Body Building has long been the passion of many young Pakistanis. Many young boys start bodybuilding when they hit the age of 18. On one hand it is an excellent physical activity that not only enhances one’s body but also improves ones overall health. But on the other hand, it can prove to be very dangerous and sometimes even fatal if one does not know what he is getting into. During the past few years, many cases have surfaced where young aspiring body builders started taking supplements on the advise of trainers, friends or on their own without realizing the consequences of those supplements.
A similar incident recently happened in Karachi when a young boy named Muhammad Ahmed lost his life because of the improper use of supplements. He was studying ACCA and was doing body building as a hobby. According to some online sources, Muhammad Ahmed was advised by his trainers to take supplements that were fake and were not suitable for the body type. The young fitness enthusiast, started taking those supplements without doing any proper research of his own and the result was fatal. Ahmed died due to kidney and liver failure.
Like all other sports, Pakistan does not have proper trainers of Body Building. And the young guys who start going to gym know absolutely nothing about Body Building. The irony is that the fitness trainers in a vast majority of gyms in Pakistan don’t have any proper certification or fitness education. And they pass whatever they think is right to the young lads who come to the gym for the first time. What is the result? Well, the result is improper diet, dangerous exercises, injuries, and sometimes even death!
Body Building experts advise the young entrants to stick to basics and not to try to gain muscle too quickly. If any trainer or so called fitness expert tells you that you will be able to get a body like The Rock, Arnold, Cristiano Ronaldo, or any other film or sports star within 3, 4 months they are lying to you. It takes a lot of time persistence and proper training to gain muscle and to get long lasting results. Last but not the least, the young body builders should avoid using steroids, and even the supplements. As many of the supplements available in Pakistan are fake and even for the ones that are original, they require proper diet and they must be prescribed by a trained physician.
The best advice is to take things slowly, don’t hurt yourself, do proper exercise and go for natural diet. It is really saddening to see such young kids losing lives because of wrong guidance of the so called fitness coaches who have absolutely no knowledge. Muhammad Ahmed has left his family in despair and grief. May his soul rest in peace. Our prayers go out for him.
Now, the federal government and the provincial governments must take steps to introduce proper coaching certificates for fitness trainers in gyms. Also the parents should make sure that their children join such gyms which have proper instructors who are qualified in the field of fitness and nutrition.
