Bodybuilding is not a popular sport among adolescents, who generally lack the time for two 3-hour long workouts per day and the funds for the expensive protein powders and vitamin supplements. And I've never heard of it being offered as a sport in high schools, although sometimes you can practice weightlifting or powerlifting.
Then I heard about Alaska.
I guess when it's dark throughout the school year, there aren't many outdoor sports to engage in, so Alaska high schoolers pump iron. Bodybuilding is not exactly a sport, more of a club, but it's very popular, with annual exhibitions and all-state contests.
Anchorage is especially active, with bodybuilding clubs at North, South, West, and Chugiak High Schools. But high schools in Fairbanks, Juneau, Bethel, Homer, and Ketchikan participate.
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Bodybuilding in Alaska seems to be a white man's (and white woman's) game. This is the only Alaskan native I saw among the competitors, Mr. South High.
Although it's not easy to distinguish racial groups when everyone has a creepy orange painted-on tan.
Oranger and oranger. But to be fair, they probably don't know what a natural tan looks like.
I never thought I'd say this, but I'm getting tired of looking at orange bodybuilders. How about a nice wrestler from Bethel, Alaska?
