can bodybuilding be an EC?

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Maybe it's just me after working as a store manager at GNC but I can't stand the whole supplement society now. It's all BS people. Sure certain herbs, oils (omega 3), proteins, vitamins are great for your body but when you start getting into the pre-workouts and stuff, the companies are consistently coming out with "newer" products, but actually they are weaker ingredients. Whenever a new product would come in I would go straight to PubMed or ANYWHERE online about the ingredients inside to at least find some research facts that were not posted by the own company. I was 95% of the time unsuccessful.

I think the funniest sales pitch was with a certain testosterone product that contained Tribulus Alatus instead of Terrestris. I was told by the actual VP of the company when I asked about the strength of the two and he told me straight up that Alatus was weaker behind "closed doors." You know what GNC was trying to market tribulus alatus as when we had a special on the product? "The strongest tribulus there is." The supplement companies are usually just a bunch of hear say.

But anyways, I just go to the gym now and do a circuit for 45 mins. I never got the whole getting big and cutting but not actually doing anything with it (competing,strength competitions). I guess people need certain self confidence boosters.

Edit: I got top of the page. As a post that will be looked at first I would like to say "Hi."

 

[ancrystal18]

Like

 

[Goro]

Nope; it'a hobby.

can bodybuilding be an EC?
not serious bodybuilding though?

 

[Status Sciaticus]

Nope; it'a hobby.

I posted it as an EC and I am doing just fine in terms of interviews. Its been brought up by three of my interviewers who wanted to know more about it.

Personally, if you dedicate enough time to it as you would another sport/extracurricular activity, then list it as such.

I dont see why something like soccer or football can be listed as an EC, but bodybuilding cant.

 

[The Buff OP]

I posted it as an EC and I am doing just fine in terms of interviews. Its been brought up by three of my interviewers who wanted to know more about it.

Personally, if you dedicate enough time to it as you would another sport/extracurricular activity, then list it as such.

I dont see why something like soccer or football can be listed as an EC, but bodybuilding cant.

+1,000,000
He probably doesn't even lift.

 

[nOchemallday]

I posted it as an EC and I am doing just fine in terms of interviews. Its been brought up by three of my interviewers who wanted to know more about it.

Personally, if you dedicate enough time to it as you would another sport/extracurricular activity, then list it as such.

I dont see why something like soccer or football can be listed as an EC, but bodybuilding cant.

"Time commitment" doesn't make something an EC versus a hobby.
An EC is something that is A) offered as a club or activity through a school, B) something done in a certified league/club, or C) done professionally or otherwise competitively with an authority reference. [Official definition from Meriam Webster Online Dictionary - Extracurricular: not falling within the scope of a regular curriculum; specifically : of or relating to officially or semiofficially approved and usually organized student activities (as athletics) connected with school and usually carrying no academic credit]

Just because someone spends 20 hours a week on starcraft doesn't make it an EC...unless they are a member of their school's starcraft club. If you spend 14 hours every weekend studying and playing chess at a local park, it doesn't make it an EC, it's a hobby...unless you are a member of your schools chess team, compete in a different, certified chess league, or are ranked as a chess player and continually seek ranking (as a competitor). Just because you take pole dancing lessons a few times a week and practice a lot at home doesn't make it an EC [see above reasons]. The same goes for reading,

But these all make great HOBBIES. And if it's something that you really like and want to talk about more than all your other ECs, just redirect your interview to reflect it.

The reason nearly every sport can be listed as an EC is because it fits 1 or more of these categories...unless you just play pick-up here and there, or compete in "hall-wars" for your dorm.

Edited to reflect "faculty member" Goro's statement:

Nope; it'a hobby.

 

[Gauss44]

can bodybuilding be an EC?
not serious bodybuilding though?

