Two-sport bodybuilding: can it be done?

Many bodybuilders’ careers begin in the weight room for high school sports. Many of today’s top professional bodybuilders were state-level stars in football or wrestling. They soon discovered that they had a knack for gaining muscle weight through weight training, and abandoned their original sports to focus full time on the sport of bodybuilding.

Likewise, many recreational bodybuilders also participate in indoor or adult sports leagues for health and enjoyment purposes. This is great as it keeps things fresh, they can maintain a strength advantage in their sport of choice and receive all the health benefits of both sports. However, a problem arises when an athlete tries to excel in either sport at the highest level.

Bodybuilding is a 24/7 commitment. It requires one to be very selfish not only in terms of diet, nutrition, and supplementation, but also in terms of recovery time. The body’s resources spent running up and down the basketball court after a workout will detract from muscle growth. The protein and glycogen your body needs for muscle growth and recovery will be spent running, jumping, and playing the sport of your choice. And the large amount of food that bodybuilders consume will make one a bit lazy and slow in most sports fields. The goal of bodybuilding is simple: build the body. Other sports tend to break the body in pursuit of achievement on the field or court.

If athletes want to perform at the highest level in either sport, a decision will need to be made. The athlete can choose to be an elite bodybuilder or a star in another sport. Not both. On a professional level, bodybuilding ranks as one of the lowest paid sports; most athletes would opt for a semi-pro soccer or basketball contract at one point if they had the choice. However, for those with excellent bodybuilding genetics, the sport can also be very lucrative. The important thing is that the dual-sport athlete knows that at some point, to be the best in one area, he will have to move away from the other.