Mark Smith is a former soldier who lost his leg in training. Now he’s won the right to compete in the national bodybuilding championships. Can he take the title?
Mention the word “bodybuilding” to most people and it conjures up a certain image: big men in small underpants, a comic world of posing, protein shakes and pumping iron. And in Pudsey Civic Hall, where the International Bodybuilding & Fitness Association (IBFA)’s Mr England championships are being held, that stereotypical view is out in force. First, Wakefield’s Steve Johnson, a former Mr Britain and a name on the bodybuilding scene, steps on stage; a man mountain in small Speedos, he flexes his muscles in the spotlight. From there, the flesh parade continues, all popping veins and rippling muscles, treading a fine line between deathly seriousness and cartoonish parody, as the junior category, followed by the over-40s, the over-50s and the men’s first-timers, all take to the stage in slivers of Lycra and fake tans the colour of Victorian sideboards.
The competitors, judges and the 200-strong audience, most of whom are bodybuilding obsessives, take it all very seriously. Then the next group of men step on stage: they have the same deep tans, muscles big enough and clothing small enough to make the average person wilt with embarrassment. But there’s something different about these four men that causes the applause to resound a little more loudly. This is the disability class of the Mr England competition, the first time this section of the contest has been held.
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from Fitness | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1VvVJzP
via FITNESS
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