I would draw a distinction between:

1. Competing in tournaments

OR

2. Just staying in shape

 

[Status Sciaticus]

"Time commitment" doesn't make something an EC versus a hobby.
An EC is something that is A) offered as a club or activity through a school, B) something done in a certified league/club, or C) done professionally or otherwise competitively with an authority reference. [Official definition from Meriam Webster Online Dictionary - Extracurricular: not falling within the scope of a regular curriculum; specifically : of or relating to officially or semiofficially approved and usually organized student activities (as athletics) connected with school and usually carrying no academic credit]

Just because someone spends 20 hours a week on starcraft doesn't make it an EC...unless they are a member of their school's starcraft club. If you spend 14 hours every weekend studying and playing chess at a local park, it doesn't make it an EC, it's a hobby...unless you are a member of your schools chess team, compete in a different, certified chess league, or are ranked as a chess player and continually seek ranking (as a competitor). Just because you take pole dancing lessons a few times a week and practice a lot at home doesn't make it an EC [see above reasons]. The same goes for reading,

But these all make great HOBBIES. And if it's something that you really like and want to talk about more than all your other ECs, just redirect your interview to reflect it.

The reason nearly every sport can be listed as an EC is because it fits 1 or more of these categories...unless you just play pick-up here and there, or compete in "hall-wars" for your dorm.

Edited to reflect "faculty member" Goro's statement:

OK.

According to the Oxford dictionary, it means
"(of an activity at a school or college) pursued in addition to the normal course of study"

since bodybuilding is pursued in addition to normal college coursework, it can be classified as such.

In addition, bodybuilding requires years, if not an entire decade of preparation before you can compete. To classify it as a hobby until the final year in which you compete is inappropriate.

Furthermore, bodybuilding is a solo sport, and its not team based. Therefore there are no bodybuilding teams that are governed by college authorities. Its not their fault that the NCAA is not presiding over the sport.

Lastly, by your words, if I am part of a bodybuilding club where I am the only member, then I can justifiably use it as an EC....

 

[Eaglefan]

In addition, bodybuilding requires years, if not an entire decade of preparation before you can compete. To classify it as a hobby until the final year in which you compete is inappropriate.

Furthermore, bodybuilding is a solo sport, and its not team based. Therefore there are no bodybuilding teams that are governed by college authorities. Its not their fault that the NCAA is not presiding over the sport.

Lastly, by your words, if I am part of a bodybuilding club where I am the only member, then I can justifiably use it as an EC....

It does not take a decade to compete. Maybe to win a good sized competition, but you could compete and do well in a local show with much less time commitment. Regardless, if you are not training to compete, like now or in the near(ish) future, it's a hobby.

It doesn't need to be recognized by the NCAA or be a team sport to have a governing body. How about the NPC? IFBB, etc. are bodybuilding governing bodies if i remember.

And can a club have only one person? Can't at my university, but if you can at yours then I'd say THEN it is an EC.

I powerlift, it's an EC because I compete in USAPL competitions. If I was just a gym rat that liked doing maxes, it wouldn't make me a powerlifter and it wouldn't be an EC.


edit: to clarify, recreational sport of any kind is a hobby unless you are (or will be) competing. Playing soccer with your buddies isn't an EC, nor is pick up football, playing starcraft, or going to the gym.

 

[The Buff OP]

My school offers weight training classes (level 1 and level 2) as a kinesiology credit. 👍 But I would never take those classes, it is for noobs.

 

[Medicalhopeful]

I'm training for my first powerlifting meet and listed it as a hobby.

Eagle, what weightclass do you compete in? What are your competition Prs?

 

[The Buff OP]

It does not take a decade to compete. Maybe to win a good sized competition, but you could compete and do well in a local show with much less time commitment. Regardless, if you are not training to compete, like now or in the near(ish) future, it's a hobby

This. lol Ohmylanta just going to those shows and seeing the guys up there looking like skin and bones, when most of the audience is bigger than them. SMH For myself, even though I consider myself huge and to the others in the gym I wont compete until 2015. It's all about being ready and knowing when yo got the right package.

 

[Eaglefan]

I'm training for my first powerlifting meet and listed it as a hobby.

Eagle, what weightclass do you compete in? What are your competition Prs?

198, competition 300, 350, 420.

