Bodybuilding 101
Theatre Jargon
Stage Right: When a performer stands onstage, facing the audience, his or her right is referred to as stage right. The term is relative to the performer / athlete.
Stage Left: When a performer stands on stage, facing the audience, his or her left is referred to as stage left. The term is relative to the performer / athlete.
Upstage: When a performer moves away from the audience towards the back of the stage, they are moving upstage.
Downstage: When an performer moves to the front of the stage, towards the audience, they are moving downstage.
Backstage: The area behind the curtain that cannot be seen by the audience is backstage. This is where actors grab props, change costumes, or simply wait for their next cue.
Green Room: The space in a theatre that functions as a waiting room and lounge for performers before, during, and after a performance when they are not engaged on stage.
Pump Room: An area for bodybuilding competitors to warm up, typically located backstage.
Sport Specific Words
Natural: A bodybuilder who abstains from using performance enhancement drugs such as anabolic steroids, SARM's, prohormones, prescription diuretics, prescription fat burners, insulin, or growth hormones.
A full list of banned substances can be found on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) website. Most natural bodybuilding organizations require competitors for a 7-year minimum of not using any banned substances from the banned list be eligible as a natural.
Lifetime Natural: A bodybuilder who has never in their life used any of the substances from the WADA banned list. Being a lifetime natural is an ideal but not a requirement by any federation. There is a tacit agreement that substances used over 7 years before a contest would not give an athlete any significant advantage.
Muscularity: The degree to which the muscles in a body part are developed. Also known as muscle mass, or muscular development.
Proportion: The size relation of one muscle group compared to another. For example, an athlete's upper legs (thighs) compared to their lower legs (calves).
Symmetry: Also, the size relation of one muscle group compared to another, but usually left and right. However, the terms symmetry and proportion as often used interchangeably in bodybuilding.
Ratio: A measure of proportion. For example, a woman with a 27-inch waist and 37-inch hips has a Waist-To-Hip Ratio of 0.73 (i.e. 27 ÷ 37 = 0.73).
There has been an ongoing debate of what the ideal ratios are for bodybuilding. During the 1960's, there was a general consensus of an ideal 1:1 ratio for calves and arms for Men's Bodybuilding. That is, a man with 18-inch arms should ideally have 18-inch calves. This feat was made popular by celebrated bodybuilder Steve Reeves.
Conditioning: In the context of bodybuilding, the quality of having low levels of subcutaneous (under the skin) fat, which make muscle fibers more visible. Also referred to as "definition".
Muscle Tone: A word that is often misused in popular fitness media. The incorrect idea is that a limb that looks soft would lack "tone". So, a person would change its appearance, or "tone it up" through dieting and exercise. In reality, an athlete can only grow the muscle, or burn the fat around it. But "tone" is not a visual property of a muscle.
Tone, by its anatomy definition, is the continuous and passive partial contraction of the muscles, or the muscle's resistance to passive stretch during resting state. Put in simple words, the ability of a muscle to be ready to be flexed, but not cramp when it's not in use. We recommend avoiding the use of this word in the context of bodybuilding as it is not related to what is being judged in a contest.
Fat-Free Mass: The amount of lean mass of an athlete. That is to say, all body mass that is not fat tissue.
It is calculated by subtracting fat weight from total body weight. For example, a person who weights 150 lbs with a 15% body fat percentage would have a Fat-Free Mass of 127.5 lbs. (150lbs Total Weight - 22.5lbs of Bodyfat = 127.5lbs of Fat-Free Mass)
Fat Free Mass Index: A measure of muscularity based on height, weight, and body fat percentage. It is meant to count how much lean muscle a person has in proportion to their height. The formula is calculated:
Fat Free Mass (kg) ÷ height (m).
A high Fat-Free Mass Index is an indicator of muscularity, which one of the key components for judging physique competitions.