New Delhi: Kai Greene, one of the world's leading bodybuilders, made a clear distinction between weightlifting and bodybuilding as he spoke to ABP Live about the sport and his life around it. In New Delhi for the International Health, Sports and Fitness Festival (IHFF), Greene said a lot of times people assume they need to lift a lot of weight in order to be a bodybuilder, but he has never been a weightlifter in his career as a bodybuilder.
"A lot of times people talk about moving a lot of weight. 'Hey Man, I am strong. I can move weight.' As a bodybuilder though I have never been a powerlifter. I have never been a weightlifter. In other words, I have never identified myself as a person who is just trying to move weights for the sake of moving the weight," Greene told ABP Live at UFC Gym, which hosted a press conference for the IHFF Sheru Classic Delhi, 2023.
"But because I am still a bodybuilder and I am seeking out the maximum development of my physique, what happens is it makes me want to focus more on how I want to move that weight. It's through that that I have learnt to discover that technically my mind moves more weight than my body," he explained.
Expressing his views on the issue concerning the abuse of anabolic steroids by bodybuilders, Greene said that he thinks that issues like this are not good for the development of the sport.
"Personally, I think they are realities that they may give the sport a black eye. But those are realities that don't need to be at the forefront of the experience. At the root of this experience of our sport, competitive bodybuilding, is self mastery. self development... You can actually see how even something a feat thought to be impossible can become something doable and realistic," he said.
Greene reckons India has a very bright future in bodybuilding.
"I think it (Bodybuilding) is just scratching the surface. Potential is limitless. And as we see with the IHFF and Sheru Classic, the fitness expo, we are able to see the development of industry, we are able to see the development of businesses. It's just getting started. Revenue streams are growing, the streams of interest in people who continue to grow awareness of lifestyle and commitment to physical fitness and the opportunities that are yet to be realised," he said.