Do a meet ASAP, you'll learn a lot and meet great people that have real dedication. You don't have to win your first meet, it'll give you a real drive to see someone pick up 800lbs or something in real life.

 

[Status Sciaticus]

Well I am training TO compete.

I plan on having my first competition in 2 years so you can understand why I am counting it as an EC.

Granted, I could compete sooner, but I don't see the point in competing knowing that I'm not going to win.

Lastly, the 1 member club was a facetious hypothetical. The point was that if there were a minuscule number of people, then it would count as an EC.

 

[The Bunk]

Unrelated to how body building affects your med school application, can somebody just explain to me what the purpose of body building is? I don't get it. It always seems too bulky to be about health or functionality or aesthetics. 😕

 

[Status Sciaticus]

Unrelated to how body building affects your med school application, can somebody just explain to me what the purpose of body building is? I don't get it. It always seems too bulky to be about health or functionality or aesthetics. 😕

To become a better person than you were the day before.

Each person derives something different from the sport.
For me, it has helped develop a strong sense of commitment, discipline, and personal responsibility that translates to other areas... Including academics and medicine.

The bulkiness you are referring to is the IFBB pros. All of them use steroids as the IFBB is an untested competition. But it is not the only thing bodybuilding encompasses. There's a lot of physically fit people and athletes that use bodybuilding principles for aesthetic or functional reasons.

The health benefits are enormous. Exercise is a proven mood elevator. It is also used by diabetics to in read insulin sensitivity. People of exercise on a regular basis have lower blood pressure and live longer, healthier lives. Having more muscle mass also helps prevent injuries, especially fractures and breaks. It cushions blunt damage as well.

 

[The Bunk]

To become a better person than you were the day before.

Each person derives something different from the sport.
For me, it has helped develop a strong sense of commitment, discipline, and personal responsibility that translates to other areas... Including academics and medicine.

The bulkiness you are referring to is the IFBB pros. All of them use steroids as the IFBB is an untested competition. But it is not the only thing bodybuilding encompasses. There's a lot of physically fit people and athletes that use bodybuilding principles for aesthetic or functional reasons.

The health benefits are enormous. Exercise is a proven mood elevator. It is also used by diabetics to in read insulin sensitivity. People of exercise on a regular basis have lower blood pressure and live longer, healthier lives. Having more muscle mass also helps prevent injuries, especially fractures and breaks. It cushions blunt damage as well.

Lol, I understand what exercise is. Isn't there a point where being fit and athletic gets away from you and you turn into like . . . Tetsuo at the end of Akira? Having all that muscle mass is gonna slow you down. Where is the line between normal weight training at the gym and actual body building?

 

[nOchemallday]

OK.
In addition, bodybuilding requires years, if not an entire decade of preparation before you can compete. To classify it as a hobby until the final year in which you compete is inappropriate.

Furthermore, bodybuilding is a solo sport, and its not team based. Therefore there are no bodybuilding teams that are governed by college authorities. Its not their fault that the NCAA is not presiding over the sport.

I have played soccer since I was 4, but stopped after high school. Had I continued to play soccer through my college years, there's no way to justify putting "a decade of training" on an application. (Although it has definitely helped me with endurance on my Ultimate Frisbee team in college)

Just because it's a solo sport doesn't mean you can't A) make a club for it, or B) participate with a team. How do tennis players, golf players, boxers, and MMA fighters do it? They all have "teams" during training, especially at an amateur level.

Well I am training TO compete.
Lastly, the 1 member club was a facetious hypothetical. The point was that if there were a minuscule number of people, then it would count as an EC.

I don’t know how big your school is/how many people you convince to join, but starting a club and subsequently being president of said club is a good way to add “Leadership” to an application.

