Musclebound

Bigorexia, “The Disease”. By definition every serious bodybuilder has it. And the relentless drive to grow it engenders, will push the afflicted through every pain barrier - punishing weights regimes and severe diets alike. This is a short piece about the mania of muscle building, body sculpting, unbridled narcissism and obsession; the drive for elusive physical perfection which keeps the bodybuilder pumping iron and gorging protein day in day out. Starring three times Mr Universe Charlie Duca and his sidekick training partner Jeff Hinch, as well as colossal ex-bodybuilder now personal trainer Big Al, the film will explore this extreme ‘sport’ which may be more appropriately termed a neurosis. Enter a culture where men heave huge slabs of metal into the air, eat kilos of boiled chicken breast, and then stand in front of a mirror and assess the symmetricality of their limbs with tape measures. As one ex builder says: “Michelangelo did it with stone. Some do it with clay, others with plaster. The bodybuilder does it with flesh.” But at what cost? - Sacha Ettinger-Epstein, 2004