eBusiness Weekly
Chipo Sabeta
Three-time Mr Zimbabwe winner Champion “Mbewe” Chienderamwano, has attributed lack of international participation by local personalities to high expenses involved in the body-building sport.
Chienderamwano echoed the sentiments following a sharp decline in Zimbabwean body-builders’ participation at Arnold Classic, the biggest multi-sporting festival in Africa held in Sandton last week.
All events feature professional body-building and related contests, amateur body-building, strength and combat sports, a large health and fitness expo and youths events that vary from continent to continent.
With over 20 000 athletes and the opportunity to participate in an international competition against participants from six continents in 86 different sports, the National Federation of Zimbabwe Body-building and Fitness (NFZBBF) provided only six body-builders on stage.
On its debut in 2016, over 30 Zimbabwean body-builders took part, dominating one of the world’s most expensive sport on stage after South Africa.
Chienderamwano, who quit in 2016 after winning several titles in a career spanning 14 years including the country’s prestigious Mr Zimbabwe title for three consecutive years in 2012, 2013 and 2014, conceded body-building has become unaffordable.
“Forget golf, body-building is expensive. If you decide to compete, realise that competing is extremely expensive. I personally think body-building is the most expensive sport to be in, mainly just because of the amount of food consumed and the consistency of it. All these costs do not include supplements, gym subscriptions or anything else,” Chienderamwano said.
This year, Paul Goredema competed in the Elite Pro over 90kg and came 8th position while debutant, Paul Bako competed in the amateur Fitness Open category and came 2nd.
Consistent female body-builder, Precious Mujuru, competed in the amateur women’s body fitness category and came 5th. Sharaine Charliene Rama competed in the amateur bikini fitness 168cm and above. Nicolette Lee Macklin competed in the amateur Masters Body Fitness 164,5cm height and below. Shantel Batch competed in the amateur women’s bikini fitness 163cm and below and the trio failed to make it into the top six.
Sponsorship
Chinderamwano added: “It is lack of sponsorship that hampers body-building in the country. There hasn’t been big corporates ready to support body-building and the few players in that game are overwhelmed.”
“The majority of body-builders cannot afford to have a home gym and that means they have to go to the gym for machines with cables and a butterfly deck, a power rack, iron bars, grip plates, and several standard size dumbbells, barbells and some cable machine attachments.”
Training coach
He added: “If you are approaching this as someone who is new to weightlifting, you may need to work with a coach for a much longer period of time. The coach is there to give you a strategy to execute based on an objective assessment of your physique. This is the most important expense and one in which you don’t want to skimp on.
“Even if you already know a lot about training or nutrition, hiring a coach is important in developing a good strategy that will take you through your preps. Amateur body-builders will want to work with a coach through both your building and cutting cycles and to properly execute all of the exercises in the world.
“The closer you get to your show date (and the hungrier you become), you’ll find yourself getting more irritable and an unbiased expert is needed to manage those measurements and calculations for you.”
Nutrition
What is required is good nutrition and specific diets.
“During my days, I would eat 5–7 servings of fish a week,” the former weightlifting champion said.
“The most important part of body-building is a good diet and excellent training programme. This means the grocery bill will be a bit high, since I regularly eat 5 000 calories per day or even more when bulking. In body-building, your body becomes a living science experiment; and every nutrient gramme, every ounce of water, and every milligramme of sodium, will make a difference in how you look. Everything in your life will need to be measured,” he said.
Supplements
Chienderamwano has in his collection of title medals, the Iron Man Botswana, Mr Botswana, Mr Musclemania, and Mr Ironman Zimbabwe.
“Food is fine, although protein powder helps as it is convenient. One is expected to buy whey protein which costs much and at times such products are not locally available in Zimbabwe.
“The only other supplements used included creatine monohydrate among other demands. In addition to these, one has to take multiple vitamin, zinc supplement, although those just have to do with general health.”
Posing lessons
While preparing for a competition, he said one needs an expert in posing lessons, but one can never get enough posing practice.
”While I can agree that diet is hard, but posing is by far the most difficult aspect in contest preparation. One might require individual and group lessons. Group practice helps you to understand the logistics of what will happen on the stage,” he said.
Competition suit
While it doesn’t cost much for men, it is a huge expense to buy a competition suit. It is also significantly higher for women. There will always be an option of hiring or buying a second-hand fitting suit for one to be the most noticeable person on stage. For Bikini or Figure divisions, one will also need to buy stage heels.
“For ladies, it’s important that they apply professional stage makeup otherwise the lights will wash out your features. Looks must not be exaggerated and may put off judges.
“Competition fees will include your organisation membership, entry fee, crossover fees, drug testing (depending on the organisation), and tickets/access passes for anyone you want to join you.”
Tanning
“Everyone needs the tan. And for that reason, one is expected to serve money required to go with the tanning company that is provided at the competition so that you get the same colour as everyone else.”
Travelling costs
“Factor in air or road transport to South Africa for Arnold Classic and that’s a huge expense. Even locally athletes from all over the country have to converge at one venue meaning they have to cater for their own transport and accommodation.”
