fat and get their muscles to show for competition time. Also pre competition dehydrating themselves so that they would have just muscle and skin over that muscle, i.e the muscle would look 'ripped'.

What concerned me was several things - the way it would take up and take over all their social life, the incredibly strict dieting, first overeating then underrating whilst they are still in the process of growing up, and most of all the fact that they only see huge(not ordinary sized) muscles as looking good.

One of the teen's coaches said two interesting things: how unhealthy it was to maintain the very low levels of body fat needed to compete and the fact that the teen he was coaching seemed to have body image problems ? the boy felt he was small even though he was more muscular than most grown men ever would be. Ironically, this same boy had been a great rugby player and though small was quicker and faster than his larger teammates and could have played for his country. This was until the boy's rugby coach advised him to go the gym to bulk up a bit, the boy went to the gym got addicted (in his own words) and dropped the rugby even though he could have had a scholarship!

Is there something inherently addictive about bodybuilding and weightlifting that causes people to become obsessed with it and sometimes even using drugs to enhance their bodies?

Sorry for the long question, but I really appreciate all the info you give in all your answers.

A: I don't think that everyone will agree on a single definition of 'bodybuilding' beyond the general notion of lifting weights to increase muscle mass. For some people bodybuilding inherently implies competition and maximum achievable muscle size and lowest possible body fat. Others take a more balanced view of it. You are certainly correct in that some (perhaps many) people take bodybuilding too far and develop all sorts of unhealthy and often dangerous habits around it. I don't think there is a single answer that explains why this happens, but it is undoubtedly heavily influenced by the common image of very muscular, low-bodyfat guys in the media.

This situation closely mirrors the phenomenon of how notions of beauty in women can lead to such disorders as bulimia and anorexia nervosa. Just as some women take being slim too far, so it seems some men take the notion of healthy masculine physique too far. In fact, a common term for obsession with muscularity is 'bigorexia'.

Having said that, I do not believe that weight training or bodybuilding is inherently unhealthy in any way. When approached with a sound mind and a healthy program it can tremendously improve almost anybody's mental and physical well-being. One simply must remain mindful of why they they do it -- lift to live better and not the other way around.