Bodybuilders: 'They think because we have muscles, we're related'
EUGENE, Ore. - Sara Butler knows a thing or two about getting in shape.
"I get called She-Ra," said Butler, an IFBB Pro Physique Bodybuilder.
"I've been called Terminator," added Katrinka Danielson, a female bodybuilder from Eugene.
But Butler said she can't take all the credit.
"They think because we have muscles, we're related," Butler said of training partner Danielson.
"She's the brunette bombshell, and I'm the blonde bomber," Danielson said.
"It's fun role playing," said Butler.
Butler said Danielson is more than a training partner: she's an inspiration.
"That's the female that can rock the muscle, but she's still gorgeous," she said.
That inspiration took Butler on a journey to bodybuilding competitions.
Building her physique didn't come overnight, and it takes constant work.
"Our fat cells are twice as big as a man's, so when we're preparing for a contest: 3 to 5 percent body fat," said Butler. "That's pretty dialed for a female."
Right now, Butler and Danielson are in the off-season.
"Yes, in the bulking phase," said Butler and Danielson in unison.
On Saturdays, they focus on the muscles that make up the human back.
And these women push one of the largest muscle groups in the body to the limit.
"An average of two hours in the weight room, not including your cardio, which is probably anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour," said Danielson as she finished a set on one of the gym's back machines.
Butler and Danielson are part of a bodybuilding group in Eugene who call themselves the Iron Demons. They said hours spent each day in the gym are only the tip of the iceberg for a bodybuilder.
"If you can't get your diet to the T, what you do in the gym is going to be pointless," said Butler.
To show what it really takes to get to this level of fitness, the Iron Demons took KVAL News to their kitchen.
"This, in a nut shell, is what goes into our bodies to make us look the way we do," said Danielson in her kitchen at her home in Eugene.
They said bodybuilding is a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week sport, and nutrition is 80 percent of it.
"Learning how to eat right was awesome for me because that's when I started seeing the gains and seeing changes in my body. And then, that's when I became addicted," said Danielson as she prepared egg whites for the first of her 10 meals of the day.
It's a way of life that may seem like hell to an outsider.
"They can't imagine becoming so obsessed. It is an obsession," said Danielson.
But to these Iron Demons, it's just life.
"The prepping the food, the getting your cardio in and getting the weights in - we're just an average person," said Danielson as she sat next to Butler on her living room couch. "We just choose to put that time into our bodies and into our day."
WOW ...Like they are so RAD ...
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COOOL !
I can't get the video, but I was wondering how they support themselves financially if they spend so much time working out?
While I sort of applaud your âaddictionâ, your desire to get fit and eat right, I canât help but think that if things get really tough and food is short due to Mother Nature, or skyrocketing food production costs, or genetically modified foods not having enough nutrition, etc, you will be among the first to starve to death because you have NO BODY FAT. Great that you are cutting down on the fat, because Americans are one of the most obese nations, but you are, in effect, starving to death. Some body fat is necessary and when things do get tough, which, believe me, they will, youâd better have more like 20% body fat and not 5%, if you want to live.
 @angelgabeÂ
Angel what you are spreading is a huge misconception is a bit laughable. Â Adding essential body fat is extremely simple, eat above caloric maintenance, regardless of nutritional value. Â Now, being malnourished would occur amongst those not taking care of themselves far before an elite athlete suffers the same consequences. Â The knowledge obtained from this lifestyle regarding nutrition is far greater than you know, and getting into contest shape should be applauded, not frowned upon. Â These girls work their ass off to get into that shape and hold it for just a couple days, thereafter they eat plenty in order to return to a comfortable body fat percentage. Â While I think Sara's depiction of 3-5% body fat should be reconsidered (essential body fat for women is between 10-12%), it doesn't mean they don't suffer in order to show off their very best. Â
@Aaron Orton The context of my comment was about the availability of having body fat in a disaster, if you read it correctly. I didnât mention most of what I wanted to say due to space and not wanting to ânagâ about this type of lifestyle. While I think that not wanting to be obese, so easily done these days with all the crap food out there (read fast food, GMO food) is a good idea, depriving yourself of needed fat stores is NOT healthy! (There is my âapplaud", the only thing about what these women, and others like them, including men are doing to themselves). What I really believe, (Here is the Nag, so donât read if you donât want a different opinion is in the following):
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(I should mention that this is what Male bodybuilders go through, I can only guess that women follow much the same regimen and can be said to therefore, follow these actions, making what they do extremely unhealthy, over all):
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â...People who have "ripped abs" are really sporting a temporary fiction. Body builders, for example, are in terrible overall health. They spend months over-feeding themselves, gorging on calories to build muscle, then they spend a month or two "cutting" calories through planned starvation so that they shed all their body fat by competition day.
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A day or two before competition day, they then force themselves through a grueling dehydration regimen, to the point where they're about to pass out during the competition itself. The body you see during bodybuilding competitions is, technically, very close to death by dehydration, starvation and mineral (salt) deficiency. That is not a healthy body. We should not strive, in any way, to look like those bodies. Even bodybuilders don't look like that, day to day.
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Immediately after bodybuilding competitions, the participants drink so much water and salt that they can gain as much as 30 pounds in 24 hours. They also begin to eat huge portions again, bringing themselves back from the brink of starvation.
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take care of yourself and carry around a reasonable quantity of spare calories. Stay fit, eat well and exercise regularly, but don't try to drop so much body fat, salt and water that you put yourself at risk in an uncertain world...."
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Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/037536_body_fat_ripped_abs_survival.html#ixzz2AmtSRey2
 @angelgabeÂ
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WOW you are completely misinformed! Â No point in arguing with someone who hasn't ever experienced a proper contest preparation or been coached. You are an example of someone who limits others in what they can achieve and back up your claims with health issues. Â If you complete a proper preparation, drug free, without dehydration or diuretics, there is not issue with health. Â I have coached over fifty individuals for bodybuilding shows, including myself, none of which have had metabolic problems or health concerns because the extremes you mention do not exist! Â It's individuals like yourself that make bodybuilding taboo!