The cult of the amateur athlete chasing an Olympic dream
The trend of training like an Olympian without being one: overpriced gear, extreme diets and amateur doping. The dark side of Instagram fitness.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Amateur athletes: training like an Olympian without being one is a trap
A growing tribe of amateur athletes believes that imitating a professional is the same as self-improvement. Fifty-somethings flogging themselves with elite training plans, cyclists spending thousands on hyper-light bikes and top-of-the-range bib shorts, and sixty-something bodybuilders living on strict diets and supplements. The result is not health, but showing off, injuries and, in many cases, doping.
Gear as a substitute for merit
Thirty years ago you went out to the mountains with a basic bike, Bermuda shorts and an advertising t-shirt. Today, any amateur cyclist is kitted out like a Tour professional: bikes that cost more than a car, technical clothing covered in logos and all the paraphernalia. But the underlying fitness is usually the same or worse. As an industry analysis points out, there has been an 'over-professionalisation' of sports leisure, where appearance matters more than actual performance.
Amateur doping: more risk, less control
What many ignore is that amateurs are the group with the highest doping rate and the fewest controls. Substances such as EPO, steroids, amphetamines or even extreme practices like micro-transfusions and hyperbaric chambers have filtered down to the non-professional sphere. The lack of medical supervision turns this 'race for performance' into a game of Russian roulette for your health.
The obsession with looking like an elite athlete leads to pathetic extremes: people who deprive themselves of any food pleasure and look down on those who eat normally. The cult of the perfect body, fuelled by Instagram culture, is producing a generation of unhappy amateurs, doped up and over-indebted in technical gear.
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A growing tribe of amateur athletes believes that imitating a professional is the same as self-improvement. Fifty-somethings flogging themselves with elite training plans, cyclists spending thousands on hyper-light bikes and top-of-the-range bib shorts, and sixty-something bodybuilders living on strict diets and supplements. The result is not health, but showing off, injuries and, in many cases, doping.
Gear as a substitute for merit
Thirty years ago you went out to the mountains with a basic bike, Bermuda shorts and an advertising t-shirt. Today, any amateur cyclist is kitted out like a Tour professional: bikes that cost more than a car, technical clothing covered in logos and all the paraphernalia. But the underlying fitness is usually the same or worse. As an industry analysis points out, there has been an 'over-professionalisation' of sports leisure, where appearance matters more than actual performance.
Amateur doping: more risk, less control
What many ignore is that amateurs are the group with the highest doping rate and the fewest controls. Substances such as EPO, steroids, amphetamines or even extreme practices like micro-transfusions and hyperbaric chambers have filtered down to the non-professional sphere. The lack of medical supervision turns this 'race for performance' into a game of Russian roulette for your health.
The obsession with looking like an elite athlete leads to pathetic extremes: people who deprive themselves of any food pleasure and look down on those who eat normally. The cult of the perfect body, fuelled by Instagram culture, is producing a generation of unhappy amateurs, doped up and over-indebted in technical gear.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (21 replies).
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