Kabul’s musclemen
Bodybuilding is popular in war-ravaged Kabul – and one expert thinks it’s because the sport is a great way to release pent-up stress and sexual frustration
THE walls are pockmarked with bullet holes and decorated with posters depicting near-naked men with rippling six-packs, bulging biceps and rock- hard thighs. Rhythmic grunting is all you hear as the muscle-bound hulks go through their paces, rivulets of sweat coursing down their faces.
Welcome to a typical gym in Kabul, the war-ravaged capital of Afghanistan, where bodybuilding has reached near cult status.
Stress and a lack of sex are credited for the surge of ripped men filling the country’s fast-growing, often makeshift fitness centres, according to Ali Fitrat, a psychology professor at Kabul University.
“Many people don’t have access to sex as men and women are segregated in all parts of their lives,” the professor told AFP news agency, referring to the conservative, gender-segregated nature of the traditional Muslim country.
“But sex is also a need, and the lack of it is one of the reasons for stress in our society.”
Sports such as bodybuilding can play a vital role in helping to release stress and tension.
Afghans, according to Fitrat, are stressed – socially, culturally, financially and politically – after nearly 40 years of war, insecurity and poor economic conditions.
Two decades ago the landlocked Middle Eastern nation was home to only a handful of gyms but since the invasion by the United States and fall of Taliban rule in 2003, an estimated 600 gyms have sprung up – along with thousands of wannabe Arnold Schwarzeneggers.
But the inside of these workout centres and the clientele aren’t what you’re likely to see at, say, your average Virgin Active health club.
For one, the men who work out here are often wearing their work clothes as few can afford gym kit.
Some gyms have separate floors for women and there are also women-only gyms, although the women who frequent them are less interested in bodybuilding than simply staying fit and healthy.
Freshta Farah, who owns a women’s gym in Kabul, says her clients are there “to be fit, but for themselves, not for men”.
Male gyms often have prayer mats and the walls are adorned with posters of their icon, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and other champion bodybuilders.
Items commonly found in health clubs, such as water coolers and showers, are often a luxury here. Afghan men, especially younger ones, want to make their mark on the world, Fitrat says.
“They want to show their bodies, they want to attract attention – they want to stand out among other people.”
‘They want to show their bodies, they want to attract attention’
UNDER Taliban rule, bodybuilding was allowed but the men had to be fully clothed and weren’t allowed to shave their beards, bodybuilder Khyal Ahmad (34) recalls. “The Taliban used to come and laugh at us when we struck our poses,” he adds. “After the Taliban left, the pants came off.”
The pants are indeed off and bodybuilders, caked in fake-tan lotion, flex and pose in tight, tiny Speedos for the Mr Afghanistan title.
But TV broadcasts show only the winners’ faces, never their oiled bodies, so as not to offend viewers.
It’s frowned upon for young women and men to mingle in public in this conservative nation, but many young weightlifters say they’re sculpting their bodies to impress the opposite sex.
“I’m exercising for the big body so the girls will like me,” Feroz Khan (34) said in a 2004 interview.
“I’m a love man – I’m not for arranged marriage,” he added.
“Under the Taliban, it was very dangerous. If I looked at a girl, they would say, ‘Why do you look?’ Then they would fight me.”
Before the Russian occupation of Afghanistan in the ’80s and the Taliban rise to power in the ’90s, bodybuilding wasn’t popular in the country but the sport had a small but fervent following.
One of the veterans is Aziz Arzo, owner of a rundown gym housed in what used to be a dental surgery overlooking the Kabul River.
The 61-year-old is a legend in his hometown. He took up the sport when he was a teenager, back when “very few people” knew anything about it, he says.
Aziz was named Afghanistan’s first master bodybuilder by the country’s Olympic committee in the ’70s.
“Arnold was my role model,” he says, explaining he was inspired to start pumping iron after seeing movies and posters featuring athletes such as Schwarzenegger. And like Aziz, many young Afghan bodybuilders revere Arnie.
The Hollywood superstar held the Mr Universe and Mr Olympia title before shooting to fame on the silver screen with beefy tough-guy roles in Conan the Barbarian and The Terminator.
“I’m one of the originals,” Aziz says, gazing at a portrait of himself on the podium in the ’70s. “The young ones come to me for my experience.”
For the Afghan Arnies, the Mr Afghanistan title is their holy grail, albeit one that’s been stained by doping.
Competition is fierce in the regional bodybuilding contests which lead to the national competition.
The prizes are modest by most standards: Mr Afghanistan walks away with a tracksuit and a trophy – but the appeal is the status, fame, a place on the national team and the chance to compete internationally.
And, of course, a shot at getting the girl. S