 

[The Buff OP]

Unrelated to how body building affects your med school application, can somebody just explain to me what the purpose of body building is? I don't get it. It always seems too bulky to be about health or functionality or aesthetics. 😕

Great question. You can't really understand bodybuilding until you have actually done it for a while. Bodybuilding is just not a big guys thing. Bodybuilding means building your body everyday you go to the gym you are working on a different muscle group, thus you are sculpting your own body. Professional bodybuilding has gave bodybuilding a bad rep. All the anabolic steroids, peptides, and human growth hormones that are used. Bodybuilding is healthy because you need a strict regimen. This a No-no for the following: alcohol, smoking, junk food, drugs (lol), and staying up late. If you don't follow these rules you can't make good gains, as we say. Most of the people who get into building muscle is because who doesn't want to be the buff guy with a six pack from the group. The one who catches all the ladies eyes. Ladies don't lie you like to have a man who is big enough to protect you. If you go far into bodybuilding like I did, yeah sports is out the question, but that's okay. Bodybuilding is a sport. Also, how does bb affect your school app? Well, bb teaches you to be focus, a go-getter, and confidence. etc.........

 

[Status Sciaticus]

Lol, I understand what exercise is. Isn't there a point where being fit and athletic gets away from you and you turn into like . . . Tetsuo at the end of Akira? Having all that muscle mass is gonna slow you down. Where is the line between normal weight training at the gym and actual body building?

the look of bodybuilders you are referring to are the IFBB bodybuilders... and I agree with you in the sense that they are not aesthetically pleasing. However, that is not the whole picture.

Look at bodybuilders such as Lazar Angelov, Layne Norton, Steve Cook, etc..

If you google the definitions of both words, the differences will become clear.

Weight training is training to lift weights.. this is similar to powerlifting.
bodybuilding is utilizing training principles to create a proportional look... similar to an artist creating a painting.

 

[BlueLabel]

"Time commitment" doesn't make something an EC versus a hobby.
An EC is something that is A) offered as a club or activity through a school, B) something done in a certified league/club, or C) done professionally or otherwise competitively with an authority reference. [Official definition from Meriam Webster Online Dictionary - Extracurricular: not falling within the scope of a regular curriculum; specifically : of or relating to officially or semiofficially approved and usually organized student activities (as athletics) connected with school and usually carrying no academic credit]

Just because someone spends 20 hours a week on starcraft doesn't make it an EC...unless they are a member of their school's starcraft club. If you spend 14 hours every weekend studying and playing chess at a local park, it doesn't make it an EC, it's a hobby...unless you are a member of your schools chess team, compete in a different, certified chess league, or are ranked as a chess player and continually seek ranking (as a competitor). Just because you take pole dancing lessons a few times a week and practice a lot at home doesn't make it an EC [see above reasons]. The same goes for reading,

But these all make great HOBBIES. And if it's something that you really like and want to talk about more than all your other ECs, just redirect your interview to reflect it.

The reason nearly every sport can be listed as an EC is because it fits 1 or more of these categories...unless you just play pick-up here and there, or compete in "hall-wars" for your dorm.

Edited to reflect "faculty member" Goro's statement:

You do realize TMDSAS has a section titled "extracurricular & leisure", right? What on earth do you think they're asking for if not the things you do in your free time? Like: playing instruments, writing/painting, and yes, lifting weights. As long as you present the nature of the activity honestly, there is nothing at all wrong with listing. This argument is ridiculous.

 

[The Bunk]

the look of bodybuilders you are referring to are the IFBB bodybuilders... and I agree with you in the sense that they are not aesthetically pleasing. However, that is not the whole picture.

Look at bodybuilders such as Lazar Angelov, Layne Norton, Steve Cook, etc..

If you google the definitions of both words, the differences will become clear.

Weight training is training to lift weights.. this is similar to powerlifting.
bodybuilding is utilizing training principles to create a proportional look... similar to an artist creating a painting.

I guess it's just personal preference, but even those guys seem a little excessive. So is bodybuilding like when somebody is constantly working on some flashy muscle car that they rarely drive, but weight training is like . . . taking really good care of a car you drive to work every day?

 

[1TB4RKSB4CK]

If you compete, I would definitely include. If it's just regular, then I doubt it would be much.There can be better things to add than that.

 

[The Bunk]

Great question. You can't really understand bodybuilding until you have actually done it for a while. Bodybuilding is just not a big guys thing. Bodybuilding means building your body everyday you go to the gym you are working on a different muscle group, thus you are sculpting your own body. Professional bodybuilding has gave bodybuilding a bad rep. All the anabolic steroids, peptides, and human growth hormones that are used. Bodybuilding is healthy because you need a strict regimen. This a No-no for the following: alcohol, smoking, junk food, drugs (lol), and staying up late. If you don't follow these rules you can't make good gains, as we say. Most of the people who get into building muscle is because who doesn't want to be the buff guy with a six pack from the group. The one who catches all the ladies eyes. Ladies don't lie you like to have a man who is big enough to protect you. If you go far into bodybuilding like I did, yeah sports is out the question, but that's okay. Bodybuilding is a sport. Also, how does bb affect your school app? Well, bb teaches you to be focus, a go-getter, and confidence. etc.........

🙂 Thanks for all the info. I gotta say though, as a lady, that not all of us are into big dudes. I mean, if he was a really cool guy then anything's possible, but I always find myself going for kinda lanky men. I don't know why. I'm not sure about feeling like a big guy could protect me. I do kung fu and I feel like I would be so much slower if I were really muscle laden. Then men I know from kung fu are all scary strong, but none of them look it.

 

[SunsFun]

I guess it's just personal preference, but even those guys seem a little excessive. So is bodybuilding like when somebody is constantly working on some flashy muscle car that they rarely drive, but weight training is like . . . taking really good care of a car you drive to work every day?

There is no good analogy for it. Everyone has their own reasons. I approach bodybuilding like an art. You look in the mirror and like a sculptor try to create ideal proportions for your body by training your muscles. I derive pleasure from being in a better shape than the nature has intended for me if I was not working out. It feels good to know that you can change who you are through hard work and rigorous discipline.

 

[SunsFun]

🙂 Thanks for all the info. I gotta say though, as a lady, that not all of us are into big dudes. I mean, if he was a really cool guy then anything's possible, but I always find myself going for kinda lanky men. I don't know why. I'm not sure about feeling like a big guy could protect me. I do kung fu and I feel like I would be so much slower if I were really muscle laden. Then men I know from kung fu are all scary strong, but none of them look it.

In my experience guys are on average much more impressed with built body than girls. But getting respect from other guys and giving them advice makes you look better in everyone's eyes.

When it comes to what girls like I can share some of my personal observations. It may be completely false for most people, but it was true for me. I think most girls I have met who are more serious, family-oriented, sophisticated, and interested in a committed relationship will not care if a guy lifts or not and may even prefer guys who do not look like they lift. However, girls that like to go out to clubs, parties, events, and drink/party in general will often go for those guys who you would consider as being too big. Basically, if you are not looking for a serious relationship and just want to have fun, a ripped look may benefit you.

 

[Medicalhopeful]

I wrote hobby even though I have been lifting for 4-5 yrs now and am decently strong. About a 455 squat and 600 deadlift at 190 or so. I will say it could be a EC once you compete at a competitive level.

 

[Medicalhopeful]

198, competition 300, 350, 420.

Do a meet ASAP, you'll learn a lot and meet great people that have real dedication. You don't have to win your first meet, it'll give you a real drive to see someone pick up 800lbs or something in real life.

Thanks man! Nice bench! Yeah, I can't wait to compete. I love powerlifting and plan to continue it while in medical school. Do you have any meets coming up?

 

[The Buff OP]

🙂 Thanks for all the info. I gotta say though, as a lady, that not all of us are into big dudes. I mean, if he was a really cool guy then anything's possible, but I always find myself going for kinda lanky men. I don't know why. I'm not sure about feeling like a big guy could protect me. I do kung fu and I feel like I would be so much slower if I were really muscle laden. Then men I know from kung fu are all scary strong, but none of them look it.

Nah, I doubt it you will become slower. Women's have about 5-10% of testosterone of those in men. You won't get too bulky. I believe your strength has nothing to do with your body size. My dad is a skinny dude (sorry pops) he sometimes has better strength than me.