Body Building

From Mizahar Lore

Body Building is the art of bulking up one's body by training one's muscles to tone, enlarge and strengthen the overall form. The act of building one's overall strength and mass is not common throughout most areas of Mizahar. Those engaging in various sport competitions may undergo body building in order to improve their general appearance and performance. However, in a land where survival takes precedence over nearly all else, body building is more of a luxury activity. Body building involves the use of weights as a type of strength training for developing the strength and size of skeletal muscles. It uses the weight of various objects (often specially constructed ones) to oppose the force generated by muscles. The basic principles of body building involve a manipulation of the number of repetitions (reps), sets, tempo, exercise types, and weight moved to cause desired increases in strength, endurance, size, and shape. The specific combinations of reps, sets, exercises, and weights depends on the aims of the individual performing the exercise; sets with fewer reps can be performed with heavier weights.

Training one's body strength and shape requires the use of 'good form', performing the movements with the appropriate muscle group, and not transferring the weight to different body parts in order to move greater weight (called 'cheating'). Failure to use good form during a training set can result in injury or failure to adequately work the muscle; because the desired muscle group is not challenged sufficiently, the muscle does not gain in strength.

Body builders are highly aware of their diets, which usually contain a lot of meat. They also ensure that they properly stretch before and after training sessions while paying close attention to drinking a lot of water and avoiding unnecessary pain. Balanced breathing is also an important part of training.

History

The concept of body building was introduced by none other than Izurdin, God of Strength. Along with the art of Wrestling, Izurdin taught body building to his mortal children, the Isur as a way for them to further shape their own bodies into the image of perfection. In a time long before the Valterrian, the Isur commonly associated with other races and many an Isur trainer passed on the knowledge of body building to students of all races who engaged in competitions of strength. Since that time, knowledge of sculpting one's body; increasing size, shape and strength has spread throughout Mizahar. While some barbarian tribes as well as a few of the more civilized militant organizations engage in some amount of body building, it is the Isur who excel at the art. In some of the more civilized cities, such as Syliras, some human trainers offer their teachings to would-be students looking to build their body to epic proportions.

Prerequisite & Maintenance

Body building is not a passive skill. It requires constant attention to one's diet and training. One must maintain some regimented training routine in order to maintain their body's shape, strength and overall form. This is done through regular weight-lifting sessions lasting anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple of hours every day or, at the very least, every other day. Regular and measured consumption of meat as well as drinking an adequate and clean amount of water is also necessary. Body building is often done in tune with Running as a part of an all around fitness package.

Skill progression

Novice (1-25)
	Novice body builders are practiced in appropriate methods of balanced breathing. They are also knowledgeable of proper diet as well as basic stretching techniques needed to prepare for actual body building. Novices are also trained in the proper way to lift weights as well as what weights are appropriate for what types of muscles to be worked on. Novices often stand out from the crowd as being slightly bulkier and/or more defined than the average member of their race. Their effective strength is also 1/5 greater than that of average members of their race. Such a level of this skill requires at least 30 minutes of weight-training at least every other day to maintain else the novice may find progressing to the next stage to be much more difficult.
Competent (26-50)
	Competent body builders pay close attention to their diets and maintain strict weight-lifting routines in order to build and keep muscle tone. They are well-trained in proper stretches and warm-up/cool-down techniques and are knowledgeable enough to make use of objects in training that are not necessarily as structured or balanced as training traditional equipment. Thus a wood log becomes a piece of training equipment as does a large stone or similar items of weight. Competent body builders stand out from members of their race possessing lesser or no skill in body building. Their physiques are greatly defined and/or sculpted to be larger and stronger than lesser members of their race. Their effective strength is also 1/3 greater than that of lesser members of their race. Such a level of this skill requires at least 30 minutes of weight-training every day to maintain else the individual may find progressing to the next stage to be much more difficult.
Expert (51-75)
	Expert body builders have taken the art above and beyond to become perfect physical specimens in size, shape and strength. Diet, proper breathing, knowledge and training are all at their peak. Routine training sessions are a part of life and the expert stands out above nearly all members of their race as the near physical perfection. Their bodies are chiseled such that these individuals often look like living statues of smooth, perfectly cut stone. Their effective physical strength is 1/2 greater than that of lesser members of their race. Such a level of this skill requires at least an hour of weight-training every day to maintain else the individual may find progressing to the next stage to be much more difficult.
Master (76-100)
	The master body builder is a champion among champions as far as physical strength, size and definition are concerned. They are living statues of chiseled stone abs, iron pecs and granite biceps. Their muscles are such that if they engage in hand-to-hand combat, their attackers may actually bruise themselves or even break bones by making direct physical contact with them. Reaching this level of skill changes the master's body in a way that they only need 30 minutes of maintenance training every other day before they find their muscle tone and strength beginning to